Hindus, Muslims Take Part in Prayers In Memory Of Lives Lost During Partition at Golden Temple
New Age Islam News Bureau
17 August 2022
For the first time,
members of the Muslim and Hindu communities joined the Ardas (Sikh prayer) held
at Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, at the Golden Temple in
Amritsar in memory of the lakhs of Punjabis who lost their lives during the
communal riots during the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. (HT PHOTO)
-----
• Ninety-five Percent Kuwaitis Endorse Boycott of
Israel, Reject Normalization of Ties: Opinion Poll
• Taliban Add More Compulsory Religion Classes to
Afghan Universities’ Schedule
• Israeli Delegation Pays Rare Visit to Indonesia
• Top Ansarullah Official: US Inciting Saudi-Led
Aggression on Yemen despite Peace-Loving Gestures
India
• As Bilkis Bano's Rapists Walk Free, Opposition Has A
Few Queries for PM Modi
• Portion of Mosque Paves Way for Widening Of Irwin
Road, Mysuru
• Dalai Lama Meets Muslim Community In Zanskar
• If Muslims Do Not Control Their Youth, Hindus Will:
BJP Leader KS Eshwarappa
• I-Day Drama by Punjab School Kids Portraying Muslim
Man As Terrorist Sparks Row
• Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha Member Writes in Blood
to CM Yogi, Seeks To Offer Janmashtami Prayer At Mathura's Shahi Masjid
• Six of Muslim Family Found Dead under Suspicious
Circumstances at Home In Jammu
• Another Targeted Killing: Kashmiri Pandit Man Shot
Dead By Terrorists On Shopian Village Orchard, Brother Hurt
• Muslim neighbours rush to slain Kashmiri Pandit’s
aid
• At Slain Kashmiri Pandit’s Village People Mourn Amid
Chants Of ‘Hindu Muslim Sikh’ Unity
• NSA Ajit Doval in Russia to review ties;
Afghanistan, terror too figure on agenda
--------
Arab
World
• Turkish troops, Kurdish fighters exchange heavy
shelling in Syria’s Kobane
• Egypt’s deadly church fire sparks global outpouring
of sorrow and sympathy
• 25 dead in airstrikes, shelling in north Syria
• Twins, triplets among child victims of Egypt church
fire that killed 41
• Three Syrian soldiers killed, 6 wounded in Turkish
air strike on military posts
• Iraq’s Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr backtracks on
call for massive rally
• Egypt judge sentenced to death for wife’s murder
--------
South
Asia
• Afghan Resistance Group Claims Arrest Of Taliban
Forces In Panjshir
• Islamic Emirate Denies Detention of Its Forces in
Panjshir
• Taliban 2.0 – The trajectory of events after one
year in power
• Taliban ‘Disgruntled’ Commander Killed in Western
Afghanistan
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Indonesia at ‘Peak of Global Leadership,’ President
Says Ahead Of G20 Summit
• Abdurresid Ibrahim to Be Remembered For Spreading
Islam in Japan
• The 10 most mesmerising mosques in Malaysia
• Sabahans fail to revive suit against Hadi for
alleged attack on Christians
• The enhancing bilateral relations between Indonesia
and Saudi Arabia
--------
Mideast
• Iran Categorically Rejects Allegations of Smuggling
Weapons to Yemen
• AEOI Chief Stresses All Countries' Right to Peaceful
Nuclear Technology
• Son Says Jailed Iranian Still Kept in Solitary
Confinement for 1,000 Days
• Senior Analyst: US to Blame If Talks Fail to End in
Deal
• Israeli Court Rejects Release Appeal for Palestinian
Man On 165-Day Hunger Strike
• Palestinian President Abbas skirts apology for
Munich attack
--------
Africa
• Somali Government Vows To Eliminate Al-Shabaab
Terrorists' So-Called Courts
• EU urges peaceful resolution of election dispute in
Kenya
• Tunisia constitution giving president wider powers
comes into effect
• Tunisia intercepts nearly 100 Europe-bound migrants
• Northwestern Zamfara State in Nigeria passes death
penalty for banditry, cattle rustling
• Kenyan opposition leader says he’ll challenge his
close election loss
--------
North
America
• US Rules out releasing $3.5 Billion in Frozen Afghan
Funds
• US studying Iran’s comments on EU nuclear deal
proposal: State Department
• Trump calls US withdrawal from Afghanistan most
'humiliating event in the history of the United States'
--------
Europe
• EU Says Iran’s Response To Nuclear Deal Plan Is
Constructive
• Swedish citizen detained in Iran for espionage might
face other charges: Spokesperson
• Türkiye holds panel in Paris to push for UN Security
Council reform
• German troops back to Bosnia as fear of instability
grows
• Zelensky, Erdogan and Guterres to meet in Ukraine on
Thursday
• UN won’t reinstate official transferred for
criticizing Islamic Jihad rocket fire
--------
Pakistan
• Why US Envoys Allowed To Visit Sensitive Areas,
Questions Shireen Mazari
• Gunmen kill two policemen escorting polio workers in
Pakistan
• China wants military outposts in Pakistan to
safeguard its investments
• Pak PM likely to take decision on next Army chief's
appointment by mid-September: Report
• Professor shot dead in Quetta, body of lawyer found
in Bostan
• Pakistan to play ‘positive role’ to eliminate
differences between China, US: PM
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hindus-muslims-prayers-partition-golden-temple/d/127733
--------
Hindus, Muslims Take Part In Prayers In Memory Of
Lives Lost During Partition at Golden Temple
For the first time,
members of the Muslim and Hindu communities joined the Ardas (Sikh prayer) held
at Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, at the Golden Temple in
Amritsar in memory of the lakhs of Punjabis who lost their lives during the
communal riots during the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. (HT PHOTO)
------
By Kamaldeep Singh Brar | Amritsar
August 17, 2022
A special Ardas Samagam (prayer congregation) was
organised in memory of the people who lost their lives during Partition at Akal
Takht.
Prayers were also held at other major Gurudwara under
Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) management. Earlier, Akhand
Path (the continuous and uninterrupted recitation of Guru Granth Sahib) was
also carried out and the Hazuri Ragis Jathas Golden Temple performed Gurbani
Kirtan.
Hindu and Muslim representatives also attended prayers
at Golden Temple.
Gangveer Rathur, who had approached Jathedar with idea
of offering prayer, said, “It is big step in understanding the pain of
partition and its impact on the present and future of Punjab. The future
generations need to understand why partition took place.”
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said that the
governments of India and Pakistan should pass condolence resolutions in their
Parliaments for the of people who lost lives during Partition. “Visas should be
granted to them so that they can easily visit their ancestral and religious
places. Panjabis suffered the most in Partition followed by Bengalis. People of
these two states fought the British fiercely but they were punished by dividing
their states and their properties were seized,” he said, adding that the pain
is still there.
Source: Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ludhiana/hindus-muslims-partition-prayers-8094509/
--------
Ninety-five Percent Kuwaitis Endorse Boycott of
Israel, Reject Normalization of Ties: Opinion Poll
Photo: Fars News
----
16 August 2022
A recent opinion poll has shown that most Kuwaitis
support boycott of Israel and reject a normalization of relations with the
occupying regime.
A recent opinion poll has revealed that 95 percent of
Kuwaitis oppose any normalization of ties with Israel and 70 percent of the
people adamantly disagree with developing any relations with the Zionist
regime, Alkhaleej Online reported.
The report added that the Kuwaiti government and
people support the Palestinian cause and are maintaining their stance on the
issue. Kuwait still supports the two-state solution as the only way to end the
conflict, it stated.
Kuwaitis insist on imposing sanctions on the Israeli
regime, the report said, adding that Kuwait reaffirmed its stance against
Israel by boycotting the regime in sports and trades and banning ships sailing
between them or carrying cargo bound for Israel.
No Kuwaiti athlete, politician, intellectual, or
writer accepts to be present in one place with Israelis, and they do not
participate in any event that includes representatives of the occupying state,
it concluded.
In September 2020, the United Arab Emirates and
Bahrain signed US-brokered normalization agreements with Israel. Sudan and
Morocco followed suit, triggering a chorus of condemnation among Muslims, with
Palestinians calling it a stab in their back.
In May 2021, following the Israeli military’s 11-day
war on the Gaza Strip and its brutal attacks against Palestinians across the
occupied West Bank, Kuwait’s National Assembly unanimously approved legislation
that outlawed any deals or normalization of ties with the Tel Aviv regime.
Kuwaiti legislators also expressed their country’s
strong position on the Palestinian cause and its unswerving support and
solidarity with the Palestinian nation until they establish an independent
sovereign state with East al-Quds as its capital.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Taliban Add More Compulsory Religion Classes to Afghan
Universities’ Schedule
Taliban Minister for
Higher Education Abdul Baqi Haqqani (centre) arrives to address a press
conference in Kabul on Tuesday.—AFP
----
August 17, 2022
KABUL: Afghan university students will have to attend
more compulsory Islamic studies classes, education officials said on Tuesday
while giving little sign that secondary schools for girls would reopen.
Many conservative Afghan clerics in the hardline
Islamist Taliban, which swept back into power a year ago, are sceptical of
modern education.
“We are adding five more religious subjects to the
existing eight,” said Abdul Baqi Haqqani, minister for higher education,
including Islamic history, politics and governance.
The number of compulsory religious classes will
increase from one to three a week in government universities.
He told a news conference that the Taliban would not
order any subjects to be dropped from the current curriculum.
However, some universities have altered studies on
music and sculpture — highly sensitive issues under the Taliban’s harsh
interpretation of sharia law — while an exodus of Afghanistan’s educated elite,
including professors, has seen many subjects discontinued.
Officials have for months insisted that schools will
reopen for girls, swaying between technical and financial issues as reasons for
the continued closures.
Abdulkhaliq Sadiq, a senior official at the education
ministry, on Tuesday said families in rural areas were still not convinced of
the need to send girls to secondary school.
Under the Taliban’s last regime between 1996 and 2001,
both primary and secondary schools for girls never reopened.
“We are trying to come up with a sound policy in
coordination with our leaders... so that those in rural areas are also
convinced,” he said.
Since seizing power on August 15 last year the Taliban
have imposed harsh restrictions on girls and women to comply with their austere
vision of Islam — effectively squeezing them out of public life.
Although young women are still permitted to attend
university, many have dropped out because of the cost or because their families
are afraid for them to be out in public in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, without a secondary school certificate,
teenage girls will not be able to sit future university entrance exams.
The international community has made the right to
education a key condition for formally recognising the Taliban government.
Despite being in power for a year, no country has so far recognised the
government.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Israeli Delegation Pays Rare Visit To Indonesia
This aerial picture shows
traditional fishing boats moored at a pier in Jakarta on May 5, 2022. - Bay
Ismoyo/Afp Via Getty Images
----
Rina Bassist
August 17, 2022
An Israeli delegation visited Muslim-majority
Indonesia in late July. The organizer, the Israel-Asia Center, said the trip
was intended to explore the potential for bilateral connections through
investment, start-up ventures and social impact initiatives.
As the two countries do not maintain diplomatic
relations and Israelis rarely receive visas to visit Indonesia, the Israeli
delegation was composed of people with dual citizenship. Israel does offer
visas under certain conditions for Indonesian Christian and Muslim pilgrim
groups wishing to visit the Holy Land.
The Israel-Asia Center is an Israeli nonprofit
organization that runs a range of leadership programs in a wide array of
sectors, including business, investment, media, education, government,
diplomacy, tech, health care and international development. It operates not
only in Asian countries with whom Israel has diplomatic ties but also in some
countries that have no diplomatic ties with Israel, such as Indonesia and
Malaysia. To date, it has secured over $250 million in investment between
Israel and Asia.
Rebecca Zeffert, the center's founder and executive
director, told Al-Monitor that the Israeli delegation to Indonesia was
comprised of investors, heads of chambers of commerce, tech professionals and
innovators. Most of them, she noted, are alumni of the center’s
Israel-Indonesia Futures program. She said, “While in Jakarta, the delegates
met Indonesian business leaders, university presidents, entrepreneurs and
investors. They also visited start-up hubs and accelerators.”
Israel and Indonesia have taken a few steps toward
diplomatic rapprochement but each time, the Indonesian leadership backed away,
saying that relations would be established after advancements on the
Palestinian issue.
Former Trade and Industry Minister Ran Cohen is
familiar with Israel-Indonesia relations. After serving as minister, in the
year 2,000, he was appointed head of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce. Cohen
told Al-Monitor that in the seven years he headed the chamber, he met quite a
few Indonesians in Israel or when he traveled to Singapore.
“I really hoped that Indonesian people I encountered —
peace-loving and very attached to the Holy Land — would help in creating a
bridge of peace between us, Israelis and the Palestinians," he said.
"I knew that if the majority-Muslim Indonesia would initiate such peace
moves, many Israelis and also Palestinians could be convinced to choose the
path of peace over the path of killing and violence. Unfortunately, at the
time, these contacts yielded little in that direction.”
After the 2020 signature of the Abraham Accords
between Israel, Bahrain, the Emirates, Morocco and Sudan, some reports claimed
Indonesia would be next to normalize ties with Israel and that the Trump
administration offered Jakarta billions of dollars in additional US financial support
to Indonesia if it joined the Abraham Accords.
US Secretary General Antony Blinken raised the issue
with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi when they met in Jakarta December
2021. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah confirmed in a
statement at the time that diplomatic ties with Israel were discussed in the
meeting by Blinken, but said that Marsudi insisted Indonesia’s position remain
consistent with the Palestinian cause.
On Jan. 25, then-Foreign Minister Yair Lapid raised the
issue publicly. Speaking on Israel's Army Radio, Lapid said Israel was looking
to "expand the Abraham Accords to additional countries" beyond
Bahrain, the Emirates, Morocco and Sudan. "If you're asking me what the
important countries that we're looking at are, Indonesia is one of them, Saudi
Arabia of course, but these things take time," he said.
Zeffert notes that while Israel and Indonesia do not
maintain diplomatic ties, bilateral trade is expanding. “Currently, direct and
indirect Israel-Indonesia trade comes to about $500 million per year, not
including defense exports or investments made by Indonesians in Israeli tech.
It does include export of telecoms, smart agriculture and tourism.”
She believes the potential for more Israel-Indonesia
trade is tremendous in sectors such as education, fintech, cybersecurity,
artificial intelligence, mobility, health care, food tech and water
technologies. “At the end of the day, with or without diplomatic ties,
partnerships are all about people. I see our role as creating familiarity and
building trust between people. We are providing the guidance and the platform
for these people-to-people interactions and partnerships, which are paving the
way to more normalized relations between Israel and Indonesia ahead of formal
ties,” says Zeffert.
Emanuel Shahaf is the vice chair of the
Israel-Indonesia Chamber of Commerce. When the delegation returned to Israel,
he told the press that the visit was different from previous delegations to
Indonesia because it followed months of trust-building meetings via Zoom,
making face-to-face meetings in Jakarta more productive. It also gave
participants the chance to consider more and bigger projects. The initiative,
he said, “enables a slow and controlled build-up of relationships between
vastly different cultures. By the time we actually meet, apprehensions and
concerns have mostly been dealt with and relatively smooth sailing lies ahead.”
Source: Al Monitor
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/08/israeli-delegation-pays-rare-visit-indonesia
--------
Top Ansarullah Official: US Inciting Saudi-Led
Aggression on Yemen despite Peace-Loving Gestures
Photo: Fars News
----
17 August 2022
A member of the political bureau of Yemen’s popular
Ansarullah resistance movement has sharply criticized the United States for
stirring up the brutal Saudi-led military campaign and blockade against the impoverished
country, stating that the practice comes at the same time that American
officials pretend to be supportive of the United Nations-sponsored truce.
“What is currently happening in the occupied Yemeni
areas is the direct result of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia
last month, and his meeting with senior Saudi officials, including Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah,” Ali al-Qahoum told
Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network on Tuesday
evening.
“The doors of Sana'a are open to anyone with whom we
can confront the Saudi and Emirati projects that serve Washington,” Qahoum
said.
“We cannot accept the presence of foreign forces on
Yemeni soil, divisive scenarios, occupation and foreign guardianship over our
territories,” the senior Ansarullah official noted.
“While Americans openly speak about supporting Yemen
truce, they exhibit an aggressive behavior towards Yemeni people and are
fueling the [Saudi-led] aggression against them.
“We are aware of the intensity of this battle. There
would be no peace [in Yemen] until all colonists withdraw and control over our
national assets is restored,” Qahoum said.
He stressed that “Yemeni people will not remain silent
in the face of foreign companies' looting of Yemen's natural wealth. Recent
military parades are a direct and warning message to the countries involved in
the all-out aggression against Yemen.”
Earlier, the head of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council
warned members of the Saudi-led coalition that barrages of missiles will rain
down on them should they continue war and siege against Yemeni people.
“Our missiles and drones will rain down on you if you
insist on continuing your aggression and siege against the Yemeni people,”
Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network quoted Mahdi al-Mashat as
saying.
He said the military hardware that the US is selling
to Saudis and Emiratis would be of no use against attacks by the Yemeni armed
forces. “They will not protect you from our strikes,” Mashat stated.
The top Yemeni official also said that the so-called
“Anger Maneuvers” conducted by American and Saudi forces in the Red Sea and the
Gulf of Aden are ineffective, adding that the Yemeni forces will make them
“Escape Maneuvers.”
Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in
March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics
support from the US and other Western states.
The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly
regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement,
which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government
in Yemen.
While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any
of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned
the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
India
As Bilkis Bano's Rapists Walk Free, Opposition Has A
Few Queries for PM Modi
Aug 16, 2022
Leaders of Opposition parties on Tuesday launched a
scathing attack on at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led Gujarat
government for releasing 11 men convicted of rape and murder in the Bilkis Bano
case during the 2002 Gujarat riots. With the men walking free hours after Modi
spoke about "Nari Shakti" in his Independence Day speech, the
Congress and other parties asked if this is the "real face" of New
India under the BJP.
The convicts, serving life imprisonment for the gang
rape of a pregnant Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members, were
freed by the Gujarat government as part of its remission policy.
The men, who were also charged with killing the
pregnant Muslim woman's three-year-old daughter, were welcomed with sweets and
garlands outside the jail.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the Prime
Minister should tell the country if he himself believed in his words when he
spoke about the safety, respect and empowerment of women. "The BJP
government in Gujarat released 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case.
This decision brings out the BJP government's mind-set," he told
reporters.
He also referred to the Kathua and Unnao rape cases
and said it embarrasses everyone in politics when office-bearers and supporters
of a national political party are seen taking out a rally in favour of rapists
on the streets.
"Yesterday, from the ramparts of the Red Fort,
the prime minister spoke big things about women's safety, women's power,
women's respect. A few hours later, the Gujarat government released the rapist.
We also saw that the convicts in the rape who were released are being honoured.
Is this the Amrit Mahotsav," Khera said.
"The Congress asks the PM to tell the country
that what he said from the ramparts of the Red Fort were merely words, as he
himself did not believe in his words. Who is the real Narendra Modi? The one
who serves falsehood from the ramparts of the Red Fort or the one who gets his
Gujarat government to release those behind rape," the Congress leader
said.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief
and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi also hit out at Modi over the move.
In his Independence Day speech, Modi had asked Indians
to take a pledge not to do anything that lowers the dignity of women, Owaisi
said. "He said something about supporting 'Nari Shakti'. Gujarat BJP govt
released criminals convicted of gang rape on the same day. The message is
clear," Owaisi tweeted.
The CPI(M) also strongly condemned the release of the
convicts, saying "this is the real face of New India -- convicted killers
and rapists released" and activist Teesta Setalvad "who fought for
justice was jailed".
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale said
Bilkis Bano was "raped in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom and her entire family
was murdered and buried in a mass grave".
"Gujarat govt has now released all 11 monsters
who were convicted of this heinous crime. Where's the outrage by people &
the Noida media? Not even a whimper," he tweeted.
Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali said the PM's
remarks, followed by the release of 11 convicts exposed the huge gap between
words and the spirit of justice. "The world is watching but who cares in
'New India'?" he tweeted.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court
in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, had sentenced the 11 men to life imprisonment on
charges of gang rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano's family during
the 2002 Gujarat riots. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay high
court.
Source: Hindustan Times
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Portion Of Mosque Paves Way For Widening Of Irwin
Road, Mysuru
AUGUST 16, 2022
The work on widening of Irwin Road in the city has
resumed with the demolition of a portion of the Jamia mosque, which was coming
in the way of the road widening project.
While Chairman of Mysuru district Waqf Advisory
Council Ghayas Ahmed said the demolition was carried out in the presence of the
Wakf Board and Mosque representatives after the High Court vacated a stay,
Chamaraja MLA L. Nagendra said the technical hurdles in the path of the road
widening work were resolved through several rounds of negotiations with the
Wakf Board and Mosque Committee representatives
The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) had taken up a
project to widen Irwin Road into a four-lane road in 2018. While much of the
stretch of the road between the Arch Gate near suburban bus stand and the Babu
Jagjivan Ram Circle in front of City Railway station had been widened, a few
patches had remained unwidened due to the hurdles.
Following the demolition of the portion of the mosque,
the authorities had begun work on laying a drainage pipeline. Later, the
portion of the road will also be asphalted.
Mr. Nagendra, who visited the spot on Tuesday along
with MCC Commissioner Lakshmikant Reddy, said the demolition was carried out
only after taking all parties concerned into confidence. “They (Wakf and Mosque
Committee) representatives came forward and allowed the demolition to be
conducted in their presence after they realised the public inconvenience. We
want Hindu-Muslim harmony”, said the BJP MLA.
The owners of properties on Irwin Road, whose land was
acquired for road widening, had been paid the market price as compensation.
Mr. Ghayas said ₹3.46 crore had been handed over by
the Government as compensation for the portion of the land acquired for
widening the road and the Wakf Board had constituted a project development
committee comprising him, officials from MCC and other departments to renovate
the mosque as well as build a commercial complex.
Source: The Hindu
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of the original story:
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Dalai Lama meets Muslim community in Zanskar
August 16, 2022
By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Aug 16: The exiled Tibetan leader His
Holiness the Dalai Lama on Saturday visited the Eid Gah in Padum at the
invitation of the Muslim community in Zanskar, Ladakh. The spiritual head of
Tibetan Buddhism greeted the members of the congregation and said, “As a
Buddhist monk, wherever I go, I encourage people to cultivate inter-religious
harmony. All religious traditions counsel their followers to develop love and
compassion and work for the benefit of others. Therefore, whenever I can, I
visit different places of worship, just as I have come to this Eid Gah this
morning”.
One of the recurring topics that the octogenarian
leader raised during his public engagements in Ladakh was the promotion of
religious harmony which is one of his key commitments. During the meeting, he
expressed delight in knowing that both the Buddhist and Muslim communities
lived in harmony, “I am pleased to see that here in Zanskar, Muslim and
Buddhist communities live in close harmony with each other, for which I would
again like to thank our Muslim brothers and sisters today. Harmony in the
Himalayan region as a whole is important because of the close relations the
region has had with Tibet, where a profound Buddhist culture derived from the
historic Nalanda Tradition that we are striving to keep alive.”
However, the Dalai Lama expressed sadness over the
ongoing conflict between different religions around the world, as well as the
conflict among different sects of a religion, “While it is sad to see conflict
breaking out between followers of different religious traditions, it’s even
more saddening to witness quarrelling among members of different denominations
of the same faith, as we see between Sunni and Shia Muslims in Afghanistan.” He
further told the crowd that although religious traditions may have different
philosophical views, all religions ask their followers to be kind-hearted.
The Nobel laureate also noted that Zanskar has seen
development in the past few years, “Over the years, there has been steady
material development throughout India, and I’ve noticed Zanskar has become more
prosperous too.” However, he added that lasting happiness could only be found
through peace of mind, and concerted efforts to be compassionate to each other.
Source: Phayul
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.phayul.com/2022/08/16/47430/
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If Muslims Do Not Control Their Youth, Hindus Will:
BJP Leader KS Eshwarappa
Aug 17, 2022
Former minister and senior Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)
leader KS Eshwarappa on Tuesday issued a warning stating that since Muslims
“live in Hindustan”, it was “their duty to cooperate with Hindu festivals” .
“Ganesh festival is coming and I am not making any
appeal to anyone (to maintain peace). You (Muslims) are in Hindustan and if you
come between the Hindu festival of Ganesh, then you will all face problems. I
am giving a warning. Why should I make an appeal? It is their duty to
cooperate,” Eshwarappa said.
He said that the Muslims have “the right to celebrate
their festivals at home” and they “have been allowed to take out processions as
well.” Meanwhile, leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah slammed Eshwarappa for
his remarks, saying he has “no brains” and has made several such irresponsible
remarks in the past.
The former minister’s statements come two days after
the BJP-led state government came under sharp criticism for leaving out the picture
of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in the Independence Day
advertisement in all leading media newspapers and including freedom fighter
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s picture.
Eshwarappa had defended the decision, stating that it
was a deliberate move as Nehru was the reason for the partition of India.
“They (BJP) put up pictures of Savarkar to which we
have no problem. But they put it in a Muslim locality. Why? They also said no
to Tipu Sultan’s poster. If you put Savarkar’s picture then allow Tipu Sultan’s
picture also,” Siddaramaiah said. The former chief minister added that the BJP
creates the mischief and then blames it on the Congress which has no part to
play in the entire controversy.
Complementing police for swift action in Shivamogga
district , he urged the elders of the Muslim community to guide their
youngsters, who have chosen the wrong path.
“Government is making all attempts to maintain peace,
I’m not saying all Hindus and Muslims are involved in such things. Hindu
society is strong, it is not weak. If Hindu society really stands up, Muslim
goondas will not survive, but Hindus don’t want to take law into hands and
wants government to take action,” Eshwarappa was reported as saying by PTI.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the police have
shown “sample” by taking strong action against miscreants, but still such acts
of goondaism and killings are continuing.
“I want to tell elders of Muslim community, I’m not
saying all Muslims are goondas. Elders of Muslim community have made efforts
for peace in the past, I want to tell them to advise the youngsters who are
indulging in goondaism, if not the government will act and they should be ready
to face it,” he added.
Noting that he has brought the developments in
Shivamogga to the notice of the Chief Minister, he said, the district
headquarters town is today peaceful, but such “attempts to kill reflect that
the mindset of some ‘Musalman’ goondas and SDPI (Social Democratic Party of
India) has not changed”.
“The attempts to attack and kill Hindus are
continuously on. I have brought this notice to the CM,” he added.
Further observing that people of Shivamogga are
peace-loving and Hindus and Muslims there have been living like brothers for
long, Eshwarappa said, “I have been a legislator from there for long, but in
recent times people have come from outside or from Kerala, and activities of
some anti-national organisations have increased, leading to such
incidents.”Pointing out that the husband of a Congress corporator in Shivamogga
was involved in an earlier incident where V D Savarkar’s photo was torn and
insulted, and he is in jail today, he said, The Congress should apologise and
urged its leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar to act on their party workers
involved in such acts.
“Congress’ support to SDPI has led to such a situation
in Shivamogga,” he alleged.
Former minister Eshwarappa is not new to controversial
statements as earlier also he has made several such remarks.
He had also led the funeral procession of Bajrang Dal
worker Harsha Jingade , ignoring all the warnings from the police department.
The procession in turn led to clashes between two communities which led to
several people being hurt and several properties being damaged, adding to the
tensions in one of Karnataka’s most communally sensitive districts.
In May, Eshwarappa (who was a state minister at that
time) had also made a remark about the Tricolour “being replaced by the saffron
flag”. The remark drew criticism from the Congress who had started a protest,
to exert pressure on chief minister (CM) Basavaraj Bommai-led state government
to remove him from the cabinet .“The agitation is happening because of the
adamant stand of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Who is asking for
Eshwarappa’s resignation? No one. We want his dismissal. Our appeal is also to
governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to dismiss him,” Karnataka Pradesh Congress
Committee chief D K Shivakumar had said.
Source: Hindustan Time
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I-Day
drama by Punjab school kids portraying Muslim man as terrorist sparks row
Manjeet
Sehgal
Chandigarh
August
17, 2022
An
Independence Day drama staged by Punjab school children portraying a Muslim man
as a terrorist has sparked a row.
During
the Independence Day celebrations held at the Bhulath assembly constituency
near Punjab’s Jalandhar, school students staged a play allegedly depicting a
Muslim man wearing a religious white cap as a terrorist, which irked people.
The
Congress has demanded an apology from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying that
the drama had painted the entire Muslim community as terrorists.
Earlier,
on Monday, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi targeted the Central
government and said that it was trying to malign leaders Mahatma Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru to further its political propaganda.
Source:
India Today
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--------
Akhil
Bharat Hindu Mahasabha Member Writes in Blood to CM Yogi, Seeks To Offer
Janmashtami Prayer At Mathura's Shahi Masjid
17.08.22
An
Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha member Tuesday wrote a letter purportedly with his
own blood to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, seeking permission to offer
Janmashtami prayers inside the Shahi Masjid Idgah claiming it was the
birthplace of Lord Krishna.
ABHM
national treasurer Dinesh Sharma said he wants to offer prayer to the deity
with local Brijwasis on the occasion of Sri Krishna Janmashtami on August 19.
This
comes even as multiple suits related to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah
dispute are in courts with Hindu petitioners claiming the mosque is built on a
plot belonging to the Katra Keshav Dev Temple and it should be removed. The
Muslim side has contested this plea.
"So
for, Krishna worship is being performed at a place which is not exactly the His
birthplace," Sharma has said in his letter, which he also released to the
media.
The
place where Kanha was born exists under the Shahi Masjid Idgah, he claimed.
Calling
Adityanath an "incarnation of Hindu God Hanuman", Sharma said he was
confident the chief minister would give him the permission to offer worship
inside the mosque.
If
the permission is denied, Sharma said, he should be allowed to die as it is
"worthless to live a life without offering obeisance to Lord Krishna
exactly at his birthplace".
A
similar application submitted earlier in a court was rejected on August 3,
2022.
Source:
Telegraph India
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Six
of Muslim Family Found Dead under Suspicious Circumstances at Home In Jammu
17.08.22
Six
members of a family were found dead under suspicious circumstances at their
home here on Wednesday, police said.
The
deceased were identified as Sakina Begum, her two daughters Naseema Akhter and
Rubina Bano, son Zafar Salim and two relatives Noor Ul Habib and Sajad Ahmad,
they said.
The
bodies were recovered from the family's house in Sidhra locality. They have
been shifted to Government Medical College and Hospital here, the police said.
Source:
Telegraph India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/six-of-family-found-dead-at-home-in-jammu/cid/1880615
--------
Another
targeted killing: Kashmiri Pandit man shot dead by terrorists on Shopian
village orchard, brother hurt
Aug
16, 2022
SRINAGAR:
Terrorists shot dead a Kashmiri Pandit man and wounded his younger brother on
Tuesday when they were tending their orchard at Chotigam village in south
Kashmir’s Shopian district in another instance of targeted strike against the
Valley’s minority community.
Sunil
Kumar Nath, 45, died instantly in a hail of bullets while sibling Pintoo Kumar,
35, is in hospital with critical bullet wounds. A search has been launched to
catch the killers.
Sources
said a masked terrorist, presumably a Pakistani, and a Kashmiri accomplice
sneaked up on the Nath brothers when they were pruning an overgrowth of willow
trees on the orchard with the help of three local hands. The terrorists told
the hired hands to leave before the masked man shot at the brothers.
#Terrorists
fired upon civilians in an apple orchard in Chotipora area of #Shopian. One
person died and one injured… https://t.co/8GeAnOIfgn
—
Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) 1660631985000
Villagers
said the slain brother is survived by his wife and three school-going
daughters.
J&K
has recorded a string of attacks over the past week amid heightened security
for Independence Day. Migrant worker Mohammad Amrej, 19, from Bihar’s Madhepura
was killed at his rented house in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district around 1am
on Friday, while a special police officer (SPO) was wounded in a separate
attack in Anantnag later in the afternoon. Amrej was the fourth migrant worker
killed in a targeted attack in Kashmir this year.
On
August 15, terrorists struck twice with grenades—one at the high-security
police control room in Srinagar and another at Chadoora in Budgam district.
Besides, J&K police constable Sarfaraz Ahmad died in hospital from wounds
suffered during an attack on a police patrol Sunday in Nowhatta of downtown
Srinagar.
A
total of 15 civilians and six security forces personnel have been killed in
targeted attacks this year.
Lieutenant
governor Manoj Sinha condoled the death in Chotigam, a predominantly Kashmiri
Pandit village of around 30 people who chose to stay behind when tens of
thousands from the community fled the Valley during the peak of militancy in
the 1990s. They own large orchards of apples and other fruits, while some are
in the pharmaceutical business.
“Pained
beyond words… My thoughts are with the family of Sunil Kumar. Praying for
speedy recovery of injured,” Sinha tweeted. The assailants won’t be spared, he
said.
Authorities
have provided security to the Kashmiri Pandit families of Chotigam as they have
been picked out by terrorists before. This April, 39-year-old Sonu Bhat aka Bal
Krishan, a popular chemist at Chotigam who helped people even at midnight,
suffered four bullet wounds in a terrorist strike.
Records
show 14 Kashmiri Pandits and others from the minority community were killed in
J&K in targeted terrorist attacks since August 2019. But the attacks have
been more frequent since last autumn when Srinagar chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo
was gunned down on October 5, a street vendor from Bihar was killed hours
later, and two teachers—a Hindu and a Sikh—were shot inside a school on the
outskirts of Srinagar on October 7.
The
attacks continued, setting off panic and protests. The murder of schoolteacher
Rajni Bala and revenue clerk Rahul Bhat this May led to widespread unease,
particularly among the region’s religious minorities.
The
state units of BJP, Congress, Apni Party and Shiv Sena (Thackeray), National
Conference as well as Panun Kashmir, an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits,
condemned Tuesday’s Chotigam murder. Congress, Sena and Panun Kashmir blamed
the Centre for repeated attacks on Kashmiri Pandits, while Apni Party said the
killings are aimed at promoting hate.
Source:
Times Of India
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Muslim
neighbours rush to slain Kashmiri Pandit’s aid
Aug
17, 2022
SHOPIAN:
Kashmiri Muslim neighbours ran to the orchard of the Nath brothers when they
heard gunshots from that direction. They were the first to witness the bloodied
body of Kashmiri Pandit man Sunil Kumar Nath and his wounded brother Pintoo,
who were shot multiple times by a masked Pakistani terrorist in Chotigam
village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Tuesday.
Later,
hundreds of people from the majority community in the nearby areas gathered at
the funeral of Nath — a 45-year-old father of three daughters and member of a
handful of families who stayed behind in Chotigam during the exodus of Kashmiri
Pandits in the height of militancy in the 1990s.
Nath’s
Muslim neighbours made all the arrangements for his last rites and also took
Pintoo to the hospital. Women rushed in droves to Nath’s home to console the
bereaved.
At
the funeral, the villagers shouted unity slogans and called for an end to the
bloodshed.
“We
have always lived here peacefully and shared our grief and celebrations for
decades,” said a Kashmiri Pandit in Chotigam. But back-to-back attacks in four
months have brought fear and a grim reminder of the terror-filled 90s, he said.
“Guards
were deployed here again in April, but how can they provide us security when we
go to the market or students go to school? We can’t stay confined to our
houses. We have to go to our farms, orchards or for other work and earn a
livelihood. We will die of starvation,” he said.
Source:
Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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--------
At
Slain Kashmiri Pandit’s Village People Mourn Amid Chants Of ‘Hindu Muslim Sikh’
Unity
16
AUG 2022
Qatal-e-Gaarth
na manzoor (killing of innocent and destruction are unacceptable) and chants of
unity reverberated in the air as villagers of Chotigam took out a procession to
condemn the killing of Sunil Kumar Butt, a Kashmir Pandit, by terrorists on
Tuesday morning.
The
village saw the second terror attack in four months.
The
residents took out the procession from the house of the victim to the cremation
ground where the body Sunil Kumar was consigned to flames amid slogans of
"Hindu Muslim Sikh Itehad (unity of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs)".
Those
who took part in the procession raised slogans against the killing of Kumar and
said it was against the principle of Islam.
Several
people from the area joined the procession from Butt's residence where Muslim
neighbours were seen consoling the family.
Source:
Outlook India
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NSA
Ajit Doval in Russia to review ties; Afghanistan, terror too figure on agenda
Aug
17, 2022
NEW
DELHI: As India continues to enhance engagement with Russia on regional and
global issues, NSA Ajit Doval paid an unannounced visit to Moscow Tuesday to
review progress and recent developments in bilateral ties.
Afghanistan,
counter-terrorism, defence and food and energy security in the aftermath of the
Ukraine conflict are among the regional and global issues Doval is likely to
address in his meetings with Russian authorities, including his counterpart
Nikolai Patrushev, during his 2-day visit to Moscow.
While
there was no official confirmation of the visit, ToI learnt from sources the
visit is in the framework of regular dialogue between the countries on
"strategic bilateral, regional and global issues". Despite the
pressure from the West to not increase its crude import from Russia, India's
imports of both oil and fertilizers have gone up sharply in the past few
months.
According
to a Bloomberg report last week, Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia in June to
become the second-biggest supplier of crude to India. The foreign ministry
reiterated last week that India's oil purchases will be guided by its energy
security requirements.
The
NSA will focus on counter-terrorism cooperation in his meetings, especially in
the context of Afghanistan. Doval is also likely to participate in a meeting of
the top security officials of SCO member-states in Uzbekistan on Thursday and Friday
this week where again the situation in Afghanistan is likely to dominate the
agenda. Despite working with the government in Kabul on humanitarian issues,
and reopening its embassy in Kabul, India remains concerned about the Taliban's
links with Pakistan based terror groups. Official sources here have cited a
recent UNSC report to say that these groups continue to operate terror camps in
Taliban rules Afghanistan.
Source:
Times Of India
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--------
Arab
World
Turkish
troops, Kurdish fighters exchange heavy shelling in Syria’s Kobane
16
August, 2022
Turkish
troops and US-backed Kurdish fighters exchanged heavy shellfire on Tuesday in
the northern Syrian border town of Kobane, leaving one civilian dead as the
conflict between the warring parties escalated.
The
artillery fire hit within the town and around its edges, starting overnight and
intensifying throughout the day, according to residents and the semi-autonomous
local administration governing the town.
The
administration said in an online statement that at least one child died due to
the shelling and others were wounded.
Ankara
sees the semi-autonomous system - spearheaded by Kurdish factions and governing
swathes of northern and eastern Syria - as a national security threat on its
border.
Turkish
President Tayyip Erdogan has pledged a new incursion to create a 30-kilometer
safe zone in northern Syria, swallowing up Kobane and other towns held by the
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
Kobane
has been relatively calm since US-backed Kurdish fighters pushed back ISIS
fighters from the town in 2015.
But
shelling and drone attacks have been ramping up in many border towns. At least
three Kurdish commanders were killed last month which the SDF blamed on Ankara.
Dilvin,
a shopkeeper and married mother of one, said scenes of chaos broke out in
Kobane when the shelling intensified on Tuesday.
“People
started running everywhere, cars everywhere, people asking about their friends
and their family. Then the sounds started to build, the sounds were
everywhere,” she told Reuters by phone from Kobane.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Egypt’s
deadly church fire sparks global outpouring of sorrow and sympathy
August
16, 2022
CAIRO:
On Sunday, thick smoke and the sound of screams engulfed the Imbaba
neighborhood of Cairo as fire broke out at the Abu Sifin church in the low
income district west of the Nile River.
Many
of the 5,000 worshippers who had gathered for a peaceful mass at the Coptic
church were forced to throw themselves from windows on to the street below.
By
the time emergency services were able to respond and extinguish the blaze, 41
people, including 15 children, had died and 14 were left injured.
Later
that day, hundreds gathered to pay their respects in and around two churches in
the Giza governorate of greater Cairo, where clergymen prayed for the victims.
Pallbearers
pushed through crowds of weeping mourners who reached out to touch the coffins,
including that of a priest at the church, Father Abdel-Messih Bekhit.
In
an earlier statement, the Coptic Orthodox Church said that the fire broke out
during the divine liturgy at the building in the north of Giza, and that
several worshippers were transferred to the Imbaba and Agouza hospitals.
The
following morning, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that he had
“mobilized all state services” in response and, later, that he had “presented
his condolences by phone” to Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Orthodox
Church.
The
Egyptian leader also directed the Armed Forces Engineering Authority to “take
over the reconstruction and renovation” of the church, the presidency said in a
statement.
Witnesses
to the fire described people rushing into the multi-story church to save those
trapped, but the rescuers were soon overwhelmed by heat and deadly smoke.
“Everyone
was carrying kids out of the building,” said Ahmed Reda Baioumy, who lives next
to the church. “But the fire was getting bigger and you could only go in once
or you would asphyxiate.”
Another
witness, Sayed Tawfik, told AFP news agency that “some threw themselves out of
windows to escape the fire.” He pointed to a car bearing dents “left by a
person who is now lying in the hospital with a broken arm and back.”
A
statement from the public prosecutor’s office suggested that the deaths were
caused by asphyxiation, as there were “no visible injuries.”
The
Egyptian interior ministry said that “forensic evidence revealed that the blaze
broke out in an air-conditioning unit on the second floor of the church
building,” which also houses social services.
Father
Farid Fahmy, from a nearby church, said a short circuit caused the fire.
“The
power was out and they were using a generator,” he said. “When the power came
back, it caused an overload.”
Accidental
fires are not uncommon in the sprawling city of Cairo, where millions live in
informal settlements. Last year, at least 20 people died in a blaze in a
clothing factory on the outskirts of the capital.
Following
the Abu Sifin church fire, Giza’s governor ordered “urgent aid of 50,000 pounds
(around $2,600) for the families of the deceased and 10,000 pounds for the
injured.”
Prosecutor-General
Hamada El-Sawy said that the public prosecution authority had completed its
investigation into the fire and found that the victims died of smoke
inhalation.
The
interior ministry confirmed that the blaze was caused by an electrical fault in
the air-conditioning system on the second floor of the church building, which
includes a number of classrooms.
Mostafa
Madbouly, Egypt’s prime minister, directed the minister of social solidarity to
pay compensation of EGP100,000 to victims’ families and a maximum of EGP20,000
to those injured.
Copts
are the largest Christian community in the Middle East, making up around 10
percent of Egypt’s 107 million Muslim-majority population. They justifiably
claim to be the original Egyptians, with their liturgical language descended
directly from the language of the pharaohs. Many Copts can trace their heritage
back to ancient Egypt.
For
many, the fire brought back painful memories of deadly attacks by Islamist
extremists, including a bombing at Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral that killed
25 people in 2016 and a gunman who killed nine worshippers at another church
the following year.
Copts
have lived through times of both harmony and adversity throughout much of
Egypt’s long history. In the 20th century, many were pushed out of political
life. Others have deplored restrictive legislation for the construction and
renovation of churches.
El-Sisi,
who was elected in 2014, became the first Egyptian president to attend the
Coptic Christmas mass every year. In February, he appointed the first-ever
Coptic judge to head the Supreme Constitutional Court, the country’s highest
legal body.
Muslim
religious officials in Egypt expressed their condolences to the grieving Coptic
community.
Al-Azhar’s
Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb pledged to aid the families of the victims and is
coordinating cash payouts with various NGOs. He also sent a message of support
to Pope Tawadros II.
“Al-Azhar
and its scholars and sheikhs all stand by their brothers in this tragic
accident and extend their sincere condolences to the families of the victims,”
he said, and affirmed “the readiness of Al-Azhar hospitals to receive the
injured.”
The
tragedy resulted in an outpouring of support from across Egypt and the world.
In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres offered his “deepest
condolences” to families of the victims.
King
Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia offered their
condolences to El-Sisi and the victims’ families. They expressed “profound
sorrow and sincere sympathy,” and wished the injured a “quick recovery.”
The
UAE’s leaders offered prayers for the victims’ families and El-Sisi. President
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin
Rashid Al-Maktoum wished the people who were injured in the blaze a steady
recovery.
Prince
Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s crown prince and prime minister, offered
his condolences to El-Sisi and Madbouly.Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher
Khasawneh offered his “condolences and sympathy” to the Egyptian government,
people and victims’ families.
Tunisian
President Kais Saied offered his condolences to his Egyptian counterpart, and
wished the injured a speedy recovery in a phone call following the incident.
Hissein
Brahim Taha, secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,
expressed his sympathy.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2143526/middle-east
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25
dead in airstrikes, shelling in north Syria
August
16, 2022
JEDDAH:
At least 25 people were killed in northern Syria on Tuesday after Turkey
launched airstrikes and an artillery bombardment targeting Assad regime forces
and Kurdish fighters near the border town of Kobane.
The
Turkish shelling began overnight, when artillery salvoes hit the town and
around its edges. It continued throughout the day, and at least one child was
killed.
Kurdish
YPG militia fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces responded with a mortar
attack on a Turkish military border post in Sanliurfa province that killed one
soldier and injured four.
After
the mortar attack, Turkish forces conducted retaliatory fire against targets in
the Kobane area. “According to initial information in the region, 13 terrorists
were neutralized. Operations in the region are continuing,” the Defense
Ministry in Ankara said.
Dilvin,
a shopkeeper in Kobane, said chaos broke out in the town when the shelling
intensified on Tuesday. “People started running everywhere, cars everywhere,
people asking about their friends and their family. Then the sounds started to
build, the sounds were everywhere,” she said.
“There
was so much screaming. So much fear. Now everyone is locked up at home.”
Later
on Tuesday, 11 people died in Turkish airstrikes on a Syria border post run by
Assad regime forces. It was not clear if the dead were Syrian government troops
or Kurdish fighters.
Syrian
regime forces have deployed in areas controlled by the SDF near the border with
Turkey as part of agreements intended to stem cross-border offensives by Ankara
targeting Kurdish forces it views as terrorists.
Turkey
has launched a series of attacks since 2016 targeting Kurdish forces and Daesh,
but they have rarely resulted in the deaths of Syrian regime fighters.
If
regime forces are confirmed to be among those killed on Tuesday, the attack
would be one of the largest escalations since Ankara and Damascus traded
attacks in 2020 following a Syrian regime strike that killed 33 Turkish
soldiers in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Turkey
has stepped up its attacks in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria since July,
when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to obtain a green light from
regional allies Iran and Russia for a fresh offensive into northern Syria.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2143831/middle-east
--------
Twins,
triplets among child victims of Egypt church fire that killed 41
16
August, 2022
Mourners
in Egypt attended a memorial service Tuesday for victims of a Coptic church
fire in Cairo that killed 41 people -- among them many children, including
twins and triplets.
The
electrical fire on Sunday ripped through the Abu Sifin church in Imbaba, a
working class district west of the Nile River, part of Giza governorate in
greater Cairo.
At
least 10 of those killed during Sunday mass, when families flock to the church
and its daycare services, were minors aged under 16, according to a list from
just one hospital circulated by local media.
Coptic
Bishop Martyros led a “third day” service Tuesday in central Cairo’s Church of
the Blessed Virgin Mary to commemorate the resurrection of Christ and honor the
souls of the dead.
“The
entire country is ailing,” the bishop told the bereaved, two days after the
blaze rocked Egypt’s 10-million-strong Coptic community, the Middle East’s
largest Christian population.
Among
those killed were six members of the same family, one mourner, Sandy George,
told AFP.
“My
aunt Magda and her daughters, Merna and Irina, and Irina’s three kids” died of
asphyxiation, George said.
Irina’s
children who were killed were the five-year-old twins Barthinia and Mariam and
their brother Ibram, aged four.
Also
killed were five-year-old triplets Mehrael, Youssef and Filopateer Bassem Amir,
according to the hospital list.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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--------
Three
Syrian soldiers killed, 6 wounded in Turkish air strike on military posts
16
August, 2022
Three
Syrian soldiers were killed and six wounded in a Turkish air strike on military
posts in the Aleppo countryside on Tuesday, state media quoted a military
source as saying.
Turkish
warplanes targeted the posts from 14:37 p.m. to 15:00 p.m. (11:37-12:00 GMT);
the Syrian state TV and news agency reported.
Syrian
armed forces responded to the strike and caused material and human losses in
some Turkish military sites, the report said without giving any further
details.
There
was no immediate comment form the Turkish side.
Turkey
has carried out several military operations in northern Syria since 2016,
seizing hundreds of kilometres of land and pushing some 30 km deep into the
country, mainly targeting the Kurdish YPG militia, which it deems a terrorist
organisation.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Iraq’s
Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr backtracks on call for massive rally
16 August,
2022
Iraq’s
Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr backtracked Tuesday after earlier urging his
supporters to join a massive rally as a standoff with his political rivals
appeared to be getting worse.
The
cleric’s announcement came amid behind the scenes talks aimed at steering Iraq
out of crisis, with the country’s two branches of Shia Islam jockeying for
supremacy.
More
than 10 months on from elections, Iraq still has no government, new prime
minister or new president, because of disagreement between factions over
forming a coalition.
Al-Sadr
wants parliament dissolved to pave the way for new legislative elections, but
his rivals the pro-Iran Coordination Framework want to set conditions and are
demanding a transitional government before new polls.
The
cleric’s bloc emerged from last October’s elections as parliament’s biggest,
but still far short of a majority.
Al-Sadr,
whose supporters have been staging a sit-in protest outside parliament in
Baghdad’s high security Green Zone for more than two weeks, had called for a
“million-man demonstration” in the capital on Saturday.
But
on Tuesday he announced on Twitter “the indefinite postponement of Saturday’s
protest.”
“If
you had been betting on a civil war, I am betting on preserving social peace.
The blood of Iraqis is more precious than anything else,” Sadr said.
Late
on Monday, a committee organizing demonstrations in support of the Coordination
Framework also announced new gatherings, but without setting a date.
The
Coordination Framework launched their own Baghdad sit-in on Friday, camping out
on an avenue in the capital.
The
Coordination Framework comprises former paramilitaries of the Tehran-backed
Hashed al-Shaabi network and the party of former premier Nuri al-Maliki, a
longtime al-Sadr foe.
So
far the rival Shia protests have been peaceful, with attempts at mediation
ongoing.
Hadi
al-Ameri, leader of a Hashed faction, has also called for calm and for
dialogue. He has had a series of meetings with political leaders including
allies of al-Sadr.
Also
on Tuesday, Finance Minister Ali Allawi who is in the current government submitted
his resignation to the Council of Ministers, the INA state news agency
reported.
Iraq
has been ravaged by decades of conflict and endemic corruption.
It
is blighted by ailing infrastructure, power cuts and crumbling public services,
and now also faces water shortages as drought ravages swathes of the country.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Egypt
judge sentenced to death for wife’s murder
16 August,
2022
An
Egyptian court on Tuesday sentenced a judge to death for murdering his wife,
the judiciary said, in the third high-profile femicide case in the country in
two months.
The
criminal court decided “to refer the judge who killed TV presenter Shaimaa
Gamal, and his accomplice, to the Grand Mufti of Egypt.”
The
public prosecutor’s office said last month that the judicial official
concerned, Ayman Haggag, had been charged over the “premeditated murder” of his
wife, along with the accomplice, businessman Hussein al-Gharabli.
Gamal’s
body had been found in a remote villa in June, nearly three weeks after her
husband had reported her missing, following a tipoff from Gharabli, who had
confessed to his role in the crime.
The
next court hearing, when the approval of the Grand Mufti is expected to be
announced, is set for September 11.
The
murder of Gamal is the third to have sparked outrage in the country in the past
few months.
On
June 19, college student Nayera Ashraf was stabbed to death in Mansoura, north
of Cairo, by a man whose advances she had rejected. A video of the attack was
widely shared on social media.
In
a highly publicized trial, Mohamed Adel was found guilty after confessing to
the crime in court and was sentenced to death.
The
criminal court has called for his execution to be broadcast live on television
as a deterrent to others.
Earlier
this month, a student identified only by her first name Salma was murdered in
similar circumstances in Zagazig, north of Cairo.
A
man whose advances she had rejected “repeatedly stabbed her with a knife,” the
prosecution said.
Patriarchal
legislation and conservative interpretations of Islam in Egypt have contributed
to severely limiting women’s rights and creating a culture of violence against
women.
“Salma
was murdered simply for being born a woman in a misogynist society,” one social
media user said, as some argued Salma was at fault for befriending her
assailant.
“So
long as there are sympathizers out there who make excuses for the perpetrators
of these crimes, they will continue,” said another.
Nearly
eight million Egyptian women were victims of violence committed by their
partners or relatives, or by strangers in public spaces, according to a United
Nations survey conducted in 2015.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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South
Asia
Afghan
resistance group claims arrest of Taliban forces in Panjshir
August
16, 2022
An
Afghan armed resistance group claimed to have arrested dozens of Taliban
forces, as the Islamists celebrated their first year in power and others called
it a "dark day".
Five
"Taliban occupiers" were killed and 40 captured in the Arezoo valley
of Panjshir province, said the spokesman of the National Resistance Front
(NRF), Sibghatullah Ahmadi, as he released pictures of alleged captives.
NRF
is led by Ahmad Massoud, the son of famous anti-Soviet guerilla commander Ahmad
Shah Massoud, and claims to be fighting for democratic values such as a
equitable political representation of ethnic groups, protection of women's
rights and fair elections.
The
Taliban's government is yet to comment on the claim.
However,
Defence Minister Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid said on Monday that their forces will
suppress rebel groups under all circumstances.
To
mark the first anniversary of the fall of Kabul, Taliban members paraded in the
city with US military equipment and their leaders spoke at a televised
gathering.
At
the event, the Taliban's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi called on the world
to cooperate with their government.
On
social media, many Afghans spoke of their ordeal and called it a "dark
day" for the nation.
Source:
Business Standard
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Islamic
Emirate Denies Detention of Its Forces in Panjshir
August
17, 2022
Local
officials in Panjshir province denied the reports that Islamic Emirate forces
have been detained by the Resistance Front in the province.
The
provincial governor’s spokesman, Abubakar Sediqqi, confirmed that a number of
rockets hit some areas of Dara district but denied casualties to Islamic
Emirate forces and the fall of a village to the Resistant Front.
“This
is an absolutely inaccurate allegation. The forces of the Islamic Emirate are
settled in all districts of Panjshir. Last night a number of rockets were fired
by the opposition forces which didn’t cause any casualties,” he said.
Earlier,
the Resistance Front published some videos and claimed that dozens of the
Islamic Emirate were killed and dozens of others were arrested by its forces.
The
videos were published by Sebghat Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Resistant
Front.
“Even
if the number of the government’s armed opposition is less and they have a
limited geographic area, there should be negotiations with them,’ said Barna
Salehi, a political analyst.
“The
only solution for Afghanistan is that all conflictive parties should sit
together and make a decision on Afghanistan’s fate,” said Barna Salehi, a
political analyst.
Source:
Tolo News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-179424
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Taliban
2.0 – The trajectory of events after one year in power
By
Naser Koshan
16
Aug 2022
The
reemergence of Taliban as the de facto rulers of Afghanistan on August 15/21
took the entire world by surprise. A year later, the repressive group is spreading
rhetoric that of exclusion, fear and most importantly turning Afghanistan yet
again into a safe sanctuary for foreign-born terrorists. In hindsight, the
group is not willing to show any sign of indulging to civil political
engagements with the resident political opposition, on the contrary, increasing
implementing policies of regression and repulsive nature.
Taliban
fighters hold weapons as they ride in a convoy to celebrate their victory day
near the US embassy in Kabul on August 15, 2022. – Taliban fighters chanted
victory slogans next to the US embassy in Kabul on August 15 as they marked the
first anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan following a turbulent
year that saw women’s rights crushed and a humanitarian crisis worsen. (Photo
by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
The
singlehanded military takeover by the Taliban was a clear violation of the Doha
agreement that vividly insisted in a power sharing setup with the former Afghan
government in return for a full withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country.
Regretfully, the rapidly changing status quo pertaining to the fall of capital
in August seriously harmed the validity of this agreement, and halted its
implementation. A year on, Taliban are yet to address the main elephant in the
room, that is of girls schooling, cutting ties with infamous terrorist
organizations; as well as abiding by globally adhered human rights practices
The
latter episode of Taliban autocracy in Afghanistan was marred with protection
for foreign terrorists, depriving women of basic human rights and an absolute
isolation from the rest of the world. Transnational Jihadists and religious
extremists were granted an open pass to practice radical ideology and threaten
the world security under the de facto regime. As we speak the modus operandi of
the Taliban’s structural ideology has not changed its essence, and it is still
fundamentally based on a distorted political agenda with no endorsement from
the Muslim world or sacred Islamic scriptures. The Taliban 2.0 seems ignorantly
clueless in handling an Afghanistan with a pluralistic society and diverse
political fronts. Today’s Afghanistan is astoundingly different when the group
ruled in late 1990s; the transformation in spite of crucial opportunities
missed and valuable resources wasted is rather immense and tangible to write
off.
Pakistan
is the only country that has achieved a long sought strategic victory in
Afghanistan. Right from the very beginning a permanent stability in Afghanistan
and a non friendly regime in Kabul was the gravest concern to the policy makers
in Pakistan, therefore, the reincarnation of the Taliban movement in 2003 and
the facilitation of the breeding ground for its next generation fighters in
Pakistani Madrasas were eagerly put in Taliban’s disposal. Taliban in return
delivered hastily on promises, that of dismantling the Afghan army, diminishing
Indian presence and most importantly rolling back the Afghan socio/economic
progress for decades to come to Pakistani handlers.
With
great distaste, Pakistan is intentionally pushing Afghanistan towards a
devastating civil war and a proxy buffer for foreign-born terrorists to
congregate and destabilize the region, using Taliban as a conduit for that
matter. On the national level Taliban lack the know how in governance and the
needed expertise for meaningful international engagements. Besides, the
apparent link ups with neighboring intelligence agencies are driving the group
to adopt policies in total odd to the public’s aspirations, and wittingly
creating obstacles for further isolations and diminishing chances of
international recognition at least with the current status quo in effect.
The
United States is not impressed by the turn of events in Afghanistan. The
intelligence community and the White House are alarmingly concerned about
credible futuristic threats emanating from Afghanistan if not in the magnitude
of 9/11. The FBI director and senior intelligence officials recently shared
their respective concerns to the senate intelligence committee, calling for
increased reconnaissance missions, and drone surveillance, to keep a close
watch on Taliban activities.
Based
on the Doha agreement in 2020, Taliban were not supposed to harbor
international fugitives and maintain ties with Al Qaeda and other radical
extremists. Nevertheless, the killing of Ayman Al Zawahiri, the U.S. top wanted
terrorist, under the naked eye of the regime in Kabul is growing suspicions on
that commitment and proves the proximity of sympathetic relations between the
Taliban, Al Qaeda and many other terrorist organizations including the TTP.
Taliban is unwittingly dragged into a catastrophic game of throne between the
regional powers and international rivals. China and Pakistan for instance,
aiming to use Taliban against archrival India to boost Islamic Jihad morality
in India’s Jammu and Kashmir while gaining exclusivity on exploiting the vast
cache of underground natural resources of Afghanistan, estimated at USD 3
trillion dollars.
Meanwhile,
the regime’s exclusivity policy to appoint its fighters to key government
positions sans having the merit required for that particular undertaking, and
simultaneously indulging in explicit discrimination towards the former
government employees, is causing an exodus of brain drain and dysfunctional
public services. Unfortunately, the
initial rhetoric of inclusivity under the Islamic Emirate is rapidly fading
away, and this in turn will capitalize into formidable public displeasure and
emerging armed resistance against the regime across the country in the
foreseeable future.
Taliban
should realize that governing through barrels of gun and policy of intimidation
has an expiry; rethink and immediately seize its irrational behavior with the
Afghan public for the sake of its own regime survival. They should come up with
tangible long term economic policy, feasible attitude towards a political
coherency to stay relevant and maintain the status quo, regretfully Taliban so
far are preoccupied with this false fallacy of wishful thinking and not taking
any concrete step to put in use the indigenous expertise in achieving these
goals, they rather alienate and suppress this potential capital with repressive
decrees and restrictive policies.
The
regime should let go its suppression of women’s rights undertakings that it is
negating its scarce resources to reach out to an array of critical problems
with greater importance and heavier weights to gain acceptance to the world
community. The initiation of meaningful dialogue with opponents, the adherence
of an open-minded policy towards inclusivity, finally yet importantly the
restoration of a constitution and governing laws, in compliance with national
and international standards are a few examples to mention. Taliban are in total
denial of accepting the fact that unless the lifeline from the United Nations
did not exist, reaching out to an overwhelming number of vulnerable citizens to
paying the salaries of government employees particularly the education sector
would be a catastrophe and impossible, There is no contingency plan if the
assistance seizes to continue and the prevailing status quo forces the already
limited number of UN NGOs active in the country to evacuate, and leave the
country permanently.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-2-0-the-trajectory-of-events-after-one-year-in-power/
--------
Taliban
‘Disgruntled’ Commander Killed in Western Afghanistan
By
Saqalain Eqbal
17
Aug 2022
Mawlawi
Mahdi Mujahid, the Taliban “disgruntled” commander, was killed by Taliban
border forces when he wanted to enter Iran through the province of Herat in
western Afghanistan, according to a statement from the Taliban’s Ministry of
Defense released on Wednesday.
Mawlawi
Mahdi Mujahid is referred to as a “rebel” in this statement. Mujahid had
clashed with the Taliban multiple times after starting a dispute with the group
in the Balkhab district of Sar-e-pol in
northern Afghanistan.
The
statement makes no mention of the date on which Mahdi Mujahid was killed.
Mawlawi
Mahdi Mujahid embraced the Taliban 13 years ago, while foreign forces were
stationed in Afghanistan; he played a key part in the collapse of the
republican system in Afghanistan’s northern provinces.
However,
more than ten months after the Taliban assumed power, he began to criticize the
Taliban group.
According
to reports, Mahdi Mujahid sought more Hazara participation in the Taliban
government, but the Taliban leaders disregarded not just his demand, but also
the views of the international community and internal political circles, in
order to establish an inclusive government.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-disgruntled-commander-killed-in-western-afghanistan-574984/
--------
Southeast
Asia
Indonesia
at ‘peak of global leadership,’ president says ahead of G20 Summit
SHEANY
YASUKO LAI
August
16, 2022
JAKARTA:
Indonesia is standing at the “peak” of global leadership, President Joko Widodo
said in his annual state address on Tuesday, as he hailed the country’s growing
stature amid efforts to bridge peace between Russia and Ukraine, and the nation
heading several world multilateral bodies.
Widodo
traveled to Kyiv and Moscow in late June to meet his Ukrainian and Russian
counterparts, Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, in a diplomatic effort to
help ease the ongoing war’s impact on the international community.
Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s breadbaskets, has delivered shockwaves
to global supply chains and also stoked an energy crisis following
international sanctions slapped on Moscow — a major oil and gas producer —
which has also led to rising inflation in many countries.
Widodo
was the first Asian leader to meet both Zelensky and Putin since the beginning
of the invasion in late February.
“Indonesia
was accepted by Russia and Ukraine as a bridge of peace. Accepted by big
countries, even when the geopolitical (situation) is heated,” Widodo said in
parliament, a day ahead of the country’s celebrations of 77 years of
independence.
The
visit came as the Southeast Asian nation — which has refused to impose
sanctions on Moscow — is chairing the Group of 20 biggest economies this year
and will host the grouping’s summit in November. Widodo is one of six world
leaders selected as “champions” of the UN’s Global Crisis Response Group. Next
year, Indonesia will hold the rotating chairmanship of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.
“In
2022, we hold the presidency of the G20, an international forum made up of the
world’s largest economies. Next year, we will assume the chairmanship of
ASEAN,” Widodo said. “This indicates that we are at the peak of global
leadership.”
The
president added that the international community’s trust in Indonesia has
“increased sharply,” which in turn gave the country a big opportunity to build
global partnerships.
With
its population of 280 million, Indonesia is one of the world’s biggest
economies, posting consistent annual growth of around 6 percent.
Its
global leadership claim is, however, seen as intended mainly for Indonesians
themselves.
“The
claim is for (a) domestic audience,” Muhammad Waffaa Kharisma, researcher at the
Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Arab News.
He
added that although Indonesia “has always seen itself as a big nation, capable
of punching above its weight and (to) be amongst the bigger nations,” and that
its role at the G20 and in ASEAN next year are “very valuable,” the country
still “has to make a difference to bring value and to earn the tag of being a
world leader.”
“Whether
the trip (to Kyiv and Moscow) makes a difference is a bit debatable in the
global context,” Kharisma said.
For
Teuku Rezasyah, an international relations expert from Padjajaran University in
West Java, the global leadership claim does not immediately “mean the ability
to do so.”
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2144201/world
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Abdurresid
Ibrahim to be remembered for spreading Islam in Japan
Ahmet
Furkan Mercan
16.08.2022
TOKYO
The
78th anniversary of the passing of Abdurresid Ibrahim, a Tatar-Turkish traveler
known for his efforts to introduce Islam to Japanese society, will be
commemorated on Wednesday.
Ibrahim
first arrived in Japan in 1900 after traveling around Asia and publishing a two-volume
treatise titled "The World of Islam." He observed the socioeconomic
situation of the surrounding community and preached Islam to them, as well as
established an association for the purpose.
Even
after 78 years of his demise, he remains the unifying force of Muslim
communities in Japan.
Meeting
Ottoman intellectuals
Ibrahim
was born in Omsk, Russia's Siberian region, to a Tatar-Turkish family in 1857,
and began studying in a madrasa at the age of seven.
He
came to Istanbul to pursue his education and returned in 1884 after studying
Islamic sciences for more than four years in Medina.
After
meeting intellectuals such as Ahmed Vefik Pasha and Muallim Naci, he wrote
articles for the Umran newspaper titled "The Future of Russia's
Muslims."
World
of Islam
Ibrahim,
who traveled to Europe in 1896 and explained the problems of Muslims in Russia,
left Istanbul in 1897 and visited Palestine, Hejaz and Egypt.
He
then journeyed via Italy, Austria, France, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Western
Russia before reaching Japan through the Caucasus and Siberia.
The
Japanese victory in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905 had also implications
for Muslim societies under Russian rule.
In
Tokyo, where he lived, Ibrahim preached Islam to several Japanese statesmen by establishing
relationships with the imperial family.
He
founded the "Ajia Gikai" association to promote Islam in Japan and
attempted to construct a mosque in Tokyo.
After
the deposition of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II, he postponed his desire of
building a mosque and traveled to Korea in 1909.
Tokyo
Mosque symbolizes togetherness
He
returned to Istanbul in 1910 and informed the Ottoman people about Japan.
Ibrahim,
who had lived in Konya province during Türkiye's early years, began to travel
again after his solitary life there.
When
the traveler returned to Japan in 1933, he began building a mosque in 1934,
which is today known as the Tokyo Mosque in the capital.
With
the affluent Japanese covering construction expenditures of the mosque, which
was completed in 1938, he was designated the mosque's first imam or prayer
leader.
The
Tokyo Mosque, spiritual legacy of Ibrahim who died 78 years ago on Aug. 17,
1944, promotes the harmony and unity of Japan's Islamic societies.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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The
10 most mesmerising mosques in Malaysia
By
SHAHIDA SAKERI
17
Aug 2022
A
mosque is a place of worship. But many mosques are also considered
architectural wonders, and are culturally significant, too, especially to the area
or community surrounding it.
In
fact, recent years have also seen an increase in the number of visitors – both
Muslims and non-Muslims – at some of the iconic mosques in Malaysia.
Datuk
Dr Mohmed Razip Hasan, the director-general of Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC)
here believes that the attraction of mosques in Malaysia goes beyond the
beautiful architecture as they are also great places for tourists to explore
and learn about the culture of the local Muslim community.
“Malaysian
mosques have interesting stories to tell based on the history and society in
Malaysia, which also influence the architecture of the mosque. They reflect the
lifestyles of the Muslim community of a destination, so it is one of the best
ways for tourists to learn about the locals and how they live,” he says in an
interview.
To
create awareness on “Mosque Tourism” in Malaysia, some preparations needed to
be made to ensure that the facilities are accessible to visitors from all
faiths, nationalities and backgrounds. Hence, ITC began working closely with
stakeholders such as the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM),
and the Department of Religious Affairs in each state.
One
of the key engagements was the National Imam Roundtable Conference in 2016
which helped in making mosques more accessible to the public. Among the
resolutions passed at the conference were to allow and facilitate visits to
mosques by non-Muslims under proper guidance, and to ensure the comfort and
safety of all mosque visitors.
This
was followed by two more roundtable conferences in Terengganu and Penang, in
2017 and 2019, respectively, to further enhance the initiatives.
On
top of that, ITC also conducted a study entitled “Profiling of Mosques with
Tourism-Related Attractions within the Tourism Corridors in Malaysia”, which
helped the organisation identify mosques across the country that have the
potential to be included in the Mosque Tourism programme.
“We
are currently finalising the Mosque Visit Guide Programme (MosVi) module to
provide training and other necessary skills to volunteer mosque tour guides.
ITC provides training to equip existing in-house tour guides or coordinators
with a formal understanding of Mosque Tourism in Malaysia,” he adds.
Currently,
there are 6,850 mosques in Malaysia registered with JAKIM. As many as 80 of
them are placed under the tourism belt, because of their heritage and
historical values. They make ideal additions to any travel itinerary,
especially for those interested in art, architecture, culture, and heritage.
Here
are 10 of Malaysia’s most unique and interesting mosques.
Starting
off the list is the iconic Federal Territory Mosque, which sits in the
heartland of the Segambut district in Kuala Lumpur. The mosque drew
architectural inspiration from the 16th-century Ottoman Empire – particularly
the Blue Mosque of Istanbul – boasting 22 domes of varying sizes gorgeously
glazed with turquoise tiles.
Once
inside, visitors will find the main prayer hall adorned a pastel-themed
finishings, including floral motifs, stained glass lattice windows, and a grand
sandstone-coloured dome.
Explore
the mosque further and one may even notice extensive displays of intricate
woodwork within the space, skilfully crafted by local artisans from the east
coast.
The
Federal Territory Mosque is open to all for visits, but for the best
experience, visitors are advised to book a free and personalised walk-through
with an experienced volunteer guide.
The
Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque, or the Blue Mosque, stands proudly in
the Selangor state capital of Shah Alam. This is by far the largest mosque in
the country by capacity. Upon arrival, its magnificent blue-and-silver dome,
along with the four imposing minarets that rise to a whopping height of 142.2m
at all corners, will immediately catch one’s attention.
But
despite its remarkable size, the interior decorations here are not meant to
distract anyone, and kept simple by blending modern and traditional elements
seamlessly.
The
blue stained glasses, on the other hand, colour the light that seeps into the
building, thus adding a sense of serenity to the surroundings.
The
Putra Mosque, undoubtedly, is one of the great icons in the “Garden Intelligent
City” of Putrajaya. It overlooks a tranquil man-made lake and features a clever
blend of influences from various Islamic civilisations in its designs. For
example, the basement wall takes its cue from Morocco’s King Hassan Mosque,
while its single minaret is inspired by the Sheikh Omar Mosque in Iraq.
Apart
from the 12-column main prayer hall, the mosque is also home to a landscaped
courtyard named The Sahn, a religious learning centre, and some function rooms.
Come
sunset, the astonishing beauty of Putra Mosque is amplified as its rose-tinted
granite domes embellish the warm orange sky, turning it into a dreamy
spectacle.
A
glance at the Sri Sendayan Mosque in Negri Sembilan, endowed by the founder of
RHB Group Tan Sri Abd Rashid Hussain, will remind visitors of the bewitching
Taj Mahal, with its cream-coloured facade, enormous domes, towering minarets, and
long magnificent walkways. But the interiors, however, exude a whole different
feel to it.
Be
sure to look up at the ceiling as the designs are simply hypnotising. The
mosque plays with symmetry and exquisite craftsmanship that incorporates
materials from China, Dubai, Egypt, Morocco, and Turkiye.
Expect
to spend a couple of hours here as the expansive complex is also home to
lecture halls, a library, an orphanage, multi-purpose halls, mortuary
management rooms, and living quarters for the staff.
Reminiscent
of a majestic Victorian-meets-Moghul mansion, the Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque is a
state mosque commissioned by its namesake – the first sultan of “Modern Johor”,
Sultan Abu Bakar. The building took eight years to complete and was finally
inaugurated in 1900.
The
main prayer hall is graced with regal touches such as distinctive Roman
pillars, dazzling chandeliers from the then Czechoslovakia, and a gilded mimbar
from Turkiye.
The
breathtaking view of the Tebrau Strait adds to the romantic allures of this heritage
building.
Sitting
on Wan Man Island, the Crystal Mosque shines against Terengganu’s bright blue
sky with its sleek onion-shaped domes made of crystal, glass, and steel. The
whole structure juts out into the nearby river, symbolising the local community
living in stilted houses along the riverbank.
Inside,
the walls are adorned with elegant finishings in the shades of white and gold,
while its showstopping centrepiece is the elaborate crystal chandelier in the
main prayer hall.
The
Crystal Mosque is part of the Islam Heritage Park, where replicas of famous
mosques across the globe are on display.
The
recently opened Razaleigh Mosque has become the focal point of the quaint Gua
Musang town in Kelantan, thanks to its fascinating design that pays homage to
the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.
It
boasts nine 30m-tall towers, seven domes, and an open courtyard filled with a
replica of the Kaaba made up of blocks of light-emitting diode (LED) that
displays the holy verses of the Quran on repeat.
The
mosque can accommodate up to 3,500 devotees at a time.
From
afar, the Al-Badr Mosque, also known as Masjid Seribu Selawat Pangkor, seems to
be just another beautiful floating mosque in Malaysia, with subtle
ivory-coloured walls, a large dome, and a minaret soaring into the sky.
However, a surprise awaits visitors who decide to venture further into the
building.
The
walls inside explode with thousands of striking polychrome tiles painted with
Islamic inscriptions and Perak’s signature pattern, the bunga tekat, while the
intricate carvings on its wooden front doors are guaranteed to impress.
This
mosque can accommodate up to 1,500 devotees and visitors at a time.
Rich
in history and pleasing to the eyes, the Zahir Mosque today is a celebrated
landmark in Alor Setar, Kedah. The construction began in 1912 and was completed
in 1915, making it one of the oldest mosques in the country.
The
site was once a cemetery for the fallen Kedah warriors during the Siamese
invasion in 1821.
The
mosque features Neo-Mughal architecture inspired by the Azizi Mosque in North
Sumatera, which was popular in the region during that time. It also cleverly
incorporates elements that tolerate the local tropical climate such as the
installations of overhangs on the corridors to protect against harsh sunlight
and heavy rainfalls, as well as ample openings to allow natural ventilation.
Interestingly,
the bulbous domes which give the mosque its distinctive character were not
originally black; instead, they are actually made from copper (therefore, they
used to be copper-coloured domes), but had oxidised and turned black over time.
Despite
its humble facade, the Al-Qadim Mosque in Sibu, Sarawak is still worth a visit
because of its intricate woodwork. The large size of the carvings make it
easier for visitors to examine the craftsmanship closely, while the mosque’s
location within Sibu town makes it easily accessible.
Al-Qadim
Mosque features a unique three-tiered limas roof, along with rich wooden
interiors made of precious belian timber and crafted by artisans from Semarang,
Indonesia. The intricate handwoven art on the ceiling also spreads throughout
this place of worship.
Source:
The Star
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Sabahans
fail to revive suit against Hadi for alleged attack on Christians
V
Anbalagan
August
16, 2022
PUTRAJAYA:
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by two Sabahans to revive a suit
filed against PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for an alleged attack on
Christians.
Judge
Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said a three-member bench concluded that the findings
of the High Court last year were not manifestly wrong in law.
“We
agree with the High Court that the two declarations sought (by the Sabahans)
are wholly unsustainable and ought to be struck out,” said Vazeer, who sat with
Supang Lian and Ghazali Cha.
However,
the bench set aside the punitive costs of RM50,000 imposed on Maklin Masiau and
Lawrence Jomiji Kinsil @ Maximilhian.
“There
is merit to the appeal (on costs) as there is no basis to make the award,” he
said.
The
bench only ordered the two to pay Hadi RM10,000 in costs for the proceedings in
the High Court and Court of Appeal.
On
May 11 last year, High Court judge Akhtar Tahir allowed Hadi’s application to
strike out the suit, holding that the two plaintiffs lacked locus standi to
bring the action.
The
duo had filed an originating summons in December 2020, seeking declarations
that Hadi had committed sedition and was unfit to hold public office.
They
claimed Hadi had made a seditious statement against Christians and Christian
missionaries in the PAS publication Harakah on Jan 18, 2016, but had not been
prosecuted.
In
their affidavit to support the action, the Sabahans said Hadi’s statement was
also published by FMT on the same day.
Vazeer,
in his oral ruling, said the two were seeking declaratory orders based on
secondary sources.
He
said their complaint was that the attorney-general (AG), who is also the public
prosecutor, had not charged Hadi.
Despite
this, they said the prime minister has appointed Hadi as special envoy to the
Middle East.
“Such
declarations will not serve any purpose to the appellants (Sabahans). They were
not compelling the AG to take action or asking the prime minister to remove
Hadi from office,” he said.
Vazeer
said based on submissions by Hadi’s lawyers, the suit had been commenced for
collateral and political purposes.
“We
agree with the High Court’s observation that there is no conceivable reason to
ask for the declarations and the suit was an exercise in futility,” he said.
He
also noted that it was the AG who had the discretion to institute a charge
against Hadi.
“This
civil court cannot usurp that constitutional power and declare beforehand that
an offence had been committed,” he said.
He
said it would undoubtedly open the floodgates for similar suits to be filed if
such declarations were allowed.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
The
enhancing bilateral relations between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia
August
16, 2022
By
Eko Hartono, Indonesian Consul General in Jeddah
Indonesia
and Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations in 1950. Relations are
particularly important because Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, and
Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population; both are Muslim
majority countries. Besides Social and Religion, Economy and trade relations
are also particularly important, especially on oil (energy) and human resources
(migrant worker) sectors.
The
historical link between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia was Islam. Numerous Muslim
traders and ulamas arrived in the Indonesian archipelago from the Arab World
during the coming of Islam around the 13th century. Since the early 20th
century, Indonesian Muslims have taken the hajj pilgrimage to Makkah. As the
country with the largest Muslim population, Indonesia sends the largest number
of hajj pilgrims among Muslim countries.
Due
to the Covid pandemic two years ago, this year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
allowed Indonesia to send 100,510 thousand hajj pilgrims. Indonesia gives its
highest appreciation to the government of Saudi Arabia for the provision of a
large enough hajj quota for Indonesian pilgrims. Indonesia is the country with
the most quotas compared to other countries outside Saudi Arabia. Hajj quota
for the year 1440H/2019M, as many as 202,487 people (regular pilgrims) and
15,663 people (special pilgrims). The total congregation is 218,150 people.
Indonesian Hajj officers are 2,850 people.
The
most important thing to consider for the service of Indonesian pilgrims is to
provide food with an Indonesian taste. Catering companies are required to use
spices from Indonesia. So, it is expected that there will be an increase in
exports of Indonesian products to Saudi Arabia.
Recently,
the trade balance between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia also increased by 31.34
percent compared to the same period last year. Indonesia's non-oil and gas
exports to Saudi Arabia also increased in the second quarter of 2021 by 27.24
percent compared to the same period as last year. This year there is an
increase in demand, including in such products as fish, wheat, processed food,
vegetables, and fats/vegetable animals.
This
increase in exports is the result of the development of the business sector in
SMEs (small and medium enterprises), with a rapidly growing middle class. This
is, to some extent, thanks to modern grocery stores expanding to regions
outside Java and other major urban areas, increasing market presence for import
products. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased e-commerce
transactions. Online shoppers have increased from 75 million to 85 million. It
makes Indonesian communities so convenience with the store format fastest
growing modern sales channel.
In
this year, according to the World Bank, Indonesian economy is projected to
recover by 4.4% supported by improving domestic demand and the positive impact
of a stronger global economy. We also predict the growth will increase to 5.0%
in 2022 driven by reduced uncertainty.
The
Indonesian economy in the second quarter of 2021 also grew 7.07 percent
compared to the same period last year. This growth was faster than the World
Bank projected of 4.4 percent. This is because of improving domestic demand and
the positive impact of stronger global economy, it was especially supported by
a very significant export growth of 31.78 percent compared to the same period.
In
other economic fields, relations between the two countries continue to improve
with plans for cooperation in the fields of national product standards,
agricultural issues, and counterterrorism. In other economic fields, relations
between the two countries continue to improve with plans for cooperation in the
fields of national product standards, agricultural issues, and
counterterrorism.
In
the field of tourism, mutual visits by the people of the two countries are also
increasing. this can be seen from the large number of requests for visas by
Saudi Arabian citizens to Indonesia. This visit was to cover the G20 meeting,
the International Parliamentary Union meeting, and the Global Platform Disaster
Risk Reduction meeting and other activities. Moreover, in the field of
renewable energy, cooperation continues to increase to increase electricity
sources in Indonesia for the development of energy projects in Siguling and
Singkarak.
In
political relations, related to the implementation of the G20, Indonesia
expressed appreciation for the support of Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in
preparing topic arrangements such as, blended finance for development,
adaptation and mitigation of climate change, food security, just and fair
energy transition mechanisms. Prince Mohammed Bin Salman confirmed the
commitment to announce concrete cooperation for mangrove restoration and
conservation during the G-20.
Indonesia's
success in the economic field encourages the trust of the international
community, especially the G-20 members to appoint Indonesia to lead the G20
presidency in 2022. The G20 Presidency is an international economic cooperation
forum consisting of 19 countries and the European Union. There are 3 things
that are the main focus of Indonesia, namely inclusive health care,
digital-based economic transformation, and the transition to sustainable
energy.
Through
these pillar, Indonesia encourage and to ensure equitable access to COVID-19
vaccines, promoting sustainable and inclusive economic development which will
implemented by SMEs participation and creative digital economy. While also
maintaining the aspiration to continue to improve our collective capacity in
securing the shared prosperity among nations, through various reforms efforts
in global taxation, stronger cooperation, deepening of infrastructure
financing, and pushing for a more democratic, and representative international
cooperation.
There
are 438 activities during the 2022, G20 Indonesia Presidency spread across 25
cities throughout Indonesia. The implementation of the various activities of
the G20 Presidency is expected to increase domestic consumption by up to Rp1.7
trillion, increase national GDP to Rp7.4 trillion, as well as involve MSMEs and
absorb around 33 thousand workers in various sectors.
The
17th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit will take place in15-16 November
2022 in Bali. The Summit will be the pinnacle of the G20 process and intense
work carried out within the Ministerial Meetings, Working Groups, and
Engagement Groups throughout the year.
Source:
Saudi Gazette
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/624017
--------
Mideast
Iran
Categorically Rejects Allegations of Smuggling Weapons to Yemen
2022-August-16
Kan'ani
made the remark on Monday after an Arab outlet claimed that Iran had been
smuggling weapons and military equipment from the country’s Southern port city
of Bandar Abbas to Yemen's besieged port of Al-Hudaydah.
“The
aggressor coalition and their Western sponsors must be held to account for the
crimes they have been committing in Yemen for more than seven years, which have
led to the killing of innocent people and the destruction of Yemen’s
infrastructure, and have caused the biggest humanitarian disaster of the
century,” Kan'ani noted.
The
spokesperson stressed that leveling accusations against the Islamic Republic is
aimed at deflecting the regional and international public opinion away from the
realities on the ground in Yemen.
“The
Islamic Republic’s support for the Yemeni people has been political in nature
since the beginning of the country's crisis, and Iran has always backed a
peaceful process as well as the United Nations’ efforts for a political
solution to the devastating war and the continuation of ceasefire,” the top
diplomat stated.
“The
continuation of hostile policies and the repetition of threadbare scenarios,
despite the [Saudi-led coalition's] claim about trying to stop the conflict in
Yemen, will not lead to a new result in favor of the aggressors,” the official
added.
Tehran
has repeatedly rejected allegations about sending weapons to Yemeni forces.
“Medicine
and medical goods are sent to Yemenis with difficulty; then how could military
equipment go through and sent to them,” an Iranian foreign ministry
spokesperson had asked.
The
spokesman noted that the Yemeni nation has made astonishing progress in the
military field and manufacturing weapons and military equipment after facing
the Saudi-led aggression.
Saudi
Arabia launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with
its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US, the UK and
other Western states.
The
objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur
Hadi, and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running
state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.
While
the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet its objectives, the war has killed
hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian
crisis.
The
conflict has been described by the UN as the “world’s worst humanitarian
crisis”, and has resulted in the deaths of 377,000 people, more than two-thirds
under the age of five, per UN figures at the end of 2021.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
AEOI
Chief Stresses All Countries' Right to Peaceful Nuclear Technology
2022-August-16
Eslami
stated on Monday that acquiring nuclear technology is a legitimate source of
power for any country.
The
nuclear chief argued that all countries, including Iran, are entitled to use
nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and that Iran intends to use that
right.
However,
certain powers have abused their veto right at the UN Security Council to
prevent Iran from developing its peaceful nuclear program, he added.
"Numerous
allegations have been leveled against the country over the years and its
nuclear dossier has been sent to the Board of Governors of the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nation Security Council
(UNSC)," the official said
"Resolutions
and sanctions have been slapped against Iran as a result," he continued.
The
AEOI head also noted that Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah
Seyed Ali Khamenei has in the past 25 years stressed the importance of
developing nuclear technology.
He
added that the AEOI has adopted a comprehensive strategic document and taken
major steps to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Back
in mid-February, Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated Iran's opposition to the
production and use of atomic weapons and its determination to utilize peaceful
nuclear energy.
“You
see how oppressively the enemy front is focusing on the issue of our nuclear
energy. They [the enemy] impose sanctions [on us] because of a nuclear energy
[program] that they know is peaceful. And whatever they may say about Iran
being a certain amount of time away from producing a [nuclear] bomb is
nonsensical and meaningless,” he said.
“They
know we are not seeking that; that we are not looking for a nuclear weapon. We
are looking to benefit from nuclear energy in peaceful ways. They know this.
[But] They do not want the Iranian nation to achieve such an outstanding
scientific progress and that’s why they are pressuring us,” Ayatollah Khamenei
continued.
The
Leader added that Iran will urgently need nuclear energy, and that if the
country fails to take action today, it will be too late in 20 years.
Ayatollah
Khamenei has on many occasions stated the Islamic Republic considers the
pursuit and possession of nuclear weapons "a grave sin" from every
logical, religious and theoretical standpoint.
In
April 2010, he issued a fatwa declaring that the production, stockpiling, and
use of nuclear weapons are all haram (religiously banned).
"Iran
is not after a nuclear bomb. Why would Iran want a nuclear bomb? Moreover, when
an atomic bomb is detonated, it does not just kill enemies. Rather, it kills
innocent people as well, and this goes against Islamic beliefs and the
principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran. An atomic bomb does not
discriminate between good and bad people, and it is not something that the
Islamic Republic would use," a part of the fatwa said.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Son
Says Jailed Iranian Still Kept in Solitary Confinement for 1,000 Days
2022-August-16
"My
father has not been able to contact his family," Majid Nouri told
reporters, adding, "He has been held in solitary confinement for 1,000
days."
Hamid
Nouri was arrested upon arrival at Stockholm Airport in November 2019. In July,
the former judiciary employee was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in
Sweden on Thursday. Iran has dismissed the Swedish court's sentence as illegal
and called for Nouri's release.
In
the Judiciary Spokesman's press conference on Tuesday, Majid Nouri noted that
the Swedish Police just sufficed to express their regret about his father's
mistreatment.
Nouri's
son stated that his father was not given the Persian version of the verdict
yet, adding, "He has not read the verdict, the designation of his new
lawyer has not yet been agreed upon, while there are less than forty days left
for the appeal."
The
Judiciary Spokesman Masoud Setayeshi said that Hamid Nouri was being kept in
the severest conditions because he was deprived of basic fundamental rights,
even comunication with his family.
Setayeshi
stressed that the Swedish must hear the witnesses and Hamid Nouri's comments,
calling the verdict unfair.
The
charges against Nouri stem from allegations leveled against him by members of
the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group. Nouri has vehemently
rejected the allegations.
Tehran
has strongly condemned the Swedish court ruling for the life imprisonment of
Nouri, saying the court is basically unqualified to address the case.
The
court statement is fundamentally "rejected, distorted and
unacceptable", Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kana'ani stated
in mid-July, adding that "the court lacks legal legitimacy to deal with
the case".
The
spokesperson noted that "Iran holds Sweden accountable for the damages
caused to bilateral relations between the two countries by this statement and
ruling".
He
argued that instead of responding to the Iranian public opinion about allowing
free activity of a terrorist group, the Swedish judicial system is supporting
and promoting terrorism in practice.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Senior
Analyst: US to Blame If Talks Fail to End in Deal
2022-August-16
"Either
the US goes for real change in the draft or it'll have no one to blame but
itself for losing more in coming weeks, when West will start greater concerns
for winter shivering," Khoshcheshm wrote on Twitter on Monday, referring
to the energy crisis which has been soaring in recent months due to the war
between Moscow and Kyiv.
"Give
up the language of threat, it's to your loss. Your choice," he added.
His
remarks came as an EU official confirmed that Iran has responded to the
European Union's draft text to salvage the 2015 agreement on Monday. The
diplomat provided no details on Tehran's response to the text.
Iranian
experts say one of the reasons for the growing willingness of Europeans to
reach an agreement with Tehran is their need for the coutry's oil and gas amid
the Russia-Ukraine war and the rising prices in the global market. They believe
the Europeans and Americans are facing an economic crisis and are in critical
need of a deal with Iran.
Earlier
on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian urged the United
States to be flexible and realistic to let the negotiations yield fruit, and
warned that Tehran has its own "Plan B" and it will go into effect if
Washington fails to make a political decision to revive the accord.
"We
also have our own Plan B, but this issue must be resolved through talks,” Amir
Abdollahian stated, referred to the US claim that it has a Plan B in case the
talks fail.
The
foreign minister said if the US acts realistically and flexibly, Tehran and the
other sides will reach a deal in the coming days.
"We
are at a point that can be the beginning of the conclusion of a deal, but it
depends on the US how long it will take before reaching an agreement.
Washington knows very well how much flexibility we have shown, now it is the
turn of the American side to be flexible," the top diplomat continued.
Elsewhere
in his remarks, the top official said Iran and the P4+1 have done what is
necessary, adding that the Vienna talks made "progress" but Tehran
does not want to enter into an agreement which would make no changes on the
ground.
The
minister stated Tehran and Washington are exchanging messages on three issues
and that Iran will announce its views in the next few days.
Iranian
diplomat stressed that the US side showed flexibility regarding two issues in
words but this must be in practice, urging Washington to also show flexibility
about the third issue, namely guarantees.
"We
told Americans that if our opinions on these three issues, which are reasonable
opinions, are respected, we are ready to enter the stage of announcing an
agreement and hold a conclusion meeting,” Amir Abdollahian concluded.
Iran
and the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal have held several rounds of
negotiations since April last year to restore the agreement, which was
unilaterally abandoned by Donald Trump in May 2018.
In
quitting the agreement, Trump restored sanctions on Iran as part of what he
called the “maximum pressure” campaign against the country. Those sanctions are
being enforced to this day by the Joe Biden administration, even though it has
repeatedly acknowledged that the policy has been a mistake and a failure.
Iranian
officials say the ball is in the US' court, and the Biden administration should
assure Tehran that it will not repeat Trump's past mistakes.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010525000411/Senir-Analys-US-Blame-If-Talks-Fail-End-in-Deal
--------
Israeli
court rejects release appeal for Palestinian man on 165-day hunger strike
16
August, 2022
An
Israeli military court on Monday rejected an appeal for release by a
Palestinian prisoner whose health is deteriorating as he continues a 165-day
hunger strike to protest being held without charge or trial, his lawyer said.
Khalil
Awawdeh is one of several Palestinian detainees who have gone on prolonged
hunger strikes over the years in protest of what is known as administrative
detention.
Israel
says the 40-year-old father of four is a militant, an allegation Awawdeh denies
through his lawyer.
The
Islamic Jihad militant group demanded his release as part of an
Egyptian-brokered cease-fire ending three days of heavy fighting in the Gaza
Strip earlier this month but did not identify him as a member.
Israel
says administrative detention is needed to keep dangerous militants off the
streets and to hold suspects without divulging sensitive intelligence.
Critics
say the form of detention, which is almost exclusively used for Palestinians,
denies them due process.
Administrative
detainees can be held for months or years without charge or trial.
Ahlam
Haddad, a lawyer for Awawdeh, confirmed that the military court had rejected
his appeal for release.
He
has not eaten during the strike, except for a 10-day period in which he
received vitamin injections, according to his family.
Israel’s
Shin Bet internal security service has not commented on his case.
Israel
is currently holding some 4,400 Palestinian prisoners, including extremists who
have carried out deadly attacks, as well as people arrested at protests or for
throwing stones.
Around
670 Palestinians are currently being held in administrative detention, a number
that jumped in March as Israel began near-nightly arrest raids in the occupied
West Bank following a spate of deadly attacks against Israelis.
Israel
says it provides due process and largely imprisons those who threaten its
security, though a small number are held for petty crimes.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Palestinian
President Abbas skirts apology for Munich attack
August
17, 2022
BERLIN:
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed no regret Tuesday for the deadly
attack by Palestinian militants on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics a
half century ago, countering that Israel had committed “50 Holocausts” against
Palestinians over the years.
Eleven
Israeli athletes and a German police officer died after members of the
Palestinian militant group Black September took hostages at the Olympic Village
on Sept. 5, 1972. At the time of the attack, the group was linked to Abbas’
Fatah party.
Asked
whether as Palestinian leader he planned to apologize to Israel and Germany for
the attack ahead of the 50th anniversary next month, Abbas responded instead by
citing allegations of atrocities committed by Israel since 1947.
“If
we want to go over the past, go ahead,” Abbas told reporters after a meeting
with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. “I have 50 slaughters that Israel
committed.”
Standing
next to Scholz, Abbas explicitly used the word “Holocausts” in his reply,
drawing a grimace from the German chancellor. Germany has long argued the term
should only be used to describe the Nazis’ singular crime of killing six
million Jews before and during World War II.
While
Scholz had earlier rejected the Palestinian leader’s description of Israel’s
treatment of Palestinians as “apartheid,” he did not immediately rebuke Abbas
for using the term “Holocaust.”
In
a statement to German daily Bild, Scholz later criticized Abbas’s choice of
words, saying any downplaying of the horrors of the Holocaust was
“unacceptable.”
Conservative
German lawmaker Armin Laschet likewise expressed outrage at Abbas’ comments.
“The
(Palestinian) leader would have gained sympathy if he had apologized for the
terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics 1972,” he wrote on
Twitter. “Accusing Israel of ‘50 Holocausts’ instead is the most disgusting
speech ever heard in the German Chancellery,” he said.
In
his response, the Palestinian president also said he was committed to building
trust and achieving a peaceful solution to the conflict with Israel.
“Please
come to peace,” he said. “Please come to security, let’s build trust between us
and you. This is better than other kinds of talking.”
Israeli
Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Abbas’ remarks about “50 Holocausts,” made on
German soil, were “not only a moral disgrace, but a monstrous lie.”
“Six
million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, including one and a half million
Jewish children,” Lapid tweeted. “History will never forgive him.”
Weeks
before a planned somber commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the
Munich attack, Germany has also found itself embroiled in controversy in its
dealings with the relatives of the Israelis who were killed.
Victims’
families announced last week that they planned to boycott the ceremony after
failing to reach agreement on bigger compensation from the German government.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2144351/middle-east
--------
Africa
Somali
government vows to eliminate al-Shabaab terrorists' so-called courts
Mohammed
Dhaysane
16.08.2022
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
The
Somali government has announced that it will close so-called courts established
by the al-Shabaab terror group in Lower Shabelle and in and around Mogadishu
within two years.
Speaking
at a ceremony in Mogadishu on Monday night, newly-appointed Interior Minister
Ahmed Moalim Fiqi admitted that some people seek justice from al-Shabaab's
courts due to a lack of trust in the country's judicial system.
He
said his government is determined to eliminate such courts in Lower Shabelle
and Mogadishu within the next two years.
According
to Fiqi, the lack of enforcement of government courts’ judgments is the reason
why some Somalis seek justice from these courts.
The
so-called courts of the al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group are influential in the
Horn of Africa country, occasionally reversing decisions issued by government
courts.
Many
people seek justice in al-Shabab courts in secret because they believe Somali
government courts are corrupt.
These
tribunals are mobile and usually operate in Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle,
and Middle Juba, the only territory entirely held by the terrorist
organization.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
EU
urges peaceful resolution of election dispute in Kenya
Vakkas
Dogantekin
17.08.2022
The
European Union urged Kenyan authorities Tuesday to resolve an election dispute
in the East African country peacefully within the boundaries of the rule of
law.
EU
High Representative Josep Borrell in a statement said the EU commends Kenyans
for the "calm and peaceful" election day on Aug. 9.
"The
EU takes note of the results by the IEBC declaring Mr. William Ruto winner of
the election and the decision to appeal by Mr. Raila Odinga. Ongoing dispute
and any remaining concerns about this election must be resolved peacefully
through existing legal mechanisms," Borrell stressed.
He
said political and societal leaders must avoid any violence and call for calm.
The
EU-Kenya Strategic Dialogue begun in June 2021 will develop further with the
new Kenyan leadership, he underlined.
Kenya's
opposition leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday rejected the results of the
presidential election, which he was declared to have lost.
Addressing
a news conference in the capital Nairobi, Odinga said the "flawed"
results were a setback to democracy in the country.
“For
the avoidance of doubt, I want to repeat that we totally and without
reservations reject the presidential results announced yesterday by Mr.
Chebukati,” Odinga said.
Independent
Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chair Wafula Chebukati on Monday
declared William Samoei Ruto the country’s fifth president.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/eu-urges-peaceful-resolution-of-election-dispute-in-kenya/2662743
--------
Tunisia
constitution giving president wider powers comes into effect
16
August, 2022
Tunisia's
new constitution giving the president far greater powers is to come into effect
after the official electoral commission announced final results on Tuesday for
last month's referendum.
The
96 percent yes vote in the referendum, with 31 percent of the electorate taking
part, was largely unchanged from the preliminary results announced last month.
Opponents
of President Kais Saied say the new constitution will unravel Tunisia's
democratic gains from the 2011 revolution by giving him nearly unchecked
powers.
They
have criticized the process by which he wrote the constitution as illegal and
unilateral and have raised concerns over the legitimacy of the referendum after
he replaced the board of the electoral commission.
Saied
and his supporters have said the political system had to change to save Tunisia
from years of stagnation and political paralysis and have defended the process
by which he passed the constitution.
Last
week a court dismissed objections to the vote.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Tunisia
intercepts nearly 100 Europe-bound migrants
16
August, 2022
Tunisia
said Tuesday it had foiled several attempts by almost 100 migrants to reach
Europe via the Mediterranean Sea since the previous day.
Tunisia
and Libya are the main points of departure for migrants trying to reach Europe
from Africa. Sea crossing attempts tend to increase during spring and summer.
Tunisia’s
National Guard said it had prevented five maritime crossings and rescued 80
people, mostly Tunisians and including 35 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.
It
said “preventive operations” were also carried out near Menzel Temime in the
north, Mahdia and Kerkennah on the central coast and Zarzis in the south,
leading to 11 arrests.
The
National Guard said it had seized “a sum of money” without specifying the
amount, and an inflatable boat in these operations.
On
Monday, maritime and military authorities said 657 people were rescued or
prevented from trying to cross in 46 separate incidents between Friday and
Monday.
The
defense ministry told AFP that 42 Egyptians who had set sail from Libya were
rescued Sunday off Kerkennah, after their boat sank and they took refuge on an
oil platform.
Tunisia
is in the throes of political and economic crises, and Libya has been gripped
by lawlessness since 2011 that has seen militias turn to people trafficking.
The
two countries are also the gateway for sub-Saharan Africans hoping for a better
life by escaping impoverished and strife-torn countries such as Sudan.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Northwestern
Zamfara State in Nigeria passes death penalty for banditry, cattle rustling
Ibrahim
Garba Shuaibu
16.08.2022
KANO,
Nigeria
The
northwestern Muslim-dominated Zamfara State in Nigeria signed a death penalty
law for anyone found guilty of banditry, cattle rustling, cultism, or serving
as an informant for bandits, according to an official on Tuesday.
The
state government also restricted motorcycle movement from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and
directed hotels to scrutinize guests and verify their identity before placing
them in their facilities.
“On
the 28th of June this year, I assented to the bill on Prohibition and
Punishment for Banditry, Cattle Rustling, Cultism, Kidnapping and Other
Incidental Offences, 2022,” Governor Bello Matawalle said in a special
broadcast.
He
said anyone found guilty of the crimes is subject to the death penalty and the
measures were part of his administration’s unrelenting efforts to tackle the
problem of banditry that has plagued the state and neighboring northwestern
states for more than a decade.
Matawalle
described the activities of the informants as a major challenge to address
insecurity, expressing optimism that the situation would soon end.
Nigeria
still has the death penalty and governors have the power to sign the order
after a court judgment.
The
Kano High Court recently convicted a school proprietor and accomplice to
hanging for their roles in the kidnapping and death of a 5-year-old student in
the state.
Governor
Abdullahi Umar Ganduje pledged to sign the death penalty for the defendants
convicted in the case.
“With
regards to the issue of informants, which is the major impediment in the fight
against banditry, I am glad to inform the peace-loving people of Zamfara State
that we have succeeded in apprehending many of them,” he said. “Anyone found
guilty of supporting in any manner the aforementioned offenses face a sentence
of life in prison, 20 years in jail, or 10 years in prison, without the option
of a fine.”
Yahuza
Ahmed, a human rights activist and security expert with the Network for Peace
in Nigeria said: “I am optimistic that the activities of banditry will soon
reduce drastically. Peace is what everyone hopes and this law will be a
substance to ensure the peace in the state.”
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Kenyan
opposition leader says he’ll challenge his close election loss
August
16, 2022
NAIROBI:
Kenyan opposition figure Raila Odinga said Tuesday he’ll challenge the results
of the close presidential election with “all constitutional and legal options”
after Deputy President William Ruto was declared the winner, bringing new
uncertainty to a country where the vote was widely considered to be its most
peaceful.
Now
East Africa’s most stable democracy faces weeks of disputes and the possibility
that the Supreme Court will order a fresh election. Religious and other leaders
have pleaded for calm in a country with a history of deadly post-election
violence.
“Let
no one take the law into their own hands,” Odinga said to his often passionate
supporters. In Kisumu, a city in his western Kenya stronghold, some residents
said they were tired of going into the street and being tear-gassed.
This
was Odinga’s first appearance since Kenya’s electoral commission chairman on
Monday declared Ruto the winner with almost 50.5 percent of the votes. Four of
the seven commissioners abruptly announced they couldn’t support the results,
and Odinga supporters scuffled with the remaining commissioners at the
declaration venue.
Shortly
before Odinga spoke, the four commissioners asserted to journalists that the
chairman’s final math added up to 100.01 percent and the excess votes would
have made a “significant difference.” They also said he didn’t give them a
chance to discuss the results before his declaration.
“What
we saw yesterday was a travesty and blatant disregard of the constitution,”
Odinga said, calling the election results “null and void.”
The
77-year-old Odinga has pursued the presidency for a quarter-century. His
campaign has seven days after Monday’s declaration to file a petition with the
Supreme Court, which would then have 14 days to make a ruling.
Odinga
is renowned as a fighter, detained for years in the 1980s over his push for
multiparty democracy, and a supporter of Kenya’s groundbreaking 2010 constitution.
His claim that the deeply troubled 2007 election was stolen from him led to
violence that left more than 1,000 dead. Though he boycotted the fresh 2017
vote, his court challenge led to election reforms.
The
electoral commission had been widely seen as improving its transparency in this
election, practically inviting Kenyans to do the tallying themselves by posting
online the more than 46,000 results forms from around the country.
On
Tuesday, the local Elections Observation Group announced that its highly
regarded parallel voting tally “corroborates the official results” in an
important check on the process.
But
Odinga asserted that only the electoral commission chairman could see the final
results before the declaration. “The law does not vest in the chairperson the
powers of a dictator,” he said, and insisted that decisions by the commission
must be taken by consensus.
There
was no immediate statement from the electoral commission or its chairman. A
screen at its tallying center that had been showing cumulative presidential
election results stopped being updated Saturday and was later turned off. The
official form showing final results could not be accessed on the commission’s
website Tuesday.
Odinga’s
campaign had expected victory after outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta in a
political twist backed his former rival Odinga instead of his own deputy
president, with whom he fell out years ago. Some Kenyans have noted that
Kenyatta appointed the four dissenting commissioners last year.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2144276/world
--------
North
America
US
rules out releasing $3.5 billion in frozen Afghan funds
16
August 2022
The
administration of US President Joe Biden does not plan to release billions of
dollars in Afghan government assets held in the United States anytime soon.
“We
do not see recapitalization of the D.A.B. as a near-term option,” said Thomas
West, the American government’s special representative for Afghanistan,
referring to the Afghan Central Bank.
“We
do not have confidence that that institution has the safeguards and monitoring
in place to manage assets responsibly,” West said in a statement.
He
said American officials had abandoned the idea of releasing the money after it
was revealed that al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had been living in the
heart of Kabul apparently with the protection of the Taliban until he was
killed in a drone strike last month.
“And
needless to say, the Taliban’s sheltering of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri
reinforces deep concerns we have regarding diversion of funds to terrorist
groups,” he said.
Ned
Price, the US State Department spokesman, earlier said that the US had no plans
to release $3.5 billion in frozen funds to Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled
Central Bank. “We don’t see recapitalization of the Afghan central bank as a
near-term option.”
Biden
has frozen the assets belonging to the Afghan Central Bank since the withdrawal
of its occupation forces from the country in August 2021. Many US allies and
Western governments have also largely suspended their financial assistance to
Afghanistan since the US troop withdrawal and the Taliban takeover of the
country.
In
February, Afghanistan condemned a decision by the United States to seize
billions of dollars in frozen Afghan funds to pay the claimants of the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The
White House had earlier announced that the US Treasury planned to block half of
the $7-billion Afghan funds frozen in the US banks to distribute among the
families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Biden in February issued an
executive order allocating half of the money for distribution to families of the
victims.
Afghanistan’s
Taliban administration has repeatedly called on foreign governments to roll
back the sanctions imposed on Kabul and unfreeze the country’s central bank
assets.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
US
studying Iran’s comments on EU nuclear deal proposal: State Department
16 August,
2022
The
State Department has received Iran’s response to the EU proposal to revive the
2015 nuclear deal, a US official said Tuesday.
“We
have received Iran’s comments through the EU and are studying them. We are
sharing our views with the EU,” the State Department spokesperson told Al
Arabiya English.
Russia’s
top diplomat in Vienna told CNN that the comments from Iran on the EU proposal
were “very businesslike” and “reasonable.”
Mikhail
Ulyanov, who has become Russia’s de-facto spokesperson for the talks, claimed
the ball was now in Washington’s court.
He
said if the US had a positive response to Tehran’s comments, a ministerial
JCPOA meeting could be held “either this week or next week.”
Iran
relayed its remarks to the EU on Monday. The Iranian foreign minister said
there were “three issues that if resolved, we can reach an agreement in the
coming days.”
The
EU previously said the proposal was the final text and there were no more room
for negotiations. But the Biden administration and the EU have been adamant
about reviving the JCPOA, and it remains to be seen if the US will accept
Iran’s new requests.
Also
on Monday, State Department Spokesman Ned Price said the only way to reach a
deal was for Iran “to drop further unacceptable demands that go beyond the
scope of the JCPOA.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Trump
calls US withdrawal from Afghanistan most 'humiliating event in the history of
the United States'
16
August 2022
Former
US President Donald Trump has called the Biden administration’s tumultuous
withdrawal from Afghanistan last year "the most embarrassing, incompetent,
and humiliating event in the history of the United States."
Trump
made the remark on his Truth Social account on Tuesday on the one-year
anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan following the retreat of
US forces from the country.
The
US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 following the September 11, 2001 attacks
on the United States, despite the fact that no Afghan national was involved in
the attacks. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans died in the US war of aggression
on the country.
American
forces had occupied the country for about two decades on the pretext of
fighting against the Taliban. But as the US forces left Afghanistan, the
Taliban stormed into the capital Kabul in August last year, weakened by
continued foreign occupation.
"The
Afghanistan disaster of exactly one year ago was the most embarrassing,
incompetent, and humiliating event in the history of the United States,"
Trump said.
"Not
the fact that we left, I was the one that got our soldier count down to 2
thousand in preparation for leaving," Trump continued, "but the way
we left, taking the military out first, 13 dead soldiers (with many badly
injured), leaving many Americans behind, and giving the enemy over 85 Billion
Dollars worth of the best military equipment in the world. So Sad!"
The
Taliban took over the capital Kabul on August 8, 2021, and declared that the
war in Afghanistan was over. The militants entered the presidential palace
after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
The
US was forced to close the embassy in Kabul and evacuate diplomats and staff by
helicopters.
American
journalist Don DeBar told Press TV that “this entire war, since Jimmy Carter
started it (using George Bush, the first's CIA and Donald Rumsfeld's military
intelligence) and George Bush II deployed regulars, through the Obama-Trump and
now the Biden administration's time, has been a ‘Saigon moment,’” referring to
the 1975 hasty evacuation of remaining American troops from Vietnam when the
city of Saigon fell two years after former President Richard Nixon withdrew
American forces in the country.
“I
understand what Trump is doing here. The Republican base has a strong sense of
nationalistic pride that has to be massaged, and in this particular case the
deficit is being exploited by him for the benefit of that base,” he told Press
TV on Tuesday.
“But
he's also right, even if that's not his intent. The 'humiliating event' he
refers to is not last year's televised exit-in-haste. It's the decades-long war
on the people of Afghanistan that the US began conducting during the Carter
Administration, which brought the Taliban and other fundamentalists to power
over the secularists who had come to power seeking peace with its neighbor, the
USSR, looking to build a democratic modern economy using a socialist model.
Carter and his NSA advisor, Zbigniev Brzezinski, lit a match intended to stop
them and burn the fingers of Moscow. Instead, the fire has been consuming the
people of Afghanistan ever since, including up to this day,” the analyst said.
“It
is reminiscent of the other national humiliation in what is now known as Ho Chi
Minh city, then Saigon, where the US beat another hasty exit after a
ridiculously long war that consumed millions of Vietnamese. There, again, what
was done to the people of Vietnam is the US national shame, not the decision to
finally leave,” he noted.
US
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had called Washington’s retreat
from Afghanistan "a lot worse than Saigon in 1975.”
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Europe
EU
says Iran’s response to nuclear deal plan is constructive
16 August,
2022
The
European Union views Iran’s response to a proposed blueprint for reviving the
2015 nuclear deal as constructive, according to an official familiar with the
diplomatic efforts, and is consulting with the US on a “way ahead for the
protracted talks.
The
comments are the first positive sign that the Iranian position, formally
submitted by Tehran to the EU on Monday night, might not stall the negotiations
much further.
The
official, who didn’t want to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter,
said Iran’s response still required study and that other parties to the nuclear
talks -- which include the US, China and Russia -- are assessing it.
EU
mediators had circulated a “final proposal for salvaging the landmark atomic
deal last week. The bloc described that text as the last remaining hope of
rescuing an accord that’s meant to limit Tehran’s nuclear activity in exchange
for the lifting of sanctions, including on its energy sector. But comments from
top Iranian officials suggested they were seeking further changes.
Extra
oil from Iran could provide much-needed relief for a global economy hit by
soaring energy costs. Brent oil futures fell as much as 2.8 percent in London
to trade at a six-month low on Tuesday as traders weighed the more productive
tone of the Iran talks.
“We
have received the Iranian response last evening. We are studying it and are consulting
with the other JCPOA participants and the US on the way ahead, the EU
spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs and Security, Nabila Massrali, said earlier on
Tuesday, using the nuclear deal’s formal acronym.
At
a regularly scheduled briefing, she declined to speculate on the timing of any
next steps.
“I
want to stress again that it arrived only last night, Massrali said of Iran’s
response. “The way forward is for all the participants to look at it, for the
US to look at it.
The
accord unraveled after the Trump administration abandoned it in 2018, setting
off a security crisis in the Persian Gulf and effectively banning Iranian oil
from global markets. Tehran retaliated by stepping up its uranium enrichment to
near levels that are required for a weapons program.
Talking
to reporters on Tuesday, government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi declined to
describe the contents of Iran’s response to the EU, according to the official
government website.
State-run
Nour News -- which is closely linked to the Supreme National Security Council,
a top body heavily involved in foreign-policy decisions -- said in a tweet that
the EU proposal didn’t clearly address “Iranian concerns related to three main
factors, without elaborating.
“The
opinions announced to the EU on behalf of Iran also highlight the necessity of
meeting our country’s legal demands, the tweet said. The council’s secretary,
Ali Shamkhani, met with lawmakers and senior Iranian nuclear negotiators on
Tuesday evening in Tehran to brief them on the latest developments, Nour News
said in a separate tweet.
Negotiations
with world powers have dragged on for almost 18 months, dogged at various
stages by political squabbles over terrorism sanctions, Iranian demands for
guarantees the US won’t again renege on the deal, Russia’s war on Ukraine and
inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
On
Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian had called on the US
to show “a realistic approach and flexibility to conclude a deal.
“We’ve
clearly told the US we’re ready to enter the phase of announcing the deal, and
have a meeting of foreign ministers in Vienna on final conclusions, if our
latest points are met, he told reporters in Tehran.
State
Department spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration would share its
views privately with the EU.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Swedish
citizen detained in Iran for espionage might face other charges: Spokesperson
16
August, 2022
A
Swedish citizen detained in Iran on suspicion of espionage might face other
charges, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Masoud Setayeshi said on Tuesday in a
televised news conference.
The
suspect, who remains unnamed, had been under surveillance by the intelligence
ministry during several previous trips to Iran because of “suspicious
behavior,” the official IRNA news agency reported in July.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Türkiye
holds panel in Paris to push for UN Security Council reform
Esra
Taskin and Muhammet Tarhan
17.08.2022
PARIS
Türkiye’s
Communications Directorate held a panel in Paris to emphasize the critical need
for a UN Security Council reform.
Many
officials from Türkiye, including Deputy Director of Communications Cagatay
Ozdemir, attended the panel along with diplomats from the Turkish Embassy in
Paris.
The
panel was moderated by Washington Director of the Ankara-based Political, Economic
and Social Research Foundation (SETA) Kilic Bugra Kanat and attended by
panelists Presidential Security and Foreign Policy Committee Members Prof.
Cagri Erhanand, Prof. Nursin Guney as well as President of the Association of
Foreign Journalists (APE) Elias Masboungi and Italian scholar expert Valeria
Giannotta.
Kanat
said that the reform of the UN Security Council is "not a choice but a
necessity".
With
the panel series, Türkiye aims to point out how the international community and
international organizations faced significant challenges in the face of
problems in recent years and how the international system was ineffective in
addressing these challenges.
The
panel also aims to push for a fairer, more democratic and more representative
structure in the Security Council.
After
holding panels in Italy, Argentina and France, Kanat said they plan to organize
panels in 10 more different countries within the next two weeks.
Erhan,
for his part, told the panel that the UN member countries increased from 51 to
193 and the world population was up from 2.5 billion to 8 billion.
“It
is clear that we need a change because the UN system was established for a
world 4 times smaller than the one we live in today."
Guney,
on the occasion, said there have been initiatives for the reform of the UN in
the past, adding that the current system allows the five permanent members of
the UN Security Council to use the veto "against human welfare" due
to different national interests.
Giannotta
said the current system at the UN Security Council, has proven to be
ineffective in providing security and stability to the international system and
in dealing with the crisis.
Russia-Ukraine
war has proven once again "our inability as the international community to
deal with the crisis", according to Giannotta.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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--------
German
troops back to Bosnia as fear of instability grows
August
16, 2022
BERLIN:
Germany has deployed troops with the European Union’s peacekeeping mission in
Bosnia for the first time in a decade as concerns mount instability from the
Ukraine war could spread to the Western Balkans.
On
Tuesday, the first German troops to return to the country were greeted in a
ceremony at the Sarajevo headquarters of the EUFOR force that marked the start
of their mission, a German military spokesman said.
Germany
will deploy some 30 troops in total to Bosnia by mid-September, returning to
the force that it had left at the end of 2012.
Bosnia
is hundreds of miles from the fighting in Ukraine but faces an increasingly
assertive Bosnian Serb separatist movement that analysts say has at least tacit
support from Moscow.
NATO
and senior EU officials have warned that instability from the war in Ukraine
could spread to the Western Balkans.
Only
days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU decided to almost double the
size of its EUFOR peacekeeping force to 1,100 from 600 troops by sending in
reserves to stave off potential instability.
During
a visit to the northern town of Novi Grad on Tuesday, Bosnian Serb separatist
leader Milorad Dodik said German troops are not welcome, referring to Germany’s
role in the World War Two. Dodik has previously said he regretted agreeing as a
member of the state presidency to extend the mandate of EUFOR.
EUFOR’s
mandate runs out in November, and it is up to the UN Security Council to decide
whether to extend it for another year. Concerns are growing in the West that
Moscow might use its veto to prevent an agreement.
The
Russian embassy in Bosnia in a statement on its website decried “unacceptable
references” to the impact of events in Ukraine on the situation in Bosnia and
said EUFOR itself had described the situation as peaceful and stable in its
last report to the UN Security Council.
“The
narrative about the need to expand the EUFOR military personnel, including the
German troops, is unfounded,” it said.
The
statement added that some Western states, primarily the United States and
Britain, were preparing the ground for a “crawling NATO-ization” of Bosnia.
EUFOR
replaced NATO peacekeeping troops in Bosnia in 2004.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2144301/world
--------
Zelensky,
Erdogan and Guterres to meet in Ukraine on Thursday
August
16, 2022
ANKARA:
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a one-day working visit to Lviv
on August 18, 2022, upon the invitation of the president of Ukraine Volodymyr
Zelensky.
According
to a statement made by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, all
aspects of the strategic partnership-level Turkiye-Ukraine relations will be
evaluated during President Erdogan's meetings with his Ukrainian counterpart.
During
the visit, it is also expected that a trilateral meeting will be held with the
participation of Zelenskiy and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres.
At
the meeting, the steps that can be taken to end the Ukraine-Russia war through
diplomatic means, by increasing the activities of the mechanism established for
the export of Ukrainian grain to the world markets, will be discussed,
according to the statement.
Three
Black Sea ports were unblocked last month under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv,
brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, making it possible to send hundreds
of thousands of tonnes of Ukrainian grain to buyers. The United Nations said
the deal aims to ease a worsening global food crisis
The
situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will also be discussed
according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Ukraine
and Russia have blamed each other for shelling near the eastern Ukraine nuclear
plant, which Russian forces took over in the early stages of their Feb. 24 invasion.
The plant is still being operated by Ukrainian technicians.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2144161/world
--------
UN
won’t reinstate official transferred for criticizing Islamic Jihad rocket fire
By
LUKE TRESS
August
17, 2022
The
United Nations said Tuesday that a senior official in East Jerusalem who was
removed from her position after condemning Palestinian Islamic Jihad will
remain in a new location, despite Israel calling to reinstate her.
Sarah
Muscroft, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, was removed from her post
last week after she condemned the Palestinian terror group’s conduct during the
recent Gaza conflict.
Her
tweet criticizing the PIJ for “indiscriminate rocket fire” sparked an uproar
among Palestinian supporters.
Israeli
Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan on Sunday called on UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres to reverse the decision to transfer her out of her position.
But
a UN spokesperson told The Times of Israel Tuesday that Muscroft will remain in
a new position despite Erdan’s request.
“She’s
been reassigned to a different post. I don’t know where that post yet is,” the
spokesperson said. “Her location of work has been changed. That was the
decision taken by our Humanitarian Affairs office.”
In
her post, Muscroft wrote she was “relieved to see a ceasefire agreed ending
hostilities impacting both Palestinians and Israeli civilians. Such
indiscriminate rocket fire of Islamic Jihad provoking Israeli retaliation is
condemned. The safety of all civilians is paramount — the ceasefire must be
upheld.”
Muscroft,
who had been based in East Jerusalem, came under massive criticism from
pro-Palestinian activists, who said she was blaming Palestinians for the latest
round of violence and was failing to hold Israel responsible.
The
latest Gaza conflict began with several Israeli airstrikes against Islamic
Jihad targets in response to what the army said was a concrete terror threat
from a PIJ cell to fire anti-tank missiles across the border at Israeli troops
or civilians. The strikes were followed by the firing of nearly 1,000 rockets
by PIJ as well as roughly 170 Israeli counterstrikes.
Muscroft
later deleted the post and tweeted an apology the next day, saying that “one of
my previous tweets was ill-informed and I have deleted it. I sincerely
apologize for my poor judgment. All civilians — everywhere — must be able to
live in peace.”
The
turmoil did not subside though, and Muscroft went on to close her Twitter
account entirely.
Explaining
the decision to remove Muscroft, OCHA deputy spokesman Jens Laerke said at the time,
“OCHA has been present in the occupied Palestinian territory for the past 20
years, working to help meet humanitarian needs, guided by the humanitarian
principles of neutrality, impartiality, and humanity. Over two million people
in the occupied Palestinian territory need assistance — they remain our only
focus and priority.”
The
OCHA has in the past been highly critical of Israeli policies in the West Bank
and East Jerusalem.
Last
week, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the death toll from the recent
round of fighting in Gaza had risen to 48, after a man and an 11-year-old girl
died from wounds sustained during the violence.
In
all, more than 300 Palestinians were wounded over the three days of fighting.
Israel says some of the deaths and injuries were caused by PIJ rockets that
fell short and landed inside Gaza.
Source:
Times Of Israel
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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--------
Pakistan
Why
US envoys allowed to visit sensitive areas, questions Shireen Mazari
Ikram
Junaidi
August
17, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
After criticising the visit of US Ambassador Donald Blome to Landikotal and
Torkham border last week, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President
Dr Shireen Mazari on Tuesday said Mr Blome’s meeting with officials of the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government and the chief minister was not a big deal.
However,
she questioned under which contract US ambassadors visit sensitive areas while
no Pakistani diplomat can go to any sensitive area in other countries.
The
party, which criticised the meeting of US embassy officials with
parliamentarians during its tenure, has been facing criticism over the
contradiction in its stances towards the US.
Addressing
a press conference here on Tuesday, Dr Mazari alleged that the US had conspired
to remove the well-performing PTI government through the local collaborators.
Says
Washington conspired to remove well-performing PTI govt through local
collaborators
She
said the American ambassador was holding meetings with the provincial and
federal governments. Under which agreement, he was allowed to visit the
Pak-Afghan border, she asked.
Lashing
out at the government for allegedly torturing party leader Shahbaz Gill, Dr
Mazari demanded that sedition cases should also be filed against Nawaz Sharif,
Maryam Nawaz, Asif Ali Zardari, Ayaz Sadiq and Khawaja Asif as their statements
were more alarming and dangerous.
She
alleged that Shehbaz Gill’s body had signs of torture, claiming he was stripped
naked and tortured.
She
stated that if Mr Gill did anything unlawful, the law should take its course,
but first he must be given a chance of fair trial to prove his innocence.
“If
someone is accused of contravening law of the land or violating Constitution,
he must be given a fair trial to defend himself so court can decide and give
justice,” she added.
The
PTI leader lamented that it was horrific to first abduct him, register an FIR
and then tortured him. Shahbaz Gill’s body showed severe marks of torture, she
added.
Talking
about the prohibited funding case against the PTI, she said the Election
Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the chief election commissioner (CEC) were
working on a completely biased approach as the Supreme Court and the Islamabad
High Court had clear directions to decide all the cases simultaneously.
Coming
down hard on the government for increasing petrol prices, she said the
government of “thieves” dropped another petrol bomb that would further augment
the miseries of the inflation-ridden and pervert-stricken masses. She advised
[PML-N leader] Maryam Nawaz to stop staging a drama on petrol prices.
PTI
delegation meets Gill in jail
A
seven-member parliamentary delegation of the PTI visited Adiala jail on Tuesday
and met Dr Shahbaz Gill. They expressed serious concern over alleged police
torture on him.
Source:
Dawn
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--------
Gunmen
kill two policemen escorting polio workers in Pakistan
Aug
16, 2022
PESHAWAR:
Gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on Tuesday on police escorting a team
of polio workers in northwestern Pakistan, killing two policemen, authorities
said.
None
of the polio workers were harmed, said Mohammad Imran, a local police official.
The four polio workers and their police escort were all traveling on
motorcycles.
The
assailants fled the scene and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the
attack in the town of Gomal, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering
Afghanistan.
The
attack came on the second day of Pakistan's latest anti-polio campaign in the
province. Pakistan has registered 14 new polio cases since April, all from
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The
outbreak has been a blow to the Islamic nation's efforts to eradicate the
disease, which can cause severe paralysis in children.
Pakistan's
anti-polio campaigns are regularly marked by violence as Islamic militants
often target polio teams and police protecting them, falsely claiming that the
vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Source:
Times Of India
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China
wants military outposts in Pakistan to safeguard its investments
Aug
17, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Having made significant investments in the conflict-prone Pakistan-Afghanistan
region as part of its hugely ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, China is
planning to protect its interests in the two countries by stationing its own
forces in specially created outposts, according to top diplomatic sources.
China
has been keen to expand its influence to central Asia through the
Pakistan-Afghanistan route and has made strategic investments in the two
countries.
Pakistan,
where according to some estimates the Chinese investments have risen above USD
60 billion, is largely dependent on China not only for financial but also
military and diplomatic support.
Given
the huge imbalance of power in its favour, China has begun to put pressure on
Pakistan to allow building of outposts where it would station its armed
personnel.
Afghanistan,
where Taliban are ruling now, however, is yet to meet the expectations of both
China as well as Pakistan on many counts.
Top
diplomatic and security sources in Islamabad who requested anonymity for this
report, believe that China's People Liberation Army is working at a war scale
to establish military outposts in Afghanistan and Pakistan for what it claims
would be smoother operations and expansion of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
According
to a diplomatic source, the Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong has held meetings with
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto and
Chief of Army General Qamar Javed Bajwa in this regard.
Ambassador
Rong has not been in Pakistan since the end of March 2022 this year, only just
arrived recently in the country.
However,
the meeting in which he demanded the creation of outposts for Chinese forces
was perhaps the first formal meeting of ambassador Rong with the new government
and state representatives.
The
Chinese ambassador has been continuously insisting on the security of Chinese
projects and the safety of its citizens, the source informed.
China
has already demanded security outposts in Gwadar and also for using the Gwadar
International Airport for its fighter jets.
The
facility that can be used for military purposes is soon going to be operational
as revealed from its fencing, another top source revealed.
However,
the issue has its own sensitive dimensions as the Pakistani people may not be
comfortable with a heavy Chinese military presence in the country.
There
have been fears that the country is already in a debt-trap-like situation and
that Chinese tactics could leave it no better than a colony.
On
Afghanistan, both China and Pakistan have their own set of concerns. After the
Taliban's take-over both Pakistan and China were expecting unquestioning
cooperation from the landlocked nation. However, this has not materialised
fully.
One
of the foremost demands of the Pakistanis was that they wanted to keep the
Indians out of Afghanistan. But the Kandahar-based Taliban have not too much of
a liking for Pakistan that would allow it to call the shots.
The
Taliban have been keen on an independent foreign policy including on ties with
India. Even Mullah Yaqub, the Taliban defence minister, has suggested military
training in India.
However,
this was not the only area where Pakistan expected the new Afghan government to
comply with its wishes.
Taliban
and especially the groups affiliated to the Haqqanis were expected to
facilitate the destruction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and hand over
wanted militants to the Pakistani army.
The
Haqqanis soon made it clear that they would not comply. The reason being that
the Kandaharis and some of TTP leaders shared the same ancestral background.
Left with no choice, the Pakistani army has had to engage in complex ceasefire
talks with the TTP.
The
new Afghan government was also supposed to recognise the Durand Line as an
international border. Pakistan had erected a wire fence at considerable expense
in recent years, but within weeks the Taliban and TTP were cutting the wire and
laying claim to the FATA region of Pakistan.
According
to a source, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Bajwa, had already nursed
anxieties about a Taliban takeover, but he was opposed by his intelligence
chief Faiz Hamid and by powerful Corps Commanders.
China
also has viewed the developments in Afghanistan with some concern. The Chinese
have their own set of worries. The Taliban and Haqqanis show no interest in
handing over Uyghur insurgents to the Chinese authorities.
China
also considers them not serious towards the development of its BRI network in
the Afghanistan. China wants access to central Asia and Europe through the CPEC
and Afghanistan, the diplomatic source said.
There
are concerns in Beijing that Uyghur extremists may have started collaborating
with Balochi groups and the TTP to undermine the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC).
There
have been a number of attacks inside Pakistan in which Chinese citizens have
been targeted, including the bomb blast in Quetta in April 2021 which the
Chinese Ambassador narrowly escaped.
A
year later, a Balochi suicide bomber killed three Chinese citizens near
Karachi's Confucius Institute. It was precisely these incidents that led to a
renewal of Chinese pressure on deploying their own security to Pakistan - a
demand which Pakistan has repeatedly refused.
According
to the sources, China wants to expand its strategic role in Pakistan by
deploying its own security personnel to protect its projects and citizens
there.
The
source also said that China was keen to invest in Afghanistan and wants to
expand its BRI project, so Beijing needs to secure Pakistan and Afghanistan with
its military outposts.
China
has reminded Pakistan of its history of giving outposts to America and other
countries during the Cold War. Currently, China has heavily invested in
Pakistan and the demand of the arrangement for the outpost and security is getting
serious with passage of time.
Pakistan
has to pay 300 billion Pakistani rupees to Chinese firms, and these companies
have already threatened Pakistan to shut down power plants if unpaid dues will
not be cleared, according to sources in the know.
Bostan
Industrial Zone, Gwadar Port, Special Zone-I and Zone-II; some patrolling units
on CPEC's western alignment which cover Awaran, Khuzdar, Hoshab and Turbat
areas; Mohmand Marble City (SEZ) near Mohmand Agency and Sost Dry-Port &
Moqpondass Special Economic Zone in Gilgit-Baltistan are the major Chinese
projects running in Pakistan.
On
one side, Pakistan is trapped in the debt-trap diplomacy of China, while on the
other hand, the Chinese administration is constantly reminding them that they
do not have trust in the Pakistani security apparatus.
Pakistan
does not want to annoy China from whom it repeatedly takes financial aid.
However, the acceptance of the demand would not only dent its global image
further it could also lead to domestic complications, conclude sources who
requested anonymity for this report due to their proximity to decision makers
in the country.
Source:
Times Of India
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Pak
PM likely to take decision on next Army chief's appointment by mid-September:
Report
Aug
16, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif could initiate discussions on the
appointment of the next Army chief to replace General Qamar Javed Bajwa by the
end of August, and take a decision by mid-September, according to a media
report on Tuesday.
Appointed
in 2016, the current Chief of Army Staff Gen Bajwa, 61, is set to retire in the
last week of November.
The
army chief's appointment is meant to be for three years, but Gen Bajwa was
given an additional three-year term in 2019 after some political drama.
Then-prime minister Imran Khan had given him an extension in August, but the
Supreme Court later demanded a legislation on the re-appointment of the
services chiefs.
Pakistan's
Parliament complied in January 2020, allowing the prime minister to extend the
tenure of services chiefs at his discretion. The legislation had, however,
fixed 64 as the age at which a service chief must be retired.
Gen
Bajwa can therefore be eligible for another term. This technicality had led to
speculation that the incumbent may be seeking or interested in another
extension. But according to a military source, Gen Bajwa has communicated to
those around him that he will retire in November, the report said.
Inter-Services
Public Relations, too, has confirmed that the chief is, indeed, retiring.
A
senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, who is a member of the
federal Cabinet has hinted that Prime Minister Sharif could initiate
discussions on the appointment of the next Army chief by the end of August, and
pos-s-ibly take a decision by mid-September, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The
general perception is that he will consult his allies in the ruling coalition
before making a final call.
A
source in the Pakistan Peoples Party, however, suggested that the party may not
want to get involved as it is the prime minister's prerogative to make the
decision.
According
to Article 243(3) of the Constitution, the president appoints the services
chiefs on the recommendation of the prime minister.
The
tradition is that General Headquarters (GHQ) sends a list of the four to five
senior-most lieutenant-generals, along with their personnel files, to the
Ministry of Defence, which then forwards them to the prime minister to pick the
officer he finds best suited to the role.
The
credentials of the generals are then deliberated either at the Prime Minister's
Office or in the cabinet. The matter comes down to the prime minister's
'informal consultation' with the outgoing army chief, his own perceptions and
his discussions with his closest advisors, the report said.
Four
of the six top Lt-Gens at the time of Gen Bajwa's retirement will be from the
same batch, while a fifth is senior to almost the entire lot, the report said.
Lt
Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Lt Gen Azhar Abbas are among the six potential
frontrunners who can replace Gen Bajwa as the next chief of Pakistan's Army,
according to the report.
Lt-Gen
Mirza is the senior-most amongst the four candidates belonging to the same
batch. He hails from the Sindh Regiment; the same parent unit as the outgoing
CJCSC, Gen Nadeem Raza.
Lt-Gen
Abbas is the most experienced in Indian affairs among the current brass.
Currently,
he is the chief of general staff (CGS), effectively running the army with
direct oversight of both operations and intelligence directorates at GHQ.
Prior
to that, he commanded the Rawalpindi-based but Kashmir-centric and
politically-significant X Corps, which indicates that he enjoys the complete
trust of the present Army chief.
It
was during his time as commander X Corps that the Indian and Pakistani armies
reached an understanding on respecting the 2003 ceasefire agreement along the
Line of Control, and it was Lt-Gen Abbas's job to ensure compliance on it, the
report said.
Source:
Times Of India
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Professor
shot dead in Quetta, body of lawyer found in Bostan
August
17, 2022
QUETTA:
Unidentified armed men shot dead a professor of Government College of Physical
Education in Nawan Killi area here on Tuesday.
According
to police, Prof Muhammad Ali Nasar was passing through Nawan Killi bazaar, a
locality on the outskirts of Quetta, when armed men on a motorcycle opened
fire, killing him on the spot. The assailants fled from the area after the
attack.
Police
reached the area after learning about the incident and took the body of the
professor to Civil Hospital.
In
another incident, the body of a missing lawyer was found in Bostan area of
Pishin district. According to the police, lawyer Saddam Khan had gone missing
two days ago.
“The
body of Advocate Saddam Khan was found in Bostan area of Pishin district,”
police said, adding that he was shot dead as marks of bullets were visible on
his body.
Police
shifted the body to Civil Hospital. It was later handed over to his family
members. As the news of the incident spread, a large number of lawyers reached
the hospital.
Source:
Dawn
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of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1705339/professor-shot-dead-in-quetta-body-of-lawyer-found-in-bostan
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Pakistan
to play ‘positive role’ to eliminate differences between China, US: PM
August
16, 2022
Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif has offered Pakistan’s services as a mediator to bring
together US and China as it did decades ago.
The
prime minister in an interview to international media said: “If China and the
US so desire, Pakistan would be happy to play a positive role to bridge their differences,
as we had done in the past.”
The
interview revolved around national, regional and global issues and focused in
particular on the role Pakistan could play in “preventing the world from
sliding into an ever deeper set of crises”, as put by the publication.
PM
Shehbaz characterised Pakistan’s foreign policy as one of “friendliness and
goodwill towards all the nations of the world”.
“Pakistan
has traditionally maintained good relations with China and the United States.
Historically, it was Pakistan that acted as a bridge in opening up the
relationship between the United States and the Peoples’ Republic of China,” he
said.
The
premier said that Pakistan has always underscored the need to avoid a
confrontational approach. “Bloc politics and any drift towards cold war will
not produce any positive results, and in fact would be counterproductive for
growth and stability,” he stressed.
“Pakistan
strongly believes that inter-state relations should be based on mutual respect
and peaceful resolution of disputes by upholding the principles of the UN
charter and international law,” he added.
To
a question on what it could mean for Pakistan and the rest of the world, if
nations were asked to choose sides, especially given the close ties Pakistan
and China enjoy, PM Shehbaz said that while the relationship may be “very
special”, Pakistan and the US “have also maintained a longstanding historic
bilateral relationship which covers all issues of mutual interest”.
“The
world can ill-afford descent into another era of Cold War or bloc politics. I
believe polarisation would have serious consequences for the global economy
afflicted by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis,” the
premier told Newsweek.
He
said developing countries, like Pakistan, are “already suffering from external
shocks to their socio-economic well-being, and do not desire aggravation of
these challenges induced by major power rivalry”.
On
the subject of relations with the US and their planned trajectory, PM Shehbaz
said that Pakistan has instituted dialogues in the areas of health, energy,
climate, investment and trade.
“These
dialogues are playing an important role in strengthening our bilateral ties.
Most recently, we held the Health Dialogue with the US, which will help
facilitate more bilateral cooperation in the health sector. We also hope for
the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Ministerial level meeting
this year,” he said.
He
also spoke of bilateral trade and commercial ties, saying that Pakistan has had
high-level visits from the US to explore these ties. “Some of the US companies
are doing extremely well in Pakistan, and there are growing trade and
commercial ties between the two counties, with a lot more potential to
achieve,” he said.
He
urged US companies to “invest in Pakistan’s lucrative market and enhance
commercial ties, particularly in its growing IT sector”.
“There
is a strong Pakistani diaspora in the US that is acting as a bridge to deepen
the ties between our two countries and the people,” he added.
Speaking
of one year of Taliban rule in Afghanistan and what can be done to support the
Afghan people amid a precarious humanitarian and economic situation, the
premier said: “Our message to the international community would be to remain
engaged, continue to assist the interim government in key social and economic
areas, and unfreeze Afghanistan’s financial assets to help build a sustainable
economy.”
He
said that in the meanwhile, Pakistan will “continue to impress upon the interim
Afghan government the importance of taking demonstrable actions on its
commitments including those relating to inclusivity, respect for human rights
of all Afghans, including girls’ education, and effective counter-terrorism
action”.
PM
Shehbaz also spoke of taking over from his predecessor, Imran Khan, saying that
under the current regime, if viewed in terms of the vote cast in the 2018
elections, “the political parties that are part of the coalition government
represent 70 percent of the electorate”.
“The
present government is truly national in nature,” he remarked.
On
the road map ahead, he said that the coalition government is “working on an
agreed-upon national agenda of economic reform and stabilisation”, which he
termed the country’s “topmost priority”.
“We
are also focusing on making governance efficient and service-oriented, besides
improving Pakistan’s relations with friendly countries on the basis of our
mutual interests,” he added.
The
premier laid emphasis on the need to understand that Pakistan is a “young
democracy”. “We need time to evolve and mature as a democratic polity. The
political evolution always comes with a cost,” he explained.
“Honestly
speaking, for democracy to function effectively, the political parties that
come to power will have to improve their delivery. A political system can only
be strengthened and strike deep roots when it is owned by the people at large,
which in turn is possible through efficient public service delivery.
Performance in office alone can provide longevity to the public office holders,”
he said.
Source:
Pakistan Today
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