Hamid Karzai blamed Pakistani extremists on Wednesday for an attack on Shi'ites in Kabul that killed 55 people, demanding justice from the government in Islamabad. By blaming Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Karzai threatens to increase tensions with Pakistan just days after Islamabad boycotted the Bonn conference on Afghanistan's future.
Karzai said, "We will pursue this issue with Pakistan and its government very seriously," as he visited wounded survivors of the attack after cancelling a planned trip to Britain and rushing home from Germany.
There have been reports of a claim from Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, which is linked to Al-Qaeda and blamed for killing thousands of Shias in Pakistan but not previously believed to have attacked within Afghanistan.
Karzai said, "Lashkar-i-Jhangvi is based in Pakistan, therefore the government of Afghanistan with all its strength and international support will pursue this issue, Afghanistan cannot ignore the blood of its children."
His spokesman said that Karzai will "demand Pakistan take executive measures so that justice can be done".
Afghan officials fear that Tuesdays killings in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif could trigger sectarian violence ahead of the scheduled departure of Nato combat troops in 2014.
On Wednesday, another 19 people died in a roadside bombing in Helmand province, bringing to 78 the number of people killed in just over 24 hours. Four people were killed near a mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif.
[An Nahar] The Taliban issued a statement condemning deadly attacks on two shrines in Afghanistan that killed at least 58 people on Tuesday, blaming the bombings on the "invading enemy".
No group has grabbed credit for the strikes in the Afghan capital and northern Mazar-i-Sharif, but most previous major attacks have been blamed on the faceless myrmidons battling the Afghan government and its foreign backers.
Calling the attacks "inhumane and un-Islamic acts", the statement signed by Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahid and emailed to Agence La Belle France Presse, blamed them on "the invading enemy who faces total defeat in the battle against the mujahidin".
They "are now resorting to such brutal acts to create terror, distrust and hatred among Afghans so they can have an excuse to stay here for longer..." added the statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Eritrea has reacted with fury to new sanctions handed down by the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... Security Council for supporting Islamist krazed killers, including Al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban... , in the lawless Somalia.
The Red Sea State defiantly stated that it would prevail in spite of the hurdles placed on its way by the new sanctions. (Read: UN adopts milder Eritrea stance)
"The peoples of Eritrea, Ethiopia and the region will undoubtedly pay the price for this continued misguided policy, but the Eritrean people will prevail, as they prevailed in the past" a statement from Eritrean Foreign Ministry stated.
The Council passed the resolution with 13 votes in favour and two abstentions from China and Russia on Monday to expand sanctions imposed two years ago--that included an arms embargo.
The new resolution watered down at the insistence of Russia and China now requires foreign companies involved in mining in Eritrea to exercise "vigilance" to ensure funds from the sector are not used to destabilise the region.
The original draft circulated by Gabon sought to ban investment in Eritrea's mining industry and outlaw imports of its minerals. It further sought to block payment of a tax Eritrea charges on remittances from its nationals abroad.
The resolution drew the support of the US, Britannia and La Belle France, Gabon, Nigeria and South Africa.
Eritrea is furious at what it termed "US instigated sanctions" and warned that such action would exacerbate conflict and instability in the Horn of Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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Saadi Gadhafi, one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons, tried to travel secretly to Mexico with false documents, Mexico's interior minister Alejandro Poire said Wednesday. Three people have been implicated in the plot - a Canadian, a Dane and a Mexican, said the minister.
Saadi Gadhafi had offered to mediate an end to the war with the rebels in Libya months ago, after his father's troops lost control of Tripoli, but later seemed to change his mind.
He was last known to be in Niger. Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou had reaffirmed his country's decision to grant asylum to Saadi, saying he should be treated just like other "Libyan refugees." Libya's National Transitional Council has denounced that stance.
[An Nahar] Egyptian presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei Egyptian law scholar and Iranian catspaw. He was head of the IAEA from December 1997 to November 2009. At some point during his tenure he was purchased by the Iranians. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for something in 2005. After stepping down from his IAEA position ElBaradei attempted to horn in on the 2011 Egyptian protests which culminated in the collapse of the Mubarak regime. ElBaradei served on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, a lefty NGO that is bankrolled by the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. Soros himself serves as a member of the organization's Executive Committee. has accused Islamist parties which won a majority in elections last week of relying on slogans which he said would be laid bare if they gained power. As opposed to his own slogans...
The Islamists picked up two-thirds of votes cast for parties in the election last Monday and Tuesday in a third of Egypt's districts, with a new hardline Salafi party winning almost a quarter.
"Let them govern and have their chance. People will realize that slogans are not enough," elBaradei said in an interview published on Tuesday by the independent newspaper al-Shuruq. Then again, they won't be able to do anything about it, since it'll be a cold day in Cairo when the Islamic Brotherhood allows anything other than the sort of show-elections that made Hosni famous...
The former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog and Nobel laureate is close to the liberal pro-democracy movement that toppled the 30-year regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in February. He is also an outspoken critic of the military rulers who took power after the ousting of Mubarak, accusing them of mishandling the process of ushering in democracy in the Arab world's most populous nation.
"We live today in a fascist system with military tribunals and emergency law and if there is another round of the revolution it will be full of anger and violence," he warned.
"The situation is going from bad to worse after the failure of the military council in managing the transition process," said elBaradei, adding that young Egyptians were "completely despondent because nothing has changed." By 'bad to worse' he means 'fascist to Islamicist'...
The army [has] pushed back the original timetable for handing over power to civilian leaders and had proposed a series of measures to shield itself from scrutiny from the new elected government.
"If new elections take places in one or four years, it is you, the youth, that is going to govern," elBaradei added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
elBaradei it is too late. You have made a big mistake and you will not get a chance to correct it. In the process you have done your country a lot of damage.
[An Nahar] Algeria's national assembly on Tuesday voted to maintain a two-decade ban on the country's main religious party as politicians debated proposals for a new electoral law.
A month after Islamists swept to victory in neighboring Tunisia, the vote will ensure that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) party, which came out on top Algeria's 1991 elections, will continue to be locked out of power.
The army canceled the second round of elections in early 1992, banning the FIS in the process. The outcome was a civil war that lasted a decade which claimed about 200,000 lives.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third term, which is probably why Algerians are ready to dump him... was catapulted into power and has been in charge of the former French colony ever since, despite the recent uprisings in other parts of the Arab world.
While not singling out the FIS, Tuesday's vote upheld a ban on "any person responsible for the exploitation of religion having led to the national tragedy (civil war) from founding a party or participating in its creation."
The continuation of the ban was one of the main recommendations of a special commission which are currently being voted on by parliament.
The deputies also approved of an amendment stipulating that a ban should be extended to all persons who have "participated in terrorist acts and who refuse to recognize their responsibility in the conception, the preparation and the execution of a policy in favor of violence against institutions of the state."
The amendments were condemned by the exiled veteran leader of the FIS, Abassi Madani, who said in a statement that they "violate international conventions on political and civic rights". Madani, who now lives in Qatar, urged Algerian parties to reject them.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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The government will provide medicines and food for 1.46 million children and pregnant women in North Korea through UNICEF, a spokesman said Monday. A committee under the Unification Ministry recently decided to donate US$5.65 million to UNICEF for the purpose. Under normal circumstances that would free up the equivalent amount of medicine and food to medicate and feed the North Korean army, or the equivalent amount of money it would take to buy same. These aren't normal circumstances, of course. This is occurring in some sort of Lalaland where cause and effect don't apply.
The goods include various vaccines for babies, infants, and pregnant women; 10,500 essential medical kits for children; and food supplements, iron and folic acid supplements and nutrients for malnourished children. This will be the first time since 2009 that Seoul has given aid to the North through UNICEF.
The move is part of a more conciliatory line trodden by the new Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik. In a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Nov. 5, Yu pledged to consider resuming government-level humanitarian aid to the North through a UN agency. On Nov. 8, he approved resumption of aid to the North through the World Health Organization.
Pyongyang tamped down on verbal attacks on Seoul after Yu was inaugurated but last Friday denounced the conciliatory line as "propaganda fraud" and "lip service," apparently because no material support had been forthcoming so far. Oh, well, in that case the South should just cancel their donation.
A ministry official said, "We can't respond to the North every time. We need more time to watch the situation."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has canceled a trip to Qatar this week to spend more time recovering at home from an operation, his office said on Wednesday.
Erdogan, 57, underwent abdominal surgery on Nov. 26 and has been resting and out of the public eye since then.
His absence - which has led to the cancellation of two consecutive cabinet meetings despite there being four deputy prime ministers - has caused some commentators to reflect on what void Erdogan would leave if anything happened to him.
Having led Turkey for the past decade, Erdogan dominates the political landscape, and all key decisions rest with him.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is hoping his panels hearing on the radicalization of Muslim-Americans within the U.S. military will reveal how the armed services can better protect itself against homegrown attacks.
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) is holding a joint hearing on Wednesday, along with Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), as the next stage in his series of efforts to address the radicalization of American Muslims.
Pointing to the 2009 shootings at the Fort Hood military base in Texas and at a military recruiting station in Arkansas, which killed a total of 14 people and wounded more than two dozen, King said the issue of radicalization within military communities is one that is grossly under the radar. There is an attempt by Islamists to join the military and infiltrate the military, and its more of a threat than the average American is aware of right now, said King in an interview with The Hill on Monday.
Lieberman said his committee has held 13 hearings over the past five years on the issue of violent Islamic extremism and, based on what he has learned, the military is an increasingly large target for attacks. Clearly, the threat of homegrown terrorism has increased dramatically, and clearly, members of the armed services are a high-value target, Lieberman said in a statement.
King said he also hopes to address the minutiae of radicalization on military bases. He used an example of how he has heard of at least one instance in which a copy of the radical Islamic magazine Inspire which has been used as a recruiting tool for terrorist groups was found in a barracks and allowed to remain. But Confederate flags are rightfully banned, he said.
Im using that as an example about whether or not we need to be more aggressive in facing up to the reality. Its Islamic terrorism. Its not just a nondescript, anonymous type of terrorism.
King has held three hearings so far this year on the issue of radicalization of Muslim-Americans within the U.S. The first one drew the most scrutiny, as nearly 100 members of Congress asked him to cancel it or widen the breadth of the radicalized groups he was probing. King lauded the hearing as a success, saying that it brought attention to a taboo subject that is a serious and growing security concern.
The other two hearings focused on the terrorist group al-Shabbabs influence within the U.S., and the radicalization of Muslim-Americans within U.S. prisons.
King is planning to unveil a committee report on the issue at Wednesdays hearing and another joint report with the Senate panel afterward.
He said his next hearing will likely be next year and focus on the use of certain mosques by al Qaeda and Iran in their efforts to radicalize people within the U.S.
[Dawn] Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. on Tuesday commended the security forces for maintaining peace during Ashura processions, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to the media in Islamabad, he said he was thankful to everyone, including the Taliban, for their cooperation in ensuring peaceful Ashura processions throughout the country during the 9th and 10th of Muharram.
Moreover, the interior minister added that a blast in the densely-populated Lines Area of Bloody Karachi the previous night, earlier said to be caused by a gas cylinder, was infact caused by explosives. But immediate action by police and security forces ensured no casualties in the incident.
Answering a question, he said that former ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani's name had already been put on the Exit Control List (ECL) as per the orders from Supreme Court.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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The United States must "fully review" ties to Pakistain and weigh possible cuts or new restrictions to military and economic aid, Republican U.S. Senators John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... and Lindsey Graham ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... urged Monday.
"The United States has been incredibly patient with Pakistain. And we have been so despite certain undeniable and deeply disturbing facts," they said in a joint statement on sorely tested relations between Washington and Islamabad.
They cited alleged support from Mighty Pak Army and intelligence officials for the Haqqani network "and other terrorist groups" blamed for attacks on U.S. targets in Afghanistan "that are killing U.S. troops."
"The time has come for the United States to fully review its relations with Pakistain. We must assess the nature and levels of our support for Pakistain," said the senators.
"In particular, all options regarding U.S. security and economic assistance to Pakistain must be on the table, including substantial reductions and stricter standards for performance," they said.
McCain serves as the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, while Graham is a member of that panel and is the top Republican on the committee that allocates U.S. foreign aid.
"U.S. policy toward Pakistain must proceed from the realistic understanding that certain actions of Pakistain's military are contributing to the death and injury of our men and women in the military and jeopardizing our national security interests," said the senators.
Ties between Washington and Islamabad took a turn for the worse after a U.S. special operations raid killed al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden ... who has won the race to that place where we all eventually end up... in the sleepy Pak garrison town of Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... in May.
Relations slid to a new low last month when NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... air strikes killed 24 Pak soldiers on the Afghan border, prompting Pakistain to boycott the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan's future.
McCain and Graham offered their "deep condolences" over those killed in that "unfortunate and unintentional" strike and predicted that a NATO-U.S. military investigation would "clarify the circumstances of this terrible tragedy."
"The Pak government's response to these events, however, has been deeply troubling and has added to the continued deterioration of our relationship," they said.
They pointed to Pakistain preventing NATO supplies from reaching Afghanistan, ordering U.S. intelligence officers to leave the country, and boycotting the Bonn conference, and reports that Islamabad may have decided to suspend all bilateral counter-terrorism agreements as part of a review of overall military relations.
"Such steps by the Pak government would mark a new low for our relationship," they warned.
McCain and Graham called for the United States and its allies to "develop contingency plans" for supplying U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Interesting--Graham & McCain have adopted the Rick Perry position. Glad they didn't embrace the Bachmann-Huntsman keep-the-spigot-open plan.
Posted by: American Delight ||
12/07/2011 5:35 Comments ||
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The IDF placed in durance vile members of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine ... Paleostinian Marxist movement, founded in 1967. It is considered a terrorist organization by more than 30 countries including the U.S., European Union, Australia, Canada, and Antarctica. The PFLP's stated goal is the establishment of a socialist State in Paleostine. They pioneered armed aircraft hijackings in the late 60s and early 70s... near Nablus Wednesday morning, Ma'an News Agency Reported.
According to the report, the IDF stormed the city and raided a number of houses. Muhammad Ghazal, a local "Hamas leader" from Nablus, and Doctor Yusef Abd Al-Hak, a PFLP "leader," were among those placed in durance vile.
Jordanian newspaper Ad-Dustour said that 12 people were jugged.
"But wait! There's more!"
The Jerusalem District Court sentenced David Mizrachi of Kiryat Arba to three months' community service for running over a terrorist who stabbed his wife. Mizrachi, 57, was convicted in June of serious assault as part of a plea bargain, and the sentence was handed down Tuesday.
The incident took place at the gas station at the entrance to Kiryat Arba in November of 2009. The terrorist, Wasim Maswada, came to the Paz gas station armed with an axe and a knife. He entered the convenience store that Mizrachi ran along with his wife, Tamar, and stabbed Tamar in the neck with the knife. She called her husband on the phone and said "I am being stabbed!"
The terrorist then accosted a man who was fueling his car and stabbed him in the back of the neck. A security guard at the station fired at the terrorist and hit him.
Three soldiers then approached Maswada and stood guard over him, but he got up and tried to stab the soldiers. They fired several bullets at his legs and he fell to the ground, wounded.
According to the charge sheet, at a certain point Mizrachi arrived, got into his car and drove toward Maswada. He asked the soldiers "Is that the terrorist?" and they answered in the affirmative. He then drove back and forth over him until the soldiers forced him to stop. "Stop! Stop! That's bad for your tires!"
The terrorist has since recovered from his injuries and is to stand trial for his offenses. "Doctor! Doctor! We've got a holey man in the ER, and he's in bad shape! 'What's his problem?' He's tired like you wouldn't believe!"
#1
Over two years before he is able to be tried. Good.
Hopefully they'll have David in charge of sunblock application for the Israeli womens' beach-volleyball team at the time of his choosing within the next year.
A couple of criticisms for the Israelis involved here for next time:
Drivers: Park the car on top of the terrorist with the muffler burning his face. Whether you leave the car running or throw the car keys up on the roof of the gas station would depend on the situation. Use your best judgment.
Soldiers: Wait patiently until the driver has properly centered his car on top of the terrorist before taking your turn. Please note that because of the driver's adrenaline level, this may take several attempts. After the driver places the transmission in park and sets the emergency brake, shoot out the car's tires to disable the vehicle and prevent further injury to the terrorist muslim extremist. Be careful to clear any innocent bystandters away from any gas puddles so they won't get burned if the mother of the terrorist shows up and offers him a smoke. Be sure to have a cell phone handy so you can call the fire department if this is the case.
#7
Drivers: Park the car on top of the terrorist with the muffler burning his face. Whether you leave the car running or throw the car keys up on the roof of the gas station would depend on the situation. Use your best judgment.
Wrong. Park one of the wheels over the terrorist's torso, and the guy's on his way to meet his virgins.
Iran on Wednesday blocked an Internet website the United States was touting as a "virtual embassy," and which senior MPs slammed as an attempt to deceive the Iranian people and divide them from the government.
Alaeddin Borujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliamentary national security and foreign policy commission, said the new US website was a misguided attempt to make the Iranian people believe Washington wanted to communicate with them. Another influential MP, Hassan Ghafouri-Fard, was quoted by state television as saying the website was set up because "the US wants to create division between Iran's nation and government." He ruled out any formal diplomatic relations being restored with the United States in the near future.
The website offers US policy statements in English and Farsi, gives information on US visas, and provides news from the US-funded Voice of America. Other websites Iran's authorities find objectionable have also long been blocked, including Facebook, non-English Google sites and many foreign media pages.
#1
Iran on Wednesday blocked an Internet website the United States was touting as a "virtual embassy," and which senior MPs slammed as an attempt to deceive the Iranian people and divide them from the government.
We do everything else electronicly, But now you'll never know.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/07/2011 11:28 Comments ||
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#2
Oh noz, de-friended? But we got the smarht diplomacy app! Have they tried the Sims yet?
#5
I beleive the worst part of the whole idea was that the site was lame. I'm sure the Chamber of Commerce in Fort Wayne, Indiana put together a more enjoyable site for a lot less money.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/07/2011 21:02 Comments ||
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#6
Absolutely. They spent some time and effort on Attaaaackkk Waaaaatch1ae!! gotta wonder what something thrown together would look like.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... appeared in public for the first time since 2008 on Tuesday stressing that his party's fighters and arsenal were growing in numbers despite the efforts to disarm the group.
"I wanted to be with you for a few minutes ... to renew our pledge and for the world to hear us," Nasrallah said after he walked among the crowds with his bodyguards clearing the way for him to reach the stage in Beirut's southern suburbs.
His public appearance, he said, was a message to those who believe they can "threaten us."
Nasrallah then left the podium, telling tens of thousands of supporters he will reappear in few minutes on a giant screen for a longer speech.
The secretary-general last appeared in public in July 2008, on the occasion of the release of five Lebanese prisoners by Israel as part of a prisoner swap.
Later Nasrallah said via video link that his fighters and arsenal were growing in numbers and the party members were being better trained.
"Those trying to disarm Hizbullah are serving Israel and are seeking through dialogue to achieve what Israel had failed to accomplish for 33 days," he said about the Jewish state's July 2006 aggression on Leb.
The real security problem in the country is the arms found in the hands of all Lebanese, he told his supporters.
He stressed the army-people-resistance equation to confront the alleged spying of the CIA, Israel's spying devices planted in Leb and the Israeli violations.
No plots and wars whether political or psychological would be able to target the resistance, the black turbaned holy man said.
"The real threat to this nation and all its governments is the American-Israeli project and the U.S. administration no matter who its president is," he told the crowds.
Nasrallah urged his supporters to confront the alleged efforts to stir strife through awareness, saying: "We stress on civil peace and the need to overcome any discord."
He also called for consolidating government work and announced support for the Change and Reform bloc's demands for Premier Najib Miqati to assume his responsibilities.
"Justice comes through opening the file of false witnesses" in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 liquidation, he reiterated. Last week, Nasrallah said Miqati should put the issue on the cabinet agenda and later refer it to the Higher Judicial Council.
The false witnesses have reportedly misled Sherlocks probing Hariri's murder.
Turning to Arab issues, he said: "We stress not to deal with the internal situation as an isolated island ... Leb is strongly linked to the developments in the region."
He accused the U.S. administration of resorting to sectarian strife to revive its plan to transform the Middle East after its failure to implement the project several years ago.
Nasrallah reiterated his support for the Syrian regime while saying that his party backs reform and efforts to eradicate corruption in the neighboring country.
He stressed, however, that "some people want to destroy Syria," they reject dialogue and they seek to "compensate their loss in Iraq."
The Hizbullah chief accused the West of seeking to bring a new regime in Syria that would be disloyal to Arabs.
On Iraq, he said the Americans were defeated there. "They had the objective to control it and establish bases for dozens of years but the resistance and the high cost of occupation forced them to withdraw."
"We congratulate the Iraqi people for defeating the biggest army in the world," Nasrallah said.
But he warned that the Arab people, who are busy with their internal problems, should be aware of an Israeli attempt to target Jerusalem.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Emirates 24/7] Leb's Hezbullies leader Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday vowed to stand by his embattled ally President Bashar Al Assad to the end, lashing out at Syria's opposition for cosying up with Washington and Israel.
"From the very beginning, we have made it clear that we stand by the (Syrian) regime, a regime of resistance" against Israel, Nasrallah said in a speech to mark the Shiite commemoration of Ashura.
Nasrallah's speech, broadcast on a giant screen to tens of thousands in the Shiite stronghold just south of Beirut, came after he made a brief public appearance before the frenzied crowd.
The black-clad leader heaped criticism on the Syrian National Council, the main anti-Assad opposition coalition, slamming the council for aiming to "destroy Syria."
"The so-called Syrian National Council, formed in Istanbul, and its leader Burhan Ghaliun... are trying to present their credentials to the United States and Israel," Nasrallah said.
The Shiite leader's comments came after Ghaliun was quoted as saying a Syria run by the country's main opposition group would cut military ties to Iran, Hezbullies and the Paleostinian Islamist movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
"There will be no special relationship with Iran," Ghalioun, a 66-year-old university professor, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Friday.
"Breaking the exceptional relationship means breaking the strategic, military alliance," Ghalioun was quoted as saying. "After the fall of the Syrian regime, (Hezbullies) won't be the same."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
There were lots of reports of Hezbollah troops helping Assad as late as Sept 2011 but none lately.
If all Nasrallah can do is give verbal support, it means that even Hezbollah thinks Assad's days are numbered.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/07/2011 0:28 Comments ||
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#2
Fred, it is probably Iran pushing Hezbollah to support Syria. Whatever Nasrallah thinks. He has to be seen as supporting Assad in Iran.
[Iran Press TV] Several nuclear experts have repudiated the recent ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran's nuclear program, saying it is misinformed, misleading and merely a hype created by the media, Press TV reports.
In its November 8 report, the IAEA accused Tehran of activities aimed at developing nuclear weapons before 2003 and speculated that these activities "may still be ongoing".
Robert Kelley, former IAEA director and nuclear engineer, says he was "quite surprised" by the lack of new information in the report, further stressing that the report is "highly misleading."
Kelley says the IAEA report draws its material from a single source, a laptop computer. The laptop, he says, was allegedly supplied to the IAEA by a Western intelligence agency, "whose provenance could not be established."
Tehran has rejected the report as "unbalanced, unprofessional and prepared with political motivation and under political pressure by mostly the United States."
"There is nothing (in the IAEA report) that indicates that Iran is really building a bomb," says Greg Thielmann, former State Department and Senate Intelligence Committee analyst.
"Those who want to drum up support for a bombing attack on Iran sort of aggressively misrepresented the report," Thielmann adds.
On Saturday, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said the IAEA report bore greater resemblance to a "PR exercise than a serious nuclear effort."
Churkin cited the manner in which the report "was played up in the media and then leaked to the press, containing very little information," about Iran's nuclear program, as proof of this public relations maneuver.
In its November 18 resolution against the Islamic Theocratic Republic, the IAEA Board of Governors voiced "deep and increasing concern" about Tehran's nuclear program, and called on Iran and the IAEA to intensify dialogue to resolve the dispute over the Iranian nuclear energy program.
The resolution, however, stopped short of reporting Iran to the UN Security Council or setting Tehran a deadline to comply.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used this pretext to push for the imposition of sanctions as well as to call for an attack on the country.
Iran, however, refutes such allegations as "baseless" and maintains that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence indicating that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
I heard Scott Ritter rejected it too.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2011 14:44 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Iran promised to provide better protection in future for diplomats and said there would be no repeat of the storming of the British embassy last week, which has damaged its already strained ties with Europe.
Britannia shut its embassy, withdrew its diplomats and expelled Iranian diplomats from London after the attack, which saw protesters storm its embassy and a residential compound, smashing buildings and burning offices.
Other European countries, including La Belle France and Germany, also withdrew ambassadors from Tehran in solidarity with London.
London says the incident could not have happened without some official Iranian government support. Iran says it was the result of a spontaneous outpouring of anger after Britannia imposed a new set of sanctions over its nuclear programme.
Asked in an interview if Iran could guarantee that diplomats will be better protected in future, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said: "Yes, this experience has immunised us against these kinds of illegal actions. This won't happen again."
In the interview, published on Tuesday in the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he denied that the government was behind the embassy storming: "Why would we support such a thing?" he asked.
He said he had expressed regret in a phone call with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
"But I also explained the reasons of the attack to him," Salehi said. "Britons angered the Iranian people with their stance."
Iran denies Western suspicion it is seeking atomic weapons and says its nuclear work is entirely peaceful. A report last month by the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog, which suggested Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, has prompted European countries and the United States to tighten sanctions.
The EU is considering banning imports of Iranian crude oil.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2011 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
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Saadi Gadhafi, one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons, tried to travel secretly to Mexico with false documents, Mexico's interior minister Alejandro Poire said Wednesday. Three people have been implicated in the plot - a Canadian, a Dane and a Mexican, said the minister.
Egyptian presidential candidate 
Bouteflika
ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has canceled a trip to Qatar this week to spend more time recovering at home from an operation, his office said on Wednesday.
[Dawn] Federal Minister for Interior 
John 
Lindsey Graham
Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine
Iran on Wednesday blocked an Internet website the United States was touting as a "virtual embassy," and which senior MPs slammed as an attempt to deceive the Iranian people and divide them from the government. 
[An Nahar] Hizbullah leader 
Najib Miqati
[Emirates 24/7] 
Several nuclear experts have repudiated the recent 
[Dawn] Iran promised to provide better protection in future for diplomats and said there would be no repeat of the storming of the British embassy last week, which has damaged its already strained ties with Europe.
