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Showing posts from March 27, 2011

Hardcore Maoist held with 25kg explosive gel

TNN , Mar 28, 2011, 02.08pm IST RANCHI: A Maoist who was wanted in a dozen cases was arrested from the Sonahatu police station area along with 25kg explosive gel on Saturday evening. A team of Ranchi police raided Kala Mahdeo village, around 6km from Sonahatu police station, and picked up Surendra Swansi, an active member of the CPI (Maoist). Police had earlier attached his properties following a court order. Since then, he had been evading arrest and gone underground. The rebel was to transport the explosive gel to the cadres in Bundu-Tamar when police raided the village. "The explosive was earlier hidden underground. It was recently dug out for giving to the Maoist squad active in the area," said SSP Praveen Kumar Singh. Recently, Swansi had gone into hiding in the Chowka area of Saraikela-Kharsawan district but had come to deliver the explosive gel to Sonahatu where he was arrested. "This is a major breakthrough for police as Swansi was wanted in a

Mohali World Cup clash: Army, missiles brought in, Sonia coming to back PM

CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI: Anti-aircraft missiles, guns and robotic bomb-disposal units will be deployed in and around Mohali ahead of Wednesday's diplomacy-laced cricket encounter between India and Pakistan that'll be watched by the political who's who from the two sub-continental rivals, defence sources said. While the missiles will be deployed by the Army's Western Command around the stadium to foil any airborne terrorist attack, the bomb disposal units will be equipped with British-made remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) built to defuse powerful explosive devices. Several columns of troops from the Western Command at Chandimandir are on alert to deal with any eventuality. Pakistan PM Yousaf Raza Gilani is scheduled to fly into Chandigarh on Wednesday morning just ahead of Manmohan Singh's arrival. It will be the first meeting of the two leaders after the ghastly 26/11 attack on Mumbai by Pakistani terrorist soured the peace process. Wednesday'

‘Drugs’ and ‘Terrorism’ – the ultimate free rides

The words “Drugs” and “Terrorism” have developed a power unto themselves. You can use them to justify any government action or expenditure and suddenly things like budget, logic, evidence or accountability are forgotten. It’s no surprise that new UNODC director and hard-liner Yuri Fedotov understands this. Growing links between crime and terrorism the focus of UN forum Highlighting the growing nexus between global criminal acts, including drug trafficking and money laundering, and terrorism, a top United Nations official today called for boosting efforts to tackle these threats. Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told participants at a terrorism symposium in Vienna that profits from criminal activity are increasingly being used to fund terrorist acts. [...] “Thanks to advances in technology, communication, finance and transport, loose networks of terrorists and organized criminal groups that operate internationally can eas

Black is beautiful

Source: Deccan chronicle When the Supreme Court is driven to asking: “What the hell is going on in this country?” (about black money stashed in tax heavens abroad), it is clear that the situation is bleak. The court’s underlying ire is understandable because it had before it the case of Hasan Ali Khan, a Pune-based stud farm owner, which is a wonder of sorts and might even merit inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records. The facts are stark. Since way back in 2007 it has been alleged that Mr Khan had amassed as much as $8 billion in Swiss banks, making him the biggest offender in this respect. Worse, investigations by appropriate government agencies have reportedly unearthed evidence suggesting that he had links with a notorious arms dealer and could have been involved in gun running and even funding terrorism, apart from money-laundering. Despite all this Mr Khan has been left completely free and untouched for nearly four years while, in the apex court’s words, “even thos

RUSSIA: 16 DIE IN ANTI-TERRORISM OPERATION IN INGUSETIA

Source: agi 09:15 29 MAR 2011   (AGI) Moscow - Russia conducted an anti-terrorism operation in Ingusetia on the first anniversary of the Moscow metro attack.   Sixteen terrorists died in a battle, which smashed an extremist cell loyal to Caucasian guerilla leader Doku Umarov. It is unclear whether Umarov himself was killed. Citing federal security sources, Kommersant and Rossiskaja Gazeta report that the operation took place in Sunzhenskom, not far from the borders of Chechnya and North Ossetia. . .

Syria protests: The forgotten decades of dissent

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Source: BBC NEWS It has been decades since mass demonstrations have been seen in Syria, but the country has a rich history of revolt - and of repression. It is 41 years since the Corrective Revolution put Hafez al-Assad - father of current President Bashar al-Assad - firmly in control of Syria. In that time, the Baathist regime has faced few challenges to its authority in the form of popular protests. Fierce repression, combined with promises of change, has largely kept Syrian dissent safely contained to intellectual discussion groups, and more recently on the internet. Syrian politics was not always like this however. From the 1940s to the early 1960s the Syrian political landscape was shaped by a lively array of competing forces. The army played a crucial role in events: there were three military coups in 1949 alone, followed by another in 1954, in addition to the Baathist-led coups of 1963 and 1966. However, popular politics was just as important, with street demonstrations and str

Security forces kill six in Syrian city: activists

Source: reuters CAIRO   |   Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:57pm EDT (Reuters) - Syrian security forces killed two people on Saturday and four on Friday in anti-government protests in the port city of Latakia, reformist activists living abroad told Reuters. Protests erupted in Latakia in support of demonstrations in the southern town of Deraa, scene of mass protests against Baath Party rule, activists said. "There have been at least two killed today after security forces opened fire on protesters trying to torch the Baath party building," rights activist Ammar Qurabi told Reuters in Cairo. Qurabi says he was getting his information online and by phone. Exiled dissident Maamoun al-Homsi told Reuters by telephone from Canada: "I have the name of four martyrs who have fallen in Latakia yesterday." Official sources told Reuters that security forces had not fired at any protesters, but that five people had been killed in violence in Latakia, which is mostly Sunni Muslim but has signi

16 Somali pirates caught off Lakshadweep islands HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times

HT Correspondent , Hindustan Times The Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guards caught 16 Somali pirates in a joint operation of the coast off the Lakshadweep Islands on Sunday. The officials rescued 16 fishermen — 12 Iranians and four Pakistanis — from the pirates. The navy and the coast guard have been maintaining surveillance of the L akshadweep islands for several months as part of their Operation Island Watch that has seen 120 pirates being apprehended. On Saturday, the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre of the Indian Coast Guards received inputs from a merchant ship, MV Maersk Kensington, of a foiled piracy attack where the vessel managed to stop the pirates from boarding the ship. Captain Manohar Nambiar, chief defence spokesperson (Western Naval Command) said, “A maritime reconnaissance aircraft — TU 142 — on patrol located the suspected pirate vessel and facilitated homing INS Suvarna, which was on patrol in the area, to intercept the pirate vessel.” Coast guard vessel, ICG

wikileaks: 26463: Challenges and opportunities in India

Source: the hindu As Congress solidifies its hold on power, it will come closer to its goal of forming the government without Left/Communist support, will grow more confident, and we could see more scope for progress on issues we care deeply about, such as economic reform, and possibly Iraq. 26463 2/4/2005 11:55 05NEWDELHI909 Embassy New Delhi SECRET "This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available. " "S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 07 NEW DELHI 000909 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2015 TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ECON, ETRD, EAID, MARR, MOPS, KPKO, XD, IN, External Political Relations SUBJECT: INDIA: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN 2005 Classified By: Ambassador David C. Mulford, Reason 1.5 (B,D) 1. (S) Summary: With political momentum in its favor, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) expects to solidify its hold on power in 2005. The Congress-led coalition's pursuit of closer US-India ties will

Russian rebel calls for jihad, praises Arab unrest

Source: reuters * Video calls for holy war by Muslims throughout Russia * Kremlin struggling to contain Islamist insurgency * Russia's top Islamist urges Arabs to go radical (Recasts headline, story with new Arab unrest video) By Amie Ferris-Rotman MOSCOW, March 3 (Reuters) - Chechen-born rebel leader Doku Umarov, Russia's most wanted man, called on Muslims throughout the country to wage jihad against the state in videos posted on websites on Thursday. He also urged the Arab world to usher in radical Islam during the resulting unrest. A decade after federal forces drove separatists out of power in the second war in Chechnya, the Kremlin is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency throughout the North Caucasus, where rebels want to create a separate Islamic state. "Spring has come, the end of February, so I ask you, brothers, to activate jihad, eliminate the enemies of Allah," Umarov said in an eight-minut

Burma Says Thailand Can Do More to Stop Karen Insurgents

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VOA News March 22, 2011 Photo: AP Karen villagers carrying relief supplies flee Burma soldiers in Karen State, Burma, January 8, 2010 (file photo)  Burma's information minister says neighboring Thailand could do more to help curb a decades-old insurgency in Burma's east. Burma's state-run New Light of Myanmar newspape

Bomb follows killings in restive southern Thailand AP

Source: The Hindu Narathiwat is one of three Muslim-majority provinces in mostly Buddhist Thailand where a separatist insurgency has claimed more than 4,300 lives since 2004. A roadside bomb has exploded in a southern Thai village where three people were fatally shot the night before by suspected Muslim insurgents. Police Capt. Pairat Kiatcharoensiri said the bomb went off on Wednesday morning in a remote village of Narathiwat province when a truck carrying police arrived. None were wounded. He said a man and two women were shot there on Tuesday evening by about a dozen armed men. Police suspect the gunmen were Muslim insurgents who believed their victims were informants. The killings could also have been staged to lure security personnel to the scene to be attacked. Narathiwat is one of three Muslim—majority provinces in mostly Buddhist Thailand where a separatist insurgency has claimed more than 4,300 lives since 2004.

The threat of America's nativist far right

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Source: guardian While Peter King holds hearings on homegrown jihadists, the growing menace of white supremacist terror goes unremarked James Ridgeway guardian.co.uk , Thursday 24 March 2011 16.12 GMT Article history Nineteen of those killed were aged under five in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which before 9/11 was the deadliest terrorist attack in US history. Photograph: Porter/Keystone USA/Rex Features As emerging reports would have it,  Kevin William Harpham, 36, who is accused of setting a bomb  to go off at the Martin Luther King Jr Day parade in Spokane, Washington, was yet another "lone wolf" terrorist, acting at his own behest and on his own behalf. Even groups on the racist, radical far right  that so clearly inspired him  are rushing to disown and denounce the indicted man. Regardless of whether he was a "member" of an organised group, there can yet be no doubt that Harpham saw himself as part of a movement  – one that has an especially broad rea

Michael Pinto: No more crimson piracy!

Source: business standard Piracy on the high seas has far-reaching economic consequences Michael Pinto /  March 26, 2011, 0:13 IST Did it not seem strange that with so much else to occupy us, so much time was spent on pirates captured by the navy on the high seas? Yet, India is vitally concerned when acts of piracy occur almost at our doorstep. Whether the ship is Indian or foreign, it might well be carrying merchandise either meant for our consumption or bound for foreign ports with our export cargo. Acts of piracy only push up the already huge cost of freight that the country pays and make us that much less competitive in international markets. Another factor is the huge price that is paid by those taken hostage. Hapless members of the crew can be detained for months in conditions of near starvation while the pirates negotiate ransom with the owners of the vessel. There is no guarantee that they will be released unharmed. Indeed, on more than one occasion, members