Indonesia's Islamic laws are 'abusive', report says
Bomb blasts kill two Nato soldiers in Afghanistan
Nawaz brother alerted JuD, US fears ‘dirty bomb’ from n-fuel
Trainee policeman kills six US troops in Afghanistan
Omar writes to PM against Army’s ‘criticism, interference’
Hunt on for Sadhvi friend from Gurgaon
Gujarat’s first Muslim top cop retires
True Islam decries acts of violence
Mpls mosque hopes to teach others about Muslims
Hamid Gul accused of supporting Taliban
Intolerance at Root of Terror, Indonesian Agency Warns
Saudi women played a marginal role in deviant group’s activities
Upset by anti-India remarks, govt denies Mush a visa
Interlocutors condemn attack
Navy fears infiltration
Tougher measures sought to curb sale of sacrificial meat
Aamir takes his Oscar ‘ hunger’ to MPs
Hamas PM denies al-Qaida presence in Gaza
Govt trying to link militants, stone-throwers: Mirwaiz
A Profile of Ibrahim al-Asiri: AQAP’s Unconventional Bomb Maker
'Pak army no match for India's so we want more nukes'
Court indicts Zia's younger son on money laundering charge
Albania offers arms and ammunition to Afghan authorities
Mother of WikiLeaks chief fears for his safety
Pak Army overruled proposal to send Pasha to India post 26/11
Rising HIV levels among Muslim transgender sex workers in Jakarta
Judicial reform a waste in Afghanistan?
Aceh sharia bylaws abuse women and the poor: Report
Our Gift of Religious Tolerance Must Be Shared By All Americans
Wikileaks: Post 26/11, Pak Army dismissed Zardari proposal to send ISI chief to India
WikiLeaks: India showed maturity, Roemer tells Sushma
High Court picks holes in way state probed 26/11 and Karkare killing
Syrian-Born Transnational Preacher Omar Bakri Arrested
Islamic State Of Iraq Leader Captured In Baghdad
Zardari against back channel talks with India: Kayani to US
FC soldier among six killed in Turbat gunfight
Taliban mock NATO over ‘fake’ negotiator incident
Bush admin stayed silent on AQ Khan
India needs to decrease Afghan ‘footprint’: Gilani
US, UN discussed asylum for Brahamdagh Bugti
US concerned over army’s human rights abuses in Swat
WikiLeaks bombs rock Islamabad
WikiLeaks shows US-Pak relationship based on deceit, double-talk
Kayani mulled toppling Zardari: Wiki cable
Pakistan dismisses WikiLeaks nuclear fears
Assange is being persecuted in Sweden: Lawyer
Amnesty urges US probe deadly Yemen strike after cable leaks
WikiLeaks: UK feared India would hit PoK after 26/11
‘Mumbai attacks closed doors for talks on Kashmir’
‘Terrorists may get nuke material from Pak’
Gadkari invites ‘ entire Nagpur’ to son’s wedding feast
Pak told US Headley ‘hearsay’ won’t work in court, denied FBI access to 26/11 suspect
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/indonesia-islamic-laws-abusive-,/d/3753
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Indonesia's Islamic laws are 'abusive', report says
Dec 2, 2010
Two Islamic laws applied in the Indonesian province of Aceh violate people's rights and are implemented abusively, Human Rights Watch says.
Encouraging the community to enforce Sharia laws resulted in arbitrary arrests, abuses and torture, HRW says.
In one incident, an unmarried couple were dragged into the streets by a crowd and assaulted.
The government is reviewing local laws that could be in conflict with constitutional rights, officials said.
Aceh's unique autonomy status within Indonesia allows it to implement Sharia as a formal legal system.
The report by New York-based HRW, Policing Morality: Abuses in the Application of Sharia in Aceh, Indonesia, focuses on two of the five Islamic laws applied in Aceh.
The first imposes strict Islamic dress codes.
The second prohibits men and women, who are not blood relatives or married to one another, from being together in an isolated place.
The Islamic law also encourages members of the community to enforce the rules.
HRW says it takes no position on Sharia law - a system its supporters say provides a comprehensive guide to behaviour for Muslims.
However, it says the two laws are discriminatory.
The report author, Christen Broecker, said it is impossible to quantify the abuses, but anecdotal evidence suggests it happens fairly frequently.
HRW called on the government to repeal the laws.
The head of the Sharia law department in Aceh, Rusydi Ali Muhammad, told the BBC Indonesian service that some people might have misused the laws.
"There are weaknesses in this Sharia enforcement, we're going through a gradual process. I'm here to listen from everyone, so we can improve (standards).
"I think it's unfair that HRW published a one-sided report, I want to know where those things [they allege] happened," he said.
Sharia law was applied as part of the central government's attempts to appease the Islamic lobby in Aceh, where separatists have for years criticised unfairness in the distribution of wealth from Aceh's considerable oil and gas resources.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11883781
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Bomb blasts kill two Nato soldiers in Afghanistan
Dec 2, 2010
KABUL: Bomb attacks killed two Nato soldiers in the insurgent south and east of Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said Thursday.
One soldier died in the militants’ southern heartland on Wednesday, and the second in the east on Thursday, Isaf said in separate statements.
Crude and cheaply made bombs, detonated remotely or by pressure-plate triggers, are the weapon of choice of the Taliban and are responsible for most coalition and civilian deaths in the conflict.
The deaths took to 673 the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by the icasualties.org website, the highest annual toll since the US-led invasion in late 2001.
Last year the death toll was 521.
http://www.dawn.com/2010/12/02/bomb-blast-kills-nato-soldier-in-southern-afghanistan.html
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Nawaz brother alerted JuD, US fears ‘dirty bomb’ from n-fuel
Dec 2, 2010
Washington, Islamabad : Punjab Chief Minister and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shahbaz Sharif tipped off the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) about impending UN sanctions after 26/11, following which the Lashkar front emptied its bank accounts.
President Asif Ali Zardari gave this information to the then US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson on January 2, 2009, secret US cables released by WikiLeaks show.
“He (Zardari) said that Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz Chief Minister Shabbaz Sharif had tipped off the JUD about the UNSCR 1267 mandated asset freeze, resulting in almost empty bank accounts,” said the US State Department cable out of the Islamabad embassy, giving the minutes of the Zardari-Patterson meeting, called to discuss the follow-up into the 26/11 probe.
On December 10, 2008, the UN put the JuD on its consolidated list under Resolution 1267, making it obligatory on Pakistan to act against the organisation.
The new documents released by WikiLeaks demonstrate the US’s wary dance with Pakistan, an ally it considers critical to the war effort in Afghanistan, but of whom it continues to remain deeply distrustful. On May 27, 2009, less than a month after President Barack Obama told reporters that Pakistan’s nuclear materials “will remain out of militant hands”, Ambassador Patterson sent a secret message to Washington suggesting that she remained deeply worried.
Patterson reported that Pakistan continued to drag its feet on an agreement reached two years earlier to have the US remove a stockpile of highly enriched uranium sitting for years near an aging research nuclear reactor. There was enough material there to build several “dirty bombs” or, in skilled hands, possibly enough for an actual nuclear bomb.
Patterson wrote that the Pakistani government had concluded that “the ‘sensational’ international and local media coverage of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons made it impossible to proceed at this time”. A senior Pakistani official, she said, warned that if word leaked out that Americans were helping remove the fuel, the local press would certainly “portray it as the United States taking Pakistan’s nuclear weapons”.
The nuclear fuel, supplied to Pakistan by the US in the 1960s, is still there. In a February 4, 2009, cable, Patterson wrote that “our major concern is not having an Islamic militant steal an entire weapon but rather the chance someone working in GOP [government of Pakistan] facilities could gradually smuggle enough material out to eventually make a weapon”.
The leaked cables written from the American Embassy reveal just how weak the civilian government in Pakistan is: President Zardari told US Vice-President Joseph R Biden Jr that he worried that the “ISI director and Kiyani” might “take me out”.
Frustration at the American inability to persuade the Pakistani Army and ISI to stop supporting the Afghan Taliban and other militants became an issue for the Obama administration immediately after taking over. In January 2009, during a trip to Pakistan 11 days before he was sworn in, Biden asked General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani several times if Pakistan and the US “had the same enemy as we move forward”.
Kayani told him, “We are on the same page in Afghanistan, but there might be different tactics.” Biden replied that “results” would test that.
Overall, the cables portray deep scepticism that Pakistan will ever cooperate fully in fighting the full panoply of extremist groups. In one cable, Patterson, who left Islamabad in October 2010 after three years as Ambassador, said giving more money and military assistance to Pakistan would not help.
“There is no chance that Pakistan will view enhanced assistance levels in any field as sufficient compensation for abandoning support for these groups, which it sees as an important part of its national security apparatus against India,” she cabled Washington.
Islamabad would only dig in deeper if America continued to improve ties with India, which “feeds Pakistani establishment paranoia and pushes them closer to both Afghan and Kashmir focused terrorist groups”, she wrote, referring almost certainly to the Haqqani network and the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
The cables verge on gossipy, as diplomats strained to understand the personalities behind the fractious Pakistani government, and particularly two men: Kayani and Zardari.
Often, the US found that Zardari was sympathetic to American goals — stiff sanctions on terrorist financing, the closing down of terrorist training camps — but lacked the power to fulfill his promises against resistance from the military and intelligence agencies.
Zardari’s chief antagonist, Kayani, emerges as a stubborn guarantor of what he sees as Pakistan’s national interest, an army chief who meddles in civilian politics but stops short of overturning the elected order.
A cable in 2009 introducing him to the new Obama administration said that the general, who was chief of the ISI from 2004 to 2007, he did not want a “reckoning with the past”, and would “want to hear that the United States has turned the page on past ISI operations”.
In March 2009, Kayani told Ambassador Patterson that he “might, however reluctantly”, pressure Zardari to resign and, the cable added, presumably leave Pakistan. He mentioned Asfandyar Wali Khan as a possible replacement. “Kayani made it clear regardless how much he disliked Zardari he distrusted Nawaz even more,” Patterson wrote.
On February 22, 2010, on the eve of the visit of FBI director Robert S. Mueller III, she wrote, “Pakistan’s civilian government remains weak, ineffectual and corrupt... domestic politics is dominated by uncertainty about the fate of President Zardari.”
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nawaz-brother-alerted-jud-us-fears-dirty-bomb-.../718908/
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Trainee policeman kills six US troops in Afghanistan
Dec 2, 2010
ASADABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) – Six American soldiers training Afghan police in a Taliban flashpoint were shot dead by one of their students in the deadliest such incident in at least two years, officials said Tuesday.
The shooting, which follows a string of similar attacks on NATO troops, underscores the challenges faced by the US-led mission as it aims to build the national army and police to take responsibility for security by 2014.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the gunman, identified as a local resident who had been in training with Western troops for only a few days, was also killed, and an investigation was underway.
Wearing Afghan border police uniform, the man turned his weapon against ISAF troops during the training mission on Monday, killing the six soldiers in Taliban-infested eastern Afghanistan, NATO announced.
A US defence official identified the six troops as Americans but declined to give further details.
A Taliban spokesman praised the attack in comments emailed to the media, but the militant group did not claim credit for the killings.
President Hamid Karzai ordered security chiefs to investigate the incident with NATO, and the interior ministry later announced their own probe.
"The president offers his sympathy to the family of the victims and NATO troops based in Afghanistan," a statement from Karzai's office said.
Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province where the incident took place, named the gunman as Azat Gul, a policeman being schooled at the training centre in the Pachir Agam area of Khogyani district.
"After a few days of training, yesterday he opened fire and killed six American soldiers," Abdulzai told AFP.
Americans make up most of the foreign troops based in eastern Afghanistan, one of the worst flashpoints in the nine-year Taliban insurgency that erupted after the 2001 US-led invasion brought down their regime.
Monday's deaths bring the number of coalition troop fatalities this year to 668, according to an AFP tally based on that of the independent icasualties.org website.
It is the highest annual toll since the US-led invasion in late 2001. Last year 521 NATO soldiers died.
The United States is bankrolling a massive programme -- 9.2 billion dollars in fiscal 2010 -- to build Afghanistan's army and police so they can take over responsibility for security by 2014.
But the programme has been troubled by a series of shootings, either by insurgents dressed in Afghan security uniforms or by rogue officers.
An ISAF spokesman said Monday's incident was the deadliest of its type since their database was started more than two years ago.
This month NATO said it was investigating whether an Afghan soldier killed two coalition troops on a military base in the volatile town of Sangin in southern Helmand province.
In July, an Afghan soldier killed two American contractors inside a military base in north Afghanistan. A week later another Afghan soldier killed three British Gurkha soldiers.
In 2009, five British soldiers were killed by an Afghan policeman.
Leading think tank the International Crisis Group has issued a damning review of the war, saying Afghan security forces "have proven a poor match for the Taliban" and were "corrupt, brutal and predatory".
Afghanistan now has about 80,000 police officers, and US and NATO forces say they hope to increase this number to 134,000 by October 2011, at the same time as boosting the Afghan army to a 170,000-strong force.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101130/ts_afp/afghanistanunrest_20101130085122
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Omar writes to PM against Army’s ‘criticism, interference’
Dec 2, 2010
Srinagar : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, complaining against the Army’s public criticism of him and his government and consistent interference in policy issues related to the state.
“I don’t want to respond to this (statement) publicly. I have already written to the Prime Minister today and taken up the matter seriously,” Omar told The Indian Express.
Relations between the Army and the state Government have been sour ever since Omar raised his government’s pitch on the demand for withdrawal or an amendment to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The latest row was triggered by a statement issued and later withdrawn by Lt Col Pradeep Kochhar, Public Relations Officer of the Northern Command based at Udhampur.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/omar-writes-to-pm-against-armys-criticism-interference/718872/
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Hunt on for Sadhvi friend from Gurgaon
Dec 2, 2010
Surat : The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the Malegaon blasts and other related attacks, is looking for a woman suspect named Renu, who is believed to be a college friend of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur — a key accused in the case.
According to officials, Renu, who is originally from Gurgaon, was with Pragya at the Lahar College in Bhind from 1993 to 1997, around the time when the latter rose to become the state secretary of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP’s students’ wing.
NIA officials said Renu is suspected to have continued her association with Pragya even after college, and the two stayed together in Surat. A hunt has been launched for her in Gwalior, where she is reported to have lived for some time.
Earlier this week, officials questioned Pragya’s father, Chandrapal Singh Thakur, at his Surat residence in this connection. But Thakur reportedly told them that he was not aware of his daughter’s college friends.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hunt-on-for-sadhvi-friend-from-gurgaon/718878/
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Gujarat’s first Muslim top cop retires
December 02, 2010
Gujarat’s first ever Muslim police chief, SS Khandwawala, finally retired from service on Tuesday evening as the Centre did not approve the State Government’s proposal to grant him an extension for three months.
Shabbir S Khandwawala had become the first Muslim Director General of Police (DGP) in Gujarat in February 2009.
Critics of Chief Minister Narendra Modi had then seen the move as his effort to project a ‘secular’ image for himself but it was the Congress-led UPA Government which said no to his extension now.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/300576/Gujarat%E2%80%99s-first-Muslim-top-cop-retires.html
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True Islam decries acts of violence
Dec 2, 2010
On behalf of the Muslim community in Salem and the state of Oregon, we stand in solidarity with our fellow citizens, neighbors, co-workers and the public against all sorts of violence, terrorism and endangering the safety of innocent lives and the well-being of the society.
The Islamic faith equates the sin of killing a single soul as the killing of all humans. And, saving a single soul is as saving the lives of all humans with no distinction between faith or race or gender.
Muslims are members of the society and have the same responsibility to protect and to defend the safety and security of our communities. We are especially thankful and grateful to the officers who ensured the safety of the peaceful and innocent Oregonians.
— Moshreq Sobhy, Woodburn
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20101201/OPINION/12010392/True-Islam-decries-acts-of-violence#ixzz16x6kXrYf
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Mpls mosque hopes to teach others about Muslims
Dec 2, 2010
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A mosque in Minneapolis is holding an open house to teach the broader community about the Muslim faith and Somali culture.
The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Civic Center at 504 Cedar Ave. South is opening its doors from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. The event is sponsored by the center and the Islamic League of Somali Scholars in America.
The event is billed as a night of "building bridges" and will include Somali cuisine and information about the center's activities.
Last week in Portland, Ore., a 19-year-old Somali-American was arrested in an alleged plot to blow up a bomb. Days later, a mosque was set on fire.
Dar Al-Hijrah's executive director Abdikadir Ibrahim says the open house was planned before the Oregon arrest and is part of ongoing community outreach. But he says the issues in Portland show such outreach is important.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.kttc.com/Global/story.asp?S=13593414
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Hamid Gul accused of supporting Taliban
Dec 2, 2010
LAHORE: Hamid Gul, the former chief of ISI, has been accused in several of the leaked documents of regularly meeting al Qaeda and Taliban commanders to order suicide attacks in Afghanistan. Gul, however, said that the US orchestrated the mass leak of war files to scapegoat him for its imminent withdrawal from Afghanistan. He told the Financial Times that the US had a hidden role in the publication of thousands of classified reports through the WikiLeaks website. Gul told the newspaper, “I am a very favourite whipping boy of America. They can’t imagine the Afghans can win wars on their own. It would be an abiding shame that a 74-year-old general living a retired life manipulating the mujahideen in Afghanistan results in the defeat of America.”
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\02\story_2-12-2010_pg7_12
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Intolerance at Root of Terror, Indonesian Agency Warns
Ulma Haryanto
Dec 2, 2010
Jakarta. As long as law enforcers fall short in pursuing those who preach hatred against other groups, this nation will continue to be fertile ground for extremism and a safe haven for terrorist groups, the chief of the antiterrorism agency said on Tuesday.
Ansyaad Mbai, head of the newly established National Board for the Eradication of Terrorism (BNPT), said there were no laws in Indonesia against preaching hatred, cited as a leading cause of religious intolerance in this country.
Failure to publicly condemn such actions has meant that radicalization has been allowed to spread from religious-based boarding schools into the country’s renowned universities.
“There are several student organizations that act as recruiters for terrorist activities in mainstream universities. They do not only recruit members from social science faculties, but from engineering and science departments as well,” Mbai said in a workshop on radicalism hosted by Lazuardi Biru, an organization that aims to educate young Indonesians on the dangers of fundamentalism.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/intolerance-at-root-of-terror-indonesian-agency-warns/409413
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Saudi women played a marginal role in deviant group’s activities
Dec 2, 2010
JEDDAH: The role of Saudi women in Al-Qaeda is, apparently, marginal; only 15 women have been established to have links with the terrorist organization.
The tasks of women terrorists in the earlier days were confined to assisting in logistic matters such as helping wanted militants travel without attracting police attention in addition to offering moral support to them. Gradually some of them turned to terror recruiters, financiers and even a media relations officer like Bint Najd, who distributed terror propaganda online.
Al-Qaeda started recruiting women in the Kingdom in 2004. The first known female terrorist was the wife of the Kingdom’s Al-Qaeda chief Saleh Al-Oufi, who was killed in 2005.
Many terror activists donned women's clothes and moved in women’s company to cross police checkpoints undetected. Ali bin Abdul Rahman Al-Ghamdi, one of the 19 Al-Qaeda men wanted by the Interior Ministry in the past, used to travel between Madinah and Jeddah wearing abaya and in the company of women before he surrendered to Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs Prince Muhammad bin Naif in 2003. His Moroccan wife was also with him.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article205734.ece
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Upset by anti-India remarks, govt denies Mush a visa
Dec 2, 2010
NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday denied visa to former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf who wanted to visit the country for a seminar this weekend.
"The decision was taken after the home ministry expressed reservations over his proposed visit due to his recent anti-India statements," official sources said, adding that the government did not want elements opposed to the present regime in Pakistan to converge on Indian soil for their activities.
Musharraf had been invited to attend a seminar hosted by the Young Presidents Organization, an international outfit involving influential business leaders. The conference is scheduled to be held in Delhi on Saturday. The former Pakistan president was among the guest speakers at the event.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Upset-by-anti-India-remarks-govt-denies-Mush-a-visa/articleshow/7025681.cms#ixzz16vjnIGCS
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Interlocutors condemn attack
Vinay Kumar
Dec 2, 2010
NEW DELHI: The three interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir — Dileep Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar, and M.M. Ansari — have condemned the attacks on Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at meetings in Chandigarh, Kolkata and Delhi.
“All citizens of India have the right to protest using peaceful and constitutional means. We believe it is a violation of our democratic norms to attempt to silence the voices of dissents in Jammu and Kashmir, and a gross violation of the rule of law to use violence against individuals participating in seminars. Once again, we would like to reiterate our strong opposition to these actions,” the interlocutors said in a statement on Wednesday.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/12/02/stories/2010120267521200.htm
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Navy fears infiltration
Dec 2, 2010
Mumbai: Vice-Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, said here on Wednesday that according to intelligence input, “our neighbouring country has been attempting to infiltrate India through the Maldives.”
“There is fear that the Maldives-Andaman route will be used by some hostile countries to infiltrate in mainland India and we have increased security keeping that in mind,” he told journalists on the sidelines of a press conference organised as part Navy week celebrations here. December 4 will be celebrated as ‘Navy Day' throughout the country.
Mr. Bhasin said the Navy was assisting Maldives authorities to strengthen security in that region of South Asia.
Full report at:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/12/02/stories/2010120265511300.htm
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Tougher measures sought to curb sale of sacrificial meat
Dec 2, 2010
MAKKAH: One of the rites of Haj involves the sacrifice of animals. With thousands of animals slaughtered during the annual pilgrimage, a large amount of sacrificial meat is distributed among the poor in Makkah.
However, some unscrupulous people take this as an opportunity to store carcasses, which they sell on to butchers and eateries at nominal rates.
Those behind this racket tend to be African migrants who live in some of the poorest neighborhoods of Makkah. With limited or no access to proper refrigeration, much of this meat goes off before it reaches restaurants.
The slaughtering of sacrificial meat begins from the morning of Dul Hijjah 10 (the day of sacrifice) and continues until the evening of Dul Hijjah 13. Sacrifice also takes place following Haj, as a form of penance in lieu of mistakes committed by pilgrims while performing their rites.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article205731.ece
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Aamir takes his Oscar ‘ hunger’ to MPs
Dec 2, 2010
SUPERSTAR Aamir Khan flew down to the Capital to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament on Wednesday, expressing his desire to help create awareness of malnutrition affecting underprivileged children. He also met Rahul Gandhi.
The actor belongs to an activist group called Citizens Alliance that aims at generating public awareness over pertinent issues affecting the society. He requested the PM to give him a chance to work as creative consultant on the awareness campaign, as also other activities that the group takes up in the future.
“ I feel very proud to be here,” Aamir said. He also managed to get the support of 125 MPs, cutting across political lines, for the campaign. Junior telecom minister Sachin Pilot, BJP MP Shahnawaz Hussain and BJD leader Baijyant Panda accompanied him. He also met Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Hamas PM denies al-Qaida presence in Gaza
Dec 2, 2010
Gaza City : The prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza has denied Israeli allegations that al-Qaida operates in the coastal strip and that Palestinian militants had planned to carry out attacks in neighbouring Egypt.
Ismail Haniyeh told reporters on Wednesday that such allegations are lies meant to prepare the ground for future Israeli attacks on Gaza.
He says he sent a reassuring letter to Egypt's intelligence chief.
Israel's military believes that al-Qaida operatives have infiltrated Gaza.
Israeli air strikes killed three Gaza militants last month who Israel said planned attacks in Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/718751/
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Govt trying to link militants, stone-throwers: Mirwaiz
Dec 2, 2010
BACK from the seminars in Chandigarh and Kolkata, moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the state government was deliberately trying to forge a link between stone throwers and militants in order to give a bad name to the peaceful Azadi movement in Kashmir.
He also said that the encounter at Qamarwari, in which three militants were killed, was staged.
“The government is trying hard to convey an impression that the stone throwers are actually militants in disguise and thereby create an excuse to kill them. The encounter at Qamarwari is part of the strategy,” Mirwaiz said at a press conference at Hurriyat headquarters after his return from outside the state. His companion at the seminars, Hurriyat executive member Bilal Gani Lone, was also present.
Full report at: Indian Express
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A Profile of Ibrahim al-Asiri: AQAP’s Unconventional Bomb Maker
Murad Batal al-Shishani
Dec 2, 2010
Following the discovery of explosive-laden packages addressed to synagogues in Chicago, renewed attention has focused on al-Qaeda’s highly innovative branch in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The two packages, each containing an odorless plastic explosive called pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), were shipped from Sana’a, Yemen via UPS and FedEx and were discovered in transit in England and Dubai, respectively, as a result of intelligence sharing from Saudi counterterrorism authorities. Thus far, a 22-year-old Yemeni female engineering student named Hanan al-Samawi has been arrested in connection with shipping the deadly packages (Al-Jazeera, October 31; Yemen Observer, November 2), while a young Saudi man, believed to be hiding in either Marib or Shabwa Governorates, is thought to be behind the failed attack and remains at large (Yemen Observer, November 4). The information about the parcel bombs was purportedly provided by a surrendered AQAP operative and former Guantanamo detainee, Jabir al-Fayfi, who turned himself into the Yemeni government and was extradited to Riyadh where he informed the Saudis of the planned attack (Al-Quds al-Arabi, November 3).
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'Pak army no match for India's so we want more nukes'
Chidanand Rajghatta
Dec 2, 2010
WASHINGTON: Despite "pending economic catastrophe," Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a "faster rate" than any other country in the world, according to a stunning American appraisal that forms part of the cables relating to US-Pakistan relations leaked by the whistleblower organization wikileaks.
The assessment was conveyed by US National Intelligence Officer for South Asia Dr Peter Lavoy to NATO representatives in November 2008 amid widespread, and continuing, apprehensions among major powers, recorded in separate cables, about the security of the weapons and its possible heist by terrorists, extremists and fundamentalists, including those in the government.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Pak-army-no-match-for-Indias-so-we-want-more-nukes/articleshow/7022922.cms#ixzz16viQNrGg
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Court indicts Zia's younger son on money laundering charge
Dec 2, 2010
DHAKA: A Dhaka court has indicted main opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia's younger son Arafat Rahman Koko in absentia on money laundering charges, court officials and reports said here today.
Special Court judge Mozammel Haque framed the charges against Koko, now in Singapore, and another person and fixed January 4 to start trial of the money laundering case.
"The trial against (Koko and co-accused Ismail Hossain Saimon, son of former Shipping Minister late Akbar Hossain) will continue in their absence," a court official quoted the judge as saying after the indictment yesterday.
Koko was arrested in 2007 on graft charges under a massive anti-graft campaign under emergency rules during the past military backed interim government and was paroled for treatment abroad in July 2008.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Court-indicts-Zias-younger-son-on-money-laundering-charge/articleshow/7022414.cms#ixzz16vil8TFU
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Albania offers arms and ammunition to Afghan authorities
Dec 2, 2010
TIRANA: Albania today decided to offer arms and ammunition to Afghan authorities, contributing to the international community's efforts there, officials said.
"Albania will offer for free some 30,000 automatic weapons as well as some 50 million pieces of ammunition to the Afghan police," the government said in a statement.
Albania became a member of NATO in April 2008 and has a 306-soldier contingent serving with the international mission tackling Taliban and other militants in Afghanistan.
Albanian army units have served within the European Union forces in Bosnia, as well as in other NATO peace missions in the world.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Albania-offers-arms-and-ammunition-to-Afghan-authorities/articleshow/7026510.cms#ixzz16viy0eXB
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Mother of WikiLeaks chief fears for his safety
Dec 2, 2010
SYDNEY: The mother of Australian-born WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange today expressed fear for her son's safety, saying the forces he was challenging had become "too big".
Christine Assange said her "highly intelligent" and curious son had been raised as a strongly ethical "seeker of truth".
But Assange said her son, now subject to a global Interpol arrest demand over rape charges in Sweden, had become "too smart for himself" and she now feared for his safety.
"He sees what he's doing as doing a good thing in the world, fighting baddies if you like," Assange told the Courier Mail, her local newspaper in Queensland.
"I'm concerned it's gotten too big and the forces that he's challenging are too big," she added.
The WikiLeaks chief, who is said to lead a spy-like life of rarely sleeping in the same place twice, has sparked a political storm by dumping about 250,000 secret US diplomatic cables onto the Internet.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Mother-of-WikiLeaks-chief-fears-for-his-safety/articleshow/7026979.cms#ixzz16w2knn3A
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Pak Army overruled proposal to send Pasha to India post 26/11
Dec 2, 2010
WASHINGTON: Pakistan's powerful Army had vetoed President Asif Ali Zardari's proposal to send ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha to New Delhi that came on British insistence to calm down tensions with India following the Mumbai terror attack, a secret US cable made public by WikiLeaks shows.
The confidential document shows that the then British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had called Zardari, asking him to send the ISI chief to India, to which the President readily agreed. He, however, was overruled by the Pakistani Army led by General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.
Miliband described Major General Pasha as a welcome "new broom" and expressed UK support for ISI reform.
Zardari said the new ISI leaders were "straightforward" and their roles were proscribed by the constitution, but it would take time for real conversions.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-Army-overruled-proposal-to-send-Pasha-to-India-post-26/11/articleshow/7027895.cms#ixzz16wBCsJRz
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Rising HIV levels among Muslim transgender sex workers in Jakarta
Dec 2, 2010
Lack of education among transgender sex workers is fuelling Indonesia's growing HIV/Aids infection rates
When Bea became a sex worker in the red light district of Jakarta, Indonesia, she knew she needed to use condoms to protect herself from HIV but her clients refused to use them.
Bea, 30, is a waria – a man who has assumed a female identity. The word is derived from wanita, which means woman in Indonesian, and pria, meaning man. Whether they wear women's clothes or have undergone a full sex change operation, waria view themselves women.
"I knew the big risks that having this job would bring," she says matter-of-factly, although her voice betrays emotion.
She needed the money so she stayed quiet. Meanwhile her clients continued to insist on sex without condoms, believing anal penetration could not lead to HIV.
Full report at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2010/dec/01/world-aids-day-transgender-sex-workers
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Judicial reform a waste in Afghanistan?
Russ Jones
Dec 2, 2010
Despite American efforts to reform Afghanistan's judicial system, an Afghan convert to Christianity -- if charged with apostasy -- may be judged according to sharia law.
The International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that an Afghan convert to Christianity is scheduled to appear in court without legal representation. If Sayed Mossa is charged with apostasy -- a "crime" not referenced in the Afghan penal code -- the judge in the case may use sharia law to reach a verdict.
The Christian ministry reports that Mossa was arrested on May 31 after footage of Muslim converts to Christianity being baptized was nationally televised. Aidan Clay, ICC regional manager for the Middle East, says the broadcast triggered protests throughout the country and a national government crackdown against Christians.
"The concern here is that the U.S. and the international community have invested millions of dollars in reforming Afghanistan's judicial system -- including training lawyers, prosecutors, and other court officials," Clay explains. "And yet, there's an Afghan Christian who will go to trial without representation, without being offered a lawyer, and be asked to renounce his faith in front of a Muslim court."
Full report at:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Persecution/Default.aspx?id=1243998
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Aceh sharia bylaws abuse women and the poor: Report
Dec 2, 2010
“God will punish us by sending another great earthquake and tsunami if we don’t uphold and enforce sharia [Islamic law] in this land,” says a resident of Banda Aceh.
This well-educated man, who prefers to remain anonymous, was referring to a series of bylaws known as qanun that effectively have been applied in the province since 2005. According to the Asia chapter of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), which announced the results of its most recent survey on Wednesday, the enforcement of a bylaw on clothing requirements and another on relationship between genders robs people, especially women and those of the lower and middle classes of their rights.
The research, conducted from April to September this year, involved more than 80 respondents, including rights abuse victims, such as women, as well as locals and government officials throughout the province widely known as the Mecca’s Terrace.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/12/02/aceh-sharia-bylaws-abuse-women-and-poor-report.html
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Our Gift of Religious Tolerance Must Be Shared By All Americans
Dec 2, 2010
Tonight, as I celebrate the Festival of lights, Hanukkah, a holiday of religious liberation, with my two beautiful children, I hope to share with them another gift along with books, video, games, and toy cars. That gift is the blessing of living in the United States, where religious observance and freedom, as well as non-observance for those who choose, is uniquely protected, as shown by the statements below. As I recently told the Senate, this gift is especially meaningful:
I can only marvel at how proud my departed refugee Russian grandmother and World War II era POW father would be to see the country they loved so very much working to extend the promise of Emma Lazarus' prose to embrace yet a new generation of Americans, who like them, need protection from unrestrained prejudice.
One of the biggest threats to that gift is the notion that the exercise and adherents of some faiths are worthy of the equal protection of our laws, while other "illegitimate" faiths are not.
Full report at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-levin-jd/our-gift-of-religious-tol_b_790341.html
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Wikileaks: Post 26/11, Pak Army dismissed Zardari proposal to send ISI chief to India
Dec 2, 2010
Washington : Pakistan's powerful Army had vetoed President Asif Ali Zardari's proposal to send ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha to New Delhi that came on British insistence to calm down tensions with India following the Mumbai terror attack, a secret US cable made public by WikiLeaks shows.
The confidential document shows that the then British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had called Zardari, asking him to send the ISI chief to India, to which the President readily agreed. He, however, was overruled by the Pakistani Army led by General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.
Miliband described Major General Pasha as a welcome "new broom" and expressed UK support for ISI reform.
Zardari said the new ISI leaders were "straightforward" and their roles were proscribed by the Constitution, but it would take time for real conversions.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/wikileaks-post-26-11-pak-army-dismissed-zardari-proposal-to-send-isi-chief-to-india/719227/
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WikiLeaks: India showed maturity, Roemer tells Sushma
Dec 2, 2010
WITH the WikiLeaks cables widely feared to strain Washington's diplomatic ties with allies and friendly countries, the United States feels that India has handled the episode with "maturity".
The US, which launched a damage controlexerciseafter the whistleblower website said it would release more than three million classified diplomatic cables, had also forewarned India that some of the communications from its missions in Pakistan and Afghanistan could be potentially embarrassing.
On Wednesday, US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer called on Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
Full report at: Indian Express
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High Court picks holes in way state probed 26/11 and Karkare killing
Dec 2, 2010
THE Bombay High Court Wednesday questioned the government's investigation into 26/11, the questions pertaining to the Mumbai Police Crime Branch's probe as far as ascertaining the facts behind the killing of then ATS chief Hemant Karkare was concerned, and the failure in sharing of intelligence between the Intelligence Bureau, the state and the Western Naval Command.
Citing the recent arrest of two alleged LeT operatives in Thane, the court said, "Are terrorists freely roaming in India? Are we ready to face any other attack?” The division bench of Justice B H Marlapalle and Justice U D Salvi asked why the conspiracy behind the attack was not investigated thoroughly. Chief public prosecutor P A Pol said he would file a report within two weeks.
Full report at: Indian Express
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SYRIAN-BORN TRANSNATIONAL PREACHER OMAR BAKRI ARRESTED
Dec 2, 2010
One time London-based militant Islamist preacher Omar Bakri Fustaq was arrested in the northern coastal city of Tripoli (Daily Star [Beirut], November 15). Bakri was previously tried and convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison by Lebanese authorities for incitement to murder and possession of weapons and explosives. He faces a retrial in a Lebanese military court that leaves him desperate. He is reaching across sectarian lines and seeking the assistance of Hezbollah by appointing Nawwar Sahili, a Hezbollah MP, as his lawyer (AFP, November 17). Bakri, a 50-year-old dual Lebanese-Syrian national, founded the radical Salafi al-Muhajiroun movement in the United Kingdom [1] and left the UK after the August 7 bombings and was prevented from returning by the Home Office. In a 2007 interview, he portrays himself as a humble “Islamic caller” who manages an Islamic library in Tripoli, gives occasional sermons at various mosques in the city and distances himself from Lebanon’s official Dar al-Fatwa clergy (al-Sharq al-Awsat, August 14, 2007).
Full report at: http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=290.
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ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ LEADER CAPTURED IN BAGHDAD
Dec 2, 2010
Iraqi security forces arrested Hudhayfah al-Batawi, who is believed to be the current leader of the Sunni insurgent group the Islamic State of Iraq following the capture in March of Munaf Abdul Rahim al-Rawi and the subsequent killings of Abu-Umar al-Baghdadi and Abu-Ayyub al-Masri in April (Al Hayat, November 28). Members of the group were wanted in connection with the October 31 vicious assault and hostage taking of a Syriac Catholic congregation at Baghdad’s Our Lady of Salvation Church in central Baghdad in the Karrada district, which left at least 53 hostages, clergy and guards dead. The brazenly public killing of such a large number of Christians may risk further alienation of al-Qaeda elements in Iraq vis-à-vis indigenous Sunni militant groups whose stance in more against occupation forces and the Shia-led government than nihilistic Salafi in nature.
Full report at:
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Zardari against back channel talks with India: Kayani to US
Dec 2, 2010
WASHINGTON: Pakistan's powerful Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani told a top American diplomat that his establishment wanted resumption of back channel talks with India, but President Asif Ali Zardari is against it, according to a secret US cable leaked by WikiLeaks.
Kayani told this to the then US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson during a two-hour long meeting in October 2009, details of which are given in the secret cable.
The United States has termed the release of these secret documents as illegal and an act of crime.
During the meeting, Patterson asked Kayani about the likelihood for restarting the back-channel talks with India, noting that the US had received a good readout from former Foreign Minister Kasuri, who was enthusiastic about the appointment of former Foreign Secretary Riaz Khan as the back-channel negotiator.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Zardari-against-back-channel-talks-with-India-Kayani-to-US/articleshow/7028374.cms#ixzz16wodBCBy
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FC soldier among six killed in Turbat gunfight
By Mohammad Zafar
Dec 2, 2010
QUETTA: Six people, including two sons of Ayub Gichki the cousin of BNP central leader Akhtar Mengal and a Frontier Corps soldier, were killed in a gun battle on Wednesday in the Turbat (Kech) district.
The Balochistan National Party (BNP) staged a demonstration and said that the FC had carried out an unprovoked attack on the house of Ayub Gichki and killed his two sons along with three of his relatives. They claimed that the FC personnel stormed the house of Gichki and killed all the inmates. However, Gichki took to the hills and joined the struggle for Baloch national rights.
An FC spokesman claimed that an official vehicle was on routine patrol on the Pasni Road when unidentified assailants opened fire on it and tried to escape from the scene.
However, he said that the FC personnel chased the assailants who, according to him, had entered the house in Overseas Colony near the Airport Road. Police and FC personnel cordoned off the area and a gun battle erupted between the assailants and the FC personnel. An FC member who lost his life in the attack was identified as Muhammad Iqbal.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\02\story_2-12-2010_pg1_6
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Taliban mock NATO over ‘fake’ negotiator incident
Dec 2, 2010
KABUL: Taliban have praised an imposter who reportedly duped British intelligence agents into believing he was a top terrorist commander in a position to negotiate peace in exchange for cash. Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6 believed the man to be insurgent leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansur, a figure capable of negotiating with the US and Afghan officials, The Times and The Washington Post reported last week. Taliban, in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday, said the episode had become “a stigma on the forehead of the Americans and their allies.” The imposter exposed the American position towards talks with the terrorist group, the statement added, repeating the Taliban’s stance that it would not negotiate while “Afghanistan remains under occupation.” afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\02\story_2-12-2010_pg7_8
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Bush admin stayed silent on AQ Khan
Dec 2, 2010
LAHORE: In early 2008, when rumors floated that Pakistan was about to release from house arrest Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Bush administration stayed silent, disclosed a cable unveiled by WikiLeaks on the New York Times newspaper. Struggling to get Pakistan’s help in the war against al Qaeda, it could not risk reminding the world of a case Pakistani officials kept saying was closed. In private, it was a different story. Richard Boucher, the top US State Department official for South Asia, wrote on April 10, 2008, that the embassy in Islamabad should “express Washington’s strong opposition to the release of Dr Khan and urge the Pakistan government to continue holding him under house arrest”. Releasing him, he wrote, would “undermine” what Pakistan had done to fight proliferation. “The damage done to international security by Dr Khan and his associates is not a closed book,” he wrote, noting that the US and others were still dealing with the Khan network’s sale of technology to Iran and North Korea “and possible other states”. The world, he said, was dealing “with the reality that the uranium enrichment technology and nuclear weapons designs that were sold to Libya are now available to other states and non-state actors”. daily times monitor
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\02\story_2-12-2010_pg7_13
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India needs to decrease Afghan ‘footprint’: Gilani
Dec 2, 2010
LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and US Senator John Kerry, during the February 16 meeting, also spoke about the state of Indo-Pak relations. Gilani said Pakistan was willing to resume talks with India but indicated that in order to gain Pakistan’s trust, India would need to decrease its footprint in Afghanistan and stop interfering in Balochistan. Kerry said that the then upcoming talks between India and Pakistan’s foreign secretaries had the potential to reshape the bilateral relationship and the overall regional dynamic, and encouraged the Pakistani government not to allow outside pressures to “derail these efforts”. Gilani, however, noted that in order to gain public support for this process, the US had to “treat India and Pakistan equally”.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\02\story_2-12-2010_pg7_14
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US, UN discussed asylum for Brahamdagh Bugti
Dec 2, 2010
LAHORE: Kilian Kleinschmidt, who had been designated by UN high commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres as UNHCR’s liaison to the Baloch community, met with the ambassador and deputy chief of the mission on December 13 to discuss Washington’s position on the possible movement of Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti from Afghanistan to a country of asylum.
According to The Guardian, Kleinschmidt requested US intervention with Pakistani authorities if the UNHCR agreed to facilitate this movement. Brahamdagh’s uncle reportedly told Kleinschmidt that the Irish government had agreed to offer asylum to Bugti, although the UNHCR had not yet confirmed this offer. At the request of the UNHCR, the then ambassador, Anne Patterson, agreed to engage President Asif Ali Zardari and have the embassy follow up with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to ensure that the Pakistan government would not act against such a transfer or negatively respond to the UNHCR’s potential involvement.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\02\story_2-12-2010_pg7_19
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US concerned over army’s human rights abuses in Swat
Dec 2, 2010
LAHORE: The military is the most powerful institution in Pakistan. Its cooperation is essential for the US war on militancy, especially in Afghanistan, where Western forces are battling an Afghan Taliban insurgency.
A September 10, 2009 cable called “US concerned about massive human rights abuses by the Pakistan Army” sent by ambassador Anne Patterson said, “The crux of the problem appears to centre on the treatment of terrorists detained in battlefield operations and have focussed on extra-judicial killing of some detainees.”
The cables also reveal that the American embassy had received credible reports of extra-judicial killings of prisoners by the Pakistan Army more than a year before the Obama administration publicly acknowledged the problem and before a video that is said to show such killings surfaced on the Internet.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\02\story_2-12-2010_pg7_25
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WikiLeaks bombs rock Islamabad
By Baqir Sajjad Syed
Dec 2, 2010
ISLAMABAD: There has always been widespread dismay in Pakistan about unabashed US interference in the country’s internal matters. But the latest cache of American embassy cables leaked by WikiLeaks has laid bare the extent of the interference and involvement.
But more shocking are revelations about how much leverage the Americans were being given by the country’s civilian and military leadership to micro-manage domestic politics.
The global concern about the safety of the country’s nuclear arsenal, the presence of US special forces and elite counter-terrorism teams (courtesy Bob Woodward) were all old stuff for many here, but what definitely interests all are the views that various leaders espoused about each other and never shied away from sharing them with American diplomats.
The power wielded by the US is at its full display in the leaked cables that used less than diplomatic language to describe what was taking place in Islamabad’s echelons of power.
“We should help the Zardari/Gilani government complete its full five-year term in office” as it best served US interests, says one of the leaked communiques.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2010/12/02/wikileaks-bombs-rock-islamabad-3.html
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WikiLeaks shows US-Pak relationship based on deceit, double-talk
Chidanand Rajghatta
Dec 2, 2010
WASHINGTON: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari fears he will be bumped off by the country's military, which continues to call the shots behind the civilian facade. Mealy-mouthed Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani supports US Drone strikes in private but says he will oppose it in public. Washington worries that no amount of aid will wean Pakistan away from using terrorism as a state policy to overcome its structural weakness which it is unwilling to address. Islamabad declined an offer by India to talk about its work in Afghanistan despite complaining to the world about New Delhi's role. All it took was one phone call from Washington to ensure Pakistan did not oppose the US-India nuclear deal at a crucial stage.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/WikiLeaks-shows-US-Pak-relationship-based-on-deceit-double-talk/articleshow/7024094.cms#ixzz16viN0OxF
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Kayani mulled toppling Zardari: Wiki cable
Chidanand Rajghatta
Dec 2, 2010
WASHINGTON: Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari fears he will be bumped off by the country's military, which continues to call the shots behind the civilian facade. Mealy-mouthed Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani supports US drone strikes in private but says he will oppose it in public. Washington worries that no amount of aid will wean Pakistan away from using terrorism as a state policy to overcome its structural weakness which it is unwilling to address. Islamabad declined an offer by India to talk about its work in Afghanistan despite complaining to the world about New Delhi's role. All it took was one phone call from the Washington to ensure Pakistan did not oppose the US-India nuclear deal at a crucial stage.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Kayani-mulled-toppling-Zardari-Wiki-cable-/articleshow/7026469.cms#ixzz16viTIlDs
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Pakistan dismisses WikiLeaks nuclear fears
Omer Farooq Khan
Dec 2, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected the fears expressed in the American and British diplomatic cables, released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, that its nuclear material could fall into the hands of terrorists.
The leaked documents have made public some startling revelations about the war ravaged country and its political and diplomatic stakeholders. The government has strongly reacted mainly to the disclosures pertaining to the country's nuclear programme, while for a section of media the details of what the Saudi King Abdullah really thought about President Asif Ali Zardari, is equally important topic.
"The fears of US and UK are totally misplaced and doubtless fall in the realm of condescension," foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told media on Wednesday.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-dismisses-WikiLeaks-nuclear-fears/articleshow/7024612.cms#ixzz16vifIxhz
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Assange is being persecuted in Sweden: Lawyer
Dec 2, 2010
LONDON: The lawyer for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange charged today that his client is being persecuted by Swedish authorities whose accusations of sex crimes have prompted an Interpol alert for his arrest.
Swedish officials say they issued the international alert because the 39-year-old Australian has not made himself available for a meeting with prosecutors. Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens, said that Swedish officials have turned down repeated offers to speak to Assange.
Assange's secret-spilling group has leaked a series of confidential US intelligence and diplomatic reports this year, including the disclosure earlier this week of hundreds of classified State Department cables.
US officials have reacted with outrage, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton accusing WikiLeaks of acting illegally and promising "aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information."
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Assange-is-being-persecuted-in-Sweden-Lawyer/articleshow/7025888.cms#ixzz16vioKCTK
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Amnesty urges US probe deadly Yemen strike after cable leaks
Dec 2, 2010
DUBAI: Amnesty International called today for Washington to probe a missile strike in Yemen that killed dozens of people after a leaked diplomatic cable showed it was the work of the US military.
The US cable published by WikiLeaks "has corroborated images released earlier this year by Amnesty international showing the US military carried out a missile strike in south Yemen in December 2009 that killed dozens of local residents," the London-based rights group said.
In the document, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh admitted lying to his own people by pretending that US military strikes against Al-Qaeda were carried out by Yemen's own military.
"We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours," he said in January talks with General David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the Middle East, according to the cable published by whistleblower WikiLeaks.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Amnesty-urges-US-probe-deadly-Yemen-strike-after-cable-leaks/articleshow/7025843.cms#ixzz16vj0og7Z
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WikiLeaks: UK feared India would hit PoK after 26/11
Dec 2, 2010
LONDON: British diplomats feared that India would be compelled to respond "with force" to Mumbai attacks by launching air strikes against militant training camps in PoK, a prediction dismissed as an "over-reaction" by their US counterparts, according to classified American embassy cables released by WikiLeaks.
British officials had evidence that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) "was planning more attacks" and speculated that Indians "will feel the need to respond with force rather than diplomacy," the Guardian reported, citing the leaked documents.
The then foreign secretary, David Miliband, struggled to get through to his furious Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee in the aftermath of the attacks, the report said.
"The call took place only after many delays on the GoI's (Government of India's) part," a cable noted.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/WikiLeaks-UK-feared-India-would-hit-PoK-after-26/11/articleshow/7022891.cms#ixzz16vk4rG2E
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‘Mumbai attacks closed doors for talks on Kashmir’
December 02, 2010
The United States may be periodically trying to nudge India to resume its dialogue process with Pakistan, but its own envoy in Islamabad came out with an assessment that the Mumbai attacks had closed the doors on Kashmir discussions.
“Although the conventional wisdom says that Mumbai closed the door on Kashmir discussions, there is no doubt that Pakistan believes tackling the Kashmir issue remains the key to regional security,” Ambassador Anne Patterson wrote in a cable in February last year.
Patterson’s cable that is among the new batch of documents leaked by WikiLeaks was meant for Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke ahead of his first visit to Islamabad in his new capacity. Holbrooke also visited New Delhi at the time.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/300627/%E2%80%98Mumbai-attacks-closed-doors-for-talks-on-Kashmir%E2%80%99.html
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‘Terrorists may get nuke material from Pak’
Dec 2, 2010
THE US and the UK were increasingly alarmed over the possibility that the al-Qaeda or its associates might get enough nuclear material from Pakistan’s nuclear facilities to make a crude atom bomb, leaked US diplomatic cables have revealed.
The latest batch of classified US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks also revealed growing concern among American and British diplomats over Pakistan building up its atomic weapons arsenal despite economic hardships and political instability.
US and British diplomats are worried the al-Qaeda or its allies might try to get hold of nuclear material for an atom bomb by attacking a nuclear facility, by staging ambush of nuclear transports or by infiltrating the country’s nuclear installations.
Former US ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson, in a cable to the state department Full report at: Mail Today
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Gadkari invites ‘ entire Nagpur’ to son’s wedding feast
Dec 2, 2010
IT IS said to be the biggest wedding Nagpur has ever seen with the whole town being ‘ invited’ to the reception. On Thursday, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s son Nikhil would marry Rutuja Phatak and while the wedding is said to be only open to close family members, the reception is said to be a grand affair with around two lakh people expected to attend.
While Nikhil ( 24) is an MBA and heads the Purthi group of industries that is mainly into power projects and sugar mills, Rutuja ( 22) is a Sanskrit student pursuing her MA. The marriage is an arranged one with the girl’s family being said to be middle- class.
The VIP guest list is said to be too long — BJP leaders like L. K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and others have confirmed that they would be coming to give blessings to the bride and groom. The whole Sangh Parivar, like top RSS and VHP leaders will be there. Besides, nine BJP chief ministers have been invited.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Pak told US Headley ‘hearsay’ won’t work in court, denied FBI access to 26/11 suspect
Dec 2, 2010
New Delhi : In what could have a major impact on India’s efforts to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack to justice, Islamabad had informed the US that statements made by David Coleman Headley would not be admissible in Pakistani courts and would be treated as ‘hearsay’, latest documents released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks reveal. The documents also show that Islamabad had denied the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) access to a co-conspirator in the Mumbai attack case, Major Abdurrehman Syed, who is in the custody of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The leaked documents reveal that as late as February this year, the Pakistani Ministry of Interior had informed the FBI that the government would not use any evidence related to the Headley investigation in its case against the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-told-us-headley-hearsay-wont-work-in-court
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/indonesia-islamic-laws-abusive-,/d/3753