Members of Tablighi Jamaat from the US, Russia, UK, France, Sudan, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Indonesia Freed, Court Slams Police, Says No Proof
New Age Islam News Bureau
16 December 2020
• Hundreds of Global Faith Leaders Call For Ban On
Same-Sex Relations And End LGBT+ Conversion Therapy
• Twitter Page of the Arabic-Language Al-Ahd Al-Jadid
Reported That Al-Qahtani Murderer of Khashoggi Returns To Power Again
• Indonesia Rebuffs Israeli Media Allegations about
Imminent Normalization with Tel Aviv
• Israel Signals Openness to Future Joint Missile
Defence with Gulf Partners
• Pakistan’s Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020 Allowing
Castration of Rapists Approved
• Defeated Force of 1971 Wants To Mislead Devout
Muslims, With False Statements on Bangabandhu, Says Hasina
• Sudan Celebrates ‘New Era’ as U.S. Drops It from
Terrorism List
India
• Members of Tablighi Jamaat from the US, Russia, UK, France, Sudan, Tunisia,
Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Indonesia Freed, Court Slams
Police, Says No Proof
• Had Miscarriage Due To Medical Negligence: Moradabad
Woman Held Under UP's 'Love Jihad' Law Shares Horror
• BJP Real Tukde Tukde Gang, Pit Hindus against
Muslims First, Now Sikhs: Sukhbir Badal
• "BJP Bringing Party from Hyderabad To Cut
Muslim Votes": Mamata Banerjee
• Vijay Diwas: All you need to know about 1971 war
with Pakistan
• PM Modi to light 'Swarnim Vijay Mashaal' today on
50th anniversary of 1971 India-Pak war
--------
Europe
• Hundreds of Global Faith Leaders Call For Ban On
Same-Sex Relations And End LGBT+ Conversion Therapy
• Alleged Qatari Expert ‘Does Not Rule Out’ French
Intelligence Role in Samuel Paty Murder
• Bosnia’s Croat, Muslim Presidents Snub Russia FM
Over ‘Disrespect’
• EU withholds $100mn budget support for Ethiopia over
Tigray conflict
• Armenia, Azerbaijan exchange prisoners of war
• Met Police officer denies membership of neo-Nazi
terrorist group
--------
Arab World
• Twitter Page of the Arabic-Language Al-Ahd Al-Jadid
Reported That Al-Qahtani Murderer of Khashoggi Returns To Power Again
• Saudi Arabia Holds Hundreds of African Migrants in
Appalling Conditions: HRW
• Iraqi activist Salah al-Iraqi shot dead in Baghdad
al-Jadida district
• UAE-based Big Heart Foundation supports damaged
Beirut hospital with more than $2 mln
• As Lebanon’s crisis deepens, UNICEF provides cash
assistance to over 70,000 children
• Lebanon’s path to new cabinet totally blocked:
Speaker Berri
• ISIS sleeper cell attacks in Syria reach record low,
data shows
--------
Southeast Asia
• Indonesia Rebuffs Israeli Media Allegations about
Imminent Normalization with Tel Aviv
• India Seeks Malaysian Intelligence Input on Alleged
Financing for Terror Plot
• Malaysian Christians file complaint against Muslim
politician
• Two Christian Sabahans sue Hadi, want court to
declare him unfit for minister-level post over alleged seditious remark
• Sarawakian Bumiputera Christian’s ‘Allah’ case to
finally have court decision delivered in Jan 2021
• Indonesia police: Top terror suspect mastermind of
attacks
--------
Mideast
• Israel Signals Openness to Future Joint Missile
Defence with Gulf Partners
• Iran will stand by Syria until final victory over
terrorism: Rouhani
• Iran’s Rouhani says he is happy that ‘lawless’ Trump
is leaving office
• Netanyahu picks new Mossad director to replace Yossi
Cohen
• Iran to ban dual-nationals, Green Card holders from
running for presidency
• UN chief urges countries to help address economic
crisis in war-torn Yemen
• Israel to build 8,300 settler units over next 20
years: Report
• Yemenis demand protection against Houthi attacks
--------
Pakistan
• Pakistan’s Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020 Allowing
Castration of Rapists Approved
• Imran Khan govt pushes for early Senate polls to
weaken Opposition
• A Delegation from Taliban’s Qatar- Based Political
Office Is Reaching Islamabad Today
• Dawn columnist Irfan Husain passes away in England
• FIA finds Meesha guilty of ‘vilification’ drive
against Ali Zafar
• Turkish ambassador urges compatriots to invest in
Pakistan
• Bilawal rules out talks with Imran at the helm
--------
South Asia
• Defeated Force of 1971 Wants To Mislead Devout
Muslims, With False Statements on Bangabandhu, Says Hasina
• Taliban Oppose Calls to Hold Negotiations inside
Afghanistan
• Saleh Views Riding Two-Up Bikes ‘Terrorist Threat’
• Islamic Scholars Meet Home Minister Over Sculpture
Issue in Bangladesh
• Bomb Attack Kills Deputy Governor, Three Others in
Afghanistan
• Proxy Peace in Favor of Pakistan, Backlash against
Taliban Visit
--------
Africa
• Sudan Celebrates ‘New Era’ as U.S. Drops It from
Terrorism List
• Bahrain opens consulate in Western Sahara after
Trump recognizes Morocco’s rule over region
• UNSC calls for withdrawal of mercenaries from Libya
• Somalia: Senior Al-Shabaab Foreign Fighters Killed
in Lower Shabelle
• Anti-terrorist campaign in Somalia continues despite
troop reduction
• Tunisia says more than 90 migrants intercepted
during bid to reach Italy
• Coronavirus: Tunisian PM cancels Italy trip after
minister gets virus
• Somalia cuts ties with Kenya amid rising tensions
over breakaway territory
--------
North America
• US Designates Iran-Backed Bahrain-Based Group As
Global Terror Organization
• Canada says Iran should not lead investigation on
downed Ukrainian plane
• Jared Kushner to lead delegation to Morocco, Israel
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/members-tablighi-jamaat-us-russia/d/123775
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Members of Tablighi Jamaat from the US, Russia, UK, France, Sudan, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Indonesia Freed, Court Slams Police, Says No Proof
By Anand Mohan J
December 16, 2020
Observing that the prosecution failed to “prove the
presence of accused inside the Markaz premises” and noting “contradictions” in
statements by its witnesses, a Delhi court Tuesday acquitted 36 foreigners
facing trial for allegedly flouting Covid guidelines while participating in a
Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin in March that was later linked to
infections in 14 states.
While passing the order, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
Arun Kumar Garg pulled up the Station House Officer of Hazrat Nizamuddin, who
was the complainant in the case, and the investigating officer for lapses in
identification of accused.
Referring to contradictions in the statements of
witnesses, the court acknowledged the probability of the plea by some of the
accused that “none of them was present at Markaz during the relevant period and
they had been picked up from different places so as to maliciously prosecute them
upon directions from Ministry of Home Affairs…”
“It is beyond comprehension of the court, as to how IO
(Inspector Satish Kumar) could have identified 952 foreign nationals out of
2,343 persons who, as per SHO, were found flouting the guidelines, without any
Test Identification Parade (TIP), but on the basis of list provided by MHA
(Ministry of Home Affairs),” the court said.
The court also noted that the SHO, Inspector Mukesh
Walia, made improvements in his statement. “The SHO was aware of the actual number
of persons gathered at Markaz since the beginning and still failed to take any
timely measures to ensure dispersal of the said gatherings despite being aware
of Government guidelines,” it said.
“Else, if he was not so aware of the actual or even
approximate numbers staying inside Markaz till the last day of evacuation
exercise, he in all probability is deposing falsely about his daily visits to
Markaz…In any case, his testimony has failed to pass the test of
creditworthiness and hence identification by him of the accused persons in the
court is not sufficient to discharge the onus of prosecution to prove the
presence of accused at Markaz during the relevant period,” the court said.
The accused hailed from a number of countries,
including the US, Russia, UK, France, Sudan, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania,
United Kingdom, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Indonesia.
Fahim Khan, lawyer for the accused, welcomed the
ruling and said his clients had been “falsely implicated”. “We argued that out
of the 36, 10 were not even present at the spot. The police had filed documents
showing their presence, which were contradictory. The prosecution could not
prove that the accused persons did not maintain social distancing or broke
other Covid guidelines,” he said.
The verdict was also welcomed by the accused. “We are
happy with the judgment,” said Irfan Khan (39), a mechanical engineer from
Australia, who was on trial with his wife. Irfan said had come to Delhi to
visit friends and religious sites when he was detained. Like the other accused,
he spent 60 days in a detention centre before being shifted to a court-approved
accommodation.
“I knew that in India, you can win a case if you
defend it. In Australia, there was a judge who said if you want the truth go to
a masjid, if you want justice go to a court. That inspired me to fight my case
rather than take a plea bargain,” he said.
The 36 were the last of the accused from abroad who
were put on trial in the case. According to court records, 952 foreigners were
accused of breaking Covid violations by Delhi Police. Over 900 of them had
pleaded guilty as a part of a plea bargain as they did not want to stay back in
India to face trial and wanted to be reunited with their families.
The 36 are among 44 foreigners who chose to stand
trial on charges of violating visa rules and Covid regulations — eight were
discharged in August by the court after it found that there was no “prima facie
evidence” against them.
The trial commenced on August 10 following directions
from the Supreme Court, and the final arguments were heard over three days from
December 3.
During the trial, the prosecution argued that “social
distancing and other guidelines were not followed and that large gatherings
were being held without following the norms of social distancing and other
safety directions”.
Stating that the Covid norms were in the public
domain, the police argued that “accused persons had both malignantly and
negligently participated and gathered inside the Markaz, thereby, increasing
the spread of Corona Virus infection”.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/tablighi-case-all-foreigners-freed-court-slams-police-says-no-proof-7106554/
--------
Hundreds of Global Faith Leaders Call For Ban On
Same-Sex Relations And End LGBT+ Conversion Therapy
December 16, 2020
Hundreds of global faith
leaders call for ban on LGBT+ conversion therapy(Twitter/AlphaSelena)
----
LONDON: Almost 400 global religious leaders, including
anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu and Britain’s Bishop of Liverpool,
called on Wednesday for countries to overturn bans on same-sex relations and
end LGBT+ conversion therapy.
69 United Nations member states still outlaw gay sex,
according to the 2020 State-Sponsored Homophobia report released by the
International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (Ilga
World) on Tuesday.
Only Brazil, Ecuador, Malta and Germany have
instituted forms of nationwide bans on conversion therapy, which aims to alter
a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Organised by the Ozanne Foundation charity, the
declaration has been signed by faith leaders from 35 countries, including
representatives of the world’s main religions, and former Irish President Mary
McAleese, a prominent member of the Roman Catholic Church.
The announcement, which marks the launch of the Global
Interfaith Commission on LGBT+ Lives, will be made on Wednesday at a virtual conference
of global faith representatives funded by Britain’s foreign ministry (FCDO).
Wendy Morton, Britain’s junior foreign minister, told
the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the declaration marked “an important step
towards equality”.
“We fully support its call to end violence,
discrimination and the ongoing criminalisation of same-sex conduct in 69
countries,” she said in emailed comments, describing conversion therapy as “an
abhorrent practice and should be stopped”.
Culpable
McAleese said the joint statement represented “a small
step towards countering (homophobia)”.
“But it’s a necessary step to remind the faith systems
of the world and people of faith that they have an obligation to their fellow
citizens who are also entitled to the full dignity of their humanity and their
full equal human rights,” she said.
The declaration also acknowledges “with profound
regret” that religious teachings through the centuries have “caused and
continue to cause deep pain and offence to those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, queer and intersex”.
Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, former senior rabbi to
Reform Judaism – which groups 41 independent synagogues – said the statement
was partly about acknowledging that “our religions … still have a lot that we
are culpable for”.
“It would be lovely to say it has nothing to do with
us, but our religious traditions have driven conversion therapy, particularly,”
she added.
To date, the declaration has been signed by religious
leaders including Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims.
“I think the Muslim community is ready for this
conversation,” said Imam Muhsin Hendricks, who founded the Masjidul Ghurbaah
Mosque in Cape Town, South Africa, one of the world’s few LGBT-inclusive
mosques.
“I’m currently training with six imams from different
parts of Africa and the openness to look at this issue (is incredible),” he
said.
“I’m really amazed and excited because 10 years ago
this kind of training with imams was not possible. So I do think the community
is ready.”
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2020/12/16/hundreds-of-global-faith-leaders-call-for-ban-on-lgbt-conversion-therapy/
--------
Twitter Page of the Arabic-Language Al-Ahd Al-Jadid
Reported That Al-Qahtani Murderer of Khashoggi Returns To Power Again
2020-December-15
Saud al-Qahtani and Jamal
Khashoggi
-------
The twitter page of the Arabic-language al-Ahd
al-Jadid reported that al-Qahtani, a close friend of bin Salman, has been
reappointed and returned to his office at the royal court two years after he
was called off the stage after his role in Khashoggi’s death was exposed.
King Salman had dismissed Qahtani after Khashoggi’s
case but he and a number of key officials who were suspects of the Saudi
journalist’s murder were never put on trial.
Khashoggi, a former advocate of the Saudi royal court
who had become a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, was killed
and his body dismembered by a Saudi hit squad in the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul on October 2, 2018, where he had gone to obtain documents for his
impending wedding.
The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi was a
columnist, reported in November that year that the CIA had concluded that bin
Salman personally ordered his killing.
Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur
for extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, has said there was credible
evidence that the crown prince and other ranking Saudi officials were
individually liable. She has called for an independent and impartial
international inquiry into the foul play.
In September, a court in Saudi Arabia handed 20-year
prison sentences to five people, while sentencing another three to seven to 10
years in jail.
The ruling was rejected by a United Nations (UN)
expert as a “parody of justice”.
Riyadh has spurned all the allegations linking the
killing to bin Salman and instead claimed that the murder was committed by a
“rogue” group.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990925000879/Arab-Media-Mrderer-f-Khashggi-Rerns-Pwer-Again
--------
Indonesia rebuffs Israeli media allegations about
imminent normalization with Tel Aviv
16 December 2020
Indonesia has dismissed Israeli media allegations that
the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country is seeking to establish
diplomatic ties with the Tel Aviv regime, after Israel and Morocco agreed last
week to normalize relations in a deal brokered by the United States.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said in
a statement on Tuesday that there was not any such possibility, and that the
ministry has never been in contact with Israel.
“In exercising Indonesian foreign policy with regard
to the Palestinian issue, the Foreign Ministry has consistently worked in
accordance with the mandate of the Constitution,” Faizasyah said.
The remarks came after Israeli English-language daily
newspaper The Jerusalem Post, citing an unnamed diplomatic source, reported on
Sunday that Oman and Indonesia could be next in line to establish diplomatic
relations with Israel in the coming weeks.
The diplomatic source further alleged that talks with
the two countries had advanced, and normalization could be announced before US
President Donald Trump leaves office on January 20.
Indonesia has long been a staunch supporter of the
Palestinian cause and statehood and has refused to communicate with Israel.
During his speech at the United Nations General
Assembly on September 3, Indonesian President Joko Widodo reiterated his
country’s unswerving support for Palestine.
He said at the time that Palestine is the sole
participant of the 1955 Bandung Conference — a meeting on world peace attended
by Asian and African nations — which has not attained independence yet.
Additionally, Indonesian Islamic groups and
pro-Palestinian NGOs have condemned recent normalization deals between several
Arab states and Israel.
The Indonesian Committee for Palestinian Solidarity
(KISPA) said in October that Israel was an occupying entity and should not be
trusted to bring peace to the region.
“Any form of support or normalization with Israel
means supporting the occupation," KISPA Chair Muhendri Muchtar said.
Muchtar added that normalization betrays the
Palestinian cause and the Indonesian people firmly reject it as their
Constitution opposes all forms of colonialism.
The Hidayatullah Islamic Organization also denounced
normalization of relations with the Tel Aviv regime back then, saying it aims
to justify Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.
Israel and Morocco agreed on December 10 to normalize
relations, making the North African country the fourth Arab state since August
to strike a deal aimed at normalizing relations with Israel. The others were
the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.
On September 15, US President Donald Trump hosted a
White House ceremony, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed
normalization agreements with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin
Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani.
Trump later announced on October 23 at the White House
that Sudan and Israel had also agreed to normalize relations.
The normalization deals have drawn widespread
condemnation from Palestinians, who seek an independent state in the occupied
West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital. They say
the deals ignore their rights and do not serve the Palestinian cause.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/16/640829/Indonesia-rebuffs-Israeli-media-allegations-over-normalization-of-relations-with-Tel-Aviv
--------
Israel Signals Openness to Future Joint Missile
Defence with Gulf Partners
15 December 2020
Israel could be open to future cooperation on missile
defense with Gulf Arab states that share its concerns about Iran, a senior
Israeli official said on Tuesday.
But Moshe Patel, who heads the Israeli Missile Defense
Organization that is part of the Defense Ministry, said it was still premature
to pursue any such deals. He said Washington’s approval would be needed if
Israeli systems developed with US technology were involved.
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“Things can be done, maybe in the future,” Patel told
reporters when asked whether any of the systems might be offered to Israel’s
new partners in the Gulf, or synchronized with comparable systems there.
“From an engineering point of view, of course, there
is a lot of advantage. That information can be shared, like sensors that can be
deployed in both countries because we have the same enemies.”
Jitters about Iran were a driver of a US-brokered pact
on Sept. 15 formalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates
and Bahrain for the first time. Saudi Arabia has encouraged the rapprochement,
while holding off on having its own bilateral ties with Israel for now.
Prior to those deals, a senior Israeli official had
told Reuters there would be no coordination on missile defense with Gulf
countries.
Patel’s briefing was called to announce what he said
was the successful live test of a multi-tiered Israeli missile defense system
that could hit targets flying at different altitudes - and allow for any
targets initially missed to be re-engaged.
The lowest tier is made up of the Iron Dome
short-range rocket interceptor, which Israel said had also shot down cruise
missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The US Army has received one Iron Dome battery from
Israel, with another one on order, Patel said.
Israel imbricates Iron Dome with the mid-range
interceptor David’s Sling, and with the Arrow system, which shoots down
ballistic missiles - including in space.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/12/15/Israel-relations-Israel-signals-openness-to-future-joint-missile-defense-with-Gulf-partners
--------
Pakistan’s Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020 Allowing
Castration of Rapists Approved
Malik Asad
16 Dec 2020
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday accorded
approval to the Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020 which will ensure speedy trial of rape
cases with women and children as victims and also allow for chemical castration
of those convicted of such offences.
However, contrary to the draft approved by the Cabinet
Committee on Legislative Cases (CCLC), the consent of the convict will not be
required for carrying out castration, but it will be the discretion of the
judge of the trial court.
Sources said Prime Minister Imran Khan had desired to
include castration as a punitive measure to counter the increasing incidents of
rape.
The CCLC proposed castration for the first or repeated
offenders and the concept of chemical castration was also introduced mainly as
a form of rehabilitation and subject to consent.
The consent for the purpose of chemical castration was
introduced in the draft bill since the international law makes it mandatory to
take consent of the convict before the said procedure. If an accused does not
agree to chemical castration, according to the law ministry, he would be dealt
in accordance with the Pakistan Penal Code in which the court may award him
death sentence, life imprisonment or 25 years’ sentence.
The sources said the CCLC had presented the draft bill
before the federal cabinet, where it was decided that the castration would not
be with the consent of the convict. Subsequently, the clause proposing
castration with the consent of the convict was omitted from the bill.
According to the sources, the law ministry will frame
rules for carrying out the castration procedure. They said the judge would be
empowered to order chemical castration of the convict for a period ranging from
six months to lifetime.
According to a statement issued by the President House
on Tuesday, special courts would be established throughout the country for
speedy trial of sexual assault suspects. The courts would have to wrap up the
cases within four months, it added.
Under the ordinance, the prime minister’s anti-rape
crisis cells would be set up for conducting medico-legal examination within six
hours of the incident.
A countrywide registry of sexual offenders will also
be established with the help of the National Database and Registration
Authority.
Under the ordinance, disclosing identities of the
victims would be prohibited and declared a punishable offence, the statement
said. Police and government officials showing negligence in investigating the
cases would be jailed for three years along with imposition of fines. They will
also be punished for providing false information.
Repeated offenders would be chemically castrated under
the guidance of a notified board, the statement added. It said a fund would be
set up by the prime minister, the money from which would be used for
establishing special courts, while the federal and provincial governments would
also allocate grants for the fund.
Ordinance termed eyewash
Rights activists and constitutional experts termed the
ordinance allowing for castration of the rapists useless and eyewash and ruled
out the possibility of countering the menace through such a punishment.
Sadia Bokhari of the Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan (HRCP) said such legislation was mere eyewash as it did not help in
protecting the victims. She said public hanging and castration could not
guarantee end of rape cases, adding that it was effective implementation of the
law that would create real deterrence for the rapists.
Ms Bokhari pointed out that even in the most
high-profile cases, the suspected rapists got off scot-free because of various
loopholes, including out-of-court settlement with the victim’s family.
Renowned lawyer Hamid Khan termed the castration
cruel, unusual, unconstitutional and un-Islamic and said it was an irreparable
loss for the convict.
In Pakistan’s criminal justice system, a convict was
proven innocent even after 17 years of incarceration, he said, adding that had
the convict been subjected to castration, his physical condition could not have
been reversed.
Hamid Khan said there was a law in place to counter
rape cases and protect the victims, adding that instead of promulgating the
ordinance, the government should ensure strictly implementation of the existing
law.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1596015/ordinance-allowing-castration-of-rapists-approved
--------
Defeated Force of 1971 Wants To Mislead Devout Muslims,
With False Statements on Bangabandhu, Says Hasina
15 Dec 2020
The defeated forces of the 1971 Liberation War are
trying to mislead Muslims in the Bangladesh with false statements on
Bangabandhu and the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina has said.
Describing Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a
devout Muslim, the prime minister said on Tuesday no government other than the
Awami League has worked more for the Muslims.
“But a section of the defeated forces of '71 are now
trying to mislead devout Muslims with false, fictitious and imaginary
statements. They are out to create anarchy in the society,” she said in a
televised speech greeting the nation on the eve of the Victory Day.
“In 1972, the Father of the Nation asked everyone not
to use religion as a political weapon. But the accomplices of the defeated
forces dream to push the country 50 years backwards,” Hasina said.
Hasina believes the people will resist such action of
the defeated forces. “People in Bangladesh are pious, but not fanatics. Please
don’t use religion to serve political interest,” she said.
Her comments came when Hifazat-e Islam and other
Islamic extremist groups are opposing a government plan to install a statue of
Bangabandhu in Dhaka in celebration of his birth centenary. The Islamists say
that statues are forbidden in Islam.
Scores of political and cultural groups have protested
against the Islamists’ threat to tear down statues, and demanded arrest of
Islamist leaders for their nasty remarks about Bangabandhu’s statue.
Amid the debate, an under-construction statue of the
independence hero was defaced in Kushtia earlier in December. The police have
arrested two students and two teachers of a local madrasa over the act of
vandalism while the High Court has ordered the government to protect
Bangabandhu’s statues.
“Everyone has the right to practise their religions.
Bangladesh is a non-communal country which became independent with the
sacrifice of people from all races and religion -Hindu, Muslim, Buddhists and
Christians,” Hasina said.
“We’ll not allow any disparity in the name of
religion. The people in the country will move forward to progress and
development while upholding the religious values.”
Highlighting her government’s initiatives to spread
religious education, she noted that it established an Islamic Arabic
University, launched graduation courses in 80 model madrasas, and acknowledged
post-graduation degrees in Qawmi madrasas.
Bangabandhu was a devout Muslim who practised the
religious rituals ardently, she said.
“Unfortunately, anti-liberation forces captured power
after 1975, and distorted the history while trying to disgrace Bangabandhu and
his family,” said Hasina.
“What the Father of the Nation has worked to uphold
and spread the religious values, those governments (after 1975) faked their
intentions to maintain Islam,” she said.
Bangabandhu banned liquor, casino, and horserace and
established the Islamic Foundation, madrasa board and earned Bangladesh the
membership of the Organization of Islamic Countries, the prime minister said.
She paid her respects to the Liberation War martyrs
and the four national leaders – Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, M Mansur Ali
and AHM Kamruzzaman.
Hasina also paid respects to the freedom fighters and
the members of the Indian armed forces who fought and sacrificed their lives
during the war.
Bangladesh will celebrate the golden jubilee of its
independence next year. The government plans to celebrate it with much
enthusiasm provided the coronavirus epidemic ebbs, the prime minister said in
her speech.
“Let’s promise not to be oblivious to the sacrifices
made by the millions of martyrs. We must not allow the spirit of the Liberation
War to diminish. I urge the new generation, the youth to never forget the
sacrifices made by your predecessors. Never disrespected the flag of red and
green they have given to you,” she said.
https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2020/12/15/defeated-force-of-1971-wants-to-mislead-devout-muslims-says-hasina
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Sudan Celebrates ‘New Era’ as U.S. Drops It From
Terrorism List
By Declan Walsh
Dec. 14, 2020
NAIROBI, Kenya — Sudan took a major step back into the
international fold on Monday when the United States formally removed it from a
list of nations that sponsor terrorism, ending a 27-year period of isolation
that left the vast African country a diplomatic pariah, hobbled its economy and
blocked access to financial aid that it now urgently needs.
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, the leader of Sudan’s
fragile transitional government, hailed the American move as a rare cause for
celebration in a nation that is straining badly under a crushing economic
crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.
This is the beginning of a “new era,” Mr. Hamdok
declared on Twitter, adding that after three decades of isolation Sudan could
officially rejoin the international community as “a peaceful nation supporting
global stability.”
The move put in effect a decision announced by
President Trump on Oct. 19, when he said Sudan would be removed from the
terrorism list in exchange for a $335 million compensation payment to the
victims of the 1998 Qaeda attacks on American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Only three countries now remain on the American list
of state sponsors of terrorism: North Korea, Iran and Syria.
In a statement that proclaimed “a fundamental change”
in the relationship between the United States and Sudan, Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo praised Mr. Hamdok’s government for daring to “chart a bold new
course” away from the legacy of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the country’s longtime
dictator who was ousted amid dramatic street protests last year.
In delisting Sudan, American officials are certifying
that they no longer believe the country is allied with militant groups like
Hezbollah and Al Qaeda, as it was in 1993 when President Bill Clinton made the
designation.
In reality, those ties withered many years ago, even
before last year’s overthrow of Mr. al-Bashir. An effort to remove Sudan from
the terrorism list started after the United States lifted many sanctions
against Sudan in 2017, and talks formally started in 2018.
But the negotiations were grindingly slow and legally
complex, and only gained urgency last summer as the Trump administration sought
ways to pressure or induce Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel.
That effort bore fruit on Oct. 23 when Sudan agreed,
with evident reluctance, to recognize Israel — although it appeared to stop
short of agreeing to full diplomatic relations — provided Mr. Trump followed
through on his promise of removal from the terrorism list.
In so doing, Sudan became the third Arab country,
after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to recognize Israel this year. Last
week, Morocco joined the list.
For Khartoum, the decision was driven by burning
economic need and increasingly precarious domestic politics. Long lines for
fuel and others essential supplies, as well as soaring inflation, have put the
civilian-military coalition that has replaced Mr. al-Bashir under intense
pressure in recent months.
The crisis fed speculation that Mr. Hamdok’s
civilian-led government, which is supposed to steward the country toward
elections scheduled for 2022, could face destabilizing street protests, or
worse.
Now the government hopes to access emergency funds
from the International Monetary Fund to alleviate its economic pain, and is
likely to seek forgiveness for some of its $64 billion national debt. Both
measures were effectively impossible until now because the terrorism listing
obliged the United States to oppose financial aid to Sudan.
More broadly, many Sudanese hoped the American move
would herald their country’s reintegration into the mainstream of the global
economy.
“Removal from the terror list is kind of Phase 1,”
said Anas Mohamed, 28, an economics researcher in Khartoum. “It gives us the
boost to continue the path of reforms. We have no other choice.”
Others, though, warned that the delisting did not
offer a panacea for Sudan’s economic woes. “This is not the economic takeoff
people are hoping for,” said Magdi el Gizouli, a Sudan analyst at the Rift Valley
Institute, a research group that specializes in Africa. “The government badly
needs a success story, but the importance of Western investment should not be
overstated.”
Even so, Mr. Hamdok, who has spent much of his
premiership battling crises, seemed elated by a rare political victory.
“Today we return with all our history, the
civilization of our people, the greatness of our country and the vigor of our
revolution to the international community,” he wrote on Twitter.
The deal over Israel appeared to hang in the balance
earlier this month, amid uncertainty over whether Congress would restore
Sudan’s immunity from prosecution. But Monday’s delisting showed that at least
one major part of it had gone through.
Since a congressional notification period of 45 days
had lapsed, the American Embassy in Sudan said on Facebook, Sudan’s removal
from the terrorism list was effective immediately.
In Israel, Army Radio noted the delisting, as well as the fact that
relations between Sudan and Israel had not yet been restored. “The
normalization agreement has not yet been signed, and the negotiations are still
underway,” it said.
For Sudan, the delisting couldn’t come soon enough.
Even though American sanctions were lifted three years
ago, Sudan’s continued status as a state sponsor of terrorism imposed legal
restraints and reputational costs that caused international banks and
businesses to continue to shun Khartoum, and which cut the country off from
international financial aid.
Then there is the pandemic. Sudan has registered a
steep rise in new infections lately, amid warnings that even those figures may
be grossly underestimated. British researchers recently estimated that 38
percent of people in Khartoum had been infected with Covid-19 — far higher than
the official figure — and that the majority of deaths had gone unreported.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/world/middleeast/sudan-us-terrorism-sponsors-list.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1819727_
--------
India
Had miscarriage due to medical negligence: Moradabad
woman held under UP's 'love jihad' law shares horror
Sharad Gautam
Moradabad
December 15, 2020
The 22-year-old Moradabad woman, who was sent to a
shelter home after her husband was arrested under the new "love
jihad" law in Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday alleged that suffered a
miscarriage due to medical negligence. She also said that she was tortured at
Nari Niketan -- the protection home where she was sent.
Speaking to reporters, the woman alleged that staff at
the protection home ignored her worsening condition and took her to a hospital,
where an injection by a doctor caused her miscarriage.
"I was at Nari Niketan for five-six days during
which I started experiencing stomach ache. They [Nari Niketan staff] ignored my
stomach pain and when the condition didn't improve, I was taken to a hospital
where doctors gave me medicines and injections due to which I suffered a
miscarriage," the woman said.
Elaborating on the inhumane treatment meted out to her
at Nari Niketan, the Moradabad woman said that the warden there scolded her
when she complained about her health and didn't even give her medicines when
she asked.
"The doctors knew about my miscarriage. An
ultrasound check-up was also done. Initially, they said that the foetus is
fine. Then they administered an injection following which my health
deteriorated. I started bleeding and my condition turned quite serious,"
she added.
When asked if she suspects any foul play on part of
police, doctors and district administration, the woman said, "Doctors are
responsible for it because they gave me an injection. I can't say anything
about anyone else. I don't know what medicine or injection I was given. I just
had a stomach ache after which I was taken to the hospital. I don't know what was
done to me there," she claimed.
Countering the woman's statement, the medical
superintendent at the district hospital was quoted by ANI as saying, "She
was given medicines to stop bleeding and pain. Ultrasound showed foetus but no
heartbeat. TVS [transvaginal ultrasound] was advised and she was referred to
Meerut. Her relatives wanted to take her in their private vehicle. All the
allegations are false."
Earlier in December, police in Uttar Pradesh's
Moradabad arrested a man and his brother under the new anti-conversion law. The
groom, identified as Rashid, was at the registrar's office in Kanth when he was
handed over to the police by members of the fringe outfit Bajrang Dal.
Rashid had married a 22-year-old woman from Bijnore in
Dehradun about five months ago. The two met in Dehradun where Rashid was
working and the girl was studying.
After the first case of "love jihad" came to
light, police, acting on a complaint, arrested Rashid, and booked him under the
new anti-conversion law, while the woman was sent to a protection home. A few
days later, several sections of media reported that the woman, who was shifted
to a government shelter home, was forced into an abortion.
Later, officials of the Child Protection Commission in
Moradabad clarified that the reports of a "forced abortion" of the
22-year-old woman were "fake" and said she did not suffer a
miscarriage.
Speaking to India Today TV, Child Protection
Commission Chairman Dr Vishesh Gupta said, "We deny the reports. We
instructed the director of DPO, Moradabad to get the woman medically tested to
know if she has been forced into abortion. The medical report clearly says that
she is three-months pregnant. We have evidence."
However, the woman now alleges that she suffered a
miscarriage due to medical negligence.
"WANT TO STAY WITH MY HUSBAND"
Meanwhile, the woman has also appealed to authorities
to release her husband and her brother-in-law and expressed her wish to return
to her in-laws' home.
When asked what she said during the court hearing, the
woman said, "I told the court that want to go back to my in-laws. I want
to stay with my husband. I requested them to release my husband and
brother-in-law."
The woman maintained that she married the man of other
religion of her own will. "At the court, I was asked if I knew the man
[Rashid] and his religion. I said that I knew him and I married out of my own
will," she said.
"I was studying in Dehradun for the past five
years. I met Rashid there. I know him very well. I am happy with him. I'm not
facing any problems," she said.
"I was heading towards Kanth Tehsil with papers
of court marriage when Bajrang Dal workers caught me," the woman said.
She further said, "Yes, my mother was against my
marriage but she didn't do anything. Bajrang Dal workers had called her after which
a case was filed."
The woman's mother had earlier alleged that Rashid had
forcibly converted her daughter through marriage. However, the woman told
reporters, "I got married to Rashid on July 24. I have been living here in
Kanth in Moradabad since then. I am an adult and got married to Rashid as per
my wishes."
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/up-s-love-jihad-law-miscarriage-medical-negligence-moradabad-woman-horror-1749877-2020-12-15
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BJP real tukde tukde gang, pit Hindus against Muslims
first, now Sikhs: Sukhbir Badal
December 16, 2020
On a day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused
Opposition parties of “misleading” farmers and “shooting from their shoulders”,
the BJP’s former ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal, called the party “the real
tukde tukde gang in the country today” while accusing it of trying to pit
Hindus against Sikhs in Punjab.
Addressing the media in Bathinda, where some AAP and
BJP workers were inducted into the party, Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh
Badal said, “If one speaks in favour of the Central government, he is called
‘desh bhakt (patriot)’ and if he speaks out against it, he is branded ‘tukde
tukde gang’,” Badal said, adding, “So desperate is the BJP for power that it
has no qualms taking the communal route and setting the country aflame. The BJP
first set Hindus against Muslims. Now, it is determined to replay the same evil
game and re-enact the same tragedy in Punjab.”
He repeated his charge in a tweet on Tuesday, saying,
“BJP is the real #TukdeTukdeGang in the country. It has smashed the national
unity to pieces, shamelessly inciting Hindus against Muslims & now
desperately setting peace-loving Punjabi Hindus against their Sikh brethren esp
#farmers. They’re pushing patriotic Punjab into communal flames.”
The Akali Dal had walked out of the National
Democratic Alliance over the new farm laws. Sukhbir’s wife and Bathinda MP
Harsimrat Kaur Badal had also resigned as Union minister.
On the farm laws, Badal said, “These laws have been
made by those who have never done farming.”
Saying that the whole country, “except the BJP”,
acknowledges the debt we owe to our “patriotic farmers and soldiers”, he added,
“The BJP is provoking people to deny farmers their due. It is so ungrateful to
farmers that it is painting them anti-national. Today it is the farmers…
Tomorrow, if it suits them, who knows what the BJP might say about our
soldiers?”
Later, in a statement issued from the party
headquarters in Chandigarh, Sukhbir said, “SAD deems it its national duty to
caution the countrymen against BJP’s desperate and destructive game-plan in
Punjab.”
At Delhi’s Singhu borders, farmers hardened their
stance, saying they will “make” the government repeal these laws, and asserting
that their fight has reached a stage where they are “determined” to win, no
matter what.
They announced that they would completely block the
Chilla border between Delhi and Noida on Wednesday to press for their demands,
adding that farmer unions are not running away from negotiations, but the
government has to come forward with concrete proposals.
Addressing a press conference at the Singhu Border,
farmer leader Jagjeet Singh Dallewal said, “The government is saying ‘we won’t
repeal these laws’, we are saying we will make you do it.”
Farmer unions also announced that they would organise
a nationwide ‘shraddhanjali’ for all farmers who died during the current
protests.
Gurnam Singh Chaduni, Haryana state chief of the
Bhartiya Kisan Union, said around 14 farmers have died so far, either during
the protests or while on their way to the protest sites.
Those coordinating the protests confirmed the death at
Singhu on Tuesday of Gurmeet Singh, 67, a farmer from Kandala village in
Punjab’s Mohali district.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/bjp-real-tukde-tukde-gang-pit-hindus-against-muslims-first-now-sikhs-sukhbir-badal-7106535/
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"BJP Bringing Party From Hyderabad To Cut Muslim
Votes": Mamata Banerjee
December 16, 2020
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday
said the BJP is "spending crores of rupees to bring in a party from
Hyderabad to divide Muslim votes", in an apparent reference to Assaduddin
Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM).
The AIMIM, after its good show in the Bihar assembly
polls, has announced to contest in next year's Bengal polls.
In the recently concluded Bihar elections, the AIMIM
won five seats in the Muslims dominated Seemanchal region on the border of West
Bengal.
"To divide the Muslim votes, the BJP is spending
crores of rupees to bring in a party from Hyderabad. The plan is that BJP will
eat into Hindu votes, and this Hyderabad party will eat into Muslim votes.
"In recent Bihar elections, they did the same
thing. This party is a B-team of the BJP," Ms Banerjee said while
addressing a rally here.
The political parties in West Bengal are apprehensive
that political equations in the communally polarised state is set to witness
significant changes as the sway of non-BJP parties over minorities, a key
factor in several seats, appears to be set for a stiff challenge with AIMIM
announcing that it will enter the poll fray in Bengal.
A deciding factor in nearly 100-110 seats in the
state, the 30 percent Muslim population, till 2019, have acted as a bulwark of
the TMC against its rivals, with most of them voting in favour of the party,
considering it to be a "credible" force that can resist the saffron
surge.
A section of the TMC leadership is apprehensive that
with the entry of AIMIM, equations are likely to alter.
Elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly are
due in April-May next year.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/bjp-bringing-party-from-hyderabad-to-cut-muslim-votes-mamata-banerjee-2339134
--------
Vijay Diwas: All you need to know about 1971 war with
Pakistan
Dec 16, 2020
NEW DELHI: Today marks the beginning of the 50-years
celebrations of the victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war, that saw the birth
of Bangladesh as a nation and its liberation from Pakistani rule. The war
concluded with the fall of Dhaka and surrender of Pakistani forces on Dec 16, 1971.
The day is observed as 'Vijay Diwas' in India.
Here are the highlights of the conflict:
This was one of the shortest military conflicts in
history, lasting just 13 days.
The war resulted in the largest military surrenders
since World War II, when the Pakistan Army chief General Niazi surrendered with
93,000 of his troops.
A pro-leberation struggle in Bangladesh against the
Pakistani misrule was already on in full swing before the war began.
The genocide and oppression by pakistani forces saw a
huge influx (approximately 10 million people) from erstwhie East Pakistan to
India. India opened camps in states brdering Bangladesh for sheltering the
refugees.
The Mukti Bahini, that was fighting the regime in East
Pakistan got a boost when then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi extended
support in their fight.
Sensing the possibility of war, India had already made
military preparations with buildups on Western and Eastern fronts.
Pakistan carried out air strikes on several Indian
bases in the Western sector on December 3. The same night, PM Gamdhi addressed
the nation over radio and said the Pakistani raids amounted to declaration of
war against India.
Indian Air Force carried out massive retaliatory
strikes the next day, marking the official commencemnet of war.
The war saw Indian dominance in air, sea and ground.
The Mukti Bahini, trained and armed by India, joined hands with Indian Army to
inflict heavy damage to Pakistani forces on the ground.
Pakistan suffered heavy losses in a surprise attack on
the Karachi port by Indian Navy.
In a major air attack, Indian Air Force destroyed
several Pakistani aircraft at the Murid base; Pakistan lost about 75 aircraft
in the war.
In the famous Battle of Longewala, fought on the
Rajasthan border, Indian forces thwarted a major offensive by Pakistani tanks.
Indian forces destroyed 34 Pakistani tanks and nearly 200 soldiers.
The war ended with Pakistan army chief Gen Niazi
signing the Instrument of Surrender with India's Lieutenant General Jagjit
Singh Aurora in Dhaka on Dec 16, 1971.
About 93,000 Pakistani troops also surrendered, making
it the largest military surrender after World War II.
Huge swathes of Pakistani areas came under Indian
control, which were ceded as a gesture of goodwill after the signing of Shimla
Agreement in 1972.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/vijay-diwas-all-you-need-to-know-about-1971-war-with-pakistan/articleshow/79751734.cms
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PM Modi to light 'Swarnim Vijay Mashaal' today on 50th
anniversary of 1971 India-Pak war
Dec 16, 2020
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will light up
'Swarnim Vijay Mashaal' at the National War Memorial (NWM) in Delhi on
Wednesday and kickstart the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the 1971
India-Pakistan war, the Ministry of Defence said. In an official release on
Tuesday, the Ministry said, "In December 1971, the Indian Armed Forces
secured a decisive and historic Victory over Pakistan Army, which led to the
creation of a Nation - Bangladesh and also resulted in the largest Military
Surrender after the World War - II. From 16 December, the Nation will be
celebrating 50 Years of India-Pak War, also called 'Swarnim Vijay Varsh'.
Various commemorative events are planned across the Nation."
Prime Minister Modi will be received by Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh at the venue.
The Prime Minister, Chief of Defence Staff and
Tri-Service Chiefs will lay wreath and pay homage to the fallen soldiers.
The Prime Minister will light up the 'Swarnim Vijay
Mashaal' from the eternal flame of NWM on the occasion.
"Four Victory Mashaals (flames) will be lit from
the Eternal Flame of NWM. These Mashaals will be carried to various parts of
the country including to villages of Param Vir Chakra and MahaVir Chakra
Awardees of 1971 War. Soil from the villages of these Awardees and from areas
where major battles were fought in 1971 are being brought to the NWM,"
read the release.
Various commemorative events will be conducted
pan-India wherein war 'Veterans and Veer Naris' will be felicitated and events
like band displays, seminars, exhibitions, equipment displays, film festivals,
conclave and adventure activities are planned.
Minister of Defence for state Shripad Yesso Naik and
other senior civil and military officials of the Ministry of Defence will also
be present on the occasion.
Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year on December 16 to
mark India's triumph in liberating Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971.
In one of the fastest and shortest campaigns of
military history, a new nation was born as a result of the swift campaign
undertaken by the Indian Army.
After facing defeat in the 1971 war, the then Army
Chief of Pakistan General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, along with his 93,000
troops, surrendered to allied forces which also comprised of Indian Army
personnel.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pm-modi-to-light-swarnim-vijay-mashaal-today-on-50th-anniversary-of-1971-india-pak-war/articleshow/79751391.cms
--------
Europe
Alleged Qatari expert ‘does not rule out’ French
intelligence role in Samuel Paty murder
December 15, 2020
LONDON: An alleged Qatari expert on French affairs
said that he does not rule out the involvement of French intelligence in the
murder of Samuel Paty.
In controversial views expressed on the Qatar-based
Al-Mujtama Online TV channel on YouTube, Hassan Bin Ali-Alansari said: “I don't
rule out the possibility that the French intel were behind the attack against
the teacher.”
In October, Paty, 47, was killed by 18-year-old
Abdullakh Anzorov after the former showed caricatures by French satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo of the Prophet Muhammad in a class on freedom of
expression. Anzorov later tweeted an image of the teacher’s decapitated head.
“This is a blatant justification of terrorism and a
leeway for its exemption from responsibility for radicalisation. This also
reflect a belief in conspiracy theory,” extremism expert Hani Nasira told Arab
News.
“While the mentioned Qatari expert accuse France's
people and government, he utterly disclaims terrorism from the responsibility,”
he added, also stating that “this is sheer stubbornness and determination to
give excuses to terrorists.”
The expert questioned the French laws and educational
system that fosters radicalisation, and went further to play down the terrorist
attack itself, stating that “no one saw the decapitated head of the teacher.”
Ali-Alansari proclaimed that French intelligence were
aware of everything that occurs in Islamic circles in France, and stated that
the country “failed miserably” in their fight against terrorism.
“The problem is with the French people. France is the
problem. The terrorist was born, lived and studied under the French law,” he
added.
Following the attack, French President Emmanuel Macron
gave a highly-criticised speech in which he stated that Islam was a religion
“in crisis,” prompting him to become a figure of hate in some Muslim countries,
with some boycotting French products.
Paty’s death came after a series of other
extremist-inspired attacks in France this year, including a knife assault
outside the former offices of Charlie Hebdo, and deadly stabbings at a church
in Nice.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1777766/world
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Bosnia’s Croat, Muslim presidents snub Russia FM over
‘disrespect’
15 Dec 2020
SARAJEVO, Dec 15 — Bosnia’s Croat and Muslim members
of the joint presidency refused to meet with Russia’s foreign minister today
after accusing him of “disrespecting” the country during a meeting with their
Serb counterpart.
The unusually harsh move reflected a growing rift
within the Balkan state’s two political halves, a Serb region that is
pro-Russian and a Muslim-Croat federation that is pushing for Nato membership.
Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov arrived in the
Balkan state yesterday, first paying a visit to the country’s Serb president
Milorad Dodik.
Lavrov was supposed to meet all three members of the
presidency today, but after the two others refused to show, he was hosted only
by Dodik, the current holder of the body’s rotating chair.
“Unfortunately, Lavrov showed a disrespect towards
both the institutions and constitutional system of Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Zeljko
Komsic, the Croat member of the presidency, told a press conference.
“With regret, we decided not to host him.”
Komsic said he was insulted notably by the lack of a
Bosnian flag during the meeting with Dodik, which had only the flag of the
Republika Srpska, the Serb-run zone.
That move showed “scorn and denial of the institutions
of the country that he (Lavrov) is officially visiting”.
Komsic also criticised Lavrov’s support for the
Bosnian Serb stance on military neutrality.
While Bosnia is united in its aspiration to join the
European Union, the Muslim and Croat leaders are also eager to join Nato, a
move opposed by the ethnic Serbs, who are traditional allies of Moscow.
“We cannot be a hostage of Russia’s games of any kind
regarding their relations with both EU and Nato countries,” Komsic said.
Lavrov was visiting Bosnia on the 25th anniversary of
signing of the peace deal which ended the country’s 1992-95 war.
The conflict between Bosnia’s Croats, Muslims and
Serbs claimed some 100,000 lives.
It also cleaved the nation into two parts, with a
political system that has helped entrench ethnic divides.
The country’s two post-war entities are highly
independent and linked by weak central institutions, making national-level
policy difficult to enact. — AFP
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2020/12/15/bosnias-croat-muslim-presidents-snub-russia-fm-over-disrespect/1932245
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EU withholds $100mn budget support for Ethiopia over
Tigray conflict
16 December 2020
The European Union (EU) has decided to put a hold on
funding to Ethiopia due to the month-long conflict in the country’s Tigray
region, which has triggered a refugee crisis and a humanitarian disaster.
The EU is delaying nearly 90 million euros (over 109.8
million dollars) in budget support payments to Ethiopia, said a document seen
by AFP on Wednesday, adding that “Postponing these disbursements does not imply
that funds are lost for the Government of Ethiopia.”
The EU has provided 815 million euros of budget
support to Ethiopia in the seven years through 2020. EU officials have decided
to postpone the additional 90 million euros due to the impact the violence has
had on human rights.
The document, authenticated by two diplomatic
officials in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, said the decision intended to
highlight the EU’s wish for a cessation of hostilities and “resolution through
political means” of the conflict, as well as the bloc’s concerns about
restrictions on humanitarian and media access.
The document further called for a “follow-up on
allegations of human rights abuse” during the conflict in Tigray, which began
in early November.
The postponed EU funding includes 60 million euros for
a program supporting transport and logistics links with Ethiopia’s neighbors
and 17.5 million euros for the health sector.
There was no immediate response from Ethiopian
officials to the EU decision.
Tigray, with a population of six million — some one
million of them now thought to have been displaced — has remained cut off from
the world since an armed conflict erupted between Ethiopian troops and local
rebels there last month.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an army
offensive in the volatile region on November 4, in response to a deadly attack
on an army base that killed at least 54 people.
Abiy accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front
(TPLF), the region’s ruling party, of having staged the attack.
His government, which had restricted access to the
region, said last week that it had defeated forces loyal to the TPLF and struck
a deal with the United Nations (UN) to allow aid.
Aid agencies, however, said the agreement was too
restrictive and security remained a problem.
Mekelle, the regional capital and home to 500,000
people, on Saturday received the first humanitarian aid convoy since the war
broke out.
The Ethiopian government is meanwhile trying to
restore normalcy to Tigray. The government on Monday ordered civil servants to
go back to work and gun owners to disarm.
Some power and telephone links were also restored in
Mekelle after a virtual communications blackout, according to Abiy’s
government.
Accounts of hunger and harassment, however, emerged
from refugees, along with reports of big fuel and food price hikes as well as
water shortages.
Thousands of people have so far been killed in Tigray,
according to the International Crisis Group think tank, and around 50,000
Ethiopians have fled to refugee camps across the border in Sudan.
Human rights groups say they have documented at least
one large-scale massacre in the region, and that others are feared.
The crisis also risks destabilizing the wider Horn of
Africa region.
The EU’s latest decision could strain an economy
already struggling to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the
conflict.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/16/640837/EU-withholds-budget-support-for-Ethiopia-over-Tigray-conflict
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Armenia, Azerbaijan exchange prisoners of war
15 December 2020
Armenia and Azerbaijan have started a prisoner swap,
under a ceasefire deal that was brokered by Russia last month to put an end to
weeks-long fighting between the two countries over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Baku
and Yerevan had begun exchanging prisoners of war.
A Russian military aircraft flew a group of 12 Azeri
prisoners to Baku late on Monday, said the commander of Russia’s peacekeeping
forces in Karabakh, Rustam Muradov.
Baku also released a group of 44 Armenian prisoners on
Monday, according to Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan.
After six weeks of deadly fighting in and around the
disputed Caucasus region, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to end hostilities
under the Russian-brokered deal in early November.
Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of
Azerbaijan, but it has been occupied by ethnic Armenian separatists backed by
Armenia since 1992 when they broke from Azerbaijan in a war that killed some
30,000 people.
The latest fighting re-erupted in late September.
Under the ceasefire deal, Azerbaijan regained some of
its territorial claims and Russia and Turkey sent peacekeeping forces to
jointly monitor the truce.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have, however, accused each
other of violating the ceasefire.
Armenian-backed forces and Azeri troops engaged in
fighting in the southeastern part of Nagorno-Karabakh over the weekend.
Six Armenian soldiers were wounded, according to the
Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"The provocations of Azerbaijan continued today
in the direction of the villages of Mets Shen and Hin Shen in the Hadrut
region," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Azerbaijan reported a casualty toll of four.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that
Azerbaijan took control of the two villages of Hin Taghe and Khtsaberd in the
fighting.
Azerbaijan said it launched two operations on Friday
and Saturday in the villages after its forces came under two deadly attacks by
Armenia over the past three weeks.
But Russian peacekeepers reported no major fighting in
the region. They said there had only been one ceasefire violation over the
weekend.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/15/640774/Armenia-Azerbaijan-exchange-prisoners-of-war
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Met Police officer denies membership of neo-Nazi
terrorist group
Lizzie Dearden
16 December 2020
A police officer has denied being a member of a
neo-Nazi terrorist group and concealing his allegiance from Scotland Yard.
Benjamin Hannam, 22, was serving in the Metropolitan
Police when he was arrested on suspicion of a terror offence and fraud.
Appearing at London’s Old Bailey on Monday, he denied
being a member of the neo-Nazi terrorist group National Action between December
2016, when it was banned, and September 2017.
He also pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud by
false representation.
Mr Hannam is accused of lying on his application to
join the Metropolitan Police, made in July 2017, and a vetting form submitted
in October 2017.
Both documents asked him whether he had “been a member
of an organisation similar to the British National Party”.
The Metropolitan Police previously said Mr Hannam was
still in his probation period when he was arrested and was currently suspended
from duty.
Mr Hannam, of Enfield in north London, was released on
bail under a series of conditions, which ban him from travelling abroad and
restrict his internet usage.
He is due to go on trial on 1 March and a further
pre-trial hearing was set for 1 February.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/neo-nazi-police-officer-met-b1773779.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1819727_
--------
Arab World
Saudi Arabia holds hundreds of African migrants in
appalling conditions: HRW
16 December 2020
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Saudi Arabia has held in
a deportation center hundreds of mostly Ethiopian migrant workers in
“appalling” conditions, calling for their immediate release.
The New York-based organization said in a report on
Tuesday that a deportation center in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh is
“holding hundreds of mostly Ethiopian migrant workers in conditions so
degrading that they amount to ill-treatment.”
Warning about the inhuman conditions of the
deportation center, the HRW said the migrants are held in “extremely
overcrowded rooms for extended periods,” and that guards have tortured and
beaten them with rubber-coated metal rods.
The report added that at least three people had died
in custody since October.
“Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s richest countries,
has no excuse for detaining migrant workers in appalling conditions, in the
middle of a health pandemic, for months on end,” said Nadia Hardman, refugee
and migrant rights researcher at the HRW.
“Video footage of people crammed together, allegations
of torture, and unlawful killings are shocking, as is the apparent unwillingness
of the authorities to do anything to investigate conditions of abuse and hold
those responsible to account,” she added.
The HRW quoted detainees as saying that some of them
had been infected with the coronavirus but no measures were taken to control
the spread of the disease.
“The Saudi authorities should immediately release the
most vulnerable detainees and ensure that detention is only used as an
exceptional measure of last resort,” New York-based organization concluded.
“It should immediately end any torture and other
ill-treatment, and ensure that detention conditions meet international
standards.”
The migrants at the center, mostly from Ethiopia but
also from other African or Asian countries, were arrested and pending
deportation amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Saudi authorities claiming that
the migrants had no valid residency permits.
“Saudi Arabia should act fast to end the abusive
conditions in the Riyadh deportation center and contain the potential of a
devastating outbreak of Covid-19. Governments with nationals inside the
facility should pressure the authorities and do all they can to facilitate
voluntary repatriation,” Hardman underlined.
Foreign workers account for some 12.6 million of Saudi
Arabia's total population of 33.4 million, according to the latest available
government data from 2018, with several million others living in the kingdom
outside the law.
The detention of migrants in deplorable facilities in
Saudi Arabia has been a longstanding issue.
In 2014, Ethiopian nationals in Riyadh told the HRW
that thousands of foreign workers were being held in makeshift detention
facilities without adequate food and shelter, before being deported.
In 2019, the New York-based organization identified
approximately ten prisons and detention centers in the ultra-conservative
kingdom where migrants were held for various periods.
In August, Human Rights Watch identified three
detention centers in the provinces of Jizan and Jeddah where thousands of
Ethiopian migrants were being held in deplorable conditions since they were
pushed from northern Yemen in April.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/15/640817/Human-Rights-Watch-Saudi-Arabia-deportation-center-Ethiopian-migrant-workers
--------
Iraqi activist Salah al-Iraqi shot dead in Baghdad al-Jadida
district
Ismaeel Naar
15 December 2020
Iraqi authorities are investigating another
assassination of an activist after Salah al-Iraqi was shot five times on
Tuesday in the country’s Baghdad al-Jadida district.
A security source confirmed to Al Arabiya that
investigations are underway to find out the circumstances surrounding
al-Iraqi’s assassination.
The source confirmed that the area where al-Iraqi was
gunned down falls under the responsibilities of the Federal Police Force
Command.
An Iraqi security official told the Erm News outlet
that “unknown gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on the Iraqi activist Salah
al-Iraqi after he left his home in the Baghdad al-Jadida area, east of the
capital.”
“The security forces have cordoned off the area and
opened an investigation into the incident, and they are currently reviewing
surveillance cameras to follow the course of the motorcycle which was carrying
the gunmen,” the security source told Erm News.
Al-Iraqi reportedly died on the scene.
“Iraqi activist Salah Al-Iraqi was gunned down in
Baghdad al-Jadida tonight. He was shot five times and was known for his
outspoken courage against corruption and militias. Salah was injured in an
earlier protest,” Iraqi journalist Steven Nabil tweeted.
Al-Iraqi is considered one of the main activist
leaders of the Iraq protests that took place last year.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/12/15/Iraqi-militias-Iraqi-activist-Salah-al-Iraqi-shot-dead-in-Baghdad-al-Jadida-district
--------
UAE-based Big Heart Foundation supports damaged Beirut
hospital with more than $2 mln
15 December 2020
UAE-based Big Heart Foundation has announced a $2.3
million fund for a renovation and restoration project of St. George University
Hospital Medical Center in Beirut, which was damaged by the Beirut port
explosion in August, reported Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA).
The Big Heart Foundation is an international
humanitarian organization dedicated to helping refugees and needy people
worldwide, which is headquartered in the UAE emirate of Sharjah.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app
The project comes within the framework of the
"Peace for Beirut" campaign launched by the wife of the Ruler of
Sharjah, Sheikha Jawaher Bint Muhammad Al Qasimi, President of the Big Heart
Foundation and prominent advocacy for refugee children at the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees.
NNA added that the restoration project started this
month and will last for three months. It includes developing the medical
center's infrastructure and providing medical equipment and administrative
equipment, contributing to increasing the capacity of the hospital's emergency
unit.
The unit is fully financed by the foundation and will
be named "The Big Heart Foundation." Its medical services reach
40,000 patients annually, which allows this charitable institution to expand
its services to meet community members' needs.
Part of the financial support provided by the
"Big Heart" will be devoted to building a new pediatric department in
the hospital that includes three patient rooms, a recovery room, and an
isolation room. An isolation unit equipped with the latest medical equipment
and the highest international standards will be established.
The Director of the Big Heart Foundation, Maryam Al
Hammadi, said: "The Great Heart Foundation chose Saint George University
Hospital in Beirut as an appreciation for its historical and social standing,
as it represents one of the features of the city's heritage identity, as it
began providing free health services nearly 140 years ago to become a haven for
those unable to afford treatment costs, it is an essential landmark of the
memory of the city and its residents."
She added: "The project to enhance the
capabilities of this charitable medical institution embodies the vision of Her
Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, aimed at providing health
care to the needy, especially those who cannot afford medical care, as well as
expanding health services to reach the largest number of beneficiaries,
reflecting the essence of work of our humanitarian foundation which is based on
giving and translates our belief that promoting the health of societies is the
basis for stability and sustainable progress."
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/12/15/UAE-based-Big-Heart-Foundation-supports-damaged-Beirut-hospital-with-more-than-2-mln
--------
As Lebanon’s crisis deepens, UNICEF provides cash
assistance to over 70,000 children
Rawad Taha
15 December 2020
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is
providing cash assistance to over 70,000 children across Lebanon to help
households protect child wellbeing, the institution announced in a statement on
Tuesday.
UNICEF added that this assistance is due the deepening
economic crisis that is now affecting most of the population in Lebanon.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app
UNICEF Representative to Lebanon Yukie Mokuo said
Lebanon has faced multiple crises that have increased the vulnerability of its
residents.
“As prices rise and people lose their jobs, everyone
is affected, particularly vulnerable households such as those with children.
UNICEF’s aim is to provide immediate support, as far as our resources would
allow, to some of the most vulnerable households in the country,” Mokuo added.
UNICEF clarified that the Cash Assistance is a one-off
grant that is being transferred once during the month of December 2020 to
households across the entire country.
Supported households include Lebanese families and
their children who are identified as vulnerable under the Government’s National
Poverty Targeting program and hold an electronic card (the Hayat card) as well
as non-Lebanese households and their children who have previously been
identified as vulnerable under UNICEF programs and hold an active Red e-Card.
UNICEF elaborated that families received an SMS from
UNICEF informing them that their card was loaded with the amount for which they
are eligible. Lebanese and non-Lebanese households with children under 18 years
old receive a one-off amount of 460,000 Lebanese lira (officially $304) per
child up to a maximum of three children per family. Lebanese families with no
children also receive support of 460,000 Lebanese lira.
This cash support to households comes on top of
UNICEF’s existing programs that support the most vulnerable Lebanese, Syrian
and Palestinian children and young people across Lebanon with basic services,
including education, social assistance, child protection, youth development,
health and nutrition, and water and sanitation.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/12/15/As-Lebanon-s-crisis-deepens-UNICEF-provides-cash-assistance-to-over-70-000-children
--------
Lebanon’s path to new cabinet totally blocked: Speaker
Berri
15 December 2020
The path to a new Lebanese government is completely
blocked, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said in comments published on Tuesday,
but he held out hope that French President Emmanuel Macron might be able to
help in a forthcoming visit.
Fractious politicians have been unable to agree on a
new government since the last one quit in the aftermath of the Aug. 4 Beirut
port explosion, leaving Lebanon rudderless as it sinks deeper into economic and
financial crisis.
“We have entered a tunnel and I don’t know how we will
get out of it,” Berri told al-Joumhuria newspaper. “We are in a pitiful
situation. The government situation is completely blocked.”
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and President
Michel Aoun aired their differences over the government in statements on
Monday, each blaming the other for the delay.
“Why this blockage? The answer certainly lies with the
president and prime minister-designate,” said Berri, an ally of the armed
Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.
“God willing, the French President Emmanuel Macron
will be able to do something in his coming visit. We can only wait.”
Macron is due to visit Lebanon later this month, his
third visit since the devastating port explosion which worsened an economic crisis.
Caused by decades of corruption and bad governance,
the financial meltdown is the worst crisis to hit Lebanon since its 1975-90
civil war.
Following the blast, Macron led efforts to get
Lebanese politicians to agree on a new government which could enact reforms and
in turn unlock international support.
But Lebanese leaders have delivered no reforms.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said
Lebanon’s political and economic collapse was like the sinking of the Titanic,
only without the music which it is believed the orchestra played as the ship
went down.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/12/15/Lebanon-s-path-to-new-cabinet-totally-blocked-Speaker-Berri
--------
ISIS sleeper cell attacks in Syria reach record low,
data shows
16 December 2020
Despite the still frequent terrorist attacks ripping
through the once ISIS-controlled pockets of northeastern Syria, data released
this month showed that November 2020 recorded the lowest number of sleeper cell
attacks by the Islamic terror group since their territorial defeat last year.
According to the Syria-based monitoring group Rojava
Information Center (RJC), there were 16 confirmed attacks – plus an additional
seven attacks at the sprawling al-Hol displaced person camp – making it an 80%
decrease year over year. The previous record low was double this figure.
"Throughout this year, we have seen a gradual
chipping down (of attack numbers) to the lowest-ever number last month,"
Thomas McClure, a Syria-based researcher, told Fox News. "But it is
important to remember that these numbers are still very high."
The mild triumph comes months after the U.S.-backed
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in conjunction with the International
Coalition, intensified raids in the early summer throughout the Deir-ez-Zor
area – the last ISIS stronghold – resulting in over 110 arrests.
The latest RJC report emphasized that, of the assaults
that did take place in November, 14 of them took place in that volatile spot,
marking a 55-64% monthly decrease on prior months. Only two attacks took place
outside of Deir-ez-Zor last month: one in the once so-called caliphate capital
of Raqqa and another in Heseke.
The potential turning of the tide comes just over a
year after President Trump announced a dramatic drawdown of U.S. troops in the
area, igniting a firestorm of criticism and concern over the long-term
ramifications of a resurgence in ISIS gaining ground.
McClure stressed that the populous still has a long
way to go until the future looks stable and secure, and ISIS has "no
room" in which to continue waking its sleeper cells, cautioning that
another invasion from Turkey – who view the SDF as being a wing of their
longstanding adversity to the Kurdish separatist and designated terrorist group
known as the PKK – could risk undoing all the recent gains.
Moreover, November's attacks – eight of which were
believed to be assassination attempts targeting individuals suspected of
connection to the SDF-supported Autonomous Administration – resulted in nine
fatalities. In total, this saw 15 confirmed fatalities and many more wounded.
Despite a reduction in the number of attacks, this is a 50% increase compared
to October, which only saw 10 deaths.
"Despite fluctuation from month to month, it is
clear that joint Coalition and ISIS raids are having a long-term effect,
decreasing the rate of ISIS and other sleeper-cell attacks. Except for January
and February, every month throughout 2020 has seen a decrease when compared to
the same month in 2019," Rojava Information Center researcher Robin
Fleming said. "This November, (the northeastern region) saw a record-low
figure of ISIS attacks since the Rojava Information Center began collecting
data; only 16 total attacks compared to 83 confirmed attacks in November 2019,
immediately following the Turkish invasion."
RJC researchers surmised that efforts made to provide
"amnesty" to hundreds of women and children in recent months haven't
resulted in an uptick of attacks across the region. But within the confines of
the camp, as conditions for the 65,000 people stuffed inside continue to
deteriorate and officials pled for foreign governments to take back their
nationals as resources dwindle – the security situation is only worsening.
"As we see attacks in (northeastern Syria)
falling, so we see the situation in Hol Camp intensifying. al-Hol Camp remains
a hotspot for attacks by ISIS-affiliated women, with 7 attacks resulting in 7
deaths and several wounded," the report continued. "Nonetheless, it
is positive to note that neither releases of hundreds of families from Hol Camp
nor an amnesty for hundreds of low-level ISIS fighters have led to an increase
in sleeper-cell attacks."
In addition to housing around 10,000 people from other
countries, the camp hosts 28,000 Syrians and 30,000 Iraqis, according to U.N.
figures. Since October, the local administration has embarked on a campaign to
steadily release some 500 willing families to alleviate the overcrowding and
security burden.
Riza Kumar, a researcher at the Counter Extremism
Project (CEP), underscored that raids against ISIS need to continue to ensure
that sleeper cells are actively neutralized to prevent future recruits'
radicalization.
"The camp continues to be a threat to the region
as former ISIS members are able to recruit, indoctrinate, and exploit fellow
detainees. However, if camp departures are safe and low-risk, the camp will be
better able to monitor higher-risk individuals who pose a genuine threat to
regional security," she said. "(But) given the mass release of Syrian
detainees from al-Hol, there will also have to be active rehabilitation and
monitoring systems in place to ensure that former detainees—who may have
acquired knowledge on how to carry out attacks and persuade recruits—will not
potentially re-radicalize or radicalize others in their home villages."
Kumar conjectured that the longer individuals remain
at al-Hol, there will be a higher risk that residents will adhere to ISIS under
duress or, if they ever return to their communities, will face communal revenge
and isolation the stigma of ISIS affiliation or support.
"U.S. national security, and international
security, ultimately depends on ensuring that al-Hol residents and those who
leave al-Hol, have the necessary humanitarian and specialized support to safely
reintegrate back into their communities," she continued.
The SDF has also purported to ease the pressure on its
deluged ISIS prison system, granting more than 600 low-level Syrian fighters
general amnesty in recent months. More than 250 others had their prison terms
slashed by more than half.
Yet, one problematic point remains the return of ISIS
inmates and families to neighboring Iraq. While Baghdad has agreed to take back
the terrorist-connected, it has been met with trepidation from locals and
minority communities – including Christians and Yazidis – who fear reprisal of
oppression and violence.
It has also drawn concern from human rights activists
and the returnees themselves, given that neighboring Iraq has undertaken a
stringent crackdown against the terrorist outfit, executing hundreds on-mass
since the group took over swaths of its terrain in 2014.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/isis-sleeper-cell-attacks-in-syria-reach-record-low-data-shows?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1819727_
--------
Southeast Asia
India Seeks Malaysian Intelligence Input on Alleged
Financing for Terror Plot
2020-12-15
New Delhi has contacted Malaysian authorities about an
Indian intelligence report claiming that U.S. $200,000 allegedly routed from
Kuala Lumpur to India could be used to fund a terror attack on the subcontinent
in coming weeks, a senior security official told BenarNews.
According to an Indian intelligence document seen by
two leading Indian media outlets, the money was sent by Malaysia-based Indian
Islamic cleric Zakir Naik, and a Rohingya leader named Mohammad Naseer, to
finance a woman-led terror operation in northern or eastern India.
“They contacted us seeking further information on the
day the news report came out,” said the Malaysian security official, who was
not authorized to speak publicly on the issue and requested not to be named,
referring to Indian media reports from the weekend.
BenarNews tried to contact counterterrorism officials
in India as well as criminal investigation officials in the eastern state of
West Bengal for more details, but they couldn’t be reached. The Indian Embassy
in Kuala Lumpur didn’t immediately comment.
The Indian publications said that New Delhi suspected
the woman leading the alleged terror attack plan was sent from Malaysia to
Myanmar for training, and had planned to infiltrate into India through
Bangladesh or Nepal.
Bangladesh’s counterterrorism officials told BenarNews
they had not yet heard from India about an alleged terror suspect entering India
via the border.
“We do not have any such information of possible
infiltration in India from Bangladesh. India also hasn't made any communication
regarding this matter,” said Saiful Islam, deputy commissioner of Counter
Terrorism and Transnational Crime.
Indian intelligence officials discovered that an
individual in the southern city of Chennai received a part of the $200,000 of
funds routed from Kuala Lumpur, likely through a non-banking money transfer
system called hawala, the Indian media outlets reported.
Malaysia had yet to receive proof from India about the
alleged financial transactions, but the central bank was looking into it, the
Malaysian security official said.
“BNM (Malaysia’s central bank) is still scrutinizing
the transaction records. However, any hawala transaction will not surface on
formal financial records. Hawala record is also very hard to prove as it is not
an official record,” the official told BenarNews.
“Since the Indian authorities claimed they have
intercepted financial records, I recommend you to get the info direct from BNM,
since Zakir Naik is associated with the transaction. We are also waiting for
them to clarify.”
BNM didn’t respond to BenarNews’ request for comment.
Unknown Rohingya man
Naik, a hardline Islamic televangelist, left India in
2016, and subsequently obtained permanent residency in Muslim-majority
Malaysia. He faces charges in India to do with money laundering and inciting
hatred through his sermons broadcast on Peace TV.
Indian authorities had accused Naik of inspiring some
of the militants who carried out an Islamic State-linked terrorist attack at a
café in Dhaka, where 29 people, including 20 hostages, were killed in July
2016.
In August 2019, Malaysia temporarily banned Naik from
delivering sermons, amid complaints that his speeches carried racist comments
about the multicultural nation that is sheltering him from prosecution in
India.
Malaysian officials have no knowledge about Naseer,
the Rohingya man who allegedly sent money to India along with Naik.
“So far, this
‘Mohammed Naseer’ is not traced in our counterterrorism radar,” the security
official said, adding that two police units that monitor Rohingya NGOs had
responded negatively to queries on the name.
Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, who served as Malaysia’s counter-terror
chief until February 2020, told BenarNews that Naseer’s name didn’t surface
during his tenure, including in connection with a Rohingya group found to be
sending funds to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) militants in Myanmar in
2019.
“He could be known by a different name here, maybe,”
Ayob said.
‘Rubbish news’
As of October 2020, Malaysia hosted 102,000 Rohingya
refugees, according to figures from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).
The agency didn’t break down the number to say how
many arrived in Malaysia after a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017
forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh and other
countries.
Myanmar conducted the crackdown after deadly raids on
police and military outposts in Rakhine state which authorities blamed on ARSA
rebels. Myanmar declared ARSA a terrorist group by on Aug. 25, 2017.
In 2018, a study paper by the European Foundation for
South Asian Studies (EFSAS) in Amsterdam said that Malaysia was “being used as
a clearing house for ARSA funds and a transit point for movement of militants.”
A year later, Malaysia made its first terror-related
arrests involving Rohingya, police said at the time.
In May 2019, two Rohingya were among suspects arrested
in a foiled Islamic State (IS) plot in Malaysia to attack worship sites and
assassinate “high-profile personalities” during Ramadan.
As for the cleric Naik, his spokesman told BenarNews
that the Indian publications’ reports alleging his involvement have no basis in
fact.
“Dr. Naik usually does not comment on such vague news.
What The Times of India reported is rubbish news. The report doesn’t even
explain the nature of the alleged connection,” said Naik’s spokesman, who did
not wish to be named for security reasons.
He was referring to one of the two Indian publications
that reported on the alleged financing for a terror attack.
Shailaja Neelakantan in Washington, Prapti Rahman in
Dhaka and Paritosh Paul in Kolkata, India, contributed to this report.
https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/malaysian/in-my-terror-plot-12152020112746.html
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Malaysian Christians file complaint against Muslim
politician
December 16, 2020
Two Malaysian Christians have called on the
attorney-general to hold a prominent Muslim politician to account for what they
see as seditious comments that denigrated Christians.
The two Christians, who are residents of the state of
Sabah, said they want to see Abdul Hadi Awang, president of the Malaysian
Islamic Party (PAS), charged under Section 3 of the Sedition Act in the
Criminal Code for an article he wrote four years ago.
In the 2016 article published in a PAS-run newspaper,
Hadi accused Christian missionaries of preying on poor and uneducated people in
impoverished communities in Malaysian states like Sabah and elsewhere by paying
them off to convert to Christianity.
“Unfortunately, after being rejected in Europe,
Christian missionaries have taken their teachings to those African countries
where the people are far from being educated and civilized. They have also
taken these teachings to the interior areas of our country, such as in Sabah
and Sarawak [states in Malaysia],” the senior Muslim politician, 73, argued.
“They have spread their religion not by using
knowledge and reasoned argument but by baiting their targets with money and
other forms of aid. This is transgression in the name of religion. It is a
danger that must be fought.”
The two Christians filed a complaint with the High
Court in Kuala Lumpur last week, saying they want to have Hadi declared unfit for
any government position because of his anti-Christian bigotry.
“It has been more than four years since the defendant
issued the statement but no prosecution has been brought against him,” they
said in their affidavit.
“We respectfully believe that the defendant has made
an unfounded statement and cast aspersions on Christians and/or Christian
missionaries. The defendant’s statement has affected the Christian community in
the country and has thus become a matter of public interest.”
Anti-Christian statements are hardly uncommon in
Muslim-majority Malaysia where Christians account for 13 percent of the
population, according to a census last year. Two-thirds of Malaysian Christians
live in just two of the country’s 13 states, Sabah and Sarawak on the island of
Borneo, where they make up a third of the population.
Earlier this year, during a recent session in
parliament, Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh, a prominent Muslim politician, said
that the texts of the New Testament had been corrupted by Christians over time
and so they did not reflect the true teachings of Jesus.
His comments caused widespread outrage among the
country’s Christians, including its Catholics, and several lawmakers urged
Zawawi to apologize for his religiously divisive comment.
Zawawi refused, arguing that Christians had no right
to be offended because it was a “fact” that their scriptures had been
corrupted.
“They have no right to be offended,” the Muslim
lawmaker said. “What I said was not an accusation but a fact,” he added. “There
is no need to apologize … What I said is right. Why should I apologize?”
In response, Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim, a
prominent Catholic clergyman based in Kuala Lumpur, joined several other
religious leaders from the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity,
Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism in decrying Zawawi’s comments as “totally
unacceptable to all peace-loving Malaysians of all faiths.”
Archbishop Kim also issued a separate statement in
which he said that the Muslim lawmaker “showed a reprehensible disrespect not
only for his fellow Malaysians who are Christians but also for all the efforts
of our forefathers in forging peoples of diverse creeds, colour and cultures
into a peace-loving and harmonious nation.”
https://www.ucanews.com/news/malaysian-christians-file-complaint-against-muslim-politician/90709#
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Two Christian Sabahans sue Hadi, want court to declare
him unfit for minister-level post over alleged seditious remark
15 Dec 2020
BY IDA LIM
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — Two Sabahans have filed a
lawsuit against PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang as a public interest
matter, seeking to have the court declare the politician as unfit for any
government posts over his alleged previous seditious remark against Christians.
The two men Maklin Masiau and Lawrence Jomiji Kinsil @
Maximilhian are asking the court to find Hadi guilty of violating Section 3 of
the Sedition Act and a declaration that he is “unfit to hold any position in
the government of Malaysia, including that of a position equivalent to a
ministerial post”.
Hadi was appointed the prime minister’s special envoy
to the Middle East on April 2. The position carries a status equivalent to a
minister.
Last month, a government official explained Hadi’s
role, which is said to involve helping and advising the prime minister on ways
to enhance Malaysia’s interests in the Middle East in the fields of Islam,
education, trade and investment, as well as meeting with ambassadors from
countries in the Middle East to strengthen cooperation in such matters.
In their court filing, the two Sabahans claimed that
Hadi had made a seditious statement in PAS newspaper Harakah against Christians
and Christian missionaries on January 18, 2016.
They said they initiated the lawsuit because the
public prosecutor had not charged Hadi for those remarks after four years.
“This is a public interest litigation brought to
vindicate the rule of law by reason of the fact that no other person including
the public prosecutor has any intention of bringing any proceedings against the
defendant,” Maklin and Lawrence who described themselves as Christians said in
their originating summons.
In an affidavit filed in support of their lawsuit, the
duo said that Hadi had made an “unfounded statement” and cast aspersions on
Christians and Christian missionaries, further saying that Hadi’s statement
“has affected the Christian community in the country and thus has become a
matter of public interest”.
They said Hadi’s alleged “seditious philosophy” was
reflected recently in PAS’ Pasir Puteh MP Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh’s August
26 remarks in the Dewan Rakyat alleging the Bible to be “distorted”.
Nik Muhammad Zawawi had on November 3 in the Dewan
Rakyat apologised if anyone had felt hurt over his remarks.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia — an umbrella
body which represents churches nationwide — however questioned the sincerity of
Nik Muhammad Zawawi in his so-called “apology” and described it as a
“non-apology”.
The two Sabahans also included various news reports in
January 2016 and August 2020 as part of their court filing to support their
case.
Lawyer R. Kengadharan representing Maklin and Lawrence
told Malay Mail that the lawsuit was filed on December 9 in the High Court in
Kuala Lumpur, and that the court papers had been delivered to the PAS
headquarters yesterday.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/12/15/two-christian-sabahans-sue-hadi-wants-court-to-declare-him-unfit-for-minist/1932265
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Sarawakian Bumiputera Christian’s ‘Allah’ case to
finally have court decision delivered in Jan 2021
15 Dec 2020
BY IDA LIM
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — The High Court is expected to
finally deliver its decision next month in a Sarawakian native Christian’s bid
to seek official recognition of her constitutional rights to freely practise
her religion and to non-discrimination, more than three years after the matters
were heard in court.
Lawyer Annou Xavier, who represents Jill Ireland
Lawrence Bill, today confirmed the decision date.
He told Malay Mail that the case “has now been fixed
for decision on January 14, 2021, 10am at KL High Court and will be delivered
by Datuk Norbee binti Ariffin”.
This would be the second time that the High Court
delivers a decision in Jill Ireland’s case.
Jill Ireland had filed her lawsuit in August 2008
against the home minister and government of Malaysia, after the Home Ministry’s
May 11, 2008 seizure of eight compact discs (CDs) — containing the word “Allah”
— which were meant for her personal use at KLIA upon her return from Indonesia.
While the High Court had in July 2014 decided that the
Home Ministry was wrong to seize the CDs and had ordered their return to Jill
Ireland, the court did not address the constitutional points in the lawsuit.
The Court of Appeal in June 2015 directed the Home
Ministry to return the CDs and also sent the constitutional issues back to the
High Court to be heard, with Jill Ireland finally receiving her CDs in
September 2015.
The constitutional issues in Jill Ireland’s case were
then heard by then High Court judge Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin (now Court of Appeal
judge) on October 19, 2017 and November 15, 2017.
The High Court had initially fixed March 22, 2018 as
the decision date for the constitutional issues, but deferred it to August 13, 2018
as the Attorney General’s Chambers needed to get “fresh instructions” from the
government.
The August 13, 2018 date was however subsequently
converted to be a case management date following a change in government to
enable parties to engage to seek a resolution for the matter, with the case
subsequently undergoing multiple case management over the years before the
scheduling of the new decision date in January 2021.
In this lawsuit, Jill Ireland is seeking several court
orders, including a declaration that it is her constitutional right to have
access to Christian publications in the exercise of her rights to practise
religion and right to education, as provided for by the Federal Constitution’s
Article 11 on the freedom of religion.
The Sarawakian native of the Melanau tribe is also
seeking a court declaration that the Constitution’s Article 8 guarantees her
equality before the law and protection from discrimination on grounds of
religion in the administration of law ― specifically the Printing Presses and
Publications Act 1984 and the Customs Act 1967.
Jill Ireland is also asking the court to declare the
Home Ministry’s December 5, 1986 circular to ban the word “Allah” in Christian
publications as unconstitutional and unlawful, arguing among other things that
the government has failed to prove such use was a threat to public order.
The government had used the 1986 circular to justify
its 2008 seizure of Jill Ireland’s CDs.
Jill Ireland’s lawyers had in 2017 previously
highlighted views from local and international experts that the Arabic word
“Allah” for God is not used exclusively by Islam, and said that this word has
been adopted into Malaysia’s national language and has long been used by the
local Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christian community as shown by Malay
translations of Christian publications dating back a few centuries.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/12/15/sarawakian-bumiputera-christians-allah-case-to-finally-have-court-decision/1932237
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Indonesia police: Top terror suspect mastermind of
attacks
Dec. 14, 2020
By Niniek Karmini
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities said
Monday that a top terror suspect arrested last week was the architect of a
series of deadly attacks and sectarian conflicts in the world’s most populous Muslim
nation.
Aris Sumarsono, known as Zulkarnaen, was arrested
Thursday by counterterrorism police in a raid at a house in East Lampung
district on Sumatra island.
“He was the military commander of Jemaah Islamiyah,”
National Police spokesperson Ahmad Ramadhan said at a news conference in the
capital, Jakarta. “He’s been on the police wanted list for 18 years.”
Zulkarnaen, a biologist who was among the first
Indonesian militants to go to Afghanistan in the 1980s for training, was an
instructor at a military academy there for seven years, Ramadhan said.
Since May 2005, Zulkarnaen has been listed on an
al-Qaida sanctions list by the U.N. Security Council for being associated with
Osama bin Laden or the Taliban.
The Security Council said that Zulkarnaen, who became
an expert in sabotage, was one of al-Qaida’s representatives in Southeast Asia
and one of the few people in Indonesia who had had direct contact with bin
Laden’s network.
It said that Zulkarnaen led a squad of fighters known
as the Laskar Khos, or Special Force, whose members were recruited from among
some 300 Indonesians who trained in Afghanistan and the Philippines.
Zulkarnaen was appointed the head of Camp Saddah, a
military academy in the southern Philippines established for fighters from
Southeast Asia, the Security Council said. He spent a decade at the camp
training other Jemaah Islamiyah members.
He became operations chief for Jemaah Islamiyah after
the arrest of his predecessor, Encep Nurjaman, also known as Hambali, in
Thailand in 2003.
The United States’ “Rewards for Justice” program had
offered a bounty of up to $5 million for his capture. He was the only
Indonesian on the list.
Indonesian police said he masterminded church attacks
that occurred simultaneously in many Indonesian regions during Christmas and
New Year’s Eve in 2000 that killed more than 20 people.
Ramadhan said Zulkarnaen is suspected of being
involved in the making of bombs used in a series of attacks, including the 2002
Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, and a 2003
attack on the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta that killed 12.
Zulkarnaen was also the mastermind of a bomb attack on
the official residence of the Philippine ambassador in Jakarta in 2000 that
killed two people, a 2004 suicide attack outside the Australian Embassy that
killed nine, and a 2005 bombing in Bali that killed 20, Ramadhan said.
He said Zulkarnaen was also the architect of sectarian
conflict in Ambon and Poso from 1998 to 2000.
Conflicts between Christians and Muslisms in Ambon,
the provincial capital of the Molluca islands, left more than 5,000 people dead
and half a million displaced. The Muslim-Christian conflict in Poso, known as a
hotbed of Islamic militancy on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killed at least
1,000 people from 1998 to 2002.
Police previously said they were tipped off to
Zulkarnaen’s location in raids after interrogating several suspected militants
arrested late last month.
Zulkarnaen is also accused of harboring Upik Lawanga,
another bomb maker and a key Jemaah Islamiyah’ member. Lawanga was arrested by
counterterrorism police in Lampung late last month. He had eluded capture since
2005 after being named as a suspect in an attack that killed more than 20
people at a market in Poso.
A court banned Jemaah Islamiyah in 2008, and the group
was weakened by a sustained crackdown on militants by Indonesia’s
counterterrorism police with U.S. and Australian support. A new threat has
emerged in recent years inspired by Islamic State group attacks abroad.
Indonesia’s last major militant attack was in May
2018, when two families carried out suicide bombings in the country’s
second-largest city, Surabaya, killing a dozen people, including two young
girls whose parents had involved them in one of the attacks. Police said the father
of the girls was the leader of a militant Jemaah Anshorut Daulah cell who
pledged allegiance to Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indonesia-police-top-terror-suspect-mastermind-of-attacks/2020/12/14/c57a6234-3e03-11eb-b58b-1623f6267960_story.html
--------
Mideast
Iran will stand by Syria until final victory over
terrorism: Rouhani
15 December 2020
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has once again
reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s support for Syria until its final victory
over terrorism, describing Tehran-Damascus relations as “strategic and
friendly.”
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has always
supported the Syrian people and will stand by the Syrian nation and government
until the final victory over terrorism, the return of refugees and the
reconstruction of the country,” Rouhani said in a meeting with new Syrian
Ambassador to Tehran Shafiq Dayoub on Tuesday.
"In the field of diplomatic activities,
particularly in the framework of the Astana talks, Iran will continue its
efforts to establish complete stability and peace in Syria,” he added.
Iran, Russia, and Turkey have been leading a peace
process for Syria known as the Astana process. Kazakhstan’s capital,
Nur-Sultan, formerly called Astana, originally hosted the meetings.
The Astana talks resulted in two agreements.
A first deal was signed in the capital, arranging for
the creation of de-escalation zones across Syria, including in parts of Idlib.
The second one that came about in the Russian resort city of Sochi allowed
Ankara to bring in a small number of forces to man the observation posts to
reinforce de-escalation.
While the two deals have helped significantly reduce
fighting in Syria, the conflict has not entirely ended, due in large part to
Turkish failure to separate terrorists from what it calls “moderate” opposition
groups in Idlib as well as Ankara’s dispatch of thousands of troops and heavy
military hardware into the Syrian province to back the militants.
In a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal
Mekdad in Tehran earlier this month, President Rouhani said Iran and Syria
share the common goal of countering the Israeli occupation and terrorism.
“There is no doubt that we must continue our
resistance to the end and finalize destruction of terrorists.”
During the Tuesday meeting, the new Syrian ambassador,
who presented his credentials to the Iranian president, said his country seeks
to preserve all the valuable achievements that have been made over the past
four decades in strategic relations with Iran.
Dayoub commended the support of the Iranian people and
government for Syria at difficult junctures and said Damascus is still fighting
terrorism and occupation in all their dimensions and has managed to make great
achievements in the anti-terror battle. There is still a long way to go, he
highlighted.
He also thanked Tehran’s diplomatic efforts to restore
full peace and stability to Damascus, repatriate refugees and create the
Constitutional Committee.
The Syrian diplomat emphasized that his country is
committed to the preservation of security and stability in the region and would
stand against any plan and conspiracy targeting them.
Japan should release Iran’s financial resources
Rouhani also met with a number of other new ambassadors
to Tehran.
In a meeting with new Japanese Ambassador Kazutoshi
Aikawa, Rouhani stressed the importance of accelerating the implementation of
joint agreements and the release of Iranian financial resources in Tokyo.
"Iran always welcomes the expansion of economic
and scientific relations with Japan and we hope to see a development in these
ties and the presence of more Japanese companies to advance our national
projects in the fields of science and technology.”
The Japanese ambassador presented his credentials to
Rouhani and said Tokyo is determined to develop cooperation with Tehran in
areas of common interest.
He added that the finalization and implementation of
the agreement to boost technical cooperation would lead to broad opportunities
for bilateral work.
'Tunisia gateway for Iran to North Africa, Europe'
In another meeting with new Tunisian Ambassador to
Tehran Samir al-Mansour, who submitted his credentials to the Iranian
president, Rouhani said Tunisia can be the gateway for Iran to North Africa and
Europe.
The Iranian president hailed Tunisia’s stance
supporting Iran in international circles, particularly in dealing with
sanctions imposed by the US government against Tehran.
Rouhani also received the credentials of new
ambassadors of Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia and Uganda to Tehran on Tuesday.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/15/640783/Rouhani-Iran-Syria
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Iran’s Rouhani says he is happy that ‘lawless’ Trump
is leaving office
16 December 2020
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday he
was happy that Donald Trump was leaving office, calling him “the most lawless
US president” and a “terrorist.”
“We are not overjoyed about Mr. Biden’s arrival, but
we are happy about Trump leaving,” Rouhani said in a televised speech to the
cabinet.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/12/16/Iran-s-Rouhani-not-happy-about-Biden-win-but-glad-Trump-is-leaving-office
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Netanyahu picks new Mossad director to replace Yossi
Cohen
15 December 2020
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday
picked the next director of the Mossad spy agency, identified only as “D”, to
replace Yossi Cohen, a high-profile player in recent normalization deals with
Arab states.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Netanyahu “decided to appoint Deputy Mossad Director
‘D’ as the next Mossad Director. ‘D’ is an accomplished Mossad veteran,” a
statement from the prime minister’s office said.
Israel does not customarily disclose the names of top
Mossad personnel, except the director, whose identity is generally known to the
public.
But Cohen is widely seen as having a more prominent
public profile than many past chiefs of the foreign intelligence service.
He was appointed to the post in 2015 after serving as
Netanyahu’s national security adviser and previously as Mossad deputy-chief.
Cohen traveled extensively in the Arab world, notably
making key visits to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain amid Israel’s
US-brokered normalization deals with both Gulf states.
Cohen’s Mossad has also been widely linked to last
month’s killing of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Iran has blamed Israel for Fakhrizadeh’s death but the
country has not commented on the incident.
Cohen’s replacement must be approved by a special
committee responsible for top civil service appointments, the government
statement said.
The Jerusalem Post reported that, if approved, the
Mossad changeover would take place in June.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/12/15/Netanyahu-picks-new-Mossad-director-to-replace-Yossi-Cohen
--------
Iran to ban dual-nationals, Green Card holders from
running for presidency
15 December 2020
Iran’s parliament passed a measure on Tuesday to ban
dual nationals and holders of foreign residency from running in presidential
elections, after speculation that some officials may hold Green Cards from the
United States.
The measure, passed in a session carried live on state
radio, still needs to be approved by a high clerical council before it takes
effect.
Hardline figures and media outlets have long
speculated that some senior officials, such as US-educated Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif, hold dual nationalities or US residency and that this
posed a security risk.
Zarif has denied even applying for a Green Card.
Iran is due to hold presidential elections in June
2021, in which President Hassan Rouhani cannot run, having served two
consecutive four-year terms.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/12/15/Iran-to-ban-dual-nationals-Green-Card-holders-from-running-for-presidency
--------
UN chief urges countries to help address economic
crisis in war-torn Yemen
15 December 2020
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
has called on world countries to provide financial assistance to resolve the
severe economic crisis in Yemen, which has been under incessant attacks by a
Saudi-led coalition over the past several years.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies
launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015, in an unsuccessful attempt
to suppress an uprising that had toppled a Riyadh-friendly regime.
"I call on all member states to step up their
financial support for United Nations relief operations, and to help address the
severe economic crisis in the country," Guterres said in a statement
issued via his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on the second anniversary of the
Stockholm Agreement between Yemen’s Houthis and Riyadh-sponsored loyalists to
the former regime of Yemen.
Guterres said the 2018 agreement was a diplomatic
breakthrough aimed at bringing an end to the conflict in Yemen, and said
"far more needs to be done" to achieve that goal and the profound
suffering of the Yemeni people had persisted.
"The preservation of this lifeline is even more
vital now as pockets of famine-like conditions have returned in Yemen and
millions are facing severe, growing food insecurity, in particular against the
backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said, adding that it is crucial to
avoid any action that could exacerbate the dire situation in Yemen.
"Only through dialogue will the Yemeni parties be
able to agree on a nationwide ceasefire, economic and humanitarian
confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people,
as well as the resumption of an inclusive political process to reach a
comprehensive negotiated settlement to end the conflict," the UN chief
said.
The remarks by Guterres came as the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) raised the alarm about
millions of Yemenis risking falling into worsening levels of hunger by
mid-2021.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) also
described the crisis in Yemen as "the world's worst humanitarian
crisis," and warned against the continuation of the protracted conflict
there.
"The Yemen crisis remains the world's worst
humanitarian crisis with millions trapped in a cycle of conflict and hunger.
Everyday life in Yemen gets harder for millions as the window to prevent famine
narrows. We must act now,” the WFP said in a tweet.
The #YemenCrisis remains the world's worst
humanitarian crisis with millions trapped in a cycle of conflict & hunger.
Everyday life in #Yemen gets harder for millions as the window to prevent
famine narrows. We must #ActNow: https://t.co/0MCQuQnkcp
pic.twitter.com/6Zr3JXVhuR
— WFP_GCC (@GccWfp) December 15, 2020
Earlier this month, the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) offered the staggering death toll of 233,000
from the Saudi-led war on Yemen.
Houthis highlight UN's role in continuation of crimes
against Yemen
In a related development on Tuesday, the spokesman for
Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, criticized the UN's
silence on the Saudi-led siege of Yemen and said the continuation of the blockade
would implicate the international body in the crime against Yemenis.
“The continuation of the siege and the closure of
Sana’a International Airport and the port of Hudaydah is a crime in which the
United Nations participates by allowing the aggression forces to persist in
their assault and atrocities against the entire nation,” read the tweet.
The Saudi-led coalition has since five years ago
enforced an all-out aerial, naval, and land blockade on the impoverished
country.
The war has taken a heavy toll on Yemen's
infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over
24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million
suffering from extreme levels of hunger.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/15/640803/United-Nations-Antonio-Guterres-economic-crisis-Yemen
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Israel to build 8,300 settler units over next 20
years: Report
15 December 2020
Israel reportedly approves construction of a whopping
8,300 settler units in the occupied West Bank through a 20-year project that
practically enables annexation of the Palestinian land on which the structures
are to be built.
The Palestinian Wafa news agency carried the report on
Tuesday, citing information announced earlier by the Arab48 news website.
The project would get off the ground next year and
last until 2040 involving industrial, commercial, and residential facilities,
including towers running as high as 30 stories, in areas lying south of the
holy occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds.
Wafa said the facilities were to rear their heads on
“seized Palestinian land extending from Beit Safafa neighborhood to al-Walaja
village.”
Israel occupied the West Bank during a war in 1967 and
has, ever since, been dotting the Palestinian territory with illegal
settlements.
Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump said he
agreed with the regime’s “annexing” the areas on which the settlements have
been built.
Tel Aviv, though, supposedly shelved the annexation
plan amid international outcry.
According to the National Bureau for Defending Land
and Resisting Settlements (NBPRS) of the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) umbrella group, however, such ambitious building projects, in effect,
realize the regime’s annexation purposes.
The regime has just allegedly frozen the annexation
march in a gesture aimed “to deceive the public opinion and the international
community.”
Going at its current rate, the Israeli regime would
have turned “the West Bank by 2045 into a new Galilee,” the bureau warned,
referring to an area located in the north of the occupied territories.
The regime’s building projects involves creating “a
large settlement belt” around al-Quds, it said.
Palestinian want the holy city’s eastern part to serve
as the capital of their future state, while he occupying regime lays claim to
its entirety.
Trump has endorsed the Israeli claim and relocated the
American Embassy from Tel Aviv to the city in a move that used to be avoided by
all of his predecessors.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/15/640784/Israel-building-project-West-Bank
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Yemenis demand protection against Houthi attacks
December 15, 2020
AL-MUKALLA: Twelve rights groups, medical workers and
officials in Yemen’s southern city of Taiz have called for the protection of
civilians against arbitrary mortar strikes by the Iran-backed Houthis.
The groups wrote a joint petition urging the
international community to help put an end to Houthi attacks that had claimed
the lives of dozens of civilians in the densely populated city since early last
month.
“These acts are considered crimes against humanity
that require urgent action by the international community,” they said in their
petition. “We hold the Houthi group and all the parties that commit those
violations fully responsible for these actions. We demand them to abide by the
principles of international humanitarian law and human rights law.”
On Saturday, a mortar shell landed inside a stadium in
Taiz, killing a football coach and his 10 year-old son and wounding two
children.
The attack triggered outrage as Yemenis called for an
end to the attacks and labeled the Houthis terrorists due to their crimes
against civilians.
On Sunday, dozens of protesters gathered inside the
stadium to denounce the Houthi attacks that have escalated during the past
couple of months.
Local officials and activists who spoke at the
gathering strongly condemned the attacks on civilians and called for
designating the Houthi movement as a terrorist organization.
Medical workers in Taiz told Arab News on Monday that
increasing mortar strikes by the Houthis have placed more pressure on the
city’s health facilities that are working as full capacity due to the war and
the coronavirus pandemic.
“Deaths and the wounded from Houthi attacks have
overflown the already strained hospitals and morgues. We urge the international
community to urgently intervene to end those attacks,” Dr. Ahmed Mansour, a
health official in Taiz, said by telephone, adding that artillery shells have
targeted almost all of the districts in Taiz that are under government control.
Radar Watch, an independent right group established in
the Netherlands by Yemeni activists, said on Sunday that arbitrary shelling by
the Houthis had killed 691 civilians, including 252 children and 101 women, and
wounded 2898 others, including 1,013 children and 279 women, from early 2015 to
mid-2020.
Stationed on the edges of the city since 2015, the
Houthis have sporadically launched artillery and machine-gun strikes on the
heavily populated districts in the city’s downtown in a bid to weaken the
government forces that managed to push back their attacks.
In the neighboring Hodeidah province, Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF) said on Monday its small hospital in the Red Sea port of Mocha
has seen a surge in the number of civilians killed or wounded in the latest
escalation of violence in the province.
“What we are seeing in our small hospital is
disturbing, and outrageous. Killing and wounding civilians in conflict not only
constitutes a severe violation of International Humanitarian Law,” Raphael
Veicht, MSF head of mission in Yemen, said in a statement seen by Arab News.
“It goes further than that; our patients include
children, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and men working in a
milk-bottling factory that was hit by shelling — and there is nothing that can
justify this.”
On the second anniversary of the Stockholm Agreement,
the Head of the United Nations Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement and
Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee Lieutenant General Abhijit
Guha urged the internationally recognized government of Yemen and the Houthis
to make good their promises.
“There has been important progress but challenges
persist, including periodic violence that undermines the spirit of the Hodeidah
Agreement. I call on both parties to renew their commitment to the Agreement –
and to help bring an end to the suffering of people,” Guha said.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1777446/middle-east
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Pakistan
Imran Khan govt pushes for early Senate polls to
weaken Opposition
Dec 16, 2020
ISLAMABAD: Amid political chaos in Pakistan, the
federal government has decided to hold Senate elections in February instead of
March 2021. The polls are expected to result in the loss of seats for
Opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which currently controls the
Upper House.
The decision was taken on Tuesday during a meeting of
the federal Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, reported Dawn.
In a 104-member Senate, elections will be held for 52
seats as many members of the Upper House will be retiring on March 11. The
federal government invoked the idea of early elections in order to change the
power structure in the Senate.
Currently, the Senate is decisively controlled by the
constituent parties of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). Early elections
will result in the loss of seats for PDM.
The PDM had unanimously decided that its lawmakers
will handover resignations to their party chiefs by December 31 and Pakistan
People's Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari termed that
resignations of opposition lawmakers are an 'atom bomb' for the incumbent
government.
The move to resign en masse by PDM will stall the
Senate election. The resignations may render the electoral college for Senate
elections incomplete which in turn may make the Senate election
constitutionally untenable.
This, in turn, will ease a lot of the (Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf) PTI's current problems such as the passage of legislation
considered important by the government but stuck in the Senate.
A source disclosed to Dawn that the proposal for the
early Senate election was put forth by the Minister of Science and Technology
Fawad Chaudhary. The government also invoked advisory jurisdiction of the
Supreme Court on open voting for the polls.
Generally, Senate elections are done through secret
balloting, but PM Imran Khan desired to hold the election by open ballot or
show of hands.
The information minister said that the government
mulled over getting the bill ratified through several means -- either through a
constitutional amendment, executive order, or the election commission.
After pondering over the matter, the government
decided to move to the apex court regarding the matter, reported Dawn.
Meanwhile, PDM has demanded PM Imran Khan-led
government quit by January 31 or face intensified movements by opposition
parties such as the long march to Islamabad.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/imran-khan-govt-pushes-for-early-senate-polls-to-weaken-opposition/articleshow/79753681.cms
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A Delegation from Taliban’s Qatar- Based Political
Office Is Reaching Islamabad Today
Baqir Sajjad Syed | Mohammad Asghar
16 Dec 2020
ISLAMABAD: A delegation from Taliban’s Qatar- based
political office is reaching here on Wednesday (today) on a three-day trip for
consultations on ongoing Afghan peace process.
The delegation led by Taliban’s deputy chief for
political affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Barader will meet Prime Minister Imran
Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during its stay in Islamabad.
The visit is taking place on Pakistan government’s
invitation, a Taliban spokesman said.
A 20-day break in intra-Afghan negotiations and coming
transition in the United States form the backdrop of Taliban’s latest visit to
Islamabad.
Afghan government and Taliban negotiators have taken
the break to consult their principals on the negotiations on the agenda of the
talks.
Meanwhile, the change at the White House next month,
intensified fighting in Afghanistan and lack of clarity about the next venue
for the talks have inserted an element of uncertainty into the process.
Taliban delegation’s visit follows closely on the
heels of a trip by US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad
to Islamabad on Monday.
The anxiety in Washington about the break was obvious
from the envoy’s social media messages.
Amb Khalilzad, after his arrival in Islamabad,
tweeted: “Tragically, the war continues. The need for a political settlement,
reduction in violence, and a ceasefire remain urgent.”
“Given how much is at stake, it is imperative that
there is no delays in resumption of talks and they must resume on Jan 5 as
agreed,” he said in another tweet.
Pakistan this year not only helped the US and Taliban
sign their agreement, but also facilitated the start of intra-Afghan
negotiations and more lately the agreement on rules and procedures for the
dialogue.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, during his visit to Kabul
last month, assured the Afghan leadership of Pakistan’s cooperation for
reduction in violence in Afghanistan. He told President Ashraf Ghani that “we
will do whatever is within our reach”.
Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in his meeting with
Amb Khalilzad assured him of Pakistan’s continued support for efforts for
regional peace and stability.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1596014/taliban-team-due-in-islamabad-today
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Dawn columnist Irfan Husain passes away in England
16 Dec 2020
Dawn columnist Irfan Husain passed away early
Wednesday in Dorset, England, his family said.
In a tweet, his son Shakir Husain said he was grateful
his father "slipped away gently" and that he was able to be with him.
"See you on the other side, Abba."
In a column in Dawn published earlier this year in
August, Husain had said that he had been diagnosed with a rare type of cancer
nearly three years ago.
"After nearly three years of this barrage, I must
confess there are times I wish it would just end quietly without fuss. But then
I look outside the window and see the flowers, trees and birds in our garden,
and I am happy to be still alive," he wrote in the column.
According to the publisher Harper Collins, Husain was
born in Amritsar, India in 1944. Three years later, his family migrated to
Pakistan.
He was educated in Karachi, Paris and Ankara, and
joined the civil service in 1967 after obtaining a master’s degree in
economics.
"He pursued a parallel and covert career as a
freelance journalist for most of his working life, writing under a succession
of pseudonyms," the publisher said, adding that he divided his time
between the UK, Pakistan and Sri Lanka since 2002.
Husain also authored a book titled "Fatal
Faultlines: Pakistan, Islam and the West" in 2012. At the launch, he
described the thought of a writing a book as "frightening" since he
had been mostly writing columns.
He had said that his book was primarily intended for a
Western audience and for them to understand how they were viewed by the Muslim
world. "At the same time, I tried to explain to Muslim readers why they
are viewed so negatively in the West," he had said.
Meanwhile, condolences poured in from all quarters.
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said she was "heartbroken".
"We all just lost a great writer, life-long
friend, and a nurturing colleague. Feels like the end of an era. He was the
finest of men, right to the core," she said.
Dawn columnist Nadeem Farooq Paracha described
Husain's death as a "great loss". "Such a fine man. I had been a
fan of his columns for over thirty years. And he was always humble and cheerful
whenever I got the chance to meet him," he said.
Journalist Amber Rahim Shamsi said she had been
reading Husain's column for years so it "almost felt like I knew
him".
Dawn journalist Khurram Hussain said: "So many of
us grew up reading Irfan sahab's columns that his loss hits very close to the
heart."
https://www.dawn.com/news/1596076/dawn-columnist-irfan-husain-passes-away-in-england
--------
FIA finds Meesha guilty of ‘vilification’ drive
against Ali Zafar
16 Dec 2020
LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has
declared singer Meesha Shafi and eight others guilty of running a vilification
campaign on social media against singer-actor Ali Zafar and asked the trial
court to start its proceedings against them.
The FIA’s cybercrime Lahore wing on Tuesday submitted
an interim challan before the court of a special judge central in the FIR
registered on the complaint filed by Mr Zafar.
In the interim challan, the FIA said: “During the
course of investigation so far Meera Shafi alias Meesha Shafi, Iffat Omar,
Maham Javaid, Leena Ghani, Haseemus Zaman, Fariha Ayub, Syed Faizan Raza, Humna
Raza and Ali Gul Pir have been found guilty in this case as per available oral
and documentary evidences. However, the complainant recorded his statement in
favour of Hamna Raza to the extent of accepting her apology, thus she is not
required in the investigation furthermore.”
The FIA said Ms Shafi posted defamatory and false
allegations of sexual harassment against Ali Zafar in April 19, 2018 but she
failed to produce any witnesses before it in favour of her allegations. The
other suspects also failed to provide evidence in favour of the direct
allegations posted by them on social media. Resultantly, an FIR was registered
on the court’s order in September last against them under section 20 (1) of
Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and R/W 109-PPC.
In November 2018, Ali Zafar had filed a complaint with
the FIA cyber-crime wing, alleging that many social media accounts were posting
“threats and defamatory material” against him. He provided details of some
Twitter and Facebook accounts to support his claim.
Mr Zafar, in his complaint, had attached the pictures
Ms Shafi had uploaded on her social media accounts but ‘discretely deleted just
before making the allegation’. He had also submitted a ‘threat message’ sent to
his manager on Instagram in Feb 2018.
“A twitter account @nehasaigol1, which posted 3,000
defamatory tweets against me and my family only in one year, [was] created 50
days before Meesha’s allegations of sexual harassment,” the singer-actor told
the FIA with documentary ‘evidence’.
The FIA said Ms Shafi had appeared before the FIA
cyber-crime wing with her team of lawyers in December 2019, but she failed to
produce any witness in favour of her allegations (of sexual harassment) against
Mr Zafar.
Zafar’s defamation suit against Ms Shafi is also
pending in a sessions’ court.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1595947/fia-finds-meesha-guilty-of-vilification-drive-against-ali-zafar
--------
Turkish ambassador urges compatriots to invest in
Pakistan
Peerzada Salman
16 Dec 2020
KARACHI: A webinar on Pakistan-Turkey relations was
organised by the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) on Tuesday
morning.
Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of Turkey in
Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul said what Turkey and Pakistan have is more than
a relationship. Whenever he is asked to comment on the bilateral ties between
the two countries, he objects to the word bilateral. The thing between the two
can’t be called a relationship because by definition a relationship needs two
parties with a distance between themselves. “In case of us, it’s not correct
because we don’t have that distance to live with each other. It’s better to
call the interaction a bond. The bond between Turkey and Pakistan started a
long time back and we will pass this legacy to the next generations.”
The diplomat said Turkey’s political relations with
Pakistan have always been great. It’s still the same regardless of who is in
power in Turkey or Pakistan. The last high-level event was President Erdogan’s
visit to Islamabad in February this year just before the “Covid timeout”.
Pakistan and Turkey have a good legacy of brotherhood, cooperation and
solidarity; [so] it’s good to see that leaders on both sides are very committed
and keen to take the relationship further ahead in the years to come.
There are numerous mechanisms to keep these relations
alive and kicking. “We have a high-level group chaired by the president and the
prime minister. We have numerous working groups encompassing all walks of life.
It’s about trade, tourism, the economy, agriculture, defence … you name it.”
‘TV dramas have increased the interaction between
people of the two countries’
The ambassador said what is missing is the economic
and commercial ties between the two countries. We have a good volume [of trade],
but it’s not enough.
“We should be doing more. To that effect both sides
are working on having a trade agreement. Before the Covid period the exercise
was in full swing but during this period both sides also tried to do their
homework. In the days to come we are hopeful we will be gaining some ground.”
He said what’s positive about this economic sphere is
that there’s an appetite on the part of Turkish investors who’d like to come
and benefit from emerging economic and commercial indicators of Pakistan. Pakistan
is a promising market. It has huge resources and capacity to be an important
trade partner.
Mr Yurdakul said on the cultural and social side,
Turkey proves to be an important destination for Pakistani nationals. “We see
the number of Pakistani visitors going to Turkey increasing every passing year.
Even in the Covid period we were able to keep the airline connection open, and
I’m happy to report that Turkey was one of the top destinations for Pakistani
tourists.”
He pointed out that in the sphere of cultural
exchanges the effect of TV dramas has increased the interaction between peoples
of the two countries. The latest Turkish drama Ertugrul has made a huge impact
in Pakistan. The numbers [of viewers] went through the roof. “We were not
familiar with such numbers even in Turkey. A spin-off effect of the play is
that a number of tourists visiting Turkey saw a spike. We can also see
increasing cultural and cinematographic activities of Pakistan in Turkey …
joint production etc.”
He said in these challenging times the more we stand
together the better for both countries. It’s only wise that we embrace
challenges standing side by side, proving to the rest of the world that Turkey
and Pakistan are two powers in this region.
After the ambassador’s talk the floor was opened for a
question-answer session. Replying to the query about the fact that the UAE has
recognised Israel and other countries are likely to follow, he said it is every
country’s sovereign right to establish a diplomatic relationship or formal
relationship with any other country they choose. But if you remember when this
[decision] was made public there was also a huge emphasis on stating that
Palestine and its people will also be the beneficiary of this latest
recognition of Israel.
“My humble and personal objection comes to that point.
You can establish a relationship with any country, [but] if you sugar-coat it
with some very unrealistic perceptions or expectation or commitments, I don’t
think that’s the best way to go, because as things stand, even on the night of
that recognition you will recall there was no certain commitment coming from
Israel about the cessation of building new housing in the occupied
territories.”
Earlier, senior vice chairman of the KCFR ambassador
Mustafa Kamal Kazi welcomed the guest. The event was moderated by Dr Huma
Baqai.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1595985/turkish-ambassador-urges-compatriots-to-invest-in-pakistan
--------
Bilawal rules out talks with Imran at the helm
Amjad Mahmood
16 Dec 2020
LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal
Bhutto Zardari has ruled out talks with the government at least until Imran
Khan is holding the office of the prime minister.
“As far as a puppet is working as the prime minister
how can dialogue be held (with the government),” he told the media here on
Tuesday outside the Kot Lakhpat jail, where he had gone to condole with
incarcerated PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif the demise of the latter’s mother.
He said as he could not meet Mr Sharif when he was on
parole for the burial of Shamim Begum he decided to visit him in the jail for
offering condolence. Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Senator Sherry
Rehman and Qamar Zaman Kaira accompanied the PPP chairman.
Mr Bhutto-Zardari told a questioner that they could
not accept national dialogue offer by the National Assembly speaker who won’t
allow the opposition to talk in the house.
“There are puppets in this government — from the
speaker of the assembly to the chief minister Punjab. We cannot have dialogue
with the puppets. When the leader of opposition is not allowed to talk on the
floor of the house then what national dialogue the government is talking
about.”
To a query, the PPP leader said resignations of the
lawmakers would impact the government ‘like the atom bomb’ and the same would
be tendered in accordance with the strategy to be set by the PDM.
“The resignations have to be submitted to the party
leadership by Dec 31 and these resignations are our atom bomb which we will use
from the platform of PDM.”
He negated the impression of rifts among the PDM ranks
and said all the parties were united against this ‘incapable’, ‘fake’ and
‘illegitimate’ government of Imran Khan.
He said this ‘selected’ prime minister and his
government doesn’t have the courage to hear the truth. This is probably the
only government in the world in which current and former leaders of opposition,
namely Shehbaz Sharif and Khursheed Ahmed Shah, respectively, were languishing
in prison without any conviction, he said.
Recalling that President Zardari had been kept in
prison for 12 years without any conviction, he termed the policy against
democracy and human rights and said this was the reason the democracy had not
progressed in this country.
Mr Bhutto-Zardari said the message for Imran Khan was
loud and clear that he should resign.
“We will go to every nook and corner of Punjab and the
country to mobilise people against this selected government. The mobilisation
is increasing by the day.”
He lamented that Pakistani economy was worse than
Afghanistan today and in this situation Imran Khan would have to resign. Imran
Khan has made institutions disputed.
“This selected prime minister makes a hue and cry
about corruption but the entire corrupt are in his cabinet. The thieves of
sugar, flour, K-electric, Malam Jabba, BRT etc., are with him. Imran Khan is
protecting them. Funds from Israel and India are in the foreign funding case
against Imran Khan,” he alleged.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1595943/bilawal-rules-out-talks-with-imran-at-the-helm
--------
South Asia
Taliban Oppose Calls to Hold Negotiations inside
Afghanistan
By Mohammad Haroon Alim
16 Dec 2020
Taliban Peace negotiating members oppose the Afghan
government’s call to hold the next round of talks inside Afghanistan.
“Many areas in the country are in our control and any
decision that we get belongs to us. These locations are those that were
suggested to them by the United Nations a while ago in which they mentioned
that the members of (the Taliban) remain on a blacklist and pressure is brought
on (the Taliban). All these statements are in contradiction,” Tolo quoted
Wardak.
Naeem discussed the matter with the media saying,
“Both team leaders agreed before the break that the next rounds of the talks
should be held here (Doha),” said Naeem Wardak to Ariana news.
He indicated both sides, will resume talks in Doha on
January 5th rather than inside Afghanistan.
Dr, Naeem Wardak also tweeted on Tuesday that “a
high-level delegation led by Mullah Baradar Akhund, Political Deputy and Head
of the PO, IEA, left for Islamabad at the official invitation of neighboring
country Pakistan. The delegation will hold talks with Imran Khan, Prime
Minister of Pakistan”
Naeem Wardak Taliban spokesman said in a tweet thread,
that the delegation will meet “Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The
delegation will discuss issues of mutual interest. In particular, problems of
refugees, relaxation, and facilitation of afghan’s movement to Pakistan, as
well as the problems of Afghan traders are envisaged to be discussed”.
This comes as a delegation of the Afghan government
led by Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai arrived in Kabul on Tuesday evening.
It has been three months since the start of talks
between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Qatar, and the two sides have
finally agreed on a procedural rule and soon will finalize the agenda.
Earlier, President Gani iterated, that the next round
of Intra-Afghan talks should be held in Afghanistan, as people have the right
to keep up to date on the progress and topics being focused on, President
Ashraf Ghani said in a cabinet meeting.
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-oppose-calls-to-hold-negotiations-inside-afghanistan-8788844/
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Saleh Views Riding Two-Up Bikes ‘Terrorist Threat’
By Mohammad Haroon Alim
15 Dec 2020
Amrullah Saleh, First Vice President, said motorcycles that travel carrying two
passengers are considered a terrorist threat.
Saleh said in the 6:30 a.m. meeting that he had
instructed the police and national security forces to deal with two-up riding
bikes.
He added investigations into criminal and terrorist
assassinations indicate, that 90% of these incidents are carried out using the
technique of two- up riding bikes, and two passengers on a motorbike will be
considered a terrorist threat.
According to Saleh, the same technique was used in the
assassination of Abdul Hamid, a prosecutor in the PD8 area of Kabul city.
In another incident, a number of government employees
were involved in one of the criminal incidents in PD7, adding to his words, he
said, “any government employee involved in such incidents, in addition to being
punished, the perpetrator would lose his job forever, Saleh said.
On the other hand, the first vice president has also
said those experts and analysts will be dealt with in the light of the law who
are making baseless allegations against the government.
Saleh pointed out that some people are accustomed to
making baseless accusations against the country for seeking fame, and those
individuals will be dealt with legal action.
This came at a time the number of assassinations and
criminal offenses in Kabul has recently increased once again, and this has
caused serious concerns among the citizens of the capital.
https://www.khaama.com/saleh-considers-bikes-with-two-passengers-a-terrorist-threat-445566/
--------
Islamic Scholars Meet Home Minister Over Sculpture
Issue in Bangladesh
December 15th, 2020
Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal will talk about the details of
the discussion on Tuesday
A group of top Islamic scholars of the country has met
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at his residence in Dhaka Monday night to
discuss the issue of installation of the sculpture of Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Both the sides expressed satisfaction after the
two-hour discussion that started around 9pm, reports Bangla Tribune.
Home Ministry's Public Security Division Additional
Secretary Md Harun-Or-Rashid Biswas said that the Islamic scholars spoke about
their issues while the minister would talk about the details on Tuesday.
Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh leaders protested against
the installation of a sculpture of Bangabandhu in Dhaka's Dholairpar area.
Mamunul Haque, joint secretary general of the radical
Islamist group, threatened to throw Bangabandhu's sculpture into the Buriganga
River while its chief Junaid Babunagari also threatened to tear down all
statues in the country.
On December 5, miscreants smashed an under
construction sculpture of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman at a key intersection in Kushtia town.
Awami League and other political parties along with
socio-cultural organizations continued their protests against the
anti-sculpture groups.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2020/12/15/islamic-scholars-meet-home-minister-over-sculpture-issue
--------
Bomb attack kills deputy governor, three others in
Afghanistan
16 Dec 2020
KABUL: A bombing and a shooting attack in Kabul killed
at least three people, including a deputy provincial governor, while a deputy
provincial council chief was killed in western Afghanistan on Tuesday,
officials said.
The attacks are the latest in relentless violence in
Afghanistan even as the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators hold talks in
Qatar, trying to hammer out a peace deal that could put an end to decades of
war.
According to Tariq Arian, an Afghan interior ministry
spokesman, a sticky bomb attached to the armoured vehicle belonging to Kabul’s
deputy provincial governor killed two people, and wounded two others.
The deputy provincial governor and the apparent target
of the attack, Mahbobullah Mohibi, was killed alongside his secretary while two
of his bodyguards were wounded, Arian said. The bombing took place in the
Macrorayan neighbourhood of Kabul.
Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for
National Reconciliation, condemned the attack and said the recent increase in
attacks across the war-torn country is a clear enemy of the Afghan peace
process.
Sima Samar, special presidential envoy and state
minister for human rights, tweeted that the “people are tired of terrorist attacks
every day”.
Samar also urged the Taliban to agree to a ceasefire
to stop the killing and more bloodshed.
Also in Kabul, gunmen shot and killed a police officer
and wounded another policeman, said Ferdaws Faramarz, spokesman for Kabul’s
police chief. An investigation was ongoing, he added.
In violence elsewhere, a deputy provincial council
head in western Ghor province was killed while another council member and their
driver were wounded when a sticky bomb attached to their vehicle detonated on
Tuesday, said Arif Aber, spokesman for the provincial governor.
The slain council chief, Abdul Rahman Atshan, was the
apparent target of the attack, which took place around noon in the provincial
capital of Faroz Koh.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the
Kabul or Ghor attacks. The militant Islamic Sate (IS) group has claimed
responsibility for multiple attacks in the capital in recent months, including
horrific attacks on educational institutions that killed as many as 50 people,
most of them students.
The Taliban have waged bitter battles against IS
fighters, particularly in IS strongholds in eastern Afghanistan, while
continuing their insurgency against Afghan government forces.
Separately, the Afghan defense ministry said on
Tuesday the army repelled a Taliban attack in the district of Arghandab, in
southern Kandahar province. At least seven Taliban fighters were killed, it
claimed.
On Monday, the ministry announced authorities were
investigating reports that an alleged air strike over the weekend killed around
a dozen civilians, including children, in Arghandab.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1596032/bomb-attack-kills-deputy-governor-three-others-in-afghanistan
--------
Proxy Peace in Favor of Pakistan, Backlash against
Taliban Visit
By Mohammad Haroon Alim
16 Dec 2020
Reacting to a visit to Pakistan by Mullah Baradar, the
Taliban’s political deputy, Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of the National
Directorate of Security (NDS), said the whole game is going in Pakistan’s
favor.
Nabil tweeted, on Tuesday night, according to the
current situation, after Mullah Baradar, it is the turn of Afghan politicians
to travel to Pakistan.
He added that after the visit of Pakistani Prime
Minister Imran Khan and the head of the Pakistani Intelligence Service (ISI) to
Kabul, Khalilzad went to Islamabad yesterday and the Taliban’s political deputy
still attends Pakistani political events.
Criticizing the Afghan government’s approach to the
Pakistani government’s policies, the former National Security Adviser said
that, soon President Ghani’s turn will come to visit Pakistan.
Nabil called on Afghan citizens to unite against the
Pakistani political games, and raise voices against it.
According to this former national security official,
“if the citizens of Afghanistan do not stand against the greedy and extravagant
policies of the Pakistani government, the whole game will move in favor of
Islamabad”.
Earlier, Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s Special Envoy to
Afghanistan, Tweeted, that “the visit is part of Pakistan’s policy to reach out
to key Afghan parties in peace negotiations that commenced in Doha last
September”.
https://www.khaama.com/proxy-peace-in-favor-of-pakistan-backlash-against-taliban-visit-667755/
--------
Africa
Bahrain opens consulate in Western Sahara after Trump
recognizes Morocco’s rule over region
16 December 2020
Bahrain has opened a consulate in Moroccan-controlled
Western Sahara, after US President Donald Trump agreed to recognize the North
African country’s sovereignty over the disputed territory as part of a
normalization agreement between Rabat and the Israeli regime.
During a ceremony in the coastal city of Laayoune on
Monday, Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani and his
Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita opened the mission.
Bahrain’s official news agency BNA quoted al-Zayani as
saying that the opening of the consulate constitutes a “historic stage” in the
Persian Gulf kingdom’s strong relations with Morocco.
Late last month, Morocco’s Royal palace announced
Bahrain was planning to open a consulate in Western Sahara and the decision
came after a phone call between King Mohammed VI and Bahraini King Hamad bin
Isa Al Khalifah.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the first Arab
state to open a diplomatic mission in Laayoune in November.
Morocco, in a deal brokered by Trump’s outgoing
administration, became the fourth Arab state this year to strike a
normalization deal with Israel, following the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan.
As part of the agreement with Morocco announced last
week, Trump agreed to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Algeria, however, rejected Trump’s stance, saying the
step would undermine efforts to end the decades-long conflict over the desert
territory.
The Algerian Foreign Ministry said the US decision
“has no legal effect because it contradicts UN resolutions, especially UN
Security Council resolutions on Western Sahara.”
“The proclamation would undermine the de-escalation
efforts made at all levels in order to pave the way for launching a real
political process,” the ministry said in a statement.
Morocco annexed Western Sahara — a former Spanish
colony — in 1975, and has since been in conflict with the Algeria-backed
Polisario Front.
The movement has been fighting for independence of the
Sahrawi people in Western Sahara and a referendum on their self-determination.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/16/640838/Bahrain-opens-consulate-in-Western-Sahara-after-Trump-recognizes-Morocco-rule-over-region
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UNSC calls for withdrawal of mercenaries from Libya
16 December 2020
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has
demanded the exit of all foreign combatants and mercenaries from war-torn
Libya.
In a unanimous statement released following a
closed-door video conference on Tuesday, all members of the UNSC called for the
"withdrawal of all foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libya in line
with the ceasefire agreement reached by the Libyan parties on 23 October, the
commitments of the participants of the Berlin Conference and the relevant
United Nations Security Council resolutions."
The 15-member body further underlined "the
importance of a credible and effective Libyan-led ceasefire monitoring
mechanism," which would operate under the auspices of the UN.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is due to submit
proposals for the establishment of the mechanism at the end of December.
Libya has been in chaos since 2011, when a popular
uprising and a NATO intervention led to the ouster of long-time dictator
Muammar Gaddafi.
For the past six years, the country has been split
between two rival camps, namely the UN-recognized government based in the
capital, Tripoli, and another camp based in the eastern city of Tobruk, backed
militarily by rebel forces led by strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The Libyan government receives major backing from
Turkey, and the rebels from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan.
The conflict in Libya has escalated into a regional
proxy war fueled by foreign powers pouring weapons and mercenaries into the
country.
The 75-member Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF),
which is part of the UN efforts to end the chaos in Libya, is trying to get the
country's warring sides to reach an agreement on a mechanism that would set up
a transitional administration to lead the country through presidential and
parliamentary elections in December 2021.
In October, the two sides signed a ceasefire deal,
which also set a three-month deadline for foreign combatants and mercenaries to
leave Libya. However, no progress has been made on the departure of those
forces.
According to UN experts, the foreign forces, including
Syrians, Sudanese, and Chadians, have purportedly been brought into Libya by
rival sides.
In early December, the UN's acting Libya envoy,
Stephanie Williams, said about 20,000 foreign and mercenary forces were still
in the North African country.
Parties concerned in the Libyan conflict also agreed
during a conference in the German capital in January to respect UN resolutions
and pull out all foreign mercenaries from Libya.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/16/640832/UNSC-calls-for-withdrawal-of-mercenaries-from-Libya
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Somalia: Senior Al-Shabaab Foreign Fighters Killed in
Lower Shabelle
13 DECEMBER 2020
The Special Forces squad, Danab killed 17 Al-Shabaab
militants including two foreigners in the Lower Shabelle region in operation
conducted on Sunday.
According to a statement from the army, the soldiers
destroyed a base belonging to the militants in Sablale district on Saturday
morning following an operation there.
Among those militants killed were Suleiman Abu Mahfud,
al-Shabaab's in deputy supervisor who is a Tanzanian national, Abu Yasir Yahid,
a Syrian national who was in charge of the group's security, and Hassan Mohamed
Osman in charge of militants operations.
Somali government forces and African Union Mission in
Somalia (AMISOM) have driven Alshabaab militants from the capital in 2011 but
the still some parts of southern and central Somalia.
Government forces have in past months intensified operations
in the against al-Shabab extremists, who have been hiding in rural areas and
conducting ambushes and planting landmines.
https://allafrica.com/stories/202012140398.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1819727_
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Anti-terrorist campaign in Somalia continues despite
troop reduction
December 14, 2020
U.S. Africa Command showed it is not about to scale
back the fight against Islamic terrorist group al Shabab in Somalia, releasing
its first video of a targeted airstrike Dec. 10 as American soldiers prepare to
leave the country at President Trump’s orders.
The short, black-and-white video with blue crosshairs
shows a precision missile hitting a target inside a building compound. AFRICOM
said eight bomb makers were killed and two were injured in the strike.
“Even when the repositioning of forces occurs, AFRICOM
will ensure a focus on the continuity of operations and support in Somalia and
the East African region,” U.S. Air Force Col. Christopher Karns told the
Washington Examiner.
“The airstrikes reflect this fact and demonstrates
Al-Shabaab will not go unchecked,” he added.
Ten days ago, Trump made good on a campaign promise to
end the “forever wars” that keep service members globally deployed when he
ordered 750 troops out of Somalia.
The move followed a Nov. 26 visit by acting Defense
Secretary Chris Miller, himself a former Special Forces operator, to Somalia
and America’s only African base, Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.
AFRICOM commanders recently told the Washington
Examiner the U.S. troops were vital to the continued terrorist fight against al
Shabab, a group with global ambitions and al Qaeda connections.
“We think that al Shabab is the most significant
terrorist network in Africa that can conduct attacks into the homeland,” U.S.
Army Africa commander, Maj. Gen. Andrew Rohling told the Washington Examiner in
November.
Rohling explained that Army troops in Somalia were
training the elite Somali Army DANAB battalion to track down and root out
terrorists.
“American soldiers on the ground provide capacity and
capability unmatched across the world today,” he added in the phone interview
from the U.S. Army Africa headquarters at Camp Ederle in Vicenza, Italy.
Nonetheless, Trump ordered the troops out, and AFRICOM
scrambled to reposition the soldiers in neighboring countries so they could
still conduct the fight from outside Somali borders.
Karns said the drone that killed eight bomb makers
near Jalib, Somalia, shows that AFRICOM can still monitor al Shabab activity.
“It is important to help people understand who this
enemy is and what they represent,” he said in describing why the command
decided to release the video.
Karns did not say if drone strikes can continue once
all American troops are out of Somalia.
Since 2018, al Shabab has conducted about 45 car bomb
attacks in the capital of Mogadishu, killing more than 400 people.
“Every time an Al-Shabaab bomb maker or explosives
expert is killed it saves countless lives by permanently eliminating potential
plans and future timelines for destruction,” Karns explained.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/anti-terrorist-campaign-continues-somalia?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1819727_
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Tunisia says more than 90 migrants intercepted during
bid to reach Italy
15 December 2020
Tunisia’s navy said on Tuesday it had intercepted 93
African irregular migrants after their boat ran into trouble in the
Mediterranean Sea during an attempt to reach Italy.
The defense ministry said the boat carrying “93
migrants of various African nationalities”, including three Tunisians, had
broken down 42 kilometers northeast of the coastal city of Sfax on Monday
night.
They included 37 women and four children, spokesman
Mohamed Zekri said in a brief statement.
The navy and coast guard took them “to Sfax fishing
port and handed them over to the national guard to carry out the relevant legal
measures,” he added.
Tunisia, just a few hundred kilometers from mainland
Europe, has long been a launchpad for migrants making desperate clandestine
bids to reach Europe.
Those departures peaked in 2011 following the
revolution that overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, but numbers have
since dropped significantly.
But, with many Tunisians disillusioned by years of
economic crisis and ballooning unemployment, the numbers are ticking up again.
The UN’s refugee agency UNHCR says a fifth of refugees
and migrants arriving in Mediterranean countries this year have been Tunisians.
Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said Monday
night during a visit to France that the two countries were looking into the
causes of clandestine immigration.
They were working on “solidarity between the two
shores of the Mediterranean, an approach that could tackle this illegal
immigration,” he said in an interview with France 24.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/north-africa/2020/12/15/Tunisia-says-more-than-90-migrants-intercepted-during-bid-to-reach-Italy
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Coronavirus: Tunisian PM cancels Italy trip after
minister gets virus
15 December 2020
Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi canceled a
planned visit Tuesday to Italy at the last minute, after one of his ministers
accompanying him on a visit to France tested positive for the coronavirus.
Mechichi had been on a three-day trip to France, where
he met French Prime Minister Jean Castex, as well as the presidents of the
Senate and the National Assembly.
For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.
Castex’s office said French officials who attended the
meeting have been informed. Since sanitary protocols were respected, Castex is
not considered as having been in close contact with an infected person, his
office said.
Senior French political officials have repeatedly said
that they adhere to strict sanitary rules during the pandemic.
According to the official TAP news agency, Minister of
Economy and Finance Ali Kooli was found positive for Covid-19 during tests
carried out in Paris before the planned trip to Rome. TAP reported that the
other members of the delegation tested negative for the virus.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/12/15/Coronavirus-Tunisian-PM-cancels-Italy-trip-after-minister-gets-
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Somalia cuts ties with Kenya amid rising tensions over
breakaway territory
15 December 2020
Somalia’s government says it has severed ties with
strategic neighbor Kenya “to safeguard the unity, sovereignty, stability of the
country.”
The announcement on Tuesday came as the leader of the
breakaway territory of Somaliland ended a three-day visit to Kenya where he was
given treatment similar to that accorded to a head of state in meetings with
the Kenyan leadership.
“The Somali government, on the basis of its
sovereignty, international law and order, and in fulfillment of its
constitutional duty to safeguard the unity, sovereignty and stability of the
country, has decided to cut off diplomatic relations with the Government of
Kenya,” said Osman Dubbe, Somalia’s information minister on Twitter.
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 as the
country collapsed into warlord-led conflict and it has seen little of the
violence and extremist attacks that plague Somalia to the south. Despite
lacking international recognition, Somaliland has maintained its own
independent government, currency and security system.
Somalia, however, considers Somaliland as part of its
territory. Several rounds of talks over possible unification have failed to
reach an agreement.
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known
as Farmajo, and Somaliland leader Muse Bihi Abdi met in February, the first
meeting between the two, who both took office in 2017.
The meeting was brokered by Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace
Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, but
it did not result in a breakthrough agreement.
Kenya’s government spokesman Col. Cyrus Oguna said a
committee has been set up to normalize relations between the two countries.
“As a country, we have been very kind and
accommodating because you know even in Daadab (refugee center) we have camps
that currently house over 200,000 people from the neighboring country and
therefore we have a lot of commonality between these two countries and anything
that is capable of undermining that, is, of course, something that efforts must
be put in place to ensure it is resolved,” he told reporters.
Tensions between the two countries became evident in
late November when Somalia expelled Kenya’s ambassador to the country and
ordered its ambassador to return home.
Horn of Africa Analyst Rashid Abdi said that faced
with tough competition in the coming parliamentary and presidential elections
in Somalia, scheduled for December 2020 and February 2021, respectively,
Somalia’s president is stirring up altercations with foreign countries to try
to consolidate the electorate behind him.
“There is the old dictum about leaders picking foreign
fights when they are desperate. This is it. Kenya is almost certain to let
Farmajo huff and puff and have his usual tantrums. Will it recognize
Somaliland? Maybe. But it will choose the time, date and not let Farmajo
dictate the pace,” Abdi said in a post on Twitter.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/12/15/-Somalia-cuts-ties-with-Kenya-amid-rising-tensions-over-breakaway-territory
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North America
US designates Iran-backed Bahrain-based group as
global terror organization
15 December 2020
The US designated an Iran-backed extremist group based
in Bahrain as a terrorist organization on Tuesday, citing its threat to US
national security and foreign policy.
The Saraya al-Mukhtar group is now considered “a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist,” according to a US State Department
statement.
Saraya al-Mukhtar reportedly receives “financial and
logistic support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps” and says its
goal is to depose the Bahrain government in order for Iran to exert greater
influence on the country, the statement said.
“The group has plotted attacks against US personnel in
Bahrain and has offered cash rewards for the assassination of Bahraini
officials,” the State Department said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the designation
Saraya al-Mukhtar “sends a strong message to the Iranian regime that we will
not allow its terrorist proxies to threaten the people of Bahrain and the US
personnel stationed there.”
The designation comes one day ahead of Bahrain’s
National Day.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and
Bahrain designated Saraya al-Mukhtar a terrorist organization in June 2017.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/12/15/US-designates-Iran-backed-Bahrain-based-group-as-global-terror-organization
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Canada says Iran should not lead investigation on
downed Ukrainian plane
16 December 2020
An independent Canadian report published Tuesday into
a Kiev-bound passenger plane shot down by Iran in January said Tehran should
not be allowed to investigate itself and called for changes to civil aviation
rules.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
“The party responsible for the situation is investigating
itself, largely in secret. That does not inspire confidence or trust,” said the
report, written by one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former ministers,
Ralph Goodale, the government's special counsel into the tragedy.
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed
shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital's main airport on January 8,
killing all 176 people on board, 85 of whom were Canadian citizens or permanent
residents.
The Islamic republic admitted days later that its
forces accidentally shot down the plane after firing two missiles amid
heightened US-Iran tensions.
“Many of the key details of this horrific event remain
unknown,” the report said, noting in particular why Iranian airspace had
remained open the night of the tragedy.
“Iran bears responsibility for that because -- at
least thus far -- it has not conducted its investigations (safety, criminal or
otherwise) in a truly independent, objective and transparent manner,” the
report continued.
In early November, the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) called on Iran to “expedite the accident investigation” and
publish its final findings on the crash.
Canada had said in early October that it would set up
its own team of investigators to collect and analyze available information on
the crash.
Goodale called for a review of current international
standards that entrust the investigation of an aviation crash to the country
where the accident occurred.
“In the case of a military shoot-down, that means the
very government involved in causing the disaster (Iran in this case) is in
complete control of the safety investigation, obvious conflicts of interest
notwithstanding, with few safeguards to ensure independence, impartiality or
legitimacy,” the report said.
“This undermines the investigation's credibility and
enables a sense of impunity in avoiding essential questions.”
Trudeau welcomed the report and called on Iran to
“answer comprehensively, with supporting evidence” the questions the document
raises.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/12/16/Canada-says-Iran-should-not-lead-investigation-on-downed-Ukrainian-plane-
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Jared Kushner to lead delegation to Morocco, Israel
15 December 2020
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and White House
senior advisor, Jared Kushner, is scheduled to lead a US delegation to Israel
and Morocco next week.
A senior US administration official told Reuters on
Tuesday that Kushner and his team were set to take part in discussions
concerning the recent Israel-Morocco normalization deal reached last week,
Kushner and his delegation, who will fly to Tel Aviv,
plan to join up with an Israeli delegation led by the Israeli national security
adviser, Meir Ben-Shabbat, and together take the first direct commercial flight
between the Israel and Morocco, the official said.
During his stop in Tel Aviv, Kushner is to hold talks
with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official added.
The Israeli flagship airline, El Al, is expected to provide the airliner for the
first direct flight from Tel Aviv to Rabat.
Morocco became the fourth Arab country after the
United Arab Emirate, Bahrain and Sudan to normalize ties with Israel in the
past few months.
Despite Trump's departure from office on January 20,
Kushner's team is still holding talks with Washington's regional lackeys to
push more countries from the Arab and Muslim world to seal deals with Israel.
Following Trump’s announcement of Morocco's
normalization of ties with Israel, Kushner said that a deal between Riyadh and
Tel Avivi was inevitable.
Kushner claimed the only unresolved issue regarding
the Israel-Saudi deal was the timeframe of their agreement.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/12/15/640798/Normalization-US-Jared-Kushner-Israel-Morocco
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