[Tolo News] The Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoIA) on Friday reported that at least five people, including an employee of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), were incarcerated Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! in Kabul for reportedly attempting to sell nearly 4,000 voting cards.
The presidential and provincial council elections tomorrow will be Afghanistan's first democratic process entirely managed by Afghan authorities since the U.S.-led invasion helped install the current government over a decade ago.
"One of the five men arrested was serving as a DFC of the Election Commission and the head of a polling site in Kabul city, he abused his position and was selling voting cards," MoIA front man Sediq Sediqi said on Friday. Although the IEC employee went unnamed, his title as a District Field Coordinator would place him in the middle-to-upper range of Commission personnel.
Responding to news of the arrests, the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which has assured this Saturday's elections will be more transparent and credible than those of past years, reminded its employees publicly that anyone found guilty of electoral improprieties would face legal repercussions.
"...his name would be put on a blacklist and he would lose the chance to work in any of the institutions in the future, the nation must have confidence," IEC Secretariat chief Zia ul Haq Amarkhail said.
But the problem of voter cards sales has generally been a much bigger concern when it comes to average Afghans, rather than IEC employees. Police in Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... on Thursday said they had arrested a ten year boy carrying at least 12,000 fake voter cards.
Aside from security concerns, much of the anxiety heading into Saturday's vote has surrounded suspicions of government interference and electoral fraud, in large part because of the experience of the 2009 presidential election, which was marred by irregularities. Nevertheless, enthusiasm for the upcoming vote is high, with a surge in voter registration over the past two weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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#2
Or Cincinnati, where the need for replacements is a tad more urgent...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/05/2014 13:22 Comments ||
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#3
We're fine on that front in the Queen City, Dr. Steve. Dear Melowese was released from prison three weeks ago, only 4 1/2 years early -- they discovered she's bipolar, donchaknow.
[AnNahar] The controversial case of a Moroccan journalist accused of aiding "terrorism," whose popular news website has been blocked, is in the hands of the judiciary, the foreign minister said Friday.
Ali Anouzla was locked away Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! last September after publishing an article on his website Lakome about -- and with links to -- an inflammatory video attributed to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb which called for jihad in Morocco.
He stands accused of defending and inciting terrorism, with the authorities saying he was giving the jihadists a platform, charges flatly denied by the journalist.
Both the French and Arabic versions of his website were shut down by the authorities.
Known for his criticism of Morocco's establishment, and the monarchy in particular, Anouzla was released on bail in October after an outcry at home and abroad, with the U.S. State Department saying it was concerned by the decision to charge him.
At a joint news conference with visiting 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... on Friday, Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar said the case was in the hands of the investigating judge, and called for the work of the judiciary to be "respected".
"There's a law in Morocco that is very clear; defending terrorism is considered an act of provocation that affects society, and that is the basis of this case," he added in response to a question.
The next hearing in the case, which has become a test of the authorities' pledge to increase press freedom, has been set for May 20.
"We have a lot of respect for Mr Anouzla, who is a great journalist, and naturally we would wish that these kind of questions should be overcome," Mezouar said.
The minister insisted Morocco had "achieved a lot" in terms of democracy, civil freedom, and human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... But he added: "Like in all countries of the world, there are rules... (and) we are in a region where the issues related to terrorism are very sensitive."
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Morocco 136 out of 180 countries in its 2014 world press freedom index.
RSF said Anouzla's case was "indicative of a disturbing readiness on the part of the authorities to view journalistic work as inciting terrorism".
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Journalists in Egypt held a one-day strike Friday, demanding that security forces protect news hounds covering protests and demanding that their employers provide protection as their job grows increasingly dangerous.
On the steps of the journalists' syndicate in downtown Cairo, dozens of news hounds and photographers yelled slogans and carried banners bearing the words: "Stop killing journalists." The strike comes a week after a young journalist was killed in Egypt while covering festivities at a protest by Moslem Brüderbund supporters.
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04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... has cautioned Washington against resuming military assistance to Egypt until its military-backed government ends alleged rights abuses and holds violators accountable.
The New York-based advocacy group on Friday released a letter it had sent earlier in the week to US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... , following comments indicating that he would make a decision on aid resumption in the coming weeks.
[Ynet] Egyptian authorities deported a rights campaigner hours after he flew in to deliver a petition against death sentences imposed on 529 supporters of deposed 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... , the man and security officials said on Friday.
Wissam Tarif, a Lebanese citizen from international group Avaaz, was hoping to hand over the appeal at a meeting with the grand mufti,
Egypt's top religious authority who reviews all death sentences.
"I landed at Cairo airport and I wasn't allowed in. My name popped up on the computer and they took me to the deportation room where I was interrogated by political security about the meeting, about the petition, about the mufti," he added. Tarif said he was barred from leaving the airport to attend the meeting and authorities briefly seized his computer.
[Al Ahram] The Central African Republic "regrets" a decision by Chad to withdraw from the peacekeeping force trying to quell sectarian violence in the country, foreign minister Toussaint Kongo-Doudou said Friday.
"We learnt with a lot of regret of the announcement... of the withdrawal of Chadian troops from the Misca (African-led force) in the Central African Republic," he said in a statement sent to AFP by the CAR embassy in Gay Paree, a day after Chad announced the withdrawal after being accused of siding with a mainly Mohammedan movement that held power for most of last year
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04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] A Kuwaiti minister, accused by a senior U.S. official of promoting jihad in Syria, has resigned just days after receiving the backing of fellow cabinet members, a report said Friday.
Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister Nayef al-Ajmi, who strongly denies the U.S. accusations, said he had asked to be relieved of his duties for health reasons, Al-Rai newspaper reported.
The U.S. Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, David Cohen, charged earlier this year that Ajmi "has a history of promoting jihad in Syria."
His appointment to the cabinet in January was a "step in the wrong direction," Cohen said in a lecture in the United States, parts of which were carried by the Kuwait press late last month.
Ajmi said he had "asked to be relieved of his post because of health problems which predated the accusation that he backed terror," Al-Rai reported.
He said that the cabinet, which gave him its full support on Monday, would consider his request on Sunday.
Ajmi said he had been undergoing tests in London when the reports of Cohen's comments surfaced in the Kuwaiti media last month and had cut them short to head home.
A statement released after Monday's cabinet meeting said ministers had followed Cohen's comments "with great attention and displeasure".
Ajmi acknowledged he had taken part in fund-raising campaigns for Syria, but insisted they had been for humanitarian purposes and not for Syria's al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front as alleged by Cohen.
A teenager was arrested yesterday on suspicion of buying a plane ticket for the terror suspect who fled his watchers by wearing a burka. The 17-year-old yout was held by counter-terrorism officers as part of the hunt for Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed, who vanished last year despite being under court-ordered restrictions on his movements.
Mohamed, 27, disappeared from a west London mosque in November last year after changing in to the womanâs Islamic clothing. He was under a Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measure (Tpim) at the time because he is suspected of having links with alâShabaab, the Somali terror group.
He is believed to have been involved with a UK â based terror network of six British nationals who were trained by al â Qaeda and helped recruit and fund jihadists to go to Somalia. The group has links with extremists associates in East Africa.
The Home Office suspects Mohamed, who is a British citizen born in Somalia, of having being trained by and fought with al â Shabaab and to have been involved in planning attacks against Western interests overseas.
It emerged Mohamed had been allowed to remain on the streets despite being remanded in custody three times for suspected breaches of his Tpim. He was most recently granted bail in August last year, three months before he vanished, following allegations that he had tampered with his electronic monitoring tag.
The 17-year-old, who was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Policeâs Counter Terrorism Command at 7am and was taken to a south London police station for questioning.
A trial of Mohamed for an alleged breach of his TPIM, which was due to start on April 28, was vacated at the Old Bailey on Friday. The court was told Mohamed had âleft the jurisdictionâ.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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A Canadian court held a trial Tuesday of Mohamed Hersi, a Somali-Canadian resident
...but mostly Somali...
of Toronto, who was accused of trying to join the Al Qaeda-affiliated Somali terrorist group Al Shabab. The group was responsible for the deadlyWestgate Mall massacre in Nairobi last September.
Hersi was arrested in 2011 at Torontoâs Pearson airport while leaving Canada, reportedly to join the terror group, in the first case of a Canadian being arrested while on their way out of the country to take part in terror, according to the National Post.
Investigations of 28-year-old Hersi began in 2010, after dry cleaners discovered a SD card with instructions on how to make explosives in the pocket of clothes he brought in for cleaning. After the card was transferred to police, an undercover officer was assigned to Hersi, posing as a fellow terrorist hopeful. Over the course of the years, the officer recorded numerous conversations with Hersi in which he expressed hatred towards the West, Canada, Christians, and âinfidelsâ in general, reports Shalom Toronto.
Hersi claimed in the recordings that any rule, even that of a tyrant, would be preferable to the âpolice stateâ of Canada, in which non-Muslims âhate Islam,â and Christians âdonât understand what ethics are.â
In one taped conversation, he confessed to avidly reading the Al Qaeda propaganda magazine Inspire, and noted that he particularly enjoyed an article attacking the West and giving permission to steal from non-Muslims.
âI always picture (myself) as a type of, you know, like a silent assassin,â said Hersi in one recorded conversation. âSome of those people deserve to, you know, get what they, whatâs coming to them, you know. If you ever insult the prophet Allah, peace be upon him, you deserve a certain outcome, you know.â
Hersiâs uncle was arrested in an attempt to blow up a mall in the state of Ohio, in the US. Further, Hersiâs friend Mohammed Ilami Ibrahim, a former student at Toronto University, was killed in 2009 in Somalia while fighting for Al Shabab.
The Al Shahab connections come at a time when many Canadian citizens have gone to fight in Syria as jihadists.
No problem: just don't let them come back to Canada...
In January, Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS) presented a report noting the key danger of Canadians returning from fighting abroad with Al Qaeda-linked terror groups. If these traveling Canadians âparticipate in a foreign conflict or train with a terrorist group, they might return with certain operational skills that can be deployed themselves or taught to fellow Canadian extremists. Either way, this is a serious security threat to Canada,â notes the report.
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04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[Yahoo.com] U.S. federal agents have uncovered two drug-smuggling tunnels underneath the U.S.-Mexico border, both surfacing in San Diego-area warehouses and equipped with rail systems for moving contraband, officials said on Friday.
The discovery led to the arrest of a 73-year-old woman accused of running one of the warehouses connected to a drug smuggling operation, according to a joint news release by four federal agencies.
The tunnels were discovered as part of a five-month investigation by the so-called San Diego Tunnel Task Force.
Federal law enforcement officials said the first tunnel, which connects a warehouse in Tijuana, Mexico, with one in an industrial park in the border community of Otay Mesa, is about 600 yards long and is furnished with lighting, a crude rail system and wooden trusses.
The passageway is accessed via a 70-foot shaft secured by a cement cover and includes a pulley system on the U.S. side apparently intended to hoist contraband up into the warehouse.
The second tunnel was even more sophisticated, built with a multi-tiered electric rail system and an array of ventilation equipment.
"Here we are again, foiling cartel plans to sneak millions of dollars of illegal drugs through secret passageways that cost millions of dollars to build," U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement.
The two tunnels are the sixth and seventh cross-border passageways discovered in the San Diego area in less than four years, according to the task force.
Since 2006, federal authorities have detected at least 80 cross-border smuggling tunnels, most of them in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, and Arizona, and seized some 100 tons of narcotics associated with them.
#1
Besides he 73-year old tunnel madam, no thought given to a sting.... in which several of the dope runners might have been captured and interrogated ?
Hah! Pikers! Out here we have rails, hoists, AC, satellite TV, coffee maker, USA vs. MEX friendly on, run by an elderly lady. Gazooks seem to have a time just keeping their peppers out of the goats.
#11
thanks, I knew the pix was not of a full size and thanks for the Sacramento lead...... between that and the Big Boy I have a full plate of articulateds to visit.....
#13
USN. The cab forwards were one heck of an engine. In the tunnels and snowsheds of the Southern Pacific Roseville Division over Donner Summit, they provided excellent visibility and prevented asphyxiation of train crews. The deck in back of the engine by the exhaust stack and ahead of the tender was called the monkey deck. Train bums liked it there because it was warm. Unfortunately a number of them died when the exhaust steam and smoke beat down on them in the tunnels and snowsheds.
I saw the last of them as a kid out of Martinez and on the Donner route. They had a presence and a very haunting whistle. Never forgot it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/05/2014 22:54 Comments ||
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#14
AP: thanks, I knew some of that and have watched the few Youtubes out there. Being a Michigan boy, my steam was mainly Grand Trunk ( now Soo/CN) The Great Northern (now BNSF) had a similar smoke/fume problem with the Cascade tunnels, but they ran the smokestack along the top of the boiler and ended aft of the cab.
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: The proceeding in the Mumbai attacks case has come to a standstill as the special judge of the anti-terrorism court (ATC) has expressed his inability to conduct the trial of seven Pak suspects in the Adiala Jail due to security reasons.
Since March 3, when snuffies attacked the district courts in Islamabad, there has been no progress on the trial with the ATC unable to complete the cross examination of even a single witness, sources close to the proceedings told Dawn.
They said ATC Judge Atiqur Rehman had stopped going to the Adiala Jail for the trial of the suspects. The Adiala Jail is about 30 kilometres away from the ATC located in the special court complex at sector G-11/4.
The suspects are: the alleged criminal mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum.
The case is related to the killing of 166 people in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 by snuffies who New Delhi claims had support of the Pak suspects.
The proceedings commenced in the ATC Rawalpindi in 2009. The case was transferred to the ATC Islamabad last year.
After the district courts attack on March 3 in which 12 people, including an additional district and sessions judge, were killed, the ATC judge demanded that the federal government should deploy Rangers for his security.
However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... the government seems reluctant to provide the requisite security to the judge.
The court was hearing the matter on a weekly basis but there has been no development at all for the last four weeks, the sources said, adding on April 2 the ATC only summoned a single witness Mohammad Ali but the defence counsel, Raja Rizwan Abbasi, raised objection to his statement.
According to sub-section 7 of section 19 of the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997, which defines the procedure and power of the ATC, "the court shall proceed with the trial on a daily basis and decide the case within seven working days."
The law further says that if the court does not meet this deadline, an application may be made to the administrative judge of the high court concerned to pass "appropriate directions" to ensure "expeditious disposal of the case to meet the end of justice."
Advocate Abbasi, who is representing Lakhvi and other suspects, when contacted, confirmed that there was no progress on the case for about a month.
He said the federal government was responsible for the delay as the ATC judge had refused to conduct the jail trial of the accused persons because of security reasons.
"Had the federal government provided the requisite security to the judge, the proceedings would not have been delayed," he added.
It may be mentioned that out of about 60 witnesses, the ATC has so far completed cross examination of 32 prosecution witnesses.
Advocate Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry, the special prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), on the other hand, said the prosecution was trying to complete the trial as early as possible.
He said owing to the threats and delay in the trial, it has been decided that instead of going to the Adiala Jail the judge would exempt the accused from attending the proceedings and record their statements in his courtroom.
According to the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the presence of the accused during the recording of statements and cross-examination of the witnesses is mandatory.
The court, however, has the power to exempt the attendance of the accused on justifiable grounds.
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04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has extended the ceasefire until April 10, the group's front man Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement, adding that the Taliban shura would be meeting after the 10th to decide a future course of action.
The extension comes a day after the interior ministry announced that it had released 19 non-combatant Taliban as a goodwill gesture for bolstering the grinding of the peace processor with the TTP.
In a statement issued to the media, Shahid said the group was awaiting the government's reply on its demands.
Shahid said the Taliban shura has extended the deadline and would sit after April 10 to decide about the future of talks.
He said the Taliban were still awaiting a reply from the government regarding the group's demands, including the release of non-combatants, but despite the passage of three days above the ceasefire deadline, the government had not yet responded to the TTP.
Shahid said the TTP had ordered its fighters not to carry out any attacks against the government and law-enforcement agencies until further orders.
The page-long statement issued in the Urdu language also said that the TTP wanted to clarify its position before the nation that it was serious about the talks but the response from the government had not encouraging.
It added that despite the fact the government's peace committee had met the Taliban leadership empty-handed, the Taliban had shown willingness to talk peace.
19 Taliban prisoners freed
The ceasefire extension comes a day after the interior ministry announced that it had released 19 non-combatant Taliban as a goodwill gesture for bolstering the grinding of the peace processor with the TTP.
The interior ministry announced on Thursday that the release of the 19 was the first large batch of people freed since the launch of military operation in South Wazoo in 2009.
A front man for the ministry said the prisoners released were non-combatant Taliban belonging to the Mehsud tribe.
The ministry did not release their names. It said three of them had been released on March 21, five on March 25 and 11 on March 28. They were nabbed Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! on suspicion or on the basis of intelligence reports.
An official earlier told Dawn that most of the people released had been rounded up during search operations and declared "white" implying that they were innocent. Some of them belong to the Khan Said alias Sajna group which is widely believed to have been in contact with security agencies to cut a peace deal prior to the start of talks with the mainstream TTP.
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... a hard boy commander told Dawn's correspondent in Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... that those released did not belong to the TTP. They belonged to the Wana-based Maulvi Nazir group which already had a peace agreement with the government, he claimed.
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04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Reaffirming his determination to fight Taliban militancy in Pakistain, Patron-in-Chief of Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Baby Bhutto Zardari ...Pak dynastic politician, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandon of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As far as is known, Bilawal has no particular talents other than being pretty and being able to memorize political slogans, but he had the good luck to be born into the right family and he hasn't been assassinated yet... Friday assailed the PML-N government for pushing the nation back to the dark ages by pursuing peace talks with the Pak Taliban, DawnNews reported.
Speaking in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to commemorate 35th death anniversary of his grandfather and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ...9th PM of Pakistain from 1973 to 1977, and 4th President of Pakistain from 1971 to 1973. He was the founder of the Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP). His eldest daughter, Benazir Bhutto, would also serve as hereditary PM. In a coup led by General Zia-ul-Haq, Bhutto was removed from office and was executed in 1979 for authorizing the murder of a political opponent... , he said the mess created by the government by engaging the gunnies in direct talks will again be washed by the blood of deaders -- a reference to sacrifices rendered by ZAB and his mother Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... .
Rejecting the dialogue process initiated by the government of 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... with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), Bilawal said the Death Eaters will never succeed in their objectives as long as Bhutto's grandson is alive.
"This head can be cut but it will never bow down before the oppressors," he added.
Young Bhutto's incendiary speech reflected the flare of his mother and grandfather as he declared that Taliban were beasts and zaliman (tyrants) and they will never be accepted in society.
Alleging the Punjab government of sheltering the Death Eaters and terrorists, he said the blind are leading those with eye-sight in the name of peace talks. How will peace prevail in a country whose biggest province was sheltering the bully boys, he questioned.
Bilawal urged the masses in Punjab to wake up.
Criticizing the privatisation policy, he said the government was planning to sell out national assets in the name of privatisation.
The PPP chairman urged the chief ministers of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... to demand their share of assets from the centre.
He also condemned the government for not taking the nation into confidence over $1.5billion 'friendly aid.'
Speaking on the occasion, former president Asif Ali Zardari emphasised on the importance of inter-sect harmony in the country and urged the government of engaging all political forces on the matter.
He dedicated the evening to his son Bilawal amid popular chants and slogans.
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04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] As Iraq suffers its worst violence in years, gangs claiming ties to powerful militias have been commandeering empty homes in Storied Baghdad with little official sanction, victims and rights groups say.
Militia leaders have disavowed the practice and insist they are not behind it, while those affected -- principally minority Christians -- say the country's courts have done little to protect their property.
"We have received dozens of such cases," William Warda, head of the Storied Baghdad-based Hammurabi Human Rights Organisation, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"Most of them are afraid of submitting complaints to the government, because they do not believe they can protect themselves if they file a lawsuit -- they are fearful of being kidnapped."
Though kidnapping for political or financial motive is not as widespread as it was during the worst of Iraq's sectarian war in 2006 and 2007, it remains a persistent fear, particularly among minority communities.
Christian families have been disproportionately affected by the home seizures, officials say, for reasons to do with tribal politics and because of the high number who have fled.
Many empty homes that have been taken over were left by Christians who took flight from Iraq, fearful of the near-daily attacks that plague Storied Baghdad and major cities.
A community that once numbered more than one million nationwide, and upwards of 600,000 in Storied Baghdad alone, has since fallen to fewer than 400,000 overall, according to Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako.
Many of those who left did not sell their properties, ostensibly in the hope of returning one day.
- Legal system is 'corrupt' -
And because Christians do not retain tribal affiliations in the way Arab Mohammedans do, they have little recourse for resolving their disputes outside the Iraqi legal system, which is often criticized for being corrupt and subject to manipulation.
The U.S. State Department said in its 2013 human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... report that "delays and corruption prevented the (Iraqi) government from effectively adjudicating property restitution claims".
It added, citing local human rights NGOs, that "the government's inability to resolve claims disproportionately affected Christian communities".
"A gang claiming to be allied to Sadr took over my house in Karrada, and my friends tried to take it back, but they have failed so far," said one victim who gave only her first name, Ahlam.
She was referring to powerful Shiite holy manMoqtada Tater al-Sadr ... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah... , whose Mahdi Army militia once numbered in the tens of thousands but has in recent years been dormant.
Ahlam, a Christian woman who now lives in Britannia, told AFP: "The house is my only source of livelihood, and I refuse to sell it because I dream of returning back to Iraq, when the security situation stabilizes."
Sadr himself has publicly disavowed the practice, and insists those who occupy the houses are not connected to his group.
Storied Baghdad security front man Brigadier General Saad Maan declined to comment on the property seizures when contacted by AFP.
- Offer to buy cheaply -
According to Ahlam's lawyer, those who took control of her house claimed they were sanctioned to do so based on a Shiite Mohammedan scholar's ruling that homes belonging to those allied to the regime of Saddam Hussein, ousted by a U.S.-led invasion in 2003, were free to be used for prayer.
They also painted on the front of the house that it was subject to a tribal dispute.
He said they claimed at various points that they were affiliated with the Mahdi Army and its offshoot Asaib Ahel al-Haq, but both groups denied involvement when contacted by AFP.
The lawyer -- who also asked not to be identified for fear of being targeted -- also insisted that whether or not the apparent ruling by the Shiite scholar was justified, Ahlam had never worked for the government under Saddam.
According to Warda and victims who spoke to AFP, the groups commandeering the homes typically reach settlement by offering to buy the properties at prices dramatically below market rates.
"A large number of Christian property owners have sold their homes at cheap prices, because of the threats from gangs that took over their properties," said one priest, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In Storied Baghdad's central commercial district of Karrada, where Ahlam's home is located, residential property sells for as much as $1,500 per square meter, but those under pressure often settle for far less.
Others, however, have held out, Warda said.
"People are being patient with their problems," he said, "until the government can uphold the law, one day."
[Ynet] Around 200 Paleostinians protested Friday near the Ofer Prison in the West Bank. The demonstrators hurled rocks and rolled flaming tires towards the forces securing the area.
IDF soldiers and Border Guard coppers on the scene responded with demonstration-dispersal measures which injured fire protestors.
[AnNahar] The military prosecutor on Friday charged in absentia two Lebanese and six Syrians for belonging to the Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front.
The state-run National News Agency said Judge Saqr Saqr issued the charges against the eight suspects accused of belonging to an armed terrorist organization with the aim of plotting terrorist attacks.
The charges include arms possession and shooting Lebanese soldiers in the Jabal Mohsen neighborhood of the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , NNA said.
Saqr referred the file of the suspects to the first military examining magistrate, Judge Riyad Abou Ghida, the agency added.
Sunni krazed killers, including al-Nusra Front, have in the past weeks and months carried out several suicide kabooms and car kabooms in Shiite-dominated towns and suburbs of Beirut that are Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... strongholds.
They claim the assaults come in retaliation to Hizbullah's support to the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... The party's fighters have been instrumental to Assad's success on the battlefield.
[AnNahar] The so-called Free Sunnis of Baalbek Brigade slammed on Friday the security plan implemented by "the non-Lebanese army" in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , considering that the military raids are violating the sanctity of Mohammedan homes.
"The army's mice are not being considerate of the sanctity of the Mohammedan homes and the presence of women in them," the brigade said via Twitter.
It called on the "Free Sunnis" to end the "charade and the assault by the non-Lebanese army and Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... , which is controlling the army, on the Sunni sect."
The brigade urged the Committee of Mohammedan Ulemas to take a stance and "stand against the Iranian project under the pretext of the security plan."
It considered that the security plan targets the Sunni areas in Leb.
On Thursday, the brigade warned that "Hizbullah and Iran" are behind the security plan that the army is poised to implement in Baalbek, vowing to turn in the Bekaa city into "a graveyard for the 'Crusader army' and Hizbullah."
The security plan was launched in the northern city of Tripoli on Tuesday and it is expected to move to tense areas in the Bekaa and Beirut in the coming days.
Tripoli witnesses frequent gunbattles between two of the impoverished neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh, which is dominated by Sunnis who support Syrian rebels, and Jabal Mohsen, which is dominated by Alawites, who share the same sect as Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... The "Free Sunnis of Baalbek Brigade" has no known ties with any Lebanese or Syrian group. It has claimed that it is an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... bully boy group, but the ISIL has denied that.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] The Syrian National Coalition demanded on Thursday putting an end to the "racist practices" against Syria's refugees in Leb.
Not racism, O foolish SNC men, but merely tribalism.
"We call for putting an end to the racist practices, discrimination, oppression and even physical attacks of some Lebanese religious communities against Syrian refugees," SNC said in a released statement.
The statement called on the international community "to provide the largest possible support to Lebanese authorities, to enable them to deal with the huge numbers of refugees that were forced to flee their houses, escaping the criminality of (Syrian President Bashar) Assad."
The SNC lauded a solidarity campaign against racism launched by Lebanese activists on social media websites to "highlight the difficult conditions Syrian refugees are going through in Leb."
The statement was referring to a popular campaign launched as a response to a presser by former telecommunications minister Nicolas Sehnaoui and Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... official Ziad Abs, during which the two men called for protecting citizens in the Beirut neighborhood of Ashrafieh, after the increase in the number of refugees.
The two FPM officials also called for closing the border with Syria "because Leb can not bear receiving more refugees."
SNC's statement also pointed out to the growing "phenomenon of refugee suicide, through which Syrians aim at escaping their difficult conditions."
"This is a very dangerous phenomenon that should not be overlooked," the coalition stressed. "Their life conditions were worse than death, and that's what drove them to commit suicide."
The UNHCR announced on Thursday that the number of Syrian refugees who have fled their war-torn country and came to Leb has reached 1 million.
According to the UNHCR, refugees from Syria, half of them children, now equal a quarter of Leb's resident population, warning that most of them live in poverty and depend on aid for survival.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/05/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Racism. I do not think that word means what you think it means
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/05/2014 12:02 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Let 'em keep using the term. At some point it'll become useless.
[Ynet] Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... has told rival jihadists in Syria to accept independent Islamic arbitration to end three months of infighting, saying in an audio message Friday the violence is "sedition".
Powerful rebel groups in Syria, including the Islamic Front and al-Qaeda's affiliate Al-Nusra Front, have been locked in fierce fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) since January.
The fighting broke out after allegations that ISIL brutally abused civilians and other opposition fighters battling to topple the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... Tensions were further exacerbated when Al-Nusra and other rebel factions accused ISIL of killing Islamist Front commander Abu Khaled al-Suri in a suicide car kaboom in February.
Abu Khaled was appointed last year as Zawahiri's representative in Syria and was once close to now slain al-Qaeda founder the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest... Zawahiri eulogized him in the audio statement posted on the Internet by jihadist groups, saying his death was the result of "sedition" under way in Syria.
He called on "every Mohammedan and mujahid (jihadist)" to confront sedition and "accept independent sharia arbitration", or the ruling of an Islamic court, to end rebel infighting in Syria.
Jihadists "must disavow anyone who refuses (such) arbitration" and should not take part in the killing of fellow Islamist fighters, he added.
Zawahiri praised Abu Khaled, calling him a comrade in arms who fought alongside him against the Russians in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
"He was a sheikh among the sheikhs of jihad," he said of the slain rebel commander.
Al-Nusra Front chief Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has accused ISIL of murdering Abu Khaled and warned the group he would fight it inside Syria and Iraq, where ISIL has its base, unless it accepts Islamic arbitration.
Zawahiri called on the jihadists to stop the infighting when festivities first erupted in January.
In May 2013, he had ordered ISIL to disband and in early February al-Qaeda's general command issued a statement publicly disavowing the jihadist group.
"Al-Qaeda announces it is not linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as it was not informed of its creation... (and) did not accept it," it said on February 3.
Abu Khaled, whose Islamic Front is the largest rebel alliance in Syria, was killed 20 days later in the northern city of Aleppo.
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
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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.
Wazoo
Nawaz Sharif
Moqtada 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Zawahiri
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
