[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Kingdom of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... will host an international conference of the religious scholars in coming days regarding the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
The Afghanistan High Peace Council officials are saying that religious scholars from 37 countries have said that they will participate in the conference.
High Peace Council front man Ehsanullah Taheri said the religious scholars from Pakistain will also take part in the conference.
Taheri further added that the conference will be organized with the support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
He said the participants of the conference will review the ongoing war in Afghanistan from the perspectives of Islam and Sharia.
This comes as efforts are underway to end the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan through peaceful negotiations.
However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... the Taliban ...Arabic for students... group has so far refrained to respond positively to the ongoing efforts for the revival of peace talks.
In the meantime, the High Peace Council Secretariat Chief Mohammad Akram Khpalwak informed regarding the possible launch of direct talks as he was briefing the politicians in the Lower House of the Parliament on Wednesday.
Khpalwak further added that they hope to see a positive outcome regarding the ceasefire and direct talks taking into consideration the national consensus, regional and international support for the reconciliation process.
According to Khpalwak, the recent uprisings for reconciliation, specifically the recent stance announced by Saudi Imams, have created a best opportunity for the peace talks.
He also added that the High Peace Council and government are fully prepared for the peace talks and consider the situation as viable for the grinding of the peace processor.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2018 00:00 ||
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[PRESSTV] The leader of Yemen's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement says the Saudi coalition's aim is to carry out the Zionist regime's goals in the region.
The enemy is using lies and excuses to justify its attack on our western coast, but their goal is to take over the whole country including its islands, coast and ports, said Abdul-Malik al-Houthi on Saturday.
He noted that the invading forces' agenda came to light after rejecting the UN envoys initiative on the city of Hudaydah.
While praising the role of popular forces for supporting Yemeni troops in the western coast, Houthi called on the nation to continue reinforcing the battle against the aggressors.
"The invaders thought that they could take over the western coast overnight and easily conquer the coastal region, but their failure has become known to everyone," he added.
He made the remarks after Yemen’s deposed President rejected an offer by the UN envoy that would have placed Hudaydah under the UN supervision.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2018 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] World's third largest shipping container group cites Trump administration in decision to cease servicing Islamic Theocratic Republic
The world’s third largest shipping container group, the French-owned CMA CGM, has decided to withdraw from Iran over the threat of US sanctions, its chief executive said Saturday.
"Because of the Trump administration, we have decided to end our service to Iran," Rodolphe Saade told an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence in southern La Belle France.
"Our Chinese competitors are hesitating a bit, so they may have different relationships with the Trump administration."
In 2016 the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines allowing it to lease spaces for vessels, operate joint shipping lines, and cooperate on the use of port terminals.
US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... announced in early May the unilateral withdrawal of the US from the Iran nuclear deal and the reinstatement of sanctions against the country, as well as against foreign companies who do business with it.
Washington said the sanctions would be immediate for new contracts and gave companies already working there up to 180 days to cease trading.
On Friday, the remaining partners in the 2015 nuclear deal vowed to keep Iran plugged into the global economy despite the US withdrawal and sanctions threat.
Britannia, La Belle France, and Germany along with Russia and China met with Iran in Vienna to offer economic benefits and assurances that would lessen the blow of sweeping US sanctions announced by Trump.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif praised them for their "will to resist" US pressure at a Vienna news conference broadcast by the Fars news agency.
The foreign ministers Friday agreed on an 11-point list of joint goals in the Austrian capital, where the accord was signed with the aim of stopping Iran from building the atomic bomb in return for sanctions relief.
In the joint statement, they reconfirmed their commitment to the deal and its "economic dividends" for Iran, which has suffered worsening financial turbulence since Trump abandoned the accord, and vowed to work for "the protection of companies from the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions."
Although there were no concrete pledges or deadlines, they also vowed efforts to keep open financial channels with Iran, promote export credit cover, and maintain open air, sea, and overland transport links.
[MadworldNews] After okaying a 20-foot-tall "Trump Baby" balloon to be flown over Parliament Square for the U.S. President’s arrival, London’s Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan just received the perfect dose of his own medicine.
When Barack Obama was elected president, the left strangely lost their sense of humor in regards to satirizing the presidency. Eight years later, they’ve suddenly rediscovered the art of parody, relentlessly mocking President Donald Trump without end.
Unfortunately, the vitriol from the left has completely clouded what little rationality they had, causing them to spiral into desperation and insanity. Of course, their unhinged rage has produced little more than pitiful and cringe-worthy protests ‐ and it’s only making the case for Trump 2020.
Continued on Page 49
#2
I'm cheered by the fact they have no actual arguments and are just resorting to insults.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
07/08/2018 6:46 Comments ||
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#3
I'm afraid there will be sharp implements at the state dinner. Could someone warn London police that unsafe implements may be used and have someone dull them immediately?
Posted by: Regular joe ||
07/08/2018 12:34 Comments ||
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#7
It'd only take one arrow from a compound bow to deflate that thing, right?
True, but until you know what's in it you may not want to. That thing is big enough to lift a bit of plutonium dust beyond the range of the street side radiation sensors or disperse several gallons of a sarin solution.
[WSJ] Ottoman Turkish authorities dismissed more than 18,000 state employees for alleged ties to terror groups on Sunday, a dramatic extension of mass purges launched after the 2016 failed military coup as President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... is about begin a new term with vastly expanded executive powers.
An emergency decree published in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... ’s Official Gazette listed the names, saying they had been "removed from public duty" over their alleged links to organizations that "act against national security."
The list, which was reviewed during a cabinet meeting convened by Mr. Erdogan last month, included nearly 9,000 coppers, over 6,000 military personnel, and about 1,000 employees from the justice ministry.
The decree was released on the eve of a ceremony in Ankara, Turkey’s capital city, during which Mr. Erdogan is due to be sworn in for a new five-year mandate following his victory in the June 24 presidential election.
Ottoman Turkish authorities say they aren’t done tracking supporters of Fetullah Gulen, a Ottoman Turkishholy man residing in the U.S. and once an ally of Mr. Erdogan, whom the president accuses of fomenting the failed coup.
Mr. Gulen denies playing any role in the coup attempt.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/08/2018 09:45 ||
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#1
Turkish authorities say they aren’t done tracking supporters of Fetullah Gulen,
It's only been what, two years now? This could take decades!
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2018 17:04 Comments ||
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#3
Date line November, 2022
Turkish authorities announce the coup against President For Life Pasha Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally been put down now that the entire civilian population of Turkey has been arrested. A government spokesman in Ankara said "The Gulenists have finally been defeated."
[AlAhram] Lawmakers Saturday began taking their oaths in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... 's new parliament, with the ruling party of President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... needing to rely on nationalist allies to ensure an overall majority.
Legislative polls were held simultaneously on June 24 with presidential polls, where Erdogan won a new mandate to extend his 15 year domination of Turkey under a new system that gives him greater powers.
But Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was less dominant in the parliamentary elections, winning 295 seats and falling slightly short of an outright majority in the 600 MP chamber.
To ensure a majority it will have to rely on its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) which won 49 seats in a far stronger performance than was predicted.
Analysts say the MHP could push the AKP into a harder line on Kurdish issues and foreign policy.
Opposition will be led by the secular Republican People's Party (CHP) which won 146 seats in the parliament.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which has been hit by a spate of detentions of its top figures, is the second largest opposition party with 67 seats.
The right-wing Iyi (Good) Party of Meral Aksener enters parliament for the first time after it was set up in October last year with 43 seats.
In a a speech to the AKP MPs ahead of the session, Erdogan said they had emerged as the largest party but nonetheless had "fallen short of the target" and needed to "correctly evaluate" the results.
The new MPs began the lengthy process of taking their oaths individually in a session chaired by senior Good Party member Durmus Yilmaz as temporary speaker. The process of swearing in each MP is expected to last until late into the night.
The AKP is expected to nominate outgoing Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, whose post is being extinguished under the new system, as permanent speaker but this has yet to be confirmed.
The new parliament is set to include some colourful characters as the AKP seeks to bring in figures from outside politics.
Former Turkey international footballer Alpay Ozalan, who famously taunted David Beckham in a notorious Euro 2004 qualifier, has been elected for the AKP.
Also elected for the AKP is the former world Supersport cycle of violence champion Kenan Sofuoglu, who raised eyebrows by showing for the ceremony in a Lamborghini sports car.
A high-profile new MP for the HDP is the investigative journalist Ahmet Sik, who was handed a seven-and-a-half year jail sentence in April along with other staff from the opposition Cumhuriyet daily but is free pending appeal.
Erdogan is himself to be sworn in at parliament on Monday, followed by a lavish ceremony at his palace marking the transition to the new presidential system. He said 22 presidents and 17 premiers of foreign states were expected to attend.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/08/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Turkey's inflation rate hit an annualized 15% in June per initial reports.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/08/2018 1:20 Comments ||
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[PRESSTV] President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... has reiterated The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s determination to eradicate the threat of "terror", saying Ankara will continue its military operation in northern Iraq until the elimination of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"We won't stop until we completely wipe off terror from our borders. The operations will continue until the PKK terror group is removed from Qandil and if needed from Sinjar," Erdogan said, while addressing members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in parliament on Saturday.
This as Ottoman Turkish military said on the same day that its warplanes had killed at least eight PKK Death Eaters in northern Iraq as well as Turkey’s restive southeastern Mardin province on Friday and Saturday.
The Ottoman Turkish General Staff wrote on its official Twitter account that fighter jets had conducted Arclight airstrikes in northern Iraq's Sinat-Haftanin regions and in the Omerli district of Mardin province, which is near the Syrian and Iraqi border.
In recent months, Ankara has stepped up air raids against suspected PKK positions in northern Iraq, particularly its stronghold in the Qandil Mountains. The Ottoman Turkish government has said it might launch a ground offensive into the rugged area, where top PKK members are believed to be stationed.
On June 8, Ottoman Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said troops had been "deployed in a 300-kilometer area, in 30 kilometers deep in northern Iraq" for a declared goal of eliminating PKK murderous Moslems. His comments came just a day after Erdogan said Ankara might strike the Iraqi city of Qandil "at any moment one evening."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Turkey is really, really starting to look like France under the Bourbon Kings, Picking wars with everybody on their borders: Greece, Crete, Syria, Iraq, and Armenia -- who's next?
[DAWN] An antiterrorism court on Friday heard arguments from the defence and complainant’s counsel on the forensic investigation report regarding presence of the then SSP Malir Rao Anwar at the site where Naqeebullah Mehsud and three others were allegedly killed in a ’staged’ encounter.
The ATC-II judge had directed the defence and complainant’s counsel to argue on the Call Data Record (CDR) and geofencing reports relating to location and calls’ record of the mobile phones under use of the suspended SSP on Jan 13, when the alleged fake encounter took place in Malir.
The suspended SSP and his 11 detained subordinates along with around 15 absconding officers are accused of abducting an aspiring model hailing from South Wazoo, Naseemullah, better known as Naqeebullah Mehsud, for ransom and killing him with three other detainees by dubbing them as "militants" in a staged encounter in Malir.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday obtained arrest warrants of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law retired Capt Safdar, a spokesperson of the bureau said.
The development comes a day after an accountability court awarded 10 years in prison to ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield properties reference, while his daughter Maryam Nawaz and her husband were sentenced to seven years and one-year imprisonment, respectively, for abetment.
Besides, a NAB team has already left for Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to arrest Safdar, the spokesperson said, adding that the caretaker government in the province has also been approached for their assistance in carrying out the arrest.
The spokesperson said that NAB has also obtained a copy of the detailed verdict, and will ensure its implementation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
So, he'll stay in London. Permanently
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/08/2018 8:06 Comments ||
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#2
Why doesn't the US have a National Accountability Bureau? I'd love to see Mueller and his crew be held accountable.
[Rudaw] US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman and KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani broke ground at the site of the construction of the new US consulate in Erbil on Friday morning.
Silliman hailed the construction as a "strong symbol of the continued strong relationship between the United States and the Kurdistan Region for decades in the future."
Barzani declared the construction of the new complex as a sign to the world "that America wants to stay in Iraq, that America wants to remain in Kurdistan, that America wants to develop its ties. This aspect ‐ for our people, for Iraq, and for America ‐ is very important."
The building will be the US’ largest consulate complex worldwide and one of their most modern facilities.
"We will be able to do many, many new and different things in Kurdistan and we are looking forward with great excitement to beginning the construction and then the completion as soon as possible," said Silliman.
Erbil Governor Nawzad Hadi, US Consul Ken Gross, KRG Minister of Tourism and Municipalities Newroz Mawlood Amin, and the consulate's building operations director Aziz Younes also took part in the groundbreaking ceremony.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement has announced the return of more than two million displaced person to their regions in Nineveh.
In a statement, Abbas Jahakir, official from the ministry, said "camps of al-Jadaa, al-Haj Ali, al-Khazer and Hassan Sham witnessed the return of 2,259 persons to liberated regions in Nineveh over the past two days."
"550 displaced persons returned to their regions on Tal Afar town and Rabeia, Zumar, Aiyadhiya and al-Kesk from al-Haj Ali camp, while al-Jadaa camps saw the return of 586 displaced to their regions in western and eastern djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Majarin, Tal Abta and al-Mahlabiya, in addition to Makhmur, Tal Afar, Baaj, Zumar and Rabeia."
The statement also added that "al-Khazer and Hassan Sham camps witnessed the return of 1,123 people to their regions at al-Samah, al-Nahrawan, al-Resala, al-Qussiyat, al-Kesk, al-Mahlabiya, Tal al-Rumman and Rajm al-Hadid in addition to Tal Afar, Zumar and Baaj."
The ministry had allocated buses to transfer the displaced families to their region in addition to other trucks to transfer the furniture, in cooperation with Transportation Ministry and the Joint Operations Command.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/08/2018 00:00 ||
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Two thousand years deep, despite Muslim attemps over the centuries to cut them off, grub them out, and burn what remains..
[IsraelTimes] Today, members of the faith make up only 4% of the region's population, down from 20% before WWI
Christians have been rooted in the Middle East as minority communities since the birth of the religion, but their numbers are dwindling amid conflict and jihadist attacks.
Today they make up only four percent of the region’s population, down from 20% before the First World War, Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said this month.
Pope Francis on Saturday voiced concern that Christians will eventually disappear from the region amid "murderous indifference" to their plight.
Here is a breakdown of the main Christian presence in the Middle East.
Egypt
Coptic Orthodox is the largest Christian denomination both in the region and in Egypt, where its members make up some 10 percent of the population.
They have little representation in government though, and have been targeted in anti-Christian attacks that have multiplied since 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 appeared.
Since December 2016 more than 100 people have been killed in anti-Christian attacks in Egypt claimed by IS.
In April 2017 Copts were targeted in bombing attacks on two churches on Palm Sunday, killing 45 people.
The following month, button menrubbed out about 30 Christians who refused to renounce their faith.
Iraq
Chaldean Christians numbered 1.5 million in Iraq before the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein but their numbers have since plummeted to less than 500,000, according to Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, appointed cardinal by the pope in June.
Many fled from the sectarian violence that followed Saddam’s ouster.
They were also pushed out of parts of northern Iraq in 2014 as IS jihadists seized control of vast swathes of territory.
Qaraqosh, once home to the country’s greatest concentration of Christians, was recaptured by Iraqi forces in October 2016.
Syria
Catholic and Orthodox sects comprise the majority of Christians in Syria, where they represented between five and nine percent of the population before civil unrest erupted in 2011.
According to the Chaldean bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, half of Syria’s 1.5 million Christians have fled the country to escape the war.
Syria’s Christians have mostly sought neutrality throughout the conflict, while fearing the rise of jihadist groups. Many backed Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... for that reason.
Churches have been damaged or destroyed since 2011 and large numbers of Christians have been murdered or kidnapped.
Leb
Lebanese Christians, most of them Maronite Catholics, are the second largest group of Christians in the Middle East after the Egyptian Copts.
Today they represent less than 35 percent of Leb’s population, although there are no official statistics.
Leb has a Christian president ‐ the only one in the region ‐ under a power-sharing and parity arrangement that means there is a Sunni Moslem premier and a Shiite parliamentary speaker.
Israel, Paleostinian Territories
There are around 160,000 Israeli Christians, the vast majority of them Arabs in the north, representing about two percent of the population.
In the West Bank ‐ mainly in Bethlehem and Ramallah ‐ and East Jerusalem, there are nearly 50,000 Christians of various denominations.
Although now a minority in Bethlehem, where the Bible says Jesus was born, Christians play a central economic role.
In the Gazoo Strip the number of Christians, mostly Greek Orthodox, is in steady decline since the Islamist Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", movement took power in 2007.
Jordan
Greek Orthodoxy and Catholicism are the largest Christian denominations in Jordan, where they make up about six percent of the population.
There are Christian members of parliament and members of the community play prominent rolls in society.
[IsraelTimes] Pope Francis denounced the "complicit silence" that has allowed violence to consume the Middle East and drive tens of thousands of Christians from their homes, during a remarkable gathering Saturday of Orthodox patriarchs and Catholic leaders united in praying for peace in the region.
Francis hosted the daylong ecumenical service in the symbolically rich Adriatic port city of Bari, considered a bridge between East and West and home to the relics of St. Nicholas, an important saint in the Orthodox world.
Francis greeted the patriarchs outside the Basilica of St. Nicholas and together they descended to the crypt to pray before the relics and light a flame for peace symbolizing the unity of Christians.
For years, the Vatican has voiced concern about the plight of Christians driven from Mideast communities that date to the time of Christ. Just last week, Francis decried intensified attacks in southern Syria that killed scores of people and forced tens of thousands to flee.
Among the patriarchs on hand was the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, as well as patriarchs from ancient churches of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Notably absent from the gathering was Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has been a strong supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin ...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances... ’s military intervention in Syria. Kirill sent his deputy, Metropolitan Hilarion.
[DAWN] Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday that an Indian Islamic preacher allegedly wanted in his home country for terror-related activities and hate speech will not be sent back.
Zakir Naik, a television preacher, reportedly left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to largely Moslem Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency.
According to Indian media reports, New Delhi asked for him to be extradited in January. The two countries have an extradition treaty.
"As long as he is not creating any problem, we will not deport him because he has been given permanent residency status," Mahathir said at a news conference in administrative capital Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur, when asked about the reports.
The reports say India had asked for Naik to be sent back for allegedly inciting youth to engage in terror activities via his hate speeches.
Naik, 52, has described the media reports as "totally baseless and false", adding that he has no plans to return to India until he felt "safe from unfair prosecution".
In 2010 Naik was reportedly barred from entering Britannia after the Home Secretary cited "numerous comments" which showed his "unacceptable behaviour".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/08/2018 00:00 ||
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Eight minute video with English subtitles at the link. Raqqa looks slightly better than I imagine Dresden did after the fire bombings... but it’s good the residents are not waiting for the Syrian government to take care of the situation for them.
[Rudaw] In sweltering heat, residents of Raqqa earn a living clearing the rubble of war-damaged homes, saving what is salvageable.
Since the defeat of ISIS in its one-time self-declared capital, the city of Raqqa has largely dropped off the front pages of the world’s newspapers.
But the story is far from over. The city needs to be rebuilt and the people of the city have shouldered that job.
Lack of electricity and drinkable water are major issues, as is transportation. The main bridges over the Euphrates River were destroyed in the fight for the city. Now, people rely on risk ferry trips that sometimes turn out deadly.
Raqqa was declared liberated from ISIS last October by SDF forces with the backing of the international coalition.
The UN estimates 138,000 people have returned to Raqqa since October and humanitarian agencies are slowly increasing their operations, though some 7,000 ISIS explosives left behind still pose a serious danger.
The city is under the administration of the Raqqa Civil Council. They say they have not received the aid they were promised to rebuild the city.
[Rudaw] The Syrian Network for Human Rights, a UK-based conflict monitor, has documented at least 186 massacres perpetrated by different parties across the country in the first half of 2018. Fifteen occurred in June.
In a new report, the monitor uses the term massacre "to refer to an incident in which five peaceful individuals or more are killed in the same attack."
Based on this definition, these massacres resulted in the death of 2,257 civilians ‐ 660 of them children and 479 of them women.
"This means that 51 percent of all victims were women and kiddies," the report said.
The research is based news reports, survivor accounts, eyewitnesses, local media activists, and videos and photographs posted online or sent to the monitor by local activists.
Forces loyal to the Syrian regime of Bashir al-Assad were found to be responsible for 122 of these massacres ‐ killing 1,502 civilians, including 385 children and 295 women.
Russian forces were found to be responsible for 24 massacres ‐ killing 291 civilians, including 103 children and 68 women.
International coalition forces, which include the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), were found to be responsible for 15 massacres ‐ killing 199 civilians, including 101 children and 55 women.
Without naming the specific organizations, the report accuses "Kurdish self-management forces" of committing three massacres ‐ killing 28 civilians, including one child and 12 women.
A further 22 massacres were perpetrated by other parties ‐ killing 237 civilians, including 70 children and 49 women. Although these parties are not names, they could include ISIS, assorted Syrian opposition rebel groups, forces tied to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... ’s Operation Olive Branch and Operation Euphrates Shield, and Iran-backed militias.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights accused the Syrian regime of crimes against humanity, and its Russian backers of war crimes.
"Syrian-Russian alliance forces have violated Security Council resolutions 2139 and 2254 through indiscriminate attacks. Also, The Syrian and Russian regime have violated Article 7 and 8 of Rome Statute through the act of willful killing, as well as the rules of the international human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... law which guarantee the right to life," the monitor said.
"Given that these violations were committed in a non-international armed conflict, they qualify as war crimes."
It called on the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate.
It also criticized the coalition for failing to take adequate steps to protect civilian life.
"Attacks by Coalition forces (the international coalition and SDF) have caused collateral damages that involved loss of lives, injuries, or significant damages to civilian facilities," the report said.
"There are strong indicators suggesting that the damage was too excessive compared to the anticipated military benefit."
The report called on states that support the Kurdish-led SDF to pressure these forces to comply with international law and to end support and provision of weaponry.
"Armed opposition factions should distinguish between civilians and military targets, and cease any indiscriminate attacks," the report added.
[AnNahar] Thousands of displaced Syrians were heading home Saturday after rebels and the government reached a ceasefire deal in the south following more than two weeks of deadly bombardment, a monitor said.
Under the agreement announced Friday after talks between rebels and regime ally Moscow, opposition fighters will hand over territory and heavy weapons in Daraa province near the Jordanian border.
The Russia-backed regime offensive has displaced around 320,000 people since June 19, the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... says, including tens of thousands who fled south to the sealed border with Jordan.
Calm reigned over the region on Saturday as the two sides finalized the ceasefire deal, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
"People have started to return to their homes since yesterday, taking advantage of the calm," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
"More than 20,000 people have set off for home so far, heading to areas for which an accord has been reached in the southeastern Daraa countryside," he said.
But others "are scared to return to regime-controlled areas, fearing their children will be locked away Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! ," Abdel Rahman said.
The accord follows a string of similar deals with rebels for other areas of Syria, which have seen the regime retake more than 60 percent of the country, according to the Observatory.
A government takeover of Daraa would be a symbolic victory for Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... as the province was the cradle of the uprising against him seven years ago that led to civil war.
More than 150 civilians have been killed in the regime bombing campaign on Daraa since June 19, the Observatory says.
Under Friday's deal, rebels are expected to hand over their heavy weapons, while those who reject the agreement will be bused with their families to the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, state media has said.
Government forces will also take over "all observation posts along the Syrian-Jordanian border," it said Friday, hours after the regime regained control of the vital Nassib border crossing with Jordan.
On Saturday, "regime forces sent more reinforcements to the border crossing," Abdel Rahman said.
More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.
Samir (pseudonym), a resident of Daraa who escaped the area, told Ynet that government officials had made it clear to him that he can be arrested even though he didn't participate in the fighting.
"I wish the border will move so that we will be a part of Israel's territory, and Assad will not come to us," he said.
According to Samir, the rebels' surrender symbolizes Assad's victory: "Today they have finished Daraa, and with it—the revolution."
When asked where he was heading, Samir replied that he was going to Quneitra, but that "no one knows what happened to it."
According to the cease-fire agreement signed Friday between Russia and the rebels, control over many areas in the south of Syria will be returned to the Assad regime, including all border crossings along the border with Jordan. The agreement also states that all opposition groups will hand over their weapons, and all families, excluding rebel fighters, can return to their homes. After the rebels leave, the agreement stipulates, institutions in the region will resume operations.
The Al-Hayat newspaper reported that many rebels and refugees expressed their dissatisfaction with the agreement, saying they could have attained better conditions than those mediated by the Russians. The newspaper adds that another round of talks is expected to be held soon, in order to settle the situation in areas that have not been discussed with the Russians.
'If the world wants stability in Syria—Assad needs to go'
Said, who left Syria three years ago, lamented the fact that the civil uprising against Assad's regime is slowly dying, but noted that circumstances in the country will remain the same as long as Assad is in power.
"If the world wants to restore security and stability to Syria, Assad and his men should go," Said asserted.
"In the 2014 elections, we could not have voted for any other candidate. Aside from Assad, no one knew who was running against him, because his opposition is outside of Syria," he explained.
Said added that when he entered the local polling station on the day of the elections, a security guard accompanied him. "The regime takes families away from countries that assisted Assad, like Iran, and disperses them in Syria as if they were ordinary citizens… We must get rid of all armed militias—especially the Iranians and Hezbollah—bring all criminals to justice, and hand over the reins to the people themselves."
Meanwhile, Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesman in Arabic, published a picture drawn by a Syrian girl who was hospitalized in an Israeli hospital after being evacuated from the fighting areas. "Thank you Israel for your love and support," it said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/08/2018 00:39 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
[PRESSTV] The leader of Yemen's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement says the Saudi coalition's aim is to carry out the Zionist regime's goals in the region.
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
Wazoo
[DAWN] The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday obtained arrest warrants of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law retired Capt Safdar, a spokesperson of the bureau said.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
