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The CENTCOM

25 May 2012

AFG-PAK-CAS
Afghans Say Kidnapped Aid Workers in Mountains, Talks Begin: Dawn Gunmen in Afghanistan are demanding money for the release of five aid workers, including two Western women doctors, held in remote mountains and authorities have opened negotiations in the hope of freeing them, an investigator said on Thursday. All five aid workers have been carried to the mountainous district of Shahr-e Bozorg and they are keeping them there, said Sakhidad Haidari, the senior police detective for the remote province. (Source:
Karachi, Pakistan; Anti-Military Rule)

(U) Bashar al-Assad (Press TV; 24 May 2012)

OTHER TOPICS
Ashton Confirms Continued Talks with Iran Next Month Ahmadinejad Felicitates Lebanon on Liberation Day Baghdad Mortar Attack Kills 1, Wounds Six Over 30 Militants Killed As Yemen Army Battles Al-Qaeda UAE Committed To Backing Yemen Transition Plan Kuwait Finance Minister Braces For MP Confidence Vote Outgoing Syrian Opposition Leader Says Bloc Was Hit By Divisions Assad Says Syria 'Able' To Get Out of Crisis Two killed, seven wounded, in Beirut shootout Egyptian Election Body Estimates 50 Percent Turnout

17 Insurgents Killed In Afghan Operations: Tolo News At least 17 insurgents were killed and another 54 were detained during nine joint Afghan and ISAF troops operations in the past 24 hours in Afghanistan, the Afghan Ministry of Interior said on Thursday. The operations took place in Kabul, Nangarhar, Takhar, Helmand, Zabul, Uruzgan, Logar, Ghazni and Khost provinces, it said. The forces also found and seized weapons including 10 AK-47 guns besides defusing six anti-vehicles mines and discovering explosive materials. (Source: Kabul, Independent, Undetermined) Iran Sets Aside $25m to Derail Afghan-US Deal: Pajhwok Iran has earmarked $25 million for blocking the parliamentary approval of the Afghan-US strategic cooperation agreement, a knowledgeable source said on Thursday. The neighboring country has allegedly paid a colossal amount of money to Wolesi Jirga member Hazrat Ali in return for opposing the deal, signed Presidents Barack Obama and Hamid Karzai on May 1. (Source: Kabul,
Afghanistan; Independent; Neutral)

Tribal Militia Quits fight against Taliban over Lack of Govt Support: Dawn A tribal militia fighting the Taliban in a suburban area close to Peshawar decided to quit the fight, citing lack of support from the government as their main concern. The Adezai anti-militant lashkar (militia), who had been fighting militancy along the borders of tribal regions Darra Adamkhel and Khyber Agency, was dissolved on Thursday. The continued lack of support from the government and refusal to provide assistance that was promised to the volunteers has forced the lashkar to quit, Chief of the Adezai Peace Committee Dilawar Khan said. (Source: Karachi, Pakistan; Anti-Military Rule) Drone Strikes Kill 10 Militants in North Waziristan: Khaama Press Pakistani intelligence officials said a suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles that killed 10 alleged militants in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border. The pilotless drone aircraft attacked a compound in a village in North Waziristan, a day after a similar attack killed four suspected militants in the same region. The drone fired two missiles at the compound. We believe it was being used by militants, the officials said. (Source: Kabul; Undetermined)
OSINT Phone #: 813.827.1441 Email: CCJ2-OSINT@CENTCOM.SMIL.MIL

(U) Mustafa al-Shamal, Kuwait Finance Minister (AFP; 24 May 2012)

This OSINT publication contains foreign media derived entirely from open sources in and around the CENTCOM AOR.

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IRAN
Ashton Confirms Continued Talks with Iran Next Month: FARS News EU foreign policy chief Catherin Ashton, who heads the delegations of the six world powers in negotiations with Tehran, confirmed earlier reports that the Group 5+1 and Iran will continue their negotiations in the Russian capital in June. We will go to Moscow on June 17 to continue the talks on June 18 and 19, Ashton said at a press conference following several rounds of talks with Iran in Baghdad on Thursday. She further pointed out that there still reside some differences between Tehran and the world powers, and added that the G5+1 delegations would go back to their respective capitals for further consultations over the issues raised at the Baghdad negotiations with Iran. (Source: Iran;
Private; Anti-West)

Ahmadinejad Felicitates Lebanon on Liberation Day: IRNA President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in separate messages on Thursday congratulated his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman and Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah on anniversary of the countrys Liberation Day. In his messages, the President also felicitated the Lebanese nation and government on the occasion. President Ahmadinejad hailed the Lebanese resistance movement against the Zionist regime. (Source: Tehran, Iran; Official Govt News Agency; Anti-West / Anti-Zionism)

IRAQ-ARABIAN PENINSULA
Baghdad Mortar Attack Kills 1, Wounds Six: Naharnet A mortar attack in Baghdad killed one person and wounded six others on Thursday, in the second attack in the capital during key talks on Irans nuclear program, security and medical officials said. An interior ministry official said a mortar round struck a street in the Bataween area of central Baghdad, which lies across the Tigris River from the heavily-fortified Green Zone, where the talks between Iran and world powers pressing it to scale back its nuclear program are taking place. (Source: Beirut,
Lebanon; English Edition of An Nahar; Liberal; Daily)

Over 30 Militants Killed As Yemen Army Battles Al-Qaeda: NOW Lebanon Yemeni troops killed 35 Al-Qaeda militants in overnight battles in the restive southern Abyan province, a military official said Thursday as the army pressed ahead with a 13-day offensive to retake extremist strongholds. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Al-Qaeda fighters launched an attack on the army in the region of Wadi Bani, west of the city of Jaar that has been under militant control since last year. The assault sparked fierce clashes that left more than 35 militants dead, the official said. He said though the army was making progress in its advance on Jaar, it was facing resistance from the militants. (Source: Beirut, Lebanon; Privately Funded / Independent; Liberal) UAE Committed To Backing Yemen Transition Plan: Khaleej Times Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash reiterated the UAEs commitment to backing Yemen and the political transition plan which is based on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative to maintain the countrys security and stability. The UAE under the leadership of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is committed to its historical policy of backing our brothers in Yemen, in the current circumstances in particular, Gargash said in remarks at the third ministerial meeting of the Friends of Yemen held in Riyadh. The success of the political aspect of this plan is basically linked with backing Yemens efforts to restructure its economy. (Source:
Dubai, UAE; Daily; Neutral)
This OSINT publication contains foreign media derived entirely from open sources in and around the CENTCOM AOR.

OSINT Phone #: 813.827.1441 Email: CCJ2-OSINT@CENTCOM.SMIL.MIL

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Kuwait Finance Minister Braces For MP Confidence Vote: The Daily Star Kuwait's finance minister braced for a likely vote of no confidence on Thursday, orchestrated by opposition lawmakers who will question him in parliament over alleged financial irregularities in departments he oversees. Mustapha al-Shamali, who has repeatedly rejected the accusations, may resign rather than face the confidence vote, which he is unlikely to win, Kuwaiti media and analysts say. (Source: Beirut, Lebanon; Independent; Daily, Except Sunday; Neutral)

PAN-AOR
Outgoing Syrian Opposition Leader Says Bloc Was Hit By Divisions: Al Arabiya The head of Syrias main opposition bloc, Burhan Ghalioun, admitted after resigning Thursday that the Syrian National Council (SNC) was riven with divisions and has not lived up to Syrians sacrifices. We were not up to the sacrifices of the Syrian people. We did not answer the needs of the revolution enough and quickly enough, Ghalioun told AFP, adding that the bloc was split between Islamists and secular activists. The Paris-based academic said he resigned because he did not want to be the candidate of division within the SNC and to say that this path of divisions between Islamist and secular does not work. Ghalioun said the SNCs slowness was down to the consensual way it was run. (Source: Dubai, UAE; Owned by MBC Group, Intl (Large Iraqi following); Neutral; Daily) Assad Says Syria Able to Get Out of Crisis: Al Jazeera Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has said that his government will be able to find a way out of the crisis currently gripping Syria. Thursdays comments came during a meeting with Irans communications and information technology minister, Reza Taqipour. Syria has been able to overcome the pressures and threats it has faced for years and is able to get out of this crisis thanks to the strength of its people and commitment to unity and independence, state media quoted Assad as saying. According to the state news agency, Taqipour handed over to Assad an invitation from his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to attend a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement to be held in Tehran in September. (Source: Doha, Qatar; Independent; Website of the TV Network; Claim Neutrality) Two killed, seven wounded, in Beirut shootout: Al Arabiya Two people were killed when Lebanese soldiers stormed an apartment in Beirut on Thursday where a gunman had exchanged fire with security forces, a security source at the scene said. The source told Reuters the gunman, a Syrian national, was killed when the soldiers broke into the apartment at around 6 am (0300 GMT), following several hours of shooting. They found the body of another man in the apartment, along with rifles and grenades, and two men who were arrested. (Source: Dubai, UAE;
Owned by MBC Group, Intl (Large Iraqi following); Neutral; Daily)

Egyptian Election Body Estimates 50 Percent Turnout: NOW Lebanon Egypts election commission estimated that around 50 percent of eligible voters participated in the first presidential poll since a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak. Indications show that the number of ballots [represent] almost 50 percent of those eligible to vote, said election commission chief Faruq Sultan, quoted by the official MENA news agency. Around 50 million eligible voters were choosing among 12 candidates, with the frontrunners divided between Islamists who say they will champion the uprising's goals and Mubarak-era ministers. Pollsters say the large number of voters undecided among candidates reflecting radically different trends and the novelty of a free vote made the election almost impossible to call. (Source: Beirut, Lebanon; Privately Funded / Independent; Liberal)
This OSINT publication contains foreign media derived entirely from open sources in and around the CENTCOM AOR.

OSINT Phone #: 813.827.1441 Email: CCJ2-OSINT@CENTCOM.SMIL.MIL

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