[Shabelle] the commander of the AMISOM troops in Somalia has assured the Somali public that members of the outlawed group Alshabab have been wiped out of the long highway that connects the city of Mogadishu and Baidoa city. The long highway is estimated to be 241 KM.
The federal Government troops and the AMISOM troops are reported to be finalizing a joint assault on the militia group to eradicate the terrorist along the main highway that connects the two cities.
The commander of the AU troops General Andre Guti said that they are planning to establish a peaceful environment for motorist travelling along the busy highway and will ensure them that they travel without fear.
Mr. Guti praised the fact that now Alshabab have weakened, there are small groups who are still hiding along the Mogadishu-Baidoa highway robbing motorist of their belongings and ordering them to pay money. The commander said that they were conducting a man hunt for the gang and ensures that they clear them out of that area.
This comes after reports came out that the outlawed group operating along the highway conducting tax collection and robbing motorist.
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04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Rebels who have been fighting for 10 years in Sudan's Darfur region on Sunday denounced an international donor conference which seeks support for "rebuilding" the devastated region.
"I would like to condemn very strongly" the meeting which began the same day in the Gulf state of Qatar, said Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nur, who heads a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army.
"To have (a) donors' conference you have to have peace and security on the ground first," said Nur, who launched the rebellion in 2003.
Speaking to AFP, he alleged that donated money "will not go to the people".
Gibril Adam Bilal, front man for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), asked the international community "not to participate in giving the government of Sudan a chance to conduct crimes" against the people.
The Doha conference, which ends on Monday, was agreed under a July 2011 peace deal which Khartoum signed in the Qatari capital with an alliance of rebel splinter groups.
Major rebel movements including JEM and Nur's faction have refused to sign the peace pact.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has told Coptic Pope Tawadros II via telephone that he considered any attack on Cairo's Coptic cathedral "an attack on me," state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported on Sunday evening.
The comments follow an attack by unknown assailants on mourners at a Coptic funeral at Cairo's Abbasiya cathedral.
On Sunday afternoon, unidentified elements attacked Cairo's main Coptic cathedral, where a funeral was being held for four Coptic Christians killed in Saturday's sectarian festivities in the Qalioubiya governorate north of Cairo. "Unidentified elements" means they have no idea who it was, but, boy howdy, if they ever find them, they're in large trouble!
In a written statement issued Sunday evening, President Morsi urged the Egyptian public to refrain from taking any actions "that might threaten the nation's security or cohesion."
The president also called for an immediate investigation into Sunday's cathedral attack.
During the latter years of the Mubarak era, Moslem-Christian festivities erupted periodically.Since Mubarak's ouster in early 2011, incidents of sectarian violence -- both in the capital and in Egypt's countryside -- have occurred with increasing frequency.
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04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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Egypt's highest judicial body on Sunday urged the country's top prosecutor to step down, nearly five months after Islamist President Mohammed Morsi appointed him.
Then they'd be down to only one...
A statement by the Supreme Judiciary Council carried by the official MENA news agency urged Talaat Abdullah "to express a wish" to return to his previous job as a judge for the sake of the unity of the judiciary.
Abdullah's appointment was decried as illegal by many judges and fellow prosecutors. It has led to days of protests outside his office in downtown Cairo by judges and prosecutors. The protests late last year forced him to tender his resignation, but he eventually withdrew it and stayed in office.
A court ruling last week annulled the presidential decree appointing Abdullah, but he has continued to carry out his duties. The presidency said last week it was still considering whether to appeal the ruling.
There was no word immediately available from Abdullah on his plans.
Removing Abdullah has been a key demand of the mostly liberal and secular opposition and Sunday's advice by the council of the judiciary appeared aimed at offering him an honorable exit and to end a long running crisis within the judiciary over his appointment.
Abdullah has over the past two weeks issued summons against several media celebrities critical of Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president. They included popular TV satirist Bassem Youssef, who was accused of insulting Morsi and Islam.
Youssef's questioning last week, plus earlier arrest warrants issued by Abdullah's office for five rights activists, has created tension between Egypt and the United States. The satirist was released on bail.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Just a day's hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... called by the Hefajat-e Islam appears to have upset the BNP, which wanted tougher action from the Islamist group to make April a turning point in the opposition alliance's oust-govt movement.
The main opposition party had expected that Hefajat men from their Motijheel rally on Saturday would announce agitation programmes such as non-stop shutdowns or sit-ins for several days.
It also decided to support Hefajat actions and supplement those by enforcing more hartals and blockades.
The BNP had relied upon stalwarts of some Islamist parties that are its alliance partners to convince the Hefajat top leadership to go for tougher programmes.
The Islamist leaders, who also hold posts in Hefajat, had made hectic efforts to push through the opposition alliance's agenda.
But Hefajat Ameer Shah Ahmad Shafi did not agree with them and only called a day-long hartal for today, sources in the alliance and Hefajat say.
On Saturday night, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... , chief of the 18-party alliance, expressed her resentment at two separate meetings with the party's policymaking body and top leaders of her alliance.
Finally, the BNP, which supported the Islamist group's long march and provided food, drinks and other logistics to the marchers on Saturday, decided not to back today's hartal.
Khaleda Zia also suspended the alliance's April 10 rally.
The BNP had also given a break to its street agitations, thinking that the Hefajat would announce tougher programmes. The party-led alliance also decided not to go for any nationwide hartal after April 2.
"Now it is almost certain that April will not be a turning point in the opposition movement. The agitation has apparently lost momentum after Hefajat's go-slow strategy," a BNP policymaker told The Daily Star yesterday, wishing anonymity.
Asked, Brig Gen (retd) ASM Hannan Shah, a member of the national standing committee of the BNP, said people had expected that Hefajat would opt for tougher agitation programmes and political analysts had forecast it would give a boost to the opposition movement.
"The opposition one-point movement could have got pace had Hefajat announced tougher agitation programmes."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Eight senior BNP leaders, including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Moudud Ahmed and Mirza Abbas, were sent to jail yesterday in connection with "torching vehicles, assaulting police and preventing them from discharging their duties" during opposition agitations.
The leaders appeared before Dhaka courts and sought bails in the seven cases filed by police against them with cop shoppes in the capital on December 9, 2012, and March 2 and 6, 2013.
The courts rejected the bail petitions and ordered them to be sent to jail, drawing sharp a reaction from BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance, which almost instantly declared a two-day hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... from tomorrow morning on top of Hefajat-e Islam's hartal today.
Outraged, opposition activists brought out procession and in cases resorted violence at many places in the country.
As many as 148 BNP leaders, including Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque, were tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! and put behind bars on March 11 in two other cases filed in connection with vandalism of vehicles and assaulting police. They were also denied bails twice. A total of five BNP politicians are now behind bars.
Of the accused in the seven cases, Moudud Ahmed MP, Mirza Abbas and Goyeshwar Chandra Roy are members of the national standing committee of BNP. Barkatullah Bulu and Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annee are party's politicians and Abdullah Al Noman and Moazzem Hossain Alal are vice-chairman of BNP and chief of its young front Juba Dal respectively. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is BNP acting secretary general.
The eight BNP leaders appeared before the courts around 2:00pm yesterday on expiry of their four weeks' ad-interim bail granted by the High Court. The lawyers of the accused yesterday morning had filed separate petitions for extending their bails.
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04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Women's rights activists, citizens' groups and journalists yesterday strongly condemned the assault on ETV journalist Nadia Sharmin by Hefajat-e Islam supporters.
Expressing grave concern over the regressive and anti-women stances of the radical Islamist group, they said Hefejat's demands undermine women's rights and the group seems bent on pushing the women back to an era of darkness.
The Qawmi madrasa-based Islamist organization, however, denies its involvement in the assault.
Addressing a presser yesterday, its leaders claimed government supporters had infiltrated into the rally venue and staged the attack.
When journalists provided proof of Hefajat men's involvement, the Islamist leaders expressed regret over the incident.
Besides Nadia, three other journalists were attacked while covering Hefajat's programme in the capital on Saturday.
Meanwhile in Chittagong, three photojournalists were assaulted by pro-hartal pickets at Kazir Dewri yesterday.
The injured are Sourav Das of daily Prothom Alo, SM Tamanna of daily Amader Shomoy and Golam Ali Mortaza of daily Bonik Barta.
Hefajat men beat up the three near Kazir Dewri intersection when the latter were taking pictures of the procession. Of them, Tamanna was injured critically, said police.
According to prothom-alo.com, the attackers hit Tamanna in the head with bricks. The journalist was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
Some of the attackers were BNP and Jamaat-Shibir activists in Hefajat procession, said eyewitnesses.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] China said it had asked North Korea to ensure the safety of its diplomats after a warning that missions should consider evacuating, and that it would not tolerate "troublemaking" on its doorstep.
North Korean authorities on Friday told embassies in Pyongyang that their safety could not be guaranteed if a conflict breaks out, after weeks of escalating threats against the United States and South Korea.
Foreign Ministry front man Hong Lei said China "expresses grave concerns" about the growing tensions on the Korean peninsula but that the Chinese embassy was "operating normally."
"The Chinese government has already asked the North Korea side to earnestly ensure the safety of Chinese diplomats in North Korea, in accordance with the Vienna Convention and international laws and practices," he said in a statement on the foreign ministry website Sunday.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... that there were deep concerns over the situation on the Korean peninsula.
"We oppose provocative words and actions by any party in this region, and will not allow troublemaking on China's doorstep," he said in unusually sharp comments released by the ministry late Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Chinese President Xi Jinping said Sunday that Asia faced "new challenges" to its stability and warned no one should be allowed to throw the region into chaos as tensions mounted over North Korea.
Xi, delivering a speech at an annual international forum on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, did not mention the crisis on the Korean Peninsula or China's territorial disputes with Japan and Southeast Asian nations.
But he said there should be no tolerance for those who foster "chaos for selfish gains" and reiterated that China would "firmly" uphold its "illusory sovereignty" and "territorial integrity."
"We need to make concerted efforts to resolve major difficulties to ensure stability in Asia," Xi said.
"Stability in Asia now faces new challenges as hot spot issues keep emerging and both traditional and non-traditional security threats exist," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"THAT'S OUR JOB!!!" -- China
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/08/2013 9:35 Comments ||
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#2
So we've heard from the Chinese president. When do we here from the US president?
[An Nahar] Japan will order its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, press reports said Sunday as Pyongyang was reportedly readying to fire one.
The order may be issued by Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on Sunday or "in a day or two," the Yomiuri newspaper and the Jiji news agency reported.
The order would not be made public so as not to alarm the public, the Kyodo news agency quoted government sources as saying.
Under the order, Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles would be deployed in the Sea of Japan so they could intercept a North Korean missile if it appeared likely to land in Japanese territory, Kyodo said.
According to South Korean media, North Korea has loaded two intermediate-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them near its east coast, fueling fear of an imminent launch that may further escalate tensions.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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SEOUL -- South Korea's presidential office said Sunday Pyongyang may make additional provocations, including missile test-fires, before or after Wednesday, the deadline it has provided to foreign countries for requesting help in evacuating their embassies from the communist country.
"We're thoroughly preparing for this, leaving all possibilities open," said Kim Jang-soo, chief of the National Security Office. "There are no signs of a full-scale war as of now, but the North will have to prepare for retaliation in case of any local war."
The recent spate of threats from North Korea are intended to push South Korean President Park Geun-hye who took office in February to alter her tough policy toward the communist state by raising security concerns among South Koreans, Kim said.
Pyongyang also wants to win a turnaround in the current deadlock in international dialogue to resolve its nuclear program through the move, urging Washington to send a special envoy, China and Russia to take a mediating role and South Korea to offer a dialogue with North Korea, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"No signs of a full-scale war right now" ...
AFAIK thus far its been China that has been doing the mobilizing, NOT "Pudgy" = the DPRK.
#2
South Korea's Unification Minister says there are "signs" that the North may be prepping for a 4th nuclear test.
* ION BIG NEWS NETWORK > [WSWS.org] US THREATENS WAR AGZ NORTH KOREA, DEMANDS CHINA CUTOFF SUPPORT, to Jong-un + Regime.
* SAME > [Sky News] NORTH KOREA: NEXT SEVEN DAYS MAY BE CRITICAL.
April 10th + April 15th.
* YONHAP > KIM JONG-UN ORDERS INCREASED [reliable = "trustworthy"] ARTILLERY PRODUCTION IN NORTH KOREA: REPORT.
* ASIA-PACIFIC DEFENSE FORUM > NORTH KOREA FAMINE FORCES PEASANTS, [even] SOLDIERS TO FLEE.
Again, it just may be that North Korea's ability to withstand the effects of pervasive or lingering famine + other is MUCH WEAKER = PRECARIOUS THAN THE US-WORLD REALIZES, THAT IMPLOSION IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER???
Jong-un + Pyongyang Boyz may be fearing that a North Korea state collapse + de facto consequent Chinese takeover is rapidly accelerating + may be unstoppable.
Unlike the USSR, neither Jong-un nor "Mahanist" China may be interested in a peaceful or mostly peaceful outcome???
* TOPIX > NORTH KOREA THREAT TO GUAM IS DEADLY SERIOUS:OPINION.
In more ways than meets the eye.
IMO one way the DPRK = China threats can be interpreted is as a proxy or indirect challenge to the US Sphere-of-influence in WESTPAC all the way to CENTPAC, as China would like the US to be contained or isolated to EASTPAC only, i.e. US West Coast + Hawaii + peripherals, by 2020 or ASAP thereafter.
Guam + PACOAS was caught in the middle between Japan + US before + during WW2 - now its CHINA, as well as upstart NUCLEAR ISLAM/ISLAMISM.
"DR. STRANGELOVE, OR HOW HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING + LOVE THE BOMB" VERSUS "DR.FEELGOOD, OR HOW I LEARNED TO WORRY BY NOT USING/DROPPING THE BOMB".
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/08/2013 11:59 Comments ||
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#4
"... urging Washington to send a special envoy..."
sure - propose a team of, say, Jimmy Carter, Bill Richardson, George Soros, Al Sharpton and Bill Ayers to relate to Pyongyang and remain there until the end of all tension in the Korean Peninsula.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/08/2013 20:44 Comments ||
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#5
I sincerely believe I saw what is either a THAAD missle interceptor test, or a Laser test yesterday afternoon after 5:30PM while walking to the local Agana McDonalds from the Agana Library.
All I saw was a straight, solid, super-fast "white" line or streak than suddenly emanated angularly from the horizon upward to the sky. IMO I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time, like the good Madonna + 1960's Texas-sized asteroid fan I am.
* FYI TOPIX > [JPost]US NAVY TO FIELD FIRST FIRST LASER WEAPON THAT COULD SHOT DOWN DRONES.
[TIMESOFINDIA.INDIATIMES] Pakistain's former military strongman Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... allowed the CIA to conduct Drone strikes in Pakistain's tribal areas as long as the United States kept away from the country's nuclear facilities and mountain camps where faceless myrmidons were being trained for attacks on India, according to explosive new disclosures that break the wall of silence from both sides on the controversial Predator attacks, and if accurate, again exposes U.S duplicity on terrorism.
The breakthrough moment reportedly occurred in 2004 when Pakistain, which had till then resisted pressure from the US to allow it to conduct Drone strikes, was humiliated militarily by a tribal warlord named Nek Mohammad.
"Muhammad's rise to power forced them to reconsider," the New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... related in an account of the deal in Sunday. "The CIA had been monitoring the rise of Mr. Muhammad (in South Wazoo) but officials considered him to be more Pakistain's problem than America's. In Washington, officials were watching with growing alarm the gathering of Qaeda operatives in the tribal areas, and George Tenet, the CIA director, authorized officers in the agency's Islamabad station to push Pak officials to allow armed drones."
According to the report, negotiations were handled primarily by the Islamabad station of the CIA, with the station chief calling on then ISI Director General Ehsan ul Haq to discuss terms of the deal: The CIA would kill Mohammad if ISI allowed armed Drone flights over tribal areas. Pakistain's terms: they should be allowed to approve each drone strike, giving them tight control over the list of targets; and nuclear facilities and terror camps directed against India would be no-go areas.
Implicit in the report is Washington's acceptance of the terms, considering that India-specific terror camps remain untouched by Drones.
The report says the ISI and the CIA agreed that all drone flights in Pakistain would operate under the CIA's covert action authority - meaning that the United States would never acknowledge the missile strikes and that Pakistain would either take credit for the individual killings or remain silent. As it turned out, Pakistain did take credit for killing Nek Mohammad, even though the CIA had done the job.
The deal also had the stamp of approval from Musharraf, who the NYT says, did not think that it would be difficult to keep up the ruse.
"In Pakistain, things fall out of the sky all the time," it cites him as telling a CIA officer, in a callous remark that is certain to make his already torrid situation in Pakistain even more difficult.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Iraq's cabinet unveiled sweeping reforms to a law barring members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party from public life on Sunday, in a bid to head off months of rallies by the country's Sunni Arab minority.
The amendment to a De-Baathification law still needs to be approved by parliament but if implemented would mark a key concession to demonstrators in Iraq's north and west who have alleged the current rules promote unfair targeting of their community by the Shiite-led authorities.
Ministers on Sunday approved a draft amendment that would allow Baath branch chiefs, or firqa-level members, to rejoin the civil service, and would provide for pension payments for many members of the Fedayeen Saddam, a paramilitary organization loyal to the now-ousted dictator.
It would also put a time limit on the law, ensuring that only names blacklisted by the end of 2013 would be restricted from public life.
In all, the draft law would allow thousands of people to either enter the civil service or receive pensions.
"Cabinet today approved an important amendment to the law of Justice and Accountability," Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak said in a statement summarising the reforms, referring to the formal name for Iraq's De-Baathification law.
"This law has excluded many talented people and prevented the country from (benefiting from) their services."
Critics have said the existing rules are too broad-reaching, disproportionately target Sunni Arabs, who were largely in power during Saddam's rule, and could theoretically be applied in perpetuity.
In particular, Sunni Arab protesters have railed against the law during months of protests alleging that anti-terror legislation is used to target their minority.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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Indeed. At this time of Holocaust remembrance, it is well to recall this.
[An Nahar] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel cannot rely on any other country, even an ally, when it comes to facing up to the perceived nuclear threat from Iran.
"We appreciate the efforts of the international community to halt Iran's nuclear program," Netanyahu said in a speech on the eve of Holocaust Day.
"But at no stage will we abandon our fate into the hands of other countries, even our best friends," he said, in an apparent reference to the United States whose Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... flew in to Israel on Sunday.
"What has changed since the Shoah (Holocaust) is our determination and our capacity to defend ourselves with our own means," said the Israeli premier, who charged that Iran openly proclaimed an ambition to annihilate the Jewish state.
"The murderous hatred of the Jewish people has not disappeared from the world. It has changed face and become a murderous hatred of the state of Israel," he said at the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
President Shimon Peres, at the same ceremony, said anti-Semitism was still alive in Europe. "Crises are again being exploited to create new Nazi parties, ridiculous but dangerous," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Once upon a time... Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
[An Nahar] Hackers launched a massive international cyber attack campaign against Israeli government websites on Saturday and Sunday, amid numerous threats from the Anonymous hacker collective.
The global hacker group had promised a mass assault to protest Israeli policy toward the Paleostinians. The attack appeared timed to coincide with Israel's annual Holocaust memorial day, beginning at sundown Sunday.
In a video message posted on YouTube, Anonymous said that on April 7, "elite cyber-squadrons from around the world have decided to unite in solidarity with the Paleostinian people against Israel as one entity to disrupt and erase Israel from cyberspace."
Addressing the Israeli government, the group stated: "You have NOT stopped your endless human right violations. You have NOT stopped illegal settlements. You have NOT respected the ceasefire. You have shown that you do NOT respect international law."
Anonymous pointed out on Saturday night that they had shut down several government sites, including those of the Prime Minister's Office, the Israel Securities Authority, the Immigrant Absorption Ministry and the Central Bureau of Statistics, but the government denied the claim, Haaretz reported.
The hackers also released a list of email addresses and credit card numbers, reportedly lifted from the online catalog of Israel Military, a privately-owned business that sells military surplus, Haaretz reported. Israel Military officials indicated that the information made public did not come from its site.
The cyber attack was just the latest in an almost constant effort by Israel's foes to shut down its vital websites.
Israeli experts said they welcome the attempts as ways of sharpening their defenses. Israel itself is accused of taking part in much more sophisticated cyber attacks against its enemies, particularly Iran.
Web posters using the name of the hacking group Anonymous warned they would launch a mass attack on Israeli sites in a strike they called (hash)OpIsrael, starting April 7.
An official from the bully boy Paleostinian Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, which rules the Gazoo Strip, praised the attackers. "God bless the minds and the efforts of the soldiers of the electronic battle," Ihab al-Ghussein, Gazoo's chief government front man, wrote on his official Facebook page.
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04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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United States Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... on Sunday offered Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... a package of Israeli concessions, including the transfer of land from Israeli to Paleostinian control, in return for agreeing to return to the negotiating table.
Kerry, making his third visit to the region in two weeks, made the offers during a meeting with Abbas in Ramallah on Sunday night, Paleostinian
media reported. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... Abbas stuck firm to his demand that Israel put a moratorium on settlement construction as a precondition for returning to the negotiating table.
The package included transferring control of more land in the West Bank from Area C, under full Israeli control, to become Area A, under full Paleostinian control.
In addition, Kerry promised that Israel would commit to releasing frozen tax rebates and not withholding tax funds in the future.
Seeing the above, it appears The Second Smartest Man In The Room made promises he can't deliver.
Any gestures made by Israel before returning to negotiations with the Paleostinian Authority would weaken its position, government officials said over the weekend, adding that Israel would not deliver to US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... a list of concessions, as requested by the PA, before talks resumed.
PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... has demanded Jerusalem hand Washington a map showing the territorial concessions Israel is prepared to offer as part of a comprehensive peace deal, and threatened he would not return to the negotiation table before this was done.
Political adviser Nimr Hammad told AFP that the Paleostinian leader "wants to know, through a map to be presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Kerry, what the prime minister's view of a two-state solution would be, especially the borders."
"Any return to negotiations requires Netanyahu to agree on 1967 borders," Hammad told the news agency.
Unnamed Israeli officials told the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth that the PA would simply use such a map as a new starting point for negotiations, having scored a victory without having to make a move.
During US President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... 's recent trip to the region he called on the Paleostinians to resume talks with Israel with no preconditions, but so far Abbas hasn't backed down from his demand that Israel release prisoners, freeze settlement construction and agree to a Paleostinian state based on the pre-1967 borders -- before starting direct negotiations
The gaps between the sides are too big, sources close to Netanyahu were quoted as saying by the Hebrew daily. Any concession Israel makes now would only harm it in the future.
Kerry is in the region this weekend for another round of meetings with Israeli and Paleostinian officials in an effort to restart talks between the sides. He met with Abbas in Jordan on Saturday and was scheduled to hold talks with Netanyahu Sunday, following a brief visit to Ankara.
"Manolo! Fetch my reset button! And another round of *hic* Fuzzy Navels for my guests -- they aren't drunk enough to see my hat yet!"
US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... urged Turkish leaders Sunday to speedily restore full diplomatic relations with Israel, two American allies the US sees as anchors of stability in a Middle East wracked by Syria's civil war, Arab Spring political upheavals and the potential threat posed by Iran's nuclear program.
Turkey, however, demanded that Israel end all "embargoes" against the Paleostinians first.
In Istanbul on the first leg of a 10-day overseas trip, Kerry met with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu with the aim of firming up the rapprochement between Turkey and Israel that President Barack Obama We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us... kick-started during a visit to the Jewish state last month.
Kerry meets later Sunday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before traveling on to Israel.
"We would like to see this relationship that is important to stability in the Middle East and critical to the grinding of the peace processor ... get back on track in its full measure," Kerry told news hounds at a joint news conference with Davutoglu. He said that meant promises of "compensation be fulfilled, ambassadors be returned and full relations be embraced."
The two nations were once close partners, but the relationship plummeted in 2010 after an Israeli raid on a flotilla bound for the Gazoo Strip. Eight Turks and a Turkish-American died.
Before leaving Israel two weeks ago, Obama arranged a telephone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Erdogan. Netanyahu apologized for the incident, and compensation talks are expected to begin this week.
But Davutoglu suggested that full normalization of ties would probably take some time.
"There is an offense that has been committed and there needs to be accountability," Davutoglu said. He signaled that Turkey would pursue a "careful" advance toward a complete restoration of relations, with compensation and an end to Israeli trade restrictions on the Gazoo Strip as the stumbling blocks.
"All of the embargos should be eliminated once and for all," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
Fixing the Turkish-Israeli relationship has been a long-sought goal of the B.O. regime, and the US desperately wants significant progress by the time Erdogan visits the White House in mid-May.
Fixing the Turkish-Israeli relationship has been a long-sought goal of the B.O. regime, and the US desperately wants significant progress by the time Erdogan visits the White House in mid-May.
The Turks have reveled somewhat in what they view as a diplomatic victory, with billboards in Ankara celebrating Netanyahu's apology and praising Erdogan for bringing pride to his country. Perhaps seeking to buffer his leverage further, Erdogan signaled shortly after the call that he was in no hurry to finalize the deal and pledged to visit the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-controlled Paleostinian territory soon.
From a US strategic sense, cooperation between the American allies has only become more important as Syria's two-year conflict has grown ever deadlier. More than 70,000 people have died in the war, according to the United Nations ...an international organization whose stated aim of facilitating interational security involves making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country... , but the US fears it could get even worse -- by spilling into neighboring countries or through chemical weapons being used. Both potential scenarios have prompted intense contingency planning among Washington and its regional partners, Israel and Turkey included.
Kerry, who noted his twice-weekly telephone chats with Davutoglu, spoke of shared US and Turkish efforts to support Syria's opposition coalition. The opposition has suffered from poor coordination between its politicianship and the military factions leading the fight against the Assad regime, and from intense infighting among those who seek to guide the amorphous movement's overall strategy.
Turkey has gone further than the US in its assistance, accepting some 180,000 Syrians as refugees and sending advanced weaponry to rebels fighting to overthrow Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... . The US is only providing non-lethal aid to the rebels in the form of meals, medical kits and training.
Kerry praised Turkey for its generosity toward refugees and commitment to keeping its borders open, an issue of growing US concern as the outflow of Syrians stretches the capacities of neighboring countries to accommodate them.
The United States and Turkey will continue cooperating toward the shared goal of a peaceful transition in Syria, he said.
Although given short shrift at the news conference, a US official stressed ahead of Kerry's meetings that he would also urge the Turks to remain cautious over the contentious issue of Iraqi oil.
Turkey wants to import oil directly from Iraq's autonomous Kurds in the north, a step that would enrage the central government in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and one the US opposes. Washington doesn't want the riches of Iraq to bring the country back to sectarian warfare and has urged that any export arrangement get the Iraqi government's blessing.
The secretary of state is flying later Sunday to Israel, his third trip there in the span of two weeks. He'll meet Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... in Ramallah on Sunday night, followed by Netanyahu and other senior Israeli and Paleostinian officials Monday as part of a fresh American bid to unlock the long-stalled Middle East grinding of the peace processor.
Conversations in Israel will also cover shared US and Israeli concerns over Iran's nuclear program. The US and other world powers met the Islamic republic in Kazakhstan for another round of negotiations, but no breakthrough was announced on a proposed deal that would see international sanctions on Iran eased if Tehran convinces the world it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Kerry said the "door is still open" for a negotiated agreement, but that the onus was on the Iranians.
"If you have a peaceful program for nuclear power, as a number of nations do, it's not hard to prove that," he said. "They have chosen not to live up to the international requirements and standards with respect to verification of their program."
#1
Isn't it obvious by this time that Abbas does not want negotiations, nor a peace agreement?
Why?
Reason 1: a significant portion of his most radical followers among "Palestinian refugees" fears that peace would mean the end of UNRWA, their welfare organization. They will attempt to disrupt any apparent progress toward peace and probably attempt to assassinate Abbas if there is progress.
Reason 2: Hamas would use any gesture toward a peace agreement against him.
Reason 3: A significant portion of the Palestinian population wants good relations with Israel in the interest of jobs and economic prosperity, though they are afraid to say so. They do not like the idea of a two state solution with a state of cold war between the two, which is the most they can expect from Abbas. Thus they are not enthusiastic for Abbas negotiating for peace.
So why should he want to negotiate?
The Syrian government has withdrawn large numbers of troops from the Golan Heights in a move that has cast doubt over the future of a UN peacekeeping force on the strategically vital plateau and increased the risk of an intervention by Israel in the conflict.
Western diplomats said the Syrian redeployments near the Golan ceasefire line were the most significant in 40 years, with at least several thousand soldiers thought to have been moved in recent weeks to battle fronts closer to Damascus.
Rebel groups have moved into the vacuum, and Israel fears that jihadists will use the area as a staging ground for attacks on territory it controls.
Meanwhile, the United Nations observer force on the Golan Heights, UNDOF, finds itself in an ever more vulnerable position, with states whose peacekeepers comprise the mission known to be reconsidering their commitment, including the Austrians, who provide the largest individual contribution of troops.
The eastern border of the Golan Heights, an area of high ground that was seized by Israel in 1967 during the six-day war, was until recently thought to be occupied by four Syrian army divisions whose positions helped make the Golan the safest of Israel's four borders for more than four decades.
"They [the Syrian government] have moved some of their best battalions away from the Golan," said a western diplomatic source of the Syrian changes. "They have replaced some of them with poorer-quality battalions, which have involved reducing manpower. The moves are very significant."
Separate media reports in Israel suggest the Syrian redeployments could amount to as many as two divisions up to 20,000 soldiers.
"UNDOF is of the highest importance, now more than ever," said one senior Israeli government official. "We know some participant countries are having second thoughts and we're concerned about that. We are talking to them to try to understand what they plan on doing if the going gets rougher. We know some are hesitating, and it's a problematic situation.
"We are also talking to New York [the UN headquarters] about whether there could be a replacement in case one contingent pulls out. We don't envision a scenario in which UNDOF dissolves but we are very aware of the fragility of the situation."
Croatia withdrew its troops from UNDOF in February, putting extra onus on the Austrians to stay.
Any Uruguayans available?
Another senior Israeli official said: "It's clear UNDOF is having very serious problems in meeting its challenges. But Israeli national security figures are very sceptical as to the real utility of international forces in dealing with our security issues.
"We are very concerned [about the Golan]. Since 1974 the Golan has been remarkably quiet. That has now changed, and we are following the situation very closely. As you know, we are building a fence along the border and monitoring matters very closely. We are aware of different actors in close proximity to the border, and we are watching them very closely."
The former commander of the Israeli Defence Force liaison unit responsible for relations with peacekeeping forces, Brigadier General Baruch Speigel, said: "It's a very sensitive situation [with UNDOF]. It's important to find a mechanism to allow them to stay, but I'm not sure if it's possible because of the situation in Syria.
"If the UN is unable to fulfil its mission, this is a big, big dilemma. No one can tell you the bottom line. We have never faced this situation, but we have to act very responsibly. But worst-case scenarios can bring us worst-case answers."
Austrian soldiers comprise close to a third of the 1,000-strong UNDOF contingent and are considered essential to the viability of the mission. Vienna has made no decision to pull out its troops, but the cabinet is known to have held recent discussions about the issue. The Austrian foreign ministry did not return calls.
The area from the southern Syrian town of Deraa where the uprising started in March 2011 to the Jordanian border has been the most active battleground in the country since early January. Rebel groups and jihadists there have made significant territorial gains since late January, including in the Quneitra governorate near Israel, where they took over an artillery base two weeks ago near the demilitarised Golan buffer zone.
Since then a key border crossing to Jordan has been closed and Syrian opposition figures claim that it is now being used as a resupply route to rebel groups.
The CIA is known to have trained a small number of Syrian rebels at bases in Jordan in an attempt to drive a wedge between jihadist groups such as the al-Qaida-aligned Jabhat al-Nusra, which continues to gain prominence in key Syrian battlefronts. Informed sources, who refused to be identified, said some of the US-trained rebels were deploying to the Golan area to act as a buffer between the jihadists and Israeli units.
Israel has reported a number of incidents of small arms fire directed at its units near the ceasefire line. It has three times fired back across the border with missiles, but has not publicly blamed either rebel groups or loyalist forces for the attacks.
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04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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The leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has urged rebels to fight to establish an Islamic state in Syria, AFP reported. The message came in an online audio message Sunday, in which the Al-Qaeda chief also warned France against its military intervention in Mali.
"Let your fight be in the name of Allah and with the aim of establishing Allah's sharia (law) as the ruling system," he said, in his first message posted on the Internet since last November.
"Do all that you can so that your holy war yields a jihadist Islamic state," said Zawahiri, adding that such a state would help to re-establish the Islamic "caliphate" system of rule.
"The enemy has begun to reel and collapse," he said, referring to forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad.
Islamist rebel groups such as the Al-Nusra Front, which has links to Al-Qaeda, have eschewed the main opposition National Coalition. Al-Nusra is one of 13 factions in the radical Islamist rebel council that announced its secession from the main opposition force and declared its own Islamic state in Aleppo.
Zawahiri in his message also warned France over its military involvement against Islamists in Mali, AFP reported, saying it will be defeated in the same way, according to him, the Americans were defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I call upon our Muslim nation in Mali to hold and be patient, and hopefully, effect a new defeat to the global crusade," said Zawahiri.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Speaking of Mali + global-jihad-vs-global-crusade
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > AL-QAEDA WANTS AFRICA: ARE THE FRENCH IN OVER THEIR HEADS IN MALI???
I read last week that attempt may be in the works to sneekily-sneak Ayman back into Morsi-led EGYPT???
#4
OOOOPPPSIES, forgot to say DEFENCE.PK/.FORUMS > MAIL NEEDS 11,000 PEACEKEEPERS, UN SAYS.
That sound you're hearing is the NOW + aligned FemiNazis demanding - as they've done before in times past - that only Male soldats be sent to Mali.
Apparently the ER Amendment + "Equal Pay for Equal Work", Women in Combat, etc. doesn't apply iff it involves DemoLefty femmes themselves actually getting shot at.
AS FOR AYMAN, PERHAPS HE COULD RUN FOR PRESIDENT LIKE MULLAH OMAR BUT IN EGYPT???
#1
Methinks its fair to say that, given how many Americans don't trust POTUS Bammer to protect or defend Amer's interests, IFF ISRAEL FINALLY DECIDES TO MILITARILY ATTACK IRAN'S NUCPROGS ON ITS OWN IT HAD BETTER BE PREPARED TO SUFFER LONG + HARD, IN GREAT NATIONAL TRIAL = STRESS + TURMOIL.
The 25th fleet of the Iran Navy has left the country's southern port of Bandar Abbas for the Gulf of Aden to provide security for shipping lines in that region, Press TV reported. The 25th fleet, which carries the message of peace for the region, left Bandar Abbas on Sunday after the 24th fleet successfully conducted its 72-day mission in international waters and returned home on April 4.
The 25th fleet of Iranian warships comprises the Larak logistical warship and the Alborz missile-launching corvettefrigate destroyer.
On Thursday, Iran Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said that presence in the Indian and Pacific oceans and the China Sea, patrolling Southeast Asia's strategic Strait of Malacca, crossing the Equator, docking at China's Zhangjiagang port and identifying 370 surface and subsurface vessels were among the important tasks carried out by the 24th fleet. The 24th fleet consisted of Sabalancorvettefrigate destroyer and KhargOl-class replenishment oiler helicopter carrier along with 800 naval personnel.
In recent years, Iran Navy has been increasing its presence in international waters to protect gun running naval routes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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Be interesting to watch the trail of oil leaks and retrieval vessels.
[An Nahar] Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam on Sunday stressed that resistance against Israel is legitimate, but noted that "the decisions of war and peace must rest in the hands of the Lebanese state."
In an interview with BBC, Salam revealed that Iranian Ambassador to Leb Ghazanfar Roknabadi relayed to him a message from Iran's leadership on Sunday, in which Tehran "wished him success in forming a new cabinet and stressed its keenness on the resistance."
Asked whether Iran had linked facilitating his mission to keenness on Hizbullah, Salam said "everyone knows Iran's stance."
"Resistance against Israel is legitimate, but the decisions of war and peace must rest in the hands of the Lebanese state and we must put an end to the use of arms in the domestic arena," the PM-designate said.
Asked whether he was surprised by receiving an Iranian message although he is "the candidate of the March 14 forces," Salam said: "Today, I'm a prime minister-designate and I communicate with everyone. I have also received a letter of support from Russia, which was carried by the Russian ambassador."
Salam denied being contacted by Syrian Ambassador to Leb Ali Abdul Karim Ali.
He noted that "there is international and regional consensus on helping Leb during this period," revealing that "regional and international influences were behind the consensus" on naming him.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah announced Sunday that it will play a "positive" role in the process of forming a new cabinet after MP Tammam Salam was appointed as prime minister-designate on Saturday.
Hizbullah "wants to be together with March 14 in the same national position in order to confront the Israeli threats," said Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, the deputy head of the party's Executive Council, during a memorial service in the southern town of Kawthariyet al-Siyyad.
"A stance is needed ... and it is unacceptable and unpatriotic from any party in Leb to offer Israel a stance that relieves it and makes it happy," Qaouq added.
He stressed that Hizbullah is "keen on pacifying the domestic political atmosphere and defusing the sectarian tensions."
"The consensus over naming PM-designate Tammam Salam is an exceptional, positive chance that must be grabbed and boosted, because this consensus created a positive shock amid the sectarian and security tensions and political divisions," Qaouq added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2013 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.
Khaleda Zia
North Korea
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
North Korea
North Korea
Pervez 
Wazoo
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has urged rebels to fight to establish an Islamic state in Syria, AFP reported. The message came in an online audio message Sunday, in which the Al-Qaeda chief also warned France against its military intervention in Mali.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah announced Sunday that it will play a "positive" role in the process of forming a new cabinet after MP Tammam Salam was appointed as prime minister-designate on Saturday.
