[Tolo News] At a news conference on Sunday, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) claimed that Attorney General has urged the execution of all members of electoral commissions
Fazl Ahmad Manawi, Head of the IEC said the urge has been made in what it described as an 'allegation letter' issued by the Attorney General's Office.
Mr Manawi called the allegation letter 'ridiculous'. He also warned that no institution has the right to cancel the final results of the parliamentary elections.
He said the IEC will surrender to no pressures and that if any organisation wants to use force in this regard, it would cause an unavoidable crisis in the country.
After Attorney General's Office sought the cancellation of the final results of elections, the IEC reacted furiously.
The IEC said we have acted based on law in the elections and no institution has the right to call the final results invalid.
"Cancellation of elections is a dream that will never come true. No organisation has the authority to do so, and no one will be given the right to even discuss the cancellation of elections," said Mr Manawi.
The IEC warned of serious resistance against anybody who may use power to pursue their own personal interests.
Mr Manawi said: "This is very funny that they have sought capital punishment from Supreme Court to all members of IEC and ECC, which means their execution. This is ludicrous to make fun of law and legal institutions which will plunge the country into a deeper crisis."
Discrepancies between Attorney General's Office and electoral commission have turned into a controversial issue.
After the elections ended with 249 candidates announced as winners, people have been looking forward to inauguration of the parliament, but Attorney General has sought the cancellation of votes because of alleged fraud and irregularities in the process.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Americans are among thousands of imported muscle recruited by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror group for terrorism training in the war-torn Somalia, a new diplomatic cable released by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks reveals.
Into the meat grinder, most never to return.
The cable dated August 26, 2009,
Oh. Not new news, then.
and dispatched by US ambassador Michael Ranneberger says imported muscle operating in Somalia include North Americans, Kenyans, Sudanese, Paks, Yemenis and other unidentified nationalities and Arabs.
They keep changing the country the cool kewl kids go on their jihadi tours as the previous one becomes too dangerous. But Darwin continues to thin the ranks -- it seems paintball in the woods isn't proper preparation for a real war zone, even a little one.
"Many of the imported muscle currently operating in Somalia, particularly those who entered to fight the Ethiopians from 2006-2008, are ethnic Somalis, recruited from either neighbouring countries or diasporas overseas and motivated in the past by a sense of Somali nationalism, jihadist propaganda, and the presence of foreign troops in the country," the cable says.
Mr Ranneberger added that others are North Americans, including at least 20 young men who were recruited from Minneapolis alone, and recruits from European countries with large Somali diasporas.
"Fighters have also come from within East Africa, most notably Kenya and Sudan. In addition, press reports and our conversations with Somali government officials note the presence of an unknown number of non-Somali fighters from South Asia and the Middle East, including Paks, Yemenis, and other unidentified Arabs," he adds.
The cable says some of these fighters may have chosen, or been directed to Somalia for training and to gain jihadist experiences because Somalia currently affords comparatively greater safety for camps and other sites than South Asia or Iraq.
"Neither we nor the hapless Somali government knows exactly how many imported muscle are in Somalia as reporting varies widely. Statements by Somali government officials mention several thousand foreigners, which we believe are exaggerations, or at best estimations based on fighter sightings and rumors," he says.
The timing and motivation of imported muscle arriving in Somalia appears tied to perceptions of internal Somali dynamics, he notes, adding that conversations with Somali politicians highlight that some foreigners were already present during the Council of Islamic Courts period, and that the Ethiopian intervention in 2006 both prompted some foreigners to flee, and provided motivation for a new influx of imported muscle, including ethnic Somalis determined to drive Ethiopia out.
"Al-Shabaab's territorial gains in 2008, and the subsequent Ethiopian withdrawal from Somalia in January 2009, prompted additional imported muscle to join what was seen as a successful struggle. Regardless of their initial motivations, these young recruits are subject to indoctrination and use by violent, often foreign bad boys," the cable adds.
He says that, while there are widespread reports of Pak and Arab fighters in Somalia, the timing and influx of these fighters appear primarily tied to developments in Somalia and perceptions of Somalia as a suitable location for jihad.
"Nevertheless, al Qaeda operatives coordinate with al-Shabaab's core leaders and continue to use Somalia as a staging and training base," he notes.
Pressure in Iraq and Afghanistan is said to have has prompted al-Qaeda operatives to shift some of its operations and efforts to Somalia a development that is of major concern to the US government.
"The rise of al-Shabaab and the increase in imported muscle operating in Somalia warrants significant concern; several al-Qaeda operatives, most notably Saleh Nabhan, have a history of involvement in East Africa and are currently cooperating with al-Shabaab leaders and involved in training imported muscle in Somalia."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I suppose having crazy people join Qaeda is cheaper in the long run than putting them in insane asylums. Many will probably drink the water and drop dead from 'orrid diseases.
#2
what i remember was how when we ran bimetric data for killed and captured AIF & AAF, we got something like a 40% to 50% hit rate on the NCIC database for crimes committed in the united states
#3
If I understand your post, nGuard, then this is a good thing. Since the crippled US justice system can't/won't do anything about criminals, having them join AQ where they can be legitimately toasted sounds just ticky-boo.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The International Criminal Court faces a new battle of wills this week with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir even as its top prosecutor says the wanted leader is increasingly encircled.
Bashir, who faces ICC warrants for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, has been invited to a summit in Zambia on Wednesday and to attend a festival in Senegal later this month.
ICC statutes dictate that any member country should arrest him if he visits. Bashir is defiant, however, the African Union supports him, and this year he has been to Kenya and Chad, both signatory countries which refused to detain him.
"President Bashir will continue to travel, nobody will be able to restrict him," Sudan's UN ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said. Following ICC complaints and some international pressure, some diplomatic doors have closed, however.
An October summit of an East African group had to be moved from Kenya to Ethiopia, a non-signatory, so that Bashir could go. Sudan boycotted an AU-European Union summit in November because of European threats to walk out and a visit to Central African Republic this month never went ahead.
South Africa and Uganda said they would arrest him if he went there. "He is not under house arrest, he is under country arrest," ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said as court signatory countries met at the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society.
"When he is outside, he flies with half the air force because he knows he can be jugged," Ocampo told AFP. "Bashir will be jugged," added the prosecutor who has insisted that the genocide in Darfur is still going on, but will stand down in 2012 and knows that he may not see the end of this battle while in office.
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12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- British Home Secretary Theresa May said Sunday she was "actively" considering whether to ban a controversial US pastor from entering Britain to share his views on Islam with far-right activists.
Terry Jones sparked condemnation around the world when he threatened to burn the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
He intends to preach "against the evils and destructiveness of Islam" at an English Defence League (EDL) rally in Luton, Bedfordshire, on February 5.
May told Sky News' Sunday Live: "Of course the home secretary has the right to exclude people who are not conducive to public good or on national security grounds.
"Pastor Terry Jones has been on my radar for a few months now.
"It wasn't clear that he was definitely coming to the UK but if it is now clear that he's definitely coming to the UK, then of course this is a case that I will be actively looking at." A statement on the pastor's website said: "During the protest, Dr Terry Jones will speak against the evils and destructiveness of Islam in support of the continued fight against the Islamification of England and Europe." Anti-extremist group "Hope not Hate" condemned the move and launched a petition calling for Jones to be banned from the UK.
Its director Nick Lowles said: "Pastor Jones should not be allowed to set foot in the United Kingdom. Only snuffies will benefit from his visit and, as we know, extremism breeds hatred and hatred breeds violence.
"It is yet another example of how the EDL exists only to sow the seeds of intimidation and division." Weyman Bennett, joint national secretary of Unite Against Fascism, accused Jones of coming to Britain to "whip up Islamophobia and racism." He said: "We intend on calling a mass demonstration where everyone can oppose the growth of racism and fascism in this country." George Readings, a front man for counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, said the EDL's protests had a "track record of degenerating into violence".
He added: "This suggests that his (Jones') presence in the UK will not be conducive to the public good. The EDL has only invited him here to stir up trouble." Interviewed on Sky News, Jones said he would "respect the laws" of any country he visited.
"I would by no means advocate something, preach something, speak something that will cause that type of riot or disturbance," he added.
There are around 1.6 million Mohammedans in the UK, the majority from India and Pakistain. ... out of a population of 61,838,154, or about 2.5 percent, which seems like disproportionate damage...
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12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
George Readings, a front man for counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, said the EDL's protests had a "track record of degenerating into violence".
And of course the....Religion of Peace has no such record.
#4
The brit govt wants to stop one man, but allows jihadis by the thousands to get asylum and go on the dole. This is crazy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/13/2010 11:52 Comments ||
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Hey UK< how about banning radical Muzzie preachers, hmm? And eject the ones you now have that are radicalizing the young men like the one that just set off a bomb in Sweden.
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA - Russia delivered at least 1,800 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009, U.N. arms control data show, despite vigorous U.S. efforts to stop President Hugo Chavez's stridently anti-American government from acquiring the weapons.
The United States feared that the missiles could be funneled to Marxist guerrillas fighting Colombia's pro-American government or Mexican drug cartels, concerns expressed in U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and first reported in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
It's not like he needs them to ward off an invasion.
It had been unclear how many of the Russian SA-24 missiles were delivered to Venezuela, though the transfer itself was not secret. Chavez showed off a few dozen at a military parade in April 2009, saying they could "deter whatever aerial aggression against our country." A high-level Russian delegation told American officials in Washington in July of that year that 100 of the missiles had been delivered in the first quarter of 2009.
Then earlier this year, Russia reported to the U.N. Register of Conventional Arms, which records the transnational sale of weaponry, that the deal totaled 1,800 missiles. The U.N. registry did not reveal the model of the delivered weaponry.
Matt Schroeder, a missile expert at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said the missiles are among the most sophisticated in the world and can down aircraft from 19,000 feet.
"It's the largest recorded transfer in the U.N. arms registry database in five years, at least. There's no state in Latin America of greater concern regarding leakage that has purchased so many missiles," he said, referring to reports of Venezuelan arms flowing to Colombian guerrillas.
The database also shows that from 2006 through 2008, Russia delivered to Venezuela 472 missiles and launching mechanisms, 44 attack helicopters and 24 combat aircraft, purchases funded by Venezuelan oil sales.
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12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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A few caveats about this piece: The news weekly reporting the news, Proceso is a known leftist publication, and an anti-Calderon publication as well. Whether this affects the accuracy of the reporting we can only tell in time.
In Mexican political parlance, the editors at Proceso not only believe in La Revolucion, they do not think it is finished.
Continued on Page 49
In what would be a sweeping overhaul of its cold war-era defense strategy, Japan is about to release new military guidelines that would reduce its heavy armored and artillery forces pointed north toward Russia in favor of creating more mobile units that could respond to Chinas growing presence near its southernmost islands, Japanese newspapers reported Sunday.
The realignment comes as the United States is making new calls for Japan to increase its military role in eastern Asia in response to recent provocations by North Korea as well as Chinas more assertive stance in the region.
The new defense strategy, likely to be released this week, will call for greater integration of Japans armed forces with the United States military, the reports said. The reports did not give a source, but the fact that major newspapers carried the same information suggested they were based on a background briefing by government officials.
The new guidelines also call for acquiring new submarines and fighter jets, the reports said, and creating ground units that can be moved quickly by air in order to defend the southern islands, including disputed islands in the East China Sea that are also claimed by China and Taiwan. These disputed islands are known as the Senkakus in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese
Posted by: Herman Crinese7130 ||
12/13/2010 13:18 Comments ||
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#2
The ChiComs have done just about everything in their power to replace the Soviet Union as the aggressive military power in the Far East. This is only to be expected, since the supine posture that Japan took towards North Korea for so many years was destroyed with that North Korean launch of an IRBM that went over Japan. And now with China make noises and moves on the Japanese islands in the south, and Russia being a hollow enemy, the Japanese military is reorienting towards the real threat.
South Korea's recent black eye is the direct result of caving to Nork face-making and hollering.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] South Korea will continue to stage live-fire military drills off all coasts of the Korean peninsula following North Korea's deadly attack on one of its islands last month, an official said Sunday.
But a drill to be staged at 27 venues from December 13 to 19 will not take place near the contested Yellow Sea border with the North, the front man for the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
"This week's drill will start on Monday as scheduled... we have no plan to conduct it at the frontier islands," the front man told AFP, referring to the South's five islands near the tense maritime border with the North.
One of the islands, Yeonpyeong, was the scene of a deadly shelling attack on November 23 that killed four South Koreans, including two civilians, and sparked a regional crisis.
Since the bombardment, the first of a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War, Seoul has staged a flurry of military exercises, including a major joint naval drill with the US, in a show of force against Pyongyang.
The South had planned a drill at one of the frontline islands during a live-fire exercise last week but it was cancelled.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > NORTH KOREA THREATENS/WARNS SOUTH WID NUCLEAR WAR, in response to SOKOR starting its live-fire Arty drills.
[Al Jazeera] North Korea's foreign minister has travelled to Russia amid a flurry of diplomatic attempts to ease tensions following the North's deadly attack on a South Korean island last month.
Pak Ui-chun departed for Moscow on Saturday, the North's official news agency said, a day after defending his country's move to strengthen its nuclear weapons.
Pak accused South Korea and the US of pursuing a policy of hostility and confrontation and reiterated that North Korea needs its nuclear programme to fend them off.
"We once again feel convinced that we have made the right choice in strengthening our defences with the nuclear deterrent,'' he was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Interfax.
The North's November 23 bombardment of the border island Yeonpyeong killed four people including two civilians.
Pyongyang said it fired in response to a South Korean artillery drill that dropped shells into its waters near the contested border. The South says the North's attack was pre-planned.
The shelling set off a regional crisis. China, the North's sole major ally, has come under intense international pressure to use its diplomatic clout to rein in North Korea.
James Steinberg, the US deputy secretary of state is scheduled to visit Beijing in the coming week to press the Chinese for stronger action.
Reunification 'near'
The diplomatic activity comes as Lee Myung-bak, the South Korean president, expressed optimism during a trip to Malaysia that the reunification of Korea is drawing near.
"North Korea now remains one of the most belligerent nations in the world," Lee said in an interview published on Friday in the Malaysian newspaper The Star.
But he also said it is a "fact that the two Koreas will have to coexist peacefully and, in the end, realise reunification."
In a speech on Thursday night, Lee made similar remarks, saying North Koreans have become increasingly aware that the South is better off.
"Reunification is drawing near," Lee said, according to the presidential website.
He also called on China to urge North Korea to embrace the same economic openness that has led millions of Chinese out of poverty, and said that North Korean economic independence was the key to reunification.
The Korean peninsula was divided after the end of Japanese rule in 1945 and officially remains in a state of war because the Koreas' 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
South Korean leaders often call for a peaceful reunification with the North. There is in Seoul, however, a wariness of the huge social and economic costs associated with absorbing the impoverished North.
North Korea also has called repeatedly for reunification, but it imagines integration under its authoritarian political system. It has shown no sign that it would allow any reunification that results in its absorption by the richer South.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
HMMM, HMMMM, Pyongyang trying to do a [SSSSHHHHHH, CCCCCCCC, anti-China]VIETNAM???
SNAFU > BEIJING = CHINA MAY WAFFLE FOR A TIME OER FAR-N-AWAY FORMER SE ASIA VASSALS, IT WON'T DO SO WID SO-CLOSE-NORTH KOREA.
NUKES + FREE TRADE TO "SAVE NORTH KOREA FOR NORTH KOREANS" VIA BEING GOOD FOR, AGZ CHINA???
#2
JM you got it;
HMMM, HMMMM, Pyongyang trying to do a [SSSSHHHHHH, CCCCCCCC, anti-China]
China couldn't do anything with them so now using Russia as a lever with China to wheedle something out of them. Russia does have the money and hardware.
SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, accompanied by his son and heir apparent, inspected food factories, a media report said on Saturday, amid heightened tensions following the North's deadly artillery attack on South Korea.
North Korea has food factories?
The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim and his son, Jung-un, inspected flour-processing and soylent green foodstuff factories in Pyongyang as well as a restaurant. It gave no other details, including when the visit was made.
During the visit, Kim "highly appreciated its workers' spirit of devoted service for people as they are devoting their wisdom and enthusiasm to improving the people's diet," the KCNA report said.
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12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to have made little concessions when a top Chinese official visited Pyongyang earlier this week on an apparent mission to defuse tensions over the North's recent artillery attack on a South Korean island, a Seoul official said Saturday.
Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on Thursday for discussions on matters of mutual concern that outside analysts believe included the Nov. 23 attack. China briefed Seoul on the outcome of the Kim-Dai meeting through diplomatic channels on Friday night, said the official, requesting anonymity.
"I can't speak in detail, but regarding North Korea's position, it appears that there is little difference in the position that it has been sticking to," the official said, declining to provide further specifics.
Beijing has been under growing international pressure to exercise its influence to discourage North Korea from further provocations.
China's Xinhua News Agency gave few details of the Dai-Kim meeting, saying only that the two sides "reached consensus on bilateral relations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula after candid and in-depth talks."
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12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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South Korean, U.S. and Japanese foreign ministry officials talked about the possibility that the North Korean regime has lost control and gone off the rails since the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, it emerged Friday. On Thursday, President Lee Myung-bak said North Koreans are now much aware of the outside world. "I feel reunification is now not far off."
A senior government official said, "Having watched the North launch a series of provocations such as the torpedo attack on the Navy corvette Cheonan, its uranium enrichment program and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, officials in Seoul, Washington and Tokyo recently discussed the need to look at the North's latest movements from a completely new viewpoint."
He said some officials saw the Yeonpyeong attack as merely another round in a familiar pattern of provocations, "but others said that it shows that the situation on the Korean Peninsula has entered a new phase." This may mean the regime "has lost control internally," he added.
◆ Provocations
In the past, the North regularly alternated tensions and charm offensives to gain material aid and political profit, either through the six-party talks or direct contact with the U.S. It then launched another round of provocation if the aid dwindled.
"But when we were trying to create an atmosphere for dialogue early this year, they torpedoed the Cheonan," the government official said. "And when we were trying again to create such an atmosphere after the Cheonan attack, they shelled Yeonpyeong. The signals the North sends out are not as consistent as in the past."
◆ Cracks in the Regime
There are two possible explanations. One is that the regime with its nuclear capabilities judged that South Korea would not dare to respond to any provocation, but would have to accept negotiations for fear of escalation. The other is that the regime is cracking.
After leader Kim Jong-il had a stroke in August 2008, speculation emerged that the regime has changed. Before he collapsed, power was concentrated only in his hands. Nobody had talked about a "second-in-command," let alone a "successor."
Kim reacted swiftly to a rumor in 2004 that supporters were gathering around Jang Song-taek, the husband of his younger sister Kyong-hui, and ruthlessly purged Jang and his associates.
But with Kim's health deteriorating and his third son Jong-un established as his heir, the North has changed, say observers.
A North Korean source said, "There are some unusual signs now that it's difficult for Kim Jong-il to make all the decisions alone as before." He speculated that the process of transferring power to Kim Jong-un is going badly.
"After he was established as the heir apparent in the early 1970s, Kim Jong-il concentrated power around him for more than 10 years, but this is not the case with Kim Jong-un," said a former senior North Korean official who defected to the South.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I don't believe it for a moment, because starving slaves are incapable of revolting. The only alternative is a military coup which would accomplish nothing, because the military already runs the place.
#3
The State Dept weenies never have had the cajonies to play the face game with the Chinese. Laud up the advancements, modernization, economic achievements just not of the South Koran nation, but of its working class while smearing the Chinese for their piss ant client North Korea's failed state of affairs. Embarrass them in the grand leftist fashion they've always used on the West and the US in particular. At a certain point, it will hurt. Keep pointing out that if they don't have influence on such a creature, how could they be taken seriously to influence others in the international realm where they seek standing.
South Korea says it was ready to launch an air strike if North Korea had fired a third artillery wave against Yeonpyeong Island last month. "A decision was made to mobilize fighter jets and strike targets if North Korea conducted a third artillery shelling," a high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters.
"At that time, a decision had been reached in the underground command bunker at Cheong Wa Dae to respond with fighter jets in the event of a third attack. Fighter planes, including F-15K jets, were airborne following the second wave."
The official said, "Even at the time of the first and second waves of the attack, President Lee Myung-bak asked several times, 'Is there anything we can do with our fighter jets?'" But the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported they would have to be prepared for massive casualties in case the conflict escalates, "so we could not reach a decision."
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12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan raised hackles in Korea on Saturday by saying Tokyo will consider dispatching troops there to rescue Japanese citizens in case of an emergency. Kan told reporters his government will consult on the matter with the South Korean government and revise Japanese laws to allow the country's Self-Defense Force to engage in such rescue operations.
Oh, that's just going to cause certain people in Beijing to shake their tiny fists ...
The daily Tokyo Shimbun reported on Sunday that the Japanese government already sounded out to the Korean government the possibility of dispatching SDF transport aircraft and vessels to Seoul, Incheon and Busan to rescue around 28,000 Japanese citizens residing in Korea.
But the daily said the Korean government rejected the proposal citing a potential public outrage among Koreans who may be reminded of the forced occupation of their country by the Japanese imperial military from 1910 to 1945.
It might cause another 1.2 billion people to the west and southwest to remember a similar period of occupation ...
Seoul was also reportedly concerned that the consultation itself could give the impression that a war is imminent.
But Seoul denied knowledge of the plan. "Japan neither raised the issue nor discussed it with us," a Cheong Wa Dae official said. "We don't know in what context Kan made the comments."
Another Korean official said the dispatch abroad of Japanese troops "is a matter of controversy even within Japan" and the remarks "were almost totally unexpected." He added the comments "appear rather imprudent considering they came from the Japanese leader and concerned sensitive national security issues."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
He added the comments "appear rather imprudent considering they came from the Japanese leader and concerned sensitive national security issues."
Or maybe you weren't the target of the real message here.
Perhaps Japan is sending a message to others (to the north and east..).
#3
FREEREPUBLIC > [WaPo]NEW JAPANESE DEFENSE PLAN EMPHASIZES THREATS FROM CHINA. No longer agz RUSSIA.
Wehell, wid RUSSIA + [Nuc?] JAPAN + [Nuc?] SOUTH KOREA, + GMD-TMD, ready + secure in NORPAC + NE ASIA, it leaves the US to redirect and focus its efforts on SE ASIA + INDIAN OCEAN, KSA + EAST AFRICA.
Save for the Nukulaar Nippon + ROK part, 'tis why CHINA supports JAPAN's call to prefer withdrawal of Any + All US Forces from OKINAWA.
CHINA WANTS CHINESE-CONTROLLED/ONLY "WARM WATER" OVERSEAS PORTS, NOT "SHARED" PORTS.
[Emirates 24/7] A French anti-racist group said on Sunday it planned to sue the daughter of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen for comparing Mohammedans praying in the streets to the Nazi occupation of La Belle France.
"Comparing Mohammedans to an army of occupation is humiliating. To be treated like invaders, like fascists, that is just not possible," said Mouloud Aounit, head of the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP).
Aounit said his group planned to file a civil lawsuit against Marine Le Pen, who hopes to take over from her father as head of the anti-immigrant National Front, for comments she made at a rally Friday in the central city of Lyon.
Le Pen said that there "ten to fifteen" places in La Belle France where Mohammedans prayed in the streets outside mosques when these were full.
She said that "for those who want to talk a lot about World War II, if it's about occupation, then we could also talk about it (Mohammedan prayers in the streets), because that is occupation of territory."
"It is an occupation of sections of the territory, of districts in which religious laws apply. It's an occupation," she said at the rally that was part of her bid to take over party leadership when her father steps down in January.
"There are of course no tanks, there are no soldiers but it is nevertheless an occupation and it weighs on local residents," the 42-year-old said.
The comments have sparked condemnation from politicians from President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling UMP party and from the opposition Socialists and the Greens.
The French Council of the Mohammedan Faith (CFCM) said Le Pen's comments were "insulting towards the Mohammedans of La Belle France" and were an "incitement to hatred and violence against them."
Gay Paree police in June banned a "pork sausage and wine" street party planned by beturbanned goon groups to combat what they saw as the "Islamisation" of a neighbourhood in the capital.
The Goutte d'Or district is dominated by people of north African and sub-Saharan African origin, and its mosques are so full on Fridays, the Mohammedan day of prayers, that many believers end up praying on the streets outside.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The total number of prisoners and detainees in Iraq has recently reached 24,568, a leading Iraqi Justice Ministry official has said on Sunday.
The total number of prisoners and detainees in Iraqi prisons has reached 24,568, Justice Ministrys Undersecretary in Charge of Prisons, Boshu Ibrahim Ali, told the Saudi al-Sharq al-Awsat Newspaper.
He charged the specialized Human Rights organizations as having exaggerated in citing the number of prisoners, as prisoners are divided between sentenced prisoners and detainees.
The Iraqi official said that every Iraqi prisoner costs the Justice Ministry 25 to 30 U.S. dollars monthly, to cover his needs for food, clothes, lodging, supplies and services.
Sheriff Joe can do it cheaper than that ...
When asked about the delay in executing the sentences of some of the condemned prisoners, he replied the execution sentence is issued according to a Presidential decree after the sentence reaches its final stage, after which the Justice Ministry must implement the decision and it would face legal responsibility in the event of its non-implementation. The Ministry is an implementing party for the Presidential decisions in this case.
The UN Secretary-Generals Representative in Iraq, Ad Melkart, had stated last Friday that the Iraqi government had achieved what he described as the implementation of its Human Rights commitments.
Certain challenges still exist, including the necessity to lay down a national plan for human rights, reaffirming UNs continuation to support Iraq in facing such challenges, he added.
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12/13/2010 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Despite the collapse of Israeli-Paleostinian peace talks, Paleostinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday said he believes it is "eminently possible" for the Israeli occupation of Paleostinian lands to end.
Appearing on ABC's "This Week" alongside former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Fayyad said the occupations needs to come to an end.
"The goals of the negotiations should be set high," he said. "There is no reason by now we should not see evidence of the occupation beginning to be rolled back." Asked about proposals for the unilateral declaration of a Paleostinian state, in which countries recognize Paleostine regardless of the peace talks, Fayyad said the Paleostinian Authority was "committed to statehood" as soon as possible by whatever means that can be achieved.
Livni, the primary political challenger to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said she believed the Netanyahu government's refusal to extend a settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank "was the wrong answer." An Israeli-Paleostinian peace treaty is in the interest of Israel, she said, and many of the problems cited by Fayyad would be resolved via a "legal peace treaty." The Israeli government's refusal to extend a settlement freeze, which the United States had insisted upon when it relaunched the grinding of the peace processor last August, represents a fundamental violation of the grinding of the peace processor, Fayyad said.
Asked about the latest US proposal, outlined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... on Friday, in which the parties would proceed directly to "core issues, " Fayyad said the Paleostinians "would definitely like to go into that." But he questioned the meaning of language used by Netanyahu and key members of his government.
What does Netanyahu have in mind when he says "Paleostinian state,"? Fayyad asked. The Paleostinians' right of return is a core issue, as is the final status of Jerusalem, he said.
"What is meant by an end to the occupation?" Fayyad asked. "There is too much loose language" being spoken by Israeli officials, he said.
Livni said the creation of a Paleostinian state was the answer to "this sensitive problem of the Paleostinians" -- referring to the Paleostinians' right of return to lands occupied by Israel since its creation in 1948.
The good news is that the parties will soon discuss their basic views on the core issues, and the primary one for Israel is its security, she said.
"It is a matter of trust," Livni said. "The parties need to regain trust." Livni said it was possible the Israeli government would make key decisions in the next nine months, which is when the one-year deadline set by the B.O. regime to complete the talks will arrive.
Asked about the idea of the United States offering "bridging proposals" to try to bring the parties to agreement, Livni said that depends on the substance of the proposals and whether they represent the interests of Israel. Some bridging proposals "maybe are going to be problematic," she said.
Fayyad said he would welcome such bridging proposals, which he noted Clinton said would be attempted "if necessary." "I feel it will be necessary," he added.
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(KUNA) -- Paleostinian officials called on the United States to play an effective role in the Middle East grinding of the peace processor noting Israel should be solely blamed for the stalemate in the peace efforts.
The US is currently facing "an explicit test" in the eyes of the peoples of the Middle East and the world, and should prove that it can play an effective role for reaching a peaceful settlement, otherwise it may appear as a party that has given in to the parties of extremism in Israel," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, member of the Executive Committee of the Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO), in an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), on Sunday.
The grinding of the peace processor needs to be based on "clear basis" or it may appear as mere diplomatic chattering with no contents, said Abed Rabbo in the telephone interview with the Kuwaiti news network.
He explained that the process should be based on specific factors such as the establishment of an independent Paleostinian state, otherwise it would be "mere media rhetoric and empty diplomacy." Abed Rabbo made the statement after Washington declared that it was halting its efforts to pressure Israel shelve its settlement schemes. However, The infamous However... it vowed to pursue the grinding of the peace processor on other foundations.
Asked on proposals that may be conveyed by the US envoy, George Mitchell, Abed Rabbo stated that the Americans "are quite aware of the Paleostinian stance which is based on the necessity of halting the settlements' construction, which is a vital and basic issue.
"Negotiations with Israel cannot be held in the shadow of continuing the settlement activities." The Paleostinian official alluded to recent remarks, uttered by the ultra-Orthodox Israeli leader, Avigdor Lieberman, who expressed satisfaction at the US declaration to stop the bids to coerce Tel Aviv suspend the settlement activities.
Abed Rabbo added that the Paleostinian side would discuss with Mitchell a framework for reaching a settlement, "so that the negotiations would not be a waste of time." Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Dr. Nabil Shaath, the member of the Central Committee of the mainstream Paleostinian organization, Fatah, in remarks published by the Paleostinian daily newspaper, "Al-Ayyam," criticized the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... for equally blaming the Paleostinians and the Israelis for the deadlock in the peace efforts, stressing that it was Tel Aviv that undermined the US bids to reach a solution.
Shaath indicated that Clinton expressed insistence on resolving "final solution issues," such as determining the status of Jerusalem, the demarcation of the border, the settlements, the refugees, the water and Israel's security. "However the US secretary of state treats us an equal party and refrains from holding the Israeli side responsible for the failure of the American efforts as a result of continuing the construction of the settlements." He added that the Paleostinian side should not resume the peace talks unless Israel suspended all forms of settlement construction and activities, noting that the Paleostinian leadership would examine proposals that might be carried by Mitchell, expected in the Middle East on Monday.
Late on Friday, Clinton confirmed that the US would renew the efforts to start direct negotiations between Israelis and Paleostinians on the core issues of the final status agreement.
"The conflict between Israel and the Paleostinians and between Israel and Arab neighbors is a source of tension and an obstacle to prosperity and opportunity for all the people of the region. It denies the legitimate aspirations of the Paleostinian people and it poses a threat to Israel's future security. It is at odds also with the interests of the United States" said Clinton in remarks at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy Seventh Annual Forum.
She asked Israeli and Paleostinian leaders to "help build confidence, work to minimize distractions, and focus on the core questions, even in a period when they are not talking directly" and urged them to "stop trying to assign blame for the next failure, and focus instead on what they need to do to make these efforts succeed." Clinton affirmed that the United States is "serious about peace" and "will be persistent and press forward" on the ground " to continue laying the foundations for a future Paleostinian state. And we will redouble our regional diplomacy. When one way is blocked, we will seek another. We will not lose hope and neither should the people of the region." She affirmed that it was time to tackle the core issues of the conflict on borders and security; settlements, water and refugees; and on Jerusalem itself saying that the differences between both sides "are real and they are persistent. But the way to get there is by engaging, in good faith, with the full complexities of the core issues and by working to narrow the gaps between the two sides."
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Indonesian prosecutors promised a swift trial of radical holy man Abu Bakar Bashir after police charged him with inciting others to commit terrorist acts, a crime carrying the death penalty.
"We want to try him very quickly," South Jakarta prosecutors office chief Mohammed Yusuf told news hounds after the aged bully boy presented himself under tight security to hear the indictment.
Dozens of heavily armed police and two armoured vehicles were on hand as the alleged spiritual leader of Indonesian jihad, or holy war, was transferred from his prison where he has been on remand since August.
The indictment charges Bashir, whose anti-Western tirades and conspiracy theories have made him a figurehead for local bully boys, with multiple crimes under the anti-terror law.
They include providing funds for terrorist activities and encouraging people to carry out acts of terrorism, related to a thug training camp that was discovered in Aceh province earlier this year.
"The harshest allegation is that he incited others to commit crimes of terrorism, which carries the death penalty," Yusuf said.
#1
I believe AQ made a mistake in going into Indonesia. The Indonesian people are, for the overwhelming part, good and peaceful folk who don't mean harm to anyone.
Hezbollah continues its campaign of bullying and intimidation...
[An Nahar] The head of the Loyalty to the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... bloc MP Mohammad Raad denied on Sunday media reports that had quoted him as saying that he had given a three or four-day deadline for the Saudi-Syrian initiative to yield results. He said in a statement that the reports were "inaccurate".
"I meant that I had hoped that the results would be revealed soon," he added.
On Friday, Raad had stated: "At this moment, we have given the final chance for the Saudi-Syrian effort to reach a settlement that would pull Leb out of the dilemma of the tribunal and its repercussions, and I hope this effort would yield positive results."
He said that "those colluded with the tyrants against the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... must revise their calculations."
"There is currently an opportunity that may last two, three or four days. They must seize this opportunity because if time comes for taking a decisive stance (by Hizbullah and its allies), Leb will go into a new stage and we hope they revise their calculations before it's too late," Raad warned.
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The Hon. Mr. Saqr states the obvious, which those concerned are in the habit of pretended is opaque...
[An Nahar] Leb First MP Oqab Saqr called on the Hizbullah leadership to immediately retract MP Mohammad Raad's recent statements in which he set a deadline for the Saudi-Syrian initiative to yield its results.
Saqr told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat Sunday that such statements "harm the ongoing Lebanese settlement aimed at protecting Leb's security."
"The party's threat to resort to arms gives Hizbullah a militia trait that is rejected in principle," the MP continued.
"Setting a three to four-day deadline is direct intimidation aimed at the Cabinet session in order to force some sides, such as President Michel Suleiman and PSP leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat, ... who's been on every side in Leb at least four times... to take a position that coincides with those of Hizbullah on the false witnesses file," Saqr said.
"The deadline is also a message to the Arab, regional, and international sponsors of a Lebanese settlement that Hizbullah is ready to" alter the situation in Leb, he added.
This step goes beyond being a political maneuver, but it is also gambling with the fate of the entire country, he stressed.
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[An Nahar] Fatima al-Issawi on Sunday announced her resignation from the Special Tribunal for Leb, citing "professional reasons."
"I announce my resignation as a spokesperson for the STL for professional reasons," Issawi said in a statement delivered to the state-run National News Agency.
She said she will not go into details of her resignation "out of respect for the position I had represented."
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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.
(KUNA) -- British Home Secretary Theresa May said Sunday she was "actively" considering whether to ban a controversial US pastor from entering Britain to share his views on Islam with far-right activists.
Indonesian prosecutors promised a swift trial of radical 
