Exiled Afghan Warlords and Exiled Politicians Form High Council of National Resistance to Fight Taliban
New Age
Islam News Bureau
20 May 2022
File photo: Taliban fighters patrol on vehicles along
a street in Kabul on September 2, 2021 AFP
----
• "We Keep Naughty Women, Those Who Protested the
Regime's Restrictions on Women Rights, At Home," Says Taliban Leader
Sirajuddin Haqqani
• US Claims Taliban May Lose Restrictions on Al-Qaeda Over
the Next 12 To 24 Months
• Cylindrical Structure Found In The Middle Of ‘Wuzu’
Pond Which Resembled A ‘Shivlinga’: Gyanvapi Mosque Survey Decoded
• Israeli Army Says It Will Not Open Criminal Probe
into Journalist's Killing: Report
South
Asia
• The Afghanistan Freedom Movement Group Claims
Responsibility for Today’s Explosion of Mazar-e-Sharif
• Tajik Military launches “anti-terrorism” Operations
on Afghan Border
• Former National Security Advisor Apologizes for His
Role in Afghanistan’s Downfall
--------
North
America
• US Reaffirms Commitment to Helping Saudi Arabia
Defend Itself from External Threats
• US, Israeli defence chiefs discuss Iran, Ukraine war
in Washington
• US defence secretary says he shares Saudi concerns
over Iran’s destabilizing activities in region
• Biden welcomes Finland, Sweden to join NATO, as Turkey
balks
--------
India
• Country Will Be Ruined If Movement Begins To Save
Gyanvapi Mosque, Shahi Idgah: Babri Case Plaintiff
• Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah case: Mathura court
allows lawsuit seeking removal of mosque
• UP: Deoband clerics slam govt over halting grants to
new madrasas
• Politics In The Name Of Religion, Threat To
Democracy: Ashok Gehlot Slams Centre over Its Stand on Gyanvapi Mosque Case
• JD (U), BJP Lock Horn over Gyanvapi Mosque Row
• Telangana Congress leaders question KCR silence on
Shah’s vow to scrap Muslim quota
• Gyanvapi mosque case: Varanasi court fixes 23 May
for next hearing
• Ahmedabad: PIL wants temple work at Pirana dargah
halted
• Namazis allowed 2 drums of 1,000 litres of water for
Wuzu
• Indonesia lifts palm oil curbs, relief in India
• Police arrest Muslim leader for Neemuch violence,
recommends NSA
--------
Mideast
• Iran Sends Two Activists, Kevyan Samimi and Narges
Mansouri Back To Jail: Reports
• AEOI Chief: Iran Gains Self-Sufficiency in N. Fuel
Cycle
• Iran ‘heavily disrupts’ internet access after
protest: HRW
• Jewish worshippers clash with police at pilgrimage
site in Israel’s Mount Meron
• Israeli Military Identifies Soldier’s Rifle That May
Have Killed Shireen Abu Akleh
• Turkey’s opposition to NATO’s Nordic enlargement
fuels row ahead of June summit
• Iran Unveils Home-Made Simorq Airplane
--------
Pakistan
• Imran Khan Deliberately Isolated Pakistan:
Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl
• Pak's Relationship with India 'Particularly
Complicated' By New Delhi's Decisions: Bilawal
• In US, Pak foreign minister Bilawal defends Imran
Khan's controversial Moscow visit
• From cars to jams, Pak bans import of luxury items
amid sinking economy
• TTP ceasefire month after release of 2 of its
leaders on death row in Pakistan
• Pakistan condemns in 'strongest possible terms'
Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik's conviction after 'sham trial'
• Defamation case registered against journalist Sami
Ibrahim
• Fazlur Rehman seeks state institutions’ support for
nascent government
• Karachi blast suspect received orders from
Iran-based commander, says Pakistan
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Pope Invites Muslim Governor, Ridwan Kamil, From
Indonesia to Vatican In Recognition Of His Efforts to Promote Interreligious
Dialogue
• PM Calls On Malaysians to Condemn Zionist Atrocities
against Palestine
• PKR man sees irony in Saifuddin’s talk against race
politics
• Be the change you want to see, Young Syefura tells
those criticising DAP as Chinese chauvinists
--------
Arab
World
• Lebanon’s Emboldened Opposition Goes from Protest to
Parliament
• Saudi Religious Moderation: The World’s Foremost
Publisher of Qur’ans Has Yet to Get the Message
• US Announces New Hezbollah-Related Sanctions on Lebanese
Businessmen, Companies
• UAE President to send AED35 million humanitarian aid
to Somalia
• US military review of civilian casualties in Syria
flawed, claims Human Rights Watch
--------
Africa
• Jordan's King Restricts ‘Delusional’ Prince Hamzah's
Movement, Communications
• Deborah Samuel: CPFN Calls for Open Preaching To Muslims
against Taking Law Into Their Hands
• For the first time in half-a-century, Chad welcomes
Israeli envoy
• Sudan arrests communist party figures as thousands
protest coup
• Burkina Faso attacks leave 11 soldiers, 15 gunmen
dead: Army
--------
Europe
• Swedish Journalist Says Turkiye Is Right To Oppose
Stockholm's NATO Membership
• Italian premier to visit Turkiye in July for
bilateral talks
• Germany arrests leading members of DHKP-C terror
group
• Tajikistan detains 114 over clashes in troubled
eastern region
• Sweden's approach towards 'protecting' terrorists
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
--------
Exiled Afghan Warlords And Exiled Politicians Form
High Council Of National Resistance To Fight Taliban
File photo: Taliban fighters patrol on vehicles along
a street in Kabul on September 2, 2021 AFP
----
May 20, 2022
KABUL/GENEVA: Former Afghan warlords and exiled
politicians announced the creation of a High Council of National Resistance
against the Taliban on Thursday, calling on the Islamists to form a more
inclusive government or risk civil war.
Since the Taliban surged back to power on the heels of
a hasty withdrawal of US troops last year, there have been only limited and
sporadic attempts to resist their rule.
But on Tuesday 40 political figures met in Ankara by
invitation of former Afghan vice-president and warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, who
found refuge in Turkey after Kabul fell in August.
Participants said their council should pave the way
for the “liberation” of Afghanistan, the group said in a statement on Thursday.
“We demand the Taliban end their destruction and set
the table for talks to find solutions to the current problems of Afghanistan,”
they said.
The Islamists “should learn from the experiences of
history that no group can have a stable government through acts of force and
pressure”, the council added.
Founding members of the council include former Balkh
province governor Atta Mohammad Noor, leader of the Hazara community Mohammad
Mohaqiq, and Ahmad Wali Massoud of the National Resistance Front (NRF), the
main group currently waging an armed insurgency against the government.
Long-time Taliban opponent and warlord Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf is also a
signatory.
The council’s aim is “to try to solve the problems of
Afghanistan through talks”, a spokesman for Dostum said. “The Taliban should accept
that they can’t run the government or rule alone”, otherwise “Afghanistan will
experience civil war once again”, he said.
At the beginning of the week, the Taliban announced
the creation of a commission that would contact politicians in exile.
Taliban officials have said they hope to convene an
assembly of citizens, tribal leaders and religious heads to discuss the topic
of “national unity”.
However, after making promises for an inclusive
government, the Islamists in September formed an executive comprised
exclusively of Taliban members, and almost entirely from the ethnic Pashtun
group.
The new rulers in Kabul are already facing attacks
from the NRF led by Ahmad Massoud — son of late commander Ahmad Shah Massoud —
who has stepped up assaults in his former Panjshir valley stronghold.
In its statement, the council said it considers armed
resistance to the Taliban “legitimate”.
UN slams closure of rights body
The United Nations on Thursday slammed the Taliban’s
closure of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), calling
it a “deeply retrograde step”.
Since the Taliban seized power last August the
hardline Islamists have closed several bodies that protected the freedoms of
Afghans, including the electoral commission and the ministry for women’s
affairs.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said she was
“dismayed” at the dissolution.
“The AIHRC performed extraordinary work in extremely
difficult conditions over many years, shining a spotlight on the human rights
of all Afghans, including victims on all sides of the conflict,” she said in a
statement.
“It has however, been unable to operate on the ground
since August.
“The AIHRC has been a powerful voice for human rights
and a trusted partner of UN Human Rights, and its loss will be a deeply
retrograde step for all Afghans and Afghan civil society.”
The work of the commission, which included documenting
civilian casualties of Afghanistan’s two-decade war, was halted when the
Taliban ousted a US-backed government last year and the body’s top officials
fled the country.
Bachelet said that during her visit to Kabul in March,
she discussed with the de facto authorities the importance of re-establishing
an independent human rights mechanism that can receive public complaints and
bring concerns to the authorities.
Source: Dawn
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original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1690489
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"We Keep Naughty Women, Those Who Protested the
Regime's Restrictions on Women Rights, At Home," Says Taliban Leader
Sirajuddin Haqqani
Taliban leader and Afghanistan's acting interior
minister Sirajuddin Haqqani. (AFP File Photo)
-----
May 19, 2022
The Taliban have promised to “good news” on the return
of girls to schools in the country. But those who protested the regime's
restrictions on women rights should stay at home, the group's senior
functionary has said.
“We keep naughty women at home,” Afghanistan's acting
interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said in an interview to CNN.
While Sirajuddin made the comments with a laugh, the
Taliban leader did explain what he meant by the phrase. "By saying naughty
women, it was a joke referring to those naughty women who are controlled by
some other sides to bring the current government into question."
In the same interview on Monday, the Taliban's
co-deputy leader had promised that girls will soon be allowed to study in
schools.
He argued that girls could already go to primary
school. "Above that grade, the work is continuing on a mechanism" to
allow girls to attend secondary school, he said in his first televised
interview.
"Very soon you will hear very good news about
this issue," Haqqani added.
The "mechanism", according to Haqqani, was
linked to school dress codes, explaining that education should be based on
Afghan "culture" and "Islamic rules and principles".
In a recent decree, the Taliban regime banned female
students above grade six from participating in their classes. The girls were
further told to stay home until the Islamic Emirate announces its next
decision.
Haqqani also said that the Taliban regime is seeking
"good relations with the US and the international community."
Responding to a question on whether his outfit still
considers US as the enemy, said that they do not "look at them (US) as
enemies" and are committed to the Doha agreement, and want relations with
the US based on principles and diplomatic norms, according to Tolo News.
Taliban seized control of Afghanistan after the
withdrawal of American forces in August last year.
Source: ND TV
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original story:
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US Claims Taliban May Lose Restrictions On Al-Qaeda
Over The Next 12 To 24 Months
Representative Image/ The Print
----
20 May, 2022
Kabul [Afghanistan], May 20 (ANI): The US Central
Command (CENTCOM) assessed that the Taliban may lose its restriction on the
Al-Qaeda over the next 12 to 24 months and will allow them the greater freedom
of movement and the ‘ability to train, travel, and potentially re-establish an
external operations capability’.
“The DoS (Department of State) assessed that the
Taliban has taken steps to implement many of its counterterrorism commitments
in the 2020 Doha Agreement with the US Government regarding al-Qaeda and other
groups, though continued monitoring and engagement will remain essential.
However, USCENTCOM assessed that the Taliban will likely loosen these restrictions
over the next 12 to 24 months, allowing al-Qaeda greater freedom of movement
and the ability to train, travel, and potentially re-establish an external
operations capability,” Tolo News reported citing Lead Inspector General
Report.
According to the report, the Daesh is the top
terrorist threat in Afghanistan with around 2,000 members operating in the
country and some analysts said that some of the organizations are inflating the
issues in Afghanistan.
“The reports of the officials and some American
organizations in this regard are most likely based on political issues, they
either overemphasize or downplay the issue but the truth is as long as these
groups are present on Afghan soil and are active here and being supported, it
is dangerous for Afghanistan and they should be considered an imminent threat,”
Asadullah Nadeem, a military veteran said.
However, the current Afghan government denied the
presence of terrorist groups in their country.
“There are no movements, no forces in our country
which can plan attacks against others. The Islamic Emirate, based on its
policy, doesn’t allow anyone to use the Afghan soil against others,” Bilal
Karimi, Deputy Spokesman for the Islamic Emirate was quoted as saying by Tolo
News. (ANI)
Source: The Print
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original story:
https://theprint.in/world/us-claims-taliban-may-loose-restrictions-on-al-qaeda/963346/
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Cylindrical Structure Found In The Middle Of ‘Wuzu’
Pond Which Resembled A ‘Shivlinga’: Gyanvapi Mosque Survey Decoded
Security personnel stand guard as officials move
towards Gyanvapi Masjid complex. (Photo | PTI)
-----
19th May 2022
By Namita Bajpai
LUCKNOW: The report of the survey conducted on
Gyanvapi mosque premises on May 14-16 reportedly makes a mention of a
‘cylindrical structure of black stone’ found in the middle of ‘Wuzu’ (ablution)
pond which resembled a ‘Shivlinga’.
The court had appointed commission to conduct the
survey on mosque premises while hearing case no. 693/2021, Rakhi Singh vs UP
government, where the plaintiff had sought permission for daily worship of Maa
Shringar Gauri situated on mosque premises.
As per the highly placed sources, the court commission
has reportedly made a clear mention of the survey report about the ‘structure’
of black stone found in well-like structure in the centre of Wuzu pond of
Gyanvapi mosque and it looks like a Shivlinga.
The other details about the cylindrical structure in
the report say that as soon as it became visible to the survey commission, the
plaintiffs and their lawyers started claiming it as ‘Shivlinga’ while the
mosque authorities termed it as a fountain which has been lying defunct for 12
-20 years.
As per the sources, the report mentions that the
mosque staff failed to give a definite time period for which the fountain was
lying defunct. Initially, they claimed that it was not working for the last 20
years but then came down to 12 years.
Even there has reportedly been a mention of how the
mosque staff failed to make it operational when asked to do so, said the
sources adding that a white layer was found on the top of the cylindrical
structure.
The sources also claimed that reported talked about a
layer -- half an inch thick – and a thin hole of 63 cm depth was noticed at the
centre of the cylindrical structure.
The report also mentions that despite search, no
arrangement for attaching water supply pipe to operate the fountain was found
therein.
The sources also claimed measurement of cylindrical
structure -- 2.5 ft in height and 4 ft of radius at the base—was also mentioned
in the report which stated that the white layer of 9 inch radius (which was
divided in five parts) was fixed from outside at the top of the structure.
The sources also claimed that as per the report, when
the layers of moss deposited over cylindrical structure were removed, the
colour of stone was found as black and it looked was like a ‘Shivlinga’.
The report also reportedly contains the ground-plan,
zig-zag cuts inside domes of mosque and the main mandaps which matched the map
of ground plan of Aadi Visheshwar temple as printed in a number of books, said
the sources.
More specific details of structures and carvings have
also been reportedly mentioned in the report. During the survey, a ‘swastik’
was found on inner wall near the south pole of the main dome.
Symbols of three ‘damroos’ were reportedly spotted at
the main gate of the mosque.
In the north-west direction, a 15 ft x15 ft basement
was spotted and it was reportedly covered with debris. The stones lying in the
debris had images resembling the architecture of north Indian temples.
The sources also claimed that the survey report
referred to a three ft deep pond having 30 taps all around it. At a distance of
8 ft 3 inch from the pond, an idol resembling ‘Nandi’ was reportedly spotted by
the surveyors.
Moreover, the images of trishul, snake, bells, betel
leaves, elephants, bases for keeping idols of deities were also reportedly
found during the survey as the report mentioned, said the sources.
Meanwhile, the report submitted by sacked advocate
commissioner Ajay Kuamr Mishra of the videography survey conducted by him on
May 6 and 7 also mentioned that many signs resembling architecture of north
Indian temples like lotus, snakes and idols were reportedly evident on western
wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.
Source: New Indian Express
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Israeli army says it will not open criminal probe into
journalist's killing: Report
Shireen Abu Akleh was shot in the head while reporting
on an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Jenin last week CREDIT: Al Jazeera
Handout/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
----
Yousef Ibrahim and Awad al-Rujoub
19.05.2022
RAMALLAH, Palestine
The Israeli army on Thursday said it will not open a
criminal investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu
Akleh.
"There was no need to open a Military Police investigation
at this stage," the Jerusalem Post quoted an Israeli military statement as
saying.
The statement cited "no real suspicion of a
criminal act" in Abu Akleh's killing, adding that the army's interim
investigation could not determine whether she was killed by Israeli or
Palestinian gunfire.
On May 11, Abu Akleh, 51, was covering an Israeli
military raid near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank when she
was shot dead. Palestinian officials and her employer, Al Jazeera, said she was
killed by Israeli forces.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry slammed the decision,
and held Israel fully responsible for the killing.
Many governments, rights groups, and press bodies have
sought a transparent probe into the veteran Palestinian journalist's killing.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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South Asia
The Afghanistan Freedom Movement Group Claims Responsibility for Today’s Explosion of Mazar-e-Sharif
By Saqalain Eqbal
20 May 2022
Tahreek-e-Azadi Afghanistan (Afghanistan Freedom
Movement) claimed responsibility for an attack on the 209th AlFath Taliban
Corps convoy in Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh province.
An explosion occurred this morning, Thursday, May 19,
in Mazar-e-Sharif Sharif’s 5th district, and it is believed that the target of
the explosion was a Taliban army convoy, leaving three people wounded.
Mohammad Asif Waziri, a spokesman for the Taliban
police office in Balkh province, reported hours later that a vehicle carrying
civilian personnel of the 209th AlFath Corps had been attacked, injuring three
people. The injured were then taken to the corps hospital.
However, according to Khalid Pasoon, a spokesman for
the Tahreek-e-Azadi Afghanistan, at least ten people were killed and twelve
were injured in the incident.
He described the attack as the result of a magnetic
mine explosion.
He further said that the blast completely destroyed a
truck transporting Taliban forces.
Pictures of the mini-bus carrying Taliban forces were
also released on social media after the explosion, and the picture shows the
vehicle being completely destroyed.
Source: Khaama Press
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Tajik Military launches “anti-terrorism” Operations on
Afghan Border
By Saqalain Eqbal
19 May 2022
Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry has announced the
commencement of “anti-terrorist” military operations on the Border with
Afghanistan and China to combat terrorism.
Reuters also reported on Wednesday, May 18th, that the
operation was launched in Gorno-Badakhshan region near the Tajik border with
Afghanistan and China.
Several days of protests in Tajikistan’s Badakhshan
province preceded the operation. The demonstrators claim that the governor and
mayor of Badakhshan failed to appropriately prosecute the death of a civil
activist in police custody, and that they should resign as a result.
Several protestors were hurt in conflicts between
police and protesters, according to eyewitnesses. The Tajik Interior Ministry
said on Tuesday that one protester was killed and three police officers were
injured during the protests.
Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry has alleged that the
protests in Badakhshan region are being organized by “international terrorist
groups” that provide firearms and ammunition to Tajik demonstrators and their
representatives in order for them to “carry out terrorist acts.”
Protesters, on the other hand, claim that their
actions are nonviolent and protected by the law.
Source: Khaama Press
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https://www.khaama.com/tajik-military-launches-anti-terrorism-operations-on-afghan-border75831/
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Former National Security Advisor Apologizes for His
Role in Afghanistan’s Downfall
By Saqalain Eqbal
20 May 2022
Hamdullah Mohib, the National Security Advisor to
former president Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, has publicly apologized for his role
that contributed to the fall of the country to the insurgent group of the
Taliban.
Admitting his failures, Mohib in an interview with BBC
World has stated that “anything related to [his] failures, [he] takes full
responsibility for and apologize[s] for it”.
Previously, he was invited to speak about the current
situation in Afghanistan, in the prestigious Oxford Union.
At the Oxford Union, he held the media responsible for
the collapse of Afghanistan, while dozens of Afghans protested in front of the
Oxford Union, blaming him for the fall of the previous government.
Prior to the event at the Oxford Union, thousands of
students and university faculty members had signed an online petition to the
Oxford Union, requesting the cancellation of Mohib’s speech.
While expressing his regrets, Mohib encouraged those
involved in the fall of the country “to come forward and explain the
situation”. “We owe it to the Afghan people, … history, … to the partnership
and sacrifices that we have made,” he added.
Mohib stated that people should “learn” from this
experience to offer better future to the Afghan nation.
Source: Khaama Press
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North
America
US reaffirms commitment to helping Saudi Arabia defend
itself from external threats
19 May ,2022
The US has reaffirmed its commitment to helping Saudi
Arabia defend itself from external threats, the Pentagon said Thursday.
The Pentagon statement was released after the US-Saudi
Strategic Joint Planning Committee met this week in Washington.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl led
the US delegation, while Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Khalid Bin Salman
led the Saudi delegation.
Kahl and Prince Khalid reaffirmed the strength of the
US-Saudi defense partnership, the Pentagon said. “Dr. Kahl affirmed the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner of the United States and underscored US
commitment to supporting the Kingdom in defending itself against external
threats.”
The two officials also spoke about the US approach to
China “as its pacing challenge.” They also touched on the war in Yemen,
maritime threats, and violent extremist organizations.
Iran’s destabilizing actions in the region were also a
topic of discussion. The pair agreed to increase cooperation and work to
counter the smuggling of illicit weapons to violent non-state groups in the
Middle East.
The Pentagon said Kahl praised the transformation
process at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense, “a top priority for Saudi Arabia
and for the United States.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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US, Israeli defence chiefs discuss Iran, Ukraine war
in Washington
Servet Günerigök
19.05.2022
WASHINGTON
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed a range of
issues Thursday with his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz, including Iran, the
war in Ukraine and tensions between Israel and Palestine.
"The Secretary reiterated the United States’
ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and to maintaining Israel’s
qualitative military edge," the Pentagon said in a statement about the
meeting in Washington.
"The two leaders discussed the Administration’s
commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and addressing
Iran’s destabilizing actions throughout the region. Secretary Austin also
emphasized the Department’s focus on working closely with Allies and partners
to help Ukraine defend itself in the face of Russia’s unprovoked and unjust
aggression," it said.
Austin praised Gantz for "Israel’s deepening
relationships with countries across the region and the increasing opportunities
for military-to-military cooperation enabled by Israel’s transition into the
U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility," it added.
The two defense chiefs also discussed tensions between
Israel and Palestine. Austin "underscored the importance of de-escalating
tensions and protecting civilians in Jerusalem and the West Bank," said
the statement.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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US defence secretary says he shares Saudi concerns
over Iran’s destabilizing activities in region
May 19, 2022
RIYADH: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he
shares Saudi Arabia’s concerns over Iran’s destabilizing activities in the
region on Thursday.
In a tweet, Austin added that he welcomed the
Kingdom’s constructive efforts in advancing the current truce in Yemen which
came into effect on April 2. He said the truce should be extended.
Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman
earlier met with the defense secretary during his visit to Washington for the
US-Saudi Strategic Joint Planning Committee.
The officials reviewed the Saudi-US partnership, and
ongoing and future strategic military and defense cooperation between the two
countries.
Source: Arab News
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of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2085736/saudi-arabia
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Biden welcomes Finland, Sweden to join NATO, as Turkey
balks
19 May ,2022
US President Joe Biden met the leaders of Sweden and
Finland on Thursday to advance their applications to join the NATO military
alliance, as Turkey repeated its opposition to the move.
Biden, who has lauded cooperation between Europe and
the US in standing up to Moscow during a Russian invasion of Ukraine, stood
with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli
Niinistö in a sunny White House Rose Garden bedecked with flags.
He cheered the “momentous” day, giving his strong
support for the two great democracies” to “join the strongest most powerful
defensive alliance in the history of the world.”
“They meet every NATO requirement and then some,”
Biden said, adding he is submitting paperwork today to the US Congress “for
speedy approval once NATO approves their accession.”
Turkey has expressed strong opposition to including
Finland and Sweden in the alliance, asking Sweden to halt support for Kurdish
militants it considers to be part of a terrorist group and both to lift their
bans on some sales of arms to Turkey.
All 30 NATO members need to approve any new entrant.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a video posted on his Twitter
account on Thursday that Turkey had told allies that it will reject Sweden and
Finland’s membership.
Source: Al Arabiya
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India
Country Will Be Ruined If Movement Begins To Save
Gyanvapi Mosque, Shahi Idgah: Babri Case Plaintiff
19 MAY 2022
Main plaintiff in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid
case Haji Mahboob has claimed that the country will be ruined if Muslims begin
a movement to save the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah in
Mathura. He alleged that after the Babri mosque, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) is now conspiring to take away the Gyanvapi mosque and the Shahi
Idgah.
"They should forget about taking away the two
mosques forcibly as there will be a big movement to save the Gyanvapi mosque
and the Idgah in Mathura, and Muslims will not back down this time,"
Mahboob said. "Gyanvapi Masjid will remain where it is. A propaganda is
being created that a Shivling has been found. It is indeed a fountain in the
mosque's wazookhana," he said.
Talking about the Babri mosque verdict, Mahboob said,
"The Supreme Court in its Ayodhya verdict, even after accepting every
thing in favour of Babri Masjid, awarded the decree in favour of Ram Mandir. We
remained silent and allowed the Ayodhya issue to get resolved," he added.
Source: Outlook India
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Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah case: Mathura court
allows lawsuit seeking removal of mosque
May 19, 2022
NEW DELHI: A district court in Mathura on Thursday accepted
a petition demanding the removal of Shahi Idgah masjid from the Krishna
Janmabhoomi land. The petition claims that the masjid has been built on the
land belonging to the Keshav Dev temple, the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
Lawyer Hari Shankar Jain said the court has accepted
one of the multiple pleas on the matter.
The petitioners in the case are also seeking ownership
of 13.37 acres of land of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi besides the removal of Shahi
Idgah mosque built on it.
They have requested the court to hand over the entire
land to the de-facto owner, Lord Shri Krishna Virajman.
Source: Times Of India
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UP: Deoband clerics slam govt over halting grants to
new madrasas
20th May 2022
Saharanpur: ‘Ulemas’ (body of Muslim scholars) at
Deoband, which is home to one of the largest Islamic seminaries in the country,
have questioned Uttar Pradesh government’s recent decision of not giving grants
to new madrasas in the state.
Maulana Qari Ishaq Gora, patron of Jamiat Dewat-ul
Muslameen, an organisation involved in religious teachings, said, “The
government must make it clear why it has taken this decision.”
Gora asked if the government did not have the budget
or if such a decision only applied to madrasas.
Another Deoband-based cleric, Maulana Asad Qasmi,
said, “Now, the government has decided that new madrasas will not get grants,
but the reason for this decision has not been given.”
He added that the government should build schools and
colleges in Muslim-dominated areas.
He also said nearly 75 per cent of Muslim children
study in schools and 25 per cent in madrasas for which Muslim community gives donations.
“We don’t need government grants but this decision
reflects their thinking,” Qasmi added.
According to government data, of the 16,461 madrasas
in the state, only 558 received the grants.
Source: Siasat Daily
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Politics in the name of religion, threat to democracy:
Ashok Gehlot slams Centre over its stand on Gyanvapi mosque case
19 May, 2022
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], May 19 (ANI): After the
Supreme Court adjourned the hearing in the Gyanvapi mosque case till Friday,
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot slammed the Centre for ‘doing politics in
the name of religion’ and posing a ‘threat to democracy’.
Addressing the reporters here on Thursday, Gehlot
said, “Where is the country heading? The Centre is doing politics in the name
of religion. This is posing a threat to democracy.”
“Common people have to realise that they are being
misled in the name of religion. This is not in favour of public interest,”
Gehlot said.
After the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing in the
Gyanvapi mosque case till Friday, the Varanasi court too has posted the matter
to May 23 for the next hearing. Deferring the hearing till Friday, the apex
court on Thursday asked the lower court, before which the proceedings are
pending, not to take any further action in the case till then.
The decision came after the SC was informed that
Senior Advocate Hari Shankar Jain, who is representing the Hindu side before
the Varanasi court and was indisposed on the last date of hearing, had been
discharged from hospital only Wednesday.
Source: The Print
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JD (U), BJP lock horn over Gyanvapi mosque row
May 20, 2022
PATNA: NDA allies in Bihar, BJP and JD(U), locked
horns on Thursday over the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque controversy with their
leaders taking different stands on the vexed issue.
Minority welfare minister Jama Khan from JD(U)
insisted that nothing should be done to disrupt the prevailing sense of
“bhaichara” (brotherhood) and harmony between communities. However, deputy CM
Renu Devi, who represents BJP in the Nitish Kumar government, emphasised —
without mentioning the purported ‘shivling’ found in the ablution pond of
Gyanvapi — that there was need to restore the lost “samskara” (traditions).
“Nothing should be done to disrupt brotherhood and
harmony. This is my position, and this is also the stand of my party JD(U),”
Khan said, adding, “I keep saying that any book or granth related to faith can
be ignored if one does not offer namaz or does not do puja. But if the
‘bhaichara’ and harmony is disrupted, no such book or granth will pardon
anyone.”
Source: Times Of India
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Telangana Congress leaders question KCR silence on
Shah’s vow to scrap Muslim quota
by Sreenivas Janyala
May 19, 2022
Telangana Congress leaders are questioning Chief
Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s silence on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s
statement that the Muslim quota will be scrapped if the BJP comes to power in
the state.
“CM KCR has reacted on almost every issue, including
paddy procurement, during the review meeting he held on Wednesday. But he did
not speak a single word on the four per cent Muslim quota that Amit Shah has
threatened to quash. Why is he silent on this crucial issue concerning nearly
14 per cent of the state’s population? Is he afraid of countering Amit Shah or
should we take his silence as consent to the BJP leader’s demand? said Mohammed
Ali Shabbir, a former minister and former leader of the Opposition in the
Legislative Council, on Thursday.
Syed Nizamuddin and Mateen Shareef, two other Congress
leaders, also raised the same question.
Addressing a public meeting at Tukkuguda on the
outskirts of Hyderabad on May 14, the last day of party state chief Bandi
Sanjay Kumar’s Praja Sangram Yatra, Shah said the BJP was not in favour of
religion-based reservation and would remove the Muslim quota if it formed the
next government in Telangana.
Stating that the Muslim quota was eating into the
reservation meant for other marginalised communities, Shah said a BJP
government would extend the benefits to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
Other Backward Classes. At present, out of the 50 per cent reservation in the
state, 25 per cent is for Backward Classes, 15 per cent for SCs, six per cent
for STs and four per cent for Muslims.
Shabbir said that KCR came to power in the 2014
elections on the promise of giving 12 per cent reservation in jobs and
education to Muslims within four months. However, this promise remains
unimplemented even after eight years, he said.
“While CM KCR and other TRS leaders have stopped
talking about the 12 per cent Muslim quota, they seem to have joined a
conspiracy to end the 4 per cent Muslim reservation. If we look at the
chronology, the TRS government denied representation to Muslims in important
bodies like the Telangana State Public Service Commission, vice-chancellors of
universities, etc. It stopped the fee reimbursement, which led to the closure
of over 70 per cent of minority-run engineering and other professional
colleges. Denial or delay in the release of scholarships forced lakhs of
minority students to discontinue their higher studies. Now the TRS-BJP seems to
have hatched a conspiracy to end the four per cent Muslim quota,” he said.
“Even five days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah
threatened to end the Muslim quota, CM KCR has not reacted to the statement.
“KCR’s silence for so long has sent a clear message that the TRS government
would not defend the four per cent Muslim quota,” he said while reminding that
it was a Congress government that implemented the Muslim reservation in 2004-05
and fought a long legal battle to protect it. The four per cent Muslim quota,
still in force in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh thanks to a Supreme Court order
issued in March 2010, has benefited nearly 20 lakh socially and economically
backward Muslims categorised as BC-E, he added.
Shabbir demanded that KCR clarify his stand on the
continuance of the four per cent reservation. He feared the TRS government
might not fight the case in the Supreme Court to continue the quota. However,
he said the Congress would never allow the TRS and BJP to sabotage the Muslim
quota under any circumstances.
Source: Indian Express
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Gyanvapi mosque case: Varanasi court fixes 23 May for
next hearing
May 19, 2022
Varanasi: A Varanasi court hearing the
Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case on Thursday posted the matter to May 23 for the
next hearing.
Both the parties filed their objections and
counter-objections on Thursday. In view of the Supreme Court's order to the
lower court not to proceed with the matter till Friday, it fixed May 23 for the
next hearing, Madan Mohan Yadav, the lawyer representing the Hindu side, said.
Abhay Yadav, the lawyer appearing for the Muslim side,
said the plaintiff had demanded the court-appointed team to carry on with its
proceedings by demolishing certain walls, "to which we have
objected".
"Also, a government counsel had demanded the
removal of fish from a man-made pond located on the premises of the mosque.
These fish are ours and we have raised our objection to this petition as
well," he said.
The two petitions filed in the Gyanvapi case were to
be heard on Wednesday, but due to a lawyers' strike over the remarks of a
special secretary-level official, the hearings could not be held.
The strike call was given by the Banaras Bar
Association and the Central Bar Association and the hearing was scheduled on
the same on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Rekha Pathak, Manju Vyas and Sita Sahu had
filed an application in the court, stating that there is a basement to the east
of the spot where a "Shivling" was claimed to have been found. The
basement has been sealed with brick, stone and cement, they said.
Besides, there is also a wall and a basement in front
of an idol of Nandi in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, and this basement has also
been blocked with brick, stone, sand and other items, they said.
They had also asked for orders to the court-appointed
team to report the length, width and height of the "Shivling",
besides to open the door of the west wall, which is covered with debris inside
the barricading, and to carry out its work there.
Accepting the application, the court had said it would
hear the matter on Wednesday.
Source: Firstpost
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Ahmedabad: PIL wants temple work at Pirana dargah
halted
May 20, 2022
AHMEDABAD: A Muslim organization has filed a PIL in
the Gujarat high court complaining that a new temple is being constructed on
the premises of Imamshah Bawa Dargah at Pirana village on the outskirts of
Ahmedabad. The petitioner has invoked the Places of Worship Act, 1991.
Last week, Muslim trustees of the Imamshah Bawa Roza
Sansthan, the petitioner in the present case, the Sunni Awami Forum, and the
Imamshahi Sadat Committee requested the district collector and superintendent
of police to immediately intervene and stop the construction of a temple on the
dargah premises.
They submitted, "Under the guise of renovation
permission granted by the district collector on June 4, 2021, for the Imamshah
Bawa Dargah at Pirana village, the dargah trust and a few miscreants are trying
to convert the Muslim shrine into a temple."
They claimed that the construction violates the
permission granted by the authorities. They demanded videography of the complex
to assess the situation and the appointment of a commission to draw up a
panchnama to get the current situation on record. They also complained that it
has been becoming difficult for devotees to visit and pray at the dargah, as
they are being provoked by chanting of slogans.
As the authorities did not respond to the
representation, the Sunni Awami Forum filed a PIL seeking directions to stop
the temple construction and not disturb the present situation of the dargah
complex. The petitioner invoked the Places of Worship Act, which has been
invoked by Muslims in courts in cases pertaining to the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi,
the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura and the Quwat-e-Islam Masjid in Delhi.
The petitioner on Thursday requested the HC for an
early hearing, but the court was not inclined to allow so for a public interest
litigation. The history of the Pirana shrine has been an exemplar of communal
harmony, with a large section of Imamshah Bawa devotees belonging to Hindu
communities called Satsangi.
Source: Times Of India
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Namazis allowed 2 drums of 1,000 litres of water for
wuzu
May 20, 2022
VARANASI: On the eve of Friday namaz, the district
administration held a meeting with the authorities of Gyanvapi mosque
management committee — Anjuman Intejamia Masajid — on Thursday and made it
clear that they were equally responsible for the security of sealed wuzu pond
as the Supreme Court had issued order to restrict entry of anyone to the place
where shivling was found, in their own petition.
District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said that apart
from holding meeting with mosque management authorities, a notice has also been
issued to them. “They have been directed to ensure that no one tampers the
seals on nine doors of the pond and no provocative act takes place there during
Friday namaj,” he said.
Source: Times Of India
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Indonesia lifts palm oil curbs, relief in India
May 20, 2022
NEW DELHI: Indonesia on Thursday announced its
decision to lift the oil export ban on palm oil from May 23, a move which comes
as a huge relief for India which is battling the steepest inflation in nearly
eight years.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced the
decision to lift the ban bringing much needed relief for users of palm oil
across the world. The ban had added to the inflationary pressures as prices of
edible oils soured hit by the twin impact of the export ban and the war in
Ukraine which has hit sunflower oil supplies. Industry players said the move is
expected to calm edible prices and streamline supplies. The impact of the
decision was already visible with retail prices climbing down a tad.
B V Mehta, executive director of Solvent Extractors’
Association (SEA), said, “The lifting of ban on export of palm oil by Indonesia
will ease the supplies and soften the domestic prices. Since the announcement
on Thursday, the retail prices have reduced by Rs 2/kg.” Soaring edible oil
prices have contributed significantly to stubborn price pressures.
India imports around 6 lakh tonnes of palm oil every
month and nearly 50% of this comes from Indonesia.
Palm oil accounts for nearly 38% of the total
consumption of edible oils in India and palm oil is more popular in the
hospitality, restaurants and catering segment. Any change in prices of palm oil
impacts prices of all other edible oils.
Source: Times Of India
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Police arrest Muslim leader for Neemuch violence, recommends
NSA
May 19, 2022
BHOPAL/ NEEMUCH: Days after Neemuch town in Madhya
Pradesh erupted in violence following an attempt by Hindu organisations to
install an idol near a Muslim shrine, the state police on Thursday arrested the
head of the town’s Muslim Intejamia Committee and recommended that district
collector Mayank Agrawal invoke the stringent National Security Act (NSA)
against him for his alleged provocative speeches.
On Sunday, Hindu organisations attempted to install an
idol of Lord Hanuman near a Muslim shrine in Neemuch’s Purani Kacheri area,
leading to stone pelting and arson by a mob. The administration seized the idol
on Tuesday.
Ghulam Rasool Pathan, head of Muslim Intejamia
Committee, was arrested on Thursday, two days after chief minister Shivraj
Singh Chouhan directed the district officials to take strict action against
those who were trying to create tension, and to resolve the matter swiftly.
“I have been receiving information regarding a few
people who are misguiding youngsters to create tension. The administration
should take strict action against them,” the CM had told district officials at
the review meeting.
After his arrest, Pathan supported staged protests at
the district collector’s office, and police had to resort to force to disperse
the crowd.
The Muslim community said that the administration was
taking “biased actions” and alleged that instead of taking action against the
Hindu organisations involved in Sunday’s incident, the administration was
targeting Muslims.
Harun Rashid, a local leader of the community, said,
“Immediately after the CM’s direction, they arrested Ghulam Rasool Pathan.
Pathan is a reputed person in Neemuch and he was not even present at the spot
when the tension erupted. Pathan is ill and was taking treatment and had met
the collector to maintain peace and harmony in the district.”
Meanwhile, VHP district president Anu Paal Singh Jhala
said, “We want the reinstallation of the idol as it was installed at the right
place. The administration doesn’t have any problem with encroachment by Dargah
caretakers but they have an issue with the installation of the idol. The
district administration hurt the religious sentiments. We have called a bandh
on Friday to register our protest.”
District officers said they are acting as per law.
Neemuch superintendent of police Suraj Verma said,
“For the past one year, Sadar Ghulam Rasool Pathan is trying to polarise the
Muslim youth. He was staging protests and giving memorandums on international
matters to fill the young minds with hatred. He also called the chief minister
and home minister terrorists. On the day of communal tension, Pathanwas not
present on the spot but was directing people over the phone. We have call
details.”
The SP said he had written to the collector to invoke
NSA against him.
Source: Hindustan Times
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Mideast
Iran Sends Two Activists, Kevyan Samimi and Narges
Mansouri Back To Jail: Reports
19 May, 2022
Two Iranian activists have been returned to jail on
suspicion of “plotting against national security” while on provisional release,
media in the Islamic republic said on Thursday.
One of them, Kevyan Samimi, who is close to the
nationalist and religious opposition, is a veteran dissident who served jail
time both before and after the Islamic revolution of 1979.
Samimi “has been sent back to prison at the end of his
furlough for resuming his activities against national security and his contacts
with counter-revolutionary groups abroad,” Mehr news agency said.
The 73-year-old journalist had been granted prison
leave on medical grounds in late February. He had been serving a three-year
sentence in Semnan, nearly 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of the capital.
“The medical examiner ordered his return to prison
after a new examination,” Mehr said.
State news agency IRNA said women’s rights and labour
activist Narges Mansouri was also arrested.
Mansouri had been detained in August 2019 before being
released on bail in November that year, reports said.
She was later accused of giving “provocative
interviews with the aim of starting riots” in the country, IRNA said.
She was alleged to have “committed acts against the
security during her two and a half years of provisional release,” said the
agency.
It added that she had “tried to flee the country...
after having learned that the judiciary was going to return her to prison.”
Earlier this week, Mehr reported the arrest of Tehran
academic Saeed Madani Ghahfarokhi on suspicion of “maintaining links abroad and
carrying out activities that threaten national security.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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AEOI Chief: Iran Gains Self-Sufficiency in N. Fuel
Cycle
2022-May-19
"The efforts of the enemies by committing
sabotage in the field of nuclear technology have made it the frontline. Our
scientists stood up at the order of the Leader who said, "produce
yourselves", Eslami said on Wednesday.
"They acted on the issue of 20% fuel, which was
needed by Tehran's research reactor, and today we produce not only 20% fuel but
also working on production of 60% fuel," he added.
Eslami referred to the crucial production of
radiopharmaceuticals, saying the country is now moving toward using nuclear
medicine in plasma therapy.
Eslami also touched on the "very important"
role of heavy water which the enemies try to forbid Iran from using by accusing
it of seeking to produce nuclear weapons.
He said if it had not been for the strategies of
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, "we
would have not got into nuclear technology and fallen far behind by now".
"The country's development plans must move
without interruption, and the efforts of the country's scientists and youth
must be spent for the great goals of the country, and we must endure hardships
and vicissitudes to reach the peak," Eslamis said.
He also said science and technology is the field of
empowerment, but international organizations have sought in recent years to
make the fields of aerospace, nuclear technology, information technology,
biotechnology and nanotechnology an exclusive avant gard domain for a few
select countries and prevent others, including Iran, from achieving them by
creating obstacles.
Source: Fars News Agency
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010229000272/AEOI-Chief-Iran-Gains-Self-Sfficiency-in-N-Fel-Cycle
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Iran ‘heavily disrupts’ internet access after protest:
HRW
20 May ,2022
Iranian authorities have “heavily disrupted” internet
access in multiple provinces, a Human Rights Watch report published on Friday
found.
The report also found that Iranian authorities
arrested several prominent activists on “baseless accusations” in the midst of
labor union strikes and the ongoing protests against rising prices, since May
6, 2022.
Those affected are in a dozen small towns across the
country, HRW said in the report. Those arrested include a prominent sociologist
and four labor rights defenders, it said.
On Tuesday, Al Arabiya English reported that the
demonstrations broke out in Iran’s central province of Isfahan on Tuesday with
protestors voicing anger against Iran’s clerical leaders.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Jewish worshippers clash with police at pilgrimage
site in Israel’s Mount Meron
19 May, 2022
A crowd of Jewish worshippers broke through police
barriers on Thursday at an annual pilgrimage in Israel’s Mount Meron, a year
after 45 people were crushed to death in a stampede.
Israeli police said “dozens of extremists” broke into
a section of the religious site while “wildly flinging the fences and
endangering human life.”
The police retreated from the site when a group of
worshippers broke barriers and stormed in, an AFP photographer said, adding
that officers later returned.
More than 10,000 faithful had converged on the site
under tightened security measures for the start of the pilgrimage on Wednesday.
The Mount Meron pilgrimage occurs on the Lag BaOmer
holiday, when mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews throng the site of the tomb of revered
second century rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
On April 30 last year, a stampede broke out in the
male section of the gender-divided site as the size of the crowd turned a
narrow passageway into a deadly choke-point.
At least 16 children were among those trampled to
death, in what then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “one of the worst”
disasters in Israel’s history.
An AFP photographer saw several worshippers arrested
and handcuffed by police on Thursday. In addition, some security cameras and
electrical equipment at the site were sabotaged, the photographer said.
Police then stopped the movement of additional
faithful toward the site, where the pilgrimage runs until Thursday night.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Wednesday that his
government made a “considerable investment” in new safety measures to ensure
there is no repeat of last year.
Among the changes is a cap of 16,000 pilgrims allowed
on the site at any given moment.
On Tuesday, police said they had seized knives and
hammers from an “extremist ultra-Orthodox faction” which allegedly intended to
sabotage communications infrastructure at the site.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Israeli Military Identifies Soldier’s Rifle That May
Have Killed Shireen Abu Akleh
19 May ,2022
The Israeli military has identified a soldier’s rifle
that may have killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, but
said it cannot be certain unless the Palestinians turn over the bullet for
analysis, a military official said Thursday.
The announcement marked a small sign of progress in
the investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh, who was fatally shot on May 11
while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian officials, along with fellow journalists
who were with Abu Akleh, have said Israeli troops stationed nearby killed her.
The Israeli army says she was shot during a battle between troops and
Palestinian gunmen, and it cannot be determined who fired the fatal bullet
without a proper analysis.
Israel has called for a joint investigation with the
Palestinians. But the Palestinians, who have the bullet, have refused, saying
they don’t trust Israel. They say they are conducting their own investigation
and they are ready to cooperate with any country except for Israel.
The military official stressed that while the source
of the shot is still unclear, “we have narrowed down the IDF weapon that might
be involved in the fire exchange near Shireen.”
He renewed the call for the Palestinians to release
the bullet. If they do so, he said, Israel will “hopefully be able to compare
the bullet to that barrel and check if there is a match.” He spoke on condition
of anonymity under military briefing guidelines.
The military last week released the results of a
preliminary investigation that offered two possible causes of death. It said
that in one scenario, she may have been hit by Palestinian gunfire during a
fierce shootout with Israeli troops.
In the second scenario, it said she might have been
hit by an Israeli soldier who shot through a “designated firing hole” in a
military vehicle at a Palestinian gunman who was shooting at the vehicle. It
said it could not determine the source of fire without analyzing the bullet.
The Palestinians have been conducting their own
investigation. Last Friday, the Palestinian public prosecutor said preliminary
findings show Abu Akleh was killed by deliberate fire from Israeli troops. The
prosecutor said the investigation would continue.
Bellingcat, an independent Dutch-based open-source
research firm, has conducted its own analysis of material gathered largely from
videos on social media. It said its initial findings lent support to
Palestinian witnesses who say she was killed by Israeli fire. Abu Akleh, a
Palestinian-American and 25-year veteran of the satellite channel, was killed
in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Turkey’s opposition to NATO’s Nordic enlargement fuels
row ahead of June summit
May 19, 2022
ANKARA: Turkey’s opposition to NATO’s decision to open
accession talks with Finland and Sweden has sparked debate about concessions
Ankara might extract to greenlight membership for the two Scandinavian
countries — the biggest change in European security architecture for decades.
Any country seeking to join NATO requires consensus
approval from its 30 members, with the next NATO summit in Madrid coming in
late June.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists that
Ankara, a NATO member since 1952 and possessing the alliance’s second largest
military, does not support membership for Finland and Sweden, accusing both
countries of harboring terror groups.
Turkey has told allies that it will say no to Sweden
and Finland’s NATO applications, Erdogan said in a video posted on his Twitter
account on Thursday.
“This move, which has poured cold water on
expectations about Finland and Sweden’s ‘historic’ accession to the military
alliance, was not really a surprise,” said Paul Levin, director of Stockholm
University’s Institute for Turkish Studies.
Turkey has long criticized Sweden’s policy of turning
a blind eye to the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party on its
soil despite being classified as terrorist group by the US and EU.
However, for Levin, what Erdogan wants in return has a
number of possible interpretations.
“Sweden’s policy against the PKK and its Syrian
Kurdish YPG offshoot in northern Syria was an issue of concern not only for the
ruling government in Turkey, but also for the national security establishment
for a long time. In that respect, the disagreement over this critical issue has
been a widely-shared sentiment,” he told Arab News.
Finland and Sweden have imposed arms embargoes since
2019 over Turkey’s cross-border operation into Syria against Syrian Kurdish
militants. Contacts between top Swedish officials and YPG leaders have been
condemned by Ankara.
But, for Levin, there is always a domestic political
dimension behind such decisions in Turkey.
“Erdogan’s personal concern is staying in power ahead
of the looming elections in 2023 amid a troubled economy,” he said.
“Playing hardball with the West is likely to appeal
(to a) domestic audience and consolidate stronger public support that needs
nationalistic motivations.”
However, Levin is not convinced Turkey’s opposition to
NATO enlargement will persuade Washington to approve Turkey’s request in
October to buy 40 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters, and approximately 80
modernization kits for its current warplanes, which the US has so far refrained
from doing.
“The presence of (the) Russian-made S-400 defense
system on Turkish soil renders the acquisition of the F-35 aircraft impossible
because of the interoperability problems. I’m not sure that the US Congress can
approve the sale of other modernization kits as well because it can be
considered as a concession against Turkey’s blackmail,” he said.
On Wednesday, Swedish Minister for Defense Peter
Hultqvist held meetings with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Washington,
while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with his US counterpart
Antony Blinken in New York.
Cavusoglu also held recent talks with his Swedish and
Finnish counterparts in Berlin.
“Negotiations are going on to reach a diplomatic
resolution,” Levin said.
“But, I don’t expect that Sweden (will) give some kind
of public concessions on human rights that could drive the ruling Social
Democrats into (a) corner ahead of the parliamentary elections in September.”
Sweden currently has six sitting Kurdish members of
parliament.
“Giving up the Kurdish cause by extraditing 33 people
accused of terrorism charges in Turkey will not play well with the Swedish
government, as the country hosts a wide Kurdish diaspora,” Levin added.
Turkey wants the Nordic duo to stop supporting Kurdish
militant groups on their soil, to refrain from having contact with PKK members,
and to lift bans on arms sales to Turkey.
For Karol Wasilewski, director of actionable analytics
at Warsaw-based agency NEOŚwiat, Turkey wants to show its NATO allies that it
is dead serious when it says that its security interests, particularly its
sensitivity about PKK and YPG issues, should be respected.
“For a long time, and not without reason, Turkey has
had a feeling that the approach of its allies to its security interests does
not correspond to the country’s contribution to the alliance’s security,” he
told Arab News.
But Wasilewski thinks that the problem will be solved
with negotiations between Turkey, Sweden and Finland, with the support of the
US and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
“Perhaps Erdogan’s statement that Turkey can’t agree
on membership for countries that sanction Turkey was a signal of area where the
compromise could be made,” he said.
“Turkey would definitely drive a hard bargain, but I
find it very difficult to imagine that this would translate to a hard veto.
“Turkey is well aware of the benefits that Finish and
Swedish membership to NATO would bring, and that blocking the enlargement would
result in immense pressure from the rest of (the) member countries. And Turkey
simply can’t afford a strong backlash from the West.”
Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research
Program at the Washington Institute, thinks that Turkey’s main objection to the
Nordic expansion of NATO is rooted in existing PKK fundraising networks in
Sweden, and Sweden’s public ties with YPG officials.
“Following closed-door conversations, Sweden could
take measures to satisfy Turkey’s sensitivities,” he told Arab News.
Stoltenberg also made it clear that Turkey’s concerns
will be addressed in a way that does not delay the membership process.
Cagaptay thinks that there are several explanations
about Erdogan’s hardline rhetoric on NATO enlargement.
“He decided to up the ante to publicly embarrass
Stockholm to get concrete steps,” Cagaptay said.
“There is also a Russian angle, where one veto inside
NATO against Nordic expansion would make Russian President Vladimir Putin
extremely happy.
“On the US side, Erdogan also signals that his
objection to the NATO enlargement may be lifted if Biden convinces Sen. Bob
Menendez in lifting his objections against Turkish defense exports,” Cagaptay
added.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2085701/middle-east
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Iran Unveils Home-Made Simorq Airplane
2022-May-19
The aircraft has been produced by the specialists of
the Iran Aviation Industries Organization.
"Given the developments in the region and the
threats against the Islamic Republic, aircrafts play an important role in the
transportation of cargo, personnel, and support for the armed forces on
battlefields," General Ashtiani said.
Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics of
Iran, as a power-building, authorizing, and supporting organization of the
Armed Forces has a great mission to increase the deterrent power of the Islamic
Republic, he said.
Meeting the needs of the armed forces in various
fields of land, sea, air, and electronic warfare is a key priority of the
ministry of defense, General Ashtiani stressed.
Simorq transport aircraft is a redesigned and advanced
version of the same generation, which perfectly fits the needs of the country
and Armed Forces, he said.
Equipped with high-tech, indigenous materials, the
Simorq aircraft has been designed in accordance with Iran's climatic conditions
as well as international standards and regulations, General Ashtiani said.
Iran has made great progress in manufacturing
different aircraft, including planes and drones.
Spokesman of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier
General Abolfazl Shekarchi said on Thursday that Iran has the upper hand in
drone production in the region, making it possible for the country to meet its
needs while cooperating with other regional countries on producing
reconnaissance drones.
During an official ceremony in Dushanbe on Tuesday,
Iran inaugurated a manufacturing plant for indigenously-developed Ababil 2
multi-role tactical unmanned aerial vehicles in Tajikistan in a bid to promote
joint defense and military cooperation.
Addressing the ceremony, Chief of Staff of the Iranian
Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said that the Islamic
Republic of Iran, with the efforts of its committed specialists and scientists
and by using its internal capacities, has been able to make a significant
growth in all military and defense dimensions, specially production of drones.
"Today we are in a position that we can export
military equipment to allied and friendly countries in addition to meeting
domestic needs in order to increase security and lasting peace," he said.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010229000530/Iran-Unveils-Hme-Made-Simr-Airplane
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Pakistan
Imran Khan Deliberately Isolated Pakistan: Jamiat-e-Ulema
Islam-Fazl
May 20, 2022
KARACHI: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and
Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday said
that former Prime Minister Imran Khan has become a psychopath and because of
his politics, Pakistan has become isolated in the world.
“The sanctity of the holy places in Saudi Arabia was
deliberately violated by Jewish agents,” said Fazlur Rehman, while addressing a
rally on Preedy Street near Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi to condemn the hooliganism
at the Masjid-e-Nabvi (SAW) by the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters.
He said those who desecrated the sanctity of the
Masjid-e-Nabvi would be pursued on every front, saying; “Agents of the Jews in
Pakistan will be drowned into the sea.” He said he paid due respect to the
courts but has the right to ask the courts respectfully why did they take suo
motu notice of Imran Khan's speech at the rally, when the prime minister used
his constitutional and legal powers, saying that if that's what the courts
wanted to do, then should come and rule.
The JUI-F chief said, “The courts should decide in
accordance with the law and the Constitution, and do not come under any
pressure.” He further said, “If you have to take notice of the speeches of
rallies, then what will happen if people from other political parties also
come?”
Fazl said the person who made a decision against Nawaz
Sharif was later appointed as the director FIA. “When Bashir Memon said that
Imran Khan used to call him to register cases against the people, why didn't
you take notice of it?” he asked the courts. He said the courts did not take
notice of the cries for justice to ‘Afia Siddiqui’ but took notice of a speech
at a rally. Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the JUI-F demanded that the army should act
as neutral and not interfere in the country’s politics. “Today when the army is
within the neutral constitutional limits, certain circles are calling it
animal,” he said, adding that the army was the guardian of the state, not of
any government. “The people, the Constitution, and the democratic system are
the watchdogs of the government.”
Rehman said former PM Imran Khan had an agenda to
increase the dollar price up to Rs200, saying; “There could be no improvement
in the country unless the confidence of the institutions is restored and the
people are convinced that no effort is being made to bring Imran Khan back.”
The PDM chief assured the Pakistan Army that his party
workers would always stand by it whenever needed for the national security and
protection of the borders. He said a lobby in the country has been talking
about recognising Israel. “After the JUI-F’s Thursday rally, no one will dare
talk about recognising Israel in the country again.”
Rehman said the narrative of Imran Khan’s letter has
ended, saying, “We have removed Imran Khan in a constitutional and legal way,
as the parliament and public representatives have rejected the PTI-led
government. Now he is trying to come back in an illegal way.”
The JUIF chief said: “Imran Khan says cassette has been
recorded. I ask who recorded the cassette." Talking about Imran Khan’s
assassination plot claims, Rehman said the JUI-F leaders have been targeted in
assassinations and assassination attempts. “Imran Khan is talking about his
security even after getting the security of over 300 police and Rangers
personnel.” He said before coming into power, Imran Khan used to say that
Kashmir should be divided into three parts and indeed Kashmir was divided into
three parts. “One was given to Modi, one is given to Pakistan and one is
Gilgit-Baltistan.”
The PDM chief said later Imran Khan said without the
army, Pakistan would have been divided into three parts. “Where did this
three-part formula come from?” he asked. The JUI-F supremo said there are two
stages -- creating political and economic instability -- to divide the country.
“The removal of Nawaz Sharif’s government created political instability in the
country and Imran Khan was brought to destroy the country’s economy,” he added.
Rehman said the JUI-F is the only religious political party that had to protect
democracy and Islamic constitutional provisions and rites.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the country’s 70 years of
struggle was shattered during Imran Khan’s four-year regime, and the mess could
not be cleaned in four days what the PTI-led government had spread around. He
asked all the parties to collaborate to drag the country out of this crisis
within one year rather destabilizing the system. Rehman said the world was not
trusting Imran Khan anymore to invest in the country.
Source: The News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/959209-imran-deliberately-isolated-pakistan-jui-f-chief
--------
Pak's relationship with India 'particularly
complicated' by New Delhi's decisions: Bilawal
Yoshita Singh
20.05.22
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has
said that his country's relationship with India has been "particularly
complicated" by New Delhi's decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and
Kashmir and the recent recommendation by a delimitation commission, underlining
that at this moment the "practical space" for economic activity,
dialogue and diplomacy is "very limited."
Foreign Minister Bilawal, who is on a maiden visit to
the US, made the remarks while responding to questions during a press
conference here on Thursday.
"As far as the question of our relationship with India
is concerned, it is particularly complicated" by their recent actions in
Kashmir - firstly the August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu
and Kashmir as well as the recent decision by the delimitation commission on
Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
Bilawal said that these actions "have complicated
this matter." He alleged that these actions are an "assault" on
the United Nations, on the UN Security Council resolutions and the Geneva
Convention.
He said "such actions make it very difficult for us
to hold a dialogue" with India.
"Having said that, we are very cognizant of the
fact that economic activity, dialogue, diplomacy are ultimately the ways and
means for countries to engage with each other and resolve disputes. I just note
that particularly at the moment given this aggressive, hostile behaviour, the
practical space for that happening is very limited," he said.
The delimitation panel, formed in March 2020, earlier
this month notified its final report giving six additional assembly seats to the
Jammu region and one to the Kashmir Valley and bringing areas of Rajouri and
Poonch under the Anantnag parliamentary seat. Jammu division will now have 43
assembly seats and Kashmir 47 in the 90-member House.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have spiked since
New Delhi abrogated the Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special
status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. India's decision evoked strong
reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the
Indian envoy.
India has categorically told the international
community that the scrapping of the Article 370 was its internal matter. India
has repeatedly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir "was, is and shall
forever" remain an integral part of the country. It also advised Pakistan
to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.
India has told Pakistan that it desires normal
neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror,
hostility and violence.
On a question on India's decision to ban wheat
exports, he said, "it is obviously the decision of the Indian government
to decide what it wishes to do" and added that such restrictive and
protective actions are being discouraged through multilateral forums like the
UN Security Council meeting on conflict and food security called by the US.
"We all must work together to meet the needs of
those who can't meet their food security targets," he said.
To a question on the domestic political situation,
Bilawal said "on the international front, we have a foreign policy vacuum.
On the economic front, we have an economic catastrophe staring at us in the
face, and we have a highly polarized political society.
Source: Telegraph India
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In US, Pak foreign minister Bilawal defends Imran
Khan's controversial Moscow visit
May 20, 2022
NEW YORK: There was no possibility that Imran Khan
would have known about Russia's plans to invade Ukraine when he visited Moscow,
Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said, as he defended
the ousted premier's controversial visit to meet President Vladimir Putin
nearly three months ago.
Khan met President Putin in the Kremlin on February
24, the day the Russian leader ordered a “special military operation” against
Ukraine.
By visiting Moscow, he had also become the first
Pakistani premier to visit Russia in 23 years after former premier Nawaz Sharif
travelled to Moscow in 1999.
But Khan's visit to Moscow, despite US attempts to
dissuade him, further soured Islamabad's relations with Washington.
“As far as the former Prime Minister's (Khan) trip to
Russia, I would absolutely defend the former prime minister of Pakistan. He
conducted that trip as part of his foreign policy and without knowing that — no
one is psychic, no one has a sixth sense — there's no way we could have
possibly known that that would be the time [when] the current conflict will
start,” Bilawal said while addressing the press at the UN headquarters on
Thursday, and added that “it is very unfair to punish Pakistan for such an
innocent action.”
Bilawal, who took charge last month as the foreign
minister, reiterated that Islamabad continued to stand by the principles of the
United Nations, including the non-use of force, when asked about the way
forward in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In March, Pakistan had abstained from voting in United
Nations General Assembly resolution calling on Russia to stop the war, and
urged that the conflict be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
“We are not part of any conflict. We do not wish to be
part of any conflict. In fact, we continue to emphasise on the importance of
dialogue and diplomacy to resolve this conflict as soon as possible. And we
will certainly not take any side or take the side of the aggressor within this
context,” Bilawal, who is on his first major international visit after assuming
charge last month, said.
Khan, the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, has
been adamant that he was ousted from power last month through an alleged
US-backed vote of no-confidence since Washington did not like his Russia
policy.
These claims were strongly refuted by the US.
Meanwhile, Bilawal is currently on a maiden visit to
the US at the invitation of the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to attend
the ministerial meeting on the “Global Food Security Call to Action”.
On Wednesday, Bilawal met Blinken at the UN
headquarters and talks focussed on bolstering regional security and
strengthening bilateral and economic ties.
In his remarks before his meeting with Bilawal, the
first face-to-face interaction between the two ministers, Blinken said
Washington is “very pleased” to be working with the foreign minister and with a
new government in Pakistan.
Source: Times Of India
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From cars to jams, Pak bans import of luxury items
amid sinking economy
May 20, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new government on Thursday said
it would ban the import of over 30 luxury items including cars and fruit jams
under an “emergency economic plan” in a move to help boost the country’s
economy. Cash-strapped Pakistan has been hit by a storm of crippling debt,
dwindling foreign currency reserves and galloping inflation.
The national currency hit a historic low on Thursday,
with 200 rupees fetching $1. “My decision to ban (the) import of luxury items
will save the country precious foreign exchange,” PM Shehbaz Sharif tweeted.
The move was an effort to target the country’s elite, with the banned goods
including mobile phones and cars — which make up the largest share of import
bills on the list — as well as cosmetics, jams and weapons. “We will be able to
save $6 billion by imposing a ban on import of the luxury items,” information
minister Marriyum Aurangzeb sa- id, adding that the ban would be effective
immediately. “The decision will give a boost to the local economy and industry”.
Citing an “emergency situation”, she said Pakistanis will have to make
sacrifices under the economic plan.
Source: Times Of India
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TTP ceasefire month after release of 2 of its leaders
on death row in Pakistan
May 20, 2022
ISLAMABAD: The ceasefire announcement that terror
outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) agreed to during talks in Kabul with
the Pakistan government, facilitated by the Afghan Taliban, was in return for a
major concession Islamabad made last month in releasing two important TTP
leaders, both of whom were on death row, sources have said.
Pakistan has reportedly freed former Swat TTP
spokesman Muslim Khan and commander Mehmood Khan after securing presidential
pardon for both. The two leaders were in military custody since their arrest
was announced by the Pakistan Army in September 2009. A military court
convicted them and their death sentences were confirmed by army chief General
Qamar Javed Bajwa in December 2016.
The two militant commanders have not been handed over
to the TTP so far, the sources said. They remain in Pakistan but have been
allowed to communicate with the TTP leadership. They are expected to be fully
released after negotiations between the two sides reach a settlement.
Kabul’s statement on May 18 that a short-term
ceasefire agreement has been reached between Islamabad and TTP was announced on
Twitter by spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Zabihullah Mujahid.
“Talks were held in Kabul between the government of Pakistan and the Taliban
Movement of Pakistan with the mediation of the Islamic Emirate,” Mujahid
tweeted. The talks, he said, began in Kabul on Monday. “In addition to making
significant progress on other issues, a temporary ceasefire has also been
agreed upon by the two sides,” Mujahid said in his tweet.
The TTP team was led by the group’s chief Mufti Noor
Wali Mehsud, while unconfirmed reports on social media suggested that senior
official figures from Pakistan participated in the talks. Earlier, there were
reports suggesting that Peshawar’s corps commander and former ISI chief Lt Gen
Faiz Hameed and a top military official of Pakistan had visited Kabul for talks
with TTP.
TTP spokesman Mohammad Khurasani said the ceasefire
would last till May 30. The ceasefire, he said, had been announced on the
demand of the 32-member committee of the Mehsud tribe, mostly based in
Pakistan’s restive South Waziristan tribal district, and the 19-member
committee of tribes from Malakand division of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province. “Talks were underway between the heads of the committees representing
the government of Pakistan and the TTP,” he added.
Source: Times Of India
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Pakistan condemns in 'strongest possible terms'
Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik's conviction after 'sham trial'
Naveed Siddiqui
May 20, 2022
Pakistan has condemned "in strongest possible
terms" the conviction of Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik by an Indian court
after a "sham trial" in a "manifestly dubious and motivated
case" and urged Indian authorities to stop the victimisation of the
"true representatives of the Kashmiri people".
Yesterday, an Indian court convicted Malik in a
terrorism-related case, filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), that
carries a maximum sentence of the death penalty or life imprisonment. He had
been charged with terrorist acts, illegally raising funds, being a member of a
terrorist organisation and criminal conspiracy and sedition.
According to the Press Trust of India, during the
hearing on Thursday, the Kashmiri leader protested the charges, saying that he
was a "freedom fighter".
“Terrorism-related charges levelled against me are
concocted, fabricated and politically motivated,” his organisation, the Jammu
and Kashmir Liberation Front — one of the first armed freedom fighting groups
to come into existence in India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) — cited him as telling
the court.
“If seeking azadi (freedom) is a crime, then I am
ready to accept this crime and its consequences,” he told the judge.
Subsequently, Judge Praveen Singh set May 25 for
hearing arguments from both sides on sentencing and has directed Malik to
provide an affidavit regarding his financial assets.
In a statement issued on Thursday evening following
the conviction, the Foreign Office (FO) called the development "highly
reprehensible" and said that the "fictitious charges" against
him were not only in defiance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) but
also attempted to make "conjectural insinuations about Pakistan".
"The renewed haste with which cases against
Kashmiri leadership are being pursued further exposes the nefarious Indian
designs to undermine historic and distinct political and cultural identity of
IIOJK (Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir)," it said,
highlighting that Malik's conviction and the "motivated cases"
conjured up against other Kashmiri leaders was proof of the malicious Indian
campaign being run to deprive Kashmiris of their true leadership.
"The inhuman incarceration of Mr Yasin Malik in
the infamous Tihar jail, his sham trial in concocted cases, fallacious
conviction, and malfeasant attempts at defiling the legitimate struggle of the
Kashmiris for their right to self-determination as 'terrorism' further illustrate
India as a serial violator of human rights and usurper of the fundamental
rights of the Kashmiris," the FO said.
"The struggle for the right of self-determination
in Kashmir is indigenous and cannot be dampened by the draconian strong-arm
tactics of the Indian Government."
Pakistan further urged the Indian government to stop
the victimisation of Kashmiris through inhuman detentions and trumped up
charges.
India, it said, must release all political prisoners
detained on "trumped-up charges", stop human rights violations in the
region, lift the brutal military siege, and let Kashmiris exercise their right
to self-determination according to their aspirations and relevant UN Security
Council resolutions.
The FO also stressed the international community to
counsel India to drop all fabricated charges against all political leaders of
IoK including Malik, ensure their safety and well-being, and provide them
complete legal protections, including the right to a free and fair trial.
Earlier, the FO had also issued a demarche to the
Indian charge d’affaires for framing fabricated charges against Malik.
The Indian diplomat was conveyed Pakistan’s grave
concern that in a bid to suppress the voice of indigenous Kashmiri leaders,
Delhi had started implicating them in fictitious and motivated cases.
The Indian side was also conveyed Pakistan's deep
concern over the brutal treatment meted out to the Kashmiri leader despite his
chronic ailments and a steep decline of his health.
FM Bilawal raises Kashmir issue with US congressman
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari
raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir with US Congressman Adam Smith in a
virtual meeting on Thursday.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Bilawal specifically drew congressman’s attention to the steps
recently taken by India to redraw the constituencies in IoK through an illegal
delimitation process in order to change the Muslim majority into minority in
the occupied territory.
Pakistan would remain proactive in exploring
opportunities and overtures for steering South Asia towards peace, security and
stability, he said.
Bilawal is in New York on his maiden visit to US as
foreign minister. During their meeting yesterday, the FM and the Congressman
also discussed strengthening bilateral and defence ties between the two
countries and the need for sustained engagement in the area.
Source: Dawn
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Defamation case registered against journalist Sami
Ibrahim
May 20, 2022
RAWALPINDI: The Attock police have filed a defamation
case against journalist Sami Ibrahim, accusing him of making false allegations,
attempting to seduce a security employee from his duty.
The police filed a case against Mr Ibrahim under
section 505, 131 and 499 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which deal with statements
creating or promoting enmity, hatred, attempting to seduce a soldier, sailor or
airman from his duty.
The FIR was based on a complaint by Akhtar Javaid
advocate, a resident of Attock city, who said he viewed ‘Canadian Pak News’, a
Youtube channel of Mr Ibrahim, a resident of Lahore, two weeks ago.
“He gave his opinion in his vlog against right of
speech with bad attention and used obnoxious words against judiciary and armed
forces.’
The complainant said in the FIR that the suspect had
hatched a conspiracy and spread rumours against state institutions.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1690556/defamation-case-registered-against-journalist-sami-ibrahim
--------
Fazlur Rehman seeks state institutions’ support for
nascent government
May 20, 2022
KARACHI: Questioning the Supreme Court suo moto notice
on apprehensions that criminal justice might be undermined by people in
positions of authority, the chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Maulana
Fazlur Rehman, on Thursday demanded “solid and full support” of the state
institutions for the newly placed coalition government to bring the country out
of crises “created under the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf rule”.
Calling it crucial to make public his complaint
against the apex court move’s, the JUI-F chief, however, was confident unlike
other leaders of the Shehbaz Sharif government that the country would be back
on track once the unity among coalition partners and support from the state
institutions sync with each other.
Addressing Taqaddus Haram-i-Nabwi Conference at main
Preedy Street under the shadows of Quaid e Azam’s mausoleum, Fazl criticised
the PTI chairman and ousted prime minister Imran Khan for deliberately
“creating a chaos” through fake narratives and propaganda.
“With due respect, I want to make a complaint and
raise a question for the respectable apex court and its judges,” he said and
added: “Why you took suo moto notice when the chief executive [PM Shehbaz] of
the country using his legitimate authority decided to transfer few FIA [Federal
Investigation Agency] officers? What prompted you to take suo moto notice? Who
asked you to do this? You never took notice when one of your own judges in the
previous government was raising so many questions. You never took a notice when
the former FIA chief Bashir Memon disclosed about the pressure from Imran Khan
for false cases against the opposition leaders. Through such moves, you are
undermining your respect and dignity.”
He said the coalition government was facing immense
pressure challenges due to “mess created by Imran Khan” which could only be
handled with unity of the “democratic political forces” and “support from the
state institutions”.
“If the state institutions don’t show support, the
government would not be able to keep its confidence lifted,” he said.
“We can only come out of these crises when the state
institutions and true democratic forces come up with coordinated cooperation. I
know that some crises are being created, but we don’t need to get panicked. We
don’t need to come under pressure. We don’t need to get impressed by such
rallies [of Imran Khan]. Things would take time, but ultimately, this country
would be back on track.”
He called the former prime minister “an agent of Israeli
lobby” who was “placed” to change the country’s geography. To strengthen his
argument, he referred to the 2016 Panama Case that led to fall of the then
premier Nawaz Sharif.
Source: Dawn
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Karachi blast suspect received orders from Iran-based
commander, says Pakistan
NAIMAT KHAN
May 19, 2022
KARACHI: Counterterrorism authorities in Pakistan said
on Thursday that a suspect in an attack in the port city of Karachi last week
had been trained in Iran and was receiving instructions from the Iran-based
commander of a Pakistani separatist group.
One person was killed and several were injured in a
bomb blast late on May 12 in the Saddar neighbourhood of Karachi. The assault
was claimed by the little-known Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA), a
dissident faction fighting for independence in the province of Sindh.
The attack came two weeks after a female suicide
bomber killed four people, including three Chinese nationals, in an attack on a
minibus carrying staff from a Beijing cultural program at Karachi University.
In a press release on Thursday, the Counter Terrorism
Department (CTD) for Sindh said special investigation teams formed in the wake
of the latest spate of attacks were able to identify a number of suspects
through intelligence sources and the use of technology.
Police used intelligence gathered from the
investigation teams to trace three suspects from the Saddar attack on Wednesday
as they traveled by motorcycle to transport explosives in Karachi on the
instructions of what the CTD said was an Iran-based SRA commander called Asghar
Shah.
In a gun battle with the three suspects, two
identified as Allah Dino and Nawab Ali were killed while a third suspect fled
the scene.
“The accused (Allah Dino) had been taking instructions
from Asghar Shah, who operates his group (of the SRA) from Iran,” Syed Khurram
Ali Shah, a senior CTD official, told reporters on Thursday.
“The eliminated terrorist Allah Dino was a master of
bomb-making and he got his military training from neighbouring country Iran,”
the CTD press release said.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2085661/world
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Southeast
Asia
Pope Invites Muslim Governor, Ridwan Kamil, From
Indonesia To Vatican In Recognition Of His Efforts To Promote Interreligious
Dialogue
By Konradus Epa
May 19, 2022
An Indonesian provincial governor has been invited to meet
Pope Francis at the Vatican in recognition of his efforts to promote
interreligious dialogue.
Ridwan Kamil, the governor of West Java province,
announced the invitation on May 18 ahead of a 10-day visit to Europe.
Kamil, a Muslim, said he felt deeply honored and
surprised by the invitation and that he would meet Poe Francis on May 23.
Holy Cross Father Agustinus Sugiharto, chairman of the
Commission for Interreligious Affairs of Bandung diocese confirmed that the
invitation had been offered.
He said the invitation came through the Apostolic
Nunciature, the Holy See’s embassy in Jakarta and that Holy Cross Bishop
Antonius Subianto of Bandung had already briefed Kamal on Vatican protocol for
meeting the pope.
Kamil said the invitation came because the pope was
impressed with his “English for Ulama” or “English for clerics program”
designed to promote peaceful interreligious dialogue which has attracted
international recognition.
The program, which began in 2019 with the cooperation
of the British embassy, “aims to strengthen interreligious relations by
improving communication,” Kamil said on May 18.
He said it trains young clerics from various religions
in West Java to speak English in order to promote interreligious dialogue and
spread peace in Indonesia and other countries.
At least 30 young clerics have been taught so far and
they can speak English well.
Kamil, a former mayor of Bandung, the capital of West
Java province, said the inspiration came from the fact that the province was
known for its high level of religious intolerance among Muslims, which was
partly the result of poor communication.
Source: UC News
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PM calls on Malaysians to condemn Zionist atrocities against
Palestine
May 20, 2022
SEPANG: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob
has urged Malaysians to rise up and criticise the atrocities of the Zionists
against Palestine to restore the rights and dignity of its people.
He said the matter is a joint responsibility when a
certain community is being oppressed.
"Malaysia is one of the countries which has been
vocal on the issue. The atrocities against Palestinians must stop.
"In fact Malaysia views seriously the killing and
brutalities carried out by the Israeli regime against the Palestinians,"
he said in his speech text read by Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, Datuk
Seri Jamil Khir Baharom at the opening of the 2022 Ulama Summit here today.
The summit held for the first time, assembles 150 ulama
and scholars all over the world to discuss the issue with the theme
"Solidarity for the liberation of al-Aqsa".
He said Malaysia views seriously the issue of
atrocities against Muslims in Palestine by continuing to support and play its
role in all efforts towards the well-being of Muslims.
"Malaysia will continue to play its role as a
Muslim country without fear or favour and to support efforts for the solidarity
and well-being of Muslims especially in liberating al-Aqsa which is the third
holiest Muslim city," he said.
He said Malaysia's commitment and stand for Palestine
were among the matters raised at the Special Asean-United States Summit chaired
by US President Joe Biden in Washington, DC recently.
"Malaysia was vocal in calling on the US to use
its influence to resolve the issue which has prolonged for 74 years," he
said, adding that the war had also threatened the fabric of international
peace.
Describing Malaysia's support for Palestine as one
that is not only based on religion, he said the struggle is also to assist to
restore the rights and dignity of Palestinians.
He added that the killing of a veteran Al-Jazeera
journalist by the Israeli army in the West Bank also showed its brutality, as
they even disrespected the body of Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, when Israeli soldiers
pushed and hit the pall-bearers.
"This is the reality today," he said.
Ismail Sabri hoped that the organisation of the summit
would bring Malaysia closer to a workable solution and bear fruit for the ummah
and the Islamic nation.
He also prayed that Allah SWT would grant the wisdom
and courage to seek justice in the era of modern human civilisation, thus
enabling Muslim countries to continue to fight for freedom from any form of
oppression.
Source: NST
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PKR man sees irony in Saifuddin’s talk against race
politics
Samuel Chua and Reshna Reem Ganesan
May 20, 2022
PETALING JAYA: PKR organising secretary Nik Nazmi
Ahmad sees irony in Saifuddin Abdullah’s call for curbs on racial politics,
noting that the foreign minister belongs to a race-based party.
He alleged that Saifuddin played into racial politics
when he joined Bersatu after quitting PKR.
“He betrayed Pakatan Harapan and PKR and decided to
become a member of Bersatu, which we all know is a race-based party,” Nik Nazmi
said.
In 2018, then Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in
defending the party’s race-based approach, said it was a “realistic” course
since Malaysians were split along racial lines.
Nik Nazmi told FMT he nevertheless agreed that racial
politics should be curbed.
Saifuddin spoke against racial politics and other
manifestations of race consciousness in a formal speech he gave last Tuesday.
He urged the government to work towards curbing racial
politics, which he said was the source of various social diseases.
He said hate speech and other shows of racism would
cause animosity and could lead to violence.
He called for racial tolerance, inter-racial
understanding and the embrace of cultural diversity, saying these should form
the foundation for peaceful coexistence.
Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto said Saifuddin’s
suggestion should be tabled in the Cabinet.
“I would like to hear the reaction of the other
Cabinet members to the idea of eliminating racial politics as most of them
opposed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination when PH was in power,” she told FMT.
She said Saifuddin should act on his words.
She asked whether Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob
was ready to dig deeper and weed out race-based policies, which she said had
led to racial discrimination.
Klang MP Charles Santiago said this was a tall task as
the system of governance in the country revolved around race and religion.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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Be the change you want to see, Young Syefura tells
those criticising DAP as Chinese chauvinists
By Keertan Ayamany
20 May 2022
KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Malays who believe DAP to be
Chinese-dominant can and should join the party to correct this directly, said
central executive committee member Young Syefura Othman.
Saying no party was perfect, Young Syefura told Malay
Mail that she nevertheless felt DAP frequently gave chances for new members to
lead, regardless of race, which made it ideal for those opposed to communal
politics.
“For me (the solution is) simple, then more Malays
should join DAP. Then we will be more balanced.
“Because people always say DAP is a Chinese party.
Then you, who are Malay, you should join and you will know what it really is
like,” said the Ketari assemblyman.
In recent years, DAP leadership has been pushing for
more non-Chinese members, especially Malays, as it tries to win the hearts of
the largest race in Malaysia.
However, the party polls last month seem to show that
DAP has regressed in its goal, as Young Syefura was the only Malay member voted
into the party’s highest echelon — the central executive committee (CEC).
Previous Malay members of the CEC, Tengku Zulpuri Shah
Raja Puji and Zairil Khir Johari, failed to be voted in.
Nevertheless, Tengku Zulpri was eventually co-opted
into the committee, along with Syahredzan Johan, the political secretary of
party veteran Lim Kit Siang.
In Parliament, DAP currently holds the highest number
of seats with 42, ahead of Umno’s 38 and PKR’s 36.
However, Tengku Zulpuri, who is a member of the Pahang
royal family, is currently the only Malay DAP MP.
Young Syefura said that those wishing to join DAP,
especially Malays, must be able to accept multiracialism and multiculturalism,
and be prepared to be attacked for joining it.
Among others, political rivals such as Umno regularly
accuse DAP of being anti-Malay and Islam, leading to members of the community
who join the party being labelled as race traitors.
“They must understand what they want to do for
themselves, and what they want to do for the party,” she said.
“I am still labelled by all kinds of names, as well as
other popular Malay leaders. You need to be strong enough to face this.
Source: Malay Mail
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Arab
World
Lebanon’s emboldened opposition goes from protest to
parliament
19 May ,2022
When Halime El Kaakour enters Lebanon’s parliament as
a newly elected lawmaker next week, she will step past the same concrete
barriers that security forces erected to keep her and other protesters out
during massive anti-government rallies in 2019.
Powered by that protest movement and popular anger
over the financial implosion that followed, about a dozen activists and
reform-minded newcomers like her were elected to the 128-member legislature on
Sunday.
“You don’t want us to enter parliament as normal
citizens? You blocked us and put up walls? Well, now we’re entering as MPs,”
Kaakour, who has a PhD in public international law and teaches at the Lebanese
University, told Reuters.
Reform-minded candidates ran without the financial
resources or staff of established factions but still won more than 200,0000
votes, second only to powerful armed group Hezbollah, gaining seats across
Lebanon’s electoral districts and sects.
It marked a significant break from politics-as-usual
in Lebanon, where a handful of parties claiming to represent the country’s
mosaic of religious sects have dominated politics since a 1975-90 civil war.
“People can’t believe it... We are planting hope, and
God willing, we will harvest change,” said Kaakour, 46, and the only Sunni
Muslim woman in parliament.
Their wins weren’t the only surprises in Sunday’s
poll. Shia armed movement Hezbollah and its allies lost the majority they had
won in 2018, while their opponents - the Christian Lebanese Forces party - made
sizeable gains.
Analysts say that could heighten sectarian tensions as
the LF pushes for Hezbollah’s disarmament - but most new candidates say there
are more pressing issues at hand.
‘The battle is economic’
They blame established parties for policies that
unleashed an economic crisis that has pushed nearly three-quarters of Lebanon’s
population under the poverty line and seen the local pound lose more than 90
percent of its value.
“For more than 30 years, they have been saying the
same things, while electricity and water and education were at rock-bottom and
they divided spoils and stole,” Kaakour said.
“The priority now is to respond to people’s crisis of
living... the battle is economic par-excellence.”
Elias Jrade, an eye surgeon who won a seat in
Hezbollah’s south Lebanon stronghold, told Reuters he would seek to reform the
healthcare system, electricity woes and public schools.
Jrade unseated one of Lebanon’s longest-sitting MPs:
70-year-old Assaad Hardan, who had been in parliament for 30 years.
The slender Christian Orthodox said he ran because of
his daughter’s urge to join anti-government demonstrations after the Beirut
port blast of 2020, which many blame on safety failings by senior officials.
“I thought, shame on me. My 16-year-old daughter wants
to protest to build a nation for me. That should be my duty,” he told Reuters,
holding back tears. He spoke three days after the election, between
back-to-back operations at his Beirut clinic, which he said he intends to
continue as MP.
“You’ll know I’ve betrayed you the minute I stop
working here. I feed myself and others off the sweat of my brow - so if I stop
working, I’ll be feeding off of the sweat of your brow instead,” said Jrade.
Like-minded newcomers have been meeting to align their
positions, but Jradi said he preferred not to form a single party so each could
continue to operate independently. Either way, Jrade said, he doesn’t plan to
be in parliament for long.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Saudi religious moderation: the world’s foremost
publisher of Qur’ans has yet to get the message
May 19, 2022
By Dr. James M. Dorsey
When the religious affairs minister of Guinea-Conakry
visited Jeddah last week, his Saudi counterpart gifted him 50,000 Qur’ans.
Saudi Islamic affairs minister Abdullatif Bin
Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh offered the holy books as part of his ministry’s efforts to
print and distribute them and spread their teachings.
The Qur’ans were produced by the King Fahd Complex for
the Printing of the Holy Qur’an, which annually distributes millions of copies.
Scholar Nora Derbal asserts that the Qur’ans “perpetuate a distinct Wahhabi
reading of the scripture.”
Similarly, Saudi Arabia distributed in Afghanistan in
the last years of the US-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani thousands
of Qur’ans produced by the printing complex, according to Mr. Ghani’s former
education minister, Mirwais Balkhi. Mr. Balkhi indicated that the Qur’ans were
identical to those distributed by the kingdom for decades.
Mr. Ghani and Mr. Balkhi fled Afghanistan last year as
US troops withdrew from the country and the Taliban took over.
Human Rights Watch and Impact-se, an education-focused
Israeli research group, reported last year that Saudi Arabia, pressured for
some two decades post-9/11 by the United States and others to remove
supremacist references to Jews, Christian, and Shiites in its schoolbooks, had
recently made significant progress in doing so.
However, the two groups noted that Saudi Arabia had
kept in place fundamental concepts of an ultra-conservative, anti-pluralistic,
and intolerant interpretation of Islam.
The same appears true for the world’s largest printer
and distributor of Qur’ans, the King Fahd Complex.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has, since his
rise in 2015, been primarily focussed on social and economic rather than
religious reform.
Mr. Bin Salman significantly enhanced professional and
personal opportunities for women, including lifting the ban on women’s driving
and loosening gender segregation and enabled the emergence of a Western-style
entertainment sector in the once austere kingdom.
Nevertheless, Saudi Islam scholar Besnik Sinani
suggests that “state pressure on Salafism in Saudi Arabia will primarily focus
on social aspects of Salafi teaching, while doctrinal aspects will probably
receive less attention.”
The continued production and distribution of Qur’ans that
included unaltered ultra-conservative interpretations sits uneasily with Mr.
Bin Salman’s effort to emphasize nationalism rather than religion as the core
of Saudi identity and project a more moderate and tolerant image of the
kingdom’s Islam.
The Saudi spin is not in the Arabic text of the Qur’an
that is identical irrespective of who prints it, but in parenthetical
additions, primarily in translated versions, that modify the meaning of
specific Qur’anic passages.
Commenting in 2005 on the King Fahd Complex’s English
translation, the most widely disseminated Qur’an in the English-speaking world,
the late Islam scholar Khaleel Mohammed asserted that it “reads more like a
supremacist Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian polemic than a rendition of
the Islamic scripture.”
Religion scholar Peter Mandaville noted in a recently
published book on decades of Saudi export of ultra-conservative Islam that “it
is the kingdom’s outsized role in the printing and distribution of the Qur’an
as rendered in other languages that becomes relevant in the present context.”
Ms. Derbal, Mr. Sinani and this author contributed
chapters to Mr. Mandaville’s edited volume.
The King Fahd Complex said that it had produced 18
million copies of its various publications in 2017/18 in multiple languages in
its most recent production figures. Earlier it reported that it had printed and
distributed 127 million copies of the Qur’an in the 22 years between 1985 and
2007. The Complex did not respond to emailed queries on whether parenthetical texts
have been recently changed.
The apparent absence of revisions of parenthetical
texts reinforces suggestions that Mr. Bin Salman is more concerned about
socio-political considerations, regime survival, and the projection of the
kingdom as countering extremism and jihadism than he is about reforming Saudi
Islam.
It also spotlights the tension between the role Saudi
Arabia envisions as the custodian of Islam’s holiest cities, Mecca and Medina,
and the needs of a modern state that wants to attract foreign investment to
help ween its economy off dependency on oil exports.
Finally, the continued distribution of Qur’ans with
seemingly unaltered commentary speaks to the balance Mr. Bin Salman may still
need to strike with the country’s once-powerful religious establishment despite
subjugating the clergy to his will.
The continued global distribution of unaltered Qur’an
commentary calls into question the sincerity of the Saudi moderation campaign,
particularly when juxtaposed with rival efforts by other major Muslim countries
to project themselves as beacons of a moderate form of Islam.
Last week, Saudi Arabia’s Muslim World League convened
some 100 Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist religious leaders to “establish
a set of values common to all major world religions and a vision for enhancing
understanding, cooperation, and solidarity amongst world religions.”
Once a major Saudi vehicle for the global propagation
of Saudi religious ultra-conservatism, the League has been turned into Mr. Bin
Salman’s megaphone. It issues lofty statements and organises high-profile
conferences that project Saudi Arabia as a leader of moderation and an example
of tolerance.
The League, under the leadership of former justice
minister Mohammed al-Issa, has emphasised its outreach to Jewish leaders and
communities. Mr. Al-Issa led a delegation of Muslim religious leaders in 2020
on a ground-breaking visit to Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi extermination camp
in Poland.
However, there is little evidence, beyond Mr.
Al-Issa’s gestures, statements, and engagement with Jewish leaders, that the
League has joined in a practical way the fight against anti-Semitism that, like
Islamophobia, is on the rise.
Similarly, Saudi moderation has not meant that the
kingdom has lifted its ban on building non-Muslim houses of worship on its
territory.
The Riyadh conference followed Nahdlatul Ulama’s
footsteps, the world’s largest Muslim civil society movement with 90 million
followers in the world’s largest Muslim majority country and most populous
democracy. Nahdlatul Ulama leader Yahya Cholil Staquf spoke at the conference.
In recent years, the Indonesian group has forged
alliances with Evangelical entities like the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA),
Jewish organisations and religious leaders, and various Muslim groups across
the globe. Nahdlatul Ulama sees the alliances as a way to establish common
ground based on shared humanitarian values that would enable them to counter
discrimination and religion-driven prejudice, bigotry, and violence.
Nahdlatul Ulama’s concept of Humanitarian Islam
advocates reform of what it deems “obsolete” and “problematic” elements of
Islamic law, including those that encourage segregation, discrimination, and/or
violence towards anyone perceived to be a non-Muslim. It further accepts the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, unlike the Saudis, without reservations.
The unrestricted embrace of the UN declaration by
Indonesia and its largest Muslim movement has meant that conversion, considered
to be apostasy under Islamic law, is legal in the Southeast Asian nation. As a
result, Indonesia, unlike Middle Eastern states where Christian communities
have dwindled due to conflict, wars, and targeted attacks, has witnessed
significant growth of its Christian communities.
Christians account for ten percent of Indonesia’s
population. Researchers Duane Alexander Miller and Patrick Johnstone reported
in 2015 that 6.5 million Indonesian had converted to Christianity since 1960.
That is not to say that Christians and other
non-Muslim minorities have not endured attacks on churches, suicide bombings,
and various forms of discrimination. The attacks have prompted Nahdlatul
Ulama’s five million-strong militia to protect churches in vulnerable areas
during holidays such as Christmas. The militia has also trained Christians to
enable them to watch over their houses of worship.
Putting its money where its mouth is, a gathering of
20,000 Nahdlatul Ulama religious scholars issued in 2019 a fatwa or religious
opinion eliminating the Muslim legal concept of the kafir or infidel.
Source: Modern Diplomacy
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US announces new Hezbollah-related sanctions on
Lebanese businessmen, companies
9 May ,2022
The US sanctioned several Lebanese individuals and
companies on Thursday for their work to facilitate funds to the Iran-backed
Hezbollah.
Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah and five of his associates
were designated, along with eight of Abdallah’s companies in Lebanon and Iraq.
“This action illuminates Hezbollah’s modus operandi of
using the cover of seemingly legitimate businesses to generate revenue and
leverage commercial investments across a multitude of sectors to secretly fund
Hezbollah and its terrorist activities,” the Treasury Department said in a
statement.
Hezbollah was designated a terrorist organization by
the US in 1997. Several European and Gulf nations followed suit years later.
The Treasury Department accused Hezbollah of
establishing companies with “opaque ownership structure” to conceal their
involvement in the businesses. The US also said Hezbollah was hiding its
participation in companies to hide its role in criminal activities such as
altering medication labels for black market pharmaceutical sales.
“Hezbollah has built a web of businesses to hide its
activities and generate funds for its destabilizing activities, all at the
expense of accountability and public safety in Lebanon and the region,” said
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian
Nelson.
But the Treasury Department official said Washington
was committed to protecting Lebanon’s financial system and its private sector
from Hezbollah’s abuse.
Source: Al Arabiya
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UAE President to send AED35 million humanitarian aid
to Somalia
20 May, 2022
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has
ordered that AED35 million of urgent humanitarian aid is to be sent to Somalia
to support its developmental efforts and alleviate extreme poverty, according
to state news agency WAM.
The aid reaffirms the UAE’s commitment to helping
friendly countries and its efforts to develop its bilateral relations with
Somalia, it said.
Somalia is currently experiencing one of its worst
droughts in living memory.
UNICEF estimates estimated 4.8 million people are
experiencing severe food insecurity, while around 1.4 million children are
likely to be acutely malnourished by the end of 2022. About 3.5 million people
are facing acute water shortages.
Source: Al Arabiya
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US military review of civilian casualties in Syria
flawed, claims Human Rights Watch
May 19, 2022
LONDON: Internal US military reviews of operations
resulting in civilian harm remain “fundamentally” flawed and require urgent
redress despite pledges made last year, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the US Department of Defense released a
public summary, but not the full report, of an airstrike it conducted against
Syria in 2019 in which it acknowledged faults for the handling of the operation
but found no one accountable.
Sarah Yager, Washington director of Human Rights
Watch, said: “It’s disappointing but not surprising the DOD has once again
refused to hold itself accountable for civilian deaths.”
She added: “In addition to resolving obvious flaws in
its investigative process, the US military should publish the full review, as a
show of respect to the victims’ families and to prevent future abuses.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin initiated the review
after a November New York Times article condemned an initial investigation for
its failure to acknowledge that dozens of civilians had been killed by the
strike on Baghouz in March 2019 and alleged individuals within the DOD had
sought to cover up the extent of civilian harm.
Despite Austin’s intervention and pledge to create a
Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan, HRW said this latest review
failed in its commitments to transparency, lacked information from witnesses,
used “an overly elastic definition of combatants” and did not provide amends
for the civilians harmed.
The NGO claimed the DOD classified all adult males as
combatants, regardless of their participation in hostilities, contravening
international humanitarian law standards on distinguishing between civilians
and combatants; relied on incorrect Syrian allies, rather than properly
verifying information received; and provided no evidence of interviews with
people outside the US military.
In a statement, HRW said: “Instead, it appears that
the military reviewers relied upon the same incomplete information in the
review that they relied upon to conduct the airstrike.”
Yager pointed to the failure to investigate as proof
that the US Congress needed to intervene to urgently address the military’s
handling of civilian harm.
Source: Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2085726/middle-east
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Africa
Jordan's king restricts ‘delusional’ Prince Hamzah's
movement, communications
19 May ,2022
Jordan’s King Abdullah issued a decree Thursday
restricting the movement, place of residence and communications of his
half-brother Prince Hamzah.
The king issued the royal decree after approving a
recommendation submitted to him on December 23 by a council formed under the
Royal Family Law, state news agency Petra reported.
The king explained his decision, saying that when
Prince Hamzah’s actions of “sedition” emerged, he decided to handle the matter
within the family in the hope that Prince Hamzah “would come to his senses.”
“However, after a year and a half, he [failed] to do
so… and I [unfortunately] realized that he will not change his ways,” King
Abdullah said in a letter. “I realized he [suffers from] a delusion where he
sees himself as the guardian of our Hashemite legacy and where he believes that
[he is the victim] of a systematic campaign [launched against him] by our
institutions.”
The king also noted that Prince Hamzah’s remarks and
actions “reflected his denial of the reality he lives” and showed that he
rejects to bear responsibility for his actions.
In April 2021, Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ayman
Safadi said Prince Hamzah had attempted to mobilize local officials for actions
intended to harm Jordan's security.
Prince Hamzah apologized in March in a letter to the
king over the attempt, saying he bears the responsibility for any mistakes made
against the king and the country and for the consequences of his actions which
pertain to “sedition.”
“My brother, Hamzah, continues to ignore all the facts
and conclusive evidence,” the king also said, adding that Prince Hamzah
manipulated facts “to back his fake account” of events.
“Unfortunately, my brother truly believes his claims,”
he added.
King Abdullah also described Prince Hamzah’s actions
as “irresponsible” actions that aim to sow unrest, noting that even though
Prince Hamzah had pledged to quit these actions, he soon “returned to the path
he’s adopted for years.”
“He puts his interests above the country’s interests…
and plays the role of the victim.”
The king revealed that he had been patient and
tolerant for years in the hope that Prince Hamzah would one day “mature” and
contribute to serving the people of Jordan and protecting the country and its
interests.
Prince Hamzah continued to suspect everyone around him
while justifying his inability to serve the country by claiming he was
“targeted,” King Abdullah said.
The king also revealed that he received complaints
from army commanders and soldiers saying that Prince Hamzah arrogantly dealt
with them and that he attempted to “raise doubts about the professionalism of
the Armed Forces.”
Acknowledging that he’s well-aware of the country's
challenges, King Abdullah said he welcomes constructive criticism. But, “these
challenges cannot be resolved through actions that attempt to exploit the
economic circumstances to spread despair.”
Commenting on Prince Hamzah’s absence during the
funeral of their uncle, Prince Mohammed bin Talal, in April, King Abdullah said
Prince Hamzah refused to attend the funeral to “strengthen the idea that he’s
the victim.”
The king also said that Prince Hamzah ignored the
advice of members of the royal family to amend his ways, adding that a private
letter that Prince Hamzah sent him on January 15 “misrepresented facts… and
ignored everything that does not harmonize with his version of events.”
“He ignored what has been exposed about his suspicious
relations and communications with Bassem Awadallah as well as Hassan bin Zaid
who sought assistance from foreign embassies to inquire about the possibility
of supporting him in case a change in governance happens,” the king said,
adding that Prince Hamzah was well-aware of bin Zaid’s actions.
Awadallah, who once served as a top adviser to the
king, and bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, were found guilty of sedition
and incitement in July 2021 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
After Prince Hamzah sent him the letter in January,
the king also explained that he responded to the letter and later met with him
to present “a roadmap to rebuild trust.”
“I was optimistic when he decided to acknowledge what
he has done, and he sent me a letter [in March] apologizing to the nation and
me.”
However, it was only weeks before Prince Hamzah
“proved his ill intentions, as he went back to playing the role of the victim,”
the king said, adding that Prince Hamzah did not leave his residence for an
entire month and issued a statement relinquishing his royal title even though
he’s well-aware that granting and relinquishing titles is the king’s
jurisdiction.
Prince Hamzah also sent a private letter to the king
asking him to allow him to keep the “financial and logistical privileges” of
his title during the next phase.
The king noted that he would not allow anyone – not
even his brother – to put his interests above the country’s interests.
“Hence, I have decided to approve the council’s
recommendation,” he said, adding that he had been patient about approving it
because he wanted to give Prince Hamzah a chance to review his actions.
“Considering his destructive behavior, I will not be
surprised if he issues abusive statements. However, we will not waste time to
respond to him as I [firmly believe] he will continue to [act upon] his
misleading [version of events] for the rest of his life.”
Source: Al Arabiya
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Deborah Samuel: CPFN calls for open preaching to
Muslims against taking law into their hands
May 19, 2022
By Amos Tauna
The Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (CPFN)
has called on Islamic leaders to educate their followers through open preaching
in Mosques and mass media on the negative effects of taking laws into their
hands whenever they are aggrieved by alleged infringement on their religious
beliefs.
The National Chairman, CPFN, Pastor E.S Awojide, in a
statement through Elder Segun Bamidele, its National Publicity Secretary, was
reacting to the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel of Shehu Shagari College of
Education, Sokoto, who was stoned to death and burnt for alleged blasphemy of
Prophet Muhammad.
The Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria
condemned the killing and described the act as inhuman and illegal.
According to the statement, the Sultan of Sokoto, the
leader of all Muslims in Nigeria, and other Islamic leaders should openly
preach to all Muslims never to attack or kill any person for whatever reason,
but to report any allegation of infringement of any law or custom to the Police
and not to take laws into their hands.
It opined that preaching openly in the mosque and on
national television would carry weight and convince Muslims that killing others
for blasphemy was not the appropriate thing to do.
According to CPFN, although the Sultan had issued a
statement against the killing of the student, it was not enough for him and the
head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria.
It stated, “The Sultan should let his followers know
the consequences of violation of all human rights guaranteed under the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
He condemned in strongest terms what he called a
“heinous incident” and called for the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of
all those involved not just the two already apprehended.
The statement stated that the laws of the land do not
allow anyone to take the life of another fellow human for any reason.
The CPFN, therefore, commiserated with the family of
Deborah Samuel, all Christians in Sokoto State and Nigeria at large, appealing
to them to maintain calm and orderliness in the face of the challenge.
The national chairman also called on Governor Aminu
Tambuwal of Sokoto State and President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of
urgency, bring the people behind the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel to book.
Source: Daily Post
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For the first time in half-a-century, Chad welcomes
Israeli envoy
20 May ,2022
Israeli diplomat Ben Bourgel presented his credentials
to the president of Chad this week - the first time in half-a-century the
country has welcomed an Israeli ambassador, as the two countries move to
strengthen diplomatic ties.
The Israeli Embassy in Senegal announced on Twitter
that Bourgel, the non-resident ambassador to a host of African nations
including Senegal, Gambia and Guinea, presented his credentials to Chad
President Mahamat Idriss Deby Into on Tuesday.
On Twitter, the Israeli Embassy said: “This marks an
important benchmark in the deepening of the relations between Chad and Israel
since their resumption in 2019.
“Ambassador Bourgel and his team will work to
strengthen the cooperation between the two countries in areas of common
interest such as climate change, agriculture, water management and health.”
Israel and Chad had friendly relations in 1960s after
the north-central African nation was granted independence from France. But,
like a number of its sub-Saharan neighbors, Chad cut off ties with the Jewish
state in the early 1970s, due to pressure from the late Libyan ruler Muammar
Gaddafi.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Sudan arrests communist party figures as thousands protest
coup
19 May ,2022
Sudanese security forces arrested leading anti-coup
figures on Thursday, their party said, during protests by thousands against
last year’s military takeover.
“Security forces raided the house of the political
secretary of the Sudanese Communist Party Mohammed Mukhtar al-Khatib,” the
party said in a statement.
Another leading party member was also arrested at
Khartoum airport, and the two men were taken to an “unknown location,” the
party said.
The arrests came despite a pledge by coup leader
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to free political detainees to set the stage for
talks among Sudanese factions.
Last month, authorities released several anti-coup
civilian leaders arrested in a crackdown.
The Communist Party members were detained following a
trip to Juba, South Sudan where they met with rebel leader Abdel Wahid Nour who
has refused to sign a landmark 2020 peace deal with the Sudanese government,
according to the party statement.
They also visited rebel-held areas in South Kordofan controlled
by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, who also abstained from the 2020 deal, it said.
Thousands of protesters on Thursday took to the
streets, mainly in Khartoum but also elsewhere, to again call for civilian rule
in the latest rally against the October coup led by Burhan, according to AFP
correspondents.
The pro-democracy Central Committee of Sudan Doctors
said security forces fired tear gas “in large quantities” to quell the
protests.
Regular mass demonstrations have rocked Sudan since
the coup which derailed a fragile political transition set in motion after the
2019 ouster of longtime president Omar al-Bashir.
Demonstrations have been met by a violent crackdown
which has so far killed at least 95 protesters and wounded hundreds of others,
according to medics.
The United Nations, along with the African Union and
regional bloc IGAD, have been pushing to facilitate Sudanese-led talks to
resolve the crisis after the northeast African country’s latest coup.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Burkina Faso attacks leave 11 soldiers, 15 gunmen
dead: Army
20 May ,2022
Eleven soldiers and 15 gunmen have been killed in a
suspected extremist attack in eastern Burkina Faso, the army said.
On Thursday, security and local sources gave a
provisional toll of seven soldiers killed in an assault on a military unit,
while a separate attack on a bus left one civilian dead.
But in a statement released overnight, the military
chief of staff said that 11 troops had been killed.
“A complex attack -- shells fired, followed by direct
fire on the base” in Madjoari in the Kompienga province, it said in a
statement.
“Eleven soldiers lost their lives... (and) at least
20” wounded, it said.
Army warplanes helped to "neutralise at least 15
terrorists who were trying to escape after the attack,” it said.
On Saturday, around 40 people - many of them civilian
volunteers with the army - were killed in three suspected extremist attacks in
the same regions.
The new head of state, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri
Sandaogo Damiba, says he has made the security crisis his “priority”.
Damiba overthrew elected president Roch Marc Christian
Kabore in January, accusing him of being ineffective in the face of extremist
violence.
After a relative lull when Damiba took power, a surge
in attacks has claimed almost 200 lives.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Europe
Swedish journalist says Turkiye is right to oppose
Stockholm's NATO membership
Atila Altuntas
19.05.2022
STOCKHOLM
Turkiye has valid grounds for opposing Sweden's NATO
membership, a Swedish journalist said in his column on Thursday.
PM Nilsson, foreign affairs editor at Swedish daily
Dagens Industri, said that there are legitimate reasons for Turkiye to stand
against Sweden's application to join NATO.
He said the Social Democratic Party's precondition for
Magdalena Andersson's election as premier was the "agreement" it made
with independent MP Amineh Kakabaveh to help the YPG/PKK terror group.
The agreement was "weird" and
"unconstitutional," he said.
"It was to deepen cooperation with the YPG/PKK in
Syria. This agreement means that a single lawmaker dictates Sweden's foreign
policy through the YPG, which is defined by Turkiye as the Syrian branch of the
PKK," according to Nilsson.
He further said this "untenable agreement"
showed that there is no "misunderstanding" by Turkiye, as opposed to
what Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said.
On the election of Andersson as Sweden's prime
minister, far-right Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson had said that the
Social Democratic Party was negotiating with the PKK terror group to form a
government.
"We saw that the Social Democratic Party would
establish a close relationship with the PYD, a branch of the PKK terror group,
via Kakabaveh to form the government," Akesson had said.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Italian premier to visit Turkiye in July for bilateral
talks
Baris Seckin
19.05.2022
ROME
The Italian premier said on Thursday that he would
visit Turkiye in July for bilateral talks.
Addressing the parliament on the latest developments
in Ukraine, Mario Draghi reiterated Italy's stance against Russia's war on
Ukraine.
He said no intergovernmental summit has been held
between Italy and Turkiye for 10 years, adding his visit will come in early
July.
The premier said that during his visit, the two sides
will discuss diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine and strengthen
bilateral ties.
Regarding the alleged war crimes committed by Russian
forces in Ukraine, the Italian premier said that he offered Italy's support to
investigate these claims as mass graves were found in the war-torn country.
Also touching on the increasing NATO actions in the
eastern flank, Draghi underlined that in addition to 2,500 Italian soldiers in
Eastern Europe, Italy will send 1,000 more soldiers to Hungary and Bulgaria.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/italian-premier-to-visit-turkiye-in-july-for-bilateral-talks/2592385
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Germany
arrests leading members of DHKP-C terror group
19.05.2022
BERLIN
German
police have arrested three senior members of the far-left terror group DHKP-C,
authorities said on Thursday.
The
terror group’s alleged Germany chief Ozgul E., and two other leading figures,
were arrested following a lengthy investigation, the Federal Prosecutor’s
Office said in a statement.
Ozgul
E., who is also on Turkiye’s list of most-wanted terrorists, was arrested on
Monday in the southwestern city of Heidelberg, according to the prosecutors.
She
was suspected of organizing the terror group’s propaganda, recruitment and
funding activities across Germany, and is believed to have supplied fake
passports to the members of the group.
Serkan
K., who had coordinated the terror group’s activities in northern Germany, was
arrested in Hamburg on Tuesday.
Prosecutors
said a third senior member of the group, Ihsan C., was arrested in the western
city of Bochum on Wednesday.
He
was suspected of coordinating DHKP-C’s activities in southern Germany,
organizing propaganda activities, and providing fake ID documents and
logistical support for the terror group.
Germany
banned the DHKP-C in 2000, but the group is still active in the country, and
has around 650 followers among the immigrant population, according to the
domestic intelligence agency BfV.
Besides
Turkiye, the US and the European Union list the DHKP-C as a terror
organization.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/germany-arrests-leading-members-of-dhkp-c-terror-group/2592263
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Tajikistan
detains 114 over clashes in troubled eastern region
19
May ,2022
Police
in Tajikistan said Thursday over 100 people were arrested in a “counter-terror
operation” after fatal clashes roiled an eastern region that the authoritarian
regime has long struggled to control.
Nine
people, eight of whom the government described as “militants,” and one officer
were killed Wednesday following the worst violence in the remote
Gorno-Badakhshan region since 2012.
The
interior ministry said police detained 114 “members of a terrorist group”
during operations in the region’s Rushan district, with a further eight members
of the group still at large.
The
situation in Rushan had “normalized,” the ministry said in a statement carried
by Tajikistan’s state information service.
Gorno-Badakhshan
has been a flashpoint of tensions since the end of a five-year civil war that
began shortly after the Central Asian nation gained its independence with the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Linguistically,
religiously and ethnically distinct from other regions, it was a home to rebels
who opposed government forces during the conflict before the parties reached an
uneasy truce.
Authorities
announced a “counter-terror operation” Tuesday in response to protests in the
city of Khorog that began over the weekend and included calls for the
government-appointed regional head to step down, media said.
Internet
has been largely unavailable in the region since the unrest began and mobile
communications have also been affected.
A
rare independent media outlet in the national capital Dushanbe, Asia-Plus, said
this week it would cease reporting on the conflict “under the threat of
closure” by the government.
Authorities
informed the website its coverage was “one-sided” and “destabilizes the
situation in the country,” Asia-Plus said.
In
a joint statement, the European Union delegation in Tajikistan and the
embassies of Britain, France, Germany and the United States called on “all
parties to spare no effort to de-escalate, exercise restraint and refrain from
excessive use of force and incitement to violence.”
Among
the government’s key targets in the region is Mamadbokir Mamadbokirov, a local
powerbroker, that authorities describe as “leader of an organised criminal
group.”
Officials
have not yet said whether Mamadbokirov has been detained.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Sweden's
approach towards 'protecting' terrorists
Kemal
Karadag
19.05.2022
Sweden
has an approach to "protect" terrorists as it has either rejected or
failed to respond to Turkiye's requests for extradition of fugitive terror
group members, Anadolu Agency has learned.
According
to sources, Sweden refused the extradition and granted citizenship to Mehmet
Sirac Bilgin, Aysel Alhan, Aziz Turan, Ragip Zarakolu, and Halef Tak, who are
all affiliated with the PKK/YPG terror group.
The
extradition request of FETO members, including Harun Tokak, a senior operative
of the terror group and its so-called Israel representative, as well as Bulent
Kenes, a former editor of FETO's English-language mouthpiece Today’s Zaman, was
also not responded to.
Similarly,
Stockholm never got back to Turkiye's demand for the extradition of FETO
members Levent Kenez and Yilmaz Ayten, who was granted asylum in Sweden after
living in Afghanistan for years.
In
its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a
terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for
the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The
YPG is PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
FETO
and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July
15, 2016 in Turkiye, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/swedens-approach-towards-protecting-terrorists/2592537
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