[Shabelle] civilians in Kismayu the capital of the lower Juba region of Somalia complain of daily tortures, looting of property and killings conducted by the juba troops of Ahmed Madobe.
A resident of Kismayu who requested his name to be with held told Shabelle radio that they forwarded their complaints to the top administrative officials but nothing was done to cap the problems.
"The troops are acting like hungry militias, they loot our property and at the same time beat us, the local administration {juba} is just watching us suffer" said the resident.
Residents are calling for human right watch groups and the federal government to intervene as the Juba administration did little to solve the problems spearheaded by its own troops.
The complaints come at a time when the Juba troops recently killed a famous elder in the city of Kismayu.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Tunisia's opposition coalition agreed on Friday to start direct talks with ruling Islamists on a transition plan under which the government would step down and make way for a caretaker administration and new elections.
The agreement follows weeks of unrest that erupted after the liquidation of an opposition figure in July. The secular opposition accused the moderate Islamist ruling party, Ennahda, of tolerating the Islamist bully boyz it blamed for the killing.
Issam Chebbi bigwig in the Salvation Front told Rooters the opposition decided to accept "without any conditions" the initiative proposed by the powerful UGTT labor movement which has been mediating in the dispute.
Ennahda had already accepted the negotiation plan after expressing some initial reservations it said would be discussed during talks.
A formal announcement by the UGTT about the agreement should lead to the start of a three-week negotiation period after which the Ennahda-led government will step down.
The two sides will discuss a timetable for new elections, the composition of the caretaker government and other guarantees for the country's transition to full democracy.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2013 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Young women in the Maghreb are lured into becoming jihadists willing to offer up their very bodies to al-Qaeda gunnies in Syria.
How they make the transition from innocence to jihad in foreign lands is the work of persistent recruiting efforts by krazed killers, according to one young victim in Tunisia.
"Annikah marriage" is not new, but it went from being a discreet practice to a social media sensation with the Syria conflict.
Using religion as a lever, mysterious groups with even more obscure funding sources persuaded young women from Tunisia, Morocco and elsewhere to engage in '"temporary marriages" to mujahidat.
The girls call it their jihad.
"No one has uncovered the parties standing behind these networks and funding them, despite the arrest of many girls who admitted that they were involved with these groups," says Bassel Torjman, an expert in Maghreb affairs and specialist in Islamic movements.
"The unfortunate truth is that dozens of girls and women of different nationalities were tricked into going. They were engaged in prostitution in the name of religion," he tells Magharebia.
"The practice known as annikah marriage is just a barbaric act by which Maghreb girls, who were deceived by criminal gangs in the name of religion, are being used," agrees Dr. Tarba Mint Amar, a researcher of Islamic history.
Aicha was 20 years old when she was first approached by "the recruiter".
In a video aired by Attounsia TV, the young Tunisian talks about how she ended up in the hands of people who wanted to send her to Syria. The recruiting was done at her university through dawaa, Aicha says on camera, her face intentionally blurred to protect her from retribution by angry jihadists.
"A woman wearing a niqab visited the university every day to talk with female students about Islam, reminding them of punishments for not following a strict path."
Once a group of "susceptible" girls was identified, the female recruiter would get more aggressive about the need to wear niqab and hijab. Between the campus and other areas, she was able to recruit 13 girls. The youngest was 10. The girls started attending regular meetings at mosques or houses.
The woman would ask them: "Why die for a country of kufar while you can go to Syria to fight and go to paradise?"
"The girls' fight," she said, was "annikah marriage", to please the jihadists in Syria.
"My mother saved me," Aicha says, by reminding her about the real meaning of Islam.
"After I changed my mind and refused to continue with the group, the lady threatened me. She said that they will kill me," Aicha says. According to the young woman, groups recruiting for Syria also use social media.
"They have a recruiting page on Facebook, where they also share instructions on how to become a kamikaze" and execute lone wolf style operations against their own people, Aicha adds.
For the first time, Tunisian authorities recently acknowledged the existence and the dismantling of a "jihad annikah" cell.
The group was based in Jebel Chaambi, the rugged mountain region along the Algeria border where allies of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) butchered 8 Tunisian soldiers in July.
Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Tunisia and Yemen, with the Tunisian version currently most active... , which has been labelled a terrorist organization by Tunisian authorities, "was recruiting female elements, particularly veiled, underage girls", public security chief Mustapha Ben Omar said on August 28th.
A fortnight before his public statement, a girl was tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! for recruiting annikah marriage candidates for Jebel Chaambi.
She admitted to "deliberately seeking girls to accompany her to Jebel Chaambi in order to support elements of the armed organization, in the framework of jihad marriage", the security chief said.
As news emerged about maidens of tender years being convinced to participate in temporary marriages with snuffies at home and in Syria, citizens voiced their shock.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
If Jihad = Muslim analog of football, are these girls = Muslim analog of cheerleaders?
#2
There is nothing more calculated to piss off traditional Muslim families than something like this. They view their daughters as goods to be sold to the highest bidder. VD-ridden non-virgins tend to fetch a lower price, if they're marketable at all.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund has distanced itself from an apology to the nation by one of its senior members. Salah Sultan wrote a controversial article for the website of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party in which he apologised to Egyptians for the group's "errors" during its tumultuous year in power.
The group should take responsibility for its mistakes and listen to criticisms from independent and revolutionary forces, as well as admit its failure to embrace young people and women, Sultan said.
The article was removed from the site shortly after publication.
Sultan's widely circulated article represented his "personal viewpoint" and "did not express the group's position," Brotherhood Secretary General Mahmoud Hussein El-Amin said on Thursday.
All political and national forces "make mistakes," El-Amin added, but it was not the right time for making "assessments."
Political and revolutionary forces should put their efforts into confronting the "bloody military coup which has dragged Egypt into turmoil," and press ahead with a "peaceful fight" to restore the country's legitimate authorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) leader Nabil Gabol has been named in the murder case of proscribed People's Amn Committee leader Zafar Baloch, drawing severe criticism from MQM, DawnNews reported.
Father of Zafar Baloch reportedly named Gabol -- also a member of the National Assembly -- in the First Information Report (FIR), registered here on Friday night.
He alleged that the killing was carried out on the MQM leader's instructions.
Zafar Baloch, a diehard activist of Pakistain People's Party (PPP) and a key figure of the outlawed Peoples Amn Committee, along with his guards, was rubbed out on Wednesday by unknown cycle of violence riders in 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... 's troubled Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... neighbourhood.
Tension and fear had gripped the city's south district, particularly Lyari and its adjoining areas, following the killing of Baloch
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard... condemning the claim, MQM's Rabita Committee has demanded the federal government to take immediate notice of the episode.
In a statement issued here, the party demanded for retraction of the murder case against their politician. "Falsely involving Nabil Gabol in the murder case of Zafar Baloch is continuation of political victimization," said the statement.
Gabol is currently in Islamabad to attend the ongoing session of lower house of the parliament.
Zafar Baloch had survived at least two attempts on his life in the past.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pakistain's federal cabinet on Friday approved a draft of amendments to anti-terrorism laws in an effort to further empowering law enforcement agencies for better handling of terror-related cases
Federal minister Zahid Hamid presented the draft amendments in the session of federal cabinet which was chaired by Prime Minister 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... .
The draft bill, which will later be presented before the Parliament for approval, is aimed at curbing the menace of terrorism and giving special powers to security forces. It also provides ensuring protection of witnesses in terrorism cases.
The draft amendment bill includes recommendations of the Cabinet committee formed on September 04, 2013 meeting of the federal cabinet at 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... .
The Committee was headed by Federal Minister Zahid Hamid and comprised Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Kh. Zaheer Ahmed, Prosecutor General Sindh and Senator Farogh Naseem.
The draft bill provides for law enforcing agencies the powers of preventive detention up to three months for any person concerned in any offence under the Anti-Terrorism Act relating to security or defence of Pakistain, public order relating to murder, kidnapping for ransom and extortion.
The draft amendment also provides for protection of witnesses, judges and prosecutors.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Israel is probing allegations that a French diplomat was roughed up by Israeli soldiers at a West Bank protest and says it might file a complaint over her involvement.
Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... cited witnesses as saying that Marion Castaing, was taken out of a truck and thrown to the ground. He said she was among European diplomats accompanying the group as it delivered tents to Bedouin whose shacks had been demolished.
Bedouins in Khirbet Al-Meiteh in the Jordan valley say they have lived there for decades. Israel says they built structures there illegally without permits.
The Israeli military said soldiers were enforcing a court order against illegal building in the area, but it is looking into the incident. It said forces used non-lethal riot dispersal means when the Paleostinian protesters assaulted the forces with rocks.
Israeli Foreign Ministry front man Paul Hirschson said a formal complaint might be filed with the French over the diplomat's involvement. "If she did participate then a formal complaint will be filed because that is not the way diplomats behave," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
a formal complaint might be filed with the French over the diplomat's involvement.
[An Nahar] A day after an al-Qaeda front group took control of the north Syrian town of Azaz, on the Turkish border, residents on Thursday shared online messages expressing their resentment and anger.
Did they share weapons and ammo? If not, shaddup and get to work...
The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) took control of Azaz after an hours-long battle against what had been the town's main fighting group, the Northern Storm brigade.
"I hope Azaz turns into ISIS' burial ground," said one activist posting on Twitter.
Hope is not a plan...
"They failed against the Americans in Afghanistan, and against the Iranians in Iraq. Now they are here to bully the Syrians, who are fighting a criminal regime," said another.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Azaz was calm on Thursday.
Because one side had all the guns...
It was unclear whether the Northern Storm brigade, a unit of the main rebel fighting group the Free Syrian Army (FSA), had withdrawn completely from the town after Wednesday's battles, but according to activists on the ground all checkpoints were being manned by ISIS.
The Observatory meanwhile reported that rebel fighters from Liwa al-Tawhid, one of Aleppo province's most powerful groups and also allied to the FSA, had arrived in the area. According to a Liwa al-Tawhid front man, the group "will work to try and calm the situation...
"We are doing our best to solve the differences and to find a solution that satisfies everyone," he told Agence La Belle France Presse via the Internet.
Liwa al-Tawhid deployed fighters to Azaz after the Northern Storm brigade issued a statement appealing for help.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella grabbed the cocoanut cream... an online activist said he feared ISIS would try to impose Islamic law in Azaz.
"Sharia law would only be imposed to allow the killing of people, and we don't want that," he said.
Another activist echoed a common claim that ISIS is working hand in glove with Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... 's regime, and was mirroring its methods by "attacking field hospitals, detaining doctors and killing activists".
Activists said the battle for Azaz began when jihadists broke into a field hospital, searching for a German doctor.
Another version of Wednesday's events says the fighting broke out when a Northern Storm rebel stepped in to defend a German journalist from kidnap by ISIS.
Starting Wednesday, Turkey temporarily closed down the nearby border crossing of Bab al-Salameh, according to local rebels.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Perhaps the Egyptians revolting against the Brotherhood is a sign of things to come? [crosses fingers]
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/21/2013 7:39 Comments ||
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[Al Ahram] Syria has submitted details of its chemical weapons to Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, the organization told Rooters on Friday. Syria is believed to possess around 1,000 tonnes of chemical toxins, and has agreed to destroy them under a joint Russian-US proposal designed to avert a US strike on Syria.
"We have received part of the verification and we expect more," an OPCW front man said.
A UN diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... , confirmed the details had been submitted, saying: "It's quite long ... and being translated."
The organization's core members are due to vote - probably next week - on a plan aimed at fast-tracking the destruction of Syria's chemical stockpiles by mid-2014.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2013 00:00 ||
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Ruling seen as victory for families of terror victims suing Bank of China; Israeli law uniquely strict on indirect aid of terror finance. Cause we had to deal with the problem long before "9/11"
The Shurat Hadin - Legal Action Center told The Jerusalem Post on late Thursday night that it had won a significant battle in its terror financing case (on behalf of 22 families) against the Bank of China by convincing the New York Appellate Division to apply Israeli law and keep the case in New York.
The most dramatic aspect of the state appeals court decision was that it both reversed the lower New York court decision to apply New York law in the case in favor of Israeli law and it made this decision against recent precedents by the Federal Second Circuit Court. Now, just stop for a second and imagine your typical leftard arguing for the sanctity of the "American law" against a "foreign" one
#2
Hell, I'll say right now it's a bad precedent and bad for the sanctity of American law, with or without "quotes." We're taking a beating right now with the current Banana Administration in power.
I know not everyone will care about that. Consider this, though: the Bank of China's stated assets at the moments are, if the currency calculator I found online is right, is roughly eight times Israel's Gross Domestic Product.
And that's a small fraction of the assets of the aristocracy that owns that bank.
We're gonna have to find reasons to do the right thing that comport to American jurisprudence because if it turns into a bidding war the Bank of China will probably win.
#3
Hey Thing, unless it clashes with your constitution, law is a product just like any other. You don't protest US companies buying superior Israeli software/chips, do you?
#4
I don't think law is a product like that, and even if it were... China could afford to dump a lot more of it on the US market than Israel can, and it'll be counter to both Israel's and the US's interests.
I can cite examples where I think it's already happening if you want.
#6
The concern is when foreign law is used in the US. There have been serious concerns about the Supreme Court using foreign or religious law rather than the Constitution and fed/state laws of the US.
#7
There are times when a U.S. court applies foreign law, and rightly so - an example I'm familiar with regards whether in-house counsel (as opposed to outside counsel) is entitled to attorney-client privilege.
In America, they are, though there is usually a "heightened scrutiny" to determine whether in the correspondence/documents concerned the in-house lawyer gave legal advice or business advice.
In Europe, not so much. The EU (and some European countries individually) has decided (in their infinite non-wisdom) that in-house attorneys' communications with their companies executives don't get afforded attorney-client privilege, just because they work for the company.
So, if a lawsuit in the States involves a foreign corporation, the U.S. court will apply the European law/regulation if the communication doesn't touch American soil (the communication is between the foreign company and the foreign in-house lawyer, and never includes an American component). It gets complicated in a hurry.
Ditto for using foreign law in this country if a contract specifies the law of another country be used, even though the contract includes an American component.
I can't speak to this particular case, but I'd be interested in seeing some thoughful legal analysis before getting exercised about it. And doubly because it was reported in a regular newspaper, not a legal one.
Not to denigrate the J-Post, but I doubt their reporter can be sure that this case is exactly like the supposed "recent precedents" to the contrary by the Second Circuit. For one thing, the New York Appellate Court is a New York state court, not a federal one (which the 2d Circuit is).
Posted by: Barbara ||
09/21/2013 15:25 Comments ||
Top||
#8
I'm not worried about them coming up with a completely superior product. I'm worried that they'll come up with a product that's superior for them, inferior for me, and I won't be able to get anything else from the wholesaler.
The whole "replace coal with natural gas" law product benefits both China and Saudi Arabia a lot more than it does the United States, for instance. It makes power more expensive (which benefits China) and helps keep natural gas from replacing gasoline use by burning it up in power plants (which benefits Saudi Arabia).
The leaders of the State Department's Benghazi probe defended their inquiry into the 2012 attack, but they acknowledged to Congress on Thursday that their mission was limited in scope and faced questions over why they gave Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton an advance look at their findings.
Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, vice chairman of the accountability review board, also acknowledged that he had warned Mrs. Clinton's chief of staff not to send a particular official to Congress because he thought "she would be a weak witness" who might have hurt the State Department's stance.
"If this is so independent, why are you giving the State Department a heads-up about a witness coming in front of this committee?" said Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican. He said the warning came just days after Adm. Mullen had been appointed to the review board. Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican and chairman of the oversight committee, said he has signed subpoenas to demand testimony from two witnesses who he said talked to the review board but whom the State Department has refused to allow to talk to Congress.
Adm. Mullen testified to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee alongside former Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, chairman of the review board. The review board was created to investigate the security lapses that led to the attack and the lack of response from the government during the two assaults, which spanned eight hours. Mr. Pickering defended the conclusions, which identified a handful of department employees who failed at their jobs, and made recommendations about security precautions.
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.
Nawaz Sharif
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
