(SomaliNet) Ethiopia is standing fast by its decision to withdraw all 3,000 of its troops from Somalia before the end of the year. Ethiopia refused to honour a request by the African Union (AU) that it continue to support Somali troops in their struggle against criminal gangs and Islamist and nationalist rebels, at least until AU peacekeeping reinforcements arrive.
Easier to pull out, give the Islamic Court six months to come back and declare themselves, and then stomp the IC all over again ...
Besides which, the "government" more closely resembles an armed kindergarten.
The AU's Peace and Security Council says the situation in Somalia is becoming more and more alarming, in large part due to the increased activity of Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
The African Union is currently meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to discuss other crisis points in the continent; in particular, the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
#1
Does anybody else think that Ethiopia is pulling out before The One assumes office?
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry summoned Syria's ambassador on Tuesday to complain about recent demonstrations outside the Egyptian embassy in Damascus, a senior official said.
"The Syrian ambassador was summoned to express Egypt's concern at the raucous demonstrations which were organized around the premises of the Egyptian embassy in Damascus over the past two days," the official told reporters.
"The Syrian ambassador promised to convey this message to his government," added the official, Assistant Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Salaheddin.
The demonstrators in Damascus have criticized the Egyptian government's cooperation with Israel in the blockade of Gaza, which is run by the Islamist movement Hamas.
Hamas and the Syrian government are allies and Hamas's leadership in exile is based in the Syrian capital.
Egypt has closed its Rafah crossing almost continuously since June 2006 and Cairo says the main motive for its policy on Gaza is to prevent the Israelis from escaping responsibility for the impoverished coastal strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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The four-party candidate in the Sylhet-6 constituency yesterday filed a case against ATN Bangla for telecasting a news report on the private TV channel about war criminals contesting the parliamentary election.
Moulana Habibur Rahman, also ameer of Sylhet district (south) unit of Jamaat, filed the case with the court of Md Rafiqul Alam, the chief judicial magistrate of Sylhet.
Rahman accused ATN Bangla Chairman Mahfuzur Rahman, head of news Manzurul Ahsan Bulbul, news editor ZI Mamun and special correspondent Munni Saha in the case filed under sections 500 and 504 of the penal code.
Moulana Habib filed the case after the channel telecast a news report on December 16 stating 13 political leaders, including the Jamaat Ameer Moulana Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, assistant secretary general Md Quamaruzzaman and Moulana Delawar Hossain Saidee, Moulana Abdus Sobhan, ATM Azharul Islam, Shah Mohammad Ruhul Quddus, Moulana Abdul Aziz, M Riasat Ali, Moulana Habibur Rahman(1), Moulana Farid Uddin Chowdhury and Moulana Habibur Rahman (2) are war criminals contesting the 2008 parliamentary polls.
The complainant alleged that the report has tarnished the image of his party and others including himself. Besides, there was no complicity of the said Jamaat leaders with the crimes stated in the news report, he claimed.
He added that the content of the ATN Bangla news report has defamed the party leaders. The allegations are fake, provocative and totally motivated. These allegations brought against the Jamaat leaders are not yet proved, he added, and the report was broadcast to try and diminish the possibility of victory of the Jamaat leaders in the poll, he added.
The magistrate ordered the officer-in-charge of Sylhet Kotwali police station to investigate the matter and take action on it.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad yesterday published a list of 600 war criminals responsible for the mass killings, rapes and other misdeeds during the country's Liberation War.
In Bangla they become an integral part of the last and possibly the next government.
Publishing the list at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium, the Sangsad urged voters to say 'no' to the war criminals in the upcoming election. "We've drawn up the list on the basis of our research, field-level investigation and examination of relevant documents for a period of two years," said Dr SM Jahangir Alam, vice-president of the Sangsad.
Delwar Hossain Saydee, Maulana Abdus Sobhan, ATM Azharul Islam, Riasat Ali Biswas, Maulana Sakhawat Hossain, Shah Mohammad Ruhul Kuddus and Golam Parwar are among the high-profile Jamaat leaders on the list and participating in the polls. Former BNP lawmakers Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Giasuddin Quader Chowdhury are also on the list.
The list and evidence will be handed over to the government and Election Commission so that the war criminals could be tried as well as to disqualify them in the elections, it said. Besides, the names of the war criminals would be circulated to the international community.
Local collaborators who are on the list and still alive mostly belong to Jamaat-e-Islami. Some of them who were then involved in the politics of Muslim League and Nezame Islam have now become leaders of BNP, said Dr Jahangir.
The Sangsad has also mentioned details of most of the war criminals on the list. All the 600 war criminals were accused under the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order 1972.
The list shows that Golam Azam was supposed to appear before the court on February 22, 1972. Maulana Abdus Sobhan, another war criminal who is contesting Pabna-5, was supposed to appear before the court on February 29, 1972.
The leaders of the Sangsad said it would not be possible to bring the war criminals to justice if they win in the upcoming election.
This article starring:
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid
Matiur Rahman Nizami,
Muhammad Kamaruzzaman
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#3
Everyones parents eventually pass on. Even Americas, unfortunately.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/24/2008 13:47 Comments ||
Top||
#4
For all the Brits with a little common sense, there's still room in North America (US, Canada) for you, and some of the former British colonies in the Caribbean aren't in TOO bad of shape. I'd make contingency plans for leaving, especially if you end up with an Islamic King.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/24/2008 15:57 Comments ||
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#5
especially if you end up with an Islamic King.
You mean like Prince Chuck traitor defender of the faith?
#6
Let's really piss off the Channel 4 folks and have Bush send over Christmas Greetings.
Posted by: ed ||
12/24/2008 17:24 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Just watched an episode of Man vs Wild on the Discovery channel in which Bear Grylls is lost in the Scottish Highlands. It is absolutely stunning, beautiful country so I say: No it isn't good enough to give them up for lost and all those sensible ones who are left can come here. We need to reconquer it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 ||
12/24/2008 19:12 Comments ||
Top||
Half dozen European countries are considering resettling detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a gesture to the incoming Obama administration, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Citing senior European officials and U.S. diplomats, the newspaper said European officials have put out tentative feelers to President-elect Barack Obama's team. But Obama advisers said they could only discuss the issue after the Jan. 20 inauguration.
Guantanamo has about 250 detainees including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks.
The prison has come to symbolize aggressive interrogation practices that opened the United States up to allegations of torture.
Very little of which was true, but the lefties and their symps in the MSM tried to make all seem true.
Obama has pledged to close Guantanamo.
Good luck with that, Bambi ...
At least half a dozen countries are considering resettling the prisoners but thus far only Germany and Portugal have it acknowledged publicly, the newspaper said.
The move would show a significant change in attitude since European nations refused repeated requests from the Bush administration to accept Guantanamo detainees, it added.
Lefties have to stick together ...
This article starring:
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Send them to Germany? Seriously? Hamburg maybe? They can enroll in engineering school there.
These were not the domestic terrorists that experts warned against after the Sept. 11 attacks seven years ago. But the five men convicted Monday of plotting a jihad-inspired attack on Fort Dix are, for now, the archetype of homegrown terrorists being tracked by federal law enforcement agents. The investigation that resulted in their convictions was a template, experts say, for the Justice Department's counterterrorism strategy, and underscored the fundamental question that law enforcement wrestles with in each case: How and when should authorities respond to a perceived security threat?
For prosecutors and FBI agents who worked the case, the investigation was one battle in a war that began in earnest after Sept. 11, 2001, and that continues today in a shadowy world of clashing cultures, religions and languages. It is a war in which the weapons are wiretaps, hidden cameras, and foreign-born informants often motivated by self-interest and cash - and victory may be simply averting what might have been. "The word should go out to any other would-be terrorists of the homegrown variety that the United States will find you, infiltrate your group, prosecute you, and send you to a federal prison for a very long time," acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra Jr. said in a statement released after the convictions.
"These guys had a plan and they had weapons," said Karen Greenberg, editor of the Terrorist Trial Report Card, a study conducted by the Center on Law and Security at New York University Law School. That, she said, made the Fort Dix conspiracy a more serious threat than some domestic terrorism cases the Justice Department has brought over the last seven years.
In none of the cases, however, have the alleged conspirators fit the prototype that terrorism experts warned about as new antiterrorism laws were drafted after 9/11, said Greenberg, executive director of the center. That legislation was aimed at organizations linked to foreign-terrorist groups that, experts believed, would try to insinuate sleeper cells into the United States. Members of the cells would embed themselves in a community and lead seemingly normal lives while plotting attacks on civilians and civilian targets. "This is not what we expected the face of domestic terrorism to look like," Greenberg said of the Fort Dix defendants and the conspiracy they took part in.
The case was an example of the FBI's preventive-arrests counterterrorism strategy, in which investigators disrupt a plot by taking conspirators into custody before it goes into motion. "One of the big issues is, when should the government intervene?" said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law. The earlier authorities act, "the more difficult it is for them to prove the case." Sometimes, the NYU study noted, "suspects are quite a ways from achieving operational capacity," and occasionally, "the FBI skirts a close line between preventive arrests and entrapment."
The argument of defense attorneys in the Fort Dix trial was that the FBI, through its paid informants, crossed that line. To defense attorneys and relatives of the five men, the case was distorted justice, a prosecution built around the testimony of two paid FBI informants who they say manipulated the much younger defendants into a conspiracy they had no intention of carrying out.
The case also raised questions about whether Muslims can expect to be treated equally under the law in post-9/11 America and whether dissent or political rant will be construed as conspiracy. Michael Riley, attorney for defendant Shain Duka, compared the situation for Muslims to that of another ethnic group that faced indiscriminate prejudice. It's a time not unlike the United States after the start of World War II, he said, comparing the status of Muslims to that of "Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor."
The split verdict appeared to indicate that the jurors, who deliberated for 51/2 days, believed that the defendants plotted to attack the base but had not taken substantive steps to kill anyone. Legal experts said the attempted-murder charge, which was added in a superceding indictment months after the defendants were arrested and charged, gave the prosecution leverage.
Dan Filler, senior associate dean at the Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, called the new charge a calculated move by prosecutors, who anticipated that it would allow the jury to reach a compromise on a verdict. "You add that so if you get the acquittal on the attempted murder, you still get the big sentencing exposure" with the conspiracy charge, he said. "That's part of the strategy of any prosecutor: charge up to the max that you can comfortably, ethically, put in an indictment." With their split verdict, jurors may have tried to "give something back to the defendants," he said. If the jury had been given just the conspiracy charge to consider, that might have benefited the less-culpable defendants, particularly Tatar. "You might have seen him get an acquittal," Filler said.
The jurors likely did not know that both the attempted-murder and conspiracy counts carried life sentences, so acquitting on one charge did little for the defendants, he said. "If they'd gone on the conspiracy charge alone, it would have been all or nothing," added Tobias. In voting to convict on the conspiracy count, the jury accepted the prosecution contention, reiterated by Marra after the verdicts were announced, that "these men planned, trained, and ceaselessly talked unambiguously about their intention to ambush and kill U.S. soldiers."
The plot, however ill-conceived - the defendants hoped to use a pizza-delivery pass to get onto the base - was nevertheless a conspiracy, the jury found. "Guys who have very simple weapons and a very simple plan can cause a lot of damage," said an FBI terrorism expert who was the last government witness called in the eight-week trial. Citing the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai, which occurred days before the jury began deliberations, Evan Kohlmann told the anonymously chosen panel, "You don't have to be very sophisticated to kill people."
#3
1) The head covering is not religious law, but ethnic preference.
2) Religious laws are not (or should not be) applicable in public court.
3) Let's establish the religion of Rantburgism, with one of our fundamental religious tenets being that we MUST carry loaded automatic weapons at all times - any guess how far that would fly? And as far as I am concerned, that would be a more reasonable religion that the RoP.
#4
She says twice in the article that she was not a danger, but the headscarf/headgear rule is not about that. It is about respect. In Western cultures you remove your hat as a sign of respect to others. If you can't obey the simple rules than you should leave.
#5
Based on the quotes from the poor oppressed madam in the article, it looks like the bailiff who told her that she needed to remove the do-rag was a female bailiff.
Then, she says that she would not have had a problem with a female officer checking her.
Apparently this rocket scientist doesn't realize that a bailiff is an officer of the court?
#8
Rantburgians - remember, it's not the weapon that makes one a warrior, but the spirit. Being able to maim or kill someone 20 different ways with your bare hands, or being able to fashion a weapon out of just about anything, is far more effective in the preservation of liberty than a .357 or 30.30.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/24/2008 16:01 Comments ||
Top||
#9
it's not the weapon that makes one a warrior, but the spirit.
Tell that to the Japanese who were slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands.
Posted by: ed ||
12/24/2008 17:14 Comments ||
Top||
#10
"Tell that to the pre-1945 Japanese who were slaughtered their neighbors by the hundreds of thousands."
There - fixed
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/24/2008 18:51 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Fighting spirit without proper weaponry may get you slaughtered, but all the weapons in the world won't keep you safe if you don't have the willingness to use them. Example: Royal Navy, 2008, Persian Gulf.
I would have told that sawed-off punk he had 24 hours to return my people completely unharmed, with their equipment, or Tehran was going to become a sea of molten glass, with Qom right behind in achieving the same state. I'd have damned well done it, too, had they not complied.
#12
I say that both sides should get together and fashion a win-win agreement. No headscarfs will be allowed, but allow this lady to don a grocery bag with eyes and mouth holes cut out. Actually, she might be a two bagger; I didn't look at the picture closely.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
12/24/2008 23:18 Comments ||
Top||
#1
Of course he's correct. Of course, telling the truth in America about dangerous groups is not politically acceptable, so this guy will be "reeducated" until he apologizes.
#2
Clarification is simple. Muzz are back stabbing, fifth column scum. Not to be trusted at any time, especially behind one's back. They should be impounded ASAP, loaded onto a leaky barge, sent to mid-Atlantic in mid-winter. Got it?
#4
bigjim-ky, I have to disagree. We're talking about Muslims in America and we just don't have that many camels to go around so at least that part of your statement cannot be true.
(AKI) - Muslim leaders have objected to a US court decision to convict five Muslims for plotting a terror attack on an American military base at Fort Dix in the state of New Jersey.
Object and be damned ...
After an eight-week trial, a jury on Monday ruled that three ethnic-Albanian brothers, Shain, Dritan and Eljvir Duka, and two others - Turkish-born Serdar Tatar and Mohammed Shnewer from Jordan - were found guilty of planning an attack on the base in a bid to kill as many American soldiers as possible.
The jury, however, acquitted the group of charges of attempted murder.
Mohamad Younes, president of the American Muslim Union, questioned the jury's decision. "I don't think they actually mean to do anything," he said. "I think they were acting stupid, like they thought the whole thing was a joke."
Not a good idea to act stupid like that. You could end up in prison ...
Jim Sues, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, attended five days of testimony during the trial. "Many people in the Muslim community will see this as a case of entrapment," he told local media.
So why don't you educate them otherwise ...
The five foreign-born residents lived in the northeastern cities of Cherry Hill in New Jersey and Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania. They were arrested in May 2007 after the group was infiltrated by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. The prosecutors described their activities as an attempt to wage Islamist holy war against America, inspired by Al-Qaeda.
Defence lawyers had argued that the five were just bragging about their plans and also challenged the credibility of the government informants. One Egyptian-born informant was paid 230,000 dollars by the FBI for his undercover work, said the defence lawyers. They also said he was on probation for bank fraud.
Defence lawyers also claimed that the men were coaxed by the government informants into making controversial and incendiary remarks which were recorded.
However, police discovered propaganda material, maps, hundreds of secretly taped conversations and video material.
Dritan and Shain Duka were also found guilty of possessing weapons to be used in the planned attack that was never executed.
Sentencing has been set for April 2009 and acting US Attorney Ralph Marra said prosecutors will demand a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Defence lawyers said they would consider an appeal after hearing the sentence.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
Of course they do. They object to anything other than infidels dying.
#3
They might not have actually done the planned assault and killings if they had not been arrested but that was not required for the conspiracy charge (I could see the jury's position on the attempted murder charge though.)
They might not have actually actively planned the conspiracy if they had not been incited/inspired by the FBI informants (whom I did not and do not trust as witnesses), but since they proved that they COULD be inspired to plan an assault on Americans I figure they would have been inspired/incited sooner or later by some imam or another.
Lock 'em up. After all, we lock up little kids with toy cap pistols in school.
#6
if they don't like it they can all move too sucj paradises on earth such as pakistan, afghanitstan yemen saudi arabia or so on and not be able too co0me back. bet they would shut up then. and don't worry obama will pardon them in 4 years anyway
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tried to allay fears on Tuesday about the possibility of war with neighboring Pakistan, saying "nobody wants war." Singh's comments came amid rising calls in India for military action, and a day after the Pakistani air force conducted war training exercises with fighter jets above Pakistan's major cities.
"The issue is not war. The issue is terror and the territory in Pakistan being used to provoke, to aid and abet terrorism. Nobody wants war," Singh told reporters outside Parliament.
He said India wanted Pakistan to "dismantle the terror machine" and added that Islamabad "knows what that implies."
The two nuclear-armed neighbors have traded angry rhetoric since India accused "elements" in Pakistan of planning the three-day siege in Mumbai last month that left at least 170 people dead, including six Americans, and injured more than 230. The gunmen arrived in Mumbai by boat and attacked a restaurant, two luxury hotels, a train station and a Jewish prayer center.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
ndia has given no information about last month's attacks in Mumbai to Interpol and the information passed to the media by Indian investigators should be shared if it is accurate, the police agency's chief said on Tuesday.
Interpol Secretary General Ronald K Noble told a news conference in Islamabad until the Indian authorities shared information, police around the world would be unable to make any determination about the identity of the attackers. "To date, India's government has not authorised its police agencies to enter any data relating to the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai in Interpol's databases," Noble said.
"The information Interpol has about what happened in Mumbai is the same information that you have. It's information that we've read in journals, that we've read on the Internet or that we've seen on TV," he said. Like Noble, Pakistan says the only information it has received on the Mumbai attacks has come through media reports. Indian officials, however, claimed they had passed on information.
Noble said it was a country's right to decide when it should share information but it was unacceptable for authorities to pass accurate information to the media without sharing it with Interpol. "We can't enter newspaper information in our police databases, we can only enter information that we receive from police authorities," he said. "Right now, police around the world who are searching names in police databases that you might be familiar with from reading the newspapers will get negative responses because that information is not in Interpol's database."
Noble said Pakistan had been "among the most active contributors" to Interpol's efforts in the past, adding officials here told him they "would be willing to cooperate via Interpol to help India further its investigation."
When asked if it was unusual for India not to have agreed to Interpol's request for data-sharing, the Interpol chief said it was New Delhi's "sovereign choice" to decide when and if to agree. However, he expressed the hope that more information would soon be forthcoming, following the deployment of a team of Interpol investigators in India.
The Interpol head thanked Pakistan for sharing important information and urged the international community to help the country in combating the menace of terrorism. "Pakistan is one of the countries extending their best cooperation to Interpol," he said.
Speaking along with the Interpol chief, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said if India provided credible evidence about culprits involved in the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan would take action to bring them to justice.
He said the Interpol head was on a routine visit to Pakistan and he had discussed with him the current situation in the wake of the Mumbai attacks and problems like human trafficking. He said that India had neither provided any information officially to Pakistan about the arrest of a Pakistani national nor did it share any concrete proof about those behind the Mumbai attacks.
Malik said Pakistan had offered unconditional support to India, adding that Pakistan was a sovereign country and would take any step to safeguard its national interests. To a question about the resolution passed by the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee regarding individuals and organisations including the Jamaatud Daawa, he said the banned organisations could go to the UN and ascertain the reasons for the ban.
He said the Foreign Office had received a letter from Ajmal Kasab in which he had reportedly sought legal assistance. Rehman Malik said the letter was being examined by experts and the Foreign Office would issue a statement about it. He said there was no record of Ajmal Kasab with Nadra.
Rehman Malik observed that Pakistan and India were both victims of terrorism and joint action was needed to defeat the menace. Answering a question about threats emanating from India, the adviser on interior said the whole nation was fully united to face any challenge.
Malik said Islamabad had acted in accordance with the UN resolutions to shut down the Lashkar-e-Taiba-linked charity Jamaatud Daawa, place its leaders under house arrest and freeze its assets. Asked if he believed that Lashkar-e-Taiba was involved in the attacks, Malik said, "It had been banned much earlier. It does not exist." "We want to bring the culprits to justice," Rehman Malik told reporters. We are prepared to cooperate with India but they have to bring us evidence."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
A senior United Nations official has said Pakistan has "satisfactorily complied" with the UN's sanctions on terrorist groups, a top world body official said.
Richard Barrett, Coordinator of the Security Council established al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Committee, told CNN-IBN television that it was difficult to implement the sanctions completely, but the UN had found all Pakistani agencies were cooperative. "I found in all my dealings with officials in Pakistan, whether it's the government, elected officials, ministries or the intelligence services or the Army, a very good atmosphere of cooperation between them as well as with us," Barrett was quoted as saying."It is very difficult for a state to implement that (sanctions) completely, but yes in a way Pakistani government is working to ensure fruitful compliance," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
The UN's standard of compliance is "all talk, no action" and maybe some bribes thrown here and there. So ya, I guess they have complied.
Deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Tuesday that the allegation of terrorism, involving Pakistan as its supportive country, was baseless and had to do nothing with reality. Infikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was addressing to Multan District Bar Association. Â"Pakistani people are peace-loving nation and not involved in any kind of terrorist activityÂ", deposed CJP said adding that all the allegations on the people of Pakistan being the terrorists are fake. He reiterated lawyersÂ' resolve saying no force on the earth can halt the process of success of LawyersÂ' movement and maintained that now the entire world has acknowledged this lively and untiring movement of Pakistani lawyers. He guaranteed failure for those countries where executives appoint their friendly judges for their vested interests and evil designs, giving the example of quicker progress of countries liberated after Pakistan deposed CJP said, they have made much swifter progress in comparison with us as they believed and worked on the rule of law, constitution and judiciary. He termed his Freedom Award he received in United States as a result of the struggle of Pakistani lawyers.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Pakistan realises the threat from Al Qaeda and Taliban and there would be no compromise with them, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani said on Tuesday. According to a private TV channel, he was talking to US Marine Commander James Conway at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. The two military officials discussed 'overall regional security', US drone attacks in Pakistan and US-Pakistan military co-operation on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the channel said. Gen Kayani told the American commander that security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was the responsibility of all stakeholders and not just Pakistan, it said. The channel also said that the army chief assured Conway that security for NATO supplies going through Khyber would be improved.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Inadequate measures taken to secure container terminals on Ring Road have resulted in damage to Nato logistics at the hands of suspected militants that attacked these parking lots for six times recently.
The federal and provincial governments have deployed fresh contingents of police and Frontier Constabulary, while military vehicles started patrolling the Ring Road after the recent attacks on terminals.
Suspected militants in six attacks between December 1 and December 13 have torched over 300 vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers and Humvees as well as containers.
Containers that were set on fire were trans-shipping ammunition, fuel, foodstuff and other goods for the US-led Nato forces, fighting against Taliban in Afghanistan. The loss in shape of vehicles and goods was estimated to be in billions.
A security plan was chalked out to secure Nato supplies after continuous attacks. The NWFP cabinet while expressing grave concern over six successive attacks had ordered taking some measures to counter militant attacks on these parking lots.
However, while travelling on Ring Road in daylight, one finds no extraordinary security outside these parking bays located on both sides of the road, right from Hazarkhwani to Pishtakhara. Some cops used to be deployed in and around these terminals while military vehicles patrol a very few kilometre strip in the night to counter any attack.
"We are making efforts to ensure security to these parking lots within our limited resources. So far our strategy is going well," the head of a patrolling party told this scribe. The major negligence is on the part of the contractors and terminals' owners. Still hundreds of containers are lying on roadside in the open fields.
Some of these containers have millions of rupees goods inside and they can be attacked even from a moving vehicle. No properly trained security guards have been hired to secure the valuable supplies.
Residents of Hazarkhwani, Pishtakhara, Qamardin Garhi, Landi Arbab and other areas, where around 14 parking lots are located, are concerned about their security after six horrible attacks that triggered innumerable explosions to wake up the Peshawarites in the late night.
"My entire family is worried about the security. Where can we shift in a situation when cantonment is being attacked with rockets while the rest of the areas are vulnerable for kidnapping or other criminal incidents," Javed Khan, a resident of Dir Colony, remarked.
After feeling insecurity, the truckers trans-shipping Nato supplies across the border to Afghanistan, have also decided to halt their operation. The Khyber Transport Association, which claims to have over 3,000 members, had announced stopping supplies to Nato forces after damage to their vehicles and loss of lives as well as in reaction to the US drone attacks in North and South waziristan.
Another transporters' body had asked for shifting container terminals from Ring Road to any secure place. The senior police authorities had also proposed shifting of the parking bays to a safer area.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
No.. The insane state of Pakiwakiland makes it all insecure.
#2
Terminal security is terminally insecure. The terminals are within the 'sovereign' territory of Pakistan so security is their responsibility. They make little or no attempt to provide security, nor will they permit the US or NATO to provide meaningful security, so we must conclude that it is their intention that the terminals be insecure and that the logistical train to our forces in A'stan be restricted. To me, that makes Pakistani government complicit with our enemies and thus also our enemy. The problem is what to do about it. We do not have the means (military, or more importantly, the will) to actually fight an open (conventional) war with them. Either we continue to play diplsh*t games with them, or we declare victory in A'stan and pull out, or we establish a significant alternate supply route. I lean towards mostly pulling out and just air-mailing some greetings from time to time, but I could be convinced to establish a new supply route from the southwest - say through Bander e Abbas.
Legislators in the NWFP Assembly on Tuesday expressed concern over the growing incidents of lawlessness and deaths of innocent people, asking the government to stop military operations in the province and Fata and resolve the problems through dialogue.
Thirteen members from various political parties took part in the discussion on law and order and almost all of them were unanimous in their views, suggesting to the government that use of force would never help resolve the problems in Fata and Swat.
They asked the government to constitute a peace committee to review the situation and enforce Shariah, which was a longstanding demand of the people of the Swat valley.ANP MPA from Swat Dr Haider Ali observed that a war has been imposed on the people of the valley and their soil has been declared a war zone. He said Pakhtuns had great responsibilities and they should jointly work to change the mindset of the world, which had painted Pakhtuns as terrorists under a conspiracy.
Mufti Janan of the JUI-F said the lives and properties of the citizens were not secure and the government has lost its writ. "Teachers, doctors and government and other organisations' employees are not attending their offices. Innocent people are being killed in the name of operation and everyone feels insecure."
He asked why the innocent people and their properties were being destroyed and why misunderstanding was being created between police and the Army? Dr Khalid Raza Zakori said Europe and America wanted to usurp their independence, integrity and nuclear assets. If the situation remained the same, he said, the country would drift towards a civil war.
Muhammad Anwar Khan of the PPP asked the government to hold negotiations with the militants and constitute peace committees to bring peace to the troubled areas.He also asked the government to enforce Shariah in Swat, a longstanding demand of the people of the valley.
Shagufta Malik of the ANP said her party did not believe in politics of violence and all political forces should join hands to find out a permanent solution to the prevailing crisis.Shamsher Ali Khan, also from the ANP, said the militants were killing people in the name of Islam, while the security personnel were doing the same in the name of operation.
Hafiz Akhtar Ali of the JUI-F asked the provincial government to ask the federal government to stop operation in Fata and Swat. "The government should also fulfil its promise with Sufi Muhammad and enforce Shariah in the Malakand division."
Waqar Ahmad Khan of the ANP demanded formation of a joint inquiry commission to weigh factors behind the unrest in the region. He held the previous MMA government responsible for the existing crisis in the country and the NWFP.
Atifur Rehman, another ANP MPA, criticised police for usually carrying out body search of common citizens, but they could not check activities of criminals. He also underlined the need for a joint action to curb corruption.
Maulvi Obaidullah, an independent lawmaker from Kohistan, said the government should shun the policies of Musharraf and stop the inflow of Indian literature and culture, as it would ruin our coming generations.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Senators belonging to various parties on Tuesday asked the government to take a bold stance against India and launch a diplomatic offensive to defuse the Indian propaganda against Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
As the Senate resumed debate on the national security situation, the senators said India wanted to achieve strategic objectives against Pakistan through 'coercive diplomacy' without going to war.
Senator Waseem Sajjad of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) said that India had blamed and threatened Pakistan even without investigating the attacks and establishing the identities and objectives of the attackers.
Sajjad said India was reluctant to share evidence with Pakistan because the attacks could also have been the work of Indian groups.
As far as the names of Ajmal Kasab and Ismael Khan were concerned, Sajjad said India should have disclosed the names of other people involved after Kasab's investigation. "This is not the work of only 10 persons as claimed by [the] Indian authorities. There must have been 30 to 40 people involved in these attacks but India is not disclosing their names," he said.
The PML-Q senator was of the view that India had launched a diplomatic offensive after the attacks because it wanted to defame Islam in general and Pakistan in particular by linking them to terrorism. "India also wanted to achieve strategic objectives like creating a rift between our civil and military leadership, curtailing the Inter-Services Intelligence, damaging our economy and crushing peaceful Kashmiri protests in the name of terrorism even without going to war," he said.
Sajjad said the government should launch a diplomatic counter-attack by sending its delegations to the members of Untied Nations Security Council and Muslim countries to counter India's propaganda.
Senator Abdul Rahim Mandokhail of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said the government should immediately withdraw its forces from the Tribal Areas.
PML's Semeen Siddiqui sought the government's clarification about the news that the president and the prime minister of Pakistan had asked China to withdraw its technical hold over the UNSC resolution declaring a Pakistani organisation as a terrorist organisation.
Senator Azam Swati of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl criticised Pakistan's Permanent Representative in the UNSC Abdullah Hussain Haroon and asked the government to call him back for his failure to present the country's point of view in the UNSC.
Senator Babar Ghauri called the passage of the resolution against the Pakistan government's diplomatic failure and urged it to put its house in order. He also targeted intelligence agencies for failing to check terrorist activities in the country.
Leader of the House in the Senate Raza Rabbani said Pakistan was a sovereign country and the government would not tolerate any interference in its internal matters.
NATO: Rabbani informed the Upper House that NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Schoffer was on an annual visit to Pakistan and the visit had no link with the Mumbai attacks.
Presence: Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Kamil Ali Agha slammed United States Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen and Interpol Secretary General Ronald K Noble's presence in Pakistan and demanded the government expel Mullen. He said the entire nation was united to defend the country's sovereignty and integrity but added he was unable to understand how the US military chief had dared to stand by Pakistan's arch rival and asked Islamabad to allow Indian strikes inside its territory.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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In signs of growing regional tension since the Mumbai attacks last month, Pakistan scrambled fighter jets over several of its larger cities Monday, and India's foreign minister told a gathering of Indian diplomats in New Delhi that the country is keeping all its options open to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice.
"We have so far acted with utmost restraint," Pranab Mukherjee told the more than 120 envoys from posts around the world. But he added, "We will take all measures necessary as we deem fit to deal with the situation."
A senior government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, later called Mukherjee's tough talk "an expression of political will that India will not take this lying down." He added that the option of "precision airstrikes" on terrorist training camps in Pakistan would remain on the table if Islamabad did not act effectively against groups fomenting terrorism against India.
Pakistan has denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 170 people and wounded more than 230.
On Monday, Pakistan put its air force on high alert, with several fighter jets conducting exercises over the capital, Islamabad, as well as Rawalpindi, Lahore and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Offices of newspapers and television channels were inundated with calls from people asking whether the exercises, which caused delays in some civilian flights, were a response to airstrikes by India.
A Pakistani air force spokesman, Commodore Humayun Viqar, said in a statement, "In view of the current environment, PAF has enhanced its vigilance."
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The air force's action coincided with the arrival in Islamabad of the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, who met with Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, and the head of its Inter-Services Intelligence agency, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
Mullen thanked both men for their efforts, and the efforts of the Pakistani government, to arrest members of the outlawed Islamist group Lashkar-i-Taiba and other extremist organizations suspected of involvement in the Mumbai attacks, according to his spokesman, Navy Capt. John Kirby. Mullen also reportedly urged them to support judicial efforts to prosecute the cases fully and transparently.
A Pakistani official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Kiyani told Mullen that Pakistan was trying its best to defuse tension with India.
"We want peace with India, but any aggression will be matched by a befitting response," the official quoted Kiyani as saying.
An Indian official in New Delhi said that the three-day meeting of diplomats had been scheduled before the attacks occurred but that it provided an opportunity for India to work out a diplomatic strategy for pressuring Islamabad to act against terrorist groups.
"Unfortunately, Pakistan's response so far has demonstrated their earlier tendency to resort to a policy of denial and to seek to deflect and shift the blame and responsibility," Mukherjee told the envoys in his opening address. "We have highlighted that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan has to be dismantled permanently," he added.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
When Pak scrambles jets does that mean they actually take off an fly or do they just drive around the tarmac for a while?
India should not underestimate Pakistan's military power and Islamabad is capable of thwarting any aggression from the eastern border, a private TV channel quoted President Asif Ali Zardari as saying on Tuesday.
Oooh! Oooh! Tell 'em the line about one Pak being worth seven Indians!
... ten Indians
He was talking to Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman General Tariq Majid in Islamabad. "Matters pertaining to the armed forces were discussed in the meeting," an official statement said. According to the channel, General Majeed told the president Pakistan's armed forces were capable of meeting any challenge.
Also on Tuesday, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and briefed him on defence preparations of the armed forces amid rising tension between Pakistan and India. Sources privy to the meeting said he told Gilani the armed forces were on high alert and could respond to any aggression immediately. The prime minister was satisfied with the preparations, they said, and assured the army chief the political leadership would stand by the army in defending the country.
Gilani said Pakistan wanted good ties with India and peace in the region, but would not compromise on its sovereignty.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Pak military might? The Pak military might what? Become the Detroit Lions of Islam? The series stands at 0-3 if I'm not mistaken.
#8
Without nukes a fight between India and Pakistan would be two third world nations fighting. In that case INdia has more troops so they would win but the whole thing would be amatuerish, ugly, and bloody.
I could be wrong about India, I'm judging them on the Mubai response which was mostly cops. Hopefully their military is better.
If I were India I'd become really close friends with Israel. Learn as much as possible from them when it comes to training and combat and such and in exchange try to get Indian workers into Israel to replace many of the Palestinians currently there.
#9
Large third world armies (like Saddam era Iraq) have great difficulty with multi Corps (or sometimes Divisional) exercises. They are big but unwieldy, typically full of conscripts.
The India and Pakistan armies actually predate their respective nation states and were officered by men with experience fighting the Germans and Japanese. The Indian army has always been an all volunteer force. Its ability to field and coordinate an enormous number of troops is certainly not amateurish
Comment: When NightWatch first began studying Indian civil and military war preparations in 1971, the Indian Army required 8 months to mobilize men from the civilian sector; recall reserves; move logistics; generate, train and prepare the forces; bring them to full combat readiness and move 750,000 soldiers in 25 to 28 divisions with about 2,000 tanks to attack positions in western India,
In late 1986, during Operation Brass Tacks, India shortened that preparation process, but it was still considerable. By the time of the Kargil War in early 1999, the Army reduced the time to attain full combat readiness in battle positions to 45 days.
By the January 2002 crisis, the Indian Army had reduced the time to one month, with 750,000 men and some 4,000 tanks in battle positions and capable of attacking after three weeks of preparations. Full combat readiness was reached in the fourth week. In June 2002, the Army also showed it can maintain that large force in the field at a high state of readiness for up to six months, summer or winter. No other Army has achieved those results for a force that size.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/24/2008 13:37 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Another picture from 1971 showing the heroic Pak army in action...
Posted by: john frum ||
12/24/2008 16:56 Comments ||
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Hope floats for Indias 150 million-odd Muslims the countrys largest religious minority that often feels estranged and alienated, especially when it comes to government jobs.
The share of minorities in new jobs with the central government has seen a rise following a new programme that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh brought to improve the socio-economic conditions of minorities, according to official data tabled in Parliament. The overall share of minorities in central sector jobs rose to 8.7 per cent in 2007-08 from 6.9 per cent in the previous year. The overall share of minorities in central sector jobs rose to 8.7 pc in 2007-08 from 6.9 pc in the previous year.
A very positive development, even though this doesnt in any way suggest inclusive growth, said Rajindar Sachar, whose landmark report triggered the new programme.
Leading this change were the railways and public-sector banks and financial institutions; armed and paramilitary forces considered to be sensitive sectors followed.
Surprisingly, departments traditionally associated with the notion of welfare such as agriculture and urban development lagged.
Paramilitary forces added 4,905 new members from the minorities, accounting for about 10 per cent of total recruitment in 2007-08, minority affairs minister A.R. Antulay said in a written reply to a question in Parliament.
In terms of percentage shares, the railways accounted for the biggest rise. About 6.3 per cent of people hired by the countrys biggest employer in 2007-08 came from the minority communities twice the share in 2006-07. The upshot: even though the railways cut down on hiring, the absolute number of minority recruits was higher.
PSU banks also led by example. About 10.2 per cent of their recruits in 2007-08 were from the minority communities, compared to last years 7.6 per cent.
But some departments need to catch up: agriculture, urban development, power and post. In 2006-07, almost every second person hired by the agriculture ministry was from the minorities. This year, its down to one in seven.
The numbers show that government intervention does work. Still, many Muslims feel left out because they dont follow up on the demands they make to see how far theyve come, Sachar said.
Kamal Faruqui, chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission, said states should take a cue from the Centre to have more diverse workplaces at the state-level. According to the Sachar panels report, Muslims hold less than 5 per cent of government jobs and make up only 4 per cent of undergraduate students.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Like Palestinians in Israel nothing good can come of it.
#2
India should create a jobs works program that creates jobs specifically for Muslims. Those jobs should be either (a) along the Pakistani/Bangledesh borders so unhappy Muslims can easily move (b) in the Tamil dominated areas to the far south.
You can have a job, a condo to live in, but you've got to move there first.
At least that way you can increase the police presence in certain areas to keep a lid on seething issues.
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has called for dialogue between Iran and the Arab world to resolve all regional issues through diplomacy. "Time has come for an Arab-Iranian dialogue, which should include all issues,'' Moussa told reporters in Cairo on Tuesday. "We have differences and problems but these can be solved because Iran is an important country,'' he added.
Moussa said the dialogue should be conducted through a "regional system" in the future, AP reported. He was likely referring to a recent proposal by Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheik Khalid Bin Ahmed al-Khalifa to establish a regional body that would include all Middle Eastern countries. Bahrain's top diplomat said his proposal has been submitted to the Arab League.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If I was Israel I'd be uncomfortable with Iran and the Arab nations discussing ALL regional issues.
Iraq's parliament signed off Tuesday night on a security agreement that would allow thousands of British troops and a few hundred soldiers from a handful of other countries to stay in Iraq until next summer.
The approval, which was delayed by recent fights in parliament, paves the way for the Iraqi government to sign a security agreement with Britain that also covers small contingents from Australia, El Salvador, Estonia and Romania. Those troops will be authorized to stay in Iraq until July 2009, and their departure will mark the end of the so-called "coalition of the willing."
In an unrelated development shortly after the security agreement was reached, the speaker of Iraq's parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, announced his resignation, bowing to Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers who have called for his ouster. In announcing his resignation, Mashhadani acknowledged that he often lost his temper and said his frazzled state of mind is the product of having spent years in prison before the war began. "If I harmed you, I want you to know that I love you and I hope you forgive me," the gray-haired speaker told his colleagues.
Mashhadani, a deeply religious Sunni Muslim Arab who belongs to Ahal al-Iraq, a small party within the Sunni bloc in parliament, has alienated and enraged colleagues -- including fellow Sunnis -- since he became speaker in April 2006. His long-winded speeches often delayed passage of key legislation.
The security agreement with the British government, which dovetails with one signed last month with the United States, was not particularly controversial. But lawmakers did not address it until Tuesday because they had been preoccupied with concerns about Mashhadani.
The non-American foreign troops that remain in Iraq work mostly in training and advisory capacities. British troops were responsible for the security of a large portion of southern Iraq, including Basra, the country's second-largest city, until a few months ago. The U.S. military has begun to deploy more troops there in recent months to fill the void left by the departure of British combat troops.
American troops are expected to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Muntadar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who became an overnight sensation in the Middle East last week after throwing his shoes at President Bush during a news conference here, spent his first days behind bars believing his family, co-workers and tribe would forever shun him, the man's brother said.
The men guarding Zaidi, 29, at a detention center in the Green Zone forced him to watch a television channel run by Sunni extremists loyal to Saddam Hussein and told him that was the only news outlet in the world that was applauding his act, Oday al-Zaidi said Monday, a day after he was allowed to visit his brother.
"They told him, 'Your tribe and your family reject you,' " Oday al-Zaidi said. Pointing toward the television set tuned to the Al-Raee channel, the guards added: "This is the only channel that supports you."
In fact, his employer, al-Baghdadia channel, his relatives and people across the Arab world have praised him.
Oday al-Zaidi, 32, said his brother was gaunt, devastated and bruised -- but unrepentant.
" 'If I had the same opportunity again, I would throw my shoes,' " at President Bush, Oday al-Zaidi said, quoting his brother.
Oday al-Zaidi said his brother told him guards beat him with a metal pipe after the Dec. 14 incident. He said his brother had a bruised eye, is missing an upper canine tooth and has cigarette-burn marks on the backs of his ears.
"I didn't recognize him when I first saw him," Oday al-Zaidi said.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If you listen closely to the press conference you can hear the shoe thrower saying "Dubya, phone home".
Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani said on Tuesday that he will resign, clearing the way for lawmakers to consider a measure allowing British and other foreign troops to stay in Iraq after Dec. 31. "I announce that I'm resigning from my position as parliament speaker in the interests of the people," Mashhadani said in a speech to MPs.
Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers called for the resignation of Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab physician who became speaker in 2006, after he insulted deputies in a session last week.
"We hope that this event will not mark a deterioration in the political situation or a continuation of power-sharing based on sectarianism," said deputy Usama al-Nujaifi.
The controversy over Mashhadani has bogged down a vote on a proposal that would allow 4,100 British troops, along with troops from Australia, El Salvador, Romania and Estonia and NATO to remain in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires on Dec. 31.
It was not immediately clear who would replace Mashhadani.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said on Tuesday that Iraq has overcome the ordeal of sectarian unrest, according to a statement released by his office on Tuesday."Al-Hashemi asserted that Iraq has overcome several distresses, including sectarian unrest," said the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq.
This came during his meeting with Lebanese Mufti Mohamed Rashied Qabani.He pointed out that there are joint issues between Iraq and Lebanon and what happened in Iraq should be a lesson for Iraqis, Arab and Muslims.AL-Hashemi had arrived in Beirut last Monday coming from Ankara in a two-day official visit.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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A tense calm reigned over the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday as the Palestinian Islamist group said it may agree to a new truce with Israel. Gaza Islamists were holding their fire and Israeli forces were not carrying out raids on the territory after Hamas announced on Monday that it would not launch rockets or fire mortars for 24 hours.
Senior Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar told AFP that the movement could consider extending the temporary lull and agreeing to a new long-term truce, following the expiry on Friday of a six-month ceasefire. Hamas is ready to renew the truce "if Israel respects the conditions of a ceasefire," he said.
Hamas demands
" We demand that Israel respect truce conditions, in particular that it stop all form of aggression and open the border crossings. "
Mahmud "Warty Nose" Zahar, Hamas leader
These include lifting the blockade of the Palestinian enclave and stopping military raids on the besieged territory, the stronghold of the Islamist movement considered a terror group by Israel and the West.
"We demand that Israel respect truce conditions... in particular that it stop all form of aggression and open the border crossings," said Zahar, one of Hamas's most hard line leaders.
For which they offer in return ...
His comments came two days before Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is due to travel to Cairo for talks on the situation in Gaza with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
However Egyptian security sources warn that Hamas's efforts to haggle over another truce risks the possibility of having one. "They are haggling with ceasefire in order to improve its conditions, but we believe their calculations are wrong as neither the time, nor haggling will be fruitful. We know in advance their attempts will be doomed to fail," an unnamed Egyptian security official told the Saudi daily newspaper Al Medina.
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(AKI/The Jakarta Post) - The Indonesian government is considering whether to authorise the Indonesian Military (TNI) to take over the command from police in the nation's fight against terrorism.
Several approaches are being considered for building cooperation between the military and the National Police in dealing with terrorism threats, TNI commander Gen. Djoko Santoso said at the closing ceremony for a three-day joint counterterrorism exercise in Jakarta.
He said on Monday that the first option was for the police to maintain its position as sole commander for counterterrorism, and the second was for the military to assist the police in this mission, he said.
The third option is for the TNI to take over the lead in counterterrorism with police assistance, because some situations, such as hostage-takings, are outside police capabilities.
The last option is for the TNI alone to handle the counterterrorism command, as it does for VVIP security for the president and vice president, Djoko added.
At the same event, chief security minister Widodo Adi Sutjipto said the government would soon draw up standard operating procedures for the TNI and police in their joint fight against terrorism.
"The formulation of these standard operating procedures will be discussed between the National Police and the Indonesian Military. Let them draw up the concept," he said at the closing ceremony for the drills held at the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base in East Jakarta.
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the coordination between police and the TNI in dealing with terrorism threats did not warrant a special government regulation.
"I think the fact that the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs is overseeing their efforts is enough," he said.
Juwono said military involvement in counterterrorism efforts was crucial, considering the threats posed by some heavily armed organizations.
"Law enforcement will continue to be conducted by police, and the TNI will assist them in line with its role in a military capacity," the defense minister said.
"Ideally, there should be specific rules on the involvement of the TNI and police in such matters."
From Friday through Sunday, military and police forces staged massive exercises to prepare for terrorist attacks in six areas across the country -- Jakarta, Denpasar, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and the Strait of Malacca.
The joint drills involved simulated clashes with gunmen, attacks, hostage-takings and rescues.
The anti-terrorism exercises, involving some 7,000 personnel, came on the eve of Christmas, when churches become the rare target of assaults, and New Year celebrations.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently ordered the TNI and police to conduct anti-terrorism drills to demonstrate preparedness in the wake of last month's deadly attacks on Mumbai in India, which killed 172 people.
Indonesia was hit by a string of deadly suicide bombings targeting Westerners following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
However, many experts say the risk of more large-scale attacks has diminished with the arrest of hundreds of Muslim militants as suspects.
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12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tigers on Tuesday vowed to fight on even if they lose more territory inside the area they want to establish as a separate nation for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority.
In an e-mail interview from an undisclosed location in northern Sri Lanka, Balasingham Nadesan, political head of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), said the group's "freedom struggle does not centre on a town or a city". "Losing land and recapturing it is common. It is not the real estate that matters. Our freedom struggle will continue to create war towns until our struggle reaches its goal -- until we win," he said. He rejected President Mahinda Rajapaksa's precondition that the rebels surrender their arms before coming for peace talks, which the Tigers have offered.
"A peace talk at this juncture would not be possible as government has asked the LTTE to lay down their arms and surrender," he said. Nadesan admitted the Tigers had faced some recent setbacks in the war, but said their options for fighting back included sabotage against Sri Lanka's $32 billion economy. "The destruction of the economy is also an aspect of our defensive war. When the economy of the government is destroyed, its genocidal war against the people will also be weakened," Nadesan said, without elaborating on what the LTTE may do. "We will teach a good lesson to the forces in this Kilinochchi battle," Nadesan said, adding, "We are waiting for the time, place and setting to launch a offensive.""Our military capabilities are intact and we have no difficulties in acquiring weapons," he said. "We have confidence and we will regain the swathes of land."
Refugees: Separately, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday thousands of Tamils fleeing heavy fighting in the north of Sri Lanka were trapped by the government and being denied basic provisions. People who have fled areas under control of the LTTE rebels to seek safety in government-controlled regions are detained in army-run camps, the New York-based rights group said in a report. "Civilians are trapped in a war zone with limited aid because the government ordered the UN and other aid workers out," HRW's Asia director Brad Adams said "To add insult to injury, people who manage to flee the fighting end up being held indefinitely in army-run prison camps." HRW said the camps were short of shelter and sanitation. "The government's 'welfare centres' for civilians fleeing the Wanni are just badly disguised prisons," said Adams. "The sad irony is that many of those now detained by the government were fleeing LTTE abuses."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey Mr. Adams, how many of them are LTTE trying to infiltrate with the civilians?
Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, two wealthy American women and co-founders of Code Pink, arrived in Tehran on a citizen diplomacy trip. Well known for their radical stances and for their continued disruption of political events ... Benjamin and Evans portray a rosy and unrealistic situation, where Iranians of all social classes and political persuasions welcome them enthusiastically, share their anti-war sentiments, and desire for peaceful and loving relations with the U.S. and all nations. Medea Benjamin, who lived for seven years in Cuba calling the Castro dictatorship a paradise on earth, notices that in Tehran public transportation is priced right 20 cents for the subway and 2 cents for the bus.
#1
Aiding, consorting, comforting, providing anything to a self admitted, sworn enemy of a staunch ally(ies) is treasonous, no? $.22 worth of Dynamic Research Technologies sounds about right.
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.
especially if you end up with an Islamic King.
Inadequate measures taken to secure container terminals on Ring Road have resulted in damage to Nato logistics at the hands of suspected militants that attacked these parking lots for six times recently.
India should not underestimate Pakistan's military power and Islamabad is capable of thwarting any aggression from the eastern border, a private TV channel quoted President Asif Ali Zardari as saying on Tuesday. 
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has called for dialogue between Iran and the Arab world to resolve all regional issues through diplomacy. "Time has come for an Arab-Iranian dialogue, which should include all issues,'' Moussa told reporters in Cairo on Tuesday. "We have differences and problems but these can be solved because Iran is an important country,'' he added. 
