[Dawn] The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation was to hold an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Istanbul on Wednesday on the drought and famine ravaging the Horn of Africa.
The organization, which groups 57 Mohammedan countries and is currently chaired by a Turk, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, will discuss how to boost aid to the countries worst affected.
The meeting was requested by Turkey, which has mobilised to go to the aid of the victims.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to leave for the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday, with his wife and daughter, as well as Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, also accompanied by his family.
They are to oversee the distribution of Turkish aid in refugee camps.
Turkey has already sent three planes carrying dozens of tonnes of food and medical supplies for Somalis during the Mohammedan holy month of ramadan.
Turkish television channels have been screening footage of the catastrophe unfolding in Africa to help drum up aid.
More than 80 million euros has already been collected in various campaigns, including a marathon television broadcast headed up by top personalities in politics and cinema, the emergency situations' office said.
Since the arrival in power of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and moderate offshoot of a banned Islamist movement,
For that definition of moderate which really means gradualist...
Turkey has taken an increasing interest in Africa.
Ankara has been playing the role of regional leader and opened several embassies across the continent with the aim of finding new markets for products from the world's 17th biggest economy.
As a result of these initiatives, Turkey, Islam's main representative within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, also secured a seat as non-permanent member on the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... Security Council in 2009-2010.
Turkey is angling to repeat the feat in 2015-2016.
Somalia is the country hardest hit by a drought that has affected people around the Horn of Africa region.
UN officials have said some 12 million people are in danger of starvation.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2011 00:00 ||
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This is the third in a series of articles examining the claims of Kerry Kennedy of human rights abuses by the Mexican Military. You can read the last two reports here and here.
The latest news on the rape of Valentina Rosendo Cantu is that her case has been "kicked upstairs" to the federal level. See the Rantburg article here
By Chris Covert
Kerry Kennedy's June article for the Huffington Post mentioned three other cases in Guerrero of human rights abuses which are surprisingly actual human rights abuses. Disappointingly for her and her agenda, the Mexican Army was likely not the perpetrator in any of the crimes briefly recounted.
The two rapes of two different Indian women in Guerrero state in 2002 each within a month of the other, are instructive of how human rights agendas are pushed even though the likelihood of resolution is virtually nil. Although both cases have similarities, such as the accusation that Mexican Army personnel committed the rapes, the two cases could not be more different not only in how they took place, but also in how they were processed.
The only other similarity between the two cases is that neither victim in these crimes will probably ever see any legal resolution.
The Rape of Valentina Rosendo Cantu
Valentina Rosendo Cantu is a MeÂ’phaa Indian in the village of Caxitepec in Acatepec municipality in southern Guerrero.
On February 16th, 2002 she reported to her husband and to a village leader that she had been raped by soldiers on a nearby footpath. She said that about eight men dressed as Mexican soldiers and armed with rifles and one civilian encountered her at about 1400 hrs as she was taking her wash to a nearby stream. In a separate statement by her sister in law, Rosendo Cantu apparently described one element of the group of men she encountered as having been bound by his arms and was presumably a captive of the group of men.
Rosendo Cantu said the group surrounded her and began to question her about "hooded men". She was shown a photograph of an individual and was read aloud the names of 11 individuals and asked if she knew them. She denied she knew anyone. Rosendo Cantu was then struck with a rifle and knocked out briefly. The men then tied her arms. She was then violently stripped of her clothes and raped by four of the men. The report did not make clear if any of the rapists was the civilian.
She somehow managed to escape and make it back to her home where she reported the rape.
Two days later Rosendo Cantu went to a public clinic in Caxitepec where she was refused medical treatment or examination reportedly because the duty physician was afraid of the army. While it is not described in the IACHR report, it is clear Rosendo Cantu probably told the physician she had been raped by Mexican Army soldiers.
On February 26th, Rosendo Catu went to the Central Hospital in Ayutla, which is an eight hour walk, but she was turned back because she was told she had to have an appointment. The next day a physician performed an examination examining only at her stomach. She was told she could not get a more thorough examination because a female doctor was not available.
On March 8th, accompanied by her husband, Fidel Bernardino Sierra, and a local representative of a local human rights group Rosendo Cantu filed a rape complaint with the Allende Public Prosecutors service, namely Concepcion Barragan Alonso. On March 15th, Barragan Alonso was informed by the Guerrero state attorney general's office that the state did not have a specialist in gynecology, but ordered her to a general medical examination, which took place on March 19th.
The examining physician found two scars on Rosendo Cantu's person, one beneath her right eyelid, characterized as not recent and another on her left knee.
Rosendo Cantu's case was eventually referred to the state attorney general who referred it to the military on April 8th. Rosendo Cantu filed a juicio de amparo or writ of amparo, which is an appeal of a process on constitution grounds on the referral decision of April 8th and of a subsequent decision on May 24th to transfer her case from the local Allende Judicual district to the Morelos district. She lost both appeals on August 31st. Rosendo Catu then filed another amparo appeal against that decsion, which was also dismissed on November 12th.
On November 29th, Rosendo Cantu asked the Military Prosecution Service of the 35th Military Zone to decline from hearing her case. Her request was turned down. Rosendo Cantu filed an amparo suit against that decision which was dismissed April 29th, 2003 by a Guerreo state judge.
On December 11th, 2002, an inspector general with the Mexican National Human Right Commission told the Guerrero state attorney general office for military justice it was closing it case file on Rosendo Cantu on the ground there was no evidence Rosendo Cantu had been attacked by military personnel.
Although the report does not state it, the military did investigate Rosendo Cantu's allegation, including examination of the available statements from Rosendo Cantu and hearsay witnesses, statements from 108 military personnel on duty on the date in question, and a line-up of 50 military personnel from Operations Base Rios,which took place outside her home.
In a 2004 report on the Mexican Military and indigenous women Amnesty International said that local officials instead of conducting an impartial investigation of allegations of rapes, allow the military to "subvert" victims' demand for redress and complains that the burden of proof is on the victim. The report fails to describe how victims are "subverted".
Rape is one crime that always depends on the individual to prove. In the absence of witnesses, tissue sample and medical examinations,both very invasive personal processes are routinely used to conduct rape investigations.
Rape is also dissimilar to armed robbery, for example, where a number of potential witnesses can not only identify the perpetrator, but also can attest to the facts; rape is not the same as every other crime; it is deeply personal and personally devastating to the victim as well as socially disastrous crime both to the victim and to any alleged suspect.
From the start before the case wended its way to military jurisdiction, SEDENA said that no operations had taken place near the area where the alleged rape took place, and had no reports of soldiers who abandoned their post on that day. The press release also said that criminal gangs in the area will go to lengths to discredit work done by the army in the campaign against drug trafficking.
Amnesty International contended falsely in its report that the military justice system had already reached a conclusion. The report was critical that the military which, in the eyes of the Amnesty report writer has already reached a conclusion, was the agency which took over the investigation.
The report writer in detailing his sarcastic contention that a conclusion has been reached fail to note that the active narco gangs and leftist groups also wear military uniforms and carry rifles,and that Mexican Army and state police uniforms, badges patches and gear are routinely found in raids of drug traffickers.
Inasmuch as the military may have already reached its conclusion an investigation was conducted and concluded without anyone being identified.
Somehow in online reports of the incident by leftist and human right organizations say the the eight suspects in the rape of Rosendo Cantu were part of the Mexican 41st Infatry Battalion, subordinate to the 35th Military Zone. No reference to the 41st Infanrty Battalion were made in an element of the IAHCR reprot, but it was referred to in the Ines Fernandez Ortega rape case that took place a month later in another municipality. That charge incidentally was made well after the original statement was taken by Fernandez Ortega.
In the Inter-American Court of Human Rights report dated in 2009, the court ordered the Mexican government among other things, to completely investigate the rape case in civilian courts and to provide Rosendo Catu and her eight year old daughter with unspecified monetary compensation.
However, if the report by the IACHR report is accurate, and there is little reason to suspect it isn't, the civilian authorities did investigate the case with all the available information before turning it over to the military. With the lineup outside Rosendo Cantu's home of nearly half a rifle company, it is hard to see what more investigative authorities could do even in civilian courts.
It is hard to imagine a more painful conclusion for the rape of Rosendo Cantu than to find her attackers have escaped justice by a combination of judicial incompetence and a lack of evidence, but it is even harder to understand how allegations, disproven to the extent of the known facts, can continue to be pressed, irresponsibly in this case, by Kerry Kennedy.
A legal procedure placing two high profile rape cases in Mexican federal legal system marks the beginning of a new era for human rights cases involving the Mexican military.
The Procuradur"a General de Justicia Militar (PGJM) Tuesday declared its lack of competence in two criminal cases potentially involving Mexican military personnel, placing human rights cases current under military jurisdiction into federal civil courts, according to a Mexican news release.
The lack of competence declaration means that a case can no longer be properly processed at the level it was and it being "kicked upstairs" to a high level, in the case the federal level. The case will now receive the resources of the Mexican national government.
While the referral of rape cases of Ines Fernandez Ortega and Valertina Rosendo Cantu will likely receive accolades from human rights organizations both nationally and in Mexico, both cases face several obstacles before they can realize any legal resolution.
A July 12th decision of the Mexican Supreme Court said that criminal cases potentially involving Mexican military personnel would no longer be referred to a local military authority, but instead would require local civil authorities to investigate and prosecute. The decision at the time was framed as a requirement of all legal authorities from the local level up to the federal level. To read Rantburg reports on the Mexican Supreme Court decision of July 12th, click here, here and here.
In criminal cases which potentially involve military personnel, referring those cases to a local military legal service has been de riguer since at least 1994 at the start of the Chiapas Conflict. Local and state prosecutors upon hearing Mexican military personnel were suspected in criminal cases would refer those case to the military or at least self declare lack of competence to get the case to a level where the case would be referred to military investigators.
In the rape case of Rosendo Cantu in Guerrero state, despite repeated jucios de amparos, or procedural appeals, the case was referred to a local military investigator service, where the case was investigated. Eventually the military dismissed and closed the case in 2004, while the Mexican Human Rights Commission closed their file on the ground of lack of evidence.
The Mexican Supreme Court decision left many questions unanswered, such as what procedures would be in place in the event of criminal cases potentially involving military personnel, but with the latest move by the PGR, a starting place for human rights cases that have made it to the Inter American Court of Human Rights has been found.
The Supreme Court decision has been heatedly criticized by top Mexican military officials, who claim that 98 percent of human rights cases they receive referrals on are unfounded. One unnamed field general called most of the cases "jokes". The military fears that the new decision will spark an avalanche of spurious charges that could conceivable clog the Mexican courts system at all levels, and could tie up military personnel answering to unfounded charges.
Human rights groups and activists have long maintained that the military is in most cases unmotivated to properly conduct an impartial criminal investigation, which is a charge that is unfounded, and is meant to denigrate the professionalism of Mexican military justice. Since 2005, the Secretaria Defensa Nacional (SEDENA),for example,has maintained a human rights department which investigates human rights claims and makes recommendations for prosecution.
In cases in which evidence of criminal activity has been found SEDENA has vigorously prosecuted,convicted and sentenced individuals responsible for criminal acts while in uniform. An very good example of that would be the case of Captain Nunez in 2010, who along with four men in his rifle squad, was convicted of murder of two members of a family in Nuevo Leon. To read the Rantbrug report on the September 5th shooting of civilians in Nuevo Leon, click here
The case of Rosendo Cantu is a study in local Mexican courts sheer ineptness in pursuing a criminal case. It was not until the military prosecutor with the Mexican 35th Military Zone went to work that the victim was presented with a line up at as many as 50 potential suspects. The statements of 108 soldiers in the nearest camp including the camp commander were taken. No identification of a suspect was made by Rosendo Cantu, and because of local medical service foul ups, no tissue samples or vaginal swabs were taken either from the victim or her clothing. Despite procedural delays brought by Rosendo Cantu in fighting the referral to the military, the investigation was complete within months, even though the procedural resolutions were complete more than a year after the rape.
Even with the full force of federal resources it is unlikely the rape of Rosendo Cantu, even with an identified suspect will ever see a resolution because of the lack of evidence and witnesses.
A potential procedural pitfall for the rape case is a statement made of chief justice Juan Silva who attempted to walk back the decision the following day by saying federal judges would have complete discretion as to disposal of a criminal case involving the military. It is entirely possible a federal judge could throw the case right back into the face of federal prosecutors due to a lack of evidence and to the presence of exculpatory evidence.
Despite the glaring deficiencies created by the civilian legal system human rights groups and activists such as Kerry Kennedy continue to insist on justice, albeit without specifying what form that could take.
AFP - Russian security services have foiled a plot by a group of Islamists to blow up a high-speed train running between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. A blast on the same route that authorities blamed on Mohammedan rebels killed 26 people in November 2009.
The respected business daily Kommersant said the group of North Caucasus-based bully boyz had already prepared a fertiliser bomb and were in the closing stages of their operation when they were incarcerated by Federal Security Service ... the successor to the KGB... (FSB) agents.
FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov on July 18 reported to President Dmitry Medvedev that his service had averted a "major terror act" in the Moscow region in the preceding days. Mr Bortnikov added at the time that bully boyz had plans to target public places and "transport infrastructure" in the Moscow region.
Russia is battling a Mohammedan insurgency in the North Caucasus, and suicide and other attacks have returned to the Russian capital in recent years. A jacket wallah from the North Caucasus killed 37 people at Russia's busiest airport in January. Two female suicide bombers from that region killed 40 and maimed dozens on the underground during morning rush hour last year. Russia's leading Islamist rebel, Doku Count Doku Umarov ... Self-styled first emir of the Caucasus Emirate. Count Doku has announced that his forces will not target civilians, but qualified that statement by saying there aren't any civilians in Russia... , in February vowed to make 2011 "a year of blood and tears" and has claimed most recent attacks.
Background: July 18, 2011, Issa and Grassley sent letter with questions to be answered by Holder. July 21, 2011, Holder responses.
August 16, 2011, Issa and Grassley reply, outlining all the details, question by question that Holder ignored, was vague, etc.
At the link, the questions are at the end of the document. This letter is a jewel -- IMHO,Issa and Grassley aren't going away. Issa says they are working from the bottom up. Two more hearing before the end of the year.
It's in PDF form and I can't convert -- but the letter is worth the read if you are following Project Gunwalker.
#3
I know zip about the law and prosecutorial (Sp?) procedures but I get the feeling Issa and Grassley are feeding the DoJ and Holder the rope he will hang himself with and documenting every inch of rope as it feeds out.
#4
I agree tipover -- I'm following this thing closely -- and they are moving up by inches up that rope.. I'm thinking March, April indictments would be just fine.
Issa says he has four investigators working this one investigation. Professional and thorougher he called them.
#5
Wouldn't a zero-ed out budget line for the DOJ in the next House budget submission be a subtle attention getter? Maybe pry a little info out of Holder's holdouts?
The following statement is from Scot Thomasson, chief, Public Affairs Division, Office of Public and Governmental Affairs, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF):
"Recent media reports have inaccurately characterized personnel changes involving ATF agents associated with the Fast and Furious operation as promotions. Special Agents Voth, Newell and McMahon were laterally transferred from operational positions and moved into administrative roles, they were not promoted. They did not receive salary or grade increases nor did they assume positions with greater responsibility.
On May 13, 2011, Deputy Assistant Director McMahon, Field Operations was reassigned to a position within the Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations back filling a position that had been vacant for over a year. His transfer was one of six other transfers announced on that day involving various other positions.
On August 1, 2011, Special Agent Newell, who had been selected as Country Attache Mexico City, was reassigned to the Office of Management to assist with the OIG investigation and Congressional inquiry.
Furthermore, Special Agent Voth was reassigned to a headquarters position, a lateral move into a program area.
These transfers/reassignments have never been described as promotions in any of the documents announcing them."
reassigned to a position within the Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations
would be like putting a criminal in the DA's office
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/18/2011 12:50 Comments ||
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#2
No, this actually makes more sense. When I went to bureaucrats' school (I did, honest), one of the techniques recommended when you had a highly placed manager who was an embarassment for whatever reason, was to move them laterally to a position where they couldn't do anymore harm, like Ass't Director for Special Projects - meaning count paper clips and keep your damn head down.
#3
And if you want to keep an eye on a weak link, what better dept to put him in than the headhunters? Just 'cause he has a "position" there, doesn't mean he actually has a job.
#6
If you have a highly placed manager "who is an embarrassment for any reason", why is said manager still employed? If that position to which they've been Limogered* is paid at all, it should be a significant pay cut.
One of the bosses in the company I worked for (way back in the 70s) was a former Chicago City Hall Payroller. We'll call this fellow Ricky. Ricky's patron had gotten the boot, and at 27, Ricky's resume said he'd worked for the Chicago Dept of (something or other). What that really meant is that he'd sat with his feet on his desk when he showed up at all. Ricky's incompetence cost the company a bundle. He got demoted to salesman at a damaged goods outlet store.
*Limogere (verb, French; courtesy of JFM) In WWI, France discovered that they had so many generals who didn't know what end of the gun was up that they sent a batch of them to "protect" Limoges, which was way behind enemy lines and where their incompetence couldn't do any further damage.
RALEIGH, N.C. - Five North Carolina men accused of forming a local ring to plot Islamic holy war attacks entered not guilty pleas in federal court on Monday.
The men were among a group first indicted in 2009 for conspiracy to carry out acts of terrorism, including training for and seeking to commit attacks in places like Kosovo, Jordan and the Gazoo Strip.
The five who entered pleas on Monday are scheduled to stand trial in United States District Court in mid-September.
Firearms from the ATF's Operation Fast and Furious weapons trafficking investigation turned up at the scenes of at least 11 violent crimes in the U.S., as well as at a Border Patrol agent's slaying in southern Arizona last year, the Justice Department has acknowledged to Congress.
The department did not provide details about the crimes. But The Times has learned that they occurred in several Arizona cities, including Phoenix, where Fast and Furious was managed, as well as in El Paso, where a total of 42 weapons from the operation were seized at two scene of the crimes.
The new numbers, which expand the scope of the danger the program posed to U.S. citizens over a 14-month period, are contained in a letter that Justice Department officials turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month.
In the letter, obtained by The Times on Tuesday, Justice Department officials also reported that Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials advised them that the agency's acting director, Kenneth E. Melson, "likely became aware" of the operation as early as December 2009, a month after it began.
Melson has said he did not learn about how the operation was run until January of this year, when it was canceled.
The July 22 letter, signed by Assistant Atty. Gen. Ronald Weich, was sent to Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was in response to questions posed to the Justice Department about Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. and the weapons operation.
The program was intended to identify Mexican narco mob leaders and smuggling routes across the border by allowing illegal purchases of firearms and tracking the weapons. Instead, many of the guns vanished.
Weich said that although the "ATF does not have complete information" on all of the lost guns, "it is our understanding that ATF is aware of 11 instances" beyond the Border Patrol agent's killing where a Fast and Furious firearm "was recovered in connection with a crime of violence in the United States."
Justice Department officials did not provide any more details about the crimes or how many guns were found.
But a source close to the controversy, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation, said that as early as January 2010, just after the operation began, weapons had turned up at scene of the crimes in Phoenix, Nogales, Douglas and Glendale in Arizona, and in El Paso. The largest haul was 40 weapons at one scene of the crime in El Paso.
In all, 57 of the operation's weapons were recovered at those six scene of the crimes, in addition to the two seized where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed.
Weich's letter also said a total of 1,418 firearms were circulated under the program. How many remain missing in the U.S. and Mexico is unclear. The total is considerably lower than earlier estimates, when authorities said that at least 2,000 guns had vanished.
[Dawn] Director General of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Tehsin Anwar Shah submitted his resignation to secretary establishment on Wednesday, DawnNews reported. "That does it! I quit!"
Earlier, Anwar had tendered his resignation in the Supreme Court (SC) during the hearing of the National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) scam case, citing that he could not work under a junior. "I'm outta here!"
Tehsin said that he belonged to the same cadre but being Director General (DG) of FIA and according to the traditions he could not work as a member of the team headed by his subordinate Additional Director General of Zafar Qureshi, who is probing the NICL scam. "This is what my back looks like!"
Responding to Shah, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said that he should tender his resignation before the competent authority and advised him to continue investigation of the case. "Tut tut, my good man! Calm yourself! Here, have a cigar..."
Earlier on Tuesday, the court had ordered Shah to allow officers from Qureshi's team to rejoin the probe. Moreover, the court had directed Shah to associate himself with the team to facilitate the probe.
The three-member bench comprising the Chief Justice, Justice Amir Hani Mohammedan and Justice Ghulam Rabbani resumed hearing of the suo moto case of NICL.
Tehsin Anwar said that a case had been registered against the person for creating a bomb hoax at FIA office in Lahore.
However, Denver is the capital of Colorado... Assistant Director Security Khawaja Hammad informed the court the Director Waqar Haider asked him to stop Zafar Qureshi from entering the office at all costs. He was asked to adopt suitable measures that Mr Qureshi may not attend the office.
The SC directed Hammad to give the same statement to police as well as in written form and a copy of the same to hand over to Director FIA Lahore Waqar Haider.
The Chief Justice remarked that Waqar Haider was creating hurdles in implementing the court's orders.
However, ars longa, vita brevis... Waqar Haider told the court that he had not given any directive to Hammad regarding bomb hoax or to prevent Mr Qureshi's entry into FIA building.
The members of Qureshi's team also appeared before the court.
Javed Shah, member of the investigation team, told the court that all the files of NICL case had been handed over to them by the FIA and they had started investigation.
The Chief Justice asked the investigation team to inform the court if they feel any pressure and do investigation without any fear.
Dr Babar Awan appeared before the court as a counsel of Moonis Elahi, and apprised that Zafar Qureshi had made a statement that Chaudhrys of Gujrat threatened to kill him.
Questioning the neutrality of Qureshu, he said that having a personal grudge against the accused he could not remain neutral in the NICL case.
He said "I have faith in all the team members except Zafar Qureshi" and pleaded for the hearing of his application.
However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... the Chief Justice said that this application would be taken later and adjourned the hearing of the case till date in office.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... on Wednesday said education was the key to fight against ignorance, extremism and terrorism, therefore the government had taken a number of steps to promote educational facilities, both for boys and girls.
Addressing Islamabad Model Schools for Boys and Girls here at PM Staff Colony, after inaugurating the new buildings of these two institutions, he said: "We do have financial constraints but we are fully determined to promote educational facilities and it is at the top of the government's priorities."
Prime Minister Gilani said once the Mohammedans were at the top in the world, mainly due to their progress in education.
He said lack of education was the main cause of the downward trend of the Mohammedans.
He said education played a key role in the progress and prosperity of society and in keeping it united and making it stronger.
"After the 18th Amendment, education has become a provincial subject, but the federal government is still making sincere efforts and contributing a lot to the improvement of educational facilities in the country," he said.
Prime Minister Gilani said the federal government had been in consultation with the chief ministers to have a coordinated, correlated and unified system of education throughout the country for providing equal opportunities to the students.
He said education was important for the progress and prosperity of the country, and added that illiteracy was the root-cause of extremism and terrorism.
He said the youth of Pakistain was dynamic, energetic and intelligent but they just needed good opportunities and facilities to groom their talent.
"We should not underestimate our youth...they have the talent and they could project the name of the country and their parents in the world," Prime Minister Gilani said.
He said the government will take important decisions to promote education and special emphasis will be given on teachers training and creating harmony among the teachers and parents to improve educational facilities.
He said the youth had proved it that they could play important roles in any difficulty and challenge whether it was the earthquake, the floods or against extremism.
Prime Minister Gilani said extremism, terrorism and ignorance were the main hurdles in the country's progress and only promotion of education could provide a solid force to face these challenges.
He said those who are destroying schools, hospitals, attacking security officials and innocent people were not loyal to the country and education could effectively change their attitude and behaviours.
Referring to the 51 per cent female population, Prime Minister Gilani assured that the government would ensure equal opportunities in education and other fields for the women.
"Students are an asset for the country...not liabilities," he said, adding that despite financial constraints, the government was providing funds for the education sector.
Prime Minister Gilani said the government had also been taking steps for the improvement of educational institutions and referred to the decision taken by him to declare all educational institutions in the federal capital as model schools and colleges to improve the standard of these institutions.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2011 00:00 ||
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HT AOSHQ sidebar
Israel's largest daily newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, reported on Wednesday that the Obama Administration is threatening Israel to either apologize to Turkey over its bloody interception of a Gaza aid flotilla last year, or risk strained ties with Washington.
Israeli diplomats in Washington told the newspaper that they had received a communique from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisting that the rift between Israel and Turkey was harming American interests in the region, such as affecting regime change in neighboring Syria Boy howdy. Those vigorous efforts at regime change in Syria? A frankly worded communique? Tell Hill and Zero to f*ck off. They are short-termers and need the Jooo vote next year. Call the Erdogan thug/Islamist regime for what it is and DON'T apologize
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/18/2011 12:51 ||
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The indirect talks brokered by Egypt between Hamas and Israel over reaching a prisoner-swap deal that would secure the release of Gilad Schalit were postponed indefinitely, Al Hayat reported Thursday.
According to the report, Egypt will work in the coming weeks to formulate a compromise between the parties that would allow for a completion of the deal.
An "Egyptian source" told Al Hayat that thee Palestinian delegation, led by Hamas's political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal, seemed confident about the Schalit deal, and said that Hamas supported its completion and implementation.
The indirect talks brokered by Egypt between Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and Israel over reaching a prisoner-swap deal that would secure the release of Gilad Schalit were postponed indefinitely, Al Hayat reported Thursday.
According to the report, Egypt will work in the coming weeks to formulate a compromise between the parties that would allow for a completion of the deal.
An "Egyptian source" told Al Hayat that thee Paleostinian delegation, led by Hamas's political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal, seemed confident about the Schalit deal, and said that Hamas supported its completion and implementation.
...According to the public prosecutor's office's investigation, 'Mossad agent Ofir Harrari' instructed Jordanian Ibrahim abu-Zaid to set up a company in Egypt which would exclusively import an Israeli hair product, for both men and women, which causes infertility. This in order to completely destroy Egyptian reproduction abilities.
[Straits Times] Indonesia says it has shaved two months off the five-year prison sentence of a convicted terrorist who was added this week to a US blacklist.
Each Independence Day, Indonesia reduces sentences of inmates who have completed at least a third of their time. This year 53,400 inmates are eligible, including 26-year-old Muhammad Jibriel Abdul Rahman, who calls himself the 'Prince of Jihad' on his web site.
Prison official I Wayan Sukerta says Jibriel will get two months off his five-year sentence begun in August 2009. He was convicted of terrorism after authorities said he met with conspirators in 2009 Jakarta hotel bombings that killed seven people.
Jibriel was among five people added on Tuesday to a US blacklist of bully boyz who face financial sanctions.
This article starring:
Muhammad Jibriel Abdul Rahman
Jemaah Islamiyah
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
So, Five years (less two months for now) for the cold blooded murder of seven innocent civilians?
Yes folks, Indonesia sure is tough on terrorism.
Why just a few years ago they were about to execute (as in death sentence) some christian parents for the mistake of inviting their chidren's muslim friends to an easter party.
That show's how 'tough' Indonesia is on Islamic Terrorism.
Posted by: CrazyFool in the Philippines ||
08/18/2011 7:53 Comments ||
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#2
or get caught with a little hash. your ass has had it.
Posted by: chris ||
08/18/2011 22:24 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] European countries, the United States and Kuwait will ask the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... ' top human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... body to hold a special session on the human rights situation in Syria, diplomats told Agence La Belle France Presse Wednesday.
"We will submit the request (Wednesday) evening to convene a special session of the Human Rights Council on Monday," according to one European diplomat who wished to remain anonymous.
Another diplomat told AFP that more than 20 countries had signed the request, including European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... countries, the United States and Kuwait, in excess of the third of the Council's 47 members needed to convene a special session.
Both officials said the special session would aim at condemning Syria's actions and call for an investigation into the regime's deadly crackdown on demonstrators, as was the case during a previous special session held on April 29.
On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council will also hold a special session on Syria, with the participation of the U.N.'s Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay.
Rights groups say Syria's crackdown on protestors has killed 1,827 civilians since mid-March, while 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... says 416 security force members have also died fighting "armed terrorists."
U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci told AFP that although the U.N. still had not received a request for the special rights session, it would "most likely" come on Wednesday.
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[An Nahar] Al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... movement stressed on Wednesday it will not remain silent over any rhetoric that affects it, noting that Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem's ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... accusations don't serve soothing the political and sectarian tension in Leb.
High-ranking sources in al-Mustaqbal told As Safir newspaper that Qassem's stance is probably to express the tension that the party is going through after the release of the international tribunal's indictment.
The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday described the latest remarks by Qassem as "a desperate, futile attempt at accusing others of" his party's own deeds.
He accused Sunday the Mustaqbal movement of being a "militia," saying that it does not want to recognize Leb as a country of diverse sects.
The sources told the daily that Hizbullah and Iran have to anticipate the appropriate answers when attacking others.
"Iran adopted the point of view of a certain Lebanese team (concerning the Special Tribunal for Leb probing the liquidation of ex-PM Rafik Hariri), thus becoming part of the internal strife over this issue," the sources said.
The Iranian foreign ministry slammed on Tuesday as "illegitimate" allegations about Tehran's involvement in the murder of Hariri, saying that "the STL that functions based on political objectives has no legal value."
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. condemned Iran's position, noting that it is "exactly" like Hizbullah's.
He said in a statement: "The Iranian position is an integral part of a policy aimed at limiting the STL's work and preventing justice from being achieved."
Sources told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that escalating the situation between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal is affecting the local situation that became completely linked to the developments in Syria.
The sources didn't rule out the possibility that Hizbullah's Chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah might tackle the conflict between the two parties during Wednesday's speech.
They said that calming down the situation is difficult, attributing the causes of this to the obstacles that face resuming the national dialogue called for by President Michel Suleiman and the absence of any mediators to limit the tension between them.
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The head of the Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... bloc former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora noted on Wednesday that the information published in the indictment in the Special Tribunal for Leb presents strong and solid evidence of the involvement of the four Hizbullah members suspected in the liquidation of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
He said in statement: "We are not seeking Dire Revenge™, but we want to achieve justice."
"The indictment is not a final verdict as the suspects still have the opportunity to defend and exonerate themselves," he added.
Furthermore, Saniora noted that the publication of the indictment demonstrates the seriousness of the investigation in Hariri's liquidation.
"The publication is a reassuring message to the Lebanese that the liquidation of the country's leaders will no longer be an easy feat and it will no longer take place without punishment," stressed the former premier.
"The criminal and murderer will be uncovered and those who killed Leb's leaders will be found, tried, and punished," he added.
Addressing the suspects and those protecting them, he said: "They are still considered innocent, but their escape from justice strongly indicates their guilt."
The indictment has accused four Hizbullah members of being involved in the Hariri liquidation.
The party has repeatedly declared that it will not cooperate with the STL, deeming it an American and Israeli product.
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[An Nahar] Russia is continuing to supply weapons to Syria despite international pressure to cease trading, the head of the arms export agency told journalists on Wednesday.
"While no sanctions are announced, while there are no orders or directions from the government, we are obliged to fulfil our contractual obligations, which we are now doing," Rosoboronexport chief Anatoly Isaikin said.
Speaking at the MAKS international airshow outside Moscow, he said that Russia supplied Syria with Yak-130 jet trainers and military hardware.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Philander C. Knox ... last week urged Russia to stop selling arms to 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... in order to step up pressure on Syrian 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... to end his government's brutal crackdown on protests.
In an interview with CBS News, Clinton suggested that China and India impose energy sanctions on Syria and that Russia should cease selling weapons to its long-term trading partner.
"We want to see Russia cease selling arms to the Assad regime," Clinton said.
Russia this month backed a UN Security Council statement condemning "the widespread violations of human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities," although it refused to support firmer sanctions.
Russia has kept close ties with Syria for decades and remains one of its most important arms suppliers.
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[An Nahar] Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. called on Wednesday Hizbullah to sever ties with the suspects in the liquidation of former Premier Rafik Hariri, urging it to take "an historic stand" to cooperate with the Special Tribunal for Leb.
He said in a statement: "Hizbullah and its chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah should put an end to the policy of evading the STL, cooperate with the tribunal, and hand over the suspects in order to ensure the establishment of a fair trial."
"Now that STL Prosecutor Judge Daniel Bellemare has submitted the sufficient evidence to commence the trial period, all sorts of political and media outrage over the tribunal must end," he added.
"Justice will provide stability for our people and protect Leb," he noted.
"What kind of diabolical thinking could have taken over the minds of the suspects to commit such a crime and drag Leb onto a terrible and bloody road that killed a number of Leb's political, national, and intellectual elite?" Hariri asked.
"No matter how great the intimidation and threats, nothing will be able to thwart justice and we repeat our pledge that justice will not be employed to achieve Dire Revenge™," he stressed.
On the Lebanese government's position in the STL, the former premier said: "The rhetoric of attempting to outsmart the public ... and attempts to escape responsibility in capturing the suspects will no longer work and these matters will only portray the government as failing to cooperate with the tribunal."
"The indictment and all the accompanying evidence are too overwhelming to be outmaneuvered," Hariri concluded.
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[Dawn] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Henry Clay ... said Tuesday that Turkey, Soddy Arabia and other governments should call on Syrian 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... to step down, but declined to make that call herself.
"It's not going to be any news if the United States says Assad needs to go," Clinton said, suggesting the world's reaction to such a move would be, "Ok, fine. What's next?" If Turkey says it, if King Abdullah (of Soddy Arabia) says it, if other people say it, there's no way the Assad regime can ignore it," Clinton said during an appearance with Defence Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, formerly head of the CIA. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... at the US National Defence University.
US officials said privately last week that the United States was preparing to explicitly urge Assad to quit power over his regime's deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests, but Clinton made clear Washington was now not ready to do so.
Indicating the Turks, Saudis and other regional powers have more influence on Syria, Clinton said "we don't have very much going on with Syria because of the long history of challenging problems with that."
When pressed on whether President Barack B.O. Obama's administration should demand that Assad step down, Clinton replied: "I am a big believer in results over rhetoric."
She said the US diplomatic approach toward Syria amounts to "smart power," noting such an approach is an alternative to using brute force and unilateralism.
"It's being smart enough to say, 'you know what, we want a bunch of people singing out of the same hymn book.'"
The B.O. regime has been working with the international community to ratchet up pressure on Assad, who has been deaf to growing calls to stop a crackdown that human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... groups say has killed more than 2,000 people since mid-March.
Clinton sought to deflect suggestions that the United States was taking a back seat to other countries.
"We are leading, but part of leading is making sure you get other people on the field," she said.
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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.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation was to hold an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Istanbul on Wednesday on the drought and famine ravaging the Horn of Africa.
Doku 
Director General of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Tehsin Anwar Shah submitted his resignation to secretary establishment on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.
Prime Minister 
[Straits Times] Indonesia says it has shaved two months off the five-year prison sentence of a convicted terrorist who was added this week to a US blacklist.
Hillary Clinton
President-for-Life Bashir 
Hillary Clinton
President-for-Life Bashir 
