Forced Conversion of Hindus in Pakistan Jolts US out of Slumber
New Age Islam News Bureau
14 March 2012
• Indian guru wants Taliban to
de-stress
• Hindi remake of ‘The Infidel’
to focus on Hinduism and Islam
• UN chief “very, very sad”
about shooting Afghan civilians
• Saudi executes drug smuggler,
killer
• Pakistan Hindu woman says she
converted without any coercion
• Musharraf claims that Bugti
committed suicide
• Gaza’s
blood traders fighting Assad’s battle
• Arab
League: Syria committing crimes against humanity
• Imran Khan pulls out of
conference over Salman Rushdie booking
• Police raid ‘Natural Beauty
Care’, arrest 10 expat women and three Maldivian men on prostitution charges
• Syrians routinely tortured in detention, says Amnesty
• Armed forces will show
Iranian zeal in face of aggression: Qods Force chief
• India to reopen consulate in
Karachi
• Did alcohol play a role in
the Afghan killings?
• Sarkozy: Assad is a killer,
must face world court
• Legal or not, New Yorkers
support surveillance of Muslims
• Multiple overlapping worlds
in Pakistan: US
• Pak-US top leaders to meet on
sideline of Nuclear Summit
• Algeria al-Qaeda chief
Droukdel sentenced in absentia
• Attack on Iran will undermine
world order: professor
• At least 34 killed in Syrian
violence
• Target Waziristan: US drones
strike twice, killing 15 militants
• 10 killed in Yemen onslaught
• US pushes to use Kyrgyztan
base after 2014
• Russian
official: No missile deal at NATO summit
• UK
government sued for helping US drone strikes in Pakistan
• Syria finally answers Annan
on ending violence
• Israel, Islamic Jihad agree
to Gaza truce
• US asks Saudis to increase
oil output from July
• Iran parliament begins
questioning Ahmadinejad
• UN says 230,000 people have
fled Syria violence
• Assad sets May 7 as date for
Syrian parliament vote
• Obama, Cameron to focus on
Afghan, Iran, Syria scenes
• Violence across Syria; UN
awaits response from Damascus
• Looking forward to work with
new ISI chief: Pentagon
• Iran dismisses claims of
military site clean-up
• Indians in Bahrain seek urgent
steps to tackle rising suicides
• India charges six over Delhi
High Court blast
Complied
by New
Age Islam News Bureau
Photo:
Forced conversion of Hindus in Pakistan jolts US
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/forced-conversion-hindus-pakistan-jolts/d/6848
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Forced Conversion of Hindus
in Pakistan Jolts US out of Slumber
Chidanand Rajghatta,
Mar 14, 2012,
There have been many reports
of Hindu girls being abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and married to
Muslim men in Pakistan.
WASHINGTON: Pakistan's
state-endorsed discrimination, and in some cases extermination, of its
minorities has finally caught the eye of Washington lawmakers.
Coming on the heels of
support in Congress for a Baloch homeland in the face of Islamabad's
depredations in the region, a US Congressman has zeroed in on the abduction and
forced religious conversion of Hindus in the country highlighted by the case of
Rinkel Kumari .
In a sharply-worded letter to
Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari, Congressman Brad Sherman urged him to
take action to ensure the return of Rinkel Kumari to her family, pursuant to
reports that she had been abducted with the help of a Pakistan People's Party
(PPP) lawmaker.
In a case that has been
widely reported in the liberal Pakistani media, Rinkel , who was abducted on
February 24, was forced to marry one Naveed Shah and convert to Islam .
She was subsequently produced
before a civil judge twice ,but she was reportedly coerced into claiming that
she had converted on her own will, even as her family was denied access to her
in kangaroo court proceedings that revealed in video clips to be led by a
frenzied mob of zealots , including armed followers of the Pakistani lawmaker .
According to Pakistani civil
liberties activists in Washington, Rinkel was allegedly threatened while in
police custody that if she did not change her statement, she and her family
would be killed.
"Rinkel's case is just
one case of abduction and forced religious conversion in Pakistan,"
Sherman said in the letter to Zardari, citing the Asian Human Rights commission
figure of 20-25 kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls in Sindh
every month.
The Rinkel Kumari case was
brought to the attention of US lawmakers not by Hindu activists but by the
Sindhi American Political Action Committee (SAPAC ), a lobby group that , like
the Baloch groups , is increasingly asserting the secular and syncretic
identity of Pakistan's Sindhi community in the face of growing Islamization in
the country .
Sapac activists are telling
US lawmakers that state sponsored discrimination against minority groups in Pakistan
is rampant and is causing Hindus to migrate out of Pakistan in droves.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Forced-conversion-of-Hindus-in-Pakistan-jolts-US-out-of-slumber/articleshow/12256632.cms
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Indian guru wants Taliban to
de-stress
March 14, 2012
ISLAMABAD - An Indian Hindu
guru may be the last emissary the Taliban expect, but Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
would love to teach inner peace to the insurgents.
Visiting Pakistan for the
first time in eight years, he basks in the diplomatic rapprochement that made
the trip possible but his dreams of harmony couldn't be further removed from
the suffering of millions worldwide.
Spry for a man in his
mid-50s, dressed in pristine white robes and his hair still ebony, he began the
second leg of his three-city Pakistan tour by tossing rose petals into the air
cheered on by some of Islamabad's most elegant women.
Nominated for the Nobel peace
prize and described by Forbes magazine in 2009 as the fifth most powerful
person in India, Shankar established the Art of Living Foundation in 1981. It
estimates it has 300 million followers.
He travels widely and in 2007
took his message of peace and meditation to Iraq, where he urged Shiites,
Sunnis and Kurds to give peace a chance and was invited to introduce his Art of
Living rehabilitation programme in prisons.
His centres teach breathing
practices and techniques to help people from all religious backgrounds overcome
the stresses, jealousies and insecurities of modern life to become more
focused, happier and healthier.
He first visited Pakistan in
2004 and organisers say there are now 5,000 followers -- a tiny number in the
Muslim country of 174 million.
So does "Guruji",
as he's known, think Taliban fighters are ripe for inner peace after battling
the Americans for 10 years in Afghanistan and bombing their way through
Pakistani cities since 2007?
"Definitely! I would
love to stretch my hands to Talibans because I would like them to see from a
broader perspective the universe," he told AFP at the Art of Living centre
in Bani Gala, an upmarket village near Islamabad.
"I would like to educate
them. There must be something wrong in their way of thinking that says 'only I
am going to heaven, everyone else is going to hell.'
"I would say that is not
possible, you know. So I would like to give them the experience of inner
connectivity," Shankar said.
He claims to find parallels
among extremists jailed in India, but hastens to add that Pakistanis, and not
he as an Indian Hindu, would have to be responsible for any similar outreach
programme in Pakistan.
"When they undergo our
breathing exercises and techniques, suddenly their fanaticism drops. They start
appreciating diversity," he claimed.
His followers in Bani Gala
were drawn from the country's urbane, educated and liberal elite who abhor the
international stereotype of Pakistan as a font of Islamist terrorism and
religious conservatism.
Organisers insist they
attract people from all walks of life, but the audience was predominantly
wealthy and middle class -- ladies who lunch or who took the day off work, well
dressed with posh handbags and designer shades.
Shankar, who visited Lahore
on Monday and was scheduled to travel to Karachi on Wednesday, brings greetings
from India's 1.2 billion people as the two countries resume peace talks that
were stalled by the carnage of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Insurgencies, social and
economic problems, corruption and the poor level of education can all be
addressed by taking a a deep breath, he claims.
"Everyone should take a
little bit of time, 10 minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes, to calm down. Even in
the worst scenario they need to calm down and take action in a calm state of
mind," he said.
But he was preaching to the
converted -- a well-educated crowd keen to see peace finally overcome the three
wars between India and Pakistan.
"We want peace with
India and we want friendship with India. That's why we came here," student
Kashif Abbasi told AFP while waiting for Shankar to finish his myriad press
interviews and finally address his followers.
Sitting a few rows further
forward, lawyer Natasha Khan dismissed out of hand any suggestion that having
an Indian spiritualist in town was a problem.
"That's a non-issue at
this sort of event that he's a Hindu or an Indian or anything. Nobody that I
know said anything to me, if there's someone else I don't know about it,"
she said.
Shahnaz Minallah, the
Pakistan co-chair of Art of Living, suspects the "agencies" -- a
euphemism for the security services -- were behind Shankar's visa being
rescinded before and describes his visit as a "living miracle".
"We were scared about
the Pakistan-India thing and the Hindu element attached to it, whereas it's
nothing. It's neutral. It comes from that region but it fits into any
tradition," she said.
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/03/14/news/national/indian-guru-wants-taliban-to-de-stress/
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Hindi remake of ‘The Infidel’
to focus on Hinduism and Islam
14 March 2012
Mumbai: Trigno Media,
co-founded by Sajjad Chunawala and Shariq Patel, has acquired the rights to
develop British cross-cultural comedy ‘The Infidel’ in Hindi.
The Infidel is a hilarious
story of a man caught between his religion and his conscience and is a story
that has relevance to India which is a secular country with various religions.
Unlike the original, the remake will expectedly focus on Hinduism and Islam.
"People are terrified
about race and religious issues, especially issues surrounding Muslims and
Hindus, and when people are terrified, what they really should do is laugh,”
Trigno Media Director Sajjad Chunawala says.
The film's original producers
Uzma Hasan, Arvind David and writer-producer David Baddiel will be the
Executive Producer of the remake. interestingly, the original also had several
actors of Indian origin, including the wellknown Archie Panjabi (remembered for
'East is East', 'Bend it Like Bekham' and 'A Mighty Heart'), apart from Amit
Shah, Ravin Ganatra, Bhaskar Patel, Niraj Naik and Sartaj Garewal.
Commenting on the
announcement, Uzma observed, "It's been incredible to watch ‘The Infidel’
resonate with audiences across the globe; I am excited to see it reinterpreted
in one of the world's most richly diverse nations."
The casting of the film is in
process and an announcement is likely to be made soon.
http://www.indiantelevision.com/aac/y2k12/aac335.php
--------
UN chief “very, very sad”
about shooting Afghan civilians
March 14, 2012
UNITED NATIONS - UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his sadness about the March 11 massacre
of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier.
"I was very, very sad to
hear about this shocking incident," Ban told a group of reporters here,
according to a note to correspondents released here by his spokesman. "So
many people, including children, were killed by the act of a single individual.”
The massacre occurred in
Kandahar province, where an American soldier left his base and opened fire in
the homes of Afghan villagers living nearby.
The 16 civilians killed
included women and children.
According to the note, Ban
said that the UN expects an investigation to start with regards to the
killings, in order to " rapidly establish the facts" so that
"those responsible will be held accountable and that the public will be
fully informed."
The secretary-general
emphasized the importance of protecting civilians.
"When it comes to the
protection of civilian populations, I have been very vocal here and all around
the world, not only in Afghanistan," said Ban. "We will continue to
urge all authorities and military personnel who are engaging in these operations
to pay extreme and utmost care to protect the civilian population."
Hundreds of university
students took to the streets in Afghanistan's eastern city of Jalalabad on
Tuesday to protest a deadly rampage by the U.S. soldier, reports said.
Also on Tuesday, US President
Barack Obama said that the American soldier's massacre of Afghan civilians is
"outrageous and unacceptable," and he promised a thorough and
unstinting probe into the tragedy.
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/03/14/news/foreign/un-chief-very-very-sad-about-shooting-afghan-civilians/
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Saudi executes drug smuggler,
killer
March 13, 2012
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia on
Tuesday executed a Saudi who killed a man in a tribal feud as well as a Syrian
drug smuggler, the ministry of interior announced. “Humam Eid al-Kindar, a
Syrian, was arrested for smuggling 169,000 banned pills,” state news agency SPA
quoted a ministry statement as saying.
Kindar was beheaded by the
sword in the kingdom’s northern province of Jawf, it said. The statement added
that Saeed al-Ahmari, a Saudi, was convicted of shooting dead fellow citizen
Ali al-Ahmar at a police station during a tribal feud. He was executed in the
southwestern city of Abha. The beheadings bring to 13 the number of people
executed in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP
tally based on official reports.
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/03/13/news/foreign/saudi-executes-drug-smuggler-killer/
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Pakistan Hindu woman says she
converted without any coercion
13 MARCH 2012
A Hindu woman who was alleged
to have been kidnapped and forcefully converted, has told a Pakistan court that
she embraced Islam without any coercion and married a Muslim man out of her own
free will.
Lata Kumari, who was
allegedly abducted from the Defence area of Karachi on February 2, recorded her
statement before Judicial Magistrate Hatim Aziz Solangi on Monday.
Last week, the Supreme Court
had directed authorities to produce three women, including Lata, who were
allegedly kidnapped or forcibly taken away in Sindh province, by March 26.
For Full Report At:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/world/49450-pakistan-hindu-woman-says-she-converted-without-any-coercion.html
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Musharraf claims that Bugti
committed suicide
March 14, 2012
Former President of Pakistan
and current Chief of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML)Parvez Musharraf claimed
that Baloch leader Akbar Bugti was not killed infact he had committed suicide
while the Baloch leader Harbiyar Marri disregarded Musharraf’s claim, DawnNews
reported on Wednesday.
Musharraf said that he is not
an ordinary person and he is not afraid of red-warrants.
Talking on the issue of
Balochistan, former military dictator said that Balochistan is not an enigmatic
issue, there are few people destroying the peace of the province and they need
to be dealt with the hard hand.
He further said that there is
India’s involvement in the province to destabilize peace in the country.
For Full Report At:
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/14/musharraf-claims-that-bugti-committed-suicide.html
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Gaza’s
blood traders fighting Assad’s battle?
14
March 2012
Whilst
the world is in a state of shock with regard to the massacres that continue to
be carried out against the Syrian people at the hands of the Bashar Assad
regime, “tinplate” rockets were being fired from Gaza into Israel, and the
Israelis, of course, responded to this with violence, and then suddenly it was
announced that the Egyptians had mediated and therefore the situation had
calmed, and then Hamas announced that it was involved in this.
So
why did what happen, happen? Why was the
Egyptian mediation accepted in the first place?
I
challenge anybody from Hamas or any other Gaza organization to come out with a
compelling answer about why “tinplate” rockets were fired into Israel in the
first place, and whose interests are served for the lives of the Palestinian
people to be lost in this saddening manner?
There is no balance of power between Hamas or Islamic Jihad and Israel,
whilst the Arabs are all preoccupied in attempting to protect the blood of the
Syrian people from the tyrant of Damascus; this is not to mention the fact that
most of the Arab states are preoccupied with their own affairs today, and the
entire world is also preoccupied with stopping the massacres that are being
carried out against the Syrian people.
For Full Report At:
http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article587266.ece
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Arab
League: Syria committing crimes against humanity
,
14 March 2012
CAIRO:
The Arab League chief says the Syrian regime’s killing of civilians amounts to
crimes against humanity and is calling for an international inquiry.
Nabil
Elaraby said Tuesday that it would not be ethical or moral to allow those
behind the killings in the cities of Homs and Idlib to get away with their
crime.
Syrian
opposition activists have claimed that Syrian regime forces have killed scores
of civilians, including women and children, in opposition strongholds over the
past two days.
State
media in Damascus, which often ignore activists’ claims, on Monday confirmed
the latest killings in Homs but blamed “armed terrorists,” as they frequently
call those behind the yearlong uprising against President Bashar Assad’s
regime.
At
the United Nations, the US and Russia clashed after Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon appealed to the divided Security Council to speak with one voice and
help Syria “pull back from the brink of a deeper catastrophe.”
Washington
and Moscow both called for an end to the bloody conflict — but on different
terms, leaving prospects for UN action in doubt.
For Full Report At:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article587164.ece
----------
Imran Khan pulls out of
conference over Salman Rushdie booking
14 March 2012
Imran Khan, the Pakistan
cricketer-turned-politician, has pulled out of a conference in Delhi because of
the expected attendance of Salman Rushdie.
An aide to Khan told the
Guardian the 59-year-old, who leads a conservative political party currently
riding a wave of mass support in his home country, learned of Rushdie's
invitation to the India Today Conclave only on Tuesday evening, and made an
immediate decision.
Shireen Mazari, who advises
Khan on foreign affairs, said: "He categorically rejected participating in
any programme that included Salman Rushdie, who has caused immeasurable hurt to
Muslims across the globe."
In January, Rushdie was
forced to pull out of the Jaipur literary festival, the biggest such event in
south Asia, after protests by Indian Muslim groups, which consider his 1988
novel The Satanic Verses blasphemous.
For Full Report At:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/14/imran-khan-conference-salman-rushdie?newsfeed=true
----------
Police raid ‘Natural Beauty
Care’, arrest 10 expat women and three Maldivian men on prostitution charges
By Ahmed Nazeer
March 14th, 2012
Police raided the ‘Natural
Beauty Care’ salon on Monday night and arrested 10 expatriate women, three
Maldivian men and an Indian national while they were allegedly involved in
sexual activities.
In a statement, police said
that officers entered salon, located in Sherin in the Maafannu district of
Male’, after receiving reports that prostitution was conducted widely on the
premises.
According to police, the
women arrested included four Thai nationals, three Sri Lankans, one Chinese and
one Nepalese national.
For Full Report At:
http://minivannews.com/society/police-raid-%E2%80%98natural-beauty-care%E2%80%99-arrest-10-expat-women-and-three-maldivian-men-on-prostitution-charges-33280
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Syrians routinely tortured in
detention, says Amnesty
14 March 2012
People detained by the Syrian
authorities are being systematically and routinely tortured, an Amnesty
International report alleges.
The rights group says
officials are using techniques including suspending and then beating detainees
with fists and rifle butts.
Many of those from whom
Amnesty gathered testimony said children were among the torture victims.
Syrian authorities have
denied torturing opponents of the government.
Electrocution claims
"The testimonies we have
heard give disturbing insights into a system of detention and interrogation
which, a year after protests began, appears intended primarily to degrade,
humiliate and terrify its victims into silence," said Ann Harrison of
Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Programme.
For Full Report At:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17356567?print=true
----------
Armed forces will show
Iranian zeal in face of aggression: Qods Force chief
14 March 2012
TEHRAN – The commander of the
Qods Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said on Tuesday that the
armed forces will show Iranian zeal in the face of any possible aggression
against the country.
Major General Qasem Suleimani
also highlighted the role of the vali-e faqih (supreme jurisprudent) in
safeguarding the Islamic system and said that if it had not been for the vali-e
faqih, the Islamic Republic would have been undermined easily.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/96386-armed-forces-will-show-iranian-zeal-in-face-of-aggression-qods-force-chief-
----------
India to reopen consulate in
Karachi
Mar 14, 2012,
ISLAMABAD: India plans to
reopen its consulate in the port city of Karachi, said Indian high commissioner
to Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal.
Sabharwal said on Tuesday
that talks were underway for the reopening of the Indian Consulate in Karachi
to facilitate Pakistani nationals applying for visas, reported Geo News from
Sindh province.
The envoy was interacting
with the media during his visit to the Bhutto family mausoleum at Garhi Khuda
Bakhsh.
Sabharwal said the Bhutto
family had sacrificed their lives for the sake of democracy.
For Full Report At:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/India-to-reopen-consulate-in-Karachi/articleshow/12258987.cms
----------
Did alcohol play a role in
the Afghan killings?
Mar 14, 2012
Washington: A senior military
official says investigators probing the shooting spree that killed 16 Afghan
civilians are looking into the possibility that alcohol played a role.
The official spoke on
condition of anonymity because the investigation is under way.
The official says it’s
unclear whether the suspect had been drinking before disappearing from his
military base in Kandahar province or whether alcohol was simply found in his
living space at the base.
Military rules prohibit the
use or possession of alcohol in a war zone.
The suspect is said to be a
38-year-old Army staff sergeant who was sent to Afghanistan in December. He had
served three previous tours in Iraq.
Lawmakers press Pentagon on
massacre suspect’s brain injury
A US congressman asked the
Pentagon on Tuesday to explain why the soldier accused in the massacre of 16
Afghan villagers was sent back into combat after earlier suffering a traumatic
brain injury in Iraq, as lawmakers questioned how seriously the military deals
with the mental health of troops.
For Full Report At:
http://www.firstpost.com/world/did-alcohol-play-a-role-in-the-afghan-killings-243167.html
----------
Sarkozy: Assad is a killer,
must face world court
Mar 14 2012,
Paris : French President
Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that Syria's leader is acting like a murderer
and should be sent to the International Criminal Court.
With diplomatic efforts to
end the bloodshed in Syria faltering, the French leader urged humanitarian
corridors to allow refugees out and aid in to the country.
''We must obtain humanitarian
corridors, and for that we must unblock the Russian veto and Chinese veto'' at
the UN Security Council, Sarkozy told Europe-1 radio.
UN Security Council members
are meeting to decide what to do next to try to stop the violence.
"The French army can in
no way intervene'' in Syria without U.N. backing, Sarkozy said. France, Syria's
former colonial ruler, was a leading player in the U.N.-mandated, NATO-led
airstrike campaign in Libya.
For Full Report At:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/923674/
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Legal or not, New Yorkers
support surveillance of Muslims
Mar 14, 2012
by Joseph Ax
New York: New Yorkers
strongly support controversial police anti-terrorism surveillance that includes
sending undercover officers into mosques even as questions have been raised
about its constitutionality.
A Quinnipiac University poll,
released on Tuesday, found respondents approved by 63 percent to 31 percent the
way New York police are doing their job and said by 82 percent to 14 percent
the NYPD has been effective combating terrorism.
The poll of 964 New York City
voters showed Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly won better than 2-to-1 approval
ratings and voters said police act appropriately in how they deal with Muslims
by a margin of 58 percent to 29 percent.
For Full Report At:
http://www.firstpost.com/world/legal-or-not-new-yorkers-support-surveillance-of-muslims-243699.html
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Multiple overlapping worlds
in Pakistan: US
March 14, 2012
WASHINGTON - Observing that there are multiple
overlapping worlds in Pakistan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on
Tuesday said the country is vital to America’s counter-terrorism efforts,
economic stability and regional cooperation goals for the region. “There are
multiple overlapping worlds in Pakistan and we have to deal with all of them
simultaneously,” Clinton said in her address to the Global Chiefs of Mission
Conference.
“But the country is vital to
our counter-terrorism, economic stability, and regional cooperation goals for
the region,” Clinton said. adding that the US will continue to engage where
they even have legitimate concerns and disagreements.
Clinton said a critical
element of America’s path forward in Afghanistan will be the success of the
Afghans in securing and leading their country for themselves. “Ryan Crocker
(the US Ambassador to Afghanistan) has brought his tremendous lifetime
experience to this really difficult job at this moment. They will need help,”
she said. “I’ve asked many of you, as a key element of President Obama’s
policy, to press the governments to which you are accredited to pledge
substantial financial support to the Afghan security forces for the period
beyond 2014,” Clinton said.
For Full Report At:
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/national/14-Mar-2012/multiple-overlapping-worlds-in-pakistan-us
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Pak-US top leaders to meet on
sideline of Nuclear Summit
Gilani will also meet Hu
Jintao
BY Akhtar Jamal
March 14, 2012
Islamabad—Top leaders of
Pakistan and the United States are expected to have a brief but meaningful
meeting to further narrow their differences on the sideline of Nuclear Summit
in South Korea March 26-27.
Reliable sources told this
correspondent that initially President Asif Ali Zardari had been invited to
attend the Nuclear Summit in Seoul and but President Zardari asked Prime
Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to attend the Summit.
PM Gilani beside attending
the Nuclear Summit is also expected to have a brief interaction with US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on March 27 or 28 and a possible brief
interaction with President Barak Obama before returning.
Pakistan Prime Minister is
also expected to meet other world dignitaries including Chinese President Hu
Jintao and South Korean President and hold discussions on bilateral and
international issues.
Foreign Minister Rabbani Khar
will also lead a team of experts to brief the world leaders about Pakistan’s
point of view at the Nuclear Summit. FM Rabbani is expected to hold separate
meeting with her American counterpart and review Pakistan-US relationship.
For Full Report At:
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=144869
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Algeria al-Qaeda chief
Droukdel sentenced in absentia
13 March 2012
The leader of al Qaeda's
Algerian offshoot has been sentenced to death in his absence.
Abdelmalek Droukdel, who uses
the alias Abou Mossab Abdelwadoud, is the head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Magreb.
A court in Algiers convicted
him and eight co-defendants of murder, membership of a terrorist organisation
and attacks using explosives.
He is thought to have been
responsible for introducing suicide bombings to Algeria.
He was among a total of 18
accused to face charges relating to three bomb attacks in the capital Algiers
in April 2007 which killed 22 people and wounded more than 200 others.
For Full Report At:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17359310?print=true
----------
Attack on Iran will undermine
world order: professor
13 March 2012
TEHRAN – Any U.S. military
adventure against Iran for its nuclear program “will undermine the foundation
of world order and its tremors will be felt for years to come,” says a South
Alabama University professor.
“Such an attack will have a spiraling effect
that will affect global economy in the energy sector and beyond,” Professor
Nader Entessar told the Mehr News Agency.
In recent weeks Israel has
toughened its rhetoric against Iran, threatening to launch air strikes on
Iranian nuclear facilities.
However, Entessar said,
“Without U.S. involvement, Israel will not be able to sustain any military
attack on Iran.
For Full Report At:
http://www.tehrantimes.com/component/content/article/96384
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At least 34 killed in Syrian
violence
March 13, 2012
BEIRUT - At least 34 people
were killed in violence across Syria on Tuesday, including 22 members of the
security forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“Twelve members of the
security services who headed for the town of Dael to carry out arrests were
killed at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) when their vehicle was ambushed by a group of
armed deserters,” said the Britain-based monitoring group.
It was the second deadly
ambush the same day on the military, which has led a year-long crackdown on
dissent that the United Nations said on Monday has cost more than 8,000 lives.
For Full Report At:
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/03/13/news/foreign/at-least-34-killed-in-syrian-violence/
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Target Waziristan: US drones
strike twice, killing 15 militants
By Zulfiqar Ali
March 14, 2012
DERA ISMAIL KHAN:
After a brief hiatus,
CIA-operated drones resumed sorties in Pakistan’s tribal regions. On Tuesday,
two strikes by US pilot-less aircraft in South Waziristan Agency killed at
least 15 suspected militants, officials said.
In the first strike, which
took place in Uthgalai village of Barmal Tehsil, a drone fired four missiles at
a vehicle. “The target of the attack was fighters of Commander Maulvi Nazir.
Eight suspected militants were killed in the attack,” an intelligence official
told The Express Tribune.
Sources added that two top
militant commanders of the Mullah Nazir Group – identified as Ameer Hamza
Tojikhel and Shamsullah – were among the dead. Both were believed to be key
members of the group. The bodies were shifted to the Angoor Adda area.
For Full Report At:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/349748/target-waziristan-us-drones-strike-twice-killing-15-militants/
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10 killed in Yemen onslaught
March 14, 2012
SANAA - Ten people were
killed Tuesday as battles intensified between Al-Qaeda and Yemeni forces, many
of which are still led by relatives of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who
handed over power three weeks ago. Five militants were killed in an air strike
on their car in Yemen’s southern Bayda province, a security official said. “A
fighter jet raided a car carrying five Al-Qaeda militants,” said the official.
“All five were killed.” A tribal chief confirmed the raid, which came two hours
after another official said three policemen were killed in a suicide attack in
Bayda. “Three policemen were killed and six others were wounded in a suicide
attack,” the official said.
For Full Report At:
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/14-Mar-2012/10-killed-in-yemen-onslaught
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US pushes to use Kyrgyztan
base after 2014
March 13, 2012
BISHKEK - US Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta flew into Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday amid concern in
Washington over the future of an air base that serves as a crucial hub for the
war in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon chief planned to
discuss the Manas base in an unannounced visit to Bishkek as US officials weigh
a possible troop presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014, which would require use
of runways at the base after a current rental deal expires. Panetta said he
would speak to Kyrgyz leaders about the “importance” of the air base, a vital
transit point used to ferry troops to Afghanistan, refuel warplanes and
evacuate wounded soldiers.
“I want to thank them and
ensure that relationship can continue into the future as well,” Panetta told
reporters aboard his plane before landing in the capital.
President Almazbek Atambayev
has called for changes in the arrangement at Manas after the current agreement
runs out in mid-2014. The visit was part of an effort by the United States to
persuade Atambayev to leave the door open to renewing access to the Manas base
after the current deal ends, a US defense official suggested.
For Full Report At:
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/03/13/news/foreign/us-pushes-to-use-kyrgyztan-base-after-2014/
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Russian
official: No missile deal at NATO summit
Mar
13, 2012
MOSCOW:
Russia and the United States have failed to narrow their differences over a
planned US missile shield and stand practically no chance of reaching a
compromise at the NATO summit in Chicago in May, a top Russian official said
Tuesday.
Deputy
Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Washington is going ahead with its plans
for a missile shield in Europe without considering Russian concerns.
The
US says the NATO missile shield is aimed at deflecting potential missile
threats from Iran, but Moscow fears that it will eventually grow powerful
enough to undermine Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
For Full Report At:
http://arabnews.com/world/article587170.ece
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UK
government sued for helping US drone strikes in Pakistan
Mar
12, 2012
LONDON:
A human rights group and a law firm took legal action yesterday against the
British government, accusing it of passing on intelligence to assist US covert
drone attacks in Pakistan.
The
London-based charity Reprieve and the law firm Leigh Day & Co. are filing
papers to the High Court claiming that civilian staff at Britain's electronic
listening agency, GCHQ, could be liable as "secondary parties to
murder" for providing "locational intelligence" to the CIA in
directing its drone attack program.
The
two are acting on behalf of Noor Khan, 27, a Pakistani whose father was killed
by a drone strike in northwest Pakistan in March 2011 while attending a
gathering of elders. More than 40 other people were killed in that attack, they
said.
Reprieve,
which helps death row prisoners and Guantanamo Bay inmates, urged the British
government to be more transparent about its role — if any — in the drone
program.
For Full Report At:
http://arabnews.com/world/article586677.ece
----------
Syria finally answers Annan
on ending violence
Mar 14, 2012
Ankara: Syrian officials
responded Tuesday to a number of concrete proposals by international envoy Kofi
Annan on how to end the violence in their country, a U.N. diplomat said.
Annan, who visited Syria over
the weekend and was in Turkey earlier Tuesday, told reporters in Ankara that he
was expecting a reply from Damascus during the day. “Once we have received
their answer, we will know how to react,” Annan said.
The U.N. diplomat, who spoke
on condition of anonymity because no public announcement has been made, said,
“He did get a reply, and it’s under consideration.”
UN-Arab League envoy Annan
arrives for a working lunch with Syrian officials. Reuters
The diplomat did not specify
what the reply entailed, but Annan, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, has
reportedly asked Damascus for some clarifications.
The U.N. estimates the Syrian
government’s violent crackdown on dissent has killed more than 7,500 people so
far. The killings add to the pressure on U.N. Security Council members who are
meeting to decide what to do next to stop the violence. The international
community’s current effort — a peacemaking mission by Annan — is faltering,
with both the Syrian government and the opposition refusing to talk to one
another.
For Full Report At:
http://www.firstpost.com/world/syria-finally-answers-annan-on-ending-violence-243080.html
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Israel, Islamic Jihad agree
to Gaza truce
March 13, 2012
GAZA CITY - Israel and
militants in Gaza agreed on Tuesday to an Egyptian-brokered truce deal after
four days of violence in which 25 Gazans died and 200 rockets were fired at
Israel. Under the agreement, which came into force at 1:00 am (2300 GMT on
Monday), both Israel and militants from Islamic Jihad, who were responsible for
the lion’s share of the rocket attacks, agreed to hold their fire.
More than 12 hours later, the
nascent truce appeared to be largely holding, although Israeli police said
eight rockets and mortar shells had landed, without causing injury or damage.
And the skies over Gaza remained calm.
For Full Report At:
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/03/13/news/foreign/israel-islamic-jihad-agree-to-gaza-truce/
----------
US asks Saudis to increase
oil output from July
Mar 14, 2012
Kuwait: The United States is
pressing Saudi Arabia to boost oil output to fill a likely supply gap arising
from sanctions on Iran, Gulf oil officials said, adding that an increase in
production is unlikely to be needed before July. Saudi Arabia is the only
producer with spare capacity and oil importers will rely on Riyadh to fill the
gap should Iranian output drop.
Saudi Arabia has made clear
it will only raise output if it sees additional demand for crude and does not
want its oil policy implicated in efforts to disrupt Iran’s atomic programme
which the West says aims to develop a nuclear weapon.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign
Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin
Ahmed al-Khalifa arrive for the GCC meeting in Riyadh. Reuters
“There were talks held
between Saudi and the U.S. and the U.S. asked if Saudi could be accommodating
once the sanctions take effect in July. And the Saudi response was that it was
ready to meet demand in the market if required, but would not like to take part
in the politics,” one Gulf official said.
For Full Report At:
http://www.firstpost.com/world/us-asks-saudis-to-increase-oil-output-from-july-243065.html
----------
Iran parliament begins
questioning Ahmadinejad
Mar 14, 2012
Tehran: Iran’s parliament on
Wednesday began to question President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over a long list of
accusations, including that he mismanaged the nation’s economy and challenged
the country’s supreme leader.
Ahmadinejad is the first
president in the country’s history to be hauled before the Iranian parliament,
a serious blow to his standing in a conflict pitting him against lawmakers and
the country’s powerful clerical establishment.
Some of the most hard-hitting
questions focused on Ahmadinejad's alleged defiance of Iran's Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reuters
The summons follows a
long-awaited petition by a group of lawmakers for a review of policy decisions
by Ahmadinejad, who has come under increasing attacks in recent months from the
same hard-liners who brought him to power.
For Full Report At:
http://www.firstpost.com/world/iran-parliament-begins-questioning-ahmadinejad-243600.html
----------
UN says 230,000 people have
fled Syria violence
Mar 13, 2012
Geneva: The UN refugee agency
says 230,000 Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of violence last
year.
He says some 110,000 mostly
Iraqi refugees living in Syria are meanwhile reporting increased hardship.
Reuters
The UN High Commissioner for
Refugees’ coordinator for Syria says 30,000 people have already fled to Turkey,
Lebanon and Jordan and “on a daily basis hundreds of people are still crossing
into neighbouring countries.”
Panos Moumtzis told reporters
in Geneva today that according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent at least 200,000
people are also displaced within the country.
He says some 110,000 mostly
Iraqi refugees living in Syria are meanwhile reporting increased hardship due
to rising prices for basic goods.
Moumtzis says prices for
imported goods have “skyrocketed” because of the devaluation of the Syrian
http://www.firstpost.com/world/un-says-230000-people-have-fled-syria-violence-242995.html
--------
Assad sets May 7 as date for
Syrian parliament vote
March 13, 2012
DAMASCUS - Syria’s embattled
President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree on Tuesday setting May 7 as the date
for parliamentary elections that were delayed last year, the state news agency
SANA reported.
The vote is part of a raft of
reforms announced by Assad in a bid to calm a year-long uprising against his
regime that began with democracy protests.
Assad’s announcement comes as
peace envoy Kofi Annan said he was awaiting a response from the Syrian leader
on “concrete proposals” which he had submitted to him in two rounds of talks in
Damascus at the weekend.
“I am expecting to hear from
Syrian authorities today since I left some concrete proposals for them to
consider,” the UN-Arab League envoy told reporters in Ankara after a meeting
with the Syrian opposition.
For Full Report At:
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/03/13/news/foreign/assad-sets-may-7-as-date-for-syrian-parliament-vote/
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Obama, Cameron to focus on
Afghan, Iran, Syria scenes
March 14, 2012
London—Efforts to end the
international mission in Afghanistan, curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions and halt
the bloody repression of Syria’s opposition will dominate talks between U.S.
President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Cameron head for the United
States Tuesday for a three-day visit focused on current and looming foreign
pol-icy challenges, seeking to pin down details of the planned withdrawal of
international forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.The two leaders, who
last held talks in person at the United Nations in September, are meeting ahead
of a NATO summit in Chicago in May, when a decision on the pace of the exit
from Afghanistan is likely to be confirmed.
For Full Report At:
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=144989
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Violence across Syria; UN
awaits response from Damascus
March 14, 2012
BEIRUT: Syrian forces killed
dozens of people near a mosque in the city of Idlib, opposition activists said
on Tuesday, and rebels killed at least 10 troops in an ambush in the same area,
focus of the latest government crackdown.
Video footage showed the
bloodied bodies of several unidentified men strewn on the floor of the mosque.
An unseen voice said it was impossible to move them due to heavy shelling.
Army defectors ambushed a
checkpoint in Idlib region in the northwest, killing the 10 soldiers and
possibly more, while rebels also killed 12 members of forces loyal to Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad in the southern town of Deraa, according to the
British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Fighting was reported, too,
in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor and in Syria’s third largest city Homs, as a
year-long uprising against Assad’s authoritarian rule increasingly resembles a
full-blown civil war.
For Full Report At:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\03\14\story_14-3-2012_pg7_13
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Looking forward to work with
new ISI chief: Pentagon
Mar 14, 2012,
WASHINGTON : The US is
looking forward to work with the new head of Inter-Services Intelligence of
Pakistan, Pentagon said, noting the US-Pak relationship is critical for the
region and Afghanistan. "We look forward to working with the new
chief," the Pentagon spokesman, Navy Captain John Kirby, said yesterday,
when asked about announcement of the new ISI Chief. On March 18, Lieutenant Gen
Zaheer ul-Islam would replace Lieutenant Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha as the new ISI chief.
Under Pasha, Americas relationship with Pak's top spy agency had hit a new low.
"We look forward to having a good partnership with Pakistan moving
forward. That's what our focus is on. We believe it is critical for the region
and for the mission in Afghanistan," Kirby said. However, he said that the
US has nothing to say on the appointment and the decision. "This is the
decision that the civilian leadership of the nation of Pakistan get to make. It
is not for us to make the comment one way or the other their appointments to
high office," said the Pentagon spokesman.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Looking-forward-to-work-with-new-ISI-chief-Pentagon/articleshow/12260327.cms
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Iran dismisses claims of
military site clean-up
13 MARCH 2012
AFP | TEHRAN
Iran on Tuesday dismissed
claims it was clearing away traces of suspected nuclear weapons research
activities from a closed military site, saying the allegations were
“propaganda”.
The sprawling Parchin
military site, located 30 kilometres east of Tehran, “is conducting normal
military activities,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told
reporters in a regular briefing.
“Declarations about the
cleaning up of nuclear traces from this site — and those who are technically
savvy know you cannot remove traces of such activity from an area — these
declarations are propaganda,” he said.
For Full Report At:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/world/49451-iran-dismisses-claims-of-military-site-clean-up.html
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Indians in Bahrain seek urgent
steps to tackle rising suicides
Mar 14 2012
Worried over a rise in the
numbers of suicides among expatriates, Indian community leaders in Bahrain have
demanded urgent steps to check the problem by offering counselling and support
services.
At a gathering organised to
discuss the problem and its causes, the community members said the rising
numbers of suicides in the country should be a matter of concern that warranted
immediate intervention, according to a report in the Gulf Daily News.
The alarm bell were sounded
by reports that as many as seven Indians had committed suicides in Bahrain in
the last few weeks alone.
Sovichen Chennattusserry, who
organised the gathering and initiated discussions, said he is concerned that
nine people had committed suicide in the last few weeks.
"A majority of them
(seven) are Indians and all of them have left behind broken, shattered
families," he was quoted as saying.
For Full Report At:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indians-in-bahrain-seek-urgent-steps-to-tackle-rising-suicides/923603/
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India charges six over Delhi
High Court blast
14 March 2012
The attack in September
ripped through a crowd queueing to enter the court complex, killing 11 people
on the spot with four more later dying of their injuries.
In documents released on its
website, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) identified Wasim Akram Malik,
who was studying medicine at a college in Bangladesh, as the plot leader.
“The conspiracy… was hatched
by the accused Wasim Akram Malik and terrorists of the Hizb-ul Mujahideen,” the
agency said.
For Full Report At:
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/14/india-charges-six-over-delhi-high-court-blast.html
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/forced-conversion-hindus-pakistan-jolts/d/6848