Allahabad High Court Negates Love Jihad - It Is Puzzling When Courts And State Governments Go In Opposite Directions
New Age Islam News Bureau
27 November 2020
Allahabad High Court.
Shutterstock
-----
• Over 200 Pakistanis Who Had Moved To India Expecting
A Better Life There, Back Home, Says
High Commission In Delhi
• Hezbollah: Al-Mahdi Strongly Opposed Normalization
With Israel
• UAE Pressure On Al-Azhar To Issue Anti-Muslim
Brotherhood Statement Fails
• Netanyahu Greets Passengers As First UAE Flight
Lands In Israel
• Afghanistan Stays First in Global Terrorism Index
Ranking
• Indonesia Reaffirms Its Support For Palestine
Independence
• US-Sanctioned Hezbollah’s Qard al-Hasan Installs ATMs,
Violating Lebanon's Fiscal Law
• Nagorno-Karabakh Defeat Sparks Political Crisis For
Armenia, PM Nikol Pashinyan
India
• Allahabad High Court Negates Love Jihad - It Is
Puzzling When Courts And State Governments Go In Opposite Directions
• Samajwadi Party MP Terms 'Love Jihad' Political
Stunt, Asks Muslim Boys To Consider Hindu Girls Their 'Sisters'
• ‘Love Jihad’ Funded By Foreign Nations, Conspiracy
Against India: MP Minister
• In A Gaffe, Rajasthan BJP Chief Rakes Up Vasundhara
Era 'Love Jihad' Case
• Haryana Sets Up 3-Member Drafting Committee To Frame
Law On "Love Jihad"
• On 26/11 anniv, Modi attacks Pak, refers to surgical
strikes
• Terrorists kill two soldiers on Srinagar outskirts
• Another 26/11-like attack in India almost impossible:
Rajnath Singh
--------
Pakistan
• Over 200 Pakistanis Who Had Moved To India Expecting
A Better Life There, Back Home, Says
High Commission In Delhi
• Minority Killings in Pakistan Concern Rights Groups,
HRW, Amnesty International and ICJ
• Accuse Pakistan Of Promoting Discriminatory
Practices Against Ahmadis
• Pak Has Quietly Moved 26/11 Attacks Accused Hafiz
Saeed Out Of Jail. He Is Home: Intel
• Pakistan fails to nab 19 most wanted LeT terrorists
even 12 years after 26/11 attack
• Pakistan joins Saudi-led initiative for digital
cooperation
• Fazl tells establishment to do its own job, let
people run their country
• Two federal ministers, PM aide summoned over
‘contempt’
• Three members of Shehbaz’s family declared absconder
--------
Africa
• Hezbollah: Al-Mahdi Strongly Opposed Normalization
With Israel
• Bahrain will open consulate in Western Sahara
• Ethiopian troops ordered to move on Tigray capital:
Ethiopia Prime Minister
• Ethiopia to begin final phase of offensive against
major rebel-held city
--------
Arab World
• UAE Pressure On Al-Azhar To Issue Anti-Muslim
Brotherhood Statement Fails
• Saudi Regime Forces Raid Houses In Shia-Majority
Qatif Region, Abduct Tens Of Young Men
• Yemeni armed forces will strike Saudi Arabia’s vital
installation if aggression continues: Houthi
• Israeli strikes kill 19 Iran-backed fighters in
Syria: Monitor
• Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince discusses Saudi-Japan
Vision 2030 with Japanese PM
--------
Mideast
• Netanyahu Greets Passengers As First UAE Flight
Lands In Israel
• Iran Swaps Israel's Spy with 1 Businessman, 2
Nationals
• Iranian President: Iran Eager to Develop Brotherly
Ties with Persian Gulf Littoral States
• Spokesman Stresses Iran's Support for Peace Talks in
Afghanistan
• Iranian diplomat, three others face trial in Belgium
over suspected bomb plot
• Israel frees Palestinian who went on 103-day hunger
strike
• Turkey says does not expect US sanctions over S-400
missile systems under Biden
• Yemen okays UN access to abandoned fuel tanker near
Hudaydah
• Turkish court gives life sentences to 337 in mass
coup attempt trial
--------
South Asia
• Afghanistan Stays First in Global Terrorism Index
Ranking
• Abdullah Exchanges View with Jihadi Leader on Afghan
Peace
• Rohingya Among Top Agendas At OIC FMs Meeting
• 13 Australian Special Forces Face Sack for Unlawful
Killings of Afghan Locals
• ANA Foils 10 Possible IED Blasts across Afghanistan
• Australia to fire 13 troops over war crimes in
Afghanistan
--------
Southeast Asia
• Indonesia Reaffirms Its Support For Palestine
Independence
• Indonesian Man Collapses While Being Flogged 146
Times For Raping Child
• Dr Mahathir: Opposition MPs have no shame, betraying
voters’ trust by not standing up to oppose Budget 2021
• Its supporters wanted a fight to the final whistle,
the Opposition stood down to allow Muhyiddin free passage
--------
North America
• US-Sanctioned Hezbollah’s Qard al-Hasan Installs ATMs,
Violating Lebanon's Fiscal Law
• Nearly half of Israelis want Biden to relaunch
negotiations with Palestinians: Poll
• Biden cabinet picks to escalate tensions,
interference in Mideast: Ex-UK envoy
• Canada Muslim massacre convict’s sentence set back
from 40 to 25
--------
Europe
• Nagorno-Karabakh Defeat Sparks Political Crisis For Armenia,
PM Nikol Pashinyan
• France will arrange aid conference for Lebanon by
video in December
• Frances pushes for EU sanctions on Turkey over
Mediterranean gas dispute
• Russia foils Daesh planned attacks in Moscow region
• British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert returns to
Australia after Iran imprisonment
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/allahabad-high-court-negates-love/d/123592
--------
Allahabad High Court Negates Love Jihad - It Is
Puzzling When Courts And State Governments Go In Opposite Directions
27.11.20
Allahabad High Court.
Shutterstock
-----
It is puzzling when courts and state governments go in
opposite directions. The Allahabad High Court has reportedly asserted that no
individual, family or State can interfere in the decision of two consenting
adults, irrespective of their religion, to marry or live together. This opposes
the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s decision to formulate a law against
interfaith marriages. The law would prevent love jihad, in which a woman from
the majority community changes her faith to marry a man from the largest
minority community as part of the latter’s conspiracy to increase the minority
population. No proof of this has been found in UP or in any of the Bharatiya
Janata Party-led states planning to follow UP’s lead. The UP chief minister had
set store by two earlier single-bench rulings of the Allahabad High Court — the
second last September — stating that conversion solely for marriage was
unacceptable. Establishing the primacy of the right to life and personal
liberty of two mature individuals, the latest two-judge bench of the high court
pronounced the earlier judgments “bad in law”. The court found the first
information report filed by the father of a woman who had converted and married
a Muslim prompted by malice and mischief, describing such moves as a serious
encroachment on the right to personal liberty. The Delhi High Court, too,
responding to a habeas corpus petition by a 20-year-old woman’s family, said
that an adult woman was free to live wherever she wished with whoever she
wished.
The Allahabad High Court made an outstandingly
important point at a time when the dominant regime is encouraging a divisive
approach to religion. The court does not see the man and woman in the
interfaith union as Hindu and Muslim, but as two grown-up individuals who had
married of their own free will. Interference in such a relationship was not
only a violation of rights but also a threat to the concept of unity in
diversity. Without mentioning the myth of love jihad, the Allahabad High Court
struck at its root from every angle, underlining its lawlessness — as did the Delhi
High Court’s insistence on freedom of personal choice — and pointing directly
to the Constitutional ethos of secularism and equality of all religions. This
is deeply reassuring for all those fighting discrimination.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/love-in-law-allahabad-hc-negates-love-jihad/cid/1798700
--------
Over 200 Pakistanis Who Had Moved To India Expecting A
Better Life There, Back Home, Says High
Commission In Delhi
27 Nov 2020
Another batch of Pakistanis, including a large number
of families belonging to the minority Hindu community returned to Pakistan
through Attari-Wagah border after being disappointed by worse living conditions
in India.
-----
ISLAMABAD: Another batch of Pakistanis, including a
large number of families belonging to the minority Hindu community, who had
moved to India expecting a better life there, returned to Pakistan through
Attari-Wagah border after being disappointed by worse living conditions in
India.
The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi said in a
statement that more than 200 Pakistan nationals returned on Thursday.
“As part of the High Commission’s ongoing efforts to
assist Pakistan nationals in India, including those stranded due to the
Covid-19 pandemic, today, more than 200 Pakistanis were repatriated via
Attari-Wagah border,” the statement said.
It said that in coordination with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and other authorities concerned in Islamabad, including the
Ministry of Interior, the High Commission would continue to extend all
possible assistance to the remaining Pakistanis in India seeking to return home
as Attari-Wagah border was closed for regular movement due to coronavirus.
Since March 20, the Pakistan High Commission has
facilitated travel of more than 1,100 Pakistanis.
The returning Hindu people told the media at the
Bab-i-Azadi that they were promised that they would earn a better livelihood
and have better prospects for their families in India. However, what they
witnessed in India was far from the promises made to them.
One of the returning Hindu elder said they were
promised that they would get Indian nationality, but there was no such thing
and they waited for three months. Later the people who had brought them to
India also discarded them.
The Hindu people expressed satisfaction over returning
to their “own country” and said they were feeling very much relieved and safe.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1592654/over-200-pakistanis-back-home-says-high-commission-in-delhi
--------
Hezbollah: Al-Mahdi Strongly Opposed Normalization
With Israel
26 November 2020
Al-Mahdi strongly opposed normalization with Zionist
regime
-----
Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has issued a
message of condolence on the passing of former Sudanese prime minister, Sadiq
al-Mahdi, saying he was a staunch supporter of Palestine who opposed any form
of normalization with Israel.
In a statement on Thursday, the movement called the
late official one of the “distinguished personalities” among those championing
the “anti-[global] arrogance ideology and struggle."
Al-Mahdi, therefore, was a defender of the Palestinian
cause of liberation from Israeli occupation and aggression and a steward of the
path of resistance against the occupying regime, it added.
Al-Mahdi, the movement said, would strongly oppose any
sort of rapprochement with the Israeli regime, especially any potential détente
involving Sudan, where he would strive towards preserving national unity as
well as national and Islamic identity.
The leading Sudanese politician died from a
coronavirus infection three weeks after being hospitalized in the United Arab
Emirates, family sources and a party statement said earlier in the day.
Mahdi, 84, was Sudan’s last democratically-elected
prime minister and was overthrown in 1989 in the military coup that brought
former president Omar al-Bashir to power. The moderate Umma Party was one of
the largest opposition parties under Bashir, and Mahdi remained an influential
figure even after he was toppled in 1989.
His passing came shortly after Khartoum and Tel Aviv
entered a normalization deal that the African country was railroaded into
signing by the United States.
The US had already brokered two such deals between the
occupying entity and Washington’s staunch Persian Gulf allies of the UAE and
Bahrain.
The détente spree comes while observers and many
regional officials warn against allowing the Israeli regime any role in the
regional equations, asserting that the region’s affairs, especially its
security situation, has to be decided on by its own countries.
The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas also
released a condolence message, expressing gratitude towards the late Sudanese
official for his support for Palestine and the rights of his own country’s
people.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/26/639446/Lebanon-Hezbollah-condolence-late-Sudanese-prime-minister-Sadiq-al-Mahdi
--------
UAE
pressure on Al-Azhar to issue anti-Muslim Brotherhood statement fails
November
27, 2020
Official
sources have uncovered Emirati pressure on the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmad
Al-Tayeb to engage in the Saudi-Emirati campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood
(MB).
The
New Arab quoted sources in Al-Azhar's Council of Senior Scholars stating that
Al-Tayeb was contacted by high-level United Arab Emirates (UAE) personalities
to issue an anti-Muslim Brotherhood statement. However, the grand imam sought
instead to convince the parties that forcing Al-Azhar into such conflicts
weakens its position.
The
newspaper added that Al-Tayeb, who chairs the Muslim Council of Elders (based
in Abu Dhabi), refused to jeopardise his reputation, or that of Al-Azhar, by
interfering in a political battle.
The
sources stated that following Al-Tayeb's refusal to interfere, the UAE's Fatwa
Council was forced to support the fatwa issued by the Saudi Council of Senior
Scholars (CSS), which classified the MB as a "terrorist group".
The
Saudi CSS issued a statement this month indicating that the MB is: "A
terrorist group that does not represent the approach of Islam."
Later,
the UAE's Fatwa Council announced a similar position, claiming that the MB and
the extremist and violent groups that have emerged from it, have always been
known for disobeying the rules and generating conflicts.
There
is no declared presence of the MB in the UAE or Saudi Arabia, which hosted
prominent leaders of the organisation in the past.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201127-uae-pressure-on-al-azhar-to-issue-anti-muslim-brotherhood-statement-fails/
--------
Netanyahu
greets passengers as first UAE flight lands in Israel
27
Nov 2020
DUBAI:
A flydubai aircraft landed in Dubai from Tel Aviv on Thursday, the first
scheduled commercial flight between the two cities following the normalisation
of ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
“Welcome
to Dubai,” an immigration officer said as the passengers from Israel filed off
the plane and into the glitzy Gulf city, some of them waving and giving the
peace sign.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was on hand in Tel Aviv earlier when the
flight arrived after the four-hour journey from Dubai, called it “a moment of
history”.
“As-salaam
alaikum (peace be upon you),” he said to arriving passengers. “Come again and
again and again.”
The
United Arab Emirates signed a landmark US-brokered deal in September to
formalise relations with Israel, the first such agreement by an Arab state in
the Gulf.
Commenting
on the accord in a tweet on Thursday, UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al
Nahyan said it would foster “prosperity and progress” in the Middle East.
With
their economies hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the UAE and Israel are
hoping for rapid dividends from the normalisation deal, including an influx of
tourists as Dubai enters its winter high season.
“The
start of scheduled flights will contribute to economic development and create
further opportunities for investment,” flydubai chief executive Ghaith al
Ghaith said when the service was announced earlier this month.
The
Dubai carrier will fly the route twice daily, and Israeli airlines El Al and
Israir are both expected to launch their commercial services between the cities
next month.
Etihad
Airways, based in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, has said it will begin flying to
Tel Aviv in March.
The
UAE became only the third Arab country to normalise ties with Israel, following
Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.
The
two countries have already signed treaties on visa-free travel —although that
is yet to come into force — along with accords on investment protection,
science and technology.
Circle
of normalisation
Since
the historic agreement, Bahrain has also forged ties with Israel, while Sudan
has agreed to do so in principle.
The
agreements shattered a long-standing Arab consensus that there should be no
normalisation with Israel until it reaches a comprehensive peace deal with the
Palestinians.
Several
Gulf Arab states have for years been quietly building relations with Israel on
the basis of shared animosity towards Iran, with the US supporting the process.
Saudi
Arabia has so far refrained from formalising ties with Israel, but has given
the green light to overflights from the Jewish state, in an implicit sign of
approval.
Netanyahu
reportedly met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salam in the futuristic Red Sea
city of Neom on Sunday, fuelling speculation that the country was moving
towards normalisation with the Jewish state.
Riyadh
has denied any such meeting took place. Asked whether he expected Saudi flights
to one day be landing in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said: “The circle of normalisation
will get wider, there will be more countries in the coming months.”
After
the UAE deal was announced by President Donald Trump in August, El Al flew a
delegation of US and Israeli officials — led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared
Kushner -- to Abu Dhabi in a historic direct service between the two countries.
That
was followed by an official visit by a UAE delegation to Tel Aviv as well as a
string of charter flights carrying business groups.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1592635/netanyahu-greets-passengers-as-first-uae-flight-lands-in-israel
--------
Afghanistan
Stays First in Global Terrorism Index Ranking
By
Mohammad Haroon Alim
26
Nov 2020
An
Afghan security force member stands at the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul
on May 31, 2017. At least 40 people were killed or wounded on May 31 as a
massive blast ripped through Kabul’s diplomatic quarter, shattering the morning
rush hour and bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital. / AFP
PHOTO / SHAH MARAI (Photo credit should read SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)
Global
Terrorism Index 2020 Marks Afghanistan to be the most impacted nation by
terrorism, the country was subjected to 26 world’s terrorist attacks out of 50
worst terrorizing incidents.
According
to the report, while deaths caused by terrorism declined in 2019, the Taliban
still remains the deadliest terrorist group in the region.
GTI
has been active for eight years and is developed by the leading think tank
institute of economics and peace IEP, their reports provide a comprehensive
resource on terrorism trends globally.
Peace
talks in Afghanistan have a substantial impact on terrorist activity, but
still, terrorism is active in the region, According to GTI 2020.
The
global economic impact of terrorism in 2019 has cost 26.4 billion, 25% lower
than the war expenditures of 2018, 16.7%
of Afghanistan’s GDP was impacted by war, making it highest in the rank.
10
countries were accounted for deaths from terrorism in 2019, most of the deaths
in a single country were recorded in Afghanistan, 41% of deaths connected to a
terrorism incident.
A
very slight improvement since 2018, that the country was accounted for 45% of
terrorist-act related deaths.
“The
fall in deaths in Afghanistan is particularly noticeable given its recent
history,” and “Since the peak of violence in 2018, deaths have fallen by just
over 22 percent in a year. This reduction was driven by a decline in terrorist
deaths attributed to the Taliban and the Khorasan Chapter of the Islamic State
(IS-K) which fell by 18 and 61 percent respectively.” Read the report.
IS-K
faced significant losses in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces after offensive
attacks by the coalition forces, despite fall 2019 was still the deadliest year
on record.
Leading
the rank as the deadliest terrorist group Taliban were followed by IS-K Islamic
state Khorasan as the second deadliest group.
After
the fall of the Taliban in 2001, their fighters regrouped throughout Pakistan
border and since led an insurgency against the Afghan government and U.S led
Resolute Support mission previously known as ISAF, and steadily regained
territories in the country, as of January 2019 Taliban controlled 10 percent of
the people living in the areas under the Taliban.
TTP
is reported to have been responsible for 73 deaths and 30 attacks in Pakistan
as of 2019, showing Taliban presence outside of the Afghan borders.
It
is written in the report that, “in January 2019, the Taliban committed their
deadliest terror attack of the year when a suicide bomber and armed assailants
targeted a National Directorate for Security (NDS) base in Maydan Shahr
district, Wardak, Afghanistan,”, killing at least 129 people and 54 others
wounded.
Afghanistan
remains most impacted for the second consecutive years, Taliban have been held
responsible for 87% of the battle incidents, according to the report.
As
deaths declined by 22 percent, the toll reaches 5, 725 individuals and “While
this reduction in the number of deaths provides some optimism, it is the
second-highest number of deaths recorded from terrorism in Afghanistan since
the 2001 US-led invasion.”
Taliban
had widespread activity across 34 provinces, and deaths recorded in every
province except Panjshir, largest death toll by the group was recorded in
Kunduz in 2019, at least 500 deaths a 77 percent increase from the prior
year.
The
report indicates IS-K is believed to still have sleeper cells in cities such as
Kabul and Nangarhar and added that “The presence of the Khorasan Chapter
continues to challenge the Taliban. In 2019, the Khorasan Chapter was active in
seven provinces, compared to the Taliban who conducted terror attacks across
all of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
“Sixteen
clashes were recorded between the Taliban and the Khorasan Chapter in 2019,
mostly in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces,” since the group’s inception in 2015.
No
country in the world experienced the cost of terrorism bigger than 4% of its
GDP.
https://www.khaama.com/afghanistan-stays-first-in-global-terrorism-index-ranking-987998/
--------
Indonesia
reaffirms its support for Palestine independence
November
26, 2020
Indonesian
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi reaffirmed her country`s firm support for
Palestinian independence.
During
a phone call with her Palestinian counterpart Riyad Al-Maliki, Marsudi inquired
about the dialogue between Hamas and Fatah and its preparation for the
elections to end internal division, as announced by President Mahmoud Abbas in his
speech before the United Nations General Assembly.
In
September, delegations from both movements met in Istanbul and agreed on laying
down a vision for a comprehensive national dialogue in partnership with all
Palestinian factions.
However,
last Tuesday, the PA and Fatah declared the resumption of security cooperation
with Israel, a measure strongly criticised by all Palestinian factions and
described as a "stab in the back of the potential partnership".
The
foreign ministers also discussed the results of the US elections and its impact
on the Palestinian cause, with Marsudi saying President-elect Joe Biden taking
office in the White House should spell better prospects for the
Israel-Palestine peace process.
She
went on to invite Al-Maliki to Indonesia, confirming her willingness to
cooperate with the State of Palestine at the United Nations (UN) and other
regional and international forums.
Indonesia,
a majority Muslim country, is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council
and presents one of its main goals on the council as dealing with the
Palestinian question. It has had no formal relations with the occupation state
of Israel since it was formed on Palestinian land in 1948. In support of
Palestine, Jakarta issued a tax exemption on Palestinian imports.
In
turn, Israel has taken soft measures against Indonesia such as banning tourists
from the country but has made overtures towards it in recent years in order to
influence the process of normalisation.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201126-indonesia-reaffirms-its-support-for-palestine-independence/
--------
US-sanctioned
Hezbollah’s Qard al-Hasan installs ATMs, violating Lebanon's fiscal law
26
November 2020
US-sanctioned
Hezbollah’s non-governmental organization Qard al-Hassan has installed multiple
ATMs over the past month in areas controlled by the Iran-backed militia in the
southern suburbs of Beirut, in a clear violation of Lebanon's fiscal law.
The
ATMs allow those who receive direct payments from Hezbollah, and those who
benefit from the institution's loans, to withdraw cash in either Lebanese lira
or US dollars without any restrictions.
Lebanon
is suffering from unprecedented economic crisis, which has led banks to enforce
an informal capital control on Lebanese citizens' accounts to save the
remaining shrinking foreign currency reserves and avoid further depreciation of
the Lebanese lira exchange rate, which already lost over 365 percent of its
value.
Hezbollah’s
Qard al-Hassan institution is not a bank, nor a financial institution, and is
not subject to the Lebanese monetary and credit law. It has no legal or
financial relationship with the Central Bank of Lebanon.
Consequently,
it cannot buy dollars from the central bank. It is a non-governmental
institution licensed by the Lebanese Ministry of Interior in 1987.
According
to its website, the institution has more than 400,000 contributors and had
given out loans worth in total over three billion US dollars by the end of
2019.
The
new installation of teller machines further indicates Hezbollah's total
independence from the Lebanese banking system, an expert told Al Arabiya
English.
“Al-Qard
al-Hassan institution serves as Hezbollah's central bank for its parallel
economy," the expert said, wishing to remain anonymous for fear of
retribution.
"Iran's
Revolutionary Guard controls over 80 percent of the industrial sector in the
country. They have a grip on Iran's economy. This is the same model Hezbollah
is trying to deploy in Lebanon, and Qard al-Hassan is part of this scheme with
all the loans given to business owners and industries," he added.
"Qard
al-Hassan, by itself, is just one side of the story. As the Lebanese baking
system and economy collapsed, Hezbollah is using this as a chance to build a
completely independent parallel economy, through those loans, through illegally
or legally importing Iranian and Syrian products, and through exporting to
those countries as well," the expert added.
The
expert said all that is done by Qard al-Hassan is against Lebanon's fiscal and
monetary laws. It falls outside of the official banking system. He further
elaborated that any institution that deals with people's money or investment
and gives out loans should fall under the Central Bank's judiciary.
With
the anti-government protests that broke out in Lebanon last October and the
banking system's loss of trust, citizens transferred the economy into a cash
economy.
Most
people took their deposits out of the banks and even stopped using debit or
credit cards.
The
expert explained that this cash economy allows Hezbollah to gain faster control
of the economy and easier accessibility in building its parallel economy.
The
Central Bank cannot trace cash transactions, and all sanctioned entities can
freely conduct business in a cash economy. This may give Hezbollah better
flexibility in sucking the foreign currency from the Lebanese market
-predominately the foreign cash reserves of companies and families - which are
estimated to be between five and seven billion US dollars.
The
Central Bank of Lebanon has suggested enforcing a new digital currency as of
2021. Implementing this suggestion would suck back the cash from the market and
help stabilize the currency. It is important to note that pro-Hezbollah media,
were the first to attack this initiative as it will again weaken the parallel
economy initiated by Hezbollah, the expert told Al Arabiya English.
Hezbollah
is adopting a western liberal baking strategy. They are controlling people and
business owners through all those loans, the expert added. The only solution
stopping this parallel market's growth is rebuilding trust in the banking
sector to get clients back under the Central's bank umbrella.
With
a digital currency enforced and with citizens depositing again in the banks,
all transactions would be traceable. However, this can only happen when there
is a political will to do so.
Under
US sanctions
In
2007, the US Treasury Department targeted Hezbollah's support network by
sanctioning and designating the finance firm Al-Qard al-Hassan under Executive
Order 13224.
The
Treasury said Hezbollah had used the Al-Qard al-Hassan firm to manage financial
activities, adding that Hezbollah shifted accounts of people and entities
previously blacklisted by the Treasury to the firm and its employees.
According
to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hezbollah is encouraging
people to use Hezbollah financial institutions to exchange and deposit their
money—especially al-Qard al-Hassan, which has recently become the group's
primary money exchanger and the default bank replacement for its Shia
constituency.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/26/Lebanon-crisis-US-sanctioned-Hezbollah-s-Qard-al-Hasan-installs-ATMs-violating-Lebanon-s-fiscal-law
--------
Nagorno-Karabakh
defeat sparks political crisis for Armenia, PM Nikol Pashinyan
Lemma
Shehadi
27
November 2020
Armenia’s
defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh has led to a divisive political crisis in the
country, raising concerns about the future of the reform movement behind the
2018 Velvet Revolution.
At
the heart of this crisis is the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who came to
power in 2018 after a popular revolution overthrew a government that was viewed
as corrupt and beholden to Moscow.
For
all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
former journalist, who had been imprisoned under Armenia’s old guard, assumed
his premiership promising reforms, a crackdown on corruption, and closer ties
with Washington and Europe.
But
Pashinyan’s popularity didn’t survive the conflict.
Hours
after the truce was declared, he was branded a “traitor” by protesters, who
stormed parliament. Armenia’s President, Armin Sarkissian, called for snap
elections and a technocratic government, while high-level cabinet members
resigned, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Manatsakyan.
The
prime minister’s fall from grace highlights the fragility of pro-democracy
movements in a region that is widely viewed as dominated by Russian influence.
“Armenia
always had fledging efforts at democracy but it had real corruption problems
too. With the Velvet Revolution, it looked like it had broken out of that,”
said Carey Cavanaugh, a former US Ambassador and co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk
Group, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s mediating body.
“Now
the conflict has gotten people very passionate and divided,” he told Al Arabiya
English.
A
hopeful revolution
“The
revolution was a mostly domestically driven movement, supported by the general
population and the civil society,” said Karen Harutyunyan, editor-in-chief of
the Armenian news website Civilnet.
Within
a year of taking power, the government’s crackdown on corruption had reduced
the country’s shadow economy to a quarter of its GDP. Thousands of ethnic
Armenians from the diaspora, including the USA and Lebanon, sought new
opportunities in Armenia.
“The
biggest achievement was that during these two and half years several elections
– country wide and local, were held which were conducted without major
violations and fraud. This is something that Armenia has not seen since the
beginning of 1990s,” he added.
Some
hoped that the country would be less beholden to Moscow, as it had been under
previous governments. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and Armenia’s tensions
with Turkey, had isolated the country from its neighbors, making it dependent
on Russia for security and trade. Under Russia’s influence Armenia also forged
alliances in Iran and Assad’s Syria.
“Armenia’s
relationship with Russia has never been on an equal basis. At the beginning of
his premiership, Pashinyan tried to stress ‘sovereignty’ and made several
consecutive steps that worsened his relations with Moscow,” said Harutunyan.
But
a radical foreign policy shift towards the West, as was seen after revolutions
in neighboring Georgia and Ukraine, did not take place. Armenia maintained its
defense agreement with Moscow among other Russian-backed structures, through
which Yerevan controversially supplied aid to the Syrian government, a Russian
ally, in 2019.
Preparing
for peace
On
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Pashinyan held initially positive meetings with
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, with both sides agreeing to de-escalate.
Nagorno-Karabakh
is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but had been controlled by
ethnic Armenians since 1994. A peace settlement signed in 2011 known as the
Madrid Principles sought to determine the status of the territory and required
Armenia to cede control of seven districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh that it
gained control of in the 1990s conflict.
Facing
resistance back home to his meetings with Aliyev, Pashinyan began stressing the
autonomy of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership, and evoked popular
opinion in Armenia, both of which rejected the possibility of territorial
concessions to Azerbaijan.
“Armenians
felt they had won on the battlefield in 1994, but the reality of the late 20th
century is that you don’t get to have military action and take land that wasn’t
yours,” said Cavanaugh, “[Earlier leaders] held on to those lands as a
bargaining chip, looking at how to move forward with that. Pashinyan did not
fully incorporate that vision.”
In
practice, this meant his rhetoric became harder than that of his predecessors,
publicly stating that Nagorno-Karabakh would become part of Armenia. In May
2020, he announced plans to move the territory’s ethnic-Armenian parliament to
Shusha, a symbolically important city for the Azerbaijanis.
These
statements were interpreted in Baku as deliberate provocations from the whims
of a populist leader. “In 2019, he asked President Aliyev for a year to study
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. We never heard back from him after that,” Tahir
Taghizade, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the UK, told Al Arabiya English at a
briefing in October.
But
Pashinyan’s supporters welcomed his actions: “For years, the previous
government were negotiating a deal that would have Armenians lose all their
rights in Nagorno-Karabakh, while presenting it as a victory back home,” said
an Armenian-born supporter living in the US who asked to remain anonymous.
“Pashinyan tried to do things differently.”
Popular
support for an unequal war
The
ensuing war that broke out in September revealed how the balance of power had
tipped since ethnic Armenians took control of Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s.
Oil-rich
Azerbaijan, which had been growing its arsenal since the early 2000s, was
equipped with Israeli drones and Turkish fighter jets. By contrast, Armenian
troops relied on inferior Soviet-era Russian weaponry.
In
the first weeks of the conflict, Pashinyan’s appearances were widely praised by
the Armenian public. “He was seen as active in his outreach, trying to draw
international attention to the conflict and highlighting Turkey’s
participation,” said Hrant Mikaelian, a researcher at the Yerevan-based
Caucasus Institute.
Pashinyan
publicly encouraged volunteers to join the frontline, with his own son
volunteering. Hundreds of Armenian soldiers were killed in just days, with the
overall troop toll now at 2,245, according to the Associated Press.
The
prime minister sought to portray the conflict as an existential threat to
Armenia, and as part of a wider clash of civilizations between Western
democracy and political Islam. He emphasized Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan,
and the presence of Turkish-backed mercenaries fighting alongside the
Azerbaijanis.
These
messages resonated particularly in France, which had been rolling out a
controversial new policy toward French Muslims at the time, and whose President
Emmanuel Macron has a fraught relationship with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
But
these efforts did little to tip the war in Armenia’s favor. “The Armenian
leadership was warned by diplomats that if Azerbaijan fought to take back what
the international community recognized as [Azerbaijan’s] land, then the
international community would not respond strongly against that,” said
Cavanaugh.
Meanwhile,
Pashinyan’s opponents in Baku and Moscow described him as an “insane”
uncompromising leader who had led Armenia into a war that it could not win
militarily.
Two
Russian-brokered and one US-brokered ceasefire in October failed to stop the
fighting. Moscow stated that it would only intervene militarily if Armenian
territories were targeted by Azerbaijan, and the details of its military support
to Armenia are still emerging.
Discomfort
grew about Russia’s stated neutrality, with some Armenians blaming Pashinyan’s
earlier hostile remarks toward Russia. “He should have dealt with Moscow more
effectively,” said Mikaelian, who argues that Russia and Iran could be
Armenia’s allies.
Though
both sides are accused of war crimes, Armenia appeared to be escalating the
conflict by targeting Azerbaijani cities outside of the disputed territory. “We
suspect they are trying to provoke us into launching attacks on Armenia proper,
to enable Russia’s military support,” said Ambassador Taghizade, at the time of
these strikes.
A
fragile ceasefire plunges Armenia into crisis
After
six weeks of fighting, Azerbaijani troops took control of Shusha. They were
just a few kilometers away from Stepanakert, the disputed territory’s capital
for ethnic Armenians.
Facing
further losses if they pressed on with the war, Pashinyan signed a
Russian-brokered truce that would end the fighting and cede more than half of
Armenian-controlled territories to Azerbaijan.
According
to the agreement, Russian peacekeeping forces will be deployed for five years.
This deviates from the terms of the Minsk Group, which prohibits co-chairs and
neighboring member states from sending their peacekeepers into
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“I
personally made a hard, hard decision for me and everyone,” Pashinyan wrote in
a Facebook announcement, “based on the belief that this is the best solution in
the situation.”
In
the ensuing weeks, Pashinyan has rejected calls to step down, but experts say
his resignation is only a matter of time. His supporters fear what will become
of Armenia’s revolutionary movement.
Some
critics have called for the return of politicians that the Velvet Revolution
had discredited, including former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan who was
indicted in 2020 for corruption and embezzlement.
Movses
Hakobyan, the former chief of staff for the Armenian armed forces, blamed
institutional changes that occurred after 2018 for Armenia’s “lack of leadership
and ignorance” on the battlefield, as reported by Hetq.
And
although Armenia never fully deviated from Moscow, it now finds itself more
dependent than ever on its support.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/11/27/Nagorno-Karabakh-defeat-sparks-political-crisis-for-Armenia-PM-Nikol-Pashinyan
--------
India
Samajwadi
Party MP Terms 'Love Jihad' Political Stunt, Asks Muslim Boys To Consider Hindu
Girls Their 'Sisters'
27
November 2020
Samajwadi
Party (SP) MP from Moradabad ST Hasan has termed "love Jihad" a
political stunt and asked Muslim boys to consider Hindu girls their
"sisters".
"'Love
Jihad' is a political stunt. In our country, people choose their life partners
irrespective of religion. Hindus marry Muslims and vice versa. However, the
numbers are very low. But if you go into details of 'love jihad' cases, you
would find that girls knew that boys were Muslims. But due to societal pressure
or if there are some internal issues in the family, they say they did not know
boys were Muslims and say 'love jihad'," Hasan told ANI while commenting
on the clearance of draft ordinance to check "love jihad" cases by
Uttar Pradesh Cabinet.
"I
advise Muslim boys to consider Hindu girls as their sisters. Don't get lured,
because a law has been framed under which you can be subjected to tremendous
torture. Save yourself and don't get into any temptation or love," he
said.
The
issue of "love jihad" has been on the boil for the past few weeks
after the death of a 21-year-old college student, who was shot point-blank
outside her college allegedly by a stalker and his friend in Ballabgarh in
October.
Earlier,
Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Siddharth Nath Singh informed that the state
cabinet has decided to introduce an ordinance against "unlawful"
religious conversions.
"There
were more than 100 incidents reported in which forceful religious conversion
was being done. Also, it was reported religious conversions were going on in
the state using deceitful means. So to make a law on this becomes an important
matter of policy now," he said adding that the UP Cabinet brought the
ordinance which has provision for punishment.
The
ordinance provides for a jail term of 1-5 years with Rs 15,000 penalty for
forceful religious conversion. For conversions of minors and women of SC/ST
community, there will be a jail term of 3-10 years with Rs 25,000
penalty," he said.
"In
cases of forced mass religious conversions, the ordinance provides for a jail
term of 3-10 years with Rs 50,000 penalty," he said.
"If
someone wants to marry and do religious conversion than that person has to
inform the district magistrate two months before doing that and there is a
prescribed form and if the person gets permission with respect to that then
that person can undertake religious conversion along with the marriage,"
he added.
http://www.catchnews.com/politics-news/moradabad-mp-terms-love-jihad-political-stunt-asks-muslim-boys-to-consider-hindu-girls-their-sisters-205501.html
--------
‘Love
jihad’ funded by foreign nations, conspiracy against India: MP Minister
Nov
26, 2020
Posted
by: Harshit Sabarwal
Bhopal
(Madhya Pradesh) [India], November 26 (ANI): Amid the uproar over ‘love jihad’,
Madhya Pradesh cabinet minister Arvind Bhadoria on Thursday said love jihad and
religious conversions were being funded by foreign countries and termed it a
conspiracy against India.
“Love-Jihad
and religious conversions are being funded by foreign countries. It’s a big
conspiracy against India. Targets are given saying they will give money to
marry Hindu girls. There should be a detailed probe by Home Ministry into such
funding and action should be taken against culprits,” Arvind Bhadoria told ANI.
“Madhya
Pradesh government is bringing a strict law on ‘Love Jihad’. The women who were
exploited in the garb of it and abandoned later should be rehabilitated. Unless
strong laws are not brought the menace of Love Jihad will continue,” he added.
Madhya
Pradesh government has proposed a maximum punishment of 10 years for so-called
‘Love Jihad’-related offences, in its new ordinance. With this, the state
government has doubled the jail term in its proposed Freedom of Religion Bill
2020. It had earlier proposed a five-year jail term.
Under
this new proposed ordinance, there will be a provision of punishment of up to 5
years for the religious leaders, Qazi or Maulvi who have preformed religious
conversion before submitting the application. The complaint of conversion and
forced marriage can be made by the victim, parents, family or guardian.
While
addressing a public rally in Umaria district on Wednesday, Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said: I will not allow ‘Love-Jihad’ on the soil of
Madhya Pradesh at any cost.
A
day earlier, Yogi Adityanath Cabinet cleared the UP Prohibition of Unlawful
Religious Conversion Ordinance, proposing a maximum punishment of 10 years for
‘love jihad’-related offences.
The
Union Home Ministry on February 4 this year clarified that the term ‘love
jihad’ is not defined under the existing laws and no such case has been
reported so far. No such case was reported by any of the central agencies yet.
However,
two cases from Kerala involving inter-faith marriages have been investigated by
the National Investigation Agency, according to the Home Ministry.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/bhopal/love-jihad-funded-by-foreign-nations-conspiracy-against-india-mp-minister/story-tQNBwKIHcLtYa8KbJXGQ1N.html
--------
In
A Gaffe, Rajasthan BJP Chief Rakes Up Vasundhara Era 'Love Jihad' Case
26th
November 2020
JAIPUR:
Politics over 'love jihad' intensified in Rajasthan after Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot slammed the BJP last week and accused it of "manufacturing a phrase
to divide the nation and disturb communal harmony".
The
verbal duel between BJP and Congress leaders suddenly got a weird twist on
Thursday. BJP state chief Satish Poonia raked up a shocking case of alleged
'love jihad' to embarrass CM Gehlot and his government but it eventually
boomeranged on the BJP president as the issue had arisen during the tenure of
the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government in the state.
As
a matter of fact, Poonia took to Twitter where he posted a newspaper cutting on
alleged 'love jihad' to shame the Gehlot government. Besides making caustic
comments, Poonia wondered when CM Gehlot would probe such instances of love
jihad' which he claimed were regularly happening in Rajasthan. BJP President
Poonia even queried: “When will the CM speak about injustices to these girls?
Will the leader of Indian secularism and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot shed some
light on such cases?”
Shortly
after Poonia’s tweets, a sharp counter-attack was launched. An OSD (Officer on
Special Duty) in the CM Secretariat, Lokesh Sharma, came up with a revelation
that amazed everyone. Sharma revealed that the newspaper cutting on the basis
of which the BJP Chief had made all his 'love jihad' allegations pertained to a
case that had arisen in 2017 when Rajasthan was under BJP rule and Vasundhara
Raje was the Chief Minister of the state.
In
his counter attack, CM Gehlot’s OSD Lokesh Sharma tweeted, “The newspaper
report which formed the basis of the Honourable BJP President’s comments has
been verified as a case of 2017. We are also sharing the link to that news
report.”
The
alleged 'love jihad' case raised by the BJP state chief turned out to be an
issue from May 2017 when the Rajasthan Police had uncovered a gang in Sikar
district. In that racket, some unscrupulous men would lure minor girls into
sexual relationships and make videos of their encounters. They would then
threaten the girls with exposure. There were some instances where girls were
pressured to undergo ‘Nikaah’ and even converted to Islam. Once the girls accepted the terms, the gang
would soon push them into flesh trade.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/nov/26/in-a-gaffe-rajasthan-bjp-chief-rakes-up-vasundhara-era-love-jihad-case-2228445.html
--------
Haryana
Sets Up 3-Member Drafting Committee To Frame Law On "Love Jihad"
November
26, 2020
Chandigarh:
Haryana's Home Minister Anil Vij on Thursday said the state government has set
up a three-member committee to draft a law against "love jihad", a
term used by BJP leaders to describe religious conversions in the guise of
marriage.
The
minister's statement comes days after the Uttar Pradesh government cleared a
draft ordinance against conversion through force or fraudulent means.
But
even before the UP ordinance was cleared, Mr Vij had announced that a committee
was being set up in Haryana to frame a new law.
The
Haryana committee will also study laws enacted by other states on the issue, Mr
Vij said.
He
tweeted that the "drafting committee formed to frame law on love
jihad" in Haryana will be made up of state Home Secretary TL Satyaprakash,
senior police official Navdeep Singh Virk and Additional Advocate General
Deepak Manchanda.
Earlier
this month, Mr Vij had told the Haryana Assembly that the state government is
considering a law against "love jihad" and has sought information
from Himachal Pradesh.
The
Himachal Pradesh Assembly had passed a bill last year against conversion by
force, inducement or through a marriage solemnised for the "sole
purpose" of adopting a new religion.
The
minister was then replying to a calling attention motion in the House on the
murder of a young woman in Ballabhgarh.
"Anyone
can marry anyone, anyone can fall in love with anyone. But if there is a
conspiracy for changing religion by trapping someone in love, then it is very
important to stop that conspiracy. We will take whatever steps are
required," he had said.
PromotedListen
to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com
Recently,
he also praised the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for
approving a draft ordinance to deal with religious conversion for the sake of
marriage, which could land violators in jail for up to 10 years if the woman is
a minor.
Mr
Vij has also told reporters earlier that with the enactment of the Haryana law,
strict action will be taken against anyone indulging in religious conversion
through pressure, by luring someone or in the name of love.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/haryana-sets-up-3-member-drafting-committee-to-frame-law-on-love-jihad-2330510
--------
On
26/11 anniv, Modi attacks Pak, refers to surgical strikes
Nov
27, 2020
KEVADIA:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the 12th anniversary of the 26/11 terror
attack by holding Pakistan responsible for the carnage in the country’s
financial capital and stressing that India’s approach towards terrorism had
changed.
“Today’s
date is related with the biggest terror attack on India. In 2008, terrorists
sponsored and sent by Pakistan had launched an attack on India in which several
lives were lost, people of several countries were killed. I pay my tributes to
the victims of the terror attack,” Modi said.
This
was the second time in the past few days that the PM held Pakistan directly
responsible for the terror attack. Earlier, he had attributed a plot to carry
out a major terror strike in J&K, foiled by security forces who eliminated
the four terrorists who had infiltrated from Pakistan, to the hostile
neighbour.
“Today’s
India is fighting terror by new ways and means,” the PM said in what was seen
as a reference to the retaliatory strikes across the border by the Army and the
IAF in the wake of terror attacks at Uri and Pulwama.
Paying
tributes to policemen martyred in the attack, Modi said India would never
forget the wounds inflicted by the terror strike. He said the armed forces had
successfully foiled conspiracies like Mumbai terror attack. “I salute Indian
forces who have foiled terror plans successfully and are committed to the
country’s safety,” the PM said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/on-26/11-anniv-modi-attacks-pak-refers-to-surgical-strikes/articleshow/79436988.cms
--------
Terrorists
kill two soldiers on Srinagar outskirts
Nov
26, 2020
SRINAGAR:
Three terrorists attacked and killed two Territorial Army soldiers on duty on
the Srinagar-Baramulla road, near the Sharifabad HMT locality on Srinagar’s
outskirts, on Thursday afternoon, IGP (Kashmir range) Vijay Kumar said.
“Initial
reports said that three terrorists were travelling in a Maruti car and two of
them fired indiscriminately at the Army men, leaving two of them seriously
wounded. Both soldiers succumbed to their injuries,” he said, adding that it
appeared that one or two “foreign terrorists” were involved.
The
slain soldiers, who were on road-opening patrol, were identified as Sepoy Ratan
of 163 Battalion, Territorial Army, and Sepoy Deshmukh of 101 Battalion,
Territorial Army, Kumar said. They were with the Army’s Kilo Force unit.
The
area has been sealed. Defence sources said the injured soldiers died at an Army
hospital.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/terrorists-kill-two-soldiers-on-srinagar-outskirts/articleshow/79434058.cms
--------
Another
26/11-like attack in India almost impossible: Rajnath Singh
Nov
26, 2020
NEW
DELHI: A 26/11-like terror strike in India is almost impossible as the national
security architecture has been significantly bolstered in the last few years,
defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, the 12th anniversary of the
deadly Mumbai attack in which 166 people including 28 foreigners from 10
nations were killed.
Addressing
an event in Delhi, Singh also referred to the Sino-India border row in Ladakh,
and said the armed forces have been given a free hand to effectively deal with
any attempts to change the Line of Actual Control and that the government will
not allow any harm to India's self respect.
"I
want to assure everyone that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
administration, there will be no compromise on India's self-respect,
sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.
Referring
to the 26/11 attack, Singh said India is no more a soft target for terrorism
due to variety of measures in the last few years, and added that Pakistan has
been exposed as "nursery of terrorism" following diplomatic outreach
by New Delhi.
"We
can assure all the countrymen that now India has strengthened its internal and
external security cycle so much that it is now almost impossible to execute
another 26/11 attack on Indian soil," Singh said.
On
November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage,
carrying out a coordinated attack on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a
Jewish centre, after they sneaked into India's financial capital through the
Arabian Sea route.
Over
166 people including 28 foreigners from 10 nations were killed in the nearly
60-hour seige that sent shockwaves across the country and even brought India
and Pakistan to the brink of a war.
"Now
India's response to terrorism has been under a 360 degree approach. India is
taking action within its borders. But, if needed, our brave soldiers are going
beyond that to destroy the terrorist bases," the defence minister said.
The
defence minister also referred to the failed attempts by Pakistan-based
terrorists to carry out a major attack in Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir
recently.
"Whether
it was the surgical strike after the Uri incident or the Balakot air strikes
after the Pulwama attack, our armed forces have taken drastic action to deal
with terrorism," Singh said.
"Pakistan's
model of terrorism against India is slowly being demolished...We have escalated
the cost for those supporting terrorism, and countries like Pakistan may have
to pay a heavy price for making terrorism a state policy," Singh said.
The
defence minister also said a 'blacklisting' of Pakistan by global anti-terror
watchdog FATF will prove to be highly costly for that country which is already
reeling under financial stress.
The
26/11 attack had given a new direction to India's security policy, and there
has been a "paradigm shift" in naval and coastal security
architecture since then, the minister added.
On
the border row with China, the defence minister said there was a perceptional
difference over the LAC and problem arises when laid down protocols are
violated.
"I
am assuring everyone that nobody can claim even an inch of India's land,"
Singh said.
On
assembly elections in West Bengal next year, Singh said there was a possibility
of BJP getting two-thirds majority.
In
the nearly 45-minute-long interactive session, Singh delved into a plethora of
issues including farmers' agitation, India's defence modernisation programme,
situation in Jammu and Kashmir and threat of hybrid warfare.
"Civil-military
coordination has improved a lot after the removal of Section 370 in J&K. We
are seeing a positive improvement there. Similarly, in the North-East too,
there has been continuous improvement in the security situation," he said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/another-26/11-like-attack-in-india-almost-impossible-rajnath-singh/articleshow/79432178.cms
--------
Pakistan
Minority
Killings in Pakistan Concern Rights Groups, HRW, Amnesty International and ICJ
By
Ayesha Tanzeem
November
26, 2020
ISLAMABAD
- Three international human rights groups have joined hands to express concern
over a surge in the targeted killings of members of the Ahmadiyya minority
community in Pakistan and urged the government to take immediate action.
“Pakistani
authorities have long downplayed, and at times even encouraged, violence
against Ahmadis, whose rights to freedom of religion and belief are not
respected under Pakistani law,” said the press release from Human Rights Watch,
Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists.
In
July, an American citizen of Ahmadiyya faith was shot inside a high security
courtroom in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province over
accusations of blasphemy against Islam. The gunman was taken into custody but
members of the security force who came to arrest him were seen taking selfies
with him, some of them holding up their fingers in a victory sign.
The
gunman was hailed as a hero by many in the local community who went to his
house to congratulate his family. Several local lawyers offered to defend him
pro bono.
Since
then, four more Ahmadiyyas have been gunned down as they went about their daily
lives.
The
most recent killing happened this month in Punjab province, where a teenager
opened fire on 31-year-old doctor Tahir Mahmood and members of his family as he
opened the door of his house. Mahmood died while his father and two uncles were
wounded.
The
perpetrator was taken into custody.
“The
recent wave of killings tragically underscores not just the seriousness of the
threats they face, but also the callous indifference of the authorities, who
have failed to protect the community or punish the perpetrators,” said Omar
Waraich, head of South Asia operations at Amnesty International.
Sanaullah
Abbadi, the man heading the police in KPK province where four of the five
killings happened, said authorities there are investigating the killings.
“We
are looking at all aspects, religious persecution as well as personal enmity. I
cannot jump to any conclusion because personal enmity is often a cause of
violent disputes here.”
He
also said he had met representatives of the Ahmadiyya community and assured
them of police protection.
“I
told them if anyone is under threat, we will provide individual security,” he
said.
Pakistan’s
human rights minister Shireen Mazari tweeted condemnation of the wave of
killings and said the government was taking action.
“Perpetrator
of latest attack in police custody & being proceeded against in accordance
with law. Govt's duty to protect all r citizens,” her Tweet said.
Tahir
Ashrafi, the special representative to the prime minister on religious harmony,
also condemned the killings, saying that they would be investigated and that
action would be taken against the perpetrators.
HRW’s
Waraich said that the killings were most likely a result of repeated
hate-mongering against the community.
“What
we’ve seen over the last couple of years is a lot of incitement to violence
done publicly by armed groups, almost a declared open season on Ahmadis,” he
told VOA.
The
Ahmadiyyas, who consider themselves to be Muslims, emerged from the Sunni
Muslim sect of Islam more than a century ago.
Many
Muslims around the world consider them heretics since the founder of the group,
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, declared himself to be the long-awaited messiah of Muslims.
In
1974, Pakistan legally declared them non-Muslim through an amendment to the
constitution. Since then, they have faced systematic discrimination.
In
the 1980s, Pakistan passed laws that barred Ahmadiyyas from “indirectly or
directly posing as a Muslim.” Ahmadiyyas could no longer call their places of
worship mosques or use any Muslim religious symbols.
In
2015, the government of the Punjab province banned most Ahmadiyya publications,
including children’s magazines, calling them hate speech against Islam.
Anyone
applying for identity documents or a passport in Pakistan has to declare his
faith. For those claiming to be Muslims, there is an added requirement to
declare that they consider the founder of the Ahmadiyya faith to be a false
prophet and Ahmadiyyas to be non-Muslim.
Ian
Seiderman, legal and policy director at the ICJ, said that in the case of
Ahmadiyyas, the Pakistan government had “completely failed” to protect their
fundamental freedoms or provide equal treatment under the law.
The
laws violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which
Pakistan ratified in 2010, according to the three rights groups.
“Pakistan’s
federal and provincial governments should take immediate legal and policy
measures to eliminate widespread and rampant discrimination and social
exclusion faced by the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan,” said Patricia Gossman,
associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/minority-killings-pakistan-concern-rights-groups
--------
Accuse
Pakistan Of Promoting Discriminatory Practices Against Ahmadis
Nov
26, 2020
ISLAMABAD:
Three human rights organizations — the Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty
International (AI) and International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) — on Thursday
called on Islamabad to probe a recent surge in attacks on members of minority
Ahmadi community and urged the Pakistani government to take prompt action to
protect their rights.
In
a joint statement, the three groups noted that in the past five months, at
least five members of the Ahmadi community were killed in seemingly targeted
attacks. Noting that only two of these cases have resulted in arrests, the
statement warned: “Pakistani authorities have long downplayed, and at times
even encouraged, violence against Ahmadis, whose rights to freedom of religion
and belief are not respected under Pakistani law.”
According
to the statement, a teenager had shot dead a 31-year-old doctor in Nankana
Sahib on November 20; on November 9, a man was gunned down while waiting at a
bus station in Peshawar; on October 6, two men on a motorcycle shot dead Dr
Naeemuddin Khattak, 57, also in Peshawar; on August 12, another Peshawar
resident, Meraj Ahmed, 61, was shot outside his shop; and on July 29, an
assailant shot dead a US national facing blasphemy accusations inside a
high-security courtroom. All the victims were Ahmadis.
“There
are a few communities in Pakistan who have suffered as much as the Ahmadis,”
said Omar Waraich, head of South Asia at AI. “The recent wave of killings
tragically underscores not just the seriousness of the threats they face, but
also the callous indifference of the authorities, who have failed to protect
the community or punish the perpetrators,” he added.
The
statement stressed that successive Pakistani governments had failed to protect
the Ahmadis, observing the penal code explicitly discriminates against
religious minorities and targets Ahmadis by making it illegal for them to
“indirectly or directly pose as a Muslim”.
“The
authorities arbitrarily arrest, detain, and charge Ahmadis for blasphemy and
other offenses because of their religious beliefs,” read the statement,
alleging that police were often complicit in this harassment and that the
government’s failure to address this religious persecution had facilitated
violence in the name of religion.
“Pakistan
was part of the consensus at the UN General Assembly that required the states
to take active measures to ensure that persons belonging to religious
minorities may exercise fully and effectively all their human rights and
fundamental freedoms without any discrimination and in full equality before the
law,” said Ian Seiderman, legal and policy director at the ICJ. “The Pakistani
government has completely failed to do so in the case of the Ahmadis,” he said.
“Pakistan’s
federal and provincial governments should take immediate legal and policy
measures to eliminate widespread and rampant discrimination and social
exclusion faced by the Ahmadis in Pakistan,” said Patricia Gossman, associate
Asia director at HRW. “The government should repeal the blasphemy law and all
anti-Ahmadi provisions,” she said.
The
joint statement accused the Pakistani government of promoting discriminatory
practices against Ahmadis, including by requiring all Pakistani Muslim citizens
to sign a statement explicitly stating they consider Ahmadis “non-Muslim” when
they apply for passports.
“Pakistani
laws against the Ahmadi community violate Pakistan’s international legal
obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which Pakistan ratified in 2010, including the rights to freedom of conscience,
religion, expression, and association, and to profess and practice one’s own
religion,” read the statement, adding that numerous international bodies,
including the UN, had previously expressed concern over the ongoing persecution
of the Ahmadi community in Pakistan.
Around
6,00,000 Ahmadis, who consider themselves Muslims, reside in Pakistan. They
were declared non-Muslims in 1974 through a constitutional amendment. The noose
around their necks was further tightened by former military dictator General
Zia-ul-Haq, who introduced additional amendments in the Constitution in 1984.
Under Pakistani laws, members of Ahmadi community face three years imprisonment
if anyone of them was heard calling himself or herself a Muslim. They are also
barred from calling their places of worship mosques or call to their prayers “azaan”.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/3-rights-bodies-accuse-pakistan-of-promoting-discriminatory-practices-against-ahmadis/articleshow/79434097.cms
--------
Pak
has quietly moved 26/11 attacks accused Hafiz Saeed out of jail. He is home:
Intel
Shishir
Gupta
Nov
26, 2020
Hafiz
Saeed, the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder sanctioned by the UN Security Council, is
not serving time in jail but at his Johar Town house in Lahore from where he
runs the terror group, according to people familiar with the matter.
Saeed
was formally placed under arrest in July 2019, months before he was sentenced
to 10 years and six months in jail in a terror financing case in February this
year that was described by the United States as an “important step forward”.
Last week, Saeed was handed down another set of jail terms in two more cases of
terror financing.
Hafiz
Saeed’s arrest and his subsequent conviction have been seen as an effort by the
Imran Khan government to stay off the Financial Action Task Force ‘black list’
that could potentially entail extensive economic sanctions and as Prime
Minister Imran Khan once put it, destroy Pakistan’s economy.
But
an Indian intelligence input accessed by Hindustan Times indicates that Hafiz
Saeed is not in Lahore’s high-security Kot Lakhpat jail as had been widely
publicised. “He is mostly at home… ostensibly in protective custody that even
lets him receive guests,” an intelligence official said.
Last
month, according to the intelligence input, Saeed’s visitor at home was
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the chief operational commander and the head of the
LeT’s jihad wing. The meeting is learnt to have centered around some steps that
they needed to take to collect funds for jihad.
Like
Saeed, Lakhvi is also a UNSC designated terrorist and is the lead plotter of
the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. He has been arrested more than once by
Pakistani security forces for terror in face of international pressure but like
his boss Hafiz Saeed, has always been let off due to lack of evidence. Indian
officials said it was Lakhvi who persuaded, guided and handled Pakistan-born US
citizen David Headley for reconnaissance missions in India prior to the 26/11
attacks.
Pakistan
watchers in New Delhi said intelligence inputs that Hafiz Saeed was not being
held in prison were in line with a pattern about Islamabad’s track record in
dealing with terrorists. One of them conceded that they were initially
surprised when Hafiz Saeed was convicted for the first time for 10 years and
six months and had tentatively interpreted it to indicate that Saeed had
outlived his utility for the Pakistani deep state. Saeed had been arrested
several times since the 9/11 attacks but was always set free after the pressure
eased.
Indian
officials said they were still not clear how Pakistan had dealt with the
paperwork around Hafiz Saeed’s judicial custody.
“Our
understanding on the basis of the available information is that this may be an
informal arrangement. We are not aware if there is a formal order notifying
Hafiz Saeed’s house as a prison,” the intelligence official cited above said.
In
the 12 years after 10 heavily-armed terrorists reached Mumbai from Pakistan and
opened fire at multiple locations on 26 November, Islamabad, despite its many
promises, has not investigated or taken any real action against the
Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who plotted the attacks along with serving military
officers at Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence.
In
all, 170 people - apart from the 4 sailors of a trawler ‘MV Kuber’ hijacked by
the terrorists - were killed and 304 injured in the simultaneous attacks by the
terrorists at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel, Chhatrapati
Shivaji Terminus, Cama Hospital, Chabad House, Albless Hospital, near Metro
Cinema area and Leopold Cafe.
Ajmal
Kasab, the only terrorist to be caught alive, faced trial and was sentenced to
death in May 2010. He was finally executed at Pune’s Yerwada Jail on 21
November 2012.
But
the terrorists such as Hafiz Saeed and Lakhvi who plotted and coordinated the
attacks along with Pakistan military officers have gone unpunished.
It
was this confidence in the Pakistan deep state, Pakistan watchers said, that
Saeed had mocked the United States when it first announced the $ 10 million
bounty for his whereabouts in 2012. “I am ready to send information about my
location on a daily basis,” a brazen Hafiz Saeed told a news conference soon
after, asking the United States to send him the money.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/lashkar-boss-hafiz-saeed-is-serving-time-at-home-imran-khan-govt-calls-it-a-jail/story-7EQLfCNVd7kt677zSB17yI.html
--------
Pakistan
fails to nab 19 most wanted LeT terrorists even 12 years after 26/11 attack
Nov
26, 2020
LAHORE:
Twelve years after the 26/11 attack, Pakistan has placed 19 members of the
banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in a list of the "Most Wanted
Terrorists" for their role in the heinous assault, but it has not
initiated any serious efforts to nab them and also punish seven others who are
facing trial here.
The
security agencies here are clueless about the whereabouts of these 19 most
wanted terrorists. Some of them have been hiding in Pakistan and others are
believed to have fled the country. These terrorists were either crew members of
the boats used by the attackers or financiers of the 26/11 attack.
The
move to place 19 LeT terrorists in the list apparently came following the
Paris-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog's recent
decision to retain Pakistan on its grey list till February 2021.
The
Financial Action Task Force made the decision after Islamabad failed to fulfill
its six key obligations, including failure to take action against two of
India's most wanted terrorists – Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and
Jaish-e-Mohammed head Masood Azhar.
The
security agencies have prepared a list of over 1,200 most wanted/high profile
terrorists in Pakistan to enable more coordination among authorities to go
after them, officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told PTI.
The
FIA, Pakistan's top investigating agency, has been probing the Mumbai terror
attack case since 2009 and is looking for the 19 "most wanted
terrorists" involved in the deadly terror assault that sent shockwaves
across the country and even brought India and Pakistan to the brink of a war.
In
November 2008, 10 LeT terrorists sailed into Mumbai from Karachi and carried
out coordinated attacks, killing 166 people and injuring over 300. Nine of the
attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was caught and
hanged after trial in India.
On
the 12th anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack, its mastermind Saeed is in
jail in Lahore, serving a collective over 21-year sentence under terror
financing charges.
Saeed,
a UN designated terrorist whom the US has placed a $10 million bounty on, was
arrested on July 17 last year. Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the
LeT.
LeT
operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi has been operating with impunity in
the country after securing bail in the Mumbai terror attack case over five
years ago.
The
26/11 case has been pending in the anti-terrorism courts of
Rawalpindi/Islamabad since 2009.
The
other six accused- Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil
Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum- who are facing charges of abetment to
murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack, are lodged
at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The
Pakistan government says it has recently introduced a number of fresh
legislations to enable security forces to confront terrorist groups more
effectively.
Making
the information about the 19 most wanted LeT terrorists public for the first
time, the FIA says Amjad Khan of Multan was a crew member of LeT (boat
Al-Hussaini and boat Al-Fauz).
“He
also purchased the boat Al Fauz which was used during the Mumbai terror
attacks. He also purchased a Yamaha motor-boat engine, life jackets, inflatable
boats etc. from ARZ Water Sport Karachi. These things were used in Mumbai
terror attacks and recovered by Indian authorities,” it says.
Iftikhar
Ali, a resident of Faisalabad, obtained Voice-over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
connection for terrorist communication, it says.
The
FIA further says Shahid Ghafoor of Bahawalpur was a captain/Tandol of boats Al
Hussaini & Al Fauz.
"Muhammad
Usman of Sahiwal, Ateequer Rehman of Lahore, Riaz Ahmed of Hafizabad, Muhammad
Mushtaq of Gujranwala, Muhammad Naeem of DG Khan, Abdul Shakoor of Karachi,
Muhammad Sabir of Multan, Usman Bashir of Lodhran, Shakil Ahmed of Rahim Yar
Khan and Abdul Rehman of Bawalnagar were crew members of boats Al Hussaini
& Al Fouz used by the terrorists,” the FIA says.
Giving
details of the other most wanted LeT terrorists, the FIA says Usman Zia of
Rawalpindi transferred Rs 80,000 in the account of accused Hammad Amin Sadiq
and Shahid Jamil Riaz in ABL Karachi.
Similarly,
Abbas Nasir of Khanewal transferred Rs 2,53,690 in their account. Javed Iqbal
of Kasur and Mukhtar Ahmed of Mandi Bahauddin transferred Rs 1,86,430 and Rs
2,98,047 respectively in Sadiq's account.
The
FIA says Ahmed Saeed of Bbatagram transferred Rs 21,00,000. Muhammad Khan of
Turbat provided Al-Hussaini boat to the terrorists involved in the 26/11
attack.
Talking
to the PTI on the current status of the Mumbai attack case, FIA's chief
prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar said: "The case proceedings have come to halt
after India refused to send its 24 witnesses to Pakistan for recording of their
statements and other evidence. The case cannot move further till India's
cooperation on the issue."
Practically,
there have not been any proceedings in this case for the last two years or so.
The Imran Khan government doesn't intend to challenge the bail of Lakhvi in the
Supreme Court.
According
to the FIA, the prosecution does not have strong enough evidence to challenge
Lakhvi's bail.
Neither
Saeed nor any of his associates convicted in terror financing cases have
applied for bail in superior court.
"Perhaps
the convicted JuD men are told to wait for Pakistan coming out of the FATF's
grey list before they move to court for bail,” a political analyst commented.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-fails-to-nab-19-most-wanted-let-terrorists-even-12-years-after-26/11-attack/articleshow/79427653.cms
--------
Pakistan
joins Saudi-led initiative for digital cooperation
27
Nov 2020
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Thursday joined the Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO), a
Saudi-led initiative, aimed at promoting digital cooperation among member
states.
“Pakistan
has joined the Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO) as a founding member,”
the Foreign Office said as Saudi Arabia launched the new organisation at a
virtual event. A video statement of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was
also played at the event.
Besides
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, other members of the DCO are Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan,
Kuwait and the UAE. Mr Qureshi, in his statement, said the creation of the DCO
would cater to the growing need of international cooperation and collaboration
in the digital domain.
“DCO
would offer a platform to promote the global digital agenda in the scientific,
health, educational, commercial, social, agricultural, investment and security
spheres,” he said.
The
FO’s statement noted that digital diplomacy had been a core component of the
foreign minister’s public diplomacy initiative that aimed at bringing
innovation and enhancing Pakistan’s digital diplomacy footprint.
“The
information revolution presents a unique opportunity to leapfrog the
development deficit. Pakistan’s membership of DCO would contribute to the
attainment of that objective,” it added.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1592638/pakistan-joins-saudi-led-initiative-for-digital-cooperation
--------
Fazl
tells establishment to do its own job, let people run their country
M.B.
Kalhoro
27
Nov 2020
LARKANA:
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that people have the
right to run their country’s affairs whereas the establishment has to do its
own job.
Addressing
the 26th ‘Shaheed-i-Islam Conference’ — an annual party event to pay homage to
its slain general secretary Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro — at the Municipal Stadium
here on Thursday, he said “we are aware of the conspiracy to roll back the 18th
Constitutional Amendment”. He said every province had the right on its
resources and and said “we will not allow anyone to play with the rights of the
nation”.
The
JUI-F chief said: “World forces should understand that we have a history of
fighting wars of independence in this subcontinent ... and today we announce we
are going to wage a war”.
He
repeated the opposition parties’ allegation that the [PTI] government came to
power through rigging, and said this would only strengthen international
monetary institutions. He referred to the brittle economy and soaring prices
which, he said, had drastically affected people.
He
also talked about the miseries of the “missing” persons and claimed that the
country’s rulers had lost the confidence of China. “We apprehend that the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is being rolled back”, he said.
He
said Pakistan’s foreign policy had failed and it was facing isolation. “We will
not ask ‘Niazi’ to go, but we now have to throw him out of powers,” he said.
Claims
PTI govt has lost trust of China, apprehends CPEC is being rolled back
He
said bringing the federal party in Gilgit-Baltistan indicated that the cause of
Kashmir was buried. “But we will not permit any government to change our
geography,” he added.
He
said talking about peoples’ right was the name of democracy and “we are
advancing with the spirit of jihad”. He said arrests in Multan were being made
to stop PDM from holding its public meeting [on Nov 30].
“Gagging
the Press is the sign of dictatorship and we stand by the media houses,” he
said.
A
number of resolutions were passed at the conference. One of them expressed
grave concern over the price spiral and multiplied gas and power tariffs, and
demanded the PTI-led government to step down. Another one criticised the
government’s intention to raze a host of houses of poor people in Sukkur,
Larkana, Hyderabad and Karachi on the pretext of encroachment removal. It asked
the government to provide alternative shelters to the affected families before
dismantling their houses.
Yet
another resolution expressed solidarity with Kashmiris and condemned Indian
atrocities. It demanded that the world should resolve the issue in accordance
with the aspirations of Kashmiri people.
One
resolution strongly condemned restrictions on the Press and retrenchment of
hundreds of employees from the Pakistan Steel, PIA and other institutions.
Another
resolution severely criticised blasphemous caricatures and asked the government
to sever ties with France over such unacceptable step of hurting Muslims
feelings.
JUI-F
general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, Maulana Abdul Qayoom Halejvi,
Syed Siraj Ahmed Shah, Maulana Imtiaz Abbasi, MNAs Salahuddin Ayoubi and Syed
Mehmood Shah, Maulana Rashid Mehmood Soomro, Maulana Nasir Mehmood Soomro and a
host of other leaders addressed the conference.
Grand
Democratic Alliance MPA from Larkana Moazzam Ali Abbasi was sitting with the
JUI-F chief and other leaders on the stage.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1592575/fazl-tells-establishment-to-do-its-own-job-let-people-run-their-country
--------
Two
federal ministers, PM aide summoned over ‘contempt’
27
Nov 2020
PESHAWAR:
The Peshawar High Court on Thursday summoned two federal ministers, an aide to
the premier and two others over two identical petitions seeking their
prosecution for committing contempt of a special court, which had awarded death
sentence to former military ruler retired General Pervez Musharraf last year
for high treason.
A
bench consisting of Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Ijaz Anwar ordered the
alleged contemnors, including federal ministers Barrister Farogh Naseem and
Fawad Chaudhry, special assistant to the prime minister Mirza Shahzad Akbar,
former aide to the premier Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and former attorney general
Anwar Mansoor Khan to appear before it on the next hearing to be fixed later.
It
was hearing two identical petitions filed by lawyers Malik Ajmal Khan and Syed
Azizuddin Kakakhel under Article 204 of the Constitution and Contempt of Court
Ordinance, 2003.
The
bench also directed the petitioners to file their respective replies to a
formal request of federal law minister Barrister Farogh Naseem for the rejection
of petitions insisting they are not maintainable under the Constitution.
Deputy
attorney general Amir Javed appeared before the bench and contended that the
petitions were filed under Article 204 of the Constitution, which was only
related to the contempt of the Supreme Court and high courts.
Petitions
filed with PHC about ‘bids to scandalise’ special court that convicted
Musharraf
He
added that the special court constituted to try retired General Musharraf was
not included in that Article and therefore, the petitions were not
maintainable.
The
bench wondered why the alleged contemnors weren’t appearing before it in the
case.
The
DAG claimed that the alleged contemnors had never been summoned.
He
requested the court to decide the application field for the rejection of
petitions first instead of holding proceedings in petitions.
The
bench observed that the respondents except the prime minister should appear
before it on the next hearing.
Although
Prime Minister Imran Khan is also respondent in the petitions, the high court
has so far not sought his reply in the case.
In
the petition of Malik Ajmal, the respondents included Farogh Naseem, Firdous
Ashiq Awan, who is currently a special assistant to the Punjab chief minister,
and Shehzad Akber, while besides them, federal minister Fawad Chaudhry and
Anwar Mansoor are also respondents in the petition of Syed Azizuddin.
Apart
from prosecuting the contemnors, petitioner Azizuddin has also requested the
court to disqualify the prime minister and other respondents from holding any
public office for committing the contempt of court.
The
petitioners said the federal government had constituted a special court after
filing a complaint against retired General Pervez Musharraf.
They
said the charge was framed against Musharraf on Feb 18, 2014, while he left the
country thereafter avoiding the trial.
The
petitioners said Musharraf was declared a proclaimed offender followed by many
opportunities given to him but he did not turn up and the case went on
culminating into his conviction and sentence of death on Dec 17, 2019.
They
said except the prime minister, the other five respondents had leveled
different allegations against the president of the special court, Justice Waqar
Ahmad Seth, who was the then chief justice of the Peshawar High Court, and
thus, trying to scandalise him.
The
petitioners contended that those respondents were subordinate to the prime
minister and under the Rules of Business, they were answerable to him, but the
premier neither took any action against them nor was any clarification issued
in this regard, proving that he [PM] was also involved with them in the
commission of the contempt of court.
They
said the reading of the said Article of the Constitution was sufficient to
initiate the contempt of court proceedings against all those involved in the
commission of the offence.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1592570/two-federal-ministers-pm-aide-summoned-over-contempt
--------
Three
members of Shehbaz’s family declared absconder
27
Nov 2020
LAHORE:
An accountability court on Thursday declared three members of the family of
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PML-N president Shehbaz
Sharif absconders as proceedings against them under Section 87 of the Criminal
Procedure Code stood completed after they avoided their appearance in the money
laundering and illegal assets reference.
They
include Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman, daughter Rabia Imran and son-in-law
Haroon Yousaf.
The
investigating officer of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted to
the court a report showing the process required under the law to declare the
suspects absconder had been completed that also included a last opportunity of
30 days.
Presiding
Judge Jawadul Hassan declared the suspects absconder and directed NAB to
initiate further action against them. Similar proceedings to declare Shehbaz
Sharif’s wife Nusrat absconder are also under way.
Earlier,
jail officials brought the PML-N president and his son Hamza Shehbaz to the
judicial complex in bulletproof vehicles instead of armoured personnel carrier
as previously directed by the court.
At
the start of the proceedings, the judge and the NAB prosecutor expressed their
condolence to Shehbaz Sharif over the demise of his mother.
Punjab
Assembly Deputy Secretary (Budget) Faisal Bilal and Election Commission
Assistant Director Khalid Mahmood recorded their statements as prosecution
witnesses.
The
record submitted by the National Assembly and the Punjab Assembly showed that
Shehbaz Sharif had not withdrawn pay/allowances being members of the both
houses during his multiple stints from 1993 to 2018. The documents revealed
that he used to donate the amount to the National Assembly Employees Welfare
Fund.
However,
Hamza Shehbaz withdrew pay and allowances during his stints as member of the
national and provincial assemblies.
The
judge adjourned the hearing till Dec 3 with a directive for NAB to present more
witnesses for evidence.
Strict
security measures were taken outside the judicial complex as police blocked the
roads by placing containers and barbed wires.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1592641/three-members-of-shehbazs-family-declared-absconder
--------
Africa
Bahrain
will open consulate in Western Sahara
27
November 2020
Bahrain
will open a consulate in Western Sahara, Morocco said on Thursday, as the North
African country steps up a diplomatic push to strengthen its position in the
disputed territory.
Bahrain’s
King Hamad told Moroccan King Mohamed VI of the decision to open a mission in
the coastal city of Laayoune during a phone call, the Moroccan royal court said
in a statement.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“The
Kingdom of Bahrain is going to open a consulate general in the Moroccan city of
Laayoune, a decision that will be coordinated between the foreign ministries of
the two countries,” King Hamad was quoted as saying.
The
official Bahrain News Agency confirmed the decision, saying King Hamad had
expressed the “support and solidarity of the kingdom with Morocco in defending
its sovereignty and its rights”.
Western
Sahara, a vast swathe of desert on Africa’s Atlantic coast, is a disputed
former Spanish colony.
Morocco
controls 80 percent of the territory, including its phosphate deposits and its
fishing waters.
The
Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which fought a war for independence from 1975
to 1991, demands a referendum on self-determination.
Since
late 2019, at least 16 countries have opened diplomatic presences in former
colonial capital Laayoune and the fishing port of Dakhla, further south, as
part of Morocco’s diplomatic drive.
Jordan
said last week it intends to open a consulate soon.
It
comes after the United Arab Emirates on November 4 became the first Arab
country to open a diplomatic mission in the Moroccan-controlled part of the
territory.
The
Polisario Front considers the opening of the missions a “violation of
international law and an attack on the legal status of Western Sahara”.
Negotiations
involving Morocco, the Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania have been suspended
for several months.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/north-africa/2020/11/27/Bahrain-will-open-consulate-in-Western-Sahara
--------
Ethiopian
troops ordered to move on Tigray capital: Ethiopia Prime Minister
26
November 2020
Ethiopia’s
prime minister said Thursday the army has been ordered to move on the embattled
Tigray regional capital after his 72-hour ultimatum ended for Tigray leaders to
surrender, and he warned its half-million residents to stay indoors and disarm.
The
military offensive “has reached its final stage” after three weeks of fighting,
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said. That means tanks and other weaponry
can close in on Mekele, whose residents had been warned of “no mercy” if they
didn’t move away from Tigray leaders in time.
Read
more: Turkish court issues life sentences in 2016 attempted coup trial: Anadolu
That
caused international alarm as rights groups said such wording could violate
international law and put civilians in further danger.
Abiy’s
statement asserted that thousands of Tigray militia and special forces
surrendered during the 72-hour period that ended Wednesday evening.
“We
will take utmost care to protect civilians,” the statement said.
The
United Nations has reported people fleeing the city, but communications and
transport links remain severed to Tigray, and it’s not clear how many people in
Mekele received the warnings in time. Tigray regional leaders couldn’t
immediately be reached.
The
international community is pleading for immediate de-escalation, dialogue and
humanitarian access as Ethiopian forces have fought their way through Tigray to
Mekele. But Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, however, has rejected
international “interference.” His government has said three high-level African
Union envoys for the conflict can meet with Abiy, but not with the Tigray
leaders.
It
remains difficult to verify claims in the fighting that erupted Nov. 4 between
Ethiopian forces and the heavily armed forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation
Front, which once dominated Ethiopia’s government but has been sidelined under
Abiy’s rule. The two governments now regard each other as illegal.
The
UN now says shortages have become “very critical” in the Tigray region as its
population of 6 million remains sealed off.
Fuel
and cash are running out, more than 1 million people are now estimated to be
displaced and food for nearly 100,000 refugees from Eritrea will be gone in a
week, according to its update released overnight. And more than 600,000 people
who rely on monthly food rations haven’t received them this month.
Travel
blockages are so dire that even within Mekele the UN World Food Program cannot
obtain access to transport food from its warehouses there.
A
statement this week from a civil society representative in the region, seen by
The Associated Press, described heavy bombardment of communities elsewhere that
has kept many residents from fleeing.
Other
people are frantically moving within the Tigray region from one district to
another and “living within church compounds, streets, schools, health centers,”
the statement warned, and it pleaded for a safe corridor to ship in aid as food
runs out.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/11/26/Ethiopian-troops-ordered-to-move-on-Tigray-capital-Ethiopia-Prime-Minister
--------
Ethiopia
to begin final phase of offensive against major rebel-held city
26
November 2020
Ethiopian
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says the military will begin the final phase of its
full-scale offensive in the northern Tigray region, where rebel forces have
missed Addis Ababa’s deadline to surrender.
Tigray
has been engulfed in bloody fighting since November 4, when the prime minister
announced the launch of military operations against the regional government
there.
The
announcement led to a dramatic escalation of a long-running feud between the
federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the
region’s ruling party, which dominated Ethiopian politics for almost three
decades before the incumbent prime minister assumed power in 2018.
Abiy,
the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2019, has accused the rebel forces loyal to
the TPLF of launching deadly attacks on a pair of federal military camps in the
region. He has also accused the party of defying his government and seeking to
undermine it.
“The
72-hour period granted to the criminal TPLF clique to surrender peacefully is
now over and our law enforcement campaign has reached its final stage,” the
prime minister said in a statement on Thursday.
The
final phase of the offensive is aimed at taking back the rebel-held Mekelle, the
capital of the restive region, which is now surrounded by government forces,
according to Abiy.
“In
this final phase, great care will be given to protect innocent civilians from
harm. All efforts will be made to ensure that the city of Mekelle… will not be
severely damaged,” he said.
Mekelle
is home to some 500,000 people.
“We
call on the people of Mekelle and its environs to disarm, stay at home, and
stay away from military targets [and] to do their part in reducing damages to
be sustained because of a handful of criminal elements,” Abiy further said.
The
Ethiopian military had earlier this week warned of “no mercy” if the residents
of Mekelle did not distance themselves from the TPLF.
Separately
on Thursday, the United Nations (UN) warned that shortages had become “very
critical” in the Tigray region, whose six million inhabitants remain sealed
off.
Abiy
has so far spurned all calls by the UN, the African Union, and various
countries to hold talks with the armed rebels in Tigray.
The
fighting has reportedly claimed the lives of thousands of people and displaced
thousands of others, who have fled across Ethiopia’s northern border into
neighboring Sudan.
The
fighting has not been confined to Tigray. The TPLF has previously fired rockets
at Asmara, the capital of neighboring Eritrea, to the north and the city of
Bahir Dar to the southwest. The rebels accuse Eritrea of supporting Abiy’s
government.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/26/639409/Ethiopia-to-begin-final-phase-of-offensive-against-major-rebel-held-city
--------
Arab World
Saudi
regime forces raid houses in Shia-majority Qatif region, abduct tens of young
men
26
November 2020
Saudi
regime forces have reportedly stormed houses in the kingdom’s Shia-majority and
oil-rich Eastern Province, arresting tens of young men as part of the Riyadh
regime’s violent crackdown on followers of the religious community.
Lebanon-based
Arabic-language al-Ahed news website reported on Thursday that Saudi troops
onboard armored vehicles have raided residential buildings in al-Awamiyah town
in Qatif region, located more than 420 kilometers (260 miles) east of the
capital, Riyadh, and detained scores of people over the past two months without
any justification.
The
report added that Special Security Forces, accompanied by forces from
Presidency of State Security – which is purportedly concerned with all matters
related to counter-terrorism and domestic intelligence, last raided Awamiyah
over the past few days, and arrested several young men, including Wassim Ali Al
Nimer, Nabil al-Yassin and Zaki Mohammed Abu Abdullah.
The
exact number of the detainees, their whereabouts and their conditions remain
unknown. Their families have also not been allowed to contact them.
Earlier
this month, two other young Shia men, identified as Khader al-Awami and Sheikh
Abbas al-Saeed, were arrested, after their homes were stormed in Awamiyah.
The
pair are said to be former students of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr,
an outspoken critic of the policies of the Riyadh regime who was executed in
January 2016. Nimr had been arrested in Qatif in 2012.
Eastern
Province has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011.
Protesters have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of
political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination
against the oil-rich region.
The
protests have been met with a heavy-handed crackdown by the regime. Security
forces have increased security measures across the province.
Ever
since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader in
2017, the kingdom has arrested dozens of activists, bloggers, intellectuals and
others perceived as political opponents, showing almost zero tolerance for
dissent even in the face of international condemnations of the crackdown.
Muslim
scholars have been executed, women’s rights campaigners – including Loujain
al-Hathloul – have been put behind bars and tortured, and freedom of
expression, association and belief continue to be denied.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/26/639415/Saudi-regime-forces-raid-houses-in-Shia-majority-Qatif-region-abduct-youths
--------
Yemeni
armed forces will strike Saudi Arabia’s vital installation if aggression
continues: Houthi
27
November 2020
A
member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council has warned Saudi Arabia against its
continued acts of aggression after Yemeni armed forces targeted a Saudi Aramco
petroleum products distribution plant in the port city of Jeddah with an
advanced homegrown ballistic missile.
“The
more Saudi Arabia continues its war on Yemen, the stronger Yemeni army forces
will target vital installations inside the kingdom in defense of their homeland
and dignity,” Arabic-language al-Masirah television network quoted Mohammed Ali
al-Houthi as saying.
He
added, “We have got accustomed to the unethical practices of the enemy,
including its bombardment campaign, continuous attacks on Yemeni people, siege,
air blockade, prevention of Yemeni patients from traveling abroad for medical
care, deferments in payment of employee salaries and depreciation of the Yemeni
currency… The more Yemeni people are targeted, the more resilient they will
become.”
Houthi
said Saudi Arabia has been targeting and conspiring against Yemeni people for
the past six years, noting that bids to normalize relations with the Israeli
regime, bombing of Yemeni people and the crippling siege on its impoverished
southern neighbor are only a few examples in the Riyadh regime’s long list of
crimes.
“Yemeni
people will neither capitulate nor retreat in the face of [the Saudi-led]
aggression. The only way for aggressor countries is to broker durable peace,
otherwise the battle will continue until final victory,” he said.
Houthi
underlined that the Quds-2 missile that hit the Saudi Aramco plant in Jeddah on
Monday was entirely designed and manufactured in Yemen, sarcastically advising
Saudi authorities to procure more advanced US-made air defense systems in light
of the missile attack.
Spokesman
for the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, said on
Thursday that “the Saudi regime tends to wail after every painful Yemeni
response. This is necessary as it has significant deterrent effects.”
“As
long as the aggression and siege continue, we (Yemeni forces) will not hesitate
to confront them,” Abdul-Salam wrote in a tweet.
The
Ansarullah spokesman called on the international community to pressure the
Saudi-led military alliance into ending its onslaught and blockade against the
Yemeni people, who are enduring immense sufferings.
Saudi
Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the war on Yemen in March
2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former President Abd Rabbuh
Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah movement.
The
US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit
conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than
100,000 lives.
The
Ansarullah movement, backed by armed forces, has been defending Yemen against
the Saudi-led alliance, preventing the aggressors from fulfilling the
objectives of the atrocious war.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/27/639456/Yemeni-armed-forces-will-strike-Saudi-Arabia-vital-installation-if-aggression-continues-Houthi
--------
Israeli
strikes kill 19 Iran-backed fighters in Syria: Monitor
26
November 2020
Air
strikes likely carried out by Israel killed at least 19 pro-Iran militia
fighters in war-torn eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said Thursday.
The
early morning strikes hit positions of Iran-backed militias outside the town of
Albu Kamal in Deir Ezzor province, killing mostly foreign fighters, the
Observatory said.
Israel
rarely acknowledges individual strikes but the Observatory has accused it of
launching two other aerial attacks against pro-Iran forces in Syria since
Saturday.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/26/Israeli-strikes-kill-19-Iran-backed-fighters-in-Syria-Monitor
--------
Saudi
Arabia’s Crown Prince discusses Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 with Japanese PM
Reem
Krimly
26
November 2020
Saudi
Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman congratulated Yoshihide Suga on
assuming Japan’s premiership in a phone call on Thursday, the official Saudi
Press Agency reported.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“During
the call, they emphasized the two countries’ keenness to enhance joint
cooperation within the framework of the Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030,” SPA added.
Additionally,
SPA reported that the Japanese Prime Minister praised the success of the G20
summit and the Kingdom Presidency.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/11/26/Saudi-Arabia-s-Crown-Prince-discusses-Saudi-Japan-Vision-2030-with-Japanese-PM
--------
Mideast
Iran
Swaps Israel's Spy with 1 Businessman, 2 Nationals
2020-November-26
In
September 2018, Iran declared detention of a 31-year-old woman, Kylie Moore
Gilbert, who was an Australian-British national described by foreign media as a
researcher, Islamologist and university professor.
Kylie
had traveled to all the important countries of the West Asian region, including
Iran, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, etc., as a university professor and
researcher on Shiism. In these trips she participated in scientific and
religious forums and had contacts with the cultural and religious figures of
these countries.
Kylie
was born in Australia in 1987 and is a dual Australian-British citizen. She was
born into a Christian family, but later converted from Christianity to Judaism
due to her job.
She
was disinterested in higher education until, at the age of 25, her acquaintance
with an Israeli named Roy Binkowins and her special characteristics and talents
draw attention of Israeli military intelligence service. The service sent her
to London to study "Asia, the Middle East and Israel" at the
University of Cambridge, and she was under supervision of the Israeli
intelligence service during the study.
Aman,
Israel's military intelligence service, has been monitoring Kylie over the
years, changing her major for its own purposes, forcing Kylie to pursue a
degree in 'Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies'.
Kylie
found herself unfamiliar with the field and tended to use her own methods to
spy on and gather information. But Aman convinced her that she needed a special
cover to approach certain figures, and that the best cover for her is
university education and scientific research on Islamic and Middle Eastern
issues.
With
Kylie staying longer in London, she first started working as a hotel employee
with guests from Arab countries to develop her contacts. Also she wanted to get
more acquainted with the cultural atmosphere of Islamic countries.
During
this time, Aman put Kylie under specialized intelligence training and turned
her into a qualified service agent.
After
completing the training, Kylie became fluent in Hebrew, Arabic and Japanese,
and traveled to Israel for specialized training and completing her military
training at a barracks. She then converted from Christianity to Judaism.
The
service also arranged an organizational marriage for her and chose a Zionist
soldier named Ruslan Hodorov as Kylie's husband.
Kylie's
training theory courses ended, and she joined Israeli agencies as an
intelligence trainee to prepare for formal intelligence missions. Presence in
Syria was Kylie's first mission to conduct intelligence and espionage
operations.
After
returning from Syria and in the next stage, she was in charge of interrogating
some Iranian immigrants and prisoners in order to improve her knowledge of Iran
and Iranians in addition to completing interrogation and cover-up training.
Her
new mission was to address Iran's nuclear and economic issues, specially how to
bypass sanctions, as well as issues related to the axis of resistance.
Therefore, in order to maintain coverage and justify further actions, Aman
required Kylie to continue her doctoral studies in Islamic and Middle Eastern
studies.
Kylie's
special training course for the Iranian mission took two years, during which
she became fluent in Persian. Kylie, who, in theory, was ready for intelligence
operations in the geography of the Islamic Republic of Iran, came to Iran in
research and academic disguise, creating a study opportunity to participate in
the University of Religions.
During
her first visit to Iran, she did not take any action and left the country after
a short time. On the second trip, she entered Iran at the recommendation of the
Israeli service during Muharram (a lunar month in which the Shiites mourn the
martyrdom of their third Imam).
Kylie
traveled to various cities in line with her mission to gather information.
Unaware of Iran's intelligence superiority, Kylie traveled to religious and
tourist sites to look like a tourist in Iran.
This
time, Kylie tried to get in touch with some figures and targets and tried to
gain access to the economic and military intelligence of Iran and the
Resistance Front but she was identified by the Iranian intelligence forces and
arrested.
She
was sentenced to 10 years in prison for acting against national security
through intelligence cooperation with the Zionist regime, and after 2 years,
the Islamic Republic finally decided to swap her with three Iranian economic
activists who had been detained in foreign states with baseless allegations of
trying to bypass sanctions against Iran.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990906000199/Iran-Swaps-Israel's-Spy-wih-Bsinessman-2-Nainals
--------
Iranian
President: Iran Eager to Develop Brotherly Ties with Persian Gulf Littoral
States
2020-November-26
During
the conversation on Wednesday, President Rouhani hoped that with new
developments in the field of international relations, hostile policies of some
countries in the region would be adjusted and the opportunity for dialogue and
reaching an understanding in the region would be fortified.
Stressing
the need for deepening Tehran-Doha ties in all fields of mutual interest, he
said that accelerating the implementation of the agreements between Tehran and
Doha will be in the interest of both nations and the region.
"We
should overcome domineering policies and reliance on foreign countries through
wisdom, rationality and honest dialogue within the region," Rouhani said,
noting that allowing the Zionist regime come in the region will cause
insecurity and instability in the region.
However,
it is really surprising to see some neighbors consider their security tied to
their connection with the criminal Zionist regime, which is the enemy of all
Islamic countries and the entire region, he said.
"We,
the countries of the region, can solve our problems as neighbors and
brothers," he said, noting that no doubt regional relations will
experience better conditions in the coming months.
Al-Thani,
for his part, described Iran-Qatar relations as strategic and growing,
reiterating that implementation of the agreements between the two countries is
in the interests of the two nations, and Qatar will make every effort to
implement these agreements.
"We
believe that cooperation between Iran and the Persian Gulf countries should be
further developed in all areas, including water security in the region, and in
any agreement to ensure regional security, Iran should be a party to the
dialogue to reach an agreement," he said.
Iranian
Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said on Tuesday that Qatar is resolved to
develop economic relations with Iran, stressing the fruitfulness of cooperation
with neighbors.
Ardakanian
said that Doha is intent to expand economic relations with Iran and voiced hope
that cooperation with neighbors will bear fruit in the near future.
“After
the US, Britain, and France, Iran is the fourth country to which Qatar has sent
a commercial attaché and this proves the Qatari side's will in expanding
economic relations with Iran,” he said on the sidelines of the 7th meeting of
the Iran-Qatar Joint Economic Commission in Isfahan.
The
minister expressed pleasure that new vistas of cooperation in energy sector
have been explored during the meeting.
Ardakanian
and Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari signed
the 7th meeting of the Iran-Qatar Joint Economic Commission's MoU on Tuesday.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990906000265/Iranian-Presiden-Iran-Eager-Develp-Brherly-Ties-wih-Persian-Glf
--------
Spokesman
Stresses Iran's Support for Peace Talks in Afghanistan
2020-November-26
Khatibzadeh
made the remarks in a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Gran Hewad in Kabul
on Wednesday.
He
said that strengthening and expanding public and cultural relations between the
two governments and the brotherly nations of Afghanistan and Iran are in the
interest of both countries.
Khatibzadeh
stressed Iran's support for the ongoing peace talks while preserving the
Islamic Republic and the 19-year achievements in Afghanistan, and expressed
hope that the relations between the two countries in various fields, specially
in the cultural and media sectors, would expand as much as possible.
He
also invited Gran Hewad to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran at an appropriate
time in order to discuss further development of relations between the two
countries.
Hewad,
for his part, referred to the deep and historical relations between the
governments and peoples of the two countries, and expressed hope that
Khatibzadeh's visit to Kabul would further expand relations between the two
friendly and brotherly countries of Afghanistan and Iran.
In
relevant remarks on Wednesday, Khatibzadeh said that his country favors peace
and stability in Afghanistan and spares no efforts to this end.
“Security
is highly important to the two neighboring countries of Iran and Afghanistan
and the security of both states are interwoven,” he said upon arrival in Kabul
to discuss the latest developments in bilateral ties and the peace process in
Afghanistan with Afghan officials.
“We
are after establishment of peace and stability in Afghanistan through
cooperation,” he added.
Last
week, Iranian Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Ebrahim
Taherianfard conferred with Head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National
Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah on the process of peace talks that are
underway in Doha.
Taherianfard
and Abdullah stressed the need for a regional consensus to endorse the peace
process.
The
two officials also reviewed the ways of bolstering mutual relations in various
fields.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990906000300/Spkesman-Sresses-Iran's-Sppr-fr-Peace-Talks-in-Afghanisan
--------
Iranian
diplomat, three others face trial in Belgium over suspected bomb plot
27
November 2020
An
Iranian diplomat and three other Iranians go on trial in Antwerp, Belgium on
Friday for planning to bomb a 2018 meeting in France of an exiled opposition
group, the first time an EU country has put an Iranian official on trial for
terrorism.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Belgian
prosecutors charged Vienna-based diplomat Assadolah Assadi and the three others
with planning an attack on a rally of the Paris-based National Council of
Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The rally's keynote address was given by US
President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Assadi
was the third counsellor at Iran's embassy in Vienna. French officials have
said he was in charge of intelligence in southern Europe and was acting on
orders from Tehran.
Tehran
has repeatedly dismissed the charges, calling the attack allegations a “false
flag” stunt by the NCRI, which it considers a terrorist group.
Assadi
has not commented on the charges. His lawyer has said Assadi would explain
himself at his trial. Assadi warned authorities in March of possible
retaliation by unidentified groups if he is found guilty, according to a police
document obtained by Reuters.
Authorities
say the attack was thwarted by a coordinated operation between French, German
and Belgian security services.
Assadi
was arrested while on holiday in Germany and handed over to Belgium, where two
of his suspected accomplices had been arrested with half a kilo of the
explosive TATP and a detonator.
According
to documents reviewed by Reuters, Belgian authorities believe Assadi brought
the explosives from Tehran to Vienna on a commercial flight.
“The
attack plan was conceived in the name of Iran and under its leadership. It was
not a personal initiative by Assadi,” Jaak Raes, head of the Belgium’s state
security service (VSSE), said in a letter to the prosecutor dated Feb. 2, 2020.
France
said Iran's intelligence ministry was behind the plot and expelled an Iranian
diplomat. The EU froze the assets of an Iranian intelligence unit and
officials.
European
countries have blamed Iran for other suspected plots against dissidents,
including two killings in the Netherlands in 2015 and 2017 and a foiled
assassination in Denmark. Iran has denied involvement, saying the accusations
were intended to damage EU-Iran relations.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/27/Iranian-diplomat-three-others-face-trial-in-Belgium-over-suspected-bomb-plot
--------
Israel
frees Palestinian who went on 103-day hunger strike
26
November 2020
The
Israeli regime has released Palestinian inmate Maher al-Akhras, who was on
hunger strike for more than 100 days in protest at his detention without
charge, in what he hailed as yet another victory against the occupying entity.
Palestinian
Prisoners’ Society (PPS), a human rights group based in the occupied West Bank
city of Bethlehem, said Akhras was freed early on Thursday, days after he ended
103 days of hunger strike to protest Israel’s so-called administrative
detention.
The
PPS said the Israeli occupation authorities released Akhras at the Jabara
checkpoint in the city of Tulkarm and he was later transferred to al-Najah
National University Hospital in Nablus, northern West Bank.
“Praise
be to God that I am now between my family and my people in Nablus, and that,
God willing, we will get rid of the occupation with the mighty wills of our
people, and live from victory to victory until we reach a greater victory and
liberate Palestine,” Akhras told Palestine Today radio.
The
49-year-old Palestinian prisoner was detained on July 27 and held under a
four-month administrative detention order, with no charge and based on
allegedly secret evidence that was not available even to his lawyers.
Akhras,
a father of six and originally from Silat al-Dhahr town in Jenin, stopped his
hunger strike on November 6 after he managed to force the Tel Aviv regime to
meet his demands, but said he would spend the remaining period of his prison
term, which ended today, in hospital for medical treatment.
Israeli
courts initially refused to order his release despite his worsening health
conditions and calls by international and legal institutions to stop his
administrative detention.
During
his hunger strike, the Palestinian prisoner faced “gravely deteriorating”
health conditions, as described by physicians, and risked the collapse of some
of his vital organs, such as kidneys, liver, and heart.
The
Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights had on several occasions called
on international rights groups to intervene immediately to “save the life of
Akhras before it is too late.”
Hundreds
of Palestinian prisoners are held under administrative detention, in which
Israel keeps the detainees without charge for up to six months, a period which
can be extended an infinite number of times. Women and minors are among these
detainees.
Palestinian
detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in an attempt
to express their outrage at the detention. Palestinians hold Israeli
authorities fully responsible for any deterioration of the circumstances in
jails.
More
than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly held in Israeli jails. Around 355
Palestinians were being held under administrative detention orders as of
August, including two minors, according to Israeli advocacy group B’Tselem.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/26/639410/Israeli-regime-Maher-al-Akhras-administrative-detention-
--------
Turkey
says does not expect US sanctions over S-400 missile systems under Biden
26
November 2020
A
high-ranking official from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) says Ankara does not anticipate Washington’s sanctions over its purchase
of Russian-made S-400 defense missile systems after US president-elect Joe
Biden takes office.
“The
US president will most likely watch the balance in the Middle East very
carefully for US interests, and will not want to continue the tense ties with
Turkey ... I believe they will take positive steps in the future,” AK Party
Deputy Chairman Numan Kurtulmus said in an interview with Reuters news agency
on Thursday.
Kurtulmus
highlighted that Turkey would not bow to pressure to return the Russian missile
systems, or leave them unused.
“Sorry,
but we didn't procure these to hide them. We got them to meet Turkey's security
needs,” he said.
Late
last month, a US State Department official warned that Turkey faces a “very
real” risk of sanctions after Ankara tested its Russian-made S-400 air defense
system.
“That
risk is very real because they... continue to pursue the S-400,” R Clarke
Cooper, a senior State Department official in charge of arms sales, said on
October 28.
He
added, “And, of course, with the testing of it, sanctions is very much
something that is on the table.”
Earlier,
Turkey conducted its first test of the S-400 system in the town of Sinop, which
lies on the northernmost edge of the Black Sea coast. The test came despite
months of warnings from the US that the system is incompatible with NATO
defenses, and could pose a threat to Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets.
There
are speculations of US sanctions early next year if Congress approves a defense
spending bill, which the House of Representatives has already voted to include
language requiring the president to sanction Turkey.
Some
experts believe that Turkey relied on the good personal ties between President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to smooth over
divisions, but Biden is expected to be tougher on Turkey over foreign and
defense policies and Ankara's human rights record.
On
November 12, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar downplayed concerns over his
country's intention to utilize S-400 air defense systems, saying Ankara will
use the armament just as other members of the NATO military alliance employ
their S-300 defense systems.
Akar
told members of the Turkish parliament's Planning and Budget Committee that
Ankara would continue on the control and preparation process of the S-400
system "as planned."
He
then called on the United States to form a joint working group on the
compatibility of the S-400 system and F-35 stealth fighter jets.
Back
in April 2018, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
said in Ankara that they had agreed to expedite the delivery of the S-400. At
the time, it was said that the delivery could be made between late 2019 and
early 2020.
The
United States is categorically against Turkey’s purchase and suspended Turkey’s
participation in the joint production of the fifth generation F-35 fighters.
The
S-400 is an advanced Russian missile defense system designed to detect, track,
and destroy planes, drones, or missiles as far as 402 kilometers away. It has
previously been sold only to China and India.
Ankara
is striving to boost its air defense, particularly after Washington decided in
2015 to withdraw its Patriot surface-to-air missile system from Turkish border
with Syria, a move that weakened Turkey’s air defense.
Before
gravitating towards Russia, the Turkish military reportedly walked out of a
$3.4-billion contract for a similar Chinese system. The withdrawal took place
under purported pressure from Washington.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/26/639425/Turkey-does-not-expect-US-sanctions-over-S-400-missile-systems-procurement-Top-official
--------
Yemen
okays UN access to abandoned fuel tanker near Hudaydah
26
November 2020
Yemen
has given the green light for a UN mission to inspect and repair a
long-abandoned fuel tanker stranded near the port city of Hudaydah.
"An
urgent maintenance agreement and a comprehensive evaluation of the Safer tanker
was signed with the United Nations in order to avoid an environmental
catastrophe," Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political
Council of Yemen, said in a tweet late Wednesday.
Yemeni
media also quoted sources from Yemen's Ansarullah movement as saying that a
message had been sent to the United Nations welcoming the experts who would
conduct the "urgent evaluation and maintenance".
The
officials are “currently waiting for a letter from the United Nations to inform
the date of the arrival of the team of experts, after they have been granted
the necessary visas to enter Yemen, and to start implementing the work assigned
to them alongside the national technical team," it said.
"We
hope that the United Nations will accelerate the implementation of the steps
according to the agreement, and send the team of experts to carry out their
duties quickly."
The
UN said earlier this week that the operation could begin by late January or
early February, depending on when it could obtain the necessary equipment.
The
UN in recent months has been attempting to assess the "FSO Safer",
which threatens to rupture in Yemen's north.
An
earlier deal on access struck in July failed to materialize, but UN spokesman
Stephane Dujarric said this week that the new accord was more formal and
represented "an important step forward in this critical work".
The
45-year-old vessel, abandoned near the western port of Hudaydah since 2015, has
1.1 million barrels of crude on board, and a rupture or explosion would have
disastrous environmental and humanitarian consequences.
Greenpeace
spokesman Ahmed El Droubi welcomed the development but said it was "long
overdue".
"Every
day that the Safer is left unattended brings us another day closer to a
humanitarian and environmental catastrophe that will further deepen the current
tragedy in Yemen, and cause untold damage to the land, sea and air around the
region," the spokesman said.
Ansarullah
has already warned that the responsibility for a possible explosion of the oil
tanker falls on Saudi Arabian aggressors and the United Nations.
In
August, the movement’s spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam rejected claims by Saudi
Arabia and United Nations that Yemeni forces prevented UN teams from visiting
the stranded oil tanker.
He
made the comments in reaction to a warning by a number of UN experts who said
the ship may cause a humanitarian crisis or even a massive blast, blaming
Ansarullah for the situation.
Abdul-Salam
then stressed that the UN was in no position to talk about humanity after
removing the Saudi-led coalition from its child-killer blacklist.
The
Saudi-led coalition waging a brutal military campaign against Yemen is also
reportedly seizing dozens of ships carrying food and oil supplies for the
impoverished and war-ravaged Arab country.
The
vessels, loaded with thousands of tons of oil derivatives and foodstuff, are
stranded off the coast of Yemen.
The
Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC) has repeatedly condemned the piracy, stressing
that Saudi Arabia has illegally impounded these ships since they all had
acquired international permits beforehand and that what Riyadh is doing is in
violation of the provisions of the International Convention on Human Rights.
The
Saudi-led coalition’s blockade of Yemen is keeping out fuel and food needed for
the Yemeni population in an attempt to exacerbate economic strains on them.
Saudi
Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating war on
Yemen in March 2015 in order to bring former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi
back to power and crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The
US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit
conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than
100,000 lives over the past five years.
More
than half of Yemen’s hospitals and clinics have been destroyed or closed during
the war by the Saudi-led coalition, which is supported militarily by the UK,
the US and other Western nations.
At
least 80 percent of the 28 million-strong population is also reliant on aid to
survive in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian
crisis.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/26/639423/Yemen-Houthis-Saudis-United-Nations-Hudaydah--%C2%A0-
--------
Turkish
court gives life sentences to 337 in mass coup attempt trial
26
November 2020
A
Turkish court has jailed 337 former pilots and other suspects for life on
charges of involvement in the botched July 2016 coup attempt against President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On
Thursday, the court handed 79 aggravated life sentences to fifteen former
military officers, including pilots who bombed Ankara, and four civilian covert
imams, who orchestrated the putsch from inside a military base near the
capital.
All
of them were also sentenced to 3,901 years and six months in prison for
“attempting to intentionally kill,” “attempting to deprive a person of liberty”
and “depriving a person of liberty.”
The
court also issued aggravated life sentences against another 291 defendants,
while forty-six others were sentenced to life.
Sixty
suspects were given jail sentences of various lengths while 75 were acquitted.
Defendants
were charged with a long list of crimes, from murder and attempt to violate the
constitutional order to an assassination attempt targeting Erdogan.
According
to the indictment, defendants orchestrated a major part of the botched putsch
from Akinci Air Base northwest of Ankara, including dispatching F-16 fighter
jets to bomb state buildings.
The
warplanes dropped bombs on parliament, the headquarters of the Special
Operations police unit in the Golbasi district and the Ankara Police
Department. Jets also struck an area near the Presidential Complex where a
large crowd had gathered to defend against an invasion by the putschists.
The
bombs killed 68 people in the capital and injured more than 200. Nine civilians
also died trying to stop the plotters at the entrance to Akinci base.
Erdogan
was on vacation in southern Turkey at the time.
An
aggravated life sentence has tougher terms of detention and replaced the death
penalty after it was abolished in 2004 as part of Turkey’s drive to join the
European Union.
During
the 2016 botched putsch, a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had
seized control of the country and the government of Erdogan was no more in
charge. The attempt was, however, suppressed a few hours later.
Ankara
has since accused US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen of having
orchestrated the coup. The opposition figure is also accused of being behind a
long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country’s
institutions, particularly the army, police and the judiciary.
Gulen
has denounced the “despicable putsch” and reiterated that he had no role in it.
Turkish
officials have frequently called on their US counterparts to extradite Gulen,
but their demands have not been taken heed of.
Turkey
ended the nationwide state of emergency, imposed since the coup, in July 2018,
after seven three-month renewals.
Tens
of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey on suspicion of having
links to Gulen and the failed coup. Many more, including military staff, civil
servants and journalists, have been sacked or suspended from work over the same
accusations.
The
international community and rights groups have been highly critical of the
Turkish president over the massive dismissals and the crackdown.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/26/639436/Turkish-court-sentences-337-to-aggravated-life-term-in-mass-2016-coup-attempt-trial
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/11/26/danish-ministers-comment-on-sex-before-marriage-angers-muslims
--------
South Asia
Abdullah
Exchanges View with Jihadi Leader on Afghan Peace
By
Mohammad Arif Sheva
26
Nov 2020
KABUL,
Afghanistan – Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR)
Abdullah Abdullah tackled peace process with former president Hamid Karzai and
Jihadi leader Abdurrab Rasul Sayaf on Thursday.
The
talks came following a series of visits Abdullah made in several provinces of
Afghanistan on the topic, including Herat where he exchanged view with local
officials and civil society representatives.
“Today
I had a constructive meeting with the former president HE @KarzaiH, and the
Jihadi leader HE Professor Abdurrab Rasul Sayaf,” he said in a tweet Thursday.
According
to the statement, Abdullah enclosed the latest developments in the country and
the ongoing challenges Doha talks faces.
“We
exchanged views on the peace process, the talks in Doha, and the latest
developments in the country,” he added.
Prior
to this, Abdullah has wrapped a series of official trip to Pakistan, India,
Iran and Uzbekistan, discussing Afghan peace process and bilateral relation.
https://www.khaama.com/abdullah-exchanges-view-with-jihadi-leader-on-afghan-peace-34534/
--------
Rohingya
among top agendas at OIC FMs meeting
November
26th, 2020
The
delegates will discuss on how to raise funds for the Rohingya case at ICJ
Foreign
ministers of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries are set to
meet together on Friday while the Rohingya genocide case with the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) is expected to come up among the top agendas.
OIC
Secretary General Dr Yousef Al-Othaimeen said in a statement that the CMF would
discuss how to raise funds for the Rohingya case at the ICJ in addition to
other issues concerning the Muslim world like Palestinian cause, fight against
violence, extremism and terrorism, Islamophobia and religious defamation.
OIC
General Secretariat set the stage for the two day 47th session of 57-member
OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting in Niger’s capital Niamey here
from Nov 27-28.
The
OIC foreign ministers will also discuss, over two days, political,
humanitarian, economic, socio-cultural and other issues related to science and
technology, the media and the implementation progress of the OIC plan of action
2025.
The
situation of Muslim minorities and communities in non-member states as well as
civilization, cultural and religious dialogue promotion, and other matters may
come before the council, OIC secretariat said.
“The
OIC took the Rohingya issue seriously… all the OIC members have been supporting
us strongly over the issue in the United Nations,” Bangladesh foreign minister
told BSS on Tuesday.
Momen
expected the Rohingya crisis to largely dominate CMF agenda to add fresh
pressure on Myanmar in the “accountability and justice front” and to take back
their nationals from Bangladesh.
The
foreign minister was scheduled to attend the CMF in person, but he got positive
for coronavirus while undergoing the COVID test in Dhaka one day before flying
to Niger.
However,
in absence of the foreign minister, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dr. Mohammad
Javed Patwary, who is also Bangladesh Permanent Representative to OIC will lead
the Bangladesh delegation at CMF here tomorrow.
The
Bangladesh delegation also includes Director General of International
Organization (IO) of the foreign ministry Wahida Ahmed.
Bangladesh
is set to initiate a fund mobilization campaign at the CMF to support Gambia’s
legal battle against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over
the Rohingya genocide.
Dr
Momen said Gambia, an OIC member as well, volunteered to move to ICJ with the
Rohingya issue and needed the financial support to fight the case.
Dhaka
itself planned to offer an amount to help Gambia fight the case and ask the OIC
countries to stand by the West African nation with financial assistance.
“We
will disburse our fund to OIC for supporting Gambia to run the case in ICJ as
they need financial support after appointing lawyer for the case,” Momen told BSS
on Tuesday.
“Dhaka
will make a strong plea” in the regard, he said.
Officials
familiar with Bangladesh initiatives said Dhaka by now disburse a fund to the
OIC for supporting the Gambia’s case but declined to disclose the amount saying
it would be befitting to announce it during the CFM meeting with its theme
being “United against Terrorism for Peace .”
Bangladesh
is hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar
district and most of them arrived there since August 25, 2017 after the
military crackdown at their homeland.
In
November last year, Gambia had brought the case against Myanmar to the ICJ with
the backing of OIC, Canada and the Netherlands while ICJ held its first hearing
on December 10-12.
On
January 23 last, the ICJ made the historic unanimous decision ordering
provisional measures to prevent further acts of genocide against the Rohingyas
in Myanmar.
During
the CFM, Bangladesh would also present the country’s so far success, under the
leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in containing the coronavirus while
advocate for equal distribution of potential COVID vaccine to all countries
irrespective of rich and poor.
Saying
that Bangladesh is in a leadership role in promoting equal access of potential
COVID vaccine to the global platforms, Momen added, “Vaccine should be
distributed among all countries without discrimination … We do believe in
principle that unless all are COVID free, no one can be COVID free.”
Rights
of migrant workers would be another important agenda for Bangladesh at the CFM
as rich Middle Eastern OIC member states host huge numbers of expatriate
Bangladeshi workers.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/foreign-affairs/2020/11/26/rohingya-among-top-agendas-at-oic-fms-meeting
--------
13
Australian Special Forces Face Sack for Unlawful Killings of Afghan Locals
By
Mohammad Arif Sheva
27
Nov 2020
SYDNEY
– At least 13 Australia special forces soldiers face dismissal Friday,
according to a head of the country’s army, after the release of a report that
found credible evidence of unlawful killings in Afghanistan.
A
year-long investigation las week reported at least 19 current and former
Australian soldiers will be referred for potential criminal prosecution for
allegedly killing 39 Afghan locals, the majority of whom had been unarmed and
captured.
Lieutenant
General Rick Burr, the head of the Australian army, said the soldiers have been
issued with “administrative action notices,” which would terminate their
service in two weeks unless they successfully appealed, as AL Jazeera reported.
Burr
did not identify any of the 13 soldiers, but said they were not among the 19
current and former soldiers who face possible criminal charges.
“We
are all committed to learning from the inquiry and emerging from this a stronger,
more capable and effective army,” he said, as the report quoted.
“Each
matter and individual circumstance will be considered on a case-by-case basis.”
Australia’s
most senior military official apologized to Afghanistan last week after the
release of the report.
https://www.khaama.com/13-australian-special-forces-face-sack-for-unlawful-killings-of-afghan-locals-34534/
--------
ANA
Foils 10 Possible IED Blasts across Afghanistan
By
Mohammad Arif Sheva
27
Nov 2020
Afghanistan
– The Afghan National Army (ANA) has foiled at least 10 possible IED blasts
across several provinces of the country, said the Ministry of Defense in a
statement Friday.
According
to the statement, the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were placed on public
roads by the Taliban insurgents that were discovered and defused during
multiple operations in Kandahar, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.
“10
IEDs which were placed by #Taliban on public roads in Kandahar, Zabul and
Urzgan provinces, were discovered and defused by #ANA, yesterday,” said the MoD
in a tweet.
The
statement did not further elaborate on the incident but said the national army
“risk their lives to save” people as part of their duties and patriotism.
“Lives
of tens of civilians were saved as a result,” the tweet added. “ANA risk their
lives to save and protect Afghans lives and properties.”
The
Taliban did not immediately comment on the incident.
Meanwhile,
at least 11 Taliban were killed and further 15 wounded during a shootouts with
Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in Panjwae and Zherai
districts of the Kandahar province Thursday night.
“11
Taliban were killed and 15 others were wounded after they attacked #ANDSF
positions in Panjwae and Zherai districts of Kandahar province, last night,
said the MoD in a tweet.
https://www.khaama.com/ana-foils-10-possible-ied-blasts-across-afghanistan-34534/
--------
Australia to fire 13 troops over war crimes in Afghanistan
27
November 2020
Australia
has sent notices of likely dismissal to a number of troops after a damning
military report confirmed last week that its forces murdered dozens of
civilians or prisoners in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
The
head of the Australian army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr, said that 13 current
soldiers have been issued with notices that could eventually lead to their
termination.
They
are suspected of being witnesses to the killings, or of being dishonest in
testifying.
“At
this time, 13 individuals have been issued administrative action notices in
relation to the Afghanistan inquiry,” he said on Friday.
They
have two weeks to respond to the notices, Burr said.
“We
are all committed to learning from the inquiry and emerging from this a
stronger, more capable and effective army,” he added.
The
findings of an investigation published last week confirmed that Australian
soldiers “unlawfully” killed at least 39 civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan
between 2005 and 2016.
The
report found that senior commandos forced junior soldiers to kill defenseless
captives in order to “blood” the troops for combat.
It
also recommended referring 19 current and former soldiers for potential
prosecution. The 13 soldiers are separate from those 19 troops, however.
In
a reaction to the report, Afghanistan called the murders unforgivable.
Australian
Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised the establishment of an independent
oversight panel to provide "accountability and transparency that sits
outside of the ADF chain of command".
Australia,
which is not a member of NATO, has had an active role in Afghanistan since the
US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
In
May, it sent an additional 30 troops to Afghanistan to join the NATO-led
mission against the Taliban and other militant groups, bringing its total
Afghan deployment to 400 troops.
The
US-led invasion removed the Taliban militant group from power but has failed to
stop its militant activities in the country. The ongoing chaos has also paved
the way for the Daesh terror group to gain a foothold in Afghanistan’s east.
Earlier
this year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) launched an investigation
into alleged war crimes by the US and its allies in the Afghan war.
A
report from the ICC said four years ago that there was a reasonable basis to
believe the US military had committed torture at secret detention sites.
In
another development, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
(AIHRC) called for Britain on Thursday "to open an independent public
inquiry to review and investigate the allegations of unlawful killings by UK
Special Forces.”
"The
US and UK, and other countries with an armed presence in Afghanistan [should]
respond to these media reports, and to investigate their forces' participation,
and leadership, of acts of violence against Afghan non-combatants," said
the AIHRC.
In
a report last year, BBC said that the UK had failed to fully investigate
credible evidence of a pattern of illegal killings carried out by its troops in
Afghanistan.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/27/639455/Australia-Afghanistan-war-crimes-soldiers-dismissal
--------
Southeast Asia
Indonesian
Man Collapses While Being Flogged 146 Times For Raping Child
November
26, 2020
EAST
ACEH: An Indonesian man collapsed as he was flogged nearly 150 times Thursday
for raping a child in conservative Aceh province, where public whipping is a
common punishment for violating Islamic law.
The
19-year-old grimaced and cried out as a masked sharia officer lashed his back
with a rattan stick in the town of Idi.
He
pleaded for the punishment to stop and was briefly treated by doctors before
the flogging restarted.
The
man was arrested earlier this year on charges he molested and raped the victim,
whose age was not revealed.
He
was sentenced to 146 lashes, a particularly high number reserved for the most
serious crimes.
“The
maximum sentence is meant to be a deterrent,” Ivan Nanjjar Alavi, an official
from the East Aceh prosecutor’s office, told reporters.
Aceh,
on the western tip of Sumatra, is the only region in Muslim-majority Indonesia
to impose Islamic law under an autonomy deal with the central government that
ended a long-running separatist insurgency.
Also
on Thursday, a 40-year-old and a 21-year-old man were whipped 100 times each
for having sex with underage partners.
Aceh’s
public whippings — widely criticised by rights groups — can attract hundreds of
spectators, but crowds have dwindled in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The
province allows whipping for a range of charges — including gambling, adultery,
drinking alcohol, and having gay or pre-marital sex.
It
has wide support among Aceh’s mostly Muslim population.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2020/11/26/man-collapses-while-being-flogged-146-times-for-raping-child/
--------
Dr
Mahathir: Opposition MPs have no shame, betraying voters’ trust by not standing
up to oppose Budget 2021
26
Nov 2020
BY
R. LOHESWAR
KUALA
LUMPUR, Nov 26 ― Langkawi MP Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has expressed his dismay
at MPs, including most of the Opposition, in Parliament today who did not stand
to oppose the approval of Budget 2021.
He
blamed those who are in the government for being corrupt after allegedly
receiving benefits from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration, and said
that Opposition MPs who did not oppose the Bill are supporting this government
with their actions.
“A
government that is built from bribes and kickbacks to MPs and a government that
is corrupt is being supported by these MPs and the Opposition MPs without any
sense of guilt that they have now betrayed their promise to the people.
“This
is what happened in Parliament today,” the former prime minister from Parti
Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) said in a statement.
“As
far as Pejuang and I are concerned, including several other MPs, we are firm in
our stance to not support the passing of the Budget,” he added.
Dr
Mahathir said besides him, three other Pejuang MPs had stood up to support the
failed bloc vote: Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (Jerlun), Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah
(Kubang Pasu), and Datuk Shahruddin Salleh (Sri Gading).
Opposition
leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he instructed his side’s lawmakers to
allow Budget 2021 through the policy stage as he did not want to be seen as
blocking aid and concessions announced by the Perikatan Nasional (PN)
government.
Dr
Mahathir also said that the public should not give in to corruption and that
eradicating it is the only way to save the country.
He
added that bribers and criminals are using money to buy votes and pick their
MPs to form the government of the day.
“When
those who have no principles and quality are willing to sacrifice the people’s
mandate for their own personal gain to form the government then the country
will be sold to fulfill their greed,” he said.
Only
13 MPs stood up demanding bloc voting to pass the Bill to approve the Budget
today, leading to a voice voting that saw it passed.
The
Budget will now go to the committee stage, for its specific allocations to be
debated and voted on.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/11/26/dr-mahathir-opposition-mps-have-no-shame-betraying-voters-trust-by-not-stan/1926442
--------
Its
supporters wanted a fight to the final whistle, the Opposition stood down to
allow Muhyiddin free passage
26
Nov 2020
BY
LESLIE LAU, MANAGING EDITOR
COMMENTARY,
Nov 26 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition has left its supporters frustrated
and disillusioned after bizarrely allowing Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's maiden
Budget for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to pass at policy stage today
without clear opposition.
Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his colleagues may or may not have strategic reasons for
doing what they did but after weeks of signalling the possibility of using the
Budget vote to deal a blow to PN and to pave the way for a possible change of
government, its supporters were left bewildered and puzzled.
If
PH leaders want to understand the frustration and even anger at its decision,
perhaps I could offer an analogy from the world of sport. Sports fans will
certainly understand this.
While
we always want our team or the individual we support to win a match, sometimes
it is not just the result that matters.
Sports
fans always want to see their teams try their best even when the odds are
completely stacked against them. Fans want to see passion and belief in their
idols.
What
they certainly do not want to see is any cynical or strategic decision to give
up. Yes, the odds may have been against the team, but fans want to see a fight
to the final whistle.
In
the world of football, the famous teams of Alex Ferguson's Manchester United
always fought till the end and more often than not snatched victory from the
claws of defeat. Grudgingly I will say today's Liverpool also offers the same
fighting qualities.
Of
course it would be naive to think that we can draw a perfect analogy between
sports and politics.
But
the explanations given by Opposition leaders for their decision to stand down
has been less than satisfactory.
Anwar
said after the vote today that he instructed his side's lawmakers to allow
Budget 2021 through the policy stage because he did not want to be seen as
blocking aid and concessions announced by the PN government.
But
it is hard not to draw the conclusion that the more likely reason was that certain
Umno leaders reneged from their promise to back the Opposition and block the
Budget, and that any bloc vote would have been futile.
So
the question is if it had become inevitable that PH would not win the vote,
what did the Opposition have to lose by allowing the vote to go through?
Yes
they would have lost but their supporters would not be angry with them for
giving up without a fight.
And
even if they had lost, they would still be doing what they say they will be
doing now ― which is to scrutinise the Budget further at committee stage next
week.
Opposition
MPs should now look hard at themselves and scrutinise their own decisions.
It
is ironic that in the lead up to today's vote there was a real fear of
rebellion within Umno's ranks with clear divisions and cracks among its own
leadership, but after today it is the Opposition that is under the spotlight
and facing fallout.
Perhaps
today's decision by the Opposition to sit down may well be eclipsed by better
performances in the days and weeks to come.
But
it was not a good look today.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/11/26/its-supporters-wanted-a-fight-to-the-final-whistle-the-opposition-stood-dow/1926467
--------
North America
Nearly
half of Israelis want Biden to relaunch negotiations with Palestinians: Poll
Emily
Judd
26
November 2020
Nearly
half of Israelis want US President-elect Joe Biden to relaunch negotiations
with the Palestinians, according to new polling.
“A
plurality of 49 percent support the relaunching of negotiations with the Palestinians
under an incoming Biden administration,” according a poll conducted with
European Union funding by the Geneva Initiative, an Israeli-Palestinian
organization.
The
survey, conducted from November 16 to 17, polled over 500 Israelis.
Making
peace with the Palestinians took second priority, however, when participants
answered which Arab leaders Israel should make peace with next, following its
normalization with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Twenty-nine
percent of participants said Saudi Arabia, while 28 percent said the
Palestinians.
Participants
were also asked to pick from four potential solutions to the conflict: 48
percent chose the two-state solution as the most preferable option, with only
11 percent choosing a one state solution with equal rights for both peoples.
Another
11 percent picked one state with less rights for Palestinians, while 20 percent
chose none of the above.
The
preference for a two-state solution broadly aligns with recent polling on the
Palestinian side.
The
Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research interviewed 1,200
Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip in August, and
found 43 percent of Palestinians support the two-state solution.
Biden
on Israel-Palestine
The
next four years of a Biden presidency will make or break the
Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Israeli and Palestinian experts told Al
Arabiya English earlier this month.
The
US under Biden will be a more “credible mediator” between the Israelis and
Palestinians than it was under current American president Donald Trump,
according to Bernard Sabella, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council
in Jerusalem.
Under
Trump, the State Department cut more than $200 million in aid to the West Bank
and Gaza, and $25 million in aid for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, in 2018.
The
Trump administration also halted all US funding to the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) – an estimated $360 million per
year - saying that the organization was “irredeemably flawed.”
The
US embassy in Israel was also moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing
Jerusalem as the “united” capital of Israel.
Biden
has promised to restore economic assistance to the Palestinians and reopen the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington, but said he will
keep the US embassy in Jerusalem.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/26/Nearly-half-of-Israelis-want-Biden-to-relaunch-negotiations-with-Palestinians-Poll
--------
Biden
cabinet picks to escalate tensions, interference in Mideast: Ex-UK envoy
26
November 2020
US
President-elect Joe Biden’s selection of Antony Blinken as secretary of state
has set the scene for “further Washington’s belligerence and interference” in
the Middle East, an ex-UK Envoy says.
Biden
has nominated Blinken, his long-time foreign policy advisor, who served as
deputy secretary of State between 2015 and 2017.
Former
UK ambassador to Syria, Peter Ford said on Wednesday that Biden’s pick for the
state of department signals further escalation of conflicts in the Middle East.
Ford
said that Blinken had openly expressed regret about the administration of
former president Barack Obama’s failure to topple the government of President
Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
“Blinken
is on record deeply regretting that Obama nixed plans for the United States to
go wading into the Syrian quagmire even more than it did already,” he said.
Ford
said that Blinken has also condemned President Donald Trump’s “attempts to
withdraw US troops from Syria.”
"The
scene is set for more counter-productive US belligerence and interference in
the Middle East,” he told Russia’s Sputnik.
Blinken
has also supported the Iraq war, the intervention in Libya, and the Saudi war
in Yemen, according to Ford.
Ford
also criticized Biden for nomination of Jake Sullivan for national security
advisor.
"Neither
of these appointments bodes well for peace in the Middle East, or probably
anywhere else.” Ford said.
Sullivan
served as deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of
state to Obama.
Biden
to get US in more ‘forever wars’
Analysts
warned that Biden's cabinet selections, deeply tied to the defense industry,
will likely ensure US troops get stuck in more intractable military conflicts.
Mariamne
Everett, France-based analyst, expressed concern over Biden’s picks — all
Obama-era “war champions” — who supported the foreign policies of Obama and
Clinton, including intervention in Libya.
She
said that this contradicts Biden’s remarks about putting an end to US involvement
in "forever wars.”
Everett
said that Biden “sends the opposite message that he isn't in fact committed to
ending 'forever wars' because he's surrounding himself with the exact same
people who championed one of these 'forever wars.”
Reports
also said that Biden poised to nominate Michelle Flournoy, a former
undersecretary of defense for policy, as the Pentagon chief.
Political
commentator Dan Lazare said, "Blinken, Sullivan, and Flournoy... are not
only hawks but incompetent hawks whose policies resulted in hundreds of
thousands of deaths and the destruction of entire societies, yet didn't advance
US interests one bit."
Lazare
said all of these named and potential Biden’s picks champion unregulated
military spending, much to the delight of giant US corporations.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/26/639406/US-Joe-Biden-Antony-Blinken-Jake-Sullivan-war-Middle-East-Syria-Iraq
--------
Canada
Muslim massacre convict’s sentence set back from 40 to 25
27
November 2020
The
Court of Appeal in Quebec decides that a man from the province that murdered
seven Muslims in an attack on a mosque there in 2017 can appeal for parole
after 25 years instead of the 40 he had originally been handed down.
The
court made the decision concerning the convict, Alexandre Bissonnette, on
Thursday, Canada’s CTV News network reported.
Now
31, Bissonnette walked into the Quebec City’s Islamic Cultural Center on
January 29 that year and began to calmly unleash deadly fire on the 40 men and
four children, who were present there at the time.
During
the slaughter, he retreated to a safe area to reload his nine-millimeter pistol
at least four times. The bloodshed that, according to a witness at his trial,
went on "like he was playing a video game," also seriously injured
five others, including one, who was paralyzed from waist down.
Although
eligible to receive two consecutive life terms amounting to 150 years in jail,
Quebec Superior Court Justice Francois Huot decided last year that a ruling of
such proportions would be “cruel and unusual.” He, therefore, decided that
Bissonnette should instead serve the sentences “concurrently.”
This
is while in 2011, the Canadian Criminal Code was amended to allow life
sentences to be served one after another.
Despite
practically rewriting the Canadian law in deciding on the legal proceeding, the
judge failed to extend his self-styled reading to Bissonnette’s parole
eligibility threshold.
The
murderer’s lawyers seized on the opportunity to protest the mismatch between
the two decisions and asked the Appeals Court that he should be able to apply
for parole earlier than is allowed in the Criminal Code.
Aymen
Derbali, who was shot seven times during the atrocity and left with the
paralysis, called the reduced sentence as "unjust."
He
noted that several recent Canadian mass murderers have received consecutive
sentences. "Why will (Bissonnette), who killed six in such a massacre,
have 25 years?" the victim asked.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/26/639448/Canada-Muslim-massacre-Bissonnette-quebec
--------
Europe
France
will arrange aid conference for Lebanon by video in December
26
November 2020
France
will host a video conference with international partners on Dec. 2 to discuss
humanitarian aid for financially-strapped Lebanon, President Emmanuel Macron’s
office told Reuters on Thursday.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
meeting, organized in conjunction with the United Nations, will aim to have the
highest-level representation possible with the objective of soliciting aid for
Lebanon’s debt-crushed economy.
Macron
has vowed to push ahead with efforts to prevent Lebanon collapsing after a
massive explosion in Beirut’s port in August destroyed large areas of the city
and compounded the country’s political and financial crisis.
However,
a French initiative to stabilize Lebanon and enable the release of billions of
dollars of international aid to fix the economy has yet to bear fruit.
Three
sources familiar with the situation said that given the worsening economic
situation and the COVID-19 pandemic, France had decided to press ahead with the
humanitarian conference.
“There
isn’t huge appetite to help Lebanon from the international community, but
relief should go directly to the people,” said one person aware of the
conference.
Conference
details are still to be ironed out early next week, but it aims to attract as
many senior government officials as possible.
Earlier
in the day, restructuring consultancy Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) confirmed
it had withdrawn from a forensic audit of Lebanon’s central bank as it had not
received the information required to carry out the task.
The
decision, first announced by Lebanon’s caretaker finance minister on Nov. 20,
was a blow to the country as the audit is a key demand of foreign donors to
help it exit a financial meltdown, its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil
war. (Reporting by John Irish, Elizabeth Pineau and Michel Rose
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/26/France-will-arrange-aid-conference-for-Lebanon-by-video-in-December-
--------
Frances
pushes for EU sanctions on Turkey over Mediterranean gas dispute
26
November 2020
France
is leading a push for European Union sanctions on Turkey next month to follow
through on a threat made by the bloc in October, but has yet to win support
from EU governments beyond Greece and Cyprus, officials and diplomats said.
Paris
says Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has not heeded EU leaders’ warnings on
October 1 to back down in a dispute over gas exploration in the Mediterranean
or face consequences.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
European Parliament on Thursday is expected to call for sanctions, decrying
Erdogan’s visit earlier this month to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of
the island of Cyprus.
“Turkey
knows what it needs to do,” France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a
French parliamentary hearing this week. “Confrontation or collaboration, it’s
up to them.”
The
Turkish Foreign Ministry has criticized the EU for discussing sanctions, saying
such debate was not helpful.
No
detailed sanctions have been drawn up by France, but diplomats say any measures
would hit areas of Turkey’s economy aimed at limiting Turkish hydrocarbon
exploration, likely in shipping, banking and energy.
Also
at stake are a plan to broaden Turkey’s trade preferences with the EU, its top
trading partner, and its formal status a candidate to join the EU, which
Austria says should end. Erdogan has called for a boycott of French goods,
which one EU diplomat said did not bode well for deeper trade relations.
“However,
Turkey is a key partner in many areas, so there’s no consensus in the Council
(of EU governments). It is still too early,” said another EU diplomat.
France
is also at odds with Turkey over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Paris has
accused Ankara of fuelling the crisis in the Caucusus, a charge it rejects.
Turkey,
a member of NATO, has slid towards authoritarianism, undermining EU priorities
in Syria and Libya, but remains a strategically located partner that the EU
cannot ignore.
Support
for any sanctions lie with Germany, which holds the EU’s six-month presidency.
Berlin put its hopes in mediating between Greece and Turkey but was angered
when Ankara, which withdrew an exploration vessel before EU leaders met in
October, began exploring for gas off Cyprus again last month.
“Erdogan
really went too far with the Germans,” a senior French official told Reuters.
“They didn’t take at all well the new ship going back to the eastern
Mediterranean just after the October 1 summit.”
A
new spat between Germany and Turkey over the interception of a Turkish vessel
in the Mediterranean this week has worsened already deteriorating EU-Turkey
ties. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the boarding was an act of
“piracy” and summoned EU, German and Italian envoys to protest, which Berlin
said was unjustified.
“I
think now there’s a common understanding that there will be sanctions,” said a
senior EU diplomat. “The question is what the market will bear.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/11/26/Frances-pushes-for-EU-sanctions-on-Turkey-over-Mediterranean-gas-dispute
--------
Russia
foils Daesh planned attacks in Moscow region
25
November 2020
Russia
says it has dismantled a militant cell affiliated with the Daesh Takfiri
terrorist group that was planning to conduct acts of terror in the Moscow
region.
Russia’s
Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Wednesday that it had “thwarted
activities of a cross-regional” Daesh cell, “participants of which intended to
conduct subversive terror attacks in the Moscow region.”
The
FSB said security officers had arrested one person, noting that the detainee is
a citizen from a Central Asian country.
According
to the report, a home-made bomb was also seized during the operation.
An
investigation into the case is reportedly underway.
The
Russian security service has thwarted a number of terrorist attacks in Russia
in the past few years.
Moscow
and other cities has been targets for Daesh as the terrorist group has vowed to
continue launching attacks in retaliation for Russia’s assistance to Syria,
which has proved helpful in purging the Takfiri terrorist group and other
militants from much of the Syrian territory.
The
Russian military assistance began in September 2015 at the official request of
the Syrian government.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/25/639353/Russia-Daesh-Moscow
--------
British-Australian
Kylie Moore-Gilbert returns to Australia after Iran imprisonment
27
November 2020
British-Australian
academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert arrived back in Australia on Friday and will soon
reunite with her family after more than two years in an Iranian prison.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Moore-Gilbert
was met by public health officials and members of the Australian Defense Force
after leaving her plane at Canberra Airport, less than 24 hours after being
released from prison in Iran.
Foreign
Minister Marise Payne has said Moore-Gilbert, 33, will have to undergo
quarantine due to COVID-19 concerns.
The
academic from Melbourne University was released after 804 days behind bars on
spying charges. She was freed in exchange for the release of three Iranians who
were held in Thailand.
Australian
media reported on Friday that Iranian authorities had detained her after
discovering she was in a relationship with an Israeli citizen, which led to
claims she was a spy for Israel.
Fairfax
Media reported that the Australian government played a crucial
behind-the-scenes role in bringing Thailand to the table and engineering the
prisoner swap.
Fairfax
said the discovery of Moore-Gilbert’s Israeli boyfriend led to Iranian
authorities stopping her at Tehran's airport as she was about to leave the
country in 2018 after attending an academic conference. Authorities sentenced
her to 10 years in prison for espionage. The Australian government and
Moore-Gilbert rejected the allegations as baseless.
Fairfax
Media cited unidentified Australian government sources as saying the at-times
delicate negotiations took more than six months.
In
Bangkok, Thai officials said they transferred three Iranians involved in a
botched 2012 bomb plot back to Tehran. While they declined to call it a swap
and Iran referred to the men as “economic activists,” the arrangement freed
Moore-Gilbert and saw the three men, who were linked to a wider bomb plot
targeting Israeli diplomats, return home to a hero’s welcome.
They
wore Iranian flags draped over their shoulders, their faces largely obscured by
black baseball caps and surgical masks. It was a sharp contrast to other
prisoner exchanges Iran has trumpeted in the past, in which television anchors
repeatedly said their names and broadcasters aired images of them reuniting
with their families.
In
Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday he was “thrilled and
relieved” that Moore-Gilbert had been released but added that it would take
time for her to process her “horrible” ordeal.
“The
tone of her voice was very uplifting, particularly given what she has been
through,” Morrison told Australia’s Network Nine.
Despite
her ordeal, Moore-Gilbert said in a statement that she had “nothing but
respect, love and admiration for the great nation of Iran and its warm-hearted,
generous and brave people.”
Asked
about the swap, Morrison said he “wouldn’t go into those details, confirm them
one way or the other.” However, he said he could assure Australians there had
been nothing done to prejudice their safety and no prisoners were released in
Australia.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/27/Iran-opposition-British-Australian-Kylie-Moore-Gilbert-returns-to-Australia-after-Iran-imprisonment
--------
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/allahabad-high-court-negates-love/d/123592
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism