Us confirms Americans among the hostages in Algeria

(Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday that U.S. citizens were among the hostages taken when Islamist militants raided a gas facility in Algeria and that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had telephoned Algeria's prime minister to discuss the incident.

 "Beyond confirming that there are Americans among the hostages, I will ask you to respect our decision not to get into any further details as we try to secure these people," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing.

Nuland said Clinton had spoken with both Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and the U.S. ambassador in Algeria on Thursday, and that U.S. officials were also in contact with the security office of British Petroleum, which operates the gas field together with Norway's Statoil and Algeria's state company Sonatrach.
The militants said they had kidnapped up to 41 foreigners, including seven Americans, in the dawn raid in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, according to media reports. The raiders were also reported to have killed three people, including a Briton and a French national.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, speaking to reporters in Rome where he was on an official trip, said that "by all indications, this is a terrorist act."
"Obviously we're continuing to review the situation to determine exactly what happened," Panetta said.
"I want to assure the American people that the United States will take all necessary and proper steps that are required to deal with this situation."
Panetta said he did not have any firm information on the number of hostages, or on whether there were links to the situation in Mali, where French troops launched their first ground assault against Islamist rebels on Wednesday after six days of air strikes.
"I do know that terrorists are terrorists," Panetta said.
(Reporting By Andrew Quinn, additional reporting by David Alexander in Rome; Editing by Sandra Maler and Paul Simao)

My MMV
Names of the hostages will be released as soon as the families are informed. According to some reports this attack was in retaliation to France involvement in Mali. We condemn these attack and urge that the hostages be released immediately. 

Finally we know who Tahirul Qadri is!!!

A Canadian cleric, who has twice played a part in backing military juntas in nuclear-armed Pakistan, is back in that country. And once more, he appears to be facilitating a military takeover in Islamabad.
Tahir-ul-Qadri is better known for his role in the creation of the infamous “Anti-Blasphemy Law” of Pakistan, that has brought untold misery to religious minorities and agnostics.
In the 1980s, Qadri backed the military junta of the Islamist General Zia who had overthrown former prime minister Z.A. Bhutto. In 1999, he backed the administration of General Pervez Musharraf, which had staged a coup against former prime minister Nawaz Shariff.
By the time democracy was restored in Pakistan, Qadri had emigrated to Canada, where he went into political hibernation until he became eligible for a Canadian passport.
With that in hand, Qadri left Canada to manage his worldwide network of devotees, who believe the Prophet Muhammad has appeared in Qadri’s dreams and gives him instructions.

Pakistan’s army lurks behind cleric | Columnists | Opinion | Toronto Sun

Bomb Blasts Kill Scores of People in Pakistan

QUETTA, Pakistan
A series of bombings in different parts of Pakistan killed 115 people on Thursday, including 81 who died in a sectarian attack on a bustling billiard hall in the southwest city of Quetta, officials said.
The blasts punctuated one of the deadliest days in recent years in Pakistan, where the government faces a bloody insurgency by Taliban militants in the northwest and Baluch militants in the southwest. read more
                                                                                                                                                                       

Car Bomb Kill 20 in Iraq

A car bomb has killed at least 20 Shia Muslim pilgrims in the town of al Musayyib, south of Baghdad, as worshippers from around the world thronged Iraq's shrine city of Karbala to finish mourning rituals for a revered figure in Shia Islam.

Thursday's attack came despite a massive security operation mounted to safeguard the millions of pilgrims travelling to and from Karbala for the conclusion of Arbaeen commemorations.

Will Syria use Sarin Gas On it's Own People?

Is Assad getting ready to use Siren gas on his own people? This is the question that weighs on every ones mind today. President Obama warned Assad and said ' I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command : The World is watching, The use of chemical weapon is and would be totally unacceptable and if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable.'

Why raise the bar to the use of these weapons? On Monday alone 300 people were killed according to human rights observers. Isn't it enough that he is killing hundreds of people every day, now the World will wait to see if he will actually use these weapons? We have removed dictators for lessor of crimes in the past so why wait on this one? Any thoughts?

Palestine wins Status to Non Member Observer State

Same organization that partitioned Palestine 65 years ago finally upgraded it's status to non-member observer state today.

The vote was 138 in favor, nine against and 41 abstaining.

“The moment has arrived for the world to say clearly: Enough of aggression, settlements and occupation,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said to the packed UN General Assembly.
“We did not come here seeking to delegitimize a state established years ago, and that is Israel; rather we came to affirm the legitimacy of the state that must now achieve its independence, and that is Palestine,” he said.
“We did not come here to add further complications to the peace process, which Israel’s policies have thrown into the intensive care unit; rather we came to launch a final serious attempt to achieve peace,” Abbas continued.