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Syria warns countries not to recognize opposition
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Jodi Lyn O'Keefe aka Cassidy Bridges in "Nash Bridges" aka Taylor Vaughan in "She's All That" aka Ashley Grant in "Whatever It Takes" aka Sarah Wainthrope in "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later" aka Lauren Randall in "The Crow: Salvation" aka Debbie Strand in "Teacher's Pet (2000)" aka Kylie Logan in "Red Rover" aka Layla Simmons in "Out for Blood" aka Kelly Weaver in "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising (Video Game)" (age 33)




Gam Grande

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/10/2011 4:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Others were born with style and grace
And cut fine figures at dances.
I was born with galoshes on,
But nobody else has Frances.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 10/10/2011 13:11 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Michael Yon Helmet Cam Of ANA Soldier Stepping On IED


Caution, very graphic
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/10/2011 14:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mods: please indicate (graphic).
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/10/2011 14:01 Comments || Top||

#2  really really need a warning on that one......
Posted by: Uneans Lover of the Visigoths9874 || 10/10/2011 14:46 Comments || Top||

#3  It's already been removed from YouTube
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 10/10/2011 16:09 Comments || Top||

#4  You can find the original on http://www.michaelyon-online.com/
Posted by: Creregum Glolump8403 || 10/10/2011 17:02 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm not going to watch it, this has no place on the Burg. I saw the real thing live in Mocambique '77, don't need to see it again, thanks. An American attached to the RLI joined what became known as the Crippled Eagles. BTW, the wonders of morphine in medical situations turned me against drugs for recreational use for ever.
Posted by: Rhodesiafever || 10/10/2011 20:59 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Anti-Gadhafi fighters make gains in Sirte
[Dawn] Libya's revolutionary forces seized a convention center Sunday that had served as a key base for fighters loyal to Moammar Qadaffy
...a reminder that a single man with an idea can screw up an entire nation...
in the runaway leader's hometown, as they squeezed remaining regime loyalists in the besieged coastal city.

The inability to take Sirte, the most important remaining stronghold of Qadaffy supporters, more than six weeks after anti-Qadaffy fighters seized the capital has stalled efforts by Libya's new leaders to set a timeline for elections and move forward with a transition to democracy.

Qadaffy supporters also hold the inland enclave of Bani Walid, where revolutionary forces have been stymied by challenging terrain.

But the transitional leadership has said it will declare liberation after Sirte's capture because that will mean it holds all of the seaports and harbors in the oil-rich Mediterranean coastal country.

Libya's de facto leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, head of the governing National Transitional Council, said Sunday that anti-Qadaffy fighters have made huge gains in Sirte and Bani Walid, southeast of the capital.

"I do believe, God willing, that the liberation of these cities will happen within this week," Abdul-Jalil told news hounds in Tripoli.

He said that revolutionary forces are advancing on Bani Walid from five sides, while Libyan fighters in Sirte have punched their way into the city center in fierce fighting and are now cleaning out pockets of resistance.

Located 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, Sirte is key to the physical unity of the nation of some 6 million people, since it lies roughly in the center of the coastal plain where most Libyans live, blocking the easiest routes between east and west.

After a three-week siege from the outskirts, revolutionary forces launched an all-out assault on Sirte on Friday, pounding the city with tank shells, field cannons, rockets and heavy machine guns.

Loyalists have put up fierce resistance, and fired back with sniper rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

On Sunday, the Ouagadougou Convention Center, an ornate complex that Qadaffy frequently used for international summits, lay in ruins.

Throughout the siege, Qadaffy fighters used the walled complex as a base and stronghold. From there they were able to dominate surrounding neighborhoods and assault revolutionaries trying to enter Sirte.

At the nearby Ibn Sina Hospital, scores of maimed civilians crowded the corridors, lying on gurneys and floors to protect them from the shelling and gunfire.

There was no electricity or water, and a handful of medical students and nurses were the only medical staff.

Revolutionary fighters roamed the hallways checking IDs and jugged about 25 people suspected of being Qadaffy fighters or mercenaries.

"These are all Qadaffy people. They are snipers and we have captured them," said Ahmed Rahman, a field commander, as his soldiers cuffed a suspected pro-Qadaffy sniper.

The revolutionary forces also now control the University of Sirte on the southern outskirts.

As they push forward, Qadaffy loyalists are fighting in an ever-shrinking defensive perimeter consisting only of a Qadaffy palace complex, some residential buildings and a hotel near Green Square in the city center.
Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Muslims, Copts clash near Cairo hospital, 19 Dead
[An Nahar] Sixteen Coptic Christian demonstrators and three soldiers were killed in festivities with security forces in the Egyptian capital on Sunday, an Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent said, having counted the bodies in a Cairo hospital.

Later, hundreds of Egyptian Mohammedans and Coptic Christians exchanged blows and threw stones near a Cairo hospital treating maimed from earlier deadly festivities, an Agence La Belle France Presse journalist witnessed.

The festivities took place near a hospital in the city center which had admitted people maimed in festivities earlier between Copts and security forces outside the state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
building that killed 19 people.

The hospital morgue housed the bodies of those killed.

Some 200 to 300 protesters had marched on the hospital to meet up with several hundred Christians already gathered there, including family members of the dead and an estimated 156 maimed.

Several cars were on fire in a large street next to the hospital, and Coptic protesters were tapping the cars to make petrol bombs.

"God is with us, Christ is with us. They want that it (the state) be Islamic, but we will not leave," said one of the demonstrators.

The Mohammedan protesters, for their part, chanted: "Islamic, Islamic", of their view for the Egyptian state.

Amid scenes of mayhem at a Coptic hospital filled with grieving relatives, a priest named Daud told AFP at least five of those killed were mowed down by an army vehicle.

"Here is the brain" of one of them, he said, pointing to white matter in a plastic bag next to the body and disfigured face of a dead man. "Wael, wake up my dear Wael. Speak to me," sobbed his sister in despair.

Other bodies bore gunshot wounds.

An earlier count gave 14 dead.

State television had reported that three soldiers were rubbed out and dozens of their comrades were maimed as angry Copts protested at the burning of a church in southern Egypt.

"They fired at my colleague. He was standing next to me... Christians, sons of dogs," a maimed soldier said on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
The protesters clashed with anti-riot police and soldiers guarding the building on the Nile in central Cairo, after thousands took part in a march from the Shobra district.

A standoff degenerated as the demonstrators started hurling stones and set fire to two cars, an AFP correspondent said. The television channel said an army vehicle was burnt.

Security forces had gun sex to disperse the crowd, sending dozens of people into flight.

"Down with the marshal," the demonstrators chanted on the march to Maspero, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who took power in February after president Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
's ouster in the face of mass street protests.

Hundreds of Copts also took part in a protest last Tuesday outside the state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
building in protest at the September 30 burning of the church in the southern province of Aswan and demanding that its governor be sacked.

The church in Merinab village was attacked after Aswan governor Mustafa al-Seyyed was reported as saying Copts had built it without the required planning permission, according to state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
Sectarian festivities are frequent in Egypt where the largest Coptic minority has often been the target of attack and repeatedly accuses the authorities of systematic discrimination.

Fifteen people died in festivities on May 7 after Mohammedan protesters attacked two churches because they believed the Christians were detaining a Mohammedan convert.

The attacks threatened to push Egypt's precarious religious tensions to the brink, prompting the caretaker cabinet to pledge it would reopen closed churches and ease building restrictions.

Copts make up roughly 10 percent of the country's 80 million people and they complain of state-sanctioned discrimination, including a law that requires presidential permission for church construction.

They have also been the targets of frequent attacks, the deadliest in January when a jacket wallah killed at least 20 people outside an Alexandria church.
Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It wasn't clashes and it wasn't gun sex. It was the Army firing live ammunition on Copts. But of course they were only filhy Kafirs.
Posted by: JFM || 10/10/2011 4:34 Comments || Top||

#2  good point JFM

the headline should have read, "Moslems murder Christians- Again"
Posted by: Lord Garth || 10/10/2011 7:08 Comments || Top||

#3  This is why Mubarak had to go, huh?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/10/2011 12:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Just a continuation of the freakin Arab Spring Ebbang. The Egyptian people just wanted freedom from their oppressive dictator( Whatever ).Just wait, christians will start dying in Libya before we know it and our fine "Nato" alliance will be partly to blame.
Posted by: Corgi Joe || 10/10/2011 19:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Coptic lady on Newsnight tonight saying this is orchestrated by the remnants of the Mubarrak regime, it will stop after elections are held. Mmm.
Posted by: Rhodesiafever || 10/10/2011 21:09 Comments || Top||


Libya NTC Forces Say They Control Bani Walid Airport
[An Nahar] Forces of Libya's new rulers said they took control on Sunday of the airport in Bani Walid, one of the last two bastions of fighters loyal to deposed despot Moammar Qadaffy
...a reminder that a single man with an idea can screw up an entire nation...

"Our forces have taken control of the airport of Bani Walid," located in the desert town's southwest, Yunes Mussa, commander of the National Transitional Council forces in the region, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

According to the joint command in Tripoli, heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting...
was raging on Sunday between NTC fighters and loyalists of the runaway Qadaffy around a kilometer (less than a mile) from the downtown area, which residents have abandoned.

The NTC forces have been trying for a month to gain control of Bani Walid, an oasis in rugged terrain where Qadaffy loyalists have been putting up fierce resistance.

NTC commanders are convinced that Qadaffy's most prominent son, Seif al-Islam, is in the town, as well as possibly the deposed strongman himself.

Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Yemen Shura Set to Elect New President
[Yemen Post] Following a presidential request, the Shura Council is scheduled to be meeting today in a general assembly to elect a new president. Since the death of former Prime Minister Abdul Aziz Abdu Ghani, the Council had been left without an appointed leader.

Ghani died from the wounds he sustained in the palace's June attack.

However it seems that the presidential decree has been received with little to no enthusiasm as the members of the Council feel that they being forced to comply with president Saleh's request, as the latter is trespassing onto the Shura Council's independence from the executive.

Saleh is believed to have passed on to the Council a short list of names, including figures such as Doctor Abdullah Albar and Doctor Abdul Salam al-Ansi.
Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Yemen president says he wants to leave power
[Dawn] President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower...
has made vague comments that he is willing to leave power in his first major speech since returning to Yemen, but he gave no concrete plan for the future of the country. Yemen's opposition cast doubt that the embattled leader was serious.

It was not the first time Saleh has expressed a willingness to step down amid eight months of mass protests demanding his ouster. Still, he has repeatedly refused to resign immediately and rejected a U.S.-backed deal for him to hand over his authority.

Saleh was gravely maimed in an kaboom at his presidential palace in June, after which he left to Soddy Arabia for treatment. During his absence, mediators and opposition groups sought to convince him to stay away and transfer power to his deputy -- a way to launch the regional power transfer deal. Saleh declined and returned abruptly to Yemen late last month.

A violent crackdown against Saleh's opponents followed, with outright street battles in the capital Sanaa between troops loyal to Saleh's son Ahmed and dissident military units and pro-opposition rustics. In the meantime, the longtime leader has come under a considerable pressure from the international community to step down.

His new declaration Saturday aired on state TV gave little clue to his intentions.

Saleh spoke to a gathering of politicians, his hands encased in beige medical gloves for the treatment of burns from the June bombing. He didn't shake hands with any of his guests, who instead, shook the hands of his deputy standing by his side.

"I never wanted power. I will reject power in the coming days. I will give it up," he said. "But there are men will take power. There are men who are true to their pledges, whether military or civilians, who will take power. They can never destroy the country."

He did not elaborate on whom he was referring to or give any firm commitment to resign. Saleh said he would meet with parliament in the coming days to "transparently discuss" the situation in Yemen.

Saleh railed against the opposition forces, which he accused of being behind the chaos on the country. He also said they failed to cooperate with his deputy, who took over some of his duties while he was away. He said the opposition groups are holders of a "dark and destructive project."

He ridiculed the opposition claims that he plans to transfer power to a member of his family. "How many are the president's sons? How big is the president's family? How many brothers or grandchildren? How many of those are in power?" Saleh said. Saleh's son Ahmed and several of the president's nephews control powerful military units, and Ahmed has long been seen as the heir apparent for the presidency.

Saleh said he returned from Soddy Arabia with "an olive branch and a dove of peace" but said his opponents failed to seize or understand his it or understand it. He also said that a major country had asked him to not to return to Yemen, a request he said he declined.

"I am not a 'transit' president," he said.

Opposition members were skeptical of Saleh's comments. Mohammed al-Sabri, an opposition front man, said Saleh's words were intended to generate headlines ahead of a U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday that is to discuss the failed efforts to convince Saleh to sign the power transfer deal.

"If the president was serious and is convinced that the public no longer wants him, he should do it today and not tomorrow," al-Sabri said.

Al-Sabri also claimed Saleh's speech was addressed to the West because it was aired at a time when there was no electricity in Yemen, and no one would be watching. Electricity in Sanaa has been sporadic -- sometimes off for as long as two days at a time -- since fighting flared last month.

"The Yemeni people are used to his lies. He has often promised things and never lived up to them," he said. "This is turning into a rerun for a soap opera."
Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ummm...didn't he already leave power?
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/10/2011 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  He was hospitalized in Saudi Arabia after getting blown up, Skidmark, but he went back. How he managed to hold on to power while he was out of the country is no doubt a tribute to his skill at maneuver and double dealing,
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/10/2011 11:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Stolen all that not nailed down by now. His job is done.,
Posted by: Hellfish || 10/10/2011 12:08 Comments || Top||

#4  "Stolen all that not nailed down by now. His job is done."

Nonsense, Hellfish. He still needs to steal the nails.
Posted by: Barbara || 10/10/2011 13:34 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
9 die in Zacatecas including 6 police
exclusive from Rantburg

For a map, click here. Additional information from Proceso

By Chris Covert

Nine individuals were found dead including six municipal police officers in two separate incidents in far western Zacatecas state Sunday morning according to Mexican news accounts.

The officers were part of the Valparaiso municipality police corporation and were to stake out a music concert being held in a remote mountain community between Zacatecas and Durango state in Ameca municipality.

The officers were found Sunday morning on the road to Ameca immolated in their official vehicles. Reports say armed suspects travelling aboard several trucks were seen near the concert in Ameca Saturday night. The police were apparently ambushed on their return leg.

Reports also say the police died when their attackers used a detonated 40mm grenade against them, which caused the fire.

The dead police were identified as Miguel �ngel Ramírez Fernandez, Pedro Oliveros Torres, Samuel Ochoa Padilla, Geronimo Matilde Gutierrez, Rogelio Martínez Martínez and José Refugio Alanis.

Zacatecas ministerial police agents investigating the murders also found three unidentified individuals who had been shot to death nearby also on the road to Ameca.

The dead trio were identified as Jose Manuel Rodriguez Padilla, 22, Carlos Quintero, 24, both of Ameca and Tomas Rodriguez Medina, 24 from Lagunita in Durango.

Violence in southern Zacatecas and in Jalisco has been ramping up as several cartels and minor gangs allied with the Sinaloa Cartel have been forming alliances to attack and destroy Los Zetas. A recent report by the US security consulting firm StratFor say it expects violence to reach its crescendo by the end of this year.

Zacatecas has kong been considered a Los Zetas stronghold, but with the new alliances dedicated to destroying Los Zetas and a successful series of large counternarcotics operations in southern Zacatecas and northern Jalisco by Mexican security forces last spring, Los Zetas' hold in the state may be slipping.

In related news, Zacatecas governor Miguel Alonso Reyes said at a Thursday press conference that ongoing fighting between Los Zetas and the Gulf cartels in southern Zacatecas state and northern Jalsico state will require greater presence of national security forces including army, marines and Policia Federal units.

Miguel Alonso Reyes also confirmed that three army rifle battalions were to be permanently deployed to Zacatecas, not three rifle companies as previously reported, requiring the construction of facilities to house troops within the border of Zacatecas costing the state MP $2.5 billion pesos (USD $185,974,500.00).

Bases, probably for company sized detachments, are said to be under construction in Fresnillo and in Jalapa. Five other bases are to be built near the borders of Aguascalientes state and San Luis Potosi state. The base in Jalapa is said to be already occupied.

Also related:
  • Five members of the Los Zetas criminal gang were captured in a rescue operation in southern Zacatecas last Wednesday.

    Mexican Army and Zacatecas state police units had set up a checkpoint on Highway Mexico 45, but the site commander was given information that armed suspects aboard three pickup trucks had stopped about a kilometer short of the checkpoint. The new information prompted soldiers to mount up and close on the location. The action sparked a vehicle pursuit.

    During the pursuit north, the driver of the Ford Lobo (F-150) crashed into a Ford farm truck. Police detained five armed suspects and found the two kidnap victims were in fact members of a rival gang. Both men were found handcuffed and severely beaten.

    Security forces seized a number of weapons related part and military uniforms, including combat boots.

    Detainees include Adrian Valenzuela Chavez, Adam Emmanuel Guerrero Rodriguez, of Monclova, Coahuila, Juan Jose Gaytan Romo, of Trancoso, Zacatecas, Ricardo Nieves Valadez, of Zacatecas, Zacatecas and Rafael Ruiz Palos.

    Rescued were Juan Jose Moreno, 25 of Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco and Jose Antonio Cruz Torres, of Villa Garcia, Zacatecas
Posted by: badanov || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Roadside bomb defused in Dagestan
Posted by: ryuge || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Pak soldier, 30 Afghan militants killed in border raid
Pakistani soldiers killed 30 Afghan militants who had crossed the border to attack the army, Pakistani military officials told reporters on Monday.

One Pakistani soldier was killed and four were injured in the latest frontier incident, which lasted close to an hour, the officials said. There was no independent confirmation of the total number of militants killed.

One of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "The attack happened in the Barawal area of Upper Dir. Pakistani forces retaliated and the intruders slipped back."
Posted by: ryuge || 10/10/2011 06:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Policeman killed in Bannu rocket attack
[Dawn] A policeman was killed after unidentified forces of Evil fired three rocket-propelled grenades at the cantonment area of Bannu in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
province on Sunday, security officials said.

According to the police, the rockets were fired at the residence of DPO Bannu, Mohammad Sajjad in the morning.

One of the rockets fell inside the premises killing a policeman who had been on duty.

Police said that the other two rockets fell in an empty ground where no damages occured.
Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Two ANP activists shot dead
[Dawn] Two leaders of the Awami National Party (ANP) were killed outside the party office in Sachal area of the city on Saturday. Another activist was injured.

Police sources said four gunnies on two cycle of violences opened fire on some ANP workers.

Sachal SHO Azhar Ali Iqbal said the firing left three men injured who were taken to the JPMC, where two of them died.

A front man for the ANP said they were 'targeted' only because of their association with the party.

The dear departed were identified as Jamal Khan and Khan Zaman.
Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Woman, child hurt in rocket attack
[Dawn] A woman and a child were maimed in rockets fired by Orcs and similar vermin at residential area of Ara Khel in the frontier region of Kohat on Saturday night.Official sources said the Orcs and similar vermin fired five rockets at the Ara Khel village from the mountain of Darra Adamkhel town. One of it went kaboom! at a house and injured a woman and a child who were shifted to a local basic health unit. Their names could not be ascertained.

The military retaliated by firing at the alleged hideouts of the Orcs and similar vermin in the said mountain with artillery but no damage was caused on the other side. The Orcs and similar vermin have been firing rockets in the area for the last one year, which has forced the tribal families to migrate to Kohat district.

Several rustics have been killed in IED blasts hitting vehicles and rocket attacks.
Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Southeast Asia
11 Injured in 2 Blasts in Southern Philippines
[An Nahar] Two powerful kabooms believed to be from home-made bombs destroyed a motel and a cock-fighting arena in the southern Philippines on Sunday, wounding 11 people, police said.

The first kaboom at noon tore through the ground floor of the two-story Red Palm inn in Zamboanga, a port city in the troubled southern island of Mindanao, where Islamist forces of Evil operate.

"It was a huge kaboom. Six of my friends were maimed and taken away for medical help after a wall fell on them after the kaboom," said hotel guest and witness Roland Teofilo, who beat feet unharmed.

"I believe the blast happened below our room."

Police suspect the kaboom was caused by a bomb, said local commander Superintendent Arthur Larudis, but no group has yet grabbed credit for the attack.

As bomb experts sifted through the hotel's damaged ground floor, Larudis said another kaboom hit an arena that hosted cock fights nearby.

Police initially reported two people were maimed in that blast, but city emergency workers later said five people were hurt.

Mayor Celso Lobregat said the attacks happened as the majority Catholic residents of Zamboanga prepared to host a week-long festival honoring the city's patron saint.

"These are very unfortunate incidents. These are despicable and condemnable acts," Lobregat said.

He said he had ordered the city's police and military contingent to beef up security at all major installations after the bombing, which he said could be meant to sabotage the festival.

Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Turkey Condemns 'Loathsome Murder' of Kurdish Activist in Syria
[An Nahar] Turkey has condemned the "loathsome liquidation" of top Kurdish activist Meshaal Tamo as well as attacks against leading opposition figures in Syria, the foreign ministry said.

"We... strongly condemn the attempts aiming to suppress the Syrian opposition and the increase in attacks targeting main representatives of the opposition," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement posted on its web site late on Saturday.

Turkey is deeply sorry for the "loathsome liquidation" of Tamo, as well as the wounding of prominent dissident Riad Seif who was injured after being beaten on Friday in Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
, the statement said.

"Turkey expects the Syrian government to realize as soon as possible that practices of violence aiming to suppress the Syrian opposition will not reverse the course of history," it said.

Tamo was bumped off on Friday in city of Qamishli in north Syria and his funeral became a mass rally with more than 50,000 demonstrators calling for the fall of President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
's regime, activists have said.

Syrian security forces killed at least two mourners and maimed several others when they fired on the funeral, according to rights groups.

Syria closed one of its border gates with Turkey and barred Turkish nationals from entering Syria following the bloody festivities in Qamishli, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Seif, a former politician, had to be given hospital treatment after being beaten outside a mosque in the capital's commercial neighborhood of Medan.

Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Turks have more practice than the Syrians at killing Kurdish activist!
Posted by: BernardZ || 10/10/2011 8:07 Comments || Top||

#2  You'd think the Turks would be pleased.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/10/2011 11:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Turks would <3 relocating its Kurdish population to Syria.
Posted by: twobyfour || 10/10/2011 18:50 Comments || Top||

#4  the city where the killing took place is right on the Turkish border
Posted by: Lord Garth || 10/10/2011 20:42 Comments || Top||


Syria Warns over Opposition as 11 More Killed
[An Nahar] Syria threatened retaliation Sunday if other states recognize a newly formed opposition bloc as President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
renewed a pledge of reforms and security forces rubbed out at least 11 people.

Foreign Minister Walid Muallem warned that Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
will retaliate against any state that recognizes the Syrian National Council (SNC), formed in Istanbul in late August and uniting the key groups opposed to Assad's rule.

"We will take significant measures against any country that recognizes this illegitimate council," Muallem told news hounds, as the SNC lobbied for support in Cairo where the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
is based.

The SNC groups the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), an activist network spurring protests in Syria, the long-banned Moslem Brüderbund as well as Kurdish and Assyrian groups.

"There are groups carrying out acts of violence in Syria and who have killed a great number of deaders. The West speaks of a peaceful revolution and does not admit these groups exist but arms them anyhow," Muallem said.

He also issued a thinly veiled warning to Turkey, which has condemned Friday's liquidation of Kurdish politician and SNC member Meshaal Temmo as a "loathsome" act.

"Syria will not stay with its arms crossed. If Turkey throws us a flower, we will send them one back," he said.

Assad told a visiting delegation from Latin America that Damascus was focusing both on reform and neutralizing the "gangs" it blames for the unrest sweeping the country since mid-March.

"Syria is taking steps focused on two main fronts -- political reform and the dismantling of gangs" seeking to destabilize the country, he told the Cuban and Venezuelan foreign ministers.

Assad said "the Syrian people had welcomed the reforms but that foreign attacks intensified just as the situation in the country began to make progress.

"Despite everything, a process of reform is under way," he said.

Rights activists reported at least 11 people killed by security forces nationwide on Sunday, seven in the central city of Homs alone.

Six people were rubbed out in the Karam al-Seitun district of Homs and another was killed in the Bab al-Drib area, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

It said security forces also rubbed out at least three people at the funeral in the Damascus suburb of Dumeir of a youth who died in prison on Saturday, and that a fourth was killed by gunfire in Hama, also in central Syria.

The Observatory also said three soldiers were killed in Hama province in festivities with gunnies who appeared to be military deserters.

Sunday's killings came a day after two people were killed at the funeral of Temmo, who was assassinated at Qamishli in the north on Friday.

They also coincided with the visit by the Latin American group in Syria to "show support."

The foreign ministers of Venezuela and Cuba are heading the delegation of leftist Latin American countries, including Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia.

The delegates denounced the "political and media campaign being waged against Syria," state news agency SANA said.

The eight-member Latin American bloc's talks aim to denounce "political destabilization attempts by the United States and its allies," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said before the visit.

"We reject all forms of interventionism that the empire is trying to apply as it did in Libya for a violent process of regime change."

Washington has renewed its calls for Assad to step down immediately amid escalating violence against anti-regime protesters that the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
says has left nearly 3,000 people dead.

Turkey, formerly an Assad ally, has kept constant pressure on Damascus by hosting gatherings of Syrian dissidents and repeatedly calling on the regime to introduce reforms.

Temmo's liquidation, which sparked widespread international condemnation, was blamed by Damascus on a "terrorist" group.

Washington has charged that Assad's regime was escalating its tactics against the opposition with bold attacks on its leaders, while the LCC inside Syria has accused Damascus of trying to "physically eliminate" top dissidents.

The SNC is courting foreign recognition and plans to hold a meeting to elect its leadership, a member of the exile group told Egypt's official MENA news agency.

Moscow said on Saturday it would receive Syrian opposition politicians on Tuesday for unofficial talks and that it also expected to host a visit from SNC delegates later in the month.

Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Assad Says he Seeks Reforms to Dismantle 'Armed Gangs'
[An Nahar] Syrian President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
said he is focused on "political reform" and on tackling "gangs," the official SANA news agency reported on Sunday.

"Syria is taking steps focused on two main fronts -- political reform and the dismantling of gangs," who seek to destabilize the country, Assad told the visiting foreign ministers of Cuba and Venezuela.

Assad told the ministers that "the Syrian people had welcomed the reforms but that foreign attacks intensified just as the situation in the country began to make progress."

The Syrian president accused Western powers of having "little interest in reform," seeking instead to "push Syria to pay the price for its stances against foreign schemes hatched outside the region."

"Despite everything, a process of reform is underway," he assured them, stressing that Syria's decisions on this matter were "sovereign and not related to foreign instructions."

The foreign ministers of Venezuela and Cuba were at the helm of a delegation of leftist Latin American countries -- that also include Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia -- which travelled to Syria to "show support."

The delegates also denounced the "political and media campaign being waged against Syria," SANA said.

The eight-member ALBA bloc's talks aim to "reject invasion and political destabilization attempts by the United States and its allies," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said prior to the visit.

"We reject all forms of interventionism that the empire is trying to apply as it did in Libya for a violent process of regime change," he added.

Washington has renewed its calls for Assad to step down immediately amid escalating violence against anti-regime protesters that has left nearly 3,000 people dead.

Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  PROCESS-OF REFORM [Progress?] ...

versus

* BHARAT RAKSHAK > ASSAD TELLS JORDAN: NO WAR GAMES LIKE [with] ISRAEL OR TURKEY.

Baby Assad = Syruh makes military threats to Hashemite JORDAN iff it aligns wid Israel + Turkey agz Syria vee on-going mass protests.

MORE SUCCINTLY, SYRIA THREATENS TO MIL ATTACK JORDAN IFF SYRIAN-ISRAELI MIL INCIDENTS = SHOOTING WAR BREAKS OUT.

[AHMADINEJAD/IRAN-THREAT-TO-ATTACK-BASE-TOO-FAR-QATAR here].

* SAME/TOPIX > POWER DIVISIONS DEEPEN INSIDE BAHRAINI ROYAL FAMILY.

D ***-IFF-WE-DO-VS-D ***-IFF-WE-DON'T, vee the on-going Shia protests.

Lest we fergit, IRAN > has asked new BFF, We'll-just-pretend-we-don't-see-you-wid-the-Saudis Sunni Pakistan to refrain from supporting or condoning persecutions of the Pak Shia community.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/10/2011 2:56 Comments || Top||


Syria warns countries not to recognize opposition
[Dawn] Syria's foreign minister warned the international community Sunday not to recognize a new umbrella council formed by the opposition, threatening "tough measures" against any country that does so.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem did not specify what measures Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
might take but alluded later in his comments to attacks on embassies.

Addressing reports that protesters had broken into Syria's embassy to Germany, al-Moallem said that countries which did not protect Syrian missions could find their own embassies treated in the same way.

"We will take tough measures against any country that recognizes this illegitimate council," al-Moallem said without elaborating on what type of reaction it might bring.

The Syrian National Council, announced last week in Turkey, is a broad-based group which includes most major opposition factions. No country or international body has recognized it so far as a legal representative of the Syrian people.

Bourhan Ghalioun, the opposition council's most prominent official, said he expects the organization will be recognized "in the coming few weeks."

Al-Moallem's comments came as the council was scheduled to hold two meetings Sunday, one in Cairo and another in Stockholm.

Damascus appears concerned that if the Syrian National Council is recognized by the international community, it could play the same role as the National Transitional Council in Libya that ultimately overthrew longtime leader Moammar Qadaffy
...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years...
Syria's top diplomat was speaking during a joint news conference with a delegation from the left-leaning ALBA bloc of mostly Latin American countries, which includes Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.

The ALBA officials were visiting Damascus to express solidarity with Syria and met Sunday with President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
Assad is facing the most serious challenge to his authority since he took power 11 years ago.

The uprising against his regime began in mid-March amid a wave of anti-government protests in the Arab world that has so far toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Assad has reacted with deadly force that the UN estimates has left some 2,900 people dead.

Al-Moallem criticized European countries where Syrian missions have recently been stormed by protesters, implying that Damascus might allow foreign delegations to be attacked in turn.

"If they don't provide security to our missions, we will treat them the same way," he said.

A group of protesters broke into the Syrian embassy in Berlin and two other Syrian diplomatic missions in Germany and Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
late Saturday and early Sunday in what appeared to protests against the killing of a Kurdish opposition leader.

He also criticized the US and the French ambassador to Syria, who have condemned the regime's crackdown and visited tense areas outside Damascus angering authorities.

"We don't interfere in their business the way some of them do in Damascus," he said.

Last month, US ambassador Robert Ford and several colleagues from the embassy were pelted with tomatoes and eggs as they visited an opposition figure.

US officials said the assault was part of a campaign to intimidate diplomats investigating Assad's repression of pro-reform demonstrators.
Posted by: Fred || 10/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  are we all shaking yet
Posted by: chris || 10/10/2011 12:13 Comments || Top||

#2  I thought I was shaking for a bit there but it was only my dog running around the house.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 10/10/2011 19:28 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2011-10-10
  Syria warns countries not to recognize opposition
Sun 2011-10-09
  Yemen president says ready to quit within days
Sat 2011-10-08
  Mexican security forces find 46 dead in Veracruz
Fri 2011-10-07
  Doctor Who Helped U.S. Find Osama Bin Laden May Hang
Thu 2011-10-06
  Shelling Resumes in Sana'a
Wed 2011-10-05
  Afghanistan foils plot to kill Karzai
Tue 2011-10-04
  Bomb kills at least 65 in Mogadishu
Mon 2011-10-03
  Syrian Opposition Forms United Common Front
Sun 2011-10-02
  Syrian troops battle hundreds of renegade soldiers
Sat 2011-10-01
  Underwear-bomb maker also believed dead in Yemen strike
Fri 2011-09-30
  Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen
Thu 2011-09-29
  US ambassador Robert Ford pelted with tomatoes by Syrian brownshirts
Wed 2011-09-28
  NTC Fighters Capture Sirte's Port
Tue 2011-09-27
  1 injured, 2 missing as Egypt pumps sewage into Gaza tunnel
Mon 2011-09-26
  Missile targets Afghan president palace

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