The Turkish navy frigate TCG Gediz has launched an operation against Somali pirates, who were feared to be preparing to seize another ship off the coast of Somalia, capturing five of the pirates. In a weekly press conference yesterday, Metin Gürak, chief of the communications department of the General Staff, stated that the Gediz rendered the band of Somali pirates ineffective as a result of the operation. "Five pirates were captured after our frigate was informed about their preparations to seize another ship off the Somali coast. Our frigate was assisted by a helicopter from the TCG Gaziantep," stated Gürak. Ahmed, have you ever been in...a Turkish prison?
#1
I wonder if they'll make it to trial? Being in Turkish custody has been known to be 'dangerous', fraught with work accidents, attempted escapes, etc.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/26/2009 16:06 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Five festive ornaments for the Turkish frigate's yardarm, mayhaps?
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/26/2009 17:54 Comments ||
Top||
#3
You do NOT want to f*ck with the Turkish military.
When my ship was in the old Philadelphia shipyard in 1972, another ship there was an old destroyer that the US had given to Turkey. The Turks were completing their training/familiarization. There was a rumor going around that a couple of Turkish enlisted men had done something, and the Turks were preparing to hang them right there in the shipyard. When the US objected, supposedly they went out to sea, hung them, and came back. Don't know if it is true, but it makes a good story.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/26/2009 18:06 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Rambler, I was in FT school at NTC Great Mistakes Great Lakes from 9/74 to 12/75. We heard a similar story about the Turkish navy, only it involved a guy who'd been sent to the US for electronics school, and had flunked out due to combined laziness and devotion to partying. He was sent back to Turkey, presumably to return to the ship he'd come from.
Supposedly the USN electronics school's CO got a letter from the Turkish naval attache apologizing for their sailor's misconduct, and stating that the matter had been handled in accordance with Turkish naval regulations. The CO became curious and asked around as to what that meant, subsequently finding out that "handling the matter" involved a short GCM and a long rope over the yardarm.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/26/2009 20:27 Comments ||
Top||
#5
They be in a far, far better place. That's for sure.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/26/2009 20:42 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Same for the Shah's navy back in '77. It was interesting when a 'counseling session' was going on at ET 'A' school. Lots of screaming, slapping noises, and sounds of a body hitting the wall.
[Bangla Daily Star] Gunmen shot dead a Union Parishad chairman and Awami League leader in Kushtia yesterday.
The deceased, Jamil Hasan Bachchu, 42, was joint general secretary of Kumarkhali upazila AL, and chairman of Kaya union parishad.
Police said a gang of seven stopped Bachchu at Hatishako in Kumarkhali upazila when he was going to his village on a motorcycle at about 5:30pm. They shot him at point blank range.
As Bachchu died on the spot, the gunmen fled the scene. Four bullets pierced the chest and the head of the AL leader.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
[Bangla Daily Star] The Detective Branch of police has launched a nationwide hunt for Afghan war veteran Moulana Bakhtiar Hossain, who was earlier arrested in 1999 with four others including two foreigners for involvement in a militancy campaign.
The search began after detained Indian national and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) organiser Moulana Mansur Ali revealed that Bakhtiar is the founder and principal of Madrasatur Rahman al Arabia in the city's Dakkhin Khan area where he was arrested last week.
There's a useful bit of information. Look closely at anything with al Arabia in its name.
Monirul Islam, DB deputy commissioner (south), told The Daily Star, "Mansur joined the madrasa in 2006, but he had been in contact with Bakhtiar since he entered the country in 1995. We're looking for Bakhtiar to know the relations between the two, and their activities."
Bakhtiar met Mansur, a top-listed terrorist in India, while fighting for Talibans in Afghanistan in the early 90s. He came under watch in 1999 with an intelligence agency probing the activities of Servants of Suffering Humanity International (SSHI), a Dakkhin Khan-based Islamist NGO.
Seriously? They called themselves Servants of Suffering humanity, with a straight face? Honestly, the snark writes itself!
Following up leads provided by intelligence officials, the Criminal investigation Department raided the Servants office and arrested five including Bakhtiar on January 25, 1999. The other detainees were Saleem of Manikganj, Shahabuddin of Chittagong, Ahmed Sadeq Ahmed, a South African national, and Mohammed Sajed, a Pakistani national.
I wouldn't have thought of Bangladesh as an immigrant nation, but it appears I was wrong.
During the raid, the CID team seized some important documents suggesting the NGO's links to militancy, said intelligence sources. The way the then CID authorities acted on the matter allowed the five to get off the hook, they added. Despite specific information that Saleem and Shahabuddin had firearms in their possession, no attempt was made to recover those.
A case was filed against Moulana Bakhtiar for possessing a Pakistani passport. The rest four faced no specific charges and were shown arrested under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Later, the intelligence agency that probed SSHI operations submitted a report to the government, exposing how Bakhtiar got freed in exchange for Tk 5 lakh. The agency had records of Bakhtiar's telephone conversation with his father about this whole arrangement with some CID officials.
Another arrestee, Saleem, got the president of Al Markajul Islam, an Islamist NGO, to lobby successfully for his release.
The intelligence agency report noted that militants will gain strength for CID's failure to prove the charges against the five.
Bakhtiar's father Sarder Nuruzzaman yesterday told The Daily Star that Servants of Suffering Humanity closed its activities following the raid on its office in 1999. He also said Bakhtiar was the local coordinator of SSHI, and the South African and the Pakistani were the international coordinators. The NGO had set up 750 Kawmi madrasas in cluster villages across the country. It stopped funding those madrasas following crackdown on the NGO.
Bakhtiar went into hiding after DB police arrested Mansur at a house in Saodagarbari of Dakkhin Khan on July 22. Locals said Mansur and his family would live in a room on the first floor for Tk 1,750 a month. Mansur's co-tenant said they used to live a simple life. Few relatives would visit them.
Bakhtiar's father and some teachers of the madrasa denied that Bakhtiar has gone into hiding. They however admitted he has not been attending the madrasa since July 22.
"He's not in hiding, he's just taking an indefinite vacation. In a country with which Bangladesh has no extradition treaty. Really, he's not in the mardrasa guest house, listening from behind the door."
According to his father, Bakhtiar is around 30 years old. After completing hefz in two years he went to Pakistan sometime between 1990 and 1992 and studied in a madrasa in Karachi.
This article starring:
Moulana Bakhtiar Hossain
Moulana Mansur Ali
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
British legislators have urged the government to engage in talks with "moderate elements" within Hamas, saying that the Quartet's policy of shunning the Palestinian group until it accepted previous understandings with Israel, renounced violence and came to terms with Israel's existence, had proven to be counterproductive.
The Foreign Affairs Committee in Britain's House of Commons on Sunday issued a report in which it reiterated a request to talk to Hamas initially made two years ago. "We conclude that there continue to be few signs that the current policy of non-engagement is achieving the Quartet's stated objectives," the committee stated in the report. "We further conclude that the credible peace process, for which the Quartet hopes as part of its strategy for undercutting Hamas, is likely to be difficult to achieve without greater cooperation from Hamas itself."
The committee further stated its concern over the Quartet's "failure" to offer Hamas greater incentives to soften its position, emphasizing that British willingness to talk to the rulers of the Gaza Strip would encourage the group to live up to the demands of the Quartet.
The MPs making up the committee also lamented the fact that half a year after Operation Cast Lead, a cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas had still not been cemented. Such a situation, the committee concluded, made for "an ongoing risk of insecurity and a renewed escalation of violence."
The committee expressed "deep concern" over the number of casualties reported during the fighting in Gaza, deploring both Hamas's targeting of civilian targets and Israel's use of "disproportionate" force.
Earlier this year, Britain broke with international policy banning engagement with groups involved in terror when it announced that it would try to forge ties with Hizbullah's "political wing." At the time, the minister of state of the Foreign Office, Bill Rammell, said the government endorsed contacts only with Hizbullah members "legitimately involved in Lebanese politics", known "moderate political figures" and those who rejected violence. He also said that although he "would like to talk to Hamas," Britain would only do so when the group renounced its violent struggle against Israel.
In April, technical problems prevented Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal from addressing a group of MPs and peers in the British Parliament. Only around 30 MPs and peers attended the meeting, which was set up to support the position that there can be no peace in the Middle East without talking to the Islamist movement. Mashaal was unable to address the meeting when the video link failed.
The decision to allow a representative of Hamas, considered a terrorist organization in the UK, to speak in Parliament was condemned by Israel's ambassador to Britain as well as by the Foreign Office and an array of politicians.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/26/2009 8:36 Comments ||
Top||
#2
So to follow the UK's logic let's:
1) arrest an equal number of women for rape since a disproportion number of the rape arrests are of men.
2) Find a few Amish to include on the FBI Terrorist list.
3) Let's proportionally allocate homeland security funds to put the dozen or so KKK members living in a trailer park out of business.
#5
I know a lot of people that work for the government. I also know a few bureaucrats. The two are NOT ALWAYS the same. However, if we rid ourselves of all the bureaucrats, we'd also have to shut down several government agencies. Wait now, what...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/26/2009 18:32 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I can't see the downside, OP.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/26/2009 19:04 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Sounds like it could become a significant problem for Mr. Brown. I have no problem with that.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/26/2009 20:38 Comments ||
Top||
#8
One civil servant, again unnamed, counselled caution, saying: 'I think we could be accused of duplicity in naming him' - without explaining why - and even added that 'the fact that he is homophobic does help'.
Must be one hellva list to add in Mormons [and Black Fundamentalist Churches] and over half the voting population of California on it if they use that criteria.
Consider the source. It may not be true. But it rings true.
When Im Chun-yong made his daring escape from North Korea, with a handful of his special forces men, there were many reasons why the North Korean government was intent on stopping them. They were, after all, part of Kim Jong-il's elite commandos - privy to a wealth of military secrets and insights into the workings of the reclusive regime.
But among the accounts they carried with them is one of the most shocking yet to emerge namely the use of humans, specifically mentally or physically handicapped children, to test North Korea's biological and chemical weapons.
"If you are born mentally or physically deficient, says Im, the government says your best contribution to society is as a guinea pig for biological and chemical weapons testing."
Even after settling into the relative safety of South Korea, for 10 years Im held on to this secret, saying it was too horrific to recount.
But with Kim's health reportedly failing, and the country appearing increasingly unpredictable, Im felt it was time he spoke out. The former military captain says it was in the early 1990s, that he watched his then commander wrestle with giving up his 12-year-old daughter who was mentally ill. The commander, he says, initially resisted, but after mounting pressure from his military superiors, he gave in.
Im watched as the girl was taken away. She was never seen again.
One of Im's own men later gave him an eyewitness account of human-testing. Asked to guard a secret facility on an island off North Korea's west coast, Im says the soldier saw a number of people forced into a glass chamber.
"Poisonous gas was injected in," Im says. "He watched doctors time how long it took for them to die."
Other North Korean defectors have long alleged that the secretive nation has been using political prisoners as experimental test subjects. Some have detailed how inmates were shipped from various concentration camps to so-called chemical "factories".
But Im's is the first account of mentally-ill or physically challenged children being used.
Security analysts believe Kim oversees one of the most aggressive and robust biochemical weapons programmes in the world. A member of the special forces' Brigade No.19, Im says he was trained on how to use biochemical weapons against the "enemy" including how to fire them from short-range "bazooka-style" weapons. He says such training was normal practice for all elite units.
Today it is estimated the country has accumulated a stockpile of more than 5,000 tonnes of biochemical weaponry; from mustard gas, to nerve agents such as sarin, to anthrax and cholera.
The extent of the stockpile is a concern to Kim Sang-hun, a retired UN official who has spent years investigating the North's chemical and biological weapons programme. He believes over the past 20 years, the programme has advanced at a startling pace, specifically because the countrys rulers approve and support the use of human test subjects. "If you are born mentally or physically deficient, the government says your best contribution to society is as a guinea pig for biological and chemical weapons testing"
"Human experimentation is a widespread practice," Kim says. "I hoped I was wrong, but it is the reality and it is taking place in North Korea and it is taking place at a number of locations."
There are some who question claims that the North conducts human trials. But Kim says he has interviewed hundred of defectors who, more times than not, volunteer personal vivid accounts. "The programme is now a commonly known fact in the North Korean public," he says.
As a former member of the elite special forces, Im agrees. While the government may be secretive about a lot of things, he says "when it comes to human experimentation, most know it happens".
Investigating what he says are serious UN violations regarding the rights of children and prisoners, Kim Sang-hun has amassed a vast amount of evidence. Compiled in folders at his home in Seoul are reams of testimonies and documents. Some bear what appear to be official government stamps approving the transfer of prisoners from camps to chemical "factories".
He says he believes these are, in reality, experimental weapons sites. He has pinpointed at least three to five labs that he believes are situated in different parts of the country, including one just a few kilometres north of the capital, Pyongyang.
Security analysts suspect there are as many as 20 such plants across the country.
As the world's attention focuses on the North's nuclear programme, Im is worried the international community will miss what he believes is the more imminent threat posed by the country's biochemical arsenal.
Arms experts say at least 30 per cent of North Korea's missile and artillery systems are capable of delivering such weapons. With each successive test, they warn the North's accuracy improves, and so too its range.
Im believes the government would not hesitate to use such arms, saying he has seen the "ruthlessness" of the countrys leaders.
During his escape from North Korea in December 1999, Im says he and his men battled their way out, chased by dozens of members of other commando units. "I myself killed three men," he says. "Then after swimming across the half frozen Tumen river into China, we sold our guns, and left that life behind."
Im now devotes his time to gathering intelligence about the North's military capabilities. Even a decade after his escape, the threat he still poses to the North Korean government means that he now lives under the constant protection of South Korea's National Intelligence Service.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
[Kyodo: Korea] The North Korean ambassador to the United Nations indicated Friday that Pyongyang would be interested in resuming direct dialogue with the United States.
"We are not against a dialogue. We are not against any negotiation for the issues of common concern," Ambassador Sin Soh Ho said in his first media appearance since North Korea launched in early April a satellite-carrying rocket many other countries believe was a disguised test-firing of a long-range ballistic missile.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sure, talk away Ho. But it's gonna cost you a billion dollars and a case of Kimmie's finest Scotch.
Posted by: ed ||
07/26/2009 0:58 Comments ||
Top||
#2
They gonna bring the "minced beef and bread" sandwiches?
#3
DEFENSETECH.org > GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSIWRE - OFFICIAL: SOUTH KOREA CAN QUICKLY EXTEND MISSLE REACH + CENTRAL ASIAN NATIONS [Ex SSR -Stans]SEEK TO REDUCE "DIRTY BOMB" THREAT + US NOT PLANNING TO ALLOW SOUTH KOREA TO IMPROVE ITS BALLAISTIC MISSLES.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon's top lawyer said Friday that the Obama administration has not abandoned the possibility of transferring some prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to a prison in the United States despite strong congressional concerns.
Defense Department general counsel Jeh Charles Johnson told the House Armed Services Committee that some suspected terrorists might be transferred to the U.S. for prosecution and others sent to a facility inside the U.S. for long-term incarceration.
Administration officials had raised those possible moves before, but Congress in June passed a law that would allow Guantanamo detainees to be transferred to the U.S. for prosecution only after lawmakers have had two months to read a White House report on how it plans to shut down the Guantanamo detention facility and disperse the inmates. The law is silent on whether Guantanamo detainees can be held inside the U.S. if they do not have a trial pending.
Johnson also said no prisoners would be released from custody inside the country.
Congress has blocked funding for transferring any Guantanamo detainees into the United States for the 2009 fiscal year ending Sept. 30. President Barack Obama ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba closed by January 2010.
Both civilian federal jails and military prisons are being considered for potential future incarceration for prisoners facing criminal prosecution, military tribunals, or long-term detention without a trial, Assistant Attorney General David Kris said at the same hearing.
More than 50 have been cleared for release and an administration task force is still sorting through the remaining 229 prisoners to determine their fates. The panel has reviewed about half the cases, according to a Justice Department official who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Government lawyers in both the Obama and Bush administrations say that an unspecified number of detainees should continue to be held without trial. Some of the evidence against them is classified or thin, and the government fears these most dangerous detainees could be released should they be given their day in court.
Johnson also said the Obama administration has not yet determined where it will hold newly captured al-Qaida or Taliban prisoners for extended detention after Guantanamo Bay's prison closes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I give them a lifespan of 12 hours in Huntsville, TX.
Posted by: ed ||
07/26/2009 1:03 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Not much in the news on it, but there is a new "Federal Confinement Facility" being constructed on Fort Leavenworth adjacent the new military prison. Speculation there is, and only speculation....it may be GITMO-II.
#3
Considering that there's one Fed prison, the military confinement facility, and two state prisons in the vicinity, the local population won't be too exercised over the prospect. Now, they may be hesitant as targets of outsiders engaging in a 911 or Mumbai spectacle. However, such agents could do that now someplace in the US or overseas for the same effect over those already confined in Gitmo.
#4
"Johnson also said no prisoners would be released from custody inside the country". While I tend to agree with ed #1 about the life expectancy of Gitmo prisoners in American prisons; I'm wondering if Bambi, or his minions, have seriously considered the proselytizing that would be done by the Gitmo prisoners. This is just what we need; a captive audience for hate mongering, anti American rhetoric.
[Geo News] The repatriation process of the Malakand IDPs is still underway as a total of 7582 families returned to their homes only on Saturday. According to Emergency Response Unit, so far a total of 71,851 families have reached their homes in Buner, Swat and Dir. It said 2,66000 families are still waiting to be repatriated. Out of these 36,000 families are in camps while the rest are outside. According ERU, 14,000 families returned using government transport while 52,000 families traveled back on their own in private transport.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Geo News] Three Pakistani persons traveling in Europe on fake documents were arrested here by the FIA officials on returning home after being deported. The FIA officials said that among the persons deported from Dubai and Britain, Yousuf belongs to Gujranwala and Shaban to Sargodha while Qaisar is resident of Lahore. According to the FIA, all three deported Pakistanis were shifted to Anti-Human Smuggling Cell after legal action was taken and the case was registered against them.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Deported off the planet would be better...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/26/2009 12:24 Comments ||
Top||
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] The movement of Afghanistan-based US and Nato troops over the past few days close to North and South Waziristan Agencies has frightened tribesmen, who are already under stress due to the increasing number of drone attacks and a possible military operation by the Pakistan Army.
Official and tribal sources informed The News from the border villages of North Waziristan about the unusual movement of what they termed ìhuge numberî of the US and Nato forces along the Pak-Afghan border.
They said the Nato troops were armed with helicopter gunships, tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and had started establishing camps and checkpoints along the border.
The residents of border villages, including Dwatoi, Kazha Madakhel and Gorweek, said warplanes and helicopter gunships were seen flying over the border areas between the two neighbouring countries throughout the day. In some of the areas, the tribesmen claimed the planes violated Pakistanís airspace and flew over their villages.
Villagers claimed that the US and Nato forces were brought to the border area in 80 vehicles amid tight security.
A military official based in Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, said they had also received reports about the troop movement but could not confirm it. Wishing not to be named, he said Pakistanís armed forces were fully alert on their posts along the border with Afghanistan. ìThey often come to the border villages inside Afghanistan and return to their bases after some time. There is no need to be worried,î the official said.
Tribal sources close to the Taliban in Afghanistan said there had been an unprecedented rise in attacks on the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan and their movement in the border areas could be an act of desperation.
They said the foreign forces had particularly suffered losses in Helmand, Paktia, Paktika and Khost provinces, which were close to Pakistanís restive South and North Waziristan tribal regions.
Besides suffering casualties, the sources said, the Taliban militants had made some US and British soldiers hostage in Afghanistan.
The movement of foreign forces close to Pakistanís border and establishment of the checkpoints, along the porous Durand Line, could be part of their strategy to stop the Taliban militants from shifting the kidnapped US and British soldiers to the adjoining tribal areas, said the sources.
On September 3, 2008, the US-led foreign forces carried out their first-ever ground operation in the Pakistani territory, killing 15 Pakistanis, including women and children, in South Waziristanís Musa Nika village near Angoor Adda, close to Afghanistanís Paktika province. The tribesmen fear recurrence of such an attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Al Arabiya Latest] Polls closed on Saturday in presidential and legislative polls in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in voting expected to confirm the grip on power of its leaders, an AFP correspondent said. Polling stations had stayed open for an extra hour because some voters complained they were unable to find their names on electoral lists.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Naz: Yo, Iz. How R U...
The social networking website Facebook has shut down a fan page dedicated to supporters of Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh, London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat reported on Sunday. The page had accumulated over ten thousand "friends" when Facebook removed it, and Facebook has issued no official statement regarding the reasons for the webpage's deletion. Binny: Yo, Iz. Where U at?
A supervisor of the Haniyeh fan page told Al Hayat that he expects similar action to be taken against a related Facebook page devoted to the apparently more popular Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal who has obtained over seventeen thousand "friends." Iz: Yo, K. Email. K?
According to the report, "It is likely that the well known website "Facebook" is under pressure from Israel, the United States, and lobbies that are resisting the Palestinian people and movements of the Palestinian Resistance, among them Hamas." Mullah O: Iz. Luv the pics. LOL. Whut up?
Since the removal of the webpage, Facebook owners have received a barrage of emails demanding the page be put online again for the sake of freedom of opinion, the paper reported. Doc Z: Yo, Izzy. Just sayin HI.
Many radical Islamic groups have utilized social networking sites such as Facebook in order to recruit, disseminate propaganda, and fundraise, according to Steve Emerson, terrorism expert and founder of the non-profit research group The Investigative Project on Terror. "The terrorist war is a two-prong war, one war is fought militarily but the other war is a propaganda war, and that's what the social networking Websites accomplish," stated Emerson. Mehsud: Yo, Iz. Howz yur goat? LOL
According to Emerson, the social networking websites are utilized by Islamic radicals to humanize themselves and their struggle, and serve as a means of communication within the group. "There's a battle for the hearts and minds of the western world and using social networking sites increases their audience, it humanizes them, and that's what they want," said Emerson. M Dahlan: Bastid! Gimme back my suits!
The Investigative Project on Terror is recognized as one of the most comprehensive centers of information on radical Islamic groups and has been used by a number of Government Agencies as a critical source of evidence in the past, according to its official Website. K: Yo, Iz. Whut up?
Gaza -- Ma'an -- A 33-year-old Palestinian was burned to death in a tunnel collapse under the border between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday, a medical official told Ma'an. Inflammable dirt. Another Palestinian invention...
Two more Palestinians were injured in the collapse and six others were still missing by Sunday afternoon, according to Rafah Abdallah Shahada, director of Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah.
Shahada added that the hospital had received the body of Sami Qishta, 33, and two others who sustained burns and were listed in moderate condition. There was no word on the six missing Palestinians.
The tunnel industry is notoriously dangerous, and dozens of workers are killed each year in workplace accidents. Above the regular collapse of the sandy tunnels, Israeli and Egyptian border police routinely throw explosives into their access points, or flood the passages with water or fuel. OSHA shall hear of this!
What's OSHA?
More than 150 Palestinians have been killed in such incidents since the siege on Gaza began in 2007.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse or burns, but just last Monday two young Gazans were killed and eight others injured when benzene, which was being smuggled through, began to leak. Four workers were injured when one of the Gaza smuggling tunnels in Rafah collapsed two weeks earlier. Smoke, Mahmoud?
Sure, why not...
#2
Of course, the blood of these martyrs is on the heads of the Juice. Cuz, if the Jews did not have the evil blockade, there would be no reason to tunnel in to bring in needed supplies like ammo, weapons, etc. They could be brought in safely via truck.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/26/2009 18:08 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"a tunnel collapse under the border between Gaza and Egypt"
Damn those evil Juices, blockading the border between Gaza and Egypt! Have they no shame?
Oh, wait....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/26/2009 18:20 Comments ||
Top||
#4
So, does this mean that they are not pouring concrete tomorrow?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/26/2009 18:56 Comments ||
Top||
#5
:-) AP - you're a bad boy
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/26/2009 19:14 Comments ||
Top||
Hundreds of Fatah members from Gaza may be unable to attend the organization's internal election next month because Hamas is refusing to allow them to travel to the West Bank.
The 400-odd Gazans want to go to Bethlehem, where they would be among 1,550 Fatah officials voting to elect the organization's leadership. But Hamas has announced it will not allow them to attend until "the issue of political arrests in the West Bank is resolved" - meaning, until Hamas men are released from Palestinian Authority prisons.
Hamas top official Mahmoud al-Zahar announced the travel ban was being imposed on the Fatah officials.
According to some uncorroborated reports, the Palestinian Authority is considering renewing talks with Israel after the vote, which would be Fatah's sixth General Assembly election.
Senior Fatah members have said the conference could not be held if the 400 Gazan members are barred from attending, and therefore proposed postponing the meeting until Hamas and Fatah solve the matter. Analysts say that by barring the 400 Fatah members from leaving Gaza, Hamas is hoping to weaken its rival.
Reconciliatory talks between Hamas and Fatah are planned for August 25, but it remains unclear whether they will take place.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Constantine Dabbagh, Executive Secretary of the Near East Council of Churches, complained on Wednesday that three masked men who broke into his house beat him and his wife before stealing money and jewelry.
The Hamas government said it had launched an investigation into the incident, which took place on Tuesday night in the western suburbs of Gaza City.
The assault on Dabbagh and his wife is the latest in a series of attacks on members of the tiny Christian community in the Gaza Strip.
Dabbagh said that the masked men first bound his and his wife's hands behind their backs before covering their heads and faces with cloth and beating them.
He added that the assailants told him that they came to search the house for wireless devices of communications. He said that the masked men spent nearly one hour inside the house, during which time they stole money and jewelry.
The assailants also stole the Christian couple's car.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Soon he'll apply to be allowed to move to Israel. If allowed, will spend his time critisizing racist policies of the land-stealing-zionist-government.
#2
The Hamas government said it had launched an investigation into the incident, which took place on Tuesday night in the western suburbs of Gaza City.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday that Iran will never achieve its goal of obtaining a nuclear weapon, declaring to Tehran: "Your pursuit is futile."
"What we want to do is to send a message to whoever is making these decisions, that if you're pursuing nuclear weapons for the purpose of intimidating, of projecting your power, we're not going to let that happen," Clinton said.
"First, we're going to do everything we can to prevent you from ever getting a nuclear weapon. But your pursuit is futile, because we will never let Iran nuclear-armed, not nuclear-armed it is something that we view with great concern, and that's why we're doing everything we can to prevent that from ever happening. ... We believe, as a matter of policy, it is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons."
Pretty words. What are we going to do about it?
As a security summit in Thailand earlier this week, Clinton raised the possibility of a "defense umbrella" over the Middle East to protect other nations from a nuclear-armed Iran, marking the first time a senior administration official has publicly broached the prospect of the Persian nation succeeding in building a nuclear weapon.
Unacceptable: it allows Obama (or any future President) to fold the umbrella when sufficiently unhappy with Israel. As, for example, if Israel doesn't toe the line on housing in the Jerusalem area.
Clinton said the Obama administration might still engage with Irans regime, even though she thinks the people there deserve better than what theyre getting."
Moderator David Gregory asked Clinton if the U.S. would be betraying Irans democratic movement if the administration decides to negotiate with the government over its nuclear program.
I dont think so, David, she replied. We have negotiated with many governments who we did not believe represented the will of their people. Look at all the negotiations that went on with the Soviet Union.
Thats what you do in diplomacy. You dont get to choose the people. Thats up to the internal dynamic within a society. But, clearly, we would hope better for the Iranian people. We would hope that there is more openness, that peaceful demonstrations are respected, that press freedom is respected.
That's the canard liberals like to bring up: we negotiated with the Soviets so we must negotiate with every pissant thug who makes demands on us. Hilde may have missed this: Iran is not the Soviet Union.
Gregory asked if Iran is run by an illegitimate regime.
You know, thats really for the people of Iran to decide, Clinton said. I have been moved by the cries for freedom. People that go back millennia, that have such a great culture and history, deserve better than what theyre getting.
No, it's also for us to decide. We can proclaim, loudly, that the Mad Mullahs are illegitimate and do not represent the people of Iran. That alone would give the ordinary people there hope. We could continue to use our words and our ability to command the international stage to hammer away at the thugs in charge in Tehran. It worked in Eastern Europe. If Hilde is going to 'negotiate' with the Mullahs as we did with the Soviets, it's only proper that we borrow Reagan's approach to the Soviets: he talked with them, sure, but he also did everything possible to undermine them. And it worked.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/26/2009 13:19 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Until they get them. Then it's not so "futile' any more...
#2
HMMMMM, HMMMMM, so IMO Hillary has basically confirmed to IRAN that it either "USES 'EM OR LOSES 'EM" ASAP AMAP ALAP ATAP, as NUKES = STRATWEAPONS are one the primary benchmarks for BOTH PAN-ISLAMIST AND PAN-MUSLIM RELIGIOUS, IDEO, AND GEOPOL, ETC. PRESTIGE + CREDIBILTY. IRAN, etal. that they must now acquire indigens Nuc/Stratweaps FASTER + SOONER, NOT LATER.
(KUNA) -- Iranian missiles will be launched at Israel, should the Persian state come under foreign attack, said Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier Mohammad Ali Jaafari, on Saturday. In a statement to local media, he said, "If we come under any attack by the Zionist entity, our missiles will be launched at all areas of the occupied Palestinian territories. We are capable of responding with accuracy to any possible aggression."
Jaafari warned Israel against attacking his country, adding that "Israeli nuclear facilities will be targeted by our missiles ... we face no obstacles in attacking Israeli nuclear facilities, and they will definitely be a target if we come under aggression." Alluding to the Israeli missile test conducted a few days ago, he said, "The Zionist entity may be able to intercept a limited number of our missiles using its defense system, but it will be unable to respond when it stands against the great number of missiles we will launch at it." Ruled out the possibility of his country being subject to military threats, he said, "The enemies must realize that the era of military threats has gone. They are also well aware that the greater the military threats against our people, the more they are in national harmony." Jaafari added that military threats against Iran aimed only at forcing it to concede to illegal demands of those he called "the enemies."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
After a weeklong furor amongst Iran's ruling elite over Ahmadinejad's vice president choice, the president appoints the deputy, who resigned, as an advisor and head of the Presidential Office.
"I appoint you [Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei], as a faithful and competent figure, as advisor and head of the Presidential Office," Ahmadinejad said in a decree on Saturday.
According to the decree published on president's website, Ahmadinejad expressed hope Rahim-Mashaei would be successful in serving the great Iranian nation and the Islamic establishment in cooperation with his colleagues.
Rahim-Mashaei's appointment as the country's vice president unleashed torrents of criticism from both the president's supporters and opponents alike.
Following the political controversy, the president reversed his decision and accepted Rahim-Mashaei resignation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
It's been a long time since this guy's missed any meals...
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's chief of Joint Armed Forces has warned against US plots in the region and called on authorities and nations of Iran's neighboring states to remain vigilant. "The US seeks to save itself from the current global economic crisis. It aims to increase its dominance over the Islamic countries as well as third world (countries)," said Major General Hassan "Porky" Firouzabadi on Saturday.
He pointed to the US plans for stepped-up military assistance to Arab states in the Persian Gulf to help them in countering a "nuclear-armed" Iran, saying, "This is not a defensive or security plan for our Muslim neighbors."
"As Iranian officials have repeatedly announced, the Islamic Republic does not regard either of its neighbors as an enemy," the top army chief said. "Occupiers and their allies are those who brought war and bloodshed to the region."
Firouzabadi's remarks came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday took a shot at Iran's nuclear program and said Washington would consider establishing a "defense umbrella" in cooperation with its Persian Gulf allies should Iran refrain from abandoning its nuclear activities.
"If the US extends a defense umbrella over the region, if we do even more to support the military capacity of those in the [Persian] Gulf, it is unlikely Iran will be any stronger or safer," Clinton said.
"They won't be able to intimidate and dominate, as they apparently believe they can once they have a nuclear weapon," she added.
Clinton made the statement while the administration of President Barack Obama has so far said little about extending a defense umbrella over the Middle East.
The US and its European allies accuse the Tehran government of conducting clandestine efforts to obtain nuclear weaponry, warning of an imminent nuclear arms race in the volatile Middle East.
Iran says its nuclear activities are in line with its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and are aimed at the civilian applications of the technology.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Plots? Like what? We send in Delta Force to steal your doughnuts?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad finally gave in to an order from the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dismissed his top deputy after remaining defiant for five days.
The official IRNA news agency quoted Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, a top Ahmadinejad aide, as saying that Esfandiar Rahim Mashai is no longer the first vice president.
The aide said that following the public statement of supreme leader Khamenei's order to dismiss the president's choice, "Mashai doesn't consider himself first vice president," Hashemi told IRNA.
Mashai stirred controversy among hardliners by once saying Iranians were friends to the Israelis. Ahmadinejad resisted pressure to dismiss him for weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
I guess they finally yanked his leash hard enough.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's opposition urged senior clerics on Saturday to help secure the release of people arrested following June's disputed presidential election, after a protester died in prison while people took to the streets in countries accross the world in a show of solidarity with detainess.
A reformist website said the son of an adviser to defeated conservative candidate Mohsen Rezaie had been killed in a Tehran prison after being detained in post-election unrest.
" We are very worried about their physical and mental health ... this imposed state security should end ... It is wrong to link pro-reform detainees to foreign countries "
In a flurry of announcements on websites, critics of the election condemned the tactics employed since the vote by the authorities, who have banned street protests by those who say the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was rigged. "The only way out of this situation is ... to immediately release detainees," Ghalamnews quoted a joint statement issued by moderate defeated candidates and former President Mohammad Khatami as saying. "We are very worried about their physical and mental health ... this imposed state security should end ... It is wrong to link pro-reform detainees to foreign countries," it said.
Tehran has accused western powers of fuelling post-election unrest, charges they deny, adding to tensions over Iran's nuclear program which the West suspects is a cover for building atomic weapons. Iran says its program is peaceful.
Global Day of Action
Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered in more than 110 cities around the world for "Global Day of Action," a day dedicated to Iran's political prisoners. They demanded that Iran's government free all detainees arrested during postelection protests and called on the United Nations to investigate rights abuses.
United For Iran, the group behind the "Global Day of Action", is backed by some of the world's leading NGOs such as Amnesty International, Reporters without Borders, and Human Rights Watch . The group is also supported by prominent figures such as Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. "Join me in a worldwide rally on July 25 to support and echo the voices of millions of Iranians who are demanding their civil and human civil rights. The people of Iran need you," Tutu said in a video posted on the group's website,
Detainees tortured
" The intelligence network has turned into the most unclear and terrifying tool to suppress people ... detainees are being kept in illegal detention centers and are under mental torture. Physically they are threatened harshly "
Mehdi Karoubi
Moderate defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi said in a letter to Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei that those detained since the election had been subjected to "mental torture" and treated harshly, his website reported.
"The head of the executive body is not elected by the people's vote. The new government is illegitimate," he said in his letter. "The intelligence network has turned into the most unclear and terrifying tool to suppress people ... detainees are being kept in illegal detention centers and are under mental torture. Physically they are threatened harshly," the letter added.
"Think of a way out of the current crisis, otherwise it will be difficult for you to manage Ramadan and other religious and national days," he added, referring to holidays when people gather and hold rallies.
Killed in Evin prison
The reformist Mosharekat website said on Saturday that Mohsen Ruholamini, the son of a senior adviser to Rezaie, had been killed in Tehran's Evin prison. "His family was told that Mohsen would be released soon. But the authorities informed the family on Thursday night about his death," the website said.
Ruholamini had been arrested in post-election protests on July 9 and held in Evin, the website said. It did not say how he had been killed or when.
Leading moderates, including Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, have called for the immediate release of post-election detainees. The authorities say most of those held have been freed. Iranian official media have said at least 20 people died in violence after the poll. Moderate defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and the authorities blame each other for the bloodshed. Riot police and religious Basij militia eventually suppressed June's protests, but leading moderates have remained defiant, calling the new government "illegitimate."
Mousavi has said he will join a planned group of leading figures to preserve "people's votes", saying he would not allow his killed supporters' "blood to be trampled."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
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.
The Turkish navy frigate TCG Gediz has launched an operation against Somali pirates, who were feared to be preparing to seize another ship off the coast of Somalia, capturing five of the pirates. In a weekly press conference yesterday, Metin Gürak, chief of the communications department of the General Staff, stated that the Gediz rendered the band of Somali pirates ineffective as a result of the operation. "Five pirates were captured after our frigate was informed about their preparations to seize another ship off the Somali coast. Our frigate was assisted by a helicopter from the TCG Gaziantep," stated Gürak.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon's top lawyer said Friday that the Obama administration has not abandoned the possibility of transferring some prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to a prison in the United States despite strong congressional concerns.
[Geo News] The repatriation process of the Malakand IDPs is still underway as a total of 7582 families returned to their homes only on Saturday. According to Emergency Response Unit, so far a total of 71,851 families have reached their homes in Buner, Swat and Dir. It said 2,66000 families are still waiting to be repatriated. Out of these 36,000 families are in camps while the rest are outside. According ERU, 14,000 families returned using government transport while 52,000 families traveled back on their own in private transport.
[Geo News] Three Pakistani persons traveling in Europe on fake documents were arrested here by the FIA officials on returning home after being deported. The FIA officials said that among the persons deported from Dubai and Britain, Yousuf belongs to Gujranwala and Shaban to Sargodha while Qaisar is resident of Lahore. According to the FIA, all three deported Pakistanis were shifted to Anti-Human Smuggling Cell after legal action was taken and the case was registered against them.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Polls closed on Saturday in presidential and legislative polls in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in voting expected to confirm the grip on power of its leaders, an AFP correspondent said. Polling stations had stayed open for an extra hour because some voters complained they were unable to find their names on electoral lists.
Gaza -- Ma'an -- A 33-year-old Palestinian was burned to death in a tunnel collapse under the border between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday, a medical official told Ma'an. 
(KUNA) -- Iranian missiles will be launched at Israel, should the Persian state come under foreign attack, said Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier Mohammad Ali Jaafari, on Saturday. In a statement to local media, he said, "If we come under any attack by the Zionist entity, our missiles will be launched at all areas of the occupied Palestinian territories. We are capable of responding with accuracy to any possible aggression." 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad finally gave in to an order from the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dismissed his top deputy after remaining defiant for five days.
