New Age Islam News Bureau
3 Jun 2012
Arab World
• Emirati Women Now Own over 20,000 Firms
• Rage as Egypt’s Mubarak is spared the gallows
• Hundreds protest Mubarak verdicts in Cairo’s Tahrir
• Arabs urge UN action as Syria death toll soars
• Assad says Syria faces "real war" waged from outside
• Military action in Syria only under U.N., says France
• Lebanon bleeds amid Syria carnage'
• Syria’s Assad to address parliament: state TV
• Assad Says Houla Killings Monstrous, Sees End to Crisis
• New Turmoil in Egypt Greets Mixed Verdict for Mubarak
• Makkah Gate project launched
• Mubarak verdict called a farce
• Overnight clashes kill one in north Lebanon
• Syria opposition leader urges Arab military action
• Seven dead, 30 wounded in north Lebanon clashes
• Lebanon deploys troops to calm Syria-linked violence
• A slice of Japan for the people of UAE
• Saudi Armed forces fighting fit: Defence chief
• Labourer killed in Sharjah factory fire
India
• India, China to discuss Iran
• ‘Reservation for Muslims will make India stronger’: an Indian MP
• Iran Envoy in Srinagar; Meets Kashmiri Leaders
Mideast Asia
• West talks of nuclear Iran to hide own problems: Khamenei
• 'Thunder' will fall on Israel if it attacks: Iran
• Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Israel Risks ‘Lightning’ Reply
• Iran threatens to hit US bases with missiles if it is attacked
• Four Qaeda fighters, soldier killed in Yemen
Pakistan
• Pak judicial panel report should not be part of trial: LeT commander
• ‘Balochistan law and order not that bad’ says Balochistan CM
• Balochistan FC warns of tit-for-tat action against anti-state elements
• Drone strike kills ten in South Waziristan
• 30 terrorists killed in Khyber clashes
• Pak court acquits 4 alleged aides of Times Square bomber
• Pakistan targets growth, stability
• Indo-Pak militaries an obstacle to Siachen resolution: Pak Minister
• US drone strikes again, kills five militants in Pakistan
• Gilani orders legislation on missing persons
• 2 Balochistan Levies officials shot dead
• Osama manhunt decoded
• Economic stability main target: Pak govt
• Pak PM orders legislation on missing persons
• ‘Busy schedule’ forces Pak PM to cancel UK visit
South Asia
• U.S.-Pakistan Freeze Chokes Fallback Route in Afghanistan
• Daring NATO raid frees aid workers in Afghanistan
• Bangladesh SC commutes 10-year-old schoolgirl killers’ death penalty
• Counsels of J-e-I leader to cross-examine 2 witnesses in 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War Case
East Asia
• Any hostility against Pakistan not to be tolerated: China
• China steps up Afghan role as Western pullout nears
African Countries
• In Timbuktu, Harsh Change under Islamists
• Explosion Strikes near North Nigeria Church
• Libya lawyers appeal law banning glorifying Gaddafi
Southeast Asia
• RI’s ‘Little Monsters’ dance mournfully in Jakarta
North America
• US court demands decision on MEK's 'terror' listing
• US will put more warships in Asia: Panetta
Europe
• Osama bin Laden's aide tells secrets of al-Qa'ida
Complied by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Emirati women now own over 20,000 firms
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/emirati-women-now-own-20,000/d/7521
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Arab World
Emirati Women Now Own Over 20,000 Firms
3 June 2012
The number of Emirati businesswomen has crossed 13,000, who together control over 20,000 business establishments in the UAE, an official disclosed.
Emirates Business Women Council and Abu Dhabi Businesswomen Council chairperson Eng Fatima Al Jaber said that the women could prove their capability for economic participation as a result of the economic renaissance in the country.
Women could enter a number of new fields, which were believed to be inaccessible for women such as investment and industry, Eng Al Jaber added.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/uaebusiness/2012/June/uaebusiness_June23.xml§ion=uaebusiness
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Rage as Egypt’s Mubarak is spared the gallows
3 June 2012
Thousands of angry protesters across Egypt took to the streets on Saturday after ex-president Hosni Mubarak and his security chief were given life in prison over the deaths of protesters in 2011 but six police chiefs were acquitted.
Mubarak could have been sent to the gallows as demanded by the prosecution.
Both the toppled dictator’s defence team and lawyers representing his victims said the verdict could easily be appealed.
The verdict prompted outrage inside and outside the courtroom, with protesters staging rallies in Cairo, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities.
“Either we get justice for our martyrs or we die like them!” chanted those gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate Mohammed Mursi said the revolution must continue.
“All of us, my brothers, must realise in this period that the continuation of the revolution, and the revolutionaries’ staying put in their positions in the squares, is the only guarantee to achieve the goals,” he told reporters before joining the crowds in Tahrir Square for around 15 minutes.
Judge Ahmed Refaat sentenced Mubarak, 84, and his interior minister Habib Al Adly to life for their role in the deaths of more than 800 protesters during the revolt that ousted them, but acquitted the six security commanders on the same charges.
A senior member of Mubarak’s defence team said the former strongman will appeal.
A tearful Mubarak, who enjoyed near absolute power for three decades, was flown to Tora prison on Cairo’s outskirts after the verdict but then refused to leave the aircraft.
A security official said Mubarak “suffered from a surprise health crisis” but was finally convinced to return to his cell.
Chants of “Void, void” and “The people want the judiciary purged” erupted after the sentencing, as furious lawyers said they feared Mubarak would be found innocent on appeal.
Offices of presidential candidate Ahmad Shafiq, Mubarak’s last prime minister, were attacked early Sunday in two provincial towns, a security services official said.
Shafiq’s campaign headquarters in Cairo had already been attacked on Monday.
Thousands marched on Tahrir Square, epicentre of the protests that toppled Mubarak, chanting against the judiciary and the military council that took power when he quit.
There were similar rallies in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and other parts of Egypt, where many were in shock at the police chiefs’ acquittal.
Rights groups also slammed the verdict.
Mubarak’s sentence “is a significant step towards combatting long-standing impunity in Egypt” but the security chiefs’ acquittal “leaves many still waiting for full justice,” Amnesty International said.
Human Rights Watch Cairo-based researcher Heba Morayef said “the verdict fails to deliver justice, it fails to deter police from future abuse and it comes against the backdrop of acquittals in police trials.”
Corruption charges against Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, were dropped because of the expiry of a statute of limitations, and the ex-president was acquitted in one of the graft cases.
But Alaa and Gamal will stay in prison because they are on trial in another case.
“We will appeal. The ruling is full of legal flaws from every angle,” Yasser Bahr, a senior member of Mubarak’s defence team, said.
“We will win, one million percent,” he added.
Mubarak, in dark sunglasses and wearing a beige track-suit, had his arms folded and showed no emotion inside the caged dock as Refaat read the verdict.
His sons, however, appeared close to tears.
“It’s vindicating to Egyptians to see Mubarak and his interior minister sentenced to life, but the verdict raises more questions than answers,” said Hossam Bahgat, the director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
In delivering the ruling, Refaat painted a grim picture of life under Mubarak, listing hardship after hardship during his three-decade rule.
Refaat said the protesters who joined the uprising were “peaceful” and wanted only “justice, freedom and democracy.”
Clashes erupted outside the courtroom after the sentencing, with police using stun grenades against angry crowds.
Egypt has been ruled by the military since Mubarak was forced out on February 11 last year after 18 days of nationwide protest.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2012/June/middleeast_June28.xml§ion=middleeast
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Hundreds protest Mubarak verdicts in Cairo’s Tahrir
3 June 2012
Some of the demonstrators had slept in tents or out in the open overnight in the iconic square, epicentre of an anti-regime revolt that ousted Mubarak in 2011 after three decades of autocratic rule.
“We intend to stay today and possibly tomorrow. We expect a lot more people to come during the day,” said Omar Abdelkader, a young protester in Tahrir Square.
Around 20,000 people had taken to the vast intersection on Saturday after a judge sentenced Mubarak, 84, and his interior minister Habib al-Adly to life for their role in the deaths of more than 800 protesters during last year’s revolt, but acquitted six security chiefs on the same charges.
Corruption charges against Mubarak’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, were dropped because of the expiry of a statute of limitations, and the ousted leader was acquitted in one of the graft cases.
A senior member of Mubarak’s defence team told AFP the former president would appeal.
Mubarak, the only autocrat toppled in the Arab Spring to be put on trial in person, could have been sent to the gallows as demanded by the prosecution.
Both the toppled dictator’s defence team and lawyers representing his victims said the verdict could easily be appealed.
The verdicts prompted outrage inside and outside the courtroom, with protesters staging rallies in Cairo, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities.
“Many people had the feeling while listening to the verdict that we were back in the days of the old regime,” said Feda Essam, a student demonstrator in Tahrir.
The demonstrators erected a memorial depicting a miniature cemetery made of gravestones and sand in tribute to the “martyrs” of the revolution.
“Martyrs, we will not abandon you to the conspiracies of the old regime. In the name of your blood, there will be a new revolution,” said a nearby banner.
Early on Sunday, offices of presidential candidate Ahmad Shafiq, Mubarak’s last prime minister, were attacked in two provincial towns, a security services official said.
Shafiq’s campaign headquarters in Cairo had already been attacked on Monday.
A group of protesters invaded the headquarters of Shafiq’s campaign in Fayyoum south of Cairo before setting fire to the building, the security official said.
Premises in Hurghada on the Red Sea were pillaged and the windows smashed.
http://dawn.com/2012/06/03/hundreds-protest-mubarak-verdicts-in-cairos-tahrir/
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Arabs urge UN action as Syria death toll soars
3 June 2012
Arab leaders called for UN action on Saturday as at least 27 people were killed in Syria amid growing global concern that Kofi Annan's peace plan is failing and the country descending into civil war.
The Arab League's ministerial committee on Syria, meanwhile, called on UN-Arab League envoy Annan to set a time frame for his mission.
"We request Annan to set a time frame for his mission because it is unacceptable that massacres and bloodshed continue while the mission is ongoing indefinitely," Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani told a meeting of the committee in Doha, attended by Annan.
"We demand the UN Security Council refer the six-point (Annan plan) to Chapter VII so that the international community could assume responsibilities," he added, without elaborating.
Chapter VII outlines action the Security Council might take, including military force, in response to threats to international peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression.
Earlier, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said he had asked the Security Council to take strong action to protect civilians in Syria but did not raise the question of intervention.
But asked if he had called for armed action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Arabi said: "I have not referred to military intervention."
On the ground, Syrian troops conducted raids in search of anti-regime militants and clashed with rebels in several regions, with at least 27 people killed, including 15 soldiers, 11 civilians and one rebel, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Tensions spilled over into neighbouring Lebanon, as clashes between pro- and anti-Damascus gunmen killed 6 people and wounded 20 others in the northern city of Tripoli, a security source told AFP.
Sectarian violence has flared on a number of occasions in Tripoli since the revolt broke out in neighbouring Syria in March last year, including deadly street battles in May.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=236734
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Assad says Syria faces "real war" waged from outside
Jun 3, 2012,
BEIRUT: Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday his country was facing a war waged from outside the country and that terrorism was escalating despite political steps including last month's parliamentary election.
"We are not facing a political problem because if we were this party would put forth a political programme. What we are facing is (an attempt) to sow sectarian strife and the tool of this is terrorism," Assad said in a speech to parliament, broadcast on Syrian television.
"The issue is terrorism. We are facing a real war waged from the outside," Assad said. (Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Mariam Karouny; Editing by Jon Hemming)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Assad-says-Syria-faces-real-war-waged-from-outside/articleshow/13773899.cms
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Military action in Syria only under U.N., says France
June 3, 2012
France says it will only participate in military action in Syria under a United Nations mandate.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told an Asian security summit Sunday that the international community should increase sanctions and pressure in an effort to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. An anti-government uprising has raged for more than a year in Syria.
U.S. Senator John McCain on Saturday urged the Obama Administration to arm Syrian rebels and create safe zones. Russia is an ally of Mr. Assad and has squashed attempts at U.N. action in Syria.
Mr. Le Drian said that a meeting Friday between French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t make it possible to think the veto will be lifted tomorrow morning.”
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3486184.ece
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Lebanon bleeds amid Syria carnage'
NAZIH SADDIQ
Saturday 2 June 2012
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Clashes erupted between heavily-armed supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad in Lebanon’s port of Tripoli on Saturday, killing nine people and prompting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to rush there to try to stop the violence.
Mikati held talks with ministers and officials in the northern city, as gunmen a few kilometers (miles) away fired machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at each other. Residents and a doctor said 42 people had been wounded.
“The Lebanese army and internal security forces need to take all measures to stop the clashes in the city of Tripoli, without discrimination,” a statement from Mikati’s office said. The army moved into the area with armored vehicles but did not open fire, said a Reuters journalist at the scene.
The clashes began after midnight on Friday and were continuing late on Saturday when mortar bombs could be heard.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/lebanon-bleeds-amid-syria-carnage
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Syria’s Assad to address parliament: state TV
3 June 2012
Assad has made few public appearances during a 15-month uprising against his rule, making promises of political reform alongside pledges to crush opponents he has described as terrorists.
Annan, the joint United Nations and Arab League envoy for Syria, told an Arab League meeting in Qatar on Saturday that the world needed to see action, not words, from the Syrian leader.
Assad “must make bold and visible steps immediately to radically change his military posture and honour his commitment to withdraw heavy weapons and cease all violence,” Annan said.
“What is important is not the words he uses but the action he takes – now,” Annan said.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/06/03/syrias-assad-to-address-parliament-state-tv/
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Assad Says Houla Killings Monstrous, Sees End to Crisis
3 June 2012
By REUTERS
BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday condemned the "abominable" massacre of more than 100 people in Houla, saying even monsters could not carry out such acts, and promised a 15-month-old crisis would end soon if Syrians pulled together.
In a speech to parliament Assad repeated many of his earlier pledges to maintain a crackdown on opponents he describes as terrorists implementing a foreign conspiracy, while offering dialogue with those opposition figures who have avoided armed conflict or outside backing.
He made his comments a day after international envoy Kofi Annan said the specter of all-out civil war was growing daily in Syria and the world needed to see actions, not words, from Assad.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/06/03/world/europe/03reuters-syria-crisis-assad.html?ref=global-home&gwh=2F5760F1226EBA1CF2C798062CBB5688&pagewanted=print
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New Turmoil in Egypt Greets Mixed Verdict for Mubarak
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
3 June 2012
CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced former President Hosni Mubarak to life in prison as an accomplice in the killing of unarmed demonstrators during the protests that ended his nearly 30-year rule.
But a conviction that once promised to deliver a triumph for the rule of law in Egypt and the Arab world — the first Arab strongman jailed by his own citizens — instead brought tens of thousands of Egyptians back into the streets. They denounced the verdict as a sham because the court also acquitted many officials more directly responsible for the police who killed the demonstrators, and a broad range of lawyers and political leaders said Mr. Mubarak’s conviction was doomed to reversal on appeal.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/world/middleeast/egypt-hosni-mubarak-life-sentence-prison.html?ref=world&gwh=BD78BF3C44F16046B5F19237F8A6F408&pagewanted=print
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Makkah Gate project launched
JEDDAH: MD AL-SULAMI
2 June 2012
Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal laid the foundation stone yesterday for the western suburbs of the Makkah Gate project along the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway. Covering an area of 1.5 million sq. meters, it is the first project of Makkah Gate Company (MGC).
Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar, chairman of MGC, thanked Prince Khaled for laying the stone, saying it is the first brick of the Makkah Gate project and commended his efforts for the development of the holy city and other parts of Makkah province.
“Makkah is expected to make unprecedented progress under your leadership,” Al-Bar told the governor, commending his efforts for the overall development of the province.
The Makkah Gate scheme is part of a comprehensive strategy to develop the region. “It is designed to accommodate 600,000 people and will be a natural extension of Makkah,” Al-Bar said.
The scheme includes a university, medical centers, a national park and a comprehensive entertainment and educational complex in addition to cultural facilities, museums and heritage centers.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/makkah-gate-project-launched
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Mubarak verdict called a farce
2 June 2012
CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate yesterday denounced the verdicts in ousted President Hosni Mubarak's trial as a "farce" and demanded a retrial, in a statement on Twitter.
Protesters, angered at the outcome of the trial, clashed with police outside the building where the verdicts were read yesterday, witnesses said.
Protesters threw rocks at riot police standing guard outside the building and the security forces gave chase, witnesses said.
Judge Ahmed Refaat sentenced Mubarak to life in prison yesterday after convicting him of complicity in the murder of protesters during the uprising that ousted him last year.
Mubarak, propped up on a hospital stretcher and wearing dark sunglasses, heard the verdict with a stony expression. Also given a life term for the killings was the 84-year-old former Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly, while six former police commanders were acquitted.
Soha Saeed, the wife of one of about 850 people killed in the street revolt that toppled Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011, shouted: "I'm so happy. I'm so happy." Some people inside the court who had wanted a death sentence scuffled with guards, decrying the Mubarak-era judiciary. "The people want the judiciary cleansed!" they chanted.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/mubarak-verdict-called-farce
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Overnight clashes kill one in north Lebanon
2 June 2012
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Supporters and opponents of a popular uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad clashed in neighboring Lebanon’s port city of Tripoli on Saturday, leaving one dead and ten others wounded, residents said.
They said the fatality was a civilian caught in the crossfire, adding that a Lebanese soldier was wounded when the army tried to intervene.
Gunmen from the Jabal Mohsen district, home to the minority Alawite sect, the same offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Assad belongs, have fought on-off skirmishes over the past few weeks with residents of Bab Al-Tabbaneh, who are Sunni Muslims.
The neighborhoods have long-standing grievances separate from the Syria conflict but the Sunni-led uprising has fermented strife among Lebanon’s divided population, especially in majority Sunni Tripoli, 70 km (43 miles) north of Beirut.
http://www.arabnews.com/overnight-clashes-kill-one-north-lebanon
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Syria opposition leader urges Arab military action
2 June 2012
DOHA, Qatar: The head of Syria’s largest exile opposition group says he would welcome Arab military action aimed at ending attacks by Bashar Assad’s regime against Syrian rebel forces and civilians.
Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council, made the comments on Saturday before a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers. The envoys are to discuss the bloodshed in Syria, including last week’s massacre of more than 100 people in Houla.
Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar have pledged funds to aid Syria’s rebels, but there is no direct evidence that anti-Assad forces are becoming better armed. The Arab League, however, does not appear ready to deploy its own troops.
Kofi Annan, the international envoy for Syria, is also in Doha.
http://www.arabnews.com/syria-opposition-leader-urges-arab-military-action
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Seven dead, 30 wounded in north Lebanon clashes
2 June 2012
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Seven people were killed and 30 wounded in Lebanon’s port city of Tripoli on Saturday in clashes between Lebanese supporters and opponents of a popular uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad, an army doctor at the scene said,
Residents of neighboring districts have fought on-off skirmishes in recent weeks, but Saturday’s death toll is the highest in a single day in Tripoli, raising fears that Syria’s unrest will spill over into its smaller neighbor.
http://www.arabnews.com/seven-dead-30-wounded-north-lebanon-clashes
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Lebanon deploys troops to calm Syria-linked violence
3 June 2012
Security forces were deployed after the country's Prime Minister Najib Mikati visited to try and stem the violence.
The clashes came after UN peace envoy Kofi Annan warned sectarian violence in Syria could spread across borders.
Recent weeks have seen increased clashes between armed Alawite groups and Sunni fighters in the city.
"The Lebanese army and internal security forces need to take all measures to stop the clashes in the city of Tripoli, without discrimination," a statement from Mr Mikati's office said.
Armoured vehicles were seen on the streets of the city but no shots were fired, a Reuters report said.
Spilling over
Fighting was concentrated in Tripoli's Bab al-Tebbaneh district, a mostly Sunni Muslim community, and the pro-Damascus Alawite Jabal Mohsen neighbourhood.
Although there have been on-off clashes between gunmen in neighbouring Tripoli districts, Saturday's death toll is believed to be the highest in a single day.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18313128
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A slice of Japan for the people of UAE
Chris Hough
3 June 2012
Curious students watched on intently as Masanori Nagamine demonstrated the intricacies of Japanese calligraphy. In another room, Junko Kuramochi showed eager students how to make ‘bento’ lunch boxes for their families.
The three-day Japanese Summer Camp that took place in Sharjah University, and which concluded on Saturday, provided Emiratis and expats the chance to learn different aspects of Japanese culture. The classes ranged from karate to flower arranging and were taught by Japanese experts in each discipline.
“I was very happy and honoured to have many students who are interested in Japanese culture,” said Naoko Kishida, Director of the UAE-Japan Cultural Centre, which organised the event. “I am also happy that many experts from the Japanese side came forward to teach and give the lecture in this camp.
“This camp is not for study — it is for fun. In 20 years, 30 years time when they grow older they will just have a very good memory that this was the Japanese culture that they learned, as a very nice experience.”
Ali Almahroos, a student who took part in the calligraphy class, one day hopes to live in Japan. He is hoping to attend similar courses in the future to enhance his knowledge on Japanese culture.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/community/2012/June/community_June3.xml§ion=community
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Saudi Armed forces fighting fit: Defence chief
MADINAH: ARAB NEWS
2 June 2012
Defence Minister Prince Salman yesterday opened the new building of Madina military command and expressed his satisfaction over the combat readiness of the armed forces.
"I am very happy to see the preparedness of forces under the Madinah command to defend the country and serve the pilgrims and visitors to the Prophet's Mosque," Prince Salman wrote in the visitors' register.
Addressing the ceremony, Maj. Gen. Fahd Al-Anazi, chief of the Madinah military command, commended the government for its care and concern toward the armed forces, which had a big impact on training and preparing the military personnel and providing them with advanced weapons.
Prince Salman later visited Prince Sultan Armed Forces Hospital and met with doctors and patients there. The minister also presided over a meeting of the Center for Madinah Research and Studies' board of directors and said the center would play the role of a lighthouse by conducting studies on the Prophet's city and its heritage and enhancing knowledge of Muslims about their history
http://www.arabnews.com/armed-forces-fighting-fit-defense-chief
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Labourer killed in Sharjah factory fire
Afkar Abdullah
3 June 2012
An Asian labourer died in a massive fire that broke out in the early hours of Saturday at a refrigerator manufacturing factory in Sharjah. The fire started at around 5.23am at the factory located in the Sharjah Industrial Area No 6.
Brigadier Abdullah Al Suwaidi, Director of the Sharjah Civil Defence, said the fire spread rapidly due to the huge quantity of inflammable materials stored at the factory.
“As soon as we were notified about the accident, fire brigades and fire engines from all Sharjah defence centres reached the accident site and helped control the blaze. All inflammable materials were moved away from near the factory to ensure that the fire does not spread.”
He added that the accident was considered major as one person died and all the factory’s contents were engulfed in flames causing huge financial losses. The labourer was inside the factory when the fire broke out. His body has been transferred to the police morgue.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/crime/2012/June/crime_June5.xml§ion=crime
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India
India, China to discuss Iran
June 03, 2012,
New Delhi: India and China are expected to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Beijing later this week to review the progress of some key initiatives like firming up the contours of a maritime dialogue and discuss the Iranian nuclear row.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna flies to Beijing Tuesday for the June 6-7 summit of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The SCO comprises Russia, China and energy-rich Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
He is expected to pitch for a greater role for India's involvement in the SCO which is dominated by Russia and China. India currently enjoys the status of an observer at the SCO and is looking for an upgrade to full membership of the Central Asia-focused organisation. However, any decision on expanding the membership is unlikely at the SCO summit.
As this is the year of the India-China friendship, the two sides are in the process of setting up a bilateral meeting between Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.
Full report at:
http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/india-china-to-discuss-iran_779524.html
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‘Reservation for Muslims will make India stronger’: an Indian MP
Jun 03, 2012
Asaduddin Owaisi is a Lok Sabha MP and president of All-India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen. In this interview with Syed Akbar he says that if reservation for Muslims is continually challenged, Muslims will challenge the legality of the quota for backward classes as there is no empirical data to back it.
Why do Muslims need reservations?
Muslims need quota support for a number of reasons. First, when the Constitution was being drafted, the issue of definition of the backward classes arose. A member of the Constituent Assembly asked whether backward classes include minorities. Sardar Patel answered in the affirmative.
Two, reservations for Muslims are needed to fulfil the demand of social justice. Three, the empirical data furnished by the Sachar Committee and the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission show that Muslims are socially and educationally backward.
Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/interview-week/reservation-muslims-will-make-india-stronger-216
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Iran Envoy in Srinagar; Meets Kashmiri Leaders
Srinagar, June 02: The Iranian ambassador to New Delhi, Syed Mehdi Nabizadeh, on Saturday hosted a lunch for a select gathering of Kashmiri leaders here in the run-up to the anniversary of Ayatollah Imam Khomeini, and later met the state governor, NN Vohra.
The chairman of the Hurriyat (M), Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, the grand mufti of Kashmir, Mufti Basheeruddin Ahmad, the chairman of the JKLF, Muhammad Yasin Malik, the president of the Anjuman-e-Sharaie, Agha Syed Hassan, the president of the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, Maulana Masroor Abbas, the president of the Democratic Freedom Party, Shabir Ahmad Shah, the chief of the National Front Nayeem Ahmad Khan senior PDP leader Maulana Iftikhar Ansari, CPI(M) leader Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami and NC minister and MLA Agha Syed Ruhullah were among those who attended the luncheon at the Hotel Grand Palace.
Ambassador Nabizadeah, who has been the Iranian envoy in India for the past four years, was on his first visit to Kashmir, and was accorded a warm welcome at the Srinagar airport on his arrival today.
Leading a diplomatic team, Nabizadeh is on his way to Kargil where a major function has been scheduled later this week to mark the 23rd anniversary of the passing away of the founder of the Iranian revolution.
According to reports, the ambassador also called on the governor, NN Vohra, at the Raj Bhavan, and later visited the Bali Heran area of Pattan to attend an Education Conference. Thousands of people turned out in the streets to greet him there.
Iran-India Trade Flourishing
Ambassador spoke about growing ties between India and Iran. He said that India and the Islamic Republic will encourage forging of ties between various states of the two countries.
“During a recent visit of a ministerial delegation from India to Tehran which was led by Renewable Energy Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah it was decided that the Iranian government will explore possibilities of investing in industrial sector of Kashmir,” Nabizadeh disclosed.
He stressed upon greater cooperation between two countries and said that Indo-Iran trade has increased to 16 billion dollars from mere $ 9 billion when he took over four years ago.
He said attempts by certain powers to pressurise New Delhi to stop buying Iranian crude have failed.
Call for Unity:
The Iranian Cultural Counsellor in India, Ahmad Ali, on Saturday said that Kashmiris would emerge victorious if they displayed unity and cooperation like the Iranians during their Islamic revolution.
“If Kashmir today displays such strong affection and affiliation to the Iranian revolution, it is because the Iranian revolution is for Islam,” Ali said at a large function in the Bali Haran area of Pattan in north Kashmir held in connection with the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini.
The counsellor was accompanying the Iranian ambassador to New Delhi, Syed Mehdi Nabizadeh, who was the special guest at the function.
The patron of the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, Maulana Abbas Ansari, who chaired the event organised jointly by the Al Abbas Relief Trust and the Madina Public Schools, paid glowing tribute to Ayatollah Khomeini, saying he had given the Muslim world the courage to battle heavy odds for its dignity and rights. Observer News Service
http://www.kashmirobserver.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12042:iran-envoy-in-srinagar-meets-kashmiri-leaders-&catid=15:top-news&Itemid=2
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Mideast Asia
West talks of nuclear Iran to hide own problems: Khamenei
3 June 2012
“What Americans and Westerners do is idiotic. They magnify the nuclear issue to cover up their own problems,” Khamenei said in a televised address marking the 23rd anniversary of the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Khamenei also said that the international community’s suspicion that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons is based on a “lie”.
Allegations that Iran was trying to develop atomic bombs were false, he also said.
“International political circles and media talk about the danger of a nuclear Iran, that a nuclear Iran is dangerous. I say that they lie. They are deceiving,” Khamenei said.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/06/03/west-talks-of-nuclear-iran-to-hide-own-problems-ayatollah-ali-khamenei/
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'Thunder' will fall on Israel if it attacks: Iran
Jun 03 2012,
Any attack by Israel on Iran will blow back on the Jewish state “like thunder,” Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today.
Khamenei also said that the international community's suspicion that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons is based on a “lie” and he insisted that sanctions imposed on his country were ineffective and only strengthened its resolve.
His speech, broadcast on state television to mark the 1989 death of his predecessorn and founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, contained no sign Iran was prepared to make any concessions on its disputed nuclear programme.
Instead, it was infused with defiance and Khamenei's customary contempt for Iran's arch-foes Israel and the United States.
If the Israelis “make any misstep or wrong action, it will fall on their heads like thunder,” Khamenei said.
The Jewish state, he added, was feeling “vulnerable” and “terrified” after losing deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak as an ally.
Allegations that Iran was trying to develop atomic bombs were false, Khamenei also said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/thunder-will-fall-on-israel-if-it-attacks-iran/957341/
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Israel Risks ‘Lightning’ Reply
3 June 2012
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's Supreme Leader warned Sunday that any Israeli attack would be answered with a "lightning" response by the Islamic Republic and suggested Iran's nuclear program cannot be curtailed by Western sanctions.
The remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei echoed previous hard-line positions by Iran, but take on added resonance amid talks with the U.S. and five other world powers. Western leaders hope for a diplomatic accord that would ease concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions, while Israeli officials say they leave all options open to try to derail Iran's uranium enrichment.
The West fears Iran could one day produce weapons-grade material. Khamenei called the claims of a secret weapons program "lies" and repeated Iran's statements that it only seeks reactors for energy and medical research.
Khamenei put Israel on notice that any military action would bring swift consequences.
"Should they take any wrong step, any inappropriate move, it will fall on their heads like lightning," he warned in a speech marking the 23rd anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/06/03/world/middleeast/ap-ml-iran.html?ref=global-home&gwh=1B397C1EDD0111F2094486F045226F81&pagewanted=print
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Iran threatens to hit US bases with missiles if it is attacked
3 June 2012
Iran has warned the United States not to resort to military action against it, saying US bases in the region were vulnerable to the Islamic Republic’s missiles, state media reported on Saturday.
The comments by a senior Iranian military commander were an apparent response to US officials who have said Washington was ready to use military force to stop what it suspects is Iran’s goal to develop a nuclear weapons capability. World powers held talks with Iran in Baghdad on May 23-24 in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to their concerns over its nuclear programme, which Tehran maintains is entirely peaceful. Another round of talks is slated for June 18-19 in Moscow.
“The politicians and the military men of the United States are well aware of the fact that all of their bases (in the region) are within the range of Iran’s missiles and in any case ... are highly vulnerable,” Press TV reported Brigadier-General Yahya Rahim Safavi as saying.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/iran-threatens-to-hit-us-bases-with-missiles-if-it-is-attacked/957134/
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Four Qaeda fighters, soldier killed in Yemen
3 June 2012
ADEN: Four al Qaeda fighters and a soldier were killed in overnight fighting outside Zinjibar, capital of the southern Yemeni province of Abyan, a military official said on Saturday.
The insurgents had fired three rockets at the headquarters of the 25th Mechanised Brigade, killing the soldier and wounding six others.
Separately, three al Qaeda terrorists were killed and five were wounded on Friday when a bomb they were making accidentally exploded in Al-Mahfad, a town in northern Abyan, a local official said.
Yemeni forces launched an all-out offensive on May 12 aimed at reclaiming Zinjibar and other localities in Abyan lost to al Qaeda during the past year.
Since the offensive began, at least 376 people have been killed, according to a tally compiled from official statements.
They comprised 275 al Qaeda fighters, 65 military personnel, 18 local militiamen and 18 civilians. afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\03\story_3-6-2012_pg7_29
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Pakistan
Pak judicial panel report should not be part of trial: LeT commander
Jun 03 2012,
Lawyers defending seven Pakistani suspects, including LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, in the Mumbai attacks case, today contended that the report of judicial commission that visited India should not be made part of their trial as it had “no legal value”.
Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the attacks, filed an application through his counsel Khwaja Haris Ahmed that asked the anti-terrorism court not to make the report of the Pakistani judicial commission part of the “challan”.
The commission filed the report after visiting Mumbai, where it interviewed several key officials involved in the probe into the 2008 attacks.
During proceedings conducted behind closed doors at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi by Judge Shahid Rafique, Lakhvi's lawyer presented arguments against the judicial commission's report.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-judicial-panel-report-should-not-be-part-of-trial-lakhvi/957062/
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‘Balochistan law and order not that bad’ says Balochistan CM
Our Correspondent
3 June 2012
Speaking to the media after the missing person’s case hearing, Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani said that his province was a “peaceful one” and the law and order situation in Balochistan was “not that bad”.
Raisani reached court while the hearing was under way on the deteriorating law and order situation in the province. Later, speaking to the media, he said, “The court did not summon me, I came on my own.”
“My province is a peaceful one with a few glitches here and there. The overall law and order situation is not that bad,” said Raisani.
During the hearing of the missing persons case, bothered by the lack of concern on the part of officials, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry ordered Inspector General Frontier Corps Maj-Gen. Obaidullah Khan to return to Pakistan by next week.
news@khaleejtimes.com
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=/data/international/2012/June/international_June54.xml§ion=international
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Balochistan FC warns of tit-for-tat action against anti-state elements
03 June, 2012
QUETTA: Balochistan Frontier Corps Inspector General Major (FC IG) General Ubaidullah Khan said on Saturday that "tit-for-tat" action would be taken against elements trying to disintegrate Pakistan and making propaganda against country's institutions.
Briefing the media over the law and order situation in Balochistan, Ubaidullah Khan said the issue of Balochistan was purely political and it should be resolved politically.
The FC IG said that terror acts had been reduced to great extent in Balochistan in the last couple of years.
However, he regretted that through a well-planed campaign, a negative propaganda was being carried out against law enforcement agencies.
"Through a propaganda campaign and target attacks, FC is being demoralised," he said.
He added there were 121 militant camps in different parts of Balochistan and 30 such camps of Baloch militants were operating in Afghanistan. He said 40 camps were being run by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), 26 by Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and 19 by Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and others in Balochistan.
Full report at:
http://paktribune.com/news/FC-warns-of-tit-for-tat-action-against-anti-state-elements-250316.html
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Drone strike kills ten in South Waziristan
3 June 2012
Two US drones fired four missiles at a house belonging to a suspected militant commander Malang Khan in Wacha Dana town, 10 kilometres west of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal district near the Afghan border, Pakistani security officials said.
At the time of the attack, suspected militants were gathered to offer condolences to the brother of a militant commander killed during an American unmanned drone attack on Saturday. The brother was one of those who died in the Sunday morning attack.
Officials said two of the dead were foreigners, and the rest were Pakistani where as one of the commanders killed in the attack was identified as Ghulam Khan belonging to the Maulvi Nazir group.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/06/03/drone-strike-in-south-waziristan/
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30 terrorists killed in Khyber clashes
3 June 2012
KHYBER AGENCY/ LANDIKOTAL/BAJAUR AGENCY: More than 30 terrorists were killed in clashes with security forces in Khyber tribal region, official sources said on Saturday.
The source said that the forces launched a massive crackdown in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency. Five terrorists were also killed in the area in clashes with Aman Laskhar.
Four hideouts and compounds of terrorists were also destroyed in security forces’ assault. Pakistan’s military has been battling a TTP-led insurgency in country’s northwestern tribal regions since 2008.
More than 35,000 people, including military personnel, have lost their lives during the war against terrorists in the country.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\03\story_3-6-2012_pg7_3
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Pak court acquits 4 alleged aides of Times Square bomber
Jun 03 2012,
Four men accused of involvement in the botched Times Square bombing carried out by Pakistani- American terrorist Faisal Shahzad in 2010 have been acquitted by a Rawalpindi court as the prosecution failed to prove its case against them.
The anti-terrorism court in the Pakistani garrison city yesterday acquitted Muhammad Shoaib Mughal, Muhammad Shahid Hussain, Humbal Akhtar and Faisal Abbasi.
The men, who were arrested in Pakistan following the New York City incident, were acquitted by the court on the grounds that the prosecution failed to prove its case against them.
Shahzad has already pleaded guilty in a US court to trying to blow up a bomb in his SUV in Times Square in New York. The bomb had failed to detonate.
American officials have said Shahzad was trained for the attack by the Pakistani Taliban.
Two other men arrested in Pakistan in the aftermath of the incident were released earlier.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-court-acquits-4-alleged-aides-of-times-square-bomber/957329/
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Pakistan targets growth, stability
Afzal Khan
3 June 2012
Pakistan Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh claimed that the government had succeeded in presenting a “good and balanced budget” that will provide relief to the people.
Addressing a post-budget Press conference on Saturday, he said the budget focused on maintaing economic stability and growth as well as reducing the inflation rate to a single digit. Also a primary objective was to collect taxes from those higher income individuals who evaded paying it.
He counted relief provided to genuine tax payers including raising the income tax limit to Rs400,000, a 20 per cent increment in base salaries and pensions, customs duties reduction on pharmaceutical raw materials and stationery items and fund allocation for creating 100,000 jobs for graduates.
Taxation measures included setting a bar of 16 per cent sales tax on all products higher than this percentage while maintaining sales tax rates on all products below it. He said the government wished to remove the burden of taxes from the common man. “We want only two taxes to exist in Pakistan: income tax and sales tax,” he said.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/internationbusiness/2012/June/internationbusiness_June16.xml§ion=internationbusiness
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Indo-Pak militaries an obstacle to Siachen resolution: Pak Minister
3 June 2012
While giving an interview to BBC the Mukhtar said that Pakistan and India wanted to settle the dispute and its resolution would benefit both the countries.
India, being the bigger country, should be large-hearted in initiating a settlement, according to Pakistan’s minister for water and power.
While replying to a question he said that both countries gain nothing out of Siachen and the matter is only about satisfaction of egos and according to him the cost of ego satisfaction would be noteworthy.
http://dawn.com/2012/06/03/indo-pak-militaries-an-obstacle-to-siachen-resolution-mukhtar/
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US drone strikes again, kills five militants in Pakistan
June 03, 2012
A US drone targeted a house in the restive South Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan on Sunday, killing five militants in the latest in a series of attacks by the CIA-operated spy planes.
The drone struck in Barmal area of South Waziristan Agency, TV news channels quoted officials as
saying.
Five bodies had been pulled out of the house, which caught fire after several missiles slammed into it.
Three persons were injured in the attack and officials were quoted as saying that the death toll could rise.
There have been seven drone strikes since May 23.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Pakistan/US-drone-strikes-again-kills-five-militants-in-Pakistan/Article1-865236.aspx
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Gilani orders legislation on missing persons
03 June, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday issued orders to make special laws regarding missing persons.
A high-level meeting chaired by the premier reviewed law and order situation and developmental activities in Balochistan.
Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Law Minister Farooq H Naek, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Postal Services Minister Sardar Muhammad Omar Gorgaij were also present. Agriculture and Food Security Minister Nazar Muhammad Gondal and Science and Technology Minister Mir Changiz Khan Jamali were also present.
The meeting decided that no law-enforcement agency would issue any "rahdari" in Balochistan and the existing "rahdaris" would stand ceased forthwith. It was also decided that no one would be allowed to drive vehicles with tinted windows. Besides, non-custom paid vehicles would also be not allowed to ply on the roads. The meeting also decided that a temporary permission granted to such vehicles also stands cancelled with immediate effect.
Full report at:
http://paktribune.com/news/Gilani-orders-legislation-on-missing-persons-250318.html
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2 Balochistan Levies officials shot dead
3 June 2012
QUETTA: Two Balochistan Levies personnel were killed in an attack on their checkpost in Rado area of Tehsil Jaho, Awaran, on Saturday. According to Deputy Commissioner Ahsan Baloch, unidentified people opened fire on Balochistan Levies officials at the checkpost late on Saturday night, adding that at least two Levies official were killed on the spot. The attackers fled the scene after the attack. The bodies of Rasool Bukhsh and Mohammad Umer Jan were moved to hospital. Both the deceased were residents of Tehsil Jaho district of Awaran. According to sources, unidentified people also took away weapons of Levies personnel. No group had claimed responsibility for the attack until the filing of this report. A case had been registered against unidentified people and an investigation was underway. staff report
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\03\story_3-6-2012_pg7_6
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Osama manhunt decoded
By Manoj Joshi
3 June 2012
Bergen’s book is the most definitive account on the bin Laden operation
THE death of Osama bin Laden was as dramatic as his life. It was not quite the martyrdom he hoped for, but neither was it some tawdry illness that brought him down. It involved one of the most extensive manhunts in history, and it ended in a surprise twist— US Navy Seals found and shot bin Laden who had been hiding in plain sight in a house which was a stone’s throw away from the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad, a cantonment town close to Islamabad.
He was living with his family and there is evidence that he had been living there for quite some time, using an elaborate system of couriers to run his global Al Qaeda organisation.
Full report at:
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=362012
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Economic stability main target: Pak govt
3 June 2012
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Saturday said that the main focus of the Federal Budget 2012-13 was to ensure continuity of microeconomic stability in the country to provide relief to the poor.
He was addressing a post-budget briefing at the Planning Commission Auditorium. Finance Secretary Wajid Ali Rana, Adviser to the Finance Ministry Rana Asad Amin, EAD Secretary Dr Waqar Masood Khan and FBR Chairman Mumtaz Hyder were also present.
He said that the country’s economic situation was uncomfortable, yet manageable, adding that institutions such as the IMF were there to help out countries trapped in balance of payment difficulties.
Defending proposed provision of the Finance Bill 2012 relating to provision of security and other facilities to the presidents and prime ministers of Pakistan after their retirement, the minister said this is being done around the world to acknowledge their services for their country and in Pakistan this would be done in accordance with set rules.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\03\story_3-6-2012_pg1_1
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Pak PM orders legislation on missing persons
3 June 2012
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday issued orders to make special laws regarding missing persons.
A high-level meeting chaired by the premier reviewed law and order situation and developmental activities in Balochistan.
Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Law Minister Farooq H Naek, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Postal Services Minister Sardar Muhammad Omar Gorgaij were also present. Agriculture and Food Security Minister Nazar Muhammad Gondal and Science and Technology Minister Mir Changiz Khan Jamali were also present.
The meeting decided that no law-enforcement agency would issue any “rahdari” in Balochistan and the existing “rahdaris” would stand ceased forthwith. It was also decided that no one would be allowed to drive vehicles with tinted windows. Besides, non-custom paid vehicles would also be not allowed to ply on the roads. The meeting also decided that a temporary permission granted to such vehicles also stands cancelled with immediate effect.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\03\story_3-6-2012_pg1_5
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‘Busy schedule’ forces Pak PM to cancel UK visit
3 June 2012
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minster (PM) Yousaf Raza Gilani has postponed his UK visit due to busy schedule.
He was likely to attend the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth’s throne. According to PM’s House, the visit has been cancelled due to Gilani’s appointments. The Senate chairman would represent Pakistan at the event. The celebrations are being held to mark the 60-year reign of the queen. online
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\03\story_3-6-2012_pg7_2
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South Asia
U.S.-Pakistan Freeze Chokes Fallback Route in Afghanistan
By ROD NORDLAND
3 June 2012
SALANG PASS, Afghanistan — Nowhere is the impact of Pakistan’s ban on NATO truck traffic more visible than here at the top of the Hindu Kush, on one of the only alternative overland routes for supply convoys to reach Kabul and the rest of the country.
For 20 miles north and south of the old Soviet-built tunnel at Salang Pass, thousands of trucks are idled beside the road, waiting for a turn to get through its perilous, one-and-a-half-mile length.
This is the only passable route for heavy truck traffic bringing NATO supplies in from the Central Asian republics to the north, as they now must come.
There are other roads, but they are often single-lane dirt tracks through even higher mountain passes, or they are frequently subject to ambushes by insurgents and bandits. So a tunnel built to handle 1,000 vehicles a day, and until the Pakistani boycott against NATO in November handling 2,000, now tries — and often fails — to let 10,000 vehicles through, alternating northbound and southbound truck traffic every other day.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/world/asia/us-pakistan-dispute-chokes-an-afghan-supply-route.html?ref=global-home&gwh=AD06B4655F85DA749208B02684EB1583&pagewanted=print
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Daring NATO raid frees aid workers in Afghanistan
3 June 2012
KABUL: NATO Special Forces rescued two foreign women and killed five kidnappers in a ‘breathtaking’ pre-dawn raid on Saturday on a cave in Afghanistan’s remote and mountainous Badakhshan province.
The women, who worked for Swiss-based charity Medair, were named as Briton Helen Johnston, 28, and Kenyan Moragwe Oirere, 26. Two Afghan colleagues kidnapped with them on May 22 were also freed unharmed.
All are well, Afghan officials told AFP. “The mission to rescue the hostages was launched in the early hours of today under cover of darkness with the assistance of helicopters,” a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.
“The hostages were being held in a cave in the mountains.”
British forces took part in the operation, which was authorised by Prime Minister David Cameron, the British Foreign office (FCo) said.
The prime minister said he gave the go-ahead on Friday afternoon, after becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of Johnston and her colleagues. “It was an extraordinarily brave, breathtaking even, operation that our troops had to carry out,” he said. “I pay tribute to their skill and dedication.”
The victims were seized at gunpoint while travelling on horseback across rugged terrain to relief project sites in Badakhshan in northeastern Afghanistan.
Cameron said the rescue should serve as a warning to terrorists across the world who take British citizens hostage.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\03\story_3-6-2012_pg7_9
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Bangladesh SC commutes 10-year-old schoolgirl killers’ death penalty
June 3, 2012
The Supreme Court on Sunday commuted death sentence of three young men to 14 years rigorous imprisonment in Sadia Sultana Trisha murder case.
The High Court on May 19, 2004 confirmed the death sentence to the three convicts awarded by a Gaibandha lower court for harrying to death the 10-year-old schoolgirl of the district in 2002.
The trio are Mehdi Hassan Modern, Mohammad Shahin and Ariful Islam Asha.
A seven-member full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain on Sunday delivered the verdict after allowing appeals, filed by the convicts, in part against the HC verdict.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=38140
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Counsels of J-e-I leader to cross-examine 2 witnesses in 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War Case
Delawar Hossain Sayedee
3 June 2012
The ICT-1 on Sunday permitted the counsels of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee to cross-examine two prosecution witnesses again in connection with the crimes against humanity during 1971 Liberation War.
The three-member tribunal led by Justice Md Nizamul Huq allowed the defence to recall two witnesses — Mahbubul Alam Hawlader and Manik Posari.
During the day's hearing, the International Crimes Tribunal also asked the defence to deposit the money to the court before June 10 which will be spend for the purpose of their accommodation, meals and transport.
The defence on May 29 appealed to the tribunal to call back witnesses Mahbubul Alam Hawlader, Ruhul Amin Nobin and Manik Posari so that it could ask them more questions.
The detained Nayeb-e-ameer of the Jamaat is facing 20 counts of crimes against humanity that cover crimes against humanity; genocide; attempt, abetment or conspiracy to commit any such crimes; and complicity in or failure to prevent of commission of any such offences, according to different subsections of section 3(2) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=38138
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East Asia
Any hostility against Pakistan not to be tolerated: China
3 June 2012
China has once again stepped up coming to the aid of Pakistan which is surrounded by difficulties and the Chinese foreign minister clarified that nothing is above the friendship between the two countries.
Talking to journalists in Beijing Jiechi said that the Chinese leadership was sincere for Pakistan’s economic development and all possible support was being provided in this regards.
While replying to a question on counter-terrorism co-operation the Chinese foreign minster expressed hope in Pakistan that it would take stringent steps against those backing the extremist elements engaged in negative activities in western China’s muslim-dominated-province of Xinjiang.
http://dawn.com/2012/06/03/any-hostility-against-pakistan-not-to-be-tolerated-china/
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China steps up Afghan role as Western pullout nears
3 June 2012
China has kept a low political profile through much of the decade-long international effort to stabilise Afghanistan, choosing instead to pursue an economic agenda, including locking in future supply from Afghanistan’s untapped mineral resources.
As the US-led coalition winds up military engagement and hands over security to local forces, Beijing, along with regional powers, is gradually stepping up involvement in an area that remains at risk from being overrun by the insurgents.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai will hold talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Beijing this week, where they will seal a wide-ranging pact governing their ties, including security cooperation.
Afghanistan has signed a series of strategic partnership agreements including with the United States, India and Britain among others in recent months, described by one Afghan official as taking out “insurance cover” for the period after the end of 2014 when foreign troops leave.
“The president of Afghanistan will be meeting the president of China in Beijing and what will happen is the elevation of our existing, solid relationship to a new level, to a strategic level,” Janan Musazai, a spokesman for the Afghan foreign ministry, told Reuters.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/06/03/china-steps-up-afghan-role-as-western-pullout-nears/
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African Countries
In Timbuktu, Harsh Change under Islamists
By ADAM NOSSITER
3 June 2012
BAMAKO, Mali — Isolated for centuries by the harsh desert that surrounds it, Timbuktu now finds itself even more cut off from the rest of the world.
Rebels who captured the city in northern Mali in April have imposed a form of hard-edged Islamic rule, prompting many residents to flee in fear and changing the face of what had been a tolerant and easygoing destination that drew tourists from around the world.
Women are now forced to wear full, face-covering veils. Music is banned from the radio. Cigarettes are snatched from the mouths of pedestrians. And the look of the ancient mud-brick town is changing. A centuries-old monument, the shrine of a 15th-century saint, has been defaced; bars have been demolished; and black flags have been hung around town to honor Ansar Dine, or Defenders of the Faith, the radical Islamist movement that emerged from the desert and turned life upside down.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/world/africa/in-timbuktu-mali-rebels-and-islamists-impose-harsh-rule.html?ref=global-home&gwh=F4A9F1C5FE3C114BEA17E103C9C1E837&pagewanted=print
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Explosion Strikes Near North Nigeria Church
3 June 2012
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — A suspected car bomb exploded near a church Sunday morning in north Nigeria, wounding at least 33 people and likely killing others, officials said.
The blast happened around a car near a church called Living Faith in a neighbourhood of Bauchi, the capital of Bauchi state. An initial report from the Nigerian Red Cross in Bauchi said at least 33 people had been wounded and taken to local hospitals.
Police and soldiers cordoned off the area, blocking emergency workers from immediately accessing the site, said Mohammed Garba, an official with the Bauchi State Emergency Management Agency. Red Cross officials said they suspected others were killed by the blast, but could not enter the church's compound to collect the corpses.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/06/03/world/africa/ap-af-nigeria-explosion.html?ref=global-home&pagewanted=print&gwh=2FA8B10AA059564382409EAB039279B4
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Libya lawyers appeal law banning glorifying Gaddafi
Sun Jun 3, 2012
TRIPOLI, June 3 (Reuters) - Libya's Supreme Court agreed on Sunday to review the constitutionality of a new law that criminalises the glorification of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi or any of his supporters.
The appealing lawyer told the court on Sunday that Law 37, which was passed by the ruling National Transitional Council last month, violated constitutional freedoms of expression.
"This law is a violation of the basic freedoms of human rights and will help to damage freedoms in Libya," said Saleh al-Marghani. "The law itself helps to glorify Gaddafi more than keep it in check. We ask the court to accept our appeal."
The NTC passed Law 37 on May 2 and raised public outrage among civil societies and Libyan legal experts who said the law violated the spirit of freedom of expression.
The law prescribes prison sentences for the glorification of Gaddafi as well as publishing any news "harming the February 17 revolution".
"This marks a unique opportunity for the judiciary in Libya to assert its independence and act in its capacity as a monitor of the powers of the lawmakers in the country," said Elham Saudi, director of the Lawyers For Justice in Libya group. (Reporting By Ali Shuaib; Writing By Hadeel Al-Shalchi; Editing by Jon Hemming)
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E8H349020120603
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Southeast Asia
RI’s ‘Little Monsters’ dance mournfully in Jakarta
Jakarta Sun, 6/03/2012, A number of Lady Gaga fans, known as little monsters, rally during a flash mob event in front of the Presidential Palace on Sunday. They expected the singer could perform in Indonesia and demanded that the government protect freedom of expression. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
A number of Indonesian Lady Gaga fans, dubbed “Little Monsters”, gathered at the Bung Karno Stadium and in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Sunday to lament the cancellation of the singer’s gig.
Local fans from Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bali and Bandung, West Java, came together in front of the stadium where the Grammy-award singer was supposed to perform on Sunday if her concert had not been cancelled, with some bringing flower bouquets representing “the country’s death of freedom of expression”.
Gaga’s management cancelled her concert last week amid pressure from the country’s hard line groups.
Separately, other little monsters wearing black outfits staged a rally in front of the Presidential Palace, Central Jakarta, stressing that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had to ensure citizens’ rights to freedom of expression.
The fans who flocked to the two locations also performed a flash-mob dance as a tribute to the 26-year-old singer, reenacting what they had done at eX Mall in Central Jakarta last week.
“We were born this way, Gaga!” they shouted at the end of their event, responding to Gaga’s statement to her Indonesian fans at her Singapore concert last week.
They also stamped their handprints with colorful paint on a large poster of Gaga, which stated “Little Monsters’ tribute to diversity”.
“The cancellation was not merely an assault to our idol, but also to the values that she promotes through her music such as equality, humanism, diversity and compassion,” said Fia Rahmatia, founder of Gaga’s Twitter fan-base @IndoProGaga.
Formed in mid-May in the wake of the Gaga brouhaha, the Twiter account has a total of 6,927 followers as of Sunday.
Gaga, who held her three-day concert in Singapore without controversy, implied that she still regretted the cancellation of the Jakarta gig via her Twitter account late on Saturday.
When one of her followers pointed out that Gaga would have been in Indonesia over the weekend should her Jakarta show have gone on as planned, the singer replied, “I know. It is all I can think about.”
Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, is scheduled to perform at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, on June 7, 8 and 10 as a part of the 2012 Born This Way Ball tour, according to her website. (asa/iwa)
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/03/ri-s-little-monsters-dance-mournfully-jakarta.html
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North America
US rejects majority of Pakistan’s support fund demands
3 June 2012
The US is not only adamant in its refusal to apologise for the Salala border checkpost incident that had resulted in the killings of 24 Pakistani soldiers in November last year but also cornering Pakistan as punishment for the apology demand.
Sources claimed that Pakistan’s federal government has decided to pass the burden of the US punishment onto the public and the price of compressed natural gas (CNG) has been increased by 15 to 20 per cent to deal with the impasse. The price hike would be affective from 1st July.
US military authorities rejected Pakistan’s request seeking USD 2.8 billion in respect of the coalition support fund stating the request as ‘unrealistic’.
Both the countries have held more than half a dozen meetings related to the disbursement of the support fund’s amount but the issue remains unresolved in face of the rejection by the US.
Pakistani-US relations went into freefall last year.
There were hit when a CIA contractor shot dead two Pakistanis and dented further by an American raid that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and by US air strikes in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/06/03/us-rejects-majority-of-pakistans-support-fund-demands/
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US court demands decision on MEK's 'terror' listing
3 June 2012
A US appeals court has ordered Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to decide within four months whether a dissident Iranian group should be removed from the US terror blacklist.
The long delays in acting on the group's petition to be removed were "egregious", the court said.
The Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) had asked the court to give Mrs Clinton just 30 days to decide.
It says its presence on the list puts members living in Iraq under threat.
The MEK, also known as the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) led a guerrilla campaign against the US-backed Shah of Iran during the 1970s and also opposed Iran's clerical leaders who replaced the Shah.
It was given refuge in Iraq by Saddam Hussein but has fallen out of favour with Iraq's new Shia-dominated leadership.
Members of the group have been based at a refugee camp in Iraq but Baghdad is taking steps to expel them.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18308879?print=true
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US will put more warships in Asia: Panetta
3 June 2012
SINGAPORE/BEIJING: The United States (US) will shift a majority of its warships to the Asia-Pacific region by 2020, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Saturday, giving the first details of a new US military strategy.
Fleshing out details of a strategic shift to Asia announced in January, Panetta said the US would maintain six aircraft carriers in the region over the long run and rebalance its fleet so that 60 percent of its other warships would be assigned to the Pacific by 2020, compared to 50 percent now.
The US defence secretary, speaking at an annual security forum in Singapore, also sought to dispel the notion that the shift, after more than a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, was designed to contain China’s emergence as a global power.
He acknowledged differences between the world’s two largest economies on a range of issues, including the South China Sea.
“We’re not naive about the relationship and neither is China,” Panetta told the Shangri-La Dialogue attended by senior civilian and military leaders from about 30 Asia-Pacific nations.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\06\03\story_3-6-2012_pg1_7
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Europe
Osama bin Laden's aide tells secrets of al-Qa'ida
Osama bin Laden's aide tells secrets of al-Qa'ida
From: The Times
June 04, 2012
A MEMBER of Osama bin Laden's inner circle, the man who shaved his head, has given the best picture to date of how al-Qa'ida was run.
Among the disclosures is the existence of a legal committee of Islamic scholars that often vetoed terror attacks because it deemed them unlawful, and advised how to run operations.
In a strange parallel with CIA and Pentagon lawyers, the committee assessed targets, approving only those regarded as military, economic or political.
It vetoed bombing the Israeli embassy in Nairobi in 1998 because it was next to a school, and recommended the US embassy be bombed on a Friday between 10am and 11am as Muslim workers would be at the mosque. The committee ruled that captured US soldiers were not to be killed as they were no longer a threat.
The revelations come in an autobiography by Fadil Harun, also known as Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who was on al-Qa'ida's military committee and had access to its secrets. He was one of the first to be briefed on the 9/11 plot.
"It's the richest primary source on al-Qa'ida we've ever seen," said Nelly Lahoud, of the terrorism combat centre at West Point military academy.
"It's an incredible mix of his personal story - marrying his wife whom he loved, having children, even detailing how the cat died because it missed the children - as well as getting trucks ready for bombing attacks, working with Osama bin Laden and meeting Mullah Omar (the Taliban leader)."
Born in 1972 in the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean, Harun went to Pakistan because his mother wanted him to study abroad. At university in Karachi he heard of Islamist training camps, and in 1991 he travelled to Peshawar and Afghanistan. There he met bin Laden and decided jihad was his future.
Harun was sent on al-Qa'ida's first mission to Somalia in 1993 and was the lead planner for the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 200.
He was rewarded with the post of confidential secretary. "In US terms he had top-level clearance," said Ms Lahoud.
Harun details the workings of the organisation in his writings. He describes al-Qa'ida as "a bureaucracy" with legal, economic, political and media committees, all subordinate to the military committee. When he was on the military committee, Harun became close to fellow member Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, known as KSM, who masterminded the September 11 attacks in 2001. KSM encouraged him to turn his diary into a book.
It was a mark of his closeness to bin Laden that the al-Qa'ida leader asked him to shave his head. "He doesn't trust his head to anyone but he let me," Harun boasted.
In 2000, he travelled with bin Laden and KSM to the home of Omar, the Taliban leader. Bin Laden told Omar: "We thank you for your sincerity and bearing our burden."
Omar replied: "We're doing this in the service of God, you are our brothers. The most important thing we ask is you inform us of your actions in advance."
Harun was one of the first to know about the 9/11 plan, along with bin Laden and Mohammed Atef, al-Qa'ida's military chief.
Harun was involved in the 2002 Mombasa bombings, and then settled in Somalia. It was there he learnt about the arrest of KSM in 2003, an event he describes as "catastrophic" and the start of the demise of al-Qa'ida.
Harun was appalled by the spread of attacks by other regional jihad groups, which he saw as having no discipline, launching "unlawful" attacks on marketplaces and at roadsides. His dismay prompted him to write the autobiography to "distinguish al-Qa'ida from the rest of the jihadi groups".
He regarded it as a mistake to let al-Qa'ida in Iraq into the organisation and was frustrated by the political "immaturity" of al-Shabaab, the Somali group.
Harun was killed a month after bin Laden in June last year by Somali government forces when he mistakenly drove into a security checkpoint.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/osama-bin-ladens-aide-tells-secrets-of-al-qaida/story-fnb64oi6-1226381969403
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/emirati-women-now-own-20,000/d/7521