60 die in Karachi, MQM threatens Zardari govt
Syrians mark bleak Ramadan after 140 killed in Hama
Libyan rebels round up 63 of pro-Gaddafi cell
Muslims feel vulnerable after Norway terror attack
RSS leader denies reports of connection with 2007 Ajmer blasts
World Uyghur Congress condemns China for Kashgar attacks
Chinese police kill 2 suspects in extremist attack
ISI chief Pasha makes trip to Beijing: Power play or summons?
US talks to Pak for free movement of American diplomats
In Afghanistan, Rage at Young Lovers
Oslo attacker had plastic surgery to look 'more Aryan': report
Indian Americans express alarm at Breivik's Hindutva nexus
Violence continues in Pakistan’s Karachi; 200 killed in July
'Pak govt too weak to control Jihadi-infested areas'
The man behind the anti-Shariah state law push
Living the Ramadan in Malta
Pakistan releases lashkar-e-jhangvi leader
A Portrait of Abu Bakr bin Abdul Aziz al-Athri: Salafi-Jihad’s Emerging Internet Ideologue
Sudan’s Taha says country to apply Shariah, warns Al-Bashir’s detractors
Thrashed at Tihar for being Muslim?
Dubai Cares launches girls’ education drive
In an Oslo mosque, a 'special' Ramzan begins after attacks
Somali refugees: No food to break Ramadan fast
Hooligans attack Islamic center in north Serbia
Yemen army raid kills 15 Al Qaeda militants
Suicide attack kills three guards in Afghanistan
NATO airstrike kills 4 policemen in Afghanistan
23 wounded in church attack in north Iraq
Chinese media highlights Pak angle, seeks action on terror
No licence to any Indian channel: Pakistani minister
Gaddafi seeks to hire PR firm to improve his bloody image
A Flamboyant Friend Killed in Norway Is Mourned
First on chest, second on head, that's how Osama bin Laden was killed
Benazir Bhutto killing accused shines in secondary school examination
Pak tries to placate China, offers help
US considered tunneling to bin Laden: report
Vigil up on Afghan border to nab Haqqani men
Madam Qaida’ faces trial in Saudi Arabia
Al-Qaida confirms militant's death in Algeria
Wedding stopped as groom is woman
'Mohabbat-the-Taj' - new attraction for tourists in Taj City
Egypt: Fundamentalist Muslims joining protests in force
Ramadan 2011: Discovering the Culture and Traditions of the Holy Month
Kelly Brook and the jihad seekers' allowance
Norway gunman wants Japanese psychiatrist
Ties with Pakistan biggest challenge for new foreign secy
Kashmir’s theatre of the ‘oppressed’ scales new heights
P. Chidambaram uses Hindu terror shield to offset blame
Born in Hyderabad, 9/11 lawyer is made jurist in NJ
Karachiites welcome Ramazan with religious zeal
Royal pardon for 143 Bahraini convicts
Jailed Norwegian attacker wants govt to resign
U.S. Military Claims Success Curbing Attacks in Iraq with Iranian Weapons
Al-Jazeera English launches in New York
Deewaar 2: Salim vs Javed in Narendra Modi-starrer
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/60-die-karachi,-mqm-threatens/d/5164
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60 die in Karachi, MQM threatens Zardari govt
Aug 02 2011
Karachi : Violence escalated further in Pakistan's biggest city where 34 people were killed in political and ethnic violence over the last 24 hours, and MQM leader Altaf Hussain gave an ultimatum to the country's leadership to put an end to the bloodbath.
As mayhem continued in the financial hub, reports said nearly 60 people have been killed since Friday in the city that has been in the grip of violence for the past few months.
Thirty-four people lost their lives over the last 24 hours in the ongoing wave of target killings, including five in overnight shooting incidents, a report in the Express Tribune said.
The worst hit was Surjani Town where unidentified gunmen set on fire few houses, shops and resorted to indiscriminate firing in which two persons were killed and several injured.
Police said violence quickly spread to other areas and as many as 20 people were killed in incidents of violence in Orangi, Surjani Town, Pak Colony, Landhi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Korangi and other areas.
In another incident, men armed with sophisticated weapons, attacked a factory with more than 1500 factory workers trapped inside. They also torched motorbikes while firing constantly.
Security forces, who reached the site almost an hour after the attack could take complete control of the area after an hour. Four other people were also shot dead in four separate incidents of the attacks in the city.
In a statement from London, MQM chief Hussain said he was setting a 48-hour deadline before the government, threatening strong public retaliation if the situation was not brought under control. "People would take on the task of defending their lives and belongings by taking the law into their own hands," Hussain said.
He warned President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, that the government would be the sole responsible for repercussions if peace was not restored.
Rattled by the never-ending cycle of violence, residents of a colony took to the streets, chanting slogans and torching vehicles on the way.
MQM lawmaker Wasim Ahmed also accused elements backed by the Sindh government of trying to take over his party's stronghold. "We won't let anybody take over Karachi," Ahmed told the National Assembly yesterday.
Provincial Interior Minister Manzoor Wasan held a meeting with leaders of the leading political parties, including Mutthaida Qaumi Movement and Awami National Party, following which he promised that peace would return in two months time.
"The fact is there are criminal elements who have infiltrated into political parties and are causing this violence. All parties have to cooperate with the government in rooting out such elements. I assure you peace can be restored totally to Karachi in two months time," the minister said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/60-die-in-karachi-mqm-threatens-zardari-govt/826118/
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Syrians mark bleak Ramadan after 140 killed in Hama
Aug 2, 2011
AMMAN: Syrians began the Muslim Ramadan fast in sombre mood on Monday after troops stormed Hama, scene of a 1982 massacre, in one of the bloodiest days of a five-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
Rights activists said 80 civilians were killed in Sunday's tank-backed assault on the central Syrian city where Assad's father crushed an armed Muslim Brotherhood revolt 29 years ago by razing neighbourhoods and killing many thousands of people.
Tanks shelled a northeastern district of Hama on Monday, killing at least four civilians, two residents said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined an international outcry over the violence.
"Chancellor Merkel condemns in the strongest of terms the Syrian government's action against its own civilian population," government spokesman Christoph Steegmans said.
"(She) explicitly urges President Assad to halt the violence against his own people immediately," he added.
Security forces, dominated by Assad's minority Alawite sect, had besieged the Sunni Muslim city of 700,000 for nearly a month before Sunday's crackdown on the eve of Ramadan, a holy month when Muslims fast in daylight hours.
Many people flock to mosque prayers at night, occasions which protesters may use to launch more frequent protests.
In a letter to the military, Assad reiterated that Syria was facing a foreign conspiracy to sow sectarian strife designed to "tear Syria into small statelets that compete to satisfy those who worked to slice them up".
"All of Syria's honourable people are sure that we will emerge stronger from the crisis," Assad said.
"They wanted to wreak sectarian strife that destroys everything. We managed to prevent sectarian strife and examine ourselves to find out the errors and treat them."
The 1982 Hama massacre instilled such fear that few Syrians were ready to challenge Assad family rule openly until this year, when many were inspired by the largely peaceful popular uprisings that toppled Arab autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia.
The Muslim Brotherhood accused the Alawite elite of waging sectarian warfare on Sunnis by attacking Hama.
"SECTARIAN CLEANSING" "Syria is witnessing a war of sectarian cleansing. The regime has linked its open annihilation with the crescent of Ramadan. It is a war on the identity and beliefs of the Syrian nation ... on Arab Muslim Syria," it said in a statement.
The Syrian leadership blames "armed terrorist groups" for most killings during the revolt, saying that more than 500 soldiers and security personnel have been killed.
The Syrian state news agency said the military entered Hama to purge armed groups that were terrorising citizens, an account dismissed as "nonsense" by a U.S. diplomat in Damascus.
The agency said eight police personnel were killed while "confronting armed terrorist groups" in Hama.
Residents said tanks began pounding neighbourhoods of the city after attacking from several directions in a dawn assault.
"The authorities think that somehow they can prolong their existence by engaging in full armed warfare on their own citizens," U.S. Press Attache J.J. Harder told Reuters.
Footage posted on social media showed large parts of the city covered in smoke, and panic-stricken groups around dead or wounded people in the streets as gunfire rang out. Reuters could not independently verify the content of the videos.
Other footage purporting to be from the city of Homs showed crowds chanting: "Hama, we are with you until death, Deir al-Zor, we are with you until death."
Residents said at least 11 civilians had been killed in a weekend crackdown in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor.
In Deir al-Zor city, gunfire echoed through empty streets after pre-dawn prayers. "Most people are in their houses, but we can hear shooting in the streets," a resident said.
U.S. President Barack Obama said he was appalled by the Syrian government's "horrifying" violence against its people in Hama and promised to work with others to isolate Assad.
"Syria will be a better place when a democratic transition goes forward," Obama said in a statement.
Several European countries condemned the Hama assault. Italy and Germany called for a U.N. Security Council meeting, but Britain ruled out any foreign military intervention.
The council was expected to hold closed-door consultations on Monday, a spokesman for Germany's U.N. mission said.
NO FOREIGN INTERVENTION "We do want to see additional sanctions," British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC. "We want to see stronger international pressure all round. Of course, to be effective, that can't just be pressure from Western nations, that includes from Arab nations, it includes from Turkey".
Seeking military action against Syria, even with U.N. authority, was "not a remote possibility", he said.
Russia and China have previously opposed any condemnation of Syria in the council, where they hold veto powers.
The European Union plans to extend sanctions on Monday by imposing asset freezes and travel bans on five more Syrians. EU sanctions already target Assad and at least two dozen officials, as well as Syrian firms linked to the military.
Turkey, one of Assad's main allies until the uprising, felt "great disappointment and sadness" over Sunday's death toll, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, blaming the use of tanks and heavy weapons for the high number of casualties.
"Such a start to Ramadan for Syrians is not acceptable. We condemn the attack," Davutoglu said. "Our advice to Syrian officials has been the same all along: the promised reforms should be carried out right away."
The Syrian human rights group Sawasiah put the civilian death toll in Hama at 80. Some reports gave higher figures.
Syrian authorities have expelled most independent journalists since the anti-Assad unrest began in March, making it difficult to verify reports of violence and casualties.
Assad has increasingly relied on security services and army units dominated by Alawites, at the heart of power since a 1963 Baath Party coup, to suppress protests in Sunni-majority Syria.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Syrians-mark-bleak-Ramadan-after-80-killed-in-Hama/articleshow/9449169.cms
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Libyan rebels round up 63 of pro-Gaddafi cell
Aug 2, 2011
Libyan rebels rounded up at least 63 people suspected of murdering their military chief and having links to Muammar Gaddafi, after an hours-long battle in their eastern stronghold of Benghazi.
Security forces patrolled the streets overnight in a bid to track down more members of the pro-Gaddafi group, a rebel spokesman said, as shoppers stocked up ahead of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.
“We caught about 38 and later on Monday more than 25,” the spokesman, Mustafa al-Sagazly, told AFP late on Sunday.
“Some of them ran away and we are trying to catch them all over the city,” he said. “We are arresting them.”
The arrests came hot on the heels of a five-hour raid by the rebel-backed February 17 brigade on a Benghazi factory, leaving four rebels and five Gaddafi loyalists dead.
Medics and rebels had said at least four rebel and 11 pro-Gaddafi fighters were killed in the fierce shootout, which erupted at around dawn on Monday during a raid on the cell holed up at a licence plate-making factory.
Rebel spokesman Mahmud Shammam said the group had been rounded up for its role in organising a prison break in Benghazi earlier in the week.
The pro-Gaddafi cell “had plans to plant car bombs in Benghazi,” according to Mustafa al-Sagazly, deputy chief of the February 17 brigade.
He added the “very same group”, the Katiba Yussef Shakir, was suspected in the assassination of General Abdel Fatah Yunis, a right-hand man to Gaddafi before his defection to the rebel ranks.
Ismail al-Salabi, who heads military operations for February 17, called the operation “100 percent successful” and added the rebels seized TNT explosives and several pickup trucks equipped with machine guns.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/357563/Libyan-rebels-round-up-63-of-pro-Gaddafi-cell.html
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Muslims feel vulnerable after Norway terror attack
Aug 2, 2011
Oslo : Muslims and immigrants have been left feeling vulnerable after the July 22 shooting and bombing attacks in Norway.
In Drammen, a port city in Norway's east, where 22 per cent of the population are immigrants, many people, especially Muslims, have told Sky News they are feeling vulnerable.
The city, home to Pakistanis, Iraqis, Turks, Norwegians and Christians, represents everything Breivik despises - multiculturalism at the heart of Norwegian life.
Councillor Yusuf Gilani, who grew up on the almost exclusively immigrant Fjell estate, said people are scared.
"There was so much hate coming from one man and it was about us," he told Sky.
He added: "People are asking are there other people like him? Some have been wondering if they should move away."
The image of Norway has long been of a tolerant nation imbued with liberal values. But like many places where the immigrant population has grown significantly there are tensions over jobs, housing, a way of life.
Nazim Rizvi, who runs a support group for women of Pakistani and Indian background, said: "If people like Breivik would do what they did to make a point about us, what would they actually do to us?"
"Many who think like him (Breivik) have distanced themselves from what he did. But they have the same thoughts about us and that is frightening," she said.
"And you have to wonder how big is the gap between a thought and an act," she added.
Nazim and other Muslims joined the marches over the last week, holding roses in the air in a very Norwegian show of strength.
And this weekend in Drammen, they invited others to join them in Muslim prayer in remembrance of the dead.
A minister of a local Norwegian church, Reverend Ivar Flaten, said: "This incident, this awful horrendous act will make us stronger because it was an attack on the ''we'' of Norway - all of us.
He added: "We are shattered as a nation but we can now see that we can''t say it is the problem of others. It is our problem, all of us and we have to deal with it".
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/muslims-feel-vulnerable-after-norway-terror-attack/825520/
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RSS leader denies reports of connection with 2007 Ajmer blasts
2 August 2011
New Delhi, Aug 2 (ANI) Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Indresh Kumar has denied having links with 2007 Ajmer shrine blasts amid reports of his arrest.
During a brief interaction with media persons here on Monday, Kumar said reports of his connection are an attempt to malign him and his outfit.
"All is fraud, under a political conspiracy; don't believe on the injustice. If you would believe on the atrocities and injustice then it would be like murdering the country's democracy hence it is political conspiracy under a fraud," said Kumar.
According to media reports, Kumar is likely to be arrested for his involvement in 2007 Ajmer shrine blasts.
His name had earlier been mentioned in the charge sheet by probe body the National Investigative Agency (NIA) which called his conduct suspicious.
A bomb had exploded just after evening prayers on October 11, 2007, at the famed Sufi shrine of Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, resulting in the deaths of three and injuries to 17 others.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/rss-leader-denies-reports-connection-2007-ajmer-blasts-060100690.html
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World Uyghur Congress condemns China for Kashgar attacks
Aug 2, 2011
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) unequivocally condemns Chinese government policies that have caused another outbreak of violence in East Turkestan. Without a substantial change to policies that discriminate against Uyghurs economically, culturally and politically the prospect of stability in East Turkestan is remote.
According to Chinese and overseas media reports, incidents of bloodshed on the streets of Kashgar occurred between July 30 and 31, 2011. The tragic events over the weekend in Kashgar took place less than two weeks after a day of violence in the southern city of Hotan. Due to the tight control of information and the imposition of a street curfew, the WUC is unable to confirm the accuracy of information from Chinese state media of events in Kashgar. The latest reports conflict in the number of dead and injured from the alleged series of attacks in Kashgar. Chinese state media has accused Uyghur individuals of carrying out the attacks. There is no doubt that without providing any substantive evidence, the Chinese government will accuse these individuals of links to international terror organizations. Without independent verification of such accusations, the WUC must remain skeptical.
Full report at:
http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?p=9640
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Chinese police kill 2 suspects in extremist attack
Aug 2, 2011
KASHGAR, China: Police in far western China shot dead two suspects sought for their alleged involvement in a deadly attack blamed on Muslim extremists trained in Pakistan, the government said.
The pair, identified as 29-year-old Memtieli Tiliwaldi and 34-year-old Turson Hasan, were discovered late Monday hiding in corn fields in a suburb of the Silk Road city of Kashgar, where a pair of weekend attacks killed a total of 20 people, according to a notice posted on the Xinjiang regional government website.
Police had issued arrest warrants and a reward of 100,000 yuan ($15,400) for information leading to their arrests.
Authorities blamed militants trained in weapons and bomb making at camps in Pakistan run by the East Turkistan Islamic movement for Sunday's attack that left 11 dead, including seven suspected assailants. China says the group is allied with al-Qaida.
The Kashgar government said a "group of armed terrorists" had stormed a restaurant and killed the owner and a waiter before setting fire to the building. The suspects then ran out into the street and stabbed civilians at random, killing another four people and wounding 12, the city said. Police fired at the suspects, killing four on the scene while a fifth died later in a hospital.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/Chinese-police-kill-2-suspects-in-extremist-attack/articleshow/9451712.cms
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ISI chief Pasha makes trip to Beijing: Power play or summons?
Aug 02 2011
New Delhi : The reported visit of ISI chief Lt Gen. Shuja Pasha to Beijing starting Monday comes amidst two very different story lines. One is the deterioration of relations between Washington and Rawalpindi. The other is the concern in Beijing about Pakistan’s safe havens for Islamic extremists operating in Western China.
Reports in the Pakistani media on Pasha’s trip to Beijing have highlighted the first. Meanwhile, Chinese media has pointed a rare finger at Pakistan’s terror camps for the recent attacks in Xinjiang.
The spin in Rawalpindi is that Pasha will launch a “new strategic dialogue” with China as part of the effort to reduce Rawalpindi’s traditional dependence on the US. If Pak Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani wants to play the China card against Washington, his inability to deliver on Beijing’s terror concerns would be a limitation on his power play.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/isi-chief-pasha-makes-trip-to-beijing-power-play-or-summons/825782/
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US talks to Pak for free movement of American diplomats
Aug 02 2011
Washington : US has said it is in talks with Pakistan over the free movement of its diplomats in that country, following reports that US Ambassador Cameron Munter was stopped at Islamabad Airport over travel permit issues.
"The issue is the right of our diplomats to freely travel," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
"We have met with Pakistani officials on this matter both in Washington and in Islamabad, and we believe it can be resolved," Toner said.
US Ambassador Cameron Munter was reportedly stopped at Islamabad airport on Sunday by officials enforcing a rule that required all foreign diplomats to have a "no-objection certificate" for travelling outside Islamabad.
"In fact, I just learned today that diplomats were able to travel between Islamabad and Peshawar. And I would just say, speaking on a broader level, that we're working
cooperatively with the government of Pakistan to resolve the issue," Toner said.
"We obviously raised our concerns. We feel that we're making progress towards resolving the issue," he said.
The US official, however, refused to respond to questions on whether America had threatened to place similar restrictions on the movement of Pakistani diplomats here.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-talks-to-pak-for-free-movement-of-american-diplomats/826003/
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In Afghanistan, Rage at Young Lovers
By JACK HEALY
Aug 2, 2011
HERAT, Afghanistan — The two teenagers met inside an ice cream factory through darting glances before roll call, murmured hellos as supervisors looked away and, finally, a phone number folded up and tossed discreetly onto the workroom floor.
It was the beginning of an Afghan love story that flouted dominant traditions of arranged marriages and close family scrutiny, a romance between two teenagers of different ethnicities that tested a village’s tolerance for more modern whims of the heart. The results were delivered with brutal speed.
This month, a group of men spotted the couple riding together in a car, yanked them into the road and began to interrogate the boy and girl. Why were they together? What right had they? An angry crowd of 300 surged around them, calling them adulterers and demanding that they be stoned to death or hanged.
When security forces swooped in and rescued the couple, the mob’s anger exploded. They overwhelmed the local police, set fire to cars and stormed a police station six miles from the center of Herat, raising questions about the strength of law in a corner of western Afghanistan and in one of the first cities that has made the formal transition to Afghan-led security.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/world/asia/31herat.html?src=me&ref=world
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Oslo attacker had plastic surgery to look 'more Aryan': report
Aug 2, 2011
London : The Norwegian terrorist who killed over 90 people in two recent attacks in Oslo, had plastic surgery to make him look more Aryan, an intelligence official has claimed.
Anders Behring Breivik has the blond hair, blue eyes and strong features that are associated with the race.
Janne Kristiansen, the head of Norway's intelligence agency the PST, however, claimed that Breivik's look was ‘not natural.’
“You do not have that Aryan look naturally in Norway,” the Daily Mail quoted her, as saying.
“Hitler would have had him on posters. He has the perfect, classic Aryan face. He must have had a facelift,” she added.
This revelation fits with the reminiscences of an old schoolfriend, who has said that Breivik talked about having plastic surgery a decade ago, a time when he had befriended ‘a group of people obsessed with their bodies’.
“I remember we were at a party, and he told me he had had his nose and chin operated on by a plastic surgeon in America,” the paper quoted the friend, as saying.
The revelation comes at a time when the full extent of Breivik's British connections is becoming clear, as it emerged that some UK suppliers provided him key equipment that helped him to build his arsenal of weapons and explosives.
Breivik used eBay traders across the world, including Britain to get weapons for the shooting spree in Utoya island and chemicals for the Oslo bomb blast.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/oslo-attacker-had-plastic-surgery-to-look-more-aryan-report/825473/
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Indian Americans express alarm at Breivik's Hindutva nexus
Aug 2, 2011
New Delhi: The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) has expressed its shock and horror at the senseless and vicious massacre in Oslo, Norway, by Anders Behring Breivik, a right wing extremist. IAMC also expressed deep concern at the claimed ideological connections between Norway's and India's fascist right wing parties.
"The Indian American Muslim Council, and the Indian Muslims of America extend our condolences and sympathies to the families of the innocent victims of this great tragedy, and stand shoulder to shoulder with the great people of Norway in this time of crisis," said Shaheen Khateeb, President, IAMC.
The IAMC is also deeply concerned about the claimed ideological connections between Norway's and India's fascist right wing parties. Brevik devoted 102 pages of his manifesto hailing India's rightwing Hindu groups, and claimed that the fascist Hindutva groups were identical to those of his own Justiciar Knights. Breivik considers the Hindutva groups as a critical partner in a universal struggle to end democratically elected governments all over the world. "It is essential that the European and Indian resistance movements learn from each other and cooperate as much as possible. Our goals are more or less identical," wrote Brevik.
Full report at:
http://twocircles.net/2011aug01/indian_americans_express_alarm_breiviks_hindutva_
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Violence continues in Pakistan’s Karachi; 200 killed in July
Aug 2, 2011
KARACHI: Deadly civil strife continued on Monday from the weekend in Pakistan’s commercial hub of Karachi despite efforts by officials to quell the violence in the city that is home to the country’s main port, stock exchange and central bank.
Police said 17 people were killed in the city since Sunday morning in fighting linked to ethnic and religious tension, adding that about 200 people were killed in the city in July alone — one of the deadliest months in about two decades.
Most of the areas affected in the latest violence are home to ethnic Pashtuns as well as Muhajirs, the descendents of Urdu-speaking refugees who fled India to settle in Karachi in 1947 following the sub-continent’s partition.
Street thugs and ethnic gangs have been used by political parties over the years as foot soldiers in a city-wide turf war in Karachi, which contributes 68 percent of Pakistan’s tax revenues.
“There is no question about the fact that the violence is politically and ethnically motivated, so the solution has to be political too,” said a senior police official, requesting not to be named.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article481166.ece
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'Pak govt too weak to control jihadi-infested areas'
Saibal Dasgupta
Aug 2, 2011
BEIJING: With the Kashgar government blaming terrorists trained in Pakistan for the violence in Muslim-dominated western province of Xinjiang, Indian government sources in Beijing said they were closely watching the situation as the local authorities would not issue sensitive statements on Pakistan without Beijing's go-ahead. It is clearly a sign that China was reviewing its equations with Islamabad and working on new ways of dealing with the terror problem on its borders.
China has for years avoided pointing the accusing finger at Pakistan, despite clear evidence that the separatist movement in Xinjiang is fuelled by ideological and arms support of terrorists based in Pakistan.
Terrorists, captured after a bomb attack in Kashgar, admitted that one of their group leaders had been trained in making explosives and firearms at camps in Pakistan before he sneaked back into China, Kashgar authorities claimed on their official website.
These terrorists represent the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which has a substantial presence in Xinjiang. The police said they had killed five of the terrorists representing the movement.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/Pak-govt-too-weak-to-control-jihadi-infested-areas/articleshow/9449295.cms
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The man behind the anti-sharia state law push
By Liz Goodwin
Aug 2, 2011
The New York Times' Andrea Elliot tracked down the man behind a spate of state laws banning the use of sharia, or Islamic law, in U.S. courthouses.
Fifty-six year-old David Yerushalmi, a Hasidic Jewish lawyer living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, worked with conservative political activists in drafting the model legislation that Oklahoma, Tennessee and Louisiana have enacted to ban sharia.
Yerushalmi represents the controversial "Atlas Shrugs" blogger Pamela Geller, and received funding from Frank Gaffney, who runs the blog "Jihad Watch" and the think tank the Center for Security Policy. Yerushalmi authored Gaffney's report, "Shariah: The Threat to America," that sparked conservative interest in the topic, and is also the Center for Security Policy's chief counsel.
A federal judge temporarily blocked Oklahoma's law after a Muslim civil rights group sued, saying the legislation violates Muslims' freedom of religion. The lead plaintiff in the suit, Muneer Awad--who directs the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations--argued that his will would not be recognized under the new law, because he mentions Islamic principles in it, while Christian and Jewish wills would not face the same treatment.
According to Elliot, Yerushalmi met with federal security and finance officials in 2008, who found his concerns about the threat of sharia unconvincing. "If you can't move policy at the federal level, well, where do you go?" Yershalmi said. "You go to the states."
Interestingly, all three state statutes make corporations exempt from their bans on sharia or foreign law, since business lobbyists expressed concern that corporations would be unable to form contracts with foreign businesses as a result.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/man-behind-anti-sharia-state-law-push-130845197.html
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Living the Ramadan in Malta
Elaine Attard
Aug 2, 2011
The Ramadan, a period of fasting for Muslims, begins with the start of a new moon today. It will continue for a month until the next new moon is sighted according to the Muslim lunar calendar. The Ramadan is a month of celebration but also a month of discipline and self-control. What does it mean for Muslims living in Malta? What challenges do they encounter when living in a country which is predominantly Catholic?
Imam Mohammed El Sadi told The Malta Independent that Muslims in Malta and all over the world are longingly waiting for the Ramadan and they welcome it with great joy because for them, it is the month of divine forgiveness.
He explained that Prophet Mohammed said, “Whoever fasts the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith and expectation of reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.” He also said “there are two occasions of pleasure for the fasting person: one at the time of breaking his fast and the other when he meets his Lord.”
Fasting the proper way in Malta is not easy because the majority of the people are enjoying their normal lifestyle, eating and drinking normally - so the temptation is attractive, the Imam continued; therefore the sacrifice is a greater challenge for them.
Full report at:
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=129749
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PAKISTAN RELEASES LASHKAR-E-JHANGVI LEADER
Aug 2, 2011
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has released Malik Mohammed Ishaq on bail, a key figure in the Sunni sectarian outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), after 14 years in prison (AFP, July 14). Ishaq is believed to have masterminded the deadly attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team on March 3, 2009 near Lahore’s Mu’ammar Gaddafi stadium while behind bars. Ishaq was released on approximately $12,000 bail from Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore whereby he was greeted by hundreds of supporters who showered him with rose petals (AP, July 14). Ishaq has, even while behind bars, managed to maintain a working relationship with the Pakistani state. It has come to light that when a cell of suicide bombers from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacked the Pakistani Army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in October 2009, Ishaq was summoned from his cell and flown in a military aircraft to Rawalpindi—along with three other major jihadi leaders – in an attempt to negotiate with the TTP attackers who were holding an estimated 42 men hostage (The News International [Islamabad], July 15). Ishaq’s release may become a serious strain on Pakistani-Sri Lankan relations. The Pakistani military establishment has particularly close bilateral relations with their counterparts in Colombo who tilted toward Pakistan after the disastrous Indian Peacekeeping Force era in Tamil-majority northern Sri Lanka from 1987-1990 sullied Indo-Sri Lankan ties. Following Ishaq’s release, three other men accused of being involved in the LeJ attack near the Liberty roundabout were also freed on bail by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore (Colombo Page, July 16).
Full report at: Jamestown Foundation
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A Portrait of Abu Bakr bin Abdul Aziz al-Athri: Salafi-Jihad’s Emerging Internet Ideologue
Murad Batal al-Shishani
Aug 2, 2011
In mid-June 2010, the brother-in-law of Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi, the late leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), Abu Qudama al-Hami, [1] posted a lengthy article on several jihadi web forums stating that a London-based Jordanian jihadi called Muhammad Eid al-Rifai’i (a.k.a. Abu Hammam; Abu Essa) is using the pseudonym “Abu Hammam Bakar al-Athri” to defend senior Salafi-jihadi ideologue Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi. [2] Since 2008, al-Hami has launched a campaign accusing al-Maqdisi of deviating from the path of Salafi-jihadi ideology’s core message. [3]
In the same article, al-Hami claimed that al-Rifai’i is the founder of the famous jihadi web forum Shmoukh al-Islam. He reminded readers of al-Rifai’i’s jihadi history and described him as takfiri (empowered to excommunicate fellow Muslims) since the days when al-Rifai’i declared himself as a Caliph in Peshawar, Pakistan in the early 1990s. It is likely that al-Hami made these accusations due to his increasing enmity towards al-Maqdisi and his school of jihadi thought. Additionally, it seems that al-Hami confused as al-Rifai’i’s kunya (an Arabic honorific taken on from one’s child) with Abu Hammam. An informed source told Jamestown that al-Athri and al-Rifai’i are indeed different men and that al-Hami targeted his rage at the wrong man.
Full report at: Jamestown Foundation
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Sudan’s Taha says country to apply Shariah, warns Al-Bashir’s detractors
Aug 2, 2011
KHARTOUM – Sudan’s vice-president Ali Osman Mohamed Taha has revealed preparations to enforce Islamic Shari’ah laws in the rump of the country after South Sudan broke away last month.
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir (L) talks to his second Vice President Ali Osman Taha (R) upon the first’s arrival from Qatar, on March 31, 2011 at Khartoum airport (Getty Images)
Taha, addressing a public rally in Al-Hilaliah area south of the capital Khartoum on Saturday afternoon, said that Islamic laws would be applied in the country, especially against those rejecting it and detractors of President Al-Bashir.
“We will cleave with a sword those who have overstepped their limits and acted insolently against the Sudanese people, their president or Shari’3ah,” Taha told the crowd.
He warned against “plots being hatched by Sudan’s ambushers,” threatening them with defeat. The Vice-president went on to downplay the impact of South Sudan secession, saying that the split makes Sudan’s stronger not weaker.
It is not clear who the vice-president meant to threaten but Taha’s highly rhetorical and strongly worded statements mark a shift from his normally mild statements.
His call for applying Shar’iah coincides with growing calls by conservative and Muslim fundamentalist groups for the establishment of an Islamic constitution in the country following the split of South Sudan.
http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-s-Taha-says-country-to-apply,39702
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Thrashed at Tihar for being Muslim?
Anurag Jadli
Aug 2, 2011
Two inmates claim some fellow prisoners brutally beat them up at the behest of deputy superintendent. Matter in Delhi minorities commission
It's occupied by many 'celebrities' these days, but the place does have its share of problems. A group of inmates at Tihar Jail have claimed that some other prisoners, at the behest of the deputy superintendent, brutally beat them up recently. The complainant, Khalil Ahmed, has been booked under the Maharashtra Control Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for a non-bailable offence, and is in the high-risk ward of Tihar Jail. The issue has gained importance because the assaulted prisoners are accusing jail authorities of targeting them on communal lines.
The attack
Ahmed alleged that on May 3, notorious criminal Ajay, along with a few other inmates, broke the lock of his ward, over-powered the jail staff and attacked him. Ahmed said the assailants were armed with blades and other sharp-edged weapons. His advocate Arvind Kumar told MiD DAY that a case in this regard has been registered at Hari Nagar police station.
Full report at: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/aug/010811-news-delhi-Thrashed-at-Tihar-for-being-Muslim.htm
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Dubai Cares launches girls’ education drive
Farhana Chowdhury
2 August 2011
Dubai Cares, the philanthropic organisation, will address the importance of education for girls in developing countries as part of an annual Ramadan initiative.
Titled ‘Girls’ Education Campaign 2011’, the month-long project aims to raise monetary funds and awareness through channels and activities.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)’s Global Monitoring Report 2007 on education showed that 42 million females in countries around the world are unable to attend school due to several cultural and financial reasons.
“It is a known fact that the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of a country goes up when a girl gets educated, but we have a lot of cultures and traditions around the world where communities reject or refuse to send their girls to school. We (Dubai Cares) have running programmes related to girls’ education, that we launched three years ago in Pakistan and Yemen, but this year we wanted to promote it further and spread the awareness to the local community. Hopefully by the end of this Ramadan the public would understand the importance of this issue and help out with their support,” said Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2011/August/theuae_August44.xml§ion=theuae
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In an Oslo mosque, a ‘special’ Ramzan begins after attacks
2 August 2011
OSLO: Shortly before 10:00 pm the sun finally sets on Oslo, allowing Muslims gathered at the Minhal-ul-Quran mosque to break the first day of fasting for Ramzan, held this year in the shadow of the deadly July 22 attacks.
After breaking the fast with a fruit salad and dates, before praying together for a few minutes, around 15 men — the women are gathered elsewhere — sit down for a second serving, spread out on a tablecloth laid directly on the Pakistani mosque’s soft carpet.
“There is a special atmosphere,” explains Methab Asfar, who heads the Islamic Council, an umbrella organisation for Muslim groups across Norway.
“These terrorist acts have brought people closer together. We are not talking about ‘us’ and ‘them’, we’re talking about ‘us’,” he says in Norwegian, dipping a piece of naan bread in a delicious chana, a special Pakistani stew made of spicy chickpeas.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/02/in-an-oslo-mosque-a-special-ramzan-begins-after-attacks.html
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Somali refugees: No food to break Ramadan fast
Aug 2, 2011
MOGADISHU, Somalia: Muslims around the world mark sundown during the holy month of Ramadan with extravagant dinners to break their daily fasts. That kind of nighttime celebration is unthinkable this year for most Somalis, who already are suffering empty stomachs during the worst famine in a generation.
Tens of thousands of Somalis already have fled starvation to the world’s largest refugee camp in neighboring Kenya, where Mohamed Mohamud Abdulle said people can’t fast without food “to console the soul” at sundown.
“Today is the worst day I ever faced. All my family are hungry and I have nothing to feed them,” Abdulle said on Monday, the first day of the Muslim holy month. “I feel the hunger that forced me from my home has doubled here.”
Somalis fleeing famine say they simply don’t have enough food to prepare a traditional feast to end a day of fasting. Refugees say they have been unintentionally fasting for weeks or months, but without the end-of-day meal to regain their strength.
“I cannot fast because I cannot get food to break it and eat before the morning,” said Nur Ahmed, a father of six at a camp for internally displaced people in Mogadishu called Badbado. Ahmed’s wife died last year during childbirth, he said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article481344.ece
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Hooligans attack Islamic center in north Serbia
Aug 2, 2011
BELGRADE, Serbia: Police say assailants have smashed an Islamic center’s windows in a city in northern Serbia.
Police say five attackers used wooden poles to smash the entrance door and another window on the center in Novi Sad early Monday.
Local Muslim religious leader Mirza Murati says the attack was an “act of vandalism and attack on all Muslims.”
He says “we thought this was behind us, but Muslims still feel insecure.”
Police say a search for the attackers is under way.
Serbia has seen a rise in far-right extremism since the ethnic wars of the 1990s’. Extremists have attacked foreigners, ethnic minorities and gays.
http://arabnews.com/world/article481246.ece
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Yemen army raid kills 15 Al Qaeda militants
Aug 2, 2011
At least 15 suspected Al Qaeda militants were killed in army air raids in and around the restive city of Zinjibar in southern Yemen, security and local officials said on Monday.
Fifteen people were killed in Sunday’s raids, including a local leader of the network, Nader Shadadi, said a security official, while another 17 were wounded.
A local official said one of the air strikes hit “a roadblock set up by Al Qaeda” near Al-Wahda stadium east of Zinjibar, which has mostly fallen into the grip of Qaeda-linked extremists.
An armoured troop carrier, captured by the militants in fighting with the army, was destroyed in another raid, the official added.
Two other raids targeted the militants’ positions in the agricultural area of Khamila, eight kilometres south of Zinjibar, and in the town of Al-Amudiya to the north, local officials said.
At least 42 people were killed in violence which rocked several towns across the southern province of Abyan on Friday. Militants of the “Partisans of Sharia”
(Islamic law), which is suspected of links to Al Qaeda, seized control of much of Zinjibar in May. Thousands of residents have since been displaced by fighting.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/357562/Yemen-army-raid-kills-15-Al-Qaeda-militants.html
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Suicide attack kills three guards in Afghanistan
Aug 2, 2011
KUNDUZ: Three guards from a private security company were killed Tuesday after a team of suicide bombers attacked the firm’s offices in northern Afghanistan, local officials said.
The attack, which triggered a firefight with security forces, happened in the city of Kunduz and also injured nine civilians and a policeman, said provincial spokesman Mahboobullah Shahedi.
One suicide bomber on Tuesday morning detonated a car bomb at the entrance to the office, allowing the other two to get inside, Shahedi said.
“Three guards were killed, nine civilians were injured and one policeman was injured in the blast and fighting,” he said.
The local deputy police chief, Abdul Rahman Aqtash, said the fighting had finished after the two remaining bombers detonated themselves inside the offices in quick succession.
He confirmed the death toll given by Shahedi and explained that the nine wounded civilians were residents of a nearby house who were hurt by the initial car bomb blast.
The north of Afghanistan has traditionally been seen as more secure than south and east of the country, which have suffered much of the worst violence in the near decade-long Taliban-led insurgency.
But a string of violent episodes in recent months, including May’s killing of northern Afghanistan’s influential police commander in the province of Takhar, which borders Kunduz, have raised fears about the area’s stability.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/02/suicide-attack-kills-three-guards-in-afghanistan.html
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NATO airstrike kills 4 policemen in Afghanistan
Aug 2, 2011
KABUL: The governor of a province in northeastern Afghanistan said on Monday a NATO airstrike killed four police officers at a checkpoint in the remote, mountainous region.
Jamaluddin Badar said the strike took place late on Sunday in the Wama district of Nuristan province, a lawless, rugged area near the border with Pakistan. He said coalition forces detained 12 police officers following the airstrike.
However, the NATO-led coalition denied they were police. A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it believed a total of three men had been killed in a group that were not police but who had obtained police uniforms.
He added that one of the men was wearing women’s clothes and they had connections to terrorists.
Mistaken airstrikes and night-raids are the leading cause of tension between the US-led coalition and the Afghan government. President Hamid Karzai has demanded that the coalition take steps to ensure that airstrikes do not cause accidental deaths. The UN said in its midyear report that airstrikes conducted by the US-led coalition remained the leading cause of civilian deaths by pro-government forces.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\02\story_2-8-2011_pg7_26
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23 wounded in church attack in north Iraq
2 August 2011
A car bomb outside a Christian church wounded 23 people, police said, as security forces found and disabled vehicles packed with explosives outside two other parishes in northern Iraq.
The bombing and the two averted attacks in the northern city of Kirkuk signal continued violence against Iraqi Christians, nearly 1 million of whom have fled since the war began in 2003.
‘The terrorists want to make us flee Iraq, but they will fail,’ said the Rev. Haithem Akram, the priest of one of the churches that was targeted. ‘We are staying in our country. The Iraqi Christians are easy targets because they do not have militias to protect them. The terrorists want to terrorize us, but they will fail.’
The assault began at 6 a.m., when the car blew up outside the Syrian Catholic church, severely damaging the church and nearby houses, said police Col. Taha Salaheddin.
The parish’s leader, the Rev. Imad Yalda, was the only person inside at the time of the blast and was wounded. The 22 other wounded were people whose nearby homes were hit by the blast, said Kirkuk police chief Maj. Gen. Jamal Tahir.
Following the blast at the Syrian Catholic church, police discovered two more car bombs parked outside the Christian Anglican church and the Mar Gourgis church, both in downtown Kirkuk.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/August/middleeast_August41.xml§ion=middleeast
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Chinese media highlights Pak angle, seeks action on terror
Aug 2, 2011
BEIJING: China's official media on Tuesday prominently highlighted the Kashgar government's statement indicting Pakistan-trained militants in violence in the city, while demanding stern action to deal with terrorism.
For the first time, China blamed Uygur "militants" trained in Pakistan for the deadly violence in its restive Xinjiang province which left at least 22 people dead in the last two days.
Xinjiang shares a border with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and China blames the separatist East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for fomenting trouble in the province.
Following China's statement, Pakistan, a close ally, said it would extend "full cooperation" to Beijing in countering the rebels of the ETIM.
In an editorial titled 'Fight against terrorism', the China Daily quoted the local government's statement, saying a preliminary probe found that the East Turkistan Islamic Movement was behind the explosion at the weekend.
"The leaders of the group learned terrorist techniques in ETIM camps in Pakistan before they penetrated into Xinjiang," it said, calling for stepping up fight against terrorism and demanding a crackdown on separatists.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/Chinese-media-highlights-Pak-angle-seeks-action-on-terror/articleshow/9454797.cms
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No licence to any Indian channel: Pakistani minister
Aug 2, 2011
ISLAMABAD: No licence has been issued to any Indian or Indian content channels, a Pakistani minister has clarified.
Minister for information and broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan on Monday informed the National Assembly said the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has not issued any license to Indian or Indian content channels.
At present, 23 private entertainment satellite TV channels are telecasting Indian programmes, Associated Press of Pakistan quoted her as saying.
She said that 10 percent foreign content is allowed to all private TV channels under the provision of terms and conditions of the license.
The minister added that PTV had acquired the terrestrial rights for the telecast of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Pakistan.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/No-licence-to-any-Indian-channel-Pakistani-minister/articleshow/9453352.cms
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Gaddafi seeks to hire PR firm to improve his bloody image
Aug 2, 2011
IT might be the most difficult PR job in New York.
As his country is ripped apart by a bloody civil war and rebels fight to topple him, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi is trying to hire a public relations firm to improve his image.
In a bizarre email scouting for candidates, the country’s ministry of information also claims the NATO strikes were caused by a “ P. R. attack” - rather than the slaughter of innocent protesters.
To fight back, Gaddafi is looking for a spin doctor to issue daily press briefings on his “ moral” and “ legal” claims to power, as hundreds die trying to end his 42- year regime.
Ali Darwish, of the Libyan ministry of information, sent the pitch to agencies in New York City and London earlier this month, asking for representatives to “ present our just and fair case to the world”. He wrote: “ We have good moral, political and legal logic supporting our position as the legitimate, sovereign and popular government of Libya.” “ We also have proofs in written, audio and video forms to take our case forward.” He also attempts to blame the NATO air strikes on negative PR. He wrote: “ Libya has been under an unjustified media and P. R. attack which led to NATO’s military involvement.” The email suggests the government is keen to conceal the plan, the New York Post reports.
It continued: “ We can formalise any deal with your organisation through a third party to help move things forward fast.” According to an official at the Libyan Mission in New York, the email is legitimate.
Dia Abubaker Alhutmany said: “ The government is trying to have the support of people outside the country.” Ronn Torossian, of public relations firm 5WPR said: “ I highly doubt any PR firm will positively respond to this request.”
Mail Today
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A Flamboyant Friend Killed in Norway Is Mourned
By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ
Aug 2, 2011
HAMAR, Norway — Like veteran soldiers of an operation gone wrong, about a dozen sleep-deprived young people gathered on a beach of this small lakeside town to reminisce about the comrade they left behind.
They were survivors of the July 22 massacre on the island of Utoya, and each had a story — of hiding in toilets, jumping out windows or playing dead in order to survive. But all made it back here to their serene hometown; all, that is, except for Ismail Haji Ahmed, better known here as the dancer Isma Brown.
He was one of at least 69 mostly young people killed on Utoya. Police have identified all of the victims and have begun returning them to their hometowns for burial. And for many survivors, the full weight of the tragedy has hit home only when they see the bodies of their friends come back in coffins.
“When I saw Ismail’s body at the hospital it became real,” said Semir Vranesi, 17, a friend of his who survived on Utoya by hiding behind a large rock for an hour and a half until help arrived. “I saw Ismail dead, and it was true. I was thinking that it could have been me, and my family standing around. It was like being stabbed in the heart.”
A tall, spidery 19-year-old, with almond-brown skin and an ever-changing hairdo, Mr. Ahmed injected a flamboyance into this staid Nordic city that was clearly missing on a recent visit.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world/europe/02norway.html?ref=world
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First on chest, second on head, that's how Osama bin Laden was killed
Aug 2, 2011
NEW YORK: The US Navy SEALs pumped two 5.56-mm bullets to kill an unarmed al-Qaida chief in Pakistan's garrison city Abbottabad, a media report said on Monday, providing new insight into the covert operation.
"There was never any question of detaining or capturing him -- it wasn't a split-second decision. No one wanted detainees," a special-operations officer in the raid was quoted as saying by The New Yorker magazine.
Six US helicopters - two MH-60 Black Hawk and four MH-47 Chinooks - were involved in the May 2 special operation to kill bin Laden, the weekly reported in its latest edition.
"The first round, a 5.56-mm bullet, struck bin Laden in the chest. As he fell backward, the SEAL fired a second round into his head, just above his left eye," the report said while detailing the blow-by-blow account of the special operation.
On his radio, The SEAL personnel who shot the al-Qaida mastermind, reported, "For God and country--Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo." After a pause, he added, "Geronimo E.K.I.A."--"enemy killed in action."
The comprehensive report on the nearly 40 minute raid on 54-year-old Osama's hide out said that the climax began when a SEAL personnel stepped into Osama's bedroom and trained the infrared laser of his M4 on his chest.
Bin Laden, who was wearing a tan shalwar kameez and a prayer cap on his head, froze; he was unarmed, the report said, while adding Osama's two wives tried to protect him by placing themselves as human shields.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/First-on-chest-second-on-head-thats-how-Osama-bin-Laden-was-killed/articleshow/9446326.cms
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Bhutto killing accused shines in secondary school examination
Aug 2, 2011
ISLAMABAD: One of the accused in the 2007 assassination of former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto has come out with flying colours in secondary school certificate examination, securing third position while writing the exam from a Rawalpindi jail.
Abdul Rasheed Ahmed alias Abdul Rahim Tarbi, one of the five accused in the case, secured 848 marks out of a total of 1,050 in the test conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education of Rawalpindi, according to results announced on Monday.
Ahmed is currently being held in Adiala Jail along with four other accused.
He is a resident of a village at Batagram in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Ahmed was studying in a madrassa in Akora Khattak when he was arrested with three others in connection with a terrorist attack at Kamra in Punjab in January 2008.
Aitzaz Shah, another accused in the Bhutto assassination case, too is studying in the third grade of Islamic education.
"The jail administration provided teachers and other facilities to (Ahmed) after he expressed his willingness to complete his studies," said Mohisn Raffique, superintendent of Adiala Jail.
The jail administration will reward Ahmed for his achievement, he said.
Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber shortly after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Bhutto-killing-accused-shines-in-secondary-school-examination/articleshow/9453678.cms
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Pak tries to placate China, offers help
Omer Farooq Khan
Aug 2, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Hours after Beijing officially blamed Sunday's violence in Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province on Pakistan, Islamabad rushed to mollify its "all-weather friend" saying it pledges full cooperation to China on fighting terrorism.
Violence swept through the city of Kashgar near China's border with Pakistan on Sunday and the local government said in its official website that the terror masterminds had received explosives and firearms training at Pakistan-based camps of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
The attack coincided with a visit to China by the ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
All incidents of terrorism are deplorable, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said in Islamabad.
"Pakistan is confident that the patriotic people of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China and, in particular, Kashgar as well as the Chinese government, will succeed in frustrating evil designs of the terrorists and separatists, who constitute an evil force."
"If China takes up the issue officially with Pakistan, it will fully cooperate," Dr Hasan Askari, a defence analyst, said.
He said the government of China will not publicly denounce Pakistan.The East Turkestan Islamic Movement, also known as the Turkestan Islamic Movement, was founded in the early 1990s to create an independent state of East Turkestan as well as to convert Chinese to Islam.
In the late 1990s, ETIM leader Hasan Mahsum moved his headquarters to Kabul. The group's infrastructure was crippled after US forces began operating in Afghanistan and started bombing al-Qaida bases in the mountainous regions along the border with Pakistan. Hasan Mahsum was reportedly killed in those attacks.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-tries-to-placate-China-offers-help/articleshow/9449253.cms
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US considered tunneling to bin Laden: report
Aug 2, 2011
NEW YORK: US commanders of the raid on Osama bin Laden considered a more down-to-earth way of entering his compound than swooping in by helicopter, a report said on Tuesday.
The short-lived idea would have avoided ground troops having to sneak through the nearby town of Abbottabad as they penetrated the walled house where the Al-Qaeda leader was hiding, The New Yorker reported.
Planners also had to consider the possibility that their quarry might himself have tunnels ready for an escape.
In the end, though, they determined from satellite photos that the water table was probably just below the surface of the surrounding flat land and that tunneling was highly unlikely to be successful.
A less exotic option for striking bin Laden was to bomb from the sky. The New Yorker article detailed how then secretary of defense Robert Gates preferred a strike by B-2 Spirit bombers to sending in troops.
However, to be sure of destroying the house and any fortified bunker underneath would require such a massive bombardment that it would result in Abbottabad feeling "the equivalent of an earthquake," James Cartwright, the then vice-chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told The New Yorker.
President Barack Obama disliked that idea and said the helicopter raid should go ahead.
The spectacular incursion by the United States into a supposedly allied country's territory and the row over bin Laden's longtime presence there triggered a crisis in US-Pakistani relations.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-considered-tunneling-to-bin-Laden-report/articleshow/9451199.cms
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Vigil up on Afghan border to nab Haqqani men
Aug 2, 2011
KABUL: American and allied forces in Afghanistan are strengthening a layered defence along the border with Pakistan to seize Haqqani network militants as they try to make their way to Kabul to carry out spectacular attacks, according to senior military officers.
Commanders continue to debate whether Pakistan is unable - or unwilling - to eliminate the safe haven within its borders used by the Haqqani network, a powerful insurgent group that US officials say is nurtured by Pakistani security and intelligence officers to maintain influence in Afghanistan.
After Adm Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, he flew back to Kabul where he praised the strategy to thicken defences from the border toward Kabul to make it more difficult for Haqqani operatives to use rugged mountain passes as a "jet stream" to feed in militants for attacks. "And it is more difficult," Mullen said.
Adm Mullen, who has sought to restore relations with Pakistan damaged by the unilateral US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, acknowledged US frustrations with the pace that Pakistani security forces have moved to cleanse their border regions of militants.
"It has to be addressed," he said. "The leadership in Pakistan understands that."
During a three-day visit to Afghanistan, Mullen also met with commanders and troops across the south and southwest, a focus of the troop surge ordered by American president Barrack Obama.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Vigil-up-on-Afghan-border-to-nab-Haqqani-men/articleshow/9449194.cms
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Madam Qaida’ faces trial in Saudi Arabia
Aug 2, 2011
DUBAI: A Saudi court has opened the trial of a woman terror mastermind dubbed Madam al-Qaida".
The 47-year-old Haila al-Qusayyer, alleged to be a terror financier, who was given the name of 'Madam al-Qaida' is the first woman in the kingdom to be charged of involvement in terrorist activities, the 'Arab News' reported today.
Al-Qusayyer is charged with of being an al-Qaeda member, harbouring wanted criminals and recruiting members for the dreaded terror outfit.
She is also accused of carrying weapons to be used in terror campaigns and forging identity papers to enable militants to travel abroad.
Al-Qusayyer's main task was to allegedly collect money from the organisation and to market their ideology.
The judge hearing the case has given the "female bin Laden" time till after Ramadan to rSespond to the charge.
Al-Qusayyer had been married to two al-Qaeda militants -- Abdul Kareem Al-Homaid and Muhammad Suleiman Al-Wakeel. Al-Wakeel was killed in a security operation in 2004.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Madam-Qaida-faces-trial-in-Saudi-Arabia/articleshow/9449049.cms
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Al-Qaida confirms militant's death in Algeria
Aug 2, 2011
WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb has posted a video eulogy of a prominent extremist, Abdelkahar Belhadj, who was reported killed in Algeria last week, the SITE monitoring service said on Tuesday.
Algerian officials said last week that Belhadj was killed with two other people July 25 as they were driving a car laden with explosives to Algiers.
The car exploded when police tried to stop the vehicle and then opened fired, the officials said.
In the 10 minute, 30 second video posted Monday on jihadist websites, AQIM's media official, Salah Abu Muhammad, confirmed that Belhadj was killed, according to SITE.
Belhadj was the son of Ali Belhadj, the former president of the Islamic Salvation Front party in Algeria.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Al-Qaida-confirms-militants-death-in-Algeria/articleshow/9449340.cms
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Wedding stopped as groom is woman
Aug 2, 2011
INDONESIA: An Islamic wedding was stopped after the groom turned out to be a woman.
Family and friends were already at the couple's nuptials in Indonesia, western Java - where same sex marriages are illegal - when the discovery was made after suspicions were raised because the groom had not brought the relevant documents.
Local police chief Krisnandi said: "The suspicion became bigger as her heavy voice suddenly changed into a female one."
However, the bride's parents acted quickly and convinced her ex-boyfriend to marry her instead.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/mad-mad-world/Wedding-stopped-as-groom-is-woman/articleshow/9444169.cms
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'Mohabbat-the-Taj' - new attraction for tourists in Taj City
Aug 2, 2011
Agra : Millions travel here every year to see Taj Mahal. Now there is another attraction for the visitors - "'Mohabbat-the-Taj', a play depicting the immortal love of Mughal Emperor Shajahan and his wife Mumtaj Mahal.
A brain child of Ashok Oswal, the 80-minute show opened here Sunday at the Kalakriti Auditorium, which is especially built for the show.
"Through this 80-minute presentation in an international class auditorium with simultaneous translation facilities in eight different languages, we have tried to integrate traditional media with modern-day state of the art technology, and laser beams," Oswal, who is the producer of the show, told IANS.
"Eighty artistes perform live," he added saying his project will prove to be a big boon for tourism here.
Bollywood sound engineer Satish Gupta, who has directed the show, teamed up with artistes from theatre and film backgrounds. Yashraj Sharma plays Mughal emperor Shah Jehan and Divya Srivastav portrays Mumtaz Mahal.
Bollywood actress Aruna Irani, who was the chief guest at the inaugural show, said: "The show truly is the best. It had been beautifully showcased."
http://twocircles.net/2011aug01/mohabbatthetaj_new_attraction_tourists_taj_city.html?
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Egypt: Fundamentalist Muslims joining protests in force
By June Kellum
Aug 2, 2011
Hundreds of policemen from Egypt’s interim military government violently dispersed protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square Monday.
Thousands of demonstrators were in the square when police arrived in armored trucks and began dismantling tents and the iron and barbwire barriers demonstrators had erected to block the square’s entrances, according to Egyptian media.
After police fired into the air to disband protesters, the security forces began beating those who refused to leave, reported The Egyptian Gazette. Protesters responded by throwing sticks and rocks at police.
AP reported that the police swung electric batons and shouted “God is great” as they chased protesters. There were reports of injuries but no fatalities.
About 25 people were arrested and security forces confiscated some cameras, including a memory card from an Ahram Online correspondent, the news agency said.
The protest disbandment was watched by cheering storeowners whose businesses have been hurt by continued protests over the past month.
Slow Pace of Reform
Full report at:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/egyptian-police-forcibly-remove-tahrir-protesters-59847.html
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Ramadan 2011: Discovering the Culture and Traditions of the Holy Month
By Molly Corum
Aug 2, 2011
Monday, August 1 marks the first day of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. This month, Muslims in the Middle East and around the world will gather together to fast, pray, connect with family and friends, and re-evaluate their lives in light of Islamic guidance.
During the Holy Month of Ramadan, believers are expected to follow Sharia law, with fasting from sun up to sun down for 30 days. This fast is intended to help instill patience, self-sacrifice, spiritual cleansing, enlightenment and submissiveness to God. Ramadan is an especially important month in the Islamic calendar as it is believed to be the month when the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the prophet Muhammad, thus bestowing the revelations of God on mankind.
Ramadan begins on Hilal (the crescent), which usually falls a day after the new moon. As the Islamic calendar is lunar, Ramadan is not celebrated during the same time every year. the holiday will move backwards in the year so that within 36 years, it will be celebrated on every day of the year. After the sun has risen on the first day, practitioners use the daylight as a chance to purify the soul, refocus attention on God, and practice humility and control. This control extends beyond fasting- Muslims must refrain from spreading gossip or lies, looking at unholy things, visiting obscene places, thinking irreligious thoughts and doing unkind things to anyone. Sexual intercourse is also prohibited during the month as this is also thought of as a way to resist temptation. The aim of fasting is to redirect the mind and spirit away from worldly activities and focus on cleansing the soul while paying homage to God.
Full report at:
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/190373/20110801/ramadan-quran-recitation-fasting-islam-muslims-mosque-prayer-charity.htm
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Kelly Brook and the jihad seekers' allowance
By Richard Littlejohn
2nd August 2011
They must be the first teenage boys in history to take offence at the sight of a scantily-clad Playboy model.
Most young men would salivate over a poster of a voluptuous Kelly Brook pouting provocatively while thrusting her ample bosom in their direction.
But when Mohammed Hasnath and Muhammed Tahir encountered the image of the model/actress/whatever on the side of a bus shelter in East London they were horrified.
The sight of Miss Brook dressed as an angel in a Lynx deodorant advert was too much for their religious sensibilities. So they painted a burka over her. They said it was a ‘sin’ for a woman be uncovered in public.
This poster was just one of a number the pair defaced on decency grounds. At Thames Magistrates Court, in Tower Hamlets, they admitted six counts of criminal damage, were ordered to pay £283 each and given a 12-month conditional discharge.
Hasnath and Tahir, both 18, told police that the way the women had been photographed was against their religion. Hasnath said: ‘If someone was to look at our wife or mother or daughter with a bad intention, we would not like it, so we were just trying to do good.’
There will be some sympathy for them — and not just from other Muslims. Plenty of people, especially those with young children, are uncomfortable with the proliferation of sexually-explicit advertising in public spaces.
Full report at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2021309/Kelly-Brook-jihad-seekers-allowance.html#
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Norway gunman wants Japanese psychiatrist
2 August 2011
The man behind the deadly twin attacks in Norway on July 22 wants a Japanese psychiatrist to carry out his psychological evaluation, his lawyer was quoted as saying.
‘My client has expressed a wish for a Japanese expert. This wish has to do with the concept of honour. He believes that a Japanese person will understand him better than someone from Europe,’ defence lawyer Geir Lippestad told financial daily Dagens Naeringsliv.
Two Norwegian psychiatrists have been tasked with evaluating the mental state of 32-year-old rightwing extremist and confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik.
They are set to make their recommendation by November 1 of whether he is sane enough to be tried for the attacks that killed 77 people and injured dozens of others.
‘He has not said anything to me about refusing to talk to them,’ Lippestad stressed in the Dagens Naeringsliv interview.
Thomas Hegghammer, a Norwegian expert on terrorism and Islamic extremism, told AFP in a recent interview that Behring Breivik’s 1,500-page manifesto detailing his ‘crusade’ against a ‘Muslim invasion’ of Europe, showed he was fascinated by the Japanese and Korean cultures.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/August/international_August75.xml§ion=international
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Ties with Pakistan biggest challenge for new foreign secy
By Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
Aug 2, 2011
“ CONSTRUCTIVE cooperation in the immediate neighbourhood” would be the principal challenge of Ranjan Mathai, who took over as India’s new foreign secretary on Monday.
Soon after taking charge, Mathai said he had been given the mandate to restore trust and confidence in India- Pakistan ties days after the talks between the two countries’ foreign ministers.
This cautious approach makes it evident that despite resumption of dialogue between the neighbours, the path to peace is fraught with difficulties, with no concrete progress in the 26/ 11 trial and the terror infrastructure in Pakistan still remaining intact.
Dealing with this will be the biggest challenge for Mathai, who has not served in any of the neighbouring countries as envoy.
His only brush with the country’s neighbourhood was handling the Bangladesh- Sri Lanka- Myanmar- Maldives division as the joint secretary between 1995 and 98 and earlier a stint in Colombo.
However, his experience in dealing with Bangladesh is expected to come handy when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Dhaka on August 6- 7.
Mathai’s maiden interaction with the media after assuming office expectedly focused on India- Pakistan ties.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Kashmir’s theatre of the ‘ oppressed’ scales new heights
By Naseer Ganai
Aug 2, 2011
SINCE the early days of human history, theatre has been a tool for bringing about social change. From Sophocles to Seneca, Shakespeare to Brecht, the theatre has served as an instrument to highlight people’s plight in the face of reality.
Arshid Mushtaq decided to follow in the footsteps of these masters to come up with a work that takes a look at the life of the average Kashmiris. On Saturday, Mushtaq staged his play Wattepaed ( footprints), signalling a new beginning for theatre in the state.
It was the first play in Kashmiri history where the audience paid for their tickets. The play, which was steeped in symbolism, presented the audience with a glimpse of their trials and tribulations.
It brought laughter and tears from the audience and in the end, a standing ovation for director Mushtaq and the actors, drawn from Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits. The play used traditional Kashmiri theatre form Bhand Pather to highlight present day realities. Bhand Pather is a blend of song, dance and drama where mythological legends are incorporated with contemporary social satire.
The play centers around three boys living in a Kashmiri village during the reign of a king. The boys, all labourers, were killed by the king’s army in a jungle during an encounter. The men killed the boys to lay their hands on a cash reward.
What followed seemed to be symptomatic of the situation prevailing in the Valley these days.
Full report at: Mail Today
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P. Chidambaram uses Hindu terror shield to offset blame
By Aman Sharma
Aug 2, 2011
HOME minister P. Chidambaram on Monday said BJP had stepped up its attacks on him in the 2G scam in conjunction with the pace of investigations in the right- wing terror cases.
Chidambaram also suggested that many BJP leaders had told him in private that they didn’t believe in the charges that the Opposition party was otherwise levelling against him in the 2G case.
When asked about the BJP allegations that he was clubbing unrelated issues of the 2G scam and the right- wing terror probes in order to offset the BJP offensive, he said: “ Well, I am not sure they are entirely unrelated. It is clear that the step- up in the attacks ( by the BJP) is running parallel to the pace of the investigations ( into the right- wing terror probes).” Chidambaram’s remarks on Monday come exactly a week after he had said that the BJP was targeting him because he was seriously pursuing terror cases in which fundamentalist elements linked to the RSS were involved.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Born in Hyderabad, 9/11 lawyer is made jurist in NJ
Aug 02 2011
Paterson : After the 9/11 attacks, more than 1,100 Arabs and Muslims, most of them from New York and New Jersey, were rounded up as the FBI searched for terrorists.
In few places was the spotlight as white-hot as in Paterson, New Jersey, where as many as six of the September 11 hijackers spent time before the attacks. As agents went knocking on doors, many Muslims were cowering terrified of being thrown in jail for crimes they knew nothing about.
A young, soft-spoken Muslim immigration attorney named Sohail Mohammed represented many people rounded up in New Jersey in post-9/11 dragnet. Along the way, the Indian-American attorney gained the friendship of top law enforcement officials for his efforts to build bridges between the Muslim community and law enforcement. He won over one official whose favour would prove crucial: the US attorney for New Jersey, Chris Christie. Christie, now the state’s governor, nominated Mohammed to a Superior Court judgeship. Mohammed was sworn into office last week, becoming New Jersey’s second Muslim judge. Mohammed, born in Hyderabad, India, is also the state’s first Indian-American judge.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/born-in-hyderabad-9-11-lawyer-is-made-jurist-in-nj/825769/
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Karachiites welcome Ramazan with religious zeal
Aug 2, 2011
KARACHI: Karachiites welcomed the holy month of Ramazan with religious zeal and enthusiasm. In this regard, various religious parties, welfare organisations and individuals made arrangements for Tarawih prayers.
Sindh home department also deployed the personnel of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) within the limits of mosques and other sensitive areas. Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) had already announced to continue power supply during Sehar and Iftar timings besides deciding to curtail the time period of load shedding by three and a half hours to four and a half hours, while market giants took Ramazan as an opportunity to double their profit ratio for minting money as the majority of commodity prices have been raised. The prices of dairy products, fruits, particularly dates, pulses and other daily use items have been increased, while relevant authorities were seen silent spectators as contrary to former practices, magistrates are still deprived of special powers to curb inflation.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\02\story_2-8-2011_pg7_20
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Royal pardon for 143 Bahraini convicts
2 August 2011
MANAMA — A total of 143 convicts were pardoned on Sunday by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as part of the celebrations of the holy month of Ramadan. The inmates were convicted in various cases.
The royal pardon marks the advent of the Holy month of Ramadan, in line with the King’s keenness to offer the pardoned convicts an opportunity to reintegrate themselves with the society and participate in the march of progress and construction of the nation.? shamada@khaleejtimes.com
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/August/middleeast_August24.xml§ion=middleeast
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Jailed Norwegian attacker wants govt to resign
Aug 02 2011
Oslo : The confessed killer in Norway's twin terror attacks that claimed 77 lives has presented a long list of 'unrealistic' demands, including the resignation of the government and that his mental condition be investigated by Japanese specialists, his defense lawyer said Tuesday.
Geir Lippestad said his client Brevik has two lists of demands. One consists of requests common among inmates such as for cigarettes and civilian clothing. The other is “unrealistic, far, far from the real world and shows he doesn't know how society works”, Lippestad said by telephone.
Lippestad said 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik links this second list to his willingness to share information about two other alleged terrorist cells that Breivik has mentioned during questioning.
“They are completely impossible to fulfill”, Lippestad said, adding that although Breivik has agreed to be examined by local psychiatrists, he also wants to be investigated by Japanese specialists.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jailed-norwegian-attacker-wants-govt-to-resign/826111/
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U.S. Military Claims Success Curbing Attacks in Iraq With Iranian Weapons
By THOM SHANKER
Aug 2, 2011
MOSUL, Iraq — Attacks by insurgents using what American analysts say are advanced Iranian weapons have dropped significantly over the last few weeks, senior American military officials said Monday, citing a two-track campaign of allied raids on Iranian-backed militants and official Iraqi protests to Tehran.
Powerful roadside bombs that can puncture armored vehicles and lethal rockets fired at American military positions have caused a noticeable increase in violence this summer, including the highest number of American combat fatalities in three years. Top American officials say Iran is supplying the weapons in order to claim credit for driving out the withdrawing American forces.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the military and diplomatic offensive for the first time on Monday, as he arrived in Iraq for consultations with commanders and to press the Iraqi government for a quick decision on whether it would request an enduring American military commitment beyond the end of the year.
He said the rise in attacks had prompted the United States to urge the Iraqi leadership to take “steps that we felt needed to be taken to address this significant uptick of violence, particularly the violence supported by Iran.”
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world/middleeast/02mullen.html?hpw
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Al-Jazeera English launches in New York
2 August 2011
NEW YORK- Further popularized and legitimized by the Arab Spring, Al-Jazeera English has incrementally expanded its presence in the US broadcast market, and Sunday revealed its biggest move to date.
Al-Jazeera English is now available to Time Warner subscribers in New York City and will soon be available to Verizon FiOS subscribers in the Big Apple as well, the New York Times reported.
The network is available via satellite across the country, but only on television in specific markets like Washington D.C. and Houston.
While this is only secures the eyeballs of one more American city — and by subletting space on a small channel — it is New York City, which is just over a month away from commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Yet it also happens to be the city in which it is most popular.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/August/international_August47.xml§ion=international&col=
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Deewaar 2: Salim vs Javed in Narendra Modi-starrer
Aug 2, 2011
AHMEDABAD: They haven't spoken to each other for the last 30 years. Nobody really knows why Bollywood's blockbuster pair separated after scripting hits like 'Sholay' and 'Deewaar'. Now, they find themselves on opposite sides in this Narendra Modi blockbuster.
Javed Akhtar has long been a critic of the Gujarat chief minister, one of the few intellectuals who have not softened their stance on him for his complicity in the Gujarat riots of 2002. His estranged partner, Salim Khan, has been going around supporting the idea that Muslims should make peace with Modi and be partners in development.
Out of the duo, Salim was said to be the master of the plot -he always had the big picture; Javed was the one who used to do the detailing, putting in the nuts and bolts and dialogues in the script.While Salim wrote intermittently after the pair split, Javed continued with his writing even more intensively, dabbling often with activism.
In 2007, Javed moved the Supreme Court seeking a probe by a special investigation team into the alleged fake encounters in Gujarat claiming that innocent people, particularly Muslims, were being targeted as terrorists. Earlier, in April 2005, soon after Modi was denied a US visa, Javed had shot off a letter to Modi, complaining about the inclusion of his statement on the visa denial issue in a compilation brought out by the Gujarat government.
Akhtar had threatened legal action and wondered why he, often been labelled a 'pseudo secularist',was being used to lend credibility to Modi. On the sidelines of a function in Mumbai less than a year back, at a gathering of leading luminaries of the city,Modi spent more than an hour talking to Salim about his keeness to initiate a dialogue with even those Muslims who refuse to forgive him.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Deewaar-2-Salim-vs-Javed-in-Narendra-Modi-starrer/articleshow/9450252.cms
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/60-die-karachi,-mqm-threatens/d/5164