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Showing posts from September 23, 2012

‘WikiLeaks Cable’ Row Heats Up

29 September 2012 Saturday 9:45 A row over an alleged WikiLeaks cable from 2003 has heated up between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, as the premier filed a lawsuit against his rival on charges of libel Sept. 28. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kılıçdaroğlu accused Erdoğan of treason on Sept. 27 over an alleged WikiLeaks cable dating back to June 6, 2003. Referring to a book titled “Leakage: Prominent Turks in the WikiLeaks cables” by journalists Barış Terkoğlu and Barış Pehlivan, Kılıçdaroğlu said Erdoğan had promised to open Turkish air space and two seaports to the U.S. in 2003, but that this had been opposed by a number of high-ranking generals, most of whom were tried in the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot case. “A prime minister who protects a foreign country’s benefits instead of his own country’s [interests] cannot be the prime minister of Turkey. A man who does not protect his own country and its

Turkish air force makes missile and bomb strikes on Kurdish militants’ bases in northern Iraq

Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 29 / Trend R. Hafizoglu / Turkish air force made missile and bomb strikes on the bases and fortification of militants of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, Turkish newspaper Zaman reported today. According to the newspaper, the military operation in northern Iraq lasted about an hour. As a result, several camps of militants were neautralized. Earlier, head of the Iraqi parliamentary security committee Iskander Witwit said that any Turkish military aircraft that penetrates into Iraq under the operation will be shot down. A military operation, to be conducted by Turkey in northern Iraq against militants of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party is fully consistent with international law, a source in the Turkish government told Trend. The period of the previous mandate expires on October 17. The new mandate is expected to be granted for one year. The mandate for cross-border operations covers the territory of northern Ir

Turkish PM: Some 13,000 PKK Militants Are in Germany

Saturday, 29 September 2012 Around 13,000 militants of the terrorist organization PKK are in Germany, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today, Haber7 TV channel reported. Prime Minister added that the PKK forcibly take money from some Kurdish businessmen for their own selfish purposes. He added that the terrorist organization has recently intensified lobbying of its interests in some European countries. The conflict between Turkey and the PKK has lasted for over 25 years. The PKK is recognised as a terrorist organisation by both the UN and the EU. Source http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/142781/turkish-pm-some-13-000-pkk-militants-are-in-germany.html

No Support to PKK, Says German Officials

29 September 2012 Saturday by Sevil Küçükkoşum Germany has rejected claims from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that it does not want Turkey to solve its Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorism problem. “The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Germany. The organization is banned in Germany. Germany shows zero tolerance towards terrorists,” Peter Kettner, a spokesperson for the German Embassy in Ankara told Hürriyet Daily News yesterday. In addition to Germany, Erdoğan also accused France and the Scandinavian countries of obstructing Ankara’s fight against the PKK. French Embassy officials declined to comment on the issue. There are countries that do not want to see an end to PKK terrorism, Erdoğan said in a televised interview late on Sept. 27. “Germany does not want a solution. France does not want a solution. These countries do not help us. Instead, they let terrorist heads live in their territory,” the prime minister said. The most-developed countries in

Burma’s landmine issue ethnic wars n borders

Landmines are concentrated around Burma’s borders with Bangladesh and Thailand, but are a particular threat in Kachine State and the eastern parts of the country, after decades of wars with ethnic minorities. The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor website issued an updated report on its website this week saying some 47 townships in Kachin, Karen (Kayin), Karenni (Kayah), Mon, Rakhine, and Shan states, as well as in Pegu (Bago) and Tenasserim (Tanintharyi) divisions[1] suffer from some degree of mine contamination, primarily from antipersonnel mines. Karen (Kayin) State and Pegu (Bago) division are believed to contain the heaviest mine contamination and have the highest number of recorded victims. The monitor said it has also received reports of previously unknown suspect hazardous areas in townships on the Indian border of Chin state. No estimate exists of the extent of contamination, but the monitor group identified the following divisions and townships as contaminated wit

commanders of neo-paramilitary group "Los Urabeños" arrested: Colombia

Police said Friday they have arrested one of the alleged regional commanders of neo-paramilitary group "Los Urabeños" in the northern Colombian city of Santa Marta. "Belisario" for years has been alleged to be the commander of the Urabeños in the Caribbean tourism hotspot and the nearby Sierra Nevada. The demobilized member of paramilitary organization AUC has been accused of coordinating a complete shut down of Santa Marta in January when the Urabeños banned all commercial activity and public transport in the north of Colombia to protest the killing of their top commander. According to the police, the alleged Urabeños ringleader has also actively obstructed government attempts to return stolen land to its rightful owners by impeding local indigenous groups to return to their lands in the Sierra Nevada. The Urabeños have come under increasing pressure in Santa Marta and the surrounding area as authorities and a local neo-paramilitary group called the "O

Nobody has hit FARC as hard as I have: Santos

FRIDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2012 17:51 ADRIAAN ALSEMA Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos claimed Friday that in the almost 50 years of his country's conflict nobody has hit guerrilla group FARC as hard as he has. Santos made the statement in an interview on CNN explaining how he had gone from trying to defeat the FARC militarily when leading the Defense Ministry under former President Alvaro Uribe to becoming an advocate for a ngotiated end to the conflict. "I wanted to kill them because I wanted peace. I knew that if you don't strike them hard you'd never take them to a negotiating table," Santos said, adding that "modesty apart, in 50 years, nobody has hit them as hard as I have." However, "making war is easier than making peace," the president added. Source http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/26256-nobody-has-hit-farc-as-hard-as-i-have-santos.html

Rooting out landmines — a worthy but laborious cause

"The gift that keeps on giving" is one of those catchphrases which seems to have been around forever, but which actually dates back to 1924 when it was used to sell the new-fangled gramophone. It lends itself to a wide variety of situations and even became the title of a pop song first made public on Christmas Day five years ago. You can add one more meaning - far from benign and which describes one of the most diabolical devices ever invented. According to news agency reports, just last week a five-year-old girl died in a village in south-eastern Colombia and five of her young playmates were injured as they played with what they thought was a ball they had found. It was no ball, but rather, a hand grenade. She was one of 54 Colombians killed so far this year from landmines and unexploded ordnance. Colombia has the dubious distinction of having the second highest rate of casualties from landmines in the world. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines says only Afghanist

Landmine victims reach 10,000 in Colombia

TUESDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2012 Colombia has reached the "dishonorable figure" of 10,001 landmine victims, said the vice presidency of the country Tuesday. Colombia's Vice President Angelino Garzon lamented the number of victims due to anti-personnel mines, a form of land mine designated for use against humans, as well as unexploded ordnances and improvised explosive devices. According to the figures given by the Vice Presidency, since 1990 the victims of landmines have included 6,222 military members and 3,779 civilians, among which 968 were minors. "Girls, boys, teens, women, indigenous, farmers, workers, soldiers, police and heroes of the country have sacrificed their lives for the freedom and security of the Colombians. We want a Colombia without more victims of anti-personnel mines and free of these artifacts," said Garzon as reported by Caracol Radio. According to the official, these 10 thousand victims "are examples of life, of overcoming, of st

Landmine victims reach 10,000 in Colombia

TUESDAY, 25 SEPTEMBER 2012 Colombia has reached the "dishonorable figure" of 10,001 landmine victims, said the vice presidency of the country Tuesday. Colombia's Vice President Angelino Garzon lamented the number of victims due to anti-personnel mines, a form of land mine designated for use against humans, as well as unexploded ordnances and improvised explosive devices. According to the figures given by the Vice Presidency, since 1990 the victims of landmines have included 6,222 military members and 3,779 civilians, among which 968 were minors. "Girls, boys, teens, women, indigenous, farmers, workers, soldiers, police and heroes of the country have sacrificed their lives for the freedom and security of the Colombians. We want a Colombia without more victims of anti-personnel mines and free of these artifacts," said Garzon as reported by Caracol Radio. According to the official, these 10 thousand victims "are examples of life, of overcoming, of st

Colombia is Second in World for Land Mine Victims, Behind Afghanistan

September 26, 2012 Fox News Latino 403962 01: A Colombian soldier searches for possible land mines left by the FARC, The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, after the group dynamited an energy tower owned by the state operated national energy distribution network, ISA, April 15, 2002 in Saravena, Colombia. The companys energy towers have been attacked repeatedly this year by the guerrilla group in a war against state-owned infrastructure leaving entire states without energy, sometimes for weeks. (Photo by Carlos Villalon/Getty Images) Six children are the latest victims of Colombia’s ongoing land mine crisis, as a 3-year old was killed and five others wounded following an explosion in the central-western department of Tolima. This recent incident has helped the Andean nation reach what Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzón called the "dishonorable figure" of 10,001 landmine victims, making it the second most affected country in the world in terms of land mine inci

To Walk the Earth in Safety: New Report Showcases U.S. Global Leadership in Landmine Clearance and Conventional Weapons Destruction

Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC September 27, 2012 Share on facebookShare on google_plusone The Department of State has released the 11th edition of To Walk the Earth in Safety, a report showcasing the accomplishments of the U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction Program. The report outlines the world’s largest effort to help countries save lives, as well as support post-conflict recovery and development by safely clearing landmines and unexploded munitions, and reducing excess inventories of arms and munitions. In fiscal year 2011, the Department of State invested $142 million in 42 countries for Conventional Weapons Destruction. This included funding for clearance operations, assistance to conflict survivors, education for communities to prevent injuries from unexploded ordnance, and weapons destruction. The report highlights our ongoing support to dozens of public and private implementing partners who continue to apply new energy, ideas, and resources to

Landmine prevention programme needs fund

Luanda - Sábado, 29 de Setembro de 2012 Kuito – The Angolan Red Cross Angola (CVA) in Bié needs various support to continue with prevention programme against landmine accidents and other explosive devices in the province. This was said to Angop on Saturday by the secretary of CVA, Ângelo Sassango. With the achievement of peace, the international donors stopped receiving fund aimed for the prevention programmes against landmines and other explosive devices. Ângelo Sassango stressed that due to the lack of financing, the organisation has only small tasks such as awareness campaign on landmines and other explosive devices. Source http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/sociedade/2012/8/39/Landmine-prevention-programme-needs-fund,a0325c00-4c4e-40c0-9076-47aa6ab770f5.html

Five dead in Minnesota shooting rampage: police

| DAWN.COM Officers with the Minnesota State Patrol man the Penn Avenue bridge over Bassett’s Creek near the scene of a shooting at a business in the 2300 block of Chestnut Avenue West in Minneapolis. -AP Photo CHICAGO: A gunman opened fire at a small business in the northern US state of Minnesota, killing four people before turning the gun on himself and dying of a self-inflicted gunshot, police said Friday. Four other people were taken to hospital, three of whom were in critical condition. The shooting took place just after 4:30 pm Thursday inside Accent Signage Systems, a company employing about 25 people which makes signs for companies. “When officers arrived and entered the business to assist with the evacuation of employees, give aid to the victims and to search for the suspect, they found four victims dead from apparent gunshot wounds,” police said in a statement. Also found dead “was an individual identified as the suspect, it appeared that he died from a self-infli

What can we learn from the history of sectarian strife

A deeply divided nation, not yet 70 years old, is convulsed by religious violence. In one major city, members of a persecuted minority request that their children be permitted to read their Holy Book in school. Militant members of the religious majority are enraged. Their ensuing fulminations whip up hysteria, spawning riots and mob violence. The minority’s worship centers and homes are torched, and when the smoke has cleared, 20 people are dead. This is not a depiction of present-day Quetta, Karachi, or Lahore. It is a portrait of Philadelphia in 1844, and evokes the antagonism then prevailing between America’s Protestants and Catholics. In the aftermath of violent protests in Pakistan staged in reaction to an anti-Islam video, and in light of the seemingly weekly — if not daily — sectarian attacks that ravage Pakistan, there is a tendency (especially here in Washington) to assume that religion and violence go hand-in-hand in Pakistan, and on a level seen in few other countries (t

Gandhara Film Festival begins with conflict zones

| DAWN.COM KARACHI, Sept 28: A decent variety of films were screened on the inaugural day of the two-day Gandhara Film Festival at the PACC auditorium on Friday. The event opened with a short film ‘Heal’ by Mian Adnan Ahmed. The film has been shown at more than a dozen film festivals around the world. It tells the story of a child Azeem (Ameer Zhowandai) who lives in a conflict-ridden region somewhere between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is a quaint little setting in a mountainous zone. In the beginning of the short movie, it is established that Azeem has a gift of ‘healing’ living beings. He runs into an injured goat and as he touches the animal to comfort it, it gets up as if nothing had happened to it. The film progresses and Azeem’s family is shown. All of them appear to be peace-loving people with traditional values and a yearning for acquiring education. The school location has been used quite effectively in the film. Then catastrophe strikes and most of his family members

India’s Punjab in grip of a drug epidemic

| DAWN.COM NEW DELHI: On a muggy evening in the north Indian city of Amritsar, Sunil Sharma prepares for another heroin hit in a decrepit, abandoned building. Before inhaling the fumes of his brown paste heated on a piece of tinfoil, the 23-year-old explained he had tried heroin for the first time six months ago when his girlfriend left him to marry another man. “I feel bad… why have I become like this? Why have I tied this noose around my neck?” he told AFP, slurring his words. There are thousands like him across the state of Punjab, which leads the country in drug-related crime with a rate that is nearly ten times the national average, according to police records. In an affidavit submitted in 2009 to the state high court, the local government estimated that 67 per cent of all rural households in Punjab were home to at least one drug addict. Located on a long-standing smuggling route that sees heroin transported from Afghanistan via neighbouring Pakistan and on to markets e

Two killed in suicide bomb attack on Yemeni official

ADEN (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed himself and a bystander in south Yemen on Saturday in an attempt to assassinate a government official who had targeted al Qaeda militants, a security source said. The attacker walked up to the parked car of Mohammed Aidarous, head of a "popular committee" of tribal volunteers who helped the army oust militants from the town of Lawdar in Abyan province this year. Aidarous, the local government official in charge of Lawdar, was not in the vehicle, but a bystander was also killed in the blast, the source said. Four people in the car and five passers-by were injured. The source identified the bomber as 20-year-old Ali Mohammed Hossain from Abyan province. Yemen has been in turmoil since an uprising against Ali Abdullah Saleh, who finally stepped down as president in February. The Arabian Peninsula state borders top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and lies on major world shipping lanes. The army has expelled militants from Abyan towns o

Bomb blast kills two police near Afghan training academy

Qurat ul ain Siddiqui | 10 hours ago KABUL: A roadside bomb blast killed two policemen in Herat province of western Afghanistan, just hours before a ceremony to hand a nearby police training academy over from Nato to Afghan control, Afghan authorities said. Raouf Ahmedi, a spokesman for the Afghan police commander for the western region, said one of the policemen killed in Saturday’s explosion was a teacher at the academy in Adraskan district. He said two other policemen were injured by the remote-controlled bomb that exploded as their vehicle passed. Last week, a bomb in a parked motorcycle exploded outside the training centre, killing two security guards. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack. Source http://dawn.com/2012/09/29/bomb-blast-kills-two-police-near-afghan-training-academy/

Pakistan TV reporter shot dead

Press Trust of India | September 29, 2012 22:40 IST Islamabad: A reporter of a TV news channel was shot dead by unidentified persons in the restive Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan today. Abdul Haq Baloch, the correspondent for ARY News in Khuzdar, was shot dead at Chakar Khan Road in the city this evening, the channel reported. The motive for the killing could not immediately be ascertained. No group claimed responsibility for the incident. Another employee of ARY News was killed in Peshawar city in the northwest during violent protests against an anti-Islam film on September 21. The employee died after being hit by a bullet in police firing. Pakistan is regarded as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Dozens of reporters have died performing their duties over the past decade. Source http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/pakistan-tv-reporter-shot-dead-273737

Indian Air Force issues strict orders to tackle hacking

Sudhi Ranjan Sen, September 29, 2012 New Delhi: Every officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will now have to sign a declaration that they will not save or view any official document on personal computers. Failure to adhere to this directive will lead to a court marshal and prosecution. The recent directive from the IAF headquarters to all its formations across the country comes after repeated leaks of sensitive documents - some of which are of operational and sensitive in nature - from personal computers of officers and men. In a recent case, operational documents were found on the personal computer of a young pilot posted at an airbase in Tamil Nadu. A court of inquiry has been initiated. In another incident this July, it was found that classified data regarding Indian Naval operations were transmitted to IP addresses in China. Later, inquiries revealed that a few naval officers had, against the rules, taken copies of the plans in pen drives from a naval computer, to study. T

‘El Taliban’ Is Gone, But His Rival Mexican Drug Lord Is Worse

The Mexican marines just took down an infamous capo for Mexico’s most brutal cartel. But they may have accidentally cleared the decks for an even more vicious one to take his place. Ivan Velazquez Caballero, known by the alarming name “El Taliban” — a likely reference to the way cartels glorify lopping off the heads of their enemies — was captured Wednesday in the city of San Luis Potosi apparently without firing a shot, according to Reuters. But “El Taliban” was doing more than smuggling drugs and fighting the authorities. He was waging a civil war within the Zetas and against Miguel “Z-40″ Trevino Morales, a brutal assassin. Trevino recently seized control of the Zetas, and he’s known for “cooking” his enemies alive in burning oil drums. That’s the risk in taking out drug lords, and it’s similar to the risk in taking out insurgent chieftains. Doing so risks elevating whoever’s angling to take their place. A successor may turn out to be more lethally competent than the last leade

Somalia overpowering al-Shabaab but old rivalries pose new threat

Ugandan soldiers serving with African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) take a break during patrols in Lafole village, near Afgoye district in Mogadishu. By any measure it is a stunning reversal. Three years ago Somalia's central "government" controlled little more than a square mile of the capital, Mogadishu, while Islamist militants began to impose strict sharia law on most of the country. Today it is al-Shabaab that has not only been driven out of the capital but looks set to relinquish its last major urban stronghold, the port city of Kismayo. The dramatic turnaround has been achieved by a display of purpose and co-ordination from the African Union, a body long criticised as lumbering and divided. Its 17,000-strong peacekeeping force, Amisom, led by troops from Uganda, Kenya and Burundi, have turned the tide against the extremists. Behind the scenes is another quietly satisfied winner: the United States. Al-Shabaab is a self-declared affiliate of al-Qaida and

How to fight piracy (and how not to) ?

By Urmila Venugopalan, Special to CNN Editor’s note: Urmila Venugopalan is the South Asia manager at Oceans Beyond Piracy. You can follow her on Twitter @Urmila_V and @OBPiracySAsia. The views expressed are her own. Maritime piracy has long been considered the scourge of commercial shipping in the Indian Ocean. Recently, however, a combination of government- and private sector-led action has seen the number of pirate attacks in the region plunge to their lowest levels in almost five years. This year’s statistics are unusually encouraging: the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported in July that Somali piracy activity fell by almost 60 percent, down from 163 incidents in the first half of 2011 to just 69 in the same period of this year. Somali pirates also hijacked only 13 ships, down from 21, according to the IMB. Robust cooperation among international navies has certainly played a key role in driving this trend. Regular naval patrols – led by NATO’s Operation Ocean Shiel

Will Syria enable al-Qaeda resurgence in Middle East?

By Bilal Y. Saab, Special to CNN Editor's note: Bilal Y. Saab is a visiting fellow at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. This article is based on a recent analysis by the author that appeared in Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst. The views expressed are the author’s own. With evidence of jihadist activity in Syria surfacing over the past several months, the issue now is not so much the likelihood of al-Qaeda’s presence in the Syrian conflict, but the nature of its involvement and the threat it poses to Syria’s future, regional security, and Western interests in the Middle East. In a recent analysis in Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst on al-Qaeda in Syria, I revealed evidence of the multiplying jihadist cells operating in the country. Indeed, based on secondary Arabic sources and recent interviews in Europe and the Middle East with Western and Arab intelligence officers and analysts working on Syria, the Syrian battlefield no

Two held as debate on Malmö Jews' safety rages

Two 18-year-olds have been detained in connection with an explosion that damaged a Jewish community centre in Malmö early Friday morning in an incident that has rekindled debate about the safety of Jews in Sweden's third largest city. The blast, which occurred between 12.30am and 12.45am on Friday, damaged the door and entryway to the building, but no one was injured. "Some sort of firecracker was used and rocks were thrown at the building," Skåne County police spokesperson Cindy Schönström-Larsson told the TT news agency. The suspects were arrested before dawn on Friday after being spotted in a vehicle that witnesses had seen near the scene of the blast. The teens deny having committed any crime, but remain in custody on suspicion of aggravated destruction of property. The city's Jewish leaders expressed their shock and fear following the attack. Fred Kahn, head of the Jewish community in Malmö, said the attack reaffirms the view that the Jews in Malmö r

Biggest U.S. banks fail to repel cyber threat

A shadowy but well-organized hacker group in the Middle East has disrupted the electronic-banking operations of America’s largest financial institutions in recent days, underscoring U.S. vulnerability to online terrorism. A group identifying itself as Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters attacked the websites of Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and Bank of America. The strikes left customers temporarily unable to access their checking accounts, mortgages and other services. A computer-security expert blamed it on massive denial-of-service attacks, in which perpetrators overwhelm computer servers with communications demands, causing networks to seize up or slow down. The banks said account and personal information for their tens of millions of online and mobile customers were not compromised. Still, experts said the size and ferociousness of the attacks highlight the broader threat posed by electronic crime and the susceptibility of financial targets. Of particular concern, experts sai

Cyber Terror Rages In The Banking Sector

by Paul Rothman September 28, 2012 Coordinated Denial of Service attacks on U.S. banks including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC and others are truly a terrorist strike against the United States Yesterday, CNN called it the biggest cyber-attack in history. And chances are, your bank’s website has been affected. In fact, since Sept. 19, coordinated Denial of Service (DoS) attacks have shut down the websites of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, while Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and PNC Bank were crippled just this week. Rest easy, your financial information is safe. These DoS attacks are designed to cripple the websites themselves — criminal hackers use their multitude of computers and malware to flood the targeted site with massive amounts of traffic until it is overwhelmed and thus shut down. The resulting downtime is damaging in countless ways. The Islamist group Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters, a military wing of Hamas, publicly claimed responsibility for

Syrian asylum seekers protest outside Swedish Embassy

Syrian asylum seekers descended on the Swedish Embassy in Copenhagen yesterday afternoon to demand asylum in Sweden. Thirty asylum seekers from five asylum centres are protesting against the decision made by the Danish government not to follow Sweden’s example and grant them three years residence as refugees in Denmark. Asylum seekers from Syria that have their cases rejected end up in limbo because the government won’t forcibly return them to Syria where a civil war is currently raging. As a result they are forced to remain in asylum centres without the right to work in Denmark. Due to the dangerous situation in Syria, many of the rejected asylum seekers also refuse to say they will cooperate with their eventual return. This means they lose the right to live and work outside asylum centres, a right granted to them after the government recently changed the law. “We demand that Syrians and others on the run are classified as refugees,” Abu Amin, spokesperson for the Kurdish and