2 Years, 5 Cities, 6 Cases – And ‘Proof’ Everywhere Is the Same Magazine
New Age Islam News Bureau
26 Sept 2012
India
• 2 Years, 5 Cities, 6 Cases – And ‘Proof’ Everywhere Is the Same Magazine
• Jamaat-E-Islami Hind Praises RSS Former Sarsanghachalak, Mourns His Death
• Anti-Islam movie: Ahmadiyas to hold peace conference in Qadian
• CBI arrests Dy. SP accused in Ishrat case
• 100 more village heads quit in J&K
• FBI comes to the aid of Indian agencies again
• Arrested Indian workers in Kuwait safe, says official
• Killings of Panchayat members a serious issue: Ghulam Nabi Azad
• Hindu's converge at Ramapir Mela near Karachi seeking divine help for their security
• Delhi Police file chargesheet against 26/11 handler Abu Jundal
• NHRC team’s report nails Assam govt on riot relief measures
• Book on Nehru’s bond with Kashmir
• Shinde asks Pak to expedite 26/11 trial
• Rahul takes on Omar for not empowering panchayats
North America
• Anti-jihad NY ad: Mona Eltahawy US columnist arrested for spray-painting the ad
• Humanity should reject hate video, says Obama
• A Muslim leader urges Christians to defend their own faith — peacefully
• America's deadly drone attacks killing 49 people for every known terrorist in Pakistan'
• Obama calls for Syria 'sanctions' and end to Assad rule
• Barack Obama invokes Mahatma Gandhi, says 'anti-Islam film' no excuse for attack on US
• Children Identity Challenges US Muslims
• Barack Obama to UN: another painfully 'historic' speech for young Democrats to download on their iPods
• New US consul general to Jeddah takes charge
Africa
• International Human Rights Group: Mali Islamists Using Child Soldiers
• Libya's Misrata tense after death of man who caught Gaddafi
• South Sudan appoints first ambassador to India
• More than 10,000 Tunisian pilgrims coming for Haj
Arab World
• Saudi King Abdullah urges the faithful to defend Islam and Prophet
• Attacks on Iraq security forces kill 7
• Recruitment of Filipino maids to resume soon
• Tehran sees cyber attacks as greater threat than actual war
• More than 30,000 killed in 18-month Syria revolt: NGO
• Egypt President Morsi wants free speech linked to responsibility
• 2 explosions hit near army HQ in Syrian capital Damascus
• Ban demands global action to end Syria violence
• Kingdom affirms commitment to rule of law
• KMCC volunteers donate blood to mark National Day
Europe
• World Muslim group demands laws against "Islamophobia"
• Baloch in Europe slam rights violations in Iran, Pakistan
• BBC apologises to queen over Abu Hamza story
• French student faces extremism trial
• New EU Iran sanctions to target finance, trade: France
• Brazil court orders YouTube to remove anti-Islam film
• From Birmingham to Mirpur by bus
• Man in Oslo stands trial for Rwandan genocide
• WHO issues guidance on new SARS-like virus, gears up for Hajj
Pakistan
• Zardari rakes up Kashmir in UN, calls it a symbol of UN system's failure
• Senior Pakistan geologist killed in sectarian attack: police
• Clashes in Orakzai agency leave eight militants dead
• Swiss family involved in nuclear smuggling ring in Pakistan avoids jail
• Experts say US drones ‘terrorizing’ Pakistan civilians
• Pak Taliban's 'amnesty' for bounty minister, not in hit list now
• Love in Pak: Are Bilawal Bhutto, Hina Rabbani Khar having an affair?
• Former Pak minister Ansar Burney appeals for release of 13-year-old boy
• 1 killed, 2 Hindus kidnapped in Balochistan
• MQM activists among 12 dead as killings continue in Karachi
• Bomb kills one soldier, injures 15 in North Waziristan
• Cinema in Lahore 'forced' to close down for screening Indian films
• Radio Pakistan launches messaging service for Hajj pilgrims
• Slitting throats of our own brothers to protest others' blasphemy: Altaf Hussain
• SAARC conference to help bring peace in region: Malik
• Central Vice President resigns, alleges PTI hijacked by ‘big money’
Mideast Asia
• Israeli rabbi to followers: Burn your iphones
• Attack on military vehicle kills seven soldiers in Turkey
• Iran pushes ahead in building nuclear reactor
• Yemenis paint disappeared activists on Sanaa streets
Southeast Asia
• Indonesia President touts blasphemy ban at UN
• Top Philippine court stops screening of anti-Islam film
• Eight dead as ferry collides with cargo ship off Indonesia
South Asia
• Two NATO service members killed in Afghanistan
• NATO, Taleban joust over state of Afghan war
• China leader in Afghanistan for first time in 46 years
• International Conference on the Upcoming Chinese Leadership Change and its Potential Impacts on Uyghurs
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Ahmadiya Chief Mirza Masroor Ahmad speaks to media
URL:
-----------
India
2 Years, 5 Cities, 6 Cases – And ‘Proof’ Everywhere Is the Same Magazine
Muzamil Jaleel
Sep 26 2012
New Delhi: On April 16, 2006, Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh was tense. There had been communal clashes a week ago during Eid-e-Milad. In the afternoon, policemen from the Kotwali police station arrested two women, 20-year-old Aasiya and 23-year-old Rafia, daughters of one Abdul Hafiz Qureshi. The police, in their seizure memo, claimed to have recovered “incriminating material” from Aasiya — three copies of an April 2004 issue of a Hindi magazine, Tehrik-e-Millat, and a SIMI donation receipt towards “office construction fund” (receipt no. 0033359, dated January 25, 2006) with the name “Kumari Aashiya Khan” in Hindi for an amount of Rs 500.
SIMI was banned in 2001. If an underground outfit issuing a donation receipt for a building on their old stationery seems unlikely, the story of the magazine is even odder.
All the three copies of Tehrik-e-Millat allegedly recovered from Aasiya have her name written by hand in Hindi as “Aashiya” on the cover. The police also claimed to have seized two copies of Tehrik-e-Millat with “Rafia” written by hand in Hindi on the cover. Tehrik-e-Millat is a fortnightly published from Kota in Rajasthan. Though the Kotwali police station in Khandwa later booked the magazine’s owner-editor M A Naiem, the magazine has never been proscribed.
This is not all. In the space of two years, these same copies of the April 2004 issue of Tehrik-e-Millat — with the names of the Khandwa sisters written by hand on the cover — travelled to at least two other states. Several cases later, the police even started referring to the magazine as “Tehrik Millat Aasiya” and “Tehrik Rafia” in their official records. However, other than their names on the magazines, the two sisters were never mentioned in police records.
July 2006, Pune
After the July 11, 2006, bomb explosions on local trains in Mumbai, the magazine popped up in the chargesheet filed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad, Mumbai. Among the 13 people arrested was Sohail Mehmood Shaikh of Bhimpura, Lashkar, Camp Area Pune, who was held on July 25, 2006. The ATS claimed Sohail went to Pakistan via Iran in November 2002 for arms training with the Lashkar-e-Toiba. They also said a search of Sohail’s house in Bhimpura on July 30, 2006, had led to the recovery of six books including the “April 2004 Tahrik-e-Millat Asia” that had “Aashiya” written by hand on the cover. Police claimed to have recovered the same magazine, with the same handwritten “Aashiya”, during searches at the homes of the other 7/11 accused — Mohd Faisal Ata-ur Rehman Shaikh of Bandra, Muzzamil Ataur Rehman Shaikh of Mira Road, Jameer Latifur Rehman Shaikh of Vallabhbhai Patel Nagar and Dr Tanvir Ahmad Mohd Ibrahim Ansari of Agripada, all in Mumbai.
July 2006, Mumbai
In an affidavit filed before the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) Tribunal in 2010, Assistant Police Inspector, ATS, Mumbai, Rahimatullah Inayat Sayyed, spoke of Danish Riyaz Shaukat Ali Shaikh, an “active member of SIMI”, who was arrested on July 30, 2006. According to the affidavit, a raid on Shaikh’s home led to the recovery of several Islamic books in Urdu such as Jihad Fi Saabi Illah, Jihad Asghar and Jihadi Fishbilliah, besides ‘Tehrik Millat Aasiya’, the same magazine.
August 2006, Mumbai
According to an affidavit filed by Inspector, DCB, CID, Mumbai, Milind Bhikaji Khetle, a case was registered at Kandivali police station on August 13, 2006, against Mohd Najib Abdul Rashid Bakali and some of his “SIMI associates”. The affidavit said that on August 14, 2006, police seized four SIMI booklets from Bakali’s house. One of the alleged ‘SIMI’ booklets was a copy of the April 2004 issue of the Tehrik-e-Millat magazine with “Aashiya” written by hand in Hindi on its cover.
September 2006, Malegaon
On September 8, 2006, powerful blasts ripped through the Bada Kabaristan area of Malegaon after the Shab-e-Barat prayers, killing 37 people and injuring over 100. An FIR was registered at Azad Nagar Police Station, Malegaon, and Noor-ul-Huda Shamsudoha, a labourer, was arrested under the UAPA for being a SIMI member and for “popularising and publicising” SIMI. During a raid on Noor-ul-Huda’s home at Jafarnagar, police claimed to have seized “objectionable books’’ that included the copy of the April 2004 issue of the Tehrik-e-Millat magazine with “Aashiya” written by hand in Hindi on its cover.
On September 19, 2006, the investigation was transferred to ATS, Mumbai. Within days, Noor-ul-Huda became one of the main accused in the Malegaon blast case. Eight more people were later arrested as the ATS, Mumbai, claimed to have solved the case. Noor-ul-Huda and the other accused had already spent six years in jail in Mumbai by the time the case took a new turn following Swami Aseemanand’s confession in January last year. On November 16 last year, Noor-ul-Huda and the other eight were granted bail.
September 2008, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh
On September 19, 2008, the MP Police nabbed “SIMI activist” Mohd Ali, 29, of Jabalpur from the Misrod railway station. Police officer T I Chandan Singh Surama recorded in the FIR: “We searched his bag and found papers of SIMI which is an offence.” The Misrod police station claimed that the papers seized from Mohd Ali’s bag included “Tehrik Rafia” — that is how the police’s seizure memo refers to the Tehrik-e-Millat magazine because it had “Rafia” written by hand in Hindi on the cover, the same copy of the same magazine that the Kotwali police station had claimed to have seized on April 16, 2006, from Rafia in Khandwa.
Besides, the police claimed that a SIMI donation receipt towards office construction fund (Receipt No. 0033359) dated January 25, 2006, with the name Kumari Aashiya Khan in Hindi for an amount of Rs 500 was recovered from Mohd Ali. This donation receipt is also exactly the same as the one the Kotwali police had claimed to have recovered from Aasiya in Khandwa. It was on the basis of these two “incriminating” documents alone that Mohd Ali was booked under the UAPA.
Incidentally, in the initial Khandwa case in which Aasiya and Rafia were arrested, the police kept extending the list of accused, going on to arrest 12 youths, including their brother Inam-ur-Rehman. Later, Inam was also picked up after the Jaipur blasts of May 13, 2008, and taken to Rajasthan. All the 14 held in the case were initially accused of being SIMI members.
On December 9, 2011, a fast-track court acquitted 11 of the 14, including Inam.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/2-years-5-cities-6-cases---and--proof--everywhere-is-the-same-magazine/1007920/
-----------
Jamaat-E-Islami Hind Praises RSS Former Sarsanghachalak, Mourns His Death
Seema Chishti
Sep 26 2012
New Delhi: In a startling editorial comment in its mouthpiece Dawat (dated September 22), Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has lauded K S Sudarshan, former Sarsanghachalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and deeply mourned his demise.
In its prominently displayed editorial — Khabr-o-nazar — on the front page, the newspaper says: “We are not sure how much the RSS is mourning his death, but the Muslims of Bhopal’s Taj-ul-Masjid, where Sudarshan wanted to come this Eid and read namaz, are sad.” Taking note of the fact that Sudarshan wanted to visit this mosque, “but was prevented by his staff and local police who used traffic as an excuse”, Dawat writes that “former chief minister Babulal Gaur took him to a Muslim friend’s home instead”.
This, observes the paper, reveals that there “was something in his subconscious” while “he never said it; this was a message to the RSS”.
The editorial goes on to add that he was known to have spoken his mind on several occasions, deviating from the RSS’s official line. He “spoke against the BJP leadership and described Indira Gandhi as the nation’s strongest prime minister”, it says, adding that Sudarshan’s desire to be at a mosque on Eid was dismissed by the “English and Hindi newspapers as an elderly suffering from memory loss, but in reality it indicated his change of heart towards Islam”.
Dawat says that a Muslim scholar had sent him books on Islam, and Sudarshan was “undoubtedly influenced by Islam’s ability to draw people towards its ideas”. It says that in his last days, after “giving up charge of the RSS”, he may have focused on “life and creation” and “thought more about Islam as he became more reflective” and it’s possible that he was “beginning to review his opinion regarding Islam.”
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jamaateislami-praises-sudarshan-mourns-his-death/1007827/
-----------
Anti-Islam movie: Ahmadiyas to hold peace conference in Qadian
Sep 26, 2012
AMRITSAR: Even as Muslims across the world are fuming over controversial movie "Innocence of Muslims" that has hurt their religious sentiments, Ahmadiyas have decided to hold a "peace conference" at their headquarters in Qadian in Gurdaspur district on September 30. This decision was taken following Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat world head Mirza Masroor Ahmad called on Muslims across the world to peacefully unite in their opposition to the movie.
Expressing differences over spate of violence and killing of innocent people following the release of trailer for the movie, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad condemned the violent response witnessed in a number of countries. He said, "The killing of innocent people, including ambassadors and diplomats, is completely in contradiction to the teachings of Islam."
"Damaging property or burning buildings is completely wrong and benefited no party, except those who wish to defame Islam. We need to reflect if we are playing a role in fuelling hostilities or are we displaying a collective and mature response."
He said Muslim governments and Muslims who lived in Western countries should join hands to promote the real and peaceful teachings of Islam and of the Holy Quran to the world. He said, "They should take a peaceful and united stand to defend Islam and the noble character of the Holy Prophet Muhammad at every opportunity and at every level," he said.
Syed Tufail Ahmad Shahbaj, office in charge of press committee, Ahmadiyya Jamat, said they had invited representatives from all religions besides political leaders to participate in the peace conference.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anti-Islam-movie-Ahmadiyyas-to-hold-peace-conference/articleshow/16551796.cms
-----------
CBI arrests Dy SP accused in Ishrat case
Sep 26 2012
Ahmedabad: The CBI on Tuesday arrested deputy superintendent of police of Mehsana district, Tarun Barot, in connection with the Sadiq Jamal encounter case, sources said.
Barot, posted in Mehsana district for a year now, had been on the CBI radar for the last six months and was questioned twice in the case.
The deputy SP would be produced in the special CBI court on Wednesday.
The CBI, which was handed over the probe in the case in June last year, had arrested Mumbai-based journalist Ketan Tirodkar in July this year. Tirodkar, who is now in judicial custody, had reportedly told CBI that it was Barot who had taken the custody of Sadiq from Daya Nayak, the encounter specialist from Mumbai police.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sadiq-jamal-encounter-cbi-arrests-dysp-accused-in-ishrat-case/1007990/
-----------
100 more village heads quit in J&K
September 26, 2012
Despite assurances by the Jammu and Kashmir government, over 100 more terror-stricken panches and sarpanches announced their resignations through paid advertisements in the Valley.
The panches and sarpanches, mostly hailing from north Kashmir's Baramulla district, announced their
resignations through paid advertisements in local dailies.
Almost all those who have announced their resignations claimed that they are resigning due to personal reasons.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Srinagar/100-more-village-heads-quit-in-J-amp-K/Article1-936001.aspx
-------
FBI comes to the aid of Indian agencies again
Sep 26, 2012
NEW DELHI: The US investigating agencies have once again come to the aid of their Indian counterparts, this time by helping the National Investigation Agency (NIA) recover data from the hard disk seized by it as part of the probe into Delhi High Court blasts of 2011. Sources said the NIA, after having failed to get government forensic laboratories and even leading private labs to recover information from the hard disk seized from a cyber cafe in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, had the disk sent to the FBI. The FBI, known for its technical prowess, has now recovered data from the hard disk and sent it back to the NIA to take the investigation forward.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/FBI-comes-to-the-aid-of-Indian-agencies-again/articleshow/16550875.cms
-----------
Arrested Indian workers in Kuwait safe, says official
Sep 26 2012
Dubai : Indian embassy in Kuwait has sought the intervention of the Kuwaiti authorities to ensure the welfare and safety of more than 1,000 Indian domestic workers who were arrested in a crackdown on September 19.
Vidhu P Nair, Charge de'Affaires said they are hoping that all those arrested Indian workers with valid residency will be released soon.
Nair said the arrested workers are safe and there are no complaints or any cases of harassment.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/arrested-indian-workers-in-kuwait-safe-says-official/1008164/
-----------
Killings of Panchayat members a serious issue: Gulam Nabi Azad
Sep 26 2012
Srinagar : Terming the killings of panchayat members in Jammu and Kashmir a serious issue, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad asked the state government to provide them security, while asking people to stand united against terror.
"It is a serious issue. The state government should create a sense of security among the panchayat members and security should be provided in sensitive areas. We cannot let their life be in danger," Azad told reporters here.
Calling on people to unite against terrorism, Azad said, "people should come on roads and condemn such killings.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/killings-of-panchayat-members-a-serious-issue-gulam-nabi-azad/1008153/
-----------
Hindu's converge at Ramapir Mela near Karachi seeking divine help for their security
Yudhvir Rana
Sep 26, 2012
AMRITSAR: A large number of Hindu's of Pakistan participated in the 3-day second largest Hindu religious fair of Pakistan Ramapir Mela that concluded on Wednesday seeking divine help for their safety and protection from extremist elements who are largely responsible for their migration to India.
"Thousands of pilgrims and devotees from all provinces of Pakistan visited Tando Allahyar city in Sindh province to participate in the festival and offered prayers for their well being and safety in Pakistan " informed local priest Rajesh Kalyan while talking to TOI over phone on Wednesday.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hindus-converge-at-Ramapir-Mela-near-Karachi-seeking-divine-help-for-their-security/articleshow/16557691.cms
------
Delhi Police file chargesheet against 26/11 handler Abu Jundal
Sep 26, 2012
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police have filed a chargesheet against the key handler of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Abu Jundal, accusing him of being involved in terror activities across India to avenge atrocities against Muslims, particularly those committed during 2002 Gujarat riots.
The chargesheet filed by the special cell in the court of chief metropolitan magistrate Vidya Prakash, also said that Jundal disclosed that he along with LeT chief Zaki-ur-Rehman alias Lakhvi, monitored the 26/11 attacks from a control room set up in Malir in Karachi, Pakistan.
The chargesheet said after being apprehended from the IGI airport on June 21, Jundal during questioning admitted to his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhi-Police-file-chargesheet-against-26/11-handler-Abu-Jundal/articleshow/16557557.cms
--------
NHRC team’s report nails Assam govt on riot relief measures
By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi
Sep 26, 2012
ANATIONAL Human Rights Commission ( NHRC) team, which was deputed to look into the relief and rehabilitation measures during the recent ethnic violence in Assam, has submitted in its report that the measures taken by the state government were far from satisfactory.
The four- member panel, which visited Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts, said the government failed to provide a secure environment to the relief camp inmates who wanted to return to their villages.
Full report at: Mail Today
-----------
Book on Nehru’s bond with Kashmir
By Naseer Ganai
Sep 26, 2012
MOHAMMAD Yousuf Taing, the literary assistant whom late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah dictated his autobiography Aatish- e- Chinar to , has written a book on Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s bond with Kashmir.
Titled Nehru and Kashmir , the book would be released later this year. Taing says a memoir of Nehru on his visit to Kashmir in 1940 inspired him to write the book.
“ Nehru came here in 1940 on a personal visit. He remained here for 12 days. He went to Shetalnath ( in Srinagar) where Pandit women welcomed him by singing traditional Kashmiri songs. He went trekking to Aaro Pahalgam,” the 77- year- old said.
Full report at: Mail Today
-----------
Shinde asks Pak to expedite 26/11 trial
Sep 26, 2012
NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday asked Pakistan to expedite the trial of 26/11 accused when home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde met his counterpart Rehman Malik in Maldivian capital Male. Shinde is learnt to have also invited Malik to visit India which the latter accepted.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the ongoing SAARC conference of home/interior ministers.
Sources here said India also asked Pakistan for an assurance over the status of 'agreement' between the two countries over the Pakistani judicial commission. "Both countries had initially decided not to allow cross-examination of the 26/11 case witnesses by the panel in Mumbai. But now, Islamabad has been insisting for it referring to its court order," said a source.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Shinde-asks-Pak-to-expedite-26/11-trial/articleshow/16550760.cms
-----------
Rahul takes on Omar for not empowering panchayats
Subodh Ghildiyal
Sep 26, 2012
NEW DELHI: Congress is set to pile pressure on J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah to devolve powers to panchayats, after heir apparent Rahul Gandhi flagged the lack of empowerment of grassroots at the meeting of the Congress Working Committee on Tuesday.
"It is a serious issue which requires attention," Rahul said, endorsing the concern expressed by Gulchain Singh Charak that panchayats were languishing without powers after one-and-a-half years of elections.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-takes-on-Omar-for-not-empowering-panchayats/articleshow/16550116.cms
----------
North America
Anti-jihad NY ad: Mona Eltahawy US columnist arrested for spray-painting the ad
Sep 26 2012
New York: An Egyptian-born US columnist was arrested on Tuesday for spray-painting an advertisement equating Muslim radicals with savages at a New York City subway station.
Mona Eltahawy, 45, of New York, was arrested on charges including criminal mischief and making graffiti, police said. Her arrest was captured on video by a New York Post camera crew and posted online.
Eltahawy is a women's rights defender and lecturer on the role of social media in the Arab world. She calls herself a liberal Muslim who's spoken publicly against violent Islamic groups. She's seen in the video spraying pink paint on the ad while another woman tries to block her.
“This is non-violent protest, see this America,” Eltahawy said in the video as police officers were arresting her. “I'm an Egyptian-American and I refuse hate.”
Eltahawy hasn't returned a phone message seeking comment on her arrest.
The ads -- reading, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.” -- went up in 10 subway stations across Manhattan after a court victory by a conservative commentator who once headed a campaign against an Islamic center near the World Trade Center site.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York initially refused to run blogger Pamela Geller's ad, saying it was “demeaning”. But a federal judge ruled in July that it is protected speech under the First Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech.
Geller, executive director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative and publisher of a blog called Atlas Shrugs, has said she's not concerned that her ad could spark protests like the ones against the depiction of Muslims in the low-budget video 'Innocence of Muslims'. Violence linked to the movie has left dozens in seven countries dead, including the American ambassador to Libya.
The ad was plastered on San Francisco city buses in recent weeks, prompting some people to deface the ads and remove some of the words, including “Jihad”, or holy war.
Geller said the subway ads cost about $6,000. The MTA said they will be up for a month.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/antijihad-ny-subway-ad-woman-arrested/1008091/
-----------
Humanity should reject hate video, says Obama
Sep 26, 2012
NEW YORK: US President Barack Obama urged the entire humanity on Tuesday to reject a disgusting video which has sparked outrage throughout the Muslim world but said that nothing justified “the death and destruction” witnessed in Pakistan last week.
Mr Obama, who is criticised at home for favouring the Muslims and in the Islamic world for not arresting the producer of the offensive video, emphasised the need for a balance between the two positions.
In his speech to the 67th UN General Assembly, President Obama urged the international community to confront the root causes of rage exploding across the Muslim world.“It will not be enough to put more guards in front of an embassy; or to put out statements of regret, and wait for the outrage to pass,” he said.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/09/26/humanity-should-reject-hate-video-says-obama/
-----------
A Muslim leader urges Christians to defend their own faith — peacefully
Sep 25, 2012
NEW YORK — As an anti-Islamic video fuels deadly unrest in northern Africa and the Middle East, and a 15-year-old exhibit mocking Jesus Christ reopens in New York, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) points out that Catholics are frequently the targets of anti-religious bigotry in art and popular media.
His organization condemns the violent Muslim reactions to The Innocence of Muslims, but spokesman Ibrahim Hooper wonders why Christians, and Catholics in general, don’t make more effort to peacefully defend against attacks on Jesus, Mary, the Eucharist and the Church.
Full report at:
http://life.nationalpost.com/2012/09/25/a-muslim-leader-urges-christians-to-defend-their-own-faith-peacefully/
-----------
America's deadly double tap drone attacks are 'killing 49 people for every known terrorist in Pakistan'
By LEON WATSON
25 September 2012
Study found war against violent Islamists has become increasingly deadly
Researchers blame common tactic now being used – the 'double-tap' strike
Drone strikes condemned for their ineffectiveness in targeting militants
Just one in 50 victims of America’s deadly drone strikes in Pakistan are terrorists – while the rest are innocent civilians, a new report claimed today.
The authoritative joint study, by Stanford and New York Universities, concludes that men, women and children are being terrorised by the operations ’24 hours-a-day’.
Full report at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2208307/Americas-deadly-double-tap-drone-
-----------
Obama calls for Syria 'sanctions' and end to Assad rule
Sep 25, 2012
UNITED NATIONS: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday demanded "sanctions and consequences" for atrocities in Syria and said President Bashar al-Assad's rule must come to an end.
"The future must not belong to a dictator who massacres his people," Obama told the UN General Assembly in a keynote address.
"If there is a cause that cries out for protest in the world today, it is a regime that tortures children and shoots rockets at apartment buildings."
He told leaders at the UN headquarters: "As we meet here, we again declare that the regime of Bashar al-Assad must come to an end so that the suffering of the Syrian people can stop, and a new dawn can begin."
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Obama-calls-for-Syria-sanctions-and-end-to-Assad-rule/articleshow/16545851.cms
-----------
Barack Obama invokes Mahatma Gandhi, says 'anti-Islam film' no excuse for attack on US
Sep 25, 2012
UNITED NATIONS: President Barack Obama today invoked the words of Mahatma Gandhi in his address to the UN General Assembly here as he remembered US envoy to Libya who was killed in violent protests that erupted in the aftermath of an anti-Islam film, saying the "crude and disgusting" video was no excuse for an "attack on America".
Obama took the stage at the UN General Assembly hall to address world leaders in what is his last international speech before the November 6 presidential elections.
"The attacks on our civilians in Benghazi were attacks on America. There should be no doubt that we will be relentless in tracking down the killers and bringing them to justice," said Obama, the second speaker of the general debate.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Barack-Obama-invokes-Mahatma-Gandhi-says-anti-Islam-film-no-excuse-for-attack-on-US/articleshow/16546302.cms
-----------
Children Identity Challenges US Muslims
25 September 2012
CAIRO – Raising up their children in the United States, Muslim parents are facing challenges of having their kids maintain their righteous Muslim identity without preventing them from interacting with their non-Muslim peers.
“We were a little apprehensive about what life would be like in America,” Farhat Husain told The Washington Post.
“But it worked out. People were pretty respectful, and those things we did helped the children keep an awareness of their values and religion.”
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/put-pakistan-on-genocide-watch-says-us-think-tank/1008104/
-----------
Barack Obama to UN: another painfully 'historic' speech for young Democrats to download on their iPods
By Tim Stanley
September 25th, 2012
Obama’s speeches all come in one tone – what the mainstream media calls “historic”. All those grand hopes and calls for unity can be moving, but they can also be intellectually empty. His speech to the United Nations General Assembly was a classic example. After the attacks on US embassies, this was time for a “screw you guys, I’m going home” type speech. He should’ve torn into the dictators, slammed the terrorists and explained why the US doesn’t censor its private citizens. He did all of the above, but diluted with so much else that was painfully “historic” that it sounded more like “I Want to Teach the World to Sing.”
Obama’s message? The world wants freedom, but a handful of nasty people living in caves are distracting us. So let’s all be like Gandhi and try to get along. Here’s what Mr History got wrong.
Full report at:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100182638/barack-obama-to-un-we-can-all-get-along-if-we-try-to-be-a-bit-more-like-gandhi/
-----------
New US consul general to Jeddah takes charge
26 September 2012
JEDDAH: Anne Casper has assumed duties as the new Consul General at the US Consulate in Jeddah. During her first week, she is calling on a number of officials in the Western Region.
Anne Casper, consul general in Jeddah, is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. She served most recently as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda. Prior to that, as the Public Affairs Counselor in Bangkok, Casper led US outreach in Thailand and supported regional initiatives in Southeast Asia.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/new-us-consul-general-jeddah-takes-charge
------
Africa
International Human Rights Group: Mali Islamists Using Child Soldiers
Anne Look
September 25, 2012
BAMAKO, MALI — International human rights groups say the al-Qaida-linked Islamist militants in control of northern Mali are intensifying human rights abuses against civilians, recruiting minors as young as 11 years old and systematically destroying important cultural and religious sites.
International watchdog group Human Rights Watch [HRW] condemns what it says are serious human rights abuses, and violations of international law, by the three armed Islamist groups in control of northern Mali since early April.
HRW says militants have carried out at least two executions by stoning, numerous floggings and at least eight amputations as punishments under their hardline interpretation of Sharia law, which HRW senior Africa researcher Corinne Dufka called a "cruel parody of justice."
Sharia law harshly enforced
Full report at:
http://www.voanews.com/content/rights_group_says_mali_islamists_using_child_soldiers/1514459.html
--------
Libya's Misrata tense after death of man who caught Gaddafi
Sep 26, 2012
MISRATA (LIBYA): Tension gripped Misrata after the death of a rebel from the western city who was credited with capturing late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, but who was later abducted and tortured in a rival town.
Omran Ben Shaaban, 22, was kidnapped by armed men in July in the oasis town of Bani Walid, which was a final bastion of Gaddafi loyalists in the 2011 conflict, his brother Walid told AFP.
Shaaban tried to escape his assailants but they caught up with him and shot him in the neck and stomach, Walid added.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Libyas-Misrata-tense-after-death-of-man-who-caught-Gaddafi/articleshow/16550974.cms
-----------
South Sudan appoints first ambassador to India
Sep 26, 2012
NEW DELHI: South Sudan has appointed its first ambassador to India in the form of Daniel Peter Othol who earlier represented the country in the UK. Othol presented his credentials before President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday.
South Sudan has been able to set up missions in barely a dozen countries until now even though it has appointed close to 100 envoys. India was one of the first countries to formally recognize the oil rich nation after it achieved independence from Sudan in July last year.
India had in March also appointed a special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Amarendra Khatua, after the two nations clashed over oil with Khartoum apparently demanding excessive oil transit fees from South Sudan.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/South-Sudan-appoints-first-ambassador-to-India/articleshow/16550695.cms
-----------
More than 10,000 Tunisian pilgrims coming for Haj
NADIM AL-HAMID
26 September 2012
More than 10,700 pilgrims will come from Tunisia to perform Haj this year, according to the Kingdom’s Tunisian Consulate General Fathi Al-Nafati.
He told Arab News in a statement yesterday that the first batch of Tunisian pilgrims would arrive at Prince Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah on October 6, while the second batch would arrive at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah on October 13. “Batches of pilgrims will follow after that,” he added.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/more-10000-tunisian-pilgrims-coming-haj
-----------
Arab World
King Abdullah urges the faithful to defend Islam and Prophet
26 September 2012
MADINAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday urged wise people all over the world to confront those who try to abuse divine religions and prophets of God.
Addressing princes, ministers, religious scholars and other citizens who came to greet him at Taiba Palace, King Abdullah urged Muslims to defend their Islamic faith and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
He congratulated all Saudis on the occasion of the National Day, marking the unification of the Kingdom by King Abdul Aziz and emphasized the unity and solidarity of Saudi people.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/king-abdullah-urges-faithful-defend-islam-and-prophet
-----------
Attacks on Iraq security forces kill 7
September 26, 2012
BAGHDAD: Bombings and shootings targeting Iraqi security forces killed seven people on Wednesday, among them a senior police officer, security and medical officials said.
The violence comes a day after a wave of attacks against security forces left nine police and soldiers dead and 11 wounded.
In the deadliest attack, two roadside bombs exploded in an area about 40 kilometers (24 miles) north of Hilla, which lies south of Baghdad.
The bombings killed police Lieutenant Colonel Salman Kadhim al-Khazraji, two other policeman and a civilian and wounded two other policemen, an officer in the Babil police media office and a doctor from Hilla hospital said.
Full report at:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-69238-Attacks-on-Iraq-security-forces-kill-7
-----------
Recruitment of Filipino maids to resume soon
26 September 2012
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia will restart issuing job visas for Philippine maidservants beginning next month, said Prince Khaled bin Saud bin Khaled, assistant foreign minister.
He said the Kingdom agreed to resume recruitment of Philippine maids after the two sides reached an agreement that respects the Kingdom’s sovereignty and laws and protects the rights of Saudi employers.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/recruitment-filipino-maids-resume-soon
-----------
Tehran sees cyber attacks as greater threat than actual war
26 September 2012
DUBAI: Iran is prepared to defend itself in case of a “cyber war” which could cause more harm than a physical confrontation, a commander in the country’s Revolutionary Guards said yesterday.
The Islamic Republic has tightened cyber security since its uranium enrichment centrifuges were hit in 2010 by the Stuxnet computer worm, which it believes came from Israel or the United States.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/tehran-sees-cyber-attacks-greater-threat-actual-war
------
More than 30,000 killed in 18-month Syria revolt: NGO
Sep 26, 2012
BEIRUT: More than 30,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in violence since the outbreak of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad in March last year, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.
"At least 21,534 civilians, 7,322 soldiers and 1,168 defectors have been killed in the past 18 months," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Included in the civilian toll are non-military individuals who took up arms to join the insurgency, Abdel Rahman said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/More-than-30000-killed-in-18-month-Syria-revolt-NGO/articleshow/16557934.cms
----------
Egypt President Morsi wants free speech linked to responsibility
Sep 26 2012
New York: Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said freedom of expression must be used responsibly in a speech to the Clinton Global Initiative in New York that hinted at looming tensions in the newly-democratic nation.
Morsi, a key figure of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, repeated several times that he was the "first, democratically elected, civilian president of Egypt" and earned applause by asking his audience to "see a new Egypt."
"I never imagined this moment," Morsi said. "We really have a new state in Egypt."
That state has faced a chaotic political climate since last year's mass protests brought down Egypt's aging dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/egypt-president-morsi-wants-free-speech-linked-to-responsibility/1008064/
-----------
2 explosions hit near army HQ in Syrian capital Damascus
Sep 26, 2012
DAMASCUS, SYRIA: Two massive explosions rocked the heart of the Syrian capital on Wednesday, striking near the army and air force command headquarters and sending huge columns of thick black smoke over Damascus.
The bombings were the latest to hit the city as the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime intensifies, highlighting the increasingly deep reach of the rebels determined to topple him.
Syria's state-run news agency SANA said a fire broke out in the area after the twin blasts, which struck just before 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) near the landmark Omayyad square. The explosions shattered the windows of nearby buildings, including the entire facade of the Dama Rose hotel which overlooks the area, and were heard several kilometers (miles) away.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/2-explosions-hit-near-army-HQ-in-Syrian-capital-Damascus/articleshow/16554582.cms
-----------
Ban demands global action to end Syria violence
Sep 26, 2012
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is demanding international action to stop the war in Syria, which is now “a regional calamity with global ramifications”.
In his annual state of the world speech at Tuesday’s opening of the U.N. General Assembly’s ministerial meeting, Mr. Ban said he was sounding the alarm about widespread insecurity and injustice, inequality and intolerance in many countries.
Putting the spotlight on Syria, he said “the international community should not look the other way as violence spirals out of control.”
Mr. Ban said the 18-month conflict is a growing threat to international peace that requires attention from the deeply divided U.N. Security Council.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/ban-demands-global-action-to-end-syria-violence/article3935574.ece
-----------
Kingdom affirms commitment to rule of law
26 September 2012
NEW YORK: Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah stressed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to the rule of law and the UN Charter that stipulates the importance of freedom, sovereignty, and justice.
“We will adhere to the UN Charter in our efforts to create a bright future for our generations,” the prince said yesterday while addressing a meeting on the rule of law at UN headquarters.
“Saudi Arabia was founded on the teachings of the Islamic religion and Shariah, which forms the basis of justice,” the minister said, noting these principles include various forms of human cooperation and harmony.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/kingdom-affirms-commitment-rule-law
-----------
KMCC volunteers donate blood to mark National Day
26 September 2012
JEDDAH: The Central Committee of KMCC, a cultural organization of Indian expatriates, organized a blood donation campaign on Sunday to mark the Kingdom’s National Day.
“We organized this program to express our solidarity with Saudi Arabia on this great occasion,” said EP Ubaidulla, secretary of the central committee.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/kmcc-volunteers-donate-blood-mark-national-day
-----------
Europe
World Muslim group demands laws against "Islamophobia"
By Stephanie Nebehay
September 26, 2012
GENEVA (Reuters) - The world's largest Islamic body called on Tuesday for expressions of "Islamophobia" to be curbed by law, just as some countries restrict anti-Semitic speech or Holocaust denial.
Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the 56 countries that form the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), condemned a video made in the United States that defamed Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, igniting Muslim protests around the world this month.
"Incidents like this clearly demonstrate the urgent need on the part of states to introduce adequate protection against acts of hate crimes, hate speech, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation and negative stereotyping of religions, and incitement to religious hatred, as well as denigration of venerated personalities," Pakistan's ambassador Zamir Akram said in a speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Full report at:
http://news.yahoo.com/world-muslim-group-demands-laws-against-islamophobia-174955503.html
-----------
Baloch in Europe slam rights violations in Iran, Pakistan
Sep 26, 2012
GENEVA: A number of protesters from several Baloch organisations based in Europe gathered in front of the Palais des Nations in Geneva to denounce the alleged human rights violations against the Baloch people in Iran and Pakistan.
Among the participants were Baloch representatives Noordin Mengal and Nasser Boladai. The Baloch community in Europe staged the demonstration on the occasion of the 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council, to protest against executions, forced disappearances, and extra-judicial killings in Balochistan.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\09\26\story_26-9-2012_pg7_22
-----------
BBC apologises to queen over Abu Hamza story
Sep 25, 2012
LONDON: The BBC apologised to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday after revealing that she raised concerns with a previous government about radical cleric Abu Hamza, who faces extradition to the United States.
In a rare clash between two pillars of British life, the broadcaster said it deeply regretted the breach of confidence after correspondent Frank Gardner reported comments that the monarch made to him.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/BBC-apologises-to-queen-over-Abu-Hamza-story/articleshow/16545826.cms
-----------
French student faces extremism trial
September 26, 2012
BURSA: A French-Turkish university student went on trial on Wednesday accused of links to an outlawed far-left extremist group in a case that has sparked criticism from human rights groups.
Sevil Sevimli, who was arrested in May and spent three months in jail until her conditional release in August, appeared in court in the northwestern city of Bursa along with five other defendants.
Full report at:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-69257-French-student-faces-extremism-trial
-----------
New EU Iran sanctions to target finance, trade: France
Sep 26, 2012
UNITED NATIONS: French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday the next round of European Union sanctions over Iran's nuclear program would focus on the financial industry and trade.
French President Francois Hollande earlier in the day told the UN General Assembly that the EU was ready to impose a new set of sanctions to increase pressure on Iran and force it back to the negotiating table.
"(The sanctions will be) on the financial and trade side," Fabius said on the sidelines of the meeting.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/New-EU-Iran-sanctions-to-target-finance-trade-France/articleshow/16549804.cms
-----------
Brazil court orders YouTube to remove anti-Islam film
Sep 26 2012
Brasilia : A Brazilian court on Tuesday banned an online anti-Islam movie that spawned violent protests across the Muslim world and gave YouTube 10 days to pull the film's trailer from its website.
The decision by a state court in Sao Paulo, home to a large Middle Eastern immigrant community, came hours after Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff criticized Islamophobia in Western countries in a speech at the United Nations.
The lawsuit against the controversial film was brought by a Brazilian Muslim group, the National Islamic Union, against YouTube owner Google Inc for posting on the Internet a film it said was offensive and a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of religion.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/brazil-court-orders-youtube-to-remove-antiislam-film/1008089/
-----------
From Birmingham to Mirpur by bus
HASAN SUROOR
Sep 26, 2012
Air travel could soon become passe’ for many British Pakistanis who will soon be able to ride a bus all the way from Birmingham to Mirpur , nearly 6, 500 kilometres away, in what promises to be Britain’s longest bus route.
It might take slightly longer than a flight but will cost a fraction of the cheapest air fare with the adventures of a road journey thrown in as bonus, though some might find the prospect of driving through the Taliban “badlands” a little frightening.
Authorities in Britain and Pakistan are working on plans to run a bus service between Birmingham — home to a large Pakistani population — and Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/from-birmingham-to-mirpur-by-bus/article3936061.ece
-----------
Man in Oslo stands trial for Rwandan genocide
26 September 2012
OSLO, Norway: A Rwandan man pleaded not guilty to organizing the murder of 2,000 people in the 1994 genocide in the African country as his trial opened in a Norwegian court on yesterday.
Sadi Bugingo, 47, a former businessman, is accused of taking a leading role in planning and leading attacks against Tutsi civilians who sought refuge in a Catholic centre and a hospital, prosecutors said.
“Bugingo encouraged people in his militia to murder and strengthened people’s resolve to kill,” prosecutor Petter Mandt told the court hearing the first genocide trial in Norway’s history.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/man-oslo-stands-trial-rwandan-genocide
-----------
WHO issues guidance on new SARS-like virus, gears up for Hajj
September 26, 2012
GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged health workers around the world to report any patient with acute respiratory infection who may have travelled to Saudi Arabia or Qatar and been exposed to a new SARS-like virus confirmed in two people so far.
The United Nations agency put out a global alert on Sunday saying a new virus had infected a 49-year-old Qatari who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia – where another man with an almost identical virus had died.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/442688/who-issues-guidance-on-new-sars-like-virus-gears-up-for-hajj/
--------
Pakistan
Zardari rakes up Kashmir in UN, calls it a symbol of UN system's failure
Sep 26, 2012
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan once again resorted to its old tactics of raking up Kashmir in the United Nations when its President Asif Ali Zardari sought a solution to the issue under UN resolution.
He said Kashmir remains a symbol of failure of the UN system and Pakistan's principled position on territorial disputes remains a bedrock of its foreign policy.
"Kashmir remains a symbol of failures, rather than strengths of the UN system," Zardari said in his 20-minute speech at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly here.
"We feel that resolution of these issues can only be arrived in an environment of cooperation," he said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Zardari-rakes-up-Kashmir-in-UN-calls-it-a-symbol-of-UN-systems-failure/articleshow/16553210.cms
--------
Senior Pakistan geologist killed in sectarian attack: police
Pakistan, September 26, 2012
Gunmen shot dead a senior official of the Geological Survey of Pakistan on Wednesday in an apparent sectarian attack in the troubled southwestern province of Baluchistan, police said.
Mohsin Ali Naqvi, a member of the minority Shiite community, was gunned down outside his office
in Quetta, the Baluchistan capital, Mohammed Ayaz, a senior police official, told AFP.
The province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is plagued by sectarian violence between Shiites and majority Sunnis, as well as Taliban attacks and a separatist insurgency.
"We are investigating the crime but it seems a case of sectarian killing. There is a wave of sectarian killing in the country and this is part of that," Ayaz said.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Pakistan/Senior-Pakistan-geologist-killed-in-sectarian-attack-police/Article1-935838.aspx
-----------
Clashes in Orakzai agency leave eight militants dead
Sep 26, 2012
PESHAWAR: At least eight militants were killed during clashes with militants in parts of Orakzai agency on Tuesday, political authorities said.
Militants attacked security forces in Barlas area of Orakzai, triggering clashes, in which the militants were killed. One soldier was injured in the clashes, an official said.
The injured was taken to a nearby hospital. Security forces with the help of artillery attacked the militants. Weapons were recovered during a search operation following the attack.
http://dawn.com/2012/09/26/clashes-in-orakzai-agency-leave-eight-militants-dead/
-----------
Swiss family involved in nuclear smuggling ring in Pakistan avoids jail
Sep 26, 2012
ZURICH: Three Swiss engineers guilty of involvement in a Pakistani nuclear smuggling ring avoided a prison sentence on Tuesday after agreeing a plea bargain with the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
Friedrich Tinner and his two sons, Marco and Urs, pleaded guilty at the federal criminal court in Bellinzona of supplying centrifuge parts and participating in the smuggling ring of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the former head of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, who in 2004 was found by Pakistan to have sold nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya.
However, after agreeing the plea bargain, the Tinner trio were handed relatively mild suspended jail sentences of between 24 and 50 months.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/09/26/swiss-family-involved-in-nuclear-smuggling-ring-avoids-jail/
-----------
Cinema in Lahore 'forced' to close down for screening Indian films
By Sher Ali
September 26, 2012
LAHORE: Pakistan Air Force Cinema located in the cantonment area of Lahore, which was rumoured to have been closed for renovation, was actually shut down following a ban on Indian film being screened in the area.
“I have lost a lot of money since the order was issued,” said Nadir Latif, the manager of PAF Cinema. “I am still at a loss of words as to why they are cracking down only on me.”
The order issued to Latif reads screening of Indian films must be stopped with an immediate effect.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/442674/cinema-in-lahore-forced-to-close-down-for-screening-indian-films/
-----------
Radio Pakistan launches messaging service for Hajj pilgrims
September 26, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Radio Pakistan launched on Wednesday a Short Messaging Service (SMS) to answer the queries of intending Hajj pilgrims in its special Hajj programmes that are aired thrice a week from various stations.
According to a Ministry of Religious Affairs official, pilgrims can ask questions related to hajj rituals by sending a message to 4471.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/442710/religious-queries-radio-pakistan-launches-messaging-service-for-hajj-pilgrims/
-----------
Slitting throats of our own brothers to protest others' blasphemy: Altaf Hussain
By Ema Anis
September 26, 2012
KARACHI: Issuing a strong condemnation against the Ishq-e-Rasool Day riots, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain said that the people of Pakistan, to protest against blasphemy committed by others, were slitting throats of their own brothers.
“The filmmaker is sitting comfortably in America… Will you slaughter your own sister, brother, mother over blasphemy committed by someone else? What kind of love is this for the Prophet (pbuh)?”
Enumerating the losses of life and property suffered on the Ishq-e-Rasool Day, Hussain said that the “extremists and terrorists” looted everything and even had electronic cutters to cut away and steal entire ATM machines.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/442715/slitting-throats-of-our-own-brothers-to-protest-others-blasphemy-altaf-hussain/
-----------
SAARC conference to help bring peace in region: Malik
Sep 26, 2012
* Interior minister says conference will help develop strategies to fight terrorism
MALE: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Tuesday said that South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Interior Ministers’ Conference is a good platform to discuss regional anti-terrorism strategy and would be helpful in combating the menace.
While talking to media in Male, Malik said that interior ministers’ conference, starting Wednesday (today), could play vital role in bringing durable peace, stability and progress in the region. He said Pakistan and its armed forces have rendered great services for bringing peace in the country. The country has sacrificed its resources and lives to fight against terrorism, he added. Malik reiterated that war against terrorism would continue until the menace is eliminated.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\09\26\story_26-9-2012_pg7_20
-----------
1 killed, 2 Hindus kidnapped in Balochistan
Sep 26, 2012
QUETTA: A man was killed and three others sustained injuries in separate incidents of firing in Quetta and Mastung; while two members of the Hindu community were kidnapped from Bolan district, on Tuesday. According to police, unidentified armed men opened fire in Mastung and resultantly injured a man identified as Abdul Rahim Bangulzai, who succumbed to his injuries after being shifted to a nearby hospital for medical aid. The armed assailants managed to escape the scene. The motive behind the killing is yet to be ascertained. In a separate incident, a man opened fire and wounded his three nephews in Karotabad area over a property dispute, sources said. The injured were identified as Naseer Ahmed, Ali Ahmed and Muhammad Naheem. They were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital for medical aid. Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C09%5C26%5Cstory_26-9-2012_pg7_19
-----------
MQM activists among 12 dead as killings continue in Karachi
Sep 26, 2012
KARACHI: A man and his two sons and two workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement were among 10 people gunned down in different parts of the city on Tuesday as both the security and political administrations appeared powerless to check the renewed wave of targeted killings.
The man and his two sons were gunned down while one of their relatives was wounded in a targeted attack in the old city area on Tuesday night.
Police said the incident took place at Paan Mandi within the remit of the Risala police station.
They said the killings took place when gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on a Santro car carrying the four men.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/09/26/no-end-to-sectarian-political-killings-man-two-sons-among-10-gunned-down/
-----------
Bomb kills one soldier, injures 15 in North Waziristan
Sep 26, 2012
MIRANSHAH: A roadside bomb targeting a military convoy Wednesday killed a soldier and wounded 15 others in North Waziristan, Officials said.
The bomb was planted along the route of a convoy of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Spinwam area about 40 kilometres north of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region, they said.
The injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH).
The vehicle was partially damaged by the bomb attack.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/09/26/bomb-kills-one-soldier-injures-15-in-north-waziristan/
-----------
Central Vice President resigns, alleges PTI hijacked by ‘big money’
Sep 26, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Central Vice President of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Dr Shireen Mazari on Wednesday resigned from her basic party membership, citing differences “purely based on political issues”.
In messages posted on social media website Twitter, Mazari said: “I have given in my resignation from PTI. I regretfully resign as people had real hopes with PTI.”
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/09/26/shireen-mazari-resigns-from-pti/
-----------
Experts say US drones ‘terrorizing’ Pakistan civilians
26 September 2012
ISLAMABAD: The US campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt is terrorizing civilians 24 hours a day and breeding bitter anti-American sentiment, researchers said yesterday.
The attacks in northwest Pakistan, where militants linked to Taleban and Al-Qaeda have strongholds, have killed thousands of people since they began in June 2004, according to the report by experts from Stanford Law School and the New York University School of Law.
Aside from casualties, the “Living Under Drones” report said, the missile strikes are affecting daily life in the tribal areas, making people unwilling to gather in groups and even stopping their children going to school for fear of being targeted.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/experts-say-us-drones-%E2%80%98terrorizing%E2%80%99-pakistan-civilians
-----------
Pak Taliban's 'amnesty' for bounty minister, not in hit list now
September 26, 2012
The Pakistani Taliban say they are granting an 'amnesty' to a cabinet minister who is offering a $100,000 reward to anyone who kills the maker of an anti-Islam film.
The film has sparked violent protests across the Muslim world. Railways minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour has already sought
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Pakistan/Pak-Taliban-s-amnesty-for-bounty-minister-not-in-hit-list-now/Article1-936017.aspx
-----------
Love in Pak: Are Bilawal Bhutto, Hina Rabbani Khar having an affair?
Sep 26 2012
New Delhi : Bangladeshi tabloid 'Blitz' has recently run a story on a possible love affair between Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal and Pakistan's pretty foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
The Pakistan media is mum about this and there is no official confirmation from any other source. The rumour gets some credence because it is reported that Hina's millionaire husband Firoze Gulzar has asked for her call records. Since she is the country's foreign minister, it is unclear what protocol will be applied to honour this request.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/love-in-pak-are-bilawal-bhutto-hina-rabbani-khar-having-an-affair-/1008119/
-----------
Former Pak minister Ansar Burney appeals for release of 13-year-old boy
Yudhvir Rana
Sep 25, 2012
AMRITSAR: The Chairman of Ansar Burney Trust International and Pakistan's former federal minister for human rights, Ansar Burney has appealed to Indian government to release a 13 year old Pakistani boy arrested.
In a letter written to External Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry he has requested for the early release of a Pakistani boy Kashif who had mistakenly crossed Indo Pak boarder on September 18, 2011.While talking to TOI on Tuesday , he said he had also urged the Pakistan High Commission at Dehli to issue travelling papers to the boy who was resident of Okara .
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Former-Pak-minister-Ansar-Burney-appeals-for-release-of-13-year-old-boy/articleshow/16544733.cms
-----------
Mideast Asia
Israeli rabbi to followers: Burn your iPhones
Sep 26, 2012
JERUSALEM: An influential ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbi ordered his followers this week to burn their iPhones, the latest move in a campaign by the insular community to encourage its members to keep the outside world - and specifically the Internet - at bay.
The decree by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, 84, came ahead of Judaism's holiest day, Yom Kippur, which begins Tuesday. It said that it was forbidden to own the smartphone, and those who already had one must burn theirs.
The religious Yated Neeman newspaper published the ban on its front page this week, as mainstream Israeli newspapers were gushing about Apple Inc.'s eagerly anticipated new smartphone, the iPhone 5.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israeli-rabbi-to-followers-Burn-your-iPhones/articleshow/16554662.cms
------
Attack on military vehicle kills seven soldiers in Turkey
Sep 26, 2012
TUNCELI: At least seven soldiers were killed in the eastern Turkish city of Tunceli on Tuesday when their armoured truck drove past a vehicle laden with explosives detonated by suspected Kurdish militants, security sources said.
Ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion as flames rose from two vehicles on a road through a thinly populated part of the provincial city.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/09/25/attack-on-military-vehicle-kills-seven-soldiers-in-turkey/
-----------
Iran pushes ahead in building nuclear reactor
September 26, 2012
VIENNA: Iran appears to be making headway in building a research reactor that could yield potential nuclear weapon material, adding to Western concerns about Tehran’s atomic aims, experts and diplomats say.
The West’s worries about Iran are focused largely on underground uranium enrichment plants at Natanz and Fordow, but it is also pressing ahead with construction of a heavy-water reactor near the town of Arak, which analysts say could produce plutonium for nuclear arms if the spent fuel is reprocessed.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/442718/iran-pushes-ahead-in-building-nuclear-reactor/
-----------
Yemenis paint disappeared activists on Sanaa streets
26 September 2012
SANAA: Yemenis are using street art to lobby the government to tell what happened to hundreds of people who disappeared in years of political turmoil, but even their images on the walls have troubled powerful figures who sought to remove the graffiti.
Yemen is undergoing a tricky transition after a popular uprising last year forced veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh from office, lifting the lid on a host of social, economic and political problems in the Arabian Peninsula state.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/yemenis-paint-disappeared-activists-sanaa-streets
-----------
Southeast Asia
Indonesia President touts blasphemy ban at UN
Bagus BT Saragih
September 26 2012
Indonesia is calling on the UN’s member states to adopt a legally binding instrument to ban blasphemy against religious symbols and to promote dialogue between different faiths, civilizations and cultures.
Speaking before hundreds of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said such an instrument was needed to prevent incitements to violence based on religion.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/09/26/yudhoyono-touts-blasphemy-ban-un.html
-----------
Top Philippine court stops screening of anti-Islam film
26 September 2012
RIYADH: Filipino expatriates were relieved to learn that the Supreme Court in the Philippines has stopped the public screening of the anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” in the country.
The video, which could be viewed on YouTube, triggered a series of violent protests in Arab countries. One led to the death of US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. The film mocks Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a “fraud, womanizer and child abuser.” Even his sworn enemies testified to the Prophet’s impeccable character, honesty and highest standards of moral conduct.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/top-philippine-court-stops-screening-anti-islam-film
-----------
Eight dead as ferry collides with cargo ship off Indonesia
Sep 26, 2012
At least eight people were killed Wednesday when a ferry sank after colliding with a cargo ship off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, an official said.
The ferry was travelling from Merak port on the western tip of Java to Bakauheni port on Sumatra when the accident happened, Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said.
About 200 people were rescued, he said.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/eight-dead-as-ferry-collides-with-cargo-ship-off-indonesia/article3938063.ece
-----------
South Asia
Two NATO service members killed in Afghanistan
Sep 26, 2012
KABUL: NATO says two service members with the international military coalition in Afghanistan have been killed in an insurgent attack.
The alliance says the two died when they were attacked by militants in the east on Wednesday, but gave no other details.
The nationalities of the soldiers killed were not disclosed.
So far this year, 285 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan.
http://dawn.com/2012/09/26/two-NATO-service-members-killed-in-afghanistan-3/
-----------
NATO, Taleban joust over state of Afghan war
26 September 2012
KABUL: The Afghan Taleban yesterday dismissed NATO figures showing a decrease in insurgent attacks, saying the statistics reflect troop withdrawals and a “cowardly” avoidance of contact.
NATO said the decline in attacks showed that its troops had been able to “reverse the momentum” of the insurgents’ campaign, an interpretation that the Taleban “strongly and categorically” denied.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/NATO-taleban-joust-over-state-afghan-war]
-----------
China leader in Afghanistan for first time in 46 years
Saibal Dasgupta
Sep 26, 2012
BEIJING: With all its diplomatic and strategic proximity with Pakistan, China hadn't sent any leader of consequence to neighbouring Afghanistan in the last 46 years until the top Chinese security official, Zhou Yongkang, landed in Kabul on Saturday. The visit signaled Beijing's diminishing confidence in Pakistan's ability to check terrorists from crossing the border to the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/China-leader-in-Afghanistan-for-first-time-in-46-years/articleshow/16549604.cms
-----------
International Conference on the Upcoming Chinese Leadership Change and its Potential Imapcts on Uyghurs
26 September 2012
The East Turkestan Union in Europe and The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) are set to hold an international conference addressing the impact of the Chinese leadership on the Uyghur human rights situation. The conference has been organised in collaboration with and support from the Bavarian parliamentary groups of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party (Bündnis/90 Die Grünen). Attendees will hear from a variety of speakers who possess a wealth of expertise in the field of human rights in China and, more specifically, in those relating to the Uyghurs in East Turkestan.
Full report at:
-------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/2-years,-5-cities,-6/d/8792