[AnNahar] Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab forces of Evil have the "capability and intent" to spread their attacks beyond their strongholds in Somalia, a U.N. special representative warned on Saturday, calling for greater regional cooperation to combat the threat.
The Shabaab "is an organization that has a regional agenda," said Nick Kay, the U.N.'s special representative in Somalia.
"The very top leadership of the organization see themselves as pursuing something above and beyond just a Somalia national agenda.
"It has had the capability and intent to carry out attacks across the region for some time," he said, adding that this intent is "stronger now".
The Shabaab has recently stepped up attacks against countries that contribute to the 22,000-strong, U.N.-backed African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... force deployed against them in Somalia since 2007.
Neighboring Kenya has been a particular focus of Shabaab violence, most notably with the attack on the Westgate shopping mall last September in which at least 67 people were killed.
The group also grabbed credit for two raids earlier this month in a Kenyan tourist area which killed around 60 people.
On Thursday, Shabaab gunnies attacked an African Union military base in central Somalia dressed in stolen government army uniforms, killing at least two soldiers from Djibouti, the AU said.
"It does require the countries of the region, with the support of the international community, to be much more joined up in their approach," Kay said on Saturday, calling for greater information-sharing and stronger border controls.
"It is very, very important that Somalia is stabilized and that the Somali people enjoy a government that is truly accountable to them and truly working in their interests," he added.
Somalia is due to put in place a new federal constitution in 2015 and hold elections in 2016, although the security situation could delay progress.
Chased out of Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Shabaab have also abandoned key bastions in the country's border areas but retain control over vast swathes of Somalia's rural hinterland from which they carry out regular guerrilla attacks against government institutions and international forces.
[AnNahar] A quarter-century after it took power in an Islamist-backed coup promising "salvation" for Sudan, critics say Field Marshal Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. 's regime has instead destroyed it.
Bashir, 70, is accused of war crimes in the Darfur region and has maintained power despite internal divisions within his ruling National Congress Party (NCP).
He presides over a country where the number of people needing food and other aid rose 40 percent over the past year and millions have been displaced by the wars and unrest which have touched about half of Sudan's states.
The country's image sank even lower in May when a judge sentenced a pregnant Christian woman to hang for "apostasy", a ruling later overturned but which sparked an outcry from Western governments and human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... groups.
Sudan is bereft of hard currency, internationally isolated and billions of dollars in debt, ranking near bottom in global measures of human development, perceived corruption and press freedom.
Many of Sudan's 34 million people live in houses made of mud brick while workers put the final touches to a new presidential palace near the banks of the Blue Nile.
Across from Khartoum's airport, a tower is rising to house the ruling party —- paid for by its members and not public money, says an NCP official.
"They ruined the country," laments a senior opposition politician.
"They divided the country -- civil wars, sectarianism, fundamentalism. They impoverished the country -- a lot of corruption. So many injustices."
Bashir took power 25 years ago on the night of June 30, 1989, when paratroops and army engineers overthrew the coalition government of Sadiq al-Mahdi in a bloodless coup.
Mahdi's government was a rare democratic interlude for a country that had already spent years under military leaders.
But sit-ins, strikes and power outages paralyzed the economy during his "totally dysfunctional" rule, Bashir adviser Amin Hassan Omer wrote this month in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
"It became normal for people to stand in line for bread, fuel and other consumer goods," putting the country in need of "Ingaz" (salvation), Omer wrote.
Initially, Ingaz offered hope to Sudan's people, a former high-ranking government official said.
"This is what we had in mind. And I think in a way we proved to them that we could do that," the former official told AFP, referring to oil and development projects which occurred despite United States sanctions that began in 1997.
Roads were built, telecommunications expanded, hospitals and health centers became available, while school and university admissions rose, Bashir's top assistant, Ibrahim Ghandour, told AFP in a March interview.
"You can't eat roads," counters Siddig Yousif, a member of the opposition Communist Party's central committee, blaming Ingaz for the decline of Sudanese agriculture.
"They destroyed everything," he said, citing the decay of Sudan's rail network, the demise of its shipping line, and the sell-off of the national airline in an atmosphere of "total corruption".
The start of oil production in the late 1990s brought years of economic growth before the fiscal shock of South Sudan's separation three years ago.
The South split with 75 percent of the country's oil production, depriving Khartoum of most of its export earnings. As a result, the Sudanese pound has lost around 60 percent of its value since late 2011, while inflation has hovered near 40 percent for months.
Tens of thousands of Sudanese have left the country to seek better opportunities abroad.
Austerity measures led to cuts in health and education budgets but the oil loss "could have been mitigated" had the government diversified the economy during the oil boom, a March report by the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Development Program said.
Wealth and power have been concentrated in the country's central region, leading to complaints among non-Arab groups in the periphery of neglect and discrimination.
From the 11-year-old rebellion in Darfur, to South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and the 22-year civil war which ended in South Sudan's independence, all of Sudan's armed conflicts have been fueled by similar grievances.
"There is war in Darfur. There is war in Blue Nile, in South Kordofan. What have they done good for the people?" asked University of Khartoum political scientist El Shafie Mohammed El Makki.
He blames the regime for the loss of South Sudan.
Violence against civilians in Darfur led the Hague-based International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... to issue a warrant for Bashir's arrest on suspicion of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Many analysts suspect that fear of being turned over to the ICC has helped prolong Bashir's stay in office.
Unrest in Darfur has been its worst in a decade this year, while a three-year war in South Kordofan has intensified.
Even the capital Khartoum has been stained by bloodshed.
After the government slashed petrol subsidies in September, thousands erupted into the streets calling for the government's overthrow. Dozens were bumped off.
Facing accusations that the country was on the verge of collapse, Bashir appealed in January for a national political dialogue.
Critics say the aim is not real reform but preservation of the regime.
Hassan al-Turabi, a powerful Islamist behind the 1989 coup, broke with Bashir a decade later and founded the opposition Popular Congress Party.
In a 2012 interview, Turabi told AFP that Bashir "never spent five minutes organizing the coup" and was put up as a front-man who did not follow through on the Islamists' programs for "democratization" and decentralization.
"He ignores his own constitution... He never reads it. He's a soldier. Soldiers are awful people," Turabi said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
[AnNahar] Morocco is promoting its moderate version of Islam as a counterweight to the widening jihadist threat in the Sahara, training hundreds of imams from affected countries, but analysts question its motives.
The initiative is well-timed.
Islamist violence is plaguing Libya and Nigeria, Mali is still recovering from an Islamist takeover of half the country, and Tunisia is increasingly nervous about the return of battled-hardened nationals fighting for Al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria and Iraq.
Morocco has kept a tight grip on the religious sphere, which is closely tied up with the monarchy's legitimacy.
King Mohammed VI, who claims descent from the Prophet Mohammed, is accorded the title "commander of the faithful" and has a religious TV and radio station named after him, has been busily burnishing Morocco's image as a model Mohammedan state.
This month, he inaugurated a "religious support program" that will see 1,300 imams trained in Rabat since 2006 sent out to instruct preachers lacking formal training at some 50,000 mosques nationwide.
"Their task is to help and guide imams in mosques to preserve the fundamentals of Islam in Morocco, based on the Malikite rite, contrary to takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... sm, which is constantly invading the minds of our young people," Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufiq has said.
The moderate Malikite school of Sunni Islam practiced in Morocco -- as in most of North Africa -- is often cited as a key aspect of its religious tolerance, contrasting starkly with radical "takfirist" ideology that brands non-practicing Mohammedans "infidels".
Other features of Morocco's Mohammedan culture include the important social role played by the Sufi brotherhoods, which Toufiq has encouraged since the king appointed him in 2002, and hundreds of female religious instructors have been trained in recent years alongside the imams.
"Not many other Arab states have sought to this extent to control the religious discourse. The purpose it serves, yes it has a counter-extremism element to it... Of course it has a regime legitimization purpose too," the International Crisis Group's North Africa director Issandr El Amrani told AFP.
Whatever the reason, the Moroccan model is attracting regional interest, with Saharan-Sahelian countries touched by jihadist violence now soliciting the kingdom's help.
Already 190 imams from Mali are being trained in Rabat, out of 500 in the coming years, under an accord signed when the king visited Bamako for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's inauguration in September 2013.
Tunisia, which the king visited last month, has also requested Rabat's help in training its preachers, having suffered a wave of Islamist attacks since the 2011 revolution, with many mosques falling under the influence of myrmidons.
At least 2,400 Tunisian jihadists are fighting in Syria, the government said this week.
Libya and Nigeria have also separately asked for religious instruction.
"I think the primary reason Morocco is interested in promoting its brand of Islam... which has the king at its center, is to export this notion of greater Morocco," says analyst Vish Sakthivel at the Washington Institute.
A priority that has long driven Moroccan diplomacy is winning approval for its claims to Western Sahara, which it annexed in 1975 in a move never recognized internationally.
The pro-independence Polisario Front is hosted and backed by Algeria, the region's security heavyweight, which fought a decade-long civil war against Islamist Death Eaters in the 1990s and whose rivalry with Morocco prevents the North African neighbors from co-operating.
Sakthivel calls Morocco's religious diplomacy a "symbolic, soft power gesture" to Sahel countries, made in the knowledge that it cannot compete with Algeria militarily.
Officials insist that Morocco's Islamic model helps to explain why radical ideologies have largely failed to take hold in the kingdom, which has suffered only two major terrorist attacks since 2003, and why other nations are now looking to Rabat.
But while hardline Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... may enjoy only limited support here -- thousands were incarcerated Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in a sweeping crackdown following deadly 2003 bombings in Casablanca -- Morocco is certainly not immune to the religious revival that has swept through the region, nor to the recruitment of jihadists.
This week, security forces in the central city of Fez broke up a jihadist cell which was allegedly sending volunteers to Iraq and Syria, where officials say there are currently more than 1,000 Moroccan combatants.
It was the latest in a wave of busts.
Between 2011 and 2013, 18 such cells were dismantled, while around 200 Moroccans planning to fight in or returning from Syria have been incarcerated Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! , according to new prison chief Mohammed Salah Tamek.
Last week, Spanish police nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! eight people belonging to a recruitment network in Madrid whose Moroccan ringleader spent three years in Guantanamo Bay.
"We know that many Moroccans, like many other Maghreb states, are going to fight in Iraq or Syria. So it's not that radicalism is completely absent in Morocco. It's there, it's controlled better," says the ICG's Amrani.
"Has Morocco not faced terrorist attacks because it controls the religious discourse to a greater degree in state-run mosques and so on? Or is it because they have more effective security policies, or because it is relatively marginal to all the conflicts in the Middle East?"
[ILLAWARRAMERCURY.AU] A 23-year-old Nigerian pop star is willing to exchange her virginity for therelease of the 300 girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , a local newspaper has reported.
Speaking to Vanguard, Adokiye Kyrian, who goes by the stage name ADOKIYE and fronts the charitable foundation #ADOCHANGE, spoke of her wishes to ''offer herself'' if it saw the safe return of the children who were taken by the Islamist group from the Nigerian village of Chibok more than two months ago.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
[Osun Defender] 21 suspected members of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... sect enjugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! in Enugu State last Wednesday have been transferred to the Force Headqaurters, Abuja for further questioning by the State Police Command.
The National Task Force (NATFORCE) had last Wednesday arrested the suspects who were said to be travelling to Kano with several military uniforms concealed inside a luxurious bus, at Amala in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu state.
The suspects, it was learnt, who left Aba, Abia state were intercepted at the wee hours of Wednesday morning at a boarder community in Enugu state leading to the northern parts of the country.
The command front man, DSP Ebere Amaraizu while confirming their movement to Abuja however dismissed reports that they were Boko Haram members.
"Those people have been transferred to Abuja for further screening. They are no longer with us. But the command wishes to state that those people are not Boko Haram, this cannot be possible. Let us not go about saying that they are Boko Haram members"
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
[TRIBUNE.NG] ONE hundred and fourteen indigenes of Jigawa State incarcerated Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! by the military in Abia State on allegations of being members of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... sect have arrived Dutse, the state capital, and have been received by the governor, Sule Lamido.
Reports from the state indicated that the released indigenes were among the over 496 northerners arrested and detained in Abia State by the military two weeks ago.
Speaking while receiving them, Governor Lamido expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over some comments over the matter.
The governor, who was represented by the Chief of Staff to the governor, Alhaji Aminu Ibrahim, noted that, "the present administration under Lamido is deeply concerned with the life and safety of any indigene of the state anywhere in the world he/she resides."
According to him, "when we received the information of their arrest and we confirmed that there were some of our people among them, we set up a committee in the House of Assembly and went to Abuja and Abia State. This is the outcome of the committee's work."
The 114 consisted of six women, four children and 104 men.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
[NEWS.YAHOO] King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah ... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old... on Sunday sharply criticised religious bully boys, vowing not to let "a handful of terrorists... terrify Moslems", in a speech marking the start of the Moslem holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Islam is "religion of unity, fraternity and mutual support" but some people "lured in by false calls... are confusing reform with terrorism", the monarch said, in comments carried by state news agency SPA.
"Their goal is to sow discord among Moslems," he said in an apparent reference to snuffies from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL).
The powerful jihadist group has spearheaded an offensive by Sunni turbans in Iraq since June 9, wresting control of northern cities and capturing vast swathes of territory.
ISIL operates in both Syria and Iraq and aims to establish an Islamic state straddling the border of those two countries, but their lightning advance in Iraq also poses a threat to Jordan and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
The ultra-conservative Sunni Gulf kingdom -- home to Mecca and Medina, Islam's holiest sites -- shares an 814-kilometre (505-mile) border with Iraq.
"We will not allow a handful of terrorists, using Islam for personal aims, to terrify Moslems or undermine our country and its inhabitants," Abdullah said.
"We are continuing, with God's help, to face and tackle this scourge," he said.
The Saudi monarch also wished Moslems "security, prosperity and stability" over Ramadan, which began in most countries on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 12:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Salafists
#1
Keep up the sat saturation and ionization program over there !
#2
Anything stopping you from wet jobs in the Gulf to decapitate the funding sources? You can blame it on the Israelis as usual. To quote someone else - do, or do not, there is no try.
[Ynet] European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen said Friday declarations from EU nations warning their citizens against investing in the Israeli-administered West Bank were expected.
"Business warnings should not come as a surprise. Member states losing patience with concerns not being addressed. If settlement expansion continues, more European nations will issue such warnings."
"You Juices may survive, at our sufferance, but by all that's holy you shall not thrive!"
So the Y'urp-peons decide to freeze out the Israelis. The Israelis in turn decide to sell their off-shore natural gas reserves to (say) China instead of Europe. Who loses first?
Italia and Spain recommended on Thursday that their citizens seek legal counsel before initiating business deals with companies working in the Israeli-administered West Bank.
The announcement echoes a similar statement released by the French Foreign Ministry earlier in the week, in which it called on French citizens to consult legal experts before investing beyond the Green Line. A senior Israeli diplomat told Ynet that the tally of major European powers to take such a step reached 5, including the UK and Germany.
#3
But this is the progressive EU media reporting. Do you suppose they represent the views of the average Dutch or Deutsch guy-in-the-street?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/29/2014 7:42 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Well, they seem to be acquiescent (minus a few "strongly worded statements") to Russian settlements among their neighbors, why should they care out such outside of Europe? /rhetorical question.
[LATIMES] After seven years in jug at Guantanamo Bay, a former top Al Qaeda commander and confidant of the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones... was arraigned Wednesday by U.S. military authorities there, pushing his case into the troubled military tribunal system.
Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi faces non-capital murder charges for his suspected role in a series of high-profile terrorist attacks. If convicted, he could be imprisoned for life.
Prosecutors say Hadi spent nearly two decades running Al Qaeda training camps and orchestrating assaults in Pakistain and Afghanistan. They say he sat at Bin Laden's side when Al Qaeda snuffies hijacked four U.S. passenger planes and killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
troubled military tribunal system.
only in the tiny minds of LA Times writers and readers.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/29/2014 9:36 Comments ||
Top||
[REUTERS] A Libyan militia leader pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." in a U.S. federal court on Saturday to a terrorism charge in the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi that killed four Americans.
Ahmed Abu Khatallah was transferred to the U.S. District Court in Washington on Saturday morning from a Navy warship where he had been held since his June 15 capture by U.S. special operations forces in Libya.
He was charged at an afternoon hearing with conspiracy to provide material support to gunnies resulting in death in the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia
[DAWN] Declaring the ongoing military operation against gunnies in North Wazoo Agency a futile exercise, newly-elected Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...the political wing of the Pak Taliban... -Fazl provincial chief Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan on Friday warned the offensive would cause further destabilisation and lawlessness in the country. But we already knew which side Gul Naseeb is on...
Gul Naseeb told a news conference at the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. Press Club that his party had always opposed the use of force for peace in tribal regions and instead advocated dialogue.
He said military operations had aggravated issues instead of resolving them.
"Mass exodus from tribal areas is itself a big problem. The entire world is a witness to the misery of displaced persons," he said.
The JUI-F leader said military operations hadn't yielded positive results in the past and that the previous Pakistain People's Party-led government opted to use force for restoration of peace in the country but it miserably failed.
Gul Naseeb says army actions aggravate issues instead of resolving them
"Under the current circumstances, the launch of military operation is not a step of the wise people," he said.
Gul Naseeb said the PML-N-led federal government through an all parties conference and resolutions of parliament had secured the nation's mandate for bringing peace in the country by holding talks with the Taliban and even the grinding of the peace processor was favoured by other stakeholders and armed forces but even then military operation had been launched in North Waziristan.
He said it was unfortunate that the federal government didn't take political parties, especially its party, partner in the ruling coalition, into confidence on the launch of the North Waziristan offensive.
The JUI-F leader criticised the federal government over 'failure' to arrange food and shelter for displaced rustics, who, he said, desperately needed food, tents and other relief goods.
He said most IDPs had preferred to live with relatives instead of waiting for the official support exposing the government's poor management of the human crisis.
Gul Naseeb said it was the prime responsibility of the federal and provincial governments to provide adequate facilities to displaced families but unfortunately, they didn't make any contingency plan to cope with the mass displacement before ordering military action in North Waziristan.
He also criticised the Punjab and Sindh governments for banning entry of IDPs into their areas and said it's time that all provinces care for the distressed population under the testing times.
The JUI-F leader declared the one-year performance of the PTI-led government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... a big letdown and said the PTI government had failed to fulfil pre-election promises of providing relief to people against inflation and lawlessness.
He said lawlessness, especially killings and cases of kidnapping for ransom and extortion, were on the rise in the province.
"Throughout the province, the people feel very insecure," he said.
Gul Naseeb warned if the provincial government failed to deliver, JUI-F along with other opposition parties would agitate against it.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
[DAWN] The city saw another child in its 'sensitive suburbs' contracted with polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... making him the seventh case overall this year and first after the travel restrictions were imposed by the World Health Organisation on Pakistain for its staggeringly high contribution to polio cases being detected across the world, officials confirmed on Friday.
Twelve-month-old Murad, son of Nisar Ahmed, a labourer, was a resident of Gulshan-e-Bonair, one of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... 's 'most sensitive' neighbourhoods, which showed massive resistance to volunteers in polio campaigns.
Officials said the child had been administered polio boosters months ago thrice when the volunteers found no male members, who resisted the campaigns and did not allow the teams to enter their locality.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
a resident of Gulshan-e-Bonair, one of Bloody Karachi's 'most sensitive' neighbourhoods, which showed massive resistance to volunteers in polio campaigns.
"sensitive" = ignorant primitive Islamic assholes
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/29/2014 9:39 Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... police have asked the political authorities of Khyber Agency to arrest Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) faceless myrmidons involved in the attack on a Pakistain International Airlines (PIA) aircraft at Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. airport earlier this week.
The police identified commander Shahid of TTP from Dara Adamkhel for being responsible for the attack and suggested that head money of Rs10 million should be announced for his arrest.
A high ranking police source confirmed that a letter has been written to the Political Agent of Khyber Agency and the Dara Adamkhel Administration to arrest the krazed killer commander involved in the attack.
The source further said that the political authorities have also been requested for the arrest of over 600 wanted gunnies and criminals.
Unidentified gunnies had attacked the PIA Boeing PK-756 as it came in to land at Peshawar's Bacha Khan Airport on June 25, killing a woman and injuring two flight stewards on board.
The PIA Boeing PK-756 had 196 passengers on board, arriving from Riyadh when it was fired upon.
Airline officials said the gunnies had aimed specifically at the highly flammable fuel tank as they sought to blow up the aircraft, as well as the cockpit, to kill the pilot.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[DAWN] The security arrangements of the country's major airports in Lahore, Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , Islamabad and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. have been given to the army and Rangers, who will assist Airport Security Forces (ASF) to effectively secure airports.
"A joint security plan has been devised in consultation with corps commanders of the Pakistain army under which security of the funnel area of major airports as well as installations has been given to the army," special assistant to PM Shujaat Azeem told the media at Islamabad airport.
He said the PIA aircraft which was attacked by gunnies at Peshawar airport has been repaired and is back to flight operations.
He said that those airlines which have suspended their operations for Peshawar would resume flights soon in the day instead of night.
He further added that the military along with Rangers would be clearing and securing adjoining areas of major airports because such areas could come under security threat.
Security has been heightened at airports across the country after attacks on the Karachi and Peshawar international airports came under attack in the month of June.
Militants stormed Karachi's Jinnah International Airport in an hours long siege that left dozens dead and injured. Peshawar's Bacha Khan Airport came under attack earlier this week when turbans fired shots at a PIA plane moments before it landed on the runway, killing one passenger and leaving two injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Chief Minister Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has vowed to battle against the forces of Evil and snuffies forcibly closing educational institutions in Panjgoor district of the troubled province.
Politicians, educationists and members of civil society, at a seminar held here on Saturday, urged upon law enforcement agencies to protect teachers and educational institutions in Panjgoor, one of the most backward districts in Balochistan.
"No one will be allowed to forcibly shut down our schools," the chief minister told the seminar, which thoroughly discussed all ways and means to ensure provision of education to the students in the province.
Educational institutions in Panjgoor remained closed for last two months in the aftermath of threats by a fundamentalist organization.
Dr Baloch recalled that the menace of terrorism and extremism date back to USSR's invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan.
"Promoting extremism in the region was internationally sponsored," he added, saying that anti-Soviet countries supported Islamic fundamentalists to counter the USSR.
The chief minister urged the political forces, intellectuals and civil society to put their heads together to curb the menace of terrorism in the society. He stated that different elements with various names were bent upon closing educational institutions in Balochistan.
"We will not tolerate any intervention in our educational institutions," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[AnNahar] The onslaught by Sunni Arab bully boyz in northern Iraq has prompted the country's Kurds to deploy the famed peshmerga security forces in defense of their autonomous region.
The move affects both young and old, with regional President Massud Barzani even calling on retired fighters to volunteer to take up arms again.
At a peshmerga base outside Arbil, the capital of the three-province Kurdistan region, training has a new urgency.
Young men dressed in green fatigues are put through their paces on an assault course, swinging from monkey bars, shimmying down ropes and scrambling over walls daubed in camouflage colors.
They will graduate as the region faces what the secretary general of the ministry responsible for the peshmerga says is a major military challenge -- tackling the murderous Moslems, led by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL), who have seized a large chunk of neighboring territory.
"We're talking about facing Death Eaters along a piece of territory that extends 1,500 kilometers (930 miles)," Jabbar Yawar said.
"Very nice neighbors we have now," he added sarcastically.
The peshmerga are famed for their devotion to the Kurdish nationalist cause and their long-running guerilla war against now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein's forces, and are regarded as well-trained, well-armed and capable.
The recruits go through a 45-day training program, which includes physical exercise like kickboxing and assault courses, as well as weapons instruction.
When they graduate, they will face foes with recent battle experience in Syria and Iraq, as well as some former Iraqi soldiers with several wars under their belts.
As they train, retired peshmerga responding to Barzani's call arrive at the base.
- 'Biggest peshmerga deployment' -
They trundle in, many dressed in traditional baggy Kurdish shirts and trousers, bound around often rotund midsections with a patterned belt.
Some 200 of them have answered the call in recent days, a peshmerga source says, swelling the 300 men in training.
"This is the biggest deployment of peshmerga in recent history," Yawar told AFP.
Previously, he said, some 13 brigades were deployed along with regular Iraqi soldiers along a 1,500-kilometre line from the Syrian border to the frontier with Iran.
But when Iraqi forces retreated in the face of a bad boy onslaught that has overrun areas of five provinces, the peshmerga moved in.
"When they left their bases, it created a void, and we had to send in extra forces to fill that void," Yawar said, declining to give exact figures for "security reasons".
Among those newly deployed is a 24-year-old from the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, who is facing his first conflict.
He is on summer holidays from university, where he is studying at a military school to become an officer and is now on a front line outside the disputed city of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... some five kilometers from the Sunni murderous Moslems.
He declined to give his name, as rank-and-file peshmerga have been told not to speak to media, but was eager to practice his English.
"I have studied English, but never spoken it with a foreigner before," he said, hesitating before breaking into a smile.
- Nervous fighter -
He admits to some nerves about battle as he looks at the smoke rising from an exchange of mortar fire across the front line.
"I try not to be afraid, but I am sometimes. But I think it's bad if you aren't afraid at all," he said.
Elsewhere on the front line, another fighter rattled off an inventory of the equipment at their disposal.
"We have tanks (armored personnel carriers), mortars and good guns," he said, gesturing at the equipment arrayed alongside trenches and green sandbagged positions.
But he also acknowledged that the bully boyz can match much of that, having taken arms and material left behind by the withdrawing Iraqi forces.
The peshmerga are deployed along areas that far exceed the previously accepted borders of the Kurdish region.
That includes the disputed oil hub of Kirkuk, a city Kurdistan has long hoped to control over objections from the Iraqi federal government.
On Friday, Barzani declared that there was no going back on Kurdish control of Kirkuk and other areas held by his troops.
"Now, this (issue)... is achieved," he said, referring to a constitutional article meant to address the Kurds' ambition to incorporate disputed territory.
Yawar said the current line of deployment would hold, ruling out the peshmerga either retreating to the old borders or advancing to seize territory from the bad boys.
"Our strategy at the moment is just to defend this line... to prevent any Death Eaters from entering the region," he said.
"And we are not going to be involved in any military operations beyond that line."
OR, Russia makes hay while the Lightbringer shines.
[AnNahar] Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in Damascus on Saturday that his country "will not remain passive" as jihadists push an offensive in Syria's neighbor Iraq.
That's a threat I would take seriously...
"Russia will not remain passive to the attempts by some groups to spread terrorism in the region," Ryabkov told journalists after meeting with Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs...
Sunni Death Eaters, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) which is active in both Syria and Iraq, have seized vast territory north and west of Storied Baghdad since launching their offensive two weeks ago.
Ryabkov, whose country is Assad's main backer, did not elaborate on what steps Russia might take.
"The situation is very dangerous in Iraq and the foundations of the Iraqi state are under threat," he said.
Ryabkov also reiterated Moscow's position that the crises in Syria and Iraq must be resolved "through a genuine national dialogue".
Asked about Washington's decision to support moderate rebels in Syria, Ryabkov said: "There can be no alternative to a political solution."
He added: "We reject this US policy. It is in everybody's interest, including the Americans, to act responsibly on Syria."
President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... has asked US politicians to authorize a $500 million plan to arm and train the Syrian opposition, which has been fighting both Assad's troops and the jihadist ISIL.
Ryabkov said Damascus had taken a "responsible" decision in handing over its chemical weapons arsenal, while calling on Israel to "abide by" the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
#1
Putin'ss gonna ju-jitsu Lightning again. He might be able to stop the Sunni and be able to make the world applaud. Meanwhile, I sense a triple-bogey in the making. The good news is Lightning was allowed to play.
#2
I have to admit that Russia's comments are a better confidence-builder to Soon-to-be-Ex-US-Allies + Neutrals in the Middle East than any of the Bammer's andor Kerry's statements so far.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone by Russia, ...
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > "INDIA TO USE ALL ITS ASSETS SHOULD THERE BE ANY NEED TO SAFEGUARD ITS NATIONALS IN IRAQ": MEA.
Use of unilateral military force strongly inferred.
#3
OOOOOOPPPPPPSSIES, my bad, forgot TOPIX > [Examiner.com] ISIS IS ON THE ARABIAN BORDER.
As in KSA = Arabian Peninsula border.
What will POTUS Bammer do iff the ISIS/ISIL initiates TerrOps agz the KSA + begins to de facto destabilise the Country + Peninsula [GCC] - iff the Bammer takes no action, WILL IRAN [Turkey? Egypt? Arab League? Other?] STEP IN TO PROTECT LOCAL SHIAS FROM THE ISIS/ISIL, EVEN IFF IT MEANS SENDING ARMED IRANIAN TROOPS, HEZBOLLAH + QUDS FORCE, DEEP INTO SOVEREIGN SAUDI + EMIRATE TERRITORY???
The unanimous ruling prompted the KRG to declare victory in its dispute with Baghdad over independent oil sales. Maybe the Supremes have an eye on a safe haven in Kurdistan.
Iraq's Supreme Court has rejected a bid by the oil ministry in Baghdad to outlaw direct oil exports from the Kurdistan region.
In a setback for the central government in its long-running battle with Erbil, the court turned down a request from oil minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi to issue a temporary injunction against the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The unanimous ruling prompted the KRG to declare victory in its dispute with Baghdad over independent oil sales.
The judgment, dated June 24, comes as the KRG continues to ship 100,000 to 120,000 barrels of crude daily via its new pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Shipments from Ceyhan began late last month, prompting Baghdad to threaten legal action against the KRG, Turkey and potential buyers of the disputed crude.
Welcoming the Supreme Court decision, the KRG noted that the Baghdad oil minister's case was based on his own interpretation of constitutional provisions by which he claimed that the oil and gas affairs fall within the exclusive powers of the federal government.
A statement from the KRG natural resources ministry in Erbil said: "With this Court decision, the Kurdistan Regional Government has another important clarification of its acquired rights as stated in the Constitution. Such a decision by the highest court in the land is binding on the Minister and cannot be challenged in any way."
The injunction was rejected on legal grounds and the court did not rule explicitly on the constitutional issue.
However, the ruling effectively lifts a further barrier to independent Kurdish oil exports, which initially struggled to find international buyers in the face of Baghdad's threats. The KRG argues that it not only has the constitutional right to market its own oil but it has been forced to do so by Baghdad's decision to freeze Erbil's 17 per cent share of the national budget.
A Baghdad-based legal expert who didn't want to be named said that the Iraqi Supreme Court rejected the bid "for how it was drafted only, otherwise the ministry of oil can file a new lawsuit against the same issue."
"It was that the measures taken by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil were not done properly," he said. "The court's rejection doesn't mean consent for KRG's oil exports."
The dispute, which reached a climax with the first shipment of Kurdish oil in May, has since been overshadowed by the sudden collapse of the security situation in Iraq, prompted by the capture of Mosul by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Before the latest crisis, Baghdad took separate legal action against Turkey by filing a complaint with the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris and requesting its arbitration. The Iraqi government claimed that by transporting and storing Kurdish oil without Baghdad's permission, Ankara was in violation of its bilateral obligations.
The statement from the KRG natural resources ministry said that, in the light of the Supreme Court ruling, the federal oil ministry and its oil marketing organization SOMO should abandon their "illegal and unconstitutional interventions" to prevent oil exports from the Kurdistan region.
"They must also cease sending intimidating and threatening letters or making false claims to prospective traders and buyers of oil exported legally by the Kurdistan Regional Government for the benefit of the people of Kurdistan and Iraq," the statement said.
It described the ruling as "a clear victory for justice and for upholding KRG's rights."
Makki al-Rikabi, an Iraqi economist told Rudaw that the court's ruling will enable the KRG to earn much needed money for its Peshmerga forces and civil servants, particularly after the central government cut their budget several months ago.
"The Kurdistan Region needs money, especially now that the threat of the ISIS is there and KRG's own takeover of the new territories," said al-Rikabi.
[Ynet] Armored brigades have been instructed to prepare for the possibility of being transferred to the Gazoo Division, while the Air Force has deployed additional Iron Dome batteries.
The IDF is preparing for a possible significant offensive in Gazoo, a year and a half after Operation Pillar of Defense. Armored Corps brigades have been instructed to prepare for the possibility of being transferred to the Gazoo Division, while the Air Force has deployed additional Iron Dome batteries.
More than 40 rockets were fired from the Gazoo Strip at Israel since the beginning of Operation Brother's Keeper to find three Israeli teenagers who have been kidnapped some two weeks ago. 24 of them fell inside Israel, out of which 11 were fired over the weekend. The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted seven of the rockets.
The IDF believes the success of the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, terror cell in Hebron in heating up the Strip as well, encouraging rouge terror groups to open a second front against Israel.
The IAF attacked three hidden rocket launchers in the central Gazoo Strip on Saturday night in response to four rockets fired at southern Israel, one of them hitting a factory that caught fire and was burned to the ground.
The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees took responsibility for the rocket fire, saying it was a response to the IAF's assassination of two of its operatives on Friday.
The army was expected to continue responding to the rocket fire throughout the night.
So far, the IAF has struck some 30 terror targets, mostly identified with Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... or Hamas, the latter Israel sees as responsible for everything that happens in the Strip.
Despite the fact the past two weeks have seen the most rockets fired from the Strip since Operation Pillar of Defense, rocket fire has yet to reached beyond the Gazoo border communities. Ashdod and Beersheba have not yet been hit, and Hamas is careful not to join the rocket launching.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon spoke to Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi on Saturday night after a rocket hit a factory in the city.
Ya'alon told Davidi that the IDF was "working to restore the calm to the south of Israel. We will not tolerate attempts by terror organizations in the Strip to disrupt the daily lives of the South's residents. As we have done in the past few days, we will continue acting with a heavy hand and attack terror elements firing at Israel, and strike them with a painful blow."
The defense minister added that "at these very moments, the IDF and security forces are working, and will continue to chase and catch terror elements that are trying to hurt us. You, the mayors of cities and regional councils, are showing true leadership and responsibility in situations like these. The residents, who unfortunately have a lot of experience with these kinds of events, are also showing responsibility and a strong stance. You allow us to do our best to restore the calm to the area.
[Ynet] Guide suggests abducting a physically weak soldier and immediately changing the vehicle used in the kidnapping.
Even after Israel published the names of two Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,Death Eaters who are said to be the main suspects in the abduction of Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach, Hamas leaders continued denying the allegations they have any information about the abduction. As part of an Israeli hasbara campaign, trying to get the world's attention and support, Israel released information about Hamas' support of the abduction and its motives.
In 2010, the Paleostinian Information Center, which is run by Hamas, published the book "Resistance — A View from the Inside" by Mohammed Arman, one of Hamas' leaders, who was sentenced to 36 life sentences in Israel.
The book deals with the abduction of Israelis as a means to securing the release of Paleostinian prisoners from Israeli prison, and claims that if the abduction is carefully planned, there wouldn't be a problem to keep a hostage for a long period of time in the West Bank area. According to Arman, the kidnappers should be "dormant" Hamas agents that were groomed from an early and haven't been exposed to Paleostinian collaborators with Israel.
According to the Israeli hasbara abroad, Arman also provides elaborate instructions as to who is the ideal hostage and what kind of preparations should be made beforehand. According to the book, a Jewish soldier of Ashkenazi descent whose parents are alive and is married with children is an ideal target.
The hideout should be prepared before the abduction - preferably underground, away from populated areas or in a neighborhood where the residents are not perceived suspicious by Israel.
In addition to the book, Hamas published a manual by the name of "The Kidnapper's Guide to Abduction". According to Israeli hasbara, it's a new version of the organization's manual from 2002 for the members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing.
Dr. Adnan Abu Amer wrote about the guide, detailing the recommendations to the abductors.
The Israeli embassy in New Zealand, that distributed these recommendations to the local media, said that among other things, Hamas suggested that the kidnappers learn to speak Hebrew fluently, abduct a physically weak soldier and immediately replace the vehicle used in the kidnapping.
Once again, terrorism works to alter behaviour, even on the great terrorizers themselves, as the Great Muslim Schism Wars continue.
[AnNahar] Shiite organizations and charities have taken the decision to cancel over security fears the daily iftars that they used to hold throughout the holy month of Ramadan, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.
The decision was also part of judicial rulings that call for canceling gatherings, regardless of the occasion, it added.
There are fears that turbans may infiltrate such events and blow themselves up.
Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... has also taken such measures, but no official statement has been issued by the party yet to confirm it, said al-Liwaa.
The cancellations only include iftars held in Beirut, but it will go ahead in the South and eastern Bekaa region.
Al-Liwaa noted that this is the first time in several years that these organizations have canceled the iftars, adding that they were held even during the worst years of the civil war.
A previously unknown jihadist group linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) has grabbed credit for Wednesday's Duroy Hotel suicide kaboom in Beirut.
The group calling itself the state of Damascus-Qalamoun said on Thursday that two ISIL members targeted General Security agents at the hotel in Raouche.
It also vowed to carry out more attacks against Hizbullah and its agents, saying Wednesday's bombing was just the start.
Syria's civil war has spilled into Leb on numerous occasions and inflamed sectarian tensions. A series of boom-mobiles have struck Shiite areas across Leb, killing dozens of people.
Sunni Death Eaters have grabbed credit for the attacks to avenge Hizbullah, which has sent its fighters to Syria to help Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's troops in their fight against the rebels seeking to topple him.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/29/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant
#1
I wish I could be around in 50 years to see how this plays out, and how history reports it.
9-11 attacks leads to two wars, Iraqi and Afghani voters with purple fingers inspire the Arab Spring, which is taken over by the fundamentalists, leading to civil war, which then turns sectarian.
I wonder how long it'll take to burn out the sectarian tensions? Maybe Yugoslavia is the model?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/29/2014 7:39 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Is this the head-cutting celebration or some other weird sub-fest?
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.
International Criminal Court
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah
The powerful jihadist group has spearheaded an offensive by Sunni .png)
Wazoo
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The unanimous ruling prompted the KRG to declare victory in its dispute with Baghdad over independent oil sales.
