Jihad Given Up Due To IMF Loans, Says Hafiz Muhammad Saeed

Syria's war children will grow up illiterate: UN

AP | Jul 18, 2013

BEIRUT: Syria's devastating civil war will force a generation of children to grow up illiterate and filled with hate, a UN envoy warned on Thursday as fighting raged on around the country.

Leila Zerrougui, the special representative for children and armed conflict, said both sides in the Syrian conflict, now in its third year, continue to commit grave violations against children.

Scores of children have been killed, injured, detained, and forced to witness or to commit atrocities as President Bashar Assad's troops battle opposition fighters trying to oust his regime, she said.

Zerrougui spoke following a three-day visit to Syria, where she met with government officials and rebel commanders. She said she urged both sides to spare the children.

Once the war is over, Zerrougui said she told her counterparts, they "will have to face a generation of children who lost their childhood, have a lot of hate and are illiterate."

The fighting has destroyed thousands of schools across Syria while many of those still standing have been turned into shelters for displaced people, Zerrougui also said, speaking to reporters in Beirut.

Before Syria, the UN envoy also visited Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq.

She said children account for nearly half of the five million Syrians who fled their homes because of the fighting. Of those, half have not gone to school. And nearly 70 percent of those who do go to school drop out because they need to help support their families or for other reasons, Zerrougui added.

During her visit to Syria, Zerrougui also urged opposition forces to stop recruiting children into combat and asked the government to consider children, who were forced to taking up arms, as victims, not as combatants.

Aid groups have warned that some 2 million children in Syria are facing malnutrition, disease, early marriage and severe trauma as a result of the civil war.

The Violations Documentation Center in Syria, a key activist group that keeps track of the war's dead, wounded and missing persons, says 7,132 children under the age of 15 have been killed in the past two and half years, including 4,939 boys and 2,193 girls.

More than 93,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict started in March 2011 as largely peaceful protests against Assad's rule. The crisis escalated into civil war after some opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent.

Fighting continued unabated in Syria on Thursday, particularly in the north, where activists said Kurdish fighters took control of a major town near the border with Turkey.

The Kurdish forces have battled rebels from radical Islamic groups for control of the town of Ras al-Ain for days, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group with a network of activists on the ground.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Syrias-war-children-will-grow-up-illiterate-UN/articleshow/21145433.cms

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North America

Hindus, Shias, other minorities worse off in Pakistan: US report

IANS | Jul 18, 2013

WASHINGTON: The already poor religious freedom environment for Christians, Ahmadis and Hindus has continued to deteriorate in Pakistan over the last eighteen months, according to a US body that monitors violations of religious freedom abroad.

Releasing the findings of its Pakistan religious violence project on Wednesday, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said it had tracked 203 publicly-reported incidents of sectarian violence resulting in more than 1,800 casualties, including over 700 deaths.

The Shia Muslim community has borne the brunt of attacks (77) from militants and terrorist organizations, with some of the deadliest attacks occurring during holy months and pilgrimages, the report said.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Hindus-Shias-other-minorities-worse-off-in-Pakistan-US-report/articleshow/21141915.cms

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U.S. Muslim group sues over NSA surveillance

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

Jul 18 2013

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Tuesday it is suing the National Security Agency to try to stop it from collecting and storing Americans’ phone records.

Eighteen privacy and civil liberties groups have joined together to file the suit.

Together, the groups argue that collecting phone records is an infringement on Americans’ right to free association,

Earlier this year an NSA contractor leaked information on the program, under which the government collects the phone numbers and duration of calls within the U.S., and stores the data to be examined later, should investigators decide there is a reason to suspect terrorist activity.

Full report at:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/jul/16/us-muslim-group-sues-over-nsa-surveillance/

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U.S. shells out millions for bum construction in Afghanistan: Report

Jul 18 2013

A $3 million U.S.-contracted schools project in Afghanistan remains grossly unfinished more than four years after the start of construction because the Army Corps of Engineers did not hold the contractor accountable for the work it has been paid to do, a new report by a U.S. government watchdog says.

“This raises concerns because we have previously reported instances in which [the Corps of Engineers] failed to hold its contractors accountable for accomplishing the work they were paid to perform,” says the report by the Special Inspector General of Afghanistan Reconstruction, The IG believes that [the Army Corps of Engineers] must take immediate action to hold contractors accountable when they fail to deliver on their commitments.”

The report focuses on the contract to build the Sheberghan Teaching Training Facility in the Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan.

Full report at:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/17/us-shells-out-millions-bum-construction-afghanista/

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Bolton: Israel Should Attack Iran Now

17 Jul 2013

By Melanie Batley

Israel is in "greater danger" of nuclear attack with every day that goes by and it doesn't attack Iran, said John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

"Israel should have attacked Iran yesterday. Every day that goes by puts Israel in greater danger, every day Iran makes more progress," Bolton told The Jerusalem Post.

"I can understand why Israel wants us to take action, but the longer Israel waits for something that is not going to happen, the greater the danger Israel is in," said the senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Full report at:

http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/bolton-israel-iran-attack/2013/07/17/id/515615?promo_code=125C2-1&utm_source=125C2Washington_Times&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1

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U.S. suggests Egyptian military averted civil war

18 July 2013

Egypt avoided a possible civil war this month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday, making it hard for Washington to conclude that the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Mursi was a military coup.

The armed forces deposed the elected leader on July 3 after huge street protests against his rule, clearing the way for the installment this week of a new interim cabinet charged with restoring civilian government and reviving the troubled economy.

Thousands of Mursi’s supporters demonstrated outside the prime minister’s office and marched through Cairo on Wednesday to denounce the military-backed administration and show that they had no intention of bowing to army dictates.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/07/18/U-S-suggests-Egyptian-military-averted-civil-war.html

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Obama's U.N. nominee calls inaction on Syria 'disgrace'

Jul 18 2013

Samantha Power, President Barack Obama's nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, promised to push for action on Syria and fight what she termed "unacceptable bias" against Israel at the world body during her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

"We see the failure of the U.N. Security Council to respond to the slaughter in Syria - a disgrace that history will judge harshly," Power, best known as a human rights advocate, said in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Full report at:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/76756/World/Region/Obamas-UN-nominee-calls-inaction-on-Syria-disgrace.aspx

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Arab World

NGO: Clashes between Kurds, jihadists kill 29 in Syria

18 July 2013

At least 29 people have been killed in fighting between Kurdish and jihadist fighters in northern Syria in the past two days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday.

“At least 19 Al-Nusra Front (jihadist) fighters and 10 Kurds have been killed since the day before yesterday in clashes in the oil region of Hassakeh,” the NGO said.

On Wednesday, the group said Syrian Kurdish fighters had pushed members of Al-Nusra and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant out of the town of Ras al-Ain and its nearby border crossing with Turkey.

The clashes between Kurdish fighters and jihadists erupted after Al-Nusra Front militants attacked a convoy of Kurdish women fighters, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Activists in Ras al-Ain said members of the jihadist groups had taken advantage of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began last week, to try to impose their extreme version of Islam.

In the early days of the Syria conflict, when the opposition was desperate for help from any quarter, jihadist fighters were welcomed but a spate of abuses has fuelled a major backlash.

The Observatory said that jihadist fighters began firing rockets at Ras al-Ain, in western Hassakeh, after their expulsion.

They also attacked several roadblocks manned by Kurdish fighters and clashes were ongoing in the village of Tall Alu and Karhok in eastern Hassakeh, the group added.

Kurdish fighters meanwhile advanced elsewhere in the northeastern province, taking control of part of the Sweidiya area of Hassakeh, which is the only majority Kurdish province in Syria.

Syria’s Kurdish minority have walked a sometimes ambiguous line in the country’s conflict, which is now in its third year.

Despite occasionally cooperating with rebel fighters, the country’s Kurds have largely chosen to remain outside the conflict, and have sought to keep both regime troops and rebels out of their areas.

Their position has earned them the ire of some rebels, who fault them for failing to back the uprising.

And the community’s more liberal interpretation of Islam has also made it a target for some extremist rebel groups, including Al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/07/18/NGO-Clashes-between-Kurds-jihadists-kill-29-in-Syria-.html

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Egyptian army video shows Islamists blocking roads, attacking vehicles

Jul 18 2013

The Egyptian army has released video of footage of what it said were supporters of ousted president Mohammad Mursi blocking traffic and attacking private vehicles in central Cairo during a protest last Monday.

The violence took place when thousands of Islamist poured into Cairo’s iconic Ramsis Square and blocked the vital central Cairo October 6 bridge after breaking their Ramadan fast.

Police forces intervened and used tear gas to break up the protest, which ended early morning with seven people reportedly killed and dozens were injured.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/07/18/Egyptian-army-video-shows-Islamists-blocking-roads-attacking-vehicles.html

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Gulf States agree to blacklist Hezbollah as terrorist group

Jul 18 2013

The Arab Gulf countries have agreed to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist group, but they are still studying ways to do that, undersecretary of Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hamad al-Amir told Al Arabiya on Wednesday.

Gulf Cooperation Countries, which include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman were studying “correct measures” on how to officially blacklist Hezbollah, Amir said.

Bahrain blacklisted Hezbollah in April, becoming the first Arab state to do so after accusing the Lebanese group of backing and training radical Shiite groups working against Manama.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/07/17/Gulf-states-agree-to-blacklist-Hezbollah-as-terrorist-group.html

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Iraq violence kills 10, among them three children

Jul 18 2013

A bombing killed three children at a popular swimming area in Iraq on Wednesday after a similar attack two days before, while seven people died in other violence, officials said.

The bomb was planted near Al-Shakha river in the Muqdadiyah area northeast of Baghdad.

The explosion came after mortar rounds struck a swimming area on the Tigris river north of the capital on Monday, killing four people, including a child.

In another attack in the Muqdadiyah area on Wednesday, gunmen opened fire on a car carrying tribal leader Sheikh Majid Ali Jumaili, killing his wife and wounding him, his son and his cousin.

Full report at:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/76736/World/Region/Iraq-violence-kills-,-among-them-three-children.aspx

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Car bomb explodes outside Sunni Muslim mosque in Bahrain

July 18, 2013

ABU DHABI: A car bomb exploded outside a Sunni Muslim mosque as worshippers attended late-night prayers in a district where members of Bahrain's royal family live, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

No one was reported hurt in the attack in Riffa south of the capital Manama late on Wednesday, in what government officials said was an attempt to inflame sectarian tensions.

Bahrain, a majority Shi'ite country but ruled by the Sunni al Khalifa family, has been buffeted by political unrest since 2011, with mostly Shi'ite Bahrainis agitating for democratic reforms and more say in government.

Full report at:

http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jul-18/224123-bahrain-rattled-by-bombing-near-royal-palaces.ashx#ixzz2ZOEElUqp

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Egypt’s Jewish community head calls Zionism racism

18 July 2013

“Zionism is a racist movement,” the new leader of Egypt’s Jewish community declared in a recent interview.

“The failure to draw a distinction between Judaism as a religion and the Israeli state is the result of ignorance,” Magda Haroun continued, according to the transcript of the interview published on the Egypt Independent news website.

She also asserted that “just like not every Muslim is a member of al-Qaida, not every Jew is an Israeli.”

The Egyptian Jewish Community Council in April unanimously chose Haroun as its new leader, after the passing of the community’s former head, Carmen Weinstein.

“Many people do not understand that I belong to my country regardless of my religion. Zionism is a racist movement that discriminates between people on the basis of religion. They do not understand that I am loyal to my country, not Israel. It was our father that nurtured those feelings of fierce loyalty in us,” Haroun said in response to a question that first stated that Israelis attacked Haroun’s father before asking why they were attacking her.

Full report at:

http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Egypts-Jewish-community-head-calls-Zionism-racism-320199

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Thousands rally for Egypt’s Mohammed Morsi: ‘Legitimacy or martyrdom’

By Cheryl K. Chumley-The Washington Times

Jul 18 2013

Wednesday was dubbed the “day of steadfastness” by supporters of ousted Egypt President Mohammed Morsi, who rallied by the thousands outside the prime minister’s office to protest the formation of a temporary cabinet.

Protesters waved Korans and pictures of Mr. Morsi, Reuters reported. Their demands and chants: “God is greatest!” “Down with military rule!” and “We are all Morsi!”

One said to Reuters that “we have only two goals, legitimacy or martyrdom.” And another interrupted and clarified, “peaceful martyrdom,” Reuters reported.

The thousands marched through the center of town, targeting the government’s seat of power, fighting back riot police as they headed toward Tahrir Square, Reuters said.

 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/17/thousands-rally-egypts-mohammed-morsi-legitimacy-o/#ixzz2ZN8itH8p

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Bahrain’s King honoured for service to Qur’an

Jul 18 2013

Bahrain’s King Hamad has won this year’s prize for the global personality best serving the Qur’an, instituted by the Jeddah-based International Qur’an Memorization Organization (IQMO).

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal gave away IQMO prizes to winners during a function here Tuesday night. Sheikh Hamoud bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, Bahrain’s ambassador to Riyadh, received the award on behalf of the king. “The Bahraini government and people consider this award a medal of honor for their country,” the ambassador said.

Full report at:

http://www.arabnews.com/news/458373

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Former bin Laden doctor reportedly heads al Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula

By DAVID BARNETT Jul 18 2013

Egyptian security forces have reportedly arrested a number of jihadists operating in the Sinai Peninsula who are linked to Ramzi Mowafi, a former physician for Osama bin Laden.

Sources have told Egyptian media outlets that Mowafi's group has been responsible for numerous attacks in the Sinai over the past two years. Among those recently arrested are a Yemeni and a Palestinian who were found in the possession of maps and laptops.

In August 2011, Egyptian security officials told CNN that Mowafi, who is also thought to be an explosives expert, was spotted in the Sinai. At the time, Mowafi, born in Egypt in 1952, was said to be providing military training to a number of people in the Sinai.

Full report at:

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/07/former_bin_laden_doc.php#ixzz2ZO1MB8Pb

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Gunmen kill 3 Egyptian police in north Sinai

Jul 18 2013

CAIRO, Egypt — Militants killed three Egyptian policemen overnight in separate attacks in north Sinai, medical and security officials said on Thursday, in the latest eruption of violence sweeping the restive peninsula.

Three unknown gunmen attacked a police station in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, wounding three policemen in a gun battle before fleeing in their vehicle, the officials said.

One of the wounded, identified by the MENA state news agency as police officer Mohamed Said Metwali, 34, died at the El-Arish hospital shortly afterwards.

Full report at:

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130718173977

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NGO: Kurds expel jihadists from flashpoint Syrian town

18 July 2013

Kurdish fighters have expelled jihadists from the Syrian flashpoint frontier town of Ras al-Ain and the nearby border crossing with Turkey, a watchdog said on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, a car bomb attack killed at least seven people, among them a child, southwest of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Kurdish fighters took total control of Ras al-Ain “after 24 hours of fighting. The (jihadist) groups were expelled from the whole of Ras al-Ain, including the border post” with Turkey, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/07/18/NGO-Kurds-expel-jihadists-from-flashpoint-Syrian-town-.html

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Syrians use Ramadan humour to ease the pain of war

 Jul 18 2013

Damascus : As Syria's Muslims observe the fasting month of Ramadan at a time of war for a third year running, many people are turning to black humour to help them cope. Jokes are a way to weather the difficulties of food shortages, violence and death that mar the sense of community and celebration supposed to accompany the religious month. One popular joke plays off the traditional cannon fire that marks the end of the fasting day and the beginning of the iftar evening meal.

Full report at:

http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Egypts-Jewish-community-head-calls-Zionism-racism-320199

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India

26/11: Hafiz Saeed quotes Indian official to prove innocence

Imtiaz Ahmad, Hindustan Times

 July 17, 2013

Hafiz Saeed, Jamaat-Ud-Dawa (JuD) chief, has said the statement by an Indian official that New Delhi orchestrated the attack on Parliament and the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai clears his name and vindicates his stand that his organization had nothing to do with the attacks. Speaking on ARY

Television, a local Pakistani channel, Saeed said the statement by Satish Verma, an Gujarat cadre IPS officer Satish Chandra Verma showed “the real story.”

He told his audience that he was more upset with the Pakistan government than the Indian government because it had hounded him despite him being cleared of the charged by the Lahore High Court.

Full report at:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan/26-11-Hafiz-Saeed-quotes-Indian-official-to-prove-innocence/Article1-1094125.aspx

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Ex-DGP writes to Pranab Mukherjee over 'IB men's intervention' in Ishrat case

Jul 18 2013

Ahmedabad : Former Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) R B Sreekumar has written to President Pranab Mukherjee, appealing him to remove lobbyism of the top Central Intelligence Bureau (IB) and retired IB officers in the investigations into Ishrat Jahan and other alleged fake encounters.

Sreekumar wrote the letter on July 15 and has received a letter of receipt from the President’s Office and Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi. Sreekumar, in his letter, has opposed the intervention of the former IB director in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case. He has alleged that even the present director endeavours to protect the accused IB officers.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/exdgp-writes-to-pranab-mukherjee-over-ib-mens-intervention-in-ishrat-case/1143402/

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Never claimed Parliament House attack, 26/11 inside job: Ex-MHA official

Jul 18 2013

New Delhi: Former Home Ministry official R V S Mani has denied that he ever said the “Parliament attack and the Mumbai attack were orchestrated by the government in power”.

Mani’s allegation, made in a letter to secretary, urban development, where he now works, created a storm after it was published by news portal First Post.

It also prompted Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, whom India has accused of masterminding the 26/11 attack, to launch an online campaign, “Mumbai False Flag”, seeking to clear his and Pakistan's name in the attack.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/never-claimed-parliament-house-attack-2611-inside-job-exmha-official/1143268/

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Bodh Gaya Bomber wanted to blow up main statue

Deeptiman Tiwary, TNN | Jul 18, 2013

NEW DELHI: Taking a non-conventional Parikrama of the Buddha statue at the Mahabodhi temple gave away one of the bombers in the July 7 blasts at the religious site. The suspect, whose sketches were released by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday, was seen by witnesses taking an anti-clockwise Parikrama of the statue whereas the Parikrama is done clockwise.

The suspect wore a Buddhist religious robe and thus his lack of knowledge of established rituals aroused suspicion among devotees in the small hours of July 7. However, no one questioned him as he seemed to keep to himself.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bomber-wanted-to-blow-up-main-statue/articleshow/21134893.cms

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6 killed in BSF firing at Jammu protest over mosque entry

AHMED ALI FAYYAZ

Jul 18 2013

J&K Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo says BSF opened fire when residents were protesting the entry of some personnel into a mosque with shoes.

Six civilians were killed and at least 10 others injured when Border Security Force opened fire on a group of protesters at Dharam Sharti village in Gool area of Ramban district on Thursday morning.

Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo, who reached the spot alongwith Director General of Police Ashok Prasad, confirmed the death of four persons. He said a number of people have been injured and rushed to different hospitals.

 Full report at:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/6-killed-in-bsf-firing-at-jammu-protest-over-mosque-entry/article4927359.ece

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NIA files first chargesheet against five ‘IM’ members in Hyderabad blast

 Jul 18 2013

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency, probing into the “larger conspiracy” of Indian Mujahideen, has filed its first chargesheet against five arrested IM members on Wednesday.

The agency, however, has not pressed charges against fugitive Yasin Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal and Amir Reza Khan, who were named in last year’s FIR.

In its 40-page chargesheet, the agency has traced the IM’s origin from 2003 and named five suspected members — Mohammad Danish Ansari, Mohammad Aftab Alam, Imran Khan, Syed Maqbool and Obaid-Ur-Rehman — under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the IPC relating to conspiracy to commit offences against the state.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nia-files-first-chargesheet-against-five--im--members/1143293/

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Kashmir's top cardiologist injured, 2 policemen killed in militant attack

PTI | Jul 18, 2013

SRINAGAR: Kashmir's top cardiologist Dr Sheikh Jalal-ud-din was critically injured on Thursday in a militant attack which left two of his police guards dead in the highway township of Pampore in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.

Jalal (64), former director of Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, and his security guards were targeted by militants near his residence at Namblabal in Pampore, 16 kms from here, on Srinagar-Jammu national highway, police said.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kashmirs-top-cardiologist-injured-2-policemen-killed-in-militant-attack/articleshow/21143792.cms

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Asian arrested for putting up video of Dubai man beating Indian

 July 18, 2013

An Asian man has been arrested for filming a video that has gone viral on the Internet showing a UAE citizen beating up an Indian delivery van driver in Dubai, local media reported on Thursday.

The Asian, whose nationality was not known, was arrested for defaming the UAE man

who beat up the Indian driver, the reports said.

"No one has the right to take pictures of someone and publish them without his permission," Dubai police chief, Khamis al-Mazeina, was quoted as saying by the daily Emiratalyoum.

Full report at:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/restofasia/Asian-arrested-for-putting-up-video-of-Dubai-man-beating-Indian/Article1-1094444.aspx

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South Asia

Taliban seize villages in eastern Afghanistan

 Jul 18 2013

Local officials in Afghanistan say Taliban militants have captured most villages in Rashidan District in the eastern province of Ghazni,Press TV reports.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/07/18/314402/taliban-seize-villages-in-east-afghanistan/

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Taliban kills 8 Afghan workers en route to U.S. base, police say

18 July 2013

Eight Afghan civilians, who work at a U.S. military base south of Kabul, were shot dead by Taliban gunmen on Thursday, police said.

“Eight Afghan workers who were working in Camp Shank were killed this morning by Taliban,” the deputy police chief in Logar province, Rais Khan Sadeq, told AFP. “They were forced out of their car and taken about 200 meters off road to a nearby village [Logar], and shot in the head one by one.”

Sadeq said the bodies of the “ordinary civilian workers” were found with their eyes blindfolded.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/07/18/Taliban-kills-8-Afghan-workers-en-route-to-U-S-base.html

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Former President Gayoom to receive Maldives’ “highest honour”

By Neil Merrett | July 17th, 2013

Former President Gayoom to receive Maldives’ “highest honour” thumbnail

The government has announced that former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom will receive the country’s “highest honour” – the Nishaan Ghaazeege Izzaiytheri Veriyaa (NGIV).

President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad confirmed to Minivan News that the decision to bestow former President Gayoom with the NGIV was approved at a cabinet meeting held yesterday (July 16). He stressed however that the timing of the award was not related to recent political events such as criticism of President Waheed by the Gayoom-led Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

Full report at:

http://minivannews.com/politics/former-president-gayoom-to-receive-maldives-highest-honour-61210

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Jamaat-e-Islami calls Hartal for Thursday, death penalty awarded to its Secretary

July 18, 2013

Jamaat-e-Islami has called a daylong countrywide Hartal (shutdown) for Thursday protesting the death penalty awarded to its secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed for war crimes.

The Hartal call came on Wednesday through a press release signed by its acting secretary general Rafiqul Islam Khan after a tribunal in Dhaka awarded capital punishment to Mojaheed.

Full report at:

http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/jamaat-calls-hartal-for-thursday/

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Nasheed pledges to bridge islands in capital and build 12,000 new housing units

By Mohamed Naahee | July 17th, 2013

Nasheed pledges to bridge islands in capital and build 12,000 new housing units thumbnail

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Presidential Candidate, former President Mohamed Nasheed, has pledged he will connect the islands within the Male City via a bridge and will build additional 12,000 housing units should he be elected president in September’s elections.

Nasheed made the remarks during a campaign gathering in the Henveiru ward of Male’ on Tuesday evening.

Full report at:

http://minivannews.com/politics/nasheed-pledges-to-bridge-islands-in-capital-and-build-12000-new-housing-units-61181

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Mideast

'Should we remove the ballot box because Hitler can come out of it?' asks Turkish PM

 Jul 18 2013

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once again slammed the military takeover in Egypt, saying that the argument that Germany’s totalitarian dictator Adolf Hitler came to power thanks to elections is “ill-willed,” while confirming that he rejected a meeting request from Egypt’s newly appointed Vice-President Mohamed ElBaradei.

“The ballot box exists to prevent the minority imposing on the majority. They say that Hitler came out of the ballot box. So what, should we remove the ballot box because Hitler can come out of it?” Erdoğan asked supporters during a fast-breaking dinner organized by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara July 17.

“Questioning the ballot box by saying that Hitler can be elected is nothing more than ill-will against democracy,” Erdoğan said, adding that the government defended Egypt’s toppled President Mohamed Morsi because he was elected and not for any other reason.

Full report at:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/should-we-remove-the-ballot-box-because-hitler-can-come-out-of-it-asks-turkish-pm.aspx?pageID=238&nID=50931&NewsCatID=338

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Iran says to resume nuclear talks after forming new government

 17 July 2013

Iran said Wednesday it would resume talks with world powers on its controversial nuclear program once president-elect Hassan Rowhani has been sworn in and a new negotiating team formed.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is negotiating with Iran on behalf of the so-called P5+1 group, on Tuesday urged Tehran to resume the talks “as soon as possible.”

She made the comments after hosting talks in Brussels between political directors from the so-called P5+1 group that has been negotiating with Iran and which is made up of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/07/17/Iran-says-to-resume-nuclear-talks-after-forming-new-government-.html

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Abbas convenes key Palestinians to moot new talks with Israel

Jul 18 2013

President Mahmoud Abbas will confer with key Palestinian leaders on Thursday about a possible resumption of peace negotiations with Israel after an almost three-year freeze, officials said.

They gave no details on what Abbas's terms might be, should he announce a breakthrough after meeting in Jordan with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has pursued six months of intensive and deliberately discreet diplomacy.

Gaps between the sides had "very significantly" narrowed, Kerry said on Wednesday. His proposals to resume negotiations, which were not spelled out, won the endorsement of an Arab League committee, which said they "provide the ground and a suitable environment to start negotiations".

Full report at:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/76761/World/Region/Abbas-convenes-key-Palestinians-to-moot-new-talks-.aspx

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Israel readying peace gestures to Palestinians: report

Jul 18 2013

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military is preparing to lift some restrictions on Palestinian movement in advance of possible renewed peace talks, army radio said on Thursday.

"It appears that in the next few days the future of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians will be determined," its reporter for the Palestinian territories reported.

"In the light of security assessments, two roads in the territories are expected shortly to be opened to Palestinian traffic; one north of Ramallah and one close to Beit Haggai," he added, referring to a settlement near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Full report at:

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130718173972

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Preserving Islamic cities toghether with urbanization

Jul 18 2013

Tehran has hosted a conference with the participation of Iranian and foreign dignitaries mainly from the Islamic countries, their aim; to cherish Islamic architecture and culture.

The main focus of this meeting was maintaining the Islamic structure of cities together with modernization.

Iranian officials together with foreign ambassadors along with UN representatives took part in this forum.

The forum looked at the increased speed in urbanization together with growing world population in cities. This was noted as one of the causes in the loss of roots and culture of ancient cities some with thousands of years of history.

Full report at:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/07/17/314286/cherishing-islamic-cities-roots/

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Government to rebuild ‘lost’ 150 mosques in Turkey

 Jul 18 2013

The government plans to rebuild some of the 150 mosques around the country that have disappeared, according to Foundations Directorate head Adnan Ertem.

Some 130 of the “lost” mosques are in Istanbul, and some over time have been replaced by buildings and apartments. “About those we cannot do much,” Ertem told daily Hürriyet. “But if the plots are still vacant, then we will rebuild them.”

Full report at:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/government-to-rebuild-lost-mosques-in-turkey-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=50941&NewsCatID=341

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Zionists, hegemonic powers main foes of all Muslim nations: Ahmadinejad

 Jul 18 2013

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Israeli regime and hegemonic powers are unquestionably the enemies of all Muslim nations.

“Enemies want to our countries in ruins, destroyed, underdeveloped, conflict-stricken and unstable,” said Ahmadinejad while addressing the ambassadors and representatives of Muslim countries to Tehran at an Iftar (fast-breaking) meal at the Foreign Ministry Wednesday evening.

Full report at:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/07/18/314380/israel-main-foe-of-all-muslim-nations/

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Africa

In Somalia, 'foreign hands' are the sickness and the cure

AMAN SETHI

Jul 18 2013

At six in the morning on May 15 this year, the self-proclaimed sovereign Republic of Somaliland banned all United Nations flights from landing at this dusty airport overlooking the Gulf of Aden, sparking a little-reported international incident that was defused two months later on Monday.

On Tuesday, Reuters revealed excerpts of a confidential United Nations report warning that western oil companies prospecting along the disputed Somalia-Somaliland border could trigger further conflict in this fraught region. In one instance, Somaliland and the adjacent Puntland autonomous region have awarded overlapping prospective oil blocs to the Norwegian oil company DNO and the Swedish owned Africa Oil Corp – raising prospect of two countries, deeply involved in peace-building in Somalia, competing for resource contracts in one of the most unstable places in the world.

Full report at:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/in-somalia-foreign-hands-are-the-sickness-and-the-cure/article4924325.ece

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Libyan minority groups say will boycott constitution vote

 17 July 2013

Three Libyan ethnic minorities announced on Wednesday they would boycott an election of a committee to draft a new constitution, the first blow to a democratic process supposed to decide what political system the country will adopt.

Members of the Amazigh, Tibu and Tuareg communities denounced a law passed on Tuesday under which 60 people will be elected by popular vote to draft a charter, saying that such a constitutional committee would not be “fully representative.”

The constitution will be the first since the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, who often played off one tribe or clan against the other during his 42-year iron-fisted rule.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/07/17/Libyan-minority-groups-say-will-boycott-constitution-vote.html

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More than 1,000 sue ex-Chad dictator for war crimes

Jul 18 2013

More than 1,000 alleged victims of former dictator Hissene Habre are suing him in Senegal, where he is being tried for genocide during his eight-year rule of Chad, their lawyers said on Wednesday.

Habre, 70, faces accusations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture during his brutal rule between 1982 and 1990, when some 40,000 people were killed, according to rights groups.

Arrested in early July after more than two decades in exile in Senegal, the former dictator was placed on remand in Dakar where he is to stand trial after years of delays by the Senegalese government.

Full report at:

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/76737/World/International/More-than-,-sue-exChad-dictator-for-war-crimes.aspx

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Ghana official calls for higher marriage age

18 July 2013

The legal age for marriage in Ghana should be raised from 18 to 23, chief government statistician Philomena Nyarko has said.

This would make women better prepared, physically and mentally to have children, she said.

It could also slow population growth in Ghana by 15% to 20%, Ms Nyarko added.

Her proposal comes as MPs in Nigeria are debating whether to scrap the 18-year age restriction for marriage so that people can wed earlier.

Some Muslim MPs argue that the restriction violates Islamic law, which allows marriage at the age of puberty.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is roughly divided between Muslims and Christians.

Ms Nyarko said that women who delayed marriage and pregnancy until the age of 23 would have healthier lives, she said.

"It is well known that health outcome for both mother and child improve, if pregnancy is delayed until when the young woman has matured for marriage and childbearing, to help save the lives of both mother and child," Ms Nyarko said.

Most people in Ghana, which has a population of about 25.5 million, are Christian.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23351274

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Southeast Asia

Religious Conflict Not a Problem in ‘Tolerant’ Indonesia: Minister

July 17, 2013

Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Minister, in an apparent attempt to downplay the nation’s rising tide of religious intolerance, suggested that inter-faith strife is “human nature” before calling the country “the best… in the world” in terms of religious tolerance.

“I can say that it’s a normal part of human nature,” Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali told the Indonesian newspaper Kompas. “Humans were created by Allah with traits like anger. But religions have rules on anger that order us to be patient and slow [and] especially not to hurt others.”

Full report at:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/religious-conflicts-not-a-problem-in-tolerant-indonesia-minister/

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2 Malaysians charged over photo that riled Muslims

Jul 18 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Prosecutors have charged two Malaysians with sedition and inciting religious enmity after they posted a photograph on Facebook considered an insult to the Muslim holy month of fasting.

They face up to eight years in prison if convicted of both charges in the Muslim-majority nation.

Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee, both ethnic Chinese non-Muslims in their 20s, drew criticism when they uploaded a photograph of themselves earlier this month eating pork stew while conveying greetings to Muslims for the current fasting month of Ramadan. Pork is forbidden for Muslims.

Full report at:

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130718173976

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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/jihad-given-up-due-imf/d/12658