[Al Jazeera] Sudan's president has said that his Khartoum-based government is ready to give up its share of the revenues from oil reserves from the south, if the region votes against independence.
Here in Cincinnati we have the original of the Brooklyn Bridge. I own the titlea tenth share of the title controlling interest in a tenth share of the title. You do believe me, right?
Omar al-Bashir said that the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended the civil war between the north and the south and set the date for the referendum on secession, had divided the oil wealth in order to "to encourage our brothers in Southern Sudan to vote for unity".
However, The infamous However... in an address to a delegation of AU's Peace and Security Council in Khartoum on Thursday, Bashir said that the northern government was now willing to give up its share of the revenues to ensure the country remains undivided.
"We say if they choose unity, we are ready for the national government to give up its full share in the oil of the South to the government of the south," he said.
Bashir made the remarks just a day after one of his senior aides acknowledged that the south would likely vote to secede in the January 9 referendum after the "failure" of policies aimed at keeping Africa's largest nation united.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Translation: The South will have the oil, but it'll be a problem for them to get it out of there.
[Yemen Post] The national dialogue preparatory committee and the Houthi Group reached an agreement at their meeting in Saada on Thursday for forming a joint commission to coordinate addressing various national issues.
They stressed the importance of deepening their mutual relationship, as they argue that Yemen's problems can't be tackled but within a general national framework and comprehensive national dialogue with no party excluded.
All crucial issues including the Saada and south files as well as building nation, establishing citizenship and quality, partnership of power and wealth and preserving the country from any plots should be addressed by all and soon, they said.
There should be a focus on the Saada and south issue because we all know that the crux of Yemen's crises lies in their causes, they urged.
The national dialogue to be held soon should address the war file and war impacts topped by the topics of war prisoners, establishing the fate of those who went missing, rebuilding war-ravaged areas, compensating the affected people and sticking to all agreements including the Doha peace deal, they added.
Moreover, the regime should stop unconstitutional acts including suppressing activists and civilians, and it should also close all exceptional courts, they said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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Bangladesh's military spy agency, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), supported Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Bangladesh (HuJI) in forming a new political party, according to Wikileaks documents.
According to the cables sent by the US embassy in Dhaka, DGFI made the attempt to promote the Islamic Democratic Party right before the 2008 general elections.
But the US embassy was strongly opposed to the creation of the IDP, knowing that the party be involved in violence against the US mission or interests. It quoted the National Security Intelligence's concern that the party's creation would free extremists to pursue terrorist activity under the cover of a moderate front organisation.
Another wire by the US embassy said that Bangladeshi peacekeepers on UN missions needed to be put under surveillance. There was a suspicion that Bangladesh's interest in African peacekeeping missions has more to do with building influence in Africa than goodwill. Therefore, the communiqué requested all possible details be included when reporting on such persons in UN organisations and included an exhaustive list.
The al-Qaeda ink cartridge bomb discovered at East Midlands Airport was so sophisticated that police officers nearly put in a van because they did not realise it was explosive.
[Dawn] Julian Assange said Friday it was "increasingly likely" the US would try to extradite him on charges related to WikiLeaks, as he spent his first day on bail on an English country estate.
The 39-year-old founder of the whistle-blowing website is fighting extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he sexually assaulted two women, which he denies.
But speaking outside Ellingham Hall, a friend's mansion in eastern England, where he must live while on bail, Assange said he was more concerned about potential moves from US authorities.
"The big risk, the risk we have always been concerned about, is onwards extradition to the United States. And that seems to be increasingly serious and increasingly likely," the Australian told news hounds.
Assange said his lawyers believed a secret US grand jury investigation had been started into his role in WikiLeaks' release of thousands of leaked US diplomatic cables -- a probe he condemned as "illegal".
Looking relaxed and wearing a green puffa jacket in the snowy conditions, he said the mansion was a "big improvement" on the London jail where he was held in solitary confinement for nine days before his release on bail Thursday.
Media reports suggest that US prosecutors are trying to build a case against Assange on the grounds that he encouraged a US soldier, Bradley Manning, to steal US cables from a government computer and pass them to WikiLeaks.
Assange said: "I would say that there is a very aggressive investigation, that a lot of face has been lost by some people, and some people have careers to make by pursuing famous cases."
He said WikiLeaks had pledged 50,000 dollars (38,000 euros) towards Manning's legal fund.
But he told ABC television in the US that: "I had never heard of the name Bradley Manning before it was published in the press.
"WikiLeaks technology (was) designed from the very beginning to make sure that we never know the identities or names of people submitting us material."
Later, in interviews with British media, Assange said Manning "is the only one of our military sources who has been accused and that means that he is in a difficult position."
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... in Washington a report by congressional researchers said the Espionage Act and other US laws could be used to prosecute Assange, but there is no known precedent for prosecuting publishers in such a case.
"Leaks of classified information to the press have only rarely been punished as crimes, and we are aware of no case in which a publisher of information obtained through unauthorized disclosure by a government employee has been prosecuted for publishing it," the report said.
On the Swedish case against him, the former computer hacker claimed it was part of a "smear campaign" linked to WikiLeaks, saying prosecutors had yet to provide "a single piece of evidence" to back up its allegations.
Swedish prosecutors deny their case is related to WikiLeaks. Assange's release was the result of a nine-day legal battle following his arrest in London on a Swedish warrant on December 7.
Although a judge in a lower court granted him bail Tuesday, prosecuting lawyers appealed. It was only after the appeal was rejected in the High Court Thursday that Assange could be freed on bail.
Judge Duncan Ouseley rejected the argument that Assange was likely to flee the country, but his supporters had to come up with a 240,000-pound (283,000-euro, 374,000-dollar) surety.
Assange has also been electronically tagged, is subject to a curfew and must report daily to a cop shoppe near the mansion in picturesque Suffolk. He was driven out of the mansion to report to police Friday.
The mansion is owned by Vaughan Smith, a former army officer and journalist who founded the Frontline Club in London which acts as WikiLeaks' British base. He has described Assange as "courageous".
Assange has vowed the allegations against him will not stop WikiLeaks from releasing further documents.
"People like to present Wikileaks as just me and my backpack -- it is not true. We're a large organisation," he told news hounds Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
he could avoid Holder's DOJ charges if he just joined the New Black Panther Party
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/18/2010 0:36 Comments ||
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#2
Mr. Assange should fear US charges.
DOJ lawyers are trying to get Private Manning to roll over on Assange for conspiracy charges, the easiest charges to prove and the hardest to defend against.
Should Manning go along not only will Assange goes down, so does his whole crew. Then the flood gates could potentially open for even more to be charged.
#3
Before we charge Asshat our 'leaders' are going to want to be sure he doesn't have (or won't get) any dirt on them. And I don't think many of them WILL be sure. Could make entertaining theatre - bring it on.
#4
We would have to get our hands on Assange, which I rather doubt will happen (unless the CIA has gotten a LOT better these last few months). The Brits will hand him over to the Swedes and the Swedes will hand him to no one.
And I rather like the following idea: we look Mr. Manning in the eye and say, "Son, we're not making a deal with you. We don't care what else you did, what other documents you stole, and who you passed them to. The damage is done. We have enough on you to have you convicted and executed for treason, and that's just what we're going to do. Have a nice day."
I get a little tired of cops, prosecutors and judges making deals with scum. I know, I know, sometimes it's necessary, but there are times we should just say, in essence, you did the crime, now you do the time. In Manning's case it should lead straight to a pine box.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/18/2010 10:38 Comments ||
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#6
We should be focusing on Assange. He is a media whore and the more you feed him the more he will grow. DO NOT give Pvt Manning a deal. March his ass to the gallows and the sooner the better. We have to stop the NEXT leak not focus on the one already out.
#7
We should not be focusing on Assange. He is a media whore and the more you feed him the more he will grow. DO NOT give Pvt Manning a deal. March his ass to the gallows and the sooner the better. We have to stop the NEXT leak not focus on the one already out.
Why Berger did what he did, whether he collaborated with any third party, the consequences of his deeds, all of this is still a mystery.
Given that Berger acted in his capacity as a former National Security Advisor, and Manning leaked the contents of a database open to a PFC Berger's misdeeds might have had more serious consequences than Manning's.
He should know about illegal probes, shouldn't he?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/18/2010 17:29 Comments ||
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#13
Why do I think that Wikileaks might have a ton of embarrassing cables concerning Britain and that is why Britain let him out on bond? But no - that's ludicrous. Britain would never give in to extortion and compromise it's principles just to avoid embarrassment - for money and power definitely (Lockerby affair), but embarrassment? Ha ha ha - No, Never!!
[El Universal] Jorge Dezcallar, the then Spanish Ambassador in Washington, recounted a long interview with President Hugo Chavez several years ago in which he requested the extradition of six ETA members. When he got out of the meeting, he learnt that Chavez stalled for enough time to let the ETA members escape from detention.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Russia has asked South Korea to stop a scheduled joint military exercise with the United States, hours after North Korea warned it will strike back if the South proceeds with the drill.
The foreign ministry in Moscow on Friday summoned South Korean and US ambassadors to express its "deep concern" over South Korea's plans to carry out live-fire drills over the weekend.
The ministry in a statement called on Seoul to "refrain from holding the planned firing of artillery in order to prevent the further escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula".
Russia's intervention follows a warning by North Korea earlier on Friday that it will retaliate if the South holds the drills near the disputed border in the Yellow Sea on Yeonpyeong Island, which the North shelled last month.
The ministry said a similar drill on November 23 had "provoked an exchange of fire ... that caused casualties", echoing North Korea's assertion that its shelling of the island was a response to South Korean artillery fire.
The Russian ministry also said it was "extremely important" to ease tension between the two Koreas, restore dialogue and resolve all disputes without using force.
Russia, a member of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament, hosted the North Korean foreign minister last week in a bid to help the two Koreas negotiate their way out of the escalating dispute.
When Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, met with his North Korean counterpart on Monday, he said military exercises had added to tension but also that the North's shelling of the island deserved condemnation, according to the ministry.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't know what their gripe is - Norks carry out live fire exercises AT South Koreans, including civilians.
[Iran Press TV] North Korea has threatened it would launch stronger attacks on South Korea if the southern neighbor wants to carry out more live-fire drills.
South Korea's drills, which are planned to be held on Yeonpyeong Island from December 18, are the source of a warning, North Korean news agency KCNA reported on Friday.
"The strike will play out a more serious situation than on November 23 in terms of strength and scope of the strike," the agency said.
At least four South Koreans were killed after the two countries engaged in an artillery fire exchange near Yeonpyeong Island last month.
Pyongyang said the November 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong was a response to South Korea's previous live-fire exercises.
The announcement comes as the US and China are holding intensive talks to resolve the deadlock between the two neighbors.
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg is on a three-day visit to China to press the Chinese government to use its economic and diplomatic influence to control its ally, North Korea.
Also US diplomat Bill Richardson is in Pyongyang following a series of efforts to reduce tension in the Korean Peninsula.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#4
Mr. Assange's bank accounts were blocked, to encourage him to give up life on the run. Just now he seems to be living on the generosity of friends. Possibly, that's why the transfer hasn't happened.
Or it could be that Mr. Assange takes a statistical approach to those impacted by his revelations -- omelets and broken eggs and all.
#5
He was living the Liberal Dream: lots of money, a means to attack "the man", and plenty of lefty chicks ready fling leg at will it seems. I am not a good judge of male beauty but are pasty-white effeminate men what women want?
#7
Tellin' the truth Cyber Sarge, I lost $5 when his dating page was released; knew guys back in the day who made asshead look like conan who spent weekends alone only if they wanted to simply because of that feature. I'd had called it reverse sexual role playing but if I did the gal would have tried to beat the crap out of me.
#8
Sure, its like the 80's, dudes with bangs and eyeliner, had just enough femme to appeal to the women. Same way a woman with a little tomboy quality or athletic ability is deeply comforting to a guy.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/18/2010 13:41 Comments ||
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#9
Err, I wasn't paying attention and think I just accidentally stepped into the wrong room.
[Iran Press TV] Thousands of Iraqi Christians are leaving the cities of Storied Baghdad and djinn-infested Mosul to save their lives from targeted attacks against the minority group, the UN refugee agency says.
The "slowly but steady" move started after a deadly Storied Baghdad church siege on October 31. More than 70 people were killed when bully boyz took over the Our Lady of Salvation church in the Iraqi capital during Sunday Mass, 53 of the people killed in the strike were Christians.
Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said on Friday that Christians are heading to other parts of Iraq, such as the Kurdish region, or to neighboring countries, in search of protection.
"Our offices in neighboring Syria, Jordan and Leb are reporting a growing number of Iraqi Christians arriving and contacting UNHCR for registration and help," Fleming said.
Some of the Iraqi Christians were reportedly forced to leave their homes after receiving death threats.
"We have heard many accounts of people fleeing their homes after receiving direct threats. Some were able to take only a few belongings with them," the agency said in a statement. "Churches and NGOs are warning us to expect more people fleeing in the coming weeks," she added.
The UNHCR official has also criticized Sweden for forcibly returning a group of 20 Iraqis, five of whom were Christians from Storied Baghdad, calling on host countries to "refrain from deporting Iraqis who originate from the most perilous parts of the country."
Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Christians -- a minority group in the country -- have frequently been the target of violence, with hundreds killed and several churches attacked.
The US troops' inability to protect Iraqi Christians has left them with no other choice but to leave their home country. About 700,000 Iraqi Christians have decamped abroad in the face of violence.
There are currently about 500,000 Christians in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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Are they fleeing their homes and going to Iran? Didn't think so. Is Iran aiding those who are causing the fleeing? Good chance.
[Iran Press TV] Iranian Interior Minister the sinister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar Interior minister of Iran and a former defense minister of Iran. He is a veteran of the Revolutionary Guards since the establishment of the body in 1980...
has urged vigilance against enemy plots, targeting solidarity among Sunni and Shia Mohammedans in the country.
On December 15, beturbanned goons targeted a mourning procession marking the anniversary of the martyrdom of the third Shia Imam Hussein (PTUI!) near a mosque in the port city of Chabahar in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
The massive kaboom left more than 33 people dead and maimed scores of others, raising speculations that the attack was aimed at creating a sectarian rift -- as in neighboring Pakistain.
"The Iranian nation must be vigilant because these blind moves are carried out by the enemy with the intention of targeting national cohesion and dividing Shia and Sunni Mohammedans," IRNA quoted Mohammad-Najjar as saying in the port city of Chabahar on Friday.
He cited Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei as warning against an enemy plot to blame the attack on the country's Sunni community.
"Zionist criminals mastermind such dreadful crimes and the Medes and the Persians needs to exercise more vigilance," the minister cautioned.
Mohammad-Najjar said the enemies have designated Chabahar as "one of the most strategic and at the same time safest" regions in Iran and are thus making an attempt to instigate violence through conducting acts of terror in the city.
"Iran, as the center of Islamic awakening, has conquered the peaks of progress, and has turned into an international role model and the enemies are enraged by these achievements," he stated.
He pointed out that the bombing on Shia mourners and other recent terrorist attacks had occurred in border cities hosting both Shia and Sunni Mohammedans to turn Mohammedans against one another.
"But the enemy's hope will certainly turn into despair," Mohammad-Najjar said, vowing to prosecute all those involved in the mass murder in Chabahar.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Secretary General of Iran's High Council for Human Rights Mohammad Javad Larijani has announced that Western states are the number one enemy of democracy in the Middle East.
"Western countries, including the UK, are the strong supporters of dictatorship and enemies of democracy in the region," Larijani told Mehr news agency on Friday.
Criticizing the double standard diplomacy of Western states about the human rights, ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... the Iranian official noted that Western governments have discriminatory policies and are trying to impose them on other nations.
Larijani also pointed out that Western countries legalize all acts of violence in their own countries and other states under the pretext that they are fighting terrorism, adding they are committing crimes in war-ravaged Iraq and Afghanistan.
He made the remarks after British Ambassador to Iran Simon Gass accused Tehran of human rights violations last week.
The Iranian official had earlier said that the British government wanted to hide the troubles and shortcomings in their own country by commenting on the human rights situation in other countries.
Larijani also criticized the British police tactics towards the recent peaceful demonstrations by students in London over tuition fees.
The protests, which have faced the most violent reaction from the police, were launched with a vote in the House of Commons on removing the tuition fees cap to treble to up to £9,000 in England.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Yet the only countries in the middle east that are democracies _or quasi-functioning democracies) are all American allies.
And all their citizens generally have freedom.
'Little Round' needs to be taken out.
Preferably publicly hung by his nuts and beaten with a whiffle bat.
[Iran Press TV] Some 135 anti-war protesters have been jugged in front of the White House in one of the largest mass detentions in the United States.
Arrested by Barack Obama's White House? I may faint from the shock.
A Missouri-based veterans group
Real veterans or, you know, "veterans"?
organized the protesters, who marched up to the White House gates on Thursday and refused to disperse.
Among those jugged was a famous whistleblower of the Vietnam-era war, Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers as an act of protest in 1971.
Reliving youthful glory, poor man.
Although the arrests were appropriately peaceful,
Quite unlike the arrests of protesters in the homeland of our Iran PressTV journalist, but never mind that.
some protesters went limp, forcing police to carry them to the loaned Metrobuses waiting to take them to a booking facility. A protester attached himself to the gate with a bicycle lock.
One wonders how the Iranian police would have separated the protester, the lock and the gate ...
All were charged with failure to obey lawful order, a misdemeanor, said Park Police front man David Schlosser.
Schlosser said the protesters would be released after either forfeiting USD 100 or accepting an assigned court date.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/18/2010 00:00 ||
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And if they were never heard of again, it could be Iran.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/18/2010 6:53 Comments ||
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#2
Judges have done no one a service by giving slaps on the wrist to protesters who break the law. And this is a two sided failure.
Both the need for security, and the RIGHT to protest need a clear dividing line between them. This ideally means that legal protesters can do whatever they want, but only so long as they keep it legal. There should be no gray area of "maybe legal", or defining down the law.
By playing this game, it inclines protesters to break the law, but it also inclines government to violate the civil rights of the protesters. And this can get very bad in a hurry.
I watched with great concern when there are international meetings, held in major cities, for what seems to have as their sole rationale, to incite riots, which will then be suppressed. Police are encouraged to break the law, with the idea that by the time the city must pay a settlement to the abused, a year down the road, those who ordered the abuse will be long gone, and the settlement will be made with taxpayer monies.
This is so full of wrong it's hard to know where to begin to describe it.
#4
It seems to me that someone could innovate a device that looks somewhat like a stretcher, but when a limp person was laid on it and covered, it would somewhat form fit to them, then become rigid, all but their head would be somewhat frozen in position.
Then they could be stacked like cord wood, or stood upright. Or just slide them into bays in a paddy wagon.
#5
Holy Frankenphuck. "Veterans"? You are either a veteran or not a veteran. And just because a Vet was for one war or another, or fought in one war or another doesn't mean its binding upon the vets to like or support ALL or even close to ALL wars. This is a common stereotype heaped on veterans, that if you oppose a particular military action you are less of a veteran or did not serve. It is suspect to even imply this.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/18/2010 16:52 Comments ||
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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.
North Korea has threatened it would launch stronger attacks on South Korea if the southern neighbor wants to carry out more live-fire drills.
