Saturday, 31 October 2015

The ‘Captagon’ Kingdom

Israa al-Fass

King's daughters
Al-Anoud Al-Fayez with her daughters
The famous story about the daughters of late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Hala, Maha, Sahar and Jawaher, who are still imprisoned in his royal castles is not a new one. Many stories were written about the issue, and many interviews were conducted with their mother, Princess al-Anoud al-Fayez who is based in London.

But the secret thing behind this story is its link with the Captagon scandals in the Saudi Kingdom.

The drugs scandals inside the Kingdom begin with the case of the political detainees, and influence the national citizens in the first place.

In April 2014, Al-Manar Website conducted an interview with the ex-wife of the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, yet the interview was not published at the time. The princess, of Jordanian roots, uncovered that her daughters are being mistreated because one of them discovered that the prisoners of conscience are injected with drugs, tortured and humiliated.

"Saudi prisoners of conscience were detained at the psychiatric ward, injected with drugs and were subject to torture and humiliation," according to what Hala Abdullah Abdul Aziz Al Saud witnessed, as she had been working as a trainee in some of the mental disease centers. The princess's objection on such way of dealing with the prisoners made here a victim of the same way. She was injected with drugs and imprisoned before her health status deteriorated, and she was then isolated from her sisters.

"Servants in the castle tended to add drugs for my daughters Maha and Hala. Some of them couldn't make it, so they were fired. Others gave up on the order. Jawaher and Sahar demanded that the servants stay outside their residential place, so that the tragedy won't be repeated," said al-Anoud al-Fayez.

This is how Al Saud dealt with their own children... it is not surprising anymore that their princes are the ones flooding the country with drugs that would crush the Saudi people.

In a "France 24" report published on August 2015, two videotapes were leaked from Jedda's Briman Prison on June 13. The French channel disclosed what is being practiced inside the Saudi prisons such as the prisoners injecting themselves with Heroine. It published what denies the Saudi official justifications that said the prisoners are being injected with Insulin.

According to late UN statistics, the rate drug addicts inside the kingdom hits 150 thousand persons. Saudi Arabia is also the first among Gulf countries in the number of addicts whose the ages of 70% of them range between 12 and 20 years.

Perhaps the dangerous issue is what had been shown recently in studies that 10% of the elementary level students (11 years old and less) are addicted to drugs, the percentage increases to 33% for intermediary level students (up to 15 years old), and 38% for secondary level students (up to 18 years old.)

Saudi Arabia is considered among the most countries addicted to Captagon. The 2013 UN report on drugs in the world shows that one third of the overall quantity of Captagon that was confiscated in the world was in Saudi Arabia. Thus, Captagon is the first on the list of drugs there. It was also described as "the excellent Saudi drug."

Yemen: Drug Smuggling Path, Sponsored by the Kingdom

CaptagonOn Monday, May 21st of 2012, the first drug confiscation operation was registered in the Yemeni Sa'ada province. Huge drug quantities were taken to Saudi Arabia. On that day, the Ansarullah Movement announced it spoiled the quantity after it frustrated the smuggling attempt. It was "a part of our responsibility in front of Allah since this dangerous issue is one of the damaging weapons the enemies of the nation are using in their war against our youth and children to destroy them, damage their values, and waste their abilities," according to the movement's statement on the time.

Back then, the destroying of drugs was headed by Mohammad Ali al-Houthi (current Head of High Revolutionary Committee in Yemen), and under the supervision of Martyr Abdul Karim al-Khiwani, with field coordination of Yemeni journalist Hamed al-Bakhiti among other media figures.

The smuggling operation through the Yemeni territories used to pass through the Mocha Port in the Province of Taaz, overlooking the Red Sea coasts. Drugs were transported via the port, with the knowledge and sponsorship of distinguished Yemeni figures, to be moved to Saada's cities of Ktaf and Damaj where they would be packed and covered. In Yemen, especially regarding what is related to drug smuggling operations, there are two names for those who are considered the men of the neighbor kingdom: Yemeni MP Othman Majli and the well-known drug dealer Mohammad al-Wayeli, according to Yemeni sources.

After the September 21st, 2014 revolution, Yemeni Security Forces and revolutionary committees succeeded in confiscating such operations. "Controlling this smuggling phenomenon had a great impact on the Saudi policy towards Yemen," according to the sources! This was confirmed by the Saudi Ministry of Interior on September 1st, 2015 when it announced that the rate of smuggling drugs from Yemen to Saudi Arabia decreased to 80%, relating this to the "positive results" of the aggression.

Syria, Lebanon and Jordan: Selling Captagon to Saudis Gained them lots of Money

In a BBC documentary entitled "Captagon: Drug of the Syrian War," its producer, Lebanese journalist Radwan Mortada narrates from "Abu Souss" (a nickname for an important political opposition person who funds Captagon factories in Syria) that "selling the Saudis Captagon made him make a lot of money."

After the Syrian crisis, some of the Syrians tended to trade Captagon and promote it in exchange of money and weapons. As a new phenomenon, many drug factories emerged in the middle and east of Syria. International reports say that manufacturing Captagon flourishes in southeastern countries in Europe: Slovenia, Serbia and Bulgaria, and they are smuggled via Turkey to Syria and Jordan until they reach Saudi Arabia.

CaptagonHead of Central Drug Combating Office in the Judicial Police Department in Lebanon, General Ghassan Shamseddine asserts that the Captagon pills manufactured in Syria are smuggled to Lebanon to be exported later to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

Until few days ago, it was still possible considering drugs spreading in Saudi Arabia a scandal which the regime is seeking to refute. However, what was uncovered on Monday October 26, 2015 about the involvement of one of the grandsons of Abdul Aziz Al Saud (Abdul Mohsen bin Walid bin Abdul Mohsen bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud) completes a series of the regime scandals and its relationship with promoting drugs inside the kingdom.

Hence, smuggling drugs from Lebanon happens through the Al Saud Princes' private planes with a royal stamp. The boost of manufacturing drugs in Syria is due to the Saudi money flooding this business. In Yemen, the kingdom's men and businessmen sponsor the smuggling operations, which damage the Saudis whether kids, youth or detainees. Even the sons and daughters of the princes are not safe from drugs in case they didn't abide by the royal decisions inside the Al Saud castles.

Source: Al-Manar Website
30-10-2015 - 15:24 Last updated 30-10-2015 - 16:17

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Israeli Policewoman says, “He looks like a good one, shoot him”

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Murder Incorporated?

ISM
Wednesday 28th at 3.25pm a young Palestinian was shot in cold blood in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood in Hebron. Human rights observers from International Solidarity Movement witnessed the young man being murdered while walking in the street near the Gilbert Ceckpoint.
Throw Stones and We Will Gas You Until You Die
Audio of Israeli soldier speaking to Palestinians at Aida refugee camp from inside of a tank:
“We are going to butcher him while you watch.”
Israeli Forces Erasing Palestinian Lives
At 10.30pm last night, Tuesday 27th October 2015, a Palestinian man who has been identified as 23 year old Hammam Said was shot in al-Kahlil (Hebron) at the Gilbert checkpoint, directly outside the ISM apartment. The man was in the H2 neighborhood of Tel Rumeida which was otherwise quiet at the time.
19-Year-Old Shot in Central Hebron
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Clashes erupted in the Bab al-Zawiya area in central Hebron on Thursday following the earlier killing of 19-year-old Farouk Abdel Sidr on nearby Shuhada Street, locals said.
We Got Your Back, Bro: Pentagon Chief Vows to Boost Israel’s Military Edge
The United States will enhance “the entire spectrum” of military cooperation with Israel, from cyber defense and high-end attack capabilities down to a joint program aimed at combating terror tunnels, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said.
Amnesty: Israel ‘Recklessly’ Flouts International Law in Unjustified Killings
LONDON, (PIC)– Amnesty International has strongly denounced Israel for carrying out unlawful and extrajudicial killings against the Palestinians and using lethal force without justification.
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Obama Plans to Dispatch Special Forces to Syria


USA: Train-and-Equip unit in SyriaUS President Barack Obama has authorized the first sustained deployment of special forces to Syria, the White House said Friday, relenting on a long-standing refusal to put US boots on the ground.

Spokesman Josh Earnest said that Obama okayed a deployment of "fewer than 50" special operations forces in the north of the country in a bid to strengthen armed groups fighting what he called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group.

The White House denied the move was a reversal of Obama's pledge not to put combat troops in Syria, saying Americans would not be "leading the charge up the hill" and insisting it was not evidence of "mission creep."

"Our strategy in Syria hasn't changed," said Earnest.

Instead, officials indicated the mission would echo some US operations in Iraq, where military personnel coordinate local ground forces, channel weapons supplies and direct air support.

The White House announced Friday the deployment of A-10 ground-attack planes and F-15 tactical fighter jets to the Incirlik base in southern Turkey and increased assistance to Lebanon and Jordan as part of the ramped up effort.

Obama recently scrapped a $600 million mission to train what he called "moderate Syrian opposition fighters" fighting ISIL and al-Nusra Front takfiris.

Source: AFP
30-10-2015 - 22:16 Last updated 30-10-2015 - 22:16

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US Asks Mohammad Bin Salman to Stop Yemen Offensive, Find Face-Saving Exit


The United States is displeased with the performance of the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, in Yemen and asked him to find a face-saving exit to the offensive against the Arab impoverished country, Saudi political activist, Mujtahid said.

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin SalmanOn his Twitter account, the Saudi activist, who is believed to be a member of or have a well-connected source in the royal family, clarified the remarks by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Wednesday.

In a joint press conference with his British counterpart, Philip Hammond, al-Jubeir said that the military action against Yemen “appeared to be heading towards a conclusion.”

The United States asked Mohamamd Bin Salman, who is Defense Minister, to stop the offensive against Yemen and to find a face-saving exit to the attack, Mujtahid tweeted.

The Saudi activist noted that Washington is displeased with the rising influence of al-Qaeda and ISIL in Yemen.

This dissatisfaction is because of the failed performance of the Saudi attack, Mujtahid said, noting that there is dispute between the Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The dispute is clear through the disagreement between the fugitive president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his prime minister Khaled Bahhah, where Hadi is backed by Riyadh and Bahah is backed by Abu Dhabi, Mujtahid said.

The failure of the Saudi-led coalition’s performance is also due to the pressure staged by the Yemeni army and Ansarullah revolutionaries (known as Houthis), he indicated.

The Saudi activist said that Saudi forces are unable to confront the attacks staged by the Yemeni side on the border areas of Jizan, Najran and Dhahran Al-Janoub.

Source: Websites
30-10-2015 - 15:46 Last updated 30-10-2015 - 15:50

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Friday, 30 October 2015

Is a Movement Afoot to Inflame US Opinion Against Russia?

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chessputin
Yesterday it was announced by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter that the US will be sending a “small number of special operations forces” to Syria for the purpose of supporting “capable partners” in the war against ISIS. (See Reuters report here.)
This of course means that there will now be US troops “on the ground” in Syria. What if one or more of them happens to get killed in a Russian airstrike? This is a possibility analyzed in an article that includes anonymous comments from two Special Operations commanders who have expressed concern about the “scope” of the mission in Syria.

Liar Liar–Pants on Fire: Obama Sends US Ground Troops to Syria
By Chip Tatum
During lunch with old friends outside MacDill AFB in Tampa, two U.S. Special Operations Command officials, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity, reported that the orders are in and that we will be deploying 3,000 troops to the AO (Area of Operations).
“Chip, we are concerned due to the scope of our mission there. We will be embedded with Syrian Opposition forces, we believe that many are al-Qaeda or ISIS sympathizers who are not actively engaged against the terrorist threat but rather in support of a regime change.

A couple of days ago I posted an article regarding an online letter expressing support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a letter that now has garnered more than 86,000 signatures. Clearly the US is worried about the outpouring of support Russia is receiving from the “global reality-based community,” which of course is made up of people who get their news from the Internet rather than the mainstream media.
A sign of how desperate US officials are becoming can perhaps be gleaned from an op-ed piece published last Friday in the Washington Post and written by David J. Kramer, a former US assistant Secretary of State.
In the piece, which can be accessed here, Kramer, who is now affiliated with the McCain Institute (yes, as in John McCain), calls for the US to freeze the assets of Russian broadcaster RT. The freeze would be carried out supposedly on the grounds of Russian non-compliance with two recent European court rulings concerning Yukos, the no-longer-existent oil company formerly run by Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Kramer attempts to smear Putin, referring to his administration as “one of the most corrupt, kleptocratic regimes in the world,” while going on to assert that:
RT is the key to Putin’s propaganda effort to discredit the West and obfuscate the truth of Russian actions. It has a global reach through cable and the Internet and claims an audience, likely exaggerated, of 700 million people in 100 countries. It has a large studio in Washington and bureaus throughout the United States and Europe. Russian government financing for RT and similar propaganda outlets, including Sputnik news, is roughly half a billion dollars.
Seizing Russian Embassy and consulate property in Washington and elsewhere is not an option given the inviolability of diplomatic missions. That leaves few other possibilities for going after Russian properties — and makes RT an inviting target. Even for Russia, with more than $350 billion in hard currency reserves and the most natural-resources wealth of any country in the world, $52 billion is a lot of money, especially in the midst of an economic crisis, low oil prices and the squeeze of continued sanctions against the regime.
If US soldiers were to die in an airstrike that could be blamed on Russia, it would most likely smooth the way for a seizure of RT assets…and who knows? Maybe even a war as well.
Kramer’s article has certainly been taken note of in Russia. The following was posted Tuesday at Sputnik:
RT Chief Outraged at ‘Shocking’ Proposal to Seize Channel’s US Assets
RT television channel Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said Tuesday that she was outraged at the proposal by a former US assistant secretary of state that the United States must freeze RT assets.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — David Kramer, a former US assistant secretary of state for democracy and human rights, said in an op-ed published last week by The Washington Post that RT channel assets in the country must be seized in compliance with two European court rulings against Russia stipulating shareholder debt repayment in the now defunct Yukos oil firm.

Thanks to Russian air support, the Syrian Army is now about to launch an offensive to retake Palmyra. If the ancient city–a UNESCO World Heritage site–is rescued, and particularly if it is rescued with some of its ancient antiquities still intact, it will be another feather in Russia’s cap.
At this point, it would be well if the US simply stayed out of the way. But Russia’s successes in Syria have angered US officials, and the question now is to what lengths are they willing to go to reassert global “leadership,” which has obviously taken a beating?
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Zarif Meets Kerry, Stresses No Preconditions for Participation in Syria Talks


Local Editor

Before he met his US counterpart, John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif stressed that there were no preconditions for Tehran’s participation in Syria talks.

Upon his arrival in the Austrian capital for talks aimed at ending the deadly crises in Syria, Zarif told reporters that Iran would not have taken part in the Syria talks if there were preconditions for Tehran’s participation, Iranian media reported.

Zarif and KerryZarif, who is heading high-ranking political delegation, met his US counterpart, John Kerry.

The top US diplomat left his Vienna hotel and walked 100 meters up the street to his counterpart's accommodation for a closed-door meeting, AFP news agency reported.

Zarif was also scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, according to the Russian news wire Interfax, before joining a dozen powers for the main talks on Friday.

This is the first ever participation of Iran in Syrian Peace Talks, which western countries are hosting, and opponents of President Bashar al-Assad are attending, too.

Meetings of 'Geneva 1' and ' Geneva 2' to find mechanisms and solution to settle Syrian crisis failed to yield any achievement.

A quadrilateral meeting of the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey were held in Vienna last week without Iran's presence to consider Syria crisis.

Friday's talks will be a wider gathering of regional players which will see Zarif joining representatives from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Lebanon and the European Union.

Source: Agencies
29-10-2015 - 19:15 Last updated 30-10-2015 - 00:13


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Is this an Act of Terrorism?

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[Update – 10/28/15 – The original two videos were pulled from YouTube, but duplicates have been found and reposted at the bottom of the article ]

The video above, as well as the one below, are a couple I found on a pro-Israel YouTube channel, posted apparently in hopes of portraying Palestinians as monstrous, bloodthirsty terrorists. In the first video, above, we see a Palestinian youth being detained by a group of Israeli policemen. Suddenly and without warning he pulls a knife and starts stabbing the officers at random. The other police respond by drawing their weapons, and we see what appear to be at least six officers firing bullets into the youth’s body as they converge around him.
The Palestinian almost certainly would have known  that if he pulled out the knife and attacked even just one of the officers there would be a spontaneous response by the others and that he would probably have zero chance of surviving. But he did it anyway. So is this an act of terrorism? Or is it a heroic act of courage in resistance to occupation?
In the next video, we see a Palestinian mother being interviewed regarding the martyrdom of her son, Muhammad Shamasne, who was killed on October 12 after stabbing an Israeli soldier on a bus. The soldier did not die of his injuries. Muhammad, however, was shot to death. In the interview the mother offers candy in celebration of her son’s martyrdom and expresses the hope that her other children will become martyrs as well. Then she pulls out a knife and brandishes it in front of the camera and says, “Watch out Israel!”
Is this a terrorist we are looking at in this video? Is it a woman deranged
over the death of her son? The mother’s performance before the camera has been picked up and covered in articles in the mainstream media as well as the Jewish press (see herehere, and here), and the writers seem to take the view that she’s either a lunatic or a terrorist or both. But I doubt any of them have ever lived under Israeli occupation or have an inkling of how their views might be reshaped were they suddenly thrust into an environment of apartheid in which they would have no protection from violent, racist settlers and in which they could be shot or indefinitely detained on the slightest of pretexts. I don’t think pulling out a knife in an interview with a journalist is an admirable or praiseworthy act, but all of us, humans and animals alike, can and do exhibit bizarre behavior when pushed to a point of desperation. And I would dare say that living under a brutal occupation with no end in sight might push one to such a point fairly quickly.
The plain, unadulterated fact is that Israel stole most of the land of Palestine in 1948, and then, starting in 1967, it began an occupation of the West Bank as well. And instead of ending that occupation, it has entrenched and expanded it–until today there are roughly a half a million Israeli Jews living in settlements illegally constructed on land that was supposed to have been given to the Palestinians for a state. And on top of that we now have people pointing fingers, issuing self-righteous exclamations, and posting videos on YouTube because a woman  pulls out a knife in an interview.
Another plain, unadulterated fact is that hatred and racism permeate Israeli society, extending all the way up to the highest levels of government. And along with this comes a thirst for blood and vengeance, similar to what we see from the god of the Old Testament. An Israeli Knesset member, Yinon Magal, recently stated in an interview he thinks that as many as “100,000 Arabs” could die in the next war with the Palestinians. In last summer’s war in Gaza, 20,000 Palestinians were killed. Magal apparently fantasizes about multiplying that number by five now.
“If we are not strong, and if we do not make clear to them that they will pay a price for their violence, there will be a lot of blood here,” Magal said. “I think crazy stuff will happen here if this violence continues…”
Asked by the interviewer whether it might not be better to take a softer approach so as to try and calm down the situation, Magal gave the following reply:
“Achieving calm is not a value. Victory is a value. We need to say the truth, we need to say what we really think, we need to say what the situation really is. People say, ‘We have no war with the Palestinian nation; we have a war with the terror organizations.’ What is this nonsense? When they murder two parents next to their children, and in all of the [Arab] villages, people hand out candies, what is that? What does it mean? Do we want to turn a blind eye to that?”
The views held by average Israelis are likely even more radical–by far–than what Magal expresses in the interview. You can go here to read a story about Dania Arsheid, a 17-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed execution-style by Israeli forces as she tried to pass through a checkpoint on Sunday.
Arsheid reportedly raised her hands in the air.
“I don’t have a knife,” she is described by a witness as saying–before being shot eight to ten times.
If you follow the link above you will see a video taken after she was shot. The video shows her lying in her own blood as Israeli police stand around, making no effort to provide medial assistance to her. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, the officers even prevented medics from reaching her.
Another account of her shooting is here:
Dania was still wearing her school-uniform and school-bag, coming from school in the afternoon. Just twenty minutes before the incident, at a checkpoint leading to the Ibrahimi mosque, a female soldier was heard on the army-radio by passers-by announcing that she wanted “to kill a Palestinian person that day’.
Dania passed through the checkpoint leading from the Palestinian market to the Ibrahimi mosque, and a few meters further to the next checkpoint. She passed through the metal detector and gave her bag to the soldiers at the checkpoint. An eyewitness explains: “I saw with my own eyes, there was no knife – nothing.”
According to eye-witnesses, soldiers then shot at her feet – at which point she immediately stepped back and raised her hands. That is when soldiers started shot her, according to witnesses, seven to eight times. While she lay on the ground bleeding from her neck, no first aid was given, not even the Israeli ambulance that arrived after about twenty minutes gave any medical help. A Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance was denied entry to the scene and ordered by soldiers to leave.
Israeli Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld is reported to have described Dania as a “female Arab terrorist” and asserted that police “neutralized her” after she had attempted to stab one of them with a knife.
This past summer, when Palestinians held a rally to express support for a Palestinian hunger striker, a group of Israelis converged upon them shouting obscenities and, at one point, even rejoiced over the deaths of Gaza children.
Last week, an Israeli writer published an op-ed piece in the Washington Post entitledConfessions of an Israeli Traitor, in which he expressed the view that the Jewish state is in a “downward swirl into a savage, unrepairable society.”
It’s probably an accurate statement–or maybe even an understatement.
And then just today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau delivered an address to the Knesset in which he stated that “at this time we need to control all of the territory for the foreseeable future.” So in other words, there will be no Palestinian state if Netanyahu and those who share his views (and that is the overwhelming majority of Israelis) have their way.
Interestingly, at the same meeting Netanyahu went on to offer up a comment in which, subconsciously or not, he evoked the words of Jesus.
“You think there is a magic wand here, but I disagree,” he said. “I’m asked if we will forever live by the sword–yes.”
The words are indeed taken from a comment made by Jesus, but of course Netanyahu left off the last part of the quote–about dying by the sword.
________________
Update: Less than 24 hours after I posted this article, both videos were pulled from the YouTube channel I mentioned. However, I have managed to find the same videos posted by other channels. How long they will remain up after I embed them, I can’t tell you. But at least as of now, 5:40 p.m. on 10-28-15, they are still there. So here they are in the order I mentioned them–i.e. first the one at the top of the post, followed by the one just below paragraph 3 and featuring the mother with the knife:


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