[Libya Herald] 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... residents were shocked this morning to awake to find the iconic gazelle and naked woman fountain on the corniche gone. All that remains is part of the base, showing that the bronze statue was wrenched off its pedestal, probably by a mechanical digger.
There have been a number of threats over the past year to destroy the fountain from bad boy who considered it immoral.
"There was security information about the intent of some people to demolish the statue," Tripoli Head of Facilities in the Tripoli local council Husam Bash Emam told the Libya Herald.
"It is a shock ‐ the statue was considered one of the most beautiful landmarks of Tripoli," Bash Emam added.
Claims by Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... supporters online that the statue has simple been taken away for repairs after it was badly damaged in a previous attack by vandals have been dismissed by local residents who point out that the remains of the fountain show that the statue was ripped off and that the incident happened in the middle of the night, not a time when workers are operating.
The claims have also been effectively refuted by Tripoli Local Council which has condemned the vandalism, called for a investigation into the attack and promised that the culprits will be caught. It also promised to protect other cultural artefacts in the capital.
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11/05/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Libya Herald] Head of Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... 's National Salvation Government Omar Al-Hassi has called for new parliamentary elections. Such a move was the only way to end the current chaos in Libya, he said.
"The current House of Representatives (HoR) has lots its legitimacy and is no longer relevant in Libya," Hassi insisted. "We need to have another election."
Continued on Page 49
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[Iran Press TV] The leader of Yemenâs Shia Ansarullah movement has accused the Yemeni government of lacking the political will to fight Takfiri terrorists.
Addressing mourners commemorating Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam, on Tuesday, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadiâs government lacks the âpolitical willâ to fight the growing threat of Takfiri terrorism in the country.
His remarks came hours after more than 30 people lost their lives in the latest round of clashes between Ansarullah revolutionary fighters and al-Qaeda-linked militants in the town of Rada' south of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a.
Al-Qaeda militants frequently carry out attacks on Yemenâs security forces and have been locked in deadly battles with Shia Ansarullah fighters.
Meanwhile, al-Qaeda-linked violence against Yemeni security forces has grown since February 2012, when President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi came to power in a one-man election backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States.
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[ARABNEWS] The Cabinet slammed on Monday the Israeli government for its illegal occupation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and plans to build settlements nearby.
So you want 'em to take on Iran for you, or what?
The ministers described the actions of the Zionist regime as criminal and a provocation of Moslems worldwide, Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja told news hounds after the Cabinet meeting.
Khoja said the Israeli government was continuing its aggression against the Paleostinians with its decision to build 1,000 housing units in the occupied city of Al-Quds.
Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, chaired the meeting in Riyadh on Monday.
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11/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Britannia's defense ministry said Tuesday it was cutting short a training program for Libyan troops after reported sexual assaults allegedly involving five of the servicemen.
Some 300 members of the troubled north African country's armed forces have been based at the Bassingbourn Barracks in Cambridgeshire, eastern England, since July.
"Training was initially expected to last until the end of November but we have agreed with the Libyan government that it is best for all involved to bring forward the training completion date," the ministry said in a statement.
"The recruits will be returning to Libya in the coming days."
Three of the Libyan soldiers -- Ibrahim El Maarfi, Mohammed Abdalsalam and Khaled El Azibi -- were due in court in Cambridge on Tuesday.
Maarfi and Abdalsalam have each admitted two counts of sexual assault. Azibi has been charged with three counts of sexual assault but has yet to enter a plea, British media reported.
Two other servicemen, Moktar Ali Saad Mahmoud and Ibrahim Abogutila, have been charged with raping a man, the Cambridge News website reported.
"The majority of recruits have responded positively to the training despite the ongoing political uncertainty in Libya but there have been disciplinary issues," the ministry said.
It said the government would now "review" whether to continue training Libyan recruits in Britannia.
Local politician Andrew Lansley said he had written to the defense ministry to raise his concerns and warned he would oppose any more Libyan troops being hosted at the base.
"It is clear that the stipulation that there was to be no unauthorized exit from the base has not been adhered to and the consequences have been unacceptable," he said.
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#3
Why do lions and bears, feral carnivores in general, make bad house pets? They accommodate the domestic training of men but they are driven to act by their natural behavior and instincts.
[An Nahar] Belgium on Tuesday banned a Kuwaiti Moslem preacher from attending an event in Brussels, accusing him of making anti-Semitic remarks and being a threat to public order.
Tareq Al-Suwaidan, described as a leader of the Moslem Brüderbund in the Gulf state, was due to speak at the Brussels Moslem Fair this weekend.
But Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon ordered officials to "take the necessary steps to forbid Tareq Al-Suwaidan access to the area or to stay in it", his office said in a statement.
"It was the only decision possible," Jambon and Prime Minister Charles Michel said in the statement.
"This preacher has unacceptable anti-Semitic beliefs and his presence here is a threat to public order."
The ban relates to comments allegedly made by Al-Suwaidan in July during the devastating 50-day war on Gazoo bully boys, which claimed 2,140 Paleostinian lives and 73 on the Israeli side, most of them from the army.
On his Facebook page, which has six million "likes", the preacher urged Moslem mothers to "suckle their babies on the hatred of the Sons of Zion", Belgian media reports said.
Al-Suwaidan later denied anti-Semitism.
Reacting to the Belgian ban, he said on his Facebook page Tuesday: "Under pressure from the Zionist lobby, the Belgian government has decided to block my access to its territory (even though I have a valid visa)."
The event he was meant to speak at draws thousands of people.
Belgium's League against Anti-Semitism welcomed the decision.
"In the current explosive context, with issues around jihadists in Syria and Iraq and a few months after the attack on the Jewish museum, Belgium has to be extremely vigilant," its president Joel Rubinfeld said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Salafists
#1
Because Belgian supply of this commodity is ample?
[DAWN] Maulana Jamshaid, a big shot of Tableeghi Jamaat, breathed his last here on Monday. The octogenarian preacher was ill for the last some days. Funeral prayers for the dear departed will be offered at Raiwind on Tuesday (today).
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[DAWN] Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... emir Sirajul Haq ...current head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. Siraj was born in 1962 and entered politics shortly after that... on Monday claimed that some hidden elements were conspiring to get the 1973 Constitution abolished, as it had declared Ahmadis as non-Moslems.
Addressing a public meeting at Khazana here after inaugurating a government higher secondary school, the JI chief said that leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami were being hanged in Bangladesh but the Pak government kept a criminal silence over the executions.
He demanded of the prime minister to take up the issue with the Bangladeshi government.
Sirajul Haq said that the country was passing through a critical period and it was need of the hour that the nation stood united to steer the country out of the quagmire. "The situation in Islamabad is still not stable," he said, adding the government should speed up electoral reforms process.
The JI leader said that political jirga played vital role in resolving political impasse in Islamabad during the last two months.
Sirajul Haq claimed that the nation needed Sharia where every citizen had equal rights and duties and led a peaceful and prosperous life.
He said the JI's three-day congregation at Lahore on Nov 21 would prove as the first step towards implementation of Sharia in Pakistain.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. The whole thing smelled phony, kind of like a dead mackeral but without the scales... the JI chief along with provincial minister for finance Muzafar Syed inaugurated development projects of road repair, water supply schemes and electrification of villages worth Rs10 million.
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[DAWN] KARACHI: The files of the 2009 Ashura blast case have been gathering dust in an antiterrorism court for around four and a half years, as the law enforcement agencies are still unable to recapture three suspected Death Eaters said to be associated with Jundullah after their escape from the city courts in 2010.
Murtaza alias Shakil, Saqib Farooqui, Wazir Mohammad and Murad Shah said to be associated with the banned holy warrior organization were enjugged Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! in January 2010 for their alleged involvement in four cases pertaining to the attacks on Muharram processions in December 2009, including a devastating kaboom that destroyed the main Ashura procession on M.A. Jinnah Road, killing more than 45 people.
Three of the suspects got freed in June 2010 by their accomplices who attacked the city courts where they had been brought in connection with the hearing of a robbery case. One of the fleeing suspects, Murad Shah, was killed while a policeman also lost his life in the firing.
After the escape, the antiterrorism court-III, where the four cases against them were pending trial, abated the legal proceedings in all the cases and issued life warrants for the arrest of the three suspects. The judge directed the police to arrest and produce them in court as soon as possible. But over four and a half years have passed, with the police, special investigation unit (SIU) and other law enforcement agencies still being clueless about the whereabouts of the three holy warriors.
Strangely enough, the suspected holy warriors, who were high-profile hardened criminals associated with Jundullah according to the SIU, were not tried inside the jail. Police did not even make proper arrangements while taking them to the city courts. According to legal experts, an investigating officer sends a letter to the home department asking it to notify jail trial in high-profile cases though jail authorities can also make such recommendations if they find a suspect as hardened criminal by monitoring his activities on the jail premises or if they have insufficient security to take them to courts.
They were arrested after a shootout on Hawkesbay Road on Jan 23, 2010, the police said, adding that they confessed to having carried out attacks on the Muharram processions. Their cases were sent to the ATC-III for trial after they were charge-sheeted under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and the court supplied copies of documents to them under Section 265-C of the criminal procedure code. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... they escaped before their indictment.
Murtaza and Saqib were booked for their alleged involvement in the blast in the main procession of Ashura on Dec 28, 2009 that killed over 45 people and maimed about 100 others. Both were also charge-sheeted in the Paposh Nagar blast that targeted a Muharram procession on Dec 26, 2009 (8th of Muharram) and left 13 people maimed. Murad Shah along with his absconding accomplices Haider, Hasnain and Sajid was also charge-sheeted in a case pertaining to a low-intensity blast that targeted a procession in Qasba Colony on Dec 27, 2009 (9th of Muharram) and left 17 people maimed.
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Top|| File under: Jundullah
[DAWN] PESHAWAR: There were times when there was just one main hard boy group, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain which used to have one front man. Any major hard boy attack and a statement by the front man would be taken at face value.
But all that changed when the TTP opened its franchises and branches all over Fata and in districts where it had its influence, with their own spokesmen who often issued conflicting statements.
Things became murkier when many shadow groups emerged, some of them serving as front organizations for the existing ones to deflect responsibility as peace talks were held.
Continued on Page 49
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AQ is not just a conventional group but the fountainhead of a violent ideology.
The organisation was founded at the end of the 1980s by Osama bin Laden while he was in Afghanistan/Pakistan waging war against the Soviets. According to Al Qaeda literature, the organisation's ultimate goal is to establish a hardline global caliphate. It seeks to fight America and her 'apostate' allies in the Muslim world.
While the organisation maintains a relatively low profile in Pakistan, it is behind much of the coordination between different jihadi groups in a bid to 'channelise' and 'streamline' the effort.
In contrast with many other jihadi groups, the overwhelming majority of their cadres in Pakistan are university graduates hailing from well-off urban families.
Al Qaeda regards Pakistan as a 'Daar-ul-Kufr wal harb' (abode of disbelief and war). It classifies the rulers as 'apostates' against whom it is obligatory to rebel and fight.
Al Qaeda considers Shias as disbelievers 'in the garb of Islam'. As such, the militant organisation considers it permissible to shed the blood of Shia Muslims and confiscate their wealth. However on strategic grounds, the Al Qaeda chief has advised the operatives not to engage minority groups anywhere in a confrontation unless 'absolutely required' such as in Syria and Iraq.
The organisation rejects the concept of nation-states. It seeks to expand the theatre of war, topple governments in Muslim countries and form a global caliphate.
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan
Formally launched in 2007, the TTP is effectively Al Qaeda's local franchise in Pakistan. Among anti-state jihadi groups here, TTP maintains the strongest footprint with operatives all over the country. Its stated objective is to turn Pakistan into an 'Islamic state'.
Up till its recent splintering, The group regarded the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Umar, as its supreme leader.
As with Al Qaeda, the TTP regards Pakistan as a 'Daar-ul-Kufr wal harb' (abode of disbelief and war) and considers its rulers apostates.
While the TTP also considers Shia Muslims to be apostates, there is currently a debate within the organisation on whether a front should be opened against them.
The TTP is also increasingly looking at global operations, most recently with top TTP leaders forming splinter group TTP Jamaatul Ahrar; the group has openly pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
The IMU was founded by Tahir Yuldashev and Jumma Kasimov (both Uzbeks) in 1991. The two had earlier fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion of the country.
The initial objective of the organisation was to topple Islam Karimov's regime in Uzbekistan and to establish an 'Islamic state' in the country. They also fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance.
Kasimov died in the fighting while Yuldashev, along with his fighters, managed to escape into Pakistan's tribal areas during the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan. IMU maintains strong contacts with Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban as well as the TTP.
For now, its focus remains on strengthening the group as it prepares for the war in Central Asia.
Lashkar-i-Jhangvi
An offshoot of the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), the virulently sectarian LJ was formed in 1996. Its founders Riaz Basra, Akram Lahori and Malik Ishaq had differences with the SSP and believed that the parent organisation had drifted from its original ideals.
LJ's primary targets are Shia Muslims and it has indiscriminately targeted them through both assassination and mass casualty attacks. The LJ has killed thousands of people, including many women and children. Its largest attacks to date have been against the Shia Hazaras of Quetta.
LJ leaders say their aim is to turn Pakistan into a Sunni Islamic state and consider it a 'priority' to target Shia Muslims. The group also seeks to establish stronger ties with anti-Iran groups operating in the region.
Splinters, subdivisions and shadow groups
The lines blur when it comes to differentiating between militant groups in Pakistan. They share space, tactics and resources and sometimes, subdivisions are created for specific purposes and for creating confusion in the public's minds.
TTP Jamaat ul Ahrar
On August 26, 2014, key commanders belonging to the TTP announced the formation of a new group by the name of TTP Jamatul Ahrar, with Maulana Qasim Khorasani as the new Ameer and also comprising other commanders. The new group comprises of members from four of the seven tribal districts bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, namely Mohmand, Bajaur, Khyber and Orakzai.
Former TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan, who has been nominated as the spokesman for the splinter group says the new group only wants the Shariah system to prevail in the country.
At least 60 people were killed on Sunday November 2, 2014 in a blast near the Wagah border, the responsibility of which was claimed separately by the outlawed Jundullah and TTP-affiliated Jamaat-ul-Ahrar outfits.
Ahrar ul Hind
The group's name literally means freedom fighters of India (referring to the Indian subcontinent as a whole).
According to a commander of a Taliban group, the group derived its name of 'Ahrar' from Majlis-i-Ahrar-ul-Islam, because the Ahraris were against the formation of Pakistan, and they believed that the entire subcontinent was their homeland. The commander said that the group planned to expand their operations to the remaining part of the subcontinent.
Ansar al-Aseer
A North Waziristan based group primarily concerned with the 'welfare' of locked-up jihadis. Its tasks include intelligence gathering about Pakistani jails and planning jailbreaks to release militants. It is closely allied to TTP and draws many of its fighters from TTP and IMU. Its basic agenda is to free all militants locked up in jails across the country.
Lashkar-i-Khorasan
Al Qaeda allied group with a single point agenda to track down and eliminate 'spies' in North Waziristan.
Ansar al-Mujahideen
A small organisation affiliated with the TTP. Its primary focus is targeting armed forces personnel and politicians. As with AQ and TTP, Ansar al-Mujahideen aims to turn Pakistan into an 'Islamic State' and use the state to launch 'jihad' against other belligerent states.
Jandullah
Al Qaeda affiliated group that started off from South Waziristan. It gained most notoriety for its assassination attempt on the then Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat. The outfit has also targeted Shia Muslims and foreign tourists.
Not to be confused with the Judaean Peoples Front Iran-based Jundullah.
Ghazi Force
A group formed after the Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad. It is named after Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, the former Lal Masjid cleric who was also killed in the operation. Most of its members are relatives and friends of the people killed in the 2007 operation.
This group has practically merged with the TTP. Some of its members and sympathisers in and around Islamabad are known to provide intelligence and a footprint in the capital. Members of the group consider it a priority to target former president Pervez Musharraf.
The 'Other' Militants
Then there are those jihadi groups who, for one reason or another, have historically been classified as 'good' militants by the state. Part of the reason for this is that these groups do not prioritise targeting the Pakistani state and instead turn their energies outwards. However, there is evidence that militants from their ranks can and at times do join other organisations, such as the TTP, AQ and LJ.
They also share ideological commonalities with those groups and in some cases even share resources and physical space.
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Formed in the early 90s in Afghanistan, the group has been primarily operating in Indian-held Kashmir. It seeks to 'liberate' the people of Kashmir from 'Indian oppression' and establish an Islamic state' in the region.
It sees India, the United States and Israel as eternal enemies of Islam and boasts about defeating them through armed struggle. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the head of Jamat-ud-Dawa denies that his charity is simply a cover for the banned militant outfit. However the lower cadre not only acknowledges their connection with LeT but proudly boast about their operations in India.
In line with their particular brand of Salafism, the organisation is strongly opposed to rebellion against the Pakistani state. Members of the group say they are bracing themselves for the Ghazwa-i-Hind ' a grand war in which Muslims will regain control of India, they claim.
Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM)
Jaish-e-Muhammad was formed in 2000 by Maulana Masood Azhar. Shortly after its inception, it effectively swallowed a previously existing but now largely defunct Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM). Its primary goal is to 'liberate' Kashmir from Indian rule and it has carried out various attacks on Indian interests including the 2001 attack on Indian parliament.
The group was banned by then President Pervez Musharraf and rebranded itself as Khuddam-ul-Islam. It continues to engage in open fundraising outside many Pakistani mosques on Fridays.
Tehreek Ghalba-i-Islam
The group emerged as an offshoot of Jaish-e-Muhammad after serious differences emerged between various commanders. TGI is led by Commander Abdul Jabbar and operates primarily in Afghanistan. Publicly, the organisation opposes rebellion against the Pakistani state. It stresses on its cadre to focus on Afghanistan.
Jaish al-Adal
The group has recently emerged in parts of Balochistan bordering Iran. It has targeted Shia Muslims and claims to be countering Iranian interference in Pakistan. The group also seeks to extend the theatre of war into Iran.
Hafiz Gul Bahadur group
He is one of the most influential figures in North Waziristan but at the same time, maintains a very low profile. Bahadur is politically affiliated with Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman's Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam.
Hafiz Gul Bahadur have been very secretive about their plans. In public, they have always maintained focus on 'liberating' Afghanistan and re-establishing Taliban rule. He is considered a pragmatic figure who knows how to consolidate his position. He has successfully managed his relations with both the military and the TTP.
He has never made his position on the Pakistani state public. However one of his most prominent commanders, who has since been killed in a US drone strike, gave an hour-long interview to Al Qaeda's media wing As Sahab in 2009.
In the interview he made it clear that he did not have any differences with Al Qaeda or the TTP and that they were his 'brothers'. He had also said that his men would fight against the Pakistan army if it sided with the Americans.
Haqqani Network
This setup operates primarily in the Eastern Afghan provinces of Khost and Paktika even though it has carried out 'daring' attacks in Kabul. The network has also attempted to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The group is currently headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, one of the sons of veteran Afghan jihadi commander Jalaluddin Haqqani. He is one of the most powerful commanders in the region and maintains good relations with Al Qaeda and the TTP.
The group has been silent on their view of the Pakistani state, however when questioned about the TTP, Sirajuddin Haqqani is on record as saying that he does not have differences with his 'brothers'. Their future plans focus on the reinstatement of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Sipah-i-Muhammad Pakistan
The group was formed in the 90s in response to the anti-Shia violence perpetuated by Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). It maintains a very low profile and seeks to primarily target leaders of anti-Shia militant organisations such as SSP and LJ.
Its leader Syed Ghulam Raza Naqvi has been in prison since the mid-90s. Pakistani intelligence agencies claim the group is backed by Iran in a bid to extend its influence in the region.
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[Iraq News] On Tuesday, the head of al-Amiriyat council, Shaker Mahmoud, stated that ISIS is gathering forces of Evil to advance towards the area with heavy weapons and mortars.
Mahmoud informed IraqiNews.com "ISIS forces of Evil are gathering in al-Hasa and al-Razaza lake near al-Amiriyat, 23 km south of Fallujah. The forces of Evil are carrying heavy weapons and preparing for an offensive operation against al-Amiriyat."
He said, "We did receive reinforcements consisting of weapons, gear and ammunition, which the central government has ordered to support police forces and volunteer fighters in the city, however, the situation inside al-Amiriyat is dire."
Mahmoud also asked the government to send emergency and humanitarian aid for thousands of displaced families.
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11/05/2014 00:00 ||
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Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz warned Tuesday that Israel was prepared to completely eviscerate Lebanon in response to any cross-border missile attack by Hezbollah.
Katz (Likud) was responding to a fiery speech by the Shiite group's head Hassan Nasrallah earlier in the day in which the extremist leader claimed that his organization's rockets can hit anywhere in Israel and threatened to target the country's sea ports and main airport in the next conflict.
"In order to avoid any doubt on the matter, Nasrallah the cowardly braggart should know this: that option does not exist for us!," Katz wrote on his official Facebook page (Hebrew).
"If such a scenario does materialize, we will raze Lebanon to the ground! We will return it to the Stone Age and bury [Nasrallah] under the rocks."
In his Tuesday speech, Nasrallah said Hezbollah "is fully ready in southern Lebanon."
Addressing via video thousands of Lebanese Shiites commemorating the Ashura holiday in southern Beirut, Naharnet reported, he said the group's activities fighting in support of the Syrian regime had not affected its battle readiness.
Hezbollah's campaign in Syria has cost the group over 1,000 fighters, according to some reports.
"Israel's threats of another war on Lebanon do not stem from its power because it has lost hope and is concerned… The resistance is a real threat to Israel," said Nasrallah.
"Israelis are saying in the media that they would have to close down the Ben Gurion Airport and the Haifa port and yes, that's true," said Nasrallah, the Daily Star reported.
"You should close all of your airports and your ports because there is no place extending on the land of occupied Palestine that the resistance's rockets cannot reach."
Israel knows that fighting Hezbollah "will be very costly because we are more determined, stronger, more experienced … and we are capable of achieving such accomplishments," he continued.
Nasrallah's televised address came a day after he made a rare public appearance in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs, addressing thousands of his supporters ahead of the Shiite Ashura commemorations.
The head of the Shiite group had not appeared in public since July when he attended a rally to show support for the Gaza Strip.
In September, an Israeli TV report said the Israeli army is "making plans and training" for "a very violent war" against Hezbollah in south Lebanon, without specifying when this war might break out.
The report, for which the army gave Israel's Channel 2 access to several of its positions along the border with Lebanon, featured an IDF brigade commander warning that such a conflict "will be a whole different story" from the Israel-Hamas conflict in which over 2,000 Gazans (half of them gunmen according to Israel) and 72 Israelis were killed. "We will have to use considerable force" to quickly prevail over the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, "to act more decisively, more drastically," said Colonel Dan Goldfus, commander of the 769th Hiram Infantry Brigade.
The report said Hezbollah has an estimated 100,000 rockets — 10 times as many as were in the Hamas arsenal — and that its 5,000 long-range missiles, located in Beirut and other areas deep inside Lebanon, are capable of carrying large warheads (of up to 1 ton and more), with precision guidance systems, covering all of Israel. Other IDF sources have indicated Hezbollah may have some 150,000 rockets.
Israel's Iron Dome rocket defense system would not be able to cope with that kind of challenge, and thus the IDF would have to "maneuver fast" and act forcefully to prevail decisively in the conflict, Goldfus said.
#2
So what's holding hezbollah back? I say fire one off so we can watch the footage of yall being wiped out.
Posted by: chris ||
11/05/2014 12:33 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Unfortunately, Darth, the winds blow from northwest to southeast there. Israel would get all the fallout. The only way to be sure is to line up artillery hubcap to hubcap and fire until the barrels melt, then send in the Air Force to finish off anything missed. Give the UN forces 15 minutes' warning, just to be diplomatic.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/05/2014 12:45 Comments ||
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#4
As I recall, Israel mapped Hezbollah's war material storage points some years back -- even showed it to the UN or something. So they needn't pound everything south of the Litani River to rubble, merely hit certain points and watch the secondaries bloom.
[IsraelTimes] The Knesset on Monday gave final approval to a contentious law to prevent Paleostinian prisoner releases for those serving life sentences, effectively removing the option to use prisoners as a bargaining chip with the Paleostinians.
Thirty-five Knesset members voted in favor of the bill, with 15 MKs opposing.
The measure, sponsored by MKs Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) and David Tzur (Hatnua), dictates that courts will henceforth be allowed to convict murderers under "aggravating circumstances," in which case discussion of sentence commutation shall not occur before 15 years of imprisonment, and at any rate sentences will not be reduced to under 40 years.
The law will prevent leaders from being able to offer prisoner releases in exchange for political concessions in talks with Paleostinians.
It only applies to prisoners convicted from this point onwards, however, and not to those already incarcerated for their crimes.
"In the state of Israel today the judges' rulings are not worth the paper they're written on," Shaked said upon the bill's preliminary approval in the plenum earlier this year. "In cases of particularly heinous murders, the government should respect the decisions handed down by judges in the state of Israel."
The release of Paleostinian security prisoners, most of them convicted murderers, became one of the most divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... issues within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition over the past year after he agreed to release over 100 such prisoners at the outset of the most recent round of peace talks with the Paleostinians. The talks collapsed in the spring, in part because of a dispute over the fourth and final batch of prisoner releases, with the Paleostinians demanding the release of Israeli Arab inmates, and Netanyahu saying he had never agreed to do so.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation originally approved the bill on May 11 in a decision that was promptly appealed by Yesh Atid's Science Minister Yaakov Peri.
"The proposal seeks to allow the court to completely tie the government's hands" and compromises its authority with regard to political considerations, he argued. Peri's appeal was ultimately rejected.
[IsraelTimes] About 20,000 civil servants in the Gazoo Strip went on strike Tuesday to protest the Paleostinian unity government's refusal to pay military and security employees of the Islamist terror movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
All ministries and other institutions run by Hamas in Gazoo were shut and gated, except for schools, after the walkout by mostly administrative workers, an AFP correspondent said.
Thousands of military and security workers caught up in a row between Paleostinian rival factions Hamas and Fatah in the war-ravaged territory have not been paid for several months.
Hamas hired more than 40,000 people after it seized Gazoo in 2007 following deadly festivities with members of Fatah, the party of Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... But after a reconciliation deal with Abbas that led to the formation of a West Bank-based national unity government in June this year, Hamas relinquished responsibility for paying salaries.
Hamas has technically handed power to the unity government but it remains in de facto control of Gazoo.
Abbas's West Bank-based Paleostinian Authority initially refused to pay the workers, but on Wednesday about 24,000 civilian Hamas employees received their salary from the unity government.
Roughly 16,000 more -- all holding jobs in the military and security services -- have still not been paid.
Fatah and Hamas have recently sought to present a united front to the international community, which has pledged $5.4 billion to help reconstruct Gazoo after a devastating seven-week war with Israel.
[IsraelTimes] the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... 's Fatah movement called on Paleostinians to confront Israelis who are planning to enter the Temple Mount compound on Wednesday to protest the attempted liquidation of activist Yehudah Glick last week.
The movement posted a notice on its official Facebook page Tuesday titled "call to arms" and directed at "all Jerusalem residents and Arab Israelis." It warned of plans for a purported "consolidated storming of Al-Aqsa a week after the liquidation attempt of the bad boy rabbi Yehudah Glick." The notice included a translation of a Hebrew poster which calls on Jews to flock to the Temple Mount Wednesday morning in a state of ritual purity and with no leather shoes, "for the sake and health of rabbi Yehudah Glick."
"The terrorist sought to murder Yehudah and halt his blessed and vigorous activities for the return of Israel to the Temple Mount. We will not succumb to terror, we will not let terror win," the poster declares.
Glick, who is still hospitalized at death's door, is a leading advocate for Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount, which has been forbidden by Israel since it captured the area in the 1967 war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he had no intention of lifting that ban.
Several right-wing Knesset members visited the Temple Mount this week -- including Jewish Home deputy Shuli Moalem-Refaeli, who was physically assaulted at the site, and Likud's Moshe Feiglin and Tzipi Hotoveli -- despite appeals from Netanyahu to colleagues to calm tensions surrounding the contested area.
Two weeks ago, PA President Mahmoud Abbas notified his Fatah party that he would take international legal action against Israel for its "vicious attack on Al-Aqsa."
"We must stand as one against the attacks of settlers everywhere," Abbas told members of his party from Jerusalem on October 17. "It is not enough for us to say 'there are defenders.' We must all be defenders in Al-Aqsa. Fatah must lead in this defense ... it is not enough to say 'the settlers have come.' They've come, but they must not enter the sanctuary. We must prevent them from entering with all means possible. It is our Al-Aqsa and our churches, and they have no right to enter and defile them. We must stand with our bare breasts and protect our holy places."
[Ynet] Moussa Abu Marzuk's sister, a cancer patient at death's door, admitted to Israeli hospital; Relatives of Haniyeh also recently hospitalized in Israel.
The sister of senior Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, official Mousa Abu Marzuk was admitted for treatment in an Israeli hospital two weeks ago, reports revealed Monday. The 60-year-old woman is suffering from cancer and is at death's door. Israel has yet to respond to the reports.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories issues entry permits every week, allowing the passage of hundreds of medical and humanitarian cases from the West Bank and from the Gazoo Strip into Israel.
This is not the first time family members of senior figures in terrorist organizations were given a permit to enter Israel for medical treatment. Last month, it was reported that the daughter of the leader of Hamas in GazooIsmail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... received emergency medical treatment in Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, after she suffered complications from a routine procedure.
The daughter, a young woman in her 20s, was hospitalized for a period of a week.
Last November, Israeli media reported that one of Haniyeh's granddaughter was treated in an Israeli hospital, while his mother-in-law sought treatment in a Jerusalem hospital in June.
In 2012, Haniyeh's sister entered Israel along with her husband, who received urgent treatment at the Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.
In March of that year, the husband of Suhila Abd el-Salam Ahmed Haniyeh suffered a serious cardiac episode which could not be treated at any hospital in Gazoo. After the couple filed an urgent entry request with Israeli authorities, a Paleostinian ambulance transported the husband to the Erez Crossing, where he was moved to a Magen David Adom vehicle and taken to the hospital in Petah Tikva along with his wife.
The husband was hospitalized in Israel for about a week, during which his condition was stabilized. Following the treatment, the couple returned to Gazoo.
Five months ago, several days after the abduction and killing of three Israeli yeshiva students, Ynet revealed that Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... ' wife had surgery at a private hospital in the heart of Israel.
h/t Gates of Vienna
Thousands around the world on social media have shared the image of the "Angel of Kobane" or "Rehana", a Kurdish fighter who has become a symbol of resistance against Islamic State. According to the stories, she's slain as many as 100 Islamic State fighters. Only one hitch: she's probably not who people think she is. Did the Kurds themselves ever claimed she exists?
[Ynet] According to officials quoted by the New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... , Moscow would convert uranium to special fuel rods for Bushehr, which would make it difficult for Iran to use them to make a nuclear bomb.
Russia could play a significant role in the West's effort to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear threshold country after Tehran has reportedly agreed to ship much of its uranium to Moscow, officials and diplomats involved with nuclear negotiations told The New York Times in a story published on Tuesday.
The plan is contingent on the P5+1 nations (US, UK, La Belle France, China, Russia and Germany) reaching a long-term nuclear agreement with Iran in talks due to expire later this month.
According to the diplomats, the discussed solution to the impasse in talks over Tehran's 28,000 pounds of uranium is for Moscow to convert the uranium into specialized fuel rods to be used in Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Once converted into fuel rods, the Times reported, it would be extremely difficult for Iran to use them to make a nuclear weapon.
The agreement, however, does not address an alternative way for the Islamic Theocratic Republic to obtain a nuclear bomb - the use of the heavy water produced at Iran's Arak plant to produce plutonium.
Despite that, an American official involved in the talks was optimistic about the proposed agreement, saying that "if the Iran-Russia deal works, it could be the cornerstone of something much larger."
A US National Security official confirmed Russia's contribution to nuclear talks with Iran, saying Moscow "played a very helpful role during these negotiations," by working together with the other nations "to put forward creative and reasonable ideas that preserve our objective of cutting off any possible pathway Iran might have to a nuclear weapon."
According to the Times, Russia has both financial and political incentives to agree to the proposed deal.
On the financial benefits, the paper noted that Moscow "would be paid handsomely for enriching Iran's uranium, continuing the monopoly it has in providing the Iranians with a commercial reactor, and putting it in a good position to build the new nuclear power reactors that Iran has said it intends to construct in the future."
Politically, "it also places President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... at the center of negotiations that may well determine the future of the Middle East, a position he is eager to occupy," according to the Times.
US 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... was scheduled to meet with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarid and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton next week in Oman to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue, just two weeks before the November 24 deadline for the talks.
According to the Times, one of the issues Kerry is expected to negotiate is the caps that would limit how much uranium Iran could keep.
The high-level gathering is one of series of meetings in the final weeks before the deadline. Before heading to Oman Ashton will meet senior foreign ministry officials from the six powers in Vienna on November 7, Ashton's front man Michael Mann said.
The six will then begin meeting again with the full Iranian delegation in Vienna on November 18, he added. EU coordinates the negotiations on behalf of the six powers.
"The aim of the talks is to reach a comprehensive agreement with Iran by November 24, under which it would reassure the international community about the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program," Mann said in a statement.
Last week the top US negotiator in the Iran talks, Under-Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, said Iran will be widely seen as responsible if a comprehensive deal to curb its nuclear program is not reached.
Both sides say they still aim to meet the November 24 deadline for a deal, despite doubts among many experts that they can reach an accord that would end a decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear program with just a few weeks remaining.
Relations with the West have thawed since Hassan Rouhani was elected president last year seeking to end Iran's international isolation, and the talks are aimed at easing concerns about Tehran's atomic activities in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
But Western officials say there are still differences in the positions of the two sides, especially over the future scope of Iran's uranium enrichment program, which can have civilian and military uses.
The United States, La Belle France, Britannia and Germany would like the number of enrichment centrifuges Iran maintains to be in the low thousands, while Tehran wants to keep tens of thousands in operation. It now has about 19,000 installed, of which about 10,000 are spinning to refine uranium.
Iran and the six powers reached an interim deal last November under which Tehran received limited sanctions relief in exchange for halting the production of medium enriched uranium. That six-month accord took effect early this year and was extended by four months in July.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/05/2014 00:00 ||
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In other news, Russia receives huge shipment of Cheetos packed in hazmat containers.
[An Nahar] The daughter of two anti-regime activists who was born in a Syrian jail 26 years ago has been incarcerated Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! on her return from a brief trip abroad, a monitor said Tuesday.
"Maria Bahjat Shaabo was born in jail in 1988, while her mother was serving a four-year sentence for her political activism. On Sunday, Maria was arrested," said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Maria was detained when she tried to return to Syria from neighboring Leb, after visiting her mother who had been taking part in a medical conference.
"She was arrested on the Syrian side of the border by the intelligence," said Abdel Rahman.
"When she was just a year-and-a-half old, Maria's father was able to get her out and to care for her in her mother's absence. Her mother still had another two-and-a-half years to serve," he told AFP, after speaking with her relatives.
"Then shortly after her mother was released, her father was arrested. He spent nearly 10 years in jail, from 1992 to 2002."
Both of Maria's parents are doctors who were persecuted over their alleged membership in the banned Communist Labor Party.
The party was especially active in the 1980s and 1990s, and opposed the regime of then-president Hafez Assad.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2014 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[An Nahar] 
[DAWN] 
[Ynet] According to officials quoted by the 
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
