A Group of Muslim Men Step in For the Dead When Kin Don’t
New Age Islam News Bureau
31
Jul 2020
•
US Urges Action Against Killing of Citizen in Pakistani Courtroom
•
Taliban Tells Fighters Group Is ‘On the Threshold’ Of ‘Pure Islamic Government’
•
Meet the Imams, Drug Dealers in A French Town Accused Of ‘Islamist Separatism’
•
Following Israeli Strike, Hezbollah Ups Its Theatrics in Lebanon
•
Syrian Army Forces Find Human Organs Intended for Trafficking Inside Ex-Militant
Redoubt
•
Pak Army, ISI with Support of China Are Planning to Declare Karachi a Federal
Territory: Altaf Hussain
•
Indonesia Ranks Among Most Religious Countries in Pew Study
•
Libya’s LNA: Turkey Sending Mercenaries of Various Nationalities, Not Only
Syrians
India
•
A Group of Muslim Men Step in For the Dead When Kin Don’t
•
Construction of Mosque On 5-Acre Plot In Ayodhya Babri Litigant Miffed At Being
Left Out Of Trust
•
Prayers Can Be Offered with Limited People in Mosques on Eid Al-Adha: Kerala CM
•
Ayodhya: 5-Acre Allotted For Mosque Wears Deserted Look, No Sign Of Activity
•
Pakistan indulging in activities to deflect attention from support to terror:
India
•
Terrorist violence in J&K down 36%; law & order incidents fall by 74%
•
3 Assam Rifles men killed in terrorist ambush
•
Red Flags in Delhi Over Erdogan’s Turkey Funding Anti-India Activities:
Official
-------
North America
•
US Urges Action Against Killing of Citizen in Pakistani Courtroom
•
Trump Nominee Hearing Pulled Amid Furor Over Islam Remarks
•
Muslim Families Keeping Eid Al-Adha Traditions Alive In The US
•
US slaps more sanctions on Iran's nuclear, ballistic missile programs
•
Pompeo says he raised Taliban 'bounties' on US troops with Russia despite Trump
not doing so
-------
South Asia
•
Taliban Tells Fighters Group Is ‘On the Threshold’ Of ‘Pure Islamic Government’
•
Taliban say will free Afghan government inmates before Eid al-Adha
•
Bangladesh arrests three suspects in Dhaka police station blast, denies Islamic
State link
•
Car bomb kills at least 17 in Afghanistan ahead of ceasefire, Eid al-Adha
-------
Europe
•
Meet the Imams, Drug Dealers in A French Town Accused Of ‘Islamist Separatism’
•
Saudi Bid to Buy Newcastle Soccer Club Ends Over Human Rights Issues
•
Deaths of "300 Russians" in Syria sent warning to Moscow, Pompeo says
-------
Mideast
•
Following Israeli Strike, Hezbollah Ups Its Theatrics in Lebanon
•
US reveals key Daesh money provider based in Turkey
•
IRGC Ends Massive Wargames, Warns Aggressors of Crushing Response
•
Iran Pursuing Rights of Pilgrims Martyred in Mina Disaster
•
Hamas warns Israel of consequences over al-Aqsa Mosque attacks
•
Turkey launches new anti-terror operation in east
-------
Arab World
•
Syrian Army Forces Find Human Organs Intended for Trafficking Inside
Ex-Militant Redoubt
•
Hajj pilgrims stone the devil, pray in Grand Mosque as Muslims around the world
celebrate Eid
•
Sanctions pretext to violate Syria's sovereignty, support terrorism: Ja'afari
•
Iraq confirms nearly 560 killed in anti-government unrest, offers payment to
families
•
Car bomb at checkpoint in Syria kills 6, others wounded: Report
•
UAE supports Egypt’s efforts towards resolving Libyan crisis: Foreign Minister
•
This year’s Hajj measures aim to protect the guests of God: Saudi Arabian King
Salman
•
US imposes sanctions on Syrian president's son, 9 other entities
-------
Pakistan
•
Pak Army, ISI with Support of China Are Planning to Declare Karachi a Federal
Territory: Altaf Hussain
•
Despite Looming FATF Deadlines, Pakistan Yet to Act to Curb Terror Financing
•
West abetting India arms build-up, deplores Pakistan
•
Court takes up govt plea for appointment of Jadhav lawyer on Aug 3
•
Justice Isa’s wife accuses FBR officers of acting on ‘instructions’
-------
Southeast Asia
•
Indonesia Ranks Among Most Religious Countries in Pew Study
•
Indonesian Muslims Perform Eid Prayers with Social Distancing, Masks
•
Agong, Permaisuri perform Aidiladha prayers at Tengku Ampaun Afzan Mosque in
Kuantan
-------
Africa
•
Libya’s LNA: Turkey Sending Mercenaries of Various Nationalities, Not Only Syrians
•
Libyan rebels overhaul, operationalize old S-200 systems: Report
•
3 migrants shot dead in Libya after failed crossing to Europe
•
Jordan calls on Israel to respect Al-Aqsa mosque sanctity
•
Tunisia’s parliament speaker narrowly survives confidence vote
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/a-group-muslim-men-step/d/122516
-------
A
Group of Muslim Men Step in For the Dead When Kin Don’t
Jul
31, 2020
Members
of the Covid-19 Tadfeen Committee wear PPE kits and have consulted doctors on
safety measures
-----
Lucknow:
They are not healthcare workers nor do they work in graveyards, but a group of
Muslim men in Lucknow have donned personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and
have literally taken the graveyard shift.
These
men are burying Covid-19 victims who had no one to perform their last rites or
their relatives were too scared to perform the task themselves. Around 10 in
number and two clerics, all residents of Old City, these men have voluntarily
taken up the ‘dangerous’ task and have helped bury seven Covid victims in
Lucknow and one in Kanpur.
They
say the only relationship they have with the dead is that of humanity.
“The
first person we buried was a woman from Dubagga who had died at a private
hospital a month ago. She only had a son who could not have buried his mother
alone. We received information through social media and offered help,” said
Imdad Imam, who is leading the group which now calls itself Covid-19 Tadfeen
Committee. Tadfeen stands for burial in Urdu.
Imdad
(32) who runs a departmental store and does graphic designing, called up a
doctor at KGMU seeking opinion on viability of performing the task. “We then
took up training on how to don and dock the PPE kit which is highly important
in keeping the infection away,” he said.
The
men are residents of Golaganj, Wazirganj, Kashmiri Mohalla and other Old City
areas. The two clerics involved in the cause are Maulana Ali Ameer and Maulana
Hasnain Baqai who fulfil the religious obligations during burial.
“We
have buried four bodies on our own and for others, we have helped the relatives
and guided them through the process,” added Imdad.
Asked
if the volunteers are worried about their own medical safety, he said, “We
follow the medical guidelines and take vitamin C and immunity boosting foods.
On reaching home from the graveyard, we maintain distance from our families. We
shroud the body over the body bag and place it in the center of a 24-foot-long
cloth which is used as a pulley to lower the body in a 6-foot-deep grave.”
At
Karbala Malka Jahan in Aishbagh, the mutawwali has spared 2,000 square feet for
just Covid patients and has also installed a sanitization machine for
disinfection. Imdad told TOI that the first time one of the volunteers had
donned the PPE, he had felt dehydrated because of the heat. “But then he got
back on his feet. Our families were hesitant too initially, but now everyone
prays for our well-being,” he said.
As
the next step, the team wants to prepare people in different parts of the city
to be able to perform the task with maximum safety.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/these-muslim-men-step-in-for-the-dead-when-kin-dont/articleshow/77272547.cms
--------
US
Urges Action Against Killing Of Citizen In Pakistani Courtroom
31
Jul 2020
Tahir
Shamim Ahmad, had claimed he was Islam's prophet
-----
The
United States urged Pakistan on Thursday to act over the killing of an American
national in a crowded courtroom in Peshawar as he faced trial for blasphemy.
57-year-old
Tahir Ahmad Naseem was shot multiple times at close range on Wednesday when he
was seated in the court of an additional sessions judge after arguments in his
case, awaiting to be shifted to prison.
“We
extend our condolences to the family of Tahir Naseem, the American citizen who
was killed today inside a courtroom in Pakistan,” the US State Department said
in a tweet. “We urge Pakistan to take immediate action and pursue reforms that
will prevent such a shameful tragedy from happening again.”
Witnesses
and officials reported a young man pulling out a handgun and shooting Naseem in
the head just as has arraignment before the judge began. The shooter, a
19-year-old male, was arrested on the spot and the pistol used in the offence
was seized.
The
incident was followed with a social media outrage when a video of the deceased
lying on a court bench with a pool of blood underneath went viral. The video
also showed the suspected shooter police custody, claiming that the deceased
was a blasphemer.
Police
were interrogating the suspect to determine how he carried a pistol into the
highly guarded Peshawar Judicial Complex and whether anyone had motivated him
into committing the murder.
A
first information report (FIR) was registered against him at the East Cantt
Police Station under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), Section 7 of
the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 15 of the Arms Act.
The
deceased had lately filed an application in the court, requesting to be allowed
to recite Kalima Tayyaba in the court to show that he was a Muslim and did not
belong to the Ahmadi community. After hearing the arguments from the
prosecution and defence, Judge Syed Shaukatullah Shah had adjourned the hearing
until October 12.
Reportedly,
the deceased had been residing in the US with his family and visited Pakistan
two years ago after he got in touch with some people on social media who asked
him to return to his country to spread his faith.
The
case against Naseem was registered at the Sarband Police Station on April 25,
2018, under Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295-A
(acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class), 295-B (defiling
Holy Quran), 295-C (derogatory remarks in respect of Holy Prophet (PBUH)) and
298 (uttering words to wound religious feelings) of the PPC.
The
complainant, in that case, was a student of a religious seminary in Islamabad,
Malik Owais.
Naseem
was indicted on February 4, 2019, under sections 153-A, 295-A and 298 of the
PPC, whereas the charge sheet did not include Sections 295-B and 295-C.
The
deceased had denied all charges and decided to stand trial.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/07/31/us-urges-action-against-killing-of-citizen-in-pakistani-courtroom/
--------
Taliban
Tells Fighters Group Is ‘On the Threshold’ Of ‘Pure Islamic Government’
BY
BILL ROGGIO
In
his yearly Eid-ul-Adha message, Taliban emir Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada
issued a rallying cry to his fighters, saying the Taliban is “on the threshold
of establishing an Islamic government”
----
July
29, 2020
In
his yearly Eid-ul-Adha message, Taliban emir Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada
issued a rallying cry to his fighters, saying the Taliban is “on the threshold
of establishing an Islamic government” after two decades of fighting.
The
Taliban has been adamant that the only acceptable outcome for the country is
the return of the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with Haibatullah at
its helm. In his statement, Haibatullah yet again called for the establishment
of a “pure Islamic government” and an “Islamic system” for Afghanistan.
His
message was released on July 28 on Voice of Jihad, the Taliban’s official
website. Haibatullah mentioned the return of an “Islamic government,” “pure
Islamic government,” and an “Islamic system” five times in his short statement.
Now,
after signing a so-called ‘peace’ deal with the U.S. that facilitates the
Americans’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, Haibatullah says the Taliban is finally
close.
But
contrary to the popular opinion that peace will be at hand once the Taliban
conducts “intra-Afghan negotiations,” Haibatullah says that there will be peace
once “a pure Islamic government” is established [emphasis ours]:
We
do not hold personal vendetta against anyone but have raised arms to defend the
sovereignty of our homeland and establish a pure Islamic government. We seek a
peaceful life with everyone once those objectives have been met.
Message
of Felicitation of the Esteemed Amir-ul-Mumineen, Sheikh-ul-Hadith Mawlawi
Hibatullah Akhundzada (may Allah protect him), on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha,
Voice of Jihad. July, 28, 2020. [PDF]
Haibatullah’s
Eid-ul-Adha message is entirely consistent with the Taliban’s position over the
past two decades. He said this on May 21, 2020, less than three months after signing
the much-misunderstood deal with the U.S.
“The
objectives of our Jihad are to gain the pleasure of Allah (SwT), freedom of our
country and to establish an Islamic system,” Haibatullah stated.
Just
eight days after the U.S.-Taliban withdrawal deal was inked, the Taliban issued
a religious decree that said that the return of the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan with Haibatullah as its rightful leader was the only permissible
result of intra-Afghan talks. The Taliban fatwa said the group “shall continue waging
armed jihad” until it establishes the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
In
Sept. 2019, the Taliban said that its prime objectives in negotiations with the
U.S. is to get Coalition forces to withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the
“establishment of an Islamic government.”
The
Afghan government is the problem
In
Haibatullah’s Eid message, he notes that the Afghan government, which he calls
“very small group”, is attempting to sabotage the Taliban’s objective of
regaining full power. The Taliban couches this group’s position as standing in
the way of the will of the Afghan people [emphasis ours]:
The
biggest issue at hand that needs addressing by the international community is
the subject of a very small group unaware of the pains and demands of society
being imposed upon the economic resources, reserves and seat of power, whom
care not for the higher national interests of Afghanistan, are engaged in a
struggle for short-term interests and power, do not give importance to the
long-term success and prosperity of the country, delay and obstruct national
and other key processes and continually endanger the greater interests of our
homeland.
Message
of Felicitation of the Esteemed Amir-ul-Mumineen, Sheikh-ul-Hadith Mawlawi
Hibatullah Akhundzada (may Allah protect him), on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha,
Voice of Jihad. July, 28, 2020. [PDF]
The
Taliban has committed to conducting intra-Afghan negotiations, which means it
will talk to a cross section of political, civil, and religious leaders, but
the Taliban outright rejects direct negotiations with the Afghan government.
The
Taliban views the Afghan government as “illegitimate,” “impotent,” a “puppet”
and “stooge” of the West – and most importantly, “un-Islamic.” It has publicly
stated it would never share power with the “Kabul administration,” an insult
that implies the Afghan government controls little outside of the capital.
“The
Islamic Emirate has not readily embraced this death and destruction for the
sake of some silly ministerial posts or a share of the power,” the Taliban said
in an official statement released on Voice of Jihad in 2016.
On
June 10, 2020, the Taliban laid out its position on the Afghan government and
Western-styled governments in general. In a video titled “Real Men 4,” the
Taliban railed against the “deviants” of the Afghan government.
“The
Deviants are those who are trained in the poisonous deviant beliefs of atheism,
communism, secularism, democracy, and other satanic western and disbelieving
ideologies in order to mislead the Muslims with their deviant ideologies,” The
Taliban narrator stated in English. “The Deviants are the people who work for
the implementation of secularism and deviant laws instead of sharia [Islamic
law].”
The
Taliban has been very clear that it will not compromise on its objective of
resurrection of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and will continue to wage
jihad until its objective is realized.
Yet
U.S., NATO, and Afghan leaders continue to view intra-Afghan talks in which the
Afghan government cannot attend as the solution.
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/07/taliban-tells-fighters-group-is-on-the-threshold-of-pure-islamic-government.php
--------
Meet
the imams, drug dealers in a French town accused of ‘Islamist separatism’
29
July 2020
Muslims
in one of the French towns accused of “Islamist separatism” have rejected the
accusation and told Al Arabiya’s investigative journalist Rola al-Khatib that
their community was being confused with local drug dealers who want autonomy
from state police.
In
Argenteuil, Al Arabiya met with Muslims leaving the mosque after prayers and
interviewed the imam of one of the two mosques in the town to ask about
separatism and get a glimpse inside the French Muslim community there.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“People
who are saying this are not familiar with the area [Argenteuil],” said the
imam. “Before building this mosque, this area was kind of dangerous because of
thieves, assaults, and drugs, but the mosque has put many young people on the
right path again.”
Macron
accuses towns of ‘Islamist separatism’
French
President Emmanuel Macron announced in February that France would crack down on
“Islamist separatism” and end a system in which foreign countries send imams to
preach in French mosques.
The
imam of Mosquée d’Argenteuil is one of the mandated imams who were brought to
France by a cooperation program between France and Algeria to lead prayers in
French Mosques. Asked about the decision to end the foreign imams system, he
said that he believes the French authorities “want to qualify French imams who
speak the French language and have good knowledge of the French culture.”
President
Macron had said a part of the crackdown campaign was to ensure “that the laws
of the Republic are respected by everyone,” but the Muslims Al Arabiya met
during the Argenteuil visit showed no signs of disrespecting the law.
“There
isn’t a neighborhood that’s isolated from the republic’s laws,” French Imam
Abdul Ali Mamoun told Al Arabiya. The statement is “completely untrue and
baseless,” he added.
“Some
of the far-right French people claim that these drug dealers are using the
money to practice Islamic control over the neighborhoods, and that is
completely false,” he said.
“There’s
no correlation between religious extremism and the drug mafias.”
A
talk with a drug dealer
Drug
dealers have been accused of using their illicit funds to impose Islamic
control on the area.
Al
Arabiya’s al-Khatib met with one drug dealer, who said he is a Muslim and
wanted people to “understand why we do what we do” but asked to remain
anonymous.
The
30-year-old told Al Arabiya that he has been dealing drugs since he was 16
because he did not have money and came from a poor big family in which the
breadwinner could barely provide necessities.
“I
know I shouldn’t be doing this, but we live in a harsh world that doesn’t have
mercy,” he said. “This is our reality.”
Asked
about people who have left France to fight in Iraq and Syria, he said he does
not understand their decision and that he does not consider it the right path.
Al-Khatib
asked the drug dealer what he made of the accusation that dealers are
distorting the image of Islam, scaring people, and financing terrorism and
extremists.
“My
work does not scare the residents. They come to us for solutions to their
problems,” he said, adding that whether they scare the police is unimportant.
“After all they do to us, it’s not important if we scare the police.”
Sitting
for the interview on a staircase, the drug dealer said that there is no
official funding channel from the drug dealers to the town’s mosques, but added
that he individually donates money to the mosque.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/07/29/Meet-the-imams-drug-dealers-in-a-French-town-accused-of-Islamist-separatism-.html
--------
Following
Israeli strike, Hezbollah ups its theatrics in Lebanon
30
July 2020
On
27 July, tensions flared between Israel and Lebanon, after the Israeli military
reported that a number of Hezbollah fighters crossed into Shebaa Farms, which
is disputed territory. The Lebanese militant group quickly denied the move, and
the mysterious incident falls within Hezbollah’s psychological warfare, which
targets Israel and Hezbollah’s popular base as the group faces mounting challenges
at home.
Monday’s
failed infiltration, which was seen as a response to Israeli strikes on Iranian
interests in Syria a week before, that killed Hezbollah fighter Ali Kamel
Mohsen Jawad was unusual in many ways. According to media reports, a Hezbollah
cell comprised of three to five fighters crossed the blue line border a few
meters into Israeli-controlled territory in the Shebaa Farm region, where it
was repelled by Israeli troops.
“The
attack is in itself peculiar as it took place during the day in an area under
heavy drone surveillance,” said Nicolas Blanford, senior non-resident fellow at
the Atlantic Council.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
While
the group denied responsibility for the operation, a source close to
Hezbollah’s fighters confirmed the group was behind the operation.
Brahim
Beyrarm, a journalist and analyst close to the organization also believes the
group to be behind the attempted infiltration, which he says is part of the
group’s psychological warfare on Israel.
As
pressure mounts on Hezbollah, and the group faces larger repercussions for its
military interventions around the region and support from its popular base
shrinks at home, the party will rely more heavily on psychological warfare.
Lebanon’s dire economic situation also contributes to this shift.
This
will translate in two types of operations: Hezbollah could resort to small
covert operations by “unknown” groups on the borders or in disputed territories
such as the Shebaa Farms.
“This
was the case in March 2014, when four Israeli soldiers were hurt by an IED
(improvised explosive device) blast near the demilitarized zone between the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria, and Israel. While Hezbollah never
claimed the attack, everyone knew it was behind the bombing,” added Blanford.
Propaganda
and theatrics are other tools Hezbollah could opt for, as they project an aura
of power while maintaining the status quo, explained activist Ali Amin. This
approach is seen as part of a tacit agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. A
case in point is the escalatory strikes last September on the border. At the
time Hezbollah launched a retaliatory attack in south Lebanon, after two drones
hit its stronghold in the Beirut suburbs. It is believed that the Israeli
military then faked injuries of soldiers to make Hezbollah believe it caused
damage during the following round of fighting on the Lebanese border.
The
million dollar question that remains is whether theatrics and propaganda will
prevent the escalation of violence on the Lebanese and Israel Border. In a
recent interview, Deputy Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, dismissed the prospect
of any military escalation with Israel.
Yet
a source close to Hezbollah fighters explains that “Hezbollah will definitely
retaliate a second time, given the first attempt failed,” and added that if the
organization did not, its credibility will be further damaged given the
unpreceded disastrous economic situation the country is facing.
Hezbollah
and its allies are backing the current government of Prime Minister Hassan
Diab.
“They
are caught between a rock and a hard place,” the source said.
Yet
Middle East Strategy Intelligence analyst Avi Melamed, who follows Israeli
politics closely, explained that while Israel has no interest in an all-out war
with Hezbollah, Israel’s strategic interest is to disrupt Iran’s attempt to
build military infrastructure in Syria that could target Israel.
That
means ultimately that Israel is willing to risk an extensive war on more than
one front if they wager a war would be in their strategic interest.
“Hezbollah’s
leader Hassan Nasrallah is wrong to think that by threatening Israel, it will
avoid Israel acting against Iran’s hostile deployment. Israel will continue to
attack Iran’s hostile deployment whenever and wherever it decides to.
Accordingly, the odds for [an] Israeli-Hezbollah massive collision increases,”
Melamed concluded.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/07/30/Following-Israeli-strike-Hezbollah-ups-its-theatrics-.html
--------
Syrian
army forces find human organs intended for trafficking inside ex-militant
redoubt
30
July 2020
Syrian
military forces have discovered a large number of human body organs persevered
in chloroform and intended for trafficking while conducting clean-up operations
in the country’s northwestern province of Idlib.
A
local source, requesting anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that
a doctor affiliated to foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants had transformed a
house in the village of al-Ghadfa into a medical laboratory, where many
packages of human organs, including eyes, hearts, lungs, livers and kidneys,
were being kept in chloroform solution.
The
report added that the packages were marked with male and female names, while there
were records inside the house containing the names of people with descriptions
of their general health conditions.
Back
in November 2019, Russian experts warned that members of the so-called civil
defense group White Helmets are involved in forcible removal of organs from
Syrians living in militant-controlled areas.
“They
(White Helmets) were a key element in this illegal scheme of organ removal. We
learned about those incidents from the people whom we interviewed. This
information came as an unpleasant surprise to us,” the director of the Russian
Foundation for the Study of Democracy, Maxim Grigoryev, said at the time as he
presented a survey entitled “White Helmets: Terrorist Abettors and Sources of
Disinformation” at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow.
He
noted that Russian researchers made the discovery while interviewing residents
of Syrian regions where White Helmets were most active.
Grigoryev
and his colleagues conducted more than 100 interviews not only with residents
of the major cities of Aleppo, Douma, Dayr al-Zawr and the southern town of
Saqba, but also with over 40 members of White Helmets and some 20 former
militants.
According
to eyewitnesses’ testimony, White Helmets were involved in extracting human
organs from the bodies of ill-fated people whom they had promised medical
assistance. After that, their relatives received bodies with some vital organs
missing. This came to light when the bodies were examined and weighted, he
pointed out.
US-backed
SDF militants impose curfew across Hasakah
Meanwhile,
Kurdish-led militants from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have
imposed a raft of new restrictions across Syria’s northeastern province of
Hasakah.
Syria’s
pro-government and Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper reported that the new
restrictions came into force on Thursday, in addition to implementing an
open-ended lockdown during Eid al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice), which marks
the culmination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Under
the new measures, local residents have to stay at their homes and movement of
individuals is prohibited. Moreover, all social gatherings and visits and
intercity travels are banned during Eid al-Adha.
US-backed
SDF officials allege that they have adopted the measures in response to an
alarming increase in cases of coronavirus infection across Hasakah over the
past few days.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/30/630754/Syrian-army-forces-find-human-organs-intended-for-trafficking-inside-ex-militant-redoubt
--------
Pak
Army, ISI with support of China are planning to declare Karachi a federal
territory: Altaf Hussain
Jul
31, 2020
LONDON:
Pakistan Army and Pak spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence with the support
of China are planning to declare Karachi a federal territory to usurp its
resources, Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain said.
"Pakistan
Army and ISI along with China have completed its nefarious design to declare
Karachi a federal territory to usurp its resources," a statement quoted
Hussain as saying.
Hussain
remarks come in response after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced
that he has asked the Army to assist the authorities in cleaning up in the
aftermath of the rain in Karachi.
"According
to the nefarious design, under the guise of the task of cleaning the city,
Karachi is being handed over to the Army," Hussain said.
He
said that federal ministers of PTI government are making open statements in the
favour of "nefarious" design of Army to take Karachi in the control
of Islamabad.
"Rather
than to give more autonomy, rights and power to Karachi, Imran Khan-led
government are trying to take into federal control of this megacity, is
strongly condemnable," the MQM leader said.
Altaf
Hussain called people to come forward to foil this conspiracy of Army and
Pakistan government.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pak-army-isi-with-support-of-china-are-planning-to-declare-karachi-a-federal-territory-altaf-hussain/articleshow/77275601.cms
--------
Indonesia
ranks among most religious countries in Pew study
July
31, 2020
Indonesians
are among the most religious people in the world, a recently released survey
from the Pew Research Center says.
Nearly
all Indonesian respondents (96 percent) surveyed stated that belief in God was
necessary to be moral and have good values, revealed the Pew Research Center's
“The Global God Divide” report, published on July 20.
The
results of the survey, which covered 34 countries, places Indonesia alongside
the Philippines as the two countries with the highest percentage of citizens
(96 percent) who equate belief in God with having good values.
Most
Indonesians also deemed religion, God and prayer to be an important part of
their lives, at respectively 98 percent, 91 percent and 95 percent of
respondents.
“Over
time, the importance of religion in Indonesia has not changed, making it one of
the most religiously devout public that we surveyed,” Jacob Poushter, Pew
associate director of global attitudes research, told The Jakarta Post on
Wednesday.
The
survey confirmed that it was important for Indonesians to define themselves
along religious lines, with "religiously unaffiliated people" like
agnostics and atheists rarely found in the country.
Indonesian
laws guarantee freedom of religion, although in its implementation, citizens
must subscribe to one of the six approved official religions: Buddhism,
Catholicism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam or Protestantism.
Experts
have said that Muslim-majority Indonesia is neither an Islamic state nor an
entirely secular one, with religion largely recontextualized as a
sociopolitical issue through the country's democratic and nationalist
principles.
Meanwhile,
Poushter noted that Indonesia bore similarities with other highly religious
societies in emerging and developing economies, where people generally tended
to be more religious than people in more advanced economies.
Wahid
Foundation researcher Alamsyah M. Djafar suggested that the government’s move
to formalize religion may have bolstered Indonesians' high level of religiosity
as shown in the Pew survey. The
government’s policy on religion includes permitting specific regions to
adopt sharia, such as Aceh where it is obligatory for Muslim women to wear
hijab.
Other
factors like economic inequality, the politicization of religion and
wide-ranging uncertainties across various sectors may have also contributed to
high religiosity in Indonesia, as religious institutions offered their
congregations a sense of certainty and safety.
But
Alamsyah also pointed out that intolerance remained prevalent in the country.
He
criticized a 2006 decree that made it difficult for minority religions to build
places of worship.
The
joint ministerial decree on houses of worship requires a congregation to
collect 90 signatures from its members and another 60 signatures from other
residents in the community before a building permit can be issued. Many
minority religions have been unable to fulfill the requirement and so have been
unable to build a house of worship.
Alamsyah
also said that local administrations had been inconsistent in supporting
minority religions that could not meet the decree's requirements.
His
view echoes that of many activists who have long criticized the decree and its
misuse by local communities across the country as a means of obstructing the
construction of places of worship for minority religions.
Experts
have also previously condemned the draconian 1965 Blasphemy Law that privileged
the Muslim majority over religious minorities, as well as discriminative
regional bylaws that provide justification for religious intolerance.
In
addition to fixing the regulatory loopholes, Alamysah called on the public to
employ critical thinking in their religious belief.
“Critical
thinking is shown in how people understand religion from more than one source
or opinion. If they deem one [religion] is wrong and another is right, then he
or she is likely following a conservative view,” he said.
Meanwhile,
Religious Affairs Ministry spokesman Oman Fathurahman said on Monday that the
Indonesian results of the Pew survey were “unsurprising”.
“Spirituality
has been an inseparable part of Indonesia for hundreds of years,” he said.
Oman
was quick to add that Indonesia's high religiosity must be balanced with
moderate, inclusive understanding that did not claim “a [particular] religious
interpretation as absolute truth”, considering the diverse religious beliefs
and practices of Indonesia.
He
said the ministry was currently strengthening and expanding its “religious
moderation” programs and was including the programs in the ministry’s five-year
development plan to guide future policies on religion.
Oman
stressed that the purpose of religious moderation was to prevent acts of
intolerance and conservative extremism, as well as to educate people to avoid
freely “ignoring or degrading [other] religious values”.
“In
principle, they must be fair and balanced in practicing religious teachings and
not be excessive [in leaning toward] either the extreme right and left, because
they will both be counterproductive for the very religious people of
Indonesia,” he said.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/07/30/indonesia-ranks-among-most-religious-countries-in-pew-study.html
-------
Libya’s
LNA: Turkey sending mercenaries of various nationalities, not only Syrians
29
July 2020
Turkey
is not only sending Syrian fighters to Libya but mercenaries of various
nationalities, Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Khaled al-Mahjoub told Al
Arabiya on Tuesday.
He
added that the LNA was continuing its reinforcements to defend the country’s
“oil crescent,” the central region that contains over 60 percent of Libya’s
oil, stressing that Turkey, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood were mainly
focused on the “oil crescent.”
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
A
recent report by Somali media said that Turkey and Qatar recruited thousands of
Somali mercenaries to fight in Libya alongside the Government of National
Accord (GNA) which Ankara supports.
Turkey
had sent thousands of Syrian fighters to support the GNA, according to the
Syrian Observatory, a war monitor.
Libyan
conflict
Libya
has plunged into chaos since the 2011 toppling of dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
Clashes
between the two main warring parties in the country, the LNA, commanded by
Khalifa Haftar and the GNA, led by Fayez al-Serraj, have intensified recently.
Many
foreign powers have backed different sides of the conflict with varying degrees
of support, with the most prominent countries being Turkey backing the GNA and
Egypt backing the LNA.
The
possibility of further escalating the conflict in the North African country
increased after Egypt’s parliament authorized the deployment of troops outside
the country, allowing Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to act on his
threat of military action against Turkish-backed forces in Libya.
Turkish
media outlets said Ankara put in place a plan to increase its forces and
military equipment in Libya to confront Egyptian forces in case Cairo decides
to intervene.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/north-africa/2020/07/29/Libya-s-LNA-Turkey-sending-mercenaries-of-various-nationalities-not-only-Syrians.html
--------
India
Construction
of Mosque on 5-acre plot in Ayodhya Babri litigant miffed at being left out of
Trust
by
Asad Rehman
July
31, 2020
Babri
Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title suit litigant Iqbal Ansari on Thursday expressed
his displeasure at not being consulted or invited to join a trust set up by the
Sunni Central Waqf Board the day before to facilitate the construction of a
mosque on five-acre land in Ayodhya district’s Dhannipur village. The trust has
been named the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation.
The
Uttar Pradesh government allotted the land earlier this year following the
Supreme Court’s directions regarding an alternative site for a mosque and other
facilities. In the verdict last year, the court had permitted the construction
of a Ram temple on the land in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood before its
demolition by “kar sevaks” in 1992.
Iqbal
Ansari is the son of Hashim Ansari, who was the oldest litigant in the title
suit case. He told The Indian Express, “We have fought the case for 70 years
and have taken on enmity with people in Ayodhya and spent everything we had in
the case…Now, when the mosque is being built, we are not even consulted. We
aren’t even asked if we want to be part of the trust. If I want to be a part of
the trust comes later, but the Waqf Board should have at least asked us.”
Responding
to Ansari’s allegation, the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation’s spokesperson,
Athar Hussain, said, “The Supreme Court gave this land to the Sunni Waqf Board,
and it is the decision of the Board to decide who will be part of the trust. I
accept that Ansari sahabhas emotional attachment with the case and the issue,
but he never made any correspondence with the Board after the verdict in the
matter came.”
While
the names of nine members of the foundation were announced by the Waqf Board on
Wednesday, six others are expected to be named soon. Sunni Central Waqf Board
chairperson Zufar Ahmad Faruqi is the chief trustee and president of the
foundation.
He
is an agriculturist from Leherpur in Sitapur district, and one of the town’s
big landowners.
Treasurer
Adnan Farooq Shah is a member of the Waqf Board, and comes from a land-owning
family in Gorakhpur district.
The
foundation’s second treasurer, Faez Aftab, is an industrialist from Meerut. He
manufactures sports goods and other products, and is also an exporter.
Secretary
Athar Hussain belongs to a land-owning family in Lucknow. He is a political
analyst, and makes regular appearances on TV news debates. Hussain also
analyses state elections on news channels. Mohammad Junaid Siddiqui, who is
part of the Waqf Board, is a member of the foundation, while the Board’s CEO
Mohammad Shuaib has been named founder trustee.
Following
the end of his term, his successor as CEO will take over his position on the
trust.
Lucknow-based
social activist Mohammad Rashid, who also comes from a land-owning family, is a
trustee, along with Samajwadi Party leader Imran Ahmad, who lost the 2012
Assembly elections from Lakhimpur, and Sheikh Sauduzzaman.
Sauduzzaman
is the mutawalli, or caretaker, of one of the biggest private Waqf properties
in the state in Banda district.
He
belongs to the Banda nawab’s family. Mohammad Shuaib said the nine members were
selected at a virtual board meeting on July 19. “Some people were selected
because they have been part of the mediation process.
The
names were proposed by the Board members. People who were constructive in
reaching a conclusion to the dispute over the land in Ayodhya and those who
could keep politics away from the issue have been made part of the trust,” he
added.
Asked
how long it would take to build the mosque, Shuaib said, “First we need to get
physical possession of the land that has been given to us. Then, we will draw
out a plan regarding the mosque from an architect. There is no immediate
deadline.”
Asked
about the selection of the remaining six members of the trust, he said, “It
will be decided in the next meeting, which will be held soon.”
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/construction-of-mosque-on-5-acre-plot-in-ayodhya-babri-litigant-miffed-at-being-left-out-of-trust-6532096/
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Prayers
can be offered with limited people in mosques on Eid al-Adha: Kerala CM
Jul
31, 2020
Prayers
can be offered in mosques with a limited number of persons on the occasion of
Eid al-Adha on August 1, said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on
Thursday.
He
welcomed those mosque committees which decided to cancel prayers in view of
COVID-19.
"On
Eid al-Adha, prayers can be offered in mosques with a limited number of
persons. Some mosque committees in Kerala have decided to cancel prayers in
view of COVID-19 which is a welcome step. The situation is not suited for large
gatherings," Vijayan said.
Eid
al-Adha or Bakrid, also known as "Sacrifice Feast" is marked by
sacrificing an animal, usually a sheep or a goat to prove their devotion and
love for Allah. Post the sacrifice, devotees distribute the offering to family,
friends, neighbours and especially to the poor and the needy.
https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-prayers-can-be-offered-with-limited-people-in-mosques-on-eid-al-adha-kerala-cm-2835026
--------
Ayodhya:
5-acre allotted for mosque wears deserted look, no sign of activity
Nelanshu
Shukla
July
30, 202
While
the city of Ayodhya is being decked up for the August 5 ground-breaking
ceremony (bhumi pujan) of the Ram Mandir, 25km from the site, the five-acre
land that has been allotted to the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board to construct a
mosque, wears a deserted look.
The
land has been allotted to the Board in Dhannipur village. Locals say they have
not seen any activity around it since months.
Speaking
to India Today TV, Sohrab Khan, a local resident, said, "The Sunni Waqf
Board accepted the land in February. It was given by the government following
the Supreme Court order in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmbhoomi land title dispute
case. A team of the Sunni Waqf Board came here once to see the land. However,
we haven't seen any activity here."
Sohrab
Khan said locals want the mosque to be constructed "at the earliest",
and the government should announce schemes to develop their area.
On
Wednesday, the Sunni Waqf Board announced a 15-member Trust named the
Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation. The Trust will plan and oversee the mosque
construction.
However,
the statement made by the Trust's secretary Athar Husain indicates that
construction work on the five-acre land is unlikely to begin anytime soon.
Speaking
to India Today TV, Athar Husain said, "We will apply for a PAN number and
open a bank account for the Trust. We will also look for an office. There are
other formalities which are pending. All this may take 30-45 days for us to
settle down. After completing the procedures, we will be holding a meeting for
the construction of mosque."
He
said the Trust plans to construct a mosque, an Indo-Islamic research centre, a
library and a charitable hospital for people living in the area. "We are
dependent on public donation to start the construction work. However, we have
already been assured some financial support. There is no delay in formation of
the Trust. We couldn't execute our plans earlier due to the Covid-19
outbreak," Hussain said.
Meanwhile,
responding to the formation of Trust to facilitate construction of a mosque in
Ayodhya, former Babri Masjid litigant Iqbal Ansari said, "I have nothing
to do with the Sunni Waqf Board and the Trust which has been formed. The land
should have been given in Ayodhya for construction of a hospital. I would
prefer to offer namaaz at a mosque near my home."
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/ayodhya-5-acre-allotted-for-mosque-wears-deserted-look-no-sign-of-activity-1706176-2020-07-30
--------
Pakistan
indulging in activities to deflect attention from support to terror: India
Jul
30, 2020
NEW
DELHI: As Pakistan plans to hold protests to mark one year of the scrapping of
Article 370, India on Thursday said the neigbouring country indulges in such
activities to divert international attention from its support to cross-border
terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
August
5 will mark the first anniversary of India's decision to abrogate Article 370
of the Indian Constitution from Jammu and Kashmir and to bifurcate the state
into two union territories.
"They
indulge in activities to deflect international attention from support to cross
border terrorism," external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag
Srivastava said at an online media briefing, replying to a question on
Pakistan's planned activities to protest India's action of scrapping of Article
370 on its first anniversary next week.
"As
far as India is concerned, August 5 will be a historic day for us as on this
day, we could remove the hurdles for overall development of Jammu and Kashmir
and Ladakh," he added.
As
per reports, Pakistan is planning to hold protests and reach out to several
countries against India's decision to scrap Article 370 that extended special
status to Jammu and Kashmir.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pakistan-indulging-in-activities-to-deflect-attention-from-support-to-terror-india/articleshow/77269022.cms
--------
Terrorist
violence in J&K down 36%; law & order incidents fall by 74%
Jul
31, 2020
NEW
DELHI: Terror-related violence in Jammu & Kashmir till July this year was
two-third of the levels witnessed during the corresponding period of 2019,
while law and order incidents dipped sharply by 74%. Also, the number of
terrorists killed in the first seven months of 2020 is already nearing the
figure for entire 2019.
As
per data accessed by TOI, 120 violent incidents were recorded in J&K till
July 15 this year, down from 189 in the corresponding period of 2019. Of these,
69 related to cross-firing and encounters initiated by the security forces
while 21 were grenade attacks, 22 random firing by terrorists and one IED
blast. In 2019, till July 15, there were 81 cross firing/encounters, 51 grenade
attacks, 60 IED blasts and 43 random firings by terrorists.
Security
forces' fatalities fell to 35 till July 15, 2020 from 75 in the same period last
year. There has been little change in civilian killings (22 this year) though
injuries to civilians fell by 75%. Law and order incidents too have fallen by
74% from 389 till July 2019 to 102 till July this year.
“The
only thing that has risen are ceasefire violations: from 267 till July 2019 to
487 in the corresponding period of 2020. However, infiltration attempts have
fallen by almost 50% over this period,” DGP Dilbag Singh told TOI.
As
many as 141 terrorists were neutralised till July this year (the number till
July 30 has gone up to 150), as compared to 131 till July 31 last year. In
entire 2019, 157 terrorists – 125 local and 32 foreign -- were killed as there
were negligible encounters in the months following abrogation of Article 370 in
J&K on August 5.
Of
the 141 terrorists neutralised this year, 109 were killed between April and
July, with the number peaking at 49 in June. In 2019, 25 terrorists were killed
in June.
Importantly,
88% or 124 of the 141 terrorists killed this year were local Kashmiris, while
17 were foreign terrorists. Also, 108 terrorists were killed in South Kashmir
alone — 37 in Shopian, 36 in Pulwama, 21 in Kulgam and 14 in Anantnag.
Local
terror recruitment cases fell by 36% to 80 till July 2020 from 124 till July
2019. Many of these recruits have already been neutralised.
J&K
police chief attributed the fall in local recruitment to care taken by the
police to avoid any collateral damage to civilians during encounters, zero
tolerance towards misconduct against the public by a person in authority, and
good management of terrorists’ burials.
On
why local militant casualties are higher, an officer said: “There are around
250 terrorists in J&K, of which 100 are in south Kashmir alone. Of the 250,
35-40% are foreign terrorists, who mostly hide in the uninhabited
stretches/forests of North Kashmir. Local militants live in towns and villages
and far more intelligence on them is available”.
While
J&K police persuade local militants to surrender during encounters, even
getting their families to make direct appeals, they rarely surrender. Sources
said this is as the militant fears retribution from active cadres, alienation
from the society and sees no tangible benefits from surrender,” said a
government functionary.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/terrorist-violence-in-jk-down-36-law-order-incidents-fall-by-74/articleshow/77276085.cms
--------
3
Assam Rifles men killed in terrorist ambush
Jul
31, 2020
IMPHAL:
Three Assam Rifles personnel were killed and five others injured in an ambush
by underground militants at Khongtal in Manipur’s Chandel district bordering
Myanmar on Wednesday evening.
Three
outfits — Manipur Naga People’s Front (MNPF), Revolutionary People’s Front
(RPF), and Ulfa-I — claimed responsibility for the attack. In a joint media
statement, they said a combined team of their cadres carried out a “joint
military offensive against the Indian security forces.”
Terrorists
set off IEDs before opening fire on troopers
They
added that the people of Western South East Asia (WeSEA) were countering the
“expansionism of India” and the attack was launched for the “independence
struggle against Indian colonisation and expansionism”. Official sources said a
contingent of 15 personnel from Assam Rifles (4th battalion), who were on
patrolling duty, came under attack when they were returning to their base at
Khongtal around 7pm.
The
militants exploded IEDs before they opened fire at the paramilitary personnel,
who were led by a junior commissioned officer. The sources added that the
security personnel fired in retaliation, which led to a heavy exchange of fire
between the two sides for about 30 minutes. Havildar Pranay Kalita (Assam),
riflemen Ratan Salam (Manipur) and Methna Konyak (Nagaland) were killed on the
spot. The injured — Subedar S Haokip, Nitul Sharma, Vivekanan, Sandeeb Kumar
(all havildars) and sepoy Anis Kumar — were taken to the military hospital at
Leimakhong near Imphal in an Army helicopte
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/3-assam-rifles-men-killed-in-terrorist-ambush/articleshow/77273886.cms
--------
Red
Flags In Delhi Over Erdogan’s Turkey Funding Anti-India Activities: Official
Shishir
Gupta
Jul
30, 2020
Islamist
radical organisations in parts of the country including Kerala and Kashmir are
being supported and funded by Turkish outfits backed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
government in Ankara, people familiar with the development have told Hindustan
Times.
“There
is an effort to radicalise Indian muslims and recruit fundamentalists
coordinated from Turkey,” a senior government official said, underlining that a
recent assessment in New Delhi had noted the emergence of Turkey as “the hub of
anti-India activities” next only to Pakistan.
Ankara’s
attempt to expand its influence among South Asian muslims comes against the
backdrop of President Erdogan’s continuing pitch to challenge Saudi Arabia’s
dominance in the Islamic world at a global level and offering a reshaped,
conservative Turkey with Ottoman traditions as the model for other Islamic
nations to follow.
The
reconversion of the Byzantine cathedral Hagia Sophia to a mosque last week was
a giant step in this direction, counted by commentators as a milestone in
Turkey’s rebirth as a powerful, muslim nation. The church had been converted
into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, now Istanbul - and
from mosque to museum in 1934.
The
change fits in with Erdogan’s long-term plan to project himself as a global
protector of muslims, much like the Ottoman Caliphs. He had last year taken
baby steps to build an alliance of non-Arab Islamic countries along with a
handful of countries including Pakistan’s Imran Khan and Malaysia’s Mahathir
Mohamad. Iran and Qatar were also roped in.
Pakistan
watchers say Islamabad latched on to Turkey’s Erdogan after India deepened its
ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Imran
Khan, however, backed out of the meeting at the last minute due to pressure
from Riyadh but has made up by feting Erdogan - called Sultan by some
supporters - at home, even emulating some of his policies back home.
Officials
believe that Erdogan’s political agenda has driven his government to expand its
influence with South Asian muslims, particularly those in India.
Indian
officials said the Turkish government had funded Kashmir’s hardline separatist
leader such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani for years. But it is the rapidly expanding
scale of the effort that recently nudged security agencies to carry out an
extensive review.
The
Erdogan government has been funding religious seminars in India, recruiting
fundamentalists to radicalise people and even take freshly-minted radicals on
all-expense trips to Turkey to reinforce their learnings.
The
security review also referred to a Kerala-based Islamist radical organisation
that had been funds from Turkey for some time.
“We
are also aware of some people from this group travelling to Qatar to meet some
people from Turkey to seek funding for their activities,” a government official
said. “That amounts as high as Rs 40 lakh are being offered to preach radical
Islam in Kerala”. Besides, officials said Turkey, along with Pakistan, have
also been funding Zakir Naik, the controversial Islamic preacher accused of
radicalising muslims, via Qatar, a senior official said.
Turkey
has become Pakistan’s “new Dubai” at a smaller scale, the official added, a
reference to the United Arab Emirate’s city that used to be a second home to
Pakistan’s ISI between 2000 and 2010 and the epicenter of anti-India activities
in west Asia.
During
this decade, Pakistan’s ISI was able to radicalise some Indians and turn them
against their own country. It is also here that the founders of terror group
Indian Mujahideen were first radicalised. Since 2014, however, the United Arab
Emirates has turned into one of India’s closest partners with no protection or
sanctuary for anyone indulging in anti-India activities.
Turkey
also stepped in early this year when protests broke out over India’s amendment
to the citizenship laws, not just to criticise the change that was perceived to
potentially hurt the interests of muslims but also with money to keep the
protests going, according to an intelligence assessment accessed by HT.
Indian
security officials believe that much of this radicalisation effort being
bankrolled by Ankara was being carried out in coordination with Pakistan’s deep
state. To be sure, Erdogan was the only world leader to speak out against India
in the UN general assembly over Kashmir.
On
a visit to Pakistan earlier this year, he went on to assert that Kashmir is as
important to Turkey as it is to Pakistan. “Kashmir is and will be the same for
us. It was Çanakkale yesterday and it is Kashmir today, he said in February.
Turkey
is the only country that actively backs Pakistan’s Kashmir agenda in OIC and is
also forging close economic ties with China.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/erdogan-s-turkey-doesn-t-stop-at-kashmir-barbs-funds-radicalisation-too-official/story-Ct1HpX1q0WLW0exZx8Hv5N.html
--------
North America
Trump
nominee hearing pulled amid furor over Islam remarks
Jul
30, 2020
WASHINGTON:
A Senate committee abruptly cancelled a confirmation hearing on Thursday on a
controversial former general's nomination to a top Pentagon post, amid
continued furor over offensive remarks he made about Islam and other
inflammatory comments.
The
nomination of retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata to be the Pentagon's under
secretary for policy was already under fire from Senate Democrats, who sent a
letter to him this week calling for him to withdraw.
Tata,
a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and a Fox News commentator, has
been working in the department as a senior adviser. It wasn't clear on Thursday
if his nomination would be withdrawn.
According
to media reports, Tata posted tweets in 2018 calling Islam the “most oppressive
violent religion I know of,” and he called former President Barack Obama a
“terrorist leader,” and referred to him as Muslim. The tweets were later taken
down.
The
committed chairman, Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., announced the hearing's
cancellation shortly before it was scheduled to start.
“There
are many Democrats and Republicans who didn't know enough about Anthony Tata to
consider him for a very significant position at this time,” Inhofe said.
He
said the panel didn't get required documents from Tata until Thursday. "As
I told the President last night, we're simply out of time with the August
recess coming, so it wouldn't serve any useful purpose to have a hearing at
this point, and he agreed.”
The
committee's top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, said the senators had
a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, and Inhofe “did the right thing.”
"It's
fair to say members on both sides of the aisle have raised serious questions
about this nominee," Reed said.
According
to a statement from the senators who sent the letter, Tata walked back his
statements, “many of which he deleted, only after his nomination became
public.”
They
said Tata referred to the tweets as an “aberration in a four-decade thread of
faithful public service.”
The
letter to Tata, signed by nine Democratic senators and Vermont Independent Sen.
Bernie Sanders, said, “Your letter to committee leadership appears to be a
conveniently timed retraction by someone who has suddenly realized his
nomination is in jeopardy. But your multiple past statements cannot be
dismissed simply as an aberration.”
Islamic
groups have repeatedly called for lawmakers to oppose Tata's nomination. And
they hailed the hearing cancellation.
Tata,
who retired in 2009 after 28 years in the Army, served in a number of command
and combat jobs.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/trump-nominee-hearing-pulled-amid-furor-over-islam-remarks/articleshow/77268475.cms
--------
Muslim
families keeping Eid Al-Adha traditions alive in the US
July
30, 2020
LOS
ANGELES: For Arabs and Muslims living in the United States, this Eid Al-Adha
marks another holy day that must be celebrated at home.
But
for some families, this gives parents the opportunity to use crafts and
activities to keep their children entertained and teach them about their
cultural heritage.
Arab
News spoke with Nour Tonbakji to find out how her family held on to Eid Al-Adha
traditions while living in Los Angeles.
“The
hardest thing about alienation is getting away from family and the feeling of
loneliness and missing the atmosphere and the warmth of your own country and
the beautiful gatherings,” Tonbakji told us.
An
expert in handicrafts, Tonbakji used crafting as a way to engage her children
and connecting them to their heritage.
“Whenever
I have any religious event or a point that I’d like to highlight to my kids, I
try to use social media to find things I can print that can support the action
I have in mind,” she said. “So we do lanterns and crescent in Ramadan, during
Eid Al-Fitr we do decorations & we do coloring or now in Eid Al-Adha we
decorate sheep and a model for Kaaba.”
Families
like the Tonbakjis are also sharing their traditions with their new neighbors.
And during the coronavirus pandemic even small gestures are going a long way
toward building a community.
“Kids
share in everything of course so that they feel the happiness and that there is
an occasion happening now and we do the same thing during Ramadan or during any
occasion that relates to us,” said Tonbakji.
“We
usually prepare small bags gifts that include delicious meals and gifts and we
distribute them to the neighbors and we tell them that we are passing through a
religious event that’s related to us and we add a small card that explains the
event.”
With
Ramadan and now Adha overlapping with the pandemic, the Muslim community has
faced exceptional circumstances this year. But the safety of the people remains
the most important, as Eid will come again next year with better conditions.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1712351/lifestyle
--------
US
slaps more sanctions on Iran's nuclear, ballistic missile programs
30
July 2020
Washington
Thursday expanded the scope of its sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear, military
and ballistic missile programs, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced.
“Today,
I expanded the scope of Iran metals sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear,
military, and ballistic missile programs. Knowingly transferring any of these
22 metals to Iran is now sanctionable,” Pompeo tweeted.
For
all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
He
added: “Our pressure will continue until Iran behaves like a normal nation.”
In
a separate statement released, Pompeo said he was continuing his determination
“that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) controls Iran’s construction
sector.”
As
a result, Pompeo said, “any knowing transfer of certain materials, including
graphite or raw or semi-finished metals, to or from Iran to be used in
connection with the construction sector of Iran remains sanctionable.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/07/31/US-slaps-more-sanctions-on-Iran-s-nuclear-ballistic-missile-programs.html
--------
Pompeo
says he raised Taliban 'bounties' on US troops with Russia despite Trump not
doing so
30
July 2020
US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says that the Trump administration has
confronted top Russian diplomats and military officers over the allegations
about suspected Russian bounties on coalition forces in Afghanistan, despite
Donald Trump previously calling it a “Fake News tale.”
Last
month, the New York Times reported that a Russian military intelligence unit
had offered Taliban-linked militants bounties to carry out a series of attacks
against coalition forces, including American troops, in Afghanistan.
The
bombshell report, which was soon “confirmed” by some other newspapers,
including the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, further claimed that
US intelligence officials had also reached the conclusion about the clandestine
payments and then briefed Trump in March.
The
New York Times also reported that Trump had claimed that he was not briefed on
any reports that Russians offered Taliban militants bounty.
The
president, on the other hand, blamed the "fake news" for the
allegations, calling the story a "hoax."
On
Thursday, Pompeo told lawmakers, "I can assure you and the American people
that each time I've spoken with [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov, I
have raised all of the issues that put any American interests at risk, whether
it's our soldiers on the ground in Syria, soldiers on the ground in
Afghanistan, the activities that are taking place in Libya, the actions in
Ukraine."
"Each
and every one of these [issues] that potentially threaten American interests
are things that I raise in my conversations with Foreign Minister Lavrov, and I
speak with him with some frequency," Pompeo testified before the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.
Trump
also said earlier this week he has never discussed such reports with Russian
President Vladimir Putin, although he had reportedly talked with his Russian
counterpart on at least eight occasions since the intelligence was reportedly
included in his daily briefing.
In
February, Trump’s daily written brief had in it a report that Russia might have
been placing bounties on the heads of US troops, with payments of up to
$100,000, according to the New York Times.
However
this week, when Trump was asked about whether he had raised the issue in his
most recent phone call with Putin, he said he had not.
“That
was a phone call to discuss other things, and frankly, that’s an issue that
many people said was fake news,” Trump said.
He
later added, “I have never discussed it with him, no.”
Meanwhile,
Pompeo refused to criticize Trump for not mentioning the issue with Putin,
saying he would “leave it to the president what he wants to say to other
leaders”.
He
went on to say that "make no mistake about it, the proper people have been
aware of every single threat to our soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan,
whether that was [General Austin S] Miller, or my team at the embassy there in
Kabul," referring to the US general in charge of NATO forces in
Afghanistan.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/30/630788/US-Russia-bounties-Taliban-American-troops-
--------
South Asia
Taliban
say will free Afghan government inmates before Eid al-Adha
30
July 2020
The
Taliban militant group says it will release the remaining Afghan government
prisoners before Eid al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice) as a “goodwill gesture.”
Suhail
Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s office in Qatar, said in a statement on
Twitter on Thursday that the militant group had decided to release the 1,000
prisoners before Eid al-Adha, which marks the culmination of the annual Hajj
pilgrimage.
Shaheen
called on the Afghan government to complete the release of the 5,000 Taliban
prisoners that has been underway in a gradual format as part of a prisoner swap
between the two sides.
Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday that his government would soon complete
the release of the 5,000 Taliban prisoners in order to demonstrate its
commitment to peace.
He
also said negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban militant
group were expected to begin “in a week’s time,” following the completion of
the prisoner exchange.
The
prisoner swap has been an Afghan government obligation under a deal between the
United States and the Taliban that was struck in February. The Afghan
government, which was not a signatory to the accord, was required to release up
to 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The militants, for their part, were obliged to free
1,000 government captives.
The
exchange has been regarded as a first step toward broader talks between the
government and the militants. Its implementation had faced hurdles since the
deal was signed.
The
deal envisages a complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, and the
Taliban pledged not to attack American and other foreign forces. They made no
such pledge in relation to the Afghan government and people.
The
Taliban on Tuesday declared a three-day ceasefire for the Muslim holiday of Eid
al-Adha, starting Friday. Kabul welcomed the announcement with a note of
caution.
The
truce announcement has been welcomed by the public and officials in Afghanistan
and they have called for a lasting ceasefire in the war-ravaged country.
The
militants declared a similar three-day ceasefire at the end of the holy fasting
month of Ramadan in May. That truce prompted widespread relief across
Afghanistan, but it was short-lived, with the militants resuming deadly attacks
straight afterwards.
Official
data shows that bombings and other assaults by the Taliban have surged 70
percent since the militant group signed the deal with the United States.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/30/630738/Afghanistan-Taliban-prisoners-release-Eid-al-Adha
--------
Bangladesh
arrests three suspects in Dhaka police station blast, denies Islamic State link
July
30, 2020
Dhaka:
Bangladeshi police said they arrested three suspects in the bombing of a Dhaka
police station and denied a claim of responsibility by the Islamic State group,
saying the attackers were motivated by criminal intent.
Five
people, including four police, were injured when a bomb hidden inside a weight
machine-like object went off inside the Pallabi police station on Wednesday
morning. The Islamic State group claimed credit for the blast in a statement
the same day.
Three
suspected hitmen were arrested Wednesday along with two loaded firearms and
another weight machine-like object, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional
Commissioner Krishna Pada Roy.
Dhaka
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism and Transnational
Crime Saiful Islam denied any links between the Islamic State group and the
blast.
“IS
made this kind of false claim in the past, too. This is also part of that
process," he said. “As per the information available so far, criminal
intentions were behind the blast and we’re investigating the incident.”
He
also described as baseless claims made by US-based SITE Intelligence Group’s
founder Rita Katz.
Katz,
in the tweet Wednesday, said the blast marked the first attack in Dhaka since
last August and was part of a campaign in the lead-up to the Muslim holiday of
Eid al-Adha.
The
Islamic State has claimed similar attacks on police in the past. Authorities do
not publicly reveal the results of their investigations.
Bangladesh
has a history of attacks by radical groups. It experienced a rise in Islamic
militancy in recent years, with groups targeting atheist bloggers, publishers
and writers, members of minority groups and foreigners.
On
1 July, 2016, five militants took hostages and opened fire in a Dhaka cafe,
killing more than 20 people, mostly foreigners. Seven members of a banned
militant group were sentenced to death for the attack last year. The government
had also rejected the IS claim of responsibility.
https://www.firstpost.com/world/bangladesh-arrests-three-suspects-in-dhaka-police-station-blast-denies-islamic-state-link-8657071.html
--------
Car
bomb kills at least 17 in Afghanistan ahead of ceasefire, Eid al-Adha
30
July 2020
At
least 17 people were killed in a car bomb explosion in Afghanistan on Thursday
as crowds shopped ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, officials and a
medic said.
“Seventeen
bodies and 21 wounded people were brought to our hospital,” Sediqullah, a
senior doctor at a hospital in the city of Puli Alam in Logar province, told
AFP.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
interior ministry confirmed the blast, which came on the eve of a three-day
ceasefire between the Taliban and Kabul.
“It
was a suicide car bomb in a crowded place where our people were shopping for
Eid al-Adha,” Dedar Lawang, spokesman for Logar’s governor, told AFP.
The
explosion occurred near the governor’s office, said Jamshed Ahmad, a student at
the site of the blast.
The
interior ministry condemned the explosion.
“The
terrorists have once again struck on the night of Eid al-Adha and killed a
number of our countrymen,” interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said.
Taliban
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the blast had “nothing to do” with the
insurgents.
The
extremist Islamic State group, which has claimed a string of high-profile
attacks on civilians in recent years, did not immediately comment on Thursday’s
blast.
The
Taliban and Afghan government have agreed on a three-day ceasefire starting
Friday, the first day of Eid.
The
truce is slated to last for the duration of the festival, which marks the end
of hajj.
The
ceasefire has raised hopes of a permanent truce ahead of much-awaited peace
talks between the two foes.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/07/30/Car-bomb-kills-at-least-17-in-Afghanistan-ahead-of-ceasefire-Eid-al-Adha.html
--------
Europe
Saudi
bid to buy Newcastle soccer club ends over human rights issues
31
July 2020
A
consortium backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has withdrawn its bid
to buy English Premier League club Newcastle United after the takeover process
was stalled by concerns about piracy by the kingdom, and complaints that Riyadh
is seeking to “sportswash” its human rights abuses through the purchase.
The
investor group, which included Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF)
chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as well as the British-based
PCP Capital Partners and Reuben Brothers, was reported to have made a 300
million-pound ($391 million) bid to buy the leading soccer club from British
businessman Mike Ashley.
The
takeover would have seen the PIF gain an 80 percent stake in the club. The
British sides were planning to each buy the remaining 10 percent stakes to end
the ownership.
“With
a deep appreciation for the Newcastle community and the significance of its
football club, we have come to the decision to withdraw our interest in
acquiring Newcastle United Football Club,” the consortium said in a statement
released on Thursday.
“We
do so with regret, as we were excited and fully committed to invest in the
great city of Newcastle and believe we could have returned the club to the
position of its history, tradition and fans’ merit.”
“Unfortunately,
the prolonged process under the current circumstances coupled with global
uncertainty has rendered the potential investment no longer commercially
viable,” the group added.
According
to Bloomberg News, American businessman Henry Mauriss has also been considering
placing a bid for Newcastle United and is prepared to offer about 350 million
pounds.
The
Premier League's board had been carrying out an examination of the proposed
takeover over the past four months as part of its “owners and directors test,”
Amnesty
International had asked the league to consider blocking the bid because Saudi
Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is overseen by MBS, and said he has been involved
in a “sweeping crackdown on human rights.”
The
proposed deal was also complicated by the World Trade Organization recently
after it ruled that Saudi Arabia had breached global rules on intellectual
property rights by failing to prosecute pirate broadcaster BeoutQ, which
broadcasts Premier League games, and blocked moves to shut it down in an
economic and diplomatic dispute with Qatar.
The
Qatar-owned beIN Sports network, which is banned from operating in Saudi
Arabia, holds the Middle East rights that are being pirated by BeoutQ.
Last
month, British lawmaker Angus MacNeil wrote to Secretary of State for
International Trade, Liz Truss, calling for Saudi takeover of Newcastle United
to be blocked.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/31/630795/Saudi-Arabia-abandons-bid-to-purchase-Premier-League-club-Newcastle-United
--------
Deaths
of "300 Russians" in Syria sent warning to Moscow, Pompeo says
31
July 2020
US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the deaths of “300 Russians” in a failed
attack on a military base held by US and mainly Kurdish forces in Syria’s
oil-rich eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr more than two years ago sent a
warning to Moscow.
Speaking
at a Senate hearing on Thursday, Pompeo sought to forestall criticism over
President Donald Trump's statement that he had not raised with his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin accusations that Moscow paid the Taliban bounties to
kill US troops in Afghanistan.
“I
don't think there's any doubt in the mind of every Russian leader, including
Vladimir Putin, about the expectations of the United States of America not to
kill Americans,” Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“I
can promise you that the 300 Russians who were in Syria and who took action
that threatened America who are no longer on this planet understand that, too,”
he said.
On
February 7, 2018, hundreds of Russian forces aligned with Syrian government
troops were killed in US airstrikes near the town of Khursham in Syria’s Dayr
al-Zawr province.
US
officials claimed at the time that the Russian fighters had crossed the
Euphrates River and were shelling the positions of the Kurdish-led militants
from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), where American advisers were
present.
Syria’s
state-run al-Ikhbariyah Syria television news network then condemned the
“brutal massacre” by the United States, and said the bombing had left “dozens
of people dead and wounded.”
The
Russian Defense Ministry also said Syrian government troops and their allies
were hit as they launched an operation against the Daesh Takfiri terrorists in
the region.
Russian
jets have been carrying out air raids against targets belonging to the Daesh
Takfiri terrorist group and those of other terror outfits inside Syria at the
Damascus government’s formal request since September 2015.
The
airstrikes have helped Syrian forces advance against anti-Damascus terrorists,
who have been wreaking havoc in the Arab country since 2011.
Earlier
this month, the Kremlin roundly dismissed news reports that US intelligence had
allegedly found Russia offered bounties on American troops in Afghanistan.
Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the reports “hoaxes,” and stated that they
damage the reputation of the media that publish them.
The
Russian Foreign Ministry, for its part, said the initial story in The New York
Times demonstrated the “low intellectual abilities of US intelligence
propagandists.”
Trump
said in an interview with “Axios on HBO” published on Wednesday that he did not
bring up intelligence reports that Moscow paid the Taliban to kill American
troops in Afghanistan, when he spoke with the Russian leader last week.
Senator
Robert Menendez told Pompeo on Thursday that Trump's remarks were “astonishing”
and that the bounties marked an “outrageous escalation” by Russia.
Menendez
also asked the US state secretary how he would have acted if a Democratic
president acted similarly to Trump.
“If
you were sitting in your old House seat, would you be okay with a president who
abandoned our troops but not even raising this with the Kremlin?” he said.
Pompeo
said he had raised Afghanistan with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, but
declined to comment on Trump's discussions.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/31/630805/Deaths-of-300-Russians-in-Syria-sent-warning-to-Moscow-Pompeo-says
--------
Mideast
US
reveals key Daesh money provider based in Turkey
July
31, 2020
ANKARA:
Washington has identified a critical financial facilitator for Daesh based in
Turkey in a move to unsettle the remaining global financial networks of the terrorist
group.
In
a statement on Tuesday, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign
Assets Control (OFAC) said that the Daesh facilitator, Adnan Muhammad Amin
Al-Rawi, had materially assisted, sponsored or provided financial, material or
technological support for — or goods or services to or in support of — Daesh.
“This
action coincides with the 13th meeting of the Counter Daesh Finance Group
(CIFG), which includes over 60 countries and international organizations, and
plays a fundamental role in coordinating efforts to deny Daesh access to the
international financial system and eliminate its sources of revenue,” the
statement read.
The
Treasury requires that all property and interests in property of relevant
individuals that are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons
must be blocked and reported to the OFAC.
In
the meantime, any foreign financial institution that deliberately conducts or
facilitates any substantial transaction on behalf of individuals and entities designated
by OFAC is likely to be subject to US sanctions.
Hidden
Daesh cells are known to be active in Turkey. On July 19, Turkish police
detained 27 people in 15 districts of Istanbul with links to Daesh whom they
suspect were preparing to carry out a terror attack.
According
to Colin Clarke, senior research fellow on terror financing networks with the
Soufan Group, financial networks of Daesh unsurprisingly remain active in
Turkey, given the way that Daesh prepared for the collapse of the caliphate.
“Daesh
has laundered its illicit proceeds in Turkey through money-service businesses
and middlemen looking to profit from ill-gotten gains. I think Daesh financial
networks could potentially help sustain the group for the next decade,” he told
Arab News.
Since
last year, Turkey’s financial crimes watchdog MASAK has been going after the
terror group’s illegal money transfer system, targeting suspects who they
accuse of directing to Daesh international money transfers using the “Hawala”
chain system. Turkish- and Syrian-based jewelry firms or exchange offices are
believed to act as front companies for such illegal money transfers.
Last
November, Washington blacklisted three Turkey-based companies and two Turkish
individuals based in Turkey over charges of providing financial and logistical
support for Daesh in Syria and Iraq through currency exchange offices and
import-export operations. The sanctions are meant to freeze any US assets held
by targeted individuals and companies and to forbid Americans from doing business
with them.
“The
geographical defeat of Daesh in March 2019 did not mean putting an end to the
reasons behind its emergence and the conditions in which it flourished. These
include political, social and religious grievances; repressive governance; as
well as the security vacuum,” Orwa Ajjoub, affiliated researcher at the Center
for Middle Easter Studies at Lund University, told Arab News.
According
to Ajjoub, the loss of its territory has disrupted the group’s main sources of
income such as oil revenues and tax collection. However, Daesh has found new
ways to support itself such as limited legitimate businesses, smuggling,
donations, kidnapping for ransom and extortion of
wealthy
individuals in the areas in which it operates in the Eastern desert of Syria
and the border region between Syria and Iraq.
“The
international community realizes that drying up (Daesh’s) financial resources
is a major factor in neutralizing the group’s military operations. Therefore,
CIFG has been monitoring and sanctioning some money transfer offices that are
involved in illegitimate activities and operate in both Syria and Iraq,” he
said.
Ajjoub
thinks that the difficulty in achieving this lies in the ability to monitor the
process of transferring remittances from the point of sending them to the
moment they are received by beneficiaries.
“Other
ways of channeling resources to Daesh fighters include social media campaigns
and donations in cryptocurrency, which require rigorous cybersecurity measures
to contain,” he said.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1712456/middle-east
--------
IRGC
Ends Massive Wargames, Warns Aggressors of Crushing Response
Jul
30, 2020
"The
exercises which were held with the participation of the IRGC Navy and Aerospace
Force in the general area of Hormozgan province, the Persian Gulf and the West
of the strategic Strait of Hormuz ended successfully with implementation of all
plans and combined operational exercises on land, sea, and in the air and
space," the statement said.
"Complex
and various operational wargames, including firing [buried] ballistic missiles
from the depths of the earth, destroying (hypothetical) enemy's radar systems,
firing coast-to-sea and ship-to-ship missiles to destroy the warships, drone
drills to attack the enemy aircraft carrier's command bridge, capturing hostile
vessels by carrying out heliborne operations and using surface-to-surface and
coast-to-sea missiles in the presence of observers of Khatam al-Anbia Central
Headquarters were exercised in their best form," it added.
The
statement noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran has never started a war,
stressing that safeguarding independence, territorial integrity, security,
national interests and the geographical area of the country, specially the
Persian Gulf islands, comprises its defensive strategy and it clearly and
strongly considers decisive, crushing and finishing response of the IRGC and
other powerful defenders of the country against the aggressors as one of its
main and negligible principles.
Great
Prophet (Payambar-e Azam) wargames are annual missile tests and exercises
conducted by Iran's IRGC. The first series of the wargames began in July 2008.
On
the second day of the Great Prophet-14 wargames on Wednesday, the IRGC fired
ballistic missiles buried deep into the ground during the second day of massive
'Great Prophet-14' drills in the Southern parts of the country on Wednesday.
The
successful firing of ballistic missiles fully hidden in camouflage deep into
the ground is an important achievement that could pose serious challenges to
enemy intelligence agencies.
In
the final stage of the IRGC's drills, which took place in the waters of the
Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC Aerospace Force’s drones
attacked enemy's mock aircraft carrier and targeted its command tower and
bridge.
Also,
the IRGC’s Sukhoi-22 fighters bombed and destroyed pre-determined targets in
Farour Islands with winged bombs.
Destroying
hypothetical enemy targets designed much smaller than the actual size with a
variety of smart bombs was another part of this phase of the exercises.
The
IRGC Aerospace and Naval Forces' joint exercises were an important part of the
drills and demonstrated surprising tactics, including establishment of the two
forces' joint command systems, joint control, combined tactics and combat
methods.
Successful
missile combat operations were carried out by firing two surface-to-surface
Hurmoz and Fateh missiles, and a ballistic missile at specific targets, as well
as launching precision-striking air defense missiles.
Also,
Shahed 181, Mohajer and Bavar drones successfully attacked and destroyed
hypothetical enemy targets and positions at this stage of the drills.
Meantime,
surface-to-surface missile operations, coast-to-sea operations, heavy artillery
firing and offensive mine-laying operations to cut off enemy lines were
demonstrated on the second day of the massive wargames.
Also,
firing of all kinds of artillery, RPGs and light weapons by combat forces in
line and around Iranian islands was part of the drills to reportedly show the
firm determination of the border guards in defending the country.
The
IRGC announced in a statement on Tuesday that it has started the final phase of
the 'Great Prophet-14' drills in the South of the country, and added that
Nour-1 Satellite, that was launched on April 22, is being used to monitor the
wargames.
The
drills are underway with the participation of the IRGC Navy and Aerospace
forces in the Hormozgan province and extend to the depth of the Iranian soil.
IRGC
Navy’s missile, ship, and drone units as well as IRGC Aerospace’s missile,
drone, and radar units are due to conduct operational drills in the wargames,
the statement said.
The
wargames are being monitored for the first time by the Nour-1 Satellite that
was launched successfully on April 22.
The
IRGC launched the satellite aboard Qassed (Carrier) satellite carrier during an
operation that was staged in Dasht-e Kavir, Iran’s sprawling Central desert.
The Launcher Qassed is a three-stage launcher using compound solid-liquid fuel.
The
satellite was placed into the orbit 425km above Earth’s surface.
The
satellite was sent to the space on the anniversary of the IRGC establishment
(April 22, 1979).
In
recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and
attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and
systems.
The
Iranian Armed Forces several times a year test their preparedness and
capabilities as well as newly-manufactured weapons systems in different
wargames.
Iranian
Armed Forces recently test-fire different types of newly-developed missiles and
torpedoes and tested a large number of home-made weapons, tools and equipment,
including submarines, military ships, artillery, choppers, aircrafts, UAVs and
air defense and electronic systems, during massive military drills.
Iranian
officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs
serve defensive purposes.
Defense
analysts and military observers say that Iran's wargames and its advancements
in weapons production have proved as a deterrent factor.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990509000607
--------
Iran
Pursuing Rights of Pilgrims Martyred in Mina Disaster
Jul
30, 2020
Iran’s
Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization and the Representative of Leader of the
Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in Hajj Affairs in a joint
statement on the threshold of the 5th anniversary of the Mina disaster and the
Mecca crane collapse underlined that Tehran is seriously pursuing the rights of
victims.
It
added that Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) reminds Muslims and the Iranian
nation of a “bitter memory”.
The
statement criticized the silence of international rights bodies and media on
the deadly incidents, saying it was only Iran that spoke in defense of the
victims' rights.
“Although
the Mina tragedy and the crane collapse incident at Mecca’s Grand Mosque
happened before the eyes of the Islamic Ummah, the silence of international
organizations and media added to the pain of the families of the two disasters’
martyrs,” it said.
Iranian
officials in charge of the Hajj affairs have always underlined the need for
clarifying the dimensions of the Mina tragedy through the formation of a
fact-finding committee including the representatives from the countries that
lost their pilgrims in the incident, it added.
It
further complained that the Saudi government has not published an official
report on how the tragedy occurred and has not taken responsibility for it.
“On
the fifth anniversary of the Mina tragedy, the Representative of Leader of the
Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in Hajj Affairs and Iran’s
Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization … emphasize that they have diligently followed
up on the rights of the martyrs of Mina and Grand Mosque and will keep doing so
until the desired results are achieved,” the statement read.
A
stampede during one of the last rituals of the Hajj season on September 24,
2015, killed at least 7,477 people and left thousands wounded.
The
stampede occurred during the ritual known as "stoning the devil" in
the tent city of Mina, about two miles from Mecca.
At
least 465 Iranians lost their lives in the incident, while hundreds of others
were wounded.
Earlier
that month, a massive construction crane operated by the Saudi Binladin Group
conglomerate collapsed onto Mecca’s Grand Mosque, killing more than 100
pilgrims, including 11 Iranians, and injuring over 200 others, 32 of them from
Iran.
On
September 30, 2015, Ayatollah Khamenei warned Saudi Arabia that the slightest
disrespect for the Iranian pilgrims who were in Mecca for the Hajj ceremony
would be reciprocated with Tehran's harsh and crushing response.
Ayatollah
Khamenei called for setting up a fact-finding committee of Iranian and other
Islamic countries' authorities to probe the death of Hajj pilgrims in Mina and
missing of hundreds of them, and said, "The Saudi government is not
complying with its responsibilities to transfer the bodies of those who have
been killed (in Mina stampede) and the Islamic Republic of Iran has so far,
respected the brotherhood in the Muslim world by exercising self-restraint and
Islamic politeness but they should know that the slightest disrespect for tens
of thousands of Iranian Hajj pilgrims in Mecca and Medina and any lack of responsibility to transfer the bodies will
result in Iran's crushing and violent reaction."
Ayatollah
Khamenei underlined that Iran did not want to have an early judgment of the
cause of the incident "but we believe that the Saudi government hasn’t
acted upon its responsibilities with regard to the injured pilgrims in the Mina
incident and has left them desperate and thirsty".
He
said Iran had so far practiced self-restraint over the death of its citizens in
Saudi Arabia, "but they should know that Iran's hand is above many others
and it enjoys more possibilities too and if it wants to show reaction to
annoying and insidious actors, they will not have a good situation and they
won't be able to gain victory on any scene of rivalry."
"The
Islamic Republic of Iran doesn’t practice cruelty but it also doesn’t accept
anyone's oppression and cruelty; therefore, it doesn’t trample on the rights of
any human beings and nations, either Muslim or non-Muslim, but if anyone wants
to trample Iran and its nation's rights, he/she will receive a strong response;
and thanks God, there is a capability for such a confrontation and the Iranian
nation is powerful and resistant," Ayatollah Khamenei underscored.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990509000576
--------
Hamas
warns Israel of consequences over al-Aqsa Mosque attacks
30
July 2020
The
Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, has warned Israel of the consequences
of its further encroachment on the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem
al-Quds.
Hamas
made the remarks in an official statement on Thursday that marks Arafah Day, a
major occasion on the Islamic calendar. It called on Palestinians to rally in
mass towards the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The
statement stressed that al-Aqsa is holy for the Palestinian people, and that
they will not remain silent on Israeli violations against the site. Hamas said
Israel should pay a heavy price if it keeps on such violations.
“Bab
al-Rahma, the Marwani prayer hall, the Omar prayer hall, the Buraq prayer hall
and the Buraq Wall are all part and parcel of our beloved Mosque,” Hamas said.
The
movement condemned Israel for continued persecution of the people of Jerusalem
al-Quds, demolishing their homes and imposing exorbitant taxes on them to force
them to leave the holy city.
The
Palestinian movement also called on the Arab League and the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to prevent Israel from destroying the homes of
Palestinians and Judaizing Jerusalem al-Quds.
Extremist
Israeli settlers have frequently stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the
occupied Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds under the protection of regime forces.
Many
of the Knesset members are right-wing extremists, who support the demolition of
the Islamic site in order to build a Jewish temple instead.
Last
year in October, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, said the
Israeli regime’s Judaization plans in Jerusalem al-Quds would never succeed.
In
recent months, Palestinian officials have condemned Israel’s exploitation of
the novel coronavirus pandemic to expand its settlement construction
activities, saying the Tel Aviv regime aims to further Judaize the occupied
holy city of Jerusalem al-Quds.
Back
on March 28, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said that Israel was
exploiting the world’s preoccupation with the outbreak of the coronavirus
pandemic to advance settlement projects and carry out “ethnic cleansing”
against Palestinians.
Tensions
have been on the rise in recent weeks in the occupied territories as Israel has
pressed ahead with its plans to annex large parts of the West Bank in line with
US President Donald Trump's so-called Middle East peace plan, which strongly
favors Israel and has been rejected by the Palestinians.
In
December 2017, President Donald Trump recognized the whole Jerusalem al-Quds as
the “capital” of Israel. The US president also moved the American embassy from
Tel Aviv to the Israeli-occupied city in May 2018, triggering waves of protest
rallies in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip, where Hamas is
based.
Israel’s
unlawful annexation push has drawn widespread criticisms from the entire
international community, including the regime’s closest allies.
The
United Nations, the European Union and key Arab countries have all said the
West Bank annexation would violate international law and undermine the
prospects of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 boundaries.
The
international community views the entire West Bank and the eastern part of the
occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds as lands that could become home to an independent
Palestinian state in future.
More
than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967
occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem
al-Quds.
The
UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the
occupied territories in several resolutions.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/30/630752/Palestine-Hamas-East-Jerusalem-al-Quds--Judaization-
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Turkey
launches new anti-terror operation in east
July
29, 2020
With
1,006 personnel, Turkey has launched a new anti-terror operation in its eastern
Tunceli province, the country's Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday.
In
a statement, the ministry said Operation Yildirim-4 was launched on Tuesday to
"completely eliminate the separatist terror group from the country's
agenda and to neutralize terrorists taking shelter in the region."
A
total of 1,006 security personnel, including gendarmerie commandos, gendarmerie
special operations and police special forces as well as security guards, are
taking part in the operation, added the statement.
Also,
operations Yildirim, Yildirim-2 Cilo, and Yildirim-3 Mt. Agri continue, it
noted.
As
part of these operations launched in July under the coordination of the
Interior Ministry, eight terrorists have been neutralized, and 24 caves,
shelters, and storages were destroyed, as well as many weapons, ammunition, and
food were seized, the statement said.
Turkey’s
operations against terrorists within the country continue determinedly and
successfully with the support of the public, the statement added.
In
its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a
terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and EU -- has been responsible for the
deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/turkey-launches-new-anti-terror-operation-in-east-3535656?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1401052_
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Arab World
Hajj
pilgrims stone the devil, pray in Grand Mosque as Muslims around the world
celebrate Eid
July
31, 2020
DUBAI:
Around 1,000 pilgrims made their final journey to the Jamarat wall on Friday to
stone the three pillars, before heading to Makkah to perform prayers at the
Grand Mosque and complete their hajj.
The
stoning ritual coincides with Eid Al-Adha – Islam’s feast of sacrifice – where
Muslims slaughter sheep and distribute the meat to the needy.
Pilgrims
arrived in Muzdalifah last night to rest after spending the day in Arafat where
they had scaled Mount Arafat to pray and repent.
This
year’s pilgrimage is the smallest in modern times after the number of
participants was greatly restricted to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile
1.8 billion Muslims around the world celebrate Eid in the age of social
distancing amid the pandemic that has so far infected more than 16 million
people.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1712621/saudi-arabia
--------
Sanctions
pretext to violate Syria's sovereignty, support terrorism: Ja'afari
30
July 2020
Syria’s
Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari has denounced the Western
economic sanctions against his country, saying the coercive measures are used
as a pretext to keep up violations of Syrian sovereignty and support the
terrorist groups wreaking havoc on the Arab country.
Addressing
a Security Council session via video link on Wednesday, Jafari said the
financial restrictions by Western states against his country and their attempts
to hinder efforts to deliver aid to Syria expose their fake humanitarian
claims.
“The
motive behind all that is to find pretexts to continue violation of Syria’s
sovereignty, threaten its territorial integrity, supporting the terrorist
organizations,” Ja'afari said.
This
month, he said, the Security Council has witnessed “feverish Western endeavors”
to extend a 2014 resolution on aid delivery to Syria.
“The
motive behind that is not to bring in aid to needy people, but to continue
violation of Syria’s sovereignty, threaten its territorial integrity which
contradict with the General Assembly Resolution No. 46/182,” he said.
After
three attempts, the UNSC voted finally voted to extend aid deliveries to Syria
for a year through a single border crossing from Turkey within the framework of
a 2014 mechanism.
Russia
and China abstained from voting.
Two
of the earlier attempts were blocked by veto-wielders Russia and China, which
argued the measures would violate Syrian sovereignty and any aid should be
channeled through the Damascus government.
The UNSC had also rejected relevant a Russian-drafted resolution.
Ja’afari
said that sanctions against Syria have hampered the entry of medical supplies
amid the country’s battle against a coronavirus outbreak.
He
said that Syria had repeatedly informed the United Nations that its health
sector was suffering from a major shortage in medicine, yarns, surgical
materials and medical equipment due to the illegal financial sanctions imposed
on the Arab country.
He
stressed that the center to coordinate humanitarian work is in Damascus, not in
Gaziantep in Turkey, Belgium’s Brussels, Germany’s Berlin, France’s Paris or
any other place
“The
main burden in providing humanitarian aid, services and support for the Syrians
are assumed by the institutions of Syria, its allies and partners in the
humanitarian work,” he said, criticizing the UN human rights office for
politicizing humanitarian aid.
Ja’afari
further noted that countries hostile to Syria have not stopped their documented
grave violations of the UN Charter and international law, nor have they stopped
perpetrating crimes against the Syrian people, plundering the country’s
resources and besieging and starving its people.
Besides
all those crime, they also launch acts of aggression on civil passenger planes
that cross the Syrian airspace in a flagrant violation of international law and
international civil aviation rules, he added.
He
was referring to the US harassment of an Iranian civilian flight in Syrian
skies last Thursday, when two US F-15 warplanes conducted a dangerous
maneuvering close to Mahan Air’s Flight 1152 that had taken off from Tehran and
was heading to Beirut.
The
incident took place over Syria’s al-Tanf region, where the US maintains an
illegal military presence.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/30/630730/Syria-UN-envoy-Ja-fari-Western-sanction
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Iraq
confirms nearly 560 killed in anti-government unrest, offers payment to
families
30
July 2020
The
Iraqi government said on Thursday that nearly 560 protesters and security
forces were killed in months of anti-government unrest that erupted last year.
Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s new government has pledged to investigate the
deaths and incarceration of hundreds of protesters in unrest that unseated the
previous government last year.
The
death toll is roughly in line with what news outlets and rights groups have
reported.
The
government will treat all those who died as “martyrs” and each family will be
offered 10 million dinars ($8,380) in compensation, Hisham Daoud, the prime
minister’s adviser, told reporters.
Protests
began on Oct. 1 and continued for several months, with hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis demanding jobs, services and the removal of the ruling elite, which they
said was corrupt.
The
protests led to the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who was
replaced in May by Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief.
Later
on Thursday, a fact-finding committee tasked with investigating the death of
two protesters killed on Sunday suspended three policemen and referred them to
trial for using hunting rifles against protesters, the interior minister said
in a press conference.
The
committee found that hunting rifles were used against the two protesters,
Othman al-Ghanimi said.
“During
the initial investigation, it was proven that this weapon was used by the two
officers and a conscript,” Ghanimi said, adding that using weapons is a
violation of the instructions given to security forces when dealing with
protesters.
Clashes
erupted between protesters and security forces in central Baghdad on Sunday
night, resulting in the death of the two and the wounding of about 26 others.
It
was the first deadly incident in months at Tahrir Square, which became a symbol
of anti-government protests during months of mass unrest last year.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/07/30/Iraq-confirms-nearly-560-killed-in-anti-government-unrest-offers-payment-to-families.html
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Car
bomb at checkpoint in Syria kills 6, others wounded: Report
30
July 2020
A
car bomb in northeast Syria targeting a checkpoint manned by Turkish-backed
forces killed six people, mostly fighters, near the border town of Ras al-Ain
on Thursday, a war monitor said.
The
blast in the village of Tal Halaf held by Turkish forces and their Syrian
proxies also wounded 15 others, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said.
Turkish
forces and their Syrian proxies last year seized a 120-kilometer (75-mile)
stretch of land inside the Syrian border from Kurdish forces, running from Ras
al-Ain to Tal Abyad.
Many
bombings have since rocked the area, several in the past week alone.
An
explosives-rigged motorbike in Ras al-Ain on Tuesday killed two civilians and a
fighter, the Observatory said, two days after another in a vegetable market in
the town killed eight people, six of them civilians.
The
Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units, from whom the Turks and their allies
seized the territory, have played a key role in the US-backed fight against
ISIS in Syria.
But
Ankara views them as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that
has waged a deadly insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984.
Syria’s
civil war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions from their
homes since erupting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government
protests.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/07/30/Car-bomb-at-checkpoint-in-Syria-kills-6-others-wounded-Report.html
--------
UAE
supports Egypt’s efforts towards resolving Libyan crisis: Foreign Minister
30
July 2020
The
United Arab Emirates supports Egypt’s efforts to resolve the crisis in Libya,
UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan told his
Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in a phone call on Wednesday.
“During
the call, the two top diplomats discussed a number of issues of common
interest, including the situation in Libya and ways of supporting the ongoing
efforts made to promote political settlement to the crisis, with Sheikh
Abdullah reiterating UAE's support for Egypt's tireless efforts to reach a
diplomatic solution that ensures security, and stability for the people of
Libya,” the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
ministry added that Sheikh Abdullah also “emphasized the historical and
strategic relations binding the two countries and the determination of their
leadership to continue supporting cooperation across all fronts to the best
interests of their peoples.”
Libyan
conflict
Libya
has plunged into chaos since the 2011 toppling of dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
Clashes
between the two main warring parties in the country, the LNA, commanded by
Khalifa Haftar and the GNA, led by Fayez al-Serraj, have intensified recently.
Many
foreign powers have backed different sides of the conflict with varying degrees
of support, with the most prominent countries being Turkey backing the GNA and
Egypt backing the LNA.
The
UAE also backs Haftar’s forces and condemns Ankara’s interference in Libya.
Towards
the end of June, Sheikh Abdullah stated that Turkey’s “current role in the Arab
region is not welcome.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/07/30/UAE-supports-Egypt-s-efforts-towards-resolving-Libyan-crisis-Foreign-Minister.html
--------
This
year’s Hajj measures aim to protect the guests of God: Saudi Arabian King
Salman
31
July 2020
Saudi
Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz said on Friday that the world is going
through exceptionally hard times, adding that the number of pilgrims was
limited this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The
Hajj measures this year aim to protect the guests of God from the virus,” said
the Kingdom’s Minister of Media Majid al-Qasabi on behalf of the King.
The
King also said that this year’s Hajj required the state’s apparatus to double
the efforts, thanking everyone who was involved in coordinating the holy
ritual.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/07/31/This-year-s-Hajj-measures-aim-to-protect-the-guests-of-God-Saudi-Arabian-King-Salman.html
--------
US
imposes sanctions on Syrian president's son, 9 other entities
29
July 2020
The
United States has imposed sanctions on the son of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad over "enriching" a government that has been fighting Takfiri
militancy for years.
The
Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) introduced
the sanctions on Wednesday, further targeting nine entities in addition to
Hafez al-Assad, the president's eldest son born in 2001.
"These
targets consisted of individuals and entities who are actively supporting"
Assad, alleged the statement.
The
treasury further undermined the country's fight against terrorists, many backed
by the US, blaming Damascus for the economic situation in Syria.
"Bashar
al-Assad and his business associates are complicit in destroying Syria’s
economy––they squander tens of millions of dollars each month to wage war
against the Syrian people instead of providing for their basic needs,"
claimed the statement.
Secretary
Steven T. Mnuchin went even further accusing the government of cracking down on
its own people, totally disregarding the repercussions of US military
adventurism in Syria.
“While
corrupt businessmen with ties to Assad invest in luxury real estate made
possible by forced displacement of innocent civilians, they also worsen the
oppression of the Syrian people,” Mnuchin said. “The United States remains
committed to providing humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people, while the
Assad regime seeks to profit from their suffering.”
A
military coalition, led by the US, has been conducting purported airstrikes
against what are said to be Daesh targets inside Syria since September 2014
without any authorization from the Damascus government or a United Nations
mandate.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/29/630691/US-sanctions-Assad-s-son,-9-entities
--------
Pakistan
Despite
looming FATF deadlines, Pakistan yet to act to curb terror financing
Jul
30, 2020
ISLAMABAD:
With deadlines looming next month, Pakistan is yet to comply with 13 conditions
out of the 27-point Action Plan of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
including curbing terror financing, enforcement of the laws against the
proscribed organisations and improving the legal systems.
Pakistan
has been on the FATF grey list since June 2018.
Pakistan
Financial Monitoring Unit director-general Lubna Farooq told the National
Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday that the country is still
fully compliant on 14 out of the 27-point Action Plan and said it will have to
submit an implementation report on the remaining points in the next eight days,
reported Express Tribune
According
to Dawn, Islamabad also has to comply with 30 recommendations of the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF). The committee expressed serious concern over the
non-serious attitude of the government to settle matters relating to the FATF.
The
Imran Khan-led government on Tuesday came under severe criticism from the
National Assembly's Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue led by MNA Faiz
Ullah of the PTI for wasting precious time of the nation without making
tangible progress.
She
said Pakistan would submit its progress report on the FATF recommendations by
August 6 while the submission deadline for Asia Pacific Group (APG) -- a
regional affiliate of FATF - is September 30 as the country was also under
review by the APG. She said Pakistan will complete required legislation by
August 15.
The
implementation report will be sent to the FATF by August 6, the DG said.
Pakistan
is in the grey list since June 2018 and the government had given a final
warning in February to complete the remaining action points by June 2020. The
FATF extended the June deadline to September due to spread of coronavirus that
disrupted the FATF plenary meetings.
The
meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance had been convened to approve
three-FATF related bills.
"The
parliamentary committee has to approve three FATF-related bills before August
6, or else Pakistan cannot exit the grey list," Farogh Nasim, the federal
minister for law, said after the legislative committee meeting.
The
three bills are Anti Money Laundering, Limited Liability Partnership and
Companies Bill.
The
13 conditions that remain unimplemented are related to curbing terror
financing, enforcement of the laws against the proscribed organisations and
improving the legal systems, Express Tribune reported.
Pakistan
will have to demonstrate the effectiveness of sanctions including remedial
actions to curb terrorist financing in the country; it will have to ensure
improved effectiveness for terror financing of financial institutions with
particular to banned outfits. It is yet to take actions against illegal Money
or Value Transfer Services (MVTS) such as Hundi-Hawala.
Pakistan
will have to place sanction regime against cash couriers. Pakistan will have to
ensure logical conclusion from ongoing terror financing investigation of law
enforcing agencies (LEAs) against banned outfits and proscribed persons.
Pakistani authorities will have to ensure international cooperation based
investigations and convictions against banned organisations and proscribed persons.
Seizure
of properties of banned terror outfits and proscribed persons is another
unfinished agenda. The conversion of madrassas to schools and health units into
official formations is also needed to be demonstrated.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/despite-looming-fatf-deadlines-pakistan-yet-to-act-to-curb-terror-financing/articleshow/77254648.cms
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West
abetting India arms build-up, deplores Pakistan
Baqir
Sajjad Syed
31
Jul 2020
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Thursday said it could not ignore the arms build-up by India
including its purchase of Rafale fighter jets, which could be modified to
deliver nuclear weapons.
“We
have seen reports of recent acquisition of Rafale jets by Indian Air Force.
According to some former senior Indian officials and several international
publications, these Rafale jets have dual-capable systems that can be modified
as nuclear weapon delivery platforms,” Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha
Farooqui said at her weekly media briefing.
Five
Rafale fighter jets reached India from France on Wednesday. These jets were the
first from the 36 aircraft ordered by India in 2016 as part of its plans for
upgrade of its air force.
Indian
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hailed the induction of the jets into Indian Air
Force as “the beginning of a new era in our military history”.
The
arrival of the new fighter jets in India comes almost six weeks after India’s
armed clash with China in Ladakh.
Says
Delhi’s newly acquired Rafale jets can be modified to deliver nuclear weapons
Ms
Farooqui said India was expanding and modernising its nuclear arsenal both in
terms of type and number of delivery systems. Additionally, it has nuclearised
the Indian Ocean and continues to increase the readiness of its arsenal through
measures such as canisterisation of missile systems, she added.
The
spokesperson said India, the second largest arms importer in the world, was
amassing military capabilities beyond its genuine security requirements.
She
said India’s arms build-up was being aided and abetted by the West’s policy of
exemptions, waivers and supply of advanced equipment, technology and weapons
for its narrow commercial interests.
“Such
arms transfers also violate the objectives of various export control regimes on
preventing destabilising accumulation of arms in various regions including
where there exist outstanding conflicts and disputes,” Ms Farooqui said.
“Transfer
of advanced systems, where there is an open intention of conversion into
nuclear delivery platforms, calls into question the commitment of international
suppliers to non-proliferation commitments,” she added.
The
spokesperson reminded that Pakistan had repeatedly warned about the risks of
massive Indian arms build-up as well as its offensive security doctrine and
force postures.
These
developments, she said, were adversely affecting strategic stability in South
Asia.
“The
world community must dissuade India from its disproportionate arms build-up
which could also lead to an arms race in South Asia,” Ms Farooqui emphasised.
Pakistan,
she said, remained open to consideration of measures for crisis management,
risk reduction and strategic restraint.
“Pakistan
cannot remain oblivious to these developments and remains confident of its
ability to thwart any ill-considered act of aggression,” she added.
Afghan
ceasefire
Pakistan,
the spokesperson said, welcomed the announcement of ceasefire in Afghanistan on
Eidul Azha. “We see this as a positive development,” she said.
Taliban
this week announced a three-day ceasefire on the occasion of Eidul Azha, which
starts from Thursday night.
Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani had earlier announced that his government would soon
complete the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners as agreed in the Doha Agreement
signed between US and Taliban in February.
These
developments point to the expected start of long elusive intra-Afghan dialogue.
“Regarding
the matter pertaining to the Afghan peace process, we have already said on a
number of occasions that the commitments made by both sides must be fulfilled
to take the peace process forward,” the spokesperson said.
“Release
of prisoners is one such commitment and we hope to see a forward movement in
this aspect, so that the next step which is the intra-Afghan dialogue can take
place,” she added.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1572064/west-abetting-india-arms-build-up-deplores-pakistan
--------
Court
takes up govt plea for appointment of Jadhav lawyer on Aug 3
31
Jul 2020
ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has fixed the hearing of a petition filed by the
Pakistani government for seeking permission to appoint counsel for Indian spy
Kulbhushan Jadhav on Aug 3, the first working day after Eidul Azha vacations.
According
to the supplementary list of the cases fixed before the IHC division bench
comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb,
the bench would hear the petition at 1:30pm on Monday. The registrar’s office
has intimated the ministry of law and justice and the additional attorney
general, who has filed the petition.
The
ministry is seeking appointment of state counsel for Jadhav to implement the
verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding his conviction.
The
petition has cited the secretary of the ministry of defence and the judge
advocate general at the General Headquarters as respondents.
According
to the petition, on March 3, 2016, an officer of the Indian navy, commander
Jadhav illegally entered Pakistan and was arrested during an intelligence
operation from Mashkel in Balochistan.
He
confessed to his association with the Indian intelligence agency, Research and
Analysis Wing, and involvement in espionage and terror activities in different
parts of Balochistan and Sindh and was awarded death sentence by a military
court.
The
Pakistani government this week laid the ICJ (Review and Reconsideration)
Ordinance 2020 before the National Assembly aimed at allowing Jadhav to have
consular access in line with the ICJ verdict.
The
ordinance had been promulgated by the government in May. Under the ordinance,
Pakistan invited India to move a review and reconsideration petition before the
IHC against the conviction of Jadhav by a military court.
The
invitation was extended to the Indian government after Commander Jadhav twice
declined to take advantage of the law, saying that sympathetic consideration
should be given to his mercy petition pending with Chief of the Army Staff Gen
Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Section
2 of the ordinance empowers the high court to review and reconsider any ICJ
decision in relation to a foreign national in respect of rights under Article
36 of the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations of April 24, 1963.
In
the petition, the law ministry has said that the commander Jadhav has refused
to engage a lawyer for himself and to file a petition for review and
reconsideration of his sentence and conviction and he “does not have
independent means nor does he possesses the capability to engage and instruct a
lawyer in Pakistan without assistance from his own country i.e. India which is
avoiding the remedy made available by the federation under the ordinance”.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1572060/court-takes-up-govt-plea-for-appointment-of-jadhav-lawyer-on-aug-3
--------
Justice
Isa’s wife accuses FBR officers of acting on ‘instructions’
Nasir
Iqbal
31
Jul 2020
ISLAMABAD:
The wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court on Thursday accused the
officers of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) of losing their credibility and
ability to act independently.
“Clearly,
they are acting on instructions,” Sarina Isa alleged in a one-page statement
issued to the media, highlighting how she personally delivered again her July
21 letter to FBR Commissioner Zulfiqar Ahmed that she wrote in reply to his
“rejoinder”.
In
the letter, she reproduced the 12 queries she had raised in her first letter
written on July 9. “I am still waiting for the answers,” she said in the
statement, adding that she had also requested for copies of her tax
declarations which she did not have as the gentleman who used to file her tax
declarations through Rehan Hasan Naqvi, had passed away.
Not
providing copies of her own returns was troubling because the FBR was referring
to the returns which they said she had filed when she stopped working and had
no taxable income, Ms Isa feared, adding that this was alarming and suggested
“manufacturing”.
She
said she had also informed the FBR about the filing of a review petition in the
Supreme Court on July 20 in which she made serious allegations against certain
officers of the FBR and members of the present government like Law Minister Dr
Farogh Nasim, Commissioner (IR) Zulfikar Ahmad, Dr Mohammad Ashfaq Ahmed and
Manzoor Ahmed Kayani.
Sarina
says she is still waiting for answers to her earlier questions
These
allegations comprised 18 paragraphs in the statement she submitted to the FBR
on July 9, Ms Isa said, adding that these paragraphs were supported with the
FBR’s and government’s own documents. But there has been no response, she
added.
She
said she had also pointed out the obvious disparity in language between the
earlier notice and the FBR’s rejoinder, both under Zulfiqar Ahmed’s signature
which, she feared, were not written by the same person. Again no explanation
was offered, the statement said.
Ms
Isa said she had also pointed out how allegedly mockery of the word
“confidential” was made when an open envelope and its “confidential” contents
on full display were pasted on the gate of her husband’s official residence.
“I
had in writing informed Zulfiqar Ahmed that I will have no option but to
release my letter of July 21 so that the people could judge for themselves; but
I still waited expecting to be given copies of the returns I am said to have
filed and some reasonable explanation about my concerns but none has come after
a week’s passage,” she added.
In
her July 21 letter, Ms Isa had regretted that rather than appreciating people
voluntarily coming forward to declare their income and paying taxes, they were
attacked. “Or is it because I am a woman and the misogynist coterie does not
respect women’s independent financial status?”
She
asked as to how many non-salaried women in Pakistan paid taxes. “I did not want
to drag anyone into this but I have had enough of being spied on, abused and
harassed for the last year and made to feel like a common criminal,” she
regretted.
“Please
do not blame me if all that I ask FBR is to provide me copies of the income tax
records of the prime minister, Abdul Waheed Dogar, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Farogh
Naseem, Anwar Mansoor, Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, and whether they show the
properties of their wives and children in their tax papers,” she said in her
July 21 letter.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1572061/justice-isas-wife-accuses-fbr-officers-of-acting-on-instructions
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Southeast Asia
Indonesian
Muslims Perform Eid Prayers With Social Distancing, Masks
JULY
31, 2020
Indonesian
Muslims, wearing face masks and getting temperature checks as a precaution
against the novel coronavirus, performed morning prayers on Friday to celebrate
the festival of Eid al-Adha in mosques with reduced capacity as well as on the
streets.
As
the world's biggest Muslim-majority country struggles to contain the spread of
the virus, worshippers were advised to maintain social distancing during the
prayers.
Indonesia's
religious ministry also asked mosques to shorten the gatherings this year, while
many mosques cancelled the traditional ceremony when livestock is slaughtered
and meat distributed to the community.
Instead
the donated sheep, goats and cows will be killed in abattoirs to mark the
'Feast of the Sacrifice', celebrated by Muslims around the world to commemorate
Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail at God's command.
"This
year's Eid al-Adha is very different from the previous years because we need to
follow health protocols as we perform prayers, like maintaining social
distancing," said Devita Ilhami, 30, who was at the Sunda Kelapa mosque in
Jakarta.
She
also noted there were fewer people attending prayers this year and they had to
bring their own prayer mats, with markers on the ground to show where they
should be laid.
Health
experts have been concerned about the risks of the coronavirus being spread
during such religious festivals, when Muslims typically gather in mosques and
homes, or travel to their home towns.
Australian
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday urged Muslims in his country
celebrating Eid al-Adha to stay away from big gatherings.
An
outbreak in the state of Victoria has been partly linked to family gatherings
after the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
https://www.news18.com/news/world/indonesian-muslims-perform-eid-prayers-with-social-distancing-masks-2746755.html
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Agong,
Permaisuri perform Aidiladha prayers at Tengku Ampaun Afzan Mosque in Kuantan
31
Jul 2020
KUANTAN,
July 31 — The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa
Billah Shah joined Muslims to perform Aidiladha prayers at Tengku Ampuan Afzan
Mosque here today.
His
Majesty accompanied by the Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah
Maimunah Iskandariah arrived at the mosque at 8.25 am and the royal couple was
received by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and Pahang state
government leaders.
Also
present at the prayer was the son of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong who is the
Regent of Pahang, Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah and they
were dressed in matching grey baju Melayu.
The
prayer was led by the Chief Imam of the mosque, Mohd Hafiz Suhaili while the
sermon was read by Kuantan Kadi, Abdul Aziz Abd Karim.
The
Yang di-Pertuan Agong also witnessed the sacrificial ritual of nine cows for
the occasion in the compound of the mosque before departing. — AFP
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/07/31/agong-permaisuri-perform-aidiladha-prayers-at-tengku-ampaun-afzan-mosque-in/1889812
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Africa
Libyan
rebels overhaul, operationalize old S-200 systems: Report
30
July 2020
Rebel
forces in Libya have purportedly overhauled and operationalized old
Russian-built S-200 air defense systems to use them against government forces
and Turkey.
The
Arabic-language Libya News said on Wednesday that the systems were deployed in
the vicinity of the eastern cities of Benghazi, Sirte, and Zelten to help
monitor “any hostile aerial activity” by Libyan government forces and their
main ally, Turkey.
The
website added that the S-200 air defense systems had been purchased under
former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi and that most of their parts had been lost
and destroyed or had been in poor condition due to a lack of maintenance after
the NATO intervention in Libya in 2011.
The
missile systems were properly maintained and overhauled by the rebel forces and
were ready to “repel airstrikes from Ankara or Tripoli,” the report said.
The
S-200 is a long range, medium-to-high altitude surface-to-air missile system
designed in the 1960s to target enemy aircraft.
Ahmed
al-Mismari, a spokesman for the rebel forces, had earlier said that the
strategic city of Sirte on the Mediterranean coastline — which the Libyan
government has over the past months been pushing to recapture — had been
“reinforced.” Sirte fell into the rebels’ hands in January.
Libya
has been beset by chaos since the overthrow and killing of Gaddafi and the NATO
intervention in 2011.
Since
2014, two rival seats of power have emerged, namely the internationally-recognized
Libyan government, headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, in Tripoli, and
another group, which is based in the eastern city of Tobruk and which is
supported militarily by the rebels under the command of a military strongman
named Khalifa Haftar.
The
rebels — who are backed by the UAE, Russia, and Egypt — launched an offensive
to seize the capital and unseat Sarraj’s government in April 2019. But the
government launched a counter-offensive and has recently managed to reverse
many of their gains both around the capital and elsewhere in the country with
crucial help from Turkey.
The
Turkish military has been providing air cover, weapons, and proxy militia from
Syria to help the Libyan government.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/30/630732/Libya-rebels-S-200-systems-
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3
migrants shot dead in Libya after failed crossing to Europe
29
July 2020
Libyan
authorities shot dead three Sudanese migrants trying to flee detention late on
Monday, as they disembarked from a failed attempt to cross the Mediterranean to
Europe, a UN agency said.
“Staff
from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Khums, reported that
local authorities started shooting when the migrants attempted to escape from
the disembarkation point,” IOM said in a statement.
Reuters
could not immediately reach Libya’s interior ministry for comment.
The
migrants were among 70 disembarking from a vessel that was intercepted and sent
back by the Libyan coast guard, one of many such voyages undertaken during the summer.
War-ravaged
Libya is a major route for migrants seeking to reach Europe and now has an
estimated 654,000 of them, often living in cramped conditions with little
access to healthcare.
In
recent months, hundreds of migrants have been stopped at sea and their vessels
sent back to Libya despite the risk of violence there.
Both
IOM and the UN refugee agency UNHCR have said Libya should not be classified as
a safe port for migrants and that they should not have to disembark there. They
want an alternative scheme to take people rescued or intercepted at sea to safe
ports.
IOM
Libya chief Federico Soda said 31 of the 70 migrants who disembarked were taken
into detention and the others were reported to have escaped. Two migrants died
at the scene of the incident and a third on the way to hospital.
“The
use of excessive violence results yet again in the senseless loss of life, amid
a lack of action to change a system that often fails to provide any degree of
protection,” Soda said in a statement.
In
May, 30 mostly Bangladeshi migrants were abducted in Libya and shot dead in a
southern city by an armed group.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/29/630659/Libya-migrants-shot-dead
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Jordan
calls on Israel to respect Al-Aqsa mosque sanctity
July
31, 2020
DUBAI:
The Jordanian government has called on Israel to respect the sanctity of
Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, which recently reopened to Muslim worshippers
after a two-month closure due to the coronavirus.
In
a diplomatic note to Tel Aviv, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
stated that Israel as an occupying power should ‘respect the sanctity of
Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, and end all provocations and violations
there,’ state news agency Petra reported.
The
ministry’s spokesperson Deifallah Al-Fayez condemned the continued Israeli
violations at the mosque, the most recent of which was the ‘Israeli occupation
forces allowing hundreds of Jewish extremists to storm the mosque’, Petra
added.
Al-Aqsa
is a place of worship for Muslims only and the Jerusalem Awqaf Department,
which affiliated to Jordan, is the sole institution responsible for
administrating the affairs of the mosque, the spokesman said, as he called for
global pressure to end Israel’s violations in against the Al-Aqsa status quo.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1712526/middle-east
--------
Tunisia’s
parliament speaker narrowly survives confidence vote
July
31, 2020
TUNIS:
Tunisia’s parliament speaker narrowly survived a confidence vote on Thursday,
but his slim margin of victory may only deepen the country’s political
divisions after the resignation of the prime minister.
Some
97 members of parliament voted against Rached Ghannouchi, veteran leader of the
Islamist Ennahda party, falling short of the 109 needed to oust him.
However,
with Ennahda and the conservative Karama party boycotting the vote to show
their opposition to the motion, only 16 MPs gave him formal support.
Ghannouchi’s
narrow margin of victory may indicate that Ennahda will now face fiercer
opposition in parliament from parties that voted against him, potentially
complicating efforts to agree on a new government.
The
vote comes two weeks after Tunisia’s government collapsed less than five months
into its term following corruption allegations against the prime minister, which
he denied.
Both
the confidence vote in Ghannouchi and the collapse of the short-lived
government stem from an election last year that produced a deeply fragmented
parliament in which Ennahda, as the biggest party, won only a quarter of the
seats.
President
Kais Saied, a political independent who won a separate election in a landslide
last year, has nominated a new candidate for prime minister who must now
propose a government that can win majority support in the divided parliament.
The
political crisis has come at a difficult moment for Tunisia, where the global
pandemic has crashed the economy just as the government was seeking to agree on
reforms aimed at reducing public debt while boosting growth and creating jobs.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1712446/middle-east
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/a-group-muslim-men-step/d/122516