[Al Ahram] A former Afghan lawmaker and district governor said Thursday he had defected to the Taliban as the Islamist hardliners seek to strengthen their influence before US-led combat troops withdraw next year.
Government officials confirmed that Qazi Abdul Hai had joined the rebels, but dismissed him as a low-level figure whose actions would have little impact.
"I am sure the Americans will be forced out soon and the Islamic Emirate will rule Afghanistan," Hai said, using the formal name of the Taliban, in a video released on the group's website.
"I consulted with elders, and they all encouraged me to join."
Hai was a senator in the upper house of parliament for the northern province of Sar-e Pol between 2004-08 and also served as a district governor.
"He defected to the Taliban after a trip to Pakistan some four months back," Mohammad Alam Ezedyar, deputy speaker of the upper house, told AFP.
"The reason could be concerns for his security. We have seen a targeted Taliban campaign assassinating government officials."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Can anyone explain to me why we are still there?
[MAGHAREBIA] Citizens are demanding the dissolution of the Libya Shield brigades in order to give the army a chance to secure the country.
They claim that not much has improved, even after General National Congress (GNC) President Nuri Abu Sahmein last month gave the body, which is comprised of irregular forces, the mandate to protect Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
Prime Minister Ali Zidan had also endorsed the group, declaring on June 20th: "The Shields have made significant and distinct efforts for the revolution and we do not want to deny them the honour to be stakeholders in nation-building".
Still, concerns remained about the Shields after the Kweifieh festivities. The June incident near Benghazi left more than 40 anti-militia protesters dead.
And the Shield's contribution is questionable, citizens say.
According to civil society activist Leila Maghrebi, there has been little improvement to security in the capital city since the arrival of the Shield brigades.
"We have not noticed their presence on the streets. There have already been several incidents, and they did not lift a finger," she said.
For journalist Fathi Ismail, Libyan authorities face a real challenge trying to rebuild the army, given the "proliferation of gangs often affiliated with the state, but only in form".
"Despite demands to activate security and military institutions, especially the army, and to incorporate civilians who took up arms against the Qadaffy regime", he said, not much has changed.
"That will take some time," Ismail said.
Political analyst Omar Keddy said that "the creation of the Shields was one of those failed solutions that resulted in fattening even more the illegal militias".
"We must force all of them to hand over their weapons or force them to join the armed forces in a systematic manner," he told Magharebia.
Libya's difficulty in building an army is the fault of the "pseudo-rebels who stole the revolution", he said.
"In Tripoli especially, the number of 'rebels' after the revolution exceeds the number of rebels during the revolution," he said.
He noted that in eastern Libya, "Islamists dominated from the outset all military activities, because of their experience in Afghanistan, while liberals preferred to stand in front of the North Benghazi Court."
"We ended up as hostages to myrmidons, be they followers of radical Islam or followers of regional leaders," the analyst said.
"The solution lies in the return of the ordinary citizens who participated in the revolution to overthrow these militias," Keddy said.
"We have to organise ourselves as citizens with a collective spirit," the analyst said."You watch over me when I sleep and I will watch over you when you sleep, but we can't sleep all at the same time."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi have called for demonstrations on Friday after security forces raided a pro-Morsi area on the outskirts of Cairo.
The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, an Islamist grouping led by the Moslem BrĂĽderbund, said the protests would continue for a week under the slogan "Youth are pillar of the revolution" to mark the start of the new academic year.
Security forces raided the Islamist bastion of Kerdasa on Thursday to round up suspects accused of killing 11 coppers in the city last month.
A senior security officer was rubbed out and at least 10 coppers injured during the operation
The interior ministry said the raid would flush forces of Evil from the area.
It was the second such raid this week. On Monday, security forces rolled into Dalja in Upper Egypt's Minya governorate, which had been partially controlled by Islamist hardliners accused of burning churches and terrorising local Christians.
Egypt's interim government last week extended a state of emergency, in force since mid-August, by another two months amid continued political unrest.
On Thursday, a night-time curfew imposed in Cairo and 13 governorates was shortened to between 12am and 5am, except on Fridays when it will begin at 7pm.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[CHRON] French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... declared Thursday the war against Islamic bully boyz had been won in Mali, though he vowed to keep French forces in the West African country as long as the threat exists.
Hollande spoke before more than a dozen heads of state at inauguration festivities for Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who overwhelmingly won the election that La Belle France urged Mali to hold only months after the radical jihadists had been largely ousted from power in northern Mali.
"We have won this war; we have chased out the terrorists; we have secured the north and finally ... we have, you have organized an uncontested election and the winner is now the president of Mali," Hollande told the crowd gathered at a sports stadium in the Malian capital.
"If there had not been an intervention, today the gunnies would be here in Bamako," he said.
Later at a news conference held in Mali's capital, Hollande pledged that French forces would continue to aid the Malian military "so long as the threat exists." He also vowed to continue pursuing the six kidnapped Frenchies who are being held by al-Qaeda's North Africa branch.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[AnNahar] Visiting EU special envoy Bernardino Leon said Thursday a political reconciliation in Egypt was necessary even if "extremely difficult" following Islamist president Mohammed Morsi's ouster.
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was deposed on July 3 by the powerful army which installed a government that has launched a massive crackdown on his supporters and his Moslem BrĂĽderbund.
At least 1,000 people have been killed in the campaign and over 2,000 placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! , including most of the Islamist movement's leadership.
Leon met with both government officials including foreign minister Nabil Fahmy and Moslem BrĂĽderbund members, among them Amr Darrag, an international cooperation minister under Morsi.
Both sides said "we have to go back to an inclusive process," Leon told news hounds on the second day of his visit.
Leon has been in Cairo several times as part of international efforts to mediate between the authorities and the Brotherhood whose supporters set up two massive protest camps in Cairo.
On August 14, security forces dispersed the camps in a bloody crackdown that left hundreds dead.
"As friends, we try to support the process, we are not trying to teach any lessons," Leon said.
"We feel the international community and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... can play a role to support the Egyptians while they are facing these challenges," he said.
Leon stressed that the lack of trust on both sides "is deeper than one month ago."
"I think reconciliation is absolutely necessary, so it has to be possible, even if it looks extremely difficult," he added.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... he saw signs of hope. "All my interlocutors insisted on the need to go back to an inclusive process," Leon said.
But he was unsure whether Darrag was mandated to represent the Brotherhood or if the movement could make decisions "as many of their leaders have been locked away Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! The army has laid out a roadmap which includes the drafting of a new constitution, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in an all-inclusive democratic process.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
Kidnapping and extortion reports increased by double digits in the first eight months of the Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto's administration, according to a news account posted on AnimalPolitico.com.
Going by data sent to the Mexican Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Publica (SNSP) by state attorneys general, increases in both crimes have been posted in nearly every month since the start of President Pena's term in December 2012.
Such an increase in crime hasn't made it to Mexican press since December 2012 because of the clampdown on crime news, sometimes voluntary and often involuntary as it relates to Mexico pervasive organized crime problem.
According to the report, statistics compiled for the period December 2011 through July 2012 in the former Felipe Calderon administration and the same period in the Peña administration indicates that kidnappings increased by 223 total, 809 in the previous year to 1,032 in the current period.
The increase is 27.5 percent.
Going by the graphics provided in the report, month for month increases have been posted for every month in 2013 over 2012.
Similarly for the crime of extortion, increases have been posted for every month save one, June, 2013, when three fewer cases of extortion were reported, 676 versus 679.
That increase is 17.5 percent with 794 more cases from 2012 to 2013.
Mexican government officials have disputed the claims, saying that the increase is due to the federal government's campaign encouraging citizens to report kidnappings and extortion.
Secretaria de Gobernacion or interior ministry spokesman, Eduardo Sanchez, is quoted in the article saying that kidnapping gangs have been dismantled and many kidnapping victims have been released, which is what is shown in the data. Eduardo Sanchez also admitted that the statistics do show an increase in the crime of kidnapping and extortion.
Francisco Rivas, of the Observatorio Nacional Ciudadano, disputes the government claims saying if anything the increase shows a small part of a larger crime problem. Citizens do not always report kidnapping and extortion and an increase in crime statistics would indicate that the crime has increased dramatically.
"There are no indicators," said Francisco Rivas, to back up the government's claim.
Before the clampdown on crime news took place last spring, Mexican press reports indicated that ordinary citizens also suffer from virtual kidnapping, where a victim is telephoned and told to pay money to prevent an actual kidnapping. Citizens have responded by simply not answering their phones.
Kidnapping and extortion are also a means local crime groups have of funding local operations.
Nationwide, kidnappings have more than tripled since the start of the Calderon administration, going from 436 in the first full year of President Calderon's administration to 1,344 in 2011, the last full year of the Calderon administration, and the high water mark for the Calderon years.
Going by current statistics, at the current rate kidnappings nationwide could come close to 1,300, the lowest level since 2010, when 1,236 kidnappings were reported.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. His latest work of non-fiction, The Wounded Eagle: Volume 2 went on sale September 1st at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com.
Worried about possible threats to regime stability from North Korean children educated abroad, Pyongyang has ordered its diplomats and state trading company officials stationed overseas to send their children back to the North, an expert on the secretive regime says. Kansai University Prof. Lee Young Hwa said the order was the first of its kind passed under the NorthÂ’s young leader Kim Jong Un, according to information he received from a North Korean trading official in China. The order, with a deadline set for the end of September, allows only one child per household to stay with each official abroad.
Earlier this week, South Korean and other media reported that the teenage daughter of a top public security official in Pyongyang had defected to the South via a third country. The reports said the girl, who was studying at a university in Beijing and was identified only by her surname Han, was now undergoing screening in Seoul by intelligence authorities. The case drew attention as a defection by a member of North KoreaÂ’s privileged elite is rare.
#1
IMO it has more to do wid overlord China's still-expanding escalations agz JAPAN, + also the PHIL + INDIA.
When the shooting between Beijing + Tokyo begins, new US Ambassador to Nippon CAROLINE KENNEDY will be in the forefront of something more dangerous to the US than Syria or even Iran.
Not since Mao-led China's Yalu intervention back in 1950, + NO AMOUNT OF CONTEMPORARY "RUST" = OPERATIONAL DEFICIENCY(S) IN THE POST-YEAR 2000, POST-9-11 PLA WILL STOP THE FIGHTING UNTIL "POST-US" CHINA ACHIEVES ITS OBJECTIVES IN EAST ASIA + PACIFIC.
Again, HIGH = PROHIBITIVE PLA CASUALTIES does NOT compute wid Beijing.
The mobile courts will encourage tribesmen to abandon the so-called Sharia courts established by the Taliban in tribal areas, officials say. Sher Akbar, 43, of Raghangan village in Salarzai Tehsil, Bajaur Agency, could not hide his excitement when a mobile court of local administrative officials and a jirga of tribal elders ruled in his favour.
Bajaur Political Agent Jabbar Shah September 2 announced the creation of mobile courts – where court teams rotate from one public building, such as schools and hospitals, to another – in the agency. They're meant to provide cheap and speedy justice and to discourage Bajaur tribesmen from taking their cases to the so-called Sharia courts established by the Taliban in parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
[Dawn] Pakistain on Thursday raised the issue of American drone strikes in its tribal regions at the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Security Council, calling for their cessation and seeking "urgent" talks to resolve the problem.
"Drone strikes infringe our illusory sovereignty, violate international law, including international human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... and humanitarian law, cause civilian casualties and are detrimental to the combined efforts to fight terrorism," Ambassador Masood Khan told the 15-nation council during a discussion on the situation in Afghanistan.
"Pakistain is facilitating the Afghan reconciliation process, but progress is attainable only if all stakeholders share the goals of the grinding of the peace processor," Ambassador Masood Khan said.
"We need to pursue this goal together, with unity of purpose," the Pak envoy said.
Noting that Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... had called attention to the adverse consequences of the use of armed drones, the Pak ambassador said: "We call for cessation of drone strikes. Urgent and intense dialogue can help resolve this issue."
In relation to the issue of drone strikes, Ambassador Zamir Akram, Permanent Representative of Pakistain to the UN in Geneva, had stated that Pakistain, a primary target of drone attacks, had suffered a heavy loss of innocent lives apart from widespread social and economic costs.
While addressing the opening session of the 24th Human Rights Council, he had said that in recent years, there had been severe human rights violations across the globe, as a result of indiscriminate use of force in the context of counter-terrorism efforts.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistain should get a nut-punch for their shameless hypocrisy, every time they say this BS
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2013 7:45 Comments ||
Top||
#2
If they took control of the tribal regions and eliminated the Taliban/Haqqani network there would be no need for drones.
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/20/2013 11:29 Comments ||
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#3
Agreed. But that would put a serious dent in Pakistan's foreign policy.
#5
I agree, I was more envisioning a guy gliding onto the Press Conference dais and doing a great uppercut every time these dickheads pretend they're sovereign, control their pet terrorists, don't regularly send terror squads to destabilize their neighbors in an illusory effort to be more than a failed state
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2013 22:12 Comments ||
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The International Criminal Court called on the United States on Wednesday to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he travels to next week's U.N. General Assembly in New York.
The request comes after Sudan said on Tuesday it had applied for a U.S. visa for Bashir, who is sought by the court on suspicion of masterminding war crimes in Darfur. Washington said it had received the application and called the request “deplorable”. However, the United States is not a member of the Hague-based ICC so would not be legally bound to cooperate.
Nonetheless, Washington has led calls for Bashir to face international justice over the bloodshed in the now decade-old conflict in the western region of Darfur and has transferred suspects to the ICC before.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Israel's alleged nuclear weapons stockpile only serves to make the Jewish state "a target" and creates "foreign policy problems."
Putin's comments, reported by AFP, came in response to questions from reporters on the US and Russia-brokered deal to put Syria's chemical weapons arsenal under international supervision.
According to AFP, Putin said that Syria had developed chemical weapons "as an alternative to the nuclear weapons of Israel."
The Russian president claimed that "the technical advantage of Israel -- we need to say this directly -- is such that it doesn't need nuclear weapons. Israel is already in a technical military sense several heads above the countries in the region."
Putin added that "nuclear weapons just make it a target. They just create foreign policy problems." Maybe they just want enough deterrence to be a living target instead of a dead one?
The chemical weapons deal with Syria has increased pressure on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. How so? It's not as if any of the people who hate Israel now are going to like it if it signs it.
Some 190 states have joined the NPT, whose goal is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.
Of the world's nuclear powers, only four have not joined the treaty. Of these, India, Pakistan and North Korea have all openly tested nuclear weapons. Israel continues with its policy of nuclear ambiguity.
Israel has refused to sign the NPT despite pressure from the international community.
However, when it comes to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the country might be more flexible. Or would, if the Haterz didn't accuse it of chemical warfare every time it used an illumination round.
"Israel has an interest in a chemical free zone as opposed to a nuclear-free zone," Eitan Barak, a professor of international relations from Hebrew University said. And they've gotten to the self-professed experts, which means it's time to snip
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
So, we should give some of the surplus ones to Poland, Vladimir?
#2
Well, unlike being told that "raising the debt cieling does not raise the debt", Joining the NPT DOES NOT GET RID OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Its a treaty against NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION.
Poor pootie, he doesn't like Israel playing the MAD card: they were targets before they got nuclear weapons, and they are a h*ll of a lot more responsible than Iran. It is IRAN that is threatening ISRAEL with annihilation, not ISRAEL threatening IRAN.
#6
If Israel's (phantom) nukes make them a target, Pootie-Pute, then the USSR Russia must be a BIGGER target since y'all have so many more nukes than they supposedly do.
Maybe y'all should get rid of yours so you'll no longer be targeted by the Chechens, etc.
Just sayin' ....
Posted by: Barbara ||
09/20/2013 16:23 Comments ||
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[USATODAY] Syrian President Bashar Assad wants to cooperate with diplomatic agreements that would compel his country to be rid of chemical weapons within a year, but there are technical issues to consider about such a sensitive operation, he said Wednesday night during an interview on Fox News.
Facing questions at the presidential palace in Damascus, from former U.S. representative Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot, Assad said during the hour-long conversation that his government is committed to the agreement hammered out in talks with Russia.
"It's a very complicated operation technically and it takes a lot of money," Assad said, later elaborating that the price tag would be about $1 billion because the chemicals would be detrimental to the environment.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[11125 views]
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The Bammer needs a new QE, + in Assad's view its only fair that the US-n-only-the-US unilaterally pay for the destruction of Syria's Chem Weaps since its the US that desires it so, + also US weapons are being used by the Rebs, both the FSA + Al-Qaeda.
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Sen. Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... is one of the strongest advocates of an American military strike against the Assad regime in Syria. He was unhappy when President B.O. decided to seek congressional authorization for an attack, and then unhappy when his fellow politicians voiced disapproval of the president's plan. Graham believes the diplomatic path chosen by the administration will lead to a debacle.
Given all that, Graham now says he will work with a bipartisan group of senators to craft a resolution authorizing the president to use military force -- not against the Syrian regime but against Iran. In an appearance on Fox News' Huckabee program over the weekend, Graham argued that such a resolution is essential, because American inaction in Syria will encourage Iran to go forward with its nuclear weapon program, eventually leading toward a Mideast conflagration if the U.S. doesn't intervene.
"Look how we've handled the chemical weapons threat in Syria," Graham said. "If we duplicate that with the Iranians, they're going to march toward a nuclear weapon and dare Israel to attack them. So in the next six months, our friends in Israel are going to have to take the Iranians on, unless the United States can send a clear signal to Iran, unlike what we've sent to Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
The winner gets to lead or strike the first blow in the "Final Jihad" agz post-2015 OWG Amerika.
D *** NG IT, WOMAN, THE BOY IS FLYING OUT OVER THE WATER LIKE SUPERMAN IN THAT "MAN OF STEEL" MOVIE MANY YEARS AGO - CALL ME WEIRD BUT IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HE'S CLEANING OUT HIS BEDROOM LIKE WE TOLD HIM!?
#6
The one complained about American war wariness. Of course he didn't mention he and his parties major contribution to that wariness by promoting the anti-war useful idiots who somehow just disappeared from the MSM when he was elected. Karma.
[An Nahar] The Syrian government believes the civil war ravaging the country has reached a stalemate and would call for a ceasefire if long-stalled peace talks in Geneva were to take place, the deputy prime minister told Britannia's Guardian on Thursday.
"Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side," Qadri Jamil told the newspaper.
When asked what his government would propose at the stalled Geneva-2 summit, he replied: "An end to external intervention, a ceasefire and the launching of a peaceful political process in a way that the Syrian people can enjoy self-determination without outside intervention and in a democratic way."
Jamil stressed that his comments represented the government's position.
The United States and Russia have been trying to bring together members of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... 's government and rebel representatives for a Geneva conference following the failure of a first round of talks in June.
The rebels boycotted the initial summit and are refusing to attend Geneva-2 unless Assad resigns.
Jamil insisted that Assad was not about to quit, saying: "Let nobody have any fear that the regime in its present form will continue."
He called on the international community to "get off our shoulders" and allow the government to implement "progressive reforms."
The deputy prime minister also revealed that the war had so far cost the Syrian economy around $100 billion (74 billion euros).
Jamil, who is a member of a small secular party, was recruited to the government last year in order to break the Ba'ath party monopoly.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
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#1
See also CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > THE THREE-WAY SYRIAN CONFLICT BETWEEN SHIA KUFIRS, AL-QAEDA, + LACKEYS OF THE GREAT SATAN [aka USA] | SYRIAN CONFLICT HAS BECOME A THREE-WAY CONFLICT, SAYS AL-QAEDA LEADER.
* SAME > [OilPrice.com] SYRIA: AS THE WORLD BACKS OFF, JIHADISTS ATTACK.
* DRUDGEREPORT > MCLATCHY: US-BACKED SYRIAN REBELS BEING SHOVED ASIDE BY RADICAL ISLAMISTS.
versus
* FREEREPUBLIC, TOPIX, WORLDNEWS > US PENTAGON PROPOSES PUTTING GROUND TROOPS IN SYRIA.
* TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > KERRY SAYS UN SECURITY COUNCIL MUST ACT NEXT WEEK ON SYRIA.
IMO the above two Artics indic that while SecState Kerry doesn't trust Assad, the USDOD fears Al-Qaeda, etal. foreign militants' control of large parts of Syria MORE, espec iff Assad calls for cease-fire bears fruit. IN THE USDOD'S MIND, THE ONLY WAY TO GET OF AL-QAEDA, ETAL. ANTI-ASSAD FOREIGN GROUPS IS TO PUT US BOOTS ON THE GROUND ANYWAYS IRREGARDLESS OF THE ON-GOING SEQUESTER BACK IN CONUS.
As sobered by ...
* FYI BIGNEWSNETWORK > LAVROV: RUSSIA WILL VETO UN USE OF FORCE AGZ SYRIA.
* same > [National Journal] A SEPTEMBER TO REMEMBER: SYRIA TO SUMMERS [failures] SPELL SECOND-TERM SLUMP FOR OBAMA.
Thanks in large part to his own Democrat Party + aligned???
* WAFF > [RIAN.ru] SECOND MISSLE CRUISER [RNS "VARYAG"] MAY JOIN RUSSIAN MEDITERRANEAN FORCE.
RusNav Surface Warfare "Carrier-killer".
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > ASSAD: AMERICA SHOULD PAY [US$1.0Bilyuhn] FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR CHEMICAL WEAPONS.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah on Thursday warned of the "risks" posed by the measures that might be taken by Gulf states against some Lebanese expatriates, reiterating its call for security forces to "protect" Dahieh's residents.
The party's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc "warns of the risks posed by the recommendations and measures that were announced in some countries in the region against some Lebanese residents, and of the negative repercussions that might target Leb and all the Lebanese without any exceptions," it said in a statement issued after its periodic meeting.
On Sunday, undersecretaries of the Gulf Cooperation Council interior ministries discussed possible measures against suspected Hizbullah members living in the Gulf.
Bahraini Interior Ministry Undersecretary Khaled al-Absi said the meeting discussed how to put into effect the recently-approved GCC resolution calling on members to take action against Hizbullah members in Gulf region. The measures could include visa cancellation and financial and commercial transaction restrictions.
Loyalty to Resistance called on the Lebanese state and all its authorities and agencies to "address this issue as a national cause, not as an issue that has to do with a certain group, sect of religion."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] The Free Syrian Army has urged the United States, Russia and the U.N. Security Council to expand the investigation of the U.N. inspectors into the Lebanese territories, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported Thursday.
The daily said that the FSA made the request after receiving "evidence that the Syrian regime had transferred two trucks of chemical weapons to Hizbullah around three months ago."
A U.N. report released Monday confirmed that chemical weapons were used on Aug. 21 outside Damascus but did not ascribe blame.
The U.S., Britannia and La Belle France cited evidence in the report to declare Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... 's government responsible. Russia called the report "one-sided" and said it has "serious reason to suggest that this was a provocation" by the rebels fighting the Assad regime in Syria's civil war.
The chief weapons inspector said Wednesday that his team, which went to Syria last month and drafted the report, will return to Syria soon to investigate various accusations against the regime and opposition.
Al-Joumhouria said the FSA claims that the chemical weapons allegedly transferred to Hizbullah are "capable of killing half of the Lebanese population and threaten the security and safety of the region."
The rebels also claimed that the weapons are stored in Mount Sannine, Oyoun Orghosh, the outskirts of Yammouneh and a depot near the town of Meshmesh, al-Joumhouria said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[11128 views]
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[An Nahar] Al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... bloc MP Oqab Saqr announced on Thursday that the movement does not possess the means to arm the Syrian opposition, stressing also that the "resistance is over."
"We do not have the means to arm the opposition's fighters in Syria," Saqr stressed in an interview on LBCI television.
He added: "If we did, we would have created an equilibrium of force in Leb."
Saqr was answering questions regarding the previously released tapes of a phone conversation between him and Syrian opposition members, after which, al-Mustaqbal Movement was accused of being involved in arming the rebels in Syria.
Regarding the following-up on the lawsuits he filed against media outlets that made the arming accusations, he said he was asked "not to pressure the judges as they so not have armored cars to protect them against possible attacks."
"But the silence of the accusers today is a proof that they do not have anything to argue about, after they had asked previously for death penalty and for lifting our parliamentary immunity," he remarked.
The al-Mustaqbal MP stated that the resistance "has ended when fighters were exported to Syria, Egypt and Bahrain."
"This is not a resistance anymore, it has transformed into a contractor."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] A suspect held over his links to the twin bombings in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... in August confessed that he planned the attack with a Syrian Intelligence officer, revealing that the car used in the al-Salam mosque attack was purchased from a Syrian national from al-Qusayr, reported An Nahar daily on Thursday.
Suspect Sheikh Ahmed al-Gharib confessed to planning the attacks with Syrian Intelligence -- Paleostine branch in Damascus Captain Mohammed Ali and advised him to assassinate Salafist holy man Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi who preaches at the Salam mosque, added the daily.
Investigations in the attack determined that the car used in the blast was a 1997 metallic green Ford Expedition, which was purchased by Imad Omar Awad.
He sold the vehicle to Mohammed Hassan Mehdi, a resident of Ainata in the South, in February 2013.
Mehdi then sold to Mohammed Saleh, a resident of the Bekaa town of Brital, five days after buying it.
Saleh then sold the vehicle to Ahmed Tleis, known as Abu Khalil, two days after purchasing it from Mehdi.
Tleis then sold the car to Ali Nasri Shamas for $4,500, who then sold it to a Syrian national from al-Qusayr for $5,800.
The Syrian was identified as Khodr Lutfi who frequently communicates with Shamas' brother Mustafa and the Syrian Intelligence official.
Gharib described the Syrian official, known as Abu Jassem, as being around 35-years-old, heavyset, and having been an assistant to slain Syrian deputy defense minister and brother-in-law of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... , Assef Shawkat, who frequently tasked him with visiting the Lebanese town of Anjar prior to 2005.
The suspect revealed that he met with Ali six times in order to discuss carrying out liquidations and kabooms in Leb.
Four of the meetings were held in Ali's Damascus office, the fifth at a restaurant near the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, and the sixth in the Syrian town of Latakia three months later.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
[Al Ahram] A former Afghan lawmaker and district governor said Thursday he had defected to the Taliban as the Islamist hardliners seek to strengthen their influence before US-led combat troops withdraw next year.
[Al Ahram] Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi have called for demonstrations on Friday after security forces raided a pro-Morsi area on the outskirts of Cairo.
[CHRON] French President 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
The International Criminal Court called on the United States on Wednesday to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir if he travels to next week's U.N. General Assembly in New York.
[USATODAY] Syrian President Bashar Assad wants to cooperate with diplomatic agreements that would compel his country to be rid of chemical weapons within a year, but there are technical issues to consider about such a sensitive operation, he said Wednesday night during an interview on Fox News.
Lindsey Graham
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
