Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan Freed After Stunning Abduction
New Age Islam News Bureau
10
Oct 2013
The remains of a church in Mombasa, Kenya, set ablaze after riots broke out last week following the killing of a popular Muslim cleric.
Africa
• Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan Freed After Stunning Abduction
• Extremist Group Gains Foothold among Kenyans
• Libyan Captive Faces Interrogation aboard Floating US 'Black Site'
South Asia
• Taliban and Pakistan Argue Over Fate of Islamist Detainee, Baradar
• President of Madhanee Iththihaadh’ condemns PPM’s bid to annul Nasheed’s candidacy
• Why 2 finger test not unconstitutional: Bangladesh HC
• October 19 election date “a huge victory”, Nasheed tells supporters
• Burma's Rakhine clashes death toll rises to seven
• Baradar is ill, under ‘house arrest’: Afghan Taliban
• Madrasa explosion a plot to discredit us: Hefazat
• Islami Chhatra Shibir man killed as cops open fire in Chuadanga
• Water Park opens in war-weary Kabul with a splash but no women
Arab World
• Video shows Hezbollah fighters executing wounded Syrian rebels
• Al Qaeda Continues to Work for Islamisation of Syria
• Iraq executes 42 'terrorism' convicts in a week
• Scores killed in fighting near Damascus
• UAE to put 30 Emirati, Egyptian Islamists on trial next month
• Car bomb attack leaves 4 dead and 4 injured in Egypt’s northern Sinai
Southeast Asia
• FPI Forces Ahmadiyah Mosque to Close in West Java
• Umno elections significant to non-Malay communities
• Muslim leader charged with rebellion in Philippines
Pakistan
• 3 arrested in Pakistan for forcing Christian family to convert
• Pak civil society organisations condemn Peshawar church blasts
• Stop drone strikes and we will call a truce: Taliban
• Karachi operation: 138 police officers killed so far
• Mullah Radio killed in clash between Afghan, Pakistan Taliban: Report
• Malala has done 'nothing' to earn rights prize: Pakistani Taliban
• Baloch militant attacks affecting quake relief
• PPP accepted fake mandate to save democracy: PPP Senator
• I’m PM of every Pakistani irrespective of religion, ethnicity: Nawaz
Mideast
• Hamas calls for meeting with Fatah to counter Israel’s ‘schemes’ on Jerusalem
• Israel Expresses Dismay at Cutback of U.S. Aid to Egypt
• Attack on Jerusalem graves unnerves Christians
North America
• Quebec seeks curb on religious symbols
• Pentagon begins review of Guantanamo detainees held without charge
Europe
• More than jihadism or Iran, China's role in Africa is Obama's obsession
• Majority of Israelis believe US projecting weakness on Syria, Iran
India
• Omar Abdullah says media hyped up Keran infiltration
• Pakistan rules out MFN status to India before next elections
• Signature campaign to honour Sir Syed with Bharat Ratna
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/libyan-prime-minister-ali-zidan/d/13930
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Africa
Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan Freed After Stunning Abduction
AP | Oct 10, 2013
TRIPOLI, LIBYA: Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan was freed from captivity just hours after gunmen abducted him on Thursday at dawn from the hotel where he resides in the capital, Tripoli, according to the state news agency.
The brazen abduction - apparently in retaliation for the US Special Forces' raid over the weekend that seized a Libyan al-Qaida suspect from the streets of Tripoli - reflected the deep chaos and lawlessness gripping Libya.
Government spokesman Mohammed Kaabar told the LANA new agency that Zidan has been "set free" and was on his way to his office. The brief report gave no further information and details were sketchy, but it appeared Libyan forces had intervened in some way and that the abductors did not free Zidan voluntarily.
A militia commander affiliated with the interior ministry told a private Libyan television station that the prime minister was freed when members of a Tripoli-based militia stormed the house where he was held hostage.
Haitham al-Tajouri, commander of the so-called "Reinforcement Force," told Al-Hurrah television that his men exchanged fire with the captors but that Zidan was not hurt.
"He is now safe in a safe place," he said. His account could not be independently verified.
Zidan's abduction reflected the weakness of Libya's government, which is virtually held hostage by powerful militias, many of which are made up of Islamic militants. Militants were angered by the U.S. capture of the suspected militant, known as Abu Anas al-Libi, and accused the government of colluding in or allowing the raid.
In a sign of Libya's chaos, Zidan's seizure was depicted by various sources as either an "arrest" or an abduction - reflecting how interwoven militias are in Libya's fragmented power structure.
With the country's police and army in disarray, many are enlisted to serve in state security agencies, though their loyalty is more to their own commanders than to government officials and they have often intimidated or threatened officials. The militias are rooted in the brigades that fought in the uprising that toppled autocrat Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, and are often referred to as "revolutionaries."
On Tuesday, Zidan said the Libyan government had requested that Washington allow al-Libi's family to establish contact with him. Zidan insisted that Libyan citizens should be tried in their homeland if they are accused of crimes, stressing that "Libya does not surrender its sons."
Al-Libi is alleged to be a senior al-Qaida member and is wanted by the United States in connection to the bombing of American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998, with a $5 million bounty on his head.
Immediately after the raid, the Libyan government issued a statement saying it was carried out without its knowledge and asking Washington for "clarifications" about the operation.
"The US was very helpful to Libya during the revolution and the relations should not be affected by an incident, even if it is a serious one," Zidan told a news conference in Tripoli.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Libyan-Prime-Minister-Ali-Zidan-freed-after-stunning-abduction/articleshow/23902449.
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Extremist Group Gains Foothold Among Kenyans
By NICHOLAS KULISH and JOSH KRON
2013/10/10
NAIROBI, Kenya — When the United States tried to capture a powerful militant in Somalia last weekend, it did not go after the leader of the Shabab extremist group, but a Kenyan national whose ties were as much in his native country as in the Horn of Africa.
Outside of Somalia itself, Kenya sends more fighters to the Shabab than does any other country, analysts say. Young Kenyan men have ridden buses to the border in large numbers for years, local Muslim leaders say, drawn by payments of up to $1,000 to cross into Somalia and fight for the group.
But ever since the Kenyan military stormed into southern Somalia two years ago, many Kenyan fighters have been coming back home, local leaders and experts say, creating a larger, increasingly sophisticated network of trained jihadists in a country where people from around the globe gather in crowded, lightly protected public places.
“The growing number of militants in Kenya,” said J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington, “is a serious concern — or ought to be — for both U.S. policy makers and their Kenyan counterparts.”
Unlike Somalia, which has been isolated by decades of chaos, Kenya is home to thousands of American expatriates working for multinational companies, the United States Embassy, the United Nations and nonprofit groups. Beyond that, tens of thousands of American tourists come here for safaris and beach vacations every year, prompting the United States to issue a travel warning after the deadly siege on the Westgate mall in Nairobi last month because of “potential terrorist threats aimed at U.S., Western and Kenyan interests in Kenya.”
To much of the world, the attack on the mall, in which Islamist radicals killed more than 60 men, women and children, underscored the growing international threat of the Shabab, a group that once seemed more focused on imposing Islamic law in Somalia than with staging major attacks across international boundaries.
But the siege has also illustrated the growing radicalism of Kenya’s own neglected, disaffected Muslim population. At least one member of the small group of attackers at the Westgate mall was Kenyan, according to Kenyan officials, and several witnesses have described hearing the combatants speaking Swahili, one of Kenya’s national languages, sometimes flawlessly.
Kenya’s slums have long provided a fertile recruiting ground for Muslim extremists, but analysts say that the Shabab have been finding recruits from across the country, not just in traditionally Muslim areas like Mombasa or Somali enclaves and refugee camps. The heavy-handed response by the Kenyan police seems to have driven more young men to embrace radicalism.
Deadly riots broke out last week in the coastal city of Mombasa after a popular Muslim cleric was shot dead in what many believe was an attack by security services.
“A day after the killings,” said Abubaker Shariff Ahmed, a fundamentalist cleric in Mombasa, “a group of boys came to me and they said, ‘Sheik, find us a way to communicate with Al Shabab. We want to help, but we don’t have weapons.’ ”
Mr. Ahmed, a middle-aged man in a white cap and hennaed goatee, was one of three Kenyan supporters of the Shabab listed by the United States Treasury Department last year, accused of acting as a “recruiter and facilitator” for the group. In an interview on a rooftop here, Mr. Ahmed denied the charges, saying that when youth from the area ask him for help joining the Shabab he tells them not to go.
But were it not for the bail money that friends posted because of pending charges against him, Mr. Ahmed said, he would be in Somalia for jihad “tomorrow.”
Until recently, the Shabab’s Kenyan affiliate, Al Hijra, was “a group that appeared to be fumbling and amateurish, operationally,” said Matt Bryden, a former head of the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea. But “a core of committed fighters has emerged and they have been learning.”
Fighters who have trained in Somalia are filtering back into Kenya, he said, bringing new discipline, dedication and expertise.
“There have also been indications that over the last six months or so they’ve been scaling down grenade throwing and small stuff, partly to get some relief from law enforcement, but also because they realized this wasn’t getting them anywhere,” said Mr. Bryden, now a director at the Sahan Research and Development Organization, an independent group based in Nairobi. “They decided to aim for something that would do more damage and be more spectacular.”
A Kenyan intelligence report last year said that a Kenyan explosives expert had trained 20 Kenyan militants in Somalia, including in Baraawe, the port town where Navy SEALs staged an unsuccessful raid on Saturday to capture Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, a Kenyan citizen who uses the nom de guerre Ikrimah and is accused of plotting attacks in both Kenya and Somalia.
The Kenyan militants are increasingly sophisticated and dangerous, with safe houses and weapons stores at their disposal, according to the intelligence report. Aware that they are being watched, the report said, militants here have cut down on mobile-phone contact and begun using unsent draft e-mails in accounts for which they share passwords to communicate without detection.
“Al Shabab has started investing more in building out its own network in Kenya,” said Katherine Zimmerman, senior analyst at the Critical Threats Project of the American Enterprise Institute. “There is an Al Shabab network that extends down through Kenya and into Tanzania.”
Abdi Aynte, executive director of the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies in Mogadishu, Somalia, said that with porous borders and corrupt police officers, it was relatively easy to cross into Kenya with a bribe at the border.
“There is no inhibiting force at all to prevent you from going into Somalia or from Somalia into Kenya,” he said.
Other Shabab recruits have come from as far as Britain, Burundi, Chad, Uganda and the United States, potentially expanding the group’s ability to take advantage of local passports, accents and communities to operate. Many analysts said that it would be difficult for the Shabab, which claimed responsibility for the Westgate attack, to plan and execute a complex attack like the one at the mall without the assistance or participation of local networks.
Abdul Haji, a Kenyan businessman who rushed to the Westgate mall to try to rescue his brother, said he found himself locking eyes with one of the assailants, less than 100 feet away. He said the man did not look Somali and spoke to him in flawless, native Swahili, saying, “Kuja, kuja,” or “Come, come,” gesturing for him.
The government’s tensions with segments of Kenya’s Muslim population has been building for years. When Kenya’s one-party system ended in the early 1990s, the government refused to register the Islamic Party of Kenya. After the arrest of several Muslim religious leaders, riots broke out and top party members were arrested.
The police focus on Kenyan Muslims intensified after the bombing of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and it deepened after a deadly attack on Israeli tourists at a hotel in Mombasa in 2002.
Last year, the killing of an influential cleric, Sheik Aboud Rogo Mohammed, who had been accused by the United States of drumming up money and fighters for the Shabab, led to days of riots. Many Muslims accused the police of being behind the killing.
Just last week, another fundamentalist cleric, Sheik Ibrahim Ismail, was shot and killed along with three of his followers in similar circumstances.
“We knew they were going to kill him one day,” Mr. Ahmed said. “I am going to be killed one day.”
Nicholas Kulish reported from Nairobi, and Josh Kron from Mombasa, Kenya.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/world/africa/extremist-group-gains-foothold-among-kenyans.html
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Libyan Captive Faces Interrogation Aboard Floating US 'Black Site'
Sarah Lazare
10 October 2013
The detention and interrogation of a Libyan captive and suspected al Qaeda operative aboard a Navy warship in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea is prompting concerns about an Obama administration policy of using floating 'black sites' to deny legal rights.
Abu Anas al-Libi—seized in a military operation in Libya over the weekend—is being held by the U.S. without access to a lawyer or notification of his legal rights.
U.S. officials told NBC News on Monday that he will face interrogations by the CIA, FBI, and military with the alleged aim of gaining information about al Qaeda's plans. U.S. officials say that al-Libi is being held under the laws of war and can therefore be detained as long as U.S. forces deem necessary, the Associated Press reports. The USS San Antonio, where al-Libi is captive, was initially deployed to the area for potential strikes on Syria.
A U.S. official speaking anonymously to the New York Times suggested that the very purpose of the raid and seizure was to carry out such interrogations. “If we can, capturing terrorists provides valuable intelligence that we can’t get if we kill them,” said the official.
President Obama has long criticized the George W. Bush administration's practice of whisking away "terror" suspects to secret prisons run by the CIA, known as 'black sites," where they were subject to indefinite detention, denial of their legal rights, and torture methods for interrogation.
Yet, the case of al-Libi reveals a growing trend within the Obama administration: floating 'black sites' aboard warships. Somali citizen Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was interrogated and denied his legal rights aboard a U.S. warship for two months in 2011 before he was brought to New York to face terrorism charges.
The capture of al-Libi, an alleged high-level al Qaeda operative, prompted immediate rebuke from the Libyan government, as well as from policy experts and peace campaigners concerned about shadowy military operations and denial of human rights as the 'war on terror' pivots to the continent of Africa.
The detention of al-Libi "appears to be an attempt to use assertion of law of war powers to avoid constraint and safeguards in the criminal justice system," Hina Shamsi, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Associated Press. "I am very troubled if this is the pattern that the administration is setting for itself."
Critics charge that indefinite detention, from Guantanamo Bay to U.S. warships, constitutes cruel and inhumane treatment. "[W]e know indefinite detention causes such severe, prolonged and harmful health and mental health problems for those detained [and] that it can constitute cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment," declared Curt Goering, executive director of the Center for Victims of Torture, in a recent statement.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/09-3
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South Asia
Taliban and Pakistan Argue Over Fate of Islamist Detainee, Baradar
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG and DECLAN WALSH
2013/10/10
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban on Wednesday publicly disputed claims that the Pakistani government had released a senior militant detainee, drawing a firm rebuttal from the government and plunging efforts to start peace talks in Afghanistan into new confusion.
The Taliban said in a written statement that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a founder of the Islamist movement, was “spending days and nights locked up behind bars in worrisome health conditions, which are deteriorating by the day.”
The statement contradicts a Pakistani claim, made on Sept. 21, that Pakistani security forces had released Mr. Baradar in a bid to bolster the faltering peace effort. Mr. Baradar was detained in the port city of Karachi in 2010, and his fate has become closely tied to efforts to kick-start negotiations.
As often in the smoke-and-mirrors game of efforts to draw the Taliban into talks, it was difficult to know where the truth lay. The Taliban claim, if true, would renew concerns about Pakistan’s commitment to peace talks.
Just as likely, however, the statement was part of the complex and often opaque maneuvering involving insurgents, Afghan government officials, Pakistani spies and Mr. Baradar himself, as all sides balance the merits of talking versus fighting as American combat forces are preparing to leave Afghanistan next year.
Last week Pakistani news media reported that since his putative release, Mr. Baradar has been staying in guesthouses in the northwest of the country, under the watch of Pakistan’s security services. It was unclear whether he could move of his free will — or whether, as hoped, he has engaged other Taliban leaders in the talks process.
On Wednesday, the Taliban said they were publicly addressing Mr. Baradar’s position in response to news media speculation about his new role. “Some media outlets have gone as far as claiming that he is busy in political activities,” they said.
But the Pakistani Foreign Ministry insisted it had delivered on its promises to release the commander, describing him on Wednesday as one of several Taliban detainees freed to facilitate the reconciliation process.
“Mullah Baradar has been similarly freed,” said Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, in a text message. “As far as we are concerned, he is free to meet and contact anyone to advance the cause of reconciliation.”
During a visit to Pakistan in the summer, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan personally pressed for Mr. Baradar’s release.
When the announcement came in September that Mr. Baradar had finally been freed, it was immediately hailed in Kabul and Washington as a sign that Pakistan, under its new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, was sincere about moving peace talks forward and improving relations with Afghanistan.
The Taliban, though, did not confirm Mr. Baradar’s release at the time. Their silence reinforced doubts about what influence Mr. Baradar, a former deputy to the movement’s leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, would have within the insurgency after a long stint in prison.
On Wednesday, the group added, “We earnestly ask the Pakistani government and officials to give clarification, and, just as they have announced, he should be released.”
The Taliban, who call themselves the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, added that “the Islamic Emirate and his family believe it to be his legitimate right to be freed under humanitarian and Islamic sympathy from his wrongful imprisonment due to his deteriorating health condition.”
Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for Mr. Karzai, said in an interview last week that there had been no contact between Mr. Baradar and the Afghan government.
In a parallel but separate process, the Pakistani government is also considering peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, although the prospects for success seem even more remote. On Wednesday the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, appeared in a BBC television interview, saying he was ready to enter negotiations.
But Mr. Mehsud, who has a $5 million bounty from the United States on his head, also expressed skepticism that talks could go anywhere, and issued a list of demands that would be difficult for Pakistan to deliver, such as a complete cessation of American drone strikes in the country’s tribal belt.
A lively debate in Pakistan about the merits of talking to the Taliban has been influenced by three major bombings in the northwestern city of Peshawar in recent weeks that killed at least 140 people, as well as an ambush on a military convoy in which a two-star general was killed.
The BBC report on Mr. Mehsud also showed video of Taliban fighters playing on the edge of a small river, tossing each other into the water, in what may have been an attempt by the insurgent movement to portray a lighter image of itself.
Matthew Rosenberg reported from Kabul, and Declan Walsh from London.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/world/asia/taliban-leader-pakistan.html?_r=0
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President of Madhanee Iththihaadh’ condemns PPM’s bid to annul Nasheed’s candidacy
By Mohamed Naahee | October 10th, 2013
President of the ‘Madhanee Iththihaadh’ (Civil Alliance) Sheikh Mohamed Didi and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Council Member Ibrahim ‘Wadde’ Waheed have filed a petition at the Supreme Court against the Elections Commission (EC), challenging the candidacy of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate and former President Mohamed Nasheed.
The move comes shortly after the Supreme Court annulled the first round of Presidential Elections, following a Supreme Court petition filed by the Jumhoree Party (JP) contesting that the entire electoral process had been flawed due to discrepancies and irregularities amounting to a “systematic failure”.
Full report at:
http://minivannews.com/politics/ppm-submits-supreme-court-petition-to-annul-nasheeds-candidacy-suspend-printing-of-ballot-papers-68212
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Why 2 finger test not unconstitutional: Bangladesh HC
10 October 2013
The High Court on Thursday issued a rule to the government asking why the two finger test of rape victims should not be declared the violation of the constitution. An HC bench comprised of Justice Mirza Hossain Haider and Justice Md Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order in response to a writ filed on September 8. Eight human rights organisations jointly filed the writ seeking a High Court directive in this regard. Meanwhile, the court also asked to form a committee with forensic experts and officials concerned in order to create a new guideline in this regard.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/law-amp-rights/2013/oct/10/hc-2-finger-test-unconstitutional#sthash.DK4Cnytc.dpuf
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October 19 election date “a huge victory”, Nasheed tells supporters
By Daniel Bosley | October 9th, 2013nail
Former President Mohamed Nasheed rallied supporters last night during a large Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) gathering near the Tsunami Monument in Male’, relaunching its ‘ehburun’ (‘one round’) campaign after 11 nights of protests.
Thousands attended the rally, at which Nasheed hailed the announcement of an election date as a “huge victory” in the country’s “irreversible move towards democracy.”
Nasheed finished first in the annulled poll on September 7 with 45.45 percent of the popular vote, missing out on the ’50 percent plus one vote’ needed for a first round victory.
Full report at:
http://minivannews.com/politics/october-19-election-date-a-huge-victory-nasheed-tells-supporters-68130
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Burma's Rakhine clashes death toll rises to seven
Oct 10, 2013
Police have found two more bodies in the western Burmese state of Rakhine, bringing the death toll to seven after recent deadly religious clashes.
The bodies are those of two local Buddhist men.
Police said last week that four men and a 94-year-old woman - all Muslims - had been killed by Buddhist mobs during the violence at the start of October.
The violence comes as Burma took over leadership of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).
The two men were among a group of six people - a Christian pastor and five Buddhists - who were in the Thabyuchai area on 1 October, police say.
They were passing the village in a taxi, unaware of the violence that was going on, when they were attacked by villagers with knives and sticks.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24476611
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Baradar is ill, under ‘house arrest’: Afghan Taliban
October 10, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan released former second-in-command of the Afghan Taliban on Sept 21. The ultraorthodox militia didn’t say a word for nearly three weeks. On Wednesday however, they broke their silence.
“With great regret he [Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar] is still spending days and nights locked up behind bars in worrying health condition – his condition is deteriorating by the day”, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
“The Islamic Emirate and his [Mullah Baradar’s] family believe it is his legitimate right to be freed on humanitarian grounds from wrongful detention,” he added.
Islamabad freed Mullah Baradar hoping that he would encourage moderate Taliban leaders to join the Afghan reconciliation process. He had been in detention since his arrest in an operation jointly conducted by Pakistani and American spy agencies from Karachi on February 2010.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/615990/baradar-is-ill-under-house-arrest-taliban/
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Madrasa explosion a plot to discredit us: Hefazat
10 October 2013
Hefazat-e-Islam on Thursday alleged the government had wrongly portrayed the explosion in a madrassa in Chittagong as part of a plan to implement Sajeeb Wazed Joy’s statement that the number of Qawmi madrasa students should be reduced. Hefazat’s Organising Secretary Azizul Hoque Islamabadi made the statement at a press conference in a community centre near the Jamiatul Uloom Al-Islamia madrasa in Chittagong’s Hathazari area. Azizul Hoque said: “No trace of grenade was found after the explosion took place in the madrasa in the morning; but police claimed they had recovered hand-made grenades when they inspected the spot in the evening.” “However, police failed to produce the grenades they had claimed to have found,” he alleged.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/oct/10/madrassa-explosion-portrayed-wrongly-hefazat#sthash.voy5zcky.dpuf
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Islami Chhatra Shibir man killed as cops open fire in Chuadanga
10 October 2013
An activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir was killed when police, being attacked by Shibir men, opened fire in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga Thursday.
The victim was identified as Rafiqul Islam, 23, a madrasa student.
The police men came under attack when nearly 100 activists of Shibir, student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, brought out a procession and tried to vandalise a makeshift podium of Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindus, near Darshana bus stand area, reports our Kushtia correspondent quoting Abdur Rahim Shah, superintendent of police in Chuadanga.
The Shibir men were demonstrating as part of their countrywide programme for releasing its President Delwar Hossain.
http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/shibir-man-dies-in-clash-with-chuadanga-cops/
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Water park opens in war-weary Kabul with a splash but no women
2013-10-10
KABUL: After the armed guards and body search at the door, it is almost easy to forget the fun that is happening in ultra-conservative Afghanistan, except that all of the people leaping down the colourful slides and splashing in the water are men.
Inside a non-descript building in central Kabul, residents of the battle-hardened capital have a new and unusual form of escape — a state-of-the-art water park.
“They have really built a very good pool. I can't believe it,” said one visitor, Fahim Maeel, a company manager.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1048778/water-park-opens-in-war-weary-kabul-with-a-splash-but-no-women
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Arab World
Video shows Hezbollah fighters executing wounded Syrian rebels
10 October 2013
A video posted on the internet shows members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia executing wounded Syrian rebels who were captured when the Syrian town of al-Qusair was recaptured in June by the Syrian regime forces backed by Hezbollah’s army.
The battle over al-Qusair marked the first publically declared engagement of Hezbollah in the Syrian conflict, with group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah vowing not to allow Syrian rebels take Syrian towns bordering Lebanon.
The video is expected to revive tensions in Lebanon between the Shiite Hezbollah and Sunni Islamists supporting the Syrian uprising.
Lebanese journalist Lokman Sleem said the video further indicts Hezbollah and “confirms that the group’s intervention in Syria wasn’t in the name of Allah but in the name of Iran and its interests.”
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/10/10/Video-shows-Hezbollah-fighters-executing-wounded-Syrian-rebels.html
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Al Qaeda Continues to Work for Islamisation of Syria
10 October 2013
Syria is gradually becoming more Islamic as Al Qaeda continues to rally public support for the establishment of Sharia Law (Muslim religious law) having already declared the “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria”.
Areas already Al Qaeda control have already imposed courts of Islamic Law to enforce Sharia, including implementation of the death penalty, while at the same time promoting activities to get to the heart of the public via “Dawa” (religious preaching and educational activities).
Within this framework, study groups have been established for small children and teens, as well as leisure entertainment activities with promotion of Islam at their core, including distribution of gifts to children. The terror organization also is continuing to hold rallies in various cities, targeting the younger generation.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/277885#.UlZR5tK-rXA
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Iraq executes 42 'terrorism' convicts in a week
10 October 2013
Defying condemnation of its extensive use of the death penalty, Iraq executed 42 "terrorism" convicts over the past week, the justice minister said Thursday.
"In the course of the past week, the ministry has carried out the death sentences handed down against 42 people, one of them a woman, who were all convicted of terrorism offences, in accordance with Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law," Hassan Al-Shammari said.
Iraq executed 23 people over two days in September, most of them convicted on terrorism charges, the ministry said on 1 October.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/83693/World/Region/Iraq-executes--terrorism-convicts-in-a-week.aspx
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Scores killed in fighting near Damascus
10 October 2013
AFP, Beirut
Scores of Syrian rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were killed in fierce fighting Wednesday south of Damascus, where the army pressed a major offensive, an NGO said.
The fighting, between rebel brigades and regular troops, supported by militia and elements of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, took place in the areas of Husseiniyah, Al-Thiyabiyeh and Bouaydah, as government warplanes pounded the area, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“At least 22 people, the majority of them rebels, including a commander,” were killed, the Britain-based group said, without elaborating.
At the same time, it said “dozens” of regime forces were killed.
Earlier, the Observatory had said regular troops had reinforced their control of two villages separating Thiyabiyeh and Bouaydah.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/10/10/Scores-killed-in-fighting-near-Damascus.html
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UAE to put 30 Emirati, Egyptian Islamists on trial next month
10 October 2013
DUBAI, Oct 9: Thirty Emiratis and Egyptians charged with allegedly setting up an illegal branch of the Muslim Brotherhood are to go on trial in the UAE next month, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The United Arab Emirate’s State Security Court will begin the trial of the group, of whom 14 are Egyptian, on Nov 5, Al-Khaleej said.
Prosecutor Ahmed al-Dhanhani has accused the group of having “established and managed a branch for ... the international organisation of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, without a permit.” The founders set up an administrative structure aimed at recruiting members for the Muslim Brotherhood, strengthening its presence in the UAE and maintaining allegiance to the main party in Egypt, he said.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1048677/uae-to-put-30-emirati-egyptian-islamists-on-trial-next-month
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Car bomb attack leaves 4 dead and 4 injured in Egypt’s northern Sinai
10 October 2013
Three army conscripts and one police conscript were killed Thursday morning in a car bomb attack targeting a security checkpoint in the volatile Northern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt’s state news agency MENA reported.
The explosion, which took place south of El-Arish town, also left four injured.
Militants have stepped up their attacks against security forces since Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the military in July, following mass protests calling for him to step down.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/83686/Egypt/Politics-/Car-bomb-attack-leaves--dead-and--injured-in-Egypt.aspx
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Southeast Asia
FPI Forces Ahmadiyah Mosque to Close in West Java
10 October 2013
Hard-line Islamists shuttered an Ahmadiyah mosque after reportedly threatening to burn it down on Sunday in the latest example of religious intolerance to plague West Java.
The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) sealed a mosque in Sukatali village, in Sumedang, earlier this week after accusing the small congregation of breaking a controversial decree barring Ahmadiyah Muslims from proselytizing their religion. The decree, signed in 2008 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Attorney General’s Office, with the support of the West Java governor’s office, has long been used as an excuse to oppress the minority religion.
Firdaus Mubarik, spokesman for the Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), said the congregation was doing little more than holding regular prayer services.
“They only used [the mosque] to pray,” he said. “It had not even been used for Koran study groups.”
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/fpi-forces-ahmadiyah-mosque-to-close-in-west-java/
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Umno elections significant to non-Malay communities
10 October 2013
PETALING JAYA: The coming Umno elections have wide-ranging implications beyond the Malay community, given the dominance of the party, according to analysts.
Assoc Prof Dr Shaharuddin Badaruddin termed the general assembly “the third Parliament” after the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara.
“Their debates and discussions will probably shape the nation’s policies. After all, Umno members make up a third of the Cabinet,” said the Universiti Teknologi Mara lecturer.
He recommended that non-Malays follow the assembly proceedings as it “will reveal values that can influence important issues.”
Full report at:
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/10/10/Analysts-Umno-elections-significant-to-nonMalay-communities.aspx
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Muslim leader charged with rebellion in Philippines
2013-10-10
MANILA, Oct 9: Fugitive Muslim leader Nur Misuari has been charged with rebellion following deadly attacks by hundreds of his armed followers on a southern Philippine city, the justice minister said on Wednesday.
A court in the southern city of Zamboanga has issued an arrest warrant for Misuari and three of his commanders for the siege of the city that began on September 9, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters.
At least 244 people were killed in the three weeks of fighting that followed, with the government alleging that Misuari masterminded the operation even though he was not physically present.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1048683/muslim-leader-charged-with-rebellion-in-philippines
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Pakistan
3 arrested in Pakistan for forcing Christian family to convert
Oct 10, 2013
Three Muslim men were arrested in Pakistan for forcing a Christian family to convert to Islam, police said on Thursday.
The men in their 30s were arrested in the suburbs of the capital Islamabad this week, said police official Abdul Ghafoor.
Mr. Ghafoor said the arrests were made following a complaint by a Christian man that they forced his family to convert to Islam at gunpoint, in what would be the latest incident of religious persecution in the Muslim-majority state.
They barged into the house of Boota Masih and tortured family members, Mr. Ghafoor said.
One of the men had to links with Islamist militants, he added.
Last month, more than 80 worshippers were killed when two Taliban suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a church in North-western Peshawar.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/3-arrested-in-pakistan-for-forcing-christian-family-to-convert/article5221283.ece
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Pak civil society organisations condemn Peshawar church blasts
Oct 10, 2013
A number of civil society organisations across Pakistan have expressed outrage at yet another inhuman act of killing and carnage aimed at the rapidly dwindling Christian community of Pakistan. In a statement they said, “We most strongly condemn the two suicide bombing attacks against a Sunday morning prayer congregation at the All Saints’ Church in Kohati Gate, Peshawar. We stand steadfastly and in total solidarity with our bereaved sisters, brothers and families to mourn the almost 80 Shaheed Pakistani Christians, and we pray for the recovery of the over 150 critically injured in hospitals.”
“We are in immense shock and grief at the horrific sights, sounds and news emanating from the Church, the absolute inadequacy, chaos and disorder at the Peshawar hospitals, and, not least, the cemetery, where there are insufficient coffins to bury the dead, lack of illumination and grave-diggers, and utter helplessness,” the statement said.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/pak-civil-society-organisations-condemn-peshawar-church-blasts/article5218041.ece
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Stop drone strikes and we will call a truce: Taliban
October 10, 2013
Amidst all the hullabaloo about a peaceful end to an increasingly violent insurgency in Pakistan, the top Taliban commander said on Wednesday that he is ‘open to serious talks’ and asked the government to send a ‘jirga’ to initiate the process.
“We believe in serious talks but the government has taken no steps to approach us. The government needs to sit with us, then we will present our conditions,” Hakimullah Mehsud told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in a rare video interview on Wednesday.
Hakimullah had stepped into the shoes of Baitullah Mehsud following his death in 2009. He now heads the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an outlawed conglomerate of more than 30 militant groups, which has been blamed for most acts of violence in the country.
Hakimullah said he wouldn’t discuss preconditions for talks through the media. “The proper way to do it is that if the government appoints a formal team [of negotiators], and they sit with us, and we discuss our respective positions,” he said, adding that he would guarantee the security of negotiators.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/616054/stop-drone-strikes-and-we-will-call-a-truce-taliban/
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Karachi operation: 138 police officers killed so far
October 10, 2013
KARACHI: In the ongoing operation in Karachi a total of 138 police officers have been killed so far this year, the Sindh police revealed on Thursday.
Among the officers are two deputy superintendents of police, three inspectors, 13 sub-inspectors, 16 assistant sub-inspectors, 26 head constables and 78 constables, Express News reported.
The Sindh police spokesperson stated that most of the officers were being killed in the District West area.
District West was abolished in 2000 and divided into four towns namely Kemari Town, SITE Town, Baldia Town and Orangi Town. On 11th July 2011 Sindh Government restored the district again.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/616134/karachi-operation-138-police-officers-killed-so-far/
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Mullah Radio killed in clash between Afghan, Pakistan Taliban: Report
October 10, 2013
Three Taliban commanders were killed in a clash between Pakistani and Afghani Taliban on Thursday.
The clash occurred in Kunar, Afghanistan adjacent to the Pakistan border, BBC News reported.
Eye witnesses claim that heavily armed Afghan Taliban had attacked Pakistani militant bases two days ago. They said that three Pakistani militant commanders were killed while others were injured.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/616192/mullah-radio-killed-in-clash-between-afghan-pakistan-taliban-report/
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Malala has done 'nothing' to earn rights prize: Pakistani Taliban
10 October 2013
The Pakistani Taliban Thursday said teenage activist Malala Yousafzai had done "nothing" to deserve a prestigious EU rights award and vowed to try again to kill her.
The European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Human Rights Prize to the 16-year-old, who has become a global ambassador for the right of all children to go to school since surviving a Taliban murder attempt.
Malala survived being shot in the head by a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) gumnan on October 9 last year and is seen as a leading contender for the Nobel Peace prize, to be announced on Friday.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/83695/World/International/Malala-has-done-nothing-to-earn-rights-prize-Talib.aspx
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Baloch militant attacks affecting quake relief
2013-10-10
QUETTA: Baloch militants continued their attacks on Wednesday against security forces and government officials engaged in relief operation, badly affecting relief activities in earthquake-stricken areas of Awaran and Kech districts.
Official sources said that Army and Levies personnel were attacked by militants in Mashkay and Awaran areas. The attack in Mashkay area left one man dead and two others injured.
Sources said the armed men opened indiscriminate fire on a vehicle carrying Levies personnel in Jhaljaho area of Mashkay tehsil. They intercepted the vehicle in the area, badly beat up Levies personnel after snatching their weapons and then escaped.
In another attack in Mashkay, militants fired rockets and bullets on army personnel distributing relief goods among earthquake-hit people.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1048692/baloch-militant-attacks-affecting-quake-relief
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PPP accepted fake mandate to save democracy: PPP Senator
ZULQERNAIN TAHIR
2013-10-10
LAHORE: Coming up with “more glaring and scientific proof” of rigging, the Pakistan People’s Party on Wednesday said it had accepted a ‘fake mandate’ after May 11 poll just because it wanted to avoid derailment of democratic system in the country.
However, instead of directly targeting the PML-N, the party focused on the dubious role of returning officers in the general elections.
Following in the footsteps of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the PPP had also requested Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take notice of the “massive rigging” in the elections, especially in Punjab, to redress its grievances.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1048653/ppp-accepted-fake-mandate-to-save-democracy-aitzaz
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I’m PM of every Pakistani irrespective of religion, ethnicity: Nawaz
October 10, 2013
PESHAWAR: I’m a prime minister of every Pakistani irrespective of their religion and ethnicity, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday while speaking to the families of the victims of recent terror attacks in Peshawar.
Prime Minister Nawaz arrived in Peshawar today to meet those who were affected by the fresh wave of attacks. The city has come under a series of terrorist attacks, including a blast in the Qissa Khwani bazaar, an attack on the All Saints Church and a deadly attack on a van.
Nawaz said his government will ensure minorities get their due rights. He lamented the twin blasts inside a church.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/616190/im-pm-of-every-pakistani-irrespective-of-religion-ethnicity-nawaz/
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Mideast
Hamas calls for meeting with Fatah to counter Israel’s ‘schemes’ on Jerusalem
10 October 2013
Hamas on Wednesday called on for an “urgent national meeting” with the Palestinian Authority and Fatah to agree on a unified Palestinian strategy to confront Israeli “schemes” in Jerusalem.
The call was issued by Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal during a conference in Ankara, Turkey, on the issue of Jerusalem.
Mashaal said in his speech that no Palestinian or Arab or Muslim leader is authorized or has a mandate to sign an agreement that “harms” Jerusalem and the holy sites.
“Protecting Jerusalem and the Aksa Mosque against Judaization, demolition and division should be a shared national goal,” he said.
Full report at:
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Hamas-calls-for-meeting-with-Fatah-to-counter-Israels-schemes-on-Jerusalem-328329
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Israel Expresses Dismay at Cutback of U.S. Aid to Egypt
By ISABEL KERSHNER
2013/10/10
JERUSALEM — Officials and experts in Israel responded on Wednesday with a mixture of disappointment and alarm to the news that the United States planned to reduce its military aid to Egypt in response to this summer’s brutal crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and the continuing violence it has spawned.
Israel views the aid as part and parcel of its 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, and essential to the maintenance of stability in the region.
Israel has been involved in the Obama administration’s discussions on the cuts. Israeli officials refused to comment publicly on the matter on Wednesday, in part because there had been no official announcement yet from Washington.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/world/middleeast/israel-us-egypt.html?_r=1&
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Attack on Jerusalem graves unnerves Christians
10 October 2013
Christian leaders in Israel are up in arms over what they say is a string of relentless attacks on church properties and religious sites — most recently the desecration of a historic Protestant cemetery where vandals toppled stone crosses from graves and bludgeoned them to pieces.
The attack in the Protestant Cemetery of Mount Zion, one of Jerusalem's most important historic graveyards, has struck a particularly sensitive nerve because some of the damaged graves belong to important figures from the 19th and 20th centuries, a key period in Jerusalem's history. Among them are a German diplomat, the founder of a local orphanage who was a key contributor to modernizing the city, and a relative of the owners of a prominent Jerusalem hotel.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/83616/World/Region/Attack-on-Jerusalem-graves-unnerves-Christians.aspx
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North America
Quebec seeks curb on religious symbols
10 October 2013
There's a heated debate in Canada over Quebec's proposal to ban symbols of religious faith such as Jewish skullcaps, Sikh turbans, Muslim head scarves and large crucifixes from public work places.
The proposed ban is part of what the Quebec government calls its "charter of values." It has divided the province of 8.1 million and mobilized the opposition.
In recent weeks, Montreal has witnessed the rare spectacle of thousands of protesting Muslims, Jews and Sikhs marching together through the streets.
And reactions have been fierce elsewhere in Canada.
The federal Conservative government says it will fight the change in court. The Ontario legislature passed a motion of condemnation, and the Muslim mayor of Calgary has invited religious minorities to move to his city where "we don't care how you worship."
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/83656/World/International/Quebec-seeks-curb-on-religious-symbols.aspx
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Pentagon begins review of Guantanamo detainees held without charge
10 October 2013
The Pentagon said it had begun re-examining the evidence for the continued detention of terrorism suspects held without charge at Guantanamo, Cuba, more than two years after President Barack Obama directed it to develop a review process.
Pentagon officials said the new Periodic Review Board, created to facilitate the eventual closure of the prison, had not yet considered the case of any individual detainee but was now working on the reviews.
"This process makes an important contribution toward the goal of closing Guantanamo by ensuring that the government has a principled and sustainable process for reviewing and revisiting prior detention determinations in light of the current circumstances and intelligence," a Pentagon statement said.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/83678/World/International/Pentagon-begins-review-of-Guantanamo-detainees-hel.aspx
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Europe
More than jihadism or Iran, China's role in Africa is Obama's obsession
John Pilger
9 October 2013
Countries are "pieces on a chessboard upon which is being played out a great game for the domination of the world", wrote Lord Curzon, the viceroy of India, in 1898. Nothing has changed. The shopping mall massacre in Nairobi was a bloody facade behind which a full-scale invasion of Africa and a war in Asia are the great game.
The al-Shabaab shopping mall killers came from Somalia. If any country is an imperial metaphor, it is Somalia. Sharing a language and religion, Somalis have been divided between the British, French, Italians and Ethiopians. Tens of thousands of people have been handed from one power to another. "When they are made to hate each other," wrote a British colonial official, "good governance is assured."
Full report at:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/09/china-in-africa-obama-obsession#start-of-comments
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Majority of Israelis believe US projecting weakness on Syria, Iran
By GIL HOFFMAN
10/10/2013
Two thirds of Jewish Israelis believe that US president Barack Obama will fail to keep his promise to prevent Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, while only 27% believe he will succeed, according to the monthly Peace Index poll taken by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, which was released Thursday.
The poll of 601 respondents constituting a representative sample of the adult population of Israel was conducted last Monday and Tuesday, the days that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with Obama in Washington and delivered his address to the United Nations General Assembly. The headlines in the days ahead of the poll were about the Iranian charm offensive at the UN and the historic phone conversation between Obama and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani.
Full report at:
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Poll-Majority-of-Israelis-believe-US-projecting-weakness-on-Syria-Iran-328354
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India
Omar Abdullah says media hyped up Keran infiltration
M Saleem Pandit, TNN | Oct 10, 2013
SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said the media "hyped up" the Keran infiltration attempt by Pakistan-based terrorists saying it was the media that described it as "second Kargil". "Did the state administration, or for that matter the Army, describe Keran as the second Kargil war?" Omar asked reporters here at the inaugural of the 17th all-India golf tournament.
More than 20 terrorists were killed and at least two Indian jawans wounded in the 15-day gun battle in Keran which ended on Tuesday. In stark contrast, the Kargil war had lasted three months between May and July 1999 with 527 Indian jawans killed and around 700 of Pakistani infiltrators and regulars eliminated. Apart from this, one Indian fighter jet and one helicopter was shot down.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Omar-Abdullah-says-media-hyped-up-Keran-infiltration/articleshow/23846888.cms
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Pakistan rules out MFN status to India before next elections
Oct 10 2013
Washington : India is unlikely to be granted the 'Most Favoured Nation' (MFN) status before 2014 Lok Sabha elections and resumption of composite dialogue between the two nations, Pakistan Finance Minister has said.
Describing the recent meeting between the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York last month as "excellent", the visiting Pak Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, told a Washington audience that Islamabad had to "put on hold" granting MFN status to India in view of the public pressure in the aftermath of the unfortunate incident on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pakistan-rules-out-mfn-status-to-india-before-next-elections/1180756/
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Signature campaign to honour Sir Syed with Bharat Ratna
9 October 2013
Aligarh: The Aligarh Movement Monthly Magazine had launched a signature campaign demanding ‘Bharat Ratna’ to the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
Jasim Mohammad, Editor of the magazine told media persons that Aligarh community will celebrate 200th birth anniversary of Sir Syed in 2017. He said that the contribution of Sir Syed in nation building is well documented and Sir Syed deserves most for ‘Bharat Ratna’. So we have launched the signature campaign which will be submitted to President of India. Jasim Mohammad said that our target is to collect Ten million signatures on the petition.
Jasim Mohammad further said that for raising awareness about the life and works Sir Syed, an extension lecture by Professor Emirates Prof. Farahatullah Khan will deliver a lecture at Media Centre Aligarh on Saturday, 12 October, 2013.
Jasim Mohammad has appealed to Aligarh Community to come forward in large number to sign the petition.
http://www.newsxs.com/en/go/13951844/TwoCircles.net/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/libyan-prime-minister-ali-zidan/d/13930