Daesh Takfiris abduct 78 teachers in northern Iraq
New Age Islam News Bureau
4 Jan 2016
Photo: This file photo shows Daesh Takfiri militants during a parade in an unknown location in Iraq.
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Arab World
• Daesh Takfiris abduct 78 teachers in northern Iraq
• Saudi Arabia severs ties with Iran: foreign minister
• Syria in Last 24 Hours: Army, Air Force Continue Destroying Military Positions Across Syria
• Bahrain detains Shia cleric for protesting Nimr killing
• Going back in time: A look at long-fraught relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran
• Two Iraqi mosques targeted in bombings
• Gunfire kills man in Saudi executed cleric's village
• 18 Terrorists Killed in Army Attacks South of Syria's Idlib Province
• Syrian Armed Forces Continue to Hunt ISIL Terrorists Southeast of Homs Province
• Syrian Army Advancing along Sheikh Meskeen-Nawa Road North of Dara'a Province
• Saudi Police Kills 1 Protester, Injures Another in Qatif Region
• Syria: ISIL, Nusra, Suffer More Losses in Homs
• Jordanian Politician: Riyadh Should Wait for Dire Aftermaths of Sheikh Nimr's Execution
• Syria: Gov't Forces Fend off Terrorists' Offensive South of Sweida
• Syrian opposition leader to visit Beijing: China
• Yemen declares Aden curfew after deadly fighting
• Gulf states back Saudi in its fight against ‘terrorism’
• Crimes that led to Al-Nimr’s execution
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India
• Prophet Muhammad most remarkable man in the history of mankind, tweets Rani Mukerji
• India ‘far better’ place for Muslims, says man once wrongly branded terrorist
• Now, RSS plans to launch a Christian outfit
• Islamic group for alcohol ban to curb sex crimes
• West Bengal: Malda tense as anti-Tiwari rally turns violent
• Pathankot attack LIVE: Recovered arms manufactured in Pak, China; 3 arrested
• Afghanistan: Heavy fighting on in Mazar-i-Sharif, Indian mission staff safe
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North America
• US urges Islamabad, New Delhi to jointly fight terrorism
• US urges Saudi Arabia, Iran to show restraint
• Trump shrugs off militant video featuring him
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Mideast
• Turkey rescues 57 migrants stranded on islet
• Saudi cutting ties will not distract from 'big mistake' of cleric execution: Iran deputy FM
• Turkish hackers block Russian minister's social network account
• Israelis charged over deadly arson attack on Palestinian family
• Iran: Riyadh Not Able to Cap Big Mistake of Killing Sheikh Nimr by Cutting Ties with Tehran
• UAE summons Iranian ambassador after Saudi embassy attack
• Saudi fingerprint in all regional crises: Iran's Judiciary chief
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Africa
• ISIS clash with guards near Libya’s Es Sider oil port
• Sudan opposition party invited to talks with govt
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Pakistan
• Zardari for end to misuse of religion-based laws
• Suspect sent on 14-day remand in Gizri 'encounter' case
• Pakistan, Lanka to sign anti-terror deal
• PM flies to Sri Lanka today
• Qadri warns of another sit-in
• Terrorists’ bodies rotting at PIMS mortuary
• Fazl wants parliament informed about army chief’s Kabul visit
• Six suspected militants arrested, terror bid foiled in Bannu: police
• Protests erupt in Pakistan, IHK over Shia cleric's execution
• Protest against Shia cleric’s execution in Karachi
• Soldier injured in Peshawar bomb blast
• UI-F protest over power outages in Landi Kotal
• Mansoora mourns over misery of masses
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South Asia
• Suicide bomber strikes near Kabul airport: officials
• ISIS throw teen boy off a roof for being gay but spares his alleged rapist
• Former CIA chief says Taliban gaining ground in Afghanistan
• Five Jamaat men on 10-day remand
• DMP: No permission if events coincide
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Europe
• HSBC cuts ties with UK Muslim charity over ‘terror’ fears
• Saudi Arabia seeks to form coalition against Shia Muslims: Russian lawmaker
• France gears itself for solemn tribute to Charlie Hebdo victims
• ISIS threatens Britain in new executions video
• Sweden introduces new border checks to stem migrant flow
• Putin names U.S. among threats in new Russian security strategy
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Southeast Asia
• Why Indonesia is Immune to ISIS
• Near impossible for converts to renounce Islam, says Wanita MCA
• Islamic college CEO wins temporary injunction against suspension
• CEO of college under FT Islamic Council contests suspension for reporting graft
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Arab World
Daesh Takfiris abduct 78 teachers in northern Iraq
Jan 4, 2016
Daesh Takfiri militants have reportedly abducted nearly 80 teachers in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh after the instructors refused to promote the group’s heavily-distorted interpretations of religious principles in areas under their control.
A provincial source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network on Sunday that Daesh extremists kidnapped 78 educators across the province after they rejected Daesh self-proclaimed education body and its radical curriculum.
The source added that Daesh curriculum teaches children lessons on how to execute hostages, booby-trap buildings and carry out bomb attacks and other acts of terror.
On April 12, 2015, Daesh extremists stormed a number of schools in al-Qayyarah, al-Shura, Badoush and al-Baaj neighborhoods of the troubled northern Iraqi city of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (248 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, and kidnapped nearly 120 schoolchildren.
Sheikh Khalid Awad al-Shabani, a tribal leader in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, said last July that the Takfiri group is actively trying to lure local children into its ranks as would-be bombers. He added that the terrorist group had set up training camps for children in the Syrian province of Raqqah and the district of Heet in Iraq's Anbar.
The tribal leader also said that the terrorist group brainwashes children in the camps and trains them how to conduct bomb attacks against military checkpoints and civilians.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in June that the Takfiri group “conducts organized recruitment for children in 100 countries," adding that the "exploitation of children for murder is a heinous crime.”
Daesh launched an offensive in Iraq in June last year and took control of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, before sweeping through parts of the country’s heartland.
The terrorists have committed heinous crimes and threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians, during their advances in Iraq.
Iraqi soldiers, police units, Kurdish forces, fighters from Popular Mobilization Units and Sunni tribesmen have been engaged in joint operations to drive the terrorists out of the areas they have seized.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/01/04/444433/Daesh-Takfiri-militants-Nineveh-Iraq/
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Saudi Arabia severs ties with Iran: foreign minister
Jan 4, 2016
RIYADH: Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced on Sunday that Saudi Arabia was severing diplomatic ties with Iran after demonstrators stormed its Tehran embassy to protest against Riyadh's execution of a Shiite cleric.
Jubeir also said that all Iranian diplomats must leave Saudi Arabia within 48 hours.
Saudi Arabia “is breaking off diplomatic ties with Iran and requests that all members of the Iranian diplomatic mission leave, within 48 hours,” he told a news conference.
On Saturday, a mob attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a consulate in second city Mashhad amid protests against the execution in Saudi Arabia of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
The 56-year-old, a force behind 2011 anti-government protests in eastern Saudi Arabia, was among 47 convicted men put to death on Saturday in the kingdom.
The others were Shia activists and Sunnis who the Saudi interior ministry said were involved in Al Qaeda attacks, with some beheaded and others shot by firing squad.
Iran arrested 44 people over the embassy assault, which President Hassan Rouhani described as “totally unjustifiable”.
But the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned Nimr's execution, saying “God will not forgive” Saudi Arabia for putting him to death.
Jubeir responded on Sunday by saying: “Iran's history is full of negative interference and hostility in Arab issues, and it is always accompanied by destruction.“
Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have been strained for decades, with Riyadh frequently accusing Tehran of interfering in Arab affairs.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230597/saudi-arabia-severs-ties-with-iran-foreign-minister
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Syria in Last 24 Hours: Army, Air Force Continue Destroying Military Positions Across Syria
Jan 04, 2016
Dozens of terrorists were killed and many more were wounded in the Syrian army's military operations across Syria on Sunday.
Dara'a
The Syrian air force pounded the militants' positions in the strategic towns across the province of Dara'a on Sunday.
The Syrian fighter jets destroyed the terrorists' gathering centers in Nawa, Sheikh Meskeen, and Basar al-Harir cities in Dara'a province.
Meantime, the air force destroyed the militants' gathering centers in the Western part of Dara'a Balad.
Homs
Heavy clashes erupted between the Syrian army and the Al-Nusra Front terrorists in a strategic village on the outskirts of Talbiseh town in Homs province.
The Syrian troops backed by artillery units inflicted heavy losses on the Al-Nusra Front militants in Teir Maaleh village near Talbiseh town.
Meantime, the army's artillery units pounded the militants' positions in al-Houla region in Homs as other army units targeted the ISIL's gathering centers in Tadmur (Palmyra) city and al-Quaryatayn town in the Eastern parts of the province.
The Syrian fighter jets also struck ISIL's military positions in al-Quaryatayn town.
The ISIL Takfiri terrorist group confirmed that its blast expert who masterminded the recent explosions in al-Zahra neighborhood in the city of Homs has been killed in clashes with the Syrian army.
"Abu Bilal al-Homsi, who planned the latest explosions in Al-Zahra neighborhood in Homs city, has been killed," the ISIL wrote on its social media network.
The ISIL masterminded a series of terrorist attacks in Homs city's Al-Zahra district which claimed scores of civilian lives and injured many more.
Aleppo
The Syrian army and air force destroyed terrorists' military grid in the province of Aleppo.
The Syrian fighter jets pounded and destroyed the terrorists' gathering centers in the towns of Tal Rifat, Marea and Minnigh in Aleppo province.
Meantime, the Syrian army razed down the militants' positions in the town of Tadef in Aleppo province.
Also, heavy clashes broke out between the Syrian army and the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in the outskirts of the town of Al-Bab in the Eastern part of Aleppo.
The Syrian warplanes also struck the terrorists' gathering centers in the village of Najjara in the Aleppo province.
Also, the Syrian army destroyed the ISIL's command headquarters in the strategic village of Tal Hatabat in the Eastern part of Aleppo city.
Tens of ISIL militants were killed in the army's attacks on their military positions in Tal Hatabat village.
Meantime, the Syrian troops razed down the ammunition depot of the terrorists in Matar al-Nairab region in the Eastern part of the Aleppo Airport.
The Syrian army also cut the supply route of the militants in the town of Khanasser Southeast of Aleppo province.
The army units also hit the terrorists' positions in al-Lairmoun, Jami'at al-Zahra and the village of al-Mansoura to the West of Aleppo city.
Meantime, the Syrian forces destroyed the military positions and gathering centers of the Takfiri terrorists in Salahuddin, Al-Rashidin4 and Bani Zaid.
Also on Sunday, Ahrar Al-Sham Leader Muhannad Al-Masri changed the terrorist group's top military commander in Aleppo after the Syrian army's recent victories in the Northern province.
Al-Masri appointed Abu Youssef al-Mohajer as the terrorist group's new commander in Aleppo region after he sacked Mohammed Al-Shami, nom de guerre Abu Abdel Rahman, for his defeats against the Syrian forces.
The striking victories of the Syrian army, popular forces and Hezbollah in Aleppo and other Northern provinces in the last three months have caused widening rifts amongst the terrorists over their warring strategies.
Muhannad al-Masri himself has recently replaced Hesham al-Sheikh, the former leader of Ahrar al-Sham.
Damascus
The Syrian Army and the country's Air Force have been targeting the militant groups' defense lines East of Damascus province, a source within the army ranks said Sunday, adding the artillery units also shelled heavily the militants' centers.
"The Syrian army alongside the National Defense Forces raided the militant centers in Marj region and al-Nashabiyah in Eastern Ghouta, inflicted large casualties on the terrorists," the army sources said.
"The Syrian army also drove back the militant groups form the buildings in al-Balaliya Farms in Eastern Ghouta, which claimed the lives of tens of terrorists and destroyed their military hardware," the sources said.
"The Syrian fighter jets, meantime, carried out several combat sorties over the militant groups' strongholds in Douma in the Eastern territories of the province and hit them hard," the sources added.
"The militant group's gathering centers in Ein Tarma in the Eastern countryside of the capital were massively shelled by the Syrian army's artillery," the sources went on to say.
Lattakia
The Syrian Army strongly rejected rumors spread by the Takfiri terrorist groups about their victories against the Syrian government forces in the mountainous regions of Lattakia province near the border with Turkey.
"Such rumors have been spread by the Takfiri terrorists due to the heavy blows that they have received from the Syrian army across Syria, specially in Lattakia province, in recent months," the army said.
Militants had claimed that they have regained control over nearby areas of Burj al-Qassab in the Northern part of Lattakia.
"Burj al-Qassab and its surroundings are fully under the control of government forces," the army stressed.
Hama
A large number of militants, including the leader of al-Izza Jama'a terrorist group, were killed in the Syrian army offensive in the Northern part of Hama province.
"Notorious commander of al-Izza Jama'a terrorist group Abdulkarim al-Sehh alongside five of his comrades were killed in the Syrian soldiers' attack in Latmeen village in Kafr Zita," provincial sources said.
"Meantime, tens of Jeish al-Fatah's members were killed or wounded in the Syrian forces' offensive near Lahaiya al-Sharqiyeh village," the sources added.
"Over 11 terrorists of al-Izza Jama'a were also killed in the Syrian government forces' attack in al-Lataminah town, while the terrorist group's military grid, including mortar launchers and TOW anti-tank missiles, were badly damaged in the attack ," the sources said.
"Also, Jund al-Aqsa militant group sustained a heavy death toll in the Syrian forces' offensive near Morek town North of Hama," the sources pointed out.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941014000370
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Bahrain detains Shia cleric for protesting Nimr killing
Jan 4, 2016
Bahraini forces have reportedly detained another Shia cleric following protests in the tiny Persian Gulf Arab country against Saudi Arabia’s recent execution of prominent Shia clergyman Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
According to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Sheikh Ahmad al-Jidhafsi was arrested on Sunday after he attended protest rallies against Nimr’s execution.
Bahraini opposition group ‘February 14 Revolution Youth Coalition’ has slammed the cleric’s arrest as heinous, saying Manama is after sparking sectarianism and a religious conflict.
In December 2014, the Bahraini regime also took into custody prominent Shia cleric and opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman.
Sheikh Salman, the head of al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, was arrested shortly after he called for serious political reforms in Bahrain following his re-election as the secretary general of al-Wefaq, Bahrain’s main opposition bloc.
The charges brought against him include “incitement to promote the change of the political system by force, threats and other illegal means,” among others. However, the 49-year-old has strongly denied the charges, emphasizing that he has been seeking reforms in the kingdom through peaceful means.
Meanwhile, the Bahrain Interior Ministry said in a Sunday statement that the country’s security forces detained an unspecified number of people protesting Sheikh Nimr’s execution over social media posts.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/01/04/444414/Bahrain-alJidhafsi--Nimr-Saudi-Arabia/
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Going back in time: A look at long-fraught relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran
Jan 4, 2016
DUBAI: Diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been tense since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, though there have been occasional thaws between the two rivals.
The tensions have now sharply escalated with Saudi Arabia severing ties with the Islamic Republic following attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.
Here's a look at how relations between the two Mideast powers have shifted over the last decades.
Under the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran had rocky relations with Saudi Arabia, though they improved toward the end of his reign.
Both were original members of the oil cartel Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).
After the overthrow of the shah and takeover of the United States (US) Embassy in Tehran, Saudi Arabia quickly became America's top ally in the region.
In the ensuing 1980s war between Iran and Iraq, Saudi Arabia backed Iraq despite its concerns about dictator Saddam Hussein. That war would kill 1 million people.
The annual Haj pilgrimage saw bloodshed when Iranians held a political demonstration.
Iranian pilgrims later battled Saudi riot police, violence that killed at least 402 people.
Iran claimed 600 of its pilgrims were killed and said police fired machine guns at the crowd.
In Tehran, mobs attacked the Saudi, Kuwaiti, French and Iraqi embassies, ransacking the first two.
Severing ties
In 1988, Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran, citing the 1987 Haj rioting and Iran's attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf.
Iranians responded by boycotting Haj in 1988 and 1989.
The two countries restored diplomatic ties in 1991.
Relations between the two nations improved after Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, a political moderate, took office in 1997.
Ties warmed further after historic visits by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to Tehran in December 1997 and Khatami to the kingdom in May 1999.
Worries about Iran resumed in Saudi Arabia amid international sanctions against Tehran over its contested nuclear program and the increasingly harsh rhetoric of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230714/going-back-in-time-a-look-at-long-fraught-relations-between-saudi-arabia-and-iran
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Two Iraqi mosques targeted in bombings
Jan 4, 2016
HILLA: Blasts rocked two mosques in central Iraq on Monday, amid fears of renewed sectarian strife following Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shia cleric, police and medics said.
In Hilla, about 80 kilometres south of the capital, a police officer said the Ammar bin Yasser mosque in Bakerli neighbourhood was bombed after midnight.
Groups of men wearing military uniforms detonated explosives at the two mosques overnight, and a muezzin was shot dead near his home in Iskandariyah, the sources said.
“After we heard the explosion, we went to its source and found that IEDs (improvised explosive devices) had been planted in the mosque,” the captain said.
“Residents said a group of people with military uniforms carried out this operation,” he said, adding that 10 houses were also damaged by the explosion.
The Al-Fateh mosque in a village called Sinjar, just outside Hilla, was also damaged in similar circumstances.
The police captain said three or four men in military uniforms were involved that bombing. “They took advantage of the cold weather, there was nobody outside,” he said.
A medical source in Hilla said three people were wounded in the explosions.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, nor for the killing near the town of Iskandariyah, about 40 km south of Baghdad.
“He was ambushed by unknown gunmen near his house,” a source in Iskandariyah police said. A doctor also confirmed his death.
Iskandariyah is part of a mixed Sunni-Shia area south of Baghdad which was once dubbed “the triangle of death”. The region has been badly affected by sectarian violence in the last decade.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230715/two-iraqi-mosques-targeted-in-bombings
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Gunfire kills man in Saudi executed cleric's village
Jan 4, 2016
TEHRAN: Saudi officials say gunfire directed toward security forces has killed a man in a village in eastern Saudi Arabia where mourning ceremonies are underway for the executed Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
The official Saudi Press Agency reported early Monday that a man was killed in al-Awamiya village and a child was wounded. The family of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr is holding three days of mourning in the village at a local mosque.
Authorities offered no details on who they suspected in the shooting.
Al-Nimr was an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia's Sunni monarchy but denied ever calling for violence. His execution on Saturday has sparked outrage among Shias across the region.
The sheikh's brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, has told The Associated Press that Saudi officials informed his family that the cleric had been buried in an undisclosed cemetery, a development that could lead to further protests.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230711/gunfire-kills-man-in-saudi-executed-clerics-village
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18 Terrorists Killed in Army Attacks South of Syria's Idlib Province
Jan 04, 2016
"The Takfiri terrorists' concentration centers in Maarat al-Nu'man, al-Hamidiyah, Hass and Bseida came under the heavy attacks of the Syrian government forces, which left 18 terrorists dead," the sources said.
"The militant groups' military vehicles loaded with weapons and ammunition also were targeted and destroyed in the attacks," the sources went on to say.
Military analysts believe that the Syrian army and their allies are testing defense abilities of the terrorist groups through sporadic attacks on their strongholds mainly in the Southern and Eastern parts of Idlib in order to be more successful in their large-scale operations.
"Through carrying out such attacks, the Syrian government forces can not only weaken the terrorist groups' combat abilities, but they can find out how rapid the enemy can move across the battlefields, what kinds of the logistic equipment the militants can use in their defense and counter-attack operations, and whether they can utilize any heavy shelling against the army soldiers," they added.
On Sunday, the Syrian army announced that its soldiers alongside the country's popular forces pounded the militant groups' centers in different parts of Idlib and Aleppo provinces, leaving many terrorists dead or wounded.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941014000645
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Saudi Police Kills 1 Protester, Injures Another in Qatif Region
Jan 04, 2016
Ali Omran al-Dawood was killed when the Saudi police started shooting at the protesters in the village of Awamiyah in Qatif region.
An eight-year-old boy was also injured during the police shootout.
Large groups of protesters were also beaten and arrested as security forces surrounded a group of young Saudis who were burning tires in protest at Sheikh Nimr's execution.
Saudi Arabia announced Saturday that it has executed the prominent Shiite Muslim cleric.
Sunni and Shiite Muslims from across the world rushed to condemn his execution, vowing revenge.
Saudi people still continue protest rallies in different parts of the kingdom's Eastern province of Qatif, specially Awamiyah and Qatif towns, to condemn execution prominent cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr and suppression of the Shiite minority.
Field sources from Awamiyah and Qatif said that the two regions are in a state of war with hundreds of Saudi army troops deployed in streets.
The Saudi troops have so far made tens of arrests, while local residents say protesters are beaten, arrested and shot at.
The angry people set fire to a police center, several military vehicles and a bus in Qatif.
Also on Anizah al-Badaya road near al-Qassim city, a 29-year-old man ran over a Saudi security force and killed him.
After the declaration, thousands of Bahraini people poured to the streets and chanted "death to the al-Saud" slogans.
The Bahrainis who also carried some placards to show their support for Sheikh Nimr warned Riyadh that shedding the cleric's blood will not remain unanswered.
Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Ansarullah, Pakistan's Shiite Assembly and tens of Sunni and Shiite figures, groups and movements across the world have rushed to condemn the Saudi regime, all underlining that Riyadh has poured oil to the flames of sectarian strife.
In Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in a statement condemned the killing of the prominent Muslim cleric, and said, "The execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr shows that Saudi Arabia insists on pouring oil to the flames of sectarian sedition."
Sheikh Nimr's execution was also condemned by Head of Iraq's Badr Organization Hadi al-Ameri who expressed deep regret after hearing the news.
The Iranian Sunni figures also showed reaction to the Saudi cleric's killing by Saudi Arabia.
Molawi Abdolhamid Ismailzehi, the Friday prayers leader of Iran's Southeastern city of Zahedan, expressed deep regret over Sheikh Nimr's execution, and said under the conditions that the Muslim world needs unity, the Saudi officials should have refrained from his killing.
Also, representative of Iran's Sunni-populated Southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan at the Assembly of Experts, Molawi Nazir Ahmad Salami, condemned Sheikh Nimr's execution, and said, "There is no difference between the Shiites and Sunnis and any person who is opposed to tyranny and brutality should show reaction and deplore the Saudi measure."
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941014000576
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Syria: ISIL, Nusra, Suffer More Losses in Homs
Jan 04, 2016
The Syrian army destroyed ISIL positions and vehicles, some of which were equipped with machine gun, in Ramliyah Mountain, Tuloul al-Soud and Tar al-Kharouba in the vicinity of Quaryatayn in Homs on Sunday.
The Syrian forces also targeted ISIL command posts in al-Antabli farm, the vicinity of Sha'er oil field, the Palmyra triangle and Rahoum in the Eastern part of Homs province.
Meanwhile, the army inflicted heavy losses on al-Nusra Front in Ezzeddin village and Alwan farm in the Northern countryside of Hama.
Also on Sunday, the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group confirmed that its blast expert who masterminded the recent explosions in al-Zahra neighborhood in the city of Homs has been killed in clashes with the Syrian army.
"Abu Bilal al-Homsi, who planned the latest explosions in Al-Zahra neighborhood in Homs city, has been killed," the ISIL wrote on its social media network on Sunday.
The ISIL masterminded a series of terrorist attacks in Homs city's Al-Zahra district which claimed scores of civilian lives and injured many more.
Earlier on Sunday, heavy clashes erupted between the Syrian army and the Al-Nusra Front terrorists in a strategic village on the outskirts of Talbiseh town in Homs province.
The Syrian troops backed by artillery units inflicted heavy losses on the Al-Nusra Front militants in Teir Maaleh village near Talbiseh town.
Meantime, the army's artillery units pounded the militants' positions in al-Houla region in Homs as other army units targeted the ISIL's gathering centers in Tadmur (Palmyra) city and al-Quaryatayn town in the Eastern parts of the province.
The Syrian fighter jets also struck ISIL's military positions in al-Quaryatayn town.
Saturday reports from the sensitive Homs province said the Syrian army and popular forces have inflicted large casualties on the terrorists in persistent attacks on the concentration centers of ISIL and al-Nusra Front in the North, Northwest and Southeast of the province.
The Syrian army and its allies stormed the gathering centers of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front in al-Dar al-Kabira the Northwestern countryside of Homs, which claimed the lives of many terrorists.
Al-Zaafarana in Talbiseh region in the Northern part of the province was also attacked by the Syrian government forces, which ended in major destruction of the terrorists' military vehicles.
The Syrian forces also targeted the ISIL defense lines in Tuloul al-Soud near al-Quaryatayn town and in the surroundings of al-Shaer gas field, leaving scores of the terrorist dead or wounded.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941014000559
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Jordanian Politician: Riyadh Should Wait for Dire Aftermaths of Sheikh Nimr's Execution
Jan 04, 2016
"Martyr Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, the Saudi Shiite cleric, wanted peaceful internal protests to restore the trampled rights of the country's people and didn’t want to settle the issue at the regional and international levels," Nahed Hattar, a Jordanian writer and analyst, told FNA on Monday.
"By his execution and shedding the Shiite leader's blood, the Saudi officials turned the case of the Saudi Shiites into a regional and international case," he added.
Hattar underlined that the reason behind Riyadh's decision to kill Sheikh Nimr was its failure in the regional plots, including the war against Yemen which has turned into an expensive quagmire for Saudi Arabia.
Execution of Sheikh Nimr by the Saudi interior ministry on Saturday took the Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Saudi Arabia and other world states to the streets to condemn the crime, and vow revenge.
Protest rallies still continue in Saudi Arabia's Eastern province to condemn the killing of Sheikh Nimr and other political prisoners.
After the declaration, thousands of Bahraini people poured to the streets and chanted "death to the al-Saud" slogans.
The Bahrainis who also carried some placards to show their support for Sheikh Nimr warned Riyadh that shedding the cleric's blood will not remain unanswered.
Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Ansarullah, Pakistan's Shiite Assembly and tens of Sunni and Shiite figures, groups and movements across the world have rushed to condemn the Saudi regime, all underlining that Riyadh has poured oil to the flames of sectarian strife.
In Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in a statement condemned the killing of the prominent Muslim cleric, and said, "The execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr shows that Saudi Arabia insists on pouring oil to the flames of sectarian sedition."
Sheikh Nimr's execution was also condemned by Head of Iraq's Badr Organization Hadi al-Ameri who expressed deep regret after hearing the news.
The Iranian Sunni figures also showed reaction to the Saudi cleric's killing by Saudi Arabia.
Molawi Abdolhamid Ismailzehi, the Friday prayers leader of Iran's Southeastern city of Zahedan, expressed deep regret over Sheikh Nimr's execution, and said under the conditions that the Muslim world needs unity, the Saudi officials should have refrained from his killing.
Also, representative of Iran's Sunni-populated Southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan at the Assembly of Experts, Molawi Nazir Ahmad Salami, condemned Sheikh Nimr's execution, and said, "There is no difference between the Shiites and Sunnis and any person who is opposed to tyranny and brutality should show reaction and deplore the Saudi measure."
Also, Chairman of the Sunni Lawmakers' Fraction at the Iranian parliament Abed Fattahi deplored the execution of Sheikh Nimr by Riyadh, and said the bells have now started ringing for the collapse of the Saudi regime.
He also said that Saudi Arabia's support for the terrorists, the mismanagement of Mina incident, execution of Sheikh Nimr and several other crimes by Riyadh, "closed the door of negotiations with the political structure of Saudi Arabia".
Their remarks came after the Iranian seminaries held a protest rally in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran on Saturday, and condemned execution of the Shiite cleric by chanting "death to al-Saud" slogans.
The Iranian foreign ministry also strongly deplored Riyadh for killing the prominent cleric, and said the move proved the Saudi officials' "imprudence and irresponsibility", underlining that the Saudi regime will pay a heavy price for this crime.
"While the extremist and Takfiri terrorists have deprived the regional and world nations of security and tranquility and threaten certain regional governments' stability and existence, execution of a figure like Sheikh Nimr who didn’t have any instrument but words to pursue his political and religious goals merely shows the depth of imprudence and irresponsibility," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia executed 47 people on Saturday for terrorism, including Sheikh Nimr, the country's Interior Ministry said in a statement. Most of those executed were said to be involved in a series of attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda between 2003 and 2006. 45 of those executed were of Saudi nationality, one Chadian, one Egyptian.
The Interior Ministry statement announcing the executions began with verses from the Quran, justifying the use of the death penalty, while state television showed footage of the aftermath of Al-Qaeda attacks over the last decade. Shortly afterward, Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh appeared on Saudi Arabian television, hailing the executions as just.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941014000471
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Syria: Gov't Forces Fend off Terrorists' Offensive South of Sweida
Jan 04, 2016
The Takfiri terrorists' offensive on the government forces' positions near Bard villages was thwarted by the Syrian army troops and the National Defense Forces (NDF), an army officer in the battlefield told the FNA.
"Our forces had been informed by the intelligence units about a possible attack of the terrorist groups. We actually were waiting for them. We hunted them," the officer added.
The terrorist groups left behind scores of the dead and wounded members and their military hardware and fled the battlefront.
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941014000231
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Syrian opposition leader to visit Beijing: China
4 January 2016
The leader of the main exile Syrian opposition group will visit China this week, Beijing said Monday, despite the country repeatedly blocking U.N. Security Council resolutions on the conflict.
China is a veto-wielding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and has voted against resolutions on Syria four times alongside Russia -- which is mounting a campaign of air strikes to defend President Bashar al-Assad.
Most recently, it blocked a 2014 measure to ask the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes in the country, and Beijing has consistently called instead for a “political solution” to the conflict.
Khaled Khoja, President of the Istanbul-based National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces will visit China from Tuesday to Friday, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular briefing.
“We believe that at the current stage we need to seek a ceasefire and a political settlement in parallel,” she said.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/01/04/Saudi-Iranian-authorities-did-not-stop-protesters-storming-consulate.html
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Yemen declares Aden curfew after deadly fighting
4 January 2016
Authorities in Yemen’s southern city of Aden imposed a curfew on Monday after violence blamed on suspected militants killed at least 17 people, pro-government media and security sources said.
The curfew will come into force at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) and last until 5:00 am (0200 GMT), the sabanews.net website said, citing a decision taken by the Aden Security Commission.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/01/04/Yemen-declares-curfew-in-Aden-after-17-killed-in-fighting-.html
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Gulf states back Saudi in its fight against ‘terrorism’
3 January 2016
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Arab League on Sunday expressed support for Saudi Arabia’s ongoing fight against “terrorism.”
The six-member regional bloc’s secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani said that the GCC, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi, “stands side by side” with Riyadh, holding Iran as responsible.
His remarks came after Tehran lashed out at Riyadh for the executions of 47 people, include Shiite preacher Nimr al-Nimr and al-Qaeda ideologue Fares al-Shuwail .
Early Sunday, Saudi’s embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad were attacked by Iranian protesters in reaction to Nimr’s death.
The Gulf states - especially Bahrain - have long-accused Tehran of meddling in their affairs.
The Arab League later on Sunday also announced its support to Saudi Arabia in its attempt to combat terrorism, its secretary general said.
Nabil al-Arabi also denounced attacks on the Saudi embassy and consulate in Iran, describing the incidents as flagrant violation of international principles and denounced Iran’s interference in the region.
Kuwait on Sunday also expressed its backing of Saudi measures aimed at safeguarding the kingdom’s national security.
Meanwhile, Jordan condemned the storming of the Saudi embassy and consulate by Iranian protestors, calling the act a “flagrant violation of international law,” the official Saudi Press Agency quoted a Jordanian minister as saying.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/01/03/Gulf-states-back-Saudi-in-its-fight-against-terrorism-.html
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Crimes that led to Al-Nimr’s execution
4 January 2016
DAMMAM: The Kingdom announced Saturday it had executed 47 prisoners convicted of terrorism charges, including Al-Qaida detainees and a prominent Shiite cleric who rallied violent protests against the government.
The Shiite cleric, Nimr Al-Nimr, had been convicted of committing eight crimes and delivering numerous hostile and fiery speeches since 2002 which led to the death and injury of several police officers.
Al-Nimr's speeches were a driving force behind the violent protests that broke out in 2011 in Qatif that served third parties, most notably Iran.
He has been delivering regular religious sermons on Fridays at Imam Hussain Mosque in Al-Awamiyah since 2002. Later his sermons took on a political hue. He accused statesmen and security forces of blasphemy and called for public uprising against the state.
In March 2009, he criticized the Saudi authorities and suggested secession of the Shiite regions to form a united Shiite state. During the Shiite-led protest in Bahrain, Al-Nimr demanded the exit of Gulf armies from Bahrain, criticizing the rulers there, and demanding the release of what he called political prisoners.
In October 2011, he accused the Saudi media and state officials of covering up the "tyrannical oppression" of security forces, describing them as riot troops. In addition, he insulted the leaders and officials, objecting to appointments made by the state. Al-Nimr demanded the formation of an internal religious opposition front to counter action against the Shiite agitation. Also, he called for public uprisings and disobedience, accusing the Kingdom of killing innocent Shiites.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/859996
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India
Prophet Muhammad most remarkable man in the history of mankind, tweets Rani Mukerji
02 Jan 2016
Mumbai, Jan 2: While some artists, actors and writers have made it their hobby to mock or caricature Prophet Muhammad, a twitter handle with the name and photo of India’s eminent Bollywood star Rani Mukerji has praised the Prophet describing him as the most remarkable man in the history of mankind. The twitter handle, however, is unverified.
“As much I have studied the life and character of the great Prophet Muhammad, he's the most remarkable man in the history of mankind! #Islam,” said the tweet on the birthday of the Prophet last week (24 Dec).
Full report at:
http://www.indiatomorrow.net/eng/prophet-muhammad-most-remarkable-man-in-the-history-of-mankind-rani-mukerji
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India ‘far better’ place for Muslims, says man once wrongly branded terrorist
Jan 4, 2016
Mufti Abdul Qayyum Mansuri, sentenced to death in the 2002 Akshardham temple attack case, but later acquitted the Supreme Court in May 2014, on Sunday said India was “far better” for Muslims and any Islamic country, including Pakistan.
“No Muslim is feeling ashamed of living in India,” Mansuri said at a function, organised to by a private trust to dedicate a diary to him.
Recalling his days in jail, Mansuri said, “When a prisoner is freed from jail, his past always haunt him.”
“It was more of Hindu friends and lawyers who defended and supported me more than the Muslims,” he said.
Full report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/india-far-better-place-for-muslims-says-man-once-wrongly-branded-terrorist/
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Now, RSS plans to launch a Christian outfit
Jan 4, 2016
NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has held meetings with Christian leaders as part of a plan to reach out to the community by setting up an organisation on the lines of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch that it established over a decade ago.
Sources said that while the nomenclature is not yet final, it is envisaged that a Rashtriya Isai Manch on similar lines be set up to build bridges of 'goodwill' with the community.
A senior RSS Pracharak, who is also the 'Margdarshak' (guide) for the Muslim Rashtriya Manch since its inception, confirmed to ETthat efforts are on to reach out to the Christians and a meeting for the same was held on December 17, 2015.
"On December 17, 4-5 Archbishops, 40-50 Reverend Bishops from across 10 to 12 states met and it was decided to develop a movement. This is preparing the ground to lay the seeds for an organisation," Indresh Kumar, member of RSS' National Executive, told ET.
This is said to be the first such outreach to the clergy made through a Sangh-backed initiative.
The December 17 meeting, held in New Delhi, was presided over by Indresh Kumar. Chinmayananda Swami of Vishva Hindu Parishad was also present at the event, called the 'Christmas Message for Love, Peace and Harmony from Indian Soil'.
It was attended, among others, by Archbishop Mar Kuriakose Bharanikulangara, Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas of the Gurgaon diocese, Bishop Issac Osthatheous of the Delhi diocese and the general secretary of the Church of North India, Alwan Masih.
The development comes in the wake of an uproar over alleged increase in intolerance under the Bharatiya Janata Party government and political parties accusing the ruling party's ideological mentor of instigating friction between communities.
Row over reconversion
It also marks a full circle of sorts for RSS, whose wing Dharm Jagran Manch had proposed to hold a massive religious reconversion exercise in Agra, a move that was aborted only after it sparked a political furore and the Modi government requested the RSS leadership to step in and cancel the event.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Now-RSS-plans-to-launch-a-Christian-outfit/articleshow/50434363.cms
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Islamic group for alcohol ban to curb sex crimes
Ambika Pandit
Jan 4, 2016
New Delhi: Muslim organization Jamaat - e - Islami Hind (JIH) has warned that the recent amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill to allow juveniles of 16 years and above involved in heinous crimes to be tried as adults are not enough to prevent sexual crimes. The JIH wants the government to look at the problem of crimes by juveniles as a social problem that must be tackled at the roots. Among a number of corrective measures, the Muslim organisation wants the government to explore a country-wide ban on alcohol to prevent sexual crimes.
Jamaat -e- Islami Hind, President, Syed Jalaluddin Umri, said recently, "On December 22, last year, the Rajya Sabha passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill. The Bill allows for juveniles 16 years or older to be tried as adults for heinous offences (which are punishable with imprisonment of seven years or more) like rape and murder. Jamaat welcomes this bill but is of the opinion that legislation and punishment are not the only way to preventing sexual crimes. The malaise is rooted socially and should also be addressed at the social level."
It is elaborated in the statement that the, "JIH believes that a crime-free society can be developed by character building and instilling piety in the minds of people. All the roads and avenues that lead to perversion and sexual anarchy must be blocked and the merchants of vulgarity and titillation must be put behind bars. There is a strong correlation between alcohol consumption and sexual crimes and Jamaat demands a complete country-wide ban on alcoholic drinks."
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Islamic-group-for-alcohol-ban-to-curb-sex-crimes/articleshow/50421324.cms?
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West Bengal: Malda tense as anti-Tiwari rally turns violent
by Arshad Ali
Kolkata
Jan 4, 2016
A massive Muslim protest rally against Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari for his alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed turned violent in Malda district on Sunday, leading to arson and gunfire in which two persons reportedly sustained bullet injuries. The protesters set on fire about two dozen vehicles and attacked the Kaliachak Police Station.
The violence broke out when the protesters, who were taking out the rally on National Highway 34, came across a bus that was trying to negotiate past them. A group of protesters got into an argument with the driver of the bus and soon the situation spiralled out of control. As the passengers got off the bus, the protesters burnt it down.
A little later, a BSF vehicle, which was coming from Malda, was also set ablaze. The mob then turned towards the nearby Kaliachak Police Station. Eyewitnesses said the protesters drove out the policemen and set on fire part of the police station, including the barracks.
Sources said two persons, including an RSS activist from a nearby area who led a separate group of people to stop the protesters, were injured in the violence. Although RSS leaders said 35-year-old Gopal Tiwari was injured in firing, police could not confirm it.
RSS state secretary Jishnu Basu said Gopal Tiwari was an RSS activist of the area. “He was an RSS worker and had protested against the attack on the police station. He was shot in the leg and admitted to the hospital,” Basu told The Indian Express. The identity of the second person who was injured could not be confirmed.
As tension gripped the area, shops were immediately shut down. Police officers said the protesters also looted some nearby houses. RAF personnel were called in to control the situation.
Full report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/bengal-malda-tense-as-anti-tiwari-rally-turns-violent/
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Pathankot attack LIVE: Recovered arms manufactured in Pak, China; 3 arrested
Jan 4, 2016
Over 50 hours after the Pathankot air force base was attacked by terrorists suspected to be members of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed, two terrorists are currently holed-up at the air force base and extensive combing operations continue at the base as well as in the village. At least seven security personnel have lost their lives. Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi has urged citizens to report any suspicious activity to 100/1090.
Highlights: 1.45 pm: Mohali Police say that the huge cache of arms recovered have been manufactured in Pakistan and China. Three men have been arrested. 1.30 pm: NSA Ajit Doval’s trip to China beginning Tuesday has been cancelled in wake of the ongoing terror attack. 12.35 pm: A major blast has been reported at the building where at least two terrorists are believed to be hiding, news agency PTI reports. 12.15 pm: Speaking at a press conference, Major General Dushyant Singh, NSG said the operation was still on to eliminate two terrorists who are still inside the Air Force base. “We would like to assure that all personnel and strategic assets are safe. Entire operation will continue till all the personnel asset structures are combed,” Singh said. An Army official who was also present at the conference said the priority of the force was to ensure that the Air Force assets were safe. He added that there were no civilian casualties and that the terrorists were holed up in a residential building inside the base. 11.49 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and NSA Ajit Doval are currently meeting at 7 Race Course Road, the Prime Minister’s official residence, to review the ongoing operation. 11.36 am: A labourer working at a brick kiln in Manwal village has told police that he saw two men with weapons in the morning. We are carrying out search operations in the area. I also got a call from senior officers to find out if any car had been snatched. So far there is no information about any car snatching,” Shahpur Kandi Station House officer Kuldeep Raj said. 11.30 am: A car has reportedly been snatched in Manwal village, about four kilometers from Pathankot Air Force base. Pathankot SSP RK Bakshi, has, however, called it a rumour. “It is a rumour but we are taking it seriously. I am investigating it. DIG Kunwar Vijay Pratap is also there,” he said. 11.00 am: The third day of operation again began with heavy firing. However the firing has come to rest for the last one hour. Combing operation was on both inside and in the periphery of the airbase. A team of senior Punjab police officers led by ADGP (law and order) HS Dhillon went inside the airbase today morning to take stock of the situation on ground. Helicopters were again pressed into action this morning. Shops on the Dhakki Road, just adjacent to boundary wall of Airforce station are open today and usual business is going on. 9.00 am (4 January): Fresh firing has been reported from inside the Pathankot Air Force base. Security officials have resumed operations and are hopeful of flushing out the remaining terrorists by the end of the day. It is not yet know how many of them are still inside the base. 9.00 pm:
8.30 pm: PM Narendra Modi to chair a high level meeting with the NSA, Foreign Secretary and other officials.
Full report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/live-terror-attack-at-pathankot-air-force-base-2-terrorist-killed/
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Afghanistan: Heavy fighting on in Mazar-i-Sharif, Indian mission staff safe
Jan 4, 2016
Heavy fighting was on Monday hours after militants attempted to storm the Indian diplomatic mission in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif as special forces carried out clearing operations with India’s Ambassador here saying all were safe in the consulate.
Clearing operations in Mazar-i-Sharif on by special forces, Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha said.
“Heavy fighting going on,” he said, adding that Balkh province’s Governor Atta Muhammad Noor was personally monitoring the situation.
Sinha, in a tweet, said all were safe in the consulate.
Explosions and gunfire rang out last night as militants attempted to storm the Indian diplomatic mission in Mazar-i-Sharif.
Indian and Afghan security forces were jointly engaged in a gun-battle with at least two unidentified attackers, who attempted to strike the Indian consulate here.
In all 4-5 attackers were believed to have launched the attack, sources said.
The sources said a contingent of Afghanistan security forces and India’s Indo Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP)were retaliating and combating intermittent gunfire that is emanating from a building near the consulate since last night and it is believed that at least 2-3 attackers are still active out of the total of 4-5 who attempted to storm the heavily guarded complex.
“Two attackers are believed to be killed after security forces engaged them,” they said.
The operation to completely neutralise the attackers, who first hit at about 2115 hours IST yesterday, is still on and gunfire is being exchanged between the two sides even as Afghan forces are trying to get into the consulate building, the sources said.
“All the Indian staff is safe,” they said.
Full report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/afghanistan-heavy-fighting-on-in-mazar-i-sharif-indian-mission-staff-safe/
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North America
US urges Islamabad, New Delhi to jointly fight terrorism
Jan 4, 2016
WASHINGTON: The United States has strongly condemned the terrorist attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, but urged all countries in the region to work together to defeat terrorists.
In a statement issued on Sunday, State Department spokesman John Kirby expressed solidarity with India, but also emphasised the need for regional peace.
“The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack on an air force base in the Indian state of Punjab on Jan. 2. We extend our condolences to the victims and their families,” he said.
“The United States is committed to our strong partnership with the Indian government to combat terrorism,” he added.
Mr Kirby then indirectly addressed a fear that is often expressed in Washington: a terrorist attack could lead to a larger conflict between India and Pakistan. So he urged India and Pakistan to work together against this common threat.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230621/us-urges-islamabad-new-delhi-to-jointly-fight-terrorism
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US urges Saudi Arabia, Iran to show restraint
Jan 4, 2016
WASHINGTON: The United States has urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to avoid escalating regional and sectarian tensions, which flared up after the Saudis executed a Shia cleric and 46 others on Saturday.
US State Department officials also expressed their concerns on the executions and called on the Saudi government to “respect and protect” human rights and “permit peaceful expression of dissent.”
“We are calling on both Iran and Saudi Arabia to refrain from any actions that could further heighten tensions,” a US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters in Washington on Sunday.
She also urged the Iranian government to protect the Saudi embassy in Tehran. A large crowd gathered outside the Saudi Embassy in Tehran early on Sunday morning to protest the execution of prominent Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
“We support the right to peaceful protest but we condemn in the strongest terms any attacks on diplomatic properties,” Ms Trudeau said.
In a separate statement, State Department spokesman John Kirby said that the US had previously expressed its concerns about the legal process in Saudi Arabia and had frequently raised these concerns at high levels of the Saudi government.
“We reaffirm our calls on the government of Saudi Arabia to respect and protect human rights, and to ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings in all cases,” he said.
“The United States also urges the government of Saudi Arabia to permit peaceful expression of dissent and to work together with all community leaders to defuse tensions in the wake of these executions.”
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230542/us-urges-saudi-arabia-iran-to-show-restraint
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Trump shrugs off militant video featuring him
4 January 2016
Donald Trump won’t be dissuaded from saying what he thinks simply because extremists use his words to recruit Muslims to their cause.
The Republican presidential contender brushed off the appearance of an African militant group’s video to recruit Americans that shows him calling for Muslims to be banned from coming to the U.S.
On Sunday news shows, Trump said it’s no surprise America’s enemies would exploit comments of a presidential front-runner like himself.
“The world is talking about what I’ve said,” Trump told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview taped Friday. “And now, big parts of the world are saying, Trump is really right, at least identifying what’s going on. And we have to solve it. But you’re not going to solve the problem unless you identify it.”
The 51-minute video is by al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s East Africa affiliate, and showed up Friday on Twitter.
Hillary Clinton claimed in the last Democratic presidential debate that another extremist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has been using video of Trump in its propaganda. But she had no evidence that that ISIS had done so. Trump told “Fox & Friends” the emergence since then of the al-Shabaab video doesn’t change the fact she was wrong: “It wasn’t ISIS and it wasn’t made at the time, and she lied.”
Trump told CBS that Democrats don’t want to talk about Islamic radicalism, but he won’t shy away from it for the sake of depriving extremists of fodder for their recruitment. “What am I going to do?” he asked. “I have to say what I have to say. And you know what I have to say? There’s a problem. We have to find out what is the problem. And we have to solve that problem.”
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2016/01/04/Trump-brushes-off-militant-video-featuring-him.html
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Mideast
Turkey rescues 57 migrants stranded on islet
January 04, 2016
ISTANBUL - Turkish coastguards rescued 57 migrants seeking to reach EU member Greece by sea after they were stranded on a rocky islet in the Aegean Sea, official media said Sunday.
The migrants were trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos but their boat hit trouble after leaving the resort of Dikili in Izmir province on Turkey’s Aegean coast, the Anatolia news agency reported.
They were stranded on a rocky islet off Dikili, with pictures showing the migrants, who included women and several children, looking for help from the tiny islet.
Twelve of the most vulnerable, including three children, were winched to safety by coastguard helicopters while the other 45 were picked up by fishing boats as the larger coastguard vessels could not approach the rocky islet. They were then taken to Dikili port, it added.
Turkey, which is home to some 2.2 million refugees from Syria’s civil war, has become a hub for migrants seeking to move to Europe, many of whom pay people smugglers thousands of dollars for the risky crossing.
The UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have said more than one million migrants and refugees reached Europe in 2015, most of them by sea. The vast majority of people - over 800,000 - landed in Greece, according to the figures.
The onset of winter and rougher sea conditions do not appear to have deterred the migrants, with boats still arriving on the Greek islands daily.
Meanwhile, Germany only has capacity for a maximum 200,000 asylum seekers a year, about a fifth of the number it received in 2015, Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer said Sunday.
“In Germany, the arrival of 100,000 to a maximum 200,000 asylum seekers and war refugees a year would pose no problem,” Seehofer, who heads the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), told Bild newspaper.
The CSU, which has been up in arms over Merkel’s welcoming refugee policy, is calling for Germany to cap the number of asylum seekers it takes in.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/international/04-Jan-2016/turkey-rescues-57-migrants-stranded-on-islet
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Saudi cutting ties will not distract from 'big mistake' of cleric execution: Iran deputy FM
Jan 4, 2016
TEHRAN: Saudi Arabia's decision to cut ties with Iran after attacks on the kingdom's diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic will not distract from Riyadh's "big mistake" of executing top Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, a senior Iranian official said Monday.
"By deciding to sever (diplomatic) relations, Saudi Arabia cannot make (the world) forget its big mistake of executing a cleric," deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said, according to the IRNA agency.
He added that Saudi Arabia had committed a "strategic error in adopting rash and hasty decisions that have spread instability and caused the development of terrorism in the region".
Riyadh's execution of Nimr al-Nimr sparked widespread protests across Shia-majority countries in the Middle East, with a mob attacking the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a consulate in the second city Mashhad.
The assaults on the diplomatic missions spurred the Arab kingdom to sever ties with Iran, its long-time regional rival.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230705/saudi-cutting-ties-will-not-distract-from-big-mistake-of-cleric-execution-iran-deputy-fm
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Turkish hackers block Russian minister's social network account
January 04, 2016
MOSCOW - A social network account of Russia's communications minister was temporarily blocked on Sunday in a cyberattack carried out by hackers presenting themselves as a Turkish activist group and parading images of a warplane and Turkish flags.
Russia's ties with Turkey suffered a severe blow when a Turkish fighter shot down a Russian bomber near the Turkish-Syrian border in November, a move described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as "a stab in the back".
Minister Nikolai Nikiforov's Instagram account was blocked by "The Börteçine Cyber Team" hackers, according to screenshots of the account, published by Russian and Turkish media and featuring Turkish flags, a portrait of Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and a warplane.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/international/04-Jan-2016/turkish-hackers-block-russian-minister-s-social-network-account
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Israelis charged over deadly arson attack on Palestinian family
January 04, 2016
LOD, Israel - A court charged two Israelis on Sunday over a firebombing last year that killed a Palestinian couple and their toddler, in an attack that sparked condemnation globally.
The charges are the first step in a legal case whose slow progress rights groups have criticised.
They come more than five months after the pre-dawn attack on the Dawabsha family home in the West Bank village of Duma that killed 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha, and fatally wounded his parents. His brother, who was four at the time of the attack on July 31, was the sole survivor from the immediate family.
Amiram Ben-Uliel, 21, from the northern settlement of Shilo in the occupied West Bank, was charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder, arson and conspiracy to commit a hate crime, said the Israeli court indictment.
A 17-year-old, who remained unnamed under a gag order, was charged with being an accessory to committing a racially motivated murder.
Ben-Uliel and the minor, who lived in another wildcat settlement near Duma at the time, in July 2015 plotted to avenge a Palestinian shooting dead Malachi Rosenfeld near Shilo one month earlier, a statement from the justice ministry said.
The attack drew renewed attention to Jewish extremism and accusations Israel had not done enough to prevent such violence.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labelled it “terrorism” - a word usually used by Israelis to refer to violence committed by Palestinians. Israel came under heavy pressure to try those responsible, with rights groups questioning the delay in the case and contrasting it to the swift reaction often following Palestinian attacks.
The Shin Bet internal security service held suspects under administrative detention, denied some of them the right to see a lawyer part of the time and used physical force during investigations.
Supporters of the suspects - religious extremists known as “hilltop youth” who oppose the “secular” Israeli state - denounced those methods as torture.
Shin Bet denies using any illegal methods, and has stressed that the entire investigation was conducted under the supervision of attorney general Yehuda Weinstein.
Ben-Uliel’s wife Orian on Sunday denounced the charges as she left the court room and said her husband had been “tortured to give information on acts he didn’t commit”. “I know he was at home that night and that he didn’t do anything,” he said.
The minor was also accused of having taken part in an arson attack on the Dormition Abbey in east Jerusalem. Two other Israelis, including a minor, were charged for implication in “other terrorist acts”.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/international/04-Jan-2016/israelis-charged-over-deadly-arson-attack-on-palestinian-family
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Iran: Riyadh Not Able to Cap Big Mistake of Killing Sheikh Nimr by Cutting Ties with Tehran
Jan 04, 2016
"Riyadh cannot cover up its big mistake of executing a religious man by announcing cut of relations with Tehran," Amir Abdollahian told FNA on Monday following an announcement by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir that the country had broken off diplomatic ties with Iran after protestors angry at the execution of Sheikh Nimr stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
The senior Iranian diplomat underlined that no Saudi diplomats has been injured during the incident, and said, "Iran is one of the safest countries in the region and all diplomats are fulfilling their responsibilities in full security."
Stressing that Saudi Arabia had also earlier exacerbated insecurities in the region with its strategic mistakes and hasty and unthought approaches and caused further growth in extremism and terrorism, he said Riyadh has damaged the Saudi and Muslim people through its attempt to decrease the oil price and played a destructive role in negotiations on Iran's peaceful nuclear program.
"Now, the Saudi officials' new strategic mistake is the execution of Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who was a prominent religious man of the Muslim world and not a special country," Amir Abdollahian said.
Execution of Sheikh Nimr by the Saudi interior ministry on Saturday pushed the Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Saudi Arabia and other world states to the streets to condemn the crime, vowing revenge.
Protest rallies still continue in Saudi Arabia's Eastern province to condemn the killing of Sheikh Nimr and other political prisoners.
After the declaration, thousands of Bahraini people poured to the streets and chanted "death to the al-Saud" slogans.
The Bahrainis who also carried some placards to show their support for Sheikh Nimr warned Riyadh that shedding the cleric's blood will not remain unanswered.
Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Ansarullah, Pakistan's Shiite Assembly and tens of Sunni and Shiite figures, groups and movements across the world have rushed to condemn the Saudi regime, all underlining that Riyadh has poured oil to the flames of sectarian strife.
In Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in a statement condemned the killing of the prominent Muslim cleric, and said, "The execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr shows that Saudi Arabia insists on pouring oil to the flames of sectarian sedition."
Sheikh Nimr's execution was also condemned by Head of Iraq's Badr Organization Hadi al-Ameri who expressed deep regret after hearing the news.
The Iranian Sunni figures also showed reaction to the Saudi cleric's killing by Saudi Arabia.
Molawi Abdolhamid Ismailzehi, the Friday prayers leader of Iran's Southeastern city of Zahedan, expressed deep regret over Sheikh Nimr's execution, and said under the conditions that the Muslim world needs unity, the Saudi officials should have refrained from his killing.
Also, representative of Iran's Sunni-populated Southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan at the Assembly of Experts, Molawi Nazir Ahmad Salami, condemned Sheikh Nimr's execution, and said, "There is no difference between the Shiites and Sunnis and any person who is opposed to tyranny and brutality should show reaction and deplore the Saudi measure."
Full report at:
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941014000304
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UAE summons Iranian ambassador after Saudi embassy attack
3 January 2016
The UAE on Sunday summoned Iran’s ambassador after attacks on two Saudi diplomatic posts in the Islamic republic, the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
Demonstrators targeted the Saudi embassy in Tehran on Saturday, in protest against Riyadh’s executions of 47 terrorism convicts, which include Shiite preacher Nimr al-Nimr and al-Qaeda ideologue Fares al-Shuwail.
The demonstrators stormed the Saudi embassy building in the Iranian capital, smashed furniture and started fires before being ejected by police. No Saudi embassy staff were in the building at the time.
A copycat protest at the Saudi consulate in the Iranian city of Mashhad broke out on Sunday.
“These acts represent a violation of international charters and norms,” the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/01/03/UAE-summons-Iranian-ambassador-after-Saudi-embassy-attack.html
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Saudi fingerprint in all regional crises: Iran's Judiciary chief
Jan 4, 2016
Iran's Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli-Larijani has slammed Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, saying all conflicts in the region can be traced back to the Saudi regime.
“The Muslim world, today, is witnessing numerous crimes [committed] by Saudis in different regions and in all [instances of] belligerency happening in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Bahrain, Saudis’ fingerprint and their support for terrorists are seen,” Amoli-Larijani said on Monday.
He added that Saudi rulers hatch “the most evil plots” on behalf of hegemonic powers and colonialists, saying “undoubtedly, their crimes in Syria, Iraq and Yemen will serve the interests of Israel and the US.”
Western countries are mistaken to think that they can establish a foothold in the Muslim world by supporting Saudi rulers, said the Iranian judiciary chief.
He further added that the move by Saudi Arabia to execute Sheikh Nimr is a sign that the Al Saud regime is “on the verge of collapse.”
On Saturday, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced that Sheikh Nimr had been put to death along with 46 others convicted of being involved in “terrorism.”
Nimr’s execution has drawn strong public and political reactions around the world. The monarchy has, however, rejected all criticisms, accusing critics of meddling in its internal affairs.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/01/04/444441/Iran-AmoliLarijani-Saudi-Arabia-Nimr-/
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Africa
ISIS clash with guards near Libya’s Es Sider oil port
4 January 2016
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants on Monday clashed with a force guarding Libya's Es Sider oil port, and fighting continued near the major export terminal, witnesses and troops said.
No official was available to confirm the attack or details of how close the fighting was to the port. But ISIS tried to attack Es Sider once before in October last year, setting of a car bomb and raiding a perimeter gate.
Es Sider and nearby Ras Lanuf oil ports have been closed for more than a year after fighting between rival factions for control of the country, where ISIS has gained ground in the turmoil since the 2011 fall of Muammar Qaddafi.
Es Sider is protected by Ibrahim al-Jathran's Petrol Facilities Guard, a federalist armed faction.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2016/01/04/ISIS-clash-with-guards-near-Libya-s-Es-Sider-oil-port.html
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Sudan opposition party invited to talks with govt
4 January 2016
A senior Sudanese opposition figure said on Sunday her party has been invited to meet government officials this month to discuss a national dialogue aimed at resolving multiple crises.
President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted on war crimes charges, launched the dialogue in October to try to resolve the insurgencies in Sudan’s border regions and the country’s faltering economy.
Most opposition groups refused to join the process, demanding a meeting outside Sudan to agree its terms.
But Umma party deputy head Mariam al-Mahdi told AFP her party had been invited by the African Union for a meeting this month in Addis Ababa.
“We will definitely take part in that meeting and we are very much grateful for the African Union Higher Implementation Panel,” the body planning on mediating the talks, Mahdi said.
The Umma party, led by her father Sadiq al-Mahdi, is one of Sudan’s oldest political institutions.
Sadiq al-Mahdi has lived abroad since August 2014, when he signed an agreement to work together to solve the country’s crises with an alliance of rebels from the Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.
Mariam was detained by Sudanese security forces for a month because of those talks.
She said her party received the invitation to the meeting in Addis Ababa last week and that it was due to take place in January.
“We hope to get out of a brief time - two to three days - the rules and procedures of the national dialogue,” Mahdi said.
The meeting could pave the way for the Umma to join the dialogue but it is unclear whether Bashir’s ruling National Congress Party will attend, as it shunned similar negotiations in March.
Mahdi said if the meeting was successful, her father could return to Sudan soon afterwards.
It was unclear which other groups had been invited, and the African Union did not immediately comment.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2016/01/04/Sudan-opposition-party-invited-to-talks-with-govt.html
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Pakistan
Zardari for end to misuse of religion-based laws
January 04, 2016
ISLAMABAD - PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari yesterday called for an end to alleged misuse of religion-based laws against minorities and vulnerable sections of the society.
He said the ‘bigots and extremists’ continue to exploit the religion-based laws to impose upon the people their own version of religious edicts on the one hand and to stifle dissent on the other.
“The PPP rejects their narrow and bigoted narrative of Islamic tenets and will continue to oppose and resist them,” he said in a message.
“On the fifth anniversary of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer let us pledge that collectively we will prevent the misuse of the religion-based laws,” he added.
Zardari said it was reassuring that recently the Senate Committee of the Whole also called for reforming the legal regime to prevent misuse of these laws. He expressed the hope that the House of Federation will pursue this noble objective.
“Taseer’s assassination was not just a loss of a political party; it was a loss of the nation,” the PPP leader said.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/04-Jan-2016/zardari-for-end-to-misuse-of-religion-based-laws
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Suspect sent on 14-day remand in Gizri 'encounter' case
ISHAQ TANOLI
Jan 4, 2016
KARACHI: A district magistrate on Monday sent Ghulam Azad, one of the suspected robbers in the Gizri ‘encounter’ case, on a 14-day remand after he was presented in court by the police.
Judicial Magistrate (south) Noor Mohammad Kalmati remanded the suspect to police custody till January 15 after the case was presented in court on Monday.
Aside from issuing a 14-day judicial remand under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Kalmati also asked the investigation officer to complete the investigation and submit a report at the next hearing.
The police on Sunday had registered two separate First Information Reports (FIRs) against the suspected robbers, one of whom was shot dead in the ‘encounter’. The special duty magistrate had given a one-day remand of the accused on Sunday.
In the absence of area magistrates on Sundays, a special duty magistrate ─ one of whom is posted at every district ─ conducts urgent magisterial work on behalf of the judicial district.
Zakaria, a 25-year old youth, was shot dead and Azad wounded in a shoot-out with the police near Gizri on Friday night.
But Zakaria's family and Azad claim that the shoot-out was fake and orchestrated by the police.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230712/suspect-sent-on-14-day-remand-in-gizri-encounter-case
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Pakistan, Lanka to sign anti-terror deal
January 04, 2016
ISLAMABAD/COLOMBO - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will leave for Sri Lanka on a three-day official today at the invitation of the Sri Lankan President.
Several bilateral agreements in the areas of health, science and technology, trade, statistics, gem and jewellery, money laundering and terrorism financing, and culture are envisaged to be signed during the visit. Many business MoUs including deep sea fishing, cement, power, education and food will also be signed.
Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan, Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua and senior government officials are accompanying the prime minister.
Prime Minister Nawaz and Begum Kalsoom Nawaz will be welcomed on their arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport by Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The official welcome ceremony presided by President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena will be held tomorrow at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. The prime minister will be accorded a ceremonial welcome including a gun salute and guard of honour.
The Sri Lankan President will lead the official bilateral discussions with the prime minister. The delegation for the talks will include Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, cabinet ministers and senior government officials.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/04-Jan-2016/pakistan-lanka-to-sign-anti-terror-deal
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PM flies to Sri Lanka today
Jan 4, 2016
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit Sri Lanka from Jan 4 to 6 on the invitation of the president of Sri Lanka.
During his stay in Colombo, he will meet Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.
According to the Foreign Office, a number of memoranda of understanding and agreements for cooperation in various fields will be signed during the visit.
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe will host a lunch in honour of Mr Sharif.
Sri Lankan parliamentarians, religious leaders and businessmen will call on the prime minister during the visit.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230619/pm-flies-to-sri-lanka-today
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Fazl wants parliament informed about army chief’s Kabul visit
ZULFIQAR ALI
Jan 4, 2016
PESHAWAR: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, has called upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take parliament into confidence about the army chief’s visit to Afghanistan on Dec 27.
Speaking at a press conference at the party’s secretariat on Sunday, he said the prime minister should explain whether or not Gen Raheel Sharif had proceeded to Kabul with his permission.
“I am sure that such high-level talks can’t take place without the prime minister’s consent,” the JUI-F chief said when informed that federal ministers had expressed their ignorance in the Senate about the outcome of Gen Raheel’s meetings in Kabul.
The army chief held talks with the Afghan leadership and reportedly offered Pakistan’s role in ending insurgency in that country.
Maulana Fazl said if Pakistan could play a role in reconciliation, the Afghan government should take advantage of it and come up with a positive response. It was a very positive approach by Pakistan for bringing peace to Afghanistan, he added.
He said tension between Pakistan and India had eased after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lahore last month. He said parliament should hold a candid debate on the country’s relations with Afghanistan and India.
CHANGES IN FATA: The Maulana said the proposed administrative and legal changes in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) should also come under discussion in parliament and urged the government to take the tribal people into confidence before making changes in the status of tribal areas.
He said the government should ensure a dignified return of internally displaced persons to Fata and rehabilitee them before going for administrative changes and reforms.
CPEC: The JUI-F chief said his party would soon convene an all-party conference on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Peshawar to address grievances of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. All stakeholders will be invited to the conference to develop a consensus on the project. There should be no politics on the project.
He said the government was bound to follow decisions of the APC held in Islamabad in May 2015 and construct CPEC’s western route along with all components, including railway track and gas and oil pipelines.
“The federal government should come forward and remove apprehensions of KP and Balochistan,” he said, adding: “I am not satisfied with the project in its present shape and expressed reservations over the plan in the presence of the prime minister during its inauguration ceremony in Zhob.”
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230618/fazl-wants-parliament-informed-about-army-chiefs-kabul-visit
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Six suspected militants arrested, terror bid foiled in Bannu: police
ALI AKBAR
Jan 4, 2016
PESHAWAR: A special unit of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police claimed to have foiled a terror plan in an intelligence-based operation in Bannu on Monday.
At least six suspected militants were arrested in the raid, security sources said.
Based on prior intelligence, special police unit Bannu raided an under-construction house in Pir Dil Khel Sorani area of Bannu where the armed militants were busy in terror-planning, said the sources.
During the raid, police arrested six alleged militants and recovered weapons from then. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the suspected militants under the anti-terrorism act.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230709/six-suspected-militants-arrested-terror-bid-foiled-in-bannu-police
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Protests erupt in Pakistan, IHK over Shia cleric's execution
Jan 4, 2016
ISLAMABAD: Thousands of Shias protested in Pakistan and Indian-held Kashmir on Sunday to condemn Saudi Arabia's execution of a leading Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, as fury over the killing spread.
The 56-year-old cleric was put to death along with 46 others, who the Saudi interior ministry said were involved in Al Qaeda killings. Some were beheaded, others were shot by firing squad.
Iran and Iraq's top leaders also condemned the execution, warning ahead of protests that the killing was an injustice that could have serious consequences.
Peaceful protests were held across the country. In Quetta where about 1,000 people called on the government to reconsider its longtime ties with Riyadh and demonstrators held placards bearing anti-Saudi slogans.
In Lahore around 1,500 took to the streets calling Nimr's execution a gross human rights violation, while in Karachi about a thousand men, women and children shouted slogans against the royal Saudi family.
Similar protests also took place in several districts of Sindh and the federal capital Islamabad, where about 500 people gathered to call on the UN to intervene to stop Saudi Arabia from targeting Shias.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230503/protests-erupt-in-pakistan-ihk-over-shia-clerics-execution
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Protest against Shia cleric’s execution in Karachi
Jan 4, 2016
KARACHI: A large number of people took part in a protest rally in the city on Sunday to condemn the recent execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, in Saudi Arabia.
The rally was organised by the Majlis-i-Wehdatul Muslimeen (MWM), which condemned the “unjust execution of Saudi rights activist al-Nimr by the regime”.
The rally emerged from Shah-i-Khorasan, Britto Road, and ended at the Sea-Breeze building on M.A. Jinnah Road.
The marchers, included women and children, condemned what they described as the ‘state terrorism’ of the Saudi government.
They were holding portraits of al-Nimr and displaying placards inscribed with slogans: ‘We all are al-Nimr’ and ‘Stand for justice’.
The protesters also chanted slogans against the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia and criticised the ‘silence’ of the international community on the executions of the ‘peaceful political prisoners’.
Alongside MWM leaders, Maulana Hassan Zafar Naqvi and others stood several Sunni leaders, including Jamiat-i-Ulema Pakistan’s Qazi Ahmed Noorani, Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s Zafar Iqbal, All Pakistan Sunni Tehreek’s Matloob Awan Qadri and Anjuman-i-Naujawanan Islam’s Samad Iqbal.
The speakers asked the government of Pakistan to leave a Saudi-led security alliance, which the Saudi Arabia had forged recently apparently to counter militancy across continents, immediately because, they alleged, “the Saudi government was supporting terrorism in the world”.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230566/protest-against-shia-clerics-execution-in-karachi
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Soldier injured in Peshawar bomb blast
January 04, 2016
PESHAWAR - A personnel of security forces was injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a vehicle of armed forces near Motorway toll plaza Peshawar on Sunday.
Police sources said the incident took place near the Peshawar Motorway toll plaza.
However, no loss of life was reported.
One soldier out of the 11 travelling in the vehicle received minor injuries.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the vehicle was damaged in the explosion with its glass windows completely shattered leaving one personnel injured. The blast caused fear in the nearby areas and huge contingent of police and security forces rushed the site to examine the losses and nature of the blast.
Police said that it was improvised explosive device having half-kilogram weight, however it does not caused any major casualties.
Meanwhile Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Muhammad Khurasani claimed responsibility of the attack.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/04-Jan-2016/soldier-injured-in-peshawar-bomb-blast
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JUI-F protest over power outages in Landi Kotal
January 04, 2016
KHYBER AGENCY - Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazalurrehman (JUI-F) staged a protest demonstration against excessive power outages here on Sunday.
The protest rally was organized at Bacha Khan chowk, Landi Kotal bazaar under the auspices of JUI-F Landi Kotal chapter.
Dozens of the JUI-F workers along with local tribal participated in the protest.
The angry mob was holding banner and placards inscribed with slogans against the excessive load shedding in Landi Kotal.
JUI-F Ameer Landi kotal Maulana Mujahid, General Secretary Maulana Ameenullah, JUI, Khyber Agency Press Secretary Jihad Shah Afridi were leading the rally.
While addressing on the occasion, they said since the creation of Pakistan, the tribesmen have been deprived of the basic rights, which was regrettable.
They said the locality of Landi Kotal was small in size but ironically surrounded by scores of problems and a slight efforts had not been noticed on the part of the administration to solve these problems.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/04-Jan-2016/jui-f-protest-over-power-outages-in-landi-kotal
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Mansoora mourns over misery of masses
January 04, 2016
LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami chief Senator Sirajul Haq has said that it is high time to rise against the government which has failed to fulfill its election promises.
Talking to the media at Mansoora after the concluding session of the JI Shoora, he said that the country was facing innumerable problems and the life of the masses had been made miserable. He said the election system had become a toy in the hands of a few wealthy families and the masses had lost interest in the elections.
He said the JI had decided to arouse among the masses a longing for an Islamic and a prosperous Pakistan in order to pull them out of the present state of despair. The JI Shoora, he said, had decided to launch a mass contact campaign during the month of March next with the theme of “Corruption Free Pakistan”.
He said a few elite families were ruling the masses on the power of wealth. These very families and individuals were in power whether the country was ruled by the PPP, the PML, or it was martial law, and the common man could not even think of winning an election.
Sirajul Haq said the tax amnesty scheme was a clear attempt to oblige the corrupt elite similar to Musharraf’s notorious NRO. He said the committee set up by the government for electoral reforms seemed to have been lost in files.
The JI chief strongly condemned New Delhi’s bid to blame Pakistan for the Pathankot attack.
Announcing the decisions taken by the Shoora, Sirajul Haq said the JI central advisory body had decided to mobilize one million youth in the country during the year 2016, for joining the Islamic movement. He said that equal attention would be given to the male and the female youth.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/lahore/04-Jan-2016/mansoora-mourns-over-misery-of-masses
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South Asia
Suicide bomber strikes near Kabul airport: officials
Jan 4, 2016
KABUL: A suicide bomber on foot Monday struck a street leading to Kabul's international airport, officials said, the latest in a wave of attacks on the Afghan capital.
"The bomber detonated his suicide vest... near Kabul airport. There is no immediate information on casualties," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP.
The bomber was spotted by police as his car approached the checkpoint, prompting him to detonate his explosives, a police spokesman said.
Danish said the target was a foreign forces convoy passing through the area but a police spokesman said he was not aware of that.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
The blast follows a series of attacks in the Afghan capital over recent days, including a suicide attack on a restaurant popular with foreigners and wealthy Afghans which killed a 12 year-old boy and a security guard.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230710/suicide-bomber-strikes-near-kabul-airport-officials
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ISIS throw teen boy off a roof for being gay but spares his alleged rapist
Jan 04 2016
The fanatics of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group have reportedly executed a teenage boy after he was accused of being homosexual.
Reports regarding the latest extreme cruel act by ISIS fanatics have emerged from Deir ezzor province of Syria where the victim who was believed to be around 15-year-old was executed after he was thrown off from a roof top.
The boy whose identity has not been disclosed was reportedly raped by a commander of ISIS fanatics identified as Zaid al-Jazrawi.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/isis-throw-teen-boy-off-a-roof-for-being-gay-but-spares-his-alleged-rapist-1920
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Former CIA chief says Taliban gaining ground in Afghanistan
Jan 04 2016
The former acting director of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has said the Taliban group has made major geopolitical gains in Afghanistan last year.
Michael Morell has also predicted that Afghanistan will re-emerge as a pivotal foreign policy during the current year amid rampant insurgency by the Taliban group.
“I think one big challenge is going to be the reemergence of Afghanistan as an issue,” Morell told CBS’s ‘Face of the Nation’ program on Sunday.
He said “The Taliban have made major gains over the last year. I would expect major gains going forward. They control more territory than they have in a number of years.”
Morell further added that the debate on how many troops to keep in the region will take center stage in Washington.
“I think the debate on how many troops we keep in Afghanistan is going to reopen,” he said, adding that “General Campbell already last week said we need upwards of 10,000 troops, which is double the number the president is currently looking at.”
The remarks by Morell comes as the Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant during the recent months as efforts have been put in place for a peaceful settlement of the ongoing violence in the country.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/former-cia-chief-says-taliban-gaining-ground-in-afghanistan-1919
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Five Jamaat men on 10-day remand
January 04, 2016
A Dhaka court yesterday placed five Jamaat-e-Islami men, who were arrested in the capital's Banasree with Tk 1 crore on Saturday, on a 10-day remand each in two cases with anarchy and money laundering charges.
Rampura police produced the five, Giasuddin, chief accounts officer of Jamaat central committee and a rokon (policy-level leader), Aminur Rahman, Osman Gani, Lutfur Rahman and Shahadatur Rahman Sohel, before the court with a 20-day remand prayer. Several passports and organisational books were also recovered from Gias' house-cum-office.
Yesterday at a press conference, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah said the detainees could not give any logical explanation about the source of the money.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/city/five-jamaat-men-10-day-remand-196546
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DMP: No permission if events coincide
january 4, 2016
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah has said that they will not entertain the applications of the Awami League and the BNP if the law enforcers observe that their scheduled programmes at Suhrawardy Udyan for tomorrow may incite clashes.
The arch rivals declared the programmes to celebrate and condemn the hotly-debated January 5, 2014 general elections.
“The deputy commissioner of Ramna zone and the OC of Shahbagh police have been asked to submit a report regarding the current law and order scenario in their areas,” the DMP chief told reporters after attending a programme at the Media Centre yesterday.
“We cannot give permission for any programme or rally that may pose a threat to public security,” he said, adding that they would sit for discussion if the parties wanted to talk to them on the matter.
Both the parties sought permission from the DMP on Saturday. Later the BNP proposed an alternative venue – in front of its Nayapaltan Headquarters, while the Awami League said that they would hold the main event on Bangabandhu Avenue and 17 other spots of the capital.
“If one of the parties decides to hold their programme peacefully in some other place, then the police do not have any reason to stop them. But if anyone tries to conduct any subversive activities, we will not spare them,” Asaduzzaman said.
Asked about the arrest of five Jamaat-e-Islami leaders with Tk1.47 crore from a house in the capital’s Banasree area on Saturday evening, the DMP chief said that they could not make any comment on the matter as an investigation was underway.
“We have not found any authentic source of the money recovered from them. We are investigating the matter,” he added.
Full report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/jan/04/dmp-no-permission-if-events-coincide
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Europe
HSBC cuts ties with UK Muslim charity over ‘terror’ fears
Jan 4, 2016
LONDON: UK-based banking giant HSBC has ended its links with Britain's biggest government-funded Muslim charity allegedly over fears of terror funding.
The bank had taken the decision to cut ties with Islamic Relief a year ago amid concerns that cash for aid could end up with terrorist groups abroad, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
The decision, which has not been made public before, has upset the charity, that receives millions of pounds from the United Kingdom's department for international ievelopment (DfID).
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/HSBC-cuts-ties-with-UK-Muslim-charity-over-terror-fears/articleshow/50431709.cms
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Saudi Arabia seeks to form coalition against Shia Muslims: Russian lawmaker
Jan 4, 2016
A Russian lawmaker says Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr indicates that Riyadh has been trying to launch a ‘coalition against Shia Muslims.’
“The sensational execution in Saudi Arabia has demonstrated that it is trying to create… an anti-Shia coalition,” said head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the lower house of Russia’s Parliament, Alexei Pushkov.
On Saturday, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced that Sheikh Nimr had been put to death along with 46 others convicted of being involved in “terrorism.”
A Saudi court had sentenced him to death in 2014.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, who condemned Saudi Arabia’s “non-Islamic and inhuman” act of executing Sheikh Nimr, has said the move was in line with Riyadh’s sectarian policies.
“Such a measure is in line with sectarian policies and aims to spread terrorism and extremism in the region and across the world, which have destabilized the region and waged war and conflicts in recent years,” Rouhani said on Sunday.
Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi also said the Saudi “crime” is in line with “creating a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shias.”
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/01/04/444440/Russia-Saudi-Arabia-Alexei-Pushkov-Arabia-antishia-coalition/
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France gears itself for solemn tribute to Charlie Hebdo victims
Jan 4, 2016
PARIS: France this week solemnly marks the anniversary of the militant assault on the Paris offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, the first of two such deadly attacks which bookended a bloody 2015 of unprecedented violence in the French capital.
Subdued ceremonies are to take place under heavy security to mark the attacks on the weekly and a kosher supermarket in which three gunmen killed 17 people ─ an event which proved to be a grim forerunner of the suicide bombings and shootings 10 months later in which 130 people were killed.
Charlie Hebdo, known for satirical covers lampooning religions as well as politicians, lost many of its top editorial staff in the Jan 7 attacks when militants opened fire on journalists inside the newsroom.
The three gunmen were themselves shot dead by security police during three days of violence which ended with a hostage-taking at a Jewish deli in which four hostages were also killed.
The attacks prompted a worldwide solidarity movement, with the "Je Suis Charlie" slogan going viral on social media.
In the second deadlier string of attacks on Nov 13, terrorists mowed down people in Paris cafes and a concert hall, and attacked a stadium in the nation's worst post-war atrocity.
With the country on high alert since then and right through the New year holiday season, soldiers will be out in force protecting official buildings and religious sites for the "Charlie" anniversary.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1230700/france-gears-itself-for-solemn-tribute-to-charlie-hebdo-victims
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ISIS threatens Britain in new executions video
4 January 2016
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group has threatened Britain in an Internet video on Sunday showing the killing of five “spies” it said worked with the international coalition fighting ISIS.
The SITE Intelligence Group said the video shows five men from Raqqa, capital of the self-declared extremist “caliphate” straddling Syria and Iraq, confessing to carrying out acts of espionage.
The British foreign office issued a terse statement saying only: “We are aware of the video and are examining the content.”
In the footage, an English-speaking ISIS fighter mocks British Prime Minister David Cameron for challenging ISIS, and calls him an “imbecile”.
The “confessions” of the five do not clearly identify which countries they worked with, but one mentions the international coalition led by the United States battling against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2016/01/04/ISIS-threatens-Britain-in-new-executions-video.html
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Sweden introduces new border checks to stem migrant flow
4 January 2016
Sweden has introduced new border controls for people entering the country by train, bus or ferry in a bid to stem the flow of migrants.
To comply with the new Swedish rules, passengers had to show identification Monday to board trains departing from Copenhagen Airport in Denmark to Sweden across a bridge-and-tunnel link.
It is the latest move by a European Union country to suspend an agreement to keep internal borders open.
Danish officials have criticized the move and suggested Sweden should pay for the cost of the ID checks.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2016/01/04/Sweden-introduces-new-border-checks-to-stem-migrant-flow.html
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Putin names U.S. among threats in new Russian security strategy
3 January 2016
A new appraisal names the United States as one of the threats to Russia’s national security for the first time, a sign of how relations with the west have deteriorated in recent years.
The document, “About the Strategy of National Security of Russian Federation”, was signed by President Vladimir Putin on New Year’s Eve. It replaces a 2009 version, endorsed by then- President Dmitry Medvedev, the current prime minister, which mentioned neither the United States not NATO.
It says Russia has managed to heighten its role in solving global problems and international conflicts. That heightened role has caused a reaction by the West, it says.
“The strengthening of Russia happens against the background of new threats to the national security, which has complex and interrelated nature,” the document says.
Conducting an independent policy, “both international and domestic” has caused “counteraction from the USA and its allies, which are striving to retain their dominance in global affairs.”
That in turn is likely to lead to “political, economical, military and informational pressure” on Russia, the document says.
Relations between Russia and the West reached a low after Russian forces annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014, after protests in Ukraine forced its pro-Moscow president to flee to Russia.
Since then, the West has accused Russia of aiding insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Moscow denies actively assisting the rebels.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2016/01/03/Putin-names-U-S-among-threats-in-new-Russian-security-strategy.html
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Southeast Asia
Why Indonesia is Immune to ISIS
JANUARY 3, 2016
In recent days, rumblings of ISIS have reached the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. Security forces in Indonesia, which is home to some 200 million Muslims, launched a manhunt for the militant leader Santoso, who had publicly pledged loyalty to the Islamic State. Police arrested several suspected ISIS supporters amid chatter about terror plots, while Australia’s attorney-general warned that the Islamic State was intent on establishing a “distant caliphate” in the Southeast Asian island nation. But the flurry of activity doesn’t tell the whole story about ISIS’s inroads in Indonesia. Consider, for example, that while the number of foreign fighters traveling to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS and other violent extremist groups is estimated to have more than doubled between June 2014 and December 2015, relatively few are coming from Indonesia—at least for now. The question is: Why?
Indonesia has certainly experienced its share of terrorism and jihadist movements since declaring independence from the Netherlands in 1945. After proclaiming an “Islamic state” in 1949, the organization Darul Islam denounced the Indonesian state as apostate and staged a series of armed rebellions against it in the 1950s and early 1960s, before moving underground. The militant Islamist movement then split into numerous groups, from Laskar Jihad, which led an anti-Christian campaign across Indonesia, to Jemaah Islamiyah, which executed the 2002 Bali bombings. Indonesian jihadists have not solely focused on local targets; many went to Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion as mujahideen, though most only received training rather than engaging directly in the fighting there.
Moreover, there is clearly a base of support for ISIS in Indonesia. A September 2014 report by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) details the Islamic State’s aggressive recruitment and propaganda efforts in the country, as well as mass professions of allegiance to the group. (As the report and a more recent one from USAID caution, these public declarations—in which roughly 1,000 to 2,000 people have taken part—are not necessarily accurate measures of active support for ISIS.) IPAC notes in another report that “the conflict in Syria has captured the imagination of Indonesian extremists in a way no foreign war has before,” for reasons ranging from the suffering of Sunni Muslims there, to the prospect of restoring an Islamic caliphate, to the fact that “Syria is directly linked to predictions in Islamic eschatology that the final battle at the end of time will take place in Sham, the region sometimes called Greater Syria or the Levant, encompassing Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel.”
Whatever the extent of ISIS’s support in Indonesia, that support has not translated into Indonesians heeding the call of jihad and heading to the Middle East in large numbers. A recent Soufan Group report on foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria (not necessarily fighting with ISIS) cited an Indonesian-government estimate that 700 of those fighters hailed from Indonesia as of July 2015—a number that the group says is probably an overestimate. In comparison, the official estimate for France is 1,700; for Russia, 2,400; for the United States, 150; and for Tunisia, 6,000. In France, 18 people per million Muslim citizens are thought to be fighting in Syria and Iraq, according to the USAID study. In Tunisia, that number is 280. In Indonesia, it’s just over one.
Full report at:
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016/01/why-indonesia-immune-isis/124821/
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Near impossible for converts to renounce Islam, says Wanita MCA
January 4, 2016
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — It is near impossible for those who have converted to Islam to renounce the faith, Wanita MCA chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie said today after a Shariah lawyer claimed minors can leave Islam upon turning 18.
Heng noted that for those who want to renounce Islam, there are reformatory classes and even penalties imposed varying among the states.
“How many converted minors revert to their original faith if the Shariah Court declares them as Muslims?” Heng asked in a statement.
Recently, the Court of Appeal upheld the unilateral conversion of Hindu mother M.Indira Gandhi’s three children to Islam by her ex-husband who had converted to the predominant faith.
However, Malaysian Syariah Lawyers Association president Musa Awang later said that minors can seek redress at the Shariah Court when they turn 18 years old.
Heng said those who have converted to Islam faced the same difficulties whether they were converted against their will or by their parents.
She said that an application to seek redress at the Shariah Court would further jeopardise the legal status of the minor’s own non-Muslim faith.
“Such action is self defeatist as it will only serve to self-reconfirm his or her status as a Muslim,” she said. “The fates of these minor children will be permanently sealed should the Shariah court declare them as Muslims”.
She reiterated MCA’s stance that both parents must have an equal say in determining their child’s religion.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/near-impossible-for-converts-to-renounce-islam-says-wanita-mca
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Islamic college CEO wins temporary injunction against suspension
BY AIZYL AZLEE
anuary 4, 2016
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — The High Court here granted Baitulmal Professional Institute (IBP) CEO Dr Syed Omar Syed Aqil today a temporary injunction against his suspension from the Islamic college that purportedly acted against him for whistleblowing on alleged financial mismanagement.
His lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad told reporters here that Justice John Louis O’Hara had in chambers fixed February 12 for the hearing of the full injunction Syed Omar had applied for and that the interim injunction would stand until the case was resolved.
“The ad-interim injunction was granted, pending the disposal of the inter-parte injunction hearing,” Amer Hamzah said.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/court-grants-temporary-injunction-for-islamic-college-ceo-suspended-for-whi
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CEO of college under FT Islamic Council contests suspension for reporting graft
BY BOO SU-LYN
January 4, 2016
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — The CEO of the Baitulmal Professional Institute (IPB), majority-owned by the Federal Territories Islamic Council (MAIWP), has filed an injunction against his suspension after reporting corruption in the Islamic education institution. Dr Syed Omar Syed Agil said the private higher education institution issued him a show cause letter on September 29, 2015, the same day when the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) directed a search and seizure at the IPB premises here.
“Having been in the employment of the Defendant for close to a year and noticing certain questionable financial decisions and activities which were made by certain officers and/or employees, which I verily believe amount to financial mismanagement and/or irregularities, as well as the conduct by the officers and/or employees of the Defendant which I verily believe constitutes disciplinary offences and/or criminal offences, I raised these issues within the Institute and subsequently made a disclosure of the same to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (“the MACC”) and the Royal Malaysia Police (“the Police”) on 14-8-2015 and 1-9-2015 respectively (“my Disclosure of Improper Conduct”),” Syed Omar said in his affidavit in support of his interim injunction application sighted by Malay Mail Online.
The MACC, however, could not conduct a search and seizure as the relevant IPB officer was on medical leave and could only hand over the warrant to Syed Omar, according to a document sighted by Malay Mail Online.
Syed Omar said in his affidavit that he believed IPB had become aware of his disclosure of alleged financial mismanagement in the institution when he sent an email to “a number of” IPB officers or employees, after the graftbusters left IPB’s premises, requesting their attendance at MACC’s office the next day.
Syed Omar also said he sent on October 5 last year an 18-page reply to the show cause letter, expressing his disappointment at the “vague, unfounded and belated accusations being made against me and the way my authority as Chief Executive of the Institute was being undermined by officers and/or employees of the Defendant”.
The IPB, however, sent him a notice a day later informing him that disciplinary action would be taken against him. He has been suspended since October 7 last year.
Syed Omar, who began serving as IPB CEO in September 2014, won an ex-parte injunction against his suspension and internal inquiry at the Kuala Lumpur High Court last December 21 pending the hearing of his interim injunction application later today.
The police have confirmed investigating Syed Omar’s complaint under Section 409 of the Penal Code for criminal breach of trust by a public servant, according to a document sighted by Malay Mail Online.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/ceo-of-college-under-ft-islamic-council-contests-suspension-for-reporting-g
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