This is rad. At New York Times , ” U.S. Forces Rescue Two Hostages From Somali Pirates “: KHARTOUM, Sudan — American Navy Seals swooped into Somalia early on Wednesday and rescued two aid workers, an American woman and a Danish man, after a shootout with Somali gunmen who had been holding them captive in a sweltering desert hideout for months. Under a cloak of darkness, a couple of dozen Seals parachuted in, stormed the hideout, killed nine gunmen and then whisked the aid workers into waiting helicopters, Pentagon officials said. The Seals were from the same elite Navy commando unit — Seal Team Six — that secretly entered Pakistan to kill Osama Bin Laden in May, senior American officials said, though the rescue mission in Somalia was carried out by a different assault team within the unit. President Obama was closely tracking the raid on Tuesday night, which was Wednesday morning in Somalia, and as he stepped into the House chamber to deliver his State of the Union address, he looked right at Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta standing in the crowd and said: “Leon, good job tonight, good job.” The hostages were safe and soon flown to an American military base in neighboring Djibouti. No Seals were hurt during the operation, Pentagon officials said. Mr. Obama seems to have taken a special interest in this case, presiding over several high-level meetings on it since the two aid workers were kidnapped in October by gunmen whom Somali elders said were part of a well-established pirate gang. Pirates operate with total impunity in many parts of lawless Somalia, which has languished without a functioning government for more than 20 years. As naval efforts have intensified on the high seas, stymieing hijackings, Somali pirates seem to be increasingly snatching foreigners on land. Just last week, pirates grabbed another American hostage not far from where the Seal raid took place. American officials said they were moved to strike in this case because they had received “actionable intelligence” that the health of Jessica Buchanan, the American aid worker, was rapidly deteriorating. The gunmen had just refused $1.5 million to let the two hostages go, Somali elders said, and ransom negotiations had ground to a halt. Somali pirates have held hostages for months, often in punishing conditions with little food, water or shelter, and past ransoms have topped more than $10 million. One British couple sailing around the world on a little sailboat was kidnapped by pirates from this same patch of central Somalia and held in captivity for more than a year. President Obama said that he had personally authorized the go-ahead for the operation on Monday. “As commander in chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. “The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people.” Also at Telegraph UK , ” US special forces team behind Osama bin Laden death rescue aid workers from Somali pirates .”
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U.S. Navy SEALs Rescue Hostages in Daring Overnight Raid in Somalia
In an interview with The Jane Dough, Arianna Huffington revealed two things, one of which is unpredictable. The other, one of her unpaid bloggers in Sudan could guess. When asked to share something no one would guess about her, she said, “My iPod playlist is loaded with country music.” Imagine for a second, Huffington singing along to a Kenny Chesney song. Her Greek accent makes it weird. She was also asked what she would bring with her if she were stranded on a desert island. Her first choice: “The complete works of William Shakespeare, because I could read and reread them and never tire of them.” Of course she would.
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Huffington likes country music
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Wednesday his country would move forward with an all-Islamic constitution. (Photo credit: Reuters)
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Sudan President Vows New All-Islamic Constitution, Shariah-Based Legislation
Israel-based journalist Sharona Schwartz covers Middle East news for The Blaze: With the onslaught of anti-Israel activity this week at the UN, the Israeli government has geared up in full force to push back with a PR offensive of its own. In this case, one or two diplomats won’t suffice. A battalion of seasoned speakers is needed for the job. That is, to counter the two major offensives at the UN, backed by its Arab members: On September 22nd, the Durban III Conference will take place – what supporters of Israel are calling a racist anti-racism event set to charge only one country as racist, and that’s Israel. The next day, the Palestinian Authority is expected to present its one-sided bid for statehood recognition. The crew heading to New York includes: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who will speak at the UN podium. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon who will also be there to present Israel’s case and lobby international leaders against the Palestinian move. Tally: one prime minister, 5 ministers, one deputy minister and more, as noted in this handy timeline of the week’s events from the Jerusalem Post : Gidi Schmerling, who was just replaced as Netanyahu’s chief spokesman by Yoaz Hendel, and Yonatan Peled, who this summer completed a tour of duty as spokesman at Israel’s embassy in Washington, are setting up a media center in New York. They will be augmented by Israel’s envoy in Washington, Michael Oren, and by former ambassador to the UN Dore Gold. Seasoned UN-watchers might be skeptical that the UN will veer from its habitual turning a deaf ear to Israel. In more than 50 years, 82% of all UN General Assembly emergency session meetings have been about condemning Israel. By comparison, no sessions were called about the Cambodia, Rwanda or Sudan genocides, according to “ Eye on the UN ”. Israel’s UN ambassador Ron Prosor fired the opening salvo of the week’s public diplomacy efforts, pointing to the folly of the statehood bid in the Los Angeles Times : The truth is that the head of the Palestinian Authority has absolutely no authority in the Gaza Strip. Abbas has not set foot in Gaza since the Hamas terrorist organization carried out a bloody coup and took control of the area in 2007. It’s like New York City electing a mayor who is unable to travel to Brooklyn. Ironically, the one group Israel doesn’t have to convince is the terrorist group Hamas which controls Gaza and opposes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ UN statehood efforts, saying he doesn’t have the right to cede one inch of Palestinian territory. Another way of saying they oppose declaring a state covering only the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. For them, Palestine was and always will be all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, or in other words, the entire State of Israel.
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Israel deploys battalion of diplomats for intense days at United Nations
When I first saw the news yesterday morning, with images of jubilation among the population, I thought, hmm, how’s this going to work out? Sudan is one of the world’s most crisis-ridden states, as measured by Foreign Policy Magazine ” Failed States Index, 2011 .” And see Los Angeles Times , ” South Sudan, world’s newest nation, is instantly one of the most troubled “: The countdown clock ran out, the flag ascended over the fledgling capital and a new nation born from Africa’s longest civil war and the deaths of 2 million people joined the world. The mood was euphoric Saturday in Juba as the Republic of South Sudan formally declared its independence from the north, its bitter antagonist for generations. For the day, at least, a people weary of conflict were willing to ignore that their nation came into being as one the world’s most troubled states. Dozens of heads of state gathered outside the mausoleum of southern war hero John Garang at a massive ceremony featuring marching soldiers. Thousands of ordinary Sudanese crammed into the parade grounds, singing and cheering. The man sworn in as South Sudan’s first president, Salva Kiir, stood alongside his old nemesis, northern President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in the western region of Darfur. Bashir’s presence was a powerful sign that he has acceded to the partition, however grudgingly. It is not exactly true to say the country is starting from scratch, because it has been building the rudiments of a functioning government since the 2005 peace deal that made independence possible. But nationhood comes fraught with outsized problems. More at the link . And see also, New York Times , ” After Years of Struggle, South Sudan Becomes a New Nation ” (via Memeorandum ). RELATED : From James Traub, at Foreign Policy , ” Bashir’s Choice .”
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South Sudan Gains Statehood
AFP – President Barack Obama called Wednesday for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, where he said the situation is “dire” with government forces accused of ethnic cleansing.
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Obama urges ceasefire in Sudan’s South Kordofan
(AFP)
Reuters – President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged leaders of north and south Sudan to build on their agreement to ease tension in the disputed region of Abyei by undertaking an immediate ceasefire in Southern Kordofan.
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Obama urges ceasefire in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan
(Reuters)
AP – The Obama administration on Thursday asked China to use its influence with Sudan’s president to press for an end to rising violence that threatens a landmark peace deal and could complicate southern Sudan’s planned declaration of independence next month.
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US seeks China’s help in Sudan as alarm grows
(AP)
