Blasphemy Allegations: Principal Compares Self to Holy Prophet (Pbuh)
New Age Islam News Bureau
23 Oct 2012
Pakistan
• Blasphemy Allegations: Principal Compares Self to Holy Prophet (Pbuh)
• Balochistan unrest: 9 kidnapped from bus
• “It’s not time to divorce Pakistan”: Mitt Romney
• Action ordered against Afghan set up on encroached land
• Blast in Peshawar injures four FC soldiers
• ‘Onus of reviving peace talks on Kabul’: Pakistan
• Men find role in promotion of women’s rights
• Two TTP militants arrested in Islamabad
• Image building: Pakistan to showcase rights record at Geneva
• Fall in polio vaccination refusal cases in Pakistan
• Lahore High Court orders to ban Sheesha Cafe, smoking at public places
• Interior Ministry bans 40 organisations from collecting animal hides, donations this Eid
• Bin Laden in Abbottabad: Report gives military, govt, ISI clean bill
South Asia
• Couple’s love bridges Myanmar religious divide
• Taliban kill 10 Afghan security personnel in a bloody battle: officials
• Fresh clashes have broken out between Muslims, Buddhists in volatile west
• Bangla sculptor's career tarred by brush with law
• Kabul wants Pakistani passports for Taliban cadres
• Colombo denies negotiations with Saudi government on death sentenced housemaid case
India
• Did LeT hand over Abu Jundal to Saudi cops?
• BJP demands ban on Vastanvi, ousted V C of Darul Uloom Deoband, from entering Gujarat
• Home ministry rejects 26/11 terrorist Kasab's mercy plea
• Fasih Close friend of Yasin Bhatkal, he helped rebuild network: police
• ‘Release Kasab or your plane will be hijacked’, a hoax call
• U.P. to give financial aid to Muslim schoolgirls
• Mumbai resident to be freed from Pakistan jail
• Azad Maidan violence: Bombay High Court grants bail to 3
Europe
• After controversial video, Vatican hosts serious discussion on Islam
• 5,700 km in 314 days: Bosnian Haji crosses 7 countries on foot
• Bosnian Muslims vote down Serb’s bid to run Srebrenica
• Britain to double number of drones in Afghanistan – report
• Russians Seek Fate of Missing in Afghan War
Mideast Asia
• Iran hangs 10 drug smugglers: Report
• Iran’s Political Infighting Erupts in Full View
• In Israel, Carter Derides Netanyahu and Obama
• Iran Says It May Stop Oil Sales if Sanctions Tighten
• Qatar ups Gaza investment to $400 mn: Hamas PM
• Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Winner Predicts Persian Spring
Arab World
• Bahraini Activist Withdrew UNESCO Ceremony over Honour to Israel’s Peres
• Baghdad anti-Shia attacks kill at least seven
• Salafists and liberals exchange fire over Egypt's draft constitution
• 6 killed in sectarian clashes across Lebanon
• New procedures for alimony-evading ex-husbands in Saudi Arabia
• Interior ministry aims to recreate Mubarak-era emergency law: Rights activists
• 'Slim' hope of truce as fighting rages in Syria ahead of Muslim Eid
• Air raid targets Syria's Aleppo as fighting unabated
• Lebanon and Jordan Move Quickly to Contain Syria-Related Violence
• Qatar ruler visits Gaza in boost to Hamas
• Uneasy calm in Lebanon
• Syria violence rages despite UN optimism
• Syria says sanctions hurting its children
• Syrian Anti-Aircraft Shell Hits Turkey
• Assad declares amnesty but excludes 'terrorists'
• It’s all systems go for Haj 1433
North America
• Obama and Romney both agree drone attacks on Pak should continue
• NYPD informant who tracked militants quits, denounces police
• Reports of US, Iran direct talks 'not true', Obama says
• Final US presidential debate: China and Af-Pak, not India, will be focus
• Laden would have escaped if US had sought Pak's permission before raid: Obama
Africa
• Sudan's army says 10 killed by rebel shelling in oil state
• Fighting flares for 5th day in Libyan town
• Anti-govt demo held in Tunis
• Somalia’s new chance at a peaceful future
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Couple’s love bridges Myanmar religious divide
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Pakistan
Blasphemy Allegations: Principal Compares Self to Holy Prophet (Pbuh)
October 23, 2012
LAHORE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Javedul Hassan Chishti has cancelled the pre-arrest bails of a school principal and six other employees, who are accused of blasphemy for including the principal in a list of role models alongside the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him).
The respondents attended proceedings on a private complaint on Monday morning and were summoned by the judge for 3pm to hear his verdict. However, they did not turn up for the announcement.
Qurban Ali, the principal of Qurban and Surayya Educational Trust, and other school officials are alleged to have committed blasphemy in a school book that they made titled Qurban Agahi.
The book included a chapter on role models and a set of four questions and answers about what makes a good hero and some good examples. Six “heroes for our society” were listed as: 1) Holy Prophet (pbuh); 2) Quaid-i-Azam; 3) Sir Syed Ahmad Khan; 4) Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah; 5) Abdul Sattar Edhi; and 6) ‘Sir Qurban’, the principal of the school.
Advocate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry, the counsel for the complainant and the president of the Khatme Nabuwwat Lawyers Forum, submitted that the school officials had blasphemed. He said that tests were given to students asking who their favourite role model was, and many wrote the principal’s name. He said that the principal had tried to compare himself to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He said that Mufti Muhammad Khan Qadri had issued a decree (fatwa) declaring them to have committed blasphemy.
The respondents said that they were innocent. They said that the police had investigated the allegations and, finding them to be untrue, discharged the complaint for the FIR, which was registered in September 2009. They said that they had not intended to offend with the books. They said that ulema of Jamia Naeemia had issued a decree stating that they had apologised and had not intended to commit blasphemy. The ulema had said that there was room in Islam to forgive those who committed an act unintentionally.
Astonishingly, they also told the court that the ulema had asked them to expel all Christian and Ahmedi teachers from their school and that they had done so. They asked the court to grant them bail.
Advocate Chaudhry said that the police decision to discharge the complaint had been challenged before Judicial Magistrate Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry at the Model Town Courts and the judge had directed the police to submit the challan of the case. He said that the offence of blasphemy could not be forgiven. The judge cancelled the bail petitions of Qurban Ali, Abida Mehmood (school administrator), Sadia Saeed (IT coordinator), Naheed Naeem (assistant), Saima Khan (assistant), Sajida Perveen (composer) and Syed Yassir Ali (computer graphics designer).
The seven had received interim bail from ADSJ Mahrookh Aziz Tarar some six months ago.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/455476/blasphemy-allegations-principal-in-hot-water-for-comparing-self-to-holy-prophet-pbuh/
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Balochistan unrest: 9 kidnapped from bus
By Zafar Baloch
October 23, 2012
QUETTA: Unidentified armed men kidnapped nine people travelling on a bus en route to Dhadar Tuesday, excluding the driver and cleaner.
The passenger bus was en route to Dhadar from Sibi when unidentified men stopped the vehicle at gun point and kidnapped the passengers, District Police Officer Ghulam Dastgeer said.
The reason for the kidnapping is unknown as yet.
Earlier, four members of the ethnic Hazara community were killed in an attack apparently motivated by sectarian hatred in Quetta.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/455726/balochistan-unrest-9-kidnapped-from-bus-en-route-to-dhadar/
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“It’s not time to divorce Pakistan”: Mitt Romney
Anwar Iqbal
October 23, 2012
WASHINGTON: “No, it’s not time to divorce a nation on Earth that has 100 nuclear weapons and is on the way to double that at some point,” said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney when asked in the third and final presidential debate if it was time for the United States to divorce Pakistan.
Mr Romney, however, endorsed the drone strikes, saying that he supports the Obama administration’s policy on this key issue.
Mr Obama did not directly address this issue but when confronted by the moderator, CBS anchor Bob Schieffer, he said he was also engaging the countries where the United States was fighting terrorists.
Mr Obama also avoided responding directly to questions about Pakistan and neither the moderator nor Mr Romney pressed him for an answer, reflecting an apparent understanding on not concerning the president on sensitive security issues.
“I believe we should use any and all means necessary to take out people who pose a threat to us and our friends around the world. And it’s widely reported that drones are being used in drone strikes, and I support that and entirely,” Mr Romney said, while endorsing the current US policy on these unmanned aircraft.
He said he felt that President Obama was “right to up the usage of that technology, and believe that we should continue to use it, to continue to go after the people that represent a threat to this nation and to our friends.”
Pakistan was mentioned 25 times in the 90-minute debate but mostly by Mr Romney.
US President Barack Obama mentioned Pakistan only four times, twice when talking about his decision to raid Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad.
“And you said we should ask Pakistan for permission. And if we had asked Pakistan permission, we would not have gotten him. And it was worth moving heaven and earth to get him,” said Mr Obama while quoting from Mr Romney’s earlier statement on this issue.
“I can tell you at the same time, that we will make sure that we look at what’s happening in Pakistan, and recognize that what’s happening in Pakistan is going to have a major impact on the success in Afghanistan,” said Mr Romney when asked if he would still withdraw US troops from Afghanistan if he was told that Kabul was not yet ready to shoulder security responsibilities by 2014.
“And I say that because I know a lot of people that feel like we should just brush our hands and walk away,” he said.
“And I don’t mean you, Mr President, but some people in our nation feel that Pakistan is not being nice to us, and that we should walk away from them,” he explained.
“But Pakistan is important to the region, to the world and to us, because Pakistan has 100 nuclear warheads and they’re rushing to build a lot more. They’ll have more than Great Britain sometime in the relatively near future.”
Mr Romney noted that Pakistan also had the Haqqani Network and the Taliban within its borders. “And so a Pakistan that falls apart; becomes a failed state, would be of extraordinary danger to Afghanistan and to us,” he warned.
That’s why, he said, he believed the United States will have to “remain helpful in encouraging Pakistan” to move towards a more stable government and rebuild its relationship with America.
“And that means that our aid that we provide to Pakistan is going to have to be conditioned upon certain benchmarks being met,” said Mr Romney, defending a bilateral congressional demand that US aid to Pakistan should be made conditional to its performance in the war against terrorists.
“So for me, I look at this as both a need to help move Pakistan in the right direction, and also to get Afghanistan to be ready, and they will be ready by the end of 2014,” said Mr Romney while defining his policy for the Pak-Afghan region.
President Obama, when asked the same question, explained how he withdrew American troops from Iraq, refocused on Afghanistan and delivered a surge of troops to that country.
His administration also had decimated al Qaeda’s core leadership in the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The moderator then recalled that Gen. Johan Allen, the US commander in Afghanistan, says Americans continued to die at the hands of groups who were supported by Pakistan.
“We know that Pakistan has arrested the doctor who helped us catch Osama bin Laden. It still provides safe haven for terrorists, yet we continue to give Pakistan billions of dollars,” he said.
“Is it time for us to divorce Pakistan?” the moderator asked.
“No, it’s not time to divorce a nation on Earth that has 100 nuclear weapons and is on the way to double that at some point, a nation that has serious threats from terrorist groups within its nation, as I indicated before, the Taliban, Haqqani Network,” said Mr Romney.
“It’s a nation that’s not like others and it does not have a civilian leadership that is calling the shots there. You have the ISI, their intelligence organization, is probably the most powerful of three branches there. Then you have the military and then you have the civilian government.”
Mr Romney warned that this was a nation, which, “if it falls apart, if it becomes a failed state, there are nuclear weapons there and you’ve got terrorists there who could grab their – their hands onto those nuclear weapons.”
Pakistan, he noted, was in a region which was important for the United States and technically it was an ally even if “they’re not acting very much like an ally right now.”
That’s why, he said, he believed “we have some work to do there.
The Republican presidential candidate said he was not blaming the Obama administration for a strained relationship with Pakistan.
“We had to go into Pakistan. We had to go in there to get Osama bin Laden. That was the right thing to do. And that upset them, but obviously there was a great deal of anger even before that,” he said,
“But we’re going to have to work with the people in Pakistan to try and help them move to a more responsible course than the one that they’re on.”
For Pakistan to change its course was important for them and for their nuclear weapons.
“It’s important for the success of Afghanistan because inside Pakistan, you have large group of Pashtun that are Taliban. They’re going to come rushing back in to Afghanistan when we go.”
http://dawn.com/2012/10/23/romney-backs-drones-aid-conditions-in-pakistan/
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Action ordered against Afghan set up on encroached land
By Ijaz Kakakhel
October 23, 2012
ISLAMABAD: The NA Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Monday recommended the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to take action against illegal Afghan katchi abadis in Islamabad. The committee had learned that these abadis (set up on encroached land) were a great security threat to the federal capital as most of criminals were hiding there.
There are only 10 percent Afghan refugees while rest of the people in I11/1 and I11/2 are people belonging to different areas of the country. These are CDA lands and already allotted to some people, but these encroachers were sitting there and do not allow the private plots holders to construct their houses.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\23\story_23-10-2012_pg11_1
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Blast in Peshawar injures four FC soldiers
October 23, 2012
PESHAWAR: Four paramilitary soldiers were injured Tuesday in a remote-controlled bomb blast on Frontier Road in Peshawar’s outskirts, officials said.
The Frontier Constabulary personnel were taking positions on Aziz Market’s Faqirabad Chowk when militants bombed the room on a plaza’s roof top where the personnel were positioned, in-charge Bara Sheikhan checkpost Farman Khan said
He said that four FC men had been injured in the blast, carried out through a remote-controlled device. The bomb carried explosive material weighing about 5 kilograms, he added.
http://dawn.com/2012/10/23/peshawar-blast-injures-three-fc-personnel/
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‘Onus of reviving peace talks on Kabul’: Pakistan
Baqir Sajjad Syed
October 23, 2012
ISLAMABAD: With a stalemate in the Afghan reconciliation process lingering, Pakistan has insisted that it has already done enough and the onus of putting the peace process back on track lies with Kabul.
“The reconciliation process got stalled because the Taliban were not offered any tangible incentive,” an official said on Monday during a background discussion on the peace talks with insurgents in Afghanistan — a process that has been virtually on hold since March.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/23/onus-of-reviving-peace-talks-on-kabul/
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Men find role in promotion of women’s rights
23 October 2012
ISLAMABAD: Highlighting positive role of men for promotion of women’s rights, the experts at a research launch have emphasised on understanding the notions of masculinity to change men’s behaviour towards women. The experts had gathered at the joint research launch on “Locating Men in Women Rights Activism” jointly organised by Rozan and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Monday.
The seminar sought to discuss involvement of men in gender activism and issues related to women’s rights. The study captures stories of five men who took affirmative actions against sexual violence against men, women and transgender persons in the context of Pakistan. Sadia Sharif from SDPI moderated the proceedings while Safillulah Khan from Rozan explained research methodology with the participants.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\23\story_23-10-2012_pg11_6
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Two TTP militants arrested in Islamabad
October 23, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Two militants, associated with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were arrested in an operation by security forces in Islamabad, DawnNews reported on Tuesday.
According to security sources the two suspects were planning an attack on the Islamabad airport and both had acquired a rented residence in the vicinity to survey the area.
Security sources added that the two men were arrested from a local hotel.
http://dawn.com/2012/10/23/two-ttp-militants-arrested-in-islamabad/
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Image building: Pakistan to showcase rights record at Geneva
October 23, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to present a national report highlighting steps the government has taken to improve the country’s human rights record when the United Nations Human Rights Council will meet next week in Geneva.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will lead the Pakistan delegation at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of international conventions and laws on human rights, said a foreign ministry statement issued here on Monday.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/455519/image-building-pakistan-to-showcase-rights-record-at-geneva/
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Fall in polio vaccination refusal cases in Pakistan
October 23, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has witnessed a sharp drop in the number of families refusing to get their children vaccinated against polio, officials said Monday, while lamenting that nearly half a million children were left unvaccinated.
“The number of refusing families has declined (44 per cent) from 80,330 during the first national polio round held in January to 45,122 in October,” the World Health Organization, the UN and the government said in a joint statement.
Around 32 million children were targeted during the three-day nationwide drive last week, backed by the government and WHO.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/23/fall-in-polio-vaccination-refusal-cases-in-pakistan/
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Lahore High Court orders to ban Sheesha Cafe, smoking at public places
October 23, 2012
LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Monday directed the provincial government to impose a ban on sheesha smoking and smoking at public places.
The chief justice directed the government to implement the anti-smoking law and impose a ban on sheesha cafes and smoking at public places. While deferring hearing of the petition until November 5, he also directed Lahore District Coordination Officer (DCO) Noorul Amin to take action against such cafes. The CJ was hearing a petition of sheesha café owners against an operation on smoking.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\23\story_23-10-2012_pg13_4
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Interior Ministry bans 40 organisations from collecting animal hides, donations this Eid
October 23, 2012
The Interior Ministry has banned 40 organisations from collecting animal hides and donations this Eidul Azha, Express News reported Tuesday.
The organisations banned include Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipaah Muhammad, Tehreek-e-Jafria, Lashkar-e-Taib, Hizbut Tahrir, Jamiatul Ansar, Balochistan Republic Army, Balochistan Liberation Front, Lashkar-e-Balochistan, Rabita Trust, Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, Jaishul Islam, Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat, Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, Islami Tehreek-e-Pakistan Khudul Islam, Jamaatud Dawa and Sunni Tehreek and other banned outfits.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/455714/interior-ministry-bans-40-organisations-from-collecting-animal-hides-donations-this-eid/
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Bin Laden in Abbottabad: Report gives military, govt, ISI clean bill
October 23, 2012
While Osama bin Laden’s ghost continues to haunt many after the May 2, 2011 raid, an independent commission has found that the government and security establishment did not know about the al Qaeda kingpin’s presence in the country.
The five-member Judicial Commission set up by the apex court to probe the Abbottabad raid has spent the past year and a half questioning military officers, Bin Laden’s wives and residents of Abbottabad. The commission submitted its final report to the government last week.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/455623/bin-laden-in-abbottabad-report-gives-military-govt-isi-clean-bill/
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South Asia
Couple’s love bridges Myanmar religious divide
October 23, 2012
SITTWE: Praying with a Quran on his knees in a mud-strewn camp, Rohin Mullah is one of thousands of Muslims uprooted by sectarian bloodshed in Myanmar. But the former monk’s story is far from normal.
Born a Buddhist, he fell in love with a girl on the other side of the religious divide — a member of the Rohingya minority group shunned by Myanmar society at large.
He has since been ostracised by his former neighbours, lost his home and lives in a camp for displaced people in western Rakhine state, which is reeling from an upsurge of Buddhist-Muslim violence since June.
“The Rakhine side hated me when I converted to Islam,” he said
Mullah, 37, who changed his name from Kyaw Tun Aung, has had no contact with his parents since he married 10 years ago.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/455710/couples-love-bridges-myanmar-religious-divide/
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Taliban kill 10 Afghan security personnel in a bloody battle: officials
October 23, 2012
HEART: At least ten Afghan security personnel have been killed in a bloody battle with Taliban insurgents in the western province of Herat, officials said on Tuesday.
Five police officers were among the dead, including the police chief of Obe district, where the battle took place on Monday afternoon, regional police spokesman Noor Khan Nikzad told AFP.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/23/taliban-kill-10-afghan-security-personnel-officials/
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Fresh clashes have broken out between Muslims, Buddhists in volatile west
October 23, 2012
YANGON, Myanmar — Fresh clashes between Muslims and Buddhists have broken out in volatile western Myanmar, leaving at least three people dead and hundreds of homes burned to the ground, authorities said Tuesday.
The unrest, which erupted Sunday night, is the worst reported between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists since skirmishes swept the region in June, leaving around 70,000 people displaced.
Rakhine state Attorney-General Hla Thein said the latest violence took place in Minbyar Township, about 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the coastal state capital, Sittwe. It later spread farther north to Mrauk-U township. Both areas are remote, reachable only by foot, Hla Thein said.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/myanmar-says-fresh-clashes-have-
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Bangla sculptor's career tarred by brush with law
Indrani Basu
Oct 23, 2012
NEW DELHI: Bangladeshi sculptor Rashid Ahmed, once renowned for having designed a famous monument of the 1971 Bangladesh liberation struggle, Muktijudhha Smriti Soudha, is currently languishing in Tihar Jail for not having the means to pay a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh. Though the 78-year-old has served more time in prison than his sentence - eight years - the protracted legal battle has left him with no resources to free himself his daughter-in-law Nur Nahar. Ahmed was recently convicted in the case along with Nur with the court sentencing them to seven years in jail and slapping a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh each on the duo. He has already spent seven years and 11 months in jail.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Bangla-sculptors-career-tarred-by-brush-with-law/articleshow/16920309.cms
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Kabul wants Pakistani passports for Taliban cadres
By Tahir Khan
October 23, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan wants Pakistan to issue passports to Taliban cadres to facilitate their transit to Arab countries for peace talks, according to an Afghan diplomat.
Despite the collapse of the Qatar peace initiative earlier this year, Taliban negotiators and their families are still living in the Arabian Gulf state. And several more Taliban cadres are in the process of shifting to Qatar and other states.
Saudi Arabia has also invited several Taliban leaders for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage as part of its possible role in the Afghan peace process.
According to Pakistan’s Ambassador in Kabul Muhammad Sadiq, Islamabad was to facilitate the transit of Taliban leaders to Qatar.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/455543/kabul-wants-pakistani-passports-for-taliban-cadres/
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Colombo denies negotiations with Saudi government on death sentenced housemaid case
23 October 2012
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo refuted newspapers reports in Colombo about a meeting between Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defence, in Kuwait last week on the release of death sentenced housemaid Rizana Nafeek.
The news report stated that President Mahinda Rajapaksa met on Oct. 17 with Prince Salman on the sidelines of the Asia Corporate Dialogue Summit held in Kuwait City. During the meeting, the Saudi government indicated that the attorney general of Sri Lanka should come to Saudi Arabia to discuss the legal issues connected with the release of the condemned Sri Lanka housemaid Rizana Nafeek, who is on death row since July 2007 and in custody since May 2005.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/colombo-denies-negotiations-saudi-government-rizana-
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India
Did LeT hand over Abu Jundal to Saudi cops?
Presley Thomas
October 23, 2012
On June 20, 2011, Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal had earned 60 riyals for the day as an electrician and had gone to bed in the quarters given to him by his employer when he was woken up by a knock at the door. He did not know that those were his last few moments of freedom. Advocate Sayeed, who had arranged for his work permit in Saudi Arabia three days ago, had come to his house and asked Jundal to accompany him.
During interrogation, Jundal has stated that Sayeed drove his car straight to the Al-Qatif police station in Saudi Arabia, and handed him to authorities. At that time, Jundal was known as Riyasat Ali, a resident of Sheikhupura from Lahore, Pakistan.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Did-LeT-hand-over-Abu-Jundal-to-Saudi-cops/Article1-948759.aspx
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BJP demands ban on Vastanvi, ousted V C of Darul Uloom Deoband, from entering Gujarat
Oct 23, 2012
Ahmedabad: Gujarat's ruling BJP has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission seeking to bar ousted Vice-Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi from entering the state following his allegedly provocative utterances against chief minister Narendra Modi.
Vastanvi was removed from the post of vice-chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband, the second largest Islamic seminary in the world, for praising Modi's development policy in January 2011. BJP's media cell convenor Jagdish Bhavsar said "the statements made by Vastanvi, during a Congress party minority cell programme in Surat, are provocative and harmful to the state's peaceful atmosphere. We have complained to the Election Commission to bar Vastanvi from entering Gujarat".
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bjp-demands-ban-on-vastanvi-from-entering-gujarat/1020888/
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Home ministry rejects 26/11 terrorist Kasab's mercy plea
Oct 23, 2012
NEW DELHI: Acting swiftly on 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case convict Ajmal Amir Kasab's mercy petition, the Union home ministry has rejected his plea of commuting death penalty and sent the file to President Pranab Mukherjee for taking the final decision.
In an unprecedented move, the home ministry -- which took years in sending mercy petition files of other convicts on death row -- has sent Kasab's file to Rashtrapati Bhavan within three weeks of getting the note of rejection from Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayan.
"Since the state government and the governor had already rejected Kasab's mercy petition, the home ministry need not send it again to state. It simply processed it at its end taking state's advice and sent it to the President for taking final call", said a senior home ministry official.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Home-ministry-rejects-26/11-terrorist-Kasabs-mercy-plea/articleshow/16928839.cms
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Fasih Close friend of Yasin Bhatkal, he helped rebuild network: police
Oct 23 2012
Bangalore: Security agencies consider the deportation and arrest of Fasih Mahmood a major success in their offensive against Indian Mujahideen as they suspect him to be a co-founder of the terror group and its most senior member they have been able to seize so far.
The story of how Fasih allegedly got embroiled in terrorism and the IM network goes back to 2002 when he was an engineering student in the coastal Karnataka town of Bhatkal, investigators said. At the Anjuman Engineering College, Fasih was a batchmate and alleged close friend of Yasin Bhatkal, the man suspected to be at the centre of a series of bomb blasts across India since 2006 that have been blamed on IM.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/close-friend-of-yasin-bhatkal-he-helped-rebuild-network-police/1020779/
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‘Release Kasab or your plane will be hijacked’, a hoax call
Oct 23, 2012
MUMBAI: A call about a plane being hijacked to secure the release of 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab triggered panic and delayed a Bangalore-bound Jet Airways flight, with 46 passengers on board, by around three hours on Monday evening. It turned out to be a hoax call after security agencies carried out a thorough search and investigation.
The airline, it could be recalled, had received a hoax call about a hijack on May 7 as well. Officials are trying to find out if there is any connection between the two incidents.
The flight was scheduled to leave at 4.10pm. Around 4pm, when it was almost ready for take-off—the passengers were in their seats, the gates were bolted and the plane was ready to leave its bay and taxi towards the runway—the airline's call centre received the call.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Release-Kasab-or-your-plane-will-be-hijacked/articleshow/16922784.cms
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U.P. to give financial aid to Muslim schoolgirls
October 23, 2012
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav said on Monday that the Uttar Pradesh Government had decided to provide Rs. 30,000 each to Muslim girls who passed Class 10, for pursuing education and marriage. The launch date would be announced soon.
Addressing party workers at its headquarters here, Mr. Yadav referred to the Sachar Committee report, which had stated that the condition of Muslims was worse than those of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. In its election manifesto, the Samajwadi Party had promised to give special aid to Muslim girls.
According to party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary, who was present, the SP chief said efforts were on to fulfil the promises made in the manifesto within five years.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/up-to-give-financial-aid-to-muslim-schoolgirls/article4023435.ece
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Mumbai resident to be freed from Pakistan jail
October 23, 2012
To arrive at the Wagah-Attari border on Thursday
Mumbai resident, Bhavesh Parmar, who has been detained in a Pakistan jail for seven long years, is set to be released on Thursday, according to a communication from the Indian High Commission in Pakistan.
In an e-mail to MLA Krishna Hegde on Monday, an official of the Commission said: “I would like to inform you that we have been officially intimated by the Pakistan Foreign Office that he would be released at the Wagah-Attari border on October 25… We have made appropriate arrangements to make sure that he gets the necessary travel documents… The Ministry of Home Affairs has also been intimated to make appropriate arrangements to receive him at the border.”
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/mumbai-resident-to-be-freed-from-pakistan-jail/article4023543.ece
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Azad Maidan violence: Bombay High Court grants bail to 3
Oct 23, 2012
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to three accused in the Azad Maidan violence case. Nazar Siddique, Obair Ansari and Ameen Chaudhari were given bail the court. The court ordered their bail on a surety of Rs 30000 saying that section 302 and 307 of the IPC were not maintainable against them.
Nazar Siddique, Obair Ansari and Ameen Chaudhari also claimed to be injured by police bullets and spent some time in the hospital. The three had even petitioned the high court earlier for a CBI enquiry into the riots case, but the high court had dismissed this plea.
Full report at:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/azad-maidan-violence-bombay-high-court-grants-bail-to-3/301829-3-237.html
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Europe
After controversial video, Vatican hosts serious discussion on Islam
By Alessandro Speciale
October 23, 2012
VATICAN CITY — As a Vatican delegation prepares to leave for civil war-torn Syria, the Catholic Church’s fraught relation with Islam has emerged as one of the main themes at a major gathering of the world’s bishops in Rome.
The debate was stirred by a leading cardinal who, on Saturday (Oct. 13), showed a controversial video called “Muslim Demographics” which purports to show Islam’s growing global influence. The video was shown during a Vatican-organized synod of bishops on new ways to evangelize in the modern world.
The accuracy of the seven-minute video’s data and projections have been sharply disputed and criticized by experts since its emergence in 2009, but the film sparked renewed soul-searching among Catholic leaders on the church’s stance towards the growth of Islam in the West and in Africa.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/after-controversial-video-vatican-hosts-
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5,700 km in 314 days: Bosnian Haji crosses 7 countries on foot
23 October 2012
A Bosnian pilgrim who left last December on pilgrimage to Makkah by foot arrived in the holy city after passing through seven countries including war-torn Syria.
“I arrived Saturday in Makkah. I am not tired, these are the best days of my life,” Senad Hadzic, 47, told AFP when reached by phone.
He said he had covered some 5,700 km in 314 days of walking through Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria and Jordan to Makkah, with a backpack weighing 20 kg.
He charted his progress on his Facebook page, where he posted a picture apparently of an entry/exit card for foreigners issued by the Syrian Interior Ministry.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/5700-km-314-days-bosnian-haji-crosses-7-countries-foot
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Bosnian Muslims vote down Serb’s bid to run Srebrenica
October 23, 2012
SREBRENICA: Bosnian Muslims have voted down a bid to put a Serb mayor in control of Srebrenica for the first time since the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in the town by Bosnian Serb forces in 1995.
Once predominantly Muslim, Srebrenica was the site of the worst mass killing on European soil since World War Two, when Bosnian Serb forces killed Muslim men and boys near the end of the country’s 1992-95 war.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\23\story_23-10-2012_pg4_1
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Britain to double number of drones in Afghanistan – report
October 23, 2012
LONDON: Britain is to double the number of armed drone aircraft flying combat and surveillance operations in Afghanistan, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.
In a new squadron of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), five Reaper drones will be sent to Afghanistan and be in operation within six weeks, with control coming, for the first time, from terminals and screens in Britain, the newspaper said.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/23/britain-to-double-number-of-drones-in-afghanistan-report/
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Russians Seek Fate of Missing in Afghan War
By ALISSA J. RUBIN
October 23, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan — More than 23 years after the hurried Soviet military withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russians are still trying to solve haunting mysteries they left behind: the fate of 265 former soldiers still missing in action, some of them thought to have taken up quiet Afghan lives.
It is rare that the Russian Embassy here opens its high gates to outsiders. But last week, foreign and Afghan reporters were invited in to talk with Alexander Lavrentyev, the vice president of the Moscow-based War Veterans Committee, who made a soft-spoken but passionate plea for help in locating the service members from the former Soviet Union who have still not been accounted for.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/world/europe/russians-seek-fate-of-soldiers-from-
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Mideast Asia
Iran hangs 10 drug smugglers: Report
Oct 23, 2012
DUBAI: Iran hanged 10 people convicted of drug trafficking on Monday, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported, part of what rights group Amnesty International called a "state killing spree".
Executions are regular events in Tehran, and the latest took place in a prison in the capital. The judiciary said those hanged were members of two drug smuggling gangs, Mehr said.
Iran invariably dismisses criticism from Western human rights groups over its high rate of executions, saying it is implementing Islamic law and responding to a major drugs problem.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Iran-hangs-10-drug-smugglers-Report/articleshow/16922251.cms
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Iran’s Political Infighting Erupts in Full View
By THOMAS ERDBRINK
October 23, 2012
TEHRAN — A long and bitter rivalry between Iran’s president and an influential band of brothers in the political hierarchy exploded into the open on Monday, signaling new fractures in the facade of unity as the country confronts worsening economic conditions and isolation over the disputed Iranian nuclear program.
In a letter published by Iranian news sites, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the head of the powerful judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, of protecting “certain individuals” from prosecution for economic corruption who are widely understood to be high officials, including Ayatollah Larijani’s oldest brother.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/world/middleeast/dispute-between-ahmadinejad-and-
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In Israel, Carter Derides Netanyahu and Obama
By JODI RUDOREN
October 23, 2012
JERUSALEM — Three decades after leaving the White House, former President Jimmy Carter still functions inside the trappings of power, cruising through fiercely contested areas of this city on Monday in a 12-car motorcade, with Secret Service agents stationed strategically as he surveyed the view from the Mount of Olives.
But at 88, Mr. Carter, trying to nudge his agenda without an official platform, no longer filters his words for politics or diplomacy. On Monday, he ramped up his years of criticism of Israeli policy by saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lacked the courage of his predecessors and that he had abandoned the two-state solution that has been the accepted framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. And just two weeks before the American election, he was almost as critical of President Obama, saying his administration has shirked the historical role played by the United States in the region.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/world/middleeast/in-israel-carter-says-two-state-
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Iran Says It May Stop Oil Sales if Sanctions Tighten
October 23, 2012
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday it would stop oil exports if pressure from Western sanctions got any tighter and it had a "Plan B" contingency strategy to survive without oil revenues.
Western nations led by the United States have imposed tough sanctions on the Islamic Republic this year in an attempt to curb its nuclear program that they say is designed to produce an atomic bomb. Tehran says its nuclear plans are peaceful.
"If sanctions intensify we will stop exporting oil," Iranian oil minister Rostam Qasemi told reporters in Dubai.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/10/23/world/middleeast/23reuters-iran-
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Qatar ups Gaza investment to $400 mn: Hamas PM
23 Oct 2012
Doha is increasing its investment in rebuilding Gaza to $400 million, up from $254 million, Gaza's Hamas premier said on Tuesday during a landmark visit by the Qatari emir.
"The emir agreed to increase the Qatari investment from $254 million to $400 million," prime minister Ismail Haniya said during a press conference in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza to mark the emir's visit.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/56322/World/Region/Qatar-ups-Gaza-investment-to--mn-Hamas-PM-.aspx
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Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Winner Predicts Persian Spring
By: Sophie Claudet
Oct 22, 2012
DEAUVILLE – Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi spoke to Sophie Claudet last week on the sidelines of the Women’s Forum in Deauville, France.
Ebadi told Al-Monitor that Iran would soon have its own revolutionary spring. “It is not going to be too long before that day arrives,” she said, warning that the exact timing “was difficult to predict.” An uprising against the government, she explained, is “a function of Iran’s relationship with the United States, Iran’s relationship with neighboring states and the economic situation of the country.”
Full report at:
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/ebadi-persian-spring.html#ixzz2A7SzndIm
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Arab World
Bahraini Activist Withdrew UNESCO Ceremony over Honour to Israel’s Peres
23 October 2012
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Bahrain human rights defender Maryam Al-Khawaja has pulled out of a UNESCO human rights conference that is honouring her father, political prisoner Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, because the same event is honouring Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Amnesty International considers Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and other Bahrain rights activists held in prison “to be prisoners of conscience, held solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly” and has called for their immediate, unconditional release.
Full report at:
http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=358952
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Eight killed in attacks on Baghdad Shia districts
October 23, 2012
At least eight people have been killed in car bomb and mortar attacks in predominantly Shia districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, officials say.
Most of the deaths occurred in Shula, in the city's north-west, where at least one car bomb exploded. One report spoke of three simultaneous blasts.
Several mortar rounds also landed in the northern district of Chikuk.
Violence is down since the height of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, but attacks are still common in Baghdad.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/56275/Egypt/Politics-/Salafists-and-liberals-exchange-fire-over-Egypts-d.aspx
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6 killed in sectarian clashes across Lebanon
At least 6 people were killed in sectarian clashes across Lebanon following the arguably Syria-involved assassination of top intelligence official Wissam Al-Hassan
22 Oct 2012
Lebanese soldiers in armored vehicles fanned out across the country on Monday to break down civilian roadblocks and chase gunmen off the streets as tempers flared over the killing of a top intelligence official who was a powerful opponent of Syrian involvement in Lebanon.
Sectarian clashes killed at least five people. A sixth person was killed after soldiers returned fire following an attack on their patrol.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/56287/World/Region/UPDATE--killed-in-sectarian-clashes-across-Lebanon.aspx
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New procedures for alimony-evading ex-husbands in Saudi Arabia
23 October 2012
Fathers and husbands evading family cases against them will be denied government services and banned from travel, an official judicial source was quoted by Arabic daily Al-Eqtisadiah yesterday. The procedures are aimed at ending the stalling of some husbands through skipping court hearings. The cases currently take a long time in courts.
Other procedures will be implemented later. These include arresting and bringing evaders to court when they do not respond to court summons.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/new-procedures-alimony-evading-ex-husbands
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Interior ministry aims to recreate Mubarak-era emergency law: Rights activists
Recent leaks of draft legislation sparks fears Interior Ministry is attempting to impose laws limiting freedoms and threatening human rights, resembling notorious emergency law of Hosni Mubarak
Lina El-Wardani
22 Oct 2012
State-owned daily Al-Ahram sparked nation-wide debates last week after it leaked a controversial new draft law entitled “protection the revolution’s gains." The circulating articles, which bore a striking similarity to Egypt’s notorious 30-year-long emergency law, critics said threatened human rights and freedoms.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/56117/Egypt/Politics-/Interior-ministry-aims-to-recreate-Mubarakera-emer.aspx
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'Slim' hope of truce as fighting rages in Syria ahead of Muslim Eid
Arab League deputy chief general Ahmed Ben Helli reveals little chance of reaching truce in Syria ahead of this week's Muslim Eid holidays
22 Oct 2012
Hopes of a truce being implemented in war-torn Syria during this week's Muslim Eid holidays are "slim," the Arab League said Monday, as heavy fighting erupted in Damascus and on northern battlefields.
UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi had on Sunday indicated a favourable response to his appeal to both sides of the Syrian conflict to observe a truce during the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, which begins on Friday.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/56276/World/Region/Slim-hope-of-truce-as-fighting-rages-in-Syria-ahea.aspx
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Air raid targets Syria's Aleppo as fighting unabated
Oct 23, 2012
BEIRUT: Warplanes raided a district of the northern city of Aleppo as fighting across Syria kept up unabated on Tuesday, despite hopes of a ceasefire for later this week, a watchdog said.
The latest violence comes three days ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, during which peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has proposed a ceasefire.
In Syria's second city Aleppo, a rebel was killed in fighting, which was taking place in several districts, while planes bombed the Katergi quarter, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Air-raid-targets-Syrias-Aleppo-as-fighting-unabated/articleshow/16926823.cms
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Lebanon and Jordan Move Quickly to Contain Syria-Related Violence
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and NEIL MacFARQUHAR
October 23, 2012
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon and Jordan moved aggressively on Monday to squelch the spread of violence from Syria’s deadlocked civil war, the most significant register yet of alarm over the strife spilling over Syrian borders.
Lebanese Army tanks and armored personnel carriers rolled into the streets of Beirut and Tripoli to stop a night of gunfights as the Lebanese military issued an extraordinary statement urging sectarian and political leaders to refrain from incitement to pull the country back from the brink.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/world/middleeast/lebanon-and-jordan-act-on-syria-
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Qatar ruler visits Gaza in boost to Hamas
October 23, 2012
The emir of Qatar received a hero’s welcome in Gaza on Tuesday, becoming the first head of state to visit the Palestinian territory since the Hamas seized control of the coastal strip five years ago.
Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani’s visit gave Gaza’s Hamas rulers an important diplomatic victory. Hamas is considered a terrorist group by the West and its rule of Gaza is not internationally recognised.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/qatar-ruler-visits-gaza-in-boost-to-hamas/article4025646.ece
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Uneasy calm in Lebanon
ATUL ANEJA
October 23, 2012
Army puts the lid on sectarian protests
An uneasy calm prevails in Lebanon after the army warned violent demonstrators seeking the exit of the Prime Minister — known for his close ties with the Syrian government — that it would act decisively to restore normality.
“We will take decisive measures, especially in areas with rising religious and sectarian tensions, to prevent Lebanon being transformed again into a place for regional settling of scores, and to prevent the assassination of the martyr Wissam al-Hassan being used to assassinate a whole country,” said an army statement. General Hassan, the country’s intelligence chief, was killed on Friday in a car bombing, triggering a wave of unrest in large parts of the country.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/uneasy-calm-in-lebanon/article4023229.ece
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Syria violence rages despite UN optimism
October 23, 2012
DAMASCUS: Deadly clashes in Syria showed no signs of easing on Tuesday, even as the United Nations said it has plans to assemble a peacekeeping force in case a truce proposed by its special envoy takes hold.
Warplanes raided a district of the northern city of Aleppo as fighting across the country kept up unabated, three days ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha during which peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has proposed a ceasefire.
“Neither the rebels nor the regime appear to want a ceasefire, and the daily death toll continues to exceed 100,” Syrian Observatory of Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/23/syria-violence-rages-despite-un-optimism/
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Syria says sanctions hurting its children
October 23, 2012
UNITED NATIONS: Sanctions imposed on Syria by the European Union, the United States and others over its 19-month conflict are “immoral and illegal” and harming Syrian children, the government wrote in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released on Monday.
The letter from the Syrian government was in response to a recent report by Leila Zerrougui, Ban’s special representative for children and armed conflict, who accused both sides in Syria of targeting children with bomb attacks, sexual violence and torture.
The Syrian government said the claims against it were “unsubstantiated and fraudulent” and relied on allegations by the media and opposition groups rather than facts. The government said sanctions were hurting the children.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/455708/syria-says-sanctions-hurting-its-children/
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Syrian Anti-Aircraft Shell Hits Turkey
October 23, 2012
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — An anti-aircraft shell from Syria hit an empty room of a health center inside Turkey, a private news agency reported Tuesday. No injuries were reported.
The shell pierced through a window of the health center some 200 meters (yards) inside the Turkish border, in the town of Reyhanli and ricocheted five times before hitting a wall, the Dogan news agency reported. An investigation was launched into the incident, the agency said.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/10/23/world/europe/ap-eu-turkey-
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It’s all systems go for Haj 1433
23 October 2012
Saudi authorities stepped up preparations for the five-day annual Haj pilgrimage — which begins tomorrow — by mobilizing human and material resources.
More than three million pilgrims, including two million from abroad, are expected to take part in the spiritual event.
Groups of pilgrims have started the move from Madinah and other parts of the Kingdom to Makkah and Mina, chanting Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik (O God, here I am answering your call).
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who is supervising Haj operation from Jeddah, instructed all related government departments to provide the necessary services to the guests of God.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/it%E2%80%99s-all-systems-go-haj-1433
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Assad declares amnesty but excludes 'terrorists'
Syrian President Al-Assad issues an amnesty 'up until today' for all except 'terrorist crimes'
23 Oct 2012
President Bashar Al-Assad issued an amnesty for all crimes committed in Syria "up until today," with the notable exception of "terrorist crimes," state television said on Tuesday.
Assad, who has been fighting a 19-month revolt against his regime, "decreed a general amnesty for crimes committed before 23 October," except for those carried out by "terrorists" - the regime's term for rebels.
The decree applies only to criminals who surrender to the authorities and not those on the run, the report said. It was not immediately clear if the amnesty includes those in prison.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/56302/World/Region/Assad-declares-amnesty-but-excludes-terrorists.aspx
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North America
Obama trumps Romney in 3rd presidential debate; both agree drone attacks on Pak should continue
Chidanand Rajghatta
Oct 23, 2012
WASHINGTON: Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney was "all over the map" and White House incumbent Barack Obama was all over him as the two contenders to lead the careworn superpower for the next four years struggled to provide a vision for the world in their third and final debate before the November 6 polls.
President Obama was widely seen as handily winning the debate that focused mostly on foreign policy, mainly on account of the incumbency advantage that gave him better insight into complex ground situations and allowed him to express it with greater clarity in his summations. A CBS insta-poll found that 53 percent of uncommitted voters thought Obama won the final debate, while 23 percent gave it to Romney. 24 percent were undecided.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Obama-trumps-Romney-in-3rd-presidential-
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NYPD informant who tracked militants quits, denounces police
Oct 23 2012
An informant recruited by the New York Police Department to collect information on suspected Islamic militants has quit and denounced his police handlers, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case.
The informant, a 19-year-old American citizen of Bangladeshi descent, was recruited by the NYPD recently as part of an expansive intelligence-gathering program the department launched after the al-Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001. His assignment was to make contact with suspected Islamic extremists to try to determine if they had any inclinations to engage in violence, the source said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nypd-informant-who-tracked-militants-quits-denounces-police/1020899/
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Reports of US, Iran direct talks 'not true', Obama says
Oct 23, 2012
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said on Monday that newspaper reports that Iran and the United States had agreed to hold one-on-one talks on Tehran's nuclear program were "not true."
Obama made the comment at a debate on foreign policy. The New York Times quoted unnamed US administration officials on Saturday as saying that secret exchanges between US and Iranian officials had resulted in an agreement "in principle" to hold direct talks.
"Those are reports in the newspaper, they are not true," Obama said.
Seeking to gain an advantage with polls showing a tied race, Obama and Romney clashed over foreign policy from the start of their third presidential debate at Boca Raton, Florida, ahead of the November 6 election.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-presidential-debate-Reports-of-US-Iran-direct-talks-not-true-Obama-says/articleshow/16923404.cms
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Final US presidential debate: China and Af-Pak, not India, will be focus
Chidanand Rajghatta
Oct 23, 2012
WASHINGTON: When President Obama and Republican challenger meet in Boca Raton, Florida, on Monday night (Tuesday 6.30 a.m IST) for the third and final Presidential debate centering on foreign policy, don't expect India to leap on to the agenda very much — if at all.
The reason for that, in the words of a veteran American official who has worked on the region for years, is that in U.S foreign policy priorities, "squeaky wheels get the grease." In other words, there is no great crisis besetting the United States and India; there is bipartisan consensus among both Democrats and Republicans for good relations with India, and if anything, both sides claim credit for the uptick in ties. Things are running relatively smoothly between Washington DC and New Delhi compared to many other capitals.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Final-US-presidential-debate-China-and-Af-Pak-not-India-will-be-focus/articleshow/16920538.cms
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Laden would have escaped if US had sought Pak's permission before raid: Obama
Oct 23, 2012
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama, in some of his most blunt remarks to date, said on Monday that Osama bin Laden would have escaped if the United States had sought Pakistan's permission ahead of the raid on the al-Qaida leader's compound.
Obama administration officials have previously justified the decision not to involve Islamabad by citing the risk that bin Laden might somehow be tipped off and flee his compound in Abbottabad before the team of Navy SEALs arrived.
Leon Panetta, then the director of the CIA and now defense secretary, said in an interview with TIME magazine shortly after the May 2011 raid that there was a concern that the Pakistanis "might alert the targets."
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Laden-would-have-escaped-if-US-had-sought-Paks-permission-before-raid-Obama/articleshow/16926169.cms
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Africa
Sudan's army says 10 killed by rebel shelling in oil state
23 Oct 2012
Ten civilians were killed, among them two children, when rebels shelled the main city of the oil-producing South Kordofan state on Tuesday, the Sudanese army said.
Army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid told Reuters rebels had shelled an army garrison outside Kadugli but some shells had landed inside the city.
He said the army had launched an operation to "cleanse" the areas of rebels outside Kadugli a few days ago, without giving details.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/56313/World/Region/UPDATE-Sudans-army-says--killed-by-rebel-shelling-.aspx
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Fighting flares for 5th day in Libyan town
October 22, 2012
Pro-government militias battled fighters in a former stronghold of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the fifth straight day of clashes that have killed at least 30 people. The fighting in Bani Walid, some 140 kilometres (90 miles) southeast of Tripoli, has overlapped with the
anniversary of Gaddafi's capture and killing on October 20, 2011.
A year since his death brought an end to Libya's civil war, Bani Walid is the most significant city in the country to still resist the nation's new authorities.
A resident said yesterday by telephone that pro-government militias and fighters in the city were clashing on its outskirts.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/Fighting-flares-for-5th-day-in-Libyan-town/Article1-948343.aspx
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Anti-govt demo held in Tunis
23 October 2012
TUNIS: More than 1,000 opposition activists staged a protest in central Tunis yesterday against the government and political violence, days after the death of an opposition party official. It comes on the eve of the anniversary of Tunisia’s first free elections, in a political climate marked by tensions within the national assembly and a stalled new constitution.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/anti-govt-demo-held-tunis
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Somalia’s new chance at a peaceful future
By Anthony Banbury
October 23, 2012
Anthony Banbury is the United Nations’ assistant secretary general for field support.
Walking through Mogadishu recently, I couldn’t help but marvel. The streets teemed with people going about their daily lives. Construction boomed on virtually every block, fueled by investments from the Somali diaspora (and, perhaps, from pirates’ ill-gotten gains). Police officers in crisp white shirts directed traffic — a phenomenon associated with a return to normality in many post-conflict areas — and workers repaired electrical lines.
Spend an hour talking to Hassan Sheik Mohamud, the longtime educator and civil activist recently elected president, and you begin to believe that Somalia is on the path to a brighter future.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-uns-tireless-work-gives-somalia-a-new-
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