2014 - Year of the Horse

Libya - Abduction of Diplomats

Related UPDATES included on January 26/28.


Photo: Egyptian embassy in Libya.

ليبيا: دبلوماسيين مصريين خطفوا بعد اعتقال زعيم ميليشيا

Libya: Egyptian diplomats kidnapped after the arrest of a militia leader.

خطف أربعة من أفراد البعثة الدبلوماسية بالسفارة المصرية في طرابلس اليوم بعد يوم من خطف دبلوماسي مصري آخر فيما وصفته الحكومة الليبية بانه رد فعل على اعتقال مصر لزعيم ميليشيا ليبية.ـ

Four individuals on a diplomatic mission at the Egyptian embassy in Tripoli were kidnapped one day after the abduction of other Egyptian diplomats in what the Libyan government described as a reaction on the arrest of a Libyan militia leader by Egypt.

There was no declaration about the group responsible for the abductions, however information was spread that a Libyan militia leader should have been arrested in Cairo.

[Source: Ar-Riyadh Net الرياض نت, Saudi Arabia, on January 25, 2014]

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Evening UPDATE on January 26:



عززت السلطات الليبية من وجود قوات الأمن أمام السفارة المصرية بالعاصمة الليبية طرابلس عقب مغادرة البعثة الدبلوماسية المصرية طرابلس بعد قرار الحكومة المصرية بإجلاء كل الدبلوماسيين بالسفارة، جراء اختطاف 5 دبلوماسيين مصريين بالسفارة المصرية، من بينهم الملحق الثقافي الدكتور الهلالي الشربيني والملحق التجاري حمدي غانم. ـ

Libyan authorities increased the presence of security forces in front of the Egyptian embassy in Libya's capital Tripoli which followed the abandoning of Egypt's diplomatic mission [there] after a decision of the Egyptian government to clear the embassy from all diplomats. [When] the abduction of five Egyptian diplomats from the Egyptian embassy took place, the cultural attaché Dr. Hilali ash-Sharbini and the commercial attaché Hamdi Ghanem were among them.

[Source: Al-Ahram الأهرام, Cairo, on January 26, 2014]


Related News on January 26:



伊朗称未证实在也门被绑架外交官遭基地组织斩首

Iran says there is no confirmation that an [Iranian] diplomat abducted in Yemen has been beheaded by al-Qaeda organization.

The official Iranian source contradicts the Yemenite government and its security ministry on this matter and who had already launched the news of a beheading.

[Source: China News Network 中国新闻网 on January 27 local date (!), 2014]


Related News on January 28:

安理会呼吁不向恐怖分子付赎金和做政治让步

[The United Nations] Security Council calls for not paying ransom money and not making political concessions towards terrorists.

This news is quoting an advice given by the United Nations Security Council the day before on January 27. It is referring to incidents of abduction by al-Qaeda and its branches. According to related British statistics, there should have been paid about 105 million U.S.$ of ransom money during the last 3.5 years to such organizations.

[Source: China News Network 中国新闻网 on January 28, 2014]

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Syria - Voice from the Underground

At the very beginning of a 'Geneva 2' conference on Syria, two sides involved in the problem, however not present at the negotiating table, make themthelves heard. One side is the Iranian president Rouhani who proposes general elections in Syria as a means to solve the problem. The other side involved is al-Qaeda, the " parent organization of Islamic terrorism ", represented by its actual leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.



الظواهري يدعو لوقف القتال بين الفصائل الإسلامية بسوريا

Headline:
Al-Zawahiri calls for an ending of the battle between Islamic troops in Syria.

دعا زعيم تنظيم القاعدة أيمن الظواهري، في رسالة صوتية نشرت على الإنترنت، إلى وقف القتال بين "أخوة الجهاد والإسلام" في سوريا.ـ

In an acoustic message distributed on the internet, the leader of al-Qaeda organization Ayman al-Zawahiri called for an ending of the battle within " the brotherhood of Jihad and Islam " in Syria.

ووجه الظواهري في رسالته التي تتزامن مع انطلاق مؤتمر جنيف 2، نداءً إلى "كل المجموعات الجهادية وكل حر في الشام يسعى لإسقاط حكم الأسد"، وقال "ندعوهم جميعا لأن يسعوا إلى إيقاف القتال بين أخوة الجهاد والإسلام فورًا".ـ

And in his message which came simultaneously with the beginning of a 'Geneva 2' conference, al-Zawahiri addressed " all militant groups and all [liberal ones] in Syria to engage in overthrowing the regime of al-Assad ". And he said " we call them all to engage immediately in ending the battle within the brotherhood of Jihad and Islam ".

[Source: EGY News , Cairo, on January 23, 2014]

Syria Conference - First Difficulties

An international conference to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria is set to begin in Switzerland today, January 22.

For months, UN, US and Russian diplomats have struggled to persuade both sides to attend what has become known as "Geneva II".

The UN's Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has said it would be "unforgivable not to seize this opportunity" to end a conflict that has left more than 100,000 people dead and driven 9.5 million from their homes.

[Source: BBC on January 21, 2014]


التلفزيون السوري: طائرة وفد المحادثات منعت من التزود بالوقود في اثينا

Headline:
Syrian TV: The airplane [carrying] a delegation for negotiations was refused refuelling in Athens.

قال التلفزيون السوري الحكومي ان الطائرة التي [تنقل] الوفد الذي سيشارك في محادثات السلام الدولية التي ستجري في سويسرا منعت من التزود بالوقود يوم الثلاثاء بعد ان هبطت في مطار أثينا.ـ

[According to] Syrian state TV, the aircraft carrying the delegation that will participate in international peace talks to take place in Switzerland was refused refuelling after landing on Athens airport.

واضاف ان الطائرة حصلت على اذن بالمرور في المجال الجوي المعني والهبوط في اثينا للتزود بالوقود.ـ

And it was added the aircraft had received a [traffic/transit] permission for the [requested] airspace [including] landing in Athens for refuelling.

[Source: Reuters - Arabic News رويترز on January 21, 2014]




وليد المعلم قبيل وصوله جنيف: الأسد خط أحمر

Walid al-Muallem shortly before his arrival in Geneva : Assad's "red line".

[Editor's Note: Walid al-Muallem (photo above) is Syria's minister of foreign affairs. His recent activity came only days after a defected member of Assad's state security presented photos proving cruel torture on a large scale in Syrian prisons.]

اعتبر أن مشاركة وفد النظام تهدف لبدء حوار سوري - سوري

It was considered that a participation of the regime's delegation [would be] aiming at the beginning of a Syrian-Syrian dialogue.

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on January 22, 2014]

Iraq - Army Fighting Rebels in Ramadi

After shelling militant Islamic groups in Falluja, the Iraqi army is now launching an attack on similar groups in Ramadi township.



الجيش العراقي يشن عملية عسكرية ضد "داعش" في الرمادي

The Iraqi army is launching a military operation against "Daesh" in Ramadi.

According to General Mahmud al-Eskari, the spokesman for Iraq's ministry of defense (photo below), that operation is directed against " followers of 'Daesh' (Islamic Nation of Iraq and Syria/ the Levant, ISIS/ISIL), members of al-Qaeda and other terrorists ".



[Source: Al-Hayat الحياة on January 19, 2014]

Further information on "Daesh" is available on another blogspot of mine published earlier this month.

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A map of the region showing Ramadi and Falluja as key locations
on a main road that stretches from Baghdad to the Syrian border.

Iran - Official Voices

"Technical differences" between the United States and Iran regarding part of the nuclear deal reached between Iran and an international group of nations, the so-called 5+1 group, have been stated in a recent declaration from Washington. Here now the offical answer from Tehran:



طهران تعتبر بيان واشنطن حول اتفاقية النووي منحازاً

Headline:
Tehran is considering Washington's declaration as being partial [with regard to] the nuclear treaty.

أفخم: هذا ليس معياراً للحكم على الطريقة التي سيتم بها تطبيق الاتفاق

Headline:
Afkham: This is not a criterion for judging the procedure that will [lead to] the treaty's application.

أعلنت إيران، الجمعة، أن الملخص الذي نشره البيت الأبيض لشروط تطبيق الاتفاق المرحلي حول البرنامج النووي الإيراني "قراءة أحادية الجانب ومنحازة".ـ

On Friday, Iran declared the summary published by the White House of practical step-by-step conditions for the treaty on Iran's nuclear program as being a " unilateral and partial reading matter ".

وصرحت المتحدثة باسم وزارة الخارجية الإيرانية، مرضية أفخم، بأن بيان البيت الأبيض قراءة أحادية الجانب ومنحازة للاتفاق غير الرسمي بين إيران ومجموعة 5+1 (الصين والولايات المتحدة وفرنسا وبريطانيا وروسيا إضافة إلى المانيا)، كما نقلت عنها وكالة "إيرنا".ـ

Marzieh Afkham, the spokeswoman for Iran's ministry of foreign affairs made clear that a declaration from the White House is [some kind of] unilateral and partial reading matter [regarding] the treaty [and which] is not official between Iran and the 5+1 group (China, United States, France, Britain, Russia and, in addition, Germany), as has been communicated by "IRNA" [press] agency.

وأضافت أفخم "هذا ليس أبداً معياراً للتقييم أو للحكم على الطريقة التي سيتم بها تطبيق الاتفاق".ـ

Afkham added: " This is not at all a criterion for appreciating or for judging the procedure that will [lead to] the treaty's application. "

.....
ويحدد النص "ذو الطابع التقني"، الذي نشره البيت الأبيض، الخميس، مهلاً لعمليات تفتيش المنشآت النووية الإيرانية من قبل وكالة الطاقة.ـ

.....
The definition of a clause " having [mere] technical character " and which the White House has published on Thursday, [is regarding] a delay of inspection procedures by the agency for [nuclear] energy on the origins of Iran's nuclear [material].

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on January 18, 2014]


Only some weeks earlier, in December 2013, the Iranian minister of foreign affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was quoted with the following words:



ظريف: المفاوضات النووية مستمرة رغم عقوبات واشنطن

Zarif: [There are] negotiations [on the nuclear issue] despite of sanctions from Washington.

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on December 15, 2013]


While the U.S. are pressing Iran's leadership on one side, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has to cope as well with internal differences on the other side:



روحاني: مسؤولون إيرانيون يستغلون الحظر لمصالح شخصية

Headline:
Rouhani: Those responsible in Iran are using the embargo for personal interests.

عبر عن دعمه للمفاوضين النوويين الذين وصفهم بأنهم من أقوى المسؤولين

Headline:
He expressed his support for those who negotiate the nuclear issue, describing them as energetic responsible persons.

اتهم الرئيس الإيراني، حسن روحاني، مسؤولين في طهران بعرقلة إزالة العقوبات الدولية ،المفروضة على بلاده، بسبب مصالحهم الشخصية، مهدداً بالكشف عنهم لكن في الوقت المناسب، حسب تعبيره.ـ

Iran's president Hassan Rouhani accused responsible persons in Tehran for obstructing the elimination of international sanctions, imposed on his country, as a consequence of personal benefits to them. [He] threatened to [convict them], however at the appropriate moment.

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on January 16, 2014]

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Saudi Arabia - Shooting Targeting Diplomats

An "enlightening" UPDATE was added on January 15.



سيارة دبلوماسية ألمانية تتعرض لاعتداء بالعوامية

German diplomat's car [became the target] of an attack in al-Awamia.

راكباها الألمانيان يحملان الصفة الدبلوماسية ونجيا بمساعدة أحد المواطنين

[The car] was driven by two Germans [with diplomatic status] and [who] fled with the help of some compatriots.

تعرضت سيارة دبلوماسية تابعة للسفارة الألمانية في السعودية، لإطلاق نار من مجهولين أثناء تواجدها ببلدة العوامية بالمنطقة الشرقية.ـ

A diplomat's car [belonging] to the German embassy in Saudi Arabia became the target of a shooting from unknown [side] while passing the community of al-Awamia in ash-Sharqia province on Monday [January 13].

Editor's Note: The Saudi Arabian province of ash-Sharqia is situated in the Eastern part of the country. The community of al-Awamia is known for its sometimes rebellious Shia population.




Al-Awamia is not a desert village but belongs to an agglomeration of urban communities stretching along the coastal line of the Persian Gulf. It hosts different education centers, a police station and a medical center. Al-Awamia belongs to the administration district of al-Qatif township.

وأوضح الناطق الإعلامي بشرطة المنطقة الشرقية أن الحادث أسفر عن احتراق السيارة ونجاة راكبيها الألمانيين اللذين يحملان الصفة الدبلوماسية، وذلك بمساعدة أحد المواطنين.ـ

The spokesman for ash-Sharqia province police made clear the incident presented itself as a car catching fire and the rescue of both German passengers who carried diplomatic passports. [Rescue] happened with the help of some compatriots.

وأكد الناطق الإعلامي أن الجهات الأمنية المختصة تتولى حالياً متابعة هذا الاعتداء لتحديد المسؤولين عنه.ـ

And the spokesman assured that special security services will handle the case in succession to that attack [until] the determination of those responsible for it.

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on January 14, 2014]


A Saudi-Arabian news service had the information some hours earlier than Dubai based Al-Arabiya Net:

صرح الناطق الإعلامي بشرطة المنطقة الشرقية بأنه عند الساعة السادسة من مساء اليوم الإثنين الموافق 12 ربيع الأول 1435هـ، تلقت شرطة محافظة القطيف بلاغاً عن تعرض سيارة دبلوماسية، للسفارة الألمانية بالمملكة، أثناء وجودها ببلدة العوامية لإطلاق نار من مجهولين مما أسفر عن احتراقها ونجاة راكبيها الألمانيين اللذين يحملان الصفة الدبلوماسية وذلك بمساعدة أحد المواطنين.ـ

The spokesman for ash-Sharqia province police declared that today, Monday [January 13], at about six o'clock in the evening, the police of al-Qatif district received a message [saying] that a diplomat's car from the German embassy to the Kingdom, was affected by a shooting from unknown [persons] while being in the community of al-Awamia. [That shooting] resulted in [the car's] burning and the rescue of both German passengers who [had diplomatic status] with the help of some compatriots.

Editor's Note: The Arabic text uses the Islamic date of the day the incident happened.

[Source: Al-Mowaten Net المواطن نت on January 13, 2014]


And here is the end of the story as far as I will tell it:



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Visitors to "blueprint news" coming from Saudi Arabia on
Jan. 15 and who are interested in the al-Awamia incident.


Iraqi visitor referring to my blogspot on militant Islamic groups.

Islamic Rebels in Iraq and Syria

UPDATES added on January 10 and 12.

Increasing influence of Islamic fundamentalists in the Falluja region of Southern Iraq is the subject of today's news from Al-Arabiya. It is all about some organization named "Daesh".

"Daesh" is the Arabic abbreviation for an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)" and which uses a synonym for Syria in its name that can be interpreted as well as "the Levant". Hence, the organization is as well known under the name "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)". Their actual leader should be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
ـ"الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام" (داعش)ـ Here are the headlines:



ـ"داعش" يسعى لتأسيس دولة على حدود سوريا والعراق

"Daesh" is trying to install a state at the border between Syria and Iraq.

يخوض معارك شرسة في محافظتين سوريتين وأخريين على الجانب العراقي

It is taking part in fierce battles in two districts, one in Syria the other at one side of Iraq.




إقالة قائد شرطة الأنبار.. و"داعش" يسيطر على الفلوجة

Dismissal of the chief of police for Anbar [province] ..... and "Daesh" in control of Falluja [township].

تضارب كبير حول مصير مدينة المساجد وخطة المالكي الأمنية تواجه الفشل

Great battle for the destiny of the town of mosques [while] al-Maliki's [security] plan is facing failure.

Editor's Note: Kamil Muhammed Hasan al-Maliki is the president of Iraq since 2006.

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on late evening of January 5 and 6, 2014]

Information given above is fitting with U.S. reports saying that in January 2014, during the clashes in Iraq's Anbar province, ISIS militants took control of the city of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi while Islamic rebels in Syria affiliated with the Islamic Front. As a consequence, the Free Syrian Army launched an offensive against ISIS militants in and around Aleppo. Sources quoted on this item are U.S.A. Today and the New York Times from January 4, 2014.

[Please note that seemingly contradictory dates are usually subject to differing degrees of longitude between countries far away from each other, especially when it comes to editions published close to midnight.]

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Today's news report from People's Network, Beijing, stresses the fact of Al-Qaeda provoking the U.S. leadership by taking over Falluja, a stronghold of the new Iraqi state which owed its existence to America after U.S. invasion in 2003:

基地组织攻下伊拉克重镇　挑衅美国称公开建国
“基地组织正在以暴力接管伊拉克!”在一伙极端分子占领伊拉克城市费卢杰，并公开宣布建立“伊斯兰酋长国”之后，西方媒体5日一片惊呼声。自2003年美国入侵伊拉克以来，与“基地”组织有关联的武装分子还是首次对重要城市如此公开地控制，这无疑是对美国主导的中东秩序的严重挑衅。

"Al-Qaeda is using force to bring Iraq under its control !", that is what Western media cried out in alarm on [January] 5, when a group of extremists seized the Iraqi town of Falluja and officially proclaimed the foundation of an "Islamic Emirate".

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UPDATE for January 10:



أوغلو: العلاقة بين داعش ونظام الأسد أصبحت علنية

[Davutoğlu]: A relation between Daesh and the Assad regime has become public.

Ahmet Davutoğlu ( أحمد داوود أوغلو ), Turkish minister of foreign affairs.

الجيش الحر يتهم دولة العراق والشام بالعمل لحماية النظام

The Free [Syrian] Army accuses the "State of Iraq and Syria/Levant" [i.e. ISIS/ISIL] of operating for the protection of the regime.

تأتي ملاحقة "داعش" من قبل كتائب الجيش الحر بعد سلسلة اتهامات سابقة لعلاقة مشبوهة بين نظام الأسد وهذا التنظيم كانت فرنسا وبريطانيا ألمحت إليها سابقاً.ـ

Units of the Free Army have started chasing "Daesh" after a preceding series of accusations regarding a suspected relation between the regime of Assad and that organization [which France and Britain had found out earlier].

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on January 10, 2014]

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UPDATE for January 12:



برزاني ينتقد تدخل المالكي العسكري في محافظة الأنبار

Barzani criticizes the military intervention of [Iraq's president] Maliki in Anbar province.

Editor's Note: Masud Barzani is president of the Kurdish territory
in Iraq (photo above). رئيس إقليم كردستان مسعود بارزاني

الجيش العراقي يحاصر الفلوجة والرمادي ويمطرهما بالقذائف والقصف العشوائي

The Iraqi army besieges Falluja and Ramadi with a shower of grenades in an arbitrary bombardment.


Further News of the Day:

قتل 8 أشخاص على الأقل وأصيب نحو 12 آخرين بجروح في انفجار سيارة مفخخة استهدفت، الأحد، متطوعين للجيش في بغداد، حسبما أفادت مصادر أمنية وطبية.ـ

At least 8 persons died and about 12 others were wounded in the explosion of a [mined] car targeting volunteers of the Iraqi army in Baghdad according to information from security and medical sources.



والهجوم هو الثاني ضد متطوعين في الجيش، بعد سقوط 23 قتيلا و30 جريحا في تفجير انتحاري استهدفهم الخميس الماضي، قرب المركز ذاته.ـ

That attack was the second one [directed] against volunteers in the army after 23 died and 30 were wounded in a suicide bombing targeting them near [their quarters] last Thursday.

وفتحت السلطات الحكومية باب التطوع للانضمام إلى الجيش العراقي تزامنا مع انطلاق عمليات عسكرية في محافظة الأنبار لمطاردة عناصر تنظيم دولة العراق الإسلامية في العراق والشام (داعش).ـ

Government authorities had opened the door to a registration for joining the Iraqi army simultaneously with starting military operations in Anbar province [in order to] chase elements from ISIS/ISIL organization ("Daesh").

[Source: Al-Arabiya العربية on January 12, 2014]

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Visitor to "blueprint news" coming from the University of Cambridge.


Choice of localized visitors to "blueprint news" who came on January 10/11, 2014.


Australian visitor coming from the neighbourhood of Sydney's Olympic Park.


Choice of localized visitors who recently came from the Russian Federation.

Crystal Meth - Made in China

In the early hours of Sunday December 29, 2013, about 3,000 paramilitary and police forces equipped with helicopters and speedboats haunted the 14,000 inhabitants of Boshe, a coastal village in Guangdong province, in an unprecedented crackdown on the production and trade of narcotics.

77 production facilities for crystalline methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth, speed or ice, were shut and 182 persons arrested who should belong to 18 drug rings. 2.95 tons of crystal meth could be seized together with 260 kg of ecstasy and more than 100 tons of raw material.

The total amount of that drug seized by Chinese authorities since July 2013 is such rising to 8.1 tons related to 10,836 arrests.

For comparison: According to latest global data available, worldwide seizures of crystal meth in 2011 amounted to 88 tons [Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC].

Among 326 drug-making facilities that had been shut in China in 2012, 70% were specialized on crystal meth production and 50% could be located in Guangdong province.

According to another Chinese source, the Boshe operation should have lasted until January 3, 2014.

One of the most irritating results of a preceding investigation is that part of local police obviously protected the trade of crystal meth. According to an official source, there are even hints that two local police officers had sold drugs directly from their police car.

[Different sources dating from January 3 - 5, 2014]

请还看到 => 中国制造的冰毒