[JudicialWatch]. His name is Mullah Abdul Rauf and international and domestic media reports say hes operating in Helmand province, actively recruiting fighters for ISIS. Citing local sources, a British newspaper writes that Rauf set up a base and is offering good wages to anyone willing to fight for the Islamic State. Rauf was a corps commander during the Talibans 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan, according to intelligence reports. After getting captured by U.S. forces, he was sent to Gitmo in southeast Cuba but was released in 2007.
#1
[General] DEMPSEY: I’ve been in the group that believes that it’s in our national interests to quote – to close Guantanamo. It does create a psychological scar on our national values. Whether it should or not, it does. Link
Sorry General, I'm more concerned about Bagram Air Base ramp ceremonies for the fallen and children growing up without fathers and mothers than 'psychological scars.'
Kenya has launched its first national air ambulance service to evacuate security forces wounded in battle.
They're learning from us. Just about every wounded American soldier in Iraq went through Balad.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said the service was vital to ensure they received swift treatment.
The initiative is likely to boost the morale of security personnel facing multiple threats, a BBC reporter says. Some soldiers and policemen have bled to death or have died of dehydration in remote areas of Kenya because of long delays in getting them to hospital.
The BBC's Wanyama Chebusiri in the capital, Nairobi, says the government has now reached a deal with the Red Thingy Cross and private firm AMREF Flying Doctors to despatch helicopters and vehicles as soon as distress calls are received.
The new evacuation service will also be offered to civil servants, especially those who work in the security field in rural areas with few medical facilities.
"This is a crucial service, especially for our security officers, who put themselves on the front line against our enemies, to ensure that Kenyans are safe wherever they are," Mr Kenyatta said at the launch in Nairobi.
In 2012, more than 40 security officers were killed in the area and it took more than two days to rescue the injured, he says.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2015 00:00 ||
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UN-brokered talks on ending armed chaos in Libya continued for a second day Thursday in Geneva after a promising start despite being shunned by some groups.
They weren't killing each other during the meeting. Definitely a positive...
“Discussions during the first session on Wednesday were constructive and were conducted in a positive atmosphere,” the UN mission in Libya said in a statement. “There was a clear sense of determination among the participants to ensure that this dialogue succeeds.”
And they had a fine catered lunch. For the UN, that's always a positive...
The North African nation has been gripped by civil conflict since the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in a Nato-backed uprising in 2011, with rival governments and powerful militias battling for control of key cities and the nation’s oil wealth.
That Gaddafi is dead is viewed by many as a positive...
But UN special envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon warned at the start of the talks Wednesday that they would be tortuous.
As opposed to tortured talks, so that's positive as well...
“We are not expecting to have a breakthrough tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” said Leon, who is overseeing the dialogue.
Meaning more lunches and per diems. Positive!!
The talks are aimed at reaching agreement on a unity government to replace the rival administrations, whose battle for power has left hundreds dead over the past six months.
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[WSJ] Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... killed hundreds of people and burned down almost an entire town this month, Amnesia Amnesty International said Thursday, citing satellite photos to offer the clearest indication to date of the damage the Nigerian insurgency wrought.
More than 3,700 buildings, including homes, schools, and clinics, were torched by Boko Haram in and around the remote town of Baga during an assault that began on Jan. 3, the human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. group said. Satellite photos showed the entire town of Doron-Baga, which is next to Baga, had been effectively burned down.
Amnesty said the pictures corroborate the stories of refugees who have spoken of many hundreds killed in the remote area, which is dangerous and inaccessible for journalists and aid workers. Residents who fled have described walking through a countryside littered with bodies.
For a week, the question of how many people died there has been the subject of a back-and-forth between Nigerias press and its government. Emotional and hungry residents who have lost their family members and walked for days have told news hounds that as many as 2,000 people were killed. It is impossible to verify those numbers, given the risks in traveling to the town.
The army says at most 150 people died there, many of them members of Boko Haram. A lot of speculations and conjectures have been peddled by a section of the press, it said in a statement on Monday.
Nigerias President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... is seeking a second four-year term next month, in an election whose biggest issue is his handling of Nigerias five-year-long war with Boko Haram. The campaign has put pressure on Nigerias military to show gains in that struggle.
On Wednesday, the military said it had conducted an Arclight airstrike outside the town of Biu. A local vigilante confirmed as much, saying about 100 Boko Haram fighters had driven into the town on cycle of violences, storming a barracks, before the arrival of a fighter jet prompted them to flee. About 40 members of the sect died, the vigilante, Garba Rabiu, said.
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01/16/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
#Blacklivesmatter doesn't count in Chicago (pick your inner city of choice) or apparently northern Nigeria. Tucked right behind the pages about how Euro traders sat in the ports in Africa while Africans brought other Africans to them for sale and trade. Selective outrage.
The main function of the barrier will be keeping out ISIS militants, who have stated that among their goals is an eventual takeover of the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, both of which lie deep inside Saudi territory, according to United Press International.
This past week, a commander and two guards on the Saudi-Iraq border were killed during an attack by Islamic State militants, the first direct ground assault by the group on the border.
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#1
I was going to post this under the heading'
Saudi Arabia building their 'Maginot Line'
Which got me thinking about what the 'Von Schlieffen' plan could be.
ISIS are rather more interested in conquering Sunni lands than subjugating Shiias, which looked at from that perspective, puts Iran and ISIS on the same side against SA.
I can see an alliance between them, where Iran attacks either through Kuwait or a naval assault on Bahrain, drawing Saudi forces away and allowing ISIS to break through into SA.
I'd go for the former, and if the West has the stomach for liberating Kuwait again, it will be a very different prospect against Iran.
OTOH, the large Shiia and ethnic Persian populations in Bahrain make a 'liberation' narrative more convincing. Perhaps convincing enough to prevent a Western military response.
All-in all, we have yet to see the fallout from the oil price collapse. Iran is in very much the same boat as Saddam was, needing more oil revenues to keep the regime afloat. The best way for Iran to do that is to stop the flow of Saudi oil.
#2
Most folks wouldn't think of war as a consequence of falling oil prices, but then, those same folks aren't aware the U.S. oil embargo against Japan was a factor in WW II.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/16/2015 13:08 Comments ||
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#3
Back during Vietnam we had a sensor that was supposed to smell enemy troops and stop infiltration. The thing failed because the jungle is filled with smells that overwhelmed it.
#4
Richard: Years ago I worked with an old boy from West Virginia the implanted sensors along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Interesting fellow, liked to work alone. I asked him one time how he got started in that line of work and he said he just volunteered one day. Went on to say that when he finally walked back to the fire base, his boss was so shocked at his survival he took him off all the other missions. Must have been pretty good at it to have survived. Not all the stories about so-called solo, one way mission are bullshi*.
The link is a Google translation of an article in German.
Short summary: DITIB is calling for Muslims to hold vigils in front of newspaper and media offices.
These Muslims are to accompanied by Imams and DITIB representatives.
In Berlin a DITIB group will visit the Axel-Springer-Haus, home to several newspaper offices of the Springer media group.
There will also be a vigil in front of the French Consulate General in Berlin.
Statements from the chairman of DITIB include:
"We Muslims as well are responsible for the freedoms and values of our society. Political statements by representatives of associations do not suffice. It is important that everyone gets to know what agitates Muslims throughout the nation."
These 'vigils' and 'visits' are mock reenactments of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The 'Good Cops' are scouting out the premises and the Dhimmis are made to understand that the 'Bad Cops' know who they are and where they work.
Merkel's palling around with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Turkish government is paying off.
This is an official action by the Turkish state who is a sworn enemy of Western freedoms, these aren't just some Salafist weirdos.
[Ynet]. Spanish newspaper says kosher supermarket attacked stayed in Spain with unidentified individual in beginning of January; man in Belgium turns himself in to police saying he had contact with Coulibaly.
Two new developments emerged on Thursday in the investigation into Amedy Coulibaly, the terrorist behind the kosher supermarket attack and the killing of a French policewoman. A Spanish newspaper has reported that Coulibaly spent three days in Madrid in the beginning of January, days before the attack, and in Belgium a man turned himself in to authorities, saying he had been in touch with Coulibaly.
Coulibaly, one of the three perpetrators of the attacks in Gay Paree, stayed in Madrid for three days between December 30 and January 2, according to a report by a Spanish newspaper.
Coulibaly, suspected of killing a police officer on January 8 following which he conducted a bloody hostage-taking in a kosher supermarket in Gay Paree, was in Madrid before the attacks and was accompanied by an individual not yet identified, said the Catalan daily La Vanguardia.
It is already known that Coulibaly's companion Hayat Boumeddiene had passed through Madrid on her way to Turkey. However, a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... his potential nearly three day stay with her in the capital would be a novelty.
According to the Turkish authorities, the young woman had passed through Madrid and Istanbul and entered Syria on January 8, according to La Vanguardia.
Spanish anti-terrorism agencies are investigating with their French counterparts to determine Coulibaly's activities in Spain and see whether there may be a Madrid support cell.
According to the Spanish authorities, some 70 Islamist fighters from Spain returned from conflict zones to the country in 2014.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again... Belgian authorities have detained a man for arms dealing and are investigating whether he supplied Coulibaly weapons for the attacks, Prosecutors said Thursday.
Belgian media reported that a man had handed himself in to police in the southern city of Charleroi on Tuesday, saying he had been in touch with Coulibaly.
According to the reports, the man said that he swindled Coulibaly in a car sale, but police later found evidence that the two were negotiating about the sale of ammunition for a 7.62 mm caliber firearm.
Bullets of this caliber are needed for the Tokarev pistol that Coulibaly used in his attack on the supermarket in Gay Paree, where he killed four hostages, and possibly in the shooting and injuring of a jogger two days earlier.
"The man is being held by the judge in Charleroi on suspicion of arms dealing," a front man for Belgium's federal prosecution said. "Further investigations will have to show whether there is a link with the events in Gay Paree," he added.
Coulibaly was killed on January 9 in an assault conducted by an elite French unit after he took hostages and killed four Jewish-Frenchie at a Kosher supermarket in a Gay Paree suburb. He acted in coordination, he said, with Cherif and Said Kouachi who killed twelve people in the attack against the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... in Gay Paree.
The man, Neetin Farasula, from the airport city of Charleroi in French-speaking southern Belgium, is in detention on suspicion of a possible link to the weapons used in last week’s Islamist assaults in which 17 people were killed, they said.
The article thereafter refers to him as Karasular, suggesting that one of the two is a typo.
[Ynet]. Hackers have targeted about 19,000 French websites since a rampage by Islamic gunnies left 20 dead last week, a top French cyberdefense official said Thursday as the president tried to calm the nation's inflamed religious tensions.
La Belle France is on edge since last week's attacks, which began Jan. 7 at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... . The paper, repeatedly threatened for its caricatures of the Moslem Prophet Muhammad, buried several of its slain staff members Thursday even as it reprinted another weekly issue with Muhammad on its cover.
[Ynet]. A Malian Moslem who hid shoppers from an Islamist gunman during an attack on a Jewish supermarket in Gay Paree will be given French nationality, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
After the gunman had already killed people during a hostage taking in the store on Friday, 24-year old shop attendant Lassana Bathily
hid several people in the store's freezer, turned off the light and told them to stay calm.
He then escaped to look for help. After initially being suspected of being an accomplice, he was able to tell police what was happening inside the store, where four Jewish hostages were killed before police shot gunman Amedy Coulibaly, a Frenchie of Malian origin.
"I helped Jews. We're all brothers," Bathily told BFM TV. It's not a question of Jews, Christians or Moslems, we're all in the same boat," he said.
A petition had been going around La Belle France over the last week to give Bathily citizenship.
"Following the acts of bravery by Mr Bathily during the hostage taking in the Hyper Casher market on Jan. 9, the Interior Ministry has fast-tracked (his) request for citizenship," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
[IsraelTimes]. Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman who killed four hostages at a Gay Paree kosher supermarket, rented a small suburban house the week before and filled it with an impressive arsenal of late-model weapons, police said Wednesday.
A published report said a search of the house has enabled police to identity a potential fourth attacker as Sherlocks follow the money and supply systems for the three known killers, all of whom died in police raids. Police told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named as many as six members of the same radical Islamic terror cell may be on the lam.
"We have put our finger on some extremely dangerous people, men and women," French police union front man Christophe Crepin said. "We are really in a war."
Continued on Page 49
[Telegraph] One of the founders of Charlie Hebdo has accused its murdered editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, or Charb, of "dragging the team" to their deaths by publishing increasingly provocative cartoons. Henri Roussel, 80, who contributed to the first issue in 1970, wrote to the slain editor, "I really hold it against you."
In this week's Nouvel Obs, Roussel - who publishes under the pen name Delfeil de Ton - said, "I know it’s not done," then proceeds to criticize Charbonnier. Calling Charb an "amazing lad", he said he was also a obstinate "block head".
Referring to Charb’s decision to post a Mohammed caricature on the front page in 2011, Roussel asked, "What made him feel the need to drag the team into overdoing it?"
Soon afterwards, the magazine’s offices were burned down by unknown arsonists. Delfeil added, "He shouldn't have done it, but Charb did it again a year later, in September 2012."
The accusation brought forth a furious reaction from Richard Malka, Charlie Hebdo's longtime lawyer, who sent an angry message to Mathieu Pigasse, one of the owners of Nouvel Obs and Le Monde. Malka wrote, "Charb has not yet even been buried and Obs finds nothing better to do that to publish a polemical and venomous piece on him."
Nouvel Obs's editor Matthieu Croissandeau said, "We received this text and after a debate I decided to publish it in an edition on freedom of expression, it would have seemed to me worrisome to have censored his voice, even if it is discordant. Particularly as this is the voice of one of the pioneers of the gang."
#1
Some would rather die standing than live on their knees.
If anyone apart from the totalitarian theocrats of Islam is at fault, it is the Western political class.
The West could have easily survived standing by unapologetically putting to death at least some of the wannabe enslavers.
One could say that is was "Operation Enduring Freedom" that dragged these people to their deaths while "Operation Infinite Justice" would have saved both lives and liberty in the West.
[AnNahar]. Turkey has suspended five prosecutors working on a contentious investigation into an alleged delivery of arms for Syrian rebels that was intercepted on the border last year, media reports said Thursday.
The top Turkish judicial committee said the decision was taken so as not to hamper the inquiry or tarnish the reputation of the judiciary, the official Anatolia news agency reported.
The move came a day after Turkey imposed an all-out media blackout, including on Facebook and Twitter, prohibiting publication of reports on the issue.
In January last year, Turkish police stopped and seized seven trucks near the Syrian border that were suspected of smuggling weapons into Syria.
The move came as the government in Ankara denied suspicions it was aiding rebel forces fighting the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... A series of documents were then leaked on the Internet indicating that the seized trucks were actually National Intelligence Agency (MIT) vehicles delivering weapons to Syrian Salafist tough guys fighting President Bashir al-Assad.
Turkey has vehemently denied aiding Salafist tough guys in Syria, such as 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.... (IS) jihadist group.
Nineteen security officials who stopped the trucks are currently on trial on "spying" charges. They face so-called aggravated life sentences if found guilty.
The Radikal online newspaper spoke to one of the suspended prosecutors, Aziz Takci, who said "I did my work well and I stick by my position."
However opposition Turkish daily BirGun openly flouted the publication injunction, putting the allegations and the documents on its front page Wednesday.
Anti-secrecy websites outside Turkey have also posted the documents which have now been taken off the Internet inside the country.
From the Daily Caller but they could have bitten the hook at a satire site. If not, it's a good reason to make Islam illegal in all civilized countries.
[DAILYCALLER] President B.O.s best friend in Turkey is surrounding himself with guards dressed like the 15th century Turkish soldiers who captured Byzantium, the Roman Empires last capital city.
The garish display of imperial grandiosity was staged Jan. 12 by President Tayyip Erdogan, the recently re-elected president of Turkey, as he welcomed Arab strongman the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... to Turkeys new imperial palace.
Erdogan descended a staircase toward cameras, while flanked by guards dressed in military costumes of the Turkish military, dating back to 1299.
Erdogans display spotlighted the unbridgeable gap between his ethnic ambitions and Obamas early hopes of working with Turkey to suppress the various Islamic and ethnic wars in the Middle East.
Back in January 2012, Obama described Erdogan as one of his best five friends among foreign leaders. The bonds of trust that Ive been able to forge with a whole range of leaders is precisely, or is a big part of, what has allowed us to execute effective diplomacy, Obama told Time magazine.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2015 00:00 ||
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This is correct. Reported in Turkey news sites.
That certainly appears to be a building narrative.
SyrianFreePress
“Ankara may deny helping ISIS, but the evidence for this is overwhelming. “As we have the longest border with Syria,” writes Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a Turkish newspaper columnist, “Turkey’s support was vital for the jihadists in getting in and out of the country.” Indeed, the ISIS strongholds not coincidentally cluster close to Turkey’s frontiers.”
Reuters
Location Kobani
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a Kurdish official in the town, Idris Nassan, said the vehicle used in the dawn car bombing had come from Turkish territory.
Rudaw
“We know what ISIS’s agenda was, why they targeted Kurdistan and who sent them to Kurdistan,” said Ali Hussein, member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leadership.
“And certainly the time will come when the people of Kurdistan will learn about it too,” he said.
Rep. Andre Carson told a Muslim conference in 2012 that American schools should follow the model of Islamic madrassas and warned undercover law enforcement that 'Allah will not allow you to stop us' Madame Pelosi is behind this of course...
#7
Is he any worse than Feinstein? I think a good rule of thumb is you can't trust any Dem on an Intelligence Committee.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/16/2015 16:04 Comments ||
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#8
I think you nailed it Joe. I damn sure don't have much confidence in Rogers. That bride of his didn't land her job with Aegis LLC America due to her extensive security and counterterrorism background. Of course after events in Benghazi, she found other meaningful employment within the beltway bubble.
[Ynet]. Five men from Yemen were freed from the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after more than a dozen years of captivity and sent to Estonia and Oman for resettlement, US officials said Wednesday, the latest in a wave of releases that have alarmed congressional opponents of closing the detention center.
Four of the men went to Oman and one to Estonia, according to a Pentagon statement. It was the first time either nation accepted Guantanamo prisoners for resettlement. The men had been cleared for release since at least 2009 but the US has balked at repatriating Guantanamo prisoners back to Yemen, where the government is battling an al-Qaeda insurgency.
All five were captured in Pakistain and detained by the US as suspected al-Qaeda gunnies. US officials later determined it was no longer necessary to detain them but have struggled to find other countries willing to take them in. The men are all in their 30s and 40s, including one who was 17 when he was sent to Guantanamo.
[BREITBART] Stand with the Prophet in Honor and Respect, an event that asks Ready to defeat Islamophobia? ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do... is coming to the Dallas area Curtis Culwell Center on Saturday, January 17, 2015, at 6pm. Until recently, few knew anything about this conference and now that many more do, residents are not just upset about the event and its speakers, they are upset that it is being held on the publicly-owned property of the Garland Independent School District (ISD) in a facility that was built and paid for with property taxpayer funded school bonds. Holding it on public property makes it more legit than holding it in a hideout mosque over a convenience store.
Stand with the Prophet is described in its promotional materials as not an event. It is the beginning of a movement. A movement to defend Prophet Muhammad, his person, and his message.
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Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Is not Act! for America some dried up soros funded BS org ?
#4
So... the moderate Muslims who we're told are opposed to terrorism have kept this guy around for decades despite repeated connections to terrorism? He testified as a "character witness" for a slimeball the Egyptians didn't want who had sponsored/approved multiple murders in the US, including the first WTC attack.
Can we PLEASE drop the BS about "moderate Muslims"? There are the active shooters and there are the logistics corp. Sure, there's an incredibly small number who do actively oppose jihadist terrorism, but they have no influence in the Muslim community even in the US.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/16/2015 8:35 Comments ||
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[DAWN] The Supreme Court on Thursday summoned Inspector General (IG) Punjab Mushtaq Ahmed Sukera, then District Police Officer (DPO) Kasur and Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) for lax attitude and failure to protect a Christian couple that was lynched by a mob in Kot Radha Kishan on Nov 4, 2014.
All the three coppers will have to appear before the apex court on Jan 29 with IG explaining what actions have been taken against delinquent coppers who did not even resort to gun sex to disperse the enraged mob that had attacked and burnt the unfortunate couple.
A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk had taken up the tragic incident in which a mob in Kot Radha Kishan, some 60 kilometres southwest of Lahore dragged a Christian couple to a kiln and burned them to death over alleged blasphemy.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"but they was infidels, and we had daily prayers to attend!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2015 9:05 Comments ||
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[DAWN] Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza was on Thursday highly critical of the Sindh High Court order that allowed what she described as an underage girl to go with her husband, though there was a law that prohibited marriages of girls aged less than 18 years.She said the women complaint centre provided an opportunity to the women in distress for seeking recourse to legal way. She said that women were being empowered politically and socially.
She said that the Sindh Women Parliamentary Caucus had got Anjali Kumari, who was named Salma after her conversion to Islam, medically examined that proved she was even younger than 14 years. But after allowing her to express free will, the court ruled that she may go with her husband, the deputy speaker said.
She was expressing these views at a seminar titled Working of women complaint cell of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee.
She later told journalists that the Sindh government would adopt a legal course in the backdrop of the Wednesday ruling of the Sindh High Court.
Ms Raza said the law enacted by the assembly to prohibit marriage of girls aged less than 18 years reflected the political will of the Sindh government. She said when the law was passed the Council of Islamic Ideology issued an edict for dissolving it.
She said religious minorities felt that girls belonging to their communities were converted to Islam under duress. She said the assembly would soon come up with legislation on forced conversions.
But it was unfortunate that politicians doing their job were threatened with dire consequences and the assemblies faced threats of dissolution, she said.
When the independent judiciary passed such orders, how many people would support politicians publicly, she asked.
She argued if there was an age limit for voters to choose their leaders for five years, how could it be fair that there was no age limit for the girls who were going to spend their entire life with someone. She said she failed to understand how a 13-year-old girl was allowed to record her free will. When we spoke to Anjali she couldnt even recite full kalima, she said. She said that in some cases the standard of 18 years limit for free will was adhered to but in the recent case it was not considered.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A Lahore High Court division bench on Wednesday dismissed an appeal against death penalty filed by a young man convicted for his role in a 2007 suicide kaboom on defence a ministrys bus in Rawalpindi.
An anti-terrorism court had handed down death penalty on 20 counts to Umar Adeel, along with 30-year imprisonment, in 2011 following a trial held in Adyala Jail, Rawalpindi.
At least 20 personnel of an intelligence agency were killed and dozens of others injured in the attack.
The convicts counsel argued that his client was nabbed Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! a year after the incident. He said he was accused of dropping the jacket wallahs near the blast spot on a rented car.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the counsel said, the prosecution could not establish this allegation. He said none of the attack survivors identified his client.
A deputy prosecutor, however, told the court that police personnel had witnessed the convict while dropping the suicide bombers.
After hearing both sides, the bench comprising Justice Abdul Sami Khan and Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A condemned prisoner belonging to the banned bad boy outfit of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain ...a Sunni Deobandi organization, a formerly registered Pak political party, established in the early 1980s in Jhang by Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi. Its stated goal is to oppose Shia influence in Pakistain. They're not too big on Brelvis, either. Or Christians. Or anybody else who's not them. The organization was banned in 2002 as a terrorist organization, but somehow it keeps ticking along, piling up the corpse counts... convicted of killing a former police officer and his son is set to be sent to the gallows in the early hours of Thursday at the Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... central prison.
Mohammad Saeed was sentenced to death by an antiterrorism court in April 2001 for murdering retired deputy superintendent of police Syed Sabir Hussain Shah and his young son Syed Abid Hussain Shah in an ambush near the Malir city railway crossing.
The appeals of the convict against capital punishment were dismissed by the higher judiciary. The president also turned down his mercy petition.
On a request of the jail authorities, the trial court had issued a black warrant on Jan 3 for the execution of death row prisoner and asked the jail officials to carry out the hanging under the supervision of a judicial magistrate on Jan 15 at 6:30am.
A jail official said they had arranged the last meeting of the death row convict with his family while all other arrangements had also been finalised for the hanging of the bad boy on Thursday. A district and sessions judge appointed a judicial magistrate to supervise the execution, he said, adding that the convict belonged to proscribed Death Eater group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain.
It will be the second hanging at the prison after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... lifted a moratorium on executions on Dec 17 in the wake of the devastating attack on Army Public School in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. . Earlier on Jan 13, Behram Khan was hanged for killing a lawyer in 2003.
Behrams was the first hanging at the central prison since Feb 20, 2008 when Javed Malik was hanged for killing one Amir Kakar in Gulshan-e-Iqbal while extorting money from him in 1997.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A Rawalpindi division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday rejected the petition filed by a murder convict, challenging his death warrants issued on September 18 while moratorium was in force.
A district and sessions judge convicted Shuaib Sarwar in July 1998 for murdering Awais Nawaz, when Sarwar was a minor.
He challenged his conviction in LHC, which was rejected in July 2003. He then moved the Supreme Court, but there too his appeal was turned down in April 2006.
Sarwars clemency petition was also rejected by the president.
Though the convict had exhausted all forums of appeal, he was not executed. This forced the victims brother to move the high court in August last year against the delay in the sentences implementation.
In August 2014, when the government failed to produce any documents proving that the moratorium was still in force, the high court ordered the district and sessions judge to implement the sentence.
The district and sessions judge signed a death warrant and directed the Adiala jail superintendent to execute the convict on September 18.
However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... Rana Kashif the counsel for Sarwar filed a petition in the LHC against the death warrants. Initially, the court stayed the execution when the unofficial moratorium was in force.
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... as the petition was fixed after lifting of moratorium, the bench rejected the appeal and directed the government to proceed in this matter.
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[DAWN] A four-member committee constituted by the Islamabad chief commissioner has finalised six terrorism cases for trial by the military courts, sources told Dawn.
The team comprised deputy commissioner, SSP Islamabad, district attorney and DSP prosecution.
The committee after examining the investigation reports and evidence in a case will send it to the military courts, the sources said.
So far eight high-profile cases have been sent to the committee for examination, they added.
At least 45 incidents of terrorism took place in the capital since 2000, in which 263 people, including security personnel were killed and 944 injured.
The police enjugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! 103 alleged bandidosLions of Islam who were involved in 31 attacks.
A senior police officer told Dawn that the cases included attacks on NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... terminals at Dhoke Paracha on June 9, 2010 and Jeddah Town on October 4, 2010.
Ten people were killed and 12 injured in the two incidents.
The Sherlocks arrested 11 bandidosLions of Islam in connection with the attacks, he added.
Former minorities minister Shahbaz Bhattis murder case has also been selected for trial by the military courts, the police officer said.
The police had arrested two accused involved in the attack on the minister on March 2, 2011. The suicide kaboom on Ali Masjid at Bhara Kahu has also been selected for trial by the military courts, the officer said.
The Sherlocks arrested six alleged bandidosLions of Islam who were involved in the attack which took place on August 9, 2013, he added.
The murder case of Federal Investigation Agencys prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar may also be sent to the military courts, the police officer said.
The prosecutor was ambushed in Sector G-9 on May 3, 2013 in which he and a woman were killed.
The Sherlocks arrested three alleged bandidosLions of Islam for their involvement in the attack.
Another police officer said that paper work in six cases had been completed which were being sent to the interior ministry for trial in the military courts.
Replying to a question, the officer said it was now up to the ministry when it forwarded the case to the military courts.
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[DAWN] The government has decided to replace special prosecutors in the Mumbai attacks case.
The decision has been taken following widespread criticism against the government after Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged criminal mastermind of the Mumbai attack, was granted bail by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC).
A senior government official, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the government had begun the process of headhunting for special prosecutors.
According to him, the government has contacted criminal law experts and some senior lawyers with experience in the criminal proceedings.
He said India and some other countries took strong exception to granting of bail to Lakhvi, only a couple of days after the December 16 terrorist attack on Army Public School, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. . This forced the government to detain Lakhvi under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
In November 2008 Mumbai attacks, 166 people were killed.
The Pak government took Lakhvi and some other suspects into custody in February 2009 for facilitating the attacks.
Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Lakhvi and six other alleged abettors.
In August 2009, Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was appointed special prosecutor in the case. Later, Advocate Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry was also appointed senior prosecutor.
Government has approached criminal law experts and some senior lawyers for the position
After the murder of Chaudhry Zulfiqar on May 3, 2013, the FIA handed over the job to Abuzar Hasnain Pirzada.
The prosecutors in the Mumbai attacks case were receiving threats which they kept reporting to the concerned quarters, sources said.
When contacted, senior prosecutor Azhar Chaudhry said the government could change the prosecutors. However, women are made to be loved, not understood... he expressed ignorance in this regard.
In a recent appeal filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against granting of bail to Lakhvi, the prosecutors said: The fact remained that being the prosecution in such cases has been the most difficult job in our country for the last many years.
It further states, Even in this case, the prosecutors have been receiving threats on their cellphones during the proceedings which were duly conveyed to the concerned authorities. The witnesses are also not protected and were reluctant to depose against the accused persons in the given situation.
The said appeal seeking cancellation of post-arrest bail to Lakhvi is still pending for adjudication before a division bench of the IHC.
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Islamabad on December 18 granted bail to Lakhvi. The federal government however detained Lakhvi under the MPO.
The IHC suspended the detention order on December 26, but the Islamabad police registered a kidnapping case against Lakhvi.
The Supreme Court on January 7 restored the detention order and asked the IHC to decide the matter after hearing the federal government.
Hearing on Lakhvis detention IHC Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi, on Wednesday held an in-camera hearing of the petition filed by Lakhvi against his detention under the MPO.
The court resumed hearing in the open court.
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[DAWN] Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif sought on Wednesday British governments help against the outlawed Hizbut Tahrir ...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate... (HT) radical group and the Baloch dissidents living in exile in the United Kingdom.
Gen Sharif, who is on a three-day trip to the UK, opened his visit with a meeting with Chief of the Defence Staff Gen Sir Nicholas Houghton.
He later held meetings with British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... , Defence Secretary Michael Fallen, National Security Adviser Sir Kim Darroch, Home Office Permanent Secretary Mark Sedwill and Director General of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism Charles Farr.
Military Spokesman Maj Gen Asim Bajwa, speaking over phone from London told Dawn, that the issue of UK-based organizations creating security problems in Pakistain was forcefully raised in all the meetings and in particular with the Home Office.
The army chief specifically talked about the HT and the Baloch dissidents, who have taken up asylum in the UK.
The British authorities were reminded that the actions of these groups not only affected Pakistains counter-terrorism efforts, but also the security cooperation between the two countries.
Pakistain stepped up its counter-extremism and counter-terrorism operations after the Dec 16 Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. school tragedy.
The issue of terror financing was also raised at the meetings, Gen Bajwa added.
The HT is banned in Pakistain, but works freely in the UK. In Pakistain the radical group has been calling for overthrow of the government and rebellion against the military leadership for their alleged subservience to the United States.
The HT had in the past also tried to infiltrate into military ranks, but that attempt was foiled and five officers, locked away Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in 2011, were awarded prison terms for their links with the group.
Hizbut Tahrir started operating in Pakistain in late 1990s and was proscribed by Gen Musharraf in 2003-2004 when their links with military officers were first exposed.
Security agencies believe that Baloch dissidents living in the UK have been supporting the bandidos krazed killers in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... .
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[DAWN] The ruling PML-N had to face the bitter truth about spiralling extremism in Punjab when Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... told a top-level meeting that the number of proscribed organizations actively engaged in terrorism and extremism in that province alone had reached 95.
During the briefing on the status of implementation of the National Action Plan to counter terrorism and extremism, Chaudhry Nisar said that law-enforcement agencies were proactively monitoring madressahs to check the spread of terrorist ideology in the country.
Continued on Page 49
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[DAWN] As the Parliament on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution tabled against blasphemous caricatures published in French weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo ...A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe... , dozens in Lahore marched against the publication.
In a statement issued from Riyadh, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... also condemned the French magazine.
"Freedom of speech should not be used to hurt religious sentiments of any community," the statement read, adding that publication of provocative material should be discouraged by the international community.
In the National Assembly, Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique tabled the resolution and read it out.
The resolution called upon the international community, including Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... (EU), to take action against publishing such material.
"These cartoons are a conspiracy to create misunderstanding among civilisations," the resolution reads.
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[DAWN] The Islamabad police moved the murder case of Pakistain's former minority affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti to a military court on Thursday.
Bhatti, a Catholic who vocally opposed the blasphemy law, had been bumped off outside his residence in Islamabad in March 2011. His killing had followed after the high-profile murder of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, who had also been killed for demanding the blasphemy law be reformed.
In the past, the All Pakistain Minorities Alliance (APMA) had pointed out that Death Eater threats had hampered the Bhatti murder trial. Threatening pamphlets claiming to be from the Punjabi Taliban had been found in the office of a key witness in the case, APMA had reported.
The murder case of Chaudhry Zulfiqar, the prosecutor in Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... 's murder case was also moved to the military court, along with a number of other high-profile, terror-related cases the IG Islamabad confirmed.
Zulfiqar had been killed in Islamabad in 2013 when he was on his way to attend court proceedings of the BB murder case. At the time, police had jugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... an alleged al Qaeda activist involved in the killing.
All political parties had reached a consensus over the issue of setting up military courts for tackling terrorism cases in the country. Their decision came in the wake of the Taliban attack on the Army Public School Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. that claimed over 130 lives.
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[DAWN] Chief of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), Sardar Akhtar Mengal has said extremism was being promoted in Baloch society to weaken Baloch nationalists.
"Extremists are penetrating in a tolerant Baloch society," Mengal told DawnNews in an exclusive interview on Thursday.
He said new shadowy Lion of Islam organizations were surfacing in the province to undermine the Baloch political and democratic movement.
He rejected claims of the nationalists-led government that the law and order situation has improved in Balochistan.
Mengal stated that in the chief minister's own constituency, mutilated bodies were being found.
When asked about his participation in proposed multiparty conference in Balochistan, Mengal said, "earlier I may participate, currently I may not be in a position to participate in any APC".
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[DAWN] It proved to be the shortest of hiatuses. Even in the immediate aftermath of the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. school carnage, there were questions about just how long the pause in the long-running feud between the PML-N and PTI/PAT could last.
Now, the country knows the answer: less than a month. When the PTI unilaterally called off its anti-government protests, the rulers had an opportunity to end the long-running crisis by constituting a high-powered commission to investigate PTI allegations of fraud and malfeasance in the May 2013 general election.
But the PML-N did not take the initiative and soon enough the quarrelling restarted. The PTI claimed the PML-N was reneging on its promises; the PML-N claimed the PTI kept shifting the goalposts and expanding its demands.
Neither side seemed particularly concerned that the most urgent issue developing a coherent, workable plan to combat militancy and extremism was suffering as a result of the squabbling.
It was also only a matter of time before the supporting cast also became involved. Sure enough, and seemingly on cue, the PAT has announced that it will restart its own protests against the government a day before the PTI will re-congregate near Constitution Avenue in Islamabad.
At this point, six months since the PTI and PAT launched their Islamabad campaign to oust the government, there is little new to be said about the individual culpability of the major protagonists.
By now, the PML-N should have notified the formation of a high-powered commission to investigate alleged electoral fraud in May 2013 and completed the process of electoral reforms. That neither of those steps have been taken is the result of the PML-Ns recalcitrance.
What after all could the PTIs legitimate complaints be had a high-powered, manifestly independent and substantively empowered investigation commission been formed by the government? Surely, pressure would be on the PTI to accept such a commission and not insist on its own tailored version of one.
Similarly, the process of electoral reforms did not have to become an issue to be sorted out privately between the PML-N and the PTI and could have been entrusted to parliament in substance and not only in form.
Yet, for all the PML-N does wrong, the PTI manages to set new lows in terms of a focus on the parochial. Post-Peshawar, the PTI could have used its demonstrable ability to shape the national political discourse to focus on the militancy threat.
Instead, the party appears to have chosen to do the bare minimum support military courts, make perfunctory suggestions to improve security in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and then immediately return to its politics of protest. When more was needed and expected, the PTI once again has chosen to disappoint and under-deliver.
It is a vain hope that the imminent return to the politics of confrontation will be brief.
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[DAWN] THE presence of Al Qaeda in Pakistain is nothing new. Arrests of members of the holy warrior franchise have been reported on numerous occasions, while it was in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... where the outfits criminal mastermindthe late Osama bin Laden ... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest... was assassinated by US forces in 2011.
Continued on Page 49
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#1
Oh, I thought this may be a story about Liam John Neeson, OBE.
The Arab League said on Thursday it will seek to shore up international support for another attempt to obtain a UN resolution on ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.
Look at it this way, it keeps the diplomats busy...
The decision at a gathering of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo came after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas asked them for another chance following the UN Security Council’s rejection of his last bid in December.
Those at the meeting gave several Arab countries the task of undertaking “the necessary communications and consultations to submit a new Arab proposal to the Security Council,” a statement said.
After last month’s failed UN bid, the Palestinians were granted a request to join the International Criminal Court, in a move paving the way for them to pursue Israeli leaders for alleged war crimes.
And vice versa...
In response, Israel froze the transfer of 106 million euros (about $126 million) in taxes collected on behalf of the Palestinians, and threatened legal countermeasures against the Palestinian leadership.
An Arab-backed resolution on ending the Israeli occupation by the end of 2017 was rejected at the Security Council on December 30, with the United States and non-permanent member Australia voting against it.
China, France and Russia were among eight countries that backed the resolution, just one vote short of the nine required for adoption. Five countries seen as being surrender monkeys having a more pro-Palestinian stance began their term at the Security Council this month — Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela.
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[Ynet]. A search team has discovered 16 corpses in an area of northern Iraq formerly controlled by Islamic State militants, a local official said late on Wednesday.
"The joint excavation crews have discovered 16 bodies of men who were blindfolded and had their hands tied behind their backs," said the district chief Mohammed Mulla Hassan, from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party
"They were found in the Kobachi area, which is part of Saadiya District, and they were executed in the past few months," he added.
A joint search team from the Kurdistan regional government in northern Iraq and Baghdad's human rights ministry made the discovery.
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[Ynet]. Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... has asked the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... to provide a "safety net" of $100 million a month to cover tax revenues withheld by Israel in retaliation for his attempt to join the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
During a meeting with Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Thursday, Abbas also called for the formation of a committee to launch a new
bid seeking a UN Security Council resolution on ending the Israel's control of the West Bank, a month after the council rejected a similar initiative.
The ICC bid is part of a wider strategy aimed at bringing international pressure to bear on Israel. In response, Israel froze the monthly transfer of $120 million in taxes that it collects for the Paleostinians, forcing the Paleostinian Authority to halt salary payments for 153,000 employees.
[Ynet]. Plan to give 35 Paleostinian security guards weapons draws fire from Israeli guards, who quit in protest.
A scandal has erupted in the American Consulate in Jerusalem, as three Israeli security guards have quit following a plan to hire 35 armed Paleostinian guards from East Jerusalem. The Paleostinians have been undergoing weapons training in Jericho in recent days.
The decision to hire and arm the Paleostinian security personnel was made by the consulate's chief security officer, Dan Cronin. The plan is to employ them mostly as escorts to American diplomats' convoys in the West Bank. Their operating base will be at the consulate in the city's west, as well as six other facilities around the city belonging to the consulate, of which five are in western Jerusalem.
The plan is a breach of a 2011 agreement between the consulate and the Israeli government, which determined that only former IDF combat soldiers hired by the consulate would be allowed to carry weapons. That year, Israel gave the consulate approval to keep about 100 guns for its security guards, but only if they're American diplomats or Israelis who served in the army. While the consulate employs scores of guards from East Jerusalem, they have not been armed up until now.
"The consulate's conduct is extremely biased towards the Paleostinian side, and Cronin is actually raising an armed militia of Paleostinians in the consulate.
Sources said that a change in attitude towards Israelis in the consulate began about a year and a half ago, when Cronin began his tenure. Employees claimed that since then, seven Israeli guards were fired, compared to one Paleostinian. Three Israeli guards quit recently in protest of Cronin's decision, and said he has been training the Paleostinian guards at an American facility in Jericho. Some of the security guards were even flown to the US for training, they said.
Workers who were employed by the consulate accused Cronin of a callous attitude towards the Israelis and of voicing pro-Paleostinian remarks. "The law in Israel is merely advice to him," they said. "Cronin does what he wants. He doesn't want the Israelis in the consulate."
According to these sources, some of the Paleostinian guards have been tossed in the clink Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! in the past for throwing stones, or have relatives who were convicted of terrorist activity. "The consulate's conduct is extremely biased towards the Paleostinian side, and Cronin is actually raising an armed militia of Paleostinians in the consulate. They're trained in weapons use, Krav Maga, and tactical driving. This is irresponsible. Who is ensuring that putting this weaponry in Paleostinian hands will not lead to terror?"
The most senior advisor to the consul general is a Paleostinian who served time in Israeli prison because of membership in the PLO. Another employee is related to one of the leaders of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, in Jerusalem, Mohammed Hassan Abu Tir, who has served numerous sentences in Israel's penal system.
"The United States' consulate has complete faith in the professionalism of its staff," the consulate said in response. "We do not discuss security for our diplomatic delegation, but note that there are many inaccuracies in the claims. Furthermore, we coordinate our work with local authorities in a complete and ongoing manner."
#9
I doubt they quit in protest, they quit because they knew the armed Pals would shoot them at some point and they didn't want to wait around for that day.
[Ynet]. Two Italian aid workers taken hostage in Syria more than four months ago have been released and will soon return home, Italia's government said on Thursday.
"Vanessa Marzullo and Greta Ramelli are free and will soon return to Italia," read a Tweet from Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's office. Renzi's front man also confirmed the news.
The two young women were taken hostage while working on humanitarian projects in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, Italia's Foreign Ministry said in August.
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.
Goodluck Jonathan
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
Vermeer BR1250 with a sewage lagoon trajectory. To keep expenses down, I recommend an hourly lease. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Appears we've already forgotten. 
[DAWN] The Supreme Court on Thursday summoned Inspector General (IG) Punjab Mushtaq Ahmed Sukera, then District Police Officer (DPO) Kasur and Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) for lax attitude and failure to protect a Christian couple that was lynched by a mob in Kot Radha Kishan on Nov 4, 2014.
[DAWN] A condemned prisoner belonging to the banned
[DAWN] The government has decided to replace special prosecutors in the Mumbai attacks case.
David Cameron
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz 
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
[DAWN] It proved to be the shortest of hiatuses. Even in the immediate aftermath of the 
International Criminal Court
