[Tolo News] European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... monitors said on Monday that they can't predict who the winner of Saturday's election will be, but can say that the Taliban lost.
"We don't know who will win, but we know that the Taliban has lost," Member of European Parliament and EU Election Observation Mission Chairman, Thijs Berman, said. "Their threats to disrupt the elections with violence led to loss of lives of citizens, journalists, IEC staff, coppers and one international observer, but the violence did not deter Afghans from voting."
EU observers monitored voting in the provinces of Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar and few other places throughout Afghanistan. The EU Election Observation Mission admired the Afghan people who participated on Election Day disregarding their safety.
Although, there were deficiencies during the election process because shortages of ballots and claims of riggings that the EU observers believe deprived many Afghans from voting. They added that the April 5 election is Afghanistan's greatest political achievements, but still raise concerns about the violations that were committed during the silent period and voting procedure.
Berman questioned how the IEC is supposed to plan accordingly when voter registration is not updated.
"There have been reports and observations on the lack of ballots in a few areas and the reason for it is still unknown," Berman said. "With so many voter cards out there and the absence of a comprehensive and updated voter registration, it's virtually impossible for the IEC to plan appropriately let alone anything close to reality."
The EU reiterated that the European countries are committed to work on transparency of the elections, stating that if the election goes into a second round they are prepared to monitor polls for the second time.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[Tolo News] According to local Khost officials, gunnies broke into the Independent Election Commission's (IEC) central office Sunday night and attempted to fill five locked ballot boxes with fradulent votes. Security forces have reportedly jugged Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! two individuals in connection to the incident, one of which was said to be a member of the Afghan cops and the other a local IEC employee.
The central provincial office been closed off and Khost IEC chief Shafiq Wafa said election officials have already begun investigating the incident. As of now, it is unknown what candidate, or candidates, the men were attempting to advantage.
The two men were reportedly arrested in the act. "...the police arrived in time to prevent this and the security forces have arrested two people in connection to the crime," Khost Police Chief Faizullah Ghairat said on monday.
The IEC's provincial headquarters in Khost is located just 20-50 meters away from the National Directorate of Security's (NDS) provincial office.
Homayoun Homayoun, the Chairman of Parliament's Defense Committee and a member of Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai presidential campaign, implicated supporters of Zalmai Rassoul ... former foreign minister and a very close confidant of Hamid Karzai. Before serving as foreign minister Rassoul also spent seven years laboring as a national security adviser to the president. An ethnic Pashtun born in Kabul, Rassoul was the valedictorian of his class at the illustrious Franco-American school in Kabul, Lycee Istiqal. He has an MD from the Paris Medical School in France..... when news of the incident broke.
"As a member of Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai's campaign, I visited Khost and saw that the ballot boxes were broken into," Homayoun said. "I saw that votes for Ghani had been taken out and new votes were included in favor of Zalmai Rassoul."
However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... Rassoul's campaign team has categorically rejected the allegations.
The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) reported in Monday that it had received 600 complaints regarding fraud during Saturday's historic vote, which marked the first democratic transition of power in Afghanistan's history. Many of the complaints were said to have come from the presidential candidates themselves.
Although Afghan and international observers have applauded the process, and compared the vote positively to the 2009 election, which was marred by irregularities, reports of ballot box stuffing and voter fraud have increased in the days since the election. With many of these reports still unverified, however, Saturday's vote remains widely regarded as a resounding success in light of the unexpectedly high voter turnout and general security maintained around the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
[MAGHAREBIA] Libyans staged a day of "civil disobedience" on Sunday (April 6th) to denounce the deteriorating security situation.
"Civil disobedience" to protest a deteriorating security situation? I think I see your problem.
When are these protesters going to put their own shoulders to the wheel? Civil institutions, democracy, efficient government, stable neighborhoods and jobs aren't bequeathed from on high...
Protestors demanded the suspension of the General National Congress (GNC) and the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections.
Like that'll solve the problem...
In Benghazi, a general strike temporarily halted flights at the city's international airport. Schools and banks also shut down as part of the civil disobedience call.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Ennahar] Algiers and Washington have pledged Thursday to fight together against "terrorism", on the occasion of the first visit to Algeria of U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
"Algeria, which has taken a heavy toll on terrorism, never bow to this scourge," said the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramtane Lamamra, at the opening of strategic talks between the two countries.
"Terrorism knows no border, is lawless, and targets all nations," he added.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
Look at the ideology and who is sponsoring it would be a first step Mr Kerry.
Posted by: Paul D ||
04/08/2014 5:54 Comments ||
Top||
#2
We didn't worry about jobs and education when dealt with the Germans and Japanese. That was after they understood the consequences of losing.
#4
It's low level terrorism permitted by the left in and from the inner cities. Since they haven't spent hundreds of billions smartly other than to buy off the teachers unions and bureaucracy which failed to end the self destructive behavior of those inhabitants, the left accepts the daily price extracted among the remaining productive citizenry that hasn't fled yet.
[PMNEWSNIGERIA] A Nigerian soldier says he has witnessed incidents that suggest some Nigerian military commanders are working with Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group blamed for thousands of deaths since 2009.
In an exclusive interview with VOA's Hausa service, he described how his military unit, based in the northeastern Borno State region, was ambushed by Boko Haram fighters.
The soldier, who did not want to be identified, said the commander of a nearby military unit, based in the town of Bama, recently sought assistance from his unit in carrying out a raid.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
#3
You don't have to free Biafra. You can just give the Northern Desert provinces independence and they won't be able to sponge off oppressed by Biafrathe SE part of the country any more.
A North Korean official has been executed with a flame-thrower, South Korean media has reported, amid a crackdown on loyalists of Kim Jong-un's purged uncle.
As many as 11 senior party officials with close ties to Jang Song-taek have apparently recently been executed or sent to political prison camps.
Mr Jang was publicly purged in December and executed after being found guilty of corruption and activities that ran counter to the policies of the Workers' Party of Korea. The regime has shut down the department within the Workers' Party that Mr Jang previously headed.
O Sang-hon, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Public Security was "executed by flame-thrower," a source told South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
Mr O was executed because he had followed Mr Jang's instructions to turn the ministry into a personal security division to help safeguard his business dealings, the Chosun Ilbo reported.
The report could not immediately be confirmed, although previous executions have suggested that the North Korean leadership can be inventive when it comes to ridding itself of anyone who has fallen out of favour.
#7
With the various news articles showing us the creative ways the NORKS can 'remove' irritants, it seems to beg for a re-do of that hit song "50 Ways To Lose your lover.'
[Haaretz Defense] Bulgaria's interior minister said he is certain that Hezbollah was behind the deadly 2012 bombing of a tour bus in Burgas.
"All traces lead there," Tsvetlin Yovchev told journalists Monday, according to the Sofia News Agency. "What can we prove in court is another matter. If you're asking me if I am certain of this -- yes, I am."
His remarks came several hours after the Bulgarian media reported that the jacket wallah, who detonated explosives on or near an Israeli tour bus on July 19, 2012, outside the Burgas airport, was of Algerian origin and had trained in terrorist camps in South Leb. Five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver were killed in the attack.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Not good news for Bulgaria or EU iff true.
OTOH unlike POTUS Bammer + SecState Jaawhn I'm sure Putin = Russia will have no qualms sending in the SPETNATZ Boyz+ Other, etal. to help Bulgaria eliminate its "problem".
Another opportunity for Vlad + Dimitri to extend Russia's "OWG Co-Superpower" reach back deep into Eastern Europe = former Soviet Bloc or Warsaw Pact Nations.
[DAWN] Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah on Monday warned that if the government failed to secure the release of Ali Haider Gilani and Shahbaz Taseer, then the opposition would react, DawnNews reported
Speaking to media representatives in an informal meeting in the Parliament House, Shah said it was imperative to take the military into confidence regarding the release of prisoners, even though the decision was to be taken by the government and not the army.
He also expressed the fear that granting a free peace zone to the Taliban was dangerous.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Less than a day after the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain launched UmarMedia.com -- a website hosting videos, a magazine, and its leaders' interviews and statements -- it was mysteriously taken down.
A news release issued by the information and publication wing of the TTP said Umar Media, the 'media wing' of the myrmidon group, had sponsored the website.
Deeper investigation into the domain's registered records on Monday revealed that the website was hosted by a company from Punjab.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[DAWN] A report jointly prepared by the Rawalpindi and Islamabad police has claimed that the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) was getting active support from hardliner religious seminaries to carry out terrorism in the twin cities.
Fearing a strong backlash from the TTP in case of the failure of the ongoing peace talks, the federal government had directed the police to collect information about the sympathisers and supporters of the Taliban. The police prepared the report with the help of intelligence agencies.
The report, a copy of which is available with Dawn, stated that the TTP was not alone whenever it carried out terrorism activities in the twin cities. "It (TTP) gets full support from the religious seminaries and worship places of the Deobandi school of thought."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
When is Pakistan be declared a Terrorist State?
What other religion teaches military training to young children?
Posted by: Paul D ||
04/08/2014 6:37 Comments ||
Top||
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Iraqi security forces said they killed 19 gunnies while attacks elsewhere in the country left three people dead on Monday, as violence spikes ahead of parliamentary elections.
The April 30 polls, Iraq's first since 2010, come as the authorities battle the worst sustained period of bloodletting since 2008, when Iraq was just emerging from a brutal Sunni-Shiite sectarian war that left tens of thousands dead.
The unrest, which has already killed more than 2,400 people this year, has been principally driven by anger in the Sunni Arab minority over alleged mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government and security forces, as well as spillover from the civil war in neighbouring Syria.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] U.S. efforts to save Middle East peace talks from collapse showed little sign of progress Monday amid threats from Israel to retaliate for what it saw as unilateral Palestinian moves toward statehood.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: PLO
#1
What did you expect from People who reelected Obama?
[Ma'an] Some 719 Paleostinian, and 107 trucks of construction materials have passed through the Rafah crossing on Monday, a security source at the Egyptian side said.
Some 403 Paleostinian pilgrims crossed from Gazoo into Egypt, while 319 went the other way.
In addition, 92 trucks of pebbles from Qatar, 10 trucks carrying 405 tons of cement, and five trucks carrying 372 tons of cement from the UAE crossed the border.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
10 trucks carrying 405 tons of cement, and five trucks carrying 372 tons of cement
Now that's some pretty good scale dodging right there.
[Ma'an] A member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine ... Paleostinian Marxist movement, founded in 1967. It is considered a terrorist organization by more than 30 countries including the U.S., European Union, Australia, Canada, and Antarctica. The PFLP's stated goal is the establishment of a socialist State in Paleostine. They pioneered armed aircraft hijackings in the late 60s and early 70s... 's political bureau warned Monday of "tragic consequences" for Paleostinian rights if the PLO continues negotiations with Israel.
Kayed al-Ghoul called on the PLO to cease negotiations and relying on the US, and he called for adopting an alternative strategy based on resisting the Israeli occupation.
Al-Ghoul said that a US-brokered meeting between Israelis and Paleostinians did not yield results did not mean the negotiations failed, but it means that Paleostinians are yet to submit to Israeli and American demands.
He added that "a policy of blackmail and threats" in these meetings reflected the US bias.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: PFLP
[Ma'an] Former US President Jimmy Carter ... the worst president ever. Maybe the second worst. The votes aren't all in yet... on Monday expressed support for the PLO's move to seek membership in international organizations.
"The decision by the Paleostinians to exercise their right to join international organizations should not be seen as a blow to the peace talks," Carter said in a statement.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: PLO
#1
Not being the worst POTUS ever has given him a new lease on life?
[Straits Times] An Australian navy ship has detected new signals 'consistent' with aircraft black boxes, a bigwig said on Monday as search teams raced against time in the hunt for missing Malaysian flight MH370.
"The towed pinger locator deployed from the Australian defence vessel Ocean Shield has detected signals consistent with those emitted from aircraft black boxes," said Mr Angus Houston, head of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) in Perth.
The towed pinger-locator heard a first signal for two hours and 20 minutes, and a second signal for 13 minutes.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Pinger might be legit, but I find it inconceivable that a bird the size of the Triple 7 hit the water and didn't break up, nor has any wreckage surfaced. This makes absolutely no sense. Unless the pilot was as skilled as Scully when he put that bird down in the Hudson, modern aircraft are not designed to stay together with a hard water landing in any number of possible attitudes.
Maybe I am wearing my tin foil hat too tight, but I have to think that bird is in one piece and hidden for future 'events' and the pax are now fish food.
#2
At last check this AM, they're having difficulties relocating the ping signals - either the batteries have finally died, or else the black boxes + any still-attached aircraft debris have been displaced by strong underwater tidal or current forces.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] The "project of political Islam has failed," Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... said on Monday, calling for the separation of religion from politics, state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] An Israeli radio station said Monday that Israel had evidence that supported Syrian opposition accusations that forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... had used non-lethal chemical weapons in Damascus last month.
The report on Israel Radio quoted an unidentified senior Israeli defense official as saying there were two attacks on March 27, using a "neutralizing chemical weapon," east of Damascus and at another location.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Beirut Daily Star] The Tawhid Brigade has banned anti-regime media activists in Aleppo province from entering areas it controls without formal authorization.
The rebel group said it was doing so in order to "safeguard the course of military operations underway."
Tawhid, a member of the Islamic Front coalition of seven large militias, controls checkpoints and areas in the Old Aleppo, other neighborhoods of the city, and a number of locations in the northern part of the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
[Tolo News] 
[Ennahar] Algiers and Washington have pledged Thursday to fight together against "terrorism", on the occasion of the first visit to Algeria of U.S. Secretary of State 
Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine
Jimmy Carter
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
