Hosni Mubarak, sons plead not guilty to murder and graft

Eleven killed in Karachi; Malik says situation improving

Drone attack kills four in North Waziristan

CIA in Pakistan: fiction that mirrors reality

'Pak army's focus on countering India self-destructive'

SEALs always intended to shoot Osama

NIA tightens noose on Geelani over ISI funding

Rebels killed, Gaddafi camp says NATO can't stop war

Bahrain: If You’re a Pro-democracy Activist, Make Sure it’s in the Right Country

American pundits' anti-Muslim hate speech predictably ends up costing lives

US Women falling away from religion, survey finds

J&K turns blind eye to flesh trade

Syrian forces hit Hama again, U.S. senators seek sanctions

Meanwhile in China, not an auspicious start to Ramadan

Vastanvi’s battle for Darul Uloom reaches Supreme Court

A look at Indian Muslims religious and spiritual leaders on Facebook

First Muslim saint of Kashmir Hazrat Bulbul Shah's shrine to undergo restoration work

Half of US Muslims face prejudice

Twin Cities Muslims, Christians use Ramadan as an opportunity to get to know each other

Mubarak leaves for trial, to face charges of corruption, murder

Solution of evils lies in Quran: Dr Jallali

Don’t rush to criticise UN report, Muslim leader tells colleagues

America against the Sharia law

4 UN peacekeepers die in Sudan

Govt inquiry into Sharia courts falls at first hurdle

4 killed in two bomb blasts in Baghdad

Five abducted Bangladeshis freed in Afghanistan

Guatemalan ex-soldiers get 6,060 years in prison each

A bold and brilliant poet remembered

Shia cleric enters Limca Book for longest majlis sermons

Kenya: Feed the Hungry During Ramadhan

Grand Shia Cleric Severely Slams Islamophobia in Tajikistan

Union of Islamic World Students Announced bank Accounts to aid Somali people

Tehran to Celebrate Ramadan with Bismillah Festival

Armenian President Casts Doubt On Ongoing Negotiating Processes

Four killed in suicide blast at Afghan hotel

US warns of tit-for-tat, Pak eases travel curbs

Syria burns, US urged to step in

13/7 effect? Centre to roll out exclusive phone network for officers

Hindu teacher suspended for blasphemous remarks in Bangladesh

Malaysia Ramadan TV ads axed amid racism complaint

Fatwa allows fasting men to use nicotine patches

Iraq sentences 3 to death in Baghdad church attack

Italian parliament commission approves burqa ban

Syrian leader Assad 'has lost all humanity': UN chief

Son of Algerian who fanned jihad reported killed

Egypt military arrests BBC journalist

Depressed mothers’ children at risk in poor states: study

Pak army's focus on countering India self-destructive: NYT

U.S. Muslims More Tolerant, Opposed to Violence than Other Faiths

India wants constructive ties with Pakistan: Krishna

Thousands Rally to Press for Independence From Indonesia

Homophobia stymies HIV fight in Islamic countries

The feminine face of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

Tajikistan bans minors from entering mosques

Uighur militants have been getting training, support in Pak: US reports

US Ambassador had called CIA to call-off March 17 attack

Unaware of Ramzan, Kasab feasts on bananas in prison

Iran arranges Quranic weeks in over 20 countries

'We were trying to raise awareness of Islam in the US'

NYC Islamic center likely years from being built

One man's crime is not enough to sanitise radical Islam

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hosni-mubarak,-sons-plead-guilty/d/5178

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Hosni Mubarak, sons plead not guilty to murder and graft

Aug 3, 2011

CAIRO: Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons pleaded "not guilty" to charges of murder and corruption, in the historic trial on Wednesday of the former strongman that has gripped the nation.

"All these charges, I deny them completely," Mubarak said from his stretcher in the dock, denying charges of premeditated murder of anti-regime protesters that toppled the regime and fraud.

His sons Alaa and Gamal also pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.

The sons appeared to take turns to shield their father from the television cameras, and leaned down regularly to talk to him.

The Mubaraks are being tried along with ex-interior minister Habib al-Adly and six former security chiefs.

The trial was a key demand of protesters who took to the streets on January 25 to demand the downfall of the Mubarak regime.

The resignation of Mubarak -- who ruled for 30 years with an iron fist -- sent shockwaves across the region.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Hosni-Mubarak-sons-plead-not-guilty-to-murder-and-graft/articleshow/9468706.cms

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Eleven killed in Karachi; Malik says situation improving

Aug 03 2011

KARACHI: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Wednesday said the government would take strict action against terrorists operating in Karachi, DawnNews reported.

Speaking to media representatives here, the minister said “no targeted killings had taken place in the city since yesterday”. However, at least 11 people had reportedly been killed during violence in Karachi during the past 24 hours.

He moreover requested the media and other institutions to act responsibly given the sensitive law and order situation.

Mr Malik further said that the reservations of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s chief Altaf Hussain regarding the situation in Karachi were legitimate and that the government would act against criminal elements operating in the city.

Mr Malik said restoring peace in Karachi was necessary.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/03/malik-says-karachi-situation-improved-11-killed.html

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Drone attack kills four in North Waziristan

Aug 03 2011

MIRAMSHAH: Four suspected militants were killed and three others injured on Tuesday when a drone fired two missiles on a vehicle in Qutabkhel area of North Waziristan, about seven kilometres from here.

Sources said the missiles also damaged a house.

AFP adds: “Two missiles were fired from a US drone targeting a militant vehicle. So far, four militants were killed,” a security official said.

Another security official in the area confirmed the attack and the toll.

In a strike on Monday, two drone missiles killed at least four militants in South Waziristan.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/03/drone-attack-kills-four-in-north-waziristan.html

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CIA in Pakistan: fiction that mirrors reality

By Anwar Iqbal

Aug 03 2011

WASHINGTON: The ISI chief asks CIA’s station manager in Islamabad to leave Pakistan because he thinks the American spy agency is running a clandestine network in his country.

“Let me state the question as clearly as I can, sir: Is the United States sending intelligence officers into Pakistan outside the normal CIA cover channels? Is your agency doing it? Or is some other agency doing it? That is what I want to know: Are you running a new game against us?” asks the ISI chief in a meeting with the station manager at the ISI headquarters.

“You know I can’t answer a question like that. I mean, hell, we run all sorts of operations, declared and undeclared, just like you do,” replies the CIA’s local boss, Homer Barkin.

“If I told you that we had no other presence in Pakistan, and no non-official officers, you know I’d be lying. But that’s business, right? We don’t look up your skirt, and we don’t expect you to start looking up ours.”

The quotes are from a novel, “Bloodmoney”, by The Washington Post’s associate editor David Ignatius.

Commenting on Mr Ignatius’s disclaimer that his was “a work of fiction”, another author, Dan Fesperman, writes: “Plenty of readers will react to that claim with a nudge and a wink.”

“For better and for worse, you emerge from its pages as if from a top-level security briefing — confident that you have been let in on the deepest secrets,” says Mr Fesperman, an author of seven novels.

And there are plenty of reasons for this claim. Mr Ignatius is perhaps the only American journalist who has access to the higher echelons of both the ISI and CIA.

He has visited the ISI headquarters more than once and with its help also visited Waziristan. The CIA too has given Mr Ignatius similar access to its sources and assets. So nobody is better qualified than him to talk about clandestine CIA operations in Pakistan.

“When I wrote the book, I knew that there were unauthorised, undisclosed CIA operations in Pakistan,” says Mr Ignatius.

“Anybody who spends any time covering this beat as I do finds that out.”

Mr Ignatius says that the more he thought about these clandestine operations, the more it seemed like a metaphor for the relationship between the US and Pakistan: “Each of us sneaking up on the other. The US not trusting the Pakistanis, they not trusting us. Each having good reason for the mistrust.”

In ‘Bloodmoney’, Mr Ignatius imagines that the CIA, unable to carry out clandestine operations around the globe, creates a whole new secret wing — hiding behind a Los Angeles entertainment front called “Hit Parade”. Its aim is to buy peace in Fata, “warlord by warlord”.

And to cover its expenses the Hit Parade fudges with the stocks market, making billions. Mr Ignatius says the case of CIA contractor Raymond Davis — who was arrested and released after a payment of blood money — eerily paralleled some of the plotlines of his book. In January, Mr Davis shot and killed two Pakistanis on the street in Lahore.

“Here’s this real-life CIA contractor,” Mr Ignatius says, “who is arrested by the Pakistanis, who it turns out is part of a whole capability not known to the American public (and) not known previously to Pakistan. At the end of the day, he’s released through a payment of blood money.”

In an interview to the National Public Radio, America’s largest radio network, Mr Ignatius defines how the CIA and the ISI work with each other. “The ISI is always playing both sides of the fence,” he says. But “it’s not really very different from the way the United States behaves. We conduct joint operations with the ISI but there’s a lot that we don’t tell them” — or don’t tell them until it’s too late. Take, for example, the policy of concurrent notification, he says. “Concurrent meaning after the missile has been fired, and the target has been incinerated on the ground,” Mr Ignatius says, “we’re telling (Pakistan) what we just did”.

The CIA, he adds, “has the authority to conduct operations that the government will then deny ever took place”.

But the book is not just about the CIA-ISI relationship. The motivating force behind the book seems to be the author’s desire to have a closer look at another clandestine operation: the drone strikes in Fata.

In another interview to the Dian Rehm Show, one of the most popular radio programmes in the US, Mr Ignatius says the question that whether the drone strikes were morally right has been haunting him over the past several years, and is one of his main reasons for writing this book. “[The drones] allow you to kill people from 10,000 feet, which seems, to our public, I think wrongly, less bloody than if we did it right up close standing next to someone with a gun,” he says.

Mr Ignatius’s main character, Omar al-Wazir, is a modern, well-educated and well-travelled Pakistani from Waziristan. He sees his whole family killed as the result of a Predator drone attack. “This is a book about revenge — it’s about his revenge against the people who killed his family, it’s about our revenge against the people who killed so many of our fellow citizens on September 11, 2001. It’s about this cycle of revenge that we’ve gotten caught up in,” he said.

After seeing his family killed in such a brutal way, Mr al-Wazir’s life changes dramatically, and his quest for revenge encourages him to devise and execute a plan that leads to the deaths of half a dozen clandestine CIA operatives.

One of Mr Ignatius’s challenges that he set for himself in writing the book is to try to “see this war from the eyes of the people under our bombs, which is not something we normally do”.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/02/cia-in-pakistan-fiction-that-mirrors-reality.html

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'Pak army's focus on countering India self-destructive'

Aug 03 2011

New York : Lauding the Indian leadership's willingness to engage Pakistan despite its failure to bring perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice, a leading US daily has said that the Pakistani Army's use of militants to counter Indian influence in Kashmir is "self-destructive."

In the editorial titled 'India and Pakistan, Talking: Even modest progress is to be celebrated and urged forward,' the New York Times said that homegrown extremism and not India is the real threat to Pakistan's survival.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India deserves huge credit for staying engaged despite Pakistan's failure to prosecute those responsible for the 2008 horrors. And he deserves credit for not shooting first and asking questions later after the recent attacks. We wish we could say the same of Pakistan's leaders," the editorial said.

Pakistani army's focus on countering India's influence in Kashmir and Afghanistan is self-destructive for the country, it said.

"Before there can be a true reconciliation, and stability in the region, Pakistan's Army must realise that using militants to try to counter Indian influence in Kashmir and Afghanistan is self-destructive – and that homegrown extremism, not India, is the real threat to Pakistan's survival."

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-armys-focus-on-countering-india-selfdestructive/826510/

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SEALs always intended to shoot Osama

Aug 03 2011

WHEN he pulled the trigger on his silenced rifle in a darkened bedroom in Pakistan and shot a tall, unarmed man with a straggly beard in a prayer cap and shalwar kameez , he ended a nine- year manhunt for Osama Bin Laden, the man who claimed 2,973 lives on September 11, 2001.

But no one — not even President Barack Obama — will ever know the name of that SEAL, nor of the comrade who wrapped Bin Laden’s wives in a huge bear hug and dragged them aside in case they were wearing suicide bomb vests, knowing he would absorb most of the blast and save the men behind him.

For the first time, the full fascinating details of that world- changing raid on Abbottabad, Pakistan, have been revealed, from the CostCo sandwiches the White House ordered for the Situation Room to the SEAL’s first words after he killed the world’s most- wanted man: “ For God and country — Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.” According to the article by Nicholas Schmidle in New Yorker , it has also emerged “ there was never any question of detaining or capturing” Bin Laden — even though the White House always insisted the terror leader would not have died if he’d surrendered.

Full report at: Mail Today

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NIA tightens noose on Geelani over ISI funding

Aug 03 2011

THE National Investigation Agency ( NIA) has put hardline J& K separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani under the scanner, following investigations of ISI funding for separatists in J& K. The NIA has filed a chargesheet saying that a key aide of Geelani had supplied ` 4.57 crore of slush funds from the ISI in Pakistan to the separatists in Jammu & Kashmir for secessionist and terror activities.

Sources in the home ministry say that though NIA has not named Geelani as an accused in their chargesheet, a “ further probe” is on into his role.

The main accused in the chargesheet is Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, whom the NIA has identified as the “ legal advisor” of the Hurriyat Conference and Geelani’s close aide. Three other J& K residents – Mohd Siddiqui Ganai, Ghulam Jilani Lilo and Farooq Ahmed Dagga - were charge- sheeted last week too.

NIA has also identified a Hizbul Mujahedeen commander in Pakistan, Maqbool Pandit, who the NIA claims sent ` 4.57 crores since 2008 from Pakistan to a contact of Bhat in Delhi by Hawala.

“ On July 19, 2011, the sanction for prosecution was accorded for the four accused in case number 06/ 2011 of the NIA relating to funding of secessionist and terrorist activities in the J& K State through Hawala,” home minister P. Chidambaram said.

This is the same case in which Delhi Police special cell sleuths had waylaid Geelani near the Delhi Airport on March 1, and had questioned him on his links with Bhat.

Geelani was then trying to leave for Srinagar without heeding to a request from the Delhi Police to meet them in connection with this case.

Mail Today

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Rebels killed, Gaddafi camp says NATO can't stop war

By Mussab Al-Khairalla

Aug 03 2011

MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's forces counter-attacked rebels in a strategic town on Tuesday, killing seven insurgents, as the Libyan leader vowed to crush a Western-backed uprising.

A son of Gaddafi said the conflict would go on until the rebellion was wiped out, whether or not NATO stopped its bombing campaign, leaving little room for diplomacy to end a war that has killed thousands and divided Libya.

The rebels and their foreign backers kept up the pressure on the veteran leader as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began, with NATO planes bombing military targets and dropping leaflets over the capital calling on loyalists to give up.

In return, the government urged former allies turned rebels in the east to switch sides again, offering them an amnesty, promotions and other benefits, the state news agency said.

The front lines are in the Western Mountains near Tunisia, around the eastern oil hub of Brega and close to Zlitan, 160 km (100 miles) east of Tripoli and near rebel-held Misrata, Libya's third-largest city.

Full report at:

http://in.news.yahoo.com/rebels-killed-gaddafi-camp-says-nato-cant-stop-222438935.html

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Bahrain: If You’re a Pro-democracy Activist, Make Sure it’s in the Right Country

Aug 03 2011

If the U.S. wants to be on the side of the good guys, it could start by showing that relationship is conditional, like in Malawi. Ali Khudhair, 53years old, was killed with 91 pellets on his chest and side after the dawn attack on the pearl roundabout on Feb 17, 2011

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Shooting at unarmed protestors isn’t what U.S. government money is supposed to support, and so this week the U.S. announced it was freezing $350 million in aid to Malawi because of its violent crackdown on peaceful dissent.Senior American official Sheila Herrling said they were “deeply disturbed” about how protests had been suppressed by the Malawian police. The UK government also suspended aid. Too right, and good for the British and Americans for standing up for human rights.

Now, a word about Bahrain. There too the police have been shooting at unarmed protestors and even at random civilians in the street (I know – they shot at me on July 7). The U.S. and U.K. governments know all about these shootings, about the seizure and torture of hundreds of people since pro-democracy demonstrations began in February, about at least four deaths in custody, about the targeting of ambulances and medical personnel, about mass sackings of workers and mass expulsions of students. But their response has been very different.

Full report at:

http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=257394

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American pundits' anti-Muslim hate speech predictably ends up costing lives

BY HANI HAMDAN

Aug 3, 2011

This is not to say that Islamophobia has not already cost a barrage of human lives. In addition to direct hate crimes committed against Muslims and Muslim-looking individuals in the US and Europe, hate speech against Muslims or at least the broad criticism of Muslims’ way of life is to blame, in my opinion, for the general public’s inaction toward the thousands of lost lives deemed “collateral damage” during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So to me, the terrorist attacks that took place recently in Norway are not the first time that anti-Muslim hate speech has cost innocent lives. What’s different about it, however, is that this time it cost European lives as opposed to Arab or Afghani ones.

This calls into question the standards of some media outlets that exposed the hate mongering of Pam Geller and Robert Spencer after Europeans were killed, yet failed to do so as Non-Western lives were transgressed upon. Anti-Muslim pundits did not only influence the Norway attacker but also people at various levels of our society, including the FBI and political leaders who make decisions that can affect Muslim lives here and abroad.

Full report at:

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/engage-minnesota/american-pundits-anti-muslim-hate-speech-predictably-ends-costing-lives

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US Women falling away from religion, survey finds

Aug 03 2011

In the third report on religious changes in America since 1991, pollster George Barna says women attend church and Sunday school less, read the Bible less and regard it as less reliable, and consider their faith less important in their lives.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Remember the traditional image of women as the more spiritual sex? That’s gone the way of women as the "fairer" and weaker sex, a new poll indicates.

In the third report on religious changes in America since 1991, pollster George Barna says women attend church and Sunday school less, read the Bible less and regard it as less reliable, and consider their faith less important in their lives.

Over the last two decades, women have also become less likely to hold orthodox views of God as the all-knowing creator and ruler of the universe. And they're less likely to see the devil as a real person, considering him more a "symbol of evil."

These and other findings come from Barna's annual January survey, 1,621 randomly chosen adults this year. His full report is posted on his website.

Full report at:

http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=257401

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J&K turns blind eye to flesh trade

August 03, 2011

In Jammu & Kashmir, flesh trade is a thriving business but the State Government has no statistics or data to acknowledge its existence.

In a startling disclosure made in an affidavit before the Supreme Court, the State Commissioner said on oath, “As per data and statistics available with the concerned department, the menace of prostitution/sex workers is not prevalent in the State of Jammu & Kashmir due to its unique social demography and conservation ethos.” The affidavit came in response to an order passed by the court monitoring rehabilitation schemes for sex workers across the country.

As a matter of fact, the Army and State police have busted several flesh trade rackets operating from hotels in Kashmir, not to mention the infamous Sabeena sex scandal in 2006, which involved top politicians, police and bureaucrats and is still pending trial.

Since terming a woman as prostitute or sex worker is still a taboo, the affidavit by State Commissioner Mohammad Yasin Sheikh said, “It is respectfully submitted that till date no case of sex workers/prostitutes has been reported from any quarter in the State.”

The affidavit, filed by advocate Sunil Fernandes, however, added, “The State undertakes to extend the scope and ambit of existing schemes (aimed at widows and destitute) to include sex workers and to provide vocational/technical training for their rehabilitation if and when the need arises.”

Full report at:

http://www.dailypioneer.com/357988/JK-turns-blind-eye-to-flesh-trade.html

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Syrian forces hit Hama again, U.S. senators seek sanctions

By Khaled Oweis

Aug 03 2011

AMMAN, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Syrian forces kept up attacks on Hama for a third day, residents said, while U.S. senators called on the Obama administration to impose tough new sanctions on Syria's energy sector.

Washington also sought to put muscle behind its demand that President Bashar al-Assad halt his lethal crackdown on unarmed protesters.

Human rights campaigners said the assaults by Assad's forces across Syria on Monday and Tuesday had killed at least 27 civilians, including 13 in Hama, where troops and tanks began an operation to regain control on Sunday.

That brought the total to about 137 dead throughout Syria in the past three days, 93 of them in Hama, according to witnesses, residents and rights campaigners.

The plight of Hama -- where thousands were killed in 1982 when security forces crushed an anti-government uprising -- has prompted many Syrians to stage solidarity marches since the start of Ramadan.

Full report at:

http://in.news.yahoo.com/syrian-forces-hit-hama-again-u-senators-seek-014218120.html

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Meanwhile in China, not an auspicious start to Ramadan

By MUNA KHAN

Aug 03 2011

Since the Arab Spring began and put into international focus the despotic rulers of the Arab world, there’s been much talk of whether a similar revolution would reach China. There are, after all, many similarities between despotic ruled nations in the Middle East and Communist ruled China: few civil liberties, zero tolerance for dissent and a growing frustration amongst the populace at large against decades-old governance by one party.

It is the crackdown on Muslim Uighurs, long demanding self-rule in Xinjiang province, and the presence of what China calls Islamic extremists that gets international analysts to weigh in on whether an Arab Spring could find its way here.

The eve of Ramadan this year will be remembered most for the bloody violence in Syria but 11 people were also killed in Kasghar in Xinjiang province in an attack Chinese authorities blame on Islamic extremists. This follows two attacks over the weekend that authorities also blame on terrorists but says they are men who received training in Pakistan.

(Keep in mind that Ramadan is banned in Communist China but Muslim Uighurs still observe it, ostensibly earning the irk of a government that doesn’t take kindly to dissent.)

The weekend violence that killed a total of 18 people occurred nearly two weeks after a brutal attack on protestors in Khotan in Xinjiang by security protestors that left 14 dead.

Full report at:

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/08/02/160465.html

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Vastanvi’s battle for Darul Uloom reaches Supreme Court

By Md. Ali

Aug 03 2011

New Delhi: The row between Darul Uloom Deoband and Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi, the former rector of the seminary, is not over yet. If the recent developments have any indication then the actual fight for the much coveted post of rector of Darul Uloom will start now in the Supreme Court, outside the confines of India’s most prestigious Islamic seminary.

In a significant move, Darul Uloom on Monday moved a caveat- which is essentially a precautionary notice- before the Supreme Court in case Vastanvi’s supporters approach the SC challenging its July 24 decision to sack him. In that notice, the institution has requested the Apex court to listen to Darul Uloom’s version of the case, before giving any order or possible stay on the institution’s decision sacking Vastanvi.

Darul Uloom Deoband

According to legal experts, caveat is a legal provision, which an applicant takes recourse to, in an already decided matter, when s/he apprehends that the other side might approach higher courts and take a stay on that decision.

Full report at:

http://twocircles.net/2011aug02/vastanvi%E2%80%99s_battle_darul_uloom_reaches_

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A look at Indian Muslims religious and spiritual leaders on Facebook

By Manzar Bila

Aug 03 2011

The social networking site Facebook is one of the platforms where millions of people living in different parts of the world from different groups of faiths share and discuss their ideas, experiences, activities and even sorrow and happiness of their lives. People use the site for multiple purposes, for instance, to spread their religious views and ideologies, to promote their business and to campaign against and in favor of people and issues.

Gone are the days when Islamic scholars kept themselves away from using modern technology for religious purpose. Now just like scholars of other religions, Islamic scholars and spiritual leaders from across the world are also using the computer and internet frequently.

Indian Ulema who have history of having cautiousness or hesitation initially using any modern product ( as they did in using radio, TV, loudspeakers) have been quick to use internet for religious as well as social purpose which was unimaginable in the past.

It is result of this change that a large number of Indian Ulema from both groups---who have only religious education and who have modern education too—have their accounts on Facebook to connect with the people and share their thoughts. Now, type a word like ’Maulana’ ‘Qasmi’, ‘Rizwi’, ‘Ashrafi’ and ‘Falahi’ in the search box of networking site like Facebook and you would see a long list on the computer screen before you.

Full report at:

http://twocircles.net/2011aug02/look_indian_muslims_religious_and_spiritual_leaders_face

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First Muslim saint of Kashmir Hazrat Bulbul Shah's shrine to undergo restoration work

By Sheikh Imran Bashir

Aug 03 2011

Srinagar: The state Jammu and Kashmir government has taken up the task of restoring the shrine of renowned Sufi saint, Hazrat Bulbul Shah.

The shrine of the first Muslim saint of Kashmir is one of the oldest monuments and is located in the Srinagar city.

Khawaja Farooq Renzu Shah, chairman of Hazrat Bulbul Shah Trust said that the shrine held an important place, both from historical and religious perspective.

"This is emerging as a world-class shrine in Jammu and Kashmir. The huge shrine's architecture is highly intricate. So, it is justified for the workers to take their time while restoring such an elaborate monument. Step-by-step measures are being taken to restore the age-old architectural design in the shrine. When it will be completed, it will remain for thousands of years, for the many more generations to see it," he said.

He added that the original architecture and designs of the shrine have been kept intact.

The authorities are optimistic that once the restoration work is completed, it shall attract more visitors to the shrine. Moreover, this shall help them to understand his role in spreading the message of peace in the Kashmir.

Full report at:

http://twocircles.net/2011aug02/first_muslim_saint_kashmir_hazrat_bulbul_shahs_shrine_

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Half of US Muslims face prejudice

Aug 03 2011

Nearly half of American Muslims say they have experienced racial or religious discrimination over the past year, a new poll has revealed.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Nearly half of American Muslims say they have experienced racial or religious discrimination over the past year, a new poll has revealed.

According to the survey conducted by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center, a Gallup research hub in the United Arab Emirates, 48 percent of Muslims in America said they had “personally experienced racial or religious discrimination” in the past year, AFP reported on Tuesday.

The poll, which was carried out ahead of the tenth anniversary of the September 11 incidents, shows that American Muslims lead all other faith groups in rejecting terrorism and attacks on civilians.

Muslim Americans also tend to have more negative views of the American military and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), attributing such opinions to the so-called “war on terror” which focuses heavily on Muslims, the report added.

Based on the survey, following the election of US President Barack Obama, the 2.6 million Muslims in America, tend to be more optimistic about both the economy and politics compared with the other faith groups.

http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=257408

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Twin Cities Muslims, Christians use Ramadan as an opportunity to get to know each other

Aug 03 2011

Muslims and Christians will gather to eat and break down barriers during eight meals planned for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Muslims and Christians will gather to eat and break down barriers during eight meals planned for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

For the next month, the Minnesota Council of Churches and Twin Cities-area mosques have planned community meals at Iftar, the sunset feast when Muslims break their Ramadan fast. It's part of the Taking Heart program, which aims started to bring faith communities together.

Ramadan calls for Muslims to pray and fast from sunrise to sunset during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

Taking Heart was the idea of Heshem Hussein, a former president of the American Muslim Society of Minnesota who died in 2008, and it has been in existence for more than five years at the Minnesota Council of Churches. Mosques and churches host the events, which are free to the public, in an attempt to bring neighbors of different faiths together for food and conversation.

Full report at:

http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=257406

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Mubarak leaves for trial, to face charges of corruption, murder

By ANTHONY SHADID

Aug 03 2011

CAIRO — Hosni Mubarak, who served longer than any ruler in modern Egypt’s history until he was overthrown in a popular revolution in February, faced charges of corruption and killing protestors Wednesday before a court in Cairo in a seminal moment in Egypt and an Arab world roiled by revolt.

Even the most ardent in calling for his prosecution doubted until hours before the trial that the 83-year-old former president would appear. As a helicopter carried him to the courtroom, housed in a police academy that once bore his name, cheers went up from a crowd gathered outside.

"The criminal is coming!" shouted Maged Wahba, a 40-year-old lawyer.

In a tumultuous scene, a few dozen of Mr. Mubarak’s supporters shared space with his opponents, at times scuffling with them and trading rocks. Some of his supporters cried. Others shouted adulation.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/world/middleeast/04egypt.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

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Solution of evils lies in Quran: Dr Jallali

Aug 03 2011

LAHORE – The treatment of all the pains and sufferings of Pakistan lies in the holy Quran and Sunnah rather than in Washington. This is a must for the Muslims to understand and follow the Quran and to implement complete Islam in Pakistan is also a must. The country, Pakistan, came into being on the ideology of Islam in the holy month of Ramazan.

Renowned Islamic scholar and chief of the Siraat-i- Mustaqeem Institute Dr Muhammad Ashraf Asif Jallali expressed these view while addressing The Nation forum “Ramazan and Duties of Muslims” here at Hameed Nizami Hall on Monday.

He said that Ramazan is a month of tolerance, patience and sympathy for the Muslims that call for accomplishment and practice of the teachings of Islam.

Allama Jallali said that the “holy month of Ramazan provides an excellent opportunity to the Muslims to seek forgiveness of Allah Almighty by obeying the teachings of the Quran and following Sunnah.

Full report at:

http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Regional/Lahore/02-Aug-2011/Solution-of-evils-lies-in-Quran-Dr-Jallali

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Don’t rush to criticise UN report, Muslim leader tells colleagues

By ANTHONY KITIMO

Aug 03 2011

A Muslim leader has asked his colleagues to read and understand the United Nations report on funding of terror activities at a Nairobi mosque before criticising it.

Kenya Muslims National Advisory Council (Kemnac) chairman Sheikh Juma Ngao said as leaders they should not criticise the report that was released last week because it was in connection with their religion but instead address the problem of al Shabaab in soberly.

“The issue of terrorism is in our midst and we cannot run away from it. That is why I am advising my fellow Muslim leaders, both in the clergy and in politics, to address the problem carefully,” said Sheikh Ngao.

He said there were several cases where youths had been recruited at the mosques and a number of Muslim leaders implicated in the process, hence people should not dismiss the report.

Al Shabaab, noted the sheikh, had been a threat to security in Kenya and no Muslim leader should link the militia group’s activities with jihad (Holy War).

“I would like to put it clear that there is no jihad in Somalia at the moment and Muslim leaders should not brainwash youths by recruiting them to fight the war. I am challenging those recruiting youths to be at the forefront in going to Somalia if it is true that there is a Holy War,” said Sheikh Ngao.

Full report at:

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Dont+rush+to+criticise+UN+report/-/1056/1211978/-/t2k1eh/-/

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America against the Sharia law

Gladkov Vladimir

Aug 03 2011

The US is experiencing another wave of anti-Islamic sentiments as Republican officials, presidential candidates and civil activists are trying to save America from what they describe as a menace of Islamic law. The main target for the new movement became the Sharia law, which, according to the activists, imposes an undeniable threat to the American society. Started as a grass-roots campaign, the movement has rapidly gathered supporters. Among them are such prominent figures as R. James Woolsey, a former director of the C.I.A., and the Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann. The US Republicans once again demonstrated their amazing ability to take any reasonable idea to the extreme. An example of radical islamization of Europe may be considered a good lesson for the western political leaders, but the Republican activists are now fighting an extremely exaggerated problem. Their actions could only strain the tensions inside the American society, paving the way for the real problems.

Full report at:

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/02/54090646.html

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4 UN peacekeepers die in Sudan

Aug 03 2011

Four UN peacekeepers from Ethiopia died after stepping on a landmine in Sudan’s disputed Abjei province, the UN press service announced on Tuesday.

Several other people were injured.

The accident happened just days after Ethiopian peacekeepers arrived in the oil-rich border region claimed by North and South Sudan.

South Sudan recently acquired an independent status but both parts of the once united country lay claims to the region’s oil wealth.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/03/54106045.html

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Govt inquiry into Sharia courts falls at first hurdle

Aug 03 2011

A Government inquiry into the rise of Sharia councils was abandoned after the Muslim courts refused to co-operate, it has been revealed.

Politicians and pressure groups are becoming increasingly concerned at the growing influence of Sharia law in the UK.

And there are fears that Islamist radicals will now be able to continue their activities unchecked.

Campaign

The news came as Muslim extremists launched a campaign last week to declare ‘Sharia-controlled zones’ across Britain.

The failure of the investigation into the UK’s alleged 85 Sharia courts was disclosed to MPs by Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly.

He told Tory backbencher Kris Hopkins that the previous Government commissioned “an exploratory study of Sharia councils in England with respect to family law”.

However, because the limited findings could not be regarded as a representative assessment of the operation of Sharia councils, the Ministry of Justice decided not to publish them.

Full report at:

http://www.christian.org.uk/news/govt-inquiry-into-sharia-courts-falls-at-first-hurdle/

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4 killed in two bomb blasts in Baghdad

3 August 2011

BAGHDAD - Police and health officials say four Iraqis have been killed in two successive bombings targeting a liquor store in western Baghdad.

A police officer said  on Wednesday that 13 people were also wounded in the attack, which took place late Tuesday night in the capital’s Rissala neighborhood.

He says the first bomb went off near the liquor store, while the second came a few minutes later as police and residents rushed to the scene. Three policemen were among the killed.

The casualties were confirmed by a medical official at the nearby al-Yarmouk hospital.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/August/middleeast_August74.xml&section=middleeast

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Five abducted Bangladeshis freed in Afghanistan

3 August 2011

DHAKA - Five Bangladeshis abducted in Afghanistan by unidentified gunmen have been released, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry’s spokesman said the gunmen shot dead one Bangladeshi engineer while taking seven hostage near the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif in December 2010. Two were released two days later.

“We have been able to obtain the release of the five after long negotiations and hectic diplomatic efforts. We did not pay any ransom for their freedom,” said Mohammad Shameem Ahsan, the foreign ministry’s director general.

Most of those abducted were working for a South Korean firm in Afghanistan. Shameem gave no information on the abductors.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/August/international_August120.xml&section=international

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Guatemalan ex-soldiers get 6,060 years in prison each

Aug 03 2011

GUATEMALA CITY: A Guatemalan court sentenced four former military officers to 6,060 years in prison each on Tuesday for the slaughter of more than 200 civilians in 1982 during the country’s civil war.

“This court unanimously declared the accused as perpetrators of murder. For this crime, a sentence of 30 years in prison for each victim comes to a total of 6,030 years,” the court said in its decision.

In addition, the court sentenced each former officer to another 30 years in prison for a “crime against humanity by state security forces,” bringing the total to 6,060 years in prison for each man.

The killings took place over three days in December 1982 as part of the country’s 1960-1996 civil war. Witnesses said the victims included pregnant women, children and the elderly. The only survivors were several children.

The court said the killings were “perverse” because they “erased from the map” the village of Dos Erres in the Peten department.

Full report at:

http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/03/guatemalan-ex-soldiers-get-6060-years-in-prison-each.html

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A bold and brilliant poet remembered

By Daud Malik

Aug 03 2011

ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: Writers, friends and relatives on Tuesday recalled Iftihkar Naseem Ifti as an outstanding poet, short story writer not afraid of taking up taboos, making no bones about being a gay, broadcaster, columnist, human rights activist, and a humanist.

At the condolence reference arranged by Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) and National Language Authority (NLA), they also remembered him as a hospitable and generous host who opened the doors of his Chicago home to everybody coming from Pakistan and India.

They also presented him as someone strongly believing in humane society and ever ready to help fellow Pakistanis, especially after 9/11. The reference, presided over by Dr Anwaar Ahmed, chairman NLA, started two hours behind the schedule.

Son of Khaliq Ahmed Khaliq, editor of Faisalabad`s first newspaper Awam, Ifti, who left Pakistan in early 1970s, died in Chicago on July 24. Chief editor of Chicago`s Pakistan News, he also hosted a radio programme Sargam.

Poet Shabnam Shakeel maintained he would remain “with us because of his sensitive poetry, unique prose and discussing issues which we normally ignore”. She said as the poet remained in the US, he is “new to us”, adding there was need for research on him. “The word of writer wins over all prejudices,” she said.

Full report at:

http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/03/a-bold-and-brilliant-poet-remembered.html

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Shia cleric enters Limca Book for longest majlis sermons

By Kulsum Mustafa,

Aug 03 2011

Lucknow: The name of Shia cleric Maulana Mirza Mohd Athar, President, All India Shia Personal Law Board, has been added in LIMCA BOOK of Records 2011. The Maulana, who has his roots in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, has been bestowed with this honor for his longest continuous series of lectures Khateeb e-Akbar.

Starting at the young age of 22 years the Maulana has since delivered 530 majlis sermons during 53 years at the historic Mogul Masjid Imambara in Mumbai since 1960. Each majlis is for one hour duration and has the slated time 9 to 10 pm for ten days every year during Muharram. The majlis sermons are based on the tragedy of Karbala and the sacrifice of Imam Husain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad who died along with 72 of his friends and relatives fighting to protect Islam.

The cleric has a great fan following and over the years, the throng of listeners in the narrow lanes of Imamwada has grown many fold. Devouts come from far and near to listen to the sermons every Muharram. Maulana Athar who became the first president of the All India Shia Personal Law Board acquired his speaking skills from his father Mulla Mirza Mohammad Tahir, a popular speaker in his times.

http://twocircles.net/2011aug02/shia_cleric_enters_limca_book_longest_majlis_sermons.

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Kenya: Feed the Hungry During Ramadhan

Aug 03 2011

Muslim's across the world will today mark the second day of the holy month of Ramadhan. Ramadhan is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar that faithful believe is the time when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Muslim's across the world will today mark the second day of the holy month of Ramadhan. Ramadhan is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar that faithful believe is the time when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

Muslim leaders in the country called on the faithfuls to use the month in remembering those in distress especially the hunger stricken. Sheikh Ahmed Swalihu of Nairobi Jamia Mosque said fasting is intended to teach Muslims patience, humility and spirituality. The observance of Ramadhan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

He said not taking water and food the whole day throughout the month stops Muslims from selfishness. "Apart from praying, we should all assist those in need," chief Kadhi Sheikh Ahmed Muhdhar said. "Muslims should come out and feed the hungry irrespective of the religion. The teaching is clear that those who help any living thing or human will be rewarded abundantly," Swalihu said.

The leaders called on the police to offer security to Muslim faithful heading and coming from evening prayers at night. Swalihu called on Muslims to engage in interfaith dialogues and use the holy month to change perceptions about Islam. "Islam condemns terrorism and we don't tolerate it either. However, we have remained under unfair attacks always associated with terrorism acts and even told we are funding them. This month should be used to engage the people to change these ill perceptions," Swalihu said.

http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=257403

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Grand Shia Cleric Severely Slams Islamophobia in Tajikistan

Aug 03 2011

Grand AyatollahGolpaygani says the Islamophobic rules in Tajikistan aim at stripping the Central Asian country of its Islamic identity.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Grand AyatollahGolpaygani says the Islamophobic rules in Tajikistan aim at stripping the Central Asian country of its Islamic identity.

“Banning the youths who intend to welcome the holy month of Ramadan in mosques is not only an insult to the dear nation of Tajikistan, but also an offense to all the Muslims in the world,” Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi-Golpayegani said in a statement on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, with their schemes, the weak rulers and the remnants of the Soviet era hinder the [Tajik] nation's progress and full independence, he added.

Ayatollah Safi-Golpayegani also condemned a ban on Islamic hijab in Tajikistan's schools and universities and censured Dushanbe for preventing parents from naming their children after Islamic figures, including Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), adding that the bans aimed at removing the Islamic identity of the Muslim-majority nation.

The cleric also pointed out that the anti-Islamic measures taken by the officials in Dushanbe are against the will of the Tajiks.

He condemned the bans that occur at a stage of history when "the awakening and uprisings of the world's Muslims for taking their usurped rights are getting more pervasive day after day and the West-dependent, apparently strong regimes have either fallen or are on the verge of collapse and a return to the Islamic majesty and magnitude is at sight."

Ayatollah Safi-Golpayegani warned Tajikistan's government that the “course they have taken ends up in failure,” and called on Tajik officials to formally apologize to the Muslims in Tajikistan and across the globe for their offensive, anti-Islam measures.

“Muslim governments and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation are expected to condemn this anti-Islam scheme and warn Tajik rulers against anti-Islamic programs in the country," the cleric urged.

http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=257386

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Union of Islamic World Students Announced bank Accounts to aid Somali people

Aug 03 2011

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Union of Islamic World Students announced two bank accounts to receive donations all over the world to make its relief operation in Somalia.

As the drought-ravaged North African country is sinking deeper into an all-out humanitarian crisis, the Union of Islamic World Students is due to send humanitarian aids to Somalia.

To support the aid relief projects for people of Somalia, conducted by the Muslim students unity network, please make a lifesaving donation via the following accounts numbers:

For International donations:

Account Number : 1010-750-620690-1

IBAN : IR 400580101075000620690001

Swift : SRMBIRTH

Account Holder Name : Hussain Takhiri (Representative of The Union of Islamic World Students)

Bank Name: Sarmaye Bank

Address : 4th Floor, Number 10, Amin Alley, Karegar Street, Tehran, Iran

How to donate:

First, go to a bank which has  foreign exchange services

Second, ask about the relationship with Sarmaye Bank and its intermediary banks

Third, write the introduced Account Number, address and the Swift Number

Euro it is preferred

If possible, send the a copy of payment form through the following Email:  info@rohama.org

Mentioning of Account Holder Address is necessary.

http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=257375

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Tehran to Celebrate Ramadan with Bismillah Festival

Aug 03 2011

The Niavaran Cultural Center will host the 8th edition of the Bismillah Festival from August 4 to 14.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The center will host the festival, which focuses on posters, calligraphy and logotype works on the commencement of Ramadan beginning on August 2 in Iran.

In addition to artworks displaying various names of Allah, the festival has also other sections that will display works on the theme of Ramadan, resistance, waiting for the reappearance of Imam Mahdi (AS), Noruz and Ashura, the secretary of the event Mohammadreza Kamareii mentioned in a press conference on Tuesday.

“Over 5500 artworks were submitted to the secretary of the festival. Pakistani artists have the highest number participating at the gala while most Iranian participants are from Eastern Azerbaijan province,” he said.

Artists from Canada, U.S., Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Jordan, and Bangladesh took part at the festival, which Kamareii claims “is held without any official support, but is supported by sponsors.”

Full report at:

http://abna.co/data.asp?lang=3&Id=257358

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Armenian President Casts Doubt On Ongoing Negotiating Processes

Aug 03 2011

Armenian President, Serzh Sarksyan, has hinted at historic territorial claims against Turkey, and implied that he regarded the seizure of Azerbaijani territory as final. Addressing an audience of students from Armenia and the diaspora on July 23, Sarksyan was asked whether the country could regain “Western Armenia” [the irredentist name for the eastern part of Turkey] in the future. Sarksyan gave a two-part answer. In the first part, he responded that Armenia’s present generation has successfully resolved the matter of Karabakh, “a part of our homeland,” and the next generation now growing up, he said, has its own responsibility to fulfill with honor. In the second part of this convoluted answer, Sarksyan said that a country’s standing did not necessarily depend on its territory, but required hard work in any case (Armenpress, PANArmenianNet, July 27; RFE/RL, July 28).

That statement’s second half seemed partly intended to provide plausible deniability for the first half. Nevertheless, Sarksyan’s statement was received as intolerably offensive in Ankara, and as entirely predictable in Baku. In Yerevan, the foreign ministry characterized Sarksyan’s statement as “measured,” and Ankara’s reaction as “hysterical” (Armenpress, July 28). When delivering those remarks, Sarksyan could not have been unaware that Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was about to visit Azerbaijan on July 28 (see EDM, July 29). Unwittingly, Sarksyan caused Turkey and Azerbaijan to close ranks more tightly together.

Full report at: Jamestown Foundation

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Four killed in suicide blast at Afghan hotel

Aug 03 2011

A suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle outside a small residential hotel frequented by foreigners just after dawn on Tuesday killing at least four guards in the latest of a rising number of violent attacks in northern Afghanistan.

After the attacker detonated his cache of explosives, two other militants stormed inside the hotel in Kunduz city and engaged police in a two-hour gunbattle, said Mubobullah Sayedi, a provincial spokesman.

“When the bomber blew himself up, the explosion shook everything,” Sayedi said. “It broke glass everywhere.”Four building guards were killed and 10 other people, including an Afghan policeman, were wounded, he said.

Foreigners staying at the two-story hotel escaped through the rear of the building, he said.

Sarwar Husseini, a provincial police spokesman, said German aid workers often stayed in the house, but that it was not clear who the foreigners staying there when the attack took place were.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the insurgent group, said in a text message to The Associated Press that the bombers had attacked a “German intelligence center and security company.”

http://www.dailypioneer.com/357832/Four-killed-in-suicide-blast-at-Afghan-hotel.html

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US warns of tit-for-tat,Pak eases travel curbs

Aug 03 2011

Washington: The US has forced Pakistan to ease travel restrictions on its diplomats after it threatened to reciprocate,according to a media report.

The US hit back against unusual curbs on the movements of its diplomats that had been set by Pakistani authorities on the instructions of the country's spy agency ISI,the Time Magazine said in its online report.

US officials say that American diplomats in Pakistan have suffered harassment at the hands of the authorities,citing instances of midnight searches,tip-offs to local media about the movements of US officials,the magazine said.Pakistans most recent move was to restrict the ability of US diplomats to travel freely within the country,citing security reasons.

Under the Vienna Convention governing rules for diplomats,any restrictions imposed by Pakistan on US diplomats can be reciprocated by Washington,an unnamed official was quoted as saying by the Time.

Times of India

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Syria burns, US urged to step in

Aug 03 2011

Washington: Members of the US Congress called for sanctions against foreign companies doing business with Syria's energy sector,stepping up pressure over the Syrian regime's attacks on civilians.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has "lost all humanity" as the UN Security Council held new talks Tuesday on the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on protests.

With the 15-nation council now under mounting pressure to take a stand on the worsening violence in Syria,the UN secretary general vented his growing anger at Assad's refusal to acknowledge international criticism.

Since the beginning of this situation,I have issued many statements,I have spoken to President Assad several times,and I have expressed my sincere wish and genuine wish that he should genuinely,genuinely address these issues in a peaceful manner, Ban told a small group of reporters.

Full report at: Times of India

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13/7 effect? Centre to roll out exclusive phone network for officers

Amitav Ranjan

Aug 03 2011

New Delhi : The 15-minute communication failure following the Mumbai serial blasts has fired up the Centre to set up a dedicated network in each state capital to connect the senior officials in administration, security agencies and defence establishments.

Six days after the July 13 blasts, an inter-ministerial committee approved a proposal to set up a dedicated and fully secure network for defence and security use using broadband telephony. The pilot project would be started in Delhi by the year-end with 5,000 officials connected through Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP).

After last month’s serial blasts in Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had complained that he could not reach his top officers, including the police chief, for nearly 15 minutes due to “complete collapse” of the mobile phone network.

Sources said secure VoIP customer premise equipment (CPE) would be integrated with existing landline numbers and restricted exchange (RAX) which is a limited secure phone system exclusively for the Prime Minister, his Cabinet colleagues, senior secretaries and private secretaries of ministers.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-13-7-effect-centre-to-roll-out-exclusive-phone-network-for-officers/826438/

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Hindu teacher suspended for blasphemous remarks in Bangladesh

Aug 03 2011

Dhaka : A government school teacher belonging to the minority Hindu community was today suspended for allegedly making blasphemous remarks in the classroom against Prophet Muhammad that triggered angry protests.

"He has been fired temporarily for passing derogatory comments against the Prophet in the classroom," an education ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman said Madan Mohan Das of Dhanmandi Boys High School initially was transferred to another government school at northwestern Panchagargh but the decision was reviewed overnight and the ministry ordered his immediate suspension.

According to an official statement the actions came as Das made defamatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad on July 31.

Earlier another Hindu teacher Shankar Biswas, who passed derogatory comments against the Prophet in the classroom, sparking off protests from his students was fired from his job.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hindu-teacher-suspended-for-blasphemous-remarks-in-bangladesh/826164/

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Malaysia Ramadan TV ads axed amid racism complaint

Aug 03 2011

Kuala Lumpur : A Malaysian television station has axed a series of commercial to mark the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan after angry viewers complained the ads insulted non-Muslim ethnic minorities.

The commercials began airing recently to remind viewers of Ramadan, which began August 1. Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn until sundown during the month.

The three 30-second clips depicted an ethnic Chinese girl eating in public, wearing revealing clothing and being loud. It ended with messages urging viewers to avoid doing such things in respect of the Muslim holy month.

The ads sparked outrage in the Muslim-majority country, with many slamming private station 8TV on its Facebook page.

The TV station withdrew the ads and apologized late Tuesday.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/malaysia-ramadan-tv-ads-axed-amid-racism-complaint/826514/

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Fatwa allows fasting men to use nicotine patches

Aug 03 2011

Dubai : A special fatwa issued by a religious body here has permitted smokers to use of nicotine patches during the month of Ramadan to deal with withdrawal symptoms, saying it does not violate the observance of fasting.

The Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD) here issues list of fatwas daily to help Muslims observe their fast in the right manner during Ramadan.

"Nicotine patches, which can help smokers to deal with their withdrawal symptoms during the day, are permitted," the fatwa said.

"It is allowed to use these patches as they are not nutritious and the substances in it are absorbed through the skin and blood and not passed through the abdomen."

The fatwa observes that nicotine is a natural substance which is toxic and regarded as one of the most dangerous of the harmful substances found in tobacco and the cause of the addiction in smokers.

Hence scientists have tried hard to come up with alternatives that will help the smoker to rid himself of the harmful addiction to nicotine by manufacturing a lighter version of nicotine in the form of pills, chewing gum or sticks like cigarettes, or patches containing varying amounts of nicotine, to introduce the smoker gradually to alternatives.

The fatwa also noted that a nicotine patch is like a sticker which releases nicotine in the form of a gel which is absorbed by the skin, whereafter the nicotine passes via the capillaries into the bloodstream, and helps the smoker to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

The ruling clearly states that nicotine patches are permissible to avert withdrawal symptoms but not if they induce harmful effects.

]http://www.indianexpress.com/news/fatwa-allows-fasting-men-to-use-nicotine-patches/826516/

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Iraq sentences 3 to death in Baghdad church attack

Aug 03 2011

2 August 2011 BAGHDAD — A Baghdad court has convicted three Iraqis and sentenced them to death for their role in a church siege last year that killed 68 people.

Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar, spokesman for the Supreme Judicial Council, says a fourth man was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The men were convicted Tuesday on charges of masterminding and preparing the attack.

Bayrkdar says they have a month to appeal.

The raid last October on Our Lady of Salvation in downtown Baghdad was the most deadly single attack against Iraqi Christian since the 2003 US-led invasion. Militants burst into the church during Mass, gunning down priests and worshippers before detonating their explosives-packed vests.

Since 2003, nearly 1 million Christians have been driven out of Iraq

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/August/middleeast_August47.xml&section=middleeast&col=

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Italian parliament commission approves burqa ban

3 August 2011

 ROME — An Italian parliamentary commission on Tuesday approved a draft law banning women from wearing veils that cover their faces in public.

The draft passed by the constitutional affairs commission would prohibit women from wearing a burqa, naqib or any other garb that covers the face in such circumstances. It would expand a decades-old law that for security reasons prohibits people from wearing face-covering items such as masks in public places.

Women who violate the ban would face fines of (euro) 100 to (euro) 300, while third parties who force women to cover their faces in public would be fined (euro) 30,000 ($43,000) and face up to 12 months in jail.

Italy, an overwhelmingly Catholic country with a small Muslim minority, is the latest European country to act against the burqa. France and Belgium have banned the wearing of burqa-style Islamic dress in public, as has a city in Spain. The Belgium law cited security concerns.

Full report at:

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/August/international_August103.xml&section=international&col=

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Syrian leader Assad 'has lost all humanity': UN chief

Aug 03 2011

BEIRUT: Syrian troops tightened their siege on the city of Hama Tuesday, sending residents fleeing for their lives and drawing a fresh wave of international condemnation against a regime defying the growing calls to end its crackdown on anti-government protesters.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon said Syrian President Bashar Assad has “lost all humanity” as the UN Security Council held new talks on the Syrian government’s deadly crackdown on protests.

His remarks came as the UN Security Council held a second day of talks on Syria on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, meanwhile, met with US-based Syrian democracy activists as President Obama’s administration weighed new sanctions on Syria.

US Congressional calls also mounted for action against President Assad’s regime, as the death toll from two days of military assaults on civilians Sunday and Monday neared 100.

Italy recalled its ambassador to Syria “in the face of the horrible repression against the civil population” by the government, which launched a new push against protesters as the holy month of Ramadan began Monday.

It was the first European Union country to pull its ambassador, and the measure came a day after the EU tightened sanctions on Syria.

Full report at:

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article482136.ece

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Son of Algerian who fanned jihad reported killed

By AOMAR OUALI

Aug 03 2011

ALGIERS, Algeria: Al-Qaeda’s North African affiliate said Tuesday that the son of a Muslim fundamentalist icon has been killed in a confrontation with security forces, drawing attention to the new generation of fighters challenging Algeria’s government.

Abdelkahar Belhadj, said to be 23 at the time of his death, was the son of Ali Belhadj whose party’s thwarted electoral victory in 1991 catapulted Algeria into a 20-year-long insurgency that has left an estimated 200,000 people dead.

While the death of the young Belhadj is unlikely to have a significant impact on the battle against Islamist extremists, he represented a link between two eras — the bloody massacres and brutal counterinsurgency tactics that nearly toppled the Algerian state and the present sporadic but deadly attacks under the globally known banner of Al-Qaeda.

Belhadj would have been a toddler when his father, then a charismatic 35-year-old preacher, fired up crowds of thousands at Friday prayers two decades ago to help make the Islamic Salvation Front party the leading political force in Algeria — until it was banned.

The army stepped in to abort legislative elections in 1991 that the party was poised to win, triggering the insurgency and introducing the West to jihad, or holy war — a decade before the 9/11 attacks in the US An estimated 200,000 people — insurgents, security forces and civilians — were killed since 1992.

Full report at:

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article482022.ece

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Egypt military arrests BBC journalist

Aug 03 2011

CAIRO: Egypt’s military arrested a BBC journalist when troops cleared out a central Cairo protest that left several protesters injured and dozens detained, the British broadcaster said on Tuesday.

Shaimaa Khalil was detained on Monday after the military, backed by riot police, cleared the three-week sit-in in Tahrir Square, it said in a statement. “We are very concerned at the detention of Shaimaa Khalil in Cairo. She is a fine journalist, simply doing her job. We are doing all we can to secure her release,” the BBC’s press office said.

Khalil, who accessed her Twitter account on Tuesday, said she was being taken to a military prosecutor along with others arrested. “I’m and (people) with me ok, on way to seen28 mil prosecutor,” she wrote, referring to a military prosecution and court complex in Cairo. The prosecutor can either order the detainees to be released, remand them in custody or refer them to a civilian prosecutor. The military, in power since February when a popular revolt ousted president Hosni Mubarak, has been criticised for summoning journalists over their reporting but had not detained accredited foreign correspondents. afp

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\03\story_3-8-2011_pg4_5

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Depressed mothers’ children at risk in poor states: study

Aug 03 2011

GENEVA: Children of depressed mothers in developing countries are 40 percent more likely to be underweight or stunted than those with mothers in good mental health, a study said on Tuesday.

An estimated 15 to 57 percent of mothers in poor countries experience depression due to poverty, marital conflict, domestic violence and a lack of control over economic resources, it said.

“Our analysis revealed a positive and significant association between maternal depression or depressive symptoms and impaired child growth in developing countries,” said the analysis published in the monthly Bulletin of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

More serious growth deficits were found in children of mothers with more severe depression, it said. The analysis was based on 17 studies of nearly 14,000 mothers and their small children carried out in Africa, Asia, and South America and the Caribbean. They included cases in Brazil, India and Nigeria. “Now we have a critical mass of 17 studies from developing countries. This is the first time it has been quantitatively summarised,” lead researcher Pamela Surkan of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health told Reuters.

Full report at:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\03\story_3-8-2011_pg7_32

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Pak army's focus on countering India self-destructive: NYT

Aug 3, 2011

NEW YORK: Lauding the Indian leadership's willingness to engage Pakistan despite its failure to bring perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice, a leading US daily has said that the Pakistani army's use of militants to counter Indian influence in Kashmir is "self-destructive."

In the editorial titled 'India and Pakistan, Talking: Even modest progress is to be celebrated and urged forward,' the New York Times said that homegrown extremism and not India is the real threat to Pakistan's survival.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India deserves huge credit for staying engaged despite Pakistan's failure to prosecute those responsible for the 2008 horrors. And he deserves credit for not shooting first and asking questions later after the recent attacks. We wish we could say the same of Pakistan's leaders," the editorial said.

Pakistani army's focus on countering India's influence in Kashmir and Afghanistan is self-destructive for the country, it said.

"Before there can be a true reconciliation, and stability in the region, Pakistan's army must realise that using militants to try to counter Indian influence in Kashmir and Afghanistan is self-destructive -- and that homegrown extremism, not India, is the real threat to Pakistan's survival."

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-armys-focus-on-countering-India-self-destructive-NYT/articleshow/9464785.cms

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U.S. Muslims More Tolerant, Opposed to Violence than Other Faiths

Aug 3, 2011

WASHINGTON: US Muslims are more optimistic about the future than other faith groups, but while they overwhelmingly reject terrorism, nearly half report discrimination, a poll found on Tuesday.

The survey was carried out ahead of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and looked at how well integrated the 2.6 million Muslims living in the United States are in the wake of the "war on terror" launched by former president George W Bush after the deadly plane hijackings.

It found that Muslims tend to be more optimistic about both the economy and politics following the election of President Barack Obama, who enjoys 80 percent approval among Muslims, higher than from any other major faith group.

Sixty percent of Muslims said they were "thriving" in the United States, compared to 61 percent of Jews, 54 percent of Catholics and 52 percent of Protestants, according to the poll.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-Muslims-optimistic-but-face-discrimination-Poll/articleshow/9466427.cms

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India wants constructive ties with Pakistan: Krishna

Aug 3, 2011

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday said it wishes to have constructive relations with Pakistan but wanted an environment free from terror and "credible" action to be taken against anti-India jihadi leaders like Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed who "continue to incite violence".

A week after his talks with Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar, external affairs minister S M Krishna told the Lok Sabha that he had conveyed India's desire to work with Pakistan to reduce the trust deficit and move forward in a friendly manner.

He said Khar's visit was aimed at resolving peacefully all outstanding issues through a "constructive and forward-looking dialogue and to establish cooperative and good neighbourly relations between the two countries, in an environment free from terrorism and violence."

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-wants-constructive-ties-with-Pakistan-Krishna/articleshow/9467319.cms

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Thousands Rally to Press for Independence From Indonesia

By AUBREY BELFORD

Aug 03 2011

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Thousands of people rallied for independence from Indonesia in the country’s Papua region on Tuesday, after days of political violence that killed at least 21 people.

In cities and towns in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, demonstrators, many of them in traditional tribal dress, marched amid heavily armed police officers and soldiers, the police and witnesses said.

The protesters demanded a referendum on independence for the region and the repudiation of a 1969 vote that was backed by the United Nations and formalized Indonesian control.

“For 40 years, the Indonesian government has never fairly applied the law or upheld human rights,” Viktor Kogoya, the chairman of the self-styled Jakarta consulate of the West Papua National Committee, which organized the protests, said in Jakarta. “The Papuan people have never had justice.”

The protests were largely peaceful, although activists and church workers accused the authorities of fomenting a climate of fear to deter people from demonstrating. Anonymous text messages had circulated for days warning of a looming “massacre.” And people in several towns said groups of unidentified men in civilian clothes, suspected of being part of the security forces, could be seen lingering in the streets from early in the day.

The protests followed the deaths of at least 17 people in interclan political fighting in the region’s remote central highlands last weekend, as well as a predawn raid on Monday in which unidentified assailants blocked traffic outside the Papua provincial capital, Jayapura, killing four people, including a soldier.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/world/asia/03indonesia.html?ref=world

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Homophobia stymies HIV fight in Islamic countries

Aug 03 2011

Stigma and homophobia against gay men is hampering efforts to manage a growing epidemic of HIV in Islamic countries, warn epidemiologists this week.

"The stigma is a barrier to HIV prevention services," says Laith Abu-Raddad of the Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar in Doha. He heads up a team that is assembling, for the first time, data from the Islamic world on the growing prevalence of HIV in practising gay men.

They report that the arrival of HIV in the gay community has been relatively recent compared with other regions of the world, but warn that it is on the rise. In Pakistan, for example, the prevalence of HIV in transgender male sex workers rose from 0.8 per cent in 2005 to 6.4 per cent just three years later.

Historically, HIV epidemics have often begun in minority, high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men or intravenous drug users, then spread to the general population. A problem in much of the Islamic world is that men having sex with men is illegal. That, coupled with homophobia, hampers efforts to contain the virus by making gay men too scared to seek treatment, a pattern that has been seen in eastern European countries, India and sub-Saharan Africa.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20757-homophobia-stymies-hiv-fight-in-islamic-countries.html

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The feminine face of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

By Shahira Amin

Aug 03 2011

Editor's note: Shahira Amin was deputy head of Egyptian state-run Nile TV -- and one of its senior anchors. After 22 years with the network, angered by its censorship of the Egyptian revolution, she quit on February 3 2011.

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- When Iman Abdella steps out of a black-and-white Cairo taxi in Haggana, residents of the impoverished quarter rush to greet her with jubilant cries and trilling zaghareet.

"Alf marhaba (welcome a thousand times)," cries Soad Bekheit, a shabbily dressed mother of four, opening her arms to embrace the familiar visitor. "It's as if the Prophet himself has visited us today."

For the families in this desolate ghetto, one of Cairo's poorest, a visit from this chubby woman in a traditional Islamic head scarf means they will not have to go to sleep on an empty stomach -- at least, not tonight.

Abdella is on one of her charity missions -- part of her work as a devoted member of the Muslim Sisterhood, the female division of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest and largest opposition group.

Full report at:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/08/03/egypt.muslim.sisterhood/

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Tajikistan bans minors from entering mosques

Aug 03 2011

Tajikistan's authoritarian leader has approved a law barring minors from praying in mosques as his secular government seeks to minimize the rising influence of Islam in the Central Asian nation.

President Emomali Rakhmon signed the bill Wednesday despite vocal resistance from rights activists and the opposition Islamic Revival Party.

The law also requires people under the age of 18 to study in secular schools thus barring thousands of students from attending mosque schools seen by authorities as a breeding ground of Islamism.

The impoverished and predominantly Sunni Muslim nation shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan.

The country was ravaged in the 1990s by a civil war between government forces and a loose alliance of Islamists and democrats.

http://www.democratherald.com/news/world/asia/article_4ce904a7-700d-58e7-ab46-55ac46b303ad.html#ixzz1TxsxLaWZ

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Uighur militants have been getting training, support in Pak: US reports

Manu Pubby

Aug 03 2011

New Delhi : While China has for the first time pointed fingers at Pakistan-trained Uighur “militants” for attacks on its soil, secret US interrogation reports that have recently been revealed show that armed fighters from Xinjiang province have been getting training and support in Pakistan for years.

Classified interrogation reports of Guantanamo Bay inmates, leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks, reveal that a significant bulk of Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party/Movement (ETIM) militants who were detained by the US after the Afghanistan invasion found refuge in Pakistan.

China stated Monday that its initial probe found that ETIM members took arms and explosives training in Pakistan before entering Xinjiang. While Pakistan has been a close ally of China for years, the records reveal Pakistan was also used a recruiting zone for new ETIM members.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/uighur-militants-have-been-getting-training-support-in-pak-us-reports/826320/

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US Ambassador had called CIA to call-off March 17 attack

Aug 03 2011

Islamabad : The American ambassador to Islamabad phoned Washington with an urgent plea: Stop an imminent CIA drone strike against militants on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border.

He feared the timing of the attack would further damage ties with Islamabad, coming only a day after the government grudgingly freed a CIA contractor held for weeks for killing two Pakistanis.

Ambassador Cameron Munter's rare request -- disclosed to AP by several US officials -- was forwarded to the head of the CIA, who dismissed it. Some US officials said Leon Panetta's decision was driven by a belief that the militants being targeted were too important to pass up, but others suspected that anger at Pakistan for imprisoning Raymond Davis for so long played a role.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-ambassador-had-called-cia-to-calloff-march-17-attack/826537/

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Unaware of Ramzan, Kasab feasts on bananas in prison

Mateen Hafeez

Aug 3, 2011

MUMBAI: Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who along with his nine accomplices killed scores of people in the name of 'jihad', is not observing Roza during Ramzan.

The Pakistani gunman has been eating bananas, apples and taking medicines, while fasting is compulsory for every adult Muslim during this period.

Ramesh Dhamane, superintendent of the Arthur Road jail, said, "Kasab does not know that the month of Ramzan began from Tuesday. He is eating in jail."

Kasab, who is being kept in an isolated cell in barrack 12, keeps himself busy reading books. "We will inform him about the holy month. It will then be up to him whether to fast or not," said a source from the jail. Kasab's cell does not have a calendar so he is unaware about the day, date and month.

Soon after his arrest by the crime branch on November 27, 2008, Kasab had claimed to be part of a 'jihadi mission' acting in the name of religion. However, several Muslims have already said Kasab and his associates were completely ignorant of the true meaning of the word 'jihad'. "A genuine Muslim does not kill people," said a Muslim religious leader.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Unaware-of-Ramzan-Kasab-feasts-on-bananas-in-prison/articleshow/9461887.cms

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Iran arranges Quranic weeks in over 20 countries

Aug 3, 2011

TEHRAN -- The Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) has arranged a series of Quranic weeks in over 20 countries during the holy month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is regarded as the spring of the Quran, and the organization aims to introduce the Holy Quran to different nations with a series of programs, ICRO director Mohammad-Baqer Khorramshad said here on Tuesday.

A series of programs are arranged for the week including exhibitions of calligraphy, photography, and illumination with the central theme of the Quran along with Quran recitation, he added.

Britain, Sweden, France, Canada, Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia and Tunisia are among the countries which are hosting the cultural weeks, Khorramshad said.

He also said that some of the weeks are arranged in collaboration with other cultural organizations such as Quran week in Turkey. Organized by the Isfahan General Governor’s Office, the event features Isfahani artists who are introducing the art and culture of the city.

Khorramshad also said that the cultural weeks in Indonesia and Malaysia are much more special where a rare hand-woven Quranic carpet is on display in an exhibition in Malaysia.

He continued, “Cultural parcels are among other programs of the organization, which have been submitted to Iran’s cultural representatives in foreign countries to pass on to Iranians residing in foreign countries. The parcels contain software and computer games with Quranic concepts.”

A group of religious preachers are also dispatched to foreign countries where they will be present to preach and reply to any religious questions the Iranians might have.

http://old.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=245515

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'We were trying to raise awareness of Islam in the US'

Aug 3, 2011

This August 1, on the first day of Ramadan, HBO presented the documentary Koran By Heart, a captivating look at the annual International Koran Recital contest in Cairo that brings participants from every part of the Muslim world.

The 2009 competition, as covered by Greg Barker -- a California-based documentary filmmaker and former journalist -- featured 110 chidren, some as young as 10, from far-flung corners of the world.

A sort of a spelling bee for Muslim chidren, Koran By Heart has been compared to the Oscar-winning documentary Spellbound, but critics have also referred to it as an American Idol-like contest set in the Middle East. While the film focuses on many of the contestants, Barker finally casts three main protagonists -- all 10 years old: Rifdah from the Maldives [ Images ]; Nabiollah from Tajikistan; and Djamil from Senegal.

Koran By Heart had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this spring and could be a strong contender for next year's Oscar race for the best documentary. Barker tells Rediff-India Abroad's  Aseem Chhabra why he made the film and the challenges he, as an American filmmaker, faced to enter the world of Islam.

Full report at:

http://www.rediff.com/news/report/we-were-trying-to-raise-awareness-of-islam-in-the-us/20110802.htm

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NYC Islamic center likely years from being built

Aug 3, 2011

NEW YORK - The developer of an Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero says it may take years to determine what kind of project Muslims and non-Muslims want.

Sharif El-Gamal tells The New York Times that decisions will be made after consultation with lower Manhattan residents and New York City-area Muslims.

El-Gamal says that in the past year he's built relationships with neighborhood groups. He's recruited a 9/11 victim's relative to his advisory board and sought donors from around the country. He concedes he should have done those things before going public with the project.

(Last September, CBS' "60 Minutes" broadcast a look at the national debate on the planned Islamic center near ground zero.)

He also says he'll only accept money from sources that reflect "American values."

El-Gamal's vision for the project remains unchanged: a mosque, health club, theater and religious and interfaith programming open to all.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/02/national/main20087031.shtml

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One man's crime is not enough to sanitise radical Islam

Jeremy Havardi

Aug 3, 2011

Why the crimes of Anders Breivik do not wipe Islam's slate clean.

It is hard to know exactly what motivated Anders Breivik before his appalling massacre of the innocents on July 22nd.

His rambling, Mein Kampf style manifesto contains an unbridled assault on Islam, multiculturalism and political correctness. He wants to stop the ‘Islamic colonisation’ of Europe and blames cultural Marxism for all of today’s alleged ills.

His belief in reviving the Knights Templar, with himself as ‘justiciar,’ is a delusion of grandeur, the kind of absurd egomania that drives today’s generation of enraged Islamists.

Yet ideology offers an inadequate explanation for what he did. After all, the political grievances he articulated hardly account for such an insane act of mass murder.

Boris Johnson, in a recent article, is probably right to suggest that Breivik is a deranged ‘narcissist’ who, like many Islamists, is fuelled by anger at his own impotence and inadequacy.

Full report at:

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/343/one_man_s_crime_is_not_enough_to_sanitise_radical_islam

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hosni-mubarak,-sons-plead-guilty/d/5178