[Al Ahram] Heliopolis Prosecution has received the final autopsy report regarding the victims that were killed during clashes at the Republican Guards club last July.
According to the report, the victims were shot in the head and stomach by live ammunition and suffered from internal bleeding that led to their death. "Live ammunition" as opposed to? Blanks? Dead ammunition?
The report also added that some of the victims died within minutes of being shot in the head and heart, whilst others passed away after being transferred to hospital.
On 8 July 2013, clashes erupted between Egypt's armed forces and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, resulting in the death of 53 citizens and the injury of 100 more.
The Heliopolis Prosecution office asked forensics at the criminal lab to hurry in issuing the report concerning weapons and bullet casings used, as evidence in ongoing investigations.
Egypt's armed forces have accused the Muslim brotherhood of trying to storm the Republican Guards headquarters.
Several prominent Muslim brotherhood figures, including Mohamed El-Beltagy, and Islamist preacher Safwat Hegazy, are being accused of inciting the attack against security forces - police and army - at the Republican Guards club.
Meanwhile, Eastern Cairo Prosecution continues to question 700 Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters, tens of whom have been accused of incitement to violence and murder, both outside the Presidential Guards club and during another violent clash with security forces at the Unknown Soldier memorial.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"Live ammunition" as opposed to? Blanks? Dead ammunition?
"Remember, brothers, the live ones we shoot with live ammunition, and the dead ones we shoot with blanks. You with the .22, you shoot only skinny guys. Shotgun, you stick to storks. Lead doesn't grow on trees. Guys without guns, just use your finger and yell 'bang'. Okay, let's roll."
[Al Ahram] A joint committee formed by Egypt's Illicit Gains Authority - the Public Funds Investigation and Administrative Control Authority - has started to examine the financial disclosure of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi, his wife and children, in order to make a report about the family's wealth and assets.
The committee is expected to finish its work over the next two days.
Egypt's prosecutor-general opened on Saturday an investigation into Morsi's wealth, after a report was filed by the head of an anti-corruption association accusing the ousted president of taking personal advantage of his position, as well as squandering LE2 billion ($285.7 million) during his election campaign.
A judicial source told Ahram Online's Arabic gate the committee's mission includes an inventory of the properties of the former president, his wife and children, in all of the Egyptian governorates, including land and real estate.
The family's banks accounts will also be examined, as well as shares in the stock market, if they exist.
In July, Egyptian prosecutors froze the assets of 14 prominent Islamists, including Moslem Brüderbund Supreme Guide and deputy leader Khairat El-Shater, as part of investigations into alleged 'incitement of violence' at protests.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Former liberal-leaning presidential candidate Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who was head of the Arab League for approximately two normal lifespans, accomplishing nothing that was obvious to the casual observer ... has been elected ٍas head of Egypt's 50-strong constitution-drafting committee.
Both Moussa -- a former foreign minister -- and chairman of the Syndicate of Lawyers and the Arab Nasserist Party Sameh Ashour announced they would stand for the post of chairman.
Moussa won 30 votes, compared to Ashour's 16, whilst 2 members abstained and 2 were absent.
The panel, led by Abdel Gelil Mostafa - head of the National Association for Change - as the oldest member, convened its first session on Sunday at the headquarters of Egypt's Shura council (upper house of parliament).
Pursuant to a presidential decree, issued by Egypt's interim President Adly Mansour on 8 July, the charter is due to be approved within "sixty days" of the board's first session.
Work by this constitutional-drafting board represents the second stage in writing Egypt's new constitution, which is to replace the suspended 2012 version. This follows initial proposals made by a ten-member legal panel, which have already proved contentious.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] El-Nour Party announced Sunday it will participate in the 50-member committee responsible for producing a final draft of Egypt's new constitution.
A statement released on the party's official Facebook page confirmed the majority of its members had agreed to take part in process of amending the 2012 constitution.
Party Media Committee Coordinator Ibrahim Abaza told Al-Ahram Arabic website that the absence of Nour's representative in the opening session was due to indecisiveness on whether the party would take part in the committee.
The Salafist Nour Party, the only Islamist party represented in the committee (with one delegate), has expressed its worries about unequal representation favouring non-Islamists in the constitution drafting process.
Party head Younis Makhioun said in a statement Sunday that the party's decision to participate came "in accordance with the party's conviction that the country is going through sensitive times and for the sake of defending the achievemnts accomplished after the January 25 Revolution, on top of which lies the articles [of the constitution] related to identity."
Nour had earlier considered boycotting the 50-member committee after Article 219 was removed by a technical committee that amended the constitution before passing it to the broader body. The party later retreated, saying the issue could still be debated by the 50-member committee.
Article 219 of the 2012 constitution, added by the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly, broadly defined Sharia (Islamic law), which, according to Article 2, represents the main source of legislation in Egypt.
It states: "The principles of Islamic Sharia include its commonly accepted interpretations, its fundamental and jurisprudential rules and its widely considered sources, as stated by the schools of Sunna and Gamaa."
Non-Islamist critics charge that 219 leaves the door open to discriminating against non-Sunni minorities and others.
The Salafist Nour Party warned that eliminating this article was an attempt to move Egyptians away from their "Islamic identity."
Nour delegates constituted the second largest bloc in the now-dissolved 2012 People's Assembly, and participated in the controversial Constituent Assembly, which drafted the 2012 constitution.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Representatives of liberal forces swept the leading positions of the Committee of 50 during internal elections on Sunday, ending the day with a resounding majority in the newly-formed committee tasked with writing the final draft of Egypt's post-30 June constitution.
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who was head of the Arab League for approximately two normal lifespans, accomplishing nothing that was obvious to the casual observer ... , a former presidential candidate and past secretary-general of the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , was elected committee chairman with 30 votes. His rival, lawyers syndicate chairman Sameh Ashour, got 16 votes. Two votes were considered invalid.
According to Mohamed Salmawy, the committee member in charge of counting the votes, 48 members out of a total 50 attended the session. Absent were El-Sayed Mohamedein, chairman of Suez Canal University, and Bassam Al-Zarqa, deputy chairman of the ultraconservative Islamist Salafist Nour party. Mohamedein is currently outside Egypt, whereas Al-Zarqa is expected to attend tomorrow's session following a last-minute Nour party vote in favor of participating in the committee.
Moussa promised to do his best "to help Egypt draft a constitution that reflects the ideals of the two revolutions of January 2011 and June 2013."
Moussa's three deputies, who were also elected Sunday, also represent a liberal to moderate perspective. They include world-renowned heart surgeon Magdi Yacoub, human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... activist Mona Zulficar, and Islamist thinker Kamal El-Helbawy.
Speaking to parliamentary correspondents on Saturday, El-Helbawy, who describes himself as a liberal Islamic thinker who rebelled against the Moslem Brüderbund's ideology, stated that he is "against mixing religion with politics."
"My message to Islamists -- after one year of rule by a very bad regime -- is to keep away from politics in order to allow this country to move forward," El-Helbawy added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Slats Chumbaloni was staring into a hole that was just .45 inch in diameter and was less than three feet from his face ... Gaber Nassar, president of Cairo University and a high-profile constitutional law professor, was elected as the committee's rapporteur. Like Moussa, Nassar boycotted the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly which drafted Egypt's 2012 constitution under former president Mohamed Morsi.
Mohamed Salmawy, a liberal dramatist and chairman of the Union of Egyptian Writers, was elected as the committee's media spokesperson.
The committee's procedural meeting was headed by Abdel-Gelil Mostafa, the liberal-oriented chairman of the National Association of Change.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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One would hope so. And other countries' intelligence services as well. This is not news.
[An Nahar] Germany's intelligence services cooperated with the U.S. CIA for years on a database of suspected jihadists and their supporters in Germany, the weekly Der Spiegel reported on Sunday.
Under the codename "Project 6" or "P6", Germany's BND and Verfassungschutz intelligence services and the CIA monitored and collected data on Islamists and suspected bully boyz in Germany, the magazine said, without revealing its sources.
The U.S. and German services jointly rented premises in the western town of Neuss in 2005, before subsequently moving to Cologne, the weekly said in a pre-release of an article to be published in its Monday edition.
Der Spiegel said the BND had confirmed the existence of the database, but said the cooperation ended in 2010.
According to the magazine, the database included the name, date of birth and passport number of a German investigative journalist Stefan Buchen, who worked for NDR public broadcaster, after he contacted an Islamist preacher in Yemen and also visited Afghanistan on a number of occasions.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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The grassroots response to the Million Muslim American March on Washington slated for the 11th. If you recall, the bikers were not able to get a permit.
#1
Sure, municipal gummints have a right to require parade permits, but I think in this case, "the right to assemble..." "freedom of association..." may take precedence.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/09/2013 10:29 Comments ||
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#2
Those terrorist veteran bikers. Big sis warned us about them!!!! Oh my god! With even half a million there the republican/tea part will triple in size. I'll bet the libs are afraid the biker might do something crazy like call for our government to act responsibily and be accountable for their actions....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/09/2013 10:47 Comments ||
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#3
Oh damn I wish i was there...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/09/2013 10:49 Comments ||
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#4
The media will probably give a lot of close-up views of the Muslim 'OMG!-Million-Muslim-march!' to hide its pathetic size while showing three bikes at a gas station to represent the 2-million.
I may watch ABC or CBS just to see how they slant it. (Sorry don't have enough eye-bleach or brain-brillo to watch CNN or MSNBC...).
#5
Well, if the one doesn't believe he needs Congress' OK to do a drive by on Syria, why should 2 million bikers need a stinking piece of paper to drive through DC.
#6
I think what was denied was a no-stop ride. This would have a major impact on DC traffic - sort of like when Obama decided to go out for a hamburger. Of course, DC would never say no to the One.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/09/2013 17:37 Comments ||
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#7
The 'Million Muslims' want Sharia to be imposed on non-Muslims in the West. The '2 Million Bikers' are opposed to this demand.
Unfortunately the 'Million Muslims' are just articulating mainstream political consensus. The bikers are just the nutty fringe like 'fruity pastor Terry Jones.'
Ron Paul, Colin Powell, John McCain, David Petraeus, Lindsey Graham, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama all agree with the 'Million Muslims' in principle. Romney feebly criticized the US' apology for anti-sharia speech, but he was told to shut up, and he did shut up.
I wouldn't be surprised if, after the next islamofascistic atrocity in the US, the government would just preemptively arrest the organizers of events like the bikers' demonstration. They'd just be following the British precedent.
Bradley Chelsea Manning is seeking a presidential pardon for handing U.S state secrets to the WikiLeaks website because it was done 'out of a love for my country'.
Golly.
According to documents released today, Manning's lawyer, David Coombs, has sent a Petition for Pardon to President Barack Obama. The White House said last month that if Manning requested a presidential pardon she would be considered the same as anyone else.
In the petition he she wrote that she had started questioning the morality of U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan while reading secret military reports. He She said: 'When I chose to disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and sense of duty to others.'
Manning acknowledged he she had broken the law, adding, 'I regret if
Not if, dear boy. When. Once you understand that, the rest will follow.
my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States.'
Manning signed the petition 'Bradley Manning', not Chelsea, as her name has not legally been changed.
Nor has anything else...
Mark Osler, a law professor and founder of a commutation clinic at St. Thomas University in Minneapolis, gave Manning's petition a 'zero per cent' chance of success.
Brilliant, professor, what was your first clue?
Osler noted that the President has granted just 39 pardons and one commutation since taking office, while he has denied 1,333. Olser added that it is also very early in Manning's confinement for the White House to seriously consider such a request.
Manning is currently serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for her conviction on July 30 on 20 counts of disclosing information while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. Since being convicted Manning has said she wants to live as a woman and two Army behavioral health specialists diagnosed her with gender dysphoria.
Manning now wants to start hormone replacement therapy inside jail, and though the courts have refused, he she is challenging the decision.
In another twist, he she is also asking the Army to pay for her treatment under their health insurance scheme.
Following his trial, Manning got the longest ever sentence for disclosing U.S. government secrets to others for publication. At his her trial government witnesses testified that some of the leaked information endangered information sources, forced ambassadors to be reassigned, were used as al-Qaida propaganda and even obtained directly by Osama bin Laden.
However, Coombs wrote in a cover letter to Manning's petition that none of Manning's disclosures caused any 'real damage' to the United States and that the documents were not sensitive information meriting protection.
The court saw it differently but who listens to them anymore?
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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One almost feels sorry for Secretary of State Kerry, so neatly is he being hoisted with his own petard. But then, he was pronounced The Second Smartest Man In The Room upon his nomination, as you'll recall, a neater damning with faint praise of which does not exist.
[Debka] In an unexpected turn of events along the road to a US military strike on Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday afternoon, Sept. 9 that he had urged Syria to hand over its nuclear arsenal to international control if that would stop an American attack. Moscow had lost no time in picking up the gauntlet thrown down by 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... in London a short time before.
Asked if there were steps the Syrian president could take to avert an American-led attack, Kerry replied: "Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week -- turn it over, all of it, without delay and allow the full and total accounting."
The B.O. regime had in this way given Bashir al-Assad a week to turn in his chemical weapons to an international team that would no doubt be put together by the US, Russia and the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, who arrived in Moscow earlier Monday, was informed that the Kremlin expected a positive and expeditious answer from President Assad. Within the hour, he came back with a welcome for the Russian "proposal" to place his country's chemical weapons under international control. But he said nothing about letting the arsenal be moved out of the country and destroyed , as both Lavrov and Kerry specified.
Sunday, debkafile reported that a secret US proposal had been presented to Assad and that negotiations were in progress on a deal for a way out of the crisis generated by the chemical attack east of Damascus on Aug. 21. The transfer of Syria's entire chemical stockpile to international control was a part of that proposition.
Our military sources add that Assad was in no position to flatly rebuff the Russian ultimatum; only to try and maneuver and haggle to buy time. If Moscow stops the air corridor lifting military supplies to Damascus, the Syrian army will quickly run out of ordnance for fighting the rebels.
Normally we recommend anything coming from Debka be heavily salted, as a matter of principle. Normally, however, we do not see The Times of Israel and USA Today coming out with substantially the same story simultaneously. Also Der Spiegel, for those who prefer the German perspective on the matter.
This is a brilliant counter by Vlad. A week? It'll take a week just to get the U.N. inspectors to agree on airplane flights. It'll be three months to get them to 'inspect' everything and six months minimum before any of the weapons, assuming they are found, to be shipped out or destroyed. Assad can play the same game Saddam played with hiding the weapons; if not the weapons themselves then at least the machinery and facilities to make the weapons. Oh that? That's a pesticide factory for our farmers. Prove us wrong.
Brilliant. Kerry is a fool.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/09/2013 13:00 ||
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#1
....Cmdr. Zero owes Vlad in a big way if this (1) turns out to be true and (2) goes through.
#3
1. Russians weren't going to be targeted by any cruise missiles [unless someone forgot to check the phone book - see Chinese Embassy Belgrade]. It was all going to be locals taking the hits anyway.
2. Internet flood of civilian casualty pictures already prepped.
3. Billy Boy shot off missiles at Saddam for non-compliance, didn't result in anything afterwards. No boots on the ground, no way of insuring what you used as an excuse to shoot has been accomplished. Missiles do not occupy terrain.
#4
Maybe Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will come to the rescue and save the day.
Posted by: Lampedusa Lover of the Boskonians8212 ||
09/09/2013 14:01 Comments ||
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#5
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday afternoon, Sept. 9 that he had urged Syria to hand over its nuclear arsenal to international control if that would stop an American attack.
Is that a typo? Sloppy reporting? A Russian joke? I hadn't thought anybody believed Syria had a nuclear arsenal.
#8
This is a brilliant counter by Vlad. A week? It'll take a week just to get the U.N. inspectors to agree on airplane flights. It'll be three months to get them to 'inspect' everything and six months minimum before any of the weapons, assuming they are found, to be shipped out or destroyed. Assad can play the same game Saddam played with hiding the weapons; if not the weapons themselves then at least the machinery and facilities to make the weapons. Oh that? That's a pesticide factory for our farmers. Prove us wrong.
Brilliant. Kerry is a fool.
Based on his past record, he's at minimum a fool, and probably evil to boot. Do I have to go through the numbers again, here of all places?
#9
Or it could be this is the last thing Zero and company want. Zero, McCain, Graham, etc. have been itching for a fight with Syria ever since this little war started. Clearly the object is not Assad's chemical weapons. They are a red herring. But if the chemicals are removed, and it's all verified, there is no more excuse for attacking Syria on behalf of the Soddies.
#13
Face it - Obumbles, John F'kin Kerry, and their associates are simply poor beginners (if that) in the international-relations game. Putin is like a gamemaster - he has played them every single step of the way.
The really sad part is - everyone knows it but them and their supporters. They actually think that they are the masters of the game. Heck even I see it.
It's truly pathetic. they honestly believe they can 'community organize' their way.
#14
This way Obama gets a get out clause. Lucky him again!
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/09/2013 19:17 Comments ||
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#15
The Circus continues. The Hildbeast today was "All excited" about John Kerry's proposal for Syria to turn over it's chemical weapons to International control. Jeebus, does she not listen to anything but personal accolades? As someone said, "If yo go to war you have to go to war with the clowns you have".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/09/2013 19:28 Comments ||
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#16
Well, I don't know why I came here tonight
I got the feeling that something ain't right
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair
And I'm wondering how I'll get down those stairs
Clowns to left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
Yes, I'm stuck in the middle with you
And I'm wondering what it is I should do
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face
Losing control, yeah I'm all over the place
Clowns to left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/09/2013 20:57 Comments ||
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#17
uh oh, AP. Someone's gonna lose an ear
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2013 21:16 Comments ||
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#18
Assad is highly unlikely to give up ruling power, nor to agree to turn over his chemical weapons, etc. WMDS unless Russia + Iran [China?] agree to increase their level of arms supply + $$$ to his Regime.
Its obvious he's still counting on Russia + Iran at least to continue to support him.
* FYI DAILY STAR LEBANON > KERRY TELLS RUSSIA HIS SYRIA COMMENTS WERE NOT MEANT TO BE [formal = diplomatic] PROPOSAL.
Jaaawhn was just "floating it out there" to see what would happen???
["APRIL FOOL" IN NOT-APRIL SEPTEMBER here].
* RELATED WAFF > RUSSIA: KERRY'S WEAPONS TRANFER [Offer] FROM SYRIA WAS "RHETORICAL".
[THEGLOBEANDMAIL] U.S. 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... said the United States is considering only an "unbelievably, small, limited" strike on Syria as punishment for allegedly using chemical weapons and he insisted military action will not end that country's civil war. "Really, we're just going to slap him on the wrist. He'll hardly notice."
"We're not going to war," Mr. Kerry told reporters Monday after meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London. "We will be able to hold [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad accountable without engaging troops on the ground or any other prolonged kind of effort, in a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort that degrades his capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for Syria's civil war. That is exactly what we are talking about doing; an unbelievably small, limited kind of effort."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013 10:23 ||
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#1
an unbelievably small, limited kind of effort
just like everything else they've done up til now
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2013 11:51 Comments ||
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#2
Are they finished yet?
Wanna see it again?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/09/2013 12:15 Comments ||
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#3
Kerry is an un-believably small man for one so tall. Bugwit.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/09/2013 12:17 Comments ||
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#4
Kerry outlines 'unbelievably small' strike drive by on Syria
So why even bother?
Ya know, Jawny, considering the past history of what you and your boss have said about anything, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and call you and your boss a couple of fuckin liars...
#9
* RELATED FREEREPUBLIC > [Hot AiR] FEARSOME NEW WHITE HOUSE TALKING POINT ON SYRIA : OUR ATTACK WILL BE "UNBELIEVABLY SMALL".
versus
* WAFF > AMERICANS DISLIKE OF MILITARY STRIKE ON SYRIA GROWING = REUTERS/IPSOS POLL | WHY IS THE SUPPORTING AL-QAEDA? ... ... ...
Ditto the majority of ordinary Frenchies + Brits.
* DAILY STAR LEBANON > ASSAD FORCES FEAR REBEL RAMPAGE [violent = bloody retaliation] AFTER US STRIKE.
* SAME > US SENATORS SET WEDNESDAY FOR SYRIA VOTE.
RELATED BUSINESS INSIDER = [Lindsey Graham + John Mc Cain] GOP SENATORS: NEW SYRIA
"BREAKTHROUGH" [Kerry proposal] MEANS CONGRESS SHOULD PASS AIRSTRIKE AUTHORIZATION.
IIUC, to give teeth = support to SecState Kerry's proposed solution while also rducing the number of Sequester-affected USDOD Mil Assets for Syria strike.
WILL ASSAD ACCEPT?
FYI conversely the Syrian Rebels + foreign Militants are not going to accept Assad staying in power nor any turnover of Chem Weaps by him being offsetted by massive new non-WMD replacement arms + $$$ flows to him by Russia + Iran, etc.
US CREDIBILITY IS N-O-T HELPED BY RAISING THE ANTI-ASSAD SYRIAN REBELS INSPIRATIONS WID MORE/NEW FALSE HOPES - ITS ONLY GONNA PISS 'EM OFF + MAKE NEW ENEMIES OF THE US, I.E. IFF POST-STRIKE IRAN DOESN'T ATTACK THE WHITE HOUSE, "KIDNAP + RAPE SASHA OBAMA" ETAL. THE SYRIAN REBELS WILL.
Two RAF jets were scrambled from their base in Cyprus to urgently investigate Syrian planes that had crossed into international airspace, it has emerged.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed that unidentified planes legally crossed into Cypriot skies from the east of the country last Monday.
But it is understood the behaviour of the aircraft raised suspicions at RAF Akrotiri, less than 200 miles from Syria, prompting the rapid response.
The Syrian bombers refused to respond to repeated attempts by the control tower at the UK's Akrotiri air base to contact them.
The aircraft retreated before any action was taken by the two RAF air-defence Typhoons.
A pair of Turkish F-16s are also believed to have been launched in support of the investigation from their base in Incirlik, Turkey.
The Syrian planes are believed to have been Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24s, a heavily-armed fighter bomber that can reach Cyprus, 200 miles from Syria, in just 15 minutes.
A spokesman for the MoD said: 'The MoD can confirm that Typhoon Air Defence Aircraft operated from RAF Akrotiri on Monday to investigate unidentified aircraft to the east of Cyprus; the aircraft were flying legally in international airspace and no intercept was required.'
#1
A non-story, except maybe the part about not responding to radio calls.
If on what appeared to be a hostile profile it would have ended badly and probably pre-empted "Bozo and JF'nK's Big Summer Vacation."
A Russian plane landed in the Syrian port city of Latakia on Sunday, the government said, as it seeks to evacuate its citizens from the escalating conflict. The plane would collect citizens of Russia and other ex-Soviet states who have expressed a desire to leave the zone of conflict, Russian emergencies ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius said in a statement.
It was not clear how many people would be evacuated on the flight but Russian news agencies said those who wanted to leave were already waiting at Latakia airport.
The flights come as expectations grow of Western military action against President Bashar Al Assads regime over claims it used chemical weapons in an attack outside the Syrian capital in August.
Russia has evacuated hundreds of citizens on similar flights since the conflict began. It took 116 Russian citizens and nationals of other ex-Soviet states out of Syria on two flights in late August.
Russia has insisted it was not engaged in a full-scale evacuation of the many thousands of Russian passport-holders still believed to be in Syria. However, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said on Thursday Russian warships currently in the Mediterranean could be used for the evacuation of Russian citizens.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"we'll have to offload these 'empty' cargo crates to make room for the evacuees, of course"
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2013 10:00 Comments ||
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[Al Ahram] Iran's foreign minister slammed potential US-led Arclight airstrikes against Syria as "illegal" on a visit to Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... Sunday, while his Iraqi counterpart warned they would hinder efforts towards a political solution.
Mohammad Javed Zarif said military action was barred under the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... charter, but Washington is pressing for the strikes in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack the White House says was carried out by the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... "Civilised countries, 65 years ago, took the options off the table when they rejected in the charter of the United Nations resort to force as an illegal practice," Zarif said, speaking in English at a joint presser with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
"Why (do) they (countries supporting a strike) call themselves civilised nations and continue to insist on all options being on the table?" he said.
"All options have been removed from the table long, long, long time ago."
Zarif made the remarks during a one-day trip to Iraq, his first since being appointed foreign minister by President Hassan Rowhani in mid-August, and after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki earlier on Sunday.
Zebari, meanwhile, warned that any strikes "would hinder political efforts" to help end the 30-month war in neighbouring Syria.
And in a rare cross-sectarian show of unity on the subject, Iraq's parliament speaker -- who is also the country's most senior Sunni Arab politician -- cautioned against military action.
"The military strike will not be beneficial towards Syria and will ignite a fire that will possibly extend to Iraq and nearby countries," Osama al-Nujaifi said in a separate news conference in Storied Baghdad.
Nujaifi's comments were a rare criticism of the potential strikes by a Sunni Arab leader.
Iran, a staunch supporter of the Assad regime, actively opposes plans by the US and La Belle France to launch a military strike against Damascus over its suspected use of chemical weapons in deadly attacks on August 21.
It also backs claims in Damascus that rebels, not the Assad regime, carried out the chemical attacks on Damascus suburbs, which killed hundreds of people. Assad's regime has denied any responsibility.
Before leaving for Storied Baghdad, Zarif was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that Iran was "more worried" by the developments in Syria than other regional countries.
"The warmongering is happening in our neighbourhood, which is an important issue and has made my visit to Iraq necessary," he said.
Zarif seized on US President Barack Obama I am not a dictator!... 's failure to win support for military action against Syria from world leaders during the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg.
"This shows the US and pro-war groups are faced with definite isolation in their pursuit of using war and illegal means to push forward their own foreign policy agenda," he said in Tehran.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
That seizing embassies is also rather 'illegal' didn't stop you.
[Al Ahram] Syrian President Basar al-Assad has denied in an interview with CBS television that he was behind a chemical attack in a Damascus suburb last month, the US network said Sunday. "He denied that he had anything to do with the attack," CBS veteran correspondent Charlie Rose said, speaking earlier after interviewing Assad in Syria. The interview is due to be shown early Monday in the United States.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Also repor in the same CBS interview ...
* DAILY STAR LEBANON >ASSAD SAYS THOSE ALIGNED WID HIM [Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, etal.] WILL RETALIATE IN CASE OF ATTACK.
and
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > VIDEO: AL-FURQAN BRIGADES CLAIM TWO ATTACKS ON SHIPS IN SUEZ CANAL, THREATEN MORE - THREAT MATRIX.
A weakened al-Qaida has the potential for resurgence in Syria, where the turmoil of civil war could help revive one of the group's close affiliates, a report by a US think tank said on Monday.
"It is too soon to predict the long-term threat posed by al-Qaida and allied groups as the movement is undergoing a transition that may end up proving to be its last gasp; but the right set of circumstances in the unstable Middle East could also revive the network," the Bipartisan Policy Center's Homeland Security Project said in the report called "Jihadist Terrorism: A Threat Assessment."
#1
IIRC FOX NEWS this AM > As per MEMRI.org, quoted Al-Qaeda affiliate leader in IRAQ as claiming that up to 23,000 fighters are ready to deploy to Syria + strike US interests iff the USA does "something stupid" like attack Assad.
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.
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa
[Debka] In an unexpected turn of events along the road to a US military strike on Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday afternoon, Sept. 9 that he had urged Syria to hand over its nuclear arsenal to international control if that would stop an American attack. Moscow had lost no time in picking up the gauntlet thrown down by US Secretary of State 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
