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World Politics

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/jamal-khashoggi-case-latest-updates-181010133542286.html
United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called for international experts to take part in an independent investigation into the killing of Khashoggi, with access to evidence and witnesses.

"For an investigation to be carried out free of any appearance of political considerations, the involvement of international experts, with full access to evidence and witnesses, would be highly desirable," Bachelet said in a statement.

So what is Gina Haspel & the CIA doing with all the info?

EDIT - update - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/jamal-khashoggi-case-latest-updates-181010133542286.html
Saudi Arabian officials have appeared unwilling to "genuinely cooperate" with Turkey's investigation into the murder of Khashoggi, a senior Turkish official said.

"The Saudi officials seemed primarily interested in finding out what evidence the Turkish authorities had against the perpetrators," the official told AFP news agency on the condition of anonymity.

"We did not get the impression that they were keen on genuinely cooperating with the investigation."

So have the CIA told the Saudis what the Turks have? Maybe the Saudis think the Turks have more up their sleeve.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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^^nothing to do with the socialist sweden, imo...

like the vlad-thump meeting in finland earlier, the choice of the location seems to convey an idea that a country is neutral. indeed sweden, thankfully, is still a non-nato member. nor is it associated with, unlike the united states, with any war parties.

the meeting place has to be acceptable to all the meeting parties and it's far from clear that houthi rebels - a de facto arm of iran - has agreed.

i am glad that nordic countries - except norway and denmark - are still neutral and offer a chance for peace however faint :rolleyes:
 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46094228
Panic gripped the Indian capital Delhi on Monday as residents woke up to a blanket of thick grey smog ahead of Diwali, the festival of lights.

Visibility is poor as pollution levels reached 20 times the World Health Organisation's recommended limit.

The air quality is expected to worsen in the coming days due to the use of firecrackers, experts have warned.

Indian cities regularly dominate global pollution rankings for the worst air quality.
...
Air quality in the city worsens every year in November and December as farmers in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana burn crop stubble to clear their fields.

The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), an emergency government initiative to try and improve conditions, has also launched around Delhi. It bans activities like rubbish burning to try and improve air quality.

Time to do a bit more?
 
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/415429-pompeos-meeting-with-north-korean-officials-postponed
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Thursday meeting with a top North Korean official has been postponed, the State Department said.

A statement early Wednesday from department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the New York meeting will now take place at an unspecified “later date.”

“We will reconvene when our respective schedules permit,” she said. “Ongoing conversations continue to take place. The United States remains focused on fulfilling the commitments agreed to by President Trump and Chairman Kim [Jong Un] at the Singapore Summit in June.”

The statement did not elaborate on the reason for the postponement, which was announced while most of the United States was focused on Tuesday's midterm election results.

Not good news ... :sad:
 
Sep 25, 2009
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^a perfectly expected news imo...when the us and china move along their trade confrontation, we may see a progress in korea.

even then,the very bottom line, unless the us is ready to drastically reduce its military occupation of s. korea, the norkor nukes will go nowhere. its a balance in the chinese view...particularly, when the non-stop us provocations in the s.china sea and the weapons sales to taiwan were done in the chinese face.

unable or unwilling to act as the us does in the gulf of mexco, it's a lot more serious than a boxer rebellion THIS TIME.....
 
Re:

python said:
^a perfectly expected news imo...when the us and china move along their trade confrontation, we may see a progress in korea.

even then,the very bottom line, unless the us is ready to drastically reduce its military occupation of s. korea, the norkor nukes will go nowhere. its a balance in the chinese view...particularly, when the non-stop us provocations in the s.china sea and the weapons sales to taiwan were done in the chinese face.

unable or unwilling to act as the us does in the gulf of mexco, it's a lot more serious than a boxer rebellion THIS TIME.....

And the most fashionable cap on the streets of Shanghai?

Crazy world. ;)
 
Seems like Snowden has the same idea that I had -
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...oggi-killers-snowden-says?srnd=premium-europe
Israel-based NSO Group Ltd. may have helped Saudi Arabia track and kill government critic Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul last month, fugitive U.S. whistle-blower Edward Snowden told an Israeli audience by video conference.

Speaking late Tuesday from an undisclosed location in Moscow, Snowden said Israeli companies like NSO Group are among the leaders in selling spyware programs that allow governments to monitor their political opponents.

The company’s Pegasus software, which can infect a target’s smartphone and in effect turn it into a spying device, had been installed on the phone of another Saudi dissident who was in contact with Khashoggi, Snowden said, citing the Canadian internet security think tank Citizen Lab. This could have helped the Saudis track Khashoggi and lure him to the consulate, Snowden said, without giving any evidence that it did.
 
http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/071120182
The political umbrella group of the PKK denounced US bounties on their top leaders as an attack against all Kurds.

"This aggressive, political decision and stance issued against the freedom movement has no political, social, ethical, conscious, or universal truth basis to it," said the Kurdistan Communities Group (KCK) in a statement on Wednesday.

The US announced rewards for information on three senior PKK leaders on Tuesday: up to $5 million for Murat Karayilan, up to $4 million for Cemil Bayik, and up to $3 million for Duran Kalkan.

The move came after two days of meetings with Turkish officials.

The PKK is a named terror organization in Turkey, the US, and Europe. Ankara also considers Kurdish groups in Syria – the PYD, YPG, YPJ, and SDF – as branches of the PKK and has denounced US support for these groups in the war against ISIS.
...
The KCK defended the PKK’s record – it has fought alongside Kurdish forces in the war against ISIS.

"In Shingal, the PKK prevented the decimation of the Yezidi community, one of the oldest and most established of humanity, and gave a moral lesson to regional and international political forces," KCK stated,

more at http://www.rudaw.net/NewsDetails.aspx?pageid=410502

So the guys the US backed to fight IS in Iraq & Syria are now terrorists ... Anything to do with Khashoggi's murder & appeasing Erdogan?
 
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bolto...-doesnt-implicate-saudi-crown-prince?ref=home
John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has insisted the recording of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder doesn’t implicate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in the crime, despite one member of the hit squad reportedly being heard instructing a superior over the phone to “tell your boss.” The recording has been seen by Turkish intelligence officers as some of the strongest evidence linking the de facto Saudi leader to the murder, according to The New York Times, which first reported the detail. Speaking in Singapore, where he’s attending a summit, Bolton said early Tuesday that he hadn’t heard the recording himself—but, asked if it links the crown prince to the killing, he said: “That’s not the conclusion I think that the people who heard it have come to, and that’s certainly not the position of the Saudi government.” Bolton added: “The president has made it clear he wants to get to the bottom of this.”
What a load of bs! This is how the US shall handle the killing? It was some rouge agents who might be Hilary supporters and illegal immigrants - so .... ermmm ... lock 'em up!
 
Sep 25, 2009
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the us vp threatens china with a war...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2018/11/13/pence-its-up-to-china-to-avoid-a-cold-war/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.35026ad0c132

isn't it a time that the (yet) free nations of the world unite to do something about the arrogant regime in washington ? i mean before it will try to subdue each in an equal one-on-one conflict ?

a lot can be achieved if at least some countries which america is trying to intimidate into accepting its supremacy act in coordination.

here's the python (probably utopian) wish list : (i suggest not to get too serious about it... yet.... :) )
1. proceed from the macron rhetoric to starting the expelling of the us occupation troops from germany...the ww2 is over. others may follow
2. launch a relocation bid of the un from nyc to a more neutral locale. the unilateral abuse of the international privilege of who the state dept allows in will stop.
3. initiate a revision to bretton woods so that that the $ gets off the gravy train it is still riding
4. in the mid east, work to change the medeval saudi aradia regime - the staunch us ally and the main reactionary force.
5. europe must impose harsh sanctions on israel for the crimes against the palestinian's. the us zionist lobby duplicity will then be exposed naked
6. China and russia, unlike the lukewarm cooperation now, should explore a strategic political-military alliance. the russian nukes and resources, combined with the chinese industrial potential and human resources can very quickly surpass america even if added algebraically and immediately...

the last one the us is working very hard on actually taking place by punishing both - as little children - with non-stop sanctions and threats. i have more ideas :D
 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-46222337
Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor has concluded that an intelligence officer ordered Jamal Khashoggi's murder, and not Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The officer was tasked with persuading the dissident journalist to return to the Gulf kingdom, a spokesman said.

Khashoggi was given a lethal injection after a struggle in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October, he added.

The public prosecutor has charged 11 people over the murder and is seeking the death penalty for five of them.

Their cases have been referred to a court while investigations into another 10 people suspected of involvement continue.
Yep, they've gone with the "rouge agent" story ... :sad: Still no news on where the body parts are.
 
Re:

Robert5091 said:
http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/071120182
The political umbrella group of the PKK denounced US bounties on their top leaders as an attack against all Kurds.

"This aggressive, political decision and stance issued against the freedom movement has no political, social, ethical, conscious, or universal truth basis to it," said the Kurdistan Communities Group (KCK) in a statement on Wednesday.

The US announced rewards for information on three senior PKK leaders on Tuesday: up to $5 million for Murat Karayilan, up to $4 million for Cemil Bayik, and up to $3 million for Duran Kalkan.

The move came after two days of meetings with Turkish officials.

The PKK is a named terror organization in Turkey, the US, and Europe. Ankara also considers Kurdish groups in Syria – the PYD, YPG, YPJ, and SDF – as branches of the PKK and has denounced US support for these groups in the war against ISIS.
...
The KCK defended the PKK’s record – it has fought alongside Kurdish forces in the war against ISIS.

"In Shingal, the PKK prevented the decimation of the Yezidi community, one of the oldest and most established of humanity, and gave a moral lesson to regional and international political forces," KCK stated,

more at http://www.rudaw.net/NewsDetails.aspx?pageid=410502

So the guys the US backed to fight IS in Iraq & Syria are now terrorists ... Anything to do with Khashoggi's murder & appeasing Erdogan?

http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/161120182
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again urged the US to end its ties with Kurds in Syria.

Erdogan spoke with US President Donald Trump by phone, his office announced on Friday evening.

The Turkish president “expressed his expectations from the USA to end support for the Syrian branch of the terrorist organization PKK,” his office stated.
...
Ankara has accused Washington of supporting terrorists and has threatened military action against the Kurdish groups.

Balancing the demands of Turkey with the needs in the war against ISIS has meant greater American involvement on the ground in northern Syria, US Ambassador James Jeffrey said on Thursday.

Because of Turkey’s objections, the US has not given heavy weaponry to their Kurdish allies, instead having to supply that themselves, he explained.

Turkey is hoping that Washington’s attitude may be shifting, however.

In his same speech, Jeffrey described the Syrian Kurds as an “offshoot” of the PKK – a first for a member of Trump’s administration.
 
Israelis don't want to upset the Saudis -

nov 1 https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5386269,00.html
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with senior US administration officials and defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in light of the ongoing investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

According to the report, Netanyahu and other leaders in the region, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, told the Americans that Saudi leader is an important strategic partner.


nov 2 https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5386744,00.html
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz on Friday called the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul "despicable" but said that co-operating with Riyadh against their common foe Iran was Israel's priority.

Steinitz's remarks appeared to break with Israeli government reticence over last month's killing, which has caused global outrage.

It was not clear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared his views and Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Saudi government initially denied Khashoggi had been killed then later said he died in an unplanned "rogue operation". Last week, the kingdom's public prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb said the attack was premeditated.

Asked about Khashoggi on Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM, Steinitz, a member of Netanyahu's security cabinet, said: "It was a despicable action. It's worthy of all reproach. This was a civilian, a journalist, not a terrorist."

He went on to say, however, that Israel's struggle against Iran was more pressing.

"We have a threat that can become an existential threat - the threat of a nuclear Iran, the threat of terror, the threat of spreading through Syria and Lebanon. And Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, are our allies in recent years against the spread of Iran and against the Iranian nuclear threat," he said.

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5386824,00.html
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday condemned the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, but said the bigger problem facing the region was Iran.

"What happened in the Istanbul consulate was horrendous and should be duly dealt with. At the same time, it is very important for the stability of the world, for the region and for the world, that Saudi Arabia remain stable,” Netanyahu told reporters.
 
PTSD & trauma can come to all -
http://www.rudaw.net/english/culture/17112018
A group of children giggle as they play in a dusty, barren landscape near their home in northern Syria, but this is no ordinary game of catch, for their ball is a live bomb.

The macabre game of chicken is one of the most blood-chilling scenes in "Of Fathers and Sons," filmmaker Talal Derki's disturbing new expose on the grip of Islamism in his native Syria.

"This is the scene that broke my heart," Derki told AFP in an interview in Los Angeles this week, recalling the blood-chilling episode.

"I was seeing my six-year-old boy through the lens."
...
Derki said "Of Fathers and Sons" has had such a profound psychological impact on him that he has put down the camera for now as he concentrates on healing.

"I am still recovering," he said. "I have to take medication to fall asleep, otherwise I have nightmares."

He added that after the final shoot he got his right arm tattooed and his ear pierced to ensure he would not be tempted to try and embed with jihadists in the future .

"If you have tattoos or piercings, you cannot be with them," he said. "So this was my way of making sure I don't go back."

https://www.thenation.com/article/afghanistan-war-veterans-ptsd-personal-essay/
I’m here in Chicago, 7,000 miles and 15 years away from Jalalabad, a desolate town in southwestern Afghanistan. Yet sometimes it seems to me as if it were yesterday, or even tomorrow, and anything but thousands of miles distant.

There are moments when it feels like I never left—or maybe I mean, when it feels like it left with me, like Afghanistan and my once-upon-a-time life as a US Army Ranger are all right here, right now, in my unheated garage workshop. Right here, right now, in fact, the sawdust is swirling as I run a two-inch slab of walnut through my lousy Ryobi table saw. The dust and the noise from that saw instantly bring to mind an image of an American helicopter landing in the Afghan countryside, not too far from Jalalabad. It all seems suddenly to flash before my eyes—only the dust in Afghanistan was chalkier and finer than the dust from this walnut slab, which is old, but not Afghanistan old.

Each of those dusts has dry, earthy, almost sugary smells. It’s hard right now for me to tell which is louder, the helicopter still in my head or the table saw in front of me. That helicopter is taking away two Afghan men with sandbags over their heads. It’s dark out, but my night vision goggles make everything seem eerily bright green.

I helped snatch those two men—or were they teenagers?—from a house in the middle of the night. That was in May of 2003 and sometimes, right here in my workshop, I can still hear the screams of the little kids inside that house. They’re louder than the helicopter, louder than the saw. Maybe one of those men had info that would help lead us to Osama bin Laden, then missing in action somewhere, it was believed, in Pakistan—or so we were told anyway. My job wasn’t to ask or understand; it was just to snatch people, sandbag them, and ship them out. Others higher up the chain of command would ask the questions under conditions that we now know—and I guessed then—were anything but pretty.
 
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/midd...n-hold-talks-envoy-qatar-181118085252177.html
Taliban officials have held three days of talks with the United States' special representative for Afghanistan in Qatar, Zalmay Khalilzad, aimed at renewing the peace process in the war-torn country, an official of the armed group said.

The talks, which ended on Sunday, were confirmed by other individuals close to the group, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the negotiations.

The Taliban said its dialogue process with Washington was aimed at securing a timetable for the withdrawal of all the US and NATO troops from Afghanistan to pave the way for an intra-Afghan dialogue.
...
It was reported that Khairullah Khairkhwa, the former Taliban governor of Herat, and Mohammed Fazel, a former Taliban military chief, attended the marathon talks.

Khairkhwa and Fazel were among five senior Taliban members released from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay in 2014 in exchange for US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban after walking off his base in Afghanistan in 2009.

US President Donald Trump had harshly criticised the 2014 prisoner exchange and in a speech last August pledged to send in additional troops and redouble efforts to defeat the Taliban.
 
If GE did not have enough problems -
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ge-seeks-power-sales-iraq-150000924.html?guccounter=1
General Electric Co. learned from a consultant’s report this past summer of corruption allegations against key business partners in Iraq, where the company is trying to shore up its position in one of the most important foreign markets for its struggling power business.
...
The study, prepared for GE by corporate intelligence firm Hakluyt & Co., paints a portrait of widespread corruption and bribery in the Iraqi power sector, accusing high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Electricity, from which GE is currently vying with Siemens AG for $15 billion in new power contracts. Siemens declined to comment.

The Hakluyt report, based on interviews with business people and political officials working in the power sector, provides a broad overview of the corruption concerns in the industry and advises GE to distance itself from at least one of its contractors. Hakluyt’s staff includes former British MI-6 officers and strategic consultants from the business world.

One Iraqi government official is quoted in the report estimating that “not one single contract” in a recent wave of power agreements “has been done without some kind of deal benefiting one of the religious and political parties.”

The report, prepared for GE this spring, follows a previously unreported Justice Department inquiry into corruption allegations against GE employees in Iraq in April. That inquiry was triggered by a whistleblower complaint alleging employees of GE Power, the conglomerate’s power unit, in the country were involved in corruption, according to people familiar with the complaint.

Then again Iraq ranks 169 out of 180 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index - see https://www.transparency.org/country/IRQ
 
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/fe...rm-coalition-aiming-to-overthrow-regime-.html
Iranian parties and political forces have reportedly agreed to ally together to set plans and political preparations in motion that aims at “overthrowing the regime in Tehran”, according to sources familiar with the groups.

Al Arabiya English received a copy of the statement which stated: “Political parties and forces started a ‘joint activity’ to ‘form a broader coalition’ despite their clear ideological differences”.

According to the statement the forces and parties which agreed to align are the following:

“The Azerbaijan Democratic Alliance, the Democratic and secular republic advocates movement, the Ahwazi Democratic Solidarity Party, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the Baluchistan People’s Party, the organization of Iranian People's Fedai, the Provisional Council of the Socialist Left, the Kurdish rebels movement (Komola)”.

The statement signed by these movements explained that they all aim to achieve “a democratic regime by establishing a republic regime based on separating the religion from the State.
...
In the signed statement of the political forces that it does not expect that the Islamic Republic regime would witness real and influential reforms; meaning that none of the demands of these forces can be achieved under the dominance of this group which is controlling the regime inside Iran. Thus, the solution from the point of view of these forces is to “overthrow the Islamic republic regime, and the dissolution of all its institutions to establish a democratic regime in Iran” according to what was mentioned in the statement.
 
Pompeo gives the Saudis the "blame it on a dead man" plan -
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/...ship-khashoggi-fallout-says-source-1684431379
Saudi Arabia's king and crown prince are shielding themselves from the Jamal Khashoggi murder scandal by using a roadmap drawn up by the US secretary of state, a senior Saudi source has told Middle East Eye.

Mike Pompeo delivered the plan in person during a meeting with Saudi King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, last month in Riyadh, said the source, who is familiar with Pompeo's talks with the Saudi leaders.

The plan includes an option to pin the Saudi journalist’s murder on an innocent member of the ruling al-Saud family in order to insulate those at the very top, the source told MEE.

That person has not yet been chosen, the source said, and Saudi leaders are reserving the use of that plan in case the pressure on bin Salman, also known as MBS, becomes too much.

and to deflect the criticism about the war in Yemen, help the refugees caused by the Saudis in Yemen (genius move!)
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/Ne...bia-UAE-announce-new-initiative-in-Yemen.html
Saudi Arabia and the UAE announced the launching of a $500 million initiative to address the humanitarian situation in Yemen at a joint press conference on Tuesday.

They also announced that the kingdom and the UAE will launch another initiative for food security that will reach 10-12 million Yemenis.
 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46313136
Gunmen have killed at least four people in an attack on the Chinese consulate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi.

Gunshots were heard at about 09:30 local time (04:30 GMT) outside the consulate in the upmarket Clifton area. Police shot dead three attackers.

Separatist militants who oppose Chinese investment projects in western Pakistan say they carried out the attack.
...
A separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army, said it had carried out the attack. It is one of a number of separatist groups operating in the restive province, which has seen a long-running nationalist insurgency.

"We have been seeing the Chinese as an oppressor, along with Pakistani forces," a spokesman for the group told the AFP news agency.

Over the years, construction projects and Chinese workers in Balochistan have been repeatedly targeted by militants but this is one of the most prominent such attacks to date.

Balochistan is at the heart of an ambitious Chinese project, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The corridor is a string of huge investments by China in Pakistani infrastructure seeking to link its western Xinjiang province with the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar in Balochistan, as part of the One Belt, One Road initiative.

As China is such a close ally to Pakistan and has poured billions into the nation, this incident will deeply concern authorities who have described this investment as a "game changer", says the BBC's Secunder Kermani in Islamabad.

Balochistan itself is a sparsely populated region, rich in gas and coal reserves, as well as copper and gold.

In Iran too, the Baluchistan People’s Party one of 10 in anti-regime coalition
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/fe...rm-coalition-aiming-to-overthrow-regime-.html
Ten Iranian political factions form coalition aiming to ‘overthrow regime’
...
The parties signed on this statement belong to different Iranian peoples and nationalities, like “the Ahwazi Democratic Solidarity Party” that represent the Arab Ahwaz, Balochistan, Kurdish and Azerbaijani parties.

I just hope this is not the result of US/Israeli anti-Iran "assistance" with more killing to come.
 
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/mozambiques-apparent-islamist-insurgency-poses-multiple-threats
The apparent Islamist insurgency in Mozambique’s northernmost province, Cabo Delgado, had gone quiet – until last Wednesday night’s attack in the village of Nagulué in the Macomia district. The village chief was decapitated and mutilated, several villagers were injured and 18 homes destroyed, according to various sources. It was a brutal reminder that Maputo is far from getting this crisis under control.

Independent security analyst Johann Smith warns that ‘al-Shabaab’ or ‘Ansar al-Sunnah’ or ‘Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamo’ (no one is sure what to call the attackers) is regrouping and that more assaults could occur soon. He suspects that foreigners could for the first time become targets of what has so far been an assault only on local security forces and citizens.

He also warns that, having failed to respond in a coherent way, including tackling root causes, Mozambique’s government is about to hand over responsibility to a private security company. This could aggravate the problem.

One security source said the L6G security company, owned by Erik Prince, founder of the notorious Blackwater US private security company, is promising to flatten al-Shabaab in three months. This is in exchange for a hefty slice of oil and gas revenues when those large reserves come on stream sometime after 2023. The equally controversial Russian private security company Wagner is bidding against L6G for the contract, the source said.

see for background my post in June http://forum.cyclingnews.com/viewtopic.php?p=2275830#p2275830

EDIT- update 25 Nov - Iran's PressTv on same story -
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018...nzania-villages-militants-police-oil-and-gas-

Heroin -
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...mbique-s-second-biggest-export-research-shows
“Mozambique is a significant heroin transit center and the trade has increased to 40 tons or more per year, making it a major export which contributes up to $100 million per year to the local economy,” Hanlon said. “With an export value of $20 million per ton, heroin is probably the country’s largest or second-largest export after coal.”

Blood rubies -
https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/0...ontepuez-mozambique-gemfields-illegal-mining/
Some 40 percent of the world’s rubies lie in one mining concession in Mozambique, where a troubling pattern of violence and death contradicts the claim of “responsibly sourced.”
...
Discovered by a local farmer in 2009, the ruby deposit in Montepuez has been hailed by the Gemological Institute of America as “the most important ruby discovery” of the 21st century. The gems are of exceptional quality, color, and clarity. So it’s little wonder that the find has attracted foreigners and Mozambicans alike, all driven by the same desire: To strike it rich.

One such individual is Gen. Raimundo Pachinuapa, a member of the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front, or Frelimo, and former governor of Cabo Delgado province, where Montepuez is located. Pachinuapa allegedly appropriated land belonging to the farmer who initially discovered the rubies.

Ivory - 2011 https://africanconservation.org/chinese-flee-mozambique-over-ivory-smuggling-6/
Two employees of a Chinese company have fled Mozambique after police stopped the smuggling of 166 elephant tusks and other animal parts, state media reported on Tuesday.

The manager and a machine operator for Chinese firm Tienhe returned to their home country after authorities discovered 161 containers of unprocessed timber at Pemba port in northernmost province Cabo Delgado, according to Noticias newspaper.

Elephant ivory, excrement and internal organs, as well as pangolin scales were found hidden between the wood in some containers, implicating Chinese company Miti, the largest logging company in the province.

2018 - https://clubofmozambique.com/news/cabo-delgado-police-accuse-fishermen-of-joining-insurgents/
This is not the first time that the police have frustrated an alleged attempt to recruit people from Nampula to Cabo Delgado since attacks on civilians began in the province. At the beginning of June this year, police in Nampula detained around 40 national and foreigner citizens (?) who were allegedly travelling to Palma to join the group that has been responsible for terror attacks in Cabo Delgado.

Remote villages in the province of Cabo Delgado have been ransacked since October 2017, causing an undetermined number of dead and displaced persons.

The groups that have attacked the villages have never claimed responsibility or made their intentions known , but investigators suggest that violence is linked to trafficking in heroin, ivory, rubies and wood. The attacks come at a time when the investments of natural gas oil companies in the region are underway, but have not yet affected the enterprises directly.
 
More on the Saudis & Khashoggi
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/saudi-prince-turki-cia-trusted-khashoggi-181125060414841.html
A senior Saudi prince cast doubt on the reported CIA finding that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month, saying the agency could not be counted on to reach a credible conclusion.

"The CIA is not necessarily the highest standard of veracity or accuracy in assessing situations. The examples of that are multitude," Prince Turki al-Faisal, a senior member of the royal family, told journalists in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

The prince, a former Saudi intelligence chief who has also served as ambassador to the United States, said the agency's conclusion that Iraq possessed chemical weapons before the US invasion in 2003 showed it could be unreliable.
(Throwing old mud & hoping it sticks)

MbS's hunt for dissidents - (& not good news for iPhone fans)
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/...deal-saudi-arabia-ahead-purge-report-70248154
A Tel Aviv-based company offered Saudi Arabia a system that hacks mobile phones a few months before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) began his purge of regime opponents in 2017, according to a complaint to the Israel police now under investigation, an Israeli newpaper has said.

Haaretz reported on Sunday that a series of meetings involving technology supplied by the company NSO Group led to the signing of a deal with Saudi intelligence in the summer of 2017.

The findings tie in with ongoing remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has repeatedly expressed his wish to strengthen ties with Gulf states, particularly through the sale of advanced Israeli technology.

While Netanyahu has defended the sales as part of a strategic battle against Iran, several reports have shown the technology being used by Gulf states against their own citizens.

Haaretz said its investigation into the deal were "based on testimony and photos, as well as travel and legal documents".

According to the newspaper, one of a series of meetings centered around the deal took place in June 2017 at a hotel in Vienna.

It said those attending the meeting included Abdullah al-Malihi, a close associate of Prince Turki al-Faisal – the former head of Saudi Arabia's intelligence services – and another senior Saudi official, Nasser al-Qahtani, who presented himself as the deputy of the current intelligence chief.

Two Israeli businessmen, representatives of NSO, then showed the company's latest technology to the Saudis, Haaretz said.

Middle East Eye has previously reported on NSO's Pegasus spyware, known as a "one-click system," whereby the victim has to press a link sent to them through phishing.

NSO's latest Pegasus 3 system no longer requires this, with only the number of the SIM card needed to hack into the phone.

Once a phone is hacked, the speaker and camera can be used for recording conversations, while even encoded apps such as WhatsApp can be monitored.

According to Haaretz, the NSO representatives sent Qahtani to a nearby shopping centre to buy an iPhone and give them its number.

They then demonstrated how this was enough to hack into the new phone and record and photograph the participants in the meeting.
 
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