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Islamic World News ( 14 Oct 2012, NewAgeIslam.Com)

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Gunmen Kill 20 at Mosque in Northern Nigeria


New Age Islam News Bureau

14 Oct 2012 


Africa          

 Gunmen Kill 20 at Mosque in Northern Nigeria

 Leaked recordings spark fears Tunisia is moving towards Islamist agenda

 Libya Struggles to Curb Militias, the Only Police

 South African teacher in racism row for remarks over Hindu thread

 Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz shot at

 Tunisia Sets June Date for Presidential Elections

 

Pakistan

 Pakistan declared new winner of Nobel Peace Prize

 Incensed by Malala attack, jirga declares war on Taliban

 Shooting of Malala Yousufzai: Three brothers of senior Taliban commander arrested

 Pakistan urged to accept problems, not reject them as conspiracy theories

 Five militants, FC official killed in encounter near Peshawar

 Pakistani Girl Shot by Taliban Was Named for a Battlefield Heroine

 Sending Malala abroad yet to be decided

 Pakistan detains 120 suspects over Malala attack

 Malala Yousufzai making 'slow and steady progress' in hospital

 Gilani reconciles with PM Ashraf on Zardari's intervention

 11,000 pilgrims vaccinated in Quetta

 Will support army action against Taliban: MQM Chief

 Satellite phone seized from Dr Shakil Afridi

 

Arab World

 Saudi Shura Council to discuss call to defer evening prayers

 UAE to send air ambulance for girl shot by Taliban

 Saudi court postpones conversion trial of a Lebanese

 Bahrain King Blasts 'Foreign' Links in Unrest

 Assad Forces Use Cluster Bombs as Syrian Rebels Gain: HRW

 Iraq says it will execute Saudi convicts

 Car bomb blast near Damascus kills eight: NGO

 Hospital in Syrian city barely copes with wounded

 Egypt Government Details Fuel Subsidy Rationing-Paper

 Syria bans Turkish civilian flights

 

India

 Anglo Arabic School in Delhi: Three centuries of learning

 Bhopal gas victims support Malala Yousufzai

 Youths who jumped into J&K assembly well granted bail

 India, Bangladesh to hold home secretary-level talks from tomorrow

 50 panchas quit hours before Shinde’s J&K security meet

 

South Asia

 'Bengali intellectuals killed on Jamaat-e-Islami’s order'

 Bangladesh: Schoolboy abducted, brutally killed by maternal Aunt

 Two coalition members among nine killed in Afghan attacks

 Afghan Boys Eke Living amid Peril at Gorge

 Bangladesh: HC directive sought for judicial commission to probe Ramu violence

 Five UK marines charged with murder in Afghan death

 Thousands of UK troops to leave Afghanistan in 2013

 Karzai writes to Pakistani politicians, urges cooperation against extremism

 Afghan anti-Taliban leader prefers to go it alone

 Afghan Government Burns 24 Tons of Illegal Drugs

 

Mideast Asia

 Israel kills Qaida-tied leader of Gaza militant group

 Iran willing to halt 20% uranium enrichment ‘if given fuel’

 UN human rights report 'politically motivated': Iran

 Turkey Faults U.N. Inaction over Syria

 Israeli Ex-Soldier Recalls Captivity under Militants

 Yemeni tribesmen free eight drivers

 Holocaust fears haunt Israelis as they prepare for possible war with Iran

 Iran Confirms It Built Drone Sent Over Israel by Hizballah

 

Southeast Asia

 200 Muslim rebels arrive in Manila to sign pact

 Three soldiers killed in Philippine ambush by Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants

 Malaysian killer says sorry for Australian surgeon murder

 Jakarta Marriott Bombing Survivor Fights Terrorism With a Soft Touch

 Indonesia Acts to Override Patents on HIV Drugs

 

North America

 Washington urges Tunisia to bring embassy attackers to trial

 People turning against Taliban: US

 U.S. Suspects Iran Was behind a Wave of Cyber attacks

 

Europe

 Right-winger feeds French immigration row with pastry tale accusing Muslim youths

 

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

Photo: Anglo Arabic School in Delhi: Three centuries of learning

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/gunmen-kill-20-mosque-northern/d/8984

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Africa          

 

Gunmen kill 20 at mosque in northern Nigeria

Oct 14, 2012

KADUNA: Gunmen opened fire on Muslim worshippers as they were leaving a mosque in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least 20 people, a local official said.

The attack happened in a remote village called Dogo Dawa, in Kaduna state, said Abdullahi Muhammad, the traditional ruler and councillor of Birnin Gwari, a local government area next door to the village.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Like much of northern Nigeria, Kaduna is plagued by an insurgency led by radical Islamist sect Boko Haram. They usually attack security forces, government officials or Christians, but have hit Muslim clerics and mosques in the past, especially ones that do not follow their hard-line brand of Islam.

Kaduna also lies close to Nigeria's volatile "Middle Belt", where Nigeria's mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south meet, and where tensions over land and ethnicity often erupt into violence.

But Abdulladhi said the attack was most likely carried out by a local criminal gang.

"We are suspecting a reprisal attack by gangs of armed robbers who lost some of their members after a recent exchange of fire with the villagers and the vigilantes," he said.

"The village had been terrorized by an armed group operating from camps in the forest. These armed men mostly attack villages and motorists along the busy Kaduna to Lagos highway."

The state police commissioner Olufemi Adenaike confirmed the incident, but said he could not yet confirm the death toll.

The Islamist insurgency in northern Nigeria and weapons flooding in from its neighbours on the threshold of the Sahara has aggravated levels of violence in the region. Armed robberies and local disputes degenerating into deadly shootouts are increasingly common across the impoverished north.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Gunmen-kill-20-at-mosque-in-northern-Nigeria/articleshow/16810500.cms

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Leaked recordings spark fears Tunisia is moving towards Islamist agenda

 14 October 2012 01:08

FEARS are growing in Tunisia that its new government may be planning to introduce ­Islamist legislation after leaked conversations talking about alcohol bans and the imposition of religious laws appeared on the internet.

The Ennahda Party was elected on a moderate Islamist platform but last week Tunisia’s social media sites were flooded first by a video, then a phone recording showing ­Rachid Ghannouchi, the founder of the party, appearing to discuss how to gradually Islamise Tunisian society.

Yesterday Ennahda said in a statement that the video was heavily edited to make Ghannouchi appear to be more extreme than the party’s actual positions. The video dates from February, it said.

“A number of sentences and sections were taken out of context and edited in such a way as to misrepresent their meaning in a deplorable return to the old methods of vilification used by the former regime,” party official Ameur Larayedh said.

But Tunisia’s secular opposition has been up in arms, saying it is proof that Ennahda’s modest rhetoric masks a radical agenda. On Thursday, opposition activist Noaman Fehri called for a judicial investigation of Ghannouchi, saying it is “evident that he ... wants to install a new dictatorship.”

The recordings also have threatened Ennahda’s relationship with its coalition partners. And their emergence comes amid real worries about Tunisia’s direction after demonstrators burst through minimal security and stormed the US embassy compound in Tunis last month, tore down the American flag and looted and burned buildings.

Non-essential embassy personnel have been withdrawn and have yet to return, and the US government advised all Americans to leave – a sad state of affairs for the country that kicked off the Arab Spring of pro-democracy uprisings and was seen as one of the best hopes for the region, with its small, well-educated and homo­genous population.

Ennahda has said that it would never impose Islamic law and is comfortable with parties seeking to govern in a secular fashion. It has compromised with other parties in keeping references to Islamic law out of the first article of the constitution and abandoned attempts to change language about men and women being equal to being “complementary,” which had worried women’s rights activists.

The appearance of a damning video or audio recording was a staple of the old system under president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, when enemies of the regime would be discredited with tapes, often recorded by the omnipresent intelligence services.

Tunisians overthrew Ben Ali in January 2011, ending his 23 years of iron rule, and then elected a governing coalition led by his arch foes, the Ennahda Party.

The question of who produced the tape has been hotly debated in Tunisia. The secular opposition, which is weak and divided in the face of Ennahda’s commanding 40 per cent bloc in parliament, has long been trying to paint the party as cousins to the Taleban.

Many also believe, however, that it could be hard-line Islamists themselves.

http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/international/leaked-recordings-spark-fears-tunisia-is-moving-towards-islamist-agenda-1-2575478

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Libya Struggles to Curb Militias, the Only Police

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

October 14, 2012

BENGHAZI, Libya — A month after the killing of the American ambassador ignited a public outcry for civilian control of Libya’s fractious militias, that hope has been all but lost in a tangle of grudges, rivalries and egos.

Scores of disparate militias remain Libya’s only effective police force but have stubbornly resisted government control, a dynamic that is making it difficult for either the Libyan authorities or the United States to catch the attackers who killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

Shocked by that assault, tens of thousands of people filled the streets last month to demand the dismantling of all the militias. But the country’s interim president, Mohamed Magariaf, warned them to back off as leaders of the largest brigades threatened to cut off the vital services they provide, like patrolling the borders and putting out fires.

“We feel hurt, we feel underappreciated,” said Ismail el-Salabi, one of several brigade leaders who warned that public security had deteriorated because their forces had pulled back.

Taming the militias has been the threshold test of Libya’s attempt to build a democracy after four decades of dictatorship under Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. But how to bring them to heel while depending on them for security has eluded the weak transitional government, trapping Libya in a state of lawlessness.

Now that problem has become entangled in the American presidential race as well, with Republicans arguing that the Obama administration’s failure to protect Mr. Stevens illustrates the breakdown of its policy in the region. Mounting pressure on the administration to act against the perpetrators carries its own risks: an American strike on Libyan soil could produce a popular and potentially violent backlash in the only Arab country whose people largely have warm feelings toward Washington.

The militias’ power is evident. In one of Tripoli’s finest hotels, the Waddan, about two dozen militiamen from the western city of Misurata continue to help themselves to rooms without paying, just as they have for more than a year; the interim interior minister, also from Misurata, protects them.

In Benghazi, independent brigades are using tapped telephones to hunt down suspected loyalists of Colonel Qaddafi, with the help of his former intelligence services. Even the huge anti-militia protest here last month became cover for a group of armed men to attack one of the largest brigades, possibly for revenge.

“Nothing changes,” shrugged Fathi al-Obeidi, the militia commander who led a contingent of fighters that helped rescue the Americans in the besieged diplomatic mission here last month.

Some Benghazi residents even say that the militia seen carrying out the attack, Ansar al-Shariah, did a better job than the paralytic government at providing security and even some social services. “They are very nice people,” said Ashraf Bujwary, 40, an administrator at a hospital where Ansar al-Shariah men had served as guards. Security has been “on shaky ground” since the militia fled, he said.

In some ways Ansar al-Shariah exemplifies the twilight world of post-Qaddafi Libya, in which residents with looted weapons have organized themselves into regional, tribal or Islamist brigades to keep the peace and defend differing visions of Libya. In Bani Walid, near Misurata, the dominant militia is made up of former Qaddafi loyalists who have embraced a local strongman and rejected the new government. Some brigades provide public security or services; others oppose democracy as contrary to Islam. Ansar al-Shariah did both.

In a Congressional hearing last week, Eric A. Nordstrom, the former chief of security at the American Embassy in Libya, said that he had tracked Ansar al-Shariah as a potential threat “for quite some time.” He characterized the brigade as both “extremist” and, in his view, an informal arm of the Libyan government.

Wissam Bin Hamid, the 35-year-old leader of a major Benghazi militia, Libya Shield, said he considered Ansar al-Shariah more of an Islamic “social club” than a fighting brigade. “Families come to them when they have a problem with a son,” he said, like drug use or bad behavior. Like other Benghazi militia leaders, he said he wanted to see evidence before blaming Ansar al-Shariah for the attack.

Organizers of the march against the militias nonetheless insisted they had achieved at least a subtle change. The big turnout showed that supporters of a civilian government were in fact “the force on the ground,” insisted Abu Janash Mohamed Abu Janash, 26, one of the organizers.

But he also acknowledged that Ansar al-Shariah was not chased from its headquarters, as had been reported. He said the protest organizers had given Ansar al-Shariah a warning to evacuate. “They were friendly,” Mr. Abu Janash said. “We had lunch together.”

Only after the fact did Mr. Abu Janash learn that armed men had led the march several miles away to attack a larger militia known for defending the government. “The march was hijacked,” said Mr. Salabi, the brigade leader, who was wounded in the attack.

The civilian government responded to the outcry by assigning military officers to help oversee the biggest militias. But the brigade leaders said that they, not the government, would choose their new officers, and that the current commanders would not yet give up control. The militia leaders say they refuse to submit to the national army or the police because so many of the officers used to work for Colonel Qaddafi.

“Some fought with us, some fought against us, some stayed in their homes,” Mr. Bin Hamid of Libya Shield said.

“The whole government is infiltrated,” Mr. Salabi said.

Others say egos are also at play. “You have militia commanders who love the prestige, who have more power than they could ever imagine,” said Zeidoun bin Hamid, the director of operations for Libya Shield. “People like the glorification, and it is hard to take it away from them.”

Even Benghazi militias that work with the government are aligned with rival power bases within it, like the defense minister, military chief of staff and the interior minister.

The interim interior minister, Fawzi Abdel Aali, formerly of the Misurata militia, organized a militia with national pretensions, the Supreme Security Committee. But in an interview at its headquarters in Tripoli, a militia spokesman criticized his ostensible boss. “I will be frank,” said the spokesman, Abdel Moneim al-Hur, “He is not doing his job.”

Mr. Hur accused the interior minister of failing to pay the militia’s fighters, who had policed Benghazi, leading them to walk out months ago. And he accused the minister of using the militia as a “pressure group” to squeeze the Parliament by asking its fighters to stop their police work.

As for the militiamen in the luxury hotel, the spokesman noted that the freeloaders and the interior minister were all from Misurata. “He turns a blind eye to what his cousins do,” Mr. Hur said.

Some militias are eagerly rounding up suspected Qaddafi loyalists. A few weeks ago, fighters from Benghazi’s Feb. 17 Brigade detained a dental student, Firas Ali el-Warfalli, whose father had been on one of Colonel Qaddafi’s revolutionary committees. When Mr. Warfalli’s family and fellow students put up billboards calling for his release, an ally of the militia posted to the Internet a recording of a telephone call on which Mr. Warfalli referred to supporters of Colonel Qaddafi’s green flag as “seaweed like us.” A brigade officer confirmed that the recording came from the Intelligence Ministry.

Telephone surveillance in the hands of independent militias suggests a lack of oversight and raises concerns about eavesdropping on political rivals, said Anwar Fekini, a prominent lawyer. “No government that is worthy of being called a government would allow this,” he said. “But we have a government that exists only on paper.”

Suliman Ali Zway contributed reporting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/world/africa/libyan-government-struggles-to-rein-in-powerful-militias.html?_r=1&ref=world

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South African teacher in racism row for remarks over Hindu thread

Oct 14, 2012

 A white South African music teacher is facing racism charges after allegedly taunting a young Hindu boy for the past three years over a red string worn by the student for religious reasons.

Sybil Jordaan, the music teacher, is facing racism charges from the Education authorities and the South African Human Rights Commission.

Jordaan will have to answer to claims that she made racist and religiously intolerant remarks to the pupil, now nine, who may not be named under South African law.

The boy's parents laid the charges after learning of the abuse that their child had reportedly suffered at the hands of the teacher only after he deliberately jammed his hand in a car door to avoid having to attend school.

The parents claimed that the principal of the school, who is Jordaan's husband, did not resolve the matter satisfactorily when the parents first complained to him in 2010 about the racial remarks made to the child.

But now the provincial education department has confirmed that notice has been served on Jordaan to respond within three days with a report on why she should not be suspended pending a disciplinary hearing.

The school's attorney, Stefan Wolmarans, told media that the school's policy stated that "religious decorations" could be worn by pupils, but needed to be covered up.

South African Hindu Maha Sabha president Ashwin Trikamjee said that matters like this were discriminatory and showed disrespect not only for the Hindu religion, but also for the South African constitution which safeguarded the religious rights of all its citizens.

A few years ago, a South African-Indian mother won a case after going to the Constitutional Court when her daughter's school refused to let her wear a nose ring for cultural reasons.

Married Hindu nurses also succeeded in another matter where their superiors disallowed them the right to wear the bindi (traditional dot to signify marriage) on their foreheads.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/South-African-teacher-in-racism-row-for-remarks-over-Hindu-thread/articleshow/16808911.cms

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Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz shot at

Oct 14, 2012

LONDON: Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, president of the West African nation of Mauritania, was shot at and wounded in what officials say was an accident, media reports said on Sunday.

Citing the Al Arabiya news channel, RIA Novosti said the 55-year-old president was slightly wounded in the neck as his convoy was returning from his farm in the north of the country to the capital city of Nouakchott on Saturday.

BBC said he underwent a successful operation on his arm and would travel abroad for further treatment.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Mauritanian-president-Mohamed-Ould-Abdel-Aziz-shot-at/articleshow/16808350.cms

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Tunisia Sets June Date for Presidential Elections

 October 14, 2012

TUNIS — Tunisia’s ruling coalition said early Sunday that it had agreed to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on June 23, with the president being elected directly by voters.

The Islamic Ennahda Movement, the ruling coalition, also said any presidential runoff would be held on July 7.

The coalition won Tunisia’s first free elections after the country’s revolution. It includes two secular parties, the Congress for the Republic and the Ettakatol.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/world/africa/tunisia-sets-june-date-for-presidential-elections.html?ref=world&gwh=853ABBAC8B9EB04F841E3D0FC3EA0E17

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Pakistan

 

Pakistan declared new winner of Nobel Peace Prize

Oct 14, 2012

OSLO/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan was declared the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 for its efforts in ridding the world of Indians, Americans and Afghanistanis, refusing to arrest hardcore terrorists despite global pressure and giving shelter to the saintly Osama bin Laden.

There was widespread celebration all over the country after this announcement. "We're having a blast," said some peace-loving citizens armed with rocket launchers. Many others took a break from attacking embassies and planting landmines to join the revelry.

Pakistan has been the key to transforming Asia "from a continent of wars to a continent of peace," committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said while announcing the award in Oslo. Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/mocktale/Pakistan-declared-new-winner-of-Nobel-Peace-Prize/articleshow/16806181.cms?

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Incensed by Malala attack, jirga declares war on Taliban

By Fazal Khaliq

October 14, 2012

SWAT: Incensed by the attack on teenage child activist Malal Yousafzai, a local jirga has declared war on Taliban until the elimination of militancy from the picturesque valley.

The valley wriggled out of the clutches of Taliban following the 2009 military operation against notorious militant commander Mullah Fazlullah aka Mullah Radio who claimed responsibility for the attack on Malala.

“The attack on Malala Yousafzai and other girls was a cowardly act which should be condemned on every platform,” Saifullah Khan, the chairperson of the Nepkikhel Aman Jirga, told a news conference at Swat Press Club on Saturday.

Full report at:

http://tribune.com.pk/story/451284/incensed-by-malala-attack-jirga-declares-war-on-taliban/

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Shooting of Malala Yousufzai: Three brothers of senior Taliban commander arrested

Oct 14, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security agencies have arrested three brothers of a senior Taliban commander from Swat during a raid for alleged links to the near-fatal attack on teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, who is still on ventilator in hospital and making "slow and steady" progress.

The suspects, who were arrested on Saturday in Nowshera district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, were sent to an undisclosed location for questioning, officials said.

The officials told the media that another brother of the three men was a senior commander in the Taliban faction led by Maulana Fazlullah — also known as Radio Mullah — who controlled Swat till the army launched an operation there in early 2009. The suspects were held a day after Swat district police Chief Gul Afzal Khan Afridi announced that they had made an "important breakthrough" by arresting three other men, whose identity not disclosed, on suspicion of involvement in the attack on 14-year-old Malala.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Shooting-of-Pakistani-girl-Three-brothers-of-senior-Taliban-commander-arrested/articleshow/16809459.cms

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Pakistan urged to accept problems, not reject them as conspiracy theories

 October 14, 2012 

LAHORE: Pakistan needs to accept and remediate its problems, instead of dumping the responsibility through conspiracy theories by blaming the west.

 The attack on Malala Yousufzai is not a standalone incident as it has been preceded by similar brutal incidents.

 The inherent gender discrimination in the tribal areas cannot be dealt with until democracy and democratic values of equality are not pursued and promoted in the region.

 Malala was attacked by terrorists who came from Afghanistan, the curtailing of which is the responsibility of the American forces. American intelligence is behind this attack as they want to pave the way for military operation in North Waziristan Agency.

 Full report at:

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-18152-Pakistan-urged-to-accept-problemsnot-reject-them-as-conspiracy-theories

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Five militants, FC official killed in encounter near Peshawar

October 14, 2012

PESHAWAR: Five militants and one FC official were killed in a clash in Bara Sheikhan area near Peshawar, reported Express News on Sunday.

According to SP Rural Khurshid Khan, police reached the Aziz market in Bara Sheikhan on receiving information about a planted bomb. During the search operation, militants attacked the police and killed one FC official.

Five militants were killed in retaliatory fire by the police.

The police have defused several bombs in Peshawar after receiving tip-off in the past few months.

Last month, a senior official of the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) was killed while he was trying to defuse a device recovered in Sheikhan village.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/451405/five-militants-fc-official-killed-in-encounter-near-peshawar/

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Pakistani Girl Shot by Taliban Was Named for a Battlefield Heroine

By MARK MCDONALD

October 14, 2012

HONG KONG - News reports from Pakistan on Sunday said that Malala Yousafzai has about a 50-50 chance of survival, maybe a little better, according to her doctors. She remains stable but unconscious in an army hospital in Rawalpindi.

Military doctors have reportedly consulted with two civilian Pakistani neurosurgeons who have recommended that Ms. Yousafzai be sent abroad for treatment. President Obama also has offered U.S. medical assistance to the Pakistani government, including a military air ambulance.

Full report at:

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/pakistani-girl-shot-by-taliban-was-named-

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Sending Malala abroad yet to be decided

 October 14, 2012

RAWALPINDI: Doctors are still undecided whether Malala Yousafzai will be taken abroad for further treatment, according to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Geo News reported.

 In a statement issued here by the ISPR, it is stated that the arrival of an air ambulance was part of the plan and if required the air ambulance will be used to transport Malala.

 Earlier on Saturday, Director General ISPR Maj Gen Asim Bajwa said that Malala Yousafzai's condition was steadily improving and as a result the critically injured 14-year old was now being administered a lower dose of sedatives.

 Full report at:

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-71416-Sending-Malala-abroad-yet-to-be-decided

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Pakistan detains 120 suspects over Malala attack

Oct 14, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Around 120 suspects, including three Taliban militants, have been detained in Pakistan's northwest tribal region for their involvement in the attack in which Malala Yousufzai and two of her friends were injured, a media report said.

Police in Nowshera arrested three brothers, members of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Swat, for their involvement in the attack, Dawn News reported.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-detains-120-suspects-over-Malala-attack/articleshow/16807972.cms

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Malala Yousufzai making 'slow and steady progress' in hospital

Oct 14 2012

Islamabad : Teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, shot in the head during an assassination attempt by the Taliban, was making "slow and steady progress" at a top army hospital in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi and her condition was satisfactory, the military said today.

"Doctors have reviewed Malala's condition and are satisfied. She is making slow and steady progress which is in keeping with expectations," chief military spokesman Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa said in a statement.

Malala has been on ventilator since she was shifted from Peshawar to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi on Thursday after doctors removed a bullet lodged near her backbone.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/malala-yousufzai-making-slow-and-steady-progress-in-hospital/1016664/

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Gilani reconciles with PM Ashraf on Zardari's intervention

October 14, 2012

Days after he aired his grievances against the government for failing to prevent the arrest of his son, former Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has reconciled with his successor Raja Pervez Ashraf on the intervention of President Asif Ali Zardari. Gilani's son Ali Musa Gilani, named as

an accused by the army-run Anti-Narcotics Force for alleged irregularities in the import of the controlled drug ephedrine, was recently arrested at the Supreme Court when he went to seek bail.

Full report at:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Pakistan/Gilani-reconciles-with-PM-Ashraf-on-Zardari-s-intervention/Article1-944441.aspx

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11,000 pilgrims vaccinated in Quetta

 October 14, 2012

QUETTA: Balochistan Hajj Director Muhammad Rasheed on Saturday said that as many as 15,000 pilgrims would perform Hajj through government and non-government firms and around 11,000 pilgrims have left for Jeddah about their vaccination.

Talking to pilgrims at the Hajji Camp on Western By-pass Quetta, he said that Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and every sane, healthy and mature person whom Allah has bestowed with economic means is under obligation to perform it once in life. He said that before the departure of all pilgrims, it was made incumbent by the Saudi government to vaccinate them against polio, meningitis and influenza. He said that normally polio vaccines were administered to the children below 5 years of age but due to chronic existence of poliovirus in Pakistan, anti-polio vaccination was made compulsory for the Hajj pilgrims.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\14\story_14-10-2012_pg7_24

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Will support army action against Taliban: MQM Chief

 October 14, 2012

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain has termed terrorists as inhuman and said his party would support an army action against the Taliban.

 “If we want Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan, we will have to stand up against the Taliban,” Hussain said while addressing the general workers meeting at the Jinnah Ground via telephone from London.

Full report at:

 http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-71444-Altaf-Hussain-calls-terrorists-inhuman

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Satellite phone seized from Dr Shakil Afridi

 October 14, 2012

PESHAWAR – Law-enforcement agencies on Saturday seized a satellite phone from Dr Shakil Afridi – the surgeon who helped the US track down al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden – at the Central Prison in Peshawar.

According to sources, on being interrogated, one of the four police commandoes, deployed at the cell of Afridi, admitted that he helped in providing the phone to the surgeon.

Full report at:

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/national/14-Oct-2012/satellite-phone-seized-from-dr-shakil-afridi

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Arab World

 

Saudi Shura Council to discuss call to defer evening prayers

October 11, 2012

Manama: A proposal to defer the Eisha prayers in Saudi Arabia will be debated in the Shura Council when it convenes next week.

Eisha — evening — prayers, the last of the five daily mandatory prayers, are held one and a half hours after the sunset Maghreb prayers.

However, a Saudi member of the Shura Council said that the time between the two prayers should be expanded.

“The tight timing between the two prayers makes it difficult for people to take care of their daily needs or their social duties,” Fahad Al Enezi said. “Islam gives Muslims until midnight to perform the Eisha prayers, so this grace period should be used to put off the current timing,” he said, quoted by Arabic daily Al Sharq.

Full report at:

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-shura-council-to-discuss-call-to-defer-evening-prayers-1.1087903

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UAE to send air ambulance for girl shot by Taliban

 Oct 14, 2012

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan says the royal family of the United Arab Emirates plans to send an air ambulance for a 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban in case doctors decide to send her abroad for treatment.

Islamabad's ambassador to the UAE Jamil Ahmed Khan told Pakistan's Geo TV on Sunday that visas are being finalized for the crew and six doctors who will accompany the flight.

Khan said arrangements have been made to treat the girl, Malala Yousufzai, at three hospitals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/UAE-to-send-air-ambulance-for-girl-shot-by-Taliban/articleshow/16807464.cms

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Saudi court postpones conversion trial of a Lebanese

By Habib Toumi

October 14, 2012

Manama: A Saudi court has postponed the trial of a Lebanese national charged with encouraging a Saudi woman to convert to Christianity and helping her leave the country clandestinely.

The court said it was putting off the case until next month to give the suspect’s lawyer another chance to prepare his response to the accusations levelled by the attorney of the woman’s family, local news site Sabq reported on Sunday.

The judge ordered the summoning of employees who worked with the suspect and the Saudi woman in an insurance company in Khobar, one of the largest cities in eastern Saudi Arabia, to give their testimony.

Full report at:

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-court-postpones-conversion-trial-1.1088984

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Bahrain King Blasts 'Foreign' Links in Unrest

October 14, 2012

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahrain's king says his country will stand against foreign interference — a clear reference to Iran — in clashes between the Sunni-led ruling system and majority Shiites seeking a greater political voice.

The comments Sunday to parliament by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa are part of efforts to link Iran to the 20-month Shiite uprising in the strategic Gulf nation, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Iran has denounced the violence, and there is no firm evidence of Tehran aiding the protesters.

Bahrain presents a difficult challenge for Washington, which seeks to keep its military ties but also has expressed concern about the unrest that has claimed more than 50 lives.

Shiite opposition groups claim the government is not willing to hold full-scale dialogue on political reforms.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/10/14/world/middleeast/ap-ml-bahrain.html?ref=world&gwh=21DA92C8D11200F705E5737035CBCDCD

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Assad Forces Use Cluster Bombs as Syrian Rebels Gain: HRW

Angus MacSwan | October 14, 2012

Beirut. Syrian government forces have dropped Russian-made cluster bombs over civilian areas in the past week as they battle to reverse rebel gains on a strategic highway, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday.

The bombs were dropped from planes and helicopters, with many of the strikes taking place near the main north-south highway running through the northwestern town of Maarat al-Numan, HRW said in a report.

Rebels seized Maarat al-Numan from President Bashar al-Assad's troops last week, cutting the route from the capital Damascus to Aleppo, Syria's biggest city. Government forces have been trying to retake the area since then.

Full report at:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/assad-forces-use-cluster-bombs-as-syrian-rebels-gain-hrw/550165

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Iraq says it will execute Saudi convicts

14 October 2012

JEDDAH: The Iraqi National Security consultant Faleh Al-Fayyad has said his country has no intention to halt the executions of those indicted in terrorism-related cases including Saudis.

In an interview with a Saudi newspaper, Al-Fayyad said that the law will be implemented against the prisoners. “Law is applied to Saudi prisoners just like it is implemented against Iraqis, and both countries understand this.” He said there is no discrimination against Saudi defendants. “There are Iraqi criminals in Saudi prisons who are facing the death penalty.”

He denied accusations that evidence against Saudi prisoners is insufficient. “Those arrested were all captured red-handed. The Iraqi judiciary does not consider weak evidence but rather discards it.”

Full report at:

http://www.arabnews.com/iraq-says-it-will-execute-saudi-convicts

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Car bomb blast near Damascus kills eight: NGO

 October 14, 2012

BEIRUT: A car bomb blast killed eight people, including a child and two women, near the Syrian capital on Saturday in what was once a regime stronghold, a monitoring group said.

“Eight civilians, including a young girl and two women, were killed and 13 others critically injured by a car bomb blast in Al-Nabak on the road linking Damascus to Homs,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The blast targeted participants in an anti-regime demonstration,”Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Amateur video posted on YouTube by activists and distributed by the Observatory showed a badly damaged white vehicle, with its side door charred and the back blasted away.

It was not clear who was behind the attack, Abdel Rahman said.

http://dawn.com/2012/10/14/car-bomb-blast-near-damascus-kills-8-ngo/

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Hospital in Syrian city barely copes with wounded

 October 14, 2012

ALEPPO: The injured arrive at the hospital in taxis or in the back of pickup trucks, to the blare of car horns and shouts of ”Help!”

Sometimes, they are battle-hardened rebels with gaping wounds. Sometimes, they are children, peppered with shrapnel and screaming in pain. Those who die are left on the sidewalk outside, to be claimed hours later by relatives.

An Associated Press team spent 24 hours at Dar al-Shifa Hospital in Aleppo and witnessed the frantic work by overtaxed doctors and nurses to save those wounded in the battle for control of Syria’s largest city.

Full report at:

http://dawn.com/2012/10/13/hospital-in-syrian-city-barely-copes-with-wounded/

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Egypt Government Details Fuel Subsidy Rationing-Paper

October 14, 2012

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's government plans to cut energy subsidies by setting a universal limit on how much cheap fuel and cooking gas every household can buy, Petroleum Minister Osama Kamal told a newspaper on Sunday.

An Islamist-led administration that took office in July has vowed to push through reform of the subsidies, which consume as much as a quarter of the state budget, to lower an unmanageable deficit and shift funds to health and education.

Economists say the IMF will not release a $4.8 billion (3 billion pounds) (3 billion pounds) loan until Egypt shows how it will cut a deficit that ballooned after a popular uprising tipped the economy into crisis last year.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/10/14/world/middleeast/14reuters-egypt-

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Syria bans Turkish civilian flights

Oct 14, 2012

DAMASCUS: Syria has banned Turkish passenger flights from Syrian airspace from today (0230 IST), state news agency SANA said, citing the foreign ministry.

The decision, "in accordance with the principle of reciprocity", was in retaliation for Turkey's decision to stop Syrian civil aviation flights over its territory, SANA said.

The Turkish government has not announced a similar ban for Syrian civilian aircraft.

However, Turkish jets forced a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus to make an emergency landing in Ankara on Thursday on suspicion it was carrying weapons.

Both Damascus and Moscow denied the claim, and the plane was allowed on Friday to continue on its journey.

Meanwhile Turkey has stopped using Syrian airspace on their flights, amid escalating tensions between Ankara and Damascus.

The suspension came after Turkey and Syria engaged in sporadic cross-border shelling last week.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Syria-bans-Turkish-civilian-flights/articleshow/16810037.cms

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India

 

Anglo Arabic School in Delhi: Three centuries of learning

Nivedita Khandekar

 October 13, 2012

Founded in 1962, Anglo Arabic School was also a centre for city’s renaissance. HT Photo/Sunil Saxena Barely a few metres from the cacophony and the chaos outside the New Delhi railway station on the Ajmeri Gate side lies an island of serenity. Anglo Arabic School, the more than three centuries old institution of learning, is probably the city's oldest school. The sprawling premises opens up to a different world.

"It was originally a 10 acre campus. Land was acquired when the railway line was laid in the early 20th century, leaving about seven acres," said Firoz Bakht Ahmed, who is on the panel of the governing body of the school.

Full report at:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Three-centuries-of-learning/Article1-944310.aspx

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Bhopal gas victims support Malala Yousufzai

MAHIM PRATAP SINGH

 October 14, 2012

Victims and survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy have extended their support to Pakistani teenager Malala Yousufzai who has stood up for women’s education.

The youth was recently shot at and injured by members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan for speaking up against the militant outfit’s diktats over education for girls in Pakistan’s Swat region.

Ms. Yousufzai, who has been receiving support and adulation from all over the world for her struggle for women’s education, is recovering from the deadly attack at the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Full report at:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bhopal-gas-victims-support-malala-yousufzai/article3994863.ece

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Youths who jumped into J&K assembly well granted bail

 Oct 14, 2012

SRINAGAR: Three youths, who created a flutter by jumping into the well of the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly last week, have been granted bail by a city court.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, granted bail to the three youths -- Manish Khajuria, Ambedkar Gupta and Sunny Malhotra -- after their families had moved an application in this regard.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Youths-who-jumped-into-JK-assembly-well-granted-bail/articleshow/16807829.cms

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India, Bangladesh to hold home secretary-level talks from tomorrow

Oct 14, 2012

NEW DELHI: Cooperation in combating terror, repatriation of ULFA leader Anup Chetia and early conclusion of an extradition treaty will top the agenda at the two-day India-Bangladesh Home Secretary-level talks in Dhaka from tomorrow.

Home Secretary R K Singh will also discuss with his Bangladeshi counterpart Manjur Hussain issues related to infiltration, smuggling of goods and human trafficking, official sources said.

During his visit, Singh will also travel to Akhaura located along the border with Tripura before returning to Dhaka for continuing his dialogue with the Bangladeshi delegation.

At Akhaura, both the sides will review the work of the construction of a new Land Customs Station (LCS) which is being set up by India.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-Bangladesh-to-hold-home-secretary-level-talks-from-tomorrow/articleshow/16808950.cms

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50 panchas quit hours before Shinde’s J&K security meet

 Oct 14, 2012

SRINAGAR: Dozens of Panchayat members from central Kashmir's Budgam district announced their resignations through advertisements in local newspapers on Saturday.

The resignations came hours before Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde presided over a Unified Command meeting in which threats to Panchayat members were among the issues discussed.

Scores of Panchayat members have resigned since three of their colleagues were killed last month. But officials maintain that only 50 Panchyats members have officially put in their papers.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/50-panchas-quit-hours-before-Shindes-JK-security-meet/articleshow/16802664.cms

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South Asia

 

'Bengali intellectuals killed on Jamaat-e-Islami’s order'

 October 14, 2012

Pakistani forces in association with the collaborators had killed Bengali intellectuals during Liberation War upon the direction of Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed.

"Mojaheed gave the direction as commander of Al-Badr Bahini," said Shaheen Reza Noor, executive editor of the daily Ittefaq, adding that Mojaheed was the president of East Pakistan Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, from October to December of 1971.

Full report at:

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=41650

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Bangladesh: HC directive sought for judicial commission to probe Ramu violence

 October 14, 2012

A Supreme Court lawyer on Sunday filed a petition with the High Court seeking its directive on the government to constitute a judicial probe commission to investigate into Ramu violence that later spread to Patiya, Ukhiya and Teknaf.

Advocate Eunus Ali Akond filed the petition seeking HC order on the government to pay compensation for the victims of the violence.

As a supplementary to another writ petition, it was submitted for fair and proper investigation into the violence.

Full report at:

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=41649

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Two coalition members among nine killed in Afghan attacks

 October 14, 2012

KANDAHAR, : A suicide attack and bomb blasts killed at least nine people in Afghanistan including two coalition forces members in southern Kandahar province, Isaf and local officials said Saturday.

A suicide bomber targeted a group of foreign soldiers and Afghan intelligence agents in Maruf district of Kandahar province, killing two coalition members and four agents, officials said.

Earlier a roadside bomb ripped through a police vehicle in Qalat, the capital of neighboring Zabul province, killing two policemen and wounding three others, officials told AFP.

Violence has recently spiked in southern Afghanistan, with Taliban militants increasing their attacks on Afghan and Nato-led forces.

Full report at:

http://dawn.com/2012/10/14/two-coalition-members-among-nine-killed-in-afghan-attacks/

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Afghan Boys Eke Living amid Peril at Gorge

By GRAHAM BOWLEY

October 14, 2012

MAHI PAR PASS, Afghanistan, Beneath the soaring faces of rock, on a treacherous road flanked by gaping drops, lines of trucks crawled up from the Pakistani border, groaning under impossible loads of house-size metal containers and boxes tottering under tarps.

Past them and between them nudged cars, vans and other trucks carrying furniture, women in burqas, open loads of cows and donkeys.

Amid the tidal wave of traffic, piercing the cacophony with their yelps and whistles, stood the Pepsi bottle boys. They earn their meagre living by keeping the contractor trucks flowing on this section of the Jalalabad road, one of the main NATO supply routes to Kabul and one of Afghanistan’s deadliest stretches of road.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/world/asia/afghan-boys-eke-living-amid-peril-at-

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Five UK marines charged with murder in Afghan death

Oct 14, 2012

LONDON: Five UK marines have been charged with murder over a death in Afghanistan last year, Britain's ministry of defence said on Sunday. They are the first British troops to be charged with murder in the country since deployments began in 2001.

The five are among nine marines arrested — seven on Thursday and two in the last 48 hours. Four have been released without charge.

Officials have said the incident involved an "engagement with an insurgent" in Helmand province, where the majority of Britain's 9,500 troops in Afghanistan are deployed. They say no civilians were involved.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Five-UK-marines-charged-with-murder-in-Afghan-death/articleshow/16810008.cms

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Thousands of UK troops to leave Afghanistan in 2013

14 October 2012

LONDON: British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday he planned to withdraw thousands of British troops from Afghanistan next year.

“I would expect it will be significant, which means thousands, not hundreds, but I would not expect it to be the majority,” Hammond told the BBC, after being asked about troop withdrawals next year.

Britain is withdrawing some 500 of its soldiers from Afghanistan this year, leaving around 9,000. All British combat troops are set to be repatriated by the end of 2014.

http://www.arabnews.com/thousands-uk-troops-leave-afghanistan-2013

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Karzai writes to Pakistani politicians, urges cooperation against extremism

 October 14, 2012

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has written letters to top political and religious leaders in Pakistan, denouncing the Taliban attack on a Pakistani teenager who is promoting girls’ education and asking them to help battle extremism in both countries.

Karzai’s office said in a statement issued late Saturday that the president wrote that the attack on 14-year-old schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai indicated that both Afghanistan and Pakistan need to take “coordinated and serious” steps to fight terrorism and extremism.

Karzai wrote that he views the shooting as an attack on Afghanistan’s girls as well. “It is a deplorable event that requires serious attention,” Karzai wrote.

Full report at:

http://dawn.com/2012/10/14/karzai-writes-to-pakistani-politicians-seeks-cooperation-against-extremism/

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Afghan anti-Taliban leader prefers to go it alone

 October 14, 2012

PULI ALAM: He took up arms after the Taliban killed his mother in a hail of bullets and inspired a local uprising that ousted the insurgents from his area.

But Sayed Farhad Akbari, a 32-year-old construction company director, says he has refused to be co-opted into a government-sponsored police programme, branding the authorities corrupt and ineffectual.

The Afghan Interior Ministry has arranged funding for 300 new Afghan Local Police (ALP) in Logar province.

And according to both Akbari and a senior provincial police commander, he and his followers have been invited to join up as the government tries to capitalise on the uprising and fill a gaping hole in security. The ALP is a branch of the Afghan National Police, with members intended to act as local security guards.

Full report at:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\14\story_14-10-2012_pg7_6

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Afghan Government Burns 24 Tons of Illegal Drugs

October 14, 2012

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan counternarcotics police poured gasoline on more than 24 tons of narcotics and other illegal substances, then set the pile ablaze on the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday, officials said.

Afghan authorities said the drugs, drug-making chemicals and alcohol were seized in and around the capital during the past nine months.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/10/14/world/asia/ap-as-

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Mideast Asia

 

Israel kills Qaida-tied leader of Gaza militant group

Oct 14, 2012

GAZA: An Israeli air strike killed the Palestinian leader of an al-Qaida-affiliated group in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Hamas and medical sources said.

Gaza Medics said a second militant was also killed in the strike. The after-dark attack targeted the two men who were riding a motorcycle in the northern town of Jabaliya.

The interior ministry of Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, said one of the men killed was Hisham Al-Saedni, also known as Abu Al-Waleed Al-Maqdissi, believed to head the Jihadist Salafi group Tawhid and Jihad (One God and Holy War).

Sources from Tawhid and Jihad could not be reached to confirm that Saedni was killed.

The group, rival to Hamas, has an Islamist ideology shared by al-Qaida and sources have said that Saedni joined al-Qaida in Iraq at the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. In March 2011 Hamas detained Saedni for 17 months and had freed him in August.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israel-kills-Qaida-tied-leader-of-Gaza-militant-group/articleshow/16806721.cms

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Iran willing to halt 20% uranium enrichment ‘if given fuel’

14 October 2012

DUBAI: Iran would negotiate on halting higher-grade uranium enrichment if given fuel for a research reactor, senior officials said, reviving a previous offer in a possible attempt to show flexibility in stalled nuclear talks with world powers.

“If a guarantee is provided to supply the 20 percent (enriched) fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, our officials are ready to enter talks about 20 percent enrichment,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at a Eurasian media forum in Kazakhstan on Friday, according to Iran’s Press TV.

Full report at:

http://www.arabnews.com/iran-willing-halt-20-uranium-enrichment-%E2%80%98if-given-fuel%E2%80%99

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UN human rights report 'politically motivated': Iran

Oct 14, 2012

TEHRAN: Iran has rubbished a recent UN report on human rights situation in the country as "politically motivated," "biased" and without any legal basis, Xinhua reported.

On Thursday, Ahmed Shaheed, the UN special rapporteur on human rights situation in Iran, said in a report that the Islamic republic has repeatedly limited freedom of media and right activists inside the country, detained a number of them and mistreated them.

Iranian foreign ministry Saturday in a statement said, the report , accusing the Iranian government of human rights violations, is a reflection of "Western animosity toward Iran", Press TV reported.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/UN-human-rights-report-politically-motivated-Iran/articleshow/16805224.cms

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Turkey Faults U.N. Inaction Over Syria

By SEBNEM ARSU and HWAIDA SAAD

October 14, 2012

ISTANBUL — In a sign of escalating frustration in Turkey after days of cross-border shelling with Syria, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at the United Nations’ inaction in Syria with some of his strongest comments yet, saying world powers are repeating the mistakes they made in Bosnia in the 1990s.

“This negligence 20 years ago was explained by the international community being caught unprepared in dealing with the issues of the post-cold-war era,” Mr. Erdogan said at an international conference in Istanbul. “Well, how can the injustice and weakness displayed in the Syrian issue be explained today?”

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/world/middleeast/syria.html?ref=world&gwh=C8F53AE604034E37634A548A16612314

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Israeli Ex-Soldier Recalls Captivity Under Militants

By ISABEL KERSHNER

October 14, 2012

JERUSALEM — Almost a year after he was released from five years of captivity in Gaza, Gilad Shalit, the former Israeli soldier, has revealed more details of how he coped with the ordeal and his fears of being forgotten.

Aware from the beginning that negotiations for his release could take years, he said that he feared he could meet the same fate as an Israeli airman who was captured in Lebanon in the 1980s and never returned.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/world/middleeast/ex-israeli-soldier-shalit-recalls-

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Holocaust fears haunt Israelis as they prepare for possible war with Iran

By Nick Me

 14 Oct, 2012

If Israeli jets are given the order to bomb Iran's nuclear programme, thousands of rockets could be fired in revenge. Nick Meo meets people fearful of the consequences of an airstrike - and terrified of the possible alternative.

The last time Hezbollah attacked Israel, a rocket exploded next to Adam Bloom's house while his wife was in the shower.

"She was hysterical," he said. Afterwards it took hours to coax her and their two terrified young daughters out of the bomb shelter where they fled.

Full report at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9606653/Holocaust-fears-haunt-Israelis-as-they-prepare-for-possible-war-with-Iran.html

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Yemeni tribesmen free eight drivers

14 October 2012

ADEN: Yemeni tribesmen freed four Syrian and four Yemeni truck drivers yesterday five days after they were abducted in an attempt to pressure the government to release jailed kinsmen, a security official said.

The Sabbeiha tribesmen had seized the eight truck drivers as they passed through the province of Lahej in south Yemen while traveling from Aden to Hodayda on the Red Sea coast. “All eight drivers have been released and are on their way to the Lahej governorate building,” the security official told Reuters.

Full report at:

http://www.arabnews.com/yemeni-tribesmen-free-eight-drivers

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Iran Confirms It Built Drone Sent Over Israel By Hizballah

 14 Oct, 2012

Tehran has confirmed it built a drone aircraft that was launched a week ago over Israel by the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hizballah.

Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi told Iranian state television on October 14 that the flight by the unmanned aircraft showed Iran's military capabilities.

On October 11, Hizballah claimed responsibility for launching the drone aircraft.

It was shot down by Israeli forces after it flew 55 kilometers into Israeli airspace.

Iran has said the drone incursion exposed the weakness of Israeli air defenses, which are designed to shoot down short-range rockets.

Vahidi said the flight showed that Israel can "no longer bully Islamic nations."

http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-claims-drone-sent-by-hizballah-over-israel/24739171.html

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Southeast Asia

 

200 Muslim rebels arrive in Manila to sign pact

October 14 2012

Philippine officials and rebels say about 200 Muslim guerrillas led by their elusive chief have arrived in Manila for the signing of a preliminary peace pact to end one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front's decades-long rebellion has killed tens of thousands of people and held back progress in the south, where Muslims make up a sizable minority.

Government and rebel negotiators forged the framework peace agreement Oct. 7 in Malaysia after 15 years of tough negotiations.

The pact's signing on Monday will be witnessed by President Benigno Aquino III and rebel chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, who will set foot for the first time in Manila's Malacanang presidential palace.

Hundreds of Muslims held a noisy rally outside the palace Sunday to back the accord's signing.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/10/14/200-muslim-rebels-arrive-manila-sign-pact.html

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Three soldiers killed in Philippine ambush by Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants

14 October 2012

MANILA: Three soldiers have been killed in an attack by Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said Sunday.

The three were members of the army’s intelligence unit on the southern island of Basilan and had left their barracks to buy food when they were attacked by Abu Sayyaf gunmen Saturday, Captain Alberto Caber said.

“They were aboard a motorcycle when attacked from behind by men also riding motorcycles,” Caber told reporters.

The soldiers sustained multiple gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital, he said.

Full report at:

http://www.arabnews.com/three-soldiers-killed-philippine-ambush

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Malaysian killer says sorry for Australian surgeon murder

 14 October 2012

SYDNEY: A Malaysian man freed from an Australian jail after serving 21 years for the murder of a top heart surgeon has asked the victim’s family for forgiveness, describing his crime as a “mistake.”

Chiew Seng Liew, 69, was released on parole on Friday and deported to his home country after more than two decades in prison for the 1991 shooting of Australian heart surgeon Victor Chang in a failed extortion attempt.

Liew landed in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday and told an Australian television crew awaiting his arrival that he was sorry for his role in Chang’s murder.

Full report at:

http://www.arabnews.com/malaysian-killer-says-sorry-australian-surgeon-murder

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Jakarta Marriott Bombing Survivor Fights Terrorism With a Soft Touch

Chang Ai-lien | October 14, 2012

He lost both legs during the Jakarta Marriott bomb blast in 2009, but after three years of intense training and rehabilitation, Dutchman Max Boon is back on his feet again, and back in the country he loves.

Based mainly in Jakarta, he is now fighting terrorism the "soft" way, by focusing on prevention and outreach efforts.

"If you take only the hard-line approach, by killing, shooting and locking people up, you create more hate among the families involved, and give potential recruits more reason to join," he told The Sunday Times. He is recruiting victims of terror to speak about their personal experiences.

Full report at:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/jakarta-marriott-bombing-survivor-fights-terrorism-with-a-soft-touch/550155

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Indonesia Acts to Override Patents on HIV Drugs

Matthew Bigg | October 14, 2012

Indonesia's government has taken steps to override patents on a range of HIV drugs, highlighting a growing trend by Asian states to allow local production of cheap generic drugs that cut into sales of global pharmaceutical companies.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono quietly issued a decree last month authorizing government use of patents for seven HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B medicines held by the likes of Merck & Co, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb , Abbott and Gilead.

The international trade body representing major drugmakers said the move set "a negative precedent." Individual companies affected did not provide immediate comment.

The decree states Indonesia implemented the measures to "meet the urgent need for antiviral and antiretroviral treatments."

Full report at:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesia-acts-to-override-patents-on-hiv-drugs/550131

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North America

 

Washington urges Tunisia to bring embassy attackers to trial

Oct 14, 2012

 Washington on Sunday urged Tunisia to bring attackers of its embassy here last month to trial and pledged to continue to support for the democratic transition in Tunisia, the cradle of the Arab Spring.

"I call upon the Tunisian government to conduct its investigation and bring the perpetrators and instigators of this attack to justice," US ambassador Jacob Walles said in a letter to Tunisians marking a month after the attack on the US embassy in Tunis.

Salafists attacked the embassy last month to protest a film made in California deemed offensive to Islam. At least four people were killed when they stormed the embassy.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Washington-urges-Tunisia-to-bring-embassy-attackers-to-trial/articleshow/16805272.cms

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People turning against Taliban: US

 October 14, 2012

WASHINGTON: Incidents like the Taliban attack on Malala Yousufzai do galvanise popular opinion against the militants, says the US State Department.

“We’ve seen in the past in Pakistan that when the Taliban commit truly heinous and outrageous acts like this, it galvanises popular opinion against them,” the department’s spokesperson told a briefing in Washington.

And it happens “not only in the cities, but also in those towns and neighbourhoods where they plot and hide,” said the State Department official when asked if the attack on Malala would be a turning point in the war against militancy in Pakistan.

Full report at:

http://dawn.com/2012/10/14/people-turning-against-taliban-us/

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U.S. Suspects Iran Was Behind a Wave of Cyberattacks

By THOM SHANKER and DAVID E. SANGER

October 14, 2012

WASHINGTON — American intelligence officials are increasingly convinced that Iran was the origin of a serious wave of network attacks that crippled computers across the Saudi oil industry and breached financial institutions in the United States, episodes that contributed to a warning last week from Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta that the United States was at risk of a “cyber-Pearl Harbor.”

After Mr. Panetta’s remarks on Thursday night, American officials described an emerging shadow war of attacks and counterattacks already under way between the United States and Iran in cyberspace.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/world/middleeast/us-suspects-iranians-were-behind-

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Europe

 

Right-winger feeds French immigration row with pastry tale accusing Muslim youths

Oct 13, 2012

PARIS: A right-wing politician vying to head France's opposition conservative party has raised a storm on Thursday by suggesting Muslim youths tear pain au chocolat pastries from children's hands during Islam's fasting month.

The controversy has inflamed old strains over secular and mainly-Catholic France's struggle to assimilate Muslim culture.

Jean-Francois Cope, who is challenging a moderate rival to lead the main opposition conservative UMP party, made the allegation of bullying by young Muslims in front of an audience of supporters last week.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/mad-mad-world/Right-winger-feeds-French-immigration-row-with-pastry-tale/articleshow/16800894.cms

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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/gunmen-kill-20-mosque-northern/d/8984

 

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