Sudan - New Min Defence - Gen Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf - ex Military Intelligence

Bashir appoints U.S. sanctioned general as new defense minister August 23, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir issued a decree today in which he named a new defense minister to replace Mustafa Obeid who served in this role temporarily following the cabinet reshuffle of last June. The incoming top military chief General Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf was the former head of military intelligence and also chairman of the joint chief of staff before he was relieved in June 2010. Following his military tenure, Ibn Auf was chosen to be Sudan’s ambassador in Oman. He is also on a list of individuals sanctioned by the United States in May 2007 for his alleged role in the Darfur conflict along with other figures. A US State department Wikileaks cable from 2008 says that Ibn Auf “has acted as liaison between the Sudanese government and the Government-supported Janjaweed militias, which have attacked and brutalized innocent civilians in the Darfur region”. “He has also provided logistical support for the Janjaweed and directed attacks,” the cable reads. The appointment comes days after Bashir offered a two month ceasefire to rebels in order to attend the national dialogue process initiated by him in early 2014. On Sunday, Bashir paid visits to military areas of Khartoum in which he pledged to improve living conditions of army members in terms of pay, housing, health coverage and social services. The Sudanese leader also reiterated that 2016 will witness the end of the insurgency. Bashir’s decision to bring a retired general into this position rather than an active service member may suggest his desire to mitigate the risk of a military coup. He has waited almost three months after the new post-elections cabinet formation in early June to pick a new minister. Since 2000, Bashir has picked only his closest confidants for this position including his current 1st VP Bakri Hassan Saleh and current governor of Khartoum Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein who held the defense portfolio since 2005 until last June. http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article56160  ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- COMMENT Keeping the army happy by improving their conditions is probably a good move, if this guy is currently doing some fancy footwork to avoid a military coup. Don't understand how appointing an non-active / retired military guy is a coup-blocker. I don't often look at this region, so it doesn't mean a lot to me. ꕤ

US Screws BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas sentenced in $8.9 billion accord over sanctions violations Reuters  on May 2, 2015 @ 1:40 AM By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - BNP Paribas SA was sentenced to five years probation by a U.S. judge on Friday in connection with a record $8.9 billion settlement resolving claims that it violated sanctions against Sudan, Cuba and Iran. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan formally ordered the French bank to forfeit $8.83 billion and pay a $140 million fine as part of a sentence that also called for BNP Paribas to enhance its compliance procedures and policies. Some of that money could now go to people harmed by the three sanctioned countries under a program the U.S. Justice Department announced in court. Georges Dirani, BNP's general counsel, told the judge that the bank accepted "full responsibility for its conduct," and was under CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé's personal supervision already improving its policies. "There's no question the organization will not tolerate the kind of behavior we have seen in this case," Dirani said. The case marked the first time a global bank pleaded guilty to violations of U.S. economic sanctions, the Justice Department said. The sentencing followed BNP Paribas' guilty plea in July to conspiring from 2004 to 2012 to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act. The sentence imposed by Schofield followed the terms of a heavily negotiated plea deal the Justice Department announced that month. Authorities said that BNP essentially functioned as the "central bank for the government of Sudan," concealing its tracks and failing to cooperate when first contacted by law enforcement. Prosecutors said BNP also evaded sanctions against entities in Iran and Cuba, in part by stripping information from wire transfers so they could pass through the U.S. system without raising red flags. BOMBING VICTIMS Friday's sentencing took place in a courtroom crowded with people Schofield said claimed to have been harmed by actions taken by the sanctioned countries and who were seeking restitution. While Schofield said they were not legally entitled to that relief, prosecutor Jennifer Ambuehl said the Justice Department would evaluate distributing the $3.84 billion in forfeitures it received in the deal to people harmed by Sudan, Cuba and Iran. Ambuehl called the effort "unprecedented" and said the Justice Department would shortly be launching a website to accept claims. But the program, which covers anyone harmed from 2004 to 2012, came as a disappointment to victims of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people. Several victims had flown to New York in anticipation of the program's announcement. They had cited a U.S. court's finding that without Sudan's support, al Qaeda could not have perpetrated the attacks. "We had hoped that the Department of Justice would stand with us and are deeply disappointed that it chose to delay and not do the right thing," George Mimba, the former head of the Kenya embassy employees, said in a statement. BNP's sentencing had been delayed for months while it awaited word on whether the U.S. Labor Department would allow it to continue to manage retirement plans despite the plea. The department granted BNP that exemption this month. A New York state court judge on April 15 sentenced BNP Paribas in a related case in which it agreed to forfeit $2.24 billion. That sum, along with a $508 million payment to the Federal Reserve and a $2.24 billion payment to the New York Department of Financial Services, are credited toward the $8.9 billion ordered by Schofield on Friday. The sentencing came a day after BNP Paribas reported first-quarter net income of 1.65 billion euros ($1.83 billion), up 17.5 percent. Revenue grew 11.6 percent to 11.1 billion euros. The case is U.S. v. BNP Paribas SA, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-cr-00460. (Editing by Ted Botha) Copyright2015 Thomson Reuters Source - here COMMENT To my way of thinking, this is US extortion. .................................................... Lorna G. Schofield Federal judicial service On April 25, 2012, President Obama nominated Schofield to serve as a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York... Schofield is the first Filipino American in the history of the United States to serve as an Article III federal judge. ... U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on June 6, 2012 ... reported Schofield's nomination to the full U.S. Senate on July 12, 2012. The U.S. Senate confirmed Schofield on December 13, 2012 in a 91-0 vote. She received her commission on December 13, 2012. Source - here

Summary

SUMMARY USA #USA>"US, student loan debt now totals roughly $1.2 trillion, surpassing the amount owed through credit card debt" >> http://on.rt.com/xbssud #USA "grim consequences of allowing higher education 2 be used as a vehicle for private profit" StrikeDebt Press Rel/ http://strikedebt.org/debtbuy4/ ----------------------------------------- EGYPT #Surveillance #Egypt - Deep Packet Inspection surveillance system/ 'See Egypt' affiliate to US-based cyber-security firm Blue Coat involved. Unprecedented access soc. media - penetrate WhatsApp, Viber, Skype + more - http://goo.gl/zSWiYx  - al arabiya article >> "Blue Coat detected in Iran, Sudan" + Syria / - http://goo.gl/TQUDS2  - Washington Post article #Egypt monitoring homosexual ppl's content on social media - al arabiya article (France 24 witness reference) ----------------------------------------- UKRAINE   US puppet Yatsy >1 million civil servants>new PURGE LAW - incl/ whole cabinet mins., interior min., intell services, prosecutor's office !!  [BBC] ----------------------------------------- KOSOVO  /  ALBANIA   #Albania #Kosovo CRIME CENTRAL - heroin trade / organ harvesting! - http://goo.gl/ZnER1w - ex-KLA criminal activity role / PM Hashim Thaçi >> Stand by for REPORT from Dick Marty - Paris on Thursday - wiki on Marty = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Marty >> PM Hashim Thaçi - aka 'The Snake' - wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashim_Tha%C3%A7i … - Nice photo w George W Bush .. thanks USA! --- West's "voice of reason" within the KLA" -- !! This is remarkably like all other West meddling! ----------------------------------------- AUSTRALIA   #Auspol >>> Kinky Liberal's - 150 shades of Grey - Is this the WORST Aussie govt in history? >>> http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/george-brandis-new-antiterror-law-allows-asio-to-torture-20140917-10i9hv.html … Basically, the govt’s proposed legislation enables lawful torture! #Auspol -- Is Abbott justifying M/E military action by exploiting blanket media coverage 'terrorist threat' raids? http://goo.gl/3J1ic8 “..danger of terrorism will be shamelessly invoked to divert from ..social inequality & halt opposition 2 US-AU militarism " >>>> Preventative detention powers -- to be expanded? Re:  article above / Australian raid – (https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/09/18/raid-s18.html) ----------------------------------------- COMMENT The amount of higher education debt in the US shocked me.   As it indicates, it's more than credit card debt!  The Strike Debt article is well worth a read for those in the US. Ukraine's a complete mess.  Amazed IMF advanced any money.  Amazed the US has sunk $5 billion. But I guess they're hoping to get a return in due course. Kosovo & Albania appear to be lawless.  The region's beyond me.  No understanding of what goes on.  However, there is a report due out on Thursday on the human rights abuse allegations, so that should be interesting. The goings on in Australia are shocking.  Crazy budget and crazy proposed laws. The Liberal government sounds incompetent. Massive raid on 'domestic terrorists' or something like that.  Huge operation. Sounds like a media stunt and case of fanning domestic fear to justify sending troops to the Middle East (and maybe distract from the crap budget and whatever else may be going on).   Also worthwhile noting is the issue of mass surveillance, data retention, NSA Five Eye spying on the Australian public, secret court order suppression, laws seeking to extend the of powers to those that appear to have already abused those powers, likely incursions on civil liberties given various new laws (the usual national security angle governments use), the hacking program used by NSW (ie state) police ... on and on it goes. I'm not big on anything that infringes liberties, so moves to grant intelligence organisations even more powers sounds super creepy and undesirable. Not impressed that some guy that got raided and arrested was also subjected to police brutality.   The arresting authorities aren't there to judge anyone or mete out punishment; they're there to perform a function.  In this case, it was to arrest suspects.  So what are they doing belting people? Oh, and there's more:  Australia's drafting laws where it's legal to TORTURE people! What kind of crazy is that? The government will probably get away with pushing through all these crazy laws because nobody cares.  The average person is apathetic, I'd say. The world's gone mad and I want to get off this ride.