[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Taliban have confirmed a visit of their representatives to China but reject China's mediation in peace talks.
Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahid has sent a statement to media in Afghanistan in which he confirms that a group of their representatives recently made a visit to China but says that the visit was not made for the purpose having China mediate peace deal between them and government.
Mujahid in this statement states that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has relationship with world and region especially the neighboring countries from before and as needed they also visit each other.
"Neighboring China is one of those countries. For making relationship, enhancing ties and for the purpose explaining our stance, Taliban will continue to visit neighboring countries and world" Mujahid says in his statement.
Mujahid has not specified date of Taliban's visit to China but reports of this visit surfaced last month.
Regarding peace talks Mujahid has written in the statement "As far as peace talks, Taliban still stick to their previous stance"
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
See also TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > WHITE HOUSE [Obama Admin] LABELS TALIBAN AS "ARMED INSURGENCY", NOT "TERRORISTS", like e.g. the ISIS-ISIL.
Looks like Mullah Omar + possibly even Ayman-the-Z-Man [Zawahiri] may be safe from US drone-strikes for another year???
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A new complaints hotline has been set up by the office of President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. which is apparently aimed at bolstering better governance.
In an online short statement President Ghani's office said "President Ghani's complaints hotline, please direct your complaints to these two numbers: 0202104444 or 0202104445."
President Ghani successfully projected a public image of himself as someone who gets things done soon after taking office as the new President of the country.
He proved himself a man intent on not losing time by delivering on some big issues including signing a long-term bilateral security agreement with United States and a similar pact with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... President Ghani's popularity among the Afghan people gradually reduced mainly due to delays to announce the new cabinet of the government of national unity.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. will compete with 14 registered candidates in the April presidential election.
"The electoral commission has received a total of 15 candidacies for the post of the president of the republic," said Mokhtar al-Assam, the head of Sudan's National Electoral Commission, on Thursday.
The presidential election will be held on April 13, along with parliamentary elections.
Fadl el-Sayed Shuayb, a lawyer who heads the moderate Federal Truth party, and Fatima Ahmed Abdel Mahmoud, a member of the Socialist Union party established by the former president, Gaafar al-Nimeiry, are two of the candidates to be challenging Bashir.
The incumbent president of Sudan has been holding the position for nearly a quarter of a century, since a coup in 1989. He won a new term in office in April 2010.
The International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... wants to try the 71-year-old on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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h/t Instapundit
The State Department hosted a delegation of Muslim Brotherhood-aligned leaders this week for a meeting about their ongoing efforts to oppose the current government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, who rose to power following the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, an ally of the Brotherhood, in 2013.
[Libya Herald] At the routine Daily Press Briefing in Washington DC yesterday, the United States government reiterated its non-recognition of the General National Congress (GNC) and its Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... Salvation Government ‐ installed in 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... and headed by Omar Al-Hassi.
"The United States Government does not recognize the Government of National Salvation, GNS, in Libya, and is not engaged with any person purporting to act on behalf of Omar al-Hassi or the GNS, contrary to some reports", the statement explained.
The US statement comes after Hassi claimed in a live transmission on Libyan TV last night that the United Stes was cooperating with and providing help to his government.
In the statement, the US also urged the GNC members who had failed to turn up to the yesterday's Geneva talks to participate in the process. It urged the formation of a government of national unity.
"The United States Government continues to urge all parties, including former General National Congress members to participate in the discussions that are underway in Geneva, convened by Bernardino Leon, the special representative of the UN Secretary General, to form a national unity government".
"Those who choose not to participate are excluding themselves from discussions which are critical to the peace, stability, and security of Libya", the statement warned.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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Egypt’s top Islamic cleric on Tuesday backed the arrest of more than 500 supporters of the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood following clashes over the weekend on the anniversary of the country’s 2011 uprising.
“I am not sad for this outcome as such criminals ought to be prosecuted,” Egypt’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Shawky Allam told reporters in Singapore.
“I strongly condemn their actions as they are crimes that breach the laws of our country,” said Sheikh Allam during a four-day visit to the Southeast Asian city-state at the invitation of the local Islamic Religious Council.
“Those that have been arrested will be prosecuted legally. The reason they have been arrested is not political because they have transgressed the law,” the cleric added through an interpreter.
Egypt’s Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim on Monday said Egyptian security forces had arrested 516 “elements” of the Muslim Brotherhood, who were “involved in firing ammunition, planting explosives and bombing some facilities”.
The arrests come after 20 people, mostly demonstrators, were killed on Sunday when protesters clashed with security forces.
Sheikh Allam, who is Egypt’s highest Muslim authority, said Sisi’s government has taken efforts to “apply (the) rule of law to every citizen”.
“Any exceptional procedures in Egypt has been ratified by legal proceedings.”
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Thousands of people fleeing the latest 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... violence have poured into the embattled Nigerian city of Maiduguri, putting pressure on camps for the displaced as rescue workers try to cope with the influx.
A group of 5,000 people, most of them women and kiddies, reached the Borno state capital on Monday after escaping the Islamists' weekend takeover of the nearby town of Monguno, officials said.
"We trekked throughout Sunday through the bushes and did not relent, even at night," said Karimu Usman, a Monguno community leader, who told news hounds he led a group of 300 others on the overnight march.
Many of those who fled only arrived after escaping a massive Boko Haram attack on the town of Baga earlier this month, which reportedly killed hundreds of people, destroyed thousands of homes and prompted global outrage.
Boko Haram has taken over much of northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... and the gunnies seem capable of attacking large population centers at will.
Election officials have admitted that it will be impossible to organize polling across much of the northeast for the country's February 14 vote.
The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... has said there are more than one million internally displaced people (IDPs) in the region, and hundreds of thousands of them have sought sanctuary in Maiduguri, swelling a population estimated last year at over two million.
Faisal Gaal, project coordinator in Borno for the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said the IDP population in Maiduguri is reaching unsustainable levels and straining resources.
There were 7,000 cases of cholera recorded in the city between September and December, half of them in IDP camps, and sanitation remained dire, according to MSF.
Gaal said keeping track of those displaced has been a challenge because of the relentless attacks, which has forced people to run from town to town in search of refuge.
One elderly man ran from Baga, in the far north of Borno, and wandered confused and alone in the bush for 17 days before local hunters guided him to Monguno, 137 kilometers (85 miles) by road from Maiduguri.
Gaal said he met the man in Monguno on Friday and had planned to visit him again this week "but unfortunately Monguno was taken" by Boko Haram on Sunday.
"We don't know where he is now," Gaal told AFP.
The MSF official said mothers on the run were afraid their sons would be conscripted to join the vigilante groups who are helping the military fight Boko Haram.
One woman in Monguno "was dressing her son as a girl to keep him from being drafted", Gaal said.
While some mothers are taking measures to protect their sons, a growing concern is the number of children arriving in camps without parents, said Abubakr Bashir Bakri, MSF's head of mission in Nigeria.
"There are many of them... We are concerned about (their) psychological state," he added.
One woman who escaped, Saudatu Isufu, said Monguno was gripped by "a humanitarian crisis" but the town was currently inaccessible to aid groups following the Boko Haram takeover.
"People trapped there need to be rescued," she told news hounds in Maiduguri.
Those who escaped needed to pass a security check before being allowed to enter Maiduguri, with the military worried that gunnies would try to infiltrate the state capital by blending in among the IDPs.
Abdulkadir Ibrahim, of Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), described the group that reached Maiduguri as "disturbed and hungry" and said rescue workers were trying to stabilize them.
Lack of relief staff on the ground has been a chronic problem in the northeast. MSF and other organizations have said they would like to reinforce their presence, especially in Maiduguri.
"The increasing number of people puts pressure on us (and) requires a lot of resources," Bakri said.
But with violence escalating and attacks impossible to predict, sending large teams to Borno was likely to be unrealistic in the short-term, he added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] The leader of Yemen's Shia Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... Ansarullah movement has accused some foreign powers of conspiring against Yemen and its nation amid the political tensions in the Arab country.
Addressing thousands of his supporters in the northern city of Sa'ada on Tuesday, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi censured political factions in cahoots with some regional states, noting that they want to ignite conflicts and create problems in Yemen.
He added that such factions try to wreak havoc in Yemen by ignoring the public interests of the nation.
Al-Houthi also warned conspiring factions against the dire consequences that their efforts will have at the end.
The Houthi leader went on to say that tension-seeking factions are opposed to the establishment of stability in Yemen as they could obtain their goals by means of chaos and turmoil.
Houthi highlighted that Ansarullah is after partnership with other players in Yemen's political arena, and that Yemen's revolution holds no enmity towards neighboring Arab countries as well as the international community.
President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the cabinet of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah resigned on Thursday after Shia Ansarullah revolutionaries seized the presidential palace in the capital.
The parliament, however, rejected Hadi's resignation pending an emergency session.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] US President Barack Obama I am not a dictator!... landed Tuesday in Riyadh where he was received by King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman ...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians.... . Obama is leading a high-level delegation of current and former American officials to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... to pay respects following King Abdullah's death and to take measure of the kingdom's new monarch.
Obama cut short the final day of his trip to India to make the four-hour stop in Riyadh. He will hold his first formal meeting with new King Salman, and then attend a dinner with other Saudi officials at the Erga Palace.
Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... is joining Obama in Riyadh, along with former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and James Baker III. Sen. John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... , the Arizona republican who is a frequent critic of Obama's foreign policy in the Middle East, is also part of the delegation.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
#1
Barack was the man of the hour,
Projecting American power:
"Your Majesty, howdy!"
The cloudy old Saudi
Barked, "Bugger my soul, it's the bower!"
#4
Ob's just checking that what he was promised as a retirement 'gift' is still on. I mean, at some point, he's not going to have that big blue and white airplane anymore.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
01/28/2015 7:38 Comments ||
Top||
#5
That was on the news last night, Ship, but only after pointing out she did cover all her arms and all her legs per local custom.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/28/2015 7:41 Comments ||
Top||
#8
At least when I was in Riyadh (mid 90s), Western women did not have to cover there hair. There weren't very many Western women there; but every once in a while you would see a bare head, and it was perfectly acceptable. Not for Saudi or third-world women--they had to wear the head covering, and Saudi women had to cover their faces as well; but the Western women could and did go bareheaded.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/28/2015 13:11 Comments ||
Top||
[IsraelTimes] Milos Zeman’s claim at anti-Semitism conference that Islamic State is on way to killing hundreds of millions if not stopped is slapped down as ‘nonsense’
A warning by Czech President Milos Zeman that 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.... jihadists must be crushed to prevent a "super Holocaust" with hundreds of millions of victims was slapped down as "nonsense" by the country's foreign minister on Tuesday.
Speaking at a Holocaust forum in Prague, Zeman warned against genocide that "would not hit 6 million Jews (as was the case in World War II) but all possible religions, atheists and even Moslems."
"The Islamic State is similar in character to the Nazi Germany of the early 1930s," the 70-year-old leftwinger said on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
"If we are to prevent a super Holocaust and massive slaughters of people, we need concerted military action... under the aegis of the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Security Council," Zeman added.
But Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek slammed the proposal as "nonsense", saying: "I don't believe in any further military interventions by the West in Syria, Iraq or God knows where."
"It is up to Moslems, especially Arabs, to cure the cancer of radical Islamic ideology. They must prove that murder and terror are not the real face of Islam these days."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
Milos Zeman’s claim at anti-Semitism conference that Islamic State is on way to killing hundreds of millions if not stopped is slapped down as ‘nonsense’
They must prove that murder and terror are not the real face of Islam these days.
You can't prove the null set. This is the problem. People refuse to face up to the fact that murder and terror ARE the real face of Islam these days. (Also all the days since MoHamHead too, but who's counting.)
[Ynet] A jacket wallah who last week killed himself and three others at a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu had previously lived in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... A spokeswoman for the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service, NDB, said Tuesday that the agency was working on the assumption that the man of Somali origin came to Switzerland in 2008.
Carolina Bohren told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the bomber received temporary residency in Switzerland along with Swiss travel documents, but not Swiss citizenship.
The attacker went kaboom! Thursday at the gate of the SYL hotel, used by Turkish officials. The attack bore the hallmarks of al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... , an Islamic Lion of Islam group fighting the Somali government.
[Ynet] A man accused of trying to travel to Syria to join 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.... group will be released to a halfway house while his case is pending.
Chief US District Judge Michael Davis said Tuesday that Abdullahi Yusuf will have limited hours outside the house and will be monitored.
The 18-year-old is charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Charges say FBI agents stopped him at the Minneapolis airport last year as he attempted to leave the US for Turkey.
Yusuf's attorneys asked that he be freed and allowed to participate in courses promoting civic involvement. Davis ordered probation officials to talk with program designers to explore that as an option.
"As a corporate entity, the Army has decided that they want to pursue Bergdahl for this violation," Shaffer said.
Shaffer said there's a "huge battle" going on inside the Obama administration, as some try to "suppress" this development. "This is shaping up to be a titanic struggle behind the scenes," he said.
Shaffer said the Army "wants to do the right thing," but the White House "wants this to go away."
He said: "The White House, because of the political narrative, President Obama cozying up to the parents and because of he, President Obama, releasing the five Taliban ... The narrative is what the White House does not want to have come out."
#2
Aside from the terrorist swap, nothing wrong with bringing a POW back home. Nothing wrong with insisting he be held accountable for his actions as a service memeber. Something else is going on here.
#4
Maybe Bergdahl is forcing their hand on this and not cooperating. Once released to the public he is going to swear his allegiance to Allah. Then what for WH?
#7
Here's a hypothetical scenario: The Army court martial's Bergdahl and in the course of the trial Bergdahl testifies that he was not a POW, but a willing convert to Islam who agreed to the swap so more important members of the Taliban could be freed.
[DAWN] MINGORA: The All primary teachers association (APTA), Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... chapter, on Monday refused to take part in the anti-polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... drive due to precarious security situation in the area.
The teachers also staged a protest in front of the Swat Press Club condemning the government for planning to deduct their salaries for refusing to participate in the anti-polio drive. They also raised slogans in favour of their demands.
APTA leader Ibrahim Shah Bacha said that providing security to the schools was the responsibility of the government and not of the teachers. He complained about the behaviour of the executive district officer, education.
The teachers also criticised the provincial government for not issuing a notification regarding their promotion.
Swat APTA president Syed Sikandar Shah Bacha and general secretary Roedad Khan also participated in the protest and vowed to struggle for their rights.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard... a meeting chaired by Malakand division RPO Azad Khan at the Jirga Hall in Saidu Sharif on Monday discussed security measures for educational institutes in Swat. Principals of government and private schools, officials of health and all the line departments and DPOs attended the meet.
RPO Azad Khan said that the police were taking every possible step to ensure security of schools in the division. "We have shared emergency software with three schools and the other schools will get it soon," he said, adding that providing security to educational institutions was the responsibility of the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] The government 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... has selected 54 terrorism cases for trial by military courts set up under the 21st Constitution Amendment.
The cases were finalised at a high-level meeting of security officials.
Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told Dawn that of the 54 cases selected, 19 related to the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Afghanistan, 18 to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... and 17 to Sipah-e-Muhammad.
The provincial apex committee, which is responsible for implementation of the National Action Programme against terrorism, will forward the cases to the federal government for a final decision.
Balochistan IG Mohammad Amlish Khan told Dawn that 168 accused had been nominated in the 54 cases; 88 of them were under arrest and 80 absconding.
Mr Durrani said that mercy petitions of 14 convicted murderous Moslems were pending with the federal government and the provincial government had requested it to reject the petitions.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif visited the Federally Administered Tribal Areas' (FATA) Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... on Tuesday and vowed not to abandon the area without fully restoring it to normality.
The army chief was given a detailed briefing on the progress of stabilisation operations, including the ongoing development projects by army engineers in the troubled region, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.
The development projects have come after Operation Zarb-I-Azb, launched by the Pakistain Army in June 2014, left large parts of North Wazoo's infrastructure destroyed. The military claims to have eliminated a large number of gunnies in North Waziristan, as well as Khurram Agency in continuing operations. The corpse count of forces of Evil and the extent of damage inside the agencies has largely not been independently verified by media, given that access to FATA is very limited.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Dozens of Gaza residents attacked a UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency ) building following their decision to cut funding to the 96,000 refugees who lost their homes in the recent Gaza-Israel conflict, Wednesday. Protesters climbed into the building ripping tiles from the roof and burning tyres.
#12
Wait a minute. Don't they run the UNRWA themselves? Is this an internal dispute?
Posted by: James ||
01/28/2015 17:32 Comments ||
Top||
#13
If the building fund is running a little low, I know a guy who knows a guy who can get you deal on a whole lot of fly ash. Pickup truckloads, if you know what I mean. *nudge*nudge*wink*wink*
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday that it cannot afford to repair Gaza homes damaged in last year’s war with Israel because donors have failed to pay.
“The agency has exhausted all funding to support repairs and rental subsidies,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said in a statement. “$5.4 billion was pledged at the Cairo (aid) conference last October and virtually none of it has reached Gaza. This is distressing and unacceptable.
“It is unclear why this funding has not been forthcoming,” it added.
UNRWA said that the homes of more than 96,000 Palestine refugees were destroyed or damaged during the conflict. They made up the vast majority of the more than 100,000 homes that were hit during the 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas.
UNRWA said: “Some funds remain available to begin the reconstruction of totally destroyed homes.”
But it added that cutting subsidies to displaced residents currently renting alternative accommodation could force large numbers back to UN schools and centres which are already sheltering 12,000 people.
“UNRWA in Gaza has so far provided over $77 million to 66,000 Palestine refugee families to repair their home or find a temporary alternative,” it said.
Gaza’s sole power station, which was damaged during the war, is struggling with a severe lack of fuel and is only able to supply the enclave with six hours of power per day.
Reconstruction has barely begun, with experts saying it will take years even if Israel significantly eases its eight-year blockade.
How long would it take if Hamas wasn't diverting all the construction materials back into tunnel and bunker repair?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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#2
It was the largest single ask in UNRWA's history.
However, it follows a similar pattern to previous examples of promises made to the Palestinians, for example, in the Sharm el-Sheikh conference in 2009; pledges totaled 4.7 billion dollars, none of which reached Gaza.
Still it is interesting to look at some of the pledges here and the fact only $77 million arrived; I leave to the reader here to speculate.
Qatar promised $1 billion.
Saudi $450 million
EU $450 million
US $212 million
Kuwait $200 million
Turkey $200 million
United Arab Emirates $200m
Japan $200 million
German $63 million
France $38 million
Italy $24 million and almost $40 million a bit later
#7
Why even bother rebuilding? The Paleos are just going to yet again piss of the Perfidious Juices who will then bomb all the fresh construction back to rubble. Better to adapt and learn to live in the shells of ruined buildings and rubble piles. Should make for some great photo ops!
[Iran Press TV] An Iranian deputy foreign minister says Zionist regime's officials will suffer the consequences of Tel Aviv's recent Arclight airstrike that killed six Hezbollah members and an Iranian commander in Syria's Golan Height.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, said on Tuesday that following the attack, the Islamic Theocratic Republic sent a message to the United States "through diplomatic channels," warning that the Israeli regime should suffer the consequences of its fatal aerial assault against the Hezbollah convoy on the Syrian soil.
"In this message, we declared to the Americans that Israel has crossed Iran's red lines by taking this action," said the senior Iranian diplomat.
On January 17, an Israeli military helicopter fired two missiles into Amal Farms in the strategic southwestern Syrian city of Quneitra, close to the line separating the Syrian part of the Golan Heights from the Israeli-occupied sector.
Six Hezbollah members as well as Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, an Iranian commander, bit the dust in the Israeli assault.
Israel later claimed that it was unaware of the presence of an Iranian commander in the area where the attack happened.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
IMO OWG Co-Superpower Rising Iran will use this opportunity to expand its presence-n-influence throught the region.
#3
I suppose it's too late to sell the story it was a pair of errant Paleo missiles from Gaza-land?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/28/2015 7:35 Comments ||
Top||
#4
JosephMendiola Вы постучал в космические поток политических or "You have tapped into the cosmic political stream". As you know, Russia is backing Iran on many fronts = Nuclear = Financial = Political + Refrigerating the US - Second Cold War - Through Surrogates Heating the Islamic World and Igniting Islamic Revolutionary Fires -
Welcome Brother JosephMendiola to the cosmic political stream, being from Guam you will swim well.
#7
Does JosephM have Russian? I know badanov does, and Fred and some others among our Cold Warriors, but I have the impression that JosephM is likelier to have Chinese instead.
[ARABNEWS] Japan said Wednesday it was asking the Jordanian government for help after the Islamic State jihadist group released a new video saying a captured Japanese journalist had 24 hours to live. “The government in this extremely difficult situation has been asking for assistance from the Jordanian government toward securing (Kenji) Goto’s early release,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/28/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
The ISIS/ISIL giving Nippon another hardline ultimatum, where the good news for Nippon is the Jordanian pilot may be beheaded first before journalist Goto.
As per JAPAN TIMES, Perts believe the ISIS/ISIL may be trying for a two-for-two prisoner exchange deal.
#4
A Front Door Criticism of Zero and his policies if I have ever seen one, До свидания Генеральной Кин - Good bye General Keane = Ваша карьера над - Your Career is Over.
Posted by: frozen al ||
01/28/2015 12:02 Comments ||
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#6
Had them on the ropes and then we sort of gave up and displayed weakness at every opportunity instead of finishing them off.
Same thing happened with the Soviets but the excuses were better because they sort of cashed in rather than lost in a military fight and we didn't want to push and look like meanies.
#7
Had them on the ropes and then we sort of gave up
Same thing when the Berlin Wall fell. Should have held every commie apologist accountable for their anti-American crusades for decades. Turn the cheek did you. See what you got.
[Daily Beast] Former DIA Chief Michael Flynn likens the fight against Islamic militants to the Cold War and calls for an international chain of command akin to that of the Allies in World War II.
The former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency slammed the Obama administration on Monday as âwell intentionedâ but paralyzed and playing defense in its the fight against Islamic militancy.
Recently retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn called for the U.S. to lead the charge in a sweeping, decades-long campaign against the Islamic State group, al Qaeda, and its ilkâa fight like the one against the former Soviet Unionâagainst a new enemy he said is âcommitted to the destruction of freedom and the American way of life.â
#2
...Oh, yeah. I want some of our allies to have veto power over us going after the next set of monsters who leave three thousand dead in our streets.
sarc/OFF
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/28/2015 8:09 Comments ||
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#3
Oh yeah indeed, this is just another call for the international elites to run the show because they're so much smarter than the rest of us. Let them run the international WoT and before you know it they'll be in charge of climate change too. Because shut up, they said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/28/2015 8:28 Comments ||
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#4
sweeping, decades-long campaign
This all such Bull Crap!! IF, and that's a big if, the US and these putative allies would specifically define this "new" enemy we could get this over with in just a few years.
Announce non-PC RoE and follow through hard and fast and the problem would disappear like ice cream in KSA.
#5
The thing is he is right - something like SHAEF, militarily focused, would work for such a global effort. And he is very clear about who the enemy is, which would drag all these other countries into reality, at lest in terms of their military. This isn't an "internationalist", this is someone who actually understands the problem and is, unlike CIA, actually wanting to solve it instead of exploit it.
#9
#5 The thing is he is right - something like SHAEF, militarily focused, would work for such a global effort.
Damn right he's right! Small, mission tailored(company+ size or smaller), specialized strike teams supported by AFSOF, USN strike platforms off-shore, MEDIVAC, and appropriate QRF augmentation (one cell in, one cell on stand-by)In-and-out, no prisoners unless directed. Maximum brutality, minimum exposure and time on the ground.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
International Criminal Court
aligned leaders this week for a meeting about their ongoing efforts to oppose the current government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, who rose to power following the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, an ally of the Brotherhood, in 2013.
[Iran Press TV] The leader of Yemen's Shia 
John 
Mohmand Agency
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday that it cannot afford to repair Gaza homes damaged in last year’s war with Israel because donors have failed to pay.
