[Tolo News] The United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... has started investigations into civilian casualties, especially child deaths in both beturbanned goon attacks and operations conducted by foreign troops.
Dr Peter Wittig, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations and the Chairman of the UN Security Council Working Group, has recently come to Kabul and has called on all involved sides in Afghan conflict to seriously avoid civilian deaths in their activities.
Peter Wittig, who is expected to chair a UN Security Council summit in July this year, said the summit will focus on how civilian deaths happen in war-weary Afghanistan.
The UN envoy has also called on Afghan government to allow probes into children jails while saying the organisation was shocked about the use of children in suicide kabooms.
"Violation incidents should be investigated. My last point comes back to the issue of education. The right of education should be safeguarded, especially in times of armed conflict," he said.
He warned that if the Taliban keep using children in their suicide attacks, the United Nations will insert their names in the black list.
He said names of a number of Taliban leaders will be delisted by mid June.
"There are a number of delisting requests on the table of the committee; they are being examined as we speak. The decision on a number of delisting requests will have to be taken by mid June," Peter Wittig said. "I am confident that there will be some delistings taken place by then, but that pretends to the authority of the Security Council sanctions' committee which has to decide up to mid of June and of course we cannot pre-judge the decision."
Dr Wittig urged international forces in the country to provide him with information about the incidents that have led to civilian deaths including children.
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06/09/2011 00:00 ||
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The Libyan regime has been negotiating a secret deal with Greece to use $20bn (£12bn) of its funds that are frozen abroad for humanitarian relief to benefit both sides in the civil war. Officials in Tripoli say the move is intended to pave the way for the opening of peace talks.
The Independent has learned that talks were held in Tripoli between a team led by a former diplomat close to the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and regime members including the Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi. The meetings resulted in a memorandum of understanding that has remained unsigned because, diplomatic sources said, of warnings by the French government to the Greeks that any such agreement would appear to give Muammar Gaddafi legitimacy as Libya's ruler and undermine the policy of the Western coalition to keep him isolated.
Sources within the Libyan regime maintain that an agreement on the use of its assets for aid could lead to a ceasefire agreement and a process under which Colonel Gaddafi would relinquish power while a caretaker administration can be formed that includes members of the Benghazi-based opposition.
Key powers met Thursday to map out what Washington calls an inevitable "post-Kadhafi Libya" as more signs emerged the strongman wants out and more than one billion dollars flowed toward the rebels.
The United States joined Australia and Spain in recognising the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, following the example of several others countries including France, Italy and Britain.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, meanwhile, urged Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi to step down, "the sooner the better," as he became the first head of state to visit the rebels' eastern bastion of Benghazi. Thank you Mr. Sarkozy for 'suggesting' that the president of an important French client state visit. We should do a few more of these.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and counterparts from NATO and other countries participating in air strikes against Kadhafi's forces wound up talks on Libya in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi.
"Kadhafi's days are numbered. We are working with our international partners through the UN to plan for the inevitable: a post-Kadhafi Libya," Clinton told participants, according to her prepared remarks. War Powers Act, you ask! We work for and take our orders from the UN now, not some silly concept like "national interest"
"Time is on our side," she said, adding the international military, economic and political pressure was mounting on the Libyan colonel to abandon his four decades in power.
[Yemen Post] Mohammed Qahtan, the opposition Joint Meeting Parties spokesperson, denied that the JMP met with VIce President Abdu Rabu Hadi and said, "The JMP did not meet with VP Hadi."
He clarified that The JMP welcomed the vice presidents role in trying to end the crises. "The JMP informed Hadi that we are ready for dialogue in order to save the country from more bloodshed."
"We are expected to meet with the vice president in the next two days, and we home we reach a solution soon. As long as Saleh is not in power, sides will reach a solutions."
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06/09/2011 00:00 ||
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For a map, click here
Mexican Army personnel seized 1,980 liters of liquid methamphetamine, 593 kilograms of methametamine in semi-solid form, 509 kilograms of processed marijuana, 518 kilograms of unprocessed marijuana, four kilograms of cocaine, 14 kilograms of methamphetamine and 28 kilograms of opium gum as well as numerous weapons and munitions in various counternarcotics operations nationwide since May 28th.
Two unidentified armed suspects were shot and killed by a Mexican Army unit in Sinaloa state May 30th.
A detachment of the Mexican 9th Military Zone intercepted a convoy of seven vehicles on the San Miguel Zapotitlän-Villa de Ahome road in the Ahome municipality, and returned fire on the group after the soldiers were fired on. The unit seized seven rifles, two handguns, one 40mm grenade launcher, two 40mm grenades, 27 rockets, 78 weapons magazines, 2.736 rounds of ammunition, four different vehicles and tactical gear.
A unit of the Mexican 36th Military Zone discovered and dismantled a drug laboratory in Chiapas state May 29th. The lab was discovered in ejido (farm) La Union in Huixtla municipality, where soldiers found 1,800 liters of liquid methamphetamine, 27,500 kilograms of caustic soda, 381 liters of precursor chemicals, 581 200-liter capacity barrels, two handguns, 72 rounds of ammunition, two trucks and various other equipment.
A unit of the Mexican 11th Military Zone conducting counternarcotics operations in Zacatecas state between May 31st and June 1st arrested three individuals and seized a number of weapons and drugs.
The operations were carried out in Teul de Gonzalez Ortega, Florencia de Benito Juarez and Villanueva municipalities where soldiers seized six rifles, 43 doses of cocaine, 94 weapons magazines, 1,716 rounds of ammunition, eight vehicles (six stolen), and tactical gear.
A detachment of the Mexican 10th Military Zone seized drugs and drug related material in Tamazula, Durango May 31st. A total of 509 kilograms of processed marijuana, 518 kilograms of unprocessed marijuana, 20 kilograms of marijuana seed, and two kilograms of poppy seed.
A unit of the Mexican 14th Military Zone along with a Policia Federal detachment arrested one unidentified individual and seized drugs at a checkpoint in Aguascalientes June 2nd. The checkpoint was near the village of Cosio in Aguascalientes municipality where soldiers found four kilograms of cocaine and four kilograms of methamphetamine.
Units of the Mexican 15th Military Zone seized two drug laboratories and a number of weapons and munitions in two separate incidents in Jalisco state June 4th.
In the village of La Joya de Santana in Tamazula de Gordiano municipality a Mexican Army unit found 3,300 kilograms of chemicals, 100 kilograms of caustic soda, three kilograms of phenyl acetic acid and various stills and containers. A second lab was found with 1,700 kilograms of chemicals, 50 kilograms of caustic soda,and various containers.
Army personnel arrested one individual on calle 15 de Mayo in the village of Matancillas in Ojuelos municipality and seized an AK-47 assault rifle, seven AK-47 magazines with 150 rounds of AK-47 cartridges total, two vehicles, a radio and a laptop computer.
A unit of the Mexican 41st Military Zone seized two drug laboratories and arrested one unidentified suspect in Jalisco state June 4th. The laboratory was found in the village of Manzanilla in the La Huerta municipality.
Among the materiel seized were 10 kilograms of methamphetamine, five rifles, 29 rounds of ammunition, MP $11,100.00 (USD $938.57), 400 liters of liquid chemicals, 800 liters of solid chemicals, 75 kilograms of caustic soda, 50 kilograms of chloride dioxide and 140 liters of precursor chemicals.
A unit of the Mexican 9th Military Zone arrested two women and seized drugs and cash June 4th in Sinaloa state. The army unit set up a checkpoint on a highway near the village of Villa Union in Mazatlan municipality where it stopped a bus from Nayarit bound for Mazatlan, Sinaloa, and conducted a search.
Two unidentified female passengers were found to be holding 28 kilograms of opium gum and MP $33,400.00 (USD $2824.16) in cash in their personal luggage.
A detachment of the Mexican 7th Military Zone fought a gunfight with armed suspects in Genaro Vazquez colony in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon Tuesday. The unit was fired on by armed suspects in a vehicle. Following the gunfire exchange military personnel seized the vehicle, arms and munitions.
A unit of the Mexican 6th Military Zone seized weapons and a vehicle in two separate raids on remote ranches in Coahuila state June 7th.
On El Ranco Tres Hermanos in the Allende municipality soldiers seized eight rifles, one handgun, 388 weapons magazines, 35 rounds of ammunition, two boxes of machine gun linked ammunition, 245 links of different calibers, four steel handcuffs and 17 dismantled guns.
On El Rancho San Juan in Progreso municipality, soldiers seized a custom armored vehicle.
A unit of the Mexican 9th Military Zione dismantled a drug laboratory in Sinaloa state June 7th.
The drug lab was located in the village of Los Sitios de Arriba in the sindicatura of San Nicoläs del Sitio in Badiraguato municipality where soldiers found 180 liters of liquid methamphetamine, 593.4 kilograms of methamphetamine semisolid, 28 liters of methanol, one liter of methyl alcohol, one liter of hydrochloric acid, 450 liters of colorless acid, 3 liters of colorless solvent, 22 kilograms of caustic soda , two kilograms of tartaric acid, 600 kilograms of sodium acetate, 12 reactors, 15 metal capacitors, 80 kilograms of an unknown substance and miscellaneous equipment.
[Dawn] The rustics of Jawaki area in Frontier Region of Kohat have demanded of the authorities to launch operation against bully boyz and their harbourers in Tor Chappar locality of Darra Adamkhel to stop rocket attacks on their homes.
The rocket and kabooms on the members of local peace committee and blasts at passenger vans have created a sense of insecurity among the rustics of Ara Khel, Jammu and Jawaki areas of FR Kohat.
"Militants attack our area from the mountains of Tor Chappar and then disappear in the house of their harbourers," they alleged.
Several persons including women, children and passengers had been killed in such attacks despite the presence of security forces in Darra Adamkhel. "The number of attacks has been increasing with each passing day," said Shafarish Khan, a local elder.
He said that bully boyz fired four rockets at the residential area of Jawaki on late Monday night. The rockets came from the mountains of Tor Chappar, he added.
Security forces had vacated Ara Khel region in Jawaki last month for launching a final operation against Islamic exemplars. But even shelling by helicopter gunships at the alleged hideouts of bully boyz in the said mountains did not stop the rocket attacks. KILLED:
Two persons were killed and another received injuries over an old enmity in Shakardarra area here on Tuesday.
Police said that Amal Khan and Rab Nawaz killed Mumtaz Begum and Nazar Gul inside their home over an old family dispute in Janak area of Shakardarra. The accused managed to escape, they added.
Atiqueur Rehman was injured in the incident and was shifted to a hospital.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion... police claimed to have solved the mystery of burning of a woman to death under mysterious circumstances in Mir Ahmed area and incarcerated the father-in-law of the victim on Tuesday.
Police said that despite repeated requests by the father of the victim for postmortem her in-laws wanted to bury her in haste. The victim was later brought to women and kiddies hospital for an appointment with Dr. Quincy where doctors stated that she had sings of torture on her body.
Police investigated the issue and incarcerated Abdul Qayyum, the father-in-law of the victim, and registered cases against her brother-in-law Zafar and her sisters-in-law Asfa and Fauzia.
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[Dawn] The opposition PML-N sharpened attacks on military leadership, accusing it of a back-scratching alliance with the civilian government, during budget debate in the National Assembly on Tuesday, ignoring the ruling PPP's urging against targeting "our own institutions".
It was the second successive day that the role of top generals, particularly vis-à-vis the so-called war on terror, came under scrutiny in the lower house after opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had muffled his criticism in innuendoes while opening the debate on Monday.
But another PML-N frontbencher, Khwaja Mohammad Asif, was more outspoken on Tuesday, when he attacked what he called the "convergence of interests" of the civilian and military leaderships to promote American rather the country's interests and said the two sides seemed to be in an arrangement of "you scratch my back and I scratch yours".
His strongly-worded speech seemed to compensate for a comparatively soft line taken by the opposition leader on Monday that signalled a cooling of tempers after a noisy rumpus by his party during Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh's budget speech on Friday.
Khwaja Asif even questioned the lifestyle of top generals using expensive limousines, comparing them with some of the sub-continent's moghul emperors going to battlefield in palanquins.
"The chiefs of staff who travel in cars worth eight crore rupees each cannot fight," said the politician from Sialkot, apparently referring to the scene of the Navy chief of staff coming to the Mehran naval base of Bloody Karachi in a BMW soon after last month's deadly attack by jihad boys.
Former water and power minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, who is also the secretary-general of the PPP's electoral wing PPP-Parliamentarians, advised the opposition to refrain from defaming "our own institutions", while concluding his speech on the budget he had began on Monday night, with repeated calls to political parties to avoid confrontational politics and rather become an impregnable wall against any attack on democracy.
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06/09/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Four days after reports of Ilyas Kashmiri's death emerged, the reputed al Qaeda commander's Pak family says they know nothing about his fate and nor do the intelligence agents who visit.
Thathi, the home village of al Qaeda's alleged military kingpin, is an arduous six-hour drive from Islamabad, pushing ever higher into the foothills of the Himalayas, carpeted in lush grass but remote and depressingly poor.
Kashmiri's family says they have not seen him in six years. Nor has he sent money. Elder brother Chaudhry Asghar speaks almost angrily about the burden of having to care for Kashmiri's frail wife and four growing children.
"We don't believe he's dead," said the 50-year-old, speaking to AFP at a village shop and refusing to let news hounds visit Kashmiri's house or meet the rest of the family until the situation becomes "clearer".
But the humble mud building can be seen in the distance, sitting on the bank of a stream in front of a small mosque and madrassa that Kashmiri built.
It is here that his eldest son Khalid Ilyas, 18, daughter Maryam, 15, sons Osama 12 and Huzaifa, eight, live with their mother, not far from the Line of Control between Pak and Indian-administered Kashmire.
Thathi is a place where most people are poor, and depend on agriculture, including cattle. Others join the army and send their salaries home.
There are reports that Kashmiri was himself a Pak-trained commando before he veered towards the path of holy war against India and then later fell in with Taliban and al Qaeda on the western border with Afghanistan.
"We haven't seen his body or any part of his body and unless we get some evidence we can't accept he's dead. We want solid proof," said Asghar.
Clerics say Islam requires Kashmiri's associates to inform his family in the event of his death, but Asghar says nobody has contacted them.
"So far we have no official confirmation of his death. Even intelligence officials have been coming, asking if we've received any information.
"We tell them we have no information. If he has been killed in jihad (holy war) we'd appreciate it because it would be martyrdom." Years ago, Kashmiri used to visit once in a while, stay a couple of days and disappear. But Asghar has not seen his brother since 2005, when he got out of prison. The two argued and Kashmiri left.
"We told him to stop his activities and start family life. He didn't agree.
He insisted he'd fight US troops in Afghanistan," says Asghar.
"I left the village, hoping he'd decide to stay. But he left anyway, telling his children 'I don't care if you live or die. I must continue my mission.'" He says Kashmiri never sent money to his family, who suffer as a result.
"Sometimes they have to go to school hungry and weeping," he said of his niece and nephews, while the jihad boy's sick wife looks old beyond her years.
But however upset he might be with his brother, Asghar cannot believe that he is guilty as charged of attacks on the military in Pakistain.
"He told me he was dead against any terrorist act in Pakistain. He loved Pakistain and its army. He always said that he'd like his son to join the army as a commissioned officer."
Schoolteacher Mohammed Razaq, 55, who says he taught maths to the teenage Kashmiri, remembers him as "an obedient student, a good athlete and an excellent debater" with an interest in politics.
"But then he veered towards jihad. He truly loved Pakistain. I don't know anything about al Qaeda or Taliban," he said.
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[Khaleej Times] Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad stressed on Tuesday that Tehran wants a "Paleostinian government over the entire land of Paleostine," during a presser in the capital.
"A Paleostinian government must be established over the entire land of Paleostine and Paleostinian refugees must return to their land," Ahmadinejad said.
He repeated his view that Israel is a "cancerous tumour" that must be removed.
"All the peoples of the region want to end the Zionist regime and all polls show that," said the hardliner, whose vitriolic attacks on the Jewish state and his dismissal of the Holocaust as a "myth" have drawn international condemnation.
"All the peoples of the region should help to save the entire land of Paleostine," he said, without elaborating.
Ahmadinejad was asked about Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... 's intention to seek UN recognition as a full member country for the territories under his jurisdiction in September if peace talks do not resume.
"The formation of a Paleostinian government is not a confirmation for the Zionist occupation... It will not be a rejection of the right of the Paleostinian nation for the liberation of all of their land," he said.
"I am sure the Paleostinian leaders will follow the affairs with diligence. Meanwhile we will always be standing by the Paleostinian nation to reclaim their full rights," he added.
Ahmadinejad comments was echoing Iran's all powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remarks on June 4, when Khamenei said that Iran backs "the undivided country of Paleostine which belongs to the Paleostinians."
Iran has not recognised Israel since the 1979 Islamic revolution and backs Paleostinian and Lebanese bully boy groups fighting against the Jewish state.
It also does not support the creation of a Paleostinian nation alongside the Jewish state.
US President Barack B.O. Obama said in a speech in mid-May that the borders of Israel and Paleostine "should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognised borders are established for both states."
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06/09/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Looks like the US PASSPORT OFFICE, + Euros, will be having a banner few years [2011-2015] + decade.
#2
Bottom line unless you are a muslim we hate you!
Israrel is hated because they are Jewish amongst muslim neighbours just like India is hated by Pakistan bacause they are majority Hindu and the West is hated as majority? Christian!
[Ma'an] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader, and one of the party's founders, Muhammad Hasan Sham'a suffered a stroke Wednesday morning and was transferred to Ash-Shifa hospital in Gazoo City.
Paleostinian medical sources said Sham'a, 70, is in a serious condition.
I suppose I shouldn't pray for his death, but I certainly would enjoy reading his obituary...
The Gazoo-based leader of the current ruling faction in the Strip has spent several periods in Israeli detention, and was deported by Israeli authorities to southern Leb for two years in 1991, where he lived in Marj Zhour refugee camp.
This article starring:
Muhammad Hasan Sham'a
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#1
I didn't see anything trap-worthy in de Medici's post, just biting sarcasm.
[Ennahar] Iran condemned the "interference" of the United States and its allies in Syria, its main ally in the region, said on Tuesday Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad at a presser.
"Syria stands at the forefront of the resistance (against Israel). I am certain that the Syrian people and government can solve their problems. We condemn the interference of the United States and its allies in Syria," said President Ahmadinejad.
"Unfortunately, some governments in the region interfere (in Syrian affairs) following the United States. I would not recommend this, as soon as the United States have achieved their objectives, they will turn against them," he added.
"We stand with all revolutionary governments. We believe that the Syrians are able to manage their business," he added.
Iran supports the movement of revolt in the Arab world, with the notable exception of the current one in Syria, its historical ally in the region.
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#1
That's our puppet state. So stay out!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/09/2011 5:51 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.