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Showing posts from February 9, 2014

Colombian gov't, FARC agree on anti-drug issue in peace talks

HAVANA, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group on Thursday closed the 20th round of peace talks held in Havana, Cuba, with some agreements on the thorny issue of drug-trafficking. The two parties said in a joint statement they are "committed" to finding a "definite solution to the problem of illegal crops. For the moment, we can say we have the first draft of the solution guidelines." The statement revealed both have agreed that plans to replace illegal crops of coca plants, marijuana and poppies should be part of the integral land reform of Colombia. The drugs issue is one of the five points of the peace talks between the two parties, and the next round will begin on Feb. 24 in Havana's Convention Center. FARC is largely financed by the illegal drugs trade. The talks between the Colombian government and FARC started in November 2012. In previous rounds, both parties reached agreements o

Colombia: 4,976 kilograms of marijuana seized from FARC

BOGOTÁ , Colombia – A total of 4,976 kilograms of marijuana held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was seized, authorities said on Feb. 11. The marijuana was confiscated from rural drug storage facilities in the central department of Meta on Feb. 9. The operation also found and destroyed 4.9 hectares of marijuana. Drug trafficking is one of the main discussion points on the agenda for the FARC and the government, who have been in peace negotiations in Cuba for the past 15 months. Source  http://infosurhoy.com/en_GB/articles/saii/newsbriefs/2014/02/13/newsbrief-03

Colombian military intelligence hacks communication between journalists and FARC in Cuba

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FARC commanders raise their weapons during peace negotiations in 2006. Photo:  DEA via Wikipedia .  During peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the  Colombian government spied on communications between the group’s spokespeople and international journalists  who were covering the events, Univisión reported. Hackers from Colombian military intelligence intercepted at least 2,638 emails between the FARC’s spokesmen, Hermes Aguilar and Bernardo Salcedo, and journalists from various international media, including AP, Reuters, Notimex, Prensa Latina, EFE and others, as well as Colombian media El Tiempo and Caracol Radio. Univisión had access to several emails belonging to 38 journalists and media , which consisted primarily of requests for information and interviews. At least two journalists, Sagrario García-Mascaraque from Televisión España and Marisol Gómez Giraldo from Tiempo de Bogotá, confirmed the content of the emails belonged to them and were ang

Report: Germany Has Evidence of Turkish Hand in PKK Killings in France

BARCELONA, Spain – German security services have evidence that Turkish intelligence agents were behind the killing of three female activists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Paris more than a year ago, Germany’s respected Der Spiegel weekly reported. The magazine warns that Turkey’s relations with the European Union will be significantly affected if Ankara’s hand in the killings is proven, with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan likely to come under greater pressure. According to the newsmagazine, several documents and sound recordings analyzed by German security implicate Turkey’s intelligence service, MIT. Der Spiegel said that one document surfaced in January on the Internet in which one of the three activists was identified and this alerted the German authorities. PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz and two other female associates -- Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez -- were found dead in Paris on January 9 last year, their bodies riddled with bullets. The weekly said that o

Protesters clash with police on anniversary of PKK leader's capture

15.02.2014 16:49:30 A large group of protesters attacked the security forces with Molotov cocktails and handmade bombs while they were protesting the 15th anniversary of capture of jailed terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan.  Öcalan was captured in Kenya on Feb. 15, 1999, while traveling from the Greek Embassy to the Nairobi International Airport, in an operation carried out by Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MİT). He was sentenced to death that same year, but his sentence was suspended and later commuted to life imprisonment when the death penalty for peacetime offenses was abolished in Turkey in August 2002.  The crowd consisting of many pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) officials, including BDP co-chairperson Gültan Kışanak, marched in Bağlar district. After some speeches made by the people from the crowd, some of the protesters whose face were masked, attacked police officers with stones, Molotov cocktails, handmade bombs and f

Australia navy’s incursions into Indonesian waters took place ‘often’, report says

Australian naval ships entered Indonesian territorial waters often and with ease before the incursions sparked a diplomatic incident in January, according to a leaked Indonesian navy report, and an Indonesian navy spokesman reiterated that the January 6 incursion was a knowing and intentional breach. The dossier, signed off by a senior naval commander in eastern Indonesia, is an official report into the boat that landed on remote Rote island on January 6 after being turned back by the Australian navy. The report suggests three Australian naval vessels had entered Indonesian territorial waters and implies the incursion may have been intentional. “It was too easy for the Australian warships to enter Republic of Indonesia territorial waters without detection,” the report says. The same boat was the subject of allegations that asylum seekers on board had their hands burned by naval personnel. The report, parts of which have been seen by reporters, also contains further details on those all

Pakistan's Bilawal Bhutto lashes out at the 'stone-age' Taleban

KARACHI (AFP) - Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of Pakistan's assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto, on Saturday slammed the Taleban for trying to drag the country back to the "stone-age." Addressing a gathering during the closing ceremony of a two-week cultural festival in his home province of Sindh, Mr Bhutto also urged the country to rise up against the threats. "The Taleban want to impose the law of terror in the country, but I want to tell them, if you have to live in Pakistan you will have to follow its constitution," he said. "We don't accept the law of terrorists" he added. "Some people are trying to bring back the stone-age era in the country in the name of Islam." The start of 2014 has seen a surge in militant violence with more than 130 people killed. Source  http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/asia/story/pakistans-bilawal-bhutto-lashes-out-the-stone-age-taleban-20140215

As violence grows, Iraq faces threat of disintegration

All hell was to break loose - or maybe not - in the restive Iraqi city of Falluja on Friday. Valentine's Day was the ''or else'' deadline set by the Baghdad government for the jihadist militants in control of the western city to lay down their arms or face a ground assault by Iraqi forces, who have been massing around the provincial centre for weeks. Nouri al-Maliki is at heart like his predecessor, Saddam Hussein.   As it was before, Falluja is again at the heart of unrest in the new Iraq. But just because most other outbursts of violence in the country are reduced to ''in-brief''' treatment in the Western media, it would be a mistake to presume all is well. The latest count by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq puts the country-wide death toll from attacks last year at 7818 civilians and 1050 of the security forces - a total of 8868, which makes it the bloodiest year in Iraq since 2008. That 2008 marker is important. That was when the body coun

Top think tank fears resurrection of Maoists in Bihar

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The report says there is a decline in number of arrests of the Maoists in Bihar A latest assessment report by a top government think tank has warned of resurrection of a flailing CPI (Maoist) in the near future due to poor counter-Moaism efforts by the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government. The report titled "Left-Wing Extremism: Trends in 2013" prepared by Ajit Lal, chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), vetted by the  dna  categorically says that "Any respite, at this stage, such as provided by the feeble anti-Naxal response in Bihar, could be fatal to the gains made by security forces" and could help Maoists "form new battle ready company and units." Taking a grim view of the assessment, the Centre is soon expected to send a stinker to chief minister Nitish Kumar. Working directly under cabinet secretariat, the JIC is second most important security think tank of the government after the National Security Council (NSC) that predicts future trends af

Prachanda appeals for reunification of Maoist factions

Kathmandu: Maoist chief Prachanda has appealed to the breakaway CPN-Maoist faction to reunite with his UCPN-Maoist to "accomplish the revolution" launched decades ago.   Prachanda said the split was a major reason behind the UCPN-Maoist's defeat in the November 19 Constituent Assembly election. Speaking at a function yesterday to mark the 19th anniversary of the armed Maoist insurgency during 1996-2006, Prachanda said the parties should unify without further delay.  He said his party is in talks with the Mohan Vaidya-led CPN-Maoist. The UCPN-Maoist split in June 2012 following a series of ideological disputes with Vaidya, one of the party's senior leaders, who later formed the CPN-Maoist.  Prachanda claimed that the split "proved beneficial for the regressive forces of the country in the election". His remarks were an apparent reference to the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, the first and the second largest parties in the assembly, respectively.  The Nepali

NIA team interrogates Maoist leader

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Odisha Sun Times Bureau   Koraput, Feb 15: A senior official of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday began interrogation of Chandu alias T Anil Kumar, a top Maoist cadre of Andhra-Odisha Border Special Divisional Committee in connection with the Maoists attack on Congress leaders at Darabha Ghat in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh while they were on the way to Jagdalpur after attending Parivartan Yatra on May 25 last year. T. Anil Kumar alias Chandu 28 party workers including former Union minister Vidya Charan Shukla were killed in this attack. The NIA team member Sanjay Kumar, additional SP (operation) interrogated Chandu for over 90 minutes at the Koraput Circle Jail reportedly on the the Maoist attack, involvement of other cadres in it and their whereabouts as well as the future action plans of the outlawed party. The team, however, did not reveal the details of the interrogation to the media. It may be mentioned that the Centre had ordered for a NIA probe into the incide

Maoist arrested in Odisha

A  Maoist  was arrested after a two-hour gunbattle with security forces in Rejeda forests under K Balang area of  Odisha 's Sundargarh districta, police said.  There was no report of any casualty from either side in the fight which occurred yesterday, after which one Maoist was caught while the rest fled.  The name and details of the arrested ultra have been kept secret for security reasons and his interrogation was on, they said.  "We have arrested a Maoist but due to sensitivity of the case, we don't want to divulge details about the red rebel who has vital information with him", police said. Source  http://wap.business-standard.com/wapnew/storypage_content.php

Iraq strains under largest internal refugee crisis since height of war

Arbil, Iraq Iraq has the largest internal displacement since the height of the US war on its hands today as government forces try to wrest control of parts of Anbar Province back from militants, adding yet another source of instability to a country already teetering. According to  a Feb. 13 United Nations report , 62,679 families have fled since the fighting began at the end of December – 13,000 of them this week alone. With the UN's rough estimate of six people per family, that is more than 370,000 people, most of them pouring out of the Anbar cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. According to the report, 85 percent of Fallujah's population has been displaced. Some are finding shelter in other parts of Anbar, but many are moving on to neighboring provinces, and an estimated 5,000 families have traveled to the relative safety of Iraqi Kurdistan in the north. In Arbil, where most of the displaced headed to Kurdistan ended up, Yassir Qasr shows a photo of his house in Fallujah. The yell

BDS a hate crime? In France, legal vigilance punishes anti-Israel activists

Some 20 pro-BDS activists have been convicted under the so-called Lellouche law, which has put France at the forefront of efforts to counter the movement through legal means. When Farida Trichine and 11 of her friends burst into a French supermarket in 2009 and began applying stickers with anti-Israel slogans to vegetables imported from the Jewish state, she expected to be escorted from the store by police. What she didn’t expect was to be convicted of inciting racial hatred and slapped with a $650 fine. Three months ago, a court in Colmar convicted the 12 activists under a French law that extended the definition of discrimination beyond the expected parameters of race, religion and sexual orientation to include members of national groups. What Trichine, who was wearing a “boycott Israel” shirt during the protest, saw as a protected act of political speech was being treated by the authorities like a hate crime. “It’s surprising that our actions are considered a crime when the real crim

Terrorists may attack Modi's rally in Muzaffarpur: IB tells Bihar police

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The Intelligence Bureau has issued an alert on Saturday to the Bihar government that terrorists could attack the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally on March 3 in Muzaffarpur district in the state, police officials have said. "The IB has warned the special branch of the state police that Modi's rally in Muzaffarpur could be attack by terrorists,” a senior police official at police headquarters said. The intelligence agency has asked the Bihar police for fool-proof security for Modi's rally. "After the alert, the police headquarters has alerted the district magistrate and the superintendent of police of Muzaffarpur and advised them to arrange tight security for the rally," a police official said. According to police officials, a high level meeting of top police officers was held at police headquarters on Saturday to review preparation of security arrangement for the rally. "The Bihar police is not in mood to take an

Jamaat-TMC, link under scanner

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The porus Bangladesh border is what will be used to send in arms and ammunition to India by terrorist groups and this consignment would land in West Bengal from where terror would commence, is the latest note by the Intelligence Bureau. The same was conveyed to the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Home, R P N Singh. The talk of West Bengal-Bangladesh and terrorism has once again brought to focus, the allegations several leaders from the Trinamool Congress are facing regarding sheltering of Jammat-e-Islami and the Chaatra Shibir operatives. Intelligence Bureau officials tell rediff.com  that there is a major drive that has been undertaken in Bangladesh to drive out members of these outfits and they have taken shelter in West Bengal. IB reports would suggest that several of these members have taken shelter with the help of politicians whose names have come under a lot of scrutiny. The IB is closing monitoring these links and a couple of names including one who was recently elected to t

A boy who aspired to be a cop but grew up to be a terrorist

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T he head of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, Yasin Bhatkal, had at the age of 12 dreamt of becoming a police officer. Bhatkal revealed this to police officers during his interrogation.      His teachers had called him a patriot and even said there was absolutely nothing to suggest that he would one day become embroiled in the world of terror. Yasin Bhatkal, during interrogation, gave an account of what prompted him to join the IM. He told the police that when he was in school all he wanted was to study and get a decent job like everyone else. “This was my mindset till the age of 18. I never imagined I would get involved in terror activities. When I was in school and was asked what I wanted to become when I grew up, my answer always was, a police man, so that I could do right for the society and solve crimes. It was a very exciting prospect and I really looked forward to joining the police force,” Yasin told the police. But over the years things changed. Yasin was pulle

'Syria is central to Middle East peace'

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‘Why not ask for a change of leadership in Qatar, Bahrain or Saudi Arabia? Is there a constitution in Saudi Arabia? Are there elections in Saudi Arabia? Why no talk of democracy in these countries?’ ‘America said change the leader now, but is now ignoring the feelings of the Syrian moderate majority. Is that democracy,' asks H E Dr Riad Abbas, Syrian ambassador to India, in an interview to Cleo Paskal. I n December, Ryan C Crocker, who has served as the United States ambassador to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Kuwait and Lebanon, wrote in the New York Times , 'We need to come to terms with a future that includes Assad. A good place to start is Geneva next month and some quiet engagement with Syrian officials.' That engagement will require at least listening to the Syrian point of view. The Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has ruled the nation for 44 years, has been involved in a violent civil war with insurgents since March 20