Human Rights Groups Activists Sound Alarm over Hate Crimes, Blasphemy Claims in Pakistan
New Age Islam News Bureau
14 October 2022
Accusations of blasphemy
can spark deadly mob attacks in Pakistan
----
• Taliban Orders Male Teachers and Students to Sign
Pledge to Adhere To Sharia Law
• US Slaps Visa Curbs on Taliban Officials and Other
Individuals ‘Responsible For Repressing Afghan Women and Girls’
• As Part of Its Outreach among Muslims Uttar Pradesh
Government Solemnised 1,300 Muslim Weddings
• Kurd Abdul Latif Rashid Named Iraq President, Shia
al-Sudani Appointed PM-Designate
Pakistan
• Ummah Will Not Tolerate Conspiracy against S Arabia,
Says Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council
• Pak President Confers Hilal-E-Pakistan on Muslim
World League Secretary General
• Imran claimed power through conspiracy, says Fazl
• Investigations reveal drug use resulted in recent
killings: Faisalabad police pilot project to fight ‘ice epidemic’
--------
South
Asia
• Islamic Emirate Cabinet Not Formalized After One
Year
• Efforts Underway to Ease Economic Sanctions: Islamic
Emirate
• MoIC Urges Approval of Media Law in Afghanistan
• Afghan Twitter Campaign ‘StopHazaraGenocide’ Reaches
10 Million Tweets
• Taliban Ban Foreign Journalists on Misreporting
Charge
• Taliban say Afghanistan secure enough for big
projects
--------
North
America
• Witnesses of unsolved Mosque-area shootings in
Oakland still search for answers
• Pakistan, Saudi Arabia do not find mention in
America’s latest national security strategy
• Chartered Flight Carrying Over 300 Afghans Lands in
Canada
• Biden seeking off-ramp after escalating tensions
with Saudi Arabia: Expert
• US slams as 'spin' Saudi denial OPEC+ cut was
political
--------
India
• Mob Attacks Mosque in Gurugram, Threatens Namazis
with Expulsion from Village; Case Registered
• Hijab Ban: Muslim Panel Hails Justice Dhulia's
Verdict, Asks Karnataka Govt To Withdraw Case
• Fresh Suit by Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh-Backed
Social Worker Seeks Worship Of Deities At Gyanvapi Mosque Compound
• Two nabbed in Tumakuru for burning Muslim religious
flag
• J&K: NIA conducts searches in drone delivery
case
• Want normal ties also with Pakistan: Meenakashi
Lekhi at international meet
• Pakistan rakes up J&K at UN vote on Russia,
India strikes back
• Religious freedom should not be used to promote
'separatism', says BJP
• UP: DGP seeks report on Sultanpur clashes, Muslim
clerics claim bias
--------
Arab
World
• Saudi envoy urges UN Security Council to designate
Houthis as terrorists
• Saudi Arabia condemns Russia’s annexation moves inside
Ukraine
• Lebanon MP sanctioned by US says he played
behind-the-scenes role in border talks
• New details found in Syria on missing ISIS hostages:
Rights group
• Iran intensifies crackdown on Kurdish areas as
protests rage
• 18 Syrian army personnel killed in terrorist bomb
attack near capital Damascus
--------
Mideast
• Turkish Imam Loses His Job over Lyrics Criticizing
Government
• Mission to UN: Iran Left with No Choice but to
Eradicate Terrorism in Iraq
• Iran judges ordered to ‘avoid going weak’ on Mahsa
Amini-linked protesters
• Iran's N. Chief Confirms Uranium Enrichment with New
Centrifuges at Natanz Facility
• FM Underlines Iran's Opposition to Geopolitical
Change in Regional Borders
• Turkey criminalizes spread of ‘disinformation’, up
to three years jail term announced
• At least two Palestinians killed in Israeli West
Bank raid: Report
• Iran pardons, commutes sentences for almost 1,900
convicts
• Palestinian groups reach reconciliation deal to end
years-long division
--------
Europe
• Russia-Ukraine War: Money and Menace Being Used To
Recruit Muslims in the Caucasus
• Ukraine thanks Saudi Arabia for UN vote against
Russia annexations
• Russia using Iranian nationals in Ukraine to launch
suicide drones: Report
• Cologne’s mega mosque to start calling Muslims to
prayer
• France says Iranian drone sales to Russia would
violate UN Security Council resolution
• Scottish court rules in favour of Iraq-born migrant
in tuition-fee case
--------
Africa
• You’re Symbol Of Peace In Nigeria – Lengmang Praises
Islamic Cleric
• Mali bus blast leaves at least 11 dead: Sources
• Nigerian court acquits separatist leader of all
government charges
• Somalia police say journalist arrested over
security-related charge
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Cagamas Introduces Islamic Reverse Mortgage
Financing For Senior Citizens
• Pahang and Perlis dissolve legislatures, paving the
way for state polls to be held during Malaysia's GE15
• Najib’s popularity seen as X factor in GE15
• Stable govt needed to face recession, says Zahid
• Sabah, Sarawak will be kingmakers in GE15, says
Shafie
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/human-rights-activists-hate-blasphemy-pakistan/d/128178
--------
Human Rights Groups Activists Sound Alarm Over Hate
Crimes, Blasphemy Claims In Pakistan
Accusations of blasphemy
can spark deadly mob attacks in Pakistan
----
October 13, 2022
A handicapped man was set ablaze in Ghotki, Pakistan
on October 1, 2022. When the victim jumped into a nearby pond to extinguish
fire, the attacker, apparently a student of a religious seminary, followed him,
strangling him to death. The reason, according to media reports, were accusations
of blasphemy. The video of the killing went viral online.
The killing sent shockwaves across Pakistani society,
especially among minority communities in the deeply religious country where
most people identify as Sunni Muslims.
Just a few days later, Shia scholar Naveed Ashiq was
killed in the eastern Punjab province.
In a separate incident, a radical Sunni cleric in the
same province called for the killing of pregnant women from the Ahmadi
religious sect. The Ahmadi are not recognized as Muslim under Pakistani law.
Claims of blasphemy can be especially dangerous in
Pakistan. Human rights groups believe most accusers use these claims to settle
personal scores and property disputes as well as other minor issues.
Records show that 1,415 people were accused of
blasphemy between 1947 and 2021. According to the Center for Research and
Security Studies, a Pakistani think tank, 81 of the accused were killed — 71
men and 10 women.
Hate crimes on rise
Disturbingly, the number of incidents which involve
accusations of blasphemy and hate crimes against minorities appears to be
rising.
In December 2021, a Sri Lankan man was lynched in
Sialkot city of Punjab while this February a man accused of desecrating the
Holy Quran was beaten to death by a mob in the Punjabi town of Khanewal.
Recently, a school in the city of Attock, in the same
eastern province, expelled four Ahmadi children. The reason provided by the
school was merely that they were Ahmadi, said Amir Mahmood, Punjab spokesperson
for Jamaat-e-Ahmadi, an Ahmadi organization.
The Ahmadi representative told DW that social media
was awash in hate literature against his community, complete with anti-Ahmadi
banners and posters. This has, in some cases, led to blasphemy allegations,
Mahmood said.
No action from the state
Recently, a gathering of a Sunni extremist outfit in
Islamabad openly chanted slogans against Shia Muslims. Several politicians and
even one of Pakistan's top judges have also openly denigrated minorities in
recent years.
Activists and minority communities point to the
culture of impunity as one of the reasons behind the attacks on minorities and
blasphemy accusations which can also target Muslims.
Even high-ranking politicians are not immune against
extremist attacks. Pakistan's current planning minister, Ahsan Iqbal, was shot
and wounded in 2018 by an Islamist hardliner. Iqbal served as the country's
interior minister at the time.
Asad Butt, co-chair of the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan, also believes that the number of hate crimes and blasphemy claims is
on the rise. He slammed the Pakistani government for ignoring the problem.
"Instead of taking action, the government is
talking to the Taliban who killed Christians, Ahmadis and many Muslims and
extremist groups that spread hate against minorities," he told DW.
This attitude encourages extremists to peddle hate
against minorities and encourage lynchings against those accused of blasphemy,
Butt said.
Element of fear
Activist Sadia from Okara in Punjab believes that the
extremist groups wield immense influence in Pakistani society. This influence
is enough to deter people from questioning the claims of those accusing others
of blasphemy, she said, adding that if a person is accused of blasphemy, people
simply start gathering outside their residence without subjecting the claims to
any scrutiny.
"In such matters the sense of fear is so profound
that you can't dare to ask those who accuse anyone of blasphemy," Sadia
told DW.
This element of fear encourages extremists in their
lynchings and hate campaigns, and neither politicians nor ordinary people are
ready to break this fear-based framework, she said.
Some activists believe that unregulated growth of
religious seminaries has fed the increase in hate crimes and claims of
blasphemy. The killer of handicapped man in Ghotki is said to be a student of a
religious seminary.
Political activist Naghma Iqtidar points out that
religious seminaries can now be found in every part of the Pakistani province
of Sindh, marking a significant change compared to two decades ago.
"Hate crimes and accusations of blasphemy have
also risen during the same period," she told DW.
TLP gaining strength
Pakistan has witnessed an immense popularity of a
religious group called Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) during the last 14
years. The far-right group fiercely opposes any amendments to the country's
blasphemy laws. In 2017, it paralyzed the capital Islamabad by staging a
massive sit-in and demanding the resignation of Zahid Hamid, who was the
justice minister at the time. Hamid eventually stepped down.
Last year, TLP supporters clashed with the police,
leading to several deaths. The unrest started after their leader was arrested
for giving the Pakistani government an ultimatum and insisting they expel the
French ambassador over a blasphemy dispute. TLP leader, Saad Rizvi, was
eventually released in November 2021 and a short-lived ban on the party was
lifted.
A follower of the group is believed to be responsible
for the killing of an Ahmadi man in Chiniot in late September 2022.
Many critics claim that the organization not only
carries out vitriolic attacks on minorities but also on anyone daring to
challenge them.
Punjabi activist Sadia believes the TLP is more
powerful than any other religious group in Pakistan today. Naghma Iqtidar from Sindh
claims their rise has created more intolerance in society, leading to more
accusations of blasphemy.
Human rights commission chair Butt notes that the
group has tens of thousands of voters across Pakistan and has even managed to
win two seats in the province of Sindh.
Government's stance
Critics believe a vast number of hate crimes go
unreported. Anis Haroon, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights,
says no institution in Pakistan records such incidents.
But Muhammad Jalal-ud-din, the leader of the Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam party (the Party of Islamic Scholars), which is part of the
ruling coalition, rejects claims that hate crimes are on the rise.
He told DW that minorities in Pakistan are awarded all
rights under the country's constitution. The politician insisted that the
government was not lenient towards anyone preaching hatred. Jalal-ud-din also
rejected the alleged link between religion-fueled violence and talks with the
Taliban, saying that the talks were a completely separate issue.
"Anyone breaking the law would be brought to
justice, including those attempting to stir hatred," he said.
Source:
Dhaka Tribune
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.dhakatribune.com/south-asia/2022/10/13/18-flood-victims-killed-in-pakistan-bus-fire
--------
Taliban Orders Male Teachers and Students to Sign
Pledge to Adhere To Sharia Law
Representative Image/
Reuters
-----
14th October 2022
Kabul: The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has
ordered male teachers and high-school students in Kandahar province to sign a
written pledge that they will adhere to the militant group’s extremist
interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
That includes following the Taliban’s strict dress
code for men, including growing a beard, wearing a turban or Islamic cap, and
donning the “pirhan tumban”, the traditional baggy shirt and pants common in
rural Afghanistan, RFE/RL reported.
Failure to sign or adhere to the pledge can lead to
students being expelled from school or teachers losing their jobs, according to
locals.
The order for male teachers and students in the ninth
grade and above to sign the pledge has been widely criticized.
“This is an irrational step and must be strongly
discouraged,” a high-school student in Kandahar, who did not want to be named
for fear of retribution said.
“I want the Taliban to stop curbing our freedoms.”
“They should stop imposing such extremist ideas,”
another high-school student in the province, who said he was forced to sign the
pledge.
The pledge is the latest attempt by the Taliban to
police the appearances of Afghan men and women in public, RFE/RL reported.
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban has
ordered male government employees to grow beards and wear traditional attire or
risk being fired.
In some areas, men have been forced to attend prayers.
In some parts of Afghanistan, the Taliban has banned
Western-style clothing and haircuts.
The militants have also imposed strict gender
segregation in schools, universities, hospitals, government offices, and public
transport.
Couples who eat out in restaurants are often
questioned and harassed by the Taliban’s notorious morality police, RFE/RL
reported.
Source: Siasat Daily
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
US Slaps Visa Curbs on Taliban Officials and Other
Individuals ‘Responsible For Repressing Afghan Women and Girls’
Representative Image/Files
----
Anwar Iqbal
October 13, 2022
WASHINGTON: The United States has imposed visa
restrictions against Taliban officials and other individuals ‘responsible for
repressing Afghan women and girls’, hoping to persuade the regime to reconsider
its repressive policies.
“Today I am announcing a visa restriction policy … to
restrict the issuance of visas for current or former Taliban members, members
of non-state security groups, and other individuals believed to be responsible
for, or complicit in, repressing women and girls in Afghanistan through
restrictive policies and violence,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
in a statement issued on Tuesday evening.
In Kabul, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said the new US
visa rules could have a “negative” impact on ties with Afghanistan’s
government, which held talks with Washington this week.
Secretary Blinken also called on other governments to
“join us in taking similar actions and to continue to underscore a collective
message that only a government in Afghanistan that represents all its people
and protects and promotes the human rights of every individual could be
considered legitimate.”
He defined the actions that constitute the violation
of US visa rules as discontinuing, restricting access to education for girls
and women; preventing their participation in the workforce, restricting their
movement, expression, or privacy.
Immediate family members of a violator may also be
subject to these restrictions.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1714750
--------
As Part of Its Outreach among Muslims Uttar Pradesh
Government Solemnised 1,300 Muslim Weddings
Officials told TOI that Rs
600 crore have been earmarked for for group marriages throughout the state in
this fiscal, of which the department has spent Rs 81.76 crore until August
-----
Oct 14, 2022
LUCKNOW: As part of its outreach among Muslims, the
Yogi Adityanath government has ensured marriages of over 1,300 couples from the
minority community across the state in this financial year thus far. These
weddings have been performed under the chief minister group marriage scheme
that was launched a few years ago.
Earlier, these marriages were solemnised by different
departments, including minorities welfare; however, from now on, the social
welfare department has been made the nodal agency for these group marriages and
budgets from all the departments have shifted to it.
Officials told TOI that Rs 600 crore have been
earmarked for group marriages throughout the state in this fiscal, of which the
department has spent Rs 81.76 crore until August.
From April to August this year, the department has
been able to host group marriages of around 16,033 couples. Of which, 1387
couples from minority community, 9,374 couples from the Dalit community, 4,649
couples from the OBC category and 623 couples from general category got
married.
Of these, Moradabad division had the lion's share of
1,567 weddings, followed by Varanasi (1,409), Lucknow (1,274), Kanpur (1,035),
Ayodhya (1,014), Meerut (962), Prayagraj (934), Gorakhpur (933) and Bareilly
(871).
Principal secretary, social welfare department, Hari
Om said that efforts would be made to ensure maximum marriages are solemnised
in the coming wedding season as applications in huge numbers have already been
received.
As part of the scheme, the government provides Rs
51,000 to the bride when the marriage is performed. Of the total amount given,
Rs 35,000 is transferred into the bride's account while utility items are
gifted to the bride from the leftover amount. No money is transferred to the
groom, the officials further said. Couples from below poverty line, from any
caste or religion, can avail the scheme.
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Kurd Abdul Latif Rashid Named Iraq President, Shia
al-Sudani Appointed PM-Designate
Newly elected Iraqi
President Abdul Latif Rashid has named Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime
minister-designate and tasked him with forming a new government in Baghdad,
Iraq (Image: Reuters)
-----
OCTOBER 14, 2022
Despite a rocket attack on Baghdad’s Green Zone, Iraqi
lawmakers Thursday elected a new president who swiftly named a prime minister
in hopes of ending a year of political gridlock and violence in the war-scarred
nation.
Abdul Latif Rashid, a 78-year-old Iraqi Kurd, was
elected as head of state, replacing Barham Saleh, by the assembly in the
capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic district.
Rashid won more than 160 votes against 99 for the
incumbent Saleh, an assembly official said.
The new president swiftly named Shiite politician
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime minister-designate, tasking him with
reconciling feuding Shiite factions and forming a government a whole year after
Iraq last went to the polls.
The 52-year-old Sudani, who has the backing of
influential pro-Iran factions, vowed to form a government “as quickly as
possible", but faces the daunting task of winning over their rivals, the
millions of diehard supporters of fiery cleric Moqtada Sadr.
When Sudani was first proposed in July, the move
sparked mass protests by Sadr’s followers, who breached the Green Zone and
stormed parliament.
He now has 30 days to form a new government capable of
commanding a majority in parliament.
“I shall spare no effort to form a strong
government," Sudani said in a televised speech, vowing to work with “all
political forces and elements of society".
He also promised the youth he would confront problems
such as “the lack of (public) services, poverty, inflation and
unemployment".
Western governments swiftly welcomed the move to end Iraq’s
political standoff.
The US State Department called on the new leaders to
“bear in mind the will of the Iraqi people" and urged all sides “to
refrain from violence and to resolve differences amicably and peacefully
through the political process."
The French embassy congratulated Sudani on his
nomination and called for the “formation of a government that will do all in
its power to answer the legitimate demands of all Iraqi people and especially
its youth."
A reminder of Iraq’s troubles came earlier in the day
as lawmakers headed into parliament, when a barrage of nine Katyusha-style
rockets rained down on the area, the security forces said.
At least 10 people were wounded, including six members
of the security forces or bodyguards of lawmakers, as well as four civilians in
a nearby district, a security official told AFP.
US ambassador Alina Romanowski condemned the attack
“in the strongest terms" on Twitter and warned that “the people of Iraq
must resolve their political differences & grievances solely thru peaceful
means.
“Attacks like these undermine democracy & trap
Iraq in a perpetual cycle of violence."
‘CRISIS BREEDS INSTABILITY’
The democratic institutions built in oil-rich Iraq
since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein remain
fragile, and neighbouring Iran wields major influence.
For just over a year now, Iraq has had only a
caretaker government to tackle an array of pressing problems, including
unemployment, decaying infrastructure, corruption and the impacts of climate change.
The United Nations mission in Iraq warned this week
that “the protracted crisis is breeding further instability" and that the
divisive politics are “generating bitter public disillusion".
Lawmakers had made three previous attempts to elect a
new head of state, in February and March, but failed to even reach the required
two-thirds threshold for a quorum.
Under Iraq’s post-Saddam power-sharing system, meant
to avoid more sectarian conflict, the president by convention is Kurdish, the
prime minister a Shiite Arab and the parliament speaker a Sunni Arab.
The presidency has usually been held by the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Rashid and Saleh. This year the rival Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) had demanded the presidency but ultimately abandoned the
bid.
Rashid, a hydraulic engineer versed in environmental
issues, is seen as a compromise candidate for the polarised country.
Source: News18
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Pakistan
Ummah
Will Not Tolerate Conspiracy against S Arabia, Says Chairman Pakistan Ulema
Council
By
Asim Yasin
October
14, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council and the Secretary General, International
Tahzeem-e-Harmain Al-Sharifain Council, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi
said on Thursday, that the Muslim Ummah would not tolerate any conspiracy
against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“All
those elements who made conspiracies to weaken the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have
always failed as no force can weaken the relations between Pakistan and Saudi
Arabia. Pakistan has an independent and sovereign policy pertaining to its ties
with Saudi Arabia.”
Ashrafi
asserted, that some forces are trying to destabilise the ties between Pakistan
and Saudi Arabia for a long time but all these forces have always failed in
their conspiracies and would be foiled in the future too.
Ashrafi
stressed, that the ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will become stronger
and more stable with the visit of the Secretary General Muslim World League,
Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa. He said the role of religious scholars
and the Ulema-Mashaykh associated with the Muslim World League from Pakistan
and Saudi Arabia are unanimous on the elimination of extremism, terrorism and
Islamophobia.
Hafiz
Ashrafi said that the ‘Declaration of Makkah’ and ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ are
great efforts of the religious scholars and the Ulema-Mashaykh from Pakistan
and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He
said that the policy adopted by Saudi Arabia vis-a’-vis the oil crisis has been
supported and endorsed by the Gulf Cooperation Council. Ashrafi stressed that
the leadership of Saudi Arabia understands its issues very well.
“Alhamdulillah,
Saudi Arabia is the strongest country in the Islamic world, and it is foolish
to consider Saudi Arabia as weak,” he said. He said those who try to play with
the peace, stability, defence and security of Saudi Arabia will have to face
the wrath of the entire Muslim Ummah.
“There
are sacred places for Muslims in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the people and
the government of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Khadim-e-Harmain
Al-Sharifain, Shah Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
are rendering services for Islam and Muslims that are unprecedented in
history,’ he said.
Ashrafi
hoped that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and other dignitaries of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would visit Pakistan very soon. In response to a
question, Hafiz Ashrafi said that the prime minister and the army chief have
made it clear several times, that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very dear to
all of us, we consider the defence of the kingdom as our very own defence. “No
force or country can build pressure on Pakistan on the issue of iys relations
with Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Source:
The News Pakistan
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pak
President Confers Hilal-E-Pakistan on Muslim World League Secretary General
October
13, 2022
ISLAMABAD
— Pakistani President Dr. Arif Alvi has awarded Secretary General of the Muslim
World League and President of the Organization of Muslim Scholars of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr. Mohammed AI-Issa with the Hilal-e-Pakistan.
The
award is among the highest civil decorations of Pakistan, in recognition of his
prominent efforts in spreading the message of peace of Islam and in combating
the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia, through correcting misconceptions
towards Islam. Also his global role in enhancing dialogue and harmony among
followers of various civilizations and faiths through international initiatives
and personal visits he paid to various countries and his meetings with various
religious leaders in the world.
Source:
Saudi Gazette
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/625966
--------
Imran
claimed power through conspiracy, says Fazl
Faiz
Muhammad
October
14, 2022
CHARSADDA:
Pakistan Democratic Movement chairman and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief
Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday claimed that the ruling alliance in the
centre would defeat the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in the upcoming by-elections
for three National Assembly seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He
also rejected former prime minister Imran Khan’s claim about his removal
through a foreign conspiracy and insisted that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
chief had come to power in 2018 through a conspiracy.
“Imran
Khan is a big threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty,” the PDM chief told a public
meeting in the Parang Stadium here in connection with the Oct 16 by-election in
the NA-24 Charsadda-II constituency.
Workers
of the PDM member parties attended the event in large numbers.
PDM
chief insists alliance to sweep by-elections
The
public meeting was also addressed by Qaumi Watan Party central chairman Aftab
Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Awami National Party central vice-president Haider Khan
Hoti, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Amir Muqam, Liaqat Shabab of the
Pakistan Peoples Party, former law minister and MPA Sultan Mohammad Khan, and
ANP provincial chief and NA-24 candidate Aimal Wali Khan.
Mr
Fazl told the rally that the ‘bubble’ of Mr Imran’s regime change claim had
burst after parliament, judiciary, other institutions and even President Dr
Arif Alvi had denied ‘conspiracy’ for the ouster of the former prime minister.
“The
audio leaks have punctured the regime change theory,” he said.
The
PDM chief said all political parties had gathered under the banner of the PDM
to foil the attempt of the PTI chief and “forces supporting him within the
country and abroad to disintegrate the country.”
He
said it was the constitutional right of people to elect their representatives
but the PTI chairman had deprived them of that right as the party’s members
boycotted the National Assembly instead of attending its session to resolve the
people’s problems.
Mr
Fazl said the PTI chief didn’t trust his party leaders and opted to contest
by-elections in nine constituencies which show his immaturity.
He
claimed that the forces, which had imposed the ‘incompetent’ Imran government
on the nation, regretted their move.
The
PDM chief said the PTI had been ruling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the last nine
years but had miserably failed to deliver.
He
said the people didn’t trust Mr Imran and his party anymore and would vote
against them in the Oct 16 by-polls.
Mr
Fazl called the former prime minister a ‘foreign agent’, who, he alleged,
received funds from the US and Israel.
He
said Imran was holding secret meetings with the US officials.
“The
Election Commission of Pakistan has proved that Imran and his party illegally
received foreign funds,” he said.
The
PDM leader said the parties, which were part of the ruling alliance in the
centre, had put their political interests at stake by joining the federal
government to save the country from becoming bankrupt.
He
said the PTI was to blame for the country’s economic and political crises.
Mr
Fazl also alleged that the Imran government had rolled back the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor project at the behest of the American and Israeli
governments.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1714875/imran-claimed-power-through-conspiracy-says-fazl
--------
Investigations
reveal drug use resulted in recent killings: Faisalabad police pilot project to
fight ‘ice epidemic’
Asif
Chaudhry
October
14, 2022
LAHORE:
The Punjab police have launched a pilot project in Faisalabad to prevent
horrific killings by ice (crystal meth) users following reports that the use of
the drug has assumed epidemic proportions and lead a person to violence.
The
Faisalabad police would treat the ice users as ‘patients’ and launch multiple
activities to engage the young generation inclined towards ice addiction. They
have begun a programme to enlist the students of the universities and the
youngsters of the elite families, reporting high prevalence of the drug.
A
senior police officer told Dawn that officers including experts of the
Faisalabad police studied the investigations into some high-profile murder
cases recently reported in Islamabad and Karachi. They held meetings with the
vice chancellors of the universities, psychiatrists and other health
professionals.
He
said the gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam in Islamabad grabbed the attention of
the law-enforcement agencies when it was reported that the suspect was a
chronic ice user. A year after this incident, another murder of a young woman
by her husband had been reported in Islamabad, he said. Initial investigation
revealed that the suspect murdered his wife under the influence of ice.
In
another such incident, a woman who was an ice user allegedly dismembered her
husband in Karachi.
Police
said a responsibility had been assigned to a team of experts of the Faisalabad
police to take help of international researches on effects of ice when it was
reported that its use increases violent behaviour.
“Ice
(crystal meth) is methamphetamine, a member of the amphetamine family of
drugs,” Faisalabad City Police Officer (CPO) Omer Saeed Malik told Dawn. He
said the drug was highly addictive and linked to chronic physical and mental
health problems.
The
CPO said police inquiries suggested that students and youngsters, especially of
the elite families, were more inclined to the addiction of ice. The students
staying in hostels used it in groups and the most disturbing aspect was that
they started consuming it to stay focused for exams, he said.
The
Faisalabad police experts found out that many students wanted to concentrate on
their studies, especially during examinations, and used ice. “This desire takes
the students towards the use of ‘ice’ or crystal meth,” the CPO said, adding
that later many of them failed to get rid of ice due to its addiction.
Similarly,
he said, the youngsters used it for pleasure at formal gatherings. “Once people
who are on meth become psychotic, they become very dangerous because of its
amazing addictive power which is evident from the recent high-profile murder
cases reported in Islamabad and Karachi,” he said.
Sharing
statistics of the Anti-Narcotics Force, the CPO said around 27 million people
struggle with drug abuse in Pakistan. “We have introduced an App (Breaking the
Ice) which is available on App Store,” Mr Malik said. The purpose was to get
information on the source of ice and help patients, especially students. “Any
person can lodge a complaint on the App about the ice user in his surroundings.
Even a student can complain about his fellow and police have devised a
system/strategy to conceal the identity of the complainant,” he said.
A
senior police officer has been appointed focal person who will activate the
police experts to contact the ice user for his treatment. Recently, the police
officers visited the Faisalabad Medical University and held a meeting with VC
Prof Zafar Chaudhry to engage him for the treatment and rehabilitation of the
ice drug users. After a detailed meeting, a 20-bed rehabilitation centre was
established at the medical university, where the ice users would be provided
complete treatment, the CPO said.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South
Asia
Islamic
Emirate Cabinet Not Formalized After One Year
October
14, 2022
It
has been more than one year since the Islamic Emirate announced its cabinet,
and it still has yet to become official.
The
Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that the announcement of
an official cabinet will take some time.
“The
official cabinet takes time. The constitution has yet to be formed. The Afghans
living abroad have not come yet. These are the principles of the government,
whenever these criteria are met, the government will exist in a normal
situation,” he said.
This
comes as some political analysts believe that the introduction of an official
cabinet will pave the ground for proper governance in the country.
“It
has been more than one year since the interim cabinet has been trying to reach
the trust of the nation and the international community. This is the time to
bring change to this cabinet. Figures should come in the government who will
not be acting heads but officially appointed to know and recognize their responsibilities,”
said Sayed Ishaq Gailani, leader of the National Solidarity Movement of
Afghanistan.
Source:
Tolo News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-180285
--------
Efforts
Underway to Ease Economic Sanctions: Islamic Emirate
October
14, 2022
The
Ministry of Economy said that efforts are underway to ease the economic
sanctions on Afghanistan imposed after the Islamic Emirate swept into power
following the rapid collapse of the western-backed government.
Deputy
Minister of Economy, Abdul Latif Nazari, said that the freezing of Afghan
assets in American and European Banks has triggered an economic crisis that affects
the life of Afghans.
“The
Islamic Emirate is making efforts to convince the sanction-imposing countries
to not seek their political goals through economic means because the people of
Afghanistan are being affected by this,” he said.
This
comes as the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said
that the West had been destroying Afghanistan for years and in the end stole
its money.
“We
strongly urge Westerners to fully unblock the accounts of the (Afghan) Central
Bank as soon as possible. We believe that such half-measures as the creation of
an Afghan Trust Fund from stolen funds...All these half-measures are
hypocritical. They are insufficient for a full-scale reconstruction of the
Afghan economy and infrastructure.” Zakharova was quoted by the Anadolu Agency.
This
comes as economists said that the existing sanctions have increased
unemployment in the country.
“More
than 400,000 to 500,000 people are engaging in markets. But we unfortunately
see that they don’t find jobs. We see that employment has decreased in
Afghanistan,” said Mansour Hedayat, an economist.
This
comes as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned the need to provide
aid to the people of Afghanistan but didn’t give a timeline of when Canadian
aid groups would be able to respond to a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
“We
know how important it is to support the people of Afghanistan,” Trudeau
responded during a news conference. “We will continue to look at how we can
help.”
Source:
Tolo News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/business-180294
--------
MoIC
Urges Approval of Media Law in Afghanistan
By
Arif Ahmadi
13
Oct 2022
KABUL,
Afghanistan – Abdul Haq Hammad, the head of publications in the Ministry of
Information and Culture, said mass media law should be approved as soon as
possible, saying the law is of utmost necessity and must not be prolonged any
further.
This
came at a time media practitioners in Afghanistan have been facing restriction
since collapse of the former government, as the Taliban leadership bid to form
a new law that will bound the practice of journalism in the country.
“We
do not have a media law and the Ministry of Information and Culture adjusted
the law and we sent the media law to the leader of the Islamic Emirate and in
the meeting we urged that this law be given priority,” Hammad said, as TOLOnews
quoted.
Meanwhile,
the Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media welcomes the new law,
expressing support for its implementation in the country.
“If
this law can solve the problems of reporters, journalists and media, we support
it and we ask that they should support the media community,” said said Masroor
Lutfi, head of the Afghanistan National Journalists Union (ANJU).
In
early September, a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate Zabiullah Mujahid said the
mass media law will be reviewed by the Ministry of Information and Culture.
“We
will make some changes in the culture and religious sections and send it to the
Islamic Emirate leader to confirm, and in the near future it will be available
to the media,” said Mujahid in a thread.
Media
in Afghanistan Under the Taliban Rule
While
the Taliban rule exclaimed during the past year no reporter has been killed in
the country, Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) expressed “deep concern”
over the increasing number of media practitioners being arrested and
tortured.
Statistics
from last 12 months by the AFJC show at least four journalists and media
practitioners have lost their lives in Afghanistan: three as a result of two
ISIS-affiliated explosions in Kabul and one person during coverage of the war
between the Taliban and former government forces in Kandahar.
The
report also showed about 130 other incidents against journalists and media
practitioners, where about 90 cases were short and long-term detention up to a
month, including violence and threats.
Most
of these cases have been recorded during the past 8 months, which reflects on the
Taliban leadership in Afghanistan since last August, according to the
statement.
Meanwhile,
hundreds of male and female journalists have left the country since the fall of
the Islamic Republic on August 15. And, more than half of about 600 media
outlets – mainly the radios, televisions, and print publications – were shut
down due to financial crisis the sudden brought about to the companies.
Currently,
about 30% of other media outlets that have been operating despite the odds are
on the verge of financial collapse, forcing many others to operate
intermittently for a few hours a day or week.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/moic-urges-approval-of-media-law-in-afghanistan/
--------
Afghan
Twitter Campaign ‘StopHazaraGenocide’ Reaches 10 Million Tweets
By
Saqalain Eqbal
13
Oct 2022
The
“#StopHazaraGenocide” Twitter campaign, started by Afghan social media users to
protest the bloody attack on the Kaaj education center and recurring atrocities
committed against Hazaras in Afghanistan, has received more than 10 million
tweets.
Following
a terrorist attack that killed over 54 students, mostly girls, at the Kaaj
education center west of Kabul, the Afghan capital, the hashtag campaign made a
splash on Twitter and quickly turned into a hot trend.
With
billions of views, 16 million interactions, and over 10 million tweets, the
“#StopHazaraGenocide” hashtag has become one of the most popular trends in
Afghanistan.
Twitter
users have implied that the hashtag and the global protests calling for an end
to the “genocide” against the Hazara people could bring the Afghan people
together as a nation.
After
the attack on the Kaaj education center on September 30, protests around the
world began in Sydney, Australia, and later spread to more than 100 cities,
parallel to the Twitter campaign.
The
Hazara demonstrations still continue bringing numerous people to the streets
screaming for justice. Thousands marched in London, the capital of England on
Wednesday to raise the topic of the Hazara genocide to the British Parliament.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-twitter-campaign-stophazaragenocide-reaches-10-million-tweets-78767/
--------
Taliban
Ban Foreign Journalists on Misreporting Charge
Akmal
Dawi
October
13, 2022
After
imposing a series of restrictions on Afghan journalists, including mandatory
face masks for female television anchors, the Taliban now appear to be
targeting foreign journalists they deem biased and critical of their
governance.
In
the latest move, Taliban authorities banned Stefanie Glinski, a freelance
journalist, from returning to Afghanistan. Glinski had covered Afghanistan for
various international media outlets over the past four years and recently
reported on the desire of some Afghan women to flee Taliban rule.
“The
Taliban contacted me regarding my work. I was told that ‘relevant [Taliban]
departments have a few concerns’ & that they want ‘details.’ I was also
accused of making allegations when I had clearly stated that it's others making
these allegations; I was simply reporting,” Glinski wrote on her verified
Twitter account on October 10.
Glinski
said the Taliban sought information, via WhatsApp, about her sources, but she
refused, fearing doing so would put her contacts at jeopardy and compromise her
journalistic integrity.
“They
told me that the government will be holding all sides accountable from now
onwards, and anyone found breaking the law or unable to substantiate reports
[…] will be dealt with according to the law, which includes cancellation of
visas & non-entry to Afghanistan,” Glinski said on Twitter.
VOA
reached out to Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid and foreign
ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi for comment, but neither answered his
phone.
Lynne
O’Donnell, a columnist for Foreign Policy magazine who was briefly detained by
the Taliban in July, says she was “threatened, abused, detained, interrogated
and forced to make false confessions, on Twitter & on video.”
Speaking
to VOA, O’Donnell condemned the Taliban as “liars, fantasists, murderers, drug
dealers, and terrorists.”
“Why
would they want the truth of their method of staying in power through violence,
arbitrary detention, torture and killing with impunity to be revealed to the
world by journalists with integrity when their biggest aspiration is to gain
the diplomatic recognition that would give them legitimacy?” she asked.
Rejecting
O’Donnell’s allegations, Taliban authorities have accused her of openly
supporting anti-Taliban forces and “falsifying reports of mass violations” by
Taliban forces.
In
August, the Taliban also detained a Pakistani journalist working for an Indian
channel when he was seen filming the site of a U.S. drone strike in Kabul where
al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed.
An
Indian journalist who did not want to be named told VOA she was fearful of the
Taliban’s new vetting and security procedures and had therefore delayed her
return to Afghanistan.
Not
surprising, no coincidence
“If
visas have been stopped or withdrawn, it’s hardly surprising,” said Yvonne
Ridley, a British journalist and author who was detained for 11 days by the
Taliban in 2001 for illegally entering Afghanistan.
She
said many countries, including the United States, deny visas to journalists
suspected of biased reporting. U.S. officials have occasionally barred entry to
journalists in recent years, such as a Yemeni journalist who was denied entry
for a Pulitzer Prize ceremony in 2019.
Ridley
said she recently visited Afghanistan without facing any restrictions.
“I
managed to get access to all key ministers, and a main focus of my last trip
was interviewing ordinary Afghan women who had never been given the chance to
voice their opinions or views, ever,” she told VOA.
The
Taliban are widely condemned for their restrictions on women’s education,
livelihood and rights, but some Taliban officials, including high-profile
Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, have sat for exclusive interviews with
foreign female journalists.
Most
foreign media outlets left Afghanistan immediately after the Taliban seized
power last year. An exodus of Afghan journalists has ensued as hundreds of
Afghan media personnel have left the country over the past year.
At
least 215 of the country's 540 media outlets have closed because of financial,
social and political problems since last year, according to Reporters Without
Borders.
“Two
female foreign journalists have been targeted [by the Taliban], and we don't
think it's a coincidence,” Pauline Adès-Mével, editor in chief of Reporters
Without Borders, told VOA. “We consider it a big problem.”
Holding
power to account
Backed
by foreign donors, Afghanistan had a vibrant media landscape and progressive
press laws prior to the return of the Taliban to power last year.
While
Taliban officials say they are committed to a free press within the boundaries
of Islam, independent observers point to their actions in limiting media
freedoms and the many restrictions the Taliban have imposed on journalists.
As
access to facts becomes more difficult in Afghanistan, rumors and
misinformation often distort descriptions of actual events in the country.
“Access
to information is [a] basic and internationally recognized right of every human
being, and that doesn't exempt Afghanistan,” said Adès-Mével. She said an
information blackout will not serve the Taliban.
Source:
VOA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-ban-foreign-journalists-on-misreporting-charge/6789461.html
--------
Taliban
say Afghanistan secure enough for big projects
12th
October 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The Taliban said Wednesday there is enough security across Afghanistan to
restart major economic projects that stopped due to decades of war, despite a
slew of attacks rocking the country since the group seized power more than a
year ago.
The
Taliban have struggled in their transition from insurgency and warfare to
governing amid an economic downturn and the international community withholding
official recognition.
Foreign
aid stopped when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021.
World
governments piled on sanctions, halted bank transfers and froze billions more
in Afghanistan's currency reserves.
Taliban-appointed
government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan has the opportunity to
connect with the rest of the countries in the region, highlighting China as a
key part of the nation's economic development.
"In
the last Cabinet meeting, it was decided that the Silk Road, which will connect
Afghanistan with China, must be built. This historic road can play a great role
in the economy of the country," he said at a seminar about regional
connectivity.
"It
is a great opportunity, we have good security and it is the time to start major
economic projects."
In
March this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave his strong backing to
Afghanistan, spotlighting Beijing's aspirations to play a leading role in
Afghanistan following the withdrawal of USC forces.
Foreign
Minister Wang Yi, at the same regional conference, led calls for the US to
unfreeze Afghan assets held abroad and end sanctions on the government.
The
Taliban's deputy prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, said Afghanistan's role
for the connectivity of countries in the region was very important.
"Afghanistan
can play a great role in creating important corridors. We want to be connected
to China through our Badakhshan province."
"
The geopolitics and geostrategic position of Afghanistan could lead the country
to play a positive role in linking neighboring countries in the region and
beyond", he added.
He
repeated the Taliban's assurances that the group would not allow anyone to use
Afghan soil to stage attacks on other countries.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
North
America
Witnesses
of unsolved Mosque-area shootings in Oakland still search for answers
13
October, 2022
It
has been around three weeks since a fatal shooting near a mosque in the
northern California city of Oakland, and neighbours are still looking for
answers.
The
incident happened by the corner of 31st Street and Telegraph Avenue on the
evening of 21 September, shortly after prayer time. The three shooting victims,
two of whom died shortly after, were in front of a nearby restaurant Layalina,
around the corner from the Oakland Islamic Center, when a masked man in an
unlicensed car fired shots.
"I
want answers as much as anyone," Ramzey Mohamed, a cashier at Layalina,
told The New Arab. "This happens every day. But not here, not in this part
of Oakland," he added, noting the contrast between the area where he works
and what he's seen in other parts of the city.
On
a sunny October day, the neighbourhood looks quiet and pleasant. On the major
thoroughfare of Telegraph Avenue, which straddles Oakland and Berkeley, are
bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants, schools and churches as well as medical
buildings in the area, the namesake of the neighbourhood's name Pill Hill.
There's even an office of the California Highway Patrol with law enforcement
cars parked outside, one of many indications of a secure area.
Closer
to the mosque are businesses catering to immigrants from the Middle East, with
signs in both English and Arabic indicating translation services and
immigration legal assistance, as well as colourful grocery stores.
Until
last month, there were no apparent indications that a shooting would occur in
this community. So far, there are no motives for the shooting. However, based
on the CCTV footage from Layalina, the assailant appeared to be targeting the
19-year-old Yemeni American, who survived his shooting, while the other two men
who died are believed to be bystanders, Mohamed said.
Mohamed
grew up with the teen who survived the shooting, both children of Yemeni
immigrants.
He
continued to go about his business taking orders as he talked about the
incident. He went back and forth between shrugging and expressing shock at what
had happened. He then pointed out multiple bullet marks that remain dented on
the restaurant's windows, TV sets and refrigerator.
Another
witness to last month's violence was Hatim Nasser, an immigrant from Yemen, who
works as the mosque's translator. He had known the two deceased older men -
59-year-old Belal Esa, an Ethiopian - for more than 20 years and 27-year-old
Asam Al-Awjri, a Yemeni for around four years. After hearing the gunshots,
Nasser ran to the scene while awaiting the police.
He
has nothing but fond memories of his friends, who had been making their way
from the mosque, where they had recently finished their evening prayers.
"It
was very shocking because I was here. We were sitting here," Nasser told
TNA while sitting in the mosque's garden. "It was a Monday and we'd sat
down to eat. That's when we heard gunshots, so we all rushed to the corner."
His friend died while he was trying to apply pressure to him to stop the
bleeding.
Expressing
a similar sentiment to others in the neighbourhood who never expected such
violence to get this close, Nasser said, "To be honest, we hear gunshots
coming from half a mile from here, but nothing this close. It's a nice
area."
Though
their area is considered relatively safe, Oakland itself has long had a high
homicide rate. According to FBI statistics, Oakland has the third highest
violent crime rate in California, after San Bernardino and ahead of Compton. In
terms of total murders, Oakland comes in second in the state only after Los
Angeles (which has around 10 times the population). At the same time, local
media have noted a staffing shortage in local police as well as other reported
homicides in Oakland within hours of the ones in front of Layalina.
"This
is a moment, a nightmare, we haven't woken up from. We have a reminder every
single day. He parked his car here. It's evidence," Nasser said.
Referring
to the main assailant who remains at large, he said, "He will meet his
fate, either here or in the afterlife. We feel like he killed all of us."
Source:
The New Arab
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/witnesses-mosque-area-shootings-oakland-want-answers
--------
Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia do not find mention in America’s latest national security strategy
Anwar
Iqbal
October
14, 2022
WASHINGTON:
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, once considered key US allies, are not even
mentioned in the US National Security Strategy 2022, which identifies China as
“America’s most consequential geopolitical challenge”.
The
48-page document, released on Wednesday evening, does mention terrorism and
other geo-strategic threats in the South and Central Asian region, but unlike
the recent past, it does not name Pakistan as an ally needed to tackle those
threats. Pakistan was also absent from the 2021 strategy paper.
In
Washington, the omission is seen as reflecting a mutual desire to build a
separate US relationship with Pakistan. Islamabad has long complained that the
United States views Pakistan only as a tool to counter threats from Afghanistan
and other nations.
In
recent statements, both the US and Pakistani officials emphasised the need to
de-link Pakistan from both Afghanistan and India and give it the separate
identity it deserves as a nuclear state of more than 220 million people.
Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia do not find mention in Washington’s latest national security
strategy
The
US officials have also acknowledged Pakistan’s desire to maintain its close
ties with China and that’s why it’s not seen as an ally in the US strategy to
counter China’s influence in the region.
Russia
is mentioned as the second major threat to US global interests after China and
is condemned for unleashing a “brutal and unprovoked war” on its neighbour
Ukraine.
Russia
and China are the only two nations that have their own chapters in the
document.
The
twofold strategy underlines pandemics, climate change, inflation, and economic
insecurity as, as big a threat to US interests as growing competition with
major powers like China and Russia.
“If
we lose the time this decade, we will not be able to keep pace with most
notably the climate crisis,” the document warns.
The
strategy also identifies Iran as a small, autocratic power acting in an
aggressive and destabilising way.
India
is identified as the world’s largest democracy and a ‘major defence partner’,
in realising Washington’s vision of a “free and open” Indo-Pacific.
Saudi
Arabia’s absence from the document followed the Saudi-led oil cartel’s decision
to slash production by two million barrels a day, causing an increase in
already-high gas prices in the United States.
“We
are reevaluating the relationship with Saudi Arabia, and this is a relationship
that has existed over decades,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told
reporters in Washington when asked to explain the absence.
US
President Joe Biden was “doing so with the purpose of looking out for US
interests and values as we think about the future of the US-Saudi
relationship”, Mr Sullivan added.
The
document notes that the Biden administration “ended America’s longest war in
Afghanistan, and with it an era of major military operations to remake other
societies”.
But
the document clarifies that the administration would continue to maintain
“the capacity to address terrorist threats to the American people as they
emerge”.
The
strategy pledges to “ensure (that) Afghanistan never again serves as a safe
haven for terrorist attacks on the United States or our allies” and warns
Afghanistan’s de facto rulers that Washington will “hold the Taliban
accountable for its public commitments on counterterrorism”.
The
document also notes that terrorist groups like “Al Qaeda, ISIS, and associated
forces have expanded from Afghanistan and the Middle East into Africa and
Southeast Asia”.
Praising
India as “the world’s largest democracy”, the document add that “the United
States and India will work together, bilaterally and multilaterally, to support
our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1714960/us-sees-china-not-russia-as-biggest-geopolitical-challenge
--------
Chartered
Flight Carrying Over 300 Afghans Lands in Canada
By
Saqalain Eqbal
13
Oct 2022
The
Canadian government has announced that in its most recent move, it has
relocated 326 Afghan citizens to Canada who were in Tajikistan, as part of its
process of evacuating vulnerable Afghans.
A
chartered flight from Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, relocated the aforementioned
number of Afghan refugees to Canada, according to Sean Fraser, the Canadian
Immigration Minister.
With
the most recent Afghans relocated, Canada has relocated and hosted more than
21,700 Afghan nationals since mid-August of last year, according to Canada’s
top immigration official.
The
Canadian Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship reported that
efforts to evacuate Afghans who are in need of assistance and are vulnerable
are ongoing.
The
Canadian government’s move of relocating another batch of Afghan refugees from
Tajikistan comes at a time as reports surface of the Tajik officials forcibly
deporting Afghan refugees to Afghanistan.
The
reports even prompted the famous Afghan singer, Farhad Darya, to write an open
letter to the president of Tajikistan.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/chartered-flight-carrying-over-300-afghans-lands-in-canada-57684/
--------
Biden
seeking off-ramp after escalating tensions with Saudi Arabia: Expert
Michael
Hernandez
14.10.2022
WASHINGTON
US
President Joe Biden and his senior officials have for over a week grown
increasingly furious with Saudi Arabia in a public row over global oil
production cuts.
The
president is now confronted with the reality of having to follow through on
threats to impose consequences on the key US ally and “recalibrate” the
bilateral relationship at a tenuous moment in American geopolitics.
Geoffrey
Aronson, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute think tank, said
the Biden administration has set the stage for grand actions it is ill-prepared
to take.
“They've
now created an expectation that they have to do something even before they know
what they're going to do, which is not the best position to be in,” Aronson
said during a telephone interview with Anadolu Agency. “I don't think that they
have this grand design on sort of recapitalizing the US-Saudi alliance. I don't
get a sense that there's a lot of inner direction here."
“I
think they're just hoping that the focus goes away in the next weeks, as I'm
sure it will, and they can try to maintain or restore the relationship so that
it's out of the papers and off page one,” he added.
Saudi
Arabia, which chairs the OPEC+ cartel, voted last week in favor of reducing
output by some 2 million barrels per day, and the White House alleged on
Thursday that not only did it lend its support but worked diligently behind the
scenes to ensure the bloc implemented them, pressuring other nations to fall in
line.
National
Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US provided Saudi Arabia with
data which he said showed there is no "market basis" for the drastic
oil drawdown, adding that Saudi officials were well aware the reduction “would
increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions.”
The
decision to reduce oil production has spiked oil prices and is tantamount to
"moral and military support" for Russia's ongoing war against
Ukraine, Kirby maintained.
"The
country that benefits the most from this 2 million barrel cut is Russia because
it does come down to supply and demand, and Russia obviously wants to keep the
supply down so that demand drives the price up," he said. "We've
been, I think, very candid and very clear about our concerns over this
short-sighted regrettable decision."
Oil
has remained a major lifeline for the Kremlin as it presses its invasion of
Ukraine in defiance of economic and diplomatic pressure from the US and its
allies.
The
cut also comes just one month before the US holds midterm elections, with Democrats
vulnerable to losing at least one chamber in Congress. Higher gas prices at a
time of rampant US inflation are not likely to bolster their electoral
prospects.
Saudi
Arabia has denied its actions were politically-motivated, maintaining it was
seeking to ensure market stability.
That
explanation is likely correct, but the nadir that has come to define US-Saudi
ties under Biden has made it “hard for either” Washington or Riyadh “to ask the
other for a favor,” said Aronson.
On
Capitol Hill, key Sen. Bob Menendez has vowed to block all arms sales to the
Kingdom in retaliation for the oil cuts, while a group of Democrats in the
House of Representatives have introduced legislation to withdraw US troops and
advanced air defense systems from Saudi Arabia.
While
Biden has vocally criticized the Kingdom and warned of impending consequences,
he has not telegraphed what form his response will take.
Complicating
any action is the US’s prevailing interest in presenting itself as a reliable
partner for its Gulf Arab allies at a time when it is confronting a set of
challenges around the world that the Biden administration has focused on
addressing multilaterally, including Iran and Ukraine. By publicly ratcheting
up tensions, “we're really shooting ourselves in the foot here,” said Aronson.
"To
the extent that the Americans want to be seen as a reliable ally who are there
when problems are encountered and are there through times good and bad, I think
the responses of these last few days certainly do not amplify that assessment,”
he said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
slams as 'spin' Saudi denial OPEC+ cut was political
13
October 2022
The
United States has slammed Saudi Arabia for insisting last week's output cut by
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+), in
which Riyadh is a top producer, was economically rather than politically
motivated.
"The
Saudi Foreign Ministry can try to spin or deflect, but the facts are simple.
The world is rallying behind Ukraine in combating Russian aggression,"
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a statement
on Thursday.
The
oil-exporting alliance, which includes the 13 OPEC nations and 11 non-members
including Russia, made the production cut announcement on Wednesday. The group
agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day, equal to 2 percent of global
supply.
Independent
observers believe the Biden administration is worried that the decision to cut
oil production will cause a gas price hike in the US ahead of the November
midterm elections which Democrats are already set to lose to the Republicans.
The
OPEC move was a large blow to the administration of Biden, who visited oil-rich
Saudi Arabia on a July trip to appeal to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman.
In
a statement on Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry rejected as “not based
on facts” claims that the slash in oil production was politically motivated
against the US, saying that OPEC+ adopted the decision through consensus, took
into account the balance of supply and demand and tried to curb market
volatility.
"Saudi
Arabia has viewed the statements... which have described the decision as the
kingdom taking sides in international conflicts and that it was politically
motivated against the United States," the Saudi foreign ministry said in
the statement.
Saudi
Arabia would "like to express its total rejection of these statements that
are not based on facts and which are based on portraying the OPEC+ decision out
of its economic context," it added.
The
White House said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden was re-evaluating the US
relationship with Saudi Arabia after the oil production cut.
"I
think the president's been very clear that this is a relationship that we need
to continue to re-evaluate, that we need to be willing to revisit," Kirby
said in an interview with CNN. "And certainly in light of the OPEC
decision, I think that's where he is."
The
spokesman added that Biden is willing to work with Congress on the future of
Saudi relations.
Bob
Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
on Monday, urged the country to freeze its cooperation with Saudi Arabia,
including most arms sales, accusing the kingdom of helping to underwrite the
Russian war in Ukraine.
"The
United States must immediately freeze all aspects of our cooperation with Saudi
Arabia, including any arms sales and security cooperation beyond what is
absolutely necessary...," Menendez said.
Source:
Press TV
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
India
Mob
Attacks Mosque in Gurugram, Threatens Namazis With Expulsion from Village; Case
Registered
OCTOBER
13, 2022
Amob
of more than 200 people ransacked a mosque here in a village assaulting people
who were praying inside and threatened to expel them from the village. Police
have registered an FIR in the incident that happened in Bhora Kalan village
Wednesday night, but no arrests were reported till Thursday evening. According
to a complaint filed by Subedar Najar Mohammad, Bhora Kalan village has only
four houses of Muslim families.
He
said that the ruckus began Wednesday morning when a mob comprising about 200
people reportedly led by Rajesh Chauhan alias Babu, Anil Bhadoria, and Sanjay
Vyas surrounded the mosque and entered the prayer hall where they threatened
the namazis with expulsion from the village. In the night again, when we were
praying inside the prayer hall in the mosque, the mob came and assaulted the
namazis and even locked the prayer hall. They also threatened to kill us, the
Subedar said in his complaint, according to police. police reached, the accused
had fled.
Source:
News18
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Hijab
ban: Muslim panel hails Justice Dhulia's verdict, asks Karnataka govt to
withdraw case
Milan
Sharma
New
Delhi
Oct
13, 2022
By
Milan Sharma: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has praised
Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia's observation in the hijab ban case, saying that his
approach is in line with the Constitution and "ideals of individual
freedom".
On
Thursday, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court gave a split verdict in the
case of hijab ban in Karnataka's educational institutions. While Justice Hemant
Gupta dismissed the appeals challenging the Karnataka High Court judgment which
had refused to lift the ban, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia held that wearing of
hijab is a matter of choice and there shall be no restrictions its wearing
anywhere in the schools and colleges of the state.
"Justice
Dhulia has focused on promoting girls' education and removing barriers to their
education—an aspect that is certainly welcomed and is missing from Justice
Hemant Gupta's judgment," AIMPLB said in a statement.
The
Muslim panel further requested the Karnataka government to withdraw its order
on hijab.
"The
government should note that women's education in India, particularly among the
Muslim community, is already receiving inadequate attention. The government
should not support any measure that creates obstacles in women’s education.
Rather, the government must support a harmless practice, evidently significant
to these young girls, and abstaining from it puts these girls in an uncomfortable
situation," the AIMPLB statement read.
While
hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court order,
Justice Hemant Gupta referred to the Karnataka government's February 5 order
which banned wearing clothes that "disturb equality, integrity, and public
order in schools and colleges".
"Accordingly,
I do not find that government order impinges on the constitutional promise of
fraternity and dignity. Instead, it promotes an equal environment where such
fraternal values can be imbibed and nurtured without any hindrance of any
kind," Justice Gupta noted.
On
the other hand, Justice Dhulia not only quashed the high court verdict but also
criticised the February 5 government order.
"Under
our constitutional scheme, wearing a hijab should simply be a matter of choice.
It may or may not be a matter of essential religious practice, but it still is,
a matter of conscience, belief, and expression," he said.
Source:
India Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Fresh
Suit By Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh-Backed Social Worker Seeks Worship Of
Deities At Gyanvapi Mosque Compound
Oct
13, 2022
VARANASI:
A Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh-backed social worker, Prabhu Narain, filed an
application in the court of civil judge senior division (fast-track court) here
on Thursday, seeking regular worship of deities in the Gyanvapi mosque
compound.
On
the other hand, Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM), the Gyanvapi mosque management
committee, completed its arguments in the same court while challenging the
maintainability of another VVSS-backed petition that seeks ban on entry of
Muslims in the Gyanvapi mosque, handing over Gyanvapi premises to the Hindus
and permitting regular ‘puja-archana’ (worshipping) of Lord Aadi Visheshwar —
the ‘shivling’ claimed to have been found in ablution pond of Gyanvapi mosque
during court commission survey on May 16.
Additional
district government counsel (civil) Sulabh Prakash said that after hearing the
application of Prabhu Narain, the court reserved its order. “On the issue of
maintainability of VVSS suit seeking banning entry of Muslims in Gyanvapi and
other reliefs, the FTC fixed October 15 for further hearing,” he added.
VVSS
chief Jitendra Singh Visen said that social worker Prabhu Narain of Ranchi in
Jharkhand “filed the suit with scientific base and historical evidences”.
Anupam Dwivedi, one of the VVSS lawyers, said: “Prabhu Narain is a noted
environmentalist and chairman of the Centre for Science and Indian Philosophy.”
He
added, “In his suit, Prabhu Narain has demanded the right for regular
worshipping of Lord Aadi Visheshwar, Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesh, Lord Hanuman
and other deities in Gyanvapi, removal of upper construction erected illegally
over the temple and restoration of the heritage of the temple.”
“Reliefs
sought by Prabhu Narain have similarities with other petitions already filed by
the VVSS, but his scientific and historical evidence will prove impossible to
be challenged by the AIM,” Dwivedi added.
The
VVSS had come to limelight by supporting Rakhi Singh, the niece of Visen who is
plaintiff no. 1 in the case 18/2022 Rakhi Singh vs state of UP and others in
which five Hindu women have sought right to worship Shringar Gauri and other
deities in Gyanvapi compound.
During
court commission survey ordered in this case, the plaintiffs had claimed that a
‘shivling’ was found in the ablution pond of Gyanvapi mosque on May 16. Later,
the court had rejected AIM’s application challenging the maintainability of
case no. 18/2022 and regular hearing was started in the matter.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Two
nabbed in Tumakuru for burning Muslim religious flag
14th
October 2022
TUMAKURU:
Police have arrested two youth for setting fire to a religious green flag that
was put up at a circle in Sira town during Eid Milad recently. Following the
incident, members of the Muslim community staged a protest demanding action
against the miscreants. Ramesh and Deviprasad, who do menial jobs, have been
arrested and sent to judicial custody.
Source:
New Indian Express
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
J&K:
NIA conducts searches in drone delivery case
Oct
14, 2022
NEW
DELHI: The National Investigation Agency on Friday conducted searches at
multiple locations including the Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir in
connection with a drone delivery case.
According
to the NIA, no detentions in the matter have been made so far.
In
the past nine months, security forces have observed the illegal entry of 191
drones into Indian territory from neighbouring Pakistan, raising major concerns
in terms of internal security in the country.
The
central government recently shared the input from the security forces deployed
at the India-Pakistan border to maintain such illegal attempts from the
Pakistan side.
In
the early hours today, troops of the Border Security Force (BSF) shot down a
drone that entered India in Punjab's Gurdaspur sector from the Pakistan side on
the International Border.
It
is pertinent to mention that in the past nine months the army personnel have
observed 191 drones, of which 171 entered into Indian territory through the
India-Pakistan border along the Punjab sector while 20 were seen in the Jammu
sector, a document accessed by the ANI mentioned.
As
per the document, the "UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) observation in
Indo-Pak border was seen in Punjab and Jammu frontier with effect from January
1, 2022, to September 30, 2022".
The
document further revealed that most of these drones or UAVs managed to flee
while a total of seven have been shot down by the Border Security Force (BSF)
personnel, who have been deployed along the India-Pakistan border to keep a tab
on such illegal activities being orchestrated by Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence.
Officials
in the BSF told ANI that the drones are being used by Pakistan's side to
transport weapons, explosives and narcotics across the international border in
Jammu and Punjab from Pakistan.
The
increased drone activity across the border was brought to the notice of Union
Home Minister Amit Shah in the security review meeting in Srinagar recently
with top security and intelligence chiefs in attendance. While BSF, which means
the international border with Pakistan in the Jammu sector, believes that it
has been able to repel drones carrying arms, ammunition and explosives from
Pakistan, the state police and the intelligence agencies differ with this
assessment.
The
security forces have seized various AK series assault rifles, pistols, MP4
carbines, carbine magazines, high explosive grenades as well as narcotics which
were transported into Indian territory from Pakistan from the drones shot down
so far.
As
per security agencies, BSF intelligence inputs and Jammu and Kashmir Police
officials, the drones are also used to drop packets of Afghan heroin for
financing terror operations in the Valley and Punjab.
It
is learnt that the group behind the transportation of weapons, explosives and
drugs is Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and other terror outfits which has
camps across the International Boundary and is backed by ISI.
The
Home Ministry is learnt to have directed the concerned agencies to find out a
solution to stop drone activities and meanwhile security agencies and law
enforcement forces are asked to keep a special watch on such movements.
According
to the document accessed by ANI, the seven drones that were shot down by the
BSF troops between January 1 to September 15 were observed in Punjab's
Amritsar, Ferozpur and Abohar regions.
As
per inputs, the first drone was shot down by the BSF on January 18 in Punjab's
Amritsar near Havelian Border Out Post (BoP). The BSF personnel on February 13
again shot down another drone soon after it entered Indian territory and was
observed near CB Chand BoP in Amritsar. The BSF personnel also shot down two
drones on March 7 and March 9 in Ferozpur's TJ Singh and Amritsar's Havelian
BoPs respectively.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Want
normal ties also with Pakistan: Meenakashi Lekhi at international meet
Oct
14, 2022
India
said on Thursday that it desired normal relations with all its neighbours,
including Pakistan, and advised Islamabad to create a conducive atmosphere,
including by taking "credible, verifiable and irreversible actions"
to stop cross-border terrorism against it and enable the two countries to
engage and address issues bilaterally. Junior minister for external affairs
Meenakashi Lekhi described Pakistan as the "global epicentre of
terrorism".
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
rakes up J&K at UN vote on Russia, India strikes back
Oct
14, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Pakistan, which abstained from voting on the United Nations general
assembly (UNGA) resolution slamming Russia, raised the J&K issue in
explanation of its stance while talking about right to self-determination.
Indian ambassador Ruchira Kamboj responded, as she delivered India's own
explanation, by slamming Pakistan for making frivolous and pointless remarks
and reiterating that J&K will remain an integral and inalienable part of
India.
Kamboj
also called upon Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism "so that our
citizens can enjoy their right to life and liberty".
"We
have witnessed unsurprisingly yet again an attempt by one delegation to misuse
this forum and make frivolous and pointless remarks against my country. Such
statements deserve our collective contempt and sympathy for a mindset which
repeatedly utters falsehoods," she said.
"It's
important, however, to set the record straight. The entire territory of Jammu
and Kashmir is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India
irrespective of what the representative of Pakistan believes or covets"
she added.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Religious
freedom should not be used to promote 'separatism', says BJP
Oct
14, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Asserting that it will always be opposed to students wearing hijab or
any dress other than uniforms in schools, BJP on Thursday said religious
freedom should not be used to promote "separatism" and referred to
the protests against head scarves that have rocked Iran.
"Uniform
in schools is meant to promote uniformity among students. I believe that
separatism is promoted in the garb of issues like the promotion of the burqa or
hijab. This mindset was the reason behind India's partition. This separatism
progressively morphs into extremism which can be a source of terrorism,"
said party general secretary C T Ravi who is from Karnataka.
While
Ravi said that it would not be appropriate for him to comment on SC's split
verdict on the insistence of a section of Muslims that girls from the community
had the constitutional right to wear hijab in classrooms, he maintained that he
would speak against the separatist mindset now being promoted in the garb of
the demand for the right to wear hijab when the rules requiring students to
wear uniform in Karnataka school has been in force since 1965.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UP:
DGP seeks report on Sultanpur clashes, Muslim clerics claim bias
13th
October 2022
Lucknow:
The Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) has sought a report in
connection with clashes in Sultanpur after some clerics alleged that action was
being taken against one side.
The
police have booked 55 people and arrested 30 in connection with the clashes
during a procession for Durga idol immersion in Sultanpur on Monday.
At
least 12 people have suffered minor injuries in the incident.
Cleric
Maulana Mehatrul Islam said that those booked in the case were mainly from the
minority community.
Police
have charged the accused with an attempt to murder and registered a case under
relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Uttar Pradesh Recovery
of Damages to Public and Private Property Act, 2020.
Superintendent
of Police, Sultanpur, Somen Barma said, “On the basis of CCTV footage and video
clips of the incident, 55 people have been identified of whom 30 have been
arrested. The arrested persons include the principal and maulvi of a madrassa
who had reportedly incited the mob to hurl stones at the procession.”
The
officer said that the statements of residents present at the spot would also be
recorded. Cops are also making efforts to identify the people whose vehicles
got damaged during the violence and get their cases registered.
“Both
sides were party to the violence,” he said.
Around
6 p.m. on October 10, at least 50 people were taking out a procession for Durga
idol immersion. When the procession reached the Ibrahimpur locality, members of
the minority community objected to the loud music and asked the members of the
procession to lower the volume as they were offering ‘namaz’. An argument
ensued which resulted in a clash between the two groups.
Background
of the Case
The
incident dates back to October 10 when members of the Hindu community took out
a procession on the occasion of Durga Puja. As the procession passed by a
mosque, members of the Muslim community requested the crowd to lower the volume
of the music.
The
crowd refused to lower the volume, sparking clashes and stone pelting between
the two groups. As per witnesses from the Muslim community, a few Hindu men
brandishing swords barged into the mosque, vandalised it, and set it ablaze.
The Hindu crowd beat up and injured several Muslim men over the issue.
A
house belonging to Muslims was also damaged. Following the incident, the police
took action.
However,
among 52 persons booked for violence, 51 were Muslims and one was an unarmed
person. It is to be noted that so far, 10 Muslims have been detained in
connection with the violence.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/up-dgp-seeks-report-on-sultanpur-clashes-muslim-clerics-claim-bias-2432918/
--------
Arab
World
Saudi
envoy urges UN Security Council to designate Houthis as terrorists
EPHREM
KOSSAIFY
October
14, 2022
NEW
YORK CITY: Saudi Arabia on Thursday called for the Iran-backed Houthi militia
in Yemen to be officially designated as a terrorist group, for it to face an
international boycott, and for its funding sources to be blocked.
While
reiterating its commitment to the international efforts to end the war in
Yemen, the Kingdom also said it reserves the right to defend itself should the
militia resume attacks on Saudi targets.
“We
will spare no effort to deter these hostile acts against us,” Abdulaziz
Al-Wasil, the Kingdom’s permanent representative to the UN, said during a
Security Council meeting to discuss the latest developments in the war-ravaged
country.
A
truce, which had been in place since April and was extended twice, expired on
Oct. 2 despite intensive diplomatic efforts to renew and expand the agreement.
The
failure to extend the ceasefire was blamed on what council members described as
“additional maximalist demands” on the part of the Houthis that could not be
met.
The
latest proposal that Hans Grundberg, the UN’s special envoy for Yemen,
submitted to all parties before the truce expired included a six-month renewal
period, the payment of salaries and pensions to civil servants, the reopening
of certain roads in Taiz and other governorates, the addition of more
destinations for flights from Sanaa airport, the unhindered entry of fuel ships
to Hodeidah port, a commitment to the release of detainees as a matter of
urgency, and the strengthening of deescalation mechanisms through the auspices
of the Military Coordination Committee.
The
longer renewal period of six months, compared with the previous two-month
extensions, was designed to provide time for negotiations to begin on an
indefinite ceasefire, the resumption of an inclusive political process, and
wider economic issues.
“I
appreciate the position of the Government of Yemen on engaging positively with
my proposal and I regret that Ansar Allah (the official name for the Houthis)
came up with additional demands that could not be met,” said Grundberg.
He
urged all parties to “demonstrate the leadership and flexibility required to
reach an extended and expanded agreement.”
Reiterating
his “appreciation for the continued steadfast support” of the Security Council,
as well as that of Saudi Arabia and Oman, Grundberg said that the achievements
and benefits of the truce should not be underestimated.
Implemented
after eight years of conflict, he said, the truce had brought the longest
period of calm yet to Yemen, during which there had been no major military
operations and a 60 percent decrease in civilian casualties.
It
also meant that Sanaa airport was able to reopen, allowing more than 27,000
people to travel abroad for medical attention, education or business. In
addition, more than 1.4 million tons of fuel were delivered to Hodeidah’s port
during the period of the truce, more than three times the amount that arrived
during the whole of 2021.
Face-to-face
meetings, under the auspices of the UN, of the parties involved in the conflict
also took place to discuss military de-escalation and the reopening of roads in
Taiz and other governorates.
Ambassador
Al-Wasil told the Security Council: “We have all borne witness on Oct. 2 to the
rejection by the Houthi militia of (Grundberg’s) proposal.
“This
rejection was no surprise for those who are aware of the nature of this
extremist terrorist militia that has taken the Yemeni people hostage, is controlling
their fate and exposing entire Yemeni generations to the risks of war and armed
conflict, putting at the forefront their extremist ideological interests.
“Hence
the threats to peace and stability in the region and Yemen continue and hamper
a peaceful settlement (there).”
The
Saudi envoy said a group that is rejecting a peace proposal, hampering
international efforts to repair the stricken Safer oil tanker that threatens to
cause an unprecedented environmental disaster in the Red Sea, laying mines and trafficking
illegal weapons, confiscating shipments of humanitarian supplies, and targeting
the infrastructures of neighboring states through drone attacks “is not a
peaceful group and does not care about the suffering of the Yemeni people. This
is a terrorist group under the terms of the Security Council Resolution 2624.”
He
added: “Although the proposals to extend the truce might in some way be
partially in favor of the Houthis, the Security Council accepted them for the
Yemeni people. The international community welcomed this step forward. My
country has also supported the efforts of the special envoy to achieve the
truce — with other countries and members of the coalition, the United States,
the UK and other countries — all to achieve a comprehensive political agreement
solution in Yemen.
“But
let us recall that the Houthi militia had already violated the truce on several
occasions. They refused to put the revenue from oil tankers in the special
account to pay civil servants’ salaries. They also organized military parades
in Hodeidah, which is a flagrant violation of the Stockholm agreement. It also
continues to besiege Taiz.
“So
as we have run out of efforts — the Houthi militia are rejecting any efforts to
achieve a peaceful settlement, (they) are insisting on defying the cause for
peace and stability in Yemen — it falls to the international community, and the
Security Council in particular, to reassess this extremist group that is taking
the future of Yemen hostage.”
Richard
Mills, the US deputy permanent representative to the UN, said “It is our
responsibility as the Security Council to be clear, clear about why Yemen has
diverted from the path to peace: It is because of the actions of the Houthis,
who failed to accept the UN truce proposal and whose inflammatory threats to
commercial enterprises are an offense to the entire international community.
“It
is the Houthis who must take action to prevent further suffering and enable
even greater benefits for Yemenis under an expanded truce agreement. They have
a moral responsibility not to deprive Yemenis of these benefits, including
salary payments for nurses and teachers and tens of thousands of other civil
servants who have not been paid in years.”
As
he expressed appreciation for the “commitments of the Yemeni Government and
Saudi Arabia to maintain the terms of the truce and to exercise restraint
during this sensitive period,” the American envoy implored the Houthis to do
the same.
Mills
also praised “the strong commitment of regional partners such as Oman, Saudi
Arabia and others to ending the devastating cycle of destruction in Yemen and
to bring in new opportunities to that country.”
He
urged the Houthis to “cease rhetoric threatening commercial shipping and oil
companies in the region. Such threats are unacceptable and even a small
incident or provocation could have an outsized impact on Yemen’s future.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2180741/saudi-arabia
--------
Saudi
Arabia condemns Russia’s annexation moves inside Ukraine
13
October, 2022
Saudi
Arabia’s representative to the UN has condemned Russia’s annexation of four
regions inside Ukraine, calling on all countries to abstain from using force.
On
Thursday, Riyadh, along with 142 other member states, voted in favor of a UN
resolution that called out Russia’s annexation moves.
Syria,
Nicaragua, North Korea, Belarus and Russia voted against the resolution, while
another 35 countries abstained from voting.
Abdulaziz
Alwasil, the Saudi representative to the UN, said the vote cast by the Kingdom
was in line with its position of “upholding the principles enshrined in the
Charter of the United Nations.”
“All
countries must abstain from the use of force,” he added.
A
statement from the Saudi government said the Kingdom had “clearly and
repeatedly” expressed its position to uphold international law, the UN Charter,
and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, “including Ukraine.”
The
statement cited Saudi Arabia’s March vote in support of UN Resolution ES-11/1,
which called for a full withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, as well as
its mediation efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the Russian invasion.
Saudi
Arabia has supported humanitarian relief efforts, providing $10 million worth
of aid to Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also
played a central role in mediation efforts that successfully resulted in the
release of 10 prisoners of war (POWs), including two Americans.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Lebanon
MP sanctioned by US says he played behind-the-scenes role in border talks
13
October, 2022
A
leading Lebanese politician who is sanctioned by the United States said on
Thursday he played a behind-the-scenes role in US-brokered talks to delineate
Lebanon’s maritime boundary with Israel by liaising with Hezbollah.
Gebran
Bassil, a Christian member of parliament and former minister, was sanctioned in
2020 for alleged corruption and material support to Hezbollah but denies the
accusations.
He
told Reuters in an exclusive interview on Thursday that despite the sanctions,
he was personally involved in US-mediated negotiations to draw the sea border
between Lebanon and Israel.
“It’s
only normal that I have a role. Everybody knows this - it’s my obligation and
it’s my duty,” he said in his office on the outskirts of Beirut. “I can link
politically with the parties inside and outside... and clearly, we succeeded.”
If
finalized, the maritime border agreement - hailed by all three parties as a
historic achievement - would mark a diplomatic departure from decades of war
and hostility as well as opening the door to offshore energy exploration.
Bassil
declined to say specifically what kind of role he played, but did say he was in
touch with Hezbollah, the powerful armed Iran-backed militia that is a sworn
enemy of Israel.
“I
was in direct and continuous contact with many people – Hezbollah, others than
Hezbollah,” he said, describing the Iran-backed armed militia’s role as
“positive.”
There
was no immediate response from the United States government or from Hezbollah
to requests for comment.
Bassil’s
Free Patriotic Movement is Hezbollah’s top Christian ally, and he has credited
the armed group for the leverage they offered Lebanon in the negotiations
process.
He
said his involvement in the file was not an effort to wipe his name of the US
blacklist.
“This
has nothing to do with the sanctions. Not at all. The sanctions will be removed
because they are unfair,” he said.
Bassil
said he was already undergoing an appeals process in the United States by
reaching out to the Treasury Department and demanding details on the US
government’s file on him through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The
American ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea earlier told Reuters that Bassil
had not requested sanctions be lifted in exchange for political overtures,
including helping secure a maritime border agreement.
“It’s
not how sanctions work. We’re not that cheap,” Shea said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
New
details found in Syria on missing ISIS hostages: Rights group
13
October, 2022
New
details on the ISIS extremist group’s former detention centers for foreign
hostages in Syria and on grave sites offer clues on where victims may be
buried, a rights group said Thursday.
The
US-based Syrian Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC) said it had managed to
pinpoint the exact locations of seven detention facilities once run by the
extremist group.
It
said it had identified three potential burial grounds after monitoring US court
proceedings against a member of the notorious ISIS kidnap-and-murder cell
dubbed “the Beatles.”
The
four-member cell, named after the pop band by their captives because of their
British accents, was allegedly involved in the abductions of at least 27 people
in Syria from 2012 to 2015.
The
hostages, some of whom were released after their governments paid ransoms, were
from at least 15 countries, including the United States, Denmark, France,
Japan, Norway and Spain.
The
ISIS tortured and killed their victims, including by beheading, and released
videos of the murders for propaganda purposes.
The
rights group said that, to corroborate information and trace hostage movements,
it conducted further interviews with former hostages, victims’ relatives and a
second ISIS “Beatles” member who pleaded guilty in the United States.
Information
collected during the proceedings “provided evidence regarding the possible
resting sites for both foreign and Syrian hostages known to be executed,” the
report said.
“Executions
and burials often occurred at some distance from detention centers,” in some
cases less than a mile away, it added.
Two
potential grave sites are believed to be located south of Raqa city, once the
ISIS group’s de facto Syria capital, SJAC researcher Gabriel Young said.
A
third potential burial spot was identified in Idlib province, now Syria’s last
major opposition bastion, he told AFP.
The
rights group said it would conduct further investigations into the sites to
confirm whether they contain corpses.
In
March, a US trial opened against “Beatles” member El Shafee Elsheikh, who is
accused of involvement in the murders of American journalists James Foley and
Steven Sotloff and relief workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
intensifies crackdown on Kurdish areas as protests rage
October
13, 2022
DUBAI:
Iranian security forces stepped up their crackdown on Kurdish regions of the
country overnight, deploying shock troops, as authorities pursued their deadly
suppression of nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death in police
custody.
Nearly
four weeks after Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was detained in Tehran for
“inappropriate attire,” the protests show no sign of abating in a bold
challenge to Iran’s clerical rulers, even if the unrest does not seem close to
toppling them.
The
unrest has underlined pent-up frustrations over freedoms and rights in Iran,
with many women joining in. The deaths of several teenaged girls reportedly
killed while demonstrating have becoming a rally cry for more protests.
Iran
deployed members of the Basij militia, troops which have been at the forefront
of repressing popular unrest, in Kurdish areas where seven people were killed
in protests overnight.
Videos
on social media which Reuters could not verify showed what appeared to be Basij
beating protesters in Kurdish areas.
Two
sources in Sanandaj, capital of Kurdistan province, told Reuters that Basij
members, along with riot police, were attacking demonstrators.
A
witness told Reuters hundreds of riot police and Basij forces have been
transferred from other provinces to Kurdistan to confront protesters.
“A
few days ago some Basij members from Sanandaj and Baneh refused to follow
orders and shoot the people,” said the witness.
“In
Saqez the situation is the worst. Those Basiji forces just shoot at people,
houses, even if there are no protesters.”
Basij
volunteers, affiliated to the elite Revolutionary Guards, may number in the
millions, with 1 million active members, analysts say.
Although
the latest protests have persisted for weeks, the Iranian authorities have
experience of quelling much longer bouts of unrest. In 2009, nationwide
demonstrations that erupted over a disputed election lasted for about six
months before finally being brought under control.
While
many officials have struck an uncompromising tone, a top adviser to Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been cited as questioning whether police
should be enforcing headscarf-wearing — rare criticism of state efforts to
impose the hijab.
Human
rights groups have reported more than 200 killed in the crackdown on the
protests, which have been particularly intense in Kurdish regions where
security forces have put down unrest by the Kurdish minority in the past.
A
source in Sanandaj told Reuters riot police were searching houses and arresting
dozens of young people, describing the situation as very tense with hundreds of
police officers on the city’s streets.
“We
have information from Baneh and Saqez as well. They have arrested dozens of
young people since yesterday, including teenagers,” added the source, who
declined to be identified because of fears for their safety.
Rights
group Hengaw, which reports on Iran’s Kurdish regions, said protesters in 10
cities had confronted “security forces’ intense violence” on Wednesday night.
In
the city of Kermanshah, direct fire from security forces killed two people,
Hengaw said. It posted a picture of the body of an 18-year-old man it said was
one of the dead.
A
video posted on social media from Kermanshah late on Wednesday showed a fire
burning in the road. “Kermanshah is hell, it’s war, it’s war,” a voice can be
heard saying.
Three
members of the security forces were also killed in Kermanshah and around 40
more injured, Hengaw said.
It
said a fourth member of the security forces was killed in Mahabad, and firing
by security forces killed another person in Sanandaj.
Officials
have denied that security forces have fired on protesters and have previously
reported around 20 members of the security forces killed during the nationwide
unrest.
Reuters
could not independently verify the videos and reports.
Iran’s
Kurds are part of an ethnic minority spread between several regional states
whose autonomy aspirations have also led to conflicts with authorities in Iraq,
Syria and Turkey.
TOUGH
SENTENCES
While
officials have blamed violence on ethnic separatists — the Revolutionary Guards
have attacked Kurdish Iranian dissident bases in neighboring Iraq — protesters’
chants have stressed unity against Islamist rule and called for Khamenei’s
downfall.
During
the protests, many women have been publicly removing, waving and burning the
headscarves they are required to wear under Iran’s conservative dress codes
that led to Amini’s arrest.
Khamenei
adviser Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker, said “if 50 percent of our
country’s women do not practice wearing a full hijab, then the police should
not be involved.”
“The
question here is this: Should the government interfere in all matters such as
this one?” he told the Ettela’at daily.
Security
forces arrested three human rights lawyers who were protesting in front of the
Bar Association in Tehran on Wednesday, lawyer Saeid Dehghan said.
While
Iran has used force to crack down on the unrest, there has been no sign yet of
the Revolutionary Guards — an elite force — being deployed.
Iran’s
top judge said he had ordered tough sentences for the “main elements of riots,”
a semi-official news agency reported.
“I
have instructed our judges to avoid showing unnecessary sympathy ... and issue
tough sentences for them while separating the less guilty people,”
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei was quoted as saying.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2180506/middle-east
--------
18
Syrian army personnel killed in terrorist bomb attack near capital Damascus
13 October
2022
At
least 18 Syrian government soldiers have been killed and more than two dozen
others injured in a terrorist bomb attack near the capital Damascus.
The
deadly attack occurred on Thursday, when an explosive device attached to a
military bus in Damascus countryside went off, killing 18 soldiers and wounding
27 others, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported.
“A
military bus in Damascus countryside was targeted this morning by a terrorist
detonation with an explosive device that was planted in advance,” SANA said,
citing a military source.
The
terrorist attack is considered to be one of the deadliest ones in months
against Syrian government troops not on an active front line.
Attacks
in particular have been on the rise, including in the Damascus countryside.
There
were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, but such assaults
bear the hallmark of Takfiri terror factions, particularly the Daesh terrorist
group, which was defeated in the Arab country but its remnants launch sporadic attacks
against civilians and government troops.
Since
2011, Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy, leading to the
emergence of Daesh and other terrorist groups in the Arab country.
The
Syrian government has repeatedly condemned the US and the EU for waging
economic terrorism on the country through their unilateral sanctions, holding
them responsible for the suffering of the Syrian people, especially now that
the country is grappling with a deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/10/13/690888/Syria-bomb-attack-bus-Damascus-Daesh
--------
Mideast
Turkish
imam loses his job over lyrics criticizing government
Pinar
Tremblay
October
13, 2022
Turkey’s
official religious body demoted an imam over a protest song he wrote and sang,
in a move critics say is another indication of the government’s increasingly
blatant intolerance of any sort of criticism ahead of parliamentary and
presidential elections.
“They
see there is bribing — still they don't say anything. There is no justice, no
morals; they are keeping their silence,” Imam Fatih Ardic, who has worked in
Turkey’s western province of Manisa, wrote in his song without knowing these
lyrics would cost him his job.
The
video clip of the song, which was released on YouTube in the summer, quickly
became popular. The song was even aired by one of Turkey’s public broadcasters,
TRT radio.
Yet
the Religious Affairs Directorate (the Diyanet) launched an investigation into
Ardic in early October over the song, titled “Is it permissible hodja?” Last
week, Ardic was relocated to another province as a janitor.
Defending
his position, Ardic said that he could not “remain silent in face of injustice,
lawlessness and financial hardships in Turkey as a religious official.”
Ardic
also recounted that he was questioned for more than three hours over the song
“as if I was a top wanted criminal” by the chief inspectors dispatched by the
Diyanet for the investigation. They asked him several questions, including
whether it was appropriate for a religious man to make music.
The
imam said he was even held responsible for comments made on YouTube under his
video clip.
According
to analysts, the demotion of the imam came as another sign of growing
intolerance among the government’s rank, particularly ahead of critical
elections set to be held in June.
“Islamists
aim that Islam rules all aspects of life, including politics. The demotion of
Ardic seems like a contradiction with religion. But it is only conflictual in
one aspect. Islam also advises that Muslims form a strong unity. The advice is
to be forgiving and understanding of the in-group but stern against the
enemies. This is where Ardic failed,” Birol Baskan, political scientist and
nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute, told Al-Monitor. he said.
“However critical he might be, he should not voice criticism.”
Yet
Ardic’s demotion could also trigger a backlash from the public.
According
to Baskin Oran, professor emeritus of international relations, the government
seems to be aiming to consolidate its voter base by silencing any views that could
construct criticism toward it.
Source:
Al Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mission
to UN: Iran Left with No Choice But to Eradicate Terrorism in Iraq
2022-October-13
The
Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations sent a letter to the head of
the Security Council to elaborate on Tehran’s reasons for its recent military
operation against terrorist groups in Northern Iraq, explaining that terrorists
have used Iraqi territory to carry out armed attacks against civilians and
Iran's infrastructure.
Iran’s
Permanent Mission to the UN responded to criticism and “unsubstantiated claims”
directed, during an earlier meeting of the body, at Tehran’s retaliatory
military operations on terrorist positions in Northern Iraq.
The
mission in its letter explained that Iran was left with no choice but to uphold
its rights and give a proportionate response to terrorist attacks following
destructive measures by terror groups against Iran’s national security and its
people, as well as the failure to heed Iran’s repeated warnings.
The
letter said that diplomacy did not work in the case, and added separatist
terror groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region “have continued to use Iraqi
territory to conduct armed and terrorist attacks against civilians and Iran’s
vital infrastructure".
The
terror groups, the letter added, exploited peaceful protests in Iranian cities
to incite violent riots and organize sabotage operations in the country.
It
said despite Iran’s repeated warnings and diplomatic communications, neither
Iraq’s federal officials nor local Kurdish authorities “have taken effective
and concrete measures to comply with their international obligations".
“Under
these conditions and considering the ongoing terrorist attacks, the Islamic
Republic of Iran had no choice but to exercise its inherent right to
self-defense under international law in order to protect its people, national
security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” the letter said.
Tehran,
it added, reiterates its unwavering commitment to Iraq’s sovereignty, urging
Baghdad to respond to the terror activities against Iran as a responsible UN
member.
The
IRGC has in recent days launched a series of aerial raids on the positions of
Iraqi Kurdistan-based terrorist groups.
The
operation came after the illegal entry of armed teams linked with the Kurdish
terrorist groups into the Iranian border cities in recent weeks.
The
IRGC Ground Force has announced that that the operations against terror bases
will continue until all anti-Iran separatist and terrorist outfits holed up in
the rugged mountainous area lay down their arms and surrender.
The
Iranian Armed Forces, specially the IRGC, have repeatedly warned that they will
never tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist groups along the
Northwestern border and will give strong and decisive responses in case of
anti-security activities.
The
IRGC has on countless occasions attacked and destroyed terrorist hideouts in
the Kurdistan region with artillery fire, missiles and drones.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
judges ordered to ‘avoid going weak’ on Mahsa Amini-linked protesters
13
October, 2022
Iran’s
judges have been issued orders against handing down soft sentences for people
found to be the “main elements of riots” that flared over Mahsa Amini’s death,
the judiciary said.
A
wave of unrest has gripped the Islamic republic since Amini died on September
16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating
the country’s strict dress code for women.
The
street violence has led to dozens of deaths -- mostly of protesters but also
members of the security forces -- and hundreds have been arrested.
“Iran’s
judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei ordered judges to avoid... issuing
weak sentences for the main elements of these riots,” said the judiciary’s
Mizan Online website.
“Undue
sympathy and weak sentences for the main elements are an injustice to the
people,” Ejei was quoted as saying.
“At
the same time, some stages of leniency should be considered for people who are
included among the less guilty elements,” he said.
Iran
has charged more than 100 people over the “riots” in Tehran and the southern
Hormozgan province alone, the judiciary said on Wednesday.
The
judiciary chief echoed remarks by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
who on Wednesday referred to the involvement of “enemies” in the protests.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran's
N. Chief Confirms Uranium Enrichment with New Centrifuges at Natanz Facility
2022-October-13
Eslami
said on Wednesday that Iran has now launched the third cascade of centrifuges
at Natanz.
He
noted that this is confidential and that the IAEA must observe confidentiality,
but the body has as usual leaked such information in violation of the rule.
The
AEOI chief added that Iran as a member of the IAEA, abides by the agency’s
treaties and carries out all its activities under the supervision of the UN
oversight body.
The
official stressed that in view of all those points, Iran in advance notifies
the IAEA of all its plans, intentions and actions.
Eslami
stated that the nuclear agency’s reports over the past few days are based on
Iran’s official announcements of its actions that are in line with its
strategic action law and its policy to reduce the country’s commitments under
the 2015 nuclear deal, JCPOA.
Iranian
officials say the country will continue development of its peaceful nuclear
industry without attention to the warnings and threats raised by Israel and the
United States.
Iran
and the IAEA have been at odds over several issues in recent years.
The
IAEA certified Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal several times until
2019, when the country began to ditch some of its nuclear obligations in a
legal retaliatory move a year after Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the
deal.
Iran
has always had full cooperation with the IAEA and allowed it to visit the
country’s nuclear sites, but calls the nuclear agency's approach unconstructive
and destructive.
Tehran
has criticized the nuclear agency for taking politicized positions toward its
nuclear activities.
Back
in June, Eslami said that heightened propaganda against Iran's peaceful nuclear
program was part of the Western states' maximum pressure policy against the
Iranian nation.
"Iran
has 3 percent of the world's nuclear capacity, but more than 25 percent of
inspections have been carried out in Iran," Eslami stated.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
FM
Underlines Iran's Opposition to Geopolitical Change in Regional Borders
2022-October-13
The
top diplomat made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Head of the
Armenia-Iran Parliamentary Friendship Group Georg Papuyan in Tehran.
Amir
Abdollahian pointed to the Islamic Republic's principled position of respecting
the countries' national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He
said Tehran was opposed to whatever action that could affect changes to
international borders or bring about geopolitical transformations in the
region.
Amir
Abdollahian, meantime, demanded peaceful resolution of Armenia and neighboring
Azerbaijan's differences concerning the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Nagorno-Karabakh
is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but has been populated by
ethnic Armenians.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkey
criminalizes spread of ‘disinformation’, up to three years jail term announced
14 October,
2022
Turkey
criminalized the spread of what authorities describe as false information on
digital platforms, giving the government new powers in the months remaining
before elections.
The
measure, proposed by the governing AK Party and its nationalist ally MHP, is
part of a broader “disinformation law” that was adopted by parliament on
Thursday. It mandates a jail term of one to three years for users who share
online content that contains “false information on the country’s security,
public order and overall welfare in an attempt to incite panic or fear.”
Media
groups and opposition parties have decried the bill as censorship, seeing it as
a move to stifle critics and journalists in the run-up to elections set for
next year.
“The
crime is defined with rather vague and open-ended terms,” said Mustafa Kuleli,
vice president of the European Federation of Journalists. “It is not clear how
prosecutors will take action against those who allegedly spread false
information.
Other
articles in the law range from amendments to issuance of press cards to the
procedure of correcting “false information online.
‘Systematic
Censorship’
Reporters
Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranks Turkey 149th out of 180
nations, saying 90% of the national media is under state control. The
organization has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government of
stepping up attacks on journalists to deflect attention from economic and other
problems ahead of elections.
In
2020, Turkey passed a contentious law that obligated social-media companies
with more than 1 million daily users in the country to appoint local
representatives, and gave authorities more power to block access to sites.
Erdogan
has also repeatedly threatened to shut down some social media, citing what he
considered to be personal attacks against himself and his family. He’s
described the platforms as “a threat to democracy” and “a national security
problem.”
Courts
banned YouTube and Wikipedia for years, while access to Twitter was slowed to a
trickle at times of heightened strife, such as cross-border operations into
Syria and terrorist attacks at home.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
At
least two Palestinians killed in Israeli West Bank raid: Report
14
October, 2022
Two
Palestinians were killed Friday during an Israeli raid in the flashpoint city
of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
“Two
martyrs arrived at the Jenin government hospital,” the ministry said, as the
Israeli military announced an ongoing operation in the city’s refugee camp.
The
army did not immediately comment on the deaths when contacted by AFP.
Israeli
forces used live fire in clashes with Palestinians in the Jenin camp, the
official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Dozens
of Palestinians have been killed in recent months during near daily Israeli
raids across the West Bank.
Two
Palestinian teenagers were shot dead Saturday during a raid in Jenin, while a
12-year-old boy died Monday from wounds sustained last month, according to a
health ministry toll.
The
expansion of military operations in Jenin and elsewhere in the West Bank followed
deadly attacks on Israelis earlier this year.
Israeli
forces are currently hunting for attackers who shot dead two soldiers in
separate incidents over the past week.
One
soldier was killed Tuesday near Nablus, south of Jenin, while on Saturday
another was shot dead at a checkpoint in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
The
pursuit for the Jerusalem gunman has prompted a massive operation inside the
city’s Shuafat refugee camp, which has severely impeded daily life.
Palestinians
went on a day-long general strike earlier this week in the city, in solidarity
with Shuafat residents.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
pardons, commutes sentences for almost 1,900 convicts
13
October, 2022
Iran’s
supreme leader has pardoned or commuted the sentences of almost 1,900 prisoners
on the occasion of the birth anniversaries of Prophet Muhammad and a key figure
in Shia Islam.
Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei “granted pardons or commuted the sentences of 1,862 convicts” on
the eve of Iran marking the birth anniversaries of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and
Imam Sadeq, the sixth of the 12 revered imams in Shia Islam, the leader’s
website said.
The
Judiciary’s website, Mizan Online, said among those are 95 women and 123
security convicts. It added that 13 of the prisoners had been sentenced to
death.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Palestinian
groups reach reconciliation deal to end years-long division
13
October 2022
Palestinian
resistance groups and factions in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza
Strip have reached an agreement in the Algerian capital as part of efforts
aimed at resolving their years-long differences.
The
agreement came on Thursday under an Algerian-brokered initiative for
reconciliation among 14 groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah.
Mustafa
Barghouti, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative
political party, said the Palestinian groups agreed to sign the Algerian
Declaration and inaugurate a united Palestinian National Council after two days
of round table talks under the auspices of the Algerian government.
"After
long discussions, it was agreed on a statement that will be issued as the
Algerian document for national reconciliation," Barghouti said.
"It
was agreed to elect the Palestinian National Council at home and abroad, using
a proportional representation system with the participation of all Palestinian
factions, within a maximum period of one year from the date of signing the
declaration."
The
declaration, Barghouti said, also ensured that the factions could hold general
presidential and legislative elections in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,
including the occupied al-Quds, within a maximum period of one year from the
date of signing the declaration.
Media
reports said the declaration would include "unifying Palestinian national
institutions, mobilizing the available energies and resources to implement
reconstruction projects, and supporting the infrastructure and social for the
Palestinian people in a way that protects their steadfastness in the face of
the Israeli occupation."
An
Algerian-Arab working group was said to have been tasked with supervising and
following up on the implementation of the terms of the agreement in cooperation
with Palestinian officials.
Algeria’s
presidency said in a statement that the declaration would serve as a solid
ground for achieving the national unity between all the Palestinian factions.
Hamas
hails initiative to end Palestinian division
Ismail
Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas,
welcomed the agreement and said the talks had a positive atmosphere, expressing
his deep appreciation for the initiative Algeria launched to heal the rift
between Palestinians.
“We
are satisfied with Algeria’s meetings and the positive atmosphere that
dominated the talks between us,” Haniyeh said on Thursday.
Haniyeh
lauded the Algerian team that supervised the dialog between the Palestinian
factions for its patience and keenness on not imposing any vision from any side
on the talks.
Since
January, Algeria has launched several initiatives to mediate a Palestinian
national reconciliation, hosting dozens of key political leaders from the
different factions to agree on a common goal.
The
Palestinian leadership has been divided between Fatah and Hamas since 2006,
when the latter scored a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in the
Gaza Strip. Hamas has ever since been running the coastal enclave, while Fatah
has been based in the autonomous parts the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
Russia-Ukraine
war: Money and menace being used to recruit Muslims in the Caucasus
13
October 2022
Russian
President Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilisation last month to deploy troops to
Ukraine has created disarray in its Muslim-majority Caucasus territories and
led to violent protests.
But
Circassians and other Muslims living in the mountainous region between the
Black and the Caspian seas told Middle East Eye that many were willing to serve
in exchange for lucrative monthly salaries.
Others
said they would sign up in order not to raise the suspicions of the Russian
authorities, who could come after them for retribution.
Ahmed,
a Circassian miner living in the northern Caucasus, told MEE that he had
convinced his son to serve in the army because there were no jobs in their
town, other than in a couple of old factories and mines.
“Participating
in the war is better than trying to find work in a factory and a mine,” he
said. “We cannot refuse. It is a lot of money.”
Ahmed
said that if his son survived the war and came back with the money promised by
the Russian state, he could afford to set up a business.
The
Russian Caucasus is a neglected part of the federation, lacking investments and
industry. Residents complain that jobs are mostly found in ethnic
Russian-majority parts of Russia, such as the north or east.
The
North Caucasian Federal District is the poorest economic zone in Russia, with a
monthly minimum wage of around 13,000 rubles ($205). The Russian government is
offering 135,000 rubles ($2,131) a month to conscripted soldiers.
Ibrahim,
a conscripted Circassian soldier, said his main motivation to fight in Ukraine
was the lucrative salary, but he thought that senior and local officials would
take a cut of his money before it got to him.
“But
even if we get half of this salary, it is enough for us,” he said.
'Everyone
is scared of Kadyrov'
Others
say the local authorities would retaliate if they refused to serve in the war.
Kambolat,
another Circassian from the Kabardian tribe, said he knew the Ukraine invasion
wasn't going well and that the conditions were rapidly deteriorating, but felt
he had to let his son go so as not to anger local officials.
“The
army even couldn’t distribute the uniforms," he said. “I personally bought
a lot of stuff for my son.”
Samil,
another parent from Dagestan, believed that it should be ethnic Russians
fighting against the Ukrainian army rather than his son. But he had to let his
son go to the war zone.
“I
told my son to turn himself into the Ukrainians whenever possible,” he said.
“We told this to every child we sent to the army, so they can survive.”
Thousands
of Chechens are believed to have been deployed in Ukraine and played a key role
in the capture of the strategic Black Sea town Mariupol earlier this year.
Chechen
leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a Putin loyalist who is head of the Chechen Republic, a
semiautonomous Caucasus region within the Russian Federation, has been one of
the most prominent cheerleaders for the war in Ukraine.
On
Saturday, Kadyrov claimed that another 70,000 Chechens were ready to join the
10,000 already fighting in Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
“Ten
thousand Chechen fighters are already participating in this noble cause. If
necessary, another 70,000 are ready to join them,” Kadyrov wrote on his channel
on the Telegram social network.
Kadyrov
earlier said that the mobilisation did not extend to Chechnya. However, last
week he posed with soldiers about to be deployed to the front.
Some
Chechens interviewed by MEE believed their children were being deployed to
Ukraine as part of a suicide mission, since being infantry in a highly
sophisticated war where the opposition is using artillery, rockets and drones
could be only considered as such.
“Everyone
is scared of Kadyrov,” said Muhammed, whose son has been deployed to Ukraine.
“We cannot do anything.”
Opportunity
Another
Chechen, a former commander, said Kadyrov had been running the country like a
corporation.
“He
sells our soldiers after producing them for Putin,” Rahman said. “Many Chechen
youths are joining Kadyrov’s squads to prove themselves by killing as many
Ukrainians as possible and receiving money, status and power in return.”
Rahman
had already taken his son and grandson out of the country.
Rahman
said many Chechens were looking at the war as an opportunity rather than
something they do out of loyalty to Putin or Kadyrov. The former commander
claimed that about 1,000 Chechen fighters had already lost their lives in
Ukraine.
The
Circassian and Chechen communities in the Caucasus also have people who are
staunchly pro-Russian and pro-Putin.
Dagestan
resident Murad, whose family is close to the Russian administration, believed
it was vital he joined the draft.
“There
is a terrorist threat against Russia. As people who suffered under Islamic
terrorism, we have to heed the call,” he said. “We will have a new wave of
terrorist attacks if Russia weakens.”
He
also added that the footage showing resistance against mobilisation in the
region was the work of Islamic militants.
Similarly,
two Chechens claimed they were fighting against "terrorists" in Ukraine
and that they were not serving in expectation of money or status.
Despite
the new recruitment efforts, the war in Ukraine isn’t going in Russia’s favour.
The Ukrainian army, with its sophisticated western weapons, has captured huge
swathes of territory in a counteroffensive that started in September, pushing
Russian troops out of Kharkiv and moving east across the Oskil River.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russia-ukraine-money-menace-recruit-muslims-caucasus
--------
Ukraine
thanks Saudi Arabia for UN vote against Russia annexations
13
October, 2022
Ukraine’s
ambassador to Saudi Arabia praised the Kingdom on Thursday for voting in favor
of a UN resolution that condemned the purported Russian annexation of Ukrainian
territories.
Last
month, Russia proclaimed its annexation of four partially occupied regions in
Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - after staging so-called
referendums.
Saudi
Arabia was one of 143 UN member states that voted for the UN resolution on
Wednesday, which also called for the immediate reversal of Russia’s annexation
declaration.
In
a tweet from Anatolii Petrenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the envoy
thanked the Kingdom for its vote.
“Grateful
to #SaudiArabia for its steadfast position and support of the #UNGA Resolution
‘Territorial Integrity: Defending the Principles of the UN Charter.’ Your voice
was heard loudly and clearly,” Petrenko said.
The
tweet was reposted by the official account for Ukraine’s embassy in Saudi
Arabia.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Russia
using Iranian nationals in Ukraine to launch suicide drones: Report
14 October,
2022
Russian
forces took Iranian instructors to the occupied Kherson and Crimea regions to
launch Shahed-136 kamikaze drones, the Ukrainian National Resistance Center
reported.
The
Iranian nationals reportedly teach Russian forces on using and monitoring the
launch of the drones, according to information published on the Ukrainian armed
forces-run website on Wednesday.
The
Iranians are based in the Russian-administered Ukrainian areas of Zalizniy
Port, Hladivtsi in Kherson, and Dzhankoy in Crimea, the report said.
They
“directly monitor the launch of drones on Ukrainian civilian targets, including
strikes on Mykolaiv and Odesa,” it added.
“Iran
helps the aggressor not only with equipment but also with people,” the report
claimed.
Three
drones operated by Russian forces attacked the small town of Makariv, west of
Ukraine’s capital, early on Thursday with officials saying that critical
infrastructure facilities were struck by what they said were Iran-made suicide
drones.
Ukraine
has reported a spate of Russian attacks with Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in
recent weeks. Iran denies supplying the drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has
not commented.
On
Thursday, France’s foreign ministry said that any sale of Iranian drones to
Russia would be a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution
that endorsed the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers.
According
to media reports, Iran has delivered hundreds of its drones to Russia despite
warnings from Washington, a Kyiv ally.
Ukraine
said that it would “significantly reduce” Iran’s diplomatic presence in
retaliation to Tehran’s deliveries of drones to Moscow.
It
removed the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador and said it is
“significantly reducing” the Iranian embassy’s diplomatic staff.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Cologne’s
mega mosque to start calling Muslims to prayer
October
13, 2022
BERLIN:
Germany’s largest mosque will for the first time broadcast the call to prayer
on Friday after city authorities in Cologne gave the go-ahead for a pilot
project, under strict limits.
Cologne’s
Central Mosque, an imposing building in the western city’s Ehrenfeld district,
will be allowed to send out a single call to prayer over loudspeakers for up to
five minutes on Fridays, between noon and 3:00 pm. The volume must not exceed
60 decibels.
The
agreement, part of a two-year pilot project, was to be formally be signed by
Cologne officials on Thursday.
Mosques
in several cities in Germany have long been authorized to broadcast the call to
prayer, but Cologne city only approved it from last October.
In
majority-Muslim countries, the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer five times
a day.
“We’re
very happy,” Abdurrahman Atasoy, general secretary of the Turkish-Islamic Ditib
organization which runs the mosque, told local media.
“The
public call to prayer is a sign that Muslims are at home here.”
Cologne
mayor Henriette Reker said allowing the call to prayer was “a sign of respect”
for the city’s many Muslims.
But
the project has not been without controversy, particularly because of the
involvement of Ditib, which has close ties to Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and manages more than 900 mosques in Germany.
Critics
have accused the organization of spying on Turkish dissidents living in
Germany.
Erdogan
himself traveled to Cologne in 2018 to inaugurate the Central Mosque, sparking
rival rallies by thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators.
The
Central Mosque, a massive glass and concrete structure designed as a flower bud
flanked by two minarets, has room for 1,200 worshippers.
Germany
is home to more than five million Muslims, accounting for around six percent of
the population.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2180486/world
--------
France
says Iranian drone sales to Russia would violate UN Security Council resolution
October
13, 2022
PARIS:
France’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that any sale of Iranian drones to
Russia would be a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution
that endorsed the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers.
The
ministry added that it was coordinating with its EU partners on how to respond.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2180541/world
--------
Scottish
court rules in favor of Iraq-born migrant in tuition-fee case
October
13, 2022
LONDON:
The result of a high-profile court case in Scotland has forced the government
to change the country’s university tuition-fee law for migrants, the BBC
reported on Thursday.
The
Court of Session case found that 20-year-old Iraq-born Ola Jasim, who has lived
in Scotland since the age of 11, had her human rights breached by being denied
free tuition.
Jasim
said her parents were forced to borrow money from other family members to meet
her tuition fees, and the family’s financial predicament had forced them to
abandon “small things” that “bring joy in your life.”
Scotland
offers free tuition to domestic university students, but Jasim was denied on
account of being two months short of the required stay in the country.
She
applied to study medicine two years ago, but was told by authorities that she
failed to qualify for the country’s residency rules.
A
person aged under 18 on the commencement of their university degree must be
ordinarily resident in Scotland and have lived in the UK for seven years to
qualify for free tuition. Those aged 18-25 have to have lived in the UK for
either half their life or 20 years.
Jasim’s
court case found that previous instances of Scotland denying free tuition to
migrants were unlawful as a result of breaches to the European Convention on
Human Rights.
Her
court victory is expected to have widespread ramifications for hundreds of
migrant students in Scotland, setting a legal precedent that ensures their
right to free tuition.
Jasim,
who is now in her third year of medicine at Dundee University, told the BBC:
“For the past couple of years I have been my parents’ biggest financial burden
and they have not only not had to look after themselves properly but my sisters
as well because everything was going into me.
“It
was a lot of guilt for me to deal with. My parents never complained about it
but I could see the difference it made in their lives.
“(The
decision) made me feel discriminated against even though this is what I call
home. You are really trapped. It was a lose-lose situation.
“Now
I know the law is changing, hopefully a lot of people’s lives will be changed
too because it is not just me who has been so badly treated.”
Jasim
was represented by lawyer Andy Sirel, who said: “The Scottish government like
to talk about how they are a pro-human rights government and are opposed to the
UK government down south but with these rules they effectively copied and
pasted the UK immigration rules on educational policy and have fallen in line
with the home secretary.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2180596/world
--------
Africa
You’re
symbol of peace in Nigeria – Lengmang praises Islamic cleric
October
13, 2022
By
Amos Tauna
Joseph
Lengmang, the Director General, Plateau State Peace Building Agency (PBA), has
described Imam Abdullahi Abubakar, the Islamic cleric who risked his life to
shield 262 Christians in his mosque, during an attack on Yelwa Gindi Akwati
village of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state on June 23, 2018, as
a symbol of peace in Nigeria.
Lengmang
also said that the Islamic cleric should be celebrated by all peace lovers for
standing for the love of humanity.
Speaking
to newsmen in Jos on Wednesday, he explained that Imam Abdullahi was among the
447 recipients recently conferred with National Honours by President Muhammadu
Buhari at the 2022 national honours award event in Abuja for his selfless
service to humanity.
Source:
Daily Post Nigeria
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://dailypost.ng/2022/10/13/youre-symbol-of-peace-in-nigeria-lengmang-praises-islamic-cleric/
--------
Mali
bus blast leaves at least 11 dead: Sources
14
October, 2022
At
least 11 people were killed and 53 injured when a bus hit an explosive device
in central Mali on Thursday, according to a hospital source.
The
explosion occurred on the road between Bandiagara and Goundaka in the Mopti
area in the early afternoon, a security source said. The region is known as a
hotbed for extremist violence.
Earlier,
police and local sources gave a provisional toll of 10 dead and many seriously
injured.
“We
have just transferred nine bodies to the clinic. And it's not over yet,” said
Moussa Housseyni of the local Bandiagara Youth Association, adding that they
were all civilians.
Mali
has long struggled with an extremist insurgency that has claimed thousands of
lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
Mines
and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are among the extremists weapons of
choice. They can explode on impact or be detonated remotely.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2022/10/14/Mali-bus-blast-leaves-at-least-11-dead-Sources-
--------
Nigerian
court acquits separatist leader of all government charges
Ibrahim
Garba Shuaibu
14.10.2022
KANO,
Nigeria
Nigeria’s
Appeals Court ruled Thursday that the leader of the banned Indigenous People of
Biafra (IPOB) separatist group had been illegally arrested abroad and dropped
all government charges against him.
Nnamdi
Kanu was discharged by a three-man panel of judges.
They
blamed the federal government for the wrongful extradition of Kanu from Kenya and
his "reckless” detention.
On
Jan. 18, 2017, a Federal High Court in the capital Abuja banned IPOB, which has
been fighting for an independent state of Biafra, deeming it a terrorist
organization.
The
IPOB filed a lawsuit against the move, saying it was unconstitutional.
Kanu
was arrested but released on bail. He fled Nigeria before being seized and
brought back in 2021.
The
Appeals Court ruled that he was forcefully arrested and flown back to the
country, which was a gross violation of all international conventions,
protocols and guidelines that Nigeria is a signatory to and a breach of his
fundamental human rights.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Somalia
police say journalist arrested over security-related charge
Mohammed
Dhaysane
13.10.2022
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
The
head of a Somali journalists association, Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, is in the
custody of police, the country's Information Ministry said.
In
a statement issued late on Wednesday, the ministry said he is being held on a
security-related charge and not related to his work as a journalist.
His
arrest comes just days after the government banned the coverage of news related
to al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab amid military offensives
against the group in the country’s Hiran region.
Mohamed
Ibrahim, the president of Somali Journalists Syndicate, told Anadolu Agency
over the phone that Abdalle has been held incommunicado by the state
intelligence and security agency.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Southeast
Asia
Cagamas
introduces Islamic reverse mortgage financing for senior citizens
Sunbiz
13-10-
2022
PETALING
JAYA: Cagamas Bhd, the National Mortgage Corp of Malaysia today introduced Skim
Saraan Bercagar Islamik (SSB-i), a global-first Islamic reverse mortgage
financing for senior citizen homeowners, which is aimed to help them fund their
retirement in compliance with syariah principles.
Cagamas
president and CEO Datuk Chung Chee Leong (pix) said with the launch of the
scheme, it has enhanced its reverse mortgage offerings to appeal to the local
market.
“The
introduction of SSB-i offers an alternative for senior homeowners who prefer a
syariah-compliant financing solution. It also represents our continuous
commitment to support the development of Islamic finance,” Chung said in a
statement.
SSB-i
is an Islamic reverse mortgage financing facility which allows retirees aged 55
and above, to leverage against the value of their fully paid homes and convert
it into a steady monthly cash payout to supplement their retirement funds up to
the age of 120 years, without sacrificing home ownership.
It
is based on a sale-based commodity transaction under the syariah concept of
Commodity Murabahah via Tawarruq arrangement, and will enjoy the same stamp
duty exemption as SSB until end of 2023.
“We
will continue to evaluate the expansion of SSB and SSB-i to other cities in
Malaysia. SSB and SSB-i represent Cagamas' continuous efforts to address
financial gaps in the marketplace with an initial RM100 million allocation to
help retirees unlock the value of their homes safely to receive guaranteed
monthly payout throughout their lifetime.
“This
comprehensive and integrated solution focuses on retirees who may be affected
due to a lack of savings and aims to help them maintain a decent standard of
living,” he added.
Source:
The Sun Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pahang
and Perlis dissolve legislatures, paving the way for state polls to be held
during Malaysia's GE15
Najmi
Syahiran Mamat
14
Oct 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR: Two states under the administration of Barisan Nasional (BN) – Perlis
and Pahang announced on Friday (Oct 14) that their legislatures have been
dissolved, paving the way for polls at both state and national levels to be
held simultaneously.
In
a press conference, Perlis chief minister Azlan Man said that he and state
assembly speaker Hamdan Bahari were granted an audience with the Raja of Perlis
the day before.
“His
Royal Highness has given his consent and the date of dissolution of the state
assembly, effective today,” he said.
There
are 15 seats in the Perlis state legislature. Before the dissolution of the
14th state assembly, 10 seats were represented by Barisan Nasional (BN), three
by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and two by Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS).
Separately,
Pahang chief minister Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said he was granted an audience with
Pahang Regent Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan.
He
said that the regent, in accordance with Clause (2) Article 26 Part Two of the
Pahang Constitution, has given his consent for the state assembly to be
dissolved.
“Today
was chosen to allow the tabling and debate on the state Budget 2023 to be
completed first, thus obtaining approval to be implemented next year. The state
government believes there is a need to also participate in the general
election,” he said during a press conference on Friday.
On
Thursday, Mr Wan Rosdy said that the status of the state assembly will be known
soon after passing the state budget for next year.
According
to a Bernama report, he said the priority was to pass the budget which was
tabled last Friday so that the state government’s plans for the people could be
implemented.
On
Wednesday, Perak chief minister Saarani Mohammad requested the dissolution of
the state assembly during an audience with Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah.
Mr
Saarani then said that the sultan would only announce his decision on the
matter later. The Perak state assembly is also led by BN.
Several
days after the dissolution of Malaysia’s parliament at the federal level, there
is lingering uncertainty regarding the status of the state assemblies.
PENANG
STILL WAITING
Democratic
Action Party (DAP) secretary-general Anthony Loke said on Tuesday that the
Penang state chapter of his party has asked for a review of the decision by
Pakatan Harapan (PH) against dissolving the state assembly.
“There
are views from many people, especially in Penang, for the elections to be held
at the same time,” he was quoted as saying by local media.
At
the same time, states under PH including Selangor and Negeri Sembilan have yet
to make a firm decision on whether to dissolve the state assemblies.
On
Friday, the chairman of DAP’s national legal bureau, Ramkarpal Singh urged the
coalition to consider its decision of having state elections separately from
the national polls.
He
said that there is “nothing unprincipled” in holding concurrent elections now
as it is certainly in the interests of people.
Mr
Ramkarpal also claimed that the people in Penang do not want separate
elections. He said that their wish “to hold state and parliament elections
concurrently is overwhelming”.
“I
wish to appeal to the PH leadership to seriously consider holding simultaneous
parliament and state elections now in all its states as we will be stronger
facing the opposition now,” he said in a statement.
Selangor
chief minister Amirudin Shari reportedly said on Tuesday that Selangor Sultan
Sharafuddin Idris Shah wanted the current PH state government to complete its
full term.
Negeri
Sembilan chief minister Aminuddin Harun also reportedly said on Tuesday that
there are no plans to dissolve the assembly, although PH’s presidential council
would have the final say on the matter.
On
Thursday, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang confirmed in a statement that the
three state assemblies led by his party – Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan will
not be dissolved.
He
said the party has decided to strengthen its ties with Perikatan Nasional (PN)
in the upcoming general election.
“We
will strengthen our collaboration with PN for the coming polls to unite the
ummah (Muslims),” he said.
PAS
is a component party of PN.
With
the exception of Sarawak, national and state-level elections have usually been
held concurrently in Malaysia.
For
now, the state assemblies of Sabah, Sarawak, Johor and Melaka are out of the
equation as polls were held recently.
Source:
Channel News Asia
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Najib’s
popularity seen as X factor in GE15
SK
Devi
October
14, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak may yet have a hand in influencing
voters in the coming general election despite being behind bars, according to
two analysts.
Speaking
to FMT, James Chin of University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute, and Council of
Professors fellow Jeniri Amir referred to Najib’s popularity on social media.
Chin
noted that “Bossku is still active” on Facebook and that he had already started
campaigning. “Bossku” is the name Najib’s supporters use when referring to him.
Chin
crowned him as Malaysia’s social media king, saying no other political leader
came close to him in terms of reach.
He
said Najib’s popularity, especially with young Malays, would likely influence
the outcome of GE15.
He
praised the former prime minister for his “good responses” to major issues.
“He
also knows how to put people down but he doesn’t always criticise the opposition
blindly,” he added.
Najib
has 4.1 million followers on Twitter, vastly ahead of other Malay leaders. Muda
president Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yasin have
about a million followers each, and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has about
half a million followers.
On
Facebook, Najib leads with 4.6 million followers.
Najib
is serving a 12-year prison sentence after the Federal Court upheld his 2020
conviction for his role in one of the world’s largest financial scandals.
Jeniri
said Najib could influence GE15 if the BN election machinery banked on issues
pertaining to him, including his imprisonment.
He
spoke of “people-centric policies” that Najib introduced when he was the prime
minister and said BN could refer to these in its campaigning.
He
attributed Najib’s popularity on social media to his “people’s touch”.
“People
really follow him on social media and this has helped to validate his image,”
he said.
He
also said BN might benefit if it roped in Najib’s daughter, Nooryana Najwa, for
its campaign.
Nooryana
and her brother, Nazifuddin, have been vocal against the imprisonment of their
father.
However,
Azmil Tayeb of Universiti Sains Malaysia disagreed that Najib would be a factor
in the impending polls.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Stable
govt needed to face recession, says Zahid
October
13, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: A strong and stable government is needed in view of the increasing risk
of a global recession, as projected by two major financial institutions, Ahmad
Zahid Hamidi said in justifying the need for a general election.
The
predictions by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Umno
president said, meant there was a pressing need for the nationwide polls to be
held.
He
also said the public must not allow a government which had “enemies within” the
administration.
This
included National Recovery Council chairman Muhyiddin Yassin who had attacked
the current administration, he said, adding that this had created a negative
perception among foreign investors.
Last
month, Muhyiddin said a general election should be held if Prime Minister
Ismail Sabri Yaakob could not manage the economy and country well.
“We
can’t let this situation prolong or it would be difficult for Malaysia to act
as a team to cushion the impact of the recession,” Zahid said in a Facebook
post.
“Even
if there are policies and plans in place to face it (the recession), there’s a
high chance of failure in terms of implementation because of such politicking.
And the people would be at the receiving end.”
Zahid
went on to say he found it suspicious that the opposition was adamantly against
the 15th general election being held this year on grounds that the economy was
unstable.
The
opposition, he claimed, wanted the current administration, which they said had
failed to help the people, to remain in power until the recession happened next
year.
Recently,
the World Bank and IMF said the global economy had been shifting from an
environment with low inflation and low interest rates to a world that was “more
volatile and more fragile”.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Sabah,
Sarawak will be kingmakers in GE15, says Shafie
October
13, 2022
KOTA
MARUDU: Sabah and Sarawak will be the kingmakers in the 15th general election
due to the number of seats in the two states, says Warisan president Shafie
Apdal.
Sabah
has 25 parliamentary seats while Sarawak has 31.
Shafie
said they would be able to determine which coalition formed the next
government.
“It
is time to change the country’s political landscape.
“If
the two states act wisely, Sabah and Sarawak will no longer be controlled by a
party from Kuala Lumpur,” he said at a Warisan event here.
The
former Sabah chief minister and federal minister said by being a kingmaker, it
would not only benefit Sabah’s interest but it would be beneficial for the
country.
“We
want a stable administration.”
Shafie
was responding to Sarawak United People’s Party president, Dr Sim Kui Hian, who
predicted that Sabah and Sarawak would determine who would take over Putrajaya.
Sim
said whoever wished to form the next government would need the backing of the
two states.
On
a separate matter, Shafie reiterated that his party would go solo in the
impending polls, unless PBS decided to join forces with them.
“Prior
to this, I said that we wanted only PBS for the KDM (Kadazan Dusun Murut)
seats.”
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
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