[KhaamaPress] The Afghan government has reconsidered decision to swap three big shots of the Haqqani terrorist network with the American University lecturers.
Presidential spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi said late on Saturday that Anas Haqqani, Mali Khan and Hafiz Rashid, the three senior Haqqani network ...a branch of the Afghan Taliban, based in Pakistain. The network is a family business founded by the later Jalaluddin Haqqani... leaders are still in the custody of the Afghan government.
Sediqqi blamed the postponement of the prisoners swap, claiming that the group failed to respect the conditions of the process.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse... Sediqqi said the Afghan government has reconsidered decision and will take further actions in the light of the interests and benefits of Afghanistan.
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... on Tuesday announced that the government is intending to release the three senior Haqqani network leaders in exchange for the release of the two American University lecturers.
The Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... group kidnapped the two American University lecturers from West of Kabul city in August of 2016.
Another of those carefully crafted leaks aimed at certain targets.
[Rudaw] The UK government and military covered up credible evidence of war crimes by British soldiers against civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to an investigation by the BBC and the Sunday Times.
Leaks from two government-ordered inquiries into the conduct of troops in the conflicts implicated troops in the killing of children and torture of civilians, the investigation found.
The allegations include murders by a soldier from the elite SAS unit, as well as deaths in jug, beatings, torture and sexual abuse of detainees by members of the Black Watch infantry unit.
Military detectives who unearthed evidence of the alleged war crimes told the year-long investigation by the newspaper and the BBC's Panorama programme that seniors commanders hid it "for political reasons".
"The Ministry of Defence (MoD) had no intention of prosecuting any soldier of whatever rank he was unless it was absolutely necessary, and they couldn't wriggle their way out of it," an investigator told the BBC.
The MoD said the allegations were "untrue" and that the decisions of prosecutors and Sherlocks were "independent" and involved "external oversight and legal advice".
The accusations emerged from two war crimes inquiries -- the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) and Operation Northmoor, which dealt with Afghanistan -- which ended in 2017 without any prosecutions.
The government closed the probes after a solicitor, Phil Shiner, who had recorded hundreds of allegations, was struck off from practising law amid claims he had paid people in Iraq to find clients.
Amnesia Amnesty International criticised the decision at the time and some former IHAT and Operation Northmoor Sherlocks now allege Shiner's actions were used as an excuse to close down the inquiries as they found wrongdoing at high levels.
The Sunday Times reported military detectives discovered allegations of falsified documents that were "serious enough to merit prosecutions of senior officers".
It reported one of the SAS's most senior commanders was referred to prosecutors for attempting to pervert the course of justice before the inquiries were ended.
The newspaper said the revelations could result in a war crimes investigation at the International Criminal Court if Britannia was deemed to have failed to hold its military to account.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the BBC on Sunday that despite the lack of any prosecutions, it had "got the right balance" in ensuring "spurious claims" were not pursued.
[DAWN] Former premier Nawaz Sharif ...served two three 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, then by the courts... is expected to travel to London on Tuesday via an air ambulance, PML-N officials said on Sunday.
In a statement issued today, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that an air ambulance will arrive on Tuesday morning to transport Nawaz.
The announcement comes a day after the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday allowed the former premier to travel abroad for four weeks for medical treatment, saying the duration could be extended based on medical reports.
In a blow to the government, which had placed a condition of indemnity bonds for Nawaz's travel, the court had ordered the federal government to remove his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) without any conditions.
[DAWN] Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who spearheaded the brutal crushing of the Tamil Tigers 10 years ago, stormed to victory on Sunday in Sri Lanka's presidential elections seven months after bully boy attacks killed 269 people.
The retired lieutenant colonel, nicknamed the "Terminator" by his own family, won 53-54 per cent of the vote, his front man told AFP as Rajapaksa's main rival Sajith Premadasa of the ruling party conceded the race.
"It is a clear win. We envisaged it. We are very happy that Gota will be the next president. He will be sworn in tomorrow or the day after," front man Keheliya Rambukwella said.
Rajapaksa, 70, had a 49.6pc share of the vote with close to six million ballots counted. He is the younger brother of the charismatic but controversial Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president from 2005-15.
Results from Sinhalese-majority regions ‐ the Rajapaksas' core support base ‐ were expected to push this above 50pc.
Premadasa, 52, of the ruling party was trailing at 44.4pc. He had strong support in minority Tamil areas and a poor showing in larger Sinhalese constituencies.
Election Commission chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said at least 80pc of the 15.99 million eligible voters participated in Saturday's poll, which was marred by isolated violence that left several people injured.
Rajapaksa conducted a nationalist campaign with a promise of security and a vow to crush religious extremism in the Buddhist-majority country following the April 21 suicide kabooms blamed on a homegrown jihadi group.
Fascinating: A rare direct glimpse at Iranian intra-agency disputes. MOIS officials worry that Qassem Soleimani and the Iraqi Shia militias are inflaming sectarian tensions to the point where Iraqis may side with America (and even Israel!) to "save Iraq from Iran's clutches." pic.twitter.com/g1QDCpA5Iz
on the 3rd day of major #IranProtests, videos that could make it to BBC inbox despite severe gov restrictions on connection, show that Tehran Grand Bazaar is closed and security forces have visibly high presence. pic.twitter.com/WTcqEiDVbA
#IranProtests, 3rd day, Tabriz University. Students chanting: "we're jobless, we have no future!", "we do the hard work, the result ends up embezzled [stolen in corruption]" pic.twitter.com/TJDiP5QWxM
Three banks are set on fire by protesters in Isfahan. The government's violent response to peaceful protests for transparency & accountability pushed people to use drastic measures like this. People came to the streets with flowers & received bullets in response.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/ADgveyskGK
Night protests against #Iran's Islamic Regime is being continued in #Karaj tonight. Here is an example in Heidar-Abad where the protesters have blocked the roads on security forces making them unable to deploy their troops easily.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/nmRwJgfPSB
From day 3 of #IranProtests. The Internet is shut down in Iran, more than 20 people have been killed during #IranProtests and people are still in the street protesting the Islamic Republic. pic.twitter.com/3i7OVib4QH
To stop IRGC and millitia force’s vehicles, a group of Iranian protesters in Tehran (Niayesh Highway) are displacing guardrails and blocking the streets. #IranProtestspic.twitter.com/cmRfAnPvH7
This generation had nothing to do with bringing to fruition a totalitarian theocracy & they have zero interest in sustaining it. pic.twitter.com/uhfFTv11MX
Posted by: 3dc ||
11/18/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
'Reza Shah come back'. OK, put that coffee down campers and just imagine for a brief moment that in the event the mullahs really do come all the way unglued President Trump supports and aids the heir to the Peacock Throne back to Teheran.
I have to imagine the entire global liberal 'elite' spinning around on the ground like Curly while foaming at the mouth. Not enough popcorn on earth for that kind of a spectacle.
[Asia Times] President Hassan Rouhani warned Sunday that riot-hit Iran could not allow “insecurity” after two days of unrest killed two people and saw authorities arrest dozens and restrict internet access.
“Protesting is the people’s right, but protesting is different from rioting. We should not allow insecurity in the society,” he said.
Rouhani defended the controversial gasoline price hike that triggered the protests – a project which the government says will finance social welfare spending amid a sharp economic downturn.
Sultan Recep Tayip Erdogan I, “the much beloved”, keeps such lovely pets.
[NPASYRIA] In a poll conducted by North-Press, Officials in the Yazidi Kurdish House in Aleppo, expressed their opinions regarding the Ottoman Turkish military invasion in northeastern Syria, saying that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... has been a neighbor of the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... terrorist group (ISIS) for years, without considering it as a threat to its national security, rather, Turkey has helped them. Turkey now is invading the regions of northeastern Syria under the pretext of its national security.
They also asserted that the armed opposition groups used by Turkey in its invasion, have committed great violations against the Yazidis, and destroyed many of their monuments when they attacked and occupied the region of Afrin last year.
Hisham Ahmad, the co-chair of the Yazidi House in Aleppo, said that Turkey's justification of invading northeastern Syria is clear to everyone, as the national security cover no longer works.
He added that a large proportion of people used by Turkey in its attack on northeastern Syria, were ISIS members, and a number of them had attacked the district of Shingal (Sinjar), "and their hands are stained with the blood of Yazidis and with the abduction of many Yazidi women," he said.
"After their occupation of Afrin, many Yazidis were forcibly converted to Islam as many of their shrines were destroyed," he said.
According to Ahmad, they fear that the Yazidis in northeastern Syria would be massacred because there are many Yazidi villages on the Syrian-Ottoman Turkish border. He justified his fears that "Muhammad Army of Turkey, came to kill infidels and atheists, as they were saying," he said.
Moreover, he called on the United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... and institutions defending religious diversity and religious minorities, to put an end to abuses by the Ottoman Turkish military and its affiliates.
Rania Jaafar, the coordinator of Yazidi women's affairs, said that the Yazidi religion was subjected to many genocides during the Ottoman rule, which tried to erase Yazidi customs, traditions and culture.
She continued that Turkey is aiming at the same thing, by combating minorities and erasing the Yazidi religion. It targets all different religions and beliefs, and this's why the Yazidi villages on the Syrian-Ottoman Turkish border have witnessed a great wave of displacement, for fears of a repeat of Shingal catastrophe.
She added that during the era of the Autonomous Administration, they opened many centers and had several activities, while Turkey and its affiliated armed opposition groups destroyed Yazidi landmarks and shrines, when they attacked Afrin region and entered the Yazidi villages.
Furthermore, they imposed Islamic dress on Yazidi women and forced them to enter the Islamic mosques to pray, and established mosques in the villages of Paflon, Faqira, and Yazidi Basofan, in order to change their religious features.
[NPASYRIA] Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi said that, Ottoman Turkish President Erdogan is extorting the world with a few ISIS terrorist prisoners.
Abdi tweeted today on his Twitter account saying: "We have documents confirming that, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... is using many of ISIS bully boyz in its invasion against northern Syria".
He stressed on the need for an international court in northern Syria to try ISIS detainees, noting that it is the only way to stop Turkey's extortion of the world, to thwart its plans in order to show the truth and build justice.
SDF commander, Mazloum Abdi pointed out that, ISIS Death Eaters committed the most horrendous crimes in the north of Syria.
In a special statement to North-Press, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman confirmed that, the observatory documented the presence of at least 8 members of ISIS who are fighting alongside al-Hamzat and Ahrar al-Sharqiya groups, where they were identified by citizens from al-Qalamoun, Eastern Ghouta and Hasakah, and there are reports which say that, hundreds of ISIS members are among the ranks of the so-called "National Army", but at least 8 cases have been confirmed so far, according to the Observatory.
U.S. forces plan to establish a military site, in the western countryside of the town of Amude, northeastern Syria, bordering with Turkey, in the upcoming days. pic.twitter.com/hPzIYhRpoA
[BREITBART] Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday backed the government’s decision to raise gasoline prices and called angry protesters who have been setting fire to public property over the hike "thugs," signaling a potential crackdown on the demonstrations.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini... ’s comments came as authorities shut down the internet across Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... to smother the protests in some two dozen cities and towns over the rise of government-set prices by 50% as of Friday.
Since the hike, demonstrators have abandoned their cars along major highways and joined mass protests in the capital, Tehran, and elsewhere. Some protests turned violent, with demonstrators setting fires and there was also gunfire.
It remains to be seen how many people have been injured, killed or arrested. Authorities on Saturday said only one person was killed, though other videos from the protests have shown people gravely maimed.
In an address aired by state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
Sunday, Khamenei said "some bit the dust and some places were destroyed," without elaborating. He called violent protesters "thugs" who had been pushed into violence by counterrevolutionaries and foreign enemies of Iran. He specifically named those aligned with the family of Iran’s late shah, ousted 40 years ago, and an exile group called the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.
"Setting a bank on fire is not an act done by the people. This is what thugs do," Khamenei said. How about occupying an embassy? However, ars longa, vita brevis... he made a point to back the decision of Iran’s relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani ...Iran's moderate president, which he is, relative to his predecessor, which doesn't mean he's anything but a puppet of the nearest holy man... and others to raise gasoline prices. Gasoline in the country still remains among the cheapest in the world, with the new prices jumping up to a minimum of 15,000 rials per liter of gas ‐ 50% up from the day before. That’s 13 cents a liter, or about 50 cents a gallon. A gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. costs $2.60 by comparison.
Khamenei ordered security forces "to implement their tasks" and for Iran’s citizens to keep clear of violent demonstrators.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
.... .50 for a gallon of gas doesnt sound too expensive to us - but keep in mind the average Iranian only makes about $800 a month. At that point it gets expensive right quick.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/18/2019 15:36 Comments ||
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#2
Good thing they have New Green Deal Flying Carpets....
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2019 20:25 Comments ||
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[Ay-Pee/HT Clarice Feldman] Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday cautiously backed the government’s decision to raise gasoline prices by 50% after days of widespread protests, calling those who attacked public property during demonstrations "thugs" and signaling that a potential crackdown loomed.
The government shut down internet access across the nation of 80 million people to staunch demonstrations that took place in a reported 100 cities and towns. That made it increasingly difficult to gauge whether unrest continued. Images published by state and semiofficial media showed the scale of the damage in images of burned gas stations and banks, torched vehicles and roadways littered with debris.
Since the price hike, demonstrators have abandoned cars along major highways and joined mass protests in the capital, Tehran, and elsewhere. Some protests turned violent, with demonstrators setting fires as gunfire rang out.
It remains to be seen how many people were arrested, injured or killed. Videos from the protests have shown people gravely wounded.
Iranian authorities on Sunday raised the official death toll in the violence to at least three. Attackers targeting a police station in the western city of Kermanshah on Saturday killed an officer, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Sunday. A lawmaker said another person was killed in a suburb of Tehran. Earlier, one man was reported killed Friday in Sirjan, a city some 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Tehran.
In an address aired Sunday by state television, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said "some lost their lives and some places were destroyed," without elaborating. He called the protesters "thugs" who had been pushed into violence by counterrevolutionaries and foreign enemies of Iran.
Khamenei specifically named those aligned with the family of Iran’s late shah, ousted 40 years ago, and an exile group called the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. The MEK calls for the overthrow of Iran’s government and enjoys the support of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
"Setting a bank on fire is not an act done by the people. This is what thugs do," Khamenei said.
The supreme leader carefully backed the decision of Iran’s relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani and others to raise gasoline prices. While Khamenei dictates the country’s nuclear policy amid tensions with the U.S. over its unraveling 2015 accord with world powers, he made a point to say he wasn’t an "expert" on the gasoline subsidies.
Khamenei ordered security forces "to implement their tasks" and for Iran’s citizens to keep clear of violent demonstrators. Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said the "key perpetrators of the past two days’ riot have been identified and proper action is ongoing."
That seemed to indicate a crackdown could be looming.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2019 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
...served 
President Hassan Rouhani warned Sunday that riot-hit Iran could not allow “insecurity” after two days of unrest killed two people and saw authorities arrest dozens and restrict internet access.
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
[Ay-Pee/HT Clarice Feldman] Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday cautiously backed the government’s decision to raise gasoline prices by 50% after days of widespread protests, calling those who attacked public property during demonstrations "thugs" and signaling that a potential crackdown loomed.
