Ganesh Chaturthi for the First Time on the Idgah Maidan at Hubli in BJP-Ruled Karnataka: Idol Installed After Long Struggle, Says Union Minister
New
Age Islam News Bureau
01
September 2022
Union
minister Pralhad Joshi offers prayers to Lord Ganesha on the Idgah Maidan in
Hubli, Karnataka, on Wednesday.
PTI
picture
----
• Islamic
State of Khorasan Province to Release Video of Top Taliban Cleric Rahimullah
Haqqani’s Assassination, Aims to Win Salafis
• Islamic
Republic Of Iran’s Founder Ruhollah Khomeini Invited Gorbachev to Embrace Islam
In 1989 Letter
• Jewish
Google Employee, Ariel Koren, Quits Over 'Silencing' Of Palestinian Coworkers
• International
Criminal Court Calls For Resumption of Afghan War Crimes Probe
India
• Muslim
Wrestler, Jumma Dada, Initiated Vadodara's Public Ganesh Festival 120 Years Ago
• After
28 years in Pakistan jail, Kuldeep Yadav returns home in Ahmedabad
• Muslims,
Christians join Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at N. R. Pura in Chikkamagaluru
• Pakistan
PM Shehbaz Sharif thanks PM Modi for concern over losses caused by massive
floods
• 'Legal
fight will continue': Karnataka minister, citizens' forum on Bengaluru Idgah
ground matter
• After
Amroha cattle killing horror, Muslim man electrocutes cows at gaushala in
Maharashtra
-----
South Asia
• Prime
Minister: Bombing, Bloodshed Ended Since Islamic Emirate Takeover
• Islamic
Emirate Forces Celebrate Anniversary of US Withdrawal
• A
year since US pullout: How Taliban 2.0 has changed Afghanistan
• Taliban
Says Pressure and Sanctions against Afghans Have Failed
• U.S.
Prevents Int’l Community to Recognize Taliban: Mujahid
• China
Blasts 'Wealthy' US For Illegally Occupying 'Poor' Syria, Plundering Its
Resources
--------
Mideast
• Iran
Urges Western Gov'ts to Stop Terrorists' Exemption from Punishment
• Iranian
Military Source Describes US as Root Cause of Instability in Persian Gulf
• Two
Palestinians killed in West Bank clashes: Health ministry
• Palestinian
Prisoner Suspends Hunger Strike Following Israel Release Deal
--------
North America
• US
Assures Israel That Iran Won't Become a Nuclear Power
• Biden
Urges Iraq ‘National Dialogue’ In Call with PM
• France,
EU can cooperate with Türkiye on Ukraine, says UN envoy
• Iran
briefly seized US naval drone stranded in Persian Gulf to ensure maritime
security: Nour News
--------
Europe
• UN
Report Lists Litany of Rights Abuses In China's Xinjiang
• Meeting
between leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, European Council kicks off in Brussels
• Türkiye
to submit radar logs to NATO showing harassment by Greece
• How
a UN fund gives hope to crisis-impacted children from Ecuador to Afghanistan
--------
Pakistan
• IHC
Serves Notices in Plea for Removal of FIR under Terrorism Charges against Imran
Khan
• Pak
soldier killed in Bajaur blast in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s province
• ‘Pakistan
doesn’t have to choose between US and China’
• Germany
– Pakistan have huge potential in economic, trade ties: Syed Naveed Qamar
• From
furnace to flood: World's hottest city in Pakistan now under water
• JUI-F
accuses Sindh govt of hampering relief activities in city
• WHO
says 6.4m in dire need of humanitarian aid as flood-triggered crises swirl
--------
Africa
• Seif
al-Islam Gaddafi Denies Striking Deal to Release His Brother from Lebanon
• TPLF
says Eritrean and Ethiopian forces launch attack in northwest Tigray
• Libya
exhumes 15 bodies from 2 mass graves in Sirte
• Top
Turkish, Libyan officials hold talks in Ankara
• Dozens
of civilians killed in April by Mali’s army, foreign fighters: UN report
--------
Southeast Asia
• Is
Abu Bakar Bashir Really Walking Away From Violent Extremism?
• Rosmah
Mansor, wife of Malaysia’s former leader Najib Razak, convicted of corruption
• Guan
Eng slams Saravanan over chaotic worker quota applications
• Suspected
Muslim rebels kill town police chief in Philippines
--------
Arab World
• Clashes
in Iraq’s Basra among Shiite Rivals Cause Casualties
• Saudi
Arabia designates five individuals over links to Iran-backed Houthis
• Saudi
graduates working at NEOM complete ‘high-performance’ Formula E placement
• Light
plane crashes near UAE’s Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque, pilot injured
• Hezbollah
At 40 Stronger Than Ever But Has More Enemies
• Israel
attacks Aleppo’s airport with rockets: Syria’s state news agency
• UN
Security Council renews mandate of peacekeeping force in Lebanon for one year
• Saudi
Arabia’s culinary heritage to be showcased at France’s Agora Expo
• Saudi
ambassador to Yemen meets coordinator of UN panel of experts on Yemen
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/ganesh-chaturthi-idgah-idol-karnataka/d/127853
--------
Ganesh
Chaturthi for the First Time on the Idgah Maidan at Hubli in BJP-Ruled
Karnataka: Idol Installed After Long Struggle, Says Union Minister
Union
minister Pralhad Joshi offers prayers to Lord Ganesha on the Idgah Maidan in
Hubli, Karnataka, on Wednesday.
PTI
picture
----
K.M.
Rakesh | Bangalore
01.09.22
Union
minister Pralhad Joshi was among those who offered prayers to Lord Ganesha when
Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated for the first time on the Idgah Maidan at Hubli
in BJP-ruled Karnataka on Wednesday.
Karnataka
High Court had late on Tuesday night paved the way for the performance of the
Ganesh Chaturthi rituals on the ground, which has an Idgah and where Id has
traditionally been celebrated for decades.
Some
described the day as “historic” and said it marked “new-found freedom”.
Joshi,
the Union parliamentary affairs and coal and mines minister who represents
Hubli’s twin city Dharwad in the Lok Sabha, advocated peace but referenced a
tragic incident that took place 28 years ago.
“Today,
an idol of Ganesh has been installed here after a long struggle. But exactly
three decades ago, a movement to hoist the national flag was started here. On
that day (the Independence Day of 1994), there was a lathi-charge here. Six
persons had sacrificed their lives on that day. I want to make only one
request, let us celebrate this peacefully,” Joshi said.
The
six had died in police firing. Strife was brewing in the aftermath of the Babri
Masjid demolition when BJP politics had made a breakthrough and the Maidan had
become one of the many staging fields of its activities.
B.S.
Yediyurappa, who later went on to become Karnataka chief minister, and Uma
Bharti had led the agitation for “their right to hoist the Tricolour” at the
Idgah Maidan. They were among the 21 party leaders booked for arson, rioting
and attack on public servants in 10 different cases. A local magistrate’s court
had then declared Uma a “proclaimed offender” for not honouring summons.
She
resigned as Madhya Pradesh chief minister in August 2004 to appear before the
court in Hubli, which had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for ignoring
repeated summons.
The
Congress government helmed by S.M. Krishna had in 2002 applied to withdraw all
the cases considering the emotive nature of the issue.
On
Tuesday night, Karnataka High Court, hearing a plea by the educational and
social organisation Anjuman-e-Islam, refused to stay the permission granted by
the Hubli-Dharwad municipal commissioner to some Hindu organisations to perform
Ganesh Chaturthi rituals at the Idgah Maidan.
The
order by Justice Ashok S. Kinagi came around 11.30pm, hours after the Supreme
Court had held a special hearing beyond usual working hours to reverse the Karnataka
government’s decision to allow Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations on another Idgah
Maidan, in Bangalore’s Chamarajpet, where only Id and Ramzan-related rituals
have been held for 200 years.
The
Idgah Maidan in Hubli has witnessed a protracted legal battle between the
Anjuman-e-Islam and Hindu groups for over two decades.
The
municipal commissioner’s decision was based on a 2012 Supreme Court verdict
that upheld the municipality’s claim on the land. The apex court had, however,
allowed Muslims to continue to use it to offer prayers on Id-Ul-Fitr and
Id-Ul-Zuha every year.
Other
than these religious rituals, which the Anjuman-e-Islam says have been taking
place there since the pre-Independence period, the Idgah Maidan has been used
only to hoist the national flag on Independence Day and Republic Day in civic
body-sponsored events. During other times, the land is used as a parking lot
and a marketplace.
The
high court noted that the property belonged to the local municipality and the
Anjuman-e-Islam was only a licencee allowed to perform prayers on the two Id
days every year. The court rejected the petitioner’s submission that the Idgah
Maidan fell under the purview of The Places of Worship (Special Provisions)
Act, 1991, and cannot be used for rituals of another religion.
Equipped
with the high court order and under heavy police protection, a group named the
Rani Chennamma Maidan Gajanana Utsava Samithi installed a Ganesh idol at the
Maidan at 7.30am on Wednesday, marking the first-ever Hindu festival on the property.
Samithi
president Sanju Badskar told The Telegraph that thousands of people visited the
Maidan for the Ganesh puja.
“Some
3,000 people, mostly youths, arrived by noon today to participate in the
Ganapati festival. It was like new-found freedom for them,” said Badskar, who
is also the Hubli-Dharwad president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
Amid
chants of vedic hymns, Sriram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik and his supporters
also offered prayers at the Maidan.
“We
performed the prayers within the legal framework. Some miscreants had attempted
to stop us but we performed our puja, which is not only a matter of joy for the
people of Hubli but also across north Karnataka,” Muthalik told reporters at
the pandal.
Muthalik
termed the day “historic”, claiming that a long-cherished dream of Hindus had
been fulfilled. According to him, the district administration has granted
permission to conduct puja for three days at the site.
Badskar
said the Samithi had no plans to hold the Dussehra festival in early October at
the Maidan, but did not rule out other outfits doing so.
“Our
objective was to celebrate Ganapati festival and we have no plans to hold
Dussehra festivities here. But other organisations could seek permission since
it is the property of the municipality, which can permit anyone to organise any
event on their land” he said.
Anjuman-e-Islam
president Mohammed Yusuf Savanur said he would file an appeal before a
two-judge bench of Karnataka High Court to stop the municipality from granting
permission for non-Muslim festivals at the Maidan.
“We
will be filing an appeal in three or four days and file a case against the
municipal commissioner for violating The Places of Worship (Special Provisions)
Act,” he said.
Source:
Telegraph India
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Islamic
State of Khorasan Province to Release Video of Top Taliban Cleric Rahimullah
Haqqani’s Assassination, Aims to Win Salafis
ISKP
has been rising in Afghanistan after the indiscriminate release of terrorists
from the prison last year when US forces exited Afghanistan.
---
Sep
01, 2022
Islamic
State - Khorasan Province (ISKP) will soon release a propaganda video of
assassination of senior Afghani cleric Rahimullah Haqqani who died in a suicide
blast last month, the group’s media wing Al Azaim Foundation said. The Islamic
State affiliate may use the video to win the Salafist support and undermine the
Taliban's government in Afghanistan. Rahimullah Haqqani, known for his fiery
speeches against Da’esh, had survived at least two previous assassination
attempts.
While
the influential cleric held no official position in Taliban leadership, he had
taught many of the group's members over the years, according to an AFP report.
Haqqani had even recently spoken publicly in favour of girls being allowed to
attend school.
The
eighth issue of Da’esh’s magazine has the cover photo of its slain spokesperson
Maqbool Orakzai aka Abu Kumar Maqbool who earlier served as senior spokesperson
for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The
magazine also praises last year’s attack at Kabul International Airport in
which 13 members of the US military and dozens of civilians were killed. The
civilians were trying to flee Afghanistan in the aftermath of Taliban take
over. Da’esh said that the attack was meant to disrupt the transfer of power in
Afghanistan from the US to the Taliban.
Several
other articles criticize the Taliban which has completed one year of rule in
Afghanistan after ousting the West-backed government on August 15, 2021.
Violence
in Afghanistan remains at a disturbing level with almost no signs of any
respite in the days to come. There has been a significant increase in terrorist
activities across Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power in August last
year. Data shows fighters of the National Resistance Front and Islamic
State-Khorasan Province (Da’esh) are growing in strength, leading to further
escalation in violence.
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Islamic
Republic Of Iran’s Founder Ruhollah Khomeini Invited Gorbachev to Embrace Islam
In 1989 Letter
Soviet
President Mikhail Gorbachev waves from the Red Square tribune during a
Revolution Day celebration, in Moscow, Soviet Union, Nov. 7, 1989. (AP
Photo/Boris Yurchenko)
----
31
August, 2022
Two
years before the fall of the Soviet Union, its leader Mikhail Gorbachev would
receive an unusual letter from the Islamic republic of Iran’s founder, inviting
him to embrace Islam.
The
last leader of the USSR passed away in Moscow on Tuesday at the age of 91,
leaving behind a legacy that polarized observers on either side of the Iron
Curtain.
But
in January 1989, as Europe’s communist regimes were taking their last breath,
Ruhollah Khomeini sent a delegation to Moscow to deliver a letter to Gorbachev.
“Mr
Gorbachev, it is clear to everyone that communism belongs in the world’s
political history museums, because Marxism does not meet any of humanity’s true
needs,” Khomeini wrote.
Iran’s
supreme leader chose to send the letter because, according to him, Gorbachev
had “entered, since assuming office, a revisionist phase of the Soviet system.”
“Mr
Gorbachev, you must face the truth: the principal problem of your country is
not the question of property, economy, and liberty, but the lack of true belief
in God. The same problem has led or will lead the West to decadence and
deadlock,” Khomeini wrote in his letter.
Khomeini
said communism had no future “because it’s a materialist school, incapable of
saving man from the crisis of disbelief in spirituality, the most fundamental
suffering of human society in the West and the East.”
The
solution, according to the supreme leader, who himself died five months after
the missive, was Islam.
“I
call on you to seriously study Islam. The high and universal values of Islam
can be the source of comfort and salvation for all nations and resolve the
fundamental problems of humanity,” the letter said.
By
December 1991, Gorbachev would announce his resignation in a televised address,
after communist states in Eastern Europe collapsed one after the other.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Jewish
Google Employee, Ariel Koren, Quits Over 'Silencing' Of Palestinian Coworkers
Google
have not responded to Ariel Koren's claims that she was forced out over her
pro-Palestinian activism [File: Elijah Nouvelage/AFP]
-----
31
August 2022
A
Google employee who had been a vocal critic of the company's billion-dollar
contract with the Israeli military says she plans to quit her job, accusing the
tech giant of retaliating against employees who speak out in support of
Palestine.
Ariel
Koren, a marketing manager for Google's educational products, published a memo
on Medium to colleagues announcing her plan to quit. She also said that the
tech giant tried to retaliate against her for her activism.
"Due
to retaliation, a hostile environment, and illegal actions by the company, I
cannot continue to work at Google and have no choice but to leave the company
at the end of this week," she said in her letter.
"Instead
of listening to employees who want Google to live up to its ethical principles,
Google is aggressively pursuing military contracts and stripping away the
voices of its employees through a pattern of silencing and retaliation towards
me and many others."
Koren,
who is Jewish, spent more than a year organizing against Project Nimbus, a
$1.2-billion agreement for Google and Amazon to supply Israeli military with
cloud and computing services.
In
an online letter posted Tuesday, Koren also complained about what she described
as Google’s treatment of pro-Palestinian employees inside the company. She said
Google does so to protect its business interests with the Israeli regime and
military.
“Google
systematically silences Palestinian, Jewish, Arab, and Muslim voices concerned
about Google’s complicity in violations of Palestinian human rights — to the
point of formally retaliating against workers and creating an environment of
fear,” Koren wrote.
In
her letter, Koren pointed to an internal group called Jewglers that is supposed
to represent all Jewish workers at Google. Instead, she said it is used to
attack workers like her who support the Palestinians.
“In
practice, this group is systemically functioning as an outlet to drive forward
right-wing ideologies under the guise of promoting diversity.”
She
said members of Muslim and Arab groups at Google were also being surveilled by
members of the Jewglers group and were sent aggressive messages.
In
one instance, after Israel launched an airstrike into Gaza, killing hundreds of
Palestinians, Koren said Jewglers demanded Google express support for Israelis.
Company executives including CEO Sundar Pichai ultimately did, she said.
Koren
pointed to an incident when Google employees were invited to virtually tour
Hebron, an Israeli settlement in occupied Palestine. A Jewish worker responded,
asking if the tour would include a conversation of the “ongoing war crimes
committed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian population.” Her
reply was flagged for discrimination, harassment, and bullying, which Koren
said was, in fact, a “simple” message of support for Palestinian human rights.
In
March, the Los Angeles Times reported that said Project Nimbus would facilitate
the surveillance of Palestinians, as well as assist the expansion of Israeli
settlements.
Soon
after voicing her concerns, Koren was told her role was moving to a different
location and that she had 17 days to relocate or lose her job.
Koren’s
departure is just the latest by Google employees who say they’ve either been
sidelined or fired for speaking out about a variety of topics in recent years.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/08/31/688373/Google-Israel-Ariel-Koren
--------
International
Criminal Court Calls For Resumption Of Afghan War Crimes Probe
September 1, 2022
THE
HAGUE: A year into the Taliban’s rule, war crimes prosecutors in The Hague have
urged judges to rule promptly on their request to resume investigations into
atrocities in Afghanistan and warn that crimes are continuing, court documents
showed.
The
International Criminal Court’s Afghanistan investigation has been on hold for
more than two years. In March 2020 the previous Afghan government had asked it
to be suspended while they investigated suspected war crimes themselves.
In
documents released on ICC’s website this week and dated Aug 26, prosecutor
Karim Khan argued Afghanistan’s request to suspend the probe should be
rejected, citing a lack of effort by authorities there to pursue justice in
domestic courts.
He
said the Taliban “have not continued, cannot continue and do not intend to
continue the relevant investigations and prosecutions” that formed the basis of
the request for suspension by the ousted government.
“To
the contrary, the available information suggests that serious crimes within the
jurisdiction of the court (...) continue to be committed,” he added, urging
judges to allow the probe the be “promptly resumed”.
In
September last year, Khan already announced he would ask judges to resume the
probe into crimes by the Taliban and ISIS-K. He added prosecutors would
“deprioritise” looking into suspected crimes by US forces and Afghan government
troops.
In
July, the UN mission in Afghanistan said that the ruling Taliban were
responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and inhumane
punishments in the months since they toppled the previous government and seized
power after Washington’s withdrawal from the country.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1707830/icc-calls-for-resumption-of-afghan-war-crimes-probe
--------
India
Muslim Wrestler, Jumma Dada, Initiated Vadodara's Public Ganesh Festival 120 Years Ago
Sep
1, 2022
VADODARA:
Few know that one of the earliest public celebrations of Ganeshotsav was
initiated by a 107-year-old Muslim wrestler some 120 years ago. Jumma Dada, a
famed wrestler in the erstwhile state of Baroda, started Sarvajanik Ganesh
Mahotsav at his akhaada in 1901 to instill a sense of patriotism and
brotherhood amongst youth.
"Jumma
Dada organized the public Ganesha festival to bring youngsters together and
instill in them a sense of patriotism besides celebrations," Rajendra
Harpale, managing trustee of Prof Manekrao's Jumma Dada Vyayam Mandir told TOI.
City-based
historian Chandrashekhar Patil said, "Jumma Dada was the first to organize
a public Ganesha festival on a large scale to usher in communal harmony and
unity among the people. Before his initiative, some temples used to organize
community Ganesha festivals. His disciple, Prof Manekrao continued the
tradition that lives on even today."
"Freedom
fighter Lokmanya Tilak had started the Sarvajanik Ganesh festival in
Maharashtra. Tilak regularly visited Baroda to meet Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad
III. During his visits, he learnt about Jumma Dada and his activities. Jumma
Dada was inspired by Tilak to start a similar public activity during the
Ganpati festival in the erstwhile Baroda state," Harpale explained.
After
their august meeting, Jumma Dada started a public Ganesh festival at his Vyayam
Mandir that he had established in 1880 in the Baroda state and was immensely
popular among young boys and girls. In fact, Jumma Dada's Vyayam Mandir even
gave shelter to freedom fighters during British rule.
Jumma
Dada also set a tradition of installing a clay idol of Lord Ganesha in the
Vyayam Mandir in 1901, which, interestingly, continues to date.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
After
28 years in Pakistan jail, Kuldeep Yadav returns home in Ahmedabad
Sep
1, 2022
AHMEDABAD:
It was a belated Rakshabandhan gift for Chandkheda-resident Rekha whose brother
Kuldeep Yadav returned to home and hearth after serving 28 years in Pakistan
jail.
Yadav,
now 59, was arrested by Pakistani security agencies in 1994 on charges of
espionage and sentenced to life term.
Yadav
was released last week by the Pakistan Supreme Court and sent to India through
Wagah border on August 28. Rekha used to send his rakhi every year addressed to
Kot Lakhpat jail even when he had gone incommunicado since 2013, hoping and
praying for his safety and well-being.
At
peace to be free finally, Yadav's ordeal, however, is far from over. He is
anxious and worried about his livelihood and has made an emotional appeal to
the government and citizens to help him.
Talking
to reporters, Yadav said, "In 1992, I was sent to Pakistan. After serving
two years on foreign soil, I planned to return to India in June 1994, but
before making it to my motherland, I was picked up by Pakistani agencies in
1994 and produced before a court. For two long years, I was interrogated by
various agencies."
A
Pakistan court sentenced him to life imprisonment in 1996 and since then he was
lodged in Kot-Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
Kuldeep
Yadav also remembers his camaraderie with Sarabjeet Singh of Punjab, who was
also convicted of charges of terrorism and spying. He died following an attack
on him by inmates in the Pakistan jail. “I got a chance to meet the late
Sarbjeet in Kot-Lakhpat jail. The prison authorities used to arrange meetings
between us every fortnight.
Till
Sarabjeet’s death, Pakistani and Indian jail inmates shared the same barracks.
Later, the jail inmates from Pakistan and India were separated,” he said. Last
week, Yadav was received by Indian officials on the Wagah border and escorted
home by a police officer, said his brother Dilip. “It was difficult for us to
recognize him after so long.
The
same was the case with him,” Dilip added. Worried about his future, Yadav said
that he was nearly 60 now and no one would offer him a job. “I have served the
country for 30 years and have nothing left with me. I am dependent on my
younger brother Dilip and sister Rekha. I hope the government treats us like
retired soldiers and gives some compensation.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Muslims,
Christians join Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at N. R. Pura in Chikkamagaluru
SEPTEMBER
01, 2022
Jubeda
has been president of Vinayaka Seva Sangha for last 13 years
Residents
of Rajiv Nagar in N. R. Pura town in Chikkamagaluru have been celebrating the
Ganesha festival involving people from all religions in the organising
committee for the last 13 years.
Jubeda,
a follower of Islam, has been the president of Vinayaka Seva Sangha during
these years. Besides her, the 20-member committee includes three more Muslim
members and two Christians.
The
sangha raises funds for the three-day celebrations from the residents of the
locality. “We don’t raise funds from others. As many as 110 families in the
locality contribute funds and join the celebrations, keeping aside their
religious affiliation”, said Jubeda, who is also president of N. R. Pura Town
Panchayat.
Source:
The Hindu
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
PM Shehbaz Sharif thanks PM Modi for concern over losses caused by massive
floods
Aug
31, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday thanked his Indian
counterpart Narendra Modi for his concern over the human and material losses
caused by the devastating floods, saying his country will overcome the adverse
effects of the natural calamity.
Floods
triggered by unprecedented monsoon rains have caused widespread havoc across
Pakistan, killing over 1,100 people and displacing 33 million or one-seventh of
the country's population.
“I
thank Indian PM Narendra Modi @narendramodi for condolences over the human
& material losses caused by floods. With their characteristic resilience
the people of Pakistan shall, InshaAllah, overcome the adverse effects of this
natural calamity & rebuild their lives and communities,” Sharif said in a
tweet.
I
thank 🇮🇳 PM Narendra Modi @narendramodi
for condolences over the human & material losses caused by floods. With…
https://t.co/uexVAuhyxp
—
Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) 1661959685000
Prime
Minister Modi on Monday said he was saddened to see the devastation caused by
the floods in Pakistan and hoped for an early restoration of normalcy.
"Saddened
to see the devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan. We extend our
heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, the injured and all those
affected by this natural calamity and hope for an early restoration of
normalcy," Modi had tweeted.
Saddened
to see the devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan. We extend our
heartfelt condolences to the famili… https://t.co/2fm5JQnDxY
—
Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 1661782409000
The
two leaders exchanged messages as Pakistan was weighing the option of allowing
imports of essential items from India after floods ravaged vast swathes of
agricultural land, destroying crops.
Finance
Minister Miftah Ismail on Wednesday said that the issue would be discussed with
coalition partners and key stakeholders. The idea to import edible goods from
India was first floated by Ismail on Monday.
Grappling
with unprecedented floods, the cash-strapped Pakistan government on Tuesday
teamed up with the United Nations to issue a flash appeal for $160 million to
deal with the disaster.
Relations
between India and Pakistan have often been strained over the Kashmir issue and
cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
However,
the ties between the two countries nosedived after India abrogated Article 370
of the Constitution, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and
bifurcating the State into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.
India's
decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic
ties and expelled the Indian envoy. India has repeatedly told Pakistan that
Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and shall forever” remain an integral part of the
country.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
'Legal
fight will continue': Karnataka minister, citizens' forum on Bengaluru Idgah
ground matter
31st
August 2022
BENGALURU:
Chamarajpet Idgah ground here is actually a "public property" and the
legal fight over its ownership will continue in the courts, Karnataka Revenue
Minister R Ashoka said on Tuesday, following the Supreme Court refusing to
grant permission for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations there, and ordering status
quo.
He
said the government will abide by the court order.
"People
of Chamarajpet and Bengaluru were eager to celebrate Ganesha festival at the
ground, but the Supreme Court has ordered status quo. We will fight legally in
the courts, in the days to come," Ashoka said.
The
ground is currently under the control of the state Revenue Department.
The
Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant permission for Ganesh Chaturthi
celebrations at Idgah ground and ordered status quo on land by both parties.
A
three-judge bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee asked the parties to
approach the Karnataka High Court for the resolution of the dispute.
The
top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Karnataka Waqf Board challenging
the order of the High Court.
A
division bench of the Karnataka High Court on August 26 permitted the state
government to consider and pass appropriate orders on the applications received
by the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru (Urban) seeking the use of Idgah ground
at Chamarajpet.
Chamarajpet
Nagarikara Okkoota Vedike, a citizens' forum, that wanted to organise the
festival at the ground said they will abide by the order, but will fight the
ownership issue legally.
"After
the Supreme Court order there is no question of installing Ganesh idol there
(Idgah ground), the government will also not allow it. Everyone has to obey the
Supreme Court order," Ramegowda of Chamarajpet Nagarikara Okkoota Vedike
said.
However,
Karnataka State Board of Auqaf Chairman Moulana Shafi Saadi in New Delhi said,
the Supreme Court order is a welcome one, as it doesn't allow attempts to
disturb Hindu-Muslim unity, because of Chamrajpet Idgah ground issue.
"The
Supreme Court has upheld the Places of Worship Act of 1991 and has ordered
status quo. I want to tell Hindu brothers that Karnataka's Muslims are not
against Ganesha festival celebrations, Islam does not preach opposing other's
religious practices," he said, maintaining that Idgah is a Waqf property
where Muslims have performed Namaz for 200 years.
Police
have made tight security arrangements in and around Idgah ground at
Chamarajpet, ahead of the Supreme Court hearing the matter today and had even
held a "route march".
A
Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka on August 26 had modified an
interim order of a single judge bench on the Chamrajpet Idgah playground
dispute, saying religious and cultural activities can be allowed by the
government there, but for a limited period from August 31.
Earlier,
the court on August 25 had ordered that the two-acre land should be used only
as a playground and Muslims should be allowed to pray there on only two
festivals -- Bakrid and Ramzan -- till the case was disposed of.
The
Joint Commissioner (west) of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had
recently ruled that the property belonged to the Revenue Department following
the civic body's Chief Commissioner's directions to verify the ownership of the
land.
However,
the Karnataka State Board of AUQAF and District Waqf Officer, Bengaluru
challenged the order of the Joint Commissioner before the Single Judge of the HC.
The
original property dispute dates back to 1955 and the Supreme Court had ruled in
favour of the Waqf in 1965.
The
decades-old dispute over Idgah Maidan had once again come to the fore earlier
this year, when some Hindu outfits sought BBMP's permission to hold events
there.
This
resulted in two contrary sets of documents emerging -- the Karnataka State
Board of Auqaf presented a 1965 gazette notifying the land as Wakf property and
the 1974 City Survey records and all other civic records thereafter showed the
land to be a playground.
In
the meantime, following the BBMP order, several Hindu organisations announced
they would celebrate Independence Day on the ground.
Also,
local Congress MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan had announced they would go ahead and
hoist the tricolour there.
However,
the State Revenue Department organised the Independence Day event and an
assistant commissioner-rank official hoisted the flag on August 15 for the
first time at the Idgah ground.
the
Chamarajpet citizens' forum, a group that wanted to organise the festival there
on Tuesday said they will abide by the order, but will fight the ownership
issue legally.
They
said they will not install Ganesha idol anywhere else this time, as their goal
was to do it at the ground, and shall wait for that day to come.
"After
the Supreme Court order there is no question of installing Ganesh idol there
(Idgah ground), the government will also not allow it. Everyone has to obey the
Supreme Court order," Ramegowda of Chamarajpet Nagarikara Okkoota Vedike
said.
Speaking
to reporters, he said, people had expected to celebrate the festival at the
ground this time, but are now naturally "disappointed".
"But,
we will not stop, we will fight legally. The Supreme Court has not decided on
the ownership of the land, it has asked to maintain the status quo. Even if the
government don't come forward to fight this case, we will appoint an advocate
and fight the case to prove that Waqf board doesn't have ownership of the land
and will install Ganesha idol there some day," he added.
The
Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant permission for Ganesh Chaturthi
celebrations at Idgah Maidan and ordered status quo on land by both parties.
A
three-judge bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee asked the parties to
approach the Karnataka High Court for the resolution of the dispute.
The
top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Karnataka Waqf Board challenging
the order of the High Court.
A
division bench of the Karnataka High Court on August 26 permitted the state
government to consider and pass appropriate orders on the applications received
by the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru (Urban) seeking the use of Idgah Maidan
at Chamarajpet.
Karnataka
State Board Of Auqaf Chairman Moulana Shafi Saadi in New Delhi said, the supreme
court order is a welcome one, as it don't allow attempts to disturb
Hindu-Muslim unity, because of Chamrajpet Idgah ground issue.
"The
Supreme Court has upheld the Places of Worship Act of 1991 and has ordered
status quo. I want to tell Hindu brothers that Karnataka's Muslims are not
against Ganesha festival celebrations, Islam does not preach opposing other's
religious practices," he said, maintaining that Idgah is a Waqf property
where Muslims have performed Namaz for 200 years.
Police
have made tight security arrangements in and around Idgah ground at
Chamarajpet, ahead of the Supreme Court hearing the matter today and had even
held a "route march".
A
Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka on August 26 had modified an
interim order of a single judge bench on the Chamrajpet Idgah playground
dispute, saying religious and cultural activities can be allowed by the
government there, but for a limited period from August 31.
Earlier,
the court on August 25 had ordered that the two-acre land should be used only
as a playground and Muslims should be allowed to pray there on only two
festivals -- Bakrid and Ramzan -- till the case was disposed of.
Noting
that no such function as Ganesh Chaturthi was organised at Idgah Maidan for the
past 200 years, the top court asked the parties to approach the Karnataka High
Court for the resolution of the dispute.
In
a special hearing held at 4:45 pm, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Indira
Banerjee observed that the pooja be held somewhere else.
"The
writ petition is pending before the Single Bench of the High Court and has been
fixed for hearing on September 23, 2022. All questions/issues may be agitated
in the High Court."
"In
the meanwhile, status quo, as of date, with regard to the land in question
shall be maintained by both the parties. The special leave petitions are,
accordingly, disposed of," the bench also comprising Justices Abhay S Oka
and M M Sundresh said.
The
top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Central Muslim Association of
Karnataka and Karnataka Waqf Board challenging the order of the High Court.
A
division bench of the Karnataka High Court on August 26 permitted the state
government to consider and pass appropriate orders on the applications received
by the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru (Urban) seeking the use of Idgah Maidan
at Chamarajpet.
Earlier
in the day, Chief Justice of India U U Lalit constituted a three-judge bench to
hear a plea by the Karnataka Waqf Board and Central Muslim Association of
Karnataka challenging the High Court's order which allowed the use of Idgah
Maidan in Bengaluru for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.
The
order came after a two-judge bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu
Dhulia referred the issue to CJI citing a difference of opinion.
Senior
advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, submitted before the
three-judge bench that it is an admitted position that no religious function
has been performed of any other community at the Idgah Maidan for the last 200
years.
Sibal
said Idgah is Waqf's property and there is an attempt to change the character
of Maidan.
"The
Supreme Court judgement established that Muslims were in possession and that it
was an Idgah and that the municipal corporation had no right over the same. We
don't speak of politics in court but this reeks of something. What is the
atmosphere being created? Suddenly they say it is the Bruhat Bengaluru
Mahanagara Palike ground?" he said.
At
this, the bench asked, "If the grievance is only against Ganesh Chaturthi
or any other function as well."
Sibal
replied that they have an objection against the use of the land for any other
purpose.
Senior
advocate Dushyant Dave, also appearing for the petitioners, argued that Muslims
have the right to administer their waqf property and the state government
cannot interfere.
"My
lords, don't give the impression to religious minorities that their rights can
be trampled," he said.
Senior
advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the state government, said that for the
past 200 years, the Idgah land was used as a playground for children and all
revenue entries are in the name of the State.
He
said the Waqf Board is not in "exclusive possession" of the Idgah
land.
"What
is that the High Court has done? Every part of this country you have festivals.
In Bengal, you have Durga Puja, in Maharashtra, roads are closed for Ganesh
Chaturthi. One should be broad-minded. What is going to happen if Ganesh
Chaturthi is allowed for two days," he submitted adding that "Can
somebody say no because it is a Hindu festival?" Dave suddenly got up and
asked.
"I
wonder if, in any temple in this country, a minority community will be allowed
for prayers."
Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta, also appearing for the State, made a proposal to allow
Ganesh Puja for two days and said the rest of the issues can be decided later.
Mehta
said the state government would undertake to take care of the law and order
situation in the area.
Dave
again interjected and said, "Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister had also given
an assurance to this court but Babri mosque was still demolished."
The
apex court sought to know if any preparations have been done at the land for
the celebrations tomorrow.
Rohatgi
replied negatively.
The
division bench of the high court had said that religious and cultural
activities can be allowed by the government there, but for a limited period
from August 31.
The
Single Judge had ordered that the 2-acre of land should be used only as a
playground and Muslims should be allowed to pray there on only two festivals-
Bakrid and Ramzan- till the case was disposed of.
The
Hindu organisations sought permission for holding the Ganesh Chaturthi festival
at the maidan.
The
Joint Commissioner (west) of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had
ruled that the property belonged to the Revenue Department following the civic
body's Chief Commissioner's directions to verify the ownership of the land.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
After
Amroha cattle killing horror, Muslim man electrocutes cows at gaushala in
Maharashtra
August
31, 2022
Jalna:
In a horrifying incident, a Muslim man electrocuted 10 cows at a ‘gaushala’ in
Maharashtra’s Jalna.
The
accused has been identified as Latif Sheikh, according to Organiser Weekly.
Four
of the 10 cows electrocuted were pregnant. The report further stated that the
gaushala had 19 cows and six calves which were regularly fed by the villagers.
This
comes after a Muslim man was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for feeding
green millet fodder laced with nitrate to hundreds of cows. Mohammad Tahir,
food supplier and the main accused for poisoning the animal, was arrested days
after 61 bovines died and several others were allegedly taken ill after
allegedly consuming poisonous fodder in a gaushala (cow shelter) at Santhalpur
village in Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh.
Mohammad
Tahir was arrested from Adampur area. A reward of Rs 50,000 was announced by
the police on him.
Back
then, Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister Gulabo Devi had said that the National
Security Act (NSA) would be invoked against those found guilty.
The
Department of Animal Husbandry, Uttar Pradesh, had ordered officials to
minimise or avoid use of green fodder to stray cattle in gaushalas.
Source:
Firstpost
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South Asia
Prime
Minister: Bombing, Bloodshed Ended Since Islamic Emirate Takeover
September
1, 2022
KABUL:
Large number of people on Wednesday celebrated August 31 during separate
gatherings in several provinces of the country.
The
Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammad Hassan
Akhund at a huge gathering to celebrate the first anniversary of the victory of
the Islamic Emirate on Wednesday said: “I congratulate all mothers who lost their
children, the orphans who lost their father and the Mujahidin who sacrificed
their lives for the freedom of Afghanistan on this honorable day.”
During
a gathering, the prime minister congratulated this day to Mujahidin who have
sacrificed their lives or lost members of their bodies in Jihad. PM said the
aspirations of Jihad are not wasted.
Mujahidin
should not forget the nation, focus on following Islamic rules and work for the
development of the country and the nation.
“You
are the people of Jihad who fought the occupation for 20 years, thank Allah,
and do not be mistaken by the rumors and propaganda of those who have brought
nothing but pain and suffering to the nation,” he added.
The
Islamic Emirate said that the world should come to negotiations for resolving
problems instead of making excuses for creating more problems, the IEA Prime
Minister said adding the Islamic Emirate was ready to talk with them.
In
the meeting which was attended by wide number of government authorities
including former government officials, jihadi leaders and influential figures,
the country’s acting Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoub inspected the
Islamic Emirate’s air and ground military units’ parades and praised their
sacrifices for the restoration of the Islamic system.
Also,
the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid spoke
in the grand ceremony, congratulated the day to the Mujahidin of the Islamic
Emirate and the entire people of Afghanistan and said: “The last U.S. troops
left Afghanistan on August 31, the same day last year.”
Source:
The Kabul Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://thekabultimes.gov.af/bombing-bloodshed-ended-since-islamic-emirate-takeover-pm/
--------
Islamic
Emirate Forces Celebrate Anniversary of US Withdrawal
September
1, 2022
The
Islamic Emirate forces took to the streets of Kabul to celebrate the first
anniversary of the withdrawal of the last American forces from Afghanistan.
Some
members of the Islamic Emirate said Afghanistan would take several years to
reach “freedom."
“A
home could be not fixed properly in one year, so this is now a whole country.
We hope God help us to recover the trade and economy in the country,” said
Hamdullah, a member of the Islamic Emirate.
Meanwhile,
residents of Kabul praised the proper security in the country but said that
economic challenges have rapidly increased.
They
said that there are major problems that need to be solved.
“If
the Islamic Emirate controls the economic situation, there will be no other
problems in Afghanistan,” said Abdul Ghafar, a resident of Kabul.
“The
poor should be considered and provided with assistance,” said Hafizullah, a
resident of Kabul.
Source:
Tolo News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-179642
--------
A
year since US pullout: How Taliban 2.0 has changed Afghanistan
Aug
31, 2022
NEW
DELHI: A year ago today, Taliban fighters celebrated joyously as the last
American troops were boarding their flights back home.
"The
last American soldier left Kabul airport at 9pm Afghan time and our country
gained full independence, Alhamdulillah Walmana," Taliban spokesperson
Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted in the early hours of August 31, 2021.
The
historic visual (see below) of Major General Chris Donahue boarding the final
US military flight out of Afghanistan marked an official end to America's
two-decade-long bloody war in Afghanistan.
But
the war within the country never stopped. In fact, it only got worse.
Living
in fear
In
the year since America's pullout, the Taliban have tightened their grip on
power in Afghanistan and now control every sphere of life, directly or
indirectly.
As
a result, the lives of Afghans have deteriorated significantly.
The
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan government has imposed various restrictions on women,
media and other aspects of life.
Compared
to their first reign, the Taliban did adopt some positive changes.
Afghans
now have access to televisions, can watch cricket matches at stadiums and women
journalists are allowed to interview government officials — something that was
unthinkable during Taliban's first reign.
However,
most of these changes are superficial.
Their
trigger-happy foot soldiers roam freely in public, imposing their reign of
terror and thrashing — sometimes even killing — people on mere suspicion or no
reason at all.
There
have been several reports of Taliban gunmen beating women protesters, hounding
journalists and killing members of ethnic tribes.
A
recent report in Guardian said that Taliban once beat girls "just for
smiling and talking too loud."
Moreover,
some cracks have also opened within Taliban's ranks over the crucial question
of just how much reform their leaders can tolerate.
The
group's hardline core, composed of battle-hardened veteran fighters, is against
any significant ideological change that could be viewed as a sign of
capitulation to their enemies in the West.
"You
have one (Taliban) camp, which is pushing ahead with what they're seeing as
reforms, and another camp that seems to think even these meagre reforms are too
much," said Ibraheem Bahiss, an Afghanistan analyst with International
Crisis Group.
Without
significant progress, it is the Afghan people who suffer as the country reels
under a massive economic crisis that has seen some families choose between
selling their organs or their infant daughters.
A
year on, no recognition still
After
their lightning takeover of Afghanistan last year, Taliban 2.0 went on a PR
overdrive to convince the world that they are more moderate and tolerant than
before.
The
agenda was clear: they wanted diplomatic recognition which would have helped
them steer the country out of a growing economic crisis.
The
United States and its allies — which had bankrolled Afghanistan for 20 years —
have locked the country out of the global banking system and billions in frozen
assets abroad.
Without
recognition, Taliban won't be able to access these funds or enter into any
bilateral partnership with another country.
The
US had repeatedly made it clear that no legitimacy is possible unless the
Taliban reverse their restrictions on women and induct representatives of other
ethnic Afghan groups into the government.
And
that is yet to happen.
The
Biden administration recently said that it's too early to consider recognition
for Taliban even as some countries are beginning a very slow process of
normalisation of relations.
Unlike
last time, even Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and UAE have not yet formally recognised
Taliban rule.
Meanwhile,
the Taliban continue to staunchly defend their restrictions on women and other
policies, saying they are strictly in line with Afghan culture and Sharia.
Hibatullah
Akhundzada, the Taliban’s hardline supreme leader, said recently he would run
the country in accordance with Sharia and won't compromise.
Terror
on Afghan soil
US's
killing of dreaded al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri at his Kabul hideout this
month busted Taliban's assurances that they won't allow terror groups to
operate on Afghan soil.
Though
US proved that it's still able to eliminate terrorists in Afghanistan despite
pulling out its troops on the ground, Zawahiri's killing did raise critical
questions about Taliban's own commitment against terror.
"The
location of the Zawahri hit makes for terrible optics for the Taliban and
exposes its hubris ... he was killed in a house belonging to a senior aide to
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting Taliban minister of interior and leader of the
powerful Haqqani faction of the Taliban.
"This
exposes both the Taliban’s and Sirajuddin’s duplicity, and the strong,
persistent affinity between al-Qaida and the Taliban," said Vanda
Felbab-Brown, an organized crime expert at Brookings Institution.
Earlier
this year, the United Nations sanctions monitor had warned that al-Qaeda
"enjoys greater freedom in Afghanistan" under Taliban.
While
Taliban are actively fighting against ISIK (Islamic State in Khorasan), their
principal enemy, they seem to look the other way when it comes to other terror
groups, including the most dreaded: al-Qaida.
Moreover,
Taliban have also not been able to stop groups like TTP from attacking
Pakistan, exposing their limits in preventing external threats emanating from
Afghanistan.
Plunging
Pakistan ties
Pakistan
has facilitated the Taliban rebellion for the last 20 years which ultimately
resulted in the recapturing of the country.
Last
year, Pakistanis celebrated Taliban's hostile take over of Afghanistan with
then Pakistan PM Imran Khan declaring Afghans had broken the "shackles of
slavery."
Pakistan's
involvement in Taliban's affairs was more apparent than ever when then ISI
chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed dashed to Kabul amid reports of infighting
in Taliban. "Everything will be okay," he had said confidently during
his visit.
But
one year later, enthusiasm for Taliban rule waned among most Pakistanis who had
supported it.
Since
assuming power, the Taliban leaders have drifted away from Pakistan by
challenging the status of the Durand Line (Afghan-Pakistan border) and
providing a safe haven to the anti-Pakistan insurgent group the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban.
TTP
has launched a wave of terror attacks against Pakistan, killing thousands of
Pakistanis over the year. They seek to establish a Taliban-style,
Shariah-compliant state in Pakistan.
But
despite Pakistan's protests, the Taliban have been weary about going against
groups like TTP. In fact, they have been accused of covertly supporting them.
Taliban's
refusal to act as a compliant neighbour has greatly irked Pakistan, severely
impacting ties between the two.
Closer
ties with India?
While
Pakistan is losing its grip on Taliban leadership amid friction in ties, India
is slowly, but surely, gaining a foothold in Afghanistan.
In
the last few months, India supplied several consignments of humanitarian aid to
Afghanistan.
Recently,
the Indian embassy in Kabul resumed operations after suspending its office
since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
The
Taliban said India's diplomatic presence in Afghanistan would result in the
completion of "unfinished projects" that India had initiated and the
commencement of new ones.
Trade
between the countries has also flourished of late.
Earlier
in August, China’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, visited India
and held discussions with officials on the security situation and humanitarian
aid in Afghanistan.
This
was the first such trip by a Chinese special envoy on Afghanistan as Beijing
recognised India as an important stakeholder in the war-hit country.
India
has not dithered from its position that it wants an inclusive government in
Afghanistan that ensures that Afghanistan soil is not used as a safe haven for
terrorists. Pretty much in line with what US seeks to achieve in the country.
With
a cautious return to Kabul, New Delhi can maintain its ear to the ground and
retain its role as a key stakeholder in Afghanistan. More importantly, it will
help India keep a check on Pakistan-based terror groups using Afghan soil to
pose a threat to India.
China's
conundrum
In
the early days following the Taliban takeover, China was one of the first
countries to reach out to Afghanistan's hardline rulers.
As
US moved its troops out of Afghanistan, China saw a big opportunity in
mineral-rich Afghanistan. The outreach was mutual since Taliban also wanted
China's support to get recognition on the global stage.
However,
with Taliban failing to find any legitimacy, including from China, the plan
went into cold storage.
A
year on, China has only managed to offer economic support to Afghanistan
without the coveted gift of diplomatic recognition.
Amid
large-scale security and logistical challenges, China is finding it difficult
to keep its economic interests alive in the war-torn country. Two of its
existing projects in Afghanistan are also in limbo due to the unstable
situation in the country.
China
has also been lobbying for Taliban authority at international forums and
betting on Afghanistan getting official recognition from countries. Without it,
China won't be able to do business in the country.
Michael
Kugelman, the deputy director of the Asia Program, told Voice of America, that
the "cordiality" between China and the Taliban should not be viewed
as a prelude to recognition.
"China
is still a long way off from that, and it's unlikely to take that step unless
several other countries do first, or at the same time," he said.
He
said that Beijing will be comfortable in engaging with the Taliban if China
concludes it is safe on the ground.
Without
political stability and recognition, China's interests in Afghanistan will
remain largely diplomatic, not economic.
Russia's
ties with Taliban 2.0
Russia,
more than any other country, has had a long and bloody history with Taliban.
As
USSR, the Russians fought Taliban for several years before they were defeated
and thrown out of the country — with the help of Pakistan and US — in 1992.
But
a lot has changed since the early 1990s. After the Taliban came back to power
last year, Russia sought to approach its ties with Afghanistan differently, one
in which they would emerge as "winners" unlike last time.
Years
after the dust settled on the Soviet-Afghan war, Moscow made a comeback as an
influential power broker in international talks on Afghanistan.
It
worked continuously to cultivate ties with the Taliban, hosting their
representatives for a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings.
In
fact, when Taliban were taking over, Russia said it wouldn't evacuate its
embassy in Kabul, and its ambassador quickly met with the Taliban for what he
described as "constructive" talks after they captured Kabul.
Not
surprisingly, Russia was seeking to emerge as a key partner in Afghanistan to
ensure that Taliban wouldn't threaten the interests of Moscow and ex-Soviet
allies in Central Asia.
However,
things have changed quite a bit since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
With
Kremlin now invested heavily in its 6-month-long war with Kyiv, Russia's
interests in Afghanistan took a backseat.
Afghanistan,
too, has remained cold on diplomatic ties with Russia. Earlier this year, its
representatives in the UN voted for a resolution denouncing Russia's war
against Ukraine. Though Afghanistan was represented by the ambassador of the
previously elected democratic government, not Taliban.
Nevertheless,
with Russia's occupation of eastern Ukraine, Taliban would be careful not to
seek support from an international pariah like Russia.
"The
Taliban would have serious reservations about cozying up to Russia, even in a
time of need, when the Russian assault on Ukraine is looking more and more like
the Soviet Union’s devastating occupation of Afghanistan," said Scott
Worden, director of Afghanistan and Central Asia Programs, in an article on US
Institute of Peace (USIP).
Keeping
ear to the ground
America
may have pulled its troops out of Afghanistan but is seeking to keep its ear to
the ground and maintain its presence in the conflict-ridden Middle East and
Central Asian regions.
The
US is seeking key alliances to remain a vital player in the region while not
getting its own military entangled.
Recently,
the I2U2 group of countries, ‘I2’ standing for India and Israel and ‘U2’
representing US and UAE, held their first summit level virtual meet in July.
The
alliance, which is dubbed the "West Asia Quad", is aimed at promoting
joint investments in six mutually determined areas such as water, energy,
transport, space, health and food security. Though unlike Quad, which comprises
US, India, Australia and Japan, I2U2 does not include cooperation in the areas
of defence and security.
However,
analysts consider the alliance as part of US efforts to counter China in West
and South Asia.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Taliban
Says Pressure and Sanctions against Afghans Have Failed
By
Saqalain Eqbal
31
Aug 2022
In
a statement released on the first anniversary of the “country’s freedom from
the American occupation,” the Taliban claimed that the day marked the victory
of their 20-year Jihad against the “American occupiers” and stated that
pressure policies and sanctions against the Afghan people had not only failed
but had made matters worse.
The
Taliban government’s spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said on the first
anniversary of the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan that people
should “understand the significance and importance of this triumph” and “build
a sound and stable Islamic system” with continuous efforts.
According
to the Taliban Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Taliban has declared
Wednesday, August 31, a public holiday in celebration of the day the last US
soldier left Afghanistan, concluding the US military withdrawal from
Afghanistan.
After
a year of Taliban rule, no country has yet recognized the Taliban. In addition,
the group has not been able to achieve legitimacy inside the country either.
The
Taliban seek legitimacy and recognition based on their territorial dominance
rather than by maintaining the norms and values of the international community,
according to Markus Potzel, the Acting Special Representative of the UN
Secretary-General for Afghanistan.
Potzel
briefed the UN Security Council, where the Chargé d’Affaires of Afghanistan
Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Naseer Ahmad Faiq also spoke on the
current situation of Afghanistan.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-says-pressure-and-sanctions-against-afghans-have-failed-264744/
--------
U.S.
Prevents Int’l Community to Recognize Taliban: Mujahid
By
Arif Ahmadi
01
Sep 2022
KABUL,
Afghanistan – Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid in an interview
with TOLOnews on Wednesday said that Washington has been preventing the
international community from recognizing the caretaker government of
Afghanistan.
This
came at a time the Taliban leadership continue to push for formal recognition
since the takeover last August, but the world leaders – including international
community – put upfront conditions before approving such an autonomy to the
well-known terrorist group.
“They
have been defeated here and suffered a lot of human and financial loss and were
politically damaged,” Muhahid said, as local media quoted.
Addressing
the need for world’s cooperation, the spokesman said recognizing the Islamic
Emirate as the independent government is in the interest of both Afghanistan
and the region, adding political and economic engagement is key to success.
“In
such a situation, they might not be ready to engage but there is a need for
both sides,” Mujahid explains. “They would benefit from it and it is in the
interest of Afghanistan and the region.”
Meanwhile,
the spokesperson said they want to have an official interaction with the
international community, which is their legal right as an independent
government and that should not harmed by any means.
“This
is our right and no one should look down at our independence and should not
inflict damage on us,” Mujahid said. “They may recognize us as an independent
country and should engage officially within the world’s norms.”
Addressing
a widespread demand for an inclusive government in Afghanistan, the Taliban
spokesman said it is an interference with the country’s internal affairs,
exclaiming the time for negotiation is over the moment foreign troops withdrew.
“Its
time (for negotiation) has passed. We were saying to solve the issue via
negotiations before military actions and solve it via agreement, thus the
situation would have been better now,” he said.
Last
month, ambassador of the European Union for Afghanistan Andreas Von Brandt, at
a meeting in the European Parliament, drew attention to the increasing hunger
crisis in Afghanistan, saying there is consensus on non-recognition of the
Taliban government in Western world.
According
to Brandt, the world is trying to provide humanitarian assistance to the people
of Afghanistan, not to the de facto government, exclaiming the consensus of the
international community is that the Islamic Emirate should not be given formal
recognition.
“We
have a very cautious approach…and I think …if there are a few good things at
the moment it is, that there is the tremendous consensus on the non-recognition
in the entire Western world and I actually don’t see that changing in the near
future,” he said, as TOLOnews quoted.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/u-s-prevents-intl-community-to-recognize-taliban-mujahid/
--------
China
blasts 'wealthy' US for illegally occupying 'poor' Syria, plundering its
resources
31
August 2022
A
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman has denounced the illegal presence of US
military forces in Syria, saying Washington’s continued looting of the war-torn
country’s energy and mineral resources has only exacerbated the suffering of
the Syrian people.
“It
is appalling to see the sheer scale of US plundering in Syria, which has been
going on as the country tries to emerge from a crisis that has dragged on for
over a decade and a grave humanitarian crisis facing its people," Zhao
Lijian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
"There
is no greater injustice than the world’s wealthiest country robbing one of the
poorest,” he hastened to add.
The
spokesperson stressed that the US aerial attacks across Syria have resulted in
a high number of civilian casualties and immeasurable economic loss, and
displaced more than 12 million people.
“Just
last week, the US military launched another round of airstrikes in eastern
Syria in a string of violations against Syria’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity,” Zhao noted, referring to the August 26 attack in Deir al-Zour
province.
The
spokesman decried harsh US economic sanctions on Syria, arguing that the bans
have cut the Syrian nation off basic necessities of life and seriously
obstructed the country’s economic development and reconstruction.
“US
troops control Syria’s oil, natural gas and other natural resources. They continue
to occupy Syria’s main oil fields and have plundered more than 80% of the
country’s oil products. They have smuggled and burned Syria’s grain stock,
exacerbating the humanitarian crisis there,” Zhao stressed.
“The
US should thoroughly reflect on its war-related crimes, stop its illegal
military presence and operations in Syria, lift unilateral sanctions on Syria,
and stop stealing oil and grain from Syria. The US needs to return to Syrian
people the freedom, wealth and dignity that are rightfully theirs."
The
US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern
Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing
the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
Damascus,
however, maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country’s natural
resources. Former US president Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that
American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.
On
Monday, Iran’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations said the
United States has unlawfully stationed its military in the energy-rich
northeastern part of Syria under the pretext of "combating
terrorism", urging an end to the US occupation of Syria and its support
for terrorism.
Zahra
Ershadi made the remarks at a United Nations Security Council meeting on the
situation in the Middle East (Syria) in New York.
“The
United States’ presence in the northeast of Syria under the pretext of
combating terrorism is a clear violation of the UN Charter, international law,
and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria,” Ershadi remarked.
“It
is the United States that is working with the terrorist groups in Syria and
destabilizing peace and security in the region. The United States must cease
its violation of international law and the UN Charter by ending its continuing
support for terrorist groups and occupation of the northeastern part of Syria.”
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
Iran
Urges Western Gov'ts to Stop Terrorists' Exemption from Punishment
2022-August-31
Kazem
Gharibabadi is the Vice-President of the Judiciary for International Affairs
and the Secretary-General of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
The
office warned that following more than seven decades of ratification of the
Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the world public are being affected by extremism, hatred, and violence.
If
once world wars were the main reason behind deaths of millions of human beings
throughout the world, nowadays it has been replaced by terrorism, which causes
deaths of thousands of innocent people, the statement added.
The
malicious phenomenon of terrorism as the instrumental use of the phenomenon by
certain states has caused deaths of innocent people in different places around
the world every day, it warned, noting that terrorism has never been in a
unified framework, but it has showcased new appearances for instance by the use
of drones in terrorism, bioterrorism, and cyber-terrorism.
The
classification of terrorism into good and bad sorts is a kind of misuse of the
phenomenon to distort rival’s mindsets, whitewash terrorism, and grant
exemption to terrorists, while their crimes will never be subject to expiration
based on international criminal law, the statement read.
The
Islamic Republic of Iran is considered the main victim of terrorism in the
world, it mentioned, arguing that the assassination of more than 17k innocent
people within four decades, as well as the assassination of Iranian scientists
and important figures, in particular Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, are
among the blatant instances of terrorism engineering against Iran.
Nowadays,
Western countries especially the US have turned into a safe-haven hideout for
terrorist groups such as the MEK and these governments provide the terrorists
with political, security, information, technical, financial, and media support,
the statement added.
The
Iranian Judiciary Human Rights Headquarter strongly condemned all sorts of
terrorism and fervently opposed policies of certain Western countries like the
US, who attempt to classify terrorism into good and bad.
Iran
considers the Counter-Terrorism Day as the day of scrutinizing and holding
accountable governments backing terrorism.
Referring
to the UN Charter, it added that the Islamic Republic of Iran expresses
readiness to coordinate with its neighboring states at a geographical level and
that it is determined to conduct an inclusive and purposeful fight against the
malicious phenomenon in West Asia.
August
30 has been designated as Counter-Terrorism Day because it coincides with the
assassination of the then Iranian president, prime minister, and their
entourage in Tehran in 1981.
The
bombing of the prime minister’s office was carried out by anti-Iran elements,
who had connections with certain Western governments in a bid to target
democratic pillars of the new-born establishment of the Islamic Republic of
Iran.
In
a relevent development in February, Deputy Chief of the Iranian Judiciary and
head of the country's Human Rights Headquarters Kazzem Qaribabadi said that it
is shameful for members of the European Parliament to turn a blind eye to the
crimes committed by the anti-Iran Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO also
known as MEK, NCRI or PMOI) terrorist group.
Qaribabadi
lashed out at the European Parliament for supporting the MKO and referring to
it as “political opponents”.
It
is shameful for members of the European Parliament to pursue their own
political interests and turn a blind eye to the crimes committed by the MKO,
which has killed over 12,000 innocent Iranians and still continues its
terrorist activities while freely traveling through European countries, he
said.
“The
Europeans should know that as their support for the ISIL has backfired on them
in a way that more than 4,000 ISIL members were European citizens and created
insecurity for them, their support for the MKO will equally be costly,”
Qaribabadi said.
He
added that the US and Europe have committed the most heinous crimes against
Iran by supporting terrorist groups, sheltering them and excluding them from
the list of terrorist groups as well as imposing or implementing unlawful and
oppressive sanctions.
“The
European Parliament and European countries must stand accountable for their
human rights violations against Iranians. They are in no position to preach
others in the field of human rights,” Qaribabadi stated.
He
also denounced the recent European Parliament resolution on the death penalty
in Iran, saying it is based on political goals and fails to represent the
existing realities in the country.
"This
resolution encompasses distorted and fabricated issues and is not consistent
with the existing realities in Iran, but it has been prepared with completely
political purposes."
The
Iranian official said the execution penalty is being implemented in 55
countries throughout the world and urged the European Parliament and European
countries to respect other nations’ laws and cultural diversity when it comes
to human rights issues.
According
to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the death penalty
is permissible when it comes to capital crimes, he said, criticizing the
Europeans for imposing their own standards on other countries in contradiction
to their sovereignty.
Europeans
must learn to respect national sovereignty of other countries and know that
they cannot support their criminal citizens and demand their release through
threats, the Iranian official said.
Reports
said in December that several members of the MKO terrorist group were detained
in Europe for money laundering and drug and human trafficking.
Albanian
newspaper 'Exit' reported that a document, addressed to a foreign diplomatic
recipient, bearing the signature and stamp of the Director of the Criminal
Police Department in the State Police, gives details of a serious rap sheet of
offences, reportedly involving MKO members.
It
added that two MKO members, along with their Albanian and Greek accomplices,
were apprehended for direct involvement in human trafficking. On 11 July 2021,
police stopped a car carrying Syrian, Iraqi, and Kurdish citizens. Further
investigations led to the arrest of the main gang members.
Based
on the document, it was discovered that between 2019 and 2021, the same
smuggling gang attempted to transfer some 400 members of MKO from Albania to
France.
Meantime,
on 18 July 2021, a consignment of drugs was seized by the police and two MKO
senior officials, Narges Abrishamchi and Hassan Nayeb-Aqa, were arrested. It is
reported in the official document they confessed to playing a pivotal role in
organizing and transporting a shipment of drugs to Italy.
This
pattern of criminality, according to an official source who wished to remain
anonymous, told 'Exit', dates back to 2015. The documents and the source claim
that information on these crimes has also been handed over to the US embassy in
Tirana.
'Exit'
contacted the US embassy to comment but no formal response has been given.
The
MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international
community. Its members fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where they received support
from then dictator Saddam Hussein.
The
notorious outfit has carried out numerous attacks against Iranian civilians and
government officials for several decades.
In
2012, the US State Department removed the MKO from its list of designated
terrorist organizations under intense lobbying by groups associated to Saudi
regime and other regimes adversarial to Iran.
A
few years ago, MKO members were relocated from their Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s
Diyala Province to Camp Hurriyet (Camp Liberty), a former US military base in
Baghdad, and were later sent to Albania.
Those
members, who have managed to escape, have revealed MKO's scandalous means of
access to money, almost exclusively coming from Riyadh.
The
MKO terrorist group specified the targets as martyred Lieutenant General Qassem
Soleimani, who commanded the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
(IRGC), and Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi.
The
terrorist organization said it would “welcome” their assassination, adding that
it desired for the ranking officials to “join” Asadollah Lajevardi, Tehran’s
former chief prosecutor, and Ali Sayyad-Shirazi, a former commander of the
Iranian Army’s Ground Forces during Iraq’s 1980-88 war against Iran.
Earlier
in June 2019, a leaked audio of a phone conversation between two members of
MKO, revealed Saudi regime has colluded with the MKO elements to frame Iran for
the tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf.
In
the audio, which is being released by the Iran Front Page for the first time,
Shahram Fakhteh, an official member and the person in charge of MKO’s cyber
operations, is heard talking with a US-based MKO sympathizer named
Daei-ul-Eslam in Persian, IFP news reported.
In
this conversation, the two elements discuss the MKO’s efforts to introduce Iran
as the culprit behind the tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf, and how the Saudis
contacted them to pursue the issue.
“In
the past week we did our best to blame the [Iranian] regime for the (oil
tanker) blasts. Saudis have called Sister Maryam (Rajavi)’s office to follow up
on the results, [to get] a conclusion of what has been done, and the possible
consequences,” Fakhteh is heard saying.
“I
guess this can have different consequences. It can send the case to the UN
Security Council or even result in military intervention. It can have any
consequence,” Daei-ul-Eslam says.
Attacks
on two commercial oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on June 13, 2019 and an
earlier attack on four oil tankers off the UAE’s Fujairah port on May 12, 2019,
escalated tensions in West Asia and raised the prospect of a military
confrontation between Iran and the United States.
The
US, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE have rushed to blame Iran for the incidents, with
the US military releasing a grainy video it claimed shows Iranian forces in a
patrol boat removing an unexploded mine from the side of a Japanese-owned tanker
which caught fire in 2019.
It
later released some images of the purported Iranian operation after the video
was seriously challenged by experts and Washington’s own allies.
The
MKO which is said to be a cult which turns humans into obedient robots, turned
against Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has carried out several
terrorist attacks killing senior officials in Iran; yet the West which says
cultism is wrong and claims to be against terrorism, supports this terrorist
group officially.
After
the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the MKO began its enmity against Iran by
killing over 17,000 Iranians and terrorist activities. Several members of the
terrorist group and its leaders are living in France now, freely conducting
terrorist activities.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iranian
Military Source Describes US as Root Cause of Instability in Persian Gulf
2022-August-31
"The
illegal presence of the US forces in the Persian Gulf has always caused
insecurity and instability," an Iranian military official speaking on the
condition of anonymity told Nour News, a media outlet close to Iran's Supreme
National Security Council (SNSC).
"The
US military’s practice of sailing unmanned military vessels in the Persian Gulf
and the Sea of Oman under the cover of research is endangering shipping in the
bodies of water," the officila added.
In
a report on Tuesday evening, Nour News released details of the brief seizure
and release of an unmanned surface vessel (USV) belonging to the US military by
the naval forces of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Persian
Gulf waters.
The
outlet said the IRGC Navy moved, in a timely action, to take control of the
vessel, whose “navigational communications had been cut off”, by a support
vessel and began to tow it.
The
measure, the report added, was meant to prevent a maritime accident and keeping
the shipping lines secure.
The
vessel was later released upon a decision by the commander of the Iranian
support ship when a US patrol ship arrived at the scene and was briefed over
security risks, it noted.
Referring
to the timely action of the IRGC Navy, the Iranian military source stated that
recently, "a large number of unmanned military vessels have been sent by
the US Navy to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman", which, in addition
to threatening the security of shipping lines, has also led to some maritime
accidents.
“As
in the past, we will not be indifferent to acts that cause insecurity in the
region, and, to prevent any kind of instability, we will continue our legal
obligations in the form of missions inherently to protect and secure shipping
lines,” he continued.
Tehran
stresses the presence of the trans-regional forces has been a cause of tensions
in the region, but says the country's forces are closely monitoring the entire
region. Iranian military officials added that peace and security in the region
can be achieved through cooperation among the regional states and in absence of
foreigners.
Back
in July, Commander of the IRGC Navy Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri declared
Iran's full preparedness to fight off any plot of enemies against Tehran at its
birth, stressing that the country's forces will teach a painful lesson to foes
in case they launch any act of aggression against Iran.
“If
the enemy takes any foolish measure to foment sedition or carry out an act of
aggression against the Islamic establishment, we will respond in a way that
would teach them and their allies a painful lesson and will nip that plot in
the bud,” Rear Admiral Tangsiri said on Monday.
He
added that the IRGC naval forces, which are deployed in the islands and along
the operational routes of the elite force, maintain their combat readiness at
the highest level in order to be able to carry out the most difficult missions
at any time.
The
senior Iranian commander noted the neighboring countries in the region enjoy
the capability to ensure security in the important Persian Gulf region,
emphasizing, "There is no need at all for the presence of foreign countries
who want to be here with the justification of providing security."
Iran
has repeatedly warned that any mistake by the US and Israel will be met with
Tehran's crushing response.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Two
Palestinians killed in West Bank clashes: Health ministry
01 September,
2022
Two
Palestinians were killed early Thursday in separate clashes with the Israeli
army in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The
ministry said in a statement that Samer Khaled, 25, from al-Ain camp in Nablus,
suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the neck, and Yazan Afana, 26, from Qalandia
camp outside Jerusalem, died after being shot in the heart.
The
official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Khaled was killed when Israel
soldiers stormed Balata refugee camp near Nablus, in the northern West Bank.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Afana
was killed during an operation in al-Bireh, near Ramallah, the health ministry
said.
A
Palestinian official said the death of Afana was linked to fire from
Palestinian militants, rather than the Israeli army.
The
army said in a statement that its soldiers arrested six wanted men in operations
throughout the West Bank overnight.
“During
the operation (in Balata), the forces responded by firing after a shot was
fired at them,” the army statement said.
“There
are claims of a dead Palestinian,” it added.
The
army said that during the operation in al-Bireh, its forces were attacked with
stones and Molotov cocktails and responded using “riot dispersal means.”
It
added that in this case too it had been informed of the death of a Palestinian.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Palestinian
prisoner suspends hunger strike following Israel release deal
31 August,
2022
Palestinian
prisoner Khalil Awawdeh ended a hunger strike lasting over 160 days on
Wednesday after Israel agreed to his release in October, his lawyer said.
Awawdeh,
40, launched the hunger strike shortly after his arrest in December 2021 in
protest of being held by Israel without charge or trial, a practice known as
administrative detention.
Until
he is discharged on October 2, Awawdeh will remain in hospital for treatment,
his lawyer, Ahlam Haddad, told Reuters.
Haddad
said Awawdeh has subsisted only on water for months and warned last week that
he could “die at any moment” due to his deteriorating health.
Egyptian
mediators recently pushed for Awawdeh’s release under a ceasefire agreement to
end three days of fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad
group that left 49 people dead in Gaza.
No
comment was immediately available from the Israeli military, defense ministry
or prison service.
Dawoud
Shehab, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesperson, hailed the agreement as an
achievement, which he said came following weeks of effort.
“We
are grateful for the big effort Egypt has exerted to secure the freedom of
brother Awawdeh,” Shehab told Reuters.
In
a video circulating on social media, Awawdeh, who appeared frail and bony and
kept losing his breath as he spoke from a hospital bed, said he will remain
hospitalized until he regains his health and can walk again.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
North America
US
assures Israel that Iran won't become a nuclear power
Vakkas
Dogantekin
01.09.2022
US
President Joe Biden on Wednesday reiterated his country's commitment to not
allow Iran to become a nuclear power.
In
a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Biden "underscored
the U.S. commitment to never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon,"
according to a readout by the White House.
Hailing
the "unbreakable bonds and friendship" between the two countries,
Biden also stressed the importance of "concluding the maritime boundary
negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in the coming weeks."
The
phone call came amid concrete developments in the nuclear deal of major Western
powers with Iran, an agreement fiercely opposed by Israel.
The
US struck a guarded note of optimism Wednesday that it can reach an agreement
with Iran on a mutual return to the landmark 2015 nuclear accord.
"We
still remain hopeful that we can get a reimplementation of the JCPOA,"
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters, using the formal
acronym for the agreement. “We do believe we're closer now than we have been in
recent weeks and months, due in large part to Iran being willing to drop some
of their demands that were not related to the deal at all.”
"We're
cautiously optimistic that things can continue to move in the right
direction," he added.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-assures-israel-that-iran-wont-become-a-nuclear-power/2673986
--------
Biden
urges Iraq ‘national dialogue’ in call with PM
01
September, 2022
US
President Joe Biden urged Iraqis Wednesday to support dialogue to resolve a
monthslong political crisis that erupted into violence, in a call with Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Biden
and Kadhimi “welcomed the return of security to the streets, and called on all
Iraqi leaders to engage in a national dialogue to forge a common way forward
consistent with Iraq’s constitution and laws,” a White House statement said.
Biden
praised Kadhimi’s “personal leadership” and his efforts to “de-escalate
tensions in the region through dialogue and diplomacy.”
The
US leader also voiced support for “a sovereign and independent Iraq” amid the
strong influence of Iran in the country invaded by the United States in 2003.
Iraq,
which has been dominated by sectarian politics since the United States toppled
dictator Saddam Hussein, has been without a government since October elections
amid tension between powerful Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr and pro-Iran factions.
Kadhimi
had in mid-August called for a national dialogue involving main political
leaders, although Sadr did not agree to participate.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
France,
EU can cooperate with Türkiye on Ukraine, says UN envoy
Betul
Yuruk
01.09.2022
UNITED
NATIONS
France's
permanent representative to the UN said the "rocky relationship"
between France and Türkiye has now improved and the two countries can resume
cooperation on matters, including the Russia-Ukraine war.
Türkiye
and France have had tense relations in recent years over Syria, Libya, the
Eastern Mediterranean, and other issues with both countries trading barbs at
each other.
As
France assumed the rotating UN Security Council presidency as of Sept. 1,
Nicolas de Riviere sat down for an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency.
He
said he was happy to see that relations with Türkiye had "improved a
lot" and France and Europe could cooperate with Ankara.
"We
are more than happy to cooperate with Turkey on Ukraine. I think it is
absolutely critical," he said.
He
welcomed all efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, adding that Turkish
efforts will remain critical.
French
President Emmanuel Macron has attempted to be a mediator between Ukraine and
Russia since the war began on Feb. 24.
De
Riviere, however, painted a bleak picture of prospects for a cease-fire any
time soon amid Ukraine's counter-offensive in the country's south.
"I
am afraid that fighting will continue for a certain period of time. I don't
think the cease-fire is coming soon," he said. "I am a little
skeptical that Ukraine will be able to regain its lost territories. I would be
surprised that Ukraine will be able to kick the Russians out of Donbas or to
kick them out of Crimea."
Iran
nuclear talks
Having
served as France's chief negotiator for Iran nuclear talks, de Riviere also
said that it is essential to return to the landmark 2015 accord for global
security as the US voiced optimism that it can reach an agreement with Tehran
after indirect talks mediated by the EU in Vienna earlier this month.
"Those
who criticize the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) have probably no knowledge
of the substance of the agreement and ignore the realities," he said.
The
JCPOA saw an international inspections regime imposed on Tehran's nuclear
program in exchange for relief from biting international sanctions that hobbled
Iran's economy.
In 2018,
then-President Donald Trump unilaterally left the agreement and re-imposed US
sanctions in a fruitless effort to bring Iran back to the negotiating table.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
briefly seized US naval drone stranded in Persian Gulf to ensure maritime
security: Nour News
31
August 2022
A
website close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) sheds light on
the circumstances surrounding the brief seizure by Iranian naval forces of a US
unmanned surface vessel stranded in the Persian Gulf, saying the measure was
taken to prevent possible maritime incidents and safeguard shipping lanes.
Nour
News reported on Tuesday that the naval forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps (IRGC) took “timely action” earlier in the day to seize the US vessel,
whose “navigational system had failed,” and began towing it with the aim of
supporting safe and secure shipping in the Persian Gulf.
The
measure was also taken to avert the kind of incidents that the report said had
occurred several times over the past weeks.
Nour
News also reported that the ship was released on the order of the Iranian
support vessel’s commander and only after a US fleet arrived at the scene and
was reminded that it must observe shipping security and risk-free navigation.
The
report dismissed the “Hollywoodesque narrative” offered by the US Navy with the
intention of “covering up some of its failures” against Iranian naval forces in
the Persian Gulf.
The
US Navy tried to portray the development as an unprovoked attempt by the IRGC
to capture the military vessel.
It
claimed it kept Iran from seizing a Saildrone Explorer — the uncrewed vessel —
in the Persian Gulf after the 5th Fleet noticed a ship operated by Iran’s IRGC
Navy towing the American vessel.
The
USS Thunderbolt and a Sea Hawk helicopter based in Bahrain responded to the
incident, US Naval Forces Central Command said, adding that the Iranian ship
eventually disconnected its tow line and left the area.
In
provocative comments on the issue, US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Michael
Erik Kurilla charged that the incident demonstrated “Iran’s continued
destabilizing, illegal, and unprofessional activity in the Middle East.”
‘Iran
will not be passive against troublemakers’
Reacting
to those comments, an informed military source told Nour News that the
illegitimate presence of US military forces in the Persian Gulf had always
caused insecurity.
“This
trend, recently [reinforced] by the usage of unmanned vessels, has created new
problems for safe shipping in the region,” the source said.
“As
in the past, we will not be inactive against measures that cause insecurity in
the region and we will continue our legal duties in the framework of our
inherent missions of protecting and securing shipping routes to prevent any
insecurity and instability,” the unnamed source added.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/08/31/688351/IRGC-Navy-captures-uncrewed-US-vessel-Persian-Gulf
--------
Europe
UN
report lists litany of rights abuses in China's Xinjiang
Sep
1, 2022
GENEVA:
The United Nations released a bombshell report late Wednesday into serious
human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region, saying torture allegations were
credible and citing possible crimes against humanity.
The
long-awaited report detailed a string of rights violations against Uyghurs and
other Muslim minorities in the far-western region, but made no reference to
genocide: one of the key allegations made by the United States and other
critics.
"The
extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other
predominantly Muslim groups... may constitute international crimes, in
particular crimes against humanity," the report said.
It
said the world must now pay "urgent attention" to the human rights
situation in Xinjiang.
The
assessment brings the UN seal to many of the allegations about China's
treatment of people in Xinjiang that have long been made by rights groups,
Western nations and the Uyghur community in exile.
Michelle
Bachelet, the UN human rights chief, decided that a full assessment was needed
of the situation inside the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
The
report was in the making for around a year, and China bitterly opposed its
release.
Bachelet
was determined to release it before her four-year term as the UN high
commissioner for human rights expired at the end of August -- and did so with
13 minutes to spare at 11:47pm in Geneva.
"I
said that I would publish it before my mandate ended and I have," Bachelet
said in an email sent to AFP on Thursday.
"The
politicisation of these serious human rights issues by some states did not
help," she added.
China
has been accused for years of detaining more than one million Uyghurs and other
Muslims in the region.
Beijing
has vehemently rejected the claims, insisting it is running vocational centres
designed to curb extremism.
"Serious
human rights violations have been committed in XUAR in the context of the
government's application of counter-terrorism and counter-'extremism'
strategies," the UN report said.
The
assessment raised concerns about the treatment of people held in China's
so-called "Vocational Education and Training Centres" (VETCs).
"Allegations
of patterns of torture or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and
adverse conditions of detention, are credible, as are allegations of individual
incidents of sexual and gender-based violence," the report said.
The
UN Human Rights Office could not confirm how many people were affected by the
VETCs but concluded that the system operated on a "wide scale" across
the entire region.
The
number in the VETCs, at least between 2017 and 2019, "was very
significant, comprising a substantial proportion of the Uyghur and other
predominantly Muslim minority populations".
Campaigners
have accused China of practicing forced sterilisation of women.
The
report said there were "credible indications of violations of reproductive
rights through the coercive enforcement of family planning policies".
China's
mission in Geneva hit out at the report and maintained its firm opposition to
its release.
"Based
on the disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces and out of
presumption of guilt, the so-called 'assessment' distorts China's laws and
policies, and wantonly smears and slanders China, and interferes in China's
internal affairs," it said.
"People
of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are living a happy life in peace and
contentment. It is the greatest human rights protection and the best human
rights practice," the mission insisted.
Non-governmental
organisations and campaign groups said the report should act as a launchpad for
further action.
Human
Rights Watch's China director Sophie Richardson said the "damning"
findings of sweeping rights abuses showed why Beijing "fought tooth and
nail" to prevent its publication.
The
UN Human Rights Council should now investigate China's alleged crimes against
humanity "and hold those responsible to account", she said.
Amnesty
International's secretary general Agnes Callamard said the document "lays
bare the scale and severity of the human rights violations taking place in
Xinjiang".
She
echoed the call for criminal accountability and said China "must
immediately release all individuals" arbitrarily detained in camps,
"end the persecution" of minorities and allow investigators in
unfettered.
"This
is a game-changer for the international response to the Uyghur crisis,"
said Uyghur Human Rights Project executive director Omer Kanat.
"Despite
the Chinese government's strenuous denials, the UN has now officially
recognised that horrific crimes are occurring."
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Meeting
between leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, European Council kicks off in Brussels
Ceyhun
Alizade
31.08.2022
A
meeting between Azerbaijan's president, Armenia's premier, and the head of the
European Council began in Brussels on Wednesday.
While
the leaders are expected to discuss the latest developments in the Karabakh
region, a region of the South Caucasus that in fall 2020 saw a 44-day war
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, no information was revealed about the details
of discussions.
This
meeting comes a day after European Council President Charles Michel held a
phone call with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev to discuss the process of
normalizing relations between Baku and Yerevan, as well as other issues on the
agenda of the meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Earlier
on Tuesday, a meeting of a commission formed to determine the border between
the two former Soviet republics was held in Moscow.
On
Friday, Aliyev announced that the Azerbaijani army had moved into the strategic
city of Lachin in Karabakh, as well as the villages of Zabukh and Sus.
After
a Russia-brokered deal ended the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020,
the three countries agreed to develop economic ties and infrastructure for the
benefit of the entire region.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Türkiye
to submit radar logs to NATO showing harassment by Greece
Seda
Sevencan
31.08.2022
Türkiye
is planning to submit to NATO and its allies the radar logs showing how a Greek
S-300 air defense system harassed Turkish F-16 jets during mission in
international airspace, sources said on Wednesday.
Turkish
jets engaged in missions over the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean Seas were
harassed by the Russian-made S-300 air defense system stationed on the island
of Crete on Aug. 23.
However,
Greek military officials deny the act, which is described as
"hostile" in the NATO Rules of Engagement.
The
Turkish National Defense Ministry is preparing to send the radar records of the
incident to the NATO Secretariat-General and the defense ministries of alliance
members.
Türkiye,
a NATO member for over 70 years, has complained of repeated provocative actions
and rhetoric by Greece in the region in recent months, saying such moves
frustrate its good faith-efforts for peace.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
How
a UN fund gives hope to crisis-impacted children from Ecuador to Afghanistan
August
31, 2022
NEW
YORK CITY/BOGOTA: Conflict, forced displacement, climate-induced disasters, and
the compounding effect of the coronavirus pandemic have left hundreds of
millions of children and adolescents — particularly girls — without access to
quality education worldwide.
Today,
222 million young people living in regions affected by wars and disasters — in
Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America — are without access to
uninterrupted or quality education.
According
to analysis from Education Cannot Wait, the UN global fund for education in
emergencies and protracted crises, 78.2 million of these crisis-impacted
children are out of school and 119.6 million are not achieving
minimum-competency levels in reading and mathematics despite attending school.
Nowhere,
perhaps, is the education emergency more obvious than in Afghanistan, where the
Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, combined with drought, the regime’s
global isolation, and the country’s near-bankruptcy, has deprived millions of
children of the right to decent schooling.
Following
the US-led coalition’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August last year,
the resurgent Taliban insisted they had changed their ways and would allow
women and girls to continue studying, thereby breaking with the strict policy
of gender segregation the group had implemented while in power from 1996 to
2001.
However,
on the morning of March 23 this year, when more than 1 million girls showed up
at schools throughout Afghanistan, expecting to resume classes for the first
time since the Taliban seized power, they were turned away from the gates.
Speaking
at the launch of the fund’s 2021 annual report in New York City, ECW Director
Yasmine Sherif told Arab News: “When we went to Kabul and spoke with the
minister of education, there was a clear agreement that children and youth and
young girls up to the age of 18 deserve to go to school. So, their starting
point was, ‘yes, we need to develop a plan and a system.’
“It
looked as if we were moving toward that. And then suddenly there was a decision
in March to ban (secondary school girls from returning to the classroom), which
took us all by surprise.”
Since
its launch in 2017, the ECW has worked with governments, donors, UN agencies,
civil society groups, the private sector, and communities to provide almost 7
million young people with quality education in some of the world’s most challenging
humanitarian crises, with girls representing around half of its beneficiaries.
In
2021 alone, the agency reached 3.7 million children and adolescents, and an
additional 11.8 million with its COVID-19 interventions. Its investments have
been made possible through $1.1 billion in contributions to the ECW trust fund.
In
August, the ECW published its annual results report for 2021 and its new
strategic plan for 2023 to 2026 ahead of its high-level financing conference,
due to take place in Geneva in February.
The
fund views education as a life-saving and sustainable response to humanitarian
crises, from the war in Yemen to the stabilization phase in Colombia. However,
it is in countries such as Afghanistan, where years of progress in girls’
education are being actively rolled back, that action is needed most.
The
Taliban’s about-face on secondary education for girls, which reportedly
happened after a secret meeting of the group’s leadership in Kandahar, suggests
that the ultraconservative wing still retains control over the regime’s
ideological trajectory.
Primary
school-aged girls in Afghanistan are permitted to receive schooling up until
the sixth grade. Women are also allowed to attend university, albeit under
rigorous gender segregation rules and only if they abide by a strictly enforced
dress code.
The
Taliban leadership has sought to justify its ban on secondary education for
Afghan girls on the grounds of religious principle — a view that many Islamic
scholars and civil society groups dispute.
Sherif
said: “From what I have seen, speaking to them informally, there are those who
want to resume education for secondary girls and there are those who do not.
“You
have those who are educated, who are aware, who feel that sense of humanity
that sort of binds every religion, doesn’t matter what religion. Humanity comes
with any religion, whether it’s Islam or any other world religion. They
understand from their heart that, ‘of course my daughter should go to school.’
“And
then there are those who may not even understand their own religion.”
On
the situation in the context of Afghanistan, Sherif added: “It depends on who
interprets. It’s an interpretation issue. Sometimes it has to do with lack of
education. It has to do with a lack of tolerance. It may have to do with many
different reasons. There’s an internal struggle there. That’s not politics,
that’s human behavior. That’s an internal struggle.
“So
that’s what we got there, and we know that there are some really principled and
strong people there who really want to see girls return to secondary school,
who almost cry when you speak with them, and then there are those who are less
emotive about it and may not feel that same desire.”
Although
many Afghans were dismayed when the Taliban blocked secondary school-age girls
returning to the classroom, those familiar with the puritanical rules and
erratic policies of the group during its previous rule were not at all
surprised.
Creeping
ultraconservatism is evident in new rules that ban women without a hijab or male
chaperone from traveling long distances, and the dismissal of women from jobs
and positions of influence.
Sherif
said the Organization of Islamic Cooperation could play an important role in
the humanitarian response in Afghanistan that may offer an antidote to the
Taliban’s uncompromising views on girls’ education.
“The
OIC’s role is to work across the Islamic world and find commonalities and
common interests. And it can play an instrumental role, especially when the
de-facto authorities define themselves on a religious basis, Islamic emirate,
the organization then naturally would be a useful partner,” she said.
The
OIC is the second-largest intergovernmental organization after the UN, with 57
member states across four continents offering a collective voice for the Muslim
world.
“There
is no Muslim country today in the world where secondary girls do not go to
school except Afghanistan. Secondary girls go to school in every Muslim
country. They are holding leadership positions; they are going to universities.
Women in the Muslim world play instrumental intellectual, scientific roles.
“And
there are over 1 billion Muslims around the globe. It’s important that their
voice is heard and that their perspectives are shared with the de-facto
authorities in Afghanistan. It should be fair to listen to the OIC. They have a
lot to share,” Sherif added.
In
its effort to isolate the Taliban and force them to change their ways, the
international community has prevented the regime from accessing billions of
dollars in desperately needed aid, loans, and frozen assets held by the US, the
International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
Sherif
said: “It is very important that we do not abandon Afghanistan, which is on an
absolutely terrifying brink of humanitarian catastrophe.
“Actually,
they are in a catastrophe already. When you are so poor that you have to sell
your child to feed your family. When drug addiction has increased. When they
don’t even have money to go to the hospital. They have to die or let their
children die or sell their children.”
She
noted that instead of abandoning the people of Afghanistan, multilateral and
bilateral donors ought to target foreign aid in such a way that it bypasses the
Taliban regime and delivers assistance at the point of need.
“The
humanitarian imperative is not to be politically aligned or have anything to do
with national budgets or provide resources to the government. It’s about
delivering humanitarian assistance and that is the position of the UN civil
society.
“The
UN is there and delivering. It goes directly to the vulnerable population,”
Sherif said.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2153871/world
--------
Pakistan
IHC
serves notices in plea for removal of FIR under terrorism charges against Imran
Khan
August
31, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday served notices to respondents in a
petition seeking removal of a First Information Report (FIR) registered against
PTI Chairman Imran Khan under the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA).
An
IHC bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Saman Raffat
Imtiaz heard the plea filed by Imran Khan challenging the FIR registered by
Margalla Police Station against Imran Khan. The petitioner named Inspector
General of Police and Deputy Inspector General of Police Islamabad, Station
House Officer Margalla Police Station Margalla and others as respondents in the
case.
Imran
Khan adopted the stance that he had been the country’s prime minister. A case
was registered against him on August 20, under ATA clauses in which he was
accused of threatening a woman judge during his speech at F-9 Park, Islamabad.
He
requested the court to order for the dismissal of the case against him. Imran
Khan also prayed the court to stop police investigation till the final judgment
into the case.
Imran
Khan claimed that he had not hurled any threat, rather he hinted at taking
legal action against the judge, the IGP and the DIG. None of the three persons
was a complainant in the FIR against him, he added.
He
said the case filed against him under anti-terrorism provisions was malicious.
During the hearing, Barrister Salman Sadar and Advocate Haider Panjotha
appeared before court on behalf of Imran Khan.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pak
soldier killed in Bajaur blast in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s province
31
August, 2022
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], August 31 (ANI): Two Frontier Crops (FC) personnel were
targeted by a roadside bomb when they were on routine patrol in the Yousafabad
area on Tuesday, resulting in the death of one and injuring the other.
The
remote-controlled bomb blast took place in the Bajaur District of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa’s province, reported Dawn.
The
officials added that the dead soldier was identified as Lance Naik Mujahid
Shah. The deceased and the wounded were later shifted to Khar District
Headquarters Hospital.
Talking
to reporters, District Police Officer Abdul Samad Khan said a search operation
was underway to arrest the attackers, reported Dawn.
The
attack occurred three days after the end of the eight-day-long ‘peace sit-in’
held by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) over the deteriorating law and order
situation in the area.
Backed
by political parties, civil society, youths and traders’ organisations, the
sit-in ended after the district administration signed an agreement with the
organisers to improve the law and order situation, reported Dawn.
JUI-F
has protested in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan against the killing of
its local leaders and lawlessness in the district, according to local media.
Workers
of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and other political parties on Sunday continued a
sit-in protest against lawlessness in Eidek village. They demanded early arrest
of the killers of JUI-F leaders Qari Samiuddin, Hafiz Nauman and others, Dawn
newspaper reported.
According
to Dawn, locals and officials said that the JUI-F leader Qari Samiuddin and his
colleague, Hafiz Numan Dawar were on their way home in Eidek village when their
car was ambushed on Bichi Road near Mirali town in North Waziristan on July 14.
The
gunmen shot at the two, leaving them dead on the spot. The relatives of the
leader said that Qari Sami had no feud with anyone.
This
was the second targeted attack on JUI-F leadership in the restive district
during the last one week.
A
few unidentified gunmen killed a councillor-elect Malik Murtaza, who was also
from Eidak village. He was elected councillor during the second phase of the
local body elections.
Qari
Sami was head of the JUI-F’s Mirali subdivision. He had contested the election
on the party ticket from PK-111.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
‘Pakistan
doesn’t have to choose between US and China’
Anwar
Iqbal
September
1, 2022
WASHINGTON:
The United States doesn’t ask Pakistan to choose between it and China, but
rather wants countries “to be able to have a choice”. However, Washington is
worried that nations entering into relationships with China “are not going to
end up well”, said Derek Chollet, a senior adviser to the US Secretary of
State.
In
an interview with Dawn, Counselor Chollet said Washington was not “afraid of
competing with China, but would like to have a fair competition”.
He
stressed that the US had honest differences with both India and Pakistan, but
wanted to maintain and diversify its strong relationship with Islamabad.
Mr
Chollet also spoke about former prime minister Imran Khan’s allegations of US
involvement in toppling his government, pointing out that those claims were
completely baseless.
Asked
if the US was upset with the former premier and those allegations make him a
less liked politician in the States, Mr Chollet said: “All I can say is that
there is nothing to the allegations. Those were not true.”
“What
we want to stay focused on is where we are going in the US-Pakistan
relationship, to reflect on all that we have achieved in 75 years but also all
that we must achieve in the coming 75 years.”
The
US official also underlined Washington’s concerns about the current floods in
Pakistan, pointing out that the Biden administration already announced $30
million in assistance and was willing to do more.
“These
horrific floods are something that we have not seen since 2010. And by some
accounts, it is worse than the floods of 2010,” he said. “It is a climate
cataclysm that we are seeing in Pakistan. It is just devastating.”
The
US, he said, was committed to “doing our part with our partners in the
international community to help Pakistan respond to this terrible natural
disaster.”
The
US would also work with the United Nations to raise $160m for the flood
victims, he added.
Responding
to a question about his statement that the US was not afraid of having a fair
competition with China, he said: “Pakistan has a close relationship with China,
has for many years. The US again, is not asking countries to choose between the
US and China. We just want countries to be able to have a choice.”
Reminded
that in the past, this relationship was more linked to US security concerns
about the region, Mr Chollet said: “We are interested in diversifying the
relationship even further. We already have a fairly strong and robust business
relationship. But I think that is something that we are interested in growing
further.”
Asked
if Pakistan still had strategic value for the US, he said: “Oh, absolutely. I
mean, Pakistan is one of the world’s largest Muslim countries. It has the fifth
or sixth largest population. It is a critically important country to the US.”
“And
that is why we are committed as we project forward over the next 75 years, to
find ways that we can deepen this partnership and achieve so many of the shared
interests and goals that we have.”
On
a question about why sometimes people in Pakistan feel that India gets an
unfair advantage — for instance, Washington allows it to purchase cheap oil
from Russia while preventing Pakistan from doing so — Mr Chollet said: “Our
relationship with each country stands on its own. And we have much that we
share with both countries,” he said. “We do have honest differences with both
countries. What matters is how we work through those differences.”
“Our
perspective in terms of working with Pakistan is we are going to work through
those differences in the spirit of partnership, and cooperation and try to keep
an eye on all that we share. We both are going to remain true to our interests
and our values. But we see much that we share together.”
Do
US concerns about China make India a more valuable ally? To this, he said:
“These relationships, we do not see them as conjoined. They are separate
relationships. And we have separate sets of goals, ambitions, and challenges
with both countries.”
However,
he agreed that the US had a concern about China globally. “In South Asia and in
East Asia, in Southeast Asia, all around the world, China is playing a role that
in many cases is not consistent with what we think our interests are,” he said.
The
US, he said, committed to finding ways to work with China on shared interests,
for example, on climate change, but the Chinese pulled out of these
discussions.
Asked
if Pakistan could also face a Sri Lanka-like situation because of the Chinese
loans, he said: “What we are worried about is that countries — whether in South
Asia or all around the world — entering into relationships with China are not
going to end up well.”
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1707841/pakistan-doesnt-have-to-choose-between-us-and-china
--------
Germany
– Pakistan have huge potential in economic, trade ties: Syed Naveed Qamar
August
31, 2022
Federal
Minister for Commerce, Syed Naveed Qamar Wednesday said there was a lot of
potential for the development of economic and trade relations between Germany
and Pakistan in the various sectors.
Germany
and Pakistan can benefit from these trade and economic opportunities, he said.
He
said this while addressing the ‘Networking Reception Event’ organized by AHK,
along with German Ambassador to Pakistan, Alfred Grannas.
The
Minister opined that Pakistan and Germany could jointly work in many sectors
and promote mutual economic and trade relations.
He
said this kind of interaction will help the business communities of both
countries to come closer and increase the commercial opportunities in the
future.
Such
events act as a bridge for mutual business and trade and provide an opportunity
for business communities and policy makers to sit together, he said.
Naveed
Qamar said that the economic and trade relations between Pakistan and the
European Union have been going on for a long time and there is a possibility of
further improvement in the future.
The
Minister said that with the arrival of the new ambassador of Germany, a new era
of economic and trade relations will begin between the two countries.
He
said “we welcome the new German ambassador to Pakistan, Alfred Grannas and hope
that mutual relations between the two countries will develop further”.
Speaking
on the occasion, Ambassador of Germany to Pakistan, Alfred Grannas said that
interaction with business organizations, including chambers, is necessary for
the development of economic and trade relations between the two countries.
The
ambassador said that the interaction of business communities is very important
in mutual trade and economic relations.
He
said that the German embassy in Islamabad is playing its role for the promotion
of mutual trade relations between the two countries.
In
this regard, the German embassy is playing its full role in the interaction
with business chambers in Pakistan.
German
envoy said that there is a lot of potential for mutual trade between the two
countries and we need to explore more sectors.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
From
furnace to flood: World's hottest city in Pakistan now under water
Sep
1, 2022
JACOBABAD:
Not long ago, Sara Khan, principal at a school for disadvantaged girls in
Jacobabad in southern Pakistan, looked on in alarm as some students passed out
from the heat - the city was the world's hottest at one point in May.
Now,
after heavy monsoon rains submerged large parts of the country, her classrooms
are flooded and many of the 200 students homeless, struggling to get enough
food and caring for injured relatives.
Such
extreme weather events in a short space of time have caused havoc across the
country, killing hundreds of people, cutting off communities, wrecking homes
and infrastructure and raising concerns over health and food security.
Jacobabad
has not been spared. In May, temperatures topped 50 Celsius, drying up canal
beds and causing some residents to collapse from heatstroke. Today, parts of
the city are under water, though flooding has receded from its peak.
In
Khan's neighbourhood in the east of the city, houses have been badly damaged.
On Thursday, she said she heard cries from a neighbour's house when the roof
collapsed from water damage, killing their nine-year-old son.
Many
of her students are unlikely to return to school for months, having already
lost class time during the brutal summer heatwave.
"Jacobabad
is the hottest city in the world, there are so many challenges ... before
people had heatstroke, now people have lost their homes, almost everything (in
the flood), they have become homeless," she told Reuters.
Nineteen
people in the city of around 200,000 are confirmed to have died in the
flooding, including children, according to the city's deputy commissioner,
while local hospitals reported many more were sick or injured.
More
than 40,000 people are living in temporary shelters, mostly in crowded schools
with limited access to food.
One
of the displaced, 40-year-old Dur Bibi, sat under a tent in the grounds of a
school and recalled the moment she fled when water gushed into her home
overnight late last week.
"I
grabbed my children and rushed out of the house with bare feet," she said,
adding that the only thing they had time to take with them was a copy of the
Koran.
Four
days later, she has not been able to obtain medicine for her daughter who is
suffering from a fever.
"I
have nothing, besides these kids. All of the belongings in my home have been
swept away," she said.
Weather
extremes
The
level of disruption in Jacobabad, where many people live in poverty,
demonstrates some of the challenges extreme weather events linked to climate
change can create.
"A
manifestation of climate change is the more frequent and more intense
occurrence of extreme weather events, and this is exactly what we have
witnessed in Jacobabad as well as elsewhere globally during the past few
months," said Athar Hussain, head of the Centre for Climate Research and
Development at COMSATS University in Islamabad.
A
study earlier this year by the World Weather Attribution group, an
international team of scientists, found that the heatwave that hit Pakistan in
March and April was made 30 times more likely by climate change.
Global
warming likely exacerbated recent flooding as well, said Liz Stephens, a
climate scientist at the University of Reading in Britain. That's because a
warmer atmosphere is able to hold more moisture, which is eventually unleashed
in the form of heavy rains.
Pakistani
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the country, which is heavily
dependent on agriculture, was reeling.
"If
you are a farmer in Jacobabad ... you couldn't plant your crops because of
water scarcity and the heat during the heatwave and now your crops have been
damaged in the monsoons and floods," he told Reuters in an interview.
In
Jacobabad, local health, education and development officials said record
temperatures followed by unusually heavy rains were straining vital services.
Hospitals
that set up emergency heatstroke response centres in May are now reporting an
influx of people injured in the floods and patients suffering from
gastroenteritis and skin conditions amid unsanitary conditions.
Jacobabad
Institute of Medical Sciences (JIMS) said it had treated around 70 people in
recent days for injuries from debris in floods including deep cuts and broken
bones.
More
than 800 children were admitted to JIMS for gastroenteritis conditions in
August during heavy rains, compared to 380 the previous month, hospital data
showed.
At
the nearby Civil Hospital, where the grounds are partially underwater, doctor
Vijay Kumar said cases of patients suffering from gastroenteritis and other
illnesses had at least tripled since the floods.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
JUI-F
accuses Sindh govt of hampering relief activities in city
August
31, 2022
Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Sindh leaders have alleged that the Sindh government
is creating hurdles for the party in setting up relief camps for the flood
victims.
“The
lengthy process of obtaining permission for relief camps has put political and
religious parties in trouble and they are forced to suspend relief activities,”
they said in a statement on Tuesday.
JUI-F
Sindh spokesperson Maulana Samiul Haque Swati said the party had established
relief camps at 20 locations in the West district of Karachi, but due to the
recent restrictions imposed by the provincial government those camps were
closed. He said law enforcement agencies were asking for NOCs from the camp
organisers. When party workers and volunteers approached the District West
deputy commissioner for NOCs, he forwarded the matter to the SSP, and when the
SSP was approached he forwarded the case to the SHOs of respective areas.
Source:
The News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
WHO
says 6.4m in dire need of humanitarian aid as flood-triggered crises swirl
Fazal
Khaliq | Nisar Ahmed | Ikram Junaidi
September
1, 2022
SWAT
/ MANSEHRA / ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday visited
flood-hit areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and announced Rs10 billion in funds to
rehabilitate the calamity-hit areas, even as a report by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) painted a grim picture of the health and humanitarian crises
simmering across the country.
During
his visit to Kalam and other parts of Swat, the premier met the flood survivors
and addressed a gathering in Kalam and Kanju wherein he promised all-out help
by the federal government in overcoming the crisis.
About
the Rs10bn package, PM Sharif said the federal government, the National
Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and the provincial administration would
ensure transparency and immediate disbursement of money in the affected areas.
According
to the PM, the federal government had allocated an amount of Rs28 billion which
was being disbursed among the affected through the NDMA and the Benazir Income
Support Programme. He added every affected family was being given a cash amount
of R25,000 whereas each family was entitled to Rs1 million compensation if they
had lost a loved one in the floods.
“The
cash support announced by the federal government is no substitute for the loss
of lives…but it is the responsibility of the government to provide maximum
comfort in this hour of grief,” the premier added. At least 5,000km of roads
were damaged in the country due to flooding as per the latest reports,
according to PM Sharif.
In
pictures: Misery mounts for millions amid flood devastation across Pakistan
During
his address in the Pattan area of Lower Kohistan, the prime minister said
thanked the United Nations and other nations for extending support to Pakistan
in this hour of need. “The friendly countries…stood with us in this critical
time [and] pledged financial assistance for reconstruction and rehabilitation
of infrastructure and population affected by the calamity,” he added.
‘Restore
power supply’
In
a meeting following his visit to KP, PM Sharif directed authorities concerned
to restore the power supply and repair damaged roads in the flood-hit areas
within two days with the help of the Frontier Works Organisation.
“Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the authorities concerned to rehabilitate the
flood-hit roads and communications infrastructure by Friday and asked the Power
Division to submit a report on work for power supply restoration since August
25,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
He
also instructed for the revival of road connectivity between Kalam and Swat by
next week and the repairing of Balochistan’s power transmission network within
the next 48 hours.
The
prime minister instructed Power Minister Khurram Dastgir to visit Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa to monitor the restoration of power transmission lines and submit a
report by 10am today (Thursday).
116
districts affected by floods
The
WHO in its report said that at least 888 health facilities were damaged in
rain-induced floods that have affected 116 out of 154 districts across the
country. It further said that over 1,000 people were killed while as many as
15,000 were injured in floods. Over 33 million people have been affected out of
which 6.4 million people, including 421,000 people displaced by floods, were in
dire need of humanitarian aid, the WHO added.
“As
of August 28, 888 health facilities have been damaged in Pakistan of which 180
of them are completely damaged,” it stated. The health body stated that
Pakistan was already battling multiple outbreaks, including Covid, and added
that the “current situation will highly likely increase the spread of disease
especially if/when response capacities are hindered”.
“Ongoing
disease outbreaks in Pakistan, including acute watery diarrhoea, dengue fever,
malaria, polio, and Covid-19 are being further aggravated, particularly in
camps and [areas] where water and sanitation facilities have been damaged,” the
report stated.
“WHO
has also diverted mobile medical camps, including those responding to Covid-19
teams, to affected districts, delivered 1.7 million aqua tabs to ensure access
to clean water, and provided sample collection kits to ensure clinical testing
of samples to ensure early detection of infectious diseases,” the report
stated.
Meanwhile,
speaking to BBC News, British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner
linked these floods to climate change. “…The evidence I am seeing on the ground
is that this level of impact is unprecedented. This is not just a bad monsoon
season. It is a whole lot more and I think it’s the era of climate catastrophe
in which were are now in,” he added.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1707845/shehbaz-announces-rs10bn-for-kp-as-crises-swirl
--------
Africa
Seif
al-Islam Gaddafi Denies Striking Deal to Release His Brother from Lebanon
31
August, 2022
Seif
al-Islam al-Gaddafi, son of late Libyan ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi, denied
allegations that he had struck a deal for the release of his brother, Hannibal,
who has been jailed in Lebanon for six years.
Seif
al-Islam's lawyer, Khaled al-Zaidi, denied the claims of the deal that were
reported by France’s Jeune Afrique.
The
report is baseless, he stressed.
The
report had quoted an aide to Seif al-Islam, Suha al-Badri, as saying that
Hannibal’s release was imminent after a bail of $150,000 was paid to Lebanese
authorities.
Zaidi
refuted the claim to Libya Press, saying Badri was not part of Seif al-Islam's
team and is not even his aide, as alleged in the French report.
“No
understanding or deal has been reached to release the abducted Libyan national,
Hannibal al-Gaddafi,” he added.
Informed
Lebanese sources denied all claims about Hannibal’s imminent release, saying
they were misleading and made on the anniversary of the disappearance of Imam
Moussa al-Sadr and his companions.
Sadr,
the founder of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council in Lebanon, went missing
during a visit to Libya in August 1987. He has never been found.
Sources
concerned with Sadr’s disappearance and the Lebanese judiciary’s probe with
Hannibal revealed that negotiations had been launched around two months ago
between the lawyers in the two cases, “but they reached a dead end.”
They
told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Lebanese party had vowed to release Hannibal in
return for “accurate information about the fate of Sadr and his companions.”
Source:
Aawsat
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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TPLF
says Eritrean and Ethiopian forces launch attack in northwest Tigray
01 September,
2022
Ethiopian
and Eritrean government forces launched an attack in Ethiopia’s northern region
of Tigray on Thursday targeting Tigrayan forces, a spokesperson for the
Tigrayan forces said, although Reuters was not independently able to verify the
report.
Getachew
Reda, the Tigrayan forces spokesperson, said on Twitter that the two “forces
have launched massive four-pronged offensive early this morning in the #Adyabo
area of Northwestern Tigray!”
A
humanitarian worker in the Tigrayan town of Shire told Reuters that drivers
coming from the area reported cross-border shelling on Wednesday, and he had
spoken to a witness who said heavy artillery shelling in the town of Shiraro
near the Eritrean border had started at around 4:30 a.m. on Thursday.
A
militia leader in the Amhara city of Gondar with contacts on the front lines of
the fighting confirmed there had been “heavy shelling from our side” aimed at
Tigrayan trenches around the town of Sheraro, in the same area.
The
Ethiopian military had clashed with the Tigrayan forces on Wednesday, he said,
and wounded fighters from the government side were being treated in Humera. The
hospital had been given orders to clear out civilian patients, he said.
Reuters
was not able to independently confirm the reports. Tigray has not had telephone
communications since government troops pulled out more than a year ago.
Ethiopian
government spokesperson Legesse Tulu, military spokesperson Colonel Getnet
Adane and the prime minister’s spokesperson Billene Seyoum did not immediately
respond to requests for comment but the government issued a statement on
Wednesday accusing the Tigrayan forces of launching multiple attacks.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Libya
exhumes 15 bodies from 2 mass graves in Sirte
31.08.2022
TRIPOLI,
Libya
Libyan
authorities said Wednesday that 15 bodies were exhumed from two mass graves in
the coastal city of Sirte.
In
a statement, the General Authority for Research and Identification of Missing
Persons said the two graves were found in the garden of Ibn Sina Hospital upon
a tip-off from the Sirte District Prosecutor's Office.
It
said forensic teams will examine the bodies to identify them.
On
December 17, 2016, the Libyan Government of National Accord announced the
complete liberation of Sirte from the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group.
Discoveries
of mass graves are common in war-torn Libya, especially in Tarhuna city, a
former stronghold for warlord Khalifa Haftar.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/libya-exhumes-15-bodies-from-2-mass-graves-in-sirte/2673816
--------
Top
Turkish, Libyan officials hold talks in Ankara
Diyar
Güldoğan
31.08.2022
Turkish
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Libya's Deputy Prime Minister Ramadan Abu
Janah met on Wednesday in the Turkish capital Ankara for talks.
"Evaluated
recent developments & the election process in Libya," Cavusoglu said
on Twitter, without giving further information about the closed-door meeting.
Oil-rich
Libya has remained in turmoil since 2011 when longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi
was ousted after four decades in power.
For
lasting stability in Libya, Türkiye deems crucial the holding of free, fair and
nationwide elections as soon as possible, in accordance with the aspirations of
the Libyan people.
Last
week, the capital Tripoli saw deadly clashes between forces backing Prime
Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh and those loyal to his rival Fathi Bashagha, who
was appointed by the Tobruk-based parliament as prime minister.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/top-turkish-libyan-officials-hold-talks-in-ankara/2673681
--------
Dozens
of civilians killed in April by Mali’s army, foreign fighters: UN report
01
September 2022
At
least 50 civilians were killed and more than 500 arrested in central Mali in
April during a military operation conducted by the army and “foreign troops,”
according to a report by the UN.
The
incident took place on April 19 in Hombori municipality, in the central region
of Douentza, after a Mali military convoy was attacked by a roadside bomb, the
UN said on Wednesday.
“At
least 50 civilians (including a woman and a child) were killed and more than
500 others arrested” on April 19, the UN’s peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) said
in a quarterly report on trends of human rights violation and abuses in Mali.
The
military operation was conducted by Mali’s army and foreign troops, but the
report did not specify the nationality of the foreign military personnel
accompanying local troops.
In
the report, MINUSMA documented 96 civilian deaths during operations by Malian
security forces between April 1 and June 30. Seven civilians disappeared and 19
others were injured, it said.
The
UN has repeatedly accused Malian soldiers of summarily executing civilians and
suspected militants during their decade-long fight against groups linked to
al-Qaeda and the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
Mali’s
military has in some cases acknowledged that its forces were implicated in
executions and other abuses, but few soldiers have faced criminal charges.
A
report by experts to the UN, seen by the AFP news agency in early August, said
“white-skinned soldiers” accompanied Malian soldiers at the scene of killings
in March in the Segou region near the Mauritanian border, in which 33 civilians
died.
In
April, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said about 300 people, most of them ethnic
Fulanis, were killed in Moura in central Mali in March by Malian forces “or
associated foreign fighters” – a veiled reference to suspected Russian operatives.
Mali’s army says that it killed 203 militants at Moura.
France
has been a former colonizer in Mali and its military mission in the country
began in 2013 to allegedly counter militants that Paris claimed were linked to
the al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorist groups.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Southeast Asia
Is
Abu Bakar Bashir Really Walking Away From Violent Extremism?
By
Bilveer Singh
August
31, 2022
Over
the past 60 years, Abu Bakar Bashir has come to be perceived as the face of
Islamist extremism and terrorism in Indonesia. He has been associated with
Pondok Pesantren Al Mukmin in Solo, Central Java, which he jointly founded with
Abdullah Sungkar in 1972. The Islamic boarding school, also known as Pesantren
Ngruki, came to be associated with Islamist radicals who were close to Jemaah
Islamiyyah (JI), a radical terrorist group involved in bombings in Indonesia
from 2000 to 2008, and which is still seen as a threat today.
The
Life of Abu Bakar Bashir
Bashir,
84, was born in Jombang, East Java in 1938 to an Arab-Indonesian family. He
attended an Islamic boarding school in Gontor, East Java and graduated from
Al-Irsyad university in Solo in 1963. As early as the mid-1950s, he was
involved in Islamist movements, including the Indonesian Islamic Youth
Movement, becoming its head in 1961, and he later headed the Lembaga Dakwah
Mahasiswa Islam in Solo. The body was essentially established to proselytize
and propagate Islam among students, first on Muslim campuses and later, to all
campuses in the country, with branches organized nationally throughout
Indonesia. In 1967, together with Sungkar, he founded Radio Dakwah Islamiyyah
Al-Irsyad and in 1969, Radio Dakwah Islamiyyah Surakarta, two Islamist radio stations.
In 1976, four years after founding Pesantren Ngruki with Sungkar in 1972, the
pair are believed to have become members of Darul Islam/Negara Islamic
Indonesia. Following a falling out with DI leaders, Sungkar and Bashir became
the key leaders of JI in 1993. After Bashir returned to Indonesia in 1999, he
went on to become the head of Majelis Mujhidin Indonesia (2002) and headed
Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (2008), a splinter faction of JI.
Bashir’s
key beliefs include the implementation of Sharia Law and an Islamic State in
Indonesia. He has supported the use of violence against the state (jihad) and
tactical migration (hijrah) when necessary to achieve the movement’s goals and
has stressed the continuous need for preparation, including military preparation
(i’dad), to achieve the goals of an Islamic State. In Indonesia, as part of his
intent to establish an Islamic State, Bashir has refused to salute the
Indonesian flag and abide by the pluralistic state ideology of Pancasila. For
Bashir, the key guides to state administration are the Koran and Sunnah, and if
a government, especially in a Muslim-majority state, uses “man-made” laws, then
such a government should be opposed, including through the use of violence.
For
both his beliefs and actions, Bashir has been imprisoned a number of times. In
1978, accused of subversion, he was imprisoned until 1982. Following the
Borobudur bombing in Yogyakarta in 1985, which Bashir was widely believed to
have planned, he fled to Malaysia. In 2000, Bashir was accused of being
involved in the Christmas Eve bombings, which targeted churches in eight cities
throughout Indonesia that killed 18 people but escaped imprisonment. In 2003,
Bashir was arrested for his alleged role in the 2002 Bali bombing and later
imprisoned for 30 months. Bashir was released after 26 months, in June 2006,
after the Indonesian Supreme Court quashed his conviction. In 2011, for his
link to the Jantho military camp in Aceh and for being the spiritual leader of
JI, Bashir was once again jailed for 15 years but was released on January 8,
2021, after receiving a remission of 55 months of his sentence, in part due to
his poor health and old age.
Bashir
Support for Indonesia’s State Symbols and National Ideology
While
Bashir has steadfastly held on to his hardline views even after being released
from prison last year, he has announced a change in his position with regard to
two tenets of his opposition to the Indonesian state and its symbols. In doing,
he has come to be seen as a “new Bashir” who is more willing to accommodate
Indonesia and its political and religious attributes. In January 2019,
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced that he was prepared to conditionally
release Bashir from prison if he agreed to swear his allegiance to the unitary
state of Indonesia and its national ideology of Pancasila, but Bashir refused
to do so. He continued to argue that he would respect only the laws of God and
not man.
However,
according to his son Rohim, sometime in May of this, Bashir made a video
recording in which he expressed his support for the ideology of Pancasila. This
was because the first principle of the state’s ideology, the belief in one and
only God, was based on tawhid, the Islamic principle that postulates the
oneness of God. Prior to this, Bashir has consistently argued that those
abiding by Pancasila were syirik, or committing the sin of idolatry or
polytheism.
In
addition to Bashir’s new position on Pancasila, on August 17, for the first
time in Pesantren Ngruki’s history, Bashir attended the celebration of
Indonesia’s Independence Day by holding a flag raising ceremony and singing the
national anthem, “Indonesia Raya,” at the boarding school. The ceremony was
attended by more than 300 people, including alumni of Ngruki, Muhadjir Effendi,
the coordinating minister for human development and cultural affairs, and Gen.
Boy Rafli Amar, the head of the Indonesian National Counter Terrorism Agency
(BNPT). Since then, the Indonesian state flag has flown within the compounds of
Pesantren Ngruki, unlike in the past, when Bashir argued that the Indonesian
government was thogut –an evil authority.
Explaining
Bashir’s Changed Stance
Does
Bashir’s recent about-face suggest that he is walking away from extremism and
terrorism? Analysts have argued that there are usually a number of factors at
play when extremists and terrorists abandon their views. First, this can be due
to the disillusionment with the group’s strategies and tactics, especially when
these involve attacking innocent civilians. Second, many members have abandoned
extremism and terrorism after losing respect for a leader who may be seen to be
fighting a battle that cannot be won. Third, many have abandoned their radical
causes after the emergence of tactical and operational differences, especially
when religious leaders try to direct military operations that often lead to
disasters, defeats, or the death of many of the group’s members. Finally, many
have also abandoned the radical cause when promises made by leaders are not
honored. This includes the non-payment of salaries of fighters, and bad moral
and ethical behavior on the part of top leaders and military commanders.
Explaining
and understanding Bashir’s position on Pancasila and the state flag is
important, given that he remains a leading and influential Islamic figure in
Indonesia, especially among radicals. There is the view that Bashir may have
softened his views on the Indonesian government, its ideology, and its flag due
to old age, his more sober understanding of the state’s ideology, or even due
to successful deradicalization programs by the BNPT, which Bashir has only
undertaken on an ad hoc basis, all of which may help to reduce the threat of
violence in Indonesia by jihadists.
Bashir
has also argued that since most of Indonesia’s Islamic scholars (ulamas)
support Pancasila, it must be in line with Islam, especially given that 90
percent of Indonesians are Muslims. It may also be due to the fact that
Bashir’s traditional approach to achieving the goal of an Islamic state and the
implementation of Sharia law has failed and he may want to adopt new strategies
to attain them, including by accommodating the Indonesian authorities. In
short, Bashir’s shift in position may only be tactical.
Has
Bashir Abandoned Extremism and Terrorism?
While
it is still early days, what is also clear is that while he may be able to come
to terms with Pancasila as being consistent with Islam, this may not
necessarily translate into his unstinting support for the Indonesian
government. For Bashir, this accommodation may reflect the fact that an Islamic
State and Sharia law are unlikely to be implemented in Indonesia in the short
to medium term. In short, Bashir is likely to continue opposing the Indonesian
Government as thogut, since he only believes in an Islamic State and the system
of Khilafah, namely, a governmental system based on Islamic law, and not the
democracy that Indonesia has been practicing.
Bashir’s
tactical approach to Pancasila and the Indonesian national flag can also be
understood within the context of Islamist warfare, especially in Indonesia,
which he continues to view as Darul Harbi, a “territory of war.” Given that
deception is part of warfare, the use of subterfuge, or hiyal, is justifiable
for Muslims living in difficult situations. Hence, even though Bashir witnessed
the flag-raising ceremony on August 17 at Ngruki, he did not stand during the
ceremony, on the grounds that he was unwell. Similarly, while talking about
supporting Pancasila, Bashir also talks of the “original Pancasila.” Often
referred to as the Jakarta Charter, this line which was later deleted from the
Constitution, included the “seven words” stating Muslims’ obligations to abide
by Islamic law.
Source:
The Diplomat
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/is-abu-bakar-bashir-really-walking-away-from-violent-extremism/
--------
Rosmah
Mansor, wife of Malaysia’s former leader Najib Razak, convicted of corruption
September
01, 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR: Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Malaysia’s ex-premier Najib Razak, was found
guilty of graft Thursday, just over a week after her husband began serving a
12-year jail term.
“The
accused is found guilty of all three charges,” High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini
Mazlan said as Rosmah sat quietly in the dock.
The
judge added that her defense was “bare denial and unsubstantiated.”
The
Kuala Lumpur court began mitigation on Thursday afternoon, ahead of sentencing.
Even
after that, Rosmah will not go straight to jail, pending what could be a
lengthy appeals process.
Prosecutors
said Rosmah had sought a 187.5 million-ringgit ($41.8 million) bribe and
received 6.5 million ringgit for helping a company secure a solar power project
for rural schools in the Malaysian part of Borneo during her husband’s rule.
She
still faces 17 other charges involving tax evasion and money laundering.
The
70-year-old has long been reviled by Malaysians for her reportedly vast
collection of designer handbags, clothing and jewelry, acquired on jet-set
overseas shopping trips.
Born
the only child of two teachers in the country’s south, Rosmah rose to become
one of Malaysia’s most influential people.
She
made headlines a decade ago for setting up a new unit under the prime
minister’s office known as “FLOM,” an acronym for First Lady of Malaysia. The
full-fledged department, which set critics’ tongues wagging, was tasked with
handling Rosmah’s operational needs.
Her
love for luxury, and in particular Hermes Birkin bags, came under the spotlight
after 2018 raids in which police confiscated more than 500 handbags and 12,000
pieces of jewelry estimated to be worth $270 million.
On
Thursday, dressed in a peach-colored traditional Malay dress and scarf with a
floral print and matching face mask, Rosmah arrived in court escorted by
police.
Her
son and daughter also attended the court proceedings.
Her
disgraced husband Najib was sent to prison nine days ago for an initial batch of
charges linked to the multi-billion-dollar financial scandal at state fund 1MDB
that brought down his government in 2018.
He
is currently on trial over four additional charges. He faces a maximum of 20
years in jail for abuse of power and up to 15 years for money laundering, if
convicted.
Rosmah’s
reputation had contributed to accusations that the ousted ruling establishment
had lost touch with economically struggling and middle-class Malaysians.
The
1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and
Singapore, whose financial systems were believed to have been used to launder
the money.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2154326/world
--------
Guan
Eng slams Saravanan over chaotic worker quota applications
August
30, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Lim Guan Eng has slammed human resources minister M Saravanan for the
“deplorable” process experienced by employers in their foreign worker quota
applications at the ministry yesterday.
Referencing
the incident where “as many as 1,000 employers” were turned away from the
ministry, the DAP chairman said Saravanan’s “disappointing display of ignorance”
would ultimately cost Malaysian industries tens of billions of ringgit.
“The
ministry can do a better job in this digital age and computer era than having
employers who are already busy managing their businesses queue up fruitlessly
for long hours waiting unsuccessfully to be served,” Lim said in a statement.
He
pointed out that Saravanan had previously said that earlier applications to
hire about 400,000 foreign workers would proceed before the end of August.
Lim
said the ministry’s failure to resolve the severe worker shortage would cost
the plantation sector, glove makers and auto spare parts industry RM33.5
billion in inflicted losses, not including other industries.
He
said Malaysia’s electrical and electronics (E&E) sector was in urgent need
of at least 30,000 workers, adding that the shortage could jeopardise E&E
exports, which “generated 56% of Malaysia’s 2021 trade surplus and accounted
for 6.3% of 2021’s total worldwide E&E exports.”
“How
can Malaysia generate economic growth if such a simple matter of documentation
and processing of foreign labour recruitment cannot be resolved?” Lim asked.
He
said the government should expedite foreign worker approvals through
transparent, predictable, and effective mechanisms, urging Saravanan to “help”,
not “harm”, businesses by cutting red tape in the application process.
Lim
also cited the Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) as
saying that 1,500 Indian-Muslim restaurants were expected to close nationwide
due to the lack of foreign workers and difficulty in sourcing local labour.
“Many
industries suffer the same predicament as mamak restaurants. What happened
yesterday is a damning indictment of Saravanan’s lack of performance and litany
of broken promises”.
Yesterday,
FMT reported that many employers were left disgruntled after being turned away
from the human resources ministry when they were unable to be interviewed for
their foreign worker quota applications.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Suspected
Muslim rebels kill town police chief in Philippines
30
Aug 2022
COTABATO,
Aug 30 (AP): Suspected Muslim rebels killed a police chief and his driver in a
southern Philippine town and wounded at least three other officers as they were
traveling Tuesday to arrest a suspect, officials said.
About
10 men opened fire on a police vehicle carrying Ampatuan town police chief Lt.
Reynaldo Samson, who died instantly along with his driver in the midmorning
attack on a rural road in the town in Maguindanao province, regional police
commander Brig. Gen. John Gano Guyguyon said.
Three
other officers riding in the vehicle were wounded when they exchanged fire with
the attackers, who withdrew when police reinforcements arrived, Guyguyon said.
He said the police were on their way to arrest a robbery suspect.
Government
forces were trying to track down the attackers, who villagers said seized the
firearms of the slain policemen before fleeing.
The
suspects were believed to be members of a Muslim rebel group, the Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Fighters, active in Ampatuan town in predominantly Muslim
Maguindanao, where they have been waging a separatist insurrection for years.
In
2008, the insurgents broke off from the largest Muslim group in the south, the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front, after it dropped a secessionist goal and
embraced limited Muslim autonomy in peace talks with the government brokered by
Malaysia.
The
main rebel group signed a peace agreement with the government in 2014 and its
leaders are now helping administer a five-province Muslim autonomous region,
but the hard-line defectors have continued fighting the government. Some have
aligned themselves with the Islamic State group.
A
cease-fire agreement and the 2014 peace pact considerably eased decades of
fighting, mostly in the southern Mindanao region, the homeland of minority
Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation, but smaller insurgent groups have
continued to pose a threat.
Ampatuan
was the site of a 2009 massacre of 58 people, including 32 media workers,
traveling in a convoy in an attack plotted by a powerful political clan. Clan
leaders were later convicted of masterminding the killings because a rival
family had decided to challenge their long political control in Maguindanao.
Army
troops, meanwhile, were deployed to a village in Lamitan city on the southern
island province of Basilan because of fighting Tuesday between two groups of
armed men said to be aligned with different Muslim rebel organizations.
Source:
The Star
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Arab World
Clashes
in Iraq’s Basra among Shiite rivals cause casualties
September
01, 2022
BAGHDAD:
Clashes among rival Shiite Muslim militants in the southern Iraqi city of Basra
took place overnight and into Thursday morning, causing several casualties,
local security officials said.
The
skirmishes were the latest violence to hit the country in a political crisis
that pits followers of the powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr against
mostly Iran-aligned parties and paramilitary groups.
The
security officials said the clashes took place in the center of Basra, Iraq’s
main oil-producing hub. They did not immediately confirm reports of deaths.
Violence
re-erupted in Iraq this week as armed supporters of Sadr fought with security
forces and Iran-aligned gunmen in Baghdad in the fiercest street battles the
capital has seen for years.
Source:
Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2154346/middle-east
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Saudi
Arabia designates five individuals over links to Iran-backed Houthis
31 August,
2022
Saudi
Arabia announced on Wednesday that it had designated five people for being
linked to the Iran-backed Houthis and issued a ruling to freeze their assets.
The
Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that the ruling aligns with the system for
combatting terrorism and its financing.
It
follows Royal Decree No. (M/21) and the Security Council Resolution No. 1373 of
2001.
No
direct or indirect dealings are to be carried out with the five Yemeni
nationals, SPA reported.
The
designated individuals are:
Mansour
Ahmed al-Saadi, reportedly a Yemeni national, is “working and cooperating in
smuggling Iranian weapons to Yemen. He is alleged to have received extensive
training in Iran and is said to be the “mastermind” behind the attacks on
international shipments in the Red Sea.
Ahmed
Ali al-Hamzi, a Yemeni national, is allegedly responsible for the drone
program. He is believed to have received Iranian-made weapons and has
previously received training in Iran.
Muhammad
Abdul-Karim al-Ghamari attended military training courses in Iran and is
“directly related to the launching of ballistic missiles and drones,” according
to the SPA.
Zakaria
Abdullah Yahya Hajar also attended military training courses in Iran and is
allegedly associated with ballistic missile launches and drones.
Ahmed
Muhammad Ali al-Gohary is reportedly associated with launching ballistic
missiles and drones.
Earlier
this month, security forces on Yemen’s west coast busted a cell affiliated with
the Houthi militia for smuggling weapons from Iran.
The
cell consisted of four Yemenis who hail from Abu Zahr area, north of the
al-Khawkhah district in the governorate of Hodeidah.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Saudi
graduates working at NEOM complete ‘high-performance’ Formula E placement
31
August, 2022
Two
Saudi graduates working at NEOM recently completed a secondment scheme with
Mercedes’ EQ Formula E team in the UK that aimed to develop their professional
skills.
Ahmed
al-Hussain, a design engineer, and Duaa al-Zaher, who worked with Mercedes’
digital team, described the impact of the year-long placement at Mercedes F1 HQ
in Brackley with Al Arabiya English.
“I
learned to continuously embrace curiosity and challenge myself, which helped me
gain invaluable insight into how far I can push my limits,” said Duaa.
“My
time here with the team has piqued my curiosity and motivated me to broaden my
knowledge and expertise, learning from everyone and everything around me,” Ahmed
added.
Some
of the skills picked up by candidates are vital when working on a project with
such a grand vision as NEOM, according to Neal Coupland, NEOM’s Partnerships
Director.
“NEOM
has a purpose, but it’s a long goal in terms of creating The Line et cetera, of
Vision 2030,” he said. “And we need to sometimes reflect on the fact that we’ve
got to get some short term wins and we have to have a culture that lets us do
that so we don’t drift too much on a weekly or monthly basis, and we don’t
reassess things too many times.”
Coupland
described what a drastic effect the placement had on the two graduates: “They
looked more confident, they sounded more confident, they spoke with purpose.”
“I've
honestly rarely seen a change so dramatically between two people. I almost
wasn’t sure I was speaking to the same two people,” he said.
Dr
Katherine Bond, an expert in sports psychology, also spoke to Al Arabiya
English about how working with high-performance teams such as Mercedes’ Formula
E can impart transferrable skills onto young graduates entering the workforce.
Professional
athletes transitioning from sports into other careers are sought-after, she
said, due to strengths in teamwork and coachability.
“The
notion that secondments or internments in a high performing team or high
performance sports environment develop those skills and qualities in
early-career individuals is a well-proven practice,” she added.
“And
so it was demonstrated really well in this instance with the NEOM grads having
that year with the Mercedes Formula E team.”
Key
takeaways from the year spent abroad involved learning the importance of
“transparent communication and empathy,” said Duaa.
For
Ahmed, the secondment taught him the value of trial and error: “The earlier you
do your own test and trial, and make a few mistakes along the way, the more you
learn and the faster you boost the quality of your output.”
The
secondment coming to an end also marks the conclusion of the partnership
between NEOM and Mercedes-EQ Formula E, in which the team has secured victories
in the ABB FIA Formula E Teams’ and Drivers’ Championships.
But
as Duaa and Ahmed return to work at NEOM as part of its Graduate Opportunities
in Work (GrOW) program, the futuristic city project is set to partner with
McLaren for future secondments.
While
only two candidates were selected this year, more than 20 will work with
McLaren next year, said Coupland.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Light
plane crashes near UAE’s Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque, pilot injured
31
August, 2022
A
light aircraft has crashed in the carpark of Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque injuring
the pilot, officials said on Monday, blaming a technical malfunction.
The
Cessna single-engine plane was approaching an exclusive airport for private
jets in the UAE capital’s center when it came down near the white marble
landmark, the country’s biggest mosque.
“As
a result of the accident, the pilot was injured and rushed to the hospital for
necessary treatment and monitoring,” the General Civil Aviation Authority said,
according to the official WAM news agency.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Hezbollah
at 40 stronger than ever but has more enemies
Sep
1, 2022
BEIRUT:
Forty years since Hezbollah was founded at the height of Israel’s 1982 invasion
of Lebanon, the group has morphed from a ragtag organization to the largest and
most heavily armed militant group in the Middle East.
The
Iranian-armed and funded Hezbollah, which has marked the anniversary with
ceremonies in its strongholds in recent weeks, dominates Lebanon’s politics and
plays an instrumental role in spreading Tehran’s influence throughout the Arab
world.
But
the Shiite powerhouse, once praised around the Arab world for unrelentingly
standing against Israel, faces deep criticism on multiple fronts.
At
home in Lebanon, a significant part of the population opposes its grip on power
and accuses it of using the threat of force to prevent change. Across the
region, many resent its military interventions in Iraq and in Syria’s civil
war, where it helped tip the balance of power in favor of President Bashar
Assad’s forces.
There
is no specific date on when Hezbollah was founded, starting as a small, shadowy
group of fighters helped by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. But the
group says it happened during the summer of 1982.
The
40th anniversary comes this year as Hezbollah officials have warned of a
possible new war with Israel over the disputed gas-rich maritime border between
Lebanon and Israel.
Over
the years, Hezbollah has boosted its military power. It boasts of having
100,000 well-trained fighters. And now its leader says they have
precision-guided missiles that can hit anywhere in Israel and prevent ships
from reaching Israel’s Mediterranean coast, as well as advanced drones that can
either strike or gather intelligence.
“Hezbollah
has evolved tremendously in the past four decades in its organizational
structure, global reach, and regional involvements,” says Middle East analyst
Joe Macaron.
Hezbollah’s
biggest achievement over the past 40 years was its guerrilla war against
Israeli forces occupying parts of southern Lebanon. When Israel’s army was
forced to withdraw in May 2000 — without a peace deal like the ones it reached
with Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians — the victory brought Hezbollah praise
from around the Middle East.
“Who
would have imagined that our enemy could be defeated?” Hezbollah’s chief
spokesman Mohammed Afif said a press conference held in July to mark the
anniversary.
But
since the withdrawal, the controversy over Hezbollah has steadily grown as its
role has changed.
In
2005, Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the most powerful Sunni politician
in the country at the time, was killed in a massive truck bomb in Beirut. A
U.N.-backed tribunal accused three Hezbollah members of being behind the
assassination. Hezbollah denies the charges.
Hezbollah
was blamed for other assassinations that followed, mostly targeting Christians
and Sunni Muslim politicians and intellectuals critical of the group. Hezbollah
denies the accusations.
“Hezbollah’s
danger to Lebanon is huge,” says journalist and former Cabinet minister May
Chidiac who lost an arm and a leg in a 2005 assassination attempt with
explosives placed in her car. She said Hezbollah has been expanding Iran’s
influence in Lebanon, “and this is a long-term plan that they have been working
on for 40 years.”
Asked
if Hezbollah is to blame for the attempt on her life, Chidiac said: “Of course.
There is no doubt about that. All these assassinations are linked.”
Lebanese
have been sharply divided by Hezbollah’s determination to keep its weapons
since Israel’s withdrawal. Some call for its disarmament, saying only the state
should have the right to carry weapons. Others support the group’s stance that
it must continue to be able to defend against Israel.
Hezbollah
fought Israel to a draw in a 34-day war in the summer of 2006. Israel today
considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, estimating that the
militant group has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at it.
In
early July, the Israeli military shot down three unmanned aircraft launched by
Hezbollah heading toward an area where an Israeli gas platform was recently
installed in the Mediterranean Sea. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned
that Israel will not be allowed to benefit from its gas fields in the disputed
maritime border area before a deal is reached with Lebanon.
Maj.
Gen. Ori Gordin, the incoming head of Israel’s Northern Command, described
Hezbollah as a “serious threat,” due to both its proximity to Israel and its
arsenal.
“This
is a very strong terror army,” he told The Associated Press in Jerusalem. “Not
as strong as the Israeli military, not as strong as the Israeli air force. We
are in a completely different place when it comes to our military capabilities.
But it can do some significant damage. I have to say that.”
Afif,
the Hezbollah spokesman, said that “as long as there is an aggression, there
will be resistance.”
In
2008, the government of Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Saniora decided to
dismantle Hezbollah’s telecommunications network. Hezbollah responded by
capturing by force Sunni neighborhoods in Beirut. It was the worst internal
fighting since the 1975-90 civil war ended and marked a breach in Hezbollah’s
pledge never to use its weapons at home.
Perhaps
the most controversial decision Hezbollah has made was by sending thousands of
fighters to Syria since 2013 to back Assad against opposition fighters, as well
as against al-Qaida-linked fighters and the Islamic State group.
The
intervention “meant becoming entangled in the internal conflict of a
neighboring Arab country rather than fulfilling Hezbollah’s claimed mandate of
resistance against Israel,” Macaron said.
Across
the Arab world, it cemented an image of Hezbollah as a sectarian Shiite force
fighting mainly Sunni insurgents and spreading Iran’s power.
Hezbollah
was also accused of helping Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, leading at
least six Arab countries to list the group as a terrorist organization.
Within
Lebanon, Hezbollah has used its powerful support among the Shiite community and
tough tactics to gain political dominance.
In
2016, it secured the election of its Christian ally Michel Aoun as president,
then it and its allies won a parliament majority in subsequent elections.
But
that also sealed its role as part of a governing system whose decades of
corruption and mismanagement have been blamed for Lebanon’s economic collapse,
starting in late 2019. With the currency crumbling and much of the population
thrown into poverty, the political elite, which has been running Lebanon since
the 1975-90 civil war ended, has resisted reforms.
Massive
protests demanding the removal of those politicians began in late 2019, and
days afterward, hundreds of Hezbollah supporters attacked the protesters in
downtown Beirut, forcing them to flee. In October, Hezbollah supporters and a
rival militia had an armed clash in Beirut over investigations into the 2020
devastating explosion at Beirut’s port.
Voters
punished Hezbollah and its allies in this year’s elections, making them lose
their parliamentary majority.
Source:
Times Of India
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Israel
attacks Aleppo’s airport with rockets: Syria’s state news agency
31
August, 2022
Israel
targeted Aleppo’s international airport with rockets, Syria’s state news agency
(SANA) said on Wednesday, citing a military source.
It
added the strike only resulted in material damage after earlier reporting
blasts were heard over the city.
Syrian
state TV reported that the country’s air defenses intercepted an Israeli attack
over the capital Damascus and its countryside.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2022/08/31/Blasts-heard-over-Syria-s-Aleppo-SANA
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UN
Security Council renews mandate of peacekeeping force in Lebanon for one year
31 August,
2022
The
UN Security Council renewed the mandate of its peacekeeping force in Lebanon
for another year during a vote on Wednesday.
France
hailed the renewal. “As pane holder, France has worked for this renewal,
#UNIFIL being key for the stability in Lebanon and the region,” the French
Mission to the UN tweeted.
In
a statement announcing the vote, the Security Council requested the Lebanese
Armed Forces (LAF) and the UN secretary-general to set out “precise benchmarks
and timelines” for the deployment of LAF troops in southern Lebanon and in the
country’s territorial waters.
Iran-backed
Hezbollah and its Shia allies, Amal Movement, have all but full control over
the southern part of Lebanon and have blocked UN peacekeepers from carrying out
their role on several occasions.
On
Wednesday, the Security Council called on the Lebanese government to speed up
the deployment of a model LAF regiment in the southern part of the country,
which Beirut had previously vowed to do.
The
vote to renew UNIFIL’s mandate is annual. Last year, the Security Council asked
UNIFIL to take temporary and special measures to assist the LAF with food,
fuel, medicine and logistical support.
The
UN announced Wednesday that this support had been extended for another six
months.
As
for tensions between Lebanon and Israel, the Security Council urged both sides
to expedite efforts to “visibly mark” the UN-demarcated Blue Line, which is the
de-facto land border.
The
UN says the Blue Line, marking the line of withdrawal between Lebanon and
Israel, remains unmarked for half of its length. “This can lead to tensions
when crossings, which may be inadvertent, occur,” the Security Council said on
Wednesday.
In
an indirect jab at Hezbollah, the Security Council said UN peacekeepers do not
require prior authorization or need permission from anyone to carry out their
mandated tasks. “It calls on the parties to guarantee UNIFIL’s freedom of
movement, including by allowing announced and unannounced patrols,” the
Security Council said.
“The
Council condemns the harassment and intimidation of UNIFIL personnel, as well
as the use of disinformation campaigns against peacekeepers.”
The
recent installation of containers is restricting UNIFIL’s access to parts of
the Blue Line, the Security Council said. The Council also condemned the
presence of unauthorized weapons controlled by armed groups in UNIFIL’s area of
operations.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Saudi
Arabia’s culinary heritage to be showcased at France’s Agora Expo
01
September, 2022
Saudi
Arabia’s diverse culinary heritage will be showcased at the Agora Expo in
France as part of globally promoting and introducing the Kingdom’s cuisine to
the world, the Saudi Culinary Arts Commission announced on Wednesday.
The
Agora Expo’s International Village of Culinary Arts, which champions
international culinary traditions, will take place from September 1 until
September 4 in the French capital Paris.
During
this period the commission will host different pavilions, each dedicated to
highlight the unique Saudi cuisine, according to a post published on the
commission’s official Twitter account.
The
Kingdom will have a pavilion specific for live cooking shows featuring Saudi
dishes, another one for traditional coffee-related handicrafts as well as
introducing attendees to the Year of Saudi Coffee 2022 initiative.
The
Saudi coffee is an important element of the Kingdom’s heritage and values, and
is celebrated by the Ministry of Culture through introducing the making-of
process to the world.
Saudi
dates will also be highlighted at another pavilion.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Saudi
ambassador to Yemen meets coordinator of UN panel of experts on Yemen
August
31, 2022
RIYADH:
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al-Jaber, who also supervises the
Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen, on Wednesday met
with the coordinator of the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, Dr. Debbie Dash.
During
the meeting, they discussed the Kingdom’s support for UN efforts in Yemen, and
the efforts of the team in implementing its mandate.
They
stressed the importance of the commitment of the Iran-backed Houthi militia to
the provisions of the current UN-sponsored truce and the speedy opening of
roads in Taiz to alleviate human suffering in the besieged city.
Source:
Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2154081/saudi-arabia
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