Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Debra Messing aka Grace Adler in "Will & Grace" aka Mary Magdalene in "Jesus" aka Molly Kagan in "The Starter Wife" aka Lt. Penelope Carter in "McHale's Navy (The Movie)" aka Mary Klein in " The Mothman Prophecies" aka Lori in "Hollywood Ending" aka Lisa Kramer in "Along Came Polly" aka Kate Scott in "Purple Violets" (age 43)
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree backing the UN Security Council resolution that endorsed international military action against Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland... , the presidential press service said.
Russia had abstained from voting on UN Resolution 1973, which imposed a no-fly zone over Libya and tightened sanctions on the North African country, when the measure was presented in March.
Russia has been critical of the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... -led military operations in Libya, calling for a peaceful and political solution to the crisis.
But the presidential decree, posted on the Kremlin's website, said Russia has now agreed to ban all flights to Libya in Russian air space with the exception of flights for humanitarian purposes or for making an emergency landing.
In addition, Russian military ships have been allowed to inspect vessels in the open sea going to or from Libya, provided Russia has information about the military use of the vessels.
The decree also bans all financial operations involving the assets belonging of Qadaffy and his family.
It was not immediately clear why Medvedev signed the decree five months after Resolution 1973 was passed.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
It was not immediately clear why Medvedev signed the decree five months after Resolution 1973 was passed.
For the same reasons the USSR finally declared war on Japan.
#6
Oh, bullshit, grom, you know better. Putin is the bad cop, and Medvedev is the good cop. Putin struts about when it's useful to play the third-world authoritarian, and Medvedev comes out, rubbing hands and cringing when it's time to toe the Western line.
The news for Gaddafi & Company are *bad* this weekend, so it's time to send Medvedev out to hop on the bandwagon. I'd compare this with the belated Russian involvement in the Kosovo War, wherein they piled in and took the provincial airport at the last moment.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/15/2011 13:47 Comments ||
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#7
The news for Gaddafi & Company are *bad* this weekend
#10
grom, do you just filter out news that you don't like, or do you honestly believe that the reporters with the rebels are actually working out of a radio relay station in Honduras, relaying imagery from the same Burbank sound stages they used to fake the moon landings?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/15/2011 17:28 Comments ||
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#11
of course he would start backing them now. It's getting about time too decide who will get the future oil and military contracts when this thing is over.
Posted by: chris ||
08/15/2011 21:49 Comments ||
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#12
"grom, do you just filter out news that you don't like, or do you honestly believe that the reporters with the rebels are actually working out of a radio relay station in Honduras, relaying imagery from the same Burbank sound stages they used to fake the moon landings?"
Ouch! Nice one Mitch :D
Posted by: Shakey Steve ||
08/15/2011 21:53 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Egypt's military prosecution on Sunday jugged activist and blogger Asma Mahfouz for questioning for allegedly defaming the military council on Facebook and Twitter, the official MENA news agency reported.
Mahfouz -- one of the leaders of the Egyptian revolution that unseated former president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... -- was released on bail of 20,000 pounds (around 3,300 dollars, 2,300 euros) but the investigation continues, MENA said.
She is being questioned for "speaking inappropriately about the military council and for using defamatory and offensive insults against the council on Facebook and Twitter," MENA said.
The head of military judicial authority, Major General Mahmoud Morsi, issued a statement saying Mahfouz had overstepped the limits of free speech by insulting the military.
There will be "no tolerance to insults directed at the armed forces," Morsi said, adding that such defamation was considered an offence under the criminal code and that violators will be prosecuted.
He stressed that this includes any slander or libel that is broadcast by satellite channels or posted on the Internet through the social networks Facebook and Twitter.
Mahfouz was a co-founder of the April 6 youth movement which had called for the January 25 street protests which led to the ousting of former Mubarak 18 days later, ending his 30-year autocratic rule.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took power after the nationwide anti-regime protests.
The council has come under much criticism from freedom fighters in Egypt for arresting journalists for their articles and dragging its feet in handing power over to a civilian government.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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From ArabNews reports:
In the east, rebel forces clashed with Qaddafi's soldiers in the oil town of Brega but there were no reports of casualties on Sunday, a rebel spokesman and a hospital volunteer said.
"There are engagements but we're going slowly. This is our strategy because we want to avoid casualties," said Mohammad Zawawi, head of the rebels' media center in their stronghold of Benghazi, eastern Libya.
Sixteen rebels were killed and about 50 wounded over three days of clashes in Brega up to Sunday. At least six of Qaddafi's soldiers were also killed.
Brega is strung out along about 15 km of Mediterranean coast. The rebels have captured a residential neighborhood in the east while Qaddafi's troops still hold an oil terminal in the town's industrial sector in the west.
Setbacks for Qaddafi's forces near Tripoli were unlikely to undermine the morale of his troops in the east because they had no access to the news, Zawawi said.
"They don't let them use radio or television. They don't know anything about what's going on," he said. "Captured Qaddafi troops don't know anything."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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ZAWIYAH: Libyan rebels hoisted their flag in the center of this town near the capital on Sunday after the most dramatic advance in months cut off Muammar Qaddafis capital from its main link to the outside world.
The swift rebel advance on the town of Zawiyah, about 50 km west of Tripoli, will deal a psychological blow to Qaddafis supporters and also cuts the coastal highway to Tunisia which keeps the capital supplied with food and fuel. But there was no sign Tripoli was under immediate threat from a rebel attack: Heavily armed pro-Qaddafi forces still lie between Zawiyah and the capital.
After their initial rapid advances were beaten back by Qaddafis heavy armor, the Libyan rebels have largely been unable to break the stalemate, even with the help of NATO air strikes.
But rebel forces are now in their strongest position since the uprising against 41 years of Qaddafis rule began in February. They now control the coast both east and west of Tripoli, to the north is the Mediterranean and a NATO naval blockade, while to the south is empty desert.
Rebels from the Western Mountains region south of this Mediterranean coastal town dashed forward into Zawiyah late on Saturday, encountering little sustained resistance from Qaddafis forces.
Near Zawiyahs central produce market early on Sunday, about 50 rebel fighters were milling around and triumphantly shouting Allahu Akbar! or God is greatest. The red, black and green rebel flag was flying from a shop.
Rebel fighters said there were still forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi in the town, including snipers who they said had positioned themselves on tall buildings. Bursts of artillery and machine gun fire could be heard.
One rebel fighter said Qaddafis forces were still in control of the oil refinery on the northern edge of Zawiyah a strategic target because it is the only one still functioning in western Libya and Qaddafis forces depend on it for fuel. Rebels said the capital was their next target once Zawiyah was fully under their control.
And now from Baghdad Bob, the official party line:
In Tripoli, government officials denied Zawiyah was under rebel control, saying a small force of anti-Qaddafi fighters had launched a suicide mission that was quickly repelled. Zawiyah is absolutely under our control, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters. A very small group of rebels tried to move into the south of Zawiyah but were stopped easily because of our armed forces, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Meanwhile ...
* WORLD NEWS > I FEAR OSAMA BIN LADEN HIT SQUAD WILL KILL LOCKERBIE BOMBER AL-MEGRAHI TOO, SAYS FATHER OF [Lockerbie]VICTIM.
HMMMMM, HHMMM, Victim Dad believes al-Megrahi is innocent of the 1980's Lockerbie Bombing, + is afraid that SEAL TEAM SIX [US SPECOPS] will sneak into Libyuh after Megrahi + kill him like OBL???
#3
Holy crap, they simultaneously took Gharyan and broke into Zawiyah this weekend? That's a hell of a thing, that's a front collapse!
At this point, I'm thinking that the Ghaddafi "fire brigades" are fully committed to Brega & Zlitan, and the Nafusa Berber & Arab rebels are basically doing whatever they feel like doing. They've taken strategic points on the western and southern lines of communication out of Tripoli.
Combine those two occupations with the static coastal rebel front around Misrata, and it isn't exactly a siege situation, but Tripoli will start to feel the pinch. Gharyan in particular sits on the primary north-south road network between the irrigated farmland of south-central Libya and the capital.
Let's see if the Duck can pull another rabbit out of his hat & drive them out of one of the two towns. But can he get reaction forces to *both* towns without exposing them to destruction from the air?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/15/2011 13:42 Comments ||
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#4
In any event the boys will be home before Columbus Day.
Posted by: S ||
08/15/2011 19:21 Comments ||
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ADEN: A leading member of Yemens opposition called on Western countries to freeze the assets of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is clinging to power despite months of protest against his 33-year rule.
Sheikh Hamid Al-Ahmar, a key tribal figure who belongs to Yemens main opposition party, the Islamist Islah, also lashed out at Salehs sons desperate attempts to keep the family in power as their father recovers in Riyadh from a June assassination attempt.
I call on Western states... to begin proceedings to seize the possessions and money of Saleh and his family, because they belong to the Yemeni people, he said in an interview with pan Arab daily Al-Hayat, adding those funds could be used to repay the countrys debts.
The protests have paralyzed the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state, where even before the unrest some 40 percent of the population lived on less than $2 per day.
Governments worldwide have responded to crackdowns on Egyptian, Tunisian and Libyan protesters this year by freezing their long-time leaders assets.
But while veteran presidents in Egypt and Tunisia bowed to pressure they quit, Saleh has proved a shrewd political survivor, and officially remains in power.
While he recovers from 'minor' surgery in a nursing home in Saoodi-controlled Arabia...
Al-Ahmar praised Saudi Arabias role in mediating the crisis: I see the Gulf initiative, which was essentially a Saudi effort, as one of the supporting aspects of the revolution, he said.
Saudi Arabia has spearheaded a Gulf Arab plan to end Yemens political deadlock by easing Saleh out of office, but he backed out of signing it three times at the very last minute, leaving Yemen in political limbo.
Last week Saleh said he would look at reviving the initiative, which would see him hand over power to Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, but his opponents question whether this is yet another stalling tactic.
Oh gee, I dunno, what do you think?
Away from the negotiating table, violence flared anew in Yemens south, where militants have exploited a political vacuum, taking over at least two cities in the volatile province of Abyan, including its capital Zinjibar.
Three soldiers and four militants were killed in fighting on Saturday night when militants attacked an army compound and a sports stadium used as a makeshift military base, a local official said. 13 more militants were killed in air strikes after planes were sent to help repel them.
A loose coalition of tribesmen and the army last month launched an offensive to try to flush militants out of Abyan, but they have yet to regain much of the lost ground.
Opponents of Saleh, who earned US backing by presenting himself as a vital partner in the Wests counter terrorism strategy, say he has deliberately let militants expand their foothold in the south to convince the international community only he can keep Al-Qaedas Yemen-based wing in check.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] At least two children were maimed in an kaboom at a bus-terminal
O brave, brave Lions of Islam, bombing the children they should love and protect.
in Mastung town on Sunday. Unidentified men placed an kaboom at bus-terminal which went kaboom!, police said, adding that as a result two children were maimed. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital. The law enforcement personnel rushed to the site and cordoned off the entire area to trace the suspects out.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] A security man was martyred when a landmine planted by Islamic fascistiwent kaboom!, while six bad boyz were potted in a retaliatory attack on Sunday. According to media reports, Islamic fascistiplanted landmines on the route of security forces convoy, which went kaboom! when the convoy was passing by it. In response, the security forces launched an operation and killed six terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] At least six people, including an activist each of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (AWSJ), formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, and Kachi Rabita Council (KRC), were killed in different parts of the metropolis on Sunday.
Unidentified gunniesrubbed out a eunuch and his lover companion in Orangi Town on Sunday. The eunuch was identified as Wajahat alias Mastana and his lover companion as Kamran alias Kami. Their bodies were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. Police officials said Kamran was a drug addict and lived with Wajahat at his house in Data Nagar after allegedly marrying him. The officials said that two young men, Javed and Zohaib, came to Wajahat's house and shot the duo in the head, injuring them seriously. They died shortly after the shooting. Police was conducting raids for the arrests of the culprits.
A worker of the ASWJ was bumped off and two others were maimed in a drive-by shooting in Orangi Town in the jurisdiction of Pirabad cop shoppe on Sunday evening. The dear departed and injured were identified as seventeen-year-old Shahid, son of Wahid, and Wajahat and Rashid, respectively. Police officials said the victims were going somewhere on a cycle of violence when two gunnies, also riding a cycle of violence, attacked them.
A worker of the Bloody Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) was rubbed out during a protest over power failure in Godhra Camp, New Bloody Karachi. Police officials said that the incident took place when KESC staff arrived at the Godhra Camp, in the jurisdiction of New Bloody Karachi Industrial Area, to repair some fault. The residents there were staging a protest over power failure in the locality, which had entered its second day, when someone from the protesters shot and killed the victim.
The dear departed was identified as Qamar Alam, 45, son of Abdul Baqi. He lived in Sir Syed and had three children. Police officials said he was working with KESC as a lineman and that they (the police) were working to find the shooter. The victim's body was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where KESC staffers staged a protest over the incident and warned of a strike.
A member of KRC was rubbed out near Shoe Market Garden in the limits of Garden cop shoppe. The victim, 35-year-old Asif, was a resident of Shahbaz Nagar Garden. He was on his way home when two gunnies intercepted him near Shoe Market and fired at him. He took two shots and was struck down in his prime. Separately, a young man was rubbed out in Ghousia Ground within the limits of Korangi cop shoppe. The victim, 28-year-old Fayyaz, was the resident of Korangi no 1½.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Slow day. I guess they save their best stuff for Fridays.
[Pak Daily Times] Authorities were still searching for clues about who kidnapped an American in Pakistain but came up with no leads after questioning the guards at his house, police said on Sunday. Gunmen snatched development expert Warren Weinstein before dawn on Saturday after tricking his guards and breaking into his house in Lahore, a brazen raid that heightened fears among aid workers, diplomats and other foreigners already worried about militancy and anti-US sentiment in Pakistain.
Weinstein is the Pakistain country director for JE Austin Associates, a development contractor that has received millions of dollars from the aid arm of the US government, according to a profile on LinkedIn, a networking website.
Police were hoping the guards could shed some light on who targeted Weinstein but came up empty-handed, said Shoaib Khurram, a senior police official in Lahore. "We do not yet have any concrete information that there was a specific threat," he said.
Police said that the American aid expert was targeted because of his nationality, as they scrambled for leads. "One thing has been confirmed -- that he is an American and that he was kidnapped for this reason," Atif Hayat, a senior police criminal investigation official said.
There had still been no claim of responsibility, he said, and officers were questioning his guards and colleagues, and combing phone records, as part of the search. "So far we have no clue, nor has anyone contacted us," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: On Pakistans 64th Independence Day on Sunday, 18 people were killed in bomb, gun and rocket attacks. A bomb attached to a timer ripped through a two-story hotel in Pakistan's southwestern Dera Allah Yar town of Balochistan province Sunday, reducing the building to rubble and killing 14 people, police said.
Ah, fireworks on independence day, a real tradition...
The attack in Dera Allah Yar also wounded 23 people, said Jawed Iqbal Gharshin, the police chief in surrounding Jafferabad district.
Police have taken two people into custody who had tea in the hotel's restaurant and left just before the bomb went off, he said.
Elsewhere in the province, gunmen on motorcycles shot dead a local journalist in the town of Khuzdar, police said.
"Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead journalist Munir Noor when he was returning to home after shopping at a nearby market," local police chief Abdul Qadir Sheikh said from the area.
In northwestern tribal belt, at least three paramilitary soldiers were killed and 25 wounded when militants fired a rocket into their camp as they prepared for an Independence Day assembly.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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A series of bomb attacks has hit several Iraqi cities, killing at least 59 people.
The worst attack took place in the south-eastern city of Kut where police said two near-simultaneous bombs killed at least 37 people.
Two weeks ago, Iraqi leaders said there would be talks with the US over whether to keep some US forces in Iraq in 2012.The blasts appeared to be co-ordinated to go off in the morning and included a combination of parked car bombs, roadside bombs and suicide bombers. But there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
[Pak Daily Times] Two roadside kabooms killed at least five Iraqi soldiers in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... on Sunday in one of the most serious attacks on security forces in recent weeks, military and hospital officials said.
One bomb went kaboom! in a public square and then second blast went off nearby as an army patrol arrived in the mostly Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiya in the north of Storied Baghdad, ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... security officials said. "Two roadside kabooms went kaboom! one after the other. Five people were killed, two army officers and three soldiers," Major General Qassim al Moussawi, a front man for Storied Baghdad security operations said. Three other soldiers and eight civilians were also maimed in the attack, a hospital official said.
Iraq's violence has lulled during Ramazan, the Mohammedan holy month which began at the start of August. Terrorists often use one kaboom to draw security forces before detonating and secondary blasts to target them.
Attacks and bombings have fallen sharply since the height of Iraq's sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, but Sunni tied to al Qaeda, and shia militias still carry out almost daily bombings and liquidations. Assaults are increasingly targeting local security forces and government offices aiming to undermine faith in the Iraqi government just as Storied Baghdad discusses with Washington whether some American troops should stay on after a 2011 deadline for them to withdraw. More than eight years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, Iraqi security forces said, they are able to contain internal threats. But Storied Baghdad is in talks with Washington over whether some US troops should stay on as trainers.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD: Two roadside bombs killed at least five Iraqi soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday in one of the most serious attacks on security forces in recent weeks, military and hospital officials said. One bomb exploded in a public square and then a second blast went off nearby as an army patrol arrived in the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya in the north of Baghdad, security officials said.
Two roadside bombs exploded one after the other, Maj. Gen. Qassim Al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Baghdad security operations said. Five people were killed, two army officers and three soldiers.
Three other soldiers and eight civilians were also wounded in the attack, a hospital official said.
Insurgents often use one explosion to draw security forces before detonating secondary blasts to target them.
Assaults are increasingly targeting local security forces and government offices aiming to undermine faith in the Iraqi government just as Baghdad discusses with Washington whether some American troops should stay on after a 2011 deadline for them to withdraw.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered the arrest of two officers and nine guards on Sunday after spending the night along with his assistants at Roumieh prison to investigate the escape of five inmates.
Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi had asked judicial authorities to investigate with top officers and low-ranking officials at the prison to determine who was responsible behind the escape.
An Nahar daily said Qortbawi urged a non-stop probe given that Monday is an official holiday.
The minister told the Central News Agency that a meeting that will be held at the Grand Serail on Tuesday will discuss the transfer of the authority of Lebanese prisons from the interior to the justice ministry as approved by the cabinet.
Premier Najib Miqati's sources confirmed that a meeting will be held at the Serail between the prime minister, Qortbawi and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel. The meeting was scheduled to take place before Saturday's incident, they said.
But the prison break increased the importance of the meeting, the sources told An Nahar.
The five inmates, that include Fatah al-Islam A Syrian-incubated al-Qaeda work-alike that they think can be turned off if no longer needed to keep the Leb pot stirred. terrorist network members, beat feet the prison on Saturday by scaling down the building's walls with bed sheets before mixing with visiting relatives and walking out of the compound with them, Charbel said.
Charbel blamed the escape on "the pure negligence" of the guards and demanded that officers who were in charge when the jail break took place be punished.
The five prisoners are Midhat Hasan Khalil Ahmed, a Jordanian born in1963; Abdullah Saad el-Dine al-Shukri, a Syrian born in 1984; Abdel-Aziz Ahmed al-Masri, a Syrian born in 1985; Mohammed Abdel-Nasser Abdel-Dusari, a Kuwaiti born in 1973 and Abdel-Nasser Said Sanger, 31.
The Internal Security Forces said that a sixth prisoner, Walid Issam Lababidi, a 31-year-old Lebanese, was caught while trying to escape with the other five inmates.
However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... the army command issued a statement late Saturday saying it jugged Midhat Hasan Khalil Ahmed in northern Leb after launching a large-scale search operation for the runaways backed by military helicopters.
The army said it was "continuing the search for the rest of the runaways to arrest them and hand them over to involved authorities."
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08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The guards of the house of former President Suleiman Franjieh and drunk men exchanged fire in the northern town of Ehden at dawn Sunday, injuring three people, the National News Agency reported.
NNA said that two guards -- Butros Mikhael Iskandar and Bakhos Ibrahim Jerjes -- were maimed in the incident that erupted at 5:00 am with two drunken occupants of a vehicle.
The two men were speeding near the mansion when one of the guards stopped them asking about their inappropriate behavior, the agency said. One of the drunk men hit the guard while the other shot at him, which forced the guards to open fire at them.
One of the occupants identified as Naim al-Doueihy was also injured, NNA said.
It added that the army immediately intervened and cordoned off the area.
Marada movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh said in a statement later Sunday that the shooting near his grandfather's house should not be exaggerated and that the incident would not affect the tourism season in Ehden.
PM Najib Miqati telephoned Franjieh and followed with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel the investigation into the Ehden incident.
Later on Sunday, al-Doueihy family issued a statement following a meeting at the residence of lawyer Youssef Bahaa al-Doueihy in Ehden.
The conferees accused "some people of distorting the facts through some media outlets," noting that "the incident started when armed cut-throats positioned on the public road opened fire on the passing cars."
"What happened was not aimed at attacking a certain politician, as some have tried to portray the incident and are trying to exploit it," al-Doueihy family said in the statement.
"We hope security and judicial institutes will not apply double standards ... especially that some consider the defense ministry to be a farm, and we stress that we will abide by the law as much as those in charge of the case will abide by objectivity and neutrality," the family added.
"We remind them that their regional sponsor had never managed to scare us, even during the epitome of its occupation of Leb ... We will not tolerate any attack on people's dignities," it warned.
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08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] At least 26 people were killed as the Syrian military opened fire on the Mediterranean port city of Latakia on Sunday, with warships and tanks joining the assault, activists said.
But the state-run news agency ...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?... SANA denied that the navy had attacked Latakia, quoting its correspondent in there as saying security forces were battling gunnies.
Activists said four other people were killed elsewhere in the country in bloodshed that came a day after world leaders demanded an immediate end to the ruthless crushing of dissent in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement that at least 23 people were killed and dozens more maimed in the city, several critically.
But the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria (NOHRS) put the corpse count in Latakia at 26, providing a list of names of those killed, and said two other people died in Homs, one in Hama and one in Idlib.
The Syrian Observatory said the vessels opened up with heavy machine-guns and the NOHRS confirmed the report, calling the attack "unprecedented."
But the official SANA news agency, quoting its Latakia correspondent, denied that naval vessels had opened fire on the city.
The agency said its correspondent "denied reports carried by some media that said Ramel (district) was shelled from the sea."
"Law enforcement members are pursuing gunnies who are using machine guns, grenades and bombs in Ramel from rooftops and from behind barricades," SANA said.
The head of medical services in Latakia was quoted as saying that two members of the security forces were killed and 41 others maimed in the city "while chasing gunnies."
In May, during an army operation in Banias, another port, navy ships patrolled offshore but did not open fire.
A front man for the U.N. refugee agency UNRWA, Chris Gunness, said reports from the Ramel camp spoke of "fire from tanks which have encircled the area as well as fire from ships at sea."
He called on the Syrian authorities "to order their troops to exercise maximum restraint," and demanded "access for humanitarian workers to tend to the injured and dying."
"Poor communications make it impossible to confirm numbers of those killed and injured," Gunness said in a statement.
On Saturday, the military killed at least two people and maimed 15 others in the Ramel area of southern Latakia, a nerve center of anti-regime protests, according to the group.
"Large numbers of residents, especially women and kiddies" have decamped Ramel, the scene of mass protests calling for the fall of President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... 's regime, it said.
The Syrian Observatory said landline telephones and Internet connections with the eastern Mediterranean port city were cut.
Around the capital, "security forces entered Saqba and Hamriya in great numbers and launched a campaign of arrests," according to the Britannia-based group.
It said troops arrived in "15 military trucks, eight troop carriers and four jeeps," launching the assault at around 2:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday). "Gunfire was heard in both suburbs," and communications severed during the operation.
Syria's human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... groups, in a joint statement, on Sunday urged the authorities to release the head of the Syrian League for the Defense of Human Rights, Abdul Karim Rihawi, who was locked away on Thursday in Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... .
His detention "represents a violation of the international commitments undertaken by Syria," they said.
"Security forces are continuing mass arrests, in violation of the law, human rights and democratic freedoms, denying the rights of opposition figures and peaceful demonstrators," the groups said.
In a telephone conversation on Saturday, U.S. President Barack B.O. Obama and King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah ... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old... expressed their "shared, deep concerns about the Syrian government's use of violence against its citizens," the White House said in a statement.
"They agreed that the Syrian regime's brutal campaign of violence against the Syrian people must end immediately."
In a separate phone call, Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... also called for an "immediate" end to the bloodshed which has raged since protests broke out in mid-March.
A front man for Downing Street said the two leaders "expressed horror at the brutal reaction of the Syrian regime to legitimate protests, particularly during Ramadan," the holy month in which Mohammedans fast from dawn to dusk.
The call came after Soddy Arabia, a Sunni Mohammedan regional heavyweight which had remained silent on the five-month revolt, added its voice to a chorus of criticism and recalled its ambassador from Damascus.
The violence has cost more than 2,150 lives, including around 400 members of the security forces, according to rights activists. Syrian authorities have blamed the bloodshed on armed gangs and Islamist hard boys.
Washington has steadily ratcheted up the pressure on Damascus, imposing new sanctions and saying Assad has lost all legitimacy, but has so far stopped short of openly calling for him to step down.
Syrian troops backed by tanks have struggled to crush the revolt since pro-democracy protests turned into a full-scale uprising, despite repeated calls for restraint from world leaders.
The U.N. Security Council is due to hold a special meeting on Thursday to discuss human rights and the humanitarian emergency in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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BEIRUT: Five prisoners escaped a high-security Lebanese prison Saturday by scaling down the buildings walls with bed sheets before mixing with visiting relatives and walking out of the compound with them, the interior minister said.
Oh! Oh! I seen this movie!
The minister, Marwan Charbel, blamed the escape from the Roumeih prison east of Beirut on bribing the pure negligence of the guards and demanded that officers who were in charge when the jail break took place be punished.
Lebanese authorities later released photographs, names and the nationalities of the five fugitives, urging people to contact police with any information. A security official said the five are a Lebanese, a Kuwaiti, a Sudanese and two Syrians.
Late Saturday, members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah group detained the Sudanese man in the Biddawi refugee camp in northern Lebanon and handed him over to Lebanese authorities, security officials said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Local media reports said the escaped convicts included members of the Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah Islam group. Charbel refused confirm or deny that there were Fatah Islam members among those who fled.
Fatah Islam fought a three-month battle against the army inside the Palestinian refugee camp Nahr el-Bared in northern Lebanon in 2007. The Lebanese army crushed the group after three months, but the clashes left 220 militants, 171 soldiers and 47 Palestinian civilians dead. Dozens of the groups members were captured.
Lebanese troops, backed by an army helicopter, set up a security cordon around the prison and searched all cars leaving the area, security officials said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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AMMAN: Syrian tanks and navy ships shelled the main Mediterranean port city of Latakia on Sunday, residents and rights groups said, killing 24 people as President Bashar Al-Assads forces launched an offensive by land and sea to crush protests against his rule.
Since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan on August 1, Assads forces have stormed major urban centers and outlying regions where protests demanding political freedom and an end to 41 years of Assad family rule have been attracting crowds in larger numbers, human rights campaigners said.
I can see the silhouettes of two grey vessels. They are firing their guns and the impact is landing on Al-Raml Al-Filistini and Al-Shaab neighborhoods, one witness told Reuters by phone from Latakia, where tanks and armored vehicles were deployed three months ago to crush dissent against Assad in mainly Sunni neighborhoods of the mixed city.
This is the most intense attack on Latakia since the uprising. Anyone who sticks his head out of the window risks being shot. They want to finish off the demonstrations for good, he said.
Each night, an average of 20,000 people have been rallying daily to demand Assads removal in different areas across the city after Ramadan evening prayers, known as tarawih, the witness said.
The Syrian Revolution Coordinating Union said 32 civilians were killed on Sunday. Among them were 24 in Latakia, including a two-year-old girl, Ola Al-Jablawi. The deaths came after security forces shot dead 20 people during nationwide marches on Friday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the casualties were from machineguns targeting heavily populated residential districts.
After heavy firing, troops and shabbiha (militiamen loyal to Assad) have reached the main square in Al-Raml Al-Filistini, where the crowds have been demonstrating peacefully for freedom and the downfall of the regime, said a statement by the grassroots activists group.
The official state news agency denied that Latakia was hit from the sea and said two police and four unidentified armed men were killed when order preservation forces pursued armed men who were terrorizing residents.. and using machineguns and explosives from rooftops and from behind barricades.
Nevertheless, the assaults by Syrian security forces are being met with increasing international condemnation.
Which has done a lot of good so far...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Ethnic -nie tribal- cleansing because Syria always looked up to the NAZIs?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
08/15/2011 8:51 Comments ||
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#2
every member of Assad's forces has a family. Find them and get revenge
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/15/2011 10:19 Comments ||
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#3
FWIW,
Latakia is about 70-80% Alawite and 10-15% Christian.
I'm not sure about the 3 neighborhoods mentioned.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/15/2011 11:37 Comments ||
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#4
Hey, ain't that where all the missing Iraqi Ba'athists ran to?
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.
At least two children were 
A security man was martyred when a landmine planted by 
[Pak Daily Times] At least six people, including an activist each of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (AWSJ), formerly known as Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, and Kachi Rabita Council (KRC), were killed in different parts of the metropolis on Sunday.
Authorities were still searching for clues about who kidnapped an American in Pakistain but came up with no leads after questioning the guards at his house, police said on Sunday. Gunmen snatched development expert Warren Weinstein before dawn on Saturday after tricking his guards and breaking into his house in Lahore, a brazen raid that heightened fears among aid workers, diplomats and other foreigners already worried about militancy and anti-US sentiment in Pakistain. 
ISLAMABAD: On Pakistans 64th Independence Day on Sunday, 18 people were killed in bomb, gun and rocket attacks. A bomb attached to a timer ripped through a two-story hotel in Pakistan's southwestern Dera Allah Yar town of Balochistan province Sunday, reducing the building to rubble and killing 14 people, police said.
BAGHDAD: Two roadside bombs killed at least five Iraqi soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday in one of the most serious attacks on security forces in recent weeks, military and hospital officials said. One bomb exploded in a public square and then a second blast went off nearby as an army patrol arrived in the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya in the north of Baghdad, security officials said.
Najib Miqati
President-for-Life Bashir 
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah
David Cameron
BEIRUT: Five prisoners escaped a high-security Lebanese prison Saturday by scaling down the buildings walls with bed sheets before mixing with visiting relatives and walking out of the compound with them, the interior minister said.
