BELEDWEYNE, Somalia -- Somali government forces along with African Union peacekeepers are advancing on Al Shabaab-blockaded Hiran region town of Bulobarde of central Somalia according to officials, Garowe Online reports.
Hiran Governor Abdifatah Hassan Afrah who is spearheading efforts to pacify the main road leading from Beledweyne to Bulobarde told the media on Saturday that they are aiming to lift economic blockade by Al Shabaab militants of Bulobarde-something that marks attempt at the alleviation of locals plight for the first time in a year since Al Shabaab sanctions.
Allied forces are said to have faced little resistance from militants on their way from Beledweyne to Buq Aqable vicinity, 60km west of Beledweyne.
Government officials also say, convoy carrying food aid is accompanying Somali government forces and AU peacekeepers.
Djiboutian battalions have been in control of the Bulo Barde since March 2014 when allied forces liberated the town in intense onslaught.
In August, 2014 residents protested against the year-long blockade, urging Mogadishu-based central government to provide them with food and address their basic needs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] Libya is at risk of experiencing a severe food shortage, Minister of Economy and Industry Muneer Ali Asr has warned.
Asr said that in the coming weeks reserves of staples such as flour will run out and he asked the House of Representatives intervene now and not wait until the reserves are gone to take action.
The manager of Libya's state Price Stability Fund, Jamal Shibani, warned last month that Libya's grain reserve supplies would be depleted within two to three months.
Summer is when Death traditionally collects his harvest in the Mid East, according to g(r)omgoru. I imagine under the circumstances the prospect of at least a mild famine is close to 100% in swathes of Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Nigeria.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Minister of Economy and Industry Muneer Ali Asr could try to encourage the people to drop their rifles and plant "victory gardens" (sarc).
#2
The whole of the Middle East and Africa has a food/water/population problem. That might be what is causing some of the. Problems we are experiencing.
1.1 Food Security and Water in the Near/Middle East and North Africa (NENA/MENA) region
The MENA region is the most food import–dependent region in the world, and net food imports are projected to rise even further in the future. Net food imports have accounted for 25–50 percent of national consumption
#3
Net food imports have accounted for 25â50 percent of national consumption
The region has half the income it used to get from oil sales... and the Gulf countries are subsidizing most of the rest. It's going to get even more interesting over there.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's ministry of religious endowments (Awqaf), one of the country's top state bodies, has decided to put all Islamic cultural institutes and preacher training centers under its control starting next academic year.
In a statement on Friday, Awqaf said it will not allow the educational centers, which used to be run by independent religious groups and associations, to be used "as a backdoor for extremism or terrorism."
The move comes in a series of measures taken by the ministry and the country's leading Sunni Islamic institute, Al-Azhar, to control the message and curb bully boy ideas.
The latest decision mandates that only the syllabus assigned by the ministry will be allowed for study because text books "representing certain affiliations" help to feed radicalism and are "tearing apart the societal texture."
Heads of the ministry directorates in different cities would have to monitor these education centers, the ministry said, and to write reports on the text books and the teachers in the period of no more than a month.
Starting next academic year, only those certified from the ministry can head the center and those teaching should be "qualified and specialised."
"No association or group will be an exception to this rule," the ministry said, warning that any cultural or educational institute, not certified "with a written permit" from the ministry or Al-Azhar, would be deemed "illegal."
The ministry said it will increase the number of its affiliated centers "to accommodate those wishing to receive the correct Islamic knowledge."
It is not the first time that the state tightens its grip through Awqaf ministry on the religious speech, which authorities say was dominated by the Moslem Brüderbund and other radical Islamist allies, and was used against the country's national interest and security.
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has on several occasions blamed religious discourse for the extremism that Egypt and other countries in the region are suffering from.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Besides, it is good practice to reach Leaders in "Neighboring" Mosques, no?
[Al Ahram] Yassine Laabidi, one of the gunnies who killed 20 foreign tourists at a Tunish museum this week, was a young man who "loved life", his brother told AFP Saturday, expressing shock and dismay.
"My brother was a bon vivant, who liked to dress well, surround himself with friends and his family," said the older of the two, who refused to give his name.
Yassine "enjoyed a drink with mates and would joke around with everyone. He had no complex whatsoever."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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[VOA News] In his first address to the Yemeni people since escaping from house arrest in Sana'a, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi called on Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... rebels to withdraw from government ministries that they occupy, remove their troops from the capital and return to the national dialogue sponsored by the U.N.
Hadi's address to the nation Saturday came as Houthi snuffies fired at protesters in Yemen's third-largest city of Taiz, causing panic. Arab media report the Houthis now occupy the special-forces camp on its outskirts.
Hadi gave his televised speech from some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location in the southern city of Aden, several days after forces loyal to the Houthis and former President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... tried to storm the airport and later bombed the presidential palace.
The Yemeni president denounced the "coup" by Houthi militiamen, who occupied Sana'a in September, later surrounding his home and placing him under house arrest. He fled to Aden last month, he said, to defend Yemen's "legitimate institutions."
He said he came to Aden not to split the country, but to defend its legitimate institutions and promote national dialogue. He added that he decided to remain in office not for personal ambition, but out of a sense of duty to the nation to prevent economic collapse and strife.
Hadi went on to insist that all parties, including the Houthis, participate in U.N.-sponsored talks in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, aimed at transforming the country into a federation. The Houthi rebels, he stressed, must also end their "coup."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Obama just ordered US Special Forces advisers out of Yemen, effectively handing Yemen over to Al Qaeda.
A few days old, but given the deteriorating situation in Yemen, it's worth noting that the resources were there.
The Pentagon is unable to account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen, amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials.
With Yemen in turmoil and its government splintering, the Defense Department has lost its ability to monitor the whereabouts of small arms, ammunition, night-vision goggles, patrol boats, vehicles and other supplies donated by the United States. The situation has grown worse since the United States closed its embassy in Sanaa, the capital, last month and withdrew many of its military advisers.
In recent weeks, members of Congress have held closed-door meetings with U.S. military officials to press for an accounting of the arms and equipment. Pentagon officials have said that they have little information to go on and that there is little they can do at this point to prevent the weapons and gear from falling into the wrong hands.
“We have to assume it’s completely compromised and gone,” said a legislative aide on Capitol Hill who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Let us hope that most of it needs frequent and finicky maintenance, lest it turn into very impressive paperweights of various sizes.
U.S. military officials declined to comment for the record. A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, said there was no hard evidence that U.S. arms or equipment had been looted or confiscated. But the official acknowledged that the Pentagon had lost track of the items.
“Even in the best-case scenario in an unstable country, we never have 100 percent accountability,” the defense official said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
How in the hell do you lose $500M worth of military aid and equipment?
Remaining 100 spec ops counter-terrorism forces have been evacuated. Our embassy has closed. We have no presence there. Thought just a few months ago, O said Yemen was a shining example of how to do it.
Iran has recently been removed from the U.S. annual terrorism list. Has Yemen being given to Iran as a part of O's backdoor nuke deal?
[NYTIMES] The incarcerated Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan on Saturday renewed a call for his fighters to disarm and end a long conflict with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , hailing a "new era" in relations between Turks and Kurds.
"I said what you wanted me to say. Now will you please stop hitting me!"
Mr. Ocalan, who continues to exercise influence over Turkey's Kurdish population from a prison on an island in the Sea of Marmara where he has been serving a life sentence since 1999, urged the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, known here as the P.K.K., to hold a congress in the spring to end a Kurdish insurgency that has fractured society and claimed nearly 40,000 lives since the 1980s.
"I call on the P.K.K. to convene a congress to end the 40-year-long armed struggle against the Republic of Turkey and to determine political and social strategies and tactics in accordance with the spirit of the new era," Mr. Ocalan wrote in a letter that was read to a crowd of hundreds of thousands celebrating the traditional spring festival of Nowruz in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey.
Television images showed women in bright dresses and men in uniforms dancing and cheering jubilantly, waving scarves and flags of the holy warrior group as the letter was read in both Kurdish and Turkish.
Kurds, who account for roughly 20 percent of Turkey's population of about 80 million, have been demanding greater rights and more autonomy after decades of being ostracized by the Turkish state. While Mr. Ocalan's call for disarmament is likely to add momentum to a fragile grinding of the peace processor, which is now in its third year, Kurdish rebels are waiting to see whether the Turkish government can deliver on the democratic reforms outlined in a 10-point framework for peace that is to be safeguarded by a new constitution.
The PKK has largely observed a ceasefire since 2013 but attempts to find a permanent deal have stalled over the issue of the withdrawal of PKK fighters and weaponry from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... The PKK is regarded as a terrorist group not only by Turkey but also by the United States and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... However it has also been working with Iraqi and Syrian Kurds in the U.S.-backed campaign against IS hard boys, with its fighters winning respect for their abilities.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Not unlike US fears vee Hispanics, due to high birth rates Turkey repor could end up being a Kurd-majority nation widin one generation.
#2
As per the US, ironically the same DemLeft that refuses to close US borders to waves of illegal immigrants is the same DemoLeft that's now complaining about Race-led demographic shifts in the US Population + effect on US Society.
OOOOOOOPPPPPPPSSSSSSIES.
WE WANT TO HAVE OUR CAKE + EAT IT TOO, ALL THE TIME, DON'T WE???
[TheHill] A bipartisan letter on Iran signed by 360 members of Congress will be sent to President B.O. on Thursday, one of its House signers said.
The letter, like one 47 Senate Republicans sent to Tehran's leaders, reminds the administration that permanent sanctions relief on Iran as part of a deal to rollback its nuclear program would require new legislation from Congress.
It comes as international negotiators approach a March 24 deadline to reach a framework agreement.
"Should an agreement with Iran be reached, permanent sanctions relief from congressionally-mandated sanctions would require new legislation," the letter says.
"In reviewing such an agreement, Congress must be convinced that its terms foreclose any pathway to a bomb, and only then will Congress be able to consider permanent sanctions relief," it adds.
The letter stops short of supporting legislation pursued by the Senate that would allow Congress 60 days to weigh in on any final deal before its implementation.
However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... it adds, "We are prepared to evaluate any agreement to determine its long-term impact on the United States and our allies."
#1
The current make-up of the House is: House of Representatives: 234 Republicans, 207 Democrats (including the 5 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner), and 3 vacant seats as of 11-24-2014. Make up.
If 360 members of House signed the letter, there must be a large number of Donks going against Obama. Beginning of the end?
[Breitbart] The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) granted expedited screening privileges to a former member of a "domestic" terror group convicted of explosives-related crimes, "creating a significant aviation security breach," reports a government watchdog.
TSA agents were aware that the traveler had been improperly cleared to use expedited airport security lanes.
Nevertheless, the individual was allowed through to his flight on June 29, 2014, reveals the inspector general (IG) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a partially redacted report. TSA is a component of DHS.
"Mitigating and reducing passenger screening vulnerabilities is important to our nation's aviation security," said DHS IG John Roth. "Incidents like this highlight the need for TSA to modify their [Pre-check] procedures."
In responding to the DHS IG audit, TSA said that if the traveler was a threat, the U.S. government should have placed his name on a terrorist watchlist or a no-fly list.
A whistleblower informed the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) that "a sufficiently notorious convicted felon was improperly cleared" for TSA's Pre-check screening, Roth said in the report.
Things are not working as planned. Please sign here Sergeant, and hopefully this will all go away for both of us. We do not want the transparency of a military court martial.
#3
Which is another way of saying that they're looking around for a 'suck up' for a position in the chain of command to make the deal. UCMJ is an enactment of the powers of Congress as a separate set of laws from the civilian community. Only those subject to it can work within it, exempting only outright pardons by the civilian leadership. The problem for the suck up is that with a change in any civilian leadership they become subject to Unlawful Command Influence charges.
#5
More like a sentence of confinement (to time already served) reduction in rank and forfeit of pay, and a Bad Conduct Discharge. All of which will be quietly re-mediated after a time, likely at the Secretary level.
Or - determination of member has an inherent "level of incompetence": medical and other-than-honorable discharge (upgraded later), scapegoating of the recruiting system for brnging him in, etc.
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: A joint team of the capital police and paramilitary troops searched different religious seminaries in the capital city as a part of the security measures for the Pakistain Day parade.
Senior officers of the capital administration, including the deputy commissioner, were also present.
Officials said every nook and corner of the seminaries was searched and details of the students and teachers were checked.
The officials said the main concern of the authorities was Jamia Faridia located at sector E-7. Other seminaries were also searched to avoid creating an impression that only Jamia Faridia was targeted.
All the 120 rooms of Jamia Faridia and 450 students were checked and verified with the record of the seminary. The people found on the premises were either students or teachers.
A senior police officer on the condition of anonymity said during the search about two dozen people were spotted arriving at Jamia Faridia in wagons.
The arrival of the people raised an alarm so they were also searched and inquired about the reason for their coming there.
During the search, it emerged that they had gone from the seminary to a mosque in Rawalpindi last night.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, the pilot and the copilot had both hit the silk.
Jack! Cynthia exclaimed. Do you know how to drive one of these things?
Jack wiped some of the blood from his knuckles.
No, he said. Do you?... Assistant Inspector General of Police (Special Branch) Waqar Ahmed Chohan on Friday held meetings with the residents of Margalla Hills and asked them to keep a vigil against suspects.
During the meetings with residents of areas from Shah Allah Dita and Bhara Kahu, the AIG said police should be informed about people involved in construction works and the tenants.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
I thought the Headline was: Seminaries bombed ahead of Pakistan Day parade
and got all excited. Bummer
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/22/2015 15:19 Comments ||
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[iHLS] The new very advanced Helicopter Training System (HTS) developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is attracting a great deal of interest among helicopter operators. The company demonstrated its embedded (HTS) at the Mailly training center, France, Last year. The ground-based demonstration replicated the firing of helicopter-mounted weapons (missiles, rockets and guns) towards moving targets. The training was monitored in real-time from the control building. According to IAI HTS, a member of the EHUD embedded training family, offers low-cost high-value embedded pilot training with maximized safety features. The enhanced debriefing capabilities facilitate optimum utilization of flight hours and other valuable resources. Live helicopter training is enhanced with virtual Electronic Warfare (EW) threats and simulated armaments that enable real-time hit and miss assessments of both live and virtual targets. iHLS Bonus link: Two names, one terr organization.
[BLOOMBERG] An agreement is possible in Iran's nuclear talks with world powers, both sides said on Saturday, even as the Islamic Theocratic Republic's leader said a deal that won't guarantee the immediate removal of sanctions would be "unacceptable."
After six days of discussions in Lausanne, Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... , ended without a deal on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said "substantial progress" had been made. Negotiators from the U.S. and five other nations are seeking to ensure that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful in exchange for relief from sanctions that have hobbled Iran's economy.
"We have not yet reached the finish line, but make no mistake, we have the opportunity to try to get this right," Kerry said Saturday in Lausanne, next to the palatial 19th century hotel where talks took place. "It's a matter of political will and tough decision-making."
Stopping at London's Heathrow Airport Saturday on his way back to Washington, Kerry met with his counterparts from the U.K., La Belle France and Germany and Federica Mogherini, the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's foreign policy chief, to review progress in the talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Meanwhile, the Times of Israel has been reporting that Khamenei calls ‘Death to America’ as Kerry hails progress on nuke deal. Times.
#2
With all the delays, extensions and resets, the pony has surely suffocated under that pile of manure by now...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/22/2015 14:01 Comments ||
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#3
The USCIA Director has repor indic or hinted before Congress that the Bammer Admin = USA can still attack Iran as an option iff the P5+1 Nuke Talks fail.
[Independent] Why I deserted the 'Islamic State' rather than take part in executions, beheadings and rape
Inside the 'Islamic State' - part two: Continuing his landmark series on life inside the Islamic State, Patrick Cockburn hears the story of a former Isis fighter who chose to desert rather than take part in the barbarity visited on the jihadis’ enemies.
Hamza is a 33-year-old from Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... a city ruled by Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... 40 miles west of Baghdad, who became an Isis fighter last year after being attracted by its appeal to his religious feelings. Two months ago, however, he defected, after being asked to help execute people he knew -- and being appalled by invitations to join in what amounted to rape of captured Yazidi women.
In an interview with The Independent, given in the safety of another country, he gives a vivid account of why he joined Isis, what it was like to be a member of the jihadist group, and why he left. He reveals extraordinary details about how the army of Isis operates, the elaborate training that its fighters receive in Iraq and Syria and the way in which taking part in executions is an initiation rite, proof of the commitment and loyalty of fighters.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/22/2015 00:00 ||
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MINNEAPOLIS -- Reading back over Abdi Nur’s Twitter feed, his chilling progression from the basketball courts of South Minneapolis to the battlefields of Syria is clear. Early last year, he began posting stern religious pronouncements and snippets of scripture. By April 2, a day after turning 20, he hailed Islamic fighters: “If the sky would be proud of the existence of the stars, the land should be proud of the existence of the Mujahideen.”
On May 29, the day he disappeared, he posted, “I Thank Allah For Everything No Matter What!” Soon he was in Turkey, rebuffing his mother’s and sister’s anguished pleas to come home. In late July, he declared, “What A Beautiful Day in Raqqa,” the de facto capital of the Islamic State in Syria. Last Aug. 7, he posted a picture of himself online with his finger on the trigger of a Kalashnikov.
Mr. Nur had become one of a small number of Americans enticed by the apocalyptic religious promise of the self-described Islamic State, which has seized large sections of Syria and Iraq and claims to be building a caliphate.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/22/2015 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.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's ministry of religious endowments (Awqaf), one of the country's top state bodies, has decided to put all Islamic cultural institutes and preacher training centers under its control starting next academic year. 
[BLOOMBERG] An agreement is possible in Iran's nuclear talks with world powers, both sides said on Saturday, even as the 
