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U.S. Strikes in Yemen Said to Kill 8 Militants
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Africa Horn
UNGA admits S.Sudan as its 193rd member state
(KUNA) - Less than a week from South Sudan's declaration of independence and one day after recommendation from the Security Council, the General Assembly on Thursday admitted by acclamation the newly independent state as its 193rd member.

In a letter to Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
last Saturday, South Sudan's President Silva Kiir solemnly committed to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and to fulfill all the obligations contained therein.

South Sudan's independence from the rest of Sudan is the result of last January referendum held under the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the decades-long civil war between the North and the South. General Assembly President Joseph Deiss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and chairmen of regional groups welcomed the birth of the new member state and wished its people and government peace and prosperity after two decades of civil war that killed two million people.

In his welcoming statement, Ban said all those who endured the long civil war, have now reached an "important milestone. But the journey continues. Yes, the task ahead is great. But so, too, is the country's potential. With its abundant natural resources. Arable land. The waters of the Nile. And, of course, proud and hard working people." He saluted the leaders of both Sudan and South Sudan who showed "courage and commitment" in bringing about a successful referendum that expressed the democratic will of the people, and called on them to imperatively and quickly resolve their outstanding differences regarding matters of borders, sharing of resources and migration, "with the same pragmatism and leadership." "The well-being and future prosperity of each depends on the other. South and North share a common destiny - they must see a future as true partners, not rivals," he said.

Addressing the Assembly, the Vice President of South Sudan Riek Machar said "we do not harbour bitterness towards our former compatriots (in the north). We remain partners in peace and committed to the principles of good neighborliness. We will work out our differences through dialogue and in a spirit of cooperation." He paid tribute to Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir for his "wisdom" in signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, for proceeding with its implementation and with the holding of the self-determination referendum, and for "courageously" accepting the outcome of that vote, by which South Sudan became independent.

Following the Assembly meeting, delegations walked to the UN garden to attend a ceremony, during which the South Sudan flag was raised among the flags of other Member States.

They later moved to the Kuwaiti boat area by the Assembly hall to congratulate Mashar and his delegation on this "historic day".
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Africa North
US recognises Libyan rebel TNC as legitimate authority
The United States has recognised the Libyan opposition as the country's "legitimate governing authority".

The move means billions of dollars of Libyan assets frozen in US banks could be released to the rebels.

The decision was announced by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a diplomatic meeting in Istanbul.

Western and Arab members of the Libya Contact Group are drawing up a plan to end hostilities, which will be presented to Col Muammar Gaddafi.

"The United States views the Gaddafi regime as no longer having any legitimate authority in Libya," Mrs Clinton said.

"And so I am announcing today that, until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognise the TNC [Transitional National Council] as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis."
Continue reading the main story

This move means the US and other countries will be able to unblock some $30bn in frozen assets to assist the Libyan opposition.

It's a financial boost for the TNC but also adds to their credibility.

Because the US only recognises states and not governments, the wording - calling the TNC the "legitimate governing authority" - was chosen carefully.

It may sound like semantics but the wording had legal implications. There were also concerns about recognising unelected representatives without a clear road map for a transition to democracy.

She added: "The TNC has offered important assurances today, including the promise to pursue a process of democratic reform that is inclusive both geographically and politically."

The TNC said it "expressed its gratitude and respect to the people of the United States", which it called "the protector and promoter of democracy and freedom across the world".
Posted by: tipper || 07/15/2011 17:46 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There were also concerns about recognising unelected representatives without a clear road map for a transition to democracy.

Or in the Chicago political-machine parlance:

"We don't trust nobody that 'nobody' sent."
Posted by: Pappy || 07/15/2011 18:51 Comments || Top||

#2  This whole Libya thing should play well on the arab street..."Dictator Minding his Own Business Gets Overthrown by Evil, US-led Global Conspiracy!" Meanwhile, in the US, no one gives a shit. Ironic.
Posted by: Blossom Forkbeard2446 || 07/15/2011 21:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, and Bozo Hilarity is a consumate authority on humor travel policy in the 19601990's US.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/15/2011 23:44 Comments || Top||


Mubarak denies ordering protesters killed
Ex-President Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
has told interrogators he did not order security forces to open fire on protesters during the 18-day uprising that ousted him, according to a leaked transcript of his interrogation that was published Thursday.
"No, no! It was hot! I was worried about them! I said 'Chill them all!'"
He also insisted that no one would have listened to him had he ordered a stop to the violence, which killed nearly 900 protesters, and suggested that both the security forces and the demonstrators fired on each other during the Jan. 25-Feb. 11 uprising.

Mubarak, 83, also denied corruption allegations, while seeking to explain why a bank account in his name held millions of dollars in foreign donations intended for the construction and upkeep of a massive library in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. He said he had secretly kept the money from the library's management so they could not claim it or use it for purposes not related to the facility.

The transcript of Mubarak's questioning by prosecutors was published Thursday by two independent newspapers, Al-Youm al-Sabea and Al-Dustour. Al-Youm al-Sabea published photographs of the original handwritten notes of the interrogators on its website.

Judicial officials told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the transcript was authentic. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Mubarak's chief defense lawyer, Farid el-Deeb, told the AP that part of what was published had been fabricated, but declined to elaborate.

Mubarak, under police custody at a hospital in a Red Sea resort, faces trial next month on charges of ordering the use of deadly force against the demonstrations. He is also facing charges of corruption along with his two sons, businessman Alaa and one-time heir apparent Gamal.

Justice for the uprising's victims is among the hottest issues in Egypt during its bumpy transition toward democracy. Protesters have been camping out at a central Cairo square since last week to demand that those behind the killings be swiftly tried. Interior Minister Mansour el-Issawi on Wednesday fired nearly 700 senior coppers to cleanse the deeply unpopular force, but protesters remained unsatisfied, arguing that a complete restructuring of the force is needed.

In their entirety, Mubarak's comments appeared designed to fend off charges that he ordered, knew of or condoned the use of deadly force against protesters and paint a picture of a leader kept in the dark by top aides as to the gravity of the situation during the uprising.

He also appeared to grossly underestimate the number of protesters out on the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation during the uprising and, at one point, was dismissive of the violence and the resulting loss of life. "Our people and our security are like that."

Asked to explain why he thought protesters were killed and maimed during the uprising, Mubarak said: "I cannot say exactly." He later added that there was chaos, with the security forces and the protesters attacking each other.

"No one would have paid any attention to me or my orders," he replied when asked why he did not stop the violence.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Mexican Chief Justice: Ruling to be Applied Narrowly
By Chris Covert

Two days after releasing a landmark decision, the chief justice of the Mexican Supreme Court said Thursday the new ruling is not mandatory with regard to concurrent cases involving the Mexican military.

The decision set off a wave of protests especially within the Mexican military community who fear the new ruling would be applied to counternarcotics operations now and in the future.

Chief Justice Juan Silva Meza said Thursday that while the new ruling is not mandatory, Mexican civilian courts will proceed to investigate cases of forced disappearance, especially those which took place in years passed. The case at issue is the disappearance of Rosendo Radilla.

Radilla disappeared at a military checkpoint in Atoyac de Alvarez, Guerrero on August 25th, 1974. Radilla was an activist and a politician during the Mexican Dirty War of the 1970s and 1980s. During that time a succession of Partido Revolutionario Institucional (PRI) presidents used the Mexican military to crush the opposition of primarily leftist and communist insurgencies, armed and otherwise, throughout Mexico.

Guerrero being one of the poorest states in Mexico was especially receptive to leftist movements. Indeed even today, it still has a communist guerilla group active within its borders.

Radilla's fate has never been determined. In 2001, a case was brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The case eventually made its way through a special prosecutor into the Mexican legal system because the Mexican government was a signatory to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). Despite work done by a special prosecutor the IACHR later condemned the Mexican government for its lack of resolution of the case.

Throughout the life of the case the Mexican military continued to assert its jurisdiction in the case, which meant that resolution in civil courts was for all intents and purposes barred. Therefore, if a military investigation of the matter was done and concluded, the military was not obligated to detail its findings, including releasing the names and identities of witnesses and potential perpetrators.

Wednesday's ruling changes all that. Now not only will Radilla's disappearance be investigated by local and state courts, so will a number of other similar disappearances be investigated as well by civil legal authorities. The ruling now removes military jurisdiction as an impediment to concluding those investigations.

Such investigations are a potential firestorm for the PRI, which in most cases prosecuted the Dirty War. If a commander in the Mexican Army is discovered to be complicit in the disappearance, it is entirely possible that the responsibility for the crime could go straight to the top. I.E: for PRI presidents.

In an election year in which the PRI is riding high from several stunning electoral wins not only in governors houses, but also in local legislatures and cities; painful revelations from the distant past such as the Radilla case could come at a high political cost for the PRI.
Posted by: badanov || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Badanov's Buzzkill Bulletin
For a map, click here
Mexican security forces seized a total of 170 kilograms of cocaine and 25.5 kilograms of opium gum in counternarcotics operations in Mexico since July 7th.

  • A detachment of the Mexican 36th Military Zone seized an amount of drugs in Chiapas state July 6th. Along with a unit from the Policia Federal, the unit was manning Checkpoint El Hueyate in the Huixtla municipality when when found 20 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside a truck.

  • A unit of the Mexican 7th Military Zone rescued 20 kidnapping hostages in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon July 9th. The unit was in the Hidalgo colony of the city in response to a citizen's complaint when they rolled up ion the safe house where the hostages were held. Two unidentified individuals were arrested. Two rifles, three bulletproof vests anda vehicle were also seized.

  • A detachment of the Mexican 7th Military Zone detained a Los Zetas operative in Santiago, Nuevo Leon July 10th. Javier Abarte Arreaga, AKA La Jaiba, was arrested at a traffic stop after his identity was established. A .410 gage shotgun, nine shotgun shells, and a vehicle were seized. Abarte Arreaga was wanted for the August, 2010 murder of Santiago mayor Edelmiro Cavazos Leal.

  • A unit of the Mexican 42nd Military Zone seized an amount of drugs in Chihuahua state July 13th. The unit was on patrol in the village of Las Carboneras in Guadalupe y Calvo municipality when 13 kilograms of opium gum were found. In addition to the drugs soldiers seized eight rifles, three handguns, 24 weapons magazines, 480 rounds of ammunition and two vehicles, one of them stolen.

  • A detachment of the Mexican 34th Militatry Zone discovered drugs buried on a beach in Quintana Roo state July 10th. The discovery was made in the Benito Juárez municipality where 20 kilograms of cocaine were seized half buried in the sand.

  • A unit of the 13th Military Zone in Nayarit state seized an amount of drugs July 12th. The unit was on patrol on the Mesa del Nayar-Santa Teresa highway when they rolled up on an abandoned vehicle. Inside soldiers found 12.5 kilograms of opium gum. Other contraband seized included three rifles, three handguns, two weapons magazines and 461 rounds of ammunition.

  • A detachment of the Mexican 7th Military Zone seized a large amount of drugs in the Monterrey, Nuevo Leon area this morning. The unit was on patrol on calle Bosques de Canada in the Bosques de Anahuac colony of San Nicolas de los Garza at about 0200 hrs. when it came upon an abandoned vehicle with its doors open and flashers running. Inside was found 130 kilograms of cocaine in 124 packages.
Posted by: badanov || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The south of the border narco-war goes on and on. I might make a suggestion: (1) Control the border and the flow of drugs into the U.S., (2) have the ATF quit letting guns walk across the border to criminals, (3) quit molly-coddling those who are here illegally in an effort to try to curry election favor, (4) reform election laws and enforce them--no voting by illegals with a driver's license, (5) stop wasting valuable tax-payer monies on illegals for every sort of welfare and medical benefit, (6) clamp down on the hiring of illegals in this country--These jobs should go to people are bonafide workers or citizens. That would help the unemployment situation in the U.S. I don't believe the meme (B.S.) that Americans won't do some menial labor. There are plenty of young people graduating from high school every year looking for jobs. They contribute to the unemployment problem. There are plenty of low-skilled workers looking for jobs in the U.S., and (7) tamp down the Soros idea of "open borders" and call it what it is--illegal!
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/15/2011 8:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Second the motion, this shit has gone on long enough.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/15/2011 9:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Too bad, JohnQC. That would make too much sense and you know our politicians can't do that.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/15/2011 11:21 Comments || Top||

#4  There are plenty of Americans who will do menial labor, however, they will be more expensive. A lot more expensive. How much are you willing to pay for citizen picked lettuce? 30 cents more a head isn't going to suffice. How much? There is a price that will get the lettuce picked and the chickens gutted, perhaps it's time to find out what that price is.

Posted by: S || 07/15/2011 13:06 Comments || Top||

#5  It is time. I've have been through chicken processing plants albeit a few years ago. Killing, dismembering, and gutting a chicken was partly automated; partly done by humans. At the time I don't recall any Hispanics doing the work--all East Tennesseans. They were glad to have the jobs. I have been through a lot of manufacturing plants in this part of the country and found the same to be true. It is only fairly recently that you see a high concentration of Hispanics doing menial work. I suspect (but don't know for certain) that many of them are illegals who get paid less than minimum wage under the table.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/15/2011 13:55 Comments || Top||

#6  The problem, S, is that we have no idea what Americans are willing to do for what pay, because we've made it illegal to hire them at cost-effective wages.

Repeal minimum-wage and prevailing-wage laws, crack down on illegals, and watch native-born citizens get jobs.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/15/2011 17:24 Comments || Top||

#7  VDH stated in an article that only %5 of so of the cost of agricultural produce is labor and %80 is petroleum products and transportation. the remaining %15 is middle men.

doubling or even tripling the cost of agricultural labor would add only 5-10 cents on the dollar.
Posted by: abu do you love || 07/15/2011 18:55 Comments || Top||

#8  "VDH stated in an article that only %5 of so of the cost of agricultural produce is labor and %80 is petroleum products and transportation."

So if we lowered the cost of transportation/petroleum 10% and raised the cost of labor 10% it would be a wash.

Drill here, drill now.
Posted by: Barbara || 07/15/2011 19:08 Comments || Top||

#9  "There are plenty of Americans who will do menial labor, however, they will be more expensive. A lot more expensive."

Why?

They don't deserve to be.

The time is rapidly approaching when they'll do it for $5.00 per hour and be happy.

Count on it.
Posted by: no mo uro || 07/15/2011 19:22 Comments || Top||


Europe
Belgium to Ban the Burqa Next Week
[An Nahar] Belgium will enforce a burqa ban from July 23 with a fine and possible jail time for women who wear it, joining La Belle France as the second EU nation to forbid full veils, Belgian media said Thursday.

The new law was published Wednesday in the kingdom's official journal after deputies approved it unanimously in parliament in April.

Offenders will face a fine of 137.50 Euros ($195) and up to seven days behind bars. An estimated 270 people wear the face-covering niqab or the full-body burqa in Belgium.

La Belle France -- home to Europe's biggest Mohammedan population -- became the first European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
country to ban the burqa on April 11.

In La Belle France, a woman who repeatedly insists on appearing veiled in public can be fined 150 Euros and ordered to attend re-education classes.

Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You want to ban the Burqua? have the MEN spend the weekend Naked in Public with Smallish signs around their necks,(Not enough to cover anything) THAT ought to do it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/15/2011 15:30 Comments || Top||

#2  "European Union...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing"

The EU, much like the HRE, is neither holy, nor Roman (outside of Italy), nor an empire (though the unelected clowns who run it think it is).
Posted by: Barbara || 07/15/2011 18:58 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
US says its stands with Turkey in its fight against PKK
(KUNA) -- The United States affirmed on Thursday that it stands in solidarity with Turkey in its fight against PKK, but hinted that it is only providing intelligence for Ankara in this fight.

"We do support Turkey in its fight against the PKK with intelligence. I cannot get into the details of that. We stand in solidarity with Turkey in its fight against the PKK and stand ready to assist," said State Department spokesperson Mark Toner in a press briefing.

"But right now I believe it is mostly intelligence sharing that we conduct with them," he added while hinting that US military deals with Ankara has been stalled in the last few years.

Thirteen Turkish soldiers were killed and seven maimed in an ambush during festivities with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), marking the worst escalation of violence between both sides since a cease-fire was announced last February.

Toner noted that "our cooperation with Turkey against the PKK spans three presidential administrations, and it is only grown over time".
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Excellent! Push the Kurds into Iran. Force an accomodation against Palestine!
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/15/2011 23:41 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
What Iran is doing in Afghanistan
Other than giving President Kharzai great big bags of cash...
The latest State Department report on Iranian support for international terrorism states, "Iran's Quds Force provided training to the Taliban in Afghanistan on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives and indirect fire weapons. Since at least 2006, Iran has arranged arms shipments to select Taliban members, including small arms and associated ammunition, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107 mm rockets and plastic explosives." A 2010 story in the London Sunday Times reported that Iranian front companies in Afghanistan funnel salaries of $233 a month to Taliban fighters with bonuses of $1,000 for killing American troops and $6,000 for knocking out American military vehicles.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2011 14:50 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
In Ahmadis' Desert City, Pakistan Closes In
First they came for the Jews Ahmadis, but I was not an Ahmadinejad, so I said nothing...
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2011 06:34 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Saudis growing influence in Pakistan has messed up this country over the last ten years.Saudi Arabia and now Pakistan are centers of intolerance!
Posted by: Paul || 07/15/2011 7:37 Comments || Top||

#2  the messing up of Pakistan took a giant leap forward during the Ali Bhutto era in the 70s.

His official policy was Islamic Socialism. The most destructive culture with the most destructive economics.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 07/15/2011 8:53 Comments || Top||

#3  They have a static defense which means they will lose.

Their only alternatives are a "balance of terror" with the Muslims that want to destroy them, which they could not likely win being outnumbered.

Or they could leave, in an orderly and organized manner, taking their wealth with them, and leaving nothing behind for the Muslims to enjoy.

They could do this with discreet negotiations with India, so that by the time Pakistan realized they were leaving they would be gone.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/15/2011 10:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Lord Garth,

Interesting i need to read up on Ali Bhutto.I thourght General Zia was to blame for the country becoming more Islamic!
Posted by: Paul || 07/15/2011 10:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Or they could leave, in an orderly and organized manner, taking their wealth with them, and leaving nothing behind for the Muslims to enjoy.

Why would the Indians want them?
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 07/15/2011 17:13 Comments || Top||

#6  Why would the Indians want them?

Highly educated, hard-working, peaceful, take care of their own instead of expecting the government to do so... While the Indian Muslim community might copy their Pakistani cousins in having fits about the Ahmadis calling themselves Muslim, that shouldn't bother the rest of the country any more than it does us here in the U.S.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2011 19:52 Comments || Top||


Terror date 13 points to role of Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar
NEW DELHI: Despite lack of a prior warning or heightened threat assessment of a terror attack, the date of the latest Mumbai attack has focused the attention of security agencies on the hand of the jihadi group Indian Mujahideen (IM), given the Lashkar-linked outfit's penchant for striking on the 13th and 26th days of a month. The IM, acting in consort and at the behest of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), is the likely suspect with its network of sleeper cells and sympathizers. Once again, as has been the case often in the past, a terrorist attack has happened on 13th.

Sustained questioning of arrested IM members, including those who willingly collaborated after being held, has failed to resolve the enigma of the dates even though they add up to compelling evidence.

Consider these events:

* May 13, 2008: Terror hit Jaipur with six serial blasts rocking crowded areas, killing nearly 50.

*July 26, 2008: Ahmedabad hit by a series of 21 blasts that killed 57.

*September 13, 2008: A series of six synchronized blasts in Delhi killed around 30.

*November 26, 2008: 10 LeT terrorists killed almost 187 in the worst ever attack on Mumbai over three days.

*February 13, 2010: A terrorist attack at the German Bakery in Pune left 17 dead.

The dates cannot be a coincidence, and are a strong indicator that IM, whose leaders continue to plan and train in Pakistan, might be the hand behind the mayhem.

Indian agencies have been aware of the importance of these dates, although nobody has yet been able to crack the reason why 13 and 26 are the chosen days. In their investigations over the years, agencies have questioned many IM operatives who have been arrested.

The planning and execution of the blasts also bears the signature of the LeT backed group even though no email claiming responsibility has been reported as yet. The blasts were high intensity and the crowded locale of a neighbourhood like Zaveri Bazaar points to the IM.

Aware of the dates, agencies have stepped up vigilance and paid greater attention to terrorist chatter intercepts around these two days. Despite that, sources said, there was no inkling of any impending terror attack.

This year, there is an added ironic twist to these dates: Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers are expected to sit down for important talks on July 26. There was also buzz on the internet -- subsequently found to be incorrect -- that Ajmal Kasab's, birthday is on July 13.

Intelligence agencies say IM is part of LeT's so-called "Karachi Project", which uses fugitive Indian jihadis and run by former Pakistan armymen to keep up the terror pressure on India. This not only keeps India off balance, it also increases the deniability factor for Pakistan because IM operatives by and large are in India. The project, revealed by David Headley to the FBI interrogators, has also been linked to Huji in the past. Headley, for instance, was in close touch with Ilyas Kashmiri of Huji. Headley also said IM leaders, Riaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, were living under the protection of the LeT in Karachi.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2011 06:16 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Mumbai blasts: New cadre at work, believe state cops
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat's police officials believe that terrorists behind the Mumbai blasts belong to a cadre that sprung up in the post-SIMI (Students' Islamic Movement of India) phase. Police say that the new terror recruits do not figure on the security radar. That gives the recruits deadly anonymity in terror-torn states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra.

City crime branch officials said that the terror operatives had once grouped under the aegis of SIMI, but the grouping disbanded soon after 2008 when several police agencies carried out a nationwide crackdown. Senior operatives such as the Batkal brothers, Abdus Subhan alias Tauqeer, and Amir Raza Khan have fled the country, while the sleeper cells have lied low.

"The groups don't have any label like the Indian Mujahideen. They come and go as the operations warrant," said a senior state police official. "We have reasons to believe that these recruits are the new faces of subversive operations. While no group has so far claimed responsibility for the Mumbai blasts, the explosive mix of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil indicate IM modus operandi."

A senior ATS official said that since 2002, terrorists have picked either religious places like Akshardham and Hanuman Temple or crowded targets such as Mumbai's local trains and markets in Ahmedabad, Delhi and Jaipur. "They later started targeting prominent places and landmarks thronged by foreign visitors, as seen in the attack on Taj Hotel. Now they have again started targeting affluent areas to spread terror," he said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2011 00:44 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Chip with wires found on body sparks suicide bomber talk
MUMBAI/DELHI: A mystery chip looking like a "transformer with wires" in the right foot of one of the deceased in Wednesday's blast set off a chain of events that culminated in senior officials saying they could not rule out the possibility of a suicide bomber playing a part in 13/7.

J J Hospital doctors first saw the chip while taking X-ray images of corpses pouring in for post-mortem examination.
"He's dead, Jim."
"Dr. Quincy, how do you -- OMG!! What is that alien spidery thing in his foot?"
The mystery object was sent to the State Forensic Laboratory in Kalina and the report, confirming the nature of the object, was expected in a couple of days, officials said.

Senior hospital officials refused to name the deceased without confirmation of what the chip might have been. But sources told TOI he might have been one of the victims wheeled in from Zaveri Bazar and added that he might be a migrant from Rajasthan.

Officials said there could be two reasons for finding the chip with wires inside the body. Union home ministry secretary (internal security) U K Bansal said: "One of the possibilities is that the person might have been standing near the bomb and so some parts of the bomb were embedded in the body. But there is another possibility, that it could have been planted in his body. We can't say anything right now."
"I can say no more."
Officials in Delhi said they were not ruling out any angle as Indian agencies already had inputs from foreign agencies about possibility of human bombs being used for exploding aircraft. Western intelligence agencies last month passed on the input to India that terrorist groups might surgically implant bombs into human beings to attack aircraft. A few Indian Mujahideen militants arrested some time ago were also being interrogated, they added. "The NSG DG has informed us that a body with a circuit has been found from one of the sites. The body was found near the explosion site. We are not ruling out anything," Union home secretary R K Singh told reporters in Delhi. "The investigation is still on," said Singh.

"All foreign bodies recovered from the body of victims have been handed over to police for forensic investigation," said a source from the hospital. "The object could be a detonator or might have been embedded inside the body by the blast impact," he said but added it was definitely not any medical device.

The body parts of the deceased person, who had the 'chip' in his limb, were in a bad shape. His limbs were crushed into several pieces and his other body parts were badly damaged too. "His body was severely damaged and there was hardly any part that was intact," said the source.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "One of the possibilities is that the person might have been standing near the bomb and so some parts of the bomb were embedded in the body.

*ding ding ding*
Winner!
Posted by: Frank G || 07/15/2011 10:09 Comments || Top||


Petraeus meets Kayani amid tensions
[Dawn] Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing US commander in Afghanistan, and his soon-to-be successor met with top military leaders in Pakistain on Thursday as the two countries struggled to resolve tensions over the American raid that killed the late Osama bin Laden.
... who was laid out deader than a mackerel...
Petraeus and Marine Lt. Gen. John Allen's visit was part of a flurry over meetings between diplomats and military leaders of the two countries since the May 2 strike against the al-Qaeda chief in the northwest Pak garrison town of Abbottabad.

Few details were available about the meetings Thursday. The US Embassy said those gathered "discussed various topics of mutual interest and ways to improve regional security."

The visiting dignitary remained with the COAS for some time and discussed matters of professional interest, said a blurb issued by ISPR.

This could be one of Petraeus last trips to Pakistain, at least in his current capacity.

He is slated to become the next CIA chief. Allen is to succeed Petraeus as commander of the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  if we were an evil power - the good general's transition to the CIA would give him the chance to even the score with the jokers in Pakiwakiland... unfortunately...
Posted by: Water Modem || 07/15/2011 0:44 Comments || Top||


Efforts on to revive MMA
[Dawn] Two constituents of the defunct Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) have re-launched their efforts to revive the six-party religious alliance in the wake of prevailing political scenario.

The alliance went into dormancy when Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam of Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
participated in the February 2008 general elections in violation of the MMA leaders' decision of boycotting the polls in line with the All-Pakistain Democratic Movement (APDM) policy.

Maulana Fazl had earlier annoyed his colleagues in the alliance, especially Qazi Husain Ahmad of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), by failing to fulfill the promise of dissolving Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
(then NWFP) Assembly to render incomplete the electoral college
for presidential polls held in October 2007 and ostensibly paving the way for General Musharraf's election.

Leaders of the JI and Jamiat Ulema Pakistain-Noorani (JUP-N) met here on Wednesday in a bid to resuscitate the religious
grouping.

Led by Munawwar Hasan and Liaquat Baloch of the JI and Pir Ijaz Hashmi and Qari Zawwar Bahadur of the JUP-N, delegations of the two parties discussed ways and means to contact various religious and political parties.

The JUP-N would shortly convene a meeting of the MMA constituent parties in this regard and a final date would be made public after contacting all the members of the gathering.

Hashmi later told Dawn that the session would be held in Bloody Karachi. Both the parties also decided to bring together all "patriotic" opposition parties, Hashmi said and added that likely expansion in the MMA would also be discussed in the meeting.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami


Indian PM assures countrymen of no more terror attacks in future
(KUNA) -- The Government of India will take every possible step to prevent terror attacks in the future, said Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh while on a visit to the country's financial capital Mumbai, which faced serial kabooms Wednesday evening claiming 17 lives and injuring around 130 more.

Singh also said that the perpetrators of the blasts would be pursued relentlessly and brought to book as soon as possible.

Speaking to news hounds in Mumbai, the PM said "I assure the people that the government will do everything in its power to prevent such attacks in the future. I have asked the concerned authorities to coordinate their efforts and resources to relentlessly pursue the perpetrators. They must be brought to justice quickly and be subject to the rule of law that they have sought to subvert.

"I seek the cooperation of all citizens in this effort. We owe this to the grieving families," he noted.

Accompanied by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Premier also met the injured in the hospitals and enquired about their well-being. He announced financial assistance of nearly USD 4,500 for the kin of the dead and USD 2,250 for the injured, from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch, Butch and the Kid finally brought their horses under control...
prominent opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani castigated the Centre Government for not adopting a strict anti-terror policy to check terror attacks. "It is not an intelligence failure. I don't accuse the government of that as it is a failure of policy," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas warns of Internet game trap by Shin Bet
Young player tells Hamas he was asked by anonymous player on Ikariam game to provide information on armed Gazan groups.

Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip have warned their supporters against using the Ikariam online strategy game on the pretext that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) uses it to recruit Palestinians as collaborators. The popular game is set in the era of classical Greece on an archipelago, where players have to manage their resources to extend their imperium from a small settlement on a forsaken island to a complex network of cities and colonies.

The warning, the first of its kind, came after a young Palestinian man complained to Hamas’s “Internal Security Apparatus” that he had been asked by anonymous players of the online game to provide them with information about armed groups in the Gaza Strip.

The man told Hamas security officers that a player he met through the game’s chat box had transferred the sum of $200 to his bank account and asked him to collect the information. According to the Palestinian, the player claimed that he was from one of the Gulf countries, and that he only wanted to help him because he lives in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian said that when he refused to provide the information, the anonymous player started threatening to kill him.

A security official in the Gaza Strip told the local Safa news agency that the Hamas authorities were convinced the Shin Bet was using the online game to recruit Palestinians as informants. “They especially target the young people – men and women alike,” the official said, referring to the Shin Bet. “Israel has never hesitated to use modern technology to recruit agents to its security forces.”

According to the Hamas authorities, investigations have shown that suspected Israeli security personnel have used nicknames like “Asheq al-Shahada” (Lover of Martyrdom), “Al- Kannas” (The Sniper) and “Fursan al-Shahada” (Knights of Martyrdom) to register as players on the Ikariam website.
On the Internet, no one can tell if you're a dog.
“First they talk with Palestinian players about the game, but after a short while they start asking questions about the resistance groups, and where they are located,” the Hamas security official said. A warning had been issued to all Internet users in the Gaza Strip against falling into the trap of Israel, he added.

Hamas recently announced that its security forces had arrested a senior member of an armed militia in the Gaza Strip on suspicion of collaboration with Israel.
Pray for his soul, because his body is toast.
The suspect, whose identity was not revealed, is said to have provided Israel with vital information about the Islamic Jihad organization and its terrorists and weapons. Hamas claimed that the “collaborator” was one of Israel’s most important agents in the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2011 05:44 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Can't let your guard down, those tricksy Juice are everywhere!

Say! Hasn't your wife/girlfriend been acting strangly?
Posted by: Bobby || 07/15/2011 6:18 Comments || Top||

#2  I think there is an "e" in strangely. Come to think of it.
Posted by: Bobby || 07/15/2011 6:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Spell check Button at the screen's top, find out.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/15/2011 9:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Can't let your guard down, those tricksy Juice are everywhere!

Inside your computer. In the gas tank of your car. In your fridge. Under your bed. At you favorite goatp0rn site. Inside your head.
Everywhere, my friend...everywhere.
Posted by: The MOSSAD || 07/15/2011 11:51 Comments || Top||

#5  Sweet jeeeebus! It's worse than I thought.

BRB off to drop a grenade into the vegetable compartment of the Westinghouse.
Posted by: S || 07/15/2011 13:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Somebody been reading Pratchett.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/15/2011 13:48 Comments || Top||

#7  And this kid goes unpunished for believing a civilization not only pre-dates izlum, but a culture who thumped the persians every single time? I think they should round up everyone who has been at an internet cafe or has even heard of this game as apostates.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/15/2011 14:08 Comments || Top||

#8  They are in your eggs---they're in everybody's eggs.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/15/2011 17:50 Comments || Top||


6 in 10 Palestinians reject 2-state solution, survey finds
73% of 1,010 Palestinians in W. Bank, Gaza agree with 'hadith' quoted in Hamas Charter about the need to kill Jews hiding behind stones, trees. Only one in three Palestinians (34 percent) accepts two states for two peoples as the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an intensive, face-to-face survey in Arabic of 1,010 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip completed this week by American pollster Stanley Greenberg.

The poll, which has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, was conducted in partnership with the Beit Sahour-based Palestinian Center for Public Opinion and sponsored by the Israel Project, an international nonprofit organization that provides journalists and leaders with information about the Middle East.

Sixty-six percent said the Palestinians’ real goal should be to start with a two-state solution but then move to it all being one Palestinian state.

When asked what Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s top priorities should be, 83% said creating jobs. Just 4% said getting the UN to recognize a Palestinian state, and only 2% said peace talks with Israel.

Israel Project president Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi said she was encouraged that the Arab Spring would bring more accuracy to Arab media and by the 59% of Palestinians who are on Facebook. The Israel Project has 80,723 friends for its Arabic site, which has had 9.5 million page views in two months. Greenberg and Laszlo Mizrahi have presented the findings to President Shimon Peres, opposition leader Tzipi Livni, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Vice Premier Moshe Ya’alon and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s senior adviser, Ron Dermer.

Next week, they have meetings scheduled in the White House and the Pentagon.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2011 05:28 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Certainly removes guilt when the inevitable clash comes around. 6 in 10 are not innocent bystanders, they are the problem.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/15/2011 10:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Rejecting the "two-state solution" is a good idea. I'm all for the no-state solution. Philistines deserve neither Gaza nor West Bank-istan.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 07/15/2011 19:33 Comments || Top||


Arab League to Request U.N. Recognition of Palestinian State
[An Nahar] The Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
will submit to the United Nations
...what started out as a a diplomatic initiative, now trying to edge its way into legislative, judicial, and executive areas...
a request for recognition of a Paleostinian state, Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi said on Thursday in Doha.

The Arab peace initiative committee "has decided to submit a call to the member states of the United Nations to recognize a Paleostinian state," Arabi told a news conference after a meeting of the committee in the Qatari capital.

It would "move to present a request for full membership of a Paleostinian state in the General Assembly and the Security Council," Arabi added.

Paleostinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the aim of the Doha meeting, which was attended by Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
and various Arab foreign ministers, was to "strengthen Arab support for obtaining U.N. membership for a Paleostinian state."

The plan for the Paleostinians to seek recognition from the U.N. is opposed by Israel, the United States and some European governments.

But peace negotiations between Israel and the Paleostinians are stalled, with the stalemate increasing Paleostinian determination to seek statehood via the U.N.

The Paleostinians say they will not return to the negotiating table without a freeze on settlement construction and clear parameters for new talks, including that any borders will be based on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War, with mutually agreed land swaps.

But Israel has rejected any new settlement moratorium, and says setting preconditions for talks prejudges the substance of negotiations.

Posted by: Fred || 07/15/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  Perhaps we should directly tie a Palestinian state with the idea of a Kurdish state. That way we'd have Syria, Iran, Turkey and Iraq rejecting calls for any solution.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/15/2011 10:26 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Police Arrest Head of Bima Islamic School
Big brave jihadi, he ran home to Mum.
Police have arrested the leader of an Islamic boarding school in Bima, Sumbawa, where a bomb detonated on Monday, followed by a tense standoff between police and school personnel.

National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Ketut Untung Yoga Ana told reporters that Abrory M. Ali, the leader of the Umar bin Khatab Islamic boarding school in Bima, Sumbawa Island, was arrested on Friday at noon.

“An arrest has been made against the leader of the Islamic boarding school, Abrory, at the residence of his parents in Khananga village, Bolo subdistrict,” he said.

Ketut said that Abrory was arrested for his alleged involvement in the explosion at the boarding school, and for stabbing a Bolo Police officer.

A homemade bomb exploded in a room at the boarding school on Monday afternoon, killing a school treasurer.

Police attempted to search the school for evidence, but the school’s management, students and some local residents, many of them reportedly armed with swords and possibly other weapons, barred police from entering the school compound.

The standoff ended on Wednesday, when police were finally able to enter the school.

Four wired bombs fashioned from empty bottles and four unwired bottle bombs were found around the compound of the school. Police also seized 25 arrows, samurai swords and dozens of jihadi materials.

On Thursday a house belonging to Abrory caught fire before police could search the premise for evidence.

Police have not ruled out the possibility of arson to tamper with evidence.

Posted by: tipper || 07/15/2011 17:21 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Darwin awards all around. The students, too, because they'll never get off the police watch list, which makes it ever so hard to get the girl's parents to accepts one's marriage proposal.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/15/2011 20:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Police attempted to search the school for evidence, but the school's management, students and some local residents, many of them reportedly armed with swords and possibly other weapons, barred police from entering the school compound.

there's your evidence. Janet Reno the place
Posted by: Frank G || 07/15/2011 20:59 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Clinton: Islam, West can agree on tolerance
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she's hopeful that a religious tolerance agreement between the West and Islamic countries will end efforts to criminalize blasphemy that threaten freedom of expression.

At an interfaith conference in Turkey, Clinton said an initiative by the U.S., the European Union and the Organization of the Islamic Conference will promote religious freedom without compromising free speech.

"Together we have begun to overcome the false divide that pits religious sensitivities against freedom of expression and we are pursuing a new approach," Clinton said. "These are fundamental freedoms that belong to all people in all places and they are certainly essential to democracy."

Many Muslim nations have laws that punish perceived insults to Islam. As a way to rationalize those laws, those countries have long sought U.N. action condemning the defamation of religion.
Posted by: tipper || 07/15/2011 17:17 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tell that to Mr. Foster.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/15/2011 23:39 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2011-07-15
  U.S. Strikes in Yemen Said to Kill 8 Militants
Thu 2011-07-14
  Saudi Dismantles Group Plotting to Overthrow Regime
Wed 2011-07-13
  Three blasts in Mumbai, city on high alert
Tue 2011-07-12
  Karzai's brother killed by bodyguard
Mon 2011-07-11
  Syrian Protesters Break Into The U.S. Embassy In Damascus
Sun 2011-07-10
  21 Die in Bar Massacre in Monterrey
Sat 2011-07-09
  Sudan Recognizes Republic of South Sudan
Fri 2011-07-08
  US drone strikes kill dozens in Somalia
Thu 2011-07-07
  Syrian troops kill 22 in Hama
Wed 2011-07-06
  Afghan MPs Urge Karzai to Step Down
Tue 2011-07-05
  Hundreds of Gunmen Attack Pakistani Border Post
Mon 2011-07-04
  Bomb kills 10 in beer garden northern Nigeria
Sun 2011-07-03
  Assad sacks Hama governor
Sat 2011-07-02
  Swiss couple kidnapped in SW Pakistan: official
Fri 2011-07-01
  Report: U.S. Drone Wounds Top Islamists in Somalia


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