London: The British Government will air ads on Pakistani television urging terrorists to not attack Britain. Prominent British Muslims will star in the British Foreign Office-funded £400,000 (approximately Rs 2.9 crore)-campaign that is set to break on Pakistani television next Monday, 'The Guardian' reported on Tuesday.
The three-month public relations offensive, called 'I Am the West', will also include high-profile events in regions such as Peshawar and Mirpur, 'The Guardian' said. Seven in ten British Pakistanis are Mirpuris.
According to 'The Guardian', the first three ads in the project will feature British Communities Minister Sadiq Khan, UK manager of Islamic Relief Jehangir Malik, former England Under-19 captain and promising Worcestershire allrounder Moeen Ali, and the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Chaudry Abdul Rashid, a Mirpuri.
The campaign, the paper said, will be targeted at '15-25-year-old males who are less than well-educated and worldly wise, but potentially susceptible to extremist doctrines'. Nine 30-second commercials, supported by ads on radio, will be aired on PTV, Geo TV and Khyber among other channels. If the Pakistani campaign is successful, it will be extended in Egypt, Yemen and Indonesia.
The central theme of the campaign, 'The Guardian' said, "is to assert that there is no contradiction in being a Muslim and being British." It has four key aims, the daily reported: 'to ensure Pakistanis realise the west is not anti-Islamic, that British society is not anti-Islam, to demonstrate the extent to which Muslims are integrated into British society and to stimulate and facilitate constructive debate on the compatibility of liberal and Muslim values'.
#1
and to stimulate and facilitate constructive debate on the compatibility of liberal and Muslim values'.
An excellent idea. Let's talk about equality under the law, religious freedom, women's rights, and the importance of education. I'm sure there is *lots* of common ground between classical liberal values and Islam.
#3
Please don't send terrorists to attack us. Just send your best halal recipes for naan bread, murgh handi, chicken jalferzi, and biryani. We'll take care of all details preparing the people for your eventual conquest. Oh...and have we apologized today for trying to bring civilization to your country during colonization? No? Well then consider this our apology for the day. Hey...you want some reparations? Just ask....
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
02/10/2009 11:34 Comments ||
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#7
"If the Pakistani campaign is successful, it will be extended in Egypt, Yemen and Indonesia."
How would anyone know?!
Better that the UK Government deals with anti-British Pakistanis in the UK first, before wasting money on embarrassing BBCesque PR campaigns in Pakistan.
#9
The best and brightest from the past 400 years have left Britain and its inbred "leadership" (Lords and Ladies, Princes and Kings) for the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and other parts of the British Commonwealth, where they could make their fortunes without someone else overseeing their every move. Very few went to Muslim countries, however.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/10/2009 13:38 Comments ||
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#10
I can almost stomach loosing some european countries to the Islamists, don't like it but I can almost stomach it, but it truely causes me unexplainable grief to loose the UK. What ever happened to the British of old?
#11
It seems they're just emulating the US government. They're buying ads instead of giving an interview on an Arab channel. But they're not sending a message that's different from B. Hussein Obama's.
It is the entire "Free World" that has turned into a finlandized joke.
#13
So sad to see the UK slowly sinking beneath the waves. We're actually quite fond of them despite that business with the tea awhile back. Oh well, the least we can do is provide them with some assistance from our fabled Madison Ave advertising machine. Howzabout this:
- Winston Churchill peeking out from under the bed with a caption "Please Don't Hurt Us"
- The scene from the original "The Time Machine" where the Eloi sit around watching one of their own drown. Caption: "We're Harmless!"
While we prepare to shunt perhaps 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan (which still will not be enough), Russia continues to play the Asian chessboard. The Russians are picking off pawn after pawn, and steadily eroding our foreign policy influence with them and other Central Asian countries. The Russians know that we need a land route through their country to Afghanistan, especially as we begin the slow process of increasing our combat presence. The Pakistan land route is one Achilles' heel to our Afghanistan effort, and Russia is working hard to make sure that Russia is the other Achilles' heel, which will strengthen the Russian position on matters such as missile defense. Russia, at the present rate, will eventually exercise considerable control over the spigot to Afghanistan. The Russians are successfully wrestling us into a policy arm-lock. While Russia takes American money and gains influence over our Afghan efforts, we will continue to spend lives and tens of billions of dollars per year on Afghanistan in an attempt to civilize what amounts to Jurassic Park.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
02/10/2009 12:46 ||
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#2
The man has spent a lot of time there and he apparently does not think it worth our blood and treasure. As I posted a couple of days ago, it is a hell hole and always will be a hell hole. Geography has dealt them this lousy hand, but nothing we are going to do will change that. Get out now.
In the coming weeks, judges from the International Criminal Court will decide whether to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir on charges of genocide and other war crimes in a military campaign that has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Darfur since 2003. But Al Bashir's government is hardly being treated like an international pariah. African Union leaders last week backed Sudan's appeal to have the warrant suspended, with some portraying the court as unfairly targeting African states. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Al Bashir in Ethiopia last week and sought his assurances that international peacekeepers and aid workers would not be attacked if charges are filed.
"Our diplomatic standing is always on the rise. Whenever others unjustly try to corner us, we emerge victorious."
Even the Obama administration, which has vowed to increase pressure on Khartoum to stem the bloodshed in Darfur, has reached out to Sudan. Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, invited Sudan's UN ambassador, Abdul Mahmoud Abdul Haleem Mohammad, on Wednesday to a reception for senior African diplomats at her official residence at the Waldorf Astoria. She also has scheduled a meeting with the Sudanese envoy this week. Indeed, Sudan's diplomatic standing has hardly been diminished by the allegations. Last month, an influential bloc of developing nations, known as the Group of 77 and China, selected Sudan as its chairman for 2009. That post will make Khartoum the developing world's champion in negotiations with the West on a variety of issues, from climate change to the UN budget and the global financial crisis. Sudan's UN envoy said that both the United States and the United Nations realise that they cannot afford to shun Khartoum, which hosts two major UN peacekeeping operations, possesses massive oil reserves and now has a new role as a UN power broker. "They can never do without us," Mohammad said. "Our diplomatic standing is always on the rise. Whenever others unjustly try to corner us, we emerge victorious."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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There is no basis to media claims that Russian Navy sailors suffered from scurvy while on a mission to patrol waters off Somalia, a Navy spokesman said on Monday. "Aaar! No basis, ye swabs!"
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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The study says that the UK has by far the largest number of banks for Muslims whose products prohibit interest payments and investment in alcohol or gambling firms of any western country. There are now five "fully Sharia-compliant" banks in the UK while another 17 leading institutions including Barclays, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group have set up special branches or subsidiary firms for Muslim clients.
The $18billion (£12bn) in assets of Britain's Islamic banks dwarf those of some states where Islam is the main religion, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Egypt. In addition, there are 55 colleges and professional institutions offering education in Islamic finance in Britain more than anywhere else in the world.
The growth of the UK as a centre for Islamic finance has been helped in recent years by the government, according to the new report by International Financial Services London, which has extended tax relief on Sharia-compliant mortgages to companies and made the trade in "Sukuk" bonds easier.
Duncan McKenzie, IFSL's Director of Economics, said "The UK has benefited considerably from supportive Government policies intended to put Islamic services on the same footing as conventional services. Evidence of London's growing role in Islamic finance is shown in the UK being the only western country to feature prominently, 8th with assets of $18bn, in a global ranking of Sharia-compliant assets by country."
The figures in the new study cover 2007, but it is claimed that Islamic financial institutions will be able to withstand the credit crisis and recession better than other banks because they were forbidden from investing in "toxic assets" such as sub-prime mortgages. Sir Andrew Cahn, the Chief Executive Officer of UK Trade & Investment, said: "Despite its origins overseas, Islamic finance has found a natural home in the UK. Though no sector is immune to the global financial crisis, Islamic finance has shown great resilience."
The Church of England announced Monday it had withdrawn its investments in a controversial company over the weekend following a threat by a group of vicars to publish a letter denouncing the Church's investment, but denied there were any political or ethical consideration in what it called an economically informed decision.
The Church of England said Monday that it withdrew £2.2 million ($3.3 million) from Caterpillar Inc. in late December 2008 because of economic considerations. Israel used bulldozers bought from the U.S.-based manufacturer of construction and mining equipment to demolish Palestinian homes.
" The Church of England withdrew shares it held in the company for purely investment reasons "
Steve Jenkins, Church of England spokesperson
News of the church's divestment came late Saturday just in time to prevent the planned publication of a letter in the Guardian signed by 23 theologians accusing the Church of England of not acting on its policy to promote morally and ethically responsible investments.
"We believe that given the events in Gaza as well as the continued illegal occupation of whole swathes of Palestinian land and the illegal land grabs by settlers, supported by the Israeli Government, that the Church of England must make good on its policy of disinvestment and withdraw its investments from those who profit form the misery of millions of Palestinians immediately," the unpublished letter stated.
But the church denied it had withdrawn investment for political or ethical reasons and said the timing of the announcement was coincidental.
"The holding status was made public when (the Church was) asked," church spokesperson Steve Jenkins told AlArabiya.net. "The Church of England withdrew shares it held in Caterpillar for purely investment reasons."
He added that the Church sold its shares in Caterpillar late December "on investment grounds," explaining that the church's investment bodies is charged with making investment decisions and takes into account the recommendations of the ethical advisory group.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
I do hope the Church also has no investments in other companies that do business in Israel, such as Intel. It would, after all, be a travesty of justice to make an profits from the cleverness of juices.
#4
TW, Intel doesn't just do business in Israel, many integrated ciruits used in PCs are invented and designed in Intel's Israeli branch. It is a main design center.
#5
So, multi-cult dhimmis threaten to hit them with the proverbial strongly worded letter and the CoE shamans decide they don't need this investment after all. Lame denials notwithstanding, many prayers to St. Rachel de Jemima have been answered with this decision.
In fact the Core 2 architecture who allowed Intel to
put AMD against the ropes after years of losing the performance battle against AMD products was designed in Haifa. Ditto for its successor the Nehalem.
Now, I suggest the COE to invest in a processor design laboratory in Gaza.
#9
"The Church of England ... denied there were any political or ethical consideration ..."
Why do these 'holy' men resort to ridiculous lies? Are they ashamed of their actions? Are they next going to deny that their banning members of a perfectly legal political party from being priests is political?
The CoE has become a sick parody of its former self, eaten from within by leftist charlatans. I'll be glad when it dies, I'm just sorry for the great churches and cathedrals - and betrayed congregations - who will remain.
A British-born Pakistani man who said he had links to Al Qaeda and had sent young men for terrorism training in Pakistan has told a court that he was lying about his past.
Hassan Butt, 28, told Manchester Crown Court he had fed stories to the media and that his portrayal of himself as a terrorist planner who later renounced violence in order to fight extremism was a fabrication. He made the confession in December during the trial of a former friend, Habib Ahmed, who was subsequently convicted of belonging to Al Qaeda. Restrictions on the reporting of the case have only now been lifted following the conclusion of another trial involving Butt's wife. "At no point have I ever been training, have I ever been a jihadi," Butt told the court, according to a transcript of the proceedings.
Feeding media: Questioning Butt about his past, prosecutor Andrew Edis asked, "So, you were a professional liar then?" Butt replied: "I would make money, yes." He had, he said, told stories that "the media wanted to hear". The confession will come as a surprise to many as Butt was for years regarded as a leading extremist who had subsequently turned himself into a proponent for 'de-radicalising' young men in order to combat extremism.
He has been widely profiled in newspapers, magazines and in television documentaries, and even met members of the government to discuss his plans for combating radicalism. In a Reuters interview in April last year, Butt said he had spent a decade inside extremist factions, during which he said he had sent recruits to Pakistan. He said he began questioning his beliefs after the July 2005 attacks by suicide bombers on London in which 52 people were killed. "I financed terrorism, I recruited people to go to terrorist training camps, I myself have been to terrorist training camps," he said in the interview. "I was involved in the whole world of radical Islam from the age of 16 onwards." Reuters does not pay for interviews.
Butt has been arrested five times by counter-terrorism officers, but was released each time without charge. A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said on Monday there were no charges against Butt and he was a free man. He did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. It is not clear why Butt would have fabricated so much of his past, and even gone to the lengths of stabbing himself in the arm to make it look like he had been attacked by extremists for speaking out against extremism. Shiv Malik, a journalist who has profiled Butt and who wrote a book called "Leaving Al Qaeda: Inside The Life And Mind of A British Jihadist" based on interviews with him, said he planned to carry on his research. Malik is now writing a book about Butt's life and trying to piece together what was true and what was false.
"All this had to come from somewhere, so there's definitely a story there," he told Reuters. "I particularly want to look at Butt's involvement with Britain's security services." Asked if he would be interviewing Butt, he replied: "I think I've had all the interviews with him that I want to have."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
He had, he said, told stories that "the media wanted to hear".
Well, at least this is a plausible claim, but I wonder if he has considered how Islamic terrorists will take this 'admission', if it is true.
#4
I believe his previous lies, not his current ones, hang the bastard, wannabe or not.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/10/2009 11:32 Comments ||
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#5
Perhaps not hang him, but a severe punishment for either 1) being what he claimed he was, or 2) fraud and wasting police resources that could have been better used to catch real terrorists. There has to be punishment for trying to fool , just as Saddam Hussein suffered his country being conquered by the Coalition because he fooled the world into thinking he had WMDs... even if what he had was only all the bits necessary to assemble them as soon as the embargo was completely broken.
FIVE Somali pirates, intercepted in the Gulf of Aden as they attacked a Dutch cargo ship, have been extradited to the Netherlands, a Dutch prosecution spokesman says.
"They arrived this afternoon in Eindhoven and will be brought before a magistrate in Rotterdam tomorrow," spokesman Wim de Bruin said.
The five men were flown to The Netherlands earlier from the Gulf state of Bahrain, he said.
They had been intercepted on January 2 by a Danish frigate, the Absalon, as they allegedly attempted to board a Dutch Antilles cargo vessel. The Absalon is patrolling the Gulf as part of an international anti-piracy task force.
Dutch prosecutors issued arrest warrants for the men on January 21 while they were being held aboard the Absalon.
Today, new Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department embraced Bush administration claims of "state secrets" in the ACLU lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan for its role in Bush's extraordinary rendition program. Jeppesen's involvement in the "torture flights" of an undetermined number of terror suspect abductees, making a tidy profit for themselves in the meantime. . . .
IIRC, Jeppsen is a publisher of aviation charts and flight planning software. Fascist tools!
Barack Obama has gotten quite a free ride from the "change" and "hope" crowd. When he quickly issued executive orders closing the CIA "black site" prisons and shutting down the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" torture, including waterboarding, much of the liberal and human rights world shouted, "Torture is over." Guantanamo would be closed (within a year), and the whole world could rest easy that the humane and totally vetted Army Field Manual would guide interrogators and protect vulnerable prisoners from the brig at the Naval Base at Charleston, South Carolina to the U.S. run prison at Baghram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Moreover, the Obama administration was proclaiming a new era of governmental transparency. The Freedom of Information Act was to be returned to its days of glory, and the new Attorney General assured his Senate questioners that old abusive use of "state secrets" privilege by the Executive Branch was a thing of the past, with such invocation only to be be used "in legally appropriate situations."
But what is the situation we have today? The conditions at Guantanamo worsen day by day, with 20 percent of the prison population on hunger strike. Binyam Mohamed himself lies near death. Obama has ordered a review of interrogation procedures which has some worried he will okay certain exceptions for the CIA. Meanwhile, the myth of a model humane Army Field Manual has been broken via exposure of abusive techniques inside its Appendix M, and elsewhere in its text. . . .
It really doesn't matter who is president of the United States when it comes to torture policy. That has been in the hands of the CIA and certain folk in the Pentagon and Executive Branch for a long time now. Obama and Holder have demonstrated they have zero intention in challenging that institutional status quo, even if that means throwing entire civil suits brought by torture victims out of court, even when the information about the suit is almost totally part of the public record.
This is not about keeping secrets safe. It's about controlling what the public can hear and not hear, so the repressive apparatus of the state can be allowed to function without public scrutiny or public control.
What will the followers of Obama do now? Will they sell out the most wretched and cruelly tortured for the feel-good vibes of the moment? Or will they hold their candidate to account?
In the komments, the Kos Kiddies are rather scathingly critical of their clay-footed object of worship.
I'm angry and getting angrier. This is a betrayal of the highest order, and a turn backwards from what many people hoped was a nightmare of the past. Here's the news: the nightmare isn't over. And when Obama finally got a chance to really chime in with his own national security vs. human rights and civil liberties policy, he failed utterly.
I am thoroughly disgusted with Obama's new neo-conciousness. Bi-partisanship, my ass. He just wants to be one of the guys now that he's been elevated to the Presidency and already spotlighted in history. If only he would have the wisdom and the fight to bring this rocking ship of state a'right with bank nationalization and no mercy for BushCo war criminals.
He needs courage. He is, thus far, no hero. I wonder if he will see to his responsibilities at all, or is this okay to criminality just the tip of the iceberg? The introductory nominations of Daschle, Geithner & Gensler (at CFTC) portend "more of the very same policies that got us into this mess," as he says so often.
Now, I happen to think Obama is actually doing the right thing by not embracing the moonbat "End torture NOW! Prosecute the Bushitler war criminals!" BS. On the other hand, if the Looney Left wants to turn on him over it, and the resulting fratricide undermines Obama's liberal program, well . . . I don't mind a bit.
Confusion to our enemies!
Posted by: Mike ||
02/10/2009 08:25 ||
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#1
I'm angry and getting angrier. This is a betrayal of the highest order, and a turn backwards from what many people hoped was a nightmare of the past.
Am I the only one who is disturbed by this language?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
02/10/2009 14:01 Comments ||
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#7
The left resembles Islam these days. The 'moderate' leftists are afraid to oppose the radical leftists on ideological grounds. They only oppose on the basis that 'now is not the time..."
#3
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM [paraph]> LOCAL BANGLADESHI JOURNALISTS TAKEN ABACK AT INDIAN JOURNALIST'S CLAIM OF PAKISTAN USING BANGLADESH AS A PROXY AND "BUFFER STATE" TO LAUNCH WAR AGZ INDIA.
Young girls and women of Jammu and Kashmir, who are surviving forced marriages to militants, allege that the ultras and their associates married young girls at gun point.
Sixteen-year-old Fatima Bi of Kishtwar district narrates how the militants abducted her from her house four years ago. Fatima today has a child to take care of. She says that Sher Khan, the then divisional commander of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), a Pakistan militant group and his associates tortured her for eight days until she gave into their demands and agreed to marry Hashim, a HuJI worker. The teenager however was able to escape from the hideout of the militants and sought help of police after Sher Khan had been arrested.
"There was this one Bilal, then another one named Ansari, there was a third man also, I don't remember his name. They used to keep me in a room and beat me with iron rods. They used to tell me that if I don't get married according to their will and wish, I would have to face dire consequences. I used to tell them I want to get married to a man I chose for myself. Sher Khan used to head these people," said Fatima Bi.
Fatima says that there are many such incidents taking place and need to be checked by the authorities. "Sher Khan used to abduct girls from our region on a regular basis. He got another girl from my area married to a militant," added Bi.
Fatima's in not an isolated case. Shehnaz of Doda district, other victims of forced marriage has a similar tale to tell. "These militants they are dreadful people. They come to our village, sit and eat here, utter bad words for women, abuse them. But now the police is with us. I am sure we can also hit back at them," said Shehnaz. She also said that the future of girls like her is in dark. Many have children to take care of. The militant husbands are arrested and the society sees them as outcast.
The police in the region say that they are trying to tackle the issue. They say that many a times, like in the case of Fatima Bi, cases of wives running away are registered and it is only later that they get a version of a forced marriage from the girls. "The girl has given a very different story. She has given a nerve shaking story in terms that she was forcibly married to a person against her will when she was a minor girl. It was done by a Sher khan and his associates who were running a HuJI organisation in this area," said Haseeb Mughal, superintendent of police, Kishtawar district.
Police officials say that the militants get married in order to mingle with the locals.
Naib Amir Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Prof. Ghafoor Ahmed said Monday that Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and other political parties would protest against increase in power tariff before the main office of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) on Wednesday. He was speaking at the All Parties Conference (APC) held here at Idara Noor-ul-Haq. Ahmed said that increase in power prices by Rs1.85 per unit has added the miseries of woes of people of metropolis. Pakistan People Party (PPP), which considers herself to be the voice of people has no contact with the people, he noted. He further said that the ruling party has turned its eyes from the grave problem of electricity loadshedding. JI Naib Amir called for government to immediately withdraw its decision about raise in power tariff. On this occasion, APC presented a unanimous resolution seeking immediate end to the ongoing power crisis before the start of summer season.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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The Defence Coordination Committee of Cabinet on Monday observed that without substantial evidence from India it will be exceedingly difficult to complete the investigation and proceed with the case. The meeting which lasted for over four hours, was attended by three services chiefs, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee, Federal Ministers for Defence, Information, and Foreign Affairs; Advisers to Finance, Foreign Affairs and Interior and concerned secretaries. In the meeting held at PM House, the committee was briefed on the progress on the inquiry based on information provided by Indian authorities concerning the Mumbai attacks. Committee decided that on the basis of inquiry conducted by FIA, the case should be registered and further investigation be carried out so that the perpetrators of the heinous crime, wherever they may be, are brought to justice in accordance with the law of the land. The meeting acknowledged that inquiry had been conducted professionally and endorsed the recommendations of the Interior Ministry to proceed with the registration of the case. The meeting however, observed that without substantial evidence from India it will be exceedingly difficult to complete the investigation and proceed with the case. In order to complete the investigation the questions which are arising from the inquiry carried out by the FIA need to be answered by the Indian authorities. These will be communicated to the Indian authorities shortly.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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India has no doubt that the Mumbai terror attacks were 'planned and originated' from Pakistan, claimed Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday, and said New Delhi is waiting for Islamabad's response to a dossier of information. "There is no doubt that the attacks were planned and executed from Pakistan. Nobody has expressed any doubt [over the dossier]," Chidambaram told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So Pakistani claims that the plot was hatched in Pennsylvania Dutch country are false?
Officials of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation will be among witnesses in the trial of Ajmal Kasab -- the lone surviving gunman arrested after the Mumbai attacks -- said Mumbai police, which are likely to file a charge-sheet in the next three weeks. "We will include FBI officials as witnesses," Mumbai police were quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Local Taliban from tribal agencies bordering Hangu district on Monday offered conditional support to a peace jirga -- established by the district administration -- in checking the rising number of kidnappings and Taliban activities in the district.
Talks between the 25-member jirga and Taliban leaders from Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber agencies -- led by Hakimullah Mehsud -- were held at an undisclosed location.
The head of the jirga, Qazi Rehman, told journalists later that the talks with the local Taliban were held in a 'very pleasant atmosphere'. He said the group had conditioned support to a few demands that would be sent to the district administration.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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We knew that. We knew all along that Pak's reaction would be a continuous stream of obfucation, denial, and lies. The combination of fault-finding and fudge amounts to nothing new, and it represents a tactic designed to let the world's short attention span syndrome kick in. Eventually it will, and that will be about the time they start putting together the cadres for the next outrage.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > INDIA: SONIA INVOKES INDIRA ["INDIRAJI" = 1971 Indo-Pak War] TO WARN PAKISTAN, + UNDERWORLD THREAT TO AJMIL KASAB'S LIFE + COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA [MARXIST]: CREATION OF "THIRD ALTERNATIVE" NEEDED TO SAVE INDIA FROM HINDUVATA TALIBANIZATION, RECESSION, INCREASING JOBLESSNESS, POOR NATIONAL ECONOMY.
Also on TOPIX > OBAMA: US WILL NOT ALLOW MILITANT SAFE HAVENS IN AFGANISTAN AND PAKISTAN, PAKISTAN WARNED TO GET CONTROL OF ITS SITUATION.; + OBAMA: US WILL ERADICATE AL QAEDA, TALIBAN SAFE HAVENS IN AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN.
* SAME > PAKISTAN FM QURESHI: NEW US TROOP SURGE, AFGHAN CIVILIAN SURGE MUST GO TOGETHER [ take place simultaneously for Obama = USA to defeat Militants].
US special envoy to South Asia, Richard Holbrooke arrived in Pakistan on Monday on a four-day visit. During his first visit to Pakistan he will hold in-depth talks with Pakistani officials, with a view to further strengthening of bilateral ties between Pakistan and the United States. Holbrooke will also call on the President and the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. On his arrival, Holbrooke said the purpose of his visit is to know the ground realities and understand the problems of Pakistan besides getting overall know how of the Â"very important countryÂ". He said the U.S. intends to strengthen relations with the Pakistan people. According to the spokesman of US Embassy, Richard Holbrooke will be holding meetings with Pakistani government officials besides representatives of private sector and civil society.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Save the carbon off-set and just go to Langley or the New York Times to get the inside scoop.
#2
On his arrival, Holbrooke said the purpose of his visit is to know the ground realities and understand the problems of find excuses to rain cash on Pakistan .....
#4
Since his days as Asst SEcy of State for SE Asia Holbrooke has been an appeaser practically from the start of his career. He wanted to recognize Viet Nam and then was slapped when the Viets wanted $2 billion as part of the deal. He then got credit for the Bosnia-Dayton deal which should rightly have gone to the deceased Bob Frazure. The man is a belly-crawling phoney.
#5
OK Richard, it goes like this. Muslims believe that life is a zero sum game and that work is demeaning. That makes them natural enemies of the rest of us.
#6
Livni might win the vote but she may not be able to put together a majority. Netanyahu has an easier path to do that even if he comes in second. Watch and wait.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2009 16:58 Comments ||
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#7
Do the same folks do exit polls over there as over here?
#9
Michael Medved sez that Israeli exit polls-- by law-- do not include active duty military. He has family in Israel, so maybe he knows what he's talking about.
#10
with 76% counted
projections were
Kadima 29 mandates,
Likud 28
Israel Beiteinu 16
Labor 12
Shas 11
Meretz 4,
United Torah Judaism 4,
National Union 4,
Hadash 4,
Bayit Hayihudi 3,
United Arab List 3, and
Balad 2 seats.
Israel Beiteinu would prefer Likud to Kadima
Shas will not be in a coalition with IsBeit
Labor won't be in a coalition with Likud, etc.
It is a bit like figuring out seating at a Hatfield-McCoy wedding.
Al Arabiya's correspondent in Gaza was shocked to find Hamas gunmen knocking at his hotel door on Saturday to kick him out of the strip for no reason other than the fact that he was no longer "wanted." Wael Essam, one of the most famous war correspondents in the Arab world, told AlArabiya.net he was outraged that he was being deported from his homeland and said the gunmen told him Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal did not want him in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Will the tone of Mr. Essam's reportage change as a result of this outrageous insult?
Outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert has ordered to allocate NIS 2.4 billion to the defense establishment following the Israel Defense Forces offensive in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported Monday.
The Finance Ministry had initially agreed to allocate NIS 1.4 billion to the defense budget but Olmert on Monday raised the sum by NIS 1 billion, according to the report.
The defense establishment would allot NIS 800 million of its own budget to rehabilitating the IDF in wake of the Gaza operation.
Officials from the bureau of Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio that the increase in defense budget would go towards re-equipping the army. This would entail funneling more money to the Israel defense industry.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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The IDF will need the additional funds to offset the money Prime Minister Olmert sent over to Gaza with no strings attached.
The United Nations said on Monday that Hamas has returned all of the aid supplies that it seized from the agency in the Gaza Strip last week.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said the return of the supplies cleared the way for it to resume all of its operations in the Hamas-ruled enclave. UNRWA had suspended imports of goods on Friday after accusing Hamas of twice seizing aid supplies.
"The Hamas authorities in Gaza have returned to the UNRWA warehouses in Gaza City and Rafah all of the aid supplies," said UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness. "UNRWA will now lift the suspension on the import of its humanitarian supplies into Gaza, which went into effect on Feb. 5."
UNRWA said earlier that Hamas last week seized 200 tons of rice and flour brought into Gaza by UNWRA, and in a separate incident grabbed 3,500 blankets and more than 400 food parcels at gunpoint from a distribution store at a Gaza City refugee camp.
Hamas said over the weekend the supplies had been seized "by mistake."
UNRWA plays a key role in distributing aid in Gaza and says it currently hands out food assistance to some 900,000 people out of a population of 1.5 million. Humanitarian workers say the aid is crucial as the population struggles with the aftermath of Israel's crushing military assault on the impoverished Palestinian enclave which left more than 1,330 dead and razed over 14,000 homes.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009 00:00 ||
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By mistake? So if another agency tries to ship in relief supplies it would be OK to seize that instead? Or did they think they were seizing bomb-making materials, which would make things more palatable to the rest of the world?
Irans former president was set upon by an angry stick-wielding mob today amid celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on the streets of Tehran.
The attack on Mohammed Khatami came just two days after the reformist cleric announced he would be running against the hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June's presidential elections.
Mr Khatami, then a little known cleric, came to global attention when he was elected to the presidency in 1997, capturing almost 70 per cent of the vote. Succeeded in 2005 by Mr Ahmadinejad, he blamed hardline elements in the clerical establishment for obstructing his reformist agenda.
During the revolutionary celebrations, attackers waving sticks approached the cleric, shouting Death to Khatami. We do not want American government.
According to Mr Khatamis Baran Foundation, the attackers were repelled by his own supporters, who chanted, Khatami, Khatami, we support you.
Mr Khatami was escorted from the street by his bodyguards who took him to shelter in a nearby building.
The attack emerged as Mr Ahmadinejad led Iran in its celebrations by hinting at a softening of relations towards the US.
The President internationally isolated because of his country's nuclear ambitions, sponsorship of Hezbollah and Hamas and threats towards Israel said that he was ready for talks, but only if US policy changes dramatically.
"It is clear that the change [by Obama] must be fundamental and not tactical," the Iranian leader said, in a speech in Tehran. "The Iranian nation will welcome true changes and is ready for dialogue in a climate of equality and mutual respect."
However, cloaking his new rhetoric with threats to respond if the Obama Administration follows the policies of his predecessor, he added: "The world does not want the dark era of (former President Bush) to be repeated. If some people seek to repeat that experience... they should know they will face a much worse fate than that of Bush."
Iran's political system is a combination of theocracy and democratic republic, with the country holding elections for the presidency and Parliament. However, its clerics and ultimately its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, decide on the candidates and disqualify those considered contrary to Islamic values.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/10/2009 14:36 Comments ||
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Whoa there, smarty pants. This is how a real democracy works.
Posted by: B. J. Clinton ||
02/10/2009 14:59 Comments ||
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TOPIX > VARIOUS - COMMANDER: IRANIAN ARMED VOLUNTEERS TO PROTECT GOVT. FROM "SOFT POWER" TAKEOVER [as controlled/manipulated by "foreign powers/hands" = read, US-Allies]; + HIZBOLLAH VOWS TO PROTECT PALESTINIANS AND DEFEAT ISRAEL WITH [people's power/war]RESISTANCE.
INTERPOL has issued a global security alert for 83 Saudi nationals and two Yemenis described as highly dangerous and suspected of plotting terror attacks against Saudi Arabia.
Today's alert was the first time that the world police organization had issued a so-called "Orange notice" for such a large group of suspects, said Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble.
The men are wanted in Saudi Arabia on terrorism-related charges, including links to al-Qaeda in the kingdom, Iraq and Afghanistan, Interpol said at its headquarters in Lyon, central France.
They are described as "highly dangerous" and "could be armed, violent and suicidal," according to the security alert.
"By asking for Interpol's assistance, Saudi Arabia wishes to ensure that all Interpol member-countries are made aware that these men are dangerous and that their activities represent a security concern not only for Saudi Arabia and the entire region but also for the world as a whole," said Mr Noble.
"We know that we are approaching the 16th anniversary of the first World Trade Centre bombing on February 26, 2009 and therefore must be especially vigilant of fugitive al-Qaeda terrorists," he said.
The 85 men, most of whom are aged between 20 and 35, are suspected of having left Saudi Arabia, probably for Iraq or Afghanistan.
Photos and details of the wanted men have been released on Interpol's website www.interpol.int.
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.
London: The British Government will air ads on Pakistani television urging terrorists to not attack Britain. Prominent British Muslims will star in the British Foreign Office-funded £400,000 (approximately Rs 2.9 crore)-campaign that is set to break on Pakistani television next Monday, 'The Guardian' reported on Tuesday.
The Church of England announced Monday it had withdrawn its investments in a controversial company over the weekend following a threat by a group of vicars to publish a letter denouncing the Church's investment, but denied there were any political or ethical consideration in what it called an economically informed decision.
A British-born Pakistani man who said he had links to Al Qaeda and had sent young men for terrorism training in Pakistan has told a court that he was lying about his past.
Barack Obama has gotten quite a free ride from the "change" and "hope" crowd. When he quickly issued executive orders closing the CIA "black site" prisons and shutting down the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" torture, including waterboarding, much of the liberal and human rights world shouted, "Torture is over." Guantanamo would be closed (within a year), and the whole world could rest easy that the humane and totally vetted Army Field Manual would guide interrogators and protect vulnerable prisoners from the brig at the Naval Base at Charleston, South Carolina to the U.S. run prison at Baghram Air Base in Afghanistan.
This is not about keeping secrets safe. It's about controlling what the public can hear and not hear, so the repressive apparatus of the state can be allowed to function without public scrutiny or public control.
US special envoy to South Asia, Richard Holbrooke arrived in Pakistan on Monday on a four-day visit. During his first visit to Pakistan he will hold in-depth talks with Pakistani officials, with a view to further strengthening of bilateral ties between Pakistan and the United States. Holbrooke will also call on the President and the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. On his arrival, Holbrooke said the purpose of his visit is to know the ground realities and understand the problems of Pakistan besides getting overall know how of the Â"very important countryÂ". He said the U.S. intends to strengthen relations with the Pakistan people. According to the spokesman of US Embassy, Richard Holbrooke will be holding meetings with Pakistani government officials besides representatives of private sector and civil society.
The United Nations said on Monday that Hamas has returned all of the aid supplies that it seized from the agency in the Gaza Strip last week. 
