Taliban co-founder & de facto leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, arrived in Afghanistan for the first time in more than a decade, returning to the group’s birthplace in the southern city of Kandahar just days after his fighters swept to power across the country. washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/…
Meet the next leader of Afghanistan: Abdul Ghani Baradar is veteran resistance fighter who saw off the Russians and was FREED from a Pakistani jail by Donald Trump as part of deal with Taliban
2/20/20: Trump & Pompeo negotiated a deal for a prisoner swap. Some 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 Afghan security force prisoners.
The US will also lift sanctions against the Taliban & work with the UN to lift its separate sanctions against the group.
Abdul Ghani Baradar was deputy leader under ex-chief Mullah Mohammed Omar, whose support for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden led to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11.
Baradar set up an Islamic school in Kandahar with his former commander Mohammed Omar.
The two mullahs helped to found the Taliban movement, an ideology which embraced hardline orthodoxy and strived for the creation of an Islamic Emirate.
Fuelled by religious fervour, widespread hatred of the warlords and substantial support from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, the Taliban swept to power in 1996 after a series of stunning conquests of provincial capitals …
In 2018, Donald Trump’s Afghan envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, asked the Pakistanis to release Baradar so he could lead negotiations in Qatar, based on the belief that he would settle for a power-sharing arrangement.
Woodward book: Worried Trump could 'go rogue,' Milley took top-secret action to protect nuclear weapons cnn.com/2021/09/14/pol…
Gen. Milley 'was certain that Trump had gone into a serious mental decline in the aftermath of the election, with Trump now all but manic, screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality about endless election conspiracies.'
Milley's fear was based on his own observations of Trump's erratic behavior. His concern was magnified by the events of January 6 and the 'extraordinary risk' the situation posed to US national security, the authors write.
High-profile supporters of Trump descended on Brazil to throw their weight behind president Jair Bolsonaro, as the populist gears up for a re-election campaign next year viewed as a key battle for the global anti-establishment [anti-democratic] right. ft.com/content/6e81d7…
Jason Miller: Former Trump spokesman questioned for three hours by police in Brazil
“This afternoon my travelling party was questioned for three hours at the airport in Brasilia, after having attended this weekend’s CPAC Brasil Conference.”
One of the star speakers [CPAC Brazil] was the former US president’s eldest son Don Jr, who gave a live video address because of cancelled flights due to hurricane disruption in New York. He said Brazil had “a big decision to make next year”.
Former top Republican congressman registers as lobbyist for Saudi Arabia
Ed Royce registers to work with Saudi foreign ministry to 'facilitate meetings with federal government officials,' Politico reports middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-ara…
Ed Royce was involved in Elliott Broidy’s Romanian Arms deal.
Ed Royce was also involved in Broidy & Nader’s disinfo op, for which they were both indicted by the Qataris, to smear Qatar as a terrorist-supporting state.
Ed Royce introduced legislation that would brand Qatar as a terrorist-supporting state. cbsnews.com/news/witness-i…
Four Charged in Alleged $150M Payment Processing Scheme
Allied Wallet Inc., a payment processing company headquartered in Los Angeles, secured payment processing for high-risk businesses through fraudulent misrepresentations about merchant clients. justice.gov/opa/pr/four-ch…
Ahmad “Andy” Khawaja, & Thomas Wells are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Mohammad “Moe” Diab & Amy Ringler Rountree are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Federal agents arrested Diab, Rountree, & Wells this morning.
The defendants and their co-conspirators created shell companies, designing fake websites selling home goods.
Through the scheme, the defendants & their co-conspirators fraudulently obtained more than $150 million in payment card processing through more than 100 sham merchants.
Thomas Barrack & two other defendants are accused of acting and conspiring to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018.
Officials also alleged that Barrack lied to FBI agents in 2019 during an interview about his dealings with the UAE. washingtonpost.com/politics/thoma…
Background: Investigators are looking into “whether Mr. al-Malik was part of an illegal influence scheme,” although no details of that potential scheme have been made public. nytimes.com/2019/06/02/wor…
Barrack coordinated the language in a draft of Trump Energy speech with Persian Gulf contacts including Rashid al-Malik, an Emirati businessman who is close to the rulers of the United Arab Emirates. nytimes.com/2019/07/28/us/…