Johnson Apologetic US Borders Not Wide Open , Claims He’s Enforcing The Law

In a speech at the Harvard John F. Kennedy Jr Forum published on March 22^nd, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson addressed the issue of immigration and the open borders that he claims don’t exist. Johnson is infamous for his failure to enforce immigration law, the distortion of the definition of a refugee in order to open a path to the American shadows for all comers, releasing convicted illegals repeatedly back into American society and going so far as to threaten CBP agents with termination should they dare violate his dictates by enforcing American immigration laws being just a few of his numerous offenses.

He sounds apologetic as he almost reluctantly admits that there is a border security element to immigration policy and that there has to because we don’t have open borders. He could also make that same statement, with a slight modification, that there has to be the appearance of border security, so that nobody realizes that we do, in fact, have open borders. Many would argue that would be a closer representation of the reality under his disastrous tenure.

In prefacing one of his many excuses for why he isn’t doing his job, Johnson says, “Central America is filled with poverty and violence right now,” inferring that they’re going to come no matter what and our border patrol is no match for the Central American civilians and children. He continues, “We all know about the kids, the families who have left Central America to come here.” Those are the ones he has declared to be pseudo-Americans in a bastardized interpretation of the historic international definition of a refugee.

He says, “I have encountered a seven-year-old who came here, on her own, to find her mother. I have encountered a fifteen or sixteen-year-old pregnant teenager who was impregnated on the route, along the way.” And we have all encountered a Democrat government bureaucrat basing their policy arguments upon anecdotal, nameless individuals and circumstances. We remember how the sea levels were all rising in far off nameless and unknown lands last year until the signing of the UN Climate Hoax agreement brought it to a sudden and miraculous halt.

Johnson must think the American people are fools, that we’d believe that a seven-year-old girl from Central America just sets out one day on a trip of hundreds of miles on her own to find her mother who is somewhere in “the shadows” of America. She probably came by coyote, possibly paid for with US taxpayer dollars arranged by the Democrats and most assuredly with Johnson’s blessing and enablement.  While she may have traveled alone at that point, which is reckless and dangerous, it is those who created the magnet who are responsible; the Democrats and complicit open borders Republicans, most notably, Jeh Johnson.
As for the teenage girl that was supposedly impregnated along the way, one has to wonder just how long that trip took. Did she get busy on the morning of day one and then start feeling funny after lunch time? The trip takes a few days to possibly as much as a couple of weeks. How did she know in time to peddle her sob story to the visiting Homeland Security Chief and what difference does it make? We Americans are not responsible for the reckless decisions of her or those who sent her on her way.
He goes on to make preemptive excuses for failing to enforce immigration law by qualifying “his duty” with variables that he and Obama designed and created for the purpose of providing themselves with a mechanism for violating their oaths to enforce the law. They established a false and unnecessary prioritization requirement.
He lies to the audience, saying, “We have the obligation to enforce the law ‘consistent with our priorities.’” That qualifier is not in his oath nor is it part of the statute. He goes on to declare his redrafted immigration laws stating, “Our priorities are public safety and border security.”
Public safety, as Johnson chooses to interpret his dictate, means that unless someone has committed a violent crime on our soil or is a known terrorist, the federal laws simply won’t be enforced as it relates to them. Who knows how he can even mention the second point, border security, with a standing order not to arrest border crossers and gaping areas where agents aren’t allowed to patrol. Those areas are often the exclusive domain of cartels trafficking in humans, drugs and who knows what else.


Johnson has perverted and deliberately clogged the expanded immigration courts, modified to accommodate the newly redefined “refugees.” Now virtually every non-Mexican, non-American person who is not an adult male, and many who are, has a shot at “asylum,” aka stealth amnesty.
As abhorrent and dismal as his record is, Johnson still apologizes for the small degree to which he actually does his job in the area of immigration; those criminals who are “priorities” and for whom he’s run out of available methods to thwart the law and being forced to send them back.
He asks, “Is it pleasant?” Absolutely not, “But as long as we have the obligation to enforce the law, we must enforce the law.” We can’t have open borders.”
He doesn’t, under his lawless administration, recognize any obligation to enforce the law and we do have open borders to a large degree. He’s not lying to these college kids for their sake, it’s for the folks dealing with the mess he and Obama are dumping on us. Those who will hopefully be in power when his outlaw regime leaves, and who will hold him accountable.

I’m Rick Wells – a constitutional conservative writer who recognizes that our nation, our Constitution and our traditions are under a full scale assault from multiple threats. I’m not PC; I call it like I see it. – Please SUBSCRIBE in the right sidebar at http://RickWells.us or http://constitutionrising.com to receive our posts directly. Thank You – Rick Wells.

Americans are 'being betrayed by their own president'

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/02/Obama-WH2.jpg

President Obama boards Marine One (Photo: White House)

Published: 02/06/2016 at 4:29 PM by Greg Corombos

The Obama administration is ordering Border Patrol agents to release illegal immigrants without making them appear in court or keeping track of their whereabouts, and it’s also dramatically rolling back aerial surveillance along the southern border, leading a senior congressman to suggest the public is unaware it is being “betrayed” by its commander in chief.

What’s sad is the people of the United States don’t recognize that they’re being betrayed by their own president and also betrayed by those people in the Congress and the Senate who have been going along with this amnesty program,” said Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-Calif., a leading voice against amnesty and for border enforcement.

On Thursday, reports emerged that the Obama administration was effectively telling U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents to stand down and not process people entering the United States illegally. They further state that agents are told not to order illegals to appear at a deportation hearing and not make efforts to track them down inside the U.S.

“We might as well abolish our immigration laws altogether,” said National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd.

In addition, Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, and Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, are imploring the Department of Homeland Security for an explanation for a 50 percent rollback in aerial surveillance of the Texas-Mexico border.

Rohrabacher told WND and Radio America he and fellow critics of Obama’s immigration policies are well past the point of outrage.

What do YOU think? Why has Barack Obama never been impeached? Sound off in today’s WND poll.

“This president has done so many things that are contrary to the interests of the safety and security and prosperity of the people of the United States that this is no surprise, especially in dealing with foreign entities, whether it’s Muslims overseas or whether it’s illegal immigrants coming in here from various countries. This is nothing new for this administration,” he said.

One of Rohrabacher’s top concerns is how Obama’s open-door policy could further weaken national security.

“He’s opening the door,” he said. “There’s not even going to be a guard on the door to watch who’s coming in. Do you think the radical Islamist terrorists that have declared war on our country and murder us at any chance, you think they don’t see this? They have already got a lot of people here.”

He continued, “What the president is doing is going to increase the level of criminals that are coming here from other countries and terrorists who come here specifically to hurt Americans and kill Americans.”

"Our president is supposed to be watching out for the people of the United States. Our president has decided that he will not do so. The Democratic Party needs to be held

accountable for this. And the people in the Republican Party that have been going along with this open-borders, amnesty approach to immigration deserve to be held accountable as well," he said.

The congressman said he understands that people are desperate to escape crippling poverty and other problems in their native countries and even admires their determination to make a better life for their families, but he said compassion for their circumstances cannot supersede the well-being of the American people.

"That doesn't mean we're going to bring people in who will take jobs away from Americans, will consume the health care and the education dollars that we have for Americans," Rohrabacher said. "We don't need that."

He encourages voters to find out what their congressmen and senators have really been doing on these issues.

"Hold people accountable in public office for the stands they have taken," Rohrabacher said. "Our country is in grave jeopardy because of it."

He offers a couple of tips: "Look and see where your elected officials stand on amnesty. That's a tip-off as to whether they are secretly going along with the president."

Rohrabacher said one issue in particular gets twisted beyond recognition.

"How about those people who say we have to take care of the DREAMers? 'Oh, we have to take care of the DREAMers.' What they're talking about is giving benefits to young people who are here illegally when those education benefits should be going to our own people," he said. "Our own kids are saddled with debt, and we're going to give education benefits to people who have come here illegally?"

Since January 2015, Republicans have controlled both the House of Representatives and the Senate. So why can't the GOP do something to  curb Obama's alleged recklessness on the border?

"Controlling Capitol Hill doesn't mean anything unless you have a two-thirds vote against a president who vetoes anything he doesn't like," Rohrabacher explained. "It takes a two-thirds vote to override the veto, so we haven't been in control of Capitol Hill enough to be in control of a legislative agenda."

Rohrabacher has endorsed Ted Cruz for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, in what seems like a process of elimination among the major candidates. He said Rubio is simply all over the map on this issue.

"The people of Florida elected him when he pledged not to support amnesty, pledged to fight this idea of open borders. As soon as he got elected to the United States Senate, he flipped over and became a major force for amnesty. Now he wants to flip again and wants us to forget that lie," Rohrabacher said.

The congressman simply doesn't believe Donald Trump is serious about the issue.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/02/americans-are-being-betrayed-by-their-own-president/#5g48kmCFZUyjyhMP.99

Japan Welcomes 27 Muslim Refugees, You’ll Want To See What Happened Next…

Conservative News NOW and 4 others shared a link.

Japan has begun to welcome Muslim refugees into the country and just like every other country, they are paying the price. Two of these refugees have already been arrested for GANG RAPE. How wonderful…

According to The Tokyo Reporter, Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested two Turkish nationals currently applying for refugee status for allegedly raping a woman in Kita Ward.

On December 27 Onder Pinarbasi, 22, and a 16-year-old boy allegedly took a 30 year old woman to a public restroom near JR Akabane Station and sexually assaulted her. The suspects also stole 9,000 yen in cash from the victim which is roughly $80.

Pinarbasi, who has been charged with rape and robbery, claims the younger boy committed both crimes.

The boy admits he stole her money but denied that he raped the woman.

“I did not force myself upon her,” he told Police.

The rape occurred after the suspects called out the woman, who was visibly drunk at the time, as she was walking home.

The Muslims arrived in Japan last year. They applied for refugee status in August and October, telling the Immigration Bureau of Japan that they did not want to return to Turkey due to “problems that exist between relatives.”

The suspects received a visa status granting “special permission to stay in Japan.

Well, that was a big mistake.

Time and time again we see what these people are all about. Pure evil. Animals that can’t coexist with civilized people.

Meanwhile, innocent citizens are paying the price for their government’s poor decisions.

Germany, Sweden, Australia, Paris and so many other countries are experiencing the horrific consequences of letting these refugees in.

Women and children are being raped, robbed, beaten and murdered. For what? Not to mention that many of these refugees are directly involved with ISIS and other terrorist organizations.

 

Again, Donald Trump is right. Seal the border- it’s just what we have to do.

God Bless.

In Donald Trump’s Worldview, America Comes First, and Everybody Else Pays

© Doug Mills/The New York Times A NEW REPUBLICAN Donald J. Trump before addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. His worldview does not fit into his party’s recent history.

Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, said that if elected, he might halt purchases of oil from Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies unless they commit ground troops to the fight against the Islamic State or “substantially reimburse” the United States for combating the militant group, which threatens their stability.

“If Saudi Arabia was without the cloak of American protection,” Mr. Trump said during a 100-minute interview on foreign policy, spread over two phone calls on Friday, “I don’t think it would be around.”

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He also said he would be open to allowing Japan and South Korea to build their own nuclear arsenals rather than depend on the American nuclear umbrella for their protection against North Korea and China. If the United States “keeps on its path, its current path of weakness, they’re going to want to have that anyway, with or without me discussing it,” Mr. Trump said.

And he said he would be willing to withdraw United States forces from both Japan and South Korea if they did not substantially increase their contributions to the costs of housing and feeding those troops. “Not happily, but the answer is yes,” he said.

Mr. Trump also said he would seek to renegotiate many fundamental treaties with American allies, possibly including a 56-year-old security pact with Japan, which he described as one-sided.

In Mr. Trump’s worldview, the United States has become a diluted power, and the main mechanism by which he would re-establish its central role in the world is economic bargaining. He approached almost every current international conflict through the prism of a negotiation, even when he was imprecise about the strategic goals he sought. He again faulted the Obama administration’s handling of the negotiations with Iran last year — “It would have been so much better if they had walked away a few times,” he said — but offered only one new idea about how he would change its content: Ban Iran’s trade with North Korea.

Mr. Trump struck similar themes when he discussed the future of NATO, which he called “unfair, economically, to us,” and said he was open to an alternative organization focused on counterterrorism. He argued that the best way to halt China’s placement of military airfields and antiaircraft batteries on reclaimed islands in the South China Sea was to threaten its access to American markets.

“We have tremendous economic power over China,” he argued. “And that’s the power of trade.” He made no mention of Beijing’s capability for economic retaliation.

Mr. Trump’s views, as he explained them, fit nowhere into the recent history of the Republican Party: He is not in the internationalist camp of the elder President George Bush, nor does he favor George W. Bush’s call to make it the mission of the United States to spread democracy around the world. He agreed with a suggestion that his ideas might best be summed up as “America First.”

“Not isolationist, but I am America First,” he said. “I like the expression.” He said he was willing to reconsider traditional American alliances if partners were not willing to pay, in cash or troop commitments, for the presence of American forces around the world. “We will not be ripped off anymore,” he said.

In the past week, the bombings in Brussels and an accelerated war against the Islamic State have shifted the focus of the campaign trail conversation back to questions of how the candidates would defend the United States and what kind of diplomacy they would pursue around the world.

Mr. Trump explained his thoughts in concrete and easily digestible terms, but they appeared to reflect little consideration for potential consequences around the globe. Much the same way he treats political rivals and interviewers, he personalized how he would engage foreign nations, suggesting his approach would depend partly on “how friendly they’ve been toward us,” not just on national interests or alliances.

At no point did he express any belief that American forces deployed on military bases around the world were by themselves valuable to the United States, though Republican and Democratic administrations have for decades argued that they are essential to deterring military adventurism, protecting commerce and gathering intelligence.

Like Richard M. Nixon, Mr. Trump emphasized the importance of “unpredictability” for an American president, arguing that the country’s traditions of democracy and openness had made its actions too easy for adversaries and allies alike to foresee.

“I wouldn’t want them to know what my real thinking is,” he said about how far he was willing to take the confrontation over the islands in the South China Sea, which are remote and uninhabited but extend China’s control over a major maritime thoroughfare. But, he added, “I would use trade, absolutely, as a bargaining chip.”

Asked when he thought American power had been at its peak, Mr. Trump reached back 116 years to the turn of the 20th century, the era of another unconventional Republican, Theodore Roosevelt, who ended up leaving the party. His favorite figures in American history, he said, include two generals, Douglas MacArthur and George S. Patton — though he insisted that, unlike MacArthur, he would not advocate the use of nuclear weapons except as a last resort. (He suggested that MacArthur had pressed during the Korean War to use atomic weapons against China as a means “to negotiate,” adding, “He played the nuclear card, but he didn’t use it.”)

Mr. Trump denied that he had had trouble recruiting senior members of the foreign policy establishment to advise his campaign. “Many of them are tied up with contracts working for various networks,” he said, like Fox or CNN.

He disclosed the names of three advisers in addition to five he announced earlier in the week: retired Maj. Gen. Gary L. Harrell, Maj. Gen. Bert K. Mizusawa and retired Rear Adm. Charles R. Kubic. Asked about the briefings he receives and books he has read about foreign policy, he said his main source of information was newspapers, “including yours.”

Until recently, Mr. Trump’s foreign policy pronouncements have largely come through slogans: “Take the oil,” “Build a wall” and ban Muslim immigrants, at least temporarily. But as he has pulled closer to capturing the nomination, he has been called on to elaborate.

Pressed about his call to “take the oil” controlled by the Islamic State in the Middle East, Mr. Trump acknowledged that this would require deploying ground troops, something he does not favor. “We should’ve taken it, and we would’ve had it,” he said, referring to the years in which the United States occupied Iraq. “Now we have to destroy the oil.”

Mr. Trump did not rule out spying on American allies, including foreign leaders like Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, whose cellphone was apparently a target of the National Security Agency. President Obama said that the United States would no longer target her phone but made no such commitments about the rest of Germany, or Europe.

“I’m not sure that I would want to be talking about that,” Mr. Trump said. “You understand what I mean by that.”

Mr. Trump was not impressed with Ms. Merkel’s handling of the migrant crisis, however: “Germany is being destroyed by Merkel’s naïveté, or worse,” he said. He suggested that Germany and the Gulf nations should pay for the “safe zones” he wants to set up in Syria for refugees, and for protecting them once built.

Throughout the two conversations, Mr. Trump painted a bleak picture of the United States as a diminished force in the world, an opinion he has held since the late 1980s, when he placed ads in The New York Times and other newspapers calling for Japan and Saudi Arabia to spend more money on their own defense.

Mr. Trump’s new threat to cut off oil purchases from the Saudis was part of a broader complaint about the United States’ Arab allies, which many in the Obama administration share: that they frequently look to the United States to police the Middle East, without putting their own troops at risk. “We defend everybody,” Mr. Trump said. “When in doubt, come to the United States. We’ll defend you. In some cases free of charge.”

But his rationale for abandoning the region was that “the reason we’re in the Middle East is for oil, and all of a sudden we’re finding out that there’s less reason to be there now.” He made no mention of the risks of withdrawal — that it would encourage Iran to dominate the Gulf, that the presence of American troops is part of Israel’s defense, and that American air and naval bases in the region are key collection points for intelligence and bases for drones and Special Operations forces.

Mr. Trump seemed less comfortable on some topics than others. He called the United States “obsolete” in terms of cyberweaponry, although the nation’s capabilities are generally considered on the cutting edge.

In the morning interview, asked if he would seek a two-state or a one-state solution in a peace accord between the Israelis and the Palestinians, he said: “I’m not saying anything. What I’m going to do is, you know, I specifically don’t want to address the issue because I would love to see if a deal could be made.”

But in the evening, saying he had been rushed earlier, Mr. Trump reverted to a position he outlined on Monday before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group. “Basically, I support a two-state solution on Israel,” he said. “But the Palestinian Authority has to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.”

In his discussion of nuclear weapons — which he said he had learned about from an uncle, John G. Trump, who served on the faculty of M.I.T. and died in 1985 — Mr. Trump seemed fixated on the large nuclear stockpiles amassed in the Cold War. While he referred briefly to North Korean and Pakistani arsenals, he said nothing about a danger that is a cause of great consternation among international leaders: small nuclear weapons that could be fashioned by terrorists.

In criticizing the Iran nuclear deal, Mr. Trump expressed particular outrage at how the roughly $150 billion released to Iran was being spent. “Did you notice they’re buying from everybody but the United States?” he said.

Told that sanctions under United States law still prevent most American companies from doing business with Iran, Mr. Trump said: “So, how stupid is that? We give them the money and we now say, ‘Go buy Airbus instead of Boeing,’ right?”

But Mr. Trump, who has been pushed to demonstrate a basic command of international affairs, insisted that voters should not doubt his foreign policy fluency.“I do know my subject,” he said.

Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook, Twitter and the First Draft newsletter.

Garry Shandling’s doctor refuses to sign death certificate

© Provided by New York Daily News Comedy has lost a huge star. Garry Shandling, best known for the acclaimed television shows, "It's Garry Shandling's Show" and "The Larry Sanders Show," passed away from a massive heart attack in Los Angeles…




Garry Shandling’s doctor is reportedly mystified as to why the beloved standup died — and his refusal to sign the death certificate has spurred the coroner’s office to investigate.

Shandling’s physician has “repeatedly refused” to sign the document because he believed the “Larry Sanders Show” creator — whom he hadn’t examined in more than a year — to be in fine physical condition, TMZ reported Saturday.

As a result, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has subpoenaed the comedian’s medical records and collected blood work from the emergency room at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, where Shandling was pronounced dead Thursday morning.

A request for comment from the coroner’s office was not immediately returned.

A source close to the comedian told the Daily News Thursday that the 66-year-old Shandling had suffered an apparently massive heart attack.

“It’s a shock,” the source said. “He seemed pretty healthy, took care of himself. There were no known heart issues at all in his history.”

The Emmy winner had experienced signs of failing health just one day earlier, consulting with a doctor pal about shortness of breath and aches, the gossip site previously reported.

The doc advised him to visit the ER if the symptoms continued. When they did Thursday morning, Shandling apparently ordered a car to drive him to the ER — but ultimately phoned 911 and collapsed mid-call.

Emergency workers reportedly arrived at 10:45 a.m. to find the car service waiting outside his home.

The drily witty Shandling, considered a legend by his comedy peers, was best known for the critically acclaimed “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” which ran on Showtime from 1986 to 1990, and “The Larry Sanders Show,” which HBO aired from 1992 to 1998.

Muslim ‘Refugees’ Brutally Gang-Rape a 14-Year-old Girl – Only Receive COMMUNITY SERVICE Sentence

By Brendan | March 25, 2016

From Sharia Unveiled:

The incident happened on the night of July 30 when the four men accosted the girl on a commuter train before also molesting her in a farm house and at an apartment in Oslo.

During her ordeal, the girl was raped both orally and anally before being forced to take drugs. According to reports, the abuse, which lasted for hours, was so horrific that at one point the girl expressed a desire to take her own life to end the suffering.

The girl suffered “severe mental damage” and PTSD as a result of the incident, missed a year of school and is still struggling to deal with what happened.

The four men, 48-year-old Bile Mohamed Elmi, 44-year-old Abdirizak Nur Ali, 43-year-old Mohamed Abdirisak Mohamed, and 38-year old Nazek Mohamed were initially charged with gang rape, which carries a maximum sentence of 21 years.

However, prosecutor Cecilie Schloss Møller insisted there wasn’t enough evidence and the three men were convicted of sexual contact with a child under 16 years of age, which carries a lighter sentence.

As a result, one of the men, Bile Mohamed Elmi received just 344 hours community service “for two counts of sexual intercourse with the girl in a particularly offensive manner.” Mohamed Abdirisak Mohamed received 17 months imprisonment, while Abdirizak Nur Ali received just 10 months imprisonment.

Despite the men’s names being known, some Norwegian news outlets are still refusing to publish them.

Three African immigrants who brutally raped a 14-year-old girl to the point where she wanted to kill herself were given extremely light sentences by a court in Norway, with one receiving community service and avoiding prison altogether.

The incident happened on the night of July 30 when the three men accosted the girl on a commuter train before also molesting her in a farm house and at an apartment in Oslo.

During her ordeal, the girl was raped both orally and anally before being forced to take drugs. According to reports, the abuse, which lasted for hours, was so horrific that at one point the girl expressed a desire to take her own life to end the suffering.

The girl suffered “severe mental damage” and PTSD as a result of the incident, missed a year of school and is still struggling to deal with what happened.

The three men, 18-year-old Bile Mohamed Elmi, 21-year-old Abdirizak Nur Ali and 21-year-old Mohamed Abdirisak Mohamed, were initially charged with gang rape, which carries a maximum sentence of 21 years.

However, prosecutor Cecilie Schloss Møller insisted there wasn’t enough evidence and the three men were convicted of sexual contact with a child under 16 years of age, which carries a lighter sentence.

As a result, one of the men, Bile Mohamed Elmi received just 344 hours community service “for two counts of sexual intercourse with the girl in a particularly offensive manner.” Mohamed Abdirisak Mohamed received 17 months imprisonment, while Abdirizak Nur Ali received just 10 months imprisonment.

Despite the men’s names being known, some Norwegian news outlets are still refusing to publish them.

The case again underscores the huge rape crisis that has enveloped Scandinavia which has been completely ignored by liberals and feminists because the culprits in many of the cases are immigrants.

In Norway, almost half of all rapes committed in Oslo in 2011 were carried out by individuals of African, Middle Eastern or Asian origin, despite the fact that Muslim immigrants only represent 1.5-2 per cent of the population.

In addition, 100 per cent of aggravated rapes involving physical violence were committed by individuals of African, Middle Eastern or Asian origin.

Leftist political leaders responded to the figures by absolving “traumatized asylum seekers” of blame and instead pointed fingers at police for encouraging “xenophobia and prejudice” merely for reporting the statistics.

HERO: Russian Soldier Surrounded by ISIS Calls Airstrike on Himself

AFP | Yahoo

A Russian special forces officer has been killed near Syria's Palmyra, a military representative at the Russian base in Syria was quoted as saying by Russian agencies Thursday.

"An officer of Russian special operations forces was killed near Palmyra while carrying out a special task to direct Russian airstrikes at Islamic State group targets," the unnamed representative said, without giving the date of the incident.

"The officer was carrying out a combat task in Palmyra area for a week, identifying crucial IS targets and passing exact coordinates for strikes with Russian planes," he said.

"The officer died as a hero, he drew fire onto himself after being located and surrounded by terrorists," he said.

View gallery

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Smoke rises near Palmyra castle during shelling by Syrian troops on the outskirts of the ancient city of Palmyra …

The defence ministry in Moscow said Russian aircraft carried out 146 strikes on "terrorist targets" in the Palmyra area between Wednesday and last Sunday.

View gallery

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In this photo provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service a pair of Russian Su-25 ground attack jets …





Murder of a man of peace: Muslim shopkeeper who wished his 'beloved Christian nation' a Happy Easter is stabbed 30 times by a FELLOW MUSLIM who sat laughing on his dying victim's chest

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Shopkeeper Asad Shah was killed in a brutal attack outside his shop in Glasgow last night

• A 32-year-old man has been arrested after murder of Asad Shah last night 
• The 'peace-loving' victim was popular in his neighbourhood of Glasgow
• Hours before his death, he posted message advertising inter-faith meeting
• Police confirmed all those currently involved in investigation were Muslim
• Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joins 400 others on late night vigil 

A newsagent was murdered by a fellow Muslim after he wished his Christian friends a peaceful Easter.

Asad Shah, who was stabbed up to 30 times at his shop, had praised both the life of Jesus and ‘his beloved Christian nation’. Left lying in a pool of blood, the 40-year-old died in hospital.

Police, who were questioning a 32-year-old suspect last night, said the killing was religiously motivated.

Mohammad Faisal, a family friend, said a bearded Muslim wearing a long religious robe entered Mr Shah’s shop and spoke to him in his native language before stabbing him in the head with a kitchen knife.

   Witnesses say the victim was stabbed and then stamped on before his attackers ran off down the road

http://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/mol/2016/03/25/3678421166696348759/640x360_3678421166696348759.mp4

Mr Shah’s brother, who was working next door, rushed out to find the killer laughing while sitting on the Glasgow newsagent’s bleeding chest.

‘The brother dragged Mr Shah away but the guy continued attacking with the blade,’ said Mr Faisal. ‘They struggled up to the bus stop where Asad collapsed.

‘It was just a clear-cut revenge attack. For posting messages about peace, messages about greeting fellow Christians and Jews.

‘That m

an must not have been too happy about what he was doing, what he was preaching. It was a well-planned attack. He must have been an extremist.

A young man cannot contain his emotion as he visits the scene of where My Shah was murdered last night

   The appalling attack came just hours after deeply religious Mr Shah, who was keen to reach out from the Muslim community to Christian neighbours, posted heartfelt Easter messages on social media

http://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/mol/2016/03/25/3636382170914636835/640x360_3636382170914636835.mp4

‘He went straight for the head. He got stomped on the head as well. His brother suffered a slash down his shoulder area because he attacked him with a knife as well.’

Before his death, Mr Shah had wished his friends a ‘Good Friday and a very happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nation’.

In his final post, he wrote: ‘Let’s follow the real footstep of beloved holy Jesus Christ and get the real success in both worlds.’

Mr Shah also appeared to use his Facebook page to speak out over the attacks in Brussels.

In a video posted online he said: ‘We are not here to fight with other mankind or cause bloodshed.’

Hundreds of people have gathered for a silent vigil late on Friday night to honour the respected shopkeeper near the site where he died.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined an estimated crowd of 400 to 500 people for the vigil to show solidarity and remember Mr Shah.

Ms Sturgeon, whose constituency covers the area, tweeted afterwards: 'Moved to be one of hundreds tonight as Shawlands united in grief for Asad Shah and support for his family.'

 Hundreds of people have gathered for a silent vigil late on Friday night to honour the respected shopkeeper

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined an estimated crowd of 400 to 500 people for the vigil to show solidarity and remember Mr Shah

Those attending were encouraged to bring a daffodil. Many laid flowers and lit candles during the gathering.

One of the vigil organisers, Eildon Dyer, said: 'It was very respectful. There were a lot of people clearly very upset. There were a lot of tears and lots and lots of flowers.

'Everybody has said he was the nicest man. He was clearly much-loved. Everybody had nice stories to tell about him and warm stories. It's just very, very sad.'

Thousands from across the country also paid their respects to Mr Shah to comment on his bravery and dedication to cross-faith living, with many using the hashtag #thisisnotwhoweare. 

Deeply religious, Mr Shah worked to foster cross-community relations in Glasgow and had been planning to host an online debate last night with Christian friends about the importance of Easter. Friends said he observed both Christian and Muslim holidays, and never failed to send out Easter and Christmas cards. And he used his social media accounts to promote harmony on religious holidays.

Those attending were encouraged to bring a daffodil while many laid flowers and lit candles during the gathering

The killing came just hours after Mr Shah had used his Facebook account to promote an inter-faith meeting

In previous online posts, he has spoken out eloquently against violence and hatred and called for ‘unconditional real love for all mankind’.

Last Christmas Day, he posted: ‘Merry Christmas to all my beloved Christian nation and to all beloved mankind with best wishes.’ More than 300 mourners gathered at a vigil last night to pay their respects to Mr Shah.

‘This is disgusting – Mr Shah was the most peace-loving man you could meet,’ said a neighbour.

‘He was proud of his Pakistani heritage but he loved Britain. He loved Scotland too and really wanted to reach out to Christians. This is such a terrible thing to happen.’

Flowers were placed at the scene. A neighbour said: 'He was the most peace-loving man you could meet'

A police investigation has been launched into the full details surrounding Mr Shah's death, with officers pursuing a line of enquiry that the attack was racially aggravated

Julie MacRae, a friend of the shopkeeper, said: ‘I’m shocked because he was so lovely. He’s been great to my family. Every year he would send out lovely Christmas cards with messages of peace.’

One of many floral tributes left at the scene read: ‘All you wanted was peace. We are one.’

Robert Maitland, who runs a club for former servicemen next door to Mr Shah’s shop, said: ‘He always had a friendly hand for you. Every Christmas he gave us a Christmas card, although he was a Muslim and it wasn’t his religion. That’s what he was like.’

Speaking at the vigil, first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘This community is in shock and devastated. Mr Shah was a popular local businessman. I’ve used his shop and known him in the years past. I just think everyone is struggling to come to terms with it.

Forensics personnel sweep the murder scene as tributes and flowers begin to pile up next to a police cordon

‘But this vigil has been an important way for the community to come together and show support to his family and more than anything to show that the community is strongly united.’

An ambulance crew gave Mr Shah treatment at the scene on Thursday night. He was taken to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where he later died.

It is believed he belonged to the Ahmadi movement, a Muslim sect which promotes non-violence and tolerance of other faiths.

Ahmadis identify themselves as Muslims and a determined missionary network has helped spread their teachings around the world.

Earlier, people arrived at the police cordon surrounding the shop - Shah's Newsagent and Convenience Store,

But their sect has won only disdain from mainstream Islamic leaders and it has been heavily persecuted in Pakistan.

As a result the Ahmadi community’s headquarters are now located in Morden, South London. The site, which covers five acres, has space for more than 10,000 worshippers and has been hit by arson.

The spiritual inspiration of the movement was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who was born in the Punjab in British-ruled India in 1835.

Police officers stand guard as the road is cordoned off to allow forensic experts to carry out an investigation

He declared Muslim religion and society were in decline and claimed to have been chosen by Allah to reform Islam. The claim clashes with the Islamic belief that Mohammed was the last prophet and the Koran is the final word of God.

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of Muslim youth organisation, the Ramadhan Foundation, said: ‘Whatever differences we have with the Ahmadi community, the murder of Asad Shah is a despicable crime which everyone should condemn.’ 

As news of his death began to spread hundreds of people who knew Mr Shah arrived at his shop to pay their

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