State Sponsored Crackdown on Islam and Muslims in France: International Law Defines As 'Persecution'
New Age Islam News Bureau
03 March 2022
A beach towel reads "No
to Islamophobia" written in the colours of the French flag lying in the
sand of a 'beach' created by protesters outside the French Embassy in London on
August 25, 2016, during a "Wear what you want beach party" to
demonstrate against the ban on Burkinis on French beaches and to show
solidarity with Muslim women [JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images]
-----
• Karnataka Seer of Arsikere-Based Kalika Mutt Demands
Boycott of Muslim Vendors
• Ties between UAE, United States Undergoing ‘Stress
Test:’ UAE Envoy Says
• Abbas Says Christians, Muslims Must ‘Fight Together’
Against Israel
• Pakistani Naqshbandi Cleric: "Islamic Unity,
Dire Need of Present Muslim World"
Europe
• French Top Court Sets Precedent Banning Muslim
Lawyers Wearing The Hijab
• Spain’s Vox Party Leader Says Ukrainian Refugees,
Not Muslims, Should Be Welcome
• Greece’s Discriminatory Policy towards Its Muslim
Turkish Minority Violates EU Obligations: Party
• Iran opposes war in Ukraine, ready to assist with
relief efforts: FM to Red Cross
• Muslim communities in Europe urged to help fleeing
Ukrainians
• Defence lawyers seek to restrict testimony from
Daesh ‘slave’
• UN nuclear watchdog will ‘never abandon’ Iran probe
--------
India
• Karnataka: Harsha Hindu’s Sister Forced to Take
Islamophobic Oath Even As She Attempted to Refrain from It
• Urs Celebrations Coincides With the
Mahashivaratri: Kalaburagi Tense as
Curbs around Ladle Mashak Dargah Flouted
• India, Pakistan, China among 35 nations to abstain
from voting on anti-Russia resolution
• Jain group seeks Centre’s nod to travel to Pakistan
--------
Arab
World
• YPG/PKK Terror Group Recruits 4 More Children in
Northern Syria
• Lebanon’s political, economic elite ‘abusing’
country’s banking system: US Treasury
• IMF could visit Lebanon mid-March to discuss aid
program: Deputy PM
• Arab Coalition, ICRC exchange information on alleged
Yemen prison strike
• Saudi Arabia Is Essential Pillar Of Regional
Security: Bahrain's King Hamad
• Saudi Arabia’s authorities thwart attempt to smuggle
over 17 tons of khat
• Saudi Arabia, Cyprus leaders conclude meeting with
joint statement, greater ties
--------
Mideast
• Iran Blasts Politically-Tainted Reports by UN Human
Rights Rapporteur
• Iranian Air Force Commander in Pakistan to Bolster
Cooperation
• Iran Slams UNSC’s Resolution against Ansarullah
• Iran Condemns US Senator’s “Hateful” Remarks
• Israel arrests dozens of Palestinians in West Bank
raids
• Hamas calls for intensified resistance against
Israeli terrorism after 3 Palestinians killed in less than 24 hours
• FM: UNSC resolution on Yemen violates UN charter,
serves interests of those embroiled in war crimes
• Imam Khamenei pardons, commutes sentences of 741
Iranian inmates
--------
Pakistan
• Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Meet In Pakistan
to Address Issues of Muslim World: Envoy
• Pakistan ‘remains neutral’ as UNGA censures Russia
• Masjid Wazir Khan Case: Magistrate rejects acquittal
pleas of Saba Qamar, Bilal Saeed
• 3 dead, more than 20 injured in blast on Quetta's
Fatima Jinnah Road
• At least three killed in southwest Pakistan blast
• Pakistan PM Imran Khan launches loan programme to
help poor families
• Pakistan horticulture exports hit by Russia-Ukraine
war
--------
South
Asia
• Taliban Search Operation Echoes Resented U.S.
Tactics
• Taliban to Continue House-To-House Searches in Kabul
despite Criticism
• Ashraf Ghani: Trust In US Led to Afghanistan's fall
• Afghanistan to vote against Russia in UN
• UK-Germany to co-host conference on Afghanistan in
March-end
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Former Minister: As A Muslim, I Am Not Proud Of
Unilateral Conversions To Islam
• Indonesian Military, Police Pledge to Crack Down on
Radical Influencers
• UIII must become global Islamic civilization centre:
VP
• The Rise of Muslim Millenarianism in Malaysia
• Ex-Bangladeshi envoy hopes to get Malaysian PR, just
like Zakir Naik
• Ketuanan Melayu: A Barrier To The Spirit Of
Nationhood
--------
Africa
• Muslims of Oyo State Insists Next President Must Be
Southerner of Islamic Extraction
• US grants temporary protected status for Sudanese,
extension for South Sudanese
• UN rights council appoints former ICC prosecutor to
lead Ethiopia probe
• UN voices concern over Libya parliament vote on new
PM
--------
North
America
• American Protesters Urge Congress to End US Role In Saudi-Led
War On Yemen
• Qatar's emir meets top US military commander in Doha
• FM Prince Faisal, Blinken discuss strategic Saudi-US
relations
• US yet to make decision over recognizing
Afghanistan’s government
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/muslims-france-international-law-persecution/d/126499
--------
State Sponsored Crackdown on Islam and Muslims in
France: International Law Defines As 'Persecution'
A beach towel reads "No
to Islamophobia" written in the colours of the French flag lying in the
sand of a 'beach' created by protesters outside the French Embassy in London on
August 25, 2016, during a "Wear what you want beach party" to
demonstrate against the ban on Burkinis on French beaches and to show
solidarity with Muslim women [JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images]
-----
March 2, 2022
In late 2020, the French government's decision to
dissolve two of the most prominent and respected Muslim NGOs in the country,
Baraka City, and the CCIF (Collective against Islamophobia in France) by
decree, shocked both French and European Muslims. While unknown at the time,
this decision was to be the opening salvo for a draconian crackdown on Muslims
and Muslim civil society in France.
Two years on, last month, France's Interior Minister
announced that he is banning two Palestine solidarity organisations- Palestine
Vaincra (Palestine Will Win) and Comité Palestine Action (Palestine Action Committee)-at
the request of French President, Emmanuel Macron.
They are the latest examples of state sponsored
crackdown on Islam and Muslims that has been accelerated under the Presidency
of Macron. A total 718 Muslim organisations have been closed or dissolved by
the French State (including schools, mosques and businesses). As much as
€46,000,000 ($51,089,670) millions of pounds worth of property has been seized,
indicating the stringent restriction of Muslims' right to assets.
Just how draconian is France's crackdown on Muslims
and what does it say about the Republic founded on the principal's liberty and
equality? According to CAGE, an independent advocacy organisation that seeks to
empower communities impacted by the War on Terror policies worldwide, it fits
the definition of "Persecution" under international law, as set out
in Article 7 of the Rome Statute.
The startling conclusion was made by CAGE in its
latest report: "We are beginning to spread Terror": The
state-sponsored persecution of Muslims in France". Accounting for the
upsurge in Islamophobia ploughing through French society, the report looks in
detail at the many policies targeting Muslims, the country's colonial history
as well as the ideological underpinnings of the Republic.
Commenting on laicité, the report explains that it is
an "exclusionary" form of secularism that is unique in Europe and
even in the world. The French model is designed to vigorously exclude from the
political arena any semblance of religion. Though organised during its founding
in opposition to the Catholic Church, the brunt of State's hostility, under the
dogma of laicite, is now directed at Islam and Muslim institutions.
Explaining the underlying flaws of the French system
that has made Muslims an easy target, CAGE examined the position of minorities
within the French Republic. Contrary to most liberal democracies that recognise
national "minorities" when addressing communities with linguistic,
cultural, ethnic or religious groups amongst their nations, the French Republic
does not recognise the political and legal existence of minorities on its soil.
The consequence of this non-recognition is the absence
of normative legal defence against "majoritarian tyranny" says
CAGE. Legal protection of minorities
serves as a bulwark against the suppression of minority groups. France demands
its colonial subjects to be "Francised", abandon their identity so as
to blend into the French community.
"Life for Muslims in France over the last 5 years
has been a series of burning injustices and bitter indignities" said the
report, citing a long list of draconian measures including the dissolution of
Muslim organisations, a series of laws targeting Muslims, such as the hijab
ban. The encroachment on the civil liberties of Muslims, says the report, is
taking place under a political discourse "simmering with contempt for
Muslims."
Through an analysis of the current French legal and
executive framework, and information gathered from the French Muslim community
itself, the report demonstrates how Muslims in France are being subject to
state-led persecution on an industrial scale.
Driving the state state-sponsored persecution of
Muslims is the "Systematic Obstruction" policy, under which Muslim
organisations and businesses are placed on a secret blacklist and strict
monitoring. Prominent Muslim advocacy organisations have been treated as
organised criminals and dissolved by order of the government. Hundreds of
establishments, including mosques and Muslim schools, have been closed and, in
what CAGE says can only be regarded as state-sponsored extortion, millions of
Euros have been seized. "Cells" have been planted across the country
by the State to implement its draconian policy, creating a "full-blown
harassment apparatus monitoring and targeting Muslim institutions".
Alarmingly, the Macron government has sought to
promote and export France's state-sponsored crackdown on Muslims to
neighbouring countries. "Left unchecked, governments across the continent
will copy the lessons from Macron's France, and seek to use the Muslim minority
as a means to acquire centralised power to quash dissent and liquidate
political foes" says CAGE. Apparently, France is already collaborating
closely with Belgium, Austria and Denmark on matters of counter-extremism and
terrorism, and applies diplomatic pressure to European institutions to prevent
the promotion of freedom of religion.
CAGE warns against the global anti-radicalisation
narrative. Since the 9/11 terror attack, governments the world over have been
instituting repressive policies on a scale once thought inconceivable, in the
name of countering "terrorism" and "extremism". Many of
these governments, from Chinese Communist Party to liberal democracies in the
West, deploy a familiar language of Muslim "terrorists' and latent
'extremists", states have often tapped into their own specific cultural
histories and vocabulary to help cement and normalise their policies.
In what is now an all too familiar discourse,
"Islamism", "Political Islam", "extremism",
"radical Islam", "radicalisation" have been used to serve
as linguistic diversion attempts, says CAGE, which when operationalised in
policy, target widespread, normative Muslim beliefs. In the moral panic created
by this discourse, growing a beard, praying or increasing one's religiosity
during the month of Ramadan are seen as "weak signals" (i.e. early
signs) of "radicalisation".
These terms are amorphous and malleable, and changes
to suit the needs to the super State that is erected on the back of the
"War on Terror" CAGE argued. "Today it may be Muslims, a
disenfranchised and improvised minority community, but tomorrow it will be any
section of society that poses an organisational or ideological challenge."
In its recommendations, the report calls on
international organisations and actors, particularly those within Europe, to
exert pressure on the French government and their respective governments and
help create the space for French Muslims to assert their own demands.
Source: Middle East Monitor
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Karnataka Seer of Arsikere-Based Kalika Mutt Demands
Boycott of Muslim Vendors
No case has been
registered against the seer, a senior police official has confirmed. (Getty
Images/Representative use)
-----
Mar 03, 2022
Days after Karnataka police filed an FIR against an
ABVP leader for a communal speech, a seer has called for the boycott of Muslim
vendors.
A video of Rishikumar Swami, a seer of Arsikere-based
Kalika Mutt, administering an oath to the family of Harsha Jingade alias Harsha
Hindu, the Bajrang Dal worker murdered in Shivamogga in February, asking them
to boycott Muslim businesses has surfaced on social media. HT could not
independently verify the video.
In the video, allegedly shot during a memorial service
for Harsha, the seer could be seen delivering an oath, in which derogatory terms
are used to describe the Muslim community and demand their boycotting. Despite
being prompted by those around her, Harsha’s sister Ashwini could be seen
refusing to take part in the oath.
The seer had made a controversial statement after
Harsha’s death. “You have chopped our boy (Harsha) into pieces...For one head
of ours, unless we take 10 heads, Hindu Samaja will not rest,” Rishikumar Swami
had said.
No case has been registered against the seer, a senior
police official has confirmed.
In January, Rishikumar Swamy was arrested for
demanding the demolition of a mosque at Srirangapatna in Mandya on the lines of
Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid. The seer had uploaded a video on his Facebook account
claiming that the historic mosque was a Hanuman temple and should be demolished
like the Babri Masjid. A case was registered against the seer in the matter,
police said. The seer was arrested from Chikkamagaluru district, based on a
complaint by Yathiraj, a security guard of the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI). According to police, the seer had made the video when he visited
Srirangapatna to attend the last rites of a child artist, who had died in a
road accident on Saturday. He was later released on bail.
Source: Hindustan Times
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original story:
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Ties between UAE, United States Undergoing ‘Stress
Test:’ UAE Envoy Says
UAE Foreign Minister (L)
listens alongside UAE Ambassador to the U.S. to U.S. Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo (not pictured) REUTERS/Darren Ornitz
------
03 March, 2022
The relationship between the United Arab Emirates and
the United States is going through “a stress test,” Emirati envoy to Washington
Yousef al-Otaiba, said on Thursday, but added that he was confident the close
partners would “get out of it.”
The UAE has tried to remain neutral between Western
allies and Russia as Washington pushes for a global stand against the Russian
invasion of Ukraine. Abu Dhabi has also been pushing Washington to reinstate a
terrorism designation on Yemen’s Houthi group after it launched attacks on the
Gulf Arab state.
“It is like any relationship. It has strong days where
the relationship is very healthy and days where the relationship is under
question. Today, we’re going through a stress test but I am confident that we
will get out of it and get to a better place,” Otaiba said in an onstage
interview at a defense event.
He did not elaborate.
The United States is a key security ally for Gulf
states but Emirati officials have voiced uncertainty about the US commitment to
the region and have been building ties with countries like China and Russia and
moving to boost UAE defense capabilities as a deterrent to Iran.
The UAE, frustrated by the slow pace of a deal to
acquire US-made F-35 fighter jets and conditions related to the sale, said in
December it would suspend discussions on it, part of a $23 billion deal that
includes drones and other advanced munitions.
Sticking points have been concerns over Abu Dhabi’s
relationship with China, including the use of Huawei’s 5G technology in the
country, how the stealth jets can be deployed and how much of the F-35
technology the Emiratis will be able to use.
“I think we have a very strong and very clean track
record of not only getting the most sensitive American and other Western
technology, we also have an incredibly strong track record of protecting that
technology. We have had zero incidents where anything has fallen into the wrong
hands,” Otaiba said.
The UAE already has American-made F-16 fighter jets.
He said the UAE wanted to develop an organic,
self-sufficient defense industry.
“We want countries and companies to come in here and
create the industry...We want people to transfer their technologies here. We
want people to develop their technologies here.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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original story:
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Abbas Says Christians, Muslims Must ‘Fight Together’
Against Israel
Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas (Photo credit: Palestinian President Office (PPO)/Handout Via
Reuters)
----
MARCH 3, 2022
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has
called on Christians to join the fight against Israel in a meeting in Ramallah
with Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem. The comment was aired on official
Palestinian TV News and shared by the NGO Palestinian Media Watch.
“We know that the prime Zionist goal is emptying this
land of its Christians and Muslims,” Abbas said on January 17. “They [the Jews]
don’t want anyone here other than themselves. The Christians before the Muslims,
because the Christians were here on this land before the Muslims… The Christian
is the brother of the Muslim. They celebrate together, suffer together, live
together, work together and fight together against their enemy, because we have
been the owners of this land since this land’s existence.
“We will remain in this land forever, while the
attackers [the Jews] have no place in Jerusalem and no place here,” Abbas
concluded.
The statements mirrored comments made early by the
Palestinian Authority, which Palestinian Media Watch shared in a separate
report on Fatah’s Waed magazine.
In Waed issue 37, it explains that Palestinian
children are descendants of a “Palestinian-Arab-Canaanite” people who existed
as much as 10,000 years ago, while in another issue (36) it states that Jews
are “foreigners who did not know Palestine and did not live in it – neither
them nor their fathers and forefathers.”
Source: J Post
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-699172
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Pakistani Naqshbandi Cleric: "Islamic Unity, Dire
Need of Present Muslim World"
Senior Pakistani scholar
stressed unity as a necessity for the world of Islam vowing efforts for
boosting solidarity among Muslims rather than fuelling the minor differences.
-----
March 3, 2022
Senior Pakistani scholar stressed unity as a necessity
for the world of Islam vowing efforts for boosting solidarity among Muslims
rather than fuelling the minor differences.
Pir Allameh Mohammad Saeed Ahmad Cheshti Naqshbandi,
Pakistani scholar highlighted the role of unity among Muslims in a meeting of
Shia and Sunni clerics held by Iran's embassy in Pakistan to mark Eid
al-Maba'ath.
Cultural attaché of Iran's embassy in Pakistan in
collaboration with the literary canon of Iblagh held meeting to convene Shia
and Sunni professors, poets and religious figures concurrent with Eid
al-Maba'ath which marks appointment of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) as messenger of
God.
Iran's cultural attaché in this meeting hailed the
prophet of Islam as a blessing for the world people.
He said," A reason behind attacks against Islam
is our inattention towards Islam and the hostility of Islamophobes is due to
their ignorance on the holy religion."
Shahbaz Ali Abbasi, professor of Alhamd University in
Islamabad called Rajab, seventh month in the lunar Islamic calendar as the
month with most stress on Islamic unity regardless of the denomination of
Muslims.
He urged Muslims to settle their disagreements and
boost solidarity adding," The reason behind all the massacre, chaos and
homicide in the present world is that people do not follow the teachings of
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)."
Ehsan Khazaee, Iran's cultural attaché to Pakistan,
Hujjat-ul-Islam Anvar Najafi, prominent professor of al-Kawthar seminary in
Islamabad, Allamah Mohammad Heydar Alawi, renowned Sunni scholar and Allameh
Pir Mohammad Saeed Ahmad Naqshbandi, deputy of the national solidarity council
in Pakistan were the main speakers at this meeting.
Source: ABNA24
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original story:
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Europe
French top court sets precedent banning Muslim lawyers wearing the hijab
March 03, 2022
France's highest court has decided to uphold a ban on
barristers wearing the hijab and other religious symbols in courtrooms in the
north of the country.
Wednesday's ruling was the first of its kind that
would set a precedent for the rest of the country.
Display of religious symbols is an emotive subject in
France and the court's decision may stir a nationwide debate over so-called
core Republican values of secularism and identity ahead of April's presidential
election.
The case was brought by Sarah Asmeta, a 30-year-old
hijab-wearing French-Syrian lawyer, who challenged a rule set by the Bar
Council of Lille that bans religious markers in its courtrooms on the grounds
that it was discriminatory.
In its ruling, the Court of Cassation said the ban was
"necessary and appropriate, on the one hand to preserve the independence
of the lawyer and, on the other, to guarantee the right to a fair trial."
Banning the wearing of religious symbols "does
not constitute discrimination," it added.
Disappointed
Asmeta told Reuters she was shocked and disappointed
with the ruling.
"Why does covering my hair stop my client from
the right to a free trial?" she told Reuters. "My clients are not
children. If they choose me as their lawyer, with my veil, then it is their
choice."
There is no law that explicitly says Asmeta cannot
wear her hijab, a headscarf worn by some Muslim women, in the courtroom.
In the months after she took an oath and entered law
as a trainee barrister, the Lille Bar Council passed its own internal rule
banning any signs of political, philosophical and religious conviction to be
worn with the gown in court.
Political shift
Asmeta challenged the Lille Bar Council's rule,
calling it targeted and discriminatory. She lost the case in an appeals court
in 2020 and pushed the matter up to the Court of Cassation.
Religious symbols and clothing are banned for public
servants in France due to its principle of "laïcité", or secularism -
the separation of religion from the state.
French lawmakers and politicians have in recent years
sought to extend curbs on wearing the hijab to cover, for example, mothers who
accompany their children on school trips and football players.
As a presidential election in April approaches,
right-wing candidates have focused on identity issues.
Asmeta said she was contemplating taking her fight to
the European Court of Human Rights.
The case has provoked a heated debate within the legal
community.
More than three dozen lawyers from Paris, where the
Bar Council has imposed a similar ban, on Monday penned an open letter calling
for a nationwide rule against the head covering in courtrooms.
Source: Trt World
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Spain’s Vox party leader says Ukrainian refugees, not
Muslims, should be welcome
Alyssa McMurtry
02.03.2022
OVIEDO, Spain
The leader of Spain’s Vox party said Wednesday that
Ukrainian refugees, not Muslim migrants, should be welcomed in Spain.
“Anyone can tell the difference between them (Ukranian
refugees) and the invasion of young military-aged men of Muslim origin who have
launched themselves against European borders in an attempt to destabilize and
colonize it,” Santiago Abascal said in parliament.
The far-right party leader firmly condemned the
Russian war in Ukraine and insisted that many of “Putin’s allies” are in
Spain’s progressive government coalition.
But as the war broke out, the Vox party’s position was
not so clear.
In the region of Aragon, Vox politicians refused to
support a text condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine because they “didn’t
want to improvise.”
During the weekend, the two leaders of the Vox in the
Spanish enclave of Ceuta also came out in favor of Russian President Vladimir
Putin. They later backtracked on their statements.
In 2015, Abascal quoted Putin in a tweet that said:
“We will go to the end of the world to find you, and there, we will kill you.”
But now, the far-right leader is more interested in
comparing himself to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“To Putin, (former Pedemos leader) Pablo Iglesias and
the allies of (Prime Minister Pedro) Sanchez, this man is a neo-nazi,” tweeted
Abascal, who has also been called a neo-nazi. “To the free world, he’s an
example, a hero and a patriot.”
Vox has seen a sharp rise in popular support in recent
weeks, even threatening to pass the center-right Popular Party, which is
undergoing a major crisis due to internal in-fighting.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Greece’s discriminatory policy towards its Muslim
Turkish minority violates EU obligations: Party
Ahmet Gencturk
03.03.2022
Greece’s discriminatory policy towards its Muslim
Turkish minority violates its obligations under European Union law, a European
political party said Wednesday.
In a letter to the European Commission, the president
of the European Free Alliance (EFA), Lorena Lopez de Lacalle, asked about the
steps they would take to ensure that Greece’s Muslim Turkish minority can
exercise their right to education without compromising their religious duties,
the EFA said in a statement.
The letter, which was sent to European Commissioner
for Equality Helena Dalli, expressed the party’s concern about a recent decree
banning minority primary schools in the regions where most of Greece’s Muslim
Turkish minority is concentrated from closing early on Fridays to allow their
students to attend prayers, according to the statement.
“Preventing school children from attending Friday
prayers constitutes discrimination against the Muslim community and (there are)
fears that the goal of such a decision is ‘assimilation,’ the statement said.
Against this background, the party said: “Will the
commission open an investigation to establish whether the actions of the Greek
authorities in this case constitute a violation of their obligations under
European law?”
The statement also drew attention to the current
situation of Turkish minority schools.
It underlined that the number of schools offering
curricula in both Turkish and Greek had declined from 230 to 103 in the last
two decades.
“Taken together, these measures suggest a deliberate
campaign to undermine the community’s rights both to practice their religion
freely and to receive education in their native language.”
Long struggle for rights
A Greek court ruling Wednesday denying an application
by the Turkish Union of Xanthi, one of the three most important organizations
of the Turkish minority of Western Thrace, to reregister came in response to a
ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) more than a decade ago that
Greece has never carried out.
Under the 2008 ECHR ruling, the right of Turks in
Western Thrace to use the word "Turkish" in names of associations was
guaranteed, but Athens has failed to carry out the ruling, effectively banning
the Turkish group’s identity.
Greece’s Western Thrace region is home to a Muslim
Turkish community of 150,000.
In 1983, the nameplate of the Turkish Union of Xanthi
(Iskece Turk Birligi) was removed and the group was completely banned in 1986
on the pretext that “Turkish” was in its name.
To apply the ECHR decision, in 2017, the Greek
parliament passed a law enabling banned associations to apply for
re-registration, but the legislation included major exceptions that complicated
applications.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Iran opposes war in Ukraine, ready to assist with
relief efforts: FM to Red Cross
03 March 2022
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has
renewed the call for a political settlement of the conflict pitting Russia
against Ukraine, saying Tehran is ready to cooperate with the International Red
Cross in providing humanitarian assistance.
In a phone call on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian and
President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer
discussed aid delivery in border areas of Ukraine and the humanitarian
situation in Yemen and Afghanistan as well as ways to boost bilateral
relations.
The Iranian foreign minister stressed the importance
of resolving the Ukraine crisis politically and said, “War is not a solution.”
Right after the conflict broke out, Iran began making
efforts to support its citizens in Ukraine and set up a special committee in
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to improve the humanitarian situation, he said.
The top Iranian diplomat called for strengthening
cooperation between the ICRC and the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) in
this regard.
On 24 February, Russia started an all-out military
operation in Ukraine after leaders of the self-proclaimed republic in the
Donbass region called for assistance in the face of shelling by Kiev’s army.
Moscow had just recognized the sovereignty of the breakaway republics.
Moscow says the goal of the invasion is to
“demilitarize” and “de-Nazify” Ukraine.
According to UN estimates, at least one million
Ukrainians have already fled to neighboring countries.
Maurer, for his part, briefed the Iranian foreign
minister on his talks with the Russian and Ukrainian officials about the
dispatch of humanitarian aid, the exchange of dead soldiers and the provision
of access to prisoners of war.
The ICRC president said Ukraine is grappling with a
tough and critical situation.
Amir-Abdollahian and Maurer agreed that medical and
relief teams of the IRCS and the ICRC would be deployed in border areas to help
the displaced.
Iran explains abstention from UN anti-Russia
resolution
Meanwhile, Iran’s Permanent Ambassador to the United
Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi explained why Tehran abstained from voting on an
anti-Russian UN General Assembly resolution.
“We believe that the current text of the resolution
before the General Assembly lacks impartiality and realistic mechanisms for
resolving the crisis through peaceful means. Furthermore, not all member states
of the United Nations were given the opportunity to engage in negotiations on
the text of the resolution,” Takht Ravanchi said on Wednesday.
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted
in favor of a United States- and Albania-drafted anti-Russian resolution. A
similar resolution was not upheld in the Security Council because Russia-- a
permanent member, vetoed it.
The Assembly adopted the resolution, with 141 votes in
favor, five negative votes, and 35 abstentions.
It “deplores” Russia’s ongoing military operation in
Ukraine, demanding that Moscow stop fighting and withdraw its military forces.
Takht Ravanchi said Iran is pursuing the ongoing
conflict between Russia and Ukraine with grave concern and reiterated Tehran’s
principled stance on the need for a peaceful settlement of disputes in
accordance with international law and for all parties to fully respect the
well-established provisions of the UN Charter and international humanitarian
law.
“We emphasize that sovereignty and territorial
integrity of all states must be fully respected and safety and security of all
civilians must be guaranteed,” the Iranian diplomat said.
He stressed the importance of addressing the root
causes of such crises in order to find long-term and sustainable solutions to
them, saying, “We note that the current complexities in the fragile region of
Eastern Europe have been exacerbated by the provocative actions and decisions
of the US and NATO. The security concerns of Russia must be respected.”
He expressed Iran’s opposition to wars and destruction
inflicted on civilian lives and infrastructures, no matter where they occur.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran calls for urgent
cessation of hostilities and de-escalation of tensions in the current conflict.
In this regard, Iran underlines the essentiality of dialogue to address issues
of concerns to all sides leading to long-lasting results,” Takht Ravanchi added.
He urged the UN to avoid double standards,
particularly on issues related to the maintenance of international peace and
security, saying, “It is unfortunate to note that the UN, in particular the
Security Council, has at times neglected this principle which has undermined
its credibility. A case in point is the Security Council’s handling of the
conflict in Yemen.”
Source: Press TV
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Muslim communities in Europe urged to help fleeing
Ukrainians
March 01, 2022
ROME: The Union of Islamic Communities of Italy has
urged Muslim communities in the country and across Europe to “open the doors of
their centers so they can be safe havens for those fleeing from war in
Ukraine.”
Muslim communities throughout Italy have been
organizing local initiatives to collect food and medicine to be donated to
Ukraine, in cooperation with Catholic organizations.
“Our prayers and our religious values of acceptance
towards human life must be transformed into concrete actions,” said the union.
“Every possible resource must be made available to
welcome everyone in need, so that the Islamic communities can support the
rescue of civilians,” it added.
“We continue to pray for all civilian victims and for
peace, in the hope that the international community will promptly mobilize for
an immediate ceasefire and for the activation of a humanitarian corridor.”
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2033996/world
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Defence lawyers seek to restrict testimony from Daesh
‘slave’
March 02, 2022
FALLS CHURCH: Defense lawyers for a British national
facing trial later this month for helping the Daesh group torture and behead
American hostages are seeking to block testimony from a Kurdish girl held as a
slave by the group.
The girl, identified only as Jane Doe in court
documents, was abducted at age 15 from Kurdistan in August 2014 and held by
Daesh. She spent several weeks in captivity with American Kayla Mueller, whose
death at the hands of Daesh will be a key issue at trial.
The defendant, El Shafee Elsheikh, is charged with
playing a key role in Mueller’s abduction, ransom and eventual death, along
with three other Americans: journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid
worker Peter Kassig.
In court papers filed late Tuesday, Elsheikh’s lawyers
say Jane Doe was told after her abduction to forget about her family because
she would be “selected for marriage” by a Daesh fighter.
Doe escaped, but she was caught the next morning and
beaten with sticks, belts and hoses. It was then that she was taken to a
prison, where Mueller was also held, according to the defense memo.
After a month, Doe, Mueller, and two other girls were
taken into captivity by a senior Daesh leader named Abu Sayyaf, where they were
locked in a bedroom other than when they were cleaning or gardening.
Doe escaped the home in October 2014 and made her way
back into Kurdish custody. Information she provided helped US fighters launch a
raid in May 2015 that killed Abu Sayyaf and other Daesh fighters, according to
the memo.
Mueller, who was killed in February 2015, was raped by
Daesh leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, during her time in captivity, according to
the indictment.
Inside the house, US fighters recovered Daesh
documents justifying slavery and guidelines for how it should be implemented.
Elsheikh’s lawyers are seeking to keep the slavery
documents from being introduced at trial, and want to severely limit Doe’s
testimony, restricting it only to her time in captivity with Mueller.
The evidence “is unduly inflammatory and would only
cause undue prejudice against Mr. Elsheikh, confuse the issues, and mislead the
jury by imputing the actions of others to Mr. Elsheikh,” defense lawyers Nina
Ginsberg, Edward MacMahon and Jessica Carmichael wrote.
While Doe’s testimony may not central to the case
against Elsheikh, it provides a glimpse into some of the emotionally powerful
evidence jurors will confront if the case indeed goes to trial at the end of
the month.
Elsheikh is one of four British nationals who joined
Daesh, dubbed “the Beatles” by their captives because of their accents.
Elsheikh and a co-defendant, Alexenda Kotey, were captured in Syria in 2018 and
brought to Virginia in 2020 to stand trial in federal court.
Kotey pleaded guilty last year and is awaiting
sentencing. A third Beatle, Mohammed Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John,” was
killed in a 2015 drone strike. The fourth member was sentenced to prison in
Turkey.
Federal prosecutors will respond to the defense memo
about Jane Doe at a later date. So far, though, prosecutors have been
successful in turning aside defense efforts to restrict evidence at trial. The
presiding judge, T.S. Ellis III, ruled earlier this year that prosecutors can
use incriminating statements Elsheikh made in interrogations and in media
interviews. Defense lawyers argued unsuccessfully that the statements were
coerced.
As for the slavery documents, defense lawyers argue
that it would be unfair to ascribe them to Elsheikh because he did not write
them. But in a 2018 interview with journalist Jenan Moussa after he was
captured, Elsheikh said slavery was justified under Islamic law.
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2034856/world
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UN nuclear watchdog will ‘never abandon’ Iran probe
March 02, 2022
VIENNA: The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said
Wednesday that it would “never abandon” its attempts to get Iran to clarify the
previous presence of nuclear material at several undeclared sites there.
Iran has said the closure of the probe is necessary in
order to clinch a deal to revive the 2015 deal with world powers on its nuclear
program.
However, on Wednesday International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi insisted that it would “never
abandon a process... because of a political reason.”
“This is not how the IAEA works,” he told reporters at
a press conference.
The IAEA has been pressing Tehran for several years
for explanations regarding indications that nuclear material was previously
present at four different locations in Iran.
While much of the activity concerned is thought to
date back to the early 2000s, sources say that one of the sites, in the
Turquzabad district of Tehran, may have been used for storing uranium as late
as the end of 2018.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh
said on Monday that unless this issue is closed, “we can’t think of the
possibility of an agreement about the return of the US” to the Iran nuclear
deal.
Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran
and Russia restarted talks in late November to revive the 2015 accord, also
known as the JCPOA.
The US has been taking part indirectly.
The accord began disintegrating when former US
President Donald Trump withdrew from it 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
This week is widely being seen as critical for the
success or failure of the talks, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying
Wednesday that a decision “cannot be postponed any longer.”
When asked by reporters what it would take for him to
close the issue of the sites, Grossi replied simply: “Iran to cooperate with
me” in the form of a “full process to clarify” outstanding questions.
He didn’t rule out a possible visit to Tehran soon in
order to discuss the issue.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN in Vienna Mikhail
Ulyanov said the negotiations were “one minute from the finish line” and that
the war in Ukraine had not affected Russia’s co-operation with other
participants.
Source: Arab News
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India
Karnataka: Harsha Hindu’s Sister Forced to Take
Islamophobic Oath Even As She Attempted to Refrain from It
2nd March 2022
After losing her 23-year-old-brother to communal gang
rivalries, Harsha Hindu’s sister who had called for overall peace was forced to
take an Islamophobic oath even as she attempted to refrain from taking part.
The sister of slain Bajrang Dal activist, Harsha Hindu
who was brutally stabbed to death by a few assailants in Shivamogga district,
Karnataka, on February 20, had earlier appealed for overall peace, days after
her brother’s death, as she sought justice for him.
At a memorial for her brother, the woman attempted to
refrain from taking an oath against buying from Muslim business establishments,
however, she was repeatedly persuaded by people to take part in the activity.
A video of the same has surfaced on Twitter, which was
originally shared by a local media house from Karnataka.
The distraught sister kept pulling back her hand while
crying uncontrollably. She folded her hands to pray instead as the group of
people took the Islamophobic oath.
Speaking to media following Harsha’s death, the
aggrieved sister had called for peace while persuading people to refrain from
creating communal disharmony.
Source: Siasat Daily
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Urs Celebrations Coincides With the
Mahashivaratri: Kalaburagi Tense as
Curbs around Ladle Mashak Dargah Flouted
Mar 2, 2022
KALABURAGI: Tension prevailed at the Ladle Mashak
Dargah in Aland in Kalaburagi on Tuesday, with Hindus and Muslims sparring over
their respective rights to celebrate at the site. With the Urs celebrations at
the Dargah coinciding with the Mahashivaratri festival, the otherwise peaceful
site witnessed scenes of confrontation on Tuesday.
Anticipating unrest, police had clamped prohibitory
orders under Section 144 of CrPC around the dargah. Despite a large number of
devotees descending on the dargah, police were successful in keeping them at
least 100m away from the shrine. However, activists from various Hindu outfits
trooped into Aland in trucks, and the group started moving towards the dargah,
with MLAs Subhash Guttedar, Basavaraj Mattimud, Rajkumar Patil Telkur and Union
minister Bhagawant Khooba leading the ad hoc padayatra.
Members of Muslim, besides accusing BJP functionaries
and Hindu outfit members of violating the prohibitory orders, started
assembling in large numbers.
Leaders of the Hindu outfit Sri Rama Sene called on
Hindus to carry out a purification ceremony for the memorial of Guru
Raghavachaitanya, while leading members of the local Muslim community planned a
Sandal procession in response. But the management of the Ladle Mashak Dargah
remained firm in keeping the gates of the shrine closed, and refusing entry to
all. They made it clear that religious rituals would not be held at the dargah
on Tuesday.
Kalaburagi SP Isha Pant, who rushed to Aland, tried to
negotiate a compromise by offering 11 Hindu leaders a chance to perform rituals
at the dargah. However, the dargah committee refused to open the gate. Isha
Pant subsequently held a series of meetings with leaders of both groups, and
the committee members, and was able to defuse the situation.
Meanwhile, Siddalinga Swami of Karneshwar Math, who
tried to enter Aland, was taken into custody by police, while Chaitra Kundapur,
a Hindu activist, bound for the Kalaburagi town, was prevented from continuing
her journey in Yadgir. Sri Rama Sene president Pramod Muthalik was barred from
entering Kalaburagi as a precautionary measure.
Source: Times Of India
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India, Pakistan, China among 35 nations to abstain
from voting on anti-Russia resolution
Mar 3, 2022
NEW DELHI: India, along with China and Pakistan, was
among 35 countries which abstained from voting on a resolution deploring in the
strongest terms Russia’s actions in Ukraine and demanding that Russia
“immediately, completely, and unconditionally” withdraw all of its military
forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised
borders. There was emphatic support for the resolution, which is not legally
binding but is said to convey the “popular will’’ of the 193-member body; it
was adopted with 141 votes in favour, well over two-thirds majority.
While Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the neighbourhood
abstained, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan voted in favour of the
resolution against Russia. There was some embarrassment for Moscow as it found
support only from Eritrea, Belarus, North Korea and Syria in voting against.
That the resolution had widespread support was evident from the fact that it
was co-sponsored by close to 100 countries.
You have successfully cast your vote
India’s abstention is in line with what the government
has described as its consistent position that allows it to reach out to both
sides to find the middle ground and foster dialogue and diplomacy. India had
abstained from a similar resolution in the UNSC too along with China and UAE.
It also abstained from a procedural vote for referring the matter to UNGA.
Explaining India’s vote, Indian ambassador TS
Tirumurti demanded safe and uninterrupted passage for all Indians, including
Indian students stranded in the conflict zone, particularly Kharkiv, and said
it remained India’s foremost priority. He expressed condolences to the family
members of the Indian student who died in Kharkiv and also all civilians who
lost their lives, adding that India supported the international community’s
call for an immediate ceasefire and safe humanitarian access to conflict zones.
Tirumurti reiterated India’s call for dialogue and
diplomacy and expressed hope that the second round of talks between Russia and
Ukraine will lead to a positive outcome. In what is seen as a message for
Russia, he also reiterated India’s position that the UN Charter, international
law and principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected.
Source: Times Of India
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Jain group seeks Centre’s nod to travel to Pakistan
Suhasini Haidar
MARCH 02, 2022
Hard-fought visas of a group of 22 members run out on
Sunday
As India–Pakistan tensions and the land border closure
post– COVID hold up all religious pilgrimages between the two countries, a
group of 22 members of the Jain faith have appealed to the Ministry of Home
Affairs to allow them to go to Pakistan to visit a shrine that has been
restored after decades.
The group, led by Jalandhar-based activist Sunil Jain,
who heads the World Jain-Muslim Interfaith Harmony Council, received visas to
travel to Lahore on February 21, which will expire on March 7, unless they
receive clearances from the MHA and the Immigration Department to travel via
the Atari-Wagah border in Punjab.
Among the shrines they hope to see is a temple in
Gujranwala, which was only recently being used as the local Deputy
Superintendent of Police’s (DSP) office, and another shrine in Lahore that was
attacked and seriously damaged in riots that followed the demolition of the
Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.
Both shrines are among a number of temples being
restored by the Imran Khan government after the Pakistan Supreme Court ordered
that they be reconstructed and handed over to the minorities welfare board.
The group also received a special visa for a ‘Maharaj’
or special cook who is able to prepare food according to the strict Jain
customs which prohibit onions, garlic, root vegetables and other items, Mr.
Jain said. Members include Jains from Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Punjab and
Uttar Pradesh.
“What could be more frustrating than this,” Mr. Jain
told The Hindu, who has made two fruitless visits to the Atari check post and
came to Delhi to try and meet officials who could help.
“When we finally received the visas from Pakistan, we
were so happy we could visit our sacred shrines, which are just a few dozen
kilometres away across the border, only to find that we are being stopped by
our side,” he said.
Both the MEA and the MHA declined to comment on
whether the case would be resolved before their visas run out.
As The Hindu had reported a few weeks ago, religious
pilgrimages between India and Pakistan, mandated under a 1974 protocol, have been
reduced in the past few years due to tensions and the closure of the land
border due to Covid-19 regulations.
Despite India opening up travel and flights with many
countries, the land borders with Pakistan haven’t yet been reopened, although
as a special gesture, India and Pakistan have allowed truck convoys carrying
wheat as humanitarian aid for Afghanistan recently.
A proposal forwarded by the Pakistan government to New
Delhi to allow Hindu, Sikh and Muslim pilgrims from both sides to take flights
has also run into red tape, after the Ministry of External Affairs said the
permission could only follow once India and Pakistan open talks to renegotiate
the 1974 protocol.
The Imran Khan government has refused to hold talks
with India and suspended trade ties after the Modi government’s decision to
change the status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
The only option open for the Jain group is to fly to
Pakistan via a third country like the UAE or Qatar, which is prohibitively
expensive. “It is the poor and the devout who are being hit the most by these
restrictions,” Mr. Jain said, admitting that his hopes of visiting Pakistan
appeared to be dimming with each passing day.
Mr. Jain, who visited Pakistan once in 2006, is
particularly keen on visiting the home his family abandoned in Sialkot during
the partition, after which they moved to Allahabad. Years later, a friend of
his grandfather visited the family in Allahabad, and promised him a big welcome
there.
No Jains live in Pakistan today, as most of this small
community moved to India during Partition, and those that remained are believed
to have emigrated to other countries or converted locally given the pressures
they faced from the majority Islamic population, and Jain shrines are hardly
ever visited.
The Gujranwala Jain temple of “Acharya Atmaramji”, for
example, lay in disuse from 1947 to 1984, when it was commandeered by the local
police authorities for their offices. The temple was built around a ‘samadhi’
to consecrate the ashes of one of the Jain faith’s most renowned Gurus —
Vijayanand Suri — who died in 1895.
Acharya Atmaram was among those invited to the “World
Religions Parliament” conference held in Chicago in 1893, where Swami
Vivekananda had famously represented India and Hinduism.
Source: The Hindu
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Arab
World
YPG/PKK terror group recruits 4 more children in
northern Syria
Eşref Musa
02.03.2022
TAL ABYAD, Syria
The YPG/PKK terror group kidnapped and recruited four
more children in the Aleppo governorate, northern Syria, local sources said on
Wednesday.
The children aged 14-16 were recruited in the Ayn
al-Arab region, the sources told Anadolu Agency.
The terrorists kidnapped 14-year-old Sevsen Dervis and
16-year-old Nisrin Habas from the Eshme village on Feb. 26.
They also kidnapped 14-year-old Muhammed and
14-year-old Diyar Muhammed from the al-Hajib village on Feb. 28.
The terror group kidnapped at least 19 children
between Oct. 1 and Dec. 15 last year, according to a Syrian Human Rights
Network (SNHR) report published on Dec. 16.
The terror group's recruitment and exploitation of
children in the conflict-hit country were also reflected in UN reports.
On Jan. 16, 2020, the UN Human Rights Council shared
findings that YPG/PKK terrorists are using children as fighters in Syria.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Lebanon’s political, economic elite ‘abusing’
country’s banking system: US Treasury
02 March ,2022
Senior US officials from the Treasury Department told
Lebanese officials during a recent trip to Beirut that the country’s political
and economic elite were “abusing” the banking system, a statement released
Wednesday said.
“The delegation also raised concerns about abuses
within the banking system by members of the political and economic elite,” a
statement from the Treasury Department said.
The delegation, led by Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary Paul Ahern and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa and MENA Eric
Meyer, was in Lebanon for a three-day visit.
They met with Lebanese officials, civil society
members and the members of the banking sector to “reiterate the US government’s
commitment to stand with the Lebanese people during this time of economic
turmoil.”
According to World Bank estimates, Lebanon is
experiencing one of the worst economic disasters in history.
An IMF program is said to be the only way out of the crisis,
exacerbated by decades of corruption and mismanagement by the political elite.
They emphasized the need to make serious efforts to
investigate those abuses, particularly by the Banque du Liban and the Special
Investigation Commission. They pressed for the appropriate authorities to
conduct investigations and perform due diligence on any related transactions.
The US officials raised the “crippling nature of
systemic corruption” during their meetings and stressed that tackling
corruption was a “pre-requisite to tackling the governance and economic
crisis.”
Separately, the US officials deplored “unregulated,
pseudo-financial institutions,” citing Hezbollah’s Al-Qard al-Hassan and said
such examples jeopardized the credibility of the Lebanese financial system.
The Treasury officials also raised concerns about
“abuses within the banking system by members of the political and economic
elite.”
They pressed for the needed investigations and due
diligence on any transactions.
“The Treasury officials also thanked the Lebanese
government for its strong stance opposing the unjustified, unprovoked, and
premeditated invasion of Ukraine,” the statement said.
Source: Al Arabiya
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IMF could visit Lebanon mid-March to discuss aid
program: Deputy PM
02 March ,2022
An International Monetary Fund delegation could visit
Lebanon in the second half of March to continue discussions on an aid program
supported by reforms, Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami said in a
statement on Wednesday.
Lebanese officials held talks with the IMF last month
with the aim of securing a deal seen as the only way to secure the country’s
exit from a 2019 financial meltdown that has crashed the currency and left most
of the population poor.
An IMF technical team visited Lebanon from Feb. 28 to
March 1 “to take stock of the work done already and outline the next steps
needed to reach an agreement on the IMF program,” the statement said.
These would include “some legislations required prior
to taking the program to the Executive Board of the IMF for final approval.”
Sources briefed on the February talks previously told
Reuters these would include lifting or amending the country’s strict banking
secrecy regulations, credited with boosting Lebanon’s economy in the past but
now seen as hiding ill-gotten gains and enabling tax dodging.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Arab Coalition, ICRC exchange information on alleged
Yemen prison strike
02 March ,2022
The Arab Coalition said on Wednesday that it met with
the International Committee of the Red Cross and exchanged information and
facts that pertain to allegations of targeting a prison in Yemen’s Saada in
January, state news agency (SPA) reported.
“A constructive meeting was held with the ICRC team in
the coalition’s Joint Forces Command [headquarters],” the coalition said,
adding that it will continue to coordinate and exchange information with the
ICRC.
On January 21, several media outlets reported that the
coalition conducted an airstrike that killed detainees in a prison run by the
Iran-backed Houthi militia.
However, an investigation launched by the Joint
Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) on the alleged targeted prison strike by the
Arab Coalition has revealed the location to be a “Special Security Camp in
Saada, which is a legitimate military target.”
Brigadier General Turki al-Malki, an official
spokesperson of the Arab Coalition, had slammed the allegations and insisted
“they are part of a blatant attempt to mislead the public opinion regarding the
true nature of the location in an attempt to garner sympathy from UN
organizations and INGOs,” in a statement first reported by the Saudi Press
Agency.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Saudi Arabia Is Essential Pillar Of Regional Security:
Bahrain's King Hamad
02 March ,2022
Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said on
Wednesday that Saudi Arabia is an essential pillar of the region’s security and
stability, state news agency (SPA) reported.
The Bahraini king, who arrived in Riyadh earlier on
Wednesday, met with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and discussed recent regional
developments, the report added.
Upon his arrival to the Kingdom, the Bahraini king
said that the Kingdom’s security is part and parcel of Bahrain’s security,
adding that the Kingdom is a “safety valve” against threats the region faces.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Saudi Arabia’s authorities thwart attempt to smuggle
over 17 tons of khat
02 March ,2022
Saudi Arabia’s authorities have thwarted an attempt to
smuggle 547 kilograms of hashish and 17.6 tons of the stimulant khat into the
Kingdom, the state news agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday.
Security patrols that thwarted the smuggling attempt
in the areas of Jizan, Asir, and Najran arrested 51 people of whom 31 are Saudi
citizens, 14 are Ethiopian, five are Yemeni and one is Eritrean.
All the arrested foreigners have violated the border
regulations, the report added.
Authorities have been increasingly cracking down on
those involved in smuggling, distributing, or possessing illicit drugs in the
Kingdom.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Saudi Arabia, Cyprus leaders conclude meeting with
joint statement, greater ties
02 March ,2022
Saudi Arabia and Cyprus leaders concluded an official
visit on Tuesday with stronger plans to improve cooperation across various
fields, including sustainable tourism, developing further private sector
connections, and steps to encourage mutual investment opportunities.
The action plan was shared in a joint statement
carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) after Saudi Arabia’s Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman concluded a formal meeting with the President of
Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades.
The duo agreed on many threats that face the Kingdom,
including ISIS and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, with reassurances of unity
granted by the Cypriot ruler.
Both sides “praised the cooperation and coordination”
in security over the past years and expressed interest to “enhance that
cooperation.”
The statement also set expectations for a number of
“joint initiatives in the fields of culture and antiquities, food and medicine,
digitization, cybersecurity, and financial services.”
More bilateral visits by governing bodies and their
representatives are expected in the coming months, as the two countries agreed
to foster greater ties in the governmental level, according to SPA.
The statement also said that relationships between the
European Union and Saudi Arabia were “reviewed,” and talks were held regarding
the “strengthening of participation in the context of the institutional
framework of the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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Mideast
Iran Blasts Politically-Tainted Reports by UN Human
Rights Rapporteur
2022-March-2
Qaribabadi made the remarks in a meeting with UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on the sidelines of the 49th UN
Human Rights Conference on Human Rights in Geneva.
He said that the appointed UN rapporteur on Iran by
preparing unreal reports, has practically been turned into a political
instrument that acts beyond the entire defined rules of the UN human rights
rapporteurs, and enters fields which are contrary to his defined duties.
Qaribabadi emphasized that the Islamic Republic of
Iran’s will to improve the level of observing the human rights is based on the
Islamic Republic of Iran Constitution and the rules in Islamic jurisprudence,
and the new Iranian government and Judiciary Force have both made certain
practical moves that are quite tangible in improvement of the human rights.
He said that the Universal Periodic Review is the best
way to improve the level of observation of the human rights in countries.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique
process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member
States.
Qaribabadi said that in addition to the UPR, the
Islamic Republic of Iran had during the course of the past 18 months prepared a
report on its observation of the UN 2020 proposals on observation of the human
rights, which will be presented to the ongoing UN Human Rights Council.
He said that the Special UN Rapporteur has been turned
into a channel dispatching the false news of the terrorist groups, whose hands
are stained with the blood of the Iranian nation.
“That terrorist group’s members are now freely
frequenting in the capital cities of those countries that have contributed to
the drafting of the UN Rapporteur’s resolution, acting against the Iranian
nation,” Qaribabadi added.
He presented a long list of 12,000 signatures by the
people who have been harmed due to the terrorist acts of the anti-Iran
Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO also known as MEK, NCRI or PMOI) terrorist
group members.
He said that the MKO has assassinated over 12,000
innocent people in Iran and has still preserved its terrorist nature, but
unfortunately its members freely frequent in Europe and the US, planning and
guiding their new terrorist acts.
In relevant remarks on Monday, the Iranian human
rights official said the Islamic Republic is one of the biggest victims of
terrorism and thousands of innocent Iranian people have been killed or wounded
by terrorist groups over the past 43 years.
He added that the MKO terrorist group has carried out
the most acts of terror against the Iranian people which amount to crimes
against humanity and noted that out of the 17,000-plus people who have lost
their lives in terror attacks, 12,000 of them were killed at the hands of the
MKO terrorist group.
Qaribabadi said that this terrorist group, with its
dark history, has had administrative organizations in some European countries
from the very beginning and their agents have traveled freely across European
countries and the US without any restrictions or legal prosecution while some
of these countries have become a safe haven for the terrorists.
He asked, "How can some countries that claim to
advocate human rights and fight terrorism, call a group that has on its hand
the blood of thousands of innocent women and children in Iran, Syria and Iraq
... as defenders of human rights?! How can this contradiction be
justified?!"
Source: Fars News Agency
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Iranian
Air Force Commander in Pakistan to Bolster Cooperation
2022-March-2
General
Vahedi made the remarks in a meeting with Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air
Force Zaheer Ahmad Babar on Tuesday during the third day of his official visit
to Pakistan.
He
pointed to the oppressive and cruel sanctions imposed against Iran over the
past 43 years, and said, “Despite sanctions, Iranian Army Air Force managed to
gain salient achievements during these years in a way that the Air Force of the
country is able to manufacture all parts and equipment needed.”
Air
forces of Iran and Pakistan have made good progresses in various areas, he
stressed.
During
the meeting, Pakistan Air Force commander said that his country is determined
to expand and broaden cooperation with Iran in the relevant field.
It
is hoped that more solidarity between Iran and Pakistan cooperation will
develop cooperation between the two countries especially in military and air
fields, he added.
General
Babar also said that Pakistan and Islamic Republic of Iran have long-standing
religious, cultural and historical ties, which are reflected in the strong ties
between the two air forces.
He
reaffirmed his determination to further strengthen bilateral cooperation
between the two brotherly countries of Iran and Pakistan.
General
Vahedi also met and held talks with Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Qamar
Javed Bajwa in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi on Wednesday.
The
two sides discussed recent developments related to bilateral cooperation
between Iran and Pakistan, specially the development of relations between the
armed forces of the two countries.
Referring
to his meetings with Pakistani officials over the past three days, Brigadier
General Vahedi stressed the importance of strengthening defense and military
cooperation between Iran and Pakistan as two influential countries in the
region and the Islamic world.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of
the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001211000629/Iranian-Air-Frce-Cmmander-in-Pakisan-Blser-Cperain
--------
Iran
Slams UNSC’s Resolution against Ansarullah
2022-March-2
The
resolution “bears negative repercussions for the path towards peace”, Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Tuesday.
The
resolution, he added, has been adopted in line with “the political
considerations and lobbying of members of the aggressor coalition.”
It,
therefore, runs counter to the efforts that are being spent to revive the
political process by further distancing the positions of the parties to the
conflict, noted the official.
Khatibzadeh
slammed the Security Council for having “distanced itself from its inherent
duties” regarding Yemen since the onset of the Saudi-led war and turning a
blind eye to the crimes committed by the aggressors.
This,
he added, had contributed to “systematic and serious violations of the
international humanitarian laws, massacre of civilians, extensive destruction
of civilian infrastructure, and illegal embargo of [Yemen’s] ports and
airports,” amid international silence.
Such
an approach further complicates the prospect of achieving a “fair” and
“lasting” peace, Khatibzadeh added.
His
comments referred to the Monday vote of the 15-member Council in favor of
expanding a targeted UN arms embargo on several leaders of the Houthi
Ansarullah movement to the entire group.
The
movement has taken charge of running Yemen since 2015, when the country’s
former Western- and Saudi-allied government fled amid a political crisis
refusing to stay behind and negotiate a solution.
A
Saudi-led coalition featuring many of Riyadh’s allies then invaded Yemen to
reinstate the officials.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001211000346/Iran-Slams-UNSC%E2%80%99s-Reslin-agains-Ansarllah
--------
Iran
Condemns US Senator’s “Hateful” Remarks
2022-March-2
In
its letter to the UNSC, the Iranian mission condemned the US senator's hateful
remarks, and warned of the Israeli regime's adventure and its consequences for
peace and security in the region.
Such
disgusting, hateful, and reprehensible remarks act as a green light to the
Israeli regime to carry out more terrorist acts against Iranian nuclear
scientists and this shows the US clear violation of international obligations,
particularly the resolutions which ban countries from inciting terrorist acts,
the letter read.
The
international community in general and the Security Council, in particular,
must strongly condemn such provocative actions and encouragement to terrorist
acts that destabilize the region, Iran's UN mission said.
Warning
that the Israeli regime's adventure will have consequences for peace and
security in the region, Iran's mission said that the Islamic Republic reserves
the right to take all necessary measures in accordance with international law
to respond to such moves.
Iranian
nuclear scientists have been the target of the western and Israeli spy
agencies' assassination attempts in recent years.
In
June 2012, Iran announced that its intelligence forces had identified and
arrested all terrorist elements behind the assassination of the country's
nuclear scientists.
In
the fifth attack of its kind in two years, terrorists killed a 32-year-old
Iranian scientist, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, and his driver on January 11, 2012.
The
blast took place on the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Iranian
university professor and nuclear scientist, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, who was also
assassinated in a terrorist bomb attack in Tehran in January 2010.
The
assassination method used in the bombing was similar to the 2010 terrorist bomb
attacks against the then university professor, Fereidoun Abbassi Davani – who
became the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization - and his colleague Majid
Shahriari. While Abbasi Davani survived the attack, Shahriari was martyred.
Another
Iranian scientist, Dariush Rezaeinejad, was also assassinated through the same
method on 23 July 2011.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Israel
arrests dozens of Palestinians in West Bank raids
Awad
al-Rujoub
02.03.2022
RAMALLAH,
Palestine
Israeli
army forces rounded up dozens of Palestinians in overnight raids across the
occupied West Bank, according to a local NGO on Wednesday.
In
a statement, the Asra Media Office said 16 Palestinians were detained in the
town of Husan, west of Bethlehem, 13 in Silat al-Harithiya town, west of Jenin,
four in Nablus, and two in Qalqilya.
Israeli
forces also arrested a Palestinian lawyer running in the March 26 local
elections in Hebron, the statement said.
There
was no comment from the Israeli military on the arrests.
The
Israeli army frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the
occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on the pretext of searching for “wanted”
Palestinians.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Hamas
calls for intensified resistance against Israeli terrorism after 3 Palestinians
killed in less than 24 hours
02
March 2022
The
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has condemned the murder of three
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in less than 24 hours as a “serious”
escalation that should be met with intensified resistance.
“There
is no way to deter the [Israeli] occupation except by more force,” the national
relations department of Hamas in the West Bank said in a statement on
Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Information Center.
The
statement said the strongest response to the Israeli terrorism would be to
intensify resistance and inflict heavy losses on Israeli forces during their
raids on the Palestinian cities.
The
statement came as three Palestinians were killed at the hands of Israeli forces
in the West Bank on Tuesday.
Israeli
forces killed two young Palestinian men, identified as Abdullah al-Husari and
Shadi Khaled Najm, during a deadly raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West
Bank early on Tuesday.
Later
in the day, Israeli forces shot dead a third Palestinian identified as Ammar
Shafiq Abu Afifa near the town of Beit Fajar, south of Bethlehem.
Israel
occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — territories the Palestinians want
for a future state — during the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War in 1967. It later had
to withdraw from Gaza.
More
than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967
occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank.
All
the settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council
has condemned the illegal settlement activities in a series of resolutions.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
FM:
UNSC resolution on Yemen violates UN charter, serves interests of those
embroiled in war crimes
02
March 2022
Yemeni
Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf Abdullah has slammed the latest UN Security
Council resolution on Yemen as “provocative," saying it serves the
interests of aggressors not Yemenis.
The
UNSC adopted a resolution, proposed by the United Arab Emirates, on Monday, to
expand a targeted UN arms embargo on several leaders of the popular Ansarullah
resistance movement to the entire group.
The
controversial anti-Ansarullah resolution strongly condemned counterattacks by
Yemeni fighters, including those on Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and demands their
immediate cessation.
Abdullah
told Yemen’s Saba news agency on Wednesday that the Security Council adopted a
resolution that serves the interests of the member countries of the Saudi-led
coalition waging war on Yemen “thanks to the temporary membership of one of the
aggressor countries in the UNSC,” in an apparent reference to the United Arab
Emirates.
He
noted that the resolution is unprecedented in the history of the Security
Council as the body gave up its role to maintain international peace and
security, and rather served the interests of those embroiled in the crimes
committed against Yemenis over the past seven years.
Yemen's
top diplomat further said, “It is shameful and ridiculous that one of the
aggressors against Yemen" proposes a resolution to impose new sanctions
against the country.
Abdullah
noted that the latest UNSC resolution constitutes a “clear violation” of the UN
charter that affirms the peoples’ right to self-defense.
He
reiterated that any attack launched by Yemeni forces against targets belonging
to the member countries of the coalition came as a "natural response"
to the war crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen since March
2015, stressing that the Yemeni troops, unlike the aggressors, don’t target
civilians.
The
minister also called on the UNSC to continue to support the efforts aimed at
reaching a political, peaceful, and fair settlement that addresses the
humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Saudi aggression on Yemen and the siege
imposed on the country. He also urged the body not to side with the member
countries of the coalition in order not to lose its credibility.
Saudi
Arabia and a number of its regional allies – including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) –
launched a brutal war against Yemen in March 2015.
The
war was launched to eliminate Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstall
former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
The
war, accompanied by a tight siege, has failed to reach its goals, but it has
killed hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people. The UN refers to the situation
in Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Imam
Khamenei pardons, commutes sentences of 741 Iranian inmates
March
3, 2022
Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Wednesday
pardoned or commuted prison terms of hundreds of Iranian prisoners.
Head
of the Iranian Judiciary Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei had proposed the Supreme
Leader to pardon or commute prison terms of a total of 741 Iranian inmates on
the occasion of Eid al-Mab'ath (the day when Prophet Mohammad was appointed
prophet by God).
Source:
ABNA24
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Organisation
Of Islamic Cooperation Meet In Pakistan To Address Issues Of Muslim World:
Envoy
By
Ashwani Kumar
2
Mar 2022
The
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers’ meeting is an
important platform for Muslim majority countries to discuss challenges and
issues, a top envoy said in Abu Dhabi.
“It
is a platform to share ideas, views and issues commonly and individually faced
by countries with Muslims in majority. Islamic countries have a lot of reasons,
commonalities and potential, to sit together and find ways and means to address
various issues,” Afzaal Mahmood, Ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE, said on
Wednesday.
The
48th session of the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting will be held in Pakistan’s
capital city of Islamabad on March 22 and 23.
“The
meeting is taking place at a very interesting and challenging time. We have so
many issues to address together,” he noted.
Pakistan,
the envoy said, has been playing an active and effective role in making the OIC
an effective platform to discuss different challenges. On December 19 last
year, Islamabad hosted the Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign
Ministers Council to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
The
ambassador expects a “productive outcome” from this month’s meeting themed:
‘Partnering for Unity, Justice and Development’.
The
UAE will be participating in the event, Mahmood confirmed. “I met the Minister
of State for Foreign Affairs. We expect the highest level of representation.”
The
ambassador is unsure if the Russia-Ukraine crisis, with the former being an OIC
observer country, will be taken up for discussion.“It will be up to the members
when the decide the agenda of the meeting.”
“We
are hopeful that most of the OIC member countries will participate in the
Islamabad meeting at the highest level with the objective of deliberating over
regional and international issues of concern to the OIC and its member
countries. We are living in challenging world where unity among our ranks,
support for justice and development, together can make lots of difference in
the lives of people in the Muslim world,” Mahmood said.
Source:
Khaleej Times
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/oic-meet-in-pakistan-to-address-issues-of-muslim-world-envoy
--------
Pakistan
‘remains neutral’ as UNGA censures Russia
Anwar
Iqbal
March
3, 2022
UNITED
NATIONS: The UN General Assembly voted on Wednesday to censure Russia over its
invasion of Ukraine, demanded that Moscow stop fighting and urged it to
immediately withdraw its military forces.
However,
in a carefully-worded statement on the Ukrainian crisis, delivered in the UN
General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday, Pakistan emphasised the need to protect
territorial integrity of a state without threatening the national interests of
another.
Although
an overwhelming majority, 141, voted for the resolution, it remains non-binding
as a resolution has to be approved by the UN Security Council to be binding.
Besides
Russia, four other countries also voted against the resolution while 35 states,
including Pakistan, abstained.
On
the first two days of this emergency session on Ukraine, Pakistan watched
carefully as state after state blamed Russia for invading Ukraine and demanded
immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops from the occupied territory.
“Pakistan
is committed to the fundamental principles of the UN Charter:
self-determination of peoples, non-use or threat of use of force, sovereignty
and territorial integrity of States, and pacific settlement of disputes,”
Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram told the emergency session.
“Equally,
Pakistan upholds the principle of equal and indivisible security for all. These
principles must be consistently and universally respected.”
Besides
Russia, four other countries also voted against the resolution while 35 states,
including Pakistan, abstained.
Three
other South Asian nations, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, abstained, although
Nepal voted for the US-backed resolution.
China,
a major world power and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security
Council, also abstained.
This
would allay Pakistan’s fear of being isolated on an issue that has forced
Islamabad not to vote with the US as it seeks to improve its economic ties with
Russia.
The
pressure on Pakistan, and other UN members who were avoiding taking sides on
this delicate issue, increased on Tuesday when more than 100 diplomats from 40
nations walked out during Russia’s foreign minister speech at the Human Rights
Council.
Also
on Tuesday, Pakistan Foreign Office received a highly unusual letter from top
diplomats of 22 countries, urging Islamabad to support a UNGA resolution
condemning Russia’s aggression and demanding its immediate withdrawal.
The
signatories included EU member states and major non-European powers, such as
Australia, Canada and Japan.
Earlier
on Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan met with his top aides in Islamabad to
discuss the evolving situation in Ukraine and Pakistan’s position on the
conflict.
The
meeting was attended by Planning Minister Asad Umar, Energy Minister Hammad
Azhar, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, and the three services chiefs and
Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood briefed the participants on the Ukraine
conflict.
The
information minister told Dawn after the meeting that the sitting had approved
the text of the speech to be delivered by Pakistan’s permanent representative.
He
said it was decided that Pakistan would reiterate its stance opposing
aggression, and emphasizing diplomacy for resolution of conflicts. Pakistan, he
said, it was decided would abstain during the voting on the resolution for
stopping Russia aggression.
The
statement pointed out that in his latest comments on the issue, Prime Minister
Imran Khan had regretted the situation between Russia and Ukraine, hoping that
diplomacy could avert military conflict.
“We
have since repeatedly stressed the need for de-escalation, renewed
negotiations, sustained dialogue, and continuous diplomacy,” Ambassador Akram
said.
“All
efforts must be made to avoid further escalation of violence and loss of life
as well as military, political and economic tensions, which can pose an
unprecedented threat to international peace and security and global economic
stability.
“We
hope the talks initiated between representatives of the Russian Federation and
Ukraine will succeed in bringing about a cessation of hostilities and
normalisation of the situation,” he said.
“A
diplomatic solution in accordance with relevant multilateral agreements,
international law, and provisions of the UN Charter is indispensable.”
Ambassador
Akram pointed out that “Pakistan also supports all efforts to provide
humanitarian relief to civilians in the affected areas”.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1678013/pakistan-remains-neutral-as-unga-censures-russia
--------
Masjid
Wazir Khan case: Magistrate rejects acquittal pleas of Saba Qamar, Bilal Saeed
March
3, 2022
LAHORE:
A judicial magistrate on Wednesday dismissed acquittal applications of actor
Saba Qamar and singer Bilal Saeed in a case of alleged desecration of Wazir
Khan mosque and summoned them for indictment on the next hearing.
Earlier,
Ms Qamar, clad in a black burqa, and Saeed appeared before the court along with
their lawyer.
Asking
the court to allow the acquittal applications, the defence counsel argued that
there was a delay of ten days in registration of the FIR.
He
said an inquiry conducted by the Punjab Auqaf Department declared the
petitioners innocent. He said the report maintained that no immoral act had
been committed in the mosque.
He
said no dance or music took place at the mosque as alleged in the FIR. He said
the petitioners had been implicated in the case for ulterior motives.
Also
read: Saba Qamar, Bilal Saeed indicted in desecration case
The
counsel argued that there was no probability of the conviction of the
petitioners in any offence and any further proceedings in the case would be a
futile exercise.
Opposing
the acquittal, a prosecutor argued that the petitioners performed dance in the
mosque. He said a video of the dance was available with the prosecution. He
asked the court to dismiss the acquittal applications of the petitioners and
let the prosecution establish its case with evidence.
The
magistrate dismissed the applications and summoned both celebrities on March 16
for indictment.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
3
dead, more than 20 injured in blast on Quetta's Fatima Jinnah Road
Ghalib
Nihad
March
2, 2022
Three
people, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), were killed while 24
people were injured in a blast near a police van at Quetta's Fatima Jinnah
Road, officials said on Wednesday.
Speaking
to the media, DIG Operations Fida Hussain said that a police mobile from the
City police station was in the area around 7pm when a loud explosion took
place.
He
said that the nature of the blast was being ascertained, but added that 2-2.5
kilogrammes of explosives were used.
Hussain
also identified one of the deceased as a DSP, adding that 24 people — including
police officials — were injured.
Quetta
Civil Hospital Spokesperson Dr Waseem Baig said that the injured were being
transported to the hospital for medical treatment.
Balochistan
Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, in a statement, strongly condemned the
incident. He also directed hospitals to impose an emergency and for all doctors
and paramedical staff to ensure their presence.
"Cowardly
terrorists targeted innocent citizens in a terrorist attack," he said.
"Efforts are being made to disrupt peace in Quetta and the province under
a planned and well-thought-out conspiracy."
The
chief minister said terrorists and their sponsors were receiving "external
support", directing the IG to submit a detailed report of the incident.
"All
resources should be utilised to bring those responsible for the incident to
justice," the chief minister said in his directives, also telling
officials to make security arrangements in the city more effective.
Meanwhile,
Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab prayed for those killed and injured in the
incident. "Terrible news coming from Quetta," he said on Twitter.
There
has been an uptick in violence in Balochistan with several attacks and
explosions reported since the start of the year.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1677906/3-dead-more-than-20-injured-in-blast-on-quettas-fatima-jinnah-road
--------
At
least three killed in southwest Pakistan blast
Mar
2, 2022
QUETTA,
PAKISTAN: At least three people were killed and 18 others injured in a bomb
blast on Wednesday in Pakistan's troubled southwestern province of Balochistan,
which borders on Afghanistan and Iran, officials said.
The
roadside explosion occurred as a police van travelled through the provincial
capital of Quetta, which is home to several separatist and Islamist
insurgencies.
"At
least three people are dead including a senior police officer," Fida
Hussain Shah, a senior police official, told AFP, adding that the attack was
believed to have targeted police.
"It
was an improvised explosive device and apparently two to three kilograms of
explosive was used," he added.
He
said 18 people were injured in the incident including four police.
Waseem
Baig, a spokesperson for Quetta's Civil Hospital also confirmed the death toll
while putting the number of injured at 25.
Balochistan
is Pakistan's largest and poorest province despite being rich in natural
resources.
The
country is fighting several low-level insurgencies in the province, waged by
Islamist, separatist and sectarian groups.
No
group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, however Baloch separatists
in recent months have increased attacks on security forces.
Last
month, at least nine soldiers were killed after insurgents attacked two army
check posts in the province.
Tensions
have been stoked further by a flood of Chinese investment under Beijing's Belt
and Road Initiative, which locals say has not reached them.
Source:
Times Of India
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of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
PM Imran Khan launches loan programme to help poor families
02nd
March 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday launched a PKRs 407 billion
interest-free loan programme aimed to help 4.5 million poor families become
self reliant, as part of measures to ease burden on masses as Opposition
parties geared up efforts to topple his government.
The
Kamyab Pakistan Programme would help the families to start businesses,
construct homes, start farming and get technical education, Khan said while
addressing the launching ceremony at Faisal Mosque in the capital.
He
said that so far PKRs 2.5 billion had been disbursed by the government among
the low-income groups in various welfare schemes, while banks had issued loans
worth PKRs 55 billion to help the common man. "Kamyab Pakistan Programme,
aiming at taking the country towards a welfare state, will be further
expanded," he said, adding that it would benefit 4.5 million families.
The
programme envisages interest free loans of Rs 500,000 for businesses, Rs
350,000 for the farmers and 2,000,000 for the construction of houses. He said
technical training will also be provided to one member of each deserving family
in order to help them stand on their own feet.
Khan
said that various schemes have been launched in the country to transform
Pakistan into a welfare state, including the 'Naya Pakistan Health Card' to provide
free healthcare to everyone. The announcement of the loan scheme came just two
days after the prime minister slashed petroleum prices by Rs 10 and electricity
price by Rs 5 per unit.
On
asked how his government would provide funds to support cheap electricity and
petrol, Khan said that it was possible after the "record" tax
collection by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). "I want to thank the FBR
today for collecting record tax in Pakistan and because of this we have reduced
the petrol price by Rs 10 per litre and power tariff by Rs 5 per unit when
prices are on the rise internationally," he said.
He
also lauded the FBR for achieving February's revenue target of PKRs 441 billion
which showed a robust growth of 28.5 per cent. The announcement of the loan
programme came as the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) launched a protest on
Sunday from Karachi against Khan's government.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
horticulture exports hit by Russia-Ukraine war
By
Ghulam Abbas
March
2, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
As the financial sanctions imposed following the Russian- Ukraine war have
started affecting the global economy, Pakistan’s exports are also going to face
the impact.
In
a letter to the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan’s fruit and vegetable exporters
have informed that their exports and payments from importers in Russia and
Ukraine have stuck-up after the outbreak of war.
“The
exporters of our sector who export Kinnow & Potato to Russia & Ukraine
have been severely hit by this conflict,” said the exporters in the letter on
Wednesday.
“The
payments from Russia have been stuck up due to sanctions on Russia and now the
exporters are facing liquidity problems. If the war further prolongs, this
issue of payment would be further deepened and hence there is a dire need to
put some sort of “Financial Mechanism” its place to resolve this serious
issue,” the letter which addressed Adbul Razaq Dawood Advisor to Prime Minister
on Economy, trade and investment said.
Apart
from the payment issue, the horticulture exporters claim that the export
proceeds is required to be remitted to Pakistan against E-forms within a time
frame of 120 days, however under the prevailing war conditions, it is more
likely that the exporters may be unable to meet this time frame as the E-Forms
which are now “overdue” would lead to various other problems.
“It
is therefore requested that the time frame of these E-Forms may kindly be
extended keeping the specific conditions due to war in view between Russia
& Ukraine,” it added.
According
to Waheed Ahmed head of Pakistan Fruit and Vegetables Exporters, Importers and
Merchant Association the war brings misery for everyone and the exporters are
no exception to this phenomenon & they pay a huge price by sustaining huge
financial losses. Timely intervention of the ministry of commerce could save
the exporters from huge losses.
“We
strongly anticipate that the issue would be resolved on priority basis to extend
relief to the “worried exporters” so that they can focus on the primary
objective of exports’ enhancement,” he added.
It
may be added here that in the span of just a few days of the Russia-Ukraine
war, the global economic outlook has darkened as unexpectedly potent financial
sanctions rocked Russia’s economy and threatened to further fuel worldwide
inflation.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/03/02/pakistan-horticulture-exports-hit-by-russia-ukraine-war/
--------
South
Asia
Taliban
Search Operation Echoes Resented U.S. Tactics
By
Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Christina Goldbaum and Najim Rahim
March
2, 2022
KABUL,
Afghanistan — Trucks with heavy machine guns stopped at street corners,
unloading men in camouflage carrying radios and assault rifles. Going door to
door, they barged into homes, tossed open drawers and pored through cellphones
— looking for any connection to an armed insurgency.
These
soldiers carrying out a cordon and search operation in Afghanistan’s capital
were not American troops, who for nearly 20 years conducted similar operations
that drove many Afghans into the arms of the Taliban.
They
were the Taliban.
The
sweep, which began on Friday, has spanned several provinces and remains
underway, is the largest operation of its kind since the Taliban seized power
in August and the first carried out in daylight.
The
searches stoked alarm among many Afghans, some of whom reported mistreatment
and property damage by Taliban forces, and offered the latest evidence that the
new Taliban, like the old ones, were relying on police-state tactics to assert
their authority and stamp out dissent.
In
recent months, the Taliban have issued restrictions on local media and cracked
down on peaceful protests. They have also been accused of detaining female activists
and arresting people associated with the former government despite having
declared a blanket amnesty.
At
a news conference on Sunday, the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid,
insisted that the recent searches were aimed at rooting out “kidnappers, thieves,
evil elements and other criminals.” He also dismissed accusations of
misconduct, characterizing the operation as “professional” and “well-planned.”
The
operation began in areas seen as resistant to Taliban rule and comes ahead of
spring, long known as Afghanistan’s “fighting season,” when the Taliban would
launch offensives against the previous government.
Now,
the insurgents-turned-rulers are contending with a reinvigorated threat from
the Islamic State affiliate in the east and a budding armed resistance in the
north.
But
the door-to-door searches risk alienating Afghans already reeling from an
economic crash and set on edge by the new government’s hard-line Islamist rule.
“What
the Taliban are doing is counterproductive to what they want to achieve,” said
Ibraheem Bahiss, an International Crisis Group consultant. “When it comes to
military and policing tactics, the Taliban has been observing and learning from
their erstwhile enemy over the past 20 years. Now they are imitating many of
those tactics to consolidate control.”
The
Taliban, he said, “used to capitalize” on these same tactics, when the
Americans were doing it, to gain recruits and financing. “Now they’re relying
on them to police urban areas.”
The
search operation began early Friday as dozens of checkpoints spread across
Kabul, initially focused on the city’s northern neighborhoods. During the last
20 years, these areas, mainly inhabited by the Tajik minority, often flew the
tricolor flag of the Northern Alliance, an insurgent coalition that fought the
Taliban government in the 1990s.
Ghulam
Farooq Alim, a Kabul resident and university professor, was ready for the
Taliban’s arrival on Saturday, having been alerted to their approach by his
neighbors.
He
sent his family to a nearby neighborhood before a group of Talibs arrived,
pushing their way into his home. They looked for weapons and other military
equipment, and scrutinized the registration papers for his cars, threatening to
impound one because he didn’t have proper documentation. Next door, at his
friend’s house, they tore off freshly installed roofing material, finding
nothing.
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Some
residents said that the Taliban forces conducted only cursory searches and
reported no damage to property.
But
at other homes, mostly in neighborhoods belonging to ethnic minorities, Taliban
soldiers broke the locks on front doors, damaged televisions and storage boxes,
and destroyed yards by digging for contraband, according to interviews with
nearly a dozen Kabul residents.
In
a country where privacy is sacred, many saw the home intrusions as an
unforgivable offense reminiscent of two decades of foreign occupation.
“People
in my neighborhood are talking about joining the resistance in the spring,” Mr.
Alim said. “They are angry about how the Taliban behave. They are not
respecting human dignity by coming to our houses. If we don’t have privacy in
our homes, we don’t have any other option.”
The
Taliban rarely acknowledges the existence of the resistance forces, often
referring to them as “criminals.” Still, the new government has committed at
least 1,000 more troops in the north, where the resistance is based, and the
search operation suggests they are concerned about the possibility of renewed
fighting.
The
resistance, for now, consists of a smattering of armed fighters spread across
some of the most inhospitable mountains of northern Afghanistan, according to
interviews with more than a dozen resistance fighters and leaders.
The
best-known group is the National Resistance Front, or N.R.F., which was formed
in the twilight of Afghanistan’s Western-backed government before it collapsed
last summer.
The
force has an estimated several hundred fighters, many of whom were low-ranking
officers in the former government’s security forces.
Most
are Tajik, an Afghan minority from the northern provinces once home to the
Northern Alliance, and the group’s leader, Ahmad Massoud, is the son of the
deceased Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. Mr. Massoud left the
country after the Taliban seized power and has led the N.R.F. from abroad.
The
group has limited resources, no significant public backing from foreign
governments, and no clear chain of command, according to N.R.F. fighters and
leaders in Afghanistan.
“So
far, we have not received equipment and supplies,” said a commander, Maj.
Sediqulla Shuja, 29. “The promise has been made by the leadership of the
N.R.F., but it has not arrived yet. We still spend from our own pocket.”
Still,
even with infrequent deliveries of supplies, the group has carried out more
than 100 hit-and-run attacks, mostly on Taliban checkpoints and outposts in the
country’s north, according to data compiled by ACLED, a data collection,
analysis, and crisis mapping project.
But
misinformation is rampant and claims about the group’s success and setbacks are
difficult to assess.
The
Taliban search operation is led by Mullah Fazel Mazloom, the acting deputy
defense minister and a well-known Taliban commander who had been imprisoned by
the United States at Guantánamo. Mr. Fazel was accused of leading the Taliban’s
scorched-earth campaign in the 1990s, where orchards, homes and fields were
destroyed as he pursued the very militias the group is now again trying to
stamp out.
Reaction
to the search operation in Kabul has broken largely along ethnic lines. Some
residents — mostly Pashtuns — are thankful that the Taliban are taking a hard
stance against criminality, a policy the Taliban has long been known for.
But
members of ethnic minorities have accused the Taliban of targeting them for
their ethnicity, adding to their resentment of an interim government that, like
the Taliban itself, is composed mostly of southern Pashtuns.
Taliban
officials have denied those claims.
“Our
operations are not against a specific ethnic group,” Mr. Mujahid, the Taliban
spokesman, said on Sunday. “Our operations are a reason for people to support
us, not a reason to stand against us.”
Taliban
officials also downplayed complaints about the invasion of privacy, citing
their cooperation with neighborhood elders, a sign of respect, and using female
officers to search women. But this approach has played out unevenly across
Kabul, with some residents interviewed by The New York Times noting that no
women or local elders were present when the Taliban arrived and forced their
way inside.
Hamid,
31, woke up Friday morning in northern Kabul to his mother yelling that the
Taliban were at the door. About a dozen Talibs entered his home soon after,
placing him in handcuffs before releasing him several hours later.
That
night, over dinner, Hamid’s younger brother announced that he would join the
resistance.
Source:
New York Times
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-resistance.html
--------
Taliban
to continue house-to-house searches in Kabul despite criticism
March
3, 2022
Despite
domestic and international criticism, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan have
continued their house-to-house searches in Kabul after the "clearing
operation" was launched a week ago aimed at tightening security in the
capital city.
The
operation, led by Deputy Minister of Defense Mullah Fazal Mazloom, is being
conducted by joint forces of the Ministries of Defence and Interior, as well as
the Intelligence Department, reports TOLO News.
A
Taliban commander in Kabul's Police District 10 has claimed that "weapons,
government vehicles, military uniforms have been seized. We have raided some
places which were the sanctuaries of kidnappers".
But
the searches have been condemned by Afghan citizens and the international
community.
Relatives
of Mustafa Kazimi, a former MP who was killed in a suicide bombing in 2007 in
Baghlan, said that the Taliban forces mistreated them while raiding their
house, TOLO News reported.
According
to the family, the forces also seized several private vehicles.
Meanwhile,
several international officials and human
Meanwhile,
several international officials and human rights watchdogs reacted to the
house-to-house searches and called for an immediate end to it.
Source:
Business Standard
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Ashraf
Ghani: Trust in US led to Afghanistan's fall
March
3, 2022
Former
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in an interview Wed. that the main reason
for Afghanistan's collapse was his trust in international partners, including
the United States.
Speaking
to an English media outlet on Wednesday, the overthrown Afghan president said
that trust in the Western powers and the United States led to Afghanistan's
collapse.
Former
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that the main reason for Afghanistan's was
was his trust in international partners, including the United States.
Source:
ABNA24
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://en.abna24.com/news//ashraf-ghani-trust-in-us-led-to-afghanistans-fall_1235311.html
--------
Afghanistan
to vote against Russia in UN
02
Mar 2022
Diplomats
have said that Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Naseer
Ahmad Faiq will vote to support the resolution that denounces the Russian
invasion of Ukraine.
Myanmar
will also vote against Russia to support the resolution.
Both
Afghanistan and Myanmar’s de facto authorities do not have their own
representatives in the 193-member world body of the United Nations. The current
representatives are those appointed by former governments in the countries that
collapsed last year.
The
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has introduced their envoy-Suhail Shaheen- to
the UN but has not been approved yet.
A
preliminary list of speakers seen by AFP shows that Afghanistan and Myanmar are
the co-sponsors of the resolution that will be supported by the two rather than
abstention of their votes.
The
resolution that is led by European countries will also ask Russia to retreat
troops from Ukraine.
Almost
100 countries out of 193 members of the General Assembly have co-sponsored the
resolution but two-thirds is needed to pass.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/afghanistan-to-vote-against-russia-in-un-876587/
--------
UK-Germany
to co-host conference on Afghanistan in March-end
02
Mar 2022
German
officials announced that they-Germany- in coordination and cooperation with the
United Kingdom will be hosting a summit on Afghanistan on March 31st.
The
summit aims to discuss the humanitarian situation of Afghanistan.
Foreign
Minister of Germany Tobias Lindner in a Twitter post announced that they are
glad to be hosting the High-Level Pledging Event for Afghanistan.
“More
than 24 million Afghans are in need of humanitarian assistance. We need to
continue mobilizing assistance for them. Glad to announce that Germany will
co-host a High-level Pledging Event for Afghanistan together with the UK
government on March 31st.”
This
comes as the United Nations Security Council is all set to meet on the
Afghanistan situation on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
As
per the stats of the UN, 97 percent of the Afghan people are under the poverty
line while over half of the population needs life-saving assistance.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/uk-germany-to-co-host-conference-on-afghanistan-in-march-end-876576/
--------
Southeast
Asia
Former
Minister: As A Muslim, I Am Not Proud Of Unilateral Conversions To Islam
03
Mar 2022
BY
ASHMAN ADAM
KUALA
LUMPUR, March 3 — The continuing incidents of unilateral religious conversions
of young children in Malaysia makes former minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz feel
“not proud” to be Muslim.
The
Padang Rengas MP stressed that there should not be any form of coercion from
anyone to force people to convert to Islam as he weighed in, in Parliament, on
the widely covered cases affecting two Hindu mothers Loh Siew Hong and M Indira
Gandhi whose ex-husbands converted their children to Islam their permission.
“As
a Muslim, I am not proud of this. For me, Islam is about being fair. And it’s
not fair if one of the parents changes the religion of their child without the
other parent’s permission.
“Don’t
do to others what you don’t want others to do to you,” he was quoted saying by
Free Malaysia Today while debating the King’s address in the Dewan Rakyat
yesterday.
The
unilateral conversion of Loh’s three children — a pair of 14-year-old twin
girls and their 10-year-old brother — rekindled debate on the issue even though
the Federal Court ruled in 2018 in Indira’s case that conversions require the
consent of both parents.
Despite
the top court’s landmark ruling, Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
defended the conversion of Loh’s three children last month, arguing that Islam
fall under state jurisdiction and Perlis allows unilateral conversion.
To
this, Nazri who was a former law minister, stressed that the Federal Constitution
states that the words “parent or guardian” mean both parents or guardians — and
that he “did not agree at all with the forced conversion of these children”.
While
he noted that the Federal Constitution states that Islam is the “religion of
the Federation”, he says this means Muslims have a responsibility to ensure
that the rights and interests of minorities are taken care of.
“While
it’s true that 60 per cent [of Malaysians] are Muslims, and Islam is the
religion of the Federation, this does not mean we can oppress minorities.
“I
mean, these non-Muslims will be living in fear... Every time non-Muslim couples
have a fight, after the argument, the husband can convert. And convert the
children as well. There have been four or five cases like this already.
“That’s
not fair. We are not taking care of the interests of the minorities. We cannot
do that,” he was quoted saying.
Loh’s
children were taken away from her in 2019 while she was hospitalised with
injuries she claimed were inflicted by her former husband, Nagashwaran
Muniandy, who converted to Islam and subsequently converted the couple’s three
children in secret. He has been reported to be currently in prison for drug
offences.
In
December 2019, Loh obtained interim custody of her children pending her divorce,
but her court case was delayed when the country went into Covid-19 lockdown in
March 2020; she finally obtained an order granting her full and sole custody in
March 2021.
On
February 21 this year, Loh was finally reunited with her children after the
High Court granted her a writ of habeas corpus for an immediate release of her
three children from alleged unlawful detention.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Indonesian
Military, Police Pledge to Crack Down on Radical Influencers
2022-03-02
The
Indonesian military and police pledged Wednesday to crack down on personnel who
attend religious gatherings involving radical preachers, after President Joko
“Jokowi” Widodo had warned the institutions to improve discipline in their
ranks.
Speaking
at the annual leadership meeting of the military and police a day earlier,
Jokowi also cited cases of soldiers and police discussing controversial
government policies in online messaging groups as an example of poor
discipline.
“The
president’s directive is for the common good to curb the spread of radicalism,”
national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told reporters in Jakarta. “If there’s
evidence of violations, the Professional Investigator and Safeguard Division
[of the police] will take firm action against members.”
The
army chief of staff, Gen. Dudung Abdurachman, also told reporters that the
armed forces (TNI) would comply with the president’s order.
“Don’t
let us make the wrong choice by inviting a preacher who has been exposed to
radicalism,” Dudung said. “Don’t let our families be exposed to misguided
teachings.”
Jokowi
on Tuesday emphasized that members of the armed forces must follow orders of
their superiors, noting it is necessary to be selective in choosing a preacher
to speak at a religious study session to minimize the spread of radical ideas.
“The
same goes for the ladies [wives of TNI and police members]. They can’t just
hold gatherings with others and invite preachers as they please in the name of
democracy,” Jokowi said. “Be careful lest you invite radical preachers.”
In
November, Ahmad Nurwakhid, a director at the National Counter-terrorism Agency
(BNPT), said militants linked to the outlawed Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) radical
group had tried to infiltrate the Indonesian military, police and government
ministries for more than a decade.
One
month earlier, police said officers had arrested 876 JI members since the 2002
Bali bombings, which killed 202 people. But they warned that the number of
members and sympathizers was estimated to be 10 times as many, with 67
JI-affiliated religious schools suspected to be breeding grounds for militants.
JI,
which was outlawed in 2008, has not staged a major attack since 2011.
Still,
police said they arrested 339 suspected militants belonging to JI and other
groups in 2021, an increase of 56 percent from the previous year. Officers also
killed 18 suspected militants last year.
New
capital
Jokowi
also warned soldiers and police against getting involved in debates about his
government’s plan to move the national capital from Jakarta to Borneo Island,
saying that had been approved by the national parliament.
He
said he had seen WhatsApp postings where military and police members have
expressed opposition to the move.
“There
is no such thing as subordinates feeling they are free to go against their
superiors. There’s no way,” he said.
In
January, Indonesia’s parliament passed a law to relocate the national capital
from traffic-clogged Jakarta to a forested region in East Kalimantan province,
clearing the way for the construction of the new city called Nusantara.
Slamet
Maarif, a leader of a mass protest that led to the 2017 jailing of former
Jakarta Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy against Islam, urged
Jokowi to clarify what he meant by “radical.”
“What
is Jokowi’s version of radical? Is it the case that those who are critical [of
the government] and the opposition are considered radical?” Slamet told
BenarNews.
But
Amirsyah Tambunan, the secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI),
a semi-official group of Islamic scholars, backed Jokowi’s order.
“The
definition is clear,” he said, adding that radical preachers’ sermons lead to
acts of extremism and terrorism.”
In
an online discussion last month, Irfan Idris, head of the BNPT’s
deradicalization program, noted that militants had infiltrated state
institutions, including the military and police.
“I’m
sorry, the TNI and the National Police are also vulnerable [to religious
radicalism],” Irfan said.
Security
analyst Anton Aliabbas said Jokowi was demanding full loyalty from the military
and police.
“His
message can be interpreted that Jokowi wants to ensure full support for
government policies that are still controversial, especially the national
capital project,” he told BenarNews.
Source:
Benar News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/radical-influences-03022022155201.html
--------
UIII
must become global Islamic civilization centre: VP
03
Mar 2022
Jakarta
(ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has expressed hope that Indonesian
International Islamic University (UIII) will become a center of excellence for
global Islamic civilization in accordance with the main objective of developing
the university.
“I
think it needs to be clarified to be able to return to the khittah (original
pledge) of the initiative for the development of UIII in accordance with the
President’s directives during the onset of UIII development, that is to become
a center of excellence for global Islamic civilization . So it does not merely
adopt the pattern of UIN (State Islamic University) with international campus
status,” he said.
The
vice president made the remarks while leading a coordination meeting to assess
progress in the development of UIII at the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta
on Wednesday.
The
government has made preparations for the development of UIII since 2016. The
development of the university is part of the government’s effort to make
Indonesia as a global Islamic civilization center.
However,
based on the assessment of its system conducted in the past three years, the
system is still standard as it adopts that of institute of Islamic studies such
as State Islamic University (UIN).
He
said the implementation of moderate Islamic teachings in Indonesia has so far
served as a reference for various countries including the Middle Eastern
countries.
He
spoke of the Indonesian visit of the secretary general of Hukama Al-Muslimin
Council, an international Muslim intellectuals organization based in Abu Dhabi.
The secretary general was looking forward to learning the successful
application of moderate Islam or wasathiyah Islam from Indonesia.
“The
Secretary General of Hukama Al-Muslimin Council and his delegation visited
(Indonesia) not to give directives or teaching but to learn from Indonesia about
tolerant Islam which currently becomes a global model,” he said.
"We
have served as a model for Hukama Al-Muslimin Council to develop moderate Islam
at a global level. Hence, since the beginning the initiative for developing
UIII is aimed at serving as a center of global reference for the implementation
of Islam wasathiyah," he said.
Source:
Antara News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://en.antaranews.com/news/217973/uiii-must-become-global-islamic-civilization-center-vp
--------
The
Rise of Muslim Millenarianism in Malaysia
By
Muhammad Haziq Bin Jani
March
02, 2022
Economic
uncertainty and a fractured political landscape may be triggering a new wave of
Islamic resurgence in Muslim-majority Malaysia. In the 1970s and 1980s, various
strains of Islamist discourse penetrated civil society and the already
identity-based political scene. During that period, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic
Party (PAS) declared the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
kafir, while the latter co-opted the Islamist youth activist Anwar Ibrahim into
its ranks and expanded the country’s religious bureaucracy.
The
recent trend of resurgence, however, seems to have manifested in the popularity
of celebrity-turned-preacher influencers as well as the renewed prominence of
sectarian polemics and eschatological narratives, particularly on social media.
Given the restrictions on in-person religious activities imposed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, religion has encroached further into the online sphere,
particularly YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Aside from videos
featuring celebrity da’wah (proselytising/preaching), virtue-signaling, and
debates between mainstream and Salafist preachers, social media accounts
peddling millenarian ideas and conspiracy theories are garnering six- to
seven-figure views per video and thousands of followers. For these content
creators and their audience, Islam has become a frame with which to cope with
the current climate of despair and hopelessness, by situating themselves in
history – or in their minds, its end.
Millenarianism
in Islam
Millenarian
thinking, or the apocalyptic mode of thought, is neither new nor exclusive to
Islam. Eschatological figures in Islam include parallels to Christianity such
as Jesus, al-Dajjal (the Deceiver, or Antichrist), the al-Dabbah (the Beast),
and Ya’juj and Ma’juj (Gog and Magog), as well as al-Mahdi (the
Rightly-guided), a leader mentioned not in the Qur’an but by the two most
authoritative hadith compilers, al-Bukhari and Muslim bin al-Hajjaj. In most
Sunni Islamic traditions, the Mahdi is a messianic figure who will join forces
with Jesus to defeat the Dajjal. While these eschatological resources only
claim to foretell a vague timeline of future events, Muslim millenarians, like
millenarians from other faiths and secular millenarians, seek to immanentize
the coming of the “end.”
In
“Mahdism in the Sunni Arab World Today” (1999), Timothy Furnish explained that
the idea of the Mahdi in Islam has been used to rally support for armed
struggle, moral purification, and civil disobedience. Many leaders and
movements in Islamic history have claimed “Mahdi-hood” in order to bolster
their legitimacy or justify their religio-political revolutions. Among them
have been the 8th-century Abbasids, the 10th-century Fatimids, and the
12th-century Almohads, as well as, more recently, Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani,
a leader of a terrorist group that seized the Masjid al-Haram, the Grand Mosque
in Mecca, in 1979. Terrorist groups such as Al Qaida (AQ) and the
self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) understand the power of eschatological
narratives, using apocalyptic references as milestones for their activities,
such as IS’ use of black flags and the capture of the Syrian town of Dabiq
(where an end-times showdown between Muslims and “Roman” armies was prophesized),
to attract new recruits and as a form of self-justification.
The
Malay-Muslim world, too, has had a fascination with millenarian ideas, which
featured, for instance, in the 19th-century writings of Javanese Prince
Diponegoro. The Prince understood his anti-colonial war against the Dutch as an
eschatological struggle via the concepts of the Mahdi and its Javanese
counterpart Ratu Adil (“just queen or prince”).
A
Cause for Concern?
The
belief in eschatological narratives does not necessarily lead to violence. As
mentioned, eschatological narratives are found in core Islamic theological
resources, which do not encourage Muslims to immanentize the last days, let
alone to do so with violence. However, as AQ and IS have demonstrated,
millenarian ideas can be misinterpreted or misused to irresponsible and violent
ends. In the Malaysian context, the prevalence of such ideas in public
discourse is therefore concerning.
First,
millenarian ideas seem to be more popular and action-triggering among Malaysian
Muslims. In a 2012 Pew Research Centre survey, 62 percent of Malaysians
expected the Mahdi’s advent in their lifetimes, compared to 23 percent of
Indonesians. The number of Malaysians who have gone to fight for IS is also six
times larger than Indonesia, as a proportion of its Muslim population.
Aside
from AQ or IS involvement, millenarian Muslims have had a record of posing
threats to the Malaysian state. Some leaders of al-Ma’unah, a spiritual rebel
group famous for its armed heist of army facilities in 2000, and Imam Samudra,
who was found guilty for the 2002 Bali bombings, were once members of Darul
Arqam, a movement that the government clamped down upon for unproven
allegations of militancy, linking its messianic teachings with extremist
violence. Claims to Mahdi-hood also spurred the 1980 Batu Pahat Police Station
attack, the 2012 samurai sword incident at the Prime Minister’s Department
complex, the 2013 claim to the Malaysian throne by the “Black Banner Group,”
and the 2018 Ar Rayah smoke bomb threat in Melaka. In September 2021, a lady
was arrested for deviant teachings and claims that a third World War would
begin in Sabah and that she would lead a force to join the Mahdi in his
struggle. In January of this year, Malaysian police have had to investigate a
viral video claiming the imminent advent of the Mahdi in Sabah and encouraging
viewers to purchase weapons in preparation.
Second,
millenarianism may promote a dualist worldview that demarcates in- and
out-groups along eschatological lines, which is particularly harmful to
Malaysia’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious society. In “Exemplary Dualism and
Authoritarianism in Jonestown” (1989), Constance Jones argued that the
millenarian symbolic universe regards certain outsiders as embodying demonic
yet identifiable world historical forces. For instance, TikTok accounts related
to the Pakistani Mahdi-claimant Muhammad Qasim and the Gerakan Akhir Zaman
(GAZA) view pro-vaccine Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy
Jamaluddin as associated with ridiculous global conspiracies – euphemisms used
to associate something or someone with the Dajjal. More pernicious still, in
October 2021, Malaysian preacher Syakir Nasoha used an end-times prophetic
saying to vilify Hindus and Buddhists in Malaysia as enemies of Islam who were
bent on destroying Malaysian Muslims.
Implications
for Malaysia
Given
the relative susceptibility of Malaysian Muslims to eschatological narratives
and calls to action involving violence, the growing popularity of millenarian
ideas in Malaysian public discourse should be of concern to both religious and
internal security institutions. However, the Malaysian government will have to
strike a balance by keeping an eye on the evolving millenarian milieu while
avoiding overgeneralization and paranoid overreactions to the presence of
deviant teachings.
Source:
The Diplomat
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://thediplomat.com/2022/03/the-rise-of-muslim-millenarianism-in-malaysia/
--------
Ex-Bangladeshi
envoy hopes to get Malaysian PR, just like Zakir Naik
Jason
Thomas
March
3, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Former Bangladeshi high commissioner Mohamed Khairuzzaman, who fears for
his life if he is deported to his home country, hopes to obtain Malaysian
permanent resident (PR) status, similar to the one given to Zakir Naik.
Khairuzzaman
said the threats he faced back home were similar to the ones faced by Naik, who
was granted PR status after he claimed that his life would be in danger if he
was handed over to the Indian authorities.
“If
the Malaysian government deports me, I will be prosecuted in Bangladesh
straight away without receiving proper justice. My life will be in danger, just
like Zakir Naik’s,” he told FMT.
“It
is up to the Malaysian government to consider this, but I would definitely
welcome and thank the government if they were to offer me permanent residency.”
Controversial
Muslim preacher Naik was given PR status despite being wanted in his native
India on money laundering charges. Naik claimed the charges were trumped up by
the Indian government.
Putrajaya
has refused to deport the preacher despite requests from India, saying he may
not receive a fair trial there.
Khairuzzaman
was arrested by immigration authorities for overstaying on Feb 9 and held for
six days despite having a valid United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) card, which allows him to stay in Malaysia legally without a visa.
However,
the High Court granted an interim order against the immigration department from
deporting him to Dhaka and he was later released.
After
his arrest, Bangladeshi state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam said
Khairuzzaman would be brought back home and could be re-investigated for the
killing of several people jailed in Dhaka in 1975.
Khairuzzaman
had been detained without charge or trial for three years and nine months in
1996 in relation to the deaths of four Awami League (the current ruling government
in Bangladesh) political party members and national leaders in jail.
Khairuzzaman, a former army officer, was a suspect in the killings.
On
calls for an open market policy in the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers to
Malaysia, Khairuzzaman noted that there were no limits to the number of
agencies allowed when he headed the high commission from 2007 to 2009. Also, he
said, there was better competition and the cost of hiring workers was lower.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Ketuanan
Melayu: A Barrier To The Spirit Of Nationhood
March
1, 2022
By
Murray Hunter
Ketaunan
Melayu, sometimes translated as Malay supremacy has dominated Malaysian social
and political narratives for the last 50 years. To some extent, Ketuanan Melayu
can be considered a homegrown political ideology akin to Venezuelan’s Chavismo,
and Libya’s Green Book ideology.
Ketuanan
Melayu has been examined in many different lights. It has been linked with
Malay nationalism, and affirmative action, on the positive side, and racism and
apartheid on the negative side. Ketuanan Melayu is very much part of the
history of Tanah Melayu, or the Malay peninsula, and the country’s evolution
into Malay and finally Malaysia.
The
early origins
Ketuanan
Melayu originated from the Malay Sultanates on the Malay peninsula in
pre-colonial times. At that time, the Malay states were river and coastal based
kingdoms, where influence was measured by pledges of loyalty from kampongs or
villages to their local sultans. These were very patriarchal and feudal based
societies, where a social contract between sultan and subjects gave the sultan
legitimacy. Villages pledged loyalty to the sultan and the sultan would rule them.
New comers to these kingdoms would usually integrate, with some assimilating
into Malay culture.
Malay
culture was a bonding agent, a sense of identity, connected to the Raja and
land.
Towards
Malaysia
Dato
Onn Ja’afar formed the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to oppose the
Malayan Union on the belief that Malaya should be for the Malays. UMNO was
strongly supported by the Royal households which were not happy with the
erosion of their authority within the Union. In 1948, the brief Malayan Union
was replaced with the Federation of Malaya which returned sovereignty to the
Malay rulers, set up stricter immigration rules, and gave the Malays special
privileges.
Prior
to independence, a Communities Liaison Committee (CLC) was set up to discuss sensitive
issues related to race, citizenship, education, democracy, and Malay
privileges. This social contract between the Malays and non-Malays in the
community at that time was in return for giving up the ideology of Ketuanan
Melayu.
Some
Malay politicians were suspicious of the lack of loyalty of non-Malays to
Malaya and still had some underpinning belief in Ketuanan Malayu. Even Tunku
Abdul Rahman who took over UMNO from Onn Ja’afar was initially sympathetic to
the ideology. This continued attachment to Ketuanan Melayu brought some
resistance from Straits Chinese to joining the Malayan Federation.
Then
in 1961, the concept of Malaya merging with the then British colony Singapore
to form Malaysia was mooted. Initially, then Malayan prime minister Tunku Abdul
Rahman was hesitant over the entry into Malaysia of more Chinese who would
potentially dominate the economy over the Malays, who were mostly living a
rural existence. Singapore politicians at the time also feared a government
dominated by Malays with control over their destiny. This was compromised by
bringing in the North Borneo states of Brunei, Sabah, and Sarawak into
discussions to merge into the new Malaysian entity.
With
large indigenous populations the North Borneo states would balance Malaysia’s
population base. However, there was some hesitancy entering a Malay state with
a different culture and religion to the majority of natives from north Borneo.
This was compromised with the twenty point agreement where Sabah and Sarawak
entered into the MA 63 agreement, that guaranteed a certain degree of
independence, to form the country of Malaysia.
Ketuanan
Melayu was a Tanah Melayu ideology, very much strange and foreign to peoples
outside the formally federated and unfederated Malay states.
The
New Economic Policy (NEP)
The
May 13 race riots created an opportunity for a coup within UMNO, which
eventually ousted Tunku Abdul Rahman, replacing him with Tun Abdul Razak as
prime minister. Tun Razak along with some of his key ministers and British
economic advisors developed an affirmative action plan called the New Economic
Policy (NEP). The objective of the NEP was to eliminate the root causes of
inter-community frictions of economic inequality.
The
NEP had post-colonial socialist undertones, seeing the government as the prime
vehicle to drive economic growth and development, and redistribute wealth
towards Bumiputeras, of which, the Malays were a sizable proportion. The
objective of the affirmative action program was to achieve a 30 percent Bumiputera
equity within the economy.
At
the time, this was accepted as an enlightened and sensible policy by many
economists, as the policy had a clear sunset clause.
The
ideas of Ketuanan Melayu were extrapolated by a group within UMNO. This was
based upon premises constructed from their view of history published in a
manifesto in 1971 called Revolusi Mental.
Revolusi
Mental portrayed Malays as weak and backward. The narrative claimed Malays were
exploited by other ethnic communities, their colonial masters, and the
capitalist system. The authors of Revolusi Mental claimed that Malay fatalism
allowed acceptance of these injustices, as Malays lacked the courage to fight
back.
Revolusi
Mental ran down the Malay character, describing the Malay psych as being based
on sentiment and emotion, rather than rationality. Malays made little effort to
acquire wealth, and lacked the trait of frugalness, not thinking of the future.
There was little interest in science and technology. Malays were described as
being subjected to poverty of the soul, lacking originality of thought,
imagination, and any sense of inquiry.
Ketuanan
Melayu unlike other nationalist ideologies wasn’t based on ethnic pride. It was
based upon degrading Malay culture, heritage, and history, by pointing out
ethnic faults. Ketuanan Melayu promoted a culture of dependence where a ruling
elite would protect the Malays from projected enemies that were out to destroy
them and their religion Islam.
Ketuanan
Melayu became a pessimistic political ideology of a conservative Malay
establishment, which kept the Malay citizenry trapped in dependence and eternal
gratitude. Ketuanan Melayu was primarily concerned about keeping the Malay
establishment in power and protecting their own.
Syed
Hussein Alatas in his book, The Myth of the Lazy Malay postulated that this
ideology is ignorant and colonizing, with many historical facts and assumptions
about Malay culture and psych deeply flawed. Ketuanan Melayu was just the
legitimization of Malay hegemony and the right of the Malay establishment to
monopolize all forms of wealth and capital. Through the NEP a neo-feudal social
hierarchy has been created, with political patronage being the cement to
maintain power, authority, and maintain a culture of dependence.
At
the same time, Mahathir Mohamed published his own book, The Malay Dilemma where
he argued Malays are the original people of Malaya and the only people who can
claim Malaya as their own.
Upon
becoming prime minister in 1981, Mahathir increased quotas in the civil
service, armed forces, and education system, along with providing special high
yielding savings schemes like Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN) and Amanah Saham
Bumiputera (ASB). Bumiputeras received discounts on property purchases, easy
credit, special business grants, and loans, giving rise to Malay privilege.
Successive
generations of Malays felt they were entitled over other races, including the
Orang Asli, who were basically neglected by the government over this period.
Malays were told by UMNO politicians that there were enemies wanting to destroy
their race and religion which needed to be defended.
This
brought in the ‘race card’ into politics based on the Ketuanan Melayu ideology.
During
the strong economic growth of the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a rapid rise
in the Malay middle class, and the creation of an entitled wealthy Malay upper
class. Civil service and GLC employment was primarily exclusive to Malays,
creating a professional class, while employment prospects for non-Malays was
much more limited. The plight of non-Malays was largely suppressed by the
media.
The
Islamization of Ketuanan Melayu
Ketuanan
Melayu underwent a dramatic change in the 1980s. Inspired by the Iranian
revolution in 1979, and a generation of Islamic education within Malaysi. Malay
culture adopted a very different Islamic persona to the Nusantara form of
Islam, practiced for centuries. This distinctly changed Malay culture, some
claiming this change to be Arabization. Outward appearance became a major
aspect of Islam for Malay identity. Freedom of lifestyle became much more
restrictive, where some aspects of Malay culture have actually been banned by
some state religious authorities.
The
Islamization of Ketuanan Melayu became destructive upon multi-culturalism which
had existed without any major friction for many years. Malaysia has become an
Islamic compliant society, where non-Muslims are also expected to comply more
and more. Malays are subject to the moral views of hidden religious bureaucrats
about how they should think and behave in Malaysian society.
The
view by some hardliners within the Islamic bureaucracy, which has taken on the
characteristics of a quasi-government is than anything secular is deemed
un-Islamic and a threat to Malay society. The word ‘Allah’ was banned for use
by non-Muslims, ignoring prior use by Sabah and Sarawak Christian communities.
Unilateral conversions to Islam allowed by children without both parents’
consent, and Orang Asli groups being enticed to become Muslims through their
villages being provided with infrastructure, or being given jobs in the civil
service.
Ketuanan
Melayu today
Ketuanan
Melayu can be clearly seen as a guiding hand inside the Ismail Sabri
administration. The 12th Malaysian Plan and latest federal budget clearly expose
the preference given to Bumiputeras, and Malays. New equity policies on local
freight forwarding companies, indicate a bias towards Malay business.
The
Ismail Sabri government is denying Malaysian citizens of any equality of
opportunity.
One
of the greatest inequitable aspects of the Ketuanan Melayu philosophy is the
advocation of a feudal-based social and economic strata in society. Ketuanan
Melayu has defined the class structure of Malaysian society, Royalty at the
top, followed by the privileged elite, the professional class, the middle
class, and the poor rural and urban Malays struggling to make a living. This is
reinforced through the Royal title system, special privileges for the elite,
and VVIP service rooms in government offices.
Crony
rent-seeking capitalists are heavily favored through the provision of import
licenses, monopoly concessions, sole access to government contracts, and the
provision of special grants. This began in the 1990s with the Mahathir-Anwar
administration’s attempts to create Malay millionaire businesspeople through
assistance and favoritism.
Ketuanan
Melayu has also encouraged the development of distain towards other indigenous
groups. The Orang Asli have been neglected, once traded as slaves. Indigenous
groups in Sabah and Sarawak regularly claim discrimination against them within
the civil services.
Ketuanan
Melayu is a very divisive ideology, that has been accepted as an entitlement
within today’s younger Malay generation. This has occurred because of 50 years
of indoctrination and social engineering. The younger generation see themselves
as a Muslim first, Malay second, and Malaysian third.
Many
political pundits see the voting age being lowered from 21 to 18 being a major
game changer in Malaysian politics. They may be greatly disappointed when these
expectations fail to materialize.
Malaysia
today is made up of the Malay peninsula, Sabah, and Sarawak. However, the
ideology of Ketuanan Melayu is only relevant to the Malay peninsula. For this
reason, the ideology has been divisive for many groups within Sabah and
Sarawak, which doesn’t share the same history of ethnic demographics to the
Malay peninsula.
Ketuanan
Melayu from this point of view is an old relic from Malaya’s past and should
have disappeared back in 1963, when Malaysia was born. It has only been
developed into what it is today because of political opportunists, who see this
as the best strategy to maintain wealth and power.
Source:
Eurasia Review
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Africa
Muslims
of Oyo State Insists Next President Must Be Southerner of Islamic Extraction
March
2, 2022
By
Musliudeen Adebayo
Muslim
Community in Oyo State has resolved to mobilize members to ensure that a Muslim
from the South emerges as President of Nigeria in 2023
They
claim it is the turn of a Muslim from the southern region to be president of
Nigeria.
The
organisation made this disclosure in a communique issued at the end of its
executive and stakeholders meeting in Ibadan.
The
organisation in the communique signed by the duo of Ishaq Kunle Sanni, Chairman
and Murisiku Abidemi Siyanbade, Secretary-General, vowed to mobilise for any
Muslim from the southern part of the country who indicated interest to be
President in 2023.
The
duo explained that since Nigeria got independence in 1960, no Southern Muslim
has ever occupied the number one position in Nigeria and not even the number
two seat.
They
said for this reason, they would support only Muslim candidates from southern
Nigeria to be president in 2023.
The
duo in the statement made available to DAILY POST on Wednesday said they will
mobilise Muslims in the country towards the emergence of a Southern Muslim
President.
They
maintained that they will do this through physical efforts and supplications to
Almighty Allah.
“From
the foregoing list of past Presidents/Heads of State and Vice Presidents/Chiefs
of (General) Staff of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not a single Muslim from
Southern Nigeria has ever occupied the positions of President nor that of Vice
President.
“The
meeting resolved to mobilize Muslims in Oyo State to ensure that a Muslim from
the South emerges as President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023.
Source:
Daily Post Nigeria
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
US
grants temporary protected status for Sudanese, extension for South Sudanese
02
March ,2022
The
United States on Wednesday granted “temporary protected status” for Sudanese
nationals in the country and extended the same designation for South Sudanese
citizens, as the two countries face political upheaval and conflict.
“Sudan
is currently experiencing political instability and unrest, and armed conflict
in South Sudan has displaced millions of residents,” US Secretary of Homeland
Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
“I
have decided to offer temporary protection to Sudanese and South Sudanese
nationals in the United States until conditions in each country improve and
individuals can safely return.”
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
US government grants temporary protected status, or TPS, to citizens of
countries facing ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or
extraordinary and temporary conditions, effectively shielding them from
deportation.
The
designations announced Wednesday apply to Sudanese and South Sudanese nationals
who have been in the US since March 1 and last for 18 months, the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) statement said.
Sudan
has been rocked by protests in which at least 84 people have been killed since
a military coup last October, which derailed a fragile power-sharing
arrangement between the army and civilians that was negotiated after the 2019
ouster of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
Inter-communal
violence in southern and western states as well as internal displacement and
food and water shortages also contributed to Sudan’s designation.
The
immigration status of Sudanese nationals in the US has been under a pall of
uncertainty in recent years, after the administration of former president
Donald Trump sought to end TPS status for several countries, including Sudan.
The
designation was stripped in November 2018, but litigation over the move has
meant TPS status for Sudanese nationals has remained in place.
South
Sudan, the world’s newest nation, has suffered from chronic instability since
independence in 2011, including a brutal five-year civil war.
The
country has continued to lurch from crisis to crisis even after a 2018 peace
deal, battling flooding and hunger as well as violence and political bickering
as the promises of the peace agreement have failed to materialize.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
UN
rights council appoints former ICC prosecutor to lead Ethiopia probe
02
March ,2022
A
former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court will head a UN
investigation into a wide range of alleged violations committed by all sides in
Ethiopia’s conflict, the UN said Wednesday.
Fatou
Bensouda of Gambia, who served as ICC chief prosecutor from 2012 to 2021, is
among three international experts appointed by the president of the UN Human
Rights Council to investigate the rights situation in Ethiopia, the council
said in a statement.
Council
president, Ambassador Federico Villegas of Argentina, also appointed Kaari
Betty Murungi of Kenya and Steven Ratner of the United States to serve on the
newly-created International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia.
The
top UN rights body agreed last December, despite strenuous objections from the
government in Addis Ababa, to send international investigators to Ethiopia,
amidst a grinding 15-month war.
The
commission was handed a one-year renewable mandate to impartially investigate
allegations of violations and abuses committed by all sides in the conflict
that erupted in Ethiopia in November 2020.
The
investigators have also been tasked with establishing “the facts and
circumstances surrounding the alleged violations and abuses, collect and
preserve evidence, to identify those responsible, where possible, and to make
such information accessible and usable in support of ongoing and future
accountability efforts.”
The
decision to create the commission came after a joint investigation by the UN
rights office and Ethiopia’s Human Rights Commission (EHRC) determined that
possible war crimes and crimes against humanity had been committed by all sides
during the conflict.
Ethiopia’s
war broke out in November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into
Tigray to topple the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a move he said
came in response to the group’s attacks on army camps.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
UN
voices concern over Libya parliament vote on new PM
March
03, 2022
TUNIS:
The United Nations voiced concern on Thursday over reports that a vote in
Libya’s parliament to install a new government, a move that may trigger new
fighting or a return to territorial division, “fell short of the expected
standards.”
An
emailed statement from the UN secretary general’s spokesperson said there were
reports that the vote did not meet standards of transparency and procedure, and
that there were acts of intimidation before the session.
The
UN is instead focused on renewing its push for elections, the spokesperson
said, adding that UN Libya adviser Stephanie Williams will soon hold talks
between the parliament and an opposing political body, the High Council of
State.
The
position of international powers will be key in the coming tussle for power
between the incumbent administration of interim prime minister Abdulhamid Al-Dbeibah,
and the government newly installed under Fathi Bashagha.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2035191/middle-east
--------
North
America
American
protesters urge Congress to end US role in Saudi-led war on Yemen
March
2, 2022
Dozens
of Americans have held a demonstration in New York City to denounce the bloody
Saudi-led war on Yemen, urging Congress to support a proposal that would end
the “unconstitutional” US involvement in the aggression.
The
protest took place in front of the office of Congressman Gregory Meeks,
chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Tuesday.
Carrying
placards and chanting slogans, the participants called on Meeks to back a Yemen
War Powers Resolution put forth by two Democrats, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal
and Congressman Peter DeFazio.
Kawthar
Abdullah, an organizer at the Yemeni Alliance Committee, said the aim of
Tuesday's demonstration, was to pressure Meeks to back the motion, which would
force a vote on the Senate floor to end the "unconstitutional US
participation" in the military invasion of Yemen.
"We
will not sit by as the Constitution is ignored and the Yemeni people suffer
seven years into this unauthorized war," the lawmakers, who proposed the
resolution, said in a statement.
"Our
aim is clear: to reassert Congress's constitutional war powers authority,
terminate unauthorized US involvement in this endless war, reinvigorate
diplomatic efforts, and ease this devastating humanitarian disaster."
Saudi
Arabia launched the devastating war on its southern neighbor in March 2015 in
collaboration with a number of its allied states.
The
aim was to return to power the former Riyadh-backed regime and crush the
popular Ansarullah movement which has been running state affairs in the absence
of an effective government in Yemen.
The
protracted offensive has stopped well shy of all of its goals, despite killing
tens of thousands of Yemenis and turning entire Yemen into the scene of the
world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Shortly
after taking office last year, US President Joe Biden declared that he would
end "American support for offensive operations in the war.”
A
year into his presidency, however, the White House keeps approving weapons
sales to the Riyadh regime.
DeFazio
told the Middle East Eye (MEE) news portal last month that Biden “never defined
what this vague declaration actually meant. A year later, the US continues to
directly support this war.”
"Without
US support, Saudi Arabia would not be able to conduct its daily bombings on
Yemen," said Annelle Sheline, a Middle East research fellow at the Quincy
Institute.
"Our
weapons sales and ongoing maintenance contracts with the Saudi Air Force
directly implicate Americans in the starvation and deaths of a quarter-million
Yemenis. Because other legislative paths have failed, only a War Powers
Resolution will end US support for this devastating war."
Meanwhile,
Neda Saleh, a coordinator at Action Corps, underlined the need for US lawmakers
to utilize all possible tools at their disposal to end the war on Yemen as it
enters its eighth year.
Source:
ABNA24
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Qatar's
emir meets top US military commander in Doha
Ahmed
Yousef
02.03.2022
Qatar's
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Wednesday met with the commander of the
US Central Command, Gen Kenneth McKenzie, to discuss regional developments.
A
statement by the emir’s office, the Amiri Diwan, said talks between the two
sides in Doha took up strategic relations between the two countries and
developments in the region.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/qatars-emir-meets-top-us-military-commander-in-doha/2521054
--------
FM
Prince Faisal, Blinken discuss strategic Saudi-US relations
March
03, 2022
RIYADH:
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken discussed strategic relations between their nations, Al
Ekhbariya reported on Thursday.
The
pair discussed ways to enhance Saudi-US ties in all fields, and exchanged views
on regional and international issues.
Blinken’s
call to Prince Faisal also tackled intensifying coordination and bilateral
action on a number of issues, including
strengthening security and stability in the Middle East.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2035081/saudi-arabia
--------
US
yet to make decision over recognizing Afghanistan’s government
02
Mar 2022
United
States special representative for Afghanistan Thomas West said that the Biden
Administration has not made any decision to recognize the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan.
Speaking
in an interview with Afghanistan’s private TV channel-TOLO news- West said that
the United States wanted to see a representative government established in
Afghanistan. Thomas West added that the pledges Afghanistan made with the
International Community must be held.
The
US envoy also expressed concern about Afghan women in particular the women
activists being detained and called for an immediate end of the detention.
“The
US is worried about a possible increase in Daesh and Al-Qaida activities in
Afghanistan. ISIS is a common enemy of Kabul and Washington.” Said West.
West
was concerned about the nature of the Taliban’s campaign against ISIS but added
to seeing the campaign succeed.
It
comes as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has repeatedly acknowledged that
they have intensified operations against ISIS in Afghanistan and that the
terror group is not a threat in Afghanistan.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/us-yet-to-make-decision-over-recognizing-afghanistans-government-765667/
--------
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/muslims-france-international-law-persecution/d/126499