NCERT Drops Texts On Gandhi, Hindu-Muslim Unity, RSS Ban From Class 12 Textbook’
New Age Islam News Bureau
06 April 2023
Representative image
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• Pakistan Blasts UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman's
'Discriminatory' RemarksOfSexual Exploitation Of Women And Children
• English Premier League Aston Villa Hosts 1st-Ever
Open Iftar At Club's Stadium
• Attack On Muslims In Al-Aqsa Tantamount To Attack On
Christians: Archbishop
• Arab League To Hold Emergency Meeting Over Israeli
Troops’ Raid On Al-Aqsa Mosque
India
• Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Led Delegation Meets Amit Shah,
Raises Concerns About ‘Violence Against Muslims’
• Dr. Mohammed Jameel, First Indian American Muslim
Elected To Long Grove Village Board
• Communal Violence: Wish Bengal Governor Had Visited
More Spots, Says Imam OfRishra Jama Masjid
• Allahabad High Court Pulls Up ASI DG For 'Lethargic
Attitude' In Gyanvapi Mosque Case
• HC asks for Centre’s response to plea to allow all
Muslims staffers to serve Haj pilgrims
• Karnataka Student Bodies Unite To Protest Scrapping
Of 2B Reservations To OBC Muslims
• NIA Files Chargesheet Against Jamaat-e-Islami-Linked
Educational Trust, Pakistan-based Hizb• Terrorist And 2 Others In Terror
Funding Case
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Pakistan
• Desecration Of Al-Aqsa Mosque:Pakistan Ulema Council
Announces Protests Across Muslim World Against Israel On 7th March
• FIA Fails To Prove Imran’s Link With Prohibited
Funding
• Supporters will take to streets if SC ruling
blocked: Imran
• PTI to de-seat ministers if they reject SC ruling
• 8 terrorists killed, soldier martyred in South
Waziristan IBO: ISPR
--------
Europe
• Russia deeply concerned over violence at Al-Aqsa
Mosque
• UN Chief 'Appalled' By Violence From Israeli Forces
At Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex: Spokesman
• Ukraine-bound cargo ship sinks off Turkey coast, 3
Syrians dead
• Germany expresses concern over Israel's Al-Aqsa
Mosque raids
• EU ‘deeply concerned’ by violence at Jerusalem's
Al-Aqsa Mosque
• UK calls for 'immediate de-escalation' after Israeli
police storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
--------
Mideast
• Violence Erupts Again At Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa MosqueA
Second Time On Wednesday
• Threats against sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque must
cease: Turkish president
• Concern, criticism after Israel police storm
Jerusalem mosque
• Muslim academics, authors union condemn Israel's
raid on Al-Aqsa mosque
• Iranian Parliament Condemns Opening of Azeri Embassy
in Israel
• Iran Dismisses UN Human Rights Resolution as
Politically-Motivated
• Spokesman Underlines Iran's Support for Political
Solution to Yemen War
• Iran Calls for Using Outer Space for Peaceful
Purposes
• UN rapporteur calls out Western media’s ‘misleading
coverage’ of Al-Aqsa raid
• Yemeni FM berates Biden for faking ‘concern’, says
US complicit in war, siege
--------
Arab World
• Saudi, Iran FMs To Meet In Beijing Under
China-Brokered Cooperation Deal: Report
• Iran appoints UAE ambassador for first time since
2016
• Saudi Arabia Launches Iftar Programs In Sri Lanka,
Pakistan
• UAE condemns Israeli police storming al-Aqsa Mosque
• Turkey closes airspace to flights to and from Iraq’s
Sulaymaniyah: Report
• Israeli strikes on Syria intensify, raise tensions
with Iran
• Ramadan festivities evoke nostalgia in Jeddah’s
historic Al-Balad
• King Salman directs $800m in Ramadan aid to social
security beneficiaries
• Maronite patriarch, Christian deputies attend
spiritual retreat on Lebanon’s presidential elections
• Egypt condemns Israeli aggression at Al-Aqsa
--------
North America
• White House ‘Extremely Concerned’ Over Jerusalem,
Urges Calm
• ‘Saudi-Syria Détente, Damascus’ Arab League Return
Win For Iran, Setback For US’
• Canada ‘concerned’ about violence around al-Aqsa
Mosque: Prime minister
• US envoy’s meeting with Turkish opposition
presidential candidate unacceptable: FM
• CIA director visits Saudi Arabia to reinforce US
commitment to intel cooperation
--------
Africa
• Top Syrian, Tunisian Diplomats Discuss Restoration
Of Ties, Re-Opening Of Embassies
• Cabinet minister in Uganda arrested over stealing
iron sheets
• 4.7M people in Burkina Faso will need humanitarian
assistance this year: UN
--------
South Asia
• Natural Disasters in Afghanistan Leave 21 Dead, Over
100 Injured
• Office of Islamic Emirate's Spokesman Opened in
Kandahar
• Russia to Cooperate with Afghanistan in Eradicating
Drugs
• Afghanistan Must be Open to Business Despite
Sanctions: Norwegian Refugee Council
--------
Southeast Asia
• Penang Mufti Reminds Muslims Mosque's External
Loudspeakers Only To Be Used For Calls To Prayers
• Muslim Council Of Elders Holds Iftar For Malaysian
Religious Leaders
• Wisma Putra: Malaysia strongly condemns Israeli
forces’ attacks on worshippers in Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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NCERT drops texts on Gandhi, Hindu-Muslim unity, RSS
ban from class 12 textbook
05th April 2023
Representative image
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NEW DELHI: "Gandhiji's death had magical effect
on communal situation in the country", "Gandhi's pursuit of
Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists" and "Organisations like
RSS were banned for some time" are among the texts missing from the class
12 political science textbook for the new academic session.
The National Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT), however, claims that no curriculum trimming has taken place
this year and the syllabus was rationalised in June, last year.
As part of its "syllabus rationalisation"
exercise last year, the NCERT, citing "overlapping" and
"irrelevant" as reasons, dropped certain portions from the course
including lessons on Gujarat riots, Mughal courts, Emergency, Cold War,
Naxalite movement, among others from its textbooks.
The rationalisation note had no mention of excerpts
about Mahatma Gandhi.
"The entire rationalisation exercise was done
last year, there is nothing new which has happened this year," NCERT
Director Dinesh Saklani said.
He, however, did not comment on the missing excerpts
which went unannounced at the time of rationalisation.
A note by NCERT on its website reads, "in view of
the COVID-19 pandemic, it was felt imperative to reduce content load on
students. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 also emphasises reducing the
content load and providing opportunities for experiential learning with
creative mindset. In this background, the NCERT had undertaken the exercise to
rationalise the textbooks across all classes and all subjects".
"The present edition is a reformatted version
after carrying out the changes. The present textbooks are rationalised
textbooks. These were rationalised for the session 2022-23 and will continue in
2023-24," it adds.
Among the reasons cited behind the choice of dropped
subjects during rationalisation are – content based on genres of literature in
the textbooks and supplementary readers at different stages of school
education; for reducing the curriculum load and exam stress in view of the
prevailing condition of the pandemic; content.
Subjects easily accessible to students without much
interventions from teachers and can be learned by children through
self-learning or peer learning and content which is "irrelevant" in
the present context were also dropped from the curriculum.
An official from the education ministry, who did not
wish to be identified, said the new curriculum framework as per the NEP is
still being worked out and the new textbooks as per the updated curriculum will
only be introduced from the 2024 academic session.
Source:New Indian Express
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original story:
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Pakistan Blasts UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman's
'Discriminatory' Remarks Of Sexual Exploitation Of Women And Children
Aamir Latif
05.04.2023
KARACHI, Pakistan
Pakistan on Wednesday criticized British Home
Secretary Suella Braverman's controversial remarks accusing British-Pakistani
men of being involved in a wide-range sexual exploitation of women and
children, calling them "discriminatory and xenophobic."
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch at a
weekly press briefing in the capital Islamabad said Braverman's remarks paint a
“highly misleading picture, signaling the intent to target and treat British
Pakistanis differently.”
The UK home secretary, she observed, had “erroneously
branded criminal behavior of some individuals as a representation of the entire
community.”
During an interview with Sky News earlier this week
about plans to tackle child sexual abuse, the British home secretary claimed
that there is a "predominance of British-Pakistani males who hold cultural
values totally at odds with British values.”
“They (British-Pakistani men) see women in a demeaned,
illegitimate way, and pursue an outdated and frankly heinous approach to the
way we behave,” Braverman commented after she was informed that a Home Office
report in 2020 concluded that most child sexual abuse gangs were made up of
white men under the aged of 30.
There was also insufficient evidence to suggest that
members of grooming gangs were disproportionately more likely to be Asian or
black, according to the report.
Braverman instead referred to reports from Rotherham,
which was rocked by a child sexual exploitation scandal in which five
British-Pakistani men were convicted of grooming, raping, and exploiting young
girls.
“She fails to take note of the systemic racism and
ghettoisation of communities and omits to recognize the tremendous cultural,
economic and political contributions that British Pakistanis continue to make
in British society,” the spokeswoman said.
The home secretary has already invited a barrage of
criticism from political commentators and children’s charities, which described
her comments as “inflammatory" and tantamount to initiating “race wars.”
Source: Anadolu Agency
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original story:
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English Premier League Aston Villa Hosts 1st-Ever Open
Iftar At Club's Stadium
Burak Bir
06.04.2023
LONDON
English Premier League football club Aston Villa on
Wednesday hosted its first-ever Open Iftar, a community event during the Muslim
fasting month of Ramadan in the UK, at its home stadium Villa Park.
Hundreds of people gathered at Villa Park in
Birmingham as part of the event, which was held in collaboration between the
Aston Villa Foundation, the club's charitable arm, and the Ramadan Tent
Project, an award-winning charity founded in 2013.
Before the fast breaking, the Adhan, or call to
prayer, was recited over the Villa Park PA system.
Speaking at the event, Omar Salha, the founder of
Ramadan Tent Project, said the project has connected over half a million people
from all backgrounds through its annual Ramadan Festival and flagship
initiative Open Iftar over the past decade.
"From public parks and squares, to Britain’s most
loved, cultural and iconic landmarks, galleries, museums, places of worship and
sports stadiums, we are proud to showcase that Ramadan is open to all and host
a community of communities," he noted.
Aston Villa has become the fourth football club to
host the event this year with Premier League clubs Chelsea and Brighton &
Hove Albion and Championship club Queen's Park Rangers.
Aston Villa CEO Christian Purslow sent a video message
to the event ahead of the iftar, saying they are delighted to host the club's
first Iftar and extended the warmest of welcomes to the Muslim community around
Villa Park.
"It is our pleasure to open our doors and enable
you to break your fast at Aston Villa Football Club," he added.
Ramadan began on March 23 and will continue through
April 21 -- the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the
month.
An award-winning charity, the Ramadan Tent Project
aims to "bring communities together and spread the spirit of the holy
month through various initiatives."
It said earlier that it will hold iftar events in 10
cities across the UK during the holy month.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/aston-villa-hosts-1st-ever-open-iftar-at-clubs-stadium/2864935
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Attack on Muslims in al-Aqsa tantamount to attack on
Christians: Archbishop
05 April 2023
Bishop Atallah Hanna, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of
Sebastia, delivers a speech during a demonstration in Beit Jala in the occupied
West Bank on May 17, 2021, to express solidarity with Gaza and Sheikh Jarah.
(File Photo by AFP)
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The Palestinian Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox
Church in al-Quds has denounced the relentless aggression by the Israeli regime
against peaceful worshipers at the al-Aqsa Mosque, expressing solidarity with
Muslims resisting the occupying regime.
“Attacks on Muslims in al-Aqsa are attacks on
Christians as well,” Theodosius Atallah Hanna said in remarks on Wednesday in
an interview with Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network.
He warned that the unsavory events that unfolded at
the al-Aqsa mosque compound on Wednesday “may happen in the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher," --a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of
al-Quds.
The remarks come as Israeli forces brutally assaulted
dozens of Palestinian worshipers inside al-Aqsa on Tuesday night and forcibly
removed them from the site where they were peacefully observing the holy month
of Ramadan.
“Palestinian Christians, along with visitors and
pilgrims from all over the world, are often subjected to insults by settlers …
the occupation treats the Palestinians in al-Quds as if they don't belong to
this land and they are by-passers,” added the archbishop.
Noting that al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher are “inseparable twins,” he stressed, “We will not give up our
al-Quds and its identity.”
He also called for the immediate release of all those
who were arrested by the occupation forces.
According to eyewitnesses, dozens of heavily armed
Israeli forces raided Muslims’ third-holiest site using stun grenades and tear
gas against hundreds of men and women who were staying at the Qibli prayer hall
overnight to observe the Itikaf ritual.
Videos from the raid show the occupation forces
brutally beating defenseless worshipers with batons and riot guns. Dozens of
Palestinians were wounded and arrested in the attack.
Many Muslim countries and organizations have strongly
condemned the latest aggression, calling on international bodies to stop
Israeli crimes and protect the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Israel violating freedom of worship
In a statement on Wednesday, the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly slammed the latest Israeli aggression,
noting that it considers this grave escalation an attack on the sanctity of
holy sites and on the freedom of worship, in flagrant violation of the Geneva
Conventions and relevant UN resolutions.
Reaffirming that the entire blessed al-Aqsa Mosque and
its compound is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, OIC Secretary
General HisseinBrahim Taha said the occupying power is “fully responsible for
the repercussions” of these attacks that only fuel more tensions, violence, and
instability in the region.
He called on the international community to act
seriously to put an end to such repeated Israeli violations and to compel
Israel, the occupying power, to respect the sanctity of the holy sites and to
preserve the legal and historical status of al-Aqsa Mosque.
Source: Press TV
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original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/04/05/701020/Archbishop-slams-Israeli-attack-on-Al-Aqsa
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Arab League to hold emergency meeting over Israeli
troops’ raid on al-Aqsa Mosque
05 April ,2023
Israeli security forces walk with people at the
al-Aqsa compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, while tension arises
during clashes with Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Old City, on April 5, 2023.
(Reuters)
------------------
The Arab League said it would hold an emergency
meeting on Wednesday afternoon over an Israeli police raid on the Al-Aqsa
Mosque in Jerusalem.
Jordan had called for the meeting in coordination with
Egypt and Palestinian officials.
Earlier on Wednesday, Jordan’s foreign ministry
reaffirmed that efforts on the Arab level are ongoing to stop “Israeli
violations that are a flagrant violation to international humanitarian law.”
It added that such practices aim to “alter the
historical and legal status of Jerusalem.”
Israeli police attacked dozens of worshipers in
Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque compound before dawn on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said seven Palestinians
sustained wounds from rubber-tipped bullets and beatings in clashes with
Israeli police at the compound.
It added that Israeli forces were preventing its
medics from reaching the mosque.
Several Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and
Qatar condemned the raid which they described as blatant.
The Kingdom denounced storming the mosque and voiced
its rejection of these practices “that undermine peace efforts and contradict
international principles in respect of religious sanctities.”
“These criminal brutal acts are a dangerous escalation
and flagrant violation against holy sites,” Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a
statement.
The Gulf Cooperation Council also denounced the raid.
Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, the GCC’s secretary general,
said the raid is a “provocation to the feelings of Muslims worldwide,” and goes
against international laws in respecting religious sanctuaries.
Al-Budaiwi said that the continuous violations
exacerbate tension and signal a “dangerous direction that Israel bears
responsibility for all its serious consequences.”
Seperately on Wednesday, Turkey denounced the clashes
that erupted inside the mosque as “unacceptable,” saying they violated its
“sacred” character.
“We condemn these attacks,” Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu said on the margins of a NATO gathering in Brussels.
Source: Al Arabiya
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India
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Led Delegation Meets Amit Shah,
Raises Concerns About ‘Violence Against Muslims’
April 6, 2023
A 16-member delegation of Muslim leaders, led by
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Maulana Mahmood Madani, met Union Home Minister
Amit Shah late Tuesday evening to raise concerns about “violence committed
against Indian Muslims” in various parts of the country on the occasion of Ram
Navami.
The leaders have said Shah was receptive to their
concerns. The delegation has requested Shah to “take stern action” against the
perpetrators.
During the meeting, which lasted over an hour, the
delegation raised other concerns affecting the Muslim community in the country,
including scrapping of Muslim reservation in Karnataka, which called arbitrary;
“unabated hate campaign and Islamophobia” in the country; growing incidents of
mob lynching; the Uniform Civil Code; attack on the autonomy of religious
seminaries; the situation in Kashmir; forced evacuation in Assam; and the
protection of Waqf property and others.
“It was a good meeting and the Home Minister was very
positive. We feel he will take action on the matters that have been raised,”
Jamiat spokesperson Niaz Ahmad Farooqui said.
In his conversation with Shah, Madani pointed out that
there has been an “open proclamation of hate” against Indian Muslims, which has
not only led to increased communal tensions but also impacted the community
economically. Madani requested Shah to “restrain these anti-national
individuals and organisations”, according to a Jamiat statement.
Source: Indian Express
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of the original story:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/jamiat-led-delegation-meets-amit-shah-8541012/
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Dr. Mohammed Jameel, First Indian American Muslim
Elected To Long Grove Village Board
Sameer Khan
6th April 2023
Dr. Mohammed Jameel who hails from Telangana has
become the First Indian American Muslim elected to the Long Grove Village
Board.
Speaking on this occasion in winning celebrations in
Long Grove he thanked the voters of Long Grove who has voted for him and urged
the community to increase participation in civic activities and build a strong
community which thereby can lead to more participative and inclusive
participation in all levels of Government. Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim was
the Chief Guest and congratulated him.
Dr Jameel is very active in Local politics heads the
Americans Democratic Forum and has supported in the win of first Indian Muslim
woman Nabeela Syed as state representative in the State of Illinois. He is also
very active in all spheres of engagement socially and politically in India as
chairman of the Indian Americans forum.
Source:Siasat Daily
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Communal Violence: Wish Bengal Governor Had Visited
More Spots, Says Imam OfRishra Jama Masjid
KinsukBasu
| Rishra (WB)
06.04.23
The Imam of Rishra Jama Masjid, Maulana Mohammad Zakir
Noori, has said Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose would have done better if he
had visited all the trouble-torn pockets of Rishra and spoken to members of
different communities during his Tuesday visit to the industrial township in
Hooghly.
"Ideally, the governor would have done better if
he had visited all the locations and spoken to representatives from across
communities, instead of restricting himself to just two spots in Rishra,"
Imam Noori told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
"This would have helped in addressing the sense
of bitterness among the masses.... People have a lot of expectations from the
governor of a state," he added.
On Tuesday, Bose had reached Rishra, cutting short his
G20 summit presence in Darjeeling, and gone to rail gate number 4, the site of
a street clash on Monday night that brought suburban train service on the
Howrah-Rishra route to a halt.
The governor spoke to police and other officials at
the rail gate before moving to Rishra railway station where he engaged with
railway and police officials and briefly interacted with a few youths before
returning to Calcutta.
Several pockets of Rishra, including Shandya Bazar,
some areas around Hastings Jute Mill, Wellington Jute Mill, Provash Nagar and
Shokal Bazar had erupted during Sunday’s violence that is believed to have
started from a spot near Rishra Jama Masjid adjoining Wellington Jute Mill.
Cars, police vehicles and carts were damaged. The
glass panes of several houses were shattered in the clashes.
“Around the time the violence broke out, some members
of our community were busy with namaz. I won’t be able to say what led to the
clash but allegations about stones being pelted from the mosque are completely
false,” Imam Noori said. “The entire area, including the mosque, is covered by
CCTV and the police and district administration can access it and see for
themselves.”
“What happened is unprecedented. I would appeal to
everyone, including political leaders, to ensure that peace returns as early as
possible. If required, I can participate in any meeting aimed at restoring
normality,” he added.
The police have banned Human Jayanti processions on
Thursday across Rishra and clamped Section 144 in most parts of the township
that continued to remain on the edge on Wednesday. A few schools and some shops
opened during the day but most were shut.
Police pickets were in place in most parts of the
violence-hit areas even as a majority of the residents chose to stay indoors.
Source:TelegraphIndia
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Allahabad High Court Pulls Up ASI DG For 'Lethargic
Attitude' In Gyanvapi Mosque Case
Apr 6, 2023
Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court on Wednesday
rapped ASI director general (DG) V Vidyavathi for failing to file a report
regarding carbon-dating of the purported Shivling found inside the Gyanvapi
mosque complex despite being given several chances, reports Rajesh Kumar Pandey.
However, "as a measure of last opportunity",
the court allowed the DG ASI further time to submit the desired report on or
before April 17, but made it clear that no more time would be granted in
future.
Source: Times Of India
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HC asks for Centre’s response to plea to allow all
Muslims staffers to serve Haj pilgrims
April 06, 2023
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Ministry
of Minority Affairs to respond to a plea seeking an opportunity for all Muslim
employees of Centre, States and Union Territories to assist Haj pilgrims
instead of deputing only Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and
Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the Haj Division of the Union Ministry to
place its stand on the plea while listing it for further hearing on May 10.
Mr. Aamir Javed, an advocate, in his plea has
challenged a March 20, 2023 office memorandum of the ministry on temporary
deputation which includes only employees working in CAPF.
The plea sought direction to amend the office
memorandum to the extent of giving opportunities to all Muslim employees of
Centre, States and Union Territories to assist Haj pilgrims as coordinators,
assistant Haj officers and Haj assistants for Haj 2023.
According to the memorandum, approximately 1.4 lakh
Indian pilgrims will be participating in Haj 2023. The first flight for the
pilgrimage from India will take off on May 21. The annual pilgrimage will take
place around June end.
“The petition is being filed on the basis that other
Central or State government/UT administration employees are not eligible for
any deputation in the office memorandum… dated March 20, 2023, which earlier
was a practice of the Government of India to send male and female members of
the Muslim community who are employees of various government departments on
deputation on a temporary basis to Consulate General of India, Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia, to render assistance to Haj pilgrims,” the plea said.
Source: TheHindu
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Karnataka student bodies unite to protest scrapping of
2B reservations to OBC Muslims
Apr 5, 2023
BENGALURU: Student bodies got together on Wednesday
and announced that will protest if the 2B reservation to OBC Muslims is not
restored.
The organisations include All India Students
Association (AISA), Ambedkar Students' Association(ASA), Bangalore University
Students' Union Collective, Dalit Vidyarthi Parishad (DVP), Girls Islamic
Organisation (GIO), Karnataka Vidyarthi Sangha(KVS, Parivarthana (the GKVK wing
unit of ASA) and Students Islamic Organisation (SIO).
Representatives of a few of the organisations
addressed the media on Wednesday.
"A lot of people argue that from 4% of
reservations under 2B category, OBC Muslims have now got 10%. But there is no
internal reservation and a lot of Muslim students will have to compete against
upper caste communities in EWS. How can students from slums, poor background,
studying in small schools compete with the forward caste students? We will no
longer get the reservation for 1,700 seats for engineering courses and 300 seats
for medical courses, eligible under the 2B reservation," said Zeeshan
Aqhil, state president of SIO.
The student leaders called out Union home minister
Amit Shah for his statement that there was no provision in the Constitution to
provide reservation on the basis of religion, and that the Congress had done it
for polarisation, and the BJP scrapped it. They believed it was misinformation
being spread among the citizens that the reservations to Muslims were based on
their religion.
"In fact, in the post independence era, all the
Karnataka's backward classes commission, the R Nagana Gowda Commission, LG
Havanuru commission, Venkataswamy commission and O Chinnappa Reddy Commission
have, after considering various parameters, recommended that a majority of the Muslim
community be provided reservation on the grounds of socio-economic and
educational backwardness," student leaders said.
They are set to go out on a protest, although the date
is not set. They are even considering legal action through PIL, to revoke the
scrapping of 2B reservation to OBC Muslim, said a student representative.
Aratrika, convening body member of AISA Karnataka said
that the short term demand is to revoke the scrapping of 2b reservation of OBC
Muslims, and the long term demand is to scrap NEP 2020. We need affirmative
action to uplift the disadvantaged communities.
Source: Times Of India
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NIA Files Chargesheet Against Jamaat-e-Islami-Linked
Educational Trust, Pakistan-based Hizb Terrorist And 2 Others In Terror Funding
Case
Apr 6, 2023
SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency on
Wednesday filed a chargesheet in the Al Huda Educational Trust (AHET) terror
funding case, linked to Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Jammu and Kashmir.
JeI, which was declared an unlawful association in
2019, had set up AHET for mobilising funds to carry out its anti-India agenda.
A NIA spokesperson said the agency, which had
registered a case against JeI in September 2022, filed the chargesheet in the
NIA special court after extensive investigations and multiple raids across
J&K.
The spokesperson said apart from AHET, the chargesheet
named Mushtaq Ahmed Mir alias Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, a Pakistan-based Hizbul
Mujahideen terrorist; Md. Amir Shamshi, a ‘rukun’ (primary member) and
chairperson of AHET; and Abdul Hamid Ganai alias Abdul Hamid Fayaz, a Shopian
resident. All four have been charged under various sections of UAPA and IPC.
Investigations revealed that Shamshi was responsible
for the day-to-day working of the education trust, formed by JeI with the
explicit purpose of mobilising funds to carry on its secessionist activities in
J&K.
“Amir collected money for JeI through the trust in the
form of educational and religious donations, and channelised the funds to his
co-accused, Amir-e-Jamaat (Head of JeI, J&K) Abdul Hamid Ganai,” the NIA
spokesperson said.
Source: Times Of India
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Pakistan
Desecration Of Al-Aqsa Mosque: Pakistan Ulema Council
Announces Protests Across Muslim World Against Israel On 7th March
April 06, 2023
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Ulema Council announced to hold
protests on Friday against the Israeli brutalities all over the Muslim world as
the Israeli forces stormed Masjid-e-Al-Aqsa on Tuesday night and arrested
Palestinians.
“The desecration of Masjid-e-Al-Aqsa by the Israeli
forces is sad, unacceptable and condemnable,” said leadership of Pakistan Ulema
Council in a joint statement issued on Wednesday.
Chairman Pakistan Ulema Council Hafiz Muhammad Tahir
Mahmood Ashrafi, Allama Abdul Haq Mujahid, Maulana Muhammad Rafiq Jami and
others said in a joint statement that Israeli atrocities always increased
specifically during the holy month of Ramadan.
The PUC stated that the way Israeli soldiers stormed
Masjid-e-Al-Aqsa and desecrated the premises of the Mosque and committed
atrocities on the Palestinians praying inside Masjid-e-Al-Aqsa is unacceptable
and condemnable.
“Against this brutality of Israel, the leadership of
all religions and respective organizations struggling for world peace should
take practical steps against this barbarism,” the PUC stated.
Source: TheNews
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FIA fails to prove Imran’s link with prohibited
funding
Malik Asad
April 6, 2023
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has observed
that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) could not provide evidence to
connect former prime minister Imran Khan with the prohibited funding his party
is said to have received.
In a detailed judgement issued on Wednesday, the
division bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Tariq
Mehmood Jahangiri held that the FIA could not produce “sufficient evidence” in
support of its request seeking the cancellation of Mr Khan’s bail.
Earlier, pre-arrest bail was granted to Mr Khan by a
trial court in the prohibited funding case.
The FIA counsel argued that during inquiry it had
transpired that Arif Masood Naqvi, owner of M/s Wootton Cricket Limited (WCL),
UAE (registered in Cayman Islands), had transferred ill-gotten money to the
tune of $2.12 million to a UBL account.
IHC dismisses plea seeking revocation of PTI chief’s
pre-arrest bail
He said Mr Naqvi, the founder-owner of Abraaj Group,
UAE, was imposed with a penalty by the Dubai Financial Services Authority for
carrying out unauthorised activities in the Dubai International Financial
Centre and misusing the investors’ money. Mr Naqvi is also facing trial in UK
and USA for defrauding investors, but PTI submitted an affidavit of Mr Naqvi to
the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stating that all the amounts
collected in the WCL’s accounts were transferred to the party’s account in
Pakistan.
The counsel argued that the affidavit was found to be
false and forged while signatories and beneficiaries of the UBL account are Mr
Khan and nine others. However, when the amount was transacted to the PTI’s
account, 12 STRs (suspicious transaction reports) had to be reported by the UBL
to the authorities concerned, but they had not performed their duties.
He alleged that UBL had not only facilitated these
suspicious/illegal transactions but also allowed the ‘internet merchant acquiring
agreement’ changing the account’s title to “Naya Pakistan” of the above
referred PEP (politically exposed person’s) UBL account.
The FIA’s lawyer claimed that trial court had granted
the pre-arrest bail to Mr Khan without due deliberations.
The court observed that the FIR only reflects two
eventualities — one, Mr Naqvi has given an affidavit to the ECP regarding the
foreign currency transferred into the PTI’s account but the said affidavit has
been proved to be false/forged as two more transactions were made from WCL to
two different accounts in Pakistan in May 2013. The court noted that this has
nothing to do with Mr Khan’s case as the FIA can investigate that the amount
transacted by Mr Naqvi is ill-gotten money and his affidavit was false but both
these aspects were not probed till date.
“The second element, which was highlighted in the
entire record, is the allegation against bank’s officials who have allegedly
not reported regarding 12 CTRs/STRs to the concerned authorities despite
receiving of huge amount in US$ in the PTI’s account which reflects that matter
should fall within the mandate of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) being master
regulator under SBP Act, 1956”, stated the court order.
The FIA failed to demonstrate “any of the regulation
of the SBP where signatories of account in any scheduled bank are liable to
prosecution,” it noted.
As regards the allegation of changing PTI’s account
with ‘Naya Pakistan’, the court ruled that it was not an offence at all.
The bench has perused the Foreign Exchange Regulation
Act, 1947 and noted that prosecution “has failed to demonstrate the
requirements of Section 19 of FERA, 1947 [complied with] prior to the
registration of FIR, where only authorised person on behalf of Federal
Government or the State Bank supported by a statement on oath can represent
that any contravention of provision of this Act has been committed”.
The bench expressed surprise over the conduct of SBP
officials, who have not yet inquired regarding the bank transactions being the
master regulator, nor declared any of the banking transaction as illegal,
neither IO has ever recorded the statement of any of the official of SBP
through which it could be demonstrated that any bank rules, regulations or
circulars have been violated.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1746156/fia-fails-to-prove-imrans-link-with-prohibited-funding
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Supporters will take to streets if SC ruling blocked:
Imran
Mansoor Malik
April 6, 2023
LAHORE: PTI Chairman Imran Khan said on Wednesday that
people would take to the streets if the ruling alliance attempted to block the
implementation of the court ruling that directed polls in Punjab on May 14.
The former prime minister was speaking during a
televised address to mark Yaum-i-Tashakkur (gratitude day) celebrations
following the top court’s judgement that directed for general elections in
Punjab.
The speech was broadcasted from his Zaman Park
residence through a satellite link on mega screens installed at 75 locations
across the country, including in 13 cities of Punjab.
However, the main gathering of the event was held at
the Liberty roundabout in Lahore where PTI supporters gathered despite the
rain. They were holding party flags while some of them were wearing PTI-themed
headbands and scarves.
Addressing his supporters, the former prime minister
said, “The nation should wait for my call to ensure that the incumbent rulers
could not run away from holding elections; otherwise, neither the history nor
the future generations will pardon this generation for not waging jihad against
the forces undermining the rule of law.”
He said “the Sicilian mafia” was now standing against
the decision of the Supreme Court, which had earlier decided in their favour
and overturned PTI’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly after opening
courts at midnight.
The former premier said ‘absconder’ Nawaz Sharif and
Asif Ali Zardari were sitting in London and Dubai, respectively, and taking
decisions about the fate of Pakistan. He said the incumbent rulers were also
trying to divide the Supreme Court while also working to create a rift between
the PTI and the establishment which “might repeat events of 1971”.
Asking what kind of economic and security stability
can be ensured by October for holding elections, Mr Khan said that only
elections would be the way out to take Pakistan out of the blind alley where it
was fast heading. “I will complete interviews and selection of candidates in 10
days,” he said and added that the nation would not let the incumbent rulers run
away from elections.
In an interview with Al Jazeera before the speech, the
PTI chairman alleged the ruling PDM could violate the Constitution to prevent
national elections due later this year. “They are just scared of the elections
and are even willing to violate the Constitution,” Mr Khan claimed.
“By not accepting the SC’s verdict, the government
would violate the Constitution”. In such a situation, he said, the SC could
slap contempt of court on them.
Mr Khan disclosed he had held two meetings with former
army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and wanted to work out how to hold elections.
“What I didn’t realise was that he wanted an election provided he gets an
extension in his tenure,” he said and added since then he had no conversation
with the establishment.
Answering a question about his plans on restructuring
the civil-military relationship if elected back to power, the PTI chairman said
Pakistan needed to change. “The current civil and military imbalance has to
change if we want Pakistan to get out of this mess,” he asserted.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1746167/supporters-will-take-to-streets-if-sc-ruling-blocked-imran
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PTI to de-seat ministers if they reject SC ruling
Ikram Junaidi
April 6, 2023
ISLAMABAD: A day after the federal cabinet denounced
the court order that directed for elections on May 14, the Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) asked the ministers — who attended the meeting — to
distance themselves from the cabinet declaration unless they wanted
disqualification proceedings under Article 63-A.
During a media talk in Lahore, PTI spokesperson Fawad
Chaudhry said refuting the verdict of the top court was akin to treason and
added the PTI would file a reference in the Election Commission under Article
63-A for disqualification of ministers if they did not disown the cabinet’s
statement.
Mr Chaudhry said the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) has
sought a list of cabinet members who attended the meeting to proceed against
them under Article 63-A.
He said a request will be made to de-seat the
ministers, as they had allegedly violated articles 2A and 68 and other
“fundamental articles” of the Constitution.
The former information minister also said the PTI would
make efforts to get the membership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
cancelled since a “convicted person [Nawaz] was running the party from abroad”.
“It is against the Constitution of Pakistan and the
Election Act. Additionally, Nawaz Sharif is trying to conspire against the
Supreme Court’s judges,” he alleged.
Mr Chaudhry said the ECP and the government were bound
by the timelines — such as date for polling – given in the Supreme Court
verdict.
Commenting on the joint investigation team formed to
probe violence at Zaman Park, the PTI leader alleged that interim Chief
Minister Mohsin Naqvi, IG Usman Anwar and CCPO Bilal Siddique Kamyana were
prime suspects in the murder of Zille Shah. “It will be unfair to present
ourselves before them for investigation,” he said, adding that this JIT was not
approved by the cabinet. “The case is sub judice now and the JIT cannot work
till the decision of the court,” he added.
Addressing the cases against Imran Khan and PTI
leadership, he said that the political rivals of the PTI could “stoop to any
limit” to victimise the major opposition party.
PTI offers dialogue
A separate statement issued by the PTI spokesperson,
however, offered an olive branch to the government and said that instead of
locking horns with the top court, the government should talk to the PTI to pave
way for general elections.
Mr Chaudhry said the ECP’s decision of notifying the
Punjab polls date and the caretaker government’s assurance for the
implementation of the court decision were “steps in the right direction”.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1746157/pti-to-de-seat-ministers-if-they-reject-sc-ruling
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8 terrorists killed, soldier martyred in South
Waziristan IBO: ISPR
Iftikhar Shirazi
April 5, 2023
Eight terrorists were killed and a soldier was
martyred during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Shinwarsak area of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan district, the military’s media affairs
wing said on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services
Public Relations (ISPR), an intense exchange of fire took place between
security personnel and terrorists during the operation.
“Own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’
location and eight terrorists, including terrorist commander Jan Muhammad alias
Chargh, were sent to hell,” the statement said.
It added that 31-year-old Sepoy Hamid Rasool, a
resident of Rawalpindi district, was martyred during the gun battle with the
terrorists while another four security personnel, including two officers, were
injured.
The ISPR said weapons and ammunition were seized from
the slain terrorists, who remained actively involved in terror activities
against security forces and the killing of innocent citizens.
“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to
eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers
further strengthen our resolve,” the statement added.
On March 21, a brigadier from the Inter-Services
Intelligence was martyred during an encounter with “hardcore terrorists” in
South Waziristan’s Angoor Adda while three soldiers embraced martyrdom and
three terrorists were killed during an exchange of fire in Dera Ismail Khan
district.
Source: Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1746045/8-terrorists-killed-soldier-martyred-in-south-waziristan-ibo-ispr
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Europe
Russia deeply concerned over violence at Al-Aqsa
Mosque
Elena Teslova
06.04.2023
MOSCOW
Russia’s Foreign Ministry expressed grave concern
Wednesday over the situation at Al-Aqsa Mosque, saying events in Jerusalem
"antagonize all the world's religions."
“Moscow is expressing serious concern about another
round of escalation between the Palestinians and Israelis, which threatens to
develop into a full-scale armed confrontation, as has happened many times in
the past. The coincidence of the dates of the religious holidays of Christians,
Muslims and Jews adds to the tension of the situation," said Russian
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the ministry’s Telegram
channel.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its
website that the situation in Jerusalem shows that only political agreements
can ensure the sustainable settlement of longstanding conflicts.
"We proceed from the fact that there is no
alternative to restarting the peace process between the Palestinians and
Israelis under the legal framework approved by the UN, based on the principle
of two states," it said.
Russia demands an end to all unilateral actions that undermine
the prospects for a settlement and respect for the status quo of the holy sites
of Jerusalem, which includes free access to them by representatives of all
religions, the ministry stressed.
"We note the special role of the Hashemite
guardianship of the shrines in this city," it said.
Moscow also called on UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres to pay close attention to the Israeli-Palestinian settlement, urging
him to engage the potential of its Middle Eastern missions for a thorough
analysis of the events aimed at finding the initial reasons for the latest
spiral of violence and to draft recommendations for the restoration of
stability.
The ministry reminded that on April 25 the UN Security
Council plans to hold a meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including
the Palestinian issue, calling it a good opportunity for presenting such an
analysis.
Tension rose in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday
after Israeli police detained around 350 worshippers from inside the Al-Aqsa
Mosque complex.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/russia-deeply-concerned-over-violence-at-al-aqsa-mosque/2864921
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UN Chief 'Appalled' By Violence From Israeli Forces At
Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex: Spokesman
ServetGunerigok
05.04.2023
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is
"appalled" by the violence from Israeli forces against worshippers at
the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, his spokesman said Wednesday.
Guterres "is shocked and appalled by the images
he saw this morning of the violence and beating by Israeli security forces
inside the Al-Qibli Mosque in Jerusalem at a time of the calendar which is holy
to Jews, Christians and Muslims," Stephane Dujarric said at a news
conference.
"This should be a time for peace and
non-violence," he said.
Dujarric echoed a statement from UN Special
Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland who urged
political, religious and community leaders on all sides to reject incitement,
inflammatory rhetoric and provocative actions.
Wennesland said leaders should act responsibly and
refrain from steps that could escalate tensions.
He stated the UN is in close contact with all
concerned parties to de-escalate the situation.
Tension rose Wednesday in the occupied West Bank after
Israeli police detained around 350 worshippers from inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque
complex.
A group of Palestinians barricaded themselves inside
the prayer hall in the complex after Jewish settlers called for a raid on the
mosque. They attempted to prevent police from entering by closing its doors.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Ukraine-bound cargo ship sinks off Turkey coast, 3
Syrians dead
05 April ,2023
A Guinea-Bissau flagged cargo ship with 14 crew
members on board sank off Turkey’s Mediterranean coast on Wednesday, killing at
least three of them.
Five people were rescued while efforts continued to
find the other missing crew, officials and news reports said.
The Joe 2 sank off the coast of Kumluca, in Antalya
province, while heading to Ukraine from the Turkish port of Iskenderun, said
Gov. ErsinYazici said. It was transporting aluminum, according to the state-run
Anadolu Agency.
The cause of the ship sinking was not immediately
clear. An investigation has been launched by the chief prosecutor’s office for
Kumluca.
The Turkish Coast Guard Command said it received a
distress call at 3:47 a.m. and dispatched a vessel, several boats and two
helicopters.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Germany expresses concern over Israel's Al-Aqsa Mosque
raids
Oliver Towfigh Nia
05.04.2023
BERLIN
Germany’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday expressed
concern over the Israeli raids at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East
Jerusalem, but refused to condemn the act.
Asked repeatedly at a press briefing whether he would
explicitly condemn the Israeli actions, ministry spokesperson Christofer Burger
merely said that “last night’s riots on the Temple Mount, Haram Sharif, were of
concern” to Germany.
He urged all sides to “do everything possible to calm
down the situation,” saying the protection of civilians should always be the
priority.
On the other hand, the German Central Council of
Muslims denounced the Israeli raids and attacks on worshippers.
“We condemn any use of force and call on the Israeli
security forces, together with the guardians of the Holy Place, to do
everything possible to ensure that this tense situation does not escalate any
further,” the Berlin-based group said in a statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli police said they
detained 350 Palestinians from the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.
A group of Palestinians barricaded themselves in the
Al-Qibli Prayer Hall in the complex after Jewish settlers called for a raid on
the mosque.
Israeli forces and Jewish settlers frequently carry
out raids on the mosque.
In response, the Israeli police smashed windows and
deployed flash charges, tear gas, and rubber bullets against the worshippers.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest
site, while Jews call the area Temple Mount.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/germany-expresses-concern-over-israels-al-aqsa-mosque-raids/2864573
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EU ‘deeply concerned’ by violence at Jerusalem's
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Agnes Szucs
05.04.2023
BRUSSELS
The European Union is “deeply concerned” by the
violence at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and calls on all parties to show
restraint at a time of religious holidays, an EU official said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the European Commission’s daily news
briefing, Peter Stano, lead spokesperson on foreign affairs, confirmed that the
EU follows “very closely” the developments in Israel and the occupied
Palestinian territory.
“The European Union is deeply concerned by the growing
tensions and violence which we have seen overnight inside the compound of
Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he asserted.
He also underlined that “it is extremely important to
preserve the historic status quo of the holy site.”
Stano condemned “in strongest possible terms the
rocket attacks from Gaza on Israel.”
He reiterated the bloc’s call on both parties to
“exercise utmost restraint and refrain from actions” that escalate tensions,
"particularly in this period of religious holidays.”
This year, a number of important holidays of the
Abrahamic religions – the Jewish holiday of Passover, Christian Easter, and
Muslim Ramadan – are all celebrated in April.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli police said they had
detained 350 Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.
A group of Palestinians barricaded themselves in the
Al-Qibli Prayer Hall in the complex after Jewish settlers called for a raid on
the mosque.
In response, the Israeli police smashed windows and
deployed flash charges, tear gas, and rubber bullets against the worshippers.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/eu-deeply-concerned-by-violence-at-jerusalems-al-aqsa-mosque/2864338
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UK calls for 'immediate de-escalation' after Israeli
police storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
Burak Bir
05.04.2023
LONDON
The sanctity and status of holy sites must be
respected and protected, Britain's minister for the Middle East said on
Wednesday, calling for immediate de-escalation after late-night Israel raids on
the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
"Shocked to awake to the disturbing scenes of
Israeli Security forces' raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem injuring many
worshippers during Ramadan," Tariq Ahmad said on Twitter. "Violence
only fuels more violence," he added.
Touching on the "indiscriminate firing of
rockets" from the Gaza Strip to Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza,
which "spreads fear amongst civilians," Ahmad called for immediate
de-escalation.
On Wednesday, Israeli police said they detained 350
Palestinians from the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, with witnesses saying they used
excessive force, including tear gas.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Mideast
Violence Erupts Again At Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque A
Second Time On Wednesday
05 April ,2023
Israeli police clashed with Palestinians at
Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque a second time on Wednesday, witnesses said, hours
after the arrest and removal of more than 350 people in a police raid at the
compound and despite a US appeal to ease tensions.
The confrontations, during the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, triggered a cross-border
exchange of fire in Gaza and stoked fears of further violence.
In the second instance, late at night, police entered
the compound and tried to evacuate worshippers, using stun grenades, and firing
rubber bullets, said staff of the Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed Islamic
organization managing the complex.
Worshippers threw objects at police, witnesses said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said six people were injured.
In a statement, police said dozens of youngsters
brought rocks and firecrackers into the mosque and had tried to barricade
themselves inside. The Waqf, however, said police entered the mosque before
prayers were over.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas, said: “Israel’s raid into al-Aqsa Mosque, its assault
on worshippers, is a slap to recent US efforts which tried to create calm and
stability during the month of Ramadan.”
Less than 24 hours earlier, police raided the mosque
to try to remove what they said were masked agitators who locked themselves
inside after attempts to remove them by dialogue failed.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 12 Palestinians were
injured in the earlier clash, including from rubber-tipped bullets and
beatings. Israeli police said two officers were injured.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Threats against sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque must cease:
Turkish president
Diyar Guldogan
06.04.2023
Israeli police raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied
East Jerusalem are "unacceptable," Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said Wednesday, calling on Israel to abandon steps that are fueling
tensions.
"The intrusions and threats against the sanctity
and historical significance of Al-Aqsa Mosque as well as Palestinians' freedom
of religion and life must cease," Erdogan said in a televised interview.
His remarks came after tensions escalated when Israeli
police detained around 350 worshippers from inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.
A group of Palestinians barricaded themselves inside
the Al-Qibli Prayer Hall in the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex after Jewish settlers
called for a raid on the mosque. They attempted to prevent police from entering
by closing its doors.
Surrounding the Al-Qibli Prayer Hall, Israeli police
went up to the roof of the mosque, smashed windows, and initially used sound
bombs against worshippers inside. Some in the mosque tried to resist police by
throwing fireworks.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Concern, criticism after Israel police storm Jerusalem
mosque
06 Apr 2023
JERUSALEM, April 6 — Global criticism and concern
mounted Wednesday after Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Islam’s
third-holiest site, sparking a military exchange of rockets and air strikes,
with fears of further escalation.
Two more rockets were fired late yesterday from the
Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip towards Israel, the army and witnesses said, and
fresh altercations broke out at Al-Aqsa mosque during the Jewish Passover and
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Armed police in riot gear stormed the prayer hall of
Al-Aqsa mosque before dawn Wednesday, aiming to dislodge “law-breaking youths
and masked agitators” they said had barricaded themselves inside.
A barrage of rocks and fireworks met the officers,
police video showed, and more than 350 people were arrested.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was
“shocked and appalled” by images he saw of Israeli security forces beating
people at the mosque, particularly because it came at a time holy to Jews,
Christians and Muslims that should be a period of peace, his spokesman said.
White House National Security Council spokesman John
Kirby said the United States said he was “extremely concerned by the continuing
violence and we urge all sides to avoid further escalation”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country
and Israel have been rebuilding ties, said: “Trampling on the Al-Aqsa mosque is
our red line.”
Later yesterday, Israeli police said “dozens of
law-breaking juveniles, some of them masked, threw fireworks and stones” into
the mosque and tried again to barricade themselves in as worshippers gathered
for evening prayers.
Officers thwarted and dispersed the “violent rioters”
and allowed worshippers to leave, police said. An AFP journalist saw Israeli
security forces blocking access routes to the mosque.
A spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas
said Israel was “creating an atmosphere of escalation, instability and
tension”, saying police stormed the mosque and attacked worshippers on
Wednesday evening.
Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has
intensified since the new government of veteran Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu took power in December, a coalition with extreme right and
ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
Palestinian witness Abdel Karim Ikraiem, 74, said
Israeli police armed with batons, tear gas grenades and smoke bombs burst into
the mosque “by force” and “beat the women and men” worshipping there early
Wednesday.
One video widely circulated on social media showed
police clubbing people on the floor inside the mosque.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said it had treated 37
people, including some after their release from custody.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar
Ben-Gvir voiced “complete backing” for police and their “swift and determined”
actions.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza,
called on West Bank Palestinians “to go en masse to the Al-Aqsa mosque to
defend it”.
The mosque in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem is built
on top of what Jews call the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site.
It has been a frequent flashpoint, and clashes there
in May 2021 sparked the latest Gaza war that raged for 11 days.
Rocks and fireworks
On Gaza’s streets, protesters burned tyres and swore
“to defend and protect the Al-Aqsa mosque”.
Within hours of the first clashes at Al-Aqsa mosque,
at least nine rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel, the army said,
adding that “in response” warplanes struck two suspected Hamas
weapons-manufacturing sites.
The air strikes were followed by new rocket fire from
Gaza and further Israeli strikes, AFP journalists reported.
Later Wednesday witnesses reported two more rockets
fired from northern Gaza. Israel said “one launch failed” and fell in Gaza
while the other landed “in the area of the security fence” boundary.
Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based militant group,
called the rockets “a first warning message”.
Repercussions
Palestinian civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh
condemned the Israeli police action inside Al-Aqsa, saying “the level of
brutality requires urgent Palestinian, Arab and international action”.
Germany urged both sides “to do everything possible to
calm the situation”.
The Arab League denounced “the attack on the faithful”
and called an emergency meeting.
Jordan, which administers the mosque, condemned its
“storming”, and called on Israeli forces to leave the compound immediately.
The United Arab Emirates and Morocco, which
established ties with Israel in 2020 as part of US-brokered accords, also
strongly condemned the Israeli police action.
A UAE foreign ministry statement rejected all
practices that “threaten to further exacerbate escalation”. It also criticised
worshippers who “barricade themselves”.
Rabat’s foreign ministry stressed the need “to avoid
measures and violations likely to damage chances of peace in the region”.
The Gulf emirate of Qatar, which does not recognise Israel,
warned that Israeli practices “will have serious repercussions on security and
stability in the region, and will undermine efforts to revive the stalled peace
process, if the international community does not hasten to take action”.
Source: MalayMail
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Muslim academics, authors union condemn Israel's raid
on Al-Aqsa mosque
Dilara Hamit
05.04.2023
Islamic academics and a union of authors based in
Türkiye condemned on Tuesday Israel's raid on Al-Aqsa mosque during the holy
month of Ramadan.
"We strongly condemn Israel’s latest raid on
Masjid al-Aqsa. We believe that this attack carried out on April 5, 2023,
during the holy month of Ramadan, justifies once again the definition of Israel
as a ‘terrorist state,’” the head of the Aybir union, FatihSavasan, said in a
statement.
"It is understood that with such attacks, which
Israel makes habitual during Ramadan, it not only intimidates Palestinian
Muslims but also aims to insult and defame both them and all Muslims around the
globe," he added.
The statement noted that in occupied territories,
Israel continues to violate all kinds of human rights with its most extreme
actions.
"Although it is sad for humanity that these acts
of human rights violations remain unpunished for now, the day will surely come
when Israel’s high-rank state officials and those who carry out these
violations on the ground will be held responsible," it said.
It also urged Islamic countries to initiate criminal
investigations against those involved in these and similar acts, and that all
non-governmental organizations should initiate the judicial process by applying
to relevant national and international authorities.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest
site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish
temples in ancient times.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Iranian Parliament Condemns Opening of Azeri Embassy
in Israel
2023-April-5
"The government of the Republic of Azerbaijan,
acting in disbelief and against the interests of the Islamic world, opened an
embassy in the center of the Zionist regime and the Occupied al-Quds and
introduced its ambassador to the fake regime," the statement reads.
Stressing that this action will have many negative
political consequences against them, the Iranian parliament members emphasized
that from now on, the Muslims of the world will consider the Azeri statesmen
accomplices of "the Zionist regime" in the murder and crime against
the oppressed Palestinians.
This move is considered an action against Palestine
and causes their inalienable rights to be ignored, they stressed, urging the Arab
and Islamic governments and the Islamic world to condemn it.
The parliament members also called on the Iranian
foreign ministry to take the necessary diplomatic measures while sending a
statement to all Islamic countries.
They also urged the Azerbaijani parliament members to
take a position on this action of the Azeri government.
Source: Fars News Agency
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Iran Dismisses UN Human Rights Resolution as
Politically-Motivated
2023-April-5
Reacting to an anti-Iran resolution adopted by the UN
Human Rights Council, Kana'ani rejected it as politically-motivated with a
selective, biased, and confrontational approach towards Tehran.
The spokesperson said that the prejudices and hasty
judgments in the Western-backed resolution seeking to undermine Iran’s human
rights advances completely invalidate it.
"It is a bad habit by some member states to
exploit the UN mechanisms for their political purposes," the senior
official stressed.
“The countries that violate the rights of other
nations cannot claim to be advocates of human rights or make judgments about
it, and they must rather be accountable for their own crimes with regards to
the gross and systematic violations of human rights in their countries and
other countries of the world,” he added.
The anti-Tehran draft resolution was approved after 23
member states voted in favor, eight countries were against and 16 others
abstained.
Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations
Office and other international organizations in Geneva has censured Western
governments for using human rights as a political tool against Tehran following
the UN Human Rights Council’s approval of draft resolution.
Ali Bahraini made the remarks in a Tuesday speech
ahead of voting on a draft resolution, titled "Situation of human rights
in the Islamic Republic of Iran", proposed by the United Kingdom, Iceland,
North Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova and Northern Ireland at the 52nd
regular session of the Human Rights Council.
The draft of the resolution that the Council is about
to put to vote, submitted by Iceland and Britain as its main sponsors, is
completely unjustifiable and rejected by Iran,” Bahraini said.
Stressing that the supporters of the resolution hide
themselves behind the title of human rights, the Iranian diplomat stated that
certain states exploit the organization to advance their own political
objectives.
“From Iran's point of view, this resolution is
considered a malicious attempt to target and deliberately tarnish Iran's human
rights image through fabricating distorted narratives, negative stereotypes and
false accusations,” he underlined.
The Iranian diplomat underscored that Iran’s achievements
in observing human rights over the past four decades demonstrate the country’s
determination to respect, protect, and realize human rights.
“The instrumental use of human rights is unacceptable
and endangers human rights cause,” Bahraini continued, adding, “This approach
neither helps preserve and promote human rights, nor is compatible with facts
on the ground as well as the history and background of the Iranian culture and
civilization.”
The resolution, which extended the mandate of the UN
special rapporteur on the rights situation in Iran for another year, accused
Tehran of “crackdown” on violent riots that erupted across the country last
September.
Protests erupted in several cities across Iran over
the death of MahsaAmini who fainted at a police station in mid-September and
days later was pronounced dead at a hospital. The demonstrations soon turned
violent.
An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine
Organization announced that Amini’s controversial death was caused by an
illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.
Iranian officials blame Western countries for
orchestrating the riots to destabilize the country.
The unrest has claimed the lives of dozens of people
and security forces, while also allowing acts of terror and sabotage across the
country. Iran's Interior Ministry has confirmed the enemy waged a hybrid war
against the country to weaken national solidarity and hinder the country's
progress, stressing that some 200 people lost their lives in the riots sparked
by separatist and terrorist groups.
The US, the UK and the European Union (EU) have
imposed a slew of sanctions against Iranian individuals and legal entities
since the September death in police custody of an Iranian woman. Iran has
returned the adversarial measures and meddlesome statements with sanctions
against European, American and British officials and institutions.
Iran blasts the blatant violations of human rights in
the US and Europe, stressing for the US, human rights is merely a tool for
exerting political pressure on independent states to advance their foreign
policy objectives. Officials in Tehran call on the international community to
hold the US accountable for its crimes. They mocked the US claim over
supporting Iranian women and girls amid harsh sanctions which have disrupted
the ordinary lives of the people.
Tehran has also denounces the disturbing human rights
situation in the European countries, and note the West does not have the
authority to be the flag-bearer in this field.
Source: Fars News Agency
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Spokesman Underlines Iran's Support for Political
Solution to Yemen War
2023-April-5
Kana'ani has welcomed Washington's declaration of
support for the peace process in Yemen, saying it is pleasing that the US envoy
talks about peace in Yemen.
“We are pleased that the US government envoy is
talking about the peace process in Yemen," he wrote on his Twitter page on
Wednesday.
"It is a procedure that the Islamic Republic of
Iran has emphasized and made efforts toward since the beginning of the war on
Yemen," he added.
The United States called Tuesday on Iran to help end
the war in Yemen by backing a peace process, one year after a truce
dramatically reduced hostilities.
"If the Iranians want to show that they're are
really turning a corner on conflict, then there won't be smuggling of weapons
to the Huthis anymore in violation of UN Security Council resolutions,"
the US Special Envoy for Yemen, Timothy Lenderking, said at the Middle East
Institute in Washington.
Iran has repeatedly rejected the Western countries'
allegations of smuggling arms and ammunition to Yemen.
"We also would like to see the Iranians show
support for the political process that we hope is coming," Lenderking
added.
Saudi Arabia launched a devastating war on Yemen in
March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics
support from the US, the UK and other Western states.
The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly
regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement,
which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government
in Yemen.
Source: Fars News Agency
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Iran Calls for Using Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes
2023-April-5
“Iran believes that outer space and other celestial
bodies are humanity's common heritage and must be used only for peaceful
purposes for the benefit of all countries,” Balouji said in a statement
addressing the United Nations Disarmament Commission.
“The prevention of an arms race in outer space can be
a first step towards achieving this goal and averting a severe threat to
international peace and security,” he added.
The full text of his statement is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most
Merciful
Mr. Chair,
I would like to congratulate you Ambassador
Rahmatollin, the other bureau members and the chairs of the working groups,
namely, Mr. Kurt Davis of Jamaica and Madam SzilviaBalázs of Hungry, on your
election. My delegation appreciates the able leadership of the outgoing Chair,
Ambassador Mbongo of South Africa, and stands ready to fully cooperate with you
during the third and final substantive session of the current cycle of the
UNDC. I align myself with the statement made on behalf of the NAM by Indonesia.
Mr. Chair,
The world is facing multiple and interlinking global
threats and challenges, including those posed by weapons of mass destruction,
particularly nuclear weapons, which continue to pose an existential threat to
humanity. Despite this, international efforts towards nuclear disarmament are
eroding, and the taboo against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is
fading away.
The ongoing escalation of political and military
tensions, increasing military budgets, and the renewed and expanded nuclear
arms race through the replacement or upgrading of nuclear arsenals are all
harbingers of a dangerous future in terms of international security. The
increase in the quantity and quality of nuclear arsenals, nuclear sharing
together with military doctrines lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear
weapons, means that the threat of a nuclear catastrophe is closer than ever
before. For instance, both the US and the UK have increased their nuclear weapons
budget and arsenal.
On the other hand, the two consecutive failures of the
NPT review conferences in 2015 and 2022 are clear examples of the lack of
accountability and political will by the NWSs and those advocating nuclear
deterrence to honor their explicit legal obligations regarding nuclear
disarmament based on Article VI of the NPT.
The international community should urge the NWSs to
develop an updated disarmament action plan within a specific timeframe. Such a
plan should contain, as a first step, the halting of research, development,
testing, and production of nuclear weapons and delivery systems, as well as a
verifiable and unreversible dismantling of all nuclear weapons. These
imperatives can and should be accomplished through a comprehensive convention,
the negotiations of which should commence as early as possible in the CD.
Furthermore, pending the achievement of the total elimination of nuclear
weapons, which remains the only absolute guarantee against their use or threat
of use, a universal, unconditional, non-discriminatory, and legally binding
instrument signed and ratified by the NWSs to effectively assure all
non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons
under any circumstances should remain a matter of high priority.
Mr. Chair,
It is important to note that the establishment of
nuclear-weapon-free zones, including in the Middle East, should be supported by
the NWSs. Almost 50 years ago, Iran initiated such a proposal for the Middle
East, and it is regrettable that this noble goal, endorsed in many
international fora, including by the 1995 NPT RevCon, is still pending and
facing obstacles, particularly the Israeli regime backed by the US government.
The regime possesses all types of weapons of mass destruction, including
nuclear weapons, and threatens to use them against regional countries. It is
not a party to the NPT and has not accepted the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) safeguards on its principal nuclear activities. Furthermore, the
regime has committed various terrorist attacks against nuclear scientists and
initiated different sabotage attacks against nuclear facilities. Therefore, it
must be forced to join all related instruments, including the NPT, without any
precondition, and as a non-nuclear weapon party. It must place all its nuclear
facilities and activities under the comprehensive safeguards of the IAEA.
Mr. Chair,
Iran believes that outer space and other celestial
bodies are humanity's common heritage and must be used only for peaceful purposes
for the benefit of all countries. The prevention of an arms race in outer space
can be a first step towards achieving this goal and averting a severe threat to
international peace and security. Therefore, further measures, including a
legally binding instrument with appropriate and effective verification
provisions, should be developed promptly by the CD.
We are deeply concerned about the increasing threat of
weaponizing outer space, including the negative implications of the development
and deployment of anti-ballistic missile defense systems and the pursuit of
advanced military technologies capable of being deployed in outer space. The US
activities and those of other actors contribute to the further weakening of an
international climate conducive to the promotion of disarmament and the
strengthening of international security.
Mr. Chair,
In response to the unsubstantiated allegations and
unwarranted concerns raised by some delegations, particularly the US, the UK,
France and the Israeli regime about Iran's nuclear program or its defensive
missile program, my delegation is obliged to reject all of them. The peaceful
nature of Iran's nuclear activities has been confirmed by the IAEA on numerous
occasions. We should not be distracted from the real threats, namely the
Israeli nuclear weapon program at the regional level and the very existence of
WMDs at the global level.
Source: Fars News Agency
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14020116000394/Iran-Calls-fr-Using-Oer-Space-fr-Peacefl-Prpses
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UN rapporteur calls out Western media’s ‘misleading
coverage’ of Al-Aqsa raid
05 April 2023
The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in occupied Palestinian territories on Wednesday called out Western
media for their “misleading” coverage of Israeli military raids, saying such an
approach contributes to the regime's unchecked occupation.
In a tweet, Francesca Albanese condemned “renewed
violence against Palestinian worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque.”
She was referring to the headline of a BBC news
article that used the word “clashes” to refer to the brutal assault unleashed
by Israeli forces against unarmed Palestinian worshippers at al-Aqsa mosque
early on Wednesday.
Albanese, who has frequently criticized Israel's
occupation of Palestine and the regime’s relentless crimes against innocent
Palestinians, has been barred by the regime from entering the occupied
territories since her appointment as the UN special rapporteur in April 2022.
In January, 116 human rights and civil society
organizations, academic institutions, and groups condemned the Israeli regime’s
“targeted smear campaign” against Albanese.
Albanese’s tweet ignited a heated debate among
netizens on Western media’s treatment of the Palestine conflict, with some
users slamming the Western media’s scandalously pro-Israel tilt.
Western media accused of bias
Western media have long been accused of misreporting
and downplaying Israel’s military occupation of Palestine and whitewashing the
regime’s daily atrocities against Palestinians.
Human rights activists say Western media generally
aids and abets the regime’s propaganda that its military violence is simply a
response to Palestinians' actions, referring to the resistance.
They argue Western media mostly give equal weight to
both sides, ignoring the fact that one side is an occupier and the other is
occupied.
They say Western media have time and again sought to
portray Palestinians as aggressors, notably misreporting Israel’s aggressions
in Gaza as “clashes” or “flare-ups" of violence.”
Source: Press TV
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Yemeni FM berates Biden for faking ‘concern’, says US
complicit in war, siege
05 April 2023
Yemen’s foreign minister says the United States is
bent on whitewashing its complicity in the Saudi-led aggression against the
impoverished Arab country by pretending to be concerned about achieving peace
there.
Hisham Sharaf was cited by the Yemeni Saba news agency
as making the remarks on Tuesday, two days after US President Joe Biden
released a statement on the anniversary of the start of an UN-sponsored
ceasefire in Yemen and stressed Washington’s “support” for all efforts aimed at
reaching a comprehensive peace in the war-ravaged country.
Underlining that the US was “trying to evade its
responsibilities” as a party responsible for the Saudi-led war and was
profiting from it, Sharaf challenged Washington to “prove” its sincerity in
wanting peace in Yemen by taking “concrete steps on the ground” and condemning
the actions of the Saudi-led coalition.
"The countries that claim to be keen on achieving
peace in Yemen should be sincere in their intentions by condemning the
aggression and siege on Yemen for the ninth year in a row, stopping the supply
of weapons and military experts to aggression countries, and putting pressure
on the aggression countries,” Sharaf said.
The top Yemeni diplomat said Biden’s statement and the
concern he showed regarding achieving permanent peace in Yemen are “not
commensurate with what America is doing in reality by providing cover for the aggression
countries.”
"The United States of America is trying with such
a statement to evade its responsibilities as a party that participated in the
aggression and siege on Yemen, which caused the largest humanitarian crisis in
contemporary history, and to present itself as a dove of peace," he added.
Emphasizing Yemen’s call for a just peace, Sharaf
concluded by expressing Sana'a's readiness to defend the Yemeni people through
all legitimate means and the country's ability to meet the legitimate demands of
the Yemeni people.
Omani-hosted talks between the sides in the protracted
conflict have been ongoing for the past several months, with the Iran-Saudi
rapprochement having increased hopes that an end to the war could be imminent.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — the
closest allies of the US in the region after the Israeli regime — have been
waging the war on Yemen since March 2015.
The invasion has been seeking to change Yemen’s ruling
structure in favor of the impoverished country’s former Riyadh- and
Washington-friendly rulers and crush the popular Ansarullah resistance
movement. The Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any of its objectives.
The war, which has been enjoying unstinting arms,
logistical, and political support on the part of the United States, has killed
hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire country into the scene
of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Source: Press TV
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Arab World
Saudi, Iran FMs to meet in Beijing under
China-brokered cooperation deal: Report
05 April ,2023
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince
Faisal bin Farhan and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian will meet
in Beijing on Thursday to discuss the next steps of their diplomatic
rapprochement amid a China-brokered deal, Asharq al-Awasat newspaper cited an
unidentified source in Riyadh as saying.
The meeting will mark the first formal contact between
Saudi Arabia and Iran’s top envoys since 2016.
The upcoming talks come after three separate phone
calls between the two foreign ministers, in which they discussed the subsequent
steps needed to resume their diplomatic missions and reactivate previous
agreements, according to the source.
Choosing China “came as an extension of Beijing’s
positive role in reaching the agreement and facilitating communication between
the two countries,” the newspaper quoted the unnamed source as saying.
In a joint statement issued on March 10, Saudi Arabia,
Iran, and China announced that they would resume diplomatic relations within 60
days.
The statement emphasized the need to respect the
sovereignty of the states and refrain from interfering in their internal
affairs.
It also affirmed that all joint agreements between
Saudi Arabia and Iran, including the security cooperation agreement, and deals
on economy, trade, investment, technology, science, culture, sports, and youth
would be reactivated.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in 2016 after its
embassy in Tehran was stormed during a dispute between the two countries.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Iran appoints UAE ambassador for first time since 2016
05 April ,2023
Iran said on Tuesday it had appointed an ambassador to
the United Arab Emirates for the first time since 2016, amid a realignment of
relations between Gulf states and Iran.
Iran’s newly appointed ambassador Reza Ameri had
served as the director general of the Iranian expatriates office in the foreign
ministry, Iranian state media said.
The move comes after the UAE in August moved to
upgrade ties and said it was returning its ambassador to Tehran.
The UAE downgraded relations with Iran after Saudi
Arabia severed ties with Iran in January 2016 when Iranian protesters stormed
the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
In a step change to years of hostility between Iran
and Saudi Arabia that had threatened stability and security in the Gulf and
helped fuel conflicts in the Middle East from Yemen to Syria, Riyadh last month
said it would re-establish relations with Tehran in a China-brokered deal.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Saudi Arabia Launches Iftar Programs In Sri Lanka,
Pakistan
April 06, 2023
RIYADH: The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and
Guidance, represented by the religious attaché at the Kingdom’s Embassy in
Colombo, has inaugurated King Salman’s Iftar program in Sri Lanka.
The program was inaugurated in the presence of Saudi
Ambassador to Colombo Khalid bin Hamoud Al-Qahtani, Director of the Department
of Islamic and Cultural Affairs at the Sri Lankan Ministry of Religions Zain
Al-Abidin Mohammed Faisal, and several figures from Islamic centres in Sri
Lanka.
On the occasion, Al-Qahtani commended the efforts of
the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and the religious attaché for implementing the
program, emphasizing the importance of the gesture in increasing solidarity
among Muslims during the blessed month of Ramadan.
He added that the program reflects the Saudi
leadership’s care and attention accorded to Muslims worldwide and its eagerness
to enhance joint Islamic action.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, represented by the
religious attaché of the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad, also inaugurated the
Ramadan Iftar at King Faisal Mosque, one of the largest mosques in Pakistan.
The event was attended by Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan
Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki and Pakistan’s Minister of Religious Affairs and
Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor.
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2282041/saudi-arabia
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UAE condemns Israeli police storming al-Aqsa Mosque
05 April ,2023
United Arab Emirates has also strongly condemned the
storming of the al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli police on Wednesday, the foreign
ministry said in a statement.
“The UAE called on Israeli authorities to halt
escalation and avoid exacerbating tension and instability in the region,” it
said.
The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC), Jassem Mohamed al-Budaiwi has condemned the “continued storming of the
al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces,” according to a statement by Saudi
Press Agency released on Wednesday.
“The continued storming by the occupation forces of
al-Aqsa Mosque, violating its sanctities and attacking its worshippers are
considered a serious escalation and it contradicts the international principles
and norms in respect of religious sanctities as well as a flagrant violation of
international law and international legitimacy resolutions,” he added.
Israeli police attacked dozens of worshipers in
Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque compound before dawn on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said seven Palestinians
sustained wounds from rubber-tipped bullets and beatings in clashes with
Israeli police at the compound.
It added that Israeli forces were preventing its
medics from reaching the mosque.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Turkey closes airspace to flights to and from Iraq’s
Sulaymaniyah: Report
05 April ,2023
Turkey has closed its air space to flights from the
Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, blaming the increased activity of the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the foreign ministry announced Wednesday.
Ankara shut down air links on Monday and the freeze on
flights would last until at least July 3 before being reviewed, said the
ministry statement.
“This decision has been taken in the context of the
intensification of activities of the PKK at Sulaimaniyah, the intrusion of the
terrorist organization at the airport and the threat it poses to air security,”
it said.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said
last month that one of its top commanders was among nine fighters killed when
two helicopters crashed in Iraq in mid-March.
They were heading to Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq’s
autonomous Kurdistan region, for talks on security and military issues.
The SDF has been a key ally of the US-led coalition
fighting ISIS extremists in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
Turkey and its western allies consider the PKK to be a
terrorist organization.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Israeli strikes on Syria intensify, raise tensions
with Iran
05 April ,2023
Suspected Israeli airstrikes in Syria in recent weeks
have killed two Iranian military advisers, temporarily put the country’s two
largest airports out of service, and raised fears of regional escalation.
While Israel has fought a shadow war with Iran in
Syria for years, it has intensified recently, with near-daily airstrikes
attributed to Israel by Syrian officials over the past week.
The escalation of attacks comes after what appears to
be a rare infiltration by an armed man from Lebanon into Israel and Iran’s
reconciliation with regional rival Saudi Arabia last month.
It also comes against the backdrop of a major domestic
crisis in Israel over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government plan to
overhaul the judiciary.
Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment
in neighboring Syria, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in
government-controlled parts of that country in recent years — but rarely
acknowledges them. Since the beginning of 2023, Syrian officials have attributed
10 strikes on Syrian territory to Israel, including four airstrikes within five
days as of Tuesday.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has had its
own recent run-ins with Iranian forces in Syria. In late March, US forces
retaliated with airstrikes on sites in Syria used by groups affiliated with
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) following a suspected
Iran-linked drone attack that killed a US contractor and wounded six other
Americans in northeast Syria.
An official with an Iranian-backed group in Iraq said
the US strikes killed seven Iranians.
The flareup between the US and Iran did not escalate,
but some fear the back-and-forth between Israel and Iran could.
Since the early years of Syria’s 12-year-old conflict,
Iran has deployed hundreds of military advisers as well as thousands of
Iran-backed fighters from countries including Iraq and Lebanon who helped tip
the balance of power in President Bashar Assad’s favor. Iran-backed fighters
are deployed in different parts of Syria.
Israel has long considered Iran to be its top enemy,
citing Iranian calls for Israel’s destruction, its support for anti-Israel
militant groups like Hezbollah and its nuclear program. Israel and Western
countries say Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapons — a charge Iran
denies.
Iran has blamed Israel for attacks on its territory,
including the killings of some of its nuclear scientists and damage to nuclear
installations.
The airstrikes in Syria reflect Israel’s concerns
about fighters being deployed close to its northern border and fears that Iran
is trying to transfer sophisticated weapons, such as guided missiles, to
Hezbollah. Both Israel and Hezbollah have avoided an all-out war since their
34-day war in 2006 ended with a draw. Israel considers Hezbollah, which is
believed to possess over 130,000 rockets and missiles, to be a major threat.
Lebanese military expert and former army general
Hisham Jaber said Iran has about 1,800 military advisers in Syria, most of them
deployed with Syrian troops.
The increase in strikes on Syria began with a January
2 attack that temporarily put Damascus airport out of service, just after the
most right-wing government in Israel’s 74-year history took office.
The strikes continued despite mass protests in Israel,
including open disagreement between Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav
Gallant, over the government’s controversial plans for a judicial overhaul. At
one point, Netanyahu fired Gallant for criticizing the plan, but then
backtracked and temporarily halted the push for the overhaul until parliament
reconvenes in a month.
The two men have made a number of public appearances
in recent days, alluding to military activity in Syria without overtly
confirming it.
“We will not allow the Iranians and Hezbollah to harm
us. We have not allowed it in the past, we won’t allow it now, or anytime in
the future,” Gallant said this week. “When necessary, we will push them out of
Syria to where they belong – and that is Iran.”
Jaber, however, said he believes the recent strikes
will not turn into a full-blown conflict, in part because the US -- which is
preoccupied with the ongoing war in Ukraine and its own tensions with China --
would try to discourage a regional war.
Strikes attributed to Israel in Syria in recent weeks
have targeted both Iranian-linked figures and infrastructure.
They have hit the airports of Damascus and Aleppo, a
move which was apparently intended to prevent the flow of arms shipments into
Syria, but which also disrupted aid shipments after the deadly February 6
earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey.
On February 19, the first reported Israeli strikes
after the earthquake targeted residential areas in Syria’s capital Damascus,
killing at least five people and wounding 15. Opposition activists said the strikes
targeted Iranian-backed militias.
In mid-March, the Israeli army said its soldiers had
killed an armed man suspected of entering the country from Lebanon and blowing
up a car. The incident, which wounded one Israeli, unnerved Israelis. Officials
suspect the man infiltrated from Lebanon and may have been dispatched by
Hezbollah or directly by Iran.
A few days after the alleged infiltration, a commander
with the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad was shot dead outside his
apartment building near Damascus in what the group described as an
assassination by Israeli agents.
Last Tuesday, Netanyahu said Israel’s intelligence
agency Mossad helped Greece prevent a terrorist attack planned against at least
one Jewish site in Athens. Greek authorities said two men described as being of
Pakistani origin were arrested for allegedly planning an attack on a Jewish
center.
On Friday, an Israeli strike on a southern suburb of
Damascus killed two advisers from Iran’s IRGC. Hours later, Israel’s air force
shot down a drone that entered Israel from Syria and alleged that Iran was
behind its launch.
YoelGuzansky, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the
Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, said Israel’s
stepped-up action in recent weeks could be in response to the recent alleged
infiltration from Lebanon.
Guzansky noted that Iran rarely acknowledges the death
of its officers and advisers as quickly as it did after Friday’s attack. He
said the swift public acknowledgement could signal that “Iran will avenge or
respond to the Israeli attacks,” possibly targeting Israelis abroad.
An official with an Iran-backed group in the region
warned that if Israel continues with the strikes, Tehran and its allies will
retaliate. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
discuss the issue with the media.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Ramadan festivities evoke nostalgia in Jeddah’s
historic Al-Balad
AFSHAN AZIZ
April 06, 2023
JEDDAH: The narrow alleys of the historic Al-Balad
area of Jeddah have become filled with light and laughter as part of a program
of evening cultural and entertainment activities for Ramadan.
Organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, events are
taking place in special zones set up throughout the district.
Visitors at the Bab Al-Balad entrance are greeted with
traditional Saudi coffee, while in the Mirkaz area they can play games, try
their hand at arts and crafts, or sample gourmet food.
The Sardek zone features a Ramadan tent, cinema of the
past, roaming characters, and a puppet theater.
The nights, part of the Ramadan Season of festivities,
also include live cooking shows and Qur’an recitation contests.
A bustling market offers a range of products including
perfumes, pickles, tailor-made clothing, and accessories, or festivalgoers can
watch games and popular Ramadan TV shows in an outdoor seating area.
Wearing Hijazi attire, Sari Salem Hariri, co-founder
and general manager of Al-Mugasap, a Saudi traditional fashion clothing brand,
said: “I am very excited to participate in the season and revive the Saudi
traditional attire.
“We have installed a booth for visitors to try out the
outfits and make a memory of our deep-rooted customs and traditions.”
BadriyaSuleimany, who was selling homemade pickles at
the event with her daughters, said: “I feel empowered to be a part of the
Ramadan Season. I have been doing this business for the last five years, but
this is the first time I have been out in the open area and meeting people from
different nationalities.
“The real Ramadan vibes are in Al-Balad and it is
something which everyone should visit to learn about our culture and holy month
traditions.”
Visitors to Al-Balad can also listen to a Musaharati,
a person who traditionally walks around a neighborhood beating a drum and
chanting poetry to wake people for sahoor. And at various intervals, men in
traditional costumes can be seen dancing to traditional songs.
In addition, storytellers, known as Hakawati, can be
heard narrating old Ramadan tales in Hazzazi square.
Saeed Al-Ghamdi, a resident of Jeddah had taken his
grandchildren to the event especially for the Hakawati session.
He said: “In the old days, we used to gather and
entertain ourselves with storytelling. There used to be master storytellers who
shared Islamic tales and history as well as their own real-life stories. We
learned from them and gained knowledge.
“Seeing this tradition back here in the festival made
me nostalgic and I am glad to share with my grandchildren the beauty of
Hakawati.”
Osman Abdullah, 70, from Jeddah, said: “After the
Taraweeh, I used to spend time with friends in the neighborhood discussing and
sharing religious Islamic stories. Coming to this historic district and
witnessing the energetic environment took me back to those days.”
He added that Ramadan nights were special as they were
a time when people not only sought spiritual development but socialized.
Another participant, Hadeel Alabbasi, co-founder and
academic manager of Al-Kuttab language institute, said: “We invite family and
friends to enjoy their time learning calligraphy, poetry, and Arabic this year
while experiencing Al-Balad through us where we present the opportunity to
learn about the values of Ramadan and the culture.”
At the Hazzazi area, located in Rubat Al-Khunji
Al-Saghir, activities include making accessories, and learning about the
history of the area through stories, solving riddles, playing traditional
games, hunting for Ramadan treasure, and listening to poetry.
Sarah Hassan, who lives in Australia but always
returns to her hometown of Jeddah for Ramadan, said: “I make sure to spend my
entire Ramadan in Jeddah because of the vibe which is not the same anywhere in
the world. Saudi Arabia is the best place to be during the holy month.
“Coming to Al-Balad with my children, I can teach them
the culture and show them how Ramadan is celebrated in the country. We had a
good time walking the streets, trying snacks like balila, French fries,
luqaimat, and sipping the very famous Vimto drink.”
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2282056/saudi-arabia
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King Salman directs $800m in Ramadan aid to social
security beneficiaries
April 05, 2023
RIYADH: King Salman has authorized Ramadan assistance
worth more SR3 billion ($800 million) to Saudi social security beneficiaries,
with each head of a family receiving SR1,000 and each family member receiving
SR500.
The funds were deposited directly into beneficiaries’
bank accounts on Wednesday, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Widows, orphans, the unemployed, as well as elderly
and disabled people, are among those who receive Saudi government social
welfare payments.
Low-income workers and those affected by natural
disasters are also eligible for state benefits, which come in the form of
financial aid, marriage support, interest-free home loans or home renovation
financing, according to the Saudi government website.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2281921/saudi-arabia
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Maronite patriarch, Christian deputies attend
spiritual retreat on Lebanon’s presidential elections
NAJIA HOUSSARI
April 05, 2023
BEIRUT: A spiritual retreat on Wednesday was attended
by Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi and Christian deputies in a bid
to resolve a six-month stalemate over the election of a new president for the
crisis-hit country.
The gathering in Harissa came as separate meetings
between Qatar’s Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammed
bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi and Lebanese officials and political
leaders failed to address the ongoing political vacuum.
A total of 53 deputies from the Free Patriotic
Movement, Lebanese Forces, Kataeb Party, and Marada Movement took part in the
retreat.
Eleven deputies were absent, including FPM-backed
deputy parliament speaker, Elias Bou Saab, and reformist deputies who favor political
dialogue to break the deadlock.
MPs Melhem Khalaf and Najat Aoun Saliba were also
absent, as they entered the 77th day of their parliament protest over the
issue, while MP Paula Yacoubian said she would “not participate in any activity
that is based on sectarian division.”
In a statement delivered to the deputies, Al-Rahi
said: “The policy adopted by the ruling power erroneously is incapable of
taking care of others. It grinds the poor, takes advantage of the land, faces
challenges, and doesn’t know how to hold a dialogue.
“What progress did you allow the people to make? What
positive forces did you liberate? What did you do to elect a president?”
Hezbollah and the Amal Movement have chosen to back
Suleiman Frangieh for the presidency in a move rejected by Christian MPs. The
head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, wants to elect a
centrist president.
Frangieh is a prominent Christian figure, backed by
Hezbollah and its allies that consider the Lebanese Forces and opposition
nominated MP Michel Mouawad to be a “defiant candidate.” For 11 parliamentary
sessions, Hezbollah’s deputies cast blank votes and withdrew from the second
rounds of voting, leading to a loss of quorum.
Neither candidates will be able to become president,
as both political camps are incapable of securing the 65 votes needed to win in
a parliament comprising 128 deputies.
Meanwhile, Al-Khulaifi reiterated Qatar’s commitment
to helping Lebanon elect a president and urged officials to implement the
reforms required by the international community to kickstart an economic
recovery process.
Separately, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office
of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions on Lebanese brothers Raymond
and Teddy Rahme and their three companies, including ZR Energy.
In a statement, the department said: “The Rahme
brothers used their wealth, power, and influence to engage in corrupt practices
that contribute to the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon.”
The siblings have close ties with many Christian
political figures, including FPM head GebranBassil, leader of the Lebanese
Forces Samir Geagea, and Frangieh.
During a press conference in 2020, Frangieh said he
was not “ashamed” about his close ties with Raymond Rahme which dated back to
the 1980s.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2281926/middle-east
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Egypt condemns Israeli aggression at Al-Aqsa
GOBRAN MOHAMMED
April 05, 2023
CAIRO: Egypt condemned Israeli police for storming
Al-Aqsa Mosque and demanded an immediate end to attacks on worshippers.
Israeli police entered Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque
before dawn on Wednesday and clashed with worshippers, setting off a furious
reaction from Palestinians.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, Egypt
condemned, “in the strongest terms, the Israeli police’s storming of Al-Aqsa
Al-Sharif Mosque and the accompanying blatant attacks that led to many injuries
among worshippers, including women, in violation of all international laws and
norms.”
It said that such “abhorrent and reprehensible scenes
and the repeated Israeli violations of the sanctity of the holy places fuel the
feelings of anger among all the Palestinian people, the Islamic people, and
people…all over the world.”
Egypt called on Israeli authorities to stop the
attacks that have intimidated worshippers and said it holds Israel, the occupying
power, responsible for the dangerous escalation, which undermines the truce
efforts Egypt is engaged in with regional and international partners.
It also called for the international community to
shoulder its responsibility in putting an end to these attacks and to spare the
region further instability and tension.
The Israeli police stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque to expel
what it described as “rioters” who brought in “firecrackers, sticks, and
stones.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli police said over 350
people were arrested.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said
that these “irresponsible behaviors in the holy places affect the religious
feelings of millions of Muslims worldwide, especially during the holy month of
Ramadan.”
He called on the international community, represented
by the member states of the UN Security Council, “to move quickly in order to
push Israel to stop this dangerous escalation, which threatens to ignite the
situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
Aboul Gheit called on the Israeli government to
“respect the sanctity of the month of Ramadan and to stop these provocative
actions that would inflame feelings and raise the level of anger.”
The Egyptian Syndicate of Journalists also condemned
the “barbaric attack launched by a number of settlers under the protection of
the Israeli occupation forces” against Al-Aqsa and the repeated attacks against
the Palestinian people.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2281821/middle-east
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North America
White House ‘extremely concerned’ over Jerusalem,
urges calm
05 April ,2023
The White House said Wednesday it was “extremely concerned”
after clashes inside Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque compound and urged restraint by
both Israelis and Palestinians.
“We remain extremely concerned by the continuing
violence and we urge all sides to avoid further escalation,” White House
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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‘Saudi-Syria détente, Damascus’ Arab League return win
for Iran, setback for US’
05 April 2023
The growing diplomatic engagement between the Syrian
government and its Arab neighbors amid rapidly shifting geopolitical dynamics
represents a win for Iran and a setback for the United States, according to a
report.
The US-based outlet Bloomberg, citing “three people
briefed by the Saudis and one person close to the UAE government” on Wednesday
that following the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Syria, Riyadh is now
taking steps to help bring Syria back into the Arab League as early as next
month.
The report said Syria’s return to the Arab League
“would be a win for Iran and Russia and in defiance of US warnings.”
“A successful reconciliation of Syria would represent
a blow to the influence of the US in the Middle East, and fortify a divide
between the region and Western governments," it stated, pointing to
shifting power balance in the new multipolar world.
More important than that, Bloomberg said, such a
reconciliation will be a “major win for Iran”, which has supported the Arab
country throughout the conflict.
The outlet quoted its sources as saying that “the US
is aware of the push, has warned against it but has realized it can do little
to stop it.”
Washington has repeatedly warned countries against
normalization with Syria, but despite the warnings, many Arab countries have
recently extended an olive branch to Damascus and opened a new chapter in their
relations.
Syria’s membership in the Arab League was suspended
following the breakout of the foreign-backed militancy in the Arab country in
2011.
Saudi Arabia, along with several other Arab states as
well as Turkey, cut ties with Syria and funneled billions of dollars worth of
arms to the Arab country throughout the years to prop up militants fighting to
topple the Syrian government.
Growing worries in Washington
This follows a China-mediated normalization agreement
between Iran and Saudi Arabia concluded in Beijing last month, which ended a
seven-year rupture in their bilateral ties following the Saudi execution of a
senior Shia cleric.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is
expected to meet his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan in Beijing on
Thursday, according to reports.
A senior State Department official officially welcomed
that normalization deal, saying it can have a “calming effect” on the region.
But the report in Bloomberg said, “many in Washington
fear Saudi Arabia’s eagerness to pivot to China and Iran … may in some way harm
US national-security interests in the region.”
Last week, several former top US officials familiar
with the Middle East warned President Joe Biden in a letter that not being more
forceful in blocking Arab normalization with Assad was “short-sighted and
damaging to any hope for regional security and stability.”
Israeli media have also reported wariness among the
regime’s officials over the recent normalization deals.
Riyadh and Damascus reached an agreement last month to
reopen their embassies and resume consular services after the holy month of
Ramadan.
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt are among other
Arab states that have recently resumed diplomatic ties with Damascus.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Canada ‘concerned’ about violence around al-Aqsa
Mosque: Prime minister
FirdevsBulutKartal
05.04.2023
Toronto, CANADA
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau voiced concerns
about violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem during the holy
month of Ramadan.
"We are extremely concerned with the inflamed
rhetoric coming out of the Israeli government," Trudeau said at a public
budget announcement.
"It is the holy month of Ramadan and Passover
together, and both Israeli and Palestinian families deserve to be able to
celebrate in peace and security," he said.
"We are concerned by the violence around Al-Aqsa
Mosque during this holy month. We need to see the Israeli government shifting
in its approach," said Trudeau. "We need to see a de-escalation of
violence and people should be living in peace and prosperity in the
region."
Israeli police said earlier that they detained 350
Palestinians from the complex.
A group of Palestinians barricaded themselves in the
Al-Qibli Prayer Hall in the complex after Jewish settlers called for a raid on
the mosque. Israeli forces and Jewish settlers frequently carry out raids on
the mosque.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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US envoy’s meeting with Turkish opposition
presidential candidate unacceptable: FM
05 April ,2023
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on
Wednesday a meeting that US Ambassador Jeff Flake had with the main opposition
presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu was unacceptable.
Source: Al Arabiya
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CIA director visits Saudi Arabia to reinforce US
commitment to intel cooperation
05 April ,2023
The head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Bill
Burns was in Saudi Arabia this week to meet with officials and reinforce
Washington’s commitment to intelligence cooperation, a US official told Al
Arabiya English on Wednesday.
“Director Burns traveled to Saudi Arabia, where he met
with intelligence counterparts and country leaders on shared interests,” the
official said.
The official added that Burns reinforced “our
commitment to intelligence cooperation, especially in areas such as counterterrorism.”
Asked to confirm the trip, a CIA spokesperson said the
agency does not comment on the director’s travel.
Ties between the US and Saudi Arabia have been
turbulent over the last two years, particularly following President Biden’s
campaign pledge to make the Gulf country “a pariah.”
The CIA director’s quiet trip comes on the heels of a
surprising agreement signed between Riyadh and Tehran, brokered by China, to
restore diplomatic ties, reopen embassies and exchange ambassadors in the next
month.
But US-Saudi cooperation on the military and
intelligence levels has remained robust. The US and Saudi Arabia recently
concluded their first joint counter-drone exercise at a new military testing
center in Riyadh.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Africa
Top Syrian, Tunisian diplomats discuss restoration of
ties, re-opening of embassies
05 April 2023
Top diplomats of Syria and Tunisia have pledged to
enhance the level of diplomatic representation amid a new wave of enhancement
of ties between Syria and its Arab neighbors.
Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad held a phone
conversation with his Tunisian counterpart Nabil Ammar, exchanging
congratulations on the fasting holy month of Ramadan and discussing ways to
boost bilateral relations, SANA reported on Wednesday.
Ammar noted that Tunis has decided to strengthen the
representation of the Embassy of Tunisia in Damascus and appoint an ambassador
to Syria.
For his part, Mekdad appreciated Tunis’s decision,
noting that Syria will also re-open its embassy in Tunisia in the coming days
with an ambassador as the head of the mission.
The conversation comes as Tunisian President Kais
Saied tasked the foreign ministry to “initiate procedures for appointing an
ambassador of Tunisia in Damascus,” according to an official statement
published on the presidency’s Facebook page.
The statement highlighted the “necessity of adhering
to the principles of the foreign policy of the Tunisian diplomacy” and said
that the country’s “positions abroad stem from the will of its people.”
Back on March 10, Saied announced the decision to
restore diplomatic ties with Syria which were cut off almost a decade ago.
"Nothing can justify the absence of a Tunisian
ambassador in Damascus and an ambassador from Syria in Tunis," he said
during a meeting with his country's foreign affairs minister, according to a
video released by the presidential office.
Tunis cut diplomatic relations with Damascus following
the start of the foreign-backed war on Syria in 2011.
Tunisia began limited diplomatic links with Syria in
2017, in part to help track more than 3,000 Tunisian militants reportedly fighting
in Syria.
However, since Saied took the helm in 2021 and
consolidated his power, Tunis has been sending Damascus signals that it is
ready to resume full diplomatic ties with it.
Several other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, Jordan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, in the past months, have sent
similar signals, indicating that they too are prepared to resume
ambassador-level diplomatic ties with the Syrian government.
In February, a number of Arab parliament speakers and
senior legislators visited Damascus as part of a concerted bid to restore
Syria’s membership in the Arab League, more than a decade after it was
suspended from the 22-member bloc.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/04/05/701031/Syria-Tunisia-reopen-embassies-appoint-ambassadors
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Cabinet minister in Uganda arrested over stealing iron
sheets
Godfrey Olukya
05.04.2023
KAMPALA, Uganda
Police in Uganda have arrested the minister for
Karamoja affairs, Mary Kitutu on allegations of stealing iron sheets meant for
the poor people in the Karamoja region.
Her arrest was directed by members of the
parliamentary select committee which is investigating the misappropriation of
the iron sheets meant for vulnerable people in Karamoja. It came about after
she declined to give evidence on oath regarding the offense.
According to police, apart from her refusing to give
evidence on oath, she had also been evasive after turning down several
summonses to answer queries related to the iron sheets.
Police said it is also investigating other ministers
and government officials who received iron sheets from the arrested mister.
On January 12, this year, in an internal memo, the
minister Mary Kitutu reportedly wrote to the office of the Prime Minister
Undersecretary for Finance and Administration, Geoffrey Sseremba requesting for
12,200 iron sheets to be distributed to poor people in the Karamoja region. The
iron sheets were given to her but were never given to the people of Karamoja.
According to police, instead of taking iron sheets to
Karamoja, the minister distributed some to a few other ministers and senior
government officials and also took the rest to her home in the village.
Whistleblowers informed police that the minister’s
relatives were selling the iron sheets with words written on them reading ‘ For
Karamoja, Not for sale’. Her mother and two brothers were arrested red-handed
by police while selling the iron sheets.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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4.7M people in Burkina Faso will need humanitarian
assistance this year: UN
James Tasamba
05.04.2023
The UN and partners announced a $877 million response
plan Tuesday to meet the urgent needs of millions of people in Burkina Faso who
will require humanitarian assistance this year.
In a statement, the UN said the funding will support
some 3.1 million people amid the worst humanitarian crisis in the country’s
history.
At least 4.7 million people in the West African
country, a fifth of the population, will need humanitarian support this year as
the country grapples with insecurity, according to the UN.
“The humanitarian situation in Burkina Faso in 2023 is
more worrying than ever,” said AbdouraoufGnon-Konde, the top UN aid official in
the country.
“In line with humanitarian principles, our sole
objective is to provide assistance to vulnerable civilians based on their
needs, wherever they are.”
He said half of those in need are children.
Burkina Faso has been struggling with an insurgency
that has spread from neighboring Mali over the past decade.
The country has been ranked most affected by terrorism
on the continent and the second most affected worldwide in 2022, according to
the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2023, a report published by the
Australia-based Global Institute for Economics and Peace that was released last
week.
Armed group activity and military operations have led
to widespread displacement, with nearly two million citizens driven out of
their homes.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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South Asia
Natural Disasters in Afghanistan Leave 21 Dead, Over
100 Injured
By Fidel Rahmati
April 5, 2023
At least 21 people have died, and over 100 people have
been injured due to natural disasters, including rains, floods, earthquakes and
avalanches in Afghanistan during the past two weeks, officials said.
Shafiqullah Rahimi, a spokesman for the State Ministry
for Disaster Management, said that the causalities across 30 provinces were
brought on by earthquakes, heavy rains, flash flowing, and avalanches in the
country.
The natural disasters, besides human loss, had
financial damages in which more than 2,625 residential houses have been
entirely or partially destroyed, hundreds of livestock have perished, and
nearly 30,000 acres of agricultural land have been destroyed, Rahimi said.
On the other hand, more than 20,000 families have
received humanitarian relief from international organizations in cooperation
with the Afghan authorities.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/natural-disasters-in-afghanistan-leave-21-dead-over-100-injured/
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Office of Islamic Emirate's Spokesman Opened in
Kandahar
By Mohammad Farshad Daryosh
An office of the Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabiullah
Mujahid was opened in Kandahar, the spokesman told TOLOnews.
Mujahid said his “deputies are in Kabul” and a major
“part of my office’s work will be in Kabul.”
He said that the move was made based on the presence
of the Islamic Emirate’s leadership in Kandahar.
“We have shifted a part of the office for performing
duties to Kandahar. It was necessary. A major part of our office is in Kabul as
well. The deputies are there. I will spend more time in Kandahar. It was the
need of the leadership that I should be near them,” Mujahid said.
Political analysts said that Kandahar is the center of
the decision-making of the Islamic Emirate.
“Since Hamal 1401, the Islamic Emirate showed that the
center of power and decision-making is in Kandahar. The cabinet that is in
Kabul plays an executive (you mean administrative?) role in the implementation
of the decrees being issued in Kandahar,” said Saleem Kakar, a political
analyst.
“Usually, the shifting of the capital happens based on
economic manners. If anything like that happens, the people are being aware of
it or asking for their views” said Torek Farhadi, a political analyst. (what?)
“Kandahar, Kabul and Peshawar have been Afghanistan’s
capital historically and politically. But now, the shifting of the Islamic
Emirate’s spokesman to Kandahar could be a temporary action,” said Najibullah
Jami, a political analyst.
Source: ToloNews
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-182837
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Russia to Cooperate with Afghanistan in Eradicating
Drugs
By Fidel Rahmati
April 5, 2023
The Russian Federal Drug Control Service has announced
that it will support the Afghan Ministry of Interior’s counter-Narcotics
department in the eradication of drugs, said a statement on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Interior said that the deputy interior
minister, Mullah Abdulhaq, met with Oleg Naumov, a special envoy of the Russian
Federation’s counter-Narcotics department, and discussed eradicating drugs in
Afghanistan.
The Russian delegate praised the de facto government’s
efforts to eradicate drugs and pledged cooperation.
Meanwhile, according to a recent report, Russia has
increased its engagement with the current regime to improve regional security
in response to mounting concerns over extremist fighters in Afghanistan.
Furthermore, the CSTO chief, Imangali, said on Friday
that there is an increasing risk of terrorists from Afghanistan to the member
states of Moscow’s allies.
He emphasized that “terrorism, illicit armaments, drug
trafficking, illegal migration, and the spread of extreme ideology” are some of
the concerns coming from Afghanistan.
However, strengthening the ties between Russia and the
de facto regime is aligned with the current security concerns that Moscow has
expressed several times in international forums and with the Taliban authorities.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/russia-to-cooperate-with-afghanistan-in-eradicating-drugs/
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Afghanistan Must be Open to Business Despite
Sanctions: Norwegian Refugee Council
By Fidel Rahmati
April 5, 2023
On Wednesday, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
released a report seeking to understand the challenges facing private sector
actors and trade in Afghanistan, focusing on the supply of essential goods.
The NRC claimed that the report was prepared based on
25 anonymized interviews in mid-2022 with a range of private sector,
development, and banking actors operating in or with Afghanistan.
The organization stressed the private sector of the
country. It said that since the extension of the ban on female aid workers to
the UN, which risks the delivery of emergency life-saving humanitarian aid, the
role of the private sector is even more critical for the recovery of the
Afghanistan economy.
The document emphasized the solid private sector’s
role and sustainability besides humanitarian assistance. “Humanitarian aid
alone cannot meet the needs of the millions of Afghans who have lost their jobs
and been forced to take on huge debts and sell their possessions just to be
able to buy food needed for survival,” said Neil Turner, NRC’s country director
in Afghanistan. “We must reverse this devastating economic disaster. A stable
economy, thriving private sector, and the reintroduction of development
programmes are important to complement the work of humanitarian organizations.”
The report said, Since the Taliban returned to power
in 2021, international actors have pursued political and economic isolation
policies towards Afghanistan in reaction to the Taliban’s increasingly
restrictive governance, which has contributed to the current financial crisis
and the population’s reliance on humanitarian assistance. More than 28 million
people are now on the brink of survival.
“We must educate overseas companies and banks that
Afghanistan is not under sanctions. There is a real lack of understanding about
this – particularly among key sectors in our main export and import markets,” said
an executive of a large agricultural firm in Afghanistan, reported by NRC.
Several women have left the Afghan workforce due to
the Taliban’s attitude towards women. The Afghan people and the country’s
economic potential are significantly hampered by these constraints, providing
significant logistical and moral issues for international aid organizations.
According to the organization, establishing measures
to stabilize and support Afghanistan’s economy for the benefit of the people is
the way to address the current economic crisis in the country.
“NRC calls on major governments, financial
institutions, UN agencies and relevant regional actors to urgently convene to
establish measures to stabilize and support Afghanistan’s economy for the
benefit of all the Afghans.
However, according to Afghan analysts, without a
legitimate and inclusive government, including women, and ethnic and religious
groups, sustainable development would not be possible.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/afghanistan-must-be-open-to-business-despite-sanctions-nrc/
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Southeast Asia
Penang mufti reminds Muslims mosque's external
loudspeakers only to be used for calls to prayers
By Muhammad Yusry
06 Apr 2023
KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Wan
Salim Wan Mohd Noor has reportedly reminded Muslims that external loudspeakers
at mosques should only be used for azan and iqamah, which are the first and
second call to prayers.
Amid the Ramadan holy month of fasting which sees
Muslims attend their mosques at longer hours every night, Wan Salim said using
the loudspeakers indiscriminately would disturb the peace in local communities.
“There is no gazette here in Penang, it is up to the
mosque or surau’s choice, the use of the external loudspeakers should be used
for azan and iqamah only as much as possible because it is a symbol of Islam,”
he was reported saying in SinarHarian.
“We are here to worship, why do we want to bother
others? They don't come to the mosque because he is not ready to listen to
tazkirah, talks and so on. If they want to come to our mosque, they can use the
loudspeaker inside,” he added, referring to Islamic lectures.
Wan Salim said the issue of external loudspeakers
should never have been a question of whether one was previously allowed to do
so versus now.
“The environment is changing, the 'fatwa' or Islamic
law must also change,” he said, referring to religious edicts.
“Even if Penang does not gazette, we only advise the
congregations not to use external loudspeakers for other activities other than
azan and iqamah.”
Wan Salim said there have been complaints from
residents who live near mosques and suraus that the loud volume is adversely
affecting those who are vulnerable such as seniors, young children, people who
are taking rest off work and students who want to study.
“So we can't just follow our feelings, we have to take
into account the current environment. It is different in the villages where the
mosque and the houses are far away, so reciting Quran before dawn and so on
using external loudspeakers is not a problem.
“But now in the cities, the residential areas are so
close to the mosque so it is important to understand that if the situation and
situation change, the fatwa can also change,” he said.
The issue of the use of external mosque loudspeakers
is a contentious one in Malaysia, with complainants usually shunned and
lambasted by their local communities for speaking up against the matter.
Source: MalayMail
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Muslim Council of Elders holds iftar for Malaysian
religious leaders
05-04-2023
KUALA lUMPUR, 5th April, 2023 (WAM) -- The Malaysian
branch of the Muslim Council of Elders held an iftar for Malaysian religious
leaders as part of the Council's message of spreading the values of dialogue,
tolerance, and coexistence.
During the iftar ceremony, Datuk Senator Dr.Zulkifli
Mohamad Al-Bakri, member of the Muslim Council of Elders and Malaysia's former
Minister of Islamic Affairs, affirmed that the Council under the Chairmanship
of His Eminence Dr. Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, places a great
emphasis on promoting dialogue, understanding, and respect between followers of
different religions.
Al-Bakri added that the Council's Malaysian branch is
eager to improve communications with all sectors of the Malaysian society while
also emphasising that the ceremony represents a chance to interact and
emphasise the human commonalities that bring them together.
Source:WAM
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https://www.wam.ae/en/details/1395303145465
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Wisma Putra: Malaysia strongly condemns Israeli
forces’ attacks on worshippers in Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem
06 Apr 2023
PUTRAJAYA, April 6 ― Malaysia has condemned in the
strongest terms the latest attacks against worshippers and incursions into the
Al-Aqsa Mosque by the forces of the Israeli regime yesterday.
The Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) in a statement
today said the actions by the Israeli forces were unlawful, contemptuous, and
grossly violating the human rights of the Palestinians and the sanctity of the
third holiest shrine in Islam.
“Malaysia calls upon the international community, in
particular the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), to hold the Israeli
regime accountable and responsible for the heinous crimes, and for them to
immediately release all Palestinian detainees,” the statement read.
At least 12 Palestinians were injured, and hundreds of
other Palestinians were detained, according to Wisma Putra.
It said the international community must demand the
Israeli regime to immediately stop any provocative acts in the interest of
peace and stability.
“Malaysia continues to stand in strong solidarity with
the people of Palestine and reiterates the status of Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the
Holy site of the Muslim Ummah,” it said.
Malaysia also stood firm by its long-held position
that the Palestinians deserve their independent state based on the pre-1967
borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, said Wisma Putra.
The Israeli forces on Wednesday stormed the Al-Aqsa
Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem for the second night in a row and
assaulted Palestinian worshippers at the site.
According to media reports, Israeli forces raided the
Al-Qibli Prayer Hall in the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex after the tarawih prayers,
fired stun grenades, and beat Palestinian worshippers.
Source: MalayMail
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