Authorities In Egypt Facing Backlash For Their Plan To 'Modernise' Muslims Holy Book, Quran
New Age Islam News Bureau
29 December 2021
Writing a modern interpretation of the Holy Quran/
Photo: Abna News Agency
----
• Those
Calling For A Genocide Of Muslims Are In Effect Calling For A Full-Scale Civil
War, Says Naseeruddin Shah
• Selangor
Islamic Council Bans Politicians And Political Operatives Teaching Islam
• Islamophobia
In France: Another Mosque Ordered Closed In Paris For Allegedly Radical
Preaching Of Its Imam
• New
Diktat Of The Taliban: No Display Of The Heads Of Female Mannequins, Music In
Cars, Taxis
Arab World
• PKK
terrorist presence in northwest Iraq prevents Turkmen villagers from going home
• Iraq
nabs 6 Daesh/ISIS militants coming from Syria
• Lebanon
prime minister calls for dialogue to improve ties with Gulf states
• Saudi-led
military aggression on Yemen now in final stage, senior Ansarullah official
says
• Iraq:
Shia militia boycotts efforts to form government
• Lebanon’s
premier expects draft deal with IMF within weeks
--------
India
• Hyderabad
Mosque, In Collaboration With Helping Hand Foundation, Sets Up 40-Bed Centre
For The Homeless
• After
Muslims, Christians Target Of Hindutva Brigade: Senior Congress Leader
• MP:
Pastor, Muslim Held In Separate Cases Of Forced Conversion
• Two
years ago, still relevant: Shashi Tharoor on old post comparing Hinduism,
Hindutva
• Pak
terrorist killed accomplice Mudasir, tried to escape using Altaf Bhat as human
shield: SIT probe
• Day
after realty summit, Kashmir parties slam attempt to ‘change demography’
--------
Southeast Asia
• Court
Rules Vernacular Schools Constitutionally Protected, Throws Out Malay-Muslim
Group’s Suit
• Putrajaya
mulls postponing Malaysians’ Umrah trips if Omicron escalates in future
• Will
turn away stricken boat of Rohingya refugees, says Indonesia
--------
South Asia
• Threat
of narco-terrorism rise after Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
• No
Threat From Afghanistan’s Borders To Region: Taliban Reacted To Putin’s
Concerns
• Turkey,
Qatar await Taliban green light to run airports
--------
Pakistan
• University
Of Agriculture Faisalabad Sub-Campus Bans Jeans, Issues Dress Code For Its Male
And Female Students
• LHC
chief justice orders submission of challan in Sialkot lynching case
• Sheikh
Shahriari: Muslim world victories owed to wise leadership of Supreme Leader
• Spoilers
cannot harm Pakistan's strong ties with Iran: Religious Minister
• Taliban
flexes muscles to backer Pakistan: What’s their difference point?
• PPP
opposes any deal with extremists, militants
--------
Europe
• Human
Rights Abuses In Yemen Won’t Continue With Impunity: UN
• UN
bodies call on Yemen’s Houthis to immediately release detained staff
• Turkish
Embassy in Poland attacked with Molotov cocktails
• Turkish
defence minister receives honorary Bosnian citizenship
--------
Mideast
• Senior
Iranian Cleric Underlines Importance of Positive, Constructive Interaction
among Religions, Denominations
• Hamas:
Israeli settlement plan in occupied Golan ‘new form of aggression against
Arabs’
• ICRO
head stresses more cultural coop. between Iran, China
• Erdoğan
urges Muslims to unite in face of rising Islamophobia
• Iran
to Produce Helium at South Pars
• Senior
Analyst: France Playing Bad Cop Role in Vienna Talks, Iran Should Use Leverages
• Israel’s
defence minister meets with Palestinian president
• Iran,
Russia upbeat about progress of nuclear talks in Vienna
--------
Africa
• Libya
parliament proposes delaying presidential polls by 6 months
• Ethiopia's
Tigray taps Muslim past in propaganda push
• Coups,
civil wars, pandemic, terrorism dominated Africa in 2021
• Parliamentary
panel wants Libya’s executive authority restructured
--------
North America
• US Creates
Commission To Assess Two-Decade War In Afghanistan
• Iran
is dragging its feet, accelerating nuclear program: US State Department
• US
condemns Iran-backed Houthis militia’s continued attacks on Saudi Arabia
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/egypt-modernise-muslims-holy-book-quran-/d/126057
--------
Authorities
In Egypt Facing Backlash For Their Plan To 'Modernise' Muslims Holy Book, Quran
Writing a modern interpretation of the Holy Quran/
Photo: Abna News Agency
----
December
29, 2021
Authorities
in Egypt are facing backlash for their plan to 'modernise' Muslims Holy Book,
Quran. An Egyptian author and journalist criticized a proposal being discussed
by the country’s Senate on writing a modern interpretation of the Holy Quran.
Yusuf
Sayyid Amer, head of the Senate’s religious committee, has submitted the
proposal, saying the new interpretation will highlight Islam’s moderation and
counters extremism.
It
would provide an answer to certain Hadiths that extremist groups refer to in
order to justify their ideologies, Amer added.
Qutb
al-Arabi, the author and journalist, wrote in a piece carried by Arabi21
website that silence on such a proposal is not possible because it has been put
forward by politicians and government officials, not by scholars and experts.
He
said manipulation of the most sacred Muslim text, namely the Quran, with the
aim of serving governments and rulers is not acceptable.
“Who
could accept tying of the verses of the Quran to serving unjust policies or
presenting distorted understandings to cover and justify abnormal phenomena in
society in order to satisfy international pressure groups?” he wondered.
He
described the proposal put forward by Amer and endorsed by the country’s Awqaf
minister and grand Mufti as being in line with the lies on a “new state” that
President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi and the media have been talking about.
Al-Arabi
said I is based on these lies, Sisi built a new capital and seeks to market a
new identity for it.
This
pharaonic identity is being presented as an alternative to the current
Arab-Islamic identity, he stated, adding that one cannot rule out that a new
flag and national anthem will soon be announced for it as well.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Those
Calling For A Genocide Of Muslims Are In Effect Calling For A Full-Scale Civil
War, Says Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin
Shah/File photo
----
29.12.21
Actor
Naseeruddin Shah has said those calling for a genocide of Muslims are in effect
calling for a full-scale civil war.
In an
interview to The Wire seeking his opinion on the genocide calls, Shah told
Karan Thapar: “I wonder if these people know what they are talking about. What
they are calling for is a full-scale civil war. Two-hundred million of us are
not going to get wiped out that easily. Two-hundred million of us are going to
fight back. Two-hundred million of us claim this to be our motherland.
Two-hundred million of us belong here; we were born here, generations of our
families have lived here and died here. I’m certain that if any such movement
begins, it will be met with a massive resistance and a massive amount of
anger.”
Angry
and resentful at the manner in which Muslims are in the process of being
reduced to second-class citizens, Shah added: “This is an attempt to spread a
phobia among the Muslims, and the Muslims must not give into it…. We must not
admit that this is frightening us because if it comes to the crunch, we will
fight back…. Because we are defending our homes, we are defending our homeland,
we are defending our families, we are defending our children.… I am not talking
of our beliefs, beliefs very easily get threatened.”
Echoing
a view that the attempt to marginalise Muslims has sanction from the very top
of the government, the actor said: “What is happening here is a concerted
attempt to make Muslims feel insecure. It is starting from the very top where
Aurangzeb is being invoked…. Separatism has become a policy for the ruling
party. I was curious to see what would happen to these guys (those who
delivered the hate speeches). The fact that nothing happened to them is not
surprising because nothing happened to the guy whose son trampled farmers.…’’
Shah
said he was not surprised at the state of affairs. “It’s not entirely surprising.
It is worrisome but that is more or less what we expected. I did fear that it
would come to this though I must say that how things have turned out are worse
than anyone’s worst expectations. We have a leader who keeps silent in the face
of such provocation.”
Earlier
this week, several Supreme Court lawyers wrote to the Chief Justice of India
urging him to take suo motu cognisance of hate speeches calling for a genocide
of Muslims to achieve ethnic cleansing. The letter cited the Dharam Sansad in Haridwar
and a meeting in Delhi between December 17 and 19 and named nine persons
against whom action should be taken on the basis of videos of their hate
speeches.
In
the letter, the 76 signatories said the comments were not just hate speeches
but they “amount to an open call for murder of an entire community”, adding
that they “pose a grave threat not just to the unity and integrity of our
country but also endanger the lives of millions of Muslim citizens”.
The
letter pointed out that no effective steps had been taken in the case of
earlier hate speeches also. “Thus, urgent judicial intervention is required to
prevent such events that seem to have become the order of the day.’’
The
signatories to the letter included Dushyant Dave, Prashant Bhushan, Salman Khurshid,
Raju Ramachandran, P.V. Surendranath, Shalini Gera and Nayantara Roy.
Source:
Telegraph India
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Selangor
Islamic Council Bans Politicians And Political Operatives Teaching Islam
Mais
chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof
-----
December
29, 2021
PETALING
JAYA: Politicians and political operatives are no longer allowed to teach Islam
in Selangor, effective January 1, 2022.
Selangor
Islamic Council (Mais) in a statement said their accreditation (tauliah) will
be revoked effective Dec 31, and that no further accreditation will be given to
those who are politically active.
Mais
chairperson Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof(pix) said this is in line with the
degree of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah barring Islam from being
politicised and used as a political tool, especially in mosques and surau.
However,
an exemption has been given to whoever holds the Islamic affairs portfolio in
Selangor, on the condition that any teachings on Islam do not include or touch
on any political matters.
The
decision to bar politicians from teaching Islam in Selangor was first made in
the Selangor Royal Court council in March 2019 and reaffirmed in August.
Teaching
Islam without accreditation in Selangor is in violation of Selangor’s Syariah
laws and is punishable with a fine of up to RM3,000 or two years’ jail or both.
Abdul
Aziz said this punishment also applies to those who would insult, disobey, or
question the Selangor sultan’s decrees in relation to Islam, as he is the head
of religion in the state.
Source:
The Sun Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.thesundaily.my/home/selangor-bans-politicians-teaching-islam-CD8702646
--------
Islamophobia
In France: Another Mosque Ordered Closed In Paris For Allegedly Radical
Preaching Of Its Imam
A
large mosque in Beauvais Town, in northern Paris, was ordered shut (Photo: Pars
Today)
-----
28
December 2021
France
has ordered the suspension of a mosque for six months over what the government
has called inciting “violence” and “hatred.”
The
prefecture of the Oise region announced on Tuesday that the large mosque in
Beauvais Town, in northern Paris, was ordered shut because of the allegedly
radical preaching of its imam.
Local
authorities were legally obliged to gather detailed information about the
accusations in a 10-day period before taking action but told AFP news agency on
Tuesday that the mosque would be shut within two days.
The
move comes after Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced two weeks ago that
he had “set in motion” the procedure for the administrative closure of the
mosque because of its imam’s “unacceptable preachings.”
According
to Samim Bolaky, a lawyer for Hope and Fraternity organization, which runs the
mosque, the imam was suspended from his duties following the prefecture’s
letter. The lawyer said that he had appealed against the decision to the
administrative court.
Bolaky
stressed that certain remarks by the imam had been “taken out of context.” He
added that Hope and Fraternity had “always fought terrorism... [and] always
promoted living together.”
However,
Darmanin rejected the lawyer’s claims, saying that the imam’s remarks “present
Western societies as Islamophobic.”
The
French government announced earlier this year that it would set in regular
checks and controls for Islamic associations that are suspected of radical
preaching. The French Interior Ministry claimed that about 100 mosques and
Muslim prayer halls had been investigated in recent months, and 25 mosques had
been closed over the alleged spreading of “separatist” ideology.
The
crackdown came in the wake of the murder of French teacher Samuel Paty, who
provoked anger in the Muslim community by showing his students defamatory
cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, earlier published by the satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2021/12/28/673573/Another-mosque-ordered-closed-in-Paris
--------
New
Diktat Of The Taliban: No Display Of The Heads Of Female Mannequins, Music In
Cars, Taxis
An
Afghan woman exits a convenience shop in Kabul, Afghanistan, Image Source : AP
----
December
29, 2021
In a
new diktat, the Taliban have now directed all shop owners to not display the
heads of female mannequins. An official in the Directorate of Promotion of
Virtue and Prevention of Vice in western Herat province in Afghanistan said
posing and looking at the face of such mannequins is against the Islamic Sharia
law and hence the heads of all such mannequins should be cut off.
The
instruction comes a day after the group in Kabul issued guidance advising taxi
drivers not to offer drive to unveiled women without close male relatives.
A
number of shopkeepers in Herat raised concerns against the instructions and
said that the Taliban are making their life more difficult with each passing
day.
The
shopkeepers said that they had bought each mannequin for $100-$200 and now they
have to cut their heads off.
Ali
Ahmad, one Herati shopkeeper, said, "Actually, these mannequins are my
only belongings now, and now with this new order I have to cut their heads off.
It is a great loss for me," as per the report.
In a
further move restricting women's freedom in Afghanistan, the Taliban have said
that women seeking to travel more than 72 km should not be offered transport
unless they are accompanied by a close male relative.
An
advisory distributed by the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice also directed all vehicle drivers to refrain from playing
music in their cars, and not to pick up female passengers who do not wear an
Islamic hijab covering their hair.
Ministry
spokesman Mohammad Sadiq Akif confirmed the authenticity of the advisory on
December 26.
A
taxi driver in Kabul, who did not want to be named, said that for some time now
armed Taliban men have been urging taxi drivers not to play music in their cars
or take women without a hijab.
Exiled
Afghan legal expert Haroun Rahimi criticised the Taliban's directive, saying it
means taxi drivers will effectively be in a position to "police Afghan
women's bodies and mobility", the report said.
Protests
break out against new Taliban laws
Meanwhile,
several dozen Afghan women on Tuesday protested against the new directives of
the Taliban putting limitations on their movement. Women protestors said that
the Islamic Emirate is keeping women away from society by imposing limitations
and called for their rights to education, employment and social freedom to be
honoured, reported Tolo News.
They
used the slogans "we are the voice of hungry people" and "we are
awake, we hate discrimination."
"How
can we find a relative to go outside in urgent moments? They said 'we are not
responsible for your food,' so pay our salaries and we can eat, we are not the
women of two decades ago, we will not be silent," said Wida, a protestor,
reported Tolo News.
The
Islamic Emirate should not remove women from society, they said.
"We
gathered to raise voices against restrictions imposed on women; our schools are
closed, they took away working opportunities, now they ordered us not to go out
of our homes alone, they are talking about the rights described by Islam. Does
Islam order that a nation should be hungry, does Islam say to forbid girls from
education?" said Shayesta, a protestor.
The
protestors called on the international community to not ignore Afghan women.
"We
are half of the society, we are human, we have the right to education and to
work, I ask the international community to not recognize this government,"
said Zahra, a protestor.
The
protest of Afghan women did not last a long time as the Islamic Emirate's
forces fired into the air to disperse the protesters.
Meanwhile,
the Taliban officials said that women can have rights based on Islamic
regulations.
"The
Islamic Emirate supreme leader, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, issued a decree
on women which covers all (aspects of) women's lives," said Bilal Karimi,
Deputy spokesman of Islamic Emirate.
Source:
India TV
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Arab World
PKK
terrorist presence in northwest Iraq prevents Turkmen villagers from going home
Ali
Makram Ghareeb
29.12.2021
KIRKUK,
Iraq
Four
years after Daesh/ISIS terrorists were completely driven out of northwestern
Iraq, Iraqi Turkmen who were forced to flee their villages near the city of Tal
Afar are still afraid to return out of fear of persecution by PKK militants.
These
Turkmens are afraid of returning to their villages in Tal Afar city
surroundings because of the presence of the PKK terror group in Sinjar, a town
in northern Iraq's Nineveh Governorate, said Nurettin Kaplan, a member of the
Iraqi Turkmen Front's (ITC) Executive Board, on Tuesday.
As
long as the terrorist organization elements exist on Mount Sinjar, neither the
Sinjar district center nor Tal Afar and its villages will be secure, peaceful
and stable, Kaplan told Anadolu Agency.
He
explained how Turkmens in villages captured by the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group
in 2014 were forced to flee their homes, saying that despite the fact that
Mosul and its surrounding region had been liberated completely from Daesh/ISIS
terrorists four years ago, people could not return to their homes due to the
PKK's presence in Sinjar.
"The
total population of these villages was about 30,000," Kaplan asserted,
referring to Turkmen communities who also lived in areas between Tal Afar and
Sinjar. People are concerned about the PKK violence, despite the fact that
their villages have been free of the Daesh/ISIS terrorist organization.
PKK
must leave Sinjar
Kaplan
said, “Thousands of Turkmen are struggling for their survival as migrants in
various cities of the country. The PKK must leave Sinjar so that people can
come home."
Calling
on the Iraqi forces to ensure the region's security, he stressed that thousands
of Turkmen who have been migrated for years want to return home.
The
PKK is the region's biggest source of instability and disorder, according to
Kaplan, who also requested that Sinjar be freed from the PKK, as it had
previously been secured from Daesh/ISIS.
The
PKK terror group managed to establish a foothold in the region in 2014 under
the pretext of protecting the local Yazidi community from the Daesh/ISIS terror
group.
Yazidis
escaped Sinjar after Daesh/ISIS took control of the region.
In
its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a
terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU – has been responsible for
the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The
YPG is its Syrian branch.
How
PKK terrorists deploy to Sinjar?
Thousands
of people, including women and children, were killed and kidnapped by
Daesh/ISIS terrorists who raided the Sinjar district on August 3, 2014, where
the majority of Yazidis live.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iraq
nabs 6 Daesh/ISIS militants coming from Syria
Ibrahim
Saleh
28.12.2021
BAGHDAD
Iraqi
security forces arrested six militants from the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group
while attempting to cross border from Syria into Iraq, according to the
country’s interior ministry on Tuesday.
A
ministry statement said the militants were ambushed in Rabi'a district, north
of Nineveh province in northern Iraq.
The
ministry said one of the captured militants had fled from prison in Nineveh,
without giving any further details.
Iraq
shares 1,000-kilometer borders with Syria, where the Daesh/ISIS and PKK terror
groups having active presence.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iraq-nabs-6-daesh-isis-militants-coming-from-syria/2459542
--------
Lebanon
prime minister calls for dialogue to improve ties with Gulf states
Stephanie
Radi
28.12.2021
BEIRUT,
Lebanon
Lebanese
Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday called for national dialogue to enhance
relations with the Gulf countries.
“It’s
important to have an internal understanding through a dialogue table to
strengthen Lebanon's relationships with the Arab states, especially the
Gulf," Mikati told a press conference in Beirut.
He
underlined the necessity “not to insult these countries or meddle in their
domestic affairs."
The
Lebanese premier also called for abiding by the “policy of dissociation to
preserve our country and protects its ties with the international community and
Arab world."
A
diplomatic crisis erupted between Lebanon and Gulf nations over former
Information Minister George Kordahi’s criticism of the Yemen war before
assuming his portfolio.
Kordahi
resigned on Dec. 3 in an effort to heal the rift with the Gulf nations.
Meanwhile,
Mikati described the suspension of the cabinet meetings as a “structural defect
in the government’s work that can neither be ignored nor overlooked."
On
Oct. 13, a cabinet session was postponed indefinitely, following the insistence
of ministers affiliated with the Shia Hezbollah group and Amal movement to hold
a discussion on the Beirut port blast case, in an effort to disqualify the
judicial investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar, whom they accuse of politicizing the
investigation into the explosion.
No
ministerial session has been held since that date.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Saudi-led
military aggression on Yemen now in final stage, senior Ansarullah official
says
29
December 2021
A
senior member of Yemen’s popular Ansarullah resistance movement says Yemeni
army troops and fighters from allied Popular Committees have made notable
achievements in their battle against Saudi-led coalition forces and their
mercenaries, and that the Yemeni retaliatory military operations will continue
until the entire Yemeni territories are liberated.
Speaking
in a Clubhouse interview with Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television
news network on Tuesday, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said the Saudi-led war on Yemen
was now in its final stage, and that it was by no means in the best interests
of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to prolong the military
aggression.
He
added that Saudi-led coalition forces and their mercenaries are on the verge of
defeat in Yemen’s western coastal province of Hudaydah, stating that the troops
have withdrawn from most of their locations there and taken away their
ammunition.
The
Yemeni official said members of Saudi-led alliance view their weapons and
military equipment more valuable than their mercenaries.
Bukhaiti
added that Yemeni retaliatory military operations would continue until complete
liberation of the entire Yemeni lands, saying, “We will not stop as long as the
aggression and siege continue.”
The
member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council said Yemeni armed forces could now
manufacture various homegrown anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles.
He
noted that indigenous Yemeni drones and winged missiles were much more destructive
than fighter jets and warships belonging to the Saudi-led coalition, and that
Yemeni armed forces currently produce sophisticated military hardware.
‘Yemeni
armed forces now have the upper hand’
The
top Ansarullah official said Yemeni army troops and fighters from allied
Popular Committees now had the upper hand in battles against Saudi-led
coalition forces and their mercenaries, stating that the latter has opted to
lower the number of its forces in other Yemeni regions and particularly deploy
them in the strategic oil-producing province of Ma’rib.
He
added that the Riyadh regime and its allies were behind the rapid depreciation
of the Yemeni riyal against foreign currencies and were enforcing a tight siege
on Yemen’s gas and oil wells.
‘Yemen’s
freedom, sovereignty intertwined with Palestine’s’
Elsewhere
in his remarks, Bukhaiti made no distinction between Brigadier General Turki
al-Malki, the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition, and Lieutenant General Aviv
Kochavi, the Israeli regime's army chief
of staff.
“Our
freedom and sovereignty in Yemen is intertwined with those of Palestine,” he
pointed out.
The
member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council finally advised Saudi Arabia and
its allies to think of a peaceful solution to the Yemen crisis, calling on them
to cease aggression against Yemen.
Saudi
Arabia, backed by the United States and 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 Ansarullah
movement.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iraq:
Shia militia boycotts efforts to form government
December
28, 2021
Hezbollah
Brigades in Iraq, a pro-Iran Shia militia, announced on Tuesday its boycott of
efforts to form coalition government in the country after the High Federal
Court ratified results of the October elections, Anadolu reported.
In a
statement, Hezbollah said: "The sides which confiscated the rights of the
Iraqi people were backed by the evil Zio-American-Saudi coalition in order to
advance their agenda."
The
statement also claimed that "Iraq's election commission was subject to the
worst kind of abuse and Iraq's judicial authority was subject to coercion,
threats and pressure by these groups."
According
to the statement, the US ambassador and the UN representative to Iraq had
exerted pressure on the Iraqi authorities and Iraqi court.
"This
led to the Federal Court of Iraq to surrender to them and reject the calls for
cancelling the elections, despite evidence and objections provided by the
protesting coalitions," the statement said.
Hezbollah
Brigades is part of a Shia coalition that includes the State of Law party and
others. However, it is the only one that has so far declared its boycott of the
efforts to form a new government.
"The
objections we lodged with the Federal Court were firm, logical and acceptable
and they would be enough to annul the results of the election, if they were
submitted to courts in any country where democracy is respected," the
statement read.
Iraq's
Supreme Court on Monday ratified the parliamentary election results after it
had rejected earlier appeals by Iran-backed Shia factions against the results.
Source:
Middle East Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20211228-iraq-shia-militia-boycotts-efforts-to-form-government/
--------
Lebanon’s
premier expects draft deal with IMF within weeks
28
December ,2021
Lebanon’s
prime minister said Tuesday that his government’s talks with the International
Monetary Fund are inching closer to a “final formula” for a draft on an
agreement before the end of February.
Najib
Mikati said the Cabinet — which has not met since Oct. 12 — was doing “its
homework” ahead of talks with the IMF in mid-January.
An
IMF delegation will visit Lebanon again in late January or early February to
lay out “the final formula for the agreement with them and then we will
announce to the Lebanese where we stand,” Mikati said.
Lebanon
is in the throes of an economic crisis described as one of the worst in the
world in the last 150 years. International financial institutions call it a
deliberate depression, blaming Lebanon’s political elite, in power for decades,
of mismanaging the country’s resources.
Speaking
at a press conference in Beirut on Monday, Mikati said that Lebanon’s central
bank Gov. Riad Salameh, who is being investigated in at least four countries
including Switzerland and France for potential money laundering and
embezzlement, would stay in office for the time being.
“During
wars you don’t change officers,” said Mikati, who took office in September. He
has often described the efforts to resolve Lebanon’s economic crisis — the
worst in its modern history — as a war.
Salameh,
71, once praised as the guardian of Lebanon’s financial stability, has drawn
scrutiny and much criticism since the small country’s economic meltdown began
two years ago. But the country’s ruling class has largely rallied around him.
An
agreement with the IMF will have to be approved by the government. Deep disagreements
had divided the Lebanese delegation during last year’s negotiations with the
IMF, with the government on one side and the central bank and local lenders on
the other.
Mikati
spoke hours after President Michel Aoun called for an end to the 11-week
government deadlock that has undermined state institutions.
The
Lebanese government has not been able to meet since mid-October, after the
militant Hezbollah group demanded the removal of the lead judge investigating
the massive explosion at the Beirut port last year.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
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India
Hyderabad
Mosque, In Collaboration With Helping Hand Foundation, Sets Up 40-Bed Centre
For The Homeless
29th
December 2021
HYDERABAD:
As hundreds of homeless and abandoned people are suffering due to severe winter
weather that is currently sweeping the state, a mosque in Rajendranagar, in
collaboration with Helping Hand Foundation, has set up a 40-bed home for the
aged and destitute.
This
first-of-its-kind shelter for the abandoned people, which was officially
launched on Tuesday, will have round-the-clock doctor’s attention, nursing and
bedside care along with physiotherapy, dietician, support staff and ambulance
services. The facility will deal will with 70 per cent geriatric cases and 30
per cent other destitute and abandoned people.
A
clinical psychologist will also be available to counsel and help the patients
fight stress. This facility, which is one of the few non-governmental centres
to offer free services to the homeless and destitute regardless of their caste
or faith, aims to maintain high standards of hygiene and sanitation. An
in-house kitchen, being run under the supervision of a clinical nutritionist,
will provide healthy and hygienic food for the patients.
Source:
New Indian Express
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After
Muslims, Christians Target Of Hindutva Brigade: Senior Congress Leader
DECEMBER
29, 2021
This
has been said in the wake of the government’s refusal to renew the FCRA
registration for the Missionaries of Charity
Senior
Congress leader P. Chidambaram on December 29 claimed that after Muslims,
Christians were the new target of the Hindutva brigade, citing the government's
refusal to renew the FCRA registration for the Missionaries of Charity.
Mr.
Chidambaram, who is senior election observer of the Congress for Goa, also
claimed that the mainstream media had banished the story of Home Ministry's
action related to Missionaries of Charity (MoC) from its pages and termed it
"sad and shameful".
"The
rejection of renewal to MoC is a direct attack on NGOs who are doing yeoman
service for the 'poor and wretched' of India," he said on Twitter.
"In
the case of MoC, it reveals bias and prejudice against Christian charity work.
After Muslims, Christians are the new target of the Hindutva brigade," Mr.
Chidambaram said.
Source:
The Hindu
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MP:
Pastor, Muslim held in separate cases of forced conversion
28th
December 2021
JHABUA: pastor and two other persons were arrested on
Monday for allegedly trying to convert a tribal man to Christianity in Jhabua
in Madhya Pradesh, police said, though the local diocese denied the allegations
and called them a smear campaign.
Pastor
Jam Singh (45), and two people, identified as An Singh Ninama (35) and Mangu
Bhuria (42), were arrested on the complaint of Tetia Bariya (26), who has claimed
they tried to convert him to Christianity on Sunday, Kalyanpura police station
in charge Dinesh Rawat said.
"Bariya
has claimed he was invited to a prayer house by the three on Sunday, where
water was sprinkled on him and the Bible was read. Bariya has also alleged the
three told him his family would get free health and education facilities post
conversion. He, however, left the place," Rawat said.
Singh,
Ninama and Bhuria have been charged under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of
Religion Act 2021, the official added.
Meanwhile,
Jhabua Shalom Diocese (Pentecostal) Auxiliary Bishop Reverend Paul Muniya told
PTI a smear campaign was being run in tribal dominated areas to defame
Christians on the false pretext of conversion.
"The
campaign is aimed at political gains. Some organisations are dividing the
tribals. Our pastor and two believers, all three of them Christian tribals,
have not indulged in any attempt to convert, allure any person to our faith. We
are praying to God to forgive our tormentors," he said.
A
35-year-old Muslim man was arrested in Ashok Nagar district in Madhya Pradesh
after his Hindu live-in partner complained that he was forcing her to convert
to Islam for the sake of marriage, police said on Monday.
As
per the complaint lodged on Sunday evening, the 30-year-old woman has said
Javeed Khan was in a relationship with her after claiming to be Rakesh
Kushwaha, a Hindu, for the past five years, an official said.
Source:
New Indian Express
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Two
years ago, still relevant: Shashi Tharoor on old post comparing Hinduism,
Hindutva
Dec
29, 2021
NEW
DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday shared his post from 2020 on
Twitter, which pointed out differences between Hinduism and Hindutva, and said
that it is "still relevant."
"Two
years ago. Still relevant!" the post was captioned tagging an old tweet
that read, "An interesting, though incomplete, comparative table doing the
rounds. #HinduismVsHindutva."
Hindutva
as characterized in the post shared by Tharoor states: "Hindutva is
monolithic. In that, it is more like Islam and Christianity than
Hinduism," while "Hinduism is pluralistic. It is a union of many ways
of life."
The
post also stated that "Hindutva is a homogeneous racial-territorial
category propagated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar" while "Hinduism is a
great union of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and
no founder."
This
post by Tharoor comes at a time when incidents of hate speech against a
particular community have been reported during 'Dharam Sansad' in Uttarakhand's
Haridwar.
Source:
Times of India
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Pak
terrorist killed accomplice Mudasir, tried to escape using Altaf Bhat as human
shield: SIT probe
M
Saleem Pandit
Dec
29, 2021
SRINAGAR:
A special investigation team headed by DIG (central Kashmir) Sujit Kumar Singh
claimed on Thursday that Mudasir Gul was killed by Pakistani terrorist Bilal
Bhai, his accomplice, on the directions of his mentors in Pakistan as they felt
that Gul had informed the security forces about his presence in a building in
Hyderpora, on Srinagar’s outskirts, on November 15.
Hyderpora
building owner Altaf Bhat, who had rented out some space to Gul, a property
broker who also ran a call centre in the hired premises, was used as a human
shield by the Bilal in his bid to escape, the police claimed. "Both
terrorists, Bilal Bhai (from Pakistan) and Amir Magray of Gool Gulabgarh,
Ramban, were carrying pistols when they tried to escape using Bhat as a shield.
The security forces who had cordoned off the building opened fire and Altaf
Bhat was killed in cross-firing," DIG Sujit Kumar said at a press
conference at the police control room here. DGP Dilbagh Singh and IGP (Kashmir)
Vijay Kumar were also at the press conference.
The
SIT report reveals that Amir Magray had been staying with Bilal, who belonged
to the outfit TRF/Lashkar-e-Taiba, in the room hired by Gul in Hyderpora.
DIG
Kumar said Magray was a terrorist and, when asked, had lied to the security
forces when he told them there was no foreign terrorist in the building.
DIG
Sujit Kumar Singh, in his detailed presentation about the investigation into
the Hyderpora encounter, said that CCTV footage and other evidence showed that
Altaf was used as a human shield by Bilal Bhai.
"The
footage and other evidence show that Amir Magray had accompanied the foreign
terrorist Bilal Jamalata in the first week of November to downtown Srinagar
where he had shot at a civilian," the DIG said, adding, "Magray, who
was working clandestinely with Mudasir Gul at his call centre in the Hyderpora
building, would often travel to Bandipora and Gurez."
"Two
pistols and four magazines were recovered from the encounter site," the
DIG said, adding that Bilal Bhai, who was involved in selective killings, would
make calls from Magray’s cellphone. He would otherwise stay put in the attic,
the DIG said.
The
police officer said the SIT had sought details in writing about Mudasir Gul,
Altaf Bhat and Amir Magray from their kin but they did not furnish details nor
cooperate with the investigators. "There were no satisfactory details from
Altaf’s family," he said.
Meanwhile,
the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) rejected the police’s
claims as a "concocted cover-up story" and reiterated its demand for
a "credible judicial probe" into the controversial Hyderpora
encounter. "Today’s press briefing by the J&K police about last
month’s tragic incident at Hyderpora is only a repetition of the old story. It
does not even slightly give any objective picture of this shocking
incident," PAGD spokesperson M Y Tarigami said in a statement.
The
J&K government had ordered a magisterial inquiry by the additional district
magistrate that was to be completed within 15 days, while the police
constituted an SIT under DIG Sujit Kumar to probe whether three locals had been
killed by the forces during the operation against the Pakistani terrorist.
Source:
Times of India
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Day
after realty summit, Kashmir parties slam attempt to ‘change demography’
By
Bashaarat Masood
December
28, 2021
While
the Jammu and Kashmir administration has termed the signing of real estate MoUs
worth Rs 18,900 crore a “historical transformation”, political parties across
the mainstream-separatist spectrum in the Kashmir Valley are viewing it as an
attempt to alter the region’s demographic identity.
The
separatist Hurriyat Conference has called the summit a step towards
“demographic change”. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it was “brazen
loot”. The National Conference, meanwhile, said Jammu and Kashmir is being “put
up for sale”.
The
39 MoUs were signed Monday at the Jammu and Kashmir Real Estate Summit 2021,
the first of its kind in the region. Nineteen of these MoUs were related to the
residential sector, eight were for commercial projects and four were for
hospitality. There were three MoUs for infrastructure, two for finance and
three for the film and entertainment sector.
The
Jammu and Kashmir administration termed it a “historical transformation” and
encouraged people from different parts of the country to buy land or second
homes in the Union Territory.
This
had led to the fears of demographic change in Jammu and Kashmir. Before the
abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, only state subjects could buy
land or immovable property there.
PDP
spokesperson Suhail Bukahri said: “What happened on August 5, 2019 was not the
end in itself. In fact, that was beginning of a process to disempower and
disenfranchise the people of Muslim majority state. Their (BJP and RSS) eyes
are set on the land of Jammu and Kashmir, on our resources, on our minerals.
These orders that come one after the other are an attempt towards completion of
their agenda.”
On
Monday night, PDP chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti termed the
real estate summit a “brazen loot” aimed at annihilating the identity of Jammu
and Kashmir.
“J&Ks
special status was illegally revoked to dehumanise, dispossess & disempower
the only Muslim majority state in India. GOIs brazen loot and sale of our
resources shows that the sole motive is to annihilate our identity and change
the demography,” Mufti tweeted.
The
Hurriyat Conference sought the intervention of the international community.
“The government of India wants to change the demographic character of Muslim
majority J&K and disempower its residents through such diktats and measures
in order to scuttle the final resolution of the long-standing international
political dispute of Kashmir in accordance with the will and aspirations of its
people as promised by the international community…,” said the separatist
conglomerate led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. “Since August 2019, in succession one
after another authoritarian laws and diktats have been implemented in J&K
towards this end. To facilitate the electoral prospects of the ruling party in
India, J&K has become its favourite whipping boy.”
Former
Chief Minister and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah tweeted:
“Once again the true intentions of the government are brought to the fore.
While offering to secure the land, jobs, domicile laws and identity of the
people of Ladakh, J&K is being put up for sale. People of Jammu should
beware, ‘investors’ will buy up land in Jammu long before Kashmir.”
The
Altaf Bukhari-led Apni Party said while the development of Jammu and Kashmir is
welcome, it should not be at the cost of domicile laws.
Source:
Indian Express
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kashmir-realty-summit-7695174/lite/
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Southeast Asia
Court
rules vernacular schools constitutionally protected, throws out Malay-Muslim
group’s suit
29
Dec 2021
BY
DANIAL DZULKIFLY
KUALA
LUMPUR, Dec 29 — Malaysia’s vernacular schools were consistent with its Federal
Constitution, the High Court reiterated today when rejecting a lawsuit seeking
for the government to abolish education using Mandarin and Tamil.
In
reading his summary judgment this morning, Justice Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd
Ghazali said the Federal Constitution, in fact, expressly protected teaching in
mother tongues other than Bahasa Malaysia.
He
further said the plaintiffs failed to show how vernacular education had
infringed on their personal liberty under the constitution.
“Given
that the use of Chinese and Tamil in vernacular schools as a medium of
instruction is constitutional as it is protected under the exceptions in Articles
152 (1) (a) and (b) of the Constitution, there is no basis to contend that the
establishment and existence of vernacular schools are inconsistent with or
infringe Articles 5, 8, 10, 11 and 12 of the Federal Constitution.
“In
any event, it has not been shown in what manner the establishment and existence
of the vernacular schools have violated the fundamental liberties of any person
guaranteed in the said Articles.
“Enrolment
in a vernacular school is after all a matter of choice. It is difficult to see
in what fashion the establishment and existence of Chinese and Tamil vernacular
schools would infringe the fundamental liberties or rights of any person under
the constitution,” he said.
Nazlan
also pointed out that vernacular schools are educational institutions under the
Education Act 1996 and are not public or statutory authorities.
As
such, he said it is not considered an offence if another language than Malay is
used as a medium of instruction, adding that this is safeguarded under Article
152 (1) (a) of the Federal Constitution.
Gabungan
Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS), the Islam Education Development Council
(Mappim) and the Confederation of Malaysian Writers Association (Gapena)
initiated the lawsuit to push the government to prohibit vernacular schools.
They
wanted the court to declare that such schools were unconstitutional, and even
claimed their existence violated Article 152(1) of the Federal Constitution
that declared the Malay language as the national language.
The
groups also claimed that Sections 2, 17 and 28 of the Education Act 1966, which
allow Mandarin and Tamil schools to conduct lessons in these languages, were
similarly unconstitutional.
In
addition, they also wanted the courts to declare vernacular schools to be in
violation of Articles 5 (right to a dignified life), 8 (equality), 10 (freedom
of speech, assembly and association), 11 (freedom in religion), and 12 (rights
in respect of education) of the Constitution.
Source:
Malay Mail
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Putrajaya
mulls postponing Malaysians’ umrah trips if Omicron escalates in future
28
Dec 2021
BY
YISWAREE PALANSAMY
KUALA
LUMPUR, Dec 28 — The Muslim minor pilgrimage trips of umrah to Saudi Arabia
will be postponed if the Omicron variant spread there worsens or the infection
intensifies among Malaysian pilgrims, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.
He
said that returnees will also be quarantined at government-mandated stations —
instead of currently being allowed to self-isolate at home and wearing digital
trackers throughout their quarantine period.
“If,
if the situation in Saudi Arabia worsens and if the spread of Omicron from
those who return from umrah later is at a level that is rather worrying, then
we have a further step-up measure, that is to be quarantined at quarantine
stations and thirdly, we postpone the umrah first,” he told the press here.
However,
Khairy stressed that this is only a last resort, and the current situation has yet
to achieve that level.
“We
will go step by step. We are being pre-emptive but not until the extent where
we have to make hurried decisions.
“We
are still monitoring the situation, we are stepping up the gatekeeping and also
the measures,” he added.
Khairy
said that the Ministry of Health will also remind relevant travel agencies to
ensure that Malaysian travellers or pilgrims heading to Saudi Arabia to receive
their Covid-19 vaccine booster shots before leaving.
Upon
returning, he said travellers are also encouraged to carry out self-tests daily
throughout their quarantine period as many of those who initially tested
negative pre-departure and upon arrival, only tested positive on the fifth day.
“So
this means they were infected, but cannot be detected during the pre-departure
test and the test upon arrival at the international departure gate. That is
something new that we are learning about Omicron now,” Khairy said.
Khairy
said that the MoH also strongly advises Malaysians against non-essential travel
to any of the 18 countries listed as high risk, as the situation there is
“very, very risky and very, very dangerous”.
He
also advised those who are planning to visit friends and family for New Year
celebrations to carry out self-tests beforehand.
“Omicron
is here. What we want to do is to slow down the spread of Omicron.
“We
saw from our experience with the Melaka state election, Sarawak state election
and perhaps also the Christmas celebration, which did not cause an increase in
cases. This is for sure, because most people abided by the SOPs,” he added.
Khairy
also weighed in on a statement by Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, who
took to his Facebook yesterday, alleging that a male British student, who was
under quarantine in Bintulu after testing positive for the Omicron variant, had
violated the order and cut short his quarantine even before his test result was
out.
Tiong
had said that although all the identified people who came into contact with the
student from the UK had been placed in isolation, the authorities are still
unable to accurately determine how many more people had come into contact with
the individual.
Khairy,
when asked to comment during the press conference, said that the student had
breached his quarantine by going out on December 17 to the Covid-19 assessment
centre (CAC), two days before his home surveillance order (HSO) was due to end.
He
said that the MoH is also investigating the matter.
Source:
Malay Mail
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Will
turn away stricken boat of Rohingya refugees, says Indonesia
DECEMBER
29, 2021
‘They
not Indonesian citizens, we can't just bring them in even as refugees. This is
in line with government policy, says official.
Indonesian
authorities will help repair a stranded boat packed with ovee 100 Rohingya off
its coast but will not allow its passengers to seek refuge in the Southeast
Asian country and will turn thevessel away, officials said on Tuesday, December
29, 2021.
Fishermen
spotted the skiff on Sunday, adrift off the coast of Bireuen, a district on the
western island of Sumatra, with around 120 men, women and children onboard.
"The
Rohingya are not Indonesian citizens, we can't just bring them in even as
refugees. This is in line with government policy," said Dian Suryansyah, a
local navy official.
Authorities
would provide humanitarian aid to the stricken vessel, including food, medicine
and water, before turning it away, he added.
Indonesia
is not a signatory to the 1951 U.N. Convention on Refugees and is predominately
seen as a transit country for those seeking asylum to a third country.
The
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on
Tuesday that the boat had suffered engine damage and should be allowed to land.
"UNHCR
is concerned about the safety and lives of the refugees on board," the
statement said.
Badruddin
Yunus, a local fishing community leader, said that the refugees had been at sea
for 28 days and some of them had fallen ill and one had died.
Source:
The Hindu
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South Asia
Threat
of narco-terrorism rise after Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
December
29, 2021
India
has been facing the menace of narco-terrorism since several years now. This
nexus between narcotics and terrorism has serious repercussions for Indias
security. The 'Golden Crescent comprising Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan is the
largest producer of illicit opium and Indias close proximity to the areas
increases the threat it faces. And now it has become a matter of even greater
concern after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Entire
illegal drug trade is controlled by the Taliban, who work in connivance with
Pakistan intelligence agents, military officers and politicians. After the fall
of Afghanistan's government this year and Taliban taking over Kabul, Indian
security agencies have seized drugs being brought illegally from Afghanistan
and Pakistan at the Indian ports and at borders. Illicit drug trade has
increased with huge caches being smuggled inside the country.
On
December 19, a Pakistani fishing boat 'Al Huseini' with six crew members and
carrying 77 kg of heroin worth around Rs 400 crore was apprehended in the
Indian waters off the Gujarat coast. The boat registered in Karachi was
carrying this consignment to be delivered to their clients in India. The joint
operation was carried out by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) with Gujarat's
Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
This
was the second joint operation of ICG and Gujarat ATS in the past three months
wherein a total of Rs 550 crore worth of heroin has been seized.
As
per official data, narcotics worth more than Rs 30,000 crore smuggled along the
Gujarat coast have been confiscated in the last three to four years.
On
December 26, BSF personnel recovered 40 kg of heroin worth Rs 200 crore in two
separate incidents in Punjab's Ferozepur sector. In the first incident, troops
heard a thumping sound of something hitting the ground near the border area.
When the BSF personnel searched the area, they recovered 34 kg heroin concealed
in 22 packets near the border outpost Mian Wali Uttar.
In
the second, BSF personnel seized six packets of heroin, weighing 6 kg worth Rs
30 crore near border outpost Mohammadi Wala.
These
two seizures were made just a day after over 10 kg of the substance was seized
in the same region. On December 25, the BSF recovered 11 packets of heroin
weighing 10.852 kg near Barreke along the India-Pakistan border.
Last
November, the ATS had seized a heroin consignment worth about Rs 600 crore from
an under-construction house in Morbi district of Gujarat. According to the ATS,
the consignment was sent by Pakistani drug dealers to their Indian
counterparts.
Kabul
fell to the Taliban on August 15 and soon after Indian security agencies seized
another large consignment smuggled into India. On September 13, around 3,000 kg
of heroin was seized from two containers at Gujarat's Mundra port and the
consignment had come from Afghanistan, concealed in jumbo bags said to contain
unprocessed talc powder.
The
seizure made during a joint operation by the Customs department and the
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence was valued at around Rs 20,000 crore.
Such
a big seizure led to a thorough investigation, which is still continuing and in
a series of raids across the country, eight persons, including Afghan and
Uzbekistan nationals, were arrested.
Prior
to this, in last April, Indian agencies apprehended a boat with Pakistan
nationals from Indian waters near the Jakhaucoast. The boat was carrying 30 kg
of heroin worth about Rs 150 crore.
The
security agencies are investigating the route and source of all these
consignments seized during 2021. After the Taliban regime's returned in
Afghanistan, the cases have been rising in India. Taliban regime is
consolidating their grip over the illegal drug trade and Indian agencies are
keeping a strict vigil at the borders to thwart such activities.
Afghanistan
and Pakistan alone have shared nearly 6000 metric tonnes of the total illicit
production in 1999. This year, Afghanistan's harvest will account for more than
90 per cent of worldwide illegal heroin production. This illicit production
which is mostly rooted to fund terror activities in India is a matter of grave
concern. These drugs are the major source of funding for Pakistan-sponsored
terrorism in this country.
India
has been the victim of state-sponsored terrorism for the last two decades. The
Pakistan government in collaboration with the ISI uses proceeds of illicit
narcotic drugs to fund terrorism in India. Pakistan also conspires to create
ethnic division in the country by exploiting the religious sentiments and
economic backwardness of people in the bordering states of Jammu and Kashmir,
Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Assam, Manipur and other states. The ISI often
allures poor people in these states into illicit narcotic drugs trade to fund
terrorist activities in India.
Source:
Business Standard
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No
threat from Afghanistan’s borders to region: Taliban reacted to Putin’s
concerns
28
Dec 2021
A
spokesperson of the Taliban Inamullah Samangani reacted to the recent concerns
of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and added that there is no threat from
Afghanistan’s borders to regional countries.
Inamullah
Samangani in a voice clip on Monday, December 28 said that there is latterly
neither potential nor a de facto threat from Afghanistan’s border to any other
country.
During
his meeting with Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahman, Vladimir Putin said
that the security situation on the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border is concerning.
Putin
mentioned his country’s military equipment given to Tajikistan’s military
forces to get stronger and address potential threats from other countries.
“As
we have assured security inside Afghanistan, the borders of Afghanistan are
likewise well protected and are under surveillance. Rumors over Potential
threats from our borders are baseless.” Said Samangani.
Source:
Khaama Press
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Turkey,
Qatar await Taliban green light to run airports
December
28, 2021
ISTANBUL:
Private Turkish and Qatari companies have agreed to jointly operate five
airports in Afghanistan, although they are still waiting to reach a final deal
with the Taliban, officials said Tuesday.
Turkish
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday that a "memorandum of
understanding" had been inked in Doha earlier this month, covering Kabul
and four other airports in the war-ravaged country.
Cavusoglu
said the United Arab Emirates, which operated the civilian part of Kabul
airport before the Taliban stormed back to power after two decades of civil
war, also expressed an interest in joining the Turkish and Qatari companies.
He
said the issue was discussed during Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin
Zayed's visit to Ankara in late November.
"They
said 'maybe we can run work trilaterally' but there was never any concrete
proposal," said Cavusoglu.
"We
haven't presented any proposal to them either. But operating the airport
briefly appeared on the agenda."
Turkish
and Qatari officials have said little about the details of the memorandum of
understanding, refusing to say which companies were to be involved.
Responding
to mounting speculation that a deal may be imminent, Afghan civil aviation
ministry spokesman Imamuddin Ahmadi told AFP on Tuesday that "no deal has
been signed yet".
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1994296/world
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Pakistan
University
Of Agriculture Faisalabad Sub-Campus Bans Jeans, Issues Dress Code For Its Male
And Female Students
December
29, 2021
TOBA
TEK SINGH: The Toba sub-campus of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad
(UAF) has issued a dress code for its male and female students.
In a
notification on Tuesday, Principal Dr Nisar Ahmad said the male students were
not allowed to wear shorts, cut-off jeans, multi-pocket, faded, torn and
skin-fitted jeans and trousers, T-shirts with messages of any kind, Chappals
and slippers, bandanas, caps, vest of any kind, long hair and ponytails,
earrings, wrist straps and bracelets.
Source:
Dawn
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LHC
chief justice orders submission of challan in Sialkot lynching case
December
29, 2021
NAROWAL:
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti directed Sialkot District
Police Officer Omar Saeed Malik to complete challan of the accused involved in
the lynching of Sri Lankan citizen Priyantha Kumara and submit it to the court
as soon as possible.
He
gave the direction during a visit to the District Judicial Complex on Tuesday.
The
CJ was accompanied by Justice Shujaat Ali Khan, Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi,
Justice Masood Abid Naqvi, Justice Anwarul Haq Pinnu and LHC Registrar Irfan
Ahmed Saeed.
DPO
Malik gave a detailed briefing to the chief justice on the progress made so far
in the lynching case of the Sri Lankan citizen.
The
CJ also addressed the judicial officers in the committee room of the District
and Sessions Court. He laid the foundation stone of the expansion plan of the
Judicial Complex in Sialkot. An amount of Rs100m would be spent on construction
of eight additional civil and family courts on 18 kanals land. DC Farooq and
Exen Building Zahiruddin Babar briefed the CJ on the project.
Source:
Dawn
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Sheikh
Shahriari: Muslim world victories owed to wise leadership of Supreme Leader
December
29, 2021
Secretary
General of World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought met with top
Sufi Sheikhs in Cultural Center of Islamic Republic of Iran in Rawalpindi in
part of the trip by Iranian delegation to Pakistan.
Senior
Shia cleric Sheikh Hamid Shahriari in this meeting hailed the Supreme Leader of
Islamic Republic over his wise leadership which has led to several victories
achieved in the world of Islam.
He
referred to the solidarity of Shia Hezbollah forces and Sunni Hamas fighters
making great achievements against Israeli regime as an instance of unity in the
world of Islam and said," This victory in the world of Islam is a result
of wise leadership of the Supreme Leader."
The
cleric vowed that once world Muslims join forces, they can make greater
achievements.
Sheikh
Hamid Shahriari also referred to the Islamic Republic Iran as another instance
for Islamic unity and noted," The different ethnicities in Iran are all
united because unity is a recommendation by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)"
calling on followers of all Islamic denominations to maintain solidarity.
He
called on Muslim clerics to warn those who fan the fire of disagreements and
said," The solidarity of people in Pakistan is owed to endeavors of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal Lahori.
Source:
ABNA24
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Spoilers
cannot harm Pakistan's strong ties with Iran: Religious Minister
December
29, 2021
Pakistan’s
Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony praising the constructive
role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the region and uniting Muslims said
Pakistan enjoys strong relations with Iran and no external or internal elements
can harm these ties.
Noor-ul-Haq
Qadri expressed these views during a meeting with the Secretary-General of the
World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought Hamid Shahriari on
Tuesday in Islamabad.
The
Minister of Religious Affairs of Pakistan expressed his satisfaction with the
presence of the delegation of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools
of Thought in Islamabad and praised the efforts of this Islamic organization to
increase the unity of the scholars of the Islamic world and strengthen
solidarity between Muslim nations, including Iran and Pakistan.
Noor-ul-Haq
Qadri added the people and government of Pakistan are grateful for the support
of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Muslim nations and the people of
Kashmir.
Emphasizing
the decisive role of the clergy and religious elites of Iran and Pakistan in
resolving misunderstandings and joint steps towards unity and solidarity
against common enemies, he said Pakistan will foil any attempt by internal and
external destructive elements to harm these relations.
Pakistani
Minister recalled his meeting with the late Ayatollah Taskhiri ten years ago
during his visit to Lahore, as well as three trips to Tehran and other holy
sites.
He
added Pakistan firmly believes in respect for divine religions and "we are
ready to work closely with the Islamic world", including the Islamic
Republic of Iran, to advance the mission of rapprochement and joint cooperation
to exploit religious commonalities and avoid differences.
Noor-ul-Haq
Qadri said Pakistan is committed to deepening close relations with the Islamic
Republic of Iran, exchange of religious delegations and religious elites, the
interaction between Islamic and research institutions, including the promotion
of pilgrimage tourism from Pakistan to Iranian religious sites.
Referring
to Iranian civilization and the history of the Persian language in the
subcontinent, he stressed the need for cooperation between the two countries to
promote the Persian language in Pakistan, adding that the government,
especially the Ministry of Religious Affairs is ready for any cooperation with
the Iranian embassy and cultural missions in Pakistan.
Pakistan's
Minister of Religious Affairs also called for facilitating trade and commerce
between the two countries' borders, citing it as an effective factor in
expanding mutual cooperation.
He
also informed about his ministry’s consultations with the Pakistan Civil
Aviation Authority to establish direct flights to the holy city of Mashad from
the cities of Karachi and Lahore.
Secretary-General
of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought welcomed the
unifying efforts of the Minister of Religious Affairs of Pakistan and invited
Noor-ul-Haq Qadri to attend the upcoming International Conference on Islamic
Unity in Tehran.
Hamid
Shahriari emphasized the need to encourage Muslim nations to exploit the
commonalities among themselves which is the main solution to prevent division
and chaos among the Islamic Ummah.
Ambassador
of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Pakistan Mohammad Ali Hosseini and Member of
Iranian Assembly of Experts Molavi Nazir Ahmad Salami discussed Iran's efforts
to expand religious and health tourism.
Source:
ABNA24
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Taliban
flexes muscles to backer Pakistan: What’s their difference point?
December
28, 2021
Until
just a few months ago, when the Taliban took full control of Kabul, a few
people imagined that there would be a crisis between the Taliban and Pakistan.
The Taliban have always been portrayed as a Pakistan-affiliated group pursuing
Islamabad goals, but recently border tensions between the group and Islamabad
have escalated and even the two sides exchanged fire over the border.
Pakistani
government not Islamic!
One
of the most outspoken statements against Pakistan came two weeks ago by
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman and deputy minister of information and culture
for the Taliban government.
In a
statement, he said that the ruling government in Pakistan was "not
Islamic". Mujahid's remarks were one of the Taliban's sharpest verbal
attacks on its backer Islamabad, and was, indeed, influenced by differences between
the Pakistani government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Taliban's
Pakistani affiliate.
Mujahideen's
remarks came a day after the TTP
announced that it would not accept a ceasefire plan proposed by the government.
The militant movement has been at war with the Islamabad for decades, and after
the Taliban seized the power in Kabul in early August, Islamabad announced that
it struck ceasefire deal with the TTP through the Taliban, although differences
remain in place.
Sparks
to border clashes
Pakistan
and Afghanistan have historical differences over the Durand Line. The
2400-kilometer Durand Line is located on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and
makes a long border. In addition to Afghanistan, Pakistan also agreed with Iran
a few years ago to fence the common border.
Pakistan
claims the fence was installed at a high cost to prevent illegal
transportation. The former Afghan government opposed the installation of the
fence, arguing that the measure should not be considered until the border disputes
are resolved. The Taliban also opposes the border demarcation and has stated
that it does not recognize Durand Line.
While
Pakistan had high hopes that the issue of its border disputes with Afghanistan
would remain silent as the Taliban assumed the power, the Taliban proved
reluctant to turn a blind eye. Less than a week ago, a fence set up by the
Pakistani army on the Durand Line on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was cut by
Taliban forces.
Also,
a few days ago, a video was circulated online showing Taliban special forces
cutting the fence installed by Pakistan. In the footage, it was claimed that
the fence was installed inside Afghanistan and the forces of the interim
government of Afghanistan reacted severely to it. The incident sparked
Taliban's border skirmishes with Pakistan. An Afghan journalist, Bilal Sarwari,
had tweeted the video. According to the journalist, the commander of the
Taliban security forces, known as Dr. Bashir, was the commander of the
intelligence forces that led the fence removal operation. The incident took
place in Goshta village of Nangarhar province, which borders Mohmand District
of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province northwest of Pakistan.
Exchange
of fire along with agreement announcement
Field
sources in Afghanistan told Alwaght that the Taliban have been sending some of
their military equipment and artillery to the Pakistani border since late
Saturday. Pakistan has also raised the issue of demolition of its fences in
Nangarhar province with Taliban officials and called for an investigation. In
the last round of the rare tensions, the Pakistani army fired dozens of rockets
at villages in the Sirkanay District of Kunar province on Friday evening, and
field sources said the Taliban responded by targeting Pakistan forces' positions.
A
Taliban commander who was also present at the border with Pakistan amid clashes
reportedly claimed that the Afghan border extends up to kilometers from the
Pakistani capital Islamabad. This statement means that the Taliban does not
accept the current Pakistani borderline.
Official
sources in the Pakistani government or Taliban leaders have not yet commented
on the clash, but a senior Pakistani official said that Pakistan and the
Taliban have reached an agreement on resolving the border fence issue through
dialogue. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the issue, said the Taliban's local intelligence chief had tried
to remove the fence and that the move was not approved by the Taliban
leadership. According to the Express Tribune newspaper, Pakistan and the
Taliban "established high-level contacts" after the incident and
agreed to resolve the issue through dialogue.
Source:
ABNA24
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PPP
opposes any deal with extremists, militants
December
29, 2021
LARKANA:
The central executive committee of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) which met
in Naudero House on late Monday evening paid homage to its slain leader,
Benazir Bhutto, on her 14th death anniversary, and lauded her exceptional
leadership qualities.
The
meeting was chaired by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
It
strongly opposed moves to bring those extremists, who had been involved in the
assassination of the former prime minister, security personnel and hundreds of
other citizens, to the mainstream politics. The meeting also rejected “state’s
move to strike any secret deal with extremists and militants”.
It
decided to adopt an effective political strategy to send the ‘selected’ [PTI]
government packing.
Source:
Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1666381/ppp-opposes-any-deal-with-extremists-militants
--------
Europe
Human
rights abuses in Yemen won’t continue with impunity: UN
Ibrahim
Mukhtar
28.12.2021
SANAA,
Yemen
The
United Nations warned on Tuesday that human rights violations will not go on
with “impunity” in war-torn Yemen.
We
stress “that violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in
Yemen cannot continue with impunity,” UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General
for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in a statement.
The
UN envoy “denounced the recent major military escalation in Yemen”, and urged
the warring sides “to immediately de-escalate”.
The
ongoing “escalation undermines the prospects of reaching a sustainable
political settlement to end the conflict in Yemen,” Grundberg warned.
Yemen
has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned
Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
A
Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government has worsened the
situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, with
nearly 80% or about 30 million needing humanitarian assistance and protection,
and more than 13 million in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.
Since
February, Houthi rebels have stepped up attacks to take control of the oil-rich
Marib province, one of the most important strongholds of the legitimate
government and home to the headquarters of Yemen’s Defense Ministry.
“The
continued offensive on Marib and the continued missile attacks on the
governorate are also resulting in civilian casualties, damage to civilian
objects and mass displacement,” Grundberg said.
He
also blamed the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Sanaa for causing loss of
civilian lives and damage of “civilian infrastructure and residential areas.”
The
UN diplomat decried the impact of the escalation on the humanitarian situation
and reminded all sides that any indiscriminate attacks on civilians constitute
“a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and must stop
immediately.”
Grundberg
expressed his dismay that the year 2021 “is ending on a tragic note for
Yemenis, millions of whom are struggling with poverty, hunger and severe
restrictions on their freedom of movement.”
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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UN
bodies call on Yemen’s Houthis to immediately release detained staff
28
December ,2021
The
UN on Tuesday called on Yemen’s Houthis to immediately release staff members
they detained last month.
The
Iran-backed group continues to detain two UN staff members, in addition to US
employees they detained in recent months without any legal basis for their
detention.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“The
Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, and Michelle Bachelet, UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, continue to be deeply concerned for the
well-being of two of their staff members who were detained in early November in
Sanaa, Yemen. No communication from the UN has been possible with the staff
members since that time,” a joint statement from UNESCO and the UN Human Rights
said.
This
comes after the Houthis had promised to release the UN staff.
“OHCHR
and UNESCO recall the privileges and immunities accorded to staff of the UN
system under international law, which are essential to the proper discharge of
their official functions, and call for the staff members’ immediate release
without any further delays,” Tuesday’s statement said.
In
October, the Houthis detained 30 local Yemeni staff and were subsequently
released with the help of Washington’s regional partners, a State Department
official previously told Al Arabiya English.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Turkish
Embassy in Poland attacked with Molotov cocktails
Huseyingulu
Huseyinzade
28.12.2021
WARSAW
The
Turkish Embassy in Poland was attacked with Molotov cocktails on Tuesday.
The
incident occurred at around 2:00 p.m. local time (1300GMT) when a 34-year-old
man of Turkish origin threw three Molotov cocktails at the embassy building,
located on Rakowiecka Street in the capital Warsaw, the Polish news agency PAP
reported.
Police
teams were sent to the site where the embassy building is located following the
incident.
The
suspect was caught by the security forces guarding the embassy, and no one was
injured in the incident, the agency reported citing police sources.
The
Warsaw Police Department examined the camera records in the building and launched
a large-scale investigation into the incident.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkish-embassy-in-poland-attacked-with-molotov-cocktails/2459859
--------
Turkish
defence minister receives honorary Bosnian citizenship
Sarp
Ozer
28.12.2021
BELGRADE,
Serbia
Turkey's
defense minister was awarded honorary Bosnia and Herzegovina citizenship during
an official visit to the city of Zenica on Tuesday.
Hulusi
Akar Akar paid a visit to the EUFOR Task Force TAF Liaison and Monitoring Team
House in Zenica to receive a briefing on the mission's activities.
After
the visit, Akar met with families he knew in the city, where he served 25 years
ago as a member of the Turkish Armed Forces.
At
the end of the meeting, Akar was presented with an honorary citizenship
certificate by the speaker of the Zenica Doboj Canton Parliament.
At
the occasion, Akar expressed gratitude to the city and stated that Zenica is
very important to them since "we spent very important and meaningful days
here."
Turkey
is very sensitive about Bosnia and Herzegovina, he said.
"We
worked together willingly and intensively to improve social life and make daily
life easier as soon as the cease-fire was signed in 1995," he said,
referring to the Dayton Accords which ended the Bosnian War.
"We
put a lot of time and work into it," he remarked, adding that Bosnians'
well-being is equally important to the happiness of the Turkish people.
"Your
happiness and security really concern us. We hope Bosnia and Herzegovina
continues its development for stability and integrity. The people of Bosnia and
Herzegovina as a whole deserve to live happily. You have the right to live in
comfort and peace after the serious hardships experienced in the past. We will
continue to work together,” he vowed.
Later,
Akar visited Zenica Turkish Park. He also had a souvenir photo taken in front
of the Turkish Fountain, built by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Turkish Brigade
Command in 1999, and a tree he planted during his visit to the city in 2014.
Kosovo
visit
Akar
later proceeded to neighbor Kosovo, where he was welcomed with a military
ceremony by his counterpart Armend Mehaj in the capital Pristina.
After
a face-to-face meeting, Akar and Mehaj held a joint press conference.
"We
had an extremely comprehensive, constructive. and positive meeting," Akar
told reporters.
Akar
said Turkey and Kosovo continue to cooperate in many areas, including economic
and military-related issues.
"Our
cooperation in the fields of defense, security, and the defense industry is
growing every day," he added.
Stressing
the importance of the fight against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO),
the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, Akar said: "This
(group) may turn into a threat not only to our country but also to
Kosovo."
Turkey
has often stressed the international nature of the FETO terrorist threat.
FETO
and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July
15, 2016 which left 251 people dead and 2,734 injured.
Ankara
also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the
state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the
military, police, and judiciary.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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--------
Mideast
Senior
Iranian Cleric Underlines Importance of Positive, Constructive Interaction
among Religions, Denominations
2021-December-28
“Interaction
and dialogue between religions is one of the most important and practical
necessities of human and religious societies in the contemporary world.
Extensive communications between people and their interactions with each other,
along with peaceful coexistence, can advance human and humanitarian goals in
today’s world, a world where there are more political, social and cultural
complexities than ever before. In this regard, positive and constructive interactions
between religions is one of the most important factors and prerequisites for
saving the global civilization, and creating intimacy among human societies. It
can also be the criteria for all relations in different areas,” Ayatollah Arafi
wrote in an essay.
“The
interactions of religions can have tremendous effects on their convergence, as
well as on the human society. The common values of religions can easily fulfill
human needs. The diversity and multiplicity of religions is a key opportunity
for human society to deepen the understanding and vision of human society
through religious dialogue and the exchange their achievements,” he added.
The
full text of his essay is as follows:
In
brief, we believe that political and social systems are not merely established
based on different cultures, but rather based around common origins that enable
cultures to unite. Dialogue based on this logic can include the entire world,
as this issue is based on deep and fundamental human logic and includes human
philosophy, the common legal and jurisprudential system as well as the moral
system. However, mankind has yet to take steps towards reaching such dialogues
based on rational, human and philosophical principles.
Positive
and constructive interaction as a prerequisite for the salvation of the global
civilization
“Say,
‘O People of the Book! Come to a common word between us and you: that we will
worship no one but Allah, that we will not ascribe any partner to Him, and that
some of us will not take some others as lords besides Allah.’” (3:64)
Interaction
and dialogue between religions is one of the most important and practical
necessities of human and religious societies in the contemporary world.
Extensive communications between people and their interactions with each other,
along with peaceful coexistence, can advance human and humanitarian goals in
today’s world, a world where there are more political, social and cultural
complexities than ever before. In this regard, positive and constructive
interactions between religions is one of the most important factors and
prerequisites for saving the global civilization, and creating intimacy among
human societies. It can also be the criteria for all relations in different
areas. The interactions of religions can have tremendous effects on their
convergence, as well as on the human society. The common values of religions
can easily fulfill human needs. The diversity and multiplicity of religions is
a key opportunity for human society to deepen the understanding and vision of human
society through religious dialogue and the exchange their achievements.
We
live in a world in which culture, identity and tradition have undeniable and
irreplaceable roles. The origin and the root of any change in our world is a
change in culture and identity, while, an important part of this universal
identity has been created by religions. Undoubtedly, all human values we live
by are rooted in some of the world’s spiritual and religious traditions.
Therefore, it can be clearly said that religion plays an irreplaceable role in
human life and lifestyle. Each of the prophets and messengers, who were sent
with a mission, tried to create a lifestyle based on monotheism, instill the
spirit of love and affection in humanity and command their followers to love each
other according to the needs of their society. By doing so, they took a few
forward steps in the creating of a united and harmonious society.
Peaceful
coexistence of religions from the perspective of the Glorious Qur’an
Islam
and the Qur’an consider all the prophets as being a continuous line. They also
hold that the divine books and scriptures manifest a complete system, and
regard divine religions as the straight divine path that attained completion
during the different stages of history.[1] In the Glorious Qur’an, God Almighty
has mentioned a single monotheistic front present throughout history, and the
divine prophets have been considered as the leaders and pioneers of this
front.[2] Among the thousands of prophets, the Qur’an has named about thirty of
them with admiration and sanctification. The goal of all divine religions has
been human happiness, salvation and liberation in this world and in the
hereafter. The spirit and foundation of the heavenly missions is the belief in
monotheism, the unseen and the divine prophets (a), and the pursuit of high
human and divine morality. In the view of the divine prophets (a), a human’s
life in this world and in the hereafter are not separate from each other. His
life in this world is a base and prelude to his life in the next world.
Divine
religions have also drawn the general outline for human happiness in this
world. The Resolute Prophets (a) are the apex of the history of the prophets,
the owners of universal religions and divine books, and have many things in
common. Abrahamic religions, especially Islam and Christianity, have many
similarities and commonalities. The Qur’an emphasizes the close and kind bond
between Muslims and Christians and, in addition to recognizing this great
religion, advises a peaceful coexistence with its followers.[3]
The
Interaction of the Prophet of Islam (s) and Shiite Imams (a) with different
religions
Throughout
history, the role of the prophets (a) in creating unity and solidarity in
society, has been undeniable. Each of the prophets (a), with the help of these
teachings and many others, brought unity and solidarity to a large section of
human society.
After
the divine prophets (a), their successors and the scholars have an important
role in ensuring the continuation of the prophets’ mission and path and the
guidance of humanity. It is they who must fulfill their educational,
moral-promotional, educational and social responsibilities in the best way. In
intellectual institutions of the seminary, which are based on deductive thought
and rational-philosophical thinking, there has been an emphasis on scientific
discussion over ideas and between different schools of thought, deep scientific
dialogue between religions and denominations, and avoiding baseless prejudices
and extremism; and the present world needs these more than anything else.
The
teachings of the Quran and hadiths, as well as the history of Islam, especially
during the time of the Infallible Imams (a), are replete with interactions with
different religions. Especially during the life of Imam al-Rida (a), because of
the expansion of the borders of the Islamic world, the connections between
religions and the interactions between cultures and civilizations increased.
This resulted in ideas from the world of Christianity and Judaism, as well as
from Roman, Iranian, Egyptian, Indian and Chinese civilizations to gradually
enter the Islamic world.
During
this period, in order to prevent Muslims from absorbing non-Islamic ideas, the
true leaders of the Muslim community correctly presented pure divine teachings.
Imam al-Rida (a) lived in the era where the culmination of the confrontation
between cultures, civilizations and ideas occurred. So, if we were to refer to
his extensive dialogues, especially in the years of his presence in Merv, his
vast activities in the face of other religions can be seen. With exemplary
charm, he (a) presented pure religious teachings and, in the face of other
religions and other Islamic schools, as well as confronting the Shiite
Waqifiyya deviation, presented an attractive model of dialogue and interfaith
interaction and demonstrated the proper logic and method of dialogue with
people of different religions.
Critique
of the postmodernist and rationalist view of interaction between religions
The
teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) contain a set of pre-religious and pre-human
principles, now interpreted as independent intellectual properties and common
intellectual and philosophical concepts, but, at the same time, it does not
accept the concept of absolute relativism, for doing so will block the way to
correct understanding. Absolute relativism, especially postmodern relativism,
does not have a strong and acceptable rational and philosophical logic.
Postmodernism relies on the logic of relativism and makes dialogue expedient
and superficial; however,in a logic based on intellectual and philosophical
principles, dialogue is based on rational and human commonalities and it would
be much deeper.
In
religious and rational dialogue, divine religions have a common philosophy of
law and ethics that provides a greater possibility and stages for religious
dialogue; but of course, the level of commonalities is much higher than it
seems today, and we recognize religious and human dialogue at all levels to be
rooted and true.
We
believe that political and social systems are not merely based on different
cultures, but are based on common origins around which different cultures can
unite. Dialogue based on this logic can include the whole world. This issue is
based on deep and original human logic, and includes both human philosophy and
the common legal and jurisprudential system, as well as the moral system.
Mankind has yet to take steps to reach such dialogues based on rational, human
and philosophical principles.
All
religions and denominations of the world are organized on the basis of
rationality, the focus of which is the purposefulness of the world and society.
The set of religions, even human-made and non-Abrahamic religions, have sought
to understand the relationship between human being, himself and existence, and
at least within the framework of rationale and common-sense, tried to provide a
correct and realistic interpretation of human being and existence.
In
fact, all religions have tried to form their relations within the framework of
rationality, the effects of which makes a human’s life meaningful and improves
it in practice. Accordingly, religion should be considered related to human
rationality. For example, one of the hallmarks of human rationality, formed as
an independent intellectual, is justice and equality; because, reason judges
the goodness of justice and the ugliness of oppression. It is in this context
that human rationality manifests itself in the form of goodness of peace and
the ugliness of aggression, bloodshed and war. Therefore, it can be said that
all religions and schools are formed based on justice and peace, and manage and
guide society within this framework. Of course, this rationality dictates that
man must be anti-oppression and must defend the oppressed. Thus, seeking
justice and peace, and fighting oppression are endorsed and emphasized in all
religions. No security, peace and tranquility will be possible without peace
between religions. We believe that human-made and non-divine religions also
benefit from a kind of rational and behavioral inclusiveness that lies within
their rationality; because, all religions belong to noble human beings, who
have benefited from human rationality or, beyond that, they have been in direct
contact with the Universal Intellect of existence, who is the Almighty God.
Hence, in all of them, there is “a common word” that has a rational origin, and
it is this rational origin of religions that prepares us for achieving
proximity, dialogue and acceptance of basic human principles.
The
interaction of religions and denominations based on a deep logic, not
formalities or necessity
There
is another fact, that the interaction of religions and denominations is not
based on formalities or necessity; rather, it is based on a deep logic.
Religions and denominations in the world today can have a common front in the
world based on common principles in philosophy, law, values and jurisprudence.
Along with this fact, humanity has always struggled with issues such as the
need to restore the spirit of love, spirituality, justice and peace, based on
justice and equality of human beings. Regardless of their political nature,
these issues are first and foremost religious in nature, and religions play an
important role in explaining and realizing them. How peace can be established
based on justice, how human rights can be observed, or how human societies can
build their relations based on their mutual duties, responsibilities,
obligations and rights, are among the issues religions must resolve through
thinking and exchanging their principles, standards and experiences, and guide
communities. Hence, the world today needs to learn the etiquettes of dialogue
between different religions and denominations. Islam and Muslim scholars have
always emphasized on the wise interaction among human beings and on the
dialogue between divine religions and respecting their sanctities. If all
divine and human-made religions come together and obey the rule of reason, they
will invite human beings to “happiness”, the main elements and components of
which are “peace and comfort”. Thus, whenever thinkers and religious scholars
engage in dialogue, they eventually revolve around the “common word” and thus
there will be no division or disagreement between them.
The
need for interaction and dialogue between divine religions and denominations
Interfaith
dialogue has been one of the most important questions and concerns of religious
thinkers and scholars in the last two decades, not because of doubts and
hesitations about the necessity of dialogue itself, but rather in order to
clarify the requirements, necessities and benefits of religious dialogues.
There are numerous epistemological, ontological, theological, and interactive
necessities that have made religious dialogue inevitable in today’s world.
Obviously, through interfaith dialogue, a clear and close understanding of the
teachings of other religions can be obtained, and many notional and attitudinal
misunderstandings are removed and the way is paved for belief, value and
behavioral convergence.
Seminaries
can regain their historical and main role when they know the current and future
conditions of the world and the needs of the people of the world, and continue
the individual and collective movements of related institutions and in a
comprehensive and measured way, acquaint their students with the real and
objective world today. The seminary can speak to its audiences when it is
familiar with their language, literature, way of thinking, concerns, issues and
problems. The seminary must know how its audience thinks and what they expect
from it. This great mission will be properly realized when the history and
geography of these audiences are studied with the right tools and in the right
manner, with a principled method and by competent persons, and all the
effective means, processes and content of the message are considered. The
presence of seminarians in various international arenas for scientific and
cultural activism will not be possible except through the empowerment and
promotion of their level of knowledge and insight.
There
are several theories about the proximity and interaction of religions and
denominations:
In
the first theory, some seek to merge religions and denominations to achieve one
religion. We oppose this theory, because it is both philosophically impossible
and incompatible with external realities. The second theory is religiosity
without adhering to a specific religion, which is also proposed in the West
today. In this view, we must set aside the distinctions of religions and pay
attention only to the commonalities amongst religions, which is also
impossible. The third theory is pluralism and the belief that all religions and
denominations are right. This view is also philosophically unacceptable,
because not all views can be considered right. Muslims and followers of the
school of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) believe in a fourth theory. In this theory, we
respect and value the commonalities of all religions. According to this view,
we should not believe that everyone except us is an infidel and deserves death.
So, we must neither wield the sword of slaughter, nor do we say: “All but us
will go to hell”, but rather we shall debate over the points of difference.
Today,
the Islamic world faces challenges such as the doctrinal-intellectual, moral
and collapse challenges of the value system, turning the war between Muslims
and arrogant powers into a Shiite-Sunni war, revival of nationalist ideas,
disintegration of Islamic countries, Islamophobia, Shiaphobia and Iranophobia,
replacement of the discourse of the Islamic Revolution with the dogmatic
Talaban Islam or the compromising liberal Islam, and breaking of the resistance
front. The seminary, by recognizing the epistemological geography of the world,
will take steps towards responding to these challenges through its religious
interactions.
There
are other necessities for interaction between religions. Such as, introducing
the views of seminary scholars in scientific societies for religions and
denominations at the international level; the presence and knowledge of the
seminarians on international issues related to other religions and the ways of
interacting with their scholars; the need for interaction to better understand
religions; studying the sociology of religion, history and the current state of
religions; observation, design and compilation of international researches in
order to introduce pure Islam; explaining the necessity of developing the
grounds and culture for the effective entry of seminarians into various international
arenas; cooperation, consultation and reflection of religions on problems that
threaten the interests of all humanity; the need for religious innovation in
today’s world to fill the void of human spirituality; the need for developing
networks of elites, institutions and activists in the field of religions and
sects in order to work in the international arena of religions and
denominations; the need to get out of the passive state and be active in the
fields of interfaith interactions and interactions between denominations and to
promote the discourse of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) in the face of other religions and
denominations which are some of the most important of these needs.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Hamas:
Israeli settlement plan in occupied Golan ‘new form of aggression against
Arabs’
29
December 2021
Palestinian
resistance movement Hamas has blasted Israel’s latest settlement plans in the
occupied Golan Heights as a new form of aggression against Arab people.
Hazem
Qassem, Hamas' spokesman, said on Tuesday that the Israeli regime’s approval of
settlement projects to double the number of settlers in the occupied Syrian
Golan is a “new aggression against Arab land and rights, and an extension of
its aggression" against Palestine and Palestinians.
“These
settlement projects expose once again the arrogant behavior of the occupation
and its expansionist policy in the region, disregarding all international laws
and resolutions,” he noted.
Hamas'
spokesman underlined that the "settlement plan … will not succeed in
changing the historical facts, nor the identity of the Arab land, and the
rights of the Palestinian nation are the fixed constant, whereas [the existence
of] the Zionist settlers, who are foreign to the Arab land, will end."
Qassem
said the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian and Arab land
"requires an escalation by the masses of our Arab and Islamic nation and
all its forces to resist this Zionist project and to put an end to its
arrogance in the region."
Earlier
in the day, the Arab League warned Israel over its settlement plans in the
occupied Golan Heights, saying Israel must stop its attempts to change the
demographic make-up and the legal status of the territory.
The Tel
Aviv regime approved a one-billion-shekel plan on Sunday to double the number
of Israeli settlers in the occupied Golan Heights, four decades after the
occupying regime annexed the territory captured from Syria.
Israeli
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said two new neighborhoods are to be built in
the town of Katzrin plus two new settlements, named Asif and Matar, adding that
the plan aimed to build a total of 7,300 settler units in the region over a
five-year period.
The
plan will bring roughly 23,000 new Israeli settlers to the occupied region.
Syria
itself condemned the Israeli plan on Monday, describing it as a “dangerous and
unprecedented escalation.”
In
1967, Israel waged a full-scale war against Arab territories, during which it
occupied a large swathe of Golan and annexed it four years later, a move never
recognized by the international community.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
ICRO
head stresses more cultural coop. between Iran, China
December
29, 2021
The
chairman of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) has said that
Iran and China need to coordinate their activities to present a right picture
of themselves to the world.
The
chairman of the Iranian Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO)
Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Mahdi Imanipour made the remarks in a meeting with the
Chinese envoy to Iran Ambassador Chang Hua and the Chinese cultural attache at
the Chinese Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday.
Imanipour
pointed to the existence of cultural commonalities between the two countries
and said that the history of cultural relations between Iran and China have
existed since ancient times and the two countries are trying to maintain a
long-standing level of communication.
The
ICRO head emphasized the expansion of cultural cooperation between the two
countries and declared the organization's readiness to cooperate in various
fields of cultural studies, exhibitions, research and meeting of cultural
delegations, as well as hosting the Chinese cultural delegation in Tehran.
He
continued his remarks by insisting on showing a real image of Iran and China in
the world, adding "In the fields of combating Islamophobia, Iranophobia
and Chinaophobia, we can hold joint meetings and programs and are interested in
using the capacities of Chinese elites in these cases."
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://en.abna24.com/news//icro-head-stresses-more-cultural-coop-between-iran-china_1213432.html
--------
Erdoğan
urges Muslims to unite in face of rising Islamophobia
DEC
28, 2021
Muslims
will only reach ultimate peace and harmony if they are able to establish unity
and solidarity among themselves in the face of rising Islamophobia, President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a conference in the U.S. on Tuesday.
Speaking
in a televised message broadcast at the Muslim American Society (MAS) and
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Convention in Chicago, one of the
largest Islamic conventions held annually in North America. Erdoğan highlighted
the importance of unity and positivity for Muslims.
“We need
to strengthen our solidarity in the face of anti-Muslim hatred, xenophobia and
cultural racism, which have risen during the pandemic,” Erdoğan said, adding
that Muslims need to unite and set aside cultural and ethnic differences.
"All
Muslims are brothers and sisters, regardless of their origin, skin color,
nation, culture, sect," Erdoğan said, adding that Islam had no room for
exclusion, incitement or terror.
He
continued by saying that rather than withdrawing into one’s shelf, Muslims
should strive to be confident and play their well-deserved role in an embracing
manner in the societies that they live in.
Turkey
attaches importance to healthy and strong relations with the Muslim community
in the United States, the country’s presidential spokesperson also said.
İbrahim
Kalin’s remarks came at the gala dinner of the convention.
The
Turkish official said faith was more than just a belief system as it was also
related to matters of spirituality, justice and goodness.
Pointing
out that human beings cannot reveal their own potential without meaning, wisdom
and purpose, Kalın told the participants: "As Muslim individuals and
Muslim communities in the 21st century, we must re-establish the meaning of
wisdom. Because there is so much judgment in our lives, but very little
wisdom."
Commenting
on the concepts of belief and freedom, Kalın noted that freedom is not just the
freedom to choose something, it is important to choose the truth, and this
becomes meaningful with wisdom and belief.
Two
decades after 9/11, Muslims across the U.S. are still battling intolerance,
racism and hate, according to research.
A
poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research (AP-NORC)
conducted ahead of the 9/11 anniversary found that 53% of Americans have
unfavorable views toward Islam, compared with 42% who have favorable ones. This
stands in contrast to Americans’ opinions about Christianity and Judaism, for
which most respondents expressed favorable views.
Mistrust
and suspicion of Muslims didn’t start with 9/11, but the attacks dramatically
intensified those animosities. Accustomed to being ignored or targeted by
low-level harassment, the country’s wide-ranging and diverse Muslim communities
were thrown into the spotlight, said Youssef Chouhoud, a political scientist at
Christopher Newport University in Virginia.
Turkish
officials have criticized their Western counterparts for remaining indifferent
to anti-Muslim sentiment and fueling such ideology as experts believe the
country can lead the fight. They have continuously called on world leaders to
take action to stop the demonization of Muslims and have been taking action to
tackle the growing problem.
Source:
Daily Sabah
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
to Produce Helium at South Pars
2021-December-28
Helium
is used to cool superconducting magnets in medical magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) scanners, as a lifting gas in balloons and airships, as a gas to breathe
in deep-sea diving and to keep satellite instruments cool. It is derived from
natural gas during processing.
Iranian
technology companies will soon begin the country's first ever project to
produce helium at South Pars, the world's largest gas field, a senior official
said.
Demand
for the gas, driven particularly by Asia’s booming manufacturing industry, is
on the rise. The United States and Qatar, which shares South Pars with Iran,
are the largest helium producers worldwide. Other helium-producing countries
include Algeria, Russia, Canada and China.
With
proven natural gas reserves of 33.78 trillion cubic meters, Iran holds 17
percent of the world’s total. The country is already well placed to unseat
Russia as the largest gas holder if the new-found reserves in the Chalous field
are added, raising the total to 40.9 trillion cubic meters.
According
to the US Energy Information Administration, Iran produced 267 billion cubic
meters of natural gas in 2019, making the country the world’s third-largest
producer after the US and Russia despite the most draconian sanctions imposed
on the country.
With
estimated in place reserves of 14.2 trillion cubic meters plus 18 billion
barrels of gas condensate, South Pars accounts for 40 percent of Iran’s total
gas reserves and about 80 percent of its gas production.
Managing
Director the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Mohsen Khojastehmehr on Monday
said production from the field had hit 705 million cubic meters for the first
time since the start of its operation.
Iran,
however, is set to ramp up its production of natural gas in a global market
that continues to see record gas prices and a domestic market which is
unconventionally devouring much of the produced gas. Officials say total gas
production will hit 500 billion cubic meters in 2041.
The
residential and commercial sectors use natural gas for space heating, and the
industrial sector uses it for feedstock, especially in the petrochemicals
industry. The high consumption is driven by massive subsidies provided by the
government which is in a race against time to catch up with the rising demand.
Natural
gas production at South Pars began in 2003, and so far, 23 of the 24
development phases have started producing.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001007000703/Iran-Prdce-Helim-a-Sh-Pars
--------
Senior
Analyst: France Playing Bad Cop Role in Vienna Talks, Iran Should Use Leverages
2021-December-28
“Partly
due to the bad cop role that France plays in the negotiations, they created
certain obstacles in the last days of the previous round of Vienna talks. Since
years ago and the previous rounds of negotiations on the nuclear deal, there
has been shared role-playing by the US and Europe, specially the three European
countries. The Americans mostly deal with the issue of sanctions, and
Europeans, specially France, pursue the nuclear issue,” Khoshcheshm told the
Persian-language Farhikhtegan newspaper on Tuesday.
He
suggested Iran's success in the talks requires the country's enhanced use of
leverages, saying, “The hands of our negotiators should be filled with
leverages during the talks. These pressure leverages are available and could be
adopted in areas of Iran's nuclear, missile, the regional powers and other
fields, and these pressure leverages should be used to the maximum based on a
well-planned and specific roadmap.”
Asked
about the new draft that Iran and the world powers are due to discuss during
the new rounds of talks, Khoshcheshm said, “The new draft is different from the
drafts of Iran in the sixth round of the Vienna talks, with two types of major
differences; first is a series of points in the draft of Vienna 6, which had
come in violation of the nuclear deal, and Iran called for their correction or
removal, and in its proposed draft, it removed and changed these items. Second
type of changes included Iran's demands, mostly on the issue of sanctions,
which had remained undecided and left in empty brackets for later discussions.
No understanding and agreement was made about them in the draft of Vienna 6.
The Iranian side added those items to its draft at the beginning of the seventh
round and made its demands clear in this regard so that there would be no ambiguity
about its demands for the lifting of sanctions in any future agreement.”
“So
what Iran put on the table at the beginning of the seventh round was major
corrections of the Vienna 6 draft, which, after lengthy talks and contrast with
Vienna 6, a major part of the demands and omissions that Iran had made were
accepted and endorsed, and in the next three or four days, the other issues
demanded by Iran are due to be addressed so that the agenda of negotiations on
the context will fully be prepared for the beginning of January and the next
round of negotiations. In fact, what Iran is pushing for is the removal of
sanctions that put people under economic pressure. These sanctions should be
fully lifted so that the country will be able to benefit economically,” he
concluded.
Iran
and the five remaining parties to the JCPOA -- Britain, Germany, France, Russia
and China -- resumed talks in Vienna on November 29 after a five-month hiatus,
marking the first round of negotiations under President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi’s
administration and the seventh overall.
During
the seventh round of the Vienna talks, Iran presented two draft texts which
address, separately, the removal of US sanctions and Iran’s return to its
nuclear commitments under the JCPOA. Tehran also said it was preparing a third
draft text on the verification of the sanctions removal.
Iran
and the G4+1 group of countries resumed the talks in the Austrian capital on
December 9 after being paused on December 3, when the participants returned to
their capitals for additional consultations on the two draft proposals that
Tehran had put forward.
As
the seventh round of discussions in Vienna concluded, Iran’s chief negotiator
Ali Baqeri Kani said the three European parties to the JCPOA, also known as the
E3, intimately agreed to accept Tehran’s viewpoint as a basis for “serious,
result-oriented” talks.
The
eighth round of talks for lifting anti-Iran sanctions kicked off on Monday
evening local time, when Iranian top negotiator and the European Union’s
representative in Vienna talks Enrique Mora co-chaired the Joint Commission
meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israel’s
defence minister meets with Palestinian president
29
December ,2021
Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas paid a rare visit to Israel on Tuesday for talks with
Israel's defense minister, the latest in a series of meetings by top Israeli
officials with the Palestinian leader.
Israel’s
new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, opposes Palestinian independence and has
ruled out formal peace talks. But he has said he wants to reduce frictions with
the Palestinian Authority and improve living conditions in the Israeli-occupied
West Bank.
Despite
these pledges, the area has experienced an increase in violence in recent
weeks, with a series of Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and
east Jerusalem as well as a surge in violence by Israeli settlers against
Palestinian civilians.
A senior
Palestinian official said the late-night meeting took place at Defense Minister
Benny Gantz's home in central Israel. The official, speaking on condition of
anonymity because he was discussing a closed meeting, said it was the first
time Abbas has met with an Israeli official in Israel since 2010.
Gantz
said he was committed to advancing confidence-building measures, as discussed
in an earlier meeting with Abbas, as well as deepening security coordination.
Hussein
Al Sheikh, a top aide to Abbas, said the meeting “dealt with the importance of
creating a political horizon,” as well as “the tense field conditions due to
the practices of the settlers.” He said security, economic and humanitarian
issues were also discussed.
Abbas,
whose government administers autonomous areas of the Israeli-occupied West
Bank, seeks an independent state that includes all of the West Bank, east
Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran,
Russia upbeat about progress of nuclear talks in Vienna
28
December ,2021
Iran
and Russia sounded upbeat about talks on salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal
on Tuesday, with Tehran saying an accord was possible if other parties showed
“good faith” and a Russian negotiator reporting “indisputable progress.”
Iran
and the United States resumed the indirect talks in Vienna on Monday, with
Tehran focused on one side of the original bargain - lifting sanctions against
it - despite what critics see as scant progress on reining in its atomic
activities.
“The
Vienna talks are headed in a good direction... We believe that if other parties
continue the round of talks which just started with good faith, reaching a good
agreement for all parties is possible,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein
Amirabdollahian told reporters in Tehran.
“If
they show seriousness, in addition to the good faith, arriving at a deal soon
and in the near future is conceivable,” Amirabdollahian said in a video of his
remarks on state media.
Russian
envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said on Twitter: “We observe indisputable progress...
Sanctions lifting is being actively discussed in informal settings” in a
working group at the talks.
The
seventh round of talks ended 11 days ago after adding some new Iranian demands
to a working text.
Western
powers said the talks had made little discernible progress since they resumed
for the first time after Iran’s hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, was elected
in June.
They
said negotiators had “weeks not months” left before the 2015 deal becomes
meaningless.
Little
remains of that deal, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for
restrictions on its atomic activities.
Then-President
Donald Trump pulled Washington out of it in 2018, re-imposing US sanctions, and
Iran later breached many of the deal’s nuclear restrictions and kept pushing
well beyond them.
Iran
refuses to meet directly with US officials, meaning that other parties to the
deal - Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union - must
shuttle between the two sides.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Africa
Libya
parliament proposes delaying presidential polls by 6 months
Ibrahim
Mukhtar
28.12.2021
TRIPOLI,
Libya
Libya’s
House of Representatives (parliament) has proposed postponing the country’s
presidential elections by six months.
The
assembly held a session in the eastern city of Tobruk late Monday to discuss
the polls, which were scheduled to take place on Dec. 24.
Acting
Parliament Speaker Fawzi Al-Nuwairi presented several proposals by deputies on
the polls, one of which called for delaying the vote by six months.
Last
week, Libya’s High National Elections Commission proposed postponing the Dec.
24 polls by one month, citing obstacles hindering the holding of timely
elections.
Al-Nuwairi
demanded that the elections commission issues an explanation on the compelling
reasons that prevented the elections from taking place
Meanwhile,
the acting speaker said the parliament will ask the Presidency Council and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to restrict the movement and visits of foreign
ambassadors in Libya, without further details.
On
Friday, European countries and the US urged the Libyan authorities to decide on
a final date for elections without delay.
In a
joint statement, France, Germany, Italy, UK, and the US appealed to the Libyan
authorities “to respect the aspirations of the people for prompt elections by
swiftly determining a final date for the polling and issuing the final list of
presidential candidates without delay.”
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Ethiopia's
Tigray taps Muslim past in propaganda push
29
December 2021
Rebels
from Ethiopia's Tigray region are drawing on early Islamic history in an
Arabic-language propaganda push to rally solidarity among Muslims online for
their battle against the government.
Thousands
of people have been killed since the conflict erupted last year between the
government in Addis Ababa and its foes, the rebel Tigrayan People's Liberation
Front (TPLF).
The
overwhelmingly Christian Tigrayan people account for less than six percent of
Ethiopia's 110 million people, and the media-savvy TPLF rebels may hope to win
over Muslim allies among anti-government forces in the country's complex
multi-ethnic population -- as well as generate sympathy abroad.
Amongst
Tigray's five percent Muslim-minority, Tigrinya speakers writing in Arabic have
sought to remind people about the role the region played as one of the first
Islamic settlements and as a refuge for early Muslims fleeing Mecca.
But
while their references may be drawn from the Koran, "the conflict in
Ethiopia is not religious but ethnic", one Tigrayan activist using the
alias Mustafa Habashi told AFP in Arabic, who insists his efforts are not
connected to TPLF activities.
One
Twitter account, "Tigray in Arabic", has amassed about 40,000
followers in just a few months.
It
translates statements by rebel leaders into Arabic and publishes reactions to
statements from Addis Ababa.
"Our
mastery of Arabic and our Islamic culture has helped us address the Arab and
Muslim world to make our cause known," Habashi said.
-
Islamic history -
After
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent federal forces into the Tigray region in
November 2020, the number of times "Ethiopia" has appeared in Arabic
on social media has risen sharply.
The
term received around 70 million likes, clicks, posts and comments on Facebook,
according to social media analytics tool CrowdTangle, data that includes all
online content about the country.
For
reference, the number of Facebook users in the Arab world stands at about 187
million.
By
comparison, between November 2019 and November 2020, amid heightened concerns
among Egyptian and Sudanese users over Ethiopia's upstream Nile mega dam, this
figure was less than 40 million.
While
Tigray may figure in many people's consciousness because of the conflict, for
much of the Arab world -- where Islamic history is on the curriculum in schools
-- the region's history is ingrained in the collective imagination.
About
1,400 years ago, companions of the Prophet Mohammed fleeing persecution sought
refuge with the Christian king, or Negus, in the city of Axum, now a key town
in Tigray.
Tigrayans
are using this history to reach out to the estimated 300 million Arabs active
on social media.
"How
many times has a small troop, by the grace of Allah, defeated a very large
troop!" one user writes, quoting the Koran, about David and Goliath to
allude to the battle between Tigrayan and Ethiopian forces.
On
December 20, the TPLF announced they had withdrawn from the Amhara and Afar
regions to their Tigray stronghold.
The
account "Tigray in Arabic" references early Islamic general Khaled
ibn al-Walid -- famed for having emerged victorious in 50 battles because of
his tactical skill -- to explain the TPLF's so-called "tactical
withdrawal".
Habashi
boasted that the Tigrayan media push meant that Arabic speakers were
"becoming more and more interested in what is happening in Ethiopia".
-
Media war -
Alongside
fighting on the ground, both the government in Addis Ababa and the TPLF accuse
each other of spreading lies in a bitter media war.
For
the TPLF, allied to the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the propaganda
outreach may also be a way to burnish credentials among the wider 40
million-strong Oromo people, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, of whom roughly
half are Muslim.
Source:
Daily Mail UK
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Coups,
civil wars, pandemic, terrorism dominated Africa in 2021
Hassan
Isilow
29.12.2021
JOHANNESBURG
2021
was tough for many on the African continent, where civil wars, terrorism and
the coronavirus pandemic continued to claim thousands of lives.
Africa,
which has been striving to move forward in the transition to democracy for
several countries, was moved backward with military coups in Guinea and Sudan.
Fierce
fighting also continued in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where a raging war broke
out in November 2020 between the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and
forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
Thousands
have been killed in Tigray where 2.2 million people are said to have been
displaced, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
Coups
In
October, the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, took
control of the government in a military coup, leading to massive pro-democracy
protests.
Dozens
have been killed by security forces clamping down on protestors and hundreds
injured, according to Sudanese medics.
The
military takeover sparked international condemnation, including punitive aid
cuts, with world powers demanding a swift return to civilian rule.
The
latest reports from the capital, Khartoum, claim security forces are using
sexual violence and harassment, including alleged rape, to dissuade women who
have been a strong pillar of ongoing pro-democracy protests, from attending
rallies.
In
September, Guinean armed forces also carried out a coup, toppling President
Alpha Conde. He was replaced with coup leader Mamady Doumbouya, a member of the
Guinean Special Forces Group and a former French Legionnaire.
Terrorism
Incidents
of terrorism continued to claim lives on the continent, especially in Somalia,
Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and the Sahel region.
There
have been almost daily reports of targeted suicide bombings in Somalia carried
out by al-Qaida affiliate in Somalia, al-Shabaab, which has been fighting for
years to topple the government.
Meanwhile,
between October and November, Uganda recorded several bomb attacks, including
suicide bombers. The attacks were reportedly carried out by the Allied
Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel outfit based in neighboring Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and affiliated with the Daesh/ISIS terror group.
Regional
forces from southern Africa continued their mission to pacify northern
Mozambique after Daesh/ISIS affiliates took control of Palma in Cabo Delgado
province, killing dozens and wounding scores in 2020.
Former
South African president jailed
In
July, South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma surrendered to correctional
officials at the Estcourt prison to start serving a 15-month sentence.
Zuma,
79, was found guilty of contempt of court for refusing to appear before a
judicial commission probing graft during his nearly decade-long presidency.
His
incarceration led to violent protests, claiming more than 300 lives and
billions of dollars in damages to businesses that were looted or vandalized by
his alleged supporters. It was the first time a former South African president
was arrested and detained.
But
Zuma was granted medical parole Sept. 5, after spending two months in prison.
In December, a court in the capital, Pretoria, ordered that he be returned to
prison because his medical parole was reportedly granted unlawfully. He has
appealed the decision.
COVID-19,
omicron travel bans
As
Africa continued to bear the brunt of the pandemic on a continent that has
acquired just a few million vaccine doses, hardly enough for its population, it
faced travel bans.
South
African scientists announced in November that they discovered a new COVID-19
variant, omicron, with a large number of mutations compared to previous
variants.
Western
nations quickly imposed travel bans on southern African countries and other
African states, fearing they could be exposed to the new variant. That sparked
continent-wide outrage.
Malawi’s
President Lazarus Chakwera, current chairman of Southern African Development
Community regional bloc of 16 countries, described the bans as Afrophobia and
not based on science.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/coups-civil-wars-pandemic-terrorism-dominated-africa-in-2021/2460080
--------
Parliamentary
panel wants Libya’s executive authority restructured
Mahmoud
Al-Bazm
28.12.2021
TRIPOLI,
Libya
A
Libyan parliamentary committee has recommended the restructuring of the
country’s executive authority.
The
proposal by the Electoral Process Follow-up Committee came in a Monday report
after its members met with the head of Libya’s High National Elections
Commission, Emad al-Sayeh.
The
committee argued that the current executive authority has failed to move the
oil-rich country towards stability.
The
report said al-Sayeh "presented to the (elections) commission the reasons
why it was not possible to announce the final list of candidates for the Dec.
24 presidential elections,” as well as a number of “violations that marred the
candidacy of some candidates."
The
committee cited these reasons for proposing the “restructuring of the executive
authority in order to achieve the requirements of stability which the current
authority has been unable to do."
Libya’s
executive authority was elected on March 16 on a transitional basis to lead the
country towards elections. It is made up of a unity government headed by Abdul
Hamid Dbeibeh, and the Presidency Council chaired by Mohammad Menfi.
The
parliamentary committee also recommended that parliament set up a workable
roadmap with clear deadlines in order “to make the electoral process a success
and ensure acceptance of its results.”
It
called on parliament to continue sponsoring the political and legislative
process and to avoid setting “political dates” that are “unrealistically set by
some parties” for domestic and international agendas.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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North America
US
creates commission to assess two-decade war in Afghanistan
28
Dec 2021
The
US has created a new commission- the Afghanistan War Commission act of 2021-
that is formed of 16 congress members both Democratic and Republicans.
The
bipartisan commission, led by Representatives Andy Kim and Peter Meijer in the
House and Senator Tammy Duckworth in the Senate, would establish a
non-partisan, independent commission to conduct a comprehensive examination of
the War in Afghanistan and deliver actionable recommendations to ensure the
United States never repeats the same mistakes.
The
decision for creating the commission is after the US did not allocate money for
Afghanistan for the first time in the past 21 years as Joe Biden signed the US
defense budget for 2022.
Andy
Kim and Peter Meijer in a statement in regards to the commission said it is
imperative for the US nation to conduct a deep introspection of the presence of
the United States in Afghanistan since September 11.
The
statement further reads that the introspection must be comprehensive,
objective, and non-partisan.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/us-creates-commission-to-assess-two-decade-war-in-afghanistan-87687/
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Iran
is dragging its feet, accelerating nuclear program: US State Department
28
December ,2021
Despite
optimistic takes from Russia and Iran over the latest round of nuclear talks in
Vienna, the US said Tuesday that it was still too early to describe progress
and condemned Tehran for continuing to “drag its feet.”
“The
last couple rounds also started with new nuclear provocations and then were
characterized by, in some cases, vague, unrealistic, unconstructive positions
on the part of Iran,” State Department Spokesman Ned Price told reporters
during a phone briefing.
Adding
that there had been “some progress” in recent weeks, he said the fundamental
solution remained unchanged.
“Iran
has, at best, been dragging its feet in the talks while accelerating its
nuclear escalation. We’ve been very clear that that won’t work. Iran needs
exercise restraint in its nuclear program and add real urgency in Vienna,”
Price said.
The
eighth round of indirect talks between Washington and Tehran started on Monday,
with Rob Malley leading the US delegation.
Earlier
Tuesday, Russia and Iran said there had been some progress and positivity during
the latest round.
But
Price said it was still too early to describe the talks.
The
US still believes that the best way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear
weapon is by returning the 2015 deal, Price said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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US
condemns Iran-backed Houthis militia’s continued attacks on Saudi Arabia
29
December ,2021
The
US condemned the Iran-backed Houthi militia’s continued attacks on Saudi
Arabia, stressing that the militia is a threat to its allies, the official
Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday.
US
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said during a virtual press conference
that the Kingdom was able to eliminate about 90 percent of Houthi attacks
adding that their “goal is to see this number rise to 100 percent,” indicating
that the US policy targeted some Houthi leaders through sanctions and
accountability.
Price
said there have been more than 375 cross-border attacks since the beginning of
the year, and that the US will continue to work with Saudi Arabia to stand
against Houthi attacks, and “will hold the Houthis responsible for their
actions.”
The
UN on Tuesday called on Yemen’s Houthis to immediately release staff members
they detained last month.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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