Burqa Not Essential in Islam, But Hijab Is; Kerala and Madras HCs Have Arrived At This Conclusion: Counsel Told the Karnataka High Court
New Age Islam News Bureau
25 February 2022
Protest in Mumbai against
the 'Hijab ban' in Karnataka schools and colleges. Photo: Getty Images
-----
• Muslims in France Struggle with Islamophobic Leaders,
Struggling To Decide Who to Vote For
• Pakistan-Turkey Religious Cohesion to Help Counter
Islamophobia Globally
• Ex-Afghan Legislator Mariam Solaimankhil Calls
Taliban ‘Proxy of Pakistan’
• Palestinian Journalists Sue Facebook Over Censorship
of Palestine-Related Content
India
• Karnataka: Sikh Student's Father Backs Hijab Right
after ‘Turban Bar’
• Bar association moves high court to implead Muslim
personal law boards
• Maulana Azad message must be propagated among youth:
Seminar
• NIA Arrests Key Conspirator of Hizb-ut-Tahrir Terror
Group for Radicalising Muslim Youths
• UP: In 'Madad Palace' Of BJP Leader, Temple, Mosque
Exist In Harmony
• Vellore Sees Tension as Hindu Munnai Group Opposes
Construction of Mosque
• 2 terrorists killed in encounter in J&K's
Shopian
• Drone-dropped arms, ammo recovered in J&K
--------
Europe
• UK lawyers file complaint against Facebook over
anti-Palestinian bias
• Caught between wars: Russian invasion of Ukraine
puts Crimean Tatar Muslims at risk again
• NATO leaders’ summit to discuss latest developments
in Ukraine on Friday
• UN group condemns France for failure to repatriate
children from Syria camps
--------
Pakistan
• Amid Attack on Ukraine, Imran-Putin Discuss
Bilateral Ties, Jammu and Kashmir
• Ukraine crisis: ‘So much excitement’, says Pakistan
PM Imran Khan after landing in Russia
• "Nuclear Nation, Begging For Decades":
Anger In Pakistan Over Loans
• Zardari calls on Siraj to get support for no-trust
move
• US has not learned from Vietnam, says President Alvi
• Eight terrorists killed in two operations, says ISPR
• Pakistan, Uzbekistan reiterated desire to further
efforts for regional peace, security
--------
South
Asia
• Eight polio vaccinators killed in series of Afghan
attacks: UN
• Fight between Taliban, Pakistani forces over Durand
Line leaves 20 injured, 3 killed
• Taliban protesting against Islamabad over firing by
Pak Army
• Caritas chief lauds Bangladesh for supporting
Rohingya refugees
--------
Mideast
• UN Special Envoy Expresses Concern over Persisting
Violence against Palestinians in Occupied Territories
• Iranian FM Urges West to Show "Serious
Will" in Vienna Talks
• Iranian Speaker Felicitates Counterparts of 7 States
on National Day
• Russian invasion puts endgame of Iran nuclear talks
in jeopardy
• Iran blames NATO’s ‘provocative actions’ for
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
• Turkey in tough spot over Russia-Ukraine crisis
• Houthis abduct two more Yemeni employees of US
embassy in Sanaa
• New clashes in al-Quds’ Sheikh Jarrah as racist
Israeli lawmaker returns
• Israeli forces demolish more Palestinian structures
in al-Quds
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Malaysia: Disgruntled Shah Alam Club Members Ready
to Quit If Liquor Ban Stays
• Islamic affairs minister to hold roundtable on
unilateral conversion issue on March 2
• The heavy price for making Malaysia a basket case
• Hadi laments interpretation of Federal Constitution
in English
------
Arab
World
• Lebanese Security Forces Detain 'Veteran, Dangerous'
Israeli Spy, Report Says
• Iraq unveils restoration work at ancient city
ravaged by IS
• IMF’s tough terms deepen doubts over quick Lebanon
bailout: Sources
• Lebanon to get Spanish funds for railway revival
plan: Minister
• Syria humanitarian needs reach record high: UN
• Israeli airstrikes kill three soldiers near Syria’s
Damascus: SANA
• Saudi Arabia urges its citizens in Ukraine to
contact embassy as soon as possible
• Qatar’s Emir receives call from Ukraine’s Zelensky
• Baghdad asks Ukrainian universities to grant Iraqi
students leave
--------
Africa
• Franklinton Man Charged In Homicide of Local Imam, Muslim
and Somali Leader
• Sudan releases over 100 anti-coup protesters after
weeks-long detention
• Pan African body calls immediate ceasefire between
Russia, Ukraine
• Libya condemns Russian military operation in Ukraine
--------
North
America
• UAE foreign minister, US secretary of state discuss
Russian invasion: State dept
• US imposes sanctions on ‘intl. network financing’
Yemen’s Ansarullah
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
--------
Burqa Not Essential in Islam, But Hijab Is; Kerala and
Madras HCs Have Arrived At This Conclusion: Counsel Told the Karnataka High
Court
Protest in Mumbai against
the 'Hijab ban' in Karnataka schools and colleges. Photo: Getty Images
-----
25th February 2022
BENGALURU: Purdah or Burqa may not be an essential
practice but a headscarf or hijab is an essential part of Islam, and two
judgments of the Kerala High Court and the Madras High Court, which has gone
through Islamic verses and scriptures, have arrived at this conclusion, senior
counsel Devadatt Kamat told the Karnataka High Court.
Besides this, none of the counsels appearing for the
government have disputed these judgments, said Kamat, who is representing the
Muslim girl students from Udupi. He was responding to arguments made on behalf
of the State government, Government PU College for Girls at Udupi, College
Development Council and other authorities of the college.
He also argued that counsels representing the
respondents have not cited a single judgment of any court in the country,
saying that headscarf is not an essential practice of Islam, but he has
submitted several judgments to support the claim.
Contending that the government order banning the
wearing of hijab is illegal, he argued that there is no legal restriction on
exercising this right under Article 25(1). The court asked how he can insist on
wearing a hijab in an institution where a uniform is prescribed, which right
has been infringed, and the same has to be established. In reply, Kamat argued
that “my rights flow from the Quran”.
Senior counsel AM Dar, representing students,
including one from a private college, argued that “wearing of the hijab is a
commandment from Allah and hence it is a religious practice”. Allowing students
to wear hijab doesn’t affect anybody’s right," he added, pointing out that
students are now barred from attending classes for wearing hijab.
A counsel representing a teacher of the college argued
that prescribing uniform is to bring about equality, and the impugned order is
not intended to interfere with religious practice.
Meanwhile, Advocate-General Prabhuling K Navadagi
submitted the status of the investigation into the complaint filed over a
threat to a teacher of Government PU College in Udupi by an organisation, and
events leading to the controversy, in a sealed cover.
Source: New Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Muslims in France Struggle with Islamophobic Leaders,
Struggling To Decide Who to Vote For
French far-right party
Rassemblement National (RN) presidential candidate Marine Le Pen arrives for a
meeting in Reims, France on February 5, 2022. [Albert Cara - Anadolu Agency]
-----
February 24, 2022
Tasnim Nazeer
The 2022 French elections are due to be held on the
10th April this year, with over 40 candidates from across France contesting to
lead the country. However, the main front-runners prove no reassurance to over
5 million of France's Muslim population which has seen Islamophobia rise within
the country over the years.
Muslims in France are struggling to decide on who to
vote for, and even whether it is worth voting in the upcoming elections. This
has been mainly due to French political candidates expressing varying degrees
of Islamophobia and openly racist views which they continue to reiterate time
and time again.
The current French President, Emmanuel Macron, came to
power in 2017, representing the La Republique En Marche party. Macron once
vowed to be a President 'for all the people in France' but, throughout his
tenure, he ostracised Muslims by being the first ever European country to ban
the full face veil in 2011. He went on to pass legislation forbidding the
wearing of hijab in certain public settings, all under the guise of secularism.
Macron's anti-Muslim policies did not stop there as,
in 2020, he made a speech announcing that he would crack down on what he calls
"Islamist separatism" and would be banning foreign imams from
teaching Islamic classes in the country. "Political Islam has no place in
France," stated Macron, who went on to mention how he felt that
"Islam is facing a crisis".
There is no doubt that the anti-Muslim rhetoric made
by Macron was said in an attempt to appeal to far-right voters and appease the
President of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen. But, frustratingly, Muslims in
France are having to bear the brunt of such rhetoric, which only serves to
heighten fears and divisions in the country. But is that not what many of France's
main political candidates want to achieve?
If we take a look at the other main candidates up for
election, most of them hold extreme far right stances. Take Marine La Pen (National Rally), who is
notorious for holding both Islamophobia and anti-Semitic viewpoints. Le Pen
proposed to ban the hijab in all public settings. More shockingly, she even
went on to state that the hijab was a piece of clothing with "Islamist
ideologies" and branded them with unacceptable remarks stating that hijab
was "totalitarian and murderous". A remark which is far from the
truth, and deeply damaging and offensive to the Muslim population of France who
Le Pen, in no way, could ever represent.
Worst still, the other main candidate, Eric Zeymour
(Raconquete Party), is far more ludicrous and spews both racist and anti-Muslim
sentiments openly and unapologetically. Zeymour targets Muslims, calling for
their 'assimilation' and demands that French Muslims 'renounce their
faith'. There is a real fear that if
these more sinister far-right politicians come into power, Muslims could face
more hardships than they already have to face.
Having interviewed many French Muslims in my capacity
as a journalist, Muslims in the country feel they have no real representative
who cares for their needs and that whoever they choose will carry on the
ongoing Islamophobic narrative that has been prevalent in the country for
years.
The seeds of hatred and division against Muslims in
France have been sowed, year after year, and have essentially become an Islamophobic
arena, whereby politicians are using Muslim bashing as an electoral strategy to
win votes. It is no wonder that Muslims in the country do not know which is the
lesser of two evils when deciding on who will next lead the country, but with
the current candidates Muslims are bracing for another tough year ahead.
Source: Middle East Monitor
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Pakistan-Turkey Religious Cohesion to Help Counter
Islamophobia Globally
Two-day conference in
Istanbul aims to identify practical ways to protect and promote the rights of
Muslim people and other minorities, organisers say. (AA)
-----
Mohammad Ali
February 24, 2022
ISLAMABAD, (Urdu Point / Pakistan Point News - 24th
Feb, 2022): Turkish Religious Affairs Minister Dr Ali Arbash's recent visit to
Pakistan will open new vistas of religious cohesion and help devise a 'counter
strategy' to cope with Islamophobia globally.
During his five-day stay in Pakistan, he met his
Pakistani counterpart Pir Noor ul Haq Qadri and many other high-profile figures
in the government, besides religious scholars and academia, and discussed
confidence-building measures to get the Muslim world out of prevailing social
and religious crisis.
Dr Arbash, addressing a seminar, organized by the
International Islamic University Islamabad, said the world powers' social
engineering had brought the planet at the brink of destruction.
This social engineering mostly affected the Muslim
world and forced the Muslim Ummah to live below the poverty line through wars,
occupations and violence, he added.
He said the world powers with strategic planning
manipulated the Islamic world by cultural and economic distortions.
He said the recent efforts to malign islam � a religion of peace - had drawn the attention towards the word
Islamophobia.
Dr Arbash said Islamophobia, a conspiracy hatched
against Islam, was a sensitive issue of human rights carrying hidden agendas of
self-interests of enemies.
He said Islam was being projected a religion of
extremism on the globe according to a pre-planned strategy.
He said there were certain media houses in Europe and
West trying to interlink terrorism with Islam in order to hide its enlightened
aspects of life from the world.
He said Islamophobia was not limited to the Europe or
West now adding whatsoever was happening in India and Myanmar, it was also a
part and parcel of it.
Terming Islamophobia anti-Islamism, he urged the
Muslim world to launch a worldwide drive to counter the negative propaganda
being associated with the Muslims and Islam.
He also urged the Ulema and Mashaikh world over to
devise a 'counter strategy' to foil the nefarious designs of anti-Islam
elements with collective efforts.
In a meeting with Senate Deputy Chairman Mirza
Muhammad Afridi, Turkish religious affairs minister said there was a dire need
of unity among all the ranks of Muslim world.
He said spread of disinformation was one of the main
causes of disintegration in the Muslim Ummah.
The issue of Islamophobia could easily be handled by
practicing the actual teachings of Islam, he maintained.
In a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Pir Noor
ul Haq Qadri, Dr Arbash said the real happiness and peace were in following the
Islamic principles of life as there would be a complete chaos if Islamic code
of conduct ignored intentionally or unintentionally.
In an event held at Eidgah Sharif, he said Pakistan
and Turkey would play a significant role in the propagation of Islam as per
divine commands.
He said both the countries would continue its
coordination and cooperation in a bid to provide true Islamic information and
teachings to the new generation.
He stressed the need to produce more Ulema and Mashaikh
as they were the great source of spreading Islam across the world.
Being second to the Prophet, it was our responsibility
to preach the message of Islam of love, peace and interfaith harmony through
Tassawaf, he added.
Dr Arbash said if any Turkish citizen was asked about
his favorite country and people, he would confidently take the name of Pakistan
and its people.
He said although the boundaries of Pakistan and Turkey
were not joined but we were connected by heart and would remain so forever.
He said Turkey kept an eye on Pakistan's issues and it
was always ready to provide all possible help in a bid to resolve them.
Turkish Religious Affairs Minister Dr Ali Arbash
arrived in Lahore on Thursday. He was accompanied with Turkish religious
affairs deputy minister, Mufti-e-Azam and Majid Aya Sophia's prayer leader.
Source: Urdu Point
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/pak-turk-religious-cohesion-to-help-counter-i-1475801.html
--------
Ex-Afghan Legislator Mariam Solaimankhil Calls Taliban
‘Proxy of Pakistan’
Representative Image
------
25 February, 2022
London [UK], February 25 (ANI): Former woman Afghan
MP, Mariam Solaimankhil, representing Kuchis and Nomads said that the Taliban
is a “proxy of Pakistan” and they do not represent any particular ethnicity or
locality in Afghanistan.
Speaking at a webinar on Monday by The Open Forum
webinar in London discussing the “Prospect and possibility of engaging with the
Taliban on Afghan women rights,” she said, “Taliban is proxy of Pakistan,” and
The Taliban don’t represent any particular ethnicity or locality in
Afghanistan, they are more of an ideology. They represent an extremist violent
ideology that was grown out of madrasas in Pakistan.”
Crystal Bayat, an author and Afghan human rights
activist who was marching through the streets of Kabul, post 15th August
take-over, wrapped up in the flag of Afghanistan, raising her voice against the
Taliban, representing millions of women and men who dared not come out, will be
etched in the minds of people for decades to come.
Speaking at the event, she recalled how her father
asked her to “come back” from the protest as the Taliban might kill her. Bayat
faced violence, but she continued to protest.
This event was moderated by Mina Sharif, a media
consultant who has worked at the grass-root level in Afghanistan.
“Although Afghan women are such a hot topic everyone
likes to talk about us – no one likes to talk with us and that’s what I enjoyed
most today,” said Mina, who lives in Canada now.
Mina ended the event in the hope that one day, all the
women on the forum including her would be able to have conversations like these
from within Afghanistan.
At the moment all agreed Afghanistan remains unsafe
for women. (ANI)
Source: The Print
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Palestinian Journalists Sue Facebook Over Censorship
Of Palestine-Related Content
Representative Image
------
24 February 2022
Palestinian journalists have filed a lawsuit against
Facebook to voice their objection to the social media platform for arbitrarily
censoring and suspending accounts affiliated with Palestine’s news agencies as
well as political and media activists.
Sada Social, a Palestinian social media monitoring
center, along with a number of Palestinian journalists, writers and news
agencies lodged the complaint about the arbitrary censorship measures being
exercised by Facebook against Palestinian content on Thursday.
“The lawsuit calls on Facebook to review its
procedures for suspending and closing Palestinian accounts, and to see whether
an algorithm was used or left discretion to employees to make decisions about
closing Palestinian accounts,” Sada Social said in a post on its twitter
account.
Palestine's official Wafa news agency said the
London-based law firm Bindmans LLP, mandated by the International Center for
Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), had filed the lawsuit on behalf of the
Palestinian journalists against the platform, which was rebranded as Meta last
October, and called for an urgent review of its actions and an explanation as
to why Palestinian accounts were censored.
Sada Social Center said the lawsuit comes in the wake
of the intransigence of Facebook in dealing with the complaints it receives
from the center and other Palestinian parties interested in digital rights,
account users, media organizations and press institutions.
The social media monitoring center confirmed that
Facebook escalated its measures against Palestinian content in 2021 and
complaints of violations during the past year alone amounted to more than 1,593
violations, with the violations of Meta Company representing more than 64.4% of
them.
Sada Social underlined that Facebook's censorship of
Palestinian-related content represents a broader problem that is “far-reaching
and systemic in nature.”
The ICJP said in a press release earlier, “The
complaint reinstates the request that Meta/Facebook discloses and reviews its
decision-making process, and explains why the accounts were closed, suspended
or posts taken down, and whether in doing so an algorithm or human discretion
was used.”
The ICPJ also said the legal lawsuit has coincided
with the Israeli Knesset’s preliminary approval of a bill that would reportedly
grant Israeli courts the power to demand the "removal of user-generated
content on social media content platforms that can be perceived as inflammatory
or as harming the security of Israel or the security of the public."
The complaint has been sent by the Bindmans LLP on
behalf of Sada Social to the United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion
and protection of freedom of opinion and expression.
Anti-Palestinian racism and incitement by Israelis on
social media have increased over the past years.
Palestinian activists say there is a double standard
regarding the enforcement of social media platforms' policies.
Sada Social was launched by three Palestinian
journalists in September 2017 to document “violations against Palestinian
content” on social networks such as Facebook and YouTube, and to communicate
with its executives to restore some of the pages and accounts that have been
shut down.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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India
Karnataka: Sikh student's father backs hijab right
after ‘turban bar’
K.M. Rakesh
25.02.22
The father of an Amritdhari Sikh student who was
allegedly told to remove her turban by her college here has stood by the
struggle of Muslim girls fighting for their right to wear the hijab.
Gurcharan Singh, the father of the 17-year-old student
who “politely refused” to remove her turban and was allowed to attend classes
subsequently, has written to the authorities of Mount Carmel Pre-University
College and the Sri Guru Sahib Sabha, underlining the importance of the
religious headgear to the sect.
The student was on February 16 allegedly told to
remove her turban while attending classes, in view of the high court’s interim
order restraining students from wearing religious attire on campuses.
Singh, an IT professional, emailed the college the
same day, explaining that the turban was part of the mandatory religious attire
of an Amritdhari Sikh. The college allowed the girl to attend classes wearing
the turban.
The matter cropped up again on Wednesday when
officials from the state education department visited the college to ensure the
high court order was being enforced. After the girl was again allegedly told to
remove her turban and she refused, Singh wrote to the administrator of the Sri
Guru Singh Sabha in the city.
Source: Telegraph India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Bar association moves high court to implead Muslim
personal law boards
Feb 25, 2022
An application for impleading of Muslim Personal Law
Boards has been moved by All India Bar Association (AIBA) in Karnataka high
court, which is presently hearing several pleas into the hijab row.
The application moved by Adish C Aggarwala, senior
advocate and chairman of the All India Bar Association, stated that the court
is looking into the aspect that whether hijab is an essential religious
practice for Muslim women.
“There is no representation from any Personal Law
Board, be it the All India Personal Law Board or the Shia Personal Law Board,
who majorly contribute and represent that they work towards the proper
applicability of the personal laws of Muslims and also form the opinion of
Muslims in India (sic),” the applicant said.
“The entire exercise of the constitutional validity of
the essential religious practice of wearing hijab will be incomplete without
the representation of the Personal Law Boards in this matter,” said Aggarwala
in his petition.
Both Personal Law Boards of Muslims in India are
necessary parties in these proceedings for adjudication of the instant petition
and hence these Boards be impleaded and heard in the interest of justice, added
Aggarwala in his petition.
A bench of the three judges, comprising chief justice
Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit, and Justice JM Khazi, was hearing
various petitions challenging the ban on hijab in educational institutes in the
state.
The hijab protests in Karnataka began in January this
year when some students of Government Girls PU college in the Udupi district of
the state alleged that they had been barred from attending classes. During the
protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for
wearing hijab.
Source: Hindustan Times
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of the original story:
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Maulana Azad message must be propagated among youth:
Seminar
25th February 2022
Hyderabad: “Maulna Abul Kalam Azad was a genius who
played an important role in changing the destiny of the country. If his views and ideas are adopted, even
today, the country could once again be an abode of peace. But regretfully the current breed of leaders
in the country have forgotten his teachings due to which peace is lacking in
the country.” These were the views expressed by the scholars and intellectuals
participating in a 2-days seminar titled “Maulana Abul Kalam Azad – the
architect of Modern India” is being held under the Department of Arabic, Osmania
University College for Women (OUCW), Koti, headed by its Principal Prof M V
Lata.
“Maulana Azad struggled against the Britishers in an
extremely difficult time to get independence to the country,” said Prof Hussain
Akhtar from Delhi University in his keynote.
“Maulana enthused the nation for liberation through his speeches and
writings.”
As Guest of Honor, the Managing Editor of Siasat
Daily, Zaheeruddin Ali Khan said, “It is our collective responsibility to
propagate Maulana Azad’s message among the new generation. His ideas are universal and will be relevant
in every era.”
“Maulana Azad was a torchbearer of Hindu-Muslim
unity. He was against the division of
the country and tried his best to prevent the partition,” Khan said.
A guest from Kuwait Syed Ali Adnan Mustafa Al Rafaie
delivered his speech in Arabic. Paying homage to Maulana Azad he said, “Genius
persons like Maulana are rare and born once in centuries.”
“Maulana Azad was not only a politician but he was an
interpreter of Holy Quran, an author of high caliber. Through his writings in “Al Balaag” and “Al
Hilal”, he created a sense of nationalism among the Indian masses which
culminated in the liberation of India from British Rule,” said Dr. (Prof) Syed Jahangir, a renowned
Arabic scholar, writer, poet and translator, Associate Professor of Arabic at
English and Foreign Languages University (ERLU).
Prof Jahangir advised the girl students to study the
history of the Muslim freedom fighters and their pivotal role in the
independence of the country.
Source: Siasat Daily
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/maulana-azad-message-must-be-propagated-among-youth-seminar-2281640/
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NIA Arrests Key Conspirator of Hizb-ut-Tahrir Terror
Group for Radicalising Muslim Youths
FEBRUARY 24, 2022
The NIA on Thursday arrested the main recruiter of
Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) terrorist group for allegedly radicalising vulnerable
Muslim youths to establish an Islamic state and enforce a constitution written
by a radical preacher, an official said. Ziyavudeen Baqavi of Tamil Nadu was
arrested by the premier investigation agency.
The case pertains to the conduct of secret 'bayaan'
classes by members of HuT, an offshoot of ISIS, a proscribed terror
organisation, for radicalising youths to establish an Islamic state or
caliphate and enforce the constitution written by radical Islamic preacher Taqi
al-Din al-Nabhani, the NIA official said. Al-Nabhani is the founder of HuT.
Source: News18
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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UP: In 'Madad Palace' of BJP leader, temple, mosque
exist in harmony
24th February 2022
BAHRAICH: In 'Madad Palace' of a BJP leader in Uttar
Pradesh, almost all religions have found a place.
Every morning, Arunveer Singh offers prayers at a
temple, mosque, gurdwara and church at his home in Hariharpur Raikwari village
in Bahraich district.
The practice has been going on in his house, popularly
called Madad Palace, for the past about five decades.
Arunveer Singh (59), who is fighting the Uttar Pradesh
assembly elections from the Muslim-dominant Matera seat, believes that the
age-old communal harmony being practiced at the palace will help him in the
polls.
His father Yashveer Singh had built the places of
worship in Madad Palace in 1967.
The purpose was that the palace could represent the
mixed culture of the village and surrounding areas, and where people of all
faiths could worship.
"Respect for mixed culture is in our blood. Our
grandfather Late Yashveer Singh had built a temple, mosque, gurdwara, church as
well as Lord Buddha's temple in this palace so that people of all religions
could worship here," Arunveer's son Karanvir told PTI.
"The doors of the palace were always open for the
needy. Maybe that's why the palace was named Madad," he said.
"Our village has a mixed population. When we have
a havan in the palace, people from the Muslim community also sit together. We
also attend their events in the same way," Karanvir said.
Arunveer Singh said that he is proud that he truly
represents Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of equal development of all.
"I claim with pride in all election speeches that
I have fully imbibed PM Modi's slogan 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka
Vishwas'. We rise above caste and religion and work for all including Hindus,
Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists," he said.
Arunveer Singh had joined the BJP in 2016 from the
Samajwadi Party (SP).
He has been a member of the Legislative Council once
from local bodies' constituency and twice the member of the Legislative
Assembly from the Fakharpur seat during the old delimitation when he was in the
SP.
Arunveer's younger brother Atulveer's wife Manju Singh
is the chairman of zila panchayat.
Arunveer said that though Matera is a Muslim majority
area, given the image of his family and also his own, he expects to get the
votes of Muslims as well in the election.
Former cabinet minister and SP leader Yasar Shah is
the current MLA from the seat.
In the 2017 elections, Yasar Shah had defeated
Arunveer by about 1,500 votes.
This time the SP has fielded Yasar Shah's wife Maria
Shah from Matera.
Source: New Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Vellore Sees Tension as Hindu Munnai Group Opposes
Construction of Mosque
FEBRUARY 24, 2022
Tension continued to grip Sarkar Mandi street in
Gandhi Road and a heavy police posse has been deployed after a group belonging
to the Hindu Munnai opposed the construction of a mosque at the area.
The Hindu Munnani workers alleged that the mosque was
built without proper permission and that a house was converted into a mosque
overnight. They claimed that the construction of mosque would lead to friction
in future as there are three temples within a distance of 100m and temple
processions would be taken out through the area.
Police said that the building belonged to a trader and
was recently renovated and a board reading ‘Mosque’ put up. This infuriated the
Hindu Munnani who petitioned the district collector of future rumblings and
communal tensions in the area and added that they would not allow the mosque to
function.
Vellore Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kannan, while
speaking to IANS, said: “The place was used as a personal worship centre. Now
they have put a board transforming it into a public worship centre. The Hindu
Munnani is alleging that they do not have any proper papers for this and the
revenue department is verifying the documents. Police are on vigil and will
maintain law and order at any cost."
Meanwhile, the Muslim groups met the district
collector and submitted a memorandum stating that the mosque was functioning at
the place since 1896 and that the Hindu Munnani was unnecessarily raking up the
issue.
Dravida Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (DMMK) leader G.S.
Iqbal said: “We have petitioned the district collector stating that the mosque
was in place since 1896 and that the Hindu outfit is unnecessarily creating an
issue. The District collector and the RDO have gone through our petition and we
expect a verdict in our favour before Friday. "
Reportedly, certain Muslim groups would resort to
protest marches after the Friday Namaz if the issue is not resolved till then.
Source: News18
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2 terrorists killed in encounter in J&K's Shopian
Feb 25, 2022
NEW DELHI: Two unidentified terrorists were killed in
an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on
Friday, police said.
"Encounter has started at Amshipora area of
Shopian. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall
follow," informed Kashmir Zone Police.
Acting on specific input about the presence of
terrorists in Amshipora area of Shopian in south Kashmir, security forces
launched a cordon and search operation there, a police official said.
The search operation turned into an encounter after
the hiding terrorists fired upon the forces who retaliated, he said.
In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were killed,
the official said.
Source: Times Of India
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Drone-dropped arms, ammo recovered in J&K
Feb 25, 2022
Jammu: Police on Thursday claimed to have foiled a
major terror plot by recovering three 'drone-dropped' boxes containing remote
controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs), grenades and a pistol during a
search operation in R S Pura sector of Jammu & Kashmir.
Police said the recovery was made during a search
operation after Border Security Force (BSF) spotted a drone hovering inside the
Indian territory in the early morning hours. BSF personnel had spotted the
flying object between Jabowal and Bikram post in R S Pura and fired 10-12
rounds, following which it returned towards the Pakistan side.
SSP Chandan Kohli said, "On the basis of input
regarding drone activity and dropping of arms and ammunition by Pak-based
militant outfits in a forward village in R S Pura sector, a special search
operation was launched by police. During the search operation three boxes of
arms and ammunition which were dropped through a drone during night hours were
recovered by the search party from Treva village of Arnia in R S Pura."
The SSP said the recovery included three
remote-controlled IEDs, three detonators, explosive bottles, one bundle of
Cordtex wire, two timers of IEDs, one pistol, two magazines, six grenades and
70 rounds. He said a case was registered at Arniaq police station under
relevant sections of the law and further investigations were underway.
Earlier, security forces had launched a massive search
operation after drone activity was spotted in the Dhab area of Kanachak sector
near the international border on January 12 this year. On June 27, 2021, in a
first-of-its-kind incident, two bombs were dropped at the Jammu Air Force
Station, leaving two IAF personnel injured. The National Investigation Agency
is investigating the case. Jammu police later successfully shot down an
unmanned aerial object carrying an IED weighing 5kgs in the border town of
Kanachak of Jammu on July 23 last year.
Source: Times Of India
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Europe
UK lawyers file complaint against Facebook over
anti-Palestinian bias
February 24, 2022
A legal and justice center in London has filed a
formal complaint against Facebook, accusing the social media platform of
arbitrarily censoring and suspending accounts associated with Palestinian news
agencies, advocates, and journalists.
The complaint, filed by London law firm Bindmans LLP
on behalf of the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) and
digital rights group Sada Social, requests that the platform, which rebranded
itself as Meta last October, conduct an urgent review of its actions and
explain why those accounts were censored.
The ICJP said in a press release on Tuesday that
"the complaint reinstates the request that Meta/Facebook discloses and
reviews its decision-making process, and explains why the accounts were closed,
suspended or posts taken down, and whether in doing so an algorithm or human
discretion was used.”
The complaint was also forwarded to the United Nations
special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of expression.
For years, Meta has been accused of censoring
Palestinians' experiences and narratives on both its Facebook and Instagram
platforms.
Silencing the truth
According to the Palestinian social media monitoring
center, Sada Social, 600 Palestinian accounts or pro-Palestinian Facebook posts
were restricted or deleted in 2021, which is a record. The center helped launch
a social media campaign called "Facebook Censors Jerusalem."
Rama Youssef, an Al-Quds-based journalist who
volunteered for the campaign, said Facebook hews to an Israeli point of view
and has "double standards".
The Arab Center Washington DC think-tank assured that
the Israeli occupation authorities also push to censor "tens of thousands
of posts and accounts" that support the struggle of Palestinians.
Meta refused to answer questions about requests from
the Israeli occupation authorities to do so.
Facebook has wrongfully removed and suppressed content
by Palestinians and their supporters, including human rights abuse incidents
committed by "Israel" against Palestinians during the Seif Al-Quds
Battle (the battle of the Sword of Jerusalem), a Human Rights Watch report
said.
Source: ABNA24
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Caught between wars: Russian invasion of Ukraine puts
Crimean Tatar Muslims at risk again
February 24, 2022
Russia declared war against Ukraine on Thursday.
Making the announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukrainian
soldiers to lay down their weapons and return to their homes. The commencement
of war has raised concerns over civilians who are living in Ukraine, especially
the minority Crimean Tatar Muslim community.
The Crimean Tatars are a Turkic Muslim people, who
have been forced from their homes in 1944 and 2014. The minority group now
fears the effect of Russia-Ukraine war.
Erfan Kudusov, 53, was in his twenties when the
Crimean Tatars returned to their homeland after more than 45 years in forced
exile.
“Older people, when they first stepped off the plane,
they kissed the land. People were crying with happiness; they were back in
their homeland,” he told Al Jazeera.
But in 2014, thousands of Crimean Tatars were forced
to leave their homeland again following Russia’s annexation of their homeland.
The Crimean Tatars are a Muslim ethnic minority
indigenous to the Crimean Peninsula, on the northern coast of the Black Sea. In
1944, under the orders of Joseph Stalin, all 180,000 Crimean Tatars living in
Crimea were forced onto cattle trains and exiled to Uzbekistan.
According to an estimate, about half them died either
during the journey to Uzbekistan or from subsequent disease and starvation
during their first two years in exile. This deportation was recognised as
genocide by several countries, including Ukraine.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the
peninsula became part of Ukraine, and the Crimean Tatars were able to return to
their homeland.
However, it wasn’t an easy return to the land they
once knew. The community faced several challenges, such as being blocked from
buying or renting homes.
Apart from forced exiles, the Crimean Tatars also
faced stigma and discrimination after decades of Soviet propaganda had labelled
them as Nazi collaborators. The stigma was propagated despite tens of thousands
of Crimean Tatars having served in the Red Army.
RUSSIA’S ANNEXATION OF CRIMEA
In March 2014, Russia officially annexed Crimea after
a disputed and internationally rejected referendum. Following the annexation,
the occupying forces immediately began to crack down on Crimean Tatars and
pro-Ukrainian activists.
The Russian authorities also banned the Mejlis, the
Crimean Tatar representative body, labelling it an extremist outfit.
About 10 per cent of Crimean Tatars have moved from
the peninsula since the annexation, often to Kherson, a city in southern
Ukraine, or Kyiv.
CRIMEAN TATARS IN UKRAINE
Several establishments around Kyiv now display the
Crimean Tatar flag. Kamila Yurchenko, who works at the Religious Administration
of Ukrainian Muslims, described the minority as an integral part of Ukraine’s
“multinational” Muslim community.
Source: India Today
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NATO leaders’ summit to discuss latest developments in
Ukraine on Friday
Sefa Mutlu
24.02.2022
A NATO leaders’ summit will discuss Russia’s military
intervention in Ukraine on Friday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the
extraordinary summit that will be held online, a Communications Directorate
statement said.
The February 2014 “Maidan revolution” in Ukraine led
to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western
government coming to power.
That was followed by Russia illegally annexing the
Crimea region and separatists declaring independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk
regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, both of which have large ethnic Russian
populations.
As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist
forces and the Ukrainian army, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements were signed
in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers.
The conflict, however, simmered for years with
persistent cease-fire violations. As of February 2022, some 14,000 people have
been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Tensions started escalating late last year when
Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of
troops on the border with Ukraine.
They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its
western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.
Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow
officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states earlier this
week, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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UN group condemns France for failure to repatriate
children from Syria camps
February 24, 2022
NEW YORK: The failure of authorities in France to
repatriate from Syria the children of French nationals violates their rights to
life and freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment, the UN’s Committee on
the Rights of the Child said on Thursday.
Many children have been held in life-threatening
conditions in Syrian camps for years. The CRC statement came at the conclusion
of three cases filed by a group of French nationals relating to 49 of their
grandchildren, nieces and nephews in the Kurdish-administered Rawj, Ayn Isa and
Al-Hol camps in northeastern Syria’s Al-Hasakeh governorate.
“The children are living in inhuman sanitary
conditions, lacking basic necessities including water, food and healthcare, and
facing an imminent risk of death,” said committee member Ann Skelton.
“At least 62 children have reportedly died in the
camps as a result of these conditions since the beginning of 2021. The
situation is therefore extremely urgent.”
The sprawling, fenced off Al-Hol camp is home to more
than 50,000 wives, widows and children of Daesh members. Often, several
families live together in cramped conditions in tents, with minimal amenities
and limited access to water and sanitation.
Some of the children were born in Syria, others were
taken to the war-ravaged country by their French parents at a young age. The
occupants of the camps come from more than 50 countries and the UN has
repeatedly called on the authorities in home nations to repatriate their
nationals, in line with international law and international human rights law.
So far, the calls mostly have fallen on deaf ears.
Since the relatives of French youngsters took their
cases to the CRC three years ago, the government in France has repatriated 11
children but 38, some as young as 5 years old, are still detained in the camps.
“The committee found that France has the
responsibility and power to protect the French children in the Syrian camps
against an imminent risk to their lives by taking action to repatriate them,”
the CRC said.
The prolonged detention of child victims of the
conflict in life-threatening conditions amounts to “inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment,” it added.
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2031271/world
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Pakistan
Amid attack on Ukraine, Imran-Putin discuss bilateral
ties, Jammu and Kashmir
Feb 25, 2022
ISLAMABAD: As the world watched with concern Russia
raining missiles on Ukraine on Thursday, Pakistan PM Imran Khan sat down to
discuss bilateral ties and global issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin
at the Kremlin, including alleged human rights violations in J&K.
Imran's Moscow visit, observers say, has put Islamabad
in a tricky situation when it comes to balancing its important economic and
strategic relationship with the West vis-à-vis Russia.
Members of the PM's team in Moscow said he and Putin
reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including economic and energy
cooperation, particularly the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline. "The Prime
Minister reaffirmed the importance of the gas pipeline as a flagship economic
project between Pakistan and Russia, and also discussed cooperation on
prospective energy-related projects," read an official statement issued
after the meeting.
In the regional context, according to the handout,
Khan underlined the urgency of addressing the humanitarian crisis and
preventing potential economic meltdown in Afghanistan. "The Prime Minister
reiterated that Pakistan would continue to work with the international
community for a stable, peaceful and connected Afghanistan. In this regard, he
underscored the ongoing cooperation and coordination between Pakistan and
Russia at various international and regional fora, including the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO)."
On the situation in South Asia, the statement said
Imran highlighted the alleged human rights abuse in J&K and underscored the
imperative of peaceful resolution of the dispute. He also focused on the
developments "detrimental to regional peace and stability" and
stressed the need for measures that would help keep the regional balance.
Imran, according to the statement, rued the latest
situation involving Russia and Ukraine and said Pakistan had hoped diplomacy
could avert a military conflict. "The PM stressed that conflict was not in
anyone’s interest, and that the developing countries were always hit the
hardest economically in case of conflict."
Source: Times Of India
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Ukraine crisis: ‘So much excitement’, says Pakistan PM
Imran Khan after landing in Russia
Feb 24, 2022
NEW DELHI: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who
arrived in Russia on Wednesday, seemingly described the visit to the country as
'exciting'. “What a time I have come so much excitement,” he was heard telling
a Russian official in a video shared by Pakistan's Geo News reporter.
Khan had arrived in Moscow yesterday on a two-day
visit, first by a Pakistani premier in over two decades. He will hold talks
with President Putin to reset the bilateral ties and expand cooperation in the
energy sector.
“What a time I have come, so much excitement", PM
Imran Khan says after landing in Moscow, Russia… https://t.co/YKEdXH2sXK
— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) 1645684915000
Meanwhile, in Washington, Department of State
Spokesperson Ned Price said that the US has communicated its position to
Islamabad on Russia's "renewed invasion" of Ukraine and it was the
"responsibility" of every country to voice objection to Putin's
actions.
"Well, we're certainly aware of the trip,"
Price said. "We've communicated to Pakistan our position regarding
Russia's further renewed invasion of Ukraine, and we have briefed them on our
efforts to pursue diplomacy over war.”
"We believe it's the responsibility of every
responsible country around the world to voice concern, to voice objection to
what Putin appears to have in mind for Ukraine," he said in response to a
question on Wednesday.
In an interview to Russia's state-run RT television
network ahead of his trip, Khan, had voiced concern about the situation in
Ukraine and the possibility of new sanctions and their impact on Islamabad's
growing cooperation with Moscow.
Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, is the first
Pakistani premier to visit Russia in 23 years after former premier Nawaz Sharif
travelled to Moscow in 1999.
Pakistan's ties with Russia have moved past the bitter
Cold War hostilities in recent years and the chill in the relations between
Pakistan and the US has further pushed the country towards Russia and China.
Source: Times Of India
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"Nuclear Nation, Begging For Decades": Anger
In Pakistan Over Loans
February 25, 2022
Islamabad: Amid the release of a fresh tranche of
loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Pakistani government is
facing backlash from civil society, over the unending series of loans, a report
said on Thursday.
Public confidence in the government is at a new low
due to financial mismanagement and over-dependence on foreign funds to run the
country, 'Islam Khabar' claimed.
Angry reactions followed a tweet by Pakistan's Finance
Minister Shaukat Tarin announcing the approval of the 6th tranche of IMF loans.
"I am pleased to announce that IMF Board has approved
6th tranche of their programme for Pakistan," Tarin tweeted.
"It is not only surprising but also regrettable
that the Finance Minister, by enslaving the nation, expressed happiness over
the receipt of a new installment from the IMF," the report noted.
A media editorial in Pakistan underlined that Pakistan
is "probably the only nuclear country whose daily affairs require loans,
begging for aid and this has continued for decades."
The backlash followed IMF's release of USD 1 billion
to Pakistan, subject to fulfilling certain conditions. Fuel prices and power
tariffs in Pakistan are at historic highs as a result.
The fresh funds constitute an installment of a USD 6
billion bailout package. IMF's Executive Board had cleared the bailout package
for Pakistan on July 3, 2019.
Source: ND TV
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Zardari calls on Siraj to get support for no-trust
move
24 February,2022
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Former President and Pakistan
People Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday called on
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Chief Siraj-ul-Haq in a bid to get support for a no-trust
move against the incumbent government.
Zardari visited JI head office in Mansoora. Both the
leaders discussed a decisive movement against the government, current political
situation, and the joint opposition no-trust mover against Prime Minister Imran
Khan.
Sources privy to the meeting said that Zardari sought
JI’s support for the success of the no-trust move. JI has a single vote of
Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali in the National Assembly.
The opposition leadership on Wednesday agreed to
nominate Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly as the next prime
minister after the success of a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister
Imran Khan.
A meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)
President Shehbaz Sharif, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana
Fazlur Rehman, and leadership of Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) was held in
Lahore.
During the meeting, the strategy for the success of
the no-confidence motion as well as the overall political situation of the
country came under discussion. One vote of Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, Member
National Assembly of Jamaat-e-Islami in Parliament became important and Zardari
went on to ask for the help of Siraj’s party on no-trust motion.
Meanwhile, the joint opposition on Wednesday asked its
national assembly members to sign a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister
Imran Khan.
The opposition has been preparing a no-trust motion
signed by its national assembly members. Sources said that the opposition
parties are claiming the support of 24 government members.
The PML-N has claimed the support of 16 government
members and Pakistan Peoples’ Party claimed the support of six lawmakers and
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) claimed the support of two government members.
Source: Dunya News
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https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/642833-Zardari-calls-on-Siraj-to-get-support-for-no-trust-move
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US has not learned from Vietnam, says President Alvi
Syed Irfan Raza
February 25, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Against the backdrop of an ongoing conflict
between Russia and Ukraine, President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday expressed
surprise that the United States had not learnt from the past and “fell into
another trap”.
“I mistakenly believed that the US would have learned
a lesson from the Vietnam War and would not fall into another trap,” the
president said while addressing the concluding session of a two-day
international conference on ‘South Asia: Emerging Opportunities and
Challenges’.
The president’s remarks came at a time when Prime
Minister Imran Khan, currently on a two-day official visit to Russia, met
Russian President Vladimir Putin amid reports that Russia has started the
invasion of Ukraine.
He, however, expressed his desire to have enhanced
relations with the US in different fields, especially the information
technology sector.
Amid Russia-Ukraine conflict, president says Pakistan
wants win-win cooperation with nations
President Alvi said Europe had decided against any
more wars in their own lands but continued to destroy other countries in Africa
and the Middle East.
“Instead of supporting any polarisation, Pakistan
desired win-win cooperation in the fields of information technology and trade
with the nations for peace and development in the region,” he added.
The president said Pakistan did not want to be part of
any polarisation, and the country’s forefathers had also advocated co-existence
before demanding a separate homeland.
He told the gathering, consisting of former
ambassadors and researchers and academics, that the vested interests dominated
morality in international affairs.
President Alvi said the world was looking for
leadership based on morality and highlighted Pakistan’s humanitarian gestures
of hosting millions of refugees contrary to Europe which he said let them drown
in the Mediterranean, besides reports of rapes and murders.
Referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
biased approach targeting minorities, President Alvi said the Bharatiya Janata
Party’s (BJP) government was adding fuel to fire through its Hindutva ideology.
“Despite repeated commitments by the United Nations, the Kashmir issue is still
unresolved owing to the vested interests of the countries,” he added.
The president said information technology was the
biggest opening for Pakistan and the region. However, he emphasised bridging
the gap between the decision-makers and the fast-developing technologies.
President Alvi said the fake news phenomenon was
getting stronger which could even destroy the countries. He said people would
see an avalanche of fake news in the 2023 general elections in Pakistan, as
around 60 to 70 per cent of messages circulating on the social media during the
last elections in India were found to be fake.
The president said the morality protecting humanity
and human rights, such as women’s emancipation, should be the ideals for
society, instead of vested interests.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1676933/us-has-not-learned-from-vietnam-says-president-alvi
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Eight terrorists killed in two operations, says ISPR
February 25, 2022
PESHAWAR: Eight terrorists were killed during
operations conducted by security forces in North Waziristan and Dera Ismail
Khan on Thursday, the military’s media affairs wing said.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that
security forces carried out the operation in the “general area” of Hamzoni in
North Waziristan tribal district in wake of reports about the presence of
terrorists.
An intense exchange of fire took place between the
security forces and terrorists during which six miscreants were killed.
The deceased were identified as Mohammad Ali,
Mateeullah, Mohammad Umar, Akhtar Hussain, Sher and Waseem, the ISPR statement
said.
Weapons, ammunition and equipment were recovered from
the terrorists’ possession, including submachine guns, hand-grenades, mines,
handcuffs and a large quantity of multiple calibre rounds.
Separately, an intelligence-based operation was
conducted by security forces in Kulachi tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan.
Source: Dawn
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Pakistan, Uzbekistan reiterated desire to further
efforts for regional peace, security
February 24, 2022
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan and Uzbekistan on Thursday
reiterated the desire to further enhance bilateral relations including efforts
for peace and security in the region.
Mr Aybek Arif Usmanov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to
Pakistan called on General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) here
at the GHQ.
During the meeting, matters of mutual interest,
regional security situation and bilateral cooperation between the two countries
were discussed.
COAS said that Pakistan values its relations with
Uzbekistan particularly defence cooperation.
Source: Pakistan Today
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South
Asia
Eight polio vaccinators killed in series of Afghan
attacks: UN
February 25, 2022
KABUL: Eight members of polio vaccination teams
working to eradicate the crippling virus in Afghanistan were killed on Thursday
in four separate attacks, the United Nations said.
Polio teams were frequently targeted by insurgent
groups in Afghanistan until the Taliban’s takeover of the country last year,
when the hardline group said it wanted to work with the UN to stamp out the
disease.
In the past polio campaigns in Afghanistan — and
neighbouring Pakistan — were accused of being fronts for spying, while some
clerics said the vaccine was a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.
“We are appalled by the brutality of these killings,
across four separate locations,” the UN said in a statement.
“This senseless violence must stop immediately, and
those responsible must be investigated and brought to justice. These attacks
are a violation of international humanitarian law.” The Taliban said they had
“received the news” of the incidents and were trying to get more information.
“Our policy is clear, we want to vaccinate and protect
all the children in Afghanistan under the age of five,” Javid Hajir, a
spokesman for the Ministry of Health, told AFP.
The UN said one person was killed in Takhar province
in the far north, and seven in neighbouring Kunduz province — including four in
the provincial capital Kunduz city.
They were engaged in house-to-house visits or on their
way to begin campaigns, the UN said.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1676949/eight-polio-vaccinators-killed-in-series-of-afghan-attacks-un
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Fight between Taliban, Pakistani forces over Durand
Line leaves 20 injured, 3 killed
25 February, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 25 (ANI): Fight between
Talibani and Pakistani forces erupted over the Durand Line in the Spin Boldak
district of Kandahar leaving 20 injured and 3 killed during the scuffle.
So far, 20 civilians have been injured and three
killed in the incident.
Taking to Asvaka News said, “Fighting has been raging
in the Spin Boldak district of #Kandahar between #Taliban & #Paki forces on
the #Durand Line since this afternoon. 20 civilians injured & three killed
so far. Civilians have fled their homes near the Durand Line.”
According to the sources in Kandahar, Pakistani border
guards beat an Afghan child at the Spin Boldak Gate and Afghan security forces
opened fire on Pakistani border guards in the area. The incident took place
afternoon on Thursday, after which the gate was closed to traffic.
It added that after the incident, the army forces from
the Al-Badr corps arrived at the scene and are preparing to respond to the
Pakistani border guards.
So far, the details of this incident have not been
given by the border gate officials of Sepineh Boldak.
Differences between the Taliban and Pakistan continue
to persist over the issue of the Durand Line.
In this context, Pakistan Consulate in Jalalabad (Nangarhar
Province), while highlighting the situation at Ghulam Khan border crossing in
Khost-North Waziristan area over the past few days, conveyed to the Pakistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday that the Taliban had removed the
Pakistani flag from a border post and deployed humvees and armed personnel on
the zero line in contravention of the border conventions, as part of its
“pressure tactics”, reported local media.
In response, Pakistan issued warnings to the Taliban
of possible counter-action and trade was suspended for a few days.
The issue was later resolved with the intervention of
traders and tribal elders from both sides, said the local media.
However, bilateral relations between Pakistan and the
Taliban are turning hostile over the issue of Durand Line and cross-border
“terror activities” of groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against
Islamabad.
Pakistan intends to bring the tribal areas near the
Durand Line under its control and complete its Durand barbed wire fencing.
Following deadly attacks on Pakistani troops, the
Pakistani military has launched an operation along the Durand Line near
Afghanistan.
Source: The Print
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Taliban protesting against Islamabad over firing by
Pak Army
25 February, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 25 (ANI): The Taliban
have lodged a protest against Islamabad over the incident of heavy & light
weapons firing by the Pakistani Army in Afghanistan’s Dand Aw Patan district of
Paktia province.
Directorate General of Security Cooperation &
Border Affairs of Taliban MoFA lodged a protest on February 16 against
Islamabad over the incident of heavy & light weapons firing on January 20
by the Pak Army.
Earlier, citing violations of Afghan airspace by Pak
aircraft in Asmar on January 28-29 and Dur Baba on January 30 districts of
Nangarhar Province, Taliban MoFA had registered its protest with Islamabad on
February 13.
Furthermore, differences between the Taliban and
Pakistan continue to persist over the issue of the Durand Line.
In this context, Pakistan Consulate in Jalalabad
(Nangarhar Province), while highlighting the situation at Ghulam Khan border
crossing in Khost-North Waziristan area over the past few days, conveyed to the
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday that the Taliban had removed the
Pakistani flag from a border post and deployed humvees and armed personnel on
the zero line in contravention of the border conventions, as part of its
“pressure tactics”, reported local media.
In response, Pakistan issued warnings to the Taliban
of possible counter-action and trade was suspended for a few days.
The issue was later resolved with the intervention of
traders and tribal elders from both sides, said the local media.
However, bilateral relations between Pakistan and the
Taliban are turning hostile over the issue of Durand Line and cross-border
“terror activities” of groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against
Islamabad.
Pakistan intends to bring the tribal areas near the
Durand Line under its control and complete its Durand barbed wire fencing.
Following deadly attacks on Pakistani troops, the
Pakistani military has launched an operation along the Durand Line near
Afghanistan.
Source: The Print
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of the original story:
https://theprint.in/world/taliban-protesting-against-islamabad-over-firing-by-pak-army/846816/
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Caritas chief lauds Bangladesh for supporting Rohingya
refugees
Rock Ronald Rozario
February 25, 2022
Caritas Internationalis secretary general Aloysius
John has lauded the people of Bangladesh for their generosity in supporting
Rohingya refugees.
“My visit to Bangladesh was first of all to witness
the solidarity of the confederation in Caritas Bangladesh and to the people of
Bangladesh for their generosity in receiving the displaced people from Myanmar
— the Rohingya,” he said during a press briefing at Dhaka Reporters Unity
auditorium on Feb. 24 during his five-day visit to the South Asian nation.
He lamented that “our world is undergoing a major
disaster today.”
“Millions of people are being put on the wrong road
with no point of return because of selfishness, because of wrong decisions and
because of violence. So, they are put on the wrong road, in exile. I met some
of them,” he said.
John noted that his intention for the visit was “to
come and express to these people that people in other parts of the world are
also thinking about them” and “to express to Bangladesh our gratitude on behalf
of Caritas Internationalis.”
He said another purpose of his visit was to be with
Caritas Bangladesh on its 50th anniversary celebrations.
“I have known Caritas Bangladesh since 1992. What I
see that since its inception Caritas Bangladesh has been on the front line
supporting, presenting and receiving the poor and giving them the best of the
international solidarity,” he said.
John also hailed Caritas Bangladesh as “the instrument
of dialogue” in the country.
“Yesterday I met with the director of the NGO Affairs
Bureau, Mr. Tariqul Islam. I will tell you that I was really surprised with his
openness, his appreciation of Caritas and the good collaboration of Caritas
with the NGO Affairs Bureau.”
Caritas has been in Bangladesh for 50 years, working
in the struggle against poverty and to help the people live in dignity, he
added.
John was accompanied by Caritas Asia president
Benedict Alo D’Rozario, Caritas Bangladesh executive director Sebastian Rozario
and Caritas Bangladesh director (programs) James Gomes.
D’Rozario said the Church has been involved in support
and advocacy for Rohingya migrants and displaced people worldwide.
“During his visit to Bangladesh in 2017, Holy Father
Pope Francis made a special call and expressed special sympathy for Rohingya
refugees. He urged the international community to come forward to help them and
to solve the problem,” he said.
“Caritas Internationalis, as an observer of the United
Nations, has been working with the UNHCR, IOM and other organizations and
assisting people who are migrants and forcibly displaced. We have this advocacy
program worldwide, so the voice of the voiceless can be raised and public
opinions can be mobilized to solve these problems,” he added.
Aloysius John, 63, is an Indian by birth and now a
French citizen.
He has served Caritas in various capacities since
1983. He was elected secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, the global
confederation of Catholic charities, in 2019 with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
as the president on a four-year mandate.
He arrived in Bangladesh on Feb. 21 and visited the
Central Language Martyrs’ Monument in capital Dhaka to pay homage to the Bangla
language martyrs of 1952 on International Mother Language Day.
On Feb. 22, he visited two Rohingya refugee camps in
Cox’s Bazar district. He spoke with refugees and inspected a range of Caritas
initiatives such as the Multipurpose Children and Adolescent Centre, shelter
construction and water and sanitation hygiene (WaSH) in the camps.
Source: UCA News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/caritas-chief-lauds-bangladesh-for-supporting-rohingya-refugees/96260
--------
Mideast
UN special envoy expresses concern over persisting
violence against Palestinians in occupied territories
24 February 2022
The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace
process has expressed concern over the persisting violence against Palestinians
in the occupied territories, saying the destabilizing deterioration of the
situation in the absence of political solutions would “reset the trajectory.”
“Across the West Bank, daily violence continues;
tensions in East Jerusalem (al-Quds) and the refugee camps are mounting and
settler violence remains a serious concern. Illegal settlements and planning
processes are steadily advancing, alongside demolitions and evictions,
including in and around Jerusalem (al-Quds),” Tor Wennesland told the Security Council.
He highlighted that the ongoing worrying trends are
increasing the territorial fragmentation of the West Bank, undermining the Palestinian
Authority (PA), and further eroding prospects for peace.
Wennesland also called for urgent action to avert the
fiscal collapse of the Ramallah-based PA, which continues to face a prolonged
financial crisis that is affecting service delivery and crippling the economy.
Also in his remarks, the senior UN official noted that
“a fragile calm” currently prevails in the besieged Gaza Strip.
He emphasized that “Palestinian divisions and the
Israeli closure regime are creating a generation who have experienced multiple
wars and humanitarian crises and who have few prospects for a better life” in
the coastal sliver.
Wennesland then outlined the violence that has
occurred throughout the occupied Palestinian territories since his last
briefing in January.
“Six Palestinians, including two children, were killed
by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank during this period. These deaths
occurred during demonstrations, clashes, search-and-arrest operations, attacks
and alleged attacks against Israelis, as well as other incidents,” he said.
The UN official said some 205 Palestinians, including
25 children, were injured during the mentioned period.
Wennesland then underscored the need for a political
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, urging the Tel Aviv regime,
Palestinians, regional states, and the international community to take firm
action to get the parties back on the path to negotiations.
Israel occupied the West Bank and East al-Quds after
the 1967 Middle East war.
Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land are
considered illegal under international law.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Iranian FM Urges West to Show "Serious Will"
in Vienna Talks
2022-February-24
“Accelerating the conclusion of an agreement [in
Vienna] requires serious will on the part of the West to make a courageous and
realistic political decision to ensure Iran’s interests, especially the objective
removal of sanctions, in order to reach a durable agreement,” Amir Abdollahian
said in the conversation.
He expressed the hope that the European parties to the
landmark 2015 Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), would pursue a realistic approach and play a constructive and
appropriate role to help reach an agreement.
Referring to his meetings with European Union foreign
policy chief Josep Borrell and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, on
the sidelines of the 58th Munich Security Conference (MSC) last week, the
Iranian foreign minister emphasized that the sides managed to make good
progress to settle the outstanding issues in the Vienna talks.
In turn, the British foreign secretary, whose country
is a party to the Vienna negotiations, said Iran and the P4+1 group of
countries have so far made positive achievements, but they should complete the
process of negotiations and conclude a deal agreed by all the sides as soon as
possible.
Elsewhere in the phone talks, Amir Abdollahian and
Truss said the repayment of Britain’s overdue debts to Iran is among the main
issues between Tehran and London, stressing the importance of finding an
appropriate way to solve it as soon as possible.
The British foreign secretary expressed the hope that
the two countries would settle consular issues related to prisoners and the
payment of London’s debt to Tehran in the near future through continued
cooperation.
Britain owes as much as £400m to Iran arising from the
non-delivery of Chieftain tanks ordered by Iran's former monarchical regime. An
international arbitration in 2008 ruled the UK owed the debt.
Truss said growing relations between the two countries
would serve common interests.
Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA --
Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China -- started talks in the Austrian
capital of Vienna last April on the assumption that the US, under the Joe Biden
administration, is willing to repeal the so-called maximum pressure policy.
Tehran says it will not settle for anything less than
the removal of all US sanctions in a verifiable manner. It also wants
guarantees that Washington would not abandon the agreement again.
As the eighth round of talks between Tehran and the
G4+1 group of countries continues in Vienna on the JCPOA revival, Iran’s lead
negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani and European Union deputy foreign policy chief
Enrique Mora, who also coordinates the negotiations, met on Tuesday.
Also, experts of Iran and the five remaining parties
to the JCPOA held intensive talks and consultations over the past two days.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001205000266/Iranian-FM-Urges-Wes-Shw-Seris-Will-in-Vienna-Talks
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Iranian Speaker Felicitates Counterparts of 7 States
on National Day
2022-February-24
Qalibaf sent the messages to the parliament speakers
of Kuwait, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Serbia, Lithuania, Estonia and Brunei.
In his messages, the Iranian speaker underlined the
expansion of comprehensive cooperation and boosting parliamentary relations as
a good way for faster expansion of comprehensive ties.
In a relevant development on Wednesday, Iranian
President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi in separate messages had also felicitated Japan
and Brunei on the two countries’ national day.
Rayeesi congratulated Japan's National Day in messages
to the Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, and called
for the expansion and strengthening of Iran-Japan relations in all areas of
mutual interest.
"The friendly and historical relations between
the Islamic Republic of Iran and Japan are based on trust and mutual
respect," he said in his message.
In his message to the Prime Minister of Japan, the
President expressed the hope that "in light of the policies of His
Excellency's government, we will see continued cooperation and increased
consultation of high-ranking officials of the two countries and further
expansion and strengthening of relations in all areas of mutual interest".
Addressing the Emperor of Japan, Rayeesi said, "I
hope that the historical and friendly relations between the Islamic Republic of
Iran and Japan will expand even more with the help and efforts of both
sides."
Also, the Iranian president in a message to Sultan of
Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah congratulated him on the the National Day of Brunei.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Russian invasion puts endgame of Iran nuclear talks in
jeopardy
24 February ,2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine risks jeopardizing
diplomacy to restore Iran’s nuclear deal at the final hurdle, as world powers
at the negotiating table find themselves on opposite sides of Europe’s biggest
security crisis since World War II.
Envoys have suggested a successful conclusion to the
talks could be just days away after 10 months of stop-start progress in Vienna.
But Iran and the US still have to bridge remaining key differences at a time
when mediators in Europe and Russia have been plunged into conflict.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Diplomats warned Tehran’s government publicly over the
weekend that Iran needed to reach a swift decision on resurrecting the 2015
accord, which gave the Islamic Republic sanctions relief in exchange for
reining in its nuclear activities.
“There are moments in time when a deal is possible and
sometimes if you allow those moments to pass, the deal starts to drift away,
often for reasons outside the control of the negotiators,” Irish Foreign and
Defense Minister Simon Coveney told Iran’s top diplomat, Hossein
Amirabdollahian, on Saturday at a security conference in Munich.
Speaking on behalf of the United Nations Security
Council, where Ireland has been appointed facilitator of the Iran deal, Coveney
said deteriorating relations between Russia -- a critical Iranian ally at the
talks -- and the US risked imperiling the outcome.
“You could see a potential development that could all
of a sudden make, what has been genuine progress in recent weeks in Vienna,
become a much more difficult negotiation to conclude,” he said.
A deal returning Iran to energy markets could help
tether oil prices which surged past $105 a barrel as fighting in Ukraine flared
Thursday. Yet the conflict might give Iranian leaders reason to reconsider
whether they need to compromise. They’ve already entered a security pact with
Russia and China and committed toward turning the country’s economy east.
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, flew
back to his capital for consultations late Wednesday. Iran needs to decide on
whether it will relent on its demand for guarantees that the deal won’t again
be undercut. The US says it can’t promise that a future administration won’t
scupper any agreement, as happened under the Trump administration four years
ago.
Retaliating for reimposed US sanctions, Iran
dramatically escalated its nuclear enrichment activities and how to roll back
those advances has been another major hurdle for negotiators.
Amirabdollahian appeared to walk a diplomatic
tightrope on Twitter as the scale of Russia’s attack became apparent, hitting
out at NATO for provoking Moscow while rejecting war as a solution and calling
for a ceasefire.
Both Russia and the US say they’ve worked together at
the Iran nuclear talks and have been able to compartmentalize their other
differences at the negotiating table. Moscow’s top negotiator, Mikhail Ulyanov,
has frequently posted images of his meetings with his US counterpart, Rob
Malley, on social media.
Restoring the nuclear accord could provide relief to
oil markets, where the surge in crude has also been fueled by a recovery in
demand as the pandemic recedes.
Iran was one of OPEC’s biggest crude producers before
the US withdrawal, and many traders expect that if sanctions are lifted, it
will be able to boost daily exports by about 1 million barrels within just a
matter of months. Iran has the world’s No. 2 natural gas and No. 4 oil
reserves.
An agreement in Vienna would also help calm the Gulf,
where US sanctions and Iran’s expanding nuclear work have heightened tensions
and fueled proxy wars in recent months. Now it’s war in Europe that looms over
efforts to achieve a deal.
In Tehran, a top foreign-policy expert who’s been a
vocal critic of the nuclear deal, predicted diplomats would be able to protect
the talks from the deepening hostility between the US and Russia.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Iran blames NATO’s ‘provocative actions’ for Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine
24 February ,2022
NATO’s “provocative actions” are to blame for Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, Iran’s foreign minister said on Thursday, adding that
Tehran does not see war as a solution.
“The Ukraine crisis is rooted in NATO’s provocative
actions. We do not see resorting to war as a solution,” Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian, whose country has close ties with Russia, wrote on Twitter.
“Establishing a ceasefire and focusing on a political
and democratic solution is a necessity,” Amir-Abdollahian added. He made no
mention of Russia in his tweet.
Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea on
Thursday.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on
Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has unleashed a war with
Ukraine and the entire democratic world.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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Turkey in tough spot over Russia-Ukraine crisis
February 24, 2022
ANKARA: As Russia launched air and ground assaults on
Ukraine, NATO member Turkey finds itself in a delicate position for maintaining
its good relations with both countries.
Its control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits,
key routes during such a crisis, made Turkey an indispensable partner for the
West.
On Thursday, Ukraine asked Turkey to close the straits
to Russian vessels.
Turkey, which has maritime borders with Ukraine and
Russia, has the legal authority to control the straits under the 1936 Montreux
Convention, that gives Ankara exclusive rights to restrict the passage of
warships not belonging to countries bordering the Black Sea.
During wartime or under threat of aggression, Turkey
can close the straits to the transit of all foreign warships, while non-Black
Sea countries and littoral states should notify Ankara 15 days and 8 days in
advance, respectively, for sending vessels.
For Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish program at
the Washington Institute, if Ankara denied naval access to Russia into the
Black Sea, it would open a can of worms, with the area a maritime condominium
shared by Turkey and Russia.
“In that case, Moscow would ask to renegotiate the
Montreux Convention and Turkey would never get a deal as good as (the) Montreux
regime again. It is the reason why Ankara will not violate the existing
convention,” he told Arab News.
Turkey’s gatekeeping over the straits will now test
the limits of its neutral stance vis-a-vis Russia and Ukraine.
In a press statement on Wednesday, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey would not abandon either Russia or
Ukraine.
“Turkey is currently not in a position to sacrifice
its relations with Ukraine or Russia as it has developed significant strategic
links with both countries in the last few years,” Prof. Emre Ersen, an expert
on Russia-Turkey relations from Marmara University in Istanbul, told Arab News.
“Therefore, it will most likely continue to call for
an immediate diplomatic resolution of the conflict.”
At the same time, Ersen thinks Ankara will try to
implement the clauses of the Montreux Convention strictly, since this document
gives Turkey the opportunity to stay neutral without having to choose a side in
the current crisis.
Turkey, which finds itself in a tough spot, has close
ties with Ukraine in the defense industry as it sells its drones and has an
active defense deal of co-production, while it is also heavily dependent on Russian
gas and defense procurement.
Turkey receives about 33 percent of its natural gas
and 66 percent of wheat from Russia.
With tourism season approaching, Ukrainian and Russian
tourists traditionally make up almost one fifth of Turkey’s total visitors.
But Ankara, which officially described Russian moves
against Ukraine as unacceptable, still stands against applying any sanctions on
Russia — which presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin recently described as
“useless” — and prefers de-escalation through diplomatic means and dialogue.
Aydin Sezer, an Ankara-based Russia analyst, thinks
that Turkey has so far opted for a moderate stance on the Ukrainian crisis by
urging the parties to follow common sense.
“However, for a year Turkey has followed a strictly
pro-Ukrainian stance, which will push Russia to take a more cautious and
skeptical stance against any diplomatic move by the country,” he told Arab
News.
According to Sezer, if Turkey opens its Black Sea
waterways to the fleets of the Western powers or if it shares any intelligence
with the West about any aerial threat against Ukraine, Russia will take it as a
casus belli, a justification for war.
With a statement on Thursday, Turkey’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs urged Russia to immediately end the “unjust and unlawful
action” and underlined Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Under Montreux, aircraft carriers should also seek
permission from the Turkish government when crossing over the straits.
However, for Ersen, compared with the Russian-Georgian
war of 2008, it will be much more difficult for Ankara to follow a middle-way
policy between Russia and the West.
In 2008, Turkey denied permissions to large US
military ships to enter the Black Sea based on Montreux upon Russia’s military
intervention in Georgia.
“Turkey’s NATO allies will definitely increase their
pressure on Ankara to reconsider its special relationship with Moscow which
could also cause significant repercussions for Turkish-Russian relations,
especially with regard to thorny issues like the Syrian civil war and the
Russian-made S-400 missiles,” Ersen said.
Despite its strained ties with NATO upon the purchase
of the Russian defense system, Turkey regained its importance within the
alliance in supporting Ukraine.
Samuel Ramani, associate fellow at the Royal United
Service Institute, thinks that Turkey is trying to show its solidarity with
NATO consensus by supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
“Turkey has also viewed Ukraine as a key partner since
2010, as it burnishes its Black Sea power status and provides it with useful
commercial deals, especially in the munitions and drone spheres,” he told Arab
News.
He added: “In
this crisis, Turkey has tried to show its value to NATO by offering itself as a
venue for talks that would complement what France is doing. The talks have not
taken place and the US views Turkey’s role skeptically.”
According to Ramani, Turkey will still be a voice of
support for diplomacy and oppose sanctions on Russia, as it needs to work with
Moscow in several other theaters like Syria, Libya and the South Caucasus.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2031336/middle-east
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Houthis abduct two more Yemeni employees of US embassy
in Sanaa
SAEED AL-BATATI
February 24, 2022
AL-MUKALLA: The Iran-backed Houthis have abducted two
more Yemeni employees of the US embassy in Sanaa, according to a lawyer in the
city. Meanwhile the militia has ordered the seizure of more properties
belonging to its opponents.
Abdul Majeed Sabra, a Yemeni lawyer who defends
abductees held in Houthi prisons, told Arab News on Thursday that two press
officers at the shuttered US embassy in Sanaa have been detained. They were
identified as Abdul Rahman Al-Sharabi and Nabiel Sultan.
The latest detentions come almost four months after
the Houthis stormed the embassy compound, seized the property and detained
about two dozen local workers.
When Arab News contacted the US Department of State, a
spokesperson refused to confirm or deny the latest reports of abductions,
citing concerns about the safety of embassy staff, but said that efforts are
being made to secure the release of all detained workers.
“We condemn the Houthis’ continued detention of US and
UN local Yemeni staff in Sanaa in the strongest possible terms,” he said. “This
action sends worrying signals about the Houthi commitment to peace and
intentions toward the international community.”
The US closed its embassy in the Yemeni capital in
2015 and American staff left the country as the Houthis tightened their grip on
power after overthrowing the internationally recognized administration of
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Armed Houthis occupied the US embassy compound in
November and detained at least two dozen Yemeni staff. Nearly half were
released but the militia has refused to free the rest despite mounting local
and international pressure and condemnations.
In December, two UN organizations accused the Houthis
of abducting two members of their staff a month earlier and called on the
militia to release them immediately.
Meanwhile, a former spokesperson for the Houthis said
on Wednesday that the militia’s authorities had seized his house and other
property in Dhamar province.
Ali Al-Bukhaiti defected from the movement and fled
the country, first to Jordan and then the UK. He said that a group of Houthi
officials led by his brother, Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, who governs Dhamar, had
taken his house in their home province as part of new seizure orders targeting
opponents of the militia. He added that the Houthis previously stole furniture
from his law office in Sanaa, but vowed that he would continue to oppose the
movement and its leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi.
“What happened confirms what we had said earlier, that
Abdul Malik Al-Houthi is just a thief and a gang leader,” Al-Bukhaiti said on
Twitter.“By the way, I say: Just as the confiscation of the law firm and the
furniture of the villa in Sanaa did not affect me, the confiscation of my house
in Dhamar will not change my position.”
Since seizing power militarily in Yemen in late 2014,
the Houthis have used judicial authorities in the areas they control to issue
seizure orders and justify looting the properties of hundreds of Yemeni
military officials, politicians, lawyers, human rights activists and
journalists who fled rebel-held territories.
Also on Wednesday, a court run by the Houthis in Sanaa
sentenced three people, including the principal of a private school in the
city, to death. They were charged with forming armed groups and colluding with
the Yemeni government and the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen.
Elsewhere, warplanes from the coalition reportedly
have destroyed a large amount Houthi military equipment in the northern
province of Hajjah, where the militia is attempting to seize strategic areas
controlled by the government in the districts of Haradh and Abes.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2031336/middle-east
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New clashes in al-Quds’ Sheikh Jarrah as racist
Israeli lawmaker returns
24 February 2022
Fierce clashes have broken out between Palestinians
and Israeli forces who were escorting a controversial far-right Jewish lawmaker
and his extremist supporters in the flashpoint neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah of
the occupied East al-Quds.
Palestinian residents took to the streets to protest
the provocative return of Itamar Ben Gvir of the Religious Zionism alliance and
his right-wing supporters who sneaked into the area, set up a makeshift office
and hoisted an Israeli flag there, the Wafa news agency reported on Thursday.
The scuffles broke out as the Israeli forces attacked
the Palestinian residents and activists and attempted to forcibly disperse them
from the scene.
Israeli forces have blocked off the western part of
the flash neighborhood for the 12th consecutive day.
Last week, Ben Gvir opened a parliamentary office in
the neighborhood in what was described as an effort to exacerbate the situation
in the district.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Expatriates then condemned Ben Gvir’s step as a “provocative and escalating
move that threatens to ignite violence.”
The ministry said the failure of the international
community and the UN Security Council to take necessary measures to compel
Israel to stop its occupation of al-Quds encourages the occupying regime to
forge ahead with its colonial Judaization projects in the Holy City.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has already
issued a strongly-worded message of warning to the Israeli regime and settlers
after the latter renewed assaults on Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has
censured the recent attacks by Israeli military forces and settlers against the
Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah. In a statement released on Feb. 14, the
57-member body said Israel’s policy of Judaization of East al-Quds, its
settlement expansion, and the forced displacement of Palestinian families stand
in flagrant violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.
The European Union has also demanded an end to violent
clashes between Israeli military forces and Palestinian residents of Sheikh
Jarrah.
Sheikh Jarrah has been the scene of frequent
crackdowns by Israeli forces on the Palestinians protesting against the
threatened expulsion of dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in
favor of Israeli settler groups.
Source: Press TV
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Israeli forces demolish more Palestinian structures in
al-Quds
24 February 2022
Israel has demolished at least two Palestinian houses
and a commercial unit in the occupied East al-Quds, as Tel Aviv continues to
press ahead with its land grab policies despite international outcry.
Palestinian media, citing local sources, reported on
Thursday that Israeli bulldozers flattened the residential and commercial
buildings in the Baqa'an neighborhood.
The report said the staff of the Israeli municipality,
under tight protection by police, first cordoned off the area around the
building and then called in bulldozers for the demolition.
A two-story house was among the demolished buildings,
it noted.
Israel routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the
occupied West Bank and East al-Quds, claiming that the structures have been
built without permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. They also
sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses or pay the
costs of the demolition if they do not.
The Tel Aviv regime plans to force out Palestinian
families from different neighborhoods in East al-Quds in an attempt to replace them
with settlers.
Nearly 700,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements
built since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
The UN Security Council has in several resolutions
condemned Tel Aviv’s settlement projects in the occupied Palestinian lands.
The theft of land across the occupied territories has
pushed residents into a crowded enclave surrounded by walls, settlements, and
military installations.
In May last year, Israel's land grab in the occupied
West Bank sparked a war between the military and Palestinian resistance groups
in the Gaza Strip that lasted 11 days.
During the war, Israel’s relentless bombardment of
Gaza killed over 250 Palestinians, including 66 children.
Hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner hospitalized
A Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy group said Muhammad
Nawara, on hunger strike for several consecutive days at an Israeli jail, has
now been transferred to hospital due to the deterioration of his health
condition.
Nawara was recently sent to solitary confinement at
Israel's notorious Gilboa prison for six months.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) affirmed
that he was on hunger strike in protest
at his renewed isolation for the third time.
The health condition of Nawara, who has been in jail
since 2001, has deteriorated in recent days.
Palestinian activists say Israel “is practicing slow
killing” of Palestinian prisoners through “medical negligence”.
Israeli jail authorities keep Palestinian prisoners
under deplorable conditions lacking proper hygienic standards.
Palestinian inmates have also been subjected to
systematic torture, harassment, and repression.
More than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly held in
Israeli jails. Hundreds of them have apparently been incarcerated under the
administrative detention, a policy under which Palestinian inmates are kept in
Israeli detention centers without trial or charge.
Some Palestinian prisoners have been held in
administrative detention for up to 11 years.
Administrative detention is illegal under
international law. However, the Israeli regime uses it to repress the
Palestinian people.
Palestinian inmates regularly stage hunger strike in
protest at the administrative detention policy and harsh conditions in Israeli
jails.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/02/24/677472/Palestine-al-Quds-Israeli-Nawara-PPS-
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Southeast
Asia
Malaysia: Disgruntled Shah Alam Club Members Ready to
Quit If Liquor Ban Stays
'Ainin Wan Salleh
February 25, 2022
PETALING JAYA: Some of Shah Alam Club’s most senior
members are willing to give up their membership should the club’s ban on
alcohol remain.
Stressing that he was disappointed with the ban, one
member noted that the club has always been multiracial, with members from all
walks of life playing sports and socialising with each other.
“I plan to give up my membership, partly because of
this alcohol ban. I have another club in Bukit Kiara that I can go to,” said
the member, who joined the club over 35 years ago.
“I believe the state government’s move to ban alcohol
in the club is wrong as it deprives non-Muslim members of an amenity … an
ice-cold beer after sports or having a round of drinks with friends and
family.”
He said the ban also deprived the club of much needed
revenue, especially after Covid-19 lockdowns severely affected the coffers.
Another senior member, who has been with the club for
26 years, told FMT he was also looking to relinquish his membership because of
the club’s alcohol ban.
“I will only remain a member so long as there’s no
restrictions on alcohol. The new rules are unfair and I do not support them,”
he said.
“They should just follow the rules set earlier and not
just change them as they wish.”
A new rule by the club’s general committee to ban the
sale and consumption of alcohol at the premises came into force on Feb 12.
Members and guests are also not allowed to bring alcohol into the premises.
A member of the club’s administration told FMT the
alcohol ban was in line with instructions from Selangor state secretary Haris
Kasim.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Islamic affairs minister to hold roundtable on
unilateral conversion issue on March 2
Friday, 25 Feb 2022
BUKIT GANTANG, Feb 25 ― Minister in the Prime
Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Senator Datuk Idris Ahmad will hold a
roundtable discussion on Wednesday regarding the issue of unilateral conversion
of single mother Loh Siew Hong’s three children.
He said the discussion would be participated by legal
experts, lecturers and muftis.
“I will hold a roundtable on Wednesday night with
legal experts, lecturers and muftis to find a solution to to the case,” he
said.
Idris spoke to reporters after handing over aid to
Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) 2021
candidates here today.
On Monday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered for the
immediate release of the three children from the care Social Welfare Department
(JKM) to their mother after allowing the habeas corpus application filed by
Loh.
Meanwhile, Idris said the case of a mother and six
Diwiyana Mohammed whose request for help for her sick mother went viral on
social media should serve as a lesson to all Muslims.
“We should always be the ones who search for poor
people and not the other way around.
“We have to look for information from the imam, the
Village Development and Security Committee and so on,” he said.
Yesterday, the Social Welfare Department (JKM) said it
had approved a monthly aid of RM500 starting next month for Diwiyana.
Source: Malay Mail
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The heavy price for making Malaysia a basket case
February 25, 2022
We hound out the ones who are different and welcome
others who use trickery. Is this a true representation of the Malaysia we live
in today?
I remember the fledgling years of my school life, when
textbooks proudly proclaimed Malaysia the “melting pot” of races and religions.
Malaysia is unique in that respect, we were taught.
I had no reason to disagree. The four people who
surrounded me in my classrooms almost always looked and spoke differently and
professed different faiths. We respected each other’s boundaries.
As years passed, I realised that reality was somewhat
different.
The “melting pot” tag was something the Americans
branded themselves. It was just another catchphrase we copied, only to apply
superficially. Well, that doesn’t matter so much. These days, even Americans
struggle to live up to that proud label.
What my friends and I have been more concerned about
in the last 40 years has been creeping Islamisation in our country. Except that
these days Islamisation can no longer be described as “creeping”. It is
flagrant and unabashed.
The overall goal has been clear to all of us, and in
the privacy and anonymity of mamak stall conversations, my non-Muslim friends,
still trusting in my confidence, will call it for what it is: the political goal
of creating a dominant Malay/Muslim majority.
But it is not enough just to create a dominant
majority. For it to be a political success, it must also be a compliant
majority. No deviations can be entertained.
Enter Nur Sajat. Someone who feels differently about
her body than her gender status will reveal. We harassed her so much that we
eventually succeeded in hounding her out of her own beloved tanahair. Exit Nur
Sajat.
Now in Australia, Nur Sajat revealed earlier this week
that she has successfully obtained legal recognition as a woman.
But not as far as Keluarga Malaysia is concerned,
though! Here she remains a man, who else but our deputy religious affairs
minister, Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, insisted on Tuesday. Stop ruining the
masterplan!
Meanwhile, another very different drama with religious
overtones is being played out.
A disgruntled abusive convict father, seeking to get
revenge on his Hindu ex-wife, unilaterally converts his three minor children to
Islam and leaves them in the care of religious authorities.
In the name of Islam, these authorities are prepared
to claim ignorance of the law, even a clear Federal Court ruling on the very
subject, and keep them away from their own mother.
Keluarga Malaysia must steadfastly implement the
masterplan – at any cost to any individual and any family.
Those of my generation seem to think that Malaysia has
become a basket case – that we are well on the path to be the next Afghanistan.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Hadi laments interpretation of Federal Constitution in
English
February 24, 2022
PETALING JAYA: PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has
lamented the interpretation of the Federal Constitution in English, saying it
affects Muslims in the country.
This comes in the wake of the unilateral conversion of
single mother Loh Siew Hong’s three children without her permission. The
conversion by the Perlis religious department is seen to contradict the 2018
Federal Court ruling on unilateral conversions.
“Now it is clear that Islam, which comes under the
purview of the rulers through the various religious councils cannot override
man-made laws. Islamic laws can even be nullified by courts and judges,” he
said in a HarakahDaily report.
He said it was unfortunate that Muslims were affected
by the courts and judges who interpreted the constitution in English, which
merely referred to Islam as “a religion” rather than “Al-Deen”, or a “way of
life”.
Hadi did not make any direct reference to Loh’s case,
in which she is seeking to nullify the conversions of her 14-year-old twin
daughters and 10-year-old son.
Previously, Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin defended
the conversions of the children, saying it was in line with the state’s shariah
law that allows for unilateral conversions.
Hadi said even though the constitution states that
Islam is the religion of the federation, it was still being interpreted in
English, even in matters pertaining to Muslims.
“Even though the original text of the constitution is
in English, when we achieved independence, it should be up to us to interpret
it in our own language in accordance with the religion we adhere to.”
Hadi added that Islam’s position in the country must
be above that of other religions or ideologies.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Arab
World
Lebanese security forces detain 'veteran, dangerous'
Israeli spy, report says
24 February 2022
Lebanon's security forces have arrested a Lebanese man
on charges of spying for Israel’s Mossad spy agency and collaboration with the
regime’s authorities through gathering intelligence and involvement in targeted
killing operations.
According to a report published by the Arabic-language
al-Akhbar daily newspaper on Thursday, the man, whose identity was not
immediately known and is said to be a resident of the southern city of Sidon,
was detained by members of the General Security Directorate.
The man reportedly has no connection to the 17 Israeli
spy networks recently busted in Lebanon in one of the largest nationwide
crackdowns in recent years, and is apparently more formidable than those
captured.
His activities went beyond collecting data and
information and taking photographs of sensitive sites to being involved in a
network of assassinations and dangerously undercover operations.
The man reportedly facilitated the entry of Israeli
officers into Lebanon, their tours and exits at the end of their missions.
Informed sources highlighted that investigators from
the General Security Directorate have come up with compelling evidence that the
unnamed man was heavily involved in espionage activities in favor of the
Israeli intelligence service.
Moreover, there is unequivocal evidence that the man
was involved in the assassination of brothers Mahmoud and Nidal al-Majzoub, the
two senior officials from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement who
were killed in a car bomb explosion on May 26, 2006.
The development came less than a week after al-Akhbar
newspaper, citing judicial sources, reported that Lebanese security forces had
arrested a journalist on charges of spying for Israel's Mossad spy agency and
collaboration with Israeli authorities through writing defamatory articles
about the Hezbollah resistance movement and turning the public opinion against
the group.
The newspaper added that the Lebanese journalist wrote
“dozens” of anti-Hezbollah pieces at the request of the Tel Aviv regime,
receiving between $300 and $700 per article.
The journalist was also told to draw connections
between Hezbollah and the massive August 4, 2020 explosion at the port of
Beirut, which killed more than 200 people and wounded 6,500 others.
Source: Press TV
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Iraq unveils restoration work at ancient city ravaged
by IS
February 25, 2022
HATRA: Iraq unveiled three monumental sculptures in
the ancient city of Hatra on Thursday, newly restored after being vandalised by
militants of the militant Islamic State (IS) group during their brief, but the
brutal rule.
The jihadists released video footage in 2015 of their
orgy of destruction at Hatra in which they took guns and pickaxes to the once
extensive remains of what was one of the leading trade entrepots between the
Roman and Parthian empires in the first and second centuries AD.
A Roman-style sculpture of a life-size figure and a
series of reliefs of faces on the side of the great temple were among the
restored pieces shown off to journalists.
“IS destroyed everything that was important in this
city,” senior antiquities official Ali Obeid Sholgham told AFP.
Provincial antiquities chief Khair al-Din Ahmed Nasser
said works of art were “ripped out and shattered — we found fragments all over
the site”.
“We recovered some pieces, Others which were missing
we replaced with the same type of stone.” The restoration work at Hatra is
being carried out by Iraqi experts in collaboration with Italy’s International
Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies with funding from the
International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas.
IS filmed similar acts of destruction by its militants
in Mosul Museum, 100 kilometres northeast of Hatra, and in Palmyra in
neighbouring Syria.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1676950/iraq-unveils-restoration-work-at-ancient-city-ravaged-by-is
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IMF’s tough terms deepen doubts over quick Lebanon
bailout: Sources
24 February ,2022
The IMF has asked Lebanon to fulfil a string of
pre-conditions before negotiating a bailout, four sources briefed on recent
talks said, pressing for steps Beirut has long failed to deliver and
compounding doubts over whether a rescue plan can be agreed.
An IMF deal is seen as the only way for Lebanon to
recover from a financial meltdown that has plunged the country into its most
destabilizing crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.
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The sources told Reuters IMF terms for initiating
talks on a bailout included a framework for fiscal reform, revamping the
insolvent banking sector and audits of the central bank and the loss-making
state power company.
“They are saying before we have further discussions,
come up with actions,” one of the sources said.
These also include implementing capital controls -
something ruling parties have failed to agree since 2019 - and amending or
lifting banking secrecy, the sources said. Several of the measures require
parliamentary approval.
The IMF did not immediately respond to a request for
comment, nor did the premier’s office or the finance ministry.
The IMF said at the end of the talks in February that
Lebanon’s economic recovery program must include fiscal reforms that ensure
debt sustainability, financial sector restructuring, electricity sector reform,
anti-corruption work and “a credible monetary and exchange rate system.”
Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government aims to agree
an IMF staff-level agreement before a parliamentary election set for May - a
goal that seems increasingly difficult to achieve.
“I fear you will have political parties and
parliamentary blocs reluctant to take any decision on these sensitive matters,
especially before elections,” said Alain Aoun, a lawmaker with the Free
Patriotic Movement founded by President Michel Aoun.
‘No money’, ‘No hope’
The World Bank has accused Lebanon’s ruling class of
orchestrating a “deliberate depression” amounting to one of the worst financial
crashes since the 1850s. The collapse was caused by decades of state
corruption, waste and mismanagement.
Many analysts doubt whether the same ruling elite will
ever enact reforms that could threaten their vested interests.
“How do you want them to enhance accountability and
lift banking secrecy when it will lead to them being held accountable? It’s
impossible,” said Karim Daher, lawyer and lectures on public finance and taxes
at Saint Joseph University.
Lebanon’s first attempt to negotiate with the IMF fell
apart in 2020 over disagreements by politicians and banks over the scale of
losses in the financial sector and how to share them.
While officials have now agreed a figure of some $70
billion, there is no approved plan on how to distribute the losses - one of the
conditions for IMF negotiations. A major haircut on depositors will be highly
sensitive.
In an apparent bid to meet IMF demands, the government
approved an austerity budget this month that included tax hikes, but parliament
has yet to start discussing it. Two political sources said deputies are
hesitant to start debating politically explosive issues ahead of the May vote.
Among the prior IMF requirements is for the government
to prepare a five-year budget to show how deficits would be reined in and
economic growth ensured, three of the sources said.
It also wants Lebanon to chart a path to restructuring
debt, including Eurobonds, on which it defaulted in 2020, and take steps to
unify the current multiple exchange rate system.
Attempts to audit the central bank have stalled due to
the central bank withholding information demanded by auditor Alvarez and
Marsal. A central bank spokesperson told Reuters this month that the bank had
approved handing over outstanding information.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Lebanon to get Spanish funds for railway revival plan:
Minister
24 February ,2022
Lebanon’s transport minister has said that Spain will
finance a plan to revive the railway network that has been out of service since
the start of the 1975-1990 civil war.
A deal for a “comprehensive master plan for the 407
kilometer-long (252 miles) railway” is expected next month, Public Works and
Transport Minister Ali Hamie told AFP during an interview on Wednesday.
“We should sign a deal with the Spanish government
within three weeks,” Hamie said, adding that the plan should be completed six
months after an agreement is clinched.
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channel online or via the app.
Lebanon had a railway network since the end of the
19th century which connected Beirut to the Syrian capital Damascus.
It was built during Ottoman rule and inaugurated in
1895, operating until the devastating civil war begun 47 years ago.
Several proposals to revamp the network - and public
transport in general - were made after the end of the war in 1975 but were
shelved.
The network, like most of Lebanon’s post-war
infrastructure, fell into disrepair, and illegal construction sprouted along
the railway.
With public transport effectively non-existent, there
are more than two million cars for six million people in Lebanon.
In 2018, the World Bank approved a $295 million
package to jumpstart the country’s first modern public transport system.
But that too was put on hold as Lebanon has been
struggling since 2019 with a major financial crisis dubbed by the World Bank as
one of the planet’s worst in modern times.
Spain’s government will pay a Spanish firm to draft a
feasibility study, a survey of current infrastructure and proposals to settle
infringements on the rail network, Hamie said.
The master plan, he said, could serve as a way to
attract potential investors for the rehabilitation of the railway.
Lebanon’s cash-strapped public works ministry is
trying to attract funds in foreign currency by launching tenders for top facilities.
They include the Beirut International Airport and the
Beirut port, where an explosion caused by a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate
fertilizer in August 2020 killed more than 200 people and destroyed swathes of
the capital.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Syria humanitarian needs reach record high: UN
24 February ,2022
A record number of people in Syria are in need of
humanitarian assistance more than a decade into a devastating civil war, the
United Nations said.
At least 14.6 million people in Syria are in need of
humanitarian aid, up from 13.4 million last year, the UN’s humanitarian agency
OCHA said in a report published late Wednesday.
“Suffering in Syria is at its highest level since the
crisis began,” said the UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the
Syria conflict, Mark Cutts.
“The UN and its partners are reaching seven million
people every month, but more support is required,” he said in a post on
Twitter.
The war in Syria is estimated to have killed nearly
half a million people and displaced millions more since it began with a brutal
crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011.
The country is also grappling with an economic crisis
compounded by Western sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic and a sharp fall in the
value of the Syrian pound.
Over three quarters of households, 76 percent, are
unable to meet their most basic needs, an increase of 10 percent from last
year, OCHA said.
Syria’s internally displaced population makes up 37
percent of the people requiring humanitarian assistance, the report said.
People who have never been displaced or who returned
to their place of origin before January 2021, are also increasingly unable to
meet basic needs, OCHA said, calling it an “indication” of the growing scale of
the crisis.
In 2021, 9.2 million vulnerable residents were
estimated to be in need, according to OCHA.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Israeli airstrikes kill three soldiers near Syria’s
Damascus: SANA
24 February ,2022
Three Syrian soldiers were killed on Thursday morning
in an Israeli air strike near the capital Damascus, according to Syria’s state
media.
It was the fourth reported time this month Israel has
launched strikes inside Syria, keeping up a campaign against pro-Iranian forces
supporting the Damascus government in the more than decade-old civil war.
“The Israeli enemy carried out an air assault with
several missiles,” state media SANA reported, adding three soldiers were
killed.
It said the Syrian air defense ministry intercepted
most of the missiles in the attack, which occurred about 1:10 am (23:10 GMT).
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), which
has an extensive network of sources in across the country, reported that
explosions were heard in Damascus and its suburbs “after the interception of
Israeli missiles by the Syrian regime’s anti-aircraft defense.”
It follows strikes in recent days on a town near the
Golan Heights, a Syrian military post on February 17 and an assault against
anti-aircraft batteries at the strat of the month.
Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has
carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syria’s territory, targeting government
positions as well as allied Iran-backed forces and fighters of the Shia
militant movement Hezbollah.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Saudi Arabia urges its citizens in Ukraine to contact
embassy as soon as possible
24 February ,2022
Saudi Arabia urged its citizens in Ukraine to reach
out to the embassy in Kyiv as soon as possible, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
said on Thursday, as tensions escalated following the Russian invasion.
“Considering the developments in Ukraine, the
Kingdom’s embassy in Ukraine calls on all citizens who are present in Ukraine
and who have not gotten in touch with the embassy during the past evacuation
phase to communicate with the embassy as soon as possible,” the ministry said.
Russian forces on Thursday fired missiles at several
cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its coast after President Vladimir Putin
authorized what he called a special military operation in the east.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Qatar’s Emir receives call from Ukraine’s Zelensky
24 February ,2022
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani received
a phone call on Thursday from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who
briefed him on the latest developments in Ukraine, Qatar’s state news agency
said.
Al-Thani called on all parties to exercise restraint
and resolve the crisis through diplomatic means, the statement added.
Meanwhile, Russia’s ground forces crossed into Ukraine
from several directions, Ukraine’s border guard service said, hours after
President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a major offensive.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Baghdad asks Ukrainian universities to grant Iraqi
students leave
Ibrahim Saleh
24.02.2022
BAGHDAD
The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said
that it has approached Ukrainian universities and educational institutes to
grant Iraqi students "emergency study leaves in case the security
situation worsened."
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special
military operation early Thursday in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.
Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Al-Sahaf said
in a statement that his country's embassy in Ukraine "approached 27
Ukrainian universities and institutes where Iraqi students are studying, and
requested them to show more care and attention to them and to facilitate
granting them emergency study leave in case the security situation deteriorates."
He noted that the embassy also requested those
Ukrainian universities and institutes to provide it with detailed information
about the conditions and numbers of Iraqi students studying there.
The embassy also urged Iraqi nationals to
"exercise caution and not visit dangerous areas in eastern Ukraine,"
according to the statement.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Africa
Franklinton man charged in homicide of local imam,
Muslim and Somali leader
Bethany Bruner
February 25, 2022
Columbus police have arrested a man they say is
responsible for the December killing of a local Muslim imam and pillar of the
Somali community.
John Wooden Jr., 46, of Franklinton, has been charged
with murder in connection with the Dec. 24 death of 48-year-old Mohamed Hassan
Adam, according to Franklin County court records.
Adam was found dead inside a van behind a chain link
fence on the 1400 block of Windsor Avenue on the city's North Side. An autopsy
revealed he had been shot multiple times.
Adam, who was an imam at Masjid Abu Hurairah mosque on
the city's Northeast Side, had last been seen on Dec. 22 when he left home to
pick up his child from a day care center on Oakland Park Avenue. He was a
prominent member of the local Muslim and Somali communities.
Wooden has been in the Franklin County jail on a
federal charge of weapons possession by a convicted felon since his arrest Feb.
18 outside the North Guilford Avenue home where he had been living.
Federal court records show Wooden had been released
from federal prison in March 2021 after serving more than 10 years for a
federal robbery conviction.
After Columbus police identified Wooden as a suspect
in the homicide of Adam, a search warrant was executed at the home where he was
living by a Columbus police SWAT team.
During that search, a shotgun was found in the
basement area where Wooden was living, and a loaded handgun was found
underneath a pair of women's underwear in a basket that was in the kitchen
area, records state.
Wooden, who arrived at the home while the search
warrant was being executed, was taken into custody without incident and has
been held in the county jail on the federal charge since his arrest last week.
Columbus police are expected to release additional
details Friday about the investigation that led to Wooden's arrest.
Adam was remembered by hundreds who gathered at his
funeral. The case has drawn international attention and a $20,000 reward had
been offered by the Ohio chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations for
information leading to an arrest.
Several people within the Muslim and Somalian
communities had reached out to The Dispatch expressing concerns over how
Columbus police initially had handled the investigation into Adam's missing
persons report.
Prior coverage:Columbus police seek tips as they
investigate homicide of imam Mohamed Hassan Adam
Police released a 15-second video clip in January of
someone — not Adam — driving the van he was last seen in. At the time the video
was released, Shukri Hassan, Adam's daughter, said her family couldn't begin to
heal until someone was held accountable for her father's death.
"We need answers quickly," she said.
"Every day that passes is another day that my father's murderer remains at
large."
Source: Dispatch
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Sudan releases over 100 anti-coup protesters after
weeks-long detention
24 February ,2022
Sudan has released 115 of some 135 anti-coup
protesters who had been held for weeks, a UN official said on Thursday,
following pressure from lawyers, families and the international community.
The detainees are part of a protest movement against
an October 25 coup that has persisted despite security crackdowns killing 82
and wound more than 2,000, according to medics.
Their detention came following the reinstatement of
powers to the country’s powerful intelligence service in late December, which
had been a key tool under former President Omar al-Bashir.
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“There’s no investigations or anything, they just take
people and throw them into jail for no cause,” said Shahinaz Jamal, an activist
at a protest in front of a UN building, this week.
Adama Dieng, the UN Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights’ designated expert for Sudan, called for the immediate release
of all the other protesters.
“I raised concern at the extension of law enforcement
powers to the general security forces during the state of emergency and the
temporary immunity from prosecution granted to these forces," he said.
Lawyers say the detainees include protesters, members
of neighborhood resistance committees, union members and politicians, some
arrested during protests and others taken from their homes and other locations.
Still imprisoned are top former officials under the
civilian-military power-sharing arrangement prior to the coup, held on
corruption charges, as well as protesters accused of killing a police brigadier-general.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Pan African body calls immediate ceasefire between
Russia, Ukraine
Addis Getachew
25.02.2022
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
The African Union on Thursday urged an immediate
ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
The pan Africa's call came hours after Russia declared
an all-out military operation in Ukraine, a move that sent shockwaves
throughout the globe while the price of oil surged $100 more per barrel.
"The current Chair of the African Union and
President of Senegal, President Macky Sall, and the Chairperson of the African
Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, express their extreme concern at the
very serious and dangerous situation created in Ukraine," a press release
just issued by the African Union Commission reads.
"They call on the Russian Federation and any
other regional or international actor to imperatively respect international
law, the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine," the
release said.
It said, "The Chair of the African Union and the
Chairperson of the African Union Commission urge the two Parties to establish
an immediate ceasefire and to open political negotiations without delay, under the
auspices of the United Nations, in order to preserve the world from the
consequences of planetary conflict, and in the interests of peace and stability
in international relations in service of all the peoples of the world."
Donbas crisis and Russia's military intervention
The February 2014 “Maidan revolution” in Ukraine led
to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western
government coming to power.
That was followed by Russia illegally annexing the
Crimea region and separatists declaring independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk
regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, both of which have large ethnic Russian
populations.
As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist
forces and the Ukrainian army, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements were signed
in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers.
The conflict, however, simmered for years with
persistent cease-fire violations.
As of February 2022, some 14,000 people have been
killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Tensions started escalating late last year when
Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of
troops on the border with Ukraine.
They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its
western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.
Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow
officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states earlier this
week, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Libya condemns Russian military operation in Ukraine
Walid Abdullah
24.02.2022
TRIPOLI, Libya
Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Elmangoush on Thursday
condemned Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine as a violation of
international law.
"We strongly condemn the military attack in
Ukraine by Russia, which is a violation of international law," Elmangoush
tweeted.
The Libyan minister went on to call on Moscow “to calm
and retreat.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin early Thursday
announced a military intervention in Ukraine, just days after recognizing two
separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine. The recognition of Donetsk and
Luhansk drew international condemnations and announcements of tougher sanctions
on Moscow.
There were reports of explosions in several Ukrainian
cities, including the capital Kyiv, and several military vehicles reportedly
crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/libya-condemns-russian-military-operation-in-ukraine/2513252
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North
America
UAE foreign minister, US secretary of state discuss
Russian invasion: State dept
25 February ,2022
UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin
Zayed and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the Russian attack on
Ukraine via telephone, the US State Department announced in a statement Friday.
It said that the duo discussed Russia’s “premeditated,
unprovoked, and unjustified attack” against Ukraine and “the importance of
building a strong international response to support Ukrainian sovereignty
through the UN Security Council.
On Wednesday, Sheikh Abdullah stressed the “strength”
of ties to Russia in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in
a phone call.
The minister discussed with Lavrov the friendship
relations and strategic partnership between the two countries, according to
reports.
Source: Al Arabiya
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US imposes sanctions on ‘intl. network financing’
Yemen’s Ansarullah
24 February 2022
The United States has imposed sanctions on what it
called members of an international network funding Ansarullah, citing the
popular Yemeni movement’s retaliatory attacks on the coalition of countries
waging war on the country.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the US
Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) claimed
that the network, led by financier Sa’id al-Jamal, had “transferred tens of
millions of dollars to Yemen via a complex international network of intermediaries
in support of the Houthis’ attacks.”
It also said the action was taken “in close
coordination and collaboration” with Washington’s regional Persian Gulf
partners.
Those targeted include a UAE- and Sweden-based
commodities trader and his company as well as money exchange houses in Turkey
and Yemen, according to the Treasury statement.
They are accused of shipping fuel, other petroleum
products and commodities throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia with the
proceeds financing Ansarullah.
The new measure freezes any assets of the designated
entities and individuals that are subject to US jurisdiction and generally bars
Americans from doing business with them.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
confirmed that the sanctions were coordinated with Washington’s Persian Gulf
allies as a response to recent Yemeni counterattacks against Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates.
“The United States remains firmly committed to helping
Saudi Arabia and the UAE defend themselves and the tens of thousands of US
citizens living in the [Persian] Gulf against these Houthi attacks,” he said.
The new sanctions come as Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and some
American lawmakers are pressing the White House to return Ansarullah to the US
list of foreign “terrorist” organizations.
However, rights and aid groups have cautioned against
blacklisting Ansarullah, saying such a move would worsen the humanitarian
crisis in Yemen.
On Wednesday, 11 Democratic senators wrote to Blinken
urging him not to re-list the Yemeni movement as the measure “would precipitate
an economic collapse, dramatically deepen the country’s severe humanitarian
crisis, and could undermine the prospects for peace in Yemen.”
Former US president Donald Trump's administration
placed Ansarullah on the list 10 days before leaving office, but his successor,
Joe Biden, reversed the decision.
In January, Biden said he was considering
re-designating Ansarullah as a “terrorist” organization.
Saudi Arabia launched a devastating military
aggression against its southern neighbor in March 2015 in collaboration with a
number of its allied states and with arms and logistics support from the US and
several Western countries.
The aim was to return to power the former
Riyadh-backed regime and crush the popular Ansarullah movement, which has been
running state affairs in the absence of an effective government in Yemen.
Source: Press TV
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/02/24/677454/US-sanctions-Yemen-Ansarullah-
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