War On Terror News

Clinton testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

00:38: SEN Menendez (D-NJ) welcoming Hillary Clinton and heaping praise on her. 

[WOTN note: Some of the following is paraphrased and some is quotes.  Some of the quotes are not in quotation marks.  Effort was made to capture the essence of the words, in order to allow readers to find the specific portions of most signifcant interest to them.  Some key phrases are emphasized, as Hillary acknowledges that Al-Qaeda is still and will be a threat for a long time.

In this testimony, Hillary avoids stating why no action was taken in the 7 hour attack and at times refuses responsibility for inaction, while at other times proclaiming that she takes full responsibility.  She does indicate that Rice was using Admin approved talking points, but feebly attempts to defend it.]

10:46: SEN Corker (R-TN) welcoming Hillary, the "aftermath" of "Benghazi represents the worst of Washington," "there was spin from the White House," "it represented of the denial of the world as it really is," "it also represents an awakening," "the spiking of the ball" and the thinking that al-Qaeda was defeated when we killed bin Laden, that the world is a much more dangerous place today.

 

16:46: SecState Clinton (D) pointing out past attacks, that she immediately began talking to people about talking, began investigation the next day.  The attack "was a part of broader strategic challenge" to the United States.  "I was there on the night of 9/11/2012."  I was talking to everyone, and the military did not deny support.  I was already there dealing with the attack on the US Embassy in Cairo.  Everyone has been talking about things ever since, and when people stopped talking and finished writing about the talking, I told people to start writing some more about making changes.  "The Arab revolutions have shattered" the stability of the Middle East.  We're working with the Algerians to prevent this from happening again.  I talked to a bunch of Arab leaders after the 9/11/2012 attacks.  Then I talked to them some more.  "We cannot afford to retreat now."
"It is our responsibility to make sure they have the resources they need."  The State Department has 70,000 people working in 275 locations around the world.

29:34 Menendez: 5 minutes per Senator to discuss Benghazi.  Menendez goes first. Why was the location chosen.

31:03 Hillary: There were attacks in the parking lot of the Hotel where they previously were, as well as many other locations.  There were ongoing efforts to find the best place.  "There were inadequacies in the response."  "During most of the day, prior to getting notification on the attack in Benghazi, I was focused on the attack on our Embassy in Cairo"  "I was notified of the attack shortly after 4pm."  I immediately started talking to people.  I ordered people to get the Libyan government to do something.  I talked to Petraeus since he had people in the same area.  We were going over every possible option and talking to everybody that we could talk to.  It was constant talking and I talked to Obama later in the evening.  While we were trying to understand we were faced with protests all over the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

37:03 Corker: "There were systemic deficiencies and I know you know that."  "No one has been held accountable."  "Could you mention one reform" that could have made it known to you that there were problems there.

38:14 Clinton: "I didn't see the requests."

Corker: "They did come into folks.  Someone did turn them down."

Clinton: We're on the path to fix it.  We want to re-allocate funds.  We need more money for construction and for Marines.  "Noone wants to sit where I am."

Corker: "None of the ARB's have been fully implemented."

Clinton: "The vast majority have been implemented."

Corker: "We were woefully unprepared for what happened in North Africa."  Benghazi symbolizes that.

Clinton: 4 years ago, "no one" thought that Mubarrak, Qaddaffi, and others would be gone.  None of us predicted this.  "This is a serious threat to our country."  "They don't have any real experience in running countries."  "We face a serious jihadist threat."

Libyan Security Chief assassinated in Benghazi

Libyan officials say gunmen have assassinated the security chief of the eastern city of Benghazi.

Officials said Wednesday Farag al-Dersi was shot dead overnight while returning home from work.

Benghazi has witnessed many assassinations and car bombs over the past months preceding the 9/11/2012 attack by Islamist terrorists on the US Consulate.

The city is also where U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an hours-long assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September 11, while Obama Administration officials watched on live UAV feeds. VoA.

Related articles

Libyan Rebels Shakeup Forces After Assassination

Islamists in Libya blow up Benghazi police station

Libyans give up their weapons

DoD release of Benghazi timeline

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2012 - The Defense Department released a timeline yesterday of the Pentagon's response to the September attack in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

A senior defense official, speaking on background with Pentagon reporters, emphasized:

"With naval, Marine, special operations and air forces either employed or en route to Libya during the attacks, we responded," the official said. "We mourn the loss of four American heroes in Benghazi."

The attack on the U.S. consulate began at 3:42 p.m. EDT [9:42 p.m. Benghazi time].
By 5:10 EDT an unarmed surveillance aircraft was on station over the Benghazi compound.
By 5:30 p.m., all surviving Americans had left the consulate, the official noted, adding that defense officials didn't have that information until later. 
At 6:30 p.m. EDT, according to the timeline, a six-person security team, including two DOD members, left the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli for Benghazi. 
By 8:39 p.m., the official said, the command center had started issuing written orders for the forces the secretary had alerted. [Four hours after the attack started.]
At 11 p.m. EDT, the official said, a second unmanned, unarmed surveillance aircraft relieved the first,
and at 11:15 p.m. -- around 5 a.m. Sept. 12 in Benghazi -- the second U.S. facility there, an annex near the consulate, came under mortar and rocket-propelled grenade fire.
By 1:40 a.m. EDT Sept. 12, the first wave of Americans left Benghazi for Tripoli by airplane, with the second wave, including the bodies of the fallen,
following at 4 a.m. A C-17 aircraft, under Africom direction, flew the evacuees from Tripoli to Germany later that day, the official said.

In the Middle East and North Africa on Sept. 11, the official added, U.S. facilities in more than 16 countries were operating on a heightened force-protection level, based on specific threats.  [Which would warrant at least 2-4 FAST and/or Special Operations teams being on standby, ready to fly.]

"I would note ... that there was no specific or credible threat that we knew of on the day that the attacks ... occurred in Benghazi," the official said.  "Unfortunately, no alternative or additional aircraft options were available within ... [enough time] to be effective," the official said.  [If a slow moving drone could get on target within 2 hours and be replaced 6 hrs later, a fast moving fighter, which also should have been on standby, considering the wideranging threats, could have made it there in less time.  Defenders, on the ground, were painting the attacking mortars for strikes.]

The DOD timeline records that in the first hours following the initial attack, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conferred first with the president, and shortly after with senior officials including Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, who leads U.S. Africa Command.  [Within hours!?!?!]

During those meetings, the official said, Panetta verbally ordered two fleet antiterrorism security team, or FAST, platoons to prepare to deploy from their base in Rota, Spain. The secretary also issued verbal prepare-to-deploy orders for a U.S. European Command special operations force then training in Central Europe and a second special operations force based in the United States. 

[But dithering by Obama and Panetta resulted in no re-inforcements arriving to assist in the defense of Our Diplomats.]

The official noted the Pentagon's National Military Command Center staff, within hours of the attack, began planning support and contingency operations with transportation and special operations experts, as well as with representatives from the four services and Africa, Europe and Central commands.  [When bullets are flying, the time for "planning" is over.  It's time to act, not analyze, not plan, not talk.  It is time to decide and act.]

 

Islamists in Libya blow up Benghazi police station

Libyan officials say a car bomb has exploded near a police station in the country's second largest city, wounding three people.

Authorities say the blast Sunday in the Mediterranean city of Benghazi heavily damaged the front of the police station.

In September, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.  The Administration statements in the aftermath have been self-contradictory and controversial.  Those closest to the ground have indicated that the highest levels of the Administration denied Ambassador Stevens requests for Security Personnel prior to the attack, and requests for re-inforcements while the attack was in progress.  Evidence continues to come to light that a live video feed was viewed at the White House during the multiple hour attack.

The new Libyan government is struggling to control armed individuals and militias that gained power during an armed conflict that ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi last year.  Benghazi was the birthplace of the revolt. VoA.

Protests subside in Libya over new government

Armed militiamen and protestors appear to be winding down demonstrations at Libya's national assembly building in Tripoli following protests over the country's newly approved cabinet.

The dissent erupted Wednesday evening shortly after parliament endorsed the 30-member cabinet chosen by Prime Minister-designate Ali Zeidan. The protestors say some members of the Cabinet, most notably the foreign and interior ministers, have ties to the former regime of Moammar Gadhafi.

They say members with such links should be excluded from political life in accordance with a recently approved law forbidding members of the former regime from holding office in any new government.

Reports from the area on Friday say the demonstrations subsided after Zeidan agreed to hear their grievances, though no concessions have been publicly announced.

The protests highlight the fragility that continues to plague the North African nation as it builds a government structure.

Zeidan is the second prime minister-designate to try to form a government under the new National General Assembly following elections in July.

A previous prime minister-designate, Mustafa Abu Shaghur, gave up after parliament voted down his cabinet following complaints that his nominations lacked diversity among the political parties.

Zeidan has tried to strike a balance in his new government between members of the liberal coalition and the Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Construction Party.

If sworn in, the new government faces several daunting tasks, including reining in former rebel fighters who defeated Gadhafi's forces during last year's eight-month civil conflict.

Militia groups remain at odds, and Libya has yet to implement a strong military force.

Lawmakers must also begin the process of rebuilding infrastructure in many parts of the country that were damaged or destroyed. VoA.

Benghazi updates

For the most recent developments in the Benghazi terrorist attack coverup: http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=32593 . Jonn has done a great job in covering this, and it's worth a look back if you haven't been following it.

Libya captures Qaddaffi spokesman

Libya says government forces arrested Moammar Gadhafi's former spokesman on Saturday, exactly one year after the dictator's capture and death.

A government statement said Moussa Ibrahim was arrested at a checkpoint in the north central town of Tarhuna and will be delivered to authorities in Tripoli for questioning. 

Ibrahim was Gadhafi's spokesman during Libya's 2011 civil war.  His whereabouts have not been known since the fall of Tripoli in August of that year.

Moammar Gadhafi died on October 20, 2011, after his convoy of supporters trying to flee the city of Sirte was hit by an airstrike and attacked by militia members.

Hours after Ibrahim's arrest announcement, a recording on the former spokesman's Facebook page dismissed government accounts of the detention.  The recording, which had not been authenticated, said Ibrahim was free and residing outside the country. 

Reports of Ibrahim's arrest came as authorities said Libya was still not free of Gadhafi's four-decade legacy, and warned that the dictator's loyalists still pose a threat to stability in the war-torn country.

Speaking late Friday on Libyan television, National Assembly President Mohammed el-Magarief singled out the Gadhafi stronghold of Bani Walid, controlled by the powerful Warfalla tribe. VoA.

Former SeALs killed in Benghazi NOT Diplomatic Security

They did NOT have the mission to protect the Ambassador, nor to protect the Consulate.  They ran to the sound of gunfire, to protect lives, though that was NOT their mission.  I point you to the site that put the evidence together.

The truth is: they heard the attack, they heard the gunfire, and despite the danger to themselves they rushed into the breach taking weapons from the frightened Libyan security officials to help protect the American Consulate, Ambassador Stevens and his embassy aide Sean Smith.

Both Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were under no obligation to assist, protect or defend Stevens.

How many more things has this Administration lied about?  Why did they lie about this?  Read the full story at the link above.

Congress hears testimony on 9/11 Benghazi terrorist attack

The U.S. House of Representatives has started hearing testimony on the situation in Benghazi prior to the September 11 attack in which U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were murdered by Islamist Terrorists.

The hearing Wednesday, which is being held by the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, includes testimony by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood, the former head of the U.S. military team in Libya, and Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy.

White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan was in Libya Wednesday to discuss investigations into the attack with Libyan leaders.

Senior State Department officials told reporters Tuesday ahead of the hearing that they never concluded the assault was part of protests against an anti-Islam video. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials also said there was “nothing unusual” at the consulate site before the attack.  [The record shows this was not the case.] 

The Obama administration initially linked the attack to the protests, but administration officials recently admitted it was a planned terrorist attack.  The State Department is conducting its own investigation into the incident.

A memo detailing earlier testimony to a congressional investigator says Eric Nordstrom, the former chief security officer for U.S. diplomats in Libya, sent cables to Washington in March and July asking for more security officers in Benghazi, but got no response.

He said Charlene Lamb, a State Department official who is scheduled to testify Wednesday, believed the post did not need more security because it was equipped with a residential safe haven that could be used in case of emergency.  [I guess the Admin believes its diplomats should retreat rather than be protected from terrorists.]

In the account given late Tuesday, the State Department officials said Ambassador Stevens, embassy officer Sean Smith and a security agent retreated to the safe haven after a large group of armed men entered the compound.  [An unusually small protection team for the Senior Ambassador in an unstable country.]

The attackers set fire to furniture inside the building, filling it with smoke that later forced the three men to flee.  They became separated, and security forces who arrived to assist them found only the security agent on the roof and Smith's body.

The security forces were unable to find the ambassador, and retreated with the remaining people at the compound to an annex that also came under fire before they were able to evacuate. VoA.

Libyan Parliament dissolves government

Libyan lawmakers have fired their new interim prime minister by voting no confidence in his proposed Cabinet, prolonging the struggle to form a government capable of uniting and stabilizing the war-torn nation.

Libya's General National Congress rejected Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur's Cabinet lineup Sunday by a vote of 125-44 with several abstentions, resulting in his removal from office. He had offered lawmakers a lineup of 10 ministers, scaled down from his original list of 29 ministries, proposed last week.

The assembly elected Abushagur to the prime minister's post last month, giving him a deadline of several weeks to form a government. His scrapped his original Cabinet list last Thursday after more than 100 protesters from the western town of Zawiya stormed into the chamber to complain that their community was not adequately represented.

Speaking Sunday, Abushagur acknowledged that his first Cabinet lineup had mistakes. But he said lawmakers should have worked with him to modify it. Under Libyan law, the General National Congress must elect a new prime minister to form a government in the coming weeks.

Libya's tribes and regions remain highly polarized following the 2011 civil war that ended the four-decade rule of Moammar Gadhafi. Residents of Zawiya and other regions battered by Gadhafi's attacks during the conflict have demanded high-level positions in Libya's post-war government, leading to friction among rival communities.

Libya's next interim administration also faces the challenge of trying to disarm and demobilize militias that maintain control over parts of the country following their participation in the revolution. VoA.

Hillary Finally admits Al-Qaeda behind 9/11 Benghazi attack

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has for the first time explicitly linked al-Qaida's North African branch to the attack at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Clinton told a special United Nations meeting on North Africa's Sahel region Wednesday that al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (West) is using the area as a haven to support extremism and terrorist violence in countries like Libya.

She said the regional al-Qaida group is working with other violent extremists “to undermine the democratic transitions under way in North Africa, as we tragically saw in Benghazi.”

The top U.S. diplomat also said American intelligence and law enforcement agencies are increasing their cooperation with regional countries to investigate the September 11 attack in Benghazi.

Earlier Wednesday, Libyan President Mohammed el-Magarief also characterized the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate as a “pre-planned attack of terrorism.”

In an interview with U.S.-based NBC News, Mr. Magarief said the attack had nothing to do with protests against an anti-Islam film.

“It was launched with a high degree of accuracy, which means that the perpetrators must have had some kind of exercise on how to hit, how to launch this act.”

From the beginning, Libyan officials have pointed to foreign involvement in the assault, even as they are attempting to crack down on the extremist militias that clearly had a role in the attack.

The White House said Wednesday that President Barack Obama also considers the incident a terrorist strike.

The assault took place on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. 

Libyan President: Benghazi attack planned; NOT reaction to video

Libya's president says the attack that resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was a “pre-planned attack of terrorism.”

In a Wednesday interview with the U.S.-based “NBC News,” President Mohammed el-Magarief said the attack had nothing to do with protests against an anti-Islam film.

“It was launched with a high degree of accuracy which means that the perpetrators must have had some kind of exercise on how to hit, how to launch this act.”

U.S. officials have also called the attack earlier this month an act of terrorism.  The assault took place on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

The incident took place as thousands of Muslims were protesting against a video produced by an anti-Muslim filmmaker in the United States.  VoA.

The Obama Administration has downplayed the role of terrorism in the attack, after denying it initially.  It continues to apologize for the video made by a Coptic Egyptian refugee in California.

Obama Campaign desecrates US Flag

Often, I cringe when well-meaning individuals take liberties with the US Flag, the living embodiment of the US Constitution, that they shouldn't.  Too often, politicians wrap themselves in the flag, as a means to get elected while working to undermine the Constitution they swear to protect.  This is beyond the pale.

On Wednesday, the Obama Campaign began marketing a desecration of the US Flag, that replaces the Union with the pepsi symbol of Obama.  It turns the stripes into what appears to be bloody smears, as noted by Twitter user @ChicGirl427, to be reminiscent of the aftermath of the 9/11 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Evidently, the Obama Campaign has reacted to the backlash, and removed the offense from its campaign site, but mea culpa is insufficient in such a grave error of hubris.  There is NO excuse for an individual who thinks he should be retained as the presider over the Federal Government, a servant of the Amercian Citizenry, to desecrate the living embodiment of the US Constitution, and particularly not with his own personal emblem.

This politician doesn't seem to have any respect for the US Constitution, for the Bill of Rights, or for the US Flag that represents them, and this is simply a visible symbol of that.  He has sought to suppress the 1st Amendment with "Hate Speech" legislation, with the forcible denial of religious beliefs, and the internment and expulsion of US Marines who speak out against him.

He has sought to deny the 4th and 5th Amendment with unlawful searches, sexual assaults, at airports, with the execution of American Citizens abroad without due process of law.

He has sent his emmisaries, namely Leon Panetta, to tell the Senate that he will not seek a Declaration of War when executing the same, nor request their permission, nor even tell them if he alone decides to commit Our Troops to war.

He has determined that he can rule by Executive Order alone, despite the US Constitution.

He swore to uphold the US Constitution, but has worked to subvert it.  It does not surprise me that he hubristically believes he can desecrate the living embodiment of it.  He did not place his hand over his heart in 2008, during the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem, until it appeared that would undermine his rise to power.  It does not surprise me that he has removed the offense from his site, though it astounds me that he thought he could get away with it.

Yeah, it chaps my a**.  And it should every American.  It won't, but it should.  Too many of his supporters believe it is just a piece of cloth.  Too many of his supporters have not risked all for the Freedoms and Rights it guarantees.  Too many of his supporters do not understand why the Founders wrote the Constitution as they did, or why that is as important today as it was when they wrote those words.

Steven's journal expresses concern over Islamism; State Dept dismayed

CNN said on its website Saturday the public has the right to know what CNN has learned from multiple sources about the fears and warnings of a terror threat before the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Stevens and three other Americans.  

CNN revealed that Ambassador Stevens had serious concerns over the rise of Islamist threats in Benghazi which conflicts with the Obama Administation claims that it had no prior warning and that the attacks were unplanned.

CNN says it found the journal on the floor of what it called the “largely unsecured” compound.

CNN says its findings raise questions about why the State Department did not do more to protect Ambassador Stevens.  CNN said perhaps the real question is “why is the State Department now attacking the messenger?”

The dairy was first mentioned on CNN Friday by Anderson Cooper.

U.S. State Department spokesman Philippe Reines says it is “disgusting” that news channel CNN has reported on the contents of the diary of slain U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, despite objections from the diplomat's family.  Reines says CNN “broke their pledge” to the Stevens family not to report on the journal. He said CNN transcribed the diary before telling anyone that it took the journal from the site of the attack.  VoA.

Pakistan offers $100k Reward for death of Videographer, asks for AQ/Talib help

Islamist demonstrators in Islamic countries and elsewhere held new protests Saturday against an Internet video.

In Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, at least 10 people were injured in clashes between police and protesters.

Security forces fired tear gas and used batons to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing protesters who were part of an alliance of about a dozen Islamist groups.  Witnesses say the protesters burned vehicles, including a police van.  Some demonstrators were arrested.

The alliance that led the demonstration called for a nationwide strike Sunday to protest the Internet video, which was produced in the United States.

In Pakistan, a government minister announced a $100,000 award for the death of the person who made the film.  The minister urged the Taliban and al-Qaida to help locate and kill the filmmaker.

More than 1,000 people rallied Saturday in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, calling for the filmmaker to be punished.

In Nigeria, thousands of people opposed to the video took to the streets of Kano, the largest city in the country's mainly Muslim north.  Demonstrators marched toward the palace of the Emir of Kano, the region's top Muslim spiritual leader.

In Germany, more than 1,000 people against the film marched peacefully in the western city of Dortmund.

Funerals were held in Pakistan for victims of the protests in cities across the country Friday.  More than 20 people died in clashes between security forces and demonstrators.

Thousands of Muslims also demonstrated Friday in other countries, including Afghanistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iraq, Lebanon and Indonesia.  Some protesters burned American flags and effigies of U.S. President Barack Obama.

The low-budget Internet video was produced by an anti-Muslim filmmaker in  California.  It first sparked recent protests in Cairo, and an attack followed on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three members of his staff.  The Obama administration originally said that attack was a spontaneous response to the Internet video, but U.S. officials have since called it a terrorist attack.

Since the release of the video, anti-U.S. protests have spread as far as Indonesia.  Protesters have also voiced anger about images of the Muhammad, including some of him naked, published in a French magazine.

France's government closed embassies, consulates, cultural centers and schools on Friday in 20 countries as a precautionary measure.  French authorities also banned two anti-U.S. protests planned for Saturday. VoA.

11 Libyans killed in Anti-Terrorist protests

Libyan authorities pushed back angry crowds attacking militia bases in Benghazi Saturday, in unrest that killed at least 11 people and wounded more than 60 others.

Earlier, Libyan protesters ousted the jihadist militia Ansar al-Shariah, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, from its terrorist headquarters and seized the bases of other armed militias in Benghazi.

The violence came after tens of thousands of Libyans marched through Benghazi Friday, demanding the disbanding of the powerful armed gangs.

Libyans held up signs in English and in Arabic with phrases including “terrorism has no place in the new Libya” and “Libya lost a friend.” 

Ansar al-Shariah has been linked to the the assault that killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya last week, an allegation the group denies.

Anti-militia demonstrators have also demanded the government build up the police and military forces to provide security.  The protests have revealed a growing backlash against the militias.

Since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, the militias have grown stronger, boasting arsenals of automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and pick-up trucks with heavy machine guns. VoA.

Libyans protest Islamist militias

Hundreds of protesters stormed the compound of one of Libya's strongest armed Islamic extremist groups in Benghazi on Friday, in the wake of the assault that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

The armed men at the base for the Ansar al-Shariah militia fired into the air to disperse the crowd, but eventually withdrew from the site with their weapons and vehicles after it was surrounded by waves of protesters shouting “No to militias.''

The group is suspected of involvement in the September 11 attack on the U.S. Benghazi consulate that killed the Americans.

Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of Libyans marched through Benghazi to demand the disbanding of the powerful armed gangs.

The anti-militia demonstrators demanded that the militias disband and that the government build up the police and military to take their place in providing security.

At the same time,supporters of the Islamist/Salafist group also gathered to protest against a U.S.-made video  and cartoons of the Muhammad published by a French satirical weekly.

Since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, the militias have grown stronger, boasting arsenals of automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and pick-up trucks with heavy machine guns. Many are strongly Islamist. VoA.

Coptic Egyptian claims directorship of "Innocence of Islam;" denies ties of video to US

A man who says he was behind the private film sparking demonstrations in the Muslim world is criticizing the protesters.

In an interview with U.S.-government-funded Radio Sawa, the alleged director of the film says his fellow Arabs “have to learn demonstrate peacefully against the issues on which we disagree.”  He says any allegation the United States government was involved in the making of the movie is “funny and ridiculous” and that “America has nothing to do with the film.”

Radio Sawa says the man refused to confirm his identity but that a source who provided the contact information identified him as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.

Several news organizations have linked the inflammatory film, titled “The Innocence of Muslims,” to Nakoula, a 55-year-old Egyptian Coptic Christian who lives in California and recently served a prison sentence for bank fraud.

Initially, the film was said to have been produced by a man named Sam Bacile, who told news media he is Israeli-American.  A consultant on the film confirmed the name “Sam Bacile” was a pseudonym.  There is no record of the film or its producer in Hollywood reference sources. 

The man believed to be Nakoula tells Radio Sawa he did not expect the film would cause such strong reactions from the Arab and Muslim world, saying the film's other producers “put my mind at ease.”  But he also says all the film's advisers were “foreigners who do not know anything about Arabs and have never visited Arab countries.” VoA.

RIP Tyrone Woods, Glen Doherty, Sean Smith, AMB Christopher Stevens

By Cheryl Pellerin, AFPS, WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2012 - The State Department has identified the two security officers who died Sept. 11 in Benghazi, Libya, while helping to protect their colleagues.

In a Sept. 13 statement, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty were "decorated military veterans who served our country with honor and distinction."

The attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi also killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and Foreign Service information management officer Sean Smith, and wounded three other Americans who are recovering at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

The State Department previously identified Stevens and Smith.

On Sept. 12, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation ordering U.S. flags to fly at half-staff until sunset on Sept. 16 in honor of Stevens, Smith, Woods and Dougherty.

"Our thoughts, prayers and deepest gratitude are with their families and friends. Our embassies could not carry on our critical work around the world without the service and sacrifice of brave people like Tyrone and Glen," Clinton said in the statement.

Wood's friends and colleagues called him "Rone" and relied on his courage and skill, honed over two decades as a Navy SEAL, she added.

"In uniform he served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan," Clinton said. "Since 2010, he protected American diplomatic personnel in dangerous posts from Central America to the Middle East."

Woods had the hands of a healer and the arm of a warrior, she said, earning distinction as a registered nurse and a certified paramedic.

"All our hearts go out to Tyrone's wife Dorothy and his three sons, Tyrone Jr., Hunter and Kai, who was born just a few months ago," the secretary said.

"We also grieve for Glen Doherty, called Bub, and his family: his father Bernard, his mother Barbara, his brother Gregory and his sister Kathleen," Clinton added.

Doherty was also a former Navy SEAL and an experienced paramedic who put his life on the line protecting Americans in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hotspots, she said.

"In the end, he died the way he lived -- with selfless honor and unstinting valor," the secretary said.

Clinton condemned in the strongest terms the attack that took the lives of the Americans, and said the United States is taking more steps to safeguard American embassies, consulates and citizens around the world.

"The violence should shock the conscience of people of all faiths and traditions," Clinton added.

"We appreciate the statements of support that have poured in from across the region and beyond. People of conscience and goodwill everywhere must stand together in these difficult days against violence, hate and division," she said.

The secretary said she is enormously proud of the men and women who risk their lives every day in the service of the country.

"We honor the memory of our fallen colleague by continuing their work and carrying on the best traditions of a bold and generous nation," Clinton said.

Four protesters killed in Yemen as anti-US protests spread

Four protesters were killed when a mob stormed the grounds of the U.S. embassy in Yemen Thursday, part of a wave of violent demonstrations against the United States.

Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi immediately condemned the violence and promised to protect U.S. citizens in Yemen. The White House says President Barack Obama telephoned Mr. Hadi to thank him for his swift response. It says Mr. Obama rejects any efforts to denigrate Islam, but said there is no justification for the violence.

Protesters also marched in Cairo, Tehran, Baghdad and Dhaka, chanting “no to Israel” and burning the American flag.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned an amateur youtube video that mocks the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. She called it “disgusting” and “reprehensible.” Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi also condemned both the video and the violence Thursday. He promised to protect foreigners in Egypt.

U.S. and Libyan authorities are investigating Tuesday's storming of the U.S consulate in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three of his staff. One of those killed was identified Thursday as a former U.S. Navy SEAL who was on a security detail in Libya.

American intelligence agencies are examining the involvement of al Qaida terrorists. But they say they do not have solid evidence.

The United States also has sent two Navy destroyers, a Marine Corps anti-terrorist security team and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to Libya to protect Americans. VoA.

The call for 9/11 "protests" on Cairo Embassy

The date was not a coincidence.  A two-bit youtube video by previously unknown people unrelated to the US Government was not the reason.  As reported by a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Walid Shoebat, the advertisement for the "protests" was this:

"This demonstration was about one thing – creating havoc to apply pressure that would lead to a change in Egyptian Constitution by Nour:

"Salafi Nour Party officially joined the Commonwealth of ‘voice of wisdom’ with Wisam Abdul Waris, as well as with Nader Bakkar, the party’s official spokesman and Dr. Ahmed Khalil Khairallah, member of the supreme body."

Said Bakkar:

"Ahmed Khalil of the supreme body and I joined the Association of the voice of wisdom with Dr. Wisam Abdul Waris as official representatives from Nour Party and the Salafist call."

Bakkar then added that the association…

"…aims for legal prosecution for anyone of harm to Islam at home and abroad"

That explains the reasons for Islamist extremists to desecrate the US Flag and hoist the black flag of Al-Qaeda.  The Nour Party controls 20% of the Egyptian parliament, with the majority being the Muslim Brotherhood.

Meanwhile, Debka reports that the assassination of the US Ambassador in Libya was conducted on orders from al-Qaeda's leader, al-Zawahari himself:

"Debkafile’s counter-terror sources report exclusively that far from being a spontaneous raid by angry Islamists, it was a professionally executed terrorist operation by a professional Al Qaeda assassination team, whose 20 members acted under the orders of their leader Ayman al Zawahri after special training. They were all Libyans, freed last year from prisons where they were serving sentences for terrorism passed during the late Muammar Qaddafi’s rule.

In a video tape released a few hours before the attack, Zawahri called on the faithful to take revenge on the United States for liquidating one of the organization’s top operatives, Libyan-born Abu Yahya al-Libi in June by a US drone in northwestern Pakistan."

The War on Terror has not "ended," and it will not end by retreating from an enemy that attacked without provocation, and despite the US ignoring its declarations of war in 1996 and 1998.

 

Timeline of Events in the attack on the US Consulate in Libya & murder of the US Ambassador

By Cheryl Pellerin, AFPS, WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2012 - A senior government official today revealed details of yesterday's deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four State Department officials and wounded three others.  Last night, she said, State Department officials ordered all diplomatic posts around the world to review their security posture and to take all necessary steps to enhance that posture.

During the briefing, warning that details may change as the attack is investigated, the official offered a timeline of events surrounding the attack.

The consulate in Benghazi is an interim facility acquired before the fall of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It consists of a main building, several ancillary buildings, and an annex a little further away, she said.

"At about 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time yesterday, which was about 10 p.m. in Libya, the compound ... in Benghazi began taking fire from unidentified Libyan extremists. By about 4:15 p.m. attackers gained access to the compound and began firing into the main building, setting it on fire," she said, "and the Libyan guard force and mission security personnel responded."

At the time, three people were inside the building -- Ambassador Stevens, a regional security officer, and Smith -- and while trying to evacuate they became separated by heavy, dark smoke.

"The regional security officer made it outside and then he and other security personnel returned into the burning building in an attempt to rescue Chris and Sean," the official said.

They found Smith, who had died, and pulled him from the building. They were unable to locate Stevens before fire, smoke and small-arms fire drove them from the building, the official said.

"At about 4:45 p.m. Washington time, U.S. security personnel assigned to the mission annex tried to regain the main building but that group also took heavy fire and had to return to the mission annex," the official said.

"At about 5:20 p.m.," she added, "Libyan security personnel made another attempt and that time were able to regain and secure the main building."

The rest of the staff were evacuated to the nearby annex, which itself came under fire at around 6 p.m. Washington time and continued under fire for about two hours, she said.

During that ongoing attack, the official said, two more U.S. personnel were killed and two more were wounded.

At about 8:30 p.m. Washington time, or 2 a.m. in Libya, Libyan security forces helped regain control of the situation, she said.

"At some point in all of this, and frankly we do not know when, we believe that Ambassador Stevens got out of the building and was taken to a hospital in Benghazi," she said, adding, "We do not have any information about his condition at that time. His body was later returned to U.S. personnel at the Benghazi airport."

The official said Stevens made regular and frequent trips to Benghazi to check on developments in the east.

"He had been the secretary's and the president's representative to the Transitional National Council before the fall of Gadhafi and had spent a lot of time in Benghazi and built deep contacts there," she explained. "So this was one of his regular visits."

She said security in Benghazi included a local guard force outside the compound, "which is similar to the way we are postured all over the world. We had a physical perimeter barrier and ... a robust American security presence inside the compound, including a strong component of regional security officers."

About the protests, the official said, "We frankly don't have a full picture of what may have been going on outside the compound walls before the firing began [and] ... we are not in a position to speak any further to the perpetrators of this attack."

All Benghazi consulate personnel have been evacuated to the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli in a series of flights that included the three wounded personnel and the remains of the fallen State Department officials, the official said.

The Benghazi consulate staff will be transported to Germany, she said.

"The staff that is well is going to stay in Europe on standby while we assess the security situation," she said. "The wounded will be treated [at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center] in Germany, and the remains will come home."

In the meantime, the official said, "we have taken our embassy in Tripoli down to emergency staffing levels and ... we have requested increased support from the Libyans while we access the security situation."

US Ambassador, 3 diplomats killed in Libyan attacks

The United States ambassador to Libya and three embassy staff were killed after a mob stormed the U.S. consulate in the eastern city Benghazi late Tuesday.

Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, a career U.S. foreign service officer and one of the most experienced U.S. envoys in the region, had been in the country for less than four months after taking up his post in the capital, Tripoli, in May.

U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday condemned the killing of the four Americans.

Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagour also condemned the killing of the four U.S. diplomats, calling it a cowardly act.

Stevens was widely admired by the Libyan rebels for his support of their uprising that overthrew Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

The deaths occurred when demonstrators reportedly angered over an amateur American-made film that mocks Islam's Prophet Muhammad shot at and set fire to the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Deputy Interior Minister Wanis al-Sharif told reporters that an armed group attacked the premises in an “almost suicidal” mission. He said the U.S. consulate is at “fault” for not taking adequate precautions. But further details of the incident were unclear.

Earlier reports said several dozen gunmen from the Islamist group Ansar al Sharia attacked the U.S. consulate with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, then set it on fire. The Associated Press reported that Stevens and his colleagues were killed when he went to the building to evacuate staff.

Earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the Benghazi attack “in the strongest terms.”

Clinton said some have sought to justify “this vicious behavior” as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. She said the U.S. deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, but rejected any “justification for violent acts of this kind.”

In Egypt, protesters scaled the fortified walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo, tore up an American flag and replaced it with an Islamic banner. The demonstrators there – mainly ultraconservative Islamists – continued their protest action through the early hours of Wednesday.

The mobs were sparked by outrage over the film that U.S. media said was produced by Israeli-American Sam Bacile, who describes Islam as a “cancer,” and financed by expatriate members of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority group. Clips of the film in English and Arabic have recently been posted on YouTube.

The protests coincide with the 11th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States.

Islamists attack US Embassy in Egypt, US Consulate in Libya

On the anniversary of 9/11, Islamists in Egypt breached the walls of the US Embassy in Cairo, shouting "Sons of the Cross, leave Mohammed alone," reminiscent of the 1978 attacks by Iranian "students" on the US Embassy in Tehran.  After tearing down the US Flag, they desecrated it, and raised the black flag of Al-Qaeda.

Main Stream Media continues to repeat the excuse of Islamists, that the attack on the US Embassy was in "response" to a film produced by Coptic Egyptian refugees in California, depicting Mohammed in an unfavorable manner.

A few hours later an Islamist mob in Libya attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi.  They then set fire to the Consulate.

An official at the embassy told VOA that all the employees on the compound were safe.

Media reports say the film about the prophet was financed by expatriate members of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority group.

The protests coincide with the 11th anniversary of September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Islamists attack US Embassy in Egypt, US Consulate in Libya

On the anniversary of 9/11, Islamists in Egypt breached the walls of the US Embassy in Cairo, shouting "Sons of the Cross, leave Mohammed alone," reminiscent of the 1978 attacks by Iranian "students" on the US Embassy in Tehran.  After tearing down the US Flag, they desecrated it, and raised the black flag of Al-Qaeda.

Main Stream Media continues to repeat the excuse of Islamists, that the attack on the US Embassy was in "response" to a film produced by Coptic Egyptian refugees in California, depicting Mohammed in an unfavorable manner.

A few hours later an Islamist mob in Libya attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi.  They then set fire to the Consulate.

An official at the embassy told VOA that all the employees on the compound were safe.

Media reports say the film about the prophet was financed by expatriate members of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority group.

The protests coincide with the 11th anniversary of September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Qaddaffi official extradited to Libya

Mauritania's state news agency says Moammar Gadhafi's ex-spy chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, has been handed over to Libya, where he is expected to stand trial.

Al-Senussi was arrested in March after sneaking into Mauritania using a disguise and a fake passport. Since then, Libyan authorities have called for the extradition of the former intelligence chief, who is also wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Mauritanian had insisted on trying al-Senussi on charges of illegally entering the country. But government officials confirmed that he left Mauritania Wednesday on a Libya-bound flight.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for al-Senussi in June, saying he was responsible as an “indirect perpetrator” on two counts of crimes against humanity, including murder and political persecution.

France had also wanted al-Senussi extradited there to serve a life sentence handed down in absentia for his role in the 1989 bombing of a French commercial airliner that killed 170 people.

Al-Senussi is the brother-in-law of ex-Libyan leader Gadhafi, who was forced from power by a revolt that in October 2011 led to his death and the arrest of several of his key allies. VoA.

Elected Libyan government takes over

Libya's transitional council has peacefully handed over power to the country's first elected assembly.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the chairman of the transitional council, handed power to the elected body's eldest member, Mohammed Ali Salim, in a ceremony in a Tripoli hotel late Wednesday.

Jalil said the elected body, named the General National Congress, is from now on the “legitimate representative of the Libyan people.”

The elected body is composed of 120 independent seats and 80 party seats.  The coalition of wartime prime minister Mahmoud Jibril performed best in last month's elections, securing 39 seats.

The 200-member Congress must now name a new chairman and steer Libya to full parliamentary elections after a new constitution is drafted. VoA.

Libyans kidnap Iranians that helped Revolution

Unknown gunmen have kidnapped seven members of the Iranian Red Crescent relief group in western Libya.

The Libyan Red Crescent said its Iranian counterparts were nabbed Monday on their way to their hotel in the city of Benghazi.

Libya is appealing to the gunmen to free their hostages, saying the Iranians helped the rebels during last year's revolution that toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

There have been a number of kidnappings carried out by rival groups since Gadhafi's ouster, including the abduction of the president of Libya's Olympic Committee earlier this month. VoA.

DoD approves Medals for Libyan and African Operations

DOD Approves NATO Medals for Operations in Africa and Libya

            The Department of Defense announced today the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Medal for NATO Operations and Activities in Africa and the NATO Medal for Operations and Activities in Libya have been approved for acceptance and wear by eligible U.S. service members and DoD civilian personnel.

            NATO awards the NATO Medal for NATO Operations and Activities in Africa for service in direct support of one of the following operations or activities:

• North Atlantic Council-approved NATO support activities in relation to the African Union
• Operation ALLIED PROVIDER
• Operation ALLIED PROTECTOR
• Operation OCEAN SHIELD

            NATO awards the NATO Medal for NATO Operations and Activities in Libya for service in direct support of the following operation:

• Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR

            Individuals awarded the NATO Medal for NATO Operations and Activities in Africa or for Libya should consult with their personnel offices for more information on eligibility or to update their personnel files.

            For a list of the NATO medals that have been authorized for acceptance and wear by U.S. service members, see DoD Manual 1348.33, Manual of Military Decorations and Awards, Volume 3.

WOTN Editor note: Didn't the Obama Administration say we didn't have anyone in Libya during their Civil War?

Early polls in Libya favor non-Islamists

Early vote-counting from Libya's first multi-party elections in 60 years indicates Western-leading parties with an edge over their Islamist rivals.

Final tallies from Saturday's election are not expected for days. But partial counts from Libya's big cities give the lead to an alliance of parties led by former rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril. He called Sunday for a national dialogue of all parties to form a new government.

Libyans voted for members of a 200-seat National Assembly that will form a temporary government and draft a constitution ahead of full parliamentary elections next year.

Libya's Electoral Commission put the turnout in the election at about 60 percent.

A spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement Sunday congratulating Libya for what he called a “well-conducted and transparent” election. U.S. President Barack Obama also issued a statement of congratulations.

Libya's revolution last year was one of the central events in the pro-democracy uprisings that became known as the Arab Spring. VoA.

Libyans begin voting today

Libyans are going to the polls in the country's first multi-party elections in 60 years.

Voters on Saturday are choosing candidates for a 200-seat National Assembly.  The assembly will form a temporary government and draft a constitution, ahead of full parliamentary elections next year.

Security forces are on guard near polling centers to prevent any possible violence.

Libyan officials say protesters have disrupted some polling centers in eastern Libya, including in the cities of Benghazi and Ajdabiya.  Some groups argue eastern Libya is being neglected by officials in Tripoli and want more powers for the region.

The voting is taking place less than a year after long-time leader Moammar Gadhafi died soon after being captured by Libyan anti-government fighters.  Some voters are turning up draped in the new Libyan flag with its red, green and black colors.

More than 140 parties and small factions campaigned in the election.  Analysts predict Islamists will do well, along with a secular group of officials who played a role in the country's post-Gadhafi transition.

In violence Friday, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a helicopter carrying election material, killing an election official who was on board.

Libyan officials say the incident took place near the eastern town of Benghazi.  The motive for the attack was not clear at the time.)) VoA.

Libya release ICC lawyers

Libya has freed four officials from the International Criminal Court who were detained for a month for smuggling documents to the jailed son of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

ICC President Sang-Hyun Song apologized to Libya Monday, saying the four had no intention of compromising Libyan national security. The four, including Australia's Melinda Taylor — Seif al-Islam Gadhafi's lawyer — were flown Monday to Rome.

Taylor slipped documents to Gadhafi in his jail cell in the city of Zintan. It is not clear what the papers were, but Libyan authorities accused the four ICC members of spying.

Libyan rebels captured Gadhafi after his father's government collapsed last year. They accuse him of war crimes.

He is at the heart of a dispute between the new Libyan government and the ICC. The court wants to extradite Gadhafi for trial, saying it fears he may not get a fair hearing in Libya. The Libyans insist on their right to try him. VoA.

Libya postpones elections until July 7

Libya has postponed a landmark election until next month to give the nation more time to prepare for its first vote since last year's ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in an armed rebellion.

The U.N. mission in Libya praised the decision to switch the election for a national assembly from the original date of June 19 to July 7, saying it will “enable essential preparations to be completed prior to voting.” In a statement issued Sunday, U.N. envoy Ian Martin said Libya's election commission has made “admirable” progress in the context of what he called “an extremely tight timetable and major operational challenges.”

Libyan election commission chief Nouri Al-Abbar said the 18-day postponement is needed to give voters more time to register and to give authorities more time to examine the qualifications of candidates. Speaking at a Tripoli news conference, he said his commission only started work in February, giving it a short time to organize the country's first national election in more than four decades.

Other challenges facing the election organizers include Libya's lack of an effective bureaucracy and poor security in parts of the country.

The vote is meant to produce a national assembly that will write a new Libyan constitution and form a government to replace the unelected National Transitional Council that took over from Gadhafi.

Libya says 80 percent of eligible voters have registered for the election so far, equivalent to 2.7 million people. Dozens of new political parties have been formed to contest 80 of the assembly's 200 seats. The other 120 seats are reserved for independent candidates.

Martin said he has confidence in the commitment of Libyan authorities to see an “early and successful conclusion of the electoral process.”

What Wars should we fight?

Some would have us believe that there can never be a reason to go to war.  Others portend that only a war in which we have no National Interest is one in which we should engage.  And still others say we should only fight when we have an unparalled National Interest. 

Some say we should never be involved in a civil war.  Some say we should only be involved in peacekeeping, particularly in civil wars.  Some say we should only fight after we've been attacked.  And some say that attack must occur on our own soil before we should fight.  And then there's the age old philosophical question: If we knew then what we know now, should we have assassinated Hitler, preventing World War II, before he took power?

Is it really war, if we only send flying robots to bomb specific mud huts?  Or if only the enemy calls it war and we pretend it's just a common crime?  Is it war if the enemy has a flag, and are still only fighting to get a nation, or an empire?

The decision to go to war should not be made lightly.  It is a decision to have humans kill other humans, but that is sometimes the only way to save the lives of more humans.  The ability to win a war rests on one fundamental principal: breaking the enemy's will to fight.  There are many ways that may be accomplished, but to win a war, one must cause the enemy to choose to end the fight.

Libya detains ICC investigators

The International Criminal Court in the Hague says four of its staffers have been detained in Libya, where they are part of an official mission to meet with Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the imprisoned son of deposed dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Court President Sang-Hyun Song requested their immediate release and urged Tripoli to ensure their safety.  His statement issued Saturday said “these four international civil servants have immunity when on an official ICC mission.”

The four, including Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor, were detained Thursday as they were trying to meet with Saif al-Islam Gadhafi in Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, where he has been held by revolutionary fighters since his capture in November.  The delegation has been assigned by the court to discuss his defense arrangements.

Sources in Libya say Taylor was trying to pass documents to Saif during the visit. They said police also found a camera and a recording device on another female member of the delegation during a search after the visit.

Libya's representative to the ICC, Ahmed al-Jahani, said Taylor was “not in prison but under house arrest in Zintan” where she was being questioned.

Saif al-Islam is at the center of a wrangle between the ICC and the new government in Tripoli.  He is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes, but Tripoli wants to try him in his home country. VoA.

Middle East News 6 June 2012

Syrian activists say pro-government militia and security forces have killed at least 78 people, including women and children, in the central province of Hama. They say some of those killed in the villages of al-Kubeir and Maazarif Wednesday were stabbed to death and at least 12 bodies were burned.  International politicians continue to talk sanctions.

In Libya's eastern city of Benghazi, an explosion outside the US mission caused no injuries but heightened concerns about instability in the country as it plans for elections.  A U.S. official said the administration "deplores the attack" outside the diplomatic office and will continue to support democracy in Libya.

In Afghanistan a large double suicide bombing has killed more than 22 people and wounded at least 50 in the southern city of Kandahar.  One bomber blew up a crowded parking lot packed with truck drivers. The second waited until people rushed into help the injured and dying, then detonated his explosives.

Details after the break.

Lockerbie Bomber Reportedly Dies - Updated

A former Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has died of cancer in Tripoli, nearly three years after Scottish authorities released him from prison.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi died at his home Sunday at the age of 60. He was the only man convicted of the Pan Am flight 103 attack that destroyed a U.S. passenger jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people, 11 of them on the ground.

Al-Megrahi was found guilty of involvement in the bombing in 2001, two years after then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi handed him over to face trial.

Al-Megrahi served eight years of a life sentence in a Scottish prison before authorities released him in 2009 on compassionate grounds, citing his struggle with prostate cancer. Doctors at the time said he had only three months to live.

Middle East News 17 May 2012

The United States is expanding its military role in Yemen.  Yemeni officials say U.S. forces assisted Yemeni troops in launching a wide air and land offensive against militant groups in the south of the country.

Syria's fragmented opposition has suffered a further setback, with the newly re-elected head of the main exiled coalition offering to resign due to criticism of his leadership and infighting that has plagued groups trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

The International Criminal Court, or ICC, next month will consider whether to grant Libya’s request to try the son of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi in a domestic court.

Details after the break.

Ex-Libyan Minister of Oil Dies Mysteriously in Austria

The body of former Libyan oil minister Shukri Ghanem was found floating in the Danube River in Vienna on Sunday.

Police say there is no sign of foul play and that it is possible Ghanem became sick and fell into the water. Authorities say they will perform an autopsy.

Ghanem was Libya's oil minister from 2006 until he abandoned dictator Moammar Gadhafi last year and fled to Austria. He later publicly backed the rebels who eventually toppled, captured and killed Gadhafi.

Syria Kills 10 More as UN Watches & Libyan Arms Ship Interdicted

The Syrian government and opposition activists traded accusations of violence on Saturday, as a handful of U.N. monitors spread out across the country to assess compliance with a fragile "cease-fire."

Rights groups say Syrian forces killed at least 10 people during raids in the Damascus area. Activists also say clashes between government and opposition forces erupted in the Latakia region.

The state-run SANA news agency says a military unit confronted an “armed terrorist group” that attempted an “infiltration” from near the Turkish border. Separately, it says armed terrorists attacked and killed three law enforcement officers in the Aleppo region. The news agency says two “terrorists” were killed in the incident.

Russia on Saturday condemned what it called barbaric attacks in Syria and urged forces inside and outside of the country to rebuff what it called “terrorists.” Moscow, a vocal backer of the Syrian government, commented a day after an explosion in Damascus left at least 10 people dead.