NightWatch
For the Night of 15 April 2008
China-Tibet: After April 30, local Public Security
Personnel in the
Public Security Personnel are the local police. “The military” is most like the Peoples Armed
Police, which roughly correspond to the French Gendarmerie, and are traditionally
recruited from retired soldiers for the Peoples Liberation Army. This move indirectly implies that stability
is fragile. The increased cost of using the Peoples Armed Police in local law
enforcement means that the authorities in
According to a report in the Daily Times, Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif sought time to consult his party on a
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) proposal to fix the tenure of chief justices in
an arrangement similar to that for services chiefs.
“A resolution [to restore the judges] will be moved in parliament before April 30,” a PML-N source said after the meeting. However, a PPP source claimed that the resolution could be delayed until the next session of the National Assembly. “There are minor differences over the issue of fixing the tenure of the supreme and high court chief justices,” he said, adding that the PPP wanted the chief judges’ tenure to be fixed for three to four years.
“From the time that the
unbelievers invaded our
The purpose of this new operation is to attack the enemy where they least
expect it in order to force them out of
This new operation will include new tactics as well as some old ones and the
enemy will be surrounded throughout the whole country. The Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan warns those civilians and soldiers working with puppet Karzai, to
stop working for these apostates and join their Mujahedin brothers in fighting
the enemies of Islam. That day is not far off when the whole world will witness
the collapse of the Karzai administration at the hands of Mujahedin with the
help of Allah Almighty….
Mullah Bradar Muhammad
Deputy Leader
Islamic Emirate of
25
March 2008”
Comment: The Taliban boast every year about their spring offensive. The difference this year is the fighting groups are selecting targets and employing tactics that are consistent with the above statement. They are attacking in districts outside the Pashtun homeland more frequently and attacking less well defended and thus more vulnerable government positions.
There are fewer IEDs and Suicide attacks, but more direct
attacks to surround isolated Afghan outposts and kill the defenders. This is a
terror tactic aimed at the forces of order which they have even tried to use
against one
One explanation for the signs of a strategy is that
Pakistani senior and field grade officers have been assisting the Taliban
leadership in
The Reuters AlertNet repeated excerpts
today from the latest report on security conditions in
Sixteen of the 29 direct attacks on NGOs across the country, from January to the end of March 2008, were initiated and/or executed by Taliban insurgents and other rebel fighters, the report said. The remaining 13 were attributed to criminals who attack NGOs mostly for financial gain. Nine NGO workers lost their lives and nine others were wounded in seven separate armed attacks by anti-government elements, ANSO said.
In seven armed incidents 12 people were kidnapped, leading
to two additional fatalities, including a female
The numbers are small but important as early evidence of a change in targeting strategy aimed at deterring outside investors and aid for the Karzai government. Kidnapping is a longstanding outlaw tactic to raise money. Cooperation with bandit gangs is new in that the Taliban suppressed banditry when they were in power. Other ANSO data indicate a major surge in attacks is developing, but not against Coalition forces so much as against more vulnerable targets … as Mullah Bradar warned.
Zarei, described as a “favorite” of President Ahmadi-nejad, was responsible for the crackdown on immodestly dressed women during the past year. Thousands of young women were detained for violating the Islamic dress code, usually for wearing head scarves that showed too much hair, coats that were tight enough to reveal the figure or slacks that were too short.
The judiciary spokesman did not comment on whether or how the arrest would affect implementation of the dress code which has alienated the urban young adults and students.
The family confirmed that Al-Rubay'i contacted the family on
Saturday, 12 April, "and asked us to reopen the file pertaining to the
assassination. The family spokesman also
accused “certain political figures" of exploiting the assassination for
political gains and, upon the insistence of the Al Arabiyah interviewer,
identified those “figures” as "those who strive to become the prime
ministers of
The spokesman said, "Unfortunately, there is information indicating that all Iraqi political parties and some regional countries, in addition to the incumbent government, have agreed to eliminate this person [Muqtada al-Sadr], but some want to eliminate the accused [Al-Sadr] at our expense, and we will not let anyone exploit this case. We demand that the arrest warrants that were issued on 28 August 2003 by Iraqi judge Ra'id Juhi be activated. These accusations were not made by the family, but were based on documents, eyewitness accounts, and statements by some members of Muqtada al-Sadr's office who had testified against him."
Investigating Magistrate Judge Ra’id Juhi issued 30 arrest
warrants, including for al Sadr, that were never fully executed. No one was
prosecuted and two dozen men arrested at the time were released. Some 40,000 Iraqis were in
Nevertheless, Judge Juhi was key in US efforts to try to
restore the rule of law. He investigated the assassination of Bakr Al Hakim in
2003 but the perpetrators of that murder were never found. He also was the chief investigating
magistrate providing the evidence that convicted Saddam Hussein of mass murder.
He is now a fellow at Cornell law school and a target for assassination if he
returns to
The significance of this report is that it tends to confirm that the government has mounted a multi-level effort to neutralize al Sadr and defang his militias by legal and military action. Al Maliki is using Iraqi and western forces to eliminate his political rivals as much as to improve law and order.
The
opposition movement has fizzled. Mugabe will win in a run-off because he is not
likely to allow another free and reasonably fair election. Voting in the
run-off will be a life or death choice.
"Troublemakers from
If
Food and Instability
Al Jazeerah reported prices in
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