(AIP): Police recovered huge quantity of hashish from a vehicle in Paktia province on Monday. Spokesman of the police of eastern provinces, Muhammad Haroon while giving details to Afghan Islamic Press said, Police seized 800 kilograms of hashish from a tractor on Gardez-Kabul highway in Gardez, capital of Paktia province today (Monday). He said police took control of the tractor while the smugglers made their escape good. Hundreds of kilograms of narcotics including heroin, Charas, alcohol and opium were set ablaze in presence of government officials in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif yesterday.
Like, wow, man! Listen to the colors!
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) The leader of joint Islamic courts Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has nominated on Monday an interim committee of the administration in middle Shabelle region in Somalia after hours of talks by Islamists' officials, businessmen, traditional elders and youth over formation of an authority. This came after feeling of widespread of disorder, as Somalinet correspondent says. Sheikh Sharif named eight members of the committee to rule the region in the meeting held in former hall of meeting by the transitional federal government in Jowhar, a town that recently had fallen into hands of Islamic militiamen.
Jowhar town, which is still under night time curfew, was last strong hold of the failed members of anti terror alliance that defeated in the battle of the social appraising in the capital led by Islamic courts' union after 15 years of gun-rule. Sharif said the administration committee who will hold all the region's activities were include.
· The chairman Sheikh Osman Mohamed Mohamud.
· Deputy chairman Sheikh Mohamed Sheikh Mohamud Abdirahman
· Second deputy chairman Sheikh Mohamud Moalim Hassan
· Membership Abdulahi Moalim Mukhtar
· Membership Sheikh Yusuf Tur-hume
· Membership Sheikh Ali Nor Hogsade
· Membership Sheikh Abdirahim Ali Mudey
· Membership Sheikh Mohamud Haji Hassan Adow
Sheikh Sharif, the leader of Islamic courts' union said the new administration is under process and the nominees should hold the responsibility in fairness and equality facing hard tasks towards restoring peace and stability in the region. However, ever since the Islamic courts' militiamen seized the power of Jowhar town 90km (55miles) north of the Somalia capital Mogadishu last week, there have been an outcry from the residents over feeling little insecurity by militiamen with Islamic courts. Despite seen very oppressing rule, the Jowhar people had rested in peace and security for three years and half. Confirmed reports say.
"Although the former ruler of this town Mohamed Dhere was repressing the people too hard and double taxation but we used to have reliable security in the town, every thing was straight, there was no fear at all, I am worry about this transition stage in Jowhar by islamists," one of residents who asked to be identified told Somalinet.
"We are welcoming the new change to the town and the capture of Jowhar by Islamic courts but the Islamists are needed to try harder to restore the stability known in Jowhar town," he said. Then, ICU launched unusual step towards removing all militiamen and their weapons from Jowhar town in an attempt to secure peace and stability after it emerged reports on militiamen with Islamic courts' union looted some of the property of former ruler.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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...In short Tony Blair would have you believe that the heightened security threat is nothing to do with the governments occupation of Iraq, the murder of thousands in Afghanistan and the support for the pirate state of Israel, but rather the evil ideology of Muslims who dare to fight back and demand their land back. Even torture and humiliation of innocent Muslims is tolerated under the noses of the British, as the government make excuses for the US and talk about dealing with a new enemy who does not respect the same values. Eye-witness reports of British complicity and even involvement in atrocities only make Tony Blair more firm in his resolve to ensure that so-called extremist Islam and their terrorism i.e. Jihad must be eradicated at all costs. We hear you: Shariah trumps Democracy. And polls say that most UK Muslims believe that.
With this mentality and hatred towards Islam and Muslims coming from the top is it any wonder that others in the British government, authorities and police reflect such callousness and why innocent Muslims are being shot without any remorse or regret but rather with full justification. Like you love Christians, Jews, Hindus and seculars.
Britain is today sliding rapidly into an apartheid state where practising Muslims are treated as second class citizens, are guilty until proven innocent and are considered to be a legitimate target. The shoot first and ask questions later policy of Blair and his dictators will not be tolerated by Muslims as indeed it should not be tolerated by anyone in Britain or elsewhere. Muslims have a right to have their lives, wealth and honour protected and secure. Generations of Muslims have lived in Britain peacefully and Islam is the fastest growing ideology in the West, however Tony Blair sits on a tinderbox and should know that his anti-Islam and anti-Muslim policies have a danger of blowing up in his face.
Hmmm...give Muslims a veto over your foreign and domestic policy, or else...
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/06/14/terror_main_wideweb__470x338,0.jpg "And they laughed at our Moh-beards."
Mass casualties due to civil war and Taliban rule are preferable?
Posted by: john ||
06/20/2006 17:51 Comments ||
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#7
Like the Dear John letters that we used to pass around in college, these pieces always seem to follow a lockstep format.
* We Muslims are all peace loving.
* Someone else provoked us into violence.
* A list of anti-Muslims atrocities justifying the violence.
* A veiled threat to unleash more violence.
#9
I'm an ugly, skinny, goofy guy with a big mouth. I didn't do too much dating at the monastery on the Hudson. But it is a tradition in that institution to pass around Dear John letters so that all may write rude remarks on them (it's very cathartic). So I did see a lot of them. I swear that every single one of them went the same way:
* Vague pleasantries and recap of recent events.
* (Without warning) Wild accusations of abandonment and witholding of affection
* Revelation of infidelity ("I am now dating Bluto.")
* Wishes to continue to be friends.
Is there a book on these things that college age women pass around?
#10
It just goes to show that I have no judgement -- I like your comments, 11A5S, at least the ones I understand. I'm afraid I don't know about any book for college girls, either; I married the boy I met at my freshman orientation, and haven't got round to breaking up with him yet (24 years yesterday!). Sorry I can't be more helpful. ;-)
Missiles to Syria and Iran, warplanes to Venezuela and Myanmar, helicopters to Sudan Russia goes its own way when it comes to selling arms, seemingly immune to ethical debates that affect the industry elsewhere. While European Union members argue over whether to lift a weapons ban against China, almost half of Russias $6 billion arms sales last year went to Beijing.
As the US struggles to persuade Congress to approve a US-India nuclear deal that some lawmakers fear could spark an arms race, Moscow is completing two atomic plants for New Delhi. Russias arms industry is one of the few national manufacturers that can compete with Western firms on equal terms, and it is both, a source of prestige and key to Moscows drive to gain new markets for its exports. But this pragmatism has drawn international criticism, and some experts say the apparent health of Russias arms exports actually conceals an industry in decline, still making money from the leftovers of the Soviet military past.
Russia earns $5 billion a year from the weapons trade a figure dwarfed by its other exports. Its main clients are India and China, but it deals with Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Palestine buyers Western countries shy from dealing with.
#1
The problem with this analysis is that certain EU members purchase high tech arms and such from the U.S. Therefore, lifting the EU weapons ban against China would be giving China high tech US weaponry.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/20/2006 14:58 Comments ||
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The US ambassador to the United Nations has said that his country is consulting with fellow members of the UN Security Council on possible steps if North Korea tests a missile. "Right now we are in consultation with various members of the council on what steps might be taken because it obviously would be very serious," John Bolton told reporters at UN headquarters on Monday. "But in any event we are just now in the preliminary consultations phase," he said.
What phase will they be in if they launch tomorrow afternoon? And what phase will they be in if they obliterate Boise? Why am I getting the impression that talk on the subject is considered rather low in price?
Bolton's comments came after the United States, Japan and other countries warned North Korea against a missile launch as some officials said Pyongyang appeared to have finished fuelling for a test flight of a missile that could possibly reach as far as Alaska. South Korean broadcaster YTN cited officials in Seoul as saying a launch of the North's Taepodong-2 missile was imminent.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"What do you want to do?"
"I dunno, what do you want to do?"
Posted by: grb ||
06/20/2006 0:23 Comments ||
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Mark Mulloch Brown should be happy to mount the missile as a UN "Contraceptive" against launch. Sorry Soros, your boy's become obvious expendable. Think of the 100% rent subsidy you'll save, tho'
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2006 0:28 Comments ||
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What nations have an anti-missle defense system? The US and, to a certain extent, our allies (Israel, Japan, etc.) My guess is that the other countries in range will suddenly decide that the NorKs are a problem once Kim realizes that he can't threaten the US.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
06/20/2006 0:47 Comments ||
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RWV - IIUC I don't think the Euro-umbrella is fully deployed, just one that protects the West US based in the Aleutians and our aboard-ship systems in front of us and Japan
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2006 0:51 Comments ||
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USA is achieving success after success in ground-based, air-based, naval-based and space/orbital-based BMD systems - the only missing is MOON-BASED, etal. or are we BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ...??? In any case, the WOT is a war for control of the world-future world order - Pragmatically, America's dedicated enemies have to control-suborn or destroy America before Global BMD unilater becomes too strong/capable to ever challenge let alone overwhelm.
#8
If the U.S. BMD takes this thing down, the system will likely bdouble or triple in value to our allies immediately. Could be a way to make a few bucks. Also makes Pooty that more of a small time arms dealer than he already is. (Compare to the U.S.)
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/20/2006 12:13 Comments ||
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While it likely will not prevent the NoComs from launch, at least there may be consensus that they have no dong.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/20/2006 15:00 Comments ||
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North Korea yesterday threatened to mercilessly wipe out US forces in case of war during a national meeting to mark leader Kim Jong-Ils 42 years work at the ruling party. The threat, in a ruling party report carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), came as North Korea was reportedly preparing to test-fire a long-range missile despite strong protests from the United States and its allies.
Choe Thae Bok, a ranking Workers Party official, said Washington was hell-bent on provocations of war of aggression in the report to mark the 42nd anniversary of Kims start at the party, KCNA said. If the enemies ignite a war eventually, the Korean army and people will mercilessly wipe out the aggressors and give vent to the deep-rooted grudge of the nation, Choe was quoted as telling the meeting.
North Koreans are customarily advised to watch the televised event, according to Seoul officials. Japanese and South Korean media said North Korea was planning a missile test for this week. North Korean technicians have already reportedly assembled a multi-stage Taepodong-2, with a range of 3,500 km to 6,000 km.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
time to pucker NK assholes with a successful ABM test?
"OK, we're ronery...but.....um...we can wait for our turn"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2006 0:18 Comments ||
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If only Mad Albright was available. Meantime, Drudge has flashed Bill Gertz' article about the intercept (should be available later at Wash Times)
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/20/2006 0:25 Comments ||
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#3
You'd think geographically small countries with no allies would be more careful with rhetoric like that.
Posted by: grb ||
06/20/2006 0:27 Comments ||
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#4
Choe Thae Bok, a ranking Workers Party official
Must be tired, I had to do a triple take cause I thought it said "ranting Workers' Party official"
Istanbul, 20 June (AKI) - In a bid to stop violence including so-called 'honour' crimes against women, the Turkish government's religious affairs department has commissioned a team of Islamic scholars to compile what they consider are the Prophet Mohammed's true teachings on women and gender equality. The five-volume work is due to be published in 2007.
The government hopes less well educated Turks will refer to its book - entitled Mohammed's Messages to the Contemporary World - instead of fallacious statements attributed to Mohammed published by extremist religious publishers telling Muslims to scorn and humiliate women, said religious affairs department president, Ali Bardakoglu.
This'll spin up a few Saudi turbans
Examples of the statements contained in such tracts and falsely attributed to Mohammed include: "Women with tattoos are cursed," and "If a society is ruled by a female then it is impossible for that society to develop."
The new book will especially aim to target men in the mainly Kurdish populated southeastern part of Turkey where most 'honour' crimes are committed, and hopefully help decrease violence against women, Bardakoglu said. "Mohammed did not make any statement deprecating women or inciting men to use force against women," Bardakoglu stressed. He heads the committee of scholars preparing the new tome.
Fatwa on his head in 5..4..3.
Turkey's religious affairs department was created after the modern Turkish state was founded in 1923. It is mainly responsible for administrating the country's imams and does not operate as a mullah council or religious board as in other Muslim countries.
What a novel idea
Turkey's new penal code, adopted last year, aims to enhance women's rights in line with EU requirements for Turkey's membership of the bloc. It no longer lists the "protection of the honour of a family" as an extenuating circumstance in a crime, and includes harsher penalties for those who commit honour killings.
Honour killings - the murder by relatives of women accused of bringing shame to their families - claimed the lives of 43 women in 2004, according to official figures. They have provoked growing public outrage since a spate of recent television and radio documentaries focused on the issue.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/20/2006 09:15 ||
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#4
IIUC they intend to reach a target audience of under educated Turks with a five-volume work of Mohammed's true teachings on equality. That doesn't seem to be the best way to reach the lesser educated populace. Maybe they could entice a couple of unemployed Danish cartoonists to develop a comic book for them.
#9
Guys, you gotta define "develop". They don't mean it the way we do.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/20/2006 12:42 Comments ||
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Reading the article, I *think* those are example statements of the type this seven-volume pamphet (I don't know what else to call it) is trying to debunk.
The Spanish Ministry for the Interior is to allow Muslim women to wear their veil in photographs used for the new electronic DNI identity documents. The new electronic DNI cards started to be issued in a pilot scheme in Burgos last March, and will be implemented nationwide from 2008.
The Ministry has informed the Islamic community here that instructions are to be circulated to police stations explaining that Muslim women can pose with the veil in place in those cases where determined practices, beliefs or religious orders oblige them to hide their hair and ear lobes. The Spanish ministry considers that provided the eyebrows, eyes, nose and lips are visible, the photo can be accepted.
Posted by: ed ||
06/20/2006 8:14 Comments ||
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#7
I dont recall them making exceptions for Catholic nuns in tradtional habit.
This is bullshit.
OK - lets get them to give a photo ID of a KKK member in his hood, with only the "the eyebrows, eyes, nose and lips are visible". We can get Bobby Byrd to help him iwth his claim of "religious preferenece".
#10
In than case they are not allowed to wear a veil but a headscarf.
Yeah, guys. Read past the headline. You have to see their actual faces; it's only the deadly hair rays (do photographs capture the hair rays, I wonder?) and the ear lobes that can be covered.
I had no idea ear lobes were such a turn on. I wonder if I could start a for-pay site featuring my ear lobes. What do you guys think? They're virgins, you know. Never been pierced.
#12
Alright, I know it's only a theoretical question, but what happens when a veiled woman under age asks for a drink and shows her mom's driver's license?
#17
In than case they are not allowed to wear a veil but a headscarf.
Ding, ding, ding ... we have a winner. Looks like only pihkalbadger read the fine print. The Spaniards are talking head scarves and not veils. Any country that allows women to wear veils in their passport or driver's license photos should be blacklisted for international air travel.
#18
Angie Schultz: I had no idea ear lobes were such a turn on. I wonder if I could start a for-pay site featuring my ear lobes. What do you guys think? They're virgins, you know. Never been pierced.
heh Angie I'm turned on and I've got cash! lets see em. LOL!
The Pentagon has notified about 21,000 Army soldiers and Marines that they are scheduled to be sent to Iraq late this year as part of the latest deployment rotation. Four major combat brigades from Texas, Alaska and Colorado are scheduled to replace troops returning home from the war, the Pentagon said. Thus, the announcement does not signal an increase in troop strength in Iraq.
Combined with last November's announcement of 92,000 American service members scheduled to go to Iraq in the 2006-2008 rotation, this would bring the total U.S. troop level to about 113,000 for that period. That is less than the approximately 138,000 average troop level for the past year, but more than military officials'goal of less than 100,000 by the end of the year.
There are about 127,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Not all of the units in the first 92,000 have gone to Iraq yet. A Germany-based Army brigade's travel to Iraq was put on hold just last month - triggering talk that a U.S. troop cut might be in the offing. They are now scheduled to go this summer. And a Fort Lewis, Washington, brigade began shipping equipment to Iraq this month and the soldiers are expect to follow soon.
#1
Being in the batter's box doesn't mean you get to swing at the ball. If even a goodly percentage of these guys get shipped, it won't be to fight in Iraq.
A federal jury on Monday night found a Palestinian-born University of Arkansas graduate innocent of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
But the jury convicted Arwah Jaber, a naturalized US citizen born in the West Bank, of five lesser charges: obtaining his naturalization unlawfully, making false statements on passport and immigration applications, and two counts of making false statements on credit card applications.
"I am not a terrorist. (The jury) knew it," Jaber said. He called the jury's decision on that charge "a victory for the American people."
After his conviction, the US government filed to revoke Jaber's citizenship. A hearing is set for Tuesday morning on the motion.
Jaber came to the attention of authorities after he talked openly about joining the Islamic Jihad movement, a group the United States government regards as a terrorist organization. He was arrested last year when he was trying to board a flight at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. He maintains he was going to the Middle East to visit relatives, but the government says he wanted to join the holy war.
On the stand last week, Jaber said he made the statements because he was upset at delays in obtaining his degree. He went on to receive a doctorate in chemistry from the university.
He admitted using a false Social Security number, but said he needed it to obtain credit cards in his Palestinian name, Orwah Houshia.
Jaber also testified that he did not include the name Orwah Houshia on immigration papers because he had used Arwah Jaber previously for immigration documents.
Islamabad: Pakistan has expressed hope that the appointment of an Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) special envoy will help in the early resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
Pakistan welcomed the appointment of ambassador Ezzat Kamil Mufti as the OIC secretary general's special representative on Jammu and Kashmir and hoped the move would facilitate the implementation of OIC's decisions on Kashmir.
At the 33rd foreign minister's session of OIC in Baku, Azerbaijan, it harped on the need for early resolution of the Kashmir issue without which India-Pakistan relations could "deteriorate suddenly".
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri pointed out that history was witness to the fact that his country's relations with India were "prone to sudden deterioration".
OIC has over the years witnessed numerous resolutions moved by Pakistan or some of its sympathisers, condemning India's "presence" in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging human rights violations and demanding the right to self-determination for Kashmiri people.
Many of these resolutions have been moved and passed during late night sessions when the attendance is low and there is little debate of the nuances in the resolution.
However, in view of the ongoing composite dialogue, Kasuri's address was more of a report card on the progress made at the talks with India.
He complained that despite having achieved "some progress" under the composite dialogue framework and confidence building measures, outstanding issues, including Kashmir, had not been resolved, NNI news agency said.
According to The Nation newspaper, Kasuri expressed gratitude to Islamic countries that stood by Pakistan in supporting Kashmiris' right to self-determination.
He said the OIC had also welcomed Pakistan's efforts to resolve the dispute through dialogue with India in a just and equitable manner. He added that Pakistan's case rested on international legitimacy and UN Security Council resolutions.
Kasuri argued that President Pervez Musharraf had shown "immense flexibility and courage" in the composite dialogue with India and Pakistan wanted a negotiated settlement of the Kashmir dispute acceptable to the people of Kashmir and also to Pakistan and India.
The minister said Pakistan would host the OIC ministerial conference on the problems of refugees in Muslim states in cooperation with the UNHCR Nov 27-29 in Islamabad.
Posted by: john ||
06/20/2006 17:04 ||
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Weeks after the Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammed receded from newspaper headlines, the Muslim quarter of Hyderabad has been set aflutter with the discovery of a Class IV text-book that bears a sketch of the founder of Islam.
The sketch, ironically illustrating a parable of the Prophet's kindness and tolerance for even his opponents, appears in a book titled Moral Values, which is used by many primary schools in the Old City to teach moral science, a compulsory subject for Class IV students under the state syllabus.
Acknowledging that the tone of the chapter is not injurious to Islam, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) said the episode breaches an important precept of Islam, that the Prophet never be depicted pictorially.
The party demanded that the government immediately withdraw the book from all schools and arrest the writer of the lesson and the publisher of the book. The lesson narrates a parable in which Prophet Mohammed is shown as someone who showered kindness even on His rivals.
MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi sees in this episode a conspiracy to hurt Muslims. "An international agency has been working to provoke and disturb Muslims. After the caricature of the Prophet in Danish newspapers rocked the entire world, how come the writer and publisher of this book did not realise the implications?
We want the publisher and the author arrested immediately and an apology tendered to Muslims," Owaisi demanded. After the issue became public, Arkbird Publications withdrew the books, not just in Hyderabad, but also from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where they had been desptached.
Its director for AP, K B Prasad said, "Our intention was not to hurt but to tell a good story to children. All the remaining books will be destroyed.''
Well, hellfire boy, what doesn't, eh? I be in the Who Fuckin' Cares Column myself. Nail they asses to the nearest barn-door. Do it hard and painful like. Make it smart a bunch, then see if'n they be so smart-assey and such. I'm thinkin you can con-trol these boyos with pain. Real, seerious-like pain.
The Khidmat-e-Khalaq Committee Bara (KKCB) has announced to hold a protest rally in front of the Parliament House on Tuesday (today) against the continued curfew in Bara that entered its ninth day on Monday. Jan Wali Afridi, the KKCB president, while announcing the rally at the committees central office at Spin Qabar, requested the committee members and all peace loving Afridis to participate in the rally on Tuesday. A large number of political activists, tribal elders, students and members of the KKCB attended the meeting.
Afridi said that all efforts to resolve the issue through peaceful means had failed to yield positive results. We have had enough of press conferences and rallies in the agency and in Peshawar, he said, adding that their protest in Islamabad would bring the matter to the notice of parliamentarians and the president.
The Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) Act has made all tribesmen slaves to a single person (political agent), he said, adding that they had no other forum to seek justice from after the political agent. He said that the prolonged curfew had hurt the businessmen of the area. Demanding compensation for the business plaza razed to punish Sepah, a tribe of the Lashkar-e-Islami head Haji Mangal Bagh Afridi, he urged the authorities to end the demolition drive in the agency, saying innocent people were paying for crimes they had not committed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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President General Pervez Musharraf has said that life is returning to normal in Dera Bugti and nearby areas as "terrorists" have been eliminated from Balochistan.
"Yep. They're all dead now."
Speaking to Balochistan Governor Awais Ahmed Ghani at Camp Office on Monday, the president said that no one would be allowed to hinder the development of the province. He said that people who had been displaced by the insurgency were returning to their homes and the situation was improving. He also praised the security forces for ensuring peace and stability in the area.
"Nothing to see here. Move along. These aren't the droids you're looking for..."
He said that the government had allocated extra funds for the development of the backward areas of Balochistan in the 2006-07 fiscal year. "The projects initiated for the social development and progress of the people will be completed on a priority, and anyone who tries to impede projects in Balochistan will be dealt with severely," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"The projects initiated for the social development and progress of the people will be completed on a priority, and anyone who tries to impede projects in Balochistan will be dealt with severely," he said.
first off thats a big wopper Prev, 'cause there ain't no funds alocated ceptin the funds for the oil/gas line repairs.
And second you just contradicted yourself again Pervy [for the gigteenth time] when youse just said that life had returned to normal in Dera Bugti and nearby areas as "terrorists" have been eliminated from Balochistan.
GENEVA - Muslim countries on Tuesday launched a challenge to moves to admit both Israel and the Palestinians to the international Red Thingy Cross movement, raising fears that Mideast politics could hamper efforts to end a 56-year impasse.
Pakistan and Tunisia said that a conference here should formally reaffirm that international humanitarian rules apply in all Arab Territories occupied since 1967, namely the Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan and the Syrian Lebanese Shebaa Farms. They proposed the new wording for a resolution up before the 192 signatory nations of the Geneva Conventions, who were due to vote whether to change the statutes of the international Red Thingy Cross and Moon-Shaped Thingy Crescent movement to add a new Silly Thingy red crystal emblem.
Changing the statutes would cement a deal that emerged from a conference last December, which capped painstaking negotiations to end a decades-old row and allow Israels Magen David Adom (MDA, Red Star of David) into the international network.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2006 21:32 ||
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The US has launched a diplomatic campaign to block Venezuela's bid to become a member of the United Nations security council out of concern that Hugo Chávez's government would use its seat to try to block punitive measures against Iran. Washington has publicly backed Guatemala's rival effort to take the two-year rotating council next year, but it has reportedly gone further in recent weeks - threatening retaliatory action against Latin American countries who support the Venezuelan bid.
One of the advantages of being a Great Satan is that every once in a while you can act like the Great Satan.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Chile is one of the countries under pressure. Washington has agreed to sell the country F-16 warplanes, but has since warned that Chilean pilots would not be trained to fly them if the government backed Venezuela's bid. The Chilean embassy in Washington had no comment on the report yesterday, but a state department spokeswoman, Amanda Rogers-Harper, said the story was false. However, she added that, while it was up to each country to decide whom to vote for, "it should not come as a surprise that we believe Venezuela would not contribute to the functioning of the UN security council, as evidenced by its behaviour in other international fora".
Ms Rogers-Harper said that Guatemala's contributions to the UN, for example in sending peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of Congo, showed it was a "viable candidate".
So the pressure worked, though it should never have become public.
The diplomatic offensive, in which Condoleezza Rice is reported to be playing a leading role, is intended to deprive Venezuela of a vote and a platform in the security council at a time when the Bush administration anticipates a confrontation with Iran over its nuclear programme.
If Latin American countries nominate Venezuela to take the region's seat on the 15-member council, currently held by Argentina, Mr Chávez would not get a UN veto, but his opposition to UN sanctions on Iran could prove a rallying point for other small countries. Venezuela would also have a one-month turn as the council chairman, when it would have an important role in setting its agenda.
Larry Birns, a Latin American expert at the liberal thinktank the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, predicted the US diplomatic offensive would fail. "The Latin American caucus at the UN has always been sensitive to US intervention in their choice of the region's representative," he said. "The US previously attempted to isolate Chávez in the OAS [Organisation of American States] and failed. To my mind, there is no question that it will backfire."
Thanks Larry for the liberal doom and gloom perspective. Were you smiling when you said this?
Mr Birns said that Venezuela had its own leverage over its neighbours in the form of cheap oil. "Chávez's petro-diplomacy has made him relatively immune from US pressure."
Until he runs out of oil and the Russians decline to sell him more.
In Brazil, the presidential assistant for international issues, Marco Aurelio Garcia, said last week that it would be natural for his country, which shares a long border with Venezuela, to back Mr Chávez.
The Venezuelan leader has shown his determination to press on with his bid, declaring on his weekly television show: "Venezuela is a candidate and it will not withdraw." The country's ambassador to the UN ridiculed Guatemala's rival bid as a thinly veiled proxy for US interests. Francisco Javier Arias Cárdenas told the Los Angeles Times Guatemala's candidacy "is not really its own. It does not defend or promote its aspirations and concerns, but it is rather endorsing foreign interests." Any vote for Guatemala "is really going to the United States," he said.
There's the problem, and that's why this should never have become public. Chavez should have been presented with a "gee, sorry, better luck next time" moment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2006 00:49 ||
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Why is he fiddling around trying to get on the UNSC when he should be single-handedly working out plans to defend his country against getting invaded by the U.S.? Judging by the clown suit costume he is wearing, he is obviously the top military mind in the country and the only one qualified to do it. Or anything else for that matter.
Posted by: grb ||
06/20/2006 2:46 Comments ||
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#2
Tio Sam is outr to get you Hugo you better watch out. LOL
BAGHDAD - Iraqs prime minister said on Monday his forces would take over security in the southern province of Muthanna in July, where the British oversee a multinational contingent including Japanese troops. Muthanna would be the first of Iraqs 15 provinces outside of the relatively peaceful Kurdish north to come under full Iraqi control.
Muthanna is the first Iraqi province that will have the honour of being transferred from multinational forces to Iraqi forces, Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki told a news conference. The security file will be handed over completely next month and we will determine the exact date later on.
Maliki made his comments hours after Britains Defence Minister Des Browne arrived in Baghdad for a two-day visit.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2006 00:22 ||
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Jordan strongly denied yesterday reported comments by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suggesting that Cairo was mediating a "crisis" between Amman and Damascus. "There is no Egyptian mediation bid between Jordan and Syria," government spokesman Nasser Jawdeh told a weekly news conference. "There is no crisis between Jordan and Syria. "Relations between our two countries are on track and proof of this is that the higher Jordanian-Syrian committee is meeting at the end of the month in Damascus," Jawdeh added.
The Cairo weekly Akhbar Al-Youm last week quoted the Egyptian president Mubarak as saying he was working on "sorting out differences" between Syria and Jordan. Mubarak met Jordan's King Abdullah II at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh Sunday and is due to see Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad today.
In April, Jordan announced the arrest of 20 alleged members of Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas suspected of plotted attacks in the kingdom and the seizure of weapons. Some of the suspects were said to have come from Syria, where they took orders from an alleged Hamas leader based in the neighbouring country. In May, the cell's alleged ringleader Ayman Naji Daraghmeh, 34, was paraded on state television, speaking of his links to Hamas and his "frequent trips to Syria". Jordan did not explicitly accuse Syria of any link to the plot, while Hamas denied any involvement.
European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero- Waldner arrived for a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank and is scheduled to discuss a long-awaited, new EU aid mechanism in separate meetings in Jerusalem and Ramallah with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The thee-part mechanism includes direct funding of the Palestinian health sector, an uninterrupted supply of essential utilities such as fuel, and, thirdly, a social safety net or fund from which payments will be made directly to the bank accounts of needy Palestinians. The latter include more than 160,000 do-nothing civil servants who have not received their salaries since March.
The first two parts of the mechanism will be launched immediately, said a statement issued in Brussels, while the aim is to have part three of the mechanism functioning as soon as possible.
Just as soon as they find a bank that will cooperate.
The aid will be funnelled through the office of Abbas, who is to sign and authorize all necessary documents.
Ferrero-Waldners office said she would not meet with any member of the Hamas-led government during her trip to the Palestinian areas. Europeans are determined to play our part in preventing a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories. But there can be no business as usual with a government that has not yet accepted the fundamental principles of peace, the commissioner said prior to her departure.
Not today, anyway.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2006 00:27 ||
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#1
The EU is paying the Paleos danegeld to stay in Palestine and not emigrate to Europe.
#4
Let them, just once, feel the consequences of their obscenely bad judgment. If their brother Arabs really want to help them, let them emigrate to Arab lands and work for a living.
#5
Lots do, RWV. If I recall correctly, about half of all Palestinians are in the diaspora. I do not know what percent of Christian Palestinians are counted in those numbers.
#7
Europe's actions with respect to the Palestinians is like watching someone on a liferaft drink seawater. After a while you begin to question whether they really want to stay alive at all.
JERUSALEM - The European Union will not recognize any border between Israel and the Palestinian areas that is drawn unilaterally by Israel, European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero- Waldner said Monday.
'External Relations Commissioner' -- is that like a 'Foreign Minister'? What does Javier do?
Ferrero-Waldner, who arrived for a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank, made the remark at a meeting with a left-wing legislator in Jerusalem.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2006 00:24 ||
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#1
So what? What do the EUnuchs propose to do, send their Rapid Reaction Force to redraw the border to their liking? The IDF would remind them what happens when the armed forces of countries that believe in "soft power" run up against a real military.
#2
why does Israel accept a biased POS in their borders. Make him live in the exceeding luxury and splendor of a Gaza or Jenin hotel. You love the Paleos? Get close and hug
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2006 0:47 Comments ||
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#3
They key to this bit of irrelevancy is that the EU thinks anyone actually cares what preening position they take on anything.
Above all others, why should Israel give a shit? The EU tools are busily scheming and finagling ways to fund Hamas, so they're already clearly allies of the enemy.
Sheesh. This is a laugh and beneath irrelevant. The EU is constantly vying with the UN for the title of Most Pathetic Lot Of Pompous Assholes On The Planet.
#5
Let's make it simple, Israel is soverign - as it was promised 4000 years ago before the paleowhateverinian idonotgivearatsasscreepycrawlythingiy UNprotectedandfundedzelot andarrogantpunks
were ever dillisoned by the death cult islam thought .
Deal or DIE.
Israel is in charge of land around here and if not, Someone else will step in and you will NOT like that.
#7
Confiscate EU aid and apply it to border wall building.
Posted by: ed ||
06/20/2006 7:41 Comments ||
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#8
EU recognizing the new border would be hitting a home run for Olmert. given that even the US hemmed and hawed about recognizing the new border, it was hardly to be expected the EU would. From what ive heard, the EU wont make a big stink about it, and thats probably as much as Olmert expected.
Especially if that fence border results in an almost total stop to Jews being murdered by the Palestinians. The overtness near-transparancey of Europe's anti-Semitism is simply revolting.
The government on Monday said recent remarks by a Human Rights Watch (HRW) executive director on the detention of four Islamist MPs on charges of incitement were insulting. Such remarks were insulting to a lot of Jordanians, Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh told reporters yesterday at a weekly press briefing. The Jordanian government needs no apology from HRW, but the families of the Amman bombings victims need apology letters from HRW Executive Director for Middle East and North Africa Sarah Leah Whitson.
Islamic Action Front (IAF) MPs Ali Abul Sukkar (Zarqa, Second District), Mohammad Abu Fares (Amman, Fifth District), Ibrahim Mashoukhi (Zarqa, First District) and Jaafar Hourani (Zarqa, Fourth District) were charged with fuelling national discord and inciting sectarianism after condoling the family of killed Al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Mussab Zarqawi and praising him as a martyr and a holy warrior.
In her statement on Saturday, Whitson said: Expressing condolences to the family of a dead man, however murderous he might be, is not a crime. And it shouldnt be grounds for prosecution. Nor should a dubious comment about an alleged terrorist leader, even by a member of Parliament, be considered incitement to violence. Going after these people is an unacceptable violation of their basic rights to free speech. Judeh said he was surprised HRW considered the MPs comments as part of their legitimate freedom of speech.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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(Petra) King Abdullah said he did not think there should be any tolerance to those who incite and support terrorism in any form. And I think this is not just a snapshot for Jordan, I think this is a snapshot for the international community, the King told German magazine Der Spiegel last week in an interview, which was published yesterday.
It seems Ye Kynge has a better handle on it than Olivia Ward does.
The King said he believed the overwhelming majority of the Islamic movement in Jordan is moderate, peace-loving people.
Naturally. He has to be polite...
"I think the debate in our society now is that people have to agree on zero-tolerance to terrorism. We have to identify to everybody what terrorism is," he said.
Even though some people resolutely refuse to see it...
Commenting on condolences paid by four Islamic Action Front MPs to Abu Mussab Zarqawi's family, the King said: There are some elements in the Jordanian society who are misguided individuals.
That's a polite way of observing that they're on the other side...
They have to redefine their relationship with us. They have been working in the grey area for the past decades, the King said, referring to the Muslim Brotherhood. I think society throughout the world now has to decide what is good and what is evil.
But Olivia sez there is no good or evil, only Zool... Uhhh... Diversity. She meant diversity.
"I believe that the majority of the Brotherhood wants a good future for this country, and a good future for their children. I think that we can all work as a team. Describing Zarqawi as a mass murderer, who killed innocent people in Jordan, Iraq and elsewhere, the King said: "I cannot fathom how some people can make this man a hero."
Just depends on which side you're on.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Black July or Black August - I'm taking odds...
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2006 0:19 Comments ||
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#2
I'm selling short here.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/20/2006 0:29 Comments ||
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#3
His great-grandfather was murdered by them in 1953 for the sin of talking with Israel.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
06/20/2006 0:52 Comments ||
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#4
And his father gave Arafat and Fatah the Black September in the 1970s : thousands of Fatah/PLO died at the hands of the Jordanian Army.
#5
And his father gave Arafat and Fatah the Black September in the 1970s : thousands of Fatah/PLO died at the hands of the Jordanian Army.
You forget to mention that his patience had been worn thin after the Palestiains had behaved like in conquered country and defintely exhauted it when they tried to kill him. Then he released the Beduins on them. BTW it wqs the Isrealis who saved Hussein when they stopped the Syrians from intervening in behald of the Palestinans (no shoots fired, only a flighht of Phantoms overflying the Syrian columns in Joradania).
Palestinian government workers lined up at post offices in Gaza on Monday to receive cash that members of the Hamas-led administration hand-carried into the territory to sidestep a Western aid boycott. "This is only an injection to put us to sleep and then wake up in pain again," said a government employee who gave his name only as Abu Abdallah. He was one of 90,000 workers on the Palestinian Authority payroll allocated $300 as partial payment after more than three months without wages.
Economic hardship has deepened in the occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip since Western donor nations froze aid to the Palestinian government after Hamas, an Islamic group dedicated to Israel's destruction, came to power in March.
Fearing a humanitarian crisis, the European Union is trying to set up a mechanism to distribute aid directly to some Palestinians, bypassing the Hamas-led Authority. At the same time, Palestinian faction heads were meeting in Gaza City to work out differences over a manifesto envisaging a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rival faction leaders have said an agreement seemed near, though Hamas spokesmen have insisted they would not recognise the Jewish state.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh, the humanity of it
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/20/2006 0:30 Comments ||
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#2
"you'll receive no compensation in this earthly realm, but immediately before your death, you'll receive TOTAL enlightenment....which is nice"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/20/2006 0:37 Comments ||
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#3
This ought to be interesting.
Posted by: grb ||
06/20/2006 1:53 Comments ||
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#4
So, are they being paid in $ or NIS? Or is there some paleo legal tender (funny money)?
Palestinian factions must fight a slide into civil war which is being exploited by Israel, Islamic diplomats said at a pan-Muslim conference in Azerbaijan on Monday. "Palestinian forces should not allow a civil war to take place," the foreign minister of Malaysia, Syed Hamid Albar, said at the opening of an Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Baku.
Yemen's foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Kurbi, said the victory of the Palestinian Hamas faction at parliamentary elections in January was being exploited by Israel. Like Israel, the United States and the European Union consider Hamas to be a terrorist organisation. "The victory of Hamas is a trump card in the hands of Israel, which does not want dialogue with the Palestinian government," he said.
He also called on international donors to resume the aid to the Palestinians that was cut by Western governments after the Hamas win. "Today there are threats to blockade the Palestinian people. We demand donor countries aid Palestine," Kurbi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Last paragraph sums it up:
"We demand that you give us free aid money. And a pony! Or else...."
#2
OK, all you Arab nations out there stop kidding around and give us 0.001% of your wealth. Hello? Is anybody listening?
Posted by: grb ||
06/20/2006 2:12 Comments ||
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#3
Demand - I heard that word before, it seems that there is no any other way to express a request in Arabic. No "we urge", "we'd like very much", nor anything close to "pretty please".
#4
So true. Tis Arabs we be speaking of. Who be speakin' to us, in their unqiue way. Arabic is a fun language, actually, it's so flowery and colorful and picturesque, yet dead, lost, lonely, pitiless, and worthless. Sad, that. Schway, schway, bubba, they be slow on the uptake.
#5
Yemen's foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Kurbi, said the Global Warming is victory of the Palestinian Hamas faction at parliamentary elections in January was being exploited by Israel.
#6
Now they DEMAND aid money??!!?
What the f*ck is wrong with these idiots?
I hope and pray not another cent of American taxpayers money that was supplied by our sweat and labor ever goes to these cockroaches. There are people in the world who want and deserve our help to help themselves, to pull themselves out of the shit and make a better life, but these skidmarks arent them.
COLOMBO - Sri Lankas Tamil Tigers said on Monday they would resort to any strategy -- including suicide bombers -- if all-out civil war resumes, and that the effects would be felt across the island.
If the Sri Lankan government, instead of bringing an end to the war, force another brutal war on the Tamils ... then the effects of that war will be felt throughout the island, rebel political wing leader S.P Thamilselvan told Reuters in an email interview. If the Sri Lankan government unleashes another brutal ethnic war on Tamils, then the Tamils will not hesitate to use any strategy to defend themselves, he added, when asked if the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would resort to feared Black Tiger suicide bombers.
If the occupying military will vacate (Tamil areas) and our people are able to live in an environment of normalcy and freedom like other people, then neither we nor our people have any need to engage in military clashes, Thamilselvan said.
Only if the (majority) Sinhala side understands this and takes steps in accordance with this understanding, there will be peace in this island, he added. As long as their rights are denied to the Tamils in their homeland, there will be no peace in the island of Ceylon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/20/2006 00:08 ||
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EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana has told Iran that world powers expect an answer by June 29 to their offer of nuclear talks in return for Tehran's suspending uranium enrichment, diplomats said on Monday. "June 29 (when G8 foreign ministers are to meet in Moscow) is more or less a deadline," a senior European diplomat said.
The G8 foreign ministers will be preparing a G8 summit in St Petersburg, Russia, to be held from July 15-17. The diplomat said that Solana had given the Iranians this unofficial deadline when he presented them with a package of possible trade, security and technology benefits, on behalf of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States on June 6 in Tehran. "Solana said that. That this was the deadline," for answering the world powers proposal, the diplomat said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Sorry, I'm polishing my turban that day.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/20/2006 0:31 Comments ||
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Everybody's been so hard on us that we feel we have no choice but to go ahead and developed the bomb. It's your fault. Nyah.
Posted by: grb ||
06/20/2006 1:23 Comments ||
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#4
The Iranians have once again rejected any suspension of uranium enrichment, whilst Dubya isn't going to give Iran unlimited oppor to negotiate for same.
#6
Ima thinking this be tha year, bro. I'm wishin' I wuz gonna be 'round to see it, but I'm outta heah, like real soon. Y'all have Big Fun now, y'heah? Whack 'em once or thrice for me, K? I gotts to go meet tha Man, now.
Terrorist groups get around post-Sept. 11 restrictions on banks and charities by turning to couriers to smuggle cash across borders to finance terrorism plots, a trend that U.S. intelligence has seen increasing in the past year. Intelligence gathered from captured terrorist suspects and other sources indicates "a trend toward bulk-cash smuggling and use of cash couriers," Stuart Levey, undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, told USA TODAY. Reliance on cash makes it harder for terrorist groups to raise money from wealthy individuals or charities accustomed until their activity drew the attention of Treasury enforcement to conveying money through the banking system, Levey said. Cash also makes distribution to front-line terrorist cells plotting attacks more cumbersome. Terrorist groups have had to break up cash into smaller amounts to keep one weak link from crippling a terrorism operation, he said. "It's a lot less efficient," Levey said. "Some cash couriers get caught. Some get greedy."
But cash is difficult for law enforcement to track, Levey said. International efforts to block illegal cash smuggling have been slow in coming, particularly in the Middle East, where there is a tradition of carrying large sums. Compared with conventional military operations, terrorist attacks are relatively inexpensive. Modest sums can finance damaging attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/20/2006 00:00 ||
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#6
I'm sorry, I'm getting a chuckle out of the idea of the next suitcase of 20 mil or so being all Nork "Superbills" and they don't find out (No banks, remember) until they try to use them for something like arms or a shipment of ammo, the Gun Dealers would be highly pissed.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/20/2006 17:08 Comments ||
Top||
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.
(AIP): Police recovered huge quantity of hashish from a vehicle in Paktia province on Monday. Spokesman of the police of eastern provinces, Muhammad Haroon while giving details to Afghan Islamic Press said, Police seized 800 kilograms of hashish from a tractor on Gardez-Kabul highway in Gardez, capital of Paktia province today (Monday). He said police took control of the tractor while the smugglers made their escape good. Hundreds of kilograms of narcotics including heroin, Charas, alcohol and opium were set ablaze in presence of government officials in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif yesterday. 
(SomaliNet) The leader of joint Islamic courts 
...In short Tony Blair would have you believe that the heightened security threat is nothing to do with the governments occupation of Iraq, the murder of thousands in Afghanistan and the support for the pirate state of Israel, but rather the evil ideology of Muslims who dare to fight back and demand their land back. Even torture and humiliation of innocent Muslims is tolerated under the noses of the British, as the government make excuses for the US and talk about dealing with a new enemy who does not respect the same values. Eye-witness reports of British complicity and even involvement in atrocities only make Tony Blair more firm in his resolve to ensure that so-called extremist Islam and their terrorism i.e. Jihad must be eradicated at all costs. 
The US ambassador to the United Nations has said that his country is consulting with fellow members of the UN Security Council on possible steps if North Korea tests a missile. "Right now we are in consultation with various members of the council on what steps might be taken because it obviously would be very serious," John Bolton told reporters at UN headquarters on Monday. "But in any event we are just now in the preliminary consultations phase," he said.
North Korea yesterday threatened to mercilessly wipe out US forces in case of war during a national meeting to mark leader Kim Jong-Ils 42 years work at the ruling party. The threat, in a ruling party report carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), came as North Korea was reportedly preparing to test-fire a long-range missile despite strong protests from the United States and its allies. 
The Khidmat-e-Khalaq Committee Bara (KKCB) has announced to hold a protest rally in front of the Parliament House on Tuesday (today) against the continued curfew in Bara that entered its ninth day on Monday. Jan Wali Afridi, the KKCB president, while announcing the rally at the committees central office at Spin Qabar, requested the committee members and all peace loving Afridis to participate in the rally on Tuesday. A large number of political activists, tribal elders, students and members of the KKCB attended the meeting.
President General Pervez Musharraf has said that life is returning to normal in 
GENEVA - Muslim countries on Tuesday launched a challenge to moves to admit both Israel and the Palestinians to the international Red 
The US has launched a diplomatic campaign to block Venezuela's bid to become a member of the United Nations security council out of concern that Hugo Chávez's government would use its seat to try to block punitive measures against Iran. Washington has publicly backed Guatemala's rival effort to take the two-year rotating council next year, but it has reportedly gone further in recent weeks - threatening retaliatory action against Latin American countries who support the Venezuelan bid.
European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero- Waldner arrived for a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank and is scheduled to discuss a long-awaited, new EU aid mechanism in separate meetings in Jerusalem and Ramallah with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
JERUSALEM - The European Union will not recognize any border between Israel and the Palestinian areas that is drawn unilaterally by Israel, European External Relations Commissioner 
The government on Monday said recent remarks by a Human Rights Watch (HRW) executive director on the detention of four Islamist MPs on charges of incitement were insulting. Such remarks were insulting to a lot of Jordanians, Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh told reporters yesterday at a weekly press briefing. The Jordanian government needs no apology from HRW, but the families of the Amman bombings victims need apology letters from HRW Executive Director for Middle East and North Africa Sarah Leah Whitson.
(Petra) King Abdullah said he did not think there should be any tolerance to those who incite and support terrorism in any form. And I think this is not just a snapshot for Jordan, I think this is a snapshot for the international community, the King told German magazine Der Spiegel last week in an interview, which was published yesterday.
Palestinian government workers lined up at post offices in Gaza on Monday to receive cash that members of the Hamas-led administration hand-carried into the territory to sidestep a Western aid boycott. "This is only an injection to put us to sleep and then wake up in pain again," said a government employee who gave his name only as Abu Abdallah. He was one of 90,000 workers on the Palestinian Authority payroll allocated $300 as partial payment after more than three months without wages.
Palestinian factions must fight a slide into civil war which is being exploited by Israel, Islamic diplomats said at a pan-Muslim conference in Azerbaijan on Monday. "Palestinian forces should not allow a civil war to take place," the foreign minister of Malaysia, Syed Hamid Albar, said at the opening of an Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Baku.
Terrorist groups get around post-Sept. 11 restrictions on banks and charities by turning to couriers to smuggle cash across borders to finance terrorism plots, a trend that U.S. intelligence has seen increasing in the past year. Intelligence gathered from captured terrorist suspects and other sources indicates "a trend toward bulk-cash smuggling and use of cash couriers," Stuart Levey, undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, told USA TODAY. Reliance on cash makes it harder for terrorist groups to raise money from wealthy individuals or charities accustomed until their activity drew the attention of Treasury enforcement to conveying money through the banking system, Levey said. Cash also makes distribution to front-line terrorist cells plotting attacks more cumbersome. Terrorist groups have had to break up cash into smaller amounts to keep one weak link from crippling a terrorism operation, he said. "It's a lot less efficient," Levey said. "Some cash couriers get caught. Some get greedy."
