[An Nahar] A "revolutionary front" of Sudanese rebels seeking to overthrow President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. asked Libya to arrest the accused war criminal during his visit to Tripoli that began on Saturday.
Bashir arrived in the Libyan capital for his first visit since the country's long-time dictator Muammar Qadaffy ... who is now deader than a rock... was tossed and killed last year.
"We are calling for the Libyan authorities to arrest Bashir and send him to the ICC because he committed crimes against his people in Darfur," said Ibrahim al-Hillu of Darfur's Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction headed by Abdelwahid Nour.
He spoke to Agence La Belle France Presse on behalf of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front formed late last year. It also includes the Darfur-based Justice and Equality Movement, another SLA faction, and the SPLM-N rebels based elsewhere in Sudan.
The Hague-based International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Bashir in 2009 for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur. A later warrant added genocide to the charges.
Qadaffy was also wanted by the ICC, for suspected crimes against humanity during his attempted suppression of the revolt that erupted last February.
"We condemn the revolutionary authorities for receiving Bashir," Hillu said, referring to Libya's ruling National Transitional Council.
He asked them not to provide funding to the Sudanese leader "because he is using this money to kill" people in his country.
According to the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... , at least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur since fighting between non-Arab rebels and the Arab-dominated central government erupted in 2003. Khartoum puts the corpse count at 10,000.
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01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Libya's 1.2 million schoolchildren returned to classrooms nationwide yesterday, to learn a revamped curriculum that includes the revolution that ousted Moamer Qadaffy and purges his personal teachings.
The country's old textbooks have been revised to eliminate chapters that "glorified" Qadaffy with new material added on the nine-month conflict that led to his downfall and death, Education Minister Suleyman Ali al-Saheli told AFP.
"We will not repeat the same mistakes. Our children will study the entire conflict, including details of Qadaffy's death," Saheli said on the sidelines of an event marking the start of the national school year.
"For sure they will study what happened in Libya last year."
The bloody rebellion which erupted last February saw tens of thousands of Libyan men, backed by NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... forces, take up arms against Qadaffy, who was killed on October 20 following a conflict that left thousands of people dead.
Saheli said that during his four-decade regime, Qadaffy "distorted history" to cast himself in a favourable light.
"Libyan history was changed under him. Libya's genuine history was never taught," he told a gathering in the Ali Shams school in Tripoli's once-notorious Abu Salim neighbourhood.
Abu Salim was a former Qadaffy bastion that included an infamous prison where some political activists who opposed Qadaffy were held. Large swathes of the neighbourhood were reduced to rubble when Qadaffy diehards battled former rebels in August, in the days before Tripoli fell.
"Qadaffy's political teachings, military teachings and the subject of Al-Jamahiriya ... An Arabic neologism coined by the late and unlamented Muammar al-Qadaffy. The word jamahiriya was derived from jumhuriya, which is the usual Arabic translation of republic. It was coined by changing the component jumhur ‐ public ‐ to its plural form, jamahir -- the masses. Thus, it is similar to the term People's Republic, only more denigrating to the actual inhabitants of the country... are being dropped from the new curriculum," Saheli told the gathering of children, teachers and officials from the United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... children's fund, Unicef.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Expect some teachers' assasinations by "revolutionary heroes" who're feeling slighted.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... caused great suffering among the Sudanese people, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. said on Saturday during his first visit to Libya since Qadaffy was tossed and killed.
Wanted by the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... (ICC) on charges of genocide and war crimes in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, Bashir said that after Libya, Qadaffy inflicted the most damage in Sudan, the official WAL news agency reported.
"We all suffered from the old regime... We (the Sudanese) were the second to have suffered the most, after the Libyan people," Bashir told the news agency.
Upon arrival in Tripoli, the Sudanese leader was met by Libya's Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the National Transitional Council (NTC), and members of the interim government, an AFP photographer reported.
Bashir, who claims that Sudan provided weapons to help oust Qadaffy, said the visit felt "like it was the first time," adding that he came to underline Sudan's support for the Libyan people and the country's new government that took charge after Qadaffy's four-decade dictatorship fell.
Khartoum's relationship with Qadaffy's Libya was uneasy. The former Libyan leader poured arms across the border into Darfur and long sought greater influence in Sudan's ravaged western region.
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01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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Egypts two main Islamist parties claimed on Saturday to have together taken 62.2 percent of the vote in the final stage of a general election, maintaining their lead in the overall contest.
The Freedom and Justice Party of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood said on its website that it had garnered 35.2 percent of the party list vote in the polling in the final nine governorates on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Al Nur party of the even more conservative Salafists, said it received 27 percent.
The two parties chalked up 65 percent in the first two phases of Egypts first general election since the February ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.
The elections for the lower house of parliament have divided up the country geographically.
The last stage included the unstable Sinai region, which lies along the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip and includes the countrys popular Red Sea tourist resorts.
Under the complex electoral system adopted after Mubaraks ouster, second-round run-offs still have to be held later this month where necessary for the one third of seats that are decided in first-past-the-post constituencies.
From January 29, two-stage elections will then be held for the upper house.
Once the new parliament has been sworn in, a commmission will be appointed to draft a new constitution before presidential elections are held by the end of June.
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01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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TRIPOLI, Libya -- Libya risks sliding into civil war unless it cracks down on the rival militias that filled the vacuum left by Moammar Gaddafi's downfall, the head of the interim administration said after an outbreak of violence in the capital.
Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the Transitional National Council, issued the stark warning in response to a gun battle between militias in one of Tripoli's busiest streets Tuesday that killed four fighters.
More than two months after anti-Gaddafi forces captured and killed the former leader, Libya's new rulers are still struggling to exert their authority as rival militia leaders refuse to cede control of their fighters and hand in their arms.
Since they live in a part of the world in which trusting a national government to protect their interests doesn't especially work well, unless you're the head cheese of the national government.
"We are now between two bitter options," Abdel Jalil told a gathering in the eastern city of Benghazi late Tuesday. Either "we deal with these violations strictly and put the Libyans in a military confrontation that we don't accept," he said, "or we split, and there will be a civil war."
A split into Triplitania and Cyrenaica might not be such a bad idea, except each of those then would split into about 29 different unstable mini-states...
The militias, drawn from dozens of towns and ideological camps, led the nine-month uprising, backed by NATO airstrikes, to end Gaddafi's 42-year rule. Now, though, they appear to believe they must keep an armed presence in the capital to ensure they receive their share of political power.
For good reason, apparently.
The transitional council has begun to form a fully functioning army and police force to take over the task of providing security, although Abdel Jalil has acknowledged that progress has been too slow.
Tripoli is now an unruly patchwork of fiefdoms, each controlled by a different militia. Police are rarely seen, except when directing traffic, and there is no sign of the newly created national army.
That's what Jalil means by 'too slow'...
The city has two main homegrown militias. One is led by Abdel Hakim Belhadj, an Islamist who spent time in Taliban camps in Afghanistan and now runs his militia from a luxury Tripoli hotel. The other is headed by Abdullah Naker, a former electronics engineer who is openly disdainful of Belhadj.
Much mustache cursing ensues, apparently...
There are also the militias from outside town. Fighters from Zintan, an anti-Gaddafi bastion southwest of the capital, control the international airport.
Militias from the city of Misurata, east of Tripoli, have mostly withdrawn from central Tripoli but keep a presence in the eastern outskirts. Fighters from the Berber, or Amazigh, ethnic minority mark out their territory with their blue, green and yellow flags. Another set of fighters from the east of Libya, the original heartland of the anti-Gaddafi revolt, add to the mix.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#4
Once the Arab Spring is over, the government can then teach some useful skills, like switching on the tanks gun's loader's safety switch before attempting to load the breech.
Either that or next time specify on the purchase order an autoloader.
[Yemen Post] With Yemen's ruler supposedly stepping down from power in less than 45 days, strong differences are taking place between him and the country's next leader, VP AbduRabu Hadi.
With Yemen's ruler supposedly stepping down from power in less than 45 days, strong differences are taking place between him and the country's next leader, VP AbduRabu Hadi.
Numerous ruling party officials verbally attacked current Hadi in the presence of Saleh, and claimed that he is on a mission to destroy everything connected to the fading President-for-Life Saleh, ... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence... and start a new dynasty.
Senior ruling family officials are trying to convince Saleh to stay in power fearing they will all fall like dominos if he flips aside.
A number of Saleh's core pillars have already been ousted from major position as a result of a growing phenomena, which has been known as the "revolution of institutions in Yemen."
A close Saleh aide told Yemen Post that he is worried that the immunity given to him will not be enough for him and that he is almost sure that he will stand trial for the crimes committed during the 33 years of Yemen rule.
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01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The government will form another tribunal within February to try crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War in 1971, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told The Daily Star yesterday.
"We will form another three-judge tribunal like the existing one [International Crimes Tribunal] for quick disposal of war crimes-related cases," he said.
The International Crimes Tribunal Act allows the government to form more than one tribunal for disposing of war crimes cases.
The new tribunal will sit in the Old High Court building in the capital, where the Law Commission has its office now. A process has already started to shift the office of the Law Commission to another place, said the law minister.
He added that judges would be appointed for the new tribunal immediately after "we arrange logistics and staff for it."
The International Crimes Tribunal formed on March 25, 2010 has High Court Judge Md Nizamul Huq as its chairman. Its two other members are HC Judge ATM Fazle Kabir and a retired district judge, AKM Zaheer Ahmed.
The tribunal has framed 20 specific war crimes charges against Jamaat-e- Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi ...Islamic orator and politician. He was a former Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2008, and is one of the most prominent leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami... , and is now hearing depositions of the prosecution witnesses.
It is scheduled to hold the hearings on January 15 and 29 on the charge framing against BNP leader Salauddin Qader Chowdhury and Jamaat leader Abdul Qader Molla.
The tribunal will give its decision on January 9 as to whether it will take war crimes charges against former Jamaat ameer Ghulam Azam and present Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami ...During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami formed the Al-Badr Force and acted as its supreme commander. The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, looting and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
To nip this in the bud, go against the instigators who are rabble rousing, and do so quickly. A few disappearances and they will rapidly learn to put a sock in it. Left unchecked, and they will get lots of people hurt and killed, the instigators getting away clean.
Importantly, do so "off season" to reduce the connection.
[Dawn] A government prosecutor says former Pak President Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... will be tossed in the clink in connection with the killing of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... if he returns home this month. And next time there's a coup they'll hang Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali. He's either not bright enough to anticipate that or he's got his ticket to Dubai paid up and in his pocket, to be used the moment the tanks roll.
Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali says Musharraf would be tossed in the clink under a court order. Hours earlier, Musharraf told a Pak news channel that he would come back later this month to contest the next parliamentary elections, which could be held later this year.
Musharraf has been living in London and Dubai since 2008 when the government, led by Bhutto's party, forced him to resign.
Bhutto died in a gun and suicide kaboom in December 2007. Prosecutors allege Musharraf was part of a conspiracy to kill her. Musharraf has denied the charge.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[One Pakistan] A US Treasury delegation will call on senior Pak economic managers in Islamabad on January 9 to discuss money-laundering and forces of Evil funding issues
Pakistain's Finance Ministry said the American delegation comprising about four to five officials would hold talks with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... , Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and State Bank of Pakistain Governor Yaseen Anwar.
The meeting comes amid Pakistain being under fire on the issue of money- laundering and forces of Evil funding since the 9/11 terror attacks on the US, The Dawn reports.
Money- laundering is a punishable offence in Pakistain under the anti-money laundering ordinance promulgated in 2007, which prescribes a rigorous imprisonment term between one and 10 years and a fine of upto one million rupees and forfeiture of property.
The State Bank of Pakistain has also directed all exchange companies to adhere to the anti-money laundering regime by submitting suspicious transactions directly to the Financial Monitoring Unit.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
And they're expecting the Paki's to tell the truth? Good luck with that.
#4
OOOOPSIES, forgot SIASAT DAILY > [Pakistan]ISLAMIC REVOLUTION ONLY SOLUTION TO ALL PROBLEMS.
JI Chief Syed Munawar Hasan, whom argues that Pakistan's Govt. is TOO CORRUPT, TOO HARMFULLY PRO-US, + HAS UTTERLY FAILED TO SOLVE THE PROBS OF THE PEOPLE = COUNTRY.
Law enforcement agencies have found several small previously-unknown beturbanned goon organizations operating in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , during recent crackdowns. Most of them are linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistain.
"Militants linked with the TTP are increasingly moving to Bloody Karachi because of military operations and US drone strikes in the tribal areas," said Chaudry Aslam, head of the Anti-Extremism Cell (AEC) at CID Bloody Karachi. They get logistics and manpower support from the beturbanned goon organizations already established in the city.
Such groups include the Punjabi Taliban, the Al Mukhtar group, Kharooj, Al Furqan, Badar Mansoor Group and Jundullah - all discovered within the past year.
Many of these groups are facing severe shortages of funds after the government's moves to cut off their foreign sources of funding, according to Aslam, and that is why there has been a surge in bank robberies and abductions for ransom. At least 18 banks were robbed in 2011, with a total of more than Rs60 million stolen, according to news reports
"All such little-known beturbanned goon outfits are linked with the TTP," Aslam told TFT. "It is TTP's strategy to operate in Bloody Karachi in smaller cells to dodge law enforcement agencies for longer. The cells are so small and so scattered, they are only discovered when law enforcement agencies arrest their members."
Experts working on militancy related issues believe that Taliban splinter groups typically arise in two ways. "Some leaders abandon their groups to form their own outfits and develop direct links with the TTP and Al Qaeda," said Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS). "In other cases, new and very small operational cells are set up to carry out activities in a specific geographical location."
The CID discovered the Al Mukhtar group in an April 26 raid by arresting a suspected key leader allegedly involved in a bomb blast in an illegal gambling den in Ghas Mandi area on April 21. The attack killed 22 people and injured dozen others. Recently, the CID has claimed to have arrested the group's Karachi head Asghar alias Umer, along with five other alleged militants.
"Al Mukhtar group is basically a splinter cell of TTP's Badar Mansoor group deployed especially to Karachi," Aslam said. "Its main function is to collect extortion money, and carry out bank heists, abductions for ransom and terrorist attacks."
Punjabi Taliban, another little-known militant outfit, mainly consists of students of Karachi's academic institutions, especially Karachi University (KU). The group was discovered after a bomb blast in KU on December 28, 2010 that injured four students of Shia group Imamia Students Organisation. Three Punjabi Taliban militants including its Karachi head Qari Shahid were killed on December 5 when police raided a house during the successful rescue of kidnapped local industrialist Riaz Chinoy. The CID arrested two members of the group on December 13 and recovered a hitlist with the names of more than 100 public figures. The militants were demanding Rs70 million in ransom, but came down to Rs20 million after negotiations, according to media reports.
Qari Shahid's wife Sabiha Karim, an active member of the group, was also placed in durance vile. She confessed her group was involved in four major attacks in Bloody Karachi> - the May 22 attack on the PNS Mehran, the November 11, 2010 CID attack, the December 2010 kaboom at KU, and the February 2011 Chehlum blast," said a senior Police official.
Punjabi Taliban was formed in 2007 by former operatives of Islami Jamaat Talaba (IJT), a sister organization of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI), after a disagreement with the JI leadership over 'Jihad', said a KU professor who is monitoring their activities on the campus. He said the men were inspired by Dr Akmal Waheed and Dr Arshad Waheed, and were resultantly expelled from the IJT.
Qari Shahid had a Masters degree in Political Science from KU and was affiliated with IJT when he was a student.
TTP-linked jihadi outfits and the banned Hizbut Tehrir are very active in Bloody Karachi's academic institutions. They try to attract IJT members with Jihadi literature and using other means, a former IJT activist in KU told TFT.
He said there was no information about the size of the Punjabi Taliban, many of their members - including Zohair Imtiaz Kudwai, Omair Imtiaz Kudwai, Azib Imtiaz Kudwai, Misbah Usmani, Mohammad Shabbir and Imran Nazeer - were killed in drone attacks in the tribal areas.
"Their alleged objectives include fighting against Pakistain's security forces and supporting the outlawed TTP."
Chaudhry Aslam said the Punjabi Taliban group was also involved recruiting young boys for training of suicide kaboom in Wazoo. On June 26, the CID placed in durance vile Abdul Razzaq alias Omar and Rashid Iqbal alias Basit, two members of Punjabi Taliban assigned that task. They sent six teenage boys to Waziristan in 2009. Four of them were killed in a drone attack on the training camp, and the other two were sent back to Bloody Karachi. They were also placed in durance vile.
Kharooj, another previously unknown group operating in Bloody Karachi, has also been recruiting young people, especially students, a CID officer told TFT, asking not to be identified. The group's leaders are hardcore faceless myrmidons who had separated from the TTP after disagreements with its leadership.
Many of these groups are facing severe shortages of funds after the government's moves to cut off their foreign sources of funding, according to Aslam, and that is why there has been a surge in bank robberies and abductions for ransom. At least 18 banks were robbed in 2011, with a total of more than Rs60 million stolen, according to news reports.
A TTP leader from the Mehsud area of South Waziristan said faceless myrmidons from tribal areas usually head to Bloody Karachi to seek shelter, for rest and recuperation, for medical treatment, and to receive funding.
Although backed by the TTP with money and manpower, these groups are made up of 'locals', he said. A majority of them Urdu and Punjabi speaking youth formerly associated with the IJT or various Jihadi groups.
Security experts believe smaller groups have better chances of survival as crackdowns by law enforcement agencies increase. Chaudhry Aslam claims he has broken their network by arresting their key leaders.
Continued on Page 49
So there are more jihadist nutjob organizations in Karachi than legitimate businesses?
Do you have to use TeTP taxis and shop at the TeTP store for coffee and cheese?
I wonder if the Pakistani government, if such a thing exists, has realized their fondness for Islamic wackjob organizations has reached the tipping point?
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
01/08/2012 14:11 Comments ||
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SRINAGAR, India: Thousands of shopkeepers in the Indian portion of Kashmir have gone on a daylong general strike to protest the killing of a student and frequent power cuts. Police and security forces took positions to prevent any street protests after Friday afternoon prayers in Srinagar, the regions main city, and other towns in the Kashmir valley.
On Monday, a student was killed when government forces fired on villagers who were protesting outside a power plant near Baramulla town against frequent power cuts in the region.
Kashmir faces power cuts of up to 16 hours a day despite bitterly cold winter temperatures.
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01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan should consider establishing ties with Israel, said exiled former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, remarks likely to anger many in the Muslim-majority country where he hopes to make a political comeback.
Musharraf, who resigned in 2008 in disgrace, has said he plans to return to Pakistan this month, despite possible arrest, in order to participate in a parliamentary election due by 2013.
Praising Israel will certainly help his chances...
On Sunday, he is scheduled to address a rally via video in Karachi, sources in his recently formed All Pakistan Muslim League said.
Speaking in favor of relations with Israel could make Musharraf more unpopular, especially among militants who made several attempts on his life with bombings because of his support for the US "war on terror" following the 9/11 attacks. Those same groups want the destruction of Israel.
"There is nothing to lose by trying to get on Israel's good side," Musharraf, a former army chief, told the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz in an interview carried on its website. "Pakistan also needs to keep readjusting its diplomatic stand toward Israel based on the mere fact that it exists and is not going away."
So long, Perv, nice knowing ya...
That kind of talk could comfort Israel, which is increasingly nervous because Islamist groups opposed to the Jewish state have been making political gains in Arab states following revolts that brought down autocrats in the region.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on Musharraf's remarks.
Pakistan has been a staunch supporter of demands for a Palestinian state. Pakistan and Israel, however, have maintained covert contacts for decades, officials have said. According to an October 2009 US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks, the head of Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), said he had contacted Israeli officials to head off potential attacks on Israeli targets in India.
A senior ISI official said the agency has never established any contacts not authorized by the government to do things which were not in the interests of Pakistan.
Easy dodge: all the contacts were in the interests of Pakistain. Or at least in the interests of the ISI...
The same thing in the mind of the ISI, surely.
Many Pakistanis think Israel and the United States are constantly plotting against Pakistan -- a belief that inspires abundant conspiracy theories. Pakistani media routinely rail against Jews and Israeli plots.
Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 coup, said Israel's influence in the United States and its relations with Pakistan's main rival, India, can help Pakistan gain influence abroad. The first public talks between Israel and Pakistan were held in 2005. They were described as a "huge breakthrough" by then Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, but sparked fury in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation that is home to some of the world's most supposedly feared terrorist militant groups.
"I felt I needed to test the waters in Pakistan when it comes to Israel," Musharraf said. "We have been anti-Israel in Pakistan because of Palestine ... But I believe in realism and in assessing ground realities."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Despite all his faults (which probably have their own Wikipedia entry), I'm thinking Perv is probably the best thing to happen to Pakistain. Yeah, it's faint praise, I know.
#4
I'm wondering if Perv has lost it, or has a trick up his sleeve. That would almost have to be a military coup, which would happen before he reentered Pak airspace.
If he did so, it would be to give legitimacy to the new junta, probably not to take charge of it, but to bring his expressly loyal faction to support it as a major part of the leadership.
Practically speaking, I think he resigned in the first place because he had reached an impasse, in which the opposition could effectively block anything he wanted to do. But their unity fell apart as soon as he left.
Which means that with a coup, he could again carry out much of his nationalist agenda.
Punjab divorce rate rises
According to Nawa-e-Waqt divorce applications have arisen to an all time high at 45,500 at the rate of 15 percent annually. Ninety percent of these applications result in divorces while only five percent cases are resolved through reconciliation. Most of the cases arise because of violence and the gradual breakup of the family system in urbanised Punjab.
Bilours in rebellious mood
Reported in daily Pakistan Ghulam Ahmad Bilour central leader of ANP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal railways minister said that his brother Bashir Bilour deserved to be chief minister of K-P but President Zardari was opposed to it because he knew that Bashir would have boosted ANP at the expense of the PPP in the province. He said his family of three brothers enjoyed good contacts with PMLN.
Veena Malik unlucky in love
Daily Jinnah reported that Pakistani filmstar working in India disappeared for days and was found without any untoward incident but she explained that she was depressed after she lost her latest boyfriend Ashmeet, an Indian actor. She was actually living with Ashmeet when the break happened after which she became depressed because according to her she suffered two broken engagements and two broken friendships based on love.
Chacha Cricket 'in trubbel'
Daily Jinnah reported that the famous bearded clerical looking cricket fan who appeared in all international cricket matches backing the national team had fallen on bad times as his expectations that he would make some money by becoming an attraction during the matches had not fructified. He was once doing fine at Rs 60,000 salary in Abu Dhabi but decided to earn more as a cricket fan. Because of bad times he has had to sell his house but pins hopes on Imran Khan coming to power and paying him to appear at the matches again.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan defends himself
Daily Mashriq reported that Pak high commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan denied that he had said that the American US raid in Abbottabad to kill Osama was known beforehand to President Zardari. He said what he said originally that it was possible that the top leaders of Pakistan should have been taken into confidence before the operation to kill Osama.
Chief editor to the rescue!
*musical sigh in close harmony* Our hero!
Reported in Jinnah Chief Editor of the paper Khushnood Ali Khan reached Sheikhupura to ask after two sisters who were made naked by three youths and thereafter dragged through the streets of the city without anyone stopping them. The youths were incensed after a quarrel among children and the two sisters were treated badly because they came from a poor family and could not defend themselves. Khushnood Ali Khan went to the home of the girls and gave them a cheque. The crowd gathered there clapped in appreciation.
The Muslim St. Nicholas, that man.
Mansoor Ijaz agent of RAW and Mossad
`Daily Mashriq quoted veteran politician from Mianwali Dr Sher Afgan as saying that Mansoor Ijaz was an agent of RAW and Mossad and was trying to destroy Pakistan. Also it quoted Maulana Samiul Haq as saying that Taliban did not trust Pakistan therefore the US must talk to the Taliban directly. It quoted Maulana Fazlur Rehman as saying that Pakistan must force Americans out of the Gazi Barotha base too.
Amazing. This, my dears, is the logic that would impose Islam upon the world.
Imran for Khilafat Rashida
Quoted in Express Imran Khan said in Gujranwala that if he got elected as prime minister he would spread the system of pure Islam or Khilafat-e-Rashida so that the people got the same kind of justice as under the most respected Khilafat of the truly Guided companions.
Punjabi Taliban attacked Mehran Base
Daily Mashriq reported that a woman terrorist named Sabiha caught by the police in Karachi stated that it was her group of Punjabi Taliban who had attack the Karachi Mehran naval base and Abdullah Ghazi tomb on behalf of Al Qaeda. She said she had herself observed the Mehran Base site before getting her male terrorist companions to go in and attack. She confessed that her group had also blown up the Karachi house of SSP Ch Aslam. Jamaat Islami chief Munawwar Hasan said that Mehran Base was attacked by America.
Army and free plots of land
Columnist Hamid Mir wrote in Jang stated that all general-rulers of Pakistan made the same mistake, as pointed out in Hamoodur Rehman Report after General Yahya. All generals down to Musharraf allowed army officers to buy precious cantonments lands and build multiple houses there after indulging in plot sales. All army officers at the upper level owned many houses but were not able to defend Pakistan properly. When in East Pakistan fighting local uprising, the army looted banks and lost territory to India in West Pakistan.
Imran Khan's wealth
Daily Jinnah reported that Imran Khan owned hundreds of kanals of land plus elegant houses in Islamabad, Lahore and Mianwali. He also ran three foreign currency accounts. He owned 438 kanals in Bhakkar and 78 kanals in Sheikhupura. He owned land and apartment in Islamabad valued at Rs 11 lakh. He owned 300 kanals in Bani Gala, Mohra Nur. He got over 300 kanals as gift valued at Rs 2.5 billion. Total value of assets was declared at Rs 2 crore.
Asange condemns Mansoor Ijaz
Daily Pakistan reported Wikileaks leader Julian Asange as saying that the memo sent to Adm Mullen was fake as also the cellphone record sent by Mansoor Ijaz later was concocted because Ijaz was the owner of a communications company who could cook up the data. In the company owned by Mansoor Ijaz there is a director who was once a CIA agent.
Raw will destroy churches during Christmas
Daily Jinnah reported in advance that RAW had planned to attack Pakistan during Christmas to destroy churches and schools owned by the Christian missionary so that the world could blame Pakistan Army and the Taliban for killing Christians. For this purpose India had infiltrated Raw agents into Pakistan.
How is it that each step they take lands upon the ground just like our feet?
PPP suspects Nawaz of complicity with Army
Writing in Jang Hamid Mir stated that some PPP circles were very upset at Nawaz Sharif for approaching the army top brass for support in getting rid of the PPP government. They said they were greatly upset also with the army top brass for betraying them although the president and the PM had supported the Army. It was after the Abbottabad attack that the Army felt itself vulnerable and became hostile, proving that the extensions given by the PPP government to Kayani and Pasha were wrong.
Pakistan guzzling CNG
According to Jang Pakistan was using more CNG in vehicles than Pakistan if one looks at the percentage according to population. In fact Pakistan was wasting gas by using it in vehicles six times more than India. In all, 3 million vehicles were being run on CNG while 300,000 were equipped with illegal and defective CNG kits.
'Supreme Court shouldn't cross limits!'
Daily Express reported lawyer Asma Jahangir as saying that the Supreme Court should not cross limits otherwise the masses will cry out against it. She said that after 2 May 2011 incident ISI chief General Pasha should have resigned. She was referring to the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.
Continued on Page 49
(Ma'an) -- The row over a Fatah delegation that said it was denied entry to Gazoo continued Saturday as Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, said delegate Sakher Bseso may face prosecution for blasphemy.
Four Fatah officials tried to enter the Gazoo Strip on Friday for reconciliation talks, but said they were refused entry by Hamas border guards. The group said they waited for 45 minutes at the Erez crossing before giving up and returning to the West Bank.
The ministry said Fatah delegate Sakher Bseso "cursed God" and insulted the officers. On Saturday it announced that "certain officials" had started legal proceedings against Bseso for blasphemy.
"Bseso should be ready to stand in a court and be judged," the ministry said in a statement.
[An Nahar] A visit by Gazoo's Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader has angered the official Paleostinian representatives in Tunisia who say they were ignored during the talks with the new government, a Paleostinian source said Saturday.
Ismail Haniya, prime minister in the Hamas-ruled Gazoo Strip, visited Tunis Thursday to meet with the new moderate Islamist-led administration while he was on a tour of the region.
But that did not sit well with representatives of the Paleostinian Authority led by president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
"The Paleostinians are furious. Neither the government nor the foreign ministry, nor the (Islamist) Ennahda party informed them of the dates and program of Haniya's visit, as they should have," the Paleostinian source told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Another source told the Arabic language newspaper Le Maghreb that the lack of communication could hamper reconciliation efforts going on between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah party.
Haniya was welcomed with much fanfare on his arrival in Tunis, where he was met by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali and the head of Ennahda, Rached Ghannouchi.
Some Tunisian media also questioned the purpose of Haniya's visit, whether it was to talk with the government or the Islamist party.
Questioned by AFP, a government source said the Hamas leader "was invited by Tunisia and by the Ennahda party."
Haniya's six-country tour marked his first travel abroad since Hamas, seen as terrorist group by Western powers, took power in Gazoo in 2007. According to his office it was aimed at raising funds to rebuild Gazoo City, devastated by an Israeli offensive three years ago.
But the Hamas takeover of Gazoo politically divided the Paleostinian territories, with Abbas's Fatah left largely ruling the West Bank and recognized internationally as the official Paleostinian authority.
In April, following years of bitter rivalry, the two factions signed a reconciliation deal whose implementation has since stalled.
Last month, Abbas met Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo and the two agreed on a process that could pave the way for the Islamist group to join a reformed Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO) and for long-delayed Paleostinian elections.
Tunis was the headquarters of the exiled PLO under Yasser Arafat before the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel granted Paleostinian autonomy in the Gazoo Strip and parts of the West Bank.
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Hamas's Haniyeh tells 'Independent' that Egypt will no longer support blockade, IDF military operations in Gaza.
The success of the Moslem Brüderbund in Egyptian parliamentary elections and the Islamist party's pending inclusion in the government is a victory for the Paleostinians and puts Israel's security situation in peril, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... said in an interview with The Independent published on Saturday
He somehow does not realize that if Israel's security is threatened, they will share the pain, by orders of magnitude... How he missed this after Operation Cast Lead is beyond understanding.
While US State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said Thursday that the Moslem Brüderbund had given Washington assurances that it would honor Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, Haniyeh said that Cairo would no longer close its border with Gazoo to help Israel blockade the territory, nor would it support any Israeli military operations in the Strip.
Let us review: the already completed security fence surrounding Gaza from the Israeli side, the rapidly progressing security fence between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai, the approved proposals for security fences on Israel's borders with Jordan and Lebanon... Iron Dome, UAVs...and Egypt is going to run out of foreign currency to pay for 50% of the calories consumed by the population in three to four months. When they get that oh-so-distracting war with Israel that they want, how long d'you suppose they will enjoy the result?
"The Paleostinian cause is winning," Haniyeh was quoted as saying by the Independent. "With the Moslem Brüderbund part of the government [in Egypt], they [the Egyptians] will not besiege Gazoo. They will not arrest Paleostinians. They will not give cover to Israel to launch a war."
That is certainly one view.
The Hamas leader stated that he envisions his cause benefiting from the changes occurring in the region, and Israel suffering from the developments.
"Gazoo was a main reason for the Arab Spring. It was people's anger at the regimes that co-operated with Israel and did not recognize the government here," Haniyeh said.
Analysis is not the Palestinian forte', it is said.
"Israel is disturbed by this. It knows the strategic environment is changing. Iran is an enemy. Relations are deteriorating with Turkey. With Egypt, they are really cold. Israel is in a security situation they have never been in before. The Paleostinians are winning more than anybody else due to what's happening in the Arab countries. That will come out clearly in the future," he added.
Israel said on Saturday the online publication of thousands of its citizens' credit card details by a hacker who says he is based in Saudi Arabia was comparable to terrorism, and promised to hit back.
The data theft, which appeared to focus on commercial websites, was one of the worst Israel has said it has faced.
While government officials and credit card companies said the financial damage was minimal, the breaches were welcomed by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and have heightened concerns about the potential use of stolen information by the Jewish state's foes.
Such cyber-attacks are "a breach of sovereignty comparable to a terrorist operation, and must be treated as such", Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said in a speech, adding that Israel had not yet ruled out the possibility that the hacking had been carried out by a group "more organised and sophisticated ... than a lone youth".
"Israel has active capabilities for striking at those who are trying to harm it, and no agency or hacker will be immune from retaliatory action," he said, without elaborating.
The hacker, identifying himself as Saudi-based OxOmar, said on Thursday he had leaked private information about more than 400,000 Israelis. Credit card companies said around 25,000 numbers, some of them expired, had been posted as of Friday.
After Israeli media ran what they described as interviews conducted with OxOmar over email, the Haaretz newspaper said a blogger had tracked the hacker down and determined he was a 19-year-old citizen of the United Arab Emirates studying and working in Mexico.
An aide to Ayalon, Lital Shochat, said Israel was aware of the report but had not yet requested help from Mexican authorities.
#1
Credit cards have what can best be described as some of the better 1960s security around. The CC companies absolutely refuse to improve it, even though it costs them and their card holders a fortune every year to keep doing things that way.
Realistically speaking, they could easily include a strongly encrypted 2d matrix bar code that could be scanned with any cell phone with a camera and display, and then the CC company would show the face of the card holder.
They could also use as a check a thumbprint scan compared to one they had on file, after a PIN input.
Between the two, it would be extremely hard to carry out a fraud with a stolen card.
Philippine president Benigno Aquino III on Sunday warned devotees to be vigilant during Mondays Black Nazarene celebrations because of the possibility of terrorist attacks.
In a hastily called news conference, Aquino said the government has been preparing "to the maximum of our abilities" for Mondays procession, noting that they raised the alert after a group of local terrorists was spotted in the National Capital Region.
The President said, "Previously, the difference between their intentions and capabilities has been quite pronounced. The possibility prompts us to warn you of the risk in attending the procession. I call on our fellow citizens to exercise maximum vigilance and discipline leading up to, and during, the procession. Report to any and all suspicious behavior to the authorities."
Aquino asked devotees not to bring cell phones, weapons and fireworks to the procession, adding that those caught with fireworks would be "apprehended."
President Aquino said he was informed of the security threat Sunday. He was supposed to go to Davao Del Norte Sunday afternoon but he canceled the trip to make the public warning.
#1
ION PHILIPPINES, DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA MAKES AGGRESSIVE MOVES IN THE PHILIPPINES. Manila protests agz new incursions in disputed Spratleys by both Chin Coast Guard + PLAN vessels.
and
* SAME > [China Daily] CHINA TELLS US TO OBEY INTERNATIONAL LAW, as per South China Sea disputes + new US Strategy.
Parliamentary elections in March seen as the most sensitive in the history of the Islamic republic
Iran is set for what its senior officials have described as "the most sensitive" elections in the history of the Islamic republic, amid economic and political discontent at home and fears of a major confrontation with the west over its nuclear programme.
More than 5,000 candidates have put their names forward for parliamentary elections in March, the first national vote since the 2009 disputed presidential poll when popular uprisings against the results challenged the legitimacy of the regime.
This week, the guardian council, a body of clerics and lawyers in charge of vetting all candidates before any elections in Iran, will publish the names of those approved by the regime. In the past, the council has blocked many, including former MPs, from running.
Less than two months before the elections, Tehran's leaders are acting to avert any possible recurrence of the 2009 unrest as calls for a widespread boycott of the vote gather pace among the opposition.
#1
Theirs or the US', as even iff the Bammer fails to win relection many GOP POTUS hopefuls support milaction, or strong US unilateral or coalition action, agz Iran???
Today on CBSs Face the Nation, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reiterated the Obama administrations positon that Iran has not yet made the decision to build a nuclear weapon, but added, we know that theyre trying to develop a nuclear capability. Panetta also said Iran getting the bomb would be a red line for the United States. They need to know that if they take that step, that theyre going to get stopped, he said. Host Bob Schieffer asked Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey if the U.S. could take out Irans nuclear facilities with conventional weapons. I certainly want them to believe that thats the case, Dempsey said:
PANETTA: I think the pressure of the sanctions, the diplomatic pressures from everywhere, Europe, the United States, elsewhere, its working to put pressure on them. To make them understand that they cannot continue to do what theyre doing. Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that theyre trying to develop a nuclear capability. And thats what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is, do not develop a nuclear weapon. Thats a red line for us. [...]
SCHEIFFER: Could we take out their nuclear capability?
DEMPSEY: Well I certainly want them to believe that thats the case? [...]
PANETTA: They need to know that if they take that step, that theyre going to get stopped. Our preference is that the international community, including Israel, ought to work together on this issue. If the Israelis made that decision we would have to be prepared to protect our forces in that situation thats what wed be concerned about.
Iff one believes that IRAN = JAPAN = lotsa Nucplants everywhere + large HEU, Plutonium stockpiles, but no NucWeaps by treaty, THE US IS FAILING TO MAKE THE DIRECT CASE WHY JAPAN CAN DO IT, BUT NOT IRAN.
We hear the reasons why from Israel + UK, etc. but not from Washington DC, e.g. RUSSIA + INCOMING SPACE ROCKS.
"SMART POLITICS" IS NOT NECESSARILY GOOD OR PROPER LEADERSHIP.
#3
ION TOPIX > IRAN HAS ABILITY TO BLOCK STRAITS OF HORMUZ [but US will reopen it]: US GENERAL DEMPSEY [Chair, JCS] TELLS CBS.
* SAME > IRAN TO MOVE [uranium]NUCLEAR WORK TO [underground] MOUNTAIN BUNKER IN "NEAR FUTURE", as per immunity form US, Israel air strikes.
Mountain plex at Fordow, near QOM city in central Iran.
* SAME > IRAN CLAIMS [undergound] NUCLEAR PLANT WILL BE OPERATIONAL BY FEBRUARY 1st.
versus
* WAFF > [US Topographer Mark Langfan] TURKEY IS TRYING TO STEAL [monies + natural resources to expand Islam]: ISRAEL IS NATO'S FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE FOR GREECE + CYPRUS, + Malta, Grete, Rhodes, etc. from attacks by Iran + Turkey + hedge agz Iran or Turkey-led expansion of Islam vee Christian/Non-Muslim States throughout the Mediterranean Region = Southern Europe.
#4
WORLD NEWS > [IRNA = Ahmadinejad] PRESIDENT: IRAN MUST TURN INTO A DEVELOPED, ADVANCED COUNTRY.
IMO Moud just indrectly admitted [once again] that dev + acquisition of NUCWEAPS IS IN IRAN'S DE FACTO LT OR STRATEGIC INTERESTS AS A "GREAT POWER" NUKE, GEOPOL = CALIPHATE WANNABE.
* NEWSMAX > EX-CIA DIRECTOR GEN. HAYDEN WARNS IRAN ON "INEXORABALE PATH" TO NUKES.
[Dawn] Iran's government on Saturday welcomed the US Navy's rescue of 13 Iranian fishermen held by pirates, calling it a positive humanitarian gesture. See? Isn't that nice? They're approximating gratitude.
US officials announced Friday that the fishermen had been rescued by a US Navy destroyer on Thursday, more than 40 days after their boat was commandeered by suspected Somali pirates in the northern Arabian Sea.
The rescue came just days after Tehran warned the US to keep the same group of warships out of the Persian Gulf in a reflection of Iran's fear that American warships could try to enforce an embargo against Iranian oil exports.
"The rescue of Iranian sailors by American forces is considered a humanitarian gesture and we welcome this behavior," Foreign Ministry front man Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by state TV's Al-Alam Arabic channel.
Iran's hard-line Fars news agency had a different take, calling the rescue operation a Hollywood dramatization of a routine event.
The Fars report noted that attacks by Somali pirates in the region are common and said that Iran's navy has itself freed many mariners held by pirates in recent years without seeking to highly publicize it.
Amid escalating tension with Iran over its nuclear program, the B.O. regime reveled in delivering Friday's announcement and highlighted the fact that the rescuing ships were the same ones Iran's army chief had just said were no longer welcome in the Persian Gulf.
"Basically, rescuing trading and fishing boats from the hands of pirates in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden is considered a completely normal issue," Fars said.
"A US helicopter filming the rescue operation from the first minute makes it look like a Hollywood drama with specific locations and actors. It shows the Americans tried to publicize it through the media and present the American warship as a savior."
The semiofficial Fars news agency is considered close to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard military force.
Fars reported in April that Iranian naval commandos had driven off pirates attempting to hijack a supertanker off Pakistain's southwestern coast.
"Iran's navy has rescued various foreign ships from the hands of pirates ... but never publicized that," it said.
Naval forces from several countries patrol shipping lanes in the region in pursuit of Somali pirates. The pirates, who are after huge ransoms, have dramatically expanded their range in recent years and targeted some of the largest vessels to take to the seas, including oil supertankers.
The episode occurred after a week of tough talk from Iranian leaders, including the statement that American vessels were no longer welcome in the Gulf. Iran also warned it could block the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which a sixth of the world's oil flows to market.
The Iranian threats, which were brushed aside by the B.O. regime, were in response to strong economic sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear enrichment program.
A week ago, President Barack Obama In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed... signed into law new sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad.
At the same time, Iran has sought to project its naval power, carrying out 10 days of military drills at sea near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
On Saturday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard began new war games near the Afghan border, according to the Guard's website, sepahnews.com.
Mohammad Pakpoor, commander of the Guard's ground force, said the maneuvers began outside Khaf, an eastern town near the border.
He said the war games were aimed at strengthening Iran's borders and increasing the combat readiness of the Guard's ground force. Iran is also planning new military exercises near the Hormuz Strait next month.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
"Basically, rescuing trading and fishing boats from the hands of pirates in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden is considered a completely normal issue," Fars said.
Should I suppose they just hadn't got around to it yet?
[Iran Press TV] During the first national conference on the export of knowledge-based goods and services, Iranian officials say the record rise in exports proves the ineffectiveness of US-led sanctions, Press TV reports.
The one-day event held on Saturday was attended by Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and Vice President for Science and Technology Nasrin Soltankhah.
"This year Iran exported crude oil over 90 billion dollars, non-oil exports are expected to top 45 billion dollars by March... sanctions will have no impact on Iran's economy which also happens to have enough gold reserves for 15 years," Rahimi told Press TV.
Iranian authorities say exports of knowledge-based goods and services reached of four billion dollars last year.
Iranian authorities have dismissed the latest move by the US to impose sanctions on Iran's Central Bank, saying that the US and its allies must change their foreign policy and use diplomacy to resolve their issues.
On December 31, US President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... signed into law fresh economic sanctions against Iran's Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.
The bill requires foreign financial firms to make a choice between doing business with Iran's Central Bank and oil sector or with the US financial sector.
US sanctions, as well as unilateral embargoes imposed on Iran's energy and financial sectors by Britannia and Canada came after the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a report on Iranian nuclear program early November, accusing Tehran of seeking to weaponize its nuclear technology.
Tehran argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
"it's only a flesh wound!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2012 16:21 Comments ||
Top||
#2
See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRGC: IFF ORDER GIVEN, WE WILL CLOSE STRAITS IN SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME | [PressTV] IRGC TRAINS FOR ORDER TO CLOSE HORMOZ.
and
* SAME > EXPECT A US-IRAN SHOWDOWN IN 2012.
ARTIC = Clash of Wills between US-Israel-Allies + Iran + Other is devol into WHOM WILL BE THE DOMINANT REGIONAL POWER.
VARIOUS BLOGGERS = Be it IRAN CLOSING THE STRAITS OF HORMUZ [includ Sea of Oman], or the US-ALLIES MIL DEFENDING OR FORCIBLY REOPENING THE SAME, 'TIS ARE ACT(S) OF WAR.
[An Nahar] Jamaa Islamiyah MP Imad al-Hout slammed on Saturday those who are using sedition and sectarian rhetoric to create a rift between Lebanese.
"They will not succeed in their plan," al-Hout said during a seminar in Akkar.
He criticized the cabinet's performance, stressing that it will "fall as soon as the Syrian regime collapses."
Concerning the defense strategy, al-Hout stated that it's unacceptable that a side controls the resistance.
"All the Lebanese people... should be under the state's illusory sovereignty," he said.
Al-Hout unveiled the establishment of al-Fajr Brigades -- the armed branch of the group -- doesn't want to control resistance.
He said that Jamaa Islamiyah will only use its arms if the national security was under threat, "the weapons should only be used against Israel and shouldn't be targeted towards the Lebanese.".
Al-Hout urged officials to abide by the constitution and to fortify the army and the security forces "who are the only authorities assigned to protect the nation and the citizens."
Al-Hout said that the Arab Spring will have a positive effect on Leb, criticizing the statements that "support some revolutions but condemn others."
"All people have the right to live in dignity," he stressed.
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[An Nahar] March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid expressed surprise on Saturday over the presence of an armed branch affiliated in the Jamaa Islamiyah.
"We stress that the March 14 forces are struggling to move to the state which is the only competent side tasked with defending Leb," a statement by Soaid said.
Al-Hout unveiled on Saturday the establishment of al-Fajr Brigades -- the armed branch of the group -- during a seminar in Akkar.
He noted that Jamaa Islamiyah will only use its arms if the "national security was under threat."
Soaid said in a statement issued by his press office that any weapons outside the Lebanese state "under any pretext" are unacceptable.
"The March 14 forces demand MP al-Hout and Jamaa Islamiyah to clear the statements in order to put an end to any speculations," it added.
The statement stressed is committed to defend Leb and the rise of a united state free of any illegal arms.
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[An Nahar] Senior Hizbullah official Mohammed Yazbek slammed on Saturday United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... 's scheduled visit.
"Ban, (U.N. Special Envoy) Terri Roed Larson, and the messenger of evil and conspiracy's (U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs) Jeffrey Feltman are unwelcomed in Leb," Yazebk said.
Ban is expected to stress to various officials the need to resolve the possession of arms outside the authority of the Lebanese state during his trip to Beirut on January 13.
Yazbek stressed that the U.S. is the "great Satan."
"It (U.S.) wants to control the world... but there's a strong axis that is willing to face its hegemony," the official said.
Yazbek noted that the "axis" is developing its scientific and defense abilities "which will impact the region in the foreseeable future."
In November, Hizbullah criticized Ban's report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701.
Five years after the expansion of UNIFIL's activities, it's time to carry out a strategic review of its mission, Ban said in his 17th report on the implementation of 1701.
Hizbullah said that the report is full of "false information" and indicates the international community's annoyance from "the Lebanese decision to reinforce its position against Israel."
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[An Nahar] A top 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... official said on Saturday the group has no plans to withdraw its observers from Syria where they are charged with assessing whether the regime is keeping a deal to end the deadly violence.
"No plan to withdraw the observers is on the agenda of the Arab ministerial committee meeting on Syria" in the Egyptian capital on Sunday, the pan-Arab body's deputy secretary general, Adnan Issa, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"We are not talking about a pull-out but reinforcing the mission," Issa added. He said there were now 153 observers in Syria with another 10 expected to arrive on Saturday from Jordan.
"The Arab states want the observers to continue their mission, and that it be reinforced," he said.
Activists have called for the League observer mission that has been in Syria since December 26 to admit its failure to stem the bloodshed in the crackdown on dissent and hand the task over to the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... The world body estimated in December that more than 5,000 people have been killed in Syria since pro-democracy protests against the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... erupted last March.
Sunday's meeting in Cairo, where the vaporous Arab League has its headquarters, is expected to be briefed by the head of the observer mission.
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01/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
because having more observers means more observing and more observing means, well, what does that mean?
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/08/2012 4:20 Comments ||
Top||
#3
VARIOUS PERTS, BLOGGERS = correctly argue that part of the reason for Rising Iran's rants agz the US vee closure of the Persian Gulf + Straits of HOrmuz is to divert from its potens decisive confrontation for Regional, futurist OWG Caliphate dominance wid the Arab League - read, Saudis + Turkey - ala BATTLE FOR SYRIA.
NEW DELHI - A day after a massive suicide bombing in Damascus killed 26 people, India Saturday issued a travel advisory asking Indians to avoid non-essential travel to Syria.
In view of the situation prevailing in parts of Syria, Indian nationals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Syria for the present, the external affairs ministry said in a statement here.
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01/08/2012 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.
International Criminal Court
[Bangla Daily Star] Libya's 1.2 million schoolchildren returned to classrooms nationwide yesterday, to learn a revamped curriculum that includes the revolution that ousted Moamer Qadaffy and purges his personal teachings.
[Yemen Post] With Yemen's ruler supposedly stepping down from power in less than 45 days, strong differences are taking place between him and the country's next leader, VP AbduRabu Hadi.
Pervez 
Law enforcement agencies have found several small previously-unknown
Punjab divorce rate rises
Mansoor Ijaz agent of RAW and Mossad
Somali pirates
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
NEW DELHI - A day after a massive suicide bombing in Damascus killed 26 people, India Saturday issued a travel advisory asking Indians to avoid non-essential travel to Syria.
