IntelligenceBrief July 10, 2013 | Page 2

skeptical that Washington would consider a complete withdrawal . Since the videoconference , a full military pullout from Afghanistan like the one from Iraq had been transformed from a " worst-case scenario " to an option " under serious consideration in Washington and Kabul ". US officials , when asked about the report , pointed reporters to a comment by Ben Rhodes , the deputy White House national security adviser , who said in January that the " zero option " of leaving no troops behind is " an option that we would consider ". The comment still stands , officials said . A senior Obama administration official said : " All options remain on the table but a decision is far from made ." Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi also said there had been no decisions on the pace and scale of a US withdrawal , and similar scenarios had circulated in the past .
Europe A journalist who wrote about alleged human rights abuses was shot dead in Russia ' s violence-plagued North Caucasus province of Dagestan on Tuesday . Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev , who had received death threats and survived an apparent assassination attempt in January , was killed by gunshots fired into his car by an unknown attacker near his home on the outskirts of Dagestan ' s capital , Makhachkala . The killing underscored the risks faced by reporters who challenge the authorities in mostly Muslim Dagestan , which is plagued by corruption and an Islamist insurgency . Akhmednabiyev was the 17th journalist to be killed or die in suspicious circumstances in Dagestan since 1993 , according to the Caucasian Knot website he worked for as a correspondent for seven years . He also worked at the weekly Novoye Delo . " This was clearly a targeted killing ," said Grigory Shvedov , editor of the Moscow-based Caucasian Knot , adding that Akhmednabiyev was killed at the same spot where he survived an attack in January when three bullets missed him . Akhmednabiyev had reported on abductions and other abuses rights campaigners say security forces commit in the name of the fight against Islamist extremism . Shvedov said Akhmednabiyev had raised hackles by reporting on public calls for the resignation of a district chief in Dagestan and on the alleged persecution of Muslims deemed extremist by government officials and police . In 2009 , Akhmednabiyev ' s name was on a list of people including lawyers , journalists and activists that was distributed on leaflets In Makhachkala . The leaflets said those listed would be targeted as revenge for the deaths of security forces and civilians , suggesting the anonymous authors suspected them of backing Islamist militants . Another journalist on the list , Gadzhimurad Kamalov , founder of Chernovik , a newspaper that reported on police abuses and other human rights violations , was shot dead in December 2011 .
Turkish police fired teargas and water cannons on Monday at protesters who tried to defy a closure order and enter Gezi Park . The park was only open for a few hours after Istanbul ' s governor allowed people back in , following often violent
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