Hedging its bet, Pakistan hobnobs with 'unsavory characters,' says Obama
Two attempts to incite riots, the first one failed but the second did not
Somalia suicide blast death toll goes over 100: UN
Pak squeezed by Afghan-India pact
Top Taliban commander Halimullah killed in U.S. drone attack in Pakistan
Pakistan plays down India's deal with Afghanistan
India, Pak to issue multiple-entry visas to traders: PCM Amin Fahim
Act maturely, Pak warns Afghanistan
Pak: Two girls’ schools blown up in Mardan
Taseer murder case: Qadri appeals death sentence
Pakistan will give full support to Kashmiris over autonomy: Yousuf Raza Gilani
NYPD spied on city’s Muslim partners
Iraq bombing and robbery leave 3 dead
Two killed in Taliban bus shooting
Four Syrian soldiers killed, civilians hurt
4 persons killed firing in Quetta
Israel bombing killed two Israeli soldiers in Lebanon
Hina Rabbani Khar has nothing new to offer: Fatima Bhutto
'Pak has no veto over Afghan right to have ties with India'
US allegations against Pakistan ‘appalling’: Pak Permanent Envoy to UN
'Haqqani sahib should not use Pakistan territory for wrong activities'
Pakistan should protect Shia community: Human Rights Watch
Teachers’ protest closes UN-run schools in Gaza
Bahrain Sentences 33 More for Protest Violence
Libya fighters loot Qaddafi tribe, showing divide
No immediate end to Libya bombing: NATO
Afghans Rally in Kabul, Demand NATO Troops Leave
MHA refuses to disclose info on Afzals Guru Mercy plea
Muslims grow poorer in Telangana
NIA picks up ‘key conspirator’ in Delhi HC blast
IIT Bombay to help security forces fight terrorism
Separatist’s gun for Omar as Cong shields him
Delhi HC blast: NIA to seek test for suspect’s age
‘I am a main witness... what I say will hit the powerful’: NC leader Mohammad Yousuf Bhat
Strike balance between child rights and traditional skills: Salman Khurshid
Bhagwat calls for strengthening ties with ‘non-Pak’ neighbours
'Omar view on Afzal hanging wrong’
Vohra seeks report, Omar says won’t go
Palestine wants peace envoy Blair axed as he is 'of no use'
Afghanistan appeals for aid as drought looms
Afghans protest ahead of invasion anniversary
Fear lingers for Afghan women 10 years on
MAKKAH: Pilgrims eat Haram’s pigeon feed for cure
Somali militants vow more attacks after bombing
Malaysia frees 125 suspects in security law repeal
Palestinians want Blair replaced as Middle East envoy
Egyptian columnists decry censorship by military
US won’t fill NATO defence gaps: Panetta
Syrian president threatening Israel is media provocation: Russia
Indo-US cooperation in education sector poised for major expansion: Nirupama Rao
Heroin worth Rs 135cr seized on Indo-Pak border
Sanjiv Bhatt's wife says her husband being treated like a 'terrorist'
Delhi High Court blast accused remanded in judicial custody
Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila to be next chief of Pak navy
Army defectors aim to overthrow Syrian regime
Pak panel quizzes, ISI's Pasha, Osama's family
Restive Egypt workers pose economic, political threats
Somali al-Shabab attack: Wounded airlifted to Turkey
Stuffed chicken for Palestinian prisoners now a thing of the past
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hedging-its-bet,-pakistan-hobnobs/d/5631
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Hedging its bet, Pakistan hobnobs with 'unsavoury characters,' says Obama
07 Oct, 2011
President Barack Obama returned to front-foot batting in the ongoing crisis of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, when he said at a White House news conference on Thursday that Islamabad was hedging its bets in terms of the post-drawdown denouement in Afghanistan, in particular by associating with “unsavoury characters.”
In a rare departure, Mr. Obama explicitly alluded to Pakistan's role in its troubled history with India, saying Pakistan saw its “security interest threatened by an independent Afghanistan, in part because they think it will ally itself to India and Pakistan still considers India their mortal enemy.”
“Part of what we want to do is actually get Pakistan to realise that a peaceful approach towards India would be in everybody's interests,” he said.
The comment came a few days after New Delhi and Kabul inked a Strategic Partnership Agreement under which India would likely to take on new responsibilities for training the Afghan National Security Forces.
The President also left little doubt that his comments related directly to the controversy of the last few weeks centred on the alleged ties between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and the dangerous Haqqani network terror group.
Mr. Obama said Pakistan had “hedged [its] bets in terms of what Afghanistan would look like and part of hedging their bets is having interactions with some of the unsavoury characters who they think might end up regaining power in Afghanistan after coalition forces have left.”
“There is no doubt that there's some connections the Pakistani military and intelligence services have with certain individuals that we find troubling,” Mr. Obama said.
Mr. Obama also underscored several challenging situations facing Pakistan at the moment, including illiteracy, poverty and underdevelopment, and weak civil institutions.
“In that environment, you've seen extremism grow, you've seen militancy that threatens the Pakistani government and Pakistani people as well,” he said, adding, “Trying to get that reorientation is something we continue to work on. It is not easy.”
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2515509.ece
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Two attempts to incite riots, the first one failed but the second did not
Oct 07 2011
Rudrapur : Four days after the riots that killed four in Rudrapur, the exodus hasn’t stopped. Over the six hours during which curfew was relaxed on Wednesday and Thursday, hundreds left the town.
Just before the curfew was lifted on Thursday evening, the town celebrated Dussehra. The event was more ritualistic than celebratory. The three effigies were burnt down, and the Mahatma Gandhi ground emptied in a matter of minutes.
There is no history of communal tension, it’s for the first time that the Hindus and Muslims who have been living together in this town in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district has ever clashed. It happened because someone planned to create a riot.
Abdul Rahman, Sher Singh Yadav, Jacky and Afsal were killed in the crossfire when the two groups clashed outside the Kotwali of Rudrapur on Sunday morning. While the first two were residents of the town, Jacky was from Rampur and Afsal hailed from Pilibhit.
Police maintain that the deaths were caused by the two groups firing at each other. “Their injuries were consistent with that of country-made weapons: the 12-bore and the .315 rifle,” said Inspector General of Police (Kumaon Range), R.S. Meena. He added that the police had only used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Curfew was imposed in the town on Sunday afternoon, only to be relaxed for two hours on Wednesday, and between 2 pm and 6 pm on Thursday.
According to police sources, the first attempt to breach peace was made on the night of September 28. “Those who came to the Shani temple to offer puja on the morning of September 29 saw a Quran wrapped in a red-coloured cloth.
The book was kept under the tree next to the idol. It was assumed that the cloth had been dipped in blood,” said Rajesh Kumar, a resident of the Badhaipura locality in Rudrapur, where the temple is situated.
When it came to trying to incite, the attempt was a masterstroke-the brains behind it had offended both the Hindus as well as the Muslims.
“The Mohammedans were angry, but we reasoned that we were angry too. Those behind the act had, after all, desecrated a Hindu temple,” said Kumar. After police intervened and promised to investigate the matter, both communities let the matter rest.
Muslims are a minority in Badhaipura, which mostly accommodates migrant labourers who work in the SIDCUL (State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd.) Industrial Estate in the adjoining Pantnagar district. The temple straddles an area that has only two Muslim houses and another, where the rest of the Muslims in the colony live.
While the first attempt to incite violence failed, the second one did not. “On the morning of October 2, someone passing next to the temple found a green-coloured polythene bag that contained bits of paper in the premises.
There was Arabic lettering on the paper, and it was mixed with some kind of meat,” said Kumar. Police sources confirmed it and said that they were yet to ascertain what kind of meat it was.
A crowd of about 150 Muslims approached the Kotwali at around 6.30 in the morning, complaining about the incident. They were dispersed, but soon, a larger crowd of around 800 returned. The mob soon grew out of control, and began attacking police and vehicles.
A total of 38 police and district administration officials were injured in the incident. “I reached around 7.25. The second group was already there when I reached. I remember trying to control to crowd, but suddenly, someone hit me from behind,” said Sub Divisional Magistrate B.S. Budiyal, who sustained injuries to the head and hand. He is back on duty, wearing a baseball cap that only partially covers his large bandage.
Soon, a mob comprising Hindus attacked from the other side, and the situation spiralled out of control. According to the police, more than 30 civilians were injured, 100 vehicles were put to fire and about 100 shops were destroyed in the ensuing violence, which engulfed the town till 12.30 in the afternoon. Curfew was declared in the afternoon.
The town still betrays a sense of how it observed this Gandhi Jayanti: the Delhi-Nainital Highway, where almost all the action took place, is pockmarked with charred tar, where vehicles were burnt. Vehicles, stripped to their metal frames, line the road, which incidentally leads to the TATA
Motors plant from where the first Nano rolled out. A large party of policemen and Rapid Action Force guard the road in front of the Paharganj locality, where two thrashed buildings stand defiantly, refusing to collapse.
Chand Babu, a rickshaw-puller, was inside his one-room shack by the highway with his wife and four children when the mob came. “It was 10 in the morning on Sunday. I heard a loud noise and went out. They had already poured petrol and had lit the fire. The front of my house was burning. I shouted to my wife to take the kids out, and save whatever we had inside. Then, I tried to extinguish the fire with a bucketful of water. However, they stoned me, and threatened to pour petrol on me too,” he said.
Babu has since sent his wife and children to a relative’s house in Rampur, and spends his day sorting out the remains of the two metal trunks he salvaged from his house. “They knew I was a Muslim. They knew my neighbour Naeem Ahmad is a Muslim; so they thrashed his house too,” he said.
Sanjay Kumar Valmiki and his family of eight were among those who joined the procession of people that went towards Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur, which borders Rudrapur. “We hope to get buses from Rampur and reach Bareilly, which is my hometown. If we do not get a bus from there, well, we will keep walking,” he said.
Kumar lives in Rudrapur’s Rampura on rent, and is a driver. “Most of my acquaintances left yesterday. I waited, hoping there would be some respite. After all, I have no choice but to come back. I will be back in a day or two after dropping my family off,” he said.
The police have registered two First Information Reports relating to the incident. The first, relating to incitement and hurting religious sentiments, was filed on the September 29 incident against unnamed people.
The FIR relating to the riot names 37 - of whom 24 have been arrested - and about 4,000 unnamed people. In all, there have been 110 arrests: the rest have been picked up for breach of peace during the period of curfew.
The state government took the view that the October 2 incident could have been averted if the district administration had acted in earnest on September 29, and replaced the IG, Deputy Inspector General and District Magistrate. Meena, Abhinav Kumar and P.S. Jangpangi, respectively, have taken charge since.
An inquiry into the matter will be conducted by Ajay Nabiyal, Commissioner of Garhwal, who has been asked to submit his report by October 11.
A Peace Committee meeting was called by the district administration on Thursday afternoon, which was attended by community leaders and public. It was decided to take out a peace rally soon. The officials also met with Muslim leaders separately, and assured them that they would be allowed to hold the Friday prayers without hindrance. “We will relax the curfew gradually, but will wait at least till the 11th before we lift it completely,” said IG Meena.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/two-attempts-to-incite-riots-the-first-one-failed-but-the-second-did-not/856856/
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Somalia suicide blast death toll goes over 100: UN
07 Oct, 2011
Mogadishu (Somalia) : The UN says the death toll has gone over 100 after a suicide car bombing that targeted a government compound in Somalia’s war-ravaged capital.
The UN’s office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said in a report released Thursday that the blast is a stark reminder of the prevailing insecurity in Somalia amid a debilitating famine.
A truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded Tuesday at the gate of compound housing several government ministries on a busy Mogadishu street. It was the deadliest single bombing carried out by al-Shabab in Somalia since their insurgency began.
The group promised more attacks, saying they will be “back-to-back” and will “increase day by day.” Most of the group’s fighters left the capital in August after an offensive by African Union forces.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/somalia-suicide-blast-death-toll-goes-over-100-un/856617/
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Pak squeezed by Afghan-India pact
October 06, 2011
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during Karzai's two-day official visit to India.
The new Afghan-Indian security pact could inflame Pakistan's proxy war against India and threatens Islamabad's regional ambitions in South Asia as its ties with Kabul and Washington hit rock bottom.
Pakistan has been on the defensive as Afghanistan has cosied up to India. Kabul
claims the recent murder of its peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani was plotted in Pakistan, and has accused Islamabad of hindering the investigation.
Pakistan has been terse about the burgeoning India-Afghanistan alliance.
"Both are sovereign countries and they have the right to do whatever they want to," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in brief response.
But the alliance undermines Pakistan's policy of courting Afghanistan to offset the regional superpower status of India, with which it has fought three wars since independence in 1947, including two over Kashmir.
Fearful of encirclement by its wealthier neighbour, Pakistan has long focussed on Afghanistan -- arming Islamist warlords against the Soviets in the 1980s, backing the Taliban in the 1990s and hedging its bets in the 2000s.
But the new strategic partnership sealed Tuesday, which will see India take a bigger role in training Afghan security forces after already dishing out more than $2 billion in aid, threatens to isolate Pakistan further.
Right-wing newspaper The Nation said the "very disturbing" pact would "create further misunderstandings" that would help neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan "if he (Karzai) wants his country to progress and prosper".
Pakistani military affairs analyst Ayesha Siddiqa went further.
"This pact will definitely lead to a more intense proxy war between India and Pakistan in Afghanistan, because India will be training the Afghan military and Pakistan does not consider this in its interest," she told AFP.
When US-led forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan formally sided with the United States, but has been long accused of playing a double game with its old warlord and Taliban friends.
Those accusations reached fever pitch after the US embassy in Kabul was subject to a 19-hour siege on September 13 and Rabbani was assassinated on September 20.
Those incidents came after the US killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on the doorstep of Pakistan's top military academy in May.
The United States launched a concerted campaign last month, accusing Pakistani intelligence of involvement in the embassy attack and demanding the state cut all ties with the Haqqani network, an Afghan Taliban faction.
And although Prime Minister Gilani declared a "victory" in facing down US pressure on the Haqqanis, officials behind the scenes paint a less rosy picture of relations.
"Every time I think we've hit rock bottom, I find both countries have shovel in their hand and are digging further down trying to find a new bottom," one Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
US options for action are limited. Pakistan, which says nearly half the US war effort in Afghanistan is routed through its territory, stonewalled the Haqqani accusations and last week the pressure began to ease off.
Some say Karzai's visit to India was an opportunity to take up where the United States had left off with its accusations -- and strike a chord in India, which blamed the horrific 2008 Mumbai attacks on Pakistani militants.
Yet despite the distrust, Kabul recognises that there can be no resolution to the 10-year Afghan conflict without at least acquiescence from Islamabad.
Karzai on Wednesday sought to ease Pakistan's discomfort, describing it as Afghanistan's "twin brother" -- although "brother" is also a word he uses for the Taliban -- and India as a "great friend".
Nevertheless, analysts say, the Kabul-Delhi partnership may force Pakistan into reappraising its approach to militancy.
"There has to be less obvious support for insurgents in order to prevent much obvious isolation," said AH Nayyar, physics professor and political analyst at Lahore University of Management Sciences.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan/Pak-squeezed-by-Afghan-India-pact/Article1-754131.aspx
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Top Taliban commander Halimullah killed in U.S. drone attack in Pakistan
Oct 06 2011
Top Taliban commander Halimullah has been killed along with three other militants in a U.S. drone strike in South Waziristan tribal region in Pakistan.
Halimullah was an important leader of Taliban faction led by Maulvi Nazeer and his death is a “huge loss” for Ahmadzai Wazir militants operating in South Waziristan Agency, Taliban sources were quoted as saying by The News daily on Thursday.
The dead commander belonged to the Tujikhel sub-tribe of the Ahmadzai Wazirs and led a group of 300 armed fighters.
He reportedly was in Musa Neeka area near the Afghan border to settle a dispute between local tribesmen when the drone struck on September 30.
“He was holding a meeting with some people to resolve a local dispute when he came under the drone attack,” a close aide to Halimullah said.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2514502.ece
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Pakistan plays down India's deal with Afghanistan
07 Oct, 2011
Despite well-known reservations that the Pakistani establishment has about Indians training Afghan security personnel, Islamabad on Thursday sought to remain outwardly unfazed by the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed between India and Afghanistan in New Delhi on Tuesday.
While reiterating every nation's sovereign right to enter into bilateral agreements and measuring every word while commenting on New Delhi's engagement with Kabul, Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua was more assertive vis-à-vis Afghanistan, asking its leadership to demonstrate requisite maturity and desist from “point-scoring, playing politics or grandstanding”.
Her statement underscored the strains that have come to the fore in the relationship that, according to Pakistan, is rooted in a common history, culture and tradition and is ordained by geography. “At this defining stage when challenges have multiplied, as have the opportunities, it is our expectation that everyone, especially those in position of authority in Afghanistan, will demonstrate requisite maturity and responsibility.”
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2515487.ece
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India, Pak to issue multiple-entry visas to traders: PCM Amin Fahim
07 Oct, 2011
Islamabad : India and Pakistan have agreed to solve visa problems faced by businessmen of both countries by issuing multiple-entry visas valid for a year, Pakistani Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim said today.
Both countries had agreed on issuing multiple-entry visas to traders during his recent visit to India, Fahim told the media.
All controversial issues between the two countries will be discussed one by one, he said.
It had also been agreed during his visit that India will not oppose the World Trade Organisation waiver sought by the European Union for granting duty-free access for certain goods from Pakistan, Fahim said.
Asked about Pakistan’s invitation to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit the country, Fahim said the invitation had been accepted but dates for the visit will be decided later.
Foreign Minister spokesperson Tehmina Janjua, speaking during a weekly news briefing, said Commerce Minister Fahim had concluded a “good visit” to India during which the two countries agreed that their Commerce Secretaries would meet again in November to discuss ways to enhance trade.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-pak-to-issue-multipleentry-visas-to-traders-fahim/856672/
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Act maturely, Pak warns Afghanistan
Oct 07 2011
Islamabad : Pakistan warned Afghanistan to behave responsibly Thursday following Kabul’s move to sign a strategic pact with Islamabad’s archenemy, India, at a particularly sensitive time in relations between the two countries.
Afghanistan’s interior minister recently accused Pakistan’s powerful spy agency, the ISI, of being involved in last month’s suicide bombing in Kabul that killed former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani — an allegation denied by Pakistan. Rabbani was working as chief envoy in peace talks with the Taliban.
“At this defining stage when challenges have multiplied, as have the opportunities, it is our expectation that everyone, especially those in position of authority in Afghanistan, will demonstrate requisite maturity and responsibility,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua told reporters.
“This is no time for point-scoring, playing politics or grandstanding,” she said in her weekly press briefing.
Her comments seemed more confrontational than Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s statement Wednesday that Afghanistan and India have the right to maintain bilateral relations as sovereign nations. His comments were reported by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/act-maturely-pak-warns-afghanistan/856753/
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Pak: Two girls’ schools blown up in Mardan
October 6, 2011
MARDAN: Unidentified terrorists blew up two government girls’ schools with explosive devices in Shamozai area of Mardan. According to sources, some unidentified terrorists planted explosive material with walls of two government girls’ school buildings which went off with a big bangs. The buildings of government high school for girls completely destroyed while the building of government primary school for girls partially damaged after the two explosions. Police and other law enforcement agencies reached the spot and cordoned off the entire area. A case of the incident has been registered and investigation is underway.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\10\06\story_6-10-2011_pg7_10
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Taseer murder case: Qadri appeals death sentence
By Obaid Rehman
October 6, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Mumtaz Qadri on Thursday filed an appeal against the Anti-Terrorism Court’s death penalty verdict in the murder case of slain Governor Salman Taseer.
The appeal was filed in the Islamabad High Court by his lawyer Raja Suhja Rehman, in which he challenged the death sentence awarded by Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) on October 1.
The ATC had earlier sentenced Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, to death.
Qadri, one of Taseer’s elite force guards, shot and killed the governor for his views on the blasphemy law outside a restaurant in Islamabad on Janyuary 4 this year.
The appeal had 11 points, in which the lawyer maintained that ATC was not the competent authority to sentence him, so the decision is illegal.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/268141/taseer-murder-case-qadri-appeals-against-death-
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Pakistan will give full support to Kashmiris over autonomy: Yousuf Raza Gilani
October 06, 2011
Pakistan will extend its "full political, moral and diplomatic support" to Kashmiri people, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday and underlined the need to resolve the Kashmir issue through negotiations. Gilani made the remarks while addressing a session of the
Council of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir that was held in Islamabad to approve the body's budget for 2011-12.
The government and people of Pakistan will "always stand by their Kashmiri brethren in their quest for self-determination" and continue to extend their "full political, moral and diplomatic support" to them, he said.
"The Kashmir cause was close to the hearts of every Pakistani and their commitment to their cause of self-determination was unwavering," he said.
Pakistan wants the "peaceful and negotiated resolution" of the issue in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.
Islamabad has been making consistent efforts to project the Kashmiri cause at international forums like the United Nations and the OIC, he said.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan/Pakistan-will-give-full-support-to-Kashmiris-over-autonomy-Gilani/Article1-753968.aspx
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NYPD spied on city’s Muslim partners
Oct 6, 2011
NEW YORK: The New York Police Department’s intelligence squad secretly assigned an undercover officer to monitor a prominent Muslim leader even as he decried terrorism, cooperated with the police, dined with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and was the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning series by The New York Times about Muslims in America.
Sheikh Reda Shata was among those singled out for surveillance because of his “threat potential” and what the NYPD considered links to organizations associated with terrorism, despite having never been charged with any crime, according to secret police documents obtained by The Associated Press.
This was life in America for Shata: a government partner in the fight against terrorism and a suspect at the same time.
During his time at the Islamic Center of Bay Ridge since 2002, he welcomed FBI agents to his mosque to speak to Muslims, invited NYPD officers for breakfast and threw parties for officers who were leaving the precinct. As police secretly watched Shata in 2006, he had breakfast and dinner with Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion and was invited to meet with Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Shata recalls.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article512365.ece
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Iraq bombing and robbery leave 3 dead
Oct 06 2011
BAGHDAD: Police officials say two separate attacks in central Iraq have killed three people and injured 13.
Gunmen killed two people and injured three while robbing gold shops in southwestern Baghdad on Wednesday, a police official said. The robbers then escaped in waiting cars. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information.
In a separate incident, a car bomb exploded next to a police patrol in western Anbar province, killing one policeman, police official Lt. Col.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article512074.ece
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Two killed in Taliban bus shooting
Oct 06 2011
KANDAHAR: The Taliban opened fire on a bus in southern Afghanistan Thursday killing two civilians, including a child, and wounding 16 others, a local official said.
The attack came after the bus driver ignored demands from the militants to stop as he drove along a road in the troubled Gereshk district of Helmand province.
A man and a child were killed, and eight women, four men and four children were injured, provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said.
“The Taliban waved to the bus to stop. The driver didn’t stop and the Taliban opened fire. Two people, one of them a child, were killed,” Ahmadi told AFP.
The driver sped away from the scene after the shooting and reached a nearby police post, where the wounded were evacuated to hospital, Ahmadi said.
The Taliban are leading an insurgency using tactics including suicide attacks, roadside bombs and the intimidation of local people across Afghanistan, although their traditional heartland is in the south.
They often stop civilian buses and other vehicles hunting for government employees and members of the Afghan security forces.
The United Nations says 1,462 civilians were killed in the Afghan war during the first half of this year and insurgents were responsible for 80 per cent of the deaths.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/06/two-killed-in-taliban-bus-shooting-local-official.html
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Four Syrian soldiers killed, civilians hurt
6 October 2011
NICOSIA — Four Syrian soldiers were killed and several civilians wounded on Thursday during clashes between troops and deserters in a town in northwest Syria, rights activists said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops and security agents had attacked villages in the region,
“Four soldiers were killed and a number of civilians killed or wounded in fighting this morning between the Syrian army and deserters in Jabal Al Zawiya” in Idlib province near the Turkish border, it said.
Security forces have been trying for months to bring an end to a popular uprising which has seen hundreds of thousands marching in major cities against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
The United Nations estimates that in the crackdown more than 2,700 people have been killed since mid-March.
Syria maintains that the regime’s opponents are armed gangs and terrorists trying to sow chaos in the country.
A resolution put to the Security Council was vetoed this week by Russia and China, a move denounced by several western countries, including the United States.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/October/middleeast_October112.xml§ion=middleeast
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4 persons killed firing in Quetta
October 6, 2011
At least four people including two policemen were killed on Wednesday evening in a firing incident in Pakistan's southwestern provincial capital of Quetta, local sources reported.
According to sources, in first incident some unknown two armed men opened fire at a government official and killed him on spot in Quetta city, the capital of Balochistan province.
After the killing when they were fleeing on their motorcycle a police vehicle intercepted them. But they opened fire at the vehicle indiscriminately with automatic weapons and killed two police on spot while another passerby was also killed.
Sources told that the policemen belonged to the traffic division of the police department and did not have any weapons when they tried to intercept the assailants.
Rescue teams reached the two spots and shifted the dead bodies to the city's hospital. Police and other security agencies condoned off the area and also set up emergency check posts to arrest the culprits.
Dozens of people and policemen have been killed in the Balochistan province during last couple of months.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\10\06\story_6-10-2011_pg7_11
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Israel bombing killed two Israeli soldiers in Lebanon
Oct 06 2011
BEIRUT: Israeli bombardment killed two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Hezbollah began a war in 2006 and whose bodies were returned to Israel two years later, a Lebanese minister said on Wednesday.
Hezbollah handed over the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in a prisoner exchange but never said how they died.
Israeli officials have said they were badly wounded, one of them fatally, when they were captured by the Shiite militant group in a cross-border raid in July 2006.
Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, publishing his memoirs of the 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon’s Al-Safir newspaper, quoted a Hezbollah official as saying the two Israelis were killed by Israeli bombing.
“There is another subject which only a very few brothers know about, and which no one other than us will know about later,” he quoted Hussein Al-Khalil as saying on August 3, 2006, roughly halfway through the conflict.
“Israeli bombardment in recent days led to the death of the two Israeli prisoners.”
He said the soldiers’ captors had taken every precaution to avoid them being killed “but the expansion (of the area) of the bombardment and the use of big rockets ... led to this.”
The minister, who belongs to the Shiite Amal movement allied to Hezbollah, quoted Hussein Al-Khalil as saying:
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article511958.ece
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Hina Rabbani Khar has nothing new to offer: Fatima Bhutto
Oct 06 2011
Islamabad : Indians may have gone gaga over Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar during her recent visit to New Delhi, but Fatima Bhutto, the fiery writer-activist niece of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, doesn't seem impressed with the minister's credentials.
Khar may be young and a woman but she has nothing new to offer, said the 29-year-old granddaughter of former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
"Gender is never a substitute for ethics or justice. I don't care whether she is young or old, or a woman. I want to know what she is saying," she said.
"What is sad about the political culture of Pakistan is that we don't talk about ideas, we just talk about people. And what she is saying seems to be exactly the same thing that people have been saying before for the last 30 years," Bhutto told Deutsche Welle in an interview.
"What I want to know, is how can an independent country like Pakistan have a foreign policy that makes us subservient to almost every country we deal with? That to me is outrageous. How do you have a nuclear country, a rich country whose policy is based around begging for aid?"
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hina-rabbani-khar-has-nothing-new-to-offer-fatima-bhutto/856542/
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'Pak has no veto over Afghan right to have ties with India'
Oct 06 2011
London : Pakistan cannot have a veto over the right of Afghan government to have relationship with India, former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal has said, making it clear that New Delhi has no interest in getting involved in military situation in the war-torn country.
Islamabad continues to press the international community to reduce India's role in Afghanistan but the idea has met with little success as it has been rejected by the US, the former top diplomat said at an international conference on Afghanistan here yesterday.
Visualizing no light visible at the end of Afghan tunnel, Sibal said that Pakistan for over 30 years had intervened in Afghanistan politically and militarily which was hitting the mood to find a viable peace in the country.
Sibal said the best scenario for the country would be US success in forcing Pakistan to change its Afghan policies fundamentally, abandon its terrorists links and see advantages in normalizing relations with India and join in the larger project of creating a shared stable space covering central and South Asia.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-has-no-veto-over-afghan-right-to-have-ties-with-india/856551/
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US allegations against Pakistan ‘appalling’: Pak Permanent Envoy to UN
Oct 06 2011
KARACHI: Pakistan’s permanent envoy to the United Nations, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, on Thursday criticised the US government for ignoring Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war against terrorism and declared allegations against the country as ‘appalling’, DawnNews reported.
During his interview to an American media outlet, Haroon credited Pakistan as a ‘savior’ which pulled the US out from the ‘Vietnam war swamp’ and vowed that his country would do the same in the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
The envoy said Pakistan had put an all out effort in the long war in Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan’s role would be vital in restoring peace in Afghanistan as Pakistan’s problems would not be resolved until there was stability in the neighbouring country.
Haroon reminded that the US and Pakistan enjoyed friendly ties for over 60 years and that it was a Pakistani plane which took former US President Henry Kissinger to the negotiating table in Vietnam.
“Pakistan brought US close to China and now China fully supports US views at international fora and is critical for America’s economy,” said Haroon.
Haroon blamed former US President Ronald Reagan for ‘conceiving’ the Taiban and the Haqqani network in the White House.
He blamed the Afghan leadership for Pakistan’s weakened ties with US and Afghanistan.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/06/us-allegations-against-pakistan
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'Haqqani sahib should not use Pakistan territory for wrong activities'
By Huma Imtiaz
October 6, 2011
WASHINGTON: Addressing a press conference in Washington DC barely an hour after he landed in the country, the former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan’s military and the Inter-Services Intelligence was being unfairly blamed for the attacks in Afghanistan. He stated that the ISI was working in Pakistan’s interests, and to counter the RAW tactics in the region, and urged the Pakistani media to support the intelligence agency.
On allegations of the Haqqani Network being involved in attacks on the US Embassy in Afghanistan and support for the group by the ISI, the former General said that “Haqqani sahib”, alluding perhaps to Jalaluddin Haqqani, is an Afghan citizen and he “had no right to use Pakistani territory for wrong activities which would harm Pakistan”. Musharraf said that either Haqqani should leave Pakistan and go to Afghanistan. Or, said Musharraf, “if Haqqani is here, he should stop crossing back and forth (across the border).” Musharraf said that Afghanistan’s former President Burhanuddin Rabbani was pro-Pakistan, and wanted Pakistan to be part of the reconciliation talks – Pakistan, he said, does not benefit from Rabbani’s death.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/268050/haqqani-sahib-should-not-use-pakistans-territory-for-
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Pakistan should protect Shia community: Human Rights Watch
October 6, 2011
NEW YORK: In the wake of recent incidents of sectarian violence in Balochistan, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the government to provide protection to the Shia community and hold accountable those responsible for targeted killings.
The statement came in response to a recent attack in which unidentified gunmen riding on motorbikes stopped a bus carrying 20 passengers who were headed to work at a vegetable market and opened fire on them, killing 13 Shia Muslims and wounding six others.
A similar incident took place in Mastung on September 19 when gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Shias to Iran for their holy pilgrimage and killed 26 of them. The banned militant organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the September attack.
“The targeted killings of Shia are a barbaric attempt at sectarian and ethnic cleansing,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s failure to break up the extremist groups that carry out these attacks calls into question its commitment to protect all of its citizens.”
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/267389/pakistan-should-protect-shia-community-human-
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Teachers’ protest closes UN-run schools in Gaza
Oct 06 2011
GAZA CITY: A teachers’ strike closed 238 UN-run schools in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and escalated long-simmering tensions between the territory’s Hamas rulers and a UN agency.
The strikers are protesting the three-month suspension of the leader of the union of local UN employees for alleged political activity linked to the militant Hamas group.
Thousands of teachers also staged a rally Wednesday outside the headquarters of the local UN headquarters.
Hamas, which seized Gaza in a violent takeover in 2007, has had an uneasy relationship with the UN Relief and Works Agency, the largest independent body in the territory.
The Islamic militants, hampered by an Israeli border blockade and shunned by much of the world, often struggle to provide services to the territory’s 1.5 million people and rely on the UN agency to fill some of that void. The agency runs schools, clinics and food centers that serve hundreds of thousands of Gazans.
However, some in Hamas view UNRWA as an ideological rival, accusing the agency of promoting a Western way of thinking in its schools and summer camps.
Although Hamas did not organize the one-day teachers’ protest, officials made clear that the ruling militant group supported the effort.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article512240.ece
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Bahrain Sentences 33 More for Protest Violence
Oct 06 2011
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — A defense lawyer says Bahrain's security court has convicted 33 more activists on charges that include violence and attempted murder during anti-government protests and sentenced them to prison terms.
Thursday's verdicts cap a week of back-to-back decisions by the court, which has issued more than 110 convictions relating to the Shiite-led demonstrations against the ruling Sunni monarchy.
Lawyer Mohsen al-Alawi says the latest sentences range from one to 15 years in prison.
Bahrain's majority Shiites began protests in February for greater rights. Hundreds of people have been arrested and many trials have been held before the security court, set up under martial law-style rule.
Authorities have promised to shift the remaining cases to civilian courts.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain appeared to buckle under international pressure Wednesday by ordering a retrial for 20 medical personnel sentenced to prison who were accused of backing anti-government protests and attempting to overthrow the ruling system in the Gulf kingdom.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/AP-ML-
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Libya fighters loot Qaddafi tribe, showing divide
Oct 6, 2011
ABU HADI, Libya: After capturing this hamlet, a center for Muammar Qaddafi’s tribe, revolutionary fighters have gone on a vengeance spree, looting and burning homes and making off with gold, furniture and even automobiles.
Other fighters are trying to persuade them to stop and have sought to protect the tribesmen of the ousted leader. As a result, the rampage in Abu Hadi, a suburb of Qaddafi’s home city of Sirte, has underscored a geographical split among the forces loyal to Libya’s new interim government.
Most of those looting homes are unorganized, volunteer bands of gunmen from the city of Misrata, to the west, which was brutalized in a bloody siege by Qaddafi’s forces during the nearly 7-month uprising against his rule. Trying to rein them in are revolutionaries from eastern Libya, which shook off Qaddafi’s rule early and have since had time to organize their forces.
“The Misrata fighters came into the revolution with a sense of bitterness and anger,” Breiga Al-Maghrabi, an eastern fighter, said Wednesday. “They want revenge for what happened to them in Misrata.”
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article512535.ece
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No immediate end to Libya bombing: Nato
October 06, 2011
Officials say Nato's bombing campaign in Libya, now in its seventh month, will continue despite the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
French defense minister Gerard Longuet said on Thursday the airstrikes will not cease until all remaining pockets of resistance are suppressed
and the new government asks for them to end.
Longuet is attending a conference of Nato defense ministers. Discussions have focused on Libya and Afghanistan, where the alliance is in the process of extricating itself from a 10-year war against Taliban insurgents.
Although the former rebels now control most of Libya, some regions remain under control of pro-Gaddafi forces.
These include Sirte on the Mediterranean coast, the city of Bani Walid and parts of the south.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/No-immediate-end-to-Libya-bombing-Nato/H1-Article1-754146.aspx
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Afghans Rally in Kabul, Demand NATO Troops Leave
Oct 06 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Hundreds of people marched through the streets of the Afghan capital on Thursday, demanding the immediate withdrawal of international military forces ahead of the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion.
The peaceful demonstration in downtown Kabul was meant to mark the Oct. 7 invasion of Afghanistan 10 years ago, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
The U.S. invasion came after Taliban leader Mullah Omar refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, purportedly because of his disbelief that the al-Qaida chief was responsible for the attacks and because it went against the Afghan tradition of hospitality and protection of guests.
U.S. forces killed bin Laden in a raid on his hideout in Pakistan in May.
The demonstrators chanted "no to occupation," and "Americans out" as they marched through the streets holding pictures of Afghans killed in violence, and later burned an American flag. The demonstration was organized by a small left wing party.
No official events have been announced so far to mark the invasion, neither by the government nor NATO.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/06/world/asia/AP-AS-
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MHA refuses to disclose info on Afzals Guru mercy plea
07 Oct, 2011
New Delhi: The Union home ministry has refused to disclose information related to processing of clemency plea of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru citing impact on national security and exemption given to Cabinet documents under the RTI Act.
While withholding information, the home ministry has cited Section 8(1)( a),(g) and (i) of the RTI Act which exempts disclosure of three categories of information.
Section 8(1)( a) exempts information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence.
Full report at: Times of India
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Muslims grow poorer in Telangana
07 Oct, 2011
NewDelhi: Muslims in general may be opposed to the creation of a separate Telangana state but analysis of region-wise employment figures for Andhra Pradesh shows that in the 10 districts of Telangana region, Muslims and OBCs have suffered the highest loss of Rs 41.50 in rural per capita income between 1993-94 and 2004-05.
On the higher education front, the community remains the most backward in urban areas, with the absolute change being less than even SC/STs and OBCs, an analysis done by Sachar committee member secretary and NCAER chief economist Abusaleh Shariff showed. Shariff recently presented the findings to Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy. The per capita rural income of Muslims and OBCs went down by Rs 4.10 in Rayalaseema between 1993-94 and 2004-05 and increased by Rs 57.10 in coastal Andhra. On the other hand, high caste Hindus in coastal Andhra suffered a per capita income loss of Rs 51.50 in rural areas while SC/STs saw a jump of Rs 71.60.
Full report at: Times of India
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NIA picks up ‘key conspirator’ in Delhi HC blast
Oct 07 2011
New Delhi : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained another suspect from Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir for the September 7 blast outside the Delhi High Court that killed 15 and injured 80.
Agency officials say the suspect, Wasim, is one of the key conspirators and has been studying in Bangladesh. Calling his detention a major breakthrough, they claim Wasim and four others hatched the plot in Bangladesh and took the help of his local contacts in Kishtwar.
The agency is now working on the theory that Wasim was lured by the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami in Bangladesh and his network in Jammu was used to send the e-mail claiming responsibility for the attack.
NIA officials believe that with Wasim’s arrest, they can trace the conspiracy and the men behind the blast. “It is through the process of elimination during the interrogation of Aamir (Abbas) that we managed to reach Wasim. He appears to be the key link,” said an official.
Wasim’s will be the third arrest in the case. The agency had earlier arrested Aamir Abbas and Abid Hussain, both residents of Kishtwar. Abid was arrested for sending the terror e-mail three hours after the incident.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nia-picks-up-key-conspirator-in-delhi-hc-blast/856859/
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IIT Bombay to help security forces fight terrorism
Oct 7, 2011
MUMBAI: Capturing images and viewing them at a command station during terror operations will soon be possible in the country. The wireless communication device, used to capture images when American military forces gunned down al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, could become a reality in India.
The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay will set up a research centre on homeland security to help police and paramilitary forces use state-of-the-art technology to tackle problems like urban terrorism, naxalism and cyber crime.
The institute's electrical engineering department has developed a wireless communication device that will permit beaming live images to a command station.
"Images are transmitted using ultra-broadband services. We are updating the version to shrink the size and make it more cost-effective," a student associated with the project said.
The institute has collaborated with a recently set-up anti-terror force and is developing the device for it. However, the product needs to be commercialized to make it deployable.
Though many individual efforts have begun at the department level, the institute has drawn up a blueprint to set up the virtual centre.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/IIT-Bombay-to-help-security-forces-fight-terrorism/articleshow/10260608.cms
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Separatists gun for Omar as Cong shields him
By Naseer Ganai
07 Oct, 2011
IN WHAT appears to be an alignment of political forces in the Valley over the killing of an NC worker, the separatists on Thursday trained their guns on chief minister Omar Abdullah while his father and Union minister Farooq Abdullah criticised the PDP and the Congress and came out openly in his support.
Breaking their silence over the custodial death of Syed Muhammad Yousuf, the separatists asked the mainstream parties the reason for their silence on the killing of over 110 youth in the 2010 unrest, mass graves and custodial disappearances if they were condemning the NC worker’s killing.
“ We condemn the NC worker’s custodial death. But we say that 120 youth were murdered last year… even children and women were not spared. But nothing happened in the assembly. We didn’t see anyone from the mainstream taking to the street over last year’s killings,” Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front ( JKLF) chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik said.
Malik’s reaction is the first from any separatist leader since last Friday, when the news of Yousuf’s custodial death broke out.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi defended Omar and said: “ As the chief minister, Omar Abdullah made a formal statement and a clarification, though he was not obliged to. He has asked the chief justice to have a judicial inquiry ( conducted).” After chairing a meeting of the NC core group in Srinagar, Farooq Abdullah told the media: “ It is a political stunt. They ( PDP leaders) want power at any cost.
Mail Today
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Delhi HC blast: NIA to seek test for suspect’s age
Oct 07 2011
New Delhi : With the age of one of the suspects in the Delhi High court blast turning into a controversy, the NIA on Thursday said it would ask the court for ossification test on him.
The test helps determine the correct age of a person and would help establish the age of Abid Hussain, the Kishtwar youth who was arrested for allegedly sending the email that claimed responsibility for the blast.
Ossification test had earlier been done on Mohd Salman,a suspected Indian Mujahideen operative arrested for his alleged involvement in the 2009 serial blasts in Delhi. Experts, however, said the test cannot determine the accurate age, but only the approximate age.
Abid was produced in a special court on Wednesday after 15 days in NIA custody, and was sent to judicial custody for two days. He, along with Aamir Abbas Dev, who was arrested along with him,would now be produced in the court on Friday.
The teenager, said NIA, had told the court he was born in 1994 though school records recorded his date of birth as September 19, 1995.
“He claims his date of birth was wrongly entered by his father as 1995. The test will help us contest Abid’s lawyer’s claims that he is a minor and has to be tried separately,” said an NIA official.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nia-to-seek-test-for-suspects-age/856763/
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‘I am a main witness... what I say will hit the powerful’: NC leader Mohammad Yousuf Bhat
Oct 07 2011
Repora : Amidst the clamour in Srinagar for Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s resignation following the death of National Conference worker Syed Mohammad Yousuf in custody, one man is silent. NC leader Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, who had complained to the CM about Syed Yousuf, has confined himself to his home here.
Three policemen stand guard outside the house. “He can’t talk to anyone. He has orders from NC headquarters not to talk to the media,” says one of them.
Indoors for two days, Bhat — who is an eyewitness to what transpired at the CM’s house last week before Syed Yousuf died after being handed over to the Crime Branch —only stepped out once this morning to tell media persons that he would not talk to them. An official of the J&K Police’s Intelligence wing keeps an eye on the few visitors allowed in.
In contrast, Abdul Salam Reshi, the other eyewitness and NC leader who reportedly paid Rs 35 lakh to Syed Yousuf for a Legislative Council seat, warns that his revelations will “hurt powerful people”. Speaking to The Indian Express on the phone from his home in Kokernag, Anantnag, he says he has written the Union Home Ministry seeking protection as he fears for his life.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/i-am-a-main-witness...-what-i-say-will-hit-the-powerful/856715/
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Strike balance between child rights and traditional skills: Salman Khurshid
07 Oct, 2011
Biggest challenge to persuade children involved in traditional skills to join mainstream without alienating them from family talents'
Calling for striking a balance between preserving traditional skills and ensuring protection of rights of the child, Salman Khurshid, the Union Law and Justice Minister, on Thursday said the biggest challenge was to persuade the children involved in traditional skills to join the mainstream without alienating them from family talents.
Citing the example of carpet-weaving in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir – where world's best carpets are made – Mr. Khurshid said if such traditional skills were to be preserved, a child needed to be trained to be a skilled craftsperson. “These skills are not taught in [the] Indian Institutes of Technology or any other professional institutions. These are imparted at home from one generation to another, and pulling children out from family setups has its own implications,” the Minister said, while delivering the keynote address at the 9{+t}{+h} Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect here.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2515197.ece
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Bhagwat calls for strengthening ties with ‘non-Pak’ neighbours
Oct 07 2011
Nagpur : Keeping the usual Hindutva rhetoric aside but assailing the proposed Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday nuanced external and internal issues dogging “Bharat” and spelt out two main approaches to strengthen the country to an unassailable level in world polity — new global diplomatic initiatives starting with strengthening of friendships with immediate non-Pakistan neighbours and fortification of “patriotic” forces against wrong economic and political policies of the government.
“China is hobnobbing with Pakistan and is trying to create a new silk route through Gilgit, which is a gateway to six nations. It is even saying that an attack on Pakistan will be deemed as attack on China. We have to strengthen our position not just by strengthening strategic defences, but also by befriending neighbours like Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Of course, we must seal our borders with Bangladesh against nefarious elements, but we have to create an atmosphere conducive for us among the people there,” Bhagwat said, addressing the annual Dussehra programme of the organisation here.
Breaking the system of convenience of holding the function on a Sunday prior to the day, the RSS reverted to the old system of holding it on the day itself after a gap of several years.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Bhagwat-calls-for-strengthening-ties-with--non-Pak--neighbours/856723/
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'Omar view on Afzal hanging wrong’
Oct 07 2011
Mumbai : Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Thursday disagreed with Omar Abdullah’s contention that Kashmir would flare up if Afzal Guru was hanged and demanded that the Parliament attack convict be sent to the gallows immediately.
Seeking execution of Guru, he said the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister should be “slapped in the face” for saying so.
“If you can’t hang Guru even after nine years, then put a lock on the government,” he said at the party’s traditional Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai. He also said that the government was spending a “huge amount of money” to keep Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab alive.
With his eyes set on the upcoming civic elections in Mumbai, Thackeray questioned why courts had not asked for the central government to be shut down after so many scams and urged the people to take to the streets if the need arose.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/omar-view-on-afzal-hanging-wrong/856832/
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Vohra seeks report, Omar says won’t go
Oct 07 2011
Jammu : Even as Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra today asked the state government to submit a report on the custodial death of National Conference worker Syed Mohammed Yousuf, both Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah, dismissed the Opposition’s demand for their resignations.
Highly placed sources told The Indian Express that while the state government had submitted its report to Vohra, it did not have much apart from the details already made public by the Home department earlier.
Meanwhile, amid the Opposition’s growing calls for his resignation in order to ensure a fair probe, Omar today said: “The judge who will be inquiring the case will not be answerable to my government. Where does the question of influence arise?” Saying “it is in the best interest for me and my government that truth should come out,” he said he would depose before the inquiry commission.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jk-governor-seeks-report-omar-says-wont-
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Palestine wants peace envoy Blair axed as he is 'of no use'
07 Oct, 2011
London : A senior Palestinian official has called for the removal of Tony Blair from his position as Middle East peace envoy, saying the former British leader is ‘biased towards Israel’ and is ‘of no use at all.’
Mohammed Ishtayeh, a member of the Central Committee of the dominant Fatah movement and a confidant of President Mahmoud Abbas, said Blair was no longer trusted as an impartial mediator.
Ishtayeh said the Palestinians had written to the “Quartet” of mediating powers which Blair represents -- the European Union, United States, Russia and United Nations, to say its latest proposition for a resumption of stalled peace negotiations was too vague to be meaningful.
“We do not expect much of the Quartet. There is discontent with its envoy Tony Blair,” the Daily Mail quoted Ishtayeh, as saying.
“Our general evaluation of his efforts is that he has become of no use at all. He has developed a large bias in favour of the Israeli side and he has lost a lot of his credibility,” he said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/palestine-wants-peace-envoy-blair-axed-as-he-is-of-no-use/856561/
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Afghanistan appeals for aid as drought looms
Oct 06 2011
Afghanistan is appealing for $142m (£92m) to feed 2.6 million people this winter as it faces the worst drought for a decade.
The agriculture minister described the situation as extremely serious, with 14 provinces - about half the country - in the north and east hit by drought.
Many farmers have sold their livestock and will now depend on food aid to keep alive during winter.
The World Food Programme has issued an urgent appeal for assistance.
Agriculture Minister Mohammed Asif Rahimi said that Afghanistan had not been able to develop the systems necessary to deal with shocks like this on its own.
"Lower harvests due to drought, and rising food prices world-wide, have created an emergency for Afghans in the north," he said, adding that food support would be needed for the next six months.
Shortfall in aid
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15193573
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Afghans protest ahead of invasion anniversary
Oct 06 2011
KABUL: About 200 people demonstrated in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul Thursday, chanting anti-American slogans ahead of the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion.
The protesters shouted “death to America and its Afghan puppets” and torched a United States flag at the end of their peaceful march through the city centre, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
“Our demonstration is to condemn the invasion,” Hafizullah Rasekh, one of the organisers, said.
“We want the US military and their Nato allies to leave Afghanistan immediately. We want them to stop killing innocent Afghans.”
A female protestor, Jamila, who said she was a housewife and refused to give her last name, added: “I don’t see any difference between the atrocities of the Taliban and the Americans. Both are killing innocent people.”
Friday marks the tenth anniversary of the US-led invasion which ousted the militant Taliban from power.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/06/afghans-protest-ahead-of-invasion-anniversary.html
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Fear lingers for Afghan women 10 years on
October 6, 2011
KABUL: Aged just 17, Roya Shams cannot leave home in the Afghan city of Kandahar because she fears the Taliban will kill her. “If I do, they will shoot me,” she said. “I’m a problem for them.”
Young, educated and speaking good English, Roya is one of thousands of women across Afghanistan who still live in terror of the militants, 10 years after the start of the US-led war on October 7, 2001.
Women’s rights have undoubtedly improved in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted. Under them, girls’ schools had been closed, and women banned from working outside the home and forced to wear the burqa.
But the Taliban still intimidate women, as Roya’s story shows. Her family started receiving threats saying she should not study or go to work teaching English after the Taliban killed her policeman father in July.
“My family is saying ‘Look what they did to your father, they will do it to you.’ But actually, I am happy to lose myself for my country,” she told AFP by telephone.
Some female politicians argue that former mujahedeen warlords who now form part of President Hamid Karzai’s government are just as bad as the Taliban when it comes to women’s rights.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/268093/fear-lingers-for-afghan-women-10-years-on/
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MAKKAH: Pilgrims eat Haram’s pigeon feed for cure
Oct 06 2011
MAKKAH: There has been a growing tendency among pilgrims who lack correct knowledge of Islamic faith to do things against the creed out of belief that this would cure them of diseases or bring blessings.
Arab News has noted that a number of pilgrims go to Hira Cave, where revelation was first made to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) or Jabal Al-Rahmah (Mountain of Mercy) in Arafat believing that this is part of Umrah rites or seeking God’s providence. Some of them even take stones from the mountain back home to bless their family.
Arab News also noted pilgrims who seek medical treatment for themselves and others collecting the seeds and grains thrown to pigeons and other birds near the Grand Mosque. Seeds to feed pigeons are sold by foreigners in small plastic bags for SR1 for pilgrims to buy and feed the pigeons. The grains and wheat are available in the districts of Al-Masfalah, Al-Hafair, Ghazah and others close to the Grand Mosque.
Asked why he was collecting the birds’ food, 60-year-old Pakistani pilgrim Riyasa Ghulam said his wife, who is six years younger than him, was sterile and failed to bear children during the long years of their marriage. “We tried all kinds of treatment everywhere in vain. A friend suggested we perform Umrah and eat the pigeon feed,” he said.
Ghulam said upon their arrival in Makkah, they immediately went to the Al-Misyal area where grains were thrown to the pigeons. “For a week now each one of us is eating seven seeds every day. We are still waiting for the result,” he said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article512226.ece
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Somali militants vow more attacks after bombing
Oct 06 2011
MOGADISHU, Somalia: Al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened more terror attacks that will “increase day by day” after a suicide bomber killed 72 people. Mourners transported coffins atop cars Wednesday to funerals for those who perished in Al-Shabab’s deadliest bomb attack in Somalia.
A truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded Tuesday at the gate of a building housing several government ministries in a busy street in the capital where tens of thousands of famine victims have fled. The attack came more than a month after most Al-Shabab fighters melted away from Mogadishu amid a pro-government offensive, and showed that the insurgents remain a severe threat.
“At this time, when the country is in the midst of a worsening humanitarian crisis, the terrorists could not have attacked the Somali people at a worst time,” Information Minister Abdulkadir Hussein Mohamed said.
Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage identified the suicide bomber as Somali student Bashar Abdullahi Nur. He said the attack was a warning to those who thought the group had left Mogadishu for good in August.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article512072.ece
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Malaysia frees 125 suspects in security law repeal
Oct 06 2011
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Wednesday granted freedom to 125 mostly criminal suspects, in the government’s latest move to abolish decades-old security laws that human rights and opposition groups have criticized as Draconian.
Parliament is expected to approve a bill this month to revoke the Restricted Residence Act as the next step. Since 1933, the British colonial-era act has enabled authorities to banish thousands of suspects to remote districts and force them to report regularly to police.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said the government was granting immediate freedom to all 125 people currently confined under the law, which has been used in the past against alleged members of criminal gangs, militant groups and illegal sports gambling networks. Many of the suspects had never been charged in court.
“This is only the beginning,” Najib said in a speech to Parliament. “The government does not dream of holding absolute power ... because that would be against a democratic way of life.”
The overhaul of security policies is expected to culminate in March with the repeal of the Internal Security Act, which has allowed the government to detain opposition critics, alleged militants and labor activists without trial.
Najib said the Restricted Residence Act was outdated partly because of technological advances. Criminals exiled to distant areas could now hatch their plots and communicate with others through the Internet, he said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article512010.ece
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Palestinians want Blair replaced as Middle East envoy
Oct 06 2011
RAMALLAH, West Bank: A senior Palestinian official called Wednesday for the replacement of international Middle East envoy Tony Blair, saying the former British leader is biased in favor of Israel and is "of no use at all."
Mohammed Ishtayeh, a member of the Central Committee of the dominant Fatah movement and a confidant of President Mahmoud Abbas, told Voice of Palestine radio that Blair was no longer trusted to be an impartial mediator.
His comments were the latest in a series of recent public complaints by Palestinian figures about Blair's effectiveness, but went further by calling for the envoy's replacement.
Ishtayeh said the Palestinians had also written to the "Quartet" of mediating powers which Blair represents — the European Union, United States, Russia and United Nations — to say its latest proposition for a resumption of stalled peace negotiations was too vague to be meaningful.
Quartet envoys were due to meet in Brussels on Sunday.
"We do not expect much of the Quartet. There is discontent with its envoy Mr. Tony Blair," Ishtayeh said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article512228.ece
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Egyptian columnists decry censorship by military
By HAMZA HENDAWI
Oct 06 2011
CAIRO: Three Egyptian columnists withheld their regular commentaries in an independent daily Wednesday to protest what they said was censorship by the country’s military rulers.
The three columnists — Belal Fadl, Omer Taher and Nagla Bedir — left their columns blank, publishing only a few words explaining their decision.
“I withhold my writing today to protest the barring, impounding of newspapers and the presence there of military censorship,” the three wrote in place of their columns.
The protest by the three coincides with growing criticism of the military’s handling of Egypt during its transition period following the February ouster of President Hosni Mubarak and dissatisfaction over a timetable floated by the ruling generals for handing over power to a civilian government.
The timetable has proposed presidential elections for the end of 2012, meaning the generals would be in power for nearly two years before they step down, rather than the six months they had initially set as a deadline when they took over from Mubarak following an 18-day uprising.
The three writers publish their daily columns in the independent Al-Tahrir, a post-Mubarak publication edited by Ibrahim Eissa, who has long been one of Mubarak’s most vocal critics. Eissa, like the three columnists, has been critical of some of the military’s policies. The newspaper is named after the central Cairo plaza that saw the birth of the anti-Mubarak uprising.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article512225.ece
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US won’t fill Nato defence gaps: Panetta
Oct 6, 2011
BRUSSELS: The US military faces serious budget cuts and will be unable to make up for any shortfalls in the Nato alliance as European members slash defence spending, Pentagon chief Leon Panetta warned on Wednesday.
Fiscal pressures are bearing down on both sides of the Atlantic and Nato allies will need to work to pool funds, instead of counting on US's much larger defence spending to close the gap, Panetta said.
"As for the US many might assume that the defence budget is so large it can absorb the shocks and cover alliance shortcomings - but make no mistake, we are facing dramatic cuts with real implications for alliance capability," the US defence secretary said in a speech in Brussels.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/US-wont-fill-Nato-defence-gaps-Panetta/articleshow/10252152.cms
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Syrian president threatening Israel is media provocation: Russia
Oct 6, 2011
MOSCOW: Russia blamed media for provoking a recent threat to attack Israel reportedly voiced by Syrian President Bashar al Assad, RIA Novosti reported.
The Russian foreign ministry described it "a part of a media war against Syria".
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency Tuesday quoted Al Assad as saying that
Damascus would need "not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv".
He was speaking at a meeting with Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Fars also reported the Syrian leader as threatening that "Iran will attack US warships in the Persian Gulf and American and European interests will be targeted simultaneously".
Russian Foreign Ministry slammed the reports, saying that these quotes were definitely made by "the forces interested in tarring Syria and its government's image...in order to justify intervention in Syria".
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Syrian-president-threatening-Israel-is-media-provocation-Russia/articleshow/10250906.cms
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Indo-US cooperation in education sector poised for major expansion: Nirupama Rao
Oct 06 2011
India-US cooperation in the field of education is poised for major expansion, Indian envoy to the US said ahead of the next week’s major summit between the two countries on the issue.
“India-US cooperation in the field of education is today poised for major expansion,” Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the US said while addressing at the Yale University on “Future Direction in India-US relations”.
“We in India see education as critical for achieving its goals to have inclusive growth and to realise the potential for taking the Indian economy to even higher growth trajectory,” she said.
The Ambassador said that India has announced major initiatives for massive expansion and upgradation of the education infrastructure, both in the primary education sector and also in the higher education.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and India’s Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal would attend the India-US Higher Education Summit on October 13.
“The Summit will bring together not just government officials but also academics and entrepreneurs who are engaged in this area and will provide a platform to develop a blueprint for furthering our horizons in this area,” Rao said.
Full report at:
http://dailypioneer.com/world/11265-indo-us-cooperation-in-education-sector-poised-for-major-expansion-rao.html
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Heroin worth Rs 135cr seized on Indo-Pak border
Oct 06 2011
In the biggest catch of the year, heroin worth Rs 135 crore in the international market was seized on the Indo-Pak border near Attari by BSF personnel who foiled the attempt of Pakistani smugglers to cross over to India.
“A patrolling party of the Border Security Force (BSF) late Wednesday night foiled an infiltration attempt from Pakistani side and seized 27 kg of the narcotic, valued at Rs 135 crore in the international black market, on the border near Attari,” BSF Inspector Pawan Chowdry told PTI.
“It is for the first time this year that a narcotic drug in such a huge quantity smuggled into the country was seized,” he said.
Mr. Chowdry said the Pakistani smugglers had trespassed into Indian territory after which the BSF patrolling party opened fire. As a result, the Pakistani smugglers returned to their territory.
However, the smugglers left the consignment of heroin which they were carrying to deliver in India on this side of the border, which was recovered by the BSF, he said.
Earlier on October 4, the BSF has seized 15 kg heroin here worth Rs 75 crore in the international black market.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2514425.ece
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Sanjiv Bhatt's wife says her husband being treated like a 'terrorist'
Oct 6, 2011
AHMEDABAD: The wife of arrested IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had testified against Narendra Modi in the post-Godhra riots case, has written a second letter to Union home minister P Chidambaram alleging that her husband was being treated like a "terrorist" by the Gujarat police.
In the letter, she has also accused the state government of using all possible ways to deny bail to her husband.
Shweta, wife of Bhatt, had written her first letter to Chidambaram a few days ago saying that there was danger to the life of the IPS officer from the "vindictive administration".
In her second letter on Wednesday, she has said that her husband was being treated like a terrorist despite he neither being a serial offender nor a criminal.
She said she has just come to know that Bhatt was kept in a dingy, filthy, stinking room in the city crime branch lock-up after he was arrested on September 30. She further alleged that he was kept in the room with hardened criminals without food and water.
Shweta has also enclosed a CD which, according to her, contains video footage purportedly showing how Bhatt was being "ill-treated".
Bhatt was arrested on the basis of an FIR filed against him by police constable KD Pant for allegedly threatening and forcing him to sign a false affidavit with regard to a meeting called by chief minister Narendra Modi on February 27, 2002, hours after the Godhra train carnage.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sanjiv-Bhatts-wife-says-her-husband-being-treated-like-a-terrorist/articleshow/10254144.cms
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Delhi High Court blast accused remanded in judicial custody
Oct 06 2011
Jammu and Kashmir native Abid Hussain, arrested for his alleged role in the September 7 bomb blast in the Delhi High Court premises, was on Wednesday sent to Tihar Jail with a city court remanding him in judicial custody till October 7.
Special NIA Judge H. S. Sharma remanded Hussain in judicial custody as National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuths, while producing him before the court after expiry of his police custody tenure, told the judge that he was no longer required for custodial interrogation.
In an in-camera proceeding, the NIA also made a plea to the court for recording of Hussain’s statement separately before a magistrate under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court kept the plea pending for a decision on it later, court sources said.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2514255.ece
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Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila to be next chief of Pak navy
October 06, 2011
Admiral Muhammad Asif Sandila was today named as the next chief of the Pakistan Navy and will take over when incumbent Noman Bashir retires later this week.
Shortly after his appointment as the new naval chief was announced, 57-year-old Sandila called on President Asif Ali
Zardari, the supreme commander of the armed forces, at the presidency.
The President felicitated him on his promotion and appointment.
Zardari expressed the hope that during Sandila's tenure, the Pakistan Navy would be further strengthened and benefit from his leadership qualities.
Matters related to the navy were discussed during the meeting, said a statement from the presidency.
Admiral Bashir, the brother of foreign secretary Salman Bashir, is scheduled to retire on October 7.
He paid a farewell call on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani this morning.
Sandila joined the Pakistan Navy in 1972 and was commissioned in the Operations Branch in 1975.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan/Sandila-to-be-next-chief-of-Pak-navy/Article1-753912.aspx
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Army defectors aim to overthrow Syrian regime
Oct 06 2011
A group of military defectors known as the Free Syrian Army is emerging as the first armed challenge to President Bashar Assad’s authoritarian regime after seven months of largely nonviolent resistance.
Riad al-Asaad, the group’s leader and an air force colonel who recently fled to Turkey, boasted in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that he now has more than 10,000 members and called on fellow soldiers to join him in overthrowing the “murderous” regime.
While analysts said those numbers might be inflated, Mr. al-Asaad was confident more soldiers would soon join his ranks.
“They will soon discover that armed rebellion is the only way to break the Syrian regime,” he said in a phone interview from Turkey. “I call on all the honourable people in the Syrian army to join us so we can liberate our country,” he said. “It is the only way to get rid of this murderous regime.”
The dissident group is gaining momentum that signals a trend toward militarization of the uprising. That momentum has raised fears that Syria may be sliding toward civil war.
The movement could propel the revolt by encouraging more senior level defections, or it could backfire horribly, giving the regime a new pretext to crack down even harder than it already has. Nearly 3,000 people have been killed in the violence since March, according to the U.N. and activists.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2514471.ece
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Pak panel quizzes, ISI's Pasha, Osama's family
Oct 06 2011
Islamabad : An independent Pakistani commission investigating the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden questioned three detained widows and two daughters of the slain al-Qaeda leader, a government statement said Wednesday.
The commission also interviewed Pakistani spy chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha and a doctor accused of helping American intelligence run a phony vaccination program that tried to obtain a DNA sample from bin Laden and his family, the statement said.
Investigators interviewed Pasha, who heads the country's powerful spy agency, known as the Inter-Services Intelligence, on Wednesday, and planned to meet with him again meet with him on Thursday, the commission said, without elaborating.
The women and Dr Shakil Afridi were questioned on Tuesday.
Islamabad says that the US special forces raid on May 2 that killed bin Laden violated Pakistan's sovereignty. The Pakistani government set up the panel to probe the raid the in northwestern city of Abbottabad, as well as how bin Laden managed to hide there.
Bin Laden's widows and the accused doctor have been in Pakistani custody since shortly after the raid. So far, the commission has visited bin Laden's compound, and questioned civil and military officials.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-panel-quizzes-isis-pasha-osamas-family/856516/
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Restive Egypt workers pose economic, political threats
Oct 06 2011
MAHALLA EL-KUBRA: Like many Egyptians, textile factory worker Magdi el-Aleemy expected the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak to change his life. It did, but not for the better.
The firm where he worked for 10 years, like so many other businesses in Egypt, was pummelled when the economy nosedived as investors fled and orders dried up. Aleemy lost his job.
“The revolution did nothing for us,” said Aleemy, standing with dozens of others protesting outside his old factory gates in Mahalla el-Kubra, north of Cairo. “We will stay here until or demands are met,” he said, drawing a roar of support from others.
Expectations were sky-high when Mubarak was driven out in February. For many, it signalled an end to policies they said lined the pockets of a rich elite at the expense of ordinary Egyptians. Workers expected a swift economic dividend.
Eight months later, disappointment that the dividend has not materialised is fuelling a wave of worker unrest that the military-backed government, wary of provoking fresh political turmoil, is not attempting to suppress forcibly.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/10/06/restive-egypt-workers-pose-economic-political-
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Somali al-Shabab attack: Wounded airlifted to Turkey
October 6, 2011
Thirty six of the most severely wounded people in Tuesday's suicide attack in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, are being flown to Turkey for treatment.
Among those on board are teenagers who at the time of the blast were at the education ministry to see if they had won study scholarships to Turkey.
The Islamist al-Shabab group said it carried out the bombing.
About 150 people were wounded and 77 have died after a lorry detonated outside several government ministries.
It is the largest attack since al-Shabab withdrew its forces from Mogadishu in August.
Burns victims
The Turkish prime minister recently visited Somalia to pledge aid and support to the war-torn country.
The BBC's Mohamed Moalimu in Mogadishu says 37 patients were taken to Mogadishu airport on Thursday morning, but one person died before the flight took off.
Somalia's Justice Minister Ahmed Bile, who is head of a special committee set up to deal with the aftermath of the attack, said the most of the patients being airlifted to Turkey were suffering from bad burns.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15196979
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Stuffed chicken for Palestinian prisoners now a thing of the past
Oct 6, 2011
RAMALLAH: The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) added a new punishment against Palestinian and Arab prisoners, a Palestinian official revealed on Wednesday.
Qaddoura Faris, head of Nadi Al-Asir and former Minister of Prisoners Affairs, told the Voice of Palestine Radio that the IPS decided to prevent the entry of whole chicken into prisons as part of its punitive measures against some 7,000 Arab and Palestinian prisoners.
Faris added that the IPS took the decision “in order not to allow the prisoners to stuff chicken.” He quoted an IPS official as saying that the “stuffed chickens are prepared for festive holidays and parties and we will not allow them to celebrate even in eating.”
On June, the Palestinian prisoners Sa’ed Omar posted on his Facebook page several photos of the lavish meals he and other prisoners are served. Omar, who is serving a 19-year sentence, posted photos of prisoners preparing stuffed chickens before they gathered around a luxurious table to eat their meal.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article512254.ece
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hedging-its-bet,-pakistan-hobnobs/d/5631