Bearded Muslims Face Malian Paranoia, As Police Arrests Islamists Look Alike
New Age Islam News Bureau
21 Jan 2013
Africa
• Bearded Muslims Face Malian Paranoia, As Police Arrests Islamists Look Alike
• Islamists executed 9 Japanese in Algeria: Witnesses
• Weapons used by al-Qaeda in Algeria hostage attack came from Libya
• French military keeps up airstrikes in Mali
• Jihadi Belmokhtar puts Qaida stamp on Algerian siege
• Five militants captured alive at gas plant: Algeria security source
• Algeria siege toll climbs past 80
• Islamists leave Diabaly, Malian town after strikes
• Rwanda President: No Issue with UN Drones in Congo
• Two dead siege militants were Canadians-Algerian: source
Mideast Asia
• Blow Up Al-Aqusa Mosque: Rightist Israeli Candidate’s Remarks Cause Stir
• Iran stakes claim in Rohingya affair
• Palestinian freedom fighter leaves occupation prison after 25 years
• IAF chief Browne in Israel to deepen defence ties
• Israeli election campaigning enters final stretch
• U.S. drone strike kills 4 Qaeda militants in Yemen
• Israel's Netanyahu Seeks Strong Finish After Election Poll Dip
• Israel Removes Palestinian Protest Camp outside Jerusalem
• An Election in Israel Unusual for What Isn’t Being Discussed
Europe
• Afghan prisoners hanged by their wrists, beaten with cables: UN
• France says military goal is 'total re-conquest of Mali'
• EU offers to host international Mali talks Feb 5
• Russia starts naval exercises, Syria link seen
• 'UK to impose Language-test lingo ban to stop cheating immigrants'
India
• Panel of Islamic Clerics and Scholars Warn Jaipur Literature Festival against 4 Authors
• Maulana Tahir-ul Qadri draws mixed reactions from Indian Hyderabad
• Hafiz Saeed seeks to exploit Shinde's Hindu terror remarks
• Hindu terrorism: Lalu backs Shinde's accusation of BJP, RSS
• Congress Gen Secy says has 'terror' proof against RSS, links Advani, Sushma to Pragya Singh
• Congress defends Shinde on Hindu terror remark
• Partition, India-Pakistan wars against Netaji's vision: Daughter
• Two Indians arrested in Pakistan for alleged spying
• Asaduddin Owaisi surrenders in Hyderabad court
• Government has shown maturity in defusing tensions along LoC: Omar Abdullah
• Pakistan's former Minister Ansar Burney attacked for pro India statement
• GMR fiasco apart, India will continue as benign neighbour
• Pakistani authors to attend Jaipur lit fest
• ‘Mob that was not from either community had role in Dhule riots’
• Threat mail to five-star hotel, IM suspected
• India sends fresh LR to Morocco to quiz Headley’s estranged wife
• Filipino says Bihar man exploited her, police register FIR
• India downplays remark of Pak envoy on LoC killings
• J-K: Stay of people from PoK extended by one more week, says official
• Ban Salman Rushdie at Jaipur Literature Festival, but Sanjay Roy says no 'hijacking' event
Arab World
• Airstrike kills at least seven near Syrian capital
• Iraq opens Christian centre in ethnically-mixed city
• Syrian Aide Asks Rebels to Give Up Weapons
• Al Qaeda claims assassination of Sunni lawmaker in Iraq
• Egypt armed forces 'won't give up inch of military land': Army source
• Syria Opposition Postpones Formation of Transitional Government
• KSA gives $ 1.88 m for Rohingya resettlement
• Iraq PM trades blame with Kurd leader
• Assad’s overthrow 'red line' for Iran: supreme leader’s aide
• Iraqi tribal sheikh removes microphone, throws it away
• Egypt rights group challenges new university students' charter
• Dozens arrested following clashes in Alexandria
• Islamist boycott clouds Jordan general election
North America
• American Muslim campaign 'My Jihad' to Canada to Defeat Islamophobes
• US Muslims Rebuild Tornado-torn Joplin
• Islamic Centre Helps Vulnerable Texans
Southeast Asia
• Six Catholic schools could be shut down for not teaching Islam in East Java
• Indonesian judge faces axe after 'victims enjoy rape' remark
• Six Filipinos among dead in Algeria
• 26 killed in Jakarta floods
Pakistan
• Constitutional crisis brewing in Balochistan
• Country will not accept any unconstitutional move: Former P M
• Pakhtun students protest against Bara killings
• Taliban’s release sparks fresh tensions
• Man kills ‘converted to Islam’ mother and stepfather with an axe
• Pak commission to probe PM investigator's death
• Pak commerce minister calls off India visit
• Blast in Mohmand tribal region kills two security personnel
• Militant attack in Khyber tribal region kills one FC personnel
• Lal Masjid operation: Dead man, former ISI official blamed for sabotaging talks
• Pakistan arrests 27 Indian fishermen
• Musharraf offered to contest poll from Dera Bugti
• PM Ashraf withdraws review petition
• Former MNA submits names of ‘dual national’ lawmakers
• Senate to move resolution for Nobel Peace Prize for Bilour
South Asia
• Mislabelled Halal Products Upset Uighurs
• Important laws of Bangladesh military regime to stay
• Three killed, 10 injured in Kabul attack
• Bangladesh tribunal sentences cleric Azad to death for 1971 war crimes
• Waheed could contest presidential elections
• Japan envoy welcomes women’s appointment to Shoura Council
• Declined foreign intervention on February 7: former President Nasheed
• Maldives Ministry threatens legal action against HRCM over Maafushi minors’ case
• Maldives denies diplomatic snub by India
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Jaipur Literature Festival
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Africa
Bearded Muslims Face Malian Paranoia, As Police Arrests Islamists Look Alike
18 January 2013
BAMAKO – As French troops continue their airstrikes against Islamist rebels in northern Mali, bearded Muslims in the Malian Capital are falling prey to paranoia, with police forces arresting anyone who might look like Islamists.
“I was near the area when I heard a deafening commotion,” Seybou, who filmed a video a group of men who were arrested by police in a mosque on January 14, told France 24 on Thursday, January 17.
“A passer-by told me there was a suspicious meeting of Islamists and they were being turned in to police,” Seybou, who wished to remain anonymous, added.
On a video showing their arrest, residents can be heard shouting: “Execute them!”; “They are infidels!”; and congratulating themselves for the “good catch”, even though there was nothing to prove their guilt.
“Some people started to shout [in Bambara, the national language of Mali] that the men should be executed,” he added.
“Others wanted to attack them but the police told everyone to keep calm.”
Heading to the mosque, at CAN-2002 neighbourhood in western Bamako, the police forces arrested 13 people who wore traditional clothing from Central Asia.
Some of them also had long beards.
A witness who saw the scene from an apartment window says the men broke into the mosque carrying handguns.
The local resident who called the police said they saw the men taking guns from a hearse before heading to the mosque.
Finding no firearms, police officer confirmed later that the men had been released; however they still face a court hearing on January 16.
Peaceful Group
Releasing the men, police confirmed that the arrested belong to an authorized Islamic movement in Mali which has been popular since the 1990s.
“Dawah has nothing to do with extremist movements operating in northern Mali,” Abdoulaye Tamboura, a geopolitics researcher and a specialist in Sub-Saharan Africa, told France 24.
“Dawah appeared in Mali around 20 years ago and has since been active from the south to the north of the country.”
Dawah is an authorized Islamic movement in Mali which gained popularity in the 1990s.
Its members say they practice a moderate form of Islam and that they have no Jihadist intentions.
The arrested men were part of the Dawah Islamic sect and came to Bamako to attend a meeting for their movement at the Markaz mosque, police said.
They came from different cities and were staying at the mosque in CAN-2002.
Mali, once regarded as a fine example of African democracy, collapsed into chaos after soldiers toppled the president in March, leaving a power vacuum in the north that enabled rebels to take control of nearly two-thirds of the country.
Muslims make up more than 90 percent of Mali's nearly 12 million populations.
The UN said an estimated 30,000 people had fled the latest fighting in Mali, joining more than 200,000 already displaced.
France launched air strikes in Mali, an OIC member, last Friday to stop the advance of Islamist rebels in the north.
France plans to field a total 2,500 soldiers in its former colony to bolster the Malian army and work with the intervention force provided by the ECOWAS grouping of West African states.
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/460939-bearded-muslims-face-malian-paranoia.html
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Islamists executed 9 Japanese in Algeria: Witnesses
Jan 20, 2013
IN AMENAS (ALGERIA): Islamists holding foreigners hostage at a gas plant in the Algerian desert executed nine Japanese captives during a 72-hour stand-off with the military, an Algerian witnesses said on Sunday.
"In all nine Japanese were killed," one witness identified as Brahim told AFP a day after special forces swooped on the In Amenas facility to end the deadly siege.
In Tokyo, a foreign ministry official said: "We are in a position not to comment on this kind of information at all. Please understand."
The first three were killed after they tried to escape from the bus that was carrying them to the In Amenas airport, in the initial moments of the crisis, when al-Qaida linked militants attacked at dawn on Wednesday, the witnesses said.
"We were all afraid when we heard bursts of gunfire at 5.30am (0430 GMT) on Wednesday, after we realised that they had just killed our Japanese colleagues who tried to flee from the bus, and whom they had taken to another site," said Riad, who worked for the Japanese engineering firm JGC.
The gunmen, carrying nail-wrenches, then took the others, who were aware of all the safety procedures, to the Japanese rooms at the residential compound, where they had seized hundreds of hostages, said Riad.
"A terrorist shouted 'open the door!' with a strong north American accent, and opened fire. Two other Japanese died then and we found four other Japanese bodies" inside the compound, he added, choking with emotion.
Afterwards, the survivors found the bodies of the three killed earlier near the bus, riddled with bullets, and Riad said he covered their faces.
The horrifying witness accounts come after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said earlier on Sunday that he had received "severe information" when speaking by telephone to Algerian premier Abdelmalek Sellal about the end of the stand-off.
Abe spoke to French President Francois Hollande on Sunday and asked him to provide Japan with "information and other lateral support" on the Algerian hostage crisis, as "France has a deep relationship with Algeria", Jiji Press reported.
JGC Corp said 10 of its Japanese and seven of its foreign workers remained unaccounted for but confirmed the safety of 61 of its 78 workers at the In Amenas facility.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Islamists-executed-9-Japanese-in-Algeria-Witnesses/articleshow/18104304.cms
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Weapons used by al-Qaeda terrorists in Algeria hostage attack came from Libya
Jan 21 2013
London: Most of the weapons that were used by al Qaeda-linked militants to storm a gas facility in southeastern Algeria came from Libya.
Many terrorists shot their way into the In Amenas compound using the AK104 model of Kalashnikov, which was typically used by Libyan rebels in the war against Muammar Gaddafi.
The militants also used F5 rockets that also surfaced in the Libyan war, the security source said. According to the Telegraph, the Islamists wore the same type of outfits that Qatar provided to Libyan National Transitional Council rebels, yellow flak jackets with brown patches, known as 'chocolate chip' camouflage.
The garments are copies of ones worn by Americans in the Gulf war. The terrorists also employed 60mm gun-mortars used by France and Libyan rebels, the report said. Other non-Libyan arms used in the Algerian terror attack included German and Chinese-made Kalashnikovs, classic rocket-propelled grenades and Russian offensive and defensive grenades.
The Algerian army had two missile-carrying Mi24 Super-Hind helicopters, armoured cars, and Russian-made T90 tanks. For the assault on the gas facility itself, special forces used incapacitating gas, infrared cameras, heat-seeking cameras and 'optical devices to be able to see under doors and through walls', the report added.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/most-weapons-used-by-alqaeda-terrorists-in-algeria-hostage-attack-cam.../1062510/
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French military keeps up airstrikes in Mali
Jan 21, 2013
SEGOU, MALI: The French military says its fighter planes and helicopter gunships have carried out a dozen operations over the weekend in Mali, most of them aimed at "terrorist vehicles."
The report came late Sunday as Mali's president thanked France for its military support in ousting the Islamists from some of their strongholds in northern and central Mali.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/French-military-keeps-up-airstrikes-in-Mali/articleshow/18113755.cms
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Jihadi Belmokhtar puts Qaida stamp on Algerian siege
Jan 21, 2013
NOUAKCHOTT: Veteran Jihadi Mokhtar Belmokhtar has claimed responsibility in the name of al-Qaida for the mass hostage-taking in Algeria and called on France to halt air strikes in Mali, Mauritanian news website Sahara Media said on Sunday, citing a video.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Jihadi-puts-Qaida-stamp-on-siege/articleshow/18110237.cms
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Five militants captured alive at gas plant: Algeria security source
Jan 20, 2013
ALGIERS: Algerian special forces clearing the In Amenas gas plant captured five militants alive on Sunday, a security source said, bringing the number of militants who are believed to have participated in an attack on the facility to 37.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Five-militants-captured-alive-at-gas-plant-Algeria-security-source/articleshow/18106907.cms
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Algeria siege toll climbs past 80
Jan 21, 2013
The death toll from the terrorist siege at a natural gas plant in the Sahara climbed past 80 on Sunday as Algerian forces searching the refinery for explosives found dozens more bodies, many so badly disfigured it was unclear whether they were hostages or militants, a security official said.
Algerian special forces stormed the plant on Saturday to end the four-day siege, moving in to thwart what government officials said was a plot by the Islamic extremists to blow up the complex and kill all their captives with mines sown throughout the site.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/algeria-siege-toll-climbs-past-80/article4326031.ece
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Islamists leave Diabaly, Malian town after strikes
January 20, 2013
Burned out vehicles and scattered bullets dotted the streets of a central Malian town after radical Islamists retreated following days of French airstrikes, according to video obtained Sunday.
The Malian military announced late Saturday that the government was now controlling Diabaly, marking an important accomplishment for the French-led offensive to oust the extremists from northern and central Mali.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/africa/Islamists-leave-Diabaly-after-strikes/Article1-995676.aspx
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Rwanda President: No Issue with UN Drones in Congo
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 21, 2013
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Monday he has no problem with a United Nations proposal to use surveillance drones in neighbouring Congo.
Kagame told a news conference that if the U.N. thinks the drones will help achieve peace, then "let them do it." He added that he doesn't think Rwanda has the power to stop such a U.N. deployment. Earlier in January, the U.N. outlined its case to the Security Council to use surveillance drones in Congo for the first time but ran into opposition from Rwanda's U.N. ambassador, who expressed reservations over the plan.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/01/21/world/africa/ap-af-rwanda-
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Two dead siege militants were Canadians-Algerian: source
Algerian Special Forces discover bodies of two Canadians at a gas plant near the town of In Amenas
21 Jan 2013
Two dead Islamist militants found inside the Algerian desert siege site were Canadians, an Algerian security source told Reuters on Monday.
Algerian Special Forces had discovered the bodies at the Tiguentourine gas plant near the town of In Amenas, the source said.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/62948/World/Region/Two-dead-siege-militants-were-CanadiansAlgerian-so.aspx
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Mideast Asia
Blow Up Al-Aqusa Mosque: Rightist Israeli Candidate’s Remarks Cause Stir
20 January 2013
CAIRO – An Israeli candidate running in this week’s general election has sparked outrage by calling for blowing up Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, to rebuild the alleged Temple of Solomon.
“This is a serious challenge and a fundamental provocative call to the entire Muslim world,” Sheikh Yousuf Dowais, chairman of the Palestinian Higher Shari`ah Judicial Council, said in a statement cited by the Gulf News on Sunday, January 20.
“The Dome of the Rock and the entire Al-Aqsa Compound [Al Haram Al Sharif] are greater, bigger and purer than being used to make political and electoral gains.”
Israeli voters are going to polling stations on Tuesday, January 22, to elect a new parliament.
Opinion polls show that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is on course to be the largest party in the Knesset.
Full report at:
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/middle-east/460966-blow-up-al-aqsa-mosque-knesset-hopeful.html
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Iran stakes claim in Rohingya affair
21 January 2013
An agreement has been reached between an Iranian parliamentary delegation and Burmese officials to set up a refugee camp in Rakhine State exclusively for thousands of Rohingya Muslims, Iran’s media reported this weekend, citing the country’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Deputy Chairman Mansour Haqiqatpour.
Full report at:
for the opening of an Iranian Embassy in Burma, according to another report in Press TV.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8765-iran-stakes-claim-in-rohingya-affair.html
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Palestinian freedom fighter leaves occupation prison after 25 years
January 21, 2013
Palestinian freedom fighter and prisoner Jihad al-Obeidi was released after serving his full sentence of 25 years in Israeli prisons on January 20, 2013; his sentence was spent shuffled between various occupation prisons, including the Moskobiya, Bir Saba, Hasharon, Eshel and Ramla. His family, originally displaced from Lifta in 1948, is preparing to welcome him in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of Jerusalem.
Full report at:
http://samidoun.ca/2013/01/palestinian-freedom-fighter-jihad-obeidi-leaves-occupation-prison-after-25-years/
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IAF chief Browne in Israel to deepen defence ties
Jan 21, 2013
JERUSALEM: Amid deepening ties between India and Israel, Chief of Air Staff NAK Browne has held strategic talks with his Israeli counterpart and will meet defence top brass, furthering the ongoing bilateral military cooperation.
"This is a part of routine reciprocal visits between chiefs of various wings of the defence forces of the two countries", a defence source here said.
However, "the visit underlines a very strong strategic relationship between the two countries where cooperation with India would probably rank only second to the United States", the source said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IAF-chief-Browne-in-Israel-to-deepen-defence-ties/articleshow/18113575.cms
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Israeli election campaigning enters final stretch
Jan 21, 2013
History will not forgive whoever allows Iran to become a nuclear power, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, as contenders in Israel’s parliamentary elections sharpened their messages two days before polling stations open.
Parties were scrambling in a last-minute attempt to convince undecided voters around a quarter of the electorate, according to opinion polls. Mr. Netanyahu and his ruling Likud party have highlighted the issue of security throughout the campaign.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/israeli-election-campaigning-enters-final-stretch/article4326089.ece
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U.S. drone strike kills 4 Qaeda militants in Yemen
21 Jan 2013
A U.S. drone killed four suspected al Qaeda militants on Monday in a strike in central Yemen, tribal sources said, in the third such attack in three days.
The United States never comments on strikes by its pilotless aircraft, which it has used to track down militants in Yemen for years. The Yemeni government tolerates such strikes but usually does not comment on the U.S. role in specific incidents.
Washington has scaled up action against al Qaeda in the strategically important state, where the group exploited widespread anti-government unrest in 2011 to seize swathes of territory in the south.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/62954/World/Region/US-drone-strike-kills--Qaeda-militants-in-Yemen.aspx
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Israel's Netanyahu Seeks Strong Finish After Election Poll Dip
By REUTERS
January 21, 2013
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an election-eve appeal on Monday to wavering supporters to "come home", showing concern over a forecast far-right surge that would keep him in power but weaken him politically.
In the last stretch of a largely lackluster campaign that could produce the most hardline government in Israel's history, Netanyahu has watched high-tech millionaire Naftali Bennett's far-right Jewish Home party chip away at his right-wing Likud's opinion poll lead.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/01/21/world/middleeast/21reuters-israel-
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Israel Removes Palestinian Protest Camp Outside Jerusalem
January 21, 2013
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli forces removed Palestinian protest tents from land adjoining a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the second such camp to be torn down in a week.
Palestinian activists had pitched tents near the village of Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem, where residents face difficulty building homes due to Israeli restrictions and may be surrounded by a separation barrier Israel plans for the area.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/01/21/world/middleeast/21reuters-palestinians-
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An Election in Israel Unusual for What Isn’t Being Discussed
By JODI RUDOREN
January 21, 2013
MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank — From the deck of a new cafe at the edge of this sprawling Jewish settlement, customers gaze out at a large patch of desert that is the latest point of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. People here, and in the Israeli leadership, hope that the land will soon become an unbroken chain of roads and homes linking their community to Jerusalem. But Palestinians — along with much of the world — see it as a critical part of their future state.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/world/middleeast/israeli-vote-greeted-by-a-yawning-
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Europe
Afghan prisoners hanged by their wrists, beaten with cables: UN
Jan 21 2013
Afghan authorities are still torturing prisoners, such as hanging them by their wrists and beating them with cables, the United Nations said, a year after it first documented the abuse and won government promises of detention reform.
The latest report shows little progress in curbing abuse in Afghan prisons despite efforts by the U.N. and international military forces in Afghanistan. The report released Sunday also cites instances where Afghan authorities have tried to hide mistreatment from U.N. monitors.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/aghan-prisoners-hanged-by-their-wrists-beaten-with-cables-un/1062430/
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France says military goal is 'total reconquest of Mali'
Jan 21, 2013
PARIS: French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said today the end goal of France's military action in Mali was to retake control of the whole country from Islamist militants who have seized the north.
"The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets" of resistance, Le Drian said on France 5 television.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/France-says-military-goal-is-total-reconquest-of-Mali/articleshow/18110246.cms
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EU offers to host international Mali talks Feb 5
The European Union offers to host a ministerial meeting to discuss the Malian crisis amid moves to oust Islamist rebels from the north of the west African state
21 Jan 2013
The European Union on Monday offered to host international talks on the Mali crisis on February 5 in Brussels.
"We have offered to host on February 5 a ministerial meeting of the international support and follow-up group on the situation in Mali," said a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/62975/World/International/EU-offers-to-host-international-Mali-talks-Feb-.aspx
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Russia starts naval exercises, Syria link seen
Jan 20, 2013,
MOSCOW: Russia said it started its largest naval exercises in years over the weekend, in war games analysts said would let it flex its military muscle and underline its interest in Syria, where Moscow has a Mediterranean base.
At least eight warships from Russia's Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets were taking part in the manoeuvres in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the defence ministry said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Russia-starts-naval-exercises-Syria-link-seen/articleshow/18102477.cms
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'UK to impose Language-test lingo ban to stop cheating immigrants'
Jan 21 2013
London : In a bid to stop cheating, Britain is set to ban immigrants from taking driving tests in Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Kashmiri, Tamil, Urdu and 12 other foreign languages under new plans to be unveiled next month.
British Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin ordered the crackdown to stop rogue interpreters helping people who cannot speak English cheat their way to a UK driving licence by telling them the answers to questions in both the theory and practical tests, the 'Daily Mail' reported today.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/uk-to-impose-ltest-lingo-ban-to-stop-cheating-immigrants/1062170/
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India
Panel of Islamic Clerics and Scholars Warn Jaipur Literature Festival against 4 Authors
Jan 21, 2013
JAIPUR: Muslims groups have warned the organizers of Jaipur Literature Festival against allowing four authors - who read out passages from the banned book 'Satanic Verses' by Salman Rushdie - to participate in this year's Jaipur Lit Fest. The statement was released by a panel of Islamic clerics and scholars during a national conference on "Azmat -E-Namoos -E-Rasool" (Respect and Honour of Prophet Muhammad) held at Ravindra Manch, Jaipur on Sunday in the presence of approximately 20,000 attendees from across the state.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Muslim-groups-warn-Jaipur-Literature-Festival-against-4-authors/articleshow/18107958.cms
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Maulana Tahir-ul Qadri draws mixed reactions from Indian Hyderabad
Jan 21, 2013
HYDERABAD: Muhammad Tahir-ul Qadri, the cleric who has been creating waves in Pakistan by challenging the government with his 'long march', has a love-hate relation with Hyderabadis with followers who swear by him as a 'reformer' and others who bitterly criticise him for allegedly siding with BJP's Narendra Modi, the Gujarat chief minister.
Qadri last year said Muslims in Gujarat should 'forget the past', but experts here say the cleric is no stranger to controversy. Analysts say that it wasn't just his 'brash' comments on Gujarat which invited the ire of Hyderabadi professionals and scholars but also a video which went viral on YouTube which seemingly showed him speaking to a freshly buried person instructing the deceased to read the Kalimah (declaration of faith).
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Qadri-draws-mixed-reactions-from-Hyderabad/articleshow/18107699.cms
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Hafiz Saeed seeks to exploit Shinde's Hindu terror remarks
Jan 21, 2013
LAHORE/SILIGURI/JAMMU: Mumbai attacks mastermind and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed on Monday sought to exploit home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's jibe against RSS and BJP saying Indian "propaganda" against Pakistani organizations of spreading terror now stood "exposed".
A day after Shinde accused BJP and RSS of running terror camps and indulging in Hindu terror, he went to the extent of levelling an accusation that Indian organizations were "involved in all kinds of terrorism in Pakistan".
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hafiz-Saeed-seeks-to-exploit-Shindes-Hindu-terror-remarks-BJP-launches-all-out-attack/articleshow/18116395.cms
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Hindu terrorism: Lalu backs Shinde's accusation of BJP, RSS
Jan 21 2013
Patna: RJD president Lalu Prasad today backed Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's accusation that BJP and RSS were conducting terror training camps and promoting "Hindu terrorism" in the country.
"He (Shinde) is the Union Home minister. Will he tell a lie?" Prasad asked while talking to reporters after being unanimously elected the party's president for the eighth time.
Appealing to party workers to take a pledge not to allow "communal forces" assume power at the Centre at any cost, he said his party would make sincere efforts to bring all secular forces together.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hindu-terrorism-lalu-backs-shindes-accusation-of-bjp-rss/1062176/
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Congress Gen Secy says has 'terror' proof against RSS, links Advani, Sushma to Pragya Singh Thakur
Jan 21 2013
New Delhi : Taking potshots at the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the ongoing war of words over Sushil Kumar Shinde's 'saffron terror' remark, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Monday said there is foolproof evidence in support of the allegation levelled by the Union Home Minister.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/digvijay-singh-says-has-terror-proof-against-rss-links-advani-sush.../1062549/
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Congress defends Shinde on Hindu terror remark
January 20, 2013
The Congress Sunday defended Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde who provoked the BJP by saying its ideological mentor RSS was promoting Hindu terrorism in its training camps. "After investigations, we have seen that be it the BJP or the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), their training camps are promoting Hindu terrorism. This is a matter of concern," Shinde said at the All India Congress Committee session here.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/jaipur/Congress-defends-Shinde-on-Hindu-terror-remark/Article1-995526.aspx
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Partition, India-Pakistan wars against Netaji's vision: Daughter
January 20, 2013
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's daughter Anita Pfaff on Sunday termed the Partition of the country and the resultant wars and arms race between India and Pakistan as a major disappointment, militating against her father's vision of the post-Independence nation.
Describing Netaji as a "far-sighted and visionary leader", she said Bose not only loved his country "fiercely", but was also pragmatic.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/kolkata/Partition-India-Pakistan-wars-against-Netaji-s-vision-Daughter/Article1-995598.aspx
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Two Indians arrested in Pakistan for alleged spying
January 21, 2013
Lahore: Five persons, including two alleged India nationals, were arrested in this eastern Pakistani city on Monday on charges of espionage, according to media reports.
The five persons, including the alleged Indian nationals, were arrested from two different locations in Lahore; Geo News channel quoted its sources as saying.
Full report at:
http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/two-indians-arrested-in-pakistan-for-alleged-spyin_824271.html
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Asaduddin Owaisi surrenders in Hyderabad court
Jan 21, 2013
HYDERABAD: MIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, against whom a non-bailable warrant was pending in a 2005 case, on Monday appeared before a court in Sangareddy town of Medak district which remanded him in judicial custody till February 2.
Asaduddin, who is accused number 1 in the case, filed a 'recall petition' in the court seeking cancellation of NBW.
However, the court dismissed his petition and remanded him in judicial custody till February 2, a senior police officer said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Andhra-MP-Asaduddin-Owaisi-surrenders-in-Hyderabad-court/articleshow/18113268.cms
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Government has shown maturity in defusing tensions along LoC: Omar Abdullah
Jan 21 2013
New Delhi : Speaking at a "Young Changemakers Conclave" organised in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre for India here on Monday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah praised the Central Government for defusing tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan following the killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers on January 8.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/1062477/
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Pakistan's former Minister Ansar Burney attacked for pro India statement
Jan 20, 2013
AMRITSAR: Following India-Pakistan tension across Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan is increasingly becoming unsafe for persons vouching for friendship with India and taking up the concerns of Indian prisoners languishing in Pak jails.
Pakistan's former federal minister for Human Rights told TOI over phone from Karachi on Sunday that some unidentified persons made a futile attempt on his life on January 19th. He informed that two unknown persons came on motorbike and tried to attach some explosive devise beneath his car which was parked outside the office of Ansar Burney Trust International.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ansar-Burney-attacked-for-pro-India-statement/articleshow/18102290.cms
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GMR fiasco apart, India will continue as benign neighbour
SANDEEP DIKSHIT
Jan 21, 2013
Maritime security cooperation to be stepped up with Maldives, Sri Lanka
India is aiming to step up trilateral cooperation with Sri Lanka and the Maldives in maritime security despite the current cold vibes between New Delhi and Male. The three countries have started coordinating with one another in ensuring the security of the Indian Ocean patch in the neighbourhood. India has proposed an increase in the level of coordination, say government sources.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/gmr-fiasco-apart-india-will-continue-as-benign-neighbour/article4326965.ece
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Pakistani authors to attend Jaipur lit fest
MAHIM PRATAP SINGH
Jan 21, 2013
The event is being held amid an atmosphere of hostility and cultural embargo in both countries
Several Pakistani authors will be coming to India later this month to participate in the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) amid an atmosphere of hostility and cultural embargo, both here and in Pakistan.
This year’s edition of the DSC-JLF will host two of Pakistan’s most celebrated authors, Jamil Ahmad and Mohammed Hanif, both of whom had been a part of JLF-2012.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/books/pakistani-authors-to-attend-jaipur-lit-fest/article4326605.ece
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‘Mob that was not from either community had role in Dhule riots’
E Jan 21 2013
Shubhangi Khapre: There has been a spate of communal incidents in which the minorities have faced off against the police in the state. Do you think communal riots have become different now as the state establishment is being challenged? Is there a larger communal design to this?
Mh:The main reason for the police versus minority incidents is that people do not seem to trust the police. Many think that the police is not able to protect them, give them respect and is generally unjust. There is a general feeling within the minority community that no matter how good a person is, the police looks at them in the same way. In case there is any bomb blast there will be a search or combing operation in which they will pick people up and declare them a ‘terrorist’.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-mob-that-was-not-from-either-community-had-role-in-dhule-riots-/1062187/
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Threat mail to five-star hotel, IM suspected
January 21, 2013
A prominent five-star hotel chain on Sunday afternoon received a threat email, allegedly from terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM). The email was sent to Leela Kempinski and threatened to blow up their properties in both Delhi and Gurgaon. The email comes close on the heels of the Republic Day.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/gurgaon/Threat-mail-to-five-star-hotel-IM-suspected/Article1-995716.aspx
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India sends fresh LR to Morocco to quiz Headley’s estranged wife
Jan 21, 2013
NEW DELHI: India has sent a fresh Letter Rogatory (LR) to Morocco for questioning of Faiza Outalha, Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley's estranged wife, in connection with the 26\11 Mumbai terror attack case probe. Morocco had returned the earlier request as it was not in French.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-send-fresh-LR-to-Morocco-to-quiz-Headleys-estranged-wife/articleshow/18109281.cms
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Filipino says Bihar man exploited her, police register FIR
Jan 20 2013
A Filipino woman, working with a US project in Afghanistan, has accused a man from Bihar of “cheating and sexually exploiting” her.
The woman, 41, came in contact with Gyan Prakash of Betiah, a petrol pump owner, through a social networking site and him at Bodhgaya last December. On January 15, she emailed a complaint to Bihar Police chief Abhayanand that Prakash had cheated and exploited her after promising marriage. She, however, made it clear that she did not want to press charges because she only wanted to put pressure on Prakash to marry her.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/filipino-says-bihar-man-exploited-her-police-register-fir/1061976/
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India downplays remark of Pak envoy on LoC killings
Jan 21, 2013
India on Monday sought to downplay reported remark of the Pakistan’s envoy in New Delhi on the killing of Indian soldiers on the Line of Control (LoC), saying the two sides can move forward in a “sensible way” once the “dust settles”.
“I think it is important that we let little time go by so that the dust, as it was, settles. Then in a sensible and calibrated manner we can move forward,” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters in New Delhi.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-downplays-remark-of-pak-envoy-on-loc-killings/article4328797.ece
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J-K: Stay of people from PoK extended by one more week, says official
Jan 21 2013
Jammu : India today extended by one more week the stay of people from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) who have now been over-staying in Jammu and Kashmir following refusal by their own country to allow cross LoC and travel on the Poonch-Rawalakote road through Chakkan Da Bagh in Poonch.
This followed a request to the Union Ministry for External Affairs by the Poonch Deputy Commissioner, Ajit K Sahu, who pointed out that these people have not been able to return to their native places in PoK due to non-resumption of cross LoC bus service – Rah-i-Milan this week too.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jk-stay-of-people-from-pok-extended-by-one-more-week-says-official/1062572/
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Ban Salman Rushdie at Jaipur Literature Festival, but Sanjay Roy says no 'hijacking' event
Jan 21 2013
Jaipur : Ahead of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Muslim groups today warned organisers against inviting authors who hurt religious sentiments of the community, including the four who had read out passages from Salman Rushdie's banned Satanic Verses at the event last year.
"If any author, who has courted controversy by hurting the sentiments of the community, comes here to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival, we will oppose and they will have to face strong action," Mujahid Naqvi, a Muslim scholar, said today.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ban-salman-rushdie-at-jaipur-literature-festival-.../1062551/
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Arab World
Airstrike kills at least seven near Syrian capital
Jan 20, 2013
BEIRUT: Syrian government troops battled rebels in several areas outside Damascus on Sunday while regime warplanes bombed opposition-held areas around the capital, including an airstrike on one village that killed at least seven people, activists said.
Rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad have seized swaths of territory in northern Syria but have become bogged down in their push for Damascus, where regime troops are still firmly in control. While the opposition fighters have established footholds in suburbs east and south of the capital, Assad's forces have kept them from advancing into the heart of the city and regularly hit them with artillery and airstrikes.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Airstrike-kills-at-least-seven-near-Syrian-capital/articleshow/18103753.cms
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Iraq opens Christian centre in ethnically-mixed city
20 Jan 2013
Authorities on Sunday opened what they billed as the first Christian cultural centre in Iraq in a decade, despite a dramatic decline in the country's once significant Christian population.
The building was inaugurated in the northern city of Kirkuk, home to a diverse population of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, and is to host conferences and meetings to promote inter-faith communications between the city's Muslim and Christian communities.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/62887/World/Region/Iraq-opens-Christian-centre-in-ethnicallymixed-cit.aspx
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Syrian Aide Asks Rebels to Give Up Weapons
By ANNE BARNARD
January 21, 2013
BEIRUT, Lebanon — As Syrian opposition leaders met in Turkey over the weekend to try to iron out their differences, Syria’s foreign minister invited rebels to join a national dialogue, promising that all those who lay down their arms and forswear foreign intervention will be part of a transitional government.
“I tell the young men who carried arms to change and reform — take part in the dialogue for a new Syria and you will be a partner in building it,” the foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said in an interview broadcast on Syrian state television on Saturday. “Why carry arms?”
The minister’s offer went a significant step beyond what President Bashar al-Assad proposed in a speech on Jan. 6, when he called for a national dialogue but intimated that those who had taken up arms would be excluded.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/world/middleeast/syria-urges-rebels-to-lay-down-
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Al Qaeda claims assassination of Sunni lawmaker in Iraq
Al Qaeda's front group in Iraq claims responsibility for the suicide bomber who assassinated a Sunni MP, as well as other attacks of the past week
21 Jan 2013
Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate said it had carried out a suicide bomb attack that killed a Sunni Muslim lawmaker last week as he toured a construction site in the westerly Anbar province, where Sunnis have been protesting against the government for three weeks.
Members of the Sunni minority accuse the Shi'ite-led government of marginalising them, and the wave of protests has raised fears that the OPEC country could again slide into widespread sectarian conflict.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/62969/World/Region/Al-Qaeda-claims-assassination-of-Sunni-lawmaker-in.aspx
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Egypt armed forces 'won't give up inch of military land': Army source
Controversy continues to rage over Cairo's tiny Qursaya Island, ownership of which is claimed by both local residents and Egypt's military
20 Jan 2013
Military sources have confirmed that Egypt's armed forces "will not give up a single inch of land" that belongs to the military, whether it is situated on the nation's borders or in Cairo and the governorates.
Qursaya, a small island in Cairo's Giza district, is among the lands claimed by the military. In an 18 November statement posted on Facebook, Egyptian military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Ali declared that the land in question was the property of the armed forces, which needed it for military exercises aimed at "securing the capital."
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/62926/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-armed-forces-wont-give-up-inch-of-military-l.aspx
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Syria Opposition Postpones Formation of Transitional Government
By ALAN COWELL
January 21, 2013
Almost two years into their ever bloodier uprising against President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, his exiled adversaries met in Istanbul on Monday and said that they had again postponed the formation of a transitional government, an apparent setback to their plans to fill the power vacuum created by months of civil war.
The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, the main exile opposition group, gathered on Saturday to try to mold a transitional government. While the organization has won broad recognition among its foreign backers as Syria’s sole legitimate representative, it has not yet solidified support among rebels fighting on the ground or begun planning for a post-Assad future.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/world/middleeast/syria-war-
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KSA gives $ 1.88 m for Rohingya resettlement
21 January 2013
Saudi Arabia yesterday announced a contribution of $ 1.88 million toward UNHCR’s humanitarian program in Myanmar providing shelter to Rohingyas in Rakhine state.
A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed by Yousef Al-Bassam of the Saudi Fund for Development and Imran Riza, UNHCR’s regional representative in Riyadh.
The contribution will enable the UNHCR to provide temporary and permanent shelters for around 75,000 displaced people.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/ksa-gives-188-m-rohingya-resettlement
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Iraq PM trades blame with Kurd leader
21 January 2013
BAGHDAD/MOSUL: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and the leader of the Kurdish region traded barbs yesterday, each blaming the other for an ongoing political crisis amid weeks of anti-government protests.
The two issued rival statements in the latest in a series of disputes that have hardened opposition against Maliki and pitted him against several of his erstwhile government partners, including Iraq’s main Kurdish political faction, who accuse him of authoritarianism and sectarianism.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/iraq-pm-trades-blame-kurd-leader
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Assad’s overthrow 'red line' for Iran: supreme leader’s aide
20 January 2013
DUBAI: A senior aide to Iran’s supreme leader warned against the overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar Assad, saying his fate was a “red line,” in one of the Islamic state’s strongest messages of support for the Damascus government.
Iran has steadfastly backed Assad’s rule since an uprising against his rule began almost two years ago and regards him as an important part of the axis of opposition against arch-foe Israel.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/assad%E2%80%99s-overthrow-red-line-iran-supreme-leader%E2%80%99s-aide
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Iraqi tribal sheikh removes microphone, throws it away
20 January 2013
During a moderated debate on Al Arabiya TV Friday, an Iraqi tribal leader from the restive Sunni province of Anbar burst with anger at a female lawmaker from the political party of Prime Minister Muri al-Maliki.
The man, Sheikh Ali Hatem Suleiman, was angered when Member of Parliament Hanan al-Fatlawi stated that he does not speak for anti-Maliki protesters in Anbar.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/20/261388.html
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Egypt rights group challenges new university students' charter
Association for Freedom of Thought & Expression files lawsuit against new students' charter, describing document as 'unconstitutional' and 'unrepresentative' of Egypt's vast student body
20 Jan 2013
The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), a Cairo-based rights group, has filed a lawsuit in Egypt's administrative court against Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's recent approval of a charter for Egyptian university students, the group announced at a Sunday press conference.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/62917/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-rights-group-challenges-new-university-stude.aspx
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Dozens arrested following clashes in Alexandria
Egyptian security forces arrest dozens in 'random' clampdown in Alexandria following court protest; minors held incommunicado in what activists say is 'kidnapping'
21 Jan 2013
Dozens of people have been arrested following clashes outside a court in Alexandria where police officers were on trial for the killing of protesters during the January 25 Revolution.
Fighting erupted on Sunday between protesters and security forces after the trial judges announced they would step down just one day before they were due to deliver their verdict.
Hakim Abdel-Naim, a revolutionary socialist and student activist, told Ahram Online that security forces were conducting a crackdown on activists in downtown Alexandria following the clashes.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/62953/Egypt/Politics-/Dozens-arrested-following-clashes-in-Alexandria--.aspx
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Islamist boycott clouds Jordan general election
Jordanian Islamists say they will not participate in 23 January legislative election as they are fed up with empty promises and failures of past parliaments
21 Jan 2013
Jordanians go the polls on Wednesday, but an Islamist boycott is expected to produce a toothless parliament that is unlikely to bring real reform, leaving the country in political uncertainty.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/62950/World/Region/Islamist-boycott-clouds-Jordan-general-election.aspx
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North America
American Muslim campaign 'My Jihad' to Canada to Defeat Islamophobes
20 January 2013
CAIRO – Breaking barriers and borders, an American Muslim campaign has crossed into Canada to introduce the true meaning of Jihad and help dispel fears promoted by Islamophobes about Muslims and their faith.
“These negative feelings toward Islam often come from ignorant viewpoints,” Bayan Khatib, a Toronto settlement worker and Syrian Revolution activist, told Vancouver Observer.
“I find that people with a well-rounded education are less likely to foster hostile feelings towards others who are different from them.
Full report at:
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/460956-myjihad-crosses-borders-to-canada.html
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US Muslims Rebuild Tornado-torn Joplin
20 January 2013
CAIRO – In a show of unity with their fellow Americans, a leading Muslim organization will be leading a relief effort with Jewish groups to rebuild the tornado-hit city of Joplin in Missouri.
“When a disaster happens, we help people based on their need, regardless of their religion or skin color,” Shahid Farooqi, outreach director for the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Relief USA, told Joplin Globe.
Full report at:
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/460949-us-muslims-jews-unite-to-rebuild-joplin.html
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Islamic Centre Helps Vulnerable Texans
20 January 2013
CAIRO – Seeking to help the poor and vulnerable residents of America’s second most populous state, an Islamic centre is offering medical and counselling services for the unprivileged people of different faiths.
“It comes from our religion,” Aftab Siddiqui, board chairman of the Muslim Community Center for Human Services, told Star-Telegram.
“Helping each other, helping out the needy and the weaker segments of society is part and parcel of our belief.”
Full report at:
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/460958-islamic-center-helps-texas-community.html
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Southeast Asia
Six Catholic schools could be shut down for not teaching Islam in East Java
By Mathias Hariyadi
January 16, 2013
The authorities threaten to close the schools by 19 January. Until now Christian schools have never been required to offer courses and seminars on the Qur'an. Given the sensitive nature of the matter, school administrators are not making any public statement.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Municipal authorities in Blitar, a town in East Java province, are threatening to shut down six Catholic schools "by 19 January" if the latter do not provide Islamic courses and readings of the Qur'an to their Muslim students, in accordance with regional bylaw n. 8 of 2012, which requires all Muslim students to receive Islamic courses in school. The latter is based on a national law, the National Education Act n. 55 of 2007.
Full report at:
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/East-Java:-six-Catholic-schools-could-be-shut-down-for-not-teaching-Islam-26877.html
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Indonesian judge faces axe after 'victims enjoy rape' remark
Jan 21 2013
Jakarta : A senior Indonesian judge will face an ethics tribunal for saying rape victims enjoyed the act, an official said today, after a judicial commission recommended his dismissal.
The commission, which monitors judges' conduct and professionalism, decided on Friday that High Court judge Daming Sunusi's comments during a hearing for a Supreme Court position were "disgraceful", spokesman Asep Rahmat Fajar said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indonesian-judge-faces-axe-after-victims-enjoy-rape-remark/1062495/
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Six Filipinos among dead in Algeria
Jan 21, 2013
Six Filipinos were among the hostages killed by militants who laid siege to an Algerian gas field for four days, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
Sixteen Filipinos have been accounted for and four others are still missing since Algerian Special Forces stormed the plant on Saturday to end the siege, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez told reporters.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/six-filipinos-among-dead-in-algeria/article4328556.ece
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26 killed in Jakarta floods
Jan 21, 2013
Floods in Indonesia’s capital have killed at least 26 people and sent more than 100,000 fleeing their homes Police said.
Jakarta police spokesman Col. Rikwanto says Monday that most of the victims were electrocuted or drowned by floodwaters reaching up to two meters (6.5 feet) high in some places. About 103,000 people are now living in temporary shelters.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/26-killed-in-jakarta-floods/article4329018.ece
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Pakistan
Constitutional crisis brewing in Balochistan
January 21, 2013
QUETTA: A serious constitutional crisis is in the making in Balochistan with the speaker summoning a session of the provincial assembly on a requisition signed by 19 legislators.
Speaker Syed Matiullah Agha summoned the session on Monday evening, disregarding the fact that the province is under governor’s rule.
Some constitutional and legal experts said they were not sure if the assembly wanted to play the role of a parallel government against the one headed by Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi who was now chief executive.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/21/constitutional-crisis-brewing-in-balochistan/
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Country will not accept any unconstitutional move: Former P M
January 21, 2013
LAHORE: Former prime minister and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday said that the country would not accept any unconstitutional move.
He also dispelled the perception in some sections of society that the ISI and the army stopped the federal government from launching an operation against Tahirul Qadri’s long march. Talking to media persons on his arrival at the Allama Iqbal International Airport on Sunday, Gilani said that all political parties, including the opposition, showed political maturity on the issue of Qadri’s long march.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\01\21\story_21-1-2013_pg7_17
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Pakhtun students protest against Bara killings
January 21, 2013
LAHORE: Pakhtun students from various universities of Lahore on Sunday staged a protest outside Lahore Press Club against the killing of 18 people in Bara Tehsil, Khyber Agency.
The protesters – mostly students from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), FATA and Balochistan – were holding banners inscribed with slogans such as “Are Pakhtuns not human?”, “Are they not Pakistanis?”, “Where is the media?” and “Chief justice please take suo motu action on the killing”.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\01\21\story_21-1-2013_pg7_19
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Taliban’s release sparks fresh tensions
January 21, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cannot attach the condition on freed Afghan Taliban prisoners of negotiating with the Afghan government, a Pakistani official said on Sunday, a day after Afghan officials insisted that prisoners should be released with the consent of the Afghan authorities so that they could not rejoin insurgents.
Pakistan has freed 26 Afghan Taliban prisoners, including an influential former minister, several ex-governors and top commanders, over the past two months to push the much-required reconciliation process forward.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/496800/diplomatic-mayhem-talibans-release-sparks-fresh-tensions/
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Man kills ‘converted to Islam’ mother and stepfather with an axe
January 21, 2013
HYDERABAD: A young man killed his mother and stepfather in their sleep with an axe in Mirpurkhas on Sunday. He also tried to kill his two stepbrothers but they survived.
The deceased Salma Mari alias Saira Bano had converted to Islam six years ago before marrying Aachar Mari, her second husband. She was also Aachar’s second wife.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/496694/death-while-sleeping-man-kills-mother-and-stepfather-with-an-axe/
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Pak commission to probe PM investigator's death
January 21, 2013
Pakistan has appointed a judicial commission to probe the death of an officer investigating corruption allegations against Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. Kamran Faisal was found dead on Friday in the hostel where he lived in Islamabad with colleagues from anti-corruption watchdog the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Full report at:
by the Supreme Court last week. The court has since adjourned the case to January 23.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan/Pak-commission-to-probe-PM-investigator-s-death/Article1-997598.aspx
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Pak commerce minister calls off India visit
Jan 21 2013
Islamabad : Rezaul H Laskar
Pakistan Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim has called off a scheduled visit to India to attend a business meet later this month, against the backdrop of tensions between the two countries over violations along the Line of Control.
Fahim told the media that he had decided against travelling to India as the business meet would clash with a forthcoming meeting between a government team and protesting cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, that he was required to attend.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-commerce-minister-calls-off-india-visit/1062297/
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Blast in Mohmand tribal region kills two security personnel
January 21, 2013
PESHAWAR: A blast in Mohmand tribal region’s Dawezai area killed two security personnel and injured nine others, including three members of a peace committee, on Monday.
The remote-controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IED) targeted a vehicle of the security forces killing two personnel on the spot and injuring nine others.
The vehicle was completely destroyed in the blast.
The injured were shifted Agency Headquarters Hospital Ghalanai.
http://dawn.com/2013/01/21/blast-in-mohmand-tribal-region-kills-two-fc-personnel-injures-nine-others/
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Militant attack in Khyber tribal region kills one FC personnel
January 21, 2013
PESHAWAR: Unknown gunmen opened fire on a Frontier Constabulary vehicle in Zakakhel market of Khyber tribal region’s Landi Kotal area killing one FC personnel and injuring two others, DawnNews reported.
The injured personnel were shifted to the Landi Kotal hospital where their condition was reported to be out of danger.
DawnNews quoted sources as saying that the FC personnel were on routine patrol when they came under fire from unknown gunmen which resulted in the killing of one FC man and caused injury to two others.
— Contribution by Zahir Shah Sherazi
http://dawn.com/2013/01/21/militants-attack-in-tirah-valley-kills-one-fc-personnel-injures-two-others/
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Lal Masjid operation: Dead man, former ISI official blamed for sabotaging talks
January 21, 2013
ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: Perhaps inspired by the proverb ‘dead men tell no tale’ the Islamabad administration is now pointing finger at a former official of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for his role in sabotaging the negotiations with the Lal Masjid administration that led to the military operation in 2007.
According to the written reply the Islamabad administration submitted to the one-man commission of Justice Shehzado Sheikh of Federal Shariat Court (FSC), Khalid Khawaja, the former spy, was a close friend of Lal Masjid chief cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz and his brother Ghazi Abdul Rasheed.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/21/lal-masjid-operation-dead-man-blamed-for-sabotaging-talks/
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Pakistan arrests 27 Indian fishermen
January 21, 2013
KARACHI: Pakistan has arrested 27 Indian fishermen for illegally straying into its territorial waters, officials said Monday.
The arrests come after a ceasefire took hold last week in Kashmir, following five deadly cross-border killings that threatened to unravel a fragile peace process.
Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency (MSA) arrested the Indian fishermen and seized six boats, alleging they were 40 nautical miles inside Pakistani waters.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/496944/pakistan-arrests-27-indian-fishermen/
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Musharraf offered to contest poll from Dera Bugti
January 21, 2013
Former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf on Sunday unveiled a plan to contest elections from constituencies in all four provinces, including Dera Bugti in Balochistan.
Musharraf, who heads the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), said that he has been offered an opportunity to fight elections even from Dera Bugti.
Dera Bugti is the hometown of the late Baloch chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti, who was killed in an August 2006 operation. Years later, Musharraf was nominated by the slain chieftain’s heirs in the murder case.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/496819/returning-home-musharraf-offered-to-contest-poll-from-dera-bugti/
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PM Ashraf withdraws review petition
January 21, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Monday withdrew his review petition in the rental power projects case, DawnNews reported.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard the petitions filed by power companies and the federal government.
The petitions have sought review of the court’s verdict of March 30, 2012 which had held the RPP contracts non-transparent and had ordered that they be rescinded.
During the hearing, the prime minister’s counsel, Wasim Sajjad, informed the bench that his client wished to withdraw his petition.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/21/rpp-review-petitioners-request-adjournment/
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Former MNA submits names of ‘dual national’ lawmakers
January 21, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Former Member of National Assembly from the Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q), Begum Shehnaz Sheikh, has submitted a list of ‘dual national’ lawmakers in an open letter to the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, DawnNews reported on Monday.
The letter has alleged that cases of all dual national lawmakers have not been dealt with equally.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/21/open-letter-to-sc-former-mna-submits-names-of-dual-national-lawmakers/
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Senate to move resolution for Nobel Peace Prize for Bilour
By Tanveer Ahmed
January 21, 2013
ISLAMABAD: All parliamentary groups in the Upper House of Parliament will move a resolution to recommend the name of former KP senior minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour for Nobel Peace Prize Award.
Bashir Bilour, assassinated last month in a terrorist attack, was believed to be hard voice against terrorism and extremism in the country.
The Senate session, starting today (Monday) in the Parliament House, has the resolution for Bashir Bilour prominent on its order of the day.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\01\21\story_21-1-2013_pg7_16
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South Asia
Mislabelled Halal Products Upset Uighurs
19 January 2013
BEIJING – Chinese firms labeling home-made food items as halal products imported from Muslim countries to sell to the country’s Uighur Muslims have sparked fury among Xinjiang Muslims who lost their faith in Chinese companies.
“Our company was set up a long time ago and has grown to a large scale,” or hundreds of thousands of US dollars, the director of Tianren International Ltd., surnamed Luo, told RFA Uighur Service on Friday, January 18.
Full report at:
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/460946-mislabeled-halal-products-upset-uighurs.html
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Important laws of Bangladesh military regime to stay
Jan 21, 2013
The cabinet on Monday on principal approved two proposals for keeping effective the 'important' ordinances promulgated during the martial law regimes.
The ordinances promulgated between August 20, 1975 and April 9, 1979 and March 24, 1982 and November 10, 1996 were condoned through the nullification of the 5th and 7th Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=44170
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Three killed, 10 injured in Kabul attack
Jan 21, 2013
Three Taliban suicide bombers killed three other people and injured more than 10 early Monday when they struck a government office in Kabul, an official said.
“Three traffic police were killed and more than 10 people including six civilians were injured in the attack,” Deputy Interior Minister Abdul Rahman Rahman said.
The suicide bombers were also killed, but two more insurgents were still fighting authorities eight hours after the blasts, he said.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/three-killed-10-injured-in-kabul-attack/article4328050.ece
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Bangladesh tribunal sentences cleric Azad to death for 1971 war crimes
Jan 21, 2013
DHAKA: Bangladesh's controversial war crimes court on Monday sentenced a top Islamic televangelist to death by hanging for genocide and other atrocities during the country's 1971 liberation struggle against Pakistan.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who has been on the run for about a year, is the first person to be convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) created by the country's government to try suspected war criminals.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Televangelist-sentenced-to-death-for-Bangladesh-war-crimes/articleshow/18112541.cms
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Waheed could contest presidential elections
R. K. RADHAKRISHNAN
Jan 21, 2013
A pro-government news website said on Sunday Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Waheed would contest the presidential elections later this year but his spokesperson insisted that the President had made no such commitment.
Dr. Waheed had earlier told The Hindu that he was considering running, but this depended on a host of factors. He hopes to emerge as a consensus candidate for the front that opposes the former President, Mohamed Nasheed. Mr. Nasheed’s party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), has a membership of about a sixth of the population.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/waheed-could-contest-presidential-elections/article4326365.ece
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Japan envoy welcomes women’s appointment to Shoura Council
21 January 2013
Japan joins the support of various sectors in the Kingdom for the appointments of Saudi women as members of the Shoura Council of Saudi Arabia, according to Japanese Ambassador to Riyadh Jiro Kodena.
“Japan welcomes the first-ever appointment of 30 female members to the Consultative Council of Saudi Arabia,” he said in a statement issued by the embassy.
Earlier, Saudi women welcomed the appointment of female counterparts to the Shoura Council. Naila Attar, an economic adviser and member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), was happy about some of the appointments Basma Omair, executive director of Khadija bint Khuwaylid for Businesswomen at the JCCI, also praised the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah “for taking this big step.”
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/japan-envoy-welcomes-women%E2%80%99s-appointment-shoura-council
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Declined foreign intervention on February 7: former President Nasheed
By Mariyath Mohamed | January 20th, 2013
“There is no government worth maintaining at the cost of the death of any citizens,” former President Nasheed told supporters at a rally on Saturday night, explaining that he had rejected offers made by foreign allies to intervene during the controversial transfer of power on February 7, 2012.
Full report at:
http://minivannews.com/politics/declined-foreign-invention-on-february-7-former-president-nasheed-51493
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Maldives Ministry threatens legal action against HRCM over Maafushi minors case
By Ahmed Nazeer | January 20th, 2013
The Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights has rejected accusations by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) that two minors were locked up in Maafushi prison, and has threatened legal action against the institution.
On January 17, HRCM issued a statement calling for the immediate release of two teenage girls living in Villingili orphanage, who were being held in Maafushi prison after being arrested by police.
Full report at:
http://minivannews.com/category/news-in-brief
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Maldives denies diplomatic snub by India, as High Commission issues list of consular grievances
By JJ Robinson | January 20th, 2013
The Indian government has rejected an official request from Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdul Samad Abdulla to visit the country, Indian media has reported.
According to the Indian Express newspaper, Samad sought to set up an official visit for Maldivian President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik through formal channels but was rebuffed. He then reportedly visited Delhi in a personal capacity to try and arrange meetings.
Full report at:
http://minivannews.com/politics/maldives-denies-diplomatic-snub-by-india-as-high-commission-issues-list-of-consular-grievances-51469
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/bearded-muslims-face-malian-paranoia,/d/10093