Showing posts with label Saudi Arabia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saudi Arabia. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Pakistan discusses possibility of sending troops to fight in Yemen

McClatchy 
Militant Pakistani Sunni groups that trained alongside al Qaida, fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan and launched terrorist attacks in India have pledged their support to Saudi Arabia, a key source of their funding, amid growing pressure on Pakistan to join the military coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In the last seven days, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has received calls from Saudi Arabia’s king, its crown prince, its foreign minister and its intelligence chief, each seeking unspecified support from Pakistan’s 550,000-strong military, one of the largest in the Muslim world.
The calls have, since Friday, prompted four meetings between Sharif and Pakistan’s powerful military chiefs, who’ve been working to craft a response to the Saudi requests that would keep Pakistan from becoming a combatant in Yemen but provide some Pakistani bolstering of Saudi defenses.





Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/03/31/261579/pakistani-militants-pledge-support.html#storylink=cpy
via Dawn News
Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has asked the government to convene all-party conference before making a decision about sending army to Yemen.
The people of Balochistan would bear its brunt if the government decided to send army to Yemen, he told journalists after chairing a meeting of the working committee of ANP at the residence of MNA Ghulam Ahmed Bilour here on Tuesday.
Mr Khan said that Pakhtuns were suffering owing to the government’s decision to get involved in someone else’s war in Afghanistan. The government was repeating the same mistake by sending troops to Yemen, he said, adding it would cause disaster.

 And then there was a poll for readers





Here were the results when I saw this article


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Friday, January 30, 2015

Bandar bin Sultan fired (again)

Rumors are emerging that Prince Bandar bin Sultan has been fired. But as I got excited about the wise move by the new King, Marcy Wheeler asked how long it will last this time.




Now I am seeing more people weighing in as well




Abdulkhaleq Abdulla describes himself as a professor of political science in the UAE.  

Here was the first tweet that I saw.



Middle East Monitor reports on a possible reason why Bandar was removed now by King Salman
Going through a recently leaked series of reports and video clips shed light on these issues. It is now evident that Al-Tuwaijri had been waging a campaign against Salman when he was crown prince. He secretly propagated the idea that it was necessary to have Salman step down. This was part of a well-studied plot hatched in the aftermath of the creation of the post of deputy crown prince.
The leaks appear to show that Al-Tuwaijri and Prince Mutaib Bin Abdullah worked with the assistance and support of Prince Bandar Bin Sultan to promote the exclusion of Salman so Miqrin becomes crown prince and Mutaib his deputy.
Middle East Eye agrees with less explicit language
The move was a significant break with the past that saw several key players stripped of their seats, and various Salman loyalists promoted up the ranks.
The move was a significant break with the past that saw several key players stripped of their seats, and various Salman loyalists promoted up the ranks. - See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/new-saudi-king-orders-cabinet-reshuffle-280880866#sthash.48S7ueOE.dpuf
The move was a significant break with the past that saw several key players stripped of their seats, and various Salman loyalists promoted up the ranks. - See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/new-saudi-king-orders-cabinet-reshuffle-280880866#sthash.48S7ueOE.dpuf
The move was a significant break with the past that saw several key players stripped of their seats, and various Salman loyalists promoted up the ranks. - See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/new-saudi-king-orders-cabinet-reshuffle-280880866#sthash.48S7ueOE.dpuf
The move was a significant break with the past that saw several key players stripped of their seats, and various Salman loyalists promoted up the ranks. - See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/new-saudi-king-orders-cabinet-reshuffle-280880866#sthash.48S7ueOE.dpuf
But as recently as the 23rd the New York Times reported that Bandar would keep his post
Longtime officials kept their posts, including Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who remains the national security council adviser.
As I looked around, I remembered that Bandar had been removed from overseeing Syrian activities as head of Saudi intelligence in February. In April the Chicago Tribune carried a Reuters report that said
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the architect of Riyadh's attempts to bring down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been removed from his post, state media reported on Tuesday.

 His departure, months after he was quoted warning of a "major shift" from the United States over its Middle East policy, may help to smooth relations with Washington as Riyadh pushes for more U.S. support for Syrian rebels.
Prince Bandar, who has recently spent time in the United States and Morocco for medical treatment, was replaced on an interim basis by a deputy.

 "Prince Bandar was relieved of his post at his own request and General Youssef al-Idrissi was asked to carry out the duties of the head of general intelligence," state news agency SPA said, citing a royal decree.

 The decree did not say if Prince Bandar would continue in his other position as head of the National Security Council.

 A former ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar was appointed intelligence chief in July 2012, in charge of helping Syrian rebels bring down Assad, an ally of Riyadh's biggest regional rival Iran.

 He was also closely involved in Saudi support for Egypt's military rulers after they ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi last year, diplomatic sources in the Gulf have said.
Daily Beast profile of "Bandar Bush"
The new Saudi monarch, King Salman, and the people he has brought to top positions around him have wasted no time shaking up some of the most critical positions in their government, especially where United States security concerns come into the picture.

 The change with the most international resonance is without question the removal of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, known as “Bandar Bush” when he was ambassador to Washington, from his position as head of the Saudi National Security Council. Bandar had given up his position as intelligence chief last year, and his successor in that position also was changed January 29, 2015.
We will see how long Bandar has lost his job this time.





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Friday, January 23, 2015

Thursday was a crazy day

Barrett Brown was sentenced to 63 months in prison today.  Understanding the charges.  More info here and here.

 Here was his statement after the sentence.
After receiving his sentence Barrett Brown released the following statement:
“Good news! — The U.S. government decided today that because I did such a good job investigating the cyber-industrial complex, they’re now going to send me to investigate the prison-industrial complex. For the next 35 months, I’ll be provided with free food, clothes, and housing as I seek to expose wrondgoing by Bureau of Prisons officials and staff and otherwise report on news and culture in the world’s greatest prison system. I want to thank the Department of Justice for having put so much time and energy into advocating on my behalf; rather than holding a grudge against me for the two years of work I put into in bringing attention to a DOJ-linked campaign to harass and discredit journalists like Glenn Greenwald, the agency instead labored tirelessly to ensure that I received this very prestigious assignment. — Wish me luck!”

 Quinn Norton is quitting cybersecurity journalism because of the verdict and the threats other journalists face.

 Jason Hammond, twin brother of Jeremy Hammond (Barrett Brown's case related to Jeremy Hammond's activism) was also sentenced to 3½ years (emphasis mine)
While Chicago was in rebellion against the western military super-alliance NATO summit in 2012, a small group of racists organized their own ‘white nationalist economic summit' in the nearby suburb of Tinley Park. They booked a restaurant to hold a luncheon under the guise of the "Illinois European Heritage Association.” For over six months this event was promoted on Stormfront.org, a very popular online forum where racists and neo-nazis converse. Being in a prolonged state of resistance against racism, this summit became known to organized anti-fascists throughout the Midwest. Through research, they had ascertained the time, location, and even some identities of the attendees of this meeting, some of whom were already known as being members of white supremacist groups such as the KKK, National Socialist Movement and Council of Conservative Citizens. Upon becoming aware of this information, myself and others decided to confront the fascists at their meeting. A righteous melee ensued, many of the ten white supremacists were injured, and we left the scene in less than two minutes.
Yemen is in a new stage of crisis, part of a long war that has been fought over the past few years, intensified under President Obama

 Yemen president resigns http://f24.my/1JdGw0B





A Coup in Yemen? Jeremy Scahill & Iona Craig on Rebel Offensive to Seize Power, Saudi Role & AQAP

 The Yemen Model
Yemen is facing political collapse following the mass resignations of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, his prime minister and entire cabinet. Thursday’s exodus came just hours after Shia Houthi rebels stormed the presidential compound in the capital city of Sana’a. Hadi said he could not continue in office after Houthis allegedly broke a peace deal to retreat from key positions in return for increased political power. The Houthis appear to have major backing from longtime former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011. The Obama administration had praised the Yemeni government as being a model for "successful" counterterrorism partnerships, but on Thursday the United States announced it was pulling more staff out of its embassy in Yemen. Some experts warn the developments in Yemen could result in civil war and help al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) gain more power. Meanwhile, Oxfam is warning more than half of Yemen’s population needs aid, and a humanitarian crisis of extreme proportions is at risk of unfolding in the country if instability continues.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died, and reactions from Official Washington, corporate media and everyone else was interesting to see the diplomatic love-fest compared to the truth.

 Here is a small sample of the Twitter responses




It seems no one wants Charles to be King (LOL)




And finally from The New York Times
The Obama administration has taken two actions that seem a refreshing departure from six years of aggressively attacking investigative journalism. The Justice Department abandoned an attempt to force James Risen, a New York Times reporter, to testify about a confidential source. And it tempered internal guidelines for trying to obtain records or testimony from the news media during leak investigations.
But these developments are gallingly late, and they do not really settle the big issues raised by President Obama’s devoted pursuit of whistle-blowers and the reporters who receive their information.
Mr. Risen was being threatened with a jail sentence in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who is charged with providing classified information for a chapter in a book by Mr. Risen detailing a botched covert effort during the Clinton administration to thwart Iran’s nuclear program. The decision not to try to compel Mr. Risen’s testimony was announced in a court motion last week — but only after Mr. Risen was made to testify at a pretrial hearing and said he would neither reveal his confidential sources nor provide details that might help the government identify them.
Soon after the motion was filed, the Justice Department announced a revision in guidelines on leak investigations to delete a reference that offered protections only to “ordinary news-gathering activities” — a vague term that could have been exploited by zealous prosecutors.
Both shifts seemed like an attempt by Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. to soften his reputation before he leaves office. It’s not yet clear whether they mean more respect over time for the crucial role of a free press and the ability of reporters to protect their sources.
They do not erase the Obama administration’s record of bringing more leak cases than all the president’s predecessors combined. Beyond the Risen case, the Justice Department secretly subpoenaed telephone records from Associated Press reporters and editors during a leak investigation and obtained a search warrant for a Fox News reporter’s emails as part of another inquiry.
The abandoned pursuit of Mr. Risen leaves behind an atrocious legal precedent: a 2-to-1 ruling in 2013 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Virginia, which denied the existence of any reporter’s privilege in the First Amendment or common law. That position was advocated by the Justice Department, and it was repeated in briefs asking the Supreme Court to deny Mr. Risen’s request for review, which it did. The Fourth Circuit includes Maryland and Virginia, home to most national security agencies.
Two things are clear. First, dedicated journalists like Mr. Risen are willing to stand up to protect the identity of their sources. The second is the need for a strong federal shield law broadly protective of reporters who do that under the pressure of a high-profile leak investigation.
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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

A Few missed stories

A short post of some of last weeks quiet headlines (October 24 2014)

 Bad phone privacy news
The database, which affects unknown numbers of people, contains phone records that at least five police agencies in southeast Virginia have been collecting since 2012 and sharing with one another with little oversight. Some of the data appears to have been obtained by police from telecoms using only a subpoena, rather than a court order or probable-cause warrant. Other information in the database comes from mobile phones seized from suspects during an arrest.
The five cities participating in the program, known as the Hampton Roads Telephone Analysis Sharing Network, are Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Suffolk, according to the memorandum of understanding that established the database.
Good phone privacy news
Cops Need a Warrant to Grab Your Cell Tower Data, Florida Court Rules
Police departments around the country have been collecting phone metadata from telecoms and using a sophisticated spy tool to track people through their mobile phones—often without obtaining a warrant. But a new ruling out of Florida has curbed the activity in that state, on constitutional grounds. It raises hope among civil liberties advocates that other jurisdictions around the country may follow suit.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that obtaining cell phone location data to track a person’s location or movement in real time constitutes a Fourth Amendment search and therefore requires a court-ordered warrant. 







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