Egyptian media reports Egyptian military plans to launch operation to cleanse Mount Halal in Sinai using artillery and air power; another report says Cairo decides to close Rafah border crossing "indefinitely."
The Egyptian military is planning an imminent offensive in Sinani against hardline Islamist militants, after suspected jihadists killed an Egyptian police officer and wounded a second in an attack on a checkpoint in the peninsula on Friday.
Militants have staged almost daily attacks on security checkpoints in Sinai since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected leader.
Arab daily Al-Hayat reported on Friday that the Egyptian military decided to go ahead with a plan of cleansing Mount Halal in Sinai, which houses "armed gangs and terrorists."
Such an operation would include artillery and air power in order "to resolve the battle quickly." However, the army would first give the militants a chance to surrender.
Meanwhile on Friday an Egyptian military helicopter briefly crossed into Israeli-controlled airspace over the Gaza Strip, however security sources in Egypt and Israel both described the flyover as a navigational error.
"The helicopter mistakenly crossed into Gazan airspace and immediately returned to Egypt," the Israeli security source said. Witnesses in Gaza said it stayed on their side of the border for about 10 minutes before returning.
Separately, Egyptian authorities arrested three Palestinian gunmen on Friday during "an attempt to attack vital sites in Sinai," Egyptian state media reported.
[Jpost] Spokesman for Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, says report that Egypt army killed operatives for sparking unrest is smear campaign.
The Egyptian army killed and placed in durance vile Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! around 200 fighters in Sinai in the past few days, according to a source quoted in the daily Al-Hayat on Thursday.
Thirty-two Hamas men were among the dead and 45 Hamas members were among those arrested, according to the London-based pan-Arab paper.
Hamas sparked the fighting and is working in collaboration with Sinai-based jihadists, the source said. He admitted that the army was having difficulty controlling the situation there.
Some gunnies are entering Sinai through the Gazoo tunnels to carry out attacks and then fleeing to Gazoo afterward, he said.
Also on Thursday, an Egyptian Copt Christian was found decapitated in Sinai, five days after being kidnapped by gunnies, security officials and witnesses told AFP.
The Prime Minister's Office would not comment on media reports that 32 Hamas men were killed in Sinai, continuing its policy of refraining from formally commenting on the fluid developments inside Egypt.
Regarding reports that Cairo would ask Israel to allow it to introduce additional troops and weaponry into the peninsula, one official said that ever since Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... was deposed two years ago, there has been a continuous stream of requests from Egypt to allow in more forces and advanced weaponry to battle faceless myrmidons there.
Those requests, the official said, are dealt with by the IDF and the Defense Ministry.
The official said that this ad hoc way of dealing with the issue was better than opening the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty and formally changing the terms. The treaty specifies in great detail where Egyptian troops can be deployed, how many, and what arms they can have.
The Hamas government in Gazoostrongly denied No, no! Certainly not! the report, calling it part of a smear campaign waged by the movement's enemies.
A front man for the Hamas government said the report was aimed at driving a wedge between Hamas and the Egyptian people.
[Al Ahram] Strong Egypt Party has announced its refusal of the constitutional declaration issued by interim president Adly Mansour earlier this week.
In a statement released Thursday, the party said among its main reasons for rejecting the declaration was that it gave the interim president executive, legislative and constitutional powers.
"This establishes a dictatorship previously rejected by all political democratic forces when the elected president had all these powers," Strong Egypt Party said, referring to the political parties and forces that stood against ousted president Mohamed Morsi's constitutional declaration in November 2012 that also gave him full authority.
The party also rejected the constitution for giving the interim president the power to appoint the members of the constitutional amendments committee."The party preferred to have the constitutional amendment members elected," read the statement.
"A vague article allowing for detention on reasons of allegedly protecting the society's 'security' in the constitutional declaration is considered a huge setback in the course of freedom," said the party in the statement, naming another reason for their refusal.
Strong Egypt Party also rejected the constitutional declaration because it did not explicitly place a ban on military trials of civilians, referring to Article 19.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Strong Egypt is a political party initiated by the former Muslim Brotherhood member and presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. The party describes itself as an economically progressive and socially moderate political group. However, it does not endorse the politics of international loans, believing that it is not the solution to the economic problems of Egypt. - Wikipedia
[Al Ahram] The National Salvation Front (NSF) has called for Egypt's new cabinet to include credible revolutionary figures.
"The new government must include figures from the January 25 Revolution who are also known for their credible support of the revolution since it took place," the NSF - Egypt's largest coalition of liberal and leftist groups -- said in a statement on Thursday.
A single party should not have veto power over decisions or appointments, the NSF said in a clear reference to the Salafist Nour Party which blocked the appointments of the NSF's Mohamed ElBaradei Egyptian law scholar and sometime Iranian catspaw. He was head of the IAEA from December 1997 to November 2009. At some point during his tenure he was purchased by the Iranians. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for something in 2005. ElBaradei served on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, a lefty NGO that is bankrolled by the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. After the fall of Mubarak he ran for president. He lost. and the Egyptian Social Democratic Party's Ziad Bahaaeddin as interim prime minister.
The Nour Party said it rejected the two prominent figures because they are affiliated to parties and the prime minister at this time should be independent.
The NSF also demanded amendments to the constitutional declaration issued by interim president Adly Mansour.
"Several amendments must be introduced to the recently released constitutional declaration, because it was released without consultation with the NSF and other political forces or youth groups."
The declaration includes articles that are not acceptable, some that need to amended, and other that need to be added, the NSF said.
"We have conveyed our proposals to the President of the Republic," it added.
It called on the authorities to activate the judicial committee formed by the interim president to investigate Monday's festivities at the Republican Guard headquarters that killed over 50 people, mostly supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi.
The committee must carry out an independent and transparent investigation into what happened, the NSF said.
It also criticised the closure of seven Islamist television channels.
"The closure of any media outlet should be based on a judicial, and not administrative, decision in order to protect public freedoms and to avoid 'exceptional measures' being taken."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Supporters of ousted president plan mass Friday protests to demand his reinstatement as supporters of Egypt's new transitional government gear up to celebrate his ouster
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Tunisian authorities early Thursday released from jail two figures of the former toppled regime who were incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! following the 2011 uprising on charges of abuse of power, the justice ministry said.
Mohamed Ghariani, ex-secretary general of the Rally for Constitutional Democracy party of now ousted dictator Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, and former interior minister Abdallah Kallel were ordered freed by Tunis Appeals Court, the ministry said.
Kallel was arrested in March 2011, just weeks after Ben Ali was ousted, after a group of lawyers lodged an official complaint accusing him of embezzling funds from the now-dissolved ruling party.
Last year a military court sentenced Kallel to two years in jail for the arrest and torture of army officers who were accused in 1991 of trying to topple Ben Ali.
Ghariani was arrested in April 2011 for abuse of power and embezzlement.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] US State Department spokeswoman makes statement against political arrests in Egypt
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Give war a chance. Arresting these idiots and dead-enders is the only way to stop the cycle of violence.
You cannot reason with unreasonable people.
Hey ma, if your could see me now
Arms spread wide on the starboard bow
Gonna fly this boat to the moon somehow
Like with the Ambassador, anything is possible
The US has urged Egypt's leadership to stop "arbitrary" arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members, warning against targeting any particular group. White House spokesman Jay Carney said, "You're working against yourself if your effort is to be inclusive."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon also warned against excluding any party. Ban "made clear that there is no place for retribution or for the exclusion of any major party or community in Egypt," in a telephone call with Egypt's Foreign Minister Kamel Amr on Thursday.
On Thursday, the Obama administration and UN both expressed concerns about Egypt's decision to issue arrest warrants for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and nine senior figures of the movement. Carney said, "The only way this is going to work successfully... is if all parties are encouraged and allowed to participate and that's why we've made clear that arbitrary arrests are not anything that we can support."
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki went further, saying the arrests contradicted reassurances they had received by the Egyptian military and authorities of inclusivity. US policy makers would monitor the situation closely as they review decisions on assistance to Egypt, she added.
The shattered family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby yesterday hailed him as a martyr whose death united Britain as they attended a vigil the day before his funeral.
More than 4,000 people lined the streets to pay their respects as his body was taken to his regimentÂ’s garrison church. Many broke into spontaneous applause as drummers from 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers escorted their fellow servicemanÂ’s cortege through Bury, Greater Manchester.
The soldier’s tearful family and closest friends then entered the church for the private service — including his two-year-old son Jack in a Manchester United shirt with his supporter dad’s nickname “Riggers” on the back. After the 30-minute service, the family left and an honour guard remained to watch over his coffin overnight.
The family will gather again today at the church for his funeral, which will be broadcast over loudspeakers to the crowds outside. Lee will then be taken to his home town to be buried in a private service.
Yesterday his family thanked the public for the “overwhelming support” they had received since he was killed in a terrorist attack near Woolwich barracks in May.
Stepfather Ian Rigby said, “People have been supporting us everywhere we have been. Lee has become a hero. Whatever the intention of his attackers was, it’s backfired because it’s made Lee into a hero and a martyr."
Lee’s widow Rebecca said: “It’s just horrible that it takes something like this to make you see how many good people there are.”
She said she wanted her husband to be remembered as the “bubbly” man he was. She added: “He was always so full of life. He just wanted to put a smile on everybody’s face.”
Mum Lyn said: “We have received overwhelming support. It has given us the strength to get through this.”
#2
Burning mosques will not bring him back,there is no point in parachuting down to the level of Sgt Rigby's attackers,Cameron needs to think like an ordinary Englishman, not a damn tory, and start shipping out those jihadists.
#3
although you do hear people say "oh dear, how sad, oh look a pigeon" when they hear a mosque burnt down (probably from surprise that there were no secondary explosions).
#7
..like reciprocate the Luftwaffe bombing of London with the bombing of Berlin. I notice that after the pay back with interest, the Germans seem to be among the lesser militaristic people in Europe these days compared to the prior two hundred years of experience.
#12
Actually, BP, the analysis of the effect in Japan was different. Area bombing saw a drop in production concurrent with a major shift in population from urban centers. Japanese war production, much like post-war production involved farming out sub-assemblies and parts fabrication to little shops, which disappeared under LaMay's fire bombing. See, Coxx, Alvin D.; Japan at the End of Her Tether, History of the Second World War [Part 91], BPC Publishing Ltd, 1966, London. Pg 2537
In Kobe city, for example, workers dropped their tools as soon as an air raid alert sounded, so they would have enough time to flee to the hillsides immediately behind the metropolis before the bombers could arrive. Consequently the mere sounding of the alert signal in the Kobe region caused an immediate drop in industrial production. According to information reaching the War Ministry about May 1945, the attendance rate at munitions factories, throughout the country immediately after an air raid dwindled to 20-30%. The average rate of absenteeism at factories in devastated areas approximated 40%. In unraided zones the absentee rate averaged 15%, but even in unbombed Kyoto lost man hours totaled 40% by July 1945.
An indirect result of the raids was the dispersal of the labour force because of housing problems, thereby affecting both control and efficiency.
According to Home Ministry data, the following Japanese civilian losses were the minimum incurred as the result of all air raids on the Homeland: 241,309 killed, 313,041 injured, 8,045,094 homeless, 2,333,388 buildings destroyed, 110,928 partial destroyed. The number of houses razed represented at least 30% of the national total. It should also be noted that the Japanese themselves demolished 615,000 buildings as firebreaks, 214,000 of which were located in Tokyo. In all about 13,000,000 people were driven from their homes by the destruction of dwellings; a substantial additional number were rendered homeless by the bombing of factory dormitories.
Large-scale evacuation of Japanese civilians from urban areas began in 1944. Between January and September of that year, 1,000,000 moved out of Tokyo. The capital's population fell from 5,000,000 in January of 1945 to 2,453,000 in June. About 55% of the Nagoya area inhabitants were evacuated; 60% of the Osaka-Kobe complex. Probably 8,295,000 persons of all categories were evacuated throughout Japan. Dispersal of the urban school population, began slowly in mid-1944, was intensified after the raids of March 1945. By April, over 87% of urban school children had been moved
Authorities have taken steps to calm ethnic tensions in a town in southern Russia by banning liquor and evacuating "radical" youngsters after a stabbing sparked days of angry protests by locals demanding that residents from Chechnya be kicked out.
President Putin's regional representative met with local officials and residents in Pugachyov, a town of some 40,000 near the Volga River, saying no ethnic group would be expelled en masse, but that migration officials are checking residents' paperwork.
Tensions have been simmering since Sunday when, according to prosecutors, a 20-year-old former paratrooper, Ruslan Marzhanov, died of stab wounds inflicted by a 16-year-old in a fight over a girl. The suspect, a Chechen, was arrested Sunday and confessed to the killing.
In the days since Marzhanov's death, hundreds of locals have marched through the town calling for the deportation of people from Chechnya and the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region where it is located.
To minimize tensions, Pugachyov's Chechens, estimated at about 100 people, evacuated an unspecified number of youngsters believed to be "hard to control" or "radical," envoy Mikhail Babich said on Wednesday. That afternoon, locals briefly blocked a railroad, after twice blocking a major highway earlier this week.
The U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia reinstated a genocide charge against wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Thursday, reversing a trial court's ruling that prosecutors had not made a convincing case that he "possessed genocidal intent."
The decision by a five-judge appeals panel coincided with a ceremony in Srebrenica, where the recently identified remains of 409 victims were reburied. Karadzic and Bosnian Serb army commander Gen. Ratko Mladic face charges in their concurrent war crimes trials for their alleged roles in orchestrating the slaughter on July 11, 1995.
In the appeals panel's ruling posted on the tribunal's website, the appellate judges cited evidence presented by the prosecution last year that Karadzic took part in meetings where "it had been decided that one-third of Muslims would be killed, one third would be converted to the Orthodox religion and a third will leave on their own," purging the proclaimed state of Republika Srpska of all Muslims.
Karadzic was also involved in subjecting Muslim captives to inhumane and physically destructive conditions, packing hundreds in single rooms, denying them food and water and depriving them of toilets or bathing facilities, causing the spread of disease and death, the appellate judges noted.
said Friday that he has no regrets over leaking details about U.S. electronic spying networks and is seeking temporary asylum in Russia until he can reach one of the Latin American countries that has offered to take him in.
I can think of places in Russia where Vlad could stash him. The Kolyma is beautiful in November...
"That moral decision to tell the public about spying that affects all of us has been costly, but it was the right thing to do and I have no regrets," he told a group of human rights activists and other public officials at a meeting at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where he has taken refuge since June 23.
"I did not seek to enrich myself. I did not seek to sell U.S. secrets," he said in a statement released through WikiLeaks. "I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice."
The skinny little creep is the worst attention whore since O.J. ...
Snowden, whose U.S. passport has been revoked, said he has formally accepted an offer of asylum from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as well as all others which have expressed support "and all others that may be offered in the future."
The meeting included Vyacheslav Nikonov, chairman of the Russian state Duma, Sergei Nikitin, head of Amnesty International Russia, Vladimir Lukin, Russia's presidential human rights ombudsman, attorney Genri Reznik, and Tanya Lokshina, of Human Rights Watch.
Tanya is in Moscow instead of Damascus or Cairo, notice...
Snowden said he "does not intend to harm the U.S. in the future," according to Nikonov.
"No actions I take or plan are meant to harm the U.S. ... I want the U.S. to succeed," Snowden was quoted as saying at the meeting.
Oh, so now the skinny little creep knows what's best of us, does he...
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told Russian news agencies after Snowden's announcement Friday that Russia had not received a new bid for asylum from Snowden and that Putin would continue to insist that Snowden stop leaking information.
Snowden said the U.S. government and intelligence agencies have tried to make an example of him as "a warning to all others who might speak out as I have."
"I have been made stateless and hounded for my act of political expression," he said.
He also invoked the principles declared at the Nuremberg trial of Nazis in 1945 that "individual citizens have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring."
Godwin!
The American Civil Liberties Union, meanwhile, issued a statement Thursday asserting that the former defense contractor "has serious claims for asylum and has a legitimate right to seek asylum irrespective of the human rights record of the country that he ultimately ends up in."
So the skinny little creep can have asylum in North Korea. That works...
Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU human rights program, and Chandra Bhatnaqar, senior attorney for the program, also warn that by infringing on Snowden's right to asylum, "U.S. actions also create the risk of providing cover for other countries to crack down on whistle-blowers and deny asylum to individuals who have exposed illegal activity or human rights violations.
"That's a very dangerous precedent to set," the statement says.
What's dangerous is that Champ has fumbled this badly. What's dangerous is that whistle-blowers feel as though they have to go to Wikileaks instead of WaPo. What's dangerous is that our government spies on our citizens. But the nasty countries and dictators around the world don't need the 'Snowden precedent' to crack down on their own people. They've been doing that just fine the last several millennia...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2013 12:18 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Snowden's a traitorous spy pretending to be a whistleblower, IMHO.
[Dawn] The threat of several dormant and active tribal festivities hangs like the sword of Damocles over the heads of residents of Larkana division. The gravity of the problem can be gauged from the fact that around 40 primary schools in Larkana district are closed because of the volatile law and order situation created by flaring up of these tribal festivities from time to time, according to the Society for Protection of Rights of Child (SPARC).
According to official records, currently there are 11 tribal disputes involving at least 22 tribes which are at daggers drawn. Out of these 11 festivities, five are currently 'inactive' but may erupt at any given moment of time leading to a whole phase of violence in the area.
The most troublesome area for Larkana division police is Kashmore district with five on-going festivities of Jakhrani v/s Bhayo, Sawand v/s Sabzoi, Jakhrani v/s Kandrani, Chachar v/s Bhayo and Sangi v/s Badani tribes.
According to the figures available at the office of the Larkana DIG, so far this year 147 people have been killed and 71 have been injured in these tribal feuds. A total of 1,478 rustics have been nominated in 151 cases lodged at different cop shoppes across the division.
The police have incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! only 112 suspects while the remaining 1,141 are still absconding.
Though none of these festivities have been so far dissolved, but five of the ongoing 11 festivities were capped by the division police, said Larkana DIG Jawed Alam Odho while talking to Dawn.
Talking about the highly-flammable dispute between the Kalhoro and Lashari tribes in Bedi Lashari area, DIG Odho said that elders of both clans succumbed before the police pressure and agreed to bury the hatchet. "Once this area had been a 'no-go-area' for both the warring groups but now it has become peaceful because of police presence and will of the elders to resolve the issue," the DIG claimed. "The guns have been silenced and soon complete peace would prevail."
Talking about how rustics acquired weapons, DIG Odho said that arms were smuggled from the Sindh-Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... border. "For this we have established a border force in Jacobabad to plug the supply of illegal weapons," he said. "But there is also a need to strengthen that border force and establish another to guard the Sindh-Balochistan border from Kambar-Shahdadkot district."
Why this belt is especially prone to tribal disputes may have little to do with the fact that Larkana division borders Balochistan from the eastern borders of Kambar-Shahdadkot, Kandhkot-Kashmor and Jacobabad districts, with people from both Baloch and Sindhi descent living in these areas.
The root of the problem is that these warring tribes are often fighting somebody else's war. A police official who has served in the kutchha areas of the province, megapolis Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and also the UN missions, explained that the landlords wielding influence over these areas did their part to keep the festivities alive for their own political gains. He said that since these waderas did not want to lose their grip over these tribes and clans living in their areas they fuelled festivities between them to continue to wield their influence over them.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
[Dawn] PESHAWAR: A bully boy 'court' has stayed the removal of Ehsanullah Ehsan as central front man for banned bully boy group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) for another 45 days, says a signed order by the 'court' in Pakistain's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, a pamphlet by the TTP central council (shura) had announced the removal of Ehsan -- a prominent figure close to the TTP's top brass -- for making remarks that angered the Afghan Taliban and raised the danger of divisions between the two bully boy organizations.
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... the "Dar-ul Qaza" court of the Pak Taliban has issued a 'stay order' against the decision until members of the 'central council' appear for a hearing, says the leaflet, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com.
The July 10 'order' is one of a series of signs of growing divisions within the TTP, an umbrella group of different bully boy factions.
The document also shows the existence of parallel 'militant courts' operating in Pakistain's volatile northwestern tribal areas.
Ehsanullah Ehsan had earlier challenged his removal by the Taliban central council in the 'court', after which it had summoned the council and the former front man.
Members of the Pak Taliban central council, however, twice failed to show up for the hearing, citing "holidays until the 10th day after Eid-ul-Fitr," says the document.
In the order dated July 10, the 'court' subsequently stayed the removal of Ehsan as central front man until members of the central council appear for a hearing and allow the sacked front man to plead his case.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Dawn] Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... was briefed on the overall security situation in Pakistain during a four-hour long visit to the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters on Thursday, DawnNews reported.
This was Sharif's first visit to the country's leading spy agency after assuming the office of prime minister. He was accompanied by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali khan and Punjab Chief Minster Shahbaz Sharif.
Director General ISI Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam briefed the government delegation on security and counter-terrorism strategy of the agency.
The prime minister was also briefed separately in private.
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea, one that didn't involve kerosene... PM Sharif apprised the intelligence officials over national security and counter-terrorism policies of the Pakistain Musselmen League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. He urged to increase civil-military cooperation for eradication of terrorism. Annihilation of terrorism is the top most priority of the government, he added.
According to TV reports, a new security policy and future course of action in this regard also came into discussion between the premier and military officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
he was told about how the many militant groups used by pak army are doing in afghanistan
Posted by: Paul D ||
07/12/2013 17:36 Comments ||
Top||
[Dawn] The new government in Pakistain with a clear majority in parliament also presents an opportunity for promoting the Afghan grinding of the peace processor, a senior US official said on Thursday.
James Dobbins, US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistain, also told a Senate hearing that the United States would reach an agreement with Afghanistan for keeping some American troops there after 2014 when the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... combat missions ended.
"Without an agreement on our presence in Afghanistan, we would not remain. But we do not believe that that's the likely outcome of these negotiations," he said.
Ambassador Dobbins acknowledged that Pakistain had recently become more cooperative in advancing the Afghan reconciliation process and hoped that this cooperation would increase.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Al Ahram] In the early days of the Syrian uprising, when opponents of the regime were desperate for assistance from any quarter, jihadist fighters were welcomed but a spate of abuses is fuelling a backlash. Things have changed. Toldja so. The revolution was lost when that guy chewed on somebody's major organ. Pencilneck is now the lesser of two evils, behind the cannibals.
"Out, out, out, the (Islamic) State (of Iraq and Syria) must get out," protesters shouted at a rally in the northern town of Manbij this week, referring to an Al-Qaeda front group.
The video of the demonstration is one of many showing how civilians and mainstream rebel fighters alike are turning against the more hardline Islamist factions.
The rebel forces seeking to overthrow Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... are disparate but many espouse political Islam of one form or another.
There are two main Al-Qaeda linked factions, both with Iraqi origins, according to Washington -- the Al-Nusra Front, which has operational independence, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a front for Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Numerous other smaller groups, many of them composed almost exclusively of imported muscle, are also operating on the ground.
Unlike the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army, which has received weapons from several Gulf Arab governments as well as promises of US arms, the jihadist groups rely on private donations.
But there are enough wealthy benefactors attracted to their fundamentalist vision to ensure a steady stream of weapons, as well as volunteer fighters from around the world, many of them seasoned in other conflicts.
That has helped them become a fighting force out of proportion to their numbers, and they have captured several population centres.
But their imposition of their extreme form of Islam has increasingly alienated civilians.
In Raqa, the only bustling provincial capital in rebel hands, the Al-Nusra Front is accused of detaining dozens of men.
"My father has been held for a month by the Front. They think they're Islamic... I want my father to be free," weeps a little girl in one Raqa protest, footage of which was posted online.
"We reject this oppressive brand of Islam... We are Mohammedans. You're just fakes," a woman protester cried in another video from Raqa, demanding the release of the men held by Nusra.
Activists in the city also point to the disappearance of Abdallah al-Khalil, a veteran dissident and human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... activist.
"Khalil was about to open up council elections to the whole of Raqa. Al-Nusra was against the idea. He disappeared the next day," an activist from Raqa told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... for fear of retaliation.
"Although their methods differ from the regime's, they are just as brutal.
"As they get more powerful militarily, they do whatever it takes to stem the growth of freedom in liberated (rebel-held) areas. They want power, not democracy."
Reports emerged on Wednesday that a Raqa-based activist who has documented the uprising against Assad since its early days has been enjugged Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! by ISIS.
"The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria detained the media activist Mohammad Nour Matar on Tuesday evening outside its base... after he stood alongside a woman who tried to stage a sit-in," Matar's brother Amer told AFP.
In Idlib province in the northwest, whose borders with Turkey have allowed foreign jihadists to join the fighting in numbers, dozens of mainstream rebels were killed in a battle with ISIS last week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The fighting broke out after rebels protested against the detention by the jihadists of a 12-year-old boy accused of uttering a blasphemous phrase.
"The chief of the (Free Syrian Army-affiliated) Hamzah Assadullah Brigade and his brother were both killed" in the fighting, the Britannia-based watchdog said.
"We haven't seen many such battles, but it is clear the anger against the Islamic State and other jihadists is on the rise across Syria," its director Rami Abdel Rahman.
The case echoed that of a 14-year-old boy executed by ISIS fighters in the main northern city of Aleppo who accused him of blasphemy for using a colloquial phrase.
Rahman said mainstream rebels appeared set for a new confrontation with their jihadist rivals in Idlib after ISIS demanded that all other groups surrender their weapons.
Nizar, an activist from the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, said: "Time is running out for all these (jihadist) groups.
"They use violence and religion to try control us and, although people are afraid to openly express their dissent, no one wants them."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[An Nahar] The United States and Israel on Thursday slammed a bid by Iran and Syria to get seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... , Rosemary DiCarlo, called the campaigns "highly inappropriate" because of their records on human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. Israel's U.N. envoy Ron Prosor said it was "a new world record for lunacy."
Iran and Syria are among seven countries vying for four Asia-Pacific seats on the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, diplomats told Agence La Belle France Presse.
They will be in competition with China, Jordan, Maldives, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and Vietnam, diplomats said.
A vote on the council seats will be held at the U.N. General Assembly in New York later this year.
Iran and Syria are current members of the council but their bid to extend their terms has infuriated western governments.
"We expect the Asian states to face intense lobbying now over this slate," said one diplomat from the region.
The U.S. envoy said that neither country had yet submitted required documents to back their candidacies.
"But in our view attempts by either country to join the Human Rights Council are extremely inappropriate given existing Human Rights Council mandates to investigate human rights violations in these countries, their egregious records on human rights and their ongoing collaboration to suppress democratic aspirations of the Syrian people," DiCarlo told news hounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[An Nahar] A little known Syrian rebel group has grabbed credit for a car kaboom that hit Bir al-Abed neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut Tuesday, wounding 53 people.
It also claimed it was behind an attack on a Hizbullah convoy in eastern Leb on June 28.
However the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army condemned the attack in Beirut's southern suburbs, describing it as a "terrorist" act.
The group, named the Special Forces 313 Brigade, uses the black, red, green and white colors of the flag of the Syrian opposition, and Islamic terminology.
It describes itself as "an independent military formation, that fights in Syria for the victory of God's word."
"Special units from the 313 Brigade staged an attack using a boom-mobile in the Bir al-Abed area of the southern suburbs," the group said on its Facebook page.
"We warned again and again against (Hizbullah's) intervention in Syria," the brigade added.
It cited "the failure of Lebanese politicians to control" the party as one of the reasons for the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[An Nahar] More Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... officials confirmed on Thursday their rift with the rest of the March 8 alliance's parties despite alleged efforts by Hizbullah to bridge the gap between Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... and FPM leader Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... .
In remarks to As Safir daily, Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, who is an FPM official, reiterated that his party was no longer part of the March 8 coalition that includes Hizbullah and Berri's Amal movement.
He said he informed Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam more than 45 days ago that he shouldn't consider the FPM and the other parties a single team.
"Political lineups have been shattered," he said. "Neither March 8 nor March 14 have stayed the way they are."
The new developments should facilitate the formation of the government, he added.
Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan, who is also an FPM official, echoed similar remarks. "We have never been part of March 8 so that we separate ourselves from it," he told al-Joumhouria newspaper.
"The differences with this camp are the focus of discussions to assess the next stage and learn lessons from them," he said.
Kanaan stressed that each party has its own weight in negotiating for shares in the new cabinet.
Despite the remarks of Bassil and Kanaan, Hizbullah sources told al-Joumhouria that the party would exert efforts to restore the ties between Aoun and Berri, who has also stressed the March 8 alliance no longer exists.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] One of the locked away Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! members of Salafist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir's group was referred on Thursday to the Military Prosecution on charges of smuggling arms to Syria, reported the National News Agency.
Military Examining Magistrate Judge Fadi Sawan referred the suspect on charges of also carrying out terrorist attacks.
The suspect was found to have accompanied al-Asir to his visits to Syria.
He was placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... during the recent festivities in Abra near the southern city of Sidon that took place on June 22 and 23.
An arrest warrant had previously been issued against the suspect.
Later on Thursday, First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghida interrogated nine detainees from the Abra festivities, releasing three and issuing arrest warrants against six.
State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr had charged last week 27 people, 10 of them in absentia.
Those in jug were interrogated earlier this week by First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghida.
Al-Asir and the singer-turned Salafist Fadel Shaker were among the 27 people charged by Saqr.
If convinced, the suspects face the death penalty.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Salafists
[An Nahar] A majority of Lebanese believe the influx of Syrian refugees in their country threatens national security, Norway's Fafo research foundation said in a report obtained on Thursday by Agence La Belle France Presse.
In the survey carried out by Fafo in late May, 900 people were interviewed across Leb, a country of more than four million people which now hosts around 600,000 Syrian refugees.
The findings showed that "52 percent of the respondents believe that the Syrian refugees are posing a threat to national security and stability," the survey said.
Fifty-four percent said Leb "should not receive more refugees" while 82 percent said refugees are taking jobs from the Lebanese and causing wages to fall.
About half of those interviewed said the Syrians were "supported financially to an unfair degree".
Many Lebanese also said they cannot trust the Syrian people, with 61 percent saying they are "not comfortable" having Syrians as close neighbors.
Sixty-seven percent -- or two in three polled -- said they are "uncomfortable sharing a meal with Syrians" and 82 percent said they would not be happy if a family member married a Syrian.
More than 90 percent of those surveyed said that the Syrian conflict "has had a negative impact on the Lebanese government's capacity to protect Lebanese citizens and govern".
The conflict that erupted in Syria in March 2011 has spilled over the border into Leb where supporters and opponents of the Damascus regime have clashed frequently.
The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... says there are about 600,000 Syrian refugees registered in Leb, although other independent estimates say the number could be closer to one million.
Two-thirds of those polled said the U.N. should open camps in Leb for Syrian refugees as it did in Jordan and Turkey.
On Wednesday, Leb's ambassador to the U.N., Nawaf Salam, vowed his country will keep its borders open to refugees from Syria but said the government may have to consider opening camps.A majority of Lebanese believe the influx of Syrian refugees in their country threatens national security, Norway's Fafo research foundation said in a report obtained on Thursday by Agence La Belle France Presse.
In the survey carried out by Fafo in late May, 900 people were interviewed across Leb, a country of more than four million people which now hosts around 600,000 Syrian refugees.
The findings showed that "52 percent of the respondents believe that the Syrian refugees are posing a threat to national security and stability," the survey said.
Fifty-four percent said Leb "should not receive more refugees" while 82 percent said refugees are taking jobs from the Lebanese and causing wages to fall.
About half of those interviewed said the Syrians were "supported financially to an unfair degree".
Many Lebanese also said they cannot trust the Syrian people, with 61 percent saying they are "not comfortable" having Syrians as close neighbors.
Sixty-seven percent -- or two in three polled -- said they are "uncomfortable sharing a meal with Syrians" and 82 percent said they would not be happy if a family member married a Syrian.
More than 90 percent of those surveyed said that the Syrian conflict "has had a negative impact on the Lebanese government's capacity to protect Lebanese citizens and govern".
The conflict that erupted in Syria in March 2011 has spilled over the border into Leb where supporters and opponents of the Damascus regime have clashed frequently.
The United Nations says there are about 600,000 Syrian refugees registered in Leb, although other independent estimates say the number could be closer to one million.
Two-thirds of those polled said the U.N. should open camps in Leb for Syrian refugees as it did in Jordan and Turkey.
On Wednesday, Leb's ambassador to the U.N., Nawaf Salam, vowed his country will keep its borders open to refugees from Syria but said the government may have to consider opening camps.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[An Nahar] The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has warned Lebanese security agencies two days ahead of the blast that targeted Bir al-Abed neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs that al-Qaeda has plotted to carry out an attack in the area, a report claimed on Thursday.
According to al-Akhbar newspaper, al-Qaeda-linked group transported a huge amount of explosives into Leb to be used in the country.
Security and political sources told the newspaper that a CIA official in Leb provided the army intelligence and the ISF Intelligence Branch with "delicate information" regarding the matter.
The CIA report pointed out that an al-Qaeda-linked-group prepared two bombs, each weigh 7 tons, to target buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs using jacket wallahs.
The report said that the group is also active in Syria.
At least 53 people were maimed in an kaboom that was caused by a booby-trapped vehicle in the Hizbullah stronghold neighborhood of Bir al-Abed on Tuesday.
Another report said that another al-Qaeda-affiliated group transported around 2,000 kilograms of explosives into Leb to target the Lebanese army, Hizbullah, Saudi Ambassador to Leb Ali Awadh al-Asiri and Kuwaiti Ambassador Abdul al-Qinaai in addition to Russian and Chinese diplomats.
A third CIA report included detailed information on the head of an gang that is responsible for firing rockets on the Bekaa city of Baalbek.
According to the last report, the head of the group is a Syrian national, who is leading the operations from the region of Reef Damascus.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
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.
[Al Ahram] The National Salvation Front (NSF) has called for Egypt's new cabinet to include credible revolutionary figures.
The US has urged Egypt's leadership to stop "arbitrary" arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members, warning against targeting any particular group. White House spokesman Jay Carney said, "You're working against yourself if your effort is to be inclusive." 
The shattered family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby yesterday hailed him as a martyr whose death united Britain as they attended a vigil the day before his funeral. 
Authorities have taken steps to calm ethnic tensions in a town in southern Russia by banning liquor and evacuating "radical" youngsters after a stabbing sparked days of angry protests by locals demanding that residents from Chechnya be kicked out. 
The U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia reinstated a genocide charge against wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic on Thursday, reversing a trial court's ruling that prosecutors had not made a convincing case that he "possessed genocidal intent."
Nawaz Sharif
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Michel Aoun
