Iraqi Forces: ISIL Leaders Confess Receiving Intelligence Support from US
New Age Islam News Bureau
26
Oct 2015
Map showing the epicentre of the 26th October 2015 earthquake. ─AFP
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Arab World
• Iraqi Forces: ISIL Leaders Confess Receiving Intelligence Support from US
• Saudi Court Upholds Death Sentence for Shia Cleric Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr
• Syrian Army Kills over 130 Militants in Southern Parts of Aleppo
• Over 27 FSA Militants Killed, Injured in Army Attack near Syria's Dara'a
• Iraqi Forces Start Missile Production in War on ISIL
• Lebanon arrests, interrogates Saudi prince for carrying drugs
• Syria Has To ‘Eradicate Terrorism’ For Political Deal to End Civil War: Assad
• Syria: Militant Groups' Chain of Command Impaired in Key Provinces
• Syrian Air Raids Kill Militants' Top Commanders in Hama
• Syria: Terrorists Acknowledge Death of Senior Commanders
• Several Nusra Commanders Killed in Syrian Airstrikes in Lattakia Province
• Saudi, Egypt have ‘similar’ stance on Syria
• No election talks, Assad wants to defeat ‘terrorists’
• Saudi Arabia angered by Jeremy Corbyn
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Pakistan
• At Least 228 Dead In Pakistan Quake, Relief Efforts Underway
• Sindh Geo-Tags Half of Its 10,000 Madrasas
• No One Will Be Allowed To Harm Pak-Saudi Ties: Speakers
• Minhaj-ul-Qur'an Celebrates Decades of Giving
• Two PTI men die in clash with PML-N workers in Lahore
• Two Pakistani minors killed in Shakargarh cross-border firing: DCO
• Govt urged to devise strategy on Indian ‘interference’
• Investigators get Jacobabad suicide bomber’s fingerprints
• CTF to be used for raids on terror suspects
• Jacobabad blast case will be referred to military court, Qaim tells Shia leaders
• Awami Muslim League Chief meets Dr Tahirul Qadri in Canada
• Mystery shrouds Saudi cadet’s death
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Mideast
• Netanyahu: Al-Aqsa Surveillance Cameras in ‘Israel’s Interest’
• Two Policemen, Seven Daesh Terrorists Killed In Turkey: Sources
• Washington ‘To Cut Aid’ To Palestinian Authority
• Erdogan: We Won't Let Kurds ‘Seize’ Northern Syria
• Fresh violence after new al-Aqsa measures
• Yemen govt forces make gains in Taiz
• Yemeni Forces Destroy another Saudi Warship
• Israel arrests more than 1,000 Palestinians this month
• Israeli army shoots dead alleged Palestinian attacker in the West Bank
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Africa
• Over 40 Bodies Found Off Coast Of Western Libya
• Six Killed, 35 Injured In Libya Mortar Shelling
• 45 detained in Nigeria over Boko Haram plot
• HRW calls for Tunisia to probe detainee deaths
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Southeast Asia
• Muslims Must Define Islam for Themselves, Says Former Umno Minister
• Sharia Used As Political Gambit in Indonesia: PPIM Survey
• Malaysia to host centre to counter spread of IS ideology, propaganda - Ahmad Zahid
• Malaysia aims to boost Islamic finance with new initiatives in budget
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North America
• Donald Trump Wishes Saddam, Qaddafi Still Ruled
• Lavrov and Kerry discuss Syria, chance of political solution
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South Asia
• Security Forces Rebuff Taliban Attack on Maidan Wardak’s Chak District
• More Than 500 Kg Explosives Seized In Logar
• Magnitude 7.5 earthquake jolts Afghanistan
• Bangladesh Rejects Islamic State Claim of Attack on Shiites
• Two AIHRC employees killed, six wounded in Jalalabad explosion
• Investigators: Jamaat-Shibir planned to kill secular VIPs on November 1
• AL blames BNP-Jamaat for bomb attack on Shia gathering
• NSA to President expects China to encourage neighboring countries for honest actions against terrorism
• More than 100 Afghans arrested in Pakistan’s Balochistan
• Security forces rebuff Taliban attack on Maidan Wardak’s Chak District
• Nine war crimes suspects sued in two districts
• US updates security alert after Huseni Dalan blasts
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Europe
• German Warning: Salafists Are Recruiting Migrants in Asylum Shelters
• Tablighi Jamaat Blocked from Building Britain’s Biggest Mosque
• Tony Blair is right: without the Iraq war there would be no Islamic State
• EU could fall apart over refugee crisis, Slovenia's prime minister warns
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India
• Indian Muslims Call for Protection of Waqf Properties
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Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Arab World
Iraqi Forces: ISIL Leaders Confess Receiving Intelligence Support from US
Oct 25, 2015
"As the ISIL commanders captured in Iraqi popular forces' recent military operations have confessed, the US supports for the terrorist groups are not limited to the dispatch of logistical support," Al-Hosseini told FNA on Sunday.
He reiterated that the US has provided the ISIL with intelligence about the Iraqi forces' positions and targets.
"ISIL commanders trusted the US officials who had assured them that the Iraqi forces would not attack Fallujah because the US had urged the Iraqi government to prevent the popular forces from entering Fallujah and raid Beiji instead; hence the terrorists left Fallujah for Beiji to stay on the alert in there," Al-Hosseini added.
Al-Hosseini had also stated on Wednesday that his forces plan to win back the city of Ramadi only after expelling the American forces from Anbar province.
"Our forces have two operations underway; first seizing Ramadi from ISIL and second keeping away the American forces from Anbar province," al-Hosseini told FNA.
He underlined that preventing the US forces from getting close to Anbar province will expedite operations for winning back the province, especially after the military operations in Salahuddin province that led to the liberation of the city of Beiji.
Iraqi officials have on different occasions blasted the US and its allies for supplying the ISIL in Syria with arms and ammunition under the pretext of fighting the Takfiri terrorist group.
Earlier this month, the Iraqi army and volunteer forces discovered US-made military hardware and ammunition, including anti-armor missiles, in terrorists' positions and trenches captured during the operations in the Fallujah region in Al-Anbar province.
The Iraqi forces found a huge volume of advanced TOW-II missiles from the Takfiri terrorists in al-Karama city of Fallujah.
The missiles were brand new and the ISIL had transferred them to Fallujah to use them against the Iraqi army's armored units.
On October 10, the Iraqi forces discovered US-made military hardware and ammunition from terrorists in Beiji.
"The military hardware and weapons had been airdropped by the US-led warplanes and choppers for the ISIL in the nearby areas of Beiji," military sources told FNA.
In February, an Iraqi provincial official lashed out at the western countries and their regional allies for supporting Takfiri terrorists in Iraq, revealing that the US airplanes still continue to airdrop weapons and foodstuff for the ISIL terrorists.
"The US planes have dropped weapons for the ISIL terrorists in the areas under ISIL control and even in those areas that have been recently liberated from the ISIL control to encourage the terrorists to return to those places," Coordinator of Iraqi popular forces Jafar al-Jaberi told FNA.
He noted that eyewitnesses in Al-Havijeh of Kirkuk province had witnessed the US airplanes dropping several suspicious parcels for ISIL terrorists in the province.
"Two coalition planes were also seen above the town of Al-Khas in Diyala and they carried the Takfiri terrorists to the region that has recently been liberated from the ISIL control," Al-Jaberi said.
Also in February, a senior lawmaker disclosed that Iraq's army has shot down two British planes as they were carrying weapons for the ISIL terrorists in Al-Anbar province.
"The Iraqi Parliament's National Security and Defense Committee has access to the photos of both planes that are British and have crashed while they were carrying weapons for the ISIL," Head of the committee Hakem al-Zameli said.
He said the Iraqi parliament has asked London for explanations in this regard.
The senior Iraqi legislator further unveiled that the government in Baghdad is receiving daily reports from people and security forces in al-Anbar province on numerous flights by the US-led coalition planes that airdrop weapons and supplies for ISIL in terrorist-held areas.
The Iraqi lawmaker further noted the cause of such western aids to the terrorist group, and explained that the US prefers a chaotic situation in Anbar Province which is near the cities of Karbala and Baghdad as it does not want the ISIL crisis to come to an end.
Also in February, a senior Iraqi provincial official lashed out at the western countries and their regional allies for supporting Takfiri terrorists in Iraq, revealing that US and Israeli-made weapons have been discovered from the areas purged of ISIL terrorists.
"We have discovered weapons made in the US, European countries and Israel from the areas liberated from ISIL's control in Al-Baqdadi region," the Al-Ahad news website quoted Head of Al-Anbar Provincial Council Khalaf Tarmouz as saying.
He noted that the weapons made by the European countries and Israel were discovered from the terrorists in the Eastern parts of the city of Ramadi.
Meantime, Head of Iraqi Parliament's National Security and Defense Committee Hakem al-Zameli also disclosed that the anti-ISIL coalition's planes have dropped weapons and foodstuff for the ISIL in Salahuddin, Al-Anbar and Diyala provinces.
In January, al-Zameli underlined that the coalition is the main cause of ISIL's survival in Iraq.
"There are proofs and evidence for the US-led coalition's military aid to ISIL terrorists through air(dropped cargoes)," he told FNA at the time.
He noted that the members of his committee have already proved that the US planes have dropped advanced weaponry, including anti-aircraft weapons, for the ISIL, and that it has set up an investigation committee to probe into the matter.
"The US drops weapons for the ISIL on the excuse of not knowing about the whereabouts of the ISIL positions and it is trying to distort the reality with its allegations.
He noted that the committee had collected the data and the evidence provided by eyewitnesses, including Iraqi army officers and the popular forces, and said, "These documents are given to the investigation committee ... and the necessary measures will be taken to protect the Iraqi airspace."
Also in January, another senior Iraqi legislator reiterated that the US-led coalition is the main cause of ISIL's survival in Iraq.
"The international coalition is only an excuse for protecting the ISIL and helping the terrorist group with equipment and weapons," Jome Divan, who is member of the al-Sadr bloc in the Iraqi parliament, said.
He said the coalition's support for the ISIL is now evident to everyone, and continued, "The coalition has not targeted ISIL's main positions in Iraq."
In Late December, Iraqi Parliamentary Security and Defense Commission MP disclosed that a US plane supplied the ISIL terrorist organization with arms and ammunition in Salahuddin province.
MP Majid al-Gharawi stated that the available information pointed out that US planes are supplying ISIL organization, not only in Salahuddin province, but also other provinces, Iraq TradeLink reported.
He added that the US and the international coalition are "not serious in fighting against the ISIL organization, because they have the technological power to determine the presence of ISIL gunmen and destroy them in one month".
Gharawi added that "the US is trying to expand the time of the war against the ISIL to get guarantees from the Iraqi government to have its bases in Mosul and Anbar provinces."
Salahuddin security commission also disclosed that "unknown planes threw arms and ammunition to the ISIL gunmen Southeast of Tikrit city".
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940803001157
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Saudi Court Upholds Death Sentence for Shia Cleric Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr
October 26, 2015
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal against the death sentence passed this year on cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who had called for pro-democracy demonstrations and whose arrest in 2012 spurred protests in which three died.
Nimr's brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, told Reuters that the sentence had been upheld after hearings that took place without his lawyers or family members being given prior notice. His life now hangs on the possibility of a pardon from King Salman.
Nimr and six other Saudis, including his nephew, Mohammed al-Nimr's son, Ali, have been sentenced to die and then have their bodies publicly displayed in the most severe penalty available to judges in the kingdom.
"We don't want anything to happen to him or to Ali or the other young men," Mohammed al-Nimr said.
Three of those were killed in protests in the two days after Nimr's arrest, as well as one policeman. The deaths were all officially described as happening after exchanges of fire prompted by shooting or petrol bomb attacks on police, but local activists said many occurred during peaceful protests.
Nimr had long been regarded as the most vocal leader in Qatif, willing to publicly criticise the Al Saud ruling family and call directly for elections. But he was careful to avoid calling for violence, analysts say.
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry still accused him of being behind attacks on police alongside a group of other suspects it said were working on behalf of the kingdom's main regional rival Iran.
http://nation.com.pk/international/26-Oct-2015/saudi-court-upholds-death-sentence-for-cleric
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Syrian Army Kills over 130 Militants in Southern Parts of Aleppo
Oct 25, 2015
The sources said that the terrorists were killed in the Army's cleansing operation of the Khanasser-Ithriyah road.
The Army has promised to restore security to the above-mentioned road today or finally on Monday.
A field source said that most of the casualties of the ISIL were in Ithriyah area and over 40 killed bodies of the ISIL were seen in Aqrabiyat East of Hama.
The source further added that over 30 members of al-Nusra Front were killed in clashes with the Syrian army in Ithriyah.
The Syrian army has thus far has gained full control over 22 kilometers of this road.
On Sunday, informed sources said that the joint massive operation of the Syrian Armed Forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah has resulted in the recapture of over 45 square kilometers of territories in the Southern parts of the Northern city of Aleppo.
The sources said that the Syrian Army’s 4th Mechanized Division, in coordination with Hezbollah, Harakat Al-Nujaba from Iraq, the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Aleppo city, and Kataebat Al-Ba’ath (Al-Ba’ath Battalions), have advanced deep into the heart of the Aleppo Southern countryside after spending 10 days combatting the militants from the Free Syrian Army, Harakat Nour Al-Deen Al-Zinki, Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, and Liwaa Suqour Al-Sham.
The success at Al-Amariyah battlefront has allowed the Syrian Armed Forces and Lebanese Resistance increase their territorial gains in Southern Aleppo to over 45 square kilometers in just 10 days; the victories mark the largest series of gains for the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah since their 60 day long Zabadani offensive.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940803001050
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Over 27 FSA Militants Killed, Injured in Army Attack near Syria's Dara'a
Oct 25, 2015
The army said that the Syrian forces received information from their Russian advisors after the latter’s drones captured images of the FSA Southern Brigades traveling South from al-Yadouda towards Dara’a city in order to attack the Syrian Armed Forces’ defensive positions.
The Syrian Army’s 15th Brigade of the 5th Armored Division ambushed the military column of the FSA militants and killed at least 10 members of the Free Syrian Army’s “Southern Brigades’ and wounded 17 others before they attacked the aforementioned militant group's positions at the town of al-Yadouda.
The town of al-Yadouda is strategically located north of Dara’a city. It was captured by the militants at the beginning of their large-scale summer offensive that ended with their failed assault on the provincial capital.
On Saturday, the army targeted positions of al-Nusra Front in Dara'a al-Balad and Dara'a al-Mahatta, inflicting heavy losses on the terrorists.
The Syrian forces also bombed a terrorists' concentration center in the vicinity of the power station in the Northeastern countryside of Dara'a, killing and wounding all the terrorists in the area.
The army also hit al-Nusra position in the area surrounding Makass al-Hajar in the Northwestern countryside of Dara'a, killing several terrorists. A vehicle belonged to al-Nusra terrorists was also destroyed.
Meanwhile, terrorist groups acknowledged the death of 14 of their members in Dara'a.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940803000898
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Iraqi Forces Start Missile Production in War on ISIL
Oct 25, 2015
The Iraqi forces built 120 Zolfaqar missiles with a range of two kilometers to pound ISIL positions in Anbar province. This is the first missile production program after the overthrow of executed dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
"These missiles are two meters long with a twokm range and they will be used for the first time in Khalediya region of Anbar province," Arabic-language news websites quoted Iraqi Police Officer Ahmad Khalaf as saying on Sunday.
On October 1, the Iraqi army and volunteer forces intensified their military operations in the Western al-Anbar province on Wednesday.
The Iraqi forces launched massive offensives on ISIL terrorists in Anbar from the North, South and the West.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940803000635
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Lebanon arrests, interrogates Saudi prince for carrying drugs
Oct 26, 2015
Security forces in Lebanon interrogate a Saudi prince on charges of carrying drugs on his private plane, Lebanese media say.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/26/435017/Lebanon-Saudi-prince-narcotics
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Syria has to ‘eradicate terrorism’ for political deal to end civil war: Assad
Oct 26, 2015
DAMASCUS: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday his country must “eradicate terrorism” to find a political solution to its civil war, as he reportedly expressed a willingness to hold new elections.
Meeting a Russian parliamentary delegation as Moscow stepped up efforts for a political deal, Assad emphasised the need for greater security.
“The eradication of terrorist organisations will lead to the political solution that Syria and Russia seek and that will satisfy the Syrian people and preserve Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying.
The visit by Russian lawmakers came days after Assad’s own surprise trip to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin.
That trip and ramped-up Russian diplomacy have led to speculation that Moscow is pushing for a new political agreement to end the conflict that began with protests against Assad’s rule in March 2011.
But the shape of any such deal remains unclear, with Syria’s opposition firmly against Moscow leading peace efforts while pursuing an air campaign it launched in support of Assad on September 30.
A member of the Russian delegation said on Sunday that Assad had expressed a willingness to hold new parliamentary and presidential elections, but only after Syria is “liberated” from the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group.
“He is ready to conduct elections with the participation of all political forces who want Syria to prosper,” Russian lawmaker Alexander Yushchenko said by phone from Damascus.
Assad would run again “if the people are not against it”, Yushchenko added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that Syria needed to begin preparing for new elections. Syria last held parliamentary elections in May 2012, and is due to hold its next legislative vote in 2016.
But a presidential vote was held in June last year, with Assad re-elected for a seven-year term with 88.7 per cent of the vote.
That election was dismissed as a “farce” by the opposition and its supporters, with voting held only in government-controlled areas and millions of the displaced and refugees unable to vote.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215386/syria-has-to-eradicate-terrorism-for-political-deal-to-end-civil-war-assad
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Syria: Militant Groups' Chain of Command Impaired in Key Provinces
Oct 25, 2015
The Syrian warplanes conducted several airstrikes on militants' positions in Hama province, and killed several top commanders of al-Nusra terrorist group, the official branch of the Al-Qaeda in Syria.
Field sources said Ali al-Turki aka al-Muhajer, one of the most notorious and dangerous leaders of al-Nusra Front, was killed around al-Mansoura village.
The Turkish national was the mastermind of the terrorist attacks committed by Turkish mercenaries in the Northwestern countryside of Hama.
Syrian airstrikes also destroyed the main command post of 'Jund al-Aqsa' terrorist group in al-Latamneh village, 35 km North of Hama city, killing all the terrorists inside.
The "emir" of the group, Mohammad al-Salem, was among the dead terrorists.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army killed Musa’ab al-Ashqar, the leader of a terrorist group, and all his comrades in the vicinity of al-Latamneh.
Also in separate attacks, the Syrian army killed at least 8 terrorists, including a senior field commander and several of his aides, in military operations in Hama province on Sunday.
The army destroyed a hideout of the so-called 'Gathering of al-Ezza Brigades' to the South of al-Latamna town, 35 km to the North of Hama city, killing at least 7 terrorists, including top field commander Ahmed Bilal, and a number of his aides and ranking members, including Abu Suleiman al-Homsi, Ahmed Mansour and Moussa Bilal.
Military experts said that Sunday was the dooms day for terrorists, specially their commanders, in Syria.
A field source said that most of the casualties of the ISIL were in Ithriyah and Aqrabiyat. Over 40 dead bodies of ISIL militants were seen in Aqrabiyat East of Hama.
The source further added that over 30 members of al-Nusra Front were killed in clashes with the Syrian army in Ithriyah.
The Syrian army has thus far has gained full control over 22 kilometers of the road in the region.
Provincial sources said that over 110 members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, including at least five commanders, were killed or wounded in the Syrian warplanes' operations in the Northern parts of the coastal province of Lattakia.
The sources said that the Syrian air force intensified its sorties over terrorist positions, destroying their supply routes and ammunition depots in Salam area and the villages of Bshirfeh, Tirtiah, Ekko and al-Mgheiriyeh.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940803001155
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Syrian Air Raids Kill Militants' Top Commanders in Hama
Oct 25, 2015
The Syrian fighter jets destroyed terrorists' positions and vehicles in the vicinity of Maarkaba village in the Northern countryside of Hama on Saturday, leaving a large group of the terrorists dead.
Ali al-Turki aka al-Muhajer, one of the most notorious and dangerous leaders of al-Nusra Front, was killed at the outskirts of al-Mansoura village, field source said.
The Turkish national was the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks committed by Turkish mercenaries in the Northwestern countryside of Hama.
The Syrian airstrikes also destroyed the main headquarters of "Jund al-Aqsa" terrorist group in al-Latamneh village, 35 km North of Hama city, killing all the terrorists who were inside it.
The "emir" of the group, Mohammad al-Salem, was among the dead terrorists.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army killed Musa’ab al-Ashqar, the leader of a terrorist group, and all his comrades in the vicinity of al-Latamneh.
Reports said on Saturday that Jeish al-Fateh militant group's strongholds in Kafr Zeta in Hama province came under heavy air raids by the Syrian air force, local sources said, adding that the massive aerial bombing has inflicted large casualties on the terrrorists.
Kafr Zeta was the scene of massive airstrikes of the Syrian warplanes, which bombed the militant gathering centers, resulting in destruction of the terrorists' hideouts and military equipment, the sources said.
The sources further added that the militant groups sustained heavy death toll in the air attacks.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940803000570
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Syria: Terrorists Acknowledge Death of Senior Commanders
Oct 25, 2015
The terrorist groups said on Saturday that the leader of the so-called "Thwar al-Sham Brigade", Mohammad al-Khatib, the so-called director of "the Local Council in Tal Hdaiyya village", Fadil Olaiwi, and "the commander in the battalion 1 in Hraitan city", Omar Shamta, were killed in Aleppo.
On Saturday, the army destroyed positions of al-Nusra Front and ISIL terrorists in the vicinity of al-Nayrab Airport, Sharba’a and Rasm al-Ghazal in the countryside of Aleppo.
The army also inflicted heavy losses on al-Nusra terrorists in the neighborhoods of Bani Zaid, Old Aleppo, al-Ramousa and al-Rashidin 4.
Tens of militants were killed or wounded in heavy clashes with the Syrian Army troops near the Air Force Academy on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo, local officials said Saturday.
The sources said that the militant groups suffered heavy casualties in the abovementioned clashes, and their ammunition depot, military equipment and vehicles were destroyed by the army heavy fire on their positions.
Also on Saturday, the Syrian Army and popular forces, in a series of joint operations, pushed back militants from al-Jabboul village in Eastern Aleppo, bringing the number of the villages liberated in the Northern province in the last three days to 17.
The terrorist groups pulled back forces from the al-Jabboul village and its nearby areas after their positions came under heavy attacks of the Syrian army and popular forces.
The militants also suffered heavy casualties in the army troops' attacks.
Earlier Saturday, the army sources said that the Takfiri militant groups positioned in the nearby areas of al-Amara and Tallit al-Mahdia suffered heavy death toll in the Syrian army's offensives and retreated from the battlefield.
The army said that the two abovementioned villages are under the full control of the Syrian troops now.
On Friday, the Syrian Army announced that its troops, backed by Hezbollah fighters and Russian air support, have recaptured two other villages in Southwest Aleppo province.
The army said that the militant groups retreated from al-Huweiz and al-Qarasi after their positions came under attack of the Syrian forces.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940803000375
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Several Nusra Commanders Killed in Syrian Airstrikes in Lattakia Province
Oct 25, 2015
The sources said that the Syrian air force intensified its sorties over terrorist positions, destroying their supply routes and ammunition depots in Salam area and the villages of Bshirfeh, Tirtiah, Ekko and al-Mgheiriyeh.
Sources added that 53 terrorists, mostly foreigners, were killed and 57 others were injured in various areas in Lattakia Northern countryside.
Kamal Sammo, who was leader of the Zou al-Nourain Battalion, and Amer Omar, Khaled Omar, Mudtafa Sallo and Mohammad Khaled, who were all leaders within al-Nusra Front, were killed in the Syrian air attack on the group's positions in Lattakia province.
On Saturday, the Syrian Army announced that its forces have advanced against the militant groups in parts of Lattakia and recapture the strategic Hills of Katef al-Ghader after heavy clashes with the terrorists.
Militant strongholds in the Hills of Katef al-Ghader in Lattakia mountains were stormed by the Syrian army troops, who killed and wounded the militants positioned across the hills and retook full control over the fighting area.
Spokesman for the Syrian Army General Ali Maikhoub said on Friday that at least 300 militants have been killed by the country's soldiers in various battlefronts of the coastal province of Lattakia.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940803000489
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Saudi, Egypt have ‘similar’ stance on Syria
25 October 2015
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubair said on Sunday both Cairo and Riyadh have a “similar” stance on Syria during his visit to Egypt, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.
In a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Jubair reiterated Saudi stance that there is “no place” for embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a future and post-civil war Syria.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said there were “no differences” between Riyadh and Cairo on Syria and emphasized that they both have a “similar” position.
Jubair's statement comes after his comments on Thursday saying that Assad's clinging to power is working as a “magnet” by allowing foreign militants to recruit more fighters, and he must go to rid Syria of ISIS.
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/25/Saudi-FM-Cairo-stance-on-Syria-similar-to-Riyadh-.html
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No election talks, Assad wants to defeat ‘terrorists’
25 October 2015
“The elimination of terrorist groups would lead to a political solution sought by Syria and Russia, President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday during a meeting with a Russian delegation in the capital Damascus, Syrian state media reported.
State news agency SANA’s initial report on the meeting made no mention of a proposal floated by Russia for new presidential and parliamentary elections.
“Eliminating the terrorist organizations will lead to the political solution that we strive for in Syria and Russia,” Assad was quoted as saying.
Assad also expressed his appreciation for Russian air strikes.
His comments came during talks with a Russian parliamentary delegation visiting Damascus just days after Assad went to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin.
Assad said Russia's role was “writing a new history because this war will determine the future of the region and the world, and victory against terrorism will protect not only Syria but all countries.”
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/25/Assad-ready-to-stand-in-new-Syria-election.html
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Saudi Arabia angered by Jeremy Corbyn
Oct 26, 2015
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom has accused Britain’s opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn of “breaching respect” by working to block a multi-million-dollar deal between the two sides.
Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to London, slammed the British MP and Labour Party leader on Sunday over the cancelation of a contract to advise Riyadh on prison reforms in the kingdom.
“One example of mutual respect being breached recently took place when opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed that he had convinced Prime Minister David Cameron to cancel a prison consultancy contract with Saudi Arabia worth £5.9 million ($9.03 million),” the Saudi ambassador said.
The Saudi official further voiced anger over the contract cancelation’s link to a number of “domestic events in the kingdom.”
He warned that trade ties between the two countries could be at risk if such actions were repeated.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/26/435008/Saudi-Corbyn-UK-Cameron-Nimr
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Pakistan
At Least 228 Dead In Pakistan Quake, Relief Efforts Underway
AGENCIES | DAWN.COM | SIRAJUDDIN — 27 October 2015
KABUL/ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: In Pakistan, at least 228 people are confirmed dead in the aftermath of a massive 7.5 magnitude earthquake which hit northern Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) says at least 1,620 are injured across Pakistan.
Rescuers on Tuesday rushed to deliver relief aid to victims of the quake, which killed at least 291 people in the Pak-Afghan region over a wide swathe of mountainous terrain.
The initial quake — which struck the country at 2:09pm Monday — was followed by seven aftershocks, measuring as high as magnitude 4.8, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The latest aftershock came just before dawn on Tuesday.
“Many houses and buildings have collapsed in the city,” said Arbab Muhammad Asim, district mayor for the north-western city of Peshawar.
Many people were trapped under piles of rubble, with officials warning that the toll was set to rise.
“The building was swinging like a pendulum, it felt as if the heavens would fall,” Peshawar shop owner Tufail Ahmed told AFP.
Thousands spent the night outdoors in near-freezing temperatures reluctant to go back inside for fear of aftershocks, Pakistani media reported.
"Rescue work is ongoing, and tents, blankets and sleeping mats are being provided," Latifur Rehman, a Pakistani disaster management official, told Reuters from Peshawar.
Pakistan's military and civilian authorities dispatched several helicopters to affected areas to assess damage and run rescue operations, the NDMA said.
However, eyewitnesses near Lower Dir's Khal area have a different story to tell.
One Syed Shah says, "No rescue teams have reached here yet. There is no power, no water and no roads are open."
His account is echoed by Irshadullah who says, "Our houses are not capable of living in. We spent the whole night under the open sky because we were afraid of the aftershocks. Everything we own is buried under the debris of our house."
Shah says his house, too, has been completely destroyed. "All our possessions and our money is buried under it," he says.
"We sent our children to relatives living 5km away. We are very scared."
At least 95 people, including women and children, are injured, with many admitted to District Headquarters Hospital Timergara.
At least 12 houses have been destroyed in a village near Khal, where over 50 per cent of houses have been damaged by the quake.
According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Provincial Disaster Management Authority, the highest number of confirmed deaths in the province is 38 in Shangla, while the highest number of injuries has been confirmed as 248 in Lower Dir.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had said he would personally oversee the rescue efforts. "We will try our best to deal with this disaster using our own resources," he had said.
The toll is expected to rise as search teams reach remote areas that are cut off by the powerful 7.5 magnitude quake, which triggered landslides and stampedes as it toppled buildings and severed communication lines.
Landslides in Pakistan's northern areas over the weekend caused by heavy rain and snow had already left thousands of tourists stranded.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department measured the intensity of the quake as 8.1.
The US Geological Survey (USGS), however, estimated the quake’s intensity at 7.7, then revised it down to 7.5 on the Richter scale.
An official from the Met Office said that the USGS readings were different from PMD’s because they were monitoring the situation from mainland America, as USGS did not have a station in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
“On the other hand, PMD has bases to observe seismic activities in Cherat and Chitral. There is also an advanced station in the Pattan area of Swat, since these areas fall in the active seismic zone,” the official said.
The US and Iran were among countries that offered to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, which already depends heavily on foreign aid after decades of war that have wrecked its economy and infrastructure.
Dr. John Ebel, chairman of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College in the US, said the depth of the earthquake had limited its severity and meant damage was likely to be spread broadly rather than focused in one disaster zone.
But he said landslides on the unstable slopes of the mountainous region could pose a major problem.
"Obviously if a landslide comes into a village, it will take out buildings, but landslides can also take out roads and communications and power systems, so you lose the ability to access remote areas," he said.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US Agency for International Development was ready to provide emergency shelter and relief supply kits.
Devastation in Afghanistan
Afghan officials said at least 63 people were confirmed dead and hundreds more injured, with casualties reported from around half a dozen of the country's 34 provinces.
The government has implored aid agencies for assistance.
But large swathes of Badakhshan, the remote province where the epicentre is located, and other areas are effectively controlled by the Taliban, posing a huge challenge to any official aid efforts.
“Today's earthquake was the strongest one felt in the recent decades,” said Afghanistan's chief executive Abdullah Abdullah.
“Initial reports show a big loss of life and huge financial losses in Badakhshan, Takhar, Nangarhar, Kunar and other regions. Exact numbers are not known because phone lines are down and communication has been cut off in many areas."
'They could not even talk'
In the most horrifying episode to emerge so far from the quake, 12 young Afghan girls were crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their shaking school building.
In remote northern Takhar, bystanders rushed the dazed and terrified survivors to hospital, many lying limp in the arms of their rescuers, as doctors tried reviving some of them by pumping their chests.
“When the relatives of the dead students came to collect their bodies, they were so distressed that they could not even talk to authorities to record their names,” said Hafizullah Safai, head of the Takhar health department.
The quake was centred near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250 km from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 km, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake, which lasted at least one minute, shook buildings in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, sending thousands of frightened people rushing into the streets.
It was also felt in Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Live footage from an Afghan news broadcast filmed in Kabul showed the anchor abandoning his desk as the quake shook the cameras.
Restaurants and office buildings emptied in Islamabad, with cracks appearing in some buildings but no major damage reported.
Hundreds of people in northern India poured onto the streets from office blocks, hospitals and homes. In Delhi — more than 1,000 km from the epicentre — the metro ground to a halt during the tremor.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter immediately after the quake, saying that India stood ready to assist, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan if required.
Pakistan mobilised troops and all military hospitals were put on high alert, army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Bajwa said, with the air force also offering support.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
The epicentre of Monday's quake was just a few hundred kilometres from the site of a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck in October 2005, killing more than 75,000 people and displacing some 3.5 million more, although that quake was much shallower.
In Nepal twin quakes in May killed more than 8,900 people, triggered landslides and destroyed half a million homes.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215703/at-least-228-dead-in-pakistan-quake-relief-efforts-underway
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Sindh Geo-Tags Half of Its 10,000 Madrasas
HASAN MANSOOR
Oct 26, 2015
KARACHI: The Sindh government has informed the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) in Islamabad that it has completed geo-tagging of half of its 10,000 Madrasas in the province, it emerged on Sunday.
However, it is lagging behind the deadline with just half the work being done. Two months ago the provincial authorities had assured Nacta it would complete the task within 15 days.
Geo-tagging is the process of digitally identifying and locating places through latitude and longitude coordinates enabling authorities to readily provide the required data of any place or in this case a madressah.
Officials said the authorities had continued its survey of Madrasas across the province which in its first phase had already documented more than double of what were the previous figures.
They said at present more than 9,500 Madrasas had been documented in Sindh, yet it was not final as the authorities had not yet surveyed several remote parts of the province. They estimated the number of Madrasas to be at least a couple of thousands more than the current list.
A senior official said they had completed geo-tagging 5,502 Madrasas and more than 4,000 Madrasas remained to be mapped.
Earlier, Nacta had blamed the authorities in Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan for not completing the task of geo-tagging of Madrasas. The authorities in Islamabad complained that despite sending several reminders, the Sindh government gave no satisfactory reply.
Officials in the provincial home ministry said they had requested Nacta for two months extension to complete the process.
Officials said the task of geo-tagging had been given to the special branch of Sindh police which had all the equipment and was busy carrying out the job.
“The number of Madrasas in Sindh is being re-verified through the special branch and the task is expected to be completed soon,” said a senior official.
In the meantime all Madrasas were being placed on a digital map via geo-tagging, added the official.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215384/sindh-geo-tags-half-of-its-10000-Madrasas
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No one will be allowed to harm Pak-Saudi ties: Speakers
October 26, 2015
SWABI - Speakers at the concluding ceremony of the three-day annual congregation of Ishaat Al Tauheed Wal-Sunnah at Panjpir here on Sunday said that no one would be allowed to harm the Pak-Saudi Arabia cordial relations.
The Ulema and workers of Ishaat from all over the country participated in the gathering.
The religious scholars and speakers spoke about the Islamic teachings and the problems confronted by the Muslim world and the conspiracies hatched by US, India and other anti-Islam powers in various regions.
They said that a well-calculated plot has been made to derail the brotherly relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan but the former is a highly respectable country for the Muslims of the world due to their religious affiliations and are ready to render sacrifices for the sacred places of the Islamic world.
Maulana Tayyab said that American leaders had devised plans to harm Saudi Arabia and its periphery states.
At the time of Iraq occupation and targeting the then President of Iraq Saddam Hussain all were well-calculated strategies to weaken the Muslim countries, he said.
He said that Makkah, Madina and Haramain Sharifain all are honourable places for the Muslims and they would never allow any state to harm these places.
Maulana Fazalur Rehman Khalil, a well known jihadist, alleged that US and its allies are involved in the weakening of the Muslims across the world.
Full Report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/26-Oct-2015/no-one-will-be-allowed-to-harm-pak-saudi-ties-speakers
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Minhaj-ul-Qur'an Celebrates Decades of Giving
18 October 2015
LAHORE – Celebrating decades of achievements, Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) marked its 35th anniversary on Saturday, October 17, with a special event that highlighted its public services over the past years.
“Today we celebrate 35 years of public service and Tehreek Minhajul Qur'an has never been second to none when it comes to serving the downtrodden of Pakistan,” said Chairman of Pakistan Awami Tehreek and the founder of Tehreek Minhajul Quran, Dr Tahirul Qadri, The International News reported on Sunday, October 18.
Held in Pakistan’s Lahore, the event celebrated the efforts of the organization to promote the message of peace and tranquility through quality education over the past three decades.
According to MQI founder Tahirul Qadri, the organization had now busied itself in propagating the message of Islam across the world with remarkable success.
Besides helping disadvantaged Pakistanis, MQI had played a crucial role in combating terrorism and miscreants not just in Pakistan but over the world, Qadri added.
His 600-page essay against terrorism had been translated to all major languages of the world, providing ways to combat extremism.
The organization has also been promoting love and peace in accordance with the teachings of Islam worldwide.
Full Report at:
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/495225-minhaj-ul-quran-celebrates-decades-of-giving.html
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Two PTI men die in clash with PML-N workers in Lahore
IMRAN GABOL
Oct 26, 2015
LAHORE: Two Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) workers were killed and seven others were injured as a clash broke out between PTI and PML-N party workers in Lahore's Yakki Gate area early Monday.
The dead have been identified as Khurram Shehzad and Malik Arif. A minor is among those injured.
The PTI filed a First Information Report (FIR) for murder against seven PML-N workers including Chaudhry Zahid, Malik Ditta and Ahmed Butt.
The scuffle broke out after a disagreement between PTI and PML-N workers in the area near Nawaz Sharif Hospital, where both parties' offices are located.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215496/two-pti-men-die-in-clash-with-pml-n-workers-in-lahore
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Two Pakistani minors killed in Shakargarh cross-border firing: DCO
IMRAN SADIQ
Oct 26, 2015
SIALKOT: At least two minors were killed during an exchange of fire between Punjab Rangers and Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) across the Working Boundary in Shakargarh sector early Monday.
The number of people injured due to the firing has risen to 14, Narowal District Coordination Officer Najaf Iqbal said.
The dead included a 10-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, the DCO said, adding that around 59 livestock were also injured in the incident.
A medical camp has been set up by district administration to provide first aid to the affectees, the DCO said.
Indian media reports say six civilians have been injured during cross-border firing in the Samba and Kathua districts of Jammu region, along the Line of Control.
The ceasefire violations come just days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during an official visit to Washington apprised United States Secretary of State John Kerry about the destabilising role being played by Indian intelligence agencies in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Balochistan and Karachi.
Three separate dossiers containing evidence of Indian involvement in subversive activities were also handed over to the US by Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.
Nawaz and Obama had expressed concern over violence along the LoC, and noted their "support for confidence-building measures and effective mechanisms that are acceptable" to both India and Pakistan.
"While refusing dialogue, India is engaged in a major arms buildup, regrettably with the active assistance of several powers," Nawaz had said last week during an address to the US Institute for Peace.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215495/two-pakistani-minors-killed-in-shakargarh-cross-border-firing-dco
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Govt urged to devise strategy on Indian ‘interference’
Oct 26, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah asked the government on Sunday to work out a plan to prevent Indian “interference” in the country after discussing the matter in parliament.
“Indian interference in Pakistan is increasing. The government should immediately take parliament into confidence and prepare a strategy to deal with the issue,” Mr Shah said in a statement.
Expressing concern over “growing Indian aggression” against Pakistan, he said that opening fire on unarmed people had become a routine activity for India.
He asked India “not to test Pakistan’s patience and not to take Islamabad’s desire for peace as our weakness”.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215424/govt-urged-to-devise-strategy-on-indian-interference
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Investigators get Jacobabad suicide bomber’s fingerprints
Oct 26, 2015
KARACHI: Police investigators from Karachi have started investigation into the Jacobabad suicide blast of the 9th of Muharram that claimed over 20 people’s lives, it emerged on Sunday.
The investigators belonging to the Counter-Terrorism Department of police collected some important pieces of evidence, which might help identify the suicide bomber, said Raja Umer Khattab, a member of the CTD probe team.
They collected four fingerprints of the left hand of the bomber and two fingerprints of the right hand. All formalities had been completed to send the fingerprints to the National Database and Registration Authority for identification, he added.
He said the bomber who carried out the attack appeared to be around 22 to 24 years of age.
He said that a damaged pistol was also found at the crime scene, which the bomber had been carrying.
‘If the suicide jacket does not explode, he will kill himself instead of surrendering’
However, the CTD official added that the recovery of the pistol might not be of much help as it had been established in other suicide bombings that the bomber carried a pistol or a grenade as per their modus operandi.
“The bomber carries a pistol or a grenade as per their strategy, which is that if the suicide jacket does not explode, he will kill himself instead of surrendering,” the CTD official said.
The bomber who targeted Shia cleric Allama Hasan Turabi in Karachi in recent past also carried a hand grenade. Similarly, the bomber who targeted PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi also carried a pistol.
The Jacobabad procession suicide bombing followed by another suicide attack in the neighbouring area of Balochistan whose responsibility was claimed by the outlawed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215399/investigators-get-jacobabad-suicide-bombers-fingerprints
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CTF to be used for raids on terror suspects
MOHAMMAD ASGHAR
Oct 26, 2015
RAWALPINDI: After an Elite Force commando was killed and two others were injured during a raid on a suspected terrorist hideout on October 15, the Punjab police chief has directed that in the future Counter-Terrorism Force (CTF), a specialised unit of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), should be used for such operations.
Elite Force commando, Irshad Ahmed, was killed during the operation at Iqbal Town in the Dhamial village. The injured commandoes - constable Mohsin Shah and assistant sub-inspector Ibrar Hussain - were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital from the District Headquarters Hospital on Wednesday.
However, Ibrar Hussain was later discharged after his condition improved.
Later, IGP Punjab Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera directed the police across the province to use the CTF corporals in such raids, a senior police official said.
The corporals are the members of the CTF, the operational wing of the CTD.
In addition to the Elite Force personnel, five people, including a suspected terrorist, two women and two children were killed in the intelligence-based operation.
The security personnel took three suspects into custody but it was yet to be determined whether they were linked to any militant organisation.
The CTD had said one of the men living in the house was associated with the ‘Asim Punjabi group’ of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) that is supposed to be having links with the self-styled Islamic State (IS).
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215472/ctf-to-be-used-for-raids-on-terror-suspects
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Jacobabad blast case will be referred to military court, Qaim tells Shia leaders
Oct 26, 2015
SUKKUR/LARKANA: The Majlis-i-Wahdat Muslimeen (MWM) and Shia Ulema Council (SUC) leaders who along with relatives of the victims of Friday bomb blast in Jacobabad had started a sit-in at DC Chowk in the city soon after the incident announced an end to their protest on Saturday evening since most of their demands were apparently accepted.
A suicide bomber targeting a mourning procession taken out on 9th Muharram had left 16 people, many of them children, dead on the spot and wounded a number of others. Reports received on Sunday evening put the death toll at 26 as 10 more victims succumbed to their wounds.
Hours after the blast, relatives of the victims and leaders of the MWM and SUC brought 14 bodies to the DC Chowk, outside the Jacobabad deputy commissioner’s office to hold a sit-in demanding immediate arrest of the culprits and removal of senior police and district administration officials. They also made a number of other demands and refused to bury the deceased victims until they were met.
Provincial ministers and lawmakers including Mir Aijaz Jakhrani, Syed Nasir Shah, Sardar Manzoor Khan Panhwar, Mir Mumtaz Jakhrani, Dr Sohrab Sarki, Mir Liaquat Lashari, Mir Zaib Panhwar and Mir Farooq Jakhrani held several rounds of talks with Shia leaders Allama Syed Nazar Abbas Taqvi, Allama Nasir Abbas Jafferi, Allama Maqsood Ali Domki, Syed Ehsan Ali Shah and Bandah Ali Jafferi to persuade them to end their protest.
Finally, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah along with MNA Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Transport Minister Mir Mumtaz Jakhrani, former minister Mir Manzoor Khan Panhwar, Mir Zaib Panhwar, Mir Liaquat Lashari and others visited the DC office and received a briefing on the terrorist attack and the protesters’ demands.
The chief minister ordered suspension of the Jacobabad City DSP Rana Nasrullah and the medical superintendent/civil surgeon of the local civil hospital Altaf Wagon pending an inquiry into their alleged negligence. He also accepted the Shia leaders’ demand for a compensation of Rs2 million for each of the deceased victims and Rs1 million along with a government job for each of the seriously wounded victims of the blast. He agreed that the other wounded victims should be paid Rs200,000 each.
Speaking to SUC and MWM leaders at the DC office and later to the media, Mr Shah strongly condemned the terrorist attack and announced that those found involved in it would be tried in a military court. Earlier, Mr Shah along with Larkana Commissioner Ghulam Akbar Leghari and DIG Dr Sain Rakhiyo Mirani visited the wounded victims at the Shahbaz Airbase hospital and inquired about their health. He asked doctors to take maximum care of the patients.
“The perpetrators of the terrorist attack will be traced and punished to the fullest extent of law. This case will be referred to the military court,” he said, adding that the Sindh government had referred six cases to the military court.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215370/jacobabad-blast-case-will-be-referred-to-military-court-qaim-tells-shia-leaders
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Awami Muslim League Chief meets Dr Tahirul Qadri in Canada
Oct 26, 2015
LAHORE: Awami Muslim League Chief Sheikh Rasheed called on Pakistan Awami Tehreek president Dr Tahirul Qadri in Canada, says a message received here on Sunday.
Both the leaders, who along with Imran Khan-led PTI, had kept normal activities of the federal capital suspended for many days during the famed Islamabad sit-in the previous year, discussed the national political scene, it said.
Without giving details of what transpired between them during the meeting, the message quoted Dr Qadri as criticizing the incumbent rulers for what he said damaging the country by executing their personal businesses and the government affairs simultaneously.
The PAT leader also alleged that since the democracy in vogue was protecting the interests of plunderers, the “trader rulers” wished to maintain the status quo.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1215426/rasheed-meets-qadri-in-canada
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Mystery shrouds Saudi cadet’s death
October 26, 2015
Islamabad - Though post-mortem report failed to reveal actual cause of death of the Saudi cadet, there remain reasons to view the circumstances as suspicious.
Twenty-three-year-old Saudi national, Fawaz Mashan s/o Mashan was found dead in a guesthouse located at street 40, G-7/4, Islamabad, in the jurisdiction of Aabpara police station on October 17. He was a foreign cadet at the Pakistan Military Academy Kakul in the garrison city of Abbottabad and had come to Islamabad to meet a friend.
According to the post-mortem report of the deceased, the 5-member medical board found blood-stained material coming out of the mouth of the deceased, besides observing abnormal liver colour, skull wound and deeply cyanosed feet of the deceased.
The medical board of the Federal Government Services Hospital that performed autopsy of the Saudi national, however, said post-mortem failed to reveal apparent cause of the death. “Exact cause of death at this stage cannot be established,” the report said.
The board reported blood-stained material coming out of the right side of the mouth.
Full Report at:
http://nation.com.pk/islamabad/26-Oct-2015/mystery-shrouds-saudi-cadet-s-death
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Mideast
Netanyahu: Al-Aqsa surveillance cameras in ‘Israel’s interest’
25 October 2015
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that an agreement to put 24-hour security cameras around Jerusalem’s sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound was in Israel’s interest.
In remarks relayed by his office Netanyahu said the cameras would serve “firstly, to refute the claim Israel is violating the status quo (and) secondly, to show where the provocations are really coming from, and prevent them in advance.”
Israel has been accused of seeking to change longstanding rules that govern the holy site which is revered in both Islam and Judaism, and which is a key source of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/25/Netanyahu-Al-Aqsa-surveillance-cameras-in-Israel-s-interest-.html
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Two policemen, seven Daesh terrorists killed in Turkey: Sources
Oct 26, 2015
Two Turkish police forces and seven members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group have been killed in clashes in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir, security sources say.
The development came early on Monday after police forces raided a dozen houses in the Kayapinar district of the mainly Kurdish province of Diyarbakir.
According to the sources, four policemen were injured and three militants were captured alive in the clashes.
Turkish security forces say they have extended operations to locate suspected Daesh cells following the October 10 twin blasts in the capital, Ankara, which killed more than 100 people.
The deadly explosions targeted activists who had gathered outside Ankara’s main train station for a peace rally organized by leftist and pro-Kurdish opposition groups. The Turkish government says 102 died in the bombings, but the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) puts the death toll at 128.
Following the blasts, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the attack may have been carried out by Daesh terrorists or Syria’s Kurdish fighters.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/26/435009/Turkey-Daesh-Diyarbakir-Ankara
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Washington ‘to cut aid’ to Palestinian Authority
25 October 2015
The United States is cutting economic aid for the Palestinian Authority, partly because of "unhelpful actions" by the Palestinians, a U.S. diplomat said on Saturday.
News site al-Monitor earlier said the U.S. State Department intends to reduce aid for the West Bank and Gaza in fiscal 2016 from $370 million to $290 million.
A U.S. State Department official, travelling with Secretary of State John Kerry on a trip to Amman, confirmed there would be a cut.
"The decision to reduce assistance to the Palestinian Authority was made this past spring," he told reporters.
"There were several factors contributing to this decision, including unhelpful actions taken by the Palestinians and constraints on our global assistance budget."
The cut was not directly linked to the wave of violence that is currently gripping Israel and the Palestinian territories, the official said.
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/25/Washington-to-cut-aid-to-Palestinian-Authority.html
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Erdogan: We won't let Kurds ‘seize’ northern Syria
25 October 2015
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused Kurdish groups on Saturday of trying to grab control of northern Syria, saying Ankara would not allow this to happen.
In a speech in southeast Turkey, Erdogan also blasted Russia's President Vladimir Putin for hosting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this week, in comments that were his most critical yet towards his Russian counterpart.
On northern Syria, Erdogan denounced the merging of the Syrian town of Tel Abyad last week into an autonomous political structure created by the Kurds.
"All they want is to seize northern Syria entirely," Erdogan said. "We will under no circumstances allow northern Syria to become a victim of their scheming. Because this constitutes a threat for us, and it is not possible for us as Turkey to say 'yes' to this threat."
Tel Abyad, on the border with Turkey, was captured in June from ISIS by Kurdish YPG militia with help from U.S.-led air strikes. Last week, a local leadership council declared it part of the system of autonomous self government established by the Kurds.
Syrian Kurds have established three autonomous zones, or "cantons", across northern Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011. They deny aiming to establish their own state.
Turkey is alarmed by territorial gains for the Kurds in Syria's civil war, which it fears could stir separatism among its own Kurdish minority. For the past three decades Ankara has been trying to end an insurgency by fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.
The PKK has been staging almost daily attacks in the southeast since July, when a ceasefire fell apart.
Turkey accuses the Syrian Kurds' political arm, the PYD, of deep links to the PKK. It has been incensed by the role the Kurds have carved out for themselves, with U.S. support, in the fight against ISIS in northern Syria.
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/25/Erdogan-We-won-t-let-Kurds-seize-northern-Syria-.html
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Fresh violence after new al-Aqsa measures
October 26, 2015
JERUSALEM - Fresh violence flared between Israelis and Palestinians Sunday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to install security cameras at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in a bid to defuse tensions.
A Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli man in the West Bank and a Palestinian was shot several times by an Israeli settler while picking olives, according to the army and security sources.
Knife attacks, shootings and protests have become a near daily occurrence since October 1 in the latest surge of violence in the decades-old conflict, sparking a diplomatic scramble to defuse what many fear may become a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising. The focal point of the latest unrest is the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews, and Netanyahu on Saturday agreed on new measures to allay Palestinian fears that he plans to change longstanding rules governing the site.
Netanyahu vowed Jews would continue to be allowed to visit but not pray at the compound and agreed that 24-hour surveillance cameras could be installed.
"Israel has an interest in placing cameras on all parts of the Temple Mount," Netanyahu said in a statement Sunday, using the Jewish term for the compound in annexed east Jerusalem.
"Firstly, to refute the claim Israel is violating the status quo. Secondly, to show where the provocations are really coming from, and prevent them in advance."
However Saeb Erakat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the recognised representative of Palestinians, said Netanyahu's statements were "only words, not concrete actions."
Full Report at:
http://nation.com.pk/international/26-Oct-2015/fresh-violence-after-new-al-aqsa-measures
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Yemen govt forces make gains in Taiz
October 26, 2015
DUBAI - Yemeni forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi made gains on Sunday in the southwestern city of Taiz after days of battles with Houthi fighters, a local official and residents said.
The Hadi supporters, who have been backed by air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition since March, made particular progress around the presidential palace, the locals said.
The complex has changed hands several times and been all but destroyed in the fighting.
Medical sources said 13 Houthi fighters were killed in the fighting in Yemen's third largest city.
So were eight fighters loyal to Hadi.
Reuters could not independently verify their accounts.
The Arab coalition is trying to restore Hadi's government and fend off what it sees as creeping Iranian influence.
The Houthis are allied to Iran and also have support from forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Several residents said Hadi loyalists had taken control of a number of mountain peaks on the southern approach to Taiz, Yemen's cultural capital.
At least 5,600 people have been killed in Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, and the UN says the humanitarian situation, exacerbated by the Arab coalition's blockade of Yemeni ports, grows worse every day.
Houthi gunmen prevented convoys of medical supplies from entering an enclave of Taiz, the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said.
Residents there reported the rebels were also blocking the entry of food, water and fuel to the area, it said.
"After weeks of negotiations, we have made no progress in convincing officials of the need to provide impartial medical assistance," MSF's emergency manager for Yemen, Karline Kleijer, said in a statement.
Full Report at:
http://nation.com.pk/international/26-Oct-2015/yemen-govt-forces-make-gains-in-taiz
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Yemeni Forces Destroy another Saudi Warship
Oct 25, 2015
The Saudi warship was targeted with Yemeni missiles in the coastal waters of al-Mukha region in the province of Ta'iz.
The sunken ship had repeatedly fired rockets on residential areas in Ta'iz province, inflicting casualties and destruction there.
This is the third time that a Saudi warship is completely destroyed during the Saudi-led war on Yemen.
Other Saudi battleships retreated fast following the attack.
The coast of Al-Mukha is located in Bab al-Mandab strait and the Saudi-led forces have been trying hard for several months now to win control over coastal regions near the waterway.
On October 11, the Yemeni forces fired rockets at a Saudi-led coalition warship and destroyed it near al-Mukha coast.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940803001203
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Israel arrests more than 1,000 Palestinians this month
25 October 2015
Israel has arrested more than 1,000 Palestinians and Arab Israelis since the October 1 surge in violence, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said Sunday.
Most of them were young men and women, the Ramallah-based aid group said.
The most arrests - 221 - occurred in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, a regular flashpoint where some 500 Jewish settlers live under heavy protection surrounded by nearly 200,000 Palestinians.
Next was Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem with 201, followed by the West Bank city of Ramallah with 138.
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/25/Israel-arrests-more-than-1-000-Palestinians-this-month-.html
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Israeli army shoots dead alleged Palestinian attacker in the West Bank
26 October 2015
A Palestinian man who stabbed and seriously wounded an Israeli in the southern occupied West Bank has been shot dead, the army said on Monday.
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/26/Israeli-army-shoots-dead-alleged-Palestinian-attacker-in-the-West-Bank.html
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Africa
Over 40 bodies found off coast of western Libya
25 October 2015
Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of at least 40 people -- thought to be drowned migrants -- off the shore of western Libya, local sources said Sunday.
Mahmoud al-Misrati, a spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent, told Anadolu Agency that a total of 40 bodies had been recovered off the shores of the coastal cities of Zliten, Alkhams and Alkarboli.
According to al-Misrati, the Red Crescent is currently coordinating search-and-rescue efforts with the Libyan Coast Guard, which is also conducting search operations along the coast of capital Tripoli in the country’s northeast.
Full Report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/africa/165639/over-40-bodies-found-off-coast-of-western-libya
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Six killed, 35 injured in Libya mortar shelling
24 October 2015
At least six people were killed and 35 others were injured Friday when mortar strikes targeted a peaceful demonstration in Libya’s Benghazi, a medical source told Anadolu Agency.
Protesters had gathered to speak out against the UN-held peace talks, which recently suggested establishing a national unity government.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) condemned the “terrorist attack” on Friday.
“UNSMIL calls on Libyans to reject violence as a means to settle political differences and stresses that peaceful expression of political views is one of the basic rights in a free society,” the mission said.
Full Report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/africa/165612/six-killed-35-injured-in-libya-mortar-shelling
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45 detained in Nigeria over Boko Haram plot
Oct 25, 2015
Nigerian authorities have detained and charged 45 people suspected of being involved in a plot hatched by the Takfiri Boko Haram militants to carry out an attack in the city of Lagos.
On Sunday, unnamed sources said some 60 suspects had initially been "picked up" in Lagos for “planning to attack Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi last month,” before about 15 of them were released after preliminary investigations.
The remaining 45 suspected were taken to a magistrate court on October 23.
“They were arraigned on holding charges. The [Nigerian Department of State Services] DSS urged the court to remand them in prison pending further investigation and their eventual arraignment before a high court,” one of the sources said.
Lagos, which is Nigeria's financial hub, is considered to be a gateway to West Africa.
Earlier this week, some 60 people were killed in bomb attacks at two mosques in Borno State’s Maiduguri and Yola, the capital of neighboring Adamawa State.
Boko Haram began its militancy against the government of Nigeria in 2009. The violence has spilled over into Nigeria’s neighboring countries. Soldiers from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger have been battling the terrorists in recent months.
Last week, Boko Haram Takfiri militants seized the Cameroonian town of Kerawa, which lies along the country’s border with Nigeria.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/25/434952/Nigeria-Lagos-Buhari-Boko-Haram
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HRW calls for Tunisia to probe detainee deaths
Oct 25, 2015
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Tunisian government to conduct an impartial investigation into the suspicious death of two detainees.
The New York-based rights group said on Sunday that the death of Sofien Dridi and Qais Berrhouma while in detention should be probed.
"The Tunisian authorities should carry out a thorough and impartial investigation of these deaths," the group said in a statement.
The HRW says Dridi was found in a hospital morgue in the capital, Tunis, on September 18, one week after he was detained by police at an airport following his deportation from Switzerland.
A prison spokesperson said Dridi, who suffered from diabetes, had died of a heart attack.
Berrhouma was reportedly also arrested by the National Guard anti-drug brigade on October 5, after he was beaten by plain-clothes police in the street. His family was notified that his body was at the same hospital.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/25/434933/Tunisia-Human-Rights-Watch-HRW-Dridi-Berrhouma
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Southeast Asia
Muslims Must Define Islam for Themselves, Says Former Umno Minister
26 October 2015
Ordinary Muslims must not be afraid to define Islam for themselves since their leaders are not helping them understand the religion, a former Umno minister said today.
Only then can political Islam succeed in a just and fair manner, said Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who wrote on his blog today in conjunction with the publication of his latest book "Assalamualaikum" which deals with Islamisation in Malaysia.
Zaid said Muslims in Malaysia could get guidance and learn from real ulama and scholars, but at the end of the day, they ought to define the religion for themselves.
"I am proposing that ordinary Muslims in the country must not be afraid to define Islam as they see it, because their leaders are not helping them to understand the religion.
"After all, at the end of the day it is about our life, about our happiness and comfort in our relations with the Maker Allah Subhanu Wa Ta’ala.
"Any other definition of the Islamic way is fascism with a new name," the former de facto law minister said.
Although Islamisation as a policy has been in operation in Malaysia since independence, Zaid said after 40 years the country was worse off than before, with people becoming more divided.
"In matters of integrity in leadership, and in state and corporate governance, we are also worse off.
"Today leaders use Islam to promote a dress code, and as political propaganda, but nothing deeper.
"When someone had to deal with a serious accusation relating to a murder, he would just go to a mosque to declare 'Wallahi, Wabillahi, Wattalahi' and the matter ends there.
"If, as alleged, he takes a few billion ringgits from the state institution, he would just say someone gave it to him. It ends there.
"This is after 40 years of Islamisation," said Zaid.
He added that political Islam had destroyed democracy instead of strengthening it.
He also said that every Muslim should feel a sense of "revulsion" at the way Islam had been abused by some of the country's leaders.
Zaid said he wrote his book to urge Muslims to defend Islam’s honour and to do something about making a positive change.
Full Report at:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/muslims-must-define-islam-for-themselves-says-zaid-ibrahim
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Sharia Used As Political Gambit in Indonesia: PPIM Survey
October 22 2015
A survey conducted by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) in association with the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) has found that base political considerations are primarily responsible for the implementation of sharia-based laws, with local politicians bowing to demands from conservative Muslim groups in exchange for votes during elections.
PPIM found that most of the sharia-inspired bylaws that the study reviewed in Jakarta, Banten and West Java were passed during a local election campaign season.
“Politicians running for office need votes and these bylaws are an easy sell. These incumbent candidates only need to pass these bylaws to get the votes, they don’t have to spend any money [on buying votes],” senior researcher for PPIM, Ali Munhanif, said during a discussion of the survey’s findings in Ciputat, South Tangerang, on Wednesday.
One example of a bylaw imposed on society in the interests of certain Muslim groups is bylaw No. 8/2009 on compulsory Islamic religious education. This bylaw has been implemented in Sukabumi, West Java.
Ali said that the bylaw was a product of political machinations between the local administration and religious leaders in the region. “The bylaw seems to be a marketing strategy to fill Islamic schools,” he said.
PPIM also found that the sharia-inspired bylaws and ordinances mostly discriminated against minorities and women.
The qualitative survey, conducted in eight cities across three provinces — Jakarta, Banten and West Java — and involving eight respondents from each city, including community and religious leaders, local officials, members of legislative councils and the public, found a total of 28 bylaws that promoted discrimination and could endanger the country’s heterogeneity.
“This should act as a warning signal for both regional and central governments. They should immediately review the problematic bylaws,” Ali said.
The PPIM plans to extend the survey to cover all 34 provinces and expects to wrap up its research in 2017. Next year, the research outfit will conduct the survey in South Sulawesi, Papua and Sumatra.
The survey found that Jakarta was in fact the worst offender of the three provinces surveyed in terms of developing and implementing discriminatory sharia bylaws.
Ali said that the most controversial bylaw in the country was Jakarta’s Gubernatorial Regulation No. 83/2012 on permit procedures for houses of worship.
The regulation has made it very difficult for Ahmadiyah congregations to establish houses of worship because most people do not recognize their faith as a formal religion.
According to the survey’s findings, Tangerang municipality’s bylaw no. 8/2005 on prostitution constituted an equally problematic regulation. The bylaw prohibits solicitation or prostitution in public spaces.
“The anti-prostitution bylaw is absolutely unacceptable and has created discomfort among citizens, especially women who come home late at night after work,” Ali said.
Ismail Hasani, the research director for pluralism watchdog Setara Institute agreed that the sharia bylaws singled out in PPIM’s survey were clearly discriminatory against minority groups and he called on the Home Ministry to immediately review them. “The Home Ministry has an important role in evaluating bylaws,” he said.
Full Report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/22/sharia-used-political-gambit.html
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Malaysia to host centre to counter spread of IS ideology, propaganda - Ahmad Zahid
October 21, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is to host a regional centre to counter the spread of 'Islamic State' ideology and propaganda via the Internet, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.
He said the Regional Digital Counter-Messaging Communication Centre (RDC3) would be set up soon.
The United States had chosen Malaysia, besides the United Arab Emirates, for the centre "because of our commitment, especially of the police, in countering the threat of international terrorism and cross-border criminal activities", he said.
"As many recruitments (into the IS) are being made through the social media, the centre is being set up to monitor all movements by terrorists or those with the potential to engage in terrorism," he told reporters after opening the 4th General Police and Special Equipment Exhibition and Conference Asia 2015 here.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the home minister, said the centre would serve as a reference point for the countries of ASEAN, Australia, New Zealand and several other neighbouring countries.
Considering that shortage of asset was the main problem in the effort to douse the fires in Indonesia, Hishammuddin suggested the republic to seek the assistance of non-ASEAN member countries, like Japan.
"But it is not our call, but Indonesia. We can propose to them, and at the moment they are identifying, including Japan, to help. If that is not enough, we have to look beyond that," he added.
Full Report at:
http://english.astroawani.com/malaysia-news/malaysia-host-centre-counter-spread-ideology-propaganda-ahmad-zahid-77334
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Malaysia aims to boost Islamic finance with new initiatives in budget
KUALA LUMPUR | BY EMILY CHOW
Oct 25, 2015
Malaysia is hoping new incentives for "ethical" Islamic bonds and home loans will strengthen the country's sharia-compliant investment market and lure more private players to one of the world's largest Islamic financial sectors.
The government announced the new incentives in the 2016 budget which was delivered in parliament on Friday, as Prime Minister Najib Razak doled out populist incentives to shore up support.
The government originally introduced the concept of "ethical" sukuk to finance "sustainable and responsible investment" (SRI) in projects such as wind and solar power generation or affordable housing, in 2013.
Sovereign wealth fund Khazanah [KHAZA.UL] sold 100 million ringgit ($23.7 million) of SRI sukuk in May this year but so far there have been no other issues in the ethical sukuk market.
In Friday's budget, Najib said Malaysia would cut taxes on issuance costs of SRI sukuk, and also that sharia-compliant loan instruments would be given a 20 percent stamp duty exemption when they were used to finance home purchases.
Other initiatives for the Islamic finance sector will be announced later, Najib said without elaborating.
Full Report at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/25/us-malaysia-islamicfunds-budget-idUSKCN0SJ0FZ20151025
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North America
Donald Trump wishes Saddam, Qaddafi still ruled
26 October 2015
The world would be a better place if dictators such as Saddam Hussein and Muammar Qaddafi were still in power, top Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump said in comments aired Sunday.
The billionaire real estate tycoon also told CNN's "State of the Union" talk show that the Middle East "blew up" around U.S. President Barack Obama and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, his biggest Democratic rival in the race for the White House.
"100 percent," Trump said when asked if the world would be better off with Saddam and Qaddafi still at the helm in Iraq and Libya.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein speaking during a 1997 address marking the 76th anniversary of the Iraqi forces (File photo Reuters)
Both strongmen committed atrocities against their own people and are now dead. Saddam, the former Iraqi president, was toppled in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and was executed in 2006.
Qaddafi-- who ruled Libya for four decades -- was ousted and slain in October 2011 amid a NATO-backed uprising.
"People are getting their heads chopped off. They're being drowned. Right now it's far worse than ever under Saddam Hussein or Qaddafi," Trump said.
"I mean, look what happened. Libya is a catastrophe. Libya is a disaster. Iraq is a disaster. Syria is a disaster. The whole Middle East. It all blew up around Hillary Clinton and around Obama. It blew up."
Slain Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. (AFP)
Calling Iraq the "Harvard of terrorism," Trump said the country had turned into a "training ground for terrorists."
"If you look at Iraq from years ago, I'm not saying he (Saddam) was a nice guy. He was a horrible guy but it's better than it is now," Trump said.
He also said the United States should have taken Iraq's oil, saying it was now being bought by China, and also going to Iran and ISIS.
"They have plenty of money because they took the oil because we were stupid," he said of ISIS. "I said take the oil when we leave."
'Trump doctrine'
Trump said his foreign policy strategy would be centered around beefing up the U.S. military.
"All I know is this: we're living in Medieval times ... We're living in an unbelievably dangerous and horrible world," he said.
"The Trump doctrine is simple," he added. "It's strength. It's strength. Nobody is going to mess with us. Our military will be made stronger."
Trump on Sunday also went after his Republican rival Ben Carson, who has surged past him in the closely watched, early-voting state of Iowa.
According to a Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll out Friday, Carson claims 28 percent support from likely voters in the Republican Iowa caucus, compared to 19 percent for Trump.
It was the second poll in two days that had Carson knocking Trump off his perch in Iowa, an intensely fought-over state because it votes first in the lengthy U.S. nominating contests.
"Ben Carson has never created a job in his life (well, maybe a nurse)," Trump tweeted of the retired pediatric neurosurgeon, a fellow political newcomer.
"I have created tens of thousands of jobs, it's what I do."
But Carson, who has cemented his support among Christian evangelicals, shrugged off Trump's darts in an interview with Fox News Sunday, saying, "I refuse to get into the mud pit."
"He is who he is. I don't think that's going to change. And I am who I am. That's not going to change either," he said of Trump.
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/26/Donald-Trump-wishes-Saddam-Qaddafi-still-ruled-.html
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Lavrov and Kerry discuss Syria, chance of political solution
25 October 2015
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the Syria crisis during a phone conversation on Sunday requested by the United States, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/25/Lavrov-and-Kerry-discuss-Syria-chance-of-political-solution.html
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South Asia
Security forces rebuff Taliban attack on Maidan Wardak’s Chak District
Oct 26 2015
Security forces have suppressed a Taliban attack on Chak District of Maidan Wardak province.
A statement released by the media office of Maidan Wardak on Sunday states that security forces had pre-information about the attack and coordinated a response to it.
When Taliban launched their attack on Saturday night it was rebuffed, the statement adds.
A Taliban commander by the name of Zabihullah alias Abbas was killed and two others wounded in the clashes.
Full Report at:
http://www.khaama.com/security-forces-rebuff-taliban-attack-on-maidan-wardaks-chak-district-4039
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More than 500 kg explosives seized in Logar
Oct 26 2015
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) – Afghanistan’s intelligence agency has seized more than 500 kilograms of explosive materials in Kabul’s neighboring Logar province.
A statement issued by NDS on Monday states that the 550 kilograms of explosive materials were seized during a raid from Pashtoon Abad village of Baraki District.
Two Kalashnikovs, military equipment and other terrorist materials were at the raided depot besides the explosive materials.
Terrorists had planned to use the seized materials for making bombs and other destructive activities.
Full Report at:
http://www.khaama.com/more-than-500-kg-explosives-seized-in-logar-4042
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Magnitude 7.5 earthquake jolts Afghanistan
Oct 26 2015
A relatively powerful earthquake jolted Afghanistan including capital Kabul on Monday afternoon with Richter scale recorded at 7.5 magnitude.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS) the epicenter of the quake was 10 km below the Hindu Kush Range in northeastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan.
“Focal mechanisms indicate rupture occurred on either a near-vertical reverse fault or a shallowly dipping thrust fault. At the latitude of the earthquake, the India subcontinent moves northward and collides with Eurasia at a velocity of about 37 mm/yr,” USGS said.
Full Report at:
http://www.khaama.com/magnitude-7-5-earthquake-jolts-afghanistan-1666
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Bangladesh rejects Islamic State claim of attack on Shiites
October 25, 2015
Bangladesh’s government on Sunday dismissed the Islamic State group’s claim that it was behind a bomb attack on thousands of Shiite Muslims in the nation’s capital, and said there was no evidence that the Sunni extremist group had any following in the South Asian country. It was the third time the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack in Bangladesh, after it said it was behind the recent killing of two foreigners — an Italian aid worker and a Japanese agricultural worker.
The government again redirected blame toward locally banned Islamist groups and the main Islamist political party, accusing them of staging Saturday’s attack to destabilize the already fractious and impoverished nation. “Again, I am saying there is no IS,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said. The country is struggling, however, to stem rising fears about radical Islam after a spate of violent attacks, including the murder of four atheist bloggers. Full Report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/bangladesh-rejects-islamic-state-claim-of-attack-on-shiites/
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Two AIHRC employees killed, six wounded in Jalalabad explosion
Oct 26 2015
A vehicle of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) ran over a landmine in Jalalabad city, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, around 09:00 am on Monday.
The explosion left two employees of AIHRC killed and six others wounded, and the vehicle badly damaged.
Soon after the blast, security forces and ambulances arrived at the site and took the victims to Nangarhar Regional Hospital.
AIHRC condemned the attack in a statement, calling the fallen and wounded staff members as honest workers who have served for human rights in tough conditions.
AIHRC has also called on warring sides to practice international human rights and do not target civilians.
Full Report at:
http://www.khaama.com/breaking-news-explosion-reported-in-jalalabad-city-4040
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Investigators: Jamaat-Shibir planned to kill secular VIPs on November 1
Oct 26, 2015
Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir are planning to foment violence in the country by killing VIPs and secular-minded people, a police detective has said.
According to the detective official, Jamaat and Shibir have already sent their trained operatives to the field to implement what has been called “Mission 1st November.”
“Primarily we have got a list of seven names. Six of them are influential lawmakers of the ruling Awami League. At least one of them is known for his secular views and has demanded speedy trial of the war criminals,” the official said.
He also said that they had got this sensational information by interrogating Masud Rana alias Sumon, 24, who was arrested when he was trying to flee after killing a police officer in Dhaka’s Gabtoli on Thursday.
Based on information given by Masud Rana, police conducted a raid in the Kamrangirchar area and recovered a number of bombs and a huge stash of bomb-making equipment.
The official, who was present during interrogation, quoted Masud Rana as saying that he had joined Shibir a couple of months back after finishing his training in Bogra.
Masud came to Dhaka with his leader Enamul Haque Prokash with the purpose of taking part in the Mission 1st November.
Enamul had divided his followers into several groups and assigned various areas of the capital for them to keep surveillance. Masud was tasked with keeping an eye on Kamrangirchar. He was given a camera to take photographs and analyse security weaknesses of the area.
They would take cover sometimes as a rickshaw-puller and sometimes as a street vendor to avoid raising suspicion.
In Kamrangirchar, they set up their camp in a house owned by a person named Kamal, who is known locally as a Jamaat leader. One of the reporters yesterday visited the house but could not reach Kamal.
Police are now trying to get as much information as possible from Masud, particularly about their activities in Bogra and their leader Enamul Haque Prokash.
Full Report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/oct/26/investigators-jamaat-shibir-planned-kill-secular-vips-november-1
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AL blames BNP-Jamaat for bomb attack on Shia gathering
Abu Hayat Mahmud
Oct 26, 2015
The Awami League has blamed the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami for the bomb attack on the Shia gathering at Hossaini Dalan in Old Dhaka. Ruling party leaders said it was part of a planned conspiracy. “The BNP-Jamaat alliance is trying to create anarchy to destabilise the country to come to power through back door and save war criminals,” said AL Joint Secretary General Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif.
And this is why they have ordered their militant groups to do bombings, he said.
He made the statement after a joint meeting at AL President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s political office at Dhanmondi.
AL Presidium Member and Health Minister Mohammad Nasim said BNP Chief Khaleda Zia might have been involved in the grenade attack on the Shia community.
Nasim was briefing media after his visit to an exhibition of newspaper clippings at the Shilpakala Academy in the capital yesterday.
Nasim said Khaleda and Tarique were plotting such attacks on people, foreigners and others to create anarchy in the country.
Food Minister Qamrul Islam said the BNP had plotted to kill foreigners with the help of international terrorist and militant groups to tarnish the image of the country. He was addressing a discussion in Dhaka on Friday.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said those who had failed to topple the government carried out the blasts and killed the two foreign nationals to malign the image of Bangladesh internationally.
Full Report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/politics/2015/oct/26/al-blames-bnp-jamaat-bomb-attack-shia-gathering
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NSA to President expects China to encourage neighboring countries for honest actions against terrorism
Oct 26 2015
The National Security Advisor to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani says that China’s role in security, improvement of economy and expanding business ties of Afghanistan has a high importance.
Mohammad Hanif Atmar in a meeting with the newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Kabul said that he expects China will use its influence in the area to encourage some of the neighboring countries for honest actions against terrorism.
Atmar did not name a specific country but he might have been pointing towards Pakistan that cheats Afghanistan on its promises.
Full Report at:
http://www.khaama.com/atmar-says-china-should-encourage-neighboring-countries-for-honest-actions-against-terrorism-4042
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More than 100 Afghans arrested in Pakistan’s Balochistan
Oct 26 2015
Security agencies have detained more than 100 Afghans in a raid in Balochistan province of Pakistan.
Officials say the group of 108 Afghan nationals had illegally entered Pakistan in Nokkudin area of Chaghi District.
Pakistan toughened its crackdown on Afghan refugees after a deadly attack on an air force base in Badhber area of Peshawar in September.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-claimed attack left 29 people killed, most of them military and air force personnel, and as many wounded.
There are roughly 1,000,000 Afghan refugees who are residing illegally in Pakistan but they might be given legal status in near future.
Full Report at:
http://www.khaama.com/more-than-100-afghans-arrested-in-pakistans-balochistan-4041
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Security forces rebuff Taliban attack on Maidan Wardak’s Chak District
Oct 26 2015
Security forces have suppressed a Taliban attack on Chak District of Maidan Wardak province.
A statement released by the media office of Maidan Wardak on Sunday states that security forces had pre-information about the attack and coordinated a response to it.
When Taliban launched their attack on Saturday night it was rebuffed, the statement adds.
A Taliban commander by the name of Zabihullah alias Abbas was killed and two others wounded in the clashes.
Full Report at:
http://www.khaama.com/security-forces-rebuff-taliban-attack-on-maidan-wardaks-chak-district-4039
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Nine war crimes suspects sued in two districts
Oct 26, 2015
A freedom fighter has sued Maulana Shafi Uddin, central leader of erstwhile East Pakistan Nezam-e-Islami, and three others for committing crimes against humanity in Habiganj during the 1971 Liberation War.
Taking the case into cognisance, Judge Md Kauser of the Seventh Habiganj Judicial Magistrate and Cognisance Court ordered authorities concerned to forward the case to the International Crimes Tribunal, reports our correspondent.
Maulana Shafi is the son of Matiur Rahman from Manpur village under Lakhai upazila. The other accused are Md Jahid Mia and Md Tajul Islam alias Pokon Razakar of Muriauk village, and Md Salek Mia alias Chhayek Mia of Jirunda village under the same upazila.
Plaintiff Ilias Kamal in the case said that Maulana Shafi and his accomplices had abducted his father Idris Mia and father of a co-fighter Abdul Jabbar from Manpur and Muriatek on October 30 and 31. They were later killed near Manpur’s Ujadur Beel and the bodies dumped in the water.
The case also said that the accused had been involved in committing genocide, rape, looting and arson attacks at Krishnapur, Ganganagar and nearby villages during the war.
When asked, Ilias said that he could not file case earlier out of fear. “I have filed the case now as the current government is holding the trials of war criminals,” he added.
During the war, Jamaat-e-Islami, Nezam-e-Islami and Convention Muslim League had formed different groups of collaborators to assist the Pakistan occupation forces in committing war crimes against the pro-liberation people.
Meanwhile, another case was filed yesterday against a former lawmaker from Trishal of Mymensingh and four others for their alleged involvement in war crimes, reports our correspondent.
Full Report at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/oct/26/nine-war-crimes-suspects-sued-two-districts
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US updates security alert after Huseni Dalan blasts
October 26, 2015
The United States has updated its security alert for its citizens residing in Bangladesh after the bomb attack on Shia Muslim community in Old Dhaka.
“Threat against foreigners remains real and credible,” said an updated message issued by the American embassy in Dhaka dated October 25.
The update came a day after three handmade improvised explosives were exploded at Huseni Dalan while the Shia community was planning to bring out a procession to mark their holy Ashura.
Full Report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/country/us-updates-security-alert-after-huseni-dalan-blasts-162568
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Europe
EU leaders move to slow migrant arrivals
26 October 2015
European and Balkan leaders agreed on measures early Monday to slow the movement of tens of thousands whose flight from war and poverty has overwhelmed border guards and reception centers and heightened tension among nations along the route to the European Union’s heartland.
In a statement to paper over deep divisions about how to handle the crisis, the leaders committed to bolster the borders of Greece as it struggles to cope with the wave of refugees from Syria and beyond that cross over through Turkey.
The leaders decided that reception capacities should be boosted in Greece and along the Balkans migration route to shelter 100,000 more people as winter looms.
They also agreed to expand border operations and make full use of biometric data like fingerprints as they register and screen migrants, before deciding whether to grant them asylum or send them home.
“The immediate imperative is to provide shelter,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said after chairing the mini-summit of 11 regional leaders in Brussels. “It cannot be that in the Europe of 2015 people are left to fend for themselves, sleeping in fields.”
Nearly 250,000 people have passed through the Balkans since mid-September.
Croatia said 11,500 people entered its territory on Saturday, the highest tally in a single day since Hungary put up a fence and refugees started moving sideways into Croatia a month ago.
Many are headed northwest to Austria, Germany and Scandinavia where they hope to find a home.
“This is one of the greatest litmus tests that Europe has ever faced,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after the summit. “Europe has to demonstrate that it is a continent of values and of solidarity.”
“We will need to take further steps in order to get through this,” she said.
Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said his small Alpine nation was being overwhelmed by the refugees — with 60,000 arriving in the last 10 days — and was not receiving enough help from its EU partners.
He put the challenge in simple terms: if no fresh approach is forthcoming “in the next few days and weeks, I do believe that the European Union and Europe as a whole will start to fall apart.”
The leaders agreed to rapidly dispatch 400 border guards to Slovenia as a short-term measure.
As they arrived at the hastily organized meeting, some leaders traded blame for the influx with their neighbors, with Greece targeted for the mismanagement of its porous island border.
“We should go down south and defend the borders of Greece if they are not able to do that,” said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who claimed he was only attending the meeting as an “observer” because Hungary is no longer on the migrant route since it tightened borders.
But the country that many say is another key source of the flow — Turkey — was not invited, and some leaders said that little could be done without its involvement.
“It has to be tackled in Turkey and Greece, and this is just a nice Sunday afternoon talk,” Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said, after complaining about having to leave an election campaign to take part in the mini-summit of nations in Europe’s eastern “migrant corridor.”
Full Report at:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/10/26/EU-leaders-move-to-slow-migrant-arrivals.html
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German Warning: Salafists Are Recruiting Migrants In Asylum Shelters
By SIMON KENT
25 Oct 2015
Radical Salafist Islamists are infiltrating German asylum shelters and attempting to indoctrinate the new arrivals, a politician in the city of Bremen has warned. Senator Ulrich Mäurer said the prospect of radicalisation among young Muslim refugees was a growing threat given the sheer numbers of people arriving in the country.
The Salafist movement is an ultra-conservative orthodox stream within Sunni Islam that follows the doctrine known as Salafism. Adherents take a fundamentalist approach to Islam though literal translations of the Koran.
In January, Germany’s intelligence chief, Hans-George Maassen, said the number of active Salafists in the country had grown from 3,800 to 6,300 in three years, according to Deutsche Welle. Now they are trying to increase their number by approaching newly-arrived asylum seekers.
“We have in recent weeks increased seen attempts by Salafists to register as workers in refugee camps,” Mr Mäurer told the German news magazine Focus. He said they used the Salafi organisation “Islamic Cultural Centre” as cover, before rolling out prayer mats and offering Arabic-speaking men food and ideology. He estimated Bremen had around 360 of the extremists living in its precincts.
The State Office for Protection of the Constitution has warned that number could double by year-end if the movement was not stopped by asylum centre operators
“We have informed the operators, who shall thereupon issue such prohibitions”, said Mäurer. The city will also check so-called barring orders to prohibit Salafists from staying near migrant accommodation.
In “Guidelines for reception facilities in Bremen” the city outlines how caregivers can recognise radicalisation. Refugees stuck in an “identity crisis”, it states, leading to an “increased risk of receptiveness to Islamist ideology or to radicalise accordingly” will be especially vulnerable.
Full Report at:
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/10/25/german-warning-salafists-recruiting-migrants-asylum-shelters/
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Tablighi Jamaat Blocked from Building Britain’s Biggest Mosque
October 26, 2015
London - The British government has blocked an Islamic group with alleged links to ‘fundamentalism’ from building the country’s biggest mosque, putting a final end to a 16-year battle, Telegraph reported Sunday.
The plans by the Tablighi Jamaat would have created a “megamosque” with 190-foot minarets and three times the floorspace of St Paul’s Cathedral.
The 290,000 square foot mosque, near the Olympic Park in east London, would have accommodated up to 9,300 worshippers in two main gender-segregated prayer halls and a further 2,000 in a separate hall.
The scheme, officially known as the Abbey Mills Markaz or the Riverine Centre, was rejected by the local council, Newham, as long ago as December 2012, with councillors saying the building was too large and would harm their plans for a mixed-use neighbourhood.
But Tablighi Jamaat appealed, taking the application to a three-week public inquiry in summer last year.
Full Report at:
http://nation.com.pk/international/26-Oct-2015/islamic-group-blocked-from-building-britain-s-biggest-mosque
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Tony Blair is right: without the Iraq war there would be no Islamic State
25 October 2015 14
Martin Chulov
Only one of Tony Blair’s mea culpas in his CNN interview stands out as truly significant: his partial acknowledgment that without the Iraq war there would be no Islamic State (Isis).
Until now, Blair had refused to link the two, insisting instead in the lead-up to the war that sending western troops would deny jihadis an arena and prevent Saddam Hussein from using them as proxies in his standoff with the west.
The 12 years since have constantly disproved both claims. Within six months of British troops landing in Iraq, the SAS was sent to Baghdad’s western outskirts to attack jihadis who had taken up residence in Ramadi. Back then, they were a mob of foreigners and Iraqis who fed off a broad Sunni discontent fuelled by the invasion; a serendipitous vanguard that not long afterwards organised into al-Qaida in Iraq, then the Islamic State of Iraq and, since mid-2013, Isis.
Throughout all its incarnations, the group’s grievances have been largely consistent. Central to them is the belief that the invasion destroyed a regional order, ousting a stalwart of Sunni rule, and inviting the rival Shia sect to take over. The sense of loss was profound, with many Sunnis passionately believing that the US and Britain must have known exactly what they were doing.
These views, formed along contemporary faultlines of power and patronage, drove a widespread Sunni resistance, a mix of non-ideologues enraged by losing jobs, status and dignity, and others, like the jihadis, who believed the war had been preordained in Islamic prophecies. As Iraq unravelled, the latter began to hold sway – just as later happened in Syria.
Rightly or wrongly, the Sunnis of the region have come to believe that Blair’s decision to join George Bush’s war was the start of a historical pivot towards Iran and the restoration of Persian hegemony. They hold up a litany of developments to support their claim, including de-Ba’athification, which was aimed at eliminating Saddam’s influence, but also became a tool of repression against Sunnis, as well as the installation of Iraqi leaders who hailed from Shia supremacist backgrounds.
Perhaps even more directly relevant to Sunni grievances and the rise of Isis, was the US-run prison system, which started with rampant abuses at Abu Ghraib and evolved into mass detention, albeit of both major sects. Sunni jihadis said the prison system was their most effective organising tool.
Full Report at:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/25/tony-blair-is-right-without-the-iraq-war-there-would-be-no-isis
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EU could fall apart over refugee crisis, Slovenia's prime minister warns
Oct 25, 2015
Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar warns that the European Union (EU) will “fall apart” if its leaders fail to agree upon a plan to stem the refugee influx.
"If we do not deliver some immediate and concrete actions on the ground in the next few days and weeks, I believe the EU and Europe as a whole will start falling apart," Cerar said on Sunday as he arrived for an emergency summit on the refugee crisis in Brussels, Belgium.
The Slovenian premier said his country was in a “very serious” situation and could not deal with the issue any longer.
He also said Slovenia “will not be able to endure this for weeks if we do not get help.”
Cerar urged Croatia to stop pushing refugees into neighboring Slovenia to reach other EU states.
Refugees wait in Sentilj, Slovenia, to cross the Slovenian-Austrian border into Spielfeld in Austria, October 24, 2015. (AFP photo)
Europe is facing record refugee arrivals with over 47,500 people entering Slovenia, a country whose population is only two million, over the past week. Wrestling to cope with the influx of refugees, the tiny EU state has asked Brussels for 140 million euros (USD 155 million) as well as police backup and logistical support.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/25/434939/EU-refugee-crisis-Slovenia-Prime-Minister-Cerar
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India
Indian Muslims call for protection of waqf properties
26 October 2015
JEDDAH: Two reputable Indian Muslim leaders have called for greater attention and vigilance by the community in preserving the ownership and protection of waqf (endowment) properties in the country.
Many prime tracts of real estate in India’s leading cities and states belong to Muslims but have been gradually taken over by corporate houses and government entities in connivance with corrupt officials on the different waqf boards.
Speaking to Arab News from New Delhi, Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, an umbrella body of the Indian Muslim organizations, and Dr. Syed Zafar Mahmood, a former high-profile bureaucrat who played a crucial role in the drafting of the famous Sachar Committee report and served as an adviser to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, feel that almost the entire political class has been united in “looting” waqf properties with impunity.
According to one estimate, there are nearly 600,000 waqf properties spread throughout the length and breadth of the country. Their estimated value runs into billions of dollars. The previous federal government put in place certain measures but they have fallen far short of the community’s expectations.Under Muslim law, waqf boards are supposedly the custodians of endowed properties.
Reacting to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government’s recent decision to nullify the powers of the Delhi Waqf Board, Khan said waqf boards existed in almost all Indian states and their members were all government appointees.
“It is very seldom that a good and sincere person gets onto these bodies and, if he does, he is soon removed as has happened some time ago with the administrator of the UP Sunni Waqf Board,” he said.
“Since they are all government appointees and have been given the jobs without any consultation with the community, they serve their masters and feel no qualms about stealing, selling and illegally transferring properties to their political masters,” he said.
In the case of Delhi, Khan said, the waqf board members were appointed by the previous government but the new chief minister must have felt that his hand-picked people should take charge. “As Kejriwal is a new player and somewhat conscious of corruption, the new appointees might be slightly better than the previous ones,” said Khan.
According to Zafar Mahmood, Section 99 of the Waqf Act 1995 provides for the stripping of the waqf board’s powers if there is prima facie evidence of financial irregularity, misconduct or violations according to the provisions of the Waqf Act.
“Surely, the Kejriwal government did its necessary work and so there appears to be nothing illegal about the decision,” he said. However, even when a board is dissolved or superseded, courtesy and tradition demand that the person appointed to perform the powers and functions of the board should be a Muslim, he said.
That was not the case in Delhi where the powers of the board were transferred to Revenue Secretary A. Ambarasu.
Full Report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/world/news/825781
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