Al Qaeda Leader Ayman Al Zawahiri in a Video Asks Ummah to Emulate Islamic Jihadists as Role Models
New Age Islam News Bureau
15 June 2022
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri.(AFP Photo / File.)
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• Malaysian Group Says Defaced Indian University,
Local Council Websites over BJP Politician's Slur on Prophet Muhammad
• India Urged To Stop 'Selective and Vicious'
Crackdown on Muslim Protesters: Amnesty International
• 'Repression against Muslims': Former SC Judges Urge
Court to Act against Demolition Drive In UP
• Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State Openly Use Facebook
to Spread Propaganda in East Africa
Arab
World
• Israel strike crippling Syria’s main airport,
tensions rise
• Biden to discuss energy security, bilateral
cooperation in Saudi Arabia: Statement
• Saudi Arabia adds 19 Yemeni individuals, entities to
terror list
• Astana peace talks to discuss return of Syrian
refugees
• Russia’s special envoy for Syria blasts Israeli
missile strikes as ‘unacceptable’
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Investigation into Malaysian Hacking Group after
Cyber Attacks on India
• Cops Probing Malaysian Group Supporting Politician
Who Sparked Unrest In India
• Japan foreign minister non-committal on Damascus
airport attack
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North
America
• Bennet Says Biden Visit Will Reveal US Steps to
Integrate Israel into Middle East
• Ahead of Biden trip to Saudi Arabia, White House
official says US committed to allies
• US awaits ‘constructive’ Iran response on nuclear
deal: State Department
• Report: US air force clears crew of plane that took
off with Afghans on outside of aircraft
--------
India
• PM, Prez from RSS, How Can It Be Compared To
Taliban: Javed Akhtar Asked In Defamation Suit
• Khargone Violence: HC Issues Notice to Madhya
Pradesh over Demolition of Muslim Trader’s Shop
• Family is in danger from Islamic fundamentalists:
Expelled BJP leader Naveen Jindal
• RSS to discuss Prophet row, Gyanvapi at a meet in
Jaipur next month
• Indian forces in Kashmir kill militant suspected of targeted
killing
--------
Africa
• UN’s WFP ends food aid to parts of South Sudan as
funds run dry
• Libyan oil output collapses after wave of closures
• Death toll from Burkina Faso attack rises to 79,
official says
• Is Mali emerging as another front for Russia, West?
--------
Pakistan
• FATF Set To Review Pakistan for Money Laundering,
Terrorist Financing
• Pakistan: Imran Khan admits committing 'blunders'
leading to his party's fall
• Current setup bent upon abolishing FIA, NAB, says
Imran
• Pakistan envoy Masood Khan, President Biden discuss
'building strong basis' for taking ties forward
• Govt urged to negotiate with TTP from position of
strength
• Bilawal renews commitment to closer ties with Tehran
• PTI seeks decision on all parties’ foreign funding
cases in one go
• Nawaz Sharif calls on Shehbaz govt to facilitate
Pervez Musharraf’s return to Pakistan
--------
South
Asia
• Pakistan's Futile Exercise-Asking Wily Taliban to
Broker Peace with The TTP
• Islamic Scholars in Badghis Call to Reopen Girls’
Schools
• USD 150 million aid by World Bank comes as relief to
Afghan farmers under Taliban regime
• Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in Western Kabul
Transforms into a Teaching Hospital
• UN: Millions of Children under the Taliban Rule Have
Been Deprived of Education
• Russia hints it may recognise Taliban govt in
Afghanistan
--------
Mideast
• Nuclear Chief: IAEA Politicizing Iran Nuclear Work
under Israeli Pressure
• Satellite images suggest Iran preparing for rocket
launch
• Israel calls for US-led regional coalition against
Iran
• FM: Logical Initiatives Offered in Vienna Talks by
Iran
• Israelis in Turkey were saved before ‘Iran’s
assassins’ could attack at hotel: Report
• Iran believes Israel killed two of its scientists
with poison: Report
• Turkey is a ‘safe country’, Ankara says after
Israeli warnings
• UN commission on Palestine seeks new ways to get
Israel to comply with int'l law
• UN urges Houthis to lift Taif siege as Yemeni truce
holds
--------
Europe
• Blocked European Funds To Palestinian Territories To
Be Released
• Turkey prepared to stall Sweden and Finland’s NATO
membership for year: MP
• Sweden’s premier says she looks forward to
continuing dialogue with Türkiye
• ECHR blocks UK plan to deport Iraqi asylum seeker to
Rwanda
• PKK terror group supporters hold anti-Türkiye
demonstration in Athens
• France captures senior Daesh figure in Mali:
military
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/qaeda-ayman-zawahiri-ummah-islamic-jihadists/d/127253
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Al Qaeda Leader Ayman Al Zawahiri in a Video Asks
Ummah To Emulate Islamic Jihadists As Role Models
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri.(AFP Photo / File.)
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By Shishir Gupta
Jun 15, 2022
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri in a video released
through its media wing “As Sahab” has asked the global Muslim community or
Ummah to adopt prominent jihadist leaders as role models. The video statement
is episode five of the series titled “Deal of the Century or Crusades Spanning
Centuries.”
The video calling for the veneration of past and
present Sunni jihadists is not only going to spark off Islamic radicalization
but has also raised terror threat levels in the world. Zawahiri’s earlier
videos in the series had focused on criticizing Arab leaders and “educating”
Muslims with the Al Qaeda ideology.
This month Zawahiri also called for jihad against
India and Bangladesh for blasphemy against the Holy Prophet and threaten to
launch suicide attacks in key Indian cities. Intelligence inputs indicate that
Zawahiri is currently based in Afghanistan near the Durand Line border though
the Taliban regime denies it and says that the terror kingpin is in Iran. As a
terror organization with hardcore Salafist roots, Al Qaeda has no space for
either Shia or Sufi branches of Islam.
With the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Al
Qaeda’s core leadership has strengthened with the terror group armed with the
latest weapons, explosives and night vision devices left by the US-led
coalition forces on August 15, 2021. The terrorist group, which evidently has
its media wing based in Pakistan, has started attracting militant cadres for
global operations and is receiving funding from Middle East countries including
Qatar and Turkey.
Rising simultaneously with Al Qaeda is the Islamic
State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Afghanistan, which has grown in cadre
strength after its key leaders were released from prisons with the advent of
the Taliban and the hasty exit of US forces. Armed with state-of-the-art rifles
and rocket launchers, the ISKP, which has links with the Pakistani deep state,
has targeted the Taliban in the Islamic Emirate.
With Al Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood being active in
the Indian sub-continent through proxies, Islamic radicalization is expected to
increase dramatically as the Taliban is the new model for jihadists. That the
Taliban was able to throw US forces out of Afghanistan is an example enough for
undercover jihadists to rise in the sub-continent and cause havoc. The Al Qaeda
threat of bomb attacks in India is not being taken lightly by counter-terror
agencies as the whole purpose of a possible strike would be to force a
retaliation and increase polarization in Indian society.
Source: Hindustan Times
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original story:
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Malaysian Group Says Defaced Indian University, Local
Council Websites Over BJP Politician's Slur On Prophet Muhammad
A screen capture shows the message DragonForce
Malaysia left on an Indian website that it defaced.
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By Zarrah Morden
15 Jun 2022
KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — A group calling itself
DragonForce Malaysia said it has successfully defaced the websites of the Delhi
University and the Nanded-Waghala City Municipal Corporation as part of a
cyberattack campaign against India over an anti-Islam slur by a politician from
the ruling party there.
On its Twitter page, the activist group showed that it
was able to inject pages into the websites of the Indian university and local
council, to convey its objection to the politician’s remarks about Prophet
Muhammad.
“Another Government of India & University India
Hacked And Leaked By Dragonforce Malaysia. Database Incoming Boom Boom Boom,”
the group wrote on Twitter.
Visits to the sites listed showed that they have been
replaced with a message from DragonForce Malaysia over its Ops Patuk campaign
against Indian websites over the religious slur.
The group also announced on Twitter that it was able
to insert malicious code in some of the websites.
The attacks were just the latest by the Malaysian
group. According to the Times of India, the group previously claimed credit for
defacing 70 government and private websites in India, leaving audio clips and
texts saying: “For you is your religion, for me is my religion”.
The targets of the attack reportedly comprised a
diverse range of Indian websites, from the Indian Embassy in Israel and
National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management to Delhi Public School
and other websites belonging to academic institutions.
The campaign was launched through the forums of the
group’s website. Members who successfully took down websites opened new threads
on the forums detailing which websites they took down along with screenshots of
the defaced sites.
Earlier this month, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
spokesman Nupur Sharma caused a global storm with her remarks insulting Prophet
Muhammad, triggering formal diplomatic protests from Muslim countries worldwide
including Malaysia against the Indian government.
This forced the Modi administration into damage
control with attempts to downplay her comments as her personal opinion.
The controversy has also led to protests in various
parts of the world, including deadly riots in India.
Source: Malay Mail
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original story:
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India Urged To Stop 'Selective and Vicious' Crackdown
on Muslim Protesters: Amnesty International
More than 300 people have been arrested in the
northern Uttar Pradesh state for joining last week's rallies. Source: AAP /
Hindustan Times/Sipa USA
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June 15, 2022
India must immediately end a "vicious"
crackdown on Muslims who took to the streets to protest a ruling party
official's remarks about the Prophet Muhammad, Amnesty International has said.
Authorities were "selectively and viciously
cracking down on Muslims who dare to speak up...against the discrimination
faced by them," Amnesty's Aakar Patel said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Cracking down on protesters with excessive use
of force, arbitrary detention and punitive house demolitions...is in complete
violation of India's commitments under international human rights law".
Amnesty has demanded an "immediate and
unconditional release" of detained protesters, and Patel said the arrests
and demolitions were "part of an alarming escalation of the states'
measures targeting Muslims".
Two demonstrators were killed and hundreds of others
arrested last week in nationwide protests over the comments, which embroiled
India in a diplomatic furore and caused widespread outrage among Muslim
communities across the globe.
Footage of bulldozers demolishing homes of those
arrested or identified as protesters has since been spread on social media.
More than 300 people have been arrested in the northern Uttar Pradesh state for
joining last week's rallies.
Global outcry over derogatory remarks
Cities around India saw sizable demonstrations on
Friday, with some crowds burning effigies of Nupur Sharma - the BJP spokeswoman
who had made insulting remarks against the Prophet and his wife Ayesha in a TV
debate.
Sharma has been suspended from the party, which issued
a statement saying it respected all religions, while the governments of nearly
20 Muslim-majority countries called in their Indian envoys to register their
disapproval.
Friday also saw huge protests in neighbouring
countries, with police estimating more than 100,000 people mobilised across
Bangladesh after midday prayers.
Another 5,000 people took to the streets in the
Pakistani city of Lahore, demanding that their government take stronger action
against India over the comments.
BJP's discriminatory policies towards Muslims
Since coming to power nationally in 2014, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been accused of championing discriminatory
policies towards Muslims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government proposed a
controversial law that granted faster citizenship to refugees in India, but not
if they are Muslim, while state BJP governments have passed laws making
inter-religious marriages harder.
Muslims were also accused of spreading Covid-19. In
recent years, Hindu mobs have targeted Muslims praying on Fridays in northern
India.
BJP recently banned wearing the hijab in classrooms in
southern Karnataka state. Hardline Hindu groups later demanded such
restrictions in more Indian states. Muslim mutton sellers and fruit vendors
have also become the target of the far-right Hindu groups.
During a Hindu festival in April, Hindu mobs pelted
stones on mosques in several areas while DJs played loud music outside the
mosques as worshippers prayed. Hindu monks known for their incendiary
anti-Muslim speeches have been calling for Rohingya-type ethnic cleansing of
Indian Muslims.
Source: Trt World
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original story:
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'Repression against Muslims': Former SC Judges Urge
Court to Act against Demolition Drive In UP
Javed Mohammad's house being demolished in Uttar
Pradesh's Prayagraj. Photo: REUTERS/Ritesh Shukla
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June 14, 2022
Twelve prominent persons, including three former
Supreme Court judges, slammed the demolition of houses of the alleged accused
in Friday violence in Uttar Pradesh and dubbed the action "repression by
state authorities against Muslims."
According to NDTV, they wrote a letter to the apex
court, asking it to take suo motu cognizance of the issue, and pointed out that
the manner in which the demolition was carried out leads to the conclusion that
it was a "form of collective extra-judicial punishment."
The Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) on Sunday
demolished the house of Javed Ahmad, the alleged mastermind of the June 10
violence in Prayagraj. A day earlier, properties of two other accused of
rioting—Muzammil and Abdul Vakir—were demolished in Saharanpur.
Uttar Pradesh police had said their houses were
illegal.
"Videos of young men in police custody being
beaten with lathis, houses of protestors being demolished without notice or any
cause of action, and protestors from the minority Muslim community being chased
and beaten by the police, are circulating on social media, shaking the
conscience of the nation," NDTV quoted the letter as saying.
Noting that the in the past, judiciary had emerged as
the custodian of the rights of people, the letter pointed out that such
actions, sanctioned by the government, will embolden the police to torture
protestors.
The former SC judges who are signatories of the letter
are B. Sudarshan Reddy, V. Gopala Gowda and A.K. Ganguly.
Source: The Week
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original story:
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Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State Openly Use Facebook
to Spread Propaganda in East Africa
Police arrest two terror suspects at the Likoni
crossing channel in Mombasa on August 23, 2021.
File | Nation Media Group
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June 15, 2022
By Odanga Madung
Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State are using Facebook to
spread their hateful ideologies, grow audiences and broadcast their messaging
in East Africa, with Kenya as their focus.
This is according to a new report shared with the
Nation by the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).
According to ISD, there is a highly-coordinated online
propaganda machine that relies on thousands-strong networks of Somali, Swahili
and Arabic language Facebookprofiles and pages to seed its content on the
platform, some of which may have been hacked from unsuspecting users.
The research, carried out between 2020 and 2022,
reveals that entities affiliated with the two groups are posing as “independent
news outlets” on the platform.
However, these digital assets are instead allegedly
being used to share terrorist propaganda under the guise of “objective” news to
influence audiences in Kenya and the wider East African region.
Mr Moustafa Ayad, the author of the report, told the
Nation: “The al-Shabaab and Islamic State support networks on Facebook have
shown significant resilience. They have become very adept at seeding propaganda
across different social media platforms.”
“Independent news websites”
The London-based think-tank gathered data about the
growth and impact of 30 al-Shabaab- and Islamic State- linked Facebook pages,
8,000 Facebook accounts and five central al-Shabaab news websites.
According to the researchers, this network experienced
a boom in 2022, growing roughly 41 per cent in size over the past four months,
adding 12,500 net followers to their audiences between January and April.
It is this booming network that operates as the
seeding mechanism for the audiences of “independent news websites” affiliated
with Isis and al-Shabaab.
Researchers also mention that content spread by these
digital entities is often obtained from websites that use centralised al-Qaeda
storage databases as the source for their material.
Al-Shabaab-linked websites are then used to share the
content on Facebook.
According to Mr Ayad, “Content from the pages was
often a mix, or repurposed mainstream media news and straight up Islamic State,
al-Qaeda or al-Shabaab content. They focus on spreading disinformation through
a journalistic veneer, while still leading audiences to the larger machinery of
its extremist propaganda communication platforms, content caches and local
influencers.”
Read: Corrupt judge, rogue lawyer, blood money aid
terrorists to slaughter Kenyans
For example, Warbahinta Al-xaq or Truth Media was the
most active of the Somali language support pages the researchers identified.
The page amassed 4,711 followers and claimed to be an independent Islamic media
outlet whose motto is “truth and transparency”.
In actuality, the page rebrands al-Shabaab content for
distribution on Facebook. ISD says this positioning could be what helps it get
around Facebook’s content moderation policies.
Researchers also found another network of six pages
that calls itself al-Hijrateyn media.
They took Arabic language content from the Islamic
State and translated it for Swahili and Somali speaking audiences.
Furthermore, the network produces hour-long audio
updates, sharing news and fatwas (legal rulings or decrees on points of Islamic
law) in English religious edicts linked to the Islamic State.
All of this content went unmoderated on Facebook and
was continually shared by a dedicated set of supporters.
The pages shared 112 videos since 2020, garnering
close to 84,000 views on the platform. Al-Hijrateyn’s most popular piece of
content for example, was an edited video of the bodies dumped in River Yala,
Kenya.
From August last year, locals had been finding bodies
of unknown men in the river, and in January 2022, activists called a press
conference to expose the grim findings and to accuse police of extrajudicial
killings.
Many of the bodies -- numbering 30 -- were later
identified to be of missing men, and one woman, from across the country, mostly
who had a criminal past.
The edited al-Hijrateyn video is a shoddily compiled
set of videos with a voice-over saying that Kenyan security forces were on a
campaign to kill unarmed Muslims, dumping their bodies in the river, in the
“darkness of night”.
The video goes on to say that Muslims face injustices
all over Kenya and calls upon them to “distrust” their government and actively
reject the “lies” it peddles.
The use of “Independent news outlets” proved to be
highly effective on Facebook. ISD estimates that these “news networks” have
garnered close to 39,488 followers, and have grown by more than 8,600 followers
since January 2022
Facebook’s vulnerabilities
ISD’s findings point towards Facebook having lapses in
terms of content moderation and abuse of its pages and group features.
The Meta-owned platform has a well-documented struggle
in terms of its ability to moderate languages other than English and in
territories outside of the US. All of the content ISD identified was published
in Somali, Swahili and Arabic.
Each language had its own dynamics in terms of how it
propagated across the platform.
Both Swahili and Arabic language posts formed a
smaller part of ISD’s data in terms of the amount of content produced, but they
were still able to spread widely and get a high number of views.
It is the Somali language content, however, that ISD’s
data shows exposes a particular weakness in Facebook’s moderation systems.
Somali language pages garnered more views and shares
because there was a larger presence of extremist-linked pages in comparison to
the others that the think-tank studied.
ISD’s research uncovered a network of 23 Somali pages
with 32,363 followers on Facebook. Additionally, extremist pages published 843
videos, which got 650,186 views and were shared 101,137 times on the platform.
Pages and groups are also central to how al-Shabaab
communities operate on Facebook. Groups, in this case, provide al-Shabaab
communities with the ability to coordinate, collate and seed content for
dedicated propagandists on the platform.
For example, ISD found gruesome al-Shabaab
assassination videos being seeded through various Facebook groups dedicated to
Sheikh Aboud Rogo Mohammed, who was shot dead by unknown assailants in Mombasa
on August 27, 2012.
Rogo was an extremist Islamist preacher and a
supporter of al-Shabaab and al-Qaeda.
The report says that flagging and taking down
extremist content has its place and can be effective, but the American company
would need to be more comprehensive and take these features into account.
The extremists’ ultimate goal
The network of pages sought to position al-Shabaab and
the Islamic State as the rightful protectors of the Muslim ummah in the Horn of
Africa while simultaneously excommunicating “infidel Muslims” in other East
African countries.
Mr Ayad said: “These ecosystems seek to sow distrust
and present both al-Shabaab and the Islamic State as popular alternatives to
the current status quo.
“The content published by these networks seeks to
dehumanise societal out-groups to strengthen their movement and radicalise
people.”
It is no secret that extremists love the internet.
Controlling digital territory is just as integral to the survival and
ideologies of groups as physical territory.
In response, therefore, Big Tech companies have had to
course-correct and create policies to address what extremist behaviour looks
like on their platforms.
Facebook and its parent company, Meta, weed out
extremist content by relying on a combination of artificial intelligence, user
reports and human moderators.
The company claims to remove 99 per cent of content in
violation of its “Dangerous Individuals and Entities policy”. It’s a sweeping
set of restrictions on what Facebook’s nearly three billion users can say about
an enormous and ever-growing roster of entities such as criminal and extremist
organisations.
The policy states: “We do not allow organisations or
individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have
a presence on Facebook.”
However, ISD says that all the content it identified
went unmoderated, suggesting that the platforms’ monitors were unaware of the
outlets and the content was not likely found in the company’s database of
terrorist content.
At a minimum, this demonstrates that Silicon Valley’s
much-touted moderation policies (now being applied to hate speech and dangerous
rhetoric in this election season) are not using rigorous enough standards in
classifying extremist propaganda. Instead, as per ISD’s evidence, it is letting
them grow.
A spot check by the Nation on another social media
platform, TikTok, found several violent jihad sermons instructing audiences to
pick up arms.
Furthermore, ISD also found parts of the network it
studied extended on to Twitter and Telegram as well.
“Any kind of terrorist activity on a platform is a
problem and points to larger issues within its systems. If terrorist activity
is able to get around moderation systems that have been put in place, whether
manual or automated, think about how much hate content can exist on the
platform in those languages,” said Mr Ayad.
He added: “Terrorist propaganda online represents only
one aspect of the overall set of online harms that are flourishing online and
targeting East African communities.”
In response to the findings, Facebook removed a number
of the accounts that had been flagged by the ISD, which the Nation also brought
forward to them.
They however did not respond to questions about why
the content was allowed to stay unmoderated on the platform for the length of
time that it did.
Through a spokesperson, they told the Nation that they
were actively investigating the networks that had been uncovered.
“We've already removed a number of these Pages and
Profiles and will continue to investigate once we have access to the full
findings. We don't allow terrorist groups to use Facebook, and we remove
content praising or supporting these organisations when we become aware of it.”
The spokesperson also told us that, “We have
specialized teams — which include native Arabic, Somali and Swahili speakers —
dedicated to this effort. We know these adversarial groups are continuously
evolving their tactics to try and avoid detection by platforms, researchers and
law enforcement. That’s why we continue to invest in people, technology, and
partnerships to help our systems stay ahead.”
Ms Emma Wabuke, a PhD candidate on radicalisation at
Cambridge University, said social media companies must recognise the delicate
role they have to play in this ecosystem.
“The platforms have to handle this carefully, given
the freedom of speech and privacy issues concerned. But ultimately, they have
an opportunity more than most to moderate the content on their platforms in
good time.” Nevertheless, she cautioned that, “Their role, however, should not
extend to informing law enforcement, unless there are specific orders that have
been enforced by the courts.”
ISD also called for broader community based
interventions. “We must educate young people so that they are armed with the
knowledge to make informed decisions about extremism and to recognise
propaganda when they see it. Education is more effective than intervention.”
Source: Nation Africa
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original story:
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Arab
World
Israel strike crippling Syria’s main airport, tensions rise
14 June, 2022
Israel marked a major escalation in its years-long
campaign of airstrikes in Syria, carrying out an attack last week that shut
down the country’s main civilian airport in Damascus as Israel steps up efforts
to allegedly stop Iranian weapons shipments to the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Commercial flights were still halted at Damascus
International Airport five days after Friday’s pre-dawn airstrikes smashed into
its runways, leaving multiple craters, and damaged the air control tower and
other buildings.
The strikes further ratchet up tensions in the
confrontation between Israel on one side and Iran and its proxy Hezbollah on
the other.
Iran has accused Israel of assassinating several
high-ranking Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) members, while Hezbollah has threatened
to strike a gas rig Israel is setting up in Mediterranean Sea area that Lebanon
also claims as its waters.
The escalation comes as Russia, a top ally of Iran and
Syria, is preoccupied with its war in Ukraine. Russia has naval and air bases
in Syria and troops deployed there, backing Damascus in Syria’s long civil war.
With the strikes, Israel is sending the message that
it “won’t let Iran fill the vacuum (left by) Russia in Syria while it is busy
with Ukraine,” said Ibrahim Hamidi, a Syrian journalist and senior diplomatic
editor for Syrian affairs at the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
For years, Israel has been carrying out airstrikes in
Syria, saying it is determined to prevent Iran’s entrenchment near its northern
border and the smuggling of weapons to Hezbollah. The strikes have largely hit
bases of Iranian-allied militias, including Hezbollah, as well as convoys said
to be carrying arms to Hezbollah.
Friday’s strikes were the most extensive against a
civilian target and, by shutting the airport down, had the widest impact. As in
the past, Israel did not claim responsibility for the strikes.
The airport had remained operational even during the
worst days of Syria’s 11-year civil war. It has both a civilian and a military
section and satellite photos showed the runways on both sides with at least
three craters each.
Along with the runways, the strikes hit or damaged
airport halls and a radar tower and an arms shipment that was in the civilian
side of the airport, said Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria. Military
positions south of Damascus were also hit.
Despite the escalation, Syria and Lebanese Hezbollah
both remained relatively muted about the attack.
Syrian state media said Israeli strikes wounded one
person and caused “significant” damage to infrastructure and rendered the main
civilian runway unserviceable until further notice.
Flights were rerouted to Aleppo’s airport while
repairs were underway.
Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous visited the
airport Sunday to inspect repairs.
Photos posted by SANA showed a bulldozer working on
what appeared to be the runway while another showed damage inside one of the
airport’s rooms with glass blown out, chairs unhinged from their place and
electric cables dangling from the ceiling.
Israeli media reported that the aim of the latest
attack was to prevent the flow of equipment used in precision-guided missiles
to Hezbollah.
Military affairs analyst Yossi Yehoshua wrote in
Israel’s daily Yedioth Ahronoth that the Iranians have tried to ramp up aerial
operations, first using cargo planes and hiding the weapons in hangars at
Damascus International Airport.
He claimed that now Iran and Hezbollah were using
civilian flights to Damascus and Beirut to smuggle advanced military materiel
to Hezbollah.
“Materiel consists of relatively small parts that look
innocuous enough” and are easy to hide inside checked baggage on a civilian
flight, Yehoshua wrote.
Amos Harel, senior military correspondent for Israel’s
daily Haaretz, wrote that Iran has sought ways around Israeli disruptions and
recently some of the best systems have been smuggled in hand luggage on
commercial flights.
He added that the action suggests Israel perhaps feels
it can take far-reaching military steps now, while international attention is
focused on Ukraine.
Past Israeli strikes have largely gone without
retaliation from the Syrians. Israeli airstrikes in Syria are usually
coordinated with Moscow through a “deconfliction mechanism” to avoid direct
confrontation with Russian forces in Syria.
In a rare public rebuke, Russia’s Foreign Ministry
denounced Friday’s airstrikes as “provocative” and a “violation of the basic
norms of international law.”
A Lebanese journalist who covers Arab-Israeli affairs,
Sateh Noureddine, wrote that Israel’s move to knock out Damascus’ airport
signals “a plan to impose a complete air blockade on Iran while also striking
at Hezbollah, depriving it of a vital air link with its only military supply
center.”
The strikes could be a first step toward a possible
Israel-Hezbollah war, Noureddine warned, writing in the Lebanese news site
al-Modon, where he is editor-in-chief.
Hezbollah and Israel have had a series of
confrontations, including a full-scale war in 2006. Tensions between the two
enemies have been escalating over a maritime border dispute between Lebanon and
Israel, with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatening last week to strike
the Israeli gas rig being set up.
In February, Nasrallah said the group has been
manufacturing military drones in Lebanon and has the technology to turn
thousands of missiles in their possession into precision-guided munitions.
A Lebanese military analyst who closely follows
affairs in Syria and Lebanon said Syrian officials have been unusually
“tightlipped” since the strike, given its significance.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Biden
to discuss energy security, bilateral cooperation in Saudi Arabia: Statement
14
June, 2022
US
President Joe Biden will discuss energy security and bilateral cooperation to
address regional and international challenges as part of his official trip to
Saudi Arabia in July, the Saudi Embassy in the US said in a statement on
Tuesday.
During
his planned meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
discussions will also reportedly tackle trade ties, food security and renewable
energy.
The
Crown Prince and Biden will also discuss cooperation on emerging technologies,
economic investment, space, cybersecurity, climate and environmental
initiatives in order to empower both countries to address mutual challenges
“and seize the opportunities of the 21st century.”
Biden
will make a two-day official visit to the Kingdom on July 15 after receiving an
invitation from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
In
addition to meeting with King Salman and the Crown Prince, the visit will also
include a summit on July 16 that brings together Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
leaders, Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
The
embassy also welcomed Biden’s upcoming visit which it said will strengthen
historic ties between the Kingdom and the US.
“The
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks forward to welcoming President Biden and defining
the next chapters of our partnership,” the embassy said in a statement, voicing
the significance of this partnership, particularly in terms of fostering peace
and stability, amid current global challenge.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Saudi
Arabia adds 19 Yemeni individuals, entities to terror list
15.06.2022
RIYADH
Saudi
Arabia announced late Tuesday that it has added 19 Yemeni individuals and
entities to its terrorist list.
The
eight Yemenis and 11 entities were listed for their involvement in facilitating
the financial activities of Yemen’s Houthi rebel group, while some of them are
associated and cooperating with the Al-Qaeda terrorist group and Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the kingdom’s Presidency of State
Security.
The
motion involves “freezing all assets belonging to the names of designated
individuals and entities and prohibiting dealing with them or for their
benefit,” it said in a statement.
Riyadh
also accuses these individuals and entities of providing weapons to the Houthis
and facilitating the smuggling of money and oil to it.
The
Presidency of State Security said it "will continue to work to stop the
influence of the terrorist Houthi militia and to target the most prominent
individuals and entities who provide them with financial support and cause
violence."
This
is the second move of its kind in a week.
On
June 7, Saudi Arabia, the rest of the Gulf states and the US added 16
individuals and entities to their terrorist lists, some of whom are linked to
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Daesh/ISIS and the Boko Haram
terrorist group in Nigeria.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Astana
peace talks to discuss return of Syrian refugees
Meiramgul
Kussainova
14.06.2022
NUR
SULTAN, Kazakhstan
The
return of Syrian refugees will be one the main agenda items during 18th Astana
format talks on Syria, which will start on Wednesday in Nur Sultan,
Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
As
guarantor countries, delegations from Türkiye, Russia and Iran will meet the
Syrian regime and opposition forces during the two-day talks.
Ambassador
Selcuk Unal, Turkish Foreign Ministry's director-general responsible for Syria,
will represent Ankara at the meetings.
The
Moscow delegation will be headed by Alexandr Lavrentyev, Russia's presidential
envoy for Syria; while Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior aide to Foreign Minister
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, will represent Tehran.
A
UN delegation led by Robert Dunn, principal political affairs officer of the
special envoy for Syria, a Jordanian delegation, representatives of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross will
also attend the meeting as observers.
The
parties concerned will discuss issues including the conditions for the safe
return of Syrian refugees, the humanitarian and socio-economic situation in
Syria, the work of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva, confidence-building
measures, the release of hostages and the search for missing persons.
Syria
has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad
regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters with unexpected ferocity.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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of the original story:
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Russia’s
special envoy for Syria blasts Israeli missile strikes as ‘unacceptable’
15
June 2022
The
Russian president’s special envoy for Syria, Alexandr Lavrentyev, has denounced
Israeli missile strikes against the war-ravaged country, stressing that such
acts of aggression are “unacceptable.”
“We
will certainly consider the issue of intensified strikes on Syrian territory by
Israel. We think that we will also need to focus on this. This is
unacceptable,” Lavrentyev said at the beginning of a new round of Syria peace
negotiations within the Astana format in the Kazakh capital city of Nur Sultan
on Wednesday.
On
Sunday, Russian Ambassador to Syria Alexander Efimov strongly condemned the
latest Israeli missile attack on the Damascus International Airport, calling on
the Tel Aviv regime to put an end to its vicious acts and naked aggression or
await serious repercussions.
Speaking
in an exclusive interview with Arabic-language al-Watan daily, Efimov stated
that such irresponsible moves pose great dangers to civilian aircraft and civil
aviation, and that the Israeli regime must stop such wicked actions straight
away.
The
airport was targeted by a volley of missiles fired from the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights at approximately 4:20 a.m. local time (01:20 GMT) on Friday,
state media reported.
The
Syrian Ministry of Transport said in a statement on Saturday that runways
remained out of service at the airport following the attack.
“Landing
and departing flights were suspended today till further notification as a
result of the Israeli aggression, since it caused heavy damage to the airstrips
in several localities and to the navigation lights in addition to the damage
[that] occurred in the airport lobby,” the statement read.
The
ministry added that flights are expected to resume in cooperation with air
carriers as soon as repair work is concluded.
Spokesman
for Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry Aibek Smadiyarov told reporters on Tuesday
that all negotiating parties for Syrian peace talks have confirmed their
participation in the event, which started on June 15 and will conclude the
following day.
“Delegations
from the guarantor countries: Russia, Turkey and Iran, as well as the Syrian
government and armed Syrian opposition will take part,” Smadiyarov said.
He
noted that the Russian delegation will be headed by Russia’s special
presidential envoy for Syria, Alexandr Lavrentyev, while Turkey will be
represented by Selcuk Unal, the Director General for Syria in the Turkish
Foreign Ministry.
The
Iranian delegation will be headed by Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior aide on
political affairs to Iran’s foreign minister.
“A
UN delegation led by Robert Dunn, principal political affairs officer of the
special envoy for Syria, a Jordanian delegation, representatives of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross will
also attend the meeting as observers,” Smadiyarov pointed out.
The
participating parties will reportedly discuss issues including the conditions
for the safe return of Syrian refugees, the humanitarian and socio-economic
situation in Syria, the work of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva,
confidence-building measures, the release of hostages and the search for
missing persons.
Since
January 2017, Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara have been mediating peace negotiations
between representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups in a
series of talks held in the Kazakh city of Astana and other places, including
Sochi.
The
talks are collectively referred to as the Astana peace process.
The
first round of the Astana talks commenced a month after the three states joined
efforts and brought about the countrywide ceasefire in Syria and assumed the
role of the truce’s guarantors.
Source:
Press TV
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of the original story:
--------
Southeast
Asia
Investigation
into Malaysian hacking group after cyber attacks on India
June
15, 2022
The
nationwide hacking and defacement of Indian websites led by a Malaysia-based
hacker group is just one part of a massive cyber attack aimed at India.
The
Free Press Journal has learned that the same hackers have already hacked scores
of bank accounts as well as Facebook accounts and have now trained their sights
on the official website of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Since
Monday, hundreds of Indian websites, both government and private, have been
hacked and the home pages have been replaced by a message, stating that this is
retaliation for suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's recent derogatory
comments on Islam. Indian cyber crime agencies have been working overtime to
restore the hacked websites, which include at least one Embassy website and one
police commissionerate in Maharashtra.
A
deeper investigation into the matter, however, indicates that this is just the
tip of the iceberg.
Cybersecurity
agencies, both government and civilian, have been conducting repeated sweeps of
the dark web to monitor chatter about the cyber attack and have made some
alarming findings. According to investigations conducted so far, the cyber
attack is being spearheaded by a Malaysia-based pro-Palestine hacker group
called DragonForce. The group is a self-styled 'hacktivist' group, which means
that they claim to do activism through hacking. Typically, hacktivist groups
target governments that are opposed to their ideologies.
The
investigation has further revealed that the first call to attack India in
cyberspace went out on June 10, when DragonForce appealed to all Muslim hackers
around the world to attack Indian government websites. The operation was dubbed
'OpsPatuk', patuk being the Malay word for 'strike back'. Hundreds of messages
were posted on discussion forums on the dark web, with hackers first sharing
their ideas and then their exploits.
“On
Sunday, one hacker claimed to have compromised one of the servers of a popular
Indian website hosting service, used by hundreds of Indian websites. The hacker
also posted a list of websites using this server, inviting all and sundry to
hack them. On Monday, the hacking of the websites began. We are still
investigating how many of the hacked and defaced websites were hosted by this
server,” a senior Cyber Crime officer said.
DragonForce,
meanwhile, kept adding its own contributions as well. They first posted a list
of bank accounts with a leading government bank in India on dark web forums.
This was followed by a huge packet of hacked Indian Facebook accounts, which
were posted in MS Excel format. This included the full names of the Facebook
users, their email ids and passwords. Evidence of them having hacked several
Indian websites was also shared.
During
a further sweep of the dark web, investigators also found a single message posted
by another hacker on a forum, in which he posted the link to the BJP's official
website and invited everyone to try and hack it.
DragonForce
also took to social media, posting a tweet about their threat to India.
Investigators have also found that they posted similar messages on the
video-sharing platform TikTok, with the hashtag #opspatuk. As of Monday, posts
with this hashtag had more than 2.4 million views.
Source:
Free Press Journal
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Cops
Probing Malaysian Group Supporting Politician Who Sparked Unrest In India
June
14, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Police are investigating a group of men, believed to be foreigners, who
were seen on video supporting offensive remarks about Prophet Muhammad by Nupur
Sharma, a politician from India.
In
the video, which was uploaded on TikTok, the men claimed they were from the
Hindu Samachar.
The
video was filmed in front of the Batu Caves temple.
Bukit
Aman criminal investigation department (CID) director Abd Jalil Hassan said
that the men were being probed for making statements that created fear and
alarm as well as improper use of network facilities.
“As
investigations are still ongoing, we would like to advise the public against
speculating about it and be more sensitive when it comes to issues revolving
around race and religion.”
Nupur,
from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), had made the derogatory remarks during a
TV show aired on May 26.
BJP
is the ruling party in India.
The
derogatory remarks have since sparked unrest in India as well as triggered a
diplomatic row with several Muslim countries.
Nupur,
along with another BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal, have since been expelled.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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of the original story:
--------
Japan
foreign minister non-committal on Damascus airport attack
June
15, 2022
TOKYO:
Japan Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday declined to confirm an
Israeli missile attack on Damascus International Airport but said Japan was
keeping an eye on the situation.
Damascus
International Airport suffered major damage – including to runways – following
a missile attack believed to be by Israel.
“I
am aware of the announcement made by the Syrian authorities,” Hayashi replied
in answer to a question by Arab News Japan. “On the other hand, I am also aware
that Israel has not made any comment as to whether or not they carried out any
attacks.”
“But
in any case, Japan will continue to place a close eye on what’s happening in
the Middle East, including the impact of this incident. Japan will continue to
cooperate closely with the relevant countries to make diplomatic efforts to
ease regional tensions and work towards stability in the area,” he said.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2103746/middle-east
--------
North
America
Bennet
says Biden visit will reveal US steps to integrate Israel into Middle East
14
June, 2022
Israeli
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed on Tuesday the White House announcement
of US President Joe Biden’s official visit next month, adding that it will
reveal American steps to integrate Israel into the Middle East.
Biden
will visit Israel for the first time in his presidency on July 13-14.
“President
Biden's visit to Israel will deepen the special relationship and the strategic
partnership between the two countries, as well as strengthen the US commitment
to the security and stability of Israel and the region,” the Israeli PM’s
office said in a statement.
“The
President’s visit will also reveal the steps that are being taken by the US to
integrate Israel into the Middle East and increase the prosperity of the entire
region.”
“In
addition to this, the US and Israel will be forging agreements set to
strengthen the civilian and security cooperation between the two counties and
take the US-Israel alliance to new heights.”
Biden
to visit Saudi Arabia
After
his visit to Israel, Biden will fly directly to Saudi Arabia for a visit on
July 15-16.
The
Israeli PM’s office said: “Israel welcomes Biden’s visit to the region,
including his important visit to Saudi Arabia, and thanks him for his efforts
to strengthen the countries' joint interests and expand regional peace.”
Biden
is scheduled to meet with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The
Crown Prince and Biden will hold official talks that will focus on various
areas of bilateral cooperation and joint efforts to address regional and global
challenges, exploring cooperation on emerging technologies, economic
investment, space, renewable energy, cybersecurity, climate and environmental
initiatives, food and energy security, and expanding trade and commercial ties,
according to a Saudi statement.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Ahead
of Biden trip to Saudi Arabia, White House official says US committed to allies
15
June, 2022
A
senior White House official told Al Arabiya on Tuesday that US President Joe
Biden’s upcoming visit to the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, would
reassure Washington’s allies that it was “not going anywhere.”
The
White House and the Royal Court announced earlier that King Salman invited
Biden to Jeddah to participate in the GCC+3 summit.
Nine
different heads of state will be present, including the leaders of Egypt,
Jordan and Iraq.
“There’s
going to be a very robust agenda, and they’re going to talk about
counterterrorism, Iran’s destabilizing behavior, climate,” said John Kirby, the
newly appointed National Security Council coordinator for strategic
communications at the White House.
Kirby
told Al Arabiya that meetings would also focus on the war in Yemen, crediting
the Saudi leadership for playing a key role in securing a ceasefire for the
first time in nearly seven years. The UN-brokered ceasefire between warring
sides was initially for two months before being extended for another 60 days
last week. “That’s a huge development in the region,” Kirby said.
Energy
will “of course” be talked about when Biden meets Saudi officials, including
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Multiple
attempts by US officials to get Saudi Arabia to up its oil production amid the
Russian invasion, including trips to Saudi Arabia by the top White House
official for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, and US energy advisor Amos
Hochstein, came up empty-handed.
But
OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia, announced plans to increase output by 50 percent
this summer after soaring gas prices were witnessed partly due to Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine.
“So,
there’s an awful lot [to discuss], but the President is also looking forward to
having a discussion with King Salman and his team as well in a bilateral
setting. And he’s very grateful for the invitation of the King to come to
Riyadh,” Kirby said.
Iran
and its proxies
Kirby
condemned the hundreds of drone and missile attacks that Saudi Arabia has
experienced, mainly carried out by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
US
and Saudi officials have been discussing ways to ensure Riyadh has what it
needs to defend itself and its territories.
Kirby,
until recently the Pentagon press secretary, said the Saudis had been defending
themselves “bravely and skillfully.”
He
also pointed out that the US was mindful of these threats because of the
estimated 70,000 Americans living in Saudi Arabia. “It certainly matters
because we have so many Americans that live there, not to mention many troops
that the Saudis are host to,” he said regarding US defense support for Saudi
Arabia.
Saudi
Arabia, a key ally
While
it’s no secret that ties between the US and Saudi Arabia quickly soured
following Biden’s election, some US officials have voiced support for
strengthened relations between Washington and Riyadh.
Biden
and his administration repeatedly said they wanted to “recalibrate” ties with
Saudi Arabia and made several foreign policy moves targeting Riyadh. Following
the Russian invasion of Ukraine and soaring energy prices being felt by
Americans, Biden sought Riyadh’s help.
Kirby
touched on the bilateral ties, calling US alliances and partnerships in the
Middle East “absolutely vital.”
“The
Saudis have been a key strategic partner in the region for eight decades,”
Kirby said.
He
did admit that there were some complexities in the relationship, but “you don’t
necessarily have to agree with every partner on every issue.”
According
to Kirby, the Biden administration is keen on ensuring that the US relationship
with Saudi Arabia stays “not only intact but is improved and bolstered going
forward.”
The
White House official also spoke highly of the Saudi naval forces, saying that
the US would look at ways to improve interoperability between regional
partners.
Under
Biden, the US has been criticized for what has been seen as a certain level of
disengagement from the Middle East as it shifts focus to threats from China and
Russia. After more than a year in office, Biden will be making his first trip
to the region with stops in Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
US
awaits ‘constructive’ Iran response on nuclear deal: State Department
14
June, 2022
The
United States said on Tuesday it awaits a constructive response from Iran on
reviving the 2015 nuclear deal that excludes “extraneous” issues, a possible
reference to Iran’s demand that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) be
dropped from a US terrorism list.
“We
await a constructive response from the Iranians, a response that leaves behind
issues that are extraneous to the JCPOA,” State Department Spokesperson Ned
Price said, referring to the deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action.
In
2018 then-US President Donald Trump reneged on the deal, under which the Biden
administration says Iran restrained its nuclear program in return for relief
from economic sanctions, prompting Iran to begin violating its core nuclear
limits about a year later.
Speaking
at a briefing, Price was responding to questions about the Iranian foreign
minister’s statement that Tehran had put forward a new proposal on reviving the
agreement, which the US spokesperson did not address in detail.
The
pact seemed near revival in March but talks were thrown into disarray over
last-minute Russian demands and whether the United States might remove the
IRGC, which controls elite armed and intelligence forces Washington accuses of
a global terrorist campaign, from its Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)
list.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Report:
US air force clears crew of plane that took off with Afghans on outside of
aircraft
14
June 2022
The
US Air Force has cleared of any wrongdoing the flight crew of an American
military cargo plane that Afghan civilians desperately clamored to hang onto
during the chaotic withdrawal of US occupation forces from the war-torn
country.
The
Air Force was reported by The New York Times as saying on Monday that the crew
of the US C-17 cargo plane, which took off from Hamid Karzai International
Airport in the Afghan capital of Kabul last August with body parts later found
in its wheel well, was cleared of any wrongdoing.
The
Air Force claimed that the crew “acted appropriately” as they faced the
challenge of hundreds of Afghans trying to board the flight.
The
aircrew was “in compliance with applicable rules of engagement,” Ann Stefanek,
an Air Force spokeswoman, was quoted by the American daily as saying, adding
that they “acted appropriately and exercised sound judgment in their decision
to get airborne as quickly as possible when faced with an unprecedented and
rapidly deteriorating security situation.”
The
clearance of the aircrew, as the NYT reported, was based on a review of the
inquiry findings by Air Mobility Command and US Central Command, which was
announced shortly after the incident on August 16 last year.
Videos
of the tragic incident, recorded by Afghan news media, were widely shared on
social media and showed desperate Afghans, escaping the country after the
Taliban took over Kabul, trying to climb onto the exterior of the US C-17 cargo
plane and falling from it following takeoff.
It
remains unclear how many people lost their lives in the incident.
The
situation in Afghanistan aggravated in the aftermath of the withdrawal of the
US forces, who invaded the country more than two decades ago to topple the
Taliban in response to the September 11 attacks in the United States.
The
Taliban took over the capital on August 15, 2021. The militants entered the
presidential palace after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Following
the Taliban takeover of the capital, witnesses said at least five people were
killed at the passenger terminal of Hamid Karzai International Airport, where
thousands of Afghans gathered in the hopes of catching a flight out of
Afghanistan. American troops were said to have fired shots in the air to
disperse thousands of Afghans crowding onto the tarmac.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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--------
India
PM,
Prez from RSS, how can it be compared to Taliban: Javed Akhtar asked in
defamation suit
Vidya
Mumbai
June
14, 2022
The
plaintiff has filed a reply to the dismissal of suit application preferred by
Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar in a defamation case against him for allegedly
drawing parallels between the RSS and the Taliban.
"The
current President, Vice President, Prime Minster and several Union minsters are
from this esteemed organisation. How can someone compare this organisation with
Taliban," the reply stated.
The
suit, filed by RSS activist Vivek Champanerkar in the court of the additional
chief judicial magistrate and joint civil judge (senior division) in Thane,
seeks Re 1 as compensation from Akhtar. The court in September 2021 had ordered
issuance of a show-cause notice to Akhtar in the defamation suit.
What
Akhtar said in his application
Javed
Akhtar had raised the issue of maintainability of Champanekar's plea while
stating that the alleged defamatory remarks are towards non-determinable,
non-identifiable, non-defined and non-definite body/class of persons, and
therefore, there is no specific person or even a specific class of persons who
has been allegedly defamed.
Akhtar
also stated that even in the case that a specific class of persons has been allegedly
defamed, the said specific class could file the plaint, and not Champanerkar in
his individual capacity. This is especially because there is no specific
imputation in the alleged defamatory statements towards him.
What
Champanerkar said in his reply
Through
advocate Aditya Mishra, Champanerkar filed his reply quoting a judgment of the
Bombay High Court in Rahul Gandhi versus Rajesh Kunte (an RSS functionary). “In
the judgment, the high court had said that RSS is a determinate body, and any
offending member can file a complaint.”
The
reply further stated that Akhtar's application is “frivolous and filed with
ulterior motives” to prolong the matter. “It is neither tenable in law nor in
facts and hence it be rejected with imposition of exemplary cost,” it said.
The
reply reiterated that Champanerkar has been a Swayamsevak (volunteer) of RSS
for over 20 years and has actively participated in organisation’s social
service work. Advocate Mishra stated that Champanerkar's participation as a
volunteer is without any remuneration and, similarly, there is no amount
payable as membership fees to the RSS.
Moreover,
there is no bar on any person of Indian origin irrespective of caste creed or
religion from joining the RSS as a volunteer, as long as the person agrees to
serve India. He added that volunteers are free, as individuals, to join any
party, institution or front, political or otherwise.
The
reply argued that Champanerkar subscribes to the aims and objects of the Sangh,
associates himself with the activities of the RSS Shakha and regularly attends
Shakha meetings along with other swayamsevaks. He therefore has locus to file
this suit as a member of the RSS in his personal and individual capacity.
Source:
India Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Khargone
violence: HC issues notice to Madhya Pradesh over demolition of Muslim trader’s
shop
June
15, 2022
The
Madhya Pradesh High Court on June 9 issued a notice to the state government
related to the demolition of a Muslim trader’s shop in Khargone town after it
was hit by communal violence on April 10, NDTV reported on Tuesday.
The
court was hearing a petition filed by Jahid Ali, an owner of a tent house
business, who had alleged that a portion of his shop was demolished without any
notice on April 11.
Communal
violence broke out in Khargone on April 10 after some people had allegedly
hurled stones at a Ram Navami procession, objecting to loud and provocative
music being played in the Talab Chowk area. One person was killed and at least
24 were injured in the violence. Ten houses were also burnt.
On
April 11, Madhya Pradesh demolished homes and shops of Muslims in Khargone.
Deputy
Inspector General of Police Khargone Range Tilak Singh had claimed that the
razed homes belonged to those who had thrown stones during the procession.
However, Khargone Collector Anugraha P had told Scroll.in that the demolition
process is part of the state government’s anti-encroachment drive.
While
there are no provisions under Indian law to demolish the houses of anyone
accused of a crime, this pattern has been regularly observed across Bharatiya
Janata Party-ruled states.
In
his plea, Ali had demanded a judicial inquiry against “arbitrary and illegal
action” of the government and the local administration, according to NDTV. He
also sought punitive action against officers who “acted extrajudicial” and
compensation to reconstruct his property.
Advocate
MM Bohra, who was representing Ali, told the single bench of Justice Pranay
Verma that his client was the legal owner of the property and had been paying
taxes, the Hindustan Times reported.
“The
administration has demolished part of the property without issuing any notice
to him [Ali] and without giving any opportunity to him, which is in violation
of principles of natural justice,” Bohra told the court. “As a result of the
action of [the] administration, the fundamental right of the petitioner is
violated.”
The
lawyer further contended that Ali was neither an accused nor involved in the
Khargone violence.
“This
petition was filed against the administration for being judge and jury in
itself in taking a decision in a vendetta against the petitioners being members
of a minority community without reasonability and rationality,” Bohra said,
according to NDTV.
Advocate
Akash Sharma, representing the state government, sought two weeks to file a
reply in the matter.
Source:
Scroll
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Family
is in danger from Islamic fundamentalists: Expelled BJP leader Naveen Jindal
June
12, 2022
Days
after he was expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party over his objectionable
remarks against Prophet Mohammed, the saffron party’s Delhi unit former media
head, Naveen Kumar Jindal, alleged that his family is in danger of being
attacked by “Islamic fundamentalists”.
Requesting
people not to share information about him or his family members on social
media, Jindal on Saturday tweeted: “Despite my requests, many people are
posting my residence address on social media.”
“Because
the life of my family is in danger from Islamic fundamentalists,” Jindal wrote
in Hindi. Tagging the Delhi Police, the former BJP leader also shared a
screenshot of a phone number from which he was allegedly receiving death
threats.
Naveen
Kumar Jindal |The Delhi BJP media head in the news for the wrong reasons
“Just
now I have received threats to kill me and my family members,” he tweeted. “I
immediately informed the police control room.”
Last
week, Jindal and BJP’s former national spokesperson Nupur Sharma were removed
from the party posts for making derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad and
the Muslim community. Their comments sparked nationwide protests, with hundreds
demanding their arrest.
Source:
Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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RSS
to discuss Prophet row, Gyanvapi at a meet in Jaipur next month
By
Smriti Kak Ramachandran
Jun
15, 2022
Top
leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are scheduled to meet in
Jaipur next month to discuss a range of issues, including the ongoing Gyanvapi
mosque complex case and the violent protests over controversial remarks on
Prophet Mohammed by now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson
Nupur Sharma, a functionary aware of the matter said on Tuesday.
During
a television debate on May 28, Sharma made controversial remarks about the
Prophet and party leader Naveen Kumar Jindal tweeted some objectionable
comments on June 1. Amid outrage over the remarks, the BJP suspended Sharma and
expelled Jindal on June 5.
The
statement triggered diplomatic furore with nearly 15 countries, including Oman,
the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, expressing their indignation. The
Indian government later issued a statement, maintaining that the remarks by
individuals denigrating the religious personality “do not, in any manner,
reflect the views of the government of India”. The remarks also sparked
nationwide protests on June 10, which claimed two lives and left several
injured.
Another
raging issue likely to come up during the meeting is the Gyanvapi mosque case.
In a public interest litigation, seven petitioners have sought a survey of
Gyanvapi by a committee headed by a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme
Court or high court to find out whether a structure found in the mosque complex
during a court-monitored survey on May 16 is a Shivling as claimed by Hindus,
or a fountain as claimed by Muslims.
The
Hindu side has claimed that a Shivling was found during a videography survey of
the Gyanvapi complex last month. The claim was disputed by the mosque committee
members, who said it was part of the water fountain mechanism in the wazookhana
reservoir, used by devotees to perform ritual ablutions before offering namaz.
The
Sangh has been concerned by the deepening fault lines among communities and is
looking at a sustainable solution to the simmering discord, according to the
functionary who declined to be named.
Earlier
this month, while addressing an officers’ training camp of volunteers in
Nagpur, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had called for an amicable resolution to the
Gyanvapi dispute, suggesting that the Hindu and Muslim sides should sit across
the table to settle the matter amicably. “Why look for a Shivling in every
mosque?” he had asked.
While
the meeting, known as the Prant Pracharak meeting of the Sangh, the ideological
fount of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is an annual affair where
leaders take stock of the activities and plan for the year ahead, issues of
current relevance are also discussed.
The
Sangh’s plans for its centenary celebrations, and expanding its reach across the
country are also likely to come up for discussion, the functionary said.
“The
Sangh has been making a concerted effort to reach out to the minorities,
including the Muslims, to reinforce the shared cultural and civilisational ties
between the communities. Bhagwat ji has reiterated several times that we have a
common DNA and that Indian Muslims should not identify themselves with the
invaders,” said the functionary.
Volunteers
have been directing community leaders to try to restore peace between
communities by dwelling on the similarities in customs and traditions, said a
second functionary, who is privy to the Sangh’s outreach that has begun in
parts of Uttar Pradesh.
“There
are shared surnames and shared cultural practices that are still followed
despite the change in religious practices, which act as a bind. We are only
reinforcing those,” the second functionary said, seeking anonymity.
While
the hardline affiliates such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its youth wing
the Bajrang Dal have been holding events such as large-scale public prayers and
have upped the ante on reclamation of temples, senior Sangh functionaries are
pushing for accommodation, coexistence and sustainable solutions.
“At
an interaction with young people, a senior leader was asked to comment on the
perception that India’s minorities are being subjugated, the immediate context
was the TV debates… he told them that Muslims in India are part of the
population and that you cannot wish them away,” the second functionary said.
“The key is to learn how to coexist and how to focus on our shared heritage.”
Source:
Hindustan Times
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Indian
forces in Kashmir kill militant suspected of targeted killing
June
15, 2022
SRINAGAR,
India: Indian forces in Kashmir killed two militants on Wednesday, one them
suspected of gunning down a bank manager this month, police said, part of a
stepped-up counter-insurgency effort that has triggered an exodus from the
Muslim-majority region.
India
has been fighting an Islamist separatist insurgency in Kashmir since the late
1980s. Muslim Pakistan also claims the region over which the nuclear-armed
neighbors have fought two of their three wars.
“Indian
troops killed two militants this morning in a gunbattle, one of them, Jan
Mohammad Lone, was involved in the killing of a bank manager,” said Vijay
Kumar, the police chief of Kashmir.
Militants
entered a branch of the Ellaquai Dehati Bank in Kulgam town this month and
killed the manager, who came from the desert state of Rajasthan, and had only
been posted to the branch four days earlier.
A
little-known militant group called the Kashmir Freedom Fighters claimed
responsibility for the attack, warning outsiders not to settle in the Kashmir
Valley.
At
least 16 people — both Hindu and Muslims — have been killed in targeted attacks
in Kashmir this year.
Kumar
said troops were tracking militants and had killed eight involved in killings
in recent weeks.
At
least 104 militants have been killed in Kashmir this year, double the toll in
the same period last year, he said.
India
and Pakistan rule different parts of the divided Himalayan region.
India
accuses Pakistan of backing the militants fighting but Pakistan denies, that
saying it only offers political support to fellow Muslims who Pakistan says are
being suppressed by Indian security forces.
India
rejects Pakistani accusations of rights abuses in Kashmir.
Rattled
by the killings, scores of Hindu families, including some from the minority
Kashmiri Pandit community, have been fleeing Kashmir in recent days.
The
region’s top government official, Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, has tried to assure
Kashmiri Pandits of measures for their security.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2103736/world
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Africa
UN’s
WFP ends food aid to parts of South Sudan as funds run dry
14
June, 2022
The
United Nations World Food Program is suspending assistance to a third of those
it planned to support this year in South Sudan as the East African nation faces
its worst hunger crisis since independence in 2011.
The
lack of funding may heighten the risk of starvation for 1.7 million people, the
organization said in an emailed statement.
“Humanitarian
needs are far exceeding the funding we have received this year,” Adeyinka
Badejo, acting country director of the WFP in South Sudan said. “If this
continues, we will face bigger and more costly problems in the future,
including increased mortality, malnutrition, stunting, and disease.”
Conflict
in the country, severe flooding and localized droughts have made about 60
percent of the population food insecure and the situation has been exacerbated
by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and currency depreciation, which has sent
prices of wheat, cooking oil and other staples soaring.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Libyan
oil output collapses after wave of closures
14
June, 2022
Libya’s
oil output is 100,000-150,000 barrels per day (bpd), a spokesman for the oil
ministry said on Tuesday, a fraction of normal levels due to the shutdown of
production and export facilities as a tactic in the country’s political
stalemate.
Libyan
oil output last year was more than 1.2 million bpd and the reduced production
adds to the pressure on markets already squeezed by tight supply elsewhere.
The
oil ministry spokesman said Libya was facing a daily loss in export revenue of
$70 million-80 million as a result of the shutdowns. National Oil Corporation
has not recently commented on oil output.
The
political dispute over the control of government that is driving the shutdown
meanwhile shows signs of escalating, making any swift return of Libyan oil to
global markets uncertain.
Tripoli-based
Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah has refused to hand over power to Fathi
Bashagha, who was appointed to replace him by the eastern-based parliament in
March.
Groups
at oil facilities have demanded that Dbeibah quit in favor of Bashagha.
Analysts
say the main force behind the blockade is eastern commander Khalifa Haftar’s
Libyan National Army (LNA). It has not commented on that charge, but LNA
figures urged an oil shutdown in April.
Production
at Sharara field, Libya’s biggest, briefly resumed last week before being shut
down again.
The
current status of several facilities remains unclear after last week when
groups said they had shut down Ras Lanuf and Es Sider terminals and threatened
to shut down Hariga terminal, leading to a reduction in output from Sarir
field.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Death
toll from Burkina Faso attack rises to 79, official says
Aurore
Bonny
14.06.2022
DOUALA,
Cameroon
The
death toll from an armed attack by insurgents in the northern Burkina Faso town
of Seytenga rose to 79, as 29 more bodies were found on Tuesday, an official
said.
The
insurgents had stormed the town of Seytenga and attacked civilians on the night
of June 11-12, said Wendkouni Joel Lionel Bilgo, the government spokesman.
Burkina
Faso has been battling an insurgency that has spread from neighboring Mali over
the past decade.
Last
week, 11 gendarmerie officers were killed in an attack on the Seytenga
Territorial Gendarmerie Brigade in the same Sahel region.
More
than 3,173 people, including 2,173 children, had been displaced as of last
Sunday due to recent armed attacks in Seytenga and Titabe communes, according
to the Directorate of Humanitarian Action, a local NGO based in the
northeastern town of Dori.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Is
Mali emerging as another front for Russia, West?
James
Tasamba
14.06.2022
KIGALI,
Rwanda
As
the Russia-Ukraine war continues to haunt the world, thousands of miles away in
the West African country of Mali is emerging another front for escalation
between Moscow and the West.
Speaking
to Anadolu Agency, Ismael Buchanan, a senior lecturer at the department of
political science at the University of Rwanda, said Moscow's geopolitical quest
in West Africa and Mali's support to Russia in the Ukraine conflict depict
Moscow’s success in the region with a potential to open new fault lines with
France and other NATO allies in the region.
Mali
was among 35 countries that abstained at the UN General Assembly, when it voted
on a resolution, condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Paris
and other European allies have been increasingly jittery over what they see as a
Russian threat in West Africa,” said Buchanan.
In
March, Russia delivered Mi-35M attack helicopters and an advanced air radar
system to Mali. The delivery was in addition to at least four helicopters and
weapons provided by Russia under closer ties with the junta leader.
Of
even greater concern to the West is that Moscow sent to Mali “military
instructors” personnel that France says are operatives from Russia’s Wagner
security arm.
Recently
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed concerns at the actions of the
Russian private security service Wagner in Mali, and in particular about its
alleged crimes against certain communities such as the Fulani.
While
hosting Senegalese President Macky Sall who currently chairs the African Union
(AU), in Paris, the French president urged to maintain “pressure” on the Malian
government.
Moscow
advancing interests
Buchanan
said the more Moscow advances its interests in West Africa, the more it will
come in conflict with the West and provoke a response.
“Mali
would present another stage for a geopolitical showdown because there is no
doubt that Russia will aggressively protect its interests in Mali,” he said.
He
said Russia's presence in Mali is part of its renewed efforts to form a
partnership with the African continent as it tries to lessen the impact of
Western isolation.
Last
year, the Malian army led by Vice President Assimi Goïta captured President Bah
N'daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and stripped them of their powers. He had
also committed to conducting new elections in 2022. But last week, it was
announced that the transition to democracy will be delayed for another two
years, as interim President Goïta, signed a decree prolonging the military
rule.
“Looking
at the current situation in Mali or the Sahel region, one may notice that
Russia is attempting to portray itself as a reliable ally in the fight against
insurgents/terrorists and bolster security partnership in that region while the
Western attention turns elsewhere,” said Buchanan.
Freddie
David Egesa, an Uganda-based security analyst, said President Vladimir Putin
had realized that the West had lost interest in Mali, and he has positioned
Russia to advance his interests.
“Russia
is scavenging for other partners to hold power having realized that the West
has played a double-dealer in the Sahel war. Russia has quietly been rebuilding
ties with Africa strengthening economic and military cooperation. This has
raised Western concerns about Russia’s goals there,” he said.
French
withdrawal gives room to Russia
Other
countries in West Africa where Russia has a presence included Burkina Faso,
Chad and Niger.
The
war in Mali which started in 2013 prompted French intervention, leading to the
deployment of troops and the signing of two defense agreements.
Experts
said the French involvement, however, triggered protests and offered an
opportunity to Russia to present itself as an alternative force.
“I
think France’s decision to withdraw its forces from the West African countries,
including Mali, left a huge void that is why the Russians have seized every
opportunity to boost their influence in Africa,” said Buchanan.
The
result was military coups that followed, in August 2020 and May 2021.
According
to analysts, the news of the French Interior Ministry and the cement giant
Lafarge’s ties with the terrorist group Daesh/ISIS further complicated the
situation.
Egesa
said Russia has realized that the West has made itself rich by “staging
themselves in almost all conflicts in Africa.”
“The
fights benefit mainly the Western superpowers as they offer their war expertise
and sell military equipment in exchange for valuables like gold, diamonds,
etc.,” said Egesa.
In
January, the regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
imposed sanctions on Mali, including closing its land and air borders with
other countries in the bloc to delay the restoration of democratic rule.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/is-mali-emerging-as-another-front-for-russia-west/2613050
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Pakistan
FATF
set to review Pakistan for money laundering, terrorist financing
Jun
14, 2022
PARIS:
Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global watchdog tasked with combatting
money laundering and terrorist financing, is all set for its strategic review
of Pakistan and decide whether the country will retain its place in the
"Grey List" or exit.
The
FATF meeting is scheduled to be held in Berlin from June 14-17. This meeting is
especially crucial for Pakistan as the country continues to remain on the
watchdog's "Grey List" for failing to check terror financing.
The
outcomes of the FATF Plenary will be published on Friday 17 June after the
close of the meeting. Pakistan has been on the Paris-based FATF's grey list for
deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes
since June 2018. In June 2021, the country was given three months to fulfil the
remaining conditions by October.
However,
Pakistan was retained on the FATF "grey list" for failing to
effectively implement the global FATF standards and for its lack of progress in
the investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of
UN-designated terror groups.
This
decision was announced in October 2021, at the conclusion of the Financial
Action Task Force's (FATF) three-day plenary to discuss key issues in the fight
against money laundering and terrorist financing.FATF President had said
Pakistan will remain on the grey list till it addresses all items on the
original action plan agreed to in June 2018 as well as all items on a parallel
action plan handed out by the watchdog's regional partner - the Asia Pacific
Group (APG) - in 2019.
The
president, however, added that the item on financial terrorism still needed to
be addressed which concerned the "investigation and prosecution of senior
leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups".
Pakistan
opposition parties had been slamming the former Prime Minister Imran Khan's
government over its failure to get the country removed from the FATF grey list.
According
to experts, Pakistan's grey-listing by the FATF from 2008 to 2019 may have
resulted in a cumulative GDP loss of USD 38 billion.
The
FATF delegates representing 206 members of the Global Network and observer
organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations,
the World Bank and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, will take
part in the last Plenary under the two-year German Presidency of Dr Marcus
Pleyer next week.The German government will host this hybrid event in Berlin,
with a significant number of participants taking part in person.
During
four days of meetings, delegates will finalise key issues including a report to
prevent money laundering through the real estate sector and a report that will
help financial institutions use collaborative analytics, data collection and
other sharing initiatives to assess and mitigate the money laundering and
terrorist financing risks they face.
Source:
Times Of India
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Pakistan:
Imran Khan admits committing 'blunders' leading to his party's fall
Jun
14, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan confessed to committing blunders
that led to the fall of his party, said the senior lawyer and former Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hamid Khan.
Speaking
on a show with Pakistan's local media outlet Geo News, Hamid said that Imran
Khan had confessed to misjudging numerous people that caused the loss of the
PTI. The senior lawyer said that Imran also admitted being misled on Justice
Qazi Faez Isa's issue.
The
senior lawyer said he had met Imran Khan after he filed a reference against
Isa. He said he had told him that the reference was a mistake because the judge
was an honest man, reported The News International.
Notably,
the PTI chairman Imran Khan in June 2020, had filed a presidential reference
for the removal of Supreme Court's Justice Qazi Faez Isa. This reference forced
Isa and his wife to face unjust inquiries about the means of their wealth.
However,
later the Supreme Court of Pakistan offered relief to Isa, who was accused of
misconduct for allegedly failing to disclose information about his family's
foreign assets.
In
Pakistan, government and invisible forces have typically employed a formula of
victimizing dissenting judges and politicians by making them subject to
inquiries over assets allegedly beyond their means.
Many
politicians and civil servants prefer not to challenge the status quo, fearing
the wrath of the government or the powerful quarters. In a country that is run
indirectly by the invisible forces and where everything from the government to
the mainstream political parties is a hybrid entity, it is nothing short of a
miracle that there are still judges like Isa who show resilience and challenge
the status quo.
Moreover,
the Imran Khan also confessed to Hamid that he misjudged former aids and
estranged PTI leaders -- Jehangir Tareen and Aleem Khan and because of that the
entire party had to suffer.
Earlier,
the former premier Imran Khan revealed that differences with both estranged
leaders developed when he refused to entertain their requests. "Aleem Khan
expected me to legalise his 300-acre land near Ravi", he said adding
"from then onwards, I developed differences with him."
"Tareen
stood with those who are the biggest dacoits in the country. When I ordered a
probe into the matter, differences developed with Tareen," he had said.
In
talks with Geo News, Hamid said he had warned Imran Khan of certain people
around him. As per the former lawyer, he and other former party stalwarts had
advised him to be mindful of certain people around him.
Source:
Times Of India
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--------
Current
setup bent upon abolishing FIA, NAB, says Imran
Kalbe
Ali
June
15, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday said if the
current setup remained in power, it would abolish the Federal Investigation
Agency (FIA) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB), eventually destroying
all state institutions.
Talking
to party workers and supporters at his Banigala residence, the former prime
minister said: “If institutions are rendered useless, the country gets
destroyed.” He added that [Prime Minister] Shehbaz Sharif will practically
abolish the FIA.
“It
is just like deploying a cat to guard milk,” he said.
Mr
Khan said Shehbaz Sharif had gotten all his cases worth Rs16 billion cleared
and would not hesitate to abolish NAB as well to go scot-free in corruption
cases.
He
once again alleged that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was
systematically killing officers and witnesses involved in cases against its
leaders.
“Dr
Rizwan, who was investigating their cases, died of heart failure; another
officer, Nadeem, met the same fate, while Gulzar and Maqsood, their employees,
also expired,” he added.
He
said that in order to hide their misappropriations they even burnt the record
of Lahore Development Authority (LDA).
The
former prime minister reiterated that the new government was imposed upon the
country by the United States under a conspiracy.
“Now
they are using police to lodge false cases; eight FIRs have already been
registered against me,” he added.
The
PTI chairman said neither police force was used nor restrictions were imposed
when the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) held
political marches to Islamabad.
“They
were also silencing free voice by pressurising media,” he said, adding that
during his tenure, the only concern was fake news.
About
the recent increase in prices, Mr Khan said his government had decided to give
subsidy of Rs200 billion, and instead of increasing prices, lowered petrol and
diesel price by Rs4 per litre and made electricity cheaper by Rs4 per unit.
“We
too had the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pressure, but we resisted it
because we could not burden our people anymore,” he added.
Mr
Khan said within two months, the incumbent government had taken inflation to
new heights, never seen before in the country’s history, adding that three
months ago they were insisting that Imran Khan should not have increased oil
prices.
He
said people, especially labourers and those from the working class, should come
out for their rights and take part in the next protest against the government.
“They
do not have any consideration for the people of this country; they only care
about what America tells them,” he added.
Mr
Khan said if his government could give a grant of Rs12,000 to the poor and
needy during the peak time of Covid-19, the incumbent government should do the
same.
Speaking
about the opposition leader in the National Assembly, the PTI chief said: “If
the leader of the opposition is Raja Riaz, a turncoat set to contest the next
elections on the PML-N ticket, then there was no democracy in the country.”
“It
means the sanctity of the Parliament is no more,” he added.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1694872/current-setup-bent-upon-abolishing-fia-nab-says-imran
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Pakistan
envoy Masood Khan, President Biden discuss 'building strong basis' for taking
ties forward
June
15, 2022
Ambassador
Masood Khan, Islamabad’s ambassador in Washington, has met US President Joe
Biden on his visit to the White House where the two discussed building a
"strong basis for moving Pakistan-US ties forward".
According
to a press release issued by the Pakistan Embassy in the US, Khan visited the
White House for a "meet and greet" and an official photograph with
the US president — an established tradition for newly appointed envoys.
"During
the ceremony, the US President and the ambassador had a brief conversation on
building a strong basis for moving the US-Pakistan ties forward," the
statement said.
The
US government follows a tradition whereby after the appointment of new
ambassadors to Washington, a ceremony is held at the White House where new
envoys present their credentials to the head of state conforming to their
appointment.
Khan
was sent to Washington on March 25, when the PTI government was still in power,
but after former prime minister Imran Khan’s ouster on April 11, there was
speculation that the change in Islamabad would also impact diplomatic
appointments.
Later,
Pakistan’s envoy to the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram, explained that
incumbent ambassadors continue to represent the country in foreign capitals
unless specifically asked by the new government to return home. Neither
Ambassador Khan nor Ambassador Akram was asked to do so.
On
his arrival in Washington earlier this week, Khan received a letter from the
chief of protocol at the US State Department, endorsing his appointment as
Pakistan’s ‘working ambassador’ in Washington.
Later,
on April 19, he also received a letter from the US president’s office, formally
confirming his appointment.
Meanwhile,
the statement issued today said that forty-six other ambassadors were also
present there for the official photograph with the President, which was taken
one by one. "They too had not been able to call on the President for more
than a year because of the Covid-19 restrictions," it added.
Since
President Biden’s age, 79, makes him particularly vulnerable to the virus, the
White House tried to minimise the president’s contact with others. Diplomatic
sources in Washington earlier told Dawn that Covid-19 had also hit the
credentials ceremony.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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--------
Govt
urged to negotiate with TTP from position of strength
June
15, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan must approach all negotiations with the TTP from a position of
strength, and must ensure that all agreements are in line with the
Constitution.
This
was the central thrust of a policy note titled “Pakistan, the TTP, and the
Impetus for Internal and External Peace” published by think tank Tabadlab.
Authored by Mariam Mirza and Zeeshan Salahuddin, the report analyses the
ongoing negotiation process, identifies the key stakeholders, and the most
viable path forward for the government of Pakistan.
It
said that TTP’s demands include the reversal of the merger of erstwhile Fata
with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as per the 25th Constitution Amendment; withdrawal of
all military presence from the region; enforcement of Shariah law in the
Malakand division; the release of 102 commanders and fighters and presidential
pardon to two key militant commanders; and complete freedom of movement for the
TTP’s members in the Malakand division.
The
authors of the report deem these demands unviable, since they would amount to
ceding constitutional sovereignty in these regions to the TTP. Meanwhile, the
government’s demands include the complete dissolution of the TTP, disengagement
from other militant groups, a renunciation of violent activity, and reemergence
as a legitimate political entity within the constitutional norms of the
country.
The
authors feel that the government should treat its demands as non-negotiable.
Any agreement that does not result in the disbandment and the demilitarisation
of the TTP cannot be considered a success. Additionally, the report suggests
that Pakistan should capitalise on internal pressures within the TTP for
repatriation of their families currently displaced to Afghanistan.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1694864/govt-urged-to-negotiate-with-ttp-from-position-of-strength
--------
Bilawal
renews commitment to closer ties with Tehran
June
15, 2022
TEHRAN:
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday reiterated the country’s
commitment to strengthening bilateral relations with Iran in diverse areas,
saying that building close relations with Tehran remained a high priority for
Pakistan.
Moreover,
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, while speaking during a
joint press conference with Mr Bhutto-Zardari, said Iran still believes that
negotiations can succeed in reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, despite a recent
rebuke from the UN nuclear watchdog.
“Iran
is a very important neighbour of Pakistan, one with which we share immutable
historic and fraternal bonds,” said Mr Bhutto-Zardari. “For the prime minister
and for me, building close relations with Iran remains a high priority,” he
added.
The
foreign minister, who reached the Iranian capital earlier in the day on a
two-day visit at the invitation of Dr Amir-Abdollahian, said that during their
consultations they took stock of the entire gamut of bilateral relations.
Iranian
foreign minister claims nuclear deal can still be revived
The
two sides identified ways to take their relationship further to match its true
potential, particularly in the areas of trade, investment, connectivity, border
management, facilitation for zaireen (pilgrims), cultural and educational
cooperation, and enhancing people-to-people exchanges.
The
foreign minister said he conveyed a message of goodwill and cordiality to
Iranian brothers and sisters, adding that he was glad that they have come
closer to resolving one of the major obstacles in expansion of bilateral trade
through operationalising barter trade mechanism.
Mr
Bhutto-Zardari said that another significant step towards improving bilateral
relations was the commitment to strengthen energy cooperation through import of
additional electricity from Iran.
He
said that the two sides also discussed possibility of exchange of prisoners
under the existing legal framework to allow them to complete their sentences in
their respective countries.
“We
appreciate Iran’s hospitality to receive and facilitate Pakistani pilgrims
visiting Iran and have held useful discussions on creating additional
facilities for zaireen,” he added.
The
foreign minister said they discussed the latest developments in Afghanistan,
especially the dire humanitarian situation and economic fragility.
He
said that Pakistan and Iran were directly affected by conflict and instability
in Afghanistan, and that they had vested interest in a peaceful, stable and
prosperous Afghanistan.
From
the Afghan authorities, the world expects a move towards inclusivity and
effective counterterrorism action, he added.
The
foreign minister said he also briefed his Iranian counterpart on the serious
situation of human rights in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir.
We
are grateful for Iranian leadership’s steadfast support for the just cause of
Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
The
derogatory remarks made by BJP officials in India have deeply offended Muslims
across the world. It is time for international community to show a common
resolve against xenophobia, intolerance and incitement to violence on the basis
of religion or belief, he maintained.
Nuclear
deal revival
With
regard to the nuclear negotiations, Tehran had last week condemned as
“unconstructive” a move by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to
censure the country for failure to cooperate over its nuclear programme.
It
had also disconnected some of its cameras at nuclear sites, a move the IAEA
warned could deal a “fatal blow” to negotiations to revive the deal.
“We
believe negotiations and diplomacy are the best ways to reach the final point
of the agreement,” Dr Amir-Abdollahian said during the press conference with Mr
Bhutto-Zardari.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1694869/bilawal-renews-commitment-to-closer-ties-with-tehran
--------
PTI
seeks decision on all parties’ foreign funding cases in one go
Iftikhar
A. Khan
June
15, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawyer Anwar Mansoor Khan has moved an
application before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), asking it to
decide all foreign funding cases together.
The
ECP reserved its judgement on the most recent PTI application in a series of
applications and writ petitions to delay a verdict in the almost eight-year-old
foreign funding case.
The
hearing resumed on Tuesday and PTI lawyer Anwar Mansoor Khan once again repeated
the legal provisions of political funding. He concluded his arguments by
committing that the PTI would conclude its arguments on Wednesday (today). The
ECP is expected to allow the petitioner’s lawyer, Syed Ahmad Hassan Shah, to
respond to the conclusive arguments of PTI spread over several weeks.
Talking
to reporters outside the ECP, the petitioner and PTI founding member Akbar S.
Babar said that after almost eight long years of struggle the case may have
come to its conclusive stage. He said the purpose of the case was to
institutionalise political parties so that they could act as nurseries of
credible and competent leadership. He said Pakistan needs fresh and competent
leadership but when political parties are individual or family fiefdoms, the fountains
of leadership dry up.
Anwar
Mansoor to conclude arguments in foreign funding case today; ECP rejects
rigging allegations over Punjab LG polls
He
said the time has come for Imran Khan to take major decisions, as he was now at
crossroads. He took a path that has ruined a political party meant to change
Pakistan’s politics and not to decay it further. He said Imran Khan took the
path of power at any cost. It was time for him to fade away and hand over the
reigns of the party to those who built the party from scratch and remain
committed to its founding ideals.
Mr
Babar gave the example of Nelson Mandela who sacrificed 27 years of his life
for democracy and human rights. But when the time came he relinquished power
and the party leadership and passed it on to those who struggled for change.
ECP
rejects rigging allegations
Rejecting
the allegation of planned rigging in the by-polls on 20 provincial assembly
seats in Punjab, the ECP on Tuesday also said it had made all arrangements to
hold free, fair and transparent by-elections.
In
a statement, the ECP regretted the fresh round of tirade against it and its
chief launched by the PTI. “The Election Commission strongly condemns and
denies these allegations”, it said.
The
statement came a day after PTI chairman Imran Khan accused the PML-N and the
ECP of working in cahoots to rig the upcoming by-polls. He particularly
targeted Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, accusing him of
meeting and taking weekly instructions from both Punjab Chief Minister Hamza
Shehbaz and PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz.
The
commission said it has made proper arrangements for transparent elections in 20
constituencies of Punjab as was done in the local government elections in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
It
was pointed out that the ECP not only took immediate notice of the disruption
of polling and illegal action in these elections, but also acted against
influential people without any hesitation. It vowed to continue discharging its
duties in accordance with the law and the Constitution.
The
Election Commission also rejected as misleading the impression that votes have
been deliberately shifted to other areas and even other constituencies. It made
it clear that the by-polls on the 20 provincial assembly seats will be held on
the existing electoral rolls and delimitation.
It
said the preliminary electoral rolls for next general elections had been put on
display at thousands of display centres across the country, inviting voters to
get corrected any wrong entry, and to have an error-free electoral rolls.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1694866/pti-seeks-decision-on-all-parties-foreign-funding-cases-in-one-go
--------
Nawaz
Sharif calls on Shehbaz govt to facilitate Pervez Musharraf’s return to
Pakistan
June
15, 2022
The
former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif
called on the Shehbaz Sharif government to facilitate former president Pervez
Musharraf’s return to Pakistan.
“I
have no personal enmity or tussle with Pervez Musharraf. I do not want anyone
else to suffer the traumas that I have to endure for my loved ones,” the
three-time prime minister stated on Twitter.
Nawaz
added that he is praying for the health of the former dictator, adding that if
he wishes to come home, then the government should facilitate his return,
reported Geo News.
Hours
before Nawaz’s tweet, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)
Major General Babar Iftikhar also said that the military leadership believes
that the former army chief should return to Pakistan.
“We
have contacted his family. Once his family responds, we can make the required
arrangements,” the military’s spokesperson said as he prayed for Musharraf’s
speedy recovery.
Musharraf,
78, is critically ill these days as he is suffering from a condition called
amyloidosis, his office said Friday.
Source:
The Statesman
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
South
Asia
Pakistan's
futile exercise-asking wily Taliban to broker peace with the TTP
Jun
14 2022
By
Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha
New
Delhi, Jun 14: Though the mutually agreed ceasefire between the Pakistani
militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Pakistani security
establishment will last three months, the Afghan Taliban, the so-called
"mediator" now says there should be no fixed timeline.
"We
will continue to mediate in the negotiations between TTP and Pakistan until
both sides reach an agreement. We are playing a role in the dialogue between
Pakistan and TTP to bring peace to the region," the Taliban's spokesperson
Zabihullah Mujahid, told BBC on Sunday.
Analysts
say that both the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistan Taliban or the TTP are
walking the Pakistan military along the garden path.
"The
objective of the two is the same, the creation of Pashtunistan or a homeland
for the Pashtuns on either side of the Durand line."
The
Pashtuns see the Durand Line, which defines Afghanistan's borders with Pakistan
as an artificial creation—a colonial era relic, which is blocking their
aspiration for a Pashtun homeland.
Mujahid
also said that the chief of the UN designated terror group TTP, Mufti Noor Wali
Mehsud and his core commanders are at present in Kabul and are being hosted by
the wily interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani. The TTP has raised some
impossible demands of Pakistan. These include the implementation of Sharia law
in areas under its de facto control, especially parts of Pakistan's Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province formerly known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA).
Besides,
the TTP wants that FATA, a lawless zone where it once roamed freely, is
detached from the more tightly controlled KP province formed in 2018.
But
according to few TTP commanders, there is growing impatience in many factions of
the TTP to continue with the ceasefire as Pakistani forces have launched
military strikes against the group in many parts of the region.
In
a recent message to his factions, the TTP supremo Noor Wail Mehsud reminded
them that, "in this Jihad against Pakistan, I've lost my father, my
brother, and multiple uncles and cousins. Even if I am the least honourable
one, I will still take their vengeance," Noor Wali said in a video clip
circulated by the group.
Khalid
Khorsani, TTP's senior commander and part of the group's negotiating team, took
to social media to pacify his cadres.
"Negotiations
are part of war and resistance. And ceasefire doesn't mean surrender. Jihad and
negotiations are both rules of Allah which will continue in any case. We inform
all mujahideen that the blood of any Mujahid brother will not be wasted."
According
to Pakistani experts, the group is suspicious and does not trust the Pakistani
military establishment especially after the Pakistani surgical strikes on their
camps inside Afghanistan.
"The
Pakistani army would love to target the TTP chief if they could get specific
intelligence. It is the mutual distrust," says Ali Zia Sayed, a Pakistani
analyst.
Pakistani
establishment's main problem is the way Noor Wali has managed to reorganize the
various groups under the TTP umbrella. He has reorganized by embracing Jamaatul
Ahrar, Hizbul Ahrar, Amjad Farooqi Group, a faction of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
sectarian outfit, Moosa Shaheed Karwan Group, Mohmand and Bajaur Taliban, the
Lal Masjid-famed Ghazi Brigade, and Punjabi Taliban. Some of them might be
motivated by an ideological cause, while others are lured by money and
prospects of a higher social status.
Many
in Pakistan including the partners of the coalition government led by Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the TTP and the Taliban are both playing a
double game and so far, outsmarted the Pakistani establishment.
"The
TTP is not in a weak position. Even if there is a deal, it will not survive for
long because the TTP does not have a strong motivation to end the conflict with
Pakistan," said Anees Gilani, a Pakistani lawyer and human rights
activist.
A
Peshawar-based Pakistani journalist, who does not want to be identified said
that "these talks show that the TTP was never defeated. It was protected
by the Afghan Taliban, who have always been supported by Pakistan's security
establishment."
Source:
Daiji World
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=968671
--------
Islamic
Scholars in Badghis Call to Reopen Girls’ Schools
June
15, 2022
Islamic
scholars at a gathering in the western province of Badghis urged the Islamic
Emirate to reopen schools for female students in grades 6-12.
A
gathering was held on Monday evening to inaugurate the council of Ulema in
Badghis.
“We
should try to facilitate a good life for our sisters in every area. Education
is one of the important issues,” said Mawlawi Ramazan, an Islamic scholar.
“The
doors of the schools should be reopened for girls in addition to the boys so
our sisters can earn a necessary education,” said Mawlawi Muhaiddin, a
religious scholar.
They
said that both boys and girls have the right to take modern and religious
education.
“The
Almighty Allah made education mandatory for men and women,” said Abddulraziq,
an Islamic scholar.
“If
(girls) study within a Sharia hijab, there is no problem because the society
needs the education of men and women,” said Mawlawi Isar, a religious
scholar.
Some
residents of Badghis called for the reopening of girls’ school beyond grade
six.
“Girls
have attempted to study until grade seven but are deprived of an education and
the doors of schools are closed before them and they cannot go to university,”
said Abdul Wahid, a resident of Badghis.
Source:
Tolo News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-178475
--------
USD
150 million aid by World Bank comes as relief to Afghan farmers under Taliban
regime
15
June, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], June 15 (ANI): The World Bank has granted USD 150 million in aid
to Afghan farmers as food security continues to plummet in the country due to
the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
According
to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), aid has been provided to
the farmers to enhance their agricultural products as well as to reduce
increased insecurity and widespread humanitarian crisis pressure has resulted
in extreme food insecurity among Afghans at various levels, Khaama Press
reported.
According
to the FAO, this is the first tranche of World Bank assistance, with the second
instalment, totalling USD 45 million, expected to be released within the
forthcoming 24 months.
Calling
its assistance to farmers a “generous and timely” measure, the organization
also stated the situation of the war in Ukraine had a significant impact on the
escalation of food insecurity in Afghanistan.
“We
are grateful to the World Bank and its Members for the generous and timely
contribution”, said FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu.
“It
is a historic moment for poor farmers in Afghanistan, he added.”
Meanwhile,
the management committee of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Fund (ARTF) and the
World Bank have approved a USD 793 million project to provide immediate relief
to the needy and provide health services in Afghanistan, adding that this
amount of recent aid will be distributed and provided away from Taliban
control, reported Khaama Press.
The
situation of human rights in Afghanistan has worsened since the collapse of the
Afghan government and the Taliban’s return to power in August last year.
Although
the fighting in the country has ended, serious human rights violations continue
unabated, especially against women and minorities. Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan faced criticism inside and outside Afghanistan for imposing
restrictions on women. 2021 has been the worst year for the Afghan women as the
Taliban after assuming control of Afghanistan has rolled back access to their
right to education and work; however, they also snatched it later for an
indefinite period of time.
Taliban
has imposed draconian restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression,
association, assembly and movement for women and girls. As a result of this,
women and girls in Afghanistan are facing a human rights crisis, deprived of
the fundamental rights to non-discrimination, education, work, public
participation and health. The women in the country are staring at a bleak
future due to a number of restrictions imposed by the Taliban governing aspects
of their lives within ten months of Afghanistan’s takeover.
Women
are no longer allowed to travel unless accompanied by men related to them and
are being curtailed from wearing make-up as well as their reproductive rights.
Source:
The Print
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Mohammad
Ali Jinnah Hospital in Western Kabul Transforms into a Teaching Hospital
By
Saqalain Eqbal
14
Jun 2022
According
to the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, the Taliban Ministry of Public Health has
approved the transformation of the Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital in western
Kabul into a teaching hospital.
On
Tuesday, June 14, Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Mansoor Ahmad Khan,
said that he and Taliban Minister of Public Health Qalandar Ebad had signed an
agreement to transform Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital into a teaching hospital.
The
Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital will be turned into a teaching hospital following
the implementation of this agreement.
A
memorandum of understanding was also signed between the Taliban Ministry of
Public Health and a team from Lahore University, according to the agreement.
The
Pakistani ambassador tweeted that “a team of University of Lahore signed a
Letter of Understanding for assistance in running M. A. Jinnah Hospital Kabul
& upgrade its facilities to make it a teaching hospital.”
Source:
Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
UN:
Millions of Children Under the Taliban Rule Have Been Deprived of Education
By
Saqalain Eqbal
14
Jun 2022
According
to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Taliban
denied millions of children of an education.
The
UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner, Kelly Clements, traveled to Afghanistan and
stated during a visit to a school in Herat province that the majority of the
children without the right to education were girls.
Following
the visit, she stated that education is a natural right of children and one of
society’s most pressing needs.
She
further said that women in Afghanistan are actively participating in economic
development and therefore should be in positions of leadership.
The
UN official made the remarks as women were increasingly isolated and are
marginalized after the Taliban took power, with the Taliban prohibiting women
from engaging in public, cultural, artistic, and political activities.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Russia
hints it may recognise Taliban govt in Afghanistan
14
Jun 2022
Russia's
special envoy for Afghanistan has said Moscow may recognise the interim Taliban
government and has reserved grain for the South Asian country to stave off the
possible food crisis there.
"There
is such a possibility. Its conditions were determined by both the Russian
president and foreign minister," Zamir Kabulov told the Russian state TV
Channel One Russia.
Kabulov
said that Russia will not follow the US and other countries over recognition of
the interim Taliban government.
He
said the Taliban is willing to cooperate with Russia and work in line with
accepted international rules.
Kabulov
said the deputy trade minister of the Taliban government will pay a visit to
Moscow, adding Afghanistan wants to purchase some products and Russian
President Vladimir Putin has allowed the grain to be reserved for Afghanistan.
No
world recognition yet
After
the withdrawal of foreign forces ended a 20-year war last year, the
Western-backed government and its security bodies collapsed in the face of
Taliban military advances.
World
governments do not recognise the new Taliban set up.
The
UN has warned that more than one million children in Afghanistan under the age
of five will likely face the most severe form of malnutrition this year.
It's
a result of worsening living conditions caused by droughts and extreme poverty.
Many
aid agencies have already cut off billions in finances for the Taliban-run
government, leaving many families struggling to make ends meet.
Pakistan
has called for engagement with the Taliban, saying the world cannot afford a
humanitarian crisis.
Source:
Trt World
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.trtworld.com/asia/russia-hints-it-may-recognise-taliban-govt-in-afghanistan-57978
--------
Mideast
Nuclear
chief: IAEA politicizing Iran nuclear work under Israeli pressure
14
June 2022
Iran’s
nuclear chief has slammed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for
politicizing the country’s peaceful nuclear program under the Israeli regime’s
pressure regardless of Tehran's extensive cooperation with the UN nuclear
watchdog.
Head
of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami made the
remarks in an exclusive interview with Iran Press on Tuesday in response to a
question about a resolution, proposed by the US and its European allies, which
was recently passed during a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA)’s Board of Governors accusing Tehran of failing to fully cooperate with
the agency.
He
said Iran did not expect at all that such a resolution would be passed under
the influence and political pressure of the Israeli regime.
The
Iranian nuclear chief expressed hope that the UN nuclear watchdog would be
released from the “Zionists’ captivity” so that the international prestige of
the IAEA and its director general would not be undermined further more.
In
yet another blow to the bleak prospects of reviving the JCPOA, the US, France,
Britain, and Germany spearheaded a resolution at the IAEA’s Board of Governors
on Wednesday, which accused Iran of not cooperating with the UN nuclear
watchdog.
Iran
has denounced the resolution and blamed the US and its three European allies
for the crisis created over its nuclear program, which was under an
unprecedented level of inspections before Washington withdrew from the JCPOA.
The
resolution was passed only few days after the IAEA’s chief Rafael Grossi
traveled to Israel and met the regime’s hawkish Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Iran
had previously warned that Grossi's visit to Israel ahead of the meeting of the
Board of Governors was in contradiction with the agency’s principles of
observing impartiality and maintaining its technical and professional status.
Earlier
in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also criticized
the Western-drafted resolution passed against Tehran’s nuclear program, saying
the Islamic Republic still insists on reaching a “good, strong and lasting”
deal with the P4+1 group of countries.
Eslami
vehemently rejected the “political” allegations leveled over the past 30 years
that Iran is seeking atomic bombs, saying such accusations have been
orchestrated by Israel to impede Iran’s nuclear progress.
Iran
has always had full cooperation with the IAEA and allowed it to visit the
country’s nuclear sites, the AEOI chief emphasized.
He
reiterated that Iran provided the IAEA with clarifications regarding its
nuclear activities as part of trust-building measures and as a sign of
goodwill.
It
is a completely false claim by Western and Zionist media outlets that Iran’s
peaceful nuclear program pursues military objectives and seeks to build nuclear
bombs, he said.
In
Iran’s defense doctrine and national security doctrine, weapons of mass
destruction have no place, Eslami added.
He
said Iran cooperates with the IAEA within the framework of the Safeguards
Agreements and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Satellite
images suggest Iran preparing for rocket launch
14
June, 2022
Iran
appeared to be readying for a space launch Tuesday as satellite images showed a
rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran’s
nuclear program.
The
images from Maxar Technologies showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport
in Iran’s rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to
put a satellite into orbit.
One
set of images showed a rocket on a transporter, preparing to be lifted and put
on a launch tower. A later image showed the rocket apparently on the tower.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Israel
calls for US-led regional coalition against Iran
AbdelRaouf
Arnaout
14.06.2022
JERUSALEM
Israeli
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Tuesday renewed his call for establishing a
US-led regional coalition to confront Iran.
Iran
"closes the cameras at its nuclear sites, expands its aggressive
operations in the region and rejects attempts to reach a nuclear agreement,”
Gantz said during an award ceremony for Israeli soldiers.
“What
is needed is not just cooperation, but also a regional force build-up, with
American leadership, which would strengthen all parties involved,” he added.
The
Israeli minister had made similar remarks during his recent visit to the US
amid rising tensions with Iran.
Notably,
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said last week that his country's policy
toward Iran "has changed over the past year."
Bennett
said at a meeting of the Israeli Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee, after using the term "octopus" against Iran: "We are
moving against the head, not just the arms, as we have been doing in past
years.”
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-calls-for-us-led-regional-coalition-against-iran/2613537
--------
FM:
Logical Initiatives Offered in Vienna Talks by Iran
2022-June-14
Tehran
“has offered its initiatives and ideas on a logical basis whenever it was
treated in a logical way by the other side", Amir Abdollahian said on
Sunday after participation in a hearing session of the Iranian Parliament’s
Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy to answer questions about the
latest developments surrounding the diplomatic row over Iran’s nuclear program.
“Every
time that the opposite side put forth excessive demands during the [Vienna
talks], we used the country’s own tools and power, so that they would
understand that the interests and welfare of the Iranian nation were important
to us and that we will continue our efforts to this end,” Iran’s top diplomat
added.
He
expressed the hope that the measures meant to get all the negotiating parties
to return to the JCPOA, would be taken in such a way that Iran’s power and
demands as well as people’s expectations are taken into consideration.
“While
emphasizing the need to completely protect the rights of the country in
international arena, our people expect us to do so while respecting all the red
lines,” Amir Abdollahian said.
Since
April last year, the Iranian negotiating team has been involved in marathon
talks with the other remaining parties to the JCPOA – Britain, France, Germany,
China, and Russia – with the aim of bringing the US back into the deal and
destroying its sanctions regime against Tehran.
Under
former president Donald Trump, the United States pulled out of the landmark
agreement and instigated what it described as the “maximum pressure” campaign
of sanctions against the Islamic Republic to reach a “better deal” than the
JCPOA.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010324000260/FM-Lgical-Iniiaives-Offered-in-Vienna-Talks-by-Iran
--------
Israelis
in Turkey were saved before ‘Iran’s assassins’ could attack at hotel: Report
14
June, 2022
Several
Israelis visiting Istanbul were picked up and flown out of Turkey by Israeli
security officials to save them from “Iranian assassins” who were waiting to
kill them at their hotels, The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday.
Israeli
public broadcaster Kan radio reported on Sunday that security officials foiled
an Iranian attack targeting Israelis in Turkey last month.
The
Israeli officials coordinated with their Turkish counterparts to thwart the
attack planned by an “Iranian network” in Turkey.
The
Times of Israel said an Israeli woman was visiting a market in Istanbul when
she received a call from a senior Israeli official telling her to not return to
her hotel because “Iranian assassins” were waiting there for her and her
spouse.
“Instead,
a caravan with some 10 Israeli security officers took the couple to the
airport, leaving their stuff in the hotel, and then to Israel, where they were
probed for clues about the plot against them,” the Times of Israel reported.
Tensions
between Israel and Iran have heightened in recent weeks.
Israel
had issued last month a warning to its citizens against travel to Turkey amid
fears that Israelis would be targeted in a “revenge attack” for the
assassination of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Colonel Sayad
Khodai.
Earlier
this week, the New York Times reported that Iran believes Israel killed two of
its scientists by poisoning their food in May.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Iran
believes Israel killed two of its scientists with poison: Report
14
June, 2022
Iran
believes Israel killed two of its scientists by poisoning their food in May,
The New York Times reported on Monday citing Iranian officials.
The
report identified the scientists as Ayoub Entezari, an aeronautical engineer who
worked for a military research center, and Kamran Aghamolaei, a geologist.
They
are described as top university graduates who were “young, healthy and
athletic.” They both fell suddenly ill in late May and continued to grow sicker
before ending up in the intensive care units of hospitals in two different
cities in Iran.
They
both died within days of each other. Iran suspects these are targeted killings
by Israel.
Should
Iran’s suspicions prove to be true, it would be part of a shadow war where
Israel targets Iran’s military personnel and officials and scientists related
to the country’s nuclear program, and Iran retaliates by targeting Israelis
abroad.
Earlier
this week, Iran's state media announced that two members of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aerospace division died “on duty” in separate
instances, without giving further details.
Those
two deaths come after the assassination of IRGC Colonel Sayad Khodai who was
shot dead in his car by two assailants on motorcycles in Tehran on May 22.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Turkey
is a ‘safe country’, Ankara says after Israeli warnings
14
June, 2022
Turkey
is “a safe country,” its foreign ministry said on Tuesday after Israeli
authorities urged their citizens to leave over fears of Iranian attacks.
In
an indirect response that did not mention Israel, the ministry noted “some
countries” had issued travel warnings.
Turkey
“is a safe country and continues to fight against terrorism,” the statement
said.
“These
travel warnings are considered to be related to different international
developments and motives,” it added.
Israel’s
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday urged citizens in Turkey to leave “as
soon as possible” over threats that Iranian operatives were planning attacks on
Israelis in Istanbul.
He
said there was “a real and immediate danger” from Iranian agents.
On
Monday, Israel’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper quoted an unnamed security official saying
several Iranian “cells” were planning operations against Israeli tourists in
Turkey.
The
warnings come amid the latest surge in tensions between bitter rivals Iran and
Israel, with Tehran blaming Israel for a series of attacks on its nuclear and
military infrastructure, in Iran and also in Syria.
Turkey
is a popular holiday destination for Israelis, including through more than a
decade of diplomatic rupture between the two countries.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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UN
commission on Palestine seeks new ways to get Israel to comply with int'l law
Peter
Kenny
14.06.2022
GENEVA
The
United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied
Palestinian Territory said Monday that the global community must urgently
explore new ways of ensuring Israel’s compliance with international law.
Former
UN Human Rights commissioner Navi Pillay addressed the Human Rights Council
with the commission’s first report on the occupied Palestinian territories and
Israel.
“It
is our strong view too that the continued occupation of the Palestinian
territory, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, the 15-year blockade of Gaza, and
longstanding discrimination within Israel are all linked and cannot be looked
at in isolation,” she said.
“Given
a clear refusal by Israel to take concrete measures to implement the findings
and recommendations of past commissions, the international community must
urgently explore new ways of ensuring compliance with international law.”
The
former South African jurist said the international community had failed to take
meaningful measures to ensure Israel’s compliance with international law and
influence it to bring an end to the occupation.
Pillay
said the state of “perpetual occupation” of Palestine and longstanding
discrimination in both Israel and Palestine is a core underlying root cause of
the ongoing violence.
“Threats
of forced displacement, demolitions, settlement construction and expansion,
settler violence and the blockade of Gaza have all contributed to and will
continue to contribute to cycles of violence,” said the former rights chief.
She
said the reality enduring for decades brings a general sense of despair and
hopelessness within the Palestinian population in Palestine, Israel and the
diaspora.
“They
are left without hope of a better future that affords them their full range of
human rights, without discrimination,” said Pillay.
She
said the ongoing situation of occupation and discrimination is used by
Palestinian “duty-bearers” to justify their violations and abuses of
international law, including the failure of the Palestinian Authority to hold
legislative and presidential elections.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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UN
urges Houthis to lift Taif siege as Yemeni truce holds
EPHREM
KOSSAIFY
June
15, 2022
NEW
YORK: The Houthis must lift their siege of Taiz to allow millions of suffering
residents to access vital humanitarian assistance, healthcare and economic
opportunities, Hans Grundberg, the special envoy for Yemen, urged Tuesday.
Reporting
to the UN Security Council’s monthly meeting on the war-ravaged nation,
Grundberg said this action must be taken, even as he welcomed the fact that the
truce has held between the Yemeni government and the Iran-backed group.
The
ceasefire has seen a drastic reduction in hostilities and civilian casualties,
allowed the resumption of civilian flights from the long-shuttered Sanaa airport,
and facilitated the flow of fuel into Hodeidah port.
Grundberg
said the Houthis must now gradually open the roads leading into the city. Taiz
governorate has been under siege since 2015, when the group closed main routes
and surrounded the city center, largely cutting it off from the rest of the
country.
“It
is critical that this truce can also deliver on easing the suffering of the
people of Taiz,” Grundberg told the Security Council.
“For
years, (Taizis’) freedom of movement has been greatly impeded by this conflict.
As Taizis know all too well, the only open roads to the city are long and
arduous,” said Grundberg. The Swedish diplomat told the council he had
personally travelled for over six hours “along the narrow, winding, and rugged
mountainous road from Aden to the city of Taiz. Before the conflict, the same
trip on the main road would have only taken three hours.”
“In
Taiz, I met with men, women, and youth, who told me about their daily plights
caused by the closure of access roads in and out of the city. I have also
witnessed first-hand how the severe restrictions have crippled the economy,
worsened access to healthcare, and endangered travel of civilians.”
The
UN has proposed a phased opening of the roads around Taiz. It includes a main
route eastward from Taiz city to the Hawban area, as well as additional roads
to and from other governorates. The proposal includes measures to ensure the
safety of civilian travelers.
“While
I am encouraged by the positive response by the Government of Yemen to the UN
proposal, I am still waiting for a response from Ansar Allah,” Grundberg said.
In
response to Arab News’ questions after the meeting, Grundberg said he wants to
urge the Houthis to respond.
“If
you consider the fact that seven years have gone and we have not seen a
resolution, but only several attempts (to solve the problem) of Taiz, I think
that the fact that we have been waiting for six days since the proposal was
presented to them is within that context not a long time.
“But
since we are within the framework of 60 days of truce, every day that goes by
is particularly long. So this just highlights the fact that this is not an easy
matter to solve. But I encourage all the parties, including Ansar Allah to make
as speedy a progress on this issue as possible.”
Grundberg
had on Tuesday addressed the Security Council for the first time in person
since the truce took effect on April 2, which was later extended to Aug. 2. In
his report back, he told council members that the ceasefire continues to hold
as there has have been no airstrikes inside Yemen nor cross-border attacks
launched from it since the beginning of the agreement.
There
has also been a significant reduction in civilian casualties, although
Grundberg lamented the fact that lives were still being lost to landmines and
unexploded ordinance as civilians ventured into contaminated frontline areas
that were previously inaccessible to them.
Despite
the overall reduction in hostilities, however, Grundberg said that violations
continue with armed clashes occurring on several fronts especially in Marib,
Taiz and Hodeidah governorates.
“As
you are aware, we do not have independent monitoring capacities, but I take
these allegations very seriously,” said Grundberg. “It is critical to prevent
such alleged incidents from provoking a spiral of renewed escalations and
violence.”
Grundberg
also referred to his involvement in convening the first two meetings of the
Military Coordination Committee, with representatives from several parties and
the Coalition’s Joint Forces Command. The committee had agreed to meet
regularly, he added.
“The
face-to face meetings represent a significant first step towards building trust
and improving communication between the parties,” he said.
Since
the truce began, several commercial flights have left Sanaa airport which had
been closed for six years. Around 3,000 passengers have been transported to
Amman and Cairo, seeking medical treatment and reconnection with family
members.
Grundberg
noted the country’s government “prioritizing the needs of Yemenis” by
facilitating the opening of the airport, and also reiterated his “sincere
appreciation to the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their instrumental roles in facilitating the flights.”
The
steady flow of fuel to Hodeidah port has continued throughout the truce, he
said. During the months of April and May, over 480,000 metric tons of fuel
products were cleared, “more fuel than entered Hodeidah during the whole of
last year.”
“The
steady delivery of fuel has taken the pressure off vital services,
significantly decreased queues at petrol stations that dominated Sanaa’s
streets, and has allowed Yemenis to travel more easily throughout the country,”
he said.
Lana
Nusseibeh, the UAE’s permanent representative to the UN, called on Grundberg to
intensify efforts to open Taiz’s main road, and not only secondary ones, “to
alleviate the suffering of millions living under siege.”
She
said that despite the truce the Houthis continue to mobilize and recruit across
their areas of control, “indoctrinating children with extremist ideology.”
Nusseibeh,
along with other council members, commended Saudi Arabia for contributing $10
million toward the UN-backed salvage operation on the decaying supertanker
Safer.
US
ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said there was now “a cause for genuine
optimism” as the truce holds, and that building on this progress will be a
central focus of President Joe Biden’s visit to the region next month.
Asked
by Arab News whether he shares the optimism that the truce will develop into a
permanent solution for the seven-year conflict, Grundberg said he was adopting
a cautious approach.
“I
try to take one step at a time and not rush too quickly, but also make sure
that all steps that are taken are done and implemented in a consolidated
manner. What we are seeing right now are steps that have been unprecedented
that we have not seen during the last seven years and that is absolutely
something that we should welcome.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2103721/middle-east
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Europe
Blocked
European funds to Palestinian Territories to be released
14
June, 2022
Hundreds
of millions of euros in European funds to support the Palestinian Territories
can be paid out following the resolution of problems that had blocked their
release, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.
Payment
of the funds had been held up by a dispute over proposals by the EU
Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, to condition
funding on educational reform including the content of Palestinian school
textbooks.
“I
am glad to announce that the EU funds for 2021 can be disbursed rapidly,” she
said during a visit to Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. “All the
difficulties are gone. We have made clear the disbursement will take place.”
The
European Commission, which contributes some 300 million euros a year along with
other European states and institutions which contribute a similar amount, are
together the largest donors to the Palestinian Territories, which had faced an
increasing financial squeeze.
“Thank
you for resuming your assistance to us. This is a day of happiness,”
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told von der Leyen.
Earlier,
von der Leyen met Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem where she
welcomed the prospect of increased cooperation in energy supplies and warned of
the danger of food problems as a result of the war in Ukraine.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Turkey
prepared to stall Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership for year: MP
14
June, 2022
Turkey
is prepared to stall Sweden and Finland’s bids to become NATO members for as
long as a year, a Turkish MP and chair of the parliament’s foreign affairs
committee said on Tuesday.
“This
is a matter of vital national interest, and we are prepared to prevent their
membership for as long as a year if necessary. Turkey is the second largest
army in NATO and has been providing the drones that help Ukraine defend itself.
We deserve greater respect,” Akif Cagatay Kilic said.
He
added: “What are [Sweden and Finland] going to do? They have been harbouring
terrorist organisations that kill my people, disrespect my borders, pose an
existential threat to my country. The only thing we demand is that there are no
distinctions. A terrorist organisation is a terrorist organisation.”
Sweden
and Finland are seeking to enhance their security through NATO membership,
ending decades of military nonalignment in an historic move driven by Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Sweden’s
premier says she looks forward to continuing dialogue with Türkiye
Atila
Altuntaş
15.06.2022
STOCKHOLM
Swedish
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on Tuesday stressed the importance of
dialogue and ongoing negotiations with Türkiye amid Sweden and Finland's
applications to join NATO.
Andersson
met with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas
Gahr Store in the Swedish city of Sodertalje to discuss regional issues,
including Sweden and Finland's NATO bids.
"We
are acting together with Finland. I look forward to continuing the dialogue
with Türkiye until the problem is solved," said Andersson, speaking at a
joint press conference after the trilateral meeting.
Marin
said it is crucial to reach a solution ahead of a NATO summit that will be held
at the end of this month in Madrid.
"There
is momentum now. It is important that we move forward in this process. We take
Türkiye's problems seriously and continue to engage in dialogue," she
said.
Sweden
and Finland formally applied to join NATO on May 18, a decision spurred by
Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.
But
Türkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to their
membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting
terrorist groups such as the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization
(FETO). Their accession requires the unanimous approval of all 30 NATO member
countries.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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ECHR
blocks UK plan to deport Iraqi asylum seeker to Rwanda
Shweta
Desai
15.06.2022
PARIS
The
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued an urgent order Tuesday preventing
the removal of an Iraqi asylum seeker hours before his scheduled deportation
from the UK to Rwanda.
Invoking
Rule 39 of its Rules of Court, the ECHR indicated to the UK government to not
deport the Iraqi national “until three weeks after the delivery of the final
domestic decision in his ongoing judicial review proceedings.”
The
Court stepped in to block the deportation of the Iraqi after the British High
Court rejected his appeal for interim relief to prevent his deportation. He had
claimed asylum in the UK on May 17.
Under
a controversial asylum partnership agreement between the UK and Rwanda, all
asylum seekers whose claims are rejected or deemed inadmissible could be relocated
to Rwanda.
The
individual, who is reportedly a victim of torture, had claimed his life was in
danger in Iraq and had left the country for Türkiye, from where he reached the
UK after crossing the English Channel by boat. On May 24, the British authorities
rejected his asylum claim as “inadmissible” and served a “notice of intent” to
relocate him to Rwanda.
The
Court noted the risk to the human rights of the Iraqi national in Rwanda, a
country outside the jurisdiction of the European Convention on Human Rights,
while granting the interim measure to prevent his removal from the UK until the
decision of the domestic courts. The Iraqi national’s judicial review is
scheduled in July.
The
ECHR is a regional human rights judicial body based in Strasbourg, France,
created under the auspices of the Council of Europe.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/echr-blocks-uk-plan-to-deport-iraqi-asylum-seeker-to-rwanda/2613914
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PKK
terror group supporters hold anti-Türkiye demonstration in Athens
Derya
Gulnaz Ozcan and Tevfik Durul
14.06.2022
ATHENS
PKK
terror group supporters held an anti-Türkiye demonstration in the Greek
capital.
Police
did not intervene in the demonstration late Monday which was attended by about
20 members of the Rouvikonas anarchist group around the Turkish Consulate
General Athens-Piraeus in the neighborhood of Neo Psychiko.
Demonstrators
left the site after throwing anti-Türkiye leaflets onto the yard of the
consulate.
The
Turkish Embassy in Athens took the case to the Greek diplomatic corps and
police authorities and asked that the perpetrators be found.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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France
captures senior Daesh figure in Mali: military
June
15, 2022
PARIS:
French troops deployed in Mali have captured a senior figure in the branch of
the Daesh group in the Sahel region of Africa, the military said Wednesday.
“In
the night of 11-12 June, an operation of the (French) Barkhane force allowed
the capture of Oumeya Ould Albakaye, a senior figure in [Daesh] in the Greater
Sahara (IS-GS),” a spokesman for the chief of staff told AFP.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2103816/world
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/qaeda-ayman-zawahiri-ummah-islamic-jihadists/d/127253