TWO women and a child were killed during an Australian attack on an alleged Taliban compound of mud brick huts in which the Australian commando Luke Worsley also died.
On Friday afternoon, the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said he did not believe there had been any civilian deaths. However, the website of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan subsequently revealed the bodies of three civilians had been found. It was not until after that, on Saturday morning, that the Defence Force acknowledged the deaths of the women and child.
A defence spokesman said the cause of the deaths had not been established. He said the attack was based on intelligence of bomb-making in the compound. "This raid will have degraded the Taliban's capacity to produce bombs for use in Oruzgan Province, which constitute one of the biggest threats to our people and Afghan civilians," he said, adding that those killed were close to heavy, close-quarter fighting. "At this stage we do not know if they were in any way linked to the Taliban extremists at the compound, but any loss of innocent civilian life is regrettable."
He said it was not known whether the victims were killed by Australian fire or caught in crossfire from Taliban insurgents. The Australian commandos involved in the firefight were part of a continuing operation "and it will take time to inquire into the causes of these deaths", he said.
The Defence Force statement that it was the Australian special forces who launched the attack was contradicted by an International Security Assistance Force media release that said: "Taliban insurgents initiated the firefight, which lasted several hours. At this time we simply do not know how the civilians died. "However, we do know that the insurgents fired upon ISAF soldiers from the compound in which the Afghan civilians were found after the fight." If civilians are killed when willingly used as human shields, the war crime is not on the heads of the attackers, but of the defenders, this seems pretty clear cult.
The body of Private Worsley will be returned to Australia later this week. Fellow soldiers in Afghanistan were to conduct a ceremony beforehand. He was the third Australian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan in less than two months. Trooper David Pearce died on October 8 after the light-armoured vehicle he was driving in southern Afghanistan detonated what is believed to have been a homemade bomb buried in a dirt road. An SAS sergeant, Matthew Locke, was shot dead by the Taliban on October 25.
The battle in which Private Worsley was killed began at about lam on Friday and lasted for several hours. The collection of mud brick houses where insurgents were allegedly involved in making roadside bombs is only about 10 kilometres from Tarin Kowt, the capital of Oruzgan Province.
The Defence Force said a large number of occupants of the compound were killed and others were taken prisoner, but did not disclose numbers. "We killed a lot of them and we came out on top," Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
(KUNA) -- Tribal leaders from seven provinces in the eastern and southeastern zone of Afghanistan on Sunday gathered to discuss how to bring peace and stability to their country. Governors, members of the lower and upper houses of the Afghan parliament, members of the provincial assemblies, elders, influential and senior government officials met on Sunday in Nangarhar province to discuss solution to the peace and security problem in their areas. The elders and officials, who assembled during the meeting, which will be concluded on Monday, included representatives from Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, Nuristan, Paktia, Paktika and Khost provinces. All those areas are considered to be the hotbeds of insurgency after the southern zone, which is the stronghold of Taliban militants and comprising provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan and Ghazni.
In their first day of deliberations, the elders observed that they should focus on bringing peace to their areas through peaceful means. Most of the participants were in favour of talks with the opponents of the government, the term Afghans used for Taliban, instead of use of force. Some members of the assembly also called for a stoppage of the civilian killings in military operations. According to spokesman for Nangarhar governor Noor Agha Zwak, the participants of the meeting would issue a joint declaration on Monday. The elders have gathered at a time when Afghan officials claimed killing 60 Taliban in one of the province in the southeastern zone the same day.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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London - A British teacher has been arrested in Sudan for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad after her students named a teddy bear after Islam's founder, says the foreign office.
Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was detained on Sunday, it said. According to the foreign office, she was arrested after she had allowed her seven-year-old pupils to choose a name for a stuffed teddy bear, and they chose the name Muhammad. Nice lil' robots.
#1
So... all those folks named Mohammed are insulting the prophet?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/26/2007 11:31 Comments ||
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#2
Early, the "mohammed" name was prohibited to muslims, so to avoid any thief, liar, etc, etc, bearing this Holy Name; trouble is, mulims are taught to IMITATe old mo in everything, so eventually, tradition was stronger, and this is a ridiculously common muslim name, even moree so counting the variants (mehmet, mahmoud,...). Islam doesn't bode well for originality, just see the choice of those kiddies.
Rebels on Saturday demanded Beijing pull its peacekeepers out of Darfur, just hours after a unit of Chinese army engineers flew into the Sudanese region.
More than 130 Chinese engineers arrived in south Darfurs capital Nyala on Saturday to pave the way for a 26,000-strong United Nations/African Union force in the region, where four years of conflict have killed some 200,000 people. But the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said it would not allow the engineers onto land held by its forces. It accused Beijing of stoking the crisis by supporting Khartoum.
They are not welcome... They can never come into our area, JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim told Reuters. We oppose them coming because China is not interested in human rights. It is just interested in Sudans resources. We are calling on them to quit Sudan, especially the petroleum areas.
China has advised Sudan to cooperate with U.N. efforts to resolve the crisis but remains its largest arms supplier, with sales increasing 25-fold between 2002 and 2005. Total trade rose 124 percent in the first half of this year compared to 2006. JEM attacked a Chinese-controlled oil installation last month in the central Sudanese region of Kordofan, but Ibrahim declined to comment on whether it would target the engineers. I am not saying I will attack them. I will not say I will not attack them. What I am saying is that they are taking our oil for blood, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Cairo - An Egyptian Christian woman has been jailed for three years because her father's brief conversion to Islam 45 years ago made her legally a Muslim while her official papers said she was Christian, her lawyer said on Thursday.
Shadia Nagui Ibrahim, 47, was charged with fraud for stating Christianity as her religion on her marriage certificate, unaware that her father's conversion to Islam in 1962 had made her officially a Muslim, said Michael Maurice.
Nagui Ibrahim left home in 1962 when daughter Shadia was two years old, converted to Islam and took on the Muslim name Mustafa. Three years later, after a reconciliation with his wife, he moved home and re-converted to Christianity. In the process, he got someone to forge his documents back to say he was Christian.
State reluctance to allow citizens to put their religion of choice on national identity cards means many seek forged documents that can result in criminal prosecution, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report earlier this month.
In 1996, the man who forged Ibrahim's documents was detained for falsifying dozens of documents and confessed to changing Ibrahim's papers. Authorities detained Ibrahim and also informed his daughter that on paper, Ibrahim was still a Muslim and therefore so was she. Children in Egypt automatically take their father's religion. Because a muslim man can marry a non muslim, but a non-muslim man must convert to marry a muslim woman, pretty clever, huh? Note that in morocco, with a similar, islamic scriptures-based law, this has led to the occasional paradox, when a muslim man had married a jewish woman, it seems to have happened a few times.
Under Egyptian law it is also illegal for a Muslim woman to marry a Christian man. Unless he converts; but that's not only egypt, it's anywhere, including in western countries. No conversion, no muslim woman.
She was charged with "providing false information on official documents" for stating she was Christian on her marriage certificate in 1982. After a lengthy trial, she was sentenced to three years in absentia in 2000, but the case was subsequently dropped. She was detained again in August this year and sentenced to three years after just one brief court session, her lawyer said.
At a stormy session held last Tuesday, Bahrain's parliament called upon the Gulf Arab emirate's government to cease all contact with Israel and to refrain from attending the upcoming Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, which it labeled "a waste of time".
"Most of the parliament is in favor of cutting off any contact with Israel," Abd-Ali Muhammad Hassan, a member of Bahrain's Chamber of Deputies, told The Jerusalem Post by phone from Manama. "We are not going to recognize Israel and have any dealings with them until the rights of the Palestinians are achieved," he said.
At least one of Hassan's parliamentary colleagues, Jalal Fairooz, already appears to be implementing the decision. Contacted by the Post, Fairooz said that he refused to be interviewed by a newspaper published in Israel. "I am not willing to speak to a newspaper that is published in the occupied territories," he said, after which he hung up.
Joooo cooties!
Hassan further noted that the parliament had expressed its dismay that the Bahraini government had closed its Office for the Boycott of Israel last year, whose task had been to ensure compliance with the terms of the Arab League economic embargo against the Jewish state. Criticizing the decision, Hassan said that he and his colleagues had "asked the government to re-open that office and to avoid any other dealings with Israel."
Never mind the free trade pact with the U.S. that required Bahrain to end the boycott.
Bahraini Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, who attended the session, defended the move, noting that the closing of the office was mandated by the US-Bahrain free-trade agreement, which he says has proven beneficial to the emirate's economy. But he sought to reassure the deputies that the boycott of Israel was still in place, even after the closure of the office.
"People are still boycotting [Israel] with or without the office," Khalifa said, according to a report in the Gulf Daily News, adding, "Bahrain didn't normalize relations with Israel, which is still our enemy."
Nonetheless, Khalifa came under harsh criticism from the deputies for an unofficial tete-a-tete he held with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni at the United Nations earlier this fall. Islamist deputy Nasser al Fadhala said that Khalifa should ritually wash his hands six times with water and then cleanse them with sand for having shaken Livni's hand.
Joooo cooties!
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
"a waste of time"
They're right about that part. Of course, the reason it's a waste of time is because of the Arabs...
Most of the political parties expressed their unwillingness to join the Election Commission's (EC) planned conference on electoral reforms -- scheduled for next month, if Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the anti-liberation force that had committed war crimes, is invited to it.
The EC is planning to hold a daylong conference where the top leaders of the parties that separately sat with the commission in the ongoing first round of electoral reform talks since September 12, would gather together.
According to the EC's plan, the participating parties would give their final opinions on the final draft of the EC proposed electoral reform scheme that it would bring to the conference based on the outcome of the dialogues.
Contacted by The Daily Star yesterday senior leaders of other political parties, those have already participated in the talks with the EC and demanded for disqualifying the war criminals including Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh from contesting in the polls, rejected the EC's plan. All of them except Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) and Jamaat, also demanded that the EC should not allow Jamaat to be registered with it as a parliamentary political party. They said they will not sit with Jamaat leaders.
Being informed of the EC's plan during the electoral reform talk between the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and the commission yesterday, the former rejected outright the idea of joining the conference where Jamaat would be present, and said it is not possible for the party to sit with the anti-liberation war criminals.
"We have never sat with Jamaat-e-Islami and we will never sit with them on a common platform. You must understand the political reality and the very sensitive nature of the issue. So, you [EC] think about what you want to do since other parties will also not agree to sit with Jamaat," CPB Secretary General Mujahidul Islam Selim told the chief election commissioner (CEC) during the dialogue.
CEC ATM Shamsul Huda, who informed the CPB delegation about the EC's plan of holding the conference, also said the commission plans to hold the proposed conference in Bangladesh China Friendship Centre in the capital.
"We have not thought about it earlier. You are the [CPB] first to raise the point. We have to think about it," CEC Huda told the CPB delegation about their objection to Jamaat's participation in the conference.
Except Jamaat and IOJ, the nine other political parties that already had their electoral reform talks with the EC till yesterday, demanded disqualification of war criminals from contesting in the polls.
Participating in the electoral reform dialogues with the EC, Awami League, two factions of Jatiya Party, two factions of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Krishak Sramik Janata League, Gantotantri Party, and National Awami Party (NAP) also demanded for not allowing the anti-liberation forces including Jamaat to get registered with the EC as political parties
Three other parties, the Workers Party of Bangladesh, Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh, and Samayabadi Dal (JSD), who will sit with the EC separately for the electoral reform dialogues soon, are also likely to raise the same demand. Another major political party BNP, which formed the immediate past elected ruling alliance with Jamaat, however has yet to decide on the matter.
Echoing the growing demand, CPB yesterday argued that Jamaat cannot get registration from the EC since it is a political force that was defeated in the liberation war. "The Pakistan army cannot run its activities in independent Bangladesh since they were defeated in 1971. Similarly, its political collaborators were also defeated in 1971 and they cannot demand the same democratic rights other organisations enjoy," CPB Secretary General Selim, who placed the party's electoral reform proposals to EC, argued.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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The Lashkar-e-Taiba is making renewed efforts to recruit cadres in Bangladesh on a mass scale with emphasis on getting upwardly mobile youth and professionals such as doctors, engineers and computer-literate college-going individuals into its ranks. Like its earlier campaign in Muzaffarabad, after a devastating earthquake had hit Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in October 2005, LeT's political front Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) has sent its top operatives to Bangladesh and opened local offices to collect funds and fill up its ranks in the name of relief work in the cyclone-hit coastal districts where thousands have perished.
Though both LeT and JuD were banned by Pakistan and the US, the JuD had used the natural calamity in PoK as an opportunity to collect funds through its sympathisers and activists in Pakistan, UK and US. A part of the booty was later found to have been diverted to funding terrorist activities, a fact authenticated by several intelligence reports.
The current move by LeT is seen by intelligence officials here as something similar to the regrouping of HuJI in Bangladesh after 9/11 when the allied NATO forces increased pressure on jihadis in Afghanistan. Now, with the Musharraf regime in Pakistan under pressure from its western allies to break the jihadi infrastructure on its land, this may also be a temporary arrangement of the militant outfit to shift base and use the opportunity to infuse fresh blood in its ranks.
In a statement issued on November 22, the JuD said it had opened a central office in Karachi to coordinate, store and ship relief material to Bangladesh for the cyclone-affected people. The political front of the LeT said it had already begun dispatching medical teams accompanied by volunteers to the affected areas to speed up the work.
Of late, Bangladesh has become one of the important routes for militant outfits smuggling RDX and other explosives into the country. With LeT making relief dispatches to Dhaka, more explosives flowing into the country may not be ruled out. Both HuJI and LeT have had active involvement in most of the recent terrorist attacks in India. While the well-trained militants of the two organisations have carried out a series of terror attacks, the two outfits have managed to set up a number of sleeper cells among their sympathisers in different parts of the country.
Sources said Hyderabad, Mumbai and several cities of UP, where SIMI had its presence, are considered hotbeds of militants and suspected to be the safehouses of HuJI and LeT militants who have infiltrated into the country.
During the 2005 earthquake, the LeT's relief operation was headed by an orthopaedic doctor Amir Aziz, the man who was held in 2002 for his links with Osama bin Laden. The doctor was believed to have treated Bin Laden.
Besides collecting funds, the LeT had also used the 2005 earthquake relief campaign to change its cadre profile, like the Al Qaida, to recruit from schools and colleges proficient in English and computers. During the 2005 earthquake, the LeT had set up more than 350 mobile hospitals, each equipped with X-ray machines, path labs and mini operation theatres.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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While administratively a part of the French armed forces, thus under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence, it is operationally attached to the Ministry of the Interior for its operations within France, and criminal investigations are run under the supervision of prosecutors or investigating magistrates (judges). Its members operate in uniform, and occasionally in plainclothes.
Its missions include:
* The policing of the countryside, rivers and coastal areas, and small towns with populations under 10,000 (outside of the jurisdiction of the French National Police). About half the French population is under the direct jurisdiction of the Gendarmerie.
* Criminal investigations under judiciary supervision.
* Crowd control and other security activities.
* The security of airports and military installations, as well as all investigations relating to the military, including in foreign interventions.
* Participations in ceremonies involving foreign heads of states or heads of governments.
* Provision of Military police services to the Military of France.
You can also view their site. You'll have to translate it yourself, tho.
#5
Sarkozy's defining moment is at hand. Failure to draw a line in the sand against resurgent barbarianism will undermine his efforts at reform in every area.
Unless things have changed lately Gendarmerie does nopt operate on pain clothes: "in order to preserve honorability of the service" in Napoleon's words who created Gendarmerie and hated the idea of having an Army service involved in deals with pimps and minor thieves in order to catch bigger fiah.
#8
Paris Burns Again - Will Sarkozy Fight Back?
IMHO : Of course not.
I know I'm biased, but my feeling is that Sarko is much misunderstood here; he's not a Reagan-like reformer; he's a gorbatchev-like "reformer", to borrow an image I find very fitting.
He's here to perpetuate the "french model", and has, and will, only make reforms at the very margins, without going to the core, so it can continue as long as possible.
You've got to understand that the frenchifada is not a thing that happens now and then, it's more or less permanent all over the french territory, with flame ups like this one, with more msm covering. But there are ambushes of firefighters, cops, EMT,... all the time, stonings of said representatives of the french State all the times, 100 cars torched a night (with an actual number that is higher), and public buildings torched every week. This is a low-intensity, simmering permanent intifada, which is now accepted as a fact of life by the Powers-that-be, and dealt with by non-dealing with it, just keeping the lid so this doesn't break out of control. That's why the gvt response to the 2005 ramadan riots was to avoid clashes and desescalate with the help of imams and "big brothers", because if the ante had been upped, th epolice would have been simply unable to deal with it, and the army would have been to be called in, with all the possible spiralling and even the loyalties issues (french army is now about 20% Youths, up to 30% in units like paratroopers, with many, many related problems).
Sarko is not a doer; he's not "tough"; he's a man whose motto is "one media happening a day"; he's all show, and no substance, he's been an insider for 30 years.
Can he be an improvement? Yes, of course? Was he a better alternative than ségogole, bayrou or pépé Le pen? Definitvely yes? Will he be more rationale and pro-western in his foreign policy than yacoub ben shirak? Definitvely, though he won't be the white Knight on a white horse.
Is he conservative? No, or just in the french context. I'd joke by saying that there are almost as many sopcialist in the gvt now that if ségogole had won; he's done "affirmative action" nominating by putting people who have nothing to do in a french gvt, and who put their ethnic identity (black african, notably) above their french identity, by example by going support african squatter about to be expelled, after all the due legal process. How do you call it when you've got a minister who go publicly support lawbreakers or strongly criticize the very timid "reform" his own gvt want to implement to control immigration?
Sarko is a glittering media act; he's all show, no action (he's done NOTHING of any substance since he's in), he won't do a thing, and I don't and won't expect ANYTHING from him.
Again, that's just my very humble opinion, and I'm a "passive-aggressive extremist"; JFM is more savvy and grounded in Reality than me, so, he's probably got a different opinion, and he's more entittled to it; I think than the other occasional frenchie here, leroidavid (which just showed up at NP! Hi!) may also have a different view.
#10
Why did I put ? instead of ! when answering self-asked question??? Freudian slip, I guess.
To summarize that semi-coherent post : Sarko has been elected on a conservative campaign, during which he stole pépé Le pen's thunder by insisting on identity issues; that's why he basically got half of the 20% that should normally had gone Le pen's way at the first turn, and why Le pen's electorate went for him on the second; even the sopcialist candidate had to thread that identity issue, because this was the revolving point.
Also, he promised "rupture", that is, to break away with the old ways. French are confused, they probably want to cling to it, and avoid painful reforms, BUT, they also know confusely, but very well, that it simply can't go on.
So, Sarko was elected on that, identity (with the help of the left/msm, which painted him as a rightwing extremist, because, unlike Le pebn, he could actually be elected and threaten the multiculti statu quo), and reform.
And his policy since then? Business as usual, and political trickery, like vampirizing the left by nominating personalites in commissions, study groups, ministers, IMF president,...
#11
anon8059 I agree that Americans are misreading Sarkozy. He's busy negotiating French advantage with the Chinese, militarily and economically, this week for instance.
A state that will not defend itself is doomed. It can fall quickly or be eroded gradually. The urbgan insurgents prefer the latter, since it doesn't trigger a sufficient defensive response from the populace.
#13
One reason Sarko might take strong action against the rioters is that will remove the strikers from the headlines and allow him to push his domestic economic reforms while the headlines go to the head bashing. Sarko also made headlines during the last outburst by calling the yoots thugs or hooligans or some such derogatory descriptive term. If he doesn't crack down, they'll start calling him paper tiger. In any case it will be his defining moment.
#14
Napoleon's way of dealing with "civil unrest" was to use "a whiff of grapeshot" to clear the streets and restore order. If Sarkozy feels up to it, there is precedent. Actually a twofer, establish the rule of law and get rid of Islamotrash that will never be French.
#16
There are two solutions to this problem: Assimilation into French Catholo-secularism or mass deportation. I am fine with either. The current Frankfurt School apartheid model will produce civil war and - quite possibly - the death of France.
#19
IIUC, cutting power so there is no public lighting is a common tactic, that's possibly why the two idiots whose electrocution started the 2005 riots went into that (normally locked, but routenily broken in) electrical building along with their buddy, while the police was patrolling the area.
#20
Hé hé hé... all this started because two Youths were having a joyride with a stolen motorbike (possibly a mini-motorbike), without helmets, and they had an accident... with a police car... there was *no chase*, they just sped for fun, didn't respect priority at a crossroads, and crashed into the side of the car, dumbasses.
Yes, they're rioting over a run-of-the-mill accident, but for example, there repetatedly had been, and probably will be again, riots after Youths being sentenced to jail over an actual crime like rape or murder (even of an another Youth); besides, when you're Oppressed by a Racist Society, it's your allan-given right to riot whenever you feel entitled to...
Now, the seething relatives are *demanding* that "all police involved be *sentenced* (condamnés, that is, found guilty and sent to jail)"... and the gvt is already bactracking : the local police are now accused of having been "too slow" in providing medical help, and the prime minister has phoned to the families of the two dumbasses to assure them of his (and the gvt's) sincerest condoleances and sympathy.
Interestingly enough, a couple days ago, a 23 years-old student has been stabbed to death in the RER, after she resisted rape by a repeat offender, a 43 years old Youth. As far as I know, fillon didn't phone her family to give them support. They probably didn't burn enough cars.
#22
Funny thing is that according the NPR ( i know, I know) this morning, it sounded like white French teens were rioting and it had nothing to do with Muslims. Then in the last sentence of the story, they said something about promising jobs to minorities. Too funny, but that's what we, the taxpayers, pay for!
#23
A few of us listen to NPR so the rest of Rantburg doesn't have to, 0369Grunt. Just like a few read the New York Times, the Washington Post, and so forth. It keeps our group blood pressure down in the safe range... teamwork works! ;-)
Does anyone else detect a curious similarity involving riots occurring when yoots crash their hot moped into a cop car and some deranged Islamic maggot tries to stab Belgian police officers in their station? Perps = Dead Wrong, Muslims = Totally immune to reason. I sense a pattern here.
LAHORE, Pakistan, (AP)Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said his party would abide by the decision of the All Parties Democratic Movement to boycott the next general election if the opposition demand that Supreme Court judges sacked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf earlier this month be reinstated was not met.
"We do not want to boycott the elections but we have been pushed to the wall, the nation has been pushed to the wall," he said.
Having gotten back into Pakiwakiland, he's now going to make himself irrelevant. Shrewd, very shrewd ...
Sharif told a press conference that elections under the present conditions would not resolve the political crisis facing Pakistan. Sharif said that if the judges were not reinstated and the Constitution was not restored, the opposition parties would be forced to boycott the elections set for Jan. 8.
Sharif returned to Pakistan on Sunday after seven years of forced exile. He addressed a press conference in Lahore. He said that if the opposition boycotted the elections, it would be a boycott for the restoration of the Constitution and not that of the elections.
Asked if he was ready to work with Musharraf, he said he would never agree to serve as prime minister under Musharraf.
Sharif said he was in touch with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, adding she had disagreed that the opposition should boycott if the judiciary was not restored.
Sharif said it was for the first time in the history of Pakistan-U.S. relations that the United States was projecting to be supporting the aspirations of the people of Pakistan. However, he appealed to Washington to demand the restoration of the judiciary. "The U.S. must clearly say that judges must be restored. The lifting of the emergency alone would not solve the problem," he said.
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
11/26/2007 07:52 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Students of several universities from across the country met on Sunday to frame a combined strategy to eradicate Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) from their institutions. Unemployed Youth Movement (UYM) arranged the meeting.
On condition of anonymity an UYM member told Daily Times that students from Karachi University, Peshawar University, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Sindh University, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad; Balochistan University, Bahauddin Zakriya University; Multan participated in the meeting. He said the meeting had focused on supporting the Punjab University (PU) students anti-IJT movement. He said students of other universities would also participate in PU students anti-IJT rally on Monday (today). Besides discussing eradication of IJT from institutes, he said, imposition of emergency rule and curbs on the media were also discussed.
PU students hold anti-IJT rally today: Punjab University (PU) students said they would take out an anti-IJT rally on Monday (today). Ahsan, a PU student, said the rally would be taken out from PU Law College at 11am. He said PU administration and IJT activists were trying to stop the rally. He said PU Hailey College teacher Zulifqar Ahmed Vohra, a former IJT worker, had threatened female students from participating in the rally. He said the students would observe a sit-in before the PU vice chancellors (VC) office. We will request the VC to allow female students use IJTs abandoned offices as common rooms.
Usman, a PU student, said, Several departments are headed by teachers who were former IJT activists. He said these teachers were trying to stop students from taking out the rally. He said teachers of Hailey College, PU Law College, Institute of Business Administration and Institute of Communication Studies were opposing the rally. Hailey College teacher Zulifqar Ahmad said the PU administration had directed teachers to stop students from participating in the rally.
PU IJT media secretary Imran Kiyani said, We did not hatch a plan to stop the rally. He said that IJT is expecting that PU students would not took off their rally against them. On students demands, PU registrar Dr Naeem Khan said, the university had vacated IJT offices on New Campus. He said, We have also directed Old Campus administration to vacate IJT offices. He said a positive change has been observed on the campus after the students movement.
This article starring:
Islami Jamiat Talaba
Imran Kiyani
Islami Jamiat Talaba
PU registrar Dr Naeem Khan
Zulifqar Ahmed Vohra
Islami Jamiat Talaba
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Security agencies have started preparing for the forthcoming general elections by keeping tabs on suspect militants, especially of the Qari Zafar (of the Al Qaeda) and Mufti Ilyas (infamous for the Nishtar Park bombing) groups. The agencies are preparing and maintaining profiles on people and interrogating activists from banned organizations.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) Saud Ahmed Mirza confirmed that they have been busy but said that there is only so much they can do. We can just gather the data and maintain profiles on suspect militants, terrorists and activists. There is a main role for the police to play, he said. The DIG did not know exactly how many people have been taken into custody or how many people have been released with a warning. When asked if Qari Zafar, who is in charge of Al Qaedas car bombing cell, and/or Mufti Ilyas are currently gearing up for more attacks, he said that he couldnt give any specifics. The media knows everything well enough, he added.
A source said that over 100 activists from different banned organizations, such as the Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Sipah-e-Mohammad, and members of the Qari Zafar and Mufti Ilyas groups have been taken into custody. Most were released after interrogation but some are still being held. Local police, the CID, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and other security agency personnel are busy gathering data, the source said. The interrogation of inmates is also in progress, he added.
Some areas are being monitored. A number of mosques are also being watched and plainclothes have been deputed throughout the city. One suspect militant, who was taken into custody, told Daily Times that he was interrogated by the police at different locations. The police kept me for two days and when they let me go they gave me a warning and said that I have to stay in touch with them on a weekly basis or theyd put me in jail, he said. The main questions the police asked him centred on what his group was up to.
This article starring:
Jaish-e-Mohammad
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Sipah-e-Mohammad
Sipah-e-Sahaba
Mufti Ilyas
al-Qaeda
Qari Zafar
al-Qaeda
Saud Ahmed Mirza
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Former premier Muhammad Nawaz Sharif returned to the country on Sunday after eight years of exile and vowed to contest the general elections. Talking to reporters after arriving in Lahore from Medina at 6.25pm, he said all decisions regarding participation in polls would be made on the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM)s platform.
He said the APDM would participate in the elections if Gen Musharraf withdrew the emergency declaration he issued on November 3 and released opposition members who had been jailed. Everything that was done must be reversed and drawn back completely, he said. You must have a level playing field for fair elections. He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would never welcome turncoats, adding that he wanted to unite the PML and the PML-N.
No deal: He said he had made no deal with President General Pervez Musharraf. I havent met any Pakistani government functionary over the last eight years, although there were a lot of overtures from the Pakistani side to meet me and to talk to me, he said. He said he has not changed his position on Musharraf, He is not a legitimate president of the country. I do not accept that, not at all. He said he had refused recent attempts by Gen Musharraf to meet him in Saudi Arabia because the two men are poles apart.
The PML-N chief said there was no question to him ever agreeing to a power-sharing deal with Gen Musharraf as president and himself as prime minister. A spokesman for Gen Musharraf told CNN on Sunday that there was no agreement or understanding with Nawaz.
This article starring:
All Parties Democratic Movement
Muhammad Nawaz Sharif
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
BAGHDAD - Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday.
Keep repeating 'quagmire' and click your ruby red slippers three times.
The proposal, described to The Associated Press by two senior Iraqi officials familiar with the issue, is one of the first indications that the United States and Iraq are beginning to explore what their relationship might look like once the U.S. significantly draws down its troop presence.
In Washington, President Bush's adviser on the Iraqi war, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, confirmed the proposal, calling it "a set of principles from which to begin formal negotiations."
As part of the package, the Iraqis want an end to the current U.N.-mandated multinational forces mission, and also an end to all U.N.-ordered restrictions on Iraq's sovereignty. In a televised address Monday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said his government will ask the U.N. to renew the mandate for the multinational force for one final time, with its authorization to end in 2008. He insisted that the U.N. remove all restrictions on Iraqi sovereignty.
Smart move. Gets the U.N. off their backs and allows Iraq to negotiate bilateral agreements to suit its needs. We'll be first in line.
Iraq has been living under some form of U.N. restriction since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the officials said. U.S. troops and other foreign forces operate in Iraq under a U.N. Security Council mandate, which has been renewed annually since 2003. Iraqi officials have said they want that next renewal which must be approved by the U.N. Security Council by the end of this year to be the last.
Let's see how the Russians and Chinese handle this. In the past they've always voted 'yes' since they didn't want more instability in the region and we were doing all the heavy lifting -- they'd fight to the last American. Now Iran is getting closer to having a nuke and Iraq is getting itself somewhat together. Can the Iranians persuade the Russkers and Chinese to vote 'no' on the extension?
The two senior Iraqi officials said Iraqi authorities had discussed the broad outlines of the proposal with U.S. military and diplomatic representatives. The Americans appeared generally favorable subject to negotiations on the details, which include preferential treatment for American investments, according to the Iraqi officials involved in the discussions.
The two Iraqi officials, who are from two different political parties, spoke on condition of anonymity because the subject is sensitive. Members of parliament were briefed on the plan during a three-hour closed-door meeting Sunday, during which lawmakers loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr objected to the formula.
Since he's still the Iranian lap dog in the end.
Preferential treatment for U.S. investors could provide a huge windfall if Iraq can achieve enough stability to exploit its vast oil resources. Such a deal would also enable the United States to maintain leverage against Iranian expansion at a time of growing fears about Tehran's nuclear aspirations.
At the White House, Lute said the new agreement was not binding. "It's not a treaty, but it's rather a set of principles from which to begin formal negotiations," Lute said. "Think of today's agreement as setting the agenda for the formal bilateral negotiations." Those negotiations will take place during the course of 2008, with the goal of completion by July, Lute said.
The new agreement on principles spells out what the formal, final document will contain regarding political, economic and security matters. "We believe, and Iraqis' national leaders believe, that a long-term relationship with the United States is in our mutual interest," Lute said.
From the Iraqi side, Lute said, having the U.S. as a "reliable, enduring partner with Iraq will cause different sects inside the Iraqi political structure not to have to hedge their bets in a go-it-alone-like setting, but rather they'll be able to bet on the reliable partnership with the United States."
Not to mention that it binds the next administration, Republican or Democrat, to supporting Iraq.
When asked about the plan, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo noted that Iraqi officials had expressed a desire for a strategic partnership with the U.S. in a political declaration in August and an end to the U.N.-mandated force. "Thereafter then, the question becomes one of bilateral relationships between Iraq and the countries of the multinational forces," she said. "At that point we need to be considering long-term bilateral relationships and we're following the Iraqi thinking on this one and we agree with their thinking on this and we'll be looking at setting up a long-term partnership with different aspects to it, political, economic, security and so forth."
She said any detailed discussion of bases and investment preferences was "way, way, way ahead of where we are at the moment."
The Iraqi officials said that under the proposed formula, Iraq would get full responsibility for internal security and U.S. troops would relocate to bases outside the cities. Iraqi officials foresee a long-term presence of about 50,000 U.S. troops, down from the current figure of more than 160,000.
That's been the goal all along, of course, but we needed the 'surge' and COIN strategy to make the place livable. The question is whether Iraqi security and police forces will make enough progress by the end of 2008 to allow this to work.
Haidar al-Abadi, a senior Dawa member of al-Maliki's Dawa party, told Alhurra television that the prime minister would write parliament in the next few days to tell lawmakers that his government would seek the renewal of the U.N. mandate for "one last time." Al-Abadi said the Iraqi government would make the renewal conditional on ending all U.N.-mandated restrictions on Iraq's sovereignty.
The Iraqi target date for a bilateral agreement on the new relationship would be July, when the U.S. intends to finish withdrawing the five combat brigades sent in 2007 by President Bush as part of the troop buildup that has helped curb sectarian violence.
On Sunday, Iraq's Shiite vice president hinted at such a formula, saying the government will link discussions on the next extension of the U.N. mandate to an agreement under which Iraq will gain full sovereignty and "full control over all of its resources and issues." Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi said Iraq wanted an "equal footing" with the U.S. on security issues as a sovereign country so Iraqi could "have relations with other states with sovereignty and interests."
He said the government would announce within days a "declaration of intent" that would not involve military bases but would raise "issues on organizing the presence of the multinational forces and ending their presence on Iraqi soil."
One official said the Iraqis expect objections from Iraq's neighbors. Iran and Syria will object because they oppose a U.S. presence in the region. Egypt and Saudi Arabia will not like the idea of any reduction in their roles as Washington's most important Arab partners.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2007 15:08 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"50,000 U.S. troops, down from the current figure of more than 160,000.
That's been the goal all along, of course, "
Oh really? I think 50,000 is probably a large commitment, long term, than most Americans envisage.
#2
to clarify, I think even for those americans who are realistic enough to envision a long term presence at all, 50,000 is on the high side for the majority.
I suspect there will be considerable opposition (including in the military) to a perm force of more than a brigade or so.
#4
look at the patterns of spending by the us military over the last few years -- were in for the long haul.
Posted by: dan ||
11/26/2007 16:30 Comments ||
Top||
#5
There are still 50,000 US troops in Germany for no good reason. Move them out.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2007 16:34 Comments ||
Top||
#6
50,000 is not that large a presence. We need to stay away from the nyumbers game and look at the capability to meet the requirement. Let the requirement dictate the number of troops. Then we can unass Kuwait.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/26/2007 16:44 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Of course they want us to stay. Just as the South Koreans and Germans want us to stay. Initially for defense, later to suck on Uncle Sam's wallet. It's the way of the world.
#9
Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday.
No problem. To make it happen, just apply for and get your lobbying permit and make a sizable deposit to:
Hillary Presidential Campaign Fund
Obama Presidential Campaign Fund
Edwards Presidential Campaign Fund
with teasers for each presidential library
as well as
Nancy Pelosi For Congress and Harry Reid for Senate campaign funds
You'll be amazed how much they can turn on a dinar dime.
#10
LH, I think the 50K figure was for all forces. Likely only 25 Army, no big.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
11/26/2007 18:34 Comments ||
Top||
#11
This is only news to people who have not been paying attention. We have been hardening structures in Iraq for a while now. We would need 50,000 or so merely to safeguard the noncombat personnel and equipment which has been brought over, and that assumes an orderly "retreat". Iraq is important in itself, but it is also a very valuable strategic location for pressuring Iran. There is a higher justification for a U.S. presence there than the tripwire force in South Korea and certainly more so than for the European bases.
#12
Balad AFB. Put an Army cantonment there as well - its already an air and logistics hub for all of Iraq. Set up patrol posts, like the old Border Camps in Germany for rotating patrols.
Pretty easy. and you cna sink 50K troops pretty easily and safely there.
#13
As I've long suggested, for a long time now, the US has planned the following:
1) A Status of Forces agreement with Iraq for several bases, much like what we had with Germany.
2) One of these bases to be the HQ of Africa Command, whose interests are not Iraq, but the ME, NE and E Africa, and some Central Asia, and the associated oceans: Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, western Indian Ocean. This would also be the heart of a network of other installations outside of Iraq, but in the region.
3) We continue to provide Iraq combat air forces, ADA, anti-missile defenses, and advise on the further development of the military and defense structure. In doing so we also provide a missile and air shield to Israel, and form the southern part of missile defenses for Europe.
#14
Pull all but a brigade from Europe. Leave a Stryker BDE near Graf for the sake of exercisee.
Move the whole kit and kaboodle to Iraq and CONUS. Grab all the old POMCUS sets (if any are left) and give them to the Iraqi Army, and get them trained up on how to use them.
#16
"Prepositioning Of Material Configured in Unit Sets." The equipment and basic load for a unit would be in theater requiring only the soldiers to be flown in and issued the load. Otherwise it would take a lot of valuable time to move said equipment to port, loading, shipping [usually by sea], unloading and then then moving to the assembly area.
Iraq's parliament began discussing a draft law Sunday that would ease job restrictions on former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party. But a political faction loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr jeered and raised objections that halted the presentation of the bill.
Mookie needs to have another conversation with Sistani, and then another one with Gen. Petreaus.
It is the first time this year that Iraq's parliament has debated a major bill that Washington hopes will promote reconciliation among Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds. The proposed law would make it easier for former Baathists, many of them Sunnis, to apply for jobs in the Iraqi government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party
#1
So is this bill one of those the US Congress mandated?
Oh, I know it still can't be considered 'progress', because they haven't done all the things Congress demanded. Soverign nation, my bippy!
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/26/2007 6:15 Comments ||
Top||
(KUNA) -- Ali Hassan Al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, confessed on Sunday to crimes committed during the 1991 Basra uprising. This came during Majid's testimony to the Iraq Supreme criminal court. Also a hearing for one of the eyewitnesses in the Basra incident was also heard by the court. Majid said "I am fully responsible for what occurred during the Basra uprising and the other defendants in this court have nothing to do to what happened back in 1991."
He affirmed that other officials were only following military orders, confessing to other crimes occurring in Kirkuk, Mosul, and other areas in Iraq. However, he did not accept accusations regarding his responsibility to crimes occurring in Misan governorate nor did he confess to crimes during the general uprising in Iraq after Kuwait was Liberated in 1991. Majid said in his testament that operations were aimed against gunmen groups which killed several security officials back then, denying that more than 180,000 citizens were killed during that period.
Supreme Judge Mohammad Al-Rabei ordered that Majid's confessions to be documented. Majid, alongside 15 other Saddamist officials, are awaiting the death sentence for crimes committee during the Anfal campaign.
This article starring:
Ali Hassan Al-Majid
Iraqi Baath Party
Chemical Ali
Iraqi Baath Party
Supreme Judge Mohammad Al-Rabei
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party
#1
It appears that the lessons of Iraq and the words of General Patraeus' rework of counterinsurgency warfare are being heeded. It should have been obvious by this time that way of doing things the past 40 years had been going nowhere. Just as we are now working with those who were shooting at us in Iraq, we will be doing the same soon in Afghanistan and in places around the globe.
JERUSALEM: The US has given tacit approval to separate peace talks between Israel and Syria immediately after tomorrow's Middle East summit in Annapolis, Maryland.
Diplomats believe that Syria's expected participation in the meeting to be chaired by the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, signals a likely resumption of direct talks between the country's Baathist regime and the Israeli Government, for the first time in more than a decade.
Syria had insisted that the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, seized from its control in the 1967 war, be on the table for discussion as a precondition for taking part in the summit. Cf G(r)omgoru's Arab Way of war : start a war, lose a war, apply conditions to the victor.
On Friday it was among Arab countries that agreed to send ministers to the US for this week's meeting - itself the first US-hosted talks on the Middle East since president Bill Clinton's ill-fated final effort eight years ago. The Arab League's unanimous decision to take part in the summit was criticised by the Hamas movement on Saturday.
A spokesman said there could be no justification for taking part as long as Israel retained its hold on Palestinian territory and described the decision to do so as "a great shock".
But others were pleased. "At some point we need to have a renewed Israel-Syrian peace track. We need this," said the Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat in Morocco.
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
11/26/2007 08:05 ||
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[6 views]
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#1
The New Western Way of war : get dragged into a war, win a war, pay tribute to the loser for decades.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
11/26/2007 10:16 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Why the hell not - Olmert has already given in a lot and they smell blood.
I have a very bad feeling about this Annapolis 'meeting'. I think its simply going to be a opportunity for the Islamists to demand the destruction of Israel and Israel will be condemned when it doesn't give in to all the demands immediately.
#5
If Israel is stupid enough to agree to any demands, it will be the camp David accords all over again. Israel gives up a lot and gets a lot of terror and death in return. If I was Israel, I would tell Syria to go fuck themselves and if they had a problem with it we would blow them to fucking Narnia.
#7
If Israel gets US troops guarding a demilitarized no-troop land under Syrian administrative authority in exchange for Syrian recognition and Syria breaking from Iran, it might not be the worst deal Israel could make. Note the Saudis are expanding oil production.
Lebanon will attend the US-sponsored Middle East conference to be held in Annapolis next week, despite the political crisis engulfing the country. Acting foreign minister Tarek Metri left for the US on Saturday to take part in the meeting, a Lebanese official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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Dr. Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces said Saturday he opposes the election of a president who is committed to the existing understanding between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement of Michel Aoun. He stressed that Aoun is not the leading Christian leader and urged him to consider consensus on presidential candidates Nassib Lahoud and Butros Harb who represent the March 14 alliance to "salvage Lebanon."
Geagea, addressing a news conference, also noted that blocking presidential elections opens the door to Syria's renewed influence in domestic Lebanese affairs "that is why Arab and international envoys talk to the Syrians about Lebanon." He said Syrian leaders have invested 40 years in trying to convince the world that Lebanon is not a viable state and that the Lebanese are not capable of ruling themselves. "We will not permit a return of Syria's influence and no revolution would survive in Lebanon except the Cedar Revolution. This is Cedar Land," Geagea pledged.
He expressed the belief that a new president would be elected before year-end. He said the interim rule by Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government "is not the solution (to Lebanon's crisis) the solution is in holding the presidential election as soon as possible."
"What prevents the election of Butros Harb or Nassib Lahoud?" Geagea asked. "Is the present situation better than what it would have been had either of them been elected president? I propose this solution to hold the election, otherwise, the alternative solution would be more difficult."
In answering a question as to whether the Lebanese Forces is applying a U.S.-set agenda, Geagea said: "If the U.S. agenda is to elect a president on constitutional schedule, we are with the U.S. agenda, but if the U.S. agenda is to block presidential elections then Hezbollah is applying a U.S. agenda" because the MP's of the Iranian-backed party have boycotted the vote.
He stressed that political differences with the FPM would persist within the "political frame and there would be no confrontation" with Aoun's partisans. Geagea concluded by stressing that electing a president by simple majority remains an option, denying reports of differences with Druze leader Walid Jumblatt or any other leader of the March 14 forces.
This article starring:
Butros Harb
Fouad Siniora
Michel Aoun
Nassib Lahoud
Samir Geagea
Walid Jumblatt
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
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The Iranian and Syrian-backed opposition party Hezbollah on Sunday contested the parliament-backed government's decision to take charge of running Lebanon as a result of the presidential vacuum. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government "does not exist, cannot rule and cannot take over from the presidency," Hezbollah's number two Naim Qassem said Lebanon is now "without an executive power," he said, reiterating the opposition's stand that the government lost its legitimacy when all its Shiite cabinet members resigned in 2006.
"Some people say the illegitimate government has taken over from the presidency, but this would only have been possible if the government was constitutional, legal and legitimate," Qassem said. "Only then could it temporarily take over (presidential powers) ... but it is considered illegitimate," he said during a ceremony in Beirut's mainly Shiite southern suburbs.
This article starring:
Fouad Siniora
Naim Qassem
Hezbollah
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
As long as we are not in power, the government is illegitimate. That's why all of us left the previous government. Once we take over, and re-write the consititution, then we'll be really legitimate. We're on the Hitler Plan.
Posted by: N. Qassem ||
11/26/2007 6:27 Comments ||
Top||
Syria will send its deputy foreign minister to the U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md. because the issue of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has been added to the agenda, the state-run news agency said Sunday. The agency, SANA, said Syria will be represented at the conference by Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad. The decision was made "after the Syria track was added to the conference agenda," the agency said.
Syria had said it will attend only if the conference discusses the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel saw the announcement as a positive development. "The meetings are clearly about the Israeli-Palestinian process, but could be the beginning of new avenues to peace in the Middle East," spokeswoman Miri Eisin said.
Broad Arab attendance at the Annapolis summit was a key goal for the U.S., which is hoping that could help bring about an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Syria did not explain why it will not be sending its foreign minister, like other Arab participants, but the decision appears to indicate that it is not entirely confident the conference will address its concerns over the Golan Heights.
This article starring:
Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad
spokeswoman Miri Eisin
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Iran-backed Hezbollah on Sunday blamed U.S. interference for the Lebanese parliament's inability to elect a president and added a new condition for choosing the next head of state: The leader must support the powerful Shiite Muslim group's fight against Israel.
Hezbollah's demand is bound to further complicate efforts to elect a new president to replace Emile Lahoud, who stepped down midnight Friday, plunging the crisis-ridden country into a dangerous power vacuum after rival factions failed to agree on a successor. "We want a president who believes in national participation and in the right to defend one's land and protect its people," Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheik Naim Kassem, said in a speech in south Beirut.
While Lebanon's U.S.-backed government does not have relations with Israel, it also does not seek to provoke fighting between the two countries. Months of political haggling between Lebanon's rival politicians failed to find a compromise presidential candidate to succeed Lahoud, intensifying fears of street violence between Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's Western-backed government and the opposition led by Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and Syria.
This article starring:
Emile Lahoud
Fuad Saniora
Sheik Naim Kassem
Hezbollah
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
Iran's Army Naval Force will carry out a war game in Hormuz Strait and Gulf of Oman in southern Iran, in February, it was reported here Saturday.
Nice place for exercises. Mind if we play along?
Commander of the Army Naval Force, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told reporters that the military exercise, code named, Ettehad-86 (Unity 86), will continue for a week.
The war game aim to exercise technical tactics, test the Navy's equipment and promote power of the naval forces in the field of different surface-to-surface and air-to-sea operations.
The Navy personnel will also launch different missiles during the military exercise, added the rear admiral.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
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[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Looks like the Iranians are getting jittery on that rumored spring US 'offense window' opportunity. A move designed explicitly to allow the Russian intelligence gathering machine to track the 'US response' and coordinate those logistics with the Iranians through their mutual back door. The war games will also tend to 'throw water' on the initiative of a presumed preemption on the US's part in affect, prodding the United States to 'put up or shut up' in world public opinion. As long as the Iranians don't lay sea mines while there in the Strait; and don't occupy the center (ie; a symbolic blockaid), it may go off without a shot being fired!
#4
A move designed explicitly to allow the Russian intelligence gathering machine to track the 'US response' and coordinate those logistics with the Iranians through their mutual back door.
IT'S hard for Hollywood pacifists like Brian De Palma to capture the hearts and minds of America if Americans won't see their movies. While the public is staying away in droves from Rendition," Lions for Lambs" and In the Valley of Elah," audiences are really avoiding Redacted," De Palma's picture about US soldiers who rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, then kill her and her family.
The message movie was produced by NBA Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who insisted on deleting grisly images of Iraqi war casualties from the montage at the film's end. Cuban offered to sell the film back to De Palma at cost, but the director was too smart to go for that deal.
Redacted" - which could be the worst movie I've ever seen," said critic Michael Medved -took in just $25,628 in its opening weekend in 15 theaters, which means roughly 3,000 people saw it in the entire country. This, despite an A-list director, a huge wave of publicity, high praise in the Times, The New Yorker, left-leaning sites like Salon, etc.
A Joe Strummer documentary [of punk-rock band The Clash] playing in fewer theaters made more in its third week," e-mailed one cineaste. Not even people who presumably agree with the movie's antiwar thesis made the effort to see it."
#3
Actually, I think the conclusion is that the American people don't like anti-American, anti-military war movies. It's not that we have suddenly lost our taste for blood and violence on the big screen. We're just sick and tired of people like De Palma throwing our military under the bus to make a cheap political point.
If they make a good and sincere film that reflects the real conditions on the ground in Iraq and the incredible achievments our military has made over there, while not ignoring the obvious mishaps and atrocities made along the way, I bet you people would go see it.
#4
Americans are tired of being preached too and tired of having the US always be the bad guy somehow. Make more movies like 300 and you will make money.
#5
Unfortunately, the fat lady ain't sung yet because international box will find a larger audience... or so Mark "No Longer Dancin' with the Stars" hopes.
#6
James Carville was heard to comment over the weekend that the USA economy is in the tank...hasn't been this bad since...oh...1991. I suspect he was lokking at the box office receipts from movies such as Redacted and Lions for Lambs and concluded the average joe six-pack can't even afford the price of a movie ticket plus popcorn and soda pop. Yeah, that must be it. The economy must be in the tank.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
11/26/2007 16:04 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The movie was released to 15 theaters. That is nothing. That is what they do to generate word of mouth before a wider release, or to get it in theaters enough to qualify for Academy Awards and such.
#8
Isn't it again about time for all the homeless stories?
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2007 16:51 Comments ||
Top||
#9
So hardly anyone has seen this stink-bomb of a movie, and those critics who have seen it have run shrieking from the theater. The next step in this cinematic auto de fe (for which I can hardly wait) will be the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members turning themselves into pretzels and forsaking every shred of credibility with the movie-going public - as they try and figure out how to hang a best picture or best director award on it.
Barbara, are you going to fire up the industrial-sized popcorn popper for that one? Melted butter on mine, please. The real stuff, not that yellow oily crud.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(KUNA) -- Tribal leaders from seven provinces in the eastern and southeastern zone of Afghanistan on Sunday gathered to discuss how to bring peace and stability to their country. Governors, members of the lower and upper houses of the Afghan parliament, members of the provincial assemblies, elders, influential and senior government officials met on Sunday in Nangarhar province to discuss solution to the peace and security problem in their areas. The elders and officials, who assembled during the meeting, which will be concluded on Monday, included representatives from Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, Nuristan, Paktia, Paktika and Khost provinces. All those areas are considered to be the hotbeds of insurgency after the southern zone, which is the stronghold of Taliban militants and comprising provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan and Ghazni.
Cairo - An Egyptian Christian woman has been jailed for three years because her father's brief conversion to Islam 45 years ago made her legally a Muslim while her official papers said she was Christian, her lawyer said on Thursday. 
LAHORE, Pakistan, (AP)Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said his party would abide by the decision of the All Parties Democratic Movement to boycott the next general election if the opposition demand that Supreme Court judges sacked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf earlier this month be reinstated was not met. 
Students of several universities from across the country met on Sunday to frame a combined strategy to eradicate 
Security agencies have started preparing for the forthcoming general elections by keeping tabs on suspect militants, especially of the 
Former premier 
(KUNA) -- 
JERUSALEM: The US has given tacit approval to separate peace talks between Israel and Syria immediately after tomorrow's Middle East summit in Annapolis, Maryland.
Dr. 
The Iranian and Syrian-backed opposition party Hezbollah on Sunday contested the parliament-backed government's decision to take charge of running Lebanon as a result of the presidential vacuum. Prime Minister 
Syria will send its deputy foreign minister to the U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md. because the issue of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has been added to the agenda, the state-run news agency said Sunday. The agency, SANA, said Syria will be represented at the conference by 
IT'S hard for Hollywood pacifists like Brian De Palma to capture the hearts and minds of America if Americans won't see their movies. While the public is staying away in droves from Rendition," Lions for Lambs" and In the Valley of Elah," audiences are really avoiding Redacted," De Palma's picture about US soldiers who rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, then kill her and her family. 
