[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. promised tough military action against the imposed war on Afghan nation amid ongoing efforts to bring the anti-government armed bad boy groups to negotiation table.
Speaking during a joint presser with Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, his Croatian counterpart, President Ghani said the Afghan nation will not forget the ambition of sacred peace.
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... President Ghani said the ongoing violence in Afghanistan has been imposed with the combination of certain elements.
According to President Ghani the Global Economic Crime is one of the elements which plays a key role in the Afghan war.
He insisted that war is not a solution to ongoing violence in the country and said a coherent and strategic policy is needed to bring the Afghans together in a bid to put an end to internal conflicts.
President Ghani also hinted towards the external links to the ongoing violence and said regional efforts including economic and security pacts are needed since the violence could not be rooted out from a specific region.
The remarks by President Ghani comes as efforts by the national unity government have apparently not yielded any positive result to put an end to the ongoing conflict in the country despite the national unity government leaders were optimistic regarding the process.
This comes as a two-day informal talks between the Afghan delegation and Taliban representatives concluded earlier this week over Afghan reconciliation process in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... .
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
"...According to President Ghani the Global Economic Crime is one of the elements which plays a key role in the Afghan war."
? THE Global Economic Crime? Which one is that? Drug smuggling?
NAIROBI -- A military offensive has driven Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group out of major strongholds and deprived it of revenue sources, but its retreat to a southern valley and northern hills still poses a threat, the U.N. envoy to Somalia said.
The African Union's AMISOM peacekeeping force and Somali soldiers have pushed the group, which wants to topple the Western-backed government, into smaller pockets of territory since launching an offensive last year.
But the group has continued to strike Mogadishu and other government-held areas with bomb and gun attacks from bases in the southern Juba Valley and in northern Puntland's Galgala hills, a region outside the African Union's area of operation.
"The AU-U.N. have just done a benchmarking review of AMISOM and the Somali national army, as well, and certainly they have recognised that Puntland is an area of concern," U.N. envoy to Somalia, Nick Kay, told Reuters on Wednesday. He said expanding AMISOM's region of operations to the semi-autonomous region of Puntland was "under active consideration", without saying when it might be agreed.
The Somali government has said that the Juba Valley, which lies in the far south near the strategic Kismayo port, was the next target for the military offensive, but has not said when.
Puntland, which has been slowly drawing closer to the federal government in Mogadishu, has agreed to integrate 3,000 of its forces into the Somali national army, Kay said.
On the political front, Kay said Somalia was laying the groundwork for a revised constitution, although preparations had been delayed, and for parliamentary and presidential elections in 2016. He said it was still not clear whether they could be on the basis of one person, one vote.
He said the government was committed to a process that is "more inclusive and more representative" than in 2012, when elders chose parliamentary lawmakers for their communities and lawmakers then chose the president. One option would be to expand the number of people choosing the president to include elders, civil society, women's groups and others, he said, adding it was up to Somalia to decide.
Let the indigenous people decide? What kind of UN representative is he?
"We should not worry if the time that it needs to be really cemented takes a bit longer than had been originally anticipated," Kay said. "This is a country facing many problems and challenges, but they are the problems and challenges of a country coming together, rather than falling apart."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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ISMAILIA - Thirty Egyptian tribes based in Sinai said on Sunday they would confront militant groups including an Islamic State affiliate that has killed hundreds of soldiers and police, in a possible boost to Egypt's efforts to improve security.
The Sinai Tribal Federation said it had held its first meeting on Sunday to discuss ways to tackle militants seeking to topple the US-backed Cairo government. It would work "in coordination with the relevant agencies and institutions of the formal state ... to support the state and the armed forces in their war against terrorism," the alliance said in a statement.
Apparently the ISIS has upset lots of people in the Sinai. Can't bode well for them, or for Hamas...
An insurgency based in the Sinai Peninsula has intensified since 2013, when then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi removed president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood from power following mass protests against his rule.
The tribal federation agreed to form two groups of youth volunteers, one of which would help security forces gather information on suspected militants or their supporters and monitor routes used to smuggle weapons. The second would participate in the military campaign alongside Egypt's armed forces, among the biggest in the Middle East, the statement said.
I'm a little surprised that Sisi, a thug (a relatively benign and clear thinking thug but still a thug) would allow a paramilitary group that isn't under tight control. That sort of thing has a way of getting away from thugs, and at the worst possible time -- for the thug...
It was not immediately clear why the tribes in Sinai, a strategic peninsula bordering Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal, had now decided to weigh in behind a central government that they have accused of marginalizing them in the past.
Because they don't like being killed by ISIS? Just a guess that has eluded our J-Post reporter...
Security sources say that in the past few weeks, the Sinai Province jihadist group, which supports the Syrian and Iraqi-based Islamic State, has executed prominent members of the tribes.
Oh! Oh! Oh! Could that possibly be it? Let's ask the Op-Ed writer at J-Post!
A war of words between the two sides has escalated, with militants saying they would expand their attacks.
Tribal revenge is a way of life in the Sinai; tribal leaders have threatened to respond and have captured some Sinai Province members and handed them over to the army.
That would be the kindest thing they could do to those they capture...
Sisi, who is now Chief Thug for Life president, has weakened the Muslim Brotherhood with a tough crackdown on what was once one of the Middle East's best organized political groups.
But he has been less successful in suppressing Sinai's militants, who still carry out attacks against soldiers and police despite constant pressure from the military. Sisi has also expressed concern about the threat from militants, including some professing loyalty to Islamic State, who are thriving in the chaos of neighboring Libya, to the west.
Although tribal support for security forces is a vote of confidence in the state, long-term backing may hinge on the creation of jobs and better services in Sinai.
There commences the usual progressive hand-wringing that one can find even in Israel...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Muammar Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens... 's son Saadi who fled abroad during Libya's 2011 revolution and was extradited from Niger last year appeared in a 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... court on Sunday at the start of a trial on murder charges but the judge adjourned his case until July.
Saadi, who had a brief career as a soccer player in Italia and had the reputation of a playboy during his father's long rule, appeared in the Tripoli courtroom wearing a blue jumpsuit and watched the proceedings from behind bars.
"The trial of Saadi Qadaffy has been adjourned today by the court of south Tripoli until July 19," the chief of the investigation office of the attorney-general, Sadiq Al-Sour, told Rooters. "The defense lawyers had asked for more time to read the case file and prepare for a plea."
Saadi Qadaffy faces charges of killing a soccer player and unlawful imprisonment.
Since the 2011 fall of Qadaffy, Libya has slipped deeper into chaos with two rival governments and the armed factions that back them fighting for control. Islamist gunnies have gained ground during the period of lawlessness.
Qadaffy's more prominent son, Saif al-Islam, is being held captive by fighters in the western Libyan town of Zintan. They refuse to hand him over to a government they deem too weak to hold him.
Since escaping Libya in 2011, Saadi had been held under house arrest in the Niger capital Niamey. Libyan authorities believe he was active from there in fomenting unrest in southern Libya. He was extradited back to Libya in March 2014.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Iremember when a Colombian (?) soccer player was murdered by outraged fans after a bad outing a few years back.
[PREMIUMTIMESNG] The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has said that five babies were delivered at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp at Kalambaina, Sokoto, between May 7 and 9.
The NEMA Assistant Head, Sokoto Zonal Operations Office, Thickman Tanimu, made this known to journalists in Sokoto on Sunday.
Mr. Tanimu said that of the five new babies, three were girls, while two were boys.
He said two were delivered on May 7 while on transit to Sokoto, two on May 8 and one on May 9, adding the mothers and children were hale and hearty.
The official said 2,000 displaced persons, including the new babies, were evacuated by the agency from Geidam in Yobe on Wednesday, May 6 to Sokoto. He said nearly 80 per cent of the affected people were from Kebbi, while the rest were from Sokoto State.
"They were earlier displaced due to bad boy activities in Doron-Baga in Borno and they fled to Gegeme in Difa state, Niger Republic as refugees.
"However, the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... they were also unfortunately deported back to Geidam in Yobe state after an bad boy attack at their IDPs camp in Niger Republic.
"It was from Geidam that the IDP's were screened by NEMA and security agencies, and the agency evacuated them to Sokoto,'' Tanimu said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[EDITION.CNN] Niger deported 1,200 people who fled Nigeria so that it can carry out a military operation against 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... , authorities in the French-speaking country said Saturday.
The 1,200 Nigerians are among the more than 6,000 that Niger has sent back as the Islamist bully boy group's terror increasingly creeps over the border from northern Nigeria, according to Isa Umar Gusau, an adviser to Gov. Kashim Shettima of Nigeria's Borno State.
Gusau said gunnies had infiltrated the area where the Nigerians had been staying, necessitating the military operation.
More evacuations are expected soon. Seventeen buses were dispatched to the border Saturday to pick up another 1,200 Nigerians. Nigeria has been the center of persistent attacks by Boko Haram.
"The 2,400 are not the only people we are expecting back in Borno from Niger, said Borno State emergency management chairman Alhaji Grema Terab. "Provisions have been made to get them housed" in existing refugee camps and one that that is being established for them.
The repatriation of refugees who initially fled because of Boko Haram back into those very same strongholds alarmed U.N. officials back in January, who called for a moratorium to the practice, which then only numbered in the hundreds.
"Given the volatile security situation in Borno State and the recent attacks by bully boys, UNHCR (United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... High Commissioner for Refugees) is concerned about the nature of these returns and has asked the authorities to stop this operation until there are proper safeguards and a legal framework between Nigeria, Niger and UNHCR," front man William Spindler said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[PULSE.NG] Abubakar Shekau is nowhere to be found.
The 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... leader was last heard from in March 2015 when he pledged allegiance to the 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.... terror group (ISIS) via an audio statement.
Since then he has practically gone underground and even failed to make a statement during Nigeria's recently concluded elections, which he vowed to disrupt.
Prior to this time, it was believed that Shekau had taken refuge in the group's notorious stronghold, Sambisa Forest.
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... intensive military operations in the forest, which led to the rescue of about 1000 women and kiddies, have failed to provide any clue as to the Boko Haram leader's whereabouts.
None of the captives freed from the sect has testified to seeing Shekau and the only ones who spoke of him told Rooters that the Lions of Islam frequently threatened to take them to the terrorist boss in his abode deep in the forest.
The Boko Haram leader was recently named as one of TIME's most influential 100 people in the world; a development to which he would ordinarily have responded by mocking world leaders.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Shekau remained unusually silent and is still maintaining that silence to the confusion and bewilderment of many.
A Nigerian military source on Thursday, April 23, told Vanguard of his frustration at the elusiveness of the Boko Haram leader.
"The guy simply disappeared from the radar and suddenly vanished. We wish we can catch him alive," the source, who chose to remain anonymous, said.
Another report, by the Daily Sun, has it that Shekau might have fled the country.
"Having discovered that he was being tracked through his Thuraya satellite phone, Shekau recently dropped the line and handset totally to evade capture. But the last satellite image of him and other intelligence pieced together by forces on the battle frontline show his desperation to escape from the country to parts of East Africa or North Africa where ISIS is having some footholds," the Sun quotes a military source as saying.
The source also added that Shekau had changed his appearance in order to evade capture.
The Boko Haram leader was last seen in public in 2009 and since then, the Nigerian Army has claimed to have killed him many times.
However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... Director of Defence Information, Chris Olukolade has said that finding Shekau is not the army's priority.
"The sensational idea of looking out for one individual should not distract us or hold us down," Olukolade told Rooters.
The US, however, does not share the same sentiments as it has maintained a $7 million (N1.4 billion) bounty placed on Shekau and lists him among 71 most wanted holy warriors in the world.
Many have speculated that the real Shekau might in fact be dead and the person who appears on the videos is just a double.
However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... whether he is real or fake, many around the world will only heave a sigh of relief when the mystery behind Abubakar Shekau is finally unravelled.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Boko Haram
[PREMIUMTIMESNG] Some Nigerians have called on the Federal Government to ensure that women who were impregnated by members of the 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... while being held hostage are taken care of.
Hundreds of people mainly women and maidens of tender years have been rescued by soldiers who have control of territory initially controlled by the bad boys. Some of the women, held captive sometimes for several months, were already pregnant when rescued.
A Nigerian resident in United Kingdom, Oluyomi Soyinka, said the pregnant women should be relocated because of the stigma.
'The Federal Government should look at ways of setting up a department to look after the would be mothers and their children when they arrive," Mr. Soyinka said. "The mothers will have to be counselled and educated or trained on a vocation; I also suggest they are relocated because of stigma. The children should be looked after and trained by government from birth."
In her remark, Dupe Olaoye-Osikolu, a journalist and Chairperson of National Association of Women Journalists, Lagos, said authorities should allow journalists talk to the rescued women.
Bidemi Osunlalu, a nurse, also called on the government to take full responsibility for the women and their children when they are born.
"To me, these bunch of idiots, animals, and demented human beings deserve no pity whenever they're caught and punished extensively. They don't deserve any amnesty, at all"
In her reaction, Femi Shodunke asked the government to ensure the Boko Haram members still on the lam are made to face the law for their crimes.
"So with the devastation, in terms of loss of lives and property, and myriad of injuries inflicted on hapless residents of North Eastern Nigeria, members of the Boko Haram sect still have time to engage in rape and uncontrollable sex, to the extent of impregnating 214 (and more yet to be rescued) girls in their custody, thus destroying their lives?
"To me, these bunch of idiots, animals, and demented human beings deserve no pity whenever they're caught and punished extensively. They don't deserve any amnesty, at all," Ms. Shodunke, a Nigerian journalist resident in Canada, said.
Also, a medical doctor in Ogun State, Jimi Dipeolu, suggested that any of pregnancies less than 12 weeks be aborted.
"I think the best and safe option is to terminate all the early pregnancies by competent and trained doctors or gynaecologist at a federal government hospital free of charge," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Boko Haram
#1
A Nigerian resident in United Kingdom, Oluyomi Soyinka, said the pregnant women should be relocated because of the stigma.
No problem with the relo, just don't leave the continent.
#1
open letter by 22 aid professionals who work in Yemen or who have contacts there. Shortened version was printed in the Times (London) on Saturday. The UN has tweeted that one ship has been allowed through but don't think that will be enough.
And the Saudis have the hide to talk about Gaza...
#5
Again: Yemen has a population of 26 million. Now 25 million of them are threatened with starvation? How did Yemen feed itself before the civil war? Import food? How did they pay for it?
I'm wondering if this (another) UN con job...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2015 17:31 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The SAUDIS are repor still having buku troubles wid their ground campaign for Yemen, mainly ...
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Al-Manar] KSA LACKS REAL ARMY TO INVADE YEMEN, 10,000 SAUDI TROOPS FLEE BASES.
As a reminder, CHINA may experience similar initial "rust" wid its PLA iff any shooting war breaks out in ECS, SCS, andor IOR agz US-Allies, BUT IMO CHINA + PLA WILL ULTIMATELY RECOVER + "SHAKE IT OFF".
* FARSNEWS > ANSARULLAH CAPTURES AL-QAEDA, SAUDI MERCS [Takfiris] ACROSS YEMEN.
The above + other MSM-Net Artics hence poten leading or inducing the Saudis to ...
VERSUS
* SKY NEWS [Al-Arabiya TV] > SAUDIS END TANK "STRIKE FORCE" TO [but NOT across] YEMEN BORDER.
Dubai -- An Iranian cargo ship will set sail for the rebel-held Yemeni port of Hodeida on Sunday evening, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said, in a move likely to fan further tensions with Saudi-led forces blockading the country.
Tasnim reported that the cargo ship would carry 2,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid including food staples and medicine.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have accused Iran of seeking to smuggle weapons and ammunition to the Houthis
Courtesy of the Widows Ammunition Fund...
and have imposed a sea and air blockade on Yemen.
Yemen imports more than 90 per cent of its food and aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.
There are 26 million people in Yemen. How on earth does a country grow to that size and not feed itself?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
"How on earth does a country grow to that size and not feed itself?"
The middle-eastern term is 'backsheesh'.
The rest of us refer to it as 'stealing'.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
05/11/2015 8:45 Comments ||
Top||
#2
One chews a lot of Qat. One loses one's appetite.
Manama -- Bahrain has arrested another five suspects in connection with a failed bid to smuggle explosives to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia security authorities arrested the suspects with high explosives (RDX) on May 8.
The Chief of Public Security, Major-General Tariq Al Hasan, said that Bahrain police has also joined in the investigation. The security chief said that explosives material, mobile phones, laptops, portable hard disks, cameras, Iranian mobile phone chips Saudi, Jordanian and Iranian currencies were recovered when police raided houses of several suspects.
Five more suspects in the case were identified and arrested. The investigation will continue until all suspects have been identified and arrested.
Al Hasan said the items seized by the Saudi officials were similar to the material that Bahrain police had seized from a boat coming to Bahrain on December 28, 2013 and from a vehicle coming via King Fahad causeway on March 15, this year.
Suspects in both the cases had also been arrested, he said.
The security chief said that Bahraini and Saudi security officials were working closely to track down the remaining suspects involved to determine the scope of the operation. Al Hassan also said that Saudi Arabia and Bahrain enjoyed a high level of cooperation that had contributed to many successful investigations in the past. He said that more cooperation was needed among friendly countries in the region to tackle current security issues.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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A purported satellite command center stands about 400 m from former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's residence in Pyongyang, satellite imagery suggests. Kim died in 2011. The imagery matches an aerial picture of the facility shown on the North Korean state TV on Sunday, while the residence is reportedly still sometimes used by current leader Pudgy Kim Jong-un.
The the official [North] Korean Central News Agency on Sunday claimed the regime built a facility that supervises rocket launches.
"[North] Korea's satellites will soar into space as the party decides," the corpulent Kim was quoted as saying during an inspection of the facility.
The North has no satellites.
Pundits worry that the North will launch another missile to mark the 70th anniversary of the Workers Party. In 2012 the isolated country launched a space rocket carrying what it claimed was a satellite, but the contraption was not functional and the launch was widely seen as a test of intercontinental missile technology.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
This supposedly replaces an existing "satellite control facility." No word on what happens to the old facility.
Interestingly, I was doing some research on this yesterday - this may be a rebuild/refit of an existing facility instead of an all new one. Can't remember the names of the two locations, but they've got one on the east coast and one on the west, and I think this might be the eastern one.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/11/2015 14:15 Comments ||
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#3
I think the old satellite control facility was killed and eaten during the last famine.
The new satellite control center is located in the Pothonggang District of Pyongyang. The size of the mission control room is approximately 570 square meters. Other facilities in the building, according to the DPRK media, include a revolutionary history room, auxiliary display and control room, and optical observation room, E-library, lounge, conference room, offices, dining room and bedrooms.
This new control center may also be the administrative home of the National Aerospace Development Administration. Construction of the new satellite control center began shortly after NADA was publicly announced last year. Based on commercial satellite imagery, construction began sometime between 2014-4-13 and 2014-7-3, meaning that if completed, construction took nearly one year.
If completed, this new facility raises a question about the status of the older satellite control center in Ryongsong District at the Second Academy of Natural Sciences.
[RUDAW.NET] Thousands have rallied against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... 's visit to the German city of Karlsruhe, where police said Kurdish protesters had clashed with the president's Turkish supporters.
Demonstrators gathered to protest Erdogan's speech hours before he arrived. German police said that Kurdish protesters clashed with Turkish supporters of the AKP, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's ruling party to which Erdogan belonged before becoming president.
Several members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or its affiliates clashed with Turks who had been waiting for Erdogan's arrival before being separated by police, witnesses said.
"We are here to show our condemnation of the Turkish state and Mr. Erdogan's policy," said Agir Genc, a Kurdish demonstrator. "Kurdish rights have to be acknowledged in Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey)," he said.
About 14.000 people waited to hear the Turkish president, who has been on the trail ahead of the important June 7 parliament elections, although he must remain neutral and not favor any party according to the Turkish constitution.
Turkey's government has been in a grinding of the peace processor with the PKK that has been all but stalled by the government. Erdogan has angered Turkey's huge Kurdish population by denying the existence of a "Kurdish problem" in Turkey.
"Erdogan's policies are not in favor of the Kurds," said Dilan Izolan, a Kurdish activist from Turkey. "He sends some washing machines and tries to get Kurdish votes, but in the same breath he forgets to get electricity to Kurdish villages. We want the Turkish state to give the Kurds their deeply-needed autonomy."
In his speech to supporters gathered to hear him in Karlsruhe, Erdogan said: "(You) are our power outside the country. For us you are no migrant workers, you are our strength in foreign countries."
Germany hosts a large number of migrant workers and ethnic Turks. Their votes are hugely important to the AKP, which has been backing a bid by Erdogan to change the constitution and accumulate greater power.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[CHRON] Macedonia's prime minister says the gang involved in bloody battles with the police this weekend in this northern town had aimed to attack state buildings and public spaces.
The 40-strong gang was made up of well-trained fighters that participated in operations in the region and the Middle East, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski told news hounds.
Gruevski said the group aimed to attack state institutions, sport events and shopping malls.
"One of the aims of the group, at least, was to destabilize Macedonia," Gruevski added.
Gruevski effusively praised the police forces, among whom 8 died and 37 were maimed. At least 14 alleged members of the gang were also killed.
He added that the gang was not supported by members of Macedonia's ethnic Albania minority.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has released a video in which gunnies are seen holding a missile the groups claims to be the one used for downing Pak Army MI-17 helicopter helicopter in Gilgit region on Friday.
Seven people comprising the Philippine Ambassador Domingo Lucenario, Norwegian Ambassador Leif Larsen and the wives of the ambassadors of Indonesia and Malaysia Heri Listyawati Burhan Muhammad and Habibah Mahmud, two pilots and a crew were killed in the crash.
The SITE Intelligence Group which is based in the United States and publishes information about bad boy groups has received a copy of the video.
"Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) released a video of fighters holding the "SAM-7 B" allegedly used in hitting the Pakistain Army helicopter in Gilgit." The SITE Intelligence Group writes in its website.
Also, India's NDTV says that before the actual video starts a message is seen in Urdu language in which the Lions of Islam claim that the missile was shot from a distance of three kilometers and because the helicopter was turning it hit the tail rotor and did not destroy it in the air.
Mohammad Khorasani, TTP front man had earlier claimed that the chopper was shot down by them and the actual target was Prime Minister but Army had rejected the claim.
Asim Bajwa the Director General of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pak Army's media wing, had said the helicopter crashed due to a technical fault.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
I've seen the video. In no way, shape, manner, or form does the video substatiate TTP's claim of downing the helo. The video is amateur-quality BS - at best. 3 booger-eaters playing with SAM in some mud hut in Pakland.
Nothing at the crash scene does either (I may have seen a ...photo). A SAM would likely leave some debris far from the main crash sight. None found. No witness accounts (air or ground) back the shoot down claim.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
05/11/2015 11:32 Comments ||
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[RUDAW.NET] The Kurdistan Regional Government is considering altering its oil and budget agreement with Baghdad, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has told news hounds.
Speaking to the press during a visit to Sulaimani's Farouk hospital Sunday, Barzani avoided specifics but said changes must be made to the deal.
"The Kurdistan Region was fully attached, but Baghdad did not stick to the deal... We want to sign a new deal with Baghdad as some of the articles need to be changed," he said.
"We agreed with Baghdad for 2015 that the Kurdistan Region will deliver 550,000 oil barrels per day and Baghdad would send Kurdistan its revenue share, estimated at 1.2 trillion dinars ($1 billion), but unfortunately they didn't stick to the deal," Barzani added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[RFERL.ORG] An Iraqi official says Islamic State (IS) militants were responsible for staging a prison break in Iraq in which around 50 inmates and a dozen policemen were killed.
Reuters cites Udi al-Khadran, the mayor of the town where the prison is located, as saying on May 9 that IS militants were responsible for the killings and release of prisoners.
Iraq's Interior Ministry said at least 40 inmates escaped from the Khalis Prison in Diyala Province after guards were overpowered and stripped of their weapons after trying to break up a fight.
The ministry had earlier denied claims by IS militants that they had staged the prison break.
Many of those who escaped were wanted on terrorism charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[Business World] On Saturday an editorial by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said that Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. "should atone for the various sins of his father" committed against the Philippines and could do so by "supporting the passage of a good [Bangsamoro Basic Law] BBL in the Senate."
Mr. Marcos cannot atone for those "sins" if he uses "many precious days for hearings that are not extremely necessary or whose outcome can safely be predicted," said the editorial posted on the MILF's official Web site.
The Moro militant group was referring to unfinished hearings on the BBL in Jolo and Zamboanga, which are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday this week.
The MILF blamed the "massacres of thousands of Moros in Mindanao" to the senator's father, including alleged massacres in Sultan Kudarat and Sulu. Under the Marcos dictatorship, more than 3,000 individuals were killed, 35,000 were tortured, and 70,000 were detained.
The MILF also referred to a news report where Marcos was quoted saying that his committee will not rush the BBL hearings. The militants said that this is "perfectly fine, but [if] it is meant to delay, then that is another matter. Anyone who deliberately impedes the passage of the BBL will be judged by the people in many ways."
Posted by: ryuge ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front
#1
Better pass it quick ...
* PHILIPPINE STAR > MALAYSIA INVITES MNLF FOR TALKS ON SABAH, SARAWAK, i.e. incorporating or adding same to a future Bangsamoro Republic ostensibly comprised of ...
> BASILAN.
> PALAWAN ISLAND.
> SULU.
> TAWI-TAWI.
VERSUS
* SAME > [Anonymous PH Official] "LACK OF POLITICAL WILL, SECURITY ALLOWED CHINA EXPANSION".
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > US PENTAGON: CHINA TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES, SCS RELAMATIONS THREATEN US CUTTING EDGE.
* RELATED WORLD NEWS > SOUTH CHINA SEA RECLAMATIONS THREATENING/WEAKENING THE FUTURE.
Yuuup.
How much threatening or weaker does it need to be iff the so-called "weak/declining", STILL SELF/UNILATERALLY RETREATING = FALLING-BACK-TO-CONUS USA has to sink or destroy Guam + other Pacific Isles to prevent the MilPol utility of its Harbors + Airfields, etc. to a now stronger China + PLA, + Nuclear Islam-Jihad.
OWG GLOBALIST CO-SUPERPOWERHOOD = PARITY WID THE USA, NOT INFERIORITY AGZ THE USA = JUST AS THE US SINKS GUAM + PACIFIC ISLANDS, SO ALSO CAN THE US ITSELF [large areas] BE SUNK BY SIBLING CO-SUPERPOWERS RUSSIA, CHINA + IRAN, ETC.
As I've said or inferred times before, RUNNING AWAY TO THE SEEMING SAFETY + SECURITY OF THE USA MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO SAVE ANYONE AT ALL FROM THE CHANGES THE GLOBIES HATH WROUGHT, unto themselves + entire World.
* FYI RUSSIA TODAY > US GOING AFTER RUSSIA, VENEZUELA AS IT LOSES GOBA INFLUENCE - MADURO [Venezuela Presidente' Nicholas M.] TO RT.
MADURO = ... ... In addition to the US also going China in order to stop or impede US-FEARED CHINA'S INCREASING ECON GROWTH + NEWFOUND GLOBAL CREDIBILITY.
[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] The Lebanese Army will not "slip" into engaging in any war inside the Syrian area of Qalamoun, where Hezbollah and the Syrian Army are currently fighting jihadis, Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi said.
According to a report by the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat newspaper's Sunday release, Kahwagi assured security officials in a meeting Saturday that the Army "is ready to confront any assault on Lebanese illusory sovereignty and push back any infiltration of myrmidons."
However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... he also emphasized that the military's responsibilities "are limited to dealing with attacks on Lebanese territory," saying it will not "slip into participation."
Quoting Army sources, Al-Hayat said that officials were positive about Leb's safety in light of the escalation near its borders, and assured that "the security situation in under control."
The spillover to Leb is not expected to exceed what has already happened, which saw random mortars fired by bandidosbandidos hard boys on eastern Lebanese villages, the officials suggested.
Hezbollah and the Syrian Army have been engaged in fierce battle with Syrian rebels and jihadis near the eastern Lebanese borders in the Qalamoun hills.
During the last few days of battles, bandidosbandidos hard boys were forced to withdraw and the Hezbollah-backed Syrian troops took over large hills in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] A senior Iranian police official said that a man has been incarcerated Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in connection with a female hotel worker's death, which has triggered protests and riots in the country's Kurdish Mahabad region, the Tasnim news agency reported.
It quoted Saeed Montazer Almahdi, Iran's deputy police chief, as saying that the suspect had confessed to being with Farinaz Khosrawani when she fell to her death from the fourth floor of the Tara Hotel.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Bangura, said Thursday, in a UN briefing to journalists, that sexual violence against females is being committed strategically and systematically by Islamic State operatives in Syria and Iraq on a regular basis, according to the UN News Center.
And if there is any group that knows anything about sexual violence against women, it's the UN international peacekeepers...
“Women and girls are at risk and under assault at every point of their lives,” Bangura said of females living in the shadow of IS.
The UN representative traveled to the Middle East mid-to-late April to meet with women who escaped the wrath of Islamic State fighters. She talked to women in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and heard tales of forced and underage marriage, captivity, sex trafficking, and sexual violence.
Bangura said young girls were categorized, stripped, and shipped naked to slave bazaars to be examined and distributed amongst IS fighters.
In other words, life as usual...in the 7th Century...
“ISIS has institutionalized sexual violence and the brutalization of women as a central aspect of their ideology and operations, using it as a tactic of terrorism to advance their key strategic objectives,” Bangura described.
She told the story of a young woman who was married over 20 times, forced to undergo surgery to restore her virginity at the end of each coerced union.
I'm not sure that's possible...
The labia are sewn together, mimicking a hymen, I imagine. It's as true virginity as these are true marriages.
Sexual violence, according to Dangura, was not only used to satisfy promises made to fighters, but also as a means to humiliate dissenters, draw intelligence information, and dismantle traditional familial and social norms so that the structure of a new caliphate could be formed.
Bangura requested that the UN Security Council beef up its counter-terrorism agenda with a clause that would work for the protection and empowerment of women in hostile, conflict-driven zones. She also expressed concern that children born out of rape, unable to register, would give rise to a generation of "stateless children," whose vulnerability could give rise to future extremism.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
this violence against women in ISIS territory is only more extreme version of the same thing that occurs in many, perhaps the majority, of Islamic neighborhoods in non Islamic lands
occasionally, one of the numerous women's right orgs issues a denouncement of this but never follows through
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/11/2015 8:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Lord Garth, feminists realize that it is just Muslim culture, so they get a pass.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/11/2015 9:19 Comments ||
Top||
#3
At three, I learned sharia. At ten, I learned jihad. I hear they bought a bride for me. I hope she's six.
Tradition!
#10
As per #2, D *** NG IT, BE QUIET NOW, I'M TRYING TO HEAR THE CRICKETS = US, WESTERN FEMINAZI CONDEMNATION OF THESE HARD BOY ACTS IN DEFENSE OF THEIR MUSLIM SISTERS.
Still nuthin.
Like the last time, + time before, + time before that, + .... ....@etc.
[ARA] Local sources from the IS-held city of Raqqa reported Friday that the 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.... group (IS/ISIS) prevents importation of some food products that Syrian residents used to consume.
One of the residents of Raqqa told ARA News (on the condition of anonymity) that the group banned food products such as "Andumi and cubes of Maggie", justifying that such products are unhealthy and contradict Sharia teachings.
Speaking to ARA News in Raqqa, local activist Suhair Khalil described the living conditions in the city as "miserable".
"The IS murderous Moslems are imposing their fist on all aspects of life. Although they're unable to provide residents with any food supply, they still ban civilians from importing basic food products to the city of Raqqa," she said.
"Life became unbearable in Raqqa, but people are stranded in the city and are not allowed to leave. They're obliged to endure these miserable conditions under the rule of this radical group."
"Civilians are tremendously terrorized by the group," the source added.
In a related development, activists said that the group banned wearing shoes and clothing of specific brands that have connotations and meanings contrary to Islamic principles.
Khalil told ARA News that some brands and signs may have sexual meaning as a "Nike, Whore, Vicar, Vixen and Bad Boy". "The group doesn't accept such signs appear on the clothes of residents in Raqqa."
Media activist Asaad Amir told ARA News on the phone that the shortage information about the daily life of civilians in Raqqa "makes the situation more tragic".
"It's quite hard to obtain accurate information about the nature of life in the city of Raqqa," he added.
Amir believes that fear makes people "more silent" in Raqqa. "There are a lot of untold stories that should be brought to the public attention about people's miserable life under ISIS."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2015 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
In a related development, activists said that the group banned wearing shoes and clothing of specific brands that have connotations and meanings contrary to Islamic principles.
Khalil told ARA News that some brands and signs may have sexual meaning as a "Nike, Whore, Vicar, Vixen and Bad Boy". "The group doesn't accept such signs appear on the clothes of residents in Raqqa."
"Kardashian apparel is ok, though"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/11/2015 9:28 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I was like "cubes of Maggie"? But it turns out they are real.
"...Maggi is an international brand of instant soups, stocks, bouillon cubes, ketchups, sauces, seasonings and instant noodles. Owned by Nestlé since 1947..."
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.
[PULSE.NG] Abubakar Shekau is nowhere to be found.
A purported satellite command center stands about 400 m from former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's residence in Pyongyang, satellite imagery suggests. Kim died in 2011. The imagery matches an aerial picture of the facility shown on the North Korean state TV on Sunday, while the residence is reportedly still sometimes used by current leader Pudgy Kim Jong-un.
[RFERL.ORG] An Iraqi official says Islamic State (IS) militants were responsible for staging a prison break in Iraq in which around 50 inmates and a dozen policemen were killed.
[Business World] On Saturday an editorial by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front said that Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr. "should atone for the various sins of his father" committed against the Philippines and could do so by "supporting the passage of a good [Bangsamoro Basic Law] BBL in the Senate."
[ARA] Local sources from the IS-held city of Raqqa reported Friday that the 
