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Yemen's unity government announced
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Teri Hatcher aka Susan Mayer in "Desperate Housewives (TV Series 2004– )" aka Lois Lane in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (TV Series 1993–1997)" aka Paris Carver in "Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)" aka Andrea Flak in "Resurrecting the Champ (2007)" aka Megan Marguilas in "A Touch of Fate (2003)" aka Charlotte Parker in "Fever (1999)" aka Claudette Rocque in "Heaven's Prisoners (1996)" aka Ariel Maloney / Dr. Monica Demonico in "Soapdish (1991)" (age 47)



Gorb, this one's for you
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/08/2011 0:10 Comments || Top||

#2  It's not what you think.
Posted by: gorb || 12/08/2011 0:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Nor is this as it seems
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/08/2011 0:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Looks like LiLo has gone and done it ....
Posted by: gorb || 12/08/2011 2:42 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghanistan Bombings Linked to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
(Bloomberg) -- Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
pointed to a Pak bully boy group as responsible for the deadly bombing of worshipers at a Shiite Mohammedan shrine in Kabul, escalating tensions with the nation's eastern neighbor.
I think we'd already guessed that. When I think "bombed a Shia shrine" the first thing I think of is either "Lashkar-e-Jhangvi" or "Sipah-e-Sahabah Pakistain," which is kind of redundant, since both are the same organization.
A jacket wallah detonated an explosive vest at the gate of the Abul Fazl shrine in Kabul yesterday, killing 56 people and wounding almost 150, Ghulam Sakhi Kargar, front man for public health ministry, said by phone today.
Since the Paks regard Afghanistan as their territory they feel perfectly free to waltz in and detonate just like they were back home in Derra Adam Khel or Miranshah. It's not a violation of sovereignty, y'see, if they're not officially affiliated with the government.
"The responsibility for this attack hostile to mankind and Islam was claimed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
based in Pakistain," Karzai said in a e-mailed statement. "Afghanistan takes this very seriously" and "we will fully follow up with Pakistain."
... who will tut-tut, deny any involvement, and blow the whole thing off...
Lashkar is an organization of Islam's Sunni Deobandi sect and has conducted scores of bombings and shootings against minority Shiites in Pakistain. The U.S. State Department in 2003 listed it as a terrorist group, saying it had links to al-Qaeda and was involved with the 2002 kidnapping-murder of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl in Pakistain.
Even that far back it was a wholly owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda.
The 300-strong, violent anti-Shiite group was formed in 1996 by veterans of the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, with support from Pakistain's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, said a senior U.S. intelligence official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he isn't authorized to speak publicly. It has never before launched an attack outside Pakistain, the official added.
The organization is strictly sectarian: they kill Shiites, they kill Christians, they kill Jews, Hindoos, and what have you if they can find them. When they run out of those they'll settle for bumping off Brelvis.
Pakistain Support

"The group officially is banned in Pakistain
The word "banned," of course, has an entirely different meaning in the alternate universe that is Pakistain.
but it has a long history of receiving support from Pakistain's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate," wrote retired Defense Intelligence Agency analyst John F. McCreary in his Dec. 6 NightWatch newsletter. "LeJ has never had a presence in Afghanistan, but it obviously has sympathetic organized groups of Afghans willing to work as its agents."
Since Afghanistan is 40 percent Pashtun, and since hating Shiites is part of being a Pashtun unless one is a Shiite, it makes sense.
Karzai canceled plans to visit the U.K. today, returning home following three bombings that targeted worshipers observing a Shiite Mohammedan holiday and sparked fears of sectarian violence. Bombs also went kaboom! at Shiite observances of the Ashura holiday in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, killing four, and the southern city of Kandahar, which claimed no lives.

'Declaration of Enmity'

Karzai today visited some of the maimed at the Emergency Hospital for Victim of War in Kabul. He called the attacks a "declaration of enmity against the people of Afghanistan and Islam," according to the e-mail from his office.

The attacks, which were condemned by the Taliban, raise the risk that sectarian bloodshed may be exported to Afghanistan by Pakistain-based groups, the Austin, Texas risk analysis company Stratfor said, as the U.S.-led coalition plans for a 2014 pullout.

The Kabul attack targeted worshipers who had gathered for Ashura, which marks the death 14 centuries ago of a Mohammedan leader, Imam Hussein, the prophet Muhammad's grandson. In Washington, State Department front man Mark Toner said one private American citizen, whose name was not made public, was among the dead.

Afghan Islamic Press, a news agency in the Pak thriving provincial capital of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, said it received a phone call claiming responsibility for the Kabul attack from Lashkar-e- Jhangvi.

'Screaming and Crying'

"Before I arrived at the gate, there was a huge kaboom and I fell down," said Shuja Ahmad, 35, a government employee who had come to the mosque for Ashura prayers. "I saw people running, screaming and crying and saw bodies everywhere."

Afghanistan's main bully boy movement, the Taliban, tossed in the slammer or killed thousands of Shiites in Mazar-e-Sharif and other cities during the Taliban regime in the 1990s. Still, those attacks didn't include bombings of religious ceremonies, and inciting a Shiite backlash now, amid the Taliban's fight against U.S.-led forces, "does not fit into their strategy," Stratfor said in an e-mailed analysis.

Zabihullah Mujahed, a Taliban front man, denied in an e- mail that his group was responsible for the attacks, saying that "the brutal incidents that happened in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif are against Islamic law and humanity." His e-mail said that "the foreigners want civilians to hate the Taliban more and more."

Civil War

The attacks increase concerns of a more complex civil war in Afghanistan as the U.S.-led coalition hands over security to the Afghan army and police. A second round of formal transfers of security responsibility is under way in provinces and districts throughout the country. Those transfers are due to be completed by the end of 2014, when a limited U.S. force is to remain to support Afghan government security.

The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, has privately recommended delaying new American troop withdrawals planned by the B.O. regime until 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

In the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, a bomb attached to a bicycle went kaboom! as people walked across a street to attend an Ashura ceremony, said Sherjan Durani, a front man for the Balkh province government. Four people were killed and 21 maimed, Durani said.

A bomb that was placed on a parked cycle of violence in the southern city of Kandahar went kaboom! without killing anyone, said Zalmai Ayoubi, a front man for the province.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi

#1 

Heartless!
Posted by: Creregum Glolump8403 || 12/08/2011 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  This is the future. This is the thought process that is acceptable to Islam. Photo's like this and the WTC are now common.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/08/2011 12:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Another ISI creation no doubt.
Posted by: Paul || 12/08/2011 12:42 Comments || Top||

#4  This is the future. This is the thought process that is acceptable to Islam.

And the past as well. The thought process is not new in Islam, just the tools to achieve it.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/08/2011 14:13 Comments || Top||

#5  "..Linked to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi"

Well, since Lashkar claimed responsibility for it, the detective work could not have been very difficult.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 12/08/2011 15:17 Comments || Top||


Roadside blast in Helmand kills 12 Afghan civilians
[Dawn] Twelve people were killed Wednesday when their vehicle struck a roadside kaboom in southern Afghanistan's Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province, a provincial government front man said.

"Twelve civilians, among them women and kiddies, were killed today when their van hit in a roadside kaboom," said Daud Ahmadi.

He added that the civilians were travelling from quiet provincial capital Lashkar Gah to Sangin district when the blast took place.

The deaths came the day after 59 people died in two blasts at Shia shrines, 55 of them in Kabul.

Roadside bombs are frequently planted by Taliban-led forces of Evil fighting a decade-long war against NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
-led foreign troops and Afghan government forces.

There are around 140,000 international troops, mainly from the United States, in Afghanistan helping government forces combat the insurgency.

According to the UN, the number of civilians killed in violence in Afghanistan rose by 15 per cent in the first six months of this year to 1,462, with forces of Evil blamed for 80 per cent of the killings.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Afghan victims buried as fingers point to Pakistan
[Dawn] Afghans were Wednesday burying 59 people killed in unprecedented bombings against Shia Moslems as officials blamed Pak turbans, accusing them of trying to whip up Iraq-style sectarian violence.

Investigators are poring over who was behind the coordinated attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul and northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif that the Taliban, the main faction leading a 10-year insurgency, have denied carrying out.

An Afghan official claimed Wednesday that the bomber who attacked a shrine in Kabul was a Pak, affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group, which has been blamed for killing thousands of Pak Shias.
An Afghan official claimed Wednesday that the bomber who attacked a shrine in Kabul was a Pak, affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
group, which has been blamed for killing thousands of Pak Shias.

The faction, which is alleged to have links with Al-Qaeda, -- the terror group blamed for igniting sectarian war in Iraq -- has not previously grabbed credit for any attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Experts suggest that if Lashkar-i-Jhangvi or indeed any other Pak faceless myrmidons orchestrated the attacks, then elements in the Afghan Taliban may have played some part, possibly in facilitating the strikes.
Haqqani pops to mind first, followed by Hekmatyar...
Tuesday's blast on the holiest day in the Shia calendar marked the first major attack on a key religious day in Afghanistan.

The twin blasts have prompted fears of a slide into sectarian violence in Afghanistan, which until now has avoided the kind of attacks that have pitched Shia against Sunni Moslems in Iraq and Pakistain.

The victims were buried Wednesday in emotional scenes. Several hundred people marched through west Kabul with two of the bodies on the way to a burial ground, an AFP photographer said.

The US embassy confirmed that an American citizen was among the 55 people killed in the Kabul attack but gave no further details.

President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
scrapped a planned trip to Britannia, flying back to Afghanistan for an emergency meeting with security chiefs after attending Monday's Bonn conference on his country's future.

He was later due to meet survivors of the attack in hospital.

Lutfullah Mashal, a front man for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security intelligence agency, confirmed that an investigation into the tragedy was now under way.

Sediq Sediqqi, a front man for the Afghan interior ministry, said the attack was the work of "the Taliban and their associates", adding no-one else carried out such suicide kabooms in Afghanistan.

An Afghan security official speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
said the bomber was from the Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
in Pakistain's border region and was connected to Sipah-i-Sahaba, a Lashkar-i-Jhangvi offshoot.
The two are essentially the same outfit. Either that or they're one outfit with interchangeable memberships.
Many Afghans traditionally blame Paks for fuelling much of the violence in their country.
... because without Pakistain Afghanistan would be an entirely different place.
Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was one of the groups involved in the kidnap and beheading of Wall Street Journal news hound Daniel Pearl in Pakistain in 2002.

It is notorious for suicide kabooms and attacks on Pak Shias.

The Afghan source added the attack aimed to "inflame sectarian violence in Afghanistan" but did not provide any evidence to back up his claims.

The official added: "This is not the work of the Taliban or if there is any Taliban involvement, it is very minimal."

A Western security official speaking anonymously also suggested Pak involvement though stressed it was not clear whether this was "institutional".

There are reported links between Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Pak intelligence.

"We're particularly looking at TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban, the Pak Taliban) although at the moment we don't have any proof," he said. The source added he believed the attack "aimed to weaken Afghan society".

A Pak security official speaking anonymously said Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was closely associated with the Pak Taliban.

But he added: "This group is on the run and doesn't have the capacity to carry out attacks inside Afghanistan, particularly in Kabul."

Pak security analyst Hasan Askari emphasised that there was no clear evidence at this stage of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi's involvement.

"Lashkar people have ideological affinity with other turban groups operating in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, and they support each other but they (Lashkar) have to establish that their strength is increasing," he said.

Some analysts have raised fears of more sectarian violence in Afghanistan following the attacks but Shia leaders have urged calm in the aftermath.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Africa Horn
Kenyan troops join AU Somalia mission
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Kenyan soldiers fighting Al-Shabaab
... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban...
forces of Evil have now become part of the United Nations
...Parkinson's Law on an international scale...
-sponsored African Mission in Somalia.

It follows the unanimous vote in Parliament on Wednesday authorising the Kenya Defence Forces currently in Somalia to serve under the African Union Mission in Somalia.

Kenya is joining the force at the invitation of the African Union.

By passing the motion, MPs removed the last hurdle, which gave the conversion of the mission from a purely Kenyan affair to a UN/AU sponsored one after the Cabinet last week approved the move.

By sending troops to Somalia, Kenya provided perhaps one of the best chances of peace in Somalia in recent times.

It has created the conditions for military victory over Al-Shabaab, now being fought on three fronts, with the prospect of giving the Transitional Federal Government the room it needs to take charge of more of the lawless country.

As a purely Kenyan affair, Operation Linda Nchi was paid for solely by the Kenyan taxpayer and risks being seen as an occupation force.

As part of the AU peacekeeping mission, Kenya will still achieve the objective of ridding Somalia of Al-Shabaab without the risk of being perceived as occupying a neighbouring country. The AU also pays for the mission.

On Wednesday, even as they passed the motion, MPs cautioned against the risk of Kenya being caught up in an endless war in Somalia.

Need for exit strategy

MPs supported the government decision through a motion introduced to the House by Defence Minister Yusuf Haji, but called for caution and the need for an exit strategy.

They urged the government to look for a structure where the Kenya Defence Force enjoys some degree of command and operational independence.

The 9,000-strong Amisom forces currently operating in Mogadishu are commanded by a Ugandan general and it was not immediately clear whether this would continue to be the case when the KDF join the mission.

Defence assistant minister David Musila said it would be a grave mistake to leave the operation half-way, cautioning that this would expose Kenya to danger.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Egypt PM Given Some Presidential Powers, Announces Cabinet
[An Nahar] Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi swore in a new cabinet on Wednesday including new Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri and a former police chief to head the interior ministry.

The new line-up of 30 ministers, including the prime minister, retains 12 from the last cabinet. Three ministers appointed by strongman Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
shortly before his overthrow have also survived the shuffle.

Ganzouri, a 78-year-old former premier from the Mubarak era, was appointed nearly two weeks ago but had reportedly had difficulties picking a new interior minister to oversee the police.

The interior portfolio went to Mohammed Ibrahim Yusuf, who headed police in Cairo's Giza district, and Mumtaz al-Saeed was named new finance minister, while Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr kept his post.

Yusuf told news hounds first priority was to restore security in Egypt, which has seen a rise in crime and violence after protesters torched cop shoppes across the country during the uprising against Mubarak.

Egypt's second caretaker cabinet appointed after Mubarak was toppled in February resigned on November 21 under pressure from violent protests against its handling of the transition to democracy.

Protesters erupted into the streets of Cairo again last month to pressure the interim army rulers in the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to transfer control to civilian leaders.

A leader of protesters who have camped out in front of the cabinet's office in central Cairo since November 25 told Agence La Belle France Presse they would not end the sit-in, which could lead to a possible confrontation when ministers try to enter the building.

The military, which has promised to step down after presidential elections by July 2012, said on Wednesday it granted Ganzouri presidential powers, but he will not take charge of the judiciary or the army.

Ganzouri had said he was allowed more powers than any prime minister in the country's recent history, but the military is expected to retain control of all sensitive decision-making until it transfers power to an elected president.

Pro-democracy protesters have accused the generals of preparing to consolidate power.

The SCAF has said it expects to retain supra-constitutional powers in future such as oversight over army-related legislation.

Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Blast in northern Nigeria kills at least 8
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A powerful blast rocked the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna on Wednesday, killing at least eight people and wounding many others, an emergency official said, though the cause remained unclear.

"One of the dead victims from the Kaduna kaboom is a three-year-old child whose parent has taken the body for burial," said Yushau Shuaib, front man for the national emergency management agency.

"So far seven bodies were taken to mortuary while many injured victims are receiving attention in hospitals." Another official from the agency specified that a total of eight people had so far been confirmed killed.

Police initially said the kaboom appeared accidental, but speculation over whether it was caused by a bomb intensified due to the blast's strength, with witnesses describing widespread damage, including a number of shops and houses destroyed.

Shuaib had earlier described a grisly scene, saying the area was littered with mangled body parts that were being collected by rescue workers, making it difficult to come up with a precise corpse count.

The kaboom caused panic, with the city having been hit by previous kabooms as well as deadly rioting following April elections.

"It was a strong kaboom," Shuaib said, declining to speculate on what caused it.

Police front man Aminu Lawan had earlier in the day said initial information indicated that the blast was accidental.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Yemen's unity government announced
[Iran Press TV] A national unity government has been finally formed in Yemen to replace the government of President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
as agreed under power transition deal to end months of protests in the country.

Yemen's Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi announced the new 35-member cabinet on Wednesday. Yemen's national unity government will be headed by independent politician Mohammed Basindwa.

Half of the new cabinet ministers are from the opposition, while Saleh loyalists make up the other half as required by the power transition deal, brokered by the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council.
... the Medes and the Persians are very sensitive on the subject of the Persian Gulf, which the Arabs refer to as the Arabian Gulf...
Even after a cabinet reshuffle, several Saleh-era ministers remained in their old posts, including the key portfolios of defense, foreign affairs and oil.

The ministries of interior, finance and information, however, were given to the opposition. The cabinet also includes two women.

The new government will carry out its duties for three months, after which early elections will be held.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Armed suspects kill Mexican peace activist

For a map, click here. For a map of Michoacan, click here
Additional details from Proceso weekly magazine.


By Chris Covert

A member of Javier Sicilia's Movement for Peace, Justice and Dignity was kidnapped and later tortured and found murdered Tuesday afternoon in Michoacan state, according to Mexican news accounts.

J. Trinidad de la Cruz Crisoforo, 74, was in a caravan with several others near Santa Maria Ostula in Aquila municipality when they were stopped by four armed suspects. Cruz Crisoforo and three other unidentified individuals were removed from their vehicles at gunpoint and transported away.

The kidnapping took place near Aquila on Highway 200 between Santa Maria Ostula and Pueblo Xayakalan. A total of 18 unidentified individuals were in the four vehicle caravan traveling to observe proceedings involving Michoacan state government and agrarian reform advocates.

Mexican Policia Federal troops had agreed to escort the caravan which originated in Guadalajara, Jalisco to its terminus in Aquila. Somehow, the caravan became separated from its escort for a few minutes, long enough for the encounter to take place.

The entourage had apparently just concluded a meeting with an indigent Indian group to discuss their observation mission with representatives of the Michoacan state government.

The alleged leader of the armed group which kidnapped Cruz Crisoforo was tentatively identified as Margarita Perez AKA La Usurpadora. At a Wednesday press conference in Mexico City, other elements of the entourage said their cell phones were taken from them as Cruz Crisoforo was led away.

Cruz Crisoforo was later found dead by Mexican Army units, tortured before being shot four times.. Some members of the entourage claimed they heard Cruz Crisoforo being tortured.

Pietro Ameglio, part of the entourage, accused the federal government and the state government of Michoacan of complicity in the kidnapping and murder.

According to press accounts, a total of 14 individuals have been murdered in the area, the latest being an unidentified farmer who had been beaten to death by armed individuals three weeks ago.

The news of the abduction came from a press release issued by an unidentified organization which claimed Cruz Crisoforo was kidnapped by paramilitary groups associated with the deposed landowners in the area. The farmer killed three weeks ago was also killed allegedly by the same paramilitary who kidnapped Cruz Crisoforo, according to the press release.

Early last October another member of the Mexican peace movement, Leiva Pedro Dominguez, 34, and a member of a Nahuatl defense organization was shot to death in the same municipality as Cruz Crisoforo.

The area in and around Santa Maria Ostula has long been a flashpoint of violence between Nahuatl Indians and local landowners. The dispute was over land the Nahuatl consider their tribal lands. The Nahuatl is one of several Mexican Indian tribes descended from the Aztec Indians.

About 300,000 hectares of land in nearby La Placita had been transferred to Pedro Dominguez's indigent group in June, 2009 which had been previously granted other landowners. The action apparently sparked a low level insurgency against the Nahuatl.

Pedro Dominguez's indigent group is one of the few indigent groups with the right to carry and use weapons considered to be large caliber weapons in Mexico, including AK-47 rifles.

Pedro Dominguez's death came only days before he was to appear at a meeting with Mexican president Felipe Calderon at Castillo de Chapultepec along with several other members of Sicilia's peace organization to press the president about their concerns for drug war violence.

Another member of Mexico's peace movement who did attend that meeting, Nepomuceno Moreno Nunez, 56, was shot to death in Hermosillo, Sonora late last month following a lengthy dispute with Sonoran state security agencies over the June,2011 kidnapping and murder of his son Jose Mario.

It later emerged through a press conference the following day by Sonora state Procuradoria General Justicia del Estado (PGE) or attorney general, Jose Larrinaga Talamantes, that Moreno Nunez has had a long time association with local criminal gangs including drug traffickers. He had also served prison time in Arizona for trafficking heron in 1979. He had also been involved or linked to other crimes in Sonora, but had never been convicted.

Another son, Gilberto Moreno Leon is still serving prison in Sonora state for armed robbery.

The revelations enraged Sicilia and an associate, Emilio Alvarez Icaza, for what they called "criminalizing" Moreno Nunez. Sicilia and Alvarez Icaza were to meet early this month with Sonora governor Guillermo Padres. It is unknown if the meeting ever took place.
Posted by: badanov || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I was unaware that Mexico had a peace movement. They must be pretty effective.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/08/2011 21:26 Comments || Top||

#2  taken at face value, yes. As in most of the third world, no. They have an agenda and there are powerful forces opposing....including the Mexicans who don't like socialism/communism
Posted by: Frank G || 12/08/2011 21:43 Comments || Top||

#3  In most countries the peace movement is good cover for leftists. Mexico should be and probably is fertile ground for social activism. I've not heard much about their peace activists. Must be less attractive for hippies to participate in than OWS - who get more press and don't often suffer from lead poisoning.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/08/2011 21:57 Comments || Top||

#4  weapons considered to be large caliber weapons in Mexico, including AK-47 rifles.

Bullshit, the .30 carbine(AK-47 and it's cousins)
Is a MEDIUM POWER gun, that it LOOKS scary, doesn't affect it's use.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/08/2011 23:09 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Fai pleads guilty in US Kashmir scheme
An American accused of being an agent for Pakistain pleaded guilty Wednesday to hiding that government's involvement in a decades-long effort to funnel money to Washington to push the Kashmiri cause, US officials said.

Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, was placed in long-term storage in July and charged with conspiracy for his role in the scheme that used at least $3.5 million from the Pak government to lobby US politicians and aides to support Pakistain's desire for self-determination for Kashmiris, the US Justice Department said.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax violations in connection with the scheme, which involved the Kashmiri American Council (KAC), a Washington-based non-government group founded in 1990, and whose Washington office he directs. The United States says the KAC was secretly funded by officials employed by the government of Pakistain, including the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI). "For the last 20 years, Mr Fai secretly took millions of dollars from Pak intelligence and lied about it to the US government," US Attorney Neil MacBride said in a statement.

"As a paid operative of ISI, he did the bidding of his handlers in Pakistain while he met with US elected officials, funded high-profile conferences and promoted the Kashmiri cause to decision-makers in Washington." Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, it is illegal for agents of foreign governments to seek to influence US policy or law without fully disclosing their identity and any underlying information.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


India-Pakistan
NATO fuel trucks destroyed in Pakistan
About 20 trucks have been destroyed in a rocket attack on a NATO trucking terminal in southwest Pakistan supplying troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.

A number of oil tankers and goods trucks were parked in the temporary terminal in Quetta after Pakistan shut down supply lines for NATO forces in anger at a deadly cross-border air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Senior police official Malik Arshad said on Thursday unknown gunmen fired bullets and a rocket at the NATO oil tankers and the ensuing blaze engulfed about 20 vehicles in Quetta, capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan.

"We do not know about any casualties yet because the blaze is so huge," Arshad said.

"First the fire started in two oil tankers and the fuel started leaking, which spread the fire to other vehicles," Arshad said.

"Fire brigade and emergency services were called in immediately after the attack," he said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban have in the past said they carried out similar attacks to disrupt supplies for the more than 130,000 US-led international troops fighting in Afghanistan.
Posted by: tipper || 12/08/2011 14:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who says the Pak Army dont control the militants
Posted by: Paul || 12/08/2011 14:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Dog bites man!
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 12/08/2011 14:54 Comments || Top||


US evacuating Shamsi air base
[Pak Daily Times] At least seven aircraft landed at the Shamsi air base on Wednesday to airlift personnel and equipment out of Pakistain.

According to sources in the Washuk district, American officials were likely to vacate the airbase on Thursday.

"Seven aircraft have landed here since morning," a local confirmed, adding, "They also set several containers on fire today and we saw its thick flames rising."

The United States is evacuating the Shamsi air base following orders from the military incensed by a deadly NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
raid on the border that left 24 soldiers dead, officials said. The deadline for the removal of all US personnel and equipment from the base in the remote southwestern province of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
was set for December 11.

"They are evacuating the base, evacuation is in the process," confirmed a senior Pak government official in Islamabad.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Related story:

Pak military cleared air strikes that killed 24 troops
Posted by: Frozen Al || 12/08/2011 9:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Analysis from Bill Roggio:

Taliban, artillary and lies along the border
Posted by: Frozen Al || 12/08/2011 9:39 Comments || Top||


Three injured in rocket attack
[Pak Daily Times] Three security personnel were maimed and three shops were damaged when unidentified snuffies fired rockets at Hangu Bazar on Tuesday, sources said. According to details, the snuffies fired six rockets from an unidentified location, which landed at main bazaar injuring three security personnel and damaging three houses and a shop. The injured were identified as Frontier Corps Quresh Karim, and a soldier of Elite Force.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


28 suspects arrested in Mardan
[Pak Daily Times] Launching a search operation after recovery of two bombs near imamargah Haideriah, district police have tossed in the slammer 28 suspects on Wednesday. According to police, a search operation was launched in various areas of the district to arrest the culprits involved in planting two remote control bombs near the Imam bargah in Bikat Gunj Bazaar. District police informed that a large-scale terrorism bid has been averted by recovering the bombs, placed near imambargah Haideriah on 9th Muharram. According to DPO Dr Zeeshan, unidentified cut-throats had planted two bombs near the imambargah in wee hours to target the mourners and police. The DPO said cut-throats wanted to gather police by blasting the two kg bomb at the site while the other seven kg bomb was meant to inflict maximum damage on police force. He commended the role of local people who timely informed the police about presence of bombs. During the crackdown, the police tossed in the slammer 28 suspects and recovered arms and narcotics from their possession.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


U.S. Urges Pakistan to Act after Attacks on Afghan Shiites
[An Nahar] The United States on Wednesday urged greater action by Pakistain against a Sunni Mohammedan krazed killer group that Afghanistan blamed for an unprecedented massacre against its Shiite minority.

Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
said that the banned Pak Death Eater movement Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
orchestrated the bloodshed Tuesday on the Shiite holy day of Ashura.

Fifty-five people were killed in Kabul and another four in a similar attack in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

State Department front man Mark Toner said the United States did not know the full details of the attacks but that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Heroine of Tuzla and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Hamilton Fish ...
had Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in mind when she urged Pakistain to act against faceless myrmidons during an October visit to Islamabad.

"It's precisely the kind of organization that the Secretary was trying to address when she went to Pakistain in calling for Pakistain to do more to combat this kind of Death Eater terrorist activity within its own borders," Toner told news hounds.

Pointing out that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has been blamed for attacks in Pakistain as well, Toner said: "It's clearly a threat to both countries."

"It's just too important, the threat we face. There needs to be ongoing, sustained and even increased cooperation and coordination between Afghanistan (and) Pakistain and certainly with the international community," Toner said.

Toner also confirmed that one U.S. citizen was among the dead in Kabul. He said that the American was a civilian and not linked to the U.S. government but declined further details, saying the family had requested privacy.

Karzai on Wednesday vowed to press Pakistain to take action against the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, potentially raising fresh tensions between the neighbors days after Pakistain boycotted an international conference on Afghanistan.

Pakistain asked Afghanistan to share any evidence pointing to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni Mohammedan Death Eater movement that was banned in 2001 by then military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf.
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Act how---kill some Pakistani Shiites?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/08/2011 2:57 Comments || Top||

#2  I dislike Pakistan more than Iran.

At least the public/youth want to be more westernised in Iran.Not sure re Pakistan.Large sections want to be like Saudi Arabia.

Democracy V Sharia law is what the WOT is about.
Posted by: Paul || 12/08/2011 12:50 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF: Gaza strike killed terrorists planning attack on Egypt border
An Israeli air strike in central Gaza killed a Palestinian militant planning a terrorist attack on the Egypt border, the IDF Spokesperson said on Thursday.

According to Palestinian medical officials, two men were killed as they were traveling on a main Gaza road on Thursday. The car in which the two were traveling went up in flames on the crowded Omar al-Mukhtar street, medical officials said. Palestinians reported several more casualties as a result of the explosion.

According to the witnesses and paramedics, it was the first Israeli strike inside Gaza City since the three-week Gaza war in 2008-2009.

The IDF Spokesperson confirmed that an Israeli air strike was carried out in the central Gaza Strip. According to the statement, the IDF strike was a targeted hit on a militant in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade who plotted to commit terror attacks against Israeli citizens and security forces along the Israel-Egypt border.

The IDF Spokesperson identified the other Palestinian killed as a militant working in the northern Gaza Strip.
Posted by: tipper || 12/08/2011 08:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  one was Hamas, the other Islamic Jihad. Same car. Almost as if there were no real distinction between the two...other than plausible deniability when IJ shoots at Da Joooos
Posted by: Frank G || 12/08/2011 9:32 Comments || Top||

#2  I just find it amazing that the IDF can actually do this.
Posted by: Durnham Freebody || 12/08/2011 17:18 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian oil pipeline blown up
A Syrian pipeline carrying oil from the east of the country to a vital refinery in Homs was blown up on Thursday in an act state news described as "terrorism".
Also known as 'civil war'...
Opposition activists said flames and clouds of thick black smoke were seen at the site of the explosion in a suburb of the city, the epicentre of popular unrest against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that began in March.

"This is the main pipeline that feeds the Homs refinery," said Rami Abdulrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

SANA said the pipeline was attacked in the Tal Asour area to the northwest of the refinery on the outskirts of Homs, a city of 800,000 where -- activists say -- about 1,500 people have been killed in the crackdown.
Posted by: tipper || 12/08/2011 08:38 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  sounds like the Gaza pipeline. I'd start rounding up and torturing Hamas agents, Pencilneck
Posted by: Frank G || 12/08/2011 12:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Inshallah.
Posted by: Barbara || 12/08/2011 12:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Supposedly, the US managed to insert bad software into a Soviet system once, leading to a massive pipeline explosion. I wonder if any of Syria's neighbors would be tempted to do the same.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 12/08/2011 20:44 Comments || Top||


Iranian forces gun down 3 Pakistani fishermen
[Pak Daily Times] At least three Pak fishermen were killed and two others received injuries when Iranian forces opened fire on them over entering the Iranian waters in Pasaband area, about 35 kilometers off Jiwani, a coastal town in Balochistan.
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
The trailer was engaged in illegal fishing and all the victims belonged to Sindh province and had entered Balochistan from Bloody Karachi.

Talking to the Daily Times, Gwadar DPO Liaquat Baloch confirmed that Iranian forces bumped off three Pak fishermen while three others were maimed. "The trailer, named 'Al-Marian', entered Iranian territorial waters where the incident took place. The trailer is registered in Bloody Karachi," he said. According to police, there were two trailers, one of them beat feet when Iranian forces opened fire while the other was captured. "The dear departed and injured are in the custody of Iranian forces and they had not informed Pakistain formally," they said.

One of the dear departed was identified as Muhammad Shakeel, the son of the crew identified as Gulam Muhammad, who was also injured in the incident, while two others were not identified yet. One of the injured was identified as Abdul Haleem. Sources in Gwadar and Pasni said that at least five fishermen were killed and five others received injuries while 15 to 20 people were nabbed by Iranian forces. "All the people belonged to Bloody Karachi. They first entered Balochistan and later moved towards Iranian territorial water, where they ignored the warning of Iranian forces," fishermen in Pasni told this scribe via phone. DPO Gwadar said he was engaged in establishing contact with Iranian officials for handing over of the bodies and the injured. "Investigation is underway in this connection," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  I'd say the Iranians were a tad jumpy.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/08/2011 12:57 Comments || Top||

#2  The naval border between Balochistan and Iran is always tense, just like the land border, because the Balochis cross over to attack Iranians and beat feet back to Pak.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/08/2011 13:26 Comments || Top||


Not responsible for deaths: Assad
[Emirates 24/7] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
denies he is responsible for the killing of thousands of protesters, telling a US news hound he was not in charge of the forces behind the crackdown, the network said Tuesday.
"It wuz... ummm... somebody else."
In a rare interview, Assad spoke Monday to ABC News veteran journalist Barbara Walters in a bid to defend himself amid growing global condemnation of the nine-month-old crackdown which the UN says has killed 4,000 people.

ABC News plans to air the interview on Wednesday but a news hound for the network, seeking US reaction at a State Department briefing, quoted Assad as saying: "I'm president. I don't own the country, so they're not my forces."

"There's a difference between having a policy to crack down and between having some mistakes committed by some officials. There is a big difference," the news hound quoted Assad as saying.

Reacting to the excerpt, State Department front man Mark Toner criticized Assad and said he has had multiple opportunities to end the violence.

"I find it ludicrous that he is attempting to hide behind some sort of shell game (and) claim that he doesn't exercise authority in his own country," Toner told the briefing.

"There's just no indication that he's doing anything other than cracking down in the most brutal fashion on a peaceful opposition movement," Toner said.

Assad's family has ruled Syria with an iron fist for four decades. Assad's brother, Lieutenant Colonel Maher al-Assad, heads the army's Fourth Division which oversees the capital as well as the elite Republican Guard.

Syria has come under growing pressure from the United States, European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, 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...
and non-Arab Turkey to stop the violence.

The Arab League has threatened to impose new sanctions unless Syria lets in monitors. In a letter late Sunday, Assad's regime said it will allow monitors but only if conditions are met.

The United States and La Belle France on Tuesday sent their ambassadors back to Syria, hoping that they will help shed a light on the violence and show solidarity with protesters after being pulled out due to security concerns.

Syria accuses "armed terrorist groups" of fueling the unrest, which comes amid a wave of street protests across the Arab world this year that have toppled authoritarian regimes in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

ABC News said that it was Assad's first interview to US media since Syria launched the crackdown in March.

Walters, 82, is known for interviews that seek to probe high-profile figures' personal sides. She is a creator of the popular ABC News morning show "The View," which features a panel of women hosts.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Bashir Assad, meet Eric Holder. Eric Holder, meet Bashir Assad.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 12/08/2011 20:49 Comments || Top||


Ahmadinejad signs bill on UK into law
[Iran Press TV] Iran's diminutive President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad has signed into law a bill approved by Majlis (parliament) to downgrade Iran's ties with Britannia.

The bill ratified by Majlis on November 27 was approved by the Guardian Council (GC) one day later.

The bill obliges the country's Foreign Ministry to expel the UK ambassador within two weeks and reduce diplomatic ties with the British government to the level of chargé d'affaires.

The president is required to inform the country's executive bodies of the law within five days after being notified by Majlis Speaker.

The motion to downgrade ties with London was first presented to the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in 2009, following Briton's interference in post-election unrest in Iran.

The bill was revived in response to Britannia's hostile approach towards Iran and the sanctions imposed by London against the country's banking system and energy sector in coordination with the US and Canada.
Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Tension in Ain el-Hilweh over Shooting of Fatah Official's Bodyguard
[An Nahar] Tension was high at the Paleostinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hellhole in southern Leb on Wednesday after the bodyguard of a Fatah official was severely injured in a shooting, the National News Agency reported said.

The state-run agency said Uday Hammad, the bodyguard of Fatah's military chief Brig. Gen. Sobhi Abu Arab, received gunshot wounds in different parts of his body. He was taken to Labib Medical Center in Sidon.

Abu Arab is known as Adi Othman.

Schools were closed and students were sent home over fears that the incident would lead to armed festivities between rival groups.

NNA did not say who had opened fire on Othman.

But Fatah entrusted the Paleostinian factions' follow-up committee with handing over the culprit to the authorities and calming the tense situation.

Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Fatah


Turkey Announces New Sanctions against Syria
[An Nahar] Turkey announced on Wednesday a new set of sanctions against Syria as ties between the two former allies strained further over the Damascus
...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations...
regime's deadly crackdown on opponents.

"We will impose 30 percent tax on goods coming from Syria," Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazici was quoted as saying by the private NTV television.

The Anatolia news agency did not give a precise tax rate but quoted the minister as saying that it would be in compliance with the standards set out by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"Both they (Syrians) and we are members of the WTO. We will not exceed the standard envisaged by the WTO," Anatolia quoted Yazici as saying.

After suspending a free trade pact with Ankara, Syria began imposing around 30 percent tax on some goods from Turkey, said the minister according to the agency.

On November 30, Turkey announced a raft of punitive sanctions on Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
's regime for its months-long deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests.

Among the initial measures, Ankara announced an immediate ban on transactions with the Syrian government and its central bank, as well as a freeze on Syrian government assets in Turkey.

Damascus retaliated by suspending a 2004 free trade agreement reached with Ankara after long negotiations. It also raised import duties at the customs, increased fuel oil prices and delayed truck transports.

"Syria will pay a high cost for these sanctions," Yazici said.

Another measure announced by the minister is a ban on vehicles registered in Syria and over 20 years old.

Turkey has also been seeking alternative routes to bypass Syria for trade with the Middle East.

On Wednesday, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said the government was considering three alternative routes through Egypt's Alexandria, Leb and Iraq.

"Our Plans A, B, C are all ready," said Caglayan.

Frustrated by Syria's retaliatory measures, Caglayan had also signaled Turkey's additional sanctions could be even more severe.

Posted by: Fred || 12/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2011-12-08
  Yemen's unity government announced
Wed 2011-12-07
  New coalition government formed in Yemen
Tue 2011-12-06
  Afghanistan: Kabul shrine attacks 'kills 34'
Mon 2011-12-05
  France Reduces Tehran Embassy Staff after Attack on British Mission
Sun 2011-12-04
  Iran police arrest 12 over embassy rally
Sat 2011-12-03
  US Hands Over Camp Victory to Iraq
Fri 2011-12-02
  Syria Sanctions Target Assad Brother, 16 Other Senior Figures
Thu 2011-12-01
  UK expels Iran diplomats after embassy attack
Wed 2011-11-30
  Egypt's elections go smoothly amid protests
Tue 2011-11-29
  Iranian brownshirts seize 6 British embassy staff
Mon 2011-11-28
  Enraged Pakistanis burn Obama effigy, slam US
Sun 2011-11-27
  US told to vacate Shamsi base
Sat 2011-11-26
  Pakistan stops NATO supplies after raid kills up to 28
Fri 2011-11-25
  47 Syrians Dead, Including 29 Civilians, as Homs Clashes Rage
Thu 2011-11-24
  Police continue attacks on protesters, Tahrir chants for field marshal to go

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