The Taliban-backed violence in Afghanistan can only be stopped with the help of Pakistan, French Foreign Minister (FM) Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday.
The French FM was speaking during his visit to a NATO airbase in southern Kandahar. Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier was also present. Further military means are needed for the process of securing Afghanistan to proceed ... but there must also be a regional view, particularly with regards to neighbouring Pakistan, Kouchner told AFP.
Kouchner said that he had a discussion on Saturday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, regarding efforts to step up security along the 2,500-kilometre-long Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which is difficult to patrol.
Border: This is an Afghan-Pakistan problem, but this incredible looseness which allows all sorts of trafficking cannot be allowed to continue, he said. This border problem needs to be resolved, and if we can take part in that process, that would be great, he added, saying he was also planning to meet Pakistans new leadership.
This article starring:
Bernard Kouchner
Maxime Bernier
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The Indus River makes a nice, uncomplicated border - especially if it's the border between Afghanistan and India. Pakistan is an abomination that is overdue for erasure.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/14/2008 11:14 Comments ||
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The Indian Army will provide training to Afghan counterparts as it has agreed to provide counter-insurgency training to the Afghan army. You know that's tightening the Pak turban...
The agreement was reached during a meeting between the Afghan Defense Minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, and his Indian counterpart, Shri A K Antony, in New Delhi. While Antony ruled out any military involvement in the war-torn country, he assured his Afghan counterpart that India would remain 'actively engaged' in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the nation. "Terrorism is a common threat to both the countries. Cooperation between us is important against fundamentalism and terrorism," Wardak said. "Since we're fighting the same groups and in some cases the very same guys."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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(PTI): One of the five Border Roads Organisation personnel injured in an attack by Taliban militia in Afghanistan on Saturday was on Sunday shifted to Iran as his condition became critical. The condition of Anil Kumar Thampee deteriorated and he was moved from Nimroz for special treatment, official sources told PTI. The remaining injured were under medical treatment at Nimroz, they said.
Meanwhile, a plane was sent to Nimroz to bring the bodies of two BRO personnel killed in the militant attack. But it could not take off due to some reasons, they said. The bodies are expected to be taken to Kabul before they are brought home. Suspected Taliban extremists targeted Indian construction workers in southwest Afghanistan, killing two personnel of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and injuring five in a suicide attack. M P Singh and C Govindaswamy were killed on the spot. Besides Thampee, others injured in the attack are Bishram Oroan, Vikram Singh, Muhammad Nazin Khan and Mayaram.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Sudan's south said a census vital to sharing wealth and power with its former northern foe would not take place until questions on ethnicity and religion -- major issues behind decades of civil war -- were included. The semi-autonomous south withdrew from the census on Saturday three days before it was due to begin, saying the north-south border needed to be demarcated and southerners living in the north needed to return home before it began.
The northern National Congress Party (NCP) said a delay in the census -- needed to define constituencies -- could push back Sudan's first democratic elections in 23 years due in 2009. But South Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar said the south would not participate without the ethnicity and race questions and his wife, who is also a state minister, said the election could go ahead. "Ethnicity and religion are crucial issues. They address the identity of Sudan," Machar told Reuters. "Our wars are based on (the question:) What is Sudan?"
Sudan's national cabinet, including southern and northern ministers, debated the census on Sunday but one source inside the meeting said both sides stuck firm to their positions. "(The cabinet) invited the government of southern Sudan to retract its decision on delaying the population census," Information Minister al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik told reporters in Khartoum after the meeting. He said any decision on whether the census would go ahead in the north without the south would be taken by the presidency. First Vice President southerner Salva Kiir is to arrive in Khartoum on Monday to have crisis talks with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, one source in the government said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Recent attacks on trucks contracted by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to transport food to Darfur and Southern Sudan have slowed down deliveries and affected the UN agency's ability to support returnees, the agency warned.
"Because of truck hijackings, we are moving about half the amount of food that we should be moving into Darfur to pre-position ahead of the rainy season," Peter Smerdon, WFP spokesman in Nairobi, told IRIN. "If this continues in the South we might start having the same problem."
"Attacks against vehicles delivering humanitarian assistance are completely unacceptable," Ebenezer Tagoe, WFP Sudan deputy director, said in a statement. "The continued insecurity on the roads in areas where we operate presents not only a serious threat to the drivers, but also to vulnerable people who depend on this food for their survival," Tagoe added.
Attacks on transporters has made WFP move about half the amount of food it should be moving into Darfur to pre-position ahead of the rainy season. According to the office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, nearly 90 people working with humanitarian operations in Darfur have been abducted, mostly during hijacking incidents, since the beginning of 2008.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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I'm sure that France could supply air cover if the Sudanese would let them. It would only take one attack helicopter and the proper rules of engagement. The results would be a lot of dead hijackers who are probably janjaweed (every time I see that name, I think of bitterweed. What it would do to a cow's milk!). Of course, that kind of activity would require the Sudanese government to WANT to stop the hijackings - something I seriously doubt.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/14/2008 11:31 Comments ||
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THE Royal Navy, once the scourge of brigands on the high seas, has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates because doing so may breach their human rights.
When the results are stupid that's a good indication the law is stupid, and needs either changed or abrogated...
Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain.
The Foreign Office has advised that pirates sent back to Somalia could have their human rights breached because, under Islamic law, they face beheading for murder or having a hand chopped off for theft.
As opposed to being hanged on a yardarm ...
In 2005 there were almost 40 attacks by pirates and 16 vessels were hijacked and held for ransom. Employing high-tech weaponry, they kill, steal and hold ships crews to ransom. This year alone pirates killed three people near the Philippines.
Last week French commandos seized a Somali pirate gang that had held a luxury yacht with 22 French citizens on board. The hijackers were paid off by the boats owner and then a French helicopter carrier dispatched 50 commandos to seize the hijackers and the ransom money on dry land.
Britain is part of a coalition force that patrols piracy stricken areas and the guidance has troubled navy officers who believe they should have more freedom to intervene. The guidance was sharply criticised by Julian Brazier MP, the Conservative shipping spokesman, who said: These people commit horrendous offences. The solution is not to turn a blind eye but to turn them over to the local authorities. The convention on human rights quite rightly doesnt cover the high seas. Its a pathetic indictment of what our legal system has come to.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: There are issues about human rights and what might happen in these circumstances. The main thing is to ensure any incident is resolved peacefully. The guidance is the latest blow to the robust image of the navy. Last year 15 of its sailors were taken prisoner by the Iranians and publicly humiliated.
In the 19th century, British warships largely eradicated piracy when they policed the oceans. The death penalty for piracy on the high seas remained on the statute books until 1998. Modern piracy ranges from maritime mugging to stealing from merchant ships with the crew held at gunpoint.
#1
A Foreign Office spokesman said: There are issues about human rights and what might happen in these circumstances. The main thing is to ensure any incident is resolved peacefully.
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!
These Human Rights foamers and droolers are SO funny. Time to start hunting them down and making them go away.
#4
What i do not understand is why the Brit foreign office is discriminating against aircraft hijackers and suicide bombers. They, too, must face persecution if turned back over to their national authorities.
For that matter, bank robbers should be granted asylum - under these standards
The UK has already made a laughingstock out of its domestic policy. 'Talk about hitting bottom, and continuing to dig .......
#7
I prefer the "Deep 6" method for dealing with pirates. I hope the British just stay the hell out of the way in Somali waters and don't try to "help" too much.
#8
By the powers !
Move along ya lily livered landlubbers ! We have come to ply the sweet trade to your foamy waters. Us sea dogs will adapt to terra firma very well , especially with your amazing state benefits !
#11
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Maraud and embezzle, and even high-jack,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We kindle and char, inflame and ignite,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We burn up the city, we're really a fright,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We're rascals, scoundrels, villans, and knaves,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We're beggars and blighters, ne'er-do-well cads,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We'll ask for asylum, lay our guns down,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We'll live on welfare in London-town,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/14/2008 8:13 Comments ||
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#12
Directions seem clear to me: Pirates should be sunk and left in the water.
#15
So I would take this to mean that the Foreign Office sees the human rights of pirates as more important then the human rights of their victims and potential victims?
Isn't that a nice message to send...
Their navy is underfunded and under-equipped. There are many pro-EUers who want to encourage the trend of destroying the UK's individual military capability. They've come close to achieving their goals already and this sort of EUish crap is one more evidence that they will succeed unless there is strong pushback from British citizens.
#17
The RN is deconstructing faster than the USN. In a decade, it will be two half finished aircraft carriers in French dockyards that even the Indians won't want to take off their hands.
#18
Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain.
#19
Their navy is underfunded and under-equipped. There are many pro-EUers who want to encourage the trend of destroying the UK's individual military capability.
It is still more under-equipped because UK's Armed Forces have been forced to buy their hardware for purely EU-political reasons: ie buy European weapons even when there is a much cheaper andor much more capable equivalent but with the original sin of being american. I have read several well documented examples about this.
#20
The Foreign Office has advised that pirates sent back to Somalia could have their human rights breached because, under Islamic law, they face beheading for murder or having a hand chopped off for theft.
Yeah, but sharia law is comung to the UK anyway, so what's the big deal?
#21
Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain.
Maybe the Foreign Office has been studying the case of the Chinese Uighurs.
For the Chinese Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs ), there is no end in sight. About 20 countries -- including Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Turkey and a Latin American country -- have turned down U.S. overtures to give them asylum, according to U.S. officials.
The State Department says it is still working behind the scenes to find the Uighurs a home. A senior official called their situation "unfortunate."
This month, lawyers and human rights groups appealed to the United States to take in the stranded Uighurs. "It's not like these people were once considered to be a threat and now are not," said Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch. "These people need to be released, either in another country or the U.S. They're America's responsibility."
#25
Why is that a surprise? Remember the awesome support that was afforded their own Sailors when the Iranians hijacked their boat a couple months back?
it seems to me that the EU has a rule that only one country at a time can show any balls, and since it now seems the French are doing so, all others have to quit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/14/2008 23:02 Comments ||
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#27
There's a tried and true pirate disposal method, over the side with a cannon ball tied to their feet, been used around 800 years or so, only problem now would be getting a foundry to cast a new run of cannon balls, we're quite out right now.
Maybe with a cast on loop for the ropes?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/14/2008 23:09 Comments ||
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British police and security agencies are monitoring 30 terror plots, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told a tabloid on Sunday. There are 22,000 individuals who are being monitored. There are 200 networks involved and 30 active plots, Smith said in an interview with the News of the World. We now face a threat level that is severe. Its actually growing, she said.
Smith said that the level of threat showed why the British government was seeking legislation to extend the duration of detention of terror suspects from the current 28 days to 42.
The measure faces strong opposition in parliament from opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats as well as rebel lawmakers from the ruling Labour party.
The minister also confirmed that she would announce a scheme next week to invite moderate Islamic clerics from Pakistan to assist British imams in combating extremism in their communities. The vast majority of British Muslims have a Pakistani heritage. If we work with the government there we can win the arguments, said Smith, who visited Pakistan earlier this month.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
...invite moderate Islamic clerics from Pakistan to assist British imams...
Yeah, that's gonna work, uh huh. Looks like the Home Sec is a candidate for Idiot of the Day.
#2
Britain is probably going to lose another 200,000 natives this year and let in another 600,000 mooks from the stinkiest armpits of the world. Very soon, there isn't going to be anyone left to sign the welfare checks.
The countrys blasphemy law is a source of great contention between social scientists, human rights activists and Islamic scholars. The civil society activists opine that the blasphemy law is responsible for an increase in crime and discourage the use of the death sentence. The scholars, meanwhile, believe that the law is in accordance with Sharia and justifies extreme punishment. However, spokesmen of other religious believe that minorities in Pakistan are being unduly victimised in the name of blasphemy.
The following data has been taken from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)s annual report for 2007. Twenty-three new cases were initiated on religious grounds and all of them, except three, were registered in the Punjab. More than 50 percent (13 out of 23) were against Muslims, four against Ahmadis, and six against Christians.
Against Muslims: The 13 cases registered against Muslims dealt with 17 people. All of them, except one, were reported from Punjab. One of the accused, charged with composing an objectionable book on a computer, was shot dead by a constable while in prison.
Four cases were registered against 23 Ahmadis (two in Punjab, two in Sindh). In one case, a man who had died three months earlier was accused of blasphemy. Ten Christians were charged in six blasphemy cases in 2007. All except one were registered in Punjab.
Activists: According to Lahore University of Management Sciences Dean Dr Khalid Waheed, the holy Quran and Hadith urge Muslims to be patient and ignore such elements. He said that a person who had committed blasphemy should be imprisoned and taught to realise that his or her actions were lamentable, rather than being sentenced to death.
Similarly, HRCP Director IA Rehman said: We had never heard of anybody committing blasphemous acts except for isolated incidents that occurred once in a blue moon, but now, every now and then, we hear of blasphemy cases. He said that the blasphemy law should be thoroughly reviewed, capital punishment should be abolished, and that the law should not apply to non-Muslims.
Advocate Anis AA Saadi, meanwhile, said that some clauses of Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code (dealing with offences relating to religion) were ambiguous and needed to be amended. He said that some people were misusing the law to settle personal scores.
Meanwhile, a Jamaat-e-Ahmadiya Saleemudin spokesman told Daily Times that the Ahmadiya sect was in double trouble in Pakistan as they had been declared non-Muslims. Giving examples of cases registered against them, including writing Bismillah on wedding cards, he said such complaints were lodged against them under the blasphemy law because they were considered non-Muslims. I can claim on record that not even a single case that has been registered against us in the name of blasphemy has been proven. Many cases were disposed of, as they could not prove anything against us, he added.
Similarly, Inter-Religious Peace Council Chairwoman Jacqueline Tressler said that people seeking revenge fuelled most of the cases registered under the blasphemy law. She said the law should be re-formulated to provide equal protection to all religions. She quoted the desecration of a church in Defence, claiming that the incident had not been properly investigated. She said that a thorough investigation process should be devised for such crimes.
Religious scholars: Allama Muhammad Abbas Rizvi, a Shia scholar, said that the exact definition of blasphemy varied from sect to sect. He was of the opinion that there was no concept of imprisonment in Islam, adding that a person who was found guilty of blasphemy had become an apostate. He said the least punishment for apostasy was the death sentence.
Rizvi said that the law was applicable to all, including people of other religions, as long as they resided in an Islamic state. Referring to people misusing the law, he said that modern methods of establishing evidence should be used wherever possible.
Similarly, Mufti Sarfaraz Naeemi, a Sunni scholar, said that Section 295-C -- which refers to the use of derogatory remarks in respect of the holy Prophet (PTUI) -- had been inducted into Pakistans legal system with great effort. He said that the law was in complete accordance with Sharia and anyone convicted of blasphemy against the prophet or holy book of any religion should be awarded the maximum punishment. We want such laws to exist at the international level so that anyone who commits blasphemy can be given the harshest punishment, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
We want such laws to exist at the international level so that anyone who commits blasphemy can be given the harshest punishment, he added.
And I want any asinine theocratic barbarian thug who does not comprehend the distinction of separation of religion and state to be handed over to any aspiring trainee Vlad The Impaler for real life practice in their chosen career.
#2
We want such laws to exist at the international level so that anyone who commits blasphemy can be given the harshest punishment, he added.
This is why national sovereignty is so important - so idiots like this can't force undesirable laws upon those who are "different". Such people need to have "accidents" - fatal ones.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/14/2008 11:41 Comments ||
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#3
Human Rights Activists vs. Muslim Scholars.
That's a tough one...
India has expressed the hope that a high level political contact between Islamabad and New Delhi next month would help speed up peace dialogue. The foreign secretary secretaries of Pakistan and India will meet in Islamabad on May 20. The meeting will be followed by a meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi. 'Pakistan and India would pick up threads in May in Islamabad when the two Foreign Ministers would meet to review fourth round of Composite Dialogue,' Indian media quoted unnamed official sources as saying.
However, the sources said New Delhi would be looking for a clear-cut official position in the new Pakistani administration in Kashmir. Series of conflicts erupted between India and Pakistan since 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was partitioned and the two countries became independent of Great Britain. The most violent outbreaks came in 1947-48, 1965, and 1971. The Mighty Pak Army lost three for three, if I recall correctly.
This article starring:
Pranab Mukherjee
Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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The Bangalore police are likely to question Sabeel Ahmed, who will be deported to India from the United Kingdom after he pleaded guilty to withholding information about his brother Kafeels plot to blow up the Glasgow airport. Dr. Ahmed, despite being handed a 18-month imprisonment, is expected to reach Bangalore in a couple of days as he has already served the time in remand.
A senior police official told The Hindu that the police had not yet decided the nature of the investigation. As he has been convicted now, we would like to get more details after questioning him. The official said: The Bangalore police have already questioned the members of Sabeels family, and during our investigation here we came to know that he had not disclosed information about his brothers plot to blow up Glasgow airport in a suicide attack.
Dr. Ahmed, who was working at the Halton Hospital in Runcom after completing medical education at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Medical College here, was arrested after Kafeel, along with his associates, tried to bomb the Glasgow airport in June 2007. He was arrested for withholding information about his brothers act.
A top Corps of Detectives official said the police had to study the conditions, if any, placed by the U.K. government for deporting Dr. Ahmed. We have to look into the legal aspects as there is no case against him here. We have to see whether the U.K. government wants anything from us.
The police had to take into consideration the protection he enjoyed after having served a sentence in the U.K., the official said.
Date not clear
Though the news of Dr. Ahmed return to India has brought cheer to his family, the members are not sure when he will be coming. His mother, Zakia Ahmed, told The Hindu: We are happy that our son is returning home. But the family has no idea about the date of Sabeels arrival to Bangalore. The process of deportation has not yet begun as immigration offices were closed for the weekend. By grace of God, our troubles are finally coming to an end.
When I spoke to Sabeel on Saturday, he said that you [Dr. Zakia] have waited for a year, wait for some more days I will be back. The family had not yet planned for the celebrations as it had no clue to the date of his arrival.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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KATHMANDU - Nepals Maoist, former rebels Sunday extended their lead in the elections to choose a constituent assembly by winning nearly 60 per cent of the total seats declared so far. The Nepalese election commission said the Maoists had won in 59 of the 104 constituencies where results were declared by Sunday afternoon.
Note to the Indian PM Manmohan Singh... when you left Indian policy on Nepal to your coalition partner Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party, it is perhaps no surprise that he engineered a Maoist takeover of Nepal. When you blacklisted the king and refused to supply arms, you set in motion a chain of events that you will rue for decades. You now have a failed state on your borders, a Maoist hellhole where the Chinese PLA will have free reign. There will be Chinese troops on the other side of the Himalayas. They will occupy the high ground and look down on the gangetic plains of India. Mr. Singh, do you have any idea of what you have allowed?
Nepali Congress of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and the moderate Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN- UML) both had won 16 seats each, while an ethnic southern Nepal party - Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum, had won in seven constituencies. The Maoists were leading in 56 of the 106 constituencies where counting was underway while the Nepali Congress was leading in just 17 constituencies, the election commission said.
One person, one vote, one time ...
Meanwhile, leader of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned as party chief taking moral responsibility for his partys poor showing in the elections. Pre-election predictions had suggested that CPN-UML would become the single largest party in the constituent assembly. The party also said it would opt out of the government due to its poor performance.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Chandigarh (PTI): India and Pakistan should do away with the visa system to facilitate "unrestricted movement" of people between the two countries to normalise ties at a faster pace, former Pakistani minister and leading human rights activist Ansar Burney said on Sunday.
"I strongly believe that if the two nations are to really strengthen their ties, they should scrap the visa system. Both the governments will need to take this initiative as people on the two sides want peace and are keen to mingle freely with each other," he said. "The people are filled with immense love for each other and the politicians on both sides should not limit themselves to just handshakes, but go with the people's sentiments," 52-year-old Burney, also a member of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, told PTI.
Burney, who is currently on a visit to India with his family, was instrumental in the recent release of another Indian prisoner Kashmir Singh who spent 35 years in Pakistani prisons.
He said he would like to invite top political leadership of the two neighbouring nations to come to the Wagah-Attari international border some day to take a pledge on the issue of unrestricted movement. "I am ready to act as a bridge if two sides will move forward to end the visa regime," he said.
There were thousands of people who had relatives and friends on the two sides of the border, he said.
Expressing hope that next month's visit to Pakistan by India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will give a "further boost" to the ties, he said, "after the recent elections in Pakistan and with a new government in place, there have been positive signals coming out from our side. Our leaders including Prime Minister Gilani, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari are all keen to improve ties with India."
Posted by: john frum ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"The people are filled with immense love for each other and the politicians on both sides should not limit themselves to just handshakes, but go with the people's sentiments,"
Mr. Burney smokes some serious stuff.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/14/2008 7:26 Comments ||
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#2
I thought all leading human rights activists smoked serious stuff John .
#3
IRNA > work is reportedly still on-going for an pan-Shia/Sunni ISLAMIC UNITY CHARTER bwtn IRAN + PAKI, besides other Net articles on IRAN joining the SCO.
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military says it will release Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein after more than two years in custody. The statement said Hussein will be freed Wednesday now that Iraqi judicial committees have granted him amnesty for all allegations.
Hussein has been in custody since April 12, 2006 when he was detained by U.S. Marines for alleged links to insurgents. The AP and Hussein lie deny any improper links and say he was only doing his job as a journalist.
AP President Tom Curley expressed relief after the statement issued by the military on Monday. "In time we will celebrate Bilal's release. For now, we want him safe and united with his family. While we may never see eye to eye with the U.S. military over this case, it is time for all of us to move on," said Curley. Bullshit.
#1
And the next time he breaks wind, I suspect the Iraqis will be on him like flies on poop. Having served two years in the jug, which is probably what he would have got, had he been convicted, it is now his choice to return to being a good citizen, or to reconnect up with his old crime gang, the AP.
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- The situation in the city of Al-Najaf has intensified following Friday's assassination of the brother-in-law of Muqtada al-Sadr by unidentified gunmen and while the authorities imposed a curfew in the city for fear of acts of violence, Al-Sadr called on the government "to carry out a fair investigation" of the assassination of Riyad al-Nuri, the director of his office, after the Friday prayers. On its part, the Iraqi Government condemned the assassination and Al-Sadr Trend Spokesman Salah al-Ubaydi said "Muqtada al-Sadr asked the government to carry out a fair investigation and reveal the parties behind the incident."
Unidentified gunmen assassinated Riyad al-Nuri, the director of Al-Sadr's office and his brother-in-law, near his house in Al-Najaf, only two days after Al-Sadr's arrival in the city after having left the Iranian city of Qom "secretly" on the orders of the Iranian authorities, according to statements made by authoritative Iraqi sources in Qom and Al-Najaf to Asharq Al-Awsat. These sources said Al-Nuri led exactly five years ago an armed attack on the moderate Shiite cleric Abdul-Majid al-Khoei, the secretary general of the Imam al-Khoei Foundation, inside Al-Haydariyah shrine. al-Khoei and Haydar al-Rufayi, the official in charge of the administration of the Imam Ali shrine, were killed in the attack which took place only one day after the collapse of former regime.
The Iraqi sources in Qom and Al-Najaf asserted that the Iranian authorities informed Al-Sadr of the need to leave their territories because of the security problems he had caused in Iraq following the armed clashes between the pro-Al-Sadr "Al-Mahdi Army" militia and Iraqi forces in Basra, Baghdad, Al-Diwaniyah, Karbala, and Al-Kut. They added that moderate officials in Iran denounced Al-Sadr's presence in their territories saying that this was causing problems with the Iraqi Government and that "affects the course of relations between Tehran and Baghdad."
Iraqi sources in Al-Najaf said Al-Sadr "arrived from Qom the night before yesterday and stayed at the house of one of his aides, where his supporters were banned from reaching him, after being forced to stay for six months in an isolated house on the outskirts of the Iranian city of Qom."
An Iranian official last week denied that Al-Sadr was in Iranbut Ali al-Adib, a leading member of Al-Da'wah Party told Asharq Al-Awsat that he met him in Qom less than a week ago.
In other news, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh vowed on Sunday that Iraqi forces will battle militiamen in Sadr City relentlessly until the sprawling Shiite district of east Baghdad has been cleared of gunmen.
"We will continue until we secure Sadr City. We will not come out, we will not give up until the people of Sadr City have a normal life," Dabbagh told AFP. "(The security forces) will do what they have to do to secure the area. I can't tell you how many days or how many months but they will not come out until they have secured Sadr City."
Raging battles between US and Iraqi forces and Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have killed around 80 people in the impoverished township since Sunday last week, and the army has warned the streets are littered with booby-traps laid by gunmen.
#1
Tater had some popular support because the people viewed he and his movement as the "strong horse" in Iraq. They had no confidence in the Iraqi government or the ISF. But in the last few weeks, a funny thing has happened. The Maliki government and the ISF, while not without the obligatory screw-ups, has challenged Tater and showed that it just might be the stronger horse. At the least, they have demonstrated that they won't be intimiated nor wil they back down from a fight. Having the US military on your side certainly makes it a lot easier. Be that as it may, if they stick with it, there's a good chance the people will recognize the real strong horse, the US backed Iraqi government and ISF, and begin to turn away from Sadr. When that happens and Tater's popular support, or lack thereof, reaches a certain tipping point, he and his minions' days will be numbered.
#2
I think Iran is cutting its losses. The Basra operation for them was a complete disaster and a good chunk of their fighting capability with the militia is gone or refusing to fight.
#5
Seems to me that Mookie overstayed his welcome, and was sent home. I think even Iran understands that they will have to deal with a strong Iraq as next-door-neighbor, and are cutting their losses. Don't expect Mookie to survive very long - if the Iraqis loyal to al-Sistani don't off him, the Iranians probably will.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/14/2008 11:55 Comments ||
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#6
Does this mean the US will start protecting Tater from assassination by his former friends? How revolting.
#7
Who's next? Assad? Nasrallah? Meshal? If the mad mullahs can smell a loser (and I'm sure mookie smells extra bad), there may be some fresh spring breezes on the horizon...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/14/2008 12:19 Comments ||
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#8
I saw a comment that Sadr is a serious drug addict. Can't remember who.
#9
"You send me back and I will poke myself right in the eye, that will show you!!
Posted by: steven ||
04/14/2008 12:46 Comments ||
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#10
"We will continue until we secure Sadr City. We will not come out, we will not give up until the people of Sadr City have a normal life," Dabbagh told AFP.
Normal life - keep beating it in
this is a wonderful phrase and should be used by the gov't whenever possible.
#16
#7, nah Lebanon/Pal aint Iraq. The issue in Iraq is that the Shia are divided, and theres a Shia force that Iran can try to influence but that doesnt like Sadr. That force - the Shia elements in the Iraqi govt, SCIRI and Dawa - by taking on Sadr and beating him (apparently, so far) have reduced Irans leverage, its ability to play both sides. To put it differently, Irans need and desire to maintain influence in Iran now gives the Iraqi govt leverage over Iran.
In Lebanon, its not clear who the alt shia power base is to Hezbollah - Amal, for example has been closer to hezb than Dawa was to the Mahdi Army.
Similarly theres no options for them in Pal to Hamas/IJ. Who do they go with, Abbas/Fayed? I dont think so. And certainly not Israel. Though some doves and "realists" will claim that Iran will turn completely if only we would talk sweetly to them, I think THATS unrealistic. And to those who suggest what happened in Basra wasnt talk, I agree, but for a bunch of reasons what the Iraqi forces did in Basra cant be replicated in Gaza, not anytime soon.
Iraq will seek parliamentary approval for a strategic agreement being negotiated with the United States even though it expects heated debate over the deal, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said.
U.S. and Iraqi officials began talks last month on a strategic framework agreement that defines long-term bilateral ties and a separate "status of forces" deal outlining rules and protections governing U.S. military activity in Iraq. But not in Iran . . . .
The issue has become highly charged in Washington, with members of Congress saying it could tie the hands of the next administration by locking the United States into a long-term military presence in Iraq and arguing Congress should give its consent. Aww, too bad. I guess that would make the next Prez kind of a butthead if they didn't help out when needed over there.
Zebari, speaking to Reuters on Sunday, said the first round of negotiations had been completed. U.S. and Iraqi officials in Baghdad have said they aim to finish negotiations by July, well before the next U.S. president is elected on November 4. And Nancy thought she was so darned clever by changing the House rules when she didn't like free trade with Columbia. Go to school and learn from the master, canine female. If you are even capable.
"There isn't any hidden agenda here. This agreement will be transparent, it has to be presented to the representatives of the Iraqi people, the parliament, to ratify it," he said. "I'm sure there will be some heated political debate when we come to that but I think on the other hand there is a strong will by the mainstream leadership in this country that this is for Iraq's good. We need that continued engagement."
The deal is sure to be rejected by the movement of anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which has 30 seats in the 275-member parliament. Sadr pulled his movement out of the government last year over Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's refusal to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Sadr's disapproval should just about seal the deal for everyone else.
The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has repeatedly said it will keep Congress informed about the negotiations but not ask for its agreement.
Both Republican and Democrat senators said last week they may try to force the White House to seek its approval.
It's good to have Congress on board. We want the next President to honor our commitments to Iraq. Bring it to the Congress and have the vote in .. October ...
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, told Congress last week that the deal would not establish permanent bases in Iraq nor specify the number of forces to be stationed in Iraq.
Zebari said both sides hoped to meet that deadline, adding talks would resume soon. The first round was highly technical, he said, without giving details.
U.S. forces operate in Iraq under a United Nations mandate that expires at the end of 2008. Iraq does not want that mandate extended, so the two governments must agree guidelines to allow U.S. forces to remain beyond the end of this year. This ought to make for some interesting negotiations, indeed. Let's see if they can stop bickering long enough to save their own skins.
#1
I see this as a good thing. Iraq will be operating as a full nation and moving treaties and agreements through the legislative system. We need to have this run through our congress as well, and I like the idea of an October time frame. The anti-war kooks will come home to roost for the dhimocrats and the dhimocrat congress will no longer be able to spin it as a defeat and the political process isn't working.
BAGHDAD - Iraqs cabinet has agreed a draft law on provincial elections that bans any party from the polls if they have militias, officials said on Sunday, a move that could inflame tensions with Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the draft had set Oct. 1 as the election date. The law would be given to parliament for approval very soon, he told Reuters after a cabinet meeting.
Zebari said Sadr was not the target of the provision on militias in the draft law, adding it applied to all parties. Its absolutely crystal clear. It says any parties that enter this election should not have or should not retain any paramilitaries or militias operating outside the law, he said.
No, course not, sure thing, he's not a target, nope, uh-unh ...
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told a news conference that parliament would have 90 days to pass the law.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
Another encouraging sign that Tater's influence in the government, and perchance amongst the people, continues to be marginalized.
#2
I wonder how this law will affect the Kurds? Has the Peshmerga been assimilated into the Iraqi military? How does it affect the "Sons of Iraq"? I hope this law isn't one that will run head-on into the "Law of Unintended Consequences".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/14/2008 11:59 Comments ||
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#3
Technically, the Peshmerga no longer exists - they have all been incorporated into the Kurdish Provincial Security Forces. And the Sons of Iraq are not viewed as a militia - they have an odd status somewhat similar to Regional/Provisional Forces in Vietnam. The Iraqi Police tend to treat them as though they were a standing armed posse, waiting to be called out by the cops when needed.
On Sunday morning, 13 April 2008, a Palestinian was killed and 2 others were seriously wounded as a result of a mysterious explosion that occurred in a house in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya. What was that?
Why...it sounded like a mysterious explosion down at the al-Din Ahmed al-Mutawaq spread.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 10:40 on Sunday, 13 April 2008, a heavy explosion occurred in a house belonging to Nour al-Din Ahmed al-Mutawaq in Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip. The explosion was followed by successive ones and fire broke out in the house. Ah, secondaries. It appears the fog of mystery is...lifting.
Medical and civil defense crews arrived at the area to extinguish fire and evacuate the wounded. They found the body of one of the owners sons, 17-year-old Hussein, inside the house. They also evacuated two young men who were seriously wounded. Tried to make your own bombs and show off didn't ya, Nour? And look what happened. Your kid and his friends are hamburger. Leave the bomb making to the semi-professionals next time, all right?
According to PCHRs field investigations and eyewitnesses testimonies, the explosions resulted from home-made bombs. You know, I was gonna say that but why ruin a good mystery...
PCHR is gravely concerned over increasing casualties resulting from the misuse of weapons, and calls upon concerned bodies to take effective measures to ensure the non-occurrence of such incidents and to provide protection for civilians and their property. Just a suggestion, but maybe if ya didn't keep home-made bombs laying around the house, this stuff might not happen? But, like I said, that's just a suggestion...
It's almost as if the PCHR would like to supply the professional bombs and delivery devices just to prevent tragedies like this ...
On Sunday evening, 13 April 20087, militants fired at the convoy of Dr. Jamal Mhaisen, Governor of Nablus, in Balata refugee camp east of the city. They then attacked and burnt a vehicle of Nablus Governorate. This latest attack is part of the state of security chaos plaguing the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Let's have a big Pali welcome for the governor! Let's hear it!
BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM...BOOM!
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 16:30 on Sunday, 13 April 2008, Dr. Jamal Mhaisen, Governor of Nablus, and a number of his bodyguards, were attending a celebration to honor 140 refugee orphans, in response to an invitation from Balata Youth Center, Jaffa Center and Yazour Charity. In honor of the ceremonies, let's create even more...
The celebration was held on the yard of Balata Youth Center at the entrance of the refugee camp. At approximately 17:30, Dr. Mhaisen left the celebration to continue the program of his visit to camp, as he was intending to visit houses of a number of Palestinian prisoners who are detained in Israeli jails, including Khaled Khdaish and Hussam Khader, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Hope he at least brought a fruit basket...
When he was heading towards Khaled Khdaishs house, an activist of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (the armed wing of Fatah movement) fired 3 bullets into the air. Oh, don't worry, boys. I think that's a traditional Balata welcome. Five minutes after Dr. Mhaisen had entered Khdaishs house, sounds of gunfire were heard outside, and a vehicle belonging to Nablus Governorate was burnt in front of the house. Hey, boss? Is it a traditional Balata welcome to set your car on fire?
Soon after, a unit of the Palestinian National Security Forces arrived at the area to secure the evacuation of Dr. Mhaisen from the house and from the whole refugee camp. The unit exchanged fire with a number of militants. At approximately 20:30, Dr. Mhaisen held a press conference, in which he explained what happened and asserted that the assailants were known for security services and would be arrested. Known for security services? Do they have to change uniforms before you arrest them?
PCHR is gravely concerned over the recurrence of such attacks, which are part of the state of security chaos and lawlessness plaguing the OPT. PCHR calls upon the Palestinian National Authority, represented by the Attorney General, to investigate this latest attack and bring the perpetrators to justice. Add it to the pile, Mahmoud.
Right away, Mr. Attorney General...
#2
Now lessee... in the old days, under Israeli "occupation" things were stable, even peaceful. With economic opportunity and stuff. The humiliation! Oh lord - the humiliation! Now, I'd like to get Jimmah Carter's thoughts on the subject....
The one time ya want em to shoot, where the hell are they...
SDEROT, Israel - Former President Jimmy Carter deplored Palestinian militant attacks on Israel as a "despicable crime" as he toured a rocket-battered town on Monday. Take a stand, Jimmy. Move there. Think they'll shoot at an old friend?
Carter met with police officials and with the mayor of Sderot, a southern town a mile from the Gaza Strip border. He was shown a house badly damaged by a rocket strike, and rusting piles of projectiles that had hit the town."I think it's a despicable crime for any deliberate effort to be made to kill innocent civilians, and my hope is there will be a cease-fire soon," Carter told reporters. Yeah, bring that up when you meet your Hamas pals. You'll get to hear the "Resistance!" speech and change your mind.
Carter brokered Israel's historic peace accord with Egypt in 1979, the first treaty it signed with an Arab country. But he has been unpopular in Israel since publishing a book two years ago drawing comparisons between Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza and apartheid in South Africa. He further angered Israelis with his plans to hold talks in Syria this week with the leader of Hamas, the Islamic group that rules Gaza and is largely responsible for the rocket fire. Hamas has killed some 250 Israelis in suicide bombings and has been blacklisted by the U.S. and Israel as a terrorist organization. Maybe Jimmy will tell them to change their name to Maoists...
Sderot mayor Eli Moyal said he met with Carter to present Israel's side, even though he said he was "upset" about Carter's scheduled meeting with the Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal. "I don't think he should meet with killers," Moyal said. Don't be too upset when he poses with one of the rocket squads...
Carter has been snubbed so far by Israel's senior leadership, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. He met Sunday with Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, who told him that meeting Mashaal was "a very big mistake," according to Peres spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch. But, Shimon, you miss the point. It's about ME! Look at ME!!
In an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz published Monday, Carter said he intended to use the Mashaal meeting to press for the return of three Israeli soldiers captured by Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. Did ya bring lots of money? If ya didn't, forget it...
He said he would also try to get Hamas to accept a pan-Arab plan for peace with Israel. "The most important single foreign policy goal in my life has been to bring peace to Israel, and peace and justice to Israel's neighbors. I have done everything I could in office and since I left office to do that," the paper quoted Carter as saying. ...and look how well that's worked out.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/14/2008 13:28 Comments ||
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#3
Carter also thinks the US should talk to Hamas, like he did. He wants to be an intermediary between us and the terrorists. He is disappointed that the Israeli government won't talk to him.
He still thinks of himself as a peacemaker rather than a troublemaker. Why doesn't he just go back to Georgia and build homes for Habitat for Humanity?
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
04/14/2008 13:31 Comments ||
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#4
give the man some credit
he seems to have condemned the paleo shelling of Sderot with no moral equivalency and only a minor added 'hope'.
"I think it's a despicable crime for any deliberate effort to be made to kill innocent civilians, and my hope is there will be a cease-fire soon"
#6
Gorb, I think he understands just fine. They have a common value system
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/14/2008 16:15 Comments ||
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#7
I agree with gorb. Carter actually believes he can change Hamas by talk. He did broker the Peace Agreement between Egypt and Israel. I don't know exactly what part he actually played, but he does see himself as the one person in the world who can bring everybody together and sing Kumbaya. I don't think he has a clue to the Islamic mindset.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/14/2008 16:44 Comments ||
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#8
He sounds like what he is, a pathetic old man trying to get back to the Big Time...
AIRPORT CITY, Israel - Former President Jimmy Carter defended his plan to meet with the top leader of the violently anti-Israel Hamas movement, saying Monday he hopes to become a conduit between the Islamic militant group and Washington and Israel.
Isolating Hamas is counterproductive, Carter said. Hamas rules the Gaza Strip but is ostracized by Israel, the U.S. and European Union as a terrorist group. "I think it is absolutely crucial that in the final and dreamed-about and prayed-for peace agreement for this region that Hamas be involved and Syria will be involved," he told a business conference outside Tel Aviv. "I can't say that they will be amenable to any suggestions, but at least after I meet with them I can go back and relay what they say, as just a communicator, to the leaders of the United States," he said.
The U.S., EU and Israel have blacklisted Hamas for its history of killing some 250 Israelis with suicide bomber attacks and its refusal to renounce violence and recognize the Jewish state.
Israel's top leaders are boycotting Carter during his nine-day Mideast trip, in part because he plans to meet later in the week in Syria with Hamas' exiled supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the U.S. government has "made clear our views that we did not think now is the moment for him or anyone to be talking with Hamas."
U.S. officials will be "happy to hear" Carter's reflections on his visit with Hamas, but that they aren't likely to change the administration's views on the militant group, Casey said.
Carter also offered to relay Hamas' views to Israel. If the U.S. agrees to hear what Hamas says, "I hope then the Israeli government will deign to meet with me they have so far refused," he said.
Maybe because they know who and what they're dealing with? Who wants to deal with the Jimmy Carter bullshit anymore besides the people who can play him like the useful idiot violin he is?
#9
Sometimes when I look at all my children, I say to myself, "Lillian, you should have stayed a virgin."
Posted by: Lillian Carter ||
04/14/2008 20:29 Comments ||
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#10
give the man some credit
Not buying it. Any time I hear the phrase "innocent civilians", warning lights start flashing. Too many times terrorists have claimed that Israeli civilians are legitimate military targets on the grounds they grow up to serve in the military or they voted for the current government.
#11
I don't think Carter's role as peace broker was all that significant. I read that Sadat unexpectedly expressed interest in dealing, and the broker's job fell in Carter's lap. An Arab leader who is willing to break ranks with the Jew-haters and risk his own neck to benefit his country is a hero.
Carter, on the other hand... We owe the world an apology for voting to inflict him on a long-suffering world. I voted for Ford, but if leftists can apologize for Bush I suppose I'd better apologize for Carter.
Posted by: James ||
04/14/2008 23:37 Comments ||
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JERUSALEM - The Gaza Strips main fuel terminal will remain closed for a few days longer, an Israeli official said on Sunday, after an attack by militants last week killed two Israeli civilians there.
The terminal will remain closed for a few days to give us time to check and decide on measures to ensure security, Tzahi Hanegbi, the head of parliaments foreign affairs and defence committee, told military radio. He added that no strategic decision has been taken to close the crossing indefinitely.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Lebanon's Hezbollah has questioned the reason behind the erection of a barbed-wire fence in the border village of Ghajar by UNIFEL forces. Members of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon on Thursday began fencing with barbed-wire the area between Wazzani and Ghajar villages. Hezbollah's al-Manar TV described the activities of the UNIFEL forces in the area as 'questionable'. "What is the reason behind this unprecedented measure" along the so-called Blue Line? It asked.
The UN established the Blue Line In 2000 after the Zionist regime withdrew from Lebanon, thus leaving the northern part of the village under Lebanese control. The entire village was later occupied by Israel during the 2006 Lebanon war.
On April 2, however, UNIFIL commander General Claudio Graziano and officials from the Lebanese and Israeli armies decided that UNIFIL set up the barrier north of Ghajar "in order to prevent violations of the Blue Line."
The decision came after Israeli bulldozers violated the Lebanese border by entering Wazzani village. It is still unclear whether UNIFEL is to control the Lebanese part of the village or not. Earlier, a Lebanese military source said that the tripartite meeting woulld lead to Israeli withdrawl from the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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[9 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
TOPIX > ISRAEL FEARS HEZBOLLAH WILL SHIP IN NEW ARMS/WEAPONS BY SEA [Beruit port]; + REPORT [YNETNews]: SYRIA BRACING FOR WAR. Israel reportedly sees a war window for on or after May 10th thru early June - US General noted as observing recent Israeli war/readiness drills, serving notice pro forma to Isr's enemies that the USA as Israel's ally is well-aware of the danger of a multi-front war [including Terror proxies]occurring in any Israel-Iran/Syria Conflict.
*Also on TOPIX > "WE WILL TAKE THE WAR TO ISRAEL'S BACKYARD"; + IRAN READYING FOR NEXT/NEW LEBANON WAR AGZ ISRAEL.
*Compare wid NEWSMAX > SOURCES: US STRIKE ON IRAN NEARING.
A Hezbollah lawmaker in the Lebanese parliament has criticized the UN for its neglect of the Israeli assaults against Palestinians. In a statement, the Lebanese MP, Hassan Hobbollah, from the Hezbollah faction, expressed disappointment at the stance of the United Nations in favor of the Zionist regime. He said that Ban Ki-moon never fails to condemn the death of Israeli troops during retaliatory operations by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while the murderous acts of the Zionist regime generally go unnoticed.
Hobbollah expressed support for the rights of the Palestinian people to resist Zionist attacks and their struggle toward regaining their occupied territories and securing the release of their prisoners from Israeli prisons. The United Nations should not keep silent about the Zionist regime's heinous crimes and assaults against the people of Palestine and Lebanon, he noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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[11 views]
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#1
Hobbollah? Are Hobbits forming their own terrorist group now? That's his name? I bet he gets lots of comments about that down at the local armorymosque elementry school.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
04/14/2008 9:04 Comments ||
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#5
Suggestion for you: let's move the UN to Beirut, so you can discuss it with them face to face, mr. hobbit. It seems that's about the only way Lebanon is going to be able to stay afloat. YOU take on these arrogant lords of lard - we've had enough of them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/14/2008 12:05 Comments ||
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#6
See also REDDIT POLITICS > MCCAIN CLAIMS HE CAN GET HEZBOLLAH OUT OF LEBANON.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora is in Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak over the situation in Lebanon. Siniora arrived at Cairo airport early Saturday accompanied by Acting Foreign Minister Tariq Metric, according to Ya Libnan. Siniora is scheduled to meet with Mubarak to discuss the overall situation in Lebanon and the outcome of the Arab summit that was held in March in Damascus.
Lebanon was the only country to boycott the summit in Damascus in protest at Syria's interference in its internal affairs. Egyptian President Mubarak, Saudi King Abdullah and Jordanian King Abdullah II also boycotted the summit but sent low-level delegations.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
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TEHERAN - Iran has upheld a death sentence for a Kurdish activist convicted of links to an outlawed separatist group after the supreme court quashed the original hanging verdict, his lawyer said on Sunday. A revolutionary court in the town of Marivan has sentenced Hiva Botimar to death for the second time after the supreme court quashed its first verdict and ordered a new trial, lawyer Saleh Nikbakht told AFP.
He said the court in western Kordestan province had found 31-year-old environmental activist Botimar guilty of moharebeh (being an enemy of god) and having ties with Turkeys outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
We don't like the PKK at the Burg, but we'd also like independent confirmation ...
Nikbakht said the court cited as evidence of guilt hundreds of bullets found in Botimars possession which he had recovered from an abandoned army camp in a Kordestan village when he was 14. The court gave its ruling regardless of the armys official explanations, the lawyer said, adding that he had 20 days to appeal the verdict against his client who has been in jail since December 2006.
In a separate ruling, the supreme court has quashed a death sentence against another Kurdish man accused of espionage and imprisoned since January 2007, Nikbakht said. Adnan Hassanpour, 26, who briefly worked as a journalist for a local publication in Kordestan province, was approached by some political people to gather information about military sites, the lawyer said. He has denied any systematic ties with outlawed political groups, Nikbakht said, adding that he awaited a judiciary ruling for a retrial.
The death sentences were in July 2007 condemned in Europe and raised the concern of press and human rights watchdogs. But Nikbakht said the charges against Hassanpour were unrelated to his journalistic work.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/14/2008 00:00 ||
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[9 views]
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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.
The Indian Army will provide training to Afghan counterparts as it has agreed to provide counter-insurgency training to the Afghan army. 
Recent attacks on trucks contracted by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to transport food to Darfur and Southern Sudan have slowed down deliveries and affected the UN agency's ability to support returnees, the agency warned.
British police and security agencies are monitoring 30 terror plots, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told a tabloid on Sunday. There are 22,000 individuals who are being monitored. There are 200 networks involved and 30 active plots, Smith said in an interview with the News of the World. We now face a threat level that is severe. Its actually growing, she said.
London, Asharq Al-Awsat- The situation in the city of Al-Najaf has intensified following Friday's assassination of the brother-in-law of Muqtada al-Sadr by unidentified gunmen and while the authorities imposed a curfew in the city for fear of acts of violence, Al-Sadr called on the government "to carry out a fair investigation" of the assassination of Riyad al-Nuri, the director of his office, after the Friday prayers. On its part, the Iraqi Government condemned the assassination and Al-Sadr Trend Spokesman Salah al-Ubaydi said "Muqtada al-Sadr asked the government to carry out a fair investigation and reveal the parties behind the incident." 
JERUSALEM - The Gaza Strips main fuel terminal will remain closed for a few days longer, an Israeli official said on Sunday, after an attack by militants last week killed two Israeli civilians there.
Lebanon's Hezbollah has questioned the reason behind the erection of a barbed-wire fence in the border village of Ghajar by UNIFEL forces. Members of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon on Thursday began fencing with barbed-wire the area between Wazzani and Ghajar villages. Hezbollah's al-Manar TV described the activities of the UNIFEL forces in the area as 'questionable'. "What is the reason behind this unprecedented measure" along the so-called Blue Line? It asked. 
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora is in Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak over the situation in Lebanon. Siniora arrived at Cairo airport early Saturday accompanied by Acting Foreign Minister Tariq Metric, according to Ya Libnan. Siniora is scheduled to meet with Mubarak to discuss the overall situation in Lebanon and the outcome of the Arab summit that was held in March in Damascus. 
TEHERAN - Iran has upheld a death sentence for a Kurdish activist convicted of links to an outlawed separatist group after the supreme court quashed the original hanging verdict, his lawyer said on Sunday. A revolutionary court in the town of Marivan has sentenced 
