Government of India Had Deobandi, Barelvi and Sufi Sects of Islam On Board before Taking Decision to Ban Wahhabi-Salafi Outfit Popular Front of India
New Age Islam News Bureau
29 September 2022
Popular Front of India
-----
• "Yoga for University Students of Both
Genders": Saudi Committee for Yoga Aims To Introduce Traditional Yoga and
Yogasana Sports to Universities
• Taliban Fire Into Air To Disperse Women's Rally
Supporting Protests In Iran Over The Death Of A Woman In The Custody Of
Morality Police
• Pakistan Audio Leaks: Clip of Imran Khan's Plan to
'Play' Foreign Conspiracy 'Cipher' Surfaces
• US Capital Declares October as Turkish Heritage
Month
India
• From Techie to Lecturer to Govt Employee: Arrested
PFI Men Are From All Walks Of Life
• Bajrang Dal activists thrash Muslim man for entering
Garba event in Ahmedabad
• After five intrusions in four days, BSF fears Pak
may turn drones into bombers
• Madhya Pradesh: Mob attacks Muslim men for suspected
cattle theft
--------
Arab
World
• Bahrain: Imprisoned Shia Cleric Abused and Denied
Medical Treatment
• Three rockets land in Iraq’s Green Zone: Report
• Arab leaders congratulate Saudi Crown Prince for
being named as prime minister
• Türkiye ‘neutralizes’ 10 YPG/PKK terrorists in
northern Syria
• Thirteen reported killed as Iran Revolutionary
Guards target dissident sites in Iraq
• US forces bring in new military reinforcements to
bases in Syria’s Hasakah
• Iran’s IRGC pounds bases of terrorists in northern
Iraq with missiles, drones
--------
South
Asia
• Facebook must compensate Rohingyas over hate speech,
says Amnesty
• Afghan Envoy at UNSC: ‘Systematic’ Exclusion of
Women under Taliban
• 4 Arrested for Selling Young Girl in Northeast
Afghanistan
• Russia Calls on US to Return Frozen Asset to Afghan
People
--------
Pakistan
• Bilawal wants Taliban rulers to use their influence
on TTP for peace
• Posing as patient, gunman kills Chinese national,
injures dentist, wife in Karachi clinic
• Pakistan school expels 4 students of Ahmadi minority
community
• Legal cover only way to resolve forced conversion
issue: speakers
• Four ‘terrorists’ of banned outfit killed in gun
battle with CTD in Quetta
• Resurgence of terrorism won’t be tolerated, COAS
tells Commanders Conference
--------
North
America
• A Black Muslim Man, Ali Osman, Threw Rocks at a
Police Car, the Police Shot Him Dead
• US downs Iranian drone threatening American forces
in Iraq: CENTCOM
• US slams Tehran for attacks in Iraq, vows to disrupt
Iran’s destabilizing behaviour
• US says Greek sovereignty on island ‘not in
question’ after Turkey complaint
• Turkiye's Latin America outreach stretches from
trade to TV shows
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Non-Muslims Are Malaysians Too, Not Political Foes, Guan
Eng Tells PAS
• Motivational expert denies trying to damage preacher
Ebit Lew’s reputation
• PM calls for countries to take in more Rohingya
refugees
--------
Europe
• France to Close another Mosque, Accusing the Imam of
Being Radicalized
• Pope Francis presses message of Muslim dialogue with
Bahrain trip
• Turkey to re-inforce military presence in northern
Cyprus: Erdogan
• Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of
violating ceasefire deal
• China, Russia call on US to release frozen Afghan
assets
--------
Mideast
• Iran President Says Amini's Death Is ‘Tragic
Incident’, But ‘Chaos’ Unacceptable
• Mahsa Amini’s family files complaint in Iran over
her arrest: Report
• Israeli forces kill four Palestinians in West Bank
town
• Jenin carnage: Struggle continues until complete
expulsion of invaders, warns Hamas
--------
Africa
• Türkiye Sympathizes With Burkina Faso Over Deadly
Attack
• Ethiopia, Somalia eye shift from military to
economic cooperation
• 18 candidates vying for presidency in Nigeria start
election campaign
• US warns Sudan of consequences if it hosts Russian
military base
• Sudan’s Hemedti to testify in Bashir’s trial of
killing protesters
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/india-deobandi-barelvi-sufi-sects-pfi/d/128064
--------
Government of India Had Deobandi, Barelvi and Sufi
Sects of Islam On Board before Taking Decision to Ban Wahhabi-Salafi Outfit
Popular Front of India
Popular Front of India
-----
Sep 28, 2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit
Shah took the decision to ban the PFI and its affiliates after national
security planners had prominent Muslim organization on board against proposed
action on Sunni Wahhabi outfit.
It is understood that National Security Advisor Ajit
Doval met the prominent Muslim organization leaders on September 17 to
understand their views before NIA, ED and State Police raids were conducted on
September 22.
The NSA and Intelligence Bureau officers took the
opinion of country’s biggest Muslim organisations including those representing
Deobandi, Barelvi and Sufi sects of Islam. All these organizations were
equivocal in their opinion that PFI was following an Wahhabi-Salafi agenda of
pan-Islamist organisations with their extremist campaign to exploit the
communal fault-lines in India.
The Centre's decision to ban the Popular Front of
India and its associates has been welcomed by the Sufi and Barelvi clerics. The
All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council chairman said that everyone should show
patience if an action has been taken to curb extremism.
“The All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council believes
that if this action has been taken for compliance with the law and the
prevention of terrorism, then everyone should work patiently on it, this step
of the government and investigative agencies should be welcomed,” the statement
read.
Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, the spiritual head of the
Ajmer Dargah welcomed the move and said the action taken as per law to prevent
terrorism should be welcomed by all.
"If the country is safe then we are safe, the
country is bigger than any institution or idea and if someone talks about
breaking this country, breaking the unity and sovereignty here, talks about
spoiling the peace of the country, then he has no right to live here," the
Dewan said.
Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, the president of All
India Muslim Jamaat, also issued a video statement, calling the decision the
right step to curb extremism.
Source: Hindustan Times
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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"Yoga for University Students of Both
Genders": Saudi Committee for Yoga Aims To Introduce Traditional Yoga and
Yogasana Sports to Universities
(Representative image)
Getty Images
----
Sep 29, 2022
RIYADH: A virtual introductory lecture on Yoga was
organised for all Saudi university representatives across the kingdom to spread
awareness and motivate its practice as a lifestyle for all segments of society.
The lecture, organised on Monday, aimed to introduce
both traditional yoga and yogasana sports to Saudi universities and give a
variety of options to the students on university campuses to practice yoga, the
Saudi Gazette reported.
The lecture covered both mental and physical health
and plans to join professional yogasana sports training to be part of
competitions locally and internationally.
In cooperation with the Saudi Universities Sports
Federation (SUSF), the Saudi Yoga Committee organised the event in Riyadh.
The Saudi Gazette reported that the event came within
the framework of an integrated system of programs and initiatives of the Saudi
Committee for Yoga, under the title "Yoga for University Students of Both
Genders".
The event coincided with the arrival of the first yoga
delegation to the Kingdom from the Asian Yogasana Sports Federation in India
for the qualification course for the first Saudi batch of Yoga Referees, the
report added.
The event included issues concerning the benefits of
yoga for health and physical well-being in youth, yogasana sports for
tournaments and competitions, and requirements for professional yoga training.
It also included technical regulation of The Saudi Yoga Committee for
Championships and Competitions in Saudi Universities.
The lecture, which motivated the youth to join
professional yoga training, also shed light on the system of professional
yogasana competitions within the university sports and the university league.
Nouf Almarwaai, President of the Saudi Yoga Committee,
said that the committee seeks to achieve its vision of spreading yoga on a
large scale within Saudi society. "Therefore it took the initiative to
cooperate with the Saudi Universities Sports Federation in order to build a
generation of yoga lovers, especially young people, to enjoy physical and
mental health."
Almarwaai said that the committee seeks to increase
the number of practitioners and build yoga teams that participate in local and
regional yoga championships.
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Taliban Fire Into Air To Disperse Women's Rally
Supporting Protests In Iran Over The Death Of A Woman In The Custody Of
Morality Police
Afghan women hold placards
as they take part in a protest in front of the Iranian embassy in Kabul on
Thursday. — AFP
-----
Sep 29, 2022
KABUL: Taliban forces fired shots into the air on
Thursday to disperse a women's rally supporting protests in Iran over the death
of a woman in the custody of morality police.
Deadly protests have erupted in neighbouring Iran for
the past two weeks, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while
detained by the Islamic republic's morality police.
Chanting the same "Women, life, freedom!"
mantra used in demonstrations in Iran, about 25 Afghan women protested in front
of the Iranian embassy in Kabul before being dispersed by Taliban forces firing
in the air, an AFP correspondent reported.
Women protesters carried banners that read: "Iran
has risen, now it's our turn!" and "From Kabul to Iran, say no to
dictatorship!"
Taliban forces swiftly snatched the banners and tore
them in front of the protesters.
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Pakistan Audio Leaks: Clip of Imran Khan's Plan to
'Play' Foreign Conspiracy 'Cipher' Surfaces
Imran Khan, Former
Pakistan PM
-----
Sep 29, 2022
ISLAMABAD: In a continuing sequence of controversial
audio leaks involving high-profile names in Pakistan, sound bites of former PM
Imran Khan and his then principal secretary Azam Khan purportedly discussing
how to "play" the alleged "foreign conspiracy" against him
emerged Wednesday amid a National Security Committee meet to discuss a tape featuring
incumbent PM Shehbaz Sharif.
"Let's play with this. We won't have to take any
country’s name; just play with this," a voice believed to be that of the
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief is heard in the leaked clip.
The bureaucrat then tells Imran how to use the
conspiracy card to forward the party's political agenda, suggesting that he
rope in foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood so that the issue could be highlighted
at a "bureaucratic level".
"Let's hold a meeting with Shah Mahmood Qureshi
(then foreign minister in Imran’s government) and the foreign secretary.
Qureshi will read out that letter, and whatever he reads out will be converted
into a copy. I will then make minutes out of it and say the foreign secretary
has prepared this," a man said to be Azam Khan advises the ex-PM.
Imran purportedly replies, "The analysis will
have to be conducted and converted into minutes just as we want so that it
becomes part of the official record...Let's do this tomorrow only."
As the latest audio leak went viral, Imran accused PM
Shehbaz and his acolytes of being behind it. "Well done on leaking it. I
would say the cypher should get leaked too… and so everyone knows what a big
foreign conspiracy was made," he said.
"I haven't even played on it yet. Now we will play
when they expose it."
Shehbaz himself is under pressure over a purportedly
leaked transcript of a chat with a federal secretary in which he allegedly
seeks favours for a son-in-law of Maryam Nawaz, ex-PM Nawaz Sharif’s daughter.
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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US Capital Declares October as Turkish Heritage Month
Turkish Heritage Month was
first celebrated in the US capital in 2011. (AA Archive)
-----
Servet Günerigök
28.09.2022
WASHINGTON
The mayor of Washington, DC issued a proclamation
Tuesday declaring October as Turkish Heritage Month.
Muriel Bowser noted in her proclamation that Turkish
Heritage Month was first celebrated in the US capital 11 years ago, which she
said was a "way to build bridges and strengthen friendships among Turkish
and non-Turkish Americans".
She said the US and Türkiye "have traditionally
been strong allies, and Americans of Turkish descent in the District of
Columbia have played a significant role in the educational, cultural, economic,
and civic development of our community."
Washington, DC and Ankara are sister cities and more
than 20,000 Turkish-Americans live in the capital and neighboring states, said
Bowser.
October also hosts a traditional Turkish Festival in
the capital, organized by the American Turkish Association of DC, or ATA-DC.
The festival this year, which marks its 20th
anniversary, takes place Oct. 16 on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-capital-declares-october-as-turkish-heritage-month/2696375
--------
India
From techie to lecturer to govt employee: Arrested PFI
men are from all walks of life
Sep 29, 2022
NEW DELHI: Among the arrested top leaders of PFI, its
chairman OMA Salam is a Kerala government employee who was suspended as
recently as 2020; national vice-chairman E M Abdur Rahiman a retired librarian
who served in Cochin University of Science and Technology in Kalamassery;
national secretary V P Nazarudeen, a former clerical staff in
Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind 'mouthpiece' Madhyamam daily; and national executive
council member P Koya, an ex-employee of a private company in Qatar who later
also served as a lecturer in Government College, Kodenchery, Kozhikode.
Two arrested PFI members from Karnataka - Abdul Wahit
Sait (national executive council member) and Anis Ahmed (national general
secretary) - are techies. Sait, a founder member of PFI belongs to a well-off
Muslim family and is based in Bengaluru, runs a company dealing in Tally, ERP
and other software solutions to businesses. Anis Ahmed worked as global technical
manager at Ericson in Bengaluru for six months before being expelled recently.
He is pro-active on social media and news channels and comments on current
issues, including central government policies.
OMA Salam is an employee of the Kerala State Electricity
Board but was suspended on December 14, 2020, owing to his role as chairman of
PFI. Salam, who has a case registered against him in Malappuram, is also
associated with Rehab India Foundation, a PFI front banned on Wednesday. He was
NDF state secretary in 2000 and associated with PFI from 2007 onwards.
EM Abdur Rahiman, who hails from Ernakulam, joined
SIMI in the 70s and later became its all-India president. He was the mastermind
behind the formation of NDF and later PFI front organisations like Campus Front
of India and Confederation of Human Rights Organisation. Rahiman also holds
positions as director board member of Students Islamic Trust, New Delhi; and as
member of All India Milli Council, among others.
E Abubacker, who is from Calicut, was Kerala state
president of SIMI from 1982 to 1984. He is also the founder chairman of NDF and
Rehab India Foundation, besides being founder president of SDPI and founder
member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board. He has also been Editor of India
Next Hindi magazine, besides being managing editor of Thejas daily newspaper.
P Koya, who is also national general secretary of
now-banned PFI front NCHRO, was an active SIMI worker during 1978-79.
Nazarudeen started as teacher at MES College in Aluva and Calicut Orphanage but
later worked as clerical staff for Madhayamam Daily, a JEIH mouthpiece. He
contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election as SDPI candidate from Malappuram.
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Bajrang Dal activists thrash Muslim man for entering
Garba event in Ahmedabad
Gopi Maniar Ghanghar
Ahmedabad
September 28, 2022
A Muslim man was allegedly beaten up by activists of
the Bajrang Dal at a garba event in Ahmedabad. The incident took place in
Ahmedabad’s Sindhu Bhavan area.
Bajrang Dal activists in the city are visiting garba
venues for surprise checks.
At one such event, they caught four Muslim men
entering the venue. Three managed to run away while one was caught and beaten
up.
According to the Bajrang Dal, Muslim men don’t
participate in garba with religious fervor. They attend them with malafied
intentions of luring Hindu girls.
Source: India Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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After five intrusions in four days, BSF fears Pak may
turn drones into bombers
Sep 29, 2022
Pakistani drones have been swarming over the
international border in Punjab, flying up to five km inside Indian territory to
drop drugs and arms.
The BSF is afraid that the drones will turn into
bombers. In four days, the force has reported five drone intrusions, the latest
on Tuesday night in Tarn Taran district.
The latest drone was heard near BSF's Amargarh
outpost. It remained in Indian skies for up to 10 minutes before being detected
by troops who opened fire and forced it to retreat.
Source: Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Madhya Pradesh: Mob attacks Muslim men for suspected
cattle theft
28th September 2022
In a incident reported from Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli
district, a mob attacked a few Muslim men over alleged cattle theft. The
victims tried to move the cattle which were blocking the road.
The incident occurred in Deosar Tehsil of Singrauli
distric on September 21. The victims were travelling in a van when they stopped
to move the cattle, the accused suspected that the men were trying to steal the
cattle and attacked them. The victims are a group of seven persons including a
minor boy.
A video shared on twitter shows the mob surrounding
the men questioning and physically assaulting them. “The police have lodged an
FIR against six accused under sections 294 (indulging in obscene acts) , 342
(wrongful confinement of people), 34 (indulging in criminal activities with a
common intention), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 ( voluntarily causing
hurt) of the Indian Penal Code” Deosar SHO Kapur Tripathi was quoted as saying
by Journalist Kakvi.
Source: Siasat Daily
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/madhya-pradesh-mob-attacks-muslim-men-for-suspected-cattle-theft-2422544/
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Arab
World
Bahrain: Imprisoned Shia cleric abused and denied
medical treatment
28 September 2022
A leading Bahraini Shia cleric was assaulted in prison
on Tuesday, en route to a medical appointment, a rights group has told Middle
East Eye.
Sheikh Abduljalil Al-Miqdad is the founder of Al
Wafaa, a Shia opposition political group in Bahrain. The 62-year-old has been
in prison for 11 years and is serving a life sentence for his role in the 2011
uprising.
He was due to be transferred out of the notorious Jau
Prison on 27 September for an external medical appointment, he told Sayed Ahmed
al-Wadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and
Democracy (Bird), in a phone call.
Before the transfer, however, a prison officer
informed him that a doctor would not be present. Al-Miqdad responded that he
would not attend the appointment if there were no doctor.
He was then told he would have to sign a statement,
declaring that he was rejecting medical treatment, but al-Miqdad refused.
A group of officers then responded aggressively,
attempting to beat him physically while verbally abusing him. Al-Miqdad added
that other officers present intervened and stopped the physical assault, before
he was returned to his cell.
"This is a violent assault attempt without any
exaggeration," al-Miqdad said in the phone call, a recording of which was
sent to Middle East Eye. "The reason is revenge, aggression, injustice,
and targeting."
On Wednesday, the Bahraini ministry of interior
dismissed his report as "incorrect", saying "there was no
mistreatment or infringement".
According to Bird, Sheikh al-Miqdad has been subjected
to "deliberate medical negligence", despite suffering a range of
health conditions, including chronic headaches, swelling in his leg which
restricts his movement, cataracts in his eyes, and a slipped vertebrae disc.
In mid-September, the cleric was transferred to an
external medical facility inside a vehicle that was not equipped with air
conditioning - despite the exreme temperature at the time.
"During the transfer he thus suffered from a
headache, difficulty breathing and feared that he would lose
consciousness," Bird said. A complaint was filed to prison authorities
about the vehicle, also used to transfer political prisoner Ali al-Hajee in
July, but no measures were taken to address the problem, Bird said.
The rights group sent a formal request to the ministry
of interior, seen by MEE, calling for an investigation into the transfer.
Jau Prison, where al-Miqdad is being held, is the
largest long-stay male prison in Bahrain. Located in the village of Jaww on the
southeastern coast of Bahrain, the prison has an official maximum capacity of
1,201, but rights groups estimate at least 2,700 inmates are being held there.
Most are classified as political prisoners held in connection with their
anti-government activism during the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011
UK government accused of complicity
In his phone call with Bird, al-Miqdad called on the
UK government to take action.
"I hold the UK government responsible for this
situation because they defend and protect [the Bahraini authorities]," he
said. "They should stop promoting human rights if this is how they are
acting. Aren't we humans? Their eyes were blinded by oil and their ears were
shut by interests so let them move away from human rights."
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat peer Paul Scriven
denounced the assault, calling on the British foreign office to pressure
Bahrain to investigate the claims.
"This sick and degrading treatment against a
highly respected religious figure should not go unnoticed by the @FCDOGovUK,"
he posted on Twitter, tagging the account of the UK's foreign office.
"I urge you to publicly call on your ally, the
Bahraini government, for an investigation into this assault and immediate
treatment."
Official government data show UK government funding
for Bahrain more than doubled this year, despite criticism from human rights
groups.
Source: Middle East Eye
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bahrain-cleric-abused-jail-abduljalil-miqdad
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Three rockets land in Iraq’s Green Zone: Report
28 September, 2022
Three Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s fortified
Green Zone on Wednesday while Iraq’s parliament voted to reject the resignation
of speaker Mohammed Halbousi, Iraq’s military said.
Seven security personnel were wounded in the attack,
which took place amid a partial lockdown in the capital as parliament was
convening. Security forces blocked bridges to the central Green Zone and
imposed a curfew on buses, motorcycles and trucks.
Despite the tight restrictions, dozens of supporters
of the powerful Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad’s Tahrir
Square, which lies outside the Green Zone, to protest against the parliamentary
session.
A Reuters cameraman said around a dozen were seen
throwing stones at security forces.
Sadr emerged as the biggest winner from an election
last October but ordered his parliamentarians to withdraw after failing to form
a coalition government after months of political deadlock. The Sadrists have
called for fresh elections.
Halbousi, who originally backed Sadr’s efforts, has
broken with him, arguing that efforts should continue on forming a government
with other factions.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Arab leaders congratulate Saudi Crown Prince for being
named as prime minister
28 September, 2022
Arab leaders have congratulated Saudi Arabia’s Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman after King Salman named him the Kingdom’s prime
minister Tuesday.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and
UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum both congratulated the Crown Prince on the new role in a
cable.
Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa wished the
Crown Prince continued success in his new role and highlighted his efforts
which serve the Kingdom and its people, according to the Saudi Press Agency
(SPA).
King Hamad underscored the relationship between Saudi
Arabia and Bahrain calling it a historic relationship that “binds the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Bahrain and their leaderships and peoples in
terms of brotherhood, close ties, kinship and love.”
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani also sent
a cable to the Crown Prince congratulating him on his new appointment as prime
minister.
In the cable, Sheikh Tamim wished the Crown Prince
“further success,” voicing hope that relations between the two countries will
witness further development and growth.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) headed
by Hissein Brahim Taha also congratulated the Crown Prince, wishing him success
and prosperity. Taha, in a statement published on the OIC’s website, also
thanked Saudi Arabia for its support of the organization.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Türkiye ‘neutralizes’ 10 YPG/PKK terrorists in
northern Syria
Seda Sevencan
28.09.2022
Turkish security forces “neutralized” 10 YPG/PKK
terrorists in northern Syria, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said on
Wednesday.
The terrorists, who were plotting an attack, were
targeted in the areas of Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Peace Spring.
Turkish authorities use the term “neutralized” to
imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful
anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the
formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents:
Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Thirteen reported killed as Iran Revolutionary Guards
target dissident sites in Iraq
September 28, 2022
PARIS/SULAIMANIYA, Iraq: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
said on Wednesday they fired missiles and drones at militant targets in the
Kurdish region of neighboring northern Iraq, where authorities said 13 people
were killed.
The strikes were reported after Iranian authorities
accused armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents of involvement in unrest now shaking
Iran, especially in the northwest where most of the country’s population of
over 10 million Kurds live.
Thirteen people were killed and 58 wounded in the
attacks near Irbil and Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq’s state news agency
said citing its counter-terrorism service in Kurdistan.
Iraqi Kurdish sources told Reuters drone strikes
targeted at least 10 bases of Iranian Kurds near Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan
on Wednesday morning, without elaborating about possible casualties.
The US Army Central Command said it downed an Iranian
drone on Wednesday while it was on its way to Irbil, adding that the drone
posed a threat to US personnel in the region.
“No US forces were wounded or killed as a result of
the strikes and there is no damage to US equipment,” it said in a statement.
A senior member of Komala, an exiled Iranian Kurdish
opposition party, told Reuters that several of their offices were struck as
well.
Tariq Haidari, mayor of the Iraqi Kurdish city of
Koye, told Reuters that two people including a pregnant woman were killed and
12 wounded. Some of the wounded were rushed in critical condition to hospital
in Irbil, he said.
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s elite military and
security force, said after the attacks that they would continue targeting what
it called terrorists in the region.
“This operation will continue with our full
determination until the threat is effectively repelled, terrorist group bases
are dismantled, and the authorities of the Kurdish region assume their
obligations and responsibilities,” the Guards said in a statement read on state
television.
Iraq’s foreign ministry condemned the attacks.
Iraq’s foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement
on Wednesday that the ministry would summon the Iranian ambassador to inform
him of Iraq’s objection to the attacks on Iraqi territories and that Iraq
considers this action as a violation of sovereignty.
The attacks were condemned by the UN mission in Iraq.
The US condemned the “brazen attacks” and Britain said
Iraq’s “indiscriminate bombardment” demonstrates “a repeated pattern of Iranian
destabilizing activity in the region”.
Germany slammed the “escalation... against the
backdrop of domestic political protests in Iran” and rejected “attempts to locate
the causes of the Iranian protests in the neighboring country”.
The Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, one of the
groups targeted, charged that “these cowardly attacks are occurring at a time
when the terrorist regime of Iran is unable to crack down on ongoing protests
inside and silence the Kurdish and Iranian peoples’ civil resistance”.
Protests erupted in Iran this month over the death of
a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody.
Amini, 22, from the northwestern Kurdish city of Saqez,
was arrested on Sept. 13 in the capital Tehran for “unsuitable attire” by the
morality police, who enforce the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
She died three days later in hospital after falling
into a coma, sparking the first big show of opposition on Iran’s streets since
authorities crushed protests against a rise in gasoline prices in 2019.
On Wednesday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi condemned
the “chaos” sparked by a wave of women-led protests over Amini death.
“Those who took part in the riots must be dealt with
decisively, this is the demand of the people,” said Raisi in a televised
interview.
“People’s safety is the red line of the Islamic
republic of Iran and no one is allowed to break the law and cause chaos,” he
said.
“The enemy has targeted national unity and wants to
pit people against each other,” added the ultraconservative president, accusing
Iran’s archfoe the United States of stoking the unrest.
Raisi said the nation had felt “grief and sorrow” over
Amini death, and that forensics and judiciary experts would soon present a
final report, but also warned that “protests are different to riots”.
“Woman, Life, Freedom!” the protesters have chanted in
Iran’s biggest demonstrations in almost three years, in which women have
defiantly burned their headscarves and cut off their hair.
Their actions have been matched in solidarity protests
worldwide, with British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who spent six years
in jail in Iran, cutting her hair in a video shared on the BBC Persian service.
Amini’s bereaved parents have filed a complaint,
demanding “a thorough investigation” and the release of “all videos and
photographs” of her while in custody, said their lawyer Saleh Nikbakht.
An Iraq-based cousin of Amini, who is a member of a
Kurdish nationalist group, charged that she died after a “violent blow to the
head” and that one officer had vowed to “instil the rules in her and teach her
how to wear the hijab and how to dress”.
As the Iranian protests have flared for 12 nights in a
row, Iran’s police command vowed its forces would confront them “with all their
might”, in a crackdown that one rights group says has already killed at least
76 people.
The Iranian government — its economy already hit by
sanctions over its nuclear program — has sought to play down the crisis.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said
he told Western diplomats at recent UN meetings that the protests were “not a
big deal” for the stability of the clerical state.
“There is not going to be regime change in Iran. Don’t
play to the emotions of the Iranian people,” he told National Public Radio in
New York, also accusing “outside elements” of stirring up violence.
Fars news agency said Tuesday “around 60” people had
been killed since Amini’s death. But the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights
said the crackdown has killed at least 76 people.
Iran’s response has drawn concern from the UN and
condemnation from the around the world, with Germany and Spain summoning the
Iranian ambassadors and the US and Canada announcing new sanctions.
The son of Iran’s late shah, in an interview near
Washington with AFP, hailed the protests and urged the world to add to the
pressure on the clerical leadership.
Reza Pahlavi, whose father was toppled in the 1979
Islamic Revolution, urged greater preparation for a future Iranian system that
is secular and democratic.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2171071/middle-east
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US forces bring in new military reinforcements to
bases in Syria’s Hasakah
28 September 2022
American occupation forces have brought in new
military reinforcements to their bases in the northeastern province of Hasakah,
as Washington pushes ahead with the looting of oil reserves and natural
resources in the war-ravaged Arab country.
Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity,
told Syria’s official news agency SANA that a convoy of 33 trucks, carrying
various types of weapons, military equipment and logistical supplies, as well
as chiller lorries and tankers crossed the Waleed border crossing on Monday
evening, and headed toward US positions in the oil-rich town of Rumeilan.
The sources added that a US military cargo plane,
loaded with heavy weapons systems, also landed at Kharab al-Jeer Airport in the
same Syrian province.
Separately, Syrian government troops have intercepted
a US military convoy in the country’s Hasakah province as the occupation forces
were attempting to pass through a community in the energy-rich region.
SANA, citing local sources requesting anonymity,
reported that Syrian army soldiers blocked the convoy of five armored vehicles
as it was trying to enter the village of Qubur al-Gharajneh, which lies north
of Tell Tamer town, on Monday.
The American troops were subsequently forced to turn
around and go back in the direction they came from. There were no reports of
clashes or injuries.
The US military has stationed 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 rich mineral resources.
Former US president Donald Trump admitted on more than
one occasion that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil.
According to data released by the Syrian Ministry of
Oil and Mineral Resources, Syria produced a total of 14.5 million barrels of
oil in the first half of the current year, and the daily oil production stood
at about 80,300 barrels.
American occupation forces and their allied Takfiris
plundered 66,000 barrels of crude oil during the mentioned period.
The data further showed that just about 14,200 barrels
were available for the Syrian domestic oil refineries.
Last month, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman
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.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Iran’s IRGC pounds bases of terrorists in northern
Iraq with missiles, drones
28 September 2022
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has once
again targeted bases of anti-Iran terrorists in Iraq’s semi-autonomous
Kurdistan region using precision-strike missiles and combat drones.
According to a report by Tasnim agency, the IRGC
Ground Force pounded the positions of separatist terror groups, including the
so-called Komala Party, in the northern Iraqi region on Wednesday morning,
inflicting heavy losses on them.
No further detail has been revealed yet.
Since September 24, the IRGC has been launching daily
raids on positions of the terrorists holed up in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Following the first of the military attacks, the
Iranian military force said in a statement that it gave a decisive response to
the terrorists’ infiltration of the Iranian border and attacks on a number of
security posts there.
It said the IRGC took action after the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG) officials failed to adopt an appropriate measure and
did not pay due attention to numerous warnings against the deployment and
activity of mercenaries and terrorists hostile toward the Islamic Republic.
The terrorists in northern Iraq are reported to have
been largely involved in a series of deadly riots in Iran by sneaking armed
elements and cashes of weapons to support groups of thugs behind violence in
Iranian cities.
Exploiting protests over the death of an Iranian woman
in police custody, thugs and rioters engaged in bloodshed, acts of vandalism,
and desecration of Islamic sanctities inside Iran.
Iran has on countless occasions warned Iraq’s
Kurdistan that it will not tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist
groups along its northwestern borders, saying the country will give a decisive
response should those areas become a hub of anti-Islamic Republic terrorists.
Back in May, the IRGC struck and demolished positions
of terrorist groups operating near the country’s western borders in Iraq’s
northern Kurdish regional capital of Erbil.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/09/28/689988/IRGC-pounds-bases-terrorists-northern-Iraq
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South
Asia
Facebook must compensate Rohingyas over hate speech,
says Amnesty
September 29, 2022
PARIS: Facebook should pay reparations to the hundreds
of thousands of Rohingyas forced from their homes in Myanmar in a campaign
exacerbated by rampant online hate speech, Amnesty International said in a
report today.
The Rohingyas, a mainly Muslim minority, were targeted
by Myanmar’s military rulers in 2017 and driven into neighbouring Bangladesh,
where they have since lived in sprawling refugee camps.
Victims’ associations and rights advocates say the
violence was ramped up by Facebook’s algorithms, saying they play up extremist
content that encourages harmful disinformation and hate speech.
“Many Rohingya tried to report anti-Rohingya content
via Facebook’s ‘report’ function” but to no avail, “allowing these hateful
narratives to proliferate and reach unprecedented audiences in Myanmar,”
Amnesty said in its report.
It noted the revelations from the whistle-blower
“Facebook Papers” divulged in October 2021, indicating that company executives
knew the site fuelled the spread of toxic content against ethnic minorities and
other groups.
Three legal suits have been lodged against Facebook by
Rohingya representatives, in the US and Britain as well as with the OECD group
of developed economies, under its guidelines for responsible business conduct.
In the US complaint, filed last December in
California, the home state of Facebook and its parent company Meta, refugees
are seeking US$150 billion in damages.
“Meta’s refusal to compensate Rohingya victims to date
-– even where the community’s modest requests represent crumbs from the table
of the company’s enormous profits -– simply add to the perception that this is
a company wholly detached from the reality of its human rights impacts,”
Amnesty said.
The NGO urged Facebook to undertake “proactive human
rights due diligence” across its platforms, but also called on national
authorities to step up their oversight.
“It is imperative that states fulfil their obligation
to protect human rights by introducing and enforcing effective legislation to
rein in surveillance-based business models across the technology sector,” it
said.
Facebook has vowed to revamp its corporate values and
operations in response to pressure to clamp down on false information,
particularly with regards to politics and elections.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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of the original story:
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Afghan Envoy at UNSC: ‘Systematic’ Exclusion of Women
Under Taliban
By Saqalain Eqbal
28 Sep 2022
Speaking at the UN Security Council convened to
discuss the situation in Afghanistan, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, the Chargé d’Affaires
of the Afghan Permanent Mission to the UN, said that Afghan women are denied
their fundamental freedoms and rights in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule.
In his address to the UN Security Council, on Tuesday,
September 27, Faiq noted that since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan,
Afghan women and girls have been systematically excluded from all economic,
social, and political arenas.
He underlined that the door to classrooms should be
opened for girls and sought the restoration of fundamental liberties and rights
for women and girls, who have been subjected to the Taliban’s restrictive
edicts for over a year.
According to the Afghan representative, the Taliban’s
extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detentions and arrests, and
mistreatment of former government officials and security forces are some of the
flagrant human rights violations of the Taliban.
He argued that these are contrary to their
commitments, punishable under the International Criminal Court for blatant
abuses of human rights.
Faiq also said that the continued activities and
presence of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS have exacerbated the
security in Afghanistan, the region, and beyond.
He continued by saying that the Taliban’s pledges to
combat terrorism had been flagrantly betrayed by the Al-Qaeda leader’s presence
and killing in the heart of Afghanistan, Kabul. He reiterated that the Afghan
people have fallen victim to terrorism in the past and present.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-envoy-at-unsc-systematic-exclusion-of-women-under-taliban-67485/
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4 Arrested for Selling Young Girl in Northeast
Afghanistan
By Saqalain Eqbal
28 Sep 2022
The Taliban arrested 4 people – 3 men and 1 woman – on
charges of selling a young girl in the northeastern Afghan province of Takhar,
said local Taliban authorities.
Abdul Mubin Safi, the Taliban government’s
spokesperson in Takhar province, said that four people forced a young girl to
be sold against her will without her family’s knowledge for money.
The Taliban spokesperson continued by stating that
these four people were arrested on Tuesday, September 27, by members of the
crimes branch after conducting a comprehensive investigation and with the
cooperation of locals.
Safi claims that the four persons who were detained
have been charged with selling a young woman and that the case has been sent
over to the Taliban-run judiciary for further action.
Previously, Taliban forces in Herat province, in
western Afghanistan, arrested a man for allegedly trying to sell his mother for
a price of 450 000 Afghanis.
As the Taliban took power in Afghanistan last year,
there was an upsurge in reports of family members, including daughters, wives,
and parents, selling their children to survive.
Afghanistan is presently experiencing the worst levels
of hunger, starvation, despair, unemployment, and poverty, in addition to the
deterioration of women’s rights and the “worst humanitarian crisis on Earth.”
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/4-arrested-for-selling-young-girl-in-northeast-afghanistan-85369/
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Russia Calls on US to Return Frozen Asset to Afghan
People
By Arif Ahmadi
29 Sep 2022
KABUL, Afghanistan – The Russian ambassador Anna
Vestinian at the UN Security Council called for the return of Afghanistan’s
frozen assets, criticizing the latest announcement by the US government on
creation of a foundation based in Switzerland that will use the funds.
Earlier this month, Biden administration moved to
establish a foundation for managing $3.5 billion in frozen Afghan funds,
according to sources, skirting Taliban in their efforts to having hands on what
is known to be the last shot to stabilize country’s economy.
“It might seem that after numerous calls to the United
States and its allies from the Afghans, American academia and civil society,
there would be some progress with this issue,” said Russian deputy permanent
representative at the UNSC, Anna Vestinian, as TOLOnews quoted.
“Alas, what followed was just a claim about the
transfer of Afghan funds to an account in a Swiss bank,” she further said.
“Reportedly, this money will not be accessible to the
Afghan authorities and will be spent on some ephemeral socio-economic and
humanitarian projects,” she added. “We call to return the stolen assets to the
Afghan people immediately.”
Meanwhile, Chinese Deputy Ambassador Geng Shuang told
the gathering that safeguarding the rights and interests of Afghan women and
girls also means providing them with much needed humanitarian assistance.
“In this context, Afghanistan’s frozen overseas assets
should be used expeditiously for the improvement of Afghan lives and economic
reconstruction,” he said.
“Noting the recent developments and the statements of
the Central Bank of Afghanistan, we call for the full and swift return of these
frozen assets to the Afghan people as early as possible, so that they can be
effectively used to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the
humanitarian suffering of the Afghan people.”
Earlier this month, the US government announced the
creation of a foundation based in Switzerland that will use the money help
address the unfolding economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where
more than half of the population are starving.
“Pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14064, President
Biden set a policy of enabling $3.5 billion of Afghan central bank reserves to
be used for the benefit of the people of Afghanistan while keeping them out of
the hands of the Taliban and other malign actors,” said US Treasury department
in statement.
“The Afghan Fund will protect, preserve, and make
targeted disbursements of that $3.5 billion to help provide greater stability
to the Afghan economy,” the statement further said.
But the Afghan Ministry of Economy asked the US
government to hand over the frozen assets of Afghanistan to the Da Afghanistan
Bank (Central Bank). This way, they will be able to prioritize best for what is
needed in the country.
“No one has the right to place conditions on how and
by whom these funds should be used,” said Abdul Latif Nazari, deputy of the
ministry, as local media quoted.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/russia-calls-on-us-to-return-frozen-asset-to-afghan-people/
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Pakistan
Bilawal wants Taliban rulers to use their influence on
TTP for peace
Anwar Iqbal
September 29, 2022
WASHINGTON: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on
Wednesday urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Wednesday to use their
influence on Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan to bring peace and stability in the
region.
Speaking at the US Institute of Peace in Washington,
the foreign minister also urged the United States to take lead in dealing with
the devastating effects of the changing climate, which he called a ‘man-made
disaster’.
“Following the fall of Kabul, [it] won’t be wrong to
say that the TTP has found a sanctuary in Afghanistan. We have had a ceasefire
which was good. Hopefully, Afghan Taliban will use their influence on TTP so
that the group accepts the Constitution of Pakistan and disarm.”
The foreign minister, in interviews to various US and
international media networks, also urged the United States to deal with
Afghanistan’s current Taliban regime, even if it required Washington to
“hold its nose” while doing so, warning that isolating the Taliban could have
dangerous consequences for all.
Asked by AP’s interviewers if he meant the US needed
to hold its nose and deal with Afghanistan’s ruling power, Mr Bhutto-Zardari
said, “Pretty much.”
In an interview with AFP, he said the international
community had already seen how “washing hands of Afghanistan” created
unintended problems.
Afghanistan also figured prominently in the foreign
minister’s interactions on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as one of his hosts,
Jeanne Shaheen wrote after the meeting that the discussions focused on
“continued support for our Afghan allies, women and girls’ empowerment and
counterterrorism efforts.”
The senator also assured the foreign minister that “as
Pakistan recovers from devastating floods, the Senate is committed to provide
humanitarian support.”
Mr Bhutto-Zardari, who apparently extended his
four-day stay in Washington for a day, urged American lawmakers to play their
role in tackling climate catastrophes.
“Discussed the need for leveraging our strong
parliamentary ties to tackle climate catastrophes like Pakistan Floods and
plans on how we will build back better,” he said in a tweet released after a
meeting with Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representatives Maxine Waters, Ilhan
Omar, and Henry Cuellar in Washington.
Pakistan’s top diplomat, who began his interaction
with US lawmakers on Tuesday evening, has a simple message for them: play your
role in ensuring that countries like Pakistan do get ‘climate justice.’
“And justice would be that we work together globally,
that we’re not left alone, to deal with the consequences of this tragedy,” he
said in one of his interviews to the American media.
In his discussions on Afghanistan, Mr. Bhutto-Zardari
said the Taliban had yet to have the time and ability to grapple with extremist
groups as a government should. “For them to demonstrate their will to take on
terrorist organizations, we need to help them build their capacity to also do
so” before judging them, he told AP.
The foreign minister also emphasised the need to
release Afghanistan’s funds held by America.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Posing as patient, gunman kills Chinese national,
injures dentist, wife in Karachi clinic
Sep 29, 2022
ISLAMABAD: An unidentified assailant masquerading as a
patient shot and killed a Chinese national and wounded two others in their
seventies inside a dentist's clinic in the southern Pakistan port city of
Karachi on Wednesday, five months after a suicide attack there left three
Chinese dead.
The killer sat with other patients and waited for his
turn to be called to the dentist's table before training his weapon on
25-year-old clinic assistant Ronald Raymond Chow and septuagenarians Margaret
and Dr Richard Hu, police said. He bolted without a trace after the shooting
frenzy.
While Ronald was fatally shot, the elderly Chinese
couple remained in a critical condition at Karachi's Post-Graduate Medical
Centre until late in the evening, police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said.
Dr Hu is among a clutch of Chinese dentists practising
in Karachi for decades.
In April, the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA)
had claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing outside the Confucius
Institute in Karachi that killed three Chinese. The bomber was a woman.
Source: Times Of India
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Pakistan school expels 4 students of Ahmadi minority
community
29 September, 2022
Punjab [Pakistan], September 28 (ANI): Four students
of a school in Attock district in Pakistan’s Punjab province were expelled
reportedly for belonging to a minority community, media reports said.
Shedding light on the matter, a relative of the
students Tahir Khan, said they had been expelled for simply being from the
Ahmadi community, reported Friday Times. According to him, a class fellow had
been harassing one of the expelled students for a while.
The expulsion of the students comes after some parents
prevailed on school principal Kulsoom Awan regarding the harassment. Tahir Khan
presented a document on the expulsion reading that the students had been
expelled due to their confession of belonging to the Ahmadi community.
“The following students who were studying in this
institute are being withdrawn on the basis of Qadianiat* Religion,” the
document read. The institution, the document read, was not in a position to let
them continue.
Notably, Qadianiat is a religious slur used to refer
to Ahmadi Muslims, who are also known as Ahmadiyyas, in Pakistan.
While responding to the media queries by The Friday
Times the school principal Awan refused to comment citing that the school had
been closed for the day and ask to approach in person at her office during
school hours.
Meanwhile, a Federal Minister and Member of the
National Assembly of Pakistan, Mian Javed Latif has launched a fresh
hate-filled campaign against the persecuted Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in
Pakistan, using religion to score political points, a press release by Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights read.
On Wednesday, September 15, Latif appeared on
Pakistani State TV Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) to utter falsehoods
and propaganda against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which is already under
immense threat and subjected to cruelties and state persecution.
Pakistan’s media regulatory body – the Electronic
Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has been criticised for not sanctioning
television channels from airing such hate-filled rhetoric.
The use of religion is not new in Pakistani politics
but the airing of such rhetoric on mainstream state media is a serious and
shocking use of state television and risks furthering an already vile hate
campaign against Pakistan’s most persecuted community.
The Ahmadi Muslim Community is being used as a
scapegoat to score political points and malign political opponents, without any
regard for the risk of life and the hatred it spreads.
At the cost of further endangering the lives of
Ahmadis in Pakistan, this level of hate speech in mainstream media and social
media is shocking and inexcusable and likely to radicalise people further
against innocent Ahmadis. As a result of such hate campaigns, an Ahmadi, Mr
Naseer Ahmed was killed last month on August 12 by an extremist radicalised by
hate-filled religious clerics, the press release read.
Another Pakistani politician, Federal Railway Minister
Khawaja Saad Rafique similarly stoked the fire of enmity against the Ahmadis
Muslims. He tweeted the anti-Ahmadi trope and baseless allegation that Ahmadis
were a conspiracy against Islam and a seditious group.
This format of hate speech and incitement which
falsely blame the country’s ongoing instability on Ahmadi Muslims has a history
of triggering violent attacks against innocent Ahmadis.
On July 13, 2021, UN human rights experts expressed
their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights
violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and
called on the international community to step up efforts to bring an end to the
ongoing persecution of Ahmadis.
Source: The Print
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://theprint.in/world/pakistan-school-expels-4-students-of-ahmadi-minority-community/1147275/
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Legal cover only way to resolve forced conversion
issue: speakers
Kalbe Ali
September 29, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Majority of the forced conversion cases of
non-Muslim girls are known to be complicated because of consent however failure
to come up with a solution to this problem is an administrative failure and
courts too have not been able to contain the root cause of this issue. Only
with the help of legal cover issues faced by non-Muslim Pakistanis can be
resolved.
This was pointed out by speakers at the ‘National
Policy Dialogue on Protection of Minority Girls against Child Marriage’ on
Wednesday.
They stressed that the core violation related to
forced conversion of non-Muslim girls was underage marriage. The panel was
organised by Centre for Law and Justice (CLJ) and speakers highlighted that
various courts have given different verdicts on violation of the Child Marriage
Restraint Act, 1929 and the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013.
Addressing participants, Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, special
representative of the prime minister on interfaith harmony, said certain
elements were trying their best to divert attention from the real issue.
“There are some who claim that around 1,000 non-Muslim
girls are forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan, but I have repeatedly asked
them to provide us details so that culprits can be brought to the task, but
there is no reply,” Mr Ashrafi said, adding that parents have to face two
troubles under these circumstances; the first one is the loss of their daughter
and the second serious issue is that the police and the system does not allow
them to even meet their daughter.
“But people on both sides try to make it a religious
issue. It is an administrative failure and there is a need to strengthen
dialogue among communities to avoid interference by spoilers,” he said while
criticising religious segments who exploit such situations.
Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Mehnaz
Akbar called for stronger legal cover to contain child marriages and said that
it would resolve the matter of forced marriages too.
She said that only with the help of legal cover,
issues faced by non-Muslim Pakistanis can be contained and there was a need to
streamline them in the mainstream.
Meanwhile, CLJ convener Mary Gill said majority of
girls belonging to the Hindu and Christian communities were forced into
marriage and forced to convert to Islam in the process.
“There are two laws in the country. While the minimum
age of marriage for girls was 16 years in the rest of the country, it was 18
years in Sindh. We demand courts to implement these laws,” Ms Gill adding that
a large number of girls in such cases were as young as 13 years of age, but
neither the registrar, the union council, police and not even the courts sought
proof from National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to determine
the age of the bride.
“Besides, courts have even ruled that even though the
marriage was solemnised out of law, it cannot be declared void,” she added.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1712489/legal-cover-only-way-to-resolve-forced-conversion-issue-speakers
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Four ‘terrorists’ of banned outfit killed in gun
battle with CTD in Quetta
Saleem Shahid
September 28, 2022
QUETTA: Four suspected terrorists of the banned
Jamaatul Ahrar were killed in a gun battle with a team of Counter Terrorism
Department (CTD) of police in Hazar-Ganji area of the provincial capital on
Tuesday.
The CTD personnel intercepted a truck, on a tip-off
about drugs being smuggled to Karachi, at Gulzarabad checkpoint on the
outskirts of Quetta, a CTD spokesperson said.
Instead of stopping, the men travelling in the truck
opened fire on the CTD personnel, triggering an exchange of fire that continued
for half an hour, leaving four terrorists dead.
Upon searching the truck, 27 kilograms of fine quality
heroin was recovered from secret compartments meant to hide drugs for
smuggling.
“The four terrorists killed in the gunfight belong to
banned Jamaatul Ahrar,” the spokesman said, adding that further investigation
was in progress.
Source: Dawn
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of the original story:
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Resurgence of terrorism won’t be tolerated, COAS tells
Commanders Conference
September 29, 2022
RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar
Javed Bajwa on Wednesday ordered troops to leave “no stone unturned” in acting
against terrorists as he presided over the 252nd Corps Commanders’ Conference,
the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The forum undertook a comprehensive review of
security, particularly of the situation along the country’s borders.
The COAS maintained that a resurgence of terrorism
would not be tolerated, and troops must use all means to act against terrorists
in coordination with all law enforcement agencies.
The ISPR statement further maintained that the COAS
expressed satisfaction over the operational preparedness of the army formations
and directed them to maintain strict vigilance against any threat.
Gen Bajwa also commended military efforts to reach
flood victims. According to the military’s media wing, besides discussing the
external and internal security situation, the meeting particularly focused on
the flood situation and ongoing relief efforts undertaken by the army
formations across the country.
They expressed solidarity with flood victims who were
“braving great difficulties” and resolved to extend maximum assistance for
their relief and rehabilitation.
According to the statement, the COAS commended troops
for reaching out to the people in distress and helping them mitigate their
sufferings.
He further lauded army doctors and paramedics for
providing emergency medical care to victims, particularly children and women,
as well as measures taken to check the spread of diseases in flood-hit areas.
Gen Bajwa also appreciated army engineers and the
Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) for restoring accessibility to critical
routes and communication infrastructure on an emergency basis.
Source: Pakistan Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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North
America
A Black Muslim Man, Ali Osman, Threw Rocks at a Police
Car, the Police Shot Him Dead
By Zainab Iqbal
28 September 2022
Ali Osman, a 34-year-old Somali man from Phoenix,
Arizona, was throwing rocks at a police vehicle on Sunday. The officer, who was
leaving the scene of an unrelated incident, got out of the car and reportedly
told Osman to stop.
"One rock was thrown, [and] as the individual was
preparing to throw the second rock, that's when the officer-involved shooting
occurred," Brian Bower of the Phoenix Police Department told Fox 10 News.
The officer reportedly fired multiple shots at Osman.
The man was taken to the hospital where he died from his injuries. His family
told local news that Osman was dealing with mental illness, for which he was
being treated. Osman also had no criminal record, family members said.
The Somali Student Association at Arizona State
University released a statement saying it was beyond devastated to hear of
Osman's death.
"We condemn any violence towards Black and Brown
communities by Phoenix Police Department," the statement said. "May
Allah grant Ali the highest rank of paradise and may He ease the pain in the
hearts of his family and loved ones, and bring swift justice for our
community."
Body camera footage will be released in 14 days, the
Phoenix Police Department said in a statement, and the incident is currently
under investigation. In the meantime, Black and Muslim communities in Phoenix
are angry and heartbroken.
"Obviously [the officer was not] in a state of
danger. It's reminiscent of the stories that you hear of Palestinian children
being gunned down by these hyper-militarised Israeli soldiers and treated as if
they're the embodiment of an existential threat. And we have that in our own
backyard," Jacob Raiford, a political activist from Phoenix, told Middle
East Eye.
According to Raiford, using weapons designed to kill
someone who is throwing small rocks is a hyper-militarised approach to engaging
with oppressed communities.
"You see tasers, why are they on the breast of
the uniform on the weak side? Why are they instinctively trained to kill
somebody? Because that's what a gun is designed to do," he said.
The relationships between police and Black, Brown, and
Muslim communities in the United States have been riddled with tension. George
Floyd's death in Minneapolis in 2020 renewed the trauma of centuries of racial
injustice and police brutality against Black Americans.
Black men like Raiford live in a constant state of
paranoia, he said.
"You don't know if that traffic light stop is
going to result in death. You don't know if sleeping in your vehicle in your
driveway is going to result in death. And that is not hyperbole," he said.
In 2020, James "Jay" Garcia, a Brown man,
was sitting his car, parked in a driveway in Phoenix. Officers knocked on his
window and told him to step out. The intervention eventually led to his death
by gunfire.
"We are in a relationship where there is
unilateral abuse upon us, upon the Black community, and upon the Muslim
community. It is not an exaggeration, and retraining the police is not going to
fix this," Raiford said.
Last year, the US Department of Justice announced it
was investigating the Phoenix Police Department over the use of excessive
force.
Attorney-General Merrick Garland said at the time the
probe would also examine whether police had engaged in discriminatory policing
practices.
'Mental health requires empathy'
Osman was being treated for a mental illness, his
family told local news. Though the officers did not know that, they could have
still exercised empathy, Maimun Ali, a resident of Phoenix, told MEE:
"It's a rock versus a weapon that is quite
literally designed to kill someone. Even if the police didn't know he was not
mentally ok, what gives them the right to murder him?
"The situation could have been de-escalated. We
have so many examples of this happening and it seems like the police force will
never learn."
In July, police were called to a mental health crisis
centre in Phoenix when a 22-year-old man was making suicidal statements. The
police reportedly called for a mental health crisis team and an officer with
crisis intervention training, but none were available.
They approached the young man who was standing on top
of the stairs of a two-story building. When they tried to speak with him, he
took out a knife and stepped forward. The officers eventually shot and killed
him.
Raiford was attending a conference in Washington DC on
Wednesday. He said he attended a panel on mental health and there was something
that resonated with him:
"White Americans, they may experience one form of
trauma. But for Black folks, there's nuance to trauma that intersects. And so
we may be dealing with compounded trauma from multiple aspects. With [Osman],
you have him being a person of colour, being Muslim, and then with the
prejudice of mental health," he said.
Source: Middle East Eye
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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US downs Iranian drone threatening American forces in
Iraq: CENTCOM
28 September, 2022
The US military said it downed an Iranian drone on
Wednesday in Iraq, calling it a “threat” to American forces in the area.
“At approximately 2:10 PM local time, US forces
brought down an Iranian Mojer-6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle headed in the direction
of Erbil as it appeared as a threat to CENTCOM forces in the area,” US Central
Command [CENTCOM] Spokesman Joe Buccino said.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
CENTCOM said no US personnel were wounded or killed.
Earlier in the day, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC) claimed missile and drone attacks at what they called militant
targets in northern Iraq.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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US slams Tehran for attacks in Iraq, vows to disrupt
Iran’s destabilizing behaviour
28 September, 2022
The US on Wednesday slammed Iran’s drone and ballistic
missile attacks inside Iraq with the White House vowing to disrupt Tehran’s
destabilizing behavior in the region.
Calling attacks on Iraq’s Kurdistan region “an
unjustified violation of Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity,” State
Department Spokesman Ned Price also hit out at the Iranian government over its
threats to carry out more attacks in Iraq.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the White
House stands with Iraq’s leaders in the Kurdistan region and Baghdad in
condemning the attacks as an assault on the sovereignty of Iraq and its people.
“[Iran’s] flagrant use of missiles and drones against
its neighbors, as well as its providing of drones to Russia for its war of
aggression in Ukraine and to proxies throughout the Middle East region, should
be universally condemned,” he said.
Sullivan vowed the US would continue to pursue
sanctions “and other means” to disrupt Iran’s destabilizing activities across
the Middle East.
“Iran cannot deflect blame from its internal problems
and the legitimate grievances of its population with attacks across its
borders,” Sullivan said in an apparent reference to the nationwide
anti-government protests in the aftermath of the killing of Mahsa Amini.
The US comments came after Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed missile and drone attacks at what they
called militant targets in northern Iraq. Civilian casualties were reported.
Source: Al Arabiya
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US says Greek sovereignty on island ‘not in question’
after Turkey complaint
28 September, 2022
The United States said Wednesday that Greek
sovereignty over two islands was not in doubt after Ankara lodged a protest
over the deployment there of US armored vehicles.
Turkey on Monday summoned the Greek ambassador and
complained to the United States after releasing aerial images that it said showed
ships with the US armored vehicles docking in Lesbos and Samos.
“Greek's sovereignty over these islands is not in
question,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
“We urge all the parties to avoid rhetoric and to
avoid taking actions that could further exacerbate tensions. The sovereignty
the territorial integrity of all countries should be respected,” Price said.
Tension has risen in recent months between Greece and
Turkey, fellow members of the NATO defense alliance, which have long feuded
over maritime borders and energy exploration rights in the Aegean and east
Mediterranean seas.
Turkey says that Greece is violating the non-military
status of the islands. The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne restricted naval bases and
military aircraft from islands including Samos.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also
accused Greece of “occupying” Aegean islands whose status was settled after
World War II and has made a series of comments seen as threatening the
neighboring country.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Turkiye's Latin America outreach stretches from trade
to TV shows
Deniz Cicek
28.09.2022
Türkiye's efforts to boost trade and investment ties
with Latin American countries are bearing fruit, as Türkiye's goods and
services exports saw a major jump in recent years.
Türkiye's exports to Latin America and Caribbean (LAC)
countries soared from $296.6 million in 2003 to $6 billion in 2021 thanks to
the country's policy of outreach to Latin America.
The region's share of Türkiye's exports also jumped to
from 0.6% to 2.7% in the same period.
Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Colombia were the main
markets of Turkish exports in the region, with $3.5 billion in 2021.
The country's imports from Latin America and
Caribbean's also surged to $8.9 billion in 2021 versus $1.2 billion in 2003.
This upward trend has continued this year, as
Türkiye's exports to LAC jumped 14.1% year-on-year to $4.3 billion in
January-August while imports ballooned 47.9% to 8.4 billion.
The services trade volume between Türkiye and the
region reached $14.9 billion in 2021, compared to $8.9 billion in 2013.
The figure hit $11.1 this January-July.
Meanwhile, as Latin American audiences have shown
great interest in Turkish soap operas and films since 2015, nearly one-third of
Türkiye's TV series exports in recent years went to Latin American countries.
Almost all of the TV shows on national channels in
Türkiye are shown in Chile.
In addition, as of end-2021, Turkish TV programs began
to be procured by Brazil's largest television and digital platforms.
In Mexico, Turkish series are watched on paid TV channels,
while Turkish movies are followed on digital platforms.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Southeast
Asia
Non-Muslims
are Malaysians too, not political foes, Guan Eng tells PAS
By
Soo Wern Jun
29
Sep 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Lim Guan Eng has reminded PAS that non-Muslim Malaysians are
their fellow countrymen too, and therefore, should not be seen as the enemy.
Lim
said PAS spiritual leader Datuk Hashim Jasin’s remarks yesterday had reinforced
the Islamist party’s exclusive, racist and extremist approach that non-Muslims
are opponents it was willing to negotiate with.
“Non-Muslims
should not be downgraded, but embraced instead, in an inclusive way by any
responsible political party that seeks to unite the nation.
“PAS
must be reminded that non-Muslims are Malaysian citizens who are not the
political opponents of PAS,” said Lim who is DAP’s national chairman in a
statement today.
Hashim
had yesterday defended PAS against accusations the Islamist party is racist or
extremist by saying that it was willing to engage with non-Muslims as long as
they agreed to its agenda of uniting the ummah.
“Such
statements are consistent with the open hostility and contempt towards the
rights and dignity of non-Muslims expressed by PAS president, (Tan Sri) Abdul
Hadi Awang,” added Lim.
Lim
was referring to Abdul Hadi’s speech on August 20, in which the Marang MP said
corruption stemmed from those who reaped profit through illegal means.
Abdul
Hadi had then said the majority of those involved in ruining the country’s
politics and economy were non-Muslims and non-Bumiputera, and that it had
reached a point that “these people” ended up controlling the country’s economy
and using their money to taint politics, the administration and judiciary.
“Yet,
Abdul Hadi can be so shameless as to state that there is no reason for PAS to
fail to garner non-Muslim support when DAP can elect Indian MPs in
Chinese-majority seats.
“Non-Muslims
rejected PAS not just for their racism and extremism but also for their
failures in economic management and bad governance,” said Lim.
He
also cited Mohamad Agus Yusoff from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, who
labelled three PAS ministers as incompetent, and said PAS were performing
poorly in the states that it controlled.
Lim
added that even Johor Umno deputy chief Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed had described
PAS leaders as “low-quality ministers” who were dragging the government down
with their incompetence.
“Unfortunately,
non-Muslim political parties in government such as MCA, MIC, Gabungan Parti
Sarawak and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah behave like political ‘eunuchs’ by not daring
to oppose but continue to support PAS in government and work together with the
three PAS ministers in Cabinet.
Source:
Malay Mail
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Motivational
expert denies trying to damage preacher Ebit Lew’s reputation
28
Sep 2022
TENOM,
Sept 28 — A witness in Ebit Irawan Ibrahim Lew or Ebit Lew’s sexual harassment
trial denied at the Magistrate’s Court here today that he and the founder of a
non-governmental organisation (NGO) conspired to damage the preacher’s
reputation.
Motivational
expert Mohd Fairuz Abu, 37, said this during cross examination by counsel Ram
Singh.
To
a suggestion by the lawyer that he and Multiracial Reverted Muslim (MRM)
founder Firdaus Wong still publicised the issue on social media, the first
prosecution witness said he did not, but Wong did.
Ram:
I put it to you that through the issue of social media (Tenom case) and making
arrangement for the woman (victim) to go to Bukit Aman to lodge the police
report on the accused, you and Firdaus Wong conspired to damage the accused’s
reputation.
Mohd
Fairuz: I do not agree.
Ram:
I put it to you as a matter of fact, the woman had no intention to lodge a
police report on the accused.
Mohd
Fairuz: I do not agree.
Ram:
I put it to you, that the woman decided to lodge a police report only after her
conversation with you on July 26, 2021.
Mohd
Fairuz: I am not sure.
During
re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Zahida Zakaria, Mohd Fairuz said he
accompanied the woman and her husband to lodge a police report at Bukit Aman as
a sign of support and also to provide testimony to the police on August 7,
2021.
Lew,
37, faces 11 charges, including insulting the modesty of a woman in her 40s by
sending obscene words to the victim’s phone number via the WhatsApp application
between March and June last year.
Source:
Malay Mail
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PM
calls for countries to take in more Rohingya refugees
September
24, 2022
NEW
YORK: It is the responsibility of all countries to take in more Rohingya
refugees to be resettled in their respective countries following the crisis in
Myanmar, says Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He
said although Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention on the Status
of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, the country, on humanitarian grounds, has
accepted nearly 200,000 Rohingya refugees.
“The
political crisis in Myanmar has also worsened the situation of millions of
Myanmar refugees, including the Rohingya refugees,” he said when delivering
Malaysia’s national statement at the 77th session of the United Nations general
assembly (UNGA) here.
He
said Malaysia strongly emphasises the importance of the world to look into the
root cause of the Rohingya crisis and be believed that the issue will not be
resolved as long as the crisis in the country continues.
“In
the Southeast Asian region, Malaysia has played an important role in conflict
resolution. For example, Malaysia has been involved in the peace process
between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
since 2001.
What’s
more saddening, he said is when the Security Council does not take any serious
action in dealing with this situation and was even seen as having washed its
hands off and handing the matter over to Asean.
“Malaysia
is also disappointed there is no meaningful progress in the implementation of
the Asean Five Point Consensus (5PCs) by the Myanmar junta. In its current
form, Asean’s 5PCs cannot continue any longer.
“Therefore,
this consensus needs to be given a new lease of life and refined based on a
clearer framework, time frame and end goal. Indeed, what’s more important is
that the aspirations of the people of Myanmar must be fulfilled,” he said.
Prior
to this, foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah said Asean needs to address the
5PCs on whether it’s working and still relevant, and any decision must be made
before the Asean Summit in November.
On
the situation in Palestine, Ismail said Malaysia is disappointed with the
brutal occupation by Israel that has been going on for a long time, causing the
Palestinian people to suffer under the shackles of Israel’s discriminatory
policies.
“Illegal
settlements are becoming more widespread. This is against international law,
including Security Council Resolution 2334. The most basic rights of the
Palestinian people continue to be denied,” he said.
Therefore,
Ismail said Malaysia is of the view that the major powers need to be honest in
resolving the issue of cruelty faced by the Palestinian people.
“That
firm stand should be taken by the UN, to ensure that the crisis that has been
going on in Palestine for a long time can be resolved quickly.
“What
is happening today is that most countries are so quick to act in the case of
Ukraine. Malaysia wants the same action to be taken to resolve the issue of
Palestine. Israel needs to stop being an apartheid entity,” he said.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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Europe
France
to Close another Mosque, Accusing the Imam Of Being Radicalized
Alaattin
Dogru
28.09.2022
PARIS
France
announced it will close another mosque, accusing the imam of being radicalized,
according to media reports Wednesday.
The
Interior Ministry has started the process of closing the Obernai Mosque in the
Bas-Rhin area, according to French BFM TV and Le Figaro.
Interior
Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter that 23 “separatist places of worship”
have been closed in the past two years.
He
added that the closures came after a request by the president to fight
"Islamist separatism."
The
ministry accuses the imam of the Obernai Mosque of carrying out radical
preaching activities, taking a hostile attitude towards French society and
making provocative comments against the values of the republic.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/france-to-close-another-mosque/2697381
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Pope
Francis presses message of Muslim dialogue with Bahrain trip
September
28, 2022
Pope
Francis will travel to Bahrain in November to press his message of dialogue
with the Muslim world, the first pope to visit the country the Vatican said
Wednesday.
Bahrain
is home to the Gulf’s first Catholic Church, located in the capital Manama, as
well as its biggest one, Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral, which opened last year
in the desert town of Awali.
Francis
is due to visit both cities during the Nov. 3-6 visit. The Vatican said he will
take part in a conference called the "Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and
West for Human Coexistence."
Francis,
85, has made dialogue with the Muslim world a hallmark of his papacy. He
recently returned from a visit to majority Muslim Kazakhstan, where he took
part in an interfaith summit.
Source:
Fox News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-francis-presses-message-muslim-dialogue-bahrain-trip
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Turkey
to re-inforce military presence in northern Cyprus: Erdogan
29
September, 2022
Turkey
will re-inforce its military presence in northern Cyprus after the United
States lifted defense trade restrictions on Cyprus, Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan said on Wednesday.
Speaking
in a televised interview with broadcaster CNN Turk, Erdogan said the lifting of
the restrictions was “inexplicable in terms of content and timing.”
Earlier
this month, the US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken had
lifted defense trade restrictions for Cyprus for fiscal year 2023.
“The
United States, which overlooks and even encourages the steps by the
Cypriot-Greek duo that threaten peace and stability in the eastern
Mediterranean, will lead to an armament race on the island with this step,”
Erdogan said.
“Will
we stand by? We cannot,” he said, adding that Turkey already has 40,000 troops
on the island and will reinforce them with land, naval and aerial weapons,
ammunition and vehicles, Erdogan said.
“Everyone
must know that this last step will not go unresponded and that every precaution
will be taken for the security of the Turkish Cypriots,” Erdogan said.
Cyprus
was split following a 1974 Turkish invasion triggered by a brief Greek-inspired
coup. Since then, Cyprus has been run by a Greek Cypriot administration in the
south that Ankara does not recognize.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Armenia
and Azerbaijan accuse each other of violating ceasefire deal
28
September, 2022
Armenia
and Azerbaijan accused each other on Wednesday of violating a ceasefire
agreement that ended two days of warfare this month - the second such violation
in five days.
Azerbaijan’s
defense ministry said that at about 6 p.m. (1400 GMT), Armenian units had
started firing at Azerbaijani positions in the Kalbajar region, wounding one
serviceman, and that Azerbaijani forces had taken “retaliatory measures.”
The
Armenian defense ministry gave an opposite account, tweeting that Azerbaijani
forces had fired towards Armenian positions near the common border using
mortars and large-caliber weapons, and that the Armenian side had retaliated.
After
border clashes two weeks ago that killed almost 200 soldiers, the worst bout of
fighting since a six-week war between the two ex-Soviet countries in late 2020,
the two sides agreed to a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia.
Armenia
said then that Azerbaijan had attacked its territory and seized settlements
inside its borders; Azerbaijan said it was responding to “provocations” from
the Armenian side.
Last
Friday, both sides accused each other of breaching the truce by firing across
the border.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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China,
Russia call on US to release frozen Afghan assets
29
September 2022
China
and Russia have called on the US to release Afghanistan’s financial assets,
seized and frozen by the United States government after the Taliban took over
the Asian country last year.
At
the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, China’s deputy ambassador to
the UN, Geng Fhung, called for the “full” and “swift” return of the frozen
assets to help “alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the
humanitarian suffering of the Afghan people.”
Russia’s
Deputy Ambassador to the UN Anna Evstigneeva also said the US should “return
the stolen assets to the Afghan people immediately.”
“Lasting
peace in Afghanistan is not possible unless the global community helps the
Afghans with post-conflict recovery and economic development, solving the old
problems of drugs and terrorism,” Evstigneeva added.
The
United States froze $9 billion in Afghan financial reserves in New York
immediately after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021. Later, US
President Joe Biden signed an executive order to free $7 billion and split the
money between “humanitarian aid” for Afghanistan and a fund for victims of the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Recently,
the US Department of State said in a statement that it would transfer $3.5
billion in frozen funds from Afghanistan’s central bank to the
newly-established Afghan Fund based in Geneva, Switzerland. The Taliban foreign
affairs ministry slammed the plan, calling it “unacceptable” and a “violation
of international norms.” It renewed a demand that the US unfreeze the reserves
and lift financial sanctions to allow Afghan traders access to the international
banking systems to help improve the poverty-stricken country’s economy.
On
Wednesday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres, said, “We believe that Afghanistan assets that were frozen last year
by a number of states belong to the Afghan people and every effort should be
made to find ways in which these funds can be used for their benefit.”
“It
is critical that all such funds need to be handled in a transparent and
accountable way, respecting international sanctions and need to ensure no money
is used for illicit purposes,” Dujarric added.
The
UN has warned that the isolation of Afghan financial systems and other
sanctions have pushed the Afghan economy to the brink of collapse, deepening an
already bad humanitarian crisis in the country of about 40 million people.
Almost the entire Afghan population is living below the poverty line, according
to the UN.
Source:
Press TV
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Mideast
Iran
president says Amini's death is ‘tragic incident’, but ‘chaos’ unacceptable
28 September,
2022
Iranian
President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday said that the death of a young woman in
custody had “saddened” everyone in the Islamic Republic, but warned that
“chaos” would not be accepted amid spreading violent protests over Mahsa
Amini's death.
Amini's
death two weeks ago has sparked anti-government protests across Iran, with
protesters often calling for the end of the Islamic clerical establishment's
more than four decades in power.
“We
all are saddened by this tragic incident ... (However) Chaos is unacceptable,”
Raisi said in an interview with state TV, while protests continued around the
country.
“The
government's red line is our people's security ... One cannot allow people to
disturb the peace of society through riots.”
Despite
a growing death toll and a fierce crackdown by security forces using tear gas,
clubs, and in some cases, live ammunition, social media videos showed Iranians
persisting with protests, chanting “Death to the dictator”.
Still,
a collapse of the Islamic Republic seems remote in the near term since its
leaders are determined not to show the kind of weakness they believe sealed the
fate of the US-backed Shah in 1979, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
Angry
demonstrations have spread to over 80 cities nationwide since the Sept. 13
death of 22-year-old Amini, after she was arrested for “unsuitable attire” by
the morality police who enforce the Islamic Republic's strict dress code.
Amini,
who was from the northwestern Kurdish city of Saqez, died in hospital after
falling into a coma, sparking the first big show of dissent on Iran's streets
since authorities crushed protests against a rise in gasoline prices in 2019.
Raisi,
who had ordered an investigation into Amini's death, said “forensics will
present report on her death in the coming days”.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Mahsa
Amini’s family files complaint in Iran over her arrest: Report
28
September, 2022
Mahsa
Amini's parents have filed a complaint against the police who arrested their
daughter for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict dress code before she died in
custody, their lawyer said Wednesday.
Amini,
22, died in a Tehran hospital three days after her arrest by the morality
police, authorities announced on September 16.
The
complaint was filed “against the perpetrators of their daughter’s arrest” and
the police who spoke with her following her detention, lawyer Saleh Nikbakht
said, quoted by ISNA news agency.
The
family has requested “a thorough investigation” into the arrest and the events
that led to Amini’s hospitalization, the lawyer said, urging authorities to
release “all videos and photographs” showing her in custody.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Israeli
forces kill four Palestinians in West Bank town
28 September,
2022
Israeli
forces killed four Palestinian gunmen in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday,
pursuing a half-year-long campaign of raids triggered by a series of lethal
street attacks in Israel.
Commandos,
some of them undercover, were sent into the town of Jenin to capture two
Palestinians suspected of carrying out gun ambushes, Israeli police said. The
Palestinians opened fire and set off a bomb, and were shot, the statement
added.
The
raid touched off clashes elsewhere in Jenin, which, along with the neighboring
city of Nablus, has been a focus of Israeli forces. Some 40 Palestinians were
wounded, medics said.
The
Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades factions said four of their gunmen
were killed. One of them worked for the security services of the Palestinian
Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank.
“We
are in great need of members of the security services,” an umbrella group of
local militants said in an open statement addressed to Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas.
“Declare
the fight, and we will be your soldiers. This enemy knows only the language of
firepower.”
Israel
and the United States have been pressing the PA to do more to boost security.
The PA accuses Israel of undermining its credibility.
“We
have not hesitated to go anywhere that the Palestinian Authority has not gone
to carry out arrests,” Ram Ben-Barak, chairman of the Israeli parliament’s
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told Ynet Radio. “Does this create
friction? Yes.”
Another
of the slain Jenin gunmen was the brother of a Palestinian who shot dead three
people in Tel Aviv in April - among attacks that killed 19 people in Israel and
triggered its “Operation Breakwater” campaign. More than 70 Palestinians,
including gunmen and civilians, have been killed since.
US-brokered
peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza
Strip and East Jerusalem collapsed in 2014, while Israel has expanded
settlements in several areas. Gaza is ruled by Hamas Islamists opposed to
coexistence with Israel.
Washington
has sought ways of improving Palestinian conditions while addressing Israeli
security concerns.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Jenin
carnage: Struggle continues until complete expulsion of invaders, warns Hamas
28
September 2022
The
Hamas resistance movement has blasted the latest Israeli military raid on a
refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, which killed four
Palestinians, saying the Palestinian struggle will continue until the occupiers
are thrown out.
Hazem
Qassem, a spokesman for the Gaza-based Hamas movement, said in a statement on
Wednesday said the residents of Jenin will carry on their struggle with full
zeal until the occupying forces vacate the lands that belong to native
Palestinians.
He
denounced the crimes perpetrated by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank
city, emphasizing that the regime’s blatant aggression and vicious raids will
fail to undermine its glory and greatness.
The
Hamas spokesman noted that the rise in the number of martyrs has always
motivated the Palestinian nation intensify its uprising against Israeli
occupiers.
“The
resistance front has taught us it is capable of punishing occupiers for their
crimes. The battle against the occupiers will continue in all spheres until the
enemy is defeated and expelled from the entire Palestinian territories,” Qassem
pointed out.
The
Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that four people were killed
and at least 44 others injured, when the Israeli army carried out a raid on a
refugee camp in Jenin.
The
raid began with dozens of Israeli military vehicles entering the camp at
approximately 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT).
The
men killed were identified as Ahmad Alawneh, Abed Hazem, Mohammad al-Wanneh and
Mohammad Abu Naa’sah.
The
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a coalition of Palestinian resistance groups in the
West Bank, said that three of the men killed were its members.
An
Israeli police spokesman said in a statement that the officers along with
Israeli military forces sought to arrest Abd al-Rahman Hazem, the brother of
Raad Hazem, who carried out a retaliatory operation in Tel Aviv back in April,
and killed three Israeli settlers, before being shot dead, and Mohammad
al-Wanneh.
The
pair were responsible for a series of shooting attacks in recent months,
including one that targeted an engineering vehicle of the Israeli military
working along the northern West Bank security barrier earlier this month.
Abed
Hazem and al-Wannah were killed when Hazem’s father’s home was hit by a
missile.
Plumes
of smoke were seen after the missile exploded in the house. Israeli troops then
proceeded to encircle the home, during which heavy armed clashes broke out with
Palestinian fighters.
Back
on September 6, Israeli forces raided Jenin and blew up an apartment that
belonged to Raad Hazem, killing a 29-year-old Palestinian man and injuring 16
others.
Israeli
forces have recently been conducting near-nightly raids and killings in the
northern occupied West Bank, mainly in the cities of Jenin and Nablus, where
new groups of Palestinian resistance fighters have been formed.
Source:
Press TV
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Africa
Türkiye
sympathizes with Burkina Faso over deadly attack
Faruk
Zorlu
29.09.2022
Türkiye
extended condolences Wednesday to Burkina Faso after an attack on a military
convoy caused casualties.
"We
extend our sincere condolences to the friendly and brotherly people of Burkina
Faso as well as to the families and relatives of those who lost their lives and
wish the injured a speedy recovery," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in
a statement.
The
ministry "strongly condemned the heinous attack" in Soum province.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/turkiye-sympathizes-with-burkina-faso-over-deadly-attack/2697634
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Ethiopia,
Somalia eye shift from military to economic cooperation
Addis
Getachew
28.09.2022
ADDIS
ABABA, Ethiopia
The
leaders of Ethiopia and Somalia on Wednesday signaled the neighbors will lay
greater focus on economic ties in the coming future.
Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed welcomed Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud on a
two-day working visit to the capital Addis Ababa, his first trip to Ethiopia
since taking office this May.
For
the past few decades, Ethiopia has been at the forefront of regional support
for Somalia’s fight against al-Shabaab, a terror group affiliated with
al-Qaeda.
While
Ethiopia retains a key role in the African Union Mission in Somalia that is
engaged in operations against al-Shabaab, Abiy told Mahmoud that Addis Ababa
wants to pursue economic cooperation with Mogadishu.
He
affirmed Ethiopia’s readiness to work at various levels with the new Somali
government “with particular emphasis on economic growth,” according to a statement
from Abiy’s office.
“He
further reiterated that Ethiopia desires a stronger and stable Somalia which is
useful for Ethiopia,” the statement said.
Mohamud
expressed appreciation for the “sacrifices” Ethiopia has made for “a better
Somalia, and highlighted the importance of collaboration to address common
challenges faced by the two countries,” it added.
Mahmoud’s
visit also comes as fighting continues in northern Ethiopia between government
forces and Tigray rebels.
A
months-long truce was shattered in late August, extending a conflict that has
already killed thousands and displaced millions of others.
The
international community, including Türkiye and the US, has reiterated the need
for a permanent end to the conflict that has raged in northern Ethiopia since
November 2020.
Hopes
for peace talks between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and Abiy’s
government were handed a welcome boost earlier this month after the rebels said
they were willing to halt fighting and take part in a dialogue led by the
African Union, but there has been no progress on the matter.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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of the original story:
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18
candidates vying for presidency in Nigeria start election campaign
Olanrewaju
Kola
28.09.2022
MAIDUGURI,
Nigeria
Eighteen
candidates vying for Nigeria's presidency started on Wednesday their nationwide
campaigns ahead of next year's general elections.
"Presidential
campaigns start on 28th September 2022," Nigeria’s Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed in its timetable.
Nigerians
will go to polls in February 2023 to elect their new president for a four-year
term.
Three
leading contenders included Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state and
candidate of the governing All Progressive Congress, opposition Peoples
Democratic Party's Atiku Abubakar, Former Vice President and Labour Party's
candidate Peter Obi.
"Nigerians
expect the presidential candidates to be transparent; to open up to electorates
who they are. We want them to open up the book; electorates deserve to know
more about what is happening in government," Malam Nuhu Tahir, a media
consultant and radio manager in northwestern Kano city, told Anadolu Agency.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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the original story:
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US
warns Sudan of consequences if it hosts Russian military base
Ahmad
Osama Satti
28.09.2022
KHARTOUM,
Sudan
The
US ambassador to Sudan has warned of consequences if the northeast African
country allows the establishment of a Russian military base on the Red Sea
coast.
In
an interview with the Tayyar newspaper, John Godfrey said "there are some
reports that Russia is trying to implement the agreement it signed with ousted
President Omar al-Bashir in 2017 to establish a military base along the Red
Sea.”
He
warned that such a move will isolate Sudan from the international community and
undermine the country's interests.
"All
countries have a sovereign right to decide which other countries to partner
with, but these choices have consequences, of course," Godfrey said.
He
added that the US can be a good partner, but that will be possible by the
creation of a new civilian-led government and a transitional framework that
will take the country back to the path of democracy.
During
a visit to Moscow in November 2017 by President Bashir, who was overthrown in
2019 by a military coup, the two countries signed cooperation agreements on
military training, experience sharing, and the entry of warships into the ports
of the two countries.
According
to Russia Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Nov. 16, 2020 approved the
establishment of a Russian naval base in Sudan capable of accommodating
nuclear-powered vessels.
Sudanese
army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Osman al-Hussein said in a statement
three days later that "there is no full agreement with Russia on the
establishment of a naval base in the Red Sea, but our military cooperation has
been extended."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Sudan’s
Hemedti to testify in Bashir’s trial of killing protesters
Mohammed
Amin
28.09.2022
KHARTOUM,
Sudan
A
Sudanese court has summoned the deputy leader of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign
Council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, for testimony in the trial of former President
Omar al-Bashir, according to a defense lawyer.
“Dagalo,
also known as Hemedti, was ordered by Khartoum court to give testimony in the
case,” Wail Ali Saeed told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.
Bashir
faces accusations of killing protesters during mass protests that swept him
from power in April 2019.
“We
believe that Hemedti was close to the security institution in the country and
know a lot about the killing of protesters during Bashir’s era,” Ali said.
Dozens
of protesters were killed by security forces during the protests that ended
al-Bashir’s three-decade rule in Sudan.
Al-Bashir
also faces charges of orchestrating the military coup in which he took power in
1989.
Sudan
has been in turmoil since last year, when the military dismissed Prime Minister
Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government, a move decried by political forces as
a "military coup."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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