Mogadishu (Shabelle.net)Somalias Ministry of commerce and industry has vowed that they will not ensure the security and safety of foreigners in the country unless they register themselves at the immigration offices.
Fair enough, that's something only a sovereign government can do...
Abdiqadir Sheikh Ismail, the deputy of the ministry who spoke to Radio Shabelle during an interview said that a lot of foreigners are flowing into the country taking advantage of the stability in the country especially Mogadishu, the capital ignoring the safety.
You cannot just enter into a country without registering yourself. Your safety is our priority, so please let us know when you are coming in and after that we will be taking care of you said the deputy minister.
The warning comes days after 2 Kenyan citizens were abducted in Mogadishu. The two men are said to be engineers who were working for Somali Businessmen.
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The Djibouti Armed Forces (DJAF) have taken delivery of 26 new Toyota Land Cruiser 4X4 vehicles from the United States through the Foreign Military Assistance Programme as logistical and operational support to for the deployment of an additional 1 000 DJAF troops to reinforce the African Union (AU) soldiers battling Al Shabaab insurgents in the Beledweyne region of Somalia.
WE gave the Djiboutians Toyota Land Cruisers? What's the matter, no Yukons or Silverados in stock?
According to the United States embassy in Djibouti, the consignment (which consists of 14 Toyota Land Cruiser 2×4 pick-up trucks and 12 Toyota Land 4×4 pick-up trucks) was handed over to Djiboutian defence minister Hassan Darar Houffaneh and armed forces chief General Zakaria Cheikh Ibrahim by US ambassador Geeta Pasi in the capital Djibouti City on December 30.
The DJAF will this week deploy the first 100 of a full strength contingent of 1 000 men to support African Union troops battling the Al Shabaab insurgency in the Hiran area of the Beledweyne region in terms of the security mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
The new deployment will bring the number of DJAF troops in Somalia to 1 980. The troop surge was approved by the United Nations Security Council on November 12 last year and allows for the temporary deployment of an additional 4 400 AU troops in Somalia to maintain security.
The additional troops will also form a rapid reaction force capable of responding to the increased security threats posed by Al Shabaab, Hizbul Islam and their smaller Islamic militia affiliates operating in the central, southern and coastal areas of Somalia.
And in their white Land Cruisers they'll be mistaken for harmless UN aid workers, and kidnapped...
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#1
Wish someone would donate a Land Cruiser to my personal favorite charity.
[Libya Herald] The Moslem Brüderbund of Libya has said that Congress must vote to remove Ali Zeidan and his government. If it refuses to do so, it said in a statement dated 13 January but just published, then the Brotherhood "places full responsibility for the appalling political, security, economic and social situation in the country on all General National Congress members and on all political blocks dominating Congress".
The statement also said that the blockade of oilfields and terminals could "no longer be tolerated". However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... it did not suggest how this could be achieved other than saying that Libyan tribes, local councils, civil society organizations and others had to work together to finding a way to put an end to the situation.
Such groups, as well as Congress members and the government, have in fact been doing precisely that for several months, but without success, largely because of the wish to avoid bloodshed.
Pointing to the chaotic security situation, the Brotherhood statement condemned last week's violence in Sebha in which 31 people died and 65 were maimed, as well as the liquidation in Sirte last Saturday of Deputy Industry Minister Hassan Al-Daroue. It accused the government of making no comment about Daroue's killing although both the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni flew to Sirte to offer their condolences to the murdered minister's family.
Calling on Libyans to unite and pursue national dialogue so that the process of rebuilding the country could restart, the Brotherhood said that Daroue's death had made it all the more determined to "stand by the principals and goals of the revolution".
The statement also suggested that Libya's present crisis was the result of foreign interference. Libya was now so weak that, it said, it had became "an easy target for foreign forces and foreign agendas". The festivities in the south, too, were said to be linked to "foreign agendas that try to take advantage of the situation and cause incitement between the people of the homeland".
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[Egypt Independent] The public prosecutor in Suez ordered the detention of Captain al-Saeed Ali Habib, director general of al-Adabeya seaport, and Wagdy Mohammed al-Noweishy, director of Ataka fishing port, for four days pending investigations over bribery charges.
The Administrative Control Authority allegedly caught Habib in the act as he was receiving a bribe from a private company executive in order to facilitate its work and commit illegal actions.
Noweishy was also locked away Please don't kill me! while allegedly taking bribes from the chair of a fish-drying plant for exporting banned fish and smuggling subsidized diesel fuel.
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[Egypt Independent] Giza governorate has completed the counting of the votes on the new constitution on Thursday, according to CBC TV.
The results were as follows:
Number of participants: 1,507,416
Number of votes in favor of the constitution: 1,459,201
Number of votes against the constitution: 29,461
Number of invalid votes: 18,754
Counting in all polling stations began on Wednesday evening.
1.5 million votes in a country of 85 million...
In the upcoming days, international election observers monitoring the constitutional referendum will release their assessments to bring clarity and transparency to the process. Many have complained of violations, such as judges campaigning to voters, polls being closed early and activists being nabbed ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... for campaigning for a boycott or a "no" vote on the referendum.
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#1
I wonder if the "Invalid" votes were against it?
Good way to "Stack" the votes.
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I dunno. It would still be 48215 'against' , versus 1445201 'for'. Pretty lame attempt at stacking, imnsho.
[Egypt Independent] Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... has congratulated the Egyptian people on the new constitution, according to the Russian Itar Tass news agency.
"We hope the Egyptian society will overcome current political and socio-economic difficulties and the country will return on the path of stability and growth," Putin said at a ceremony of presenting credentials by several ambassadors of foreign countries in the Kremlin on Thursday.
He asked the new Egyptian ambassador to convey the best wishes to the Egyptian leadership.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that approving the Egyptian constitution sets the ground for consensual reform among all segments of society.
Egypt sought better diplomatic and economic relations with Moscow following the US decision to stop financial and military aid in protest after Egyptian security forces killed almost 600 mostly peaceful protesters, and injuring thousands, in the dispersals of Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares last August.
Many Egyptian political figures criticized the move by US officials, saying it was further proof that the US has backed the Moslem Brüderbund all along and that Egypt should pivot towards an ally that would not critique its domestic affairs.
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[An Nahar] Egypt's presidency hailed on Thursday the "high turnout" in a constitutional referendum, billed by the military-installed government as an endorsement of the overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... in July.
The president's front man "remarked, on the high turnout in the referendum, that it was a beautiful day for Egypt and democracy," a statement said.
Official results for two days of voting that ended Wednesday have not yet been announced.
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[An Nahar] Egyptian prosecutors accused three detained Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... journalists, including an Australian and a Canadian, on Thursday of broadcasting false news in the service of the now terror-blacklisted Moslem Brüderbund.
The three journalists were placed in durance vile Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! on December 29 in a Cairo hotel. They include Peter Greste, an acclaimed Australian news hound who formerly worked for the BBC, and Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Adel Fahmy.
"The accused confessed during interrogation that they belonged to the terrorist group" the Moslem Brüderbund, prosecutors said in a statement.
They said that the journalists, who were not officially accredited, edited footage "to tarnish Egypt's image abroad... to serve the interests of the international terrorist organization."
The journalists' lawyers and Al-Jazeera have dismissed the allegations as false.
"The accusations against our journalists do not stand up to scrutiny," the broadcaster's front man Osama Saeed said in a statement.
Fahmy, a well-known journalist in Cairo who previously worked with CNN, has no known ties with the Brotherhood.
Their detention has received widespread coverage in Western media, which the prosecution suggested could also violate Egyptian law.
"The state prosecution points out that Egyptian law forbids publicizing matters aimed at interfering in the work of judges and prosecutors... to sway public opinion," the statement said.
Two other Al-Jazeera news hounds remain in jug, including Abdullah Elshamy, arrested on August 14 when police dispersed a sit-in against the army's overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... , killing hundreds.
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The election official told the AP that unofficial results after most of the ballots had been counted indicated that more than 90 per cent voted yes on the constitution.
As if they had a choice...
An overwhelming majority of Egyptians who voted on the countrys new constitution backed the draft charter, a senior Egyptian official said on Thursday, despite criticism from an international monitoring group of a clampdown on free speech ahead of the election.
The election official told the Associated Press that unofficial results after most of the ballots had been counted indicated that more than 90 per cent voted yes on the constitution. He declined to give an estimate on the final turnout and spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to journalists.
Nabil Salib, the head of the Supreme Election Committee, was quoted by the state news agency Mena as saying that ballots were still being counted and that final results would be announced in a few days. He initially said the results were expected on Friday. Results typically are announced within 72 hours after polls close in Egypt.
The vote held on Tuesday and Wednesday was a milestone for Egypts interim government, installed by the military after a July coup toppled President Mohammed Mursi, following mass protests demanding that he step down. Many considered the vote as key to restoring stability and supporting the current government in the face of continued protests from Mursi supporters.
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[Egypt Independent] Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... on Thursday replaced the chiefs of defence, army, navy and air force, a presidency statement said, without giving a reason.
Nigeria is struggling to end a four-and-a-half-year-long Islamist insurgency by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , an myrmidon sect which has killed thousands in its attempt to create an Islamic state in a religiously mixed country of 170 million people.
Jonathan is also facing a political crisis within his ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and mass defections to an increasingly powerful opposition.
The PDP is holding a meeting on Thursday to decide the future of its chairman Bamanga Tukur, a Jonathan ally who has been under pressure to quit from Jonathan's opponents.
Africa's biggest oil producer is also blighted by rampant oil theft in the Niger Delta, where criminal gangs tapping into pipelines can cut out hundreds of thousands of barrels per day of output and cause devastating environmental damage.
All the four new appointed chiefs of staff are experienced military officials in their mid-50s.
Air Marshal Alex Badeh takes over from Admiral Ola Sa'ad Ibrahim as Chief of Defence staff and Major-General Kenneth Tobiah Jacob Minimah takes over from Lieutenant-General Azubike Ihejirika as Chief of Army Staff, the statement said.
Rear Admiral Usman O. Jibrin takes over from Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba as Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu becomes the new Chief of Airforce, a position previously held by newly promoted Badeh.
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A U.N. human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. team has gathered testimony that Chadian citizens, including peacekeepers, carried out mass killings during chaotic violence in Central African Republic, the U.N. human rights office said on January 14th. The four-person U.N. human rights mission carried out 183 interviews between December 12 and December 24, mainly collecting testimony on a wave of violence since December 5.
"Numerous interviewees identified the ex-Séléka perpetrators as being Chadian nationals," the report said. "Witnesses consistently reported that ex-Séléka wearing the armbands of Chadian FOMAC (peacekeepers) went from house to house searching for anti-Balaka, and shot and killed civilians, including children, women, elderly and disabled civilians."
The team also heard multiple accounts of collusion between FOMAC and ex-Séléka forces. U.N. human rights front man Rupert Colville said the evidence showed that intercommunal hatred had risen to "extraordinarily vicious levels". Neighboring Chad has denied helping the Mohammedan fighters. Neighboring Chad has denied helping the Mohammedan fighters.
The team also found that French peacekeepers' disarming of some Mohammedan fighters had the unintended side-effect of enabling their Christian enemies to kill them and their families in retaliatory attacks. French tactics subsequently changed.
A Mohammedan rebel coalition, Séléka, seized power in Central African Republic last March, unleashing a wave of killings and looting that in turn sparked Dire Revenge™ attacks by the "anti-balaka" Christian militia. The Séléka leader-turned-president Michel Djotodia resigned last Friday under intense international pressure, but sporadic violence has continued, despite the presence of 1,600 French troops and 4,000 African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... peacekeepers.
[Rooters] - The level of hatred in Central African Republic between Muslims and Christians has been ignored underestimated and is creating a "nearly impossible" situation for African Union and French forces to combat, France's U.N. envoy said on Wednesday. Afri tribal hatred....? Who knew ?
Speaking at a U.N. event about early warning signs for mass atrocities, Gerard Araud suggested the United Nations consider turning to psychologists or ethnologists to help understand and combat the deadly resentment because religious leaders' calls for calm were being ignored. "Warning signs" found in following para.
Waves of massacres and reprisals by Muslim and Christian militias have killed hundreds, if not thousands, in Central African Republic since rebels seized power in March 2012, waking the world up to the fact that it might be witnessing the prelude to another Rwanda, where 800,000 were hacked, shot or clubbed to death in 100 days in 1994.
France last year hurriedly deployed roughly 1,600 French troops to help a historically largely ineffective force of African peacekeepers, but they are too thinly spread to prevent tit-for-tat attacks. Araud suggested the job was proving to be much more difficult than Paris had anticipated. Only death is easy in Africa.
"In Central African Republic I think we had maybe ignored underestimated the hatred and the resentment between the communities," Araud told the event, which was organized to mark the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.
"It's nearly an impossible situation for the soldiers, the African and the French soldiers," he said. "We have to think in terms of tactics, what to do, in very practical terms to be effective to prevent people from killing each other when they desperately want to kill each other." Do not interfere unless you plan to colonize, civilize, and stridently enforce the rule of law.
A Muslim rebel coalition, Seleka, seized power in Central African Republic last spring, unleashing a wave of killings and looting that in turn sparked revenge attacks by the "anti-balaka" Christian militia.
"We knew that there was several thousand years of some intersectarian violence, but we didn't forecast such deep ingrained hatred," Araud said. "We maybe need to work with psychologists or ethnologists on how did it appear, and now, how to cool down the situation." Ethnologists you say ?
The crisis has sent food prices soaring, leaving many households down to one meal a day and 2.6 million people in need of U.N. humanitarian assistance, the U.N. World Food Program said on Tuesday. U.N. WFP, ......SNAP on a global level.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to submit a report to the Security Council next month with recommendations for a possible U.N. peacekeeping force that would take over from the African troops. A strongly worded report forthcoming.
Diplomats say they expect Ban will eventually recommend deploying a U.N. blue-helmet force to Central African Republic with a robust mandate to protect civilians.
Experts are calling for South Korea to improve its missile defenses given the growing threat that North Korea will one day be able to make a nuclear warhead small enough to be carried by a rocket.
Prof. Choi Bong-wan of Hannam University said he carried out a computer simulation where North Korea fires a medium-range ballistic missile tipped with a nuclear warhead. The aim was to see what types of interceptor missiles would allow South Korea to deal most effectively with the threat.
In one simulation, the North Korean Rodong missile with a range of 1,000 km carrying a 1-ton nuclear warhead reached Seoul within 11 minutes and 25 seconds, he said. A Rodong missile with a shortened range of 300 km fired at a high angle toward Seoul would give a PAC-3 missile, a strong candidate for South Korea's missile defense, only one second to intercept at an altitude of 12-15 km.
A THAAD missile, which is another option for South Korea, would have a window of opportunity of 45 seconds to intercept an incoming missile at an altitude of 40-150 km.
And an SM-3 missile, another possible candidate, would have 288 seconds to intercept the potential nuclear missile at an altitude between 70 and 500 km, he added.
Currently, South Korea has only PAC-2 missiles, whose capability is much poorer than the PAC-3's, and is now seeking to purchase PAC-3 missiles. But Choi suggested that upgrade would offer little defense against a determined North Korean attack.
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[Ynet] Days after Paleostinians apologize for 'illegal presence of weapons' in Prague mission, Czech police find additional explosive on premises
Czech police said Thursday they had discovered an bomb at the Paleostinian embassy in Prague where a possibly booby-trapped safe killed the ambassador on New Year's Day.
How very ...unexpected.
Are the Czechs sure they didn't raid a mosque by mistake?
Prague police spokesperson Tomas Hulan told AFP the device was found during a sweep of the embassy and had been sent to a forensic lab for analysis.
He refused to provide further details or to confirm or deny media reports that the explosive was found inside a book.
Ambassador Jamal al-Jamal, 56, died January 1 in a blast that went off shortly after he opened a safe. Police have ruled out foul play.
But the late diplomat's daughter Rana al-Jamal has said she believes her father was murdered.
After the blast, police found 12 firearms at the embassy, including submachine guns and side-arms that were not officially registered in the Czech Republic. Paleostinian officials told Czech police that communist authorities gave the arms to Paleostinian diplomats in Prague as a gift, according to Hulan.
On Tuesday, Paleostinian diplomats issued an official apology for the "illegal presence of weapons" at the embassy and for "the incident that resulted in the tragic death of" Jamal, according to a Czech foreign ministry statement.
The trial of the four men accused of killing former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al Hariri opened in The Hague on Thursday, nine years after the bomb attack in which 21 others also died. The four members of Lebanons militant Hezbollah movement are charged with planning the 2005 blast on Beiruts waterfront, an attack which almost tipped the country back into civil war.
It's only been close to nine years. And Rafik is still door-knob dead...
All four - Salim Jamil Ayyash, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra - remain at large and are bring tried in absentia.
Could have done that seven years ago...
The prosecutor intends to call hundreds of witnesses in this trial and to present thousands of exhibits, presiding judge David Re told the court.
The evidence, including a considerable amount of telecoms data, leaves marks behind concerning the true identities of the perpetrators, said prosecutor Carla del Ponte Norman Farrell.
A large scale model of the scene of the bombing scene stood in the middle of the courtroom, with a mock-up of the St George Hotel, in front of which a Mitsubishi van laden with up to 3000kg of high explosives detonated, leaving a massive crater.
The attackers used an extraordinary amount of high explosives, far more than necessary, Farrell said. It is not that the perpetrators did not care if they killed their fellow citizens. They intended to do so.
Brilliant analysis, just brilliant...
The trial is being held in a converted basketball court in the former headquarters of the Dutch intelligence services, a building with its own moat on the outskirts of The Hague.
The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon was set up with the support of the United Nations and the backing of the then Lebanese government to investigate and prosecute Hariris killing.
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Italy on Thursday named the port of Gioia Tauro in the Calabria region to receive Syrian chemical agents, including mustard gas, despite fierce opposition from local officials who slammed the move as undemocratic.
It's expressly democratic -- you elected your national government.
The government has chosen the port of Gioia Tauro as particularly appropriate, Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi told lawmakers at a parliamentary hearing on the operation to take place by the beginning of February.
The operation to transfer some 500 tons of Syrias deadliest chemicals from a Danish ship to a US vessel is part of a UN-backed plan to destroy the war-torn countrys chemical weapons arsenal by June 30.
Lupi said that an estimated 60 containers containing the chemicals, including mustard gas and the ingredients for the nerve agents sarin and VX, would be transferred from one ship to the other using cranes.
There will be no stocking on land, he said.
But the mayor of Gioia Tauro, Renato Bellofiore, spoke out against the plan following press reports and just before the decision was officially announced.
I bet he's also against having a nuclear waste facility in his state city...
Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino does not know what democracy is, Bellofiore was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.
This is very serious. They are putting my life at risk. If anything happens, people will come and get me with pitchforks, the mayor said.
This is the usual top-down decision. We are considered second-class citizens, he said.
The mayor of the neighbouring town of San Ferdinando, where most of the port is actually located, said he was considering a town decree to shut down the area and prevent the trans-shipment from taking place.
Must be a local election coming up soon...
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The leader of Turkeys top business group has warned that the country risks becoming a police state as a result of the most damaging crisis since Erdogan took office 11 years ago.
Yup, that's about right. Too bad you don't have term limits and accountability for your head of government...
Fears are mounting about the state of democracy in Turkey as the power struggle between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and an Islamic rival he accuses of plotting a coup takes an increasingly vitriolic turn.
Turkeys key allies, the United States and the European Union, have voiced their concern about the independence of state institutions and the rule of law in the aspiring EU-member state.
And the leader of Turkeys top business group has warned that the country risks becoming a police state as a result of the most damaging crisis since Erdogan took office 11 years ago.
The embattled Turkish leader has gone on the offensive in the feud with erstwhile ally Fethullah Gulen, but in doing so has raised concerns about what critics fear is an increasingly autocratic government in a country once hailed as a model of Muslim democracy.
Once indeed...
The long-festering dispute is at the heart of the graft scandal threatening the Islamic-leaning government before local elections in March a key test for Erdogans once almost absolute grip on power.
This fight will go on for years, warned Nihat Ali Ozcan of TOBB university in Ankara.
Erdogan has already launched a mass purge of police and prosecutors involved in the corruption probe, which hit the headlines in December with police raids that saw the detention of key government allies including business leaders, civil servants and sons of cabinet ministers.
His Justice and Development Party (AKP) is pushing a bill that would increase government control of the judiciary, a move that has set alarm bells ringing at home and abroad.
We are facing a heavy agenda in which the judiciary has become the battlefield of a political struggle, Turkish Industry and Business Association head Muharrem Yilmaz said.
A state that doesnt abide by its own rules cannot be described as a state of law, not even as a state with laws. It can only be described as a police state, he said at a conference this week.
Erdogan is due to visit Brussels next week for the first time since the resumption of EU accession negotiations last year after a three-year freeze.
We are watching developments with concern, warned one EU diplomat.
Erdogan has vowed no let-up in the campaign against loyalists of exiled Islamic preacher Gulen, who could threaten the AKPs performance at the ballot box without even putting forward a candidate.
This is an asymmetric war: Erdogan is the leader of a political party. He is quite visible and legitimate. But the Gulen movement is not transparent and the boundaries of its structure are not very clear, said Ozcan.
Although based in the United States where Gulen has lived in exile since 1999, his Hizmet (Service) network wields enormous influence in Turkey through various state apparatus, particularly the police and judiciary, and a string of media outlets, businesses, universities and think-tanks.
Erdogan went on the warpath Wednesday, instructing Turkish ambassadors to tell the world about what he labelled an empire of fear.
That organisation and its allies in the media are trying to deal a heavy blow to the economy, hike interest rates, scare foreign investors, sabotage energy policies, and taint Turkeys image abroad, Erdogan thundered.
The Turkish strongman has pointedly refrained from ever naming Gulen, whose organisation was once a vital part of his broad power base and helped the AKP to three successive election victories since 2002.
The target here is not the government or the party but the country and its national interests, he said. It cannot be explained other than treachery.
The crisis is jeopardising Turkeys economic success story, with the national currency the lira tumbling to all-time lows and growth forecasts under threat.
There is an ongoing campaign of McCarthyism in the police department that cannot even be compared to things done during the coup years, columnist Hasan Cemal wrote in Todays Zaman, a newspaper funded by Gulen.
Similar to how democracy was undermined by allegations of communism during the Cold War years... democracy and the rule of law are now being undermined by allegations of Gulenism.
The AKP and Hizmet movement share similar conservative political and religious views and were once close allies, both eager to clip the wings of the powerful military, which has waged several coups in Turkey as self-declared guardians of the secular state.
But cracks emerged over Erdogans tough stance against the wave of anti-government protests in June and their feud spilled out into the open in November when the government unveiled plans to shut a Hizmet school network.
Cemal Usak, vice president of Gulen mouthpiece the Foundation of Journalists and Writers, said accusations that the movement was operating a state within a state were completely absurd and false.
He said the AKP and Gulen had long been united because of their adherence to common values.
But in recent years, the AKP has chosen to pursue other avenues so we have had a falling out of love, he told AFP in a recent interview, warning that it was likely Gulenists would not support the AKP in this years elections.
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[DAWN] FOR someone who has grown up alongside Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , Syed Munawar Hassan ... The funny-looking leader-for-life of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistain in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009... appears to personally illustrate the various moods associated with his party men.
Continued on Page 49
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#1
The ideologue, however, does blurt out occasionally. The jury is divided over the curt remarks Syed Munawar is known for. An old NSF comrade puts it down to strategy for impact.
Yes, that's it, "strategy for impact". You know, something like.....
#2
I'm listening to our own 'ideologue' lecture the little people in reference to NSA. Following the diversionary mention of the alleged traitor [yet un-convicted] Erik Snowden, he somehow managed to integrate the mandatory reference of MLK in regard to his own inspiration and rise to stardom.
He appears to be suggesting that future communications metadata be warehoused in some non-governmental repository, for some unspecified but limited length of time. If the metadata is so harmless and non-invasive, as has been maintained by the gov't, why is it now necessary to maintain it in a non-gov't facility ?
He has gone on to recommend or direct the establishment of new positions and an oversight committee separate from Senate and Congressional oversight committees. This recommended oversight element, I assume falls under his [Executive branch] control.
The special court on Thursday ordered that a medical board be constituted to review former president Pervez Musharrafs health condition after he failed to appear before it on medical grounds.
The court reserved this order after a letter from Musharrafs US-based doctor was presented before it. The letter stated that the former president should immediately be sent abroad for medical treatment.
The three-member bench stated that the medical board of Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) senior doctors should inform the court about how serious Musharrafs condition is, does he need to undergo a surgery and how long will he remain in the hospital. The medical board will have to send its response to the court on January 24.
Let me guess. Perv needs complex heart surgery to fix a sucking chest wound from his war days beating the Hindooz. It's so complex that it can only be done in Riyadh, or maybe the Cleveland Clinic. So poor patriotic Perv has to go abroad. A darned shame he can't stay home to receive any vindictive justice...
The US-based doctor an old friend Dr Arjumand did not come to Pakistan but after reviewing Musharrafs medical reports recommended that the former military ruler should immediately be sent abroad for treatment.
Dr Arjumand Hashmi had treated Musharraf in the past. He expressed concern over Musharrafs heart condition and said the former military ruler should be sent to his hospital in Texas, US, for treatment. Dr Hashmi made this recommendation in a letter to Musharrafs lawyers. His assessment was based on the medical reports of the former president.
Anwar Mansoor, who is representing Musharraf in the treason case, presented this letter before the special court. The letter was written on January 9.
Musharraf was ordered to appear before the special court in connection with the treason case on Thursday. The former president faces treason charges under Article 6 for suspending, subverting and abrogating the constitution, imposing an emergency in the country in November 2007 and detaining judges of the superior courts.
The 70-year-old was taken ill and rushed to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi on January 2 as he was being transported under heavy guard to the special court.
Musharrafs lawyer Ahmed Raza Kasuri, while talking to the media in Islamabad, claimed that the special court bench formed to hear the treason case is unconstitutional.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/17/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The owner of the booby-trapped Kia Sportage that went kaboom! Thursday in Hermel confirmed in a TV interview that the SUV was stolen from outside his house in Antelias on November 10, 2013.
Nazrat Kasbar Shahinian told al-Jadeed television that he had immediately reported the theft to the Antelias cop shoppe around two months ago.
He confirmed that the vehicle is a black Kia Sportage that was manufactured in 2010, the thing the was also verified by the car's registration papers and the theft report.
Shahinian said he was deeply saddened by news of the deadly kaboom, wishing "if only it had been sold as spare parts instead of being blown up against innocents."
The man noted that he has received a phone call from the army's intelligence directorate, which asked him to provide it with the theft report.
He also revealed that "army intelligence has requested the footage captured by security cameras in the area from which the car was stolen, in a bid to identify the culprits."
On Thursday morning, a boom-mobileing targeted the eastern town of Hermel, a Hizbullah stronghold, killing at least three people and wounding more than 26.
Reports said the bombing was caused by a jacket wallah after witnesses saw human remains in the mangled car.
Al-Jadeed reported that the driver was wearing a suicide belt and that the car was loaded with explosives.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The opening session of the Special Tribunal for Leb trials witnessed a recollection of the bloody scenes of February 14, 2005, as the incidents of that day were demonstrated through pictures, videos and the oversized maquette of the scene of the crime which was placed in the middle of the courtroom.
These scenes evoked feelings of sadness and grief among the families of the victims and culminated to anger against the perpetrators of the crime. Some of the relatives sat inside the courtroom, led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. , who seemed to be fastened to his seat for long hours as if he was not believing what his eyes were seeing.
The wife of one of the February 14 victims said the Prosecution's demonstration introduced her to previously unheard-of details about her husband's martyrdom.
Although the Prosecution did not exhibit during the first day anything other than the details of the indictment that was announced several months ago, observers who attended the session stopped at a number of new elements that the Prosecution had never mentioned in the past and which he is expected to thoroughly address as the trials move forward.
The new elements that were revealed during the opening session can be summarized as follows:
1. The information about the "green" mobile phone network which was used for months by a group involved in the liquidation of ex-PM Rafik Hariri: It turned out that the mobile phone lines were postpaid rather than prepaid and were purchased using nine fake identification papers -- one ID for each two lines.
One person was tasked with paying the bills at the main headquarters of the Alfa mobile phone operator in Furn al-Shebbak for a long period of time. It was noteworthy during the Prosecution's demonstration the information that five of these lines were permanently terminated on October 1, 2004 -- the day of the attempt on MP Marwan Hamadeh's life. This fact could become the basis of linking the Hamadeh case to Hariri's case at the judicial level.
2. For the first time ever, the Prosecution announces that the telecom data evidence is backed up by other pieces of evidence that have nothing to do with the so-called "co-location." The Prosecution also hinted that the content of some SMSes that are in its possession would clarify the identities of the users of some mobile phone lines that were used in the crime.
3. The Prosecution did not settle for the evidence of co-location between mobile phone lines to defend its accusations. It demonstrated two other points that are of the same importance: the first tackled the political stances and decisions that prompted the criminals to launch the process of monitoring Hariri's activities as well as the elements that led to intensifying the surveillance actions, while the second point addressed the movements of ex-PM Hariri and his shuttling between his Qureitem residence, the presidential palace in Baabda, the parliament building in downtown Beirut, the Beirut airport and his house in Faqra, Kesrouan.
4. For the first time ever, the Prosecution reveals that it has documented information about the routes that are relatively far from the scene of the crime that were taken by the booby-trapped Mitsubishi truck. All the previous available footage showed the truck as it approached the Phoenicia Hotel. But the videos exhibited by the Prosecution on Thursday included footage taken from cameras that captured the entry and exit of the truck to and from the Suleiman Franjieh Tunnel, which can only be accessed from three routes: the Salim Salam-Zoqaq al-Blat tunnel, Beshara al-Khoury and Ashrafiyeh. This presentation could be the prelude to new videos that would show how the truck came from locations that are beyond the Suleiman Franjieh Tunnel.
Specialists in criminal cases are saying that the Prosecution could not have demonstrated all the evidence it has in the indictment it issued months ago or in the presentation it made during the opening session of the trials. They are also saying that according to the history of criminal trials, it is safe to say that what's awaiting the accused is a lot more than what has already been announced until the moment, and that the Prosecution possesses undisclosed information that surpass anything imagined by those who are questioning the STL and its capabilities.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] The U.S. embassy in Leb on Thursday condemned the "terrorist bombing" that rocked the Bekaa town of Hermel, urging all parties to exercise restraint and calling for "a thorough investigation."
"The United States condemns today's terrorist bombing in Hermel. We extend our condolences to the victims and their families," the embassy said in a statement.
"We urge all parties to exercise calm and restraint and refrain from retaliatory acts. We support the Government of Leb's efforts to conduct a thorough investigation," it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2014 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
The election official told the AP that unofficial results after most of the ballots had been counted indicated that more than 90 per cent voted yes on the constitution. 
Goodluck Jonathan
Syed Munawar Hassan
The ideologue, however, does blurt out occasionally. The jury is divided over the curt remarks Syed Munawar is known for. An old NSF comrade puts it down to strategy for impact.
