Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have declared the "defeat" of the US and its allies, a day after the coalition officially ended its combat mission.
A Taliban statement said the US-led force had "rolled up its flag" without having achieved "anything substantial".
Nato formally ended its 13-year mission on Sunday, but about 13,000 troops will stay to train the Afghan army.
Meanwhile, officials said four Afghan soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack in Helmand province on Monday.
Three other soldiers were injured during the attack on an army checkpoint in Sangin district. Eight insurgents were said to have been killed.
The US-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) marked the end of its mission by lowering its flag at a ceremony in Kabul on Sunday.
Mission commander Gen John Campbell said the Nato force had "lifted the Afghan people out of the darkness of despair and given them hope for the future".
'Demoralised'
But in a statement on Monday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Nato ceremony was "a clear indication of their defeat and disappointment".
He said the Taliban would establish "a pure Islamic system by expelling the remaining invading forces," adding that Western troops were "demoralised".
Nato's Afghan deployment began after the 9/11 attacks against the US.
At its peak, the US-led Isaf deployment involved more than 130,000 personnel from 50 countries.
But from 1 January, the force will consist of about 13,000 mostly-American troops and will shift to a training and support mission for the Afghan army.
The US will also have an additional force of a few thousand troops whose focus will be counter-terrorism operations.
While the US and its allies say the Afghan security forces have been able to prevent a Taliban offensive, violence has increased in recent months.
This year has been the bloodiest in Afghanistan since 2001, with at least 4,600 members of the Afghan security forces having been killed.
Nearly 3,500 foreign troops have been killed since the beginning of the Nato mission in 2001, including about 2,200 American troops.
Posted by: John Frum ||
12/29/2014 12:23 ||
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"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
George W. Bush, Statement To Joint Session Of Congress September 20th 2001
'In remarks endorsed by the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, Gen Musharraf said any post-Taliban government in Kabul should be "broad-based" and "multi-ethnic". It could include the "former king Zahir Shah, political leaders, moderate Taliban leaders, elements from the Northern Alliance, tribal leaders and Afghans living outside their country", he added.'
Western policy on Afghanistan became incoherent as early as 2001. Under these circumstances anything like winning the war was impossible.
The problem is that this is/was a war that neither the US or NATO could afford not to win.
A precedent has been established that fundamentally undermines Western deterrence.
I fear we are just now beginning to reap the consequences of this disaster.
#2
EH, I fear you are correct. I supported GWB because he was the best available but his "compassionate" conservative, PC, noblesse oblige was not up to the job.
He never named the enemy and therefore we could not have a strategy.
Obama was the result. Domestic concerns should have been put in the context of a true war and prosecuted accordingly.
#3
Never gonna get the desired result in these hearts and minds bullshit war. Make them fear the hell out of you, I thought that and resource take over was what war is supposed to be about.
Posted by: chris ||
12/29/2014 16:49 Comments ||
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Never gonna get the desired result in these hearts and minds bullshit war.
The air show in Kurdistan is just to keep things from spinning out of control too quirk.
Obama regime still needs more allies, Castro and an embassy in Tehran with the Mad Mullahs on the side of the Obama regime's side is another positive for the Obama regime.
With socialist latin Americans pouring through the Southern border, and the military being filled with yes people and soon foreigners, America as we knew it will be toast in two years.
GAROWE, Somalia -- Puntland Government in northern Somalia for the first time admitted it released undisclosed number of inmates from a prison amidst concerns over the freeing of two convicted Al Shabaab members, Garowe Online reports.
Speaking in annual performance review conference at Health Ministry headquarters in the state capital of Garowe on Sunday, Puntland’s Minister for Justice Ismael Mohamed Warsame revealed that prisoners held at security checkpoints in the southern part of Garowe have been set free.
“The prisoners being held at Garowe security checkpoint were all released,” said Warsame.
I think you're going to regret doing that...
Prison facilities in Puntland freed many Al Shabaab suspects according to a confidential report by United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea in early October 2014.
Nevertheless, Justice Minister insisted that after interrogations, the government returned freedom to suspects.
On the substandard living conditions, Warsame noted that the recently-constructed Gardo and Garowe prisons relieved the overcrowding police custodies of burden.
On December 15, insiders told Garowe Online that convicted Al Shabaab members-Abdirizak Hussein Tahlil (Ilka Ase) and Mohamed Nuh Adan (Abu Hafsa)-were freed in exchange for three kidnapped civilians in Galkayo.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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Dubai -- Bahrain’s main opposition movement Al Wefaq said its leader Sheikh Ali Salman was arrested on Sunday following a lengthy interrogation at the interior ministry. Salman, re-elected on Friday as leader of the opposition group, had been summoned for questioning about “violating certain aspects of the law”, the ministry said earlier without providing further details.
His lawyer Abdullah Al Shamlan tweeted that Salman had been accused of “inciting hatred against the government and calling for its overthrow by force”.
He said he had not been allowed to attend his client’s questioning by the police criminal investigation department.
Al Wefaq’s statement demanded the immediate release of its leader, calling his detention “a dangerous adventure that will complicate the political situation in Bahrain”.
In July, the justice ministry sued Al Wefaq, demanding that it rectify its “illegal status following the annulment of four general assemblies for lack of a quorum and the non-commitment to the public and transparency requirements for holding them”.
The Manama administrative court slapped Al Wefaq with the ban on October 28 and gave it three months to hold an assembly to elect its leadership.
The ruling came after Al Wefaq announced it was boycotting a parliamentary election in November. Al Wefaq, which withdrew its lawmakers from parliament in protest, denounced the vote as a “farce”.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A Turkish community leader in Germany warned Sunday against proposals by mainstream politicians for "dialogue" with a far-right populist movement that has drawn thousands to anti-Islamic street protests.
Several ministers and lawmakers have argued the government must listen to the fears about immigration voiced by the so-called "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident" or PEGIDA.
The chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany, Safter Cinar, warned that seeking to understand PEGIDA was dangerous and that xenophobia and racism must remain taboo, the newspaper Tagesspiegel reported.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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The chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany, Safter Cinar, warned that seeking to understand PEGIDA was dangerous and that xenophobia and racism must remain taboo
And then his lips and ears fell off -- his ears not being able to hear what his lips were saying anyway.
Posted by: Anice Nim ||
12/29/2014 13:24 Comments ||
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[DAWN] Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq has said elimination of poverty and exploitative socio-economic system is imperative to uproot terrorism in the country.
Speaking at Awami Huqooq (public rights) rally organised by the Awami Rickshaw Union here on Sunday, he said the people were committing suicides due to poverty while rulers were amassing wealth with both hands.
“Common worker is striving for the country’s uplift and the rulers are busy plundering public money.”
To show solidarity with rickshaw drivers, the JI chief traveled by a rickshaw for some distance and even drove the three-wheeler during the rally that began from Nasser Bagh and turned into a public meeting at the Charing Cross on The Mall.
Mr Haq alleged the “plunderers” ruling the country were transferring the wealth earned by the labourers to their bank accounts abroad. The elite class was least worried about the common man’s problems. These people always reached the power corridors by changing faces and parties, he added.
He said that the so-called elected representatives visited the people only at the time of elections and abandoned them for five years.
The JI chief said until workers elected candidates from their own class, their lot wound not improve.
He said an Islamic government would provide subsidy on five basic food items -- flour, cooking oil, sugar, tea and rice -- to the poor, besides free treatment to the patients suffering from life-threatening diseases.
He demanded the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project should be completed to overcome the gas shortage, regardless of the US pressure.
Punjab JI chief Dr Syed Waseem Akhtar demanded an end to police excesses against rickshaw drivers and urged Punjab chief minister to take notice of such incidents.
The rickshaw union leaders gave a 15-day deadline to the government for the acceptance of their demands.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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nothing to do with the teaching of true muslims and the hatred of non muslims?
Posted by: paul ||
12/29/2014 3:51 Comments ||
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TEHRAN: Pakistan Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that Islamabad and Tehran have reached some agreements on the gas pipeline project.
Talking to Iranian official IRNA news agency, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that some officials from Iran’s NIOC (National Iranian Oil Company) would visit Islamabad in few days to meet ISGS people to discuss the way to implement the project and talk about the remaining issues.
He further added that the exact date for NIOC-ISGS meeting to be announced soon. Regarding a recent interview with the Financial Times, he totally rejected some remarks attributed to him that “Pakistan has convinced Iran to step back from demanding $200m a month from January 01 to compensate for Islamabad’s failure to begin receiving gas from Iran”.
Abbassi reiterated that he had never said such a statement in his recent interview with the Financial Times.
The UK-based newspaper had reported the energy-starved Pakistan has convinced Iran to step back from demanding $200m a month from January 1 to compensate for Islamabad’s failure to begin receiving gas from Iran’s South Pars gasfield, according to the country’s minister for petroleum.
Pakistan has in the past said the Iranian gas is the cheapest option available as its own reserves in the country’s south and southwest dry up. However, officials have complained of continuing US pressure on Islamabad to keep the arrangement with Iran on hold until US-led international sanctions on Tehran are lifted.
The FT had earlier quoted Abbasi as saying, “We have a new understanding with Iran. There will be no penalty applicable from January 1.”
The “new understanding” between the countries revealed by Abbassi removes for now a “take or pay” obligation on Pakistan to compensate Iran whether or not it receives anything under a contract linked to the pipeline, FT reported.
Pakistan produces about 4bn cubic feet of gas per day but officials say the country needs at least 8bn cu ft. The country’s worsening energy supply shortfall has been highlighted in recent days with anxious consumers complaining of gas shortages while the winter chill sets in. The problem has forced Pakistan to halt the sale of compressed natural gas at petrol stations so the gas can instead be diverted for household use.
A Pakistan foreign ministry official said the agreement revealed by Abbassi was important to keep relations intact between Islamabad and Tehran.
Energy experts said gas from Iran would form a substantial part Pakistan’s energy mix. Sakib Sherani, a former adviser to the finance ministry in Islamabad, said gas from Iran was “a very significant source of future gas supplies to Pakistan. We can’t give up this project.”
Abbassi said a planned terminal for converting imported liquefied natural gas to gas near the southern port city of Karachi would be “up and running” by March 2015.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Former interior minister Rehman Malik has appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to order proceedings in the Benazir Bhutto murder case on a daily basis so that elements behind the assassination of the former prime minister could be brought to justice without delay.
Talking to journalists in Faridabad village on Sunday, he said invisible forces had eliminated five of the 16 accused in the murder case and trial of the arrested suspects lingered on.
He claimed that since Ms Bhutto’s murder seven years ago eight judges hearing the case had been changed. The chief prosecutor in the case, Chaudhri Zulfikar of FIA, was killed last year when security provided to him was withdrawn and since then no one had been appointed to the post. He said that five witnesses in the case continued to receive threats.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday said his party had reasons to believe that former dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was meeting with certain elements seeking to destabilise the Sindh government.
In a statement, Zardari asked democratic political parties to take notice of the alleged conspiracy to destabilise the Sindh govt by some elements.
The former president also warned that the PPP would never permit any such attempt to succeed.
Zardari also said that the party was a united political force and those seeking to topple the provincial govt through horse trading would not succeed in their designs. He also rejected reports of frictions within the party.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The standoff between civil society and Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz has taken another alarming turn. Following threats from militant groups, organisers of the protests are now being targeted by a social media campaign that could endanger their lives.
Mohammad Jibran Nasir, the Karachi-based lawyer and rights activist who has been at the forefront of the movement that aims to ‘reclaim Lal Masjid’, is being called a non-Muslim and an Ahmadi. Posts on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook featuring photos of Jibran participating in Holi celebrations are being used as ‘proof’ of his anti-Muslim allegiances.
However, the defiant Mr Nasir stands firm. In a message sent from his Twitter account, he responded to the allegations, saying, “I own my allegiance to human rights. Sunni, Shia, Ahmadi, [Christian], Hindu, Parsi… whoever, I will continue to advocate human rights for all. (sic)”
Organisers of protests against Lal Masjid, who are expected to meet a member of the federal cabinet on Monday to press for their demands, are considering holding a press conference to respond to these allegations.
There is fear among certain circles that accusations against Mr Nasir could be life-threatening, as saying that someone is an Ahmadi in Pakistan is tantamount to inciting violence against that person. The recent killing of Luqman Ahmad Shehzad, an Ahmadi man who was shot in the head near the Bhiri Shah Rehman village in Gujranwala, has also heightened concerns for Mr Nasir’s safety.
This concern is evident from another tweet from Mr Nasir’s account, which says “The whole Lal Masjid & Jamia Hafsa is directing their resources towards a social media campaign against us. Can all of u ppl help us respond? (sic)”
Following the attack in Peshawar on December 16 in which 142 students and teachers were killed, the head of Lal Masjid Maulana Abdul Aziz gave a controversial statement in refusing to condemn the killing of innocent children and said that he does not consider them martyrs. Angered by the Maulana’s statement, members of civil society began protesting in front of Lal Masjid.
After two consecutive days of protests, Abdul Aziz threatened the protesters leading them to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him.
On Friday (December 26) the district court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Abdul Aziz.
Members of civil society approached various political personalities requesting them to ensure the arrest of Maulana Aziz. On Friday, civil society activists met with senators from four different parties and had plans to meet a federal minister on Monday.
Civil society activist Shan Taseer while talking to Dawn said that for the last two days, some people had been campaigning on social media against Jibran Nasir and claiming that Mr Nasir is Ahmadi.
“We are considering holding a press conference to clarify that he is not Ahmadi because in the prevailing situation calling someone Ahmadi can instigate murder,” he said.
“We want to clarify that Jibran is not an Ahmadi. Moreover, he is not the only person who started the campaign. In fact there are number of people who see Abdul Aziz’s statements and actions as being derogatory and unlawful,” he said.
Shan Taseer said no one has the right to decide whether another person is a Muslim or not.
“A so-called religious scholar is promoting hatred against Ahmadis on electronic media which can be a part of the conspiracy,” he said.
He added that some elements initially threatened Jibran Nasir and are now hiding behind religion to attack him. “We planned to meet politicians and will continue to do so,” he said.
Senator Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi from Mutahidda Qaumi Movement said the campaign against Jibran Nasir is deplorable.
“Maulana Abdul Aziz is using sectarianism. First he accused Shias of conspiring against him and later said Ahmadis were conspiring against him,” he said.
Senator Mashhadi said Jamia Hafsa, the women’s seminary at Lal Masjid, has openly expressed support for the leader of Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) Sheikh Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi but the government is silent about it.
“If the government cannot take action against one person, how can we expect it to eradicate terrorism from an entire country,” he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The government’s legal advisers are weighing the option of amending Article 8 (1) and Article 212-A and B of the constitution in order to establish military courts in the country, officials privy to discussions on the issue told Dawn on Sunday.
The proposed constitutional amendments currently under consideration will be introduced in these two articles. Article 8 is titled ‘Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of Fundamental Rights to be void’, while Article 212 deals with administrative courts and tribunals.
If the amendments are carried out, changes will be made accordingly in the Army Act 1952 to set up special trial courts to try terror suspects. Under the proposed constitutional amendment, the military courts will cease to function after a period of two years.
“This is the initial draft of the constitutional amendment which the government intends to present before parliament as soon as possible, perhaps this week,” a government functionary told Dawn.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[NBCNEWS] As a paid member of the Iraqi army, Mazin should be helping his country fight ISIS. Instead, the father-of-three is battling traffic as a taxi driver in Baghdad.
Mazin is one of the 50,000 "ghost soldiers" who pay a portion of their monthly military salary to superior officers in exchange for not having to turn up for duty. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has vowed to put an end to the scam -- which has weakened his U.S.-trained army in the face of an ISIS insurgency.
"The reason behind doing this is that I have a family I need to take care of and two kids in school," Mazin, 38, told NBC News. "Besides, I have to pay for rent and other expenses. I found that this is the only way to earn more money, besides securing my future when I retire."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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Hey, how about we get a "ghost president"? Obola could stay in Hawaii and everybody just play along. We do not even have to tell Crazy Uncle Joe.
Posted by: Steven ||
12/29/2014 3:21 Comments ||
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From Eli Lake at Bloomberg. Seems like Champ is recognizing that the idea of Iraq as a unitary state is a lost cause. Joe Biden wins!
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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Speech by Kurdish MP in the Turkish parliament over two years ago immediately after the killing of innocent Kurds, mostly children one day in a section of Kurdistan occupied by Turkey.
[Ynet] After Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader Mashal vows to 'liberate Jerusalem' in meet with Turkish PM Davutoglu, prime minister says 'Turkey will not accept any impositions concerning Al-Aqsa.'
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Sunday that Turkey stands behind Paleostinians in their efforts to oppose what he called Israeli attempts to "reduce the Islamic character" of Jerusalem.
Davutoglu was speaking to news hounds in the central Turkish city of Konya, a day after meeting with exiled Hamas chief Khaled Mashal.
Violent demonstrations led Israel in November to briefly restrict Moslem access to a holy site in Jerusalem that includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third most sacred place, and the ancient Hebrew Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism.
The move fueled accusations that Israel was secretly plotting to take over the site, despite Israeli denials.
"The Paleostinians ... have a common stance. We back this stance against the reduction or the elimination of Jerusalem's Islamic character," Davutoglu said.
"Turkey will not accept any impositions concerning Al-Aqsa and will do whatever needs to be done internationally to protect Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque."
Turkey is a strong backer of the Paleostinian cause. Relations between former allies Turkey and Israel broke down in 2010 after an Israeli naval raid on a Gazoo-bound flotilla killed nine Turkish citizens. Turkey has become the strongest critic of Israeli actions in Gazoo, and reconciliation efforts between the two have repeatedly failed.
Mashal, a frequent visitor to Turkey, on Saturday accompanied Davutoglu to a regional congress of Turkey's ruling party in Konya, where he addressed delegates, and said that a "strong Turkey" means a "strong Paleostine."
Davutoglu said Sunday that Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... would also visit Turkey next month.
37 children whose parents were recently killed in the Israel-Gaza conflict have been prevented by Hamas from visiting Israel on a trip organised by peace activists.
The children, between 12 and 15 years of age and accompanied by five adults, were turned back at the Erez crossing. Hamas said they would have had to visit "settlements and occupied towns".
The visit, organized by the charity Candle for Peace and Arab-Israeli officials, and kibbutz leaders would have taken the children to Arab towns in Israel, southern areas targeted by militants' rockets, a mixed-race school and the beach in Tel Aviv. A visit to Ramallah to meet Mahmoud Abbas was also planned.
Hamas said the cancellation was justified to protect the kids from "the politics of normalization" with Israel. Spokesman Eyad Bozum said Hamas would make sure such a trip "will never happen again".
Three weeks ago, Hamas too had given approval for the visit, according to Yoel Marshak of the Kibbutz Movement. He expressed surprise that it was blocked.
[Beirut Daily Star] A far right Israeli group that agitates against Arabs in the name of religion and national security is forcing the Jewish state into a legal and political balancing act as it tries to contain sectarian violence.
Among their activities, Lehava activists yelling “Death to the Arabs” picketed the wedding in August of a Muslim man to a Jewish woman who converted to Islam. Now three members have been charged with an arson attack on a cross-faith school in Jerusalem last month.
Communal tension has been rising after last summer’s Gaza war, in which more than 2,000 Palestinians died, and feuding over access to occupied Jerusalem’s holiest site. This has spilled over into Palestinian street attacks on Jews, including the killing of four rabbis and a Druze policeman at a synagogue.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] An elite wing of the Iranian military claimed that its troops have been along Leb?s border with Israel.
A Twitter account associated with Iran?s Revolutionary Guard Corps tweeted the statement on Thursday along with several pictures of Iranian soldiers posing with uniformed Lebanese counterparts.
A report by MEMRI, a US-based Middle Eastern media watchdog, tracked the photos to a December 17 blog post affiliated with the Iranian Army, and noted that the pictures were taken in the Beqaa and Baalbek regions of southern Leb.
The soldiers in the pictures could be seem wearing military fatigues that included patches of the flags of Iran and Hezbollah, a terrorist group that has been a bitter rival of Israel, most notably in the Second Leb War of 2006.
The pictures from the blog post ? which was titled ?We are arriving? near the Mother of Corruption, the accursed Israel; soon we will pass over their bodies, Allah willing? ? were stamped with the date October 24, 2014.
Iran is a staunch ally of embattled Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... and has deployed personnel to Syrian throughout the three-year civil war there to assist him. Tehran is also a rival of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and other Sunni groups that have been operating in Syria and Iraq.
Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a former IRGC commander, claimed in May that Iran had succeeded in thwarting the ?Western? overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria and that the Islamic Theocratic Republic had established a military presence in Leb.
?Our frontmost line of defense is no more [in southern Iran], rather this line is now in southern Leb [on the border] with Israel, as our strategic depth has now stretched to the Mediterranean coasts and just to the north of Israel,? Safavi declared.
IRGC commander Ali Jafari added to Safavi?s claims in September when he was quoted divulging information about the group?s purpose: ?The missions of the Qods Force [an IRGC elite unit] are [carried out] outside Iran?s borders.?
?Assistance to revolutionary and resistance movements, and to the oppressed, takes place worldwide. If there will be need for assistance in Syria, Iraq or Leb, we will assist,? he said.
On October 19, Tehran announced plans to send a massive weapons shipment to the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah ?in order to improve security in Leb and the region, and to combat terrorists.?
Leb has been dealing with spillover from the Syrian civil war, with Hezbollah?s ground forces embroiled in a bloody conflict against opponents of the Assad regime. The rise of Sunni Lion of Islam groups has troubled Beirut, as the Islamic State and other groups have captured and executed several members of its armed forces.
Iran has considered Israel an arch-rival ever since the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi?s in 1979. A proxy war between the two states has heated up in recent years over allegations that Tehran?s nuclear program is being used to develop nuclear weapons, a claim that Iran denies.
Tehran is currently conducting a large-scale military drill in the Persian Gulf, including tests of its missile capabilities.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Residents of the Bekaa Valley are reportedly demanding to take up arms, fearing an expected attack by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on New Year's eve.
According to Ad Diyar newspaper published on Sunday, the residents of Brital, Younine, al-Labweh, Nabi Othman, Fakiha, Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa are calling on the state to arm them to foil any attack by terrorists.
Media reports said on Saturday that the recent infiltration attempts by gunmen into the northeastern border region of Arsal as a sign that these forces are seeking to break the army's siege of the area.
The nearby border is long and porous, and has proved an easy crossing point for smugglers, refugees and fighters.
Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are being hosted in the town, and opposition fighters have bases in the mountainous border area outside Arsal.
The town was overrun briefly in August by al-Nusra Front and Islamic State group jihadists coming from Syria, who withdrew after several days of fighting.
They took with them some Lebanese policemen and soldiers as hostages, and have since executed four of them.
Sources told Ad Diyar newspaper that security forces have upped measures around Rihaniyeh military prison and Roumieh jail after obtaining information that gunmen will target them with attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah politburo member Ghaleb Abou Zaynab has stepped down as the party's point man on relations with Christian parties.
“I have relinquished the duties related to the Christian file and I have not resigned from Hizbullah,” Abou Zaynab told al-Jadeed television on Sunday, clarifying earlier media reports.
“I'm still on the course of jihad under the directions of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” the party's secretary-general, Abou Zaynab added.
The man, who was in charge of dialogue with Christian parties for the past 14 years, took part Friday in a Hizbullah delegation that offered Christmas greetings to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.
Abou Zaynab is known to have close ties with the Free Patriotic Movement, Hizbullah's main Christian ally, and in 2006 he played a big role in forging the landmark memorandum of understanding between the two parties.
He was also part of the Hizbullah delegation that attended the Vatican ceremony that promoted Patriarch al-Rahi to become a member of the elite College of Cardinals -- the body that advises the pope in the governance of the Catholic Church and elects his successor should he die or resign.
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12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The army announced Sunday that its new, strict measures on the roads leading to the outskirts of the border town of Arsal are aimed at protecting the residents, in the wake of a demonstration protesting the move.
“The military institution has stressed that the army's new measures on the roads leading to the mountains are aimed at protecting Arsal's residents from the movements of the terrorists,” state-run National News Agency reported.
Earlier on Sunday, troops dispersed demonstrators who blocked the road in Arsal's Ain al-Shaab to protest tight security measures set to be implemented at the beginning of the new year.
Media reports said that around 200 people blocked the road with burning tires to protest the measures that the army intends to implement in the town in order to suppress gunmen from al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group who are entrenched in the outskirts of Arsal on the porous Syrian-Lebanese border.
Arsal municipal chief Ali al-Hujeiri and Sheikh Mustafa al-Hujeiri, who is also known as Abu Taqiyeh, also called on the owners of stone crushing plants to protest in Wadi Hmeid the army's measures in the town.
Mustafa al-Hujeiri is wanted by Lebanese authorities on charges of belonging to al-Nusra Front.
NNA had reported on Saturday that the army informed the residents of Arsal that “as of January 1, Syrian and Lebanese nationals will not be able to cross into the outskirts of Arsal through the Wadi Hmeid checkpoint without prior approval from the army intelligence.”
“Any person seeking to head to the outskirts of the town should file a request at the army intelligence branch in the Bekaa to be granted the necessary approval.”
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Security measures have been intensified in the North amid reports that terrorist groups are seeking to attack a military post in the area, said As Safir newspaper on Saturday.
A security source told the daily that snuffies are planning on attacking the post that is located near a major tourist resort south of the city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... .
Furthermore, it cited the recent infiltration attempts by gunnies into the northeastern border region of Arsal as a sign that these forces are seeking to break the army's siege of the area.
They are trying to sway the balance of power in their favor following the army's increased presence in the area given the festivities it waged with gunnies in Arsal in August, explained the source.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, Agent 49 felt gingerly for his head. It was still there. He had been hoping differently... another security source told As Safir that the recently detained Mahmoud Abou Abbas can be described as ?another Naim Abbas.?
Arrested by Army Intelligence in the town of Majdal Anjar, the source said that he is the criminal mastermind and executor of a number of bombings in Leb.
He helped in transporting bombs, terrorists, and booby-trapped vehicles in the country.
He is also linked to various terror groups and reportedly assisted the jacket wallahs behind the Dahr al-Baydar and Tayyouneh blasts that took place in June.
Naim Abbas is a detained top official in the al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades ... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed... .
He is charged with belonging to an armed terrorist group for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks and preparing and transporting booby-trapped vehicles from Syria to Leb to detonate them in residential areas.
Three gunnies were killed overnight on Thursday when the army thwarted an attempt by bandidosholy warriors to infiltrate an area on the outskirts of Arsal.
The nearby border is long and porous, and has proved an easy crossing point for smugglers, refugees and fighters.
Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are being hosted in the town, and opposition fighters have bases in the mountainous border area outside Arsal.
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.
37 children whose parents were recently killed in the Israel-Gaza conflict have been prevented by Hamas from visiting Israel on a trip organised by peace activists.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
