[Tolo News] Dr Abdullah Abdullah, the leader of the 'Coalition for Change and Hope' said on Tuesday that his party will win almost 100 seats of the 249 seats in the parliament
Dr Abdullah said that the initial counting of votes reveal a leading success for his party members to win parliament seats.
"Considering the initial results that will pass through several other processes, I am optimistic that a considerable number of our coalition allies will have seats in Afghanistan's future parliament," Dr Abdullah told TOLOnews reporter.
Mr Abdullah added that his supporters will bring huge reforms in the government if they win in the elections.
"The role of the parliament is to have overwatch the government, thus our supporters will act as an active reformist group in the parliament," Abdullah added.
The leader of the Coalition for Change and Hope said despite widespread fraud in the Afghan parliamentary elections, his party is planning to have a major role in the future parliament.
Dr Abdullah was the only opponent of Hamid Karzai during the second Afghan presidential elections in 2009.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
'Coalition for Change and Hope'
A name which does not give me any degree of confidence.
[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal yesterday rejected all petition the top four Jamaat leaders filed for their release, withdrawal of arrest warrants against them and staying trial proceeding for war crimes.
Bummer.
The tribunal rejected four out of six petitions on different grounds after holding hearings on them and turned down the remaining two considering those as not submitted.
"Y'all are Pakistani-owned scum, and you're going down."
This means the four Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojahid, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla, have to be in jail until further order, their lawyer Tajul Islam told The Daily Star.
Tribunal's registrar Shahinur Islam said the tribunal would start its proceedings against the four after the prosecution submits formal charges against them.
"They're evil, scum-sucking, Pakistani tools, your honour, and they helped in the murder of a million and the rape of another million of our people, not to mention ten million refugees fleeing to India. We request summary judgement, followed by hanging from the neck until dead."
The prosecution would scrutinise the investigation reports first, which will be prepared by the investigation agency.
The petitions were filed on August 2 and 3 this year. On August 2, the four top Jamaat leaders were produced before the tribunal in connection with charges of crimes against humanity.
In the petitions they prayed for the tribunal's direction to the authorities concerned to provide them letter of authority (power to move cases), send back the records of two war crimes related cases filed against them to lower courts, and give them certified copies of its orders.
Passing the orders the tribunal said it issued the arrest warrant against them but the order was not executed as they were in jail in other cases.
It said detention against the petitioners is required for effective and proper investigation into allegations under Article-3 (2) of International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973. This section deals with offences like war crimes, genocide, murder, abduction, confinement, torture and rape.
The court observed that there are no proceedings other than the petitions pending with the tribunal against them and there is no need to issue any stay order.
It said the suspects would get all certified copies when the tribunal delivers judgements after formal charges are submitted.
The court also rejected two petitions, which sought direction to the authorities to provide them letter of authority (power to move cases) and to send records of two cases back to Chief Metropolitan Court in Dhaka, considering that the two petitions were submitted for hearing. The court also said the tribunal has not received any record of the two cases.
The counsels for the Jamaat leaders also prayed to the court to allow them to withdraw the two petitions.
Two cases were filed against them at Keraniganj Police Station on December 17, 2007, and Pallabi Police Station on February 26, 2008, in Dhaka in connection with committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.
The three-judge tribunal is headed by its chairman Justice Nizamul Huq. The two other judges of the tribunal are Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and Justice AKM Zaheer Ahmed.
Ghulam Arieff Tipoo, Syed Haider Ali and Zead Al Malulm placed arguments for the prosecution while Tajul Islam, Golam Mohammad Chowdhury Alam, Fakhrul Islam and Masud Ahmed Sayeed appeared for the Jamaat leaders.
SAYEDEE'S ARREST PETITION
The tribunal yesterday also adjourned the hearing till this morning on a petition submitted by the prosecution for issuing arrest warrant against detained Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee in connection with crimes against humanity and peace in 1971.
The court fixed today for hearing on two petitions, one filed for issuing warrant of arrest against Sayedee and the other for directing the authorities to provide letter of authority to Sayedee.
The tribunal also asked prison authorities to produce Sayedee before it this morning during the hearing.
However, Sayedee will not be produced before the tribunal today due to his illness, sources in Dhaka Central Jail told The Daily Star yesterday. The jail doctors yesterday certified that Sayedee is not physically fit to be produced before the tribunal today.
The authorities produced Sayedee before the tribunal yesterday morning in connection with prosecution's allegations of offences committed under International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973.
They brought him to the tribunal amid tight security around 9:00am and kept him detained in its prison until the tribunal started its day's proceedings around 10:30am.
A team from the investigation agency yesterday continued probing the allegations of war crimes against Sayedee in Pirojpur for the second time.
During hearing yesterday, the tribunal reprimanded the prosecution since they could not properly prepare the petition against Sayedee.
The prosecution did not mention in the petition the grounds on which the tribunal could issue order of detention against Sayedee. The tribunal told prosecutor Syed Haider Ali that he is a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court but his petition could not satisfy the tribunal.
The tribunal ordered the prosecution to place a corrected petition before it this morning.
There are no cases filed against Sayedee in connection with crimes against humanity but the prosecution has brought several allegations against him.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2010 00:00 ||
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Al Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday that the US Embassy in Lebanon called on its citizens to leave Lebanon within a week due to the deteriorating security situation.
The embassy has named some areas as "off-limits", said the newspaper, adding that US officials did not clarify the reasons behind the warning.
Some senior French court has been given six months to review it to make sure there are no legal issues, Anguper Hupomosing9418. It's my understanding that unless they say no, and explain the reason satisfactorily, it will be a go at the end of the six months.
#8
France has been fairly involved recently. Article says that it is likely the same group France raided a few weeks back which have the Niger hostages. If so, I have the feeling JFM will be right.
Which would add to this threat; breaking the good sport rules of the hostage exchange game and all would likely be thrown in with whatever other reasons to justify any sort of attack. An attack which will happen anyways, so might as well hang'em by the balls.
#11
The Arabs should review the last time the Foreign Legion was given free rein in an Arab country -- Algeria. Ask the Algerian terrorists how fun it was being interrogating by Legionnaires with no rules other than "make them talk".
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani used revelations in a new book about the Obama administration to criticize the president's handling of the war in Afghanistan, saying his insistence on an exit strategy has put American forces at greater risk.
Golly, is that as bad as not burning a Koran?
Giuliani also took issue with a quote attributed to President Obama by author Bob Woodward -- that the country could "absorb" another terrorist attack like the one suffered in September 2001. We 'absorbed' it- and we hit back. Hard. There is some question about whether this President would be willing to do that.
Not until after we had extended our hand in the hope of not receiving a fist back, first.
"I don't know that I would have said that," Giuliani told reporters on a conference call Wednesday. "The country has to be prepared for anything that can happen, and will deal with anything that would happen. I would prefer the president would put his efforts into doing everything to prevent another September 11."
I believe Mr. Giuliani went into the security consulting business after he gave up politics, so it's possible he knows what he's talking about.
Giuliani, who led New York on the day of those attacks, said Obama's response to crises like the Fort Hood shooting and the attempted Christmas Day bombing of an airliner heading for Detroit show "an unwillingness to come to grips with what we're facing." Oooh he went and SAID it!
It's hard to grip with a determinedly open hand. When we grip our hand turns into a fist, and that just would not meet this president's stated goal.
"The tone set at the top has a big impact on how a bureaucracy operates," he said. "And I think if the president would be more forthright about the fact that we are facing an Islamic extremist threat, that political correctness would not overrule common sense in making decisions about it." But the President is professorial!!
Interesting that Mr. Woodward quotes this president as saying that Pakistan is the the problem. Not that he's actually stating that it's Islamic extremists, but since that's what the country tests for, that is what they get.
[Pak Daily Times] Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Information Secretay Fauzia Wahab on Tuesday criticised the Punjab government for allegedly facilitating and supporting the banned Jamaatud Dawa (JuD).
Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly, she said that the government of Pakistan had banned JuD following the United Nations blacklist, but she deplored that the proscribed outfit was still active in Punjab with the alleged support of the provincial government.
"The provincial government is not only supporting the banned outfit but also facilitating it," she said, adding that the organisation had also lead a procession in Punjab and had published advertisements as well.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya] Amid rampant violence and anarchy, offspring of al-Qaeda members in Iraq suffer from not having any legal records or documentation, the Washington Post reports.
Plagued with no birth certificates, passports or national identifications cards, the children will not be able to go to school or hold a government job.
"It's dangerous because in the future they might hurt the society that hurt them," said Ahmed Jassim, director of the Nour Foundation, a nongovernmental organization working to improve the lives of the militants' children in the northeastern Iraqi province of Diyala.
When Qaeda was in control
The children are products of a time when al-Qaeda was in control of large swaths of the country after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. During that period the legal systems broke down, institutions could not function or provide any services, and insurgency raged in a reaction to the invasion.
Some Sunni Muslim communities gave sanctuary to the men, Iraqi or foreign Arabs, believing that they would help rid them of the U.S. army.
But al-Qaeda in Iraq quickly grew brutal, overpowered other Iraqi insurgent groups, declared an Islamic state and enforced a severe form of Islamic law, making communities to slowly turn against the group.
Many of the al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq were jailed or killed, or went into a hiding. The undocumented children they left behind are now between 1 and 4 years old.
Forced marriages
Jassim has identified at least 125 families in Diyala province alone with children from forced marriages. Many of the women don't know the real identities of their absent husbands and fear that if they fight for the rights of their children, they and the men of their families will be scorned or jailed for a connection to the militants organization.
Officials from the Interior Ministry whose task is to help victims of the Iraq war said the women are not considered as rape victims.
"Helping them could encourage al-Qaeda in Iraq," said Fadhil al-Shweilli, a ministry official who deals with victims of war.
Naheda Zaid Manhal, a parliament member from the largely Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, said she will fight on behalf of the children once the government is formed.
Legal experts said the easiest solution would be to give the children to orphanages or forge their birth certificates with the name of a fake father.
Um Zahra
A lady who introduced herself as Um Zahra (mother of Zahra) to Washington Post is a mother to a toddler, Zahra, who is a product of a forced marriage.
Recalling the account of how she became a mother, Um Zahra said in one night in 2008, six militants dashed into her house in Baqubah.
A man who identified himself only as Abu Zahra (father of Zahra), and others told Um Zahra's brother he had three choices: join them, be killed or give them his mother and his younger sister, then a striking 18-year-old with dark eyes.
The women were forced to accept and the marriages were performed by one of the armed men, though no marriage contract was signed. Abu Zahra then forced the teenager to have sex, and for the next three months, he and the others would arrive late at night, the women said.
They always left before sunrise. Umm Zahra's husband never gave his real name, the family said. Umm Zahra says she never saw the face of the man who stole her virginity.
"I hate him. He took the dearest thing in a woman's life," she said.
By the time she gave birth, the baby's father had been gone for months, having disappeared without a trace.
They told their new neighbors that the baby was an orphan they had taken into their home. But Umm Zahra knows the neighbors whisper about her and wonder why Zahra calls her "Mama.''
Umm Zahra said she will not go to court to pursue the rights of her child, now 11/2 years old fearing that people will fault her for the marriage and the child it resulted.
"These children are guilty of nothing," she said.
The family can't afford the $100 to $300 for a forged birth certificate with a fake father's name.
Since the last March election in Iraq, the country is stricken with a political stalemate, with no new government in charge of the country.
Many of the women are Sunni Arabs and worry that a Shiite-led government would lack sympathy and consider them accomplices in the crimes of their missing husbands.
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09/22/2010 00:00 ||
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A top Israeli warned today that Iran's vast nuclear program could be crippled for years with airstrikes. "But if I needed to elaborate," Dan Ayalon said, "I would say that it would be enough to just take out a few bottlenecks, important ones."
#2
"Crippled for years" > IMO read "DELAY, NOT STOP OR PREVENT.
Sub-read, Time for IRAN POLICY CHANGE, IFF NOT DE FACTO REGIME CHANGE.
IMO Iran should be broadly okay wid this becuz they desire the VARIOUS ISLAMIST MILITANT GROUPS to be the ones in the forefront of new 9-11's or other major Terrop agz the US-Allies while Iran quietly devs NUCWEAPS.
[Pak Daily Times] Israel said on Tuesday an Arab-led campaign to single it out at the UN atomic watchdog could undermine any arms control measures in the Middle East.
The warning highlighted US concern that the Arab drive at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would upset a plan to hold a conference in 2012 towards establishing a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction.
Israel's nuclear chief said on Tuesday that it was against Israel's interests to join a global anti-nuclear arms treaty and that the UN atomic watchdog was 'overstepping' its mandate in demanding it to do so.
Arab states have tabled a resolution at the IAEA annual conference in Vienna for Israel to foreswear nuclear weapons and sign up to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Arab states say there cannot be peace in the Middle East until Israel gives up nuclear arms.
Israel has never confirmed nor denied having atomic bombs, under a policy of ambiguity to deter its Arab and Islamic adversaries. "Israel is not the only member state ... that has exercised its sovereign right not to accede to the NPT due to its national security considerations," Israel's Atomic Energy Commission chief Shaul Chorev said.
"Yet Israel is the only state that has been singled out, and is called upon to take a decision which is against its best national interests," he told the conference.
"Indeed, the advancement of states' accessions to international treaties does not fall within the mandate of the (IAEA)," he said.
The NPT, which came into force in 1970, has been signed by 189 states. Only three countries -- India, Pakistan and Israel -- have not signed it.
North Korea is among those that acceded to the treaty but violated it and withdrew in 2003.
The Jewish state is the only Middle East power believed to possess nuclear weapons.
Chorev said the resolution tabled by the Arab states was part of a "political campaign to defame the state of Israel".
It was "incompatible with basic principles and norms of international law and does not fall within the mandate of the agency as defined in its statute," he said.
"Moreover, this resolution ... ignores the adverse reality in the Middle East region," Chorev said. He said that Middle East states such as Iran, Syria, Libya and Iraq under Saddam Hussein -- all signatories to the NPT -- had "grossly violated their treaty obligations".
"The serious threat to the NPT and the non-proliferation regime is posed from within by those states that pursue nuclear weapons under the cover of their NPT membership."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Arab states say there cannot be peace in the Middle East until Israel gives up nuclear arms and they can freely nuke it until it literally glows for the next thousand years.
#2
If the Arab states really truly believed that the Israelis had nukes and really truly believed that the Israelis would use them, wouldn't their behavior be .. um .. different than it is today?
In particular, wouldn't Pencilneck be a little more circumspect?
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2010 7:51 Comments ||
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#3
Since this is out of the question, Israel should have some fun with it. Say they will "consider" the possibility, but only if the UN repeals every single anti-Israel resolution that it has ever made.
To show (snicker) "good faith" (ha ha), "internationalism" (hee hee), and "goodwill" (haw haw, snort!).
#4
Israel's nuclear chief said on Tuesday that it was against Israel's interests Pretty much sums it up. Could have been stronger about the UN being worthless and feckless.
[Al Arabiya] Hamas on Tuesday condemned Egypt's arrest of one of its top officials, calling it an "extremely dangerous" move by Cairo.
Why? Will Hamas start shooting rockets at Egypt if he isn't freed? Foment a revolution against President Mubarak? Seethe?
"We view these actions as extremely dangerous," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told reporters in Gaza, referring to the arrest of Mohammed Dababesh at Cairo airport last week.
"When we contacted Egyptian authorities we were surprised by the procrastination and delay which could endanger the lives of our brothers like Dababesh... The Egyptian authorities have yet to justify this behaviour."
Dababesh, believed to be the head of internal security in Hamas's Gaza enclave, was "suspected of involvement in activities harmful to Egyptian state security," Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported Monday.
He had tried to smuggle "a significant quantity of sophisticated telecommunications equipment" and was suspected of being involved in the January shooting of an Egyptian policeman along the Gaza border, it said.
But Barhum denied the allegations, saying the arrest was a "real mockery of Egyptian-Palestinian relations" and calling on Egypt to release Dababesh and other Palestinian prisoners detained in recent months.
He did not elaborate on Dababesh's precise role in Hamas, saying only that he was an "official person" who was involved in past rounds of negotiations with the rival Palestinian Fatah faction.
Barhum also said Dababesh was returning from a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and not Hamas's headquarters in exile in Damascus, as Al-Ahram had reported.
Relations between Egypt and Hamas have soured since the most recent attempt by Cairo to broker a unity agreement between the rival factions collapsed late last year.
Hamas has accused Egypt of arresting and torturing several of its members, while Egypt indirectly accused Gaza militants of infiltrating its Sinai peninsula to fire rockets at Israel in August.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
go on bitches, threaten to stir up Egypt's own Muslim Brotherhood to foment riots and disruption. You'll get a lot of MB jugged or dead (not a bad thing) and prolly shut off the tunnel activity. I double-dog dare ya
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/22/2010 15:24 Comments ||
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UNITED NATIONS — A planned meeting between Israeli President Shimon Peres and his Turkish counterpart was scrapped because of the Israeli leader’s refusal to apologize for the deadly commando raid on a Turkish-led flotilla that tried to breach Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said on Monday.
Classic sucker punch. Offer a meeting then put conditions on it after the other guy says okay.
In the latest bid to repair IsraelÂ’s relations with its only Muslim ally in the region, Peres told reporters he had agreed to join Turkish President Abdullah Gul at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, then accepted GulÂ’s invitation to meet on the sidelines. But Israeli officials said Gul then set unacceptable conditions for the meeting.
Gul on Monday denied that any such meeting had ever been planned. “That is not true,” the Turkish president said. “There was never a meeting scheduled between us.”
Then deny it all ever happened.
A report by TurkeyÂ’s state-run Anatolia news agency quoted Gul as telling reporters in New York on Sunday that he would not meet with Peres because of a scheduling problem. Some reports had suggested that the two men would meet in a sign of a thaw in strained relations between the two formerly close allies.
Peres told reporters that he found Turkey’s conditions for a meeting with Gul to be unacceptable. “I got some conditions which made this meeting in my judgment not a positive one,” Peres told reporters as the UN General Assembly’s Millennium Development Goals summit was getting under way.
“Now we didn’t change our attitude to Turkey. We were friends, we remain friends. Maybe Turkey changed her mind, and that’s for the Turks to decide,” Peres said. “We don’t intend to worsen the situation. Neither can we submit to preconditions which are totally unacceptable.”
Peres did not elaborate on the preconditions. But senior Israeli officials confirmed that Gul wanted Israel to publicly apologize for the flotilla raid.
“The Turks came with the demands that could not be met ...,” said Israel’s UN Ambassador Meron Reuben. The demands included “that we apologize for the flotilla incident,” he said.
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09/22/2010 00:00 ||
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel wants to keep its troops on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state.
Palestinians reject the idea and have proposed an international force along the West Bank's border with Jordan as part of a peace deal.
Bring out the mighty Uruguayans!
Let me suggest a compromise: Israeli troops on the Israeli side of the border, UN troops stationed on the Palestinian side of the border. They can have a swath 500m wide along the entire length, to give them room for a road and cantonments for the various countries' units, who don't mix well. A wall on the far side to protect Palestinian girls (and boys) from the depredations of the men would be wise, too. Suha Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas ought to volunteer to pay for the wall out of their private accounts, "as a gift to the new nation."
Netanyahu told US Jewish leaders in a conference call on Monday that "the only force that can be relied on to defend the Jewish people is the Israeli Defence Force."
Netanyahu says an international force can't ensure Israel's security. He fears Palestinian militants will attack Israel from within a Palestinian state if Israeli troops are withdrawn from the West Bank-Jordan border.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas maintains that an Israeli troop presence would infringe upon Palestinian sovereignty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/22/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Netanyahu says an international force can't won't do squat to ensure Israel's security.
#3
The Periwinkle Plan for Compromise would certainly work for civilized people. But with the Paleos, the UN forces would either end up serving as human shields for Paleo rocket and mortar fire or get splattered by Juicy counter-battery fire.
A senior Pentagon official says the Obama administration is "working closely" with members of the U.S. Congress to help restore military aid to Lebanon's army.
U.S. Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy said Wednesday during a trip to Lebanon that the United States is committed to supporting the country's military.
In August, several U.S. lawmakers froze $100 million in military aid to Lebanon after expressing concerns the weapons could be turned on Israel and that Hezbollah may have influence over the Lebanese army.
But the Obama administration has made clear it wants the military aid to continue in the interest of America's national security and Mideast stability.
"We are working closely with members of the U.S. Congress to resolve the concerns they have over this assistance," Flournoy said in a statement after the meeting.
Washington has provided $720 million to Lebanon's poorly equipped army since 2006. It says the aid aims to strengthen the military at the expense of the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, which fought a 34-day with Israel four years ago.
But after last month's border clash, in which two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer were killed, some U.S. politicians said the funding should be halted.
A day after they raised their objections, Iran's ambassador to Beirut said that his country was ready to "cooperate with the Lebanese army in any area that would help the military in performing its national role in defending Lebanon".
Israel said at the time it had complained to Washington and Paris about arming Lebanon's military because the weapons were being used against it. The U.S. State Department said it was not aware that any U.S. equipment had been used during the Aug. 3 clash.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2010 12:23 ||
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#1
This is interesting. Debka says that Iran and Syria have given Hezbollah the go-ahead to try and take over Lebanon, and that they believe Israel will not intervene unless Syria crosses the border to help Hezbollah.
If this is the case, US involvement with the Lebanese army would be an interesting twist. Not necessarily ground forces, but naval and air support, intelligence support, and some resupply would make Hezbollah's task much harder.
#2
Yet in '82 the U.S. let the Maronites "twist slowly in the wind".
_____________
Might as well skip the middlemen and give arms directly to Hezbullah //sarcasm off.
#4
Oh, but that was all of a month ago. We were all ever so much younger and more impulsive then.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2010 18:40 Comments ||
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#5
These idiots in the Pentagon came to me last year wanting to FMS helicopter gunships for this terrorist supporting rat hole state. All I had to say to the owner of the company was,"Do you really want to see one of "YOUR" gunships on CNN on a shooting spree in Israel?" It took 30 seconds for the deal to end. Screw them and the dumbasses at the Pentagon should pull up the history books on that state and do their homework before allowing Obama to arm them.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/22/2010 20:57 Comments ||
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al Jazzera has a unique take on events during Short Round's UN speech yesterday.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, has addressed the UN General Assembly on the second day of the world body's millennium development goals summit. But it is not what he said on Tuesday that has made the news but what happened during the simultaneous translation of his speech, which has caused controversy. so far, so good.
Right from the start, his speech was overshadowed by technical problems, as the president was heard saying: "There's no translation". These problems continued to cause confusion two minutes into his speech. All this was followed by an ominous announcement: "The interpreters would like to state that they are reading from a written text translated into English". With that, the translation stopped altogether. Other reports shed a little light on what actually happened and have nothing to do with "technical difficulties". Mahmoud announced there would be no translation and launched into a 2 minute Farsi ramble about the glory of Iran as a world leader. Any non-Farsi speakers had no idea what the goof was saying. Then the headphones kicked in with translators immediately declaring that they were reading from a prepared printed speech provided by Iran and were not actually translating anything pencil neck was saying. No "technical difficulties", just the usual theatrics. Mahmoud is likely to be quite upset at having his carefully choreographed moment of dramatic spotlight as "technical difficulties."
the rest of the article goes on to cover the security precautions afforded Mahmoud and other topics touched on during the session.
Despite all the technical issues, Ahmadinejad managed to communicate his message that there is a need for an overhaul of what he called "undemocratic and unjust" global decision-making bodies.
The much-anticipated speech has now left many wondering what actually went wrong as the Iranian president's speech ended the same way as it started, without any translation. Nothing went wrong. His "speech" went exactly as planned.
Not really. He didn't get to send one message to the Farsi-speaking part of the Ummah, and another to the English speaking world, which had worked so well for Yasser Arafat. Also, the word must have gone round the UN immediately, and he is now a laughing stock there, and with anyone paying attention.
Ahmadinejad, who arrived in New York on Saturday, told the Associated Press news agency that "the future belongs to Iran," and challenged the US to accept that his country has a major role in world affairs.
He can't even manage a simple con. Clearly he isn't capable of a major role in world affairs.
US officials have made it clear that there are no plans for Barack Obama, the US president, to have any contact with the Iranian leader in New York this week.
Slap an L on his forehead for loser, if he can't even get a meeting with President Obama, who recently announced his willingness to negotiate with Iran if only they would be open to it.
#1
US officials have made it clear that there are no plans for Barack Obama, the US president, to have any contact with the Iranian leader in New York this week.
That gives Bumbles more time to practice his bowing in front of the mirror.
It takes skill and talent to bow really, really, low.
[An Nahar] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad have agreed to back Hizbullah's alleged coup against the Hariri government, Israel's debkafile reported.
It said the two leaders struck the deal during Ahmadinejad's brief stopover in Damascus on Saturday on his way to New York.
Ahmadinejad and Assad also agreed that Israel would not intervene "to save Beirut from Hizbullah domination," debkafile said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Come to think of it, if this were the case, I don't think that Israel *would* intervene, at least directly. Then they would give arms to all against Hizbullah, but only on condition that if they win, they drive Hizbullah, and all the Shiites, into Syria.
If they did that, then Israel would act to prevent any Syrian invasion of Lebanon. But only if the country would permanently forbid any Shiites from entering.
This would throw a wrench into the works. The Sunni nations would be all in favor of this. The Syrians would have a large number of unemployed and restless Shiites, and the Iranians would be out what could have been a valuable proxy.
#2
If Hizb'allah formally took over the government, whether by coup or otherwise, it wouldn't be long before they openly went to war against Israel. This time the rubble bouncing would not be as carefully targetted to only Shiite areas, I suspect. (See map here).
#3
Actually, tw, it might be more carefully targeted, particularly to the extent the IDF considers it a definitive battle. If Debka is remotely accurate in this report, Lebanon's secondary problem would be the IDF, the primary problem would be the civil war, which I'm sure the IDF would be interested in.
And, alas, yet another opportunity for the Turks to mess up their foreign policy.
#4
Actually, tw, it might be more carefully targeted
I'm sure you have more knowledge of military matters than I, Haliburton(etc.). But do you really think the rest of the Lebanese would be able to coordinate their efforts? They've pretty much done nothing except talk, up 'til now.
[An Nahar] Prime Minister Saad Hariri's political advisor Mustafa Nasser confirmed that he had conveyed an offer from Brig. Gen. Jamil Sayyed that stipulated Hariri pays $7.5 million in return for Sayyed to give up the lawsuits he had filed, al-Liwaa newspaper reported Tuesday.
Al-Liwaa, citing political sources, quoted Nasser as saying: "This is a fact and it took place in the presence of a Hizbullah official."
MP Oqab Saqr had accused Sayyed, former head of Lebanon's General Security Department, of trying to blackmail Hariri over cash-for dropping case.
He said Sayyed dispatched a "mediator" to Hariri asking for $15 million in return for giving up the lawsuits.
But Saqr said that when Hariri rejected Sayyed's offer, the envoy returned to reduce the blackmail by half.
"That person came back asking for $7.5 million. But Hariri, again, told him "I reject this kind of cheap settlement,'" Saqr said.
Meanwhile, Mustaqbal MPs told pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat that Hariri confirmed during Monday's meeting with his Future parliamentary bloc that remarks made by MP Oqab Saqr on Monday were "true."
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[An Nahar] The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday stressed the importance of "coexistence; Lebanon's Arabism that is based on a democratic regime and a peaceful rotation of power; and adhering to the Taef Accord and all its stipulations in terms of renewing the social contract, resisting the Israeli occupation, extending the State's authority over its territories, special relations with Syria based on the two countries' independence and rejecting the naturalization" of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
In a statement issued after its weekly meeting held in Qureitem under former premier Fouad Saniora, the bloc stressed its "adherence to the Lebanese consensus on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and its rejection of accusations and the misleading of the investigation."
The conferees noted that the "security-political-media show of force -- that took place at the airport, its facilities and surroundings and some of the capital's streets by Hizbullah -- terrorized the citizens and gave a distressing image about Lebanon's fragile stability."
"What were the Resistance's weapons and security personnel doing on the airport's runways and inside the VIP hall and the other halls of the airport, and what was the noble aim behind that storming?"
The bloc urged all political factions to "take an example from the bitter experiences the country has suffered," stressing the need "to return to the endorsement of a national rhetoric that serves the country, preserves its unity and guarantees its future."
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[An Nahar] Mustaqbal Movement parliamentary bloc MP Ammar Houri revealed on Monday that Prime Minister Saad Hariri had informed the bloc that he will not back down from supporting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Houri told Voice of Lebanon radio after a meeting for the Mustaqbal movement that Hariri also stressed maintaining openness in relations with Syria and standing by all he stated in his Asharq al-Awsat interview, continued the MP.
Houri quoted the premier as saying: "I, as prime minister, am committed to this strategic relationship with Syria that is built on ties between a state and another."
The MP revealed that Hariri intends on holding talks with President Michel Suleiman, House Speaker Nabih Berri, and a number of political figures, starting with the March 14 forces leadership.
The prime minister is also expected to address the Lebanese in a day or two, added Houri.
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[Al Arabiya] Iran on Tuesday said personal rather than political motives are behind the defection of two diplomats in Europe, adding that its foreign envoys en masse support the values of the Islamic revolution.
"No one believes in their political intentions, either here or outside Iran. It is more a case of preferring personal interests over national interests," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly press conference.
Mehmanparast was answering a question about announcements by two Iranian diplomats that they are seeking refuge in European countries.
Earlier this month, Hossein Alizadeh, a senior official at Iran's embassy in Helsinki, said he was seeking asylum in Finland.
"Their mission was already over so their claim that they have resigned before the end of their mission is not true," Mehmanparast said.
"If someone has a political incentive he will not stay on and receive 15 months' salary," he added, referring to the time elapsed since Ahmadinejad was re-elected in disputed presidential poll in June 2009.
"We consider this to be an administrative breach," Mehmanparast said.
"In the years after the revolution more than 20,000 diplomats have been sent on missions and among them only 20 have committed such administrative violations.
"This shows that the foreign ministry is filled with dedicated people who strongly support the values of the (1979) Islamic revolution. This number (of defectors) could happen in any nation," he said.
Norway in February granted asylum to Mohamed Reza Heydari, the former consul general of the Islamic republic's mission in Oslo, after he resigned the previous month.
Ahmadinejad's June 2009 re-election has bitterly divided the political elite in Iran, as the opposition charged the poll was massively rigged to keep the hardliner in power
The election and its turbulent aftermath plunged Iran into deep internal crisis. Analysts say the defections are a clear illustration of the rift.
Thousands of people were detained in protests and the opposition says more than 70 people were killed in the unrest. Officials estimate the death toll at up to 36 people including members of the state's Islamic Basij militia.
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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.
A senior Pentagon official says the Obama administration is "working closely" with members of the U.S. Congress to help restore military aid to Lebanon's army.
