New
Age Islam News Bureau
06
February 2021
Newly
elected Harvard Law Review President Hassaan Shahawy poses in this undated
handout image. — Reuters
------
•
World Court Rules It Has Jurisdiction Over War Crimes In Palestinian
Territories
•
Burkina Faso Government Says It Is Open To Talks With Jihadists
•
Pakistani Taliban Reunified Splinter Groups in Afghanistan, Poses Threat: UN
•
UK MPs: Bahrain Tortures Dissidents In Academy Where British University Runs
Course
•
Divided by Riots, United By Stir — Muzaffarnagar’s Muslims And Jats Set Aside
2013 Divide For Farm Protests
•
Pakistan Offers Dialogue To India
•
Dozens Of Rohingya Refugees Caught Arriving In Malaysia
•
UAE, Bahrain Sharply Decreased Aid to Palestinians Following Normalization With
Israel: Report
------
North
America
•
In Its 134-Year History US Law Journal Elects Its First Muslim President, Hassaan
Shahawy
•
Biden Reverses Trump's Terrorist Designation Of Yemen’s Ansarullah
•
Top US diplomat holds talks with European officials over Iran, China, Russia
•
Washington rejects Turkey's minister's statement that US was behind 2016 coup
attempt
•
Blinken discusses Iran deal with UK, French, German ministers
•
Bipartisan support emerges for domestic-terror bills as experts warn threat may
last ‘10 to 20 years’
--------
Mideast
•
World Court Rules It Has Jurisdiction Over War Crimes In Palestinian
Territories
•
'US-Saudi-Israeli alliance against Iran still in place under Biden'
•
Israel’s Netanyahu Promises Ministry to First-Ever Muslim on Likud List
•
Spokesman: MKO’s Influence Visible in Belgian Court’s Verdict against Iran’s
Diplomat
•
US Will Reverse Designation Of Yemen’s Houthis As A Terror Organization:
Official
--------
Africa
•
Burkina Faso Government Says It Is Open To Talks With Jihadists
•
France, Germany, Italy, UK, US Welcome New Libya Interim Government
•
Four proposed Tunisian ministers must stand aside to resolve crisis, says union
•
Over 800 EU-bound Libyan migrants intercepted by navy: UN agency
•
Nigeria troops overrun jihadist camps in northeast
•
Boko Haram Terrorists Capture, Destroy Police Operational Vehicles In Borno
--------
South
Asia
•
Pakistani Taliban Reunified Splinter Groups in Afghanistan, Poses Threat: UN
•
US-Taliban agreement has no element of peace says Haqqani
•
Afghanistan: 26 Killed in Clashes between Security Forces And Taliban Militants
•
10 pro-govt Afghan militiamen killed in Taliban attack
•
Taliban ordered to return, warns of ‘major’ battle
•
Afghan Hindus among many wounded in Kabul explosion
--------
Europe
•
UK MPs: Bahrain Tortures Dissidents In Academy Where British University Runs
Course
•
Russia pledges unwavering support for Iraq in anti-terror fight
•
Germany's far-right crimes hit record amid racism surge in Europe
•
German watchdog orders Goldman Sachs to comply with money laundering rules
--------
India
•
Divided by Riots, United By Stir — Muzaffarnagar’s Muslims And Jats Set Aside
2013 Divide For Farm Protests
•
Traffic Cops Seek South Mumbai Imams’ Help To Spread Message Of Road Safety
•
Gujarat to shelve anti-love jihad bill for now
•
Delhi sisters claim ownership of Ayodhya mosque land, administration says no
dispute in Dhannipur
--------
Pakistan
•
Pakistan Offers Dialogue To India
•
Pakistan: Why is the military taking over civilian posts?
•
‘No end to jirgas despite ban imposed by SC’
•
Jirga stops Bajaur women from visiting World Bank centres
•
Kashmiris may choose Pakistan or independence: PM Imran
•
PM deplores opposition’s ‘hooliganism’ in NA
•
Two killed, over two dozen injured in separate blasts targeting 'Kashmir Day'
rallies in Quetta, Sibi
•
German vlogger embraces Islam after spending a year in Pakistan
--------
Southeast
Asia
•
Dozens Of Rohingya Refugees Caught Arriving In Malaysia
•
Ex-AG’s disclosure of racial brainwashing is most troubling
•
Malay-Muslim agenda nothing but talk, says Dr M
•
New Philippine military chief assures respect for rule of law in fight against
terror
--------
Arab
World
•
UAE, Bahrain Sharply Decreased Aid to Palestinians Following Normalization With
Israel: Report
•
US Secretary Blinken holds first call with Saudi FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan
•
Saudi minister al-Jubeir: Biden’s speech affirms US commitment to work with
allies
•
Bin Salman ordered second assassination attempt against ex-Saudi official:
Lawsuit
•
Israeli paper laments 'drones dropping like flies in enemy territory'
•
Arab countries welcome new Libyan executive authority
•
From Madinah to the Muslim world: A new museum dedicated to the life of the
Prophet
•
Islamic State officials behind Baghdad bombing killed, prime minister says
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/in-its-134-year-history/d/124242
--------
In
Its 134-Year History US Law Journal Elects Its First Muslim President, Hassaan Shahawy
Newly
elected Harvard Law Review President Hassaan Shahawy poses in this undated
handout image. — Reuters
------
February
6, 2021
BOSTON:
The Harvard Law Review has named a Los Angeles-born Egyptian-American as, what
it believes, is its first Muslim president in its 134-year history, elevating
him to the top of one of the most prestigious US law journals.
Harvard
Law School student Hassaan Shahawy said he hoped his election represented
“legal academia’s growing recognition of the importance of diversity, and
perhaps its growing respect for other legal traditions”.
Among
the legal and political luminaries who have worked at the Harvard Law Review
was former US president Barack Obama, named the journal’s first Black president
in 1990.
Three
serving members of the Supreme Court were editors of the Harvard Law Review, as
were the late judges Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia.
“Coming
from a community routinely demonised in American public discourse, I hope this
represents some progress, even if small and symbolic,” Shahawy, 26, wrote in an
email.
Law
reviews are staffed by the top students at US law schools, who are often
recruited for judicial clerkships and other prestigious jobs in the profession.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1605759/us-law-journal-elects-its-first-muslim-president
--------
World
Court Rules It Has Jurisdiction Over War Crimes In Palestinian Territories
05
February 2021
Palestinian women lift national flags and placards
during a rally for supporters of the Fateh movement against Israel's West Bank
annexation plans, in Beit Hanun in the north of the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
------
The
International Criminal Court ruled on Friday that it has jurisdiction over war
crimes or atrocities committed in the Palestinian Territories, opening
the
door for possible investigations against the objections of Israel.
Judges
said their decision was based on jurisdictional rules in the Hague-based
court’s founding documents and does not imply any attempt to determine
statehood or legal borders.
Israel,
which is not a member of the court, has rejected its jurisdiction.
The
court’s prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said in December 2019 there was “a
reasonable basis to believe that war crimes have been or are being committed in
the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.”
She
named both the Israeli Defense Forces and armed Palestinian groups such as
Hamas as possible perpetrators.
She
asked judges to rule on whether the situation fell under the court’s
jurisdiction, before a formal investigation would be opened.
In
a majority ruling published Friday night, the judges said yes.
“The
Court’s territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine ... extends to
the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem,” they said.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/02/05/World-court-rules-it-has-jurisdiction-over-war-crimes-in-Palestinian-Territories
--------
Burkina
Faso Government Says It Is Open To Talks With Jihadists
4
February 2021
OUAGADOUGOU,
Feb 4 (Reuters) - Burkina Faso's government said for the first time on Thursday
that it was open to talks with Islamist militants to try to end a growing
insurgency, echoing a position taken by authorities in neighbouring Mali.
Nearly
a decade after militants linked to al Qaeda briefly seized control of northern
Mali, governments across West Africa's Sahel region again find themselves
struggling to contain the jihadists, leading some to reconsider prior
opposition to talks.
"If
we want to end the security crisis, we will need to find paths and ways to talk
with those responsible for terrorist attacks so that we are in peace,"
Prime Minister Christophe Dabire said in response to a question in parliament.
Attacks
in Burkina Faso by fighters linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have surged in
Burkina Faso since 2018, contributing to a humanitarian crisis that has forced
more than one million people to flee their homes.
Mali's
former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said a year ago that his government was
prepared to negotiate with the local al Qaeda affiliate, and the current
government has reaffirmed that position.
It
is not clear if any progress has been made since then. The al Qaeda affiliate
said it would only attend peace talks if Mali's government expels French and
United Nations forces.
Former
colonial power France, which has over 5,000 troops in the Sahel to fight the
militants, has said it opposes talks with the jihadists. (Reporting by Thiam
Ndiaga; Writing by Aaron Ross and Alistair Bell)
https://news.trust.org/item/20210204174238-znhn7/?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1972721_
--------
Pakistani
Taliban reunified splinter groups in Afghanistan, poses threat: UN
By
Rezaul H Laskar
FEB
05, 2021
The
Pakistani Taliban has worked with al-Qaeda to reunify several splinter terror
groups in Afghanistan, a development that increases the threat to the entire
region, according to a new report from a UN sanctions monitoring committee.
The
ability of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to bring together these splinter
groups, comprising mostly Pakistani fighters, has increased its strength and
led to a “sharp increase in attacks in the region”, said the report from the
monitoring team that helps the UN’s 1267 sanctions committee assess activities
of al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
The
report, released this week, also highlighted the Islamic State's activities in
cyberspace in South Asia, including the publishing of Voice of Hind, an online
magazine in English, and efforts by the group’s members in the Maldives and Sri
Lanka.
According
to the report, UN member states “expressed concern at the rising number of ISIL
sympathizers in cyberspace in South Asia” and noted that Voice of Hind was
being published regularly since it was started in early 2020. “It has followers
in Maldives and Sri Lanka, with the former also highlighted by member states as
an arena for recruitment and operations,” the report said.
The
report added that the key Islamic State operative in the Maldives, Mohamed
Ameen, is trying to forge links with the Khorasan unit of Islamic State in
Afghanistan. Experts believe such a connection could increase the terrorist
threat for all countries in the region, including India.
Ameen's
efforts are “consistent with the Al-Sadiq office objective of enhancing
cooperation across the region”, the report said. The “Al-Sadiq office” is an
Islamic State unit covering India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Central Asian states that is led by Shahab al-Muhajir
aka Sanaullah, a former commander of the Pakistan-based Haqqani Network.
“Tehrik-e
Taliban Pakistan (TTP)...was reported to have overseen a reunification of
splinter groups that took place in Afghanistan and was moderated by Al-Qaida.
This was expected to increase the threat to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the
region,” the report said.
Five
groups - Shehryar Mehsud group, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar...Hizb-ul-Ahrar, the Amjad
Farooqi group and the Usman Saifullah group (formerly known as
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi) – pledged alliance to TTP in July and August last year, and
this “increased the strength of TTP and resulted in a sharp increase in attacks
in the region”.
TTP’s
fighting strength now ranges between 2,500 and 6,000, the report said. Though
the report didn’t go into specifics, experts believe most members of the five
groups united by TTP are of Pakistani origin.
Sameer
Patil, fellow for international security studies at Gateway House, said these
developments could have worrying portends for India and its security interests,
particularly in Afghanistan.
“There
is a history of terror attacks in Afghanistan in which elements associated with
al-Qaeda joined hands with the Taliban to hit out at Indian interests in
Afghanistan, including attacks on diplomatic compounds and the kidnapping of
engineers. While there may not be any direct effect on Indian territory, Indian
interests continue to be endangered, especially in Afghanistan,” he said.
Patil
said India also couldn’t afford to let down its guard given previous attempts
by Pakistan-based groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba to create networks in the
territory of friendly neighbours such as the Maldives.
The
UN report highlighted another issue that has been of concern to countries in
the region against the backdrop of the planned drawdown of foreign troops in
Afghanistan – the continuing relationship between the Afghan Taliban and
al-Qaeda despite the peace deal signed with the US a year ago.
“Member
States report little evidence of significant changes in relations between
Al-Qaida and the Taliban. Al-Qaida assesses that its future in Afghanistan
depends upon its close ties to the Taliban, as well as the success of Taliban
military operations in the country,” the report said.
Al-Qaeda
and its affiliates have 200 to 500 cadres spread across 11 provinces in
Afghanistan, and the killing of several al-Qaeda commanders in Taliban-controlled
territory “underscores how close the two groups are”, the report said. Among
the al-Qaeda figures killed in Taliban-controlled areas was Mohammad Hanif, a
deputy of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistani-taliban-reunified-splinter-groups-in-afghanistan-poses-threat-un-101612532507569.html
--------
UK
MPs: Bahrain tortures dissidents in academy where British university runs
course
06
February 2021
Forty
cross-party lawmakers and peers in the United Kingdom have called on the
University of Huddersfield to close a master’s course it runs at Bahrain’s
Royal Academy of Policing, after allegations that the Manama regime is
torturing political dissidents in the same building.
The
legislators, in a joint letter, told Huddersfield’s vice-chancellor, Bob Cryan,
that the university is at the risk of “indirect implication in human rights
abuse” through running an MSc in security science solely for officers of the
academy, the Guardian reported on Friday.
The
small Persian Gulf island country has seen anti-regime protest rallies over the
past nine years. The major demand has been the ouster of the Al-Khalifah regime
and the establishment of a just and conclusive system representing all Bahraini
nationals.
However,
the Manama regime, in return, has ignored the calls and is pressing ahead with
its heavy-handed crackdown and persecution of human rights campaigners and
political dissidents.
Furthermore,
the Al-Khalifah regime has begun trying civilians at military tribunals since
2017, a move that has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights bodies
and activists, and has been described as the imposition of an undeclared
martial law across the country.
The
Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy campaign group (Bird) last year said
in a report that it had collected testimonies from 13 individuals arrested for
political activism, who say officers abused them during interrogations in the
Royal Academy of Policing where the Huddersfield course is being offered.
The
rights group cited some of the victims that they were being electrocuted and
beaten to their genitals. Four have reported sexual abuse.
The
Guardian also reported the shocking experience of a Bahraini physician, who was
granted asylum in the UK last year on the basis of his testimony about being
tortured at the said academy.
“The
academy is not a place of learning. It is a place of torture and human rights
violation. The UK government must put restrictions on a British university
training in such a place,” the doctor said, who asked to remain anonymous for
fear of reprisals against his relatives in Bahrain.
He
said that he was among more than 200 activists arrested and taken to nefarious
Jaw Prison, across the road from the academy, after protest rallies in May
2017. He went on to say that he had been taken with other detainees to the
academy on seven occasions to be interrogated and tortured, often through the
night.
“I
told the Home Office in my application for asylum that an officer said to me ‘See
that water bottle we gave you to drink? You don’t deserve to drink it’. ... All
of these things happened in the academy,” he added.
The
unnamed doctor further said that officers at the academy also threatened to
rape his mother and sisters in a bid to try to make him confess to
participating in rallies.
Last
month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that Bahrain’s human rights situation
deteriorated dramatically in 2020 as the regime's authorities escalated
repression against online and social media activists and critics with courts
upholding death sentences against opposition figures.
HRW
also pointed to the unsafe health and hygiene conditions in Bahrain’s
overcrowded prisons, emphasizing that Bahraini authorities excluded opposition
leaders, activists, journalists, and human rights defenders – many of whom are
old and/or suffer from underlying medical conditions – from the list of 1,486
prisoners released last March due to COVID-19 outbreak.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/06/644645/Bahrain-UK-lawmakers-Huddersfield-academy-torture-protests
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Divided
By Riots, United By Stir — Muzaffarnagar’s Muslims And Jats Set Aside 2013
Divide For Farm Protests
Feb
6, 2021
Muzaffarnagar/Meerut:
Eight years ago, three deaths and a mahapanchayat had set off a chain of events
that led to three weeks of riots in Muzaffarnagar. The communal divide it
created ran deep.
In
the villages of Muzaffarnagar, many Muslims and Jats are putting the bloody
history behind them to come together for the farmers’ protest. “It is time to
move on,” said Asad Zama, a lawyer who was witness to the riots. “Both
communities shape the politics of western UP. Together, we can do a lot.”
In
2013, Muslim members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), led by founding member
Ghulam Mohammad Jola, had walked out of the outfit. BKU chief Naresh Tikait and
his brother, Rakesh, spokesperson of the outfit, had allegedly attended the
Mahapanchayat where inflammatory speeches had been made before Muzaffarnagar
descended into riots. The Tikait brothers were booked for inciting communal
violence and Jola, holding BKU accountable, quit.
Recently
at another Mahapanchayat, Jola shared the stage with Naresh and embraced him.
It was a day after Rakesh’s teary-eyed appeal from the Ghazipur border, which
led to waves of farmers joining the protests at Delhi borders again. Jola, who
had been a close aide to the Tikait brothers’ father and influential farmer
leader Mahender, struck a note of reconciliation.
“Eight
years have passed. Both Jats and Muslims have seen the losses that came with
drifting apart, both politically and structurally. Now, we are together. The
Muzaffarnagar Mahapanchayat was the beginning. I am hopeful that this
camaraderie will endure and help build bridges among people,” he said.
It
is an uneasy truce but one they are firm on. “It’s a good start. The pressing
matter is farmers’ welfare, irrespective of faith,” said Ashok Balyan, a
Muzaffarnagar-based farmer leader. “We are the biggest farmer communities of
western UP. We are all affected. Coming together with a sense of brotherhood is
good for the both of us,” said Sharanvir Deshwal, another farmer leader.
Some,
however, felt it was too soon to read too much into what is essentially an act
of solidarity. “The divide that was created in 2013 has been deep. It will take
time for the scars to heal,” Ashok said. “Coming together does not mean a
political union. It is out of necessity.” Rizwan Ahmad, an activist and riot
victim who now lives in Shamli, was also sceptical.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/meerut/divided-by-riots-united-by-stir-muzaffarnagars-muslims-jats-set-aside-2013-divide-for-farm-protests/articleshow/80712203.cms
--------
Pakistan
offers dialogue to India
Feb
6, 2021
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan offered dialogue on Friday to India while
making restoration of Article 370, which grants Jammu and Kashmir special
status, a condition for talks.
He
was addressing a public gathering in Kotli district of Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir to observe “solidarity” with the people of Kashmir. Pakistan has been
observing “Kashmir Day” on February 5 every year since 1991.
India
had said on Thursday that the onus of creating the right conditions by acting
against cross-border terrorism lay on Pakistan.
“Come
resolve this Kashmir dispute with us. And for that, the first thing you must do
is to restore Article 370. And then speak to us. And then, as per the United
Nations Resolution, give the Kashmiris their due right,” Khan said.
“We
are ready to speak to you again. I’m still asking Modi to resolve the Kashmir
issue through talks, but do not mistake our hand of friendship for weakness,”
he said. “I invited Indian PM Narendra Modi several times to come to the table
of dialogue as it was the only viable solution,” Khan said.
Khan
said that following the Pulwama incident he realised that the Indian
authorities didn’t want peace or friendly ties, and intended to use the issue
for political gains. He asked India to shun the “fascist” ideology of the RSS.
“Such fascist ideologies do the most damage. They ended up damaging their own
nation,” he said.
“The
country (India) is divided. The Muslims are suffering, the farmers are
suffering. The minorities are all fearful,” Khan claimed, adding that “such an
ideology… may win you the election, but this fascist ideology destroys the
fabric of society”.
Khan
said Pakistan wanted Kashmiris “to decide their own future”.
“The
issue of Kashmir has been lingering since 1948 and it could be resolved along
the lines of resolution of other international disputes, such as East Timor,”
PM Khan said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-offers-dialogue-to-india/articleshow/80714409.cms
--------
Dozens
of Rohingya refugees caught arriving in Malaysia
Feb
05, 2021
Dozens
of Rohingya, mostly women and children, were caught as they arrived by boat in
Malaysia last month after fleeing a refugee camp in neighbouring Indonesia,
police said Friday.
Almost
400 members of the persecuted Muslim minority from Myanmar arrived by boat in
Indonesia last year after perilous journeys, and just over 100 now remain at a
camp there.
Many
are believed to have enlisted traffickers to help them make the sea crossing,
including women seeking to reunite with their husbands in the Southeast Asian
country.
Relatively
affluent, Muslim-majority Malaysia is the main destination for Rohingya fleeing
misery in Bangladeshi refugee camps.
Police
confirmed to AFP that a boat carrying 36 people -- 31 Rohingya and five
Indonesians -- was intercepted as it landed on Malaysia's west coast on January
6.
"They
entered Malaysia by boat from Tanjung Balai (on Indonesia's Sumatra island) and
landed at a beach," said Abdul Rahim Jaafar, the director of internal
security at the Royal Malaysia Police.
The
Rohingya migrants numbered 17 women, seven men, five boys and two girls.
They
were detained and 21 have been charged for entering Malaysia without valid
documents, Abdul Rahim said. A further two people have been charged under
anti-trafficking laws.
News
of the boat landing tallies with accounts from Rohingya at the camp in
Indonesia, who told AFP this week that scores of women had been smuggled to
Malaysia.
While
some were caught, others are believed to have successfully entered the country
and reunited with their spouses, according to Rohingya and human rights groups.
Almost
one million Rohingya live in sprawling camps in Bangladesh, many of which were
set up after a bloody crackdown by Myanmar's military in 2017 drove them into
the impoverished South Asian country.
Over
the years, many have sought to flee by boat to Malaysia, enduring harrowing,
months-long sea journeys punctuated by illness and beatings.
More
than 100,000 Rohingya live on the margins of society in Malaysia, registered as
refugees but not allowed to work, forcing them into illegal construction and
other low-paid jobs.
https://www.wionews.com/world/dozens-of-rohingya-refugees-caught-arriving-in-malaysia-361601
--------
UAE,
Bahrain sharply decreased aid to Palestinians following normalization with
Israel: Report
06
February 2021
The
United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have dramatically slashed their
financial assistance to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after the two
Persian Gulf states agreed to clinch US-brokered deals to normalize ties with
Israel last August.
Israeli
Channel 12 television network, citing Center for Near East Policy Research,
reported on Friday that while the UAE funded the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) $53 million and
$51 million in 2018 and 2019 respectively, it provided the agency a mere $1
million last year.
The
report added that Bahrain had also cut funds, but did not provide any figures.
UNRWA confirmed the account.
The
report said the moves could be seen as an act of retaliation after the
Palestinians condemned the two Persian Gulf states over their diplomatic ties
with Israel, and accused them of treachery.
Back
in September 2018, former US president Donald Trump made the abrupt
announcement that his administration would halt funding to the United Nations’
agency assisting Palestine refugees across the Middle East.
Palestinian
officials sharply criticized then US decision, calling it a “flagrant assault”
against Palestinians.
Last
month, Washington’s interim UN envoy, Richard Mills, said President Joe Biden
intends to “restore US assistance programs that support economic development
and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people,” without mentioning UNRWA.
Israeli
prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed agreements with Emirati Foreign
Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahrain's Foreign Minister
Abdullatif Al Zayani during an official ceremony hosted by Trump at the White
House on September 15 last year.
Palestinians,
who seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, with East
Jerusalem as its capital view the deals as betrayal of their cause.
Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas protested the normalization deals with Israel, saying
they will be fruitless as long as the United States and the Israeli regime do
not recognize the rights of the Palestinian nation and refuse to resolve the
issue of Palestinian refugees.
Abbas
reiterated that there will be no peace, security or stability for anyone in the
region unless the Israeli regime ended its occupation of Palestinian land, and
Palestinians could restore their full rights as stipulated in international
resolutions.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/06/644658/UAE-Bahrain-sharply-decreased-aid-to-Palestinians-following-normalization-with-Israel-Report
--------
North
America
Biden
reverses Trump's terrorist designation of Yemen’s Ansarullah
06
February 2021
The
administration of US President Joe Biden has formally notified Congress that it
will remove Yemen’s popular Houthi Ansarullah movement from the list of foreign
terrorist organizations, reversing a last-minute designation by former
president Donald Trump.
“Secretary
[Antony] Blinken has been clear about undertaking an expeditious review of the
designations of Ansarullah given the profound implications for the people of
Yemen, home to the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe,” an unnamed State
Department official confirmed on Friday.
“After
a comprehensive review, we can confirm that the Secretary intends to revoke the
Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist
designations of Ansarullah,” the official added.
Two
sources familiar with the matter said the State Department had formally
notified Congress of its plan to delist the Houthi movement.
The
decision comes a day after the Biden administration announced an end to
American support for the Saudi war on Yemen, including a freeze on arms sales
to the Riyadh regime.
Critics
of the Trump administration action had said that the designation would bring
more pain to millions of starving people in Yemen.
Scott
Paul, Oxfam America’s policy advocacy director said, “This purely
counterproductive designation had caused months of uncertainty as aid
organizations, banks, and importers of critical commodities like food and fuel were
left in limbo.”
On
January 11, nine days before Biden was sworn into office, then-Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo announced President Trump’s intent to designate Yemen’s
Ansarullah movement as terrorist.
The
Trump administration’s last-minute “terrorist” designation appeared to be a
desperate attempt to step up pressure on the popular Houthi movement after the
Saudi regime failed to fulfill the objectives of over five years of war on
Yemen, despite all the support it had received from the US and other Western
states.
The
popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, backed by the Yemeni armed forces and
allied popular groups, has gone from strength to strength against the Saudi-led
invaders, and successfully defended Yemen, leaving Riyadh and its allies bogged
down in the county.
Trump
had long overlooked and defended the Saudi-led coalition’s acts of aggression
in Yemen in favor of lucrative arms sales to the regime in Riyadh.
US
withdrawal of support not enough: Houthi
A
member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council on Saturday described the Biden
administration’s decision to withdraw support for Yemen war in break with
Trump’s policy as “insufficient.”
“The
US decision to end its involvement [in the war] and command of the aggressor
states is not enough. This is the first practical measure that Washington must
adopt,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi wrote in a post published on his official
Twitter page early on Saturday.
“In
the wake of US decision to halt military support for offensive military
operations in Yemen, Washington's allies must also commit themselves to
compensate victims, enact a package of measures to guarantee the sovereignty of
Yemen, recognize its independence and legitimate right to self-defense, and
consider any military action either by Arab or foreign states as a criminal
act,” he said.
“Another
step that needs to be taken is to restore the rights of Yemeni people, and to
offset economic repercussions, which were incurred [by the coalition of
aggression] as a result of the siege. Additionally, no outsider has the right
to impose a decision on Yemeni nation or appoint a person to [rule] them by
force of arms,” Houthi further noted.
“Last
but not least, Yemeni people should not be forced to obey those who do not
represent them,” he concluded.
‘We
are waiting for actions, not just words’
Mohammed
al-Bukhaiti, another member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council, said the US
administration needs to understand that actions speak louder than words.
Bukhaiti
told Lebanon-based and Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network on
Friday night that Ansarullah movement and Yemen’s National Salvation Government
were ready to end the crisis and war in the Arab country.
“We
are ready for talks, but the mechanism of the previous talks was not right,” he
highlighted.
“If
the US government is honest, it would practically mean the end of [Saudi-led]
aggression against Yemen. The war in Yemen ends once all airstrikes stop and
foreign forces leave the country,” Bukhaiti continued.
The
member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council also questioned the US decision to
end support for the Saudi war on Yemen, saying, “The United States may reduce
its support for aggressor states [involved in Yemen war] without stopping it
altogether.”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/06/644650/Biden-to-rescind-Yemen-Ansarullah-terrorist-designation-reverse-another-Trump-policy
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Top
US diplomat holds talks with European officials over Iran, China, Russia
Joseph
Haboush & Nadia Bilbassy
05
February 2021
US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken held virtual meeting Friday with European
allies in an attempt to come up with a unified stance on common threats that
include China, Iran and Russia.
The
meeting involved Blinken’s counterparts from the United Kingdom, Germany and
France.
Discussions
touched on the multiple common challenges, including the Iran nuclear deal,
threats from China and Russia, the military coup in Myanmar and climate change.
“The
goal of the meeting is to reach a unified stance,” a senior US administration
official told Al Arabiya ahead of the meeting.
French
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian tweeted about the “in-depth and important
conversation on Iran.”
For
his part, UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said: “The E3 and the US discussed
how a united approach could address our shared concerns towards Iran.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/02/05/Top-US-diplomat-holds-talks-with-European-officials-over-Iran-China-Russia-Source
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Washington
rejects Turkey's minister's statement that US was behind 2016 coup attempt
Tuqa
Khalid
05
February 2021
The
US State Department said on Thursday assertions by Turkish officials that the
United States was involved in a failed 2016 coup attempt in Turkey were
"wholly false."
"The
United States had no involvement in the 2016 attempted coup in Turkey and
promptly condemned it. Recent assertions to the contrary made by senior Turkish
officials are wholly false," the State Department said.
"These
remarks and other unfounded and irresponsible claims of US responsibility for
events in Turkey are inconsistent with Turkey’s status as a NATO Ally and
strategic partner of the United States," it added.
Turkey's
interior minister Suleyman Soylu told the Hurriyet daily the United States had
managed the coup attempt while US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen's
network carried it out.
"It
is blatantly clear the United States is behind July 15. It was FETO who carried
it out upon their orders," he said.
More
than 250 people were killed in the attempt to overthrow President Tayyip
Erdogan and his government on July 15, 2016 when rogue soldiers commandeered
warplanes, helicopters and tanks to seize state institutions.
Ankara
has long blamed preacher Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan who lives in
Pennsylvania, and launched a widespread crackdown on his network, which Ankara
refers to by the acronym 'FETO'. Gulen denies any involvement.
The
US has repeatedly rejected Turkish demands for Gulen's extradition, citing a
lack of credible evidence from Ankara.
Ankara
is seeking to repair strained ties with Washington, which last year sanctioned
Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defence systems, and with the European
Union. The EU has threatened measures against Ankara over a dispute with Greece
in the east Mediterranean.
Turkey
has said in recent weeks that it achieved a "positive agenda" with
the EU, and that it wants to improve relations with the United States under
President Joe Biden. He is expected to be tougher on Ankara over its record on
human rights, which has worried Turkey's Western allies.
Since
the failed coup, Turkey has detained some 292,000 people over suspected links
to Gulen and has suspended or sacked more than 150,000 civil servants. Hundreds
of media outlets have been shut and dozens of opposition lawmakers have been
jailed.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/02/05/Washington-rejects-Turkey-s-minister-s-statement-that-US-was-behind-2016-coup-attempt
--------
Blinken
discusses Iran deal with UK, French, German ministers
05
February 2021
US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has discussed Iran with his British, French
and German counterparts as they seek to revive the Iran nuclear deal.
"We
just had a in-depth and important conversation on Iran ... to handle together
nuclear and regional security challenges," French Foreign Minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Twitter on Friday.
The
new administration of President Joe Biden is trying to explore how to restore
the nuclear deal, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA).
The
JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and six world states — namely the US,
Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — and ratified in the form of UN
Security Council Resolution 2231.
However,
the US under former president Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the JCPOA
in May 2018, reinstated the anti-Iran sanctions, and targeted the Islamic
nation with a brutal economic embargo which the Trump White House called
“maximum pressure” campaign.
The
fate of the JCPOA is now hanging in the balance after the European
co-signatories — France, Britain and Germany — failed to counter the sanctions
as required by the agreement, prompting Tehran to suspend parts of its
commitments in retaliation.
Biden
has pledged to rejoin the multilateral accord if Iran returns to compliance.
Iran,
however, says it is Washington that should take the first step by lifting the
sanctions and then Tehran will return to its commitments enshrined in the
nuclear pact.
'We're
working in lockstep with our European partners'
On
Friday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price declined to comment on the
substance of Blinken’s virtual meeting with his British, French and German
counterparts but said Washington wanted "to make sure that we are working
in lockstep with our European partners" on Iran.
An
American official also said the meeting between Blinken, Le Drian, Britain's
Dominic Raab and Germany's Heiko Maas would also cover the coronavirus
pandemic, Russia, China, Myanmar and climate.
The
National Security Council convened a meeting on Friday which was attended by
top US officials.
"The
meeting today is part of an ongoing policy review. It is not decisional,"
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Twitter.
Robert
Malley, new US special envoy for Iran, said on Tuesday that Washington seeks to
remove the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign against the Islamic
Republic.
Malley
told the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera that conferring on a
broader agreement would be on the agenda only after returning to JCPOA.
The
US envoy also claimed that the Biden government will remove the maximum
pressure on Iran and strives to put pressure on Tehran through diplomacy.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/05/644640/Blinken-discusses-Iran-deal-with-UK,-French,-German-ministers
--------
Bipartisan
support emerges for domestic-terror bills as experts warn threat may last ‘10
to 20 years’
By
Karoun Demirjian
Feb.
5, 2021
An
apparent bipartisan majority of the House Homeland Security Committee on
Thursday endorsed the idea of new laws to address domestic terrorism in the
wake of last month’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, as experts warned such internal
threats would plague the country for decades to come.
Elizabeth
Neumann, a former assistant secretary of homeland security for counterterrorism
during the Trump administration, warned lawmakers that there is a “high
likelihood” that another domestic terrorist attack would occur in the coming
months and that the problem would persist “for the next 10 to 20 years.”
Jonathan
Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, told lawmakers that Jan. 6 had
been a “watershed moment for the white supremacist movement,” and that its
adherents viewed the Capitol breach as a “victory.”
Their
comments came during the committee’s first hearing in its investigation into
the riot that has moved House Democrats and 10 Republicans to impeach the
now-former president for an unprecedented second time. The panel’s chairman,
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), indicated that he expected its probe would result
in concrete legislation to punish and dissuade such attacks, and better monitor
and regulate the environments in which extremist ideologies proliferate.
“We
have to do something,” Thompson said during the hearing. “I’m sure somewhere
there will be agreement on specific legislation.”
But
although both Democrats and Republicans on the panel showed enthusiasm for
select ventures, it is not yet clear where leaders might prioritize their
efforts — or if, in the end, they will be able to find enough common ground to
avoid political stalemate.
Rep.
Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), the committee’s former chairman, joined a bipartisan
group of lawmakers calling for legislation to set specific federal penalties
for domestic terrorism cases. Such legislation would aim to bring the
prosecution of such crimes into parity with laws targeting terrorism that
originates overseas — something proponents said would recognize that the
threats are equally insidious.
“What
happened Jan. 6 just cries out” for such a response, McCaul said. “I think it
sends a strong message about where Congress is, that we’re going to treat
domestic terrorism on an equal plane as international terrorism.”
Several
lawmakers said they also endorse targeting social media companies with
legislation meant to hold them accountable when extremist propaganda is
circulated on their platforms. Some backed the approach set out in a bill,
co-written by Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), seeking to overhaul of Section 230
of the Communications Decency Act, the law giving technology companies
liability protection from what third parties post on their sites.
“They’ve
dragged their feet too long,” Neumann told lawmakers, referring to social media
companies and noting that although the preference was to have business “self-correct
… we might be at the point where it is needed for Congress to pass legislation
to address the problem.”
Despite
their unanimous condemnation of the Capitol attack and white supremacy, the
experts assembled Thursday were not in lockstep when it came to recommendations
for how Congress ought to go about legislating a response. While Greenblatt
came with a seven-part plan, including specific legislative recommendations to
increase penalties and for funding mitigation activities, Brian Michael Jenkins
of the Rand Corp. took the opposite approach, recommending that prosecutors
might do best to go after domestic terrorists by leveraging existing statutes.
Even
with bipartisan support for new legislation, there are several political
pitfalls on the road to passing it. Some House Democrats have accused certain
Republican colleagues of aiding and abetting the Capitol rioters, and across
the Capitol the parties remain divided over whether then-President Donald Trump
is to blame for inciting the attack.
Thursday’s
hearing was held against the backdrop of a debate over whether freshman Rep.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) should be ousted from her committee assignments
for espousing conspiracy theories Democrats have labeled dangerous. Late
Thursday, the House voted largely along party lines to do so after Greene had
pushed back against the accusations, calling them a form of thought crime and
decrying Democrats for trying to stifle her right to free speech.
The
debate appeared to spill over into Thursday’s hearing, as Rep. Andrew S. Clyde
of Georgia — also a first-term Republican — suggested that activists were too
quick to brand people with unorthodox and even offensive views as extremists.
“Can
people not have differing opinions and those opinions not affect the actual
work that they do?” Clyde challenged Greenblatt in the hearing’s only testy
exchange.
“Fierce
debate shouldn’t allow you to dehumanize me or any other person from any
minority group,” Greenblatt shot back.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/capitol-riot-domestic-terror-legislation/2021/02/04/f43ec214-6733-11eb-8468-21bc48f07fe5_story.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1972721_
--------
Mideast
'US-Saudi-Israeli
alliance against Iran still in place under Biden'
05
February 2021
A
political commentator says the United States still counts Iran as an enemy
under the administration of new President Joe Biden, who is unlikely to
radically shift the country’s Iran policy despite a pledge to rejoin the 2015
nuclear deal that his hawkish predecessor abandoned.
“Unfortunately,
Iran is still on the US enemies’ list under the Biden government. Thus, while
direct military intervention is unlikely, the US-Saudi-Israel alliance is still
in place,” Beau Grosscup, professor emeritus of political science at California
State University, said in an interview with Press TV.
The
trio, he added, continue “looking to overthrow the Islamic Republic via other
means [than military action] in favor of a return to the monarchy.”
Biden
has criticized ex-president Donald Trump for pulling the US out of the Iran
deal in 2018 and reinstating the sanctions lifted by the accord, pledging to
return to compliance, despite opposition from Washington’s close Middle Eastern
allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
However,
weeks into Biden’s presidency, signs are emerging that the new White House team
are not seeking to make any fundamental changes to America’s Iran policy, and
that the Iran deal is not a top priority.
Turning
a blind eye to the fact that it was Washington which first turned back on its
obligations under the nuclear deal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, on
his first full day as the top US diplomat in late January, that Washington
would only return to the agreement once Tehran resumes the commitments it has
suspended in retaliation for the US’s withdrawal.
Blinken
also spoke of a long road until verification of Tehran’s compliance and called
for the inclusion of irrelevant issues in the nuclear pact, including Iran’s
national defense program and its regional activity.
In
turn, the regimes in Israel and Saudi Arabia —
which failed in the first place to prevent the signing of the Iran deal,
despite intense lobbying — have been trying to dissuade the Biden
administration from rejoining the multinational agreement.
The
US enmity with the Islamic Republic dates back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution,
which overthrew the Washington-backed Pahlavi dynasty in Iran and paved the way
for the nation to achieve independence from Western dominion.
Shortly
after the Revolution, the US — along with a number of its Western and regional
allies — began a fruitless campaign, which continues to this day, to bring down
the Islamic establishment in Iran through imposing crippling sanctions on the
Iranian nation and backing the ex-Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in a bloody
eight-war on its neighbor in the 1980s.
That
campaign has not only failed to achieve its goal but it has also backfired,
helping the Iranian nation to grow stronger and achieve self-sufficiency in
many sectors, especially its defense industry.
‘Iran
foiled enemy attempts to isolate it’
Elsewhere
in the interview, Grosscup said Iran has made “a few powerful” enemies in the
past 42 years since the Revolution, but the country has also been able to avoid
falling into a Western trap of becoming isolated thanks to a combination of
strengthening its defense capabilities and engaging in diplomacy with other
states.
Grosscup
added that Iran’s “ability defend itself against those enemies and negotiate
treaties that serve a community of interests is Iran’s biggest success as well
as being able to fight off the label of a ‘pariah state’ that its enemies try
hard to tag it with,” he added.
The
political scientist said Iran had successfully foiled attempts by its enemies
to isolate the country as an “aggressor state,” praising the Islamic Republic
as “a valuable and valued member of the community of nations.”
He
further described the economic challenges facing Iran as a “big test” for the
country, saying Tehran should work to get the economy, which has been hit hard
by US sanctions, “back on track” when the new coronavirus pandemic is brought
under control.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/05/644613/iran-us-israel-saudi-biden-alliance-Beau-Grosscup
--------
Israel’s
Netanyahu promises ministry to first-ever Muslim on Likud list
February
6, 2021
JERUSALEM:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday he would appoint an Arab
Israeli, the first-ever Muslim candidate on the premier’s Likud party list, as
a minister if the party wins March elections.
“I’m
proud that Nail Zoabi, a renowned educator who has given many years to Arab
society, is joining the list” of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, the
premier said in a video on Facebook.
“I
will name him minister for the advancement of Arab society in my government,”
he said, standing alongside Zoabi.
A
caption on the video said it would be “the first time that an Israeli Muslim
citizen joins Likud”.
Several
Druze Arabs have served as Likud MPs.
Netanyahu’s
announcement coincided with the defection of the Raam movement from the Joint
List, a coalition of Arab parties which in the last election in March 2020 had
achieved its highest-ever score of 15 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s 120-seat
legislature.
The
conservative Islamic movement’s leader Mansour Abbas in December abstained from
a vote to dissolve parliament, a move interpreted as a sign of support for
Netanyahu and a break with the other Joint List parties.
Netanyahu
also recently launched a campaign to win over Arab Israelis, visiting multiple
Arab-majority districts in a pre-election overture to a community that has long
accused him of racism.
In
a polling-day bid to energise right-wing voters in 2015, he warned that Arab
Israelis were voting “in droves” and suggested left-wing groups had bussed Arab
citizens to polling stations.
In
a rare visit to the northern city of Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel,
Netanyahu promised investment and anti-crime initiatives and apologised for
potentially offensive past remarks.
Arab
Israelis — Palestinians who stayed on their land following the Jewish state’s
creation in 1948, and their descendants — make up about 20% of the country’s
roughly nine million people.
According
to a survey by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), 66% of Israeli Arabs see
Netanyahu’s campaign to seduce them as insincere.
By
law, Arab Israelis have rights equal to those of Jewish citizens. But they say
that in practice they suffer discrimination in employment, housing, policing
and other essentials.
They
also point to a 2018 law defining Israel as the “nation state of the Jewish
people” and giving Jews a “unique” right to self-determination there.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2021/02/06/israels-netanyahu-promises-ministry-to-first-ever-muslim-on-likud-list/
--------
Spokesman:
MKO’s Influence Visible in Belgian Court’s Verdict against Iran’s Diplomat
2021-February-5
“The
Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the announcement of the Belgian
Court of Antwerp to issue a 20-year prison sentence for Asadi,” Khatibzadeh
said on Thursday in reaction to the Belgian Court’s ruling on Iranian diplomat
Asadollah Asadi, adding, “Unfortunately, Belgium and some European countries,
under the influence of the machination of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization
(MKO) terrorist group, have committed such an illegal and unjustifiable act.”
He
went on to say that as Iran has stated several times, all stages of Asadi's
detention, the judicial process, the issuance of the recent sentence are
illegal and in flagrant violation of international law, particularly the
provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
“Therefore,
they [Europeans] should be held accountable for the gross violations of the
rights of the Iranian diplomat, including the inhumane conditions that he faced
while in detention in Germany and Belgium,” Khatibzadeh noted.
The
spokesman emphasized that Iran reserves the right to employ all possible legal
and diplomatic means to exercise the rights of Asadollah Asadi and to hold
accountable governments that have violated their international obligations.
Asadi
who served as the third secretary of the Iranian Embassy in Austria was
arrested in Germany in 2018 and was extradited to Belgium. He is accused of
allegedly planning the bombing and providing the explosives to an Iranian
couple from Brussels.
Iran
has always denied the allegations against its diplomat and in July 2018
summoned the French and Belgian ambassadors and Germany's chargé d'affaires in
protest at his arrest in Germany.
In
a relevant statement in October 2020, the Iranian embassy in Belgium dismissed
the western media allegations against the country’s diplomat, Asadollah Asadi,
as baseless and ridiculous, warning of third party attempts to distort
relations between Tehran and Europe.
Reuters
had in early October quoted police documents as claiming that Asadi, who is
allegedly charged in Belgium with planning to bomb a meeting of Mojahedin-e
Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCRI) terrorist group
in France, had warned authorities of possible retaliation by unidentified
groups if he is found guilty.
“The
Iranian diplomat has rejected the allegations and stressed that he has never
raised any threats against Belgium. The case’s lawyer has also dismissed
allegations of threatening,” the Iranian embassy said in a statement.
It
added that the western media claims that Asadi has threatened Belgium are
“ridiculous”, warning that certain media outlets aim to destroy relations between
Iran and Europe.
The
MKO is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international
community. Its members fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq, where they received support
from then dictator Saddam Hussein.
The
notorious outfit has carried out numerous attacks against Iranian civilians and
government officials for several decades.
In
2012, the US State Department removed the MKO from its list of designated
terrorist organizations under intense lobbying by groups associated to Saudi
Arabia and other regimes adversarial to Iran.
A
few years ago, MKO members were relocated from their Camp Ashraf in Iraq’s
Diyala Province to Camp Hurriyet (Camp Liberty), a former US military base in
Baghdad, and were later sent to Albania.
Those
members, who have managed to escape, have revealed MKO's scandalous means of
access to money, almost exclusively coming from Saudi Arabia.
The
MKO terrorist group has openly specified targets as martyred Lieutenant General
Qassem Soleimani, who commanded the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps (IRGC), and Iranian Judiciary Chief Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi.
The
terrorist organization said it would “welcome” their assassination, adding that
it desired for the ranking officials to “join” Asadollah Lajevardi, Tehran’s
former chief prosecutor, and Ali Sayyad-Shirazi, a former commander of the
Iranian Army’s Ground Forces during Iraq’s 1980-88 war against Iran, who have
both been assassinated.
Earlier
in June 2019, a leaked audio of a phone conversation between two members of
MKO, revealed Saudi regime has colluded with the MKO elements to frame Iran for
the tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf.
In
the audio, Shahram Fakhteh, an official member and the person in charge of
MKO’s cyber operations, is heard talking with a US-based MKO sympathizer named
Daei-ul-Eslam in Farsi, IFP news reported.
In
this conversation, the two elements discuss the MKO’s efforts to introduce Iran
as the culprit behind the tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf, and how the
Saudis contacted them to pursue the issue.
“In
the past week we did our best to blame the [Iranian] regime for the (oil
tanker) blasts. Saudis have called Sister Maryam (Rajavi)’s office to follow up
on the results, [to get] a conclusion of what has been done, and the possible
consequences,” Fakhteh is heard saying.
“I
guess this can have different consequences. It can send the case to the UN
Security Council or even result in military intervention. It can have any
consequence,” Daei-ul-Eslam says.
Attacks
on two commercial oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on June 13, and an earlier
attack on four oil tankers off the UAE’s Fujairah port on May 12, 2019, have
escalated tensions in West Asia and raised the prospect of a military
confrontation between Iran and the United States.
The
US, Saudi regime, and the UAE have rushed to blame Iran for the incidents, with
the US military releasing a grainy video it claimed shows Iranian forces in a
patrol boat removing an unexploded mine from the side of a Japanese-owned
tanker which caught fire earlier.
It
later released some images of the purported Iranian operation after the video
was seriously challenged by experts and Washington’s own allies.
The
MKO which is said to be a cult which turns humans into obedient robots, turned
against Iran after the 1979 Revolution and has carried out several terrorist
attacks killing senior officials in Iran; yet the West which says cultism is
wrong and claims to be against terrorism, supports this terrorist group
officially.
After
the resounding victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the MKO began its
enmity against Iran by killings over 17,000 Iranians and terrorist activities.
Several members of the terrorist group and its ringleaders are living in France
now, freely conducting terrorist activities.
The
MKO terrorist group has martyred 17,161 Iranian citizens, including late
President Mohammad Ali Rajayee, former Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Bahonar,
late Head of Supreme Judicial Council Ayatollah Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti,
late Deputy Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff Ali Sayyad Shirazi,
and 72 legislators, as well as four nuclear scientists.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991117000072/Spkesman-MKO%E2%80%99s-Inflence-Visible-in-Belgian-Cr%E2%80%99s-Verdic-agains-Iran%E2%80%99s
--------
US
will reverse designation of Yemen’s Houthis as a terror organization: Official
Joseph
Haboush
05
February 2021
Washington
will reverse a last-minute decision by the Trump administration to designate
Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist organization, US officials said Friday.
The
designation was first made by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shortly
before he left office, despite his efforts to push through the designation
months before.
On
Friday, a State Department official told Reuters that Pompeo’s successor,
Antony Blinken, would inform Congress of his intention to reverse the move.
“Our
action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute
designation from the prior administration, which the United Nations and
humanitarian organizations have since made clear would accelerate the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis,” the official was quoted as telling Reuters.
Humanitarian
groups and the United Nations heavily criticized the designation by the Trump
administration, saying that it would further worsen the humanitarian
catastrophe in Yemen.
Pompeo
and the Treasury Department were quick to issue sanctions waivers and licenses
to allow humanitarian aid to continue flowing into Yemen. Still, Biden’s team
has determined that it will be too difficult for groups and international
assistance to deliver assistance.
The
designation was initially welcomed by US allies in the region, including the
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The
Iran-backed Houthis target Saudi Arabia on a near-daily basis with rockets and
bomb-laden missiles.
The
US official stressed that the action had “nothing to do” with the US view of
the Houthis and their “reprehensible conduct” and repeated Washington’s
commitment to helping Saudi Arabia to defend its territory against further such
attacks.
On
Thursday, Biden announced an end to US support for “offensive operations”
inside Yemen but assured Riyadh that Washington would continue to help Saudi
Arabia defends its people and its territorial integrity.
Meanwhile,
State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Friday that the US
understood the security threats Saudi Arabia faces from Yemen. “So … we’ll look
for ways to improve support for Saudi Arabia’s stability, to defend its
territory against threats,” he said.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/02/06/US-will-reverse-designation-of-Yemen-s-Houthis-as-a-terror-organization
--------
Africa
France,
Germany, Italy, UK, US welcome new Libya interim government
05
February 2021
France,
Germany, Italy, Britain and the United States welcomed an agreement to form a
new interim government for Libya on Friday, saying a “long road still lies
ahead.”
Calling
the formation of a new interim government a “critical step,” the nations said in
a joint statement released in London there was much to be done.
“The
unified executive authority will have to implement the ceasefire agreement,
provide essential public services to the Libyan people, initiate a program for
meaningful reconciliation, address critical national budget needs, and organize
national elections,” they said.
Mohammad
Younes Menfi, a Libyan diplomat with a support base in the country’s east, was
chosen to head the three-person Presidential Council. Abdul Hamid Mohammed
Dbeibah, a powerful businessman backed by western tribes, was chosen as interim
prime minister.
The
UN process, known as the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, was aimed at choosing
an interim authority to oversee Libya as part of an effort to rebuild state
institutions and lead to national elections planned for Dec. 24.
The
three council members each represent Libya’s east, west and south regions.
Capping
a UN-led diplomatic process that began in Berlin in January last year, forum
delegates began meeting on Monday in an undisclosed location near Geneva,
before reducing their selection on Friday to four, then two, and finally one
list of candidates for interim prime minister and the council.
The
voting took place under the mediation of the UN secretary-general’s acting special
representative for Libya, Stephanie Williams, in hopes to bring stability to an
oil-rich North African country that has been largely lawless since former
dictator Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed in 2011.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2021/02/06/France-Germany-Italy-UK-US-welcome-new-Libya-interim-government
--------
Four
proposed Tunisian ministers must stand aside to resolve crisis, says union
05
February 2021
Tunisia’s
powerful UGTT labor union on Friday called for four proposed new cabinet
ministers to stand aside as a step towards resolving a political crisis.
Parliament
last week approved a cabinet reshuffle put forward by Prime Minister Hichem
Mechichi with 11 new ministers.
But
President Kais Saied rejected the reshuffle, saying four of the appointments
were believed to have conflicts of interest.
The
dispute is causing a political logjam as the government struggles to combat the
coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout. Protests have been going on for
nearly three weeks over the political and social crisis.
“A
concession must take place…I kindly ask the proposed ministers in dispute to
give up their posts for the state interest,” said Noureddine Taboubi, the head
of the UGTT.
The
proposed ministers rejected by the president are the health, energy, employment
and sports ministers.
Saied,
who appointed Mechichi last year but has taken issue with some of his moves, on
Monday condemned the absence of women among the new ministers and said he would
not swear in any ministers suspected of corruption.
Protests
flared earlier this month on the 10th anniversary of Tunisia’s 2011 revolution
that inspired that Arab Spring and introduced democracy in the North African
country.
Political
paralysis and economic decline have soured many Tunisians on the fruits of the
uprising.
The
deadlock since elections in 2019 has stymied efforts to address the festering
economic problems, with both foreign lenders and UGTT demanding reforms.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2021/02/05/Four-proposed-Tunisian-ministers-must-stand-aside-to-resolve-crisis-says-union
--------
Over
800 EU-bound Libyan migrants intercepted by navy: UN agency
05
February 2021
Hundreds
of Europe-bound migrants were intercepted in the Mediterranean sea off Libya’s
coasts and taken into detention over the last 24 hours, the UN migration agency
said Friday.
The
International Organization for Migration tweeted that more than 1,000 migrants
have recently departed from Libya’s shores, escaping “dire humanitarian
conditions.”
Over
800 of them were stopped by the Libyan coast guard and sent to the North
African country’s notorious detention centers, the IOM said.
In
the years since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed longtime
dictator Moammar Gadhafi, war-torn Libya has emerged as the dominant transit
point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
Smugglers often pack desperate families into ill-equipped rubber boats that
stall and founder along the perilous Central Mediterranean route.
The
IOM posted photographs of mostly African migrant men waiting at disembarkation
points in Libya and speaking to IOM staff.
“While
IOM teams continue to provide assistance at disembarkation points, we maintain
that Libya is not a safe port,” tweeted the IOM.
In
recent years, the European Union has partnered with Libya’s coast guard and
other local groups to stem such dangerous sea crossings. Rights groups,
however, say those policies leave migrants at the mercy of armed groups or
confined in squalid detention centers rife with abuses.
On
January 19, a boat carrying migrants bound for Europe capsized in the
Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, and at least 43 people drowned. The
tragedy marked the first maritime disaster in 2021 involving migrants seeking
better lives in Europe.
The
IOM had cited survivors as saying that the dead were all men from West African
nations.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/north-africa/2021/02/05/Over-800-EU-bound-Libyan-migrants-intercepted-by-navy-UN-agency
--------
Nigeria
troops overrun jihadist camps in northeast
Aminu
Abubakar
February
5, 2021
Nigerian
troops backed by jets have taken control of several camps of IS-linked
jihadists, with two senior commanders escaping after several other ranking
militants were killed, two military sources told AFP Thursday.
Troops
overran Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) camps in an area
straddling Yobe and Borno states in northeast Nigeria after a month-long military
operation, the sources said.
The
operations have been ongoing as President Muhammadu Buhari replaced his four
top military commanders after months of pressure over his government's failure
to end the country's more than decade-long Islamist insurgency.
On
Wednesday, soldiers aided by fighter jets overran Dole camp, the last jihadist
stronghold in the so-called "Timbuktu triangle", the two military
officers said.
"With
the fall of Dole the whole area is now under the effective control of Nigerian
troops," said one of the officers.
The
jihadists have been in control of the area since 2013 when they seized it and
established a strong presence, especially in the Talala area, which became the
second largest ISWAP camp outside the group's Lake Chad stronghold.
-
Tough battle -
Last
month troops took over Talala after a fierce battle in which six soldiers were
killed by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive-laden vehicle among
troops, military sources told AFP.
"It
was a tough battle," said the second source on the Dole raid.
"The
route leading to Dole was mined by the terrorists and troops accessed it on
foot, engaging the terrorists in fierce battle with air support," he said.
Several
hostages were rescued from the camps while dozens of vehicles seized from
kidnapped hostages were recovered, the sources said.
Two
high profile ISWAP commanders, Modu Sulum and Ameer Modu Borzogo, fled along
with some fighters during intense fighting while other commanders were killed,
said the second source.
Escaping
fighters were believed to have fled to Lake Chad which straddles Nigeria, Chad,
Niger and Cameroon, where the group maintains camps on the islands dotting the
freshwater lake, said the two military officers.
In
another front, troops reclaimed five camps from the jihadists in Kidari,
Argude, Takwala, Chowalta and Galdekore villages where the jihadists used
suicide bombers to stave off troops advance.
"We
lost some soldiers and several were injured in the suicide attack but the
soldiers managed to subdue the terrorists," said the second source,
without giving details of the casualties.
ISWAP
split from mainstream Boko Haram in 2016 and became a dominant group, launching
attacks on military bases and ambushing troops while abducting travellers at
bogus checkpoints.
Last
week Buhari appointed new military chiefs, raising hope of a change in military
strategy to end the 12-year old conflict that has killed 36,000 people and
displaced around two million from their homes.
https://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-troops-overrun-jihadist-camps-190635313.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1972721_
--------
Boko
Haram Terrorists Capture, Destroy Police Operational Vehicles In Borno
FEB
04, 2021
Militants
belonging to the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State
West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah
lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, have allegedly destroyed two operational patrol vehicles
the group captured from the Nigeria Police Force.
According
to ISWAP in a statement sighted by SaharaReporters on Wednesday, the vehicles
were captured when the group attacked a police checkpoint along the
Maiduguri-Chabal-Magumeri Road in Borno State.
Chabal
in the Magumeri Local Government Area is about 22km from Maimalari Cantonment,
7 Division Nigerian Army, Maiduguri.
The
insurgents also claimed that many policemen and civilians were kidnapped during
the attack.
SaharaReporters
had earlier reported how the insurgents killed two policemen and a civilian at
Chabal.
“We
just received a signal that Boko Haram terrorists attacked some police officers
at Chabal community. A civilian Joint Task Force member was also shot dead.
Soldiers from Maimalari Cantonment, 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in
Maiduguri have been mobilised to the area,” a military source had told
SaharaReporters on Sunday.
The
attack happened on the day Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff led Ibrahim
Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Awwal Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; and Isiaka
Amao, Chief of Air Staff to the Operation Lafiya Dole Theatre Command in
Maiduguri.
In
the past months, the insurgents have targeted security operatives, waiting in
ambush for them.
The
Boko Haram insurgency has caused over 30,000 deaths and displaced millions of
individuals mainly in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
The
terror group wants an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.
The
insurgents last month destroyed a newly acquired Armed Personnel Carrier it
captured from Nigerian soldiers.
The
Isotrex Phantom 2 APC was captured when the group ambushed some trucks
conveying Nigerian soldiers at Gorigi, Borno State.
The
Insurgents also displayed another modified FV103 Spartan APC it said it
captured from the military.
http://saharareporters.com/2021/02/04/boko-haram-terrorists-capture-destroy-police-operational-vehicles-borno?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1972721_
--------
South
Asia
US-Taliban
agreement has no element of peace says Haqqani
FEB
06, 2021
The
agreement between the US and the Taliban has no element of peace and is
basically a withdrawal pact for American troops from the war-torn Afghanistan,
a former Pakistani diplomat has said.
“As
a longtime critic of the US and Taliban agreement, I see it as a withdrawal
agreement with no elements of peace. The Taliban were made to commit to only
one thing, that they would enter intra-Afghan talks, not that they would agree
to peace,” Husain Haqqani, the former Pakistani Ambassador to the US, said on
Friday during a virtual event “The Afghan Peace Process: Progress or Peril?” organised
by the Hudson Institute think-tank.
The
Trump administration signed the peace deal with Taliban in February last year
in Doha. The accord drew up plans for withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan
in exchange for security guarantees from the insurgent group. As part of the
deal, the US committed to withdraw its 12,000 troops within 14 months. There
are currently only 2,500 American troops left in the country.
The
Taliban committed to prevent other groups, including al Qaeda, from using
Afghan soil to recruit, train or fund raise toward activities that threaten the
US or its allies.
Haqqani
said the definition of peace for the Taliban is very different from the US.
"Taliban’s
definition of peace is very different from that of the US or the Afghan government.
The Taliban believes that once their Islamic Emirate is restored, peace is
restored,” said Haqqani, who currently is Director for South and Central Asia
at Hudson Institute.
The
Afghan government and the people of the country would welcome the predictability
and discipline that might come with change of administration in the US, he
noted.
“When
state actors and non-state actors negotiate, usually there is a ceasefire as
part of the deal. That hasn't been done in Afghanistan? I don’t understand what
reduction in violence is, does it mean 2 people instead of 10 being killed or
10 instead of 20?” he asked.
Bill
Roggio, a senior fellow and editor of The Foundation for Defense of
Democracies’ Long War Journal, observed that to understand what Taliban wants
one needs to read their statements.
“The
only acceptable outcome is the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. They have not
fought all these years to take a silly ministerial post. What Taliban has been
doing in the meantime is hollowing out Afghan civil society. All signs that
Taliban is using these talks to run out the clock. It is not going to agree to
give up violence,” he said.
“The
Taliban promised before 9/11 that they will not host Al Qaeda and they lied.
Why should we believe them today?” Roggio asked.
Javid
Ahmad, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a Senior
Fellow (non-resident) at the Atlantic Council, noted that Afghanistan at the
end of the day is complicated.
The
US presence has now effectively become a part of the Afghan power dynamics.
Probably remain so for foreseeable future,” he said.
“There
is a need for clarity in purpose, policy, and approach. We need clarity not
just on Afghanistan’s future but also America’s future in Afghanistan. Previous
administration drew a moral equivalence between Taliban and Afghan government
and so outcome was one big mess,” Ahmad said.
Responding
to a question, Roggio said that the Taliban survives because of Pakistan.
“The
Taliban may be small minority, but you only need a fervent minority. They have
control in many rural areas. Taliban are still indoctrinating people,” he said.
According
to Ahmad, Pakistan wants to dictate the talks and in the process bypass the
Afghan government.
“Pakistan’s
main audience has been Washington not Kabul. So difficult to come to terms with
them on any bilateral agreement. The terms they are pushing for is a direct say
in Afghanistan’s foreign and security policy and so Pakistan has traditionally
treated us as a half state,” he said.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/ustaliban-agreement-has-no-element-of-peace-says-haqqani-101612577133421.html
--------
Afghanistan:
26 Killed in Clashes Between Security Forces And Taliban Militants
February
5, 2021
Kabul:
At least 26 people were killed during clashes between security forces and
Taliban militants in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province on Friday, a top official
confirmed. Also Read - PUBG Mobile Latest Updates: List of Countries Where You
Can’t Play The Royale Game in 2021
“In
the clash 16 pro-government militiamen including their commander Abdul Hakim
and 10 Taliban rebels were killed and nine others including five rebels were
injured,” the official told Xinhua news agency. Also Read - Two Afghan Women
Supreme Court Judges Shot Dead in Kabul
Villagers
said hundreds of Taliban militants launched massive offensive on pro-government
militiamen in Tepa Akhtar area of Khanabad district early morning triggering
heavy fighting which lasted for three hours.
Mohammad
Yusuf, head of Kunduz provincial council, also confirmed the clash, saying that
delay in dispatching reinforcement led to the death of 16 pro-government
militiamen.
https://www.india.com/news/world/afghanistan-26-killed-in-clashes-between-security-forces-and-taliban-militants-4399801/
--------
10
pro-govt Afghan militiamen killed in Taliban attack
February
6, 2021
KUNDUZ
: At least 10 pro-government Afghan militiamen were killed in fierce overnight
fighting after their checkpoint came under attack from Taliban fighters in
northern Afghanistan, officials said on Friday.
The
attack on the local militia, many of which work with overstretched security
forces, came as violence surges across the country despite peace talks between
the warring Taliban and Afghan government.
Insurgents
attacked the checkpoint in the restive Kunduz province during the night,
provincial governor Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal told reporters.
“Their
attack was repelled initially but the militiamen were attacked again by Taliban
fighters which led to intense fighting,” Mirzakwal said.
“Unfortunately,
10 uprising forces (pro-government militiamen) were killed.” Kunduz provincial
council member Amruddin Wali confirmed the attack but said at least 15
militiamen were killed.
There
was no immediate comment from the Taliban.
The
Taliban and government forces have repeatedly clashed in Kunduz, with the
insurgents attempting to capture the strategic city located not far from the
Tajikistan border.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1605736/10-pro-govt-afghan-militiamen-killed-in-taliban-attack
--------
Taliban
ordered to return, warns of ‘major’ battle
06
Feb 2021
Taliban
fighters have reportedly been called out of their traditional winter break from
fighting to front-line duty, three militant leaders told NBC News, amid growing
concerns within the group that the new Biden administration will stop the
withdrawal of foreign troops.
NBC
News in a report said, that the Taliban are preparing for the War after their
traditional break, three Taliban leaders have told NBC news.
According
to NBC News, Taliban commanders and group’s shadow governors are ordered to
return to the frontlines and to their positions and attend special sessions to
plan future strategies.
A
study group assigned by the US congress also earlier had reported that
Afghanistan will be on the brink of a “ new civil war” if US troops make a
hasty, irresponsible full withdrawal.
According
to NBC, a Taliban political leader in Qatar, said that the group’s plans were
to capture the big and strategical provinces of Afghanistan in case the peace
process takes another turn.
NBC
reported Taliban commanders in key districts were recalled to take positions.
Taliban
told NBC that their leadership should also address multiple problems including
“deadlock in the peace process and doubted on the new US administration.
The
US administration is currently reviewing the situation and US-Taliban deal and
asked for a delay of troop’s withdrawal.
This
comes on the heels of a Taliban statement that warned the US government that
breaking the February deal will result in “Major war” if the Biden
administration does not stand to its commitment to withdraw troops by end of
April.
“If
the Doha agreement is abrogated, it will lead to a major war, the
responsibility of which shall fall squarely on the shoulders of America,”
Taliban statement added, “If God forbid, the Doha agreement is breached, it
will lead to a dangerous escalation for which the opposing side will be
responsible”.
“all
must desist from provocative actions and rhetoric that could lead us all back
to former war footing posture because such is neither in the interest of
America nor in the interest of the Afghan people”, the Taliban added.
Stating
against the International Crisis Group’s report, that the US is required to
extend the deadline for full withdrawal
“This
is not enough time for the new administration to set its policy course and
evaluate Taliban compliance with the counter-terrorism assurances it provided
in the February deal.
“Nor
is it sufficient time for the Afghan parties – who, for instance, spent three
months negotiating a brief set of procedural rules for talks – to notch any
meaningful agreements,” ICG said in a statement.
This
comes amid stalled peace talks, the surge in violence, and uncertainty in new
international plans for Afghanistan.
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-ordered-to-return-following-winter-breaks-warns-of-major-battle-455444/
--------
Afghan
Hindus among many wounded in Kabul explosion
06
Feb 2021
A
bomb blast in a shop left 6 people including three Afghan Hindus wounded on
Saturday in Kabul city.
Police
told media, that three Hindus were also among the injured.
The
explosion happened in Bagh-e-Qazi area of Kabul city inside a shop.
According
to police, an investigation is ongoing to gather further details into the case.
This
comes after peace talks are halted, and despite the process, violence has raged
across the country, IED blasts and Targeted killings have escalated.
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-hindus-among-many-wounded-in-kabul-explosion-445544/
--------
Europe
Russia
pledges unwavering support for Iraq in anti-terror fight
05
February 2021
Russia
has reaffirmed its support for Iraq in its battles against terrorism, as the
Arab country steps up efforts to clear its soil of the remnants of the Daesh
terror group.
On
Friday, Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s special presidential representative for the
Middle East and Africa, sat down for talks with Baghdad’s Ambassador to Moscow
Abdul-Rahman Hamid al-Husseini over issues of bilateral and international
significance.
The
two sides exchanged views on ways to promote friendly bilateral ties in various
fields, including in economy and trade.
Bogdanov
and Husseini discussed a range of regional topics, including the Palestinian
cause, the Syria conflict, and the Persian Gulf region besides the socio-political
developments in Iraq.
The
Russian side reiterated Moscow’s unwavering supports for Iraq’s efforts to
uproot terrorism and extremism.
Moscow
and Baghdad have held several rounds of talks in recent years on enhancing
their defense cooperation. Russian energy firms have also invested billions of
dollars in the Iraqi oil industry.
In
2015, a year after the Daesh terror group emerged in Iraq and Syria, Russia and
Iraq together with Iran and Syria formed a joint intelligence-sharing committee
against the Takfiri outfit, with its operation rooms based in Baghdad’s Green
Zone and Damascus.
The
coalition’s members have since held several meetings mainly focused on
providing the Iraqi and Syrian national armies with intelligence about the
whereabouts of Takfiri terrorists in the two Middle Eastern states.
Iraq
ended Daesh’s territorial rule in the country in December 2017 after a
three-year counter-terrorism military campaign.
Currently,
the Iraqi army, backed by the allied Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is
working to cleanse the country of the remnants of Daesh, which have been
staging launching sporadic attacks in the hope of regrouping and unleashing a
new era of terror and destruction.
Those
attacks have seen a sharp rise since January 2020, when the US assassinated
Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and senior
PMU commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who had played a key role in liberating
Iraq from Daesh.
The
assassination soured Iraq’s ties with the US, with Baghdad deciding to enter
negotiations with Moscow over the purchase of advanced Russian-made S-400 air
defense system.
Warry
of closer Baghdad-Moscow military ties, the US has threatened Iraq with
sanctions if it goes ahead with such a deal.
Iraqi
Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein paid a visit last November to Moscow last, where
he held talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, over the future of
Moscow-Baghdad economic and defense cooperation.
Lavrov
said back then that Russia was ready to meet “any Iraqi needs for Russian-made
military products.”
“Our
country has traditionally played and continues to play a very important and
significant role in ensuring Iraq’s defense capability and equipping its army
and security forces, including in the context of continuing terrorist threats,”
he added.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/05/644629/Iraq-Russia-fight-terrorism
--------
Germany's
far-right crimes hit record amid racism surge in Europe
05
February 2021
Germany
has reported a record rise in the number of crimes committed by far-right
extremists in the country, last year.
Police
recorded more than 23,080 far-right related crimes in 2020, which was 700 more
than what occurred in the previous year.
The
provisional figures for last year include 1,054 violent crimes, which led to at
least 307 injuries.
The
figure, published by left-wing lawmaker Petra Pau, could yet rise.
Pau,
the vice-president of the German Bundestag said that she was “not surprised” by
the latest figures.
“The
acceptance of violence as a replacement for politics is rising,” she said.
Pau
also said that the coronavirus pandemic had acted as a “booster” for far-right
crime in the country.
Germany
has recently witnessed a wave of attacks by far-right elements targeting
minorities and refugees across the country.
Last
month, assailants targeted a mosque in the southwestern city of
Baden-Wurttemberg, inflicting material damage to the place of worship.
In
the meantime, far-right political parties have managed to secure more votes and
support amid the health crisis across the continent.
In
France, far-right leader Marine Le Pen has returned to the presidential race,
with her anti-Muslim and anti-immigration campaign.
Last
week, she proposed a controversial ban on Muslim headscarves in all public
places and proposed a new law to ban "Islamist ideologies" which she
called "totalitarian and murderous."
Le
Pen, who lost the 2017 presidential election to President Emmanuel Macron,
would garner 48 percent while Macron would be re-elected with 52 percent,
according to a recent poll.
Observers
say that the far-right politician is now taking political advantage from a dual
economic and health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
The
European nation with a Muslim population of more than 5 million, has long been
criticized for undermining basic rights of the Muslim community.
Macron
has recently come under scrutiny for describing Islam as “a religion that is
today in crisis all over the world.”
His
remarks sparked anger in the Muslim world, with millions calling for a boycott
of French products as they took to the streets to protest against France.
His
government has also failed to condemn French magazine Charlie Hebdo's
republication of defamatory cartoons of Islam's prophet.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/05/644603/Europe-far-right-extremism-terrorism-France-Germany-
--------
German
watchdog orders Goldman Sachs to comply with money laundering rules
FEBRUARY
4, 2021
FRANKFURT
(Reuters) - Germany’s financial watchdog has ordered Goldman Sachs’ European
arm to comply with rules to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing,
it said on Thursday.
The
watchdog, BaFin, said it had asked Goldman Sachs to comply with due diligence obligations
regarding customers and risk analysis requirements under Germany’s anti-money
laundering laws.
Goldman
Sachs said in a statement that BaFin’s order followed an audit undertaken by
BaFin in 2020. “The required implementation is already underway,” the bank
said.
People
familiar with the matter said that Goldman Sachs had not fully complied with
German know-your-customer standards when transferring British customers to
Germany.
The
data on the transferred customers did not always provide sufficient clarity on
which persons were linked to certain accounts, the people said. They also said
that BaFin could impose fines if Goldman Sachs did not address the issue
sufficiently.
Goldman
Sachs is moving customers with roughly $60 billion in assets to Germany from
the United Kingdom because of Brexit, people familiar with the matter have
said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-goldman-sachs-regulator/german-watchdog-orders-goldman-sachs-to-prevent-money-laundering-terrorist-financing-idUSKBN2A41PQ?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1972721_
--------
India
Traffic
cops seek south Mumbai imams’ help to spread message of road safety
Feb
6, 2021
MUMBAI:
City traffic police have reached out to imams in parts of south Mumbai that
have a higher incidence of traffic violations, to spread the message of road
safety. The imams have been requested to use congregations, including Friday
sermons, to counsel people against violation of traffic rules.
Mohammed
Ali Road, J J Marg, Pydhonie and Bhendi Bazaar are among the localities where
imams have begun telling people, especially the youth, to follow traffic rules.
TimesView
Traffic
police’s request to the imams to appeal to the community against traffic rule
violations is a welcome step. Violation of traffic rules in some crowded areas
of south Mumbai is a perennial problem and it is good that community leaders
have taken up the task to counsel the youths to follow traffic rules. It will
help reduce the number of accidents and set an example for others to follow.
As
part of the ongoing Road Safety Month, DCP (traffic) Yogesh Gupta met a group
of imams in south Mumbai on Thursday. “We want motorists to self-discipline
rather than follow the rules out of fear of the police department,” said Gupta.
“We have spoken to prominent residents of these areas to spread the message and
also to imams so they can address people whenever they gather at mosques to
pray. The target group are the youth as they are involved the most in traffic
violations. We have requested imams to speak about desisting from speeding,
signal jumping and rash driving, the most common complaints. Youths will be
egged to wear helmets,” he said. Traffic police added the message is for all
residents and not one community.
Maulana
Aijaz Kashmiri, imam of Handiwali Masjid in Bhendi Bazaar, said he and many
other imams used Friday sermons to reach out to people with the message that
they should follow traffic rules. “It is in their interest and for the safety
of others that traffic rules are followed. We have also told traffic police
that they should not be lenient in punishing traffic violations,” Maulana
Kashmiri said.
Senior
cleric Maulana Moin Ashraf Quadri (Moin Mian) said he too would call a meeting
of imams soon and request them to speak on the importance of adhering to the
traffic rules. “Islam is against anything that harms people,” he said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/traffic-cops-seek-sobo-imams-help-to-spread-message-of-road-safety/articleshow/80712921.cms
--------
Gujarat
to shelve anti-love jihad bill for now
Feb
6, 2021
GANDHINAGAR:
The Gujarat government has decided not to enact the anti-love jihad law for the
time being. The decision was made after legal experts, including the advocate
general, opined that the new law might not be legally sustainable. Highly
placed government sources said that following the adverse opinion, the
government, in most likelihood, will not introduce the bill in the budget
session of the assembly which begins from March 1.
After
BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh enacted the laws to curb
love jihad, the Gujarat government had expressed its resolve to introduce the
law, too. This, despite the fact that the Gujarat government already has an
anti-conversion law which prohibits conversion from one religion to another by
the use of force or allurement or by fraudulent means.
The
state government had earlier directed concerned departments – home, law, and
legislative and parliamentary affairs – to legally vet the law enacted by the
UP and MP state governments. They were asked to view the new law vis-à-vis the
anti-conversion law and recommend if there is a need to implement a new law or
amend the existing one.
“The
state government’s internal experts and the advocate general opined neither a
new law nor an amendment might be legally sustainable. Legality of similar acts
passed by other states have been challenged in the SC. Except for political
calculations, there is very little possibility that the bill will be introduced
in the budget session,” sources told TOI.
Recently,
DyCM Nitin Patel had said that states like UP and MP have enacted laws to curb
love jihad and ensure there is no friction between communities.
“The
Gujarat government has received many representations from different organizations
and people. We are studying the effectiveness, long-term effects, and legal
standing of the laws made by UP and MP. The Gujarat government will take a
decision at an appropriate time regarding such a law,’’ Patel had said.
Gujarat’s
existing law has provision to penalize a person involved in forced conversion
under the pretext of love or marriage. The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act,
2003 mandates that a citizen obtain prior approval from the district authority
for conversion.
Under
the existing law, any person found guilty of indulging in forced conversion can
face imprisonment up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000. If the
person who has been forced to convert is a minor, a woman or a person belonging
to scheduled caste or scheduled tribe, the maximum imprisonment has been fixed
at four years and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/gujarat-to-shelve-anti-love-jihad-bill-for-now/articleshow/80713869.cms
--------
Delhi
sisters claim ownership of Ayodhya mosque land, administration says no dispute
in Dhannipur
Feb
5, 2021
AYODHYA:
Two days after two Delhi sisters moved Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court,
claiming ownership of 5acre allotted to Sunni Waqf Board for construction of a
mosque in Ayodhya’s Dhannipur village in accordance with the apex court
verdict, the district administration on Friday issued a statement, saying plot
numbers in the land claimed by petitioners, Rani Kapoor Punjabi, 51, and Rama
Rani Punjabi, 59, fall in the jurisdiction of a neighbouring village, Shekhpur
Jafar. The petition was filed in the court registry on Wednesday and is likely
to come up for hearing on February 8.
Talking
to TOI, Rani Kapoor Punjabi said, the Ayodhya administration is trying to
mislead by propping up names of two villages, Dhannipur and Shekhpur Jafar.
“After Partition, my father, Gyan Chandra Punjabi, was given possession of 28
acres in Faizabad where the Sufi shrine of Shahgada Baba still exists and
adjacent to the Raunahi police station building. Of this land, 5acre has been
allotted by the administration to build the mosque. I demand fresh measurement
of land.”
The
petitioners claimed their father was allotted the land in Dhannipur by the
nazul department for five years after he migrated from Pakistan. He continued
to possess beyond that period and his name was included in revenue records.
Later, his name was struck off from records against which their father filed an
appeal before the additional commissioner, Ayodhya, which was allowed, they claimed.
But land was given to the waqf board, despite an appeal pending before the
settlement officer of consolidation, Sadar, Ayodhya, the petition claimed.
Talking
to TOI, consolidation officer Rajesh Kumar Pande, said, “We have received a
copy of the writ petition filed by Rani Kapoor Punjabi and others on land
allotted by state government for construction of mosque. The plot numbers
referred to in the petition relate to a land dispute in neighbouring Shekhpur
Jafar. We are preparing an affidavit to be submitted in court.”
However,
Rani Punjabi told TOI that her father Gyan Chand Punjabi tilled the barren land
and made it fertile. “In 1980, we moved to Delhi after my father fell ill. He
died four years later. This land was taken over by two residents of the Thakur
community, Badri and Udit, before the state government took possession,” she
said
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/delhi-sisters-claim-ownership-of-ayodhya-mosque-land-administration-says-no-dispute-in-dhannipur/articleshow/80712489.cms
--------
Pakistan
Pakistan:
Why is the military taking over civilian posts?
S.
Khan
05.02.2021
The
number of military officials leading civilian institutions has dramatically
increased since Prime Minister Imran Khan came to power in 2018.
The
recent appointment of Brigadier (retired) Bilal Saeedullah Khan as director
general of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has sparked
uproar in the country. On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court issued notices to
the Interior Ministry and NADRA regarding Khan's appointment.
In
the past two years, several other military officials have grabbed important
government positions, which have traditionally been under the civilian domain.
In
2019, General Asim Saleem Bajwa was appointed as the chairman of the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority. Air Marshal Arshad Malik has
been serving as the chief executive of the state-run Pakistan International
Airlines since April 2019. Major General Amer Nadeem was appointed the chairman
of SUPARCO, the national space agency, in 2018.
Even
diplomatic positions, which have largely been held by civilians since
Pakistan's independence from British rule in 1947, have been taken over by the
generals. In January, Khan's government appointed General Bilal Akbar to the
post of Pakistan's Saudi Arabia envoy.
"Besides
the mission in Riyadh going back to a general, ambassadors in Brunei, Jordan,
Syria, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, the Maldives, Nigeria and Libya are retired armed
forces officers," wrote Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.
Is
Khan returning the favor?
Opposition
parties criticize Khan for being a "puppet" of the army. Liberal
analysts in the South Asian country say that the powerful military rigged the
2018 general election to bring Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to
power, a claim both the military and Khan deny.
Critics
say the military enjoys a free hand under Khan's government, and that it is
consolidating the power that it somewhat lost under Khan's predecessor, Nawaz
Sharif.
Khan,
they allege, is returning the favor to the military by allowing generals a
bigger role in the country's governance, foreign policy and economy.
"Imran
Khan is the civilian face of a military state," Tauseef Ahmed Khan, a
Karachi-based political analyst, told DW, adding that Khan is just trying to
appease the military establishment to stay in power.
The
analyst says that these military appointments are creating resentment and
frustration among civilian bureaucrats, who see their progress being hindered
by the army.
The
military, which has collectively ruled Pakistan for half of the time since its
independence, has always had an upper hand in the country's affairs, but prior
to Khan's ascent to power its role was largely limited to defense and foreign
policy affairs. Tauseef Ahmed Khan says it is the first time in the country's
history that the generals are encroaching on civilian areas with such ferocity.
"They
are now either heading civilian institutions or holding key posts there. It
seems to me that the military is now trying to control the country's domestic
policies too," Khan said.
The
analyst said that the generals do not favor the country's two major opposition
parties – the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz –
because they, to an extent, tried to resist the army's increasing dominance in
civilian affairs.
Other
experts deny this claim, pointing to several military appointments under
previous governments also. They, however, admit that the number of these
appointments has increased manifold in the past two years.
Corruption
and incompetence: reality and perception
Prime
Minister Khan justifies the military appointments, saying they are being done
on merit. There is a widespread perception in the country that politicians and
civilian bureaucracy are incompetent and corrupt, whereas the military is
efficient and well-organized.
Many
politicians and civilian bureaucrats are currently facing corruption charges,
which are being probed by the country's National Accountability Bureau.
"Army
officers manage state-run institutions in an efficient way. The Water and Power
Development Authority is headed by a military official and has accomplished
many important tasks, including construction of dams and several energy
projects," Amjad Shoaib, a retired military general and defense analyst,
told DW.
Shoaib
rejected the criticism of military appointments as an "anti-army
propaganda."
"Nawaz
Sharif's party is behind this nefarious propaganda, which is aimed at defaming
the army. It is a dangerous trend to blame the military for the country's
problems. It must stop," he added.
Politicians,
on the other hand, say the incompetence perception is part of the military
propaganda. They also say that the military considers itself above the law and
is not answerable to anyone.
"When
we summon civilian bureaucrats, they show up and pay heed to our
recommendations. When we call upon the military officials, who are heading
civilian departments, they don't care to respond," Usman Kakar, an
opposition lawmaker, told DW.
Kakar
also says that military-run institutions see more malpractices than the
civilian ones. "The department responsible for dealing with the
coronavirus pandemic told us that it spent rupees 2.5 million (€13,000,
$16,000) on a single COVID patient. When we called the military officials
working in that department to come to our parliamentary committee and explain
why such a huge amount was spent, they didn't care to respond," Kakar
alleged.
https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-why-is-the-military-taking-over-civilian-posts/a-56473442
--------
‘No
end to jirgas despite ban imposed by SC’
February
6, 2021
HYDERABAD:
Rights activists speaking at a programme organised by the local chapter of the
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) here on Friday expressed concern
over holding of jirgas in Sindh despite the fact that a ban imposed by Supreme
Court was in place.
The
programme was titled ‘Jirgas in Sindh and judicial system’.
The
speakers observed that despite the SC-imposed ban, jirgas continued to take
place in various parts of the province.
They
noted that females suffered the most as young girls were ordered to be married
off to rivals to settle disputes even in as minor a case as theft of goat. A
study of the jirgas, if conducted, would reveal that mostly poor families had
to suffer due to jirga rulings.
They
recalled that the Supreme Court had declared jirgas unconstitutional and
illegal. Still, they were being held, they deplored, and said that the root
cause of this unlawful activity was existence of the jagirdari system in Sindh.
For the common man in rural Sindh, jirga was an alternative to a court of law,
they said.
The
rights activists noted that many believed that a jirga offered them a quick
settlement of disputes or controversies whereas courts of law would take too
long to dispense justice.
They
stressed that the country’s judicial system must be strengthened and speedy
justice ensured in order to discourage jirgas. The judiciary, they said, should
take notice of the holding of jirgas in violation of apex court’s orders. The
feudal lords carrying on convening jirgas had in fact become “a state within
state” where justice was murdered.
They
recalled that during the British Raj, community-level disputes used to be
settled through jirga-like proceedings where a man or woman was allowed to
speak to settle a dispute.
The
activists said that society would have to play a positive role to save the poor
and womenfolk from forced settlements and unlawful jirgas.
They
said jirgas were patronised by waderas (feudal lords) in whose courts the poor
were not heard.
They
called for a campaign in schools, colleges and universities for creating
awareness in society so that people could be stopped from opting for jirgas.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1605685/no-end-to-jirgas-despite-ban-imposed-by-sc
--------
Jirga
stops Bajaur women from visiting World Bank centres
February
6, 2021
BAJAUR:
Elders of Warah area of Mamond tehsil here on Friday banned the women from
personally collecting monthly stipends from centres set up by the World Bank
under a cash grant scheme.
The
decision was made at a jirga in Sawi area, with the participants making it
clear that women personally visiting the centres every month for collection of
stipend under the Child Wellness Grant was against local customs and
traditions.
The
elders said they had repeatedly requested the programme management to either
give the amount to the men or arrange female staff at the centres operated
under the Sada-i-Amn programme of the bank, but to no avail.
The
jirga decided that no woman would be allowed to visit the centres from today
(Saturday). It was also decided that if any tribesman allowed his female family
member to visit the said centres he would be fined Rs10,000.
The
elders also announced to collect Rs10,000 from the family of any woman
telephonically calling to the local FM radio stations.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1605716/jirga-stops-bajaur-women-from-visiting-world-bank-centres
--------
Kashmiris
may choose Pakistan or independence: PM Imran
February
5, 2021
Prime
Minister Imran Khan on Friday said Pakistan will allow Kashmiris to decide
between choosing to join Pakistan or remaining independent even after they vote
in favour of Pakistan in a future plebiscite.
Addressing
a public gathering in Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on
Kashmir Solidarity Day, which is being observed across the country today, the
premier also reminded the United Nations and the international community that
they had failed to provide the promised right to the people of Kashmir to
determine their own future.
He
recalled that the world had promised Kashmiris in 1948 that they would get the
right to decide their own future as per UN Security Council resolutions.
"So
I've come here to firstly remind the world that the right [promised] to the
people of Kashmir was not fulfilled," he told the crowd.
In
contrast, the prime minister noted, East Timor, which was an Indonesian island
with a Christian majority, became independent after the UNSC pursued a
referendum there.
The
premier said he had in the past reminded and will always remind the UN that
"you did not fulfil the promise [made to Kashmiris]."
Addressing
the people of Kashmir, the prime minister said: "When the residents of
Indian-occupied Kashmir as well as Azad Kashmir get the right to decide their
future, and when the people of Kashmir will choose Pakistan InshAllah, then
Pakistan will give Kashmiris the right to decide whether they want to become a
part of Pakistan or remain independent."
Imran
said the entire Pakistan was standing with the people of occupied Kashmir.
"And not just all of Pakistan, but the Muslim world is standing with
you," he told them.
"If
Muslim governments, for any reason, are not supporting you today, I can assure
you the entire population of the Muslim world is standing with the people of
occupied Kashmir," he said, adding that even non-Muslims who favoured
justice believed that Kashmiris should be given their promised right.
Prime
Minister Imran said the people of Pakistan understood the ordeals the residents
of occupied Kashmir had gone through and continued to suffer.
"I
as a father want to say to you that we all know what you go through, the kind
of pain you face, the kind of tyrant you are confronting," he told
Kashmiri parents.
"Whatever
strength I have, I will raise your voice at every forum. I have been doing it
and will keep raising it. [...] Rest assured that I will be the ambassador of
Kashmir and will raise my voice for you everywhere until Kashmir gains
independence."
The
prime minister said upon assuming office he had tried his best to send a
message of friendship to India and make it understand that the Kashmir issue
could not be resolved through "oppression".
"World
history shows that no powerful army of the world can win against a [united]
population; when an entire nation stands up, the biggest armies failed,"
he said, citing the examples of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Algeria.
"India
may bring 900,000 army [troops] or even more, but the people of Kashmir will
never accept your slavery," he added.
Referring
to India's revocation of occupied Kashmir's semi-autonomous status, he said the
"few people" in Kashmir who supported India now favoured independence
too due to the oppression and injustice it began perpetrating after August 5,
2019.
"Any
politician in Kashmir who is pro-India cannot win an election in Kashmir,"
the premier emphasised.
'Ready
for talks with India for Kashmir'
Prime
Minister Imran said he couldn't initially understand why Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi did not move forward on his offer for dialogue. But he said
following the Pulwama attack, and after Indian jets violated Pakistani airspace
and "martyred our trees in Balakot", he understood that "they
don't want peace or friendship, but they were using Pulwama and Balakot to win
elections."
Moreover,
firebrand Indian television anchor Arnab Goswami's transcripts showed that the
attack was pre-planned in order to win elections, Imran said, adding that the
EU DisinfoLab report had further revealed that India was using hundreds of fake
sites and accounts to spread propaganda against Pakistan.
"So
we were doing friendship and you were cutting our roots but today what is
coming in front of everyone? The agenda of RSS and their ideology," he
said, addressing the Indian leadership.
The
premier said the RSS ideology had hurt India itself the most and it was the
reason the country was so divided.
"Today
India's farmers are out protesting [and] the conditions of Muslims are in front
of everyone," he added, citing the citizenship law introduced by India
deemed discriminatory towards Muslims.
"So
Modi, my biggest message for you is that the divisions you're doing in India,
this Hindutva ideology may win you elections but you are laying the foundation
for India's destruction," the prime minister told his Indian counterpart.
"Today
I again say, solve the Kashmir issue together with us and for that, firstly the
step you took on August 5 to revoke Article 370, you should restore it, and
then talk to us, and give Kashmiris the right which the world community
promised them according to UN resolutions.
"We
are ready to talk with you again but [...] never take this to understand that
we want to have friendly ties with you in a state of weakness."
On
the occasion, the prime minister told people living near the Line of Control
who face bombardment by Indian troops that the government will "fully help
you". He said the government had prepared a package for such populations,
including people who had to relocate due to frequent firing.
Addressing
the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leaders holding a
simultaneous rally in AJK, Imran said: "All those gathered in Muzaffarabad
today, listen, if you want to do a long march then definitely do it, I will
help you in doing it wherever you want to do it. But even if you hang upside
down I will not give you NRO."
https://www.dawn.com/news/1605627/kashmiris-may-choose-pakistan-or-independence-pm-imran
--------
PM
deplores opposition’s ‘hooliganism’ in NA
February
6, 2021
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that after stirring “hooliganism” in
the National Assembly for three days, the opposition had itself proved that it
did not want to see smooth running of the business of parliament leading to
productive legislation.
He
said this during a meeting with some leaders of the ruling Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), including Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim
Suri and party’s chief whip in the National Assembly Amir Dogar.
Mr
Dogar told Dawn that the prime minister was disappointed at the disrupting of
the National Assembly session by the opposition and blocking of a legislation
aimed at holding of coming Senate elections through open ballot.
Mr
Dogar quoted the prime minister as saying: “I am very disappointed at irresponsible
behaviour of the opposition members in the NA as they blocked a legislation
which was being made to ensure transparency in Senate polls and to curb
hoarse-trading.”
Promises
package for farmers; launches Special Technology Zones Authority
According
to Mr Dogar, the prime minister said the opposition members disrupted even the
question hour session in the house which was solely meant to address people’s
problems from various constituencies and sections of life. “They [opposition
members] should at least peacefully attend the question hour session in which
most of the questions are asked by the opposition,” the prime minister was
quoted as saying.
Mr
Khan said with that “irresponsible” behaviour, the opposition had exposed
itself before the people that it did not want legislation for the benefit and
welfare of the masses.
Mr
Dogar said that before the opposition lawmakers started shouting and
sloganeering, Deputy Speaker Suri had decided to give the floor to Pakistan
Peoples Party leader Raja Pervez Ashraf to speak on the bill for Senate open
vote. “But they were bent upon disrupting the session,” he said. “We did not
expect that a person like Naveed Qamar will come to the speaker’s dais and pull
Mr Suri’s mike to hit him.”
He,
however, said the government wanted smooth running of parliamentary business in
the National Assembly and the Senate so that productive legislation could take
place for public welfare.
Later,
an official press release said Prime Minister Khan met PTI leaders from
Sargodha, including Osama Ghayas Mela, Ansar Iqbal and retired Maj Gen Saleem
Mela. Qasim Suri and Amir Dogar were also present.
Speaking
on the occasion, the prime minister said the government would soon announce the
biggest-ever agriculture package for farmers. “Today farmers are getting more
income from crops like rice, sugarcane and citrus and as a result their areas
are prospering,” he said, adding that the government was determined to ensure
well-being of farmers and progress in the agriculture sector.
The
prime minister launched the Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) on Friday
to bolster the country’s IT sector, which has the potential to create enormous
job opportunities for the youth and earn invaluable foreign exchange through
exports.
The
mandate of the STZA is to facilitate the development of special technology
zones (STZs) in the country with the help of some of the leading global
high-tech enterprises and major local tech companies, research institutes, new
technology-based firms, start-ups and business support services and create
model collaborative spaces for innovation and entrepreneurship promotion. The
zones will help increase high-tech exports of Pakistan and facilitate
technology transfer from major global science and technology hubs.
The
STZA will be the leading government body mandated to promote a dynamic national
innovation system in Pakistan.
Speaking
on the occasion, the prime minister expressed the hope that fast-track
innovation-driven high-tech development leveraging the growth potential of
domestic IT sector could serve as guarantee for smart industrialisation,
high-quality shared domestic growth and common prosperity.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1605748/pm-deplores-oppositions-hooliganism-in-na
--------
Two
killed, over two dozen injured in separate blasts targeting 'Kashmir Day'
rallies in Quetta, Sibi
Syed
Ali Shah | Ghalib Nihad
February
5, 2021
At
least two people were killed and four others injured in an explosion near the
DC office on Inscomb Road in Quetta on Friday. The explosion occurred hours
after a blast in Balochistan's Sibi district injured 24 persons, according to
police officials and eyewitnesses.
According
to Quetta Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Arbab Kamran, the bodies of two
victims were brought to the facility, while four injured persons were brought
for treatment.
Quetta
Deputy Commissioner retired Major Aurangzeb Badini said the Quetta blast was
targeted at a Kashmir Solidarity Day rally that was passing from the area. He
added that the nature of the blast couldn't be ascertained as yet.
Security
forces cordoned off the area after the explosion while evidence was being
collected.
Balochistan
Governor Justice Aman Ullah Khan Yasinzai condemned the incident, saying
miscreants wanted to harm the country's integrity.
Earlier
in the day, at least 24 people were injured in a blast targeting a Kashmir
Solidarity Day rally in Balochistan's Sibi district, officials and eyewitnesses
said.
Sibi
Station House Officer Wazir Khan Marri said miscreants on a motorcycle lobbed a
hand grenade at Luni Chowk, which resulted in injuries to 16 people. The number
of injured persons later rose to 24.
The
injured, which included two children, were rushed to Sibi Civil Hosptial, he
said. According to doctors, the condition of four injured was serious.
No
group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The
blasts come two weeks after four members of the Sibi Scouts, a wing of the
Frontier Corps’ North Wing, were martyred and five others injured when their
vehicle hit a landmine in Sangaan area of Sibi.
Sources
had said at the time that unknown miscreants had planted a landmine in the
area, which went off when a vehicle carrying the security personnel ran over
it.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1605613/two-killed-over-two-dozen-injured-in-separate-blasts-targeting-kashmir-day-rallies-in-quetta-sibi
--------
German
vlogger embraces Islam after spending a year in Pakistan
Feb
6, 2021
German
travel vlogger Christian Betzmann’s latest video details his journey of
embracing Islam.
Christian
said he learnt about Islam while he was shooting his vlogs in Pakistan. “I
started my channel in December last year and spent almost a year in Pakistan. I
met so many incredible people and learnt a lot about the religion and their
lifestyle.”
Christian
said people around him always associated Islam with negativity while he was
growing up in Europe. “To be honest, I was never a religious person before so I
didn’t really care what people thought back then. My best friends were
Muslims.”
He
added that Islam is a religion of peace which he felt a deep connection with.
Before
his conversion at The Islamic School of Miami, Christian said he “felt good”,
but was also a “little nervous” because he had no idea about it.
In
the video, Christian can be seen offering Isha prayers, after which his
conversion takes place. He recites the Shahada after Imam Abdul Halim and
receives his certificate.
Christian
is friends with Pakistani celebrities, including Zoya Nasir. The Zebaish actor
often shares photos of her with Christian on Instagram.
https://www.samaa.tv/culture/2021/02/german-vlogger-embraces-islam-after-spending-a-year-in-pakistan/
--------
Southeast
Asia
Ex-AG’s
disclosure of racial brainwashing is most troubling
K.
Parkaran
February
6, 2021
What
resembled a political earthquake occured over last weekend when former
attorney-general Tommy Thomas released his explosive book that revolved around
his dealings with the top men in the government during his 20 months in office.
As
expected, it did shock most Malaysians to read about the goings-on in the
corridors of power, which we kind of suspected all along but which only came to
light through his book, ‘My Story – Justice in the Wilderness’.
His
revelations have been followed by some aftershocks. I think most Malaysians are
a bit unsure on the legalities involved in his decision to write but it appears
that he must have taken a calculated risk in choosing to divulge certain
information. After all, he is not a novice in this field.
Of
course such a high level of disclosure will have its share of denials, legal
suits, police reports and political statements. But Malaysians who have been
through institutionalised discrimination in the name of national interest can
surely empathise with some of his observations.
But
to completely ignore many of the truths or important instances of dysfunction
that he had pointed out would be akin to sticking our heads in the sand. He has
indeed raised many “triable” issues, borrowing a legal term.
To
me, the underlying message in a good part of his story was that racism and
religious bigotry had shown up in many ugly forms in the running of the
government, and that these were strong elements that ultimately pushed him out
of the office.
What
I felt was true and something that even the worst of his critics cannot deny
were a couple of his quotes that showed a deep sense of racism many non-Malays
face in most facets of their lives. They are:
“Everything
I did was painted in racial tones and hues. And they succeeded. The
brainwashing achieved its objectives. Objectively speaking, attacks on
non-Malay holders of two offices in a government otherwise dominated by Malays
just did not make any sense. It was neither rational nor logical.”
He
went on to say: “The prime minister and deputy prime minister were Malay. The
majority of the members of the Pakatan Harapan Cabinet were Malay. Yet, the
perceived insecurity. It was as if millions of people belonging to the majority
race could not sleep soundly because a Chinese was finance minister, and an Indian,
attorney-general.”
If
a government officer at a level so high had found it hard to handle racist
undertones, and, with Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the helm, failed to put the
fanatics in their places, then what hope do the vulnerable Malaysians in the
lower rungs of society have?
We
have a situation where the minority is yearning to be regarded as Malaysians of
equal standing like the rest, while the majority is saying we are supreme and
you do not question this privilege.
Once
you are told to continue working hard, pay your taxes and accept your place in
Malaysian society as a second-class citizen without question, then I guess you
end up in a fool’s paradise.
Interestingly,
some groups of Indians seem to be doing just that by becoming associate members
of Islamist PAS, without full rights compared to their Muslim counterparts. But
then again it is their democratic right.
We
are facing a new reality from generations of racist attitudes which are now
woven into our systems and institutions like poisonous threads, hurting most of
us, including many Malays.
Because
of the unwritten policies and political push for racial and religious
supremacy, unfair racial stereotypes have taken root in the hearts of many
Malaysians.
Maybe
it may not be obvious to some but these cause us to react to people differently
whether we are on the streets, in lifts, at the mall or in encounters between
the police and citizens.
Racism,
in my view, is the cumulative result of all those policies, thoughts and acts.
They add up to a pattern in which people of certain colour and background are
routinely and systematically treated differently from other people.
Obviously
our politics do not help to bridge these differences, if anything they appear
to be making things worse, as attested to by Thomas.
Maybe
we should take his book as an apocalyptic revelation, as he has been there and
seen it all, and he is not running for office.
I
think the people who are shaping our lives, the politicians, ought to really
listen. Just listen to how our institutions work for or against our friends,
who are Malaysians too, in their daily lives.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2021/02/06/ex-ags-disclosure-of-racial-brainwashing-is-most-troubling/
--------
Malay-Muslim
agenda nothing but talk, says Dr M
Imran
Ariff
February
6, 2021
PETALING
JAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has dismissed Perikatan
Nasional’s Malay-Muslim narrative as pure rhetoric, saying it has done nothing
to help Malays or Muslims.
The
government is instead dependent on the Chinese and Indians for its survival, he
told FMT.
He
said the narrative had been used to convince Malays that the government would
benefit them exclusively and allow them to control the country.
“Once
they formed the government, they realised they could not form a totally
Malay-Muslim government.”
He
said the “so called Malay-Muslim government”, given its slender majority, was
now reliant on its non-Malay members to hold on to power.
“So
it is not a Malay-Muslim government. That is simply talk in order to hoodwink
the Malays into thinking that they are going to control the country through
their own government.”
Mahathir
added that the only Malays benefiting from the government were members of the
current administration.
“All
we are hearing is bad news about cronyism, about giving contracts to people,”
he said.
He
alleged that the prime minister himself was giving contracts to his own
relatives.
“That
is not favouring the Malays at all. We don’t see any other Malay benefiting
from the administration of this government.”
There
have been a number of corruption allegations levelled at top leaders of the
country before this.
Former
prime minister Najib Razak and former federal territories minister Tunku Adnan
Mansor have been found guilty in their respective court cases. They are
appealing against the verdicts.
Former
deputy prime minister and current Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is facing
40 charges of receiving gratification in the implementation of Malaysia’s
foreign visa system. His case is set to be heard this April.
There
are now allegations, especially against politicians helming government-linked
companies, that projects have been awarded to family members. None of these
claims have been proven.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/02/06/malay-muslim-agenda-nothing-but-talk-says-dr-m/
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New
Philippine military chief assures respect for rule of law in fight against
terror
February
05, 2021
MANILA:
A new Philippines military chief has vowed the army will respect human rights
and the rule of law as it “moves fast” to destroy communist groups and
Daesh-inspired militant outfits in the country.
In
his assumption speech on Thursday, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the incoming
Philippines armed forces commander, urged Filipinos to be one with the soldiers
fighting against the “real enemies.”
“Rest
assured that your soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines will do their job while
following the rule of law, giving due respect to human rights and strictly
adhering to international humanitarian law,” Sobejana said.
“We
are living in times of unprecedented challenges, and are facing enemies from
left and right, visible and invisible, not to mention the threat posed by
calamities both natural and man-made,” he added.
Sobejana
said that peace was a “collaborative project” that required commitment,
dedication and support from the military, civil government and the people.
“We
will adopt a whole-of-nation approach to end local armed conflict. Through this
convergence we will nurture the concept of peace and progress,” he said.
President
Rodrigo Duterte, who led the ceremony, said that Sobejana, with the help of the
government and armed forces, could address multiple threats confronting the
country.
“I
am confident that under Lt. Gen. Sobejana’s leadership, the armed forces will
achieve even more milestones in the campaign against insurgency and terror, and
put an end to all threats to our national security,” Duterte said.
The
president said that the country’s military had the government’s full support to
improve its welfare and upgrade its capabilities to ensure national security.
Defense
Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that Sobejana’s outstanding record as a
military officer had prepared him for the leadership role.
“Having
personally seen and experienced the adverse effects of armed conflicts, Lt.
Gen. Sobejana is a strong advocate for peace and development,” Lorenzana said.
Among
his many distinctive qualities, Sobejana always salutes with his left hand.
The
reasons are a source of pride for both the military and its new boss.
Sobejana’s
right arm was severely injured during a battle with militants from the Abu
Sayyaf Group in the Basilan province of the Philippines in 1995, when he was
serving as a captain.
“That
is why I salute using my left hand. I write with my left even though I am
right-handed. I could raise my right hand, but it’s not 100 percent
functional,” he said in a TV interview.
For
his heroic act, Sobejana was awarded the country’s highest military award, the
Medal for Valor.
“We
will continue to fight insurgency to win peace for the country. I had several
gunshot wounds, and I turned those wounds into wisdom rather than anger,” an
army statement said, quoting Sobejana.
Sobejana
has also been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Star and Gold Cross Medal.
He
succeeds Gen. Gilbert Gapay, who recently retired.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1804546/world
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Arab
World
US
Secretary Blinken holds first call with Saudi FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan
05
February 2021
US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken held his first phone call with Saudi Arabia’s
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan where the two discussed common
threats and the historical ties between Washington and Riyadh.
Al
Arabiya reported that Prince Faisal congratulated Blinken on his recent
appointment as the top US diplomat.
The
Saudi FM expressed Riyadh’s readiness to work with the US to face shared
threats to the region's stability and security.
“The
two officials discussed the historical, strategic ties between the two
countries, as well as other issues of mutual interest,” according to Al
Arabiya.
On
Thursday, Saudi Arabia welcomed US President Joe Biden's support to the Kingdom
in defending its sovereignty and territory against regional threats.
A
Saudi statement was released after Biden vowed to "continue to support and
help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its
people" in his first foreign policy speech at the Department of State in
Washington.
Prince
Faisal then tweeted, expressing support for the US call to cooperate with the
Kingdom in defending its security and territory.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/02/06/US-Secretary-Blinken-holds-first-call-with-Saudi-FM-Prince-Faisal-bin-Farhan
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Saudi
minister al-Jubeir: Biden’s speech affirms US commitment to work with allies
Joanne
Serrieh
05
February 2021
Saudi
Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir says US President
Joe Biden’s “historic” speech confirms “America’s commitment to work with
friends and allies” on resolving conflicts.
“President
Biden's speech was historic. He confirmed America's committment to work with
friends & allies to resolve conflicts and deal with challenges. We look
forward to working with our friends in the US to end conflicts and confront
challenges, as we have for over seven decades,” al-Jubeir said on his official
Twitter account.
Saudi
Arabia welcomed on Thursday what Biden’s speech included regarding the
commitment of the US to cooperate with the Kingdom to defend its sovereignty
and address the threats targeting it, the state news agency SPA reported.
SPA
also cited a statement saying the Kingdom is looking forward to working with
Biden’s office and the US envoy to Yemen, the UN and with all Yemeni parties to
reach an all-inclusive political solution in Yemen.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/02/05/Saudi-minister-al-Jubeir-says-Biden-s-speech-affirms-US-commitment-to-work-
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Bin
Salman ordered second assassination attempt against ex-Saudi official: Lawsuit
06
February 2021
A
former Saudi intelligence official says the kingdom’s infamous crown prince,
Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), directed agents to embark on the second
assassination mission against him after the first one failed two years ago.
In
an amended complaint filed in a federal court in Washington DC on Thursday,
Saad al-Jabri, who currently resides in Canada, said that he has faced repeated
threats on his life over the past few months.
The
suit claimed that MBS convened a meeting in May 2020 with key advisors and
directed agents to pursue another mission to kill al-Jabri by traveling
directly through the US to enter Canada “by land”, almost two years after the
first assassination attempt was “thwarted” by airport security.
It
comes months after al-Jabri first sued the Saudi crown prince for sending a
50-man hit squad comprised of best-skilled killers in the kingdom to Canada to
assassinate him.
According
to the court filing, the assassination attempt by the hit squad, dubbed the
“Tiger Squad”, took place 13 days after members of the Tiger Squad were
involved in the high-profile killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal
Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. The plan
failed after the Saudi agents were not able to get past Canadian border patrol.
“If
the allegations in this Complaint seem fantastical, that is only because it is
difficult to fathom the depths of depravity of Defendant bin Salman and the men
he empowered to carry out his will,” the complaint said.
“But
make no mistake: the attempt to kill Dr. Saad, just like the completed killing
of Jamal Khashoggi days before, was not a one-off incident, but rather the way
Defendant bin Salman regularly operated in the years leading up to the fateful
events of 2018.”
MBS
tried to lure al-Jabri’s daughter into Saudi consulate
Since
June 2017, two of al-Jabri’s children, Sarah and Omar, have been prohibited
from leaving Saudi Arabia, raising concerns around the world that they are
being used to secure al-Jabri’s return.
Not
content with only two of his children under his control, the amended filing
alleged, bin Salman tried to lure al-Jabri’s daughter, Hissah al-Muzaini, to
the Saudi consulate in Istanbul just days before the brutal murder of Khashoggi
there.
The
complaint added that a close aide to MBS pressured Hissah’s husband, Salem
Almuzaini, to convince Hissah to enter the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to renew
her passport even if she had no intention of returning to the kingdom. It was
only after Khashoggi’s murder that they learned the fate awaiting her had she
entered the consulate.
Al-Jabri
used to work closely under former Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, who was
ousted and detained in 2017, when bin Salman replaced him. Al-Jabri fled the
kingdom afterward and entered Canada in 2018. The new suit said al-Jabri is
viewed as an “urgent threat” to MBS’s standing within the US.
Last
month, al-Jabri faced legal retribution by the crown prince, who filed a
lawsuit against him in the Ontario Superior Court, claiming that he
orchestrated a money-laundering scheme and stole upwards of $3.5bn from Saudi
Arabia.
In
response, al-Jabri denied the charges. He “welcomes the opportunity to face off
against MBS in neutral judicial forums,” a campaign for the al-Jabri family
said, according to the Middle East Eye.
Al-
Jabri’s knowledge of damning information about Riyadh’s secrets and his “deep
connection to the US Government, is exactly why Defendant bin Salman wants him
dead,” the new lawsuit said. “And Defendant bin Salman was prepared to reach
inside the United States to make that happen.”
Biden
administration ready to release Khashoggi file
Meanwhile,
the new US administration of Joe Biden has strongly criticized Saudi Arabia for
its human rights violations, including Khashoggi’s murder, saying it will
release the CIA’s classified report into the murder.
At
a press conference on Friday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the
administration is prepared to release a report detailing its understanding of
who is responsible for the brutal murder.
“This
is the law and we will follow the law,” Psaki said. “We, of course, expect
Saudi Arabia to improve its record on human rights. That includes releasing
political prisoners, such as women’s rights advocates from Saudi jails.”
She
called Khashoggi’s death a “horrific crime,” while side-stepping a question on
whether the administration would slap sanctions on the kingdom for the murder.
The
CIA has reportedly concluded that bin Salman ordered the killing, based on the
crown prince’s control of Saudi Arabia, which is such that the killing would
not have taken place without his approval.
It
made the assessment soon after the Khashoggi murder, American officials said at
the time, citing intercepts of the crown prince’s calls in the days before the
killing, and calls by the kill team to a senior aide to the crown prince.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/06/644656/MBS-ordered-second-strike-against-ex-official-Lawsuit
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Israeli
paper laments 'drones dropping like flies in enemy territory'
05
February 2021
The
Jerusalem Post has lamented that "Israeli military drones are dropping
like flies" in the Lebanese and Palestinian territories, as resistance
forces gain momentum in their defense against the regime intrusions.
Three
military drones belonging to the Israeli regime were downed on three
consecutive days this week, setting a new record for Palestinian and Lebanese
resistance forces who took responsibility for the incidents.
Palestinian
resistance fighters shot down an Israeli quadcopter on Sunday over Beit Hanoun
Crossing on Gaza’s northern border with the occupied territories. The drone was
shot down while taking images of the area, according to the Arabic-language
Palestine Today news agency.
On
Monday, the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement downed an Israeli unmanned
aerial vehicle as it crossed into Lebanon near the border village of Blida. In
a statement after the incident, Hezbollah said it was in the control of the
drone.
The
next day, Palestinian fighters shot down another Israeli drone east of the city
of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip and managed to take control of it.
The
Israeli military initially offered its own narrative which included playing
down the resistance forces’ power, even though it acknowledged the incidents.
On
Sunday, an Israeli military spokesperson said an army unit operating near Gaza
lost one of its drones which was on a mission.
Regarding
the Monday incident in Lebanon, the Israeli military said the drone had fallen
in Lebanese territory during an operation.
The
drone “fell in the course of military activity,” an Israeli military
spokesperson was quoted as saying.
“There
is no concern of sensitive information being leaked,” the spokesperson claimed,
but did not specify whether the drone crashed or was downed.
On
the last but not least incident, the Israeli military said one of its drones
had “crashed” in Gaza during operational activity on Tuesday but again claimed
that there was “no danger of information leak.”
Journalist
and political commentator Richard Silverstein told Press TV that the drones are
an “important intelligence tool” for Israel to spy on other countries.
“I
think that Israel is really disregarding the territorial sovereignty in
Lebanon, in Gaza and in other places as well such as Syria and Iraq,”
Silverstein said.
The
resistance forces’ show of force, nevertheless, did not end on Tuesday.
Lebanon’s armed forces fired a missile at a much larger and more advanced
Israeli drone on Wednesday, as the aircraft violated the Lebanese airspace.
The
Israeli military claimed in a statement that the drone was not damaged in the
attack and continued its mission. “Anti-aircraft missiles were just fired
toward an IDF remote-piloted aerial vehicle during routine activity over
Lebanese territory,” it said.
Israeli
drones regularly conduct espionage missions against the besieged Gaza Strip and
Lebanon. Although the regime has claimed that there is no danger of information
leak after the incidents, security experts say otherwise.
“Once
your drone is in the wrong hands, there is definitely useful information that
can be gleaned from it,” Asaf Lebovitz, vice president of sales at Skylock, a
company that designs anti-drone technology, told the Jerusalem Post.
“You
have forensic data: You can tell where the drone had been flying, what its
course was, where it took off from inside Israel, where it was sent to gather
information. It enables you to find out what the other side was interested in.”
On
the Israeli regime’s violation of the territorial integrity of other countries,
Silverstein said Israel does not care at all about honoring international
protocols and international law.
“It
just at will violates any country’s territory as long as it feels it’s in its
interests to do so, and I think it has been violating Lebanese territory for
decades,” he said. “It tries to watch what people do in those places.”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/05/644605/Israel-downplays-resistance-forces-role-in-drone-incidents
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Arab
countries welcome new Libyan executive authority
February
06, 2021
DUBAI:
Arab countries have welcomed the agreement of a new interim executive authority
in Libya that was announced by the United Nations Mission to the country in
Geneva after years of chaos in the North African state.
UN
sponsored talks produced a new interim government for Libya on Friday aimed at
resolving a decade of chaos, division and violence by holding national
elections later this year.
Libya
has been engulfed in chaos since a NATO-backed intervention ended Muammar
Gaddafi's four-decade rule in 2011 and has been split since 2014 between
warring administrations backed by foreign powers in the west and east.
Mohammed
Al-Menfi, a former diplomat from Benghazi, will head a three-man presidency
council, while Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, from the western city of Misrata, will head
the government as prime minister.
Secretary
General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf said the decision
was an important step to reach a permanent and comprehensive solution that
achieved security, stability and development in Libya, state news agency SPA
reported.
Egypt,
meanwhile, said it was looking forward to working with the Libyan interim
authority until transferring the power to an elected government, local daily
Egypt Today reported.
The
country also called on international and regional parties to support the
decision that will help settle the crisis in Libya, restore stability and end
foreign intervention, said Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ahmed
Hafez.
The
UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said the country hoped that the agreement
would support stability throughout Libya in order to preserve its national
sovereignty and achieve the aspirations of its people, state news agency WAM
reported.
In
Bahrain, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it supported Libya in preserving
its sovereignty, security and stability and called on its people to follow the
peace approach, state news agency BNA reported.
The
Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the decision, saying it hoped the
agreement would meet the Libyan people’s aspirations for security and
stability, state news agency KUNA reported.
Meanwhile,
Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Spokesperson Ambassador
Defaillah Al-Fayez wished the new authority success during the transitional
phase until holding the upcoming elections at the end of 2021, state news
agency Petra reported.
The
new interim leadership will guide the North African country toward national
elections on Dec. 24 but members of the interim authority are not eligible to
stand as candidates in the elections.
The
latest UN process to end a decade of violence in Libya emerged from a Berlin
conference last year which involved a ceasefire.
But
not all terms of the ceasefire have been met - a sign – many fear - of continued mistrust on both sides and
internal fractures within both camps.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1804741/middle-east
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From
Madinah to the Muslim world: A new museum dedicated to the life of the Prophet
TAREQ
AL-THAQAFI
February
06, 2021
MADINAH:
On Feb. 2, the opening ceremony of the International Exhibition and Museum of
the Life of the Prophet and Islamic Civilization took place.
Prince
Faisal bin Salman, governor of Madinah — where the museum is located — and
chairman of the Madinah Region Development Authority, hailed the mission and
objectives of the exhibit and museum, which not only achieves one of Saudi
Vision 2030’s goals by boosting the Kingdom’s cultural tourist attractions, but
also uses cutting-edge technology.
The
International Exhibition and Museum of the Life of the Prophet and Islamic
Civilization was launched under the supervision of the Muslim World League
(MWL) and is the first in a series of Islamic museums scheduled to be
constructed around the world under the organization’s umbrella.
Located
next to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, the museum is open 24 hours a day, and
is dedicated to the history of the Islamic world and the life of Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Prince
Faisal said the contents of the exhibition and museum represent “a historical
legacy from which to spread the correct Prophetic approach … to all parts of
the world so as to demonstrate the tolerance and moderation of Islam.”
In
a statement, the MWL stressed that it aims to “instill the spirit of love and
goodness and the meanings of mercy, humanity, moderation, tolerance and
coexistence, as well as to spread the message of Islam among people using
state-of-the-art means.”
The
exhibition features dozens of paintings and interactive displays. At the
moment, there are seven languages available to visitors — Arabic, English,
Spanish, Urdu, French, Turkish and Indonesian. It also includes a 4DX theater,
which screens a series of films about the Prophet’s life.
One
of the 25 pavilions in the exhibition is dedicated to the history of women in
Islam and showcases the important part women played in the early days of Islam
by spreading a message of truth and virtue, and the vital role women played in
the life of the Prophet. The pavilion also sheds light on the importance of
children in the life of the Prophet, recounting stories of how he used to play
with them and the advice he gave on how to best raise them.
Another
pavilion uses 3D, virtual-reality, and augmented-reality technology to
reconstruct and describe many of the Prophet’s personal possessions, including
details of his furniture, clothing, footwear and even his comb.
The
exhibition also contains the Constitution of Madinah — drawn up on behalf of
the Prophet Muhammad after his arrival in the city following the Hijra from
Makkah. It laid out the terms for peaceful coexistence and citizenship in the
Prophet’s era and formed the basis for a multi-religious Islamic state in Madinah.
In the exhibition, it is paired with the Makkah Declaration of 2019, a charter
— signed by around 1,200 muftis and scholars from around the world at the end
of a four-day conference organized by the MWL in Makkah — that laid out a
pan-Islamic set of principles supporting peaceful coexistence and condemning
extremism and violence.
Another
pavilion is dedicated to the 99 names of Allah, explaining what each name
represents and its connection to humanity. The same pavilion contains exhibits
dedicated to space and the planets, explaining various astronomical objects’
relevance to Islam and mankind, as well as displays focused on Earth’s
geography, stressing the importance of preserving the beauty of God’s
creations.
Another
pavilion is dedicated to the lives of other prophets, laying out their
characteristics as described in the Quran and Sunnah, as well as a summary of
their lives. Here you will also find a review of the most important events in
the life of the Prophet Muhammad from birth to death, which uses interactive
screens to take visitors back in time to Makkah and Madinah during his
lifetime, over 1,400 years ago.
In
a different pavilion, visitors will find extensive information on holistic
medicine, healing, prevention and awareness, shedding light on one of Prophet
Muhammad’s most important messages — that the health of mind, body and soul are
all interconnected.
Dr.
Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League
(MWL) and chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars, said that the MWL has
attached great importance to projects such as the museum and prioritized it as
part of its initiatives in the service of Islam and Muslims.
“The
exhibition is the heart and headquarters of the Museums of the Life of the
Prophet and Islamic Civilization, which the MWL is establishing in several
Islamic and non-Islamic countries.”
Al-Issa
said that the museum was recognized by a number of the Islamic world’s
prominent scholars, among whom are members of the Council of Senior Scholars in
the Kingdom.
He
said it introduces the world to the Prophet’s life and Islamic civilization, in
addition to highlighting the civilizational values in the Constitution of
Madinah and the Makkah Document, both of which established the foundations for
human fraternity and coexistence.
Al-Issa
expressed his hope for such museums to contribute in a central way to raising
awareness among and outside Islamic communities. He said that the first of
these museums is in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, the home of moderation and the
reference in Islamic leadership.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1804636/saudi-arabia
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Islamic
State officials behind Baghdad bombing killed, prime minister says
Feb
4, 2021
Two
Islamic State officials who allegedly facilitated last month’s double suicide
bombing in a crowded Baghdad marketplace have been killed, Iraqi Prime Minister
Mustafa al-Kadhimi says.
Abu
Hassan al-Gharibawi, commander of IS forces in southern Iraq, and Ghanem Sabah
Jawad, who had a role in transporting suicide bombers, were killed in an
airstrike west of Baghdad on Tuesday near Abu Ghraib, Kadhimi said on Twitter
the same day.
The
airstrike was carried out by the US-led international coalition to defeat IS on
intelligence gathered by Iraqi authorities, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said.
Members of an infantry unit from Iraq’s 17th Division later arrived on the
scene and reportedly found suicide vests among the bodies.
Brig.
Gen. Yehia Rasool, a spokesman for Kadhimi on military matters, said Gharibawi
— also known as Jabbar Ali Fayyad — supervised the Jan. 21 twin suicide
bombings at Tayaran Square which killed more than 30 people and wounded more
than 110. Jawad “was responsible for transporting the suicide terrorists,”
Rasool said.
The
two are the latest senior IS officials killed by the international coalition
since last month’s bombings.
The
man believed to have been IS’ top leader in Iraq, Abu Yasser al-Issawi, was
killed last week in the Wadi al-Shay area outside Kirkuk. Iraq’s
Counterterrorism Service had at first said Iraqi soldiers had shot him in an
operation involving the US-led coalition. The coalition later said Issawi was
killed in an airstrike.
The
killings come after Kadhimi vowed to crack down on security lapses and hunt
down the remnants of IS following last month’s massacre in Baghdad. The capital
has enjoyed relative security from IS attacks in recent years since the
government declared victory over IS in 2017.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2021/02/iraq-isis-baghdad-attack-killed.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1972721_
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