Egypt to recall Israel envoy over Sinai shootings
Afghanistan bus accident kills 35
Infiltration bid foiled in Valley; 5 militants, Army officer killed
‘Extremist’ foreign sites blocked in Kazakhstan
My Book Drumming Support for Father's Killer: Aatish Taseer
Probe Violence Against Journalists, UN to Pakistan
Taliban claims responsibility for Pak mosque bombing
Five killed in Karachi, toll reaches 77 in four days
Indian Muslim response to Anna campaign: Anarchy is not the option
Norway attacks: Breivik bereaved visit Utoeya island
Urdu speaking people being picked & killed in Karachi: Raza Haroon
Iran jails US hikers for eight years for spying
11,604 terrorist attacks in 72 countries in 2010
Doctor: Lockerbie bomber may live for years
Taslima to add glitter to Nepal's first lit fest
Al Qaeda announces 100-attack Iraq campaign
Libya: Former Gaddafi No. 2 Jalloud has defected, say rebels
In Oz state, jail term for refusal to remove veil
Egypt recalls ambassador to Israel over ambush
Norway massacre survivors return to death scene
Pak feels secure about ties with 'all-weather' ally China: Envoy
Hit 85 Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq : Turkey
Syria condemns Obama’s call for Assad to quit
In Madinah for Ramadan, worshippers relish traditional hospitality
Ramadan in Russia: Faith rules despite long fasting hours
Syed Ali Shah Geelani threatens stir for release of prisoners, stonepelters
Lokayukta cannot touch commission's cases
Yusuf Raza Gilani calls upon Muslim countries to work together to build a strong Islamic intellectual base
Torture, bribery inside Central Prison Karachi
Small, devoted Muslim congregation worships together at Amherst mosque
When Terrorism Isn't Terrorism
Islam and Europe: An Equal and Opposite Reaction
Teen lover who was refused marriage accused of murder of women in Turkey
US calls suicide mosque attack in Pakistan 'deplorable'
Hamas announces end of ceasefire with Israel
Eastern oil terminal Brega seized: Libyan rebels
NATO oil tankers attacked in Pakistan
Pakistan: Husband, woman charged in murder of wife in US
Airstrike kills five in southern Yemen town
Firing outside Quetta passport office; one killed
Pentagon plays down comments on US role in Iraq
Zawahiri urges to avenge Osama bin Laden killing
US keeps Iran, Syria, Sudan, Cuba on terror blacklist
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/egypt-recall-israel-envoy-sinai/d/5290
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Egypt to recall Israel envoy over Sinai shootings
Aug 20, 2011
Egyptian state TV has said the country is recalling its ambassador to Israel until Israel explains why it reportedly shot dead five Egyptian policemen.
Demanding an apology, Egypt's cabinet was quoted as saying Cairo held Israel politically and legally responsible and was summoning the Israeli ambassador.
Israel says it will investigate the shooting, said to have happened as its forces pursued Palestinian militants.
The latest violence began on Thursday when gunmen attacked Israeli buses.
Eight people were killed in the attacks, near the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat.
Egyptian officials say Israeli forces chased the suspected militants across the border, and a number of people were killed - including the policemen.
Tensions between Israel and Egypt have escalated sharply, the BBC's Yolande Knell reports from Jerusalem.
Their 30-year-old peace treaty was already being tested after the long-time Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, was forced from office earlier this year, our correspondent says.
'Erosion of order'
Hundreds of Egyptians protested outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo overnight, burning the Israeli flag and demanding that the Israeli ambassador be expelled from the country. Protests were reportedly continuing on Saturday morning.
As the numbers of protesters grew outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo, the chants grew louder.
"We don't want any ties with Israel," one protester, Ahmed Aggoura, told the BBC.
"Israel is only interested in a subservient Egypt, not a free Egypt. By protesting outside the embassy we're sending them a clear message. This is not Mubarak's Egypt anymore. If you kill our soldiers, there will be consequences."
On Friday, in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, a protester managed to take down the Israeli flag from the consulate there and replaced it with Egyptian and Palestinian flags.
After the initial Eilat attack, Israel expressed concern about security in the Sinai Peninsula and said Palestinian attackers had reached Eilat after entering Egypt from Gaza and travelling through the Sinai desert.
But, according to Egyptian state TV, the Egyptian cabinet issued a statement on Saturday denying it had lost control of the Sinai and demanding an apology from the Israeli leadership over "the sad and hasty remarks about Egypt".
"The cabinet assigns the Egyptian foreign minister to summon the Israeli ambassador in Cairo... in protest over shootings on the Israeli side of the border that led to deaths on the Egyptian side," the statement said.
Egypt's ambassador to Israel was being recalled, the cabinet said, "until we are notified about the results of an investigation by the Israeli authorities".
Cairo said it regarded the attack as a breach of the 1979 peace treaty between the two nations, and blamed Israel for lax border controls.
Lawless region
Under Mr Mubarak, ties between the two nations had been stable after a history of conflict.
But Mr Mubarak's ousting in a popular uprising has sparked fears among Israeli officials that a less amenable government could take charge in Cairo.
And correspondents say the Sinai desert region of Egypt has become increasingly lawless since Mr Mubarak was ousted, with a rise in militant activity inspired by al-Qaeda.
Speaking to the BBC's Today programme on Friday, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev warned there had been an "erosion of law and order in some parts of Sinai in the last few weeks".
But he added: "Israel and Egypt have a common interest in the border remaining quiet and not allowing extremist elements to establish a platform in Sinai.
"I understand that the Egyptians have no interest whatsoever in once again extremist elements escalating violence along the border."
Since Thursday's attacks, Israeli aircraft have repeatedly attacked targets in the Gaza Strip, while Palestinian militants have fired more than 20 rockets into Israel.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14600357#story_continues_2
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Afghanistan bus accident kills 35
Aug 20, 2011
At least 35 people have been killed and several more injured in a bus crash in southern Afghanistan.
Officials in Kandahar province said the bus was travelling at speed along the main road linking Kandahar city to the capital, Kabul.
The driver lost control and the bus overturned.
Road traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, and are usually blamed on bad roads, unsafe vehicles and poor driving.
Afghan officials said the accident happened in the early hours of Saturday in the Daman area, about 25 miles (40km) east of Kandahar city.
"This morning we received 35 dead and 24 injured from a bus crash incident," said the head of Kandahar Public Health, Abdul Qayoom Pokhla.
A Kandahar government spokesman said many of the injured were in serious conditions.
Provincial traffic department head Mohammadollah blamed the driver for the accident, saying he was fast and reckless, according to local media reports.
Mohammadollah said a team had been despatched to the area to investigate.
The Interior Ministry issued a statement warning people to drive carefully "because a small reckless move can endanger many lives".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14601034
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Infiltration bid foiled in Valley; 5 militants, Army officer killed
Aug 20 2011
Srinagar : Five militants and an Army officer were killed and two jawans injured as troops today foiled a major infiltration bid near the Line of Control in Gurez sector of Kashmir Valley.
A large group of heavily-armed militants was trying to sneak into the Gurez Valley from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir when they were noticed by troops.
The militants were challenged by the soldiers, leading to a gunbattle.
"Five militants have been killed so far and the operation is in progress," Defence Spokesman Lt Col J S Brar said.
He said a Lieutenant was also killed while two soldiers were injured in the operation.
This is one of the biggest infiltration bid by militants from PoK this year.
Attempts by militants to infiltrate from PoK into the Valley have increased as the natural passes along the LoC will be soon closed with the onset of winter.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/infiltration-bid-foiled-in-valley;-5-militants-army-officer-killed/834643/
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‘Extremist’ foreign sites blocked in Kazakhstan
Aug 20, 2011
ALMATY: A court in Kazakhstan ruled on Friday to block access to 13 foreign Internet sites, including the popular blogging service LiveJournal, saying they were propagating terrorism and inciting religious hatred.
“These Internet resources ... including LiveJournal ... spread materials with propaganda of terrorism and religious extremism and open calls to committing acts of terror and making explosive devices,” Ailana Iskendirova, spokeswoman for the district court in the capital Astana, told Reuters.
Kazakhstan, where 70 percent of the 16.5 million population are Muslim, has so far avoided the militant violence that has hit ex-Soviet neighbors in Central Asia. But a recent series of unexplained blasts and violent clashes between well-armed gunmen in several parts of the vast, oil-rich country have unnerved the authorities.
The incidents have cast a shadow over Kazakhstan’s image as a stable nation in the volatile region which borders Afghanistan.
The court spokeswoman declined to give examples of the illegal activities, adding that the court had taken its decision after a prosecutor launched a case against these sites, saying “their materials contradict Kazakhstan’s legislation.”
“The decision comes into force on Aug. 20,” she said. Svetlana Ivannikova, head of LiveJournal Russia(www.livejournal.ru), which is popular among Kazakh bloggers, said she had not seen the ruling and did not know why the site had been blocked in Kazakhstan. “The Kazakh state authorities have not addressed us with any
requests to delete any materials from LiveJournal,” she said.
“It is hard to make any comments until we have seen the relevant ruling by the court.”
Kazakhstan, ruled with a firm hand by President Nursultan Nazarbayev for more than two decades, is Central Asia’s largest and strongest economy. But human rights groups and the West have criticized its record on democracy, pointing to rigid state control of the media.
In 2008, access to LiveJournal was blocked after Rakhat Aliyev, the fugitive former son-in-law of Nazarbayev who fell out with the veteran leader, started his own blog on the site which contained scathing criticism of the government.
http://arabnews.com/world/article490959.ece
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My Book Drumming Support for Father's Killer: Aatish Taseer
Aug 20, 2011
New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS): Writer Aatish Taseer, son of slain Pakistani politician Salmaan Taseer, says the description of his father as "not a man of religion, but a brilliant well-read intellectual" in one of his books is being used to drum up support for his father's killer by a section of Pakistani society.
In an incident that shook Pakistan's liberals, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was assassinated Jan 4, 2011, by his own bodyguard for opposing the oppressive blasphemy law.
"A section is trying to say that he (Salmaan Taseer) was not as strict as one should be in his practice of Islam. It is because I described my father in my book as a cultural Muslim who was not a man of religion, but a brilliant well-read intellectual. For these people (fundamentalists), it is a justification," Aatish told IANS in an interview.
His book "Stranger to History: A Son's Journey Through Islamic Lands", released in 2009, is a political travelogue of his journey through Islamic Asia with a parallel story of his relationship with his estranged father.
Aatish, a London-based journalist, says he hasn't been to Pakistan ever since his father's death.
Full report at:
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=112667
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Probe Violence Against Journalists, UN to Pakistan
Aug 20, 2011
Geneva, Aug 20 (IANS): The UN has urged Pakistan to "take immediate steps" to probe the recent spate of killings and disappearances of journalists in the country.
"In the past eight days alone, we have received reports on the killing of one journalist", Munir Shakir in Balochistan Aug 14.
"And the disappearance of another journalist, Rehmatullah Darpakhel, in North Waziristan" Aug 11, said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Friday.
"We call on all responsible parties to immediately stop such violations of human rights, and we urge the government to take immediate steps to independently investigate these cases," Daily Times Saturday quoted him as saying.
Violence against journalist in Pakistan came into focus after Saleem Shahzad, who worked as correspondent for AKI and Asia Times, was abducted and murdered.
Shahzad, 40, was kidnapped in Islamabad May 29 and his body, bearing marks of severe torture, was found in a canal in Pakistan's Punjab province two days later.
He is widely believed to have been seized by intelligence officials for alleging in an article that terrorists attacked the PNS Mehran naval base in Karachi May 22 after the navy refused to free sailors held for suspected militant links.
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=112700
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Taliban claims responsibility for Pak mosque bombing
Aug 20, 2011
The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for a devastating suicide attack on a mosque in the Khyber tribal agency that killed over 50 people, saying it was carried out in retaliation for local resistance against the militants.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Muhammad Talha said in a statement that Friday’s attack was directed against the Kukikhel tribe, whose members killed two militants recently.
Talha claimed the tribesmen had also destroyed three Taliban hideouts in the area.
A teenage suicide bomber blew himself up in the Jamia Masjid in Jamrud area of Khyber tribal agency after Friday prayers, killing more than 50 people and injuring more than 120.
The bombing was one of the worst terrorist attacks in recent months.
A tribal elder in Jamrud area said Taliban fighters had come to the mosque over a week ago to recruit new members.
Local residents refused to joined them and said they would not support the Taliban or the Lashkar-e-Islam, another militant group operating in Khyber.
Witnesses said that when the bomber entered the mosque on Friday, he shouted: “Who will throw me out of the area now?”
Over 250 people were in the mosque when the blast occurred.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2376169.ece
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Five killed in Karachi, toll reaches 77 in four days
20 Aug, 2011
KARACHI: Five people were killed in the metropolis on Saturday as violence continued unabated, Geo News reported Saturday. In four days of violence at least 77 people lost their lives.
Violence erupted in Karachi after the kidnapping and killing of five people belonging to Lyari. Violence was reported in North Karachi, F.B. Area, Orangi, Pak Colony and other areas of the city. An Edhi ambulance was attacked in Orangi, and three including the driver were injured. Mini buses were also attacked in Korangi and Sorhab Goth. The car of DIG East was also targeted in Korangi but no loss of life was reported.
The wave of violence began on August 17 and firing, hand grenade and rocket attacks took place in Tariq Road, Saddar, Soldier Bazaar, Kharadar and the Old City areas of the city. Sixteen including a former PPP MNA, Waja Karim Dad were killed while 20 others were injured.
On August 18, terrorists kidnapped and killed 30 people belonging to different areas of the city. Their bodies were recovered from the Old City area, Lyari, Pak Colony, Sher Shah and other areas of the city. Many of the victims had been decapitated.
Violence continued on August 19, and despite the presence of Interior Minister Rehman Malik in the city, 26 people were killed and 46 were injured.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=21095&title=Five-killed-in-Karachi,-toll-reaches-77-in-four-days
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Indian Muslim response to Anna campaign: Anarchy is not the option
By Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam
Aug 20, 2011
Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam on the dangerous brinkmanship of Anna Hazare and Co.
When Anna Hazare stood up against official corruption, I was there, along with other Indians, including Muslims, supporting him and his cause.
Sadly, like many other mass movements, we soon started to have a spectacle in which all kinds of fascists and shady characters had encircled Anna.
Today, many of us are forced to reconsider our position of backing Anna Hazare’s campaign. We do respect him and the enduring work he has done in Ralegan Siddhi as well as scores of villages around it.
We still stand by Anna’s complaint that there is too much of corruption in our public life and it must be done away with. However, the fact remains that Anna Hazare is being a little too simplistic.
It is quite obvious now that opportunistic elements are trying to come riding to power on an Anna wave like they did on the Jaiprakash Narain bandwagon in 1977. This sabotage of democracy and the replacement of the state by the mob cannot be allowed.
Full report at:
http://twocircles.net/2011aug19/anarchy_not_option.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_
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Norway attacks: Breivik bereaved visit Utoeya island
Aug 20, 2011
Family members and friends of Norwegians killed by a gunman last month have been visiting Utoeya island, the scene of the massacre.
The visit came as police were granted a request to keep the man who admitted to the killings, Anders Behring Breivik, in solitary confinement, as they continue their investigation.
Sunday will mark the end of a month of mourning for the 77 people who died.
A national memorial service will be held at an Oslo arena.
Some 1,500 survivors, relatives and close friends of the victims were expected to visit Utoeya island, where 69 people were gunned down, on Friday and Saturday.
Some 500 arrived in a light rain on the island on Friday.
They were to hear from investigators exactly where their loved ones died, and psychologists and clergymen would be on hand to offer support, officials said.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14591013
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Urdu speaking people being picked & killed in Karachi: Raza Haroon
20 Aug, 2011
KARACHI, (SANA): MQM leader Raza Haroon has said that the Urdu speaking people are being picked and killed in Karachi; meanwhile he posed question to the government as to why genocide of the Urdu speaking people is being committed during the Holy month of Ramzan.
He said human rights organizations should realise that gang war elements are involved in Karachi unrest. The world community should ask the government to control gang war and stop the genocide of Urdu speaking community.
Addressing a press conference along with members of Rabita Committee at Nine Zero, Raza Haroon said that MQM Rabita Committee will decide whether to join the government or not, adding that that the terrorists want to spoil relations between PPP and MQM.
He stated that more than fifty people were killed as a result of Lyari gang war and over thirty people kidnapped from the old city area of Karachi.
He said hand grenades are being used in violence and clashes between Peoples Peace Committee and gunmen. He added bomb attacks are being carried out on markets for non-payment of extortion.
Full report at:
http://www.sananews.net/english/2011/08/19/urdu-speaking-people-being-picked-killed-in-karachi-haroon/
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Iran jails US hikers for eight years for spying
20 Aug, 2011
Two US hikers accused of spying and illegally entering Iran have been jailed for eight years by a court in Tehran, reports say.
Iranian state TV's website said Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal each received three years for illegally entering Iran and five years for spying.
The two men deny the charges, saying they unknowingly crossed into the country while hiking in July 2009.
Their fellow hiker Sarah Shourd was released on bail last September.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14602835
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11,604 terrorist attacks in 72 countries in 2010
Aug 20, 2011
WASHINGTON: There were 11,604 terrorist attacks in 72 countries in 2010, which resulted in 49,901 victims, according to the annual US report on terrorism. “Although the number of attacks rose by almost five percent over the previous year, the number of deaths declined for a third consecutive year, dropping 12 percent from 2009,” the report said. The US State Department released its Reports on Terrorism on August 18. The annual report, which breaks down global terrorist attacks and terrorist group activity by region and country, includes a statistical annex that is prepared by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). The report includes a list of 47 foreign terrorist organisations designated by the United States, and it lists four nations designated as state sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Based on a yearlong collection of reports from every nation, of the 49,901 victims of terrorist acts, there were 13,186 people killed in 2010.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\20\story_20-8-2011_pg7_3
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Doctor: Lockerbie bomber may live for years
Aug 20 2011
Edinburgh : A Libyan man convicted of murdering 270 people by blowing up a passenger jet could live for several more years, a leading cancer specialist said today, two years after the terminally ill bomber was freed on compassionate grounds because he was close to death.
Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was released from a Scottish jail and flown back to Libya on August 20, 2009 after prison doctors estimated he had only three months to live.
His survival has made him a propaganda asset for embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and an embarrassment for British authorities, who are facing calls to return al-Megrahi to prison if Gaddafi's regime falls.
Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of killing 270 people, most of them American, when New York-bound Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988.
Scottish authorities have come under attack from around the world for the decision to release him on compassionate grounds after he had served eight years of a 27-year sentence. At the time, medical experts advising the Scottish prison service said he was close to death.
But Prof Roger Kirby, a London prostate cancer specialist, said 59-year-old al-Megrahi is likely taking a cutting-edge hormone treatment and "could live much longer, for several more years because of this drug."
Kirby, a consultant urologist at the Prostate Cancer Center in London, said doctors in Scotland would have been unaware of the new hormone-based therapy abiraterone, which was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and is still not available in Europe.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/doctor-lockerbie-bomber-may-live-for-years/834652/
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Taslima to add glitter to Nepal's first lit fest
Aug 20, 2011
KATHMANDU: Exiled Bangladeshi writer and feminist Taslima Nasrin's presence will add glitter to Nepal's first literary festival being held in Kathmandu this week inspired by the annual Jaipur litfest.
The 48-year-old, who celebrates her 49th birthday in exile next week, is appearing at the Ncell Nepal Literary Festival on Saturday evening to release the English translation of one of her books as well as speak on her writing.
Having found sanctuary for three years in Kolkata after the storm her writing triggered in Bangladesh, leading to a fatwa on her, Taslima was forced to leave after protests. She is flying from Norway through New Delhi after her Indian publisher, Vani Prakashan, connected her with the organisers of the Kathmandu fest.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Taslima-to-add-glitter-to-Nepals-first-lit-fest/articleshow/9673166.cms
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Al Qaeda announces 100-attack Iraq campaign
August 20, 2011
Al Qaeda's front group in Iraq said it has launched a campaign of 100 attacks across the country since the middle of August, in a statement seen on Saturday by AFP. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) said the campaign began on August 15, Iraq's deadliest day in more than a year, and would
exact revenge for the death of Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US special forces raid in Pakistan in May, and other senior leaders.
The group did not, however, explicitly claim any of the August 15 violence.
"We have started this stage with an invasion called 'Revenge for Sheikh Osama bin Laden and senior leaders'," said the statement, posted on the Honein jihadist website.
"The campaign started in the middle of the fasting month and, if God wills, it will end after 100 attacks," it said, referring to the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which runs through August.
"They will include raids, martyrdom operations (suicide attacks), roadside bombs, silenced weapons and snipers, in all cities, rural areas and provinces."
On August 15, the day the campaign apparently began, a series of attacks in 18 cities across Iraq left 74 people dead and more than 300 wounded, the deadliest day of violence in the country since May 2010.
The statement did not claim any of the day's attacks, which included suicide bombs, roadside blasts, and shootings.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/restofasia/Al-Qaeda-announces-100-attack-Iraq-campaign/Article1-735434.aspx
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Libya: Former Gaddafi No. 2 has defected, say rebels
Aug 20, 2011
BENGHAZI: Libyan rebels say a close Moammar Gaddafi associate who was once the No. 2 top regime official has defected in another blow to the increasingly isolated Libyan leader.
Abdel Salam Jalloud helped Gaddafi stage the 1969 coup that propelled him to power and transformed Libya from a monarchy to a republic. He was Gaddafi's most trusted deputy for two decades but began to clash with the leader starting in the 1990s.
Rebel spokesman Mahmoud Shammam said Friday that Jalloud had fled to a rebel-held area in the western mountains and was on his way to Europe. Pictures showing Jalloud in the western town of Zintan appeared on rebel Facebook pages.
Another rebel official, Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga, says that Jalloud defection, "gives us assurance that Gaddafi is weakening."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Libya-Former-Gaddafi-No-2-has-defected-say-rebels/articleshow/9668023.cms
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In Oz state, jail term for refusal to remove veil
Aug 20, 2011
MELBOURNE: Burqa clad Muslim women in the Australian state of New South Wales would have to remove their veils and show their faces if asked by the police or risk a jail term.
The new step is being introduced in the country's most populous state next week under which the police would be given sweeping powers to demand removal of any face covering, including helmets, masks and religious veils, for making identification.
Penalties for those who refuse would include fines or imprisonment.
But the State Premier Barry O'Farrell said the people objecting would be given option of getting identified privately.
The change in laws has been prompted by the case of a Sydney woman Carnita Matthews, who won a case against a policeman for forcibly remove her burqa. The magistrate gave her the benefit of doubt as police had been unable to see the face of the woman who made the accusation as she was donning a burqa.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/In-Oz-state-jail-term-for-refusal-to-remove-veil/articleshow/9668768.cms
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Egypt recalls ambassador to Israel over ambush
Aug 20 2011
Cairo : Egypt said Saturday it would recall its ambassador from Israel to protest the deaths of at least three Egyptian troops killed in a shootout between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants who had launched a deadly attack on Israel from Egyptian soil.
The decision sharply escalated tension between the neighboring countries, whose 1979 peace treaty is being tested by the fall of Egypt's longtime autocratic leader, Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt's interim government accused Israel of violating that treaty and demanded an apology, saying the envoy will be withdrawn until Israel concludes its investigation into the Egyptian security forces' deaths. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the Israeli government was holding consultations on the Egyptian move.
The cabinet, which was appointed by the ruling military council that took over power after Mubarak's ouster, revised an earlier statement saying the envoy, Yasser Reda, will be summoned for consultation, something that have signaled a lower-level spat. Israel was likely to see that as a worrisome sign that Egypt's new leaders would be more responsive to public opinion about the Jewish state, which remains overwhelmingly unpopular because of its conflict with the Palestinians.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/egypt-recalls-ambassador-to-israel-over-ambush/834682/
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Norway massacre survivors return to death scene
Aug 20 2011
Oslo : Survivors of the massacre of 69 people at a youth camp on a Norwegian island are revisiting the scene to grieve their lost friends.
Some 1,000 survivors and relatives are expected on Utoya island on Saturday, accompanied by police and medical staff, to recall the painful memories of the shooting spree by a right-wing extremist.
Anders Behring Breivik has admitted killing 77 people on July 22 when he detonated a truck bomb in central Oslo followed by the shooting massacre on the island.
On Friday, an Oslo court extended Breivik's isolation detention by another four weeks saying it still does not know if he acted alone.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/norway-massacre-survivors-return-to-death-scene/834685/
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Pak feels secure about ties with 'all-weather' ally China: Envoy
Aug 20 2011
Beijing : Pakistan feels secure about its relationship with 'all-weather' ally China which is developing its ties with India, Islamabad's top envoy here has said.
"We feel secure about our relationship with China and fully subscribe to China's views to work for international harmony. China's relations with India are developing, especially in the economic areas, even as they try to bridge their differences," Pakistan's Ambassador Masood Khan told a seminar here yesterday.
"We have worked hard to persuade India to start a dialogue process on all outstanding issues and implement confidence-building measures. Last month, we made a fresh beginning in New Delhi (when Foreign Ministers of the two countries held talks)," he said, according to Pakistan's state-run APP news agency.
China has also encouraged rapprochement and dialogue in South Asia, Khan said, adding "we gratefully recall that after the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008."
About Pakistan's ties with the US, he said it is a long-standing relationship which has seen ups and downs.
"In times of turbulence, we have talked to each other directly and resolved our differences. We are grateful to China that from time to time it has urged the US to understand Pakistan's strategic perspective and to fully acknowledge its contribution in the war against terrorism," he said.
"Pakistan is already very close to China and Sino-Pakistan relations have a unique trajectory.
Pakistan-China relations cannot be compared to any other relationship. They are not at the mercy of variations in other relationships.
Besides, the world today is more complex, pluralistic and inter-dependent," Khan said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-feels-secure-about-ties-with-allweather-ally-china-envoy/834659/
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Hit 85 Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq : Turkey
20 August 2011
Turkey — Turkey’s military says its warplanes have bombed 20 suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq in a third day of cross-border strikes.
The military says on its website Saturday that 85 other rebel targets were also hit with artillery fire in Friday’s assault.
It said all planes returned to their base safely and that work is under way to assess the damage and losses caused.
Turkey launched its latest cross-border offensive on Wednesday, hours after eight soldiers and a village guard were killed in an ambush near the Iraqi border.
Some 40 soldiers have been killed in attacks since July by rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
The group is fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict since 1984.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Turkish-jets-strike-at-PKK-in-Iraq/articleshow/9674008.cms
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Syria condemns Obama’s call for Assad to quit
20 August 2011
A government owned Syrian newspaper has condemned US and European statements calling on President Bashar Assad to step down.
The daily Al Thawra says such calls have revealed the ‘face of the conspiracy’ targeting Syria for its important role in the Middle East and Arab-Israeli conflict.
The paper added in a front-page editorial Saturday that sidelining Syria from the Mideast conflict is still a strategic aim for Israel, Washington and the West in general.
It said that Syria rejected any kind of foreign intervention in its internal affairs in the past. It said Damascus ‘will never permit anyone to do that (interfere) now.’
On Thursday, the United States and its European allies demanded Assad step down, citing the government’s military crackdown against protesters.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/August/middleeast_August489.xml§ion=middleeast
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In Madinah for Ramadan, worshippers relish traditional hospitality
Yousuf Muhammad
Aug 20, 2011
Madinah: Serving iftar meals to help visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque break their fast is part of the rich tradition of the people of Madinah that dates back to the period of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
They lay out hundreds of thousands of iftar meals on sufras (plastic table spreads) to feed visitors to the mosque every evening throughout the holy month. These sufras, which make the longest dining table on the face of the earth, in a way reflect the immense hospitality of the people of Madinah.
Tasting this hospitality provides an inexplicable experience for almost all Umrah pilgrims and visitors who come from all over the world to visit the holy mosque during Ramadan.
Speaking to Arab News, a number of pilgrims shared their amazing experience of having an iftar meal at one of these sufras.
Full report at:
http://www.ummid.com/news/2011/August/19.08.2011/ramadan_in_madinah.htm
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Ramadan in Russia: Faith rules despite long fasting hours
Aug 20, 2011
In the 1980s, Islam was the second most widespread religion in the Soviet Union. In that period, the number of Soviet citizens identifying themselves as Muslims generally totalled between 45-50 million. The majority of the Muslims resided in the Central Asian republics of the Soviet Union, which now are independent countries. In 1996 the Muslim population of Russia was estimated at 19 percent of all citizens professing belief in a religion. Major Islamic communities are concentrated among the minority nationalities residing between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea: the Adyghs, Balkars, Bashkirs, Chechens, Cherkess, Ingush, Kabardins, Karachay, and numerous Dagestani nationalities. In the middle Volga Basin are large populations of Tatars, Udmurts, and Chuvash, most of whom are Muslims. Many Muslims also reside in Ul’yanovsk, Samara, Nizhniy Novgorod, Moscow, Perm’, and Leningrad oblasts.
There is much evidence of official conciliation toward Islam in Russia in the 1990s. The number of Muslims allowed to make pilgrimage to Makkah increased sharply after the virtual embargo of the Soviet era ended in 1990. Copies of the Holy Qur’an are readily available, and many mosques are being built in regions with large Muslim populations. In 1995 the newly established Union of Muslims of Russia, led by Imam Khatyb Mukaddas of Tatarstan, began organizing a movement aimed at improving interethnic understanding and ending Russians’ lingering misconception of Islam as an extremist religion.
Ramadan
Full report at:
http://www.ummid.com/news/2011/August/14.08.2011/ramadan_in_russia.htm
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Syed Ali Shah Geelani threatens stir for release of prisoners, stonepelters
Aug 20, 2011
Hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani today threatened to launch an agitation if all political prisoners and stonepelters arrested during the last year's summer unrest were not released before Eid-ul-Fitr. "If all the political prisoners and those arrested on charges of stone
pelting last year are not released before Eid, we will launch an agitation," Geelani told reporters.
Geelani, who was placed under house arrest this morning, said he is not against any dialogue process for resolution of the Kashmir issue, but the Centre has to accept the disputed nature of the state.
Commenting on the protests led by Anna Hazare against corruption, Geelani said the movement started by the Gandhian would not yield any results till people do not transform their conscience at individual level. "The change has to come from within an individual... Only then can the menace of corruption be eradicated from any society," he added.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Geelani-threatens-stir-for-release-of-prisoners-stonepelters/Article1-735133.aspx
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Lokayukta cannot touch commission's cases
Rajiv Shah
Aug 20, 2011
GANDHINAGAR: Even if Gujarat government finally appoints a lokayukta after a gap of seven-and-a-half years to inquire into corruption charges in high offices, it will not be able to do much. State law minister Dilip Sanghani has told TOI that the 17 cases of alleged corruption, handed over to the state-appointed justice (retd) MB Shah commission of inquiry, have "automatically gone out of the purview of the lokayukta even if he is finally appointed."
Sanghani said, "The law is very clear. If appointed, the lokayukta will have no jurisdiction over cases that have been referred to the commission, set up under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952." He hastened to add, "We could not appoint a lokayukta due to lack of cooperation from leader of opposition in the state assembly. The Gujarat high court chief justice would send panel of names to select from. Yet, the opposition leader would insist on a particular name. How could we allow that?"
Sources quoted Section 8(b) of the Gujarat Lokayukta Act, 1986, which says that the "lokayukta shall not investigate any action" which has been "referred for inquiry under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952... by the state government." Further, the act's Section 7(2) specifies that "nothing... shall prevent the state government from referring the matter to such commission for inquiry if in its opinion the matter is exceptionally a matter of definite public importance."
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Lokayukta-cannot-touch-commissions-cases/articleshow/9668171.cms
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Yusuf Raza Gilani calls upon Muslim countries to work together to build a strong Islamic intellectual base
August 20, 2011
ISLAMABAD, (SANA): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has called upon Muslim countries to work together to build a strong Islamic intellectual base, carve out an Islamic vision of a political and economic order and participate positively in the shaping of the world.
He was speaking at an Iftar banquet he hosted in honour of the Muslim diplomats in Islamabad on Friday.
The Prime Minister said the Muslim Ummah should project the true image of Islam, that of peace, tolerance and welfare-oriented faith. We should not fall prey to the stereotyped image of being intolerant and extremist.
He said there is a greater need for understanding and accommodation among the followers of different religions. We have actively promoted efforts for inter-faith dialogue and harmony and shall continue to do so.
Full report at:
http://www.sananews.net/english/2011/08/20/gilani-calls-upon-muslim-countries-to-work-together-to-build-a-strong-islamic-intellectual-base/
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Torture, bribery inside Central Prison Karachi
Aug 20, 2011
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) Friday directed Superintendent Central Prison, Karachi, to file comments on convicts’ complaints of torturing them and keeping in solitary confinement to force for paying bribe.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Imam Bux Baloch, was hearing petition of two convicts against torturous and bribery practices of staff at Central Jail Karachi (CJK).
Petitioner Zafar Iqbal, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, submitted during last year confinement he was kept in solitary confinement and severally tortured to pay bribe to prison authorities.
Petitioner Tariq Hameed, who was also serving life imprisonment, submitted he was forcibly confined in solitary cell and tortured without any complaint or reason just to pay bribe, which he could not frequently afford as he hailed from Punjab province.
On directions of SHC, District & Sessions Judge (DJ) South, Karachi, carried out inspection of prison and submitted his report on May 17, 2011. Judge confirmed that inmates were kept in solitary cell under unhygienic condition and subjected to torture to pay tribe.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\20\story_20-8-2011_pg7_35
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Small, devoted Muslim congregation worships together at Amherst mosque
By BEN STORROW
Aug 20, 2011
AMHERST - It's Monday night, just after sunset, and Irum Dean is sitting down to his first meal since sunrise.
Wearing a backward Red Sox hat, its visor uncreased, a dark T-shirt and a pair of brightly colored baggy plaid shorts, he is sitting on the floor among a dozen or so men, some old, others young. A few wear long white robes, others are dressed in polo shirts and khakis.
They come from a variety of backgrounds: Some were born in Southeast Asia, others the Middle East and others still here in the United States. They talk amiably, eating from the heaping plates of rice, kebab and salad. In the back of the room, a small group of women do the same. All have just completed their daily prayers.
Collectively, the nearly two dozen congregants of the Hampshire Mosque gathered here on the second floor of the Carriage Shops on East Pleasant Street have just broken their daily fast. It is Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, during which adherents forgo food and drink during the daylight hours.
Full report at:
http://www.gazettenet.com/2011/08/19/the-rites-of-ramadan
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When Terrorism Isn't Terrorism
Aug 20, 2011
Sohrab Amhari highlights what, to simple-minded folk, would seem to be a bit of hypocrisy at the National Iranian American Council, which has functioned, on occasion, as a kind of AIPAC for the Iranian regime. NIAC is arguing that the MEK, an anti-mullah group (some, including friend-of-Goldblog Elizabeth Rubin, say it's a cult), should remain on the State Department terrorism list. But NIAC previously had lobbied to keep the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, arguably a much more brutal organization, off the list:
On August 2, dozens of Iranian-American luminaries and their allies took to the pages of the "Financial Times" with a joint statement denouncing the proposed move. "The [MKO], an organization ... that enjoyed the support of Saddam Hussein lost any following it had in Iran when it fought on Iraq's behalf during the 1980-88 war," they wrote. "Widespread Iranian distaste for the [MKO] has been cemented by its numerous attacks against numerous innocent Iranian civilians."
Full report at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/08/when-terrorism-isnt-terrorism/243715/
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Islam and Europe: An Equal and Opposite Reaction
Aug 20, 2011
Rather than the “clash of civilisations” advocated by Islamophobes, those who seek social and economic justice can find inspiration in the eternal truths of Islam, looking to Europe’s own Islamo-Christian heritage - past and present - to discover an alliance of civilisations, notes Eric Walberg.
Ramadan exemplifies the powerful spiritual calling of Islam. Dry fasting is more a test of the spirit, the will, proof of devotion, than just some health gimmick. And it is precisely this cultivation of mass “mind over matter” that frustrates Western secularists, so used to indulging every consumer fetish on a whim. Why are Muslims so stubborn in nurturing ancient beliefs and rituals when they fly in the face of modern capitalist society? Secular critics dismiss Islam as a harmful, even dangerous anachronism. Why disrupt one’s busy day five times to pray, slow down the whole economic order for an entire month every year, ban alcohol and interest -- the bedrock of Western society?
Full report at:
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47703
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Teen lover who was refused marriage accused of murder of women in Turkey
Aug 20, 2011
A 17-year-old boy has appeared in court over the murders of two County Down women stabbed to death in Turkey.
The bodies of Marion Elizabeth Graham and Kathy Dinsmore, both in their 50s and from Newry, were found in a wooded area near the city of Izmir on Friday.
The boy, known as Recep C, is reported to have confessed to killing them after being refused permission to marry his girlfriend, Ms Graham's daughter.
He appeared at a preliminary hearing in Turkey on Friday evening.
Zeynep Edrim of BBC World said charges are expected to follow.
"He already appeared in front a preliminary court. He is in prison in Izmir," she added.
"The exact charges have not been announced yet, but probably they are going to be ready tomorrow."
A taxi driver and Recep's father are also being questioned by police.
'Gold digger'
The suspect is alleged to have taken Ms Dinsmore and Ms Graham to a secluded wooded area and murdered them there.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14590701
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US calls suicide mosque attack in Pakistan 'deplorable'
Aug 20, 2011
Condemning the deadly suicide attack on worshippers at a mosque in Pakistan as “deplorable violence”, the U.S. has said it continues to stand by Islamabad in its efforts against those seeking to undermine democracy and freedom.
Through their violent actions, terrorists continue to demonstrate “blatant disregard” for the efforts of the Pakistani people to build a more peaceful and prosperous country in which citizens are free to worship, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.
Her comments came last evening hours after a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque packed with hundreds of worshippers in Khyber tribal region of northwest Pakistan on the third Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramzan, killing 53 people and injuring 123 others.
“The United States strongly condemns the attack on scores of innocent Pakistanis in northwest Pakistan. The slaughter of worshipers as they gathered at a mosque for Ramzan’s Friday prayers underscores the brutality of those who would target civilians during a time of celebration and reflection for Muslims throughout the world,” Ms. Clinton said in a statement.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2375621.ece
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Hamas announces end of ceasefire with Israel
Aug 20, 2011
Amid spiralling violence that claimed 22 lives in two days, Palestinian Gaza Strip ruler Hamas on Saturday announced an end to the informal ceasefire with Israel.
Hamas’ military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced that it is no longer committed to the Gaza region ceasefire with Israel.
“There is no longer a lull vis-is Israel, in the face of the ongoing massacre that it commits against the Palestinian people without any justification,” the armed faction’s spokesman Abu Obeida said in a statement. Hamas also urged all Gaza factions to “respond to Israel’s crimes.”
Israeli warplanes killed three Palestinians in an airstrike in central Gaza City on Friday, medics said, raising the death toll to 14 in the coastal enclave since a deadly attack in southern Israel on Thursday left 8 Israelis dead.
The latest strike hit a civilian car killing three people from the same family, including a 5-year-old boy and a doctor, Gaza medical official Adham Abu Salmiya said, adding that three others were wounded.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2375729.ece
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Eastern oil terminal Brega seized: Libyan rebels
Aug 20, 2011
Libyan rebels battling Muammar Qadhafi’s troops along the country’s Mediterranean coast said they have captured all of the strategic eastern port city of Brega, which has repeatedly changed hands in the 6-month-old civil war.
Rebel military spokesman Col. Ahmed Bani said fighters gained control on Saturday of the industrial section of Brega, after having captured its residential areas last week.
Brega’s capture is an important boost for the rebels. It contains Libya’s second-largest hydrocarbon complex and is where the country’s main oil fields feed into for refining.
“We have liberated Brega and all of it is under our control,” Mr. Bani told The Associated Press on Saturday. “The fighters are in the port and taken the refineries.”
The clashes with Mr. Qadhafi forces killed two rebels and left fifteen injured, according to rebel spokesman Mohammed Idris.
His claim could not be immediately verified and officials in the Libyan capital Tripoli made no comment on it.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2375462.ece
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NATO oil tankers attacked in Pakistan
Aug 20, 2011
A huge blast took place late on Friday night at a NATO oil tanker terminal in northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, while at least four oil tankers were torched by militants in the southwest, a media report said Saturday.
The terminal is situated in Torham town in Khyber Agency, Xinhua reported.
This was the second attack on NATO oil tankers in Pakistan Friday. Four NATO oil tankers were torched in the afternoon by militants near Quetta, capital of Balochistan province.
Currently about 70 percent of NATO supplies are shipped into Afghanistan through two border ports in Pakistan - the Chaman port in Balochistan and the Torham port.
http://www.asianage.com/international/nato-oil-tankers-attacked-pakistan-604
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Husband, woman charged in murder of wife in US
Aug 20, 2011
MORRISTOWN: A man who was injured in a shooting that killed his wife earlier this week was charged with her murder Friday, along with a Massachusetts woman who authorities said also was at the scene.
Kashif Parvaiz suffered non-life-threatening wounds in the attack in Boonton, New Jersey, that killed his 27-year-old wife, Nazish Noorani. Both were of Pakistani descent. They were walking with their 3-year-old son to a relative’s house when shots rang out Tuesday night.
Parvaiz and 26-year-old Antoinette Stephen, of Billerica, Massachusetts, both face charges of murder, conspiracy and weapons offences. He also faces child-endangerment charges.
According to Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, Parvaiz’s initial accounts of the attack were inconsistent and immediately raised suspicions. Parvaiz had told investigators the couple was attacked by a different combination of black and white males who shouted ethnic slurs, authorities said.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\20\story_20-8-2011_pg7_33
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Airstrike kills five in southern Yemen town
Aug 20, 2011
ADEN: A Yemeni jet bombed the southern coastal town of Shaqra shortly after militants took control of the area, killing at least five of them, a local government official said.
In the raids staged on Thursday, the jet also attacked two sites where militants had gathered in the town of Zinjibar, the official told Reuters. He was unable to give details of casualties there.
Shaqra fell to the militants on Wednesday, becoming the third Yemeni town they have seized following Jaar in Abyan province in March and Zinjibar, the provincial capital, in May. President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government has lost control of some areas in the south after months of political turmoil and mass protests demanding an end to his three-decade-old-rule.
The militants, some possibly from al Qaeda, may be exploiting a security vacuum as Saleh and his allies fight to stay in power. In a separate incident, 10 people — mostly women and children — were injured in an explosion at a clothes market in al-Qatn in the southern Hadramout province on Thursday, which targeted an army officer and his family, a security official told Reuters.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\20\story_20-8-2011_pg4_4
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Firing outside Quetta passport office; one killed
Aug 20, 2011
QUETTA: A person was killed and two others injured in a firing incident that took place outside the passport office in Quetta on Saturday, DawnNews reported.
Police officials confirmed the casualties and said the attack occurred as unknown armed men opened indiscriminate fire at the gate of the office located on Joint Road.
Subsequently, the injured were shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta. The gunmen managed to escape after the incident.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/20/firing-on-quetta-passport-office-one-killed.html
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Pentagon plays down comments on US role in Iraq
Aug 20, 2011
WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta suggested that Iraq had agreed to keep American troops in the country beyond a 2011 deadline, but Baghdad insisted the issue was still under negotiation.
In an interview with two US newspapers published Friday, Panetta said the Iraqis appeared to have made up their mind to extend the presence of American troops beyond the year-end withdrawal deadline.
“My view is that they finally did say, ‘Yes,’” Panetta told Stars and Stripes and the Military Times.
Iraqi political leaders announced on August 3 that they would open talks with the United States over a possible training mission after 2011 without saying definitively if some American troops would remain.
But the Pentagon later on Friday sought to play down the defense chief’s remarks, saying he was merely noting that Baghdad was open to discussing a possible US military role.
“The secretary was asked if there had been progress in our discussions with the Iraqi government since his visit six weeks ago.
“He made clear that the Iraqis have said yes to discussions about the strategic relationship beyond 2011, and what that relationship might look like,” spokesman George Little said in an email.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/20/pentagon-plays-down-comments-on-us-role-in-iraq.html
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Zawahiri urges to avenge Osama bin Laden killing
20 Aug, 2011
DUBAI: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has urged to target the United States and avenge the killing of his predecessor Osama bin Laden, the SITE Intelligence Group reported.
SITE, quoting a video posted on jihadist online forums, said the new head of Al-Qaeda has asked to "pursue" the United States over the killing of Bin Laden.
"America today is staggering... Follow it where you know it is, follow it to cut what remains of its corruption," said Zawahiri in the 12-minute video". "Pursue America, which killed the 'Imam of the Mujahideen' and threw his body into the sea," he said about Bin Laden who was killed in a covert US raid in Pakistan on May 2.
He also called for the implementation of Islamic sharia law as a source of legislation in Tunisia and Egypt, where mass protests in both countries have toppled their autocratic rulers early this year.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=20817&title=Zawahiri-urges-to-avenge-OBL-killing
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US keeps Iran, Syria, Sudan, Cuba on terror blacklist
20 Aug, 2011
WASHINGTON: The United States retained Iran and its ally Syria as well as Sudan and Cuba on a list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism Thursday, after blacklisting the countries the previous year.
In an annual report, the State Department said "Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2010," citing "financial, material and logistic support" for militant groups in the Middle East and Central Asia.
It said Iran backed Palestinian groups Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, along with Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Iraqi militant groups.
The State Department said its support for such groups "had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy."
Full report at: The News, Pakistan
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/egypt-recall-israel-envoy-sinai/d/5290