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Showing posts from March 20, 2011

Libya's Terrorism Option

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Source: rightsidenews On March 19, military forces from the United States, France and Great Britain began to enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 , which called for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya and authorized the countries involved in enforcing the zone to “take all necessary measures” to protect civilians and “civilian-populated areas under threat of attack.” Obviously, such military operations cannot be imposed against the will of a hostile nation without first removing the country’s ability to interfere with the no-fly zone — and removing this ability to resist requires strikes against military command-and-control centers, surface-to-air missile installations and military airfields. This means that the no-fly zone not only was a defensive measure to protect the rebels — it also required an attack upon the government of Libya. Certainly, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has no doubt that the U.S. and European military operations against the Lib

Pakistan, Interpol Foil Plan To Attack Cricket World Cup

Written by: KUNA Pakistan and Interpol have foiled a plan to attack 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, it was revealed Thursday. Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik, addressing a joint press conference with Interpol Secretary General Ronald Nobel, revealed that terror bid during World Cup 2011 has been thwarted. He said that Taliban tried to enter India and that some people were arrested but none of them was Pakistani national. Elaborating further, the Minister said that a man traveled to Maldives from southern Karachi port city of Pakistan, adding that he has been arrested. He said that during interrogation the arrested man had revealed plans to conduct terrorism in Sri Lanka during cricket world cup matches. Pakistan shared intelligence information with Interpol to foil terrorism bid, said the Minister. The Interpol Secretary General appreciated Pakistan’s strong role in global war against terrorism and said Pakistan was among the best countries that were cooperating with In

Pakistan's efforts to eradicate terrorism "heading for a paralysis"

Source: sify A row between Pakistan's anti-terrorism courts and security agencies over the acquittal of militants, coupled with the federal government's inability to push through a critical anti-terror amendment bill, may paralyse Islamabad's effort to root out terrorism from the country. "We are heading for a paralysis," the Dawn quoted a senior official, as saying. "The entire effort to catch these scums is going for six. You catch them and the next thing you know is they are out and back in business," another frustrated official said. At a briefing on the internal security situation last month, the government was informed that out of the 1443 militants arrested, 695 had been bailed out mostly by appellate courts, while 48 others had been acquitted by anti-terrorism courts. "Everyone worth knowing we had arrested is out, fighting us again," a senior police official said, adding that the overall conviction rate in terrorist cas

Fatal blast, and Israel again confronts spectre of bus terrorism

Source: smh Conal Urquhart Ewen Macaskill March 25, 2011 THE Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has vowed to react ''aggressively'' after a suitcase bomb exploded in Jerusalem, killing a 60-year-old woman and injuring at least 30 people, three of them seriously. The bombing, the first in the city for almost seven years, follows several days of rising tension along the Gaza Strip border. It will take Jerusalemites and the residents of other Israeli cities back to the time when the Palestinians' second intifada was at its height between 2001 and 2004, and Israeli buses were regularly targeted by suicide bombers. Simply boarding a bus felt like a game of Russian roulette, and drivers and passengers in cars waited nervously at traffic lights if a bus was sitting in the next lane. There has not been a bombing in Jerusalem since 2004, and there have been only a handful of suicide bombings in

IGAD warns of terrorism risk in Libya bombings

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Rating Gaddafi supporters shout slogans in front of the Libyan Cultural Centre in Tunis, Tunisia, while holding portraits of the Libyan strongman during a demonstration against the coalition’s attacks. Photo/AFP  Posted Wednesday, March 23 2011 at 00:00 Eastern Africa’s risk profile is set to rise following continuing bombing of Libya by the US and its allies, with regional security and development group IGAD saying attacks on Col Muammar Gaddafi’s strongholds could spark the formation of new terrorist groups in Africa. IGAD —the Intergovernmental Authority on Development with a membership of seven countries— is already battling with al-Shabaab, a terrorist group that is fighting to overthrow the Somali government and which staged deadly bombing attacks in Uganda in 2010 that killed 78 people. “Our fear is that what is happening now in Libya may motivate terrorist groups in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq to regroup on African soil,” said IGAD secretary-genera

The Mythic Lure of the No-Fly Zone

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Ira Chernus Professor of Religious Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder Posted: March 22, 2011 07:22 PM  or us opinion poll junkies, it's the logical gaps and inconsistencies that are most revealing. In a CNN poll released on March 21, 70% of Americans favor imposing a no-fly zone in Libya. When CNN last polled, on March 11 - 13, only 56% approved. How to explain that jump in just one week? Here's my guess: A week ago fully 14% of respondents said they had "never heard of" Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi! By now, you can bet nearly all of them have heard of Gaddafi. And what they've heard is hardly complimentary. Add those 14% to last week's 56% who wanted a no-fly zone, and you've got exactly this week's 70%. If the Pew Research Center finds anything like 70% support for the no-fly zone in its next poll, that will be a much bigger change in public opinion than what CNN found. In P

Unraveling the Myths About Libya

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q Follow Me Abigail R. Esman Pen & Sword More than a month after Muammar Qaddafi began his bloody massacre of Libyan civilians and his accompanying barrage of lies, the United States has finally found its voice and the courage to do what it should have done long ago: take action to protect the Libyan people.  In so doing, America has also issued a loud statement to the dictators of the world, and particularly of the Middle East: our commitment to freedom, democracy, and humanitarianism extends to all people, and is the most fundamental premise of America, the greatest force for which it stands. And we mean it. Nonetheless, Barack Obama’s decision to engage in military operations in Libya failed to garner public support, for reasons that are, I suspect, based largely on myths, misunderstandings, and downright untruths.  As many Americans and Europeans continue to question the wisdom and justice of the coa

The European Islamist labyrinth

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Ioannis Michaletos 22 Mar 2011 The Pan-European web of Islamist organizations, linked either with extremist rhetoric or actions, is not only a nexus between organizations, NGO's and individuals based in several countries and adhering to a common set of beliefs, but also an international complex structure that requires constant monitoring and analysis before it is possible to pin point the exact nature of its activities. The following brief will summarize a few aspects of the aforementioned, in order to provide clues for a more detailed research and to emphasize the complexity of the issue. According to sources from the Jihad Watch service, the Islamic movement in Spain for instance, is largely powered by a group of approx 1000-1500 native Spanish converts who know how to work the system better and are more organised than the immigrant Muslims. It is these converts, mainly based in Granada, who push for more mosque-building and state sup

Dictator watch: Yemen … going, going, gone

by Paul Barry President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year reign in Yemen is over, and the Middle East revolution has deposed its third dictator, his opponents claim. Not so, says the US-backed Yemeni strongman, who yesterday warned that Yemen will descend into bloody civil war — just like Libya — if his opponents try to depose him. Either way, the next 24 hours could be crucial. More than half the Yemeni army and at least six of its top generals have defected to the protesters, and forces from opposing sides are now drawn up in the capital Sana’a. Yesterday, at least four people were killed in flare-ups between pro- and anti-Saleh forces in southern Yemen as the standoff continued. A dozen tanks from Al-Saleh’s Republican Guard are guarding the presidential palace in Sana’a, while tanks commanded by Saleh’s half brother, General Ali Mohsen Saleh — who joined the opposition on Sunday — are shielding protesters in Taghyeer Square and keeping an eye on the central bank an

Karzai: Afghan forces to take control in seven areas

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Source: The hindu Afghan President Hamid Karzai. File photo: AP. "The Afghan nation doesn’t want the defence of this country to be in the hands of others anymore. ... This is our responsibility to raise our flag with honour and pride," Mr. Karzai told hundreds of dignitaries and Afghan police and soldiers at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan in the capital. President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday that his security forces will soon take charge of securing seven areas around Afghanistan - the first step toward his goal of having Afghan police and soldiers protecting the entire nation by the end of 2014. In a speech peppered with criticism of the international effort, Mr. Karzai said the provincial capitals of Lashkar Gah in southern Afghanistan, Herat in the west, Mazer—e—Sharif in the north and Mehterlam in the east are slated for transition from NATO—led forces to Afghan soldiers and police beginning in July. In addition, all of Bamiyan and Panjshi

Hamas digging ‘terror tunnels’ along border with Israel

JerusalemPost ^ | March 21, 2011 | Yaakov Katz Posted on Monday, March 21, 2011 11:38:18 AM by Tennessee Nana Gaza groups now have more dangerous missiles that can reach Tel Aviv, and are working on improved communications systems modeled on independent Hezbollah network established in Lebanon. Facing a possible new conflict against Hamas, concern is growing within the IDF regarding increased efforts by Palestinian terrorist groups to dig tunnels under the border that could be used to infiltrate into Israel and perpetrate attacks. According to IDF sources, the number of tunnels has grown in recent years. Hamas is under orders to dig “terror tunnels” along the border. Hamas has split into five different regional brigades – north, Gaza City, central Gaza, Khan Younis and Rafah. The exact number of tunnels is unknown to the IDF. Tunnels have been used in the past by Hamas and other terrorist groups to infiltrate into Israel. The terrorists who abducted Gilad Sch

With Yemen crumbling, US sees fragile counterterrorism ally fading, and few good options ahead

Source: whistler question WASHINGTON - For two years, the Obama administration has had a relationship of convenience with Yemen: The U.S. kept the Yemeni government armed and flush with cash. In return, Yemen's leaders helped fight al-Qaida or, as often, looked the other way while the U.S. did. That relationship is about to get a lot less convenient. Of all the uprisings and protests that have swept the Middle East this year, none is more likely than Yemen to have immediate damaging effects on U.S. counterterrorism efforts. Yemen is home to al-Qaida's most active franchise, and as President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government crumbles, so does Washington's influence there. Saleh's 32-year hold on power has weakened during street protests over the past month. Several Yemeni diplomats abroad have turned against him. On Monday, three senior army commanders joined a protest movement calling for his ouster, and as rival tanks rolled through the streets of the

Gadhafi Must be Captured, Put on Trial, Says OppositionLeader

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Source: VOA Hadi Shalluf, president of the Justice and Democracy Party says Gadhafi is a criminal and the opposition will not negotiate with him  Photo: YONHAP NEWS Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi A Libyan opposition leader says coalition forces enforcing the U.N-authorized no-fly zone over Libya should capture leader Moammar Gadhafi so that he can be put on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. Hadi Shalluf, president of the Justice and Democracy Party of Libya, says the opposition is not ready to negotiate with Gadhafi because, in his words, the Libyan leader is a criminal. “No, no negotiations with Gadhafi. Nobody can negotiate with him because he’s a criminal. He’s under investigation now by [the] ICC [International Criminal Court]. We want them [coalition forces] to capture Gadhafi live with his sons, with his family and then take him [to] trial. We will give him the right to defend himself if we capture him. If [he] decides