First dollar-free oil sale in RUPEES

Coming sooner than we think

• Someday soon an American company will want to import $500 million in widgets from Asia only to be told that the exporting company will NOT take payment in dollars.  We have no idea about the long term impact of this on inflation and the economy.

For the first time ever, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) settled an oil trade without first converting their respective local currencies to the United States dollar as has been the custom in the age of dollar dominance.

According to reports, Indian Oil Corp., India's top refinery, purchased one million barrels of oil from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company using only rupees, delivering yet another incremental death blow to U.S. dollar dominance.

The oil sale is the first to occur ever since India and the UAE entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) back in July establishing a Local Currency Settlement (LCS) system that can now be used by the Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of the UAE to facilitate trade without the need for U.S. dollars.

Thanks to this MoU, India and the UAE will now be able to engage in bilateral trade for all sorts of things, not just oil, using only the rupee and the dirham. The Reserve Bank of India says the agreement will facilitate "seamless cross-border transactions and payments, and foster greater economic cooperation.

Because India currently ranks as the world's third-largest importer of oil, this is a really big deal because it shows that the U.S. dollar is no longer king – or at least it is moving in the direction of becoming irrelevant in world trade much faster than many anticipated.

NaturalNews.com

WILL GERMANY JOIN BRICS? BYE BYE EURO!

Water and Food to be Taxed

When our King raised taxes

we overthrew the monarchy

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have introduced a five percent value-added tax (VAT) on many goods and services in an attempt to raise budget revenues amid a global slump in oil prices.

The two Gulf countries had long prided themselves on being minimum tax havens fueled by energy export, but the downturn in the oil market has forced them into taking measures to tackle their huge budget deficits. The two Arab kingdoms will receive up to an estimated $21 billion from the new tax in 2018, equivalent to 2.0 percent of GDP.

The imposition of VAT will help to raise tax revenues of the Saudi government to be utilized for infrastructure and developmental works,” said Mohammed Al-Khunaizi of Saudi Arabia’s Shoura Council, as quoted by Arab News.

The VAT will apply to most products and services, including food, clothing, jewelry, electronics, phone, water and electricity bills, and hotel room bookings. Exceptions include air travel, healthcare, basic surgery and state-funded education. At five percent, the tax is still among the lowest in the world, but the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Investment announced it will launch inspections to check which businesses don’t comply.

Read More . . . .

CIA torture chambers in Yemen

Looks Like CIA Torture is Back

• But what I don't understand is my "small government" GOP friends cheering on a big faceless government secret police system torturing prisoners.

(AP) -- Hundreds of men swept up in the hunt for al-Qaida militants have disappeared into a secret network of prisons in southern Yemen where abuse is routine and torture extreme - including the "grill," in which the victim is tied to a spit like a roast and spun in a circle of fire, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Senior American defense officials acknowledged Wednesday that U.S. forces have been involved in interrogations of detainees in Yemen but denied any participation in or knowledge of human rights abuses. Interrogating detainees who have been abused could violate international law, which prohibits complicity in torture.

The AP documented at least 18 clandestine lockups across southern Yemen run by the United Arab Emirates or by Yemeni forces created and trained by the Gulf nation, drawing on accounts from former detainees, families of prisoners, civil rights lawyers and Yemeni military officials. All are either hidden or off limits to Yemen's government, which has been getting Emirati help in its civil war with rebels over the last two years.

The secret prisons are inside military bases, ports, an airport, private villas and even a nightclub. Some detainees have been flown to an Emirati base across the Red Sea in Eritrea, according to Yemen Interior Minister Hussein Arab and others.

Several U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the topic, told AP that American forces do participate in interrogations of detainees at locations in Yemen, provide questions for others to ask, and receive transcripts of interrogations from Emirati allies. They said U.S. senior military leaders were aware of allegations of torture at the prisons in Yemen, looked into them, but were satisfied that there had not been any abuse when U.S. forces were present.

In a statement to the AP, the UAE's government denied the allegations.

"There are no secret detention centers and no torture of prisoners is done during interrogations."  

(Editor - a careful PR statement honoring Bill Clinton's "definition of what is is.")  

Inside war-torn Yemen, however, lawyers and families say nearly 2,000 men have disappeared into the clandestine prisons, a number so high that it has triggered near-weekly protests among families seeking information about missing sons, brothers and fathers.

Read More . . . .

Is It Safe? - Marathon Man

Read More:
k
CIA "Accidentally" Destroys 6,700 Page Report on Torture

Muslim Rebels Sink U.S. Navy Ship

Shhh . . . It's a Secret

The Controlled Media Machine largely 

kept the lid on this story. 

• The military-industrial complex and a Pentagon still living their glory days of World War II battle fleets have not addressed Islamist rebels sinking a U.S. ship with a missile. 
• Technology has ended the surface navy. Ships are little more than floating multi-billion dollar targets. 
• Ship building contracts are big, big money. The last thing Washington wants to get out is surface ships are obsolete.

(Business Insider)  -  On Saturday, a guided missile struck the United Arab Emirates' HSV Swift, a high-speed ferry formerly operated by the US Navy off the coast of Yemen, prompting the US to respond with two guided-missile destroyers and an amphibious transport dock ship from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group, Fox News reports.

"Rockets targeted an Emirati warship as it approached the coast of Mokha" on Yemen's western coast, Yemen's Iran-supported Houthi fighters said in a statement, reported by Al Jazeera.

"It was completely destroyed," the Houthis said.

The UAE has fought against the Houthi militants since last year as part of a Saudi-led coalition.

A video released online shows the Swift, a catamaran-style transport ship of US design, a rocket launching, and the rocket hitting the ship and causing a sustained fire on the water as those near the camera cheer.

The Emirati military confirmed that an incident occurred at sea while the ship was on a routine trip from Aden, Yemen, but it did not mention any injuries or deaths.

The US ships USS Nitze, USS Mason, and USS Ponce have headed to the Bab el-Mandeb strait that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

(The Yemeni government controls the majority of the country, but the Houthis control almost all of the western coast, where the incident took place.Reuters) 

According to the US Naval Institute, "reports indicate the weapons used could have been Chinese-built C-802 anti-ship missiles ... or guided anti-tank weapons."

Read More . . . . .

Say Goodbye to the Surface Navy

Yemeni forces have targeted and destroyed an Emirati military vessel in a rocket attack near the Red Sea port city of Mokha, al-Masirah TV says. The C-802 is the export upgraded version of the Chinese anti-ship missile YJ-8.

Before and After
Surface ships have become nothing more than floating target
practice for modern weapons..
See More:
Chinese supersonic missiles to destroy U.S. Navy?

Boom After

The wam.ae website has released photos of HSV-2 Swift hybrid catamaran it was attacked by C-802 missile near Bab-el-Mandeb in Yemen.

The HSV-2 Swift is a hybrid catamaran formerly belonged to the United States Navy but then was leased to the the United Arab Emirates Navy.  Read More . . . .

Persian Gulf Sheikhs Gave Bill & Hillary $100 Million

"Corruptus in Extremis"

And like with all other high level scandals 

no one ever goes to jail

(Daily Caller)  -  A Daily Caller News Foundation investigation reveals that Bill and Hillary Clinton received at least $100 million from autocratic Persian Gulf states and their leaders, potentially undermining Democratic presidential candidate Hillary’s claim she can carry out independent Middle East policies.

As a presidential candidate, the amount of foreign cash the Clintons have amassed from the Persian Gulf states is “simply unprecedented,” says national security analyst Patrick Poole.

“These regimes are buying access. You’ve got the Saudis. You’ve got the Kuwaitis, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. There are massive conflicts of interest. It’s beyond comprehension,” Poole told TheDCNF in an interview.

Overall, the Clinton Foundation has received upwards of $85 million in donations from five Persian Gulf states and their monarchs, according to the foundation’s website.

Clinton Foundation Lies Exposed

Activist groups have charged the five states — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — committed numerous human rights abuses.

For years, the accusations have centered on the Persian Gulf practice of importing hundreds of thousands of poor foreign laborers who work for low wages, including hundreds of thousands of female “domestic workers” who have no labor rights and often face exploitation and sexual abuse.

Yet as secretary of state, Clinton consciously and actively sought to legitimize the sheikdoms through many new Department of State programs.

It’s unclear what kind of promises or concessions the Clintons may have given the monarchs in return for their lavish financial support over the years, but last month the candidate reversed her long-standing support for fracking.

Hillary’s new position, unveiled last month at a CNN presidential debate with Democratic opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders, put her in alignment with the Gulf State policy that opposes North American oil and gas fracking.

Most troubling for Hillary, however, could be Bill’s personal, five-year business partnership with Dubai’s authoritarian ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin-Rashid al-Maktoum and his overall friendship with the rulers of the United Arab Emirates — a confederation of states that includes Dubai.

When Bill personally wooed bin-Rashid to join him as a business partner through his Dubai Investment Group, the sheikh was the crown prince of Dubai. During Bill’s partnership with bin-Rashid, his stature rose. He now is the undisputed ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the UAE.

The former president and bin-Rashid did their private financial deals with a California-based private equity fund called Yucaipa Partners, which is owned by billionaire and Democratic funder Ron Burkle. The three became business partners and sought to create an offshore sovereign wealth fund for Yucaipa.

Clinton ended his partnership with the investment firm five years later, but not before pocketing at least $15 million in “guaranteed payments” from the company, according to his personal tax returns from 2003 to 2008. The former president allegedly received another $20 million of “walking away money” to leave the partnership, according to The Daily Beast.

Today, Bill is a regular visitor to Dubai. His friend bin-Rashid runs Dubai as an absolute monarchy where there are no elections. Human rights groups deplore the labor practices of both Dubai and the UAE for the exploitation of at least 250,000 foreign laborers.

Read More . . . .

Orlando Airport spends $250,000 to build Muslim prayer room

Creeping Sharia

• Your tax dollars at work building a prayer room for Muslims only.  It appears Florida has no interest in the separation of church and state when Muslims are involved.

(WKMG Local 6)  -  Orlando International Airport will soon open a Muslim prayer room.

The decision came after Emirates airlines announced it will soon be flying out of OIA.

Since many that fly the airline are Muslim, OIA will spend $250,000 to build a reflection room where people can pray.

Currently at OIA, many Muslims pray in public or even in restrooms.  There is also a non-denomination chapel where prayer rugs are available.

With hundreds of new Muslim passengers, the airport wants to accommodate everyone.

The room should be open by the first Emirates flight, which is September 1. 

Read More . . . .

Private donors from Gulf Oil States Bankroll 100,000 ISIS Fighters

Worry about your friends, 

not your enemies

• As I have Blogged over and over, the weapons ISIS used to attack Syria and invade Iraq did not appear by magic on a beautiful spring day.  Since Syria is backed by Russia and Iran that means ISIS was deliberately funded and armed by the CIA and/or our Islamist "allies" like Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.  More and more we are seeing articles come out talking about this.

(From Counter Punch)  -  Islamic State is still receiving significant financial support from Arab sympathisers outside Iraq and Syria, enabling it to expand its war effort, says a senior Kurdish official.

The US has being trying to stop such private donors in the Gulf oil states sending to Islamic State (Isis) funds that help pay the salaries of fighters who may number well over 100,000.

Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff of the Kurdish President, Massoud Barzani, told The Independent on Sunday: “There is sympathy for Da’esh [the Arabic acronym for IS, also known as Isis] in many Arab countries and this has translated into money – and that is a disaster.”  He pointed out that until recently financial aid was being given more or less openly by Gulf states to the opposition in Syria – but by now most of these rebel groups have been absorbed into IS and Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate, so it is they “who now have the money and the weapons”.

Mr Hussein would not identify the states from which the funding for IS comes today, but implied that they were the same Gulf oil states that financed Sunni Arab rebels in Iraq and Syria in the past.

Dr Mahmoud Othman, a veteran member of the Iraqi Kurdish leadership who recently retired from the Iraqi parliament, said there was a misunderstanding as to why Gulf countries paid off IS. It is not only that donors are supporters of IS, but that the movement “gets money from the Arab countries because they are afraid of it”, he says. “Gulf countries give money to Da’esh so that it promises not to carry out operations on their territory.”

Iraqi leaders in Baghdad privately express similar suspicions that IS –  with a territory the size of Great Britain and a population of six million fighting a war on multiple fronts, from Aleppo to the Iranian border – could not be financially self-sufficient, given the calls on its limited resources.

On Tuesday night they made a surprise attack with between 300 and 400 fighters, many of them North Africans from Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, on Kurdish forces 40 miles west of the Kurdish capital, Irbil. The Kurds say that 34 IS fighters were killed in fighting and by US air strikes. At the same time, IS was battling for control of the town of al-Baghdadi, several hundred miles away in Anbar province. Despite forecasts by a CentCom spokesman last week that the tide has turned and that IS is on the retreat there is little sign of this on the ground.

On the contrary, IS appears to have the human and financial resources to fight a long war, though both are under strain. According to interviews by The Independent with people living in Mosul reached by phone, or with recent refugees from the city, IS officials are conscripting at least one young man from every family in Mosul, which has a population of 1.5 million. It has drafted a list of draconian punishments for those not willing to fight, starting with 80 lashes and ending with execution.

All these new recruits receive pay, as well as their keep, which until recently was $500 (£324) a month but has now been cut to about $350. Officers and commanders receive much more. A local source, who did not want to be named, says that foreign fighters, of whom there are an estimated 20,000 in IS, get a much higher salary – starting at $800 a month.

“I know three foreign fighters,” said Ahmad, a 45-year-old shopkeeper still working in Mosul. “I usually see them at checkpoints in our neighbourhood: one is Turkish and the others are Europeans. Some of them speak a little Arabic. I know them well because they buy soft drinks from the shops in our neighbourhood. The Turkish one is my customer. He says he talks to his family using the satellite internet service that is available for the foreigners, who have excellent privileges in terms of salaries, spoils and even captives.”

Read more at Counter Punch.org

"Exodus" banned by Muslims in Egypt, Morocco & UAE

Allah Says:

"You must not think for yourself."

Exodus, Ridley Scott’s epic retelling of the story of Moses, will not be released in the United Arab Emirates after censors in the country objected to what they described as historical and religious inaccuracies. The move follows on from similar decisions in Egypt and Morocco.

“We found that there are many mistakes not only about Islam but other religions too. So, we will not release it in the UAE,” Juma Obeid Al Leem, the director of Media Content Tracking at the National Media Council, was quoted as saying in local newspaper Gulf News.

It is generally prohibited to depict prophets and religious figures in Islamic, societies. Those laws saw Darren Aronofsky’s Noah banned across large swathes of the Arab world in March this year. At the time, the Egypt-based Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s highest authority, criticized Aronofsky’s film.

Exodus now appears likely to suffer a similar fate.

Ironically, the film is set in Egypt- albeit in Ancient times- and parts of it were shot in Morocco.

(Deadline.com)

‘US allies against ISIS are actually ISIS’ main allies’

U.S. Backs Islamists Then Bombs Islamists

• The U.S and our Islamist allies Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar have funded and armed Islamists in Syria.  Now we want to bomb the Islamists we armed.

The way the US is carrying the anti-ISIS war is a total failure because the countries that initially supported, financed and armed ISIS are within the US coalition right now, Talal Atrache, an expert on Jihadist and Islamist mentality, told RT.

RT: Do you think that the idea of anti-IS coalition led by the US is good? Would this policy be successful?

TA: The way that the US is carrying this war is a total failure. Why? Just because the main US allies against ISIS are ISIS’ main allies at the same time. The countries that supported initially and still financed, armed and supported ISIS are within the US coalition right now. And this doesn’t make sense. Turkey, for example, has become a jihadist highway; this is the main place, platform for jihadists. Jihadists are coming all over the world, transited in Turkey and going into Syria with indirect help of the Turkish government – Erdogan has not yet fired a single shot against ISIS. On the contrary, it has even helped, facilitated logistically the ISIS network in order to achieve its goals in Syria which is to topple the Syrian government and to destroy the Kurdish self-administration that has been recently announced.

At the same time Saudi Arabia and Qatar have played a strong role since the beginning of the Syrian war in promoting, helping and financing [jihadists]. The US is allied with these countries to fight ISIS, and the main thing would be, the main policy or attitude, is to fight these countries’ policies that consist of supporting indirectly ISIS or Al-Nusra, which is the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, and other extremist groups.

RT: What are the main problems with this US-led coalition fighting ISIS?

TA: The problem now is that, unfortunately, the US is unable to deviate from their dogmatic policy that consists of boycotting the Syrian government, and the US really needs boots on the ground. The only viable option would be to coordinate with the Syrian army, to promote and to help the Syrian army who is the only force willing to pay the heavy price of fighting tens of thousands of ISIS and other jihadists. They estimated that the Syrian army has lost more than 70,000 soldiers fighting mostly the jihadist groups since 2011. It’s unimaginable that any other army in the world would be willing to pay that same price. This is on one side.

On the other [side], the US has done everything to reduce the influence of Syria during the past few years, it did everything it could to reduce the influence of Syria, Iran, BRICS group, including Russia and China, which happens to be the most qualified potential partners for the US campaign on terror. The main problem is that the US should change its allies if it really wants to fight terrorism, and to join forces with Russia, China, Iran, Syria, that is the principle, the main country concerned in this war. And on the other hand, to implement all the anti-terrorist laws against Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar who are in the US coalition.

There are many UN resolutions that have been passed in 2001, and here I can recall mainly the resolution 1373 that punishes any country that directly or indirectly supports terrorism. In this aspect the countries that should be targeted for supporting terrorism are Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries like Kuwait at the same time. So it’s a matter of changing alliances and stopping this dogmatic policy that leads nowhere except [to] failing states all over the Middle East from Syria to Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan. American policy in the Middle East has been a total failure, it just created safe haven for terrorists.

Read the full interview . . . .

Heavy Clashes During The Battle For Al-Qahtaniyah

 | Syria War 2014 

.
CIA Behind ISIS & other Terrorist Groups says New York Times
.
(New York Times)  -  With help from the C.I.A., Arab governments and Turkey have sharply increased their military aid to Syria’s opposition fighters in recent months, expanding a secret airlift of arms and equipment for the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to air traffic data, interviews with officials in several countries and the accounts of rebel commanders. 

The airlift, which began on a small scale in early 2012 and continued intermittently through last fall, expanded into a steady and much heavier flow late last year, the data shows. It has grown to include more than 160 military cargo flights by Jordanian, Saudi and Qatari military-style cargo planes landing at Esenboga Airport near Ankara, and, to a lesser degree, at other Turkish and Jordanian airports. 

Biden forced to apologize to our terrorist supporting Muslim "allies"

Biting the Turkish hand the feeds you.

"Thou Shalt Not Tell The Truth"

• Joe Biden is forced to apologize to our Islamist "allies" for pointing out that they were supporting Islamist terrorism.

ISTANBUL — Vice President Joe Biden apologized to the United Arab Emirates Sunday for charging that the oil-rich ally had been supporting al Qaida and other jihadi groups in Syria's internal war, his second apology in as many days to a key participant in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State extremists.

The White House said Biden telephoned Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi to say that his recent remarks “regarding the early stages” of the conflict in Syria “were not meant to imply that the Emirates had facilitated or supported” the Islamic State, al Qaida or other extremist groups in Syria.

But his apology, one day after expressing similar regrets to Turkey, left open whether the Emirates had supported the rise of al Qaida during the early stages of the war in Syria reports McClatchy News.

Biden was answering questions at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government Thursday when he veered off the official talking points to declare, “Our allies in the region were our largest problem” in preventing the spread of al Qaida in Syria.

“The Saudis, the Emiratis; what were they doing?” he said. “They were so determined to take down (Syrian President Bashar) Assad and have a proxy Sunni-Shia war, they poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad. Except that the people who were being supplied were (Jabhat) al Nusra and al Qaida, and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world.”

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/10/05/242222/biden-continues-to-apologize-first.html#storylink=cpy

The other two countries Biden named were Saudi Arabia, which is about to host the U.S.-funded training of thousands of Syrian rebel fighters, and Qatar, which houses a covert CIA training facility for Syrian rebels.

Biden said Saudi Arabia “has stopped the funding” going to extremists in Syria, and the Qataris “have cut off their support for the most extreme elements of the terrorist organizations.” Neither country has publicly demanded an apology so far.

Although senior U.S. officials have hinted that at least one Gulf country had been supporting Jabhat al Nusra, the Al Qaida-backed militia in Syria, no one had named the countries in a public forum until Biden. His remarks raised a number of questions: what form did the aid take, how long did it continue and what impact did it have on fighting on the ground?

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/10/05/242222/biden-continues-to-apologize-first.html#storylink=cpy

The politicians and their lap-dog media
somehow "forget" to ask where ISIS gets
their weapons and funding.

Obama pushes Arab monarchies into China's arms

China Moves Into The Middle East

As Obama vacations in Hawaii the Chinese

are meeting with the Arabs.

Riyadh (AFP News)  -  The six energy-rich Arab monarchies of the Gulf are seeking to strengthen ties with China, Gulf Cooperation Council chief Abdullatif al-Zayani said Wednesday after talks with the Chinese foreign minister.

Zayani held talks in Saudi Arabia with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and expressed "GCC interest in bolstering friendship and cooperation ties with China," a GCC statement said.

Wang was quoted as saying that Beijing wants to "expand economic, trade and investment relations" with GCC countries and spoke of the "strategic cooperation and relations (it has) with the GCC".

Wang arrived in Saudi Arabia as part of a regional tour during which he also visit Israel, the Palestinian territories, Morocco and Algeria.

Saudi media said he will be discussing with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saudi al-Faisal a "strategic partnership" between Beijing and Riyadh. It did not elaborate.

Gulf monarchies are wary of Washington's reluctance to provide military support to Syrian rebels and for its openness towards their regional archfoe Iran, and are looking to improve ties with other nations.

The Sunni-ruled monarchies, like Western powers, fear that Iran may develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its disputed nuclear programme, which Iran insists is for peaceful purposes only.

Next came the revelation earlier this year that Obama was secretly negotiating with Iran, the mortal enemy of both Israel and Saudi Arabia. Officials in both nations have told me that they simply don’t believe that the president can sweet-talk the mullahs out of the weapons they have coveted for years reports Fox News.

“The bond of trust between America and Saudi Arabia has been broken in the Obama years,” Ahmed al-Ibrahim, an adviser to some of Saudi Arabia’s royals said. “We feel we have been stabbed in the back by Obama.”

“Every time that Obama had to choose between his enemies and his friends, he always chose his enemies,” he said. “We don’t know what he’s putting in his tea.”

A Russian Naval Base in Egypt?
Comrade Obama's fuck-ups know no bounds.

 

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah meets with then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping
in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2008 (Reuters)

Obama's Alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood

The American Media ignores the Obama-Muslim Brotherhood Alliance


By Gary;

Remember the recent Arab-Israeli conflict in Gaza?  It is my contention that in return for a little temporary help to end that mini-war, Comrade Obama dropped to his knees and fully serviced the Muslim Bortherhood President Mohammed Morsi.  He gave the Brotherhood a blank American taxpayer check to do what they want in establishing an Islamic State.

Within hours of the extensive talks with Obama, Morsi announced his assumption of total power.  The new Islamist written Constitution was then rapidly "approved" in an election held so fast that international observers could not even get to Egypt to do poll watching.  How convenient.

Now with the full support of the Obama regime the Muslim Brotherhood crackdown on freedom begins.


Muslim Brotherhood Crackdown on Free Speech
Egyptian satirist to be investigated for Morsi 'insult'

• Egypt’s leading independent newspaper said it was being investigated by the government for publishing "false news".
• Egypt's chief prosecutor ordered an investigation into allegations that opposition leaders committed treason by inciting supporters to overthrow Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

An Egyptian TV entertainer who satirised President Mohammed Morsi will be investigated for "insulting" the president, a judicial source said, in a case that underscores concerns over the right to freedom of speech under the new regime.               

An Egyptian satirist who made fun of President Mohamed Mursi on television will be investigated by prosecutors following an accusation that he undermined the leader’s standing, a judicial source said.

Bassem Youssef’s case will increase worries about freedom of speech in the post-Hosni Mubarak era, especially when the country’s new constitution includes provisions criticised by rights activists for, among other things, forbidding insults reports France 24 News.


Egypt clashes: Anti-Morsi rioters torch Muslim Brotherhood HQ
Comrade Obama sold out Egyptians who believe in democracy and continues to fund the nation with American taxpayer's money.

In a separate case that fuels concern about press freedom, one of Egypt’s leading independent newspapers said it was being investigated by the prosecutor following a complaint from the presidency, which accused it of publishing false news.

Youssef rose to fame following the uprising that swept Mubarak from power in February 2011 with a satirical online programme that was compared with Jon Stewart’s Daily Show.

He has since had his own show on Egyptian television and mocked Mursi’s repeated use of the word “love” in his speeches by starting one of his programmes with a love song, holding a red pillow with the president’s face printed on it.

The prosecutor general ordered an investigation into a formal complaint against Youssef by an Islamist lawyer. The complaint accuses him of “insulting” Mursi, an Islamist backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, and “undermining his standing”.

Human rights activists say it is the latest in a series of criminal defamation cases that bode ill for free speech as Egypt reshapes its institutions after Mubarak was toppled.

“The greatest threat to freedom of expression over the last four months has been this rise in criminal defamation cases, whether it is on charges of defaming the president or the judiciary,” said Heba Morayef, Egypt director of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

“The problem is now is we are likely to see an increase in this because criminal defamation is now embedded in the constitution.”

Rivals accuse Mursi, who won Egypt’s first freely contested leadership election in June, of polarising society by foisting a divisive, Islamist-leaning constitution on the country.

In the case against the independent daily al-Masry al-Youm, the presidency accused the paper of “spreading false news representing a danger to civil peace, public security and affecting the presidency”, the paper said.

Al-Masry Al-Youm said one of its editors had been summoned by the prosecutor for questioning next Saturday.

UAE arrests 10 members of Muslim Brotherhood

Emirati newspaper Al Khaleej reported that authorities in the Gulf state had arrested 10 members of an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cell. “The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has conducted many courses and lectures for the members of the secret organisation regarding the election and the ways of changing regimes in Arab countries,” the paper said.

The suspects are accused of holding “secret meetings” in the Emirates, recruiting “Egyptian expats in the UAE to join their ranks”, and raising “large amounts of money which they sent illegally to the mother organisation in Egypt”. The article also alleged that the suspects collected classified information regarding matters of UAE defence says France 24 News.

(USA Today)

Former Egyptian Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi is being
investigated for "treason" by the Muslim Brotherhood government of Egypt.  
There is not only total silence from the Obama regime, but Obama
rewards the Brotherhood with more military equipment.

UK 'considers' deploying Typhoon jets in Persian Gulf

UK Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets.

Will there be yet another Middle East war?


Britain may deploy its warplanes in the Gulf region amid the mounting tension over a possible war between Israel and Iran and the overall turbulence in the wake of the Arab Spring, according to a British newspaper.

The arrival of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets may be announced soon by Prime Minister David Cameron, who has been discussing the issue with rulers of the United Arab Emirates, says The Independent.
.
The warplanes may be deployed at the Al Dhafra Airbase south of the capital Abu Dhabi, where American and French troops are already present. It’s not yet clear which country would pay for the Typhoons’ presence. The UAE foots operational costs for the French Mirage fighter-bombers stationed there, which is estimated at between 20 and 45 million euro annually.

­

Islamic Republic of Iran Navy maneuvers in Strait of Hormuz

The news comes as top Israeli politicians are touring European countries. Defense Minister Ehud Barak is in Britain, where he met military top brass in addition to politicians. He is said to be aware and supportive of the plan to deploy British warplanes in the region.

UK’s Ministry of Defence insists the possible deployment of Typhoons has no connection with the tension around Iran’s nuclear program.
.
“We have a mutual interest with our GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] partners in ensuring peace and stability in the region, and exercises such as this allow us to practice working together,” it said.
.
However the warplanes may be needed to secure the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a major oil transportation waterway, which Iran threatened to block in case of an attack against it. The British government said it wanted to be prepared for any contingency, although it favors sanctions against Iran over a military intervention.

(UK Independent)

The military buildup in the Persian Gulf.