[Al Arabiya Latest] President Barack Obama vowed Thursday that Afghanistan would not become a "permanent protectorate" of the United States as he defended his decision to begin withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011.
Speaking to CBS in his first interview since announcing his new Afghan strategy last week, Obama warned that without a deadline some Afghans would take America's provision of security for granted.
"There are I think elements in Afghanistan who would be perfectly satisfied to make Afghanistan a permanent protectorate of the United States, in which they carry no burden, in which we're paying for a military in Afghanistan that preserves their security and their prerogatives," he told the network.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Another Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) man died yesterday at the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) raising the death toll to 54 in separate incidents since the mutiny on February 25-26.
The deceased, Rezaul Karim, 45, a havilder of Rifles Battalion-44 at Pilkhana, was an accused in the BDR mutiny case. He was undergoing treatment at the BSMMU under jail custody since November 24 and died in the morning.
His family members alleged that tortures during remand period caused his illness that led to his death.
Talking to The Daily Star at the morgue, Liton Fakir, nephew of Rezaul, said the body of Rezaul bore several injury marks at different parts.
"After the remand period, I met with my maternal uncle and found him grievously ill," Liton said.
"I was severely tortured during interrogation and I will survive no more," Rezaul was quoted as saying by Liton.
Family members said Rezaul fled from Pilkhana on February 26 and later joined his work. He was arrested in connection with the mutiny case.
On the death of Rezaul due to torture in custody, BDR Director General (DG) Maj Gen M Mainul Islam told The Daily Star that he had no information about torture on him during custody.
Meanwhile, Shimul Kanti Barua of around 40, a cook of BDR training school at Satkania in Chittagong, died at Pilkhana BDR hospital in the capital yesterday.
BDR officials said he came to Dhaka from Chittagong with fever on October 15 this year. Later, he was detected with lung cancer at Cancer Hospital and sent to BDR hospital on December 5.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] War criminals convicted under Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, 1972 can now have membership or leadership of BNP's committees at any level since the party has deleted the barring provision from its constitution.
The war criminals of 1971 will also be eligible for getting BNP nomination to contest parliamentary elections.
The national council of the party on Tuesday approved the BNP national standing committee's proposal for abolishing the provision.
The deleted provision said an individual convicted under the president order no-8 of 1972, which is Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order, will be disqualified from being a member of the party's national council, national executive and standing committees and any committee at any level or being a candidate to contest parliamentary elections.
Barrister Mahbubuddin Khokan, a member of the sub-committee formed ahead of BNP's national council to prepare the draft for constitution amendment, yesterday said it was scrapped to avoid redundancy.
He said the provision was included in the BNP's constitution in 1979 as there was a need for it at that time.
"But now there are no war criminals in Bangladesh. People who were war criminals have already died," Khokan, also a BNP lawmaker, said.
Talking to The Daily Star, eminent jurist Shahdeen Malik, however, expressed surprise at the deletion of the provision from BNP's constitution.
"My understanding would be that probably there are persons who were convicted on charge of war crimes but now would be included in any committee of BNP. Therefore, the provision has been omitted to remove the bar on them," Malik said over telephone.
Contacted by The Daily Star yesterday, Dr MA Hasan, convenor of the war crimes fact finding committee, said over 750 people were convicted on charge of war crimes under Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order.
"By deleting the provision from its constitution, BNP is encouraging war criminals unethically to do politics," he said.
The amendments brought to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) before the December 29 general election imposed a permanent ban on convicted war criminals to contest parliamentary elections.
Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunal) Order was enacted in 1972, just after the country's victory in the Liberation War, and the trial of war criminals began.
But the bloody changeover on August 15, 1975 halted the trial as the then president Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem repealed the act by promulgating an ordinance that stopped all investigations and other proceedings of the trial.
Shahdeen Malik said repealing the act to try war criminals does not change their conviction. "An individual convicted on charge of war crimes will have to prove his innocence to get rid of the consequence of the conviction," he said.
The BNP, however, has kept a few other provisions regarding disqualification unchanged, showing its tough stance against corruption.
According to these provisions, individuals who have become bankrupt or have been proved mentally unsound or known as corrupt and notorious in the society will be disqualified from being a member of any committee of the party and also from contesting parliamentary elections on BNP's nomination.
Besides, a BNP member in his or her identity card form has to promise never to tolerate corruption.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Make sense to me:
A.Qualify them as security guards
B.Point them in the right direction to their new jobs.
C.Arrest them for conspracy to bomb the Mall where they work.
North Korean authorities have publicized the age of Kim Jong-un, leader Kim Jong-il's third son and heir apparent, as 27 since June, a year older than he was previously thought to be, NHK quoted experts as saying Thursday. According to NHK, North Korean officials have told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang since June that Babyface Kim junior was born in 1982. Previously, they said he was born on Jan. 8, 1983.
It could be a question of round numbers. The channel speculated that the North is trying to make it look as though Kim junior turns 30 in 2012, because that is the year Pyongyang has set as a goal for achieving a "powerful and prosperous" nation. It is also the centenary of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung's birth and Kim Jong-il's 70th birthday.
"It seems that North Korean leadership is attempting to boost the aura surrounding Kim Jong-un by emphasizing that he will reach an auspicious age alongside his father, in 2012, the centenary of his grandfather's birth," NHK said. It said the change of birth date seems to confirm rumors that Kim Jong-un is being primed for the succession given that Kim Jong-il's year of birth was also changed before he became leader.
Kim Jong-il's official birthday is Feb. 16, 1942, but he was apparently born in 1941.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] North Korea said Friday that it has agreed with the United States to cooperate in narrowing differences over its nuclear issue, raising hopes for follow-up negotiations, AFP reported.
They also found some common ground on the need to resume stalled six-party disarmament negotiations, a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement published by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
'Both sides agreed to continue to cooperate with each other in the future to narrow down the remaining differences,' the spokesman said.
The statement comes as US envoy Stephen Bosworth is set to leave Seoul after a three-day visit to Pyongyang. Bosworth goes on to Beijing on Friday, Tokyo on Saturday and Moscow on Sunday.
'Through working and frank discussion the two sides deepened the mutual understanding, narrowed their differences and found not a few common points,' the spokesman said.
'They also reached a series of common understandings of the need to resume the six-party talks and the importance of implementing' the September 19 joint statement, he said.
In September 2005 the North vowed in a six-party joint statement to scrap its nuclear weaponry in exchange for aid, diplomatic benefits and talks on a permanent peace pact for the peninsula.
The talks covered wide-ranging issues such as normalisation of relations, economic and energy assistance, denuclearisation and the proposed conclusion of a peace agreement, he said.
In Seoul on Thursday, Bosworth said the United States and North Korea agreed on the need to resume six-party talks. But he said it was unclear when the North would return to the forum.
The envoy's visit was nonetheless described as 'quite positive' by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said the US approach was one of 'strategic patience.'
'For a preliminary meeting, it was quite positive.... The approach that our administration is taking is of strategic patience in close coordination with our six-party allies,' Clinton said.
'And I think that making it clear to the North Koreans what we had expected and how we were moving forward is exactly what was called for.'
Bosworth's three-day visit was the first official contact between Washington and Pyongyang since President Barack Obama took office in January, pledging direct diplomacy with America's adversaries.
Analysts believe Pyongyang's main goal is to negotiate a peace treaty with Washington, which says this must be discussed within the six-party format.
'Through its statement today, North Korea is sending a positive message to the outside world,' Seoul's Dongguk University professor Kim Yong-Hyun said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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Specially trained bomb-sniffing dogs might soon be patrolling Metro Vancouver's buses and SkyTrains just in time for the Olympics, but that has some Muslims concerned.
The Metro Vancouver Transit Police Service is in the process of selecting the handlers and dogs that will be part of the two-year pilot project, said deputy chief George Beattie.
Once the teams are trained, the dogs will work on the entire transit system, including buses, SkyTrains and SeaBus ferries.
But the idea of being sniffed up and down by a slobbery pooch no matter how well trained has already raised concerns among some members of Metro Vancouver's Muslim community.
Some devout Muslims consider dogs to be unclean animals and try to avoid any contact with them. Some Muslim cab drivers in Vancouver have even refused to take guide dogs in their vehicles and will call for a second vehicle to take the fare instead.
Shawket Hassan, the vice-president of the B.C. Muslim Association, says he wants to make sure the dogs will not touch passengers during searches, which could lead to problems, particularly for Muslims heading to a mosque to pray.
"If they touch the body, then there is a probability they will leave some saliva on the clothes," said Hassan.
"If I am going to the mosque and pray, or doing something that way, and I have this saliva on my body I have to go and change or clean," said Hassan.
He pointed out that devout Muslims pray five times a day, no matter where they are.
Hassan said he wants to work with the transit police to develop guidelines that would keep the dogs at least 30 centimetres away from passengers.
But Hassan stressed that Muslims have respect for all animals, including dogs, and they have no objections to using the dogs for security.
"This is a step we would support, but we would like to be informed," he said.
#1
Ah, so that's it. Create a fake sense of outrage amongst Muslims for being unfairly singled out. This is because the actions of the men on the airliners will give cause for more scrutiny of Muslims in general.
#2
I think this is one of those things that led SoS Madeleine Albright to conclude that the "Muslims are lacking a Renaissance." The horrid beasts that must have barked and scared the bejesus out of Mohammad when visiting the huts and tents of his associates (even wild dogs from the 7th century could probably sense the disposition of a monster) have come a long way in breeding, and now the fun and cuddly Sheepdogs, Dachshunds and Irish Setters of the world need a second chance from the Angel Gibril.
#3
In fact, and to be fair, it's very understandable. After all, dogs are Unclean, and... bombs are very, very holy for muslims, as you know.
So, it's REALLY like their Religious Feelings are being defiled or something.
#4
I really do think that the authorities should listen to this " Muslim Leader " as he ( a Muslim leader can only be male ) is speaking on behalf of all " Moderate Muslims " and we do not want to upset their sensitivities, as they go about bombing the Kafirs.
Posted by: Dave UK ||
12/12/2009 5:05 Comments ||
Top||
#12
These guys are a little (or maybe a lot) OC (Obsessive Compulsive...in addition to having SJDS-Sudden Jihad Derangement Syndrome)...or maybe just plain bug nuts crazy.
#14
The truffle hog or truffle pig is a domestic pig used for extraction of truffles from temperate forests in Europe and North America. The pigs have a good sense of smell and a natural affinity for rooting in the earth for food, and are trained to hunt truffles by walking on a leash. The use of the pig to hunt truffles is said to date back to the Roman Empire,<---B.M. Before Muslims --> The first well-documented use comes from Bartolomeo Platina in the 15th century. Later references to truffle pigs include John Ray in the 17th century.
In 1875, a truffle hog could cost up to $200. A skilled truffler could more than make up for this investment due to the high price of truffles on the gourmet food market. Today it is common for dogs (known as "Truffle hounds") as well as truffle hogs to be used in the gathering of truffles because hogs have been known to eat too many truffles in the field. However, traditionalists argue that the swine have more sensitive noses and their particular taste for truffles leads to a more devoted beast. It is frequent for the hog to be more of a family pet of the truffler.
#15
What about people squashed into gether on the Skytrain? Would that offend the 30 cm rule? perhaps a judicial use of a taxi may be the price for religious fervour
[Dawn] The United States believes that Pakistan will deport the five American Muslims arrested there for allegedly trying to contact religious extremists.
The official said it was still not clear if those five suspects had broken any US law while in Pakistan but said the US would seek their extradition and he believed that Pakistani authorities would have no objection to sending them home.
Earlier, Pakistani police officials told reporters that five young Muslim men from Northern Virginia had tried to join a militant group.
They said they had recovered laptops, maps and extremist literature from them in a raid on a house in Sargodha. The material suggested that the Americans wanted to train for jihad, Pakistani officials said.
But FBI officials in Washington once again said they had no information linking the five young Americans to terrorist organisations.
The US Embassy in Islamabad told reporters that US officials, including some from the FBI, had visited the men.
Meanwhile, another State Department official said it was 'too premature' to talk about the extradition of Pakistan-born American David Coleman Headley, alias Dawood Gilani, to India for his alleged role in the Mumbai terror attacks of November last year.
'Obviously, we do have an extradition treaty with India, but how that will work going forward, I think that's premature,' Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P.J. Crowley said at his daily press conference.
'As to the precise disposition of Headley's case, at the present time, I'll refer you to the Department of Justice,' he added.
He was responding to the statement by Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai that New Delhi would seek the extradition of Headley, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in October on charges of plotting terrorist attacks in Denmark and India.
Asked what message did the arrest of some Pakistan-American citizens for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities send, Mr Crowley replied: 'I think you're leaping to a conclusion that we have not drawn.'
According to the AaaayPeeee, they're students. You can see a video of the poor youts by hitting this link and then the embedded video. Poor dears ...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Naaa, just keep em there in Pakistan. You get more information than we will from them in New York.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pakistan's government for the first time confirms the presence of Afghanistan's Taliban leadership, known as the Quetta Shura, on the country's soil.
Defense Minister, Ahmad Mukhtar, in an exclusive interview with DawnNews, said on Friday that security forces have dealt a severe blow on the Quetta Shura and that it no longer can pose any threat.
The top US Commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, had informed last Friday, the US fears the top Taliban leadership was in Quetta -- Balochistan province's capital -- master-minding attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.
Confirming McChrystal's allegations, the US consul-general in Peshawar said the same day that they do not know where Osama bin Laden is, but said, "We do know that some of the al-Qaeda leadership is sitting in Quetta and that they travel back and forth from Afghanistan to Pakistan."
"We know that they are there. And I think your government also knows this. Whether they want to say this in public or not but I think they know they are there," Candace Putnam added.
However, until this revelation by Pakistan's defense minister, Islamabad had denied the existence of any Taliban leadership or the Quetta Shura in Balochistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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Iraq struck deals with consortiums led by energy giants Shell and CNPC on massive southern oil fields on Friday, part of a two-day auction that seeks to dramatically boost the country's crude output.
The successful bids from the Anglo-Dutch and Chinese giants kicked off the sale, which aims to catapult Iraq toward the top of the list of the world's oil producers and bring in much-needed revenue to rebuild the war-battered country.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki highlighted the transparency with which the auction was being conducted, contrasting it with the "darkened rooms" in which now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein made deals over oil.
The contract for the enormous Majnoon field was jointly won by Shell and its Malaysian partner Petronas, while CNPC led a group comprised of Petronas and France's Total to capture Halfaya.
"The second round represents a new era in the history of the Iraqi oil industry," Maliki said as he opened the auction.
Referring to the transparency of the auction, he said it was "very important because many international companies are participating, in public and on television."
"The old way was in darkened rooms, behind closed doors. But today, it is clear to everyone," Maliki said.
Shell and Petronas requested fees of 1.39 dollars per barrel of oil extracted from Majnoon, and projected that they would produce 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd). It beat out a rival offer from Total and CNPC.
The cartoon begins with bait for Muslim youngsters to hate Jews because Jews are wretched:
TV character Nassour: There wont be any Jews or Zionists, Allah willing. Theyll be erased.
We want to slaughter them so they will be expelled from our land, right?
TV character Saraa: Yes, thats right
Daily Arab children are indoctrinated via colorful TV cartoons that Jews are hateful as in murderers and thieves. It is a staple for boys and girls growing up in Muslim Middle East households particularly.
A real-life Arab boy TV actor, after a cartoon segment, summarizes the educational gist of that kiddy flick:
Arab boy TV actor states: The Jews Teach Their Children To Slaughter, To Destroy, To Kill, and To Shoot, Whereas Our Children Are Taught Friendship [And] Loyalty.
Another studio real-life youngster wraps up the cartoons message with the following:
The Jews teach their children to slaughter, to destroy, to kill, and to shoot, whereas our children are taught friendship [and] loyalty, as well as the Islamic religion, and memorizing the Koran. Our children are taught not to steal and not to lie.
The cartoon teaches children it is healthy for them to be beaten by parents for it helps them grow up more civilly.
The cartoon features a lad singing a song entitled: My Father Beat Me [He Beats Me] A Lot.
Note this dialogue between the two TV studio adults, Nassur and Saraa Barhoum, and the TV boy child, Ghassan, after he has finished singing his macabre song:
Nassur: Can you remember a day when you were sad and you cried?
Saraa Barhoum: For example, when somebody dear to you died.
Ghassan: When my father beat me.
Saraa Barhoum (laughing): Well, everybody Obviously, your father wanted to teach you something.
Nassur: Did he beat you only once?
Ghassan: No, a lot.
Saraa Barhoum: Because he wanted to teach you manners and If you made a mistake, you need to do better next time. [...]
In other words, "Daddy, beat me. It does me good."
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2009 8:29 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Yeah, noted this segment in the MEMRI translation; pretty funny. Rather than projection, it's really a big, huge cognitive dissonance, between the arab collective self-image, what they really are, and how people at large (people living among them as minorities, along with them as majorities, or just looking at arab countries from afar) see them. I really wonder how they can reconciliate this smug sense of superiority and all-around supremacism (about their race, about their "manliness", about their religion/civilization) with just, well, the Real World. Not to mention how they reconciliate it with the victimhood racket, feeling of deprivation and paranoid grievances? Not exactly a wholly functional matrix to produce well-adjusted people and countries.
#5
Now, now. You really must be sensitive to the authentic, cultural nuances on display here. Sure....it's wrong for Westerners to whomp on their spawn. But you need to understand that the oppressed Palestinians have no other choice but to pound on the kids, what with all the abuse and humiliation they experience on a daily basis from the Juice.
It really is the Juices' fault, you know. If only they would do the decent thing and give over everything they have to the poor Palestinians....
It's not really abuse in the Western sense, anyway. See how the adults affirm the kid's father's behavior! Why, the kid even thinks he needs more of an ass-whuppin'! How DARE you impose your white male patriarchal oppression on these people when they have already suffered so!!!
#6
Putting a little can of whup ass on the kids is better than sending them out with explosives strapped to their bodies. Come to think of it maybe beating the crap out of the kids is merely preparation for them becoming splodadopes.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip on Friday began celebrations marking the movement's 22nd anniversary with parades and the unveiling of a huge mural depicting rockets targeting Israel.
Hundreds of people riding camels, horses and motorcycles took part in processions from the north and the east of the besieged Palestinian territory to converge on the house of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.
In the centre of the coastal strip, thousands of people took part in a pro-Hamas march that also featured mock rockets.
In the Jabaliya refugee camp a huge mural was unveiled, featuring Palestinians fighting the Israeli occupation with stones, rifles and rockets.
The main celebration will be held on Monday, the actual anniversary of the anniversary of the movement's founding.
Speculation was rife that Hamas might make an announcement about the fate of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured in June 2006 when fighters from Hamas and two other armed groups tunneled out of Gaza to attack an army post, killing two soldiers.
Contradictory reports have emerged in recent weeks about the possible imminent release of Shalit in a swap for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Israel and Hamas have held indirect talks sponsored by Egypt and mediated by Germany to finalize a swap.
Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, routing its secular rival Fatah after a week of deadly street battles.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
22 years of living in rubble and rabble rousing!
A Western drive to impose a new set of tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program may prove to lose momentum due to strong opposition from Russia and China.
The tense UN Security Council meeting began on Thursday with a salvo of warnings from UN representatives of France, Britain, and the US -- all of whom stood united in their demands that Iran should comply with their demands over its nuclear activities.
Mark Grant, the British envoy to the United Nations, told reporters that if Tehran ploughs ahead with its nuclear work, it will face another set of coordinated and punitive economic and political measures as soon as next year.
French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud, meanwhile, said: "We make a last call to Iran to respond" to Security Council demands. "If Iran does not... France will present a new resolution of sanctions."
US Ambassador Susan Rice added voice to her French and British counterparts, stressing that the West is "firm in its conviction that Iran must comply with its international obligations."
"Should Iran continue to fail to meet its obligations, the international community will have to consider further actions," she noted.
Iran came under renewed pressure last week when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution demanding that Iran stop construction of the newly-revealed Fordo nuclear facility outside Tehran.
The resolution was met with fury in the Tehran government, particularly because it was adopted regardless of a recent UN report, which confirmed for the twenty-first time the non-diversion of Iran's nuclear program from the frameworks of UN nuclear watchdog or international regulations.
The report also confirmed and praised Iran for allowing a UN team to carry out a full inspection of its under-construction Fordo facility.
However, calls for tougher sanctions were met with skepticism from representatives of China and Russia, both of whom called for patience and restraint in dealing with Iran.
"There is still space for the diplomatic efforts of the international community to resume talks. It may require more time and patience on all parts," said Zhang Yesui, China's envoy to the UN.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin stood with his Chinese counterpart, announcing his opposition to a new round of sanctions against the Tehran government.
The Security Council, under US pressure, has adopted three sets of sanctions against Iran over what it claims to be the country's "suspicious" enrichment program.
Tehran says its activities are intended solely for the peaceful generation of electricity and for medical purposes.
In a separate interview, the former director of the UN nuclear watchdog, Mohammed ElBaradei, also stated his opposition to the imposition of further sanctions against Iran, saying the nuclear issue can be only resolved through diplomatic means.
"Sanctions are not the solution," he told the Austrian newspaper Kurier.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"Should Iran continue to fail to meet its obligations, the international community will have to consider further actions,"
Threatening to consider further actions, eh? They'll be shaking in their boots, they will. Question: Given the annoyance and threat that Iran poses to the West, what possible interest could Russia and China have in supporting sanctions?
#4
No, Iran is a convenient tool for Russia to keep the West and the rest of the Mid East off balance, plus making the bear a somewhat indispensable trading partner and figure of influence.
Same for the Chinese, tho with more emphasis on the latter parts, plus access to Iran's resources.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's government won a resounding vote of confidence from parliament on Thursday, paving the way for his expected visit to Syria for talks with the country's president.
Lebanon's new government, which backs Hezbollah's right to keep its arms, won the support of 122 of the 128-seat assembly. One deputy voted against while one abstained and four were absentees, speaker Nabih Berri said.
The Parliament endorsed Hariri's government after a 3-day debate during which the issue of Hezbollah's arms was a heated topic.
Christian MPs and ministers of the Hariri-led parliamentary majority voiced discontent over the clause, which states the right of "Lebanon, its government, its people, its army and its resistance" to liberate all Lebanese territory.
But they nonetheless granted the cabinet their votes on Thursday.
Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, is commonly referred to as the resistance in Lebanon.
But Hezbollah, which has two ministers in cabinet, regularly states its weapons are not open to discussion.
It argues its arms are necessary to protect the country against any future aggression by Israel, which withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation.
Hariri, a 39-year-old Sunni Muslim businessman, had been keen on securing the backing of his powerful Shiite rivals, who are close allies of neighboring Syria, to ensure a smooth launch for his administration.
No date has been set for Hariri's expected trip to Syria for talks with President Bashar al-Assad, but Lebanese media said that it could be this month.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2009 00:00 ||
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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.
[Bangla Daily Star] Another Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) man died yesterday at the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) raising the death toll to 54 in separate incidents since the mutiny on February 25-26.
[Dawn] The United States believes that Pakistan will deport the five American Muslims arrested there for allegedly trying to contact religious extremists.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pakistan's government for the first time confirms the presence of Afghanistan's Taliban leadership, known as the Quetta Shura, on the country's soil. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip on Friday began celebrations marking the movement's 22nd anniversary with parades and the unveiling of a huge mural depicting rockets targeting Israel.
