Activists and Imams in Ayodhya Seek Increased Police Protection in Neighbourhoods Ahead Of Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony
New Age Islam News Bureau
18 January 2024
An Indian Muslim man walks past
paramilitary troops standing guard near a mosque in Ayodhya Getty Images
-----
·
Activists
And Imams In Ayodhya Seek Increased Police Protection In Neighbourhoods Ahead
Of Ram Temple Consecration Ceremony
·
Future
Capital, Nusantara, to Build Church, Temple as Work on $60m Mosque Begins:
Indonesian President
·
Patients
In Gaza Hospitals Beg For Food And Water As They Lie ‘Waiting To Die,’ WHO
Official Says
·
Threatening
Letters Sent To Mosques In Germany Have Increased Since Start Of The
Israel-Hamas War On Oct. 7
·
Yemen
Political Council Calls On Islamic & Arab Regimes To Not Remain Vehicle For
Normalization With Israel
-------
India
·
Manipur
Muslim Body Seeks Aid For Community Amid Ethnic Turmoil
·
HC Notice
To Centre, Karnataka Govt On Madrasa Operated Inside Archaeological Survey Of India
Protected Mosque
·
Farooq
Abdullah Asks Muslims To Remain Vigilant Against BJP's Tactics To Win Their
Votes
·
AMU Student
Held For Links With ISIS, Claims UP ATS
·
Invite
Owaisi To Ram Mandir Inauguration: BJYM Leader Cites ‘Ancestral Connection’
·
Varanasi
DM appointed receiver of Gyanvapi cellar
·
Pakistan-Iran
Tensions: India Says Understand ‘Actions Countries Take In Self-Defence’
-----
Southeast Asia
·
Selangor
Islamic Religious Council Partners With MACC To Prevent Misappropriation Of
Funds, Says Its Chairman
·
Hong Leong
Islamic Bank, Andalusia Travel Ink Partnership To Offer Umrah Financing
·
China says
willing to mediate between Pakistan and Iran after strikes
·
Fahmi
presses for Palestine’s acceptance as full UN member
·
Indonesia
negotiates to build field hospital for Gazans: Minister
----
Mideast
·
Iran says
will not tolerate ‘any Israeli operation from any country’
·
Key Mossad
agent killed in IRGC missile attack in Iraq's Erbil
·
Iran
attack didn't target Pakistani nationals, but Iranian terrorists: FM
Amir-Abdollahian
·
Palestinian
resistance factions condemn America's inclusion of "Yemeni Ansar
Allah" on terrorist lists
·
Prisoner's
Club warns of enemy's continuing crime of enforced disappearance against Gaza
detainees
·
Israel
targets places of worship in Lebanon
----
Europe
·
General
Medical Council Urged To Suspend Leader Of UK Islamist Group, Hizb ut-Tahrir
·
Sunak
Accuses Starmer Of ‘Invoicing’ Hizb ut-Tahrir While Working As Lawyer
·
Britain’s
foreign secretary calls for quick end to Gaza conflict
·
French
Soccer Icon Karim Benzema Sues Interior Minister Over Muslim Brotherhood
Accusation
·
Palestinian
Envoy Slams UK Over ‘Double Standards’ In Policies Toward Israel
-----
Arab World
·
Qatar
announces Israel-Hamas deal on medicine, aid into Gaza
·
US, UK
carry out new round of strikes on Houthis in Yemen
·
Yemen aid
groups express alarm over Red Sea tensions
·
Saudi aid
agency, UK foreign office review humanitarian, relief projects
·
Saudi
minister, EU ambassador hold talks in Riyadh
·
150,000
trees planted in Taif to combat desertification
----
Pakistan
·
Pakistan Conducts
Military Strikes against 'Terrorist Hideouts' In Iran's Siestan-Balochistan Province
·
Islamabad
High Court Rejects Plea For Staying Iddat Case Trial Against Imran, Bushra
·
FM terms
Iran’s act in Balochistan serious breach of Pakistan's sovereignty
·
In meeting
with PM Kakar, Iranian FM didn’t share attack plan
·
PTI
rejects JIT formed to probe anti-judiciary campaign
·
Imran in
jail for inciting workers to violence: Kakar
·
Rejection Of
Nomination Papers: LHC Reserves Verdict On Imran Khan’s Petition
----
South Asia
·
Islamic
Emirate Of Afghanistan’s Leader: The World Is Trying To Destroy Our Unity And
System
·
Bangladesh
Nationalist Party May Call Hartal Or Lay Siege To Parliament
·
Taliban
poses no security issue in Iran: Iranian Official
·
US aims to
destabilize Afghanistan: Iranian Envoy
·
96,000
Children Affected from Earthquake in Herat: UNICEF
·
Acting
Economy Minister and UN Envoy Discussed Tackling Poverty, Unemployment in
Afghanistan
·
Haqqani
meets with EU delegation in Kabul
·
Hasina’s
return as PM was needed: ADB’s country director
·
KSrelief
provides aid to Afghan families forcibly returned from Pakistan
-----
Africa
·
‘Nigerians
Facing the Worst Hardships Under Tinubu’ – Supreme Council for Shari’ah Cries
Out
·
Ghana’s
National Chief Imam Supports SDA Church’s Request for Election Date Change
·
Banditry:
Gov Idris laments killing of NIS personnel in Kebbi
·
2 killed
and 77 injured in a massive blast in southern Nigeria
·
VP
Abdelbagi urges unity among Muslim community
-----
North America
·
For
American Muslims, Biden’s Israel Dilemma Becomes A Voters’ Dilemma
·
US
designates Houthis as ‘terrorist’ in response to Red Sea attacks
·
US
launches 4th round of missile strikes on Yemen in a week
·
CAIR
Encourages U.S. Imams to Discuss Indian Govt’s Plan to Open Temple on
Demolished Babri Mosque
·
CAIR-Cleveland
Urges Passage of Toledo City Council Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/activists-imams-ayodhya-temple-consecration/d/131539
-------
Activists And Imams In Ayodhya Seek
Increased Police Protection In Neighbourhoods Ahead Of Ram Temple Consecration
Ceremony
An Indian Muslim man walks past
paramilitary troops standing guard near a mosque in Ayodhya Getty Images
-----
17 JAN 2024
A week ahead of the Ram Temple
consecration ceremony, Muslims in Ayodhya are demanding increased protection in
their neighbourhoods. In a letter signed by community leaders, activists and
imams from Muslim majority neighbourhoods, residents have requested the
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ayodhya, Praveen Kumar, to increase security
in areas which witnessed communal violence on 6 December 1992 in the aftermath
of the Babri Masjid demolition.
“Hindus and Muslims have always lived in
peace in Ayodhya. However, previously, outsiders have come and disturbed the
peace of this city,” says Ayodhya resident and Ramkot ward's mukhiya Akhtar Ali
who lives in the vicinity of the Ram Mandir area. another resident Mohd Irfan,
who is a witness to the 1992 violence which engulfed his house over three
decades ago, says that many Muslim families in the area are nervous about the
hordes of outsiders expected in Ayodhya on January 22 when the Ram Temple will
be consecrated.
Uttar Pradesh Police as well as the Yogi
Adityanath government has in the meantime assured that all measures to ensure
safety on the day have been taken. Addressing the media on January 13, Praveen
Kumar said that police are taking all measures necessary to ensure safety. CCTV
cameras have been installed everywhere and the IG said that the force is also
using “AI technology”. A special task force of the UP Police will provide a
comprehensive security cover to the upcoming Ram temple complex in Ayodhya, as
per senior government functionaries.
Last week, the Central Industrial
Security Force took charge of security at the newly inaugurated Ayodhya
airport, deploying more than 150 personnel.
Activist Aazam Qadri however feels that
security needs to be tightened inside the residential quarters as well. Qadri,
President of the Sunni Central Waqf Board, Area Sub-committee, states that
people are scared and in need of assurance. “While authorities are ensuring the
safety of tourists and devotees, those who have experienced communal violence
in the past are scared of any untoward incidents.
The residents have requested the IG to
conduct peace committee meetings with members of both Hindu and Muslim
communities, block-level officers and police. Residents have also requested
additional security in “sensitive” neighbourhoods like Verma Colony, Tedhi
Bazar, Baheliya Tola, Kajiyana, Paji Tola, Dharam Kanta, Gola Chauraha, Saiyad
Wada, Gadiwan Tola, Begumpura, Mohalla Katra, KothiGhat, Durahi Kuan, Meera Pur
Bland Gadiyana, Suthati, Mughalpura, Machuana, Kutiya, RaiganjGadiyana,
Jaisinghpur. They have also sought security in neighbourhoods lying behind the
Ayodhya Police Station and beside the “Tin Wali Masjid”, AC Masjid and the
Asharfi Bhawan water tank. All of these neighbourhoods have seen rioting in
1992.
Over 10,000 VVIPs are expected to attend
the consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22. Anticipating a crowd, the
state government has issued directions to only allow individuals invited by the
Shri Ram Janm Bhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to enter Ayodhya between January 20
and January 22. Locals told Outlook that since the last week, houses in
neighbourhoods of Ayodhya have been searched for arms or illegal items.
BJP leaders including Prime Minister
Narendra Modi have been asking people to not throng to Ayodhya and instead,
light diyas at home and watch the consecration ceremony on their television.
Meanwhile, Muslims of Ayodhya say that
they welcome the Ram temple. “We respect the court’s decision. But we are
scared of outsiders,” says Akhtar Ali. “We request Yogi Adityanath to ensure
safety for all residents of Ayodhya, including Muslims”.
Source: outlookindia.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.outlookindia.com/national/muslims-in-ayodhya-seek-increased-police-protection-in-neighbourhoods-ahead-of-jan-22-news-343693
-----
Future Capital, Nusantara, to Build
Church, Temple as Work on $60m Mosque Begins: Indonesian President
President
Joko "Jokowi" Widodo launches the construction of the State Mosque in
the new capital Nusantara on January 17, 2024. (Photo Courtesy of Presidential
Press Bureau)
------
January 17, 2024
Jayanty Nada Shofa
Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo
said Wednesday that the future capital, Nusantara, will have other places of
worship, as the city began construction on a mosque worth Rp 940 billion or
around $60 million.
Jokowi is currently in the new capital
Nusantara to launch a series of projects, including the State Mosque. The
Public Works Ministry is in charge of building this mosque, which will be able
to accommodate about 61,000 worshippers. The mosque, which Jokowi claims would
have an incredible exterior and interior, is set to finish construction by the
end of this year.
During the ceremony, Jokowi said that
Nusantara would have a church and other places of worship, although the
president did not say when the actual construction would start.
“We will build a church, cathedral,
vihara, and temple here [in Nusantara]. This will show how diverse we
[Indonesia] are, but we will make sure to continue to live in harmony with one
another,” Jokowi said in the broadcast stream of the mosque’s groundbreaking
ceremony.
“Hopefully, the State Mosque will
strengthen the religious tolerance in this new capital,” Jokowi said.
The Home Affairs Ministry data shows
that 86.93 percent of 272.23 million Indonesians are Muslims as of end-2021,
according to database portal Databoks. Followed by Christians (7.47 percent)
and Catholics (3.08 percent). About 1.7 percent of Indonesians are Hindus,
while 0.74 percent others are Buddhists. Around 0.03 percent of Indonesians
believe in Confucianism.
Source: jakartaglobe.id
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://jakartaglobe.id/news/new-capital-to-build-church-temple-as-work-on-60m-mosque-begins
-----
Patients In Gaza Hospitals Beg For Food
And Water As They Lie ‘Waiting To Die,’ WHO Official Says
Patients and
internally displaced people are pictured at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on
November 10, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian
Hamas movement. (AFP)
-----
January 18, 2024
NEW YORK CITY: More than 60,000
Palestinians injured so far during the war in Gaza, and the more than 200
people added to their ranks each day, not only continue to be deprived of
adequate medical care, they are also in desperate need of food and water to
survive, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
The UN agency painted a grim picture of
a healthcare system brought to its knees amid the rapidly deteriorating
humanitarian situation in the territory and continuing restrictions on access
for humanitarian aid and healthcare workers, particularly to areas north of
Rafah where “every movement throughout the Gaza Strip requires coordination.
Every movement presents risks and logistical challenges.”
Sean Casey, the WHO’s emergency medical
team coordinator, called for a ceasefire as the only way to properly address
the new “level of desperation” in the crisis, adding that anything short of an
end to the hostilities simply leaves humanitarian groups “addressing needs on a
day-by-day basis.”
He added: “Every day we’re trying to
play catch up with the 60,000 injuries and the 200-plus new injuries that are
occurring every day, and a health system that is quickly losing its capacity.
“So what I would ask anybody who has any
ability to change this dynamic is (for) a cessation of hostilities so that the
injuries can stop and the aid can reach the people who need it the most. But
short of that: improving access, simplifying access.”
Casey was speaking to reporters at the
UN headquarters in New York following a five-week visit to Gaza. During the
final week of his trip, he said his team tried “every single day, for seven
days, to deliver fuel and supplies to Gaza City in the north, and every day
those requests for coordinated movements were denied.
“That prevents us from bringing
medicines to people who need them, from bringing water for dialysis machines to
people who were sitting there waiting for care that can be provided. So access
and safety are the most important.”
Casey spoke of the dire situation he saw
during visits to Al-Shifa hospital and six of the 16 other hospitals that are
the only ones that remain “minimally” functional out of the 36 that previously
provided care in Gaza.
“Every time I went to the hospitals I
saw evidence, again and again, of the simultaneous humanitarian catastrophe
that’s unfolding, every day getting worse and worse, and the collapse of the
health system day by day, with hospitals closing, health workers fleeing,
casualties continuing to stream in, lack of access to medicines and medical
supplies, and a lack of access to fuel to run hospital generators to keep the
lights on, to keep the machines running,” he said.
This is happening alongside a “dramatic
humanitarian catastrophe” in which “truckloads and busloads” of people continue
to flee each day with all of their belongings to southern Gaza, where shelters
made of “plastic sheeting and a couple of pieces of wood on the street now
become their new home.”
The challenges posed by access
restrictions imposed on humanitarian workers and limitations on their movement
continue to hobble efforts by the WHO to deliver desperately needed medicines
to hospitals that are still open, and to deploy additional doctors and nurses
to help meet the “enormous demand of trauma patients, but also patients with
every other clinical presentation that you would normally see,” such as “the
pregnant women who still need antenatal care and who still need to deliver, and
the people who require dialysis.”
Although Casey was able to visit
Al-Shifa hospital, for 12 days his team was unable to deliver to it any food or
medical supplies. With more than 700 beds, it is the most important healthcare
facility in Gaza but has been “brought down to become a trauma-stabilization
point,” he said.
“The whole hospital was filled with tens
of thousands of displaced persons, living in the operating theaters, in the
corridors, in the stairways. And the emergency department was seeing hundreds
of patients a day, mostly trauma, with only a handful, literally five or six
doctors or nurses, to care for all of those people.”
Casey said he saw “patients on the
floor, so many you could barely move without stepping on somebody’s hands or
feet.”
He spoke of patients at Al-Ahli
hospital, also in northern Gaza, lying on church pews “basically waiting to
die” in a hospital with no fuel, no power, no water, very little in the way of
medical supplies and only a handful of staff remaining to take care of them.
Further south, at Al-Nasr medical
complex in Khan Younes, only about 30 percent of staff remain, Casey said, and
the facility is at about 200 percent of its bed capacity, with patients crammed
into corridors and lying on floors. In its burns unit, one physician provides
care for about 100 patients.
“So its a really horrifying situation in
the hospitals,” he added.
He also described the challenges faced
every day in attempts to organize aid convoys to deliver desperately needed
fuel and relief supplies, and to send more surgeons, doctors and nurses to the
hospitals “to try to save life and limb, to avoid unnecessary amputations, to
treat the many children that I saw with terrible shrapnel injuries and gunshot
wounds, and to establish field hospitals.”
Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, now
hosts about 1 million displaced people, an almost four-fold increase on the
270,000 that were there just a few weeks ago.
The area “doesn’t have the healthcare
infrastructure to deal with this huge influx of internally displaced persons,”
Casey said. “It doesn’t have the physical space to host these people. They’re
on the sidewalks, on the street.”
He said the WHO is working to set up
additional field hospitals and provide more healthcare workers to replace those
who were forced to flee for their lives, and to meet the significantly
increased burden of care created by injuries and illnesses caused by the
conflict and the atrocious living conditions. Displaced people who have lost
most of their possessions are forced to sleep in tents with little or no access
to the basic requirements for life, including
food, clean water, heat and proper
shelter, exposing them to infectious diseases, he added.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443641/middle-east
------
Threatening Letters Sent To Mosques In
Germany Have Increased Since Start Of The Israel-Hamas War On Oct. 7
File Photo
----
Mesut Zeyrek
18.01.2024
The number of threatening letters sent
to mosques in Germany has notably increased since the start of the Israel-Hamas
war on Oct. 7.
According to a statement from the
discrimination unit of the Turkish-Islamic Union (DITIB) based in the northern
city of Cologne, numerous letters and e-mails containing insults and threats
have been sent to mosques in Germany.
Cologne Central Mosque alone has
received 17 such e-mails and letters, and more recently, DITIB Selimiye Mosque
in the northern town of Dinslaken was targeted.
Against this background, the Muslim
community is increasingly worried, it said.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/threatening-letters-sent-to-mosques-in-germany-have-increased-since-oct-7-organization/3112023
-----
Yemen Political Council Calls On Islamic
&Arab Regimes To Not Remain Vehicle For Normalization With Israel
Muhammad Ali
Al-Houthi
------
[17/January/2024]
SANA'A Jan 17. 2024 (Saba) - Member of
the Supreme Political Council, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, called on the Islamic
and Arab regimes to take the reins of the battle and not remain a vehicle for normalization
with Israel or accept to be attacked and then have no response.
Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi said in an
interview conducted with him by the “TRT Arabi” channel, “We are in the time of
response, not in the time of submission. Submission is over for the Arab world,
and if the enemy carries a stronger weapon, then we, by God Almighty and the
justice of our Palestinian cause, are stronger than the alliances that the
Americans are trying to bring to the region.”
He stressed that all Arab regimes are
not immune from what the Israeli enemy is doing in occupied Palestine, and
there is no justification for them to stop and remain silent.
The senior political member touched on
the justice of the Palestinian cause, the crimes of the Zionist enemy, and the
role of the Americans and the British in igniting wars in the region, pointing
out that the solution is simple and is to stop the aggression against Gaza and
lift the siege on its people, which does not require mobilization and
militarization in the Red Sea, the
Arabian Sea, or any region in the Arab
world.
Source: saba.ye
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3297192.htm
-----
India
Manipur Muslim Body Seeks Aid For
Community Amid Ethnic Turmoil
17th January 2024
Sectarian violence has influenced the
lives of Manipur residents. The Muslim minority is also bearing the brunt amid
the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo tribal communities.
People have lost their means of
sustenance as a result of the growing conflict, which has affected trade and
made it difficult for the residents to access essential services. Now, the
residents of Hayellabuk, who have been struggling financially since the
violence broke out, have sought help.
About 500 families are in need of basic
necessities like warm blankets and clothes amid the harsh winter. They have
appealed to the people of the country for help.
The management of Ali Public School,
which is located in Hayellabuk and is run by Nadwi Scholar HayelLabuk,
anticipates admission of more students in the upcoming academic year
(2024–2025). They aim to raise Rs 5 lakh to be distributed among the poor and
Rs 2 lakh for buying mats and flooring for the school so that children do not
have to suffer by sitting on bare floors in the chilling winter.
Individuals who would like to assist
those in need can donate online or by bank transfer. Donors can also contact
Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi’s charity foundation on +91 8414821104 or email
their queries to alipublicschool@gmail.com.
Source: siasat.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.siasat.com/manipur-muslim-body-seeks-aid-for-community-amid-ethnic-turmoil-2958561/
----
HC notice to Centre, Karnataka govt on
Madrasa operated inside Archaeological Survey of India protected mosque
18.01.24
The High Court of Karnataka has ordered
issuance of notices to the state and central governments on a PIL petition
alleging that a Madrasa was being illegally run in the premises of an
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected mosque in Srirangapatna in
Mandya district.
A division bench of Chief Justice
Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit heard the petition by Abishek
Gowda on Wednesday and issued notices to the respondents to file their
objections and adjourned the hearing.
The petitioner alleged that the Madrasa
inside the Juma Masjid in Srirangapatna had damaged the original structure with
the construction of structural alterations, demolition of compound,
construction of toilets, destruction of ancient carvings besides cooking and
consumption of food daily.
"All the above acts are totally
illegal and a violation of Section 7, Rule 7 & 8 of the Ancient Monuments
and Archeological Sites and Remains Act and Rules," he claimed.
The petitioner further submitted that
the office bearers of Bajarang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad had requested the
authorities concerned to take action in this regard in 2022 and also filed a
police complaint but to no avail.
In its reply to an RTI application filed
by the petitioner seeking information on the Madrasa inside the mosque, the ASI
said no permission was granted to run a Madrasa inside the protected site.
The petitioner has sought a court direction
to the ASI to remove illegal structures in the mosque and shut the madrasa
illegally operating in it.
As there was no response to his pleas to
the Archeological Survey of India, the state and central governments, the
petitioner moved the court.
Source: telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/karnataka-high-court-notice-to-centre-and-karnataka-government-on-madrasa-operated-inside-archaeological-survey-of-india-protected-mosque/cid/1994551
-----
Farooq Abdullah Asks Muslims To Remain
Vigilant Against BJP's Tactics To Win Their Votes
17 JAN 2024
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections,
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday urged the Muslim
community to remain vigilant against the BJP's tactics to "mislead"
them to get their votes.
The Srinagar MP also called on the
Gujjar community here to not vote for the BJP, saying that "your existence
will be wiped out if you support them".
Abdullah was speaking at a Gujjar and
Bakarwal conference at the Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan here.
"Elections are approaching and only
Allah knows what all they (BJP) will do to get the votes of Muslims. They are
misleading Hindus by using the Ram temple. Then you (Muslims) have to decide
what to do," he said.
The Lok Sabha elections are likely to be
held in April-May this year.
"Hindus, who considered us
Pakistan, have been lured by them," Abdullah told the gathering.
He warned the Gujjar community that
"your existence will be wiped out if you support them (BJP)".
He also recalled efforts made by his
party's government for the upliftment of backward communities like Gujjar and
Bakarwal.
The NC leader spoke about various
challenges faced by different communities and urged them to unite against the
BJP.
"It is not a matter of water or
road or development... but a matter of our existence. If you don't wake up,
then we cannot help it. Our existence is at stake," he said.
He, however, asked people not to be
afraid as "nobody can kill you unless God wants it".
Abdullah said if the NC is voted to
power in Jammu and Kashmir, it will provide a "healing touch".
He also touched upon global issues,
condemning atrocities on Palestinians and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
"What is happening in Palestine?
More than 25,000 people -- men, women, children and doctors -- and their homes
have faced bombardment. But there is no effect on the world. Pray to God that
we may not suffer like that.
"See what is happening in Ukraine.
People there are getting killed. It is Russia's war, it is America's war.
America is using Ukraine to pin down Russia," he added.
Abdullah said maintaining peaceful
relations with neighbouring countries is important for India's progress.
"Pray to God that our neighbour
also realises this. Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had rightly said
that friends can be changed but not neighbours. If we live in peace with (our)
neighbours, we will make progress. But if we don't live in peace, our progress
will be weakened," he said.
"Our country has been encircled.
China has reached the Maldives. It is already in Sri Lanka, Nepal and
Bangladesh. Pray to God we don't face such a situation. We want a developed,
peaceful and prosperous India," he said.
Source: outlookindia.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.outlookindia.com/national/farooq-abdullah-asks-muslims-to-remain-vigilant-against-bjp-s-tactics-to-win-their-votes-news-343773
----
AMU student held for links with ISIS,
claims UP ATS
18.01.24
An Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)
student was arrested from Aligarh by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS)
on Wednesday evening, for being allegedly involved in radicalising youth
through spreading ISIS ideology to establish the rule of Islam in the country,
said senior police officials.
The officials claimed it was the eighth
arrest in this connection since November 2023, while one accused surrendered in
a court recently on January 8.
Uttar Pradesh Police Director General
(DG), Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said the accused was identified as Faizan
Bakhtyar, 24, currently staying in AMU’s VM Hall, room number 9.
He claimed that Bakhtyar’s name surfaced
after the arrest of Abdullah Arslan, Maaz bin Tariq and Wajihudeen last year,
all linked to the same self-radicalised group.
Thereafter, a reward of Rs 25,000 was
announced on his arrest, he said.
The Director General added that the
accused was pursuing Master of Social Work from the AMU.
According to the ATS spokesman, they had
received intelligence input that some people were carrying out anti-national
activities by taking oath of allegiance to ISIS.
After confirming this information and
collecting solid evidence, on November 3, 2023, an FIR under various IPC sections
and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was registered by the ATS at its police
station in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar, the police said.
The ATS officials claimed that Bakhtyar
along with his previously arrested associates, was preparing an ISIS module in
AMU and adding other people to it, planning to carry out some major terror
incident by hatching an anti-national plan.
They further claimed that the recent
arrest was in continuation of the crackdown on the terror network operated by a
group of self-radicalised ISIS operative associated to Students of Aligarh
Muslim University.
According to the police, they all were
involved in propagating the agenda and philosophy of ISIS to establish Islamic
rule across the world. They claimed the group was roping in people into the
ISIS network and carrying out nefarious activities.
The officials claimed the group operated
in a closed circle and was suspected of having added many more former
university students into the terror network. Some of them were taking
instructions from ISIS handlers to carry out terror activities in the state.
The ATS claimed that it had recovered
propaganda material related to the ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent
from them in pen drives. This group came under the ATS radar after the arrest
of Shahnawaz and Rizwan, associated with a students’ organisation of the AMU by
Mumbai ATS earlier this year on October 2.
Source: muslimmirror.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://muslimmirror.com/eng/amu-student-held-for-links-with-isis-claims-up-ats/
----
Invite Owaisi To Ram Mandir
Inauguration: BJYM Leader Cites ‘Ancestral Connection’
17th January 2024
Sameer Khan
Hyderabad: Ahead of the Ram Mandir
inauguration, Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Hyderabad in charge, Laddu
Yadav, advocates extending an invitation to All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi.
In a tweet, he expressed, “In my view,
Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra could extend an invitation to Asaduddin
Owaisi for the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha, considering his ancestral
connection.”
He further emphasized, “This gesture
could help convey the significance of the grand and splendid Ram Mandir is
being constructed at Ayodhya to his future generations.”
Asaduddin Owaisi urges PM Modi to defend
Places of Worship Act
On Tuesday, Asaduddin Owaisi, in
response to the Supreme Court’s stay on the Allahabad High Court’s order in the
Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Masjid dispute, urged Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to defend the Places of Worship Act.
“The day that the Prime Minister states
that he is standing with the Places of Worship Act 1991, there will be no more
issues,” Asaduddin Owaisi said.
The Places of Worship Act prohibits the
conversion of any place of worship and ensures the maintenance of its religious
character as of August 15, 1947.
Ram Mandir inauguration
Preparations are in full swing across
the country for the grand inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. People
nationwide are contributing items.
Ahead of the occasion, many states,
including Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, have declared January 22 as a
‘dry day.’
The Ram Mandir inauguration is just days
away, scheduled for January 22. On this day, Ram Lalla will be installed in the
temple.
Source: siasat.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.siasat.com/invite-owaisi-to-ram-mandir-inauguration-bjym-leader-cites-ancestral-connection-2958160/
-----
Varanasi DM appointed receiver of Gyanvapi
cellar
18th January 2024
Varanasi: District Judge Ajay Krishna
Vishvesha has appointed district magistrate of Varanasi as the receiver of the
southern cellar of Gyanvapi mosque in the suit filed by head priest of Acharya
Ved Vyas Peeth temple Shailendra Kumar Pathak, while the plea of advocate Vijay
Shankar Rastogi to become a party of Vyas’s suit was rejected on Wednesday.
The plea was filed by Pathak on
September 25, 2023.
Vyas’s advocate Vishnu Jain and Subhash
Nandan Chaturvedi said, “In an order issued on Wednesday, the district judge
stated that the suit of Vyas was being accepted and district magistrate of
Varanasi was appointed as receiver of southern cellar (disputed property) in
settlement plot no. 1930.
The district magistrate of Varanasi has
been directed to keep the disputed property safe under his custody and ensure
that no change was made in it. January 25 has been fixed as the next date for
hearing.
Besides, the application 34c of Rastogi
moved to become a party in Vyas’s suit was rejected, said Jain.
Rastogi had moved this plea mentioning
that since he was already contesting suit no. 610/ 1991 as ‘next friend’ of the
deity, no one can stake claim to this property by filing a suit without making
him a party.
Making Anjuman Intejamia Masjid-Gyanvapi
Mosque management committee party, Vyas had, on September 25, 2023, filed a
suit before the court of civil judge senior division, seeking worship of
Shringar Gauri, other visible and invisible deities in the cellar of Gyanvapi
mosque and appoint district magistrate or any other suitable person as receiver
of the cellar in southern side of building.
After a few minutes of filing the suit
on September 25, 2023, Vyas’s advocates moved another application before the
court of the district judge seeking its transfer to his court, mentioning that
it will deem fit in the interest of justice.
District judge allowed the transfer of
the case to his court on October 19, 2023.
Meanwhile, the Varanasi district
magistrate, S.Rajalingam, told reporters that the date for cleaning the
wuzukhana (ablution pond) of Gyanvapi mosque would be determined after
receiving the Supreme Court’s order.
Source: siasat.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.siasat.com/varanasi-dm-appointed-receiver-of-gyanvapi-cellar-2958745/
-----
Pakistan-Iran tensions: India says
understand ‘actions countries take in self-defence’
Jan 18, 2024
In the backdrop of Iran targeting the
"terror bases" in Pakistan, India has said it understands the
"actions that countries take in their self-defence" and maintained
that it has an "uncompromising" position of "zero
tolerance" towards terrorism.
"This is a matter between Iran and
Pakistan," India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Randhir Jaiswal
said yesterday responding to media queries on Iran's missile strikes in
Pakistan.
"So far as India is concerned, we
have an uncompromising position of zero tolerance towards terrorism. We
understand actions that countries take in their self-defence," Jaiswal
said.
On Tuesday, Iran targeted two bases of
"terrorist group Jaish al-Adl" in Pakistan's restive Balochistan
province with missiles and drones, its state media reported.
In an escalation of tensions between
Iran and Pakistan, Islamabad yesterday recalled its envoy from Tehran and
expelled the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan.
Pakistan described the Iranian strike as
an "illegal and unacceptable act" and said it reserves the right to
respond.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/asia/india/news/indian-chinese-troops-clashed-twice-2022-3522006
----
Southeast Asia
Selangor Islamic Religious Council
partners with MACC to prevent misappropriation of funds, says its chairman
17 Jan 2024
SHAH ALAM, Jan 17 — The Selangor Islamic
Religious Council (Mais) is collaborating with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission (MACC) to ensure the prevention of any misappropriation of public
funds directed to its agencies and institutions.
Acknowledging isolated cases of
misappropriation of tithe funds in the state, its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz
MohdYusof emphasised the need to forestall any recurrence, despite the
relatively modest amounts involved.
“We’ve recently been made aware of cases
reported in the media concerning an Islamic religious council where a notable
sum of tithe funds wasn’t submitted to the state tithe board. A similar
incident has surfaced in Selangor. Though not widespread, we’ve taken follow-up
actions, including filing police reports.
“To prevent a repeat, we will take
action against those involved, reminding everyone to abstain from such actions
within religious institutions like Mais,” he said following his New Year’s
message and the launch of Mais’ Anti-Corruption Plan.
Considering that tithe collections in
Selangor are the highest, Abdul Aziz emphasised the crucial role of Mais in
instilling confidence among tithe contributors, assuring them that their funds
are managed diligently without any misappropriation, down to the last cent.
Abdul Aziz said Mais has actively sought
MACC’s assistance, particularly in matters related to acquisitions and
management in mosques and surau, as well as the distribution of funds for
charity, tithe, or endowments, aiming to uphold transparency and prevent corruption
or misappropriation.
“This is because some contributors
simply hand over their contributions, entrusting the recipient to handle their
donation.
“We are hopeful that the MACC will guide
us in establishing effective measures to prevent corruption,” he said. —
Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/01/17/selangor-islamic-religious-council-partners-with-macc-to-prevent-misappropriation-of-funds-says-its-chairman/112939
-----
Hong Leong Islamic Bank, Andalusia
Travel ink partnership to offer umrah financing
17 Jan 2024
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Hong Leong
Islamic Bank Bhd (HLISB) today inked a memorandum of understanding with
Andalusia Travel and Tours SdnBhd to offer Shariah-compliant financing for the
umrah pilgrimage.
The partnership will see the bank
complementing Andalusia’s umrah package with its comprehensive suite of
personal banking products, aligning with the bank’s commitment to upholding
Islamic finance values.
HLISB chief executive officer Dafinah
Ahmed Hilmi said that through the collaboration, Muslims planning to perform
the umrah pilgrimage can finance their travel following the Shariah principle
by utilising the bank’s Islamic finance offerings, particularly the Personal
Financing-i as well as the Pay and Save Account-i.
“The Personal Financing-i solutions
offer Shariah-compliant financing, which comes with up to 60 per cent
pay-on-time rebates on profit, while the Pay and Save Account-i provides up to
4.15 per cent profit per annum on the account balance.
“The Pay and Save Account-i also has a
multi-currency feature, allowing for foreign currency spending with the HLISB
debit card, withdrawing foreign currencies from overseas automated teller
machines, and direct conversion of the ringgit to foreign currencies at a
competitive rate,” she said during the signing ceremony, today.
Meanwhile, Andalusia director and legal
advisor Ida Riswana Idris said the collaboration will ensure that customers
have access to affordable ways to finance the umrah pilgrimage with a holistic
suite of financial tools and services.
“We believe that this will open more
doors for the Muslim community to manage their finances effectively while
fulfilling their religious obligations,” she added. — Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/2024/01/17/hong-leong-islamic-bank-andalusia-travel-ink-partnership-to-offer-umrah-financing/112945
-----
China says willing to mediate between
Pakistan and Iran after strikes
18 Jan 2024
BEIJING, Jan 18 — Beijing said Thursday
it was willing to mediate between Pakistan and Iran following an exchange of
fire against militant targets in their border region, including a strike that
Tehran said killed at least seven civilians.
“The Chinese side sincerely hopes that
the two sides can exercise calm and restraint and avoid an escalation of
tension,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press
conference.
“We are also willing to play a
constructive role in de-escalating the situation if both sides so wish,” she
said.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan and neighbouring
Iran are both battling simmering insurgencies along their sparsely populated
border regions.
On Thursday, Pakistan said it carried
out strikes against militant targets in Iran.
Tehran said it had summoned the Pakistani
charge d’affaires in response to the attack, which killed at least seven
people.
Both countries are close partners of
Beijing and members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Mao reiterated Iran and Pakistan were
“friendly countries to China, and countries with important influence”. — AFP
Source: malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2024/01/18/china-says-willing-to-mediate-between-pakistan-and-iran-after-strikes/113134
------
Fahmi presses for Palestine’s acceptance
as full UN member
17-01- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia consistently
advocates for the rights of every Palestinian citizen, urging their inclusion
as a full member of the United Nations (UN) says Communication Minister Fahmi
Fadzil.
He emphasised that Palestine’s full
membership in the UN is a crucial step in recognising their fundamental rights
and seeking a resolution to the ongoing conflict in the region.
“As a full member of the UN, the
Palestinian people will have the capacity to be key decision-makers in
processes that will shape their future.”
“In the name of justice and the
well-being of the Palestinian people, let us unite our voices to press for
their rights as full members of the UN to become a reality,“ he declared in a
Facebook post today.
Accompanied by a series of images, the
post showed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim signing and dispatching a
specially designed postcard to United Nations (UN) secretary-general, Antonio
Guterres.
The contents of the postcard expressed
the Malaysian people’s desire for the UN to accept Palestine as a full member,
demanding an immediate halt to violence and oppression against Palestinian
civilians by the Zionist regime.
Fahmi, who also serves as the Unity
Government’s spokesman, stated that Palestine’s full membership in the UN would
provide it with the necessary resources and international political
representation to effectively advocate the interests of the region’s
inhabitants.
He stressed that support and encouragement
are crucial to advancing social, cultural, and economic development in that
sacred land.
“The aspirations and dreams of the
Palestinian people should be heard and respected on the international stage,“
he added.
Earlier, via his Facebook post, Anwar urged
the entire nation to participate in the Special Postcard Campaign for
Palestinian Independence by sending postcards to the UN secretary-general,
Antonio Guterres. as an initiative reflecting the Malaysian people’s desire for
the global body to recognise Palestine as its full-fledged member.
According to the Prime Minister,
Malaysians can actively engage in this cause by purchasing the special
postcards effective tomorrow at all post offices or through the official
website of Pos Malaysia Bhd. – Bernama
Source: thesun.my
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://thesun.my/local_news/fahmi-presses-for-palestine-s-acceptance-as-full-un-member-DA11997433
-----
Indonesia negotiates to build field
hospital for Gazans: Minister
January 18, 2024
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian
government is in the midst of a negotiation process with the Egyptian
government to build a field hospital for Palestinians who had taken refuge in
Egypt, Defense Minister PrabowoSubianto stated.
After attending the send-off ceremony of
KRI dr. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat-992 to El Arish, Egypt, the minister stated
that negotiations were not easy due to the ongoing war situation.
"Now, we are negotiating to build a
field hospital. The negotiation requires the presence of all parties," he
noted on Thursday.
According to Subianto, the Indonesian
government understands the difficulties in building the field hospital due to
the pressure during the Israeli aggression in Gaza.
However, he emphasized that the
Palestinian people in Gaza should not be expelled from their land.
Subianto first highlighted Indonesia's
plan to build a field hospital on December 1, 2023, at the AtangSendjaja Air
Base, Bogor, West Java.
"There have been suggestions from
several parties in Egypt regarding the possibility to build a field hospital
for the people of Palestine," he stated at that time.
Regarding this plan, Indonesian Navy
Chief of Staff, Admiral TNI Muhammad Ali, stated that the KRI dr. Radjiman was
able to build a field hospital in refugee enclaves, including in the El Arish
area that directly borders Rafah in Gaza.
However, Indonesia will only be able to
deliver aid to El Arish when the ship will arrive in the next 15 days, he
remarked.
Assistance brought by the ship comprises
532 sacks of Pampers, 600 sacks of children's clothing, 700 sacks and 500 boxes
of adult clothing, 800 cartons of milk, 650 boxes of biscuits, 1,254 gallons
and 1,700 boxes of mineral water, 460 boxes of medicines, 450 sacks of
blankets, 450 sacks of jackets, and 470 boxes of instant noodles.
The aid delivery is part of the
humanitarian assistance mission to Egypt led by Task Force Commander Commodore
BimoAji.
Commodore Aji supervises more than 200
ship crew, of which 40 are the Indonesian Navy special forces.
Source: antaranews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://en.antaranews.com/news/303318/indonesia-negotiates-to-build-field-hospital-for-gazans-minister
-----
Mideast
Iran says will not tolerate ‘any Israeli
operation from any country’
18 January 2024
Iran says it will not tolerate any
operation against the Iranian nation and government by the Israeli regime from
any country.
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National
Security Council (SNSC) Ali-Akbar Ahmadian made the remarks in a phone call
with Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji on Wednesday.
During their conversation, the two
officials highlighted joint efforts to provide and maintain the security of the
two neighboring countries.
“Any action against the Iranian nation and
government by the Israeli regime, no matter which country the threats come
from, will not be tolerated in any way,” Ahmadian told his Iraqi counterpart.
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier
General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said in similar remarks on Wednesday that the
Islamic Republic will respond to threats “no matter where they come from,”
adding that the country’s response would be “proportionate, decisive and
strong.”
On Tuesday, the Islamic Revolution
Guards Corps (IRGC) carried out missile strikes against the bases of anti-Iran
terrorists and facilities run by the Israeli Mossad spy agency in Iraq’s
semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and Syria.
The IRGC said in a statement that the
Mossad center was used “to develop espionage operations and plan acts of terrorism”
across the region, especially in Iran.
A key Israeli intelligence officer has
been killed in IRGC’s Monday missile attack on a building in Erbil in Iraq’s
Kurdistan region, Press TV has learned.
The missile strike against the Mossad
center, the statement said, was in retaliation for the recent assassinations of
the resistance front’s commanders, especially those of the IRGC, by the Zionist
regime.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser
Kan’ani also said the attack was a retaliatory operation in defense of the
country’s sovereignty and security against the threat of terrorism.
Iran has, on countless occasions, warned
Iraqi Kurdistan’s local authorities that it will not tolerate the presence and
activity of terrorist groups along its northwestern borders, saying the country
will give a decisive response should those areas become a haven for anti-Tehran
terrorists.
Since September 2022, the IRGC has
launched several rounds of strikes against terrorist positions in Iraq’s
Kurdistan, vowing to continue the attacks until the groups are disarmed.
On March 19 last year, Iran and Iraq
signed a security agreement in Baghdad, encompassing coordination in protecting
the shared border.
Under the deal, the Iraqi government
promised to disarm terrorist and separatist groups based in the Kurdistan
region by September 19, vacate their military barracks, and transfer them to
the camps established by the Baghdad government.
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/18/718444/Iran-will-not-tolerate-Israeli-operation-any-country
-----
Key Mossad agent killed in IRGC missile
attack in Iraq's Erbil
17 January 2024
A key Israeli intelligence officer has
been killed in a Monday missile attack by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps (IRGC) on a building in Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Press TV has
learned.
Ilan, nicknamed Fox, was a Mossad
officer who coordinated the agency’s anti-Iran operations and also its
recruitment efforts in the country.
Additionally, he coordinated Mossad
operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, according to informed sources.
He had been traveling to the Kurdistan
region for over 20 years.
Four members of Ilan’s team, namely
Malka, Adika, Hen, and Sharabir, were also killed in the attack.
The strike saw the IRGC firing a barrage
of seven ballistic missiles against an espionage center of the Israeli regime’s
spy agency in Erbil.
Simultaneously, the Corps fired another
missile barrage against facilities belonging to the Daesh and Hayat Tahrir
al-Sham Takfiri terrorist groups in Syria.
Daesh had claimed responsibility for two
explosions that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores of others at a
memorial for Iran’s top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani
in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on January 3.
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/17/718429/Key-Mossad-agent-killed-in-IRGC-missile-attack-in-Erbil
-----
Iran attack didn't target Pakistani
nationals, but Iranian terrorists: FM Amir-Abdollahian
17 January 2024
Iran's foreign minister says the
country's Tuesday missile attack on areas in Pakistan adjacent to Iranian
borders was directed at the so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group and no
Pakistani national was targeted.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in
Davos on Wednesday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said members of the terrorist
group are Iranians who have taken shelters in Pakistan and that Tehran had
repeatedly warned Islamabad to prevent their anti-Iran cross-border operations.
"None of the nationals of the
friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan were targeted by Iranian missiles
and drones," he said.
"The so-called Jaish al-Adl group,
which is an Iranian terrorist group, was targeted," he said, adding that
this was a response to the recent attacks on Iran by the group, which he said
is linked to Israel.
Jaish al-Adl, which was formed in 2012,
has carried out several attacks on Iranian soil in recent years.
The group claimed responsibility for an
attack in December on a police station in the southeastern city of Rask that
killed at least 11 Iranian police officers. On January 10, another attack by
the group on a police station in the city killed a policeman.
On Tuesday, Iran launched simultaneous
drone and missile attacks into two bases of Jaish al-Adl.
The strike came after Iran launched
missile attacks on spy headquarters and terrorist targets in Syria, and in
Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.
‘Attacks meant to boost regional
security’
The minister also touched on Iran’s
attack into Iraq’s Kurdistan region, saying they were retaliation for recent
anti-Iran attacks staged by Israel’s Mossad.
The Iranian minister said Tehran has
shared intelligence with Iraq about Mossad activities in Iraq’s Kurdistan,
adding that Israel is an enemy of both Iraq and Iran.
He cited a 2023 security pact between
Iran and Iraq, saying it obliges Iraqi officials not to allow Iran’s security
to be threatened from their soil.
The top Iranian diplomat said Iran
respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan and Iraq but
would strongly react to any attack on its national security.
The Iranian defense minister says the
country’s Armed Forces see no limits in defending public interests and the
nation.
"We respect the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Pakistan and Iraq, but we do not allow our national
security to be compromised, and we have no compunction about [dealing with]
terrorist parties inside Pakistan and Israeli movements in the Kurdistan region
of Iraq."
He said the attacks were aimed at
protecting the security of Iran, its neighbors, and also the wider region.
"What we did was aimed at boosting
the security of Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, and the region. We consider the security
of Iraq and Pakistan to be that of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
‘End of Gaza war will calm region’
In his remarks, Amir Abdollahian said
the only solution to prevent escalation in the Red Sea and other parts of the
region is for the US-Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza to come to an
end.
He said Iran had repeatedly warned that
the continuation of the genocide against Palestinians will lead the Gaza war to
spread to other parts of the region.
He also urged Washington to stop its
unwavering support for Israel, and to push for an end to the onslaught.
He said Washington’s support for Israel
was its first mistake concerning the ongoing situation in the region, and its
second mistake was staging direct attacks on Yemeni boats.
Amir-Abdollahian stressed the importance
of maritime security in the Red Sea, saying Iran conducts much of its trade
through seas and it benefits from security in international waters.
He said Yemen also believes that
international waters must be secure, and that its attacks are only aimed at
bringing the Israeli genocide in Gaza to a halt.
Amir-abdollahian warned that “everyone
will be harmed" if Israel’s crimes in Gaza do not stop immediately.
"An end to the genocide in Gaza
will lead to an end of attacks and crises in the region.”
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/17/718409/Iranian-attack-didn-t-target-Pakistani-nationals-but-Iranian-terrorists-Amir-Abdollahian
-----
Palestinian resistance factions condemn
America's inclusion of "Yemeni Ansar Allah" on terrorist lists
[18/January/2024]
GAZA January 18. 2024 (Saba) - The
Palestinian resistance factions have expressed their strong condemnation and
rejection of the step taken by the United States of America to classify Yemen's
Ansarullah group on “terrorist lists, stressing their complete rejection of the
unjust American bias and collusion with the Zionist enemy.
The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas
condemned in the strongest terms Washington's re-listing of the Ansarullah
movement in Yemen as a "global terrorist" movement.
The movement confirmed in a statement
that this decision is politicized and is considered a blatant bias towards the
occupation and a clear attempt to protect it and give it cover to continue its
brutal aggression and genocide that it is committing against the Palestinian
people in the Gaza Strip.
The movement pointed out that this
immoral and politicized classification once again proves the identification of
President Biden's administration with the expansionist Zionist occupation
agenda in Palestine and the region.
Hamas stressed that American policies
will not deter the movement of Arab and free peoples in the world from
solidarity with the Palestinian people and their just cause, until the
occupation ends and the aspirations of our people for freedom and
self-determination are achieved.
Hamas said in its statement "We
express our high appreciation for the efforts of Yemen, Ansarullah and all
resistance forces in their support of Palestine and al-Quds, as an affirmation
of a unity as one nation in the face of the occupation and brutal Zionism.
In turn, Leader of the Hamas movement
Sami Abu Zuhri "We reject the American classification of the Ansar Allah
movement as a “terrorist organization.”
Abu Zuhri stressed that the American
administration is the one who practices and leads global terrorism, and it must
stop its crimes and interventions in the region. The behavior of the American
administration reflects its hostility to the peoples of the nation and that its
role is limited to supporting the interests of the Zionist enemy and empowering
it in the region.
For its part, Jihad in Palestine
condemned in the strongest terms the designation by the Biden administration,
which is managing crimes against Palestinian people in Gaza, of the Yemeni
Ansarullah movement as a “specially classified international terrorist entity.”
It said in a statement issued by it
"We are fully confident that this measure aims to punish the Yemeni
people, collectively, for their positions in support of the steadfastness of
our Palestinian people in Gaza, and that it will not weaken the resolve or
solidity of the position of the brotherly people of Yemen."
Source: saba.ye
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3297336.htm
----
Prisoner's Club warns of enemy's
continuing crime of enforced disappearance against Gaza detainees
[18/January/2024]
GAZA January 18. 2024 (Saba) - The Palestinian
Prisoners' Club has warned that the Zionist enemy of continuing carrying out
the crime of enforced disappearance against Gaza detainees over the General
Assembly of the Zionist Knesset approved to extend the validity of the
regulations that deprive Gaza detainees of meeting with a lawyer for an
additional four months.
The Prisoners' Club said in a statement
"... the Zionist enemy aims to carry out more crimes against Gaza
detainees without any effective oversight and to use these regulations as a cover
for the ongoing crimes against them."
It pointed out that the crime of
enforced disappearance is one of the most serious crimes occurring today
against detainees, and that it comes within the framework of the comprehensive
aggression and genocide in Gaza.
Source: saba.ye
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3297338.htm
----
Israel targets places of worship in
Lebanon
January 17, 2024
NAJIA HOUSSARI
BEIRUT: The Israeli military has
targeted places of worship for the first time in southern Lebanon in its war
against Hezbollah.
For the past 100 days, the Israel
Defense Forces has hit forests, residential homes and roads in the border area,
but on Wednesday an Israeli drone raided the National Evangelical Church in the
center of the town of Alma Al-Shaab, causing major damage to the home of the
church’s cleric, Pastor Rabie Talib.
The IDF fired five smoke shells at
Syrian workers in a grape orchard in the Wazzani plain, but there were no
casualties.
A security source in the south said:
“The bombing carried out by the Israeli Army on Tuesday on the Wadi Al-Saluki
area is unprecedented in its ferocity. On Wednesday, it targeted the town of
Hula after targeting the town of Mays Al-Jabal during the past days.”
According to the source, the IDF
considers any activity in the area to be associated with Hezbollah. Therefore,
the bombing of Wadi Saluki aims to disrupt the supply route that this valley
provides to the party, specifically toward the towns of Hula and Mays Al-Jabal.
The ultimate goal is to isolate and directly target these two towns.
Preemptive Israeli bombing on the border
area targeted the KafrShuba Heights, the towns of KafrKila, Taybeh, Markba,
Wadi Al-Saluki, Aita al-Shaab, the outskirts of Naqoura, the area between Ramia
and Marwahin, and the outskirts of the towns of al-Dhahira, Yarin, Jebin, and
TairHarfa.
An Israeli drone raided a house near the
mosque in the town of Aita al-Shaab, causing the house to burn.
The Israeli attacks focused on the town
of Hula, specifically targeting houses. However, no one was injured and only
material damage occurred.
Israeli artillery targeted the Marjayoun
Plain and the area located on the outskirts of the town of Deir Mimas, towards
the town of Taybeh, with three artillery shells.
Videos showed the widespread damage to
houses, roads, and infrastructure. The people who were left took refuge in
their homes, and the sound of women’s screams echoed whenever the houses
trembled from the rockets exploding nearby, both on the outskirts and in the
center of certain villages.
A cautious calm prevailed over the
western and central sectors last night, amid continued enemy reconnaissance
aircraft flying and firing flares over the border villages adjacent to the Blue
Line.
Hezbollah said it targeted “a gathering
of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Raheb site with appropriate
weapons.”
Later, Hezbollah announced “the use of
Burkan missiles to strike the vicinity of Ruwaisat Al-Alam in the KfarShuba
Heights.”
Israeli artillery responded by bombing
the outskirts of Rashaya Al-Fakhar and Al-Habaria.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah mourned one of
its members, Rashid Mohammed Shaglil, from the town of Tamnin in the Bekaa.
Firas Al-Abiad, Lebanon’s caretaker
health minister, visited the southern region and inspected several hospitals
and health centers in the Nabatieh region, adjacent to the hot spot.
At the Lebanese People’s Rescue Hospital
in Nabatieh, Al-Abiad said: “Our mission is to stand by our people, whatever
the circumstances. At the same time, we face a danger similar to any site of
confrontation and resistance. Our enemy is a criminal who does not respect any
international or humanitarian conventions or laws, and the health sector has
been suffering casualties in this battle and fighting without weapons. Many
health institutions have been subjected to direct and indirect aggression.”
After a meeting about health security in
Nabatieh, Al-Abiad told a press conference: “We have created a plan for
emergencies and coordination among different groups on the field to ensure that
there are no shortcomings in delivering healthcare services, whether it's for
the injured, displaced individuals, or families who are staying strong, despite
limited resources. It is our responsibility to provide as much assistance as we
can.”
Al-Abiad said the government has
approved $98 million “to support government hospitals in covering the expenses
of treating the injured. We have government hospitals on the front line, such
as Mays Al-Jabal Hospital, which was subjected to a direct attack, and the
hospitals of Marjayoun, Bint Jbeil, Hasbaya, Salah Ghandour, JabalAmel, and
others. These hospitals are undergoing training for emergency plans, and they
have received batches of medical supplies to enhance their services.”
He added: “It is true that all of this
is not enough in these circumstances, and we have listened to the problems
facing health institutions in preparation for further assistance.”
Al-Abiad went to the civil defensecenter
in Nabatieh, which is part of the Islamic Health Authority associated with
Hezbollah.
These centers consist of approximately
1,000 volunteers, along with numerous ambulances and fire trucks, ready for any
unforeseen situation. They are also connected to an operations room.
Meanwhile, families displaced to areas
deep in the south began to complain of their inability to pay hight rents for
furnished apartments.
Hezbollah had called on other
southerners to host the displaced in unoccupied homes. However, “it seems that
the grace period has ended, and homeowners have started demanding rent in
dollars, despite our halted work in the south,” as one of the displaced said.
Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese
Forces party, said: “At the heart of the caretaker government’s responsibilities
is to eliminate the specter of war in Lebanon and confront the dangerous issues
that threaten the citizen’s security, life, family, livelihood, interests, and
the future of the country.”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the
full text of
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443471/middle-east
----
Europe
General Medical CouncilUrged To Suspend
Leader Of UK Islamist Group, Hizb ut-Tahrir
January 17, 2024
MICHELLE ROSENBERG
The General Medical Council has been
urged to take action against a Harrow GP who also leads the UK branch of a
soon-to-be banned Islamist terror group.
Dr Abdul Wahid, who also uses the name
Wahid Asif Shaida, also trains newly qualified doctors.
He is one of the leaders of Hizb
ut-Tahrir, an Islamic organisation involved in pro-Palestine protests, which
has also been banned in many Arab nations, as well as in Germany and China.
In December 2023 Wahid described Hamas
as a ‘resistance’ group and called 7 October terror attacks “a very welcome
punch on the nose” on Piers Morgan’s Talk TV show.
On 15 January, UK Home Secretary James
Cleverly moved to proscribe the group by putting an order before Parliament
which would make joining the organisation illegal in the UK under terror laws.
The GP Direct website still lists Dr
Wahid Shaida as “a salaried GP” at his practice since 2002. It says his
“special interests lie in the field of medical education. He is a GP trainer
for recently qualified doctors. He is currently the information governance and
complaints lead within the practice.”
A London consultant Surgeon told Jewish
News: “This GP appears to be the head of an Islamist supremacist organisation
Hizb ut-Tahir in the United Kingdom that has extremist opinions regarding all
those it deems ‘non-believers’. This extremist group ultimately calls for world
domination and a global caliphate.
“The organisation is banned in most Arab
countries. Hizb ut-Tahrir has racist and misogynistic views in addition to
offensive views concerning the LGBTQ community. This particular GP on national
TV justified the terrorist group Hamas atrocities and murder of 1200 on 07/10,
the taking of civilian hostages and the sexual violence, including the murder
of 364 innocent civilians at the Nova party massacre as ‘resistance’.
“I do not believe such an individual
should be practicing medicine in the United Kingdom. There are significant
safeguarding issues concerning a GP holding such extremist opinions.”
A local GP told Jewish News: “It’s
chilling as a law- abiding UK doctor to know that the leader and public face of
a group that the Home Secretary seeks to ban as a terror organisation under the
2000 Terrorism Act is also a working NHS GP with a clean medical licence to
practice.
“This doctor is consulting with vulnerable
patients both young and old despite the organisation he leads being described
by James Cleverly as “antisemitic” and he also says it”encourages terrorism”.
The GMC must act urgently to suspend this doctor whilst the government
concludes its deliberations regarding proscribing the group in order to
reassure the public that patients are being kept safe from the threat of
extremism in healthcare settings. The public’s confidence in the profession
must be restored without further delay.”
A UK-based psychiatrist told Jewish
News: “Many of my patients have sadly been raped or sexually assaulted in their
past. How could any patient, let alone those that have experienced past
traumas, trust a GP that heads an organisation that openly praises the barbaric
acts that occurred on the 7th October?
“The professional standards for doctors
working in the UK, outlined in the GMC good medical practice, states that
medical professionals should be ‘honest and trustworthy, act with integrity,
maintain professional boundaries and do not let their personal interests affect
their professional judgements or actions’. My view would be that being the head
of an organisation that has been declared a terrorist organisation by the UK
home secretary, is mutually exclusive with the characteristics described by the
GMC. I therefore question how he can remain registered.”
Hizb ut-Tahrir has organised rallies
which have appeared on the streets of London alongside pro-Palestine marches in
recent months, following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
A spokesperson from the General Medical
Council (GMC) told Jewish News: “We are aware of the concerns that have been
raised. However, we cannot confirm whether we are investigating a doctor unless
they have been interim suspended or have interim conditions following a hearing
of the Interim Orders Tribunal (IOT) at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal
Service.
“We can and will investigate serious
concerns that suggest patient safety or the public’s confidence in doctors may
be at risk and will take action where it is necessary.
“If we were to receive a complaint or a
self-referral about the actions of a doctor involved in a protest or commenting
on social media, we would have a legal duty to consider the issues raised. As
with all complaints, we would make our decision based on the specific facts of
the case, using the professional standards that apply to all doctors registered
to practise in the UK, to assess whether the doctor’s actions have fallen
seriously or persistently below the standards we expect.
“Good medical practice 2013 says that
doctors must not express their personal beliefs (including political,
religious, and moral beliefs) to patients in ways that are likely to cause them
distress. And they must not unfairly
discriminate against patients or colleagues by allowing their personal views to
affect their professional relationships or the treatment they provide or
arrange.
“Our standards on personal beliefs are
clear that when sharing opinions or raising awareness around certain issues,
doctors must consider how doing so may affect the public’s trust and perception
of the profession.”
A petition launched by Global Healthcare
Professionals Against Racism in Healthcare, calling on the British Medical
Association to remain neutral on the Israel/Hamas conflict, said: “It is
worrying to note that an NHS GP working in London is the leader of a group
which the Home Secretary petitioned government on 15.1.24 to designate as a
proscribed terrorist group under the Terrorism Act 2000”
As reported by Jewish News, Conservative
MP Bob Blackman called for Wahid to have his “right to be in this country”
cancelled.
Source: jewishnews.co.uk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/prescription-proscription-gmc-urged-to-suspend-gp-leader-of-uk-islamist-group/
----
Sunak Accuses StarmerOf ‘Invoicing’ Hizb
ut-Tahrir While Working As Lawyer
Holly Patrick
17 January 2024
Rishi Sunak accused Sir Keir Starmer of
having provided legal representation to Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamist political
group that the UK is now planning to ban as a terror organisation, during Prime
Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (17 January).
The prime minister appeared to reference
the Labour leader being part of a team of lawyers who represented the group in
2008 when it tried to overturn a ban in Germany, which was unsuccessful.
“When I see a group chanting jihad on
our streets I ban them, he invoices them,” Mr Sunak added.
Sir Keir’s spokesperson said choosing to
give legal advice to a group is very different from agreeing with or endorsing
the views of that organisation.]
Source: yahoo.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sunak-accuses-starmer-invoicing-islamist-141447864.html
----
Britain’s foreign secretary calls for
quick end to Gaza conflict
18.01.2024
BurakBir
Britain’s foreign secretary said
Wednesday that they do not want the conflict in Gaza to go on for long,
expressing the need for an immediate humanitarian pause.
"We want this conflict to end as
soon as possible. We don't want it to go on for a long moment, longer than
necessary," David Cameron said in a panel discussion at the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He said the important question is
whether there is some way of turning that pause into a sustainable cease-fire.
But for this, said Cameron, one would
have to see the leadership of the Palestinian group Hamas leaving Gaza, where
Israel has killed more than 24,000 people since an Oct. 7 offensive by Hamas.
Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the initial Hamas
attack.
"I think that should be the
approach we try to take. Let's get this pause in place, get the aid and get the
hostages out, get that hostage negotiation done and see if we can turn that
into a sustainable cease-fire," he said.
Elaborating on why he stressed the term
“sustainable,” Cameron noted that just stopping the fighting will "never
get a two-state solution," as such a solution cannot be reached with Hamas
in Gaza able to launch rockets against Israel.
The UK has faced criticism from
pro-Palestinian voices and organizations for failing to call for a cease-fire
in Gaza.
The US has proposed a revitalized
Palestinian Authority to take charge in Gaza once the conflict is over,
unifying its administration with the West Bank.
- 'Ukraine is doing well'
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine war,
Cameron admitted that "things have become quite stuck on land" but
added that Ukraine has done and is doing well.
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin
faced "another catastrophe" in the Black Sea, where Ukraine sank more
than 20% of his navy, leaving him with a very small fleet.
He claimed that the war has been "a
catastrophic disaster" for Putin, adding that Russia has lost half of the
land it captured with 300,000 casualties.
"Our job is to support Ukraine
through this winter...to set up a system so that Ukraine can prevail," he
said, adding he believes Russia is "failing" in terms of its attacks.
In response to a question about frozen
Russian assets, Cameron said there is a legal, moral and political argument on
the subject.
"I think the moral argument is
quite straightforward," he said, referring to the notion that "Russia
is going to have to pay reparations for its illegal invasion, so why not spend
some of the money now, rather than wait till the war is over."
The "world changed" when
Russia launched its war on Ukraine, he said. "And we have to change with
it and recognize we are in a more dangerous, uncertain and difficult
world."
He expressed confidence that the G-7
countries would make some progress in using assets to help Ukraine.
- Support for Ukraine not ‘fractured'
Ukrainian Foreign Minister DmytroKuleba
said he does not believe it is fair to say that Western support for Ukraine is
"fractured."
"Actually, the most recent visit of
(UK) Prime Minister (Rishi) Sunak to Ukraine and the agreements reached during
the course of this visit demonstrate how committed and unwavering the support
is," he said.
Kuleba acknowledged that there are
discussions in the US Congress but said this is not solely about Ukraine's
support.
"Pessimists do not win wars. You
have to be optimists. You have to find solutions," he said.
Touching on some comments about the
peace plan, he said that restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity is the
"most important" part.
"When we hear arguments from some
experts or thinkers that Ukraine might consider freezing the conflict, our
response is simple: we need frozen Russian assets, not a frozen conflict,"
he said.
"This is the way forward to send a
clear message to everyone in the world, that if you dare to break the rules,
you're going to pay. If we don't send that message...the number of interstate
conflicts and tensions across the globe will be growing."
He added that there is a lot of
diplomatic work for a planned peace summit in Switzerland.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/britain-s-foreign-secretary-calls-for-quick-end-to-gaza-conflict/3111610
------
French Soccer Icon Karim Benzema Sues
Interior Minister Over Muslim Brotherhood Accusation
JANUARY 17, 2024
Ben Cohen
A leading French soccer star is suing
the country’s interior minister for accusing him of retaining links to the
Muslim Brotherhood — an international Islamist network created nearly a century
ago that now includes the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.
Karim Benzema, 36, announced on Tuesday
that he was bringing a defamation case against French Interior Minister Gerald
Darmanin over a television interview last October in which the politician
charged that the player’s links with the Muslim Brotherhood were common
knowledge.
“Benzema is notoriously linked with the
Muslim Brotherhood, we all know it,” Darmanin claimed during an interview with
the conservative broadcaster C-News. In the same interview, he argued, “We are
fighting the hydra that is the Muslim Brotherhood because it creates an
atmosphere of jihadism.”
Darmanin’s remarks were triggered by a
posting written by Benzema on X/Twitter in which he said, “Our prayers for the
people of Gaza, victims once again of unjust bombardments that spare neither
women nor children.” The interior minister pointed out that Benzema — a former
Real Madrid striker who won the coveted Ballon d’Or in 2022 — had failed to
condemn both the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel, in which more than
1,200 people were murdered and over 200 kidnapped amid atrocities including
rape and mutilation, and the gruesome decapitation in Oct. 2020 of Samuel Paty,
a high school teacher in Paris who was targeted by an Islamist student after he
showed his class caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in the course of a class
on freedom of speech.
In a 92-page complaint, Benzema — a
practicing Muslim who now plays soccer in Saudi Arabia, where he captains
Pro-League side Al-Ittihad — said that he was “aware of the extent to which,
because of my notoriety, I am being used in political games, which are all the
more scandalous given that the dramatic events since Oct. 7 deserve something
quite different from this type of statement.”
The complaint also noted Benzema’s alarm
that he is seen as “a symbol of urban youth — immigrant, Muslim, hostile to
France, and antisemitic.” It went on to insist that he “never had the slightest
link with the Muslim Brotherhood organization, nor knowledge of anyone who
claims to be a member of it.”
Benzema’s announcement comes just two
weeks after the Algerian international Youcef Atal, who plays at right-back for
Nice, was handed an eight-month suspended sentence and a $49,000 fine for
posting a video the day after the Oct. 7 massacre that featured a Palestinian
cleric calling for “a black day over the Jews.”
No stranger to controversies off the
field, Benzema was ejected from the French national team over accusations that
he had tried to blackmail a teammate, Mathieu Valbuena, over an amateur sex
video. In 2021, he was fined $75,000 and handed a one-year suspended sentence
for his part in the scandal. The following year, Benzema failed in a legal
attempt to sue the far right activist Damien Rieu over a photo the latter
posted on social media showing the soccer star delivering a middle-finger
gesture alongside an image of jihadists doing the same.
Source: algemeiner.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/01/17/french-soccer-icon-karim-benzema-sues-interior-minister-over-muslim-brotherhood-accusation/
----
Palestinian envoy slams UK over ‘double
standards’ in policies toward Israel
January 17, 2024
LONDON: The British government is
applying “double standards and hypocrisy” to its policies toward Israel and
international law, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK HusamZomlot has said.
Zomlot slammed Prime Minister Rishi
Sunak for rejecting South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice
accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza war, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
“The UK government stands by Israel’s
clear right to defend itself within the framework of international law,” a
spokesperson for the prime minister said.
Zomlot said the UK has suffered
“reputational damage” in the Middle East, describing its opposition to the
genocide allegations as “a self-appointment as international judges,” and
“interference in the international judicial system.”
The Palestinian envoy also condemned a
government bill banning public bodies from boycotting economic activity with
Israel or Israeli settlements, the BBC reported. The bill passed its third and
final reading in the House of Commons last Wednesday and will now proceed to
the House of Lords.
“This is the inconsistency,” Zomlot said
at a news conference in London. “Where are you (the UK) exactly? Do you
consider Israel’s occupation of the 1967 borders to be a military occupation
and colonization?
“There is such inconsistency in the UK
policy that I... no longer understand if you ask me, ‘What is the UK policy
vis-a-vis Palestine?’ I don’t know. Inconsistent, contradictory.”
However, Zomlot welcomed the UK’s recent
decision to ban Israeli settlers responsible for attacks on Palestinians from
entering the country.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron
announced the move on X last month after the US revealed a similar plan.
“(This is) welcomed,” Zomlot said. “In
my opinion, that was a very significant moment — not because of the policy
itself, but because this is the first time in 75 years the UK takes any step
that has to do with sanctions (on Israel).”
There has been a reported increase in
settler violence against Palestinians in recent months, especially since Hamas
launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
Around 700,000 Jewish settlers live in
140 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied
since the 1967 Middle East war and Palestinians claim for a future state.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443541/world
-----
Arab World
Qatar announces Israel-Hamas deal on
medicine, aid into Gaza
Jan 17, 2024
TEHRAN, Jan. 17 (MNA) – Qatar says the
Israeli regime and the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas have reached an
agreement on medicine and humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.
In a statement on Tuesday night, the Qatari
Foreign Ministry announced that Doha through mediation was able to strike a
deal between Israel and Hamas for much-needed medicine and aid to Gaza.
“This agreement includes the delivery of
medicine and help to civilians in exchange for the delivery of medicine needed
by Israeli captives in Gaza”, the statement said.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has also confirmed the deal, saying the transfer of medicine
to captives in Gaza will begin from tomorrow.
The Israeli war on Gaza is on its 103rd
day which the Zionist regime launched following a surprise operation called
"Al-Aqsa Storm" from Gaza against the positions of the Israeli regime
on October 7, 2023.
In late November, a short-lived 7-day
truce saw more than 100 Israeli captives freed in exchange for Palestinians
illegally held in Israeli jails and also allowed the delivery of much-needed
humanitarian aid into Gaza after weeks of Israeli aggression plunged the
besieged territory into a humanitarian catastrophe.
Source: mehrnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/210904/Qatar-announces-Israel-Hamas-deal-on-medicine-aid-into-Gaza
----
US, UK carry out new round of strikes on
Houthis in Yemen
18th January 2024
Sakina Fatima
Sanaa: The US and the UK bombed Houthi
sites in northern Yemen before dawn on Thursday, the media said.
The strikes hit Houthi targets in five
provinces, including Hodeidah, the main port on the Red Sea coast controlled by
the terror group, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported, without providing more
details.
The attack followed the Houthis claim of
a missile strike on a US ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday night, Xinhua
news agency reported.
“In support of Palestinian people and
response to the US and British aggression against our country, our naval forces
carried out an attack targeting the US ship ‘Ginko Picardie’ in the Gulf of
Aden with a number of missiles, and the strike was accurate and direct,” Houthi
military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Wenesday on al-Masirah TV.
The US Central Command confirmed the
Houthi attack in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the ship was slightly
damaged but remained seaworthy and has continued its voyage.
The Houthis have escalated their attacks
in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on October 7, 2023,
demanding an end to Israeli attacks and siege on Gaza.
The Houthis have controlled much of
northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the strategic Red Sea port city
of Hodeidah, since ousting the internationally recognised Yemeni government in
2014.
Source: siasat.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.siasat.com/us-uk-carry-out-new-round-of-strikes-on-houthis-in-yemen-2958768/
----
Yemen aid groups express alarm over Red
Sea tensions
January 17, 2024
AL-MUKALLA: Twenty-six international aid
groups working in Yemen have expressed deep worry about the effect of the
military escalation in the Red Sea on the deteriorating humanitarian situation
in the war-ravaged country.
Tensions in the Red Sea have risen since
November, when the Houthis captured a commercial ship and launched over 20
drone and missile strikes on commercial and navy ships, attempting to block the
key passage to Israel-bound vessels.
The US formed a coalition to protect the
Red Sea from Houthi assaults, and on Friday unleashed dozens of strikes on
military targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The aid groups warned that the conflict
in the Red Sea would hamper supplies to Yemen and raise their expenses.
“We urge all actors to prioritize
diplomatic channels over military options to de-escalate the crisis and
safeguard the progress of peace efforts in Yemen,” the 26 organizations said in
a statement, adding: “Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected,
and safe, unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance must be guaranteed.”
Despite international pressure and
bombing, the Houthis refused to cease their assaults, threatening to target all
US and UK commercial and naval ships in revenge for the two countries’
airstrikes on Yemen.
The war in Yemen, which began a decade
ago when the Houthis seized power, has killed tens of thousands of people and
triggered what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The organizations, including Save the
Children, Norwegian Refugee Council, Islamic Relief, and others said that
thousands of Yemenis are in desperate need of lifesaving assistance, and
millions have been displaced, face food insecurity, or have limited access to
basic services.
If tensions between the coalition and
the Houthis escalated into a conflict, many organizations would be obliged to
halt activities in Yemen and battles near ports would hamper the delivery of
supplies to Yemen, the organizations warned.
“Further escalation could result in more
organizations being forced to halt their operations in areas where there are
ongoing hostilities. Impacts to vital infrastructure, including strategic
ports, would have major implications for the entry of essential goods into a
country heavily dependent on imports,” they said in a statement.
The Houthis claimed credit on Tuesday
for shooting missiles at a commercial ship in the Red Sea after it ignored
their instructions not to go to Israel via the Red Sea.
The US military said it destroyed four
anti-ship ballistic missiles before they were launched from Houthi-controlled
parts of Yemen. On Wednesday, neither the US nor the Houthis reported fresh
incidents in the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Information Minister
Muammar Al-Eryani accused the Houthis of kidnapping and torturing a prisoner
who refused to assist them plant landmines.
According to the minister, Noman Yahya
Arjal died as a result of serious injuries sustained during Houthi detention.
The Houthis forcibly disappeared him,
denied him medication, and tortured him before throwing him onto a battlefield
in Taiz, where he died from his wounds.
In a post on X, Al-Eryani said the
mistreatment of the man, as well as the forcible disappearance, are “flagrant
crimes and a stark example of the horrific violations committed by the
terrorist Houthi militia against Yemenis since its coup against the state under
total international community’s silence.”
Dozens of Yemenis have died in Houthi
detention camps or days after release, suffering from illnesses and wounds
received in custody due to torture or medical negligence.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443371/middle-east
-----
Saudi aid agency, UK foreign office
review humanitarian, relief projects
January 18, 2024
RIYADH: The Saudi aid agency KSrelief
and the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office took part in a
two-day workshop to monitor and evaluate humanitarian and relief projects, the
Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
The event, at KSrelief’s headquarters in
Riyadh, was attended by representatives of the two organizations as well as
from the Saudi ministries of foreign affairs and finance. It was held in the
presence of KSrelief Assistant General Supervisor for Operations and Programs
Ahmed Al-Baiz and UK Ambassador to the Kingdom Neil Crompton.
The workshop comprised sessions on the
center’s and ministry’s approach to monitoring, evaluating and assessing
humanitarian and relief projects, and reviewing joint projects between the two
sides funded by the World Food Programme.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443596/saudi-arabia
------
Saudi minister, EU ambassador hold talks
in Riyadh
January 17, 2024
RASHID HASSAN
RIYADH: The Kingdom’s deputy minister
for international multilateral affairs has held talks with the EU’s ambassador
to Saudi Arabia.
Envoy Christophe Farnaud said he visited
Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Rassi at his office in Riyadh on Monday, where they
discussed relations and security cooperation.
“Both parties praised the positive
relationship between the EU and Saudi Arabia,” the ambassador told Arab News on
Wednesday.
“The positive momentum is highlighted by
the pace of high-level visits, in particular of the EU High Representative for
Foreign and Security Policy JosepBorrell to Riyadh and AlUla last week.”
Farnaud said they also discussed the
relaunch of the EU-GCC partnership.
“The EU has initiated work on enhanced
security cooperation with the planned Structured GCC-EU Regional Security
Dialogue in Riyadh on Jan. 24,” he said.
The officials also discussed the
Israel-Hamas war, including cooperative efforts made by the EU and Saudi Arabia
to protect civilians and provide humanitarian aid.
The Foreign Ministry said on X the two
men discussed “relations between the Kingdom and the European Union and
developments of mutual concern.”
Last week, Mohammed Al-Budaiwi,
secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, met Borrell in Riyadh to
discuss the latest developments in Israel’s war on Gaza.
The two sides reviewed ways to
strengthen international and regional efforts to reach a ceasefire and end the
humanitarian crisis in the occupied territory.
hey also discussed ways to develop
collaboration between the GCC and the EU in various fields and emphasized the
importance of collective action in tackling challenges.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443466/saudi-arabia
------
150,000 trees planted in Taif to combat
desertification
January 17, 2024
The National Center for Vegetation Cover
Development and Combating Desertification has finished planting 150,000 trees
in Saiysad National Park, Taif, as part of a national program to plant 10
billion trees, one of the Saudi Green Initiative’s targets.
The trees were jujube, acacia, seyal,
acacia asak, and Vachelliaflava. Also planted were plants such as dodonaea and
henna.
The project covered eight different
locations within the 28 million square meter park, one of the largest land
parks in the Makkah region and one of the oldest in the Kingdom.
The park is about 15 km northeast of the
center of Taif. Its name is associated with the ancient Saiysad dam. It is a
distinctive nature reserve surrounded by mountains with dense trees and vast
green areas.
With the aim of developing the park, and
promoting investment and services to the public, the national center offered 17
temporary investment opportunities in areas of the park, and initiated several
community and voluntary initiatives for afforestation and cleaning. The park is
also open to campers and caravans.
The center seeks to develop, protect,
control and rehabilitate sites with degraded vegetation, manages and invests in
pasture land, forests and national parks, and works to detect encroachments on
vegetation, combat illegal logging around the Kingdom, and conserve natural
resources and biodiversity.
Saudi Arabia has been one of the biggest
supporters of green living. It is developing many projects all around the
country, including environmental projects, to improve the quality of living and
to participate in reducing the effects of climate change worldwide.’
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443196/saudi-arabia
-----
Pakistan
Pakistan conducts military strikes
against 'terrorist hideouts' in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province
18.01.24
Pakistan on Thursday said that its air
force conducted "precision military strikes" against "terrorist
hideouts" in Iran's Siestan-Balochistan province, a day after Islamabad
recalled its ambassador from Tehran and suspended all planned high-level
bilateral visits in the wake of Iranian missile and drone strikes in
Balochistan.
"This morning Pakistan undertook a
series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military
strikes against terrorist hideouts in Siestan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran,"
the Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday morning.
It said a number of terrorists were
killed during the intelligence-based operation — codenamed "Marg Bar
Sarmachar".
"Over the last several years, in
our engagements with Iran, Pakistan has consistently shared its serious
concerns about the safe havens and sanctuaries enjoyed by Pakistani origin
terrorists calling themselves Sarmachars on the ungoverned spaces inside Iran.
Pakistan also shared multiple dossiers with concrete evidence of the presence
and activities of these terrorists,” the statement said.
"However, because of lack of action
on our serious concerns, these so-called Sarmachars continued to spill the
blood of innocent Pakistanis with impunity. This morning's action was taken in
light of credible intelligence of impending large-scale terrorist activities by
these so-called Sarmachars," it added.
"This action is a manifestation of
Pakistan’s unflinching resolve to protect and defend its national security
against all threats. The successful execution of this highly complex operation
is also a testimony to the professionalism of the Pakistan Armed Forces,"
the Foreign Office said, adding that Pakistan will continue to take all
necessary steps to preserve the safety and security of its people which is
"sacrosanct, inviolable and sacred." On Wednesday, Pakistan recalled
its ambassador to Iran and suspended all planned high-level bilateral visits,
hours after Tehran launched unprecedented missile and drone strikes on what it
said were directed at the bases of a terrorist group in the restive Balochistan
province.
Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz
Baloch in a terse statement read out to the media on Wednesday said that the
Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan who is currently visiting Iran may not return to
Islamabad for the time being. Pakistan also reserves the right to retaliate to
the provocation by Iran, she had said.
Two bases of the Sunni Baloch militant
group 'Jaish al-Adl' in Pakistan's unruly Balochistan province were targeted by
missiles and drones on Tuesday, Iranian state media reported, a day after
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards attacked targets in Iraq and Syria with
missiles.
Jaish al-Adl, or the "Army of
Justice", is a Baloch Sunni militant group founded in 2012 that largely
operates in Pakistan. Iran has fought in border areas against the militants,
but a missile-and-drone attack on Pakistan would be unprecedented for Iran.
Iran's attack and Pakistan's retaliatory
strikes have raised tensions in the volatile region, already roiled by Israel's
war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the targeting of the merchant ships in the
Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis.
On Wednesday, Pakistan's Foreign
Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani told his Iranian counterpart that the unprecedented
attack by Iran seriously damaged the ties between the two nations.
Jilani, who is currently leading the
Pakistan delegation to the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in
Kampala, Uganda, in a telephonic conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister
Hossein Amir Abdollahian stressed that the attack conducted by Iran inside the
Pakistani territory on January 16 was not only a serious breach of Islamabad's
sovereignty but also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit
of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran, the Foreign Office said in an
earlier statement.
"Expressing Pakistan’s unreserved
condemnation of the attack, the foreign minister added that the incident has
caused serious damage to bilateral ties between Pakistan and Iran,” the
statement said.
The Pakistani foreign minister added
that his country reserved the right to respond to this provocative act.
Stressing that terrorism was a common
threat to the region and required concerted and coordinated efforts to combat
this menace, Jilani underlined that unilateral actions could seriously
undermine regional peace and stability.
"No country in the region should
tread this perilous path," the minister told his Iranian counterpart.
Traditional warm ties between the two neighbours nose-dived to the lowest ebb
after the unprecedented attack by the Iranian forces in the country’s
southwest.
Source: telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/pakistan-strikes-terrorist-hideouts-in-irans-siestan-o-balochistan-province/cid/1994547
------
Islamabad High CourtRejects Plea For
Staying Iddat Case Trial Against Imran, Bushra
January 18, 2024
Awais Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court
(IHC) turned down an application seeking a halt in the trial against former
prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi with regard to their
marriage during the Iddat of Bushra Bibi.
The court however accepted the Bushra
Bibi’s former spouse’s application for sending the case file to the chief
justice. Khawar Manika’s lawyer said that marriage during Iddat was not just
irregular but invalid, arguing that if marriage was considered to be valid on
January 1 then why the respondents married again in February.
The IHC’s Justice Tariq Mehmood
Jahangiri heard the petition of Bushra Bibi against the Nikah case during
Iddat. The petitioner’s counsel Salman Akram Raja appeared in the court through
video link. Shoaib Shaheen advocate was also present in the courtroom.
On a court notice, Khawar Manika’s
counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi appeared before the court and took the plea that an
identical nature application against a complainant of Nikah in Iddat is already
pending before the bench one and requested the court to transfer the case to
the same bench.
Shoaib Shaheen advocate said that the
first complaint to which the counsel was referring was withdrawn, so the
petition against him in the high court also became infructuous.
Khawar Manika’s lawyer said that when
one complaint was withdrawn, then the other application should have been
withdrawn. He submitted that it was contention of the petitioner that at the
time of the marriage on January 1 Iddat had been completed. He submitted that
Mufti Saeed, who performed Nikah, had recorded a statement that he performed
Nikah again in February.
He submitted that if the petitioner
considered the marriage on January 1 as valid, then why they performed Nikah
again. He said marriage during Iddat was not just irregular but invalid.
Salman Akram Raja requested court to
issue a stay order on the trial. He said the court had scheduled the case
hearing for evidence on Thursday, and that the proceedings of the case were
being conducted on a daily basis.
Raja Rizwan Abbasi opposed the
application for a stay order. The court inquired Khawar Manika’s counsel as to
whether he would give an undertaking that they would not record statements of
the witnesses before the trial court. The counsel undertook that the statements
of the witnesses would not be recorded. Thereafter, the court referred the case
file to the chief justice for further orders.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1148982-ihc-rejects-plea-for-staying-iddat-case-trial-against-imran-bushra
-----
FM terms Iran’s act in Balochistan
serious breach of Pakistan's sovereignty
January 17, 2024
Caretaker Foreign Minister, Jalil Abbas
Jilani has firmly underscored that the attack conducted by Iran inside
Pakistani territory was not only a serious breach of Pakistan's sovereignty but
also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral
relations.
He was talking to his Iranian
counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian who telephoned him today.
Expressing Pakistan's unreserved
condemnation of the attack, the Foreign Minister added that the incident has
caused serious damage to bilateral ties between Pakistan and Iran.
The Foreign Minister added that Pakistan
reserved the right to respond to this provocative act.
Stressing that terrorism is a common
threat to the region and require concerted and coordinated efforts to combat
this menace, the Foreign Minister underlined that unilateral actions could
seriously undermine regional peace and stability.
He said no country in the region should
tread this perilous path.
Foreign Minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani is
currently leading the Pakistan delegation to the Ministerial Meeting of the
Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda.
Source: radio.gov.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.radio.gov.pk/17-01-2024/caretaker-fm-firmly-underscores-attack-conducted-by-iran-inside-pakistani-territory
-----
In meeting with PM Kakar, Iranian FM
didn’t share attack plan
January 18, 2024
Umar Cheema
ISLAMABAD: Although the Iranian foreign
minister met the Pakistani prime minister on the sidelines of Davos Forum
shortly before his country carried out the airstrike, he didn’t give any hint
of the plan in this regard.
According to an official traveling with
Prime Minister AnwaarKakar, the top Iranian diplomat, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian,
didn’t share his country’s reservation, if there was any, during the meeting.
The PM was surprised when he came to know about the attack announced after the
meeting was held.
As the situation has grown serious,
Kakar is returning to Pakistan today (Thursday) by cutting short his visit.
Earlier, he was scheduled to come back on January 22. He wanted to return late
Wednesday but couldn’t make it due to the flight schedule as he went to
Switzerland by a commercial flight, according to the official.
Iran remained tightlipped about the
attack. A news agency considered close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards
Corps (which carried out the strike) initially ran the story only to be
withdraw later. On the other hand, Pakistan summoned Iranian charge d’affaires
to record a protest and later recalled the ambassador in Tehran while refusing
to welcome back the Iranian ambassador, who is presently in his home country.
It was only after this that Iran broke
the silence and accepted the responsibility. The country’s foreign minister
acknowledged the strike took place inside Pakistan. However, he said it was
aimed at Jaish al Adl, a terrorist group which, he alleged, is linked with
Israel. Jundullah, an al-Qaeda affiliate, was the parent organisation of Jaish.
His founder, AbdolmalekRegi, was apprehended and executed by Iran in 2010.
Pakistan is said to have cooperated in his arrest.
That strike carried out soon after the
Iranian foreign minister’s meeting with PM Kakar in Davos was not the only
surprise as bilateral meetings were in progress a while ago. Iran’s special
representative on Afghanistan met Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani earlier
this week. One-day naval exercises of Pakistani and Iranian forces also took
place on January 16.
Why Iran acted in haste remains unclear.
However, it coincides with the attacks carried out by Iran in Iraq and Syria a
day ago. Analysts speculate that such strikes might lead to the widening of the
Middle East conflict which started from Hamas-Israel conflict leading up to
tensions in Lebanon and also in Red Sea where Yemen’s Huthis are attacking
ships which are “Israel-owned, flagged or operated or which are heading to
Israeli ports”.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1148969-in-meeting-with-pm-kakar-iranian-fm-didn-t-share-attack-plan
-----
PTI rejects JIT formed to probe
anti-judiciary campaign
January 18, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(PTI) Wednesday rejected the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) set up to achieve
‘very vague goals’ of dealing with the criticism on judiciary.
A PTI spokesperson, in a statement
issued here, also suggested that if the JIT was really serious to curb the
smear campaign against judges, then action should be taken against the
‘bad-mouthed people’ like Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Aimal Wali Khan
instead of harassing citizens of the country.
Reacting to the formation of the JIT to
“harass citizens and deprive them of their fundamental constitutional right” to
freely express their point of view, the spokesperson said that the Constitution
and democracy guaranteed the countrymen the basic rights of expression and
criticism and analysis.
He pointed out that every citizen had
full right to criticize the state and government’s actions including court
decisions with good intention. However, he added that the caretaker government
turned Pakistan into a slaughter house of fundamental and constitutional
rights.
The PTI spokesperson recalled that the
media and social media were under the worst censorship and extra-constitutional
and legal curbs during the past 22 months.
He said that the sole purpose of this
latest government tactic was to protect the “clearly unjust” judicial decisions
made by violating the limits of law, justice and Constitution from public
scrutiny and to create a favorable environment for murder of the Constitution
and democracy.
He noted that preparations were underway
to give the gift of government under state patronage to those who attacked the
courts along with their goons, hurled accusations and insults by displaying
their pictures in public meetings, besides threatening the judges of higher
courts with dire consequences.
He made it clear that history would
continue to analyse, what he called, the unjust, flawed and most cruel decision
of the Chief Justice of Pakistan disenfranchising over 10 crore Pakistanis by
depriving of their political identity.
The PTI spokesperson suggested that the
chief justice should give priority to the supremacy of the Constitution over
the attempts to bulldoze the basic constitutional rights of citizens under his
patronage.
He vowed that the nation would keep on
demanding its basic constitutional rights from the state instead of being
intimidated by the blind use of force and extra-constitutional administrative
tactics.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1148971-pti-rejects-jit-formed-to-probe-anti-judiciary-campaign
-----
Imran in jail for inciting workers to
violence: Kakar
January 18, 2024
DAVOS: Caretaker Prime Minister
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that former prime minister Imran Khan is not in
prison on account of his political opinion but due to his purported role in
inciting riots and encouraging his followers towards disruption.
He said the people involved in the riots
were behind bars. “It is not that the innocent people have been picked up for
their political opinions and they have been denied a political role,” he said
in an interview with CNBC on the sidelines of the 54th annual meeting of the
World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday.
Kakar pointed out the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(PTI) founder chairman had the right to say that he was jailed because of his
political opinion but let the court decide the issue. He said the matter would
not be decided by any individual, media or any other group but the courts.
To a question about free and fair
elections, the interim PM said before holding elections, no one could question
the fairness of the process. “Let the election happen as there will be
international observers, international media and other watchdogs to report
whether the elections were held in a free and fair manner or not.” He expressed
confidence that a stable government would be formed after elections scheduled
for February 8, eventually leading to sustainable economic stability.
“I do see and project that there will be
great growth in Pakistan. There will be a sense of stability. The growth will
be slow but it will be sustainable,” he said. He said that the speculations
regarding holding the elections, had been addressed and everyone was certain
about the election date of February 8. As regards delay in elections, the
caretaker prime minister said the country faced legal and technical challenges
related to the electoral procedures and processes. However, he said those
challenges had been addressed now and the people of Pakistan would be allowed
to exercise their constitutional right of electing the leadership for the next
five years. As regards the media freedom in Pakistan, the interim PM said even
the Western media was under more strict regulations than that of Pakistan.
Kakar said it was the top priority of
the caretaker setup to bring economic revival and to focus on growth and other
economic indicators. He said the next government would have to follow a clear
principle of spending less and earning more to achieve economic stability. “We
need to bring back the non-documented economy into the documented economy and
transform our state to a more viable economic entity,” he added.
He highlighted that the caretaker
government would publish a white paper on its four to five-month performance.
About the regional issues, he said Pakistan did foresee implications for the
country after the withdrawal of the US and Nato forces from Afghanistan and
that was why Pakistan had been advocating for a responsible withdrawal. The
focus of world powers was no more Afghanistan as now it was an abandoned
project for them. “But for us, it had real-time tangible implications
particularly when the equipment given to the Afghan Republic Army were sold in
the black market.” He feared that it might also have implications in the Middle
East. Kakar said Pakistan needed to enhance its counter-terrorism capacity. “We
also need to encourage Pakistan to become a viable economic entity and a viable
democracy at the same time.” He said Pakistan’s role should also be
acknowledged and appreciated.
To a question about Pakistan’s relations
with China, he said the two countries had very close relations, both
strategically and historically. He said the bilateral relations with China
would not be affected, no matter what happens in the region.
Meanwhile, the caretaker prime minister
called for ensuring equitable opportunities for all nations and regions to grab
the fruits of modern technology. Speaking at a forum titled “Trade Tech’s
Trillion-Dollar Promise” on the sideline of the WEF 54th annual meeting, he
said utilising state-of-the-art technology was vital to achieve fast
development. Stressing the need to ensure equitable opportunities to secure the
technology, he said it was key to ensure sustainable global development.
Separately, addressing another event
titled “20th Pakistan Breakfast at Davos 2024” held by Pathfinders Group on the
sidelines of the WEF, Kakar said that Pakistan needed to be more competitive
and attractive to facilitate industrialisation in the region. He said a trading
activity of around $336 trillion trade was happening in China, and GCC
countries were also entering into the manufacturing industry. He said China had
acquired the transformation stage to relocate some of its industry and Pakistan
might be one of those destinations. He told the gathering of intellectuals,
writers and representatives of welfare organisations that Pakistan was a unique
place owing to its diversified culture, geography and topography with the eight
highest peaks, deserts of Thar and Balochistan and the plains of Punjab.
Calling human resources the biggest
asset of Pakistan, he said 60 percent of its 240 million population was under
30 years of age which only required a direction. Referring to the ideal
geographical position of the country, he said the whole of Central Asia was
looking to have connectivity through Pakistan which had the highest population
in the ECO region.
Lauding the role of Ikram Sehgal, he
said Pakistan needed more storytellers like him and reiterated the resolve to
continue partnering with the WEF and Pathfinder Group. In his remarks, Chairman
of Pathfinder Group Zarrar Sehgal emphasized that Pakistan needed to tell the
world that it remained an attractive place for investment. Meanwhile, the caretaker
prime minister met Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo on the WEF
sidelines.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1148979-imran-in-jail-for-inciting-workers-to-violence-kakar
-----
Rejection of nomination papers: LHC
reserves verdict on Imran Khan’s petition
2024-01-18
LAHORE: A full bench of the Lahore High
Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on two petitions of former PTI chairman
Imran Khan challenging rejection of his nomination papers from NA-122, Lahore
and NA-89, Mianwali.
The counsel of election commission of
Pakistan said that the condition of a proposer and seconder from the same
constituency was a legal requirement which was not fulfilled by the petitioner.
The counsel of Imran Khan, however, contended that this issue was not in NA-89.
He, therefore, asked the court to set
aside the decisions of returning officers (ROs) and the appellate tribunals of
rejecting the nomination papers of petitioner from both constituencies of
national assembly.
The court adjourned the proceedings for
a while and later reserved its verdict on both the petitions challenging
rejection of the nomination papers of Imran Khan from NA-122, Lahore and NA-89 Mianwali.
The ROs had rejected the nomination
papers of Imran Khan primarily on the grounds of being convicted in the
Toshakhana case. The appellate tribunals also upheld the decisions of
respective ROs with an observation that the decision of ECP regarding
disqualification of the petitioner was still in the field and had not been set
aside from the competent forum.
On the point of proposer not being the
voter of the constituency, the tribunal said the revised delimitation report
was issued by the ECP prior to the submission of nomination papers.
Source: brecorder.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40284302/rejection-of-nomination-papers-lhc-reserves-verdict-on-imran-khans-petition
------
South Asia
Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan’s Leader:
The World Is Trying To Destroy Our Unity And System
January 18, 2024
Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the
supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), says that the world
is trying to make people see Sharia law in a negative light as they push
democracy.
He said however that this will not
impact the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).
The leader of the Islamic Emirate, who
was in Kandahar on Wednesday, addressed the special security forces via an
audio recording, and said that negative propaganda against the government of
the Islamic Emirate should be stopped.
“Someone protests our laws, some people
protest in the clothes of science, and some people protest in other clothes,
and they try to destroy the unity among you and destroy this system. If this
system ends, it will only be possible on the basis of division and difference,”
said IEA’s Supreme leader.
In this audio tape, the leader of the
Islamic Emirate claimed that with his orders, he secured the rights of Afghan
women, which he said had been denied to them in the past.
In this audio tape, the leader of the
Islamic Emirate mentioned the right of women’s inheritance as one of the issues
that have been dealt with under his administration.
He has also claimed that: “None of the
previous governments of Afghanistan have ensured the rights of women like the
Islamic Emirate has.”
Akhundzada noted the status of women
under the rule of the Islamic Emirate and said: “These decrees have ensured
women’s rights in all sectors.”
With the return of the Islamic Emirate
of Afghanistan (IEA) to power in August 2021, a series of restrictions have
been imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan, including the exclusion of
girls above the sixth grade from schools, closing the gates of universities to
girls and women, banning women from working in Domestic and foreign
non-governmental administrations, banning women from going to parks, public
baths and stadiums, and compulsory hijab.
In his speech, the leader of the Islamic
Emirate did not say anything about the reopening of schools above the sixth
grade and universities to Afghan girls and women, but emphasized that criticism
of the Islamic Emirate authorities should be stopped.
The international community has called
the provision of human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, as one
of the preconditions for recognizing the government of the Islamic Emirate.
Source: ariananews.af
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.ariananews.af/ieas-leader-the-world-is-trying-to-destroy-our-unity-and-system/
-----
Bangladesh Nationalist PartyMay Call
HartalOr Lay Siege To Parliament
Jan 18, 2024
Mohammad Al-MasumMolla
BNP plans to observe protest programmes
like Hartal or lay siege to the parliament building on the first day of the
parliamentary session of the new government as part of the movement for its
one-point demand.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin is
scheduled to convene the first session of the 12th parliament on January 30,
which the BNP labelled an "illegal parliament" because of a
"staged election".
Although the party has not observed any
programme since January 7, it wants to return to peaceful and systematic
movement, as per the decision of the virtual meeting of the party's standing
committee members on Tuesday night.
"The party office and party
chairperson's offices were opened. The leaders have started coming out from
their hideouts. We are making plans to return to regular political
programmes," one of the leaders told The Daily Star after the meeting on
the condition of anonymity.
The party is expecting a boost in
numbers as it is hopeful that its incarcerated leaders and activists will be
let out on bail. Since its October 28 grand rally, more than 25,000 of its
leaders and activists are in jail.
A few standing committee members said
that the party should hold a rally in Dhaka immediately to pave the way for the
party's leaders and activists to gather.
However, some said it would not be wise
to hold any rally in Dhaka right now as many of the party leaders are yet to
walk out of jail.
The party will come up with fresh
anti-government movement programmes after completing the talks with its
like-minded parties, The Daily Star has learnt from party officials informed
about the discussions of the virtual meeting.
BNP has already started talking with
like-minded parties about the next course of action.
The party will not go for tough and big
programmes but will keep focusing on issue-based public interest programmes.
Keeping Ramadan in mind, the party may
go for some protest programmes centring on the price spiral of daily
essentials.
Programmes to observe the birth
anniversary of party founder Ziaur Rahman is the first step to staging a
turnaround as party men will get an opportunity to observe the programme
without any obstacles.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/hartalrallies/news/protesting-parliament-session-bnp-may-call-hartal-or-lay-siege-js-3522111
----
Taliban poses no security issue in Iran:
Iranian Official
Fidel Rahmati
January 18, 2024
Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the Secretary of
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has stated in his latest remarks that
“Taliban” has not posed any security issues in Iran.
According to ISNA, the news agency
affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Ahmadian made these
statements on Wednesday, the 17th of January, during a program called “National
Excellence” held at the central building of Islamic Azad University.
The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National
Security Council has mentioned that the approach of the Islamic Republic of
Iran towards how to interact with the Taliban regime has led to Iran being the
only place where security problems have not arisen.
In his remarks, he has indirectly
compared the Taliban with Hamas in Gaza, stating that the Islamic Republic of
Iran has adopted a unified approach regarding its interactions with these two
groups.
This Iranian official has not made any
references to the Taliban’s relationships with other neighboring countries in
Afghanistan or the increase in insecurity in the region.
However, since the Taliban took control
of Afghanistan, several skirmishes have taken place between the Taliban and
Iranian forces. These conflicts have arisen primarily due to border issues,
disputes over water rights, and the influx of Afghan refugees into Iran.
While Iran has generally adopted a
cautious approach in its dealings with the Taliban government, these tensions
along the Afghan-Iranian border highlight the complex dynamics and challenges
faced by both sides in maintaining stability and security in the region.
Efforts to address these issues and foster cooperation between Iran and the Taliban
continue to be a critical concern for regional stability.
Despite these, the Iranian official
believes that the Taliban regime has not caused any security issues in Iran,
making it the only place where this is the case.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-poses-no-security-issue-in-iran-iranian-official/
----
US aims to destabilize Afghanistan:
Iranian Envoy
Fidel Rahmati
January 17, 2024
Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, Iran’s special
representative in Kabul, believes that despite the U.S.’s clear failure in
Afghanistan, they continue to try to destabilize the country and support
terrorism, especially ISIS.
Qomi made these statements on Tuesday,
January 16th, during an interview with the IRNA news agency in Islamabad.
According to the special representative
and ambassador of Iran in Kabul, America’s policies have not only failed in
Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation but have also failed in other
countries like Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon.
He emphasized that “instability and
insecurity in Afghanistan continue to be America’s priority, and for various
reasons, they pursue this policy because, in the view of Americans, Afghanistan
can become a place of conflict and confrontation with their rivals and
adversaries, such as China, Iran, and Russia, and Afghanistan must continue to
follow a confrontational path with these countries.”
According to Qomi, neighboring countries
of Afghanistan will be the most affected by the developments and events in
Afghanistan, and on that basis, “Afghanistan’s neighbors have the most
interaction with the people and government of this country.”
He added, “The more Afghanistan moves
toward instability and insecurity, we will witness a flood of Afghan refugees
towards neighboring countries, including Iran. If Afghanistan’s economy worsens
and poverty intensifies, we will see an increase in drug cultivation and
recruitment of forces for terrorist groups like ISIS.”
Qomi also said, “Fortunately, we have
achieved a positive approach in negotiations with key regional players,
including Pakistan. We emphasize regional cooperation in engaging with Kabul.”
Today, Iran launched missiles into
Pakistan’s Balochistan region, causing a rise in diplomatic tensions. In
response, Pakistan has recalled its ambassador from Tehran.
Earlier, Kazemi-Qomi had announced
during a visit to Pakistan an agreement on the formation of regional contact
groups for Afghanistan.
This comes at a time when Iran has
maintained good relations with the Taliban in the past two years, despite
tensions over water rights and the Helmand River.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.khaama.com/us-aims-to-destabilize-afghanistan-iranian-envoy/
-----
96,000 Children Affected from Earthquake
in Herat: UNICEF
January 17, 2024
The United Nations International
Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said that the last earthquake in Herat
affected 96,000 children.
UNICEF in a report also called for an
increase in healthcare services and clean water for children who face
challenges from earthquakes.
“We cannot continue to establish
short-term educational centers here, because it needs more investment to
address their basic needs,” said Daniel Timme, head of communications for
UNICEF in Afghanistan.
Bibi Gul, a resident of SiaAab village
in Zinda Jan district of Herat, who lives in a temporary camp, is concerned
about her two children and asks the aid organizations for help.
“We hope that the government will build
our houses soon and give us some fuel in winter,” Bibi Gul said.
UNICEF in the latest report warned that 96,000
children are affected from the earthquake and they need serious assistance in
winter, UNICEF added.
“Today UNICEF said that they are
concerned about the survival of 96,000 children from the earthquake three
months ago. UNICEF asked in the eve of the hard winter, for much more
healthcare services for children in this country. Before this, UNICEF has also
done a lot to help with the victims of the earthquake, but it needs more work,”
said the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The Ministry of Economy says that
efforts are being made to attract more aid with the coordination of
organizations, in order to continue to provide health services, shelter and
educational services for the affected from the earthquake in Herat.
“The Ministry of Economy is working
together with the relevant organizations to support them with providing
shelter, education and international aid,” said Abdul Latif Nazari, deputy of
the Ministry of Economy.
UNICEF also stated that they set up 61
temporary learning spaces, where almost 3,400 children, more than half of them
girls, are able to continue basic
education. The rehabilitation work on destroyed classrooms will begin shortly,
UNICEF added.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-187006
-----
Acting Economy Minister and UN Envoy
Discussed Tackling Poverty, Unemployment in Afghanistan
2024-01-17
KABUL (BNA): During a meeting between
Qari Din Muhammad Hanif, Acting Minister of Economy, and Roza Otunbayeva,
Special Representative and Chief Secretary of the United Nations for
Afghanistan, several topics were discussed, including strategies for gradually reducing
poverty and unemployment in the country.
The meeting was attended by Daniel
Anders, the former deputy representative of UNAMA and coordinator of
humanitarian assistance for the organization; Ms. Isabelle, the head of OCHA’s
office in Kabul; and IndrikaRatwatte, the new deputy of head of UNAMA and
coordinator of humanitarian assistance for the organization.
The Acting Economy Minister emphasized
that the United Nations should prioritize humanitarian projects for those in
need, hunger-relief programs, encouraging and supporting small and medium-sized
businesses, domestic production in agriculture, finance, and horticulture, and
technical and vocational education.
The OCHA representative promised a
development strategy for the coming year, with a particular focus on
job-creation projects and programs in other sectors.
Source: bakhtarnews.af
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/acting-economy-minister-and-un-envoy-discussed-tackling-poverty-unemployment-in-afghanistan/
----
Haqqani meets with EU delegation in
Kabul
January 17, 2024
Acting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin
Haqqani met with RaffaellaIodice, the head of the EU delegation in Afghanistan
this week and said Afghanistan needs to be given its ‘membership’ in
international organizations.
“The Afghan government should get its
membership in important international organizations, so that the Afghans will
have their real representatives there which will also help the issues to be
solved easily,” Haqqani said at the meeting.
Iodice meanwhile noted the improved
security in Afghanistan and spoke of assistance by the EU to
earthquake-affected people in Herat province and Afghan refugees returning to
the country.
Haqqani also said that after several
decades of instability and chaos, Afghanistan is rapidly moving towards
economic and political stability.
Source: ariananews.af
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.ariananews.af/haqqani-meets-with-eu-delegation-in-kabul/
----
Hasina’s return as PM was needed: ADB’s
country director
Jan 17, 2024
Asian Development Bank Country Director
EdimonGinting today said Sheikh Hasina's return as prime minister was very much
needed for the sake of Bangladesh.
"For a better future of Bangladesh,
her return was very much needed," PM's deputy press secretary M Shakhawat
Moon quoted the ADB country director as saying while briefing reporters.
The meeting was held at the PM's
official residence GonoBhaban.
He said that the ADB country director congratulated
the prime minister on her reelection as the prime minister for the fourth
consecutive time.
"The ADB is very much happy,"
EdimonGinting told the premier.
He mentioned that the ADB is working
with Bangladesh as a development partner for a long time.
"We are always ready to do the same
in the coming days, and we are always ready to work with Bangladesh," he
said.
He expressed interest in working with
Bangladesh in the energy sector and climate change issues.
The ADB country director also said that
they wanted to expand their programme on the Climate Rehabilitation Project in
Cox's Bazar.
The prime minister requested them to do
the same in the hill districts.
She said the ADB's continuous support is
needed for Bangladesh. "Hopefully you will continue your support,"
she said.
Hasina thanked the ADB for continuously
supporting Bangladesh in its development endeavours undertaking value-adding
projects in its prioritised sectors.
She also thanked the ADB for reaching
its commitment to ever highest amounting to $ 3.6 billion in the last year.
Hasina requested the ADB to undertake
projects catering to the needs of graduation challenges of Bangladesh economy
where improvement of logistics infrastructure and service delivery should be of
utmost priority.
She said that given the climate
vulnerabilities and climate emergencies, Bangladesh expects to have a larger
share of the ADB's climate finances.
The PM requested the ADB to scale up its
grant and concessional climate finances for Bangladesh to develop a pipeline of
high-quality climate projects and programmes to support climate outcomes in
alignment with its national aspirations, manifested in 'Mujib Climate
Prosperity Plan 2022-2041', 'National Adaptation Plan' and 'Bangladesh Delta
Plan 2100'.
She thanked the ADB for its recent
approval of $400 million.
She informed the ADB that there are a
number of budget supports in the pipeline for FY 2023-24 and 2024-25 on which
ADB may start discussions earlier to ensure their approval within the
stipulated time-frame.
Sheikh Hasina expected that the ADB will
continue to finance Bangladesh's priority sectors to help Bangladesh maintain
its growth momentum and carry out the future vision of a 'Smart Bangladesh'.
"The ADB will continue to finance
projects in its prioritised sectors," she said.
The prime minister mentioned that as
Bangladesh's economy is advancing towards a high growth trajectory, it is
desirable that the ADB will put large impetus on undertaking projects that will
reduce digital gap, accelerate trade competitiveness, transfer advanced and
low-carbon technologies, generate green energy, promote climate-resilient
agriculture, diversify export, develop smart city, and enhance skills and
capacities.
She indicated that Bangladesh might
require additional financial support to cope with its macro and overall
economic challenges in the underlying war situation and its impacts on the
global economy.
In this connection, she expected that
the ADB would keep additional countercyclical and policy-based lending (PBL) support
measures in its pipeline so that Bangladesh can use them immediately, in case
of necessity.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/diplomacy/news/hasinas-return-pm-was-needed-adbs-country-director-3521751
----
KSrelief provides aid to Afghan families
forcibly returned from Pakistan
January 17, 2024
KABUL: The Saudi aid agency KSrelief has
been distributing aid to thousands of Afghans repatriated from Pakistan — most
returning to start over with nothing.
Millions of Afghans found refuge in
Pakistan during decades of conflict after their homeland was invaded by the
Soviet Union in 1979. Over the years, some would return, and some more would
flee Afghanistan — most recently when the Taliban took over the war-torn
country following the withdrawal of US-led forces in 2021.
But since October, around half a million
of them have made their way back as Pakistani authorities launched a nationwide
crackdown on undocumented foreign nationals.
The decision covered all the foreigners
deemed as living in the country illegally, but it hit Afghans the most as some
1.7 million of them — out of the total of 4 million — were living in Pakistan
unregistered.
The Afghan government has promised
support for the returnees, but the $140 it had pledged for each returning
family is a drop in the ocean of needs. Most returnees are back with no place
to stay, no means to sustain themselves, and no work.
Those who have most recently entered Afghanistan
through the Spin Boldak crossing in the southern Kandahar province are
receiving food assistance from KSrelief this week.
“We are thankful to KSrelief for its
continuous assistance to the Afghan people,” Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, spokesman
of the Ministry of Refugees and Reparation, told Arab News.
“As per our data, the majority of those
returning are children.”
The Afghan Red Crescent Society, which
is distributing the aid, said in a statement that the packages containing
staples such as flour, cooking oil, beans, sugar and dates have already reached
400 families.
The provisions will allow each family to
stay afloat for at least several weeks.
The unprecedented number of people
arriving in such a short time leaves the Afghan government struggling to
address their fundamental needs, including shelter and work.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan
in 2021, the country has been hit by international sanctions and its
unemployment has more than doubled as it struggles with a collapsing economy.
Those who have returned from Pakistan
had to leave behind whatever they had built over the years.
“It will be very hard when you are
starting your life from zero,” Haqqani said. “Some of them have spent even 40
years in Pakistan and left everything there.”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2443211/world
-----
Africa
‘Nigerians Facing The Worst Hardships
Under Tinubu’ – Supreme Council for Shari’ah Cries Out
Goodness Adaoyiche
January 17, 2024
The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in
Nigeria has expressed concerns over the rising cost of foodstuff and other
valuables across the country.
According to the council, the current
sufferings of Nigerians have escalated under President Bola Tinubu.
At its conference in Abuja, president of
the council, Sheikh AbdurRasheedHadiyatullah, lamented that Nigerians are
currently battling unemployment and an economic quagmire.
He spoke on the theme: “Matters Arising
from the 2023 Election and Associated Socio-Economic Challenges”.
”The suffering of Nigerians has
escalated since President Tinubu assumed office,” he said.
“What used to cost N200 is now being
sold at N2,000. Nigeria’s current state is marked by cash scarcity,
unemployment, and economic challenges,” he said.
Nigeria is facing its worst cost of
living crisis, with year-on-year inflation refusing to slow down in 2023.
While inflation didn’t hit 30 per cent
as predicted by many experts, it has been blamed for rising poverty rates in
the county.
Nigeria’s inflation closed 2023 at a
21-year high of 28.92 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Major contributors to inflation were
food and non-alcoholic beverages (14.98 per cent), housing, water, electricity,
gas and other fuel (4.84 per cent), clothing and footwear (2.21 per cent),
transport (1.88 per cent), furnishings and household equipment and maintenance
(1.45 per cent), and education (1.14 per cent).
Food inflation continues to outperform
general inflation. In December 2023, the food inflation rate was 33.93 per
cent.
Source: politicsnigeria.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://politicsnigeria.com/nigerians-facing-the-worst-hardships-under-tinubu-islamic-group-cries-out/
-----
Ghana’s National Chief Imam Supports SDA
Church’s Request for Election Date Change
Jan 18, 2024
Ebenezer Mensah
In a remarkable display of interfaith
harmony and democratic inclusivity, the Office of the National Chief Imam in
Ghana, led by Sheikh Osman NuhuSharubutu, has expressed support for a proposal
by the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church to reconsider the national elections
date. The SDA Church, whose members observe Saturday as their Sabbath, had
voiced concerns that holding elections on this day could disenfranchise some of
their members who strictly observe the Sabbath from sunrise to sunset.
Understanding the Call for Change
The SDA Church’s request stems from the
potential clash between their religious observances and the democratic process.
They fear that if the elections fall on a Saturday—a day they dedicate to the
worship of God—some of their members may be unable to vote. To address this
concern, the Church has called for legislation to ensure that future elections
in Ghana do not occur on religiously significant days.
Echoing the Concerns Across Faiths
In a show of solidarity, the
spokesperson for the National Chief Imam echoed the SDA’s concerns. Drawing
parallels with the potential challenges the Muslim community would face if
elections were held on Friday—the sacred day of worship in Islam—he underscored
the importance of respecting all religions’ sacred days. This, he said, is
crucial to ensuring that democracy allows everyone the opportunity to cast
their votes without compromising their religious practices.
This development is a significant step
towards an inclusive democracy that takes into account the religious practices
of all its citizens. By considering the move of the election to a day that does
not conflict with any group’s religious observance, Ghana is demonstrating a
commitment to ensuring that every citizen, regardless of their faith, has the
opportunity to participate fully in the electoral process.
Source: bnnbreaking.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://bnnbreaking.com/politics/elections/ghanas-national-chief-imam-supports-sda-churchs-request-for-election-date-change/
-----
Banditry: Gov Idris laments killing of
NIS personnel in Kebbi
January 18, 2024
Matthew Atungwu
Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris, has
commiserated with the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, over the death of its
two personnel serving in the state.
The Chief Press Secretary to the
governor, Alhaji Ahmed Idris made this disclosure in a statement issued in
BirninKebbi on Wednesday.
DAILY POST recalls that the two
personnel, Isa Nafi’u and Garba Haruna Fana, lost their lives when a group of
suspected bandits launched an attack on the officers on duty at Garin Garba
entry point, about 12 kilometers away from Kangiwa, headquarters of Arewa Local
Government Area of Kebbi.
The governor’s aide stated that his
principal personally attended the funeral prayer for the personnel held in
BirninKebbi and expressed dismay over the demise of the gallant officers.
He prayed to Almighty Allah to forgive
their shortcomings and grant them Jannatul Firdaus.
Idris appealed to the immediate families
of the deceased and the NIS to take heart and accept the will of God Almighty
in good faith.
He said the sacrifice they made to the
nation would never be forgotten as their lives were cut short in the service to
their motherland.
The governor encouraged other personnel
of NIS not to be deterred by the acts carried out by notorious and bad elements
in the society, urging them to continue with their legitimate and lawful duty
as scheduled.
Source: dailypost.ng
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://dailypost.ng/2024/01/18/banditry-gov-idris-laments-killing-of-nis-personnel-in-kebbi/
-----
2 killed and 77 injured in a massive
blast in southern Nigeria
January 18, 2024
Two people died and 77 others were
injured after a massive blast rocked more than a dozen buildings in one of
Nigeria's largest cities Tuesday night, the governor said Wednesday, as rescue
workers dug through the rubble in search of those feared trapped.
Residents in the southwestern state of
Oyo's densely populated Ibadan city heard a loud blast at about 7:45 p.m.,
causing panic as many fled their homes. By Wednesday morning, security forces
cordoned off the area while medical personnel and ambulances were on standby as
rescue efforts intensified.
Preliminary investigations showed the
blast was caused by explosives stored for use in illegal mining operations, Oyo
Gov. SeyiMakinde told reporters after visiting the site in the Bodija area of
Ibadan.
"We have already deployed first
responders and all relevant agencies within Oyo state to carry out
comprehensive search and rescue operations," Makinde said, describing the
damage as "devastating."
Illegal mining in mineral-rich Nigeria
is common and has been a major concern for authorities. However, it is mostly
done in remote areas where arrests are difficult and where safety procedures
are rarely followed.
It was not immediately clear who stored
the explosives, and no arrest has been announced. "The investigations are
ongoing (and) all those found culpable for this will be brought to book,"
Gov. Makinde said.
Most of the 77 injured were already
discharged, the governor said, promising to cover the medical bills of others
still being admitted and to provide temporary accommodation for those whose
houses were affected.
Source: africanews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.africanews.com/2024/01/17/2-killed-and-77-injured-in-a-massive-blast-in-southern-nigeria/
-----
VP Abdelbagi urges unity among Muslim
community
18 JAN 2024
Hussein AbdelbagiAkol, South Sudan’s
Vice President for Services Affairs, has emphasized the importance of unity
among Muslim community in the country.
Speaking at the third Islamic Council’s
conference in Juba on Wednesday, Vice President Akol urged Muslims to
collectively adhere to the Council's guidelines to avoid creating divisions
within their community.
Akol also encouraged the Islamic Council
to foster tolerance between Muslims and non-Muslim sectors, emphasizing the
need for cooperation and respect for the state’s directives.
Recognizing the significant role of the
Muslim community in the country’s peace process, Akol called on Muslims to
actively engage in state matters and extended his best wishes to the Muslim
community for the upcoming elections.
Sheikh Abdullah Barac, whose term in the
Islamic Council has concluded, highlighted that the Muslim community approached
this conference with unity following a dialogue overseen by the Vice President
involving current and former Islamic Council leaders. The discussions addressed
previous disagreements among the Council’s leaders.
Barac clarified that these internal
disputes were not personal but centered around differing viewpoints. He
emphasized that all differences had been successfully resolved, characterizing
the conference as a reconciliation effort. The third general conference of the
Islamic Council, themed “Unity of Peace and Development,” convened with the
primary agenda of electing a new Secretary-General.
Abdullah Barac is among the candidates
vying for the contested position of Secretary-General in the upcoming election.
Source: radiotamazuj.org
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/vp-abdelbagi-urges-unity-among-muslim-community
----
North America
For American Muslims, Biden’s Israel
dilemma becomes a voters’ dilemma
[17/January/2024]
YOUSSEF CHOUHOUD
More than 100 days have passed since the
October 7 attack on Israel and the launch of Tel Aviv's brutal offensive in
Gaza.
Over that span, Arab and Muslim
Americans (among those closest to the conflict through shared lineage or
tradition) witnessed Palestinian suffering broadcast in real time, with the
knowledge that their country was playing an active role in enabling the
conflict.
The United States has had a longstanding
and close relationship with Israel. But this alliance did not have to mean that
Washington would empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prosecute
the war in Gaza however he saw fit.
The lifting of virtually all constraints
on Israel was a choice - one that US President Joe Biden consciously made. Even
his rhetoric often comes off as callous and one-sided.
Early on in the conflict, Biden
infamously declared he had “no confidence” in the tally of Palestinian
casualties to that point while, more recently, in an official statement marking
100 days since October 7, he ignored Palestinians altogether.
Thus it is not surprising that Biden is
losing support among Arabs and Muslim Americans. Recent polls indicate that
less than 20 percent of Arabs and less than 10 percent of Muslims would vote
for Biden if the presidential election were held today. Of course, we are still
months away from anyone casting a ballot and, presumably, anything can happen
between now and November.
Yet, given Biden's indelible link to
this conflict, Netanyahu's repeated warning that the assault on Gaza will last
for “many more months,” and the parties' starkly different visions for Gaza's
future once hostilities cease, it is hard to imagine that Arabs and Muslims
will revert back to their pre-October 7 priorities once Election Day rolls
around.
So will all those lost Biden votes
migrate over to Donald Trump? Not necessarily. Third-party candidate Cornel
West, for example, is mounting a campaign that is conspicuously (and perhaps
uniquely) courting the Arab and Muslim vote (a strategy reminiscent of the
Bernie Sanders campaign in 2020).
Similarly, the Arab American Institute
reports that while support for Biden has dropped precipitously, Trump’s support
only increased mildly, from 35 percent (in 2020) to 40 percent (in 2023). A
large percentage of respondents either planned to vote third party (17 percent)
or were unsure of who they would support (25 percent).
This latter figure suggests that
abstention or leaving the top of the ticket blank may prove to be a popular
option in November.
Of course, even if a vote is not cast
affirmatively for Trump, he is still ultimately the beneficiary of any
third-party/abstention campaign against Biden.
That is, assuming that Trump is on the
ballot in November. Between multiple court trials, the Supreme Court ruling on
whether he is even allowed to run for office, and the potential (however slim)
for a drawn-out Republican primary, there is at least some plausible chance
that we will not have a rematch of the 2020 presidential election.
All that said, Trump vs. Biden at the
top of the ballot remains the likeliest scenario, which means the former
president could potentially reclaim his office. The likelihood of Biden losing
his bid for reelection hinges on a number of factors, including the one that
traditionally exerts the greatest influence on electoral outcomes: the economy.
Other domestic issues like abortion access and even the maintenance of
democracy itself will also motivate turnout and vote choice.
However, the chief indicator of Biden’s
fate could be the extent to which foreign policy is a salient topic on voters’
minds as they cast their ballot.
This is all but assured to be the case
among Arabs and Muslims, whose turnout could prove pivotal in several key swing
states, including Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Indeed, in those battlegrounds where these communities are more concentrated,
their mass defection alone could mean a net loss for Biden as large as his 2020
margin of victory in those states.
This is not to say that Trump would
offer a more even-handed approach to Gaza or, indeed, a more effective policy
on any international issue. The harsh reality is that Arabs and Muslims will
likely contribute to bringing someone into power who champions both foreign and
domestic policies that are detrimental to these communities.
On the foreign front, Trump presided
over the relocation of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,
undermining a key component of final status negotiations for a Palestinian
state. In addition, he spearheaded the “Abraham Accords,” which bypassed
Palestinians altogether while trying to build diplomatic ties between Israel
and its regional neighbours.
Domestically too, Trump has advocated
for a number of policies that would negatively affect Arab and Muslim
Americans. Most notoriously, during the beginning of his first presidential
term, he pushed through the so-called “Muslim ban,” which mainly barred
citizens from Muslim-majority countries from travelling to the US.
Trump has vowed to reinstate and
strengthen this ban should he gain back the presidency. Arabs, Muslims, and
myriad other minority groups would also be negatively affected by the weakening
of liberal-democratic norms and protections that will likely accompany a new
Trump administration.
Here, then, is the question that Arab
and Muslim Americans must answer come November: are the risks of a second Trump
presidency worth bearing for the chance at changing the Democratic party’s
stance towards Israel? Much like a gambit in chess, this electoral strategy
sacrifices in the short-term to gain an advantage in the long-term.
For some, however, the only
consideration is maintaining their dignity in the voting booth. In which case,
no strategic calculation is likely to compel them to vote for the “lesser of
two evils.”
Whether it is worth taking this
calculated risk comes down to two key forecasts: 1) The amount of lasting harm
a second Trump presidency would have on public policy and democratic
institutions, and 2) The likelihood of the Democratic party changing its overly
deferential posture towards Israel. The weight and probability that voters
assign each of these consequences should ultimately guide any strategic approach
to voting in November and beyond.
For some, however, the only
consideration is maintaining their dignity in the voting booth. In which case,
no strategic calculation is likely to compel them to vote for the “lesser of
two evils.”
Source: trtworld.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/for-american-muslims-bidens-israel-dilemma-becomes-a-voters-dilemma-16684428
------
US designates Houthis as ‘terrorist’ in
response to Red Sea attacks
18th January 2024
Sakina Fatima
Washington: The United States has
announced the designation of Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, as a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist in response to their continuing threats
and attacks.
Following the rebels’ attacks on ships
in the Red Sea, the US started strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Wednesday,
prompting Washington to relist the group as “specially designated global
terrorists.”
Since November, the organisation with
ties to Iran has been carrying out attacks that have hampered marine trade
between Asia and Europe, reported Al Jazeera.
The Houthis claim that until Israel’s
war on Gaza ends, they will keep hitting targets, including ships that have
ties to Israel.
“Today, in response to these continuing
threats and attacks, the United States announced the designation of Ansarallah,
also known as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist,” White
House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
“This designation is an important tool
to impede terrorist funding to the Houthis, further restrict their access to
financial markets, and hold them accountable for their actions. If the Houthis
cease their attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the United States will
immediately reevaluate this designation,” the statement said.
The designation will take effect 30 days
from now, to ensure humanitarian carve-outs are in place.
“We are rolling out unprecedented
carve-outs and licenses to help prevent adverse impacts on the Yemeni people.
The people of Yemen should not pay the price for the actions of the Houthis. We
are sending a clear message: commercial shipments into Yemeni ports on which
the Yemeni people rely for food, medicine and fuel should continue and are not
covered by our sanctions. This is in addition to the carveouts we include in
all sanctions programs for food, medicine, and humanitarian assistance,” the
statement added.
“As President Biden has said, the United
States will not hesitate to take further actions to protect our people and the
free flow of international commerce,” Sullivan said further.
Meanwhile, the United States carried out
new strikes against Houthi ballistic missiles in Yemen on Tuesday, according to
the US Central Command. The US carried out strikes after Houthi launched an
anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into
international shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea.
The strikes on Tuesday, the third
against Houthi since a US-led air and naval barrage hit dozens of targets last
week and destroyed four missiles that the US Central Command said posed an
imminent threat to merchant vessels and Navy ships travelling through the Red
Sea and nearby waters, The New York Times reported.
The Houthi rebels, who are an
Iran-aligned group, claimed to lhaveaunched the strikes in retaliation for
Israel’s Gaza conflict.
The Houthis have launched several drone
and missile attacks on Israel since it went to war with Hamas in Gaza. However,
the majority of these projectiles were intercepted. Israel launched air strikes
in Gaza and later rolled out its tanks across the border in response to the
Hamas attacks on October 7, last year
Source: siasat.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.siasat.com/us-designates-houthis-as-terrorist-in-response-to-red-sea-attacks-2958815/
-----
US launches 4th round of missile strikes
on Yemen in a week
18 January 2024
The US military has launched new strikes
on Yemen, marking the fourth time in a week that it has illegally bombed the
war-torn country.
The Yemeni Saba news agency reported
early Thursday that the aerial assault hit the provinces of Hudaydah, Taʿizz,
Dhamar, al-Bayda, and Saada.
It added that British aircraft were also
involved in the act of aggression.
In a statement, the US Central Command
(CENTCOM) said that its strikes took place at approximately 11:59 p.m. Sana’a
time on Wednesday, alleging that they targeted 14 missiles that were loaded to
be fired from Yemen.
It also claimed that the strikes, along
with other actions, will “degrade” the “capabilities” of the Yemeni armed
forces to continue their attacks in the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and
the Gulf of Aden.
Two US officials said that during the
raid, Tomahawk missiles were launched from US Navy surface vessels and the USS
Florida, a guided-missile submarine.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news
channel reported that the aggression was accompanied by the presence of
surveillance aircraft over the western part of Yemen.
The US strikes came on the same day that
it re-designated Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement as a “terrorist” group
amid frustration with anti-Israel naval operations by the Yemeni armed forces
in the Red Sea.
The United States and its allies have
also launched illegal attacks on Yemen in violation of the country’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as international law.
Israel waged its genocidal war on Gaza
on October 7 following a historic operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance
group against the occupying entity.
The US has offered untrammeled support
for Israel during the onslaught that has so far killed over 24,000
Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured at least 61,000 others.
In solidarity with the Palestinians in
besieged Gaza, the Yemeni armed forces have targeted ships in the Red Sea with
owners linked to Israel or those going to and from ports in the occupied
territories.
The most recent incident was against the
US-owned Genco Picardy bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.
In response to Yemen’s maritime campaign
in support of Palestine, the US has formed a military coalition in the Red Sea
and endangered maritime navigation in the strategic waterway.
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/18/718438/US-strikes-Yemen-CENTCOM
----
CAIR Encourages U.S. Imams to Discuss
Indian Govt’s Plan to Open Temple on Demolished Babri Mosque
smail Allison
January 17, 2024
The Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy
organization, today encouraged American khatibs (Islamic prayer leaders) and
imams (Islamic religious leaders) to discuss the Indian government’s plan to
open a temple on the grounds of the demolished Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India,
and raise awareness about the plight of Indian Muslims during their Friday
khutbahs (sermons) for jummah (Friday congregational prayers.)
The Ram Temple, which was built on the
grounds of the Babri Mosque, a historic mosque demolished by Hindu nationalists
in 1992, is set to be inaugurated. A mosque was supposed to be built on the
site as well, but the project has yet to begin construction.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive
Director Nihad Awad said:
“We encourage American Imams to give
sermons on the Babri Mosque and the persecution and oppression faced by Indian
Muslims this Friday. The destruction of India’s Islamic cultural heritage and
the violence faced by Indian Muslims must be opposed both by our community and
the nations of the world.”
Awad also called on American Imams to
sign up for CAIR’s Imam mailing list. Subscribers to the list will receive
regular alerts with updates about challenges facing the Muslim community and
other information imams may find useful to develop ideas for khutbahs and
provide guidance to congregations. These updates will begin to be sent out
soon. Sign up here.
Source: cair.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-encourages-u-s-imams-to-discuss-indian-govts-plan-to-open-temple-on-demolished-babri-mosque/
-----
CAIR-Cleveland Urges Passage of Toledo
City Council Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
Ismail Allison
January 17, 2024
The Cleveland chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland) today urged the passage of a Toledo
City Council resolution on a Gaza ceasefire resolution at tonight’s meeting. If
passed, Toledo will join other cities across the United States in passing a
ceasefire resolution for Gaza.
The vote will take place today, Jan. 17,
at 4 pm at Toledo City Hall, One Government Center 640 Jackson Street, Toledo,
OH 43604.
To urge Toledo City Council to pass the
ceasefire resolution click here: Urge
Toledo City Council for a Ceasefire Now
This resolution comes after weeks of
humanitarians urging their Toledo City Council members to introduce a ceasefire
resolution. During this time, an estimated 30,000 civilians in Gaza have been
killed by the Israeli Occupation Force, including many women and children. The
resolution would send a clear message that the City of Toledo stands against
genocide and calls for an end to the violence.
Dr. Zaheer Hasan, of United Muslims
Association of Toledo, (UMAT) said, “The Toledo community of diverse
backgrounds and faiths came together and advocated for the City of Toledo to
call for a permanent ceasefire and acknowledge the loss of life in Gaza.”
Dr. Jomana Al-Hinti of American Muslims
for Palestine (AMP) said, “We have several community members that have lost
many members of their family, between 40-100 in Gaza in the past three months
and having city council call for a ceasefire will show that the City of Toledo
cares about its citizens.”
This news comes as Israel is currently
on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice with South Africa
as the plaintiff.
CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland and North Executive
Director FatenOdeh commended the people of Toledo for their efforts, “I am so
proud of the community of Toledo for their steadfastness every day, who stood
out on the streets protesting, attended meetings with public elected officials
and have relentlessly advocated for the suffering people of Gaza. City by city,
we intend to send a strong message from the U.S. to Gaza that Americans do not
condone the Biden administration’s unwavering support for the Israeli
government’s atrocities against the Palestinian people.”
Source: cair.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of
https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-cleveland-urges-passage-of-toledo-city-council-gaza-ceasefire-resolution/
-----
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/activists-imams-ayodhya-temple-consecration/d/131539