13 killed in powerful blast outside Quetta mosque after Eid prayers
PRAYER AND A FEAST AFTER RAMZAN FAST
Eid brings Indo-Pak LoC village together
JuD collects Eid donations in another name, Saeed spearheads drive: Report
Muslims are ‘terrorists’ in colouring book on 9/ 11
UK University asked to inform on 'vulnerable' Muslims students
India's democratic experience can be of help to Libya: US
J&K CM, Omar tweet on Guru hanging sparks uproar
Anna gets a call from Srinagar: Help find truth behind unmarked graves
China says attacks thwarted as Zardari visits Xinjiang
Intercepted calls show Pak handlers-Taliban nexus in Kabul attack
Hillary backed APJ Abdul Kalam frisking on aerobridge of US flight
26/11 might have led to Indo-Pak N-war: ex-US envoy
Pak legal system incapable of prosecuting terrorists: US
Eid celebrated in Kashmir, stone pelting in old Srinagar
Palestine's full UN membership bid greater threat than Hamas: Israeli minister
Shooting suspect admits killing US airmen
Cop: Tulsiram Prajapati, Man Close to Modi’ killed Haren Pandya
Libya: First Eid in 42 yrs with a ‘right to kill’ despot
Cornered Modi to go for a snap poll?
CBI toed killer cop Vanzara’s line in Hiren Pandya Murder probe
Gaddafi takes to Libya’s drains as rebels vow to track him down
Seif Gaddafi vows no surrender to Libyan rebels
Gaddafi last sighting reported amidst gunfire in Tripoli
Don't test us, Israel army warns Gaza militants
US will not relent until al Qaeda is defeated: Obama
Cop heat on agents who sent Punjab men to Iraq
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/13-killed-powerful-blast-outside/d/5369
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13 killed in powerful blast outside Quetta mosque after Eid prayers
By Shehzad Baloch
Sep 01 2011
QUETTA: A powerful blast killed at least 11 and injured 13 others when a bomb was detonated on Gulistan Road in the Murriabad area of Quetta on Wednesday.
Capital City Police Officer Quetta (CCPO) Ahsan Mahboob said that the blast was a suicide attack.
Mahboob added that the bomber was driving a car laden with about 40kg of explosives. The attacker targeted a Shia congregation that was offering Eid prayers in a mosque. The bomb was detonated when the people were returning home after Eid prayers.
Earlier, Home Secretary Naseebullah Bazai said that it is not confirmed whether it was suicide attack or if the explosive device was planted in the car.
Bazai added that officials are collecting evidence from the blast site.
A police official said that it may be a sectarian attack as it took place in a Shia dominant area.
Some of the injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital and Bolan Medical College for treatment. Others were rushed to the Provincial Sandeman Hospital through private vehicles and Edhi. Five people succumbed to their injuries.
The blast also destroyed 10 cars and several houses in the vicinity.
Authorities fear a rise in the number of casualties and have declared an emergency at the Civil Hospital after the incident.
Police have cordoned off the area and investigations are underway.
The Shia community of Quetta has announced that it will observe seven days of mourning to condemn the attack.
Members of the Shiite community also gathered and staged a protest at the site of the blast where they chanted slogans against the government.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/243191/flames-go-up-as-explosion-took-place-in-quetta/
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PRAYER AND A FEAST AFTER RAMZAN FAST
Sep 01 2011
THE faithful in Delhi joined millions across India to celebrate Eid on Wednesday. People thronged the Jama Masjid ( picture above) and Fatehpuri Masjid in Old Delhi and the Idgah mosque in central Delhi to offer their morning prayers. Later in the afternoon, they feasted on tantalising varieties of sevaiyan ( vermicelli pudding), firni ( rice pudding), biryani and korma . Lalu Prasad Yadav ( right) was seen savouring the delicacies at BJP leader Shahnawaz Husain’s home in Delhi where the latter hosted an Eid party.
Mail Today
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Eid brings Indo-Pak LoC village together
Arjun Sharma
Sep 01 2011
EID was a special affair for inhabitants of Kerni village in Poonch district this time. After all, the entire village celebrated the festival together after 10 years.
People from the small village, located close to the Line of Control ( LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu region, had been shifted out to other places in 2001. Intense firing across the LoC had prompted the government to uproot the villagers from their homes then.
Thanking the Indian Army for bringing the people back to their homes after 10 years, resident Aijaz Ahmed said: “ It is the perfect gift. All the villagers are happy to celebrate the festival together.” The villagers had been yearning to return to their homes.
After India and Pakistan signed the ceasefire agreement in 2003 and peace gradually returned to areas close to the LoC, the villagers had been waiting for the administration’s green light to return to Kerni.
“ Keeping the current security concerns in mind, a framework to return the people to their village was worked out, involving the active participation of the people of Kerni village, and a phase- wise relocation plan was formulated,” Jammu- based army spokesperson S. N. Acharya said.
“ The long- cherished dream of the people was fulfilled on April 21 when 108 villagers comprising elders, women and children were relocated to their original homes from other areas,” he added.
The lucky 108 were ecstatic on returning after such a long wait.
But several of villagers were still separated from their original homes and wanted to return.
The remaining villagers were to be shifted in a phased manner spread over five months.
Mail Today
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JuD collects Eid donations in another name, Saeed spearheads drive: Report
Sep 01 2011
Lahore : Mumbai terror attack accused Hafiz Saeed run Jamaat-ul-Dawa has created an offshoot Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) to circumvent the ban on collection of donations in Pakistan and are collecting aid with the police doing nothing to stop them.
Moreover, Saeed and his son Hafiz Talha Saeed have also been making speeches and collecting donations at mosques in various parts of the city all during Ramadan, the The Express Tribune reported.
“The police are doing nothing to stop the FIF, an offshoot of Jamaat-ul-Dawa (JuD), from seeking and collecting charity ahead of Eid even though the Jamat has been banned as a terrorist organisation and is forbidden to collect donations,” it said.
On August 5, the Interior Ministry issued a list of 25 banned organisations including the JuD that are not allowed to collect donations. “As in the past, the JuD has been able to circumvent the ban simply by changing its name,” the daily said.
The group is a front for the Lashkar-e-Toiba, which carried out the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai. The FIF camps fly the black-and-white striped JuD flag and sport banners seeking aid for “the flood-affected and other needy people”.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jud-collects-eid-donations-in-another-name-saeed-spearheads-drive-re.../839897/
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Muslims are ‘terrorists’ in colouring book on 9/ 11
Sep 01 2011
A COLOURING book aimed at teaching children about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 has generated controversy for its depiction of Muslims and interpretation of the events.
“ It’s disgusting,” said Dawud Walid, director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American- Islamic Relations, who has lead the charge against what he sees as an irresponsible and dangerous book.
Every mention or depiction of Muslims or Islam in the book titled We shall never forget 9/ 11 , is accompanied by the word “ terrorist” or “ extremist” and there are no counterbalancing images or references to the Muslims who were killed in the attacks or were among the first responders searching for survivors, Walid said on Tuesday.
“ Nor does the book mention that the vast majority of Muslims in the United States and around the world condemn terrorism,” he added.
“ It’s silly to think that a young person who colours that book who has no contact with Muslims would come away with anything but fear of Muslims and thinking that Muslims are bad people,” Walid said. Really Big Coloring Books publisher Wayne Bell insists that the book is an honest portrayal of events.
Full report at: Mail Today
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UK University asked to inform on 'vulnerable' Muslims students
Sep 01 2011
London : The British Government has introduced new anti-terror guidance under which university staff are being asked to inform the police about Muslim students who are depressed or isolated and hence “vulnerable to extremism.”
“University staff, including lecturers, chaplains and porters, are being asked to inform the police about Muslim students who are depressed or isolated under new guidance for countering Islamist radicalism,” the Guardian daily reported.
It said the move has resulted in deep discomfort among university lecturers and student union officials who wish to combat terrorism but say the new strategy is an infringement of students' civil liberties.
Officials implementing the government's revamped Prevent strategy are training front line university employees in how to spot students vulnerable to extremism.
Documents handed to staff claim that students who seem depressed or who are estranged from their families, who bear political grievances, or who use extremist websites or have poor access to mainstream religious instruction could be at risk of radicalisation.
However, the National Union of Students has told its officers that they do not have to provide police with details about students unless they are presented with a warrant.
Local authority workers and police officers have been introducing the new strategy over the last month.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/uk-university-asked-to-inform-on-vulnerable-muslims-students/839751/
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India's democratic experience can be of help to Libya: US
Sep 01 2011
Washington : India, with its vast experience in democratic governance, could be of help to Libya as the country moves towards a representative form of governance, the US has said.
"We don't have the menu what the Libyans might need, but India, for example, has lots of experience in democratic governance, has lots of experience in working in small towns and villages on democracy issues; that might be one thing," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.
But, all this depends on the Transitional National Council (TNC) of Libya which is now the governing authority of the country, she said, adding, "I don't want to get ahead of what the TNC might request."
The US had sought India's help in Egypt this year. Last month, India and America started their first dialogue on the Middle East and North Africa.
Senior officials from around 60 countries will meet in Paris today as the "friends of Libya" to secure financial and diplomatic support for the fledgling revolutionary regime.
The United States hopes the Paris meeting would mark the transition for the country from one important phase to the next one.
A senior State Department official said it would try to help the Libyans as they turn the page and mark this transition.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indias-democratic-experience-can-be-of-help-to-libya-us/840091/
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J&K CM, Omar tweet on Guru hanging sparks uproar
By Naseer Ganai
Sep 01 2011
AFTER relative calm, trouble seems to be brewing in the Valley over the death sentence awarded to Muhammad Afzal Guru, convicted in the Parliament attack case. It started with chief minister Omar Abdullah’s tweet on Wednesday: “ If J& K assembly had passed a resolution similar to the Tamil Nadu one for Afzal Guru would the reaction have been as muted? I think not”. The tweet followed the unanimous resolution passed on Tuesday by the Tamil Nadu assembly, asking President Pratibha Patil to review her rejection of the mercy petitions of the three who are on death row for killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Omar’s tweet set a buzz in Jammu and Kashmir with both separatists and hardline political parties hardening their stand on Guru’s death sentence even as the national political parties criticised the CM’s comment.
While the separatists have termed the idea of a resolution a sham, the mainstream politicians reacted angrily to the response to Omar’s tweet from national political parties. A senior National Conference ( NC)
leader said New Delhi would not have tolerated had the J& K assembly passed a resolution similar to the one by Tamil Nadu.
“ The reaction would be extreme. If a tweet can anger them so much, imagine the reaction had the J& K assembly passed a resolution. The political class in Delhi, cutting across party lines, would have decided to recommend dissolution of the J& K assembly and would have called for the arrest of all members who voted in favour of the resolution,” the NC leader said.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Anna gets a call from Srinagar: Help find truth behind unmarked graves
Bashaarat Masood
Sep 01 2011
Srinagar : Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today asked Anna Hazare and his team of civil society activists to help prevent killings of innocent civilians in the Valley.
“Gandhian and social activist Anna Hazare has launched a battle against corruption, we hope that the flag-bearers of humanity and non-violence, the followers of Gandhiji, will raise their voice to prevent the killing of innocent civilians in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mirwaiz said to tens of thousands of people in his Eid address at Srinagar’s Eidgah.
Mirwaiz’s appeal to Hazare comes after The Indian Express first reported that the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has confirmed the presence of 2,156 unidentified and unmarked graves at 38 locations in the three districts of north Kashmir.
Mirwaiz expressed concern that the SHRC report was based on investigations in only three districts — “There are 24 districts in Jammu and Kashmir and only God knows how many people have been killed and buried in unmarked graves.”
“Every day, the army and paramilitary forces have been claiming encounters but this (SHRC report) has put a question mark over all these encounters.”
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/anna-gets-a-call-from-srinagar-help-fin.../839954/
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China says attacks thwarted as Zardari visits Xinjiang
Sep 01 2011
Urumqi, China : China has thwarted attacks by suspected Uighur militants in its restive far western Xinjiang region, state media said Wednesday, as Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari visited for a trade fair where he promised to work with Beijing to fight terrorism.
Zardari was in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi nearly a month after Chinese officials blamed an attack in the city on militants trained in Pakistan. China tightened security in Urumqi ahead of the fair, deploying armed SWAT teams, marching baton-wielding riot police through the heavily Uighur ethnic group-dominated old part of the city and increased checks on flights bound for the region.
Urumqi’s Communist Party boss Zhu Hailun said that separatists, religious extremists and terrorists have been plotting to sabotage the expo, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Police arrested a man at Urumqi airport on August 7 who tried to take a knife aboard a flight, and suspected of planning to carry out an attack during the flight, the report said. “There have been many similar cases of attacks being blocked by police,” Zhu said. Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/china-says-attacks-thwarted-as-zardari-visits-xinjiang/839900/
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Intercepted calls show Pak handlers-Taliban nexus in Kabul attack
Sep 01 2011
Kabul : Intercepted phone calls show the Taliban and a Pakistan-based outfit planning the June 28 suicide bomb attack on a popular hotel in Afghanistan.
Afghan security officials have released a recording of intercepted phone calls between a Pakistan-based group and Taliban fighters planning an attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, in which twenty-one people were eventually killed.
The intercepted call took place between a Pakistani phone number and a local Afghan number, Al Jazeera reports.
The person from Pakistan - Qari Younis - is heard talking to Rohullah, one of the militants holed up in the Kabul hotel.
Rohullah asks Younis: “What should we do? Should we go and break the doors down?”
“No, no, no. Talk to each other. Those who have been given orders should go down and fight. Some should stay on the upper floor. And don’t waste your bullets. Use grenades and talk with each other,” Younis instructed.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/intercepted-calls-show-pak-handlerstaliban-nexus-in-kabul-attack/839730/
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Hillary backed APJ Abdul Kalam frisking on aerobridge of US flight
By Aman Sharma
Sep 01 2011
THE latest WikiLeaks disclosures have become a source of fresh embarrassment for America.
One leaked cable states that US secretary of state Hillary Clinton staunchly defended the frisking of former President APJ Abdul Kalam on a Continental Airlines plane in 2009.
What was worse, she threatened to ground all non- stop flights from India to US if such secondary frisking of passengers was resisted.
The secret cable was written by Clinton to the US embassy in Delhi on November 27, 2009. M AIL T ODAY had first reported in July 2009 on how Kalam was asked to take off his footwear and undergo a complete body- check on the aerobridge of the flight in Delhi on April 21 in the same year. This despite rules of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security ( BCAS) in India exempting former Presidents from security checks.
The rules of America’s Transportation Security Administration ( TSA), however, did not permit such waivers for direct flights to the US. “ Given the serious security concerns faced by the US, TSA has exempted only current Heads of State and Heads of Government from the screening process for such flights,” Clinton candidly said in the exposed cable. This explains why India’s objections to the Kalam episode fell on deaf ears in the US. After the BCAS issued a showcause notice to Continental Airlines for the Kalam fiasco and the US learnt that Indian air carriers were not screening passengers on the aerobridge, Clinton actually asked the US embassy to take up the matter with India.
Full report at: Mail Today
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26/11 might have led to Indo-Pak N-war: ex-US envoy
Sep 01 2011
Washington : The 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack by the banned Pakistani militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) almost started a war between India and Pakistan that might have resulted in some kind of nuclear conflict, former US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer has said.
Roemer, who served as the 22nd US ambassador to India from July 2009 to June 2011, however did not divulge any further details of his conclusion that 26/11 could have led to a nuclear war between the two South Asian neighbours.
"Those attacks killed 177 people in Mumbai two years ago. Six Americans were killed. And they almost started a war between Pakistan and India that might have resulted in some kind of a nuclear war. So this self-radicalisation issue is a critically important one," Roemer said yesterday at a discussion on Status of National Security and the Implementation of the 9/11 Commission's Recommendations.
The former US envoy, a member of the 9/11 National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States set up in 2002, said he feared a scenario in which a terrorist group gets hold of nuclear weapon and an undetected self-radicalised or a cell in the United States.
"We're often asked a question, I think every one of us: What keeps you awake at night? And I would answer the question, two things: a terrorist group getting a nuclear weapon and a self-radicalised or a cell in the United States that is undetected and can pull off a catastrophic event here," Roemer said.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/26-11-might-have-led-to-indopak-nwar-exus-envoy/840092/
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Pak legal system incapable of prosecuting terrorists: US
Sep 01 2011
Washington : Asserting that anti-terrorism courts of Pakistan had an acquittal rate of 75 per cent, the United States has said that Islamabad's legal system is almost incapable of prosecuting suspected terrorists, including those involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
"While Pakistan's law enforcement community continued to pledge to prosecute those responsible for terrorist acts inside Pakistan, a 2010 review by the United States of Pakistan's anti-terrorism court rulings revealed that Pakistan remained plagued by an acquittal rate of approximately 75 per cent,” the State Department said in its recent annual report on global terrorism.
"The review, in conjunction with information provided by Pakistani law enforcement partners, painted a picture of a legal system almost incapable of prosecuting suspected terrorists," said the report released on August 18.
As such, the US does not appear to be have high hopes in the court case related to the Mumbai terrorist attack, which it is closely monitoring as six Americans were killed in this terrorist attack by Pakistan-based LeT terrorists.
It determined that "the accused in numerous high-profile terrorism incidents involving US victims had all been acquitted by the Pakistani legal system".
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-legal-system-incapable-of-prosecuting-terrorists-us/839690/
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Eid celebrated in Kashmir, stone pelting in old Srinagar
Sep 01 2011
Srinagar : On Wednesday, Muslims across Kashmir celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr, marking the culmination of holy fasting month of Ramzan, with traditional fervour and gaiety as thousands offered prayers at mosques and shrines in the Valley.
However, celebrations were briefly disrupted as a group of youth started stone pelting at security force personnel in some parts of old city here after Eid prayers.
The police had to resort to tear gas shelling and baton charge to restore order in Eidgah, Safakadal and adjoining areas but none was hurt, officials said.
The youth were protesting against the arrest of over 70 men on August 27 following similar protests that day, they said.
Dressed in their best, men, women and children made a beeline to the nearest Eidgah and mosque to offer Eid prayers as a mark of thanksgiving to Allah.
The fasting month of Ramzan came to an end last evening after the sighting of Shawwal moon.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/eid-celebrated-in-kashmir-stone-pelting-in-old-srinagar/839735/
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Palestine's full UN membership bid greater threat than Hamas: Israeli minister
Sep 01 2011
Jerusalem : Palestine's bid to get a full membership of the United Nations poses a greater threat to Israel than Hamas, a top Israeli minister said.
“The threat of Palestinian state recognition at the UN is more dangerous to Israel than Hamas control in the Gaza Strip,” Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
Steinitz said Israel is unquestionably opposed to the Palestinian move, which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government has often called a unilateral action that undermines the peace process.
The minister also said it was out of anyone's power to stop Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from making his bid at the UN opening session on September 20.
This sentiment echoed Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who told EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton earlier this week that officials were beginning to work on influencing the wording of the Palestinian petition.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/palestines-full-un-membership-bid-greater-threat-than-hamas-israeli.../839806/
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Shooting suspect admits killing US airmen
Sep 01 2011
Frankfurt : A 21-year-old Kosovo Albanian confessed on Wednesday to killing two US airmen at the Frankfurt airport, saying in emotional testimony at the opening of his trial that he had been influenced by radical Islamic propaganda online.
Arid Uka is charged with two counts of murder for the slaying of Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden, a 25-year-old from South Carolina, and 21-year-old Airman 1st Class Zachary R. Cuddeback of Virginia. He also faces three counts of attempted murder in connection with the wounding of two others.
Although Germany has suffered scores of terrorist attacks in past decades, largely from leftist groups like the Red Army Faction, the airport attack was the first attributed to an Islamic extremist.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks there have been about a half-dozen other jihadist plots that were either thwarted or failed, including a 2007 plan to kill Americans at the US Air Force's Ramstein Air Base, that was uncovered by German authorities acting on a tip from US intelligence sources.
Prosecutor Herbert Deimer told a state court in Frankfurt that Uka went to the airport on March 2 with the intent “to kill an indeterminate number of American soldiers, but if possible a large number.”
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/shooting-suspect-admits-killing-us-airmen/839767/
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Cop: Tulsiram Prajapati Man Close to Modi killed Haren Pandya
By D. P. Bhattacharya
Sep 01 2011
SUSPENDED IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has put the Narendra Modi government in the dock with his allegation that it was Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s associate Tulsiram Prajapati who killed Haren Pandya.
According to Bhatt, the links of those involved go right up Gujarat’s former minister state for home Amit Shah, who was Modi’s right- hand man.
He alleged that former deputy commissioner of police Abhay Chudasma, a confidant of Shah, assigned Sohrabuddin with the job of killing Pandya.
“ The idea was to get a Muslim guy to carry out the job so that it appears to be a retribution killing,” Bhatt alleged.
“ Sohrabuddin outsourced the task to Kalimuddin, a middleman, who in turn picked Asgar Ali, a Hyderbad- based hitman, for the job,” Bhatt said. Kalimuddin brought Asgar — who the CBI listed the main accused — Ahmedabad, where he met Chudasma, he said.
“ Chudasma assured Ali logistical support, including providing the weapon, to carry out the job and Ali subsequently carried out a recee the purpose,” Bhatt said.
Ali, however, developed cold feet when he realised that murder could have communal implications and returned Hyderabad, according to Bhatt.
He later learnt that Sohrabbuddin had finally got the job done through his trusted lieutenant Tulsiram Prajapati.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Libya: First Eid in 42 yrs with a ‘right to kill’ despot
Sep 01 2011
LIBYA on Wednesday marked the first Eid ul- Fitr feast in 42 years free of Muammar Gaddafi’s yoke, as rebels proclaimed a right to kill the fugitive strongman and gave his forces three days to surrender.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at Tripoli’s landmark Martyrs’ Square to mark the start of the three day holiday that follows the end of the fasting month of Ramzan, kneeling in prayer as they rejoiced in the collapse of Gaddafi’s rule.
Men, women and children poured into the seafront site — formerly known as Green Square — from dawn decked out in their holiday best, as women ululated in triumph and spontaneous cries of joy erupted.
Mail Today
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Cornered Modi to go for a snap poll?
By D. P. Bhattacharya
Sep 01 2011
With his troubles increasing, the Gujarat CM could call for early polls to catch the Congress unawares
HEMMED in by one trouble after another, Narendra Modi could go for an early or snap election a few months before he completes 10 years as Gujarat chief minister.
Though this is just a whisper doing the rounds in the state’s political circles, there are enough reasons that back such speculations.
“ The traditional support base for Modi is fast eroding,” a political leader requesting anonymity said.
“ He has lost considerable ground in the rural areas because of his industry friendly image and sustained land movement by the likes of Kanubhai Kalsaria. His image of being the protector of the Hindus is also being questioned, with the Maldharis ( a pastoralist community) fighting against cow slaughter,” he added.
“ Given the circumstances, an early election cannot be ruled out,” he said.
Modi has been currently embroiled in a fierce battle over the appointment of the state Lokayukta by the governor. The Opposition Congress has been trying to extract its pound of flesh through a sustained campaign against corruption after Modi sat on the Lokayukta’s appointment for eight long years.
Full report at: Mail Today
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CBI toed killer cop Vanzara’s line in Hiren Pandya Murder probe
By D. P. Bhattacharya
Sep 01 2011
IT IS not surprising that the Gujarat High Court described the CBI probe into the Haren Pandya murder case as “washed up” and “blinkered”. For some strange reason, the central investigating agency continued to work on the “retribution killing” theory floated by the D. G. Vanzara- led Ahmedabad Crime Branch, from whom it took over the case.
Infamous killer cop Vanzara is now behind bars for his role in Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s murder. The CBI, which was then under the NDA regime, toed Vanzara’s line and refrained from probing other aspects of the 2003 murder. This happened in spite of Pandya’s father Vitthalbhai levelling serious allegations of political conspiracy behind the killing.
Furthermore, the CBI made some elementary mistakes in the investigation. It maintained that the former minister of state for home of Gujarat was shot inside a Maruti 800 car.
However, the postmortem examination report revealed that one of the seven bullets fired at Pandya had travelled upwards from left to right. Forensic experts believe that such a wound cannot be inflicted on a person sitting in the driver’s seat of a car.
The agency also failed to take note of the absence of bloodstains in the car. “ The mystery of the murder is deepened by the facts… that no blood was found in… Pandya’s car, except a negligible spot… near the driver’s seat even as his clothes bore tell- tale signs of profuse bleeding from injuries on the neck and forearm… “ Mobile phone and keys lying on the floor of the car below that seat ( also) had stains of blood,” the high court noted in its verdict.
There were discrepancies in the ballistic report as well and the court observed that evidence was tampered with.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Gaddafi takes to Libya’s drains as rebels vow to track him down
Sep 01 2011
LIBYA’S rebel leaders on Tuesday night declared they were confident of finding Colonel Gaddafi as he moved from “sewer to sewer”. Ali Tarhouni, a minister in the National Transitional Council, said: “ We have a good idea where he is. We don’t have any doubt that we will catch him.” The defiant message came as a captured bodyguard of Gaddafi’s son and military commander Khamis claimed the 69- year- old leader had fled Tripoli during a bombardment on Friday in a fleet of four- wheel drive cars.
The teenager said he had been told they were going to Sabha, the family’s ancestral home, in one of the country’s remotest regions and on the edge of the Sahara.
Sabha remains one of the last bastions loyal to Gaddafi and regime supporters there are said to be heavily armed and prepared to defend the desert community.
Meanwhile, 644 km to the north, his soldiers defending his home town of Sirte were issued with a blunt ultimatum on Tuesday: surrender or face a military onslaught.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Seif Gaddafi vows no surrender to Libyan rebels
Sep 01 2011
Tripoli : Two men claiming to be Muammar Gaddafi's sons made conflicting appeals from hiding on Wednesday night, with one of them calling for talks with rebel leaders and the other urging the regime's loyalists to fight to the death.
The duelling messages reflected the growing turmoil in Gaddafi's inner circle on the eve of the 42nd anniversary of his rise to power. This year, the dictator is a fugitive from opposition fighters who have seized most of the country in a six-month civil war. Now, they say they're hot on his trail.
The rebels are pooling tips about Muammar Gaddafi's whereabouts from captured regime fighters and others, and believe he is most likely no longer in Tripoli, said Abdel Hakim Belhaj, the rebels' military chief in the capital.
Rebel forces have been advancing toward three regime strongholds: the town of Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown, as well as the towns of Bani Walid and Sabha, the latter hundreds of miles south of the capital of Tripoli.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/seif-gaddafi-vows-no-surrender-to-libyan-rebels/840087/
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Gaddafi last sighting reported amidst gunfire in Tripoli
Sep 01 2011
London : Three days after the fall of his Bab al-Azizia citadel, elusive Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi held last meeting of his clan on a street in southern Tripoli amidst gunfire to plan his and his family's exit.
The meeting in a complex on Friday with his son Khamis and daughter Aisha was the last confirmed sighting of Gaddafi before he made a dash across the desert to hole up in his home region of Sabha, on the edge of the Sahara, the Telegraph reported.
The extraordinary details of the flight of Gaddafi – considered now to be the most wanted man on earth – was recounted by a soldier of the ultra-loyalists Khamis brigade escorting the fleeing cavalcade, who was captured by the rebels, the paper said.
17-year-old Abdulsalam Taher Ali said that he had heard talk in the convoy that they were headed towards the city of Sabha, a place in the middle of Sahara, long mooted as the dictator's final redoubt.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gaddafi-last-sighting-reported-amidst-gunfire-in-tripoli/839742/
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Don't test us, Israel army warns Gaza militants
Sep 01 2011
Jerusalem : Israel's top military chief has warned Gaza militants not to "test" Israel's strength as troops and police were today on high alert over warnings of a planned attack from Sinai.
Speaking late last night, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz warned that any attempt to attack Israel would result in a harsh response.
"Hamas and other terrorist organisations in Gaza must know that they are wrong to test our strength and that any attempt to harm the citizens of Israel will result in a severe response," Gantz said in remarks which were released by the army today.
Troops are on high alert in southern Israel over intelligence warnings that a group of 10 militants from Gaza have entered the Sinai and are looking for ways to stage an attack along the lines of August 18 ambushes when gunmen crossed the Egyptian border and killed eight Israelis on a road near the Red Sea resort of Eilat.
The deadly attacks, which Israel blamed on Gaza militants, sparked a week of bloody clashes, with the air force staging multiple air strikes on Gaza killing 27 people, and militants there lobbing over 150 rockets over the border, killing one Israeli.
"The continuous rocket fire on the communities of southern Israel, including the city of Ashdod, the malicious terror attack in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, and the severe terror attack at the Egypt border less than two weeks ago, prove to us yet again, that beside striving to maintain the quiet in our area, we must be prepared for any threat," Gantz said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dont-test-us-israel-army-warns-gaza-militants/839798/
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US will not relent until al Qaeda is defeated: Obama
Sep 01 2011
Washington : US President Barack Obama has said that the killing of Osama bin Laden is the greatest victory yet in the war against terrorism, but vowed not to relent till the time Al Qaeda is defeated.
"A few months ago, our troops achieved our greatest victory yet in the fight against those who attacked us on 9/11 – delivering justice to Osama bin Laden in one of the greatest intelligence and military operations in American history," Obama said in his address to the 93rd annual conference of the American Legion in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"Having put al Qaeda on the path to defeat, we won't relent until the job is done. Having started to draw down our forces in Afghanistan, we'll bring home 33,000 troops by next summer and bring home more troops in the coming years," he said.
"As our mission transitions from combat to support, Afghans will take responsibility for their own security, and the longest war in American history will come to a responsible end," Obama said in his remarks.
Full report at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-will-not-relent-until-al-qaeda-is-defeated-obama/839675/
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Cop heat on agents who sent Punjab men to Iraq
By Vikas Kahol
Sep 01 2011
THE immigration agents who had illegally sent to Iraq several youth from Punjab are now facing the heat. Eight criminal cases have been registered against the accused even as nine persons have returned home after being held “ captive in sub- humane conditions” in Iraq.
The Punjab Police, which submitted a status report in the Punjab & Haryana High Court on Tuesday, has also written to their counterparts in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana for helping the youth from their respective states to return. The PIL was filed by an NGO, the All India Forum for National Reconciliation.
Punjab IGP ( Intelligence) V. K. Bhanwra, who submitted the report before the bench comprising justices M. M. Kumar and Gurdev Singh, said he on August 24 had met the joint secretary ( Gulf and Haj) in the ministry of external affairs.
The joint secretary had drawn up a list of the 28 distressed workers who wanted to return to India. Of the 28, 17 belong to Punjab, five to Rajasthan and two each from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The background of the other two could not be ascertained.
The Punjab Police officers were on August 26 directed to visit the families of the 17 youth, which resulted in seven FIRs being registered against the accused. The other 10 families did not want to press charges.
Full report at: Mail Today
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/13-killed-powerful-blast-outside/d/5369