Fatima Bhutto lights up Kovalam literary fest
Indian Americans decry arrest of Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhat
Pakistani makes Gandhi's portrait with blood
2 months on, Delhi Police book Swamy for ‘anti-Muslim’ article
Siraj Haqqani denies ISI links
Al-Qaida would find 9/11-style strike 'very difficult': Barack Obama
Dreaded militant hit squad goes rogue in Pakistan
Last stretch of border with Pakistan to be fenced soon
India & Pak urged to free fishermen
Blames Islamabad Double Game For Afghan Turmoil
B'desh to indict suspects in ULFA-arms hauls case on Oct 25
Al-Megrahi says his role in Lockerbie attack exaggerated
Pentagon chief: Says Israel Is Risking Isolation
Taliban will not 'support Pak blindly' if US attacks: report
Justice Minister admits errors in Norway killings
3 killed in Iraqi hostage standoff
Lashkar face in south Kashmir killed
Bahrain Lawyer: 14 Sentenced to Life in Slaying
In Yemen, One Islamist Is Dead, but the Battle Goes On
Twin blasts north of Baghdad kill six
Three dead in Afghan blast near minister
Nine Afghan soldiers killed by roadside bomb
Bangladesh charges first suspect over 1971 war
Govt. working on creating jobs for Saudi women
Afghan women's rights under threat, say UK charities
Haqqani network denies killing Rabbani, ISI ties
Bharatpur violence: Minorities panel says ‘partisan’ police used ‘excess’ force
NGOs, activists seek Bhatt’s release
J&K custodial death: Now, Home Secy says cardiac arrest, no external injuries
IAF expanding wings beyond Pak and China
Americans Raid Byways of Haqqani Insurgents in Afghanistan
Gunmen seize hostages in Iraq police HQ: Officials
Pakistanis alone did not create Haqqanis: US
Pakistan not to tolerate any aggression against its soil: Qazi Hussain Ahmad
Angry Pakistan rejects Afghan charges on Rabbani killing
Gilani ready for talks with Taliban
Thousands flee Qadhafi’s home town as rebels prepare to attack
Shortages 'killing patients' in Libya siege hospital
NATO expresses concern over ‘10,000 lost missiles’ in Libya
Gaddafi son denies Interpol allegations
Tripoli gets new militia, apparent rebuff to Islamists
Filipino Muslim Militants Free U.S. Woman, Still Hold Son
Turkey: World’s first womb transplant successful
Syria opposition launches national council
Clashes claim several lives in Nigeria
Mosque fire in Israel blamed on Jewish extremists
Syria opposition forms united front against Assad
Pandemonium in Kashmir assembly as PDP demands Omar quit
Uproar in J&K assembly over NC worker death in 'police custody'
Court issues notice to Gujarat Govt on Bhatt’s bail plea
Egypt's Tantawi denies army told to shoot protesters
Higher Islamic Council decries killing of civilians in Arab revolts
Spanish judge frees 5 Algerians arrested on suspicion of financing al-Qaida-linked group
Global Islamic group rising in Asia
Muslims Unity, Main Objective of Husseini (AS) Movement in Pakistan
Maulana Sayeed Mehendi Hussein to observe Sadbhavana fast on Oct 2
Gulf Company to celebrate rise of Asia at Delhi gala
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/fatima-bhutto-lights-up-kovalam-literary-fest/d/5607
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Fatima Bhutto lights up Kovalam literary fest
Oct 04 2011
CELEBRATED writers from the subcontinent and across the globe raised the pitch against tension in bilateral ties, poverty and obscurantism and exploitation in south Asia on Sunday — the concluding day of the Kovalam Literary Festival.
Fatima Bhutto, who had opened the show, made a rousing plea for brotherhood among the people of India and Pakistan. The writer and journalist, who is the niece of former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto, underlined the importance of a lasting peace in the region.
Bhutto, who had opened the show by lighting the ceremonial lamp, grabbed the maximum spotlight remaining darling of the press. On the concluding day, she read out excerpts from her memoir ‘ Songs of blood and swords’. “ Priorities of both our nations must urgently focus on peace. We are sibling countries. We are far stronger together than we are against each other. Our destinies are linked, the three of us — India, Pakistan and Bangladesh — and my generation has had no part in the hostilities that has defined south Asia,” the Pakistani writer said.
Binoo K John, who through his ‘ The Last Song of Savio de Souza’ pleads for rationalism in the era of miraclemongering, expressed his concern over fundamentalists and peddler of miracles tightening their grip on his home state of Kerala.
“ The growth of fundamentalism in the state is alarming. It should never have happened in the state. Kerala should have known better,” regretted John, who was the festival director.
While Basharat Peer poured out the sorrow and conflict being faced by the people in the strife- torn Kashmir Valley, Israeli writer Savyon Liebrecht shared the instability that haunts the lives of ordinary Israelis.
Liebrecht, a child of holocaust survivors, showcased her six collections of short stories.
Young Indian writers such as Meena Kandaswamy, Kanika Dhillon , Palash Mehrotra also read out their works for the participants.
Mail Today
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Indian Americans decry arrest of Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhat
Oct 4, 2011
WASHINGTON: Condemning the arrest of Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, Indian-Aemricans have demanded the Indian Government to conduct a full-scale investigation into the allegations made by him.
"The government's alacrity in arresting Bhatt, stands in stark contrast to its criminal inaction against police officers who have been charged with complicity in the riots," said Shaheen Khateeb, President of Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) in a statement.
IAMC said the CBI should be tasked with conducting a full-scale investigation into the allegations made by Bhatt against the Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, and other state functionaries.
"As the Haren Pandya murder case remains unsolved, Bhatt's claim of possessing documentary evidence that would point to his killers, should be probed without any regard to the status and position of the people he has implicated," IAMC said.
Another NRI group, Non Resident Indians for Secular and Harmonious India (NRI-SAHI) strongly condemned the Gujarat government for arresting Bhatt, who gave affidavits and presented information on the actions of the Gujarat Government and its police on February 27, 2002 for the control of riots.
"We the NRI-SAHI ask the Gujarat government to remove all charges against Bhatt and release him immediately. We ask the Gujarat government to let the judicial process started by the Supreme Court to take its course," it said.
"We ask the state government to stop intimidating police and civilian witnesses such as has happened with constable Panth who has recanted his testimony he gave in front of the SIT and Amicus Curiae," NRI-SAHI said in a statement.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/Indian-Americans-decry-arrest-of-
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Pakistani makes Gandhi's portrait with blood
Oct 3, 2011
NEW DELHI: It was a rare event to see a Pakistani draw a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi and, that too, with his blood. Abdul Waseel presented one such creation of his Sunday - the birth anniversary of Gandhi - at the Gandhi Darshan here.
"I think this is the best way to tell people of both the countries that its time we forget hostility, and live together. I know Mahatma Gandhi professed non-violence, but my blood to pay him tribute means no more blood sheds should be there on any side of the border," said Lahore-based Waseel, who had come here to pay his respects to Gandhi.
"People have been giving mixed response to my way of paying the tribute. I hope this melts hearts," Waseel added.
Popularly known as 'Painter Babu' in Lahore, Waseel owns a small shop on Allama Iqbal Road. The calligrapher made the portrait back in 2009 by drawing blood from his veins with a syringe.
"I had the Mahatma's image sketched in my mind. I wanted to bring it on canvas," Waseel said, adding that he also has drawn portraits of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela with blood.
He presented Gandhi's portrait to Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, the granddaughter of the Mahatma and vice-chairperson of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti near the Rajghat.
"Somewhere we have lacked in carrying forward what the Father of the Nation left for us. The two minute silence is a call to look inside and know how violent we are," Tara Gandhi said before the two-minute silence, titled 'moment of introspection', was observed at 12 noon at the memorial.
Born this day in 1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti across the country. It is also marked as the International Day of Non-Violence. He was assassinated Jan 30, 1948.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pakistani-makes-Gandhis-portrait-with-blood/articleshow/10212888.cms
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2 months on, Delhi Police book Swamy for ‘anti-Muslim’ article
Oct 04 2011
New Delhi : The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has registered a case against Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy for allegedly making anti-Muslim remarks in an article published in an English daily two months ago.
The case, marked as “sensitive” by the Crime Branch, was registered on September 30 under Section 153A (spreading enmity between communities) of the IPC.
The article was carried on the edit page of an English newspaper. A case has been registered against the newspaper as well.
The case was registered after lawyer Asghar Khan moved court in August. “I had moved a petition in the court and sought a criminal case against Swamy as he had made objectionable remarks against the Muslim community in the article. The article aims at communal disharmony,” said Khan.
“The statement made by Swamy is extremely seditious and has been made with the intention to promote enmity between different groups on the ground of religion, race, place of birth,” Khan had said in his complaint.
The case was registered at the Nehru Place office of the Crime Branch. “We have registered a case and will soon question Swamy,” said a senior police officer.
Earlier this month Swamy had written to the Prime Minister asking for a “safe house” as he feared attack from radical Muslims. After the article was published, his house in Nizamuddin was attacked by a group of miscreants. A case was registered but no arrests were made. “The next date of hearing has been fixed for next month. The police were asked to submit a status report,” said Khan.
The National Commission for Minorities had in August decided to file a case against Swamy for his article.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/2-months-on--Delhi-Police-book-Swamy-for--anti-
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Siraj Haqqani denies ISI links
Oct 04 2011
London : Branded as a “veritable arm” of the ISI, the Haqqani network’s operational chief, Sirajuddin ‘Siraj’ Haqqani, has claimed that his group did not kill former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, and denied links with the ISI.
“We haven’t killed Burhanuddin Rabbani and this has been said many times by the spokespersons of the Islamic Emirate,” Siraj told BBC in an interview, his first public utterance in years.
Siraj also said he has been approached by the US to join the Afghan government. “... America contacted us and they are still doing so, they are asking us to leave the ranks of Islamic Emirates,” he said. He said the outsiders have promised an “important role in the Afghanistan government”, as well as negotiations.
He said accusations of ISI links were an attempt “to hide their (US) failure and to confuse peoples’ minds”.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Siraj-Haqqani-denies-ISI-links/855266/
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Al-Qaida would find 9/11-style strike 'very difficult': Barack Obama
Oct 4, 2011
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday said that it would be "very difficult" over the next two years for al-Qaida to stage a spectacular terror attack on the scale of the September 11 strikes in 2001.
Obama said that given America's open society, it would always be vulnerable, but argued that as a result of a stepped-up US campaign which had "decimated" al-Qaida's leadership, the country was safer.
"But for them to be able to mount something that is a big project with a lot of financing, that is very difficult for them to do now," Obama said in an interview with Yahoo.com and ABC News.
"They are still dangerous, they are still our number one enemy, we have got to make sure that we don't let up.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Al-Qaida-would-find-9/11-style-strike-very-
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Dreaded militant hit squad goes rogue in Pakistan
Oct 04 2011
Islamabad : A blindfolded man stands on explosives, trembling as he confesses to spying for the CIA in Pakistan. Armed men in black balaclavas slowly back away. Then he is blown up.
One of his executioners -- members of an elite militant hit squad -- zooms a camera in on his severed head and body parts for a video later distributed in street markets as a warning.
al-aeda, the Pakistani Taliban and the Haqqani network -- blamed for a September 13 attack on the US embassy in Kabul -- picked the most ruthless fighters from their ranks in 2009 to form the Khurasan unit, for a special mission.
The Obama administration was escalating drone strikes on militants in the Pakistani tribal areas on the Afghan border and something had to be done to stop the flow of tips used for the US aerial campaign.
Militant groups don't have the military technology to match the American drone programme, but they understand the value of human intelligence, and fear, in the conflict.
So the Khurasan were deployed to hunt down and eliminate anyone suspected of helping the Americans or their Pakistani government and military allies.
Just this week, an Afghan couple visiting Pakistan was shot dead for spying in North Waziristan, where the group operates.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dreaded-militant-hit-squad-goes-rogue-in-
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Last stretch of border with Pakistan to be fenced soon
By Aman Sharma
Oct 04 2011
INDIA is planning to fence the only gap left in its border with Pakistan — a 70km stretch in the Rann of Kutch, a saline marshland separating the neighbours in Gujarat.
The Rann of Kutch is the only portion of the 2,308km- long India- Pakistan border without a fence and is a hotbed of large- scale smuggling of drugs and weapons, and trafficking of immigrants as the Indian Army struggles to police, patrol and protect the swampy border.
For decades, smugglers and Pakistan’s Inter- Services Intelligence ( ISI) have taken advantage of the place’s unique geography.
Home minister P. Chidambaram has set a March 2012 deadline for the completion of the fencing.
In 1997, the Border Security Force ( BSF) had first proposed that this stretch of marshy land should be fenced.
The marshy land is highly saline, which hampers fencing work, but the ministry has finally decided to take up the challenging task. The BSF and the Central Public Works Department ( CPWD) jointly came up with a suitable design of the fencing to survive in the marshy area with geo- climatic disadvantages.
A road is also being built alongside the fence, which will be flood- lit, for the movement of troops.
Full report at: Mail Today
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India & Pak urged to free fishermen
Oct 04 2011
SEVERAL prominent Indian and Pakistani citizens have jointly appealed to the governments of both the countries to release fishermen and their boats seized for straying into the other country’s seas.
The appeal coincides with the start of the fishing season in the high seas of both the countries.
“ Both the governments need to recognise that these traditional fishermen go to the mid- sea for their livelihood.
Arresting them and confiscating their boats means depriving them of their livelihood and causing extreme distress to their families,” the signatories stated in their appeal.
In the last few days, Pakistan’s Marine Security Agency ( MSA) has arrested around 100 Indian fishermen and confiscated 10 boats. More than 520 Indian boats are lying in Pakistan and around 230 Pakistani boats are lying in India.
“ We appeal to both the governments to release all the fishermen and their boats as a gesture of goodwill. The issue needs to be seen from humanitarian and not security angle,” the signatories wrote.
Indian and Pakistani fishermen often stray into each other’s waters, unable to recognise where one country’s limits end and the other’s start.
Among the signatories are Kuldip Nayar, Mahesh Bhatt, Ramaswamy Iyer, Kamla Bhasin, Seema Mustafa, Shivam Vij, Haris Kidwai, Manoranjan Mohanty ( from India), Karamat Ali, Nasir Aslam Zahid, Mohammad Ali Shah, I. A. Rehman, Beena Sarwar and S. Tahseen ( from Pakistan).
Mail Today
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Blames Islamabads Double Game For Afghan Turmoil
Oct 04 2011
Islamabad: A top Tehrik-e-Taliban commander has said that his group will not blindly support Pakistan in the event of an attack by the US.
Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, the commander for Bajaur tribal region and the deputy chief of the TTP, a grouping of militant factions, made the remarks in a telephone interview with BBC.
Referring to drone strikes in the tribal belt, he said the US was continuously infringing on Pakistans sovereignty.
However, if the US sends ground troops into the country, the TTP will not blindly or impulsively support Pakistan, he said, adding a decision on backing Pakistan will be made by the TTP shura or council after deliberations.
The Taliban commander criticised the Pakistan government for what he described as its double game in Afghanistan.US wants to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan but Pakistan wants to trap the Americans in the Afghan quagmire, he claimed.
Though Pakistan and the US are allies in the war against terrorism, they dont trust each other. Instead, the two deceitful allies want to outsmart each other, Muhammad said.
He blamed Pakistans double standards for the security situation in Afghanistan, saying such a policy had damaged the possibility of peace. Peace cannot be restored in Pakistan and Afghanistan unless the two neighbours learn to coexist with peace, he said.
Times of India
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B'desh to indict suspects in ULFA-arms haul case on Oct 25
Oct 04 2011
Dhaka : A Bangladeshi court is set to frame charges against 52 suspects, including ULFA chief Paresh Barua and top Islamist leader Matiur Rahman Nizami in the country's biggest ever arms smuggling case when 10-truck loads of arms destined for banned Indian separatist group were seized.
"The court set the date on October 25 for framing the charges" as all of the 11 detained accused including ex-junior minister for home Lutfizzaman Babar, ex-industries minister and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Nizami and two former army generals appeared before the judge, a court official said. The rest 41 people accused in the case are absconding.
Officials familiar with the investigation said their extended probe found Chinese firm NORINCO to have produced the weapons but they could not identify the ship that carried the illegal consignment to Bangladeshi territory.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bdesh-to-indict-suspects-in-ulfaarms-haul-case-on-oct-25/855264/
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Al-Megrahi says his role in Lockerbie attack exaggerated
Oct 04 2011
Tripoli : Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, said his role in the attack had been exaggerated and the truth about what happened would emerge soon.
Al-Megrahi, released from a Scottish prison two years ago because he was suffering from terminal cancer, spoke to Reuters from a bed in Tripoli. Looking frail and his breathing laboured, he said he had only a few months, at most, left to live.
“The facts (about the bombing) will become clear one day and hopefully in the near future. In a few months from now, you will see new facts that will be announced,” he told Reuters Television over the pinging of medical monitors around his bed.
“The West exaggerated my name. Please leave me alone. I only have a few more days, weeks or months.”
Al-Megrahi was found guilty of bombing Pan Am flight 103 while it was en route from London to New York on Dec. 21, 1988.
“All my work was administrative. I never harmed Libyans... I’ve never harmed anyone in my life,” he said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Al-Megrahi-says-his-role-in-Lockerbie-attack-exaggerated/855272/
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Pentagon chief: Says Israel Is Risking Isolation
Oct 3, 2011
ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned on Sunday that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated in the Middle East and said US security commitments should enable it to take “risks for peace.”
Panetta, who arrives in Israel on Monday for the first time since becoming Pentagon chief, said he would reaffirm US security commitments to Israel and try to help it improve its increasingly chilly relations with Turkey and Egypt.
“It’s pretty clear, at this dramatic time in the Middle East when there have been so many changes, that it is not a good situation for Israel to become increasingly isolated. And that is what has happened,” Panetta told reporters on his plane.
Panetta’s visit to the Middle East, which includes meetings with Palestinian and Egyptian leaders, comes at a time when Arab popular demand for political change has buffeted the region, raising hopes, tensions and uncertainty.
Protests toppled governments in Tunisia and longtime US ally Egypt earlier this year and touched off a civil war in Libya that led to the ouster of leader Muammar Qaddafi.
But the changes have sometimes been unsettling.
Egyptian protesters invaded the Israeli Embassy in Cairo a month ago in anger over a clash that killed five border guards. The military government’s handling of that incident and comments afterward raised concerns about Cairo’s future commitment to its peace deal with Israel,
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article510599.ece
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Taliban will not 'support Pak blindly' if US attacks: report
Oct 03 2011
Islamabad : A top Tehrik-e-Taliban commander has said that his group will not blindly support Pakistan in the event of an attack by the US.
Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, the commander for Bajaur tribal region and the deputy chief of the TTP, a grouping of militant factions, made the remarks in a telephone interview with BBC.
Referring to drone strikes in the tribal belt, he said the US was continuously infringing on Pakistan's sovereignty.
However, if the US sends ground troops into the country, the TTP will not blindly or impulsively support Pakistan, he said, adding a decision on backing Pakistan will be made by the TTP shura or council after deliberations.
The Taliban commander criticised the Pakistan government for what he described as "its double game" in Afghanistan.
The US wants to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan but Pakistan wants to trap the Americans in the Afghan quagmire, he claimed.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/taliban-will-not-support-pak-blindly-if-us-attacks-report/854972/
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Justice Minister admits errors in Norway killings
Oct 04 2011
OSLO: Norwegian Justice Minister Knut Storberget has expressed regret for errors in the response to the killing of 77 people by Anders Behring Breivik in July, the clearest acknowledgement by the government to date that some criticism of the police was justified. “All of us, including I, must express regret for mistakes,” Storberget told the daily Aftenposten.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/855277/
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3 killed in Iraqi hostage standoff
Oct 04 2011
BAGHDAD: Gunmen disguised as police officers seized control of a police station in Iraq Monday morning, killing three people and taking dozens more hostage before Iraqi forces swept in and ended the standoff, Iraqi officials said. Four armed insurgents in police uniforms with explosive vests underneath, walked into the police station in al-Baghdadi around 9 am, they added.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/855277/
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Lashkar face in south Kashmir killed
Oct 04 2011
Srinagar : The Jammu and Kashmir police and the Army claimed to have killed Lashkar-e-Toiba’s top commander —- and its face in south Kashmir —- Abdul Rehman in a gunbattle at Shubdani village in Pulwama district on Monday. The killing comes barely weeks after the outfit’s leader in north Kashmir, Abdullah Ooni, was slain in Sopore.
Rehman, who was operating in the Valley for the past six years, was reported to be the brain behind the car-bomb blast outside Srinagar Central Jail in 2009 that killed five policemen.
“We have killed him,” said IGP, Kashmir, Shiv Murari Sahai. “It is a major achievement for us. His killing has dented the operational capability of Lashkar.”
Sahai said a joint team of the police and the Army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifles raided Shubdani around noon after getting inputs that Abdul Rehman was in the village. As the team zeroed in on the house he was in, the Lashkar commander opened fire, triggering an encounter, in which he was eventually killed.
Abdul Rehman, Lashkar’s Divisional Commander for south Kashmir, was the most wanted militant after Ooni and carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. He came to Kashmir in 2005 and initially operated out of north Kashmir’s Kupwara, where he met the then Al Badr chief Zeenat-ul-Islam.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Lashkar-face-in-south-Kashmir-killed/855448/
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Bahrain Lawyer: 14 Sentenced to Life in Slaying
Oct 3, 2011
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — A Bahraini lawyer says 14 people have been sentenced to life in prison by a security court for the killing of a Pakistani man during anti-government unrest.
The court Monday also gave prison terms to seven university students charged with causing violence amid Shiite-led protests for greater rights from the Gulf nation's Sunni rulers.
The security court has issued a series of harsh decisions in recent weeks, including prison terms for doctors and nurses accused of aiding anti-government demonstrators.
Defense lawyer Mohsen Al Alawi says the life sentences are linked to the March killing of a Pakistani man.
Many Sunni Muslims from south Asia and Arab nations strongly support Bahrain's leaders after receiving citizenship and jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/03/world/middleeast/AP-ML-Bahrain.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
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In Yemen, One Islamist Is Dead, but the Battle Goes On
By LAURA KASINOF
Oct 3, 2011
SANA, Yemen — Despite the death of Anwar al-Awlaki, the infamous Yemeni-American cleric who was a propagandist for aspiring jihadists around the globe, Yemen’s battle against Al Qaeda is far from complete, as security forces fought over the weekend against Islamic militants who control large areas of territory in the country’s restive south.
In Zinjibar, a city captured last May by Islamic militants linked with Al Qaeda, about 25 militants and 20 soldiers have been killed in fighting over two days, local security officials said.
Dozens of other militants were killed by airstrikes elsewhere in Abyan Province, the officials said, including one that hit a school in the city of Jaar that was being used by the militants as a base.
The government also announced Sunday that Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, a Saudi bomb maker who was reported to have possibly been killed in the airstrike against Mr. Awlaki on Friday, was not among the dead.
A Yemeni official identified two other people killed in the American airstrike as Muhammad Salem al-Naaj and Abdul-Rahman bin Arfaj, both believed to be members of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/world/middleeast/in-yemen-one-islamist-dead-many-more-in-arms.html?ref=world
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Twin blasts north of Baghdad kill six
Oct 3, 2011
BAGHDAD: Two roadside bombs in a former al Qaeda stronghold north of Baghdad killed six people, including four anti Qaeda militiamen, a police officer and a doctor said. Two Sahwa, or Awakening Council, fighters were initially killed when their car was struck by a roadside bomb at around 9:30am in the Al Nibaie area, north of the town of Mashaada, 30 kilometres from the capital, police First Lieutenant Uday Sarhan said. When two other Sahwa fighters rushed to the scene of the blast, their vehicle was hit by another roadside bomb, killing both of the car’s passengers and two nearby civilians, Sarhan said, added that there had been no wounded from the two explosions. A doctor at a hospital in the nearby town of Balad confirmed that four Sahwa fighters and two civilians had died. Al Nibaie is a desert area that was a stronghold of al Qaeda at the height of Iraq’s Sunni insurgency in 2006 and 2007. The tide of that insurgency began to turn partly due to Sunni tribesmen siding with the US military against al Qaeda.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\10\03\story_3-10-2011_pg7_18
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Three dead in Afghan blast near minister
Oct 3, 2011
KANDAHAR: A suicide bomber killed 3 civilians in southern Afghanistan on Monday in what an Afghan minister claimed was an assassination attempt, officials said.
Assadullah Khalid, minister of border and tribal affairs and chief security coordinator for the south, said he was the target of the blast in Kandahar, the region’s biggest city.
But the Afghan interior ministry said there was no evidence the blast had targeted Khalid, saying he had left the scene before the explosion took place.
“There was an explosion — a suicide bomber wearing explosives on his body detonated in an area where there was not an obvious target,” interior ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqui told AFP.
The Kandahar provincial media office said one person was killed and 19 injured, including six children. But Siddiqui and local police chief Abdul Raziq put the death toll at two.
Khalid, who is an aide to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said: “The target of the bombing was me. I was travelling to attend a meeting (shura) and I’d passed by when the explosion took place.”
He later admitted he had been five kilometres (three miles) away from the scene of the attack.
In July, Karzai’s brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, a key figure in the south and head of Kandahar’s provincial council, was killed at his home in the city.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/03/blast-in-southern-afghanistan-kills-one-civilian.html
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Nine Afghan soldiers killed by roadside bomb
Oct 3, 2011
GARDEZ: A roadside bomb ripped through an Afghan army vehicle in southeast Afghanistan, killed nine soldiers and wounding four others, an official said on Sunday. The blast hit a vehicle out on patrol in Paktiya province on Saturday, said provincial spokesman Rohullah Samoon, blaming the attack on the Taliban. “The incident happened yesterday afternoon in the Sahak area of Zurmat district,” he told AFP. “It was a roadside bomb that blew up the Afghan army vehicle and martyred nine soldiers and wounded four.” The wounded soldiers were taken to a nearby hospital, he said, adding that their injuries were not life threatening. The Taliban are leading a 10-year insurgency in Afghanistan which frequently targets Afghan soldiers and police. The insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on their website. Also on Saturday in Paktiya, at least 20 Taliban militants killed in a joint operation between Afghan and foreign forces, provincial police chief General Sardar Mohammad Zazi said. “The dead bodies are still on the battle ground, they have not been identified yet,” he said.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\10\03\story_3-10-2011_pg7_17
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Bangladesh charges first suspect over 1971 war
Oct 3, 2011
DHAKA: A special Bangladeshi war crimes court on Monday charged its first suspect with atrocities including genocide, arson, rape and religious persecution during the country’s 1971 war of independence.
Delawar Hossain Sayedee, a leader of Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party, will be tried at the tribunal set up last year to investigate those accused of crimes committed during the nine-month war against Pakistan.
“Sayedee has been charged with 20 counts including crimes against humanity, murder, genocide, rape, arson, looting and forcibly converting Hindus to Islam,” prosecutor Abdur Rahman Howlader told AFP.
Judge Nizamul Haq read out the charges to Sayedee in a crowded Dhaka courtroom. If found guilty, Sayedee could face death by hanging.
Bangladesh, which was called East Pakistan until 1971, has struggled to come to terms with its violent birth.
The current government says up to three million people were killed in the war.
The court is called the International Crimes Tribunal but it is a domestic set-up with no United Nations oversight or involvement.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/03/bangladesh-charges-first-suspect-over-1971-war.html
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Govt working on creating jobs for Saudi women
Oct 3, 2011
JEDDAH: The Labor Ministry has started implementing a number of decisions aimed at regulating the work Saudi women do and increase job opportunities for them, said Labor Minister Adel Fakeih on Sunday.
Opening the Jeddah HR Forum 2011, he said the number of Saudi job seekers is increasing due to the growing number of university graduates. According to one report, there were 448,000 unemployed Saudis in 2009.
“We employ 8 million expatriates including 6 million in the private sector while thousands of Saudis remain jobless,” he pointed out, adding that expatriates send home SR98 billion annually in foreign transfers.
Fakeih spoke about the new strategies adopted by his ministry to fight unemployment by developing the Saudi job market and strengthening the national economy’s competitiveness.
“We have adopted 18 strategies covering all aspects of the ministry’s work and each one of these strategies includes a number of initiatives,” he said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article510337.ece
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Afghan women's rights under threat, say UK charities
Oct 3, 2011
Women's rights in Afghanistan are under threat after 10 years of progress, two leading British aid agencies have said.
Oxfam and Action Aid said many Afghan women were worried that improvements could be sacrificed to secure a political deal with the Taliban.
An Action Aid survey of 1,000 Afghan women found that 86% were worried about a return to a Taliban-style government.
The UK government said it was working hard to support Afghan women's empowerment "through transition".
Felt safer
Action Aid said many women were still denied basic rights.
The charity found that 72% of those surveyed felt that things had improved for them since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001.
But 37% feared their country would become a worse place following the departure of international troops.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15146000
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Haqqani network denies killing Rabbani, ISI ties
Oct 3, 2011
KARACHI: The Haqqani network has categorically denied its involvement in the assassination of the former Afghanistan president Burhannudin Rabbani, said a media report on Monday.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, in his audio message told the BBC that his organisation had no links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The BBC had passed on questions for the militant leader through an intermediary, who returned with the audio response.
The report published on the BBC website quoted Siraj Haqqani as saying: “We haven’t killed Burhanuddin Rabbani and this has been said many times by the spokespersons of the Islamic Emirate.”
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/03/haqqani-network-denies-killing-rabbani-isi-ties.html
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Bharatpur violence: Minorities panel says ‘partisan’ police used ‘excess’ force
Oct 04 2011
New Delhi : A fact-finding team of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) which visited riot-hit Bharatpur in Congress-ruled Rajasthan has concluded that the police acted in a “clearly partisan” manner and used “excess” force. Significantly, the report prepared by the Commission mentions that some “Hindutva elements goaded” the local administration to go for “aggressive action”.
In their report, NCM members K N Daruwalla and Syeda Bilgrami Imam said the administration and the police could have handled the dispute much more “adroitly” and “not allowed it to come to a boiling point” by adopting “pre-emptive” steps like freezing the land status and allotting another piece of land for the graveyard.
“The police should have immediately taken action against those who assaulted the Imam of the mosque. The police used force greatly in excess. Firing on the mosque should not have been resorted to at all. The police were clearly partisan and did not take on the Gujjars who were equally if not better armed than the Meos,” the report said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Bharatpur-violence--Minorities-panel-says--partisan--
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NGOs, activists seek Bhatt’s release
Oct 04 2011
Mumbai, New Delhi : Support for arrested IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has begun to grow with some activists even urging Team Anna to demand his release.
NGOs and activists such as Teesta Setalvad of the Citizen for Justice and Peace, held meetings on Monday in Mumbai and Delhi to seek Bhatt’s immediate release. They said Bhatt, a whistleblower who alleged that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had said Hindus must be allowed to vent their anger during the Godhra carnage, was a victim of political vendetta.
In Mumbai, Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi, general secretary, All India Ulema Council, said, “This arrest is state-sponsored intimidation. He was first suspended and now arrested. His wife has given a statement that she fears for his life. Narendra Modi must be held accountable for what is happening in Gujarat.”
Director, Markazul Ma’arif Education and Research Centre, Maulana Burhanuddin Qasmi, said, “The arrest is a means to frame, dishonour and disregard Bhatt, as he is revealing truths about the Modi government. Riots should be condemned. However, that does not give the state the power to indulge in state-backed revenge.”
Those present urged Team Anna to speak out in favour of Bhatt. “We are requesting Anna Hazare and his team to speak out in favour of Bhatt,” said another speaker, Maulana Anish Ashrafi.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/NGOs--activists-seek-Bhatt-s-release/855311/
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J&K custodial death: Now, Home Secy says cardiac arrest, no external injuries
Oct 04 2011
Srinagar : The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday claimed that NC “sympathiser” Syed Mohammad Yousuf, whose death in police custody has led to a political row, died of “cardio respiratory arrest” as per the preliminary post- mortem report and no external injuries were found on his body.
Principal Secretary, Home, B R Sharma on Monday said that as per the death certificate issued by the hospital, the apparent cause of the death was “cardio respiratory arrest”. “The board of doctors in their preliminary post-mortem report has also certified that no external injuries were found on the deceased. The x-rays show no abnormality,” he said.
Sharma said the time of death in the report has been shown less than 12 hours prior to the completion of the post-mortem and handing over of the body has been mentioned as 7:20 pm on September 30. “The final opinion would be available only after the receipt of FSL report,” he said.
He said in order to ensure an impartial investigation, the state government has requested the Chief Justice of the J&K High Court to conduct a judicial inquiry into the immediate circumstances leading to Yousuf 's death.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/J-K-custodial-death--Now--Home-Secy-says-cardiac-
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IAF expanding wings beyond Pak and China
Oct 04 2011
New Delhi: India is gradually building powerful military capabilities in tune with its expanding geopolitical interests, which are no longer limited to the swathe stretching from the Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait, even as the eastern and western fronts are being strengthened to deter the twin Pakistan-China threat.
After the over Rs 3,00,000 crore plan to build a potent three-dimensional Indian Navy for the future, reported by TOI last month, it was IAFs turn on Monday to assert it was on the path to transform into a true aerospace power with the capability to rapidly deploy and operate around the globe.
No other air force has attempted to modernize at such a fast pace in such a short span of 15 years, said Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne, indicating a doctrinal shift in the run-up to IAFs 79th anniversary on October 8.
But he was quick to emphasize this did not mean an expeditionary force on the lines of the US Air Force. We are not going to fight other peoples wars. But yes, IAF must have the wherewithal to meet the requirements wherever Indias strategic interests lie, said the IAF chief.
Full report at: Times of India
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Americans Raid Byways of Haqqani Insurgents in Afghanistan
By C. J. CHIVERS
Oct 3, 2011
CHARBARAN, Afghanistan — The first helicopter landed in the bluish gray gloom before dawn. More than 20 members of an American reconnaissance platoon and Afghan troops accompanying them jogged out through the swirling dust, moving into a forest smelling of sage and pine.
Three more helicopters followed, and soon roughly 100 troops were on the floor of this high-elevation valley in Paktika Province, near the border with Pakistan. They were beginning their portion of a brigade-size operation to disrupt the Haqqani network, the insurgent group that collaborates with the Taliban and Al Qaeda and that has become a primary focus of American counterterrorism efforts since Osama bin Laden was killed.
The group, based in Pakistan’s northwestern frontier, flows fighters into Afghanistan and has orchestrated a long campaign of guerrilla and terrorist attacks against the Afghan government and its American sponsors.
Its close ties to Pakistan’s intelligence service, and Pakistan’s unwillingness to act against the Haqqani headquarters in Miram Shah, a city not far from the Afghan border, have drawn condemnation from Washington and escalated tensions between two nations that officially have been counterterrorism partners.
Against this backdrop, the helicopter assault into Charbaran this past week highlighted both the false starts and the latest set of urgent goals guiding the American military involvement in Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/world/asia/americans-raid-haqqani-byways-of-afghanistan.html?ref=world
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Gunmen seize hostages in Iraq police HQ: Officials
Oct 3, 2011
IRAQ: Armed insurgents on Monday stormed a police headquarters in a western Iraqi town before taking hostage senior officials and policemen, security officials said.
The gunmen were in control of the police headquarters in Al-Baghdadi, according to a police official in provincial capital Ramadi, another police officer in the nearby town of Haditha and an interior ministry official.
All three officials said there were casualties from the attack, but said because insurgents controlled the compound, they did not know how many.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Gunmen-seize-hostages-in-Iraq-police-HQ-Officials/articleshow/10217387.cms
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Pakistanis alone did not create Haqqanis: US
Oct 3, 2011
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the Pakistanis have a point when they say that Pakistan alone did not create the Haqqani network, which is now killing American soldiers in Afghanistan.
Also on Sunday, the former US military chief, Admiral Mike Mullen, said that attacks on US soldiers in Afghanistan had caused him to blame Pakistan for backing the militants who were behind those attacks.
The transcript of a Q & A session, released by the State Department, quoted Secretary Clinton as saying that the US relationship with Pakistan was critical to the ongoing stability and peace of the region, as well as the fight against terrorism.
“And I think it is important to remind ourselves that Pakistanis have paid a much greater price in the war against terrorism and in the violence perpetrated on them over the last 10 years than, thankfully, we have,” she noted.
“Nearly 30,000 people have been killed — civilians and military, scores of bombing attacks all over the country in places from mosques to markets to universities to police stations.”
Referring to Admiral Mullen’s Senate testimony last week in which he blamed the ISI for encouraging the Haqqani network for attacking US targets in Afghanistan, Secretary Clinton emphasised the need to look at the issue from a historical perspective.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/03/pakistanis-alone-did-not-create-haqqanis-us.html
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Pakistan not to tolerate any aggression against its soil: Qazi Hussain Ahmad
Oct 3, 2011
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Qazi Hussain Ahmad said that all political parties of Pakistan have come to a consensus to deal with security and foreign policy issues.
'The conference was successful,' he added.
The all-party conference resolved to lay stress on peace and negotiations, instead of military operation, while the military leadership, including the ISI chief Lt General Shuja Pasha, reportedly rubbished the allegations levelled recently by some top US officials.
A 13-point resolution adopted by the conference said Pakistan must initiate dialogue with a view to negotiating 'peace with our own people in the tribal areas' and should put in place a proper mechanism for this.
The resolution, signed by leaders of all political parties attending the conference did not make any direct reference to the US pressure on Pakistan to take military action against the Haqqani network.
Qazi Hussain Ahmad expressing his views said that there is a clear change in Pakistan’s policy against US.
He said the entire political leadership of the country had decided to give peace a chance in the region.
Full report at:
http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=269301
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Angry Pakistan rejects Afghan charges on Rabbani killing
Oct 03 2011
Islamabad : Pakistan has angrily rejected allegations from Afghan officials that its intelligence agency masterminded the assassination of Kabul's chief peace negotiator with the Taliban.
An investigative delegation established by President Hamid Karzai said evidence and a confession provided by a man involved in Burhanuddin Rabbani's killing on September 20 had revealed that the bomber was Pakistani and the assassination had been plotted in Pakistan.
Instead of making such irresponsible statements, those in positions of authority in Kabul should seriously deliberate as to why all those Afghans who are favourably disposed towards peace and towards Pakistan are systematically being removed from the scene and killed, Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement.
There is a need to take stock of the direction taken by Afghan Intelligence and security agencies.
Rabbani's killing derailed efforts to forge dialogue with the Taliban to end the 10-year war, and raised fears of a dangerous widening of Afghanistan's ethnic rifts.
Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets of Kabul on Sunday to condemn recent shelling of border areas by Pakistan's army and accuse the country's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency of involvement in Rabbani's killing.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/angry-pakistan-rejects-afghan-charges-on-rabbani-killing/854976/
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Gilani ready for talks with Taliban
Oct 3, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that his government is ready to start parleys with Taliban, but evaded questions whether the reconciliation would include the Haqqani faction.
For the first time, Gilani dropped his earlier pre-condition of militants giving up arms before any talks, but warned that if the parleys fail to work, the military will launch operations in the tribal areas.
"If negotiations fail to work, the government will launch military operations in the tribal areas," he told a small group of journalists at his residence in Lahore last night.
Gilani provided details about how the talks would be conducted for the first time, days after a meeting of Pakistan's political parties called for peace talks to end unrest in the militancy-hit tribal belt.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Gilani-ready-for-talks-with-Taliban/articleshow/10216512.cms
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Thousands flee Qadhafi’s home town as rebels prepare to attack
Oct 3, 2011
Thousands of people fled the home town of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi early Monday, as the rebels prepared for a major offensive on the city, a news report said.
“We are taking advantage of the short lull and leaving the city as the humanitarian situation is worsening,” a resident of Sirte told Dubai-based broadcaster Al Arabiya.
He added many people had died in Sirte due to the lack of medical supplies.
Libyan rebels said on Sunday they were preparing a major offensive against the loyalists who have been putting up stiff resistance in the port town for several weeks.
The residents of the town with an estimated population of 70,000 were fleeing in packed vehicles, with many sitting on possessions piled onto pick-up trucks, the broadcaster said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said more than 10,000 people have left Sirte.
“It’s a dire situation,” the Red Cross said.
The rebels have been trying for more than two weeks to gain control of Sirte, one of Mr. Qadhafi’s last two strongholds, the other being the north-western city of Bani Walid.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2508499.ece
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Shortages 'killing patients' in Libya siege hospital
Oct 3, 2011
SIRTE, Libya: People wounded in fighting in Libya’s besieged city of Sirte are dying on the operating table because fuel for the hospital generator has run out, medical workers fleeing a worsening humanitarian crisis in the city said.
The birthplace of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, Sirte is one of two towns still holding out against the country’s new rulers and civilians are caught in the middle of fierce fighting now in its third week.
The interim government, or National Transitional Council (NTC), declared a two-day truce to allow civilians to escape, but people emerging from the city said they knew nothing of the cease-fire, and that the shooting had not stopped.
“Doctors start operating, then the power goes. They have a few liters of fuel for the generators, then the lights go out when they operate,” said a man who gave his name as Al-Sadiq, who said he ran the dialysis unit at Sirte’s main hospital.
“I saw a child of 14 die on the operating table because the power went out during the operation,” he told Reuters on the western outskirts of the city.
Aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who brought medical supplies into Sirte on Saturday could not reach the hospital because of shooting.
That hospital has now become the focus of concerns about the humanitarian crisis in the city, with residents describing how doctors are trying to treat civilians injured in the fighting without adequate supplies.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article510151.ece
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NATO expresses concern over ‘10,000 lost missiles’ in Libya
Oct 3, 2011
BERLIN: At least 10,000 missiles are unaccounted for in Libya, a senior NATO official has admitted according to a German media report on Sunday, amid fears the weapons could fall into the hands of Al-Qaeda. News weekly Der Spiegel reported on its website that Admiral Giampaolo di Paola, who chairs the committee of NATO military chiefs, held a secret briefing for German MPs on Monday, in which he expressed the alliance’s concerns. The weapons could end up in other countries and in the wrong hands, the admiral said, according to Spiegel, “anywhere from Kenya to Kunduz” in Afghanistan. The missiles present “a serious threat to civil aviation,” the Italian admiral reportedly said. The reported comments echoed remarks made by a military official of Libya’s new leadership on Saturday. General Mohammed Adia, in charge of armaments at the defence ministry, told reporters that “about 5,000” SAM-7 anti-aircraft rockets were missing. “Unfortunately, some of these missiles could have fallen into the wrong hands ... abroad,” the general told reporters at a former arms depot of ousted Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi in Benghazi.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\10\03\story_3-10-2011_pg4_7
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Gaddafi son denies Interpol allegations
Oct 3, 2011
TRIPOLI: Muammar Gaddafi's son, al-Saadi, denied allegations of corruption and intimidation and called Interpol's decision to put him on the equivalent of its most-wanted list political, according to an email.
Al-Saadi Gaddafi is under house arrest in Libyan neighbor Niger, where he fled after Tripoli fell to revolutionary forces. His father and two of his brothers are in hiding, presumably inside Libya, as fighting between revolutionary forces and Gaddafi loyalists continues on three fronts.
Al-Saadi "regrets the issue of a red notice by Interpol and strenuously denies the charges made against him," an email forwarded Sunday to The Associated Press said.
Interpol issued a red notice for al-Saadi last week based on accusations he misappropriated property and engaged in "armed intimidation" when he headed the Libyan Football Federation. He also was a special forces commander and is the subject of UN sanctions for commanding military units involved in repression of demonstrations.
The international police agency said the notice was issued in response to a request by the Libya's National Transitional Council, which has assumed leadership of the North African nation. Niger, which borders Libya on the south and long benefited from Gaddafi's largesse, has said it would study the question.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Gaddafi-son-denies-Interpol-allegations/articleshow/10216314.cms
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Tripoli gets new militia, apparent rebuff to Islamists
Oct 3, 2011
TRIPOLI: A Libyan revolutionary officer announced the creation on Sunday of an armed group to keep order in Tripoli, a mission analysts say may overlap uneasily with an existing Military Council with the same job which is led by a prominent Islamist.
Announcing the Tripoli Revolutionists Council at a news conference in the capital, Abdullah Ahmed Naker said his force had 22,000 armed men at its disposal, drawn from what he said were 73 factions which had agreed to pool resources.
The move may stir concern about tensions among the many revolutionary militias who play a de facto security role in the capital, where residents say they fear some groups may resort to violence as they jockey for power.
Visiting US Republican Senator John McCain called on the country’s interim rulers, the unelected National Transitional Council (NTC), last week to move quickly to get the armed groups under control.
Naker said his group was cooperating with the Tripoli Military Council which is led by Abdulhakim Belhadj, a veteran Islamist foe of Muammar Qaddafi.
He said it would protect citizens’ security and property, collect unlicensed weapons, support humanitarian relief work and help create civil society institutions.
But Naker, wearing military fatigues and flanked by tense-looking fighters cradling assault rifles, suggested Belhadj’s group, believed by diplomats to be supported by Qatar, was not representative of Tripoli’s population and not large enough.
Excluded
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article510211.ece
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Filipino Muslim Militants Free U.S. Woman, Still Hold Son
Oct 3, 2011
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Muslim militants freed a Filipino-American woman after 2 1/2 months of captivity in the jungles of the southern Philippines but are still holding her 14-year-old son and another relative, authorities said Monday.
Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann was dropped off by boat late Sunday at a wharf and walked to nearby Maluso Township on southern Basilan Island, where she was picked up by a patrolling police team, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang.
Lunsmann was "physically healthy" but visibly traumatized by her ordeal and was worried that her son remained in captivity, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo told The Associated Press. She did not reply at times when people tried to talk to her or ask her questions, he said.
Lunsmann appeared gaunt and worried, clasping her hands, when she appeared before reporters with Philippine officials and FBI agents. She was not allowed to talk and was later flown to Manila, where she underwent a medical checkup.
Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants snatched Lunsmann, her son and her nephew on July 12 while they were vacationing with relatives on an island near southern Zamboanga city. In a July 17 cellphone call to the captives' relatives in Virginia that was traced to Basilan, the hostage-takers demanded a huge ransom, according to Philippine officials.
Robredo said the kidnappers had talked with Lunsmann's family in the United States and at one time allowed her to talk on the phone as proof that she was alive.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/02/world/asia/AP-AS-Philippines-Kidnapped-Americans.html?ref=asia
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Turkey: World’s first womb transplant successful
Oct 3, 2011
ANTALYA, Turkey: Lying on a hospital bed in her laced violet nightgown, Derya Sert is the first woman in the world to receive a womb from a deceased donor, raising hopes for millions of women who want to bear a child.
Doctors at Akdeniz University Hospital in Turkey’s southern province of Antalya successfully transplanted a womb on August 9 to Sert, 21, who was born without a uterus, like one in every 5,000 women around the world.
“Happiness, excitement all the feelings are mixed,” said Sert, a housewife married to a car mechanic, who has been in hospital for around six months.
“If God allows, we will hold our baby in our arms,” she added in her hospital room, feeling some pain as she had just returned from her weekly check.
“I was never afraid of the surgery, I have never thought about the pain or suffering I would go through,” Sert said.
“The womb has already become one of my own organs…. We have been waiting for this day to come,” she said, adding that her family and relatives had supported her in finding a solution for her medical problem.
This was the second womb transplant to be performed in the world, the first being in Saudi Arabia in 2000 from a living donor, which failed after 99 days due to heavy clotting, media reports said. Doctors had to remove the organ.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/03/turkish-womb-transplant-promises-hope-for-women.html
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Syria opposition launches national council
Oct 3, 2011
BEIRUT: Syrian dissidents formally established a broad-based national council designed to overthrow President Bashar Assad’s regime, which they accused of pushing the country to the brink of civil war.
Syrians took to the streets in celebration, singing and dancing.
In a restive northern area, meanwhile, gunmen killed the 21-year-old son of Syria’s top Sunni Muslim cleric in an ambush, the state-run news agency reported. The cleric, Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddine Hassoun, is considered a close supporter of Assad’s regime and has echoed its claims that the unrest in Syria is the result of a foreign conspiracy.
The announcement of the Syrian National Council at a news conference Sunday in Istanbul appeared to be the most serious step yet to unify a deeply fragmented opposition. It follows five days of intense battles between the Syrian military and army defectors in the country’s central region that raised the specter of all-out armed conflict.
Prominent Syrian opposition figure Bourhan Ghalioun, who read out the founding statement of the SNC at the news conference in Istanbul, accused the regime of fomenting sectarian strife in Syria to maintain its grip on power.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/03/syria-opposition-launches-national-council.html
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Clashes claim several lives in Nigeria
Oct 3, 2011
KANO, Nigeria: Authorities say 19 people are dead after communal clashes in a village in Nigeria's north.
Zamfara state police spokesman Sunusi Amiru said that the attack happened early morning in the village of Lingyado. A local elder said about 150 attackers raided the village, going house to house to shoot people who came out to greet them. Others were slashed and stabbed to death by machetes.
Authorities sent a group of soldiers to the village to restore order. Amiru said it appeared to be a reprisal attack stemming from an attack in August on another village.
Meanwhile, attackers used explosives and gunfire to target an army patrol near a wedding in violence-torn northeastern Nigeria, killing at least three civilians, the military said Sunday.
The incident on Saturday, Nigeria's independence day, occurred in Maiduguri, hit by scores of attacks blamed on a sect known as Boko Haram, which also claimed an August bombing of UN headquarters in the capital Abuja.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article510290.ece
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Mosque fire in Israel blamed on Jewish extremists
Oct 3, 2011
JERUSALEM: A mosque in a Bedouin village in northern Israel was set on fire and graffiti sprayed on its walls overnight on Monday, locals said, in an attack blamed on Jewish extremists.
“The whole mosque was burnt — the carpet, the books, the Qur’ans, all burnt,” the village imam, Fuad Zangariya, told Army Radio. Zanagariya said the words “Palmer” and “revenge” were sprayed on the entrance to the mosque.
Last week police said a car crash on Sept. 23 which killed Asher Palmer, a Jewish settler, and his one-year-old son was caused by Palestinians who threw stones at the car.
Israel police said the mosque was badly damaged, its carpets and interior burnt and the Hebrew words “Price Tag” sprayed on its wall. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, saying it offended the nation’s core values.
For some hard-line Jewish settlers, the “Price Tag” slogan signifies payback for any Israeli curbs on settlement in the West Bank, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and where Palestinians hope to create an independent state.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article510626.ece
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Syria opposition forms united front against Assad
Oct 3, 2011
Syrian opposition movements announced the formation of a ‘historic’ united front against President Bashar Al Assad’s regime at a meeting in Turkey on Sunday.
Syrian troops, meanwhile, have taken control of the central city of Rastan after sending in 250 tanks to quell clashes between the army and deserters, human rights activists said.
‘The Syrian National Council reunites the forces of the opposition and the peaceful revolution,’ Paris-based academic Burhan Ghalioun told reporters in Istanbul, announcing the new umbrella movement which he called ‘historic.’
Uniting groups across the political spectrum, ‘it represents the Syrian revolution both inside and outside the country,’ he said.
‘It works to mobilise all categories of people in Syria and give the necessary support for the revolution to progress and realise the aspirations of our people for the overthrow of the regime, its symbols and its head,’ he said.
Ghalioun said the SNC was ‘open to all Syrians.’
The SNC called on ‘international organisations to assume their responsibility toward the Syrian people and to work to protect them from the war declared against them, to halt ... the dangerous human rights violations.’
But ‘the council rejects any outside interference that undermines the sovereignty of the Syrian people,’ he added.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/October/
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Pandemonium in Kashmir assembly as PDP demands Omar quit
Oct 3, 2011
SRINAGAR, The Jammu and Kashmir assembly saw some ugly scenes on Monday as the opposition Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) demanded chief minister Omar Abdullah's resignation over the alleged custodial death of a ruling National Congress (NC) worker last week.
An opposition member even hurled a pedestal fan towards the speaker while others uprooted mikes and tore papers.
There was absolute chaos in the assembly as opposition members got up from their seats, demanding the resignations of the chief minister, whom they accused of trying to hush up the mystery surrounding the death of the NC worker, Sayeed Muhammad Yousuf.
With his repeated pleas for calm falling on deaf ears, Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone adjourned the house twice.
Yousuf allegedly died in police custody on September 30 after being picked up for questioning from Abdullah's residence by the crime branch of the local police.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pandemonium-in-Kashmir-assembly-as-PDP-demands-Omar-quit/articleshow/10216903.cms
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Uproar in J&K assembly over NC worker death in 'police custody'
Oct 3, 2011
SRINAGAR: Pandemonium broke out in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Monday over an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition PDP to discuss the death of a NC worker allegedly in police custody.
PDP members demanded suspension of the Question Hour to discuss the matter which agitated the treasury benches who also took to their feet.
In the course of the heated exchange, Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone and PDP MLA Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain traded charges against each other.
An agitated Speaker took strong exception to Hussain's charges.
Following the uproar, the Speaker adjourned the House for half-an-hour.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Uproar-in-JK-assembly-over-NC-worker-death-in-police-custody/articleshow/10215658.cms
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Court issues notice to Gujarat Govt on Bhatt’s bail plea
Oct 3, 2011
A local court here on Monday issued notice to the Gujarat government on the bail plea of suspended IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt, who was arrested on Friday on the basis of an FIR lodged against him on charges of threatening and fabricating evidence.
Sessions Court Judge V.K. Vyas, while issuing the notice to the state government, fixed the hearing on Bhatt’s bail plea for Tuesday.
Mr. Bhatt was arrested on the basis of the FIR filed against him by police constable K.D. Pant for allegedly threatening him and forcing to sign a false affidavit with regard to a meeting called by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on February 27, 2002, hours after the Godhra train carnage.
He has been booked under IPC sections 341 (causing wrongful restraint), 342 (causing wrongful confinement), 195 (giving fabricated evidence) and 189 (threat of injury to public servant).
Police plea for Mr. Bhatt’s remand was rejected on Saturday by the court and he had been sent to judicial custody. He is presently lodged in Sabarmati jail.
Mr. Bhatt has been locked in a public confrontation with Mr. Modi after he had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court accusing the Chief Minister of complicity in the 2002 riots.
Mr. Bhatt was also served a charge sheet by Gujarat Home Department in connection with his alleged unauthorised absence from duty.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2508744.ece
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Egypt's Tantawi denies army told to shoot protesters
Oct 3, 2011
Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Tantawi has said former President Hosni Mubarak never asked the army to shoot activists during the uprising earlier this year.
The comments, made during a ceremony south of the capital, come a week after Field Marshal Tantawi testified in secret at the former president's trial.
Mr Mubarak is charged with the killing of protesters during the 18-day revolt which forced him from office.
Some 850 demonstrators were killed.
"The armed forces fight for Egypt and not for just anyone, whoever it may be," said Field Marshal Tantawi, who served as defence minister under Mr Mubarak for 20 years.
"I testified before God and I told the truth," he said.
Media blackout
"Nobody asked us to open fire and nobody will open fire" on the people, he added.
A strict media blackout was imposed before Field Marshal Tantawi's appearance at Mr Mubarak's trial on 24 September.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15145704
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Higher Islamic Council decries killing of civilians in Arab revolts
Oct 3, 2011
BEIRUT: The Higher Islamic Council condemned in a statement over the weekend the killing of civilians calling for freedom in Arab countries and urged the world to support people facing repression.
The council also backed Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s commitment at the United Nations that the government would fund the controversial Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
“The council discussed the issue of revolutions in Arab countries [where people are] seeking to lift the darkness in search of freedom, justice and a dignified living in their countries. [The council] called for the immediate cessation to the bloodshed of innocent lives … and the abuse of the dignity and lives of people,” a statement said Saturday.
The council, headed by Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani, also urged the world not to ignore the suffering of people in their just cause.
“The [council] also called on the people around the world to be aware of these hardships and to support these people in their just and righteous cause because it is our duty to conquer the darkness wherever it may be on the basis of legal principles.”
In an apparent reference to controversial statement by Maronite Patrirach Beshara Rai on the crisis in Syria and the fate of Christians should President Bashar Assad fall, the council warned that such fears were counterproductive.
Full report at:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Oct-02/150250-higher-islamic-council-
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Spanish judge frees 5 Algerians arrested on suspicion of financing al-Qaida-linked group
Oct 3, 2011
MADRID — Five Algerians suspected of financing al-Qaida’s North African branch have been freed by a judge who said there was no significant evidence against them.
The judge ordered the men to stay in Spain, report to judicial authorities twice a month and declare any change of address.
The men are being investigated on suspicion of providing logistical and financial support to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM. The arrests took place Tuesday in the northern Basque and Navarra regions.
Mohamed Talbi, Hakim Anniche, Mounir Aoudache, Abdelghaffour Bensaoula and Ahmed Benchohra have not been charged.
National Court Judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska said Saturday that there was no evidence the men had sent “significant sums to Algeria” or that the recipients were “persons related to terrorist activity.”
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/spanish-judge-frees-5-algerians-arrested-
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Global Islamic group rising in Asia
By DENIS D. GRAY
Oct 3, 2011
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The chanting crowd at the radical Muslim protest in Indonesia stood out for its normalcy: smartly dressed businessmen, engineers, lawyers, smiling mothers, scampering children.
At a time when al-Qaida seems to be faltering, the recruitment of such an educated, somewhat mainstream following is raising fears that Hizbut Tahrir, an enigmatic global movement, could prove more effective at radicalizing the Islamic world than outright terrorist groups.
Active in 45 countries, Hizbut is now expanding in Asia, spreading its radical message from Indonesia to China. It wants to unite all Muslim countries in a globe-spanning bloc ruled by strict sharia law. It targets university students and professionals, working within countries to try to persuade people to overthrow their governments.
The movement's appeal to an often influential part of society worries experts. Its goal of an Islamic state may be far-fetched, but it could still undercut efforts to control extremism and develop democracy in countries such as Indonesia, which the U.S. hopes will be a vital regional partner and a global model for moderate Islam.
"Our grand plan over the next five to 10 years is to reinforce the people's lack of trust and hope in the regime," said Rochmat Labib, the group's Indonesia chairman in a rare interview with a Western reporter. "That's what we are doing now: converting people from democracy, secularism and capitalism to Islamic ideology."
Full report at: Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press.
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Muslims Unity, Main Objective of Husseini (AS) Movement in Pakistan
Oct 3, 2011
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Leader of Husseini (AS) Political Party in Pakistan said that unity among Muslims is the main objective of the party.
Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Hussein Akbar told that the party has held over 100 seminars to reach its objective.
Regarding the activities of the party he said it tries to defend Shia Muslims rights in Pakistan and realize justice in the country.
The leader noted that the party has got the official permission of the government for its activities and it could stop Quran burnings in this country.
“The party has asked for the government punishment laws to be implemented on those who burn old copies of the holy Quran. Now the copies are collected by the government for preparing new copies of the holy book,” he added.
http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=269297
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Maulana Sayeed Mehendi Hussein to observe Sadbhavana fast on Oct 2
Oct 3, 2011
After Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and senior Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela, now it is the turn of a Sufi saint Maulana Hazrat Sufi Imam Shai Sayeed Mehendi Hussein also known as Pirana Baba to observe a Sadbhavana fast on Gandhi Jayanti day, at the Gandhi Ashram here. Maulana, who created a controversey by claiming that Mr Modi insulted him by refusing to accept a skullcap offered by the Maulana during Sadbhavana Mission fast of the Gujarat Chief Minister, told UNI today that he will keep a Sadbhavana Roza to propagate ideal of communal harmony taught by Mahatma Gandhi among Hindus and Muslims of Gujarat. He said unity of Hindus and Muslims is the true Sadbhavana. On Gandhi Jayanti, Maulana will begin his fast by offering a cottongarland to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Ashram on the banks of river Sabarmati here. Maulana is expected to announce the formation of two outfits during the fasts: Rashtriya Sadbhavana Samiti to propagate communal harmony and other being 2002 Dangapeedit Hindu-Muslim Sanghathan , an organisation to help Hindus and Muslim victims of the riots of 2002. Mr Modi s three-day Sadbhavana Mission fast from September 17-19 was mired in a controversy with Maulana Hazrat Sufi Imam Shai Sayeed Mehendi Hussein claiming that Mr Modi had insulted and badly behaved with him by not accepting a cap offered to him. Maulana, who had gone to greet Mr Modi at the fasting venue at Gujarat University Convention Centre here, offered him a shawl which Mr Modi accepted but refused to accept a skullcap. He said if Mr Modi can accept all types of headgears from different communities, why has he problem in accepting our cap?
http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20111001/1844033.html
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Gulf company to celebrate rise of Asia at Delhi gala
Oct 3, 2011
New Delhi: The stage is set for top corporate leaders and policy-makers from India, South East Asia and the Gulf region to gather for a gala event here Monday and celebrate the rise of Asia as an economic powerhouse. Also, 13 people will be honoured for their contribution to the spirit of enterprise.
The main attraction at the black-tie event will be the first Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) Awards to be conferred on 13 leading personalities from India, South East Asia and the Gulf in three key business sectors -- infrastructure, energy and power.
"Another focus will be on women who command respect and admiration globally for their effective role in the global business space. One outstanding woman from India, the Gulf and Asia will be honoured under this category," the organisers said in a statement.
The awards have been instituted by Indian Expressions -- a Dubai-based company -- that seeks to connect the Gulf region with India and the larger South East Asian region, and bring closer their respective business communities, top policy-makers and civil society.
The other categories include 'ABLF Lifetime Achievement', 'ABLF Global Asian of the Year', 'ABLF Business Courage' and the 'ABLF Business Excellence' award.
Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal and women leaders in business and politics will host the 'Woman of Power Award' category.
Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath had launched a website to accept nominations for this category.
Full report at:
http://www.ummid.com/news/2011/October/02.10.2011/asia_rise_at_delhi_gala.htm
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/fatima-bhutto-lights-up-kovalam-literary-fest/d/5607