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Death-row Bali bombers forgo presidential pardon
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Obama Meets Afghan Leader and Discusses Terrorism
Senator Barack Obama met with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan for nearly two hours on Sunday and "conveyed that he is committed to supporting Afghanistan and to continuing the war against terrorism with vigor," an Afghan presidential spokesman said.

The meeting, which continued over a traditional Afghan lunch of chicken, mutton and rice, was conducted in a "very friendly environment," the spokesman, Homayun Hamidzada, said.

Mr. Obama and the two other senators traveling with him -- Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska; and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island -- reaffirmed the United States' bipartisan support for Afghanistan. And Mr. Karzai asked that the senators pass on the "immense gratitude" of the Afghan people to their constituents and the American public, Mr. Hamidzada said at a news briefing after the lunch.

In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Mr. Obama said: "We have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan. And I believe this has to be our central focus, the central front on our battle against terrorism.

Mr. Hamidzada made light of Mr. Obama's earlier criticism of Mr. Karzai as not getting out of his bunker enough to help Afghanistan develop, saying it was not so much a criticism as a statement of realism. "While we are making progress, we are also facing the significant threat of terrorism that is imposed upon us and on the Afghan people," he said. "We are spending a lot of time and resources on fighting terrorism," he said, adding that the government hoped in the future to spend more of those resources on the development of Afghanistan.

Discussions were mainly on a broad level of Afghanistan's partnership with the United States but did cover the "unmet challenges" the Afghan government has to tackle, in particular fighting corruption, counter-narcotics and regional and global terrorism, Mr. Hamidzada said.

The spokesman did not comment directly on Mr. Obama's campaign pledge to draw down troops from Iraq and send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, and to focus more on terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan. Mr. Obama has clashed with his presumptive Republican rival, Senator John McCain, about whether the war in Iraq is a distraction in the fight against terrorism.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Barry shows up and the war doesn't just "end"?
Either he's losing his touch or the Taliban don't get any of the major networks on the dish.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 8:44 Comments || Top||

#2  I too am confused, I thought that THE ONE would simply go there, spread arms skyward, and viola' the conflict would end! I bet Karl Rove stole his mojo!
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 07/21/2008 8:56 Comments || Top||

#3  The meeting, which continued over a traditional Afghan lunch of chicken, mutton, wiener schnitzel, Alaskan King Crab, and rice, was conducted in a "very friendly environment," the spokesman, Homayun Hamidzada, said.

Strickly Halal in honor of the Obamamessiah.


Posted by: Besoeker || 07/21/2008 10:34 Comments || Top||

#4  "Nice to meet you Mr. Krazie - er, Karzie. I heard you have terrorists over here...hope you don't mind me promising to send a bunch more troops into your country without at least talking to you first but I think..hey are those the khyber mountain oysters you said I should try? (Munch munch) Juicy, explosion of taste. Well gotta go, see ya over the next 8-10 years."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/21/2008 16:41 Comments || Top||


Afghan police seize 44 tonnes of drugs in 3 months
Afghan counter narcotics police have seized 44 tonnes of heroin and opium in the last three months, a big achievement in the fight against record-breaking drug production, a top government official said on Sunday.

Afghanistan's poppy fields produced 93 percent of the world's opium last year, with more land under drug cultivation than Colombia, Bolivia and Peru combined, the United Nations says. But Afghan authorities say they are making some progress in cutting drug production, with more provinces expected to be declared poppy-free this year. A poor poppy harvest and high wheat prices are also expected to discourage drug production.

"We have seized more than one tonne of heroin, 43 tonnes of opium and 256 tonnes of cannabis in the past three months from all over Afghanistan," Deputy Interior Minister General Dawood Dawood told reporters in the Afghan capital Kabul.

"Around 463 cases of people involved in drugs issues have been finalised. That includes foreign and Afghan drug traffickers," he said. Illegal drugs are estimated to be worth more than $3 billion a year to the Afghan economy. That money helps fuel official corruption and also helps the Taliban insurgency through a 10 percent tax the militants impose on poppy farmers.

Western officials complain Afghan authorities have failed to act against high-profile officials involved in the drugs trade, but Dawood said those arrested included senior officials. "We have arrested people involved in the drug trafficking business up to district governors and police chiefs and handed them over to the court," Dawood said. There are currently some 4,000 police officers in the campaign against drugs in Afghanistan, a small number considering the scale of the problem.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  It's a good start, and will get easier so long as wheat prices remain seductively high.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/21/2008 7:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Letting the troops put a torch to ANY poppies they find would also help. I dunno who came up with the ridiculous policy we have now, but they should be brought up to answer for it.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Roundup would prolly kill poppies wouldn't it? It does a good job on coca.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Round-up is a wonderful thing. My favourite tree-hugger approves of it highly.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/21/2008 10:17 Comments || Top||

#5  I guess you could call Agent Orange chemical warfare but, if you think about it, wouldn't the same term apply to heroin?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/21/2008 11:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Agent Orange kills EVERYTHING, and takes about six months or more to wash out of the environment. It's also not safe for children or other living things. Better to use RoundUp or some other, less toxic system. Have the Afghans plant corn, and build an ethanol plant or two. That'll help them, since they have to import all their gasoline, and put a crimp in the poppy cultivation at the same time.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/21/2008 12:06 Comments || Top||

#7  Also, if more Afghans aquired the habit of drinking ethanol, they might start to call bullshit on the taliban's holier than thou crap...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/21/2008 12:56 Comments || Top||

#8  Rodeo works as well as Roundup, without the wetlands effects. Shuts up the eco-whiners
Posted by: Frank G || 07/21/2008 19:15 Comments || Top||

#9  Again I suggest Agent Grape.
Posted by: .5MT || 07/21/2008 19:21 Comments || Top||

#10  What's the word?
Posted by: .5MT || 07/21/2008 19:22 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Prosecuting Beshir won't help Darfur, says Kenyan PM
Prosecuting Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for alleged war crimes in Darfur is not going to end the conflict, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga said in an interview with BBC television Sunday.

"I think that, basically, to try to exonerate people here and there or to appropriate blame is not going to resolve the issue of Darfur," he told the broadcaster from Nairobi when asked about his view of the move. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was asked last Monday for Beshir to be arrested on genocide charges. If granted, the arrest warrant would be the first issued by the court against a sitting head of state.

The request, from ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has prompted criticism, notably from the Arab League, some of whose members have said it threatens the prospects for peace in the troubled western Sudanese region. Leaders of the African Union have also warned that indicting Beshir could lead to a power vacuum in Sudan, increasing the risk of military coups and even anarchy, scuppering efforts to resolve the situation.

Odinga said: "So many lives have been lost in Darfur. "I think it's necessary for the African Union to be much more proactive on this issue, to lead the way, so that the rest of the international community supports the initiative of the African Union."

Meanwhile, Darfur's new chief mediator Djibril Bassole made his first visit to Sudan on Sunday as he begins his uphill task of reigniting a stalled peace process. "This will be a difficult mission but it's not mission impossible," he told reporters after long talks with Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Karti.

Bassole, the foreign minister of Burkino Faso, faces numerous obstacles to securing peace. "My priorities will be defined by the Sudanese but we must strengthen dialogue and ask for a cessation of hostilities to create the conditions to search for a comprehensive political solution," Bassole said. Bassole's task will be complicated by the fact he speaks neither Arabic or English, the languages understood by those negotiating, whether from rebels or from the government.

Bassole will be based in Darfur's main town el-Fasher, a critical improvement on his predecessors UN envoy Jan Eliasson and his African Union counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim who were often criticised for their "part-time diplomacy" jetting into the country for short visits every few months.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan

#1  Guess we should just forget about it then. Let bygones be bygones, bury the hatchet. Where is that darned hatchet anyway?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 6:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Of course, if one crooked, murderous african politician gets nabbed, who knows which one might be next? If Diogenes was around today, there's one whole frickin' continent he could skip over in his search...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/21/2008 9:31 Comments || Top||

#3  The African Dictator Protective Association springs into action.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 11:41 Comments || Top||


Sudan to refute ICC accusations with legal defenses
(Xinhua) -- A senior Sudanese official said here his country is seeking for legal defenses to refute International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor's call to arrest Sudanese president over alleged war crimes, the Egyptian state MENA news agency reported on Sunday.

Sudan is consulting Arab legal experts in this regard, Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Salman al-Wasilla said at a seminar in Cairo.

Describing the ICC prosecutor's decision as "faulty," Wasilla said an Arab lawyers' delegation would visit Sudan to offer legal assistance to face the ICC allegations.

According to earlier reports, a delegation of the Arab Lawyers Union will arrive in Khartoum on July 21.

The Arab lawyers will meet Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and attend an emergency meeting to lay down a legal mechanism to deal with the ICC prosecutor's accusations.

On Monday, the Hague-based ICC's Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo formally requested an arrest warrant against al-Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

Sudan, which is not a member of the ICC, has rejected the ICC allegations, dismissing them as "null and false" and maintaining the ICC has no jurisdiction over Sudan.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan

#1  They're EUrocrats, they have jurisdiction over EVERYBODY!!!

ICC is a joke, why don't we just have this guy rubbed out.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  You know, greased, flamed, snuffed, dispatched, retired, decommissioned, wasted, iced, hosed, boxed,
deep sixed, bagged.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:46 Comments || Top||

#3 

Map of the world with the states parties to the Rome Statute (as of June 2008) shown in green
Posted by: john frum || 07/21/2008 8:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Territorial jurisdiction

During the negotiations that led to the Rome Statute, a large number of states argued that the Court should be allowed to exercise universal jurisdiction. However, this proposal was defeated due in large part to opposition from the United States.[37] A compromise was reached, allowing the Court to exercise jurisdiction only under the following limited circumstances:

* where the person accused of committing a crime is a national of a state party (or where the person's state has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court);
* where the alleged crime was committed on the territory of a state party (or where the state on whose territory the crime was committed has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court); or
* where a situation is referred to the Court by the UN Security Council.
Posted by: john frum || 07/21/2008 8:11 Comments || Top||

#5  The UN Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the Prosecutor of the ICC in Resolution 1593 (2005)on 31 March 2005. The resolution requires Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur to cooperate with the Court. It also invites the Court and the African Union to discuss practical arrangements that will facilitate the work of the Prosecutor and of the Court, including the possibility of conducting proceedings in the region.
Posted by: john frum || 07/21/2008 8:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Axed, put down, taken out, relieved of duty, smoked, scragged, scuffed, croaked, stuck like a pig.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 12:11 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Negotiations between Tuareg and Mali in Algiers focus on prisoners' issue
Negotiations started last Friday in Algiers between the Malian Government and Tuareg rebels are slowly moving forward, a source within the Alliance of 23 May for Change rebel movement told El Khabar.

The same source further added that all that the negotiations are expected to reach during this week is releasing a batch of Malian POWs, as the Tuareg rebels have showed intransigence over Bamako's request of releasing its hostages at once.

Furthermore, Algerian Press Agency has quoted a diplomatic source saying "he dialogue between Mali's Government and the Democratic Alliance of 23 May 2006 for Change is characterized by sobriety and will. It targets reaching unity and concord between all Malians." In turn, Algerian Laxative, namely Algeria's Ambassador to Mali, Abdelkrim Ghraib is making significant efforts to get opinions of the two parties closer, a source told El Khabar. Yet, the same source said: "information saying there is a direct interference of Prime Minister Ouyahia in the current negotiations is unfounded."
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Algerian Laxative?

Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:38 Comments || Top||

#2  I thought the Tuareg was a Volkswagen?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 8:46 Comments || Top||


A road map to dry financial sources of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb
Experts from the US Bureau of Terror Proprieties Control participate today and tomorrow in a workshop in Algiers on financial support mechanism of Al-Qaeda worldwide networks. The workshop is to display methods of drying terror financing sources. Algerian Press Agency, APS quoted a communiqué issued by the Presidency saying "an information workshop" is to be held today and tomorrow, on sanctions against Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban movement, in accordance to the 1267 regulation issued by the UN Security Council in 1999.

The same source said the workshop has been initiated by "competent national authorities," without précising the party, with a contribution of the UN which is to be represented by analytical support and supervisory team against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
A source within the workshop told El Khabar that the UN mission is made up of officials from "the commission of 1267," referring to the UN regulation targeting fighting terrorism fighting sources, established in 1999.

The commission has elaborated a secret list of more than 400 people and 125 organizations charged of attributing financial support to terrorism worldwide. The same source said the US experts and the UN mission are to present a line of recommendations in terms of fighting financial sources of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb by freezing assets of its leaders in Europe and the US.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  US Bureau of Terror Proprieties Control


WTF?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:30 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombians take to streets to protest kidnappings
Hundreds of thousands of shouting, weeping and flag-waving Colombians marched on Sunday, calling for an end to the kidnappings that have plagued the country during its 44-year-old guerrilla war.

Declaring that this year's Independence Day should be renamed "Freedom Day" for the 2,800 captives held in secret jungle camps, Colombians rallied throughout the country and voiced growing hope for an end to the conflict. They called on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, and other illegal groups to stop taking hostages and enter peace talks.

The march further pressured the rebels, who have suffered recent severe setbacks as a result of President Alvaro Uribe's U.S.-backed military offensive.

Declaring that this year's Independence Day should be renamed "Freedom Day" for the 2,800 captives held in secret jungle camps, Colombians rallied throughout the country and voiced growing hope for an end to the conflict.
It was the first such protest since two top rebel leaders were killed in March, one in a bombing raid and the other betrayed and dismembered by his own bodyguard in return for a government reward. The state had never before hit the FARC's governing secretariat.

"For the first time in my lifetime we are really starting to believe that peace is possible," said Adriana Correa, 30, a public employee who participated in the demonstration.

Uribe is seen as a hero by many Colombians for going on the attack against the leftist guerrillas who have been fighting since the 1960s. His popularity topped 90 percent after the dramatic rescue of 15 high-profile hostages on July 2.

Left-leaning opposition leaders marched alongside Uribe supporters, some of whom shouted, "No more FARC. Free hostages now."
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  See how that works, you show some cajones and people stand up and cheer. (U.S. politicians take note)
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 6:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Isn't taking hostages against the Geneva Conventions?
Posted by: bruce || 07/21/2008 10:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Silly Bruce! The Geneva Convention only applies to western armies, which are cruel heartless death machines. Noble revolutionary movements like FARC, the Palestinians, and other great causes are exempt.
/sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in California || 07/21/2008 17:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Meanwhile back in Paleoland thousends take to the streets to encourage kidnapping.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/21/2008 17:37 Comments || Top||


Europe
Radovan Karadzic Arrested for bad hair and genocide
but mostly genocide
Posted by: Frank G || 07/21/2008 19:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  His father, Vuk, had been a member of the Chetniks - Serb nationalist guerrillas who fought against both Nazi occupiers and Tito's communist partisans in World War II ....

Like father, like son.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/21/2008 20:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Shame on him for wanting to keep Serbia Serbian. Time to get with the program, Rad - Europe belongs to Allan now.
Posted by: Galactic Coordinator Chineting4499 || 07/21/2008 21:41 Comments || Top||

#3  I guess Ratko was a Victim of Circumstances (/Curly) too?
Posted by: Frank G || 07/21/2008 21:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Will we bomb the Dutch when they try to stop their country from becoming Hollandistan?
Posted by: Threnegar the Svelte || 07/21/2008 21:47 Comments || Top||

#5  Umm, GCC4499, he didn't stop at killing Muslims. He killed Croats too. In Bosnia, not Serbia. (Where a Montenegrin gets the right to determine that another region of the former Yugoslavia is a part of "Serbia" is a discussion for another time.)

For some bizarre reason he might be your hero, but to the rest of humanity he's a miserable son of a bitch. Too bad he won't get what he richly deserves until he faces his Maker.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields || 07/21/2008 23:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Couldn't be Americans arresting this guy; we've let Don King get away with bad hair for decades now.
Posted by: Sheba Sheamble5056 || 07/21/2008 23:39 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
MSM gets it wrong again
Troops Angry At Media Bias and Laziness
July 21, 2008: American troops in Afghanistan are not happy with how a July 13th battle with the Taliban was reported. In that action, some 200 Taliban attacked a U.S. "base" and killed or wounded more than half the 50 or so U.S. and Afghan troops found there. Actual U.S. casualties were nine dead and fifteen wounded (including walking wounded).
ABC article from the 14th here.
U.S. troops were irked that, once again, the mass media got lazy and didn't bother to report the action accurately. For one thing, there was no "base".
What? ABC reported it as a "newly built base"
What the Taliban attacked was a temporary parking area for vehicles used to conduct patrols of the area. These are set up regularly, and have been used for years. These are secure areas, but basically a parking lot surrounded by barbed wire and several sandbagged observation posts. This one was set a few days before the attack, and was due to be taken down soon, as the patrol activity moved to another area. Such defensive precautions are taken any time U.S. troops stop for more than a few hours. That's a tactic pioneered by the Romans over two thousand years ago. In this case, it paid off. The Taliban infiltrated several hundred fighters into a nearby village, and opened fire from homes, businesses and a mosque.
Say it isn't so! ABC reported the 'insurgents' "raid that penetrated an American outpost"
The U.S. and Afghan troops called in air support and kept fighting until the Taliban fled, taking most of their dead and wounded with them.
Special note: ABC got most of its info on this 'attack' from Tamim Nuristani, who was fired as provincial governor last week by President Hamid Karzai
The troops are angry because, while the Taliban got lucky (such attacks are rare), the enemy did not succeed in taking the U.S. position, and fled the battlefield after suffering heavier casualties. The U.S. troops are much better shots, and know they killed far more of the Taliban. Moreover, they saw smart bombs and missiles hitting buildings that Taliban were firing from. From long experience, they know that people inside bombed buildings rarely survive the explosion. Finally, the troops involved were from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and paratroopers do not like anyone implying they were beaten at anything. Especially because, in this case, they weren't.
Said Nuristani of the attack to ABC "The coordinated assault at Wanat sent a strong signal to other insurgent groups that "America cannot resist them anymore," ", with emphasis added by ABC. Kudos to the troops taking the battle to the terrorists. My boy just got back from that 'sandbox'. Everybody talks about Iran, but my $$ is on Pakistan being a smoking hole in the earth...
Posted by: logi_cal || 07/21/2008 09:48 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  U.S. troops were irked that, once again, the mass media got lazy and didn't bother to report the action accurately.

If you wanted to work for a living, why would you want to be a reporter? Creative writing works with resumes as much as with a story.

For one thing, there was no "base".

No more than Rorkes Drift was a base either. Bets on the number of reporters, editors, and fact checkers who've ever heard of Rorke's Drift?

Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/21/2008 12:28 Comments || Top||

#2  There's bias in the MSM? Who would have known?
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/21/2008 13:22 Comments || Top||

#3  There they go again, the MSM trying to manufacture defeat in the face of US Military victory
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/21/2008 13:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Rorke's Drift, any reporters that know of the place certainly saw the movie Zulu. Of course they may think it was made-up.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/21/2008 14:37 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Despite deal with militants, Pakistan city lives in fear
Fear still grips the fabled bazaars and choked streets of Peshawar, despite an offensive against militants who threaten the northwestern Pakistani city, residents say.

Video shops keep guns under the counter and heavily-armed police man extra check posts across the city of three million people, some two weeks after tanks rolled into the adjoining tribal belt to tackle hardline groups.

""I am still scared. We are worried these men will come back for us,"" said Patras Masih, who was one of 16 Christians kidnapped from central Peshawar in June by gunmen from the radical outfit Lashkar-e-Islam (Army of Islam).

The rebels burst into a Christian prayer ceremony and bundled them into SUVs before taking them to a cave 10 kilometers (six miles) away in the Khyber tribal district, the stronghold of the group's commander Mangal Bagh.

The rebels freed them a day later with a warning not to drink alcohol or smoke hashish, 33-year-old Masih said, as one of his four children clung to his leg.

The Christian abductions were the final straw for Pakistan's new government, already under pressure from Washington over its negotiations with Taleban guerrillas based in the tribal zone along the rugged Afghan frontier.

The advance of the militants sparked fresh fears about the growing ""Talebanization"" of this nuclear-armed nation – while Peshawar also lies on the main supply route for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Peshawar had seen months of incursions by Mangal Bagh's self-styled ""moral brigade"" and other militants seeking to impose their version of Sharia law in the style of Afghanistan's 1996-2001 Taleban regime.

Long-haired gunmen in pickup trucks were seen for several months patrolling the outskirts of the city, the capital of North West Frontier Province, warning people to grow beards and close ""un-Islamic"" businesses.

Police also accused Lashkar-e-Islam of killing several villagers in a dispute over a shrine.

The paramilitary Frontier Corps finally launched the week-long operation in Khyber on June 28. Troops demolished buildings belonging to Bagh and two other hardline organizations.

Bagh, a former bus driver, signed a peace deal with the government late last week. But many residents question just how safe Peshawar is now.

Most militants melted away into the hills after the operation began, while Bagh is not even a member of Pakistan's main organization of Taleban rebels, Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP).

""This operation was just cosmetic. The government is going against the wrong people because it wants to look tough,"" said Zar Ali Khan, 46, whose video shop was hit by a bomb planted in the city's Nishtarabad market last year.

One of his employees was killed in the blast.

Whipping out an automatic pistol that he keeps under the counter for protection, Khan said his business had now collapsed. ""There is fear in the hearts of the customers,"" he said.

Many shops in the market -- overshadowed by the huge fortress headquarters of the Frontier Corps and close to the centuries-old Storytellers' Bazaar -- have removed their posters of Bollywood starlets.

Musafar Khan, another video shop owner, said the Taleban had threatened him by SMS.

""We are sitting in the mouth of death. The government can't stop bombings in Islamabad, so what can this operation do?"" he said.

A spokesman for Mangal Bagh said Lashkar-e-Islam was not trying to challenge the government's control of Peshawar.

""Our aim is to finish these criminal people here, the same as the government,"" Commander Haji Abdul Karim told AFP by telephone.

""We want peace here and across the country and will accept the rule of the security forces.""

Meanwhile Taleban who are loyal to Baitullah Mehsud -- the chief of the TTP and the man accused by authorities of masterminding the slaying of former premier Benazir Bhutto -- have gone untouched in other areas around Peshawar.

Mehsud's men control a huge weapons bazaar at Dara Adam Khel, 25 kilometers south of Peshawar, and dominate the Mohmand tribal district about the same distance to the north.

The police chief of North West Frontier Province, Malik Naveed Khan, said the offensive had restored stability to Peshawar.

""We were totally successful,"" Khan told AFP in an interview at his office.

He said that, since the operation, ""not a single incidence of incursion or crime by these militant gangs took place in Peshawar.""

Khan said claims that Peshawar was about to fall to the militants were ""probably highly exaggerated"" and blamed much of the trouble on criminal gangs claiming to be Taleban in a bid for respectability.

But he attributed much of the unrest to insecurity in Afghanistan, saying it had been at the root of Peshawar's problems for decades, most recently in the 1980s when it served as a base for U.S.-backed ""mujahideen"" fighting the Soviets.

However defense analyst Talat Masood, a former army general, described the offensive around Peshawar as a ""very limited...psychological operation"".

""It is a very serious business around Peshawar,"" he said. ""The government has to apply itself with greater resolve.""


Posted by: tipper || 07/21/2008 16:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


An encounter with the Taliban
PESHAWAR: When my host in Peshawar advised me to dress in a Shalwar Kameez instead of jeans and a T-shirt, wear a prayer cap and refrain from shaving, I ignored his advice. But in Bara, when I saw the Taliban and heard them shouting at me in Pashto, I really regretted not paying heed to my host's sincere warnings.

My host, who is an influential person in Khyber Agency, arranged my trip to the Khyber Agency and insisted I visited all its three Tehsil -- Bara, Jamrud and Landi Kotal -- and also advised me to take a public bus to reach Bara. Once again, ignoring his advice, a local friend and I hired a rented car to reach Bara bazaar, the stronghold of the followers of Mangal Bagh of the Lashkar-e-Islam.

Lashkar-e-Islam is a militant organisation that is imposing its own brand of Islam on the residents of Khyber Agency and also fighting a local rival group, the Ansarul Islam, in the Tirah Valley, a far-flung area of the Khyber Agency. Their aim: to have full control of the most strategic point along the Afghanistan border.

Other militant organisations with a similar agenda are also active in the area, including the Amr Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Unnil Munkar who also use force to impose their own brand of Islam and the teachings of their Amir, Haji Namdar, on local people as well as visitors.

We entered the Bara bazaar of Khyber agency by travelling on the Bara road that leads to the tribal area. Heavy contingents of paramilitary troops and police were seen patrolling the road while several pickets were also established there. They were, however, not bothering people travelling to the tribal areas.

The shock of glimpsing the Taliban for the first time in the Bara bazaar was unexpected, given that the area is hardly a 45 minutes' drive from Peshawar. There was not a single security personnel present in the bazaar although government officials make daily claims of re-establishing the writ of the government and clearing the area of militants.
The shock of glimpsing the Taliban for the first time in the Bara bazaar was unexpected, given that the area is hardly a 45 minutes' drive from Peshawar. There was not a single security personnel present in the bazaar although government officials make daily claims of re-establishing the writ of the government and clearing the area of militants. Instead, we saw three vehicles with black flags mounted on their front and my guide told me that they were either Mangal Bagh's men or the Taliban.

As soon as we stepped out in the market, a vendor tried to sell us prayer caps for Rs10 each. When we refused to purchase the caps, he warned us in Pashto that without the caps, we could be in serious trouble. In the meantime, the Taliban or Mangal Bagh's men noticed two persons without prayer caps on their heads and they shouted something in Pashto and drew the attention of their other colleagues to us. Their leader in a double-cabin vehicle turned his attention towards us and said something in Pashto to my friend. "Where are your prayer caps? Why this one is without a beard? Bottoms of his Shalwar are also covering his sandals. Don't you know where you are standing?" my companion translated the Taliban leader's remarks to me.

Our host in Bara bazaar, Sultan Akbar, who owns a business in the area and is also an influential person, reached just in time to rescue us and negotiated with the Taliban for our protection. He later told us that he had apologised for our "sins" and told the Taliban that we were his guests and were unaware of local norms and directives. Although he received us warmly, he expressed alarm at seeing us without the obligatory prayer caps on our heads.
"The Taliban have issued decrees that everybody must wear prayer caps or turbans in the areas controlled by them. At prayer time, nobody should be present at his workplace and should leave for a mosque to offer prayers,"
"They (the Taliban) have issued decrees that everybody must wear prayer caps or turbans in the areas controlled by them. Their Shalwar should also be above their ankles. At prayer time, nobody should be present at his workplace and should leave for a mosque to offer prayers," he informed us.

We went to his office where his clients were waiting for him. After getting rid of them, he offered us lunch and briefed us about the situation in the areas controlled by Mangal Bagh. "Doing business in Bara has become very difficult as these people are creating immense problems for local traders and customers. If somebody doesn't wear a cap or turban, they shave off their heads as punishment, impose fines on them or send him to 'jail'. It is, however, a 'bailable offence' so people give them some money and secure their release," Sultan Akbar informed us. Those who are seen in the Bazaar at the time of prayers are beaten with sticks and batons and forced to go to the mosque to offer prayers, he maintained.

But the most disturbing activity of the Taliban is forcing at least one member of each family in the area to join their war with the Ansarul Islam in the distant Tirah Valley. "Every person in the tribal areas owns a gun and has fighting abilities. The Taliban force each family to send one of their members to join their fight against their rival group. Those who refuse, risk having their homes demolished and a heavy fine is imposed on them," he claimed. Sultan Akbar said that earlier people used to get spared from fighting by paying Mangal Bagh's men money but now they don't take money for this. "They compel our youth to join their fight or face penalties that may vary from losing their home, a heavy fine or going into exile," he told us.

He said these people do not extort money in the garb of any tax from traders but people may give them money according to their ability. "They don't demand money as they claim they are doing this to reform society in their own style," he explained.

Asked whether they were going Afghanistan or forcing people to join the fight against the US-led forces in that country, he said he was unaware of this but they (the Taliban) openly say that whenever they will get rid of their opponents, they will divert their attention to other parts of the agency which are currently out of their reach.

When asked what would be their reaction in case the US launches attacks on tribal areas, Sultan Akbar said in that case, every tribesman would set aside his differences with the Taliban and join the fight against the Americans and NATO to defend their motherland. "People fear a US attack which we are reading about in newspapers. Everybody is preparing for the big war and if our territory is attacked, we will not spare the 'whites' and the Afghans," he said.

Reacting to my astonishment at not seeing any security forces' personnel in these troubled areas, he said the tribesmen had no trust in the security forces as they had left the people at the mercy of the Taliban. "When they can't defeat the Taliban, how will they defend us against the heavily-equipped Americans and Nato forces," he asked in an emotional tone.

He, however, remained ambivalent about his view of the Taliban. He praised them for some of their actions, including cleaning the area of criminals and putting a halt to "obscene activities" through the closure of music shops and CD centres and forcing people to follow Islamic injunctions. "Actually, the Taliban are untrained and not very educated people. They are young and don't have complete knowledge of Islam. So they make many mistakes and make enemies among the locals. But, he insisted, the Taliban are "sincere people".

He said they had only the state-run TV channels in the area while cable networks and dish antennas were forbidden by the Taliban. "As far as radio is concerned, transmissions of only two FM radio channels are available for local people and they both are operated by the Taliban to disseminate their ideology," he said. He admitted that many people had migrated from the area but said those who left the area comprised less than five per cent of the total population. "People live in misery but how can they quit their ancestral homes?" he questioned.

To a query, he claimed that people had the liberty of shaving off their beards in Bara but in the areas in complete control of the Taliban, like parts of the Tirah valley, shaving off beards was strictly prohibited. He claimed that girls' schools and health facilities were operational in the area but their standard was very poor. "We have to send our children and patients to Peshawar for study and treatment," he claimed.

The Army and paramilitary forces were confined to their bases and only come out when they have orders to launch a "fake operation".
Asked where the Army and paramilitary forces were given that the Taliban were freely patrolling the bazaar and the entire agency, he said they were confined to their bases, posts and forts and only come out when they have orders to launch a "fake operation". "Nothing happened to these people (the Lashkar-e-Islam and the Haji Namdar group) in the recent operation by the security forces. They had left the area prior to the operation and returned and resumed their activities as soon as the forces left the area," he informed us.

Later, we travelled to Landi Kotal via Jamrud Link Road and back to Peshawar but did not notice even a single Taliban in the two Tehsil of the Khyber Agency. "The reason these two Tehsil being spared by the Taliban is that they are focusing more to conquer the Tirah Valley," a local told us. "They also used to patrol the area sometimes and would warn people to mend their ways but did not bother anybody more than that. Another reason is the strategic importance of the GT road for the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. It is their supply route and that's why the Pakistani forces keep this route free from the Taliban's influence," he said.

The Jamrud Link Road from Bara market to the GT road, that leads to Landi Kotal and the Torkham border with Afghanistan, separates the Hayatabad area of Peshawar from the Khyber Agency and there is a fenced wall with watch towers at equal distance marking this boundary.

"Until some weeks back, the Taliban used to enter Peshawar through Hayatabad and tried to impose their ideology on the people of the city," said the Landi Kotal local. Referring to the reports some weeks earlier about the growing threat to Peshawar, he added: "They abducted some people, blew up a few CD shops and also entered the homes of some locals and destroyed their TV sets. Since then, security on Peshawar's border area has been beefed up and no more incidents of this nature have been reported in recent days," he claimed.
This article starring:
Bara
Jamrud
Khyber Agency
Landi Kotal
Peshawar
Tirah Valley
HAJI NAMDARAmr Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Unnil Munkar
MANGAL BAGHLashkar-e-Islam
Posted by: john frum || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But the most disturbing activity of the Taliban is forcing at least one member of each family in the area to join their war with the Ansarul Islam in the distant Tirah Valley.

Distressed women, children and mental defectives in Iraq, functionally kidnapped sons in the tribal regions of Pakistan... the jihadis know well how to undermine support for their cause.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/21/2008 7:08 Comments || Top||

#2  But the western media sure loves 'em...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/21/2008 9:26 Comments || Top||

#3  The western media were conscripted long ago to the cause.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 10:18 Comments || Top||

#4  bigjim, the MSM were not conscripted, it was strictly voluntary.
Posted by: Menhaden S || 07/21/2008 13:00 Comments || Top||

#5  i love how this asshat thinks he knows so much and ignores every bit of his local advice... just so points up the institutional ignorance that the press has... the locals don't know... I'm a self professed expert, and i know better...

shit ball
Posted by: Abu do you love || 07/21/2008 14:45 Comments || Top||

#6  "don't you know who I am?"
*thud*
Posted by: Frank G || 07/21/2008 19:20 Comments || Top||


US will strike al-Qaeda targets in Pak if it gets info: Obama
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has insisted that his administration will strike at Al Qaeda targets in Pakistan if it gets actionable intelligence on the group.

Obama had an interview with the correspondent of a news channel travelling with him in Afghanistan which was broadcast by the network on Sunday. "... what I've said is that if we had actionable intelligence against high-value Al Qaeda targets and the Pakistani government was unwilling to go after those targets, that we should," he said. "Now, my hope is that it doesn't come to that. Pakistani government would recognise that if we had Osama bin Laden in our sights, that we should fire or capture..." Obama said making the point that this indeed is the current doctrine.

"I think actually this is current doctrine. There was some dispute when I said this last August. Both the administration and some of my opponents suggested, well, you know, you shouldn't go around saying that. But I don't think there's any doubt that it should be our policy and will continue to be our policy... I don't think there is going to be a change there," he said. "The United States has to take a regional approach to the problem. Just as we can't be myopic and focus only on Iraq, we also can't think that we can solve the security problems here in Afghanistan without engaging the Pakistani government," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  and the Pakistani government was unwilling to go after those targets

Ahhh, but see, the Pak government has always gone after binny boy. SO he wouldn't invade Pakistan, after all.
Posted by: Bobby || 07/21/2008 5:45 Comments || Top||

#2  He was in Afghanistan when he said this, so its just a little Specialty Ass Kissing, that's all.

Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Love the in-line; I read 'presumptive' I'm not thinking about his nomination.

I would love to dissect the last paragraph with simply: what a poser jackass.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/21/2008 17:00 Comments || Top||

#4  KOMMERSANT > RUSSIA'S JETS MAY FLY BACK TO CUBA [TU160's + TU95MS Bears]. However, "Technical capacity may NOT end there" statement > IMO, STATEMENT STRONGLY INFERS RUSSIA MAY CHOOSE TO BASE OFFENSIVE MISSLES, ETC. IN CUBA IN ADDITION TO LR STRATEGIC BOMBERS???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/21/2008 23:16 Comments || Top||


'Pakistani forces, tribesmen will expel foreign troops if attacked'
White House hopeful Barack Obama's threats of US military action against extremist sanctuaries in Pakistan are undermining the new government, however not only would Pakistan defend its sovereignty, but that thousands of ethnic Pashtun tribesmen along the border would rise up to expel any foreign troops, NWFP Governor Owais Ghani said on Sunday. "These are fighters, let me tell you," the governor said. "Superpowers have underestimated them -- the British, the Soviets -- and I hope nobody makes the same mistake again."

Ghani said any incursion into the country's mountainous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan would spark disastrous consequences for the whole world.

A spate of US missile strikes in Pakistan on Taliban hideouts in the Tribal Areas had also inflamed public sentiment against Islamabad's role in war on terror, said Ghani, who oversees anti-militancy policies in the NWFP. "I think they are being shortsighted," said Ghani -- former governor of Balochistan -- referring to Obama and other US officials. "What the allies and the world must understand is that no government can remain involved in this global war on terrorism unless the majority of public sentiment backs it," he said. "These strikes, and even statements, are undermining that," the governor added.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Blah, blah, blah. Illiterate hillbillies with guns. No idea of what they are getting themselves into. The last two countries said the exact same thing,
"graveyard of the Americans" and all that.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 10:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Doe this include the ones already there? Your Uzbeks, your Saudis, your Chechens, your Syrians, your...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 11:43 Comments || Top||

#3  TOPIX > PAKISTAN GOVT: UP TO 10,000 MILITANTS [8-10K/mostly foreign?} ARE GATHERING IN PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS.

Last stand???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/21/2008 22:44 Comments || Top||


Baitullah orders inquiry into Taliban groups' clash
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud on Sunday expressed sorrow over the killing of 10 people of the Shah group in Mohmand Agency by local TTP members, and asked local TTP commander Dr Umar Khalid to explain his position, and also form a committee to investigate the incident.

TTP spokesman Maulvi Umar told reporters from an undisclosed location that Baitullah had formed a committee to probe the incident. In case of an unsatisfactory outcome of the probe, the spokesman added, action would be taken against Dr Umar Khalid.

He said the "Taliban emirate" has formed a jirga to end the conflict between the two groups.
Joined: He said the killed members of the Shah group had taken an oath of loyalty to Baitullah Mehsud and formally joined the TTP only a few days ago. He said the "Taliban emirate" has formed a jirga to end the conflict between the two groups. Baitullah has expressed sympathy with the families of those killed in the clash, he added.

It was reported that 10 Taliban militants of the Shah group were killed at the hands of another Taliban group led by Dr Umar Khalid some days ago in the Mohmand Agency area. The Taliban spokesman told BBC that Khalid was suspected to be responsible for the killing of the 10 Taliban militants.
This article starring:
Mohmand Agency
BAITULLAH MEHSUDTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
MAULVI UMATehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
OMAR KHALIDTehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Midnight basketball. The losers die.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 10:17 Comments || Top||


Mullen sees a 'syndication' of extremist groups in FATA
There has been a "joining and a syndication of various extremist and terrorist groups" in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which pose an internal threat to Pakistan and cause an increased flow of fighters across the border into Afghanistan, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman (JCSC) Admiral Mike Mullen said on Sunday.

In an interview on Fox Television, Mullen, who recently visited Pakistan and Afghanistan, said there is "no firm evidence that Al Qaeda is shifting its fighters from Iraq to Afghanistan." He said that during his visit to the region, the whole issue of FATA and safe havens for foreign fighters of Al Qaeda and the Taliban had come up. He claimed that the insurgents are now "freely, much more freely able to come across the border. They are a big challenge for all of us and will have an adverse effect on our ability to move forward in Afghanistan." He said the concern is that a safe haven exists in Pakistan where "these fighters, these additional foreign fighters," have shown up.

Timetable: A fixed timetable for withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq can jeopardise political and economic progress, the Associated Press quoted Mullen as saying on Sunday.

He said that the agreement between President George W Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki to set a "general time horizon" for bringing more troops home from the war was a sign of "healthy negotiations for a burgeoning democracy".

"I think the strategic goals of having time horizons are ones that we all seek because we would like to see US forces draw down and eventually come home," Admiral Mullen said, adding, "This right now doesn't speak to either time lines or timetables based on my understanding of where we are."

The best way to determine troops' levels, the JCSC said, was to assess the conditions on the ground and to consult with American commanders. "Based on my time in and out of Iraq in recent months, I think the conditions-based assessments are the way to go and they're very solid. We're making progress and we can move forward accordingly based on those conditions," he said.

The Iraqi prime minister was quoted by a German magazine over the weekend as saying that US troops should leave "as soon as possible". He called Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's suggestion of 16 months "the right timeframe for a withdrawal". Mullen, asked about the possibility of withdrawing all combat troops within two years, said, "I think the consequences could be very dangerous."

"It is hard to say exactly what would happen. I'd worry about any kind of rapid movement that would create instability. We are engaged very much right now with the Iraqi people," Mullen said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


PPP govt's first 100 days a total failure, says Sajid Mir
Chief of Jamiat Ahle Hadith (JAH) Professor Sajid Mir has said that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) led government's 100 days in office was a total failure. "The PPP government could do nothing in its first 100 days to the dismay of people, who had pinned high hopes on it after the Feb 18 elections," Mir told a news conference here on Sunday.

He said it's unfortunate that since the government's formation three months ago, law and order had deteriorated, prices of goods and joblessness had increased and the deposed judges had not been restored.
He said it's unfortunate that since the government's formation three months ago, law and order had deteriorated, prices of goods and joblessness had increased and the deposed judges had not been restored.
Sajid Mir said that people had rejected the PML-Q because its government had risked the country's sovereignty during the last five years but the current government was doing the same by ignoring frequent US interference in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

He said the November 3 emergency, dismissal of judges for refusing to take oath under the provisional constitutional order (PCO), military action in Balochistan and the killing of Baloch nationalist Akbar Bugti and the Lal Masjid operation were some of the many misdeeds of the previous government.

The JAH chief praised the Awami National Party-led government in the NWFP for starting negotiations with the Taliban to restore peace in the province. He, however, said that some secret forces seemed to be at work to fail the peace process. "In my view, the US is to blame for this situation," he said. He suggested that the government tell the US that the FATA issue could be resolved through peace and not use of force.
This article starring:
Akbar Bugt
SAJID MIRJamiat Ahle Hadith
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  US interference in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The root of all their probs?
Damn my eyes, but I think it is a little more complicated than that.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Something tells me he doesn't realize he looks like a garden gnome. No sense of humor.
Posted by: Spot || 07/21/2008 7:56 Comments || Top||

#3  ch-ch-ch-chia!
Posted by: Frank G || 07/21/2008 8:07 Comments || Top||

#4  I saw that guy at Rock City
Posted by: Beavis || 07/21/2008 9:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Travelocity Gnome Alert!
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 07/21/2008 14:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Ya gotta admit it, the houndstooth makes the look work...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 14:08 Comments || Top||


Amidst peace talks, LoC truce disintegrates
Even as India and Pakistan have reported progress in their ongoing dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir, the 2003 Line of Control ceasefire, the keystone that holds up the détente process, is beginning to disintegrate.

Indian troops reported three attacks on forward positions on Thursday, the latest in over a dozen clashes this year that ruptured a ceasefire that went into place along the Line of Control in 2003. The clashes took place less than 24 hours before bureaucrats from both countries met to discuss cross-LoC confidence-building measures.

Firing was first reported at around 9 a.m. from Gurez, in northern Kashmir, when Pakistani troops fired two bursts of small arms fire at an Indian position. Two hours later, a soldier was injured when small arms fire hit an Indian forward post in the Bhimbar Gali area of Poonch. A northern command spokesperson said the attack had been executed by terrorists seeking to cross the LoC. Later in the afternoon, Indian positions in Bhimbar Gali again came under intermittent fire.

Over a dozen similar skirmishes have taken place since January, as first reported in The Hindu. Most of the fighting, including a June 5 attack which claimed the life of an Indian soldier, has taken place in the Mendhar-Poonch belt. Pakistan has also complained of Indian assaults on its forward positions in this sector. Last week, Pakistan said its troops had come under mortar and small arms fire near the town of Hajira.

In another June incident, Pakistan admitted unknown assailants had killed four of its troopsa tacit admission of the presence of terrorists in the area. Later, however, Pakistan changed tack and accused India of shooting the soldiers.

While Pakistani troops often used fire to protect infiltration attempts before 2003, Indian military analysts believe the ongoing LoC clashes are part of a broader escalation strategy.

Islamabad hopes a crisis on the LoC will give it the pretext it needs to pull troops out of the North-West Frontier Province, a senior military official told The Hindu. It believes a crisis would compel the United States of America to pressure India to make concessions on Jammu and Kashmir, he said. According to the official, India's decision not to use punitive force along the LoC was intended to avoid this outcome.

Pakistan had thinned out its forces along its northern borders with India soon after the 2001-2002 military crisis, in support of United States of America-led anti-Taliban war in Afghanistan. However, army chief General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani is believed to have decided to slash force commitments for the anti-Taliban campaign, and return troops to their traditional locations facing Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

Moreover, Pakistan has loosened restrains imposed on jihadist groups in an effort to buy peace with its allies-turned-enemies. Since April, members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb ul- Mujahideen and al-al-Badr Mujahideen have met at least twice in the city of Rawalpindi, one of the Pakistan army's most important bases, to discuss military cooperation in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir.

While Jammu and Kashmir has seen heightened infiltration since these meetings, the U.S. military says attacks in eastern Afghanistan have been 40 per cent higher in 2008 compared to last year. In both May and June, the death toll of foreign troops in Afghanistan was higher than in Iraq.

Earlier this month, the Associated Press quoted a former minister in President Pervez Musharraf's ousted government as saying that Pakistan- based jihadists were being given grain as well as cash salaries of between Rs.6,000 and Rs.8,000. He said Pakistan's army and intelligence services were aware of the practice.

Taliban cadre Maulvi Abdul Rahman confirmed the Minister's allegations, telling AP that jihadists in West Asia were funnelling funds to his organisation. He also revealed that a tacit understanding with authorities allowed Taliban to cross freely into Afghanistan, in return for not staging attacks inside Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  I say Free Baluchistan. What kind of naval expeditionary force do the Indians have?
Posted by: phil_b || 07/21/2008 1:23 Comments || Top||

#2  The failed stated known locally as "pakistan" needs to be eliminated, and all its muslim inhabitants evenly divided between Sudan and Indonesia. The rest of the world shouldn't have to put up with this sh$$.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/21/2008 15:03 Comments || Top||


Elahi: PM's speech pack of lame excuses
ISLAMABAD - The opposition has termed Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani's speech to the nation as a "pack of lame excuses" and an attempt to cover up his government's failure on all fronts.
PML-Q leader and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi termed the prime minister's speech as an extension of budget speech "that contains only promises but no solutions to the problems being faced by the masses."
And who would know more about promises with no solutions than Pervaiz Elahi ...
"Though there were claims that the prime minister would announce remedies for the malaises of unemployment, price hike and extremism but in reality not a single promise was fulfilled in the speech," he added.
Nor will any be fulfilled in the future. This is Pakistan.
He said situation of law and order deteriorated during the first 100 days of the government. He further said that though the prime minister commended the opposition for giving him vote of confidence, yet he did not mention the political victimisation and registration of fake cases against the opposition leaders as well as workers. "The government cannot satisfy people by making allegations against the previous government as the day is not far when people will make them accountable," he added.

Secretary Information PML-Q Senator Tariq Azeem said the speech contained nothing but only a pack of lame excuses of failure of the government in first 100 days.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Dictatorship is creating problems, says Gilani
ISLAMABAD - Promising "good news soon" Yousuf Raza Gilani in his maiden address on state-run PTV, Yousuf Raza Gilani has said dictatorship is creating problems and sought support of the people to deal with challenges inherited by his government.
Dictatorship creates problems? Brilliant, simply brilliant.
Gilani underlined the urgency of tackling extremism and militancy by assuring the nation that the war on terror is Pakistan's war and foreign forces cannot operate on its territory. He said the militancy was making it difficult to run the affairs of the government but expressed confidence the government would overcome this problem.

He said the PPP-led coalition government would fulfil all its promises, including the restoration of sacked judges, controlling price-hike and loadshedding. He urged for patience to let his government overcome these challenges that were complicated by the misrule of past eight years.
Take that, Perv. Meanwhile, the Taliban and their allies are gobbling up the Northwest Frontier ...
The premier's first speech was mismanaged and delayed for over three hours for inexplicable reasons except reports that PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari was returning from Dubai. Again he was badly advised to read through teleprompter and, as was expected, he started faltering. The speech was then disrupted for couple of minutes and then he started reading from the written copy.

It was meant to defend his performance during first 100 days but Gilani mainly relied on sloganeering, epithets and dilated much time on mismanagement of economic, social, political and foreign affairs by the previous regime.
When you don't have any accomplishments to point to, you blame someone -- anyone -- and call for the country to rally around you and your lack of accomplishments.
The prime minister declared that his government would not allow any foreign country to operate from Pakistan against terrorists and said that Pakistani forces would do the job for which the international community has been taken into confidence. He said Pakistan was passing through a critical phase which demanded that, "we should not waste our time in levelling allegations against each other."
Except when politically convenient for him to do so.
He appealed to the nation to give time to the elected government to deliver specially in improving the deteriorating economic situation.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What on earth is loadshedding, when applied to the Pakistani government?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/21/2008 7:00 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Obama didn't raise troop withdrawal with Iraq PM
Musta...forgot?
BAGHDAD -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met Iraq's prime minister in Baghdad on Monday but did not raise his plan to remove combat troops within 16 months if he wins the election, an Iraqi official said.
Probably figured he already read about it in the New York Times.
U.S. strategy in Iraq and troop levels are central issues in the November election race between the first-term senator from Illinois and Republican candidate John McCain. Mr. Obama said in brief remarks that he had a "very constructive discussion" with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
He impressed me as a "typical Iraqi person".
Television pictures showed the two men smiling and shaking hands before they sat down for talks after Mr. Obama flew in to get a first-hand assessment of security in the country, where violence has fallen to its lowest level since early 2004.
Can you move over a little, Nuri? The photograpers like to catch my aura. Thanks, man.
Mr. Obama did not mention his withdrawal plan to Mr. Maliki, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters. "This issue, we do not discuss... Mr. Obama did not speak about anything which concerns the Iraqi government because he does not have any official [government] capacity," Mr. Dabbagh said.
Nice copout, Barry...
On Sunday, the Iraqi government denied Mr. Maliki told a German magazine in an interview that he backed Mr. Obama's plan to withdraw combat troops within 16 months. The government said Mr. Maliki's remarks to Der Spiegel were translated incorrectly.
Probably why Barry didn't bring it up. "Damn! I thought he knew! I read about it in Der Spiegel."
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 14:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No surprise - his trip isn't long enough to do anything but get off the plane, shake a couple hands, go to the recognizable (not necessarily appropriate) landmark for a speech, then move on.

What a jackass.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/21/2008 16:23 Comments || Top||

#2  "What a jackass"

You can that again.

I have not seen such a jackass running for President since Jimmy Carter.
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/21/2008 17:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Sorry Guys, I can't rate this asshole high enough to be "Jackass"
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/21/2008 18:04 Comments || Top||


Time running out for Iraq poll in 2008: commission
BAGHDAD - Iraq's Electoral Commission said on Sunday time was running out to hold provincial elections this year because of parliament's delay in passing legislation needed for the poll. Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki has set Oct. 1 as the date for the provincial elections, which will provide early clues on how parties will fare in parliamentary elections scheduled for 2009 -- polls that will determine if Maliki himself will remain in power.

The Electoral Commission sent a letter to parliament on Sunday urging it to ratify the draft law soon, the commission head Faraj Al Haidari told Reuters by telephone. ‘We need at least three months after the law is passed to prepare so polling can be up to international standards,’ he said. ‘Even if the law is passed in the coming days, we will only be able to vote at the end of the year. Any more delay and we won't be able to have elections this year.’

The law lays down procedures for the elections.

Parliament is expected to meet again on Monday to try to pass the law after a row broke out last week over what to do about voting in the disputed northern oil city of Kirkuk. Parliament speaker Mahmoud Al Mashhadani has urged lawmakers to pass the draft.

Washington sees the elections as vital to reconciling Iraq's divided communities, particularly by boosting the participation of Sunni Arabs in politics. Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the last local polls in January 2005. ‘What's very plain is the Iraqi people want provincial elections. The political parties all know that ... if they are perceived as not delivering on the law, they will be blamed and their political fortunes will suffer,’ a senior US official in Baghdad, wishing to remain anonymous, said last week.

But Kirkuk remains a thorny issue, with lawmakers arguing over whether the vote there should proceed. Kurds, who run the largely autonomous northern Kurdistan region, see Kirkuk as their ancient capital and want a referendum to be held to decide who controls the city. Arabs encouraged to move there under Saddam Hussein want it to stay under central Iraqi government control.

Analysts say the elections will also be the battleground for a power struggle among majority Shia's in the oil rich south.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
McCain will 'not allow holocaust'
US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said the United States would never allow a second holocaust in an interview with Israeli TV today about Iran's nuclear program. McCain said however that diplomatic options had not been exhausted and further sanctions might compel Iran to halt its nuclear drive, which Israel and the West believe is aimed at developing atomic weapons.

"I think that we Americans joining with our European allies can impose significant and very impactful sanctions on Iran which I think could modify their behaviour,'' Mr McCain said. "I would hope that we could succeed in that direction and I have some optimism we can, but I have to look you in the eye and tell you that the United States of America can never allow a second holocaust.''

Israel considers Iran its main strategic threat, both because of the nuclear program and repeated statements from Iranian leaders predicting the demise of the Jewish state.

The interview came days before McCain's Democrat opponent Barack Obama was due to arrive in Israel on a world tour aimed at shoring up his foreign policy credentials vis-a-vis McCain, a veteran US Senator and war hero.
Posted by: tipper || 07/21/2008 14:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If Hizbollah and Hamas and Fatah launch all their missiles at once, then Israel would be in trouble.
Posted by: Shotch Hapsburg3052 || 07/21/2008 18:27 Comments || Top||

#2  WAFF.com Thread > US GIVES IRAN TWO-WEEK NUCLEAR DEADLINE?, to agree to suspend nuclear enrichment or face possib strong UN sanctions???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/21/2008 20:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Not just the US, JosephM. The European negotiators -- Germany, France, and Britain, I believe -- made the announcement.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/21/2008 22:06 Comments || Top||

#4  What's the UN going to do? Threaten to issue another strongly worded statement? Russia and China will veto any sanctions with teeth - or just ignore them.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 07/21/2008 22:54 Comments || Top||

#5  NEWSMAX/TOPIX > EXPERT: ISRAEL MAY GO TO NUCLEAR WAR OVER IRAN [Benny Morris-NYT Op-Ed].

Any anti-Iran AIR STRIKE bears the risk of IRANIAN-PROCLAIMED RETALIATION, perennial and "by any means necessary" includ but not limited to PROXY TERROR + LR MISSLE WAR. A "FAILED/
PROBLEMATIC" ANTI-IRAN AIR STRIKE WHICH DOES NOT ASSURE COMLETE DESTRUCTION OF IRAN'S NUCPROGS MAY INDUCE ISRAEL TO PREEMPTIVELY ATTACK IRAN AGAIN BUT WID NUCLEAR WEAPONS, AN OPTION WHICH AGAIN INVITES IRAN-SPECIFIC RETALIATION VIA NUKES-WMDS + TERROR.

MISSLE- + NUCLEAR-ARMED ISLAMIST IRAN SCENARIO > HEIGHTENS RISK OF ISRAELI-IRANIAN NUCLEAR EXCHANGE WHICH ISRAEL IS LIKELY TO LOSE IN THE END NO MATTER HOW MUCH REAL DAMAGE IS EFFEC INFLICTED ON IRAN.

MORRIS - "i-4 Years" [2009-2012] = "POINT OF RETURN" FOR IRAN DE FACTO ACQUIR THE ABILITY TO PRODUCE NUCLEAR WEAPON(S).

PARADOXICAL REMINDER > ISRAELI OFFIAL - "THE ONLY WORSE THAN ATTACKING [Nukular]IRAN IS TO NOT ATTACK [Nukular]IRAN"???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/21/2008 23:09 Comments || Top||


Analysis: Egypt enraged over Hamas claims it isn't honest broker
A "crisis of confidence" between Hamas and Egypt appears to be the main factor behind the Islamist movement's decision to suspend talks on the release of St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit, Palestinian Authority security officials said Sunday.

Over the past few days, Hamas officials and spokesmen have been talking about seeking a new mediator to help broker a prisoner exchange with Israel. Some Hamas representatives even mentioned Germany as a potential intermediary, pointing out the role German officials played in achieving the recent prisoner deal between Israel and Hizbullah.

The Egyptians, according to the PA security officials, have voiced anger over the statements coming from the Hamas leadership. The Egyptians are said to be particularly enraged over allegations made by unnamed Hamas officials to the effect that Cairo was not an honest broker in the Schalit affair.

The Hamas officials were quoted over the weekend in The Jerusalem Post as accusing the Egyptians of failing to represent the interests of the Arabs in the talks with Israel over a prisoner exchange agreement. "A serious crisis has erupted between Hamas and Egypt," the PA security officials said. "The Egyptians have even threatened to stop their mediation efforts to reach an agreement."
Have they threatened to extirpate Hamas and sow Gaza with salt? That's a threat that might cause Mashaal to pay attention ...
However, an Egyptian diplomat told the Post his country was continuing to act as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. The diplomat accused unnamed Hamas officials of "waging a smear campaign" against Cairo in a bid to "embarrass the Egyptian government."
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  The Paleostains just can't help but alienate everybody that tries to help them.
Posted by: Pholuger Barnsmell7696 || 07/21/2008 6:47 Comments || Top||

#2  I hope the Egyptians remember this when their Pali "brothers" try to crash the border again.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 13:52 Comments || Top||


Holding photo of Gilad Shalit, Betancourt urges 'freedom for everyone'
Holding a poster of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, recently released Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt joined demonstrations around the world on Sunday urging an end to kidnappings.
Good for her.
Shalit has been in captivity in the Gaza Strip since being abducted by Palestinian militants in a June 2006 cross-border raid. Negotiations for his release have been slow, particularly amid a fragile Gaza cease-fire now in place between Israel and Hamas.

Thousands gathered near the Eiffel Tower to hear Betancourt, a Franco-Colombian politician rescued from captivity this month after spending more than six years as a hostage of Colombian rebel forces.

Betancourt was addressing a rally in the French capital as part of a series of demonstrations around the world to protest kidnappings. "We want freedom for everyone," said Betancourt, drawing loud applause from the crowd, many of whom chanted the Spanish word for freedom "Libertad!"

Betancourt's speech, delivered in Spanish, was shown on television in Colombia, which is also preparing to hold a mass anti-kidnapping rally on its national day. Hundreds of Colombians gathered in Madrid's Plaza Mayor over the weekend to call for peace in Colombia and to celebrate Betancourt's liberation.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Ministers: Israel needs to be more flexible with Hamas over Shalit talks
Israel will have to show greater flexibility in its negotiations with Hamas in order to free Gilad Shalit, said ministers who participated in cabinet deliberations on the matter Sunday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Meanwhile, a Hamas delegation from the Gaza Strip is expected to visit Cairo later this week in order to discuss an Egyptian proposal to renew the indirect negotiations between the two sides.

If there is progress in the talks between senior Egyptian intelligence officials and Hamas representatives, Israeli negotiator Ofer Dekel will also travel to Cairo for talks next week.

Olmert is likely to resume cabinet discussions on the criteria for which Palestinian prisoners can be released in exchange for Shalit, the Israel Defense Forces soldier who was abducted from Israeli territory two years ago.

A similar discussion took place six months ago, headed by Vice Premier Haim Ramon.

Security and political sources said Sunday that the restrictions on the prisoner criteria must be relaxed in order to achieve progress on the talks. To date, Israel has agreed to release 71 of the hundreds of people proposed by Hamas.

Ministers involved say they have no illusions of reaching an agreement unless dozens of prisoners sentenced to life are released - including those who were involved in serious terrorist operations.

Israel is also hoping that Egypt will increase its pressure on Hamas to be more flexible.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak believes that it is important to utilize the tahadiyeh (cease-fire) in order to push through a deal for Shalit.

During discussions Sunday, Barak said he believed a gag order might be necessary, because Hamas may try to use the Israeli media in its bargaining.

This comes following the recent negotiations for reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Barak explained, as well as "loose talk" from ministers who stated that Hamas will up its demands in exchange for Shalit. "It is essential to impose a heavy curtain of censorship in order to bring Gilad [Shalit] home," Barak said yesterday. "We must not conduct this struggle with our cards open - it gives a significant and unjustified advantage to the other side."

Meanwhile, former United States President Jimmy Carter is trying to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiations over Shalit's release.

A senior adviser to Carter, Robert Pastor, visited Israel last week, as part of a regional tour that included visits to the Gaza Strip, Damascus and Cairo.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  This would be a good time to revise the state policy on prisoner swaps. They have one israeli soldier, tell them to pick any one prisoner they want.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:02 Comments || Top||

#2  And by being more flexible, do they mean bending over further?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 10:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Its easy to tell who is Gumby and who is Pokey.

Hey Barak, does tahadiyeh translate into Thai?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/21/2008 17:38 Comments || Top||


Olmert vows to recover captured soldier in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Sunday to bring back a soldier captured by Gaza militants more than two years ago, following a prisoner exchange with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. "We've promised the Shalit family in our name to do everything to bring Gilad Shalit home alive and in good health as quickly as possible. Let me tell you it is not easy," Olmert told a weekly cabinet meeting. "I believe Gilad Shalit will return home safe and sound. We will not rest and not stop until we get him back," he added. The Hamas movement has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, who was captured in a deadly cross-border raid by Gaza fighters in June 2006.

Shalit's captors have over the past two years released several letters written by the 21-year-old corporal in captivity, where he said his health was deteriorating. On Wednesday, Israel handed over five Lebanese prisoners to Hezbollah in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers captured in a similar raid that sparked the 34-day Lebanon war in July 2006.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Jordan king urged to pardon killer of Israeli schoolgirls
AMMAN - King Abdullah II was urged on Sunday to pardon a Jordanian soldier who is serving a life sentence for killing seven Israeli schoolgirls in 1997. "After around 12 years in prison, Ahmad Dakamseh deserves your majesty's special pardon," a group of 70 Islamists, unionists, lawyers, human rights activists and former officials said in a signed letter to the king.
Just after the prisoner exchange in which a hated murderer, Samir Kantar, was released, this would send a terrible message in the region. If Abdullah is as smart as his old man he'll find a way to ensure this doesn't happen.
In March 1997, Dakamseh fired an automatic weapon at a group of Israeli schoolgirls as they visited Baqura, a scenic peninsula on the Jordan River near the Israeli border, killing seven and wounded five others as well as a teacher. The attack came almost three years after Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty, only the second between an Arab country and the Jewish state.

Israel handed over its last five Lebanese prisoners, including convicted murderer Samir Kantar, and the bodies of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters, in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers who were captured in July 2006, sparking a devastating 34-day war in Lebanon.

"Following the recent release of Arab prisoners, we hope to see Dakamseh free again," they said, referring to Israel's prisoner swap with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group last week. "The current political stage requires a policy that would make people happy and ease their socio-economic and political pressures. Pardoning Dakamseh will have a great effect on people," the letter said.

The signatories include Islamic Action Front secretary general Zaki Bani Rsheid, former prime minister and intelligence department director Ahmad Obeidat, Jordan Bar Association head Saleh Armouti, and Hani Dahleh, president of the Arab Human Rights Organisation.

The motives of Dakamseh, who was 30 at the time and a married father of three, were never clear. The then King Hussein cut short a visit to Europe and rushed home where he condemned the attack and later travelled to Israel to offer his condolences to the families of the slain schoolgirls. Jordan also later paid compensation.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Smae old pattern:

1) Muslim kills a lot of infidels, sometimes children

2) Infront of the a,ger oàf the infidels either the perpetrator or a usual suspect is arrested

3) He is sentenced but never to death (or in that case he is quickly pardonned). One could find that funny given how easily death sentence is used ion those countries until you remember that shariah says that muslims aren't to be senetnced to death for the murder of untermenschen infidels.

4) A couple years later there is an Amnesty for Ramadan, for Kinng's coronation or because the king's favourite she-cat just gave birth and guess who is realeased after serving for only two or three years? less than whatis used in those countries for stealing candy). You guessed it: the murderer of untermenschen infidels.
In fact I am surprised this guy was held for so long.
Posted by: JFM || 07/21/2008 6:56 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd be very, very surprised if King Ab took time out from riding his Harley to even read their petition.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/21/2008 11:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Also part of the pattern: Lion of Islam attacking defenseless victims by surprise. Mohammedans have neither honor nor courage.
Posted by: Excalibur || 07/21/2008 11:25 Comments || Top||

#4  "Following the recent release of Arab prisoners, we hope to see Dakamseh free again,"

Give em an inch...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 11:35 Comments || Top||

#5  This is why the Israelis need to get nasty. Kuntar? He should have been taken to the exchange point and, once they saw the condition of the bodies he was being traded for, immediately shot and had his body mutilated while the terrorist delegation watched.

"NOW you can have him."
Posted by: mojo || 07/21/2008 13:35 Comments || Top||

#6  The motives of Dakamseh, who was 30 at the time and a married father of three, were never clear.

I guess "he hates Jews" was too obvious to be considered.
Posted by: Kirk || 07/21/2008 15:41 Comments || Top||

#7  mojo would be spot on. Equal trades
Posted by: Frank G || 07/21/2008 19:31 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
'5,000 rebels killed this year'
More than 5,000 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed by Sri Lanka's military since the beginning of the year, the defence ministry said Sunday. The ministry said its latest figures showed 5,036 rebels and 446 of its own soldiers had died in fighting between the start of the year and Friday night. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have not released their estimate of casualties. Figures from both sides cannot be independently verified as journalists are barred from reporting from front line areas.
Posted by: Fred || 07/21/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It looks close to the end for the TTs.
Posted by: phil_b || 07/21/2008 1:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Figures from both sides cannot be independently verified as journalists are barred from reporting from front line areas.


A wise policy. We should consider something like this.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/21/2008 7:40 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Death-row Bali bombers forgo presidential pardon
Okay, boys. Give em the lead...
Nope. They deserve only the finest hemp ...
Bali, 21 July (AKI) - The three Islamist militants convicted of the deadly 2002 Bali bombing have waived their right to seek a presidential pardon, Indonesia's Attorney-General has confirmed. General Hendarman Supanji said he hoped the three men would be executed before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in early September.
Or maybe the next one. Or the one after that...
Supanji said the three - Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra - have all waived their right to seek Presidential clemency. "We have offered it in writing to them and to their families and both have refused it," he said.

He said that all legal avenues have been exhausted and their is nothing to stop the men's executions from going ahead. Indonesia does not make public the timing and exact location of executions. Under Indonesian law, executions are by firing squad and can take place at any time once all legal appeals are over. The men are being held in a maximum-security jail on Nusakambangan island off central Java.
When's the mysterious jailbreak?
The men's family members - who live hundreds of miles away in east and west Java - are expected to receive 72 hours notice before the condemned men face a firing squad. Indonesian police say they have prepared a firing squad for the execution.

Indonesia's Supreme Court last week dismissed the final appeal by Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Samudra. The three were convicted of planning and carrying out the nightclub bombings which was the worst act of terrorism ever seen in Indonesia. The attacks killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists, and injured another 209 people.
So long, smiley boy...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 11:16 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Inshallah.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 07/21/2008 13:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Hemp greased with pork fat.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/21/2008 13:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Dead's dead. I don't care how.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/21/2008 13:51 Comments || Top||

#4  With any luck the 72 hour notification will get lost in the Mail or other bureaucratic snafus and be received just about the time ' the shots ring out.'

otherwise expect the mysterious jailbreak to happen sometime after receipt of the same 72 hour notice.
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 07/21/2008 14:09 Comments || Top||

#5  The men are being held in a maximum-security secret CIA jail on Nusakambangan
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/21/2008 21:57 Comments || Top||



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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.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
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3dc
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2008-07-21
  Death-row Bali bombers forgo presidential pardon
Sun 2008-07-20
  B.O. visits Afghanistan on grand tour
Sat 2008-07-19
  Mighty Pak Army zaps 10 Hangu Talibs
Fri 2008-07-18
  Four Madrid bomb convicts cleared
Thu 2008-07-17
  Israel-Hezbollah 'prisoner' exchange
Wed 2008-07-16
  Paks: NATO massing forces on border
Tue 2008-07-15
  ICC charges against Sudan's Bashir
Mon 2008-07-14
  Failed Meknes suicide bomber sentenced to life
Sun 2008-07-13
  Nine US soldier among scores who die in wave of attacks in Afghanistan
Sat 2008-07-12
  Leb Forms New Cabinet, Hezbollah Keeps Veto Power
Fri 2008-07-11
  Petraeus takes command of CENTCOM
Thu 2008-07-10
  3 dead and 32 wounded in Leb fighting
Wed 2008-07-09
  Turkey: 3 turbans, 3 cops killed in shootout outside U.S. consulate
Tue 2008-07-08
  One killed, scores injured in series of blasts in Karachi
Mon 2008-07-07
  Suicide bomber kills 41 at Indian embassy in Kabul, 141 injured

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