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Showing posts from December 8, 2013

Colombia: 2 FARC members die in military raid

BOGOTÁ , Colombia – Two members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) died and two others were injured during clashes with Colombian soldiers, the Army said on Dec. 12. The firefight occurred in a densely forested area in the western department of Chocó, just days after the FARC announced a unilateral ceasefire due to get under way on Dec. 15. The Army said it confiscated various rebel weapons, including rifles and grenade launchers. Source: http://infosurhoy.com/en_GB/articles/saii/newsbriefs/2013/12/13/newsbrief-04   

Colombia turns down rebels' cease-fire offer

BOGOTA -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he won't halt a military crackdown on Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels until a peace deal is clinched. Santos ruled out a cease-fire, offered by the rebel group known by its Spanish acronym FARC, after a car bomb and mortar attack on a police station Dec. 7 killed at least eight people. The attack occurred as FARC and government negotiators continued talks in Cuba on reaching a peace deal. More than 220,000 people have died in about 50 years of conflict between FARC and successive governments in Bogota. Analysts say the timing of the three almost concurrent events is so odd that it may indicate divisions emerging within FARC about the decision to enter into talks with the Santos administration as part of a bid to secure political representation for the group's aging rebel leaders. Officials say FARC influence is waning among Colombia's poor and disgruntled youth and villagers. Colombia's improve

Mandela and Ocalan: Flowers for a Friend of the Kurds

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TORONTO, Canada – For many Kurds, the late Nelson Mandela will be remembered for his principled stand against Turkey’s treatment of its large and oppressed Kurdish minority. In 1992, when Mandela was still president of South Africa, he turned down the Ataturk Peace Prize that Turkey offered him for his lifelong fight for freedom. Pointing to the oppression of the Kurds, Mandela confronted the Turkish government for its hypocrisy and rejected the prize. This caused an outrage in Turkey. According to the AFP news agency, nationalist Turks called Mandela a “terrorist” because of his support for the Kurdish cause. Mandela was also named an “insolent African” who turned down a prestigious award. “We know what it means to be oppressed in your own country. We know the pain of a mother whose child has disappeared… We know what it means to have your nationality and culture insulted… I am part of the Kurdish struggle. I am one of you.” These are some of the words Nelson Mandela uttered a

The ads making Colombian guerrillas lonely this Christmas

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Poster children: the adverts ask guerrillas to return home Bullets and bombs are not the only ammunition used in the war in the Colombian jungle. The struggle against guerrilla forces is also being waged with the help of an advertising agency. The Colombian Ministry of Defence plans to launch a new propaganda campaign in the coming days designed to encourage guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc , to demobilise. This week Farc announced a one-month unilateral ceasefire for the five-decades long drug-fuelled conflict that has killed almost a quarter of a million people. To draw rebels out of the jungle and into the towns, the defence ministry will host a holiday festival in San Vicente del Caguán, a former Farc headquarters. On the path out of the jungle, guerrilla forces will see posters with baby pictures that the Colombian ad agency Lowe SSP3 collected from some of their mothers. “Antes de ser guerrillero, eres mi hijo,” the

PKK Supports Initiative to Reconcile Syrian Kurds Ahead of Geneva Conference

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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Communities’ Union (KCK), an umbrella group for all wings of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has thrown its weight behind an Erbil-backed final effort to reconcile the two rival Kurdish councils in Syria. “We give full support to the meeting expected to be held In Erbil,” the KCK said in a statement seen by Rudaw. The mediation, between the Kurdish National Council (KNC) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) – widely regarded as the PKK’s Syrian wing -- is being brokered by two senior Kurdish officials from Turkey, MP Leyla Zana from Diyarbakir and the city’s mayor Osman Baydemir. Both are in currently in Erbil for further discussions about an upcoming meeting between PYD leader Salih Muslim and Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani, who has warned that this will be his final effort at reconciling the two councils. The KNC, which is backed by Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party, has opposed a unilateral interim government declared

Democracy in Colombia The bumptious functionary

ANYONE who happened to be in Colombia’s capital a year ago saw three days of chaos. Mounds of rubbish piled up on street corners as a municipal agency struggled to implement a new waste-management system after Gustavo Petro, Bogotá’s left-wing mayor, allowed the contracts of private firms that had been providing the service to lapse. Faced with a public outcry, Mr Petro called the private firms back. Since then, rubbish has been collected regularly. But those three days have cost Mr Petro his job and his political future. On December 9th Colombia’s inspector-general deposed the mayor and banned him from public office for 15 years for violating the principles of the free market and putting public health at risk. In this section Maduro’s hollow victory Oil’s well that ends well The bumptious functionary Strategic patience runs out Reprints Related topics Government and politics War and conflict FARC Colombia Politics The inspector-general is a post u

Arms Dealer Pleads Guilty In U.S. Court Of Conspiracy To Sell Weapons To Colombia's FARC

A Greek arms dealer pled guilty Wednesday in a U.S. federal court to attempting to aid a Colombian rebel group. Ioannis Viglakis, 53, was arrested last year in Panama and subsequently extradited to the U.S., where he pled guilty at the U.S. Southern District Court of New York of attempting to provide weapons such as grenade launchers to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). “By providing functioning rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other military-grade weapons to an individual he believed to be a FARC associate, Ioannis Viglakis was attempting to arm a known terrorist organization that he understood would use those weapons against Americans and Colombians,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. In an undercover sting operation that began in 2011, a Drug Enforcement Administration confidential source held meetings with Viglakis feigning to be a FARC associate who needed to attack American forces stationed in Colombia. According to a DEA press rel

UN says 90 of its peacekeepers killed in 2013

United Nations: The UN peacekeeping chief said 90 of his colleagues have been killed in 2013, with 29 of them in "deliberate attacks." Herve Ladsous noted in particular the deaths of 14 peacekeepers in the bloody Darfur region of Sudan. He calls that "totally unacceptable." Ladsous gave his end-of-year briefing to reporters on Friday. He also repeated that his department is preparing for the possibility of contributing to the "stabilisation in Syria" if UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon requests it. That will depend on the outcome of Geneva peace talks in January. The talks aim to end the fighting that activists say has killed over 120,000 people in three years. Ladsous also is telling northern countries they are "very welcome" to contribute to peacekeeping as they disengage from the war in Afghanistan. Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/un-says-90-of-its-peacekeepers-killed-in-2013/439496-2.html  

Two peacekeepers killed as car bomb hits bank in northern Mali

BAMAKO (Reuters) - A car bomb killed two U.N. Senegalese peacekeepers and destroyed the only operating bank in the northern Malian town of Kidal on Saturday, one day before a second round of parliamentary elections. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack at 0645 local time (0645 GMT) on the Malian Solidarity Bank, which was being guarded Mali's army and the U.N. peacekeeping mission known as MINUSMA. "A car bomb targeted MINUSMA forces and the Malian army who were guarding the building of the Malian Solidarity Bank in the centre of Kidal," said a statement by MINUSMA, which condemned the attack. "The explosion caused the death of two Senegalese blue helmets and also caused a number of serious injuries among the ranks of the Malian national guard and MINUSMA," the statement said. Some fighters linked to al Qaeda are still holding out in the north nearly a year after the start of a French offensive aiming to drive them from the desert region

Security tightened after explosion in Belfast city

Security measures are being ramped up in Belfast city centre following an explosion outside a busy restaurant that could have killed festive revellers. With thousands expected to hit the capital's high streets on what is to be one of the busiest Christmas shopping days of the year, police have appealed for vigilance. And businesses are continuing to urge people to support trade by venturing into the centre. The city was left reeling after the bomb exploded in the bustling Cathedral Quarter district just before 7pm last night. No-one was injured in the blast. Police were in the process of evacuating around a thousand people from bars, eateries, residential accommodation, a theatre and a hotel when the bomb exploded. They were responding to a bomb warning phoned through to a Belfast newsroom. A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said today security would be stepped up to prevent a further attack on the city. Police have been stopping cars and checking car boo

Iran 'arrests alleged spy'

The   Iran ian authorities have reportedly arrested an alleged spy accused of working with MI6. The semi-official ISNA news agency said the man was arrested in the town of Kerman in south-east Iran after authorities spent months tracking him down. According to a Kerman judiciary official the alleged spy, who has not been named, exchanged information with four British intelligence operatives. The alleged spy is on trial and has confessed, according to the Iranian report. It has not been suggested that the alleged spy is a Briton, and Tehran has a history of announcing the arrest of people it claims are spying without releasing further details. But the news is potentially embarrassing at a time when relations between the UK and Iran had been improving, including the first visit by a British diplomat for two years. Non-resident charge d'affaires Ajay Sharma said he had "detailed and constructive discussions" about the UK's relationship with Iran during talks earlier this

Relatives want justice for Yemen drone strike

Relatives of Yemeni civilians killed in a drone strike have demanded an apology and compensation and warned of tribal unrest, an official said. "The first demand is an end to strikes," the official said on Saturday. "They also want financial and moral compensation." This announcement came following Friday's protests that blocked the road between Rada and Sanaa, the capital city, during the funeral of 13 civilians killed in the attack, the official said. A wedding party was hit in an air strike on Thursday in the south of Yemen after being mistaken for an al-Qaeda convoy and at least fifteen people were killed, according to officials. Two of the dead whose names were released, Saleh al-Tays and Abdullah al-Tays, were on Yemeni government lists of wanted al-Qaeda suspects. The security committee, which President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi oversees, said Thursday's attack targeted a car that belonged on an al-Qaeda leader. Casualties common  "On board the vehicl

None hurt in Belfast bomb but device could have killed - police

LONDON (Reuters) - A bomb exploded close to a busy restaurant in Belfast on Friday night as police were clearing people from the area, leaving no one hurt, the Police Service of   Northern Ireland   said. The explosion took place just before 7pm (1900 GMT) in the city's Cathedral Quarter which was thronged with Christmas shoppers and people enjoying an evening out. Police said the device "could have killed or maimed anyone nearby" and about 1,000 people were affected by the evacuation and cordoning off of the area. Police gave no immediate indication of who could have been behind the attack. Northern Ireland endured decades of so-called "Troubles" when armed groups seeking unification with the Republic of Ireland and rival groups determined to keep Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom both waged violent campaigns. The Troubles largely came to an end with the Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998, but Northern Ireland is still plagued by occasional outbreaks

Op Ed ­— Citizen preparedness: The only real solution to terrorism

Last week’s gruesome attack on a hospital in Yemen is the most recent example of why citizen preparedness is the most important factor in the fight against terrorism. It should cause us grave concern for our schools, hospitals, hotels and shopping malls. On Dec. 5th, a group of 12 al Qaeda-backed terrorists - mostly Saudi nationals - stormed a security complex in Sanaa, Yemen, set off a bomb, then split into two separate groups before attacking the nearby hospital shooting at guards, doctors, nurses and patients, ultimately killing 56 and injuring 215 others. The attack was partially reminiscent of the 1995 siege of a hospital in Budyonnovsk, Russia when Chechen Islamists held between 1,500 to 1,800 persons hostage for four days. Ultimately, 166 were killed and 450 were injured. Our own recent Boston Marathon bombing this past April also comes to mind. Other examples include two separate, devastating attacks this past Septemb

Yemen issues national condemnation of terrorism

SANAA, Yemen, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- The Yemeni government said a national moment of silence was observed to express condemnation for last weeks' al-Qaida attacks on the Defense Ministry.The official Saba News Agency reported a minute of silence was held Thursday, one week after al-Qaida attacked a Defense Ministry compound in Sanaa. Saba reported the Yemeni people used the observation to condemn the "criminal" and "cowardly" act. The Yemeni Defense Ministry said the attacks last week left at least 52 people dead and more than 160 others injured. Yemen was mentioned in a global advisory released in September by the U.S. State Department. The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa was closed as a security precaution and is open only for limited consular services. Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa said during his weekly Cabinet briefing Wednesday acts of terrorism in the country would not undermine the resolve to reverse Yemen's history of instability, S

‘Arms Trafficking, Organised Crime, Terrorism Threatening Sahel Region’

United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said Friday that terrorism, trafficking in arms, drugs and other transnational forms of organised crime were threatening security in sub-Saharan Sahel region of Africa. According to News Agency of Nigeria report, he briefed the UN Security Council on the dire report at the start of a meeting on the situation in the region. “The Sahel’s vast size and long, porous borders mean that such challenges can be addressed successfully only if the countries of the region work together,” he said. The meeting was also addressed by World Bank President, Jim Kim, and Romano Prodi, the UN Secretary-General’s Special envoy for the Sahel. He said, ``The United Nations will continue its efforts to promote security, good governance and resilience”. Ban called also for more to be done to address food crises that plague the Sahel as well as to improve conditions in migrants’ communities of origin while generating more leg

Staying in Afghanistan Is a Recipe for More Terrorism

Barack Obama is daring the terrorists. He's standing in their front yard. He's calling them out. Of course, that's not how it's reported. "U.S. 'nowhere near' decision to pull all troops out of Afghanistan," was the understated Reuters headline . Under negotiation is an agreement keeping 8,000 to 10,000 American troops in Afghanistan " through 2024 and beyond ." Also on the table are night raids and drone strikes that Afghan President Hamid Karzai refuses to allow. This is madness. "If the job is not done," said the Russian ambassador to Kabul, "then several thousand troops...will not be able to do the job that 150,000 troops couldn't do." The only thing worse than the hopelessness of this plan is the backwardness of it. In an effort to prevent terrorism, we are continuing the very thing that creates terrorism: our presence! Al Qaeda "has been precise in telling America the reasons [it's]

Wichita bomb plot spurs topic of 'homegrown' terrorism

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - At a news conference to announce the disruption of a suicide bomb plot targeting a heartland airport, the special agent in charge of Kansas City’s FBI office offered a warning amidst the congratulatory comments. “Today's arrest, however, emphasizes that homegrown terrorism is a continuous threat here in the United States,” Mike Kaste said, who helped run the months-long investigation which culminated Friday in the arrest of a most unlikely terrorism suspect. Terry Lee Loewen is a 58-year-old avionics technician and a new grandfather. A Facebook photo taken by his wife just last year shows him smiling next to a birthday cake covered in pink flamingos. But beneath that veneer, charging documents from the U.S. District Court in Kansas reveal a man who self-radicalized online and was committed to causing mass casualties at the same airport where he worked. In a letter Loewen left for family members to discover after his car bomb was to have exp

Three killed in separate Pakistan polio shootings

Gunmen have shot dead at least two policemen providing security to a team of polio workers in north-west Pakistan. A polio worker was also killed in a separate attack, local media have reported. The two policemen were travelling from the town of Swabi to Topi by motorbike when they were attacked. The polio worker was shot on the outskirts of Peshawar. The attacks are the latest in a series targeting polio teams in the country. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban oppose the polio vaccination schemes, which they see as a cover for international espionage. Polio's last stand? 2012 cases Nigeria - 97 Pakistan - 47 Afghanistan - 26 Chad - 5* Source: IMB * Polio is considered "non-endemic" in Chad Polio killings a major setback Islamist militants have been at the forefront of a decade-long campaign of violence against health workers, who they also accuse of being pa

The School Shootings You Didn’t Hear About—One Every Two Weeks Since Newtown

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In the year since Newtown, at least 24 school shootings have claimed at least 17 lives, according to a Daily Beast investigation. Has anything really changed? In the year since 20 first-graders were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary, another school shooting has taken place in America every two weeks on average. These events aren’t necessarily the types of tragedies that come to mind when one thinks of “school shootings”—madmen in fatigues roaming school hallways, strapped with automatic-style guns, murdering indiscriminately—nor do they receive the media attention of such mass shootings. But they can be similarly traumatizing for students and staff, and they have led to at least 24 injuries and 17 deaths over the past year, The Daily Beast has found. Using data culled from media reports and collected in part by the gun-control advocacy group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, we tallied 24 school shootings during 2013—that is, shootings that occurred

Gun Control Activists Seek to Reboot After Newtown Shooting Momentum Fades

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Eric Thayer / Reuters A woman places flowers at a memorial near a sign for Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 15, 2012. Pacing the stage in a dark suit and no tie, the man who led the effort to  legalize gay marriage in Washington laid out his next crusade to the nearly 200  grassroots activists gathered at the Seattle Center Pavilion Wednesday. “We here in Washington have a history of leading the country from software  and coffee to marriage equality and environmental stewardship,” Zach Silk told the  crowd. “Acting together, we can stand up to the gun lobby and change the conversation in the country.” Silk, who heads the gun control group Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, then outlined a path to passing a ballot initiative next November that would expand background checks on gun purchases. Making good on his words will be a tall order. Almost one year after 20  children and six adults were murdered in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School i

Samantha Lewthwaite, Mysterious 'White Widow,' Eludes Police In Africa

AYLESBURY, England (AP) — She is called the most wanted woman in the world, a suspected terrorist charged with plotting to blow up resort hotels in Kenya packed with Christmas tourists, a Westerner who wrote an ode praising Osama bin Laden, a jihadist who has eluded the law even as she has traveled through Africa with four young children in tow. Samantha Lewthwaite's saga is one of betrayal and revenge in a murky world where, somehow, a white woman born to a British soldier becomes a Muslim convert and then an international fugitive accused of conspiracy. Her first husband blew himself up as part of Britain's worst ever terrorist attack in 2005, an act she first condemned — and her second partner adhered to the same militant brand of Islam and also apparently met an early death. Her notebooks, seized in 2011, are filled with lavish praise for extremists who slaughter civilians and hopes that her children will do the same. And yet, since she disappeared some months after