WASHINGTON - A fifth of the members of the US Senate on Friday warned the situation in Afghanistan was quickly getting worse and called on Washingtons NATO allies to share more of the security burden. The senators complained that caveats restricting how certain members of the alliances troops could be used in the restive nation were unfair to countries that did put their soldiers in high-risk situations.
The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly, said Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who laid out his concerns in a letter to NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer. The United States alone cannot combat the Taliban and Al Qaeda and the violence that is regaining a foothold, particularly in southern Afghanistan.
What? I'd like to see NATO pick up some slack as well, but the notion that the situation is 'deteriorating rapidly' is just plain silly. Come to the Burg, Senator, and we'll educate you on the true meaning of the phrase, 'dreaded summer offensive'.
The imposition of caveats by some nations places an unfair burden on the troops of other nations and hinders operational efficiency, said Dodd.
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who also signed the letter, along with 21 other senators, warned that without action, NATO ran a serious risk of failing in Afghanistan. We must ensure that the Taliban are uprooted, and that an effective Afghan force can take responsibility for the security of Afghanistan.
We're doing both of those; the real need is ensuring political stability and uprooting the damned poppies.
But, the United States alone cannot effectively accomplish these goals; we need the robust support of our NATO allies, Hagel said.
How on earth was this man ever a Republican? Must represent the Chicken Little wing of the party.
European Union funding for an African peacekeeping force in Darfur has run out, and the United States and Arab League should help cover the costs until a replacement force arrives, the EU's aid chief said on Friday. "At the Commission level we are dry and we cannot find any more additional resources," European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel told a news conference.
The Commission and EU states have given over 400 million euros ($537.8 million) to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) since it was deployed to Sudan's violent western Darfur region in 2004 to try to ease the humanitarian crisis there.
The United Nations has proposed working with the African Union to send a better-equipped force to the area, but Michel said AMIS still needed cash before the new operation started. "Other donors besides the Commission must find the resources to make the transition from the AMIS force to the African Union/United Nations hybrid force," Michel said. "I would like to call on the United States and the Arab League to contribute to financing this transition," he said.
We'll match the Arab League dollar for dollar.
Diplomats say a resolution to send the new international force could come to a vote at the U.N. Security Council next week, but that peacekeepers could take six months to deploy.
#12
We'll match the Arab League dollar for dollar.
No, we'll match each dollar the arab league produces with a generous donation of ten cents for each and every dollar that actualy gets to the needy.(if any)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/30/2007 12:04 Comments ||
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UN nuclear watchdog officials reached an understanding with North Korea on verification of the shutdown and sealing of the Norths Yongbyon reactor, Kyodo news agency said on Friday.
The head of the UN delegation said he was satisfied with a tour of a North Korean reactor complex that the secretive state has promised to scrap under an aid-for-disarmament deal, Kyodo said.
The reactor at Yongbyon was still operating, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Nuclear Safeguards Director Olli Heinonen was also quoted as saying on his return to Pyongyang. The visit to the Yongbyon reactor, about 100 km (60 miles) north of Pyongyang, is the first by IAEA officials since Pyongyang kicked out the Vienna-based agencys inspectors in December 2002.
We are satisfied, Heinonen said, adding that the IAEA team was able to see all of the sites it had wanted to, including a plutonium reprocessing plant where weapons-grade material can be extracted from spent fuel rods. After talks later on Friday, Heinonen said his group had reached an understanding with North Korea on shutting down and sealing the reactor, but that the question of when the shutdown would begin was up to the six countries involved in talks on Pyongyangs nuclear arms programme.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Send in your expense account Mr. Heinonen, and thanks for your intrepid service! As they say in NORK, a deals a deal if Kimmie says it's a deal.
The Canadian Forces is looking to build a centre to house some of its new commands as well as a high-tech system that will allow senior officers to access as-it-happens video imagery and other information from combat zones such as Afghanistan.
To accomplish that two related projects are under way. One is to build the computer systems that will fuse intelligence data and information into a package easily accessible by commanders in Ottawa, across the country and overseas. That $64-million joint information and intelligence fusion capability project will bring together large amounts of information, including video imagery, still photographs, map displays and other data as it is transmitted from various sources. In some cases, officers would be able to watch live imagery from robot aerial drones flying on missions in Afghanistan.
The other project is looking at the potential construction of a new building, almost certainly in Ottawa, to house personnel from the militarys recently created operational commands as well personnel and the computer infrastructure associated with the information fusion project.
Lt.-Cmdr. Robert Peck, director of the joint information and intelligence fusion capability project, said the idea is to provide a toolset for the commands to put together the mission picture.
Were looking at trying to bring together data warehouses, information on friendly forces, information on enemy forces, on neutral forces, he explained in a recent interview. Were looking at trying to have a very robust picture of all the data available from disparate bunch of information systems and trying to connect a lot of different things together so the information is readily available.
He said while such a capability isnt necessary tied to one location, housing the various systems in one building is being considered. Peck acknowledged that since the militarys senior command structure is in the capital city, Ottawa is a better option, a higher probability for the site for the new building.
The Canadian Forces wants to have an initial fusion capability in place in two years with the system fully operational by 2011. It is expected the computer infrastructure for that capability will be in place first and that could drive the design of the new building.
The military has had an intelligence fusion capability on the books for the last seven years. At one point, the project was scheduled to be put in place by 2006. But the complexity of trying to meld various sources of information together into a coherent package has proved more difficult than first thought.
One source familiar with the project said Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, is now pushing hard to have the capability put in place as quickly as possible. The source said Hillier has been frustrated at the lack of immediate information from the battlefield in Afghanistan.
The military is looking to industry to do further definition work on the fusion capability project and expects to put out a request for proposals sometime in September.
#2
.....joint information and intelligence fusion capability project, said the idea is to provide a toolset for the commands to put together the mission picture.
#3
For now the correct word is "commands" ... but understood to apply at all echelons.
In the US, it's the Common Operational Picture, available across the services to commanders from the theater level down to tactical ops centers. Some capabilities in place now, others to come.
For it to get to the individual soldier level we need to deploy some of the equipment from the Future Combat Systems suite. Although, there have been some creative uses of ruggedized PDAs which have been through tactical testing and are being/going to be fielded shortly IIUC. For example, the Commanders Digital Assistant, which collects real time info at the platoon level, collates it and pushes a fused map of incidents and info back down to platoons and squads on patrol.
#4
From USJFCOM: Common Operation Picture (COP) - A single identical display of relevant information shared by more than one command. A common operational picture facilitates collaborative planning and assists all echelons to achieve situational awareness.
Common Relevant Operational Picture (CROP) - A presentation of timely, fused, accurate, and relevant information that can be tailored to meet the requirements of the joint force commander and the joint force and is common to every organization and individual involved in a joint operation. Click here for more information regarding CROP.
I'm not a soldier, but according to the Army War College's study of the first year in Iraq, even our initial efforts at a COP which fused human, UAV and other sensor data was of significant impact on combat and post-combat operations.
The United States Supreme Court reversed course today and agreed to hear claims of Guantanamo detainees that they have a right to challenge their detentions in American federal courts. The decision, announced in a brief order released this morning, set the stage for a historic legal battle that appeared likely to shape debates in the Bush administration about when and how to close the detention center that has become a lightning rod for international criticism.
The exceptionally unusual order, which required votes from five of the nine justices, gave lawyers for detainees more than they had requested in a motion asking the justices to reconsider an April decision declining to review the same case. Lawyers for detainees had asked only that the court hold the case open for future consideration. Todays order meant that the court would hear the case in its next term, perhaps by December.
Experts on the Supreme Court said the justices so rarely grant such motions for reconsideration that the order itself was significant. They said it signaled that the justices had determined they needed to resolve a new politically and legally significant Guantanamo issue, after two earlier Supreme Court decisions that have been sweeping setbacks for the administrations detention policies.
Lawyers for many of the 375 men now held at the naval station on a scrubby corner of Cuba greeted the unexpected news with euphoria. They said it appeared the court was headed toward a ruling on one of the central principles of the administrations detention policies: the claim that the government can hold enemy combatants without allowing them to use the ancient legal tool of the writ of habeas corpus, a legal action used in English law for centuries to challenge the legality of detentions.
Makes no sense to let them do so: either they are POWs, and thus outside the civilian court system, or they're illegal combatants, and also outside the civilian court system. The Constitution does not guarantee foreigners held by our military and captured on a battlefield the right to access our civilian courts.
The issue in the case the court agreed to hear today is whether the Congress can strip the federal courts of the power to hear habeas corpus cases filed by Guantanamo detainees. In legislation passed after last Junes Supreme Court ruling, Congress included a provision barring such suits by the detainees.
The Justice Department has argued that the nations defense would be imperiled if habeas corpus cases can be used by federal judges to second guess military officials decisions to detain enemies during wartime. "We are disappointed with the decision, but are confident in our legal arguments and look forward to presenting them before the Court," said a Justice Department spokesman, Erik Ablin.
Todays order permitting the case to be argued in the Supreme Court was a different result than the justices reached on April 2, when they decided not to hear the case at that time. Unusual language in justices statements accompanying that order had suggested maneuvering among the justices on whether or when they should again get involved in the tangled legal questions presented by Guantanamo.
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06/30/2007 01:07 ||
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#1
I don't understand this. Every last one of them is an illegal combatant. In better days they all would have been hung long ago. Why were they even granted access to legal counsel at all?
The UK lets guys like these go and car bombs show up in Piccadilly circus. What a surprise. I shudder to think what some of those nasty scumbags will be up to an hour after release.
#2
IIRC didn't Altos or Roberts excuse themselves from the last case because they had heard the appeal case while an appeal judge? Maybe, this being not related to any case heard prior by either will allow that justice to chime in.
#5
Hope you're right, jds, but IMHO their agreeing to even hear the case does not bode well.
If they should rule for the jihadis, then it would be clear that there is no Reason remaining in DC. At that point a sane President would order their immediate execution (in full compliance with the Geneva Convention) and dump the bodies on the SC's front steps.
/pipedream
#6
I think this is actually a good thing - here's why: Everyone calls them illegal enemy combatants, but the paperwork on the just says enemy combatants - that's why the dismissed the 2 cases recently at GTMO. There are 2 issues that depend on the USSC's decision - are they detained legally [which every bleeding heart is now saying they are not] and can they be granted hebeas rights to contest their detention in a court. Regardless of the outcome, the detainees still have the "enemy combatant" stigma which the government will have to address. They will have to conduct the combatant status tribunals all over again - but they only have to do that through paper review, so it will move much faster. This will require them to do all detainees, and will result in all detainees being designated as "illegal enemy combatants" and the commissions cases can once again start and prosecute the terrorists without a judge being able to dismiss the cases because he doesn't have jurisdiction. Also, with all those detainees who are ready to leave, that should be put on hold so we don't let any more terrorist's loose until this process is over, and they will probably find more information that will actually reverse the decision to release them. So, in the long run, we'll probably keep and convict more terrorists than we would have and the democrats will be the ones responsible- which is good since our war on terror should include the support of the entire government.
Lal Masjid prayer leader Maulana Abdul Aziz declared in his Friday sermon that mens shaking hands with women, massage centres, dance and music parties were all un-Islamic. Shaking hands with women is not allowed in Islam and all the massage centres, dance and music parties were un-Islamic, Maulana Aziz said. He vowed that that they would not allow such kind of enlightened Islam in the country in which shaking hands with women was allowed. He also justified carrying arms by Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the deputy cleric of Lal Masjid, and said, carrying weapons is according to the Sunnah.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Shaking hands is not aloud, but butt raping little Christian boys who don't convert is.
#3
Good Old Boy Fatwah: I decree that all copies of the Koran will be transformed into toilet tissue, and every citizen of Pakistan will be required to eat pork as a staple. And don't question either my authority or my ability to enforce this fatwah.
#6
Shaking hands with women is not allowed in Islam
Think this guy is alone in his views? Remember Iranian ex-president Khatami? You know, the chap whose head is in the noose for shaking hands with foreign women. This is Islam, folks. It is a violent, backward, archaic, draconian, misogynistic and totalitarian mindset that simply has no place in modern reality.
Either we go about eliminating it from the face of this earth or face consequences that will last for decades, if not centuries. There is no reconciliation, negotiation, rapprochement or any other sort of terms that can be obtained with these mental cases. With Islam, what you see is what you get. There is no getting around the fact that every single Muslim majority country in this world is a cesspit of human rights abuses, theocratic intolerance and political cronyism that constitutes a crime against humanity.
Islam demands that it be all or nothing. It is up to the West to ensure that the answer is a resounding thunderclap of nothingness. How much longer can the West afford to squander HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS PER YEAR fighting this willful madness? Churchill was absolutely right when he identified Islam as a "retrograde" force.
Any accommodation with Islam requires a loss of important progress. Advances that millions who went before us gave their very lifeblood for. Are we to squander their ultimate sacrifice in order to toady ourselves in front of some raving psychotics? Face the question squarely.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
06/30/2007 11:04 Comments ||
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#8
As Khomeini said, "There is no fun in Islam." Although I suspect that many of them do in fact derive pleasure from activities such as seething, ranting, being offended, burning flags, beating their wives, restoring their family honour by killing female relatives, etc.
The Sindh High Court adjourned Friday the hearing of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvis activists plea against conviction in a sectarian murder case for a later date. LeJ Chief Muhammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori, Muhammad Azam alias Sharif and Attullah alias Qasim were awarded death sentences by Anti-Terrorism Court Karachi on April 26, 2003. They are charged with killing Anwar Ali Tirmizi and Syed Zulfiqar Ali, residents of Shah Faisal Colony on March 11, 2002 over a sectarian issue. Dissatisfied with the trial court order, they approached the SHC and filed an application against their conviction through Azizullah Shaikh advocate, stating that they were innocent and falsely implicated. The applicants counsel submitted that the trial court did not appreciate the evidence in accordance with the law and did not give it due consideration.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2007 00:00 ||
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Indian-held Kashmirs top Muslim cleric has called on Muslims to boycott funerals of people who kill themselves in a bid to halt a rise in suicides in the revolt-hit state, a report said on Friday.
Sixty suicides have been reported in the first six months of the year according to official figures, compared with a total of 61 in all of 2006. The grand Mufti of Kashmir, Mufti Bashir-u-Din, has issued a fatwa urging Muslims not to participate in the funeral prayers of a Muslim who commits suicide, the local Greater Kashmir newspaper reported. It is a criminal act in our religion to commit suicide. Imams should make people aware about the importance of life, the cleric told the newspaper.
Doctors say the number of psychiatric problems has soared since a separatist insurgency broke out in 1989, resulting in the deaths of over 42,000 in the past 18 years and leaving many more maimed, orphaned or widowed.
Leading Kashmiri psychiatrist Mushtaq Margoob has estimated that around one-tenth of Kashmirs 10 million population suffers from depression. Health practitioners say they see little hope of improvement in the mental health of people living in Indian Kashmir as long as the Islamic revolt continues.
During a six-week period ending in mid-June, the regions leading Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital reported 150 cases of self-harm, attempted suicide and suicide. On top of insurgency-related violence that claims two to three lives daily, Kashmiris also face widespread unemployment, which has been worsened by the conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"boycott funerals of people who kill themselves in a bid to halt a rise in suicides..." and he said this with a straight face? sounds like a page from the Iranian "let's blow up gas stations since there isn't enough to go around" playbook.
The Interior Ministry has directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to trace bank accounts of banned militant organizations. Sources told Daily Times on Friday that the ministry issued the directions to contain the increasing activities of members of the banned organizations.
They said most banned outfits had accounts in international banks and other financial institutions. They said secret agencies had reported to the ministry that the banned outfits were gaining momentum and anti-Pakistan elements had increased their financial support.
The FIA was directed to form teams to gather information about the accounts of these outfits. FIA Director General Tariq Pervez confirmed the report. He said two former bankers had been hired to trace the bank accounts but he did not reveal names of the investigating bankers. He said the FIA would form teams at district level for this task.
Over the last two years, intelligence and other law enforcement agencies had traced and froze more than 500 bank accounts of the banned outfits, its learnt. Bankers have also been directed to inform police if a suspicious person came to them for opening account.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2007 00:00 ||
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President Musharraf said on Friday that the potential loss of human lives was preventing him from taking any action against the Lal Masjid, while adding that suicide bombers from Jaish-e-Mohammad were also hiding in the mosque. We are afraid of the baton-wielding madrassas who will stand by Lal Masjid if we launch action, he said, while addressing the concluding ceremony of the National Media Workshop organised by the National Defence University.
He said the female students of the Lal Masjids adjoining madrassa were prepared for suicide attacks and up to 500 children were being used as human shields to stop the government from contemplating any operation. He said members of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a banned militant group linked to Al Qaeda, were also hiding in the mosque, adding that they were all capable of suicide attacks. How can I take action? he said. Action is ready but will be taken at a right time.
According to Aaj television, the President added that the government would take action against the Lal Masjid if the media guaranteed that it would not show any dead bodies in electronic or print media.
The president said any terrorist attack in the West would have incalculable consequences for the country. He appealed to the media to help make Pakistan into a moderate state. President Musharraf criticised the medias coverage in Waziristan, arguing that they should be more concerned about the fact that terrorists were being killed, rather than caring about who was attacking them referring to media criticism on foreign forcess involvement in attacks inside Pakistan. The president defended his changes to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulations Authority (PEMRA) Ordinance, admitting that the government was partly to blame for the media crisis.
Agencies add: President Musharraf said the government had evidence that foreign militants were planning attacks abroad from Pakistani soil. He said they had tried to resolve the Lal Masjid standoff through negotiations to avoid bloodshed. I am not a coward...but the issue is tomorrow you will say what have you done. There are women and children inside.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2007 00:00 ||
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India cleared the floating of its biggest ever global tender for purchasing 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft in a defence deal that could run up to a staggering Rs 42,000 crore (approximately USD 10 billion).
Ending almost 6 years of suspense since the Request for Information was circulated in 2001 among international manufacturers, an official announcement said the process for procurement of the fighters had been cleared. The Request for Proposals (RFP) will be issued by the first week of August, Defence Ministry spokesman Sithansu Kar said.
Under the deal, India will acquire 18 fighters in a flyaway condition and 118 will be manufactured under licence in the country.
In a break from existing norms, the chosen manufacturer will have to spend 50 per cent as direct offsets on the aircraft or defence manufacturing industry in India, the official announcement said. Under current rules, there is a 30 per cent offset clause in all defence deals worth over Rs 300 crore.
Though the official announcement did not specify any timeframe for the supply and manufacture of the fighters, top Defence Ministry sources said the first of the jets were expected to be delivered within three years of the signing of the contract.
With few countries placing bulk orders for fighters, leading international defence aviation companies have for long been awaiting the floating of the Indian contract. Six major firms--American firm Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-16, the world's largest selling fighter, Boeing with its F-18/A Super Hornet, France's Dassault with its Rafale, Sweden's Saab with the JAS-39 Gripen, the Eurofighter Typhoon made by an European consortium and Russia's Mikoyan Design Bureau with its MiG-35--are expected to vie for the lucrative contract.
With the purchase of these new generation fighters, the Indian Air Force hopes to make up its fast depleting fighter squadron strength, which is expected to hit an all-time low of 29 squadrons by 2010 against the sanctioned strength of 45 squadrons. The new fighters will replace the IAF's ageing MiG-21 jets, the bulk of which are expected to crash be phased out by 2009.
The new jets are also expected to fill the gap caused by repeated delays in the programme to develop the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). The LCA was intended to replace the MiG-21s.
The IAF originally wanted more Mirage 2000 fighters. India tends to buy from both Russian and Western sources where possible, so as to avoid dependence on one supplier.
Russians got an additional order of Su-30 MKI fighters so should be happy.
I suspect the American fighters will be bought.. the Indian PM wants a tangible symbol of his deal with President Bush. The US companies got the offsets modified to be entire aviation sector (not just military) so they can buy components, titanium etc for airliners to fulfill their obligations.
If an export downgraded AESA radar can be developed for the F-18, that, rather then the F-16 may be chosen.
In any event, this will take years of negotiation. Indian red tape is only part of the problem here. The Congress Party uses large foreign arms deals as 'fundraising' exercises.
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/30/2007 12:41 Comments ||
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#3
thanks John
hummm, We'll need a good trail-map and tracker AFTER THE FACT.
My favorite headline for today
Sunni legislator Abdul-Nasser al-Janabi said Saturday he is quitting parliament and joining the "resistance" because the political process has failed.
Al-Janabi, a member of the Iraqi Accordance Front, said "there is no alternative in Iraq other than quitting the political process and returning to armed resistance" because the Americans and Iranians are running Iraq.
He spoke to Al-Jazeera television from Amman, Jordan.
His decision came a day after his bloc suspended its participation in Cabinet meetings to protest the way Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki handled legal proceedings against one of their Sunni colleagues
#1
More likely he was already in the resistance, and quit politics to flee to Jordan. With whatever cash he had managed to divert to his personal account during his government service.
Patience meter, not the surprise meter -- I'm getting damned tired of the willful lies of the MSM.
BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US military accused the international media on Saturday of exacerbating Iraq's violent tensions by reporting false claims of massacres which it said were deliberately fabricated by extremist groups.
This week several newspapers and agencies reported that Iraqi police had found 20 beheaded corpses in Salman Pak, just south of Baghdad. AFP did not carry the report after its sources were unable to confirm the rumour.
"It now appears that the story was completely false and fabricated by unknown sources," a statement from the US military said. "Anti-Iraqi forces are known for purposely providing false information to the media to incite violence and revenge killings, and they may well have been the source of this misinformation," the statement alleged.
Central Iraq is in the grip of a brutal war between rival political and sectarian forces, and insurgent death squads often murder civilians. It is often hard to find independent information on specific incidents.
"Extremists promote falsehoods of mass killings, collateral damage and other violence specifically to turn Iraqis against other Iraqis," Rear Admiral Mark Fox, chief spokesman for the US-led coalition in Iraq, said. "Unfortunately, lies are much easier to state, the truth often takes time to prove," he added, in the statement which urged the media to give US and Iraqi officials time to check out reports of violence.
#3
Premeditation doesn't exclude foolishness. MSM argues they're better than blogs cause they 'fact check'. So, by their own standards, it isn't a mistake.
#6
#2: "Once again the MSM aids and abets the enemy. They are either unwitting tools or misguided fools."
No, John, they're witting tools and collaborators. Not so many years ago, they would have been called by their proper names: TRAITORS.
Too bad the gummint won't do to traitors today what they very properly did in WW II. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/30/2007 10:38 Comments ||
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#7
The US military accused the international media on Saturday of exacerbating Iraq's violent tensions by reporting false claims of massacres which it said were deliberately fabricated by extremist groups.
I suggest that we label this "The Rather Effect".
No, John, they're witting tools and collaborators. Not so many years ago, they would have been called by their proper names: TRAITORS.
Almost a year since Israel went to war with Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday deplored the failure to arrive at a permanent ceasefire.
In his fourth report since Security Council resolution 1701 was adopted last August to end the conflict, the secretary general also lamented the lack of progress in obtaining the release of abducted Israeli soldiers and in securing an end to Israeli incursions into Lebanese airspace.
The July 12 2006 killing of eight Israeli soldiers and the abduction of two others by Hezbollah guerrillas precipitated a conflict that left nearly 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead, much of Lebanon's infrastructure destroyed and caused severe economic damage to both countries. "I would call on Lebanon, Israel and key states such as Syria and Iran ... to support the implementation of all aspects of Resolution 1701," Ban said.
He stressed that persistent reports of breaches of the arms embargo along the Lebanon-Syria border "constitute a major impediment to the establishment of a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution as envisaged in Resolution 1701."
He pointed to a report released earlier this week by a UN assessment team recently back from Lebanon that urged the deployment of "international border security experts" to help a new Lebanese border force stop arms smuggling from neighboring Syria. Ban made it clear that Syria, other regional states and Iran "have a particular responsibility to ensure that the provisions related to the arms embargo are fully respected."
The secretary general also said the beefed-up UN force (UNIFIL) deployed in south Lebanon last August reported "a significant increase" in Israeli air incursions into Lebanese airspace. "Israeli overflights ... constitute repeated violations of that and other relevant Security Council resolutions and also undermine the credibility" of both UNIFIL and the Lebanese armed forces in the eyes of the local population.
Ban deplored Sunday's bomb attack which claimed the lives of six peacekeepers serving with a Spanish UN contingent.
He expressed disappointment at the failure of Syria and Lebanon to demarcate their common border and again urged them to take steps to do so. And he specifically asked Damascus to reconsider its position that a resolution of the dispute over the Shebaa Farms would be possible only after a peace treaty with Israel.
Lebanon, backed by Damascus, is claiming sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms, the 25 square kilometers (10 square miles) of land located along the Lebanon-Syria-Israeli borders which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and then annexed along with the rest of the Golan Heights. The UN has offered to manage the territory, which has been a central pretext for Hezbollah's battle against the Jewish state after Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, until a final settlement is negotiated.
Ban said he intends to ask the Security Council to approve Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's request for a one-year extension of UNIFIL's mandate, which expires August 31. The report put current UNIFIL strength at 13,313.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2007 10:00 ||
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#1
Blamed everyone but themselves, did they?
Well at least they left out the US. Considering the UN blames the US for Rwanda and Darfur, that's a surprise. That'll get the UN copyist fired for sure when they discover that omission.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- A Mickey Mouse lookalike who preached Islamic domination on a Hamas-affiliated children's television program was beaten to death in the show's final episode Friday. Sic semper rodantus.
In the final skit, "Farfour" was killed by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour's land. At one point, the mouse called the Israeli a "terrorist." "Farfour was martyred while defending his land," said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed "by the killers of children," she added.
The weekly show, featuring a giant black-and-white rodent with a high-pitched voice, had attracted worldwide attention because the character urged Palestinian children to fight Israel. It was broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV.
Station officials said Friday that Farfour was taken off the air to make room for new programs. "When we take someone off the air, we take 'em all the way off."
Posted by: Mike ||
06/30/2007 08:42 ||
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About 20 anti-Syrian lawmakers in Lebanon have temporarily left their conflict-ridden country this summer apparently seeking safety abroad amid mounting security threats and the recent assassination of an outspoken politician.
An Associated Press count found more than two dozen lawmakers, many from the leading majority party bloc, have left Lebanon in the past 10 days. Some have returned, but about 20 remain abroad.
A senior Arab intelligence official said Lebanese lawmakers allied with U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora were advised to seek shelter elsewhere after names appeared on a hit list. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity.
Many have traveled to Egypt, an ally of the United States and Saniora's government, according to the official and others familiar with the travel plans.
Posted by: ed ||
06/30/2007 20:34 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
The heirs of four slain bodyguards who died in the 2005 car bombing that killed Lebanon's former Premier Rafik Hariri have demanded the dismissal of Judge Elias Eid as investigating magistrate in the case. Mohammad Mattar, the lawyer for the heirs, on Wednesday filed a request that Judge Eid be replaced. Mattar cited Eid's alleged "intention" to release former security officials Brig. Gen. Jamil Sayyed and Brig. Gen. Raymond Azar, before the conclusion of investigations, The Daily Star said.
It said Mattar also cited Eid's "overly friendly relations" with the lawyers and families of the four officers charged with involvement in the Hariri assassination. They are, in addition to Sayyed, the former head of Lebanon's General Security Department, and Azar, former commander of the army's intelligence service, Brig. Gen. Ali Hajj, ex-commander of the Internal Security Forces, and Brig. Gen. Mostafa Hamdan, commander of the army Presidential Guard Brigade. Mattar said Eid's ability to continue with the case was further thrown into doubt after his recent admittance to hospital for stress reasons.
Judge Jihad al-Wadi, head of the Court of Appeals, on Thursday referred Mattar's request to the head of the 10th District, Judge Sami Mansour, who in turn informed Eid, the paper said. Eid will have to respond to the request either by stepping down or by rejecting it -- within three days.
The follow-up committee of the Hezbollah-led opposition said the motion was a clear attempt to improperly influence a judge. Sayyed submitted a new memorandum to Eid Thursday through his lawyer Akram Azouri. The memorandum detailed what he referred to as "factors hindering justice" in the case. Sayyed demanded that Eid look into previously submitted requests that he be released from prison.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2007 10:02 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
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.
WASHINGTON - A fifth of the members of the US Senate on Friday warned the situation in Afghanistan was quickly getting worse and called on Washingtons NATO allies to share more of the security burden. The senators complained that caveats restricting how certain members of the alliances troops could be used in the restive nation were unfair to countries that did put their soldiers in high-risk situations.
European Union funding for an African peacekeeping force in Darfur has run out, and the United States and Arab League should help cover the costs until a replacement force arrives, the EU's aid chief said on Friday. "At the Commission level we are dry and we cannot find any more additional resources," European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel told a news conference.
UN nuclear watchdog officials reached an understanding with North Korea on verification of the shutdown and sealing of the Norths Yongbyon reactor, Kyodo news agency said on Friday. 
The Interior Ministry has directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to trace bank accounts of banned militant organizations. Sources told Daily Times on Friday that the ministry issued the directions to contain the increasing activities of members of the banned organizations.
President Musharraf said on Friday that the potential loss of human lives was preventing him from taking any action against the Lal Masjid, while adding that suicide bombers from Jaish-e-Mohammad were also hiding in the mosque. We are afraid of the baton-wielding madrassas who will stand by Lal Masjid if we launch action, he said, while addressing the concluding ceremony of the National Media Workshop organised by the National Defence University. 
