Gujarat Cops Justify Public Flogging Of Muslims In Order To ‘Maintain Peace & Harmony’
New Age Islam News Bureau
23 February 2023
A Muslim man being beaten up
allegedly by a policeman in Gujarat's Kheda district. | Screenshot/Twitter via
Hindutva Watch
-----
• Study The Past And Question Accepted Norms To
Progress, Malaysia PM Tells Muslims
• Afghan Taliban Willing To Help Address
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Sanctuaries Issue
• United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
Calls on Authorities to Reopen Girls’ Schools and Universities
• US Delegation, Israeli Officials Hold Several Secret
Panels on Iran, Abraham Accord, Washington-Tel Aviv Relations
India
• Social Harmony: Sikhs, Hindus Join In To Build
Mosque In A Punjab Village
• Cleric, Accused Of Forcefully Converting Dozens Of
Hindu Tribal Families To Islam, Be Released On Bail If Arrested: SC To Gujarat
--------
Southeast Asia
• Interfaith dialogue a priority for new Malaysian
envoy to Holy See
• More graft charges issued against men linked to Malaysia’s
ex-PM Muhyiddin
• China reports magnitude 7.2 earthquake near border
with Tajikistan
--------
Pakistan
• Pakistan Austerity Drive Strips Ministers, Staff Of
Pay, Perks
• High-level Pakistani team meets Afghan Taliban’s
acting deputy PM; discuss security-related matters
• President Alvi signs finance bill to pave way for
IMF accord
• TTP man killed, would-be suicide bomber held
• 6 TTP Militants Killed in a Special Operation by
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police
--------
South Asia
• Taliban demand US return $3.5 billion in Afghan
assets after court ruling
• Japan Ambassador to Kabul Meets Haqqani, Discusses
Economic Challenges
• Torkham Border Reopens for Trade Transit and
Passengers: Afghan Embassy in Islamabad
• Turkiye to Handover Afghan Consulate in Istanbul to
IEA Authorities: Sources
• Afghanistan acting Foreign Minister Meets Turkish
Ambassador in Kabul
• Bangladesh’s expo in Riyadh bids to attract Saudi
customers
--------
Mideast
• Israeli Troops Kill 11 Palestinians In West Bank
Clash, Medics Say
• Israel Police warns it needs hundreds more officers
ahead of tense Ramadan
• Nuclear Chief: IAEA Team in Iran for Inspection,
Talks
• Iran Imposes Tit-for-Tat Sanctions on EU, UK
Officials, Entities
• Iran: Human Rights Violators Not Qualified to
Lecture World
• Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory ‘must
stop’: UN chief
--------
Arab World
• Hezbollah Condemns Nablus Carnage, Says Resistance
Will End Tel Aviv’s Terror
• Saudi Arabia And UAE Condemn Israel’s Deadly Raid In
Nablus, Call For De-Escalation
• WHO 'moving rapidly' with Syria quake relief as
sanctions are paused
• Egyptians lean on instalment payments to cope with
inflation
• Rocket strike in Damascus hit Iranian military
experts: Sources
• Robot With 11 Languages To Receive Visitors At King
Abdulaziz Complex For Holy Kaaba Kiswa
• Lebanese economy should benefit from maritime border
deal with Israel: US envoy
• Syrian quake survivors shelter in crumbling Aleppo
homes
• Kuwait sends humanitarian aid to quake victims in
Türkiye, Syria
--------
Africa
• Amalgamated Union Of Islamic Scholars Endorsed Atiku
For Presidency To Promote National Unity
• Tunisian rights group slams President Saied’s
‘racist’ migrant comments
• Tunisian president says irregular migration aims to
change country's demography
• LANA Director General heads committee for Benghazi
Capital of Culture in Islamic World
• Jordan sentences three to death over ISIS links
• Tunisian police arrest prominent dissident, surround
house of another
--------
North America
• US Judge Rules 9/11 Victims Cannot Seize Afghanistan
Central Bank Funds
• US extremely concerned by levels of violence in
Israel and West Bank
• Illegal presence of US forces in Syria
'destabilizing' country: Iranian minister
--------
Europe
• Work To Create Harrogate District’s First Mosque
Continues After Asbestos Delay
• Protesting death sentence on dissident, Germany
brands 2 Iranian diplomats persona non grata
• Germany expels two Iranian diplomats in support for
terror ringleader
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/gujarat-cops-flogging-muslims-peace-harmony/d/129180
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Gujarat Cops Justify Public Flogging Of Muslims In Order To ‘Maintain Peace & Harmony’
A Muslim man being beaten up
allegedly by a policeman in Gujarat's Kheda district. | Screenshot/Twitter via
Hindutva Watch
-----
February 22, 2023
In a rare defiance of legal norms, a few Gujarat
police officials have justified the public flogging of Muslim men in order to
‘maintain peace & harmony’.
An affidavit submitted in the high court on the
flogging of Muslims during Navratri last year, Kheda district police officials
have said that the public flogging of the detained Muslims was carried out to
maintain peace and harmony in the area.
During Navratri at Undhela village of the Kheda
district on 3 October last year, a few Muslim men were detained for attacking a
Garba dance site near a mosque. They were dragged out, tied to a pole and
publicly beaten up with sticks by the police as the crowd assembled for
Navratri cheered the cops.
The affidavit was filed in the Gujarat High Court in
response to a contempt of court petition filed by the accused who stated that
the public flogging was in contravention of earlier apex court rulings on the
subject.
The petitioners demanded action against 15 police
personnel who had tied them to poles and flogged them in public.
In a separate affidavit, another policeman claimed
that their action was “in discharge of their duties”.
Source: The Statesman
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original story:
https://www.thestatesman.com/india/gujarat-cops-justify-public-flogging-of-muslims-1503156638.html
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Study The Past And Question Accepted Norms To
Progress, Malaysia PM Tells Muslims
Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim
-----
By Zakiah Koya
22 Feb 2023
GOMBAK: The way forward for the Muslim education world
is not to focus just on the legalistic aspect of Islam but to continuously
question accepted norms in order to make progressive change, says Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He also said Muslims of today must study the history
of Muslims in the early days to find out how Rulers such as Saladin engaged
with non-Muslim kingdoms to keep the peace and concentrate on the people's
issues.
Anwar said this in his concluding address at the
International Conference on Abdul Hamid Abu Sulayman at the International
Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) here on Wednesday (Feb 22).
Prof Emeritus Datuk Abdul Hamid A. Abu Sulayman was
the co-founder and second rector of IIUM from 1988 to 1998. He was known as a
contemporary scholar of the Muslim world and died in 2021 at 85.
Anwar said although he was busy with the pending 2023
Budget re-tabling on Friday (Feb 24), he decided to make time to pay respects
to the late Prof Abdul Hamid who was instrumental in making IIUM the Islamic
centre of education it is today.
Also present were IIUM rector Prof Emeritus Tan Sri
Dzulkifli Abdul Razak and Dr Hisham Altalib of the International Institute of
Islamic Thought.
“Abdul Hamid was a man obsessed with the development
and concept of IIUM and impatient to effect change, and continuously questioned
the accepted norms," Anwar said in his address.
"That is why I popularised Abdul Hamid’s way of
thinking as there was then a crisis of the Muslim mind.
“For decades, he challenged the traditional way of
Islamic thinking, of propagating Islam purely on right and wrong.
“Abdul Hamid wanted Muslims to understand the first
decade of the rule of Salahuddin Ayub (Saladin, founder of the 12th-century
Ayyubid dynasty) and how he was able to engage with non-Muslim kingdoms in that
region.
“We tend to ignore the concept of education. In the
process, we focus on legalistic issues and in our ideals, fail in our attempts
to change society."
He also said that while there were many books on
orientalism – the study of the history, languages and cultures of the East –
there is a need for more literature from this region which studied how the
western colonialists regarded traditional societies.
“Books on orientalism challenged the accepted notions
and concepts of hatred of 'The Other', or those who are not from the
West," he told a crowd of mostly IIUM students and diplomats.
At the same event, he also launched a few books, the
manuscript for one which he read while he was incarcerated in Sungai Buloh
prison.
Source: The Star
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original story:
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Afghan Taliban Willing To Help Address
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan Sanctuaries Issue
Defence Minister Khawaja
Asif meets Afghanistan’s Acting First Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan for
Economic Affairs Abdul Ghani Baradar on Wednesday.—Photo from Afghan Prime
Minister’s Office
-----
Baqir Sajjad Syed
February 23, 2023
ISLAMABAD: The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday promised to
cooperate with the Pakistan government on its concerns about the presence of
the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters and sanctuaries on its
soil after Islamabad delivered a stark warning on the issue.
The Foreign Office in a statement issued after a
day-long trip by a delegation led by Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif to
Kabul said growing TTP and IS-K threat was discussed and “the two sides agreed
to collaborate to effectively address the threat of terrorism”.
The delegation among others included ISI Chief Lt Gen
Nadeem Anjum, Foreign Secretary Asad Majid, Special Envoy on Afghanistan
Muhammad Sadiq and Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Afghanistan Obaid Nizamani,
who has been here since the gun attack on him on Dec 3.
The visit took place days after the TTP gunmen raided
the police headquarters in Karachi in which four people including three
security personnel lost their lives. Earlier a suicide bomb explosion in
Peshawar mosque on Jan 30 claimed nearly 100 lives. The TTP was blamed for the
mosque attack as well.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in TTP violence since
peace talks between the militant group and the government began to falter in
the later half of last year. The TTP formally ended ceasefire on November 28
and since then 58 attacks have been claimed by the group in which 170 people
died.
Many of these attacks were planned and directed by the
TTP leadership based in Afghanistan.
A senior Pakistani official, while talking to Dawn, on
the background said the delegation delivered a pointed message to the Taliban
officials that Afghanistan-based TTP elements must be reined in.
The visiting delegation had met Taliban Deputy Prime
Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar Akhund, Defence Minister Mawlavi Mohammad
Yaqoob Mujahid, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and Foreign Minister Amir
Khan Muttaqi.
Afghan leaders have in the past always rejected the
allegations that TTP used their country’s soil for attacks in Pakistan, but the
official said this time they surprisingly agreed to cooperate on the issue.
“Probably they realised the gravity of the situation,” he further said.
The details of the cooperation against the TTP would
be worked out in subsequent meetings between the two sides at the experts and
technical level.
The two sides in their meetings also discussed the
broader issues of counter-terrorism and border security cooperation.
Afghan Taliban, meanwhile, said the two parties had
discussed economic cooperation, regional connectivity, trade, and the state of
bilateral relations.
Mullah Baradar urged Pakistan not to allow “political
and security concerns to affect business or economic matters”.
The official, who spoke on background, said the
delegation linked progress on all these ideas for enhacing bilateral
cooperation to Afghan Taliban addressing the concerns about TTP presence in
their country.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1738650/kabul-willing-to-help-address-ttp-sanctuaries-issue
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United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Calls
on Authorities to Reopen Girls’ Schools and Universities
UNAMA/Fraidoon Poya Afghan
students perform during graduation at their degree-award ceremony at a
university in Herat, Afghanistan
-----
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
February 21, 2023
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(UNAMA) says schools and universities will resume in a month throughout the
country, as millions of girls are deprived of attending education at secondary
and higher levels.
UNAMA on Tuesday said on Twitter that the Afghan
Interim Regime should now take action to improve the living conditions of the
ordinary people and the future of Afghanistan.
The UN agency described the ban on female students’
education as a clear violation of human rights and “self-harm” as the country
is already wrestling with a dire humanitarian situation.
Since the return of the Taliban to power in August
2021, the group has banned female students to attend schools above grade six as
well as university.
Following the implementation of the recent
gender-based restrictions, human rights organizations have called the Taliban’s
move gender partied, where women have been completely erased from public life.
On the contrary, Taliban officials have repeatedly
stated that the bans are temporary and will be removed as soon as a pure
Islamic environment is created. According to the Islamic Emirate authorities,
the ordinary people’s mindset has been corrupted by the presence of
Western-style culture over the past two decades.
In response to the human rights organization’s
statement, the Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid has said that the United
Nations agencies and the international community should not interfere in the
internal affairs of Afghanistan. They should respect Afghan culture and values
as well as Islamic Sharia laws instead, he added.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.khaama.com/unama-calls-on-iea-authorities-to-reopen-grils-schools-and-universities/
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US Delegation, Israeli Officials Hold Several Secret
Panels on Iran, Abraham Accord, Washington-Tel Aviv Relations
Photo: Fars News
-----
2023-February-22
"The First Secret Meeting of Tikvah” started on
Tuesday morning local time in Israel. Several American and Israeli officials,
including Netanyahu, Pompeo and US senators, have attended the highly protected
panels that was to be kept completely confidential.
Netanyahu was the first speaker of the summit. His
speech coincided with the massive rallies across the occupied territories
against his plan to limit judicial influence. The prime minister raised his
vision on promoting the Zionist regime to a regional leader, and spoke about
political and security issues in the region as well as strategies to deal with
challenges facing Tel Aviv and Washington on the international scene.
Manager of ultra-orthodox Jewish center "The
Tikvah fund" Amiad Cohen, Rotem Sella and Walter Russel Mead were also
present at the panel.
The second part of the summit was held on Wednesday
morning local time. Yuval Steinitz, a member of the Knesset for the Likud
party, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Mark Dubowitz, and
General Yaakov Amidror, the former National Security Advisor, also debated
strategic partnership between Washington and Tel Aviv in pursuit of common
goals.
Dr. Ebtesam Al-Ketabi, the president of the United
Arab Emirates Human Rights Commission, gave a speech at the next panel. She has
played a key role in normalization of relations between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi.
Dr. Michael Doran and Nimrod Gez accompanied Al-Ketabi
during the panel to discuss building a regional coalition between Sunnis and
Shiites against Iran's growing power and domination in the region.
Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho and Former US Special Representative for
Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams are due to deliver a speech on various
policies of support for Israel at the fourth panel.
Pompeo is due to address the event on “American Global
Leadership into the Future” at the fifth part of the summit before lunch. The
former diplomat, who is advancing his election campaign for the upcoming US
presidential election, hopes for the financial support from the Israeli
lobbies.
The protection team of Pempeo, whose arrest warrant
has been issued by Tehran over the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem
Soleimani, has been stationed in Israel since past week. The team has evaluated
the meeting’s venue to guarantee the security of the participants.
The first speakers of the Wednesday noon's panels will
be Karen Elliott House, the former Wall Street Journal analyst and editor.
Joshua Teitelbaum, the Israeli analyst and Shiite expert, along with Elliott
House, will exchange views on the future of modernization in Saudi Arabia, the
Kingdom’s relations with the US, as well as the Abraham Accord and the
normalization of ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv.
Former Israeli National Security Advisor and former lead
negotiator on the Iran nuclear deal with the US, Meir Ben-Shabbat, will conduct
an address on Israel’s neighbors and the balance of power in the region.
Wednesday’s Panels will end with a speech by Senator
Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Peter Berkowitz, the former Director of Policy
Planning at the United States Department of State.
The summit will continue on Thursday, and Abrams,
along with Natan Sharansky, anti-Russian figure and the former Chairman of the
Executive for the Jewish Agency, and Mickey Aharanson, the former head of the
Foreign Relations Department of the National Security Council in the Israeli
Prime Minister's Office, will hold a panel to debate the effects of the
Russia-Ukraine war on the global affairs, Europe and West Asia.
The 10th panel will be held with lectures by Eli
Groner, Dov Zigler and Eli Miller on the global economy and the future problems
of Israel, and the 11th panel is dedicated to speeches by Simcha Rothman, the
chairman of the Knesset Judiciary Commission, and Moshe Koppel on the effects
of legal reforms on Israel's national security.
Abrams will attend a panel for the third time to speak
on politics of support for Israel, along with US Senator Mitch McConnell of
Kentucky.
At the end of the summit, the former and current US
ambassadors to Israel, David Friedman and Thomas R. Nides, will discuss the
strategic relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv in future. Cohen will
also deliver the final speech.
The US delegation has also held several meetings with
Israeli officials on the sidelines of the so-called “secret summit”. Pompeo on
Tuesday night met with Netanyahu, discussing Netanyahu and his cabinet’s
support for Pompeo and his party in the upcoming US presidential election.
US Regional Security Office as well as Israeli police
and security agencies have tightened security measures after the Fars News
Agency (FNA) disclossed the deatils of the secret meetings.
The Pompeo's protection team has for days evaluated
the security conditions of the summit's venue for fear of his life. The main
challenging issue that the team faced during the last week was assessing the
security condition of the second venue of the summit which lays 200 meters away
from the hotel at Sea House on the Mediterranean coast; the team is worried
that the resistance forces might be waiting for the former diplomat at this
location. He is placed at the top of the list of Iran's revenge for the
assassination of Lieut. Gen. Soleimani.
Source: Fars News Agency
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original story:
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India
Social Harmony: Sikhs, Hindus Join In To Build Mosque
In A Punjab Village
Feb 23, 2023
BATHINDA: Amid the shrill communal rhetoric all around
nowadays, a gesture by Hindu and Sikh residents of Khunan Khurd village in
Punjab’s Muktsar district is proof that social harmony and a sense of
brotherhood is very much alive in India.
The two communities contributed money and building
material to construct a mosque for the five Muslim families living in the
village, who had no place to offer Namaz. When the mosque finally got ready on
Tuesday, all the residents cutting across faiths joined Muslims to inaugurate
it.
The villagers also offered Siropas (robes of honour)
to the Muslims. The Muslim families offered the first Namaz in the newly-built
mosque on Tuesday in the presence of the villagers.
“There were only five Muslim families in the village
and they had no place to offer Namaz. The Waqf board had provided a small piece
of land but the families did not have resources to construct a mosque.
Residents of the village, both Hindus and Sikhs, then came forward and helped
their Muslim brethren to construct the mosque,” Punjab Shahi Imam Mohammad
Usman Rehmani, who visited the village, told TOI.
Khunan Khurd resident Mohinder Singh said the Muslims
were not in a position to build the mosque on their own and the other residents
had happily contributed and joined the festivities when the place of worship
was inaugurated on Tuesday.
In December last year, a Sikh family of Bakhatgarh
village in Barnala district had donated a piece of land to 15 Muslim families
of the village to construct a mosque.
Source: Times Of India
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Cleric, Accused Of Forcefully Converting Dozens Of
Hindu Tribal Families To Islam, Be Released On Bail If Arrested: SC To Gujarat
February 23, 2023
The Supreme Court has directed the state of Gujarat
that a Muslim cleric accused of forcefully converting dozens of Hindu tribal
families to Islam be released on bail if arrested.
A bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar noted
that accused Varyava Abdul Vahab Mahmood had been granted interim protection from
arrest in May last year and that he, in accordance with its January 13, 2023
order, had been appearing before the investigating officer every day for
interrogation.
The bench in its February 17 order said that “…in the
facts and circumstances of the case…and the fact that the petitioner has been
protected by interim order since 13.05.2022 and thereafter has appeared before
the investigating agency as per the subsequent order passed by this court, we
deem it proper to confirm the ad-interim order passed earlier and direct that,
in case of arrest of the petitioner, he be released on bail on the terms and
conditions, which may be imposed by the learned trial court”.
The court added that “if the state/investigating
agency is of the opinion that the custodial investigation is required, in that
case, it will be open for the investigating agency to move an appropriate
application before the concerned court and the present order shall not come in
the way of the investigating agency”. It said that “as and when such an
application is made, the same be considered by the concerned court in
accordance with law and on its own merits and after giving an opportunity to
the petitioner”.
Mahmood is facing charges under the Freedom of
Religion Act and provisions of the IPC. Mahmood, was arraigned as an accused in
December 2021 upon addition of new charges in an existing FIR of November 2021
at Amod police station in Bharuch.
According to the original FIR filed on November 15,
2021, by one tribal man Praveen Vasava, it was alleged that Vasava was
converted into Islam by several accused in 2018 and was rechristened as Salman
Vasant Patel. A total of nine persons were named in the FIR.
Vasava in his complaint stated that the accused people
“lured innocent Hindu tribals” of the at Kakariya village in Bharuch “with
money and in some cases built houses for them and converted them into Islam,”
Mahmood has also filed a quashing petition before the Gujarat HC, seeking that
the FIR be quashed and set aside.
Source: Indian Express
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Southeast Asia
Interfaith dialogue a priority for new Malaysian envoy
to Holy See
By SHARON LING
22 Feb 2023
KUCHING: Promoting interfaith dialogue will be among
the priorities of Malaysia's new Ambassador to the Holy See, Hendy Assan.
He said his role would be different from ambassadors
to other nations as the Holy See was the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic
church.
"We don't have trade and investment (there).
Basically what we are doing is to promote interfaith dialogue among the
different faiths in the world.
"We also try to share our experience as a
progressive Muslim country because they look highly on Malaysia," he said.
He was speaking to reporters during a courtesy call
with Malaysian Ambassador to Brazil Gloria Corina Tiwet on state Women,
Childhood and Community Well-being Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah
Abdullah here on Wednesday (Feb 22).
Hendy, a Sarawakian, also said he would look into the
welfare of Malaysians residing or studying in Vatican City, besides fostering
social, cultural and education cooperation.
"I will do my best not only for our nation but in
particular for Sarawak because many Sarawakians are of the Catholic
faith," he added.
Fellow Sarawakian Gloria said she would look at
bilateral relations between Malaysia and Brazil, focusing on trade and
agriculture cooperation.
"There's a lot of potential, especially in
agriculture.
"What's important now is to increase trade
between our countries because our government is looking into trade cooperation
and bilateral relations," she said.
Hendy and Gloria were among 10 new Malaysian heads of
mission who received their letters of appointment from the Yang di-Pertuan
Agong on Feb 9.
Source: The Star
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More graft charges issued against men linked to
Malaysia’s ex-PM Muhyiddin
Ram Anand
FEB 22, 2023
KUALA LUMPUR - A third man linked to Malaysia’s former
prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was charged on Wednesday with graft in relation
to a Covid-19 stimulus programme started under the Muhyiddin administration,
while another man was handed additional charges after being charged on Tuesday.
Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad, a leader in Tan Sri
Muhyiddin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), was charged with two
counts of receiving bribes amounting to RM4.1 million (S$1.2 million). Just a
day before, he was charged with receiving a RM500,000 bribe and soliciting a
cut of a deal from an infrastructure company.
As Adam’s charges were read out in Kuala Lumpur,
another businessman with alleged links to Mr Muhyiddin was charged in Johor for
allegedly soliciting bribes worth RM12.8 million.
Teo Wee Cheng, 65, was previously named a “close
friend” of the former premier by one of the witnesses in Umno chief Zahid
Hamidi’s graft trial in 2022.
On Tuesday, Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan
Jan was charged with accepting bribes worth RM6.9 million to help secure
projects under the Jana Wibawa initiative.
All three men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Wednesday’s charges balloon the value of the Jana
Wibawa controversy to RM24.1 million, following an investigation by the
Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission.
Jana Wibawa is one of several Covid-19 stimulus initiatives
that came on the radar of the anti-graft body after Prime Minister Anwar
Ibrahim claimed that funds were misused.
Mr Muhyiddin’s administration had initiated the
programme to help bumiputera, or Malay-Muslim, contractors. Construction
projects were awarded under this scheme through direct negotiation with the
government, instead of a tender process.
Zahid, who is now deputy prime minister, said last
week that Jana Wibawa projects worth RM5.7 billion have been halted pending a
review of their procurement processes.
Mr Muhyiddin, who heads Malaysia’s opposition
coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN), has said the charges were a form of
“selective persecution” meant to taint opposition leaders with graft charges at
a time when several government leaders, including Zahid, are also facing graft
trials.
Wan Saiful resigned as Bersatu information chief on
Wednesday, but Mr Muhyiddin insisted the move was not an admission of guilt.
Mr Muhyiddin was prime minister between March 2020
until August 2021, and is the second-shortest serving premier in Malaysia. His
premiership was almost entirely dominated by Malaysia’s struggles with the
Covid 19 pandemic and a six-month-long state of emergency.
Source: Straits Times
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China reports magnitude 7.2 earthquake near border
with Tajikistan
Feb 23, 2023
BEIJING: An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2
magnitude struck eastern Tajikistan on Thursday. The earthquake occurred at
approximately 5:37 am local time (0037 GMT) at a depth of about 20.5 kilometres
(12.7 miles).
The China Earthquake Networks Centre said the quake
was 7.2 magnitude and 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep. However, initial seismic
measurements by different agencies, including the USGS, often differ in reporting
the magnitude of the earthquake .
The earthquake's epicentre seems to be located in
Gorno-Badakhshan, a semi-autonomous region that borders Afghanistan and China,
roughly 67 kilometres from the small mountain town of Murghob. Following the
initial quake, the area experienced a 5.0-magnitude aftershock about 20 minutes
later, followed by a 4.6-magnitude earthquake.
The region where the earthquake occurred is sparsely
populated and is surrounded by the towering Pamir Mountains. Lake Sarez, one of
Tajikistan's largest lakes, is located in this area, which has an aquamarine
hue and was created as a result of an earthquake in 1911. A natural dam deep in
the Pamir mountains exists behind Lake Sarez, and experts have cautioned that
the consequences would be catastrophic if the dam were to fail.
Source: Times Of India
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Pakistan
Pakistan austerity drive strips ministers, staff of
pay, perks
Feb 23, 2023
ISLAMABAD: The cash-strapped Pakistan government
decided on Wednesday that austerity begins at home, with PM Shehbaz Sharif, his
federal ministerial colleagues, advisers and special assistants “agreeing” to
forego their salaries and generous perks as the country pursues a staff-level
agreement with the IMF for the release of $1. 2 billion in aid. “They (all
federal and other ministers and their aides) will now pay their own utility
bills, return all luxury vehicles and fly economy on domestic and foreign
trips,” PM Sharif told the media.
He said the government’s support staff would no longer
be allowed to go on state visits while cabinet members and government officers
wouldn’t stay in five-star hotels during foreign trips. This, the PM claimed,
would shave 15% off the current expenditure of ministries, departments and sub
departments, translating into savings of Rs 200 billion annually. “Until June
2024, there will be a complete ban on purchase of luxury items and all types of
new cars,” he said.
Sharif said that all government residences in city
centres would be sold off, adding that no officer shall be allotted more than
one plot and excess plots shall be taken back. He urged the chief justices of
the HCs and the Supreme Court, besides all CMs, to adopt similar austerity
measures. He said the cabinet decided that data pertaining to the Toshakhana
(state depository) and the gifts received to date would be made public on its
website. Any minister, including the PM, would not be allowed to retain gifts
valued above $300.
On the government’s ongoing talks with the IMF, the PM
said negotiations with the global lender were at the “last stage” and would be
settled in a few days, although inflation could remain a persistent threat.
“IMF wanted us to reduce subsidies, and that will cause further inflation. They
want us to subsidise only the poor, but to determine this they have their own
parameters,” he said.
Acknowledging that measures of entrenchment and
simplicity would not reduce the burden of inflation, he reasoned that they
would at least reduce the resentment “that is accumulated in the people because
of what has been happening for the past 75 years”.
Source: Times Of India
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High-level Pakistani team meets Afghan Taliban’s
acting deputy PM; discuss security-related matters
SAJJAD HUSSAIN
22 February, 2023
Islamabad, Feb 22 (PTI) A high-level Pakistani
delegation led by Defence Minister Khwaja Asif on Wednesday met with
Afghanistan’s Taliban regime’s acting deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani
Baradar and discussed security-related matters including counter-terrorism
measures, amidst the worsening of ties between the two neighbours.
Asif is accompanied by Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed Khan, Charge
d’Affaires to Afghanistan Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani and Pakistan’s Special
Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq.
“A high-ranking delegation led by the Minister for
Defence is in Kabul today to meet with officials of the Afghan Interim
Government to discuss security-related matters including counter-terrorism
measures,” the Foreign Office said in a brief statement.
A statement from the Afghan Council of Ministers
(prime minister) said the two sides discussed economic cooperation, regional
connectivity, trade, and bilateral relations.
It said that the Afghan deputy prime minister asked
the Pakistani delegation to release Taliban prisoners detained in jails across
Pakistan. He also asked for more facilities at the two key border crossing
points of Torkhan and Chaman.
“Pakistan and Afghanistan are neighbours and should
have cordial relations. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants expansion of
commercial and economic relations with Pakistan as such relations are in the
interest of both countries,” the statement quoted Baradar as saying.
He noted that political and security issues should not
affect trade and economic matters between the two countries and be kept
separate from political and security problems.
The Pakistani side assured Afghanistan to resolve the
problems, adding that the concerned ministries and committees would be asked to
step up efforts for solutions to these problems, according to the statement.
The visit by the delegation comes as the Torkham
border trading and crossing point between the two countries remained closed for
the third straight day after a deadlock over starting a dialogue prevailed
between border officials.
The Afghan side had shut the border crossing, accusing
Pakistan of reneging on its commitments, including those related to unhindered
movement of people from Afghanistan seeking treatment in Pakistan.
There was mention of the security issues discussed in
the Afghan statement but it is believed that Pakistan highlighted the issue of
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants using the Afghan soil for attacks
inside Pakistan.
TTP has increased the attacks in recent months and
apparently it has become stronger since the takeover of Afghanistan by the
Taliban who asked Pakistan to hold talks with the group. But the talks have
failed as Islamabad was not ready to accept the demands by the rebels.
In November, the TTP called off an indefinite ceasefire
agreed with the government in June and ordered its militants to carry out
attacks on the security forces. Since then, Pakistan has seen a rise in
terrorist attacks across the country.
The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the
Afghan Taliban and also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an
umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose
its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan.
Pakistan had hoped that the Afghan Taliban after
coming to power would stop the use of their soil against Pakistan by expelling
the TTP operatives but they have apparently refused to do so at the cost of
straining ties with Islamabad.
The TTP, which is believed to be close to al-Qaeda,
has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack
on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing
of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
In 2012, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai was attacked
by TTP. She suffered bullet injuries and was admitted to the Military Hospital
(CMH) Peshawar and then taken to London for further treatment. The TTP claimed
responsibility for the attack, saying that Yousafzai was a “Western-minded
girl”.
Source: The Print
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President Alvi signs finance bill to pave way for IMF
accord
Mubarak Zeb Khan
February 23, 2023
President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday signed the Finance
(Supplementary) Bill, 2023, generally known as the mini-budget, as the
government rushed to fulfil the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditions
to unlock an economic bailout that the country needs to avoid the risk of default.
The Prime Minister Secretariat sent the bill to the
President Secretariat on Wednesday evening for assent, two days after it was
passed by the National Assembly.
“The president gave the approval to the bill in
accordance with Article 75 of the Constitution,” the media wing of the
President House said in a statement today.
Under Article 75 (1), the president has no power to
reject or object to the finance bill, which is considered to be a money bill as
per the Constitution.
The article reads “When a Bill is presented to the
President for assent, the President shall, within [ten] days,–(a) assent to the
Bill; or (b) in the case of a Bill other than a Money Bill, return the Bill to
the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) with a message requesting that the Bill or any
specified provision thereof, be reconsidered and that any amendment specified
in the message be considered”.
With the implementation of all major prior actions,
Pakistan is eyeing a staff-level agreement with the IMF this week which will
also pave the way for much-awaited credit flows from other bilateral and
multilateral lenders.
A well-placed source had earlier told Dawn that
Pakistan and IMF will sign the staff-level agreement on Feb 28. This will be
followed, according to the source, by the IMF executive board meeting expected
in the first week of March.
The IMF had asked the government to raise an
additional Rs170 billion in tax revenue. The bulk of tax measures worth Rs115bn
was already implemented from Feb 14 through Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs).
Now, after the president’s formal assent, the remaining Rs55bn tax measures
will come into effect.
The bill had proposed increasing GST from 17 per cent
to 25pc on 33 categories of goods covering 860 tariff lines — including
high-end mobile phones, imported food, decoration items, and other luxury
goods.
Through the finance bill, the excise duty on cement
has been raised from Rs1.5 to Rs2 per kilogram, a measure estimated to fetch
another Rs6bn.
The excise duty on carbonated/aerated drinks has been
raised to 20pc from 13pc to raise an additional Rs10bn for the government.
A new excise tax of 10pc was proposed on non-aerated
drinks like juices — mango, orange, etc. — to raise an additional tax of Rs4bn.
The increase in excise duty on business-, first- and
club-class air tickets will raise an additional Rs10bn for the government.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1738705/president-alvi-signs-finance-bill-to-pave-way-for-imf-accord
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TTP man killed, would-be suicide bomber held
February 23, 2023
NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Security forces have killed one
militant, an affiliate of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and
arrested a would-be suicide bomber along with five others on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued by the military’s
media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), an exchange of fire took
place between security forces and militants in general area Spinwam, adding
that one militants was killed during an intense exchange of fire.
“The killed militant remained actively involved in
terrorist activities against security forces and civilians,” the ISPR stated.
Meanwhile, security forces arrested a wound-be suicide
bomber and five other militants, including four facilitators.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1738658/ttp-man-killed-would-be-suicide-bomber-held
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6 TTP Militants Killed in a Special Operation by
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
February 23, 2023
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Counter-Terrorism Department Police
killed six alleged terrorists affiliated with the banned Terheek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) during a special operation in Lakki Marwat on Thursday.
Lakki Marwat police spokesperson Shahid Hameed said
that security personnel conducted an anti-terrorist operation near Dadiwala
police station after they received intelligence that terrorists were planning
an attack on the Abbas police check post.
After the fire exchange between the two sides, police
officials found the dead bodies of six terrorists in their hideouts, with some
loaded arms, ammunition, and grenades, the police spokesperson said.
Hameed stated that four terrorists were identified and
the identification of the other two is underway. The terrorists had been
declared wanted by the Lakki Marwat police and the CTD for their involvement in
attacks on the police, he added.
The terrorist group has conducted several deadly
attacks in Lakki Marwat and other areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the past
couple of months. In November last year, the outlawed TTP militants opened fire
on a police van traveling to the Abbas police check post, resulting in the
death of six police personnel.
Terrorism and militancy have unprecedentedly increased
in Pakistan since the TTP called off its unilateral ceasefire with the
Pakistani government in November. Since then the insurgent group has launched
several deadly attacks mostly targeting police officials and army personnel in
Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and other major cities of Pakistan.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/6-ttp-militants-killed-in-a-special-operation-by-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-police/
--------
South Asia
Taliban demand US return $3.5 billion in Afghan assets
after court ruling
Feb 22, 2023
KABUL: Taliban authorities called on Washington
Wednesday to return $3.5 billion belonging to Afghanistan's central bank after
a New York federal judge ruled the families of victims in the 9/11 attacks
cannot seize the funds.
The United States took control of the assets soon
after the Taliban stormed back to power in Afghanistan in 2021, with President
Joe Biden saying the money could be made available to the families of 9/11
victims.
A group of families -- who years earlier sued the
Taliban for their losses and won -- has since moved to seize the funds to pay
off the judgment debt.
But Judge George Daniels of the Southern District of
New York said Tuesday the federal courts lack the jurisdiction to seize the
funds from Afghanistan's central bank.
"The Judgment Creditors are entitled to collect
on their default judgments and be made whole for the worst terrorist attack in
our nation's history, but they cannot do so with the funds of the central bank
of Afghanistan," Daniels explained in a 30-page opinion.
"The Taliban -- not the former Islamic Republic
of Afghanistan or the Afghan people -- must pay for the Taliban's liability in
the 9/11 attacks."
Daniels also said he was "constitutionally
restrained" from awarding the assets to the families because it would
effectively mean recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government of
Afghanistan.
No nation has recognized the Taliban government so far
-- including the United States.
"The fundamental conclusion... is that neither
the Taliban nor the Judgment Creditors are entitled to raid the coffers of the
state of Afghanistan to pay the Taliban's debts."
Daniels' ruling, which aligns with a recommendation by
another judge last year, deals a blow to the families of the victims of 9/11,
as well as insurance companies that made payments because of the attacks.
A lawyer for the families said they would appeal the
ruling.
"This decision deprives over 10,000 members of
the 9/11 community of their right to collect compensation from the Taliban, a
terrorist group which was found liable for the 9/11 attacks on America,"
Lee Wolosky said in a statement to AFP.
The Taliban authorities welcomed the court ruling.
"These assets belong to Afghanistan. There should
be no excuse to freeze or to not return them to the people of
Afghanistan," Bilal Karimi, deputy government spokesman, told AFP.
"They must be returned without any terms and
conditions."
More than 2,900 people died when four hijacked planes
crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington,
DC, and a field in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.
The attack was carried out by jihadist group Al-Qaeda,
whose leader, Osama bin Laden, had found refuge in Afghanistan under the first
Taliban government, which had ruled the country since 1996.
Then-president George W Bush authorized the invasion
of Afghanistan in response, swiftly toppling the Taliban -- but they launched
an insurgency that led to years of war between the US-backed government in
Kabul supported by international forces, and the Taliban.
With the withdrawal of US-led forces in August 2021,
the Taliban retook power and reimposed their fundamental version of Islamic
law.
The country was almost entirely dependent on foreign
aid and has seen its economy teeter on the brink of collapse since Washington
froze $7 billion in Afghan assets.
It now faces one of the world's worst humanitarian
crises, international aid agencies say, with its 38 million population hungry
and three million children at risk of malnutrition.
Biden revealed a plan in February 2022 to split the
cash, with half directed as aid to Afghanistan and half going to families of
victims of the 9/11 attacks.
Source: Times Of India
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Japan Ambassador to Kabul Meets Haqqani, Discusses
Economic Challenges
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
February 22, 2023
Afghanistan’s Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin
Haqqani on Wednesday met with Japan’s Ambassador to Kabul Takashi Okada, and
discussed key economic challenges the country is currently faced with.
During the visit, the Acting Interior Minister said
that imposing sanctions would not be in the interest of anyone. Problems could
be addressed through dialogue, and solutions could be sought accordingly.
While praising the Japanese government’s long-standing
assistance with the people of Afghanistan, Haqqani said that economic sanctions
and banking restrictions have already harmed the people of Afghanistan to a
great extent.
“Sanction policy does not benefit anyone, only
dialogue and meaningful engagements can solve problems. Unfortunately, the world
is punishing the common people and the current regime with its political
agendas,” Haqqani said.
This comes as the European Union considers introducing
a new set of sanctions on the Taliban authorities accused of violating
fundamental human rights through their repressive policies against women and
girls in Afghanistan.
For his part, Ambassador Okada once again asked the
Afghan Interim Government to lift the bans and allow girls to access education
as the new academic year begins in a month’s time. He also expressed his
thoughts about Japan’s commitment to the economic development of Afghanistan
and the continuation of humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.
Currently, Afghanistan is plagued with a dire economic
and humanitarian crisis with almost zero foreign investment. The Taliban-run
administration is heavily relying on international humanitarian aid to help the
most vulnerable families across the country.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/japan-ambassador-to-kabul-meets-haqqani-discusses-economic-challenges/
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Torkham Border Reopens for Trade Transit and
Passengers: Afghan Embassy in Islamabad
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
February 23, 2023
The Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad has announced
that Torkham Border will reopen for passengers and trade transit on Thursday.
The embassy has said after negotiations with Pakistani
officials regarding the concerned issues, both sides agreed to resume crossing
at Torkham gate and allow all passengers, including patients and trade transit
to use this land route.
The Taliban officials on Sunday evening closed
Torkham, one of the main trading and border crossing routes with Pakistan.
Afghanistan’s de facto authorities have accused Islamabad of breaching
commitments. However, it is still not clear to which obligations Pakistan has
not been faithful.
A day after the closure of the Torkham border, intense
cross-border shelling erupted between Pakistani and Afghan border security
forces, lasting hours.
Meanwhile, Afghan traders mostly from the eastern
Jalalabad province say that due to the closure of the Torkham crossing point,
they have already lost millions of dollars.
Since February 20, more than 3000 trucks belonging to
Afghan traders loaded with commercial goods have been stuck on both sides of
the Durand line.
Some Afghan traders expressed their concerns over the
existing issue and said if the Torkham crossing point does not open, not only
the traders will lose financially, but the overall prices will increase in
Afghanistan.
Furthermore, Afghan patients who are willing to travel
to Pakistan for treatment have complained about the disruption of the Torkham
border, and have expected the reopening of the crossing point at the soonest
for passengers and patients.
Meanwhile, a team of high-ranking Pakistan Delegation
headed be Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, on Wednesday traveled to Kabul and
visited the Islamic Emirate Deputy Prime Minister, Mullah Abdul Ghani Bradar.
The visit was aimed at discussing security concerns
and initiating joint actions to combat terrorism and militancy in both
countries, the foreign ministry of Pakistan said in a statement.
Source: Khaama Press
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Turkiye to Handover Afghan Consulate in Istanbul to
IEA Authorities: Sources
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
February 23, 2023
The government of Turkiye plans to hand over the
Consulate General of Afghanistan in Istanbul to the Taliban diplomats,
according to Afghanistan International.
It is also stated that the employees of the Afghan
Consulate in Istanbul were told to prepare for the handover of the diplomatic
mission to the Taliban officials, according to official sources.
It is believed that the Taliban have introduced Gul
Mohammad Zadran as the group’s diplomat the Consulate General of Afghanistan in
Istanbul.
The ministry of foreign affairs of Afghanistan’s de
facto regime has fired three Afghan diplomats in Turkiye, Afghanistan
International reported. Ahmad Baryalee Kabirzada, Sayeed Hameed Nomani, and
Hekmatullah Durrani were among the diplomats who have been officially fired by
the Taliban authorities.
No single country has formally recognized the Taliban
regime, however, certain countries including Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, and
Turkmenistan which has close ties with the Afghan interim government, have
accepted the group’s diplomats.
The Turkish government and the Taliban authorities
have not yet commented regarding the handover of the Afghan Consulate to
Afghanistan’s caretaker regime.
On Tuesday, reports emerged that Iran will officially
hand over Afghanistan’s embassy to the Taliban in the coming days. An Afghan
diplomat who has been in contact with the officials of the Iranian foreign
ministry said that a serious decision has been made in this regard.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/turkiye-to-handover-afghan-consulate-in-istanbul-to-iea-authorities-sources/
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Afghanistan acting Foreign Minister Meets Turkish
Ambassador in Kabul
By Fidel Rahmati
February 22, 2023
Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi, Acting foreign minister of
Afghanistan, met with Cihad Erginay, the Turkish ambassador in Kabul, to
discuss enhancing bilateral relations.
Muttaqi again extended the Afghan government and
people’s condolences for the recent earthquake to his Turkish counterpart.
He also assured that the government and the people of
Afghanistan stood in strong solidarity with the people of Turkiye. He
reiterated that Afghanistan would continue to assist its Muslim Turkish
brothers as much as possible.
More than 41,000 people have died in a devastating
earthquake in Turkey. So far, Afghanistan has extended the aid of $110,000 to
the earthquake Turkish victims and $55,000 to the Syrian people.
On the other hand, Ambassador Erginay expressed his
gratitude for the support, love and solidarity he has received from the people
throughout Afghanistan.
He added that 41,000 people have already died, and the
death toll is expected to rise, making this earthquake appear to be the
deadliest in the history of Turkey, according to a statement from the Ministry.
Source: Khaama Press
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Bangladesh’s expo in Riyadh bids to attract Saudi
customers
February 22, 2023
DHAKA: Bangladeshi firms are hopeful of expanding
their export portfolio and attracting buyers from the Kingdom after showcasing
their products in Riyadh on Wednesday.
Some 30 companies, which include firms from the
garment and pharmaceutical sectors, are participating in the Bangladesh
Products Exhibition, which is being held in the Saudi capital until Feb. 24.
The event was opened by Tipu Munshi, the country’s
commerce minister, as the government in Dhaka is supporting the private
sector’s mission.
The South Asian country is keen to use the Saudi
market to increase its presence in the Gulf. The Export Promotion Bureau, part
of the Ministry of Commerce, last October organized a trade and investment fair
in Riyadh.
Ahsan H. Mansur, executive director at the Policy
Research Institute of Bangladesh, told Arab News on Wednesday: “If we can grab
the Saudi market, all other Gulf countries will be easier to explore.
“In order to penetrate into this market, we need to
invest more and have patience.”
Most of Bangladesh’s exports to Saudi Arabia have
until now targeted its 2.5 million expatriate community living and working in
the Kingdom.
However, Dhaka is relatively small in the Saudi
market, with the country’s exports worth only about $300 million in 2021.
As Dhaka’s trade portfolio is dominated by the garment
sector — the top industry in Bangladesh, contributing over 11 percent of the
country’s gross domestic product and accounting for 80 percent of exports — it
can capitalize on its strong reputation and also grab the potential of a “niche
market” offered through Hajj pilgrimages, Mansur added.
At least 20 garment manufacturers are participating in
the Riyadh expo this week.
Prof. Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of the
Dhaka-based think tank Center for Policy Dialogue, said the expo in Riyadh will
help introduce brands made in Bangladesh to Saudi importers and retailers.
He said: “The Bangladesh expo can play a significant
role in boosting our exports to the Kingdom.
“The quality of the goods we are producing and the
competitiveness, both are on positive trends now, but our brands are not that
well recognized.
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2256171/world
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Mideast
Israeli troops kill 11 Palestinians in West Bank
clash, medics say
Feb 23, 2023
NABLUS: Israeli troops killed 11 Palestinians,
including at least four gunmen and four civilians, and wounded more than 100
people during a Wednesday raid on a city in the occupied West Bank, witnesses,
militant groups and medical officials said.
The Israeli military confirmed the operation in
Nablus, saying troops shot back after coming under fire while trying to detain
militants suspected of planning imminent attacks. There were no Israeli
casualties, the army said in a statement.
The Palestinian militant faction Islamic Jihad said
Israeli troops had surrounded two of its Nablus commanders in a house,
triggering a clash that drew in other gunmen. Explosions sounded and youths
pelted armoured troop transports with rocks.
Palestinian sources said the two Islamic Jihad
commanders were killed along with another gunman. The fatalities included four
civilians, among them a 72-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said a 66-year-old man
who suffered from gas inhalation during the raid died in hospital later on
Wednesday. Medical officials said more than 100 Palestinians were wounded.
Nablus and nearby Jenin have been a focus of raids
that Israel has intensified over the last year following a spate of lethal
Palestinian street attacks in its cities.
Sixty-two Palestinians, including gunmen and
civilians, have been killed in 2023, the Palestinian health ministry said. Ten
Israelis and a Ukrainian tourist died in Palestinian attacks in the same
period, according to Israel's foreign ministry.
"We condemn the occupation's raid into Nablus and
we call for an end to the continued attacks against our people," said
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas, another Palestinian militant group that
sometimes fights alongside Islamic Jihad, said there were four gunmen killed,
one from its own ranks, and hinted at possible reprisals from the Gaza Strip, a
territory that it controls.
Sirens rang out early on Thursday morning in southern
Israeli towns as the military confirmed six rockets had been fired from Gaza
into Israeli territory. Shortly afterwards, explosions were heard in Gaza and
the military confirmed it was striking targets in Gaza but did not give more
details.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad are sworn to Israel's
destruction but have in the past observed Egyptian-mediated truces with it.
Source: Times Of India
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Israel Police warns it needs hundreds more officers
ahead of tense Ramadan
By TZVI JOFFRE
FEBRUARY 22, 2023
Israel Police is suffering from a severe manpower
shortage which will affect its ability to respond to violence during the month of
Ramadan this year, warned police chief Kobi Shabtai at a meeting of the Knesset
National Security Committee on Wednesday.
Shabtai noted that the tensions of Ramadan come as the
police are also dealing with securing large protests around the country, a rise
in terrorist attacks, car accidents and an increase in murders around the
country.
"In every incident, they expect us to be in all
places even before the incident happens and with the deployment and stretching
out [of police forces], we are now facing serious difficulties in providing a
response at the standard and criteria that we think the citizens of Israel
deserve to receive," said Shabtai, noting that in Jerusalem, for example,
the police need another 500 officers.
Initiatives
The chief of police called for a pay raise for police
officers and an improvement in working conditions in order to aid in recruiting
the needed officers.
Shabtai explained that, in terms of mixed cities,
where Jews, Arabs and Christians live together, the police are in a better
place than they were in 2021, but are still not where they need to be and they
need more equipment and manpower.
The chief of police noted that police are working to
expand the "Safe City" project which includes installing sensors and
cameras to help police to predict disturbances and start handling them as soon
as they start, but that they still need a larger budget in order to purchase
and install the needed technology.
Shabtai reiterated that while technology is important,
the main issue is manpower. "We don't have enough police in these places.
In Guardian of the Walls we were caught naked with the number of police
officers we had. Our situation has improved a bit in some of the places, but in
order to provide security for the citizens of the State of Israel we need many
more officers on the streets."
The police and emergency services are planning to
conduct a nationwide exercise next week which will last seven days to check the
readiness of the forces throughout the country. The police are also recruiting
reserve Border Police companies to reinforce security forces during the month
of Ramadan.
Sigal Bar Tzvi, the head of the Policing, Security and
Community Division of Israel Police, explained to the committee that police
learned from the events that led up to and took place during Operation Guardian
of the Walls in 2021 and are "much more prepared, organized, equipped and
trained" for this year.
Bar Tzvi lamented, however, that police are still
"not at an optimal level of readiness" as Israel Police still need to
recruit more officers.
"The deployment of officers is relatively large,
but not large enough, meaning that if we are predicting that what is going to
happen will be about three times as large as what happened in 2021-this is more
or less our estimate-we will have a response for most of the events but not all
of them, about 80%," warned Bar Tzvi.
Bar Tzvi additionally noted that the IDF and police
are working on preparing companies in the IDF to be available to aid police if
needed, but added that the companies are not ready yet and it is unlikely that
all of the said companies will be ready by Ramadan.
In terms of Jerusalem, the commander of the Jerusalem
District of Israel Police, Doron Turgeman, stressed that, despite the uptick in
violence, the police have so far managed to keep the Temple Mount outside the
circle of violence.
Both Turgeman and Shabtai pointed out that incitement
is one of the main threats that the defense establishment needs to fight at the
moment.
"There are a lot of entities who have an interest
in spreading incitement and portraying the situation as if Israel is violating
the freedom of worship," said Shabtai. "Last year we managed to stop
this because we did a live broadcast online from the Mount. When they talk
about a situation of large-scale riots on the Mount and you show a photo from
within the Mount that shows everyone is coming peacefully, it does the job. The
issue of awareness is no less important than the operational tools that we're
placing on the table."
"The last three terrorist attacks [involved]
children between the ages of 13 and a half and 14 who went out to carry out
attacks. [These] were people who were being fed incitement on social
media," noted Shabtai. The police chief pointed to the team recently formed
by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir including members of the police,
Shin Bet, IDF and the State Attorney's Office that aims to streamline the fight
against incitement.
Israeli prisons are another front where violence could
erupt during the month of Ramadan, with the Israel Prison Service preparing for
the possibility of widespread hunger strikes, disturbances and attacks on
prison service personnel.
"In the past month, we've seen moderate protest
measures by the security prisoners concerning their living conditions. We are
acting with zero tolerance for disturbances, including emptying divisions and
implementing punishments and solitary confinement," said Katy Perry, the
head of the Israel Prison Service.
Perry noted that there are 4,700 security prisoners
being held in six prisons across Israel, 1,500 more prisoners than what the
prisons are meant to hold. The prison service is also suffering from a manpower
shortage and needs another 500 wardens.
A representative from the Prime Minister's Office
informed the committee that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting
last week to prepare for Ramadan with ministers and security and emergency
services officials. On Tuesday, the Knesset National Security Committee held a
classified meeting concerning the preparations for Ramadan, which included
representatives from the IDF and Shin Bet as well.
A representative of the Jerusalem Municipality who was
present at the meeting stressed that the socioeconomic situation in east
Jerusalem also needs to be considered when dealing with security issues and
that the municipality needs more help from the national budget to provide the
necessary services to the eastern part of the capital.
The co-director of public affairs at the Abraham
Initiatives NGO, Yaacob Ibrahim, warned that an excessive focus on the
possibility of an escalation may lead to a "self-fulfilling
prophecy," stressing that police must act for the security of Muslim
residents as well and ensure the freedom of worship. Ibrahim also warned against
incitement from senior officials in the government.
The committee discussion comes as tensions continue to
rise in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 11 Israelis have been
murdered in a series of terrorist attacks in Jerusalem in recent weeks.
On Wednesday evening, Israel Police raised their level
of alert after 10 Palestinians were killed in armed clashes with Israeli forces
in Nablus.
Ben-Gvir announced on Wednesday that an enforcement
operation he is calling "Operation Concentrated Effort" has led to
four illegal firearms and 11 airsoft guns converted for live fire being seized
in the past week.
72 suspects have been arrested in east Jerusalem in 18
operations and two illegal structures have been demolished, according to the
minister. Police set up 232 checkpoints in east Jerusalem in the past three
days and checked 12,451 citizens and 8,349 vehicles.
"Our governance in the eastern part of the city
should be clear to everyone," said Ben-Gvir. "I thank the security
forces and the policemen who operate in the field at all times. We need to
significantly increase our activity and our war on terror, and for this I am
working non-stop, and also for this we must significantly increase the police
budget...and add more policemen to restore governance."
After two children and a young man were killed in a
terrorist ramming attack near Ramot earlier this month, Ben-Gvir called for the
launch of "Operation Defensive Shield 2" in east Jerusalem. The
statement drew ridicule and condemnation from former and current defense
officials who warned that such an operation would be irrelevant and even
damaging in east Jerusalem.
Earlier this week, KAN news reported that the
government was planning to close or restrict access for Jewish visitors to the
Temple Mount during the last ten days of Ramadan. The mount is usually closed
to Jewish visitors during the end of the month of Ramadan in order to lower
tensions.
Source: J Post
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-732422
--------
Nuclear Chief: IAEA Team in Iran for Inspection, Talks
2023-February-22
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the cabinet
session on Wednesday, Eslami said that the nuclear watchdog's team is currently
visiting Iran's nuclear facilities and that the recent points of ambiguity with
the UN nuclear body have either been or are being resolved.
"Those ambiguities were caused by the misunderstanding
of an IAEA inspector who had earlier visited Iran. We always avoid creating new
ambiguity in our cooperation with the IAEA through interaction and
coordination," he stated.
The AEOI head added that an issue like this was not
something the nuclear agency would even report to its member states, so the
fact that it has been leaked to Western media showed it was an effort towards
“smearing and warping facts".
The official noted Iran’s ties with the IAEA are on
track within the framework of the Safeguards Agreement.
"The root cause of the current impasse in the
2015 Iran nuclear deal is the failure of the major parties, mainly the US, to
honor their obligations," Eslami continued, adding that Tehran views
attempts at pressuring the country into honoring its commitments under the
nuclear deal one-sidedly as unacceptable.
In early February, the IAEA announced in a report that
its inspectors found a modification to an interconnection between two clusters
of centrifuges that was substantially different than what Iran had declared to
the agency. Director General Rafael Grossi has also noted that the change was
“inconsistent with Iran’s obligations” under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) and undermines the IAEA’s ability to “implement effective safeguards
measures” at the Fordow site.
AEOI Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi rejected the report
by the UN nuclear watchdog that claims Tehran made an undeclared change to
uranium enriching equipment at the Fordow facility in the Central province of
Qom, stressing it was issued based on a false inadvertent report submitted by
one of the nuclear agency's inspectors.
"The report of the International Atomic Energy
Agency was based on a mistake by an inspector of the oversight body who
mistakenly flagged the issue," he stated.
"The inspector who had previously reported about
it also realized his mistake," the AEOI official said.
Iran has numerously slammed the IAEA for publishing
misleading reports on the country's peaceful nuclear program, and described the
UN nuclear watchdog's approach in disclosing confidential and unverified
information as unprofessional and unacceptable.
Iran has always had full cooperation with the IAEA and
allowed it to visit the country’s nuclear sites, but calls the nuclear agency's
approach unconstructive and destructive. Tehran has asked the watchdog to avoid
politicizing the issue and focus on technical aspects in line with the
organization’s mandate.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14011203000729/Nclear-Chief-IAEA-Team-in-Iran-fr-Inspecin-Talks
--------
Iran Imposes Tit-for-Tat Sanctions on EU, UK
Officials, Entities
2023-February-22
The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday the
imposition of retaliatory sanctions against a number of European Union and
British individuals and entities.
The ministry's statement referred to the reciprocal
measures as "counteraction" approved by the Islamic Republic's
"relevant authorities" and authorized by the country's
"counter-sanction mechanisms".
It specified some of the reasons for the enactment of
the reciprocal measures as the EU and UK's "support for terrorism and
terrorist groups" and their "incitement to acts of terror and
violence against the Iranian people".
The ministry further denounced the bloc and Britain
for their "interference in the Islamic Republic's internal affairs",
their "propagation of falsehood and misinformation about Iran". It
also condemned them for their cooperation with the American sanctions against
the country, which amounted to "economic terrorism".
The statement considered the EU and the UK's
facilitation of acts of terrorism and destruction against the Iranian nation as
their "violation of international commitments in the field of fighting
terrorism". It also condemned their collaboration with the anti-Iran
sanctions as an "egregious contravention of fundamental principles of
human rights that are mentioned in the United Nations Charter".
According to the ministry, Iran's reciprocal measures
mandate the prohibition of the issuance of visas for those sanctioned and the
prohibition of their entry into the Islamic Republic. The measures also order
bank accounts and asset freeze against the designated individuals and entities.
The counter-sanctions list features 15 current and
former European officials, including France's Minister for Gender Equality,
Diversity, and Equal Opportunities, Isabelle Lonvis-Rome; French Minister
Delegate for Industry, Roland Lescure; President of the Central Council of Jews
in Germany, Josef Schuster; Director at Europe Israel Public Affairs, Alex
Benjamin; President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, Jamie M. Fly, and head of Germany's National Command and
General Space Operations Division, Major General Michael Traut as well as three
German parliamentarians and two European Parliament lawmakers.
It also names 13 European entities, including the
European Coalition for Israel, the Center for Information and Documentation
Israel, Christians for Israel, the Eurospike arms company, and six German
military industry companies.
The list further features eight British individuals,
including Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations within the
Metropolitan Police Service, Matthew Jonathan Jukes; member of the Board of
Directors at The Jewish Chronicle, Alan Jacob, and six military officials.
Tehran and certain Western nations have been engaged
in a diplomatic row over their meddlesome stance on recent unrest Iran and
Tehran's alleged role in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Protests erupted in several cities across Iran over
the death of Mahsa Amini who fainted at a police station in mid-September and
days later was pronounced dead at a hospital. The demonstrations soon turned
violent.
An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine
Organization announced that Amini’s controversial death was caused by an illness
rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.
Iranian officials blame Western countries for
orchestrating the riots to destabilize the country.
The unrest has claimed the lives of dozens of people
and security forces, while also allowing acts of terror and sabotage across the
country. Iran's Interior Ministry has confirmed the enemy waged a hybrid war
against the country to weaken national solidarity and hinder the country's
progress, stressing that some 200 people lost their lives in the riots sparked
by separatist and terrorist groups.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14011203000406/Iran-Impses-Ti-fr-Ta-Sancins-n-EU-UK-Officials-Eniies
--------
Iran: Human Rights Violators Not Qualified to Lecture
World
2023-February-22
Reacting to the recent remarks leveled by the High
Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
Kana'ani said that in a situation where "some European governments are
violating international obligations and human rights" by not adhering to
the norms of international law, "they are not qualified to be the herald
of the implementation and observance of international law".
"Some Western governments have arrested a
significant number of Iranian citizens and sentenced them to long-term prisons
or extradited them to hostile countries based on fabricated and illegal
sanctions criteria," the senior diplomat added.
"These governments replace international laws and
conventions with the political and non-legal rulings of their courts and
hypocritically advise others to comply with them while not paying the slightest
attention to the rights of imprisoned citizens of other countries," the
spokesperson noted.
Tehran is aware of and adheres to its international
obligations and acts according to its domestic regulations and international
obligations, he stated.
Highlighting the independence of the Iranian
judiciary, Kana'ani advised the European governments to follow at least part of
their own alleged norms instead of creating artificial, grandstanding, and
unconventional media hype.
Tehran and certain Western nations have been engaged
in a diplomatic row over their meddlesome stance on recent unrest Iran and
Tehran's alleged role in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Protests erupted in several cities across Iran over
the death of Mahsa Amini who fainted at a police station in mid-September and
days later was pronounced dead at a hospital. The demonstrations soon turned
violent.
An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine
Organization announced that Amini’s controversial death was caused by an
illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.
Iranian officials blame Western countries for
orchestrating the riots to destabilize the country.
The unrest has claimed the lives of dozens of people
and security forces, while also allowing acts of terror and sabotage across the
country. Iran's Interior Ministry has confirmed the enemy waged a hybrid war
against the country to weaken national solidarity and hinder the country's
progress, stressing that some 200 people lost their lives in the riots sparked
by separatist and terrorist groups.
The US, the UK and the European Union (EU) have
imposed a slew of sanctions against Iranian individuals and legal entities
since the September death in police custody of an Iranian woman. Iran has
returned the adversarial measures and meddlesome statements with sanctions
against European, American and British officials and institutions.
Kiev and its Western allies have also claimed that
Tehran has provided Russia with arms to be used in the war in Ukraine.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14011203000572/Iran-Hman-Righs-Vilars-N-Qalified-Lecre-Wrld
--------
Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory ‘must
stop’: UN chief
22 February ,2023
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on
Wednesday called for an end to Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian
lands.
Israel’s right-wing government has in recent weeks
faced intense international criticism, including from the United States, over a
decision to give retroactive permission to multiple settlement outposts in the
occupied West Bank and to build new homes.
And on Monday, the UN Security Council’s 15 members
expressed “dismay” over the plans.
“Each new settlement is another roadblock on the path
to peace,” the UN chief told the body’s Committee on the Exercise of the
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
“All settlement activity is illegal under
international law. It must stop,” Guterres said, adding that “incitement to
violence is a dead end. Nothing justifies terrorism.”
“Our immediate priority must be to prevent further
escalation, reduce tensions and restore calm,” he said.
He noted, “the situation in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory is at its most combustible in years.”
Hours before Guterres’ speech, Israeli troops killed
10 Palestinians in a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, while more
than 80 people were injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The Israeli military said the raid targeted militant
suspects in hiding.
Another 10 people were killed in an Israeli army raid
in the city of Jenin last month, the deadliest West Bank operation since at
least 2005.
Since the start of this year, the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict has claimed the lives of 59 Palestinian adults and children, including
militants and civilians.
Nine Israeli civilians, including three children, one
Ukrainian civilian and a police officer have been killed over the same period,
according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Arab World
Hezbollah condemns Nablus carnage, says resistance
will end Tel Aviv’s terror
23 February 2023
The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has
strongly condemned the deadly raid by the Israeli regime against the city of
Nablus in the occupied West Bank that claimed the lives of nearly a dozen
Palestinians.
Hezbollah issued a statement on Wednesday, offering
its deepest condolences to the Palestinian people and resistance groups,
especially the Islamic Jihad.
Hailing the Palestinians victims' resistance against
the invading forces, Hezbollah said the martyrs "wrote epics of heroism
and valor in the city of Nablus and confronted the Zionist terrorism and
aggression with patience and steadfastness."
The statement added that the Israeli occupation
forces’ brutal and merciless targeting of the innocent civilians confirmed that
this enemy could not be deterred except through recourse to the resistance's
"honorable arms."
Attacking Nablus earlier in the day, the Israeli
regime's troops shot and killed at least 11 people, including a 72-year-old
man, a 14-year-old boy and two commanders of the Palestinian resistance movement
of the Islamic Jihad that is based in the Gaza Strip.
More than 100 others were also wounded, some
critically, during the raid.
Hezbollah also said Palestinian resistance fighters
would revenge on the vicious regime by "letting the enemy realize the extent
of its foolishness and through putting an end to its arrogance and
terror."
The Israeli regime has intensified its crackdown on
Nablus and the nearby city of Jenin since late December when Benjamin Netanyahu
staged a comeback as the regime's prime minister at the head of a cabinet of
hard-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.
Late last month, Israeli forces shot and killed at
least 10 Palestinians and wounded over a dozen others during a violent raid on
the refugee camp that is adjacent to the nearby city of Jenin.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/02/23/698719/Hezbollah-Lebanon-Palestine-Israeli-raid-Nablus
--------
Saudi Arabia and UAE condemn Israel’s deadly raid in
Nablus, call for de-escalation
22 February ,2023
Saudi Arabia and the UAE condemned the Israeli army’s
deadly raid of the Palestinian city of Nablus, which killed at least 10 and
injured more than 100 others.
Both Gulf countries called on Israel to reduce
escalation and avoid taking actions which exacerbate tension and instability in
the region.
Israel’s military raided the West Bank’s city of
Nablus, which led to a firefight that resulted in the death of at least 10
Palestinians, two of them elderly men, 72 and 61, and one 16-year-old teenager.
In addition, more than 100 were wounded, six of them in critical condition,
according to the Palestinian Authority’s ministry of health.
Israeli forces fired live bullets and used tear gas
and sound bombs, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign affairs ministry “affirmed the
Kingdom's total rejection of the severe violations of international law by the
Israeli occupation forces, stressing its call on the international community to
assume its responsibilities to end the occupation, stop the escalation and
Israeli aggressions, and provide the necessary protection for civilians.”
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
WHO ‘moving rapidly’ with Syria quake relief as
sanctions are paused
22 February ,2023
The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it was
taking advantage of a temporary easing of sanctions against Syria designed to
allow humanitarian aid to be more easily distributed in the war-torn country
after deadly earthquakes.
“WHO is moving very rapidly right now together with
our partners to take advantage of this pause in the sanctions,” Rick Brennan,
Regional Emergency Director of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, told a
briefing.
“We have already started ordering equipment and
supplies, and we are working with UN partners on a collective approach to take
advantage of the pause.”
Around 4,525 deaths have been reported in northwest
Syria, according to the United Nations. The area is controlled by insurgents at
war with President Bashar al-Assad, which is complicating aid efforts.
With the devastating earthquake, there has also been a
threat of the risk of infections in the rebel-held region in northwestern
Syria.
WHO officials said the organisation has scaled up its
supply of antibiotics, painkillers, trauma supplies and non-communicable
disease medicines to the country, with a key focus on the northwest region.
The agency has re-established its distribution
channels within Syria, and has moved over 139 tonnes of additional medical
supplies including antibiotics, and other surgical supplies to affected areas,
said Catherine Smallwood, WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Egyptians lean on instalment payments to cope with
inflation
22 February ,2023
Ahmed Ramadan, a 44-year-old father of three, started
using installment payment services eight months ago after feeling the sting of
high prices that have squeezed Egyptians’ pockets over the last year.
He used the services to buy a television, a mobile
phone for his daughter, and even clothes for his family.
“It might be more expensive than paying up front in
cash but at least I can meet the needs of my entire family and not just one
person,” Ahmed said.
The extra liquidity would help pay for his kids’
schools, he said.
Egyptians are increasingly relying on installment
payments, not just for big-ticket items but for relatively cheap, routine items
such as clothing and groceries, as the North African country grapples with
record-high inflation, consumers and industry leaders told Reuters.
Inflation in Egypt has accelerated to five-year highs,
after the war in Ukraine hit finances, and the currency has been devalued by
nearly 50 percent since March 2022 amidst negotiations with the International
Monetary Fund.
An installment payment service was even introduced
this year at the annual Cairo International Book Fair after publishers worried
that sales for their non-essential wares would be weak.
“This way the reader ... buys the books he wanted and
the publisher was able to get good sales and was not affected by the economic
situation,” said Saeed Abdo, head of the Egyptian Publishers Association.
Sympl, a Cairo-based buy now, pay later service, has
seen a surge in activity in recent months. Co-founder Yasmine Henna told
Reuters new client acquisitions had jumped 50 percent in January compared with
the month before.
Existing clients are also using the service more, with
repeat users accounting for 40 percent of total monthly transactions in
January, up sharply from 5 percent in the same month last year.
“There’s a focus on life necessities like grocery
shopping and fashion,” said Henna. “People now see that they have to buy now
before prices get higher.”
Henna said that they plan to introduce new categories
such as water and electricity bills.
Mohamed Mahmoud, another father of three, did not like
the idea of paying through installments at first but has now reconsidered it in
order to meet his household needs.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Rocket
strike in Damascus hit Iranian military experts: Sources
22
February ,2023
A
rocket attack in Damascus on Sunday that Syria blamed on Israel hit an installation
where Iranian officials were meeting to advance programs to develop drone or
missile capabilities of Tehran’s allies in Syria, sources told Reuters.
Iran
has been a major backer of President Bashar al-Assad during Syria’s nearly
12-year conflict. Its support for Damascus and the Lebanese group Hezbollah has
drawn regular Israeli air strikes meant to curb Tehran’s extraterritorial
military power.
A
source close to the Syrian government with knowledge of Sunday’s strike and its
target said it hit a gathering of Syrian and Iranian technical experts in drone
manufacturing, though he said no top-level Iranian was killed.
“The
strike hit the center where they were meeting as well as an apartment in a
residential building. One Syrian engineer and one Iranian official - not
high-ranking - were killed,” the source told Reuters.
This
rocket strike, along with others that Israel says target infrastructure of
Syria’s military and its allies, reflect an escalation of what has been a
low-intensity conflict aimed at slowing down Iran’s growing entrenchment in
Syria, according to Israeli military experts.
Syrian
state media said at the time that Israel had carried out air strikes shortly
after midnight on Sunday against several areas of the Syrian capital, causing
five deaths and 15 injuries including civilians.
An
Israeli military official declined to confirm or deny that Israel was behind
the attack, but said some of the casualties were caused by errant Syrian
anti-aircraft fire.
The
US and Israel have been increasingly concerned about Iran’s drone
manufacturing, and the possibility it would pass on those capabilities to
regional proxies such as the heavily armed Hezbollah.
Last
week US forces shot down what they said was an Iranian-made drone flying over a
base hosting US personnel in northeastern Syria.
A
second source, who spoke to Syrian security personnel briefed on the matter,
said Iranians were attending the meeting of technical experts in a Iranian
military installation in the basement of a residential building inside a
security compound.
He
said one of those killed was a Syrian army civil engineer who worked at Syria’s
Scientific Studies and Research center, which Western countries say is a
military institution that has produced missiles and chemical weapons. Damascus
denies this.
A
regional security source said one Revolutionary Guards engineer involved in
Iran’s missile program was seriously injured and transferred to a hospital in
Tehran, while two other mid-ranking Guards members at the meeting were unharmed.
Another
source, a regional intelligence official familiar with the strike, said the
target was part of a covert guided missile production program run by Iran’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
A
fifth, regional source with knowledge of the strike and its target, said
officials from Iran and Hezbollah had been targeted. The Lebanese group, which
fought a five-week war with Israel in 2006, has sent fighters to help Assad
drive back rebels who once nearly encircled Damascus.
IRGC
logistics center hit?
On
Sunday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as attacks on
“residential buildings in Damascus which killed and maimed innocent Syrian
citizens.” The ministry criticized what it called Western silence over Israeli
violations of Syria’s “territorial integrity.”
It
made no mention of Iranian casualties.
The
Foreign Ministry and the Revolutionary Guards did not respond to Reuters
requests for comment.
The
targeted building was located in the Damascus neighborhood of Kafr Sousa, a heavily
policed area where residents say several Iranian security agencies are located,
along with an Iranian cultural center.
Two
Western intelligence sources said at the time the target was a logistics center
run by the Revolutionary Guards.
Hezbollah’s
top commander Imad Moughniyeh was killed in 2008 in a bombing in the same
neighborhood. Israel denied Hezbollah accusations that it was behind the
assassination.
Although
officials rarely acknowledge responsibility for specific operations, Israel has
been carrying out air strikes on suspected Iranian-sponsored weapons transfers
and personnel deployments in Syria for almost a decade.
Israel
has also in recent months intensified strikes on Syrian airports and air bases
to disrupt Iran’s increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to
allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Hezbollah.
Iran’s
proxy militias, led by Hezbollah, now hold sway in large areas of eastern,
southern and northern Syria and in several suburbs around the capital.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Robot
with 11 languages to receive visitors at King Abdulaziz Complex for Holy Kaaba
Kiswa
February
22, 2023
MAKKAH:
The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques has provided a
robot that speaks 11 languages to receive visitors at the King Abdulaziz
Complex for Holy Kaaba Kiswa, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The
robot will also acquaint visitors with services provided at the complex and can
recognize basic emotions, faces, and have voice interaction with visitors
through touch and hand motion.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2256221/saudi-arabia
--------
Lebanese
economy should benefit from maritime border deal with Israel: US envoy
February
22, 2023
WASHINGTON:
With the success of the US-brokered maritime border agreement with Israel,
Lebanon could be on the path to economic recovery, said Amos Hochstein, US
special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security.
Hochstein,
the primary mediator of the agreement, was speaking at an event on Wednesday
organized by the US institute of Peace in Washington D.C. and attended by Arab
News.
Israel
and Lebanon signed the agreement on Oct. 27, 2022. It aimed to end a dispute
over maritime boundaries between the two countries in the eastern Mediterranean
region where oil and natural gas have been discovered in recent years.
“The
agreement at its core is a boundary agreement, not an energy agreement,” said
Hochstein, adding that it created legally and internationally recognized maritime
borders between the two countries.
Lebanon
and Israel are officially still in a state of war ever since the latter’s
establishment in 1948.
Hochstein
said the agreement gives Lebanon the rights to the Qana gas field, which has
not yet been explored.
However,
he added that Israel has a “fair right to some of the gas” because parts of the
field extend beyond the agreed-upon boundary.
Israel
agreed in the deal that a consortium led by French energy company Total will
buy its share of discovered gas.
Hochstein
described the negotiations as complex because both countries have no formal
ties and do not deal with each other directly, and therefore had to sign
separate agreements with the US and with the consortium.
Therefore,
he said, “the maritime agreement isn’t just one agreement, it’s multiple
separate agreements.”
He
added that what helped make it possible after years of failed attempts were new
political and economic conditions on the ground in both countries, especially
Lebanon.
Hochstein
said Lebanon suffers from a severe economic crisis, lacks proper energy
infrastructure and has very limited electricity output, which created public
pressure on the ruling elite.
He
added that Israel has ample supplies of natural gas it extracts from other
fields, especially the neighboring Karish field in the Mediterranean, which
provides its economy with cheap electricity. What motivated Israel to sign the
deal is its political and security considerations, he said.
Hochstein
highlighted some of the positive steps Lebanon has taken regarding some of the
economic reforms recommended by the International Monetary Fund and the World
Bank, which would help attract foreign investors in the aftermath of the
maritime agreement with Israel.
He
said one of the benefits of the deal is that it creates an economic and
political environment for international companies such as Total to invest in
Lebanon.
As
an example, he said when one member of the international consortium that is
supposed to explore gas in the Qana field left, Qatar quickly joined the
consortium in its place.
Hochstein
added that the US-sponsored regional agreement to supply Lebanon with gas and
electricity from Egypt and Jordan via Syria is ready, and Lebanon can benefit
from it immediately once its domestic bureaucratic and political hurdles are
removed.
“It
could flow into Lebanon tomorrow,” he said, adding that the country needs to
think more about establishing a renewable energy infrastructure that would give
it energy security and more electricity.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2256306/middle-east
--------
Syrian
quake survivors shelter in crumbling Aleppo homes
February
22, 2023
ALEPPO,
Syria: Sitting by a bed strewn with rubble in Syria’s second biggest city, Umm
Mounir refuses to leave her home even though the deadly earthquake has torn a
gaping hole into the room.
Aleppo,
once a major commercial hub, had already been battered by over a decade of war
when the 7.8-magnitude quake struck in early February, killing more than 45,000
people across Turkiye and Syria and flattening entire neighborhoods.
The
building adjacent to Umm Mounir’s collapsed, ripping the rear facade off her
own home, but she said that neither natural disasters nor conflict can make her
leave.
“Nothing
will make me move out of my house except death,” said the 55-year-old, who
lives by herself on the fourth floor of the heavily damaged seven-story
building.
“I
will only leave for the grave.”
Her
city suffered great losses in the February 6 quake that flattened 54 of its
buildings and damaged historic sites.
With
at least 432 fatalities, Aleppo accounts for nearly a third of all deaths in
government-held parts of Syria, according to state media.
Officials
and medics across the war-ravaged country, including in rebel-controlled areas,
put the overall Syrian death toll at more than 3,600 people.
The
city witnessed brutal battles between rebels based in eastern Aleppo and
Russian-backed regime forces from 2012 to 2016.
After
a suffocating siege on rebel-held areas and a crushing offensive involving
barrel bombs, rockets and shells, the army declared in December 2016 that it
was in full control of the city.
“We
are people of glory and wealth, but the war changed everything,” said Umm
Mounir, glancing at the wreckage of her wooden furniture.
“Even
in the harshest years of the war we were not displaced,” added the woman, whose
home in the Masharika neighborhood was near the frontline. “We will not be
displaced now.”
More
than 30 people died in Masharika after the pre-dawn quake brought down two
building over sleeping residents.
Seemingly
incessant aftershocks spooked traumatized survivors, and a 6.4-magnitude tremor
on Monday rocked the same areas of Turkiye and Syria.
When
the new quake hit, Umm Mounir grabbed her 85-year-old neighbor Amina Raslan,
who lives on the first floor, and they rushed out.
“She
can’t run, so I held her hand and we walked as fast as we could,” Umm Mounir
said.
Raslan’s
son, who lives with his mother, said they “got used to the danger because our
home used to be on the frontline” where rockets and missiles had rained down.
Puffing
a cigarette, 55-year-old Ali Al-Bash said he wished they could leave their
damaged home, but that “we have nowhere else to go.”
Raslan’s
eyes welled with tears as she recalled the destruction of the home she said her
family had lived in for 50 years.
“Everything
collapsed,” she said as her grandchildren were playing around her.
The
family, like many others, did not want to move to a shelter but could not
afford to rent a new home, Raslan said.
“I
lost two of my children during the war. I don’t want to leave my house... I
don’t want to lose anything else.”
Some
Aleppo residents, however, have left ravaged homes for tents.
Mohammed
Jawish, 63, now lives in a makeshift camp with dozens of families after his
building partially collapsed.
“If
I still had a house I wouldn’t be here,” he said, watching his grandchildren —
some of them barefoot in the winter cold — play with a worn-out football.
Source:
Arab News
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of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2255901/middle-east
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Kuwait
sends humanitarian aid to quake victims in Türkiye, Syria
Ibrahim
al-Khazen
22.02.2023
Kuwait
sent humanitarian aid on Wednesday to the victims of two deadly earthquakes
that jolted Türkiye and Syria on Feb. 6.
Maha
al-Barjas, head of the Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society, said a convoy of 12 trucks
loaded with relief and medical materials moved to Türkiye and northern Syria.
“The
convoy includes blankets, tents, electrical appliances and prefabricated
homes,” al-Barjas added in a statement.
“This
aid convoy is part of assistance from the Kuwaiti people to the peoples of
Türkiye and Syria,” she added.
Following
the quake disaster, the Kuwaiti government dispatched rescue teams to Türkiye
to take part in searching for survivors. The Gulf country also pledged $30
million in aid to both Türkiye and Syria.
A
popular donation campaign in Kuwait also collected $67.7 million for the quake
victims in the two countries.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Africa
Amalgamated
Union Of Islamic Scholars Endorsed Atiku For Presidency To Promote National
Unity
By
Ahmad Muhammad, Kano
23
February 2023
Amalgamated
Union of Islamic Scholars has explained that it endorsed the Muslim-Christian
ticket of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of
Delta State to promote national unity and cohesion.
The
Ulamas, who rose from a brainstorming session in Kano State, yesterday,
unanimously agreed to pitch tent with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which
believes in both Muslims and Christians being together under one nation.
Speaking
to journalists after the meeting, leader of the group, Sheikh Abba Koki, said
the council endorsed the Muslim/Christian ticket, which is an opportunity to
save the country from religious disharmony.
According
to him, the decision of All Progressive Congress (APC) to introduce the Muslim-Muslim
ticket of Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima amounts to betrayal of the country’s
confederation setting, which allows equity for both Muslims and Christians.
Source:
Guardian Nigeria
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of the original story:
https://guardian.ng/news/why-we-endorsed-atiku-for-presidency-by-islamic-scholars/
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Tunisian
rights group slams President Saied’s ‘racist’ migrant comments
22
February ,2023
A
prominent rights group accused Tunisian President Kais Saied of “racism and
hate speech” on Wednesday after he vowed to crack down on sub-Saharan African
migrants.
Saied,
who has seized almost total power since a dramatic July 2021 move against
parliament, had urged his national security council to take “urgent measures”
to tackle an influx of migrants.
“Hordes
of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are still arriving, with all the
violence, crime and unacceptable practices that entails,” he said, according to
a statement from his office on Tuesday evening.
“A
criminal plot has been underway since the start of the century to change
Tunisia’s demographic make-up,” he added.
The
statement sparked an outcry online, where many accused the president of
outright racism and invoking right-wing conspiracy theories.
The
Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) said Wednesday Saied’s
discourse was “drowning in racism and hatred.”
“The
president is using the migration crisis... to distract attention from economic
and social problems,” spokesman Romdhane Ben Amor told AFP.
Tunisians
are grappling with a deepening economic crisis, surging inflation and shortages
of essential goods as the heavily indebted country edges towards a possible
default.
Saied,
who has prioritized revamping Tunisia’s post-revolt democracy to install a
system in which power is concentrated in the hands of the presidency, has
blamed the shortages on unidentified “speculators.”
Ben
Amor said Saied’s latest comments showed he had “obviously and totally caved in
to pressure from the Italian authorities to stop the flow of migrants” towards
European shores.
Last
week, 23 rights groups said the state had already started cracking down on
migrants from further south in Africa and turning a blind eye to racist “hate
speech.”
The
organizations, including the FTDES, said some 300 migrants had been detained,
often after simple identity checks or after attending court hearings to support
relatives.
They
added that European migration policies were pushing Tunisia to play a key role
in surveillance of migration routes and intercepting migrant boats in the
central Mediterranean.
Tunisia,
which lies less than 150 kilometers (95 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa
at its closest point, is a key departure point for African migrants seeking to
reach Europe on what the United Nations says is the world’s deadliest migration
route.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Tunisian
president says irregular migration aims to change country's demography
Adel
al-Thabti
22.02.2023
TUNIS,
Tunisia
Tunisian
President Kais Saied has called for ending the flow of irregular migrants from
sub-Saharan Africa to his country, citing demography change concerns.
"This
situation is not normal, and there is a criminal arrangement prepared since the
beginning of this century to change the demographic composition of Tunisia,”
Saied said Tuesday in a meeting of the National Security Council.
“There
are parties that received huge sums of money after 2011 to settle irregular
migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in Tunisia," he added.
Saied
pointed out that "the undeclared goal of these successive waves of
irregular migration is to consider Tunisia a purely African country, with no
affiliation to the Arab and Islamic nations."
"Tunisia
is proud of its African affiliation, as it is one of the founding countries of
the Organization of African Unity and has supported many peoples in their
struggle for liberation and independence."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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LANA
Director General heads committee for Benghazi Capital of Culture in Islamic
World
2023-02-22
Tripoli,
February 22, 2023 (LANA) - The Preparatory Committee for the Benghazi
Programme, Capital of Culture of the Islamic World for the current year, held
its first meeting, Wednesday, at the headquarters of the House of
Representatives in Benghazi, headed by the Director General of the Libyan News
Agency, Ibrahim Hadiya.
The
committee discussed the general programme of the celebration and its general
form, approved the official theme for the celebration, and decided to divide
the work into specific sub-committees according to specialization to determine
the schedule of programmes and activities for the event.
The
Committee reviewed the estimated budget for the activities undertaken by ISESCO
in cooperation with the National Organization for Education, Culture and
Science.
Source:
Lana
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of the original story:
https://lana.gov.ly/post.php?id=271398&lang=en
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Jordan
sentences three to death over ISIS links
22
February ,2023
A
Jordanian court on Wednesday sentenced three people to death by hanging on
charges of belonging to the ISIS terrorist group and staging two bombing
attacks, an AFP correspondent said.
A
total of 11 people were handed sentences ranging from five years in prison to
death, in the same case relating to attacks in 2018 that killed six members of
the Jordanian security forces.
The
court condemned three to death, including one in absentia, over accusations of
“involvement in terrorist acts using weapons and explosives that led to the
death of one person.”
The
remaining convicts were handed prison sentences ranging between five and 20
years.
Three
others, including two women, were acquitted and released.
According
to the indictment, the 11 convicts had “shared news about the ISIS group... and
all agreed that this terrorist organization works to apply God’s law.”
They
were also found to have formed “a criminal gang with the aim of undermining the
security and stability of the kingdom... and undertaking armed terrorist
operations” in Jordan.
They
had planned to target buses carrying security forces, as well as an
intelligence building and police patrols, the indictment said.
In
August 2018, two policemen were killed and six others injured in a blast after
a car bomb was planted on a police car tasked with protecting a cultural
festival about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) west of the capital.
The
following day, four policemen were killed after clashes and another explosion
during a raid on the building that the attackers had used as a hideout.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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--------
Tunisian
police arrest prominent dissident, surround house of another
22
February ,2023
Tunisian
police on Wednesday arrested Issam Chebbi, a prominent opposition figure, and
surrounded the house of Jawher Ben Mbarek, another major critic of President
Kais Saied, relatives and lawyers of both men said.
The
arrests come amid a crackdown on prominent critics of Saied, involving more
than a dozen arrests over the past two weeks including politicians, judges and
media figures.
Chebbi,
the head of the Republican Party, was detained near a shopping center while he
was out with his wife, his family and lawyers told Reuters. Police later
searched his home.
Police
surrounded the house of Ben Mbarek to detain him, but he was not there, his
sister and lawyers said.
Saied
shut down the elected parliament in 2021 and seized most powers, moving to rule
by decree and writing a new constitution that he passed in a referendum with
low turnout last year, actions his foes call a coup.
The
president has said the moves were legal and necessary to save Tunisia from
chaos, repeatedly calling his critics traitors and enemies of the state. Last
year he also took ultimate authority over the judiciary.
The
police and Interior Ministry have declined any comment on the arrests, but
lawyers have said some of those detained were accused of conspiring against
state security.
Saied
has also publicly said that some of those arrested were responsible for
shortages of food and fuel that economists have blamed on a crisis in public
finances.
Chebbi
is the brother of Nejib Chebbi, leader of the National Salvation Front
coalition of opposition groups that has organized protests against Saied.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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--------
North America
US
judge rules 9/11 victims cannot seize Afghanistan central bank funds
Michael
Hernandez
22.02.2023
WASHINGTON
Families
of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the US cannot seize $3.5
billion in Afghan central bank reserves, a federal judge in New York has ruled.
US
District Judge George Daniels in the Southern District of New York said Tuesday
that the funds cannot be granted to satisfy outstanding judgments against the
Taliban because doing so would effectively recognize the hard-line group as
Afghanistan's legitimate government.
The
case dates to 2003 and stems from the Taliban's decision to grant deceased
al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his terror group safe harbor in Afghanistan
during their initial post-Soviet rule of the country. It was during that time
that bin Laden plotted the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in the US.
The
Taliban resumed control of the country following the 2021 US withdrawal but
many nations have refrained from extending the group diplomatic recognition,
including Washington.
President
Joe Biden on Feb. 11, 2022 issued an executive order that mandated frozen funds
in Afghanistan's central bank, known as Da Afghanistan Bank, subject to US
jurisdiction "be used to benefit the Afghan people."
In
September, the US Treasury Department said it was moving the $3.5 billion to a
Switzerland-based trust now known as the Afghan Fund, which would be outside of
the Taliban's ability to access.
Daniels
wrote in a 30-page ruling that he is "constitutionally restrained"
from recognizing the Taliban's legitimacy, which he would have to do before
assigning the funds to the four groups seeking the funds.
The
president, he said, "has the exclusive power to grant formal recognition
to a foreign sovereign," and the Constitution "forbids this Court
from determining what the Judgement creditors require."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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--------
US
extremely concerned by levels of violence in Israel and West Bank
February
22, 2023
WASHINGTON:
The United States is extremely concerned by the levels of violence in Israel
and the West Bank and is concerned that a raid by Israeli forces there could
set back efforts at restoring calm, the State Department said on Wednesday.
State
Department spokesman Ned Price told a regular press briefing that Washington
recognized Israel’s security concerns but was deeply concerned by the large
number of injuries and loss of civilian life.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2256326/middle-east
--------
Illegal
presence of US forces in Syria 'destabilizing' country: Iranian minister
22
February 2023
Iran's
defense minister says the presence of American forces in Syria has a
“destabilizing” impact on the Arab country, calling for the immediate
withdrawal of all “occupying forces” from the country.
Brigadier
General Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani made the remarks in a meeting with his
Syrian counterpart, Lieutenant General Ali Mahmoud Abbas, in Tehran on
Wednesday.
“We
believe that the illegitimate and illegal presence of occupying troops on
Syrian soil is destabilizing and destructive. Therefore, we stress the
necessity for [respecting] Syria’s territorial integrity and the withdrawal of
all occupying forces [from Syria], particularly the American occupiers,” he
said.
The
US military has stationed forces and equipment in northeastern Syria for years,
with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the
oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
Damascus,
however, maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country's rich
mineral resources and to destabilize the country.
‘Israel
only understands the language of force’
The
Iranian minister also pointed to the Israeli regime’s acts of aggression
against Syria, saying the regime only understands the language of force and it
should not be allowed to make further aggression against Syria.
Israel
frequently launches airstrikes against Syria. In its most recent attack, at
least five people, including a soldier, were killed and 15 others wounded in
the Israeli airstrikes early on Sunday, the Syrian army said in a statement.
The
Israeli attack was launched from the occupied Golan Heights days after a
7.8-magnitude deadly earthquake struck Turkey and Syria.
In
his remarks, the Iranian defense minister described Syria as a major member of
the resistance front and said it’s necessary to invest efforts to boost the
Arab country’s defense power.
The
Syrian minister, for his part, hailed Iran’s role in supporting efforts by the
resistance front to safeguard West Asia security and vowed that Damascus will
work to boost cooperation with Tehran.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Europe
Work
to create Harrogate district’s first mosque continues after asbestos delay
by
John Grainger
Feb
22, 2023
Work
on turning Harrogate’s former Home Guard Club into the district’s first mosque
is finally going ahead after a delay caused by the discovery of asbestos.
Harrogate
Islamic Association bought the premises at the corner of Tower Street and
Belford Road last April and has since been focusing on fixing the roof and
making it weather-proof.
But
repair work uncovered unknown quantities of asbestos, which is carcinogenic but
had not been identified by any survey at the time of purchase.
The
substance has had to be carefully removed and disposed of by licensed
professionals before further work on the building could progress.
Reda
Djamaa, trustee and spokesperson for Harrogate Islamic Association, said:
“We’ve
dealt with that problem and now we can carry on with refurbishing the building.
Our main aim is to get the ground floor ready for use.”
Harrogate
Islamic Association raised half a million pounds to purchase the building,
which stands next to St Peter’s CE Primary School, and must now raise a further
£200,000 to gut the building and replace all its timbers.
Phase
three will see a complete refit of the interior, including a new staircase,
plasterwork, doors, windows and wiring, as well as new toilets and ablution
areas, all at a cost of £250,000.
The
final phase, costing another £50,000, will add a kitchen, outdoor bollards and
railings, and security and lighting systems.
Mr
Djamaa said:
“We
have weekly prayer and we pass round a bucket, and we get some funds from other
mosques, but it’s a mosque for the community here in Harrogate, and so most of
the money will be coming from the community here too.
“We
hope we’ll be able to get to the next stage within the year, but we’re doing it
bit by bit. We’re not in a hurry.”
In
the meantime, the 100-plus members of Harrogate’s Muslim community will
continue to meet at in the Quakers’ Friends Meeting House on Queen Parade.
The
former Home Guard Club has served the community in various capacities over the
last 150 years. Originally built around 1870 as two cottages, it was converted
shortly afterwards into Harrogate’s first cottage hospital until 1883, before
serving as Harrogate’s Masonic Hall from 1884 to about 1930.
Source:
The Stray Ferret
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Protesting
death sentence on dissident, Germany brands 2 Iranian diplomats persona non
grata
Ayhan
Simsek
22.02.2023
BERLIN
Germany
on Wednesday declared two Iranian diplomats persona non grata in protest of the
death sentence handed down to a German-Iranian dissident.
Foreign
Minister Annalena Baerbock slammed an Iranian court’s death sentence for
Jamshid Sharmahd, and said the Iranian Embassy’s charge d'affaires – Tehran’s
top diplomat in Germany – was summoned to the ministry to condemn the decision.
“He
was told that we do not accept the massive violation of the rights of a German
citizen,” Baerbock said in a statement.
“As
a result, the German government has declared two members of the Iranian Embassy
to be persona non grata, and asked them to leave Germany immediately,” she
added.
Baerbock
urged Iranian authorities to revoke the death sentence and give Sharmahd a fair
trial and due process of appeal.
Chancellor
Olaf Scholz also heavily criticized Tehran and asked it to quash the death
sentence on the German-Iranian citizen.
“The
Iranian regime fights its own people in every way it can and disregards human
rights. The death sentence against Jamshid Sharmahd is unacceptable,” Scholz
wrote on Twitter.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Germany
expels two Iranian diplomats in support for terror ringleader
22
February 2023
In
yet another indication of Germany’s belligerent policies against the Islamic
Republic, the German foreign ministry has expelled two Iranian diplomats in
reprisal for a death sentence handed down to the ringleader of a US-based terrorist
group accused of committing a series of terror attacks in the country.
The
Federal Foreign Office announced in a statement on Wednesday that Germany had
declared two employees of the Iranian Embassy in Berlin “personae non gratae”
and ordered them to leave the country.
The
decision was made after the Iranian Judiciary sentenced Iranian citizen Jamshid
Sharmahd, who also holds German citizenship, to death on charges of
"corruption on earth” by planning and orchestrating terrorist acts against
the Islamic Republic.
Germany
also summoned Iran's charge d'affaires over the verdict, with Foreign Minister
Annalena Baerbock accusing the Islamic Republic of the “massive violation of
the rights of a German citizen.”
“We
do not accept the massive violation of the rights of a German citizen. We call
on Iran to revoke Jamshid Sharmahd's death sentence and provide him with a fair
appeal process based on the rule of law," Baerbock said.
In
support of the terrorist ringleader, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also
condemned Sharmahd's death sentence and said the verdict was “unacceptable.”
Sharmahd,
who holds is also a US resident, was the ringleader of the Tondar (Thunder)
terrorist outfit. He was accused of planning a series of attacks, including a
2008 attack against a religious congregation center in the southern Iranian
city of Shiraz, Fars Province, which killed 14 people and wounded hundreds.
Sharmahd
and his Tondar group, were also behind a 2010 terrorist bombing at Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini’s mausoleum in the Iranian capital, which left several people
injured.
The
67-year-old is also accused of working with US intelligence and spying on
Iran's ballistic missile program.
According
to Judiciary's Mizan news agency, Sharmahd had planned to commit 23 terrorist
acts and succeeded in executing five, adding, “His verdict can still be
appealed in the Supreme Court.”
The
Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced in a statement in August 2020 that it
had arrested the terrorist ringleader, who had directed "armed operations
and acts of sabotage" in Iran from the US.
Upon
his arrest, Sharmahd admitted to providing explosives for the bombing attack in
the Hosseynieh Seyed al-Shohada Mosque in Shiraz, in which 14 people were
killed and more than 200 wounded.
According
to the Ministry, the group had planned to carry out several high-profile and
potentially deadly attacks across the Islamic Republic, but its efforts were
thwarted by the intricate intelligence operations targeting the outfit.
Berlin's
move on Wednesday comes as Germany has been a staunch supporter of the European
Union’s sanctions against Iran over what it claims to be “crackdown” on the
recent Western-backed riots in the country.
Source:
Press TV
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