Head of Zakat Foundation, OSD to Former PM Manmohan Sigh, Named In 'UPSC Jihad' Show, says 'Good Work Will Continue'
New Age Islam News Bureau
19 September 2020
Founding president of Zakat
Foundation, Syed Zafar Mahmood. Photo: The Wire
-----
• Waqf Board Can’t Judge Disputes Regarding Religious
Rights of Muslims: Kerala High Court
• Terrorist Prisoners Hit Record High in British Jails
Amid Warnings of Radicalisation
• Lebanon: More Families Are Marrying Off Teenage
Daughters as Economic Despair Sets In
• Malaysian PM: Stern Action Will Be Taken Against
Those Who Spread Extremism
• Islamic State Expanding Globally with Some 20
Affiliates Amid Setbacks: US Official
• Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan Move Has China's
Backing?
• President Mourns Death of Hefazat-e-Islam Amir Ahmed
Shafi
India
• Head of Zakat Foundation, OSD to Former PM Manmohan
Sigh, Named In 'UPSC Jihad' Show, says 'Good Work Will Continue'
• Waqf Board Can’t Judge Disputes Regarding Religious
Rights of Muslims: Kerala High Court
• Adityanath Govt Mulls Ordinance Against 'Love
Jihad': Report
• "Let This Message Go To Media...": Supreme
Court On Sudarshan TV Row
• NIA Busts Pakistan-Sponsored Al-Qaida Module
Planning to Attack Vital Installations in India; 9 Terrorists Arrested from
West Bengal, Kerala
• 450 jobless Indian workers forced to beg in Saudi,
shifted to detention centres
• Pakistan rejects India's demand for Queen's counsel
to represent Kulbhushan Jadhav
--------
Europe
• Terrorist Prisoners Hit Record High in British Jails
Amid Warnings of Radicalisation
• Ankara Blasts 'Napoleon' Macron for Interfering in
Row with Athens
• E3 hails Iran’s intention to further strengthen
cooperation with IAEA
--------
Arab world
• Lebanon: More Families Are Marrying Off Teenage
Daughters as Economic Despair Sets In
• UAE Cracking Down Hard on Anti-Israel Sentiment With
10-Year Prison Sentences: Dissident
• Saudis may have enough uranium to produce nuclear
fuel: Report
• After US claims, France says no evidence of
Lebanon’s Hezbollah explosives stores
• US military deploys more troops, armoured vehicles
to oil-rich eastern Syria
• UN warns of 'war crimes' in Turkish-occupied areas
in northern Syria
• Qamishli residents call for removal of US, Turkish
occupation forces from Syria
• ISIS leader Al Mawla's treachery led to death of his
comrade in US air strikes
--------
Southeast Asia
• Malaysian PM: Stern Action Will Be Taken Against
Those Who Spread Extremism
• We won’t compromise on extremism, says Muhyiddin
• Indonesian cleric's stabbing sparks review of past
attacks
--------
North America
• Islamic State Expanding Globally with Some 20
Affiliates Amid Setbacks: US Official
• China, Iran, Israel, And Alliances: Foreign Policy
Issues That Divide Trump and Biden
• Nuclear Deal with Iran To Be Killed by Trump Before
UN Speech
• US Carrier Transits Strait of Hormuz Amid Tensions
with Iran
• US President Trump Awards Kuwait's Emir
'Prestigious' Decoration, White House Says
• USS Nimitz aircraft carrier enters Persian Gulf
after Pompeo’s threats against Iran
• U.S. blacklists Hezbollah official, Lebanon-based
companies
• American Citizen Charged with Helping ISIS
--------
Pakistan
• Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan Move Has China's
Backing?
• Rising sectarian tension prompts calls for govt to
act swiftly
• Justice Isa’s wife refuses to accept Rs35m tax
liability
• Pakistan launches website for Kartarpur corridor
• Fazlur Rehman links APC participation with
dissolution of assemblies demand
--------
South Asia
• President Mourns Death of Hefazat-e-Islam Amir Ahmed
Shafi
• Two Appeal Court Members (Abducted): Ghazni
• Afghan-Taliban Peace Talks Continue as Fighting
Kills Dozens
--------
Mideast
• People in Tehran Rally in Condemnation of UAE,
Bahrain Compromise Deals with Israel
• Palestinians Protest UAE, Bahrain ‘Betrayal’
Agreement in Al-Quds
• Police Detain 16 Foreign Nationals in Operations
Against Daesh In Turkey's Capital Ankara
• Iran’s FM Stresses Washington’s Non-Participation in
JCPOA
• Envoy Calls Manama’s Israel Deal, “Al-Khalifa's
Suicide for Bin Salman”
• Two Turkish troops killed in attack by Kurdish
militants in Iraq: Defense ministry
• Turkey ‘withdrew survey ship to allow for diplomacy
with Greece, will return it though’
--------
Africa
• South Africa: No Evidence of Iranian Plot to Kill US
Envoy to Avenge Soleimani
• Somalia names political newcomer as new PM,
announces plan for national elections
• Coronavirus: Dog tests positive for COVID-19 in
Jordan, owner quarantined
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/head-zakat-foundation-osd-former/d/122894
--------
Head of Zakat Foundation, OSD to Former PM Manmohan Sigh, Named In 'UPSC Jihad' Show, says 'Good Work Will Continue'
Sep 19, 2020
Founding president of Zakat
Foundation, Syed Zafar Mahmood. Photo: The Wire
-----
New Delhi: When the Supreme Court asked Sudarshan TV
News why it gave the title ‘UPSC Jihad’ to its 10-episode programme on
recruitment of Muslims into the civil services, the channel stated that it did
so because the Zakat Foundation – which coaches community members – had received
funds from an anti-India, UK-based organisation.
While the apex court held that the four episodes
telecast by the channel from September 11 to 14 have only indulged in
vilification of Muslims, The Wire spoke to the founding president of the
Foundation, Syed Zafar Mahmood, about the allegations.
A former civil servant and Officer on Special Duty to
former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Mahmood said that the narrow thought
process displayed by Sudarshan TV was an “aberration” and that “over 95% of the
population would never subscribe to such radical views”.
He also denied all the allegations of financial
wrongdoing, and said that his Foundation has regularly fulfilled all the
fairness rules prescribed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, in addition to adhering
to the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act and income tax laws.
He said Zakat Foundation was founded in 1997 and
“started out by working with orphans, aiding with expenses incurred during
weddings of poor girls and helping widows with food and other necessities.”
Sachar panel’s ‘poor representation’ finding
Mahmood said he decided to coach aspirants after the
Sachar Committee highlighted poor representation of Muslims in the civil
services. “The Foundation started the Sir Syed Coaching and Guidance Centre for
Civil Services which over the years has trained students for various exams and
ensured the entry of over 100 of them into the civil services,” he added.
Mahmood said all the work of the Foundation was within
the constitutional and human norms and expressed confidence that the various
arms of society such as the judiciary, media, social groups and the masses
would show the same to “the negative forces.”
He said there was no way that the ongoing smear
campaign would in any way diminish the standing of civil servants among people.
Asked if the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
should have not allowed the episodes to be telecast after the promo itself
triggered a storm, Mahmood said that pitfalls and corrective action are part of
the process but ultimately it is good forces which prevail. “So people must go
on doing their good work,” he added.
Outrage and the courts
Sudarshan TV News’s trailer, released on August 28,
had left little to the imagination as it proclaimed: “Think, what if a jihadi
from Jamia is your district magistrate”.
The promo showed the channel’s head Suresh Chavhanke
trying to convey that there was a conspiracy afoot the Muslim community which
aimed to corner a large number of seats in the civil services.
Petitions were immediately filed in the Supreme Court
and the Delhi high court against the screening of the programme. It was also
alleged that the programme content was communally divisive and in violation of
the Programme Code enshrined under Cable Television Network Rules, 1994.
While the Supreme Court had then refused to provide a
pre-broadcast injunction, the Delhi high court stayed its telecast. But it left
it to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to decide if the programme
should be telecast.
The Ministry allowed the screening despite disagreeing
with one of the two contentions made by the channel in its defence.
However, as the 10 episodes were telecast, petitions
were again filed in the Supreme Court against the programme. While advocate
Firoz Iqbal Khan claimed that the programme contained derogatory statements and
sought a stay on further telecast, a plea by seven former civil servants urged
the apex court to issue an authoritative ruling to specify the scope and
meaning of “hate speech”.
A Supreme Court bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud,
Indu Malhotra and K.M. Joseph observed that “prima facie, it does appear to the
Court that the intent, object and purpose of the episodes which have been
telecast is to vilify the Muslim community. An insidious attempt has been made
to insinuate that the community is involved in a conspiracy to infiltrate the
civil services.”
During the proceedings, the channel contended that it
was “concerned with the issue of national security”.
The apex court, however, said there has been a change
in circumstances since it took up the issue in August and on September 15 it
restrained the channel from telecasting further episodes.
Main allegations by the channel
Apart from accusing the Zakat Foundation of receiving
funds from India baiters, the channel said the Udaan Yojana that grants Rs 1
lakh to members of the minority community for appearing in civil services
giving its students an advantage over Hindus. Also, it said, Muslims were
allowed to take nine attempts till the age of 35 as against the six allowed to
Hindus till the age of 32.
Citing data from the year 2011, the channel also said
that the rate of success for candidates who opted for Urdu in the exams was
disproportionately high. It also contended that Muslim candidates secured over
9% more marks in the interviews than those from other communities.
Denying all these allegations, Mahmood told The Wire
that there are constitutional norms that provide for support to all the
minority communities and so if the channel should have a grudge it should be
directed against these provisions and the government.
Samkalp Foundation
Zakat Foundation is not the only organisation that
provides coaching help to a particular religious group. The RSS-inspired
Samkalp Foundation, too has been churning out a large number of civil servants
since its foundation in 1986. In the 2020 civil services exam, the foundation
claimed a success rate of 61%, saying it had mentored 466 of the 759 selected
candidates.
The Foundation regularly invites BJP leaders to its
events. An event is planned for September 20 for which Union oil minister
Dharmendra Pradhan has been invited.
The ‘mission’ statement on the website,
samkalpiascoaching.com, says the group wants “to identify and guide students
who can contribute towards nation building through civil services and help them
inculcate Indian values and ethos.”
Over the years, a vast number of civil services
aspirants have trained with this organisation and entered the civil services.
It is said this is what has led to a degree of ‘saffronisation’ of the services
now.
When asked if divisive or communally-tainted comments
by serving and retired bureaucrats and police officers were indicators of a
change in the thinking process, Mahmood said people making such comments were
still very few and by and large the integrity of the bureaucracy was intact.
https://thewire.in/communalism/upsc-jihad-zakat-foundation-sudarshan-tv-civil-services-coaching
--------
Waqf Board Can’t Judge Disputes Regarding Religious
Rights of Muslims: Kerala High Court
Sep 19, 2020
KOCHI: Waqf board does not have the power to act as a
judge in disputes regarding religious rights of Muslims, the Kerala high court
has held. It is the waqf tribunal that has adjudicatory powers and the waqf
board can only act regarding maintenance of waqf properties, the court said.
A division bench comprising Justices K Vinod Chandran
and T R Ravi gave the ruling while considering a petition filed by Najeem K K
of Anchal in Kollam seeking a direction to Kerala State Waqf Board to consider
his complaint regarding removal of his membership from Edamulackal Muslim
Jamaath.
It is the duty of the waqf board to consider the
complaint as per Section 32 of the Waqf Act, which deals with the powers and
functions of the board, the petitioner contended.
The issue raised by the petitioner is more in the
nature of a civil dispute for which his remedy is to approach the waqf tribunal
and not the waqf board, the court said.
‘Only supervisory power under Section 32’
In the judgment, the court said, “A reading of the
said section would show that it does not confer any power on the waqf board to
decide on the question of entitlement of a person to be a member of a Jamaath.
The power available under Section 32 is supervisory in nature and is concerning
the administration of the waqf.”
In 2011, a division bench of the high court had held
(in Rasheed APA versus N N Khalid Haji and another) that the powers of the waqf
board is not adjudicatory, the court pointed out. The petitioner can approach a
court of law if there is disturbance to his legal right to offer prayers in a
mosque and the court can decide whether the disturbance is legally justifiable.
The petitioner cannot be allowed to bypass a court of law and approach the waqf
board for such a decision, the court said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/waqf-board-cant-judge-disputes-among-muslims-kerala-high-court/articleshow/78198984.cms
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Terrorist Prisoners Hit Record High in British Jails
Amid Warnings of Radicalisation
Lizzie Dearden
September 19, 2020
Police forensic officers on
Streatham High Road in south London after Sudesh Amman stabbed two bystanders
(AFP)
------
A record number of terrorists are being held in
British prisons, new figures show amid warnings over radicalisation inside
“chaotic” jails.
Statistics released by the Home Office on Thursday
indicate there were 243 people in custody for terror-related offences, up 24 on
the previous year.
It comes as the government pushes for a raft of
changes aiming to jail terror offenders for longer and make serious criminals
serve more of their sentences in prison.
Four alleged terror attacks have been launched by
serving or released prisoners in the past year, in Fishmongers’ Hall, HMP
Whitemoor, Streatham and Reading.
A prison officer working in the high-security estate
told The Independent the current situation was a “nightmare”.
“I don’t see any end to the attacks whatsoever, those
ones that come in with an extremist view leave with a stronger one,” he added.
“You’re releasing people onto the streets and you
dread to think what’s going to happen.
“No matter what ministers say everything is not great
in UK prisons, it’s appalling.”
The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said
there was “no control” over radicalised inmates and raised concern over longer
jail terms.
“They cannot cope with the extremist population they
have at the minute so how do they think they’ll cope with adding to that with
more extremists on longer jail terms?” he asked.
The officer said radicalised inmates had attacked and
threatened staff and that newly-recruited prison officers were seen as “easy
prey”.
“I’ve seen people do one shift and leave,” he added.
“Most of the prisons are being run on chaos, a lot of things pass that
shouldn’t pass because they haven’t got the time to deal with incidents.”
The Ministry of Justice said it has improved
monitoring and intelligence-sharing inside prisons and trained officers on how
to spot the signs of extremism.
But the officer said the training was “awful” and that
staff were “run ragged” and powerless to monitor conversations in other
languages.
Recent research warned that some extremists see their
time in prison “as an opportunity” to become more extreme and prepare for
attacks.
A separate report published by the Independent
Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation said terror offenders were not being
prosecuted for further crimes committed in prison, including making weapons and
glorifying terrorism.
Jonathan Hall QC
told The Independent: “People can move from being ordinary prisoners to
terrorist prisoners at any stage in their journey.
“I saw examples of people equally dangerous [as
terrorists] who are not convicted of terror offences.”
Research released by the International Centre for the
Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) found that at least five terror attacks have
been plotted or carried out by serving and released prisoners in Britain since
2016.
They include the stabbings at Fishmongers’ Hall and
Streatham, as well as a plot by a cell who met inside prison.
The report, which covered 10 European countries
including the UK, warned “there is an emerging view among extremists that
prison is an opportunity, not necessarily just to recruit or network, but to
also work on themselves.”
Around three quarters of terrorist prisoners in
Britain are categorised as Islamist extremists, 19 per cent as far right and 6
per cent other.
The vast majority have been convicted but 11 per cent
are being held on remand as court hearings are delayed by the coronavirus
pandemic.
In the year to June, 54 terrorist prisoners were
released, including two people serving life sentences.
Of those freed, 16 had been sentenced to less than
four years’ imprisonment.
Sudesh Amman, who was released days before being shot
dead after launching the Streatham terror attack in February, was among the
cohort.
A further 26 freed prisoners had been given sentences
of four years or more.
Shortly after the Streatham attack, the government
enacted new laws to end the automatic early release of terror offenders and
ensure they are risk-assessed by the Parole Board.
The Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill, which is
currently being considered by parliament, would increase the maximum penalties
for several terror offences and force terrorists given extended determinate
sentences to serve the entire term in prison.
Several MPs called for improved deradicalisation
efforts in prisons and raised concern about the potential impact of the
proposals.
During a debate in July, David Lammy, the shadow
justice secretary, said: “It is simply not good enough to lock terrorists away
for longer, put them out of our minds and hope for the best. As we’ve seen from
the devastating attacks at Streatham and Fishmongers’ Hall, this approach does
not work.”
The government’s new sentencing white paper contains
powers to halt the automatic release of offenders who have become a terror
threat while in prison.
A Ministry of Justice impact assessment said the
change could “increase the risk that other prisoners could become radicalised
or more dangerous due to the greater time in custody for the affected
individual, affording more time for further proselytising in the prison
population”.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/terrorism-prisoners-jail-radicalisation-streatham-london-bridge-b470783.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1536024_
--------
Lebanon: More Families Are Marrying Off Teenage
Daughters as Economic Despair Sets In
Abby Sewell
18 September 2020
Young Lebanese girls
disguised as brides hold a placard as they participate in a march against
marriage before the age of 18, in the capital Beirut on March 2, 2019. (AFP)
-----
An increasing number of families have become willing
to marry off daughters at the age of 13 or 14 in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley,
community members say as crises in the country continue to mount.
Over the past several months, groups of activists –
mostly women and girls, and most of them Syrian refugees – have been knocking
on doors to confront the growing issue that has been largely overshadowed by
the more dramatic crises that have erupted in the country over the past year.
As Lebanon’s economic circumstances – and by
extension, those of refugees living in the country – have become more
desperate, an increasing number of families are willing to marry off their
teenage daughters in exchange for economic stability.
Child marriage “was present before, but it wasn’t to
this level,” said Fatima Aleter, a Syrian refugee and one of the volunteer
leaders of a campaign by the NGO Women Now to change perceptions about child
marriage in the community. “There was child marriage before, but in the shadow
of the war and displacement and becoming refuges, and harsh economic
circumstances and social circumstances…the percentage is increasing, especially
among Syrian refugees.”
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
An assessment of the living conditions of Syrian
refugees in Lebanon conducted in early 2019 found that 27 percent of girls
surveyed aged 15 to 19 were married. That survey predated the economic crisis
that began in October 2019 and has worsened considerably in 2020. But
anecdotally, refugees said the pressure for families to marry their daughters
off has increased.
When the Women Now volunteers visits families who are
considering marrying off their teenaged daughters, Aleter said, “The main thing
they tell us is, it’s because of the economic situation. ‘I have four or five
children, and a groom is coming to ask for my daughter, why would I want to
turn him away?’ We hear this story a lot, that the young man is decent and a
good prospective husband and …I as a refugee am not able to meet the needs of
my children.’”
When Aleter hears that, she tells them about her own
daughter, who was married at 14 and divorced at 19 after her husband turned
abusive. It’s a common story – girls who are married off young often return to
their families after the marriage fails, sometimes with a child, making the
economic burden their parents were trying to alleviate even heavier.
“Your daughter is coming back to you broken after
having been exposed to all kinds of violence, and now she has a child. You’ve
fallen short on your responsibilities from several perspectives,” Aleter said.
“…They are thinking that marriage is the solution, but it’s not the solution.”
Aleter herself married at 17 while still living in
Syria. It was her choice to get married, she said – her mother had tried to
convince her to wait – but it turned out to be an unhappy union. Aleter wanted
to continue her studies, and her husband-to-be had promised she could, but
after they married, he changed his tune because his parents opposed her
studying or working.
She stayed with her husband for the sake of their
children until, after coming to Lebanon as refugees, he decided to marry off
their 14-year-old daughter to his cousin, who was 17 years her senior. In the
end, when her daughter decided to leave her husband, Aleter stood up against
her own husband and divorced him as well.
Sharing her story
Joumana Rahmoun, a teenager with a soft voice who
frequently punctuates even the most shocking statements with giggles, is
another volunteer with the campaign. Married at 13, she is now divorced at 18,
with a three-and-a-half-year-old son, who she is not permitted to see.
At the time when she was married off, Rahmoun said her
father was in prison, and her mother was worried about the problems that go
along with raising teenage girls in a conservative society without a male head
of household. Those include gossiping neighbors and the fear of sexual
harassment or assault.
Rahmoun said she assented to the marriage, but without
having any idea of what it would really entail.
“Every day I would get a beating,” she said. “… I
tried to kill myself three times to be done with it.”
Now she wants to share her story. “I was deprived of a
lot of things, and I wouldn’t want any girl to go through what I went through.”
If someone had visited her before the wedding to
explain to her what marriage could entail, as she is now doing with other
girls, Rahmoun said, “I would have rejected the idea completely. I wouldn’t
have agreed – that’s it.”
Minimum marriage age
Lebanese women’s rights activists have been
campaigning for years for a nationwide minimum marriage age of 18. Currently,
marriage age, as with most matters of family law, are set by religious courts,
meaning that all of the country’s 18 recognized religious sects set their own
minimum marriage age, nearly all of which are under 18.
Anas Tello, another volunteer with Women Now, said the
group had chosen deliberately to focus on working within communities rather
than lobbying for legislation.
“In our campaign there are Lebanese and Syrians, but
it’s 80 percent or 90 percent Syrian,” he said. “We don’t have the power to
change the laws in Lebanon. So, we saw that we can work on the community and on
the culture of our community. There are other groups working on the law. We
looked at where can we make a difference.”
While the campaign – first launched late last year –
hit some roadblocks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdown measures
in the spring, it has picked up steam over the past few months. At a ceremony
in the Beqaa Valley earlier this month, the volunteers celebrated its
accomplishments, including getting more than 1,800 families to sign pledges not
to marry off their daughters before the age of 18.
Marriage ‘happening much more often’
In refugee camps in the Beqaa, some residents said
they had, indeed, changed their minds after the discussions with the Women Now
volunteers.
Juma Mohammed, a refugee from Raqaa, Syria, living in
a camp near the Lebanese town of Zahle, took a few sessions to change his mind,
but now has turned down suitors for his 16-year-old daughter. Mohammed recalled
that in his community in Syria, early marriage had not been so common.
“But after we came here, this thing started happening
much more often,” he said. Mohammed said he had been thinking of marrying his
daughter off before hearing from the volunteers. What changed his mind, he
said, was the ‘real life stories,’” and particularly when it was pointed out
that such marriages often fail.
“There are people I know, my relatives, who it
happened with them and the marriage didn’t last,” he said. “…Bit by bit I
changed my mind. It’s now impossible that I would marry [my daughter] off early.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/09/18/Lebanon-More-families-are-marrying-off-teenage-daughters-as-economic-despair-sets-in
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Malaysian PM: Stern Action Will Be Taken Against Those
Who Spread Extremism
19 Sep 2020
PUTRAJAYA: The government will not compromise with any
form of extremism that could jeopardise racial unity and public order, says Tan
Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Prime Minister said stern action based on existing
laws would be taken against any party that spread the extremist practices and
beliefs regardless of religion.
"In our efforts to defend and preserve the
sanctity of Islam and the 'akidah' (faith) of Muslims in the country, we must
not resort to extreme means that could cause distress among the people in the country.
"We must remember that Malaysia is a multi-racial
country, which always prioritise moderation and harmony in relations of race
and religion," he said during the meeting of Islamic NGOs here on Saturday
(Sept 19).
Muhyiddin said he always welcomed views from Islamic
NGO leaders.
"In fact, I have the same stand as them on the
importance of prioritising efforts to alleviate the sanctity of Islam,
preserving the akidah of Muslims, as well as strengthening institutions that
contributed to the development of Muslims and strengthening of the 'ummah'.
"Thus, I welcome the roles played by Islamic NGOs
in exchanging views with the government towards strengthening each other's
roles in presenting the standing and sanctity of Islam in our country," he
added.
Muhyiddin said Islamic NGO leaders had met him
previously to voice their concerns over challenges faced by Muslims in the
country and globally.
"Among them are new developments in the mentality
and way of life of society that could threatened the akidah and 'akhlak'
(morality) of Muslims.
"This includes the influence of Western
liberalism and secularism, which sees religion as unimportant while championing
individual's rights that have no limit until it infringe on Islamic
beliefs," he said.
Such ideology has spurred various movements
internationally, including in Malaysia, where they are pushing for the
implementation and enforcement of Islamic laws to be reevaluated, he added.
"I am aware that such developments have caused
distress among Muslims in the country.
"This has also caused many Islamic NGO leaders to
rise and defend Islam's status as the Federation's official religion," he
said.
Muhyiddin said the Perikatan Nasional government would
be more sensitive and responsive towards Islamic NGOs.
"I believe the space created whether through
Yadim (Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia) or directly with the government will be used
fully by Muslims in the country towards strengthening dakwah efforts and
development of the ummah," he added.
During the event, Muhyiddin also received a resolution
from Islamic NGOs, presented by Yadim president Nasrudin Hassan.
Among others who attended were Minister in the Prime
Minister's Department in charge of religious affairs Datuk Dr Zulkifli
Al-Bakri.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/09/19/pm-stern-action-will-be-taken-against-those-who-spread-extremism
--------
Islamic State Expanding Globally with Some 20
Affiliates Amid Setbacks: US Official
17/09/2020
The Islamic State group continues to expand globally
with some 20 affiliates, despite being forced out of Syria and the killing of
its leaders, a top US counter-terror official said Thursday.
The extremist group "has repeatedly demonstrated
the ability to rebound from severe losses over the past six years by relying on
a dedicated cadre of veteran mid-level commanders, extensive clandestine
networks, and downturns in CT (counter-terrorism) pressure to persevere,"
said Christopher Miller, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center.
Since the October 2019 killing of IS leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi and several other prominent figures, new leader Mohammed Said Abd
al-Rahman al-Mawla has been able to direct and inspire new attacks by its
far-flung affiliates, Miller told a hearing of the House Homeland Security
Committee.
On Thursday the group claimed responsibility for the
killing of six French aid workers and their two local guides in Niger on August
9.
Inside Syria and Iraq, Miller said, IS has undertaken
"a steady rate" of assassinations and mortar and IED bomb attacks.
Those included an operation in May that killed and
wounded dozens of Iraqi soldiers.
Miller said the group trumpeted this success with
graphic videos that served as propaganda to demonstrate the jihadists were
still organized and active, since being uprooted from their self-proclaimed
Syria-Iraq "caliphate" last year.
He said that the group is now focused on freeing
thousands of Islamic State members and their families from detention camps in
northeastern Syria, in the absence of any coordinated international process to
deal with them.
Outside Syria and Iraq, the IS global web "now
encompasses approximately 20 branches and networks," Miller said.
It has had mixed results, but is strongest in Africa,
as the Niger attack underscored.
Islamic State also seeks to attack Western targets,
Miller says, but so far effective counter-terror work has prevented this.
IS rival Al Qaeda, which carried out the September 11,
2001 attacks on the United States, was weakened by the loss of leaders and key
figures, but remains potent, Miller said.
The group is still determined to carry out attacks on
the United States and Europe, he said, and was tied to the radicalized Saudi
air force trainee who killed three sailors at a US military base in Pensacola,
Florida, December 2019.
Al Qaeda's affiliates in Yemen and Africa retain the
ability to carry out deadly attacks, Miller said, but its sub-groups in India
and Pakistan have been significantly weakened.
In Afghanistan its presence has declined to "a
few dozen fighters who are primarily focused on their survival," Miller
said.
Under a deal the Taliban signed with the United States
in February, the insurgents agreed to stop Al Qaeda from using Afghanistan as a
safe haven to plot attacks.
However, despite the agreement, the jihadist group
maintains close ties with the Afghan militants, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
https://www.france24.com/en/20200917-islamic-state-expanding-globally-amid-setbacks-us-official?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1536024_
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Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan move has China's backing?
Sep 18, 2020
Pakistan has decided to elevate Gilgit-Baltistan's
status to that of a full-fledged province, a Pakistani media report on Thursday
quoted a senior minister as saying. The move is likely backed by China, with
geo-political and economic interests at the core.
According to a report in the Express Tribune,
Pakistan's minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs, Ali Amin Gandapur
said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would soon visit the region and make the
formal announcement to elevate Gilgit-Baltistan to the status of a full-fledged
province with all constitutional rights. This means that the region, which lies
in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) will be made Pakistan’s fifth province and
get representation in Parliament.
China has been pressuring Pakistan for several years
now to incorporate Gilgit-Baltistan as a full fledged province. The $60 billion
China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), linking China's western city of
Kashgar to the Pakistani port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea passes through the
region, and China couldn’t afford to “invest billions of dollars on a road that
passes through a disputed territory claimed both by India and Pakistan”.
India has clearly conveyed to Pakistan that the entire
union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of
Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of the country by virtue of its
fully legal and irrevocable accession.
The government of Pakistan or its judiciary has no
locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it. India completely
rejects such actions and continued attempts to bring material changes in
Pakistan occupied areas of the Indian territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
Instead, Pakistan should immediately vacate all areas under its illegal
occupation, the Ministry of External Affairs said in May while protesting
Islamabad's efforts to bring material change in Pakistan occupied territories.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/paks-gilgit-baltistan-move-has-chinas-backing/articleshow/78186428.cms
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President mourns death of Hefazat-e-Islam Amir Ahmed
Shafi
September 19, 2020
DHAKA, Sept 18, 2020 (BSS) – President M Abdul Hamid
today expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of eminent Islamic
scholar Shah Ahmed Shafi, Amir of Hefazat-e-Islam.
In a message of condolence, the President said Allama
Shafi had played an important role in promoting Islam at home and abroad.
“At his death, the country lost a prominent Islamic
scholar,” Abdul Hamid added.
Allama Shafi breathed his last around 6:30pm today while
undergoing treatment at Asgar Ali Hospital in Dhaka. He was 102.
Shafi had been suffering from various diseases,
including diabetes and high blood pressure.
The head of the state prayed for the eternal peace of
the departed soul and conveyed sympathy to the bereaved family.
https://www.bssnews.net/?p=456256
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India
Adityanath Govt Mulls Ordinance Against 'Love Jihad':
Report
Sep 19, 2020
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath
has asked officials to formulate a strategy and bring an ordinance if required
to prevent religious conversions in the name of love, a PTI report released on
Friday said.
The Hindu rightwing has coined the phrase ‘love jihad’
to describe an unsubstantiated Muslim conspiracy to convert unsuspecting Hindu
women to Islam.
PTI has quoted an ‘unnamed official’ as having said,
“Taking a serious note of such incidents [of forceful conversion and cruelty],
the CM has directed that a concrete strategy be made to control such incidents.
It has often been seen that this is being done in an organised manner. If
required, an ordinance can be brought for it.”
In Kanpur, the police had recently set up a Special
Investigation Team to look into reports of “love jihad”.
Last year, the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission
submitted a report to Adityanath, suggesting “a new law to check forcible
religious conversions.”
“The report was submitted along with draft
legislation, Uttar Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill, 2019,” Law Commission
Secretary Sapna Tripathi had said.
The report was allegedly prepared after a study of
laws in the country and neighbouring countries like Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, Sri
Lanka and Pakistan, along with court judgments.
“The commission is of the view that existing legal
provisions are not enough to check religious conversions and on this serious
matter, a new law is needed like in some other states,” the report said.
However, as Sharat Pradhan writes in his analysis for
The Wire, “A close study of the state’s crime records gave a completely
opposite picture. In all, there were barely nine recently reported cases of
marriages between a Hindu girl and Muslim boy. And these too were limited to
just five of UP’s 75 districts, namely Kanpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Lakhimpur-Kheri
and Ghaziabad. In five of these nine cases, the Hindu girls openly refuted the
accusations of ‘love jihad’ on the basis of which complaints had been made by
their respective parents.”
“In most of the remaining cases, say lawyers, police
and parental pressure usually works to undercut the marriages, with the girls
then agreeing to return home,” Pradhan writes.
“What emerged during the course of the police
investigations was that complaints were usually made by angry parents, for whom
the idea of an inter-religious marriage is outrageous and therefore thoroughly
unacceptable. So they typically came up with stories, blaming the Muslim grooms
for enticing their innocent daughters,” he adds.
PTI has it that Law Commission’s 268-page report
allegedly includes “newspaper clippings regarding forcible conversions,
international covenants on the right to religion, anti-conversion laws in
neighbouring countries and India.”
It claims that states like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,
Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have brought special laws to ban conversions
by force, fraud, marriage or allurement.
https://thewire.in/government/adityanath-govt-mulls-ordinance-against-love-jihad-report
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"Let This Message Go To Media...": Supreme
Court On Sudarshan TV Row
September 19, 2020
by A Vaidyanathan
New Delhi: Sudarshan News on Friday said it will file
an affidavit by the end of this week after the Supreme Court criticised it over
its "Bindas Bol" show, which claimed a "big expose on conspiracy
to infiltrate Muslims in government service". The channel's head Suresh
Chavhanke had also coined the term "UPSC jihad", short for Union
Public Service Commission, which conducts a highly competitive exam for
top-level bureaucracy jobs.
The channel's response came on a question by Justice
DY Chandrachud, who asked what Sudarshan News plans to do "to assuage
apprehensions" of the Supreme Court over the content that was seen as
incendiary.
"We do not want to come in the way of journalism.
We know as a court what happened during the Emergency. So we will ensure free
speech and ideas. We don't want to do censorship. We are not the censor board.
We want your client to come to us and tell us how he wants to assuage our
apprehensions," Justice Chandrachud said.
"While we respect freedom of media, let this
message to go to the media as well that any community shouldn't become a
target. Ultimately, we all exist as a nation, which must be cohesive and not
against any community," Justice Chandrachud said, referring to the show
run by Mr Chavhanke, whose website says he joined the BJP's ideological mentor
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a "bal swayamsevak".
In a separate affidavit filed with the Supreme Court,
Sudarshan TV has said it has no ill-will against any community or any
individual, and the programme concerns a matter of national interest.
The Supreme Court, however, told the channel to
explain its position clearly in the face of content that was seen as casting
aspersions on an entire community.
"The programme shows grave disrespect to this
community. Everyone wants to be at the power centre. What you are doing is that
you are marginalising those who should be brought to mainstream. By doing this,
you will be driving them in the wrong hands. Where are we headed?" Justice
KM Joseph said.
"Besides Muslims, there are Jains. My law clerk
underwent the course funded by Jain organisations. Christian organisations fund
their candidates. Everybody wants to be a part of the power centre. All
communities want a part of the slice of the power centre cake. You have put up
a cocktail of various factors but at the bottom you are maligning an entire
community," Justice Joseph said.
The Supreme Court also criticised the News
Broadcasters' Association or NBA as "toothless" for not doing enough
to check incendiary content being aired across the country. The NBA had said it
works only with its members and Sudarshan News was not its member.
"We also make channels apologise on prime time.
We are not toothless. Several Supreme Court and high court judgements commend
our regulations," the lawyer appearing for NBA said.
"Do you watch TV?" Justice Chandrachud said.
"Yes," the lawyer responded.
"Are you able to control it?" Justice
Chandrachud said.
"It has improved significantly, but many
(channels) are not our members," the lawyer said.
PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on
JioSaavn.com
The court then told the NBA to suggest how the
association can be strengthened so that it gets a better regulatory ability.
"You have a few members and it impedes your ability to regulate. You need
to tell us how it can be strengthened," Justice Chandrachud said.
The matter will be heard next on Monday.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/we-arent-censor-board-but-supreme-court-on-sudarshan-news-upsc-jihad-show-2297560
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NIA Busts Pakistan-Sponsored Al-Qaida Module Planning
to Attack Vital Installations in India; 9 Terrorists Arrested from West Bengal,
Kerala
Sep 19, 2020
NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on
Saturday said it has busted a Pakistan-sponsored Al-Qaeda module planning to
attack vital installations in India and being motivated to carry out terror
strikes in multiple places including Delhi NCR. Nine terrorists including the
leader of the module were arrested early on Saturday morning in simultaneous
raids at Murshidabad in West Bengal and Ernakulam in Kerala.
As per the preliminary investigation, the nine
arrested accused were radicalised by Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda terrorists on
social media and motivated to undertake attacks at multiple places including
Delhi National Capital Region. For this purpose, the module — led by
Murshidabad resident Abu Sufiyan, who is among the 9 arrested — was actively
indulging in fundraising and a few members of the gang were planning to travel
to New Delhi to procure arms and ammunition. The plans included travelling to
Kashmir for delivering the weapons. Saturday’s arrests have pre-empted possible
terrorist attacks in various parts of the country, said NIA.
The nine arrested accused have been identified as —
Murshid Hasan, Iyakub Biswas & Mosaraf Hossen, all three currently based in
Ernakulam, Kerala; besides Najmus Sakib, Abu Sufiyan, Mainul Mondal, Leu Yean
Ahmed, Al Mamun Kamal & Atitur Rehman, all r/o Murshidabad, West Bengal.
All nine, including those arrested in Kerala, are from West Bengal.
NIA had earlier learnt about an inter-state module of
Al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in India including West-Bengal and
Kerala and registered a case in this regard on September 11, 2020. The group
was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations in India
with an aim to kill innocent people and strike terror in their minds, said NIA.
Of the nine arrests made, six were from West-Bengal
and three from Kerala. A large quantity of incriminating materials including
digital devices, documents, jihadi literature, sharp weapons, country-made
firearms, a locally fabricated body armour, articles and literature used for
making home-made explosive devices have been seized from their possession.
Boxes of crackers, switches and batteries, which NIA said were being used to
assemble an IED, were recovered from accused arrested Abu Sufiyan’s house in
Murshidabad.
The nine terrorists will be produced before the
concerned courts in Kerala and West Bengal for police custody and further
investigation.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nia-busts-pak-based-al-qaida-module-9-terrorists-arrested-from-west-bengal-kerala/articleshow/78198877.cms
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450 jobless Indian workers forced to beg in Saudi,
shifted to detention centres
Sep 19, 2020
HYDERABAD: Thanks to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and
no jobs to survive, 450 Indian workers in Saudi Arabia are out on the road,
begging.
Work permits of most of these workers from Telangana,
Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Bihar, Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka,
Haryana, Punjab, and Maharashtra, had expired, forcing them to beg.
In videos that have gone viral, the workers said their
only crime was begging after Saudi authorities identified them by going to
their rented rooms and shifted them to the Shumaisi detention centre in Jeddah.
Among the workers at the detention centres include 39
from Uttar Pradesh, 10 from Bihar, five from Telangana, four each from
Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka, and one from Andhra Pradesh.
Many workers, who broke down, said they were caught in
a hopeless situation. “We have not committed any crime. We were forced to beg
because of our situation as we lost our jobs. Now, we are languishing in the
detention centres,” a worker complained.
Another said they were going through intolerable
levels of hardship for more than four months. “We have seen workers from
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka being helped by the authorities
of their countries and sent back to their respective countries. However, we are
stuck here,” a worker rued.
Social worker and MBT leader Amjed Ullah Khan said the
local authorities shifted the workers to the detention centres after
ascertaining that they had been overstaying. “Those who did not have the
‘aqama’ (work permit) were later taken to the detention centres,” Amjed, who is
in touch with the workers, told TOI.
“My brother passed away and my mother is critical. I
want to be sent back to India,” a worker said in a video appeal. Amjed has
written to Prime minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister S
Jaishankar, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Indian ambassador to
Saudi Arabia Ausaf Sayeed, brought to their notice the plight of the 450 Indian
workers and urged the Centre to help the workers’ return to India.
When TOI contacted the Consulate General of India
(CGI), Jeddah, to know if the workers were being helped to return to India,
there was no response yet. On September 17, the Pravasi Bhartiya Sahayta Kendra
(PBSK), a helpline of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), responded to
Amjed Ullah Khan on Twitter and sought details of all the emigrants, their
contact numbers and also contact numbers of their families so that they could
be helped.
While 2.4 lakh Indian nationals had reportedly
registered to return to India, only 40,000 have been able to come back.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/450-jobless-indian-workers-forced-to-beg-in-saudi-shifted-to-detention-centres/articleshow/78197281.cms
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Pakistan rejects India's demand for Queen's counsel to
represent Kulbhushan Jadhav
Sep 19, 2020
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday rejected India's demand
that an Indian lawyer or a Queen's counsel should be appointed for death-row
prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav to ensure a free and fair trial in this country.
Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri,
replying to a question during a media briefing, said India has been
consistently making the "unrealistic demand" of allowing a lawyer
from outside Pakistan to represent Jadhav, sentenced to death by a Pakistani
military court for alleged spying.
“We have informed India that only those lawyers are
allowed to appear in Pakistani courts who have a license to practice law in
Pakistan. This is in line with international legal practice. There can be no
change in this position,” he said.
Queen's Counsel is a barrister or advocate, appointed
Counsel to the UK Crown on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor.
Earlier this month, the Islamabad High Court in
Pakistan directed the federal government to give India another chance to
appoint a lawyer to represent Jadhav and adjourned hearing for a month.
Pakistan's Parliament on Tuesday extended for four
months an ordinance that allowed Jadhav to file an appeal against his
conviction in a high court as required by the International Court of Justice
(ICJ).
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag
Srivastava said the government of Pakistan has not been able to fulfil its
obligations on implementation of the ICJ judgment in letter and spirit.
"It has not yet addressed the core issues, which
include provision of all documents related to the case, providing unconditional
and unimpeded consular access to Kulbhusan Jadhav and appointment of an Indian
lawyer or a Queen's counsel to ensure a free and fair trial," he said at
an online media briefing on Thursday.
In 2017, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for
denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence handed
to him by a military court.
The Hague-based ICJ ruled in July 2019 that Pakistan
must undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the
conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India
without further delay.
India has slammed Pakistan for adopting a
"farcical" approach in denying available legal remedies to Jadhav
against his death sentence in contravention of the ICJ order.
Fifty-year-old retired Indian Navy officer Jadhav was
sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and
terrorism in April 2017.
To a question about elevating Gilgit-Baltistan's
status to that of a full-fledged province, the Foreign Office spokesperson said
that reforms in GB were an ongoing process that include political,
administrative and economic reforms.
“It (granting status of a province) has been a
long-standing demand of the people of Giligit Baltistan.
These reforms will continue in line with the needs of
the people of Gilgit Baltistan," he said.
India has clearly conveyed to Pakistan that the entire
union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of
Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of the country by virtue of its
fully legal and irrevocable accession.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pakistan-rejects-indias-demand-for-queens-counsel-to-represent-kulbhushan-jadhav/articleshow/78195363.cms
--------
Europe
Ankara blasts 'Napoleon' Macron for interfering in row
with Athens
19 September 2020
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has blasted
French President Emmanuel Macron over siding with Greece in Ankara’s row with
Athens, accusing him of further exacerbating and fueling the dispute by trying
to act like Napoleon.
“Mr. Macron is not contributing to a solution her,”
Akar said on Friday during an interview with British Channel 4 News. "He
is trying to take on the role of Napoleon, who died 200 years ago. But we can
all see that he is neither powerful enough nor tall enough to do it.”
"We are not pursuing any kind of imperialistic aims.
Here we are protecting our rights and the law," Akar further emphasized as
quoted by the UK-based Express daily. "He is pouring fuel onto the
problems and this is why the issue is being prolonged. Mr Macron himself is
dreaming.”
The latest tensions between Turkey and Greece stem
from Ankara’s refusal to halt its energy exploration activities in a disputed
portion of Eastern Mediterranean waters.
Asked whether his country will keep up with its energy
research, Akar underlined, "Of course we will continue to do it. This is
the right and law of out 83 million people and of the nation. This is not a
threat against anyone."
Meanwhile, Turkey’s former secretary-general of
national defense ministry, Umit Yalim, insisted on Wednesday that Athens had no
sovereignty over a group of Aegean islands and should evacuate their citizens
living there immediately.
Speaking to Turkish website Haber 7, Yalım said,
"The legal status of the islands located in the north of the Aegean Sea
was determined by the Six Great States Decision of 1914 and the Lausanne Treaty
of 1923.”
"Greece was given only the right to use of the
islands of the North Aegean and not the right of sovereignty,” he stressed.
"The areas of sovereignty and maritime jurisdiction as well as the
airspace of the islands of Thassos, Samothrace, Lemnos, Lesvos, Chios, Samos,
Ikaria, Psara and Agios Efstratios remained in Turkey."
Moreover, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
warned Macron last week “not to mess” with Turkey as tensions between the two
NATO allies surged, with Paris announcing that it would fully support Greece in
the dispute and even threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey.
“Don't mess with the Turkish people. Don't mess with
Turkey,” said the Turkish leader during a televised speech on September 12.
Macron has further called on Europe to show a united
stand against the “unacceptable” conduct of Turkey, saying Europe needed “to be
clear and firm with the government of President Erdogan.”
The French president has also infuriated Ankara by
asserting that Turkey’s “great” people “deserved something else” other than
Erdogan’s presidency.
The development came as Germany, which currently
presides over the European Council until January 2021, further suggested action
at the European level to force Turkey to stand down.
Germany's ambassador to Athens, Ernst Reichel, told
the Standing European Affairs Committee of the Greek Parliament that Ankara
could soon see the "stick" of the Council.
"Germany, during its European Union presidency,
maybe at the next European Council, will talk to Turkey with the threat of
sanctions and the general deterioration of its relationship with the EU,"
Reichel said.
He further proclaimed, "We are dealing with a
difficult neighbor and this is a problem we have not only with Turkey but also
with Russia, which is also a difficult neighbor.”
Invoking Berlin’s harsh stance against Ankara, he
added, "We must persuade Turkey and the question is how to persuade it. I
believe the right answer is with a stick and carrot approach. I want to say
that the European Council will show Turkey the stick very soon."
Erdogan says willing to meet with Greek PM over east
Med tensions
The insulting remarks by the German envoy came as
President Erdogan reiterated on Friday that Ankara was prepared to meet with
Greece to resolve its standoff over energy exploration in contested
Mediterranean waters.
"We can meet if there is goodwill. We can talk
via videoconference or meet in a third country," he underlined, noting
that Turkey would not be the party fleeing the table.
Erdogan further signaled that Oruc Reis, a seismic
research vessel, would return to its work, though he also pointed out that its
withdrawal was deliberate.
"If we pulled Oruc Reis back to the port for
maintenance, it has a meaning," he said. "It means 'let's give a
chance to diplomacy, let's show a positive approach'."
Turkey's Yavuz drillship, meanwhile, will continue it
search for oil and gas off Cyprus until October 12.
Turkey summons Greek envoy over expletive headline
against Erdoğan
Meanwhile, Ankara summoned the Greek ambassador to the
country on Friday over an appalling headline in the Greek daily Demokratia
about President Erdogan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu declared
during a press briefing, adding that insulting and cursing should not be in the
realm of freedom of the press.
The top diplomat also emphasized that there is no
point in embarking on fresh initiatives in Cyrpus which are doomed to fail,
reiterating, "We have said over and over again that we will no longer
negotiate for a federation on the Cyprus issue."
"(Greek Cypriot leader) Anastasiades once even
told me that they 'don't even want to share their hospitals with Turks.' The
Greek side's attitude does not allow for a federation," he added.
"They first accepted rotating presidency but later rejected it."
At the center of the row between Ankara and Athens was
Turkey's deployment last month of the Oruc Reis, and an accompanying fleet of
warships in disputed waters near the Greek island of Kastellorizo.
Turkish officials ended the month-long mission and
ordered the vessel back to shore last weekend for maintenance work.
More recently, Greece has disputed Turkey's current
energy exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, trying to box in
Turkish maritime territory based on small islands near the Turkish coast.
Turkey, the country with the longest coastline in the
Mediterranean, has sent out drill ships to explore for energy on its
continental shelf, arguing that Ankara and the TRNC have rights in the region.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/19/634513/Turkey-Defense-Minister-Hulusi-Akar-France-President-Emmanuel-Macron-Greece-tensions-Mediterranean-Sea
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E3 hails Iran’s intention to further strengthen
cooperation with IAEA
18 September 2020
Britain, France and Germany, the three European
signatories to a multilateral 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, have hailed Tehran’s
encouraging statements on its intention to further strengthen its cooperation
with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In a joint statement issued on Friday on the
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement with Iran delivered to the
IAEA Board of Governors at the September 2020 meeting, the E3 said they welcome
a joint statement reached between the agency and Iran late last month.
“The statement paves a procedural way forward towards
the resolution of the safeguards implementation issues specified by the Agency
and towards implementation by Iran of its legal obligations to provide access
to sites identified by IAEA,” the statement read.
The trio added that they take note of Iran’s
cooperation that provided the UN nuclear agency with access to one specified
location while the date for access to the second location has been scheduled.
In line with the joint statement, the IAEA has also
carried out an additional inventory verification activity at a facility in
Iran, they said.
The three European parties to the nuclear deal,
officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), called on
Iran to fully implement the joint statement and “provide full access to the
second site on the date agreed with the Agency.”
At the end of a two-day trip to Tehran by the IAEA
Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, Iran and the UN nuclear agency issued a
joint statement on August 26 on their agreements and the results of high-level
talks between the two sides.
"After intensive bilateral consultations, Iran
and the IAEA reached an agreement on the resolution of the safeguards
implementation issues specified by the IAEA, in good faith. In this regard,
Iran is voluntarily providing the IAEA with access to the two locations specified
by the IAEA and facilitating the IAEA verification activities to resolve these
issues," read part of the statement.
Speaking during his introductory statement to the
IAEA's 35-member Board of Governors on Monday, Grossi said the agency's
inspectors will visit the second of two sites in Iran later in September for
verification purposes.
"Our inspectors took environmental samples which
will be analyzed. A complementary access at the second specified location will
take place later this month," he added.
Elsewhere in their statement, the E3 said as a matter
of Iran’s legally binding safeguards obligations, they call on Tehran to
“provide the IAEA with the requested information and clarifications needed to
resolve all open safeguards questions, including on the origins of
anthropogenic natural uranium particles detected by the Agency at an undeclared
location in 2019.”
They emphasized that they are confident about the
“robustness and comprehensiveness of standard practice” that the IAEA evaluates
all available safeguards-relevant information, including third-party
information.
“The IAEA has robust procedures in place to
corroborate and verify the veracity of third party information.”
In an address to the IAEA Board of Governors on
Thursday, Iran’s permanent representative to Vienna-based international
organizations Kazem Gharibabadi said the Islamic Republic has the most
transparent nuclear program among the IAEA member states, as proven through
numerous inspections of the country’s nuclear sites by the UN agency.
“The fact that 22 percent of all global inspections
done by the IAEA has been carried out in Iran proves that Iran enjoys the most
transparent peaceful nuclear program among the member states of the agency,”
Gharibabadi added.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/18/634484/E3-Iran-IAEA-JCPOA-sites-Board-Governors
--------
Arab world
UAE cracking down hard on anti-Israel sentiment with
10-year prison sentences: Dissident
18 September 2020
A dissident Emirati activist has said that the United
Arab Emirates is cracking down hard on anti-Israel sentiment with 10-year
prison sentences amid the Persian Gulf country’s push to establish formal
relations with the Israeli regime.
“We were born and lived in the UAE and we know that
the position of the Emiratis regarding Palestine is firm and definitive; the
Palestinian cause lies in the heart of all Emiratis,” Hamad al-Shamesi said in
an interview with the Arabi 21 online newspaper.
Explaining why a limited number of Emirati activists
had denounced Abu Dhabi’s rapprochement with Israel, al-Shamesi said “the
answer is very obvious, anyone who criticizes the government has to pay a heavy
price”.
“He may be condemned to pay up to one million dirhams
(US $272,260) and 10 years in jail,” he added.
“Unfortunately the government has stepped up its
repressive measures against citizens and immigrants with a focus on security
policies and controlling beliefs. People are paying a high price for this,” he
said.
Bahrain and the UAE signed controversial US-brokered
normalization agreements with Israel on Tuesday during a ceremony in
Washington.
The event was slammed by many Arab and Muslim figures
as a blatant betrayal of the Palestinian cause.
Al-Shamesi added that the UAE government had engaged
in a gradual campaign to stifle anti-Israel sentiment in the Persian Gulf
country.
“The government has sought to change the minds of
Emirati people and change the priorities in their minds and portray primarily
Iran, and secondly Turkey, as their main concerns,” he said.
The UAE dissident, who currently resides in Turkey,
called on the country’s highest authority, the Federal Supreme Council (FSC),
to step in and counter the agreement.
He added that while the FSC has a constitutional duty
to approve or annul all of Abu Dhabi’s agreements, the body has been gradually
sidelined and neglected in recent years.
“The country’s future generation will pressure the FSC
on how such an agreement was signed without its approval,” he said.
Al-Shamesi added that the country once had a
long-standing government-affiliated association focused on challenging the
legitimization of Israel.
The association gradually eroded after having much of
its members thrown in jail and was ultimately disbanded in 2013, he noted.
Last month, al-Shamesi was among a handful of the UAE
dissident activists who set up an initiative named the “UAE Resistance Union
Against Normalization”.
Speaking to Arabic-language Arabi 21 online newspaper,
the dissident Emirati activist expressed hope that the group can one day
install itself in the Persian Gulf country.
“We hope to soon become an obstacle to the
normalization of ties with Israel,” Al-Shamesi said.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/18/634376/UAE-Israel-crackdown
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Saudis may have enough uranium to produce nuclear
fuel: Report
18 September 2020
Saudi Arabia may be in possession of enough mineable
uranium ore to produce nuclear fuel, a new report by the Guardian reveals.
According to confidential documents prepared by
Chinese geologists for the kingdom and seen by the Guardian, Riyadh now
possesses so much uranium ore reserves that it can start domestic production of
nuclear fuel.
The Chinese geologists have been reportedly rushing to
help Riyadh map its uranium reserves at breakneck speed as part of their
nuclear energy cooperation agreement.
The geologists identified reserves that would be able
to produce more than 90,000 tons of uranium from three “major deposits” in the
center and northwest of the country, the report said.
They have worked all year round despite blistering
summer heat to identify these reserves, it said.
However, these are “inferred deposits”, and further
exploration would be needed to confirm uranium reserves and calculate the cost
of extraction.
The documents have been prepared by the Beijing
Research Institute of Uranium Geology (BRIUG) and China National Nuclear
Corporation (CNNC), working with the Saudi Geological Survey.
The disclosure will intensify concerns about Saudi
Arabia’s interest in an atomic weapons program.
Experts warn that if Saudi Arabia is able to mine
sufficient uranium domestically, rather than relying on foreign providers, it
could give the kingdom a boost toward creating its own weapons program.
Bruce Riedel at the Brookings Institution said the
information showed that the Saudis were “aggressively pursuing the
prerequisites” for either an energy or weapons program and that securing a
domestic source of uranium would boost their effort.
‘Israel must be worried’
A new report by Foreign Policy says the nuclear
programs of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, especially that of Saudi Arabia, must be a
source of concern for the Israeli regime, which has started to officially
normalize its relations with the Persian Gulf Arab countries.
“Unlike the UAE, it [Saudi Arabia] has yet to agree to
the so-called gold standard of nuclear oversight. Saudi Arabia has a very
limited safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA). Moreover, in contrast to the UAE, the Saudis have not signed up to the
IAEA Additional Protocol, which enhances the ability of the agency to verify
the peaceful uses of all nuclear material. It has not ruled out enriching
uranium, which raises suspicions that it is pursuing a military nuclear
program,” the report said.
“Saudi Arabia has not ruled out enriching uranium,
which raises suspicions that it is pursuing a military nuclear program,” it
added.
Saudi Arabia’s clandestine nuclear program, which had
been revealed by whistle-blowers, was recently confirmed by satellite images
showing a large compound, in a suspicious location in the middle of the desert,
a checkpoint, towering security fences, a big building about 150 feet on a side
and pools for the collection of uranium waste; a typical blueprint for
yellow-cake mills.
The Wall Street Journal uncovered the facility
constructed in a remote area in Saudi Arabia for extracting uranium yellow-cake
from uranium ore. Ironically, the facility is located near a solar-panel production
area.
Observers say such undeclared nuclear capabilities in
the hands of the KSA are extremely worrying, in light of the abysmal Saudi
human rights record, and that the last thing anyone would wish for is a nuclear
armed KSA.
Western officials are now anxious about an unusual
facility located near al-Ula, a small city in the Saudi northwest desert near a
solar-panel production area.
Experts interviewed by The Wall Street Journal believe
the facility is one of the undeclared nuclear sites in the kingdom with the
capacity to produce uranium yellow-cake.
In 2019, the IAEA released “Updates on Saudi National
Atomic Energy Project,” detailing a Saudi plan for building reactors as well as
fueling them through the “localization” of uranium production. According to the
document, Riaydh was looking for uranium deposits in its own territory while
collaborating with Jordan to make yellow-cake.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/18/634375/Saudi-nuclear-uranium-ore-fuel
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After US claims, France says no evidence of Lebanon’s
Hezbollah explosives stores
19 September 2020
France’s foreign ministry on Friday said there was no
evidence to suggest Lebanon’s Hezbollah was storing chemicals to make
explosives in France after a senior US official said the group had set up
caches in Europe since 2012.
Speaking on Thursday, Nathan Sales, the US State
Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, accused the Iran-backed group of
smuggling and storing chemicals, including ammonium nitrate, from Belgium to
France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
“It stores these weapons in places so it can conduct
major terrorist attacks whenever its masters in Tehran deem necessary,” Sales
said in a briefing without elaborating or providing evidence of the activities.
Ammonium nitrate is an industrial chemical commonly
used in fertilizers and as an explosive used for quarrying and mining. It is
considered relatively safe if uncontaminated and stored properly.
It is extremely dangerous if contaminated, mixed with
fuel or stored unsafely, as was seen at the Beirut port in August after
2,750-tonnes of it exploded, destroying the port and killing at least 190
people.
“To our knowledge, there is nothing tangible to
confirm such an allegation in France today,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes
von der Muhll told reporters in response to Sales’ allegations.
Unlike the United States, which has designated the
heavily armed and politically powerful Hezbollah movement as a terrorist group
since 1997, France has said its elected arm has a legitimate political role.
France is spearheading efforts to set Lebanon on a new
course after decades of corrupt rule that has led to its deepest crisis since
the 1975-1990 civil war.
Its European allies, Germany and Britain, also
consider the group a terrorist organization, but French officials argue that
ostracizing it would make efforts to resolve the crisis impossible.
Sales said the chemicals had been smuggled into Europe
in first-aid kits and were possibly in Spain, Greece and Italy.
“Any illegal activity committed by a foreign
organization on our territory would be sanctioned by the French authorities
with the greatest firmness,” von der Muhll said.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/19/After-US-claims-France-says-no-evidence-of-Lebanon-s-Hezbollah-explosives-stores
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US military deploys more troops, armoured vehicles to
oil-rich eastern Syria
19 September 2020
The US military has sent a new convoy of military
vehicles and troops to oil-rich eastern Syria amid rising tensions with Russian
forces in the region, and as Washington seeks to loot crude resources in the
war-torn country.
Captain Bill Urban, spokesman for the US Central
Command (CENTCOM), said in a statement on Friday that the United States “has
deployed Sentinel radar, increased the frequency of US fighter patrols over US
forces, and deployed Bradley Fighting Vehicles to augment US forces” in the
area.
Without mentioning Russia, Urban added that the moves
were meant “to help ensure the safety and security” of the US-led military
coalition purportedly formed to fight the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
He asserted that the US “does not seek conflict with
any other nation in Syria, but will defend coalition forces if necessary.”
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
also said six Bradley Fighting Vehicles arrived in Syria early on Friday from
Kuwait, and that their deployment along with the forces manning the radar
equipment will add an additional 100 personnel to the 500 American forces
operating in eastern Syria.
The official went on to say that the actions are “a
clear signal to Russia and other parties” to avoid what he termed as
“unprofessional, unsafe and provocative actions in northeast Syria.”
Senior US officials have on occasions complained about
Washington’s policies in Syria, arguing that the approaches of President Donald
Trump’s administration have stuck American troops fighting a 'forgotten war' and
guarding oil and gas resources there, while Russian troops are making advances
and help the Damascus government recover after nearly a decade of militancy.
“It's a clusterf**k in Syria,” one top US intelligence
official, who requested anonymity, told American weekly news magazine Newsweek
earlier this month. “We don't have a strategy.”
Malcolm Nance, a former US Navy intelligence and
counter-terrorism specialist, also compared the situation to another bloody
quagmire for the Pentagon, and said the presence of US troops on the Syrian
soil is a political game with little payoff.
“A few special forces supported by artillery and armor
units are very much akin to 2002 in Afghanistan. It is now a forgotten war,”
Nance said.
Moreover, Russian and Syrian joint coordination
committees on the repatriation of Syrian refugees have denounced the presence
of US troops on the Syrian soil, stating that such an illegal military
deployment stokes new tensions in the Middle East.
The committees, in a statement released on September
3, cited the unlawful presence of US forces and militants affiliated with the
so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as one of the serious matters of
concern in northeastern Syria, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported at
the time.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/19/634515/US-military-deploys-more-troops,-armored-vehicles-to-oil-rich-eastern-Syria
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UN warns of 'war crimes' in Turkish-occupied areas in
northern Syria
19 September 2020
The United Nations has urged Turkey to launch an
immediate and independent investigation into war crimes and other violations of
international law committed in the northern part of Syria, which are under the
control of Turkish occupation forces and allied militant groups.
Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, said on Friday that the situation in those areas of Syria was grim,
with violence and criminality rife.
Bachelet's UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said in a
statement it had noted an “alarming pattern in recent months of grave
violations,” having documented increased killings, kidnappings, unlawful
transfers of people, seizures of land and properties and forcible evictions.
The victims include people perceived to be allied with
opposing parties or as being critical of the actions of the Turkish-affiliated
armed groups, her office added.
“People living in these areas, whose rights have been
violated, are entitled to protection and a remedy. In this regard, I urge
Turkey to immediately launch an impartial, transparent and independent
investigation into the incidents we have verified, account for the fate of
those detained and abducted by the affiliated armed groups, and hold
accountable those responsible for what may, in some instances, amount to crimes
under international law, including war crimes,”
Bachelet said.
“This is all the more vital given that we have
received disturbing reports that some detainees and abductees have allegedly
been transferred to Turkey following their detention in Syria by affiliated
armed groups,” she pointed out.
Earlier this week, a panel of United Nations war
crimes investigators called on Turkey to rein in allied militants in northern
Syria, who may have committed a range of war crimes against civilians,
including hostage-taking, rape and torture.
In a report covering the first half of the current
year and published on Tuesday, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said
militants of the so-called Syrian National Army, also known as the Free Syrian
Army, detain civilians and transfer them to Turkey for prosecution, adding that
such acts could amount to the war crime of unlawful deportation.
The panel warned that assassinations and rapes of
civilians were on the rise in war-ravaged Syria.
Ankara has been providing support to militants
operating to topple the Damascus government since early 2011.
Last year, Turkey seized control of the border town of
Ras al-Ain after it launched a cross-border invasion of northeastern Syria with
the help of its allied armed groups to push Kurdish militants affiliated with
the so-called People’s Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.
Ankara views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist
organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/19/634507/UN-warns-of--war-crimes--in-Turkish-controlled-areas-in-northern-Syria
--------
Qamishli residents call for removal of US, Turkish
occupation forces from Syria
18 September 2020
Syrians in northern Hasakah province have staged
protest against US and Turkish occupation of the Arab country.
Syria’s SANA news agency reported on Friday that
residents from Qabba Zeki village in the suburb of Qameshli district waved
Syrian flags and held signs calling for the removal of the occupation forces
from the country.
“Long live free Syria and its leader, President Bashar
al-Assad,” read the signs.
Syrians have been long protesting the occupation of
their country by Turkish and US forces, occasionally leading to violent standoffs
with occupying forces and their allies.
The developments come against the backdrop of a long
timeline of events ever since Syrian forces were able to liberate most of Syria
from foreign-back terrorists, which had once taken over most of the country.
Washington and Ankara have consequently both stepped
up military intervention to prevent the Syrian government from fully restoring
its control over the country.
Damascus has vowed to completely liberate Syria,
including the Idlib province, which remains the last major bastion for
foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists.
Over the last year, Turkey has enforced terrorist
forces in the province with heavy military hardware and thousands of Turkish
troops.
In March, Russia and Turkey came to an agreement on a
ceasefire regime in Idlib when a spike in Turkish intervention against the
Syrian government risked escalating into a large-scale war.
Speaking on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, however, said that Ankara was “delaying to honor its
commitments” under the March agreement.
Russia and Turkey had set up joint patrols in the
province to implement the ceasefire.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/18/634381/Syria-US-Turkey-occupation
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ISIS leader Al Mawla's treachery led to death of his
comrade in US air strikes
Thomas Harding
Sep 17, 2020
The current leader of ISIS was an informant whose
betrayal of his comrades led to at least one commander's death in a US air
strike, newly released American intelligence reports have shown.
Amir Al Mawla, who took over the ISIS leadership last
October, provided American intelligence officials with “reams” of highly
sensitive information on his colleagues.
The declassified documents released by the Combatting
Terrorism Centre at West Point, showed that Al Mawla identified at least 20
fellow terrorists including security chiefs, "judges" and key
administrators.
He also either provided or confirmed to the Americans
his own identity card, as well as his wife’s and son’s Iraqi paperwork.
“Al Mawla was a rat who gave up a lot of information
on others in IS,” the centre's Daniel Milton said. “What does that tell you
about him?”
Until now, little has been know, about Al Mawla except
his nicknames, the Professor and the Destroyer, and a reputation for brutality.
When he was detained by US forces in Camp Bucca, Iraq,
in 2004 while an Al Qaeda operative, he was shown photographs of his comrades.
He identified them and gave detailed information about
them.
It is understood that his information gave the
Americans enough intelligence to conduct a strike that killed one of Al Mawla’s
comrades in 2008.
If ISIS concludes that he did betray fellow
terrorists, it is possible that he will be deposed and killed.
The tactical interrogation reports on Al Mawla showed
that under questioning he gave up dozens of his colleagues.
The released reports show Al Mawla gave names of key
figures in the terrorist hierarchy fighting the US military in Iraq.
These included operatives in charge of the military,
administrative, media, Sharia and security sections.
Al Mawla also provided the organisational structure
for Al Qaeda-linked operations in Mosul, and junior personnel and previous
leaders.
He gave details of “high-value individuals” from the
Mosul area.
The group Al Qaeda in Iraq split into what would
become ISIS about a decade ago, leaving Osama bin Laden and his successors.
The documents showed he also identified a man called
Ustaz Ahmad as the person “ultimately responsible for approving attacks by Al
Qaeda in Iraq fighters on proposed targets”.
“This will severely undermine ISIS's brand and
credibility, and will really shake trust in the leadership and those who have
supported Al Mawla's rise through the organisation,” said Haroro Ingram from
George Washington University’s Programme on Extremism.
During questioning he asked the interrogators what
they did, where they were, what their responsibilities were, and their
nationalities.
The interrogation reports released in the US fill in a
largely blank slate of what was known about Al Mawla.
ISIS announced him as their new leader with the name
Abu Ibrahim Al Hashimi Al Qurashi after its former chief, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi,
was killed in a special forces raid in October last year.
The US government later publicly identified Al Qurashi
as Al Mawla, who was an obscure figure despite his close relationship with Al
Baghdadi.
By going through old interrogation records, US
intelligence identified him as one of their informants.
Al Mawla was a former officer in Saddam Hussein’s army
and comes from Mahalabiyah in northern Iraq. He graduated from the Islamic
Sciences College in Mosul.
After the 2003 US-led invasion Al Mawla turned to
violent extremism and emerged as a general Sharia jurist for Al Qaeda.
It is unclear when he was released from Camp Bucca but
it was assumed he returned to Mosul and his terrorist activities.
In 2014 he joined ISIS and pledged allegiance to Al
Baghdadi, allowing the terrorists to take control of Mosul.
Al Mawla was allegedly in the leadership group that
gave the ruling for ISIS to murder and enslave thousands of Yazidis.
The latest intelligence reports suggest the ISIS
leader is hiding in a small group of towns to the west of Mosul, or that he
fled into Turkey.
Al Mawla has a $10 million (Dh36.7m) US bounty on his
head and has been named by Washington as a specially designated global
terrorist.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/isis-leader-al-mawla-s-treachery-led-to-death-of-his-comrade-in-us-air-strikes-1.1079191?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1536024_
--------
Southeast Asia
We won’t compromise on extremism, says Muhyiddin
Adam Abu Bakar
September 19, 2020
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin says the
government will not compromise with any form of extremism that could threaten
the nation’s racial harmony, public peace and national safety.
Muhyiddin said strict action based on the law will be
taken against anyone spreading any extremist ideologies or practices,
regardless of race.
“In our effort to defend the holiness of Islam and the
purity of the faith of Muslims, I want to remind that we cannot take extreme
approaches that could cause unrest in our plural society.”
Malaysia must always prioritise moderation and harmony
in racial and religious relationships, he said in a speech at an event here
today.
He said the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government under
his leadership will be more sensitive and responsive to the voices of Muslim
NGOs, adding that he believed this space created will benefit the Muslim
community in the nation.
He said several Muslim NGO leaders had met him and
stated their concern over the major challenges faced by Muslims in Malaysia and
around the world.
“This includes concerns on new developments in
thinking and lifestyles that are seen to be a threat to the faith and morals of
Muslims. This includes the influence of liberal ideologies and Western
secularism.
“This ideology does not look at religion as something
important in mankind’s life. Instead, it glorifies unlimited individual
liberties to the point of breaching shariah law,” he said.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/09/19/we-wont-compromise-with-extremism-says-muhyiddin/
--------
Indonesian cleric's stabbing sparks review of past
attacks
Katharina Reny Lestari
September 18, 2020
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called for a review
of past attacks on Muslim clerics to try and determine whether they were
carried out by mentally ill people as claimed or the work of extremist groups.
The call follows the Sept. 13 stabbing of a prominent
Muslim preacher by a man whose family claimed he was suffering from a mental
illness.
Syekh Ali Jaber, a 44-year-old Saudi-born cleric, was
stabbed in the shoulder by Alfin Andrian while giving a sermon at a mosque in
Bandar Lampung, capital of Lampung province.
Despite the family claiming Andrian was mentally
unstable, the police and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) are still
investigating the possible involvement of a terror network.
“I have received a message from the president that the
BNPT, police and intelligence agencies should look at previous attacks on
ulemas [clerics],” Security Minister Mahfud MD told journalists on Sept. 16.
“Similar attacks occurred in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The
perpetrators were also claimed to have suffered from mental illness,” he said,
adding that these explanations appear to have been accepted at the time.
At least two cases occurred in 2018.
Hakam Mubarok, who ran an Islamic boarding school in
East Java’s Lamongan district, and Umar Basri from another Islamic school in
Bandung, West Java, were both attacked and injured by men thought to be
mentally unstable.
Mahfud said the government suspects these and the
recent attack follow a similar pattern.
“Whether or not they were planned by the same people,
we will look into this,” he said.
“The perpetrators all lived close to the scene of the
attacks, about 300-500 meters away, seemed to have scouted the scene beforehand
and associated with yet to be identified people.”
Stanislaus Riyanta, an intelligence analyst from the
University of Indonesia, agreed a review was needed as continuous claims that
assailants were mentally ill appeared implausible.
“These cases need to be reviewed so that there will be
no polemics. It is because there are already wild theories that the attacks
were by communists,” he told UCA News.
According to him, people doubt whether such attacks
were carried out by individuals claiming to be suffering from mental illness.
“People with mental illness cannot be put on trial,” he said.
He also suggested that people should inform the police
if they have evidence that the perpetrators of such attacks are not mentally
ill individuals.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesian-clerics-stabbing-sparks-review-of-past-attacks/89577#
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North America
China,
Iran, Israel, and alliances: Foreign policy issues that divide Trump and Biden
19
September 2020
Republican
President Donald Trump won election in 2016 promising to put “America First,”
overturn what he said were unfair trade deals and force US allies to pay more
toward joint defense measures.
In
the Nov. 3 election, he will face off against Democratic former Vice President
Joe Biden, who pledges to restore US global leadership and reverse many of
Trump’s actions.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Here’s
a look at their foreign policy differences:
China
Under
Trump, US-China relations have slid to their lowest levels in recent history
over a wide range of issues. Trump says he is the first president in decades to
stand up to Beijing, and his campaign accuses Biden of appeasing China as US
manufacturing jobs declined.
Biden
has countered that Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic was a historic
blunder, and that he disregarded US intelligence community warnings over China
downplaying its severity.
Trump
began a trade war with China before reaching a partial Phase 1 trade deal in
January. He has since shut the door on Phase 2 negotiations, expressing
unhappiness with Beijing’s handling of the pandemic.
Biden
argues that China relishes a chaotic Trump administration, his alienation of
American allies, and his abdication of US leadership roles in global
institutions.
Biden
says he will correct this by bringing multilateral pressure to bear on China
through renewed relations with US allies.
Iran
Trump
has questioned the benefits of US military interventions in the Middle East,
especially the 2003 Iraq invasion, and pulled out of a nuclear deal reached
with Iran, European nations and Russia under President Barack Obama.
But
Trump sent more troops to the region after the withdrawal increased tensions
with Iran.
Biden
has said he would deal with Iran through diplomacy and re-enter the agreement,
but only if Iran first resumed complying with the deal’s restrictions on its
nuclear program.
After
Iranian proxies and US forces clashed in Iraq, Trump ordered the January strike
that killed powerful Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
Biden
said the strike “put the United States and Iran on a collision course” and
proposes a narrower focus for the US military in the region on counterterrorism
and working with local allies.
Biden
wants to end US support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, which Trump has
defended.
North
Korea
Trump
met with North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un three times in 2018 and 2019,
but efforts to get Kim to abandon the country’s nuclear weapons program have
stalled.
Biden
has accused Trump of giving away US leverage over the North Korean regime for
little in return and said he would not meet Kim without preconditions.
Afghanistan
Trump
has said he wants a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan to end America’s
longest war.
In
February, the Trump administration reached a deal with the Taliban on phased US
force reductions, but it was dependent on the Islamist militant group meeting
conditions.
Afghanistan
and Taliban negotiators held their first direct talks on Sept. 15.
Biden
contends he will bring the vast majority of US troops home from Afghanistan and
narrowly focus the mission there on fighting al Qaeda and Islamic State.
Israel
Like
past presidents, Trump has pledged to secure peace between Israel and the
Palestinians. But, as before, that goal has proven elusive.
The
administration moved the US embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, a show of support for
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that angered the Palestinians and
their supporters.
The
following year, the administration formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over
the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, reversing a
long-standing US policy and irking other countries.
In
August, in a rare victory for U.S diplomacy in the region, Trump brokered a
deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which agreed to normalize
diplomatic relations. Israel said it would suspend planned annexations of parts
of the occupied West Bank.
Bahrain
joined the UAE in September in agreeing to normalize relations.
Biden
welcomed the agreements and said if elected he would “leverage these growing
ties into progress toward a two-state solution” in the Middle East.
Alliances
Biden
would rejoin the Paris climate agreement and strengthen alliances like NATO,
moves he says would undo damage to American leadership and credibility
inflicted by Trump.
The
president has angered NATO members and other US allies, while refusing to
criticize Russian leader Vladimir Putin, even when US intelligence officials
concluded Russia’s military had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
Biden has warned that Russia, China and others who try to interfere in US
elections will face serious consequences if he is elected.
Trump
announced in June that he would reduce the number of US troops in Germany by
about 9,500, prompting criticism from Democrats and fellow Republicans who
argue the US-German alliance helps counter Russia and China’s influence.
Biden
campaign aides say they are troubled by the move, and that Biden would revisit
the issue as president.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/09/19/China-Iran-Israel-and-alliances-Foreign-policy-issues-that-divide-Trump-and-Biden
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Nuclear
deal with Iran to be killed by Trump before UN speech
18
September 2020
The
Trump administration’s push to kill off what’s left of the 2015 nuclear deal
with Iran comes to a head this weekend at the United Nations, where allies and
adversaries argue the US effort to restore sanctions is groundless and a
diplomatic crisis is set to explode.
The
US bid to restore all UN sanctions on Iran -- which Secretary of State Michael
Pompeo contends will go into effect on Sunday in the middle of the UN General
Assembly -- deepens a chasm between the US and most other nations. Even
European allies say the US has no right to invoke the accord’s “snapback
provision because President Donald Trump quit the multinational deal to
restrain Iran’s nuclear program two years ago.
For
all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
issue is already sowing anger and division. The US and a handful of Mideast
allies are declaring the end of the nuclear deal while most other Security
Council members -- from Russia and China to Germany, the UK and France --
disagree with the latest example of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.
“The
US will obviously put pressure on others to implement sanctions,” said Ashish
Pradhan, a senior UN analyst at the International Crisis Group, which argued in
a report that the coming US election will decide the outcome of the dispute.
“I’m
sure some of the Gulf states, Israel and others will issue some statements
saying they recognize the re-imposition of sanctions. But on the UN Security
Council it seems like they’ll hold the fort.”
The
US asserts that all of the UN resolutions on Iran that were in place before the
2015 deal -- from a ban on arm deals to restrictions on the Islamic Republic’s
ballistic missile activity and its nuclear enrichment -- will go back into
effect. To enforce those measures if countries like Russia and China disregard
them, the US could use tools such as secondary sanctions on shippers, insurers
and banks and may even threaten interdictions of ships at sea.
“We
expect every nation to comply with UN Security Council resolutions. Period.
Full stop,” Pompeo told reporters Thursday during a visit to Suriname. “And the
United States is intent on enforcing all the UN Security Council resolutions.”
Why
US, Other Powers Differ on Iran Nuclear Deal: QuickTake
The
US deadline comes two days before Trump is expected to deliver a speech
remotely Tuesday to the UN General Assembly, which is being held virtually this
year due to the pandemic. Trump is likely to renew his past denunciations of
Iran and vow to enforce the renewed sanctions, which Russia and China have
already said they will flout by selling advanced weapons to Tehran when a UN
arms embargo expires in October.
The
president is also expected to boast of his role in what he’s called “the dawn
of a new Middle East” -- the US-brokered accords signed last week at the White
House between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The UN forum is
a chance for Trump to promote his foreign policy as a success less than 50 days
before a presidential election in which he lags Democrat Joe Biden in national
polls.
Broad
Rejection
The
other key participants in the nuclear accord all reject the US move, seeking to
keep the agreement on life support in case Biden wins in November.
Biden
has pledged to rejoin and then improve the deal, arguing that Trump’s
go-it-alone strategy to pressure Iran has left the US without allies.
“I
will offer Tehran a credible path back to diplomacy,” Biden wrote in a op-ed
for CNN. “If Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the
United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on
negotiations. With our allies, we will work to strengthen and extend the
nuclear deal’s provisions, while also addressing other issues of concern.”
Fu
Cong, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s top arms-control official, this month
dismissed the Trump administration’s demand as “absolutely absurd.” Instead, Fu
proposed a “new dialogue platform to uphold the original agreement.”
Despite
the disapproval of most UN members, the Trump administration’s decision could
put significant new pressure on Iran, especially if Trump wins re-election.
“Iran
invites the international community to be vigilant about the US bullying
against other countries in violation of international law,” Alireza Miryousefi,
an official at Iran’s UN mission, said in a statement.
Complicating
the diplomatic calculus is Iran’s own political calendar, with elections next
year that could generate a more hardline leadership.
If
the Chinese and Russians move ahead with “big press announcements about future
arms sales, the US could apply crippling secondary sanctions, which would punish
not only defense companies but also those they deal with, according to Richard
Goldberg, a former National Security Council official under Trump.
‘Maximum
Pressure’
“It
will be up to the US and coalition partners that have economic influence on
customers of Russia and China to use our combined economic weight in the same
way we have conducted the ‘maximum pressure’ campaign, only this time to put
pressure on them not to move forward with sales of conventional arms,” said
Goldberg, who’s now a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies, a Washington-based supporter of tough sanctions against Iran.
Another
concern is that the United Nations system could become collateral damage in the
fight over the Iran snapback. The US will put pressure on the UN to give the
decision its seal of approval by appointing experts to oversee the restored
sanctions and set up a website to track them.
But
the UN will try to stay out of the fray, the world organization’s customary
survival mechanism. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is trying his best to
punt the issue back to the Security Council.
“It
is the Security Council that is the body able to do the interpretations of
Security Council resolutions, and we will align with what the Security Council
does,” Guterres said on Wednesday.
Diplomats
said the US could move to pressure the UN by withholding funds or delaying
certain payments.
“Any
conflict between big powers of the world has repercussions for the UN,” Tijjani
Muhammad-Bande of Nigeria, the outgoing UN General Assembly president, said in
an interview. “We must continue to urge caution and to de-escalate tensions.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/09/19/Nuclear-deal-with-Iran-to-be-killed-by-Trump-before-UN-speech
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US
Carrier Transits Strait of Hormuz Amid Tensions with Iran
18
September 2020
The
USS Nimitz aircraft carrier safely transited on Friday through the Strait of
Hormuz, the world’s most important chokepoint for oil shipments, the US Navy
said, as tensions with Iran continue to simmer.
In a
“scheduled” maneuver, the US sent the carrier and several other warships
through the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, according to the US
Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th fleet. The Nimitz, America’s oldest carrier in active service,
carries some 5,000 sailors and Marines.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
American
aircraft carriers have for decades sailed through the international oil
shipping route in what the US describes as “defensive” operations aimed at
keeping the strait open.
The
show of force follows months of escalating incidents in the crucial waterway,
which led earlier this year to an American drone strike that killed a top
Iranian general in Baghdad. Tehran responded to that strike by firing ballistic
missiles that wounded dozens of American troops in Iraq.
The
Nimitz’s arrival in the Mideast saw Iran conduct a live-fire drill targeting a
mockup aircraft carrier resembling it, underscoring the lingering threat of military
conflict between the countries.
The
Nimitz strike group “is at the peak of readiness,” said Rear Adm. Jim Kirk, its
commander.
The
Nimitz, whose homeport is Bremerton, Washington, has patrolled the Arabian Sea
since late July. It replaced the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which had spent
months in the Arabian Sea on its deployment, breaking the Navy’s previous
at-sea record. Navy officials have limited port calls due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/19/US-carrier-transits-Strait-of-Hormuz-amid-tensions-with-Iran
--------
US
President Trump awards Kuwait's emir 'prestigious' decoration, White House says
18
September 2020
US
President Donald Trump awarded the US Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander,
to Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the White House said in a
statement on Friday, adding that it was the first time the honor has been given
since 1991.
The
91-year-old Emir arrived in the United States in July to complete medical
treatment, the Kuwaiti state news agency said at the time, adding that he was
in stable condition after having undergone successful surgery in July.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
Emir's eldest son, Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, accepted the
award on behalf of his father at a private ceremony with Trump on Friday.
The
White House praised the Emir as an "unwavering friend and partner to the
United States" who gave "indispensable support to the United States
throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and the
Defeat-ISIS campaign."
Operation
Iraqi Freedom refers to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq to oust former Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein; Operation Enduring Freedom to the 2001 US-led military
operation that drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan; and the Defeat-ISIS
campaign to the coalition effort to end the Islamic State militant group's control
of territory in Syria and Iraq.
The
White House described the award given to the Kuwaiti Emir on Friday as a rare,
prestigious decoration that can only be bestowed by the president, typically to
foreign heads of state or government.
On
Monday, Kuwait's prime minister told the Kuwaiti cabinet of the improvement of
the Emir's health.
In
July, Kuwait's cabinet tweeted that the Emir arrived at Rochester airport in
the United States, without specifying which US city of that name. The main
campus of the Mayo Clinic, among the top US medical centers, is in Rochester,
Minnesota.
Speaking
on condition of anonymity, two sources familiar with the matter said the Emir
is being treated at the Mayo Clinic. The clinic referred queries to the Kuwaiti
government, which issued a statement largely echoing the White House's comments
about the Emir receiving the award.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/09/18/US-President-Trump-awards-Kuwait-s-emir-prestigious-decoration-White-House-says
--------
USS
Nimitz aircraft carrier enters Persian Gulf after Pompeo’s threats against Iran
18
September 2020
For
the first time in ten months, a US aircraft carrier has sailed through the
Strait of Hormuz and enters into the waters of the Persian Gulf, as Washington
has threatened to illegally extend an expiring arms embargo on Iran.
The
US 5th Fleet said in a statement on Friday that the strike group led by the USS
Nimitz and including two guided-missile cruisers and a guided-missile destroyer
sailed into the Persian Gulf to operate and train with US partners.
The
Nimitz strike group includes the USS Princeton and USS Philippine Sea, both
guided-missile cruisers, and the guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett.
“The
[carrier strike group] will operate and train alongside regional and coalition
partners, and provide naval aviation support to Operation Inherent Resolve,”
read the statement.
"The
Nimitz Strike Group has been operating in the 5th Fleet area of operations
since July, and is at the peak of readiness," strike group commander Rear
Admiral Jim Kirk said in a news release.
“We
will continue our support to the joint force while we operate from the
(Persian) Gulf alongside our regional and coalition partners," he added.
The
United States regularly sends aircraft carrier groups into the Persian Gulf.
But the Nimitz strike group is the first carrier to operate in the Persian Gulf
since USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) made the Strait of Hormuz transit in
November 2019.
This
comes just days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened to enforce
an arms embargo and “UN” sanctions against Iran, despite nearly the entire UN
Security Council saying Washington does not have the grounds to do so.
On
Tuesday, Pompeo said that the US would not allow Iran purchasing Chinese and
Russian military equipment, despite Iran’s stern warning against Washington’s
“dangerous” defiance of international law.
"We
are going to act in a way -- and we have acted in a way -- that will prevent
Iran from being able to purchase Chinese tanks and Russian air defense systems
and resell weapons to Hezbollah," Pompeo said.
And
on Wednesday, Pompeo vowed that the United States would return to the UN to
have the sanctions re-imposed on Iran next week.
"We'll
do all the things we need to do to make sure that those sanctions are
enforced," he said.
On
Thursday, Washington’s representative to the Geneva Disarmament Conference
Robert Wood accused Iran of backing terrorism and said that the US seeks to
extend a United Nations ban on Tehran despite its expiration in October under
UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the Iran nuclear deal in
2015.
Nabi
Azadi, the political adviser to Iran's Permanent Mission to Geneva, rejected
the US accusations, saying that such a move violates Resolution 2231 and
amounts to an attempt to destroy multilateral bodies such as the UN after
Washington failed to gain international backing to extend the embargo at the
Security Council in August.
Azadi
said US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats of using force against Iran
are provocative and in violation of the UN Charter about prohibition of threat
or use of force or serious threat to international peace and security.
The
Iranian representative warned against serious consequences of Washington’s
irresponsible policies and illegal actions, saying that Tehran will swiftly
respond in kind to any act of aggression against the nation, sovereignty,
territorial integrity and its national interests.
Azadi
also slammed US accusations of terrorism, saying Washington is the one which is
supporting terrorists.
The
Iranian representative referred to remarks made by Trump and Former US
secretary of state Hillary Clinton admitting to the US role in creating
terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and Daesh.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/18/634497/US-carrier-enters-Persian-Gulf-amid-Pompeo%E2%80%99s-threats-against-Iran
--------
U.S.
blacklists Hezbollah official, Lebanon-based companies
SEPTEMBER
17, 2020
By
Daphne Psaledakis
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a Hezbollah
official and two Lebanon-based companies as the country experiences a deep
economic crisis, accusing them of being linked to the Iran-backed Shi’ite
group.
The
U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it blacklisted Arch Consulting and
Meamar Construction, building on sanctions imposed this month on two former
government ministers Washington accused of enabling Hezbollah.
Also
hit with sanctions was Sultan Khalifah As’ad, who the Treasury said is a senior
Hezbollah Executive Council official who provided project guidance to the
companies.
“The
United States remains committed to targeting Hizballah and its supporters as
they corruptly abuse Lebanese resources to enrich their leaders while the
Lebanese people suffer from inadequate services,” Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin said in the statement.
The
action freezes any U.S. assets of those blacklisted and generally bars
Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions
with those designated are also at risk of being hit with secondary sanctions,
the Treasury said.
The
Arch Consulting and Meamar Construction companies are leveraged by Hezbollah to
conceal money transfers to the group’s own accounts, enriching Hezbollah
leadership, the Treasury said.
The
department added that Hezbollah conspired with Lebanese officials, including
former Lebanese Transport Minister Yusuf Finyanus, blacklisted this month by
Washington, to direct government contracts to the companies that are overseen
by Hezbollah’s Executive Council.
Lebanon’s
Hezbollah, deemed a terrorist group by Washington, accused the U.S.
administration on Thursday of obstructing the formation of a new Lebanese
government, as faltering efforts to form a Cabinet have cast doubt on prospects
for a French initiative to lift the nation out of crisis.
Fifteen
years after the assassination of Lebanon’s Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri,
heavily armed group Hezbollah has risen to become the overarching power in a
country that is now collapsing under a series of devastating crises.
Lebanon’s
banks are paralyzed, its currency has crashed and sectarian tensions are
rising. On top of that, a huge port blast last month smashed a large swath of
Beirut, killing more than 190 people and causing damage estimated at up to $4.6
billion.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lebanon-sanctions/u-s-blacklists-hezbollah-official-lebanon-based-companies-idUSKBN2682CO?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1536024_
--------
American
Citizen Charged With Helping ISIS
Jack
Beyrer
SEPTEMBER
17, 2020
The
Department of Justice announced charges Wednesday against an American citizen
who allegedly provided support to ISIS operations.
The
indictment alleges that between 2015 and 2019, Lirim Sylejmani conspired to
provide material support, personnel, and services to ISIS in Syria, according
to a Justice Department statement. It also claims that Sylejmani, a naturalized
U.S. citizen from Kosovo, trained with ISIS and spoke to multiple media outlets
about his participation in the terrorist organization. Sylejmani, who was
detained last year in Syria, made his first appearance in front of a
Washington, D.C., federal court this week.
"The
defendant is a U.S. citizen who abandoned the country that welcomed him to join
ISIS in Syria," said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin. "He will
now be held accountable for his actions in an American courtroom. Our national
security prosecutors and law enforcement partners will continue to ensure that
those who threaten our country are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law."
While
ISIS has largely faded out of view for most Americans during the Trump
administration, the group's operations remain a significant threat in the
Middle East. In August, ISIS jailbroke an unknown number of suspected terrorists
from an Afghan prison. The Afghan government believes hundreds of the released
inmates are still at large.
"ISIS
is waging an insurgency across parts of Iraq and Syria," said Foundation
for Defense of Democracies senior fellow Thomas Joscelyn in a June congressional
testimony. "Even if the United States stops fighting, the jihadists will
not. … An awful amount of violence has resulted from the jihadists' caliphate
quest, and they already have nascent emirates in some regions."
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/american-citizen-charged-with-helping-isis/?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1536024_
--------
Pakistan
Rising
sectarian tension prompts calls for govt to act swiftly
Iftikhar
A. Khan
19
Sep 2020
ISLAMABAD:
Escalating sectarian violence in the country set off alarm bells in the Senate
with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) urging the government to swiftly act to
arrest the dangerous trend.
Speaking
on a point of public importance regarding the alarming escalation in hate
campaigns and sectarian violence against the Shia community in Pakistan, PPP’s
parliamentary leader in the Senate Senator Sherry Rehman said: “Twenty per cent
of Pakistan’s Muslim population is Shia. We are reeling under a new surge of
sectarian violence which is targeting Shias across the country and threatening
new rounds of instability.”
She
said there has been an alarming surge in targeted killings of Shias over the
last month. “According to some sources there have been 20 such cases where
Shias were targeted on the basis of their faith, but it’s extremely shocking
that this issue is not being raised,” she added.
Observing
that the wave of sectarian violence in Pakistan was extremely dangerous, she
said: “All of us agree that to become a peaceful democratic society we cannot
let such extremism and intolerance exist within us. It is crucial that the
government gives a policy statement and takes action.”
“Rallies
targeting Shia Muslims are being orchestrated by proscribed terror groups on
our roads where hate slogans are chanted. This is an extremely sensitive matter
which needs to be dealt with immediately. Our people have sacrificed a lot to
eradicate terrorism from Pakistan,” said Ms Rehman.
Sherry
in Senate points to surge in killings
Stressing
religious tolerance, she said, “This is Jinnah’s Pakistan who said ‘you are
free, you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or
to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any
religion, caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the
state’. The federal government needs to protect these basic rights as Shias are
also the citizens of this country. Their rights are enshrined in our
constitution like every citizen. Muslim or non-Muslim, every citizen should
have the equal protection of the law.”
“Our
Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) always respected and protected anyone who
was vulnerable and gave them space. We seek to be a progressive, inclusive
country and such incidents will only tarnish our image in the world,” she
added.
The
senator said all citizens have equal rights under the Constitution and it was a
collective duty to ensure it. “Whatever the risk, it’s important that we raise
our voice for the vulnerable and take action over it. It is also responsibility
of majorities to ensure all citizens are protected and guaranteed their
constitutional rights.”
“This
issue is a part of the National Action Plan, but nothing is being done about
it. We all need to sit together and come up with an action plan to curb this
issue before it escalates even more. The federal government also needs to
urgently address the alarming increase in sectarian violence,” she said.
In
response, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haidri said what
was happening was a reaction to disparaging remarks against Sahaba (Companions
of Prophet Muhammad PBUH).
He
regretted that no action was taken over the objectionable speeches with
disrespectful remarks against Sahaba in televised gatherings in Karachi and
Islamabad on Ashura. He said belief in all the Sahaba was part of “our faith”.
The
matter was referred by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to the Senate Standing
Committee on Interior.
The
house was prorogued sine die.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1580447/rising-sectarian-tension-prompts-calls-for-govt-to-act-swiftly
--------
Justice
Isa’s wife refuses to accept Rs35m tax liability
Malik
Asad
19
Sep 2020
ISLAMABAD:
The wife of Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa has refused to accept a tax
liability of Rs35 million, as declared by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
In a
statement issued on Friday in response to an FBR letter, she said she was being
“condemned unheard” and therefore intended to file an appeal against the order.
Sarena
Isa alleged in her letter that a “team of Prime Minister Imran Khan” —
comprising Law Minister Farogh Naseem, adviser on accountability and interior
Mirza Shahzad Akbar, former attorney general Anwar Mansoor Khan, Mohammad
Ashfaq Ahmed and Zulfiqar Ahmed from a “non-independent FBR” as well as the
complainant — fabricated a false case against her in connivance with each
other.
She
said that “Mr Akbar set up and chaired a private organisation, the Assets
Recovery Unit (ARU), and appointed a government servant, Ashfaq Ahmed, as its
member. These gentlemen directed FBR’s Zulfiqar Ahmed to prepare a report,
which he did, against my husband and me in a day”.
She
went on to declare that Nausheen Amjad, the chairperson of FBR, was replaced
and a chosen officer appointed instead. This was done on July 4, 2020, or
immediately after the Supreme Court had issued its order on June 19.
“However,
the new selected chairman was temporarily appointed for the duration of my
case; something which had never happened before,” Mrs Isa said.
Her
statement pointed out that “of all the commissioners in FBR the one selected by
Mr Imran Khan’s team was Mr Zulfiqar Ahmed, a gentleman who had already given
his opinion against my husband and me on May 10, 2019”.
She
said the officer did not have legal jurisdiction nor territorial jurisdiction
in her case because her returns had always been filed in Karachi. Only a
Karachi-based official could look into her tax affairs.
“Mr
Zulfiqar Ahmed has now come up with a 164-page order dated September 14, 2020
and created an artificial tax liability of over Rs35 million. I don’t even know
if he wrote the order himself,” her statement said.
Citing
the FBR order, she said the officer even mentioned that “I refused the delivery
of notice on June 25, 2020, the day my father died, and in order to humiliate
my husband he also addressed the notice to Justice Isa’s official residence”.
She
said that attempts were even made to intimidate the tax consultant whom she had
contacted.
She
also claimed that death threats were hurled at her husband that were “unlikely
to be a mere coincidence”.
The
government on its own should have registered an FIR against the terrorist who
had vowed to murder a Supreme Court judge, she said, but it looked the other
way. “I had to go myself to the police station with a written complaint,” she
added.
According
to her statement, the police did nothing and the matter was referred to the
Federal Investigation Agency without her knowledge. The chief Justice, however,
took notice and proceeded in the matter.
In
her letter, Mrs Isa also said the FBR order was passed even though she had not
been heard even once. “Mr Zulfiqar Ahmed does not say whether he decides all
cases without hearing the taxpayers or this special treatment is for a taxpayer
who happens to be married to a judge, one who Mr Imran Khan’s government is
desperate to remove.”
The
statement declared that she intended to file an appeal against the FBR order
because it ignored all the material facts produced before him during the course
of inquiry.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1580445/justice-isas-wife-refuses-to-accept-rs35m-tax-liability
--------
Pakistan
launches website for Kartarpur corridor
Sep
18, 2020
AMRITSAR
: Ahead of jyoti jot diwas’ (death anniversary) of Sikh’s first master Guru
Nanak Dev, Pakistan’s federal minister for religious affairs and interfaith
harmony launched website of Kartarpur corridor and released a book titled
"Historical Ahead Gurdwaras in Pakistan" on Friday.
Former
president of Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Bishan Singh said that
the launch ceremony of the website and book was held in a hotel in Lahore.
Bishan
Singh informed that akhand path would begin at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur
Sahib on September 20 and the bhog would be performed on September 22.
Notably,
the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has already observed the death
anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on September 12.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-launches-website-for-kartarpur-corridor/articleshow/78192411.cms
--------
Fazlur
Rehman links APC participation with dissolution of assemblies demand
MANSOOR
ALI
September
19, 2020
ISLAMABAD -
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has linked
his participation in the All Parties Conference (APC) with inclusion of demand
of dissolution of assemblies in the APC’s agenda.
Maulana
Fazlur Rehman demanded of the opposition parties to include the dissolution of
assemblies as an option in agenda of the upcoming APC. An informed source in
JUI-F told The Nation that all the small opposition parties including JUI-F had
strong reservations over the agenda of upcoming APC proposed by Pakistan
People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The
sources revealed that all the small parties especially JUI-F has demanded the
PPP and PML-N to include the dissolution of assemblies in agenda of the APC.
However, the major opposition parties are of the view that they had to give
tough time to the government within the Parliament House and dissolution of
assemblies was never an option, said the sources.
The
sources further said that if the opposition parties did not include the option
of dissolution of assemblies in the agenda then Maulana Fazlur Rehman would
send his delegation to the APC and will not participate in the APC personally.
Meanwhile,
sources within opposition’s Rehbar Committee told The Nation that all the small
opposition parties had already strong reservations over the attitude of the PPP
and PML-N; however, once again they were not going to give real tough time to
the government, added the sources. The
sources further said that if the PPP and PML-N failed to include their demands
in the agenda of the upcoming APC then they will think over a separate movement
against the government in upcoming weeks. It is important to mention here that
earlier in October 2019 during the JUI-F’s Azadi March, JUI-F Chief Maulana
Fazlur Rehman had demanded resignations from his party parliamentarians and also
from the MNA’s of opposition parties, but the two major parties had opposed the
option.
https://nation.com.pk/19-Sep-2020/fazlur-rehman-links-apc-participation-with-dissolution-of-assemblies-demand
--------
South Asia
Two
Appeal Court Members (Abducted): Ghazni
By
Mohammad Haroon Alim
19
Sep 2020
Taliban
militants have abducted two members of the Ghazni Appeal Court in an area of
Maidan Wardak province, the victims were taken out of the vehicle following
their disappearance.
Sikandar
Haidari, head of Ghazni appellate court told the press, that Assadullah
Rahmani, deputy of the court, and Shamsul Haq Shams a public Judge was abducted
by the Taliban yesterday.
The
court’s members were on their way from Ghazni to Kabul when they were captured
in Sayed Abad district of Maidan Wardak province.
Haidari
said, there is no information about the abducted members, and that the security
officials are asked to facilitate operation for freeing the victims from the
clutches of the Taliban.
Taliban
have not yet shared their comments based on the incident.
https://www.khaama.com/two-appeal-court-members-abducted-ghazni-9875432/
--------
Afghan-Taliban
Peace Talks Continue as Fighting Kills Dozens
By
Ayaz Gul
September
17, 2020
ISLAMABAD
- Officials in Afghanistan said Thursday the latest clashes between security
forces and Taliban insurgents had killed around 60 combatants on both sides
since Wednesday, even as delegates of the two adversaries negotiate peace.
The
Taliban staged predawn assaults on security outposts in eastern Nangarhar
province, killing at least 22 Afghan security personnel and injuring 15 others,
a provincial government spokesman told VOA. Attaullah Khogyani said that Afghan
forces killed nearly 30 assailants in the ensuing fighting.
Separately,
insurgents attacked a district center in the southern Uruzgan province, killing
at least five members of the pro-government forces, officials said.
The
Taliban did not immediately comment on the latest violence.
Afghan
Defense Minister Asadullah Khalid said insurgents were to blame.
"There
have been no attacks from our side...The enemies continue to attack and spill
the blood of Afghans," Khalid said at a ceremony in Kabul, where the U.S.
military handed over four A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft to the Afghan Air
Force.
The
spate of deadly violence accompanied historic U.S.-brokered direct peace talks
that began Saturday in Doha, Qatar, between the Taliban and a delegation
representing the Afghan government.
The
negotiations stemmed from a deal the United States signed with the Taliban in
February, paving the way for the withdrawal of all American and NATO troops
from Afghanistan by May of next year.
The
intra-Afghan negotiations under way in the Gulf state are aimed at seeking a
cease-fire and a power-sharing deal to govern the country after the foreign
troops exit.
A
spokesman for the Taliban has ruled out a cease-fire unless the two negotiating
teams can discuss and agree “on the main cause of the war” dividing them.
Mohammad
Naeem told a pro-insurgent media outlet the two teams were still in the process
of finalizing “rules of engagement” required to prepare an agenda for what are
officially known as the intra-Afghan negotiations.
He
quoted Taliban chief negotiator Abdul Hakim Haqqani as telling Wednesday’s
meeting in Doha that his group is determined to move the negotiation process
forward with a mission to end four decades of hostilities.
“We
have come to the table to negotiate in the light of Islamic tenets and demands
of the Afghan people the formation of an Islamic system, a central system that
meets the demands and wishes of the entire nation,” Haqqani said.
The
Taliban dismisses the current governing system in Kabul as illegal and a
product of America’s occupation of the country.
Afghan
officials say their team in Doha has been tasked with negotiating a deal with
the insurgents without undermining gains the country has made over the past 19
years in economic, security, diplomatic and social sectors.
“We
will defend the intra-Afghan negotiations, but we will preserve all
achievements. Now the time is over that the women of Afghanistan, Afghan girls
in the bazaar or streets or stadiums are whipped,” Khalid reiterated in his
speech Thursday.
The
Afghan minister was referring to the Taliban’s harsh five years of Islamic rule
in the 1990s when girls were banned from education and women from outdoor
activities in the crisis-hit South Asian nation.
“Afghan
women in the past two decades have become pilots, doctors, teachers, ministers
and deputies,” Khalid said.
U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while addressing Saturday’s inauguration of
Afghan peace talks in Doha, stressed the need for both sides to seize the
historic opportunity and work out a durable deal.
“These
historic negotiations should produce a political arrangement that accommodates
competing views and rejects the use of violence to achieve political aims,”
Pompeo said.
“As
you make your decisions, you should keep in mind that your choices and conduct
will affect both the size and scope of future U.S. assistance. Our hope is that
you reach a sustainable peace, and our goal is an enduring partnership.”
https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/afghan-taliban-peace-talks-continue-fighting-kills-dozens?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1536024_
--------
Mideast
People
in Tehran Rally in Condemnation of UAE, Bahrain Compromise Deals with Israel
Sep
18, 2020
The
gathering was held at Palestine Square of the capital by people from different
walks of life in support of Palestine against certain Arab reactionary regimes
which are exposing their real face to the Islamic Ummah via betraying the cause
of Palestine and holy al-Quds.
The
participants voiced solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine, holding
up placards and chanting slogans like “Israeli regime, source of all
corruptions”, “The Zionist, Saudi and US regimes will be destroyed by the grace
of God”, “Obliteration will be the fate of the Zionist regime, and “Death to
traitors.”
Bahrain
and the United Arab Emirates signed official agreements at the White House on
Tuesday enabling full normalization of their relations with Israel. The deals
had been announced by US President Donald Trump respectively earlier in
September and last month.
During
the event, Trump claimed “five or six” more Arab countries were poised to agree
to follow suit.
"We’re
very far down the road with about five countries, five additional countries,”
Trump said as he was hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Emirati
Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Bahrain's FM
Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.
All
Palestinian factions, Bahrain’s opposition groups, and numerous independent
Muslim circles have roundly denounced the normalization trend as a stab in the
back of the Palestinian nation and sheer betrayal of their cause of liberation
from the Israeli occupation and aggression.
Observers
say the wave of Arab-Israel détente serves to both woo the US-based Zionist
lobby’s votes for Trump in the upcoming presidential election and deflect
attention from a political and legitimacy crisis that Netanyahu is grappling
with.
Bahrainis
rally in their hundreds for a sixth straight night against the ruling regime’s
recent United States-enabled normalization with Israel.
Defying
trigger-ready security forces, the protesters took to the streets throughout
the kingdom on Thursday night, Bahrain's Lulu TV satellite channel reported.
They
carried signs that read, “Down with US and Israel” and “No to normalization
with the occupying regime” as well as placards that condemned any facilitation
of the Israeli regime’s intervention in the Persian Gulf region.
Others
carried Palestinian flags, asserting that Manama’s stance towards Tel Aviv and
the ongoing favorable coverage of the rapprochement by some media outlets did
not serve to represent the Bahraini public’s opinion.
“The
protesters say they stand by the Palestinian nation and are against all
instances of treachery” targeting them such as acts of normalization with the
occupying entity, the channel said.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990628000375
--------
Palestinians
protest UAE, Bahrain ‘betrayal’ agreement in al-Quds
18
September 2020
Palestinians
in occupied Jerusalem al-Quds have staged a protest against the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain over formalization of ties with the Israeli regime.
The
demonstration took place next to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound following Friday
prayers, Palestine’s al-Shehab News Agency reported.
Prayer-goers
could be seen standing and shouting slogans on the premises of the mosque.
“States
normalizing relations [with Israel] are traitors!” read a large banner held by
protesters.
Bahrain
and the UAE signed controversial and US-brokered normalization agreements with
Israel during a ceremony in Washington on Tuesday.
The
event was slammed by many Arab and Muslim figures as a blatant betrayal of the
Palestinian cause.
Also
on Friday, a 54-year-old Palestinian doctor was killed in the occupied northern
West Bank city of Jenin after Israeli troops threw a flash grenade towards him,
triggering a fatal heart attack.
Charter
for Palestine garners over 2 million signatures
As of
Friday, more than two million signatures have been gathered for the “Charter
for Palestine,” a petition launched by Emirati activists in rejection of any
Arab normalization with Israel.
The
Charter has been endorsed by many pro-Palestine organizations, including the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the Persian Gulf Coalition
Against Normalization and the Emirati League Against Normalization.
The
petition had about one million signatures a day earlier.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/18/634403/Quds-UAE-Bahrain-betrayal
--------
Police
detain 16 foreign nationals in operations against Daesh in Turkey's capital
Ankara
SEP
17, 2020
Turkish
police detained 16 foreign nationals over links to the Daesh terrorist group as
part of a counterterrorism operation in the capital Ankara.
The
suspects had been in contact with Daesh terrorists in conflict zones, Ihlas
News Agency (IHA) reported, citing security sources.
The
identities of the suspects have not been released but some of them were Iraqi
nationals, the report said.
Police
are still trying to nab another three suspects as part of the operation.
The
terrorist group has been trying to establish a new formation in Turkey after
receiving a heavy blow in Iraq and Syria. According to testimony by terrorists
detained in previous operations in Adana province, Daesh had been trying to
kidnap judges, prosecutors and tourist groups as ransom in return for Daesh
terrorists held in Iraq and Syria.
Turkey
detained the so-called “Turkey emir” of Daesh, named Mahmut Özden, in August.
He was planning to carry out an attack on Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and target
politicians, nongovernmental organization (NGO) heads and other prominent
figures in Turkey, according to the official investigation.
Police
deciphered encrypted messages of Daesh sent by the terrorist ringleaders in
Syria and Iraq, with a wide range of instructions, including kidnapping tourist
groups, prosecutors and deputies, attacking Incirlik Air Base in Adana and
other plans.
The
process that led to Özden's arrest started with the detention of terrorist
Hüseyin Sağır, who was plotting an attack near Istanbul’s famous Taksim Square.
The
investigation revealed that Sağır had been receiving instructions from Özden to
carry out the attack. Özden had also formed several groups of terrorists to
carry out activities in rural areas, including recruiting new members,
purchasing supplies and providing accommodation for terrorists.
Although
the terrorist group has been largely defeated in Iraq and Syria, its presence
still poses a threat, as individuals following its ideology encourage others to
carry out violence. European analysts have also warned against attacks by
Daesh, as attacks by isolated individuals not under the watch of intelligence
services have become more common.
Turkey
recognized Daesh as a terrorist group in 2013, and since then, the country has
been attacked numerous times, including 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and
four armed assaults, which have killed 315 people and injured hundreds more.
In
response, Turkey launched military and police operations both inside and
outside the country, capturing top Daesh members in counterterrorism efforts at
home and in Syria.
Turkish
intelligence played a key role in the death of Daesh leader Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi by detaining and extraditing one of his aides to Iraq, who provided
U.S. authorities with critical information for locating him.
https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/war-on-terror/police-detain-16-foreign-nationals-in-operations-against-daesh-in-turkeys-capital-ankara?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1536024_
--------
Iran’s
FM Stresses Washington’s Non-Participation in JCPOA
September
19, 2020
“Wrong
again, @SecPompeo,” Zarif wrote on his Twitter page on Thursday, adding,
"Nothing new happens on 9/20. Just READ Res.2231."
He
reminded that "Bolton, who convinced the boss to order you to cease US
participation” even acknowledged that the process is not "simple",
automatic or snappy. But intentionally "complex & lengthy" and
that the US is not a participant.
US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that Washington delivered a letter to
the UN for snapback invocation against Iran to bring back sanctions in 30 days.
Commenting
on restoration of sanctions against Iran, Pompeo added, "We are confident
that the trigger mechanism will be implemented against Iran".
This
is while, France, Germany and the United Kingdom (E3) announced in a statement
that they will not support the US snapback mechanism which is incompatible with
the current efforts to support JCPOA.
In
relevant remarks earlier this week, Iranian Vice-President for Legal Affairs
Laya Joneidi stressed that given the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal and
Iran’s respect for the international agreement, Washington will not be able to
use the trigger mechanism against Tehran at the UN Security Council.
Iranian
Vice-President for Legal Affairs Laya Joneidi
“The
US is no more a participant to the nuclear deal, and using this tool and
(trigger) mechanism is special to the countries which are a side and a
participant to the nuclear deal,” Joneidi told FNA on Monday.
She
added that Iran had even one year after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal
remained fully committed to the agreement and then gradually rowed back its
undertakings based on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and
therefore, Washington cannot claim that Tehran has violated the deal.
Joneidi
underscored that a country can refer to the nuclear deal which has not
withdrawn or violated the agreement, while the US has extensively violated the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and is no more a participant to it
and, therefore, is not entitled to refer to the deal and use the trigger
mechanism against Iran.
“Violation
of undertakings under a given document always prevents reference to it,” she
explained.
In
relevant remarks on Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also underlined
Washington’s failure against Iran in the political and legal fronts, adding the
US has not yet been able to collect enough support for activating trigger
mechanism against his country.
Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani
“The
enemy has failed in its strategic, political and legal goals. Although the
enemy has been able to create some obstacles for us in the economic field, it
has failed in the political and legal issues. It has faced at least 3
historical failures in the past few months,” President Rouhani said, addressing
a ceremony to start the new academic year for universities in Iran.
“No
UN Security Council member has accompanied the US in activating the trigger
mechanism and the US has not been able to start the trigger mechanism by now at
all,” he added.
President
Rouhani said that despite all pressures and harshest-ever sanctions imposed by
the US, Iran is witnessing inauguration of several large infrastructural
projects.
US
President Donald Trump, a stern critic of the historic deal, unilaterally
pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018, and unleashed the “toughest
ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism in
an attempt to strangle the Iranian oil trade, but to no avail since its
"so-called maximum pressure policy" has failed to push Tehran to the
negotiating table.
In
response to the US’ unilateral move, Tehran has so far rowed back on its
nuclear commitments four times in compliance with Articles 26 and 36 of the
JCPOA, but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as
Europe finds practical ways to shield the mutual trade from the US sanctions.
Tehran
has particularly been disappointed with failure of the three European
signatories to the JCPOA -- Britain, France and Germany -- to protect its
business interests under the deal after the United States' withdrawal.
On
January 5, Iran took a final step in reducing its commitments, and said it
would no longer observe any operational limitations on its nuclear industry,
whether concerning the capacity and level of uranium enrichment, the volume of
stockpiled uranium or research and development.
Now
the US has stepped up attempts aimed at extending the UN arms ban on Iran that
is set to expire as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),
which has been endorsed by Security Council Resolution 2231.
The
US first sought to extend the Iran's arms embargo in a fresh UNSC resolution in
contradiction to the contents of the Resolution 2231 in two attempts within a
month, but failed.
The
United Nations Security Council resoundingly rejected last month the second US
bid to extend an arms embargo on Iran, which is due to expire in October.
The
resolution needed support from nine of 15 votes to pass. Eleven members
abstained, including France, Germany and Britain, while the US and the
Dominican Republic were the only “yes” votes.
The
United States has become isolated over Iran at the Security Council following
President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the multilateral Iran nuclear deal
2018.
Iran
had said that the US resolution would fail to gain the required support at the
Security Council, pointing out that Washington has no legal right to invoke a
snapback mechanism to reinstate sanctions against Tehran under the 2015 nuclear
deal that the US unilaterally left in May 2018.
In
relevant remarks in August, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said
it is by no means justifiable for the US to use Dispute Resolution Mechanism
with regard to UNSC Resolution 2231.
"US
recourse to Dispute Resolution Mechanism in 2231 has NO LEG TO STAND ON,"
Zarif wrote on his Twitter page late Sunday.
"AmbJohnBolton
has repeated today what he said on May 8, 2018, while National Security Advisor
in the Trump administration," he noted, adding, "At least he is
consistent—a trait notably absent in this US administration."
Zarif'
tweet came in reaction to former US National Security Advisor John Bolton's
article in Wall Street Journal where he criticized US' decision to trigger
‘snapback mechanism’ against Iran, saying, "The agreement [Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action]’s backers argue that Washington, having withdrawn
from the deal, has no standing to invoke its provisions. They’re right. It’s
too cute by half to say we’re in the nuclear deal for purposes we want but not
for those we don’t."
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990628000129
--------
Envoy
Calls Manama’s Israel Deal, “Al-Khalifa's Suicide for Bin Salman”
Sep
18, 2020
"Bahrain
suicide for Bin Salman," Agha Jafari, who has been Iran's last Ambassador
to Bahrain, wrote on Iranian embassy's Twitter page, adding, "Since the
#military_occupation of Bahrain by #Saudis in March 2011, Bahrain became the
submissive government to #Riyadh."
"In
recent #deal with the Zionist regime, #Bin_Salman, could not join the deal for
some considerations, push Bahrain to the #slaughterhouse. This circus neither
alter the #legitimate_rights of #Palestine, nor makes a change to the
aggressive& occupier nature of #Israeli regime," he wrote in a
separate tweet.
"Palestinian
and all of the freedom-seekers of world won't accept the Trump #electoral show.
Resistance continues to reach the Palestine legitimate rights," the envoy
noted.
US
President Donald Trump tweeted the news of the Israel-Bahrain normalization
deal on Friday after he spoke by phone to Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al
Khalifa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Following
the announcement at the White House, Palestinian officials condemned the
Israel-Bahrain normalization deal announced by US President Donald Trump as
another "stab in the back" by an Arab state.
Friday's
accord normalizing diplomatic ties between Israel and Bahrain comes one month
after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to normalize ties with Israel under
a US-brokered deal.
On
August 13, President Trump announced a deal brokered by his government between
Israel and the UAE which he said would lead to full normalization of ties
between the two.
Critics
see the deal as the latest attempt by Trump to save his presidential campaign
against the Democrat Joe Biden.
In
relevant remarks, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in a statement
on Thursday lashed out at the UAE and Bahrain for normalizing ties with Israel,
and said that they are the Zionists' partners in crimes against the
Palestinians.
"What
is happening in the region and on TV and election shows is nothing new to the
people of the world, specially the Muslim Ummah, the Arab youth and the
oppressed people of Palestine," Qalibaf said in his statement.
For
many years, many governments in the region have been passionately kissing the
bloodthirsty hands of the Zionists, he added.
Qalibaf
noted that what happened between some Arab rulers and the Zionist regime was
simply putting on paper the stigma and ugliness of years of enmity between the
rulers of some countries and the Palestinian people.
The
Iranian speaker stressed that as Supreme Leader of the Revolution Ayatollah
Khamenei has repeatedly stressed, there will be no solution without the
Palestinian people, and that is an everlasting position.
He
said that the day that the recent agreements with Israel were signed should be
named as 'the second Youm al-Nakba'.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990628000172
--------
Two
Turkish troops killed in attack by Kurdish militants in Iraq: Defense ministry
18
September 2020
Two
Turkish soldiers were killed and another was wounded after Kurdish militants
fired rockets at a military base in northern Iraq, Turkey’s Defense Ministry
said in a statement on Friday.
Turkey
has regularly attacked Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, both in its
mainly Kurdish southeast and in northern Iraq, where the group is based. In
June, Ankara launched a new ground offensive, dubbed Operation Claw-Tiger, that
saw Turkish troops advance deeper into Iraq.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app
The
ministry said “harassment fire” by rocket launchers on Thursday killed the two
troops at one of Turkey’s bases in neighboring Iraq.
Read
more: Turkey shifts fight against Kurdish militants deep into northern Iraq
The
PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European
Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people
have been killed in the conflict focused in southeast Turkey.
In a
separate statement, the Interior Ministry said 71 PKK militants had been killed
since July 13 as part of a series of operations within Turkey, dubbed the
“Lightning Operations,” and added 38 collaborators had also been captured.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/18/Two-Turkish-troops-killed-in-attack-by-Kurdish-militants-in-Iraq-Defense-ministry
--------
Turkey
‘withdrew survey ship to allow for diplomacy with Greece, will return it
though’
18
September 2020
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey withdrew a seismic research vessel
from disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to allow for diplomacy
with Greece, with which Ankara has been involved in a dispute over oil and gas
resources in the region.
President
Erdogan made the remark in Istanbul on Friday, adding, however, that Turkey’s
operations for exploring oil and gas in contested Mediterranean waters will
resume.
Back
in August, Turkey dispatched the seismic research vessel Oruc Reis, accompanied
by naval vessels, off the Greek island of Kastellorizo, where Turkey disputes
Greek maritime rights. Greece responded by sending its own military vessels to
monitor the situation.
However,
on Sunday, the Turkish government returned Oruc Reis, along with the two
accompanying vessels, to waters near the southern province of Antalya for what
it called routine maintenance.
Erdogan
said the temporary withdrawal was also meant to show goodwill and added that
the ship would return to the disputed waters after maintenance.
“Let’s
give diplomacy a chance, let’s put forth a positive approach for diplomacy.
Greece should also positively meet this approach of ours, and let’s take a step
accordingly,” Erdogan told reporters. “This is why we did it.”
“But
this does not mean that, because Oruc Reis was pulled back for maintenance, our
seismic activities will fully stop,” he said. “Once the maintenance period is
finished, Oruc Reis will go back to its operations again and continue its work
there.”
The
withdrawal of the ship by Turkey has been hailed by Greek Prime Minister
Kyriakos Mitsotakis as a first positive step toward defusing the growing
tensions.
Erdogan
said he was ready to meet with Mitsotakis in person or via video conference to
discuss the tensions.
Turkey
and Greece, both NATO members, have been embroiled in a long-running
territorial dispute in the eastern Mediterranean over the region’s rich
resources.
The
energy dispute builds on a much longer history of animosity between Turkey and
Greece, dating back to 1974 when Turkish forces invaded Cyprus in response to a
Greek-backed military coup.
The energy
dispute has raised the specter of a potential military confrontation. Last
month, one Greek and one Turkish naval vessel were even involved in a minor
collision.
Member
states of the European Union (EU), particularly France, fully support Greece in
the current dispute and have threatened Turkey with sanctions. EU leaders are
set to hold an emergency meeting next week, where the bloc will discuss
imposing sanctions on Turkey.
Turkey
says it has the largest coastline among all other eastern Mediterranean
countries but at the same time has a disproportionately small share of the sea
because of Greece’s far-flung islands — a number of them even within sight of
Turkey’s shores.
Greece
argues that its claims to the waters are based on international law and also
grounded in past agreements with Turkey.
While
Turkey has temporarily withdrawn Oruc Reis from waters claimed by Greece, it
has extended the operations of another ship, the Yavuz, in waters disputed with
Cyprus.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/18/634492/Turkey-Greece-Erdogan-dispute-Mediterranean-diplomacy-Oruc-Reis
--------
Africa
South
Africa: No evidence of Iranian plot to kill US envoy to avenge Soleimani
18
September 2020
South
Africa's state security agency on Friday said it had found no evidence that
Iran was plotting to assassinate the US ambassador to Pretoria, Lana Marks.
A US
media report, quoting unnamed officials, earlier this week said that Iran was
planning to kill the US ambassador to South Africa ahead of the US presidential
election in November.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Such
a plot would act as a revenge attack after President Donald Trump decided to
kill Qassem Soleimani, a powerful Iranian general.
"At
present, the information provided is not sufficient to sustain the allegation
that there is a credible threat against the United States Ambassador to South
Africa," State Security Agency spokesman Mava Scott said in a statement.
"Such
plots of assassination against diplomats are viewed in a very serious light and
Her Excellency, Ambassador Marks has been assured of our commitment in this
regard."
On
Monday, Iran's foreign ministry denied the report as "baseless" and
part of "repetitive and rotten methods to create an anti-Iranian
atmosphere".
Relations
between Washington and Tehran have been tense ever since the Islamic revolution
of 1979.
They
have deteriorated sharply since Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of a
landmark international nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018 and reimposed
crippling sanctions.
The
South African state security agency said officials had requested additional
information from the US government and urged "everyone to remain
calm".
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/18/South-Africa-No-evidence-of-Iranian-plot-to-kill-US-envoy-to-avenge-Soleimani
--------
Somalia
names political newcomer as new PM, announces plan for national elections
18
September 2020
Somalia’s
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has appointed a new prime minister hours
after brokering an agreement with regional leaders for elections next year that
abandons a promised one-person, one-vote model.
Mohamed’s
office announced late on Thursday the appointment of Mohamed Hussein Roble, a
Swedish-trained civil engineer and political neophyte, and “wished him to take
duties and tasks ahead with diligence.”
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app
He
fills a vacancy left when former premier Hassan Ali Khaire was removed by
parliament in July for failing to pave the way for fully democratic elections
due before February 2021.
The
foreign-backed government in Mogadishu has been in drawn-out negotiations with
Somalia’s federal states over how to proceed with parliamentary and
presidential elections.
However,
the process has been held-up by political infighting between the president --
better known by his nickname Farmajo -- and the country’s regional leaders.
Somalia
had set itself the goal of holding its first fully democratic, one-man one-vote
election since 1969 -- as opposed to a complex system in which special
delegates pick lawmakers who then vote for the president.
But
an agreement reached between the president, five regional leaders and the mayor
of Mogadishu has conceded that such a vote would be impossible within the
timeframe remaining before Somalia’s parliament expires in November, and
Farmajo’s term ends in February.
In an
official communique, the negotiators said delegates from Somalia’s myriad clans
would elect the 275 MPs of the lower house, which in turn chooses the
president.
While
the process mirrors the last election held in 2017, it will go a bit further in
terms of inclusivity, with 27,775 delegates voting -- almost twice as many as
last time.
No
timeline was given, and it remains unclear what role the country’s independent
election commission will play, with the federal and state governments to
appoint their own agencies to oversee their respective polls.
The
plan still needs to be approved by Somalia’s parliament.
The
United Nations had described the pursuit of one-person, one-vote elections as a
“historic milestone” on Somalia’s path to full democratisation and peace after
decades of war and violent instability in the Horn of Africa nation.
But
observers had warned that such a goal was looking increasingly unlikely due to
tensions with the states, technical aspects such as voter registration, and
security challenges posed by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab militant group.
The
fragile central government, chaired by Farmajo, controls only a part of Somali
territory and relies on an international peacekeeping force to confront a
violent insurgency from Al-Shabaab in the countryside.
Mogadishu
had been criticized by observers for engaging in political feuds with federal
states to gain control in the election process, rather than focusing on the
fight against the militants.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/09/18/Somalia-names-political-newcomer-as-new-PM-announces-plan-for-national-elections-
--------
Coronavirus:
Dog tests positive for COVID-19 in Jordan, owner quarantined
Joanne
Serrieh
18
September 2020
A dog
tested positive for coronavirus in Jordan for the first time in the country,
the official Jordan News Agency confirmed on Friday.
The
owner – a foreign investor residing in the al-Ramtha area to the north of the
capital Amman – had attempted to ship the dog by plane to his wife but the dog
was found to be infected with the virus.
Dogs
and other animals that may test positive for COVID-19 are not a major source of
transmission to humans, the National Committee for Epidemics spokesman, Dr.
Nazir Obeidat said, according to the new agency.
Authorities
have, however, isolated the owner’s home as a precautionary measure amid the
outbreak. The owner and his neighbor are both in quarantine until their
COVID-19 tests are processed.
Read
also: Jordan to jail wedding, event organizers amid COVID-19 spike
Jordan
has been battling spike in the number of positive cases throughout the country
and reported 279 new cases on Thursday, its highest daily increase since the
virus was first detected in March. A total of 4,131 cases and 26 deaths have
been confirmed as of September 17.
Authorities
have implemented several measures in an effort to curb the outbreak, including
a quarantine requirement for international travelers arriving in the Jordan as
well as the suspension of schools for two weeks. Restaurants, mosques and
churches have also been shut down for a two-week period which started on
September 17.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/09/18/Coronavirus-Dog-tests-positive-for-COVID-19-in-Jordan-owner-quarantined
--------
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