Centuries-Old Akhoondji Masjid And 12th Century Shrine Of Sufi Saint Among 82 Structures Razed In Delhi’s Mehrauli
New Age Islam
News Bureau
10 February 2024
'How
Is a 12th-Century Shrine an Encroachment?': Historians on DDA Demolition
-------
·
Centuries-Old
Akhoondji Masjid And 12th Century Shrine Of Sufi Saint Among 82 Structures
Razed In Delhi’s Mehrauli
·
Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf Secures Two-Thirds Majority In National Assembly, Claims Imran
·
Al-Quds
Brigades: Fierce Clashes With Zionist Soldiers And Vehicles West Of Khan Yunis
·
Biden
Sets New Conditions For US Military Aid Amid Calls To Limit Support For Israel
·
Islamic
Emirate Can Meet Its Needs Without Formal Recognition: Acting Interior Minister
-----
India
·
Islamic
State Operative Gets 10-Year Jail For Promoting IS Ideology And Conspiracy To
Carry Out Suicide Attacks
·
3rd ‘Hate
Speech’ Case Filed Against Mufti Salman Azhari In Gujarat
·
From
Protesting Hyderabad Nizam To Babri Demolition: P V Narasimha Rao’s Legacy
·
In
violence-hit Haldwani, final rites held overnight; FIRs name 16, more being
identified
----
Pakistan
·
With Over
Half the Seats Counted, Khan's Supporters Lead in Pakistan Polls
·
Jailed
former Pakistan PM Imran Khan gets bail in military installation attack cases
·
Free,
unhindered participation by Pakistanis to exercise their right of vote
demonstrated their commitment to democracy: COAS
·
Upsets,
Protests As Balochistan Wakes Up To Revised Results
·
Recognition
of Afghan govt needed regional consensus: PM
----
Mideast
·
Erdogan
Urges Unity In Islamic Countries Against Israel's Offensive In Gaza
·
Palestinian
death toll in Gaza nears 28,000: ministry
·
Iraqi
Resistance attacks vital target in occupied Palestine
·
Israeli
strikes on Gaza’s Rafah escalate fears of ground operation
·
Israeli
claims against UNRWA staff were not corroborated before employment was
terminated, says Lazzarini
·
Syria’s
air defence units repel Israeli missile strike near Damascus
·
UNICEF
warns against military operation in Rafah, where over 600,000 children, their
families already displaced
-----
North
America
·
White
House downplays Biden, national security aide’s blunt comments on Israel
·
US
underlines to Israel it must stick to international law on weapons
·
White
House warns of deepening economic collapse in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan
·
Biden
Kept Classified Afghanistan War Documents At Home: Special Counsel Report
·
US, UK
warplanes keep up aerial assaults against Yemen
---
South
Asia
·
Efforts
Ongoing to 'Divide the Muslim Communities': Muttaqi
·
Amiri:
Region Should Keep 'Principled Position' on 'Inclusive Afghanistan'
·
BNP has
to pay for mistake of not joining polls: Quader
----
Southeast
Asia
·
Indonesia's
Two Largest Islamic Groups Urge Peaceful Elections
·
Press
Day: Minister Urges Media To Help Strengthen Religious Concord
·
Magnitude-5.6
earthquake strikes the Philippines’ Mindanao
·
Chinese
New Year a momentum to improve oneself: VP Amin
----
Africa
·
Muslim
Group Urges Nigerian Govt To Urgently Redress Hardship, Tackle Insecurity
·
Fresh
fighting displaces 78,000 children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo:
Humanitarian group
·
Tens of
thousands of children could die in Sudan without more aid: UN
·
South
Africa’s foreign minister seeks extra security due to threats after Israel
genocide case
·
US calls
for investigation into alleged civilian killings in Ethiopia's Amhara region
---
Arab
World
·
Ithra Art
Prize-Winning Artwork Unveiled As Alula Arts Festival Kicks Off In Saudi Arabia
·
Yemen’s
Information Minister Praises Saudi Arabia’s Constructive, Supportive Stance
·
Guests of
the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Umrah and Visit Program thank Saudi
Arabia for warm reception, generous hospitality
----
Europe
·
Planned
Israeli Offensive In Rafah 'Alarming': EU's Foreign Policy Chief
·
Ex-UK
chancellor calls for memorial for Muslim soldiers
·
Prague,
Budapest hold up EU move to sanction violent Israeli settlers
·
UK
Foreign Secy urges Pak to uphold fundamental rights amid poll violence
·
NATO
chief Jens Stoltenberg calls on Europe to ramp up arms production
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/akhoondji-masjid-shrine-sufi-saint/d/131691
------
Centuries-Old Akhoondji Masjid And 12th Century Shrine
Of Sufi Saint Among 82 Structures Razed In Delhi’s Mehrauli
'How
Is a 12th-Century Shrine an Encroachment?': Historians on DDA Demolition
-------
Feb 10, 2024
The demolitions, which include a 12th century shrine
of Sufi saint Baba Haji Rozbih and the centuries-old Akhoondji Masjid, have
drawn criticism from activists
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) razed one
mosque, four temples and 77 graves in Sanjay Van on January 30 as part of a
so-called anti-encroachment drive, according to a list of demolitions
maintained by the land-owning agency.
“Sanjay Van is a reserved forest, which is a part of
the Southern Ridge. The Ridge Management Board has mandated that the ridge area
be free all types of encroachment,” said a DDA official, adding that the 82
structures were spread over 16 locations in the sprawling 780-acre reserved
forest in Mehrauli.
“In 2020, a committee headed by the south district
magistrate to assess encroachments in Sanjay Van suggested the removal of
various illegal structures inside,” said the official.
Hindu and Muslim bodies were, two years ago, asked to
furnish a list of religious constructions inside Sanjay Van, said the official,
and when the decision was taken to demolish them, “no objections were raised by
the religious bodies in any of the meetings,” said a second DDA official. The
official also claimed that the religious bodies did not produce any historical
record of the demolished structures.
The demolitions, which include a 12th century shrine
of Sufi saint Baba Haji Rozbih and the centuries-old Akhoondji Masjid, have
drawn criticism from historians and activists, who have questioned the logic of
tearing down edifices that have stood for nearly 900 years, instead of more
recent constructions.
The official cited above argued that Sanjay Van is
part of the vast Southern Ridge and under DDA’s jurisdiction, making it
incumbent on the agency to remove encroachments in the reserved forest.
“In the 1960s, DDA purchased around 800 acres of land
from different landowners. This eventually came to be known as Sanjay Van,
which was declared a reserved forest in 1994,” said the first official.
“The religious bodies were asked to provide details to
the agency’s religious committee, which was headed by the district magistrate
(south). Police, revenue officials, and members of religious bodies were a part
of this committee. Last December, the district conservator of forest (DCF) was
also included in the committee as the encroached land comes under the ridge
area,” said the first official.
The decision to remove the “illegal structures” was
unanimous, said the second official.
“Removal of those illegal structures was unanimously
approved by the religious committee, even in the minutes of the last meeting
dated January 27, 2024. In compliance with it, a demolition programme was fixed
by the horticulture department of the DDA on January 30,” said the second
official.
To be sure, over 314 hectares of the Southern Ridge
are encroached, according to reports submitted to the National Green Tribunal
(NGT). These encroachments include multi-storey buildings and sprawling
farmhouses, and authorities have done little to take them down, despite a
series of court orders and observations.
Irreversible loss
A host of historians and activists have over the past
week criticised DDA’s demolitions and stressed that the loss of ancient
heritage was irreversible.
Sohail Hashmi, oral historian and heritage
conservationist, said, “These are centuries-old structures that have also been
repaired along the way. They teach us so much about the evolving architectural
style, building techniques, and construction material. The Akhoondji mosque was
built using grey stone mined in the Aravallis, but it was repaired centuries
later in 1853, during the end of the Mughal era, when the material used was
often sandstone or bricks. You could see glimpses of this. With each of these
structures, there is so much to learn. How do you decide that this heritage
does not have to live?”
A DDA official argued that the 12th century shrine and
the Akhoondji Masjid were not protected by the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) and said they “do not touch structures that appear very old”.
Hashmi said that even if these structures are not
protected, “It is not for DDA to decide whether they should stay or not, it is
ASI’s.”
“If these structures existed before Sanjay Van was
declared a reserved forest in 1994, then how are they encroachments? DDA should
have first identified the encroachments, served a notice to the management of
these structures, and then taken it to the courts,” he said.
Meanwhile, the DDA official said that the land-owning
body does not touch structures that are ASI protected. “We don’t even touch
structures that appear very old such as Lal Kot (ruins of a fort) and Anang Tal
(a 1,000-year-old baoli or reservoir), which are inside Sanjay Van. When we
came across them, we informed ASI. They have been excluded from the
anti-encroachment drive,” said the DDA official.
ASI’s 1922 “List of Muhammadan and Hindu Monuments,
Volume III- Mahrauli Zila” compiled by Maulvi Zafar Hasan, assistant
superintendent of the ASI at the time, mentions that Lal Kot is the “inner
citadel of the fort of Rai Pithora,” and that it was built in 1060 AD. The ASI
list mentions that “General Cunningham on the authority of two Hindu
manuscripts ascribes Lal Kot to Anang Pal II,” the 11th century Tomar king.
Read more: AAP to decide candidates for Lok Sabha
seats in 3 states on February 13
The ASI list mentions Anang Tal as a “tank” and
ascribes this as well to the Tomar king.
Praveen Singh, the superintending archaeologist of
ASI’s Delhi circle, told HT that while parts of Lal Kot are protected by the
ASI, Anang Tal is not an ASI-protected structure. Singh said, “Around two years
ago, the lieutenant-governor had visited the area and had proposed that since
this has links to a Tomar king, it should be given protection. The proposal was
drafted but some people came forward with objections saying they had private
property in the area. The proposal is still stuck at the ASI headquarters, and
as of now, the baoli does not fall under ASI protection. As of now, it does not
come under ASI,” he said.
Source: hindustantimes.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/mosque-temples-graves-in-82-structures-razed-in-delhi-s-mehrauli-101707502017793.html
-----
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Secures Two-Thirds Majority
In National Assembly, Claims Imran
Former prime minister Imran
Khan delivers victory speech in his AI-generated message. Screengrab
-------
February 10, 2024
PTI founding chairman and former premier Imran Khan on
Friday claimed that his party had secured a two-thirds majority in the National
Assembly.
“You have laid foundation to real democracy in
Pakistan by voting for us. I congratulate all of you for winning the elections
2024,” Imran said in his AI-generated speech.
“I had complete faith that all of you would come out
to vote. The massive turnout has surprised everyone. [The] London plan has
failed because of your votes. [PML-N supremo] Nawaz Sharif has given [his]
victory speech despite being behind in at least 30 constituencies [in NA],” he
added.
Imran further maintained that nobody in Pakistan would
accept Nawaz’s speech and even the international media was writing against it.
“As per independent sources, we were winning in 150
constituencies before the rigging began. As per Form-45, we have won over 170
seats [out of the total 265],” the former premier claimed.
Imran said the people of Pakistan had created history.
“I thank the Almighty that he has made us into a
nation. No one can stop us now from flying high. Celebrate this moment and
offer prayers,” he added.
“Despite the continuous atrocities for the past two
years, we have successfully won the 2024 elections with a two-thirds majority.”
The PTI founding chairman said everybody had now seen
the power of votes, urging all to protect it.
In a related development, PTI stalwart Barrister Gohar
Ali Khan ruled out forming an alliance with the PPP or PML-N, claiming his
party had the required number of seats to form the federal government.
Speaking to a private TV news channel, Gohar
maintained that the PTI was not in touch with either the PPP or PML-N.
“We are not intending to form a coalition government
with the PPP or PML-N,” he continued.
The PTI stalwart added that apart from the Centre, the
PTI would form provincial governments in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab as well.
According to the results released by the Election
Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the PTI-nominated independent candidates have
secured 76 seats in the K-P Assembly against 73 needed to form the government,
meaning it has acquired a simple majority and does not need to forge an
alliance with any other party to come into power there.
However, the race for the Punjab Assembly seats shows
a neck-to-neck competition between the PTI-affiliated independent candidates
and those belonging to the PML-N.
The PTI leader maintained that the party’s independent
candidates would remain faithful to it and there was were no chances of them
switching their loyalties.
Earlier, PML-N leader and former finance minister
Ishaq Dar claimed that successful independent candidates were in touch with his
party.
Separately in a video statement, Gohar claimed that
efforts were under way to manipulate election results but the PTI-backed
independent candidates had form 45 and they would move the relevant forums
against irregularities in the polls.
He requested the ECP to announce the results of all
candidates.
He continued that the process of forming the
governments could kick off only after the announcement of all the results.
Source:
tribune.com.pk
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2455957/pti-secures-two-thirds-majority-in-na-claims-imran
-----
Al-Quds Brigades: Fierce clashes with Zionist soldiers
and vehicles west of Khan Yunis
[09/February/2024]
GAZA February 09. 2024 (Saba) - The Al-Quds Brigades,
the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), on Friday showed
scenes of the targeting of the Zionist enemy army vehicles in the axes of
progress west of Khan Yunis.
Its mujahideen are engaged in fierce clashes with
enemy soldiers and vehicles with machine guns and anti-armor shells in the
areas of progress west of Khan Yunis," the al-Quds Brigades said in a
statement.
We shelled enemy vehicles and mobilisations in the
east of the central province," she said.
Source:
saba.ye
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3303450.htm
----
Biden Sets New Conditions For US Military Aid Amid
Calls To Limit Support For Israel
US President Joe Biden
answers questions about Israel after speaking about the Special Counsel report
at the White House in Washington, on February 8, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
------
February 10, 2024
US President Joe Biden issued a memorandum on Thursday
requiring allies who receive military aid from the US to provide “credible and
reliable written assurances” of their adherence to international law including
international human rights law.
For the first time, the new policy also requires the
State Department and the Department of Defense to issue periodic reports on
whether allies are meeting the requirements.
US departments and agencies will “engage with foreign
partners to share and learn best practices for reducing the likelihood of and
responding to civilian casualties, including through appropriate training and
assistance,” the memo said.
“In order to effectively implement certain obligations
under United States law, the United States must maintain an appropriate
understanding of foreign partners’ adherence to international law, including,
as applicable, international human rights law and international humanitarian
law.”
Countries receiving military aid from the US were
given 180 days to provide the required assurances, the memo said, but those,
like Israel, who were engaged in active conflicts had only 45 days.
The memo did not mention specific countries who would
be held up to the new standard, but came amid increasing calls in the US to
condition aid to Israel due to concerns over its military operations in Gaza
which were triggered by the October 7 attacks, in which Hamas terrorists
murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 253.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
clarified on Thursday that the memo “emerged in part because of our discussions
with members of Congress,” all but confirming that the move was a result of
pressure from progressive lawmakers demanding conditions on aid to Israel amid
fears that American weapons were being used in the killing of civilians in Gaza.
Asked whether aid to Israel would be cut off
immediately if Jerusalem did not provide written assurances within 45 days as
the memo dictates, Jean-Pierre responded that Israel was briefed on the new
policy and had “reiterated their willingness to provide these types of
assurances.”
US security aid recipients are already required to
ensure that weapons are not used to commit human rights abuses.
The memo was criticized by the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee on Friday, which called it “an unnecessary directive that
imposes new requirements on Israel and our other most important allies.”
“As Israel continues its battle against Hamas,
Hezbollah, and other Iranian proxies, our focus should be on support for our
ally,” AIPAC said.
“Israel is a moral army fighting in an unprecedented,
complex urban battlefield in compliance with international law. It is
confronting a terror group that deliberately and despicably uses innocent
Palestinians as human shields, hides among and below civilians, and continues to
hold 136 hostages, including 8 Americans,” the pro-Israel lobby group added.
The White House has not hidden its dissatisfaction
with Israel over civilian casualties in Gaza and the humanitarian situation
there throughout the war. However, it has recently adopted a harsher tone, with
the memo issued shortly after Biden said during a conference that Israel’s
conduct in the Strip has been “over the top.” On Wednesday, US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv that Israel cannot use the October 7 attack
as “a license to dehumanize others,” in the most stinging rebuke to date from
the administration.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims that more
than 27,200 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in the war, but the number
cannot be independently verified as it is believed to include both Hamas
terrorists and civilians, some as a consequence of the terror group’s own
rocket misfires.
The IDF says it has killed over 10,000 terrorists in
Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 who were killed inside Israel on and
immediately following October 7.
Source:
timesofisrael.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story
https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-sets-new-conditions-for-us-military-aid-amid-calls-to-limit-support-for-israel/
-----
Islamic Emirate Can Meet Its Needs Without Formal
Recognition: Acting Interior Minister
IEA Interior Minister
-------
February 09, 2024
The acting interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, said
that they can meet their needs by themselves, even if the world does not
recognize the Islamic Emirate.
Speaking at a gathering in Paktia province, Haqqani
said that formal relations with the world, particularly the US, will not make
any difference as Afghanistan’s domestic sources will meet the government’s
needs.
“Why should we need other people? We will be using our
own resources. If the world recognizes the Islamic Emirate, it will be good. If
not, we have achieved brotherhood and security, these are more valuable than
recognition,” said Sirajuddin Haqqqani, the acting minister of interior
affairs.
Sirajuddin Haqqani added that the foreign forces left
Afghanistan after they encountered the harsh resistance and planning of the
Islamic Emirate.
“The world led by the US attacked our country and
occupied it. This benefitted us, people from all corners of the country are now
united,” said Sirajuddin Haqqqani, the acting minister of interior affairs.
Citizens and elders of Paktia province who had taken
part in the gathering praised security forces for their behavior with people.
“I appreciate the behavior of police with people, the
police have changed a lot, I am grateful,” said Haji Muhammad, another ethnic
elder in the province.
This comes as the US State Department has recently
said that they have no plans in the short-term for the return of US diplomatic
functions in Kabul.
Source:
tolonews.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story
https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-187348
-----
India
Islamic State Operative Gets 10-Year Jail For Promoting
ISIdeology And Conspiracy To Carry Out Suicide Attacks
Feb 10, 2024
A special NIA court has sentenced an Islamic State
(ISIS) operative to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for promoting the banned
terrorist outfit’s ideology and conspiring to carry out suicide attacks in
Kochi.
The accused, Riyas Aboobacker alias Abu Dujana, a
resident of Kerala's Palakkad, was also fined by the special court, which found
him guilty under sections 38 and 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
(UAPA) and section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Riyas was arrested by the National Investigative
Agency (NIA) on September 24, 2019, and a chargesheet was filed against him in
October of that year. He is the third person to be convicted in the ISIS
Kasaragod module case.
The case is related to an investigation wherein 14
people from Kerala's Kasaragod district and their families had left India
between May and July 2016 and joined ISIS. In 2018, the NIA obtained the
conviction of Yasmeen Mohammed Zahid, who was sentenced to seven years of
rigorous imprisonment with a fine, followed by Nashidul Hamsafar, who was
handed a five-year rigorous imprisonment in 2021.
Riyas, who went by the name of Abu Dujana on social
media, was radicalised in 2017 by absconding accused, Abdul Rashid Abdulla and
Ashfak Majeed. The radicalisation took place on social media and since July
2018, Riyas has been propagating and furthering ISIS's violent ideology and
plans.
According to the NIA probe, Riyas, in October 2018,
conspired to carry out suicide attacks at prominent business centres in Kochi
to spread terror and further the activities of ISIS in India.
Investigations further established that Riyas had
motivated and sought support from his co-conspirators for carrying out the
terrorist acts.
The NIA took over the case, originally registered at a
police station in Kasaragod, in August 2016, and was continuing with its
investigations into the matter.
Source:
indiatoday.in
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story
https://www.indiatoday.in/law/story/islamic-state-operative-nia-court-kerala-suicide-attacks-terror-outfit-propaganda-2499952-2024-02-10
---
3rd ‘hate speech’ case filed against Mufti Salman
Azhari in Gujarat
9th February
2024
P N Sree Harsha
Modasa: Mumbai-based Islamic preacher Mufti Salman
Azhari was on Friday booked in a third case for alleged hate speech by police
in Modasa in Gujarat’s Arvalli district, an official said.
He delivered an inflammatory speech in an open ground
in Modasa on December 24, Superintendent of Police Shefali Barwal said.
Azhari was held from Mumbai on February 5 after he
delivered an alleged hate speech in B division police station limits in
Junagadh on January 31. Later, Kutch East police registered a First Information
Report and arrested him on February 8 for delivering an allegedly provocative
speech in Samakhiyari village in Bhachau taluka on January 31.
“After his arrest by Junagadh police, we learnt Azhari
was in Modasa on December 24 to deliver a speech at an event organised by a
local person who claimed he would speak on religion and de-addiction. However,
a video established Azhari delivered a provocative speech at the event,” SP
Barwal said.
In Junagadh and Kutch East, Azhari was booked under
Indian Penal Code sections 153B (promoting enmity between different religious
groups) and 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief).
In Modasa, apart from sections 153B and 505(2), he has
also been charged under section 298 for “uttering words with deliberate intent
to wound the religious feelings of any person”, Barwal said.
Relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked as he
made derogatory remarks against the SC community in his speech, as per police.
“One Ishaq, who had taken police permission for the
event, was also booked. We will take custody of Azhari after his remand gets
over in Kutch East,” the SP informed.
Source:
siasat.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story
https://www.siasat.com/hate-speech-case-3rd-case-against-islamic-preacher-azhari-in-gujarat-2974753/
---
From Protesting Hyderabad Nizam To Babri Demolition: P
V Narasimha Rao’s Legacy
9th February 2024
New Delhi: Polyglot, statesman, and scholar, the
inscrutable P V Narasimha Rao was often referred to as the Chanakya of Indian
politics, the prime minister known for initiating far-reaching economic reforms
and also for his skillful political maneuvering.
Rao, who will be conferred India’s highest civilian
honour, the Bharat Ratna, more than 19 years after his death, was prime
minister from 1991-1996. He was the first prime minister from the south, the
first Congress leader from outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to complete a full
five-year term and the man who steered India through the turbulent early 1990s.
His five-year rule saw the Babri Masjid demolition,
the rise of the saffron forces, and also the country being placed firmly on a
new economic path, away from the Nehru years of public sector socialism.
In a sign of his erudition and political acumen, he
pacified Muslim clerics in chaste Urdu after the 1992 Ayodhya demolition. Later
that week, he quoted shlokas from the Bhagwad Gita while addressing IAS probationers
at his residence.
In perhaps a rare show of emotion, he said a day
before becoming prime minister that he felt “overwhelmed” and “like a colossus”
at the same time.
‘First BJP PM’
Rao has interestingly never been out of the political
discourse. The hardcore Congress member, whose legacy in the party is a subject
of continuing discussion, was referred to by some, including his party
colleague Mani Shankar Aiyar, as the country’s ‘first BJP PM’ for his
ambivalent ideological stands. And several in the BJP have alleged that Rao was
disowned by his party.
Born to an agrarian family in Vangara village of
Karimnagar district of undivided Andhra Pradesh on June 28, 1921, he was
educated at the Osmania, Bombay and Nagpur Universities from where he took his
BSc and LLB degrees.
Protest against Nizam
The political baptism began early — in 1938 during a
protest against the Nizam government’s ban on singing “Vande Mataram” in his
college.
A staunch and trusted loyalist of the Nehru-Gandhi
family before some say friction began, Rao had the rare distinction of holding
important non-economic portfolios at the Centre — External Affairs, Defence,
and Home — at different times in the 1980s.
In what is the stuff of political folklore, Rao, whose
famous pout was a cartoonists’ delight, became prime minister just when he was
walking away from the spotlight. He did not contest the 1991 elections, had
virtually wound up his establishment in the national capital and was said to
have reconciled to political retirement.
But fate willed otherwise.
Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991. Rao
became consensus candidate for the Congress president’s post that put him in
the prime minister’s seat after the elections.
He headed a minority government for some time and
later acquired majority strength in the Lok Sabha under controversial
circumstances which his detractors said was acquired through dubious means.
Criminal cases, corruption charges
Rao, or PV as he was often known, had the dubious distinction
of being the first prime minister to face criminal charges and accusations.
He was finally cleared in all three cases he faced
trial for — the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MPs’ bribery case, the St Kitts forgery
case and the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case in which controversial godman
Chandraswamy was involved.
The relief in the last case the Lakhubhai Pathak case
— came just a few months before his death on December 23, 2004, at the age of
83.
Rao also came under attack from his party colleagues
and opposition leaders when his government pursued the ‘hawala’ scam in which
they were implicated. The scandal, however, finally met a judicial death.
Economic reforms
His economic reforms agenda primarily focused on
‘liberalisation, privatisation, globalisation’, often referred to as LPG.
The Rao-Manmohan Singh duo is credited with pulling
back the country from the economic brink it was facing at the height of a
severe foreign exchange crisis.
1984 riots, Babri demolition
However, one of the most important events that marked
his rule was the demolition of the Babri masjid at Ayodhya in December 1992 and
the nationwide communal riots that followed.
He was also Union Home Minister when riots erupted
after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and was even then blamed for
“criminal inaction”.
Scam 1992
In 1993, a year after the securities scam, Big Bull
Harshad Mehta created a sensation when he is alleged to have handed over to Rao
a suitcase with Rs 1 crore at his residence. It took a while for Rao to come
out of the political crisis that the muck had left behind.
Not many expected him to remain prime minister for
long. Some even called him the ‘stop-gap’ premier given his age, ailing health
and lack of charisma and grassroots support.
Yet, confounding political pundits, the ‘meek
inheritor’ soon emerged a ‘power player’ with several regional parties,
including the Telugu Desam, Shiv Sena, and Janata Dal, splitting.
The multiple scams made his government unpopular, leading
to the defeat of the Congress in the May 1996 Lok Sabha polls.
After Sonia Gandhi took over the party reins he did
not contest Lok Sabha polls.
Writing
Thereafter, Rao was back to what he did best writing.
He came out with an over 700-page semi-autobiographical tome “The Insider”,
released by his arch-political rival but a close friend and another former
prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
A Sahitya Ratna in Hindi, Rao was fluent in several
languages, including Spanish.
Taking a cue from Rajiv Gandhi, Rao was quick to adapt
to technology. He was over 60 years old when he became a computer addict,
spending hours on his word processors when most politicians were not computer
literate.
The word processors came in handy to draft the New
Education Policy when he was asked to head the newly created human resource
development ministry in 1986. The Navodaya Vidyalaya scheme was his brainchild.
Mandal Commission report
Later as prime minister, ‘the consensus man’
implemented V P Singh’s pet project, the Mandal Commission report.
Rao’s prime ministership also marked an upswing in
Indo-US relations after a summit meeting with then-American President Bill
Clinton in Washington in 1994.
A man of many interests, he liked music, cinema, and
theatre, while his special interest was in Indian philosophy and culture,
writing fiction and political commentary, learning languages, writing poems in
Telugu and Hindi, and keeping abreast of literature in general.
Source:
siasat.com
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----
In violence-hit Haldwani, final rites held overnight;
FIRs name 16, more being identified
Avaneesh Mishra
February 10, 2024
Police in Uttarakhand have registered three FIRs in
connection with the Haldwani violence, which claimed five lives and injured
over a dozen, and are in the process of identifying the accused, senior
officials told The Indian Express.
Violence had erupted on Thursday after the
administration conducted a drive during which a mosque and a madrasa were
demolished in Banbhoolpura area. District authorities said both structures
stood on Nazool land – government land not officially mentioned in revenue
records. As stones were pelted, cars torched and the local police station
surrounded by a mob, Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami issued shoot on sight orders.
Talking to The Indian Express on Saturday morning, ADG
Law and Order, A P Anshuman said that so far, three FIRs have been registered –
for the attack at the police station, violence during the anti-encroachment
drive and vandalising parked vehicles.
The FIRs are under several IPC sections including 147
(rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 307 (attempt to murder), 332
(voluntarily causing hurt to public servant), as well as sections of the
Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
On Friday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who
visited the district on Friday and met the injured police personnel, had said
there had been an “attempt to kill” police and administration officials.
“The FIRs have named 16 people, of which five are
arrested. Several others are booked as unidentified, and we are trying to
identify them using video footage and other evidence. More FIRs could be
registered,” he said.
The AGD said the cremation and burial of the victims
was carried out on Friday night. While the curfew has been relaxed in the rest
of Haldwani, it continues in Banbhoolpura area.
“We still have to identify many accused and take
action against them. Thus we have not yet relaxed curfew in Banbhoolpura. We
will do it soon,” he said.
Source:
indianexpress.com
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-----
Pakistan
With Over Half the Seats Counted, Khan's Supporters
Lead in Pakistan Polls
February 09, 2024
(Reuters) - Independents backed by jailed former Prime
Minister Imran Khan won the most seats in Pakistan's election on Friday after
results from over half the constituencies were announced, leaving political
parties trailing.
Almost 24 hours have passed since the close of polls
and the results have been unusually delayed, which the government ascribed to
the suspension of mobile phone services - a security measure ahead of
Thursday's election.
Of the 136 seats counted by 1045 GMT from 235
contested, independent candidates backed by Khan had won 49, according to a
Reuters tally of results declared by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 42 while the Pakistan Peoples Party of Bilawal Bhutto
Zardari, the son of assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto, got 34.
The rest were won by small parties and other
independents.
Independent members cannot form a government on their
own under Pakistan's complex election system which also includes reserved seats
that will be allotted to parties based on their winnings.
But independent members have the option to join any
party after the elections.
Khan is in jail and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
party was barred from the election, so his supporters contested as
independents.
Analysts have predicted there may be no clear winner,
adding to the woes of a country struggling to recover from an economic crisis
while it grapples with rising militant violence in a deeply polarised political
environment.
"A timely announcement of the results, leading to
a smooth formation of a new government will reduce policy and political
uncertainty," Moody's Investors Service said. "This is crucial for
the country that is facing very challenging macroeconomic conditions."
The delay in the announcement of results was unusual
for elections in Pakistan. Karachi's stock index and Pakistan's sovereign bonds
fell because of the uncertainty.
An "internet issue" was the reason behind
the delay, Zafar Iqbal, special secretary at the ECP, said without elaborating.
The main electoral battle was expected to be between
candidates backed by Khan, whose PTI won the last national election, and the
PML-N of Sharif. Khan believes the powerful military is behind a crackdown to
hound his party out of existence, while analysts and opponents say Sharif is
being backed by the generals.
The military has dominated the nuclear-armed country
either directly or indirectly in its 76 years of independence but for several
years it has maintained it does not interfere in politics.
Sharif, considered by many observers to be a strong
candidate, has dismissed talk of an unclear result but a close aide, Ishaq Dar,
told GEO TV that the party could form a coalition with the support of
independents.
"I am confident that we will form a
government," Dar said.
IMF BAILOUT
If the election does not result in a clear majority
for anyone, as analysts are predicting, tackling multiple challenges will be
tricky - foremost being seeking a new bailout programme from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) after the current arrangement expires in three weeks.
A coalition government "would probably be
unstable, weak" and "the big loser...will be the army. Because the
army really has staked its reputation on its ability to deliver this
vote", said Marvin Weinbaum, Director of Afghanistan and Pakistan Studies
at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
The election was expected to help resolve the crises
Pakistan has been dealing with but a fractured verdict "could very well be
the basis for even deeper exposure to forces which would create
instability", he said.
Thousands of troops were deployed on the streets and
at polling stations across the country for the voting on Thursday. Borders with
Iran and Afghanistan were temporarily closed as security was stepped up.
Despite the heightened security, 28 people, including
two children, were killed in 56 violent incidents including bomb blasts,
grenade attacks and shootings by militants, the Interior Ministry said.
"Despite a few isolated incidents, the overall
situation remained under control, demonstrating the effectiveness of our
security measures," Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz said.
Washington was concerned about "steps that were
taken to restrict freedom of expression, specifically around internet and
cellphone use," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told
reporters.
The U.S. strongly condemned election-related violence
both in the run-up to the polls and on election day, Patel added.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also
expressed concern about the violence and the suspension of mobile communications
services, his spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement.
Amnesty International called the suspension of mobile
services "a blunt attack on the rights to freedom of expression and
peaceful assembly".
Source:
tolonews.com
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https://tolonews.com/world-187346
----
Jailed former Pakistan PM Imran Khan gets bail in
military installation attack cases
10 Feb 2024
ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday
granted bail to jailed former Pakistan premier Imran Khan in 12 cases linked to
the May 9 attacks on military installations.
ATC Judge Malik Ejaz Asif granted bail to Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founder Khan after fulfilling a surety bond of Rs
0.1 million in all 12 cases, including the General Headquarters (Pakistan Army)
and Army Museum attack, The Express Tribune Pakistan reported.
The court said there was no justification to keep
Khan, 71, under arrest as all accused in May 9 cases were on bail.
Khan will remain in jail as he is convicted in many
other cases.
The court's order came a day after independents backed
by Khan's party won nearly 100 seats in the National Assembly.
Former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also
granted bail in 13 cases in the same case.
Khan and PTI stalwart Qureshi were indicted in the
cases on February 6.
The two were produced before the court, where the
former prime minister informed the judge that he was illegally arrested on May
9 from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises.
Khan was booked in multiple cases related to the May 9
violence that erupted following his arrest in an alleged corruption case.
The cases registered in Rawalpindi included the attack
on the gate of General Headquarters (GHQ), rioting in the office of a sensitive
institution and others.
Khan had denied the allegations mentioned in the
cases' first information reports (FIRs).
Earlier, after his release from Adiala jail, Qureshi
was whisked away by Punjab police from prison in connection with a case about
the attack on the GHQ.
Source:
newindianexpress.com
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----
Free, unhindered participation by Pakistanis to
exercise their right of vote demonstrated their commitment to democracy: COAS
February 09, 2024
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir
congratulated on Saturday the nation on the successful conduct of the General
Elections 2024 and said that the free and unhindered participation by
Pakistanis demonstrated their commitment to democracy.
He also congratulated the caretaker government,
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), political parties and all winning
candidates, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement today.
The army chief said that leadership and personnel of
law-enforcement agencies deserve “our highest appreciation for creating a safe
and secure environment for the electoral process, despite overwhelming odds”.
‘Peaceful elections’ expected to strengthen democracy
in country: ISPR
He said the constructive role played by national
media, civil society, members of civil administration and judiciary enabled the
successful conduct of the largest electoral exercise in national history.
The COAS’ statement comes after after millions of
citizens exercised their right to vote on Thursday. Meanwhile, results are yet
to be announced by the ECP.
“Pakistan’s diverse polity and pluralism will be
well-represented by a unified government of all democratic forces imbibed with
national purpose.
Elections and democracy are means to serve people of
Pakistan and not ends in themselves,“ the COAS said.
COAS Munir added that it is now incumbent upon all
political parties to reciprocate the same with political maturity and unity as
shown by the Pakistanis.
“As we move forward from this national milestone we
must reflect on where the country stands today and where our rightful place
should be in the comity of nations.
COAS wishes that these elections bring in political
and economic stability and prove to be the harbinger of peace and prosperity
for our beloved Pakistan,“ ISPR statement concluded.
Source:
brecorder.com
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-----
Upsets, protests as Balochistan wakes up to revised
results
February 10,
2024
Saleem Shahid
QUETTA: Balochistan has witnessed a series of
surprises and upsets in the recent national and provincial assembly elections,
as reported by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over the past 24
hours.
The initial unofficial results, celebrated by some
candidates as victories, were overturned the following day, with the previously
“winning” candidates falling to second and third positions as per new results.
The revised outcomes have prompted a wave of protests
across the province, with nearly all major political parties — including the
PPP, PML-N, JUI-F, BAP, BNP-Mengal, PkMAP, and PkNAP — staging sit-ins at
district returning offices.
The Hazara Democratic Party faced significant losses,
with key figures like Chairman Abdul Khaliq Hazara and former MPA Qadir Ali
Nayal being ousted from the winners’ circle.
New outcomes from ECP prompt wave of sit-ins across
province
Amid the chaos, JUI-F’s provincial emir Maulana Abdul
Wasey, who lost the election of Balochistan Assembly from Qila Saifullah, has
called for province-wide protests despite the election of JUI-F’s Maulana
Fazlur Rehman as MNA from Pishin. Mr Rehman has lost the election against
PTI-backed Amin Gandapur from his traditional seat of Dera Ismail Khan.
On the ECP’s website, the election results for 43 of
Balochistan Assembly’s 51 general assembly seats had been released by
Friday-Saturday midnight, showing PPP securing 11 seats, followed by PML-N’s
(nine), JUI-F (eight), independents (five), and BAP (four), among others.
Leading politicians elected to the Balochistan
Assembly include Sardar Akhtar Mengal (BNP), Jam Kamal Khan Alyani (PML-N),
Nawab Sanaullah Zehri (PPP), Nawab Aslam Raisani (JUI-F), Senate Chairman Sadiq
Sanjrani (BAP), BAP Provincial President Sardar Muhammad Saleh Bhootani,
National Party President Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, and BNP-Awami President Mir
Asadullah Baloch.
Mir Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali, the two-time former
speaker, chief minister, and Senate’s deputy chairman, lost elections on his
traditional seat of Usta Muhammad, Jafarabad district, for the first time. The
candidate who won against him is his closest relative, Sardarzada Faysal Jamali
of PPP. Political observers consider it a big upset.
Another upset was witnessed when a Jamaat-i-Islami
candidate, Abdul Majeed Badini, won the provincial assembly seat from Rojhan
Jamali village, the political headquarters of Jamalis. Mr Badini defeated
former provincial minister Rahat Faiq Jamali, a PML-N candidate and the sister
of Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali.
Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch, who was thrust to the
national political scene through his months-long sit-ins in Gwadar under the
banner of the “Haq Do Tehreek”, contested against Hammal Kalmati, a prominent
figure in the BNP-Mengal party and a member of Gwadar’s esteemed Kalmati
family.
Mr Rehman, who is the general secretary of the JI’s
Balochistan chapter, succeeded in defeating Mr Kalmati in the electoral race.
Mr Hammal’s father, Ghafoor Kalmati, had previously served as an MPA and
provincial minister.
Sarfraz Bugti of BAP in Dera Bugti, who joined the PPP
shortly before the election, won the provincial assembly seat against Nawabzada
Gohram Bugti, the grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. Political circles believe
Mr Bugti is among the candidates who could be considered for the post of the
next chief minister.
Other prominent figures elected include Mir Sadiq
Umrani, an old guard of PPP since senior Bhutto’s time, Mir Samad Khan Gorgage
(PPP), Muhammad Toor Utmankhel (PML-N), Prince Omer (BAP), Mir Ali Madad Jattak
(PPP), Mir Zafar Zehri (JUI-F), Abdul Khaliq Achakzai (independent), Saleem
Ahmed Khosa (PML-N), Asghar Ali Tareen (JUI-F), Obaidullah (PPP), Syed Zafar
Ali Agha (JUI-F), Saeed Ahmed Langove (JUI-F), Zarak Khan Mandokhail (PML-N)
Nawabzada Tariq Magsi (BAP), Muhammad Khan Lehri (PML-N), Mir Younas Zehri
(JUI-F), Ghulam Dastagir Badini (JUI-F) and Bakhat Muhammad (independent).
Source:
dawn.com
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----
Recognition of Afghan govt needed regional consensus:
PM
2024-02-10
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq
Kakar om Friday said that all countries of the region, including Russia and
China, wanted peace, security and stability in Afghanistan.
In an exclusive interview with TOLO news, he said that
the recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan needed regional
consensus.
Until the countries of the region and the world
recognized the current government of Afghanistan, Pakistan would not take a
step forward in that regard, he added.
“I personally believe that all the countries in the
region want the Afghan government to get recognized, although I cannot talk
about the exact time, regional countries have understood this. I believe that
the issue of recognition will be resolved as time passes.”
The prime minister said the Durand Line was an
internationally recognized border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The UN and 206 countries have approved this as an
international border and what the Afghan people say about this is their
internal discussion, in which I am not interested.”
He said the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had
shelter in some provinces of Afghanistan and that issue had caused insecurity
in Pakistan.
“When my people come to your soil, use it, train on
it, and then come and harm my people, then I will definitely be telling you
that my unpleasant brother is on your soil, no matter if by your permission or
not, he must be expelled from your soil,” he added.
“This is Pakistan’s stance and we have not accused the
Afghan government of intentionally sheltering these people,” the prime minister
said.
He said that no nation would be permitted to utilize
Pakistan’s airspace against Afghanistan.
Source:
brecorder.com
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----
Mideast
Erdogan urges unity in Islamic countries against Israel's
offensive in Gaza
February 10, 2024
ISTANBUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called on Islamic countries to act in unity in
response to the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
He made the remarks when addressing the 5th General
Assembly of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum in Istanbul via video message.
"We are continuing our diplomatic contacts so
that Islamic countries can act together against the Israeli cruelty in
Gaza," Erdogan said.
The president noted that his country is also working
hard "to ensure that the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed
by Israel are not overlooked in the international arena."
He reiterated Türkiye's commitment to supporting the
establishment of an independent, sovereign, and globally recognized Palestinian
state.
"We will continue our struggle until an
independent and territorially integrated Palestinian state is established on
the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital," Erdogan said.
After Hamas launched a surprise attack and killed
around 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel mounted a
massive military offensive against Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Since then, the Palestinian death toll from the
ongoing Israeli attacks in the enclave has risen to 27,947, the Hamas-run
Health Ministry said Friday.
Source:
people.cn
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-----
Palestinian death toll in Gaza nears 28,000: ministry
Feb 9, 2024
TEHRAN, Feb. 09 (MNA) – The Palestinian death toll
from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 27,947, Gaza’s
Health Ministry said on Friday.
In a press statement, the ministry said 67,459
Palestinians have been wounded in the coastal enclave since the outbreak of the
Israel-Hamas conflict in October last year.
Israeli forces killed 107 Palestinians and wounded 142
others in the past 24 hours, the ministry added, noting that some victims
remain under the rubble amid heavy bombardment and a lack of civil defense and
ambulance crews.
Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said
Israeli aircraft launched a series of raids targeting several homes in the
neighborhoods of Gaza City, including al-Rimal, al-Sabra, al-Zaytoun, Tal al-Hawa,
and Sheikh Ajlin.
The sources told Xinhua that ambulances were unable to
reach the targeted locations due to Israel's aerial and artillery bombardment
and drone attacks on everything moving in those areas.
Meanwhile, at least 8 Palestinians were killed in a
bombing that targeted two homes in Rafah, the southernmost Gazan city, said
medical sources.
According to paramedics, in Khan Younis, the largest
city in southern Gaza, many young men were killed as a result of Israel's
continued artillery shelling, while another young man and an elderly man were
killed by Israeli forces' bullets in the vicinity of Nasser Hospital in the
city.
Also, several Palestinians were killed and some others
injured as a result of Israeli aircraft bombing a house in the city of Deir
el-Balah in central Gaza.
Source:
mehrnews.com
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----
Iraqi Resistance attacks vital target in occupied
Palestine
Feb 10, 2024
TEHRAN, Feb. 10 (MNA) – Iraq's Islamic Resistance
announced that it has attacked a vital target inside occupied Palestine.
We confirm the continuation of the destruction of the
enemy's trenches, the Resistance group said by publishing a video from its
operation.
Saying that the attacks were carried out in support of
the people of Gaza and in response to Israel's massacres against Palestinian
civilians, the Resistance group stressed that its combatants have targeted a
vital target of the Israeli occupation regime on the shores of the Dead Sea.
The Islamic Resistance of Iraq also demanded the
expulsion of the United States from Iraq.
In support of the Palestinian people and their
Resistance and in response to the US backing of "Israel" amid the
ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq
continues to target US bases and targets in the region.
Source:
mehrnews.com
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-----
Israeli strikes on Gaza’s Rafah escalate fears of
ground operation
February 10, 2024
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Israeli air
strikes pummeled densely crowded Rafah on Saturday after Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to “prepare to operate” in the southern
border city that has become a last refuge for displaced Palestinians.
Netanyahu’s planned offensive on Rafah, where an
estimated 1.3 million people have fled, has drawn condemnation from rights
groups and Washington, while Palestinians have said they have nowhere left to
retreat.
Witnesses reported new strikes on Rafah early
Saturday, after the Israeli military intensified air raids, with fears rising
among Palestinians of a coming ground invasion.
“We don’t know where to go,” said Mohammad Al-Jarrah,
a Palestinian who was displaced from further north to Rafah.
The city is the last major population center in the
Gaza Strip that Israeli troops have yet to enter and also the main point of
entry for desperately needed relief supplies.
Netanyahu told military officials on Friday to “submit
to the cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the
battalions” of Hamas militants holed up in Rafah, his office said.
The US State Department said it does not support a
ground offensive in Rafah, warning that, if not properly planned, such an
operation risks “disaster.”
The United States is Israel’s main international
backer, providing it with billions of dollars in military aid.
But in a sign of growing frustration, US President Joe
Biden issued his strongest criticism of Israel yet, describing the retaliation
for Hamas’s October 7 attack as going too far.
“I’m of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the
response in Gaza, in the Gaza Strip, has been over the top,” the US president
said.
“There are a lot of innocent people who are
starving... in trouble and dying, and it’s got to stop.”
Displaced Palestinians have flooded into Rafah, where
hundreds of thousands are sleeping in tents pushed up against the Egyptian
border.
AFP images showed scenes of devastation, with people
queuing for increasingly scarce water.
Rights groups have sounded alarm at the prospect of a
ground incursion.
“Israel’s declared ground offensive on Rafah would be
catastrophic and must not proceed,” Doctors Without Borders said in a
statement. “There is no place that is safe in Gaza and no way for people to
leave.”
The Hamas-run territory’s health ministry on Saturday
said that at least 110 people were killed in overnight bombardment, including
25 in strikes in Rafah.
The previous day, the Palestinian Red Crescent said
that three children were killed in a strike in Rafah.
“We heard the sound of a huge explosion next to our
house... we found two children martyred in the street,” said Jaber Al-Bardini,
60.
“There is no safe place in Rafah. If they storm Rafah,
we will die in our homes.”
Israeli forces raided Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis,
southern Gaza’s biggest city, on Friday after a weeks-long siege during which
the Palestinian Red Crescent has reported “intense artillery shelling and heavy
gunfire.”
The medical organization said Israeli forces had
arrested eight of its team members at the hospital, including “four doctors, as
well as four wounded individuals and five patients’ companions.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres has said any Israeli push
into Rafah “would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian
nightmare.”
But Netanyahu’s office said it would be “impossible”
to achieve the war’s objective of eliminating Hamas while leaving four of the
militants’ battalions in Rafah.
Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack resulted in the
deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP
tally based on official Israeli figures.
In response, Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas and
launched air strikes and a ground offensive that have killed at least 27,947
people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the
Hamas-run territory.
Militants seized 250 hostages, 132 of whom are still
in Gaza, but 29 are presumed dead, Israel has said.
State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said an
Israeli ground operation in Rafah was “not something we’d support.”
“To conduct such an operation right now with no
planning and little thought... would be a disaster,” Patel warned.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had conveyed
Washington’s concerns to Netanyahu directly during talks this week in Jerusalem,
he added.
On the ceasefire talks, Blinken said he still saw
“space for agreement to be reached” to halt the fighting and bring home Israeli
hostages, even after Netanyahu rejected what he labelled Hamas’s “bizarre
demands.”
Hamas negotiators left Cairo on Friday after what a
Hamas source described as “positive and good discussions” with Egyptian and
Qatari mediators.
“The delegation left Cairo tonight (Friday) and is
awaiting Israel’s response,” a Hamas official said on condition of anonymity as
he was not authorized to speak on the issue.
The impact of the war has been felt widely, with
violence involving Iran-backed allies of Hamas surging across the Middle East
and drawing in US forces among others.
Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said
Friday it had fired dozens of rockets at an army position in the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, hours after launching a salvo at northern
Israel.
In the early hours of Saturday, Israeli strikes
targeted the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, according to the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights and the official Syrian press agency, which
reported “material” damage.
Due to the ongoing war and risk of wider consequences,
the US ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Israel’s credit rating on Friday, and
also lowered its outlook for Israel’s debt to “negative” due to “the risk of an
escalation” with Hezbollah.
Israel’s former finance minister turned opposition MP
Avigdor Lieberman attributed the downgrading to the Netanyahu government’s
“populist” measures.
“The government of destruction continues to degenerate
us into an economic disaster just as it brought us into a security disaster,”
he wrote on social media platform X.
Source:
arabnews.com
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------
Israeli claims against UNRWA staff were not
corroborated before employment was terminated, says Lazzarini
February 10, 2024
BEIRUT: The employment of nine staff working for the
UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East — who were
alleged by Israel to have aided Hamas in the Oct. 7 attacks — was ended in an
“exceptional, swift decision” even before corroborating the allegations against
them, said the agency’s chief on Friday.
UNRWA’s Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini
explained that he followed a “reverse due process” in terminating the
contracts, and did not probe Israel’s claims before the dismissals, reported
The Guardian on Friday.
Addressing a press conference in Jerusalem, Lazzarini
said: “No, the investigation is going on now,” when asked if he had probed
whether there was any evidence against the staff.
“I could have suspended them, but I have fired them.
And now I have an investigation, and if the investigation tells us that this
was wrong, in that case at the UN we will take a decision on how to properly
compensate (them),” he was quoted as saying. The termination decision was due
to the explosive nature of the claims, he added.
He said the agency was already facing “fierce and ugly
attacks” at a time when it was providing aid to nearly 2 million Palestinians
in Gaza.
Lazzarini said: “Indeed, I have terminated without due
process because I felt at the time that not only the reputation but the ability
of the entire agency to continue to operate and deliver critical humanitarian
assistance was at stake if I did not take such a decision.”
Discussing the allegations, the UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres told a press conference on Thursday: “When there were indications
that Hamas had infiltrated UNRWA, I acted immediately in order to guarantee
that we do whatever is necessary for UNRWA to be able to avoid any kind of
infiltration by Hamas.”
According to the UN chief, the organization received
allegations in relation to 12 names, and those allegations were credible.
Guterres said: “Now, if the allegations are credible,
you are dealing with a high risk. And when you are dealing with a high risk,
and you have rules and regulations that allow you to do so, you, I believe,
should do what I did — which was to terminate immediately the contracts based
on the so-called best interests of the organization, which is what the rules
and regulations allow me to do.”
He elaborated that the investigation team was
immediately on the ground, and added: “And if I had made any mistake, it can be
corrected in the future.”
He stressed the organization could not run the risk of
not acting immediately as the accusations were related to criminal activities
that were dangerous.
Guterres revealed that he was surprised to read in the
press that the military and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel were
unwilling to share information with the UN.
He said: “Even worse, I read in the press that the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t expect me to act. I mean, I can’t imagine
that this was a trap.”
According to The Guardian’s report, the UN’s Office of
Internal Oversight Services is investigating the allegations and is due to
report its preliminary findings within weeks. A separate independent review of
the agency’s risk management processes is being led by the former French
Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.
Lazzarini said the agency was operating in a “hostile”
environment and it had faced new “restrictions” since Israel’s allegations were
made public.
Source:
arabnews.com
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----
Syria’s air defense units repel Israeli missile strike
near Damascus
10 February 2024
Syrian air defense units have repelled an Israeli
missile strike near capital Damascus, amid an upsurge in the Tel Aviv regime’s
acts of aggression against the Arab nation and its war on the Gaza Strip.
“At 1:05 a.m. local time on Saturday (2205 GMT Friday),
the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack from the direction of the
occupied Golan Heights, and targeted a number of sites in the Damascus
countryside,” the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted an unnamed
military source as saying.
The source added that Syrian air defenses shot down
most of the missiles.
The report noted that there were no injuries in the
strike, but there were material losses.
The strike came a few hours after the Syrian Army’s
air defense units shot down two Israeli drones that had penetrated into the
country’s airspace from the direction of the Golan Heights.
They were hovering over neighborhoods in the western
flank of Damascus, before they were intercepted and destroyed.
Israel frequently targets military positions inside
Syria, especially those of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah which has
played a key role in helping the Syrian army in its fight against
foreign-backed terrorists.
Tel Aviv rarely comments on its attacks on Syrian
territories, which many see as a knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government’s
success in confronting and decimating terrorism.
Israel has been one of the main supporters of
terrorist groups that oppose the democratically-elected government of President
Bashar al-Assad since the foreign-backed militancy erupted in Syria.
The missile attack on Syria came amid incessant
Israeli bombing campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israel launched the bloody war on Gaza on October 7
after Palestinian Hamas resistance movement launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm in
the occupied territories in retaliation for the Tel Aviv regime’s incessant
crimes against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime
has killed at least 27,947 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and
injured another 67,459 individuals.
Source:
presstv.ir
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-----
UNICEF warns against military operation in Rafah,
where over 600,000 children, their families already displaced
Ahmet Gencturk
09.02.2024
UNICEF has warned against a military operation in the
city of Rafah, southern Gaza, where over 600,000 children and their families –
around a million people – have been displaced under the pressure of over four
months of devastating war.
“An escalation of the fighting in Rafah, which is
already straining under the extraordinary number of people who have been
displaced from other parts of Gaza, will mark another devastating turn in a war
that has reportedly killed over 27,000 people – most of them women and
children,” Catherine Russell, the agency’s executive director, said in a
statement on late Thursday.
Calling on parties to the conflict to comply with
their obligations under international humanitarian law, she added: “Military
operations in densely populated residential areas can have indiscriminate
effects.”
The statement came after Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to take Israeli military operations into Rafah, saying
the war on Gaza will continue until Israel can claim “total victory” against
Hamas.
On Thursday, the US also warned that an Israeli
military operation in Rafah "would be a disaster" for the more than 1
million displaced Palestinians sheltering there.
Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip
following an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas, killing at least 27,947
Palestinians and injuring 67,459 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are
believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s
population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and
medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or
destroyed, according to the UN.
An interim ruling last month by the International
Court of Justice told Israel to cease its abuses, but most international
observers say it has been flouting the ruling.
Source:
aa.com.tr
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-----
North
America
White House downplays Biden, national security aide’s
blunt comments on Israel
February 10, 2024
WASHINGTON: The White House on Friday sought to
downplay sharp criticism levied against Israel by President Joe Biden and a
senior national security official over how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
government has conducted Israel’s four-month-old war aimed at rooting out Hamas
militants from Gaza.
Biden, speaking to reporters Thursday evening, called
Israel’s military operations in Gaza “over the top” and said the suffering of
innocent people has “got to stop.” While Biden has previously expressed concern
about the mounting Palestinian civilian toll — more than 27,000 have been
killed in Gaza since the conflict erupted — his direct criticism of the
Israelis has been muted.
Then on Friday, the New York Times reported it had
obtained a recording in which the president’s deputy principal national
security adviser, Jon Finer, expressed a “lack of confidence” in Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government during a meeting with Arab American
and Muslim community leaders this week. The White House National Security
Council confirmed that Finer’s comments, as reported by the Times, were
accurate.
An administration official told The Associated Press
that Finer was speaking specifically about the Netanyahu government’s
commitment to pursuing a two-state solution — one in which Israel would
co-exist with an independent Palestinian state — once the war ends. Netanyahu
throughout his political career has consistently opposed the creation of a
Palestinian state.
“The President and Mr. Finer were reflecting on
concerns we have had for some time and will continue to have as the Israeli
operation proceeds, about the loss of Palestinian lives in this conflict and
the need to reduce civilian harm,” National Security Council spokesperson
Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “The President has made clear since the
first days of this conflict that we share the aim of defeating Hamas, but that
Israel must reduce, as much as possible, the impact of its operation on
innocent civilians.”
Finer in the recording also spoke of “missteps” by the
Biden administration and expressed regret that the administration may have left
a “a very damaging impression” early in the war with its “wholly inadequate
public accounting for how much the president, the administration and the
country values the lives of Palestinians.”
The comments appear to reflect a growing frustration
in the White House with the conflict that was sparked on Oct. 7 after Hamas
militants launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250
others hostage. Earlier pauses in fighting led to release of mostly women and
children taken by Hamas, but US officials believe more than 100 remain in
captivity.
Biden on Thursday said he hasn’t given up on a
US-Egypt-Qatar effort to get the two sides to agree to an extended pause in
fighting to facilitate the release of the remaining hostages.
Hamas, however, has demanded that Israel release
hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and end the war as part of a hostage deal.
Netanyahu has refused to agree to those terms.
Biden said he still is hopeful that a deal can be
worked out that might create a path to ending the war.
“I am pushing very hard now to deal with this hostage
ceasefire,” Biden said. “I’ve been working tirelessly on this deal.”
Biden had dispatched Finer and other senior aides to
Michigan on Thursday to meet with Arab American and Muslim community leaders as
his administration has been looking to mend rifts with a key constituency in a
2024 battleground state.
Samantha Power, head of the US Agency for
International Development, Steven Benjamin, who directs the Office of Public
Engagement, and Tom Perez, who leads the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, were
among administration officials who took part in the Michigan visit.
Some of Biden’s campaign team have faced a tough
reception from Michigan’s sizable Arab American and Muslim community.
Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, and
other campaign aides went to suburban Detroit late last month, but found a
number of community leaders unwilling to meet with them.
Other community activists have gone even further as
they press their disapproval of the president’s handling of the war and have formed
a group called “Abandon Biden,” a movement discouraging voters from supporting
the president in November.
Michigan has the largest concentration of Arab
Americans in the nation and over 310,000 residents are of Middle Eastern or
North African ancestry. Nearly half of Dearborn’s roughly 110,000 residents
claim Arab ancestry.
After Donald Trump won Michigan by fewer than 11,000
votes in 2016, Wayne County and its large Muslim communities helped Biden
retake the state for the Democrats in 2020 by a roughly 154,000-vote margin.
Biden enjoyed a roughly 3-to-1 advantage in Dearborn and 5-1 advantage in
Hamtramck, and he won Wayne County by more than 330,000 votes.
Source:
arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2457416/world
----
US underlines to Israel it must stick to international
law on weapons
February 10, 2024
WASHINGTON: The United States has briefed Israel on a
new US national security memorandum that reminds countries receiving US weapons
to stick to international law, the White House said on Friday.
The memo is a statement of administration policy and
was sent on Thursday from the White House to senior Cabinet officials
responsible for national security to ensure its aims are carried out.
The memo does not impose new conditions on how US
military equipment may be used, but it does require the Biden administration to
send a report to Congress annually on whether countries are meeting the
requirements.
Since Oct. 7, nearly 28,000 people have been killed in
an Israeli military campaign against Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip,
according to Palestinian health officials. The Israeli assault was launched in
response to a Hamas attack on Israel in which Israel says 1,200 people were
killed.
Washington gives $3.8 billion in annual military
assistance to Israel, its longtime ally. Leftist Democrats and Arab American
groups have criticized the Biden administration’s steadfast support of Israel,
which they say provides it with a sense of impunity.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told
reporters in response to a question that US officials had briefed Israelis on
the memorandum.
“They reiterated their willingness to provide these
types of assurances,” she said.
Other nations that use US weaponry were also notified,
said a US official, declining to name them.
Jean-Pierre said the memorandum emerged from
discussions with lawmakers.
“There are no new standards in this memo. We are not
imposing new standards for military aid,” she said. “Instead we are spelling
publicly the existing standards by the international law including the law of
armed conflict.”
One section of the memorandum reminds recipients of US
military aid to “respect their obligations under international law and reduce
the risk of civilian harm.”
The Israel-Hamas conflict falls under a complex
international system of justice that has emerged since World War Two, much of
it aimed at protecting civilians. Even if states say they are acting in
self-defense, international rules regarding armed conflict apply to all
participants in a war.
US President Joe Biden has been dogged by criticism at
home by Arab American groups who say he should be calling for a permanent
ceasefire in the Gaza conflict. Several Biden administration officials met on
Thursday in Dearborn, Michigan, with Arab American leaders who have been vocal
in their criticism of Biden.
Source:
arabnews.com
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----
White House warns of deepening economic collapse in
Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan
Fidel Rahmati
February 10, 2024
The White House sent a message to Congress, cautioning
about a worsening economic downturn in Afghanistan alongside a widespread
humanitarian crisis, according to Reuters.
The message highlighted that the humanitarian crisis
in Afghanistan, under Taliban control, poses a serious threat to America’s
national security, according to the statement.
On Tuesday, Biden informed the U.S. Congress that he
would extend the emergency status order related to Afghanistan after February
11th.
In his message, Biden stated: “There is a widespread
humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, including urgent needs for food security,
livelihoods, water, sanitation, shelter, and other necessities, with the
potential for the country’s economic collapse deepening every day.”
Biden added that this situation poses “an unusual and
extraordinary threat to national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
In a statement on the White House website, President
Biden emphasized the necessity of safeguarding specific assets held by the
Afghanistan Central Bank (DAB) within the United States. He stressed their
crucial role in addressing the national emergency and supporting the well-being
of the Afghan people.
President Biden recognized the existence of legal
claims from different entities, including terrorism victims, regarding certain
DAB assets. Consequently, these assets continue to be frozen as per his
executive order, reflecting the intricate legal and humanitarian factors
involved.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in
August 2021, over $9 billion of Afghanistan’s assets in European and American
banks have been frozen, with $7 billion held in American banks.
The United States established a trust fund in
Switzerland on November 21, 2022, to protect these assets and transferred $3.5
billion from Afghanistan’s currency reserves to this fund, aiming to strengthen
financial and monetary stability in the face of Afghanistan’s pervasive
economic crisis.
Source:
khaama.com
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----
Biden kept classified Afghanistan war documents at
home: Special Counsel Report
Fidel Rahmati
February 9, 2024
The released special counsel report on Thursday
revealed that President Joe Biden deliberately held onto and shared highly
classified information, even during his time as a private citizen. This
included details concerning military and foreign policy matters related to
Afghanistan. However, the report ultimately determined that there were no
grounds for criminal charges against him.
Special counsel Robert Hur’s report marks the
conclusion of a year-long criminal investigation that loomed over President
Biden’s administration. However, its sharply critical evaluation of his
management of sensitive government documents and unflattering portrayal of his
memory will undoubtedly raise new doubts regarding his competence and age.
These issues strike at the core of voters’ concerns about his suitability for
reelection.
Meanwhile, the report included handwritten notes to
former President Barack Obama from 2009. These notes opposed the planned
increase in troops in Afghanistan, along with other notes related to
intelligence briefings and national security meetings.
However, it has been said that Mr. Biden will not face
criminal charges.
The special counsel of the US Department of Justice
described Joe Biden as “an elderly man, well-intentioned, and with a weak
memory.”
According to this report, Biden could not recall when
he was vice president during interviews, and when his son passed away.
The US Department of Justice report said Joe Biden
“intentionally” kept classified documents from his time as vice president at
home and in his office, but there are no accusations against him.
Robert Hur wrote in his report that Biden’s memory
during interviews with the prosecution team was “severely limited.”
The report also noted that Biden’s actions potentially
put national security at risk as these highly sensitive pieces of information
could either disappear or fall into the hands of America’s enemies.
Biden’s attorneys wrote in their opinions about this
report that considering Biden should have explained events of the previous
year, this memory lapse was not extraordinary, and such matters should not be
included in the Department of Justice report.
In response to the special prosecutor’s report, Biden
said in a speech in Virginia, “My memory is good.”
In response to the prosecutor’s remark that Biden
couldn’t recall the time of his son’s death, he said, “How dare he bring up
that issue. Frankly, when I was asked that question, I said to myself that it
has nothing to do with their damn business.”
Biden pointed out that he cooperated with the
investigation and returned classified documents without any obstruction,
contrary to Trump’s actions.
Donald Trump, referring to the dropping of charges
against Joe Biden in connection with holding classified documents on one hand
and continuing similar accusations against himself on the other, said on Truth
Social that the US judicial system is “two-tiered” and selectively prosecutes
individuals.
Trump considers the four criminal complaints against
him, including in connection with holding classified documents, as politically
motivated and says Biden is behind these complaints.
Source:
khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/biden-kept-classified-afghanistan-war-documents-at-home-special-counsel-report/
----
US, UK warplanes keep up aerial assaults against Yemen
09 February
2024
American and British warplanes keep up their aerial
attacks against Yemen as the Arab Peninsula country sustains it pro-Palestinian
strikes against Israeli targets or those heading towards the occupied
territories’ ports.
The assaults took place on Friday, targeting Sa’ada
Province in Yemen’s extreme northwest, Yemen’s al-Masirah television network
reported.
According to the report, the aircraft bombed the
al-Qutainat area in Sa'ada's Baqim District twice.
Just hours ago, the US and UK’s aircraft had struck
the al-Jabana, al-Taif, and al-Kathib areas in the coastal Yemeni province of
al-Hudaydah.
The countries have been leading the bombing campaign
for several weeks in response to a raft of operations that Yemen’s Armed Forces
have been carrying out against Israeli vessels or those that are bound for the
occupied territories.
The Yemeni strikes have been seeking to pressure the
Israeli regime into stopping an October 7, 2023-present Washington- and
London-backed war against Gaza.
Yemenis have staged a million-man march in the capital
Sana’a to reaffirm their support for Palestinians in Gaza which is under a
brutal Israeli offensive.
Nearly 28,000 Palestinians, mostly women, children,
and adolescents, have died in the genocidal war so far.
The Yemeni forces have also been targeting American and
British warships that have been deployed to the region to protect the flow of
commercial goods and arms towards the occupied territories.
On Wednesday, British media reports revealed that the
country’s Royal Navy had been forced to pull a warship, named as HMS Diamond,
out of the Red Sea after it came under three bouts of attacks with ballistic
missiles fired from Yemen.
Hailing the successful operation against the vessel,
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council, said a
day later that all such foreign vessels would eventually be forced to depart
the body of water.
After Yemeni operation forces British warship to leave
the Red Sea, Yemeni official says all such vessels will eventually have to
depart the body of water.
"Just as the British warship has left the region
for overhaul, the other warships will likewise [be forced to] leave the
region," al-Houthi said.
Source:
presstv.ir
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----
South
Asia
Efforts Ongoing to 'Divide the Muslim Communities':
Muttaqi
February 09, 2024
The acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan
Muttaqi at a gathering said that the world has an agenda to create disunity
among Afghans.
Without naming any country, Amir Khan Muttaqi said
that programs aim to divide Muslims into groups, parties, and ethnic groups.
The conspiracies and plans of the world are made to
divide the Muslim communities into parties, tribes, and different groups,” he
added.
According to him, the Islamic Emirate has had
achievements in the economy, security, and politics.
“In the past two years, Allah honored the Islamic
Emirate, which developed in the fields of security, politics, and the economy,”
Muttaqi stated.
“The world and UN want four things from the Islamic
Emirate and those are the respect for human and women rights, forming an
inclusive government, fighting against drugs, and counter-terrorism,” said
Wahid Faqiri, a political analyst.
“Except for a few harmful countries, the world wants a
peaceful, stable, and progressive Afghanistan. Because if Afghanistan is
unstable, it will affect other countries as well,” said Malik Afghan, another
political analyst.
This comes as since for more than two years the
Islamic Emirate has not been recognized by any foreign countries, but
interaction with some countries continues.
Source:
tolonews.com
Please
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https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-187349
-----
Amiri: Region Should Keep 'Principled Position' on
'Inclusive Afghanistan'
February 09, 2024
The Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human
Rights, Rina Amiri, in a meeting with Furqat Siddikov, the Ambassador of
Uzbekistan to the United States, emphasized the need to establish an inclusive
government in Afghanistan.
Rina Amiri wrote on X that they also discussed the
importance of the role of the countries in the region around Afghanistan.
Rina Amiri, on X, said: “Productive conversation w/
Uzbek Ambassador Sidikov. Agreed on importance of regional role in Afghanistan,
including maintaining a principled position towards an inclusive Afghanistan
that upholds the rights of Afghan women & men.”
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate called the current
government inclusive and said that all ethnic groups of the country have a
share in it.
At the same time, some political and international
relations analysts said it is important to create an inclusive government in
the current situation.
They also emphasized the constructive role of
countries in the region around Afghanistan.
"The formation of an inclusive government does
not mean a political coalition or the formation of a coalition with the
political figures of the past and the present, but it means the acceptance of
the political structure of Afghanistan in which all the people of Afghanistan
see themselves and the reference and source of legitimacy, the way of the
people and the presence of the people and people's satisfaction,” said Wais
Naseri, an international relations analyst.
“We hope that the current caretaker government of
Afghanistan will make this field favorable and create an inclusive national
government in the real sense with the participation of real representatives of
the people on behalf of parties, organizations, political movements,
independent personalities, both women and men,” said Najiburrahman Shamal, a
political analyst.
The establishment of an inclusive government and the
observance of women's rights in the country by the Islamic Emirate has been a
fundamental condition and the focus of talks between the countries of the world
for interacting with the caretaker government.
The lack on an inclusive government is a charge that
the Islamic Emirate has always denied, saying that the current government is
inclusive and includes all ethnic groups in the country.
Source:
tolonews.com
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https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-187350
----
BNP has to pay for mistake of not joining polls:
Quader
Feb 9, 2024
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today
said BNP will have to pay for the mistake it made by not joining the January 7
national election.
He made the remark while speaking at a press
conference at the AL president's Dhanmondi political office in the capital this
afternoon.
Quader, the road transport and bridges minister, said
Bangladesh's democracy is far different from Pakistan's democracy.
No country in the world has a caretaker government but
Pakistan retains the so-called caretaker government system, he said.
The AL general secretary said the difference between
the two countries is that foreign powers, particularly the western world, speak
loudly about the elections of Bangladesh but there is no excitement in case of
Pakistan.
"We follow the true form of democracy. The
opposition did not join the election but it was fair. We are not saying our
democracy is 100 percent perfect. The democracy of the western world is not
perfect either," Quader said.
About the AL's special extended meeting to be held
tomorrow, he said the implementation of the AL's election manifesto requires a
strong unity in the party.
Stating that the last general election was a free and
fair one, the minister said 62 independent candidates were elected in the polls
for strategic reasons but they also belong to the Awami League. There were many
post bearers of the AL, he added.
He said that during the elections, there were some
unfortunate incidents like misunderstandings, disagreements, conflicts and
chaos among the party men.
A strong unity is needed among the AL men by putting
an end to these issues aiming to implement the election manifesto, Quader said.
Quader said upazila, mayoral and union parishad
elections will be held gradually and all the party men should remain united so
that no conflict is created centring these elections.
This special extended meeting is going to be organised
to create an atmosphere of unity among all, he said.
About the absence of BNP Secretary General Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in the field of politics, the AL general secretary said:
"As far as I know, he has been granted bail in many cases. A case for
attack on the Chief Justice's residence caused a little difficulty for him. He
may be granted bail at any time."
He said the government does not want a person to be
detained without trial too.
Regarding BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia's medical
treatment abroad, Quader said, "Let her family submit an application and
then it can be said whether she can go abroad. It depends on how the Ministry
of Home Affairs and the law ministry recommend to this end."
AL organising secretaries BM Mozammel Haque, Mirza
Azam and Sujit Roy Nandi, cultural affairs secretary Asim Kumar Ukil, and
central and city AL leaders were present at the press conference.
Source:
thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/13-bnp-leaders-died-custody-last-3-months-rizvi-3540171
-----
Southeast
Asia
Indonesia's two largest Islamic groups urge peaceful
elections
February 9,
2024
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The two largest Islamic social
organizations in Indonesia have expressed hope that the political situation
ahead of the upcoming presidential election will remain conducive until its
completion.
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah urged on Friday
that the election be carried out honestly, fairly, and transparently, in
accordance with the agreed election principles.
"We are happy that the campaign went smoothly,
and there were no incidents that disrupted this political process. We hope this
will run smoothly until everything is finished, whatever the outcome,"
PBNU Secretary General Saifullah Yusuf (Gus Ipul) said on Friday.
Gus Ipul said he did not deny that the political
situation has heated up ahead of the presidential election.
However, he expressed belief that all parties will
position themselves well and consider this part of the political dynamics.
He added that the presidential election is a process
that must be undertaken in a democracy.
"This election is a process that we have to go
through. After that, we unite again, looking for ways so that we can plan a
better future for the nation," he said.
Meanwhile, Muhammadiyah Secretary General Abdul Mu'ti
said that all parties must accept the results of the presidential election as
the people's choice and a manifestation of the people's sovereignty.
He advised the winning and losing parties to remain
polite and put the interests of the nation above personal or group interests.
"Those who win must not be arrogant; those who
lose must remain humble. After the election, we must unite again," he
added.
Mu'ti said he believes there needs to be a
reconciliation after the elections so that there is no such thing as
"winner takes it all," while losers are eliminated.
"I don't think that's part of our character and
political system. We do not recognize the ruling government or the opposition
parties. Everything is part of the pillars of Indonesian democracy," he
added.
Gus Ipul and Mu'ti expressed hope that parties will
not mobilize crowds if there is a dispute over the results of the presidential
election and encouraged all parties to resolve problems in accordance with
legal mechanisms.
Source:
antaranews.com
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-----
Press Day: Minister urges media to help strengthen
religious concord
February 9,
2024
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut
Cholil Qoumas extended his best wishes to the press on National Press Day 2024,
which fell on Friday, and urged journalists to continue strengthening concord
among religious communities.
"Happy National Press Day! I hope that the
Indonesian press will continue to take part in enlightening people and
strengthening harmony among religious communities. I would like to thank
journalists for synergizing with the Religious Affairs Ministry in supporting
religion development," he said in Jakarta.
He lauded the theme "Escorting National
Leadership Transition and Safeguarding National Integrity" for this year's
National Press Day, saying that it is highly relevant given Indonesia's current
statehood dynamics for two reasons.
First, this year's National Press Day has come just
days before the voting day of the 2024 General Elections (February 14). He
emphasized that the press can play a significant role in achieving Indonesia's
dream of honest, fair, and confidential elections.
To that end, he asked Indonesian journalists to assist
the government in encouraging people to exercise their voting rights wisely and
prudently.
"As the fourth pillar of democracy, the press
wields a strategic role in overseeing every stage of national development,
including the period of national leadership transition," he said.
Elaborating on the second reason, he stressed that the
upcoming elections must not disrupt the well-fostered harmony in Indonesia and
emphasized the importance of anticipating any potential for discord in the
aftermath of the elections.
Qoumas observed that the Indonesian press has been
playing a strategic role in safeguarding national integrity.
He also expressed the hope that people will go on with
their lives as usual after the festival of democracy.
"We hope that the political situation will return
to normal after the people exercise their voting rights. Everyone should
continue their lives and carry out their respective duties while monitoring
vote calculation by the General Elections Commission (KPU)," he said.
Source:
antaranews.com
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----
Magnitude-5.6 earthquake strikes the Philippines’
Mindanao
FEB 10, 2024, 3:00
MANILA - A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Mindanao,
in the Philippines, on Feb 10, said the German Research Centre for Geosciences
(GFZ).
The quake was 10km deep, GFZ said.
The Philippine seismology agency had a different
reading, saying it was a magnitude 5.9 earthquake with a depth of 27km.
The Philippine agency also said in a bulletin it was
expecting no damage, but that there could be aftershocks.
Rescue workers searching for dozens of missing people
in an earlier landslide in Maco town in the southern Philippines province of
Davao de Oro had to stop their operations because of the earthquake, the
authorities said.
The death toll from the landslide, which happened on
the night of Feb 6 outside a gold mining site, has reached 28, with 77 still
missing and 32 injured.
A 3-year-old girl was rescued on Feb 9 after 60 hours
under rubble.
Torrential rains have battered Davao de Oro in recent
weeks, triggering floods and landslides. REUTERS
Source:
straitstimes.com
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----
Chinese New Year a momentum to improve oneself: VP
Amin
February 10,
2024'
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin
encouraged Chinese Indonesians, especially those who profess the Confucian
faith, to make the most of the momentum presented by the Chinese New Year to
improve themselves and their integrity.
"Let us welcome this solemn Chinese New Year's
Day as a momentum to improve oneself, bolster personal integrity, and
strengthen the commitment for the nation to face future challenges," Amin
stated in his Chinese New Year greetings, as observed here on Saturday.
The vice president remarked that Imlek, the name of
Chinese New Year's Day as known by Indonesians, is an important momentum of
thanksgiving and self-retrospect, with the spirit to improve oneself.
Hence, Amin expressed hope that members of the
Confucian community would continue to improve themselves as well as actively
and positively contribute to national development.
The vice president also expressed hope that they will
always be blessed and protected by the Almighty God and become a good
individual.
"Happy Chinese New Year 2575 Kongzili. I hope the
Almighty God will help and bless our every endeavor," he remarked.
Chinese New Year's Day has been openly celebrated in
Indonesia since Abdurrahman Wahid's presidency from 1999 to 2001. A
presidential decree issued by President Megawati Soekarnoputri in 2002 officially
made the day a national holiday.
Source:
antaranews.com
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amin?utm_source=antaranews&utm_medium=desktop&utm_campaign=top_news
-----
Africa
Muslim group urges Nigerian govt to urgently redress
hardship, tackle insecurity
February 10, 2024
The Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, has called on the
federal government to urgently intervene in the difficulties facing Nigerians.
The Islamic group said the current difficulties faced
by ordinary Nigerians, occasioned by food insecurity, inflation, abject
poverty, and insecurity, are distressing, urging the government to come up with
serious solutions.
In a statement issued by the Secretary-General of JNI,
Professor Khalid Abubakar, the JNI said, “This call is made over the
excruciating pains citizens are airing in both print and electronic media,
inclusive of social media, wherein Minna, Niger State, Lokoja, Kogi State
Protests, and other dissenting concerns are being raised.
“In light of the troubling impact of hoarding and
inflation on the availability and affordability of essential goods and
services, particularly food items, the JNI is therefore compelled to raise its
voice on the matter.”
The statement also implored the business community to
resist the temptation of hoarding for selfish gains, especially as Ramadan
approaches.
“They should make essential commodities more
affordable by lowering prices, to serve as an act of charity for them. Let us
emulate the generosity of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by being more generous and
kind, especially during Ramadan,” it said
Source:
dailypost.ng
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-----
Fresh fighting displaces 78,000 children in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo: Humanitarian group
James Tasamba
09.02.2024
Around 78,000 children have been forced to flee their
homes in the past week due to escalating violence in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo, with thousands now on the road to Goma, the capital of the
North Kivu province, Save the Children said on Thursday.
Renewed fighting between the Congolese army and M23
rebels has displaced at least 150,000 people, more than half of them children,
since Feb. 2, the humanitarian group said in a statement.
“It is imperative to act with urgency and determination
to break the cycle of suffering of these innocent lives,” it said.
“Parents have reported that many children have been
separated in the violence, although the number of lost children remains
unknown.”
The global charity decried the use of artillery,
drones, and explosives which it said are killing and injuring civilians and
damaging and destroying essential infrastructure.
“The rights and well-being of children in the DRC must
be a priority. They cannot continue to be caught in the crossfire, "it said.
It called for stronger and more coherent systems to
hold perpetrators of crimes affecting children to account.
Clashes erupted in the past week between M23 rebels
and the Congolese army in the North Kivu province, forcing thousands of
citizens to flee their homes this week to Goma.
Kinshasa accuses neighboring Rwanda Kigali of backing
M23 rebels since its resurgence in November 2021, a charge it denies.
Source:
aa.com.tr
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-----
Tens of thousands of children could die in Sudan
without more aid: UN
Feb 9, 2024
The war raging in Sudan could leave over 700,000
children severely malnourished this year, the UN said on Friday, warning tens
of thousands could die unless aid was dramatically increased.
The United Nations children's agency UNICEF urged the
world to stop turning a blind eye to the catastrophe sparked by the 10-month
civil war.
"The consequences of the past 300 days means that
more than 700,000 children are likely to suffer from the deadliest form of
malnutrition this year," spokesman James Elder told reporters in Geneva.
"We won't be able to treat more than 300,000 of
them without improved access and additional support," said Elder, just
back from a trip to Sudan.
"Tens of thousands will likely die."
The war that broke out in April last year between
Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, his former
deputy and commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has already
killed thousands, according to UN experts.
That includes 10,000 to 15,000 people killed in a
single city in the western Darfur region, according to UN experts.
The conflict has sparked a humanitarian disaster.
Around 25 million people -- more than half the
population -- need aid, including nearly 18 million who face acute food
insecurity, according to UN numbers.
'Tip of the iceberg'
Soaring malnutrition, coupled with the rampant spread
of diseases like cholera, measles and malaria, mean children are already dying.
The Doctors Without Borders charity (MSF) said at
least one child dies every two hours in the sprawling Zamzam camp for displaced
people in Darfur.
The war has triggered one of the world's largest
displacement crises. Nearly eight million people have fled their homes, half of
them children.
"That's 13,000 children every single day for 300
days," Elder pointed out.
He said there had also been a "500-percent
increase" in just one year in murders, sexual violence and recruitment of
children to fight.
"That equates to terrifying numbers of children
killed, raped or recruited. And these numbers are the tip of the iceberg,"
Elder said, reiterating the urgent need for a ceasefire, and for more aid.
The UN appealed this week for $4.1 billion to assist
civilians inside Sudan and those who have fled abroad as refugees.
Of that, UNICEF requested $840 million to help reach
7.6 million of the most vulnerable children.
Elder said three-quarters of the agency's appeal last
year went unfunded and urged donors to do more.
"The world needs to stop turning a blind
eye," he said.
"Where is our collective humanity if we allow
this situation to continue?"
Source: thedailystar.net
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-----
South Africa’s foreign minister seeks extra security
due to threats after Israel genocide case
Hassan Isilow
09.02.2024
South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said
that she has been receiving threatening messages since her country filed a
genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Speaking to reporters in Cape Town on Thursday
evening, Pandor said she had spoken to Police Minister Bheki Cele about the
matter.
“I spoke to Minister Cele because of the various
messages I am getting and I felt that it was better we had extra security,” she
said, adding that she was more concerned about her family because in some of
the social media messages her children are mentioned.
According to Pandor, the Israeli intelligence agency
uses threats to intimidate those who have a stance against oppression.
“The people of the world and Palestine didn’t draw
back when the apartheid state (in South Africa) was at its worst. They stood
with us in the liberation movement. So, we can’t stand back now,” she said.
“We must be with Palestinians and one of the things we
must not allow is a failure of courage,” she added.
This is not the first time that Pandor spoke of
threats against her and her family.
Last month, she told a news conference at her office
in the capital Pretoria that she had been receiving threats and abuses.
She said some have been calling her an ISIS/Daesh
terror group member and a Hamas adherent.
Source:
aa.com.tr
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------
US calls for investigation into alleged civilian
killings in Ethiopia's Amhara region
February 9, 2024
The U.S. is calling for an investigation into an
alleged massacre of civilians in Ethiopia's Amhara region, where a local rights
group says more than 80 people were killed last week following clashes between
soldiers and armed groups.
The U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia, Ervin Massinga, said
Friday that the "U.S. government is deeply concerned" by the reports
from the town of Merawi and called for "unfettered access by independent
human rights monitors as well as an impartial investigation to ensure the
perpetrators are brought to justice."
Massinga said in a statement that the reported
killings of civilians in Merawi followed "disturbing reports of other
violations" in Amhara and elsewhere in Ethiopia, which is gripped by
several internal conflicts.
A rebellion broke out in Amhara last April when the
government moved to dissolve regional forces and absorb them into the federal
army. A militia group known as the Fano launched a surprise assault in August
in which they captured towns across Amhara over several days before retreating
to the countryside.
Rights monitors have documented a range of human
rights abuses by government forces during the conflict, including alleged
extra-judicial killings.
On Tuesday, the Ethiopia Human Rights Council said it
had received information "showing that massive human rights violations
were committed" during fighting in Merawi on Jan. 29. It said more than 80
civilians were killed, mostly men.
The rights group said the killings "were
conducted by moving from house to house" during searches. However, it
stopped short of laying blame for the shootings, saying it was unable to visit
the site, and called for a further investigation.
Until recently, the Fano were allied with the federal
military in the war against the Tigray People's Liberation Front in the
neighbouring region of Tigray, but the relationship was always uneasy. The two
sides began fighting even before the Tigray conflict ended in November 2022
with a peace deal.
Last week, Ethiopia's parliament voted to extend a
state of emergency in the Amhara region in an attempt to quash the Fano
rebellion.
Source:
africanews.com
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----
Arab
World
Ithra Art Prize-winning artwork unveiled as AlUla Arts
Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia
February 09, 2024
ALULA: On Friday, Saudi artist Obaid Alsafi unveiled
his Ithra Art Prize-winning artwork “Palms in Eternal Embrace” in Saudi
Arabia’s AlUla during a jam-packed schedule at the AlUla Arts Festival.
The 6th edition of the annual prize run by the King
Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) is the first in collaboration with
Arts AlUla. This year’s theme, Art in the Landscape, called for submissions of
public artwork proposals that are site-specific to AlUla and that present
interpretations of AlUla’s unique landscape and natural heritage. Alsafi’s
winning installation will be exhibited for six weeks amid the 2.3 million date
palms of the AlUla Oasis.
The unveiling took place amid a wider schedule of
events in AlUla, including Desert X AlUla 2024, Wadi AlFann, the “More than
Meets the Eye” show, the AlUla Artists’ Residency, and “AlUla 1445.”
This year’s edition of Desert X AlUla sees
contemporary artworks by Saudi and international artists placed in the desert
landscape of AlUla. Under the curatorial guidance of Maya El-Khalil and
Marcello Dantas – with artistic direction from Raneem Farsi and Neville
Wakefield – the exhibition features 15 newly commissioned artworks.
Wadi AlFann explores the work of Saudi artist Manal
Al-Dowayan in the lead-up to her land art commission, “Oasis of Stories,” which
will be unveiled in 2026. During the ongoing AlUla Arts Festival, two
exhibitions will explore the artist’s work. The first exhibition features
hundreds of drawings gathered from the artist’s workshops with communities
across AlUla. These drawings and stories will eventually be inscribed into the
walls of “Oasis of Stories.” A parallel
exhibition presented in collaboration with Sabrina Amrani Gallery, titled Their
Love Is Like All Loves, Their Death Is Like All Deaths,” delves further into
AlDowayan’s practice, with works including soft sculptures made of tussar silk
printed with images related to AlUla’s heritage.
“More than Meets the Eye” is an exhibition of
contemporary works by Saudi artists on loan from collectors in Saudi Arabia,
hosted at the Maraya concert hall.
Arts AlUla is also presenting two Artist Residency
exhibitions: The Visual Art Residency exhibition “The Shadow Over Everything,”
and the Design Residency exhibition “Unguessed Kinships,” which will run until
April 30.
AlUla 1445 features images by Moroccan pop artist
Hassan Hajjaj. He photographed local residents in February 2023 in an outdoor
studio in AlUla and those photographs form the basis of this exhibition.
Meanwhile, Design Space AlUla will host an exhibition
titled “Mawrid: Celebrating Inspired Design,” curated by Sara Ghani.
Source:
arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2457126/lifestyle
----
Yemen’s information minister praises Saudi Arabia’s
constructive, supportive stance
February 10, 2024
RIYADH: Yemen’s Minister of Information Moammar
Al-Eryani has said he appreciates Saudi Arabia’s constructive stance toward his
country’s government, and its support of the Yemeni people.
He stated his thanks for the second installment of the
Kingdom’s grant to support the state’s general budget, amounting to $250
million, and its transfer to the central bank in the temporary capital Aden,
the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday, citing the official Yemen News
Agency.
Al-Eryani said: “This support will contribute to
supporting the efforts of the Yemeni government to normalize the situation, and
enable it to carry out its responsibilities, including paying the salaries of
state employees, recovering the national economy, restoring it to its balance,
and stabilizing the national currency.
“This step comes in the context of the continuous
support that the Kingdom provides to Yemen through grants, bank deposits,
grants of oil derivatives, and development projects and initiatives implemented
by the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen, and the
King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.”
The minister also gave his appreciation for the
generous and unlimited support provided by the Kingdom under the leadership of
King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He added: “The support is an expression of the firm
position in support of the Presidential Leadership Council and the legitimate
government in the country.”
Source:
arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2457411/middle-east
------
Guests of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Umrah
and Visit Program thank Saudi Arabia for warm reception, generous hospitality
February 10, 2024
MAKKAH: The guests of the Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques Umrah and Visit Program, which is supervised by the Ministry of Islamic
Affairs, Dawah and Guidance, have expressed thanks and appreciation to the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the generous hospitality and warm reception given
to them since their arrival in the country as guests of the program.
A number of Umrah performers in the second batch of
the program, which included 250 prominent Islamic female and male figures from
European and South American countries, were interviewed by the Saudi Press
Agency.
Dr. Nasser Al-Kilani, from the Romanian delegation,
praised the facilities, and said: “We feel joy and happiness as we spend great
days in Makkah and the holy sites, feeling the holiness of place and time,
especially while we are next to the Holy Kaaba.”
Aydin Muhammad Bostanji, who hails from northern
Greece, expressed his thanks to the Kingdom’s leadership, and added: “We have
seen and felt the best hosting following our arrival until now, and we cannot
forget this visit. It is a dream that has come true for us as we found warmth,
honor and interest from those in charge of the program, in addition to the treatment
of security personnel who provided us with all love and appreciation, whether
in Makkah or Madinah.”
Dr. Khaled Lamtairi, a member of the Romanian
delegation, praised the development of services provided to guests of the
program, and asked Allah to reward the leadership of the Kingdom for its
efforts and all it provides to serve Islam and Muslims.
The interviewees came from several countries including
Albania, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, the UK, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Source:
arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2457351/saudi-arabia
----
Europe
Planned Israeli offensive in Rafah 'alarming': EU's foreign
policy chief
10 February 2024
The Israeli regime's plans for a military offensive on
Rafah in the Gaza Strip are "alarming,” the EU's foreign policy chief
Josep Borell has said.
Borell said on X on Friday that "1.4 million
Palestinians are currently in Rafah without a safe place to go, facing
starvation".
Four months into Israel’s assault on Gaza, the
regime’s military forces have now ramped up airstrikes on Gaza's far south,
where more than half of the territory's population of 2.4 million has been
forcibly displaced.
Israel's warplanes bombed the city overnight on
Thursday and Friday.
At least three children were among eight people killed
on Friday morning in the military attacks on homes in Rafah, according to the
Palestinian Red Crescent. Five of those killed were members of one family.
"Reports of an Israeli military offensive on
Rafah are alarming," he added.
"It would have catastrophic consequences
worsening the already dire humanitarian situation and the unbearable civilian
toll."
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
told officials to "submit to the cabinet a combined plan for evacuating
the population and destroying the battalions" of Hamas holed up in Rafah,
his office said.
Earlier on Friday, the UN agency for Palestinian
refugees (UNRWA) warned that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza's overcrowded border
town of Rafah would be a "recipe for disaster."
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, said on Friday
that an offensive in Rafah would be a “recipe for disaster” given that 1.4
million people had taken refuge there.
“You have 1.4mn people, you have tens of kilometers of
people living in the streets in plastic makeshifts ... and you try
and figure out a military offensive in the middle of these completely exposed, vulnerable
people, it’s a recipe for disaster.”
“Any large-scale military operation among this
population can only lead to an additional layer of endless tragedy that's
unfolding.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said
in a post on X on Friday that an Israeli incursion into Rafah would
“exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold
regional consequences.”
UNICEF, the UN agency for children, also warned that
more than 600,000 children and their families have been displaced to Rafah,
many of them multiple times, as a result of Israeli attacks.
Since it started its war on Gaza in early October, 1.9
million people – 85 percent of Gaza’s population – have been internally
displaced. The Israeli attacks have also killed almost 28,000 people so far,
according to the Gaza health ministry.’
Source:
presstv.ir
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----
Ex-UK chancellor calls for memorial for Muslim
soldiers
February 09, 2024
LONDON: The UK should build a memorial to Muslim
soldiers who fought in the First and Second World Wars, former Chancellor Sir
Sajid Javid told the BBC.
He said a memorial should be erected at the National
Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to “help honour the fallen and educate
future generations” about the 140,000 Muslims who “made the ultimate sacrifice
to protect our freedom.”
He urged current Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to consider
the project. Hunt said Treasury officials would “be happy to engage with him to
identify how best the government can help make this vision a reality.”
The campaign for a Muslim war memorial was first
launched in 2015 in a bid to mark the centenary of the First World War.
The World Wars Muslim Memorial Trust aimed to raise £1
million ($1.26 million) for the project.
Permission for it was provisionally granted by the
National Memorial Arboretum Landscapes and Memorials Committee last year.
The arboretum’s lead, Mark Ellis, told the BBC: “We
wish them the very best in their fundraising efforts and look forward to this
fitting tribute to the service and sacrifice of Muslim service personnel being
installed and dedicated in the future.”
Sir Sajid told the BBC: “The National Memorial
Arboretum holds a special place in national life and already does so much to
commemorate different communities who bravely served.
“Muslim service also deserves recognition. A new
powerful symbol ... will help honour the fallen and educate future
generations.” He added: “I hope the chancellor will help make this vision a
reality at the Spring Budget.”
A spokesperson for the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, which cares for the graves, memorials and records of fallen
servicemen and women, said: “We regularly collaborate with religion and
worldview communities to remember the diverse faiths, beliefs and worldviews
held by of all those who gave their lives in the conflicts of the First and
Second World Wars.”
Source:
arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2457196/world
----
Prague, Budapest hold up EU move to sanction violent
Israeli settlers
February 09, 2024
BRUSSELS/PARIS: An EU effort to impose sanctions on
Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank has stalled due to
objections from Hungary and the Czech Republic, diplomats say.
The two staunch allies of Israel made clear in an EU
committee on Thursday they were not ready to let the proposal go forward for
now, said four diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity about internal EU
deliberations.
Some said a compromise may be found later to let the
measures proceed, possibly after more EU sanctions on Hamas, the Palestinian
militant group responsible for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the
current Middle East crisis.
While much international attention has focused on that
cross-border assault from Gaza and Israel’s subsequent war there, European
officials have also expressed increasing concern about rising violence against
Palestinians in the West Bank.
The United States and Britain have expressed similar
concerns and have already imposed sanctions on several settlers they say are
responsible for violence.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in December
he would propose similar measures.
But EU sanctions require unanimity among member states
and the bloc has yet to find agreement — a reflection of broader divisions on
the Middle East, with some EU countries strongly backing Israel while others
lean more toward the Palestinians.
The proposals under discussion would impose sanctions
on around a dozen people or organizations, according to diplomats. The EU has
not spelled out what the sanctions would entail but officials have said they
would include bans on travel to the EU.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on Hamas
following the Oct. 7 attacks and diplomats say more are in the pipeline.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on
Wednesday now was “definitely not the time” to sanction Israeli settlers, state
news agency MTI reported. Budapest says the EU’s focus should be on helping
Israel to defeat Hamas and free hostages.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said his country
was not “substantively” blocking sanctions on settlers inciting violence but
did not want them to come alongside measures against Hamas.
“An act of terrorism is not on the same level as acts
by settlers,” he said. “These things cannot be connected.”
France, which has been pushing for the settler
sanctions and is expected to introduce national travel bans on two or three
individuals imminently, is hoping that once its measures are in place European
partners will be more willing to press ahead.
“Once we have our measures we shall see how the others
react,” said a French diplomatic source.
Source:
arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2457106/world
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UK Foreign Secy urges Pak to uphold fundamental rights
amid poll violence
Feb 10 2024
The Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, David
Cameron, urged Pakistan authorities on Friday to uphold fundamental human
rights, including a free and fair trial through the independent judicial system
and also expressed concern over restrictions imposed on internet access on
polling day and significant delays in election results.
"The UK urges authorities in Pakistan to uphold
fundamental human rights, including free access to information, and the rule of
law. This includes the right to a fair trial through adherence to due process
and an independent and transparent judicial system, free from
interference," the British Foreign Minister said in an official statement.
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"We recognise, however, serious concerns raised
about the fairness and lack of inclusivity of the elections. We regret that not
all parties were formally permitted to contest the elections and that legal
processes were used to prevent some political leaders from participation, and
to prevent the use of recognisable party symbols. We also note the restrictions
imposed on internet access on polling day, significant delays to the reporting
of results and claims of irregularities in the counting process," the former
British PM said.
He also underscored the significance of the election
of civilian government with the people's mandate, saying that the new
government must be accountable to the people it serves.
The statement, quoting British Foreign Minister, read further,
"The election of a civilian government with the mandate to deliver crucial
reforms is essential for Pakistan to flourish. The new government must be
accountable to the people it serves, and work to represent the interests of all
Pakistan's citizens and communities with equity and justice. We look forward to
working with Pakistan's next government to achieve this, and across the range
of our shared interests."
Significantly, former Pakistan PM Imran Khan,
currently incarcerated, was disqualified from contesting the elections due to
criminal convictions. The electoral symbol of the PTI was also taken away by
the ECP in a ruling later backed by the Pakistan apex court.
As a result, the PTI leaders and supporters contested
as independent candidates, Dawn reported.
According to the latest provisional results released
by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the independent candidates,
mostly backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) are leading with 58 seats.
On the other hand, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz
(PML-N) which has emerged as the single largest party, is trailing with 34
seats, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) at 34 seats.
According to the unofficial results called by Geo News
for 224 out of 265 seats, independent candidates, mostly backed by PTI, are
leading with 91 seats, followed by PML-N and PPP at 64 and 50, respectively.
The ECP has released the provisional results for 134
out of 265 seats in the National Assembly.
Source:
business-standard.com
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https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/uk-foreign-secy-urges-pak-to-uphold-fundamental-rights-amid-poll-violence-124021000042_1.html
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NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg calls on Europe to ramp up
arms production
February 10, 2024
NATO's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg called on
Europe to increase its arms production to support Ukraine and prevent
"potentially decades of confrontation" with Moscow, in an interview
published by German media on February 10.
Ahead of a key meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in
Brussels and the second anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war, Jens Stoltenberg
insisted that "we need to reconstitute and expand our industrial base
faster, to increase deliveries to Ukraine and refill our own stocks."
"This means shifting from slow peacetime to
high-tempo conflict production," he told the German daily Welt am Sonntag.
Mr. Stoltenberg's comments came amidst growing pleas
for shells, ammunition and other military aide from Ukraine as it battles
Russian forces into a third year.
Western leaders have also called for greater
assistance. Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Joe Biden urged the
U.S. lawmakers on February 9 to approve a long-delayed military aid package for
Ukraine, warning that Kyiv could not hold off Russia's invasion without it.
"The failure of the United States' Congress in
not supporting Ukraine is close to criminal neglect," Mr. Biden said as he
hosted Scholz in the Oval Office on February 9.
Mr. Stoltenberg said: "There is no imminent
military threat against any ally. At the same time, we hear regular threats
from the Kremlin against NATO countries."
Russia's invasion of Ukraine for nearly two years has
shown that "peace in Europe cannot be taken for granted", the NATO chief
said, emphasising the importance of protecting countries in the alliance.
"As long as we invest in our security and we stay
united, we will continue to deter any aggression," he said. "NATO
does not seek war with Russia, but we need to brace ourselves for potentially
decades of confrontation," he added.
"We monitor closely what Russia does and we have
increased our presence in the eastern part of the alliance," Mr.
Stoltenberg said.
"If Putin wins in Ukraine, there is no guarantee
that Russian aggression will not spread further. So supporting Ukraine now and
investing in NATO's own capabilities is our best defence."
NATO Defence Ministers will meet in Brussels on
February 15, one week ahead of the second anniversary of Russia's offensive in
Ukraine. A meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group will be a key feature
of the talks.
Source:
thehindu.com
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https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nato-chief-jens-stoltenberg-calls-on-europe-to-ramp-up-arms-production/article67831762.ece
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/akhoondji-masjid-shrine-sufi-saint/d/131691