Delhi Blast: Bangla group HuJi claims responsibility, wants Afzal Guru spared
Delhi blast: Police arrest 3 in J&K, death toll rises to 12
Gaddafi 'trapped in Libya and surrounded by rebels'
Delhi High Court Blast: Investigators work to join Bhullar, Afzal, Death Row, ISI dots
Delhi Blast: Harkat says we did it, but LeT, IM also suspect
Iran says Kurdish rebel deputy chief killed
School blown up in Khyber
Delhi Blast: Shaken & stirred: They skirted death by whisker
J& K cops deny HuJI presence in the Valley
Dr. Saleh Sherrif Economist: Muslims now worse off
US should 'tilt' towards India for Afghan rebuilding: Senator
Egypt’s Mubarak back in court over protester deaths
We will never succumb to pressure from terrorists: PM, President
Delhi HC blast: Police release sketches of two suspects
Delhi high court blast a 'cowardly act': PM
Masood Azhar back in business: Pakistani paper
Gaddafi used torture squads to preserve rule
Heavy gunfire in central Syria; several killed
Pakistan: Student guns down university vice principal
Taliban wants to swap its jailed comrades with Pakistan children
ISI wants Taliban to keep India out of Afghanistan: Experts
9/11 brings slow death to Pakistan's Peshawar
New York unveils official 9/11 memorial flag
Delhi high court blast eyewitness account: She was seconds away from death
Terror module behind blast not identified: Chidambaram
Nationwide alert after deadly bomb blast outside HC
A sentimental journey to Bangladesh, says Indian PM
PM announces duty free import of 61 items from Bangladesh
Postponed Teesta deal 'unfortunate': Indian PM
Manmohan's wife visits Gurdwara Nanak Shahi in Bangladesh
Urdu-speaking people in Bangladesh seek Manmohan's support
Framework agreement a visionary document, says Hasina
Terror strikes Delhi HC: 10 killed, 60 hurt; Harkat offshoot owns up
MPs condemn Delhi High Court blast, Parliament adjourned for the day
Briefcase bomb at Delhi high court kills 9, injures 50
Yemeni soldiers, militants clash, killing 19
Twin suicide blasts kill 20, wound 32 in Pakistan
Roadside bomb kills Afghan governor, 3 guards
Fresh deaths in Syrian crackdown
Freed Egyptians tell of torture in Libyan jails
Members of Qaida-linked group released by Nigeria: WikiLeaks
People linked to Osama probe barred from leaving Pakistan
U.N. Court Jails Serbia's Ex-Army Chief Perisic for 27 Years
CIA greatest concentration of talent and capability: David Petraeus
Yemen ruling party mulls UN plan to end crisis
Clinton talks to Abbas over Palestinian UN bid
Pentagon insists no decision on Iraq troop numbers
Al Qaeda weaker 10 years after 9/11: US defense chief
Sanctions, unrest hitting Syria economy: minister
Pakistan`s airspace being used by NATO flights: cable
Doctor who helped CIA barred from leaving Pakistan
Efforts on to include human rights in syllabuses: Jeddah Human Rights
Asala Nasri supports Syrian revolution; launches song
Somalia’s Al-Shabab ban non-Arabic signs on shops
Afghanistan says more than half of provinces poppy-free
NATO halts Afghan prisoner transfer
Continued US aid to Pakistan naive at best: US Senator
US considering keeping 3,000 troops in Iraq
NATO suspends transfers to some Afghan prisons over torture fears
Syria targets Homs as U.N. chief calls for international action
Official: Turkey to expel 3 Israeli diplomats
Delhi Blast: Country’s fog-landing pioneer grounded
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/delhi-blast-bangla-group-huji/d/5421
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Delhi Blast: Bangla group HuJi claims responsibility wants Afzal Guru spared
Sep 07 2011
New Delhi: An Islamist organization, affiliated to Bangladesh, has claimed responsibility for the Delhi High Court blast, renewing concerns over India's vulnerability to terror perpetrated by its neighbors.
A television channel said the Harkat-ul-Jihadi-al-Islami or the HuJI had sent a mail, warning of more attacks unless the government repeals the death sentence to Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru.
A 20-member team by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the case.
NIA chief S C Sinha said it was too premature to comment on the HuJI mail but said NIA would seriously look into it because the outfit is a very prominent terrorist group which considers India as target number one. He said there were no clear leads as of now.
The Delhi Police has also prepared two sketches of two of the blast suspects, based on eyewitness descriptions.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is on a two-day visit to Dhaka at the moment and is coming home later in the day.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bangla-group-huji-claims-responsibility-wants-afzal-guru-spared-reports/843033/
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Delhi blast: Police arrest 3 in J&K, death toll rises to 12
Sep 8, 2011
SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency probing Wednesday's Delhi high court bomb blast has arrested three persons in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the case. The arrested persons include the owner of a cyber cafe from where the 'HuJI' mail claiming responsibility of the blast had been sent.
Police sources say that owner of the cyber cafe Global Internet Cafe at Malik Market in Kishtwar Khawja Mehmood Aziz and his brother Khalid Aziz are now being questioned. It may be noted that an email claiming to be from Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) had been sent to two television channels taking responsibility for the blast and demanding that the hanging Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru be immediately repealed.
Meanwhile, Ram Manohar Lohia hospital sources have announced on Thursday morning that one more person injured in Wednesday's bomb blast has succumbed to his injuries taking the death toll to 12.
A bomb in a briefcase was placed outside Gate No 5 of Delhi high court on Wednesday that caused a high intensity blast killing 11 people and injuring about 70 others rocking the capital.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Delhi-blast-Police-arrest-3-in-JK-death-toll-rises-to-12/articleshow/9907379.cms
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Gaddafi 'trapped in Libya and surrounded by rebels'
Sep 08 2011
Tripoli : Libya's former rebels have surrounded the ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and it is only a matter of time until he is captured or killed, a spokesman for Tripoli's new military council said today.
Anis Sharif would not say where Gaddafi had been found, but said he was still in Libya and had been tracked using high technology and human intelligence. Gaddafi is trapped within a 40-mile-radius area surrounded by rebels, he said.
"He can't get out," said Sharif, who added the former rebels are preparing to either detain him or kill him.
Locating Gaddafi would help seal the new rulers' hold on the country. The announcement after convoys of Gaddafi loyalists, including his security chief, fled across the Sahara into Niger in a move that Libya's former rebels hoped could help lead to the surrender of his last strongholds.
Some former rebels depicted the flight to Niger as a major exodus of Gaddafi's most hardcore backers.
But confirmed information on the number and identity of those leaving was scarce given the vast swath of desert – over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) – between populated areas on the two sides of the border.
In Niger's capital, Niamey, Massoudou Hassoumi, a spokesman for the president said Gaddafi's security chief had crossed the desert into Niger on Monday accompanied by a major Tuareg rebel.
The government of Niger dispatched a military convoy to escort Mansour Dao, the former commander of Libya's Revolutionary Guards who is a cousin of Gaddafi as well as a member of his inner circle, to Niamey.
Dao is the only senior Libyan figure to have crossed into Niger, said Hassoumi, who denied reports that Gaddafi or any member of his immediate family were in the convoy.
Hassoumi said the group of nine people also included several pro-Gaddafi businessmen, as well as Agaly ag Alambo, a Tuareg rebel leader from Niger who led a failed uprising in the country's north before crossing into Libya, where he was believed to be fighting for Gaddafi.
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters, "We don't have any evidence that Gaddafi is anywhere but in Libya at the moment."
Since Tripoli's fall last month to Libyan rebels, there has been a movement of Gaddafi loyalists across the porous desert border that separates Libya from Niger. They include Tuareg fighters who are nationals of Niger and next-door neighbour Mali who fought on Gaddafi's behalf in the recent civil war.
There has been intense speculation regarding the whereabouts of Gaddafi's inner circle and last week, Algeria, which like Niger shares a border with Libya confirmed that the ousted leader's wife, his daughter, two of his sons, and several grandchildren had crossed into Algeria.
Hassoumi said "waves" of returnees had crossed over from Libya before the arrival of Gaddafi's security chief, but he said they were mostly Tuaregs and not Libyan soldiers or civilians. Tuareg fighters have long been enlisted as mercenaries for Gaddafi's regime.
The West African nation of Burkina Faso, which borders Niger, offered Gaddafi asylum last month, raising speculation the convoys were part of a plan to arrange passage there for the ousted leader. But yesterday, Burkina Faso distanced itself from Gaddafi, indicating he would be arrested if he went there.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gaddafi-trapped-in-libya-and-surrounded-by-rebels/843052/
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Delhi Blast: Investigators work to join Bhullar, Afzal, Death Row, ISI dots
Sep 08 2011
New Delhi : With no specific leads from the explosion site at the Delhi High Court today, intelligence and investigative agencies were reluctant to point the finger of suspicion at any particular terror group despite an email from one “Harkat-ul-jihadi” claiming responsibility for the attack.
But security agencies agree that fresh terror modules are active even if their handlers are the same. There seems to be a strong effort this time, sources said, to not leave any trace and to link the claim to a politically sensitive and potentially destabilising issue like death sentence and clemency.
While the email demanded that the death sentence to Afzal Guru — convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack — be withdrawn, intelligence agencies are looking at this in conjunction with the specific security alert against Delhi courts they sent out in July. That alert spoke about a possible plot by extremist Sikh groups — Babbar Khalsa International and Khalistan Zindabad Force.
The case in question in that July alert was that of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, on Death Row, whose clemency petition was turned down by President Pratibha Patil. The alert had warned, based on “credible” inputs, that these groups were in touch with certain ISI “handlers” and a plot to carry out blasts in Delhi had been hatched in Pakistan.
According to security agencies, there has been significant interaction between anti-India groups of late regardless of their primary motivation. The mention of Afzal Guru, whose clemency petition is lying with the President, in the email brings the main group behind the Parliament attack — Jaish-e-Mohammed — into the equation.
Jaish is known to have close links with the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami but the email does not put out HUJI’s name in full. JeM is also on the revival path in Pakistan but experts feel that the blast does not carry an explicit Jaish signature.
The explosive device, a key piece of evidence when it comes to joining the dots, has left fewer clues. It is common knowledge that all three — the Mumbai blasts on July 13, first attempt at Delhi High Court on May 25 and this one — were nitrate-based explosives. PETN, used in today’s blast, was also present in traces in the explosives that did not go off properly in May.
Not just that, today’s blast occurred just outside the reception where there was no CCTV coverage. There are cameras on the court premises within but many of them were also said to be on the blink. The point underlined by investigators is that the place could have been surveyed to avoid plausible detection by cameras.
As in the recent Mumbai case, there’s no clarity on the detonator used even though NIA teams are combing the spot. Unlike the Mumbai case, sources added, this was a targeted attack on Delhi High Court and not serial blasts of the kind usually associated with the Indian Mujahideen. The use of the briefcase was clearly meant to make it easier to “melt into the crowd coming to court,” sources said.
Incidentally, an email had landed even after the July 13 attack in Mumbai which highlighted the Telangana cause — another issue challenging the government. Incidentally, that email had its origins in the Middle-East and investigations are still under way on that front.
While investigators try to locate the attackers, sources said, fresh modules have come up in major cities which could be planning a spate of low-intensity attacks with high impact around politically sensitive issues of the day. Government authorities feel this could be a planned effort to destabilise the situation without exposing the external link, much like the phase after the Parliament attack.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/investigators-work-to-join-bhullar-afzal-death-row-isi-dots/843294/
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Harkat says we did it, but LeT, IM also suspect
Sep 08 2011
New Delhi: Within hours of the blast,an email popped up from an outfit calling itself Harkat-ul-Jehadi (very similar to the notorious HuJI Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami ) claiming responsibility for the Delhi High Court blast.However,the role of Lashkar-Indian Mujahideen with a track record of bomb attacks in the capital is not being ruled out as investigators are keeping all options open.
The government was not rushing to name suspects,either indigenous or from across the border.Home minister P Chidambaram limited himself to telling Parliament that the blast was of high intensity and the explosive was in a briefcase.
In a discussion on internal security earlier in the monsoon session,Chidambaram had said apart from organizations based in Pakistan,the role of homegrown terrorists could not be brushed aside.He also referred to saffron terror groups.
With no headway in the July 13 Mumbai blasts,Indian Mujahideen elements who have been on the run since 2008 are suspects as long as they are not accounted for.The-high intensity briefcase bomb points to a degree of expertise in bomb-making that IM and Lashkar modules are capable of devising.
The bomb contained 3-4 kg of explosives,official sources said.The use of nitrates and possibly PETN is suspected an explosives mix that points to the handiwork of jihadi groups.
Times of India
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Iran says Kurdish rebel deputy chief killed
Sep 08 2011
Iranian forces have killed the deputy commander of PJAK, the anti-Teheran Kurdish rebel group based in Iraq, the Islamic republic’s elite Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday.
‘Majid Kavian, deputy commander of the terrorist (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan) PJAK group, with the alias of Samakou Sarhaldan, was killed on Saturday,’ the Guards said in a statement on its website Sepahnews.
The report did not elaborate on the circumstances of his death, but quoting a statement attributed to PJAK, the Guards said Kavian ‘was killed by artillery shrapnel.’
Kavian had been engaged in ‘terrorist operations inside Iran’ since 2003, according to the Guards.
In July, Iran launched a major offensive against PJAK rebels, shelling districts near Iraq’s border for weeks, but halted it during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to give the rebels a chance to withdraw from border areas.
The Guards resumed the offensive on Friday, with their operations officer Colonel Hamid Ahmadi saying the fighting would ‘continue until all counter-revolutionaries, rebels and terrorists have been cleared away.’
According to the Guards, so far more than 30 PJAK rebels have been killed and 40 wounded in the second wave of attacks, while Iran has suffered two casualties.
On Monday, PJAK declared a truce and called on Iran to reciprocate in order to prevent further bloodshed.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/September/middleeast_September127.xml§ion=middleeast
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School blown up in Khyber
Sep 08 2011
LANDI KOTAL: Unidentified militants blew up a government school in Khyber tribal region’s Sapah area razing the building to the ground, police said on Wednesday.
Explosive devices were planted outside the school building that went off completely destroying it. No casualties were reported in the incident.
Soon after, law enforcement agencies cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/07/school-blown-up-in-khyber.html
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Delhi Blast: Shaken & stirred: They skirted death by whisker
Sep 08 2011
New Delhi: There were about 200 people standing outside Gate No.5 of the high court when the bomb went off on Wednesday.For many of them,it was a narrow escape.Stunned and shaken by the high-intensity blast that swept them off their feet,many complained of blackouts and loss of hearing as they realized how narrowly they had missed death.
I fell flat on the ground as soon as the blast happened and lost consciousness.The next thing I remember is looking around to see around 50-60 people lying around me and my hand bleeding, said Rahul Gupta,who had come with four friends for a hearing of their PIL.
Fifty-one-year-old Gupta was getting a pass made when the explosion happened.He was lucky he escaped with minor injuries on his right hand,but his friend,Vipin Kumar Gautam,who was standing behind him,suffered serious injuries on his right leg."I saw Gautam lying on the floor in a pool of blood.I was taken to the high court's medical centre for first aid,but as Gautam was serious,he was rushed to RML,'' said Gupta,who had a tough time locating Gautam at the hospital.Gautam had been immediately wheeled into the operation theatre.His other friends also suffered minor injuries.
Full report at: Times of India
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J& K cops deny HuJI presence in the Valley
By Naseer Ganai
Sep 08 2011
THE JAMMU and Kashmir Police feel that the Harkatul- Jehadi- Islami ( HuJI) does not operate in the Valley.
“ We have not heard of any such outfit. The HuJI used to be here but currently it is not active,” said inspector general of police S. M Shahi.
In an e- mail to various media organisations sent purportedly by the HuJI, the militant outfit claimed responsibility for the bomb blast at the Delhi High Court, which has killed 11 people and injured several.
It has demanded the death sentence against Afzal Guru, convicted for the attack on Parliament in 2001, be repealed.
The HuJI was formed in 1984 by Fazalur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Akhtar as the first Pakistan- based Islamic jihad organisation during the Soviet- Afghan War. Khalil, according to reports, later broke away to form his own group, the Harkat- ul- Ansar ( HuA).
Full report at: Mail Today
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Dr Abu Saleh Shariff economist: Muslims now worse off
Seema Chishti
Sep 08 2011
New Delhi : Dr Abu Saleh Shariff is an angry man these days. The economist and former member-secretary of the Prime Minister’s high-level committee on social, educational and economic status of Muslims, which submitted its report five years ago, is annoyed that the government has squandered opportunities provided by Justice Rajinder Sachar Report and not put in place a proper assessment and monitoring system.
He claims to have written to the PM and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission last month on issues ignored by the Centre.
An independent study conducted by Shariff is set to reveal next month that on certain crucial variables Muslims are “worse off compared to other social groups”.
“This holds true for a very key factor like school enrolment ratios. While the number of children in school has gone up for all communities, for Muslims the figure is worryingly lower than when we gave the Sachar report.”
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/muslims-now-worse-off-says-expert/843342/
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US should 'tilt' towards India for Afghan rebuilding: Senator
Sep 08 2011
Chicago : Advocating a US "tilt" towards India, a top Senator has said New Delhi should take over the role of rebuilding Afghanistan after the American troops' withdrawal from the war-torn country.
Senator Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican who has just returned from a two-week deployment to Afghanistan as a US Naval Reserve Intelligence Commander, called Pakistan a "disloyal" ally of the United States which should "discontinue" its aid to Islamabad.
Pointing to a map of Afghanistan, Kirk told the Chicago Sun-Times that what he saw over the past two weeks was that the southern region of Afghanistan around Kandahar, which used to be very much under the influence of the Taliban, has not been tamed by President Barack Obama's "surge" of 35,000 US troops.
The Senator said that the newest hot spots in the Eastern region around Kabul are coming under the influence of the Haqqani network of the Taliban which is based in Pakistan and "protected" by the Pakistani government and military.
"I think the United States should tilt toward India," Kirk, a former Naval officer, was quoted as saying.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-should-tilt-towards-india-for-afghan-rebuilding-
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Egypt’s Mubarak back in court over protester deaths
Sep 08 2011
CAIRO - An Egyptian court trying ousted President Hosni Mubarak over the killing of protesters convened on Wednesday to hear more testimonies after police witnesses suggested this week that neither he nor his interior minister gave orders to shoot.
Mubarak, who has been in hospital since April and attended all the court sessions on a stretcher, arrived by helicopter, state TV said. Cameras have been barred inside the court.
Egyptians who helped eject the 83-year-old Mubarak after 30 years in power have regularly gathered at the court on the outskirts of Cairo demanding swift justice for about 850 people killed in the uprising.
Opponents of Mubarak and lawyers of the families of victims voiced frustration with the witnesses at Monday’s session.
“My friend dropped dead in Tahrir Square right next to me. He was shot in the head by the police,” said Rabia al-Sheikh outside the court. “Why don’t they let us inside to testify. Why are they calling on police to testify and not the people?”
Mubarak, the first Arab head of state to be tried in person since unrest erupted across the Middle East this year, is charged with conspiring to kill protesters and “inciting” some Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/September/
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We will never succumb to pressure from terrorists: PM, President
Sep 07 2011
Dhaka : Strongly condemning the terror strike outside Delhi High Court, President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asserted that the country will never succumb to pressure of terrorism and asked people to unitedly combat the scourge.
Condoling the loss of lives in the deadly blast that left at least 11 dead and over 60 injured, Patil wished speedy recovery to the victims.
Singh, who is on two-day visit to Bangladesh, denounced the terror strike as a "cowardly act".
"I just heard the sad news from Delhi about the bomb blast. I am told that 10 people have been killed. This is cowardly act of terrorist nature. We will deal with it. We will never succumb to the pressure of terrorism," Singh in Dhaka.
He said: "This is a long war in which all political parties, all the people of India have to stand united so that the scourge of terrorism is crushed".
Singh said he had spoken to Home Minister P Chidambaram on the incident.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/we-will-never-succumb-to-pressure-from-terrorists-pm-president/843015/
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Delhi HC blast: Police release sketches of two suspects
Sep 07 2011
New Delhi: Police today released sketches of two persons suspected of planting the bomb outside Delhi High Court which killed at least 11 people and injured over 60.
The sketches of the suspects – one believed to be in his 50s and the other in his mid-20s – were prepared following descriptions provided by eyewitnesses who claimed they saw someone with a briefcase standing in the queue.
"We have released sketches of two suspects based on the descriptions given by eyewitnesses," a senior police official said.
The younger of the two suspects could be a couple of inches shorter than 6 feet with a middle parting of the hair while the other man was described as stout and having a light beard and shallow complexion.
"We may also release a third sketch depending upon the eyewitness accounts," the official said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/delhi-hc-blast-police-release-sketches-of-two-
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Delhi high court blast a 'cowardly act': PM
Sep 7, 2011
DHAKA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the Delhi high court blast as a "cowardly act" and promised to "deal" with it.
On the second day of his visit to Bangladesh, Singh said, "I have heard the sad news from Delhi. This is a cowardly act of a terrorist nature, but we will deal with it. We will never succumb to the pressure of terrorism."
The PM also said, "This is a long war in which all political parties, all the people of India must come together to fight the scourge of terrorism.
"My heart goes out to those who have perished in the blast and my best wishes to those who were injured. This is a long war against terrorism and we can't fight it alone," he added.
PM said he had been in touch with home minister P Chidambaram, but cautioned that it was "too early" to pinpoint the mastermind.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Delhi-high-court-blast-a-cowardly-act-PM/articleshow/9896017.cms
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Masood Azhar back in business: Pakistani paper
September 07, 2011
Terrorists, Maulana Masood Azhar, is back in the business, and recruiting terrorists and promoting terrorism, in all probability targeted at India, according to a leading Pakistani newspaper on Wednesday.
In a report titled 'Masood Azhar of Jaish back in business', The News
said: "The dreaded Maulana Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is back in business and has restarted recruitment and fund-raising activities in Pakistan, a move timed precisely with the recent progress in the peace talks between India and Pakistan."
Quoting "well informed militant circles", the newspaper said: "Maulana Masood Azhar has already returned to Bahawalpur and resumed his jehadi activities by reactivating the Jaish headquarters in the Model Town area. The JeM nerve center openly runs a grand religious seminary, Usman o Ali, where extremist interpretation of Islam is taught to hundreds of children."
The Lahore datelined report said Masood Azhar had earlier abandoned his Jaish headquarters in the Model Town of Bahawalpur and temporarily shifted his base to South Waziristan in the wake of the mounting Indian pressure for his extradition.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Masood-Azhar-back-in-business-Pakistani-paper/H1-
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Gaddafi used torture squads to preserve rule
Sep 07 2011
Libya's Muammar Gaddafi deployed special squads which held suspected opponents in shipping containers, tortured them for information about insurgent networks and disposed of their bodies in unmarked graves in a campaign to smash the revolt against his rule.
Evidence gathered by Reuters in the provincial town of Khoms shows an organised system of repression with methods including delivering electric shocks to suspects' genitals, keeping them for weeks in baking heat with only a few sips of water a day, and whipping them with an electrical cable while their hands were bound with plastic ties.
It was all part of a deliberate strategy, said Nabil Al-Menshaz, an official in the rebel council which took over Khoms after Gaddafi's rule there collapsed last month. "They wanted to frighten the people, so if anyone was thinking of going over to the rebels, they would change their minds," he said.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=32095
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Heavy gunfire in central Syria; several killed
Sep 07 2011
Beirut : Security forces intensified their crackdown in the flashpoint city of Homs on Wednesday, killing and wounding several people in fresh attacks amid heavy gunfire, activists and residents said.
There was no definitive total of how many people were killed Wednesday in the ongoing shooting in the central Syrian city, but the London-based Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists across the country, said seven died.
For days, security forces have been pursuing activists and anti-government protesters in Homs, a hotbed of dissent to President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime.
"All through the night, there was shooting. The gunfire didn't stop,'' a resident of the city told The Associated Press by phone Wednesday. "I can't tell exactly what is going on because it's dangerous to go out,'' he added, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisals.
On Tuesday, security forces opened fire from a checkpoint in Rastan, just north of Homs, killing two people, including a 15-year-old boy, activists said. They said five unidentified corpses, including that of a woman, also were found dumped around the city center.
Mobile telephones, land lines and Internet connections in some parts of Homs were cut off. Many people were staying home because of roads blocked by security forces. Others were too scared to leave.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/heavy-gunfire-in-central-syria;-several-killed/843006/
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Pakistan: Student guns down university vice principal
Sep 07 2011
RAWALPINDI: Vice Principal of Riphah International University, Brig Sanaullah, was shot dead by a disgruntled student, Khurrum Shahzad, at the campus on Peshawar Road on Tuesday.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Shahbaz Khan told APP that the student allegedly responsible for the shooting had been arrested. He said that according to initial investigation, the student was upset over failing examinations for three years. He exchanged heated words with his professor, Dr Muhammad Ayaz, and then opened fire on him. However, the professor fortunately received no injuries. He then went to the room of the vice principal and shot at him, killing him instantaneously. Khurram Shahzad managed to escape but was later arrested by the police.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\09\07\story_7-9-2011_pg1_5
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Taliban wants to swap its jailed comrades with children
Sep 07 2011
Islamabad : Pakistani Taliban, which is holding over 25 boys as hostages in neighbouring Afghanistan, has demanded the release of all their comrades from prison in return of the children.
The terror group, which is keeping the Pakistani boys captive in Afghanistan's Kunar province, also asked Bajaur tribesmen to disband all anti-Taliban private militias and end support to the government in return for their release.
"Pakistani Taliban militants...are using their substantive bargaining chip to demand the release of all Taliban prisoners in the country," 'The Express Tribune' daily said, which also carried a picture of four of the captives surrounded by AK-47 wielding militants.
Interestingly, a Taliban leader, Maulvi Dadullah, invited a group of Afghan journalists to one of their bases on Tuesday and gave them access to the teenagers.
An Afghan journalist Nematullah Karyab, who had met the children told the daily, "We reached the base in a remote and mountainous region after walking and travelling in vehicles for hours."
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/taliban-wants-to-swap-its-jailed-comrades-with-
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ISI wants Taliban to keep India out of Afghanistan: Experts
Sep 07 2011
Washington : Pakistan's ISI wants the Taliban to be influential enough within the Afghan government so that it can keep India out of Afghanistan, an influential American think-tank has said.
James Dobbins from the RAND Corporation and his colleagues recently visited Pakistan and interacted with the official of the Inter-Services Intelligence.
"What the Pakistanis told us when we were in Islamabad – and we met with the ISI as well as the civilian leadership – which is that they share our interest in bringing peace, that they want the Afghan Taliban out of Pakistan and back into Afghanistan but not in a position of dominating the country," Dobbins said.
They recognise that having a Taliban-dominated government in Kabul would just open the way to a replication of what they experienced in 2001, he said at an event organised by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
"But they would like the Taliban sufficiently influential within the Afghan government so that, on the one hand, they have an incentive to get out of Pakistan and stop interfering in Pakistan.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/isi-wants-taliban-to-keep-india-out-of-a.../842941/
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9/11 brings slow death to Pakistan's Peshawar
Sep 07 2011
Peshawar : When the people of Peshawar watched the collapse of New York's Twin Towers on television, it seemed like a distant tragedy.
Few could have imagined that the events of September 11, 2001, thousands of miles away would touch their lives in this bustling frontier city near the Afghan border.
But over the decade since then, Peshawar has itself been targeted repeatedly by Islamist militants opposed to Pakistan's cooperation in the US war on militancy.
These days the city is a magnet for suicide bombers rather than the tourists and traders who once made its economy vibrant.
I come to my shop every morning but I don't know if I am going to go home alive or in a body bag, said Sheikh Arshad, who repaired his minivan after it was damaged in a bombing and then had to sell it to keep his herbal medicine shop afloat.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/9-11-brings-slow-death-to-pakistans-
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New York unveils official 9/11 memorial flag
Sep 07 2011
New York : On Wednesday, New York unveiled the official 9/11 Memorial flag, which will be flown at the World Trade Centre site to honour the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
"The Memorial Flag is meant to serve as a long-lasting symbol of our respect for those who were lost on September 11, and our resilience in the face of tragedy," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
"Written on the flag are the words 'We Remember,' we remember the faces, the stories, and the heroes of that day, and this flag reminds us to always pass on those memories to future generations."
The flag will be flown at the State Capitol and at the entrance to the memorial at the World Trade Center site to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks that killed about 3,000 people.
The flag has a white silhouette of the twin towers inside a pentagon against a deep blue background.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/new-york-unveils-official-9-11-memorial-flag/843014/
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Delhi high court blast eyewitness account: She was seconds away from death
Sep 7, 2011
NEW DELHI: Death passed her by a few seconds and a few metres. She was about to alight from her car when she heard the deafening blast, a cloud of smoke and was dazed beyond wits. I had just come out of my bath and was getting ready when the phone rang. My wife was crying and mumbling. I could barely make out what had happened before the phone got disconnected. Immediately after, my brother rang up to enquire about her and informed me there had been a blast just outside Delhi high court.
I couldn't reach her phone, but rushed to the court. On way, I established contact. She told me she was safe but there was a lot of blood around her. She saw limbs flying and clothes, particularly pants, of those present at the site had vanished. She was obviously very shaken by the close brush and senseless loss of life. Some lawyers too were in that crowd.
By the time I reached the barricaded site, as is typical of any place of event in our country, it had turned into a tamasha for curious onlookers, police and army forces of all hues (there is a army establishment bang in front of the HC) and huge posse of media persons. An obvious peril of the job they are in: there were some people keen to shove the microphone in anybody's face who could give them a byte. Even she was asked, but refused to talk as she saw me approaching.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Delhi-high-court-blast-eyewitness-account-
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Terror module behind blast not identified: Chidambaram
September 07, 2011
It was not possible at this stage to identify the terrorists who exploded a bomb outside Delhi High Court Wednesday killing nine people, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram told the Lok Sabha that Delhi was a target for terrorists as it was the national
capital.
Accordingly, Delhi had been put on high security alert, he said in a brief statement.
The minister said the blast left nine dead and some seriously injured.
"We are clear that there is no cause that will justify the terrorist act," he said.
Major metro cities have been put on high alert.
Both houses of the Parliament was adjourned and question hour suspended after the bomb blast outside Delhi high court on Wednesday morning that left at least 9 dead and 45 injured. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2pm on Wednesday
Speaker Meira Kumar condemned the bombing and expressed sympathies for victims.
She adjourned the house till 12.30 pm and said the government would make a statement later in the day.
Chariman M Hamid Ansari informed members about the explosion as soon as the house met for the day and said there may be a few casualties in the incident.
Condemning the blast, he asked the government to get details by 2pm.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Terror-module-behind-blast-not-identified-
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Nationwide alert after deadly bomb blast outside HC
September 07, 2011
In the wake of the deadly blast outside the Delhi high court, the government has issued a nationwide alert asking all states to step up vigil and take precautionary measures. Home Ministry officials said the nature of explosives used in the blast was not known immediately and the
post-blast investigative teams of the NIA and NSG have picked up leads from the spot.
All states have been asked to take precautionary measures and step up vigil in the wake of the blast in the national capital, the officials said.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the metros in view of the blast that occurred outside the High Court premises in Delhi, top police officers here said.
"We are alert and security arrangements are being tightened," city police commissioner RK Pachnanda told reporters.
A high alert has been sounded across Uttar Pradesh and security beefed up at the Allahabad high court and other district courts in the state in the wake of the blast outside the Delhi High Court.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Nationwide-alert-after-deadly-bomb-blast-outside-HC/H1-
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A sentimental journey to Bangladesh, says Indian PM
Sep 08 2011
‘India cannot realise its full potential unless it strengthened ties with neighbours'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday night described his maiden bilateral visit to Bangladesh as a “sentimental journey.”
“For me, a visit to Bangladesh has always been a sentimental journey. Just after the liberation of Bangladesh (in 1971), I was sent by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to work out an economic programme in the changed political context,” he told journalists while returning from Dhaka.
“I worked with Nurul Islam, the then Chairman of Bangladesh's Planning Commission, to finalise the economic programme,” he said.
Going down memory lane, the Prime Minister said he, along with Mr. Islam, then went to the house of “Bangabandhu” Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at 32, Dhamondi in central Dhaka and submitted their findings about the economic programme of a newly-independent country.
It was the same house, now converted into a museum for Sheikh Mujib, which Dr. Singh visited on Wednesday and said it was a “very touching affair.”
It was in the same house that Sheikh Mujib and most of his family members were gunned down on the intervening night of August 14-15, 1975 by a group of rebellious members of the Bangladesh army.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2433484.ece
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PM announces duty free import of 61 items from Bangladesh
Sep 07 2011
Taking the trade route to cement bilateral ties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced duty-free import of 61 items from Bangladesh that were barred from entering India.
A majority of these items - 46 to be precise, relate to textiles, particularly readymade garments.
Dr Singh, who on his maiden bilateral visit to Bangladesh, said India was “fully alive to the problem of trade imbalance between India and Bangladesh.”
Bangladesh has long complained that trade with India was grossly unequal with India selling about $ 3 billion in goods to Bangladesh against the latter’s export of about $ 400 million business in jute, ammonia and garments.
Dr Singh said India has embarked on a series of measures to improve border infrastructure for trade and this will facilitate Bangladesh’s exports to India and provide it greater opening to India and other neighbouring countries.
He said India is also addressing issues relating to non-tariff barriers raised by Bangladesh for entry of its goods into Indian market.
Bangladesh’s request list for duty-free goods includes all the garment items where it enjoys the advantage of cheaper cost of production compared to India, Indian textile industry sources said.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2431943.ece
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Postponed Teesta deal 'unfortunate': Manmohan
Sep 07 2011
Indian visiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has termed the unresolved Teesta water-sharing issue as 'unfortunate'.
"Unfortunately, this (the deal on sharing Teesta water) is not met with this time," he said while delivering a speech at Dhaka University on "India, Bangladesh and South Asia" on the concluding day of his two-day visit on Wednesday.
He said that he was optimistic about signing the deal on the water-sharing during this visit.
Manmohan also assured that India will not take any move on Tipaimukh dam that might be harmful for the neighbouring country.
"We will not take any steps that would affect Bangladesh," he said.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=32100
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Manmohan's wife visits Gurdwara Nanak Shahi in Bangladesh
Sep 07 2011
Gursharan Kaur, wife of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, visited Gurdwara Nanak Shahi, a Sikh temple, on Dhaka University campus yesterday and participated in a special prayer session.
Reaching the temple around 5:12pm, Kaur spent around 30 minutes in prayers. “She (Kaur) offered her prayer and completed other rituals after joining the special prayer session,” said Narayan Robi Das Pappu, general secretary of Gurdwara Management Committee.
The special prayer song was sung and verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikh religion, were recited during the prayer session while Prasad were distributed amongst worshippers afterward.
During Kaur's visit to the temple, the management committee presented her a “Sarpa” (a special scarf). She then inaugurated a VIP guesthouse for overseas visitors inside the temple.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201390
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Urdu-speaking people in Bangladesh seek Manmohan's support
Sep 07 2011
Urdu-Speaking People's Youth Rehabilitation Movement (USPYRM) yesterday sought cooperation from the visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for their rehabilitation in Bangladesh.
“Our forefathers migrated here from different states of India leaving behind their property and belongings, but we now live an extreme inhuman life here,” said USPYRM General Secretary Shahed Ali Bablu at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity in the city.
USPYRM is a youth-based organisation of Urdu-speaking people, popularly known as Biharis, living in 116 camps across the country. Some 4 lakh people currently live in these camps, said Bablu.
“Since it's not possible for Bangladesh to rehabilitate such a huge number of people permanently, we earnestly request the Indian PM to play a role in this regard,” he said.
He also said a section of people own plots on the land where the camps are located in the city's Mirpur-10 and 11 areas. These people evicted at least 90 families from the camps with the help of several realtors violating the High Court orders, he alleged.
He also sought support from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Home Minister Sahara Khatun in this regard.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201404
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Framework agreement a visionary document, says Hasina
Sep 07 2011
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Bangladesh and India which signed a framework agreement on cooperation is a visionary document that looks not only the realities today, but also the potentials of tomorrow.
Making press statement after her one-to-one meeting with visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, delegation level official talks and signing of deals with India at her office, she said, "We have been working on a new matrix charting our path for our common prosperity for the future."
"We have come a long way towards successfully materlising our common vision into reality. But we still have a long way to go," she added.
Hasina said at the discussion they have been able to make considerable progress. "I am happy to announce that we have moved closer to resolve long pending issues of common concern. This ha been done in a spirit of warmth and cordiality and understanding, she said.
"I would like to announce that from now on, our people in Dahagram and Angarpota will have 24-hour unfettered movement through Tin Bigha corridor," said Hasina.
"I am happy to say that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as announced during our discussion today that India would allow duty-free access of 46 items from Bangladesh to the Indian market that were in the sensitive list of India," she said.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201491
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Terror strikes Delhi HC: 11 killed, 56 hurt; Harkat offshoot owns up
Sep 7, 2011
Ten people were killed and 60 injured in a terror blast outside the Delhi High Court on Wednesday morning. It was the second blast near the high court within four months.
The blast took place around 10.15 am near gate number 5, where about 200 people were waiting in queue to get passes for entry to the court complex. The blast area was cordoned off and police asked people to clear the area.
A group by the name Harkat-ul-Jihad claimed responsibility for the blast. The group sent an email to AajTak.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram expressed sympathy for the families of the victims.
Chidambaram told Parliament that the National Investigation Agency (NIA), NSG, forensic teams and Delhi Police were probing the blast. "The perpetrators will be brought to justice," he said.
"Most of the injured are being treated at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and a few at AIIMS. Some people have been seriously injured. Those with minor injuries were treated at the dispensary at the high court," he said.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/blast-outside-delhi-high-court/1/150350.html?cp
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MPs condemn Delhi High Court blast, Parliament adjourned for the day
Sep 7, 2011
Parliament is discussing Wednesday's terror blasts outside the Delhi High Court.
Chidambaram said:
Nine people killed, 47 injured.
Not possible to identify group behind blast yet.
CFSL, NIA and NSG teams are probing the blast.
We will bring the perpetrators to justice.
LK Advani says:
Parliament should be adjourned and all debates should happen tomorrow.
We are united at this hour of crisis.
Mulayam Singh Yadav says:
Victims of terror ahould get adequate compensation and help from the government.
Chidambaram visits Delhi HC after blast
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday visited the site outside the Delhi High Court where a blast left nine people dead.
Full report at:
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-hc-blast-lok-sabha-rajya-sabha-
Briefcase bomb at Delhi high court kills 9, injures 50
Sep 7, 2011
NEW DELHI: Nine people were killed and at least 50 others injured in a powerful blast outside Delhi high court gate number 5 on Wednesday morning.
The blast took place at around 10.15 am. Home secretary RK Singh told reporters the explosives were placed in a briefcase at the high court reception where hundreds of people come through every day to attend court cases.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Television images showed scores of lawyers in black coats running from one of the main gates of the building.
"This appears to be a bomb explosion and it is at least a medium-intensity bomb... The site has been fully secured and Delhi has been put on high alert. Whatever precautions need to be taken are being taken," said home ministry official UK Bansal.
The injured have been taken to AIIMS, RML and Safdarjung hospitals. The Delhi Police have cordoned off the area, not far from Parliament and the Prime Minister's Office. Fire tenders have been rushed to the spot.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Briefcase-bomb-at-Delhi-high-court-kills-10-
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Yemeni soldiers, militants clash, killing 19
Sep 7, 2011
Battles between the Yemeni army and militants killed 19 people in the country’s south on Tuesday, as the military struggles to regain control of areas seized by fighters.
Six soldiers and 13 militants were killed in clashes in a western suburb of Zinjibar on Tuesday, a military official said. Three soldiers and an unknown number of militants were wounded, the official said.
The army launched an offensive in the south two months ago after Islamist militants, emboldened by months of mass protests, took over at least three towns in volatile Abyan province, including its seaside capital, Zinjibar.
Since then, violence has raged in Abyan, with militants attacking soldiers and security officials almost daily and the army sending troops and war planes to strike back.
The official said militants had been pushed back into Zinjibar on Tuesday from the al-Kowd area, leaving behind caches of weapons and the bodies of dead comrades.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/September/
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Twin suicide blasts kill 20, wound 32 in Pakistan
7 September 2011
Twin suicide bombs targeting security forces responsible for this week capturing senior Al Qaeda operatives killed 16 people and wounded 32 others in Quetta, SW Pakistan.
One attacker detonated his bomb-laden car outside the residence of the deputy chief of the Frontier Corps in Quetta city, before a second attacker blew himself up inside the house, said senior police official Hamid Shakil.
‘Sixteen people have been killed and 32 were wounded,’ he said.
‘It was a twin suicide attack. The house was badly damaged... some members of the family were severely injured. The deputy inspector general himself is injured,’ he said.
Four members of the Frontier Corps were among the dead, including a senior officer, Shakil and a local security official said, and the wife of the deputy chief and two children were also killed.
The residence of the deputy inspector general is close to other government buildings and official residencies in the city of Quetta, the main town of Baluchistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
The Frontier Corps is Pakistan’s paramilitary force and took part in an operation on Monday to arrest a senior Al Qaeda leader believed to have been responsible for planning attacks on the United States, Europe and Australia.
Younis Al Mauritani was picked up in the suburbs of Quetta along with two other high-ranking operatives after US and Pakistani spy agencies joined forces, according to the Pakistan army.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/
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Roadside bomb kills Afghan governor, 3 guards
Sep 7, 2011
KABUL: An Afghan district governor and three of his guards were killed on Tuesday when their vehicle was blown up in a Taliban roadside bomb in the east of the country, an official said.
Asil Khan Khogyani, the governor of Sherzad district in Nangarhar province, was killed along with his guards while driving to work in the troubled region, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, the provincial administration spokesman.
“Asil Khan was killed in a roadside bomb attack. Three of his guards, one of them also driving the car, were also killed,” he added. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed, contacting AFP from an undisclosed location, said the insurgent group was responsible. “In a bomb attack, the Sherzad district governor was murdered today,” he said. Roadside bombs are the most commonly used weapon of the Taliban and are responsible for the bulk of military deaths in the US-led coalition force and Afghan security forces.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C09%5C07%5Cstory_7-9-
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Fresh deaths in Syrian crackdown
Sep 7, 2011
Two more civilians killed in city of Homs as UN secretary-general issues strongest yet condemnation of crackdown.
Syrian security forces have opened fire in the central city of Homs, killing two people as armoured vehicles rolled through the streets, activists said.
Two mechanics were killed at their workplace in the town of al-Restan near Homs, the Local Coordination Committees, a Syrian activist network, said on Tuesday.
City residents were hiding in homes and offices to escape the gunfire, while armoured vehicles were "shooting toward anything moving," the LCC said, citing witnesses on the ground.
The fresh deaths came as Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, made his strongest remarks yet on the crackdown under way against Syrian anti-government protesters.
He condemned the violence, which he said was being committed by President Bashar al-Assad's regime against his people during the five-month-old uprising.
Ban called on Assad to take "bold and decisive measures before it's too late".
"It's already too late, in fact,'' Ban said in New Zealand, where he was attending a meeting of Pacific leaders.
Full report at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/09/20119611405718393.html
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Freed Egyptians tell of torture in Libyan jails
Sep 7, 2011
BENGHAZI, Libya — Withdrawn and gaunt faces, some 30 Egyptians holed up in a modest Libyan hotel speak of the incarceration and torture they suffered at the hands of Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists.
“They told me, ‘You Egyptians, you caused problems in your country, and now you have come to destroy ours’,” said Mahmud Abu Zeid, referring to the popular uprising that ousted neighbouring Egypt’s president Hosni Mubarak in February.
“They wanted me to say that I was armed and had encouraged Libyans to rise up against Gaddafi,” he said.
The 31-year-old said he was the first Egyptian to have been jailed in Abu Slim, a district of Tripoli that saw some of the fiercest fighting and worst atrocities before Gaddafi lost his grip on the capital late last month.
Abu Zeid said the Gaddafi loyalists forced the Egyptians to record confessions that they had triggered the revolt against his regime, before they were eventually freed by revolutionary fighters.
“For five months, they gave electric shocks to my son. I was so weak that I was unable to walk, so they dragged me like a sack,” he said, adding, “I ended up recording their message.”
Under pressure he “confessed” to having used guns to encourage Libyans to call for the ouster of Gaddafi, he said, adding however that the Libyans who heard the recordings were not fooled.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/
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Members of Qaida-linked group released by Nigeria: WikiLeaks
Sep 7, 2011
ABUJA: A leaked US diplomatic cable has revealed that members of an al-Qaida linked Islamic sect, Boko Haram in Nigeria, who were arrested for bombings and shootings, were later released secretly by the country's state security service (SSS).
The cable said the release done by the country's secret police SSS was to please powerful traditional institutions in the country's northern region and an agreement was reached for the non-trial of terrorism suspects from the area.
The cable first published in Nigeria's Punch newspaper was signed by former US ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Renee Sanders, who wrote that the deal was part of SSS programme called "Perception Management" aimed to reform terrorism suspects and promote the view that there was no international angle to internal terrorism in Nigeria.
Terror suspects released were supposed to agree to report regularly to SSS and abandon extremism but some of those set free were found to be involved in recent bombing of a United Nations building in the oil rich African country.
According to the cable, suspects were often released despite being caught with explosives, arms and ammunitions, or linked to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
"12 suspects arrested and detained by the SSS in October 2007 for allegedly plotting terrorism attacks were released at different times in January and February 2008," the cable said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Members-of-Qaida-linked-group-
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People linked to Osama probe barred from leaving Pakistan
Sep 7, 2011
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani doctor, who assisted the CIA before the May 2 Abbottabad raid by US that killed Osama bin Laden, has been banned from leaving the country by the commission probing the covert military operation.
The ban came just few days after reports said that the US had sought the release of the Dr Shakeel Afridi.
Afridi, who is currently in the custody of security agencies, ran a fake polio vaccination drive on behalf of the CIA in a bid to obtain DNA samples of bin Laden's family in Abbottabad, months before the world's most wanted terrorist was killed by US Special Forces on May 2.
"Abbottabad Commission has imposed a ban on travelling abroad for all persons related to Abbottabad incident including Dr Shakeel Afridi till further orders," a spokesman for the Commission said.
"No such person should be allowed to leave the country without clearance from the Abbottabad Commission," he said in a statement.
Official sources have confirmed that US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari on July 28 to seek his help in securing Afridi's release, 'The Express Tribune' daily had reported on Sunday.
However, Zardari reportedly turned down the request, arguing that the matter was before the judicial commission, which has been investigating the circumstances surrounding the death and presence of bin Laden in Abbottabad, sources said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/People-linked-to-Osama-probe-barred-
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U.N. Court Jails Serbia's Ex-Army Chief Perisic for 27 Years
Sep 7, 2011
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The U.N.'s Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal sentenced Serbia's former army chief, Momcilo Perisic, to 27 years in jail on Tuesday for murder, persecution and attacks on civilians in Bosnia and Croatia in the 1990s.
Perisic, 67, was found guilty of helping Serb troops to plan and carry out war crimes, including the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and of the 42-month-long siege of Sarajevo. He was also convicted of securing financial and logistical support for Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia.
Perisic becomes the first Belgrade official to be convicted for Serbia's role in the wars in Bosnia and Croatia -- a role the government in Serbia has always staunchly denied.
"Momcilo Perisic was found criminally responsible for aiding and abetting murder, inhumane acts, attacks on civilians and persecution on political, racial or religious grounds in Sarajevo and Srebrenica," said Judge Bakone Justice Moloto.
The judge said the trial chamber found Perisic oversaw logistical assistance to Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia which included a "vast quantity of infantry and artillery ammunition, fuel, spare parts, training and technical assistance."
The court also found Perisic bore command responsibility for the shelling of the Croatian capital Zagreb in 1995.
Serbia's defence minister, Dragan Sutanovac, said the sentence was "too grave."
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/09/06/world/europe/international-us-warcrimes-
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CIA greatest concentration of talent and capability: David Petraeus
Sep 7, 2011
WASHINGTON: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the "greatest" concentration of talent and capabilities that the US has, the spy agency's director, David Petraeus has said.
Petraeus said this in a town hall with the agency staff after he was sworn in as the CIA's 20th director by the vice-president, Joe Biden.
"I have the absolute highest regard for you and for this Agency. I believe it's one of the greatest concentrations of talent and capability that our country has," Petraeus said in his address to the Agency's global workforce from the auditorium at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
In his speech, Petraeus emphasised importance of independent analysis, agile operations, and cutting-edge technology in meeting the challenges of the Agency's worldwide mission.
"I respect the intellectual firepower as well as the courage, initiative, and selfless commitment that are the hallmarks of this organisation. And I truly feel very privileged to be part of such a legendary institution," he said.
Petraeus answered questions from the standing-room-only crowd about topics such as his leadership style, his goals for the Agency, and the CIA's relationship with partner agencies around the Intelligence Community.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/CIA-greatest-concentration-of-talent-and-
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Yemen ruling party mulls UN plan to end crisis
7 September 2011
SANAA — Yemen’s ruling General People’s Congress met Tuesday to consider a UN plan to end the violence rocking the country since protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh erupted in January, a source close to the party leadership told AFP.
The party’s political bureau was “studying a mechanism for implementing the Gulf initiative put forward by UN envoy Jamal Benomar” on a recent visit to Yemen, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The plan drawn up by the six wealthy Gulf states in coordination with the European Union and the United States called for the immediate formation of a government of national unity with Saleh stepping down a month later in return for a promise of immunity but the president has repeatedly refused to sign it.
Opposition sources said that the UN plan called for the formal transfer of power to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi by Saleh, who has been in Saudi Arabia since early June being treated for blast wounds sustained in a bomb attack on his place but has so far refused to hand over the reins.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/September/
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Clinton talks to Abbas over Palestinian UN bid
7 September 2011
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas ahead of a showdown over the Palestinians’ controversial bid for UN membership, the State Department said.
The Palestinians are expected to make their bid later this month before the United Nations General Assembly — a move Washington opposes. The US is seeking to set up a new round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Clinton urged Abbas ‘to work hard with us to avoid a negative scenario in New York at the end of the month,’ State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
Abbas will Wednesday meet with US Middle East envoy David Hale, and Clinton called on the Palestinian leadership to ‘hear him with open ears’ as Washington hopes to avert a potentially rancorous UN meeting.
White House spokesman Jay Carney meanwhile said the Palestinian effort was ‘not productive or helpful,’ telling reporters that peace needed to be ‘negotiated directly by both parties.’
Making the UN membership bid without a peace plan in place would ‘not bring the Palestinians any closer to statehood,’ he said.
Washington is said to be seeking to draft a proposal for peace talks that will be acceptable to Israel, as well as Russia, the European Union and the UN — the other members of the international peacemaking Quartet.
‘We are going to continue to work right up until the UN General Assembly, if necessary, to get these parties back to the table, and we’ll continue to work afterwards,’ Nuland said of US efforts.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/September/
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Pentagon insists no decision on Iraq troop numbers
7 September 2011
Washington — The Pentagon insisted Tuesday no decision has been made on future US troop levels in Iraq as lawmakers voiced alarm over reports the White House was weighing a potential option for retaining as few as 3,000 troops on the ground.
Iraqi leaders have announced plans to open talks with Washington on keeping a US military force beyond an end-of-year deadline, but the size of possible future mission remains an open question.
The Pentagon faced questions about troop plans after Fox News and CNN, citing unnamed officials, reported President Barack Obama’s advisers were considering an option that would leave a smaller force of 3,000 troops in Iraq, down from the roughly 46,000 now in place.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declined to specify what troop options were on the table and said the size of a post-2011 force would depend on the outcome of discussions with Baghdad.
‘No decision has been made with regard to numbers of troops,’ Panetta told reporters during a visit to the new 9/11 memorial in New York City.
‘With regards to what our presence will look like on that, that is going to be a subject of negotiations with Iraqis,’ he said.
Full report at:
ttp://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/September
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Al Qaeda weaker 10 years after 9/11: US defense chief
September 07, 2011
Al Qaeda has been severely weakened in the decade since the 9/11 attacks while the United States has demonstrated a spirit of resilience, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday.
Speaking in New York City after he paid a visit to the stunning new 9/11 memorial at
Ground Zero, Panetta said Americans could take heart that al Qaeda had suffered a series of blows in recent years.
"We can take great pride that since 9/11 we have achieved very significant success in going after al Qaeda, in going after al Qaeda's leadership," he told reporters.
Three of the top four leaders in al Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden who was killed in a controversial US raid in May, are now dead, seriously damaging the organization, Panetta said.
But he warned that America had to remain vigilant and keep relentless pressure on the global terror network blamed for the September 11, 2001 assault that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
"They continue to plan attacks and I don't think we can take anything for granted," he said.
As CIA director until he took over the Pentagon in July, Panetta presided over an intense drone bombing campaign against militants in Pakistan as well as the raid by US Navy commandos that killed bin Laden.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/americas/Al-Qaeda-weaker-10-years-after-9-
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Sanctions, unrest hitting Syria economy: minister
7 September 2011
Syria’s finance minister said economic growth in his country was expected to drop to around one percent because of unrest, and acknowledged EU sanctions could harm the economy.
‘Now, it will be around one percent, because of the events ... maybe between one to two percent,’ minister Mohammad Jleilati told reporters on the sidelines of an Arab ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi when asked about economic growth.
He said the Syrian economy grew 5.5 percent in 2010, and expected the gross domestic product to grow by around three percent next year.
More than 2,200 people have been killed in Syria since mass protests erupted across the country in March, according to UN figures.
‘The current circumstances, no doubt, have some negative impact on the economy. We hope to overcome it through reforms,’ he said.
The regime of President Bashar Al Assad has promised to launch a wide range of reforms to appease pro-democracy protesters.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/September/
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Pakistan`s airspace being used by Nato flights: cable
Sep 07 2011
WASHINGTON: A 2008 diplomatic cable, from the then US ambassador Anne Patterson, to Washington, confirmed news reports that Nato planes had been using Pakistan`s airspace with Islamabad`s consent.
The cable released by WikiLeaks said that about 150 Nato flights crossed Pakistan`s airspace every day.
The ambassador said that sometimes Pakistani planes tried to follow those planes but the efforts stopped after US officials spoke to senior Pakistani military officials.
Another cable sent on Nov 17, 2008, says that US military containers that pass through Pakistan on their way to Afghanistan never contain weapons or ammunition.
The cable sent notes that the Pakistani media often report that ammunition and arms off hijacked US convoys are being sold in Pakistan.
“To be clear, no weapons, ammunition or sensitive electronics are shipped to Afghanistan by land routes through Pakistan,” she told Washington while commenting on the media reports.
The cable notes that after the hijacking of two US military contracted trucks in 2008, “the Pakistani rumour mill has generated reports about weapon caches supposedly stolen from US military and Nato convoys complete with elaborate descriptions of non-existent contents of containers”.
The ambassador assures Washington that “any reports of agents buying weapons from stolen US military or Nato containers are false”.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/07/pakistans-airspace-being-used-by-nato-flights-
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Doctor who helped CIA barred from leaving Pakistan
Sep 07 2011
ISLAMABAD: A doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden has been barred from leaving Pakistan, a commission investigating the killing of the al-Qaeda leader said Tuesday.
Dr. Shakil Afridi ran a phony vaccination program in the Pakistani town where the al-Qaeda leader hid in an effort to obtain a DNA sample from him.
Afridi is being detained by Pakistani authorities, but has not been charged with any crime.
American officials want him released, and his fate has become a complicating issue in strained relations between the two country’s spy services.
There has been speculation Afridi and his family may leave Pakistan if he is freed.
The government-appointed commission said Tuesday that Afridi and other people who are wanted for questioning are banned from leaving Pakistan without special clearance.
The commission has been tasked with investigating how bin Laden managed to hide in the army town of Abbottabad for so long, and the circumstances surrounding the US operation.
It is headed by a Supreme Court justice, and its members are a retired general, a former diplomat, a former police chief and a civil servant.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/07/doctor-who-helped-cia-barred-from-leaving-pakistan.html
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Efforts on to include human rights in syllabuses: Jeddah Human Rights
Sep 7, 2011
JEDDAH: Chairman of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) Mufleh Al-Qahtani has said the organization is making efforts to introduce the subject of human rights in higher and general education syllabuses in Saudi Arabia.
“The organization has put a special emphasis on this issue, held seminars and carried out activities in this regard,” he said on Tuesday.
Al-Qahtani said a joint workshop between the organization and the Ministry of Education made specific recommendations on the issue that were currently being studied.
“We are still debating whether to teach human rights as a separate subject or include it as part of other existing subjects,” he said.
The chairman said he personally preferred teaching human rights as a separate subject because it would have a better impact. “This is better than including human rights as part of other subjects,” he added.
He underlined the importance of teaching human rights at the very early levels of general education and said this would improve the behavior of human beings and spread a culture of tolerance and respect for others.
A debate on introducing the subject of human rights in school and university syllabuses is nothing new in the Kingdom.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article498385.ece
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Asala Nasri supports Syrian revolution; launches song
Sep 07 2011
DAMASCUS: Syrian singer Asala Nasri has said she does not care about the campaign against her because of her position against the Syrian government.
The singer said she faced harsh criticism from people due to her stance against the government’s crackdown. She said that killing innocent children was a crime and that the country belonged to everyone and not to someone in particular. She said Syrian people were simply demanding their basic rights and that they were proud of their country and belonged to it. Nasri launched a new revolution song titled “If the chair could speak.”
http://arabnews.com/lifestyle/offbeat/article498405.ece
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Somalia’s Al-Shabab ban non-Arabic signs on shops
Sep 07 2011
MOGADISHU: Somalia’s hard-line Al-Shabab group has ordered businesses and shop vendors on the outskirts of the capital to remove English and Somali posters and replace them with billboards in Arabic.
The latest edict announced from loudspeakers perched on cars is a sign the militants are intent on stamping their own strict laws on areas they still control, after withdrawing from the heart of Mogadishu early last month.
Residents of camp settlements at Kilometer 13, Elasha, Lafole and Afgoy on the outskirts of Mogadishu said the rebels, who have banned musical ringtones, movies and dancing at weddings, have warned residents they could face a court if they fail to comply within a month.
“They already started tearing down the main shop signs last night after they imposed a curfew in the town. They ordered us to change signs into Arabic, which can’t be understood by the people, since most understand either Somali or English,” Abdi Jamal, a businessman in Kilometer 13 said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article498466.ece
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Afghanistan says more than half of provinces poppy-free
Sep 07 2011
KABUL: Poppy cultivation has been eradicated from more than half of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, the minister for counter-narcotics said on Tuesday, but the fight ahead remains hard as the anti-drug campaign moves to the most insecure parts of the country.
Afghanistan, which supplies about 77 percent of the world’s opium, was making progress by building on the success achieved in the southern province of Helmand, Zarar Ahmad Moqbel Osmani told a conference of drug enforcement officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Russia.
“This year the number of provinces eradicated from poppy increased from 12 to 18, the number of villages from 302 to 584,” he said.
But poppy cultivation remained high in those parts of the country where the Taleban insurgency is at its most deadly.
Osmani quoted from a 2010 survey by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that said 91 percent of the poppy lands were located in insecure provinces.
Taleban-led militants are believed to derive $100-to-$400 million a year from production and drug trafficking, fueling insecurity.
Poppy cultivation in Helmand, a key province that produces around half the country’s opium, has fallen though due to a program of crop substitution, eradication and enforcement.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article498382.ece
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Nato halts Afghan prisoner transfer
Sep 07 2011
The Nato-led mission in Afghanistan has suspended the transfer of detainees to several Afghan jails, following torture allegations, the BBC has learned.
The accusations come in an as-yet unpublished UN report, which describes how prisoners were beaten and in some cases given electric shocks.
The jails are run by the Afghan police and intelligence service.
A Nato official said it was a "prudent" measure until the allegations could be investigated.
'Major setback'
"With appropriate caution, Isaf [International Security and Assistance Force] has taken the prudent measure to suspend detainee transfer to certain facilities until we can verify the observations of a pending Unama [UN Mission in Afghanistan] report," a Nato official told the BBC.
The facilities that are involved are prisons run by the Afghan National Department of Security (NDS) in Herat, Khost, Lagman, Kapisa and Takhar as well as the NDS' Counter-Terrorism prison, known as Department 124.
Isaf has also suspended the transfer of detainees to two prisons run by the Afghan Police in Kunduz and Tarin Kowt.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=32097
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Continued US aid to Pakistan naive at best: US Senator
Sep 07 2011
Chicago : The United States should cut off all aid to Pakistan, whose own intelligence service has been backing and protecting the Haqqani network, US Senator Mark Kirk has said.
Following a two-week deployment to Afghanistan, Senator Kirk, a US Naval intelligence officer, offered a bold proposal to save the US money and punish a disloyal ally by stopping aid to Pakistan, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Pointing to a map of Afghanistan, the Illinois Republican told the Sun-Times Editorial Board that the newest hot spots in the eastern region around the capital of Kabul are coming under the influence of the “Haqqani network”, which is based in Pakistan and protected by the Pakistani government and military.
“As much as the Pakistani officials claim otherwise, the Haqqanis are backed and protected by Pakistan’s own intelligence service,” Kirk said. “Statements by Pakistani government officials to the contrary are lies.”
While the Pakistan Government does cooperate with the US on “two dozen” captures or killings of Al Quaida officials every year, its protection of forces that are killing American troops outweighs the benefits of US support, Kirk argued.
Continued aid to Pakistan is “naive at best, counter-productive at worst,” the US Senator said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/continued-us-aid-to-pakistan-naive-at-best-us-
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US considering keeping 3,000 troops in Iraq
Sep 07 2011
Washington : The US is considering the option of keeping some 3,000 troops in Iraq by the end of the year, according to media reports.
Media reports here said that a recommendation in this regard has been sent to the White House by the Defence Secretary Leon Panetta.
But the White House and Pentagon denied the reports and said the option would be considered only if Iraq made such a request.
"We have said in the past that, if the security component of that relationship, if the Iraqi government makes a request of us, we will certainly consider it. That request has not been made, no decisions have been made, and so we are operating, as of now, under the existing agreements," the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
The President, he said, has made abundantly clear for a long time now that he will end US efforts in Iraq responsibly.
"We have been operating on a timetable that has withdrawn over a hundred thousand US forces since he took office, in a way that has been incredibly careful and responsible and has allowed the Iraqis to further build up their security forces and improve their capacities," Carney said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-considering-keeping-3-000-troops-in-iraq/842969/
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Nato suspends transfers to some Afghan prisons over torture fears
Sep 07 2011
KABUL: Nato-led foreign forces have stopped handing over prisoners to several Afghan jails ahead of the release of a UN report warning of torture, a move that raises fresh questions about plans to hand security over to Afghan forces.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) declined official comment on prisoner transfer policy.
But an official, who asked not to be identified, said the transfers had stopped “a few days ago” to at least eight facilities — run by police and intelligence services — across the country, including western Herat, eastern Khost and Kapisa and northern Kunduz and Takhar provinces.
“With appropriate caution, Isaf has taken the prudent measure to suspend detainee transfer to certain facilities until we can verify the observations of a pending (UN) report,” the official said.
The UN report is expected to be released within a few days. The UN could not immediately be reached for comment.
Afghanistan’s prisons are over-crowded and beset by a range of problems, including inmate violence.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/07/nato-suspends-transfers-to-some-afghan-prisons-over-
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Syria targets Homs as U.N. chief calls for international action
Sep 07 2011
CAIRO — Syrian security forces intensified a crackdown in the restive central city of Homs on Tuesday and appeared to be rounding up protest organizers around the country, according to activists, as the head of the United Nations issued his strongest call to date for international action in the five-month-old conflict.
Protesters speaking via Skype and telephone from Homs said that security forces had overrun several neighborhoods in the city, with armored vehicles roaming the streets and snipers posted on many buildings.
“The city is completely besieged. When I go to the balcony, I can see the snipers on the tall building in front of me,” said a Homs resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of safety concerns.
“It’s a nightmare,” he said. “A really big number of the activists were arrested” Monday. One activist group put the number of detainees at 200.
At least two people, including a 15-year-old boy, died in Homs on Tuesday when security forces opened fire at a checkpoint. Residents also discovered five bodies dumped in the street, apparently from raids Monday, activists said.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/activists-report-more-arrests-killings-
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Official: Turkey to expel 3 Israeli diplomats
Sep 07 2011
Istanbul (CNN) -- In a further escalation of tensions between Israel and Turkey, at least three Israeli diplomats are being expelled from the Israeli Embassy in Ankara, Israeli officials said Wednesday.
The Israeli consulate, however, appears to be unaffected by the Turkish downgrade of diplomatic relations with Israel.
"Consulates and embassies are not in the same status," said Ohad Kaynar of the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. "There are treaties that define what consulates are supposed to do. The personnel that are being expelled are from the embassy. As of now, we have not heard anything from the Turkish foreign ministry regarding expulsion of any of the consulate personnel."
On Tuesday, Turkey's fiery prime minister compared Ankara's once-close ally in the Middle East to a "spoiled boy" and announced additional sanctions would soon be imposed.
"We are completely suspending all of these, trade relations, military relations, related with the defense industry," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, according to the semi-official Anatolian Agency. "All of these are completely suspended and other measures will follow this process."
Full report at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/09/07/israel.turkey/
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Countrys fog-landing pioneer grounded
Sep 08 2011
One of Indias finest and most experienced pilots of the Airbus A-320 family of aircraft became a victim of the powerful blast outside Delhi High Court on Wednesday.Captain Ron Nagar,a former director with Indian Airlines who is now senior vice-president (operations) with Kingfisher and an active pilot,along with his brother Dr John Nagar,was outside gate no.5 of the court when the bomb went off.
Ron Nagar received shrapnel injuries on his right eye,some part of the face,right arm and legs.Both the brothers were rushed to RML Hospital.After getting first aid,their family members decided to take them to Max Hospital,Saket.Rons wife,who was present in the government hospital,said both brothers had gone to the high court for a personal matter.She said Dr John Nagar also sustained serious shrapnel injuries on his face and legs.Sources said Rahul Gandhi especially visited Ron in the RML hospital due to the victims closeness to the Gandhi family.
Full report at: Times of India
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/delhi-blast-bangla-group-huji/d/5421