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Egyptian, Syrian passports found on Paris terrorists, Frenchman identified by fingerprints, suspects arrested in Belgium (UPDATES)


Guardian, UK
Sat, 14 Nov 2015 13:57 UTC
syrian passport
The French newspaper Libération reports that one of the terrorists who carried out the Bataclan shooting has been confirmed as a French extremist who was known to police.

It also reports that an Egyptian passport was found on one of the attackers the Stade de France, as well as a Syrian passport. Neither man has had their identity confirmed by officials.

The paper's police and justice correspondent,Willy Le Devin,says police have identified the 30-year-old French national by his fingerprints, and confirmed he was known to police.

He says a Syrian passport was retrieved from one attacker at the Stade de France but the body has not been formally identified.

An Egyptian passport was also found at the scene of the stadium attack, he tweets.


Comment: Is it standard procedure for terrorists to carry their passports on them? Perhaps they're always "on the move", and need them on hand, but it is still curious...

See also: Pepe Escobar on the Paris attacks: Who profits?

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Attention

Poland's new government rejects EU-mandated quotas for refugees after Paris attacks


RT
Sat, 14 Nov 2015 14:54 UTC
Image
© Agata Grzybowska / Reuters
Protesters from far right organisations walk during a protest against refugees in Warsaw, Poland September 12, 2015.
Poland's future minister for European affairs said his government will not accept EU-mandate quotas for refugees following the terrorist attacks in France.

Konrad Szymanski, who will take the office on Monday as part of the country's new conservative government, said his cabinet didn't agree with their predecessors' commitment to take a share in the refugee burden.

Now, "in the face of the tragic acts in Paris, we do not see the political possibilities to implement" the plan, he told the right-leaning news portal wPolityce.pl.
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Pistol

Greek coast guard siezes shipment of weapons from Turkey bound for ISIS in Libya

Umberto Bacchi
International Business Times
Thu, 03 Sep 2015 20:33 UTC
Image
© REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis


The "Haddad 1" freighter is moored at the port of Heraklion following an operation of the Greek coast guard on the island of Crete, September 2, 2015.
Greek authorities have discovered a gargantuan cache of weapons aboard a cargo ship headed to an Islamist controlled area of Libya.

The coastguard said a search of only the first two of the 14 containers carried by the Bolivian vessel Haddad 1 had revealed almost 500,000 rounds of ammunition and 5,000 shotguns, of a type similar to that used by police, with no accompanying documentation.

They were found at the bottom of the containers, concealed by a load of furniture, including drawers, cupboards, and a layer of gymnastic mats.

The Haddad 1, a rusty 65-metre vessel built in 1976 and registered in the port of La Paz, was intercepted off Ierapetra, southeast of Crete, earlier this week, as it was heading to the Libyan city of Misrata.

Comment: It sounds like the Greeks may have busted a key route in Western intel's weapons-smuggling racket between its African and Middle Eastern 'war theaters'.

This appears to be footage of weapons from the vessel being inspected:



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Blackbox

Pepe Escobar on the Paris attacks: Who profits?

Pepe Escobar
Facebook
Sat, 14 Nov 2015 12:59 UTC
paris attacks
There's no evidence this is a false flag - at least for now. What this seems to be proving is that Daesh is a certified pro ops with badass connections.

Scouring a ton of reports, I found a Danish citizen describing one of the attackers to a Paris café; ultra-pro, black-clad head to toe, AK-47, very well trained. These are not your usual al-Zawahiri underwear bombers; these are precision killers. This one left the scene undisturbed, and contrary to French police, may not have been captured. He wore no suicide vest.

French intel swears they are monitoring at least 200 nationals who came back from "Syraq". Talk about a lousy job. Paris is hyper-policed. The mind boggles thinking of at least 8 jihadis promenading at will on a Friday night dressed as pro killers.

For me, this is also personal. Jihad came to my hood in Paris. I left Paris last week on my usual commute back to Asia. I have always mocked Fox News describing my hood as a "no-go" area - obviously for the wrong/stupid reasons.

They picked a small Cambodian restaurant, cheap and cozy, where the habitués are young and relatively hip. This means the quartier may have been carefully researched for months.

They picked a mix of heavily symbolic venues.

Comment: ISIS has allegedly claimed responsibility for the attacks. According to French police officials a Syrian passport was found on one of the suicide bombers, while a witness told BFMTV that another of the terrorists was white and appeared to be European. Eight of the attackers are reported dead, 7 by suicide bombing, and at least 1 more is possibly at large. Hollande called the attacks an "act of war ... prepared and planned elsewhere, with outside involvement which this investigation will seek to establish".

If ISIS is responsible, Escobar may be right: ISIS is not a ragtag bunch of homegrown terrorists. They have training, weapons, support, operational intelligence, and organization. How did they develop such capacities? That's the question. But one thing is certain: they would not exist if the U.S. had not spearheaded a campaign to destroy the Middle East. Destruction in Iraq, destruction in Libya, from where ISIS and other Syrian 'rebels' received tons of weapons and thousands of fighters. Unfortunately, France is suffering as a result of the U.S.'s mad policies.

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Bad Guys

Paris Bataclan Theater attack: 4 terrorists use suicide vests - siege leaves 100 hostages dead


RT
Sat, 14 Nov 2015 03:02 UTC
Paris theater attack
© Christian Hartmann / Reuters
French police with protective shields walk in line near the Bataclan concert hall following fatal shootings in Paris, France, November 14, 2015.
Once the Paris police decided to storm the Bataclan theater, where four terrorists were holding dozens of people hostage, the assailants decided to detonate the suicide belts they were wearing, according to local media reports, who added that over 110 people died as a result of the siege.

Three of the attackers were killed after letting off their explosive devices, while the fourth died after being shot by police. The exact number of hostages killed is still unknown. The Le Parisien newspaper claims over 100 people died, with at least a dozen suffering injuries.

People evacuated from the theatre have been rushed to hospitals. Both witnesses and police sources describe the scene as "real carnage," with dead bodies all over place.

The exact number of people taken hostage at the Bataclan concert hall remains unknown. The media has reported varying figures, ranging from 60 to 100 people.
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Arrow Down

Paul Craig Roberts: Is this another false flag attack in Paris?

Paul Craig Roberts
PaulCraigRoberts.org
Sat, 14 Nov 2015 03:20 UTC
Paris Attacks
© Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
A general view of the scene that shows rescue services personnel working near the covered bodies outside a restaurant following a shooting incident in Paris, France, November 13, 2015.
At 7pm on Friday 13th we do not have much information about the "terrorist attacks" in Paris other than that Paris is closed down like Boston was after the "Boston Marathon Bombing," also a suspected false flag event.

Possibly believable evidence will be presented that the Paris attacks were real terrorist attacks. However, what do refugees have to gain from making themselves unwelcome with acts of violence committed against the host country, and where do refugees in France obtain automatic weapons and bombs? Indeed, where would the French themselves obtain them?


Comment: "Refugees" are not one homogenous group. Yes, ordinary people have nothing to gain from this sort of violence. But it is not certain that all the refugees are ordinary people. It is quite possible that a relatively small number are radicalized. It is up to Western nations to keep cool heads, not paint all Muslims and refugees with the same brush, and react and respond appropriately and with reason.


The millions of refugees from Washington's wars who are overrunning Europe are bringing to the forefront of European politics the anti-EU nationalists parties, such as Pegida in Germany, Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party, and Marine Le Pen's National Front Party in France. These anti-EU political parties are also anti-immigrant political parties.

The latest French poll shows that, as a result of the refugees from Washington's wars, Marine Le Pen has come out on top of the candidates for the next French presidential election.

Comment: It is too early to label the terrorists as false flag actors; we need to understand that the U.S. is 100% responsible for creating the global mess we experience today by destabilizing and destroying much of the Middle East. For all we know, terrorists came to France hidden amongst refugees. And if that is the case, remember: the blame for the refugee crisis, and the creation and success of tens of thousands of terrorists all over the Middle East, falls squarely on the shoulders of the U.S. France is now paying a tragic price for the mess the U.S. made.



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Laptop

Feds can't tweet that: New rules limit political posts for gov't workers


RT
Sat, 14 Nov 2015 02:56 UTC
Image
© © Mike Segar / Reuters
Federal workers can't interact with Facebook pages like this one when they are on duty or in a government building.
The rules barring federal employees from engaging in political activities at work have received a 21st-century facelift for the 2016 election cycle. The new regulations cover how government workers can ‒ and can't ‒ get political on social media.

"Social media and email — and the ease of accessing those accounts at work, either on computers or smartphones — have made it easier for federal employees to violate the Hatch Act. Yet there are many activities employees can do on social media and email that do not violate the law," the guide issued by the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency in charge of enforcing that law, said.
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Pistol

French president Hollande declares state of emergency, closes borders due to Paris shootings


RT
Fri, 13 Nov 2015 23:32 UTC
France's President Francois Hollande paris bombings
© Regis Duvignau / Reuters
France's President Francois Hollande
Amid the "unprecedented terrorist attacks" that have resulted in dozens of deaths, French President Francois Hollande has declared a state of emergency and announced that France will close its borders.

Dozens of people have lost their lives in a series of apparently coordinated attacks in the French capital on Friday evening. Addressing the nation, President Francois Hollande called on everyone to remain strong and show "compassion and unity."

"There is much to fear, but we must face these fears as a nation that knows how to muster its forces and will confront the terrorists," the president said.

Comment: This is a tragic turn of events. France is paying for the problems the U.S. started. Their mad vision to destroy Libya and now Syria has left hundreds of thousands dead and even more without homes. Now, refugees have come to Europe in large numbers. A small number of those refugees are probably radical militants. Perhaps Hollande should be asking Obama, "Do you see what you have done?" Because whoever these nutjobs were who carried out the attacks, the chain of responsibility goes straight back to the U.S.

See also:

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Alarm Clock

Paris terror attack: at least 126 killed - "ISIS" likely to be blamed


Sott.net
Fri, 13 Nov 2015 22:12 UTC
Image

Bodies litter the streets of a Paris alley after a series of coordinated terror attacks in the French capital on Friday, November 13th, 2015
A mass shooting took place tonight inside a Paris restaurant on the Rue Bichat and at the Paris Bataclan concert hall where terrorists killed at least 100 people according to police reports.

In what appears to be a direct message to the French and German governments, two explosions also occurred near the Stade de France sports stadium (one in a Quik fast food restaurant) where France and Germany were playing in an international friendly match, President Hollande was in attendance.
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Gold Bar

Grandmaster Putin's trap part 2


Oriental Review
Fri, 13 Nov 2015 21:55 UTC
Putin's gold
In December of last year we published an intriguing article by Dmitry Kalinichenko, "Grandmaster Putin's Trap," which has drawn far more attention from readers than we ever expected. It continues to be cited by many international political and economic experts. That article addressed Russia's latent strategy to get rid of US bonds and use its petrodollars to buy monetary gold. It seemed for a while that the ruble's nosedive late last year, coupled with the Kremlin's reduced fiscal space, has left Moscow unable to pursue its plan to permanently diversify the international financial system. Nevertheless, taking a look at 2015, it turned out that Putin's strategy is working quite well.

Due to invisible market's hand the gold-to-oil price ratio has more than doubled in the past two years. While in May 2014 it cost 12 barrels of oil to buy one ounce of gold, this ratio rose to 26 barrels/ounce in January 2015 (where it currently remains). By lowering the price of oil relative to gold, it looks like Wall Street & London's City are trying to hamper Russian tactic of buying gold in exchange for oil and natural gas (gas prices are linked to oil via BTU). However, these actions fell short of their goals. Declining oil prices and a depreciating national currency have not led to a slowdown in the Bank of Russia's gold purchases on the domestic market for rubles. Despite threats and sanctions, Russia has continued to add to its gold reserves. Bank of Russia bought a record 171 tons of gold in 2014 and another 120 tons in the first ten months of 2015. Consequently, by Nov. 1, 2015 the Bank of Russia had accumulated a total of 1,200 tons of gold in its reserves, which are officially the fifth largest in the world, although in reality Russia is actually in 4th place, as Germany is allowed to store only one-third of its reserves at home. In fairness it should be noted that China has not provided updated data on its gold reserves since 2009, when it officially possessed 1,054 tons. According to some estimates, Chinese reserves may have tripled since than.


Comment: China released figures in July; the central bank said its gold reserves were 1,658 tonnes (53.31 million fine troy ounces) as of the end of June.

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