Islamic State Document Reveals It's Preparing To Attack India in Bid to Entice USA Into War
New Age Islam News Bureau
29
Jul 2015
Taliban leader Mullah Omar PHOTO: REUTERS
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India
• Islamic State Document Reveals It's Preparing To Attack India in Bid to Entice USA Into War
• SC rejects Memon's plea, says no 'legal fallacy' in death warrant
• Gunmen Who Carried Out India's Punjab Attack Were Muslim: Police
• Hindu-Muslim feelings raw as India awaits Yakub Memon execution
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend Abdul Kalam’s last rites in Rameswaram
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South Asia
• Taliban Leader Mullah Omar Is 'Dead'
• 22 Militants Killed In Afghanistan Military Operations
• Bangladesh Upholds Opposition Politician's Death Sentence
• Taliban advance in north Afghanistan seizing district, villages
• Car bombing kills 2 civilians in northern Afghanistan
• Two killed, 11 wounded in Kundoz explosion
• Afghan govt, Taliban resume peace talks in Murree on Friday
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Pakistan
• Pakistan Police Kill Feared Sunni Militant Leader of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, 13 Others
• Pakistan Gets $336m to Support Forces In Afghanistan
• Shaharyar takes a somersault to throw weight behind PSL
• Police claim arrest of banned groups's commander in Peshawar
• Work begins on 13 constitutional amendments: Dar
• Karachi operation ‘unfair’, MQM team tells Nisar
• 4 get death in Kuwait for murdering Pakistani
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Arab World
• Dozens of ISIL Terrorists Killed In Iraq
• ISIL Executes Six People Aiming To Flee Area under Control
• U.S.-Led Coalition Targets ISIS in 32 Air Strikes
• Israeli drone strike kills 5 civilians in south-western Syria
• Iraqi forces take back western region from ISIL Takfiris
• Thousands of Sunni Fighters Join Anti-ISIL Iraqi Forces
• Syrian Forces Regain Control of Ha
• King backs Turkey’s war against Daesh
• Deadly clashes erupt at Lebanon refugee camp
• Egypt factory fire kills 19 workers
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Mideast
• Military Analyst: Turkey Pretending to Fight ISIL to Deceive Public Opinion
• Jets Hit Kurdish Militants in Southeast Turkey
• NATO promises solidarity with Turkey against Islamic State
• Turkey inks deal to open bases to U.S.-led coalition
• Turkish President Erdogan in Beijing amid ethnic tensions
• Hollande invites Iran’s Rowhani to visit France
• U.N. aid chief urges ‘redoubled’ efforts in Yemen
• Netanyahu: Iran a ‘formidable’ danger to Europe
• Nuclear conclusion should mark better Iran-EU ties: Rouhani
• JCPOA to boost Iran-France ties: Zarif
• Leader's Aide: UNSC Resolution on Iran's Defensive Capabilities Unacceptable
• Yemen: Saudi Air Raids Continue despite Truce
• Iranians Hold Protest Rally against Fabius' Presence in Tehran
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Europe
• Researchers Debate World's Oldest Qur'an
• Britain Is Losing Against ISIS Recruitment Tactics
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North America
• American Muslim Media Counters ISIL
'• I Am an American' Says Man Who Tried To Join Islamic State
• US urges India, Pakistan to work together
• N. America Awaits Largest MuslimFest
• Canadian Islam Converts Plotted To Kill Jewish Children
• Research examines Muslims’ experiences in Canada
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Southeast Asia
• Non-Muslim Parents Allowed Child Custody under New Perlis Fatwa, Says Report
• Indonesia, Britain to step up efforts to fight Islamic State
• Basuki Steps In to Thwart Church Demolition
• Unmarried Non-Muslim couple denied hotel room in Kuala Lumpur
• US Gives Malaysia Questionable Upgrade in Human Trafficking Ranks
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Africa
• Cameroon Deploys 2,000 Extra Troops to Confront Boko Haram
• Nigerian Army Liberates 30 Hostages Held By Boko Haram, Including Six-Day Old Infant
• Senegalese capital hosts international conference on ‘Islam and Peace
• Nigerian president visits one-time enemy Cameroon as Boko Haram steps up cross-border raids
• Diaspora Nigerians to raise fund for Boko Haram victims
• Institutionalized disadvantagement is reason for Boko Haram
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/islamic-state-document-reveals-preparing/d/104078
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India
Islamic State Document Reveals It's Preparing To Attack India in Bid to Entice USA Into War
Jul 29, 2015
Washington: The Islamic State is preparing to attack India to provoke an Armageddon-like confrontation with the US, according to an internal recruitment document of the feared group which also seeks to unite the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban into a single army of terror. However, NDTV quoted intelligence officials who said that there is no evidence of Islamic State footprint in India.
An investigative story published on Tuesday by the USA Today and reported by American Media Institute refers to a 32-page Urdu document obtained from a Pakistani citizen with connections inside the Pakistani Taliban.
Image courtesy: Inside the CaliphImage courtesy: Inside the Caliph
"The document warns that 'preparations' for an attack in India are underway and predicts that an attack will provoke an apocalyptic confrontation with America," the report said.
"Even if the US tries to attack with all its allies, which undoubtedly it will, the ummah (Muslims) will be united, resulting in the final battle," it added.
The document, according to the report, was independently translated into English by a Harvard scholar and verified by several serving and retired intelligence official.
Bruce Riedel, a retired CIA official and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, said striking in India would magnify the Islamic State' stature and threaten the stability of the region.
"Attacking in India is the Holy Grail of South Asian jihadists," he was quoted as saying.
The undated document is titled 'A Brief History of the Islamic State Caliphate, The Caliphate According to the Prophet.'
It seeks to unite dozens of factions of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban into a single army of terror, the daily said.
Full Report at:
http://www.firstpost.com/world/islamic-state-document-reveals-its-preparing-to-attack-india-in-bid-to-entice-usa-into-war-2369484.html
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SC Rejects Memon's Plea, Says No 'Legal Fallacy' In Death Warrant
Jul 29, 2015
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition of Yakub Memon, the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts convict, rejecting his argument that correct procedure was not followed in his case.
The apex court said there was no "legal fallacy" in the issuance of death warrant by the TADA court in Mumbai on April 30 scheduling Yakub's execution for Thursday, the day he turns 53, in Nagpur's Central jail.
"Issuance of death warrant cannot be faulted with," said the three-judge bench headed by justice Dipak Misra, adding "in the result, the writ petition (filed by Memon) sans merit and stands dismissed."
The bench also said the dismissal of curative petition by the senior most judges of the Supreme Court was correct.
"In view of that we conclude that the curative petition decided by the three senior most judges cannot be faulted," the bench said, adding that it was not inclined to go into the issue of second mercy petition filed by Memon before the Maharashtra government after the dismissal of his curative petition on July 21.
The bench rejected the contention of Memon that all legal remedies were not exhausted, including the issue of clemency, saying the President had rejected his mercy petition on April 11, 2014 which was communicated to him on May 26, 2014.
"After the first mercy petition was rejected he did not challenge it and on July 22, 2015, after rejection of his curative petition he filed the second mercy petition. However, how the second mercy petition is going to be dealt with, we are not inclined to go," the bench said.
The bench also rejected Memon's plea that death warrant was issued without hearing him and a mandatory 14 days time frame was not granted in informing him about the date of execution after the rejection of mercy petition.
The court order came after a day-long hearing on the petition by Memon and also a reference by two judge-bench on the appropriateness of another bench that had heard Memon's curative petition and rejected it on July 21. This reference was made following a split verdict between justice Anil R Dave and justice Kurien Joseph on Tuesday.
Dealing with the reference, the court said that the curative petition that "was decided by the three senior-most judges cannot be regarded as void or inappropriate" in context of the principle that was laid down by this court in an earlier judgement famously known as Hurra case.
Full Report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/supreme-court-rejects-curative-petition-of-yakub-memon/article1-1374311.aspx
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Gunmen who carried out India's Punjab attack were Muslim: police
29th July 2015
DINANAGAR: Three gunmen who fought a 12-hour battle on Monday near the Pakistan border were Muslim, the Punjab police chief said on Tuesday, contradicting speculation that the attack may have been carried out by Sikh separatists.
“The inspection of the bodies shows that the assailants were Muslims,” said Sumedh Singh Saini, director general of police in the northern state, speaking to reporters at the police station that came under attack.
Ten people, including four police, three civilians and the three militants, were killed in a prolonged battle that began early on Monday morning, the first of its kind in Indian Punjab in more than a decade.
Take a look: Gun battle at Indian Punjab police station ends, ten killed.
The attack bore the hallmarks of similar attacks in the neighbouring region of Jammu, which has seen more frequent operations by gunmen hitting security posts in recent years.
Saini did not elaborate why police concluded the gunmen were Muslim and declined to confirm whether or not they were from Pakistan, as some Indian security sources had suggested.
He said police had not yet identified the assailants, as they were not carrying any identifying papers or documents.
“They had even gone to the lengths of removing the identifying marks on their weapons,” Saini said.
Two GPS devices that police recovered inside the besieged station show a programmed route from the India-Pakistan border to the railway track where five explosives were found on Monday then on to the police station, Saini said, leading police to believe the same group planted the bombs and staged the gun battle.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1196924
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Hindu-Muslim feelings raw as India awaits Yakub Memon execution
By Fahad Shah
29th July 2015
India is absorbed, as the clock ticks, with the fate of high-profile death row inmate Yakub Memon, scheduled to be hanged on Thursday for his role in the 1993 Mumbai stock exchange bombings.
Mr. Memon was convicted in 2007 for helping to raise funds for the bombings, a set of 13 blasts that killed 257 people and sparked mass street riots in India’s financial hub that left nearly 900 people dead, most of them Muslims, and became a huge story in India for much of the 1990s.
For some, the rarely invoked death penalty is deserved justice for participation in a notorious crime that partly defined the period. Others see Memon as a scapegoat being exploited by those who want to profit from ongoing ethnic and religious hatreds.
Recommended: How well do you know India? Take the quiz.
To be sure, Memon’s case is controversial for reasons that reach far beyond the death penalty: It runs deeply into Hindu-Muslim divides and is reawakening sentiments from a period that witnessed the rise of communal tensions and the emergence of the BJP, the Hindu nationalist party now in power under President Narendra Modi. .
THE BABRI MASJID CASE
The Mumbai bombings themselves came as payback for the destruction four months earlier by Hindu mobs of the 454-year-old Babri Masjid, a mosque said by legend to be built on top of an ancient Hindu temple in the city of Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh state. Hindus claim Ayodhya as the birthplace of one of their gods, Rama.
The Babri destruction was the first violent provocation by Hindu hardliners in years and shocked the Indian mainstream. The event led to riots in most major cities and the death of nearly 2,000 people. It is also widely seen today as the launch point of a broad new Hindu nationalist movement known as the Sang Parivar.
In the subsequent Mumbai bombings, Indian investigators accused two top wanted underworld gangsters, Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon, of being the key conspirators behind the blasts. They also accused Pakistan’s intelligence agency of helping the attackers.
But neither suspect has ever been found. And in 1994 Yakub Memon, the younger brother of Tiger Memon, an accountant by trade, gave himself up, or was arrested – the stories clash -- in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Today a two-judge court heard a plea by Memon's to stay the execution. But only one judge agreed. The matter is now with the chief justice of India.
Full Report at:
http://news.yahoo.com/hindu-muslim-feelings-raw-india-awaits-yakub-memon-210954938.html
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend Abdul Kalam’s last rites in Rameswaram
Jul 29, 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the last rites of former president APJ Abdul Kalam in Rameswaram on Thursday, whose demise he described today as a loss of “Ratna (gem) of Bharat”. “The Prime Minister is coming,” Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu confirmed when asked if he would be attending the last rites of the former “scientist-President”. Speaking to reporters at the Palam technical area from where the mortal remains of the former president was flown to his hometown Rameswaram by a special aircraft, Naidu said some chief ministers are also expected to attend the last rites.
Full Report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/prime-minister-narendra-modi-to-attend-abdul-kalams-last-rites-in-rameswaram/
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South Asia
Taliban leader Mullah Omar is 'dead'
DAWN.COM | ISMAIL KHAN | REUTERS — 29 July, 2015
The leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar, has died, a report on the BBC website quoted unnamed Afghan government sources as saying on Wednesday. The report said that the reclusive one-eyed leader of the militant organisation had died two to three years ago.
The Afghan Taliban and sources close to the insurgent group’s mediators, who are holding talks with the Afghan government in Pakistan, however, insist that the Taliban chief has not died, according to a report on the Voice of America website.
Mullah Omar “is very much alive” and the rumors of his death are aimed at drawing out the reclusive leader, a Taliban spokesman was quoted by the VOA as saying.
A spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Sayed Zafar Hashemi, told reporters,“We are aware of the reports of the passing of Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader. We are still in the process of verifying those reports, and as soon as we get any more accurate information or identification ... we will let the media and the people of Afghanistan know about it.”
Another senior Afghan government official quoting a senior Taliban leader said the reclusive leader of the Afghan Taliban had died of multiple organ failure a year and a half ago and was subsequently buried in Kandahar.
He further said that an 8-member Taliban Shura will hold a meeting to choose Omar's successor for six month to one year and added that there are no clear contenders at the moment but many senior taliban leaders are being considered for the post.
A senior official from the Pakistani military, which historically has close ties to the Afghan Taliban and other Islamist militant groups in the region, said he could not confirm Omar's death.
“It is worth asking why this news has come out now, when we are two days away from the second round of peace talks,” said the official, who was not authorised to speak to the press. “Especially in light of reports that he died two years ago ... why is this news being released now? It raises questions about the intentions of people who don't want talks to go forward.”
The development comes amid the recently started peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Murree which were said to be endorsed by Mullah Omar. The peace talks hosted by Pakistan were also attended by officials from China and the US.
Also, Daesh or the self-styled Islamic State (IS) had in the past few months increased its footprint in Afghanistan establishing itself in previously Taliban-controlled areas. Daesh and Taliban are locked in fight also for control of some other regions.
There had been several earlier claims regarding Mullah Omar's death, which had been rejected by the Afghan Taliban. The whereabouts of Omar remained a mystery but he was believed to be leading the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan from hiding.
Born in 1960 in the village of Chah-i-Himmat, in Kandahar province, Mullah Omar received his early education from a seminary, according to Taliban sources.
He also fought against Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan in 1980s during which he suffered a shrapnel injury to his right eye.
Mullah Omar was Afghanistan's de facto head of state during their 1996-2001 rule over Afghanistan.The heavily bearded, one-eyed Omar has not been seen in public since the Taliban government in Afghanistan was toppled by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.
The Taliban were toppled for refusing to hand over al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks on the United States. Mullah Omar had forged close ties to al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden
The US State Department had offered a $10 million bounty on his head and described him as a tall male with a shrapnel wound to the right eye.
Mullah Omar, along with several other Taliban leaders, was said to have fled to Quetta where they formed the “Quetta shura”. A shura is a leadership council. other reports had also claimed that Mullah Omar had fled to Pakistan's Karachi city.
Later the United States had said it will not target Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders unless they posed a direct threat to the US, following the withdrawal of US forces in Afghanistan in January this year.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1197114/taliban-leader-mullah-omar-is-dead-report
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22 militants killed in Afghanistan military operations
Jul 29 2015
22 militants have been killed in newest military operations in eleven provinces, Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday morning.
A statement issued by the ministry states that these operations were conducted in Kunar, Nangarhar, Kundoz, Faryab, Balkh, Kandahar, Zabul, Urozgan, Maidan Wardak and Paktia province in past 24 hours.
According to the statement, 22 militants were killed, six wounded and 13 others detained by the security forces during these operations.
In the meantime, a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense states that five soldiers from the Afghan National Army also embraced martyrdom during the joint operations conducted in past 24 hours.
The statement further states that the soldiers embraced martyrdom in landmine explosion and insurgent fire. The exact location of the incidents is not mentioned in press release.
http://www.khaama.com/22-militants-killed-in-newest-military-operations-3687
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Bangladesh upholds opposition politician's death sentence
29th July 2015
“We have boosted security in key places in Dhaka and Chittagong,” assistant commissioner of Dhaka police Shibly Noman told AFP.
Hundreds of police have been deployed in the Hindu-dominated areas in Chittagong, the country's second largest city, to prevent “any untoward incidents and anarchy”, said Police commissioner Abdul Jalil Mondal.
Prosecutors said Chowdhury would go to the gallows within months unless his case is reviewed by the same court or he is granted clemency by the president.
All previous attempts to review war crimes cases or obtain a presidential reprieve have failed. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters he was “satisfied” with the verdict.
But defence lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said Chowdhury's legal team was disappointed and would seek a review of the judgement at the same court.
“My father is innocent. One day it will be proved to the people of Bangladesh,” Chowdhury's son Hummam Q Chowdhury told AFP. Hundreds of people staged “victory processions” as news of the verdict reached the capital's Shahbagh Square, where they had been massing since dawn.
Hundreds more joined celebrations in Chittagong, where pro-government groups held victory marches and handed out sweets. Pradip Kumar Das, police chief in Chowdhury's Chittagong constituency of Raozan, said there were no protests against the verdict.
Prosecutors had described Chowdhury, a minister in the previous BNP-led government, as a merciless killer who murdered more than 200 Hindus, including the owner of a well-known herbal medicine company. The trial heard that he had dragged owner Nutan Chandra Sinha out of his prayer room and Pakistani soldiers had then shot him.
“Chowdhury then shot him again to make sure he was dead,” prosecutor Zead Al Malum told AFP after the original verdict.
The BNP and its Islamist allies have described the war crimes tribunal as a tool for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League to silence its opponents. Bangladesh has struggled to come to terms with its violent birth.
The government set up the tribunal in 2010, saying trials were needed to heal the wounds of the 1971 war, in which it says three million people were killed and 200,000 women raped. Independent estimates put the death toll at between 300,000 and 500,000.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1197103/bangladesh-upholds-opposition-politicians-death-sentence
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Taliban advance in north Afghanistan seizing district, villages
29th July 2015
KABUL: Taliban fighters have gained ground in two provinces in northern Afghanistan, overrunning a district centre in Sar-e-Pol and seizing villages in Kunduz, local officials there said on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, they made a successful push towards a strategic pass at the border with Pakistan, capturing a large police base in Badakhshan province in the northeastern corner of the mountainous country.
Most foreign forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2014, leaving Afghan forces to fight the resilient insurgency with only limited coalition support.
The Taliban fought Afghan forces for two days in Sar-e-Pol province before capturing the district of Kohestanat district on Monday evening, the police chief said.
“We asked for air support but did not receive it, so our security forces quit,” Asif Jabarkhel said, adding that one policeman and two local fighters were killed in the battle. Police planned to retake the district, he said.
In Kunduz, the Taliban have seized around 70 villages in Khanabad district this week, a spokesman for the provincial governor said.
More than half the province is now under Taliban control, according to local officials. They captured two Kunduz districts in June, one of which was quickly retaken by Afghan forces but the other remains under insurgent control.
The militant group was ousted from power by an US-led coalition in 2001.
Most US forces left the country last year, but a small contingent of several thousand counter-terror troops remains engaged in combat operations. NATO also runs a separate two-year training mission that will continue through 2016.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1196923/taliban-advance-in-north-afghanistan-seizing-district-villages
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Dr. Ishrat Hussain to be awarded Nishan-i- Imtiaz
July 29, 2015
ISLAMABAD: On the recommendation of the Prime Minister, President Mamnoon Hussain has approved a summary today for awarding Nishan-i-Imtiaz to Dr. Ishrat Hussain.
Dr Ishrat Husain was the Governor State Bank of Pakistan.
As per details, He is to be awarded the Nishan-i-Imtaiz in admiration of his services in education sector, financial development and social reforms in the state.
http://nation.com.pk/national/29-Jul-2015/dr-ishrat-hussain-to-be-awarded-nishan-i-imtiaz
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Car bombing kills 2 civilians in northern Afghanistan
29th July 2015
KABUL: A police official says a car bombing in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday killed two civilians and wounded 11.
Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for the police chief in Kunduz province, says the blast occurred when a local police vehicle was passing by.
Hussaini says no police officers were wounded in the attack, which took place near a hospital in the city of Kunduz.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1197109/car-bombing-kills-2-civilians-in-northern-afghanistan
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Two killed, 11 wounded in Kundoz explosion
By ZABIHULLAH MOOSAKHAIL
Jul 29 2015
Two civilians have lost lives and 11 others, including policemen, sustained injuries in a bomb explosion in northern Kundoz province.
Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, spokesman for the provincial police headquarters said that the bomb was attached to a civilian vehicle that detonated at the entrance of the regional hospital in Kundoz city this morning.
He said a woman is among those killed and those wounded include two policemen.
According to the police spokesman the bomb was detonated with a remote control from a distance and the target of the explosion was security personnel guarding the hospital.
Full Report at:
http://www.khaama.com/two-killed-11-wounded-in-kundoz-explosion-3685
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Afghan govt, Taliban resume peace talks in Murree on Friday
ISMAIL KHAN
29th July 2015
PESHAWAR: Representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban are set to meet again for the second round of peace talks on Friday, senior Pakistan government officials said.
The meeting to be held in the hill resort of Murree just outside Pakistan’s federal capital of Islamabad would be more substantive, raising hopes of a viable peace process to end the conflict in Afghanistan, the officials said.
An official, who requested he be not named “out of deference to our friends from Kabul”, said: “It is an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace initiative. We are here to facilitate.”
Know more: Afghan govt, Taliban agree to build trust
With direct knowledge of the meeting, he said the second round would be more substantive and detailed. “The fact that the two sides are re-convening in less than a month is encouraging. It is a big success,” the official said.
“But let’s not be over ambitious. Let’s not raise the expectations bar too high,” cautioned another official, who also requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. “This is just the beginning of a long process. Both sides will have to understand each other’s positions and make a determined effort to meet half way,” he said.
“We expect both sides to discuss confidence-building measures, including steps to bring down the level of violence before they move on to discuss the more complex issues to end the conflict in Afghanistan.” He said that Kabul seemed ready to listen to and discuss what the Taliban have to say.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1197087/afghan-govt-taliban-resume-peace-talks-in-murree-on-friday
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Pakistan
Pakistan police kill feared Sunni militant leader of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, 13 others
29th July 2015
MUZAFFARGARH, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police gunned down one of the country's most-feared Sunni militant leaders and 13 followers in a mysterious pre-dawn shootout Wednesday, killing a man believed to behind the slaughter of hundreds of the nation's minority Shiites.
Malik Ishaq, who directed the operations of the Taliban- and al-Qaida-linked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group, was so feared in Pakistan that frightened judges hid their faces from him and even offered the unrepentant killer tea and cookies in court.
Yet Ishaq, believed to be either 55 or 56, operated freely for years in Pakistan as the country's intelligence services helped nurture Sunni militant groups in the 1980s and 1990s to counter a perceived threat from neighbouring Shiite power Iran.
Details of Ishaq's killing remain cloudy in Pakistan, where extrajudicial slayings by police remain common — especially in pre-staged ambushes. Ishaq already had been detained by police, arrested two days earlier on suspicion of being involved in the slaying of two Shiites, police officer Bakhtiar Ahmed said.
Early Wednesday, as officers tried to transfer Ishaq from a prison in the city of Multan, gunmen ambushed the police convoy transporting him in an attempt to free the militant, Ahmed said. The ensuing gun battle killed Ishaq and at least 13 of his associates, including two of his sons and his deputy, Ghulam Rasool, Ahmed said.
In a later statement, police said "14 or 15 unidentified armed terrorists" attacked police vehicles to free Ishaq when officers were returning from an area in Muzaffargarh after seizing weapons, explosives and detonators on information provided by Ishaq and some of his associates.
It also said Ishaq and his associates were killed by those who ambushed the convoy, without elaborating.
Shuja Khanzada, the provincial home minister in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, where the alleged ambush took place, said the shooting wounded six police officers who "demonstrated extreme bravery."
No other witnesses to the shooting could be immediately located, nor could Ishaq's family members.
"Malik Ishaq was behind many acts of terrorism and he was freed by courts in the past due to lack of evidence," Khanzada told The Associated Press. "Finally, this symbol of terror met his final fate."
Full Report at:
http://news.yahoo.com/pakistani-police-kill-ex-head-outlawed-group-13-044608394.html
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Pakistan gets $336m to support forces in Afghanistan
29th July 2015
Pakistan on Tuesday received some $336 million from the United States for its ongoing role in combating a Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The injection of cash, which comes as the Taliban steps up its annual summer offensive launched in late April, has helped Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves reach a fresh high of about $19 billion, state bank officials said.
Regular payments to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) programme began in 2001 when Pakistan joined the US-led coalition in Afghanistan as a "frontline ally".
Pakistan provides use of its air bases and other facilities in exchange for the reimbursements.
The central State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in a one-line press note said it had received a total of $336.8 million under the CSF programme, which is the first tranche of a $1.5 billion for the current fiscal year ending June 2016.
Full Report at:
http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-gets-336m-support-forces-afghanistan-144312816.html
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Shaharyar takes a somersault to throw weight behind PSL
29th July 2015
LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan, who had earlier termed the plans of hosting Pakistan Super League (PSL) as looking dicey, made a U-turn on Tuesday to say that the high-profile league is likely to be held at off-shore venues in Feb 2016.
In a clarification issued on Tuesday, the PCB quoted Shaharyar as saying from England that his views on PSL had been misinterpreted in a recent interview. “I have just had an update from the PSL secretariat and am very happy with the progress they are making. I have full confidence in the PSL being successfully organised outside Pakistan. I am sure that all issues will be successfully dealt by our PSL secretariat.”
“The PCB chairman has extended a warm welcome to the PSL project director Salman Sarwar Butt and external consultants Repucom,” said the PCB clarification.
“The chairman pointed out the need to keep in mind Pakistan’s security situation in terms of inviting so many foreign players and then guaranteeing security for five different teams all at one point in time.”
“The UAE has been an excellent host but just because they are not making their grounds available, we cannot sit back and delay the PSL. The PCB has created an FTP window for the PSL and we can’t afford to keep letting the window slip by. We have a dedicated team in place, and we have engaged world renowned consultants to get this rolling,” the PCB press release quoted Shaharyar as saying on Tuesday. “I am excited by the prospect of PSL and I wish our team led by the PCB Executive Committee all the best for this endeavour.”
However, it must be mentioned here that in a recent interview to Dawn in England, Shaharyar had said the hosting of PSL as per plan is looking dicey. “I’m not a great T20 man, so I’ve left this project to Najam Sethi and others. But at the moment, it’s looking dicey. And at this late stage, to go to Qatar and put everything right for February, it’s going to be difficult,” the PCB chief had stated in the interview. “My theory is that if you can’t do something well, don’t do it.”
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1196999/shaharyar-takes-a-somersault-to-throw-weight-behind-psl
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Police claim arrest of banned groups's commander in Peshawar
ALI AKBAR
29th July 2015
PESHAWAR: Police on Wednesday claimed the arrest of the commander of a banned outfit and recovery weapons and explosive during several raids conducted in Peshawar.
According to Peshawar SSP (operations) Dr Mian Saeed, search operations were conducted in Hazar Khawani, Dir Colony, Tor Baba and Ghafoorabad areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's provincial capital city.
During the raids the commander of a proscribed militant organisation, identified as M Fahim son of Naseem Khan and resident of Hazar Khawani areas, was arrested, Saeed further said.
He added that three grenades, cartridges, bomb timers, batteries, remotes, acids and weapons were also recovered from the arrested man.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1197106/police-claim-arrest-of-banned-groupss-commander-in-peshawar
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Work begins on 13 constitutional amendments: Dar
IFTIKHAR A. KHAN
29th July 2015
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar who heads the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms, said on Tuesday that work on 13 constitutional amendments was under way as part of the electoral reforms agenda.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the committee, he said agreement had been reached on the amendments in meetings of a sub-committee headed by legal expert and former law minister Zahid Hamid, and the drafting work had been taken up to save time.
Mr Hamid was present on the occasion.
Take a look: PM Nawaz wants electoral reforms expedited
Mr Dar said there were some differences on other proposed amendments, particularly about direct elections for Senate and women’s seats. These will be sent to the main committee and its 34 members will report to the sub-committee after consultations with the leadership of their parties.
He said the sub-committee had completed review of the six major electoral laws -- including the Delimitation of Constituencies Act 1974, Electoral Rolls Act 1974, Political Parties Order 2002, Allocation of Symbols Order 2002, Election Commission Order 2002 and Representation of the People Act 1976.
The sub-committee has sought one month to complete the remaining work.
He said the parliamentary committee had referred the report of the inquiry commission on the 2013 general elections to the sub-committee to ensure that shortcomings of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) mentioned in the report were addressed, if they had not already been taken up.
At the request of the ECP, he said, the sub-committee had nominated two of its members, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry of the PML-N and Dr Arif Alvi of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, on a working group constituted by the commission to examine the feasibility of facilitating overseas Pakistanis to exercise their voting right without coming to the country.
He said the ECP had been directed to examine laws of other countries on limiting the number of seats for which a candidate might contest.
Giving details of the work undertaken by the committee so far, Mr Dar said proposals had been invited from civil society organisations, lawyers and general public. The committee has received 1,283 proposals spread over 4,000 pages from different quarters. An 11-member sub-committee headed by Zahid Hamid may be assigned to examine the proposals and make recommendations.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1197038/work-begins-on-13-constitutional-amendments-dar
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Karachi operation ‘unfair’, MQM team tells Nisar
SYED IRFAN RAZA
29th July 2015
ISLAMABAD: The MQM conveyed on Tuesday its concerns to the federal government against the ongoing operation of Rangers in Karachi and called it ‘unfair’ and ‘discriminatory’.
The party claimed that it was intentionally targeted or victimised, although the operation was apparently launched against criminals and outlaws.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1197095/karachi-operation-unfair-mqm-team-tells-nisar
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4 get death in Kuwait for murdering Pakistani
29th July 2015
KUWAIT CITY: A Kuwaiti court on Tuesday sentenced four Egyptian men to death for murdering a Pakistani guard during a robbery at a construction site.
Another three Egyptians were sentenced to seven years in jail each for helping them.
According to the verdict, the four used a hammer to beat the Pakistani until he died.
They admitted to police that they killed the guard at the construction project, and stole 36 tons of steel which they sold for $18,000.
The verdict can be appealed.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1197012/4-get-death-in-kuwait-for-murdering-pakistani
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Arab World
Dozens of ISIL Terrorists Killed in Iraq
Jul 29, 2015
Commander of the 30th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization units Abu Abdullah al-Fahdawi said that 30 ISIL Takfiri militants were killed as his forces launched an operation in the al-Rashad district of the town of al-Karmah, situated about 48 kilometers (30 miles) West of the capital. A number of improvised explosive devices were also defused following the offensive.
More than 20 ISIL members were also killed during heavy fighting with Iraqi army troopers in Albu Jawari district, which lies North of Salahuddin’s provincial capital city of Tikrit, on Tuesday.
Separately, Iraqi security forces raided militant hideouts in the city of Husaybah, which lies seven kilometers (4.5 miles) East of Anbar’s provincial capital city of Ramadi, killing 14 ISIL Takfiris.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940507000658
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ISIL executes six people aiming to flee area under control
Jul 29, 2015
The Takfiri ISIL group has executed six people in the northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk for attempting to flee an area under the control of the terrorist outfit.
According to a local source in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, ISIL executed six brothers from two families, who were about to flee from a district in the city, and raised their bodies on electricity poles.
The source explained that the Takfiri group executed the Iraqi people by “shooting them dead in front of a gathering of people in the center of the village of al-Hegel.”
According to the source, they were executed for “their attempt to flee from the village of Asudaira in the district of Hawija.”
The United Nations (UN)’s human rights office said on Tuesday that a growing number of people in Iraq have encountered deadly ambushes as they try to escape areas controlled by the Takfiri group.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/07/29/422367/Iraq-ISIL-Kirkuk-six-brothers
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U.S.-led coalition targets ISIS in 32 air strikes
28 July 2015
The United States and its allies conducted 23 air strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces in Iraq and nine in Syria on Monday in the latest round of daily attacks on the militant group, the joint task force overseeing the air strikes said on Tuesday.
In Iraq, air strikes using attack, fighter-attack, bomber and drone aircraft targeted ISIS forces near Al Qaim, Bayji, Habbaniyah, Haditha, Makhmur, Mosul, Ramadi, Sinjar and Tal Afar, the statement said.
Full Report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/29/U-S-led-coalition-targets-ISIS-in-32-air-strikes-.html
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Israeli drone strike kills 5 civilians in south-western Syria
Jul 29, 2015
At least five civilians have been killed when an Israeli combat drone struck an area in the strategic southwestern Syrian city of Quneitra, close to the line separating the Syrian part of the Golan Heights from the Israeli-occupied sector.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/07/29/422384/Israeli-drone-strike-fatalities-Syria-Quneitra-Golan-Heights
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Iraqi forces take back western region from ISIL Takfiris
Jul 29, 2015
Iraqi security forces have managed to recapture a town in the conflict-ridden western province of al-Anbar from Takfiri ISIL militants as they continue to gain more ground in the battle against the extremists.
The president of the Khalidiya District Council, Ali Dawood, told Arabic-language al-Sumeria satellite television network that Iraqi troopers liberated the region of Albu Dhiab, which lies north of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, on Wednesday.
He added that tens of ISIL Takfiris were killed and injured during the operation.
Dawood further said that Iraqi security forces are now heading toward the neighboring Albu Faraj area.
The Iraqi Defense Ministry, in a statement released on Wednesday, also announced that government forces have launched a barrage of rockets at ISIL positions in the town of al-Karmah, situated about 48 kilometers (30 miles) west of the capital, Baghdad, killing 11 Takfiri militants.
The commander of the 30th Brigade of Popular Mobilization units, Abu Abdullah al-Fahdawi, said on Tuesday that 30 ISIL extremists were killed as his forces launched an operation in the al-Rashad district of al-Karmah. A number of improvised explosive devices were also defused following the offensive.
More than 20 ISIL members were killed earlier in the day during heaving fighting with Iraqi army troopers in Albu Jawari district, which lies north of Salahuddin’s provincial capital city of Tikrit.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/07/29/422371/Iraq-liberation-Albu-Dhiab-Anbar-Albu-Faraj-ISIL
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Thousands of Sunni Fighters Join Anti-ISIL Iraqi Forces
Jul 29, 2015
Habib al-Tarfi, a lawmaker in the Citizen coalition, which represents the interests of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, said on Tuesday that the fighters have joined the ranks of Iraqi volunteer forces "to battle the terrorists who seek to destroy Iraq and rip the country to shreds".
He further said that Iraqi security personnel backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization forces have so far managed to liberate many areas in Diyala, Salahuddin and Anbar provinces as well as the town of Jurf al-Nasr, located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) Southwest of the capital, Baghdad, from the control of the ISIL terrorists.
The ISIL Takfiri terrorists currently control a shrinking part of Syria and Iraq. They have threatened all communities, including Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians, Ezadi Kurds and others, as they continue their atrocities in Iraq.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940507000511
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Syrian Forces Regain Control of Ha
Jul 29, 2015
The ISIL Takfiri group "was expelled by the army from Zuhur, the last district in which it was present in Hasakah", Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
He said the militants belonging to the terrorist group "have been pushed to the Southern outskirts of the city".
The victory was achieved after more than a month of fighting in the city between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters on the one side and the Takfiri terrorists on the other.
A Syrian military source also said that Syrian army troops killed more than 500 gunmen in the process of clearing the city from Takfiri militants.
The source highlighted the contribution of Kurdish forces to the victory, saying they backed the Syrian army in cutting the militants’ supply routes.
According to the source, the Syrian army forces are currently demining the city.
A local Kurdish commander said at least 15 villages around Hasakah are now uninhabitable due to the mines laid by terrorists.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940507000411
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King backs Turkey’s war against Daesh
29 July 2015
JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Tuesday condemned the recent terror attack in the Turkish town of Suruc, in a telephonic conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan called the king to discuss the Turkish military operation against Daesh. King Salman said terrorist organizations were working to destabilize the region’s security and supported Turkey’s right to protect its people.
NATO also strongly backed Turkey’s fight against Daesh terrorists in Syria at emergency talks on Tuesday.
Full Report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/news/783466
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Deadly clashes erupt at Lebanon refugee camp
29 July 2015
Two people were killed late Tuesday in clashes between armed groups in a Palestinian refugee camp near Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon, a Palestinian official told AFP.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, named the two killed in the Ain al-Hilweh camp as Talal Maqdah, a member of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement, and Diab Mohammad, a juice seller.
He said another six people were wounded in the clashes, including one man who was in critical condition.
"Armed men began shooting at two members of (Islamist group) Jund al-Sham, and there was an exchange of fire between Jund al-Sham and the Fatah organisation," the official said.
He said the six wounded individuals had been specifically "targeted."
"The situation is very tense, and there are dozens of armed men spread out in the streets," he added.
Full Report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/29/Two-killed-in-clashes-in-Lebanon-refugee-camp.html
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Egypt factory fire kills 19 workers
28 July 2015
Egypt’s Health Ministry says a fire at a furniture factory east of Cairo has killed 19 people and injured 22, according to Agence France-Presse.
It was not immediately clear what started Tuesday’s fire in the Al-Helw factory on the outskirts of the capital.
Egyptian state-run media said the factory had not obtained a government safety certification. Local media reported that firefighters had gained control of the blaze Tuesday afternoon by using some 20 fire trucks.
Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said in a statement that the injured and dead were transported to local hospitals.
Video footage posted on social networks showed thick smoke billowing from the factory as rescuers crowded to help the victims.
Full Report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/28/Egypt-factory-fire-kills-19-workers.html
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Mideast
Military Analyst: Turkey Pretending to Fight ISIL to Deceive Public Opinion
Jul 29, 2015
"The statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on fighting the ISIL is aimed at concealing the Turkish government's support for terrorism and deceiving the public opinion in the region and the world," Issa al-Zaher told FNA on Wednesday.
He also said that more Turkish people have risen up to stand against Erdogan's interference in Syria's internal affairs, specially after Iran and the six world powers (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) signed final nuclear agreement in Vienna on July 14.
On June 28, the London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported that 12,000 Turkish forces are ready for military intervention in Syria under the pretext of creating a buffer zone to protect the Turkish borders against the threat of the terrorist groups.
The Turkish security forces also arrested over 500 suspected militants in Southern Turkey.
ON July 21, a discontented nurse working clandestinely for a covert medical corps in Şanlıurfa—a city in Southeastern Turkey, close to the border with neighboring Syria— divulged information about the alleged role which Sümeyye Erdogan (daughter of President Erdogan) plays in providing extended medical care for ISIL wounded militants transferred to Turkish hospitals.
Living in a dilapidated apartment in Istanbul’s outskirts along with her two children, a 34-year- old emaciated nurse who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, disclosed her seven-week agonizing ordeal of working in secret military hospital in Şanlıurfa, 150 km (93 miles) East of Gaziantep and 1,300 km (808 miles) Southeast of Istanbul, Global Research News reported.
“Almost every day several khaki Turkish military trucks were bringing scores of severely injured, shaggy ISIL rebels to our secret hospital and we had to prepare the operating rooms and help doctors in the following procedures," she said.
"I was given a generous salary of $ 7,500 but they were unaware of my religion. The fact is that I adhere to Alawite faith and since Erdoğan took the helm of the country the system shows utter contempt for Alawite minority – Alawite faith is an esoteric offshoot of Shia Islam,” Said the nurse.
A London-educated scion of wealthy family and the eldest daughter of totalitarian President Erdoğan, Sümeyye Erdoğan, more than once announced her intention to be dispatched to Mousl, Iraq’s once second-biggest city and ISIL's stronghold to do relief works as a volunteer which drew public ire and vast condemnation from Turkey’s opposition parties. Moreover, the Turkish opposition parties accuse the administration of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of seeking diligently to hide the truth concerning numerous financial malfeasances Erdoğan son, Bilal Erdoğan, is involved.
Erdoğan who always sheds crocodile tears for the plight of Syrian trapped between the hammer of hunger and the anvil of ISIL extremism, conceals the fact that his own son, Bilal Erdoğan, is involved in lucrative business of smuggling the Iraqi and Syrian plundered oil. Bilal Erdoğan who owns several maritime companies, had allegedly signed contracts with European operating companies to carry Iraqi stolen oil to different Asian countries.
Earlier this month, Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) warned against possible attacks by the ISIL Takfiri group inside Turkey.
The MİT issued a warning for the country’s foreign ministry, police and security forces that the Takfiri militants, who have retreated from Syria’s border regions, are trying to cross into Turkey, Turkish media reported on Tuesday.
The ISIL militants could be working on armed or bombing attacks in the Turkish cities, MİT said.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940507000570
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Jets hit Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey
28 July 2015
Turkish jets on Tuesday hit Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey after the group fired on security forces, the army said.
“Two F-16 jets carried out air strikes at 1510 local time (1210 GMT) against the terrorist group” in a mountainous region bordering Iraq, the army said in a statement, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"The targets were directly hit," it said.
Full Report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/28/Turkish-warplanes-pound-Kurdish-militants-in-southeast.html
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NATO promises solidarity with Turkey against Islamic State
Jul 29, 2015
NATO strongly backed Turkey's fight against Islamic State militants in Syria at emergency talks held on Tuesday, but some countries expressed concerns that strikes on Kurdish fighters could torpedo peace talks with the rebels.
The rare meeting held at Turkey's request came as an uncompromising President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he could not continue negotiations with the Kurds amid attacks on Turkish targets.
Turkish jets later hit Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey after the group fired on security forces, the army said, stepping up a campaign that Ankara has launched in parallel with its strikes on IS, despite the Kurds' bitter opposition to the jihadists.
"All allies expressed their strong support for Turkey and we all stand together in solidarity with Turkey. We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said after the meeting of the alliance's ambassadors in Brussels.
Stoltenberg said Turkey had not asked for military help -- the alliance's only Muslim member has the second largest armed forces in NATO after the United States -- and he welcomed its increased effort against IS.
Turkey requested the meeting of all 28 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation nations after a devastating suicide bombing blamed on IS militants in the largely Kurdish border town of Suruc last week in which 32 people were killed.
The Kurds, however, suspect the Turkish government of colluding with IS -- a charge Ankara categorically denies -- and in the Suruc aftermath the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) claimed several deadly attacks against police.
Once-reluctant Ankara then launched attacks against IS targets in Syria and Kurd positions in northern Iraq, despite the fact that Kurdish forces have won some of the biggest military successes against the jihadists.
Turkey also agreed with the United States to create an "IS-free zone" in northern Syria and dropped its previous refusal to let US aircraft use its Incirlik airbase to launch attacks on the jihadists.
Erdogan says peace 'impossible'
Erdogan -- whose relations with his Western allies have been bedevilled by human rights concerns -- insisted Ankara would press its attacks to the full and said he considered peace talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) dead in the water.
"It is not possible to carry on the (peace) process with those who target our national unity and brotherhood," Erdogan told reporters before leaving on a visit to China.
"Any step back is out of the question."
Erdogan added that a safe zone would help the return of 1.7 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Full Report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/nato-promises-solidarity-with-turkey-against-islamic-state/article1-1374165.aspx
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Turkey inks deal to open bases to U.S.-led coalition
29 July 2015
Turkey has formally signed a deal with the United States opening its Incirlik air base to the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The agreement only concerns the fight against ISIS and does not include air support to Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters in a briefing.
Additionally, Turkish air strikes hit six Kurdish militant targets in Turkey and northern Iraq overnight, the prime minister's office said.
Full Report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/29/Air-strikes-hit-PKK-targets-in-Turkey-Iraq-overnight-.html
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Turkish President Erdogan in Beijing amid ethnic tensions
29 July 2015
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived Wednesday in Beijing amid tensions over China's treatment of its Uighur minority and sensitive negotiations surrounding the possible purchase of a Chinese missile system.
While the sides enjoy outwardly friendly relations, Turkish public sentiment has been inflamed by reports that members of the Uighur minority native to China's northwest have been restricted in practicing their Islamic faith, particularly during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ended in mid-July.
Turks and Uighurs share close linguistic, cultural and religious ties.
Hundreds of people marched in Istanbul earlier this month, burning Chinese flags outside the Chinese consulate, waving flags representing the Uighurs' putative homeland and calling for a boycott of Chinese goods. The demonstration was peaceful but a group of nationalists tried to attack a group of Korean tourists which they mistook for Chinese nationals. Police rescued the tourists.
Prior to the protests, the Turkish Foreign Ministry had called in the Chinese ambassador and issued a statement saying the Turkish public was "saddened" by reports of the Ramadan restrictions.
China responded by denying any curbs on religious expression and demanding that Ankara clarify the matter.
Despite Beijing's statements, China has exercised long-standing bans on Uighur Communist Party members, government workers and students joining in religious observances.
Erdogan was due to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping following a formal welcoming ceremony.
Full Report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/29/Turkish-President-Erdogan-in-Beijing-amid-ethnic-tensions.html
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Hollande invites Iran’s Rowhani to visit France
29 July 2015
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrived in Tehran for a one-day visit on Wednesday and was due to meet President Hassan Rowhani and several ministers, Iran's state news agency IRNA said.
French President Francois Hollande has invited his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rowhani to visit France in November, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was quoted as saying by Iran's ISNA agency during a visit to Tehran on Wednesday.
"I am carrying a letter of invitation from Francois Hollande, the president of my country, to Hassan Rowhani, president of Iran, to visit France in November," Fabius was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Full Report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/29/French-foreign-minister-arrives-in-Tehran-for-talks.html
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U.N. aid chief urges ‘redoubled’ efforts in Yemen
29 July 2015
The U.N. aid chief on Tuesday urged the Security Council to redouble efforts to secure a pause in fighting in Yemen, saying he would travel to the country within weeks.
"This conflict has brought appalling damage on an already suffering people," former British MP Stephen O'Brien told the Council in New York as the latest truce collapsed.
"We must redouble our efforts to secure a pause in the fighting which is adhered to by all parties, to reach all those in need with basic assistance, and urgently to give time and space to seek to reach a more durable ceasefire and a political solution."
O'Brien, who took up his position in late May, said he would travel to Yemen "in the coming weeks to see for myself the needs of the Yemeni people and the challenges faced."
Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations, Khaled Hussein Alyemany, said the visit would take place on August 9.
O'Brien told the Security Council that the much-needed aid response in Yemen was "woefully under-resourced."
So far, only 15 percent -- $241 million -- had been received out of the United Nations' $1.6 billion appeal.
"Additional resources are urgently needed -- now," he said.
Aid agencies developed a plan to reach three million people during the five-day truce with vital aid, including water, sanitation, food and life-saving healthcare.
"That plan is live and ready to go now -- if only we could get a pause to stick," said O'Brien.
Eighty percent of Yemen's population -- an estimated 21 million people -- are in need of aid and protection, and more than 10 million are struggling to obtain food and water, the U.N. says.
Full Report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/29/Time-to-redouble-efforts-in-Yemen-U-N-.html
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Netanyahu: Iran a ‘formidable’ danger to Europe
28 July 2015
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Iran posed a “formidable” threat to Europe, accusing its proxy Hezbollah of operating cells across the continent.
Just last month, a member of the Lebanese Shiite militant group was jailed in Cyprus for plotting attacks on Israeli targets on the Mediterranean island.
Netanyahu, on an official visit to Nicosia, said “Iran and Hezbollah organise a terrorist network that covers over 30 countries on five continents, including just about every country in Europe.”
Iran and leading world powers signed a deal this month on Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme, an accord the Israeli leader criticised as a “stunning, historic mistake”.
Netanyahu said Israel and Cyprus were faced with the dual dangers of Iran and the extremist attacks perpetrated by ISIS, which controls large parts of Iraq and Syria.
“ISIS obviously endangers European societies, Western societies, African societies, the whole world,” the premier said.
“These are two formidable dangers. They are expressed in many weapons, in many attacks, but the most prevalent one that concerns Cyprus and Europe is of course the terrorism that emanates from these areas,” he added.
Last month, a Cypriot court jailed a Lebanese-Canadian man for six years after he pleaded guilty to terror charges linked to 8.2 tonnes of potential bomb-making material found in his home.
Authorities said the man was a member of the military wing of Hezbollah and had helped the group plan “terrorist attacks” on “Israeli interests in Cyprus”.
Cyprus is not known for its militant activity despite its proximity to the Middle East.
But in 2013, a Cypriot court sentenced a Lebanon-born Swedish man who admitted he was a Hezbollah member, to four years in jail after he was found guilty of targeting Israelis on the island.
Full Report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/07/28/Netanyahu-Iran-a-formidable-danger-to-Europe-.html
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Nuclear conclusion should mark better Iran-EU ties: Rouhani
Jul 29, 2015
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and six world powers should pave the way for further promotion of ties between Tehran and Europe.
“The nuclear agreement should mark [Iran’s] better cooperation with Europe,” Rouhani said in a meeting with visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Tehran on Wednesday.
On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 countries – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – finalized the text of an agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
Under the JCPOA, limits are put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for a set of commitments by the P5+1, including the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.
Fabius, for his part, invited Rouhani to visit France on behalf of French President François Hollande.
The French foreign minister arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday for a day-long visit to hold talks with the country’s high-ranking officials.
Earlier in the day, he held talks with Zarif and then attended a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart.
Fabius’ visit to Iran is the first by a French foreign minister to the Islamic Republic in 12 years.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/07/29/422381/Iran-President-Hassan-Rouhani-French-Foreign-Minister-Laurent-Fabius-
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JCPOA to boost Iran-France ties: Zarif
Jul 29, 2015
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the implementation of a recent nuclear agreement reached between Iran and six world powers will improve the Islamic Republic’s ties with France.
“The implementation of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) will prepare the ground for broader cooperation between the two countries on such areas as energy, transportation, auto-making industries and other fields in which Iran and France previously had cooperation,” Zarif said in a joint press conference with the visiting French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, in Tehran on Wednesday.
Iran and the P5+1 - the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China - plus Germany managed to finalize the text of the JCPOA in the Austrian capital of Vienna on July 14. Under the JCPOA, limits are put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for a set of commitments by the P5+1, including the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.
The Iranian minister further said he held “good” discussions with his French counterpart in Tehran on ways to promote Tehran-Paris cooperation in various sectors and noted that a French economic delegation would travel to Tehran by the end of this summer. He added that the French foreign minister’s current visit to Tehran and his talks with senior Iranian officials would lay the groundwork for “clearing up certain misunderstandings.”
“During [our] talks today, we agreed to expand political dialog between the two countries,” Zarif pointed out.
He noted that political dialog between Iran and France has been confined to nuclear issues, but that the two sides are determined to hold regular meetings among their officials at different levels.
The top Iranian diplomat also hailed Fabius’s current visit, saying a French foreign minister is travelling to Tehran after 17 years within the framework of mutual relations at a ministerial level.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/07/29/422374/Iran-France-Mohammad-Javad-Zarif-Laurent-Fabius-JCPOA
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Leader's Aide: UNSC Resolution on Iran's Defensive Capabilities Unacceptable
Jul 29, 2015
On July 20, the UNSC unanimously endorsed a draft resolution turning into international law the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed by Iran and the P5+1 group of countries over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
"The recent UNSC resolution (Resolution 2231) on Iran's defensive capabilities, specially its missiles, is unacceptable to Iran," Velayati told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with a science delegation from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
He underlined that the Islamic Republic of Iran will never accept that.
"This resolution has been prepared under the influence of expansionist western states to undermine Iran's defense, and specially missile capabilities, and it is unacceptable from Iran's point of view," Velayati added.
He noted that the UNSC measure is aimed at depriving Iran of its independence, and said, "The goal of these moves by the UNSC which is under their (the western powers') influence is to deprive Iran of its Islamic-Iranian identity, independence and territorial integrity, but Iran will not accept this and other similar resolutions."
All 15 members of the UNSC voted for the draft UN resolution in New York on Monday, setting the stage for the lifting of Security Council sanctions against Iran.
The text of the draft UN resolution calls for the “full implementation” of the Vienna agreement “on the timetable established,” and urges UN member countries to facilitate the process.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940507000936
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Yemen: Saudi Air Raids Continue despite Truce
Jul 29, 2015
On Tuesday, Saudi fighter jets bombed the military base of al-Anad in the province of Lahij five times.
Saudi air strikes also hit the province of Hudaydah on the same day.
Reports also said that the Saudi fighter jets targeted a market in the district of Qa’atabah in Dhale province.
The Saudi army also fired a number of missiles at several areas in the province of Sa’ada. A road connecting the districts of al-Dhaher and Sha’adah in the province was also targeted.
Saudi Arabia also targeted with rockets the district of Dar Sad in the province of Aden over 50 times.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940507000801
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Iranians Hold Protest Rally against Fabius' Presence in Tehran
29th July 2015
The protesters chanted slogans such as "Aids, A French Gift to Iran", "We Neither Forgive nor Forget", "Fabius, Servant of the US, Spy of Israel" and "No Welcome to Aids Lord".
Fabius arrived in Tehran on Wednesday morning. It is the first visit by a French foreign minister to Iran in 12 years.
While in Tehran, the French foreign minister is set to hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani, his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammadreza Nematzadeh and Vice-President and Head of the Department of Environment (DOE) Massoumeh Ebtekar.
On the threshold of Fabius's trip to Tehran, Iranian social and health activists launched the “Fabius Apology Needed” campaign in defense of the victims of France’s 'infected blood' scandal in Iran.
"Fabius’ name is attached to enmity with Iranians thanks to France's 'infected blood' scandal (1980s)," a family member of one of the scandal victims told FNA on Sunday.
"He was the then-French prime minister, when blood products contaminated with HIV were imported from France and transfused to Iranian hemophiliacs in 1984-1985," she said.
"He plans to take this trip, while his government has never apologized for the blood scandal, neither offered Iran any redress," an Iranian health activist said.
"The French official’s travel coincides with Support for Hemophilia Week in Iran and Iranians are not eager to see him here," she added.
"His name also reminds Iranians of his tough line during Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) during the past two years," analyst Seyed Mostafa Behnam said, adding that the stances of the French were even harsher than those of the US during the talks, and almost pushed the negotiations into failure only two days before the initial agreement between Iran and the six world powers in Geneva in November, 2013.
Full Report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940507000324
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Europe
Researchers Debate World's Oldest Qur'an
28 July 2015
ISTANBUL – The University of Birmingham's announcement of discovering the world's oldest Qur'an has sparked debates amid Muslim researchers in different parts of the world, with Turkish archeologists claiming that Topkapı palace's copy is the most complete, if not the oldest.
"We called the university and requested the transcript be delivered to us. However, there is a lingering question: How many pages is the transcript? There is no information on this question," Halit Eren, General Director of the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), told Anadolu Agency on Monday, July 27.
"On the Internet, it seems that there are two folios. If that is the case, the Qur'an in Topkapı Palace is the most complete one. This means that carbon dating should be applied to the transcript in Topkapı Palace as well."
Topkapı Palace is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman sultans for approximately 400 years of their 624-year reign.
The palace operates now as a key museum that shows rare items related to the early ages of Islam.
Eren's questions were triggered by the announcement made by experts at the University of Birmingham regarding discovering what is thought to be the world's oldest Qur'an.
The announcement followed radiocarbon analysis which proved that they was written in the period between 568CE and 645CE, with 95.4% accuracy.
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is believed to have lived between 570CE and 632CE, meaning the text found at the university was written during the Prophet's life.
The manuscripts consist of parts of Suras [chapters] 18 to 20 of the holy book, written in an early form of Arabic script known as Hijaz.
The claims were refuted by Saudi scholars and archaeologists who asserted that the red ink used to separate between chapters was not used during the era of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
Full Report at:
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/490705-researchers-debate-worlds-oldest-quran.html
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Britain Is Losing Against ISIS Recruitment Tactics
By KATRIN BENNHOLD
JULY 29, 2015
LONDON — When Tasnime Akunjee’s father, a university student from a middle-class family in Bangladesh, came to Britain in the early 1970s, he thought the streets of London would be paved with gold. Literally.
“In those days, Britain had a powerful story to tell,” said Mr. Akunjee, a London-based lawyer. Once his father arrived, he said, he was shocked to find that he was walking on mere paving stones. But he quickly recovered. Golden sidewalks or not, Mr. Akunjee said, “he wanted to be part of it — they all did in that generation.”
Even educated young men and women in Britain’s former colonies believed in a sometimes absurdly idealized marketing pitch of its former empire. Now, a different pitch, but one that is proving similarly alluring, has swayed hundreds of young British Muslims into believing the Islamic State’s vision of its self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Leaving behind the Western opportunities their parents came to Britain for, those young Muslims make for a promised land of religious virtue, Muslim community and righteous revolution.
“It’s the ultimate marketing success,” said Mr. Akunjee, who represents the families of three teenage girls who recently absconded to Syria. “They manage to sell a war zone as a Muslim safe haven.”
So far, the West has not come up with a convincing counterargument. More British Muslims have gone to fight in Syria than are enlisted in the armed forces here. As Prime Minister David Cameron said last week: “We have to confront a tragic truth: that there are people born and raised in this country who don’t really identify with Britain.”
Western officials have struggled to categorize the Islamic State. “You wouldn’t join a terrorist group unless you agreed with it 100 percent,” one senior British official said. “But you can be 100 percent behind the idea of a state and still disagree with some of the things it does.” That extends the pool of potential recruits well beyond those who condone beheadings, he said.
The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, plays on that ambiguity, appealing to not just foreign fighters but also women, families, teachers and doctors. Its recruitment videos have featured surgeons with stethoscopes around their necks. Schoolchildren reportedly get “I.S.”-branded school bags.
“Brand Caliphate has done more for recruitment than anything else,” said Sasha Havlicek, director of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. “It is about building the utopian vision, not just fighting.”
For Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute and author of “We Love Death as You Love Life,” a book on radicalization in Britain, the Islamic State appears more credible than other recent Islamist groups.
“The utopian vision was a hard sell with Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said. “ISIS is much younger and global. It’s an internationalist organization. It thinks of itself as progressive.”
“If you’re scrambling for your identity,” Mr. Pantucci said, “ISIS is the bright flame to follow.”
Full Report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/world/europe/britain-is-losing-against-isis-recruitment-tactics.html?_r=0
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North America
American Muslim Media Counters ISIL
28 July 2015
INDIANA – Reclaiming the peaceful message of Islam, a Muslim media group has launched an online campaign to counter recruiting efforts of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIL).
"Unfortunately, ISIL is doing a great job of creating that really compelling 'this is something you can do to change the world,'" Zac Parsons, a digital marketer, told NPR on Monday, July 27.
"We hope that we're able to use some of those same ideas and technology to say," he added.
Parsons was cooperating with Imam Omar Atia, the co-founder of Reclamation Studios, to produce a number of videos to counter ISIL's online recruiting propaganda.
Atia, the leader of the Islamic Society of Evansville, offers answers in the videos to Parsons about true Islam.
One video, "Does Islam Encourage Violence?" is simply an interaction between Parsons and Atia on a sunny day in Evansville, Indiana.
"You're a Muslim guy, a peaceful guy, and yet, you know, we see all this stuff in the news all the time about, you know, terrorism and violence and killing, you know, in the name of Islam — which is supposed to be a religion of peace. How is it that for them it's not peaceful, but for you it is?" Parsons says.
"It's not even left for question," Atia says. "Unjust killing is completely forbidden."
Atia hopes his videos will help to dispel the image that Islam is a foreign religion that forces believers to choose between nation and faith.
"There's still this identity crisis that a lot of Muslim-Americans live, unfortunately," Atia says, "because right now, still, the concept that Islam is a foreign faith to America."
Praise
Producing dozens of four-minute Web episodes, the project targets young people with questions about Islam and its relationship to violence.
"They can ask us questions, we can do consultations, we can give them further answers for any questions that they have," Nour Shams, who works on Reclamation Studios' website from Egypt, said.
"We can even host people and just have everything transparent in front of the camera, and listen to people and answer their questions."
Along with Shams, Atia and Parsons, there are now more than a dozen people working on this project.
Full Report at:
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/490703-american-muslim-media-counters-isil.html
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'I am an American' says man who tried to join Islamic State
29th July 2015
AUGUSTA, GA. — A Georgia man who wrote he was "ready for jihad" before buying a one-way ticket overseas to try joining the Islamic State group was sentenced to federal prison Tuesday after he sobbed to the judge, "I am an American."
Leon Nathan Davis III of Augusta was sentenced to 15 years, the maximum punishment allowed. A pale, bearded man with a Southern accent, the 38-year-old Davis pleaded guilty in May to seeking to help a known terrorist organization.
He was arrested at the Atlanta airport last October trying to board a flight to Turkey. Davis later said his plan was to be smuggled into Syria so he could join the Islamic State group as a recruiter and an English teacher.
During his sentencing Tuesday, Davis told the judge he had been "brainwashed" by writings and online propaganda of radical Muslims not long after he converted to Islam while imprisoned for cocaine trafficking a decade ago.
"I allowed myself to stray away from the truth of my religion, which is peace, love and humility," Davis said. "They brainwashed me into thinking that hatred and death were the way into heaven."
Despite his apologies and acknowledgement of wrongdoing, prosecutors insisted Davis was far from harmless.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlton Bourne showed the judge a photograph Davis posted online of himself holding a shotgun and surrounded by other weapons. Bourne said Davis added the caption: "ready for jihad."
About a year before buying his plane ticket, Bourne said, Davis posted online: "One of my greatest desires is to kill Zionists and bring down Israel and the United States of America."
Despite being a convicted felon, Davis owned six rifles, four handguns and two shotguns, according to prosecutors who originally charged him with illegal gun possession. That charge was dropped as part of a plea deal.
Davis posted "stupid things" on social media, said his defense attorney, Michael Loebl. But with no military training and a bad back, Davis posed "a low-level threat, if any," Loebl said.
Davis underwent a genuine religious conversion while in prison from 2005 to 2008, Loebl said, and became so dedicated that he taught himself to read and write Arabic. He said Davis' interest in radical Islam peaked when he left prison and was able to access writings, videos and other materials online.
Full Report at:
http://www.wral.com/-i-am-an-american-says-man-who-tried-to-join-islamic-state/14798716/
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US urges India, Pakistan to work together
ANWAR IQBAL
29th July 2015
WASHINGTON: The United States has once again asked India and Pakistan to work together to resolve their differences, ignoring suggestions that Washington should intervene to end tensions between the two neighbours.
“We want to see the conflict and the tension reduced, these are issues that need to be worked out between Indian and Pakistan,” the US State Department’s spokesperson John Kirby told a briefing in Washington.
Know more: US stresses need for improvement in India-Pakistan ties on all issues
He was responding to a question from an Indian journalist who claimed that at a recent speech at a Washington think-tank, Pakistan’s special advisor for foreign affairs, Tariq Fatemi, had sought America’s “intervention” to improve Islamabad’s ties with New Delhi.
“I don’t have anything more to add, other than what we’ve said before,” said Mr Kirby, refusing to get involved in a discussion on whether the US should or should not “intervene” between the two South Asian neighbours.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1197013/us-urges-india-pakistan-to-work-together
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N. America Awaits Largest MuslimFest
29 July 2015
Muslim Fest celebrates the best in Muslim arts and entertainment. The event features over 50 local and international artists who showcase their talent in various areas. Concerts featuring popular Muslim artists, comedy shows, a multicultural bazaar, and a kids carnival constitute some of the fun things one can expect at Muslim Fest.
This year, the festival will begin on Friday August 31st and will run until Sunday evening, August 2nd.
“MuslimFest returns to Mississauga Celebration Square in its 14th year and will attract 25,000 visitors and welcomes everyone,” Sana Khawaja, Media Relations Officer of MuslimFest, told OnIslam.net.
“The essential role of art, based in traditional and contemporary interpretation of faith, is prevalent throughout the festival, and the event will showcase entertainment that is hundreds of years old but also retains a line-up of new performers ready to become household names.”
“It is this cultural fusion that sets MuslimFest apart and enjoyed by attendees of all backgrounds and age groups.”
The festival features artists, concerts, stand-up comedy shows, workshops, films and documentaries and has drawn praise from politicians and civic leaders across the region for showcasing the province’s diversity and promoting understanding among citizens.
“MuslimFest unofficially begins on Friday, July 31st with the first ever Canadian premier of American Sharia, a movie directed, produced and starring Omar Regan,” said Sana Khawaja.
“The evening will also include an Art Exhibition showcasing inspirational pieces on why faith matters and the Talent Performance segment allows new artist to demonstrate their skills.”
“Friday’s itinerary aims to stimulate discussion regarding Muslim identity in entertainment and have local performers recognized by their community.”
Full Report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/162560/namerica-awaits-largest-muslim-festival
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CANADIAN ISLAM CONVERTS PLOTTED TO KILL JEWISH CHILDREN
July 29, 2015
A Canadian courtroom was the scene for another revelation about the twisted mindset that animates Islamists. Amanda Korody, found guilty for her part in orchestrating a terrorist bomb plot, wanted to infiltrate a synagogue where she could kill "small Jews" so these children would be spared eternal damnation in hell.
Notes presented by police on Monday in British Columbia (BC) Supreme Court recounted a conversation between Korody's husband, John Nuttall, and an undercover agent. Nuttall, who was also convicted, told the agent his wife believed she would be doing the children the favor of sending them to paradise, because she believed "grown-up Jews" go to "eternal hell" when they die.
"I asked Nuttall how he thinks he will have access to Jewish kids and he said they were both white and could pass for Jewish," read Crown lawyer Sharon Steele from the March 2013 notes provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) undercover officer. "They will be regulars in the synagogue. They will gain the trust of everybody. And once they have everything they will get enough guns and ammo to go ahead with their mission."
Nuttall admitted that Jewish children were non-combatants, but he insisted they would be raised to hate Arabs and Muslims, the notes revealed. Yet he also conceded that "you never know, they may convert (to Islam) in their adulthood."
A jury found the pair guilty on June 2, following a trial lasting nearly four-months, and three days of judge's instructions that ran to more than 300 pages. Like the Boston Bombers before them, they intended to set off pressure cooker bombs outside British Columbia’s provincial legislature on Canada Day in 2013, an event thousands of people were expected to attend. They were convicted on one count each of conspiring to commit murder and possessing, or making, explosive devices. In May the judge dismissed another charge of knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, for unspecified legal reasons.
Following the verdict's reading, Nuttall made a heart shape with his fingers directed at Korody.
Full Report at:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/259614/canadian-islam-converts-plotted-kill-jewish-arnold-ahlert
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Research examines Muslims’ experiences in Canada
Krista Davidson
July 29, 2015
Many stories of religious and cultural differences paint a picture of discrimination and conflict, but one Memorial University researcher argues that most things actually have a way of working out.
Jennifer Selby with the department of religious studies has been examining how religious differences are negotiated among Muslims in Canada. Selby teamed up with University of Ottawa researcher Lori Beaman to conduct more than 50 interviews in St. John’s and combined the data with the research of Amelie Barras of York University, which includes studies of Muslims in Montreal, to provide insight on the Canadian context.
“A lot of the research that’s done, particularly on Muslims in Western contexts, focuses on real problems, like rates of unemployment or underemployment and concerns with integration,” Selby said.
“But we were interested in how religion and difference get sorted out every day for most people without any fuss.”
Selby and her team prefer the term negotiation as opposed to reasonable accommodation and tolerance, which infer unequal power dynamics. They wanted to know how Muslims live their lives in what is a largely Christian country. Research shows that most Muslims work out those differences in moments they say are sometimes fragile, but often marked by mutual respect.
One of the participants shared a story of a street party that took place in her neighborhood. The hosts, in consideration, asked her in advance what kind of meat she preferred. Although it was a small gesture, it meant a lot to the woman and speaks to the small measures we all take — but which are rarely explored in research — to understand others.
Selby insists these positive narratives are typical among the Muslims interviewed, but rarely talked about. However, she’s quick to point out that some negotiations disfavour Muslims.
One of the examples she shares is of a local Muslim who works in the health-care sector. He typically works each year over the Christmas holidays to allow his Christian colleagues the time off, even if his children also have school holidays. But he often struggles to get time off to observe Eid, a holiday at the end of a month of fasting.
Full Report at:
http://www.thetelegram.com/Living/2015-07-29/article-4228484/Research-examines-Muslims%26rsquo%3B-experiences-in-Canada/1
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Southeast Asia
Non-Muslim parents allowed child custody under new Perlis fatwa, says report
27 July 2015
The Perlis Religious Council has issued a landmark edict that the custody of a child will be given to the parent who is more suitable, even if he or she is non-Muslim, The Star reported today.
Perlis mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin was reported as saying that the state Fatwa Committee found it unfair for child custody to be determined only by the religion of the parents without looking into other aspects of the child's welfare and interests.
Hailing the decision as a "turning point", Asri said that it would be pertinent in cases in the Shariah courts after the conversion of one parent to Islam.
“The overall welfare of the child includes his or her physical, moral and emotional needs. The parent who is more able to provide these needs should get custody, whether they are Muslim or not,” the mufti was quoted as saying.
Custody will also be automatically granted to the mother if she is still breastfeeding the child, the report quoted him as saying.
“If both parents are equally suitable to care for the child, then the child has the right to choose which parent he or she wants to live with. This is provided the child is old enough to decide.”
Full Report at:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/non-muslim-parents-allowed-child-custody-under-new-perlis-fatwa-says-report
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Indonesia, Britain to step up efforts to fight Islamic State
July 28, 2015
Jakarta: Indonesia and Britain agreed today to step up joint efforts to fight terrorism and the Islamic State group.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said after meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on that both countries are concerned about the threat from the Islamic State militants.
At the start of his two-day visit to the country, Cameron also promised to help provide a package of counter-terrorism support that includes beefing up security at airports in Jakarta and Bali.
He added that around 50 Indonesia’s counter-terrorism officers would be trained in the United Kingdom.
Full Report at:
http://www.siasat.com/news/indonesia-britain-step-efforts-fight-islamic-state-801412/
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Basuki Steps In to Thwart Church Demolition
By Deti Mega Purnamasari
Jul 27, 2015
Jakarta. Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has once again come to the defense of a religious minority congregation targeted by Islamic hard-liners, this time siding with a church threatened with demolition after three decades of serving its parishioners.
Basuki on Sunday intervened to stop the demolition of the Indonesian Protestant Christian (GKPI) church in Jatinegara subdistrict, East Jakarta, which had been ordered by the East Jakarta mayor’s office at the behest of the local chapter of the Interfaith Communication Forum (FKUB) – comprising hard-line Islamic groups that tend to be against the presence of churches in their communities.
The mayor’s office had threatened to send in public order officers to demolish the church, and even stationed police personnel and soldiers outside the building.
The office said that the church, built in the 1980s, did not have a building permit, and gave the congregation the option to tear down the structure themselves on Sunday.
Basuki, though, stepped in, saying the demolition order was based on a frivolous technicality that was not enforced for countless of other houses of worship throughout the capital, most of them mosques.
He acknowledged that the church leaders had never obtained a building permit, or IMB, when construction of the church first began, and that the matter only came to the East Jakarta authorities’ attention when the congregation applied for a permit in 2013 to carry out renovations.
Basuki said his administration would provide some leeway for churches and other houses of worship to get their paperwork in order – if they had a long and established presence in their community. He warned that the alternative, to throw the book at them, would only serve to rupture the capital’s social and religious cohesion.
“We must not allow this [permit] issue to be exploited by intolerant groups,” the governor said on Sunday at a gathering of interfaith community leaders.
“If we’re talking about houses of worship that have been around for a long time, I’ll stand up for them.”
He noted that dozens of mosques were also built in violation of zoning regulations, but there was no effort made to tear them down.
“There are lots of mosques built within housing estates where you’re not supposed to have a house of worship,” he said.
“There’s also an Islamic foundation whose mosque according to the ministry [of religious affairs] must be 2,500 square meters, but is only 300. Do I let them be? Yes, because they’ve been there more than a dozen years. You have to be reasonable.”
The governor’s intervention comes less than a fortnight after he took a stand for a beleaguered community of Ahmadiyah Muslims who had for four decades worshiped at the home of one of its members in Tebet, South Jakarta.
Full Report at:
http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/basuki-steps-thwart-church-demolition/
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Unmarried Non-Muslim couple denied hotel room in Kuala Lumpur
Jul 29, 2015
A non-Muslim couple could not rent a room at a hotel in Terminal Bersepadu Selatan in Kuala Lumpur as they were not married, Sin Chew Daily reported.
The 25-year-old woman known only as Wang said she and her boyfriend wanted to rent a room on Sunday evening so that they could catch an early flight the next morning.
To their shock, the couple could not get a room as they could not produce a marriage certificate, it reported.
So Wang's boyfriend then rented a room for himself and they waited at the room for their two female friends so Wang could share the room with them.
However, the person-in-charge came to the room asking either one of them to leave as unmarried couples were not allowed to stay in the same room, it reported.
The hotel receptionist claimed that the rule was set up by the religious department and National Registration Department.
Full Report at:
http://news.asiaone.com/news/malaysia/non-muslim-couple-denied-hotel-room
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US Gives Malaysia Questionable Upgrade in Human Trafficking Ranks
BANGKOK—
29th July 2015
Malaysia moved up one notch to the second tier of the U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report covering 188 governments despite objections from human rights campaigners and a substantial portion of the U.S. Congress.
The Obama administration “elevated politics over the most basic principles of human rights,” said Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat from the state of New Jersey, who, in a statement, vowed to use hearings and legislation to challenge the upgrade, which is seen as removing a barrier to the country’s participation in the U.S.-led 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Final negotiations on the trade pact began Tuesday in Hawaii.
“I don't really see a very strong reason why Malaysia should be given an upgrade whereas Thailand doesn't,” opposition Malaysian lawmaker Ong Kian Ming told VOA. “So I think Senator Menendez and his colleagues should be listened to and I hope more information comes out during whatever Senate hearings they may call.”
One hundred sixty members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 18 U.S. Senators had written to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, urging him to keep Malaysia on Tier 3.
Congress approved legislation in June giving President Obama expanded trade negotiating powers but prohibiting deals with Tier 3 countries.
At a briefing on Monday at the State Department, Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, Sarah Sewall, skirted questions from skeptical reporters about whether there were political considerations with Malaysia’s upgrade.
The report’s rankings “are pursuant to each country’s progress” and Tier 2 means “there’s still much room for improvement” to be made by Malaysia, Sewall responded.
She noted that the discovery in May of mass graves along the Thai-Malaysia border came after the deadline for the report. The bodies were those of migrants apparently being smuggled from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
'Fudge Factor'
The 2015 report declares Malaysia made “significant efforts” to comply with TIP standards by increasing investigations and prosecutions. But it also expresses concern for the disproportionately low number of convictions compared to the large scale of the human trafficking problem in the country.
A former U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia characterizes the TIP report's Malaysia evaluation as contradicting itself.
"It almost gives the impression that somebody just decided well, we have to use the terminology, 'significant effort,' because that's the legal requirement [for an upgrade]," John Malott told VOA. "But it's not supported by the words that they use, the statistics that they use or the facts that they used in their own narrative.”
The report's Malaysia section "is full of what can only be called the State Department fudge factor, a triumph of diplomatic writing trumpeting process rather than real impact,” said Phil Robertson, the Asia division deputy director of Human Rights Watch. “This upgrade is more about the TPP and U.S. trade politics than anything Malaysia did to combat human trafficking over the past year.”
Malaysia’s upgrade from Tier 3 “also does significant damage to the credibility of a report that is a critical part of global efforts to combat slavery,” Robertson added.
Thailand Rating Unchanged
Thailand, as expected, remained one of 23 countries — including North Korea — placed on the bottom rung.
Full Report at:
http://www.voanews.com/content/united-states-give-malaysia-questionable-upgrading-human-trafficking-ranks/2881041.html
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Africa
Cameroon deploys 2,000 extra troops to confront Boko Haram
Jul 28, 2015
Cameroon is set to send about 2,000 military reinforcements to its remote northern region to halt the ongoing deadly cross-border raids by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group.
According to a report on Cameroon Radio-Television, the troops will be deployed to the province of Far North, also known as the Extreme North Region, which borders north-eastern Nigeria - a region convulsed by militancy.
"Almost 2,000 extra soldiers will be deployed in the Extreme North region,” state television said Tuesday.
The report, however, provided no further details and gave no timetable for the deployment.
Militant groups have staged several cross-border attacks and bombings to target villages and towns inside Cameroon over the past two years. The Takfiri militants have also abducted and massacred a large number of civilians across the volatile region.
An unprecedented series of five bombings by Boko Haram has claimed the lives of dozens of Cameroonian people over the past fortnight.
Nearly three dozen people have been killed by the terrorist group in three attacks on the market town of Maroua in less than a week.
According to local security sources, militants have slain and beheaded at least seven people in the region since July 26.
Full Report at:
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/07/28/422278/Cameroon-reinforcements-Boko-Haram-Nigeria
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Nigerian army liberates 30 hostages held by Boko Haram, including six-day old infant
Jul 29, 2015
Abuja: Nigeria's army said it had liberated 30 hostages held by Boko Haram, including 21 children and seven women, amid ongoing offensives against the extremists in the country's northeast.
Image courtesy- APImage courtesy- AP
Army officials said yesterday the operation to free the captives took place in the town of Dikwa in Borno State, which had fallen to Boko Haram twice since April, and was recaptured by Nigerian troops last week.
"As a result of ongoing operations under the aegis of Operation Lafiya Dole to clear Dikwa and its environs from Boko Haram... (the) Nigerian Army yesterday rescued 30 persons from the hands of the terrorists," army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement. "They include 21 children and a six-day-old infant, seven women including three nursing mothers, and two elderly male adults," he said.
Full Report at:
http://www.firstpost.com/world/nigerian-army-liberates-30-hostages-held-by-boko-haram-including-six-day-old-infant-2368890.html
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Senegalese capital hosts international conference on ‘Islam and Peace
July 28, 2015
A two-day international conference on “Islam and Peace” opened on Tuesday in Dakar, with the presence of Senegalese President Macky Sall, APA notes here.
Organized by Jamhiyatu Ansaarud-Din Association (JAD) in Senegal, this conference focused on the theme ‘Contribution of Islam to bring about lasting world peace’.
“In this conference, we want to see a new beginning of Islamic action in the world�, President of Jamhiyatu Ansaarud-Din Association Senegal, Cheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Niass Khouraichi explained.
He said it provides an opportunity to disseminate Islamic values, spread good values of peace and solidarity, among others. He further said that it is their duty to “always show that Islam is a religion of peace�.
Cheikh Niass added that the “conference is a great opportunity to show that Islam has no link with the image that some alleged followers and detractors give it�.
On his part, Professor Ousmane Kane, chair of Islam and Contemporary Muslim Societies at Harvard University in the US, who facilitated the religious conference, stated that “the meeting will correct the negative image which is globally given to Islam.
“On radicalism, we must give the example of Senegal where adherents of different brotherhoods and religions live in peace�, Professor Kane said, recalling that Senegal has been led for 20 years by a president from a religious and ethnic minority.
Full Report at:
http://en.starafrica.com/news/senegalese-capital-hosts-international-conference-on-islam-and-peace.html
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Nigerian president visits one-time enemy Cameroon as Boko Haram steps up cross-border raids
July 28, 2015
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari is set to make his first official visit to one-time enemy Cameroon Wednesday to ease tensions and bolster support for a multinational army to fight the Boko Haram uprising that has spilled across borders.
The long-anticipated diplomacy comes eight weeks after Buhari visited neighboring Niger and Chad. All three countries are contributing to the force.
Hard feelings date back to a 1980s land dispute. More recently, Nigeria accused Cameroon of doing little to prevent Boko Haram from using their territory as a refuge.
Cameroon saw Buhari's failure to visit earlier as a snub, and its president, Paul Biya, didn't attend his May inauguration.
"The two countries are intertwined and have no choice but to have a relationship to deal with Boko Haram," said Chris Fomunyoh, an analyst with the Washington-based National Democratic Institute.
On Monday, Boko Haram killed at least 29 people in two Christian villages in northeast Nigeria, while in Cameroon, suicide bombings claimed 60 lives over the past week. Some 20,000 people have died in the 6-year-old uprising.
Cameroonian authorities Sunday ordered the closure of mosques in the north and banned child beggars after one attack involved a 10-year-old posing as one.
"Those are the last kicks of a dying monster," said Cameroon's Defense Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o Tuesday.
Full Report at:
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/07/28/nigerian-leader-visits-cameroon-as-boko-haram-attacks
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Diaspora Nigerians to raise fund for Boko Haram victims
July 28, 2015
The Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) has said that it would soon initiate an appeal fund to assist Boko Haram victims.
The Chairman Board of Trustee of NIDO, Dr George Manuwuike, said this on Tuesday in Abuja during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Manuwuike said the organisation had perfected plans to raise fund for a number of projects to assist Nigerians in need.
The chairman said that the fund would be used to meet some of the needs of the victims of the insurgents.
According to him the fund was also to help them facilitate access to proper medical and psychological treatment.
“We also have the intension of launching `Boko Haram victims appeal fund’ that will be used in developing part the North-East where the impact of the insurgence is being felt,” he said.
He said the organisation had been talking to some foreign donors and agencies on the project, adding that the responses from them had been impressive.
Manuwuike said the organisation was waiting for the appropriate time to formally lunch ppeal fund.
Full Report at:
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/07/diaspora-nigerians-to-raise-fund-for-boko-haram-victims/
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Institutionalized disadvantagement is reason for Boko Haram
28 July 2015
Discourse: Poverty does not create terrorists. A lack of western education does not also fester terror. The popular misconceptions need be reviewed. We are being disrespectful and disingenuous when we falsely accuse the poor or western uneducated of being prone to terror.
I am proud to belong to the poor group. Whatever I make financially I quickly distribute and usually have an empty account, oft needing to borrow money. We poor folk are not terrorists. I would not have killed had I not completed my tertiary education. While in college I was beaten and threatened to join confraternities, I never did. I was not more western educated than my colleagues who signed up with those college terror organizations. We were both in college after all. I only had a better moral grounding and more fear of God. I knew that man must not harm and kill for stupid reasons or parade in the bush and beat and cut one another with the same knife in blood brotherhood.
It is on record that many founders of Boko Haram were graduates of University of Maiduguri. They were educated. Recent International Center for Investigative Journalism reports paint a picture of the affluent and sons of wealthy members of society who contribute to terror. 2003 research by Claude Berrebi from Princeton found in Palestine that 57 percent of suicide bombers have some education beyond high school whereas only 15% of that population-age attend college. Of bombers, only 15% were from impoverished homes.
These are important facts to be considered by Buhari and Osinbajo when addressing the terror that pervades our society, north and south. This important piece I pen today is the conclusion of an ENDS thought session. We must address the right issues or we will continue to encourage rather than discourage terror in our society.
What we mistake to be poverty is institutional injustice. The recruits are not the poor but the disenfranchised, the frustrated, the oppressed. This is the pool Shekau, Dokubo and Nnamdi Kanu recruit from. Happens to be the same pool occupied by the poor but the reason they are easy recruits is not because they are poor but because they feel cheated. They are angry. They see Senators flying private jets, living in mansions, dividing up N150 billion while they live in squalor. This was the real pitch of “Boko Haram,” perhaps the only pitch. They explained that the social injustice was due to western education, our adoption of western civilization.
I remember reading one of their only actual explanations for their campaign. It was a post on their then FaceBook page. They (Boko Haram) explained that the disparity between the affluent, the cabal, the Senators and the poor masses was the result of our adoption of western civilization systems. They pitched that the Islamic civilization-governance will be fairer to the people.
Borno has literally always been economically poor and low in education but the State has never been known for terror, hence the plate number slug, “home of peace.” Remember former Governor Modu Sheriff indignantly insulting that “publish all the slander you may, my people do not read.”
Also Read: Free healthcare for Yobe terror attack victims
We must respect the poor. What we must fight is the injustice, the inequality. Poor and poor nations across the world are not bedeviled with terror. Nations with identical religious divides as Nigeria do not share our terror, nor do those with identical educational records. Someone, someone sinister sponsors terror and terror capitalizes on injustice and State dysfunction. These are the facts we must focus on.
The Occupy Wall street protests of the 99% against the 1% cabal that transpired in the US and UK, and got violent was not because of poverty but because of injustice. Had the security system not clamped down violently on the demonstrators, we remember London was up in flames and terror as Cameron called it, those nations will be history by now. In my recent write-up on my visit to the UAE, I described another way; a society where there is perceived institutional justice, where Direct democracy is practiced, and there is peace, tranquility and progress.
Blessed Jesus is quoted to have said, “The poor you will always have with you, but you will Full Report at:
http://www.news24.com.ng/MyNews24/Institutionalized-disadvantagement-is-reason-for-Boko-Haram-20150728
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/islamic-state-document-reveals-preparing/d/104078