Indonesia's Jihad Factories: Uncovering Nurseries of Terrorism's Next Generation
New Age Islam News Bureau
7 Oct 2012
Southeast Asia
• Indonesia's Jihad Factories: Uncovering Nurseries of Terrorism's Next Generation
• Indonesia: Ramle mourns loss of murdered Muslim leader
• Agreement to end Muslim rebellion: Philippine president
• Bali Bomber: ‘I Want to Offer my Apologies’ to Australians
• Students in Malaysia ‘Brainwashed’ into quitting studies by a Buddhist monk
• Shahrizat joins bandwagon, slams Anwar for practising nepotism
India
• Andhra Boy Chained and Tortured For Not Studying Arabic
• Massive fundraising campaign in west by Sikh separatists to revive terrorism in Punjab
• US barbs may block India’s pay path for Iran oil
• 26/11: Chargesheet to name Abu Jundal as key conspirator
• They must have thought the old man will die: Brar
• Punjab CM Urged Def. Min. to grant amnesty to Sepoy in Oman
• Punjab: MLA a Muslim, not Sikh: Guru to HC
• 'Name ministers who asked not to transfer power to Panchayat': Soz
• German Bakery blast: Auto driver identifies Baig
Arab World
• Iraq Executes 11 despite International Outcry
• Egyptian police drop blasphemy charges against Coptic teacher
• Saudi King calls for greater cooperation between Arabs, South America
• Qatar urges Syrian rebels not to kill Iranian prisoners
• Global refining industry shifts to Middle East
• Brotherhood responds to criticism over women rights article in Egypt constitution
• 50 dead as Syrian rebels take border town
• Rebels Seize Syrian Army Outpost at Turkey Border: Witnesses
• Judges in Morocco Lead Sit-In Calling for Autonomous Judiciary
• Citing U.S. Fears, Arab Allies Limit Syrian Rebel Aid
• Kuwait Emir al-Sabah dissolves parliament
• Five Bahraini cops injured in clashes with protesters
• Syria rebels capture village near Turkey border: NGO
• Saudi man dropped from UN Al-Qaeda Sanctions List
• Egypt's Salafist Nour Party resolves leadership crisis
• Morsi commemorates Egypt's 1973 victory with Cairo stadium speech
• Morsi promises review of all Bedouin court cases under Mubarak
• Bahrain Shiite activist Rajab on hunger strike
• Gulf group urges release of Saudi liberal activist
• Jordan's King Abdullah sets up constitutional court
• Dubai-based designer goes global with spikes and fauna
South Asia
• Afghan cleric offers cash for producer's death
• 37 militants killed in Afghanistan
• Muslim-Buddhist clashes in Myanmar led to more than 75,000 displaced people: UNHCR
• 130 Sri Lankan maids’ food poisoned in Jordan
• Taliban mock US as Afghan war enters 12th year
• Karzai should be grateful to US troops, says Panetta
• Learning Afghan culture can save lives of NATOsoldiers
• Two US troops die in Afghanistan
• Karzai to visit Pakistan for talks on strategic deal
• Attack impossible sans local hand: Bangladesh NHRC
Pakistan
• Pakistan Blocks Anti-US Protest in Tribal Region
• Braving threats, Pakistanis rally against drone attacks
• US issues terror alert for its citizens in Islamabad
• 5 Lashkar men killed in Bara clash
• Interior Minister seeks Neuro-scientist’s repatriation on humanitarian grounds
• AQ Khan meets Talal Bugti, agrees to form grand alliance
• Behind closed doors: What has the govt been writing in the Swiss letter?
• Anti-Islam film: Malik claims credit for producer’s arrest
• PBC to establish satellite radio station, says PBC Director General
• Pakistani lawmakers' citizenship under scrutiny
• Gilani leaves Pak President's house
Europe
• France Boosts Security at Synagogues
• The last Briton in Guantanamo: MI6 watched as U.S. soldiers repeatedly smashed my head
• UN chief says sanctions harm Iranians
• Nine released on bail in Gen. Brar attack case
Mideast Asia
• Israel shoots down unidentified drone
• Iranian police arrests 150 youngsters at dance party
• 'Iran withdraws elite Qods Force brigade from Syria'
• Turkey strikes back at Syria after Erdogan warning
• Tribal leader urges Yemeni factions to talk
• Turkey and Syria: Why neither side wants war
• Yemen 'foils attack' at air base used by US
• Iran Denies Plan to End Nuclear Standoff
• Israeli Jets Stage Mock Raids over South Lebanon
• Iran imposes currency cap to combat rial’s plunge
North America
• US winks again at Pakistani terror tactics
• Americans Join Pakistan Convoy to Protest Drone Strikes
• Panetta: Syria clash with Turkey may escalate
• US threatens more sanctions over Iran nuclear drive
• Abu Hamza makes first court appearance in U.S.
• Bin Laden movie to premiere in US two days before election
• US defence chief blasts Karzai over troop deaths
Africa
• Political Islam and the Fate of Two Libyan Brothers
• Niger seeks joint southern border patrols to bar Boko Haram
• Human rights abuses persist in new Tunisia, investigators say
• African Union, Somali troops capture Islamist-held town
• Somali President Names Political Newcomer as PM, Urges Unity
• Sudan Military Plane Crashes Near Capital, Kills 13
• Tunisia Islamists march in Sidi Bouzid to back ruling party
• UN envoy to Somalia praises 'quantum leap' in security situation
• Villagers of a village, inhabited mainly by Muslims feared dead as gunmen open fire in Nigeria
• Tanzania Asks for Mediation Over Lake Malawi Dispute
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Southeast Asia
Indonesia's jihad factories: uncovering nurseries of terrorism's next generation
October 7, 2012
Michael Bachelard
Despite a highly professional anti-terrorism police unit, Indonesia is still home to some dangerous nurseries of radicalism.
In March, a group of Islamist radicals were scoping out new targets in Bali, hoping to enact their own murderous 10th anniversary of the 2002 attacks.
They had surveyed the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Kuta and the Australian-run La Vida Loca bar in Seminyak. They had chosen a suicide bomber and planned to fund the operation by robbing a money changer and a gold store.
Bashir's cultivated look of a gentle old scholar has made his loony rhetoric surprisingly resilient.
What is not widely known is that three of the five plotters for ''Bali III'' - including their leader, Hilman, aka Surya - were low-level drug pushers who were radicalised in Kerobokan prison when they were locked up with the original Bali bombers in the early 2000s.
According to research by the International Crisis Group, Hilman - who was serving a seven-year sentence for marijuana possession - was the mosque functionary who came under the influence of the Bali bomber Imam Samudra. On leaving prison, he became a full-time jihadist. Another plotter shared a cell with Amrozi.
The radicalisation of their cellmates was the Bali bombers' slow-burn revenge. If an attack had overshadowed this week's 10th anniversary commemoration, they would have their last, posthumous, laugh over their jailers. (Samudra and Amrozi were executed in 2008.)
Indonesia's prisons are a breeding ground for terrorists and so are some of the Islamic boarding schools. But, despite the ever-present threat of terrorism, the Indonesian state shows little interest in tackling the issue.
After the authoritarian and secular regime of Suharto fell in 1998, many groups that were previously repressed thrived under ''Reformasi'', Indonesia's flowering of freedom. Among them were those groups with a radical religious agenda who wanted to replace the state of Indonesia with a caliphate under Islamist law.
Until the Bali bombing, whose death toll of 202 woke it from its torpor, the newly democratic Indonesia knew little or nothing of the growing number of deadly men in its midst.
Ten years on, Indonesian law enforcement, spearheaded by Detachment 88, the anti-terrorism police, has had great success cracking down on religiously inspired radicalism. On his recent visit to Indonesia, the Australian Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, lavished praise, saying: ''There is no country in the world that is more successful in arresting and prosecuting terrorists [than Indonesia is].''
Since the first Bali attack, Indonesia has arrested 700 people for terrorism offences and prosecuted 500.
For every 10 prosecuted, one suspected terrorist - including some of Asia's most dangerous men - has been killed by police on the streets.
That success story, though, contains the frightening truth that, in 10 years, Indonesia has produced 500 people with a proven link to terrorism and many more who have so far gone unnoticed.
Every few months a new plot, with a new set of plotters, is uncovered. Some, such as a recent group calling itself ''al-Qaeda Indonesia'', have progressed far enough to start making bombs - albeit ones that blew up by accident in the kitchen. Many now believe that law enforcement alone is not enough. They say the country's jihad factories, which still pump out recruits, must be shut down and the radicals de-radicalised.
The effort so far, though, has been piecemeal and anaemic, marred by poor funding, little follow-through and an apparent lack of political will.
In Indonesian prisons, extremist preachers, terrorists and would-be jihadists are locked up with common criminals. Low-level terrorists - youngsters or those who have dabbled around the edges of a radical group - are housed with hardened jihadis, persuasive men with a seductive story to tell.
The most infamous of these men, Abu Bakar Bashir, is serving a 15-year sentence for helping set up a paramilitary training camp in Aceh in 2010. But inside, he is still surrounded by acolytes and young prisoners, and boasts in a written interview with The Sun-Herald that he is ''busy spreading the word of Allah to the people''.
His words remain unrepentantly full of violent jihad - ideas of noble martyrdom and the overthrow of the state of Indonesia so ''that people's life may be managed by Allah's law''. Bashir refers repeatedly to ''evil Indonesia'' and offers up a contradictory mish-mash of arguments to explain and justify the Bali bombs.
First, he asserts that the massive bombs were set by three individuals, ''Mukhlas and his two friends''. He calls them ''mujahideen [holy warriors] who actively defended Islam'' and were ''slaughtered by the Jews, the US and their allies''.
In the very next paragraph, he claims the bombs were part of a conspiracy, a ''micro-nuclear device'' planted by the US to discredit Islam. ''So it was the US who essentially killed tens of Australians, not the three mujahideen,'' he writes.
''God willing, Islam will win due to Allah's help of jihad,'' he writes, before exhorting Australian journalists to ''convert to Islam so you will be saved''.
Ask most ordinary Indonesians about Bashir and his ilk and they shake their heads and pronounce him ''gila''(crazy). But his carefully cultivated look of a gentle old scholar has made his loony rhetoric surprisingly resilient, despite the patent failure of the populace of Indonesia to rise up in support of holy war after the Bali bombings.
Jemaah Islamiyah, Bashir's former terrorism vehicle, is now mistrusted in the radical community because a few of its high-profile members - notably Bali bomber Ali Imron and former senior member Nasir Abbas - ''turned'' and offered information to police. But a whole slew of new followers have since emerged. Bashir's new radical group, Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid, or JAT, has been involved in many of the more recent plots which police have uncovered.
As disturbing is the fact that the boarding school Bashir co-founded, and where his son (and leader of JAT) Abdul Rahim is a teacher, is still pumping out fresh-faced ''martyrs''. Bali bomber Idris, an old boy of Ngruki, said of his alma mater recently: ''That is where jihad was taught.'' But suggest that al-Mukmin school in Ngruki, a suburb of Solo, might be closed down and Indonesians simply laugh.
All schools look something alike, and, apart from the enormous mosque now under construction and the separate sections for boys and girls, al-Mukmin is no exception. The classrooms have whiteboards and teachers at the front, and rowdy students in rows. In science the boys are learning about ''mikroba'' - microbes. Graffiti and motivational posters adorn the walls.
But in the girls' section, along with exhortations to pious (veiled) womanhood, is a noticeboard. Pinned to it is a graphic photograph of a dead man, blood fanning out from the back of his head. The man is Farhan, a young jihadist shot dead by anti-terrorist police on a Solo street two weeks before our visit.
Farhan was an alumnus of the Ngruki school and the pictures and two separate stories describing his death were downloaded from radical Islamist websites, printed out and pinned up, presumably for their educational value. Depending on how it was spoken about, the story might have been placed there in mourning or as an exhortation to righteous fury.
Asked about it, a young English and Arabic teacher, Abu Amar, airily says that the school teaches current events, just like any other. But this is not just any event. And there were no other posters on that board.
Rohim is a senior teacher at the Ngruki school his father founded. He defends the teaching of jihad saying: ''More than 60 verses of the teaching of jihad are in the Koran. Should we delete those verses?''
Not all the verses are about violence or war. Some are about the struggle to be a good Muslim; others about the desirability of an Islamist state. But alumni such as Idris recall a focus, particularly in extracurricular activities, on the warlike verses. Rohim bristles at any suggestion that this school is unusual or that its curriculum is dangerous.
''Yes, some alumni of Ngruki are involved [in holy war], but you cannot put the blame on the school. It's so unfair. It's so irresponsible. It's a ridiculous way of thinking,'' Rohim says angrily. ''For example, in your own country, if there's a thief or a rapist, would you put the blame on their school?''
However, not just one, but many terrorists have been to Ngruki, including some of the linchpins of the Bali bombings - Mukhlas, Idris, Mubarok. In a recent series of terrorism raids in Indonesia, a number of the jihadis arrested or killed were also Ngruki alumni. Rohim says when such cases come to light, the current students are taught that ''it's such a wrong action''.
But his words are ambivalent at best. He refuses to call the Bali bombers terrorists, saying they were, at worst, misguided ''mujahid'' (holy warriors). ''Mujahideen can make mistakes. What they did will not reduce their status as mujahideen. They must be judged by what is their intention,'' he says. ''I don't want to even subtly claim that they were terrorists. It's a word used by non-Muslims to corner Islam.''
Asked about the recent crop of alumni involved in terrorist activities, Rohim, like his father, claims a conspiracy - they were turned to terrorism by the police to discredit Islam, he says, even though a police officer was killed in one of their attacks. ''Well, it's a conspiracy. Sometimes they are willing to sacrifice their own friends for the conspiracy … It's a pretty normal thing for an intelligence officer to kill his own friends to cover up their own activities.'' Rohim boasts that the school has been continuously accredited, both by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Education for more than a decade.
Depressingly, he says demand for places grew fast in the wake of the Bali bombing and the school is still expanding. Posters around the campus show plans for new dormitories in new locations.
Once radicals graduate from school or prison, the next stage is to be invited to join a training camp or a plot. After the recent spate of arrests, there was a push for the government to establish a deradicalisation program. The Vice President, Boediono, has ordered an anti-terrorist plan to be in place by next year, and says that the fight against radical ideas had been too sporadic. ''This de-radicalisation blueprint will be comprehensive and will really serve the purpose,'' Boediono says.
However, the director of the de-radicalisation program at the National Agency for Counter Terrorism, Irfan Idris, says the entire agency only has a budget of $9.5 million, of which only a part is set aside for the ''soft approach'' of deradicalisation (as distinct from hard law enforcement).
An existing program running in Indonesian prisons since 2010 applies three strategies, he says: culture (using traditional Wayang puppet shows); business (trying to establish an economic base for prisoners); and ideology (countering the radical brainwashing). But in the past two years, only 32 prisoners nationwide have completed the program and there has been no attempt to measure its success.
A psychologist working on this program and others, Professor Sarlito Wirawan, says it can take up to three years to convince someone not to act on their radical theology. At this rate, it would take decades to even talk to one year's supply of recruits from the radical boarding schools and the prisons. Asked about the radical pesantren at Ngruki, and Irfan refers me to the Religious Affairs Ministry, which keeps accrediting the school.
There are also several private-sector deradicalisation programs. A journalist and former student at Ngruki, Noor Ismail Huda, says Indonesian authorities ''have been doing extremely well after the milk has been spilled''.
He runs a program of ''disengagement'', which involves having former radicals run cafes. Here they are forced to serve customers of all cultures and religions, and they can also make money, making his program self-sustaining. ''We fight terrorism with doughnuts and coffee,'' he says.
So far, though, he has only three cafes and has helped perhaps a handful of radicals.
Another private program is the Afghan Alumni Forum, where former radicals, the hard-core who trained in Afghanistan, try to use their kudos in the jihadi community to put people on the right path.
It is led by Abu Wildan, a former senior teacher at Ngruki who was asked to join the Bali plot but refused. Abdul Rahman Ayub, Jemaah Islamiyah's former deputy in Australia, is also a key member, as is one-time Bali plotter Maskur Abdul Kadir. It holds forums in suburban function rooms under a banner that reads: ''Indonesia, peace without violence, terrorism and radicalism in the name of religion''.
Psychologist Sarlito works with the forum and claims an 80 per cent success rate.
He says attacking the ideology head on simply did not work because the radical imams still hold such sway. ''I'm not replacing anything. I leave their beliefs, but I say don't do this and this … don't start hurting people,'' he said. ''Then, we bring in the wives, families, and say, 'How about helping each other?' … It's step by step and it takes three years. It's not an easy job.''
As these well-meaning efforts continue, though, schools and prisons keep churning out radicals. Australia has proscribed organisations and passed laws against hate speech. People have been jailed for preaching terrorism. Indonesia has nothing similar.
And, according to Nasir Abbas, the highest-profile reformed member of Jemaah Islamiyah, it will not develop them. ''In Indonesia, it's different. They let you build whatever ideology you want, set up a school, as long as you don't do the crime … This is what people here call reformasi,'' he says. ''We've got freedom of speech and expression. You can't just shut down a school.''
http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesias-jihad-factories-uncovering-nurseries-of-terrorisms-next-generation-20121006-275wh.html#ixzz28c4W6CPu
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Indonesia: Ramle mourns loss of murdered Muslim leader
By BEN HARTMAN
10/07/2012 0
Head of local "Waqf" Muhammed Taji, 80, found with stab wounds in his upper body; police deploy special YASSAM patrol officers.
Mourners filed in and out of the courtyard of Al-Omari Mosque in the Ramle shuk on Saturday, paying their respects to relatives of Muhammad Taji, a local Muslim leader found murdered inside the house of worship a day earlier.
Taji’s son Jamil, 56, greeted the condolence callers on Saturday, and spoke of his father as a community leader who spent his entire adult life volunteering for his community.
“He always tried to help anyone he could; Muslim, Christian, Jewish. We’re very much in shock, not just that someone could do this to a 76-year-old man, but also one who worked so much for the community and was never paid for it,” he said.
As well as his role as head of the local Islamic Wakf since 1975, he also managed a local soccer team, a youth club, and served as the adviser on Arab issues for the municipality of Ramle for many years.
Up until his death Taji remained a trusted adviser of Ramle Mayor Yoel Lavai, who called him “a moderate man who worked to bring different communities together,” adding that his death was a loss for the entire city.
Taji’s prominent role in Ramle public life increased the influence of the Taji family, which has remained one of the smaller Arab families in the city ever since almost the entire clan fled the fighting in 1948 for Jordan.
According to Jamil, only Taji’s father stayed in Israel, the last member of what he said was a very wealthy family that before the War of Independence owned property in Ramle and what is today Ness Tziona and Rishon Lezion.
Though they were part of the pre-1948 Palestinian Arab community in Ramle, Jamil said his father and the rest of the family never had any problems with the communities of Beduin who settled in Ramle in the following decades, nor with the families of West Bank mashtapim (collaborators) relocated to Ramle in recent years.
When asked if his father had any enemies in the city, he shrugged and said “when you work in a public position there’s always people who will be mad at you or disapprove of you. The Arabs in Ramle don’t really give each other much credit.”
In his position as the head of the Wakf, Jamil said his father was responsible for collecting rent and brokering real estate deals in the Ramle shuk, most of which he said is owned by the Wakf, which also has other large land holdings in the city.
Jamil said his father would collect a symbolic rental fee for the shuk properties, and would collect a commission on land sales.
As Jamil spoke, the sounds of prayer drifted out of the mosque as a young boy dashed around pouring black coffee for visitors.
Also known as the Great Mosque of Ramle, the building was originally founded as a cathedral dedicated to John the Baptist by crusaders in the 12th century.
When Ramle was later conquered by the Mamalukes in 1260, they converted the building into a mosque, adding a platform for the imam and a tall minaret, which today still towers over the Ramle shuk.
In the courtyard of the mosque is a stone dome believed to house the tomb of Shihab al-Din, a senior officer in the army of Salahdin.
It was in his office inside the mosque where Taji was found murdered Friday morning.
The Israel Police have tasked the special YAMAR investigative unit with the case, and have obtained a sweeping gag order banning the publication of any details of the murder or the investigation.
Jamil pointed out mourners who came to pay their respects from Jerusalem, Taiba, Lod, and elsewhere in Israel – including MK Ahmed Tibi, a cousin of Mohammed Taji.
After rushing to the scene of the murder on Friday, Tibi referred to his late cousin as “a man of dignity who worked day and night for his fellow man, through acts of charity and his stewardship of the Wakf properties.”
Tibi added that “he will always be remembered as a man with a heart of gold, who loved the city of Ramle and the Wakf this is a personal and public loss.”
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=286883
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Agreement to end Muslim rebellion: Philippine president
Oct 7, 2012
MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino announced on Sunday a deal had been reached with Muslim separatist rebels to end a decades-long insurgency that has left more than 150,000 people dead.
"This framework agreement paves the way for a final and enduring peace in Mindanao," Aquino said, referring to the southern third of the Philippines that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front regards as its ancestral homeland.
"It brings all former secessionist groups into the fold. No longer does the Moro Islamic Liberation Front aspire for a separate state."
Aquino said that the agreement paves the way for the creation of a new semi-autonomous Muslim region in parts of Mindanao, which is one of the country's most resource-rich and fertile areas.
However, the national government would retain control over defence and security, as well as foreign and monetary policy.
Aquino said the agreement, achieved after many rounds of peace talks in Malaysia, would have to be ratified by the people of the Philippines through a plebiscite.
Aquino gave no timeframe for when the final peace with the 12,000-strong MILF would be achieved, although his aides had previously said they were aiming for before the president ends his term in mid-2016.
There are roughly four million Muslims in Mindanao, which they see as their ancestral homeland dating back to Islamic sultanates established before Spanish Christians arrived in the 1500s.
The MILF and other Muslim rebel groups have been fighting for independence or autonomy in Mindanao since the early 1970s.
The rebellion has claimed more than 150,000 lives, most in the 1970s when all-out war raged, and left large parts of Mindanao in deep poverty.
The MILF is the biggest and most important rebel group left, after the Moro National Liberation Front signed a peace pact with the government in 1996.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Agreement-to-end-Muslim-rebellion-Philippine-president/articleshow/16708334.cms
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Bali Bomber: ‘I Want to Offer my Apologies’ to Australians
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja
October 07, 2012
If ever he gets out of prison, convicted Bali bomber Ali Imron wants to go to Australia.
“I want to offer my apologies to the victims’ families in their homeland,” he tells The Sunday Times in an interview at his Jakarta detention center.
The 42-year-old was sentenced to life in prison nine years ago, for his role in the October 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
He also wants to tell young militants that violent jihad should be waged only in a war zone or an area where Muslims are being attacked or killed. That would rule out Indonesia.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/bali-bomber-i-want-to-offer-my-apologies-to-australians/548733
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Students in Malaysia ‘Brainwashed’ into quitting studies by a Buddhist monk
October 07, 2012
Petaling Jaya. A group of medical students from the Universiti Sains Malaysia, one of the biggest universities in Malaysia, has allegedly been brainwashed into leaving their studies by a Buddhist monk.
The student Buddhist association from the campus in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, had voiced its concern that around 30 medical students had shown behavioral changes and disinterest in their studies after returning from a trip to Thailand with the monk in August, the Star newspaper cited Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia lay adviser Chong Hung Wang as saying.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/medical-students-in-malaysian-university-brainwashed-into-quitting/548727
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Shahrizat joins bandwagon, slams Anwar for practising nepotism
By Md Izwan
October 07, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has joined the chorus slamming Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for seemingly practising nepotism in the recently announced Pakatan Rakyat (PR) shadow cabinet which lists his wife and daughter as ministers.
The media reports Anwar will be prime minister while his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will be a minister in the prime minister’s office and Nurul Izzah Anwar would be Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Planning.
PR has denied the cabinet list.
“For such a long time after leaving Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN), he was always criticising nepotism,” the Wanita Umno chief was reported saying today by Mingguan Malaysia.
“But since he formed the opposition, all of them practice nepotism.”
Full report at:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/shahrizat-joins-bandwagon-slams-anwar-for-practising-nepotism
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India
Andhra Boy Chained and Tortured For Not Studying Arabic
Oct 7, 2012
MEDAK: Police on Saturday booked the authorities of a madrasa for allegedly beating up a 12-year-old boy and holding him captive for not showing interest in studying Arabic in Andhra Pradesh's Medak district.
Police said the boy had joined Minhajul Uloom Madrassa two years ago. In his complaint, the boy, Mohammad, stated that he was chained and tortured by his teacher Kaleem Ahmed and headmaster Maulana Farhat since the past two weeks. Police said the boy had boils on his feet as he was shackled.
"He was beaten up when he tried to escape from the school twice in the past as he was not interested in studying Arabic," said a relative, adding that on Saturday, Mohammed succeeded in jumping across the compound wall while on his way to the bathroom. "He crossed over into the premises of a judge where he narrated the ordeal," said the relative.
The madrasa management has been booked under section 342 (wrongful restraint) and section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act. "Don't those teachers have children? We sent our child to be educated, not to be chained and tortured," said the boy's grandfather.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Andhra-boy-chained-for-not-studying-Arabic/articleshow/16704337.cms
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Massive fundraising campaign in west by Sikh separatists to revive terrorism in Punjab
Oct 7, 2012
NEW DELHI: An extensive fundraising campaign is being undertaken by secessionist Sikh groups in Europe and North America at the instance of Pakistan's ISI to revive terrorism in Punjab.
Sources in security agencies have informed about movement of banned Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) terror groups in western countries with the aim to radicalise Sikh youth by showing them doctored footage of Operation Bluestar and other propaganda materials.
The attack on Lt Gen (retd) KS Brar who led Operation Blue Star and disruption of Indian Independence Day celebrations in London this year too were the results of such activities of anti-India elements, the sources said.
They said overground workers of these terror groups were targeting Sikh youths born and brought up in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Belgium.
Besides BKI and KCF, radical groups like Dal Khalsa and International Sikh Youth Federation were also working to radicalise the youth and made their members, they alleged.
The sources said in the name of fighting the cause of Khalistan, funds are being raised from Sikhs settled there and the next generation youths are being lured into the ideology of the extremist groups.
The most worrying part is whenever any anti-India meeting or protest demonstration is organised like the anniversary of Operation Bluestar on June 6, there have been significant presence of Pakistani origin people who actively participate and share thoughts of Khalistan ideology.
Besides, there are more than 50 social networking groups and over 20 websites which propagate independent Khalistan and openly encouraging revival of the movement.
"These are disturbing developments. We want foreign governments to curb these anti-India elements.
"But unfortunately, due to the liberal policies of these countries, no significant step has been taken so far against these groups," a source said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Massive-fundraising-campaign-in-west-by-Sikh-separatists-to-revive-terrorism-in-Punjab/articleshow/16712775.cms
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US barbs may block India’s pay path for Iran oil
Indrani Bagchi
7October 2012
New Delhi: India’s sole means of dollar payment to Iran for oil may be blocked if a new round of US sanctions is put in place. Diplomatic sources said new sanctions currently on the drafting table could be unleashed after the US presidential election in November.
India currently uses Turkeys Halkbank to route dollar payments to Iran. The new set of sanctions being contemplated would close that route. If these sanctions go through, India’s options would be constrained and New Delhi would be heavily dependent on a continuation of the waiver that it currently enjoys. The US administration gave India a waiver on the Iran sanctions, but this was only for 180 days. Japan is the only country that has been given an extension of the waiver.
India is also allowed to pay around 45% of the payment in rupees, which New Delhi wants to use to invest in projects in Iran. India has stepped on the gas to develop the port following a huge endorsement by Iran and Afghanistan. Be that as it may, fresh sanctions on Iran would make India’s intentions of staying engaged in Iran more difficult.
Reuters quotes US Congressman Robert Menendez as saying he hopes the additional sanctions will become part of an annual defence policy bill that the Senate and House must finalize after the US presidential poll.
Sources also said EU countries might add to their own basket of sanctions against Iran to perhaps put an embargo on the import of natural gas from Tehran. Now, they have only banned import of oil. Platts, the energy analyst think-tank, observed though that besides Greece, there isn’t much gas import from Iran. Iran has the worlds second highest gas reserve.
This week’s crash of the Iranian rial leading to popular protests in Tehran has, ironically, acted as a spur to the next level of sanctions, which sources here say will be much tougher because they would target other sectors of Iranian economy.
But India doesn’t agree with the sanctions programme because it believes they only hurt the people, not the regime.
Times of India
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26/11: Chargesheet to name Abu Jundal as key conspirator
Oct 07 2012
Mumbai : City police would soon file a supplementary charge sheet in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case, describing LeT operative Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal as one of the main conspirators who was briefed about the terror operation four months in advance by his bosses in Pakistan.
In the charge sheet, which is expected to be filed in a fortnight, the investigators would mention that Jundal, who had completed first year Masters of Arts in Hindi (MA-Hindi) course from Beed, was given a task of teaching Hindi to the arrested terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and nine others, a senior crime branch officer said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/2611-chargesheet-to-name-abu-jundal-as-key-conspirator/1013242/
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They must have thought the old man will die: Brar
Smita Nair
Oct 07 2012
Mumbai : We are going back to the Eighties, to Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale’s time... It’s starting all over again,” Lt Gen (retd) K S Brar warns.
With little doubt in his mind that the men who stabbed him in London last week were Khalistani activists, the retired Army officer who led Operation Bluestar says: “The men who attacked me were in their thirties. They were not even born when Operation Bluestar happened, or maybe they were a few months or two years old. It just shows that the second generation is growing on hatred. In Germany, London, Canada, and Punjab there is a pro-Khalistan movement. Instead of promoting development, education, the Punjab government is giving strength to fundamentalism and extremism. What happened in London was just that.”
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/they-must-have-thought-the-old-man-will-die-brar/1013126/
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Punjab CM Urged Def. Min. to grant amnesty to Sepoy in Oman
Oct 06 2012
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, on Friday, urged the Union Defence Minister A K Antony to personally intervene and ask the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to grant Sepoy Jaspal Singh amnesty. Singh - of the Punjab Regiment - was recently traced to Oman 41 years after he was declared ‘Presumed Killed in Action’ during the Indo-Pak war of 1971 at Hussainiwala Border.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/badal-urges-antony-to-grant-amnesty-to-sepoy-in-oman/1012861/
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Punjab: MLA a Muslim, not Sikh: Guru to HC
Oct 06 2012
Chandigarh: Terming Mohammad Sadique’s claim that he is a Sikh and not a Muslim as a ‘camouflage’, former state principal secretary Darbara Singh Guru countered Sadique’s claim in Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday.
Guru has claimed that Sadique is a Muslim and that he has performed all ceremonies at his house as per Muslim rites. Guru claimed that Sadique had buried his wife and married off his daughters as per Muslim rites. He also claimed that Sadique had not undergone a procedure prescribed for converting to Sikhism and that Sadique’s plea of being a Sikh was only to protect his election.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sadique-a-muslim-not-sikh-guru-to-hc/1012859/
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'Name ministers who asked not to transfer power to Panchayat': Soz
Oct 06 2012
Srinagar: JKPCC chief Saifuddin Soz today said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah should name the two Congress ministers who had allegedly asked him not to transfer block level powers to the panchayat members.
"It is in the interest of the government that he (Omar) should name the ministers. He should name them so that we can have a debate within our party as well," Soz told reporters.
The JKPCC chief, who is also the chairman of the National Conference-Congress Coalition Coordination Committee, wrote a letter to Omar last week seeking implementation of 73rd Amendment of the national constitution in Jammu and Kashmir. He also released the letter to the media.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/name-ministers-who-asked-not-to-transfer-power-to-panchayat/1012951/
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German Bakery blast: Auto driver identifies Baig
AADITI JATHAR LAKADE
Oct 07 2012
Pune: Mirza Himayat Inayat Baig, the only accused arrested so far in the German Bakery blast case, was Saturday identified in court by an autorickshaw driver, who claimed to have driven him.
The driver, whose name was not revealed said he drove Baig along with another absconding accused, who was videoed by the bakery’s CCTV and who investigators believe is Yasin Bhatkal alias Ahmed Siddibappa, who allegedly planted the bomb on February 13, 2010.
The driver, who was called as a witness, in the court of Additional Sessions Judge N P Dhote, claimed he was waiting for passengers outside the Pune railway station around 4 pm on February 13, 2010.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/german-bakery-blast-auto-driver-identifies-baig/1013127/
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Arab World
Iraq Executes 11 despite International Outcry
October 07, 2012
BAGHDAD: Iraqi authorities executed 11 more people on Sunday -- 10 Iraqis and one Algerian -- despite widespread international calls for a moratorium on Baghdad's use of the death penalty.
The latest executions bring to at least 113 the number of times Iraq has followed through on death sentences so far this year, according to an AFP tally, already far outpacing 2011 when 68 people were put to death.
Full report at:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-07/190473-10-iraqis-algerian-executed-in-iraq-official.ashx#ixzz28cWqokZX
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Egyptian police drop 'malicious' blasphemy charges against Coptic teacher
The student who had recently accused Christian school teacher Nevine Gad of insulting Prophet Mohamed had actually been absent from school on the day in question
Sherry El-Gergawi
5 Oct 2012
A Coptic teacher who was arrested last week on charges of contempt for religion and insulting Prophet Mohamed has been released, and all charges dropped, her lawyer confirmed to Ahram Online.
The case is one of several recent incidents in which Egypt's Coptic minority found itself under fire.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/54832/Egypt/Politics-/Egyptian-police-drop-malicious-blasphemy-charges-a.aspx
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Saudi King calls for greater cooperation between Arabs, South America
7 October 2012
LIMA, Peru: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah lauded the positive stance of South American countries toward Arab issues, especially the Palestinian cause.
“These stances will have a deep impact on the Palestinian people's effort to obtain their rights and establish their independent state,” King Abdullah said in a speech at the Third Summit of the South American-Arab Countries (ASPA) in Lima. The speech was read out by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar Madani on behalf of the king. Madani led the Saudi delegation to the summit.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/king-calls-greater-cooperation-between-arabs-south-america
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Qatar urges Syrian rebels not to kill Iranian prisoners
October 07, 2012
By Mahmoud Habboush
DUBAI: Qatar, a major supporter of Syrian rebels, urged them on Sunday not to kill Iranians seized two months ago near Damascus, after the captors threatened to start killing their 48 prisoners.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim al-Thani made the appeal following a request from Iran, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to secure a release of the captives.
The Syrian rebel al-Baraa brigade said on Thursday it would start killing the Iranians unless Assad, battling an 18-month-old uprising, freed Syrian opposition detainees and stopped shelling civilian areas.
Full report at:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-07/190461-qatar-urges-syrian-rebels-not-to-kill-iranian-prisoners.ashx#ixzz28cfhRXjl
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Global refining industry shifts to Middle East
Oct 7, 2012
JUBAIL (Saudi Arabia): As high oil prices and improved efficiency force refineries in the US and Europe towards closure, the industry is shifting toward the Middle East and Asia in a move fuelled by a thirst for energy among emerging economies.
China and India in particular are driving the demand, with multiple refineries cropping up in China and the Gulf and Indian energy group Reliance, for example, running two giant refineries capable of processing a total of 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day.
In eastern Saudi Arabia, state oil group Aramco -- the world's largest -- and French counterpart Total are putting the final touches on their Jubail site, which will open next year as one of the world's biggest refineries.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/international-business/Global-refining-industry-shifts-to-Middle-East/articleshow/16707192.cms?
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Brotherhood member responds to criticism over women rights article in Egypt constitution
07 October 2012
Lawyer Sobhi Saleh, Muslim Brotherhood figure and member of the Constituent Assembly in charge of drafting Egypt’s post-revolution constitution, said protests over the article of women rights were exaggerated and insisted the constitution gives women all their rights.
Several Egyptian women rights organizations have for the past few days been staging demonstrations in protest of article 36 of the constitution. According to the controversial article, “men and women are equal, so long as this equality does not violate Islamic laws.”
Women activists found the article manipulative and demanded the removal of the last bit. Adding Islamic laws, they argued, restricts women’s freedoms and is bound to jeopardize any rights they have acquired in the past.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/07/242324.html
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50 dead as Syrian rebels take border town
October 07, 2012
DAMASCUS: Nearly 50 soldiers and rebels were killed on Saturday in clashes near Syria’s northern border, as Turkey hit back against what it said was new mortar fire from inside Syria.
Damascus, for its part, said four Turks were among a convoy of “terrorists” killed in the heart of Aleppo, just hours after UN condemnation of deadly bombings in the country’s commercial capital.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\07\story_7-10-2012_pg7_5
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Rebels Seize Syrian Army Outpost at Turkey Border: Witnesses
October 7, 2012
GUVECCI, Turkey (Reuters) - Syrian rebels have seized a government army outpost near the Turkish border province of Hatay and a rebel flag flew over the building on Sunday, while clashes could be heard in the area of a nearby Syrian village, a Reuters witness and villagers said.
The rebels took control of the three-storey white building, around 1 km (mile) from the border on a hill overlooking the Turkish village of Guvecci on Saturday, and raised the flag of the Free Syrian Army, villagers said.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/10/07/world/middleeast/07reuters-syria-crisis-
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Judges in Morocco Lead Sit-In Calling for Autonomous Judiciary
October 7, 2012
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — About 1,000 Moroccan judges held an unprecedented sit-in Saturday in front of the Supreme Court, calling for greater independence for the judiciary.
The rare demonstration was organized by the Judges’ Club, a group formed in August 2011 to push for judicial reform. The group has been officially banned, but is tolerated.
Morocco’s courts have historically been weak and under the control of the king and his Justice Ministry, which determines judges’ salaries and appointments so that they will often rule as instructed for the sake of their careers.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/world/africa/judges-in-morocco-lead-protests-of-
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Citing U.S. Fears, Arab Allies Limit Syrian Rebel Aid
By ROBERT F. WORTH
October 7, 2012
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — For months, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been funneling money and small arms to Syria’s rebels but have refused to provide heavier weapons, like shoulder-fired missiles, that could allow opposition fighters to bring down government aircraft, take out armored vehicles and turn the war’s tide.
While they have publicly called for arming the rebels, they have held back, officials in both countries said, in part because they have been discouraged by the United States, which fears the heavier weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists.
As a result, the rebels have just enough weapons to maintain a stalemate, the war grinds on and more jihadist militants join the fray every month.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/world/middleeast/citing-us-fears-arab-allies-limit-aid-
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Kuwait Emir al-Sabah dissolves parliament
October 07, 2012
Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has dissolved the country's parliament, paving the way for snap elections, according to state media.
The dissolution and new elections have been a major demand of the Islamist-led opposition.
In June the Constitutional Court annulled February's poll, which saw major gains for the opposition, and dissolved the new parliament.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19861587
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Five Bahraini cops injured in clashes with protesters
7 October 2012
DUBAI: Five Bahraini policemen were injured in clashes with protesters late on Friday at a memorial service in a Manama suburb held for a young demonstrator who died in custody, a government statement said.
Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab, meanwhile, went on hunger strike from Friday, a rights group said, just two days after he was briefly released to attend his mother’s funeral.
The Bahraini government said five policemen were injured and “several rioters” were arrested during protests that turned violent.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/five-bahraini-cops-injured-clashes-protesters
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Syria rebels capture village near Turkey border: NGO
6 Oct 2012
Syria Free Army took control of Khirbat al-Joz, near the village of Jisr al-Shughur after a fierce battle with force loyal to Bashar al-Assad regime
Rebels seized a Syrian village near the Turkish border after hours of fierce fighting on Saturday in which 25 troops and three insurgents were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Rebels took control of Khirbat al-Joz, near the village of Jisr al-Shughur, which lies in northwest Syria about two kilometres (just over a mile) from the border, according to Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/54929/World/Region/Syria-rebels-capture-village-near-Turkey-border-NG.aspx
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Saudi man dropped from UN Al-Qaeda Sanctions List
German UN Ambassador Peter Wittig announced, Friday, Saudi businessman Yasin Abdullah Ezzedine Qadi to be taken off Al-Qaeda sanctions list
6 Oct 2012
The UN Security Council's Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee decided on Friday to remove Saudi businessman Yasin Abdullah Ezzedine Qadi from the UN sanctions list, German UN Ambassador Peter Wittig announced.
"The Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee today agreed to follow the Ombudsperson's recommendation and remove Mr. Qadi's name from the Al Qaeda Sanctions List," Wittig, chairman of the committee, said in a statement.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/54902/World/Region/Saudi-man-dropped-from-UN-AlQaeda-Sanctions-List.aspx
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Egypt's Salafist Nour Party resolves leadership crisis: Spokesperson
Ousted president Emad Abdel-Ghafour of ultraconservative group reinstated, internal elections confirmed Saturday at 10-hour meeting, a week after dramatic split saw Supreme Committee appoint new leader
6 Oct 2012
Emad Abdel-Ghafour was reappointed president of the Salafist Nour Party following ten-hour internal crisis talks which finished in the early hours of Saturday morning, over a week after the former leader was sacked by the party's Supreme Committee.
Party Spokesperson Nader Bakkar, whose own job was on the line after Abdel-Ghafour's faction reactively attempted to sack him Wednesday, confirmed via his Twitter account, 3am Saturday, that the crisis had been resolved during the extended meeting.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/54908/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Salafist-Nour-Party-resolves-leadership-cri.aspx
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Morsi commemorates Egypt's 1973 victory with Cairo stadium speech
President Morsi to speak at 39th annniversary celebrations of 6 October War with Israel, 6pm Saturday
6 Oct 2012
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is expected to give a speech, 6pm Saturday, commemorating 39th anniversary of Egypt's military victory against Israel during the 1973 war.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/54904/Egypt/Politics-/Morsi-
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Morsi promises review of all Bedouin court cases under Mubarak
President Mohamed Morsi has promised that cases where Sinai Bedouins were tried in absentia under the former regime will be reviewed
5 Oct 2012
President Mohamed Morsi has promised to order a review of court rulings given in absentia to some Sinai residents under the rule of former president Hosni Mubarak.
During Morsi's visit to Sinai on Friday, some Bedouins voiced their anger that members of the old regime had sent Sinai Bedouins without fair court proceedings.
Morsi told Bedouins that he has not authorised a single criminal decision against any of them since he has been in power.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/54884/Egypt/Politics-/Morsi-promises-review-of-all-Bedouin-court-cases-u.aspx
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Bahrain Shiite activist Rajab on hunger strike
October 06, 2012
DUBAI: Bahraini Shiite rights activist Nabeel Rajab has gone on hunger strike, a local rights group said Saturday, just two days after he was briefly released from jail to attend his mother's funeral.
Rajab, 48, who is serving a three-year sentence for participating in illegal demonstrations, was allowed out of jail for one day to bury his mother.
After the funeral, Rajab was taken back into custody and barred from attending the three-day condolence gathering where friends and relatives pay their respects.
"In protest against this unjustified punishment, (Rajab) started a full hunger strike (on Friday)," said the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).
Full report at:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-06/190403-bahrain-shiite-activist-
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Gulf group urges release of Saudi liberal activist
A Gulf civil society organsation calls Saudi Arabia for the release of Raef Badawi, a political activist arrested on accusations of setting up a liberal website on the internet
7 Oct 2012
A Gulf civil society organisation called on Sunday for the release of a Saudi activist arrested four months ago in the ultra-conservative kingdom on charges of setting up a liberal website.
"We call for the immediate release of Raef Badawi because the charges against him are unfounded," the secretary general of the Gulf Forum for Civil Societies (GFCS), a body of liberal activists in the region, told AFP.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/54998/World/Region/Gulf-group-urges-release-of-Saudi-liberal-activist.aspx
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Jordan's King Abdullah sets up constitutional court
7 Oct 2012
King Abdullah II of Jordan has as part of his reform initiatives set up a constitutional court comprising nine members, according to a royal decree published on Sunday. The court, the first of its kind in the kingdom, will be the only one authorised to verify that laws comply with the constitution, the decree states.
It is chaired by Taher Hekmat, a legal expert who heads the board of directors of the National Centre for Human Rights. He and other members of the new court were sworn in before the king on Saturday.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/54965/World/Region/Jordans-King-Abdullah-sets-up-constitutional-court.aspx
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Dubai-based designer goes global with spikes and fauna
06 October 2012
Furne One puts on a show by emblazing his ramps with spiked dresses embellished with beads and gems, walks his models in masked faces with extraordinary mouthpieces showing a futuristic view, never failing to give awe to his audience.
“I think it’s just every designer has [his/her] own style,” says the Dubai based designer and owner of brand, Amato Couture.
Having established his name in the unfolding industry of fashion, One still continues to mesmerize fashion enthusiasts with his intricate and sophisticated designs and styles of dresses or what is well-known today as Amato Couture.
Full report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/06/242205.html
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South Asia
Afghan cleric offers cash for producer's death
October 7, 2012
KABUL: An Afghan cleric has offered rewards totalling $400,000 for anyone killing the producer of a US-made anti-Islam film and a French cartoonist who drew caricatures of holy prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
“I have offered $300,000 to anyone who kills the anti-Islam film producer and $100,000 for killing the French cartoonist,” Mir Faroq Husaini, a prominent cleric in the western province of Herat, told AFP Sunday.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/448302/anit-islam-film-afghan-cleric-offers-cash-for-producers-death/
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37 militants killed in Afghanistan
October 07, 2012
Thirty-seven Taliban militants have been killed in fighting with the security forces in Afghanistan, the interior ministry said yesterday.
The deaths occurred during overnight joint operations by the Afghan police and army and Nato-led coalition forces.
The raids were conducted in Kabul, Faryab, Kandahar, Zabul, Wardak and Helmand provinces, Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=252780
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Muslim-Buddhist clashes in Myanmar's Rakhine state led to more than 75,000 displaced people: UNHCR
People continue to flee their homes in Myanmar's Rakhine state, months after sectarian violence, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR)says
Bassem Aly, Saturday 6 Oct 2012
There are currently some 75,0000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state following four months of ethnic violence, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced during a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva published Friday on its website.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/54915/World/International/Longstanding-MuslimBuddhist-clashes-in-Myanmars-Ra.aspx
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130 Sri Lankan maids food poisoned in Jordan
7 October 2012
AMMAN: One hundred and thirty Sri Lankan domestic workers who had taken refuge at their embassy in Jordan have been hospitalized with food poisoning, a security official said.
Col. Farid Al-Sharaa, in a statement, said their condition was “stable” after having fallen ill from food ordered from a restaurant. The women were taken to three hospitals in Amman after receiving first aid, he said.
The women had taken refugee at the Sri Lankan embassy after rows with their employers and were awaiting repatriation or a settlement to return to work.
http://www.arabnews.com/130-sri-lankan-maids-food-poisoned-jordan-0
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Taliban mock US as Afghan war enters 12th year
Oct 07 2012
Kabul : America's longest war entered its 12th year today, with the anniversary marked by a Taliban statement claiming that NATOforces are "fleeing Afghanistan" in "humiliation and disgrace".
The US led the invasion on October 7, 2001 to topple the Taliban government for harbouring al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/taliban-mock-us-as-afghan-war-enters-12th-year/1013267/
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Karzai should be grateful to US troops, says Panetta
October 07, 2012
LIMA: US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has voiced frustration with Afghan President Hamid Karzai preferring to criticise American troops, rather than acknowledging the sacrifices they have made.
Panetta, who arrived in Peru on Friday night to begin a Latin American tour, told reporters aboard the military plane taking him to Lima that Karzai should remember that more than 2,000 Americans had died in Afghanistan.
The angry riposte came after President Karzai said on Thursday that the United States was failing to go after militants based in Pakistan, another charge that Mr Panetta chose to hit back at.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/07/karzai-should-be-grateful-to-us-troops-says-panetta/
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Learning Afghan culture can save lives of NATOsoldiers
By Javid Ahmad
October 07, 2012
WASHINGTON: The uptick in insider or “green-on-blue” attacks by members of Afghan security forces against their US and NATOcounterparts has seriously undermined Nato’s trust in its Afghan partners and is straining the US-Afghan military relationship. Gen John Allen, the commander of US and allied forces in Afghanistan, recently told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that he is “mad as hell” about the attacks, adding, “we’re willing to sacrifice a lot for this campaign. But we’re not willing to be murdered for it.”
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/07/learning-afghan-culture-can-save-lives-of-nato-soldiers/
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Two US troops die in Afghanistan
October 07, 2012
KABUL: Two American troops were killed Saturday by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, an area that has seen heavy fighting in recent months, the US military said.
No other information about the deaths was disclosed, pending notification of family members.
But a US military official said two US special operations forces were killed by small arms fire in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/06/two-us-troops-die-in-afghanistan/
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Karzai to visit Pakistan for talks on strategic deal
By Tahir Khan
October 7, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is scheduled to visit Pakistan in the next two months to hold follow-up talks on a proposed strategic partnership agreement between the two uneasy neighbours, Afghan sources told The Express Tribune.
President Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart had agreed in their meeting in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in late September, to finalise a strategic partnership agreement by 2013 to strengthen bilateral relations.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/448142/uneasy-neighbours-karzai-to-visit-pakistan-for-talks-on-strategic-deal/
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Attack impossible sans local hand: Bangladesh NHRC
October 07, 2012
National Human Rights Commission Chairman Prof Mizanur Rahman on Sunday alleged that the Ramu attack was not possible without the help of local influential quarter.
“The attack on the Buddhists community is not a mere attack on the minority but an attack on the whole Bangladesh,” Mizanur told newsmen at his office in the capital's Moghbazar area.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=41446
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Pakistan
Pakistan Blocks Anti-US Protest in Tribal Region
October 7, 2012
TANK, Pakistan (AP) — The Pakistani military blocked a convoy carrying thousands of Pakistanis and a small contingent of U.S. anti-war activists from entering a lawless tribal region along the border with Afghanistan on Sunday to protest American drone strikes.
The group, led by cricket star turned politician Imran Khan and his political party, was turned back just miles from the border of South Waziristan. After an hour of fruitless negotiations, Khan announced that the caravan would backtrack to the city of Tank, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) away. There, he delivered a speech to the crowd of about 10,000.
Khan has harshly criticized the Pakistani government's cooperation with Washington in the fight against Islamist militants. He has been especially outspoken against U.S. drone strikes targeting militants and has argued that the country's alliance with Washington is the main reason Pakistan is facing a homegrown Taliban insurgency. He has suggested before that militant activity in Pakistan's tribal areas will dissipate when the U.S. ends the war across the border in Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/10/07/world/asia/ap-as-pakistan-drone-
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Braving threats, Pakistanis rally against drone attacks
Oct 7, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Thousands of Pakistanis joined by a group of US anti-war activists headed toward Pakistan's militantriddled tribal belt on Saturday to protest US drone strikes — even as a the Pakistani Taliban faction warned that suicide bombers would stop the demonstration.
The motorcade march was led by Imran Khan, an excricket star-turned-populist politician who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Militants have dismissed Khan as a tool of the West despite his condemnations of the drone strikes, which have killed many Islamist insurgent leaders.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Braving-threats-Pakistanis-rally-against-drone-attacks/articleshow/16706499.cms
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US issues terror alert for its citizens in Islamabad
October 07, 2012
ISLAMABAD: The United States on Sunday urged its nationals in Islamabad to avoid going to parts of the city because of possible terror attacks, its embassy said.
The message posted on the US embassy website identified “key government installations in the downtown area of Islamabad known as the Red Zone” and a number of local hotels.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/07/us-issues-terror-alert-for-its-citizens-in-islamabad/
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5 lashkar men killed in Bara clash
October 07, 2012
PESHAWAR: As many as five members of a peace militia were killed and seven others were injured after militants attacked them in the Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Saturday.
Official sources in the political administration said that the militants attacked positions of the peace militia in the Akkakhel area. As many as five volunteers were killed and seven others were injured in the attack. The volunteers retaliated to the attack. The militants fled after the gun battle.
Meanwhile, unidentified miscreants blew up a NATOcontainer through an IED explosion in Jamrud Bazaar. However, no casualties were reported in the explosion.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\07\story_7-10-2012_pg1_4
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Interior Minister seeks neuro-scientist’s repatriation on humanitarian grounds
October 07, 2012
WASHINGTON: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has appealed to the US Administration to repatriate jailed Pakistani neuro-scientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui to her home country on humanitarian grounds.
Malik, who met several top American officials, said that he cited the plight of Aafia’s ailing mother and the adverse impact of years of separation on her children who intensely want to meet her and want her back in the country.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/06/malik-seeks-aafias-repatriation-on-humanitarian-grounds/
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AQ Khan meets Talal Bugti, agrees to form grand alliance
October 7, 2012
ISLAMABAD: Abdul Qadeer Khan, who recently launched his political party Tehreek-e-Tahafuzz Pakistan, has agreed to form a grand political alliance with Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) leader Talal Bugti, reported Express News.
The decision was taken during a meeting between both party leaders in Islamabad on Sunday. During the meeting, the leaders discussed the law and order situation in Balochistan as well as the “Save Pakistan Movement” launched by AQ Khan.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Bugti said that meetings will be held with all political parties of the country for the formation of the grand alliance.
AQ Khan also accepted Bugti’s invitation to hold his first party rally in Balochistan.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/448274/aq-khan-meets-talal-bugti-agrees-to-form-grand-alliance/
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Behind closed doors: What has the govt been writing in the Swiss letter?
By Azam Khan
October 7, 2012
ISLAMABAD: For years, the government and the judiciary have been wrangling over it. Now that the government has agreed to finally draft it, what have they been scribbling in the notorious Swiss letter?
Details of the three drafts of the letter, that the government intends, though reluctantly, to send to Swiss authorities, have yet to be made public, but insiders have revealed some details.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/448195/behind-closed-doors-what-has-the-govt-been-writing-in-the-swiss-letter/
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Anti-Islam film: Malik claims credit for producer’s arrest
By Huma Imtiaz
October 7, 2012
WASHINGTON: In yet another bizarre instant, courtesy Rehman Malik, the interior minister appeared on Saturday to claim credit for the arrest of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the producer of anti-Islam movie “Innocence of Muslims”.
“I don’t claim entire credit, but it is a credit for the Muslim Ummah, the credit goes to my government. In fact, it is our government and the entire world which took up this derogatory documentary film at all international forums,” Malik told a news conference at Pakistan’s Embassy in Washington on Saturday.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/448152/anti-islam-film-malik-claims-credit-for-producers-arrest/
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PBC to establish satellite radio station, says PBC Director General
By AH Nizami
October 7, 2012
MIRPUR: The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) is all set to establish its own satellite station enabling Radio Pakistan to broadcast in 124 countries across the globe.
PBC Director General Murtaza Solangi made the announcement while speaking at a ghazal show and recital of Hazrat Mian Muhamad Buksh’s poetry organised to mark the 10th anniversary of Azad Kashmir Radio Mirpur.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/448124/pbc-to-establish-satellite-radio-station-says-murtaza-solangi/
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Pakistani lawmakers' citizenship under scrutiny
Oct 06 2012
Islamabad : Pakistan's Supreme Court is demanding the nation's lawmakers disclose whether they are also citizens of other countries, a status that could cost them their seats. Already, around a dozen legislators on the federal and provincial levels have been pushed out, and that might be just the beginning.
The developments suggest institutional power struggles are deepening in Pakistan ahead of an election season that some say could produce an even weaker government than the one in charge now. The dispute also adds to political instability in a nation the United States considers a crucial, though unreliable, ally in the battle against Islamist extremists as it winds down the war effort in Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pakistani-lawmakers-citizenship-under-scrutiny/1012939/
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Gilani leaves Pak President's house
Oct 06 2012
Islamabad : Former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who had been residing in the presidency since his ouster in July, has gone back to his hometown Multan, amid reports that he was unhappy with the removal of some top bureaucrats he had appointed during his tenure.
"I remained Prime Minister for about four-and-half years and stayed in the presidency for over three months and I thank President Zardari for that," he said.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gilani-leaves-pak-presidents-house/1012949/
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Europe
France Boosts Security at Synagogues
October 7, 2012
PARIS (AP) — France is boosting security at Jewish religious sites after blanks were fired at a synagogue west of Paris amid renewed concerns about anti-Semitism around the country.
French President Francois Hollande met Sunday with leaders of the country's Jewish community and pledged to fight extremism and anti-Semitism "with the greatest firmness."
He said that authorities "in the coming days, in the coming hours" will increase security at Jewish religious sites so they won't be subject to the kind of attack that targeted a synagogue in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil on Saturday night.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/10/07/world/europe/ap-eu-france-anti-
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The last Briton in Guantanamo: MI6 watched as U.S. soldiers repeatedly smashed my head against a wall
By ROBERT VERKAIK
6 October 2012
Shaker Aamer claims he was systematically abused by U.S. soldiers
He also alleges one British officer watched while a U.S. soldier banged his head against the wall
Scotland Yard is investigating claims that MI6 and MI5 officers who interrogated a British man held at Guantanamo Bay were fully aware he was being brutally tortured by his American jailers.
Shaker Aamer, 46, whose wife and four children live in South London, alleges that during his ten years of captivity at the US naval base, British agents visited him three times.
Mr Aamer’s British lawyers have handed detectives 56 pages of hand-written notes and typed depositions in which he lays out his allegations. The Mail on Sunday has been told that Scotland Yard has formally asked the US government to allow them to question Mr Aamer in Guantanamo.
Full report at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2213961/The-Briton-Guantanamo-MI6-watched-U-
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UN chief says sanctions harm Iranians
Oct 06 2012
United Nations : Iran's general population is feeling the brunt of international sanctions as inflation and unemployment continue to rise and lifesaving medicines are in short supply, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in a report to the U.N. General Assembly released Friday.
Protesters have taken to the streets of Tehran in recent days as the Iranian currency has plummeted, sharply driving up prices. Iran's rial has lost nearly 40 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar in the past week alone.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/un-chief-says-sanctions-harm-iranians/1012878/
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Nine released on bail in Gen. Brar attack case
HASAN SUROOR
October 07, 2012
Nine of the 12 people arrested in connection with the stabbing of Lt. Gen. (retired) K. S. Brar in central London last Sunday have been released on bail until next month as police again appealed to witnesses to come forward with any information that might help their investigations.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nine-released-on-bail-in-gen-brar-attack-case/article3972253.ece
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Mideast Asia
Israel shoots down unidentified drone
October 07, 2012
JERUSALEM: The Israeli air force shot down an unarmed and unidentified drone on Saturday after it entered the country’s airspace from the Mediterranean Sea, an army spokesman reported.
“An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was identified penetrating Israeli airspace this morning, and was intercepted by the IAF at approximately 10:00 am (0800 GMT),” a military spokesman said.
Soldiers are currently searching the area where the drone was downed, in open areas in the northern Negev, to locate and identify it, the spokesman added.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/06/israel-shoots-down-unidentified-drone/
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Iranian police arrests 150 youngsters at dance party
7 October 2012
Iranian police arrested about 150 young girls and boys who took part in a dance party, ISNA reported on Sunday.
Quoting colonel Fereydoon Aghaee, chief commander of Somee-Sara city in Gilan province, ISNA reported that these youngsters were informed and invited via internet to take part in a party at Pamchal Wedding Hall in Somee-Sara.
Aghaee added that most of them were released after written promise to do not repeat the act in future, but six were arrested, including Pamchal Wedding Hall's manager.
Islamic Republic of Iran has banned participating in dance parties for people, calling these sort of acts as anti-Islam movement.
http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2074043.html
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'Iran withdraws elite Qods Force brigade from Syria'
10/07/2012
'The Sunday Times' reports Iran has withdrawn 275 members of elite brigade from Syria in face of domestic economic crisis.
Iran has withdrawn 275 members of its elite Qods Force from Syria in the face of its domestic economic crisis, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
The members belong to a brigade known as Unit 400, which fought alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad against Sunni rebels, the report quoted a western intelligence officer as saying. According to The Times, the unit flew out of Syria last week. The report added that the information was confirmed by a relative of a Unit 400 officer.
Full report at:
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=286906
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Turkey strikes back at Syria after Erdogan warning
October 06, 2012
Turkey returned fire after mortar bombs shot from Syria landed in a field in southern Turkey on Saturday, the day after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned Damascus that Turkey would not shy away from war if provoked.
It was the fourth day of Turkish strikes in retaliation for mortar bombs and shelling by Syrian forces that killed five Turkish civilians further east on Wednesday.
The strikes and counter-strikes are the most serious cross-border violence in Syria's conflict, which began as a democracy uprising but has evolved into a civil war with sectarian overtones.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/Turkey-strikes-back-at-Syria-after-Erdogan-warning/Article1-940874.aspx
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Tribal leader urges Yemeni factions to talk
7 October 2012
SANAA, Yemen: The leader of Yemen’s largest and most powerful tribe has urged Yemen’s factions, including Al-Qaeda, to renounce violence and open a dialogue.
The alternative, he said, is armed conflict.
Sheik Sadeq Al-Ahmar, leader of Hashid tribal confederation, told the first meeting of the alliance of Yemen’s tribes Saturday that the Hawthi Shiite Muslims in the north, the armed secessionists in the south and Al-Qaeda must reject violence and join in the political process, without preconditions.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/tribal-leader-urges-yemeni-factions-talk
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Turkey and Syria: Why neither side wants war
October 07, 2012
Despite Turkey's shelling of Syria, Middle East expert Fawaz Gerges says neither side wants an escalation of a conflict that has the potential to spill over into a regional war that would be extremely difficult to end.
It is important to stress at the outset that we do not know if the shells that landed on Turkish border towns, killing at least five people, were ordered by Bashar al-Assad's government; all we know is the shelling came from the area where Syrian positions had been firing at rebels.
Syria has admitted its shelling killed Turkish civilians, has apologized, and has promised that the incident will not be repeated, Turkey's deputy prime minister says. Syria's information minister has pledged an investigation into how and why the shell came to be fired at Turkey.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=252818
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Yemen 'foils attack' at air base used by US
October 07, 2012
Yemeni officials say they have foiled an attack on a southern air base used by the US military.
Maj Gen Adnan Asbahi told BBC Arabic that guards had found a belt of explosives, rifles and women's clothes in a car parked close to Al Anad base.
An investigation is under way.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19855994
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Iran Denies Plan to End Nuclear Standoff
By THOMAS ERDBRINK
October 7, 2012
TEHRAN — Iranian officials on Saturday dismissed a New York Times report saying Iran had offered a “nine-step plan” for resolving a standoff with the United States and its allies over its disputed nuclear program, calling the report “baseless.”
The Times, quoting unnamed senior Obama administration and European officials, reported on Friday that Iran had quietly proposed a plan to Western countries in July in which it demanded that oil sanctions and other economic moves be lifted.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/world/middleeast/iran-denies-report-of-plan-to-end-
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Israeli Jets Stage Mock Raids Over South Lebanon
October 7, 2012S
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's state news agency says Israeli warplanes have staged mock raids over villages in southern Lebanon, breaking the sound barrier.
The National News Agency says the planes flew low over the market town of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages on Sunday.
The exercise comes a day after the Israeli military shot down a drone that crossed deep into Israel from the Mediterranean Sea, marking the first time in at least six years that a hostile aircraft has penetrated Israeli airspace.
It was not immediately clear who launched the drone, but suspicion quickly fell on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed group is known to have sent drones into Israel on several previous occasions.
The Israeli military declined to comment on reports that its jets flew over southern Lebanon.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/10/07/world/middleeast/ap-ml-mideast-downed-drone.html?ref=middleeast&gwh=3C753BC1F10B9C50E44C2AE2DF642B4F
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Iran imposes currency cap to combat rial’s plunge
October 07, 2012
Iran today sought to reverse a collapse of its currency by imposing a fixed dollar rate, days after protests erupted over the rial’s plunge, according to money changers who were refusing to comply.
The order came as ordinary Iranians struggle with growing economic problems that have caused a big jump in daily prices.
“We received an order from the Money Changers’ Association (under the control of the Central Bank) telling us to buy the dollar at 25,000 rials and sell at 26,000,” one exchange bureau employee said.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-
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North America
US winks again at Pakistani terror tactics
Oct 6, 2012
WASHINGTON: As it has happened in the past, Pakistan has been spared the rod by the United States for its international transgressions, this time for its continued patronage of terrorism in the region, in the interest of what Washington believes is American national security.
The US state department last month waived legal requirements that made its nearly $ 2 billion annual aid to Pakistan contingent on its cooperation in counter-terrorism, ending nuclear proliferation and building democratic institutions, a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report released recently has revealed.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/US-winks-again-at-Pakistani-terror-tactics/articleshow/16701366.cms?
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Americans Join Pakistan Convoy to Protest Drone Strikes
By SALMAN MASOOD
October 7, 2012
CHASHMA, Pakistan — Hundreds of political activists, led by the opposition politician Imran Khan and accompanied by 32 American peace activists, departed Pakistan’s capital on Saturday in a convoy headed toward the country’s tribal regions to protest American drone strikes.
Mr. Khan’s political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, calls the motorcade a “peace march” to demand an end to American drone strikes, which he says kill innocent civilians and breed militancy.
The convoy’s destination is Kotkai, a town in the South Waziristan tribal region, which is the hometown of Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and is currently under the control of the Pakistani military.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/world/asia/americans-join-pakistan-convoy-to-
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Panetta: Syria clash with Turkey may escalate
7 October 2012
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay: The continued exchange of artillery fire between Syria and Turkey raises additional concerns that the conflict may escalate and spread to neighboring countries, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Saturday.
Panetta said the US is using its diplomatic channels to relay worries about the fighting in the hopes that it will not broaden.
His comments came on the heels of warnings from Turkey’s prime minister that his country is not far from war with Syria.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/panetta-syria-clash-turkey-may-escalate
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US threatens more sanctions over Iran nuclear drive
October 7, 2012
LIMA: Iran must respond to international concerns about its suspect nuclear program, or face additional punitive sanctions, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Saturday.
The West worries Iran is trying to develop an atomic bomb under cover of a civilian nuclear energy program but Tehran insists its intentions are purely peaceful.
“Our hope would be that the most important thing that they could do at this point is to engage seriously with the international community to try to resolve this issue,” Panetta said during a visit to Peru.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/448262/us-threatens-more-sanctions-over-iran-nuclear-drive/
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Abu Hamza makes first court appearance in U.S.
October 07, 2012
Hours after he was extradited from the UK to face terrorism charges and a possible life sentence, one-eyed radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri made his first appearance in a US court, which ordered that he be held under detention till his formal arraignment on October 9.
54-year-old Egyptian-born Hamza, who faces charges like involvement in hostage-taking and conspiracy to set up an al-Qaeda-style militant training, arrived in New York on Saturday along with two other terror suspects Adel Abdel Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz on a chartered flight.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/abu-hamza-makes-first-court-appearance-in-us/article3974737.ece
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Bin Laden movie to premiere in US two days before election
October 07, 2012
WASHINGTON: A big-name Hollywood fundraiser for Barack Obama is releasing the first feature film about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden two days before the US presidential election.
“SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden” is distributed by Harvey Weinstein, the respected movie mogul who hosted the president at a celebrity-studded fundraising event in New England last month.
In a press release, the National Geographic Channel said it would premiere “SEAL Team Six” on November 4 after its president Howard Owens and Weinstein discussed “the insight the film is sure to evoke in all Americans.” The film — directed by John Stockwell and produced for theatrical release by Nicholas Chartier, who produced the Oscar-winning war film “The Hurt Locker”– will then go onto Netflix movie screening website.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/06/bin-laden-movie-to-premiere-in-us-two-days-before-election/
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US defence chief blasts Karzai over troop deaths
October 07, 2012
LIMA: US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on Friday voiced frustration at Afghan President Hamid Karzai over the latter’s preference to “criticise” American troops, instead of acknowledging the sacrifices they made.
Panetta, who arrived in Peru to begin a Latin American tour, earlier told reporters aboard the military plane taking him to Lima that Karzai should remember that more than 2,000 US troops had died in Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2012/10/06/us-defense-chief-blasts-karzai-over-troop-deaths/
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Africa
Political Islam and the Fate of Two Libyan Brothers
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
October 7, 2012
TRIPOLI, Libya — One brother joined the global jihad against the West under the nom de guerre Abu Yahya al-Libi. He rose to become Al Qaeda’s brightest star and second in command, until an American drone strike killed him in Pakistan four months ago.
The other brother, Abdel Wahab Mohamed Qaid, was the first to become an Islamist militant but is now a moderate member of Libya’s new Parliament.
As the United States weighs responses to the Islamist-led assault on its diplomatic mission in Benghazi that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Mr. Qaid says the two brothers’ diverging paths trace a timely lesson: a parable of the dangers of treating the many different strands of political Islam as a single radical threat.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/world/africa/political-islam-and-the-fate-of-two-
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Niger seeks joint southern border patrols to bar Boko Haram
Oct 7, 2012
(Reuters) - Niger, struggling to keep Islamist movements from spilling in from its north and south, wants to start joint military patrols along its border with Nigeria, the government said.
The West African state has so far managed to avoid a rebellion that split neighboring Mali in two, but is now worried about Islamist fighters from Nigeria's Boko Haram sect to the south.
"Our cooperation must be reinforced by starting joint patrols along the border, which have been planned but delayed," Niger Justice Minister Marou Amadou said on state television late on Saturday after a meeting with Nigerian officials.
Full report at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/07/us-niger-bokoharam-idUSBRE8960A720121007
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Human rights abuses persist in new Tunisia, investigators say
October 06, 2012
By Tarek Amara
TUNIS: Tunisia’s human rights situation may have improved since the overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last year but torture and violent repression persist, international investigators said Friday.
Rights officials from the United Nations and the African Union concluded a visit to the country with a call on the government to act against violators, which include members of the police and hard-line Islamist groups.
Full report at:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-06/190334-human-rights-abuses-
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African Union, Somali troops capture Islamist-held town
October 07, 2012
NAIROBI: African Union troops alongside Somali forces seized the formerly Islamist-held town of Wanla Weyn on Sunday, the latest loss for the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab fighters, commanders said.
Its capture -- reportedly without a fight -- is a key step towards opening up the main highway linking the capital Mogadishu to Baidoa, a major town wrested from the Shebab by Ethiopian troops in February.
The AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which also seized the Balli Doogle airstrip on Sunday, have now advanced over 90 kilometres (55 miles) northwest from Mogadishu since launching an offensive outside the city in May.
Full report at:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2012/Oct-07/190472-african-union-somali-troops-capture-islamist-held-town.ashx#ixzz28cWldo6w
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Somali President Names Political Newcomer as PM, Urges Unity
October 7, 2012
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Saturday named political newcomer Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid as the country's new prime minister, a man diplomats say is untainted by the clan rivalry and feuding that has plagued Somalia for decades.
"I know (Saaid) and have selected him because he is competent," said Mohamud, who along with his prime minister face the daunting task of trying to set up Somalia's first effective central government since the outbreak of civil war in 1991.
"I urge the parliament and the civilians to support him," he said in a statement.
Though both the president and prime minister are new in their jobs, they will be confronted by old problems: acrimonious clan politics, rampant corruption, maritime piracy and a stubborn Islamist insurgency.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/10/06/world/africa/06reuters-somalia-politics.html?ref=africa
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Sudan Military Plane Crashes Near Capital, Kills 13
October 7, 2012
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Sudanese military plane carrying personnel and equipment to the strife-torn Darfur region crashed near the capital Khartoum on Sunday killing 13 people on board, the army said.
The plane's engine stopped working and the pilot was trying to make an emergency landing when he went down about 40km (25 miles) southwest of the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman, state news agency SUNA reported.
The Antonov 12 transport plane was travelling to El Fasher in northern Darfur, military spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid told Reuters.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/10/07/world/africa/07reuters-sudan-
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Tunisia Islamists march in Sidi Bouzid to back ruling party
Members of Tunisia ruling Islamist party marched in the town of Sidi Bouzid, the birth place of the Arab Spring to support Ennahda party, after an anti-government protest demanded the removal of the regional governor
7 Oct 2012
Hundreds of supporters of Tunisia's ruling Islamist party marched on Saturday in the town of Sidi Bouzid, a day after police dispersed anti-government protesters using tear gas, an AFP journalist reported.
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/54944/World/Region/Tunisia-Islamists-march-in-Sidi-Bouzid-to-back-rul.aspx
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UN envoy to Somalia praises 'quantum leap' in security situation
Augustine Mahgia lauded UN-backed African Union forces and Somali troops for combating militant groups plaguing country; promised UN development support at start of Somalia's 'transformation' phase
Bassem Aly
6 Oct 2012
"There is definitely unimaginable change in Somalia," UN Secretary-General Representative for Somalia Augustine Mahgia commented at a Thursday press conference in Kenyan capital Nairobi, adding that the UN's role in the war-torn country had moved "from transition to transformation."
Using phrases such as "turning the corner" and "quantum leap" to describe the end of the transition period, the UN envoy emphasised that the focus for the international organisation was now on "peace-building [and] state-building."
Full report at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/54903/World/International/UN-envoy-to-Somalia-praises-quantum-leap-in-securi.aspx
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Villagers of a village, inhabited mainly by Muslims feared dead as gunmen open fire in Nigeria
7 October 2012
KANO, Nigeria: Unknown gunmen opened fire Saturday on a village in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Yobe, with some residents feared dead, the state police commissioner said.
“A group of unknown gunmen stormed Dogon Kuka village and opened fire on residents. From all indications, they were on a shooting spree. From reports reaching us, some people might have been killed,” Patrick Egbuniwe told AFP.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/villagers-feared-dead-gunmen-open-fire-nigeria-police
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Tunisia police hurt in clashes over rubbish dump
October 07, 2012
More than 50 people, mostly policemen, have been injured in protests over the reopening of a rubbish dump on the Tunisian holiday island of Djerba.
Interior ministry spokesman Khaled Tarrouche said police were pelted with rocks and firebombs in Guellala.
Several police cars were also set alight before the crowd was dispersed with tear gas.
Residents had been promised that the unofficial dump would remain closed, local media said.
Mr Tarrouche said trouble flared when authorities in Guellala decided to reopen the dump until 2013.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19860592
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