#5
What a charming gift, Besoeker. Thank you! So many get pleasure out of reading for information, or for a story well told, but your blogger seems to get drunk on the joy of the words themselves -- the poet's joy rather than the storyteller's. :-)
[AnNahar] Colombia's leftist FARC guerrillas on Sunday freed an army general and two others, calling for an "armistice" to protect peace talks from future disruptions.
President Juan Manuel Santos, who suspended the peace talks after the capture of Brigadier General Ruben Alzate, was the first to announce the captives' release.
"Freed ... in perfect condition," he said on his Twitter account, adding that they would be reunited with their families as soon as weather permitted.
Military operations had been halted for the handover in the dank, jungle-covered Choco region bordered by Panama.
Santos had made the release of the captives a condition for resuming the two-year-old talks, seen as the best chance yet of ending the country's 50-year-old guerrilla war.
But in a statement from Havana following the prisoner release, the FARC urged Santos to agree to a bilateral ceasefire to protect the peace talks from similar disruptions in the future.
"The time has come for a bilateral ceasefire, or an armistice, so that no act of war in the fields of battle be used to justify the interruption" of the grinding of the peace processor, the FARC statement said.
Santos has repeatedly refused to consider a ceasefire without a peace agreement, on grounds that the rebels would use it to regroup, lengthening the war.
The FARC statement argued that as the peace talks take up the most sensitive issues it was time to "redesign the rules of the game."
Alzate, Corporal Jorge Rodriguez and army adviser Gloria Urrego were captured by rebels November 16 as they traveled by boat without a security detail to visit a civilian energy project in the Choco department.
The 55-year-old general is the highest ranking officer ever captured by the FARC.
He heads an army task force fighting the rebels and narcos in Choco, an impoverished region that has been hard hit by the conflict.
The FARC said Saturday preparations were in place to release the three to the International Committee of the Red Thingy and representatives of Norway and Cuba, guarantors of the peace talks.
A Colombian news agency close to the FARC, Anncol, said rebel peace negotiator Pastor Alape and the commander of the unit that captured the general were involved in the handover.
In a show of good faith, the FARC on Tuesday freed two other soldiers who were captured in fighting November 9 in the department of Arauca.
The speed with which the crisis was resolved showed that both sides were keen to avoid an escalation that could do permanent damage to the peace talks, said Angelika Rettberg, an expert on the grinding of the peace processor.
"The grinding of the peace processor already was showing signs of inertia," she said.
The talks in Havana have made halting progress since they began in November 2012, but a comprehensive peace agreement has remained elusive.
Getting them back on a sound footing may not be easy, some observers say.
"It will be difficult for the peace talks to resume as if nothing had happened," said Christian Voelkel, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.
"In the long run, this episode will be felt in Havana," he said.
The FARC's leader, Timoleon Jimenez, who goes by the alias Timochenko, warned pointedly last week that the government's suspension had "destroyed trust," adding: "Things can't just resume as they were."
The conflict, the oldest in Latin America, has claimed the lives of more than 220,000 people and uprooted 5.3 million more.
The FARC has justified its capture of the army hostages as legitimate acts of war taken in the absence of a ceasefire.
Founded in 1964, the FARC has about 8,000 fighters and is the largest of two leftist guerrilla groups active in Colombia.
#2
I recommend the Chinese Communist artist Lei Yixin be recruited to do the stone sculpture of Chevez. There should be no problem with correct quote submissions. Chevez never said anything even remotely intelligent or noteworthy.
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Artillery strikes from both Ukrainian artillery units and from rebel units continued over the last three days in and near Donetsk city. Meanwhile, fighting continues in northern Lugansk as rebels try to push Ukrainian units from two key cities near the Northern Donetsk River.
Head of the Donetsk Security Council, Alexander Khodakovsky announced Saturday that an attempt by Ukrainian armored units to bring in ammunition to Ukrainian soldiers holding on at the Donetsk airport was stopped.
The vehicles were said to be filled with ammunition for the continuation of Ukrainian fire missions into Donetsk city. Losses were not reported by either side, although Ukrainian military announcements have said that losses to Donbas rebel units in the vicinity of the airport are said to be "unsustainable".
Khodakovsky said in a news report posted on Komsomolskaya Pravda online, that the main focus is to end Ukrainian artillery strikes in residential areas in Donetsk city.
According to the pro Russian Voice of Sevastopol, Ukrainian artillery units shelled three separate districts in Donetsk city last Thursday.
The Kievsky district was hit by rocket artillery units positioned at Avdeyevka, a key Ukrainian Army position, while the Kuibyshevsky district was fired on from Ukrainian Army held Opytnoye. A third artillery strike was recorded in the Oktyabrsky district by artillery located at the Orlovka Kiev settlement.
North of the Donetsk airport, Ukrainian artillery units hit Gorlovka, while rebel artillery hit Dzerzhinsk and rebel infantry fired on Ukrainian checkpoints nearby.
Northeast of Donetsk city, Ukrainian and rebel artillery exchanged fire, with rebel artillery hitting Maloorlovka -- where Ukrainian artillery is said to be deployed -- Orlovo-Ivanovka and Kamenka, and Ukrainian artillery hitting the settlement of Kirovskoye.
On the Donbas rebel western front, just north of the Sea of Azov port city of Mariupol, rebel artillery hit Zamozhnoye, while Ukrainian artillery hit the settlement of Naberezhnoye.
November 28th
On the morning of the 28th, Ukrainian artillery struck Donetsk city in Petrovskiy, Voroshilovsky, Kievsky, Kuibyshevsky and Kirovsky districts. Rebel artillery hit Ukrainian Army positions at the airport and at Peski, Beryozovoye, Novomikhaylovka and Slavnoye.
Ukrainian artillery hit Gorlovka using recoilless rifles in the role of artillery. Rebel artillery units responded with mortar fire on Dzerzhinsk, Shumy and Artyomovo.
Further to the northeast, Ukrainian Army artillery units hit Nikishino several times over the day using 120mm mortars. Donbas rebels reported no artillery fire from their units, but did force back an APC supported attack against their positions in Nikishino.
According to tsensor.net.ua, Donbas rebels attacked Ukrainian positions at the airport, a reported 12 times. The report said the rebel forces was forced to withdraw from the area. Reports of casualties from either side were not available.
November 29th
Ukrainian artillery units positioned at Krasnogorovka and Avdeyevka opened fire on the Kirovsky district in Donetsk city early in the morning.
That afternoon, Ukrainian artillery located at Tonenkoye, north of the airport, fired on Donetsk city, specifically at Petrovsky district and at the Yasinovataya checkpoint.
That night, Ukrainian artillery units at Orlovka and Avdeyevka fired on targets in the Kievskiy district, hitting a shopping center and a gas pipeline, which detonated.
Rebel positions at the airport were shelled throughout the day from Tonenkoye, Avdeyevka, Peski and Orlovka. Rebel artillery conducted counterbattery fire missions against those positions.
At around 2200 hrs, rebel units reportedly captured the old terminal at the airport, sparking a new battle as Ukrainian units at the airport fought to take the building back and rebel units attempted to take the new terminal, which the Ukrainians have held since the summer.
Lugansk
Rebel attacks continued all along T1303, the road between Lugansk and Frunze, near the Donetsk border.
According to data supplied by Voice of Sevastopol, rebels attacked checkpoints and Ukrainian Army positions near the highway at Popasna, Chernukhino, Zolotoye and Gorskoye, at Frunze on the upper Lugansk River, and at Tryokhizbyonka.
Near Stanitsa Luganskaya, north of the Northern Donetsk River rebels fought Ukrainian units, and launched artillery strikes at Stanitsa Luganskaya and at Olkhovaya and Makarovo, east of the city. Rebels also struck at Ukrainian Army positions at Verkhnyaya Olkhovaya, Olkhovoye and Predelskoye.
Rebels claimed control of the heights overlooking Stanitsa Luganskaya.
November 28th
In the morning Ukrainian artillery units fired on Pervomaysk. Rebel artillery units hit Ukrainian Army positions at Gorskoye and Popasnaya.
That afternoon, Ukrainian artillery units positioned at the airport at Severodonetsk struck at various points along highway T1303. Rebel units hit back at Ukrainian Army positions at Zolotoye, Krimskoye, Frunze, Tryokhizbyonka and Prichepilovka.
That night the town of Slavyanoserbsk, which is situated just south of the Northern Donetsk River was hit by Ukrainian mortar fire.
According to Voice of Sevastopol, fighting continued all day at the Ukrainian held bridgehead at Schastye.
Meanwhile in Stanitsa Luganskaya, Ukrainian artillery units struck at settlements outside of the city. Rebel artillery returned fire against Ukrainian ground units in Stanitsa Luganskaya.
November 29th
Rebel and Cossack artillery units hit Ukrainian targets along highway T1303 and at the settlements of Zhelobok, Tryokhizbyonka, Krimskoye and Novogrigoryevka.
Rebel artillery units at Kirovsk struck Ukrainian Army positions at Zolotoye and Gorskoye. Ukrainian artillery units struck back at Frunze and Donetsky, wounding six civilians.
That night fighting was recorded with Ukrainian artillery and tank units putting southern districts of Stanitsa Luganskaya under artillery fire.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A former Russian GRU colonel said in a video released two days ago that Piotr Poroshenko sold weapons to Donbas rebels earlier this year before becoming president of Ukraina.
GRU Lt. Colonel Igor Bezler appeared in a video in which he said he was currently in Poltava oblast, along with an aide identified as Oleg Frolov. Frolov was erroneously reported by Ukrainian media as having been killed in a firefight in Donetsk.
Col. Bezler, just prior to appearing in the video, had resigned his command with the Donetsk rebel forces, and left with no word as to where. Speculation within the Donbas militia community was that Bezler had been wounded or killed, but later information surfaced that he had left for Russia.
In the video, Col. Bezler said that while he was chief of police in Gorlovka, large shipments of weapons were delivered to rebel forces aboard Ukrainian trucks, not in small amounts, but "truckfuls".
Among those directly involved in the arms exchange whom Bezler ties to Poroshenko are (no first name or patronymic provided) Gerasimov, member of Ukrainian parliament, whose party recently joined Poroshenko's Petro Poroshenko Bloc ruling coalition and a woman identified as Gospa. [Mrs.] Lebedev (no first name), possibly the wife of former Ukrainian defense minister Pavlo Lebedyev under Ukrainian prime minister Mykola Azarov.
Another significant name mentioned in the video is current Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, whose role in the arms exchange was unclear.
Bezler said that during an unspecified time, trucks were being brought into Gorlovka from Ukrainian military depots every three days. Among the deals struck were rifles going for UAH $1,900 (USD $126) and APCs of unspecified types for UAH $19,000 (USD $12,600). A deal was not reached for tanks, according to Bezler.
Bezler also said that Poroshenko had been cooperating with Bezler "nicely" as he put it, and that the Antiterrorist Operation (ATO) -- the name given to Ukrainian counterinsurgency operations in Lugansk and Donetsk -- was just a cover for those arms deals.
"You still owe me UAH $480,000," said Bezler.
Poroshenko was elected president of Ukraine June 14th, 2014, and Bezler took control of the Ukrainian SBU detachment in Gorlovka in April, so the deal and exchange was effected between April, 2014 and June, 2014.
It is worth noting that many of the Donbas rebels senior formation commanders are Russian trained, some of them by the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.
Unable to find the relevant entries in the EU official journal, I was forced to go to the pro Russian military blogger Colonel Cassad for the information.
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Foreign ministers for the European Union published the names of 29 individuals and five "entities" which will be sanctioned by EU member states for their role in the November 2nd parliamentary and presidential elections in the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, according to a blog entry by pro Russian military blogger Boris Rozhin.
According to statements emanating from Brussels, the November 2nd elections were "illegal" and "illegitimate", and violated the September 5th Ceasefire Accord signed in Minsk.
The new sanctions are in contrast to public statements by German chancellor Angela Merkel and other top European offcials who said last week they did not want further sanctions against Russia for its role in the fighting in southeastern Ukraina.
Included on the list are:
Oleg Akimov, Head of the Federation of Trade Unions (Lugansk) ,
Larisa Hayrapetyan, Minister of Health (Lugansk)
Yuri Sivokonenko, Member of Parliament (Donetsk)
Alexander Kofman, Member of Parliament (Donetsk)
Sergei Kozjak, Head of the Central Election Committee (Lugansk)
Dmitry Semenov, Deputy Prime Minister for Finance (Lugansk)
Oleg Bugrov, Defense Minister (Lugansk)
Les Laptev, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Religion (Lugansk)
Vladislav Dana, first deputy chairman of the People's Council (Lugansk)
Ravil Khalikov, vice-premier (Izium)
Yevgeny Mikhailov, head of the Council of Ministers (Izium)
Igor Kostenok, Education Minister (Izium)
Evgeny Orlov, head of the movement "Free Donbass" (Donetsk)
All 13 individuals are restricted from travel to the EU, and any banking assets they have are frozen. Rozhin commented in his blog he doubted any of the 13 listed had any intention of travel to the EU in the future, and likely had no assets there as well.
According to a news item posted online at rbc.ru, speaker of Izium parliament Dennis Pushilin has no assets in Europe. The article also said neither of the presidents of Lugansk and Donetsk, Igor Plotintskii and Zakharcheko, had any assets in Europe subject to the ban.
The 13 listed are in addition to others who were added back in April of 2014, around the time the wars in Lugansk and Donetsk started going hot.
According to Rozhin, the list includes 132 individuals and 28 organizations.
Among the entities affected by the sanction are:
Donetsk Republic (Donetsk)
Free Donbass (Donetsk)
World of Luhansk (Lugansk)
People's Union (Lugansk)
Lugansk Economic Union (Lugansk)
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.
Hong Kong activists, police clash outside govt headquarters
Pro-democracy protesters clashed with police as they tried to surround Hong Kong government headquarters late on Sunday, stepping up their movement for genuine democratic reforms after camping out on the city's streets for more than two months.
Repeating scenes that have become familiar since the movement began in late September, protesters carrying umbrellas -- which have become symbols of the pro-democracy movement -- battled police armed with pepper spray, batons and riot shields.
After student leaders told a big crowd rallying at the main protest site outside government headquarters that they would escalate their campaign, hundreds of protesters charged past police lines on the other side of the complex from the protest site. They blocked traffic on a main road, but were stopped by police barricades from going down a side road to Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying's office.
Protesters said they wanted to occupy the road until at least the next morning to prevent Leung and other government officials from getting to work, but police in the early hours of Monday charged the crowd, aggressively pushing demonstrators back with pepper spray and batons.
Police arrested at least five protesters, according to the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the groups that have played important roles in organising the protest movement, which is seeking free elections in the former British colony.
Many in the crowd were wearing surgical masks, hard hats and safety goggles. They shouted "I want true democracy."
Protesters said they were taking action to force a response from Hong Kong's government, which has made little effort to address their demands that it scrap a plan by China's Communist leaders to use a panel of Beijing-friendly elites to screen candidates for Hong Kong's leader in inaugural 2017 elections.
"We want to upgrade our action to force the government to make some statements about our goal" of genuine democracy, said protester Ernie Kwok, 21, a maintenance worker and part-time student. "I really want to have real elections for Hong Kong because I don't want the Chinese government to control us, our minds, anything."
Earlier on Sunday, police warned that they would take action to prevent the protesters from surrounding government headquarters. They said in a statement that they would "take resolute enforcement actions" and would "use minimum level of force to stop any violent and illegal acts, so as to uphold the law and order."
Authorities last week used an aggressive operation to clear out the protest camp on the busy streets of Hong Kong's crowded Mong Kok district, one of three protest zones around the semiautonomous city.
In Britain, a lawmakers' committee said the Chinese Embassy had warned that its members would be refused entry if they tried to go ahead with a visit to Hong Kong as part of an inquiry into the city's relations with the UK since the handover of sovereignty to China in 1997.
Richard Ottaway, chairman of Parliament's committee on foreign affairs, said the Chinese authorities were acting in an "overtly confrontational manner." He said he would seek an emergency parliamentary debate on the development.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Strange, you never hear any more about Hong Kong in the Lame Stream Media.
The headline is obvious. That it's being reported by the New York Times is not. The Bear and the radical environmentalists are joined at the hip on this one, just for different reasons...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2014 07:49 ||
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This has been going on for many years. MLK was about to be arrested but a person of influence stopped his arrest. Seems he was funded by the communists. During the American revolution and after many were sympathizers to the enemies cause.
They had saboteurs even during WWI here. On and on it goes. At Andrews Air force base they had people trying to steal carbon copies of important high security personnel flights during WW11. On and on it goes. It will never stop. In my opinion the Democratic party has its hand out in a big way. The people they promote don't give them the money they need. They are currently developing a permanent block of underclass people that they wish to control. Money money everywhere where it goes we may never know.
#4
On fracking, however, Russian authorities have turned enthusiastically green, with Mr. Putin declaring last year that fracking “poses a huge environmental problem.” Places that have allowed it, he said, “no longer have water coming out of their taps but a blackish slime.”
Well, ya gotta give the Saudis bonus points for using capitalism - instead of bald-faced lies - to fight fracking.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/01/2014 13:22 Comments ||
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#5
If people want to be opposed to fracking, or to offshore drilling, or to windmills, or to coal-fired generators, fine. But then they should be opposed to it everywhere, not just in their own 'back yards,' or else they're just exploiting the 'little brown people.' They should give up using energy themselves or they're nothing but frauds.
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.
