THE Taliban warned that the US-backed Afghan government is next in line to get toppled by its people after the collapse of Hosni Mubarak's regime in Egypt, US-based monitors said.
Mr Mubarak's ouster on Friday after three decades in power demonstrates that "many weapons and soldiers and much foreign assistance cannot keep a regime in power and that they cannot always hinder the caravan of 'hope and demands' of a nation," the Taliban said on its website, according to SITE Intelligence Group.
The Pashto-language statement said the Afghan people would rise up and overthrow the Kabul government due to its corruption and the "atrocities" committed by the United States in the country during a nearly decade-old military campaign.
The United States will eventually turn against Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government just as it did against Mr Mubarak in Egypt, it continued.
The group also also urged Egyptians to form an Islamic government and to "foil the plots of the foreign enemies," according to SITE.
#3
7th century religious misogynist bigoted fascists.
FIFY, I believe you left out narcissists, Frank G. :-)
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
02/13/2011 17:56 Comments ||
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#4
I think they're well aware of their inadequacies, that's why they have to do clitorectomies (so the women never know the pleasure they wouldn't have gotten from these goat f*ckers) and blow up girl's schools, so their own intellectual shortages and inbred stoopid, don't become too obvious
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2011 19:12 Comments ||
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#5
"so their own intellectual shortages and inbred stoopid, don't become too obvious"
Too bad it didn't work, Frank. It's extremely obvious.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2011 19:52 Comments ||
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#6
Sigh. Clitorectomies aren't going far enough, how about tubal ligation for all men for the entire Afghan region and witness relocation for all goats and sheep.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
02/13/2011 20:11 Comments ||
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#7
Afghan government next to fall after Egypt, says Taliban
First the Muslim Brotherhood claims credit for the fall of the Egyptian government, now the Taliban, who I'm pretty sure are more occupied with keeping themselves alive than anything else.
Couldn't have been a disconnected government, high food prices, low employment, with google as a catalyst. Oh no.
[Tolo News] Some Afghan experts strongly criticised Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad's recent comments about US presence in Afghanistan and in the region.
The comments are believed to be connected with the United States' tendency to establish permanent bases in Afghanistan.
And dig wells, put in plumbing and electricity, improve the roads, provide free medical care, build schools, clear mines -- although apparently Afghanistan has done pretty well with that last. Whatever happened to the spirit of "The Mouse That Roared", where they agonized over how to get America to defeat them and provide a Marshall Plan?
They just go direct to USAID and bank the boodle in a compliant financial institution...
In a bid to increase control over overwhelmingly growing insurgency in the region in particular in Afghanistan, officials in Washington have shown interest to build permanent bases in the country which appears to be green lighted by Afghan officials.
""What are you doing in Afghanistan? What are these military bases in the region for? Are you compassionate or hypocrite?" President Ahmadinejad asked the US on Friday.
Experts called the comments obvious interference of Iranian government in Afghan domestic affairs.
"Iran doesn't want the international community to exist in Afghanistan and aims at turning Afghanistan into a place where it could increase its regional interests," said Mir Ahmad Joyenda, an Afghan expert. "And it's really disappointing that the Afghan government has remained silent about the issue."
Experts believe such sort of comments could hurt Afghanistan's illusory sovereignty and would damage relations between the two nations, he said.
"They meddle in our domestic affairs. They should stop dictating us what to do, and what not to do, who to be friend with and who not. To some extent, it damages our independence," said Abdul Karim Ranjbar, an Afghan expert.
This is not the first time that Iranian officials protest US presence in Afghanistan.
Officials in Tehran had consistently said that Afghanistan is being occupied by the United States of America.
But officials in Kabul have highlighted that Afghanistan would never be used against its neighbours in particular Pakistain and Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Compare wid TOPIX > AHMADINEJAD: NO PLACE FOR US, ISRAEL IN NEW MIDDLE EAST.
and
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > AHMDINEJAD: NO ISRAEL IN NEW MIDEAST. Ditto no USA either unless the US apologizes + works to NOT interfere or assert hegemonic influence anymore in various State, Regional Muslim affairs.
[Tolo News] A senior provincial official Saturday alleged neighbouring Pakistain and Iran over violence in southern Helmand province.
Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal said Islamic fascistireceive training in Iran and Pakistain and are then sent to southern parts of the country to carry out attacks against the government and foreign forces.
Governor Mangal said momentum of the Taliban has been reversed in most districts of the province and they no longer have the potential to fight.
He accused Iran and Pakistain of provoking violence in Helmand province.
Iran and Pakistain have long been under huge criticism of international community and officials in Kabul for fueling a nearly decade-long insurgency in Afghanistan.
But both Afghan neighbours deny the allegation.
"Iranian and Pak governments train Islamic fascistiand provide financial support to some beturbanned goon groups. The attacks are planned in Iran," Governor Mangal said.
He said some remote districts, including Gesho, Baghran and Washir are under still the Taliban control.
There is a 40-point downturn in poppy cultivation in the province and still efforts are on the ground to further decrease the graph, he said.
Violence in turbulent southern Helmand province has claimed lives of thousands of people including civilians since the war began in 2001.
British forces in Afghanistan numbering at 10,000 are mostly responsible for security in Helmand, the spiritual home of the Taliban.
While most districts are still under huge influence of the Taliban in restive Helmand province, top foreign commanders have recently signalled about some progress in security in the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The usual suspects Iran and Pakistan.At least Iran admit they are our enemy do Pakistan?
Posted by: Paul D ||
02/13/2011 10:28 Comments ||
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Cairo, Egypt -- Egypt's military dissolved the country's Parliament and suspended its Constitution Sunday following the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, telling Egyptians it would be in charge for six months or until elections can be held.
Six months should be plenty of time to find a new front man if Suleiman doesn't work out...
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it would appoint a committee to propose changes to the Constitution, which would then be submitted to voters. The council will have the power to issue new laws during the transition period, according to a communique read on state television.
Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's ambassador to the United States, said Sunday that the generals have made restoring security and reviving the economy its top priorities.
"This current composition is basically a technocratic government to run the day-to-day affairs, to take care of the security void that has happened, and to also address the issues related to the economy," Shoukry told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."
However, a so-called leading opposition figure in his own mind said Sunday that the military must explain its plans in more detail or see a resumption of the demonstrations that drove Mubarak from office.
"They need to come out of their headquarters and start talking to the people and tell us what is in store for us," ElBaradei told GPS.
So sez the Iranian tool.
And a prominent Egyptian activist credited with helping spark the revolution warned against taking too long to establish a new representative government.
"Biggest mistake now is to give the Egyptian people too little too slow. Restoring confidence requires a faster pace," Wael Ghonim said on Twitter.
Question is whether the Egyptian middle can hold against Islamicist thugs on one side and military thugs on the other.
Mubarak's abdication leaves a council of generals led by Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi in charge of the Arab world's most populous nation.
Sunday's military communique said new elections would be held for both houses of Egypt's Parliament as well as the presidency. In the meantime, government ministers are now reporting to the military high command in the same way they reported to Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told reporters Sunday, in remarks that were carried live on state television. He said he was reviewing candidates to fill vacant government ministries, adding that no one who was not acceptable to the public would be appointed.
I think this means the military is smart enough to stay away from the closest FoH (Friends of Hosni), but two degrees of separation will likely work.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2011 15:00 ||
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#2
The post-1973, 1970's Egyptian Military is mostly Western trained + armed - IMO, EGYPT'S
"TOP EGGS" = GENERALS + ADMIRALS fear Radical Islam will exploit + use the street protests as cover to achieve Political Power + ultimately spark new NATIONAl, REGIONAL? MIL CONFRONTATIONISM WID NUCLEAR-ARMED ISRAEL.
NUCLEAR DESTRUCTION OF EGYPT + REGION
versus
* DRUDGEREPORT > {Reuters]GADDAFI TELLS PALESTINIANS TO REVOLT [peacefully] AGZ ISRAEL, as "now is the time for Popular Uprisings".
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund said Saturday that it will not run for the presidency
And a good thing that is, too. They've got an awful lot of bottoms for only one presidential chair.
Especially since a 'presidency' is not Islamic. You could look it up. The head cheese at the Muslim Brotherhood would, with reluctance, accept the title of 'caliph'...
and will not seek to get a majority in the parliament.
But if offered, they will accept the manifest will of the people.
Until the caliph disbands the parliament and rules on behalf of the ummah, who gratefully accept his wisdom -- or else...
The announcement was an attempt to reaffirm that it was not seeking power in the Egyptian parliament.
The group praised the efforts of the new army rulers to transfer power to civilians.
"We can wait...That's in the plan, too."
"The Moslem Brüderbund ... are not seeking personal gains, so they announce they will not run for the presidency and will not seek to get a majority in the parliament and that they consider themselves servants of these decent people," a statement read.
They do keep pairs of golden, curly-toed slippers safely stashed in their closets...
Beautifully embroidered, golden, curly-toed slippers, suitable to their future station in life.
"We support and value the sound direction that the Higher Military Council is taking on the way to transfer power peacefully to create a civilian government in line with the will of the people," the statement continued.
During the week, members of Congress warned about the risk posed by the Moslem Brüderbund's participation in a new Egyptian government and scolded the B.O. regime for suggesting an openness to the Islamic group having some role in its composition.
"The Moslem Brüderbund had nothing to do with driving these protests, and they and other forces of Evil must not be allowed to hijack the movement toward democracy and freedom in Egypt," declared Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, at the start of a hearing Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Concern is mounting in Israel over reports that the Egyptian police force has abandoned the Sinai Peninsula in face of growing Beduin violence, and that the territory will turn into a breeding ground for global jihad.
According to information that has arrived in Israel, Egyptian police authorities have abandoned dozens of cop shoppes throughout the peninsula after they were attacked by Beduin armed with missiles and assault rifles.
This concern was behind Israel's decision two weeks ago to allow the deployment of 800 Egyptian soldiers in Sharm e-Sheikh and Rafah.
Additional requests since then have been rejected.
In recent years, the Sinai hasturned into a launching pad for attacks against Israel, including by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, which several months ago launched Katyusha rockets into Eilat from the Egyptian territory.
The Egyptian military has for years encountered difficulty in controlling the Beduin population, which does not hold allegiance to the Egyptian government in Cairo.
"The Sinai is already known as a lawless land," a senior defense official said over the weekend. "There is real concern that if the Egyptians don't get the Sinai back under their control, it could develop into a major threat to Israel."
Israel, which has urged all its citizens to leave the Sinai immediately, is particularly concerned about the possibility that Hamas will take hold of parts of the peninsula and use it to launch attacks into Israel via the 240-kilometer long Israeli- Egyptian border, with an emphasis on Eilat.
There is also concern that without a real Egyptian security presence in the Sinai, Hamas will be able to increase the amount and quality of weaponry and explosives it smuggles into the Gazoo Strip via Egypt.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
There have been very violent clashes there. It's the 3 AM wakeup call for the guards.
Hope to have air and naval help as well. Ahem.
[Maghrebia] Tunisian security services on Thursday (February 10th) nabbed "a dangerous gang of armed criminals" in El Kef, TAP reported. The suspects are charged with smuggling, corruption and involvement in last week's deadly El Kef festivities. The gang is accused of acting "in complicity with family members" of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Sherlocks said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] The ruling military pledged Saturday to eventually hand power to an elected civilian government and reassured allies that Egypt will abide by its peace treaty with Israel after the ouster of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak, as it outlined the first cautious steps in a promised transition to greater democracy.
Appearing on state TV, a military front man said the Armed Forces Supreme Council asked the current government appointed by Mubarak in his final weeks to continue operating until a new one is formed. The step appeared to be a stopgap measure to keep the state and economy functioning while a transitional administration is set up.
The front man, Gen. Mohsen El-Fangari, appeared on state TV in front of a row of Egyptian military and national flags and read the council statement, proclaiming respect for the rule of law -- perhaps a sign that the military aims to avoid imposing martial law.
The military is "looking forward to a peaceful transition, for a free democratic system, to permit an elected civil authority to be in charge of the country, to build a democratic free nation," he said.
The military underlined Egypt's "commitment to all its international treaties," reassurance that it continues to honor the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the military's statement, saying the treaty "has greatly contributed to both countries and is the cornerstone for peace and stability in the entire Middle East."
The military's statement had been eagerly awaited by the public, thousands of whom still massed in Cairo's central Tahrir Square. The crowds were still riding high on jubilation over the success in removing Mubarak on Friday after 18 days of unprecedented popular protests, but they promised to maintain pressure on the military to carry through long-sought reforms.
After the statement, the main opposition coalition -- a loosely based grouping of youth and traditional opposition groups -- said it would end its main protest in Tahrir Square but would call for weekly demonstrations after Friday prayers.
The group also listed its demands for the first time during a presser. Those included: the lifting of hated emergency laws, the forming of a presidential council and broad-based unity government, the dissolution of Parliament and creation of a committee to amend or rewrite the constitution. They called for reforms ensuring freedom of the press, freedom to form political parties and more transparent media institutions.
The coalition also called for an investigation into allegations of endemic corruption within the regime and the trial of officials responsible for the deaths of protesters.
Some protesters not linked to the coalition said they would stay camped in Tahrir Square, and it was not immediately clear when the downtown area would be cleared.
Others welcomed the cautious first measures, despite distrust of the government put together by Mubarak as a gesture early in the wave of protests.
"It is a good thing," said Muhammed Ibrahim, a 21-year-old from the Nile Delta town of Banha who joined the crowds in Tahrir. "We don't want there to be a political void."
The military relaxed the curfew -- now to run from midnight to 6 a.m. instead of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. -- and the Stock Market announced plans to reopen Wednesday.
The military also banned current and ex-government officials from traveling abroad without permission. They included former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Habib El-Adly, the widely despised former interior minister.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... officials of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, who met in Jeddah on Saturday, supported Egypt's decision to postpone the OIC summit scheduled for March 15 in Sharm El-Sheikh because of current developments.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I would love to see a picture of all those Generals promising, From the back where we could count the crosed fingers.
No way in hell are they going to allow Lowly Peasants to rule THEM.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/13/2011 11:02 Comments ||
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[Ennahar] Massive security forces have prevented scrolling hundreds of people Saturday in central Algiers to seek regime change, on the call of the National League for the Defense of Human Rights (LNDDH) Political parties and civil society organizations.
The police have managed to impose their authority and control the situation by encircling the protesters at "1st May Square", following the refusal of the departmental authorities to allow the protest march. The latter was then transformed into a sit-in near the station given the insignificant number of participants.
The protesters gathered on the Place de la Concorde rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud demanding an end to the "system".
After festivities in the morning, the police carried out arrests among the protesters, who chanted "Free Algeria", "The regime out!" And "System get out!".
Political and civil society leaders belonging to the National Coordination for Democracy and Change (NCCD), the source of the call to march, attended the event as well as the co-founder of the Islamic Front Salvation (FIS), Ali Belhadj.
A march was scheduled from "Place de la Concorde" to "Place des Martyrs", a journey of about 4 km, but anti-riot units that criss-crossing the area have blocked.
The Interior Ministry has announced 14 arrests, but the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH) reported more than 300 between Algiers, Oran (west) and Annaba (east). It was unable to say how many demonstrators were jugged.
Among the demonstrators briefly jugged in Algiers, two members of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), Othmane Maazouz and a woman, Feta Sadad and Fodil Boumal, a founder of the National Coordination for Democracy and Change (NCCD) at the origin of the call to march.
Forty young cons-demonstrators briefly appeared to shout their support for President Bouteflika. "Bouteflika is not Mubarak", they shouted.
In the late afternoon, a last group of diehards has dispersed after continuing to chant slogans in a corner of "Place de la Concorde", contained by a large anti-riot force.
A cons-demonstration of about sixty members of the Alliance parties in power, the National Liberation Front (FLN) and the National Democratic Rally (RND), then occupied the premises quietly.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Following the end of autocratic government of Hosni Mubarak, people in Egypt hoped for a responsible and corruption-free government.
geriatric President Hosni Mubarak Friday stepped down and handed in the power to military forces, what as Egyptians say their predecessors desired to witness.
People hoisted their children, fireworks cracked and protesters shed tears of joy in Egypt as they celebrated the end of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.
At present the country is run by the high command of the armed forces led by the defence minister.
Things have gone back to normal in Cairo and people have started to return to their work as before.
The military in charge has provided little details on how to run the country.
Mr Mubarak has left Cairo and is reportedly in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
People celebrated the long-awaited change in Egypt almost in all across the Middle East and North Africa.
While describing what happened in Egypt as an inspiration, the US President B.O. said the country should now move to a democratic rule.
"We are a great people and we did something great. This is the expected end for every dictator." Mahmoud Elhetta, a protester, shouted.
The top opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei described it as "the greatest day of my life".
Masses of people all over Egypt in particular in the capital Cairo protested against Mubarak's government for some 18 days and geriatric President Hosni Mubarak finally decided to step down.
The consequences of Mubarak's departure have yet to be seen.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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Here is part one of "Glorious Resolve" And Part Two.
Several slickly produced, action-packed films produced by the Pak army to rally Pakistanis against Islamists and counter their propaganda videos are being aired on private and public TV stations. The films are supposed to be re-enactments of actual clashes in the military campaign in northwest Pakistan.
Brigadier Azmat Ali, executive producer of the films said, "The basic purpose is to highlight the true stories of those valiant heroes of Pakistan. And also to let the people know what kind of atrocities they had come across and ultimately how we are guarding against further extremism that is coming on to us."
One short film begins with a jihadi giving a pep talk near a campfire as they prepare to attack an outpost. He speaks in Urdu, using phrases similar to those on the Islamist videos: "This unholy army has taken over our land, has made checkpoints on our roads and is frisking our women. It fights for the white man, it fights for dollars. We don't want peace, we need the blessing of Allah."
The attack is then shown in extreme close-up. The jihadis fire rockets, then advance slowly. Blood from a slain jihadi splatters the camera lens.
"We are extremely outnumbered," a Pakistani officer yells into a radio.
Way to move that tipping point toward the other side, guys. You didn't talk to a good advertising man before you wrote the script, it appears.
Dunno. Being "extremely outnumbered" shoves the issue of target discrimination down the priority list a peg or two.
"God willing we will not let anybody get away. We will make you proud, sir."
The film suggests the leader of the jihadis is in it for money. While his men die under assault by the army, he is on the phone demanding "more dollars" from his paymaster. The battle ends with the army killing more jihadis and repelling the rest.
[Pak Daily Times] Former foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi, said that US State Secretary Hilary Clinton had pressurised him to sign the summary giving diplomatic immunity to Raymond Davis, a US functionary who brutally killed two Pak nationals in Lahore, but he refused to oblige, a private TV channel reported on Saturday.
He has to explain to the home-town rubes how the Pak government is caving to US pressure.
Talking to high officials of Foreign Office (FO) after his farewell visit to the FO in Islamabad, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Clinton exerted pressure on him to verify the diplomatic immunity to Raymond Davis, but he refused to do so. He further said that US Ambassador to Pakistain, Cameron Munter, also telephoned him and said if immunity to Davis would not be verified then Hilary Clinton would not have a meeting with him in Munich, Germany.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Clinton 'forced' me to grant immunity to Davis: Qureshi
"she turned me into a newt!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2011 12:03 Comments ||
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#2
QURESHI
versus
* DAILY TIMES>.PK > BABAR: PAKISTAN WANTS AAFIA ["Lady Al-Qaeda" A.Siddique] FREED IFF THE US DEMANDS RELEASE OF DAVIS.
HMMMM, HMMMMM, to exchange one "fuctionary" for another "functionary".
As a dedicated MADONNA FAN, I would say
*** COUGH *** COUGH ****... D **** NGED TASTY AM COCONUT ROUND/DONUT!
[Emirates 24/7] President Barack B.O. Obama's national security advisor has threatened to boot Pakistain's ambassador Husain Haqqani from the country if a US official nabbed in Lahore was not released by Friday, ABC News said. Last Friday, which seems to have passed...
Citing two Pak officials, ABC News said late Thursday that National Security Advisor Tom Donilon made the threat after summoning Haqqani to the White House on Monday.
He also warned US consulates in Pakistain may be closed and an upcoming visit to Washington by Pakistain President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... could be cancelled if US official Raymond Davis was not freed.
While the White House has declined to comment, a senior US official confirmed the details of the report to ABC News.
Davis was nabbed on January 27 after allegedly shooting two men in broad daylight in a busy street -- an incident that has sparked angry protests in Pakistain.
Meanwhile Pakistain on Friday sent the US official to jail on judicial remand, pending further murder investigations and a legal tussle over diplomatic immunity in a case that has inflamed ties with Washington.
Raymond Davis appeared in a Lahore court accompanied by heavy police security, 15 days after he was nabbed for shooting dead two men on cycle of violences. He has maintained he acted in self-defence.
The US government says Pakistain is holding him unlawfully and demands his immediate release, saying that Davis is a "diplomat assigned to the US embassy in Islamabad" and has diplomatic immunity.
US politicians have threatened to cut payments to Pakistain, the beneficiary of ê7.5 billion dollars of aid and ê2 billion in military aid, and Washington has warned that high-level dialogue is at risk unless Davis is freed.
"He has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. The next hearing will be on February 25," Punjab government prosecutor Abdul Samad told news hounds.
A full report was not presented in court on Friday as "investigations were not completed," Samad said.
"Most of the time was taken up by the defence lawyer on the issue of immunity. The judge said that the issue of immunity had been taken up by a higher court, so it was not in his purview," Samad said.
On February 1, the Lahore high court blocked any move to free Davis and gave the foreign ministry 15 days to answer on whether he has diplomatic immunity.
Nauman Atique, lawyer for the Paks rubbed out by Raymond, said Judge Aniq Anwar said the question of immunity was pending before the high court.
The US embassy was not immediately available for comment. "I can say no more!"
Police official Suhail Sukhera told news hounds that Davis was now being sent to the high-security Kot Lakhpat jail in the eastern city.
On January 27, Davis rubbed out two Pak men who he said were trying to rob him in broad daylight on the streets of the city. A third Pak was run over and killed by a US consular vehicle coming to aid Davis, who was instead taken into Pak police custody.
Samad told news hounds that Davis' lawyers had submitted two applications: one demanding immunity on his behalf and saying he cannot be put on trial, and the second asking for court proceedings to be held in camera.
In what has become a political time-bomb, the government in Islamabad is under enormous domestic pressure to see Davis go on trial, with local lawyers arguing that diplomatic immunity can be waived for grave crimes.
The deaths sparked protests in Pakistain, where the alliance with Washington is hugely unpopular and anti-American sentiment runs high, fuelled by US missile attacks on Islamists in the northwest and the war in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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Equally misleading, say Pakistani officials, is the claim in Pakistani media that Davis' victims had been "ordinary men", or even as "robbers," as the State Department has suggested. "They were from the ISI," says a government official, referring to Pakistan's military intelligence agency. It isn't clear, the official says, whether they were full paid-up agents or local informants. The two men had been tasked with tailing Davis, Pakistani officials say. "He had been traveling to Waziristan and meeting with people that the army doesn't approve of," says a Pakistani official, implying that Davis had met with Pakistani militants. While U.S. contractors and intelligence agents operate in Pakistan with the military's approval and often in cooperation, it insists they operate within strictly circumscribed parameters. Davis, according to some Pakistani accounts, had crossed a red line, and was being shadowed in a crude effort at intimidation.
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Former president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... will not comply with a warrant for his arrest issued by a court in Pakistain over the liquidation of Benazir Bhutto, his front man in London said Saturday.
"No, he won't be going back for this hearing," Fawad Chaudhry, a front man for Musharraf's All Pakistain Mohammedan League party, told AFP, adding that the warrant was "totally ridiculous."
A Pak anti-terrorism court earlier Saturday ordered Musharraf, who is currently in self-imposed exile in London, to appear for a hearing on February 19 over claims about the liquidation of ex-premier Bhutto in 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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Is there any evidence, suspicion or even a plausible scenario that has Perv whacking Benazir? Yeah, he was a military dictator, but he seems to be one of the better things that has happened to Pakistan, not that that is any sort of high praise. My money would be on some ISI scheme.
Combine this with the way the Pakis are doubling down on the Raymond Davis murder thing - something that smells like an ISI hit gone wrong - and my spider sense is tingling. Old school palace intrigue and power plays for the throne?
[Ma'an] The PLO leadership in Ramallah on Saturday announced plans to hold elections by September, running into immediate opposition from its Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, rivals.
The Paleostinian Authority will "start preparations for presidential and parliamentary elections in the coming months ... no later than September," PLO chief Yasser Abed Rabbo ... Paleostinian politician and a member of the Paleostine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee. He holds an M.A. in economics and political science from the American University in Cairo..... said.
In a statement, he said the decision was taken to "satisfy the will of the Paleostinians."
Abed Rabbo also called for all parties to put aside political disputes and participate in the election. Differences on security and representation can be resolved in the new parliament, he said.
Hamas immediately rejected the plan, saying it would not participate.
In Gazoo, Hamas front man Fawzi Barhum told Ma'an that "these elections are illegal because they are not determined by any law, and Hamas will not legitimize them."
Barhoum said the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas and his premier Salam Fayyad lacked the legitimacy to declare a vote.
The PLO, which groups the main nationalist movements but not Hamas, has since 2004 been led by Abbas, whose mandate expired in 2009 but was extended until new polls.
"Elections should be held in accordance with Paleostinian national consensus, the result of a reconciliation agreement, not as a step taken by the one party which controls every Paleostinian issue," Barhoum said.
He added that if the PA takes such a step, it could suffer the fate of Egypt and Tunisia.
The Ramallah-based government's call for polls comes amid stalemate in Israeli-Paleostinian talks and the political upheaval in Egypt, a key player in peace efforts.
Egypt under president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted Friday, played a key role in so far fruitless efforts to reconcile the mainstream Fatah party of Abbas and its rival Hamas.
Abbas' government last week also called local elections for July 9, the first Paleostinian vote since 2006. But the Hamas rulers of Gazoo vowed to ignore that decision, limiting the poll to the West Bank.
The opposition already killed a plan by the Paleostinian Authority to hold a general election in January 2010.
Hamas scored a surprise triumph in a legislative election in 2006 and control of the Gazoo Strip in June 2007, ousting Fatah in a week of deadly street-fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Hamas scored a surprise triumph in a legislative election in 2006 and control of the Gazoo Strip in June 2007, ousting Fatah in a week of deadly street-fighting.
one vote, one time. Elections are haram when the pure are already in power
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2011 9:06 Comments ||
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[Arab News] US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns held talks on Saturday with Jordanian leaders, who warned that Israel's obstinacy in Middle East peace talks would only aggravate the "anger" of the region's peoples.
Burns met with King Abdallah, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh to discuss ways to surmount the deadlock in the Middle East grinding of the peace processor and latest developments in the region, a reference to the Egyptian uprising that toppled pro-West geriatric President Hosni Mubarak.
"Israel should give up the fortress mentality and stop all unilateral actions particularly the building of settlements," Bakhit told Burns, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.
"Israel should look forward to the future and realize that justice and dignity of peoples are an indispensable issue and that the continued deadlock in the grinding of the peace processor will only enhance the anger of peoples in the region as a result of their feeling of an imbalance in the criteria of justice," said Bakhit, a former ambassador in Israel.
Bakhit formed his cabinet earlier this week after King Abdallah sacked the government of Prime Minister Samir Rifai under the pressure of a series of protests that swept the country over the past weeks and found inspiration from the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
He told the American envoy that his government "realized the regional changes and was taking measures to speed up the political and economic reforms" and take serious steps to fight corruption.
King Abdallah also held a separate meeting on Saturday with the Russian Middle East envoy Alexander Sultanov.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The highest-ranking U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen is scheduled to visit Sunday and Monday in Jordan and Israel to reaffirm America's commitment to these "key partners" after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, said Friday the Pentagon.
The Chief of Joint Staff will first travel to Amman where he will meet King Abdullah II and his counterpart, General Meshal Al-Zabn, according to his front man, Capt. John Kirby.
He will then fly to Israel where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. He will also attend Monday's handover of power between the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, General Gaby Ashkenazi and his successor, Major General Benny Gantz.
During his meetings, Admiral Mullen, "will discuss security issues of common interest and to reaffirm to these two key partners the commitment of the U.S. Army" on their sides, according to the front man.
Since the beginning of the unrest in Egypt Jan. 25, Israel, an important ally of Washington, fears that a possible emergence of an Islamist power in Cairo threatens the peace treaty with its neighbor and upset the region strategy.
The White House on Friday urged the new authorities in Egypt to honor the peace agreements with Israel, following the resignation of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak.
Jordan is on its side, in the grip of a movement of social and political protest which resulted in several demonstrations, echoing those which caused the downfall of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia in mid-January and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Paleostinians deported from Bethlehem to the Gazoo Strip in 2002 after Israeli forces besieged the Nativity Church appealed to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society High Commissioner for Human Rights.
A front man for the group Fahmi Kan'an said the local committee of national and Islamist forces handed Navi Pillay a letter from the deportees during her visit to the Gazoo Strip.
Kan'an said the letter explained the dire conditions of the Nativity Church deportees both in Gazoo and European countries as they entered their 10th year in exile.
On May 10 2002, Israeli forces surrounded the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Paleostinian operatives had taken shelter. The church was placed under siege for 40 days until an agreement was reached in which 26 would be deported to Gazoo, and 13 others to six different European countries.
The letter highlighted that Israel had reneged on the agreement, which Kan'an said stipulated that the deportees could return home after two years. The deal was struck between Israel and the Paleostinian Authority under European and American supervision.
The deportees also wrote that they had not seen their families for over eight years, and their wives and children were not allowed to join them. Many of their family members had passed away and they had not been able to bid them farewell, they added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Fatah
#1
*sob* such a sad story. I wish we had enough kleenex handy
why won't you POS's die already?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2011 9:07 Comments ||
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#2
"Gentlemen, such a dispensation requires extraordinary action on your part to earn it. Tell you what: you bring us Gilad Schalit, currently held in durance vile by the vile Hamas (always the voice of sweet reason) and we'll seriously consider your supplication."
#3
"The deportees also wrote that they had not seen their families for over eight years, and their wives and children were not allowed to join them."
Awwwwww - my heart just bleeds for them. No, wait - that's just the chili.
Mehbe if you disgusting deportees clowns hadn't trashed the Church of the Nativity in your usual vile manner, you wouldn't be where you are today. Surprise - actions have consequences.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2011 11:13 Comments ||
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#4
Tell you what: you bring us Gilad Schalit, currently held in durance vile by the vile Hamas (always the voice of sweet reason)
and we'll return you in the same condition he's in
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2011 11:32 Comments ||
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#5
After what they did inside the church they should be on some far off deserted island.
#7
I am very proud to say that a remote weapon system made by my company is credited with ending the siege. Made it tough for the bad guys to lift their heads.
Thanks so much for your enquiry as to when you can return to your beloved wives, children, and concubines barnyard animals in the ever-so-peaceful olive groves and verdant farmland around Bethlehem.
Please be advised that we are currently drafting an angry missive to be delivered to the Israeli mission regarding your sad situation. It grieves us to hear of your endless suffering at the hands of the Zionist Entity.
At this time, however, we must advise you that you are seriously delinquent on your contribution to our Five Star Hotel Destitute Widows & Orphans Fund. Perhaps our kickback payment reminders have been lost in the Pali Post. If you have already remitted the baksheesh amount due, our apologies for referring to this sensitive matter.
Sincerely, and with great compassion for your plight,
[Ennahar] The chief Paleostinian negotiator in peace talks with Israel, Saeb Erekat, has submitted his resignation Saturday, said Paleostinian official sources.
Erekat confirmed to AFP his resignation from the Paleostinian "negotiations committee", previously announced by the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Abed Rabbo. ... Paleostinian politician and a member of the Paleostine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee. He holds an M.A. in economics and political science from the American University in Cairo.....
He explained his resignation by the "responsibility he assumed for the stolen documents in his office," documents which he said were intentionally "adulterated".
He was referring to documents released in January by the Al-Jazeera based in Qatar, covering the peace talks since 1999, interrupted for several months.
Hundreds of these "confidential documents" according the channel showed that the Paleostinian negotiators were ready in 2008 to major concessions on East Jerusalem and the fate of refugees.
No, the documents showed the Palestinian negotiators were willing to say many things to get concessions from Israel. That they had no intention of upholding their side was common knowledge openly spoken of in Arabic.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Loathsome as Erekat was, whoever comes next will probably be worse.
#3
hard to believe, Scooter, he was Paleo trash from the start. The only things he lacked was Hanan Ashrawi's cigarette-voice or a warty nose to be my most-hated spokeshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2011 9:09 Comments ||
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#4
western educated guy- he went to SF state u and did a ph d somewhere in England
unlike some of the other Paleos, he disliked the holocaust denial stuff and didn't like suicide bombers
however, he was big into accusing Israel of imagined crimes -- he claimed 2000 massacred civilians in Jenin and when the post conflict reports showed it was more like 20 'civilians' who were killed inadvertently, he never repented
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/13/2011 10:49 Comments ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] The United States pivoted from delight at Egypt's revolt to hiking political pressure on arch-foe Iran Friday, charging that the leadership in Tehran was "scared of the will of its people."
The White House said that Iranian leaders should give their people the same chance to express their will as Egyptians seized for themselves -- and noted that instead, Tehran had threatened to kill any protesters.
Iran's government was "quite frankly scared of the will of its people," White House front manMinister of Information Robert Washington Bob Gibbs said, hinting that protests that had erupted in Egypt could spread to Iran.
"We know that what they really are scared of is exactly what might happen," Gibbs said as Egyptians celebrated their revolt, which came on the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran on February 11, 1979.
Gibbs spoke as the tumultuous political events in Egypt, which brought about the downfall of president Hosni Mubarak, became the latest flashpoint for the bitter 30-year rivalry between Washington and the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
Earlier, Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad had styled the Egyptian uprising as a revolt against a government allied with the West, and said Egyptians should be vigilant of the United States.
"The Iranian nation is your friend and it is your right to freely choose your path. The Iranian nation backs this right of yours," he said.
"We will soon see a new Middle East materializing without America and the Zionist regime and there will be no room for world arrogance (the West) in it," he said, also slamming Israel.
In his own speech in response to the events in Egypt, US President Barack B.O. Obama said that Washington would stand with the people who overthrew Mubarak, a stalwart American ally for 30 years
"The United States will continue to be a friend and partner to Egypt. We stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary -- and asked for -- to pursue a credible transition to a democracy," he said.
Obama also sought to connect with the youth of Egypt.
"I'm also confident that the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that the young people of Egypt have shown in recent days can be harnessed to create new opportunity -- jobs and businesses that allow the extraordinary potential of this generation to take flight."
Earlier, the White House had issued a statement condemning Iran for jamming the BBC's Persian-language television channel, ostensibly over coverage of demonstrations in Egypt.
"The recent arrests and effort to block international media outlets underscores the hypocrisy of the Iranian leadership," National Security Council front man Tommy Vietor said.
"For all of its empty talk about Egypt, the government of Iran should allow the Iranian people the same universal right to peacefully assemble, demonstrate and communicate in Tehran that the people are exercising in Cairo."
The subtext for the current showdown between Washington and Tehran is the deadly crackdown launched by Iranian authorities when hundreds of thousands erupted into the streets of Tehran and other cities to protest against official results giving Ahmadinejad a second term in a June 2009 presidential election.
Dozens of Iranians were killed, hundreds maimed and scores nabbed by security forces during the protests which shook the pillars of the Islamic regime.
At the time, the B.O. regime was accused of being too slow to the embrace the cause of the protesters, as it sought to avoid injecting the United States into the drama, though ultimately vigorously condemned the crackdown.
Friday's sharp exchanges came on the anniversary of the Iranian revolution which toppled shah Mohammad Reza, a key US ally.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Khomeini sez: The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is "God's government."
Disobedience against it is a "revolt against God."
Iran is a self declared theocracy. There's no pretense of 'Democracy' or respect for 'Human Rights' or 'Civil Rights.'
The 'will of the people' is irrelevant.
"Our struggle is not about land or water, It is about bringing, by force if necessary, the whole of mankind onto the right path." Ayatollah Khomeini, 1980
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.
Mahmoud 
Mehmood 
Asif Ali 
Pervez 
Yasser Abed Rabbo
