Netherlands Seeks To Bring Back 16 Nationals Who Joined Daesh/ISIS Terror Group
New Age Islam News Bureau
04 February 2022
• US
Calls Death of Islamic State Leader 'Significant Blow'
• Taliban
Closer To International Recognition, Says Afghan Foreign Minister
• Amid
conversion row in TN, 8 Dalit families accept Islam in Theni alleging caste
harassment
• What
we know about Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi
• Attacks
on Pakistan military bases kill four soldiers, 15 insurgents
• ISIS-K
blasts Taliban for supporting China on Uyghur repression
• President:
Security, Stability in Kazakhstan Important to Iran
• Sharia
court orders recall of Niger Republic-based witness in blasphemy trial
Europe
• Austrian
mosque vandalized by PKK terror group sympathizers
• Germany
urges probe after 19 migrants found dead at Greek-Turkish border
• Dutch
repatriating group of women, children from Syria
• Erdogan
offers to host Ukraine-Russia crisis summit
• EU
updates terrorist list, extends sanctions for another 6 months
• UK
Muslim group calls for raising awareness of Uyghurs' 'plight' in Beijing Winter
Olympics
• Council
of Europe and Turkey spat escalates with fresh court referral
--------
North America
• Pakistan
still a strategic partner, reaffirms US
• US
approves potential weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan
• US
says defense cooperation between Turkiye, Ukraine bolsters regional stability
--------
South Asia
• IEA
plans to conduct census, need fund
• UN
can’t use its $135 million in Afghanistan bank: Al Dardari
--------
India
• Would
Netaji have approved of calls for Muslim genocide at Haridwar Dharam Sansad,
asks Mahua Moitra
• UP
polls: Owaisi says gunshots fired at his car on way back from Meerut, 1 held
• NCW
issues notice to Sadhvi Vibhanand Giri for remarks against Muslim women
• Karnataka:
Muslim students barred entry in hijab, minister says keep religion away
• Shashi
Tharoor, accused of politicising Karnataka hijab row, says this
• Gujarat:
Fake videos of Muslims fleeing village create unrest
--------
Arab World
• ‘Terrorists’
have dragged Iraq into regional war by targeting Gulf state: Iraq’s Sadr
• Survivor
of US' Idlib operation recalls 'leave or die' threat of American soldiers
• Why
Turkey’s Islamists turned their back on renowned Syrian preacher
• IMF
will only support a ‘comprehensive program’ for Lebanon: Georgieva
• Rights
group slams Lebanon for ‘flawed’ murder probes
• Arab
Coalition conducts 14 targeted strikes in Yemen in 24 hours
• Israel
defense minister visits US Navy base in Bahrain
• Arab
League chief says Syrian regime unlikely to attend next summit
--------
Pakistan
• Hindus
protest police failure to arrest Daharki trader’s killers in Larkana
• Non-enforcement
of security plan blamed for rising terrorism
• Preposterous
to blame 3rd country for delay in appointment of envoy of one nation to
another: MEA on Pak allegation
• Pakistan-Saudi
deal worth $20 billion yet to take-off as Imran Khan govt struggles to draw FDI
• Prosecution
narrates opening statement in trial against Altaf Hussain
--------
Southeast Asia
• Three
Islamist insurgents killed in Thai mosque shootout
• Malaysian
Peace Broker: Violence in Thai Deep South Won’t Derail Bangkok-BRN Talks
--------
Mideast
• Iran
Holds 3rd Session of Trial of Ringleader of Separatist Terrorist Group, Ties
with Israel, S. Arabia Revealed
• Iran,
Japan Review Bilateral Ties, Regional Peace
• Minister:
Iran Ready to Increase Oil Supply after Removal of US Sanctions
• Iran
Arrests No 2 Ringleader of Tondar Terrorist Group
• Former
US general advises Biden to halt support for YPG/PKK
--------
Africa
• Nigeria
uncovers 96 terrorism financiers
• Army
kills 7 al-Shabaab terrorists, liberates 2 villages in southwestern Somalia
• Tear
gas fired at Sudan anti-coup protestors
• Morocco
rescuers dig for boy trapped in well
• West
African leaders hold emergency summit over Burkina Faso
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
--------
Netherlands
seeks to bring back 16 nationals who joined Daesh/ISIS terror group
Selman
Aksünger
03.02.2022
THE
HAGUE, The Netherlands
The
Dutch government on Thursday announced that a delegation was sent to Syria to
bring back 16 Dutch nationals – five women and 11 children – who allegedly
joined the Daesh/ISIS terror group.
A
letter submitted by the justice and foreign ministers to parliament said a
special operation is being carried out and that the children will be sent to
social service institutions, while the women will be prosecuted.
The
Dutch government wants to prevent a possible "statute of limitations"
with prosecution, which could begin with the arrival of women from the Hol camp
in northern Syria to the Netherlands, the letter read.
The
Rotterdam Courts ruled in 2021 that if suspects were not brought to the country
within a few months and prosecuted, cases against them would be dropped because
of the statute of limitations.
All
five women would go unpunished due to the statute of limitations, if
prosecutions could not be initiated before April 2022, according to Dutch local
media outlets.
The
Dutch government last June brought back a citizen and three children who had
joined to the terror group.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
US
Calls Death of Islamic State Leader 'Significant Blow'
February
03, 2022
WASHINGTON
—
People
inspect a destroyed house following a U.S. military operation in Atmeh, Syria,
Feb. 3, 2022. Islamic State leader Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla
was killed in the raid.
------------
Top
U.S. officials are hopeful that a risky nighttime raid, months in the making,
will deal one of the world's most resilient terror groups a long-lasting
setback and blunt its efforts to strike at the United States and its Western
allies.
U.S.
President Joe Biden announced the death of reclusive Islamic State leader Amir
Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla early Thursday, hours after U.S. special
forces left his hideout and his body in northwest Syria's Idlib province.
Al-Mawla
"oversaw the spread of ISIS-affiliated terrorist groups around the
world," Biden told reporters gathered at the White House, using an acronym
for the terror group, which is also called IS or Daesh.
"After
savaging communities and murdering innocents, [al-Mawla] was responsible for
the recent brutal attack on a prison in northeast Syria holding ISIS
fighters," the president said. "This operation is testament to
America's reach and capability to take out terrorist threats no matter where
they try to hide. … We will come after you and find you."
Al-Mawla
Al-Mawla,
known by multiple aliases, including Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi and
Hajji 'Abdallah, was born in Iraq in 1976 and became a religious scholar who
rose through the terror group's ranks, becoming a top aide to former IS leader
and self-declared caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
By
the time Baghdadi died in a U.S. raid on his hideout in northwestern Syria in
October 2019, al-Mawla had become the heir apparent, having overseen IS's
slaughter of the Yazidi religious minority and some of the terror group's
global operations.
As
leader, al-Mawla was even more reclusive than Baghdadi, who made occasional
speeches to rally supporters, leading some analysts to wonder how much control
he retained as IS affiliates outside Syria and Iraq gained in power and
prominence.
U.S.
officials, however, said al-Mawla was finding ways to be effective in building
and expanding the bureaucracy that underpinned the terror group's networks.
"While
Baghdadi was iconic and a philosopher figure in ISIS, this guy was actually far
more of an operational planner and a director of operations," General
Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told
a virtual conference late Thursday.
Disrupting
IS operations
Al-Mawla
"was every bit as evil and every bit as committed to attacks on the United
States and our partners," McKenzie said, adding that al-Mawla's death
could see IS leaders in Syria and Iraq cede power to regional affiliates.
But
the affiliates could also suffer with al-Mawla out of the way.
"When
you don't have a central core that can disperse money and share money among
competing franchises, it makes it harder for them to be resourced,"
McKenzie said. "I think it's going to be a significant blow."
U.S.
officials are also hoping the way in which al-Mawla died will further
demoralize the terror group and its force of 8,000 to 16,000 fighters spread
across Syria and Iraq.
"In
a final act of cowardice and disregard for human life, [al-Mawla] detonated a
blast, a significant blast, killing himself and several others, including his
wife and children," a senior administration official who spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. operation told reporters.
"The
blast was so large on the third floor that it blew bodies outside of the house
and into the surrounding areas," the official added.
The
raid
U.S.
defense officials said al-Mawla set off the explosion shortly after U.S. forces
arrived at his hideout, a nondescript building in a residential section of
Atmeh, a town in Syria's Idlib province, not far from the border with Turkey.
Using
a megaphone, the U.S. forces asked for al-Mawla and one of his senior deputies
to allow noncombatants to leave, and to give themselves up.
Officials
said a family of six living on the first floor got out, with the explosion
shaking the building not long after.
"Let
me be very clear, [al-Mawla] did not fight," McKenzie said. "He
killed himself and his immediate family without fighting, even as we attempted
to call for his surrender and offered him a path to survive."
Al-Mawla's
deputy and his wife then barricaded themselves on the second floor, dying after
engaging in a firefight with U.S. forces.
One
child on the second floor was also killed, though four others were rescued by
U.S. troops.
Children
among the dead
Initial
reports from groups such as the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said at least 13 people had been killed, including three women and four
children.
Save
the Children, an international humanitarian organization, said late Thursday
that at least six children had been killed, calling the deaths "deeply
alarming and unacceptable."
U.S.
officials insisted they had taken all possible precautions, blaming the deaths
on the IS leader himself.
"We
had a good sense of who was in the building … and had taken numerous safeguards
throughout the rehearsals and planning to protect those individuals," a
second senior administration official said.
He
added that military planners even opted for a raid, with U.S. forces scheduled
to be on the ground for two hours, instead of an airstrike, to minimize harm to
noncombatants.
Complications
U.S.
military officials said despite the success of the initial operation, there
were some complications.
One
of the helicopters used to get troops to al-Mawla's hideout experienced
mechanical difficulties and had to be abandoned and destroyed shortly after
leaving the site.
U.S.
forces also briefly came under attack from fighters with the
al-Qaida-affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, killing two of them in the ensuing
firefight.
The
presence of al-Qaida-linked fighters, however, was not unexpected given that
northwestern Syria doubles as a hub for al-Qaida, IS's main rival, and,
according to U.N. member state intelligence agencies, "a strategic location
for [IS] fighters and family members, in particular as a gateway to
Turkey."
US
partners
The
U.S. operation quickly earned praise from key partners, including the
coalition-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
"This
is a strategic gain," SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told VOA on Thursday,
calling al-Mawla's death "significant."
SDF
officials, still feeling the sting of the nearly weeklong IS attack and
uprising at al-Sina'a prison in Hasaka, have warned the incident was part of a
larger plot by the terror group to take and hold territory.
They
have also said that much of the planning for the attack, which killed more than
100 soldiers, guards and prison staff, had come from IS leaders, including
al-Mawla, something U.S. officials confirmed Thursday.
"We
consider this operation of eliminating [the] ISIS leader as revenge for their
attack on Hasaka," Shami told VOA, adding that SDF forces had provided
resources and intelligence to the U.S. forces who carried out the raid.
Iraqi
officials Thursday also celebrated al-Mawla's demise and tweeted that Iraqi
intelligence had contributed information leading to his location.
IS
reaction
IS
followers have also started to react to al-Mawla's death, though initial posts
on social media platforms reflected a strong sense of disbelief.
"What
is the truth in the news of the Caliph's martyrdom?" one supporter wrote
in a post captured by Jihadoscope, a company that monitors online activity by
Islamist extremists.
"Impure
media are spreading rumors everywhere," the follower added.
Another
decried the initial report as "fake news," accusing the U.S. of
fabricating events to boost its own morale.
But
Jihadoscope co-founder Raphael Gluck told VOA that as the hours passed, more IS
followers began to accept that al-Mawla had indeed been killed and began
focusing their anger at the U.S. and al-Qaida, accusing the terror group's
affiliates of collaboration.
What's
next for IS
U.S.
officials say they are watching closely, with IS expected to name a successor.
But those plans may have been complicated by recent developments in Iraq.
In
October, Iraqi forces arrested Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi, also known as
Hajji Hamid, described by the Pentagon as "one of ISIS's most senior
leaders."
One
Western counterterrorism official, speaking to VOA on the condition of
anonymity to discuss intelligence, called al-Jaburi's arrest "very
significant" as al-Jaburi was seen as a candidate to potentially replace
al-Mawla should he be killed or captured.
Source:
VOA News
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Taliban
Closer To International Recognition, Says Afghan Foreign Minister
February
03, 2022
"On the process of getting recognition... we have come
closer to that goal," Amir Khan Muttaqi said
--------------
Kabul:
The Taliban are inching closer towards international recognition but any
concessions Afghanistan's new rulers make will be on their terms, the regime's
foreign minister said in an interview with AFP.
In
his first interview since returning from talks with Western powers in Oslo,
Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also urged Washington to unlock
Afghanistan's assets to help ease a humanitarian crisis.
No
country has formally recognised the government installed after the Taliban
seized power in August as US-led forces withdrew following a 20-year
occupation.
But
Muttaqi told AFP late Wednesday that Afghanistan's new rulers were slowly
gaining international acceptance.
"On
the process of getting recognition... we have come closer to that goal,"
he said.
"That
is our right, the right of the Afghans. We will continue our political struggle
and efforts until we get our right."
The
talks in Norway last month were the first involving the Taliban held on Western
soil in decades.
While
Norway insisted the meeting was not intended to give the hardline Islamist
group formal recognition, the Taliban have touted it as such.
Muttaqi
said his government was actively engaged with the international community -- a
clear indication, he insisted, of growing acceptance.
"The
international community wants to have interaction with us," he said.
"We have had good achievements in that."
Under
pressure
Muttaqi
said several countries were operating embassies in Kabul, with more expected to
open soon.
"We
expect that the embassies of some of the European and Arab countries will open
too," he said.
But
Muttaqi said any concessions the Taliban made in areas such as human rights
would be on their terms and not as a result of international pressure.
"What
we are doing in our country is not because we have to meet conditions, nor are
we doing it under someone's pressure," he said.
"We
are doing it as per our plan and policy."
The
Taliban have promised a softer version of the harsh Islamic rule that
characterised their first stint in power from 1996 until 2001.
But
the new regime has been swift to bar women from most government jobs and close
the majority of girls' secondary schools.
Still,
despite clear evidence to the contrary, Muttaqi insisted the new regime had not
sacked any employees of the previous US-backed government.
"None
of the 500,000 employees of the previous regime, men or women, have been fired.
They all are getting paid," he said.
But
on the streets of Kabul and elsewhere in the country, thousands of people say
they have lost their jobs or that they have not been paid for months.
Conditional
aid
Long
dependent on international aid, Afghanistan's economic crisis has been made
worse by Washington freezing nearly $10 billion in state assets held abroad.
With
poverty deepening and a drought devastating farming in many areas, the United
Nations has warned that half of the country's 38 million population faces food
shortages this winter.
Washington
and much of the global community insist any financial aid is conditional on the
Taliban improving their rights record -- especially regarding women.
The
militants have forcefully dispersed women's protests, detained critics and
beaten Afghan journalists reporting on anti-regime rallies -- something Muttaqi
also denied.
"Until
now we have not arrested anyone who is against the ideology of this system or
this government, and we have not harmed anyone," he said.
Still,
the United Nations and Amnesty International blamed the Taliban for detaining,
then releasing, two Afghan journalists snatched from outside their office this
week.
Two
women activists have also been missing since protesting in Kabul two weeks ago.
The
Taliban have denied knowledge of their whereabouts and say they are
investigating.
Source:
ND TV
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Amid
conversion row in TN, 8 Dalit families accept Islam in Theni alleging caste
harassment
Pramod
Madhav
February
3, 2022
Forty
people from eight Dalits families in a village near Tamil Nadu's Theni
reportedly converted to Islam.
-----------
Even
as the Madras High Court ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) earlier this week into the death of a student over alleged conversion,
Tamil Nadu reported another instance of religious conversion. Forty people
belonging to eight Dalit families have reportedly converted to Islam in Tamil
Nadu’s Theni district.
Those
converting to Islam alleged that they were forced to convert due to harassment
by dominant caste people in their village. The reported religious conversion
happened in Dombucheri village near Bodinayakanur town in Theni.
Veeralakshmi,
who took the name of Rahima after converting to Islam, blamed it on the
dominant caste people of her village. She said her husband was attacked by
dominant caste members during Diwali.
“On
November 4, my husband was attacked by dominant caste members. They questioned
him for owning a bike. I have seen them tease our girls as they go to school,
calling us by the caste name. This is the reason we became Muslims. I have
changed my name from Veeralakshmi to Rahima,” she said.
Her
husband Kalaikannan, now Mohamed Ismail, said he was born Hindu but faced
caste-related atrocities since his childhood. “I was not allowed inside a
temple of the dominant caste people and was not considered to be an equal by
them. In 2009, I remember a dead body procession not allowed to be taken
through the roads of the residence, and they attacked us, badly injuring many,”
he said.
“Till
now, nothing has changed even after society has progressed so much. I decided
to convert to Islam only after the Diwali incident where dominant caste men
attacked us and I was caught in the middle. I was shocked after a group of men
saw me riding a bike saying how can a person of Chakliya caste own a bike,”
stated Mohamed Ismail.
Nagaraj,
who is now Mustafa, alleged that Dalit community members were targeted in
periodic “riots” by the dominant caste people of the village.
He
said, “At least once in six months, there is a riot here where dominant caste
men attack us and damage our belongings. Why do we have to face this?”
“We
decided to convert to Islam after discussing within ourselves. Here, we are
seen as equal. I have seen my father and grandfather being disrespected even
though we were Hindus, and I don’t want that to continue,” he said.
Tamil
Puligal party’s North Theni secretary Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who was known as
Vairamuthu before he converted to Islam, blamed religious conversion of Dalit
Hindus on “caste atrocities”.
He
said, “The reason for conversion is nothing but caste atrocities in the region.
Fifteen years ago, even though we were Hindus, we were not allowed to walk on
the same road used by the dominant castes.”
“The
two cups system was practiced. Even now barbers who cut dominant caste men’s
hair will not touch ours. We have to go to nearby villages to get haircut.
Dalits never had self-respect here,” he alleged.
The
allegations of caste atrocities were denied by Hindu Munnani, a pro-Hindu organisation,
leader Arjun Sampath, who said religious conversion of Dalits was the handiwork
of outfits such as the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Popular Front
of India (PFI) and Christian organisations.
Sampath
said, “Whenever we are informed of such issues, we reach out immediately and
solve the problem. We will communicate with Dombucheri people soon.”
Theni’s
religious conversion incident came at a time when the issue of the alleged
forced conversion of a girl studying in a Christian missionary school took a
political turn.
The
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sent a central delegation on a fact-finding
mission after the minor killed herself in Thanjavur on January 19, alleging
that she was forced to clean rooms and do menial work.
The
minor, in her dying statement, reportedly said that school authorities asked
her parents whether they could convert the child to Christianity.
Source:
India Today
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
What
we know about Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi
3
February 2022
Image
released by US State Department on 17 July 2020 shows Arabic version of a
reward announcement for information on location of IS leader al-Qurayshi (AFP)
------------
Abu
Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, leader of the Islamic State group (IS), died on
Wednesday night without the world really knowing who he was.
According
to US President Joe Biden, Qurayshi, whose real name is Amir Muhammad Said
Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, detonated a bomb as US soldiers descended on the house
where he was staying in Atmeh, in northwest Idlib, killing himself and members
of his own family, including women and children.
One
of the world's most wanted men, the US government had offered a $10m reward for
information leading to him.
IS
gives little away about its leaders. Its previous head, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
only made three appearances in IS media during his nine years in charge.
But
in the year and a half that Qurayshi led the group, some details nonetheless
emerged.
From
Saddam Hussein’s army, to US informant, to the head of a floundering IS, here’s
what we know about the secretive Qurayshi.
The
man from Tal Afar
Mawla,
also known also as Abdullah Qardash or Hajj Abdullah, was born in 1976 in
northern Iraq's Tal Afar, a majority-Turkmen town.
His
father was a muezzin who had two wives, according to a BBC Arabic investigation
published last year.
After
studying Quranic studies and Islamic education at the University of Mosul,
Mawla served for 18 months as an officer in Saddam Hussein’s army in outer
Baghdad.
Around
the time of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Mawla began operating as a
militant.
He
then moved to Mosul, where he got a masters in Islamic studies and began to
rise up the ranks of al-Qaeda, becoming a religious judge for the group.
In
2008, US soldiers raided Mawla’s Mosul home and jailed him in Camp Bucca, a
facility in Umm Qasr, southern Iraq, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was also
incarcerated. Several officials have since referred to it as a "Jihadi
university" because of the training and indoctrination fomented there.
For
months, Mawla was repeatedly questioned, before being released in 2009.
Baghdadi’s
lieutenant
As
soon as he was released, Mawla joined up with Baghdadi, who was head of the
Islamic State in Iraq, al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate. He was named a religious
leader in Iraq’s northern Nineveh governorate.
Like
Baghdadi, Mawla was reportedly singled out and groomed for leadership in the
shadows, and deliberately kept away from any combat.
He
was involved in the running of the Islamic State “caliphate” before his
predecessor was killed, training judges and religious leaders and holding
various positions similar to those of ministers.
He
reportedly argued strongly in favour of the enslavement of Yazidi women when IS
took Sinjar, in northern Iraq, in 2014.
As
top IS leaders were taken out by the coalition and the group began losing
territory, Mawla rose to become Baghdadi’s right-hand man, the BBC found, and
was responsible for the organisation’s finances as it restructured.
IS
lost its last patch of territory after a months-long, bloody battle for
Baghouz, a town in Syria, in March 2019.
Five
months later, Baghdadi killed himself and three children by detonating an
explosive belt after being pursued by military dogs into a tunnel, as American
special forces raided his compound in the village of Barisha, near the Turkish
border.
Mawla
was named as Baghdadi’s successor five days after his death in October 2019.
His
appointment was not universally popular, however. Some IS supporters criticised
his relatively low profile, calling him a “secluded paper caliph” and “unknown
nobody”.
Others
questioned his religious credentials and whether his family were Arabs or
Turkmen.
His
“flattering” nom de guerre, al-Qurayshi, places him as one of the descendants
of the Quraish, a leading tribe in Mecca which the Prophet Muhammad was a
member of.
The
Islamic State that Mawla took charge of was a shadow of the organisation at its
peak in 2015.
Thousands
of its officers and soldiers had been killed and others were stewing in
overcrowded prisons in Syria and Iraq.
Some
fighters defected, but thousands remained loyal to the ideology and formed
sleeper cells, some of which mobilised recently to attempt an audacious prison
break in Syria's Hasakah.
'Canary
caliph'
His
leadership was again undermined in September 2020, when notes from three of the
66 interrogations at Camp Bucca in 2008 were released by the Combating
Terrorism Centre at West Point.
Little
had been known about his time in US detention, but the files suggested Mawla
gave the names of 68 al-Qaeda fighters and the structure of the organisation in
Mosul.
The
interrogation notes alleged he identified leading figures behind
assassinations, kidnappings and the production of improved explosive devices
used to kill coalition forces.
One
of the people named by Mawla was Abu Jasim Abu Qaswarah, thought to be the
second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq at the time. He was killed by US forces
eight months after Mawla identified him as a member of the group.
Haroro
Ingram, a senior research fellow at George Washington University's programme on
extremism, said at the time that the documents would "really shake
trust" in the leadership of the IS group.
"What
the documents potentially reveal is that the Islamic State has a rat problem.
And it's at the top. You’ve essentially got the canary caliph sitting
there," he said during a webinar.
Gina
Ligon, an organisational psychologist, said the documents showed "a lot of
punitive language", suggesting Mawla held grudges easily.
He
likely viewed people as "expendable resources that he could discard [and
no more than] cogs in a greater machine", she said.
"They
were key to his release, so he gave them up," Ligon said. "This is a
distant leader who will callously give people up when they are no longer of use
to him."
IS
resurgence
IS
may still be without territory, but last week’s prison break was yet another
sign that the group still has weapons and loyal combatants.
In
the nearby al-Hol camp, where Kurdish authorities hold women suspected of being
IS members and their children, the group has assassinated detainees, beheading
several people.
Eleven
Iraqi soldiers were killed in an overnight attack by IS fighters against their
base in January in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala.
The
State Department’s envoy to the US-led coalition battling the group warned in July
that deteriorating economic conditions in Iraq and Syria are paving the way for
IS to reconstitute.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Attacks
on Pakistan military bases kill four soldiers, 15 insurgents
Feb
3, 2022
QUETTA:
Insurgents in the Pakistani province of Balochistan attacked two military bases
overnight, killing four soldiers while losing 15 of their own men, a top
official said on Thursday, in the latest violence in the resource-rich region
where China is investing.
The
attacks came hours before Prime Minister Imran Khan set off for the opening of
the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, where he will have meetings with President
Xi Jinping and other leaders.
"Our
armed forces repulsed the big attacks," Minister of Interior Sheikh
Rasheed Ahmad said in a video statement.
Four
soldiers and 15 insurgents were killed while four or five insurgents were
surrounded and the army would deal with them, he said.
The
Baloch Liberation Army (BLF) group claimed responsibility in a statement sent
to a Reuters reporter, saying its suicide bombers had detonated explosive-laden
vehicles at the entrance of the bases killing more than 50 soldiers.
Last
week, the insurgents killed 10 soldiers in an attack on a post near the port of
Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, the heaviest casualty toll for the army in the
Balochistan insurgency in years.
Ethnic
Baloch guerrillas have been fighting the government for decades for a separate
state, saying the central government unfairly exploits Balochistan's rich gas
and mineral resources.
They
usually attack gas projects, infrastructure and the security forces. They also
attack Chinese projects, and occasionally kill Chinese workers despite
Pakistani assurances that it is doing everything it can to protect the
projects.
China
is involved in the development of the Gwadar port and other projects in the
province as part of a $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is
part of Beijing's Belt and Road initiative.
China
has been raising its security concerns with Pakistan, especially after 10
Chinese workers were killed and 26 were wounded in an attack in northern
Pakistan last year.
Pakistan
has approved $11.6 million in compensation for the victims' families.
Khan
and his team would be exploring economic opportunities on the visit to Beijing,
including trying to persuade Chinese businesses to set up in Pakistan, Finance
Minister Shaukat Tarin said.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
ISIS-K
blasts Taliban for supporting China on Uyghur repression
Feb
04, 2022
By
Shishir Gupta
Islamic
State’s affiliate in Afghanistan, ISIS-Khorasan, blasted the Taliban for
maintaining its close links with China despite the “eradication of the Uyghur
Muslims” in Xinjiang. In a propaganda magazine titled ‘Voice of Khurasan’,
ISIS-K also shared a picture of members of the Taliban praying alongside the
ISI chief while highlighting that numerous training camps and religious schools
of the Taliban are based in Pakistan.
The
terrorist organisation has objected to the numerous meetings and visits by the
Taliban to China, Iran and Russia, calling them the “biggest enemies of Islam.”
“While
the Taliban considers the eradication of the Uyghur Muslims as an internal
matter of China, the mass murders committed by the Russian, Iran regime and its
proxies…are also considered as something outside their jurisdiction,” it said.
The
group has not endorsed the Taliban’s attempt at international recognition,
saying they seek to have “political and international recognition for their own
thirsty needs.” ISIS-K also questioned the Taliban’s exclusivist policies,
saying the “extreme nationalist and tribalism” of the group has nothing to do
with the “Islamic System”.
“The
issue of extreme nationalism and tribalism, which has nothing to do with the
Islamic System is ever present within the group. Love and hate depend on the
tribe rather than being a Muslim,” it said.
The
Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August last year and promised to
form an inclusive government, as demanded by the international community, which
has hardly been fulfilled. The Sunni Pashtun group expanded its cabinet in
September to showcase its non-existent inclusivity as it gave some
insignificant portfolios to members of ethnic minority communities such as
Hazaras and Uzbeks.
“Even
today large infighting is present within the group as strong hatred is present
between Pashtuns, Uzbeks, Turkmen,” the ISIS-K noted in its magazine.
ISIS-K,
a sworn enemy of the Taliban, claims to be the true flag-bearer of jihad and
has rejected the deal between the Taliban and the US signed in Doha in February
2020. Notorious for some of the deadliest terror attacks in Afghanistan in
recent times, the ISIS-K called on the ‘mujahideen’ to join the fight, saying
the “fighting has just begun”.
“The
army of Allah is on the rise again, to rule the lands of Allah with his law,
and by the will of Allah we are returning stronger than ever, harsher on the
people of kufr. The words of our noble leaders would forever haunt you. The
fighting has just begun,” it said.
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
President:
Security, Stability in Kazakhstan Important to Iran
2022-February-3
President
Rayeesi made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Kazakh counterpart
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday.
He
noted that security and stability in Kazakhstan is of prime importance for
Iran, adding that Iran favors the establishment of peace and stability in the
entire region.
Tokayev,
for his part, said that Iran and Kazakhstan have been able to develop close
relations over the past 30 years, expressing certainty that a bright future
awaits the relations of the two countries.
He
underlined the need for the expansion of economic and trade cooperation between
the two countries, and expressed the hope that holding an upcoming joint
economic cooperation commission would help boost bilateral relations.
In
relevant remarks in January, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian
said that his country supports Kazakhstan's national sovereignty and is opposed
to any foreign intervention in the neighboring state.
“Since
the beginning of the recent unrest in Kazakhstan, the Islamic Republic of Iran
has been thoroughly monitoring the developments,” Amir Abdollahian said in a
phone conversation with his Kazakh counterpart Mukhtar Tileuberdi.
Iran,
he added, “supports Kazakhstan’s national sovereignty and condemns any foreign
meddling in the country’s affairs”.
Amir
Abdollahian added that the two countries enjoy positive and cordial relations
and are resolved to strengthen ties at bilateral, regional and international
levels.
The
top Iranian and Kazakh diplomats exchanged views about major issues of
bilateral and regional importance.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001114000267/Presiden-Secriy-Sabiliy-in-Kazakhsan-Impran-Iran
--------
Sharia
court orders recall of Niger Republic-based witness in blasphemy trial
Tukur
Muntari
4
February 2022
An
Upper Shari’a Court in Kano presided over by Malam Ibrahim Sarki-Yola has
ordered the Kano State Government to recall a prosecution witness for
re-cross-examination in an alleged blasphemy case against an embattled Islamic
cleric, Sheikh Abduljabbar Nasiru-Kabara.
Nasiru-Kabara
is facing four counts bordering on blasphemous comments against Prophet
Muhammad, which he allegedly made on August 10, October 25 and December 20,
2019.
The
defendant was alleged to have made a blasphemous comment against Prophet
Muhammad in his marriage with Nana Safiyya in Jautul Fara, Section 93 (40) and
Hadith 1,365 and 1,428.
The
defence counsel, Ambali Obomeileh-Muhammad, SAN, urged the court to recall the
PW1 to be re-cross examined according to the provisions of Section 36(5) 6(a)
(b) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“I
was not in court when the PW1 gave his evidence. When I went through the
evidence, I found out that witness number one needs to be re-cross-examined,”
he said.
However,
the prosecution counsel, Suraj Sa’eda, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the
application as the defence did not give reasons for the witness’ recall.
“The
PW1 has been discharged and is currently schooling in Niger Republic,” he said.
Source:
Punchng
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://punchng.com/sharia-court-orders-recall-of-niger-republic-based-witness-in-blasphemy-trial/
--------
Europe
Austrian
mosque vandalized by PKK terror group sympathizers
Aşkın
Kıyağan
04.02.2022
VIENNE,
Austria
A
mosque in Austria’s capital Vienna was vandalized and attacked by sympathizers
of the PKK terror group on Thursday.
The
group, which earlier attacked the Central Mosque of Austrian Turkish-Islamic
Culture and Social Assistance Union (ATIB), targeted the Ebubekir Mosque.
Ankara’s
Ambassador to Vienna Ozan Ceyhun regretted the attack on the holy night of
Laylat al-Raghaib that marks the beginning of the Islamic month of Rajab.
“Video
of the perpetrators, who dared to attack places of worship, has been given to
the authorities. We hope they are quickly caught and brought to justice,” he
told Anadolu Agency.
Ceyhun
said embassy officials are ready to cooperate with authorities against the
attacks aimed at disrupting peace in Austria. Turkish officials will closely
follow the case, he added.
Austrian
Minister for Integration Susanne Raab and other politicians also condemned the
attacks, and pointed to the importance of freedom to worship.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/austrian-mosque-vandalized-by-pkk-terror-group-sympathizers/2493586
--------
Germany
urges probe after 19 migrants found dead at Greek-Turkish border
Ayhan
Simsek
03.02.2022
BERLIN
Germany
on Thursday expressed regret over the death of 19 migrants at the Greek-Turkish
border and stressed that any border protection measure must comply with
international humanitarian standards.
“The
Federal Government has noted with concern the reports of deaths on the
Greek-Turkish border. It’s important to find out the actual circumstances of
this incident,” the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.
The
ministry underlined that states are bound by human rights conventions and
authorities should observe their obligations while taking border protection
measures.
“Any
type of border protection measure must meet the humanitarian standards under
all circumstances, and should comply with the provisions of European and
international law,” the statement said.
Turkiye's
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu heavily criticized Greece on Wednesday for
inhuman and degrading treatment of irregular migrants and said those who were
found dead were stripped of their clothes and shoes by the Greek border guards.
At
least 19 irregular migrants found frozen to death, Turkish authorities said on
Thursday, raising the death toll from 12 a day earlier.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Dutch
repatriating group of women, children from Syria
03
February ,2022
The
Dutch government said Thursday it is repatriating five women from Syria who are
suspected of terror offenses, along with their 11 children.
The
justice and foreign ministers said in a letter to Parliament that a “special
operation” was underway to bring the women and children back to the
Netherlands.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Once
they arrive, the women will be “arrested so that they can be prosecuted” while
their children will be cared for by a child welfare organization.
“With
the transportation to the Netherlands, the Cabinet aims to prevent impunity for
these five suspects,” Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius and Foreign
Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in their letter to lawmakers.
European
countries have been reluctant to repatriate their nationals living in camps for
suspected ISIS militants and their families, fearing there is not enough
evidence to try those who had joined the militant group, or that they maintain
links to ISIS.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Erdogan
offers to host Ukraine-Russia crisis summit
03
February ,2022
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday reaffirmed his offer to host a
Ukraine-Russia crisis summit, using a visit to Kyiv to stress his support for
Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Moments
before taking off for Kyiv, Erdogan suggested that Russian President Vladimir
Putin could travel to Turkey after attending Friday’s opening ceremony of the
Beijing Winter Olympic Games.
Speaking
to reporters after talks with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdogan
repeated his idea of holding a Putin-Zelensky summit in Turkey aimed at easing
fears that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.
“Turkey
is ready to do its part to resolve the crisis between two friendly countries
that it neighbors in the Black Sea. I said during talks again that we could
happily host a summit at the leaders’ level, or host technical-level
discussions,” he said.
Erdogan
added that Turkey continued to support the former Soviet republic’s territorial
integrity and reject Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
EU
updates terrorist list, extends sanctions for another 6 months
Agnes
Szucs
03.02.2022
BRUSSELS
The
EU on Thursday updated its terrorist list extending sanctions against people
and groups involved in terrorism for another six months.
The
sanctions list features 13 persons and 21 entities or groups, including terror
groups PKK and far-left DHKP/C.
“Dalokay
Sanli was removed from the list because he died,” an EU official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency, referring to the senior member of
PKK, who was neutralized by Turkish security forces in April 2021 in northern
Iraq.
The
bloc freezes funds and financial assets of the enlisted persons and groups, and
bans EU operators to make economic resources available for them.
The
EU applies a separate sanction mechanism for al-Qaida and ISIS/Daesh.
Several
terror groups, which carried out or planned attacks in Turkiye, including
IBDA-C and TAK, are also on the updated terror list, according to the official.
In
its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK − also listed as
a terrorist organization by Turkiye and the US − has been responsible for the
deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UK
Muslim group calls for raising awareness of Uyghurs' 'plight' in Beijing Winter
Olympics
Ahmet
Gurhan Kartal
03.02.2022
LONDON
Britain’s
biggest Muslim umbrella group on Thursday called upon everyone involved in the
Beijing Winter Olympics “to use every opportunity to raise awareness around the
plight of the Uyghur people.”
“Approximately
3 million Uyghurs have been forcibly detained at internment camps where they
are subject to torture, rape, mass sterilisation, forced labour and made to
renounce their Muslim beliefs and practices,” the Muslim Council of Britain
said in a statement.
It
said some “brave athletes have taken a stand and have refused to take part, in
solidarity with the victims.”
“Others
are making important gestures to ensure their plight does not go ignored,” the
statement added.
Describing
the multi-sports event as “Genocide Games,” Zara Mohammed, president of the
MCB, said: “China’s crimes against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, as documented by
NGOs, survivors and observers, are crimes against humanity.”
She
said: “They have been described as a genocide by human rights organisations as
well.
“In
the spirit of the vision of the International Olympic Committee, to ‘Build a
Better World through Sport’, we must not allow China to use these Genocide
Games to hide their actions. We all have a moral duty to highlight the plight
of the Uyghur people, and to stand firmly against injustice and oppression.”
The
MCB also called upon the international community “to support calls for the
International Criminal Court (ICC) to open an investigation against senior
Chinese leadership for genocide and crimes against humanity committed against
the Uyghur people.”
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Council
of Europe and Turkey spat escalates with fresh court referral
February
03, 2022
LONDON:
Turkey and the EU have entered into a fresh debate over the fate of Osman Kavala,
a political prisoner whom a European court has repeatedly ruled should be
freed.
Kavala
is one of Turkey’s highest-profile detainees and has been held for more than
four years without a conviction.
The
European Court of Human Rights ruled more than two years ago that Kavala should
be released immediately and said his detention served to silence him, but
Ankara has not carried out the ruling.
On
Thursday, the Council of Europe — an international body distinct from the EU
but including all its members — announced that it would refer the case to the
ECHR for Turkey’s failure to adhere to its ruling.
It
is the next step in opening “infringement proceedings” against Ankara that
could ultimately see it suspended from the Council of Europe, of which it is a founding
member.
“The
Committee found that, by failing to ensure Kavala's immediate release, Turkey
is refusing to abide by the Court’s final judgment in his case,” the council
said in a statement.
But
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remained defiant. He said Thursday:
“What the ECHR has said, what the Council of Europe says, this doesn’t concern
us much because we expect our courts to be respected. To those who don’t show
this respect: Excuse us, but we will have no respect for them either.”
Kavala
was acquitted in 2020 of charges related to the 2013 nationwide protests. Hours
later, another court ordered his arrest based on a charge of attempting to
overthrow the constitutional order related to the 2016 coup attempt, which the
ECHR had also said lacked basis.
Further,
the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Turkey had adhered to the ECHR
ruling and claimed instead that Kavala was now detained for a different
judicial proceeding.
He
has not been found guilty of a crime.
Responding
to the ECHR referral, rights group Amnesty International’s Europe Director Nils
Muižnieks said in a statement: “With this landmark decision today, Turkey is on
the dock not only for its refusal to free a prominent human rights defender
from arbitrary detention, but also for a gross failure of its justice system
epitomized by the Kavala case.
“After
more than four years behind bars, we sincerely hope that the authorities will
now do the right thing and free Osman Kavala.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2017656/world
--------
North America
Pakistan
still a strategic partner, reaffirms US
Anwar
Iqbal
February
4, 2022
WASHINGTON:
For the first time in years, the United States emphasised its strategic
partnership with Pakistan, clarifying that Islamabad does not need to strain
its relations with China to maintain ties with Washington.
The
US-Pakistan relationship came up for discussion at a State Department briefing
on Wednesday afternoon when a journalist referred to a recent statement by
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi who blamed the BJP government in India
for pushing Pakistan into the Chinese camp.
“Does
the State Department agree with Mr Gandhi’s assessment?” the journalist asked.
The
department’s spokesperson Ned Price, however, refused to get involved in an
Indian parliamentary debate, saying: “I will leave it to the Pakistanis and
China to speak to their relationship. I certainly would not endorse those
remarks.”
“Why
do you think Pakistan is working so closely with China? Do you think they feel
abandoned by the US?” the journalist asked again. This question, however,
received a comprehensive response from the US official.
State
Department’s spokesperson says Islamabad does not need to strain its ties with
Beijing
“We’ve
made the point all along that it is not a requirement for any country around
the world to choose between the United States and China,” Mr Price said. “It is
our intention to provide choices to countries when it comes to what the
relationship with the United States looks like.”
The
US official explained that partnership with the United States brings a series
of advantages that China could not offer.
“Partnership
may be the wrong term. The sorts of relationships that China has sought to have
around the world do not (include those) typical advantages” that the United
States offered, he added.
Moving
to the decades’ long relationship between Pakistan and the United States, Mr
Price said: “Pakistan is a strategic partner of the United States. We have an
important relationship with the government in Islamabad, and it’s a
relationship that we value across a number of fronts.”
Pakistan
was a close US ally during the cold war that began in the sixties and remained
so till the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Pakistan played a key role in
the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan and partnered with the United States
in the war against terrorism as well.
The
relationship soured when Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found in
Abbottabad and the Obama administration took him out without informing
Pakistan. Their relationship has remained strained since then, although
bilateral consultations, even high-level visits by Pakistani rulers to
Washington, have continued.
In
July 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan made an “official working” visit to
Washington where he met the then president Donald Trump at the White House. He
had another meeting with Mr Trump in New York during the UN General Assembly in
September 2019.
Since
then, there has been no face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the two
countries and the current US President Joe Biden is yet to make a courtesy call
to the Pakistani prime minister.
Despite
these tensions, the relationship has continued, minus the fanfare of a summit.
Pakistan extended full support to both the Trump and Biden administrations
during their talks with the Taliban and facilitated the evacuation of US
personnel from Afghanistan after the Taliban captured Kabul in August last
year.
In
recent years, China has emerged as the key factor in US foreign policies as
Washington seeks to contain Beijing’s growing influence.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673142/pakistan-still-a-strategic-partner-reaffirms-us
--------
US
approves potential weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan
04
February ,2022
The
US State Department has approved several potential weapons sales to Mideast
allies including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
The
approvals included the possible sale of F-16 fighter jets and related equipment
to Jordan at an estimated cost of $4.21 billion, the Pentagon's Defense
Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
There
have been increased rocket and drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates in
recent weeks.
The
State Department approved Jordan's request for 12 F-16 C Block 70 fighter jets,
radios targeting pods and associated munitions components including guided
missile tail kits. The prime contractor for the jets is Lockheed Martin Corp.
Saudi
Arabia was okayed to buy 31 Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low
Volume Terminals (MIDS-LVT) for as much as $23.7 million to upgrade its missile
defense systems.
The
proposed MIDS-LVT terminals will be installed on the Kingdom's Terminal High
Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) platforms, while the previously provided MIDS-LVT
(BU1) terminals were installed on its PATRIOT missile defense system, the
Pentagon said.
The
United Arab Emirates was approved to buy $30 million worth of spare and repair
parts for its Homing All the Way Killer (HAWK) missile defense systems.
The
Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the
possible sale on Thursday.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
says defense cooperation between Turkiye, Ukraine bolsters regional stability
Servet
Günerigök
04.02.2022
WASHINGTON
Defense
cooperation between Turkiye and Ukraine will contribute to regional stability,
the US State Department said Thursday.
"Defense
cooperation between a NATO ally like Turkey and Ukraine…We think that bolsters
regional stability and Ukraine's ability to defend itself," said State
Department spokesman Ned Price at a press conference.
Price's
remarks came on the same day as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's trip
to the capital Kyiv to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
"We
ourselves have provided unprecedented levels of defensive security assistance
to Ukraine. We've authorized our NATO allies to provide US origin equipment to
our Ukrainian partners, and we broadly encourage partners and allies to provide
security assistance to Ukraine to resist further Russian aggression and to
deter a potential Russian invasion," said Price.
The
Ukrainian Armed Forces purchased Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
and ground control stations from Turkiye in 2019 and Zelensky said the newly
signed defense agreements Thursday will expand production of drones by Turkish
defense firm Baykar in Ukraine.
The
Bayraktar TB2 has been sold to countries including Ukraine, Qatar, Azerbaijan
and Poland. Last May, Poland became the first European Union and NATO member
state to acquire drones from Turkiye.
Ukraine
and Russia have been locked in conflict since hostilities in the eastern Donbas
region broke out in 2014 after Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South Asia
IEA
plans to conduct census, need fund
04
Feb 2022
National
Statistics and Information Administration (NSIA) of the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan said that they will get enough funds to begin census across
Afghanistan.
The
administration plans to measure the areas of districts, police districts,
highways, borders, forests, mines, and the amount of agricultural crops, human
resources, and gross domestic products.
Speaking
about the challenges and achievements of NSIA to journalists in Kabul,
officials of the administration said that lack of budget, lack of technical
amenities, and interference of other government administrations are the biggest
challenges they have to deal with.
Head
of the administration Faqir Muhammad Ziyar said that they have collected 423
million Afghani during the past three months from 759,000 electronic IDs they
have issued in 20 provinces of Afghanistan.
Ziyar
added that they have still had nearly 8 million already printed eIDs and that
they issue 17,000 of the IDs on daily basis.
It
is worth mentioning that, IEA is issuing the IDs of the previous Afghan
government but said that they will bring changes once the already printed IDs
are issued.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/iea-plans-to-conduct-census-need-fund-879685/
--------
UN
can’t use its $135 million in Afghanistan bank: Al Dardari
04
Feb 2022
The
United Nations has said that they have up to $135 million in Afghanistan
International Bank (AIB) but cannot convert it into local currency (Afghani) to
use inside Afghanistan.
Abdullah
Al Dardari, head of the UN Development Program in Afghanistan said that the UN
had taken US dollars into the country and deposited with the AIB with clear
from Taliban-run Central Bank that fresh cash will be automatically converted
to Afghanis.
“This
did not happen,” he told the ACAMS Global Sanctions Space Summit, adding that
UNDP itself has “$30 million stuck at AIB that I cannot convert to Afghanis and
without Afghanis as you can imagine, we cannot implement all our programs.”
The
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has been under international sanctions that are
hindering the UN from implementing humanitarian operations in the war-ravaged
country as 39 million Afghan population suffer from extreme hunger and
educational, economic, and social services face collapse.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/un-cant-use-its-135-million-in-afghanistan-bank-al-dardari-87657865/
--------
India
Would
Netaji have approved of calls for Muslim genocide at Haridwar Dharam Sansad,
asks Mahua Moitra
February
3, 2022
Would
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose have approved of the statements made in the Dharam
Sansad, TMC MP Mahua Moitra asked in her speech in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Speaking
on the Motion of Thanks to the President, the Trinamool Congress leader termed
the mention of freedom fighters in the President's address as "lip
service".
"The
President's address refers to Netaji on multiple occasions. I will remind this
Republic that this is the same Netaji who said that the government of India
should have an absolutely neutral and impartial attitude towards all religions.
"Would
Netaji have approved of a Haridwar Dharam Sansad that issues blood-curdling
calls for Muslim genocide," she asked.
Quoting
a speech Subhas Chandra Bose made in Comilla (now Bangladesh) in 1938, Moitra
said, "Communalism has raised its ugly head in an all-out nakedness".
She
went on to add that the insignia of Netaji's Indian National Army (INA) was
Tipu Sultan's springing tiger.
The
same Tipu Sultan that this government has erased from textbooks, said the
Trinamool Congress MP.
She
went further to state that INA's motto was three Urdu words - Etihaad, Etmad
and Kurbani (Unity, Trust and sacrifice).
"This
[is the] same Urdu language that this government is so delighted to replace
with Hindi as the first and official language of Jammu and Kashmir," she
said.
'This
government wants to alter history'
Mahua
Moitra said the President's address is an assessment of the state of the Union
today and she vehemently disagrees with that assessment.
“I
stand here today to ask the most important question that faces us all - what is
the kind of republic that we want, what is the India that we want today?
“Ours
is a living constitution, it breathes as long as we are willing to breathe life
into it. Otherwise, it is just a piece of paper, black and white, that can be
smudged into shades of grey by any majoritarian government,” Moitra said.
She
added, “This government wants to alter history. They are fearful of the future
and they mistrust the present.”
Source:
India Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UP
polls: Owaisi says gunshots fired at his car on way back from Meerut, 1 held
Feb
03, 2022
Hyderabad
MP and leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin
Owaisi on Thursday said unidentified miscreants fired gunshots at his vehicle
near the Chhajarsi toll plaza in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, while adding nobody
suffered any injury and everyone was safe.
Owaisi
said he had to leave the spot in another vehicle after the car he was
travelling in got punctured due to the gun fire.
कुछ देर
पहले छिजारसी
टोल गेट
पर मेरी
गाड़ी पर
गोलियाँ चलाई
गयी। 4 राउंड
फ़ायर हुए।
3-4 लोग थे,
सब के
सब भाग
गए और
हथियार वहीं
छोड़ गए।
मेरी गाड़ी
पंक्चर हो
गयी, लेकिन
मैं दूसरी
गाड़ी में
बैठ कर
वहाँ से
निकल गया।
हम सब
महफ़ूज़ हैं।
अलहमदु’लिलाह। pic.twitter.com/Q55qJbYRih
—
Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) February 3, 2022
Later,
Owaisi said one person was arrested. “Police have informed me that weapons have
been recovered and one shooter has been taken into custody,” he said. He also
sought an independent probe into the matter.
“Some
time ago my car was fired at the Chhijarsi toll gate. 4 rounds were fired.
There were 3 to 4 people, all of them ran away and left their weapons there. My
car got punctured, but I got out in another car and left. We are all safe.
Alhamdulillah,” Owaisi said in a tweet in Hindi, sharing an image of his
damaged vehicle.
“I
request the Election Commission to order an independent inquiry into this
shooting incident. It is the responsibility of the UP government and Modi
government to conduct an independent inquiry. I will also meet the Lok Sabha Speaker
on this matter,” he said.
Police
said another suspect was on the run. “One person apprehended. He's being
questioned, weapon recovered from him. His accomplice managed to flee, search
operation is underway for him. We'll update you when more facts come to the
fore. Nobody was injured so far. We are checking the CCTV footage,” said Hapur
superintendent of police Deepak Bhuker.
On
January 22, Owaisi said the upcoming Assembly polls will be contested under a
new political front, 'Bhagidari Parivartan Morcha', a pre-poll alliance of his
outfit, Jan Adhikaar Party of former UP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and a few
other regional outfits in the state.
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
NCW
issues notice to Sadhvi Vibhanand Giri for remarks against Muslim women
3rd
February 2022
New
Delhi: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has issued a notice to Sadhvi
Vibhanand Giri, seeking her explanation for allegedly making communal remarks
against Muslim women.
In
a tweet, the NCW said it has asked that the reply be given within 48 hours.
Giri,
reportedly in a video, was heard making communal remarks against Muslim women.
NCW
has taken cognizance of the matter and sought an explanation from Sadhvi
Vibhanand Giri on the remarks made in the video. The Commission has also asked
to ensure that the reply is given within 48 hours, the NCW tweeted.
The
video from the Dharma Sansad in Chattisgarh surfaced on social media, where the
sadhvi, can be seen making objectionable remarks against Muslim women.
Vibhanand
Giri calls upon the Hindu youth to step up action against inter-faith marriages
between Hindus and Muslims. She directs the youth to create fear among Muslim
men to stay away from Hindu girls.
“If
any Muslim man laid their eyes on a Hindu girl from today onwards, their women
will give birth to Hindu children, without a nikah or pheras,” threatens the
Sadhvi, in her speech, openly inciting sexual violence against Muslim women.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Karnataka:
Muslim students barred entry in hijab, minister says keep religion away
Feb
03, 2022
Religion
should be kept away from education and students should neither come wearing
hijab or saffron shawls to schools, said Karnataka home minister Araga
Jnanendra. The home minister’s statement came in the wake of a major
controversy erupting in different parts of the state over the wearing of hijab
(headscarf) by Muslim girls to educational institutes.
Jnanendra
also asked police to keep a watch on religious organisations that are trying to
undermine the country's unity over the issue. He further said no one should
come to school to practise their religion as this is where all students should
learn together with a feeling of oneness.
According
to a PTI report, Muslim girls of the government pre-university college at
Kundapur in Udupi district, who reached the institution wearing ‘hijab’
(headscarf) were stopped at the gate by the college principal during the day.
The principal informed the students that they are not allowed to wear hijab
inside the classrooms and asked them to remove the head dress and enter
classes.
When
the students argued that the government order on status quo has not mentioned
the Kundapur college, the principal told them the government circular applies
throughout the state.
A
day ago, the campus had turned tense after about 100 Hindu boys came to classes
wearing saffron shawls to protest against the girls’ wearing hijabs inside
classrooms. They, however, did not repeat their protest on Thursday.
Later,
Kundapur MLA Halady Srinivas Shetty spoke to the Muslim girls and their
parents, but the latter continued to insist on the right to wear hijabs. State
fisheries minister and Udupi district-in-charge S Angara said the status quo
ordered by the state government disallowing hijabs inside classrooms will
continue till a committee appointed to study the issue submits its report.
Jnanendra
said, "Schools are the place where children belonging to all religions
should learn together and imbibe a feeling that we are not different, and all
are children of Bharat Mata."
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Shashi
Tharoor, accused of politicising Karnataka hijab row, says this
Feb
04, 2022
As
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was accused of politicising the hijab row in
Karnataka education institutions, the Congress leaders said there is no law
banning religious forms of dress in India. "...there is no law banning
religious forms of dress like a Sikh turban or a crucifix around your neck or a
tilak on the forehead, all of which are forbidden in France's govt schools but
permitted in India's," Tharoor said replying to Mohandas Pai, former
director of Infosys. Pai who is now the chairman of Manipal University said all
schools have a uniform code to create unity. If people want to wear something,
they must petition.
Pai's
comment was a reaction to Shashi Tharoor's question whether Sikh turban,
Christian crucifix, Hindu tilak are also not allowed in educational institutes.
"It's been a strength of India that everyone is free to wear what they
want. If the hijab is disallowed, what about the Sikh turban? The Hindu's
forehead mark? The Christian's crucifix? This college is going down a slippery
slope. Let the girls in. Let them study. Let THEM decide," Tharoor tweeted
earlier.
.
This is a college, @TVMohandasPai, not a school. And in any case there is no
law banning religious forms of dress like a Sikh turban or a crucifix around
your neck or a tilak on the forehead, all of which are forbidden in France's
govt schools but permitted in India's.
—
Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 4, 2022
The
hijab row in Karnataka snowballed into a bigger controversy with many colleges
denying entry of hijab-clad students on Thursday, Karnataka home minister Araga
Jnanendra said no religious robe-- be it a hijab or a saffron shawl -- will be
allowed. "Schools are the place where children belonging to all religions
should learn together and imbibe a feeling that we are not different, and all
are children of Bharat Mata," the home minister said.
The
controversy began when some students at a government pre-university college at
Udupi came wearing hijab. Following those, the students of Kundapur PU College
wore a hijab to the college and was stopped at the gate. On Wednesday, around
100 Hindu students came to classes wearing saffron shawls as a counter to the
girls wearing hijabs.
"There
are religious organisations who think otherwise, I have asked police to keep a
watch on them. Those who cause hindrance or undermine this country's unity,
they have to be dealt with," the home minister said.
The
diktat has received flak from political leaders with former J&K chief
minister Mehbooba Mufti saying that Beti bachao beti padhao is just a hollow
slogan. "Muslim girls are being denied the right to education simply
because of their attire. Legitimising the marginalisation of Muslims is one
more step towards converting Gandhi's India into Godse's India," Mufti
said.
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Gujarat:
Fake videos of Muslims fleeing village create unrest
3rd
February 2022
A
delegation of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) reached Pirana
village on February 1. The objective of the visit was to provide legal aid by
investigating the land dispute case of an ancient dargah alongside a graveyard.
The
dispute came to view after videos from the village surfaced on Twitter where a
large number of villagers, including women, can be seen pacing in one
direction. A man in the video claimed that the members of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh were driving them away from their village. However, residents
refute such false claims.
The
dispute was regarding a wall built in the graveyard of Pirana village of the
city. Villagers protested the construction of a wall on the premises of
Imamshah Bawa Sanstha Trust.
Situated
in Pirana village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city, the trust is the
custodian of a dargah of Pir Imamshah Bawa, a mosque, a tomb of the Pir, and a
graveyard. The followers of Pir Imamshah are Satpanthis.
The
protest was carried out by residents of the village, mostly Saiyed Muslims,
alleging that the construction of the wall cuts access to the dargah from the
mosque and graveyard, on the premises. They also allege that it will “change
the nature of the shrine”.
The
Delegation of SDPI reached Pirana village to meet Naqib Sayyed, who is the
responsible authority over the disputed land. The matter was discussed and all
necessary information was retrieved which revealed that there was no communal
dispute in Pirana village and the Muslims of the village were not forced out of
their homes. False rumors of expulsion were doing the rounds on social media
but in reality, there is no such thing.
Giving
the actual details of the matter, Naqib Syed said that a wall has been built on
the land of the graveyard which is registered with the Waqf Board. For this
reason, the construction of the wall was being opposed by concerned local
Muslim residents.
The
trust’s management had complained to the government officials there, but due to
lack of action from the administration, the dejected Muslims decided to leave
their houses together and march to the collector’s office but were stopped
mid-way by the local police.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/gujarat-fake-videos-of-muslims-fleeing-village-create-unrest-2268986/
--------
Arab World
‘Terrorists’
have dragged Iraq into regional war by targeting Gulf state: Iraq’s Sadr
03
February ,2022
Iraqi
Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said in a statement on Thursday that some
“terrorist outlaws” have dragged Iraq into a “dangerous regional war” by
targeting a “Gulf state.”
The
cleric, who published a statement on Twitter, didn’t make it clear if he was
referring specifically to a foiled drone attack on the United Arab Emirates on
Wednesday.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Survivor
of US' Idlib operation recalls 'leave or die' threat of American soldiers
Ahmet
Karaahmet and Burak Karacaoglu
03.02.2022
IDLIB,
Syria
One
of the survivors of a US operation in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib
claimed that American soldiers threatened her and her family to leave their
house for the sake of their lives.
A
Syrian woman, one of the eyewitnesses of a US operation in Idlib on early
Thursday targeting a member of the terrorist organization Daesh/ISIS that
killed 13 people, including six children and four women, told Anadolu Agency:
“We were sleeping when the planes arrived. Doors and window panes of our house
broke down due to explosions and bullets.”
Requesting
anonymity, she said the US soldiers asked the people in “the first, second, and
third houses” to leave their houses immediately.
“If
you don’t leave in 10 minutes, we’ll destroy your house and you’ll die,” the
soldiers threatened them, according to the Syrian woman.
Scared,
she, along with her husband and children, immediately left the house, she
recalled, adding: “American soldiers made my husband lie down on his face
handcuffed. I was so scared when I saw him like that.”
“Leave
or you’ll die. Come out here, put your children on the ground and remove your
scarf,” she recalled the horror, quoting the US soldiers as threatening her.
They
took my children, tied my hands
She
said the soldiers launched a rocket towards her house as she didn’t go out.
“They
told me that I would be safe outside. Ultimately, I did go out when my husband
told me to do so,” she stressed.
“About
four or five of them ran towards me. They took my children away from me and
tied up my hands,” she said, adding that the soldiers, then, started asking
questions.
“They
interrogated me. I answered their questions randomly for them not to take my
children from me,” she lamented.
Mentioning
that there was a soldier with an Iraqi accent among the US soldiers, she said
she and her family had been questioned for hours, and were not allowed to enter
their house back.
Operation
The
operation targeted an individual suspected to be affiliated with the Daesh/ISIS
terrorist group with the support of an F-16 fighter jet and a helicopter.
An
airdrop was launched at 1.20 a.m. local time (2220GMT) from the helicopter to a
house near Atma village.
“At
around 00.30 (2130GMT), there was a noise coming from outside, I thought it was
a flood. When I got out and looked, the helicopters were hovering above and one
of the helicopters was calling with a megaphone,” a villager told Anadolu
Agency on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.
Gunshots
were then heard from near the house after US soldiers asked people to
surrender, according to the resident who said the neighboring homes were
damaged in the operation.
The
raid claimed the lives of 13 people, including six children and four women,
said civil defense teams working on the wreckage.
Security
sources told Anadolu Agency that the US troops had departed the site with a
survivor in tow.
Footage
captured by an Anadolu Agency team at the scene showed some walls and ceilings
of the house collapsed due to bombs thrown during the raid, a kitchen part
burned, all the furniture destroyed, and traces of blood on the floors.
According
to local sources, the operation may have targeted one of the most wanted
ringleaders of the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group.
Commenting
on the operation, US Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a brief
statement that the operation was successful.
Kirby
stated that there were no casualties from the US side and that more information
will be shared when available.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Why
Turkey’s Islamists turned their back on renowned Syrian preacher
Fehim
Tastekin
February
3, 2022
Prominent
Islamic scholar Jawdat Said, whose uncompromised rejection of violence and
devoted advocacy for nonviolent protests against the Syrian government earned
him the title of Syria's “Arab Gandhi,” died at the age of 91 in Istanbul where
he had taken refuge to escape the war.
Said
was one of the signatories of the so-called Damascus Declaration, a joint
statement embraced by large segments of Syrian society including Kurds, members
of Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and other Syrian opposition leaders who called for
a peaceful transition and reform process in Syria.
The
preacher moved to Turkey in 2012 after his brother was killed in armed clashes
between Syrian government forces and the radical Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra
in the southern Syrian province of Quneitra.
Declining
offers of help from Turkish government bodies and officials, he and his wife,
who died last year, survived mainly with the support of family and Circassian
organizations.
Although
known as the Arab Gandhi, Said was an ethnic Circassian who was born in a
Circassian village in Quneitra on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.
Hailing
from a prominent Circassian tribe, Tsey, Said’s ancestors settled first in the
Balkans and then in Golan after their expulsion from their homeland by Russians
in the 19th century.
Inspired
by late Algerian intellectual Malek Bennabi’s studies on Muslim communities,
Said’s view of Islam was a blend of ideals of humanity including peace,
pacifism, human rights, democratic values and Circassian traditions.
He
praised Turkey’s democracy experience as a template for predominantly Muslim
countries and its now-stalled bid to join the European Union, calling
reinterpretation of Islam.
Yet
his staunch opposition to all forms of violence that he had advocated for over
the past 60 years was never really understood either by his fellow Islamists or
his own Circassian people. He decisively lamented the absence of sufficient
effort in the Muslim world to develop ideas prioritizing nonviolence, civil
disobedience and democracy in his numerous speeches and interviews.
He
was active during peaceful protests in Syria in 2011 before the maelstrom
morphed into a bloody civil war. Back then, in a gathering in the southern
Syrian region of Hauran, he warned Syrian activists not to resort to arms under
any circumstances. Maintaining his position during the civil war, he fiercely
criticized those who took up arms.
Yet
Said’s persistent defiance of all forms of violence hardly matched with
expectations of Islamic groups from a preacher who was imprisoned by Syrian
authorities several times for his dissenting views. Islamists who believe armed
struggle is the only option for self-defense were quick to shut their ears to
him. In fact, his views have been well known since the 1950s.
After
he settled in Turkey, Turkey’s Islamist groups and pro-government media outlets
attempted to portray him as a scholar “who escaped Syrian President Bassar
al-Assad’s brutality” in a bid to canvass support for the Turkish government’s
Syria policies.
Said,
whose several books have been translated into Turkish, was first received with
great adulation in Turkey. He addressed more than 100 conferences in various
cities around the country.
This
adulation gradually turned to avoidance, as his decisive nonviolence position
failed to match the expectation of those who hosted him, a source close to Said
told Al-Monitor. The interests in the preacher gradually dimmed, and he was
pushed into isolation, the source recalled. His advocacy for nonviolence even
earned him tell-offs from Turkey’s pro-government circles. Hayrettin Karaman, a
Turkish Islamic scholar and columnist close to the government, went as far as
to accuse him of “playing into the hands of the tyrant,” without mentioning
Said’s name.
In
press interviews, he was often challenged with questions on whether he was “for
the Syrian regime or the opposition.” His answer remained the same: As a
dissident who was imprisoned several times by the Assad administration, he said
that he was both opposed to the Assad administration’s tactics to
instrumentalize violence and armed struggle against it, stressing that peace
and democracy can hardly be achieved with arms.
“The
rebels are resorting to arms to fight [the Assad administration]. Arms are
nasty. They shouldn't have taken up arms in the first place. They should have
thrown roses at those who shot them. This is what I would have done if I was in
their shoes even if my wife and children were killed by them,” he said in one
of his interviews. “You Turks know nothing but weapons,” he added after the
interviewer confronted him by arguing that the Syrian people had no other
option than to take up arms.
Former
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, leader of the Future Party, was one of the very
few political leaders to attend Said’s funeral on Jan. 31 in the central
Istanbul district of Uskudar, along with the Istanbul governor and the mayor of
Uskudar. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Islamic intellectual
circles who initially welcomed him with open arms were tellingly absent from
Said’s low-key funeral.
The
Turkish government’s reaction to his death, meanwhile, has been confined to
social media messages with Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay and presidential
spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin offering their condolences via Twitter.
During
his funeral arrangements, some bureaucrats from Ankara floated the idea of
burying him in a tomb at the compound of Istanbul’s Fatih Mosque where Said’s
fellow alumni of al-Azhar rest, but the appeals conveyed to the Turkish
presidency for the issuance of the necessary Cabinet permit have gone
unanswered, according to his close acquaintances who spoke to Al-Monitor under
condition of anonymity.
The
incident is widely seen as a reflection of the disappointment Said unleashed
among the AKP ranks by refusing the heading of the government’s line on Syria.
Even his close friends, including schoolmates from al-Azhar, refrained from
visiting him while he was alive. The only AKP official who visited him at his
home was Mehmet Gormez, former head of Turkey's official religious body
Diyanet.
This
was the price Said paid for his unyielding stance. In his close circle, he was
known as a man of dignity who led an utterly plain and modest life. Avoiding
accepting any valuable gifts from Turkish officials or other influential individuals,
he declined any offers to help him to lead a more comfortable life. The life he
built for himself in Istanbul wasn’t different from his modest life in Quneitra
where he had lived with two cows, a few beehives and a rusty bike.
Source:
Al Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
IMF
will only support a ‘comprehensive program’ for Lebanon: Georgieva
04
February ,2022
IMF
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday the fund would only
support a “comprehensive program” for Lebanon that would tackle all the
country's ills, including corruption.
“Our
team is working very closely with their Lebanese counterparts,” Georgieva told
reporters. “We are stressing that it has to be a comprehensive program.”
Lebanese
officials began talks with the IMF last month to pull the Middle Eastern
country out of the worst economic crisis in its history.
Georgieva
called Lebanon's circumstances “very, very dire,” and said “it has been so for
a long time, and short of a strong government commitment to change the course
of the country, the suffering of the Lebanese people would continue.”
She
said the Washington-based crisis lender was negotiating over a budget proposal
that would address Lebanon's banking sector and “reforms that the country needs
including more transparency for what the government does.”
Lebanon
defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020, a first in its history.
Its
currency has lost about 90 percent of its value on the black market and four
out of five Lebanese now live below the poverty line, according to the United
Nations, a situation made worse by triple-digit inflation.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Rights
group slams Lebanon for ‘flawed’ murder probes
03
February ,2022
Human
Rights Watch accused Lebanon on Thursday of “flawed” assassination probes and
urged donors to review millions of dollars in aid to security forces in a
country where crimes often go unpunished.
“The
unsolved murders and shoddy homicide investigations are a reminder of the
dangerous weakness of Lebanon’s rule of law in the face of unaccountable elites
and armed groups,” Aya Majzoub of Human Rights Watch said.
Lebanon
is gripped by political and economic dysfunction to the point that even
investigations into the 2020 Beirut port blast which killed more than 200
people and ravaged entire neighborhoods have yet to identify a single culprit.
The
US-based watchdog reviewed preliminary investigations into the murders of four
people since 2020, including Lokman Slim, an intellectual and outspoken critic
of the Iran-backed Shia Hezbollah movement.
Slim
was kidnapped in southern Lebanon exactly a year ago and his body found the
next day. His family said Hezbollah had threatened Slim several times, most
notably in December 2019.
The
three other victims are a retired colonel from the customs administration, an
amateur military photographer and a bank employee.
Lebanese
authorities have not identified suspects in any of the killings and failed to
follow clear investigative leads, “even though the murders were committed
either in proximity to residential and densely inhabited areas, in broad
daylight,” Human Rights Watch said.
In
one case, the murder was even caught on camera.
Lawyers
and relatives of the victims cited by the watchdog said the police only asked them
“superficial” questions limited to “far-fetched potential personal motivations
for the murders.” They ignored leads potentially linking the victims’
politically-sensitive work to their assassination.
The
group urged authorities to open investigations into allegations of misconduct
and gross negligence from officials dealing with the murder probes.
Donor
countries, which have funneled millions of dollars in assistance to Lebanon’s
security apparatus, should review their contributions “to ensure that they are
not funding units engaged in the cover-up of sensitive murders,” Majzoub said.
In
a recent interview with AFP Slim’s widow, Monika Borgmann, expressed doubts
that the local investigation into his murder would ever yield results. That,
she said, would be like “giving the green light to the killers, whoever they
are, to continue.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Arab
Coalition conducts 14 targeted strikes in Yemen in 24 hours
03
February ,2022
The
Arab Coalition has conducted 14 targeted strikes in Yemen’s Marib and Hajjah to
deter the Iran-backed Houthi militia in the last 24 hours, according to the
official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The
number of fatalities were not shared, but casualties have been reported,
according to SPA. Additonally, 11 “military vehicles” were destroyed, according
to the same report.
The
operation comes during a time when tensions are rising with Yemen’s Iran-backed
Houthis.
The
Houthi militia attack on the UAE and the continued attempts on Saudi Arabia
have attracted global outcry.
The
UAE attack was reportedly a first of its kind, leading to condemnations of the
Houthi group’s actions from all major world leaders.
On
February 1, the US said will deploy a guided missile destroyer and
state-of-the-art fighter jets to help the UAE defend against Houthi attacks.
The
deployment, to “assist the UAE against the current threat,” follows a phone
call between Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the US embassy in the UAE said.
Yemen’s
Iran-backed Houthis have launched dozens of cross-border attacks on Saudi
Arabia throughout 2021.
In
September 2021, the Houthis intensified their efforts to take Marib, a
provincial capital which is the government’s last northern stronghold.
However,
on January 29, the Giants Brigades said it had begun repositioning its forces
after pushing the Houthis back from oil-rich Shabwa province and stopping short
of launching a northward offensive towards the strategically vital city of
Marib, according to an AFP report.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israel
defense minister visits US Navy base in Bahrain
03
February ,2022
Israel’s
defense minister visited the US Navy Fifth Fleet’s headquarters in Bahrain on
Thursday, part of an unannounced trip amid heightened Gulf tensions following
drone and missile attacks on the United Arab Emirates.
Israel’s
Defense Ministry said on Wednesday Benny Gantz would sign a security
cooperation agreement with Bahrain, which along with the UAE normalized
relations with Israel in 2020, partly out of shared concerns about Iran.
Bahrain
hosts the Fifth Fleet’s headquarters as well as some operations for CENTCOM, a
US military coordination umbrella organization for the Middle East that Israel
joined last year.
“Against
a backdrop of increasing maritime and aerial threats, our ironclad cooperation
is more important than ever,” Gantz said on Twitter after the naval base visit.
Israel
this week is joining a 60-nation US-led Middle East naval exercise alongside
the UAE and Bahrain and, for the first time, publicly alongside Saudi Arabia
and Oman, two counties it has no diplomatic relations with.
Israel’s
defense ministry gave no details of what a security accord with Bahrain would
include. Bahrain’s government communications office did not respond to a
request for comment.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Arab
League chief says Syrian regime unlikely to attend next summit
Laith
Al-Jnaidi
03.02.2022
League
Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Wednesday that a representative from
the Syrian regime is unlikely to attend the next Arab summit amid a lack of
consensus to readmit the country.
Aboul
Gheit made the comments to Jordanian state TV during his visit to Amman.
In
answering a question on whether the Syrian regime would participate in the Arab
League's upcoming summit in Algeria, he replied by saying "for the moment,
it seems not."
Aboul
Gheit added that he believes Damascus would be readmitted if a consensus
developed among the member states to speak with “the rulers of Syria” and if
the regime “responds to the Arab positions.”
However,
he did not clarify the consensus points among the Arab countries on Syria's
return to the league.
Syria's
membership in the Arab League was suspended in 2011 over the regime’s brutal
crackdown against the country's popular revolution.
In
November, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune hinted at the possibility of
Syria's return to the Arab League during the next Arab summit in March, saying
Syria “is supposed to be present.”
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Hindus
protest police failure to arrest Daharki trader’s killers in Larkana
February
4, 2022
LARKANA:
Members of the Hindu community took out a procession on Thursday in protest
against the murder of Satan Das, a trader in Daharki on Jan 31, demanding
immediate arrest of the killers.
The
protesters, who were later joined by activists of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and
Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto, started the procession from Dharamshala
and marched on thoroughfares of the city before converging on the main gate of
Jinnahbagh where they staged a sit-in.
Dr
Dhrampal, president of the District Panchayat Committee, Dr Sudhamchand, Seth
Nawal Rai, Mohbat Khuhro, general secretary of JUI-F Larkana district, and
Imtiaz Gaad of PPP-SB condemned the murderous attack on the trader, which left
him dead and his son critically injured. Three days had passed since the case
was registered but police were still clueless about the killers, they said.
The
incident and the subsequent police inaction had deepened a sense of insecurity
and unrest among members of the Hindus community in Sindh, a land of Sufis
where Hindus and Muslims lived side by side in peace and harmony for centuries,
they said.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Non-enforcement
of security plan blamed for rising terrorism
Amir
Wasim
February
4, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Opposition parties on Thursday expressed serious concern over the rising
incidents of terrorism in the country and termed these the result of the
non-implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) by the Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government.
A
number of opposition leaders belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and
the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in separate statements, while
condemning the recent terrorist attack on camps of the security forces in
Nushki and Panjgur areas of Balochistan, called for implementation of NAP in
letter and spirit.
According
to ISPR, terrorists attacked security forces’ camps at two locations, Panjgur
and Nushki, in late Wednesday evening and both the attacks were successfully
repulsed, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists.
Opposition
condemns attacks on security forces’ camps in Nushki, Panjgur
PPP
leader Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack on security forces in Balochistan,
stating that those who had attacked the defenders of the motherland were
“unforgivable”.
Mr
Zardari said that adverse effects of NAP’s non-implementation were emerging.
“We
need to eradicate nurseries of terrorists. The ones who are attacking soldiers
are enemies of the country and the nation. The soldiers are the proud sons of
the nation,” said Mr Zardari.
He
also expressed sorrow and grief over the martyrdom of soldiers and expressed
sympathy and condolence with their families.
Similarly,
PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif through a tweet paid tribute to armed forces for
showing courage and bravery while facing terrorists in Balochistan.
Mr
Shehbaz said the entire nation was determined to eradicate terrorists from the
country.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673139/non-enforcement-of-security-plan-blamed-for-rising-terrorism
--------
Preposterous
to blame 3rd country for delay in appointment of envoy of one nation to
another: MEA on Pak allegation
Feb
3, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Days after Pakistan alleged that India was instrumental in blocking the
confirmation of a former PoK president as the ambassador-designate to the
United States, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Thursday that it
was preposterous to blame a third country for the delay.
“Preposterous
to blame a third country for delay in the appointment of an ambassador of a
foreign country to another,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a
media briefing on Thursday.
President
Joe Biden’s administration has hold up the acceptance of Islamabad's
ambassador-designate to the United States, purportedly for his dodgy stance on
terrorism. Sardar Masood Khan's nomination was sent to Washington in November
last year.
The
nomination of Khan — previously Pakistan's envoy to the United Nations and
ambassador to China — hit a wall in Washington after a prominent US lawmaker
said he is a "jihadist who espouses terrorist causes", including
inciting the youth in Kashmir.
A
Pakistani government source maintained that the credentialing was under process
but accused New Delhi of trying to scuttle the appointment, ostensibly because
of Khan's "expertise" on the Kashmir issue.
“His
agrément is being processed in the US system. This (pause) is a part of the
wider Indian disinformation campaign to malign Pakistan and those who represent
the country, by using fake news to make scandalous claims and baseless
allegations,” spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said in Islamabad.
US
Congressman Scott Perry has even urged the state department to convert its
pause on the credentialing into an outright rejection, saying Khan's nomination
demonstrated Islamabad's "unmitigated contempt for the United
States".
"While
I am encouraged that the state department has reportedly placed a pause on
approving Masood Khan as the new ambassador from Pakistan, a pause is not
enough. I urge you to reject any diplomatic credentials presented to you by
Masood Khan and reject any effort by the Government of Pakistan to install this
jihadist as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States," Perry wrote to
Biden.
Perry
added that Khan is a supporter of terrorist group Jamaat-e-Islami, as well as
Helping Hand for Relief and Development, a group that had no qualms
establishing a partnership with the foreign terrorist organisation responsible
for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
A
US-based think tank also urged Biden to reject Pakistan's appointment of the
'Jihadi-terrorist-sympathizer', Khan, as Pakistan's ambassador to the United
States.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan-Saudi
deal worth $20 billion yet to take-off as Imran Khan govt struggles to draw FDI
Feb
3, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Faced with economic stagnation the Imran Khan-led government in Pakistan which
has unsuccessfully tried to increase Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) has been
let down by Saudi Arabia too, on whom Islamabad pinned its hopes.
A
proposed investment agreement worth $20 billion with Saudi Arabia signed during
the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bid Salman in Islamabad has failed to
materialize.
Even
Islamabad's much-hyped announcement of the construction of $10 billion Saudi
Aramco oil refinery, part of the long-term investment, is yet to take off,
according to Islam Khabar.
Concerned
with the declining FDI, Imran Khan had in October 2021, urged Saudi companies
and entrepreneurs to invest in Pakistan while addressing the Saudi-Pakistan
Investment Forum.
Saudi
companies wanted to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan in the field
of energy, manufacturing, logistics, and transportation, among others
However,
they were deterred by inadequate infrastructures such as water, gas/power, and
connectivity, and inefficient institutional set-up leading to corruption in
Pakistan reported Islam Khabar.
They
were also concerned with delays in departmental approvals & clearances
besides the non-availability of local bank financing.
Furthermore,
the Saudi companies showed concern about the lack of consistency &
transparency in Pak investment policy.
Additionally,
investors were also discouraged by frequent political interventions and unrest
due to public protests.
Saudi
entrepreneurs were reportedly of the view that Pak companies lack in implementation
of quality compliance protocols in manufacturing
Another
concern was the lack of adequate capacity to meet export obligations as
evidenced by their failure to meet follow-up supply requirements timely and
with the requisite quality.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Prosecution
narrates opening statement in trial against Altaf Hussain
Atika
Rehman
February
4, 2022
LONDON:
The Kingston-upon-Thames crown court on Thursday heard the prosecution’s
opening statement in the incitement to violence trial involving Muttahida Qaumi
Movement’s (MQM) supremo Altaf Hussain.
Mr
Hussain was present in the court when the jury was informed of the
prosecution’s case and taken through the evidence as well as the charge against
the MQM leader.
The
prosecution’s statement rested on two speeches made by the MQM founder on
August 22, 2016 in which he first allegedly ordered crowds to assemble and
later told them to charge the Sindh Rangers headquarters, as well as offices of
the ARY, Geo and Samaa television channels.
The
prosecution said Mr Hussain made telephone calls to different people in his
party from his London office and railed against the situation he and the MQM
were in. “His invitation to them was to gather, and in due course, to take
action,” the jury heard.
The
statement rested on two speeches made by MQM founder in 2016
The
prosecution also described how the Lahore High Court had placed a ban on
broadcasting speeches made by Mr Hussain, and that he repeatedly referred to it
when he addressed crowds on Aug 22, 2016.
The
jury was told that Mr Hussain called on his workers to assemble outside the
Karachi Press Club in protest against the media ban, and to observe a hunger
strike. The court also heard how Mr Hussain allegedly demanded that the crowds
should gather, and that he wanted to know how many sectors could be mobilised
so between 100,000 and 500,000 people could congregate on foot to head towards
the Rangers headquarters.
After
this, Mr Hussain allegedly said his supporters should head to the Geo and ARY
offices and to not allow them to function.
“This
was no mere rhetoric, no mere volatile words, because actions later that day
show what he actually said. In a galvanising series of words and speeches, what
he wanted people to do was assemble in order to take physical action,” the jury
heard.
The
prosecution lawyer described how Mr Hussain instructed party workers in Federal
B Area, Gulshan, Baldia Town, Shah Faisal Colony and Malir to assemble before
commanding them to move on to the alleged targets.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Southeast Asia
Three
Islamist insurgents killed in Thai mosque shootout
February
04, 2022
Thai
security forces killed three suspected Islamist insurgents during a shootout
inside a mosque in the latest flare-up of hostilities in Thailand’s restive
southernmost region.
Acting
on a tip-off on Feb. 3, Thai soldiers surrounded a Quran-learning center at a
mosque in the Muslim-majority province of Songkhla with the aim of arresting
three suspected insurgents with warrants out for them who had been hiding
inside the building, according to official sources.
Despite
pleas for them to surrender, the three men opened fire with two rifles and a
handgun on security forces, who returned fire, killing the three men on the
spot.
The
three men had been wanted on various charges, local officials said.
The
shootout came only a few days after police killed two suspected insurgents at a
house in Narathiwat, another Muslim-majority province that has been plagued by
violence between Islamist separatists and state security forces.
In
that incident on Jan. 28, Thai forces surrounded a house where the two
suspected insurgents had been hiding and after calls on the fugitives to
surrender failed, the soldiers stormed the residence, killing the two men. A
security volunteer was injured in the shootout.
On
the same day, a person was injured when at least 13 small bombs were set off by
suspected separatists in the predominantly Muslim town of Yala in the eponymous
province.
The
bombs were placed at roadsides outside convenience stores and shops, a market,
an animal hospital and a car repair shop, according to police.
Several
unexploded pipe bombs were found by police on Jan. 29.
These
latest incidents of violence have dampened hopes for a political resolution to
a long-running conflict that has pitted ethnic Malay Muslim separatists against
predominantly Buddhist security forces.
The
separatists, who operate in loosely connected cells, seek independence for four
predominantly Muslim provinces in Thailand’s southernmost region, which borders
Malaysia.
In
all, more than 7,300 people, both Buddhists and Muslims, have been killed in
the restive region since a violent separatist movement was launched in 2004.
Both
sides in the interminable conflict have been accused by rights advocates of
committing routine rights violations.
The
insurgents have been called out for targeting unarmed civilians in violent
attacks, while Thai security forces have been credibly accused of engaging in
extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and torture.
Source:
UCA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/three-islamist-insurgents-killed-in-thai-mosque-shootout/95980
--------
Malaysian
Peace Broker: Violence in Thai Deep South Won’t Derail Bangkok-BRN Talks
2022-02-03
Ongoing
violence in Thailand’s Deep South will not derail newly resumed in-person peace
talks between BRN rebels and the Thai government, the Malaysian facilitator of
the negotiations and other officials say.
On
Thursday morning, according to the Thai military, security forces gunned down
three suspected insurgents in a village in Songkhla, one of the provinces in
the Muslim-majority southern border region.
It
was the third deadly clash since mid-January when delegations representing the
government and Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the region’s leading separatist
insurgency group, met for two days of talks brokered by Malaysia near Kuala
Lumpur.
“There
is no agreement between the two parties that no violence will happen throughout
the period of peace talks,” Abdul Rahim Noor, the Malaysian facilitator, told
BenarNews this week.
“Similar
incidents will continue to happen until the peace agreement is signed. This is
my personal view.”
Such
incidents, he said, “will not affect the peace talks.”
Both
the Thai government and BRN have “clearly stated that they could not control
their people on the ground,” Rahim Noor added.
“I
do not know if they meant what they said, but both parties will not take
responsibility for any incidents out there.”
Thursday’s
clash occurred after authorities said they had received a tip about suspected
rebels hiding in an Islamic primary school next to a mosque in Koke Ked, a
village in Songkhla’s Chana district.
“Officials
attempted to … arrest, but the shootout erupted, resulting in the deaths of the
trio,” said a statement by the Forward Office of ISOC-4, the Thai Army’s
regional command in the Deep South.
After
the peace talks on Jan. 11-12, Anas Abdulrahman, who led the BRN delegation,
said there was no ceasefire and “if we are attacked, we will defend ourselves.”
BRN
representatives were not immediately available to comment on the latest
violence.
Previous
incidents
Meanwhile
last week, one person was injured when at least 13 small roadside explosions
struck the Deep South town of Yala on Jan. 28 and 29, police said. According to
the Yala municipal office, bombs were planted in more than 20 locations, while
police said they found several unexploded improvised devices constructed from
spray cans and metal pipes.
“We
can’t officially conclude yet that the BRN was behind such attacks … but we
have an initial speculation that the same old groups were behind them – given
the types of explosives and the way the bombs were made,” Kiatisak Neewong, the
spokesman for ISOC-4, the military’s regional command, told BenarNews.
He
also said the bombs “were made to make a loud bang but were not meant to kill.”
A
political analyst, meanwhile, said the bombs could have been in retaliation for
police killing two suspected insurgents during a raid earlier in the day on Jan
28.
On
Jan. 20, two suspected rebels were killed and a Thai soldier was injured in a
gunfight after negotiations failed in Sai Buri district, Pattani.
The
series of clashes followed the first in-person peace negotiations in nearly two
years after they were disrupted by the global outbreak of COVID-19 in early
2020.
“The
BRN has previously conducted coordinated attacks for these purposes,” said
Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat, a Deep South researcher and lecturer at the
Prince of Songkla University.
The
string of bombs last week could have been a test for new fighters and caused
little damage, she said.
“However,
the form of revenge attacks was often more destructive or severe and caused
more casualties than the recent Yala bombings,” Rungrawee told BenarNews.
“It
could be that the BRN wants to maintain its legitimacy in the eyes of the
international community, and so the attacks did not mean to cause casualties.
It is more like making a political statement,” she said.
“The
BRN might need to show that it still exists and remains militarily capable.”
Rungrawee
added that “one should not expect that there will be no violence while the
peace process is ongoing.”
Meanwhile,
Kiatisak, the spokesman for ISOC-4, alleged that the “assailants always seek a
chance for disruption and conduct it when they can.”
“Nevertheless,
the incidents do not jeopardize the atmosphere of the peace talks. [W]e believe
the next round of talks will go on,” he told BenarNews. “It’s normal that there
are obstacles along the way to goals.”
No
date has been set for those talks.
On
Thursday, Lt. Gen. Thira Daehwa, the secretary of Thailand’s Peace Dialogue
Panel, said the Thai military had reduced the number of checkpoints and
deployment of troops even as it maintains efforts to rid the Deep South of
militants.
Source:
Benar News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/thai/deep-south-violence-peace-talks-02032022132758.html
--------
Mideast
Iran
Holds 3rd Session of Trial of Ringleader of Separatist Terrorist Group, Ties
with Israel, S. Arabia Revealed
2022-February-3
During
the third session of the trial, the prosecutor's representative presented
evidence showing the Saudi and Israeli sponsorship for the separatist outfit.
Habib
Farajollah Chaab, also known as Habib Asyud, the ringleader of the so-called
Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz terrorist group (SMLA),
appeared in court on Wednesday.
At
the hearing, Amin Vaziri, the prosecutor’s representative, said Chaab is
accused of corruption on earth through forming, managing and heading the SMLA,
as well as planning and carrying out terrorist operations, and destroying
public property.
“Members
of this terrorist group visited Saudi Arabia annually under the guise of Hajj
to carry out the plans dictated by the Saudi intelligence agency. These plans
included actions against innocent citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he
added.
Vaziri
also displayed the picture of a meeting between the Saudi culture minister and
an SMLA member, who was arrested in the Netherlands for terrorist acts and
sentenced to four years in prison. He further showed the photo of an invitation
sent to the militant by the Saudi king.
Another
picture showed a meeting between the SMLA spokesman and the Saudi king.
Additionally,
the prosecutor’s representative pointed to the ties between the SMLA and
Israel’s Mossad spy agency.
He
also presented written documents that showed Chaab had dealings with former
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The
defendant, Vaziri said, has over the past years infiltrated into
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and even charities to attract and
organize SMLA members.
As
the trial continued, images were displayed of intelligence and military
elements of the terrorist group, who freely engage in terrorist acts against
innocent Iranians in Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Based
on an indictment, he is charged with “leading and heading the SMLA terrorist
group as well as planning and carrying out numerous bombing and terrorist
operations in Khuzestan Province and destroying public property in order to
counter the Islamic Republic of Iran’s establishment”.
He
is also charged with bombing operations at the Housing and Urban Development
Office, Planning and Budget Organization, and Department of Environment in
Ahvaz.
Chaab’s
other charges include bombing operations targeting the governorates of Dezful
and Abadan and oil pipelines in the cities of Abadan, Ahvaz, and Mahshahr, and
also planning a bombing attack against Ahvaz’s Judiciary office.
In
September 2018, the SMLA claimed responsibility for an attack on a military
parade in Ahvaz that killed 25 people, including members of Iran’s Islamic
Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and civilian bystanders, and injured 70 others.
During
Tuesday’s hearing, the prosecutor's representative said the SMLA's operations
are designed with the Saudi backing in Sweden and Denmark, where the group's
ringleaders are residing.
European
and Arab countries have failed to extradite the terrorists to the Islamic
Republic despite a red notice issued against them, he noted.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran,
Japan Review Bilateral Ties, Regional Peace
2022-February-3
Amir
Abdollahian and Hayashi in the phone talks, which took 20 minutes, exchanged
views on bilateral relations between Japan and Iran as well as the situation
surrounding Iran and the Middle East in light of realizing of peace and
stability in the region.
In
the phone call, Amir Abdollahian congratulated Hayashi on his appointment as
Japan’s foreign minister, and conveyed the greetings of Iran’s president to the
high-ranking Japanese officials.
The
Iranian foreign minister also thanked Japan for its humanitarian assistance in
the fight against COVID-19. Amir Abdollahian referred to the presence of four
million Afghan refugees in Iran, saying, “Fortunately, two and a half million
Afghan refugees have been vaccinated so far, and Iran is ready to send Japanese
humanitarian aid to the Afghan people."
He
also said the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is worrying on the eve of
winter and stressed the need to send humanitarian aid to the country.
“Under
these circumstances, all countries should rush to help the Afghan people and we
are also ready to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan by
air or land."
Amir
Abdollahian also reviewed the various aspects of bilateral relations between
Tehran and Tokyo, and announced readiness of the Islamic Republic to expand
relations in economic, trade, humanitarian, environmental and health fields.
“We
can increase our cooperation in all areas," he said.
The
Iranian foreign minister also touched on the nuclear talks in Vienna. He
underscored that Iran welcomes serious talks and a good agreement and that the
other sides must also show good faith in this regard.
Amir
Abdollahian said the Islamic Republic of Iran has attended the Vienna talks
with a firm resolve and a clear and logical agenda but we are not optimistic
about the will and intention of the US and the European troika.
He
added that on the one hand the US officials call for talks and say they want to
return to the nuclear deal, JCPOA, and on the other hand, they place new
sanctions on Iranian individuals and companies.
Amir
Abdollahian said what matters is that these negotiations produce results and
the Western parties show their seriousness and good faith at the negotiating
table and in practice.
Hayashi,
for his part, said that his country is ready for expanding bilateral ties with
Iran in the fields of health, environment and tourism and other areas.
He
also welcomed the idea of sending Japan’s urgent relief aid to Afghanistan.
Hayashi
underlined the importance of the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan
and respecting the rights of women and ethnic minorities and also the
importance of eradicating terrorism in the country.
The
Japanese foreign minister welcomed the beginning of the Vienna talks, and
called for both sides to show flexibility to reach a mutual agreement.
He
also extended the high-ranking Japanese officials' greetings to Iran’s
president and invited Amir Abdollahian to visit Japan.
In
a relevant development in December, Amir Abdollahian and Hayashi in a telephone
conversation underlined the need to expand mutual cooperation in different
fields.
During
the phone talks, the Iranian and Japanese foreign ministers explored avenues
for bolstering and reinvigorating bilateral relations in various areas.
Amir
Abdollahian congratulated Hayashi on his appointment and conveyed the warmest
greetings of Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi to the high-ranking
Japanese officials.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001114000389/Iran-Japan-Review-Bilaeral-Ties-Reginal-Peace
--------
Minister:
Iran Ready to Increase Oil Supply after Removal of US Sanctions
2022-February-3
Iran
will be ready to immediately increase its supply of oil to the global markets
if American sanctions are lifted from the country, Owji said on Wednesday.
His
comments came amid concerns that crude prices could rise as high as $100
barrels.
Speaking
after a meeting of the OPEC+ alliance of oil producing nations, Owji said that
if major economies are unhappy with the current price level and the amount of
oil supply into the markets, they should move to have American sanctions on
Iran removed.
“My
suggestion to them is the immediate cancellation of the unilateral and
oppressive American sanctions against Iran and to open up the space for the
return of maximum Iranian (crude) output to the global markets,” he said.
The
minister said that the current energy crisis in Europe and other parts of the
world will not be eased unless major producers like Iran increase their
supplies to the markets.
Iran’s
oil exports declined in 2019 after the US toughened its bans on the country’s
crude sales. That came one year after Washington pulled out of an international
agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and imposed a series of unilateral
sanctions on the country.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
Arrests No 2 Ringleader of Tondar Terrorist Group
2022-February-3
In
a statement on Wednesday, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said the
second-in-command of the adversary Tondar terrorist group was arrested by the
intelligence forces recently.
Masmatos,
as the detained figure is named in the statement, was the second-in-command of
the military wing of the Tondar terrorist group, who was aware of the plot to
assassinate Iranian nuclear scientist Masoud Ali-Mohammadi.
The
ringleader of Tondar terrorist group by the name of Jamshid Sharmahd was
arrested by the Iranian security and intelligence forces back in August 2020.
Sharmahd,
who guided the armed and sabotage acts against Iran from the US, was arrested
in complicated operations by the Iranian security forces and is now in the
hands of the country’s intelligence ministry.
Tondar,
or the Kingdom Assembly of Iran, also known as Soldiers of the Kingdom Assembly
of Iran, is an armed terrorist royalist group seeking to overthrow the ruling
government and restore the monarchy in Iran.
Tondar
claimed responsibility for the 2008 Shiraz explosion at the Hosseynieh Seyed
al-Shohada in which 14 people, including children, were killed and 215 others
were injured.
Mohammad-Reza
Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, accused of being members of the terrorist
group, were arrested and tried for the bombing. In January 2010, they were
executed for waging war against God and attempting to overthrow the Islamic
Republic.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001114000189/Iran-Arress-N-2-Ringleader-f-Tndar-Terrris-Grp
--------
Former
US general advises Biden to halt support for YPG/PKK
Servet
Günerigök
04.02.2022
Ben
Hodges, a former commander of US forces in Europe, advised President Joe Biden
on Thursday to end assistance for the YPG/PKK terrorist organization.
Speaking
at a virtual discussion with the Hudson Institute's Senior Fellow Michael
Doran, Hodges called US support for the group in Syria an "irritant"
for Turkiye.
"Even
those who are not here Erdogan supporters, which is about half the country, are
really annoyed about this YPG support," said the former commander,
referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He
also urged Biden to visit Erdogan in Ankara within the next three months.
US
support for the YPG/PKK has been one of the top disputes between the two
nations after Washington backed the terror group in the fight against
Daesh/ISIS in 2015.
Despite
Ankara's security concerns, the US has not ceased its support since then.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Africa
Nigeria
uncovers 96 terrorism financiers
Ibrahim
Garba Shuaibu
04.02.2022
KANO,
Nigeria
The
Nigerian government announced Thursday that it has uncovered 96 financiers of
terrorism and 424 of their associates/supporters.
Information
and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed disclosed the information to reporters at a
media briefing on the anti-corruption war being waged by the government of
President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mohammed
said the fraud unit of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) identified
123 companies and 33 currency exchanges linked with terrorism in the country.
He
did not disclose the names of the sponsors and companies.
“For
its part, the analysis by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit in 2020-2021
revealed 96 financiers of terrorism in Nigeria, 424 associates/supporters of
the financiers (and) the involvement of about 123 companies and 33 bureaux de
change, in addition to identifying 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and seven
co-conspirators,” he said.
The
analysis has resulted in the arrest of 45 suspects who will soon face
prosecution and seizure of assets, he said.
“On
terrorism financing, the NFIU had intelligence exchanges on Boko Haram, ISWAP,
banditry, kidnapping and others with 19 countries,” said Mohammed.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/nigeria-uncovers-96-terrorism-financiers/2493629
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Army
kills 7 al-Shabaab terrorists, liberates 2 villages in southwestern Somalia
Mohammed
Dhaysane
03.02.2022
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
Somali
forces killed seven al-Shabaab terrorists and captured two more in an operation
in the country’s southwestern Lower Shabelle province, the military said on
Thursday.
The
army reclaimed the villages of Adiimoole and Degwariiri from al-Shabaab,
destroying several hideouts and vehicles, an army captain in the region told
Anadolu Agency, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the
media.
He
said the operation inflicted “heavy casualties” on al-Shabaab and the two
terrorists caught were “senior operatives” of the terror group.
Lower
Shabelle has seen a rise in terrorist attacks over recent months, including a
mid-December 2021 assault by al-Shabaab on a base of the African Union Mission
in Somalia that killed and wounded several soldiers.
The
Somali military has stepped up operations against the terror group, which is
linked to al-Qaeda, in the region.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Tear
gas fired at Sudan anti-coup protestors
03
February ,2022
Sudanese
security forces fired tear gas on Thursday to disperse thousands of
demonstrators demanding justice for 79 people killed following last year’s
military coup, an AFP correspondent said.
In
the capital Khartoum, protesters used rocks to build makeshift barriers
blocking roads, while across the Nile river in North Khartoum, crowds of over
2,000 people gathered chanting slogans against the security forces.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
In
Omdurman, the capital’s twin city, some 5,000 people gathered outside the home
of 27-year-old Mohammed Yussef, a protester who died after he was shot in the
chest during rallies on Sunday.
More
than three months after the October 25 takeover led by General Abdel Fattah
al-Burhan in the troubled northeast African country, defiant mass rallies demanding
a restoration of the transition to civilian rule show few signs of abating.
The
coup, one of several in Sudan’s post-independence history, derailed a fragile
power-sharing arrangement between the army and civilians that had been
painstakingly negotiated after the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar
al-Bashir.
At
least 79 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the crackdown on
anti-coup demonstrations, according to the independent group of medics.
In
central Khartoum, Burhan on Thursday met with United Nations Special
Representative Volker Perthes, with the envoy urged him “to end the violence
that accompanies the demonstrations,” according to state media.
The
UN has launched talks between factions in a bid to resolve the crisis, has
repeatedly warned the authorities against using force to stop political
protests.
Sudan’s
authorities have repeatedly denied using live ammunition against demonstrators,
and insist scores of security officers have been wounded, while a police
general was stabbed to death.
But
Human Rights Watch on Thursday said that security forces at rallies last month
had “used live ammunition against unarmed protesters,” reporting that anti-riot
police had also “fired teargas canisters directly at protesters at the front of
the march.”
HRW
said it had detailed violence that took place on January 17 when at least eight
protesters were killed, the second deadliest day since the coup.
Six
witnesses told HRW they had seen a “militarized police unit” open fire on
protesters “at multiple locations throughout the day,” while other “regular
police beat and arrested peaceful protesters.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Morocco
rescuers dig for boy trapped in well
04
February ,2022
Moroccans
waited anxiously Thursday as authorities said a dramatic operation to rescue a
young boy trapped in a deep well for over two days was nearing its end.
The
five-year-old, named as Rayan, fell down the narrow 32-metre (100-foot) deep
well on Tuesday evening in his home village near Bab Berred in the rural
northern province of Chefchaouen, local media said.
“The
child's rescue is approaching,” government spokesman Mustapha Baitas said
Thursday. “Our hearts are with the family, and we are praying that he will back
with them as soon as possible.”
The
shaft was too narrow for rescuers to reach the bottom, so heavy diggers were
dispatched to dig a hole alongside it.
Relief
operations intensified as darkness fell for a third night with the boy deep
down in the well, with diggers clawing out dirt under floodlights.
Rescuers
reported they had dug down some 24 meters, but that around six metres still
remained to reach the child.
The
MAP news agency said rescuers had been able to send him oxygen and water via
pipes.
Rayan's
father told Le360 news website he had been repairing the well when the boy fell
into it.
Lead
rescuer Abdelhabi Temrani told Al Oula television that the diameter of the well
was less than 45 centimetres.
Baitas
said the nature of the soil meant it was too dangerous to try to widen the
hole, meaning major excavations around it were the only solution.
The
drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag
#SaveRayan going viral across the North African region, including in
neighbouring Algeria.
Moroccan
footballer and PSG star Achraf Hakimi mentioned the rescue efforts on social
media, alongside emojis of a broken heart and hands together in prayer.
The
boy's fate has also attracted crowds of people to the site of the operation,
putting pressure on rescuers operating in “difficult conditions”, Baitas said.
“We
call on citizens to let the rescuers do their job and save this child,” he
said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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West
African leaders hold emergency summit over Burkina Faso
James
Tasamba and Enoch Fiifi Forson
03.02.2022
KIGALI,
Rwanda/ ACCRA, Ghana
West
African leaders on Thursday demanded that the military junta in Burkina Faso
provide a timetable to steer the country back to constitutional order.
The
leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in
Ghana’s capital Accra to examine the political situation in Burkina Faso
following the Jan. 24 coup that deposed President Roch Marc Kabore as well as
other countries which have recently witnessed military coups.
ECOWAS
Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou said the summit decided to maintain
the suspension of Burkina Faso from ECOWAS governing institutions and
reiterated its demand for the immediate unconditional release of Kabore.
“The
heads of state asked the military authorities in Burkina Faso to rapidly
propose a timetable for the restoration of constitutional order,” Brou told a
news conference.
The
summit stressed the need to stop military coups in the region because it
creates more problems than it solves and it is against the basic ECOWAS
principle of good governance and democracy, he added.
Meanwhile,
on Guinea-Bissau, where soldiers attempted to overthrow President Umaro Sissoco
Embalo on Tuesday, the summit decided to send a stabilization force to the
capital Bissau to help stabilize the country, Brou said.
Following
the leaders’ virtual summit on Jan. 28, on Saturday, a high-level mission of
the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defense Staff was sent to Ouagadougou, the
capital of Burkina Faso, to hold consultations with military leaders.
This
was followed on Monday by a joint ministerial mission led by the chairwoman of
the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and Ghana's Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor
Botchwey to assess the political situation in the country.
Thursday’s
emergency talks assessed the outcome of the two missions to Burkina Faso.
Earlier
while opening the summit, Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s president and chairman of
the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, described coups in
the region as a cancer that needs a sustainable solution.
“Your
presence here is a strong indication of your willingness to find a sustainable
solution to the resurgence of cancer in our region. Let us address this
dangerous trend collectively and decisively before it devastates the whole
region,” he said.
Burkina
Faso became the third member of the 15-nation ECOWAS bloc to be overtaken by
the military in less than two years after Mali and Guinea.
“The
resurgence of coup d'etats in our region is a matter of grave concern. This
revolution challenges the democratic way of life we have chosen. We need to
stand firm to protect democracy and freedom in our region,” Akufo-Addo added.
Like
Mali and Guinea, ECOWAS suspended Burkina Faso from its governing bodies after
the military overthrew President Kabore.
Mali
has witnessed two subsequent coups, in August 2020 and May 2021, and in Guinea,
the military overthrew President Alpha Conde last September.
ECOWAS
has already imposed sanctions on Mali and Guinea for delaying to restore
constitutional order.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/west-african-leaders-hold-emergency-summit-over-burkina-faso/2493409
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/netherlands-daesh-isis-terror-group/d/126301