‘Islamo-Leftism’ Eating Away At Society, Universities, Says French Minister for Higher Education Frederique Vidal
New
Age Islam News Bureau
18
February 2021
French Higher Education, Research and Innovation
Minister Frederique Vidal. (Photo| AFP)
-----
•
After Twitter Threat, Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai Asks Imran Why
Pak Let Taliban Man Flee
•
US President Joe Biden's counterpart in Saudi Arabia is King Salman not Crown
Prince Mohamed bin Salman: White House
•
Lebanese Singer-Turned-Militant Fadel Shaker Releases New Song, Sparks Outrage
•
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to Be Heard On ‘Love Jihad’ Laws: Supreme Court
•
Nigeria: Troops Kill 81 Terrorists in Borno
•
NATO Meets for Post-Trump Talks As Afghanistan Pull-Out Deadline Looms
•
Selangor Islamic Religious Council Launches e-Faraid to Facilitate Estate
Management For Muslims
•
FM’s Aide: Iran Ready to Facilitate Syrian Refugees’ Return
Europe
•
‘Islamo-Leftism’ Eating Away At Society, Universities, Says French Minister for
Higher Education Frederique Vidal
•
UK Ran Cyber Op to Cripple ISIS Communications: Services Chiefs
•
Turkey to probe rising Islamophobia in Europe
•
Germany’s Merkel Tells Iran’s Rouhani to ‘Create Trust’ With International
Community
•
Europe powers, US to hold talks on Iran nuclear deal: France
--------
Pakistan
•
After Twitter Threat, Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai Asks Imran Why
Pak Let Taliban Man Flee
•
Pakistan unlikely to exit 'grey' list of global terror funding watchdog until
June
•
Pakistan police seek arrest of two Christians over blasphemy
•
'Egypt keen to enhance coordination with Pakistan on various regional issues,'
Sisi tells Pakistani FM
•
Would-be suicide bomber killed in Dera operation
--------
North
America
•
US President Joe Biden's counterpart in Saudi Arabia is King Salman not Crown
Prince Mohamed bin Salman: White House
•
After Long Wait, Israel’s Netanyahu Has ‘Warm’ Phone Call with US President
Biden
•
US says there will be ‘consequences for any group’ responsible for Iraq attack
•
Bolton: Iran has never abandoned idea of acquiring nuclear capability
•
Khashoggi's fiancee pins hope on Biden to solve murder
--------
Arab
World
•
Lebanese Singer-Turned-Militant Fadel Shaker Releases New Song, Sparks Outrage
•
Biden Administration Seeks Stable Iraq, Free of Islamic State
•
First UAE Ambassador to Israel Tweets from New Official Account
•
Peace guarantors stress respect for Syria sovereignty, cooperation on
eradicating terror
•
Killings surge in Syria camp housing Daesh families
•
Arab Christian figures rebut argument for removing US sanctions on Syria
•
Anti-Daesh coalition to set up military base along Turkish-Syrian border
•
What Is Known About Group Claiming Attack on US Base in Irbil
--------
India
•
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to Be Heard On ‘Love Jihad’ Laws: Supreme Court
•
'Land Jihad' To Feature in BJP's Manifesto for Assam Polls: Himanta Biswa Sarma
•
Karnataka Government Will Move Bill Against Love Jihad in Budget Session
•
Wanted To Inspire Communal Harmony: Chennai Muslim Bizman Who Donated For Ram Temple
in Ayodhya
•
Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel hits out at BJP over 'Love Jihad'
•
Why Owaisi’s A Sticking Point in Congress-Left Plans to Ally with This Bengal
Muslim Cleric
•
SC allows MP, HP to be parties on plea challenging interfaith marriage laws
•
Terrorist from Belgium, UK plan to eliminate farmer leader: Intelligence Bureau
•
NIA Files Chargesheet against 11 Terrorists Of Jamaat-Ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
In Dacoity Cases In Bengaluru
•
46 cases cleared for seizure, attachment to restrict terror activities in
J&K
--------
Africa
•
Nigeria: Troops Kill 81 Terrorists in Borno
•
Boko Haram kills 7 soldiers in northeast Nigeria
•
Tunisia arrests 5 terror convicts
•
Nigeria: 2 killed, 42 abducted as bandits raid school
•
Libya marks tenth anniversary of 2011 revolution
•
Libya: Attack on revolution commemoration kills child
•
US navy seizes smuggled weapons off Somali coast
--------
South
Asia
•
NATO Meets for Post-Trump Talks As Afghanistan Pull-Out Deadline Looms
•
Afghan Peace Process on the ‘Brink Of Collapse’
•
Five get death sentence for murdering US-Bangladeshi writer
•
IED explosion kills 2 people in Kabul
•
Russia favours ‘transitional coalition government’ in Afghanistan
•
MoD operation claims 11 Taliban, wounds 4: Kandahar
•
Sri Lankan government cancels Imran Khan's address to Parliament
--------
Southeast
Asia
•
Selangor Islamic Religious Council Launches e-Faraid to Facilitate Estate
Management For Muslims
•
Indonesian Church backs call to amend controversial cyberlaw
•
Malaysian NGOs condemn killing of 13 Turkish citizens
--------
Mideast
•
FM’s Aide: Iran Ready to Facilitate Syrian Refugees’ Return
•
Leader: Action, Not Words, Needed to Satisfy Iran
•
Iran: Assassination of Gen. Soleimani, Dr. Fakhrizadeh Proof of US-Israeli
State Terrorism
•
Palestine reports 93 pct voter registration for long-awaited elections
•
Three intelligence agents, three Revolutionary Guards killed in southeast Iran
•
So far, Biden has retained Trump’s disgraceful maximum pressure policy: Zarif
•
Middle East experts in favor of Biden’s return to Iran nuclear deal in its
current condition, new survey shows
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/islamo-leftism-eating-away-society/d/124338
--------
‘Islamo-Leftism’
Eating Away At Society, Universities, Says French Minister for Higher Education
Frederique Vidal
French Higher Education, Research and Innovation
Minister Frederique Vidal. (Photo| AFP)
-----
February
17, 2021
PARIS:
The French minister for higher education has sparked a backlash from university
heads after warning about the spread of “Islamo-leftism” in the country’s
academic institutions.
The
term “Islamo-leftism” is usually used in France by far-right politicians to
discredit left-wing opponents they accuse of being blind to the dangers of
Islamist extremism and overly worried about racism and identity.
“I
think that Islamo-leftism is eating away at our society as a whole, and
universities are not immune and are part of our society,” Minister for Higher
Education Frederique Vidal told the C-News channel on Sunday.
The
comments came amid a highly divisive debate in France about what President
Emmanuel Macron has termed “Islamist separatism”, in which Islamists are said
to be flouting French laws and fuelling terror attacks in closed-off Muslim
communities.
The
lower house of parliament approved a tough draft law on Tuesday that will
extend the state’s powers to shut down religious groups judged to be extremist.
Macron
has recently been accused by critics of pandering to the far right ahead of
presidential elections next year, which polls show could be a re-run of his
2017 duel with anti-immigration National Rally leader Marine Le Pen.
Interior
Minister Gerald Darmanin caused unease inside the governing centrist party last
Thursday after accusing Le Pen of “softness” on Islam during a televised
debate.
In
response to Vidal’s comments, the Conference of University Presidents (CPU)
issued a statement on Tuesday expressing “its shock at another sterile
controversy over the issue of ‘Islamo-leftism’ at university.”
Last
October, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer had also warned that
“Islamo-leftism” was “wreaking havoc” in French academia.
The
CPU group, which represents the heads of French universities, condemned the use
of the ill-defined label which it said should be left to the far right “which
popularised it”.
Focus
on race
Vidal
also announced that she would order an investigation into the problem of
researchers “looking at everything through the prism of wanting to fracture and
divide”, which she said included those focused on colonialism and race.
The
issue was one of the top trending topics on Twitter on Tuesday, with many
professors and researchers outraged at the prospect of an investigation that
could restrict academic freedom.
Asked
to comment further in parliament on Tuesday, Vidal said the investigation would
determine “what is academic research and what is activism and opinion”.
Movements
against racism over the last year such as Black Lives Matter, which resonated
in France after arriving from the US, have led to fears that the country is
importing American racial and identity politics sometimes derided as “woke
culture”.
A
new generation of younger French activists is also increasingly vocal about the
problem of racism in France and the legacy of the country’s colonial past in
Africa and the Middle East.
Both
Macron and Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer have spoken out about the
danger of focusing on race and discrimination, which they see as creating
divisions between communities and undermining France’s founding ideal of a
united society.
Mame-Fatou
Niang, a black academic who studies race and identity in France, condemned
Vidal’s proposed investigation which she said would put those studying
colonialism and racism under unfair scrutiny.
Writing
on Twitter, she said that “minority researchers have been regarded as activists
through the ages”.
Vidal’s
announcement was well received by right-wing politicians who share her
concerns, however.
Several
MPs from the right-wing Republicans party demanded a parliamentary
investigation last November into what they termed “ideological intellectual
excesses in universities”.
One
of them, Julien Aubert, issued a statement on Tuesday “hailing” Vidal’s
comments.
Some
French academics have also formed a group known as the “Observatory on
De-colonialism and Identity Ideologies” to fight back against what they view as
an unhealthy focus on race, identity and colonial history in academia.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2021/02/17/islamo-leftism-eating-away-at-society-universities-says-french-minister/
--------
After
Twitter Threat, Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai Asks Imran Why Pak
Let Taliban Man Flee
Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai
-----
Feb
18, 2021
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has questioned PM Imran Khan and the
military leadership about the escape of Ehsanullah Ehsan, once counted among
the top functionaries of the Pakistani Taliban, from government custody.
Yousafzai, 23, posed the question after being threatened on Twitter from an
account purportedly belonging to Ehsan.
"Come
back to your original home in Swat, we have special unfinished business with
you and your father (Ziauddin Yousafzai). We will end what we had started this
time around," the user of the micro-blogging site threatened.
"This
is the ex-spokesperson of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who claims responsibility
for the attack on me and many innocent people. He is now threatening people on
social media. How did he escape, Prime Minister Imran Khan and Inter-Services
Public Relations Director General Major Gen Babar Iftikhar?" Malala
responded.
Dr
Arslan Khalid, PM’s focal person on digital media, however, said that Ehsan’s
account on Twitter was a fake one.
"It’s
a fake account Malala and there is zero tolerance for extremism in Pakistan.
Have forwarded this fake account to authorities and Twitter as such miscreants
using fake accounts and spreading hate shouldn’t be allowed on any social media
platform," Dr Khalid said in a tweet, prompting the Twitter authorities to
suspend the account.
Following
Ehsan’s escape from the custody of security agencies last year, he disclosed
how he had surrendered to Pakistani security forces in 2017, and how he escaped
from a military-run safe house in a posh neighbourhood of the northwestern city
of Peshawar.
The
former Taliban spokesperson was one of the most notorious Pakistani Taliban
terrorists during the height of the group’s bloody war against the Pakistani
state, which saw more than 20,000 civilians killed in suicide bombings, IED
blasts and other attacks, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP).
The group also killed more than 6,000 members of Pakistan’s security forces,
according to SATP data.
While
the government offered no comment on Ehsan’s imprisonment or escape since it
occurred, although the former Interior Minister, Ijaz Shah, a retired
brigadier, had confirmed last year in February that he was no longer in Pakistani
custody.
In
2012, Ehsan claimed responsibility on behalf of the Pakistani Taliban for the
assassination attempt on the then 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai in her native
Swat Valley, threatening reporters after the attack for taking the victim’s side
and publishing "propaganda against Islam and the Taliban".
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/after-twitter-threat-malala-asks-imran-why-pak-let-taliban-man-flee/articleshow/81079883.cms
--------
US
President Joe Biden's counterpart in Saudi Arabia is King Salman not Crown
Prince Mohamed bin Salman: White House
US President Joe Biden
-----
Servet
Günerigök
16.02.2021
WASHINGTON
US
President Joe Biden's counterpart in Saudi Arabia is King Salman not Crown
Prince Mohamed bin Salman, a White House press secretary said Tuesday.
"We've
made clear from the beginning that we're going to recalibrate our relationship
with Saudi Arabia," said Jen Psaki at a news conference.
In
response to a question whether Biden will speak to the crown prince, she said:
"Part of that is going back to engagement counterpart-to-counterpart.
"The
president’s counterpart is King Salman," she added.
The
two leaders will have a conversation at an "appropriate time,"
according to Psaki.
Saudi
Arabia, under the rule of bin Salman, enjoyed a close relationship with former
President Donald Trump's administration but Psaki's remarks suggest a
reassessment of ties with the Kingdom.
Biden
administration is "prepared" to release an unclassified report
detailing its understanding of who is responsible for the murder of Washington
Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi
was brutally killed and likely dismembered inside the Saudi Consulate in
Istanbul in October 2018, and while Saudi officials initially denied any role
in his death they later sought to pin blame on what they said was a botched
rendition operation.
That
explanation has been widely rejected by both the UN, and US lawmakers, and the
CIA reportedly concluded in its still classified report that Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman directly ordered his killing.
During
his time in office, Trump had consistently sought to shield the Saudi leader
from repercussions amid widespread bipartisan outcry.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/bidens-counterpart-is-king-salman-white-house/2147318
--------
Lebanese
singer-turned-militant Fadel Shaker releases new song, sparks outrage
17
February ,2021
Rawad
Taha
After
a nine-year absence from the music world, Lebanese singer-turned-extremist
militant Fadel Shaker has released a new song that has sparked controversy on
social media.
The
Military Court in Lebanon had previously sentenced Shaker to two prison
sentences of 22 years with hard labor and stripped him of his civil rights on
charges of “interference in acts of terrorism,” referring to his support for
militant Islamist extremist groups that participated in battles against the
Lebanese army.
Shaker
had managed to evade capture by hiding after the battles with the Lebanese
army. He is publicly known to be residing in Ain al-Hilweh’s refugee camp.
The
newly-released song topped YouTube’s chart reaching nearly a million views in
less than 24 hours.
Through
an audio recording released by a local TV channel, Shaker considered that it is
“shameful” that the Lebanese state issued a prison sentence of 22 years
“against an artist like him.”
“Go
ask Fairouz on my behalf, and the great artists who know my value,” he added.
The
audio recording broadcasted by the local channel received backlash from users
on social media who criticized it for offering a platform to someone they
described as “an extremist.”
A
Twitter user said that the local channel “left everything in trouble in the
country and is busy opening a way for a terrorist to see his page whitened
while he is drowning in the blood of soldiers from the Lebanese army!”
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/02/17/Lebanese-singer-Fadel-Shaker-who-joined-an-extremist-group-releases-a-new-song
--------
Jamiat
Ulama-i-Hind to Be Heard On ‘Love Jihad’ Laws: Supreme Court
18.02.21
The
Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to intervene in a
batch of petitions challenging the anti-conversion laws in four BJP-ruled
states after the organisation claimed that Muslims were being targeted through
the legislation against “love jihad”.
A
bench of Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobe and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V.
Ramasubramanian allowed the Jamiat, an organisation of Islamic scholars, to be
heard in the case after initially questioning its locus standi. The four states
whose “love jihad” laws have been challenged are Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
Ejaz
Maqbool, appearing for the Jamiat, said “a large number of Muslims are being
harassed all across the country” and the organisation wanted to assist the
court in the matter as the Jamiat espouses the cause of Muslims on various
issues.
Apart
from allowing the Jamiat to intervene, the bench permitted the main petitioners
— advocate Vishal Thakre and the NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace, founded by
Gujarat-based activist Teesta Setalvad — to implead Himachal Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh.
In
their separate appeals, the petitioners had questioned the constitutional
validity of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion
Ordinance, 2020, and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018.
Subsequently, states such as Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have also come
out with their own laws to curb “love jihad”, an alleged practice according to
the Right-wing to forcibly convert and indoctrinate through marriage.
Quoting
media reports the Jamiat said that as on December 29, 2020, within one month of
the promulgation of the ordinance, 51 people had been arrested in Uttar Pradesh
alone, while 14 cases had been registered. Only two of the cases were based on
complaints by the victims while the rest hinged on complaints by family
members.
“At
the most, the practice of converting religion just for the sake of marriage
might at worst be termed as ‘ethically objectionable’ or ‘immoral’, however,
the same cannot be criminalised,” the Jamiat said.
In
its intervention application the Jamiat said through its legal cell secretary
Gulzar Ahmed Noor Mohammed Azmi: “In such circumstances, the applicant
organisation wishes to raise the issue of fundamental rights of the Muslim youth,
who are being targeted and demonised by using the impugned ordinance, which in
itself is unconstitutional being violative of Articles 14 (right to equality),
21 (life and liberty) and 25 (freedom of religion).”
According
to the organisation, the anti-conversion laws attempt to regulate a personal
decision of a person by encroaching upon an individual’s choice to convert to a
religion of his or her choice and as such is a grave assault on personal
liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The
Jamiat said the laws made conversion through “allurement” a criminal offence.
The
term “allurement” has been defined in Section 2(a) of the Uttar Pradesh
anti-conversion law as “…offer of any temptation in the form of: i. Any gift,
gratification, easy money or material benefit either in cash or kind; ii.
Employment, free education in reputed school run by any religious body; or iii.
Better lifestyle, divine displeasure or otherwise.”
The
Jamiat said: “As can be seen from above, the term allurement has been defined
very broadly, to include even providing a gift to the person who is sought to
be converted. This means if a person belonging to one religion, say Islam,
gifts a non-Muslim a book concerning the teachings of Islam and the said
non-Muslim person who received the book after reading it decides to convert to
Islam, the said conversion could be said to have taken place by ‘allurement’
since it occurred after a gift was given to the convert.
“Further
the use of the words ‘or otherwise’ makes the definition of allurement even
more ambiguous and encroaches upon the right to propagate guaranteed by Article
25 of the Constitution. For instance, if a preacher simply gives a discourse
about the positive tenets of his religion, which prompts anyone hearing it to
convert, it would amount to illegal ‘allurement’ under the ordinance.”
However,
the anti-conversion laws provide that “reconversion” to a person’s previous
religion is not illegal, even if it is vitiated by fraud, force, allurement,
misrepresentation and so on.
The
laws put the burden on the person carrying out the conversion to prove that it
is not illegal, the Jamiat pointed out. The offence of illegal conversion is
also “cognisable” and “non-bailable”, which means that a police officer can
arrest an accused without a warrant, and the accused may or may not be released
on bail, which will be at the discretion of a court, the Jamiat said.
The
effect of the laws “will be to bring a shadow of criminality over inter-faith
marriages… (and) empowers disgruntled family members to slap criminal cases on
couples who got married defying their diktats”, the Jamiat said.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/jamiat-to-be-heard-on-love-jihad-laws-supreme-court/cid/1806972
--------
Nigeria:
Troops Kill 81 Terrorists in Borno
16
FEBRUARY 2021
Maiduguri
— No fewer than 81 Boko Haram terrorist fighters have been killed while a
soldier paid the supreme price in a fresh onslaught against the insurgents by
the Nigerian military in Sambisa general area.
LEADERSHIP
yesterday gathered that the soldier died from a landmine attack while four
others sustained various degrees of injuries, even as fleeing terrorists have
continued to wreak havoc and razing villages in their escape routes.
According
to report from military intelligence source, the troops of
Sector
1 comprising troops of 21 and 26 Brigades supported by the Multi-National Joint
Task Force (MNJTF) cleared many villages of
terrorists
in the axis including Garin Bello, Kwoche, Lawanti, Alfa Bula Hassan, and Alfa
Cross among others.
"
Nigerian troops inside Sambisa Forest encountered stiff resistance
from
the terrorists who laid improvised explosive devices along the troops' axis of
advance.
"The
relentless troops destroyed the terrorists' camps and recovered
gun
trucks and weapons as NAF aircraft continue to provide close air and
interdiction support to the ground forces.
"Regrettably
a soldier paid the supreme sacrifice with 4 other soldiers wounded in an
improvised explosive devices incident," the intelligence officer added in
a message to the troops on behalf of the chief of army staff, Major General
Ibrahim Attahiru. The theatre commander Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General
Farouk Yahaya who praised the gallantry of the troops urged them to sustain the
tempo.
In
a related development, our correspondent gathered that a large
number
of fleeing Boko Haram terrorists invaded Zira and Gur villages in the Biu South
local government area of Borno State.
The
terrorists according to the report stormed the communities at
about
4:30 pm on Sunday, on motorcycles and gun trucks, and set ablaze
many
houses, while residents scampered for safety. The NAF aircraft
later
engaged the fleeing terrorists with air bombardments.
https://allafrica.com/stories/202102160427.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2009926_
--------
NATO
Meets for Post-Trump Talks As Afghanistan Pull-Out Deadline Looms
17
February 2021
NATO
defense ministers have met to discuss the possibility of staying in Afghanistan
beyond the May withdrawal deadline agreed between the Taliban militant group
and the United States under the administration of former US President Donald
Trump.
Key
on the agenda at the two-day virtual conference in Brussels is the future of
the US-led coalition forces in the war-torn country.
Speculation
is that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will not make any firm
announcement when the matter is discussed on Thursday.
The
administration of President Joe Biden is reviewing whether to stick to a
looming May 1 deadline to withdraw or risk a bloody backlash from the Taliban.
Other
NATO members have also signaled a desire within the alliance for staying in
Afghanistan beyond the deadline. They are willing to remain in Afghanistan, if
Washington stays too.
German
Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Wednesday that peace
negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government “have not yet been
concluded in such a way that the troops can now leave Afghanistan.”
“We
can already say that we are not yet in a position to talk about the withdrawal
of international forces from Afghanistan,” the German minister said as she
arrived for the meeting.
“This
also means a changed security situation, an increased threat for the
international forces, also for our own forces. We have to prepare for this, and
we will certainly discuss this.”
A
recent study mandated by the US Congress has called for a delay in the pullout,
warning it would effectively hand the Taliban a victory.
Trump
cut US troop numbers during his final days in office to 2,500, the lowest
figure since the start of the war in 2001.
The
former White House tenant reached an agreement with the Taliban in Doha in
February 2020, under which the US and its NATO allies are expected to withdraw
all troops in 14 months in exchange for the Taliban upholding their promises,
including halting attacks on the coalition forces.
President
Biden, however, has said his administration would not commit to a full
withdrawal by May.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/17/645498/Afghanistan-NATO-US-troops
--------
Selangor
Islamic Religious Council Launches e-Faraid to Facilitate Estate Management For
Muslims
15
Feb 2021
SHAH
ALAM, Feb 15 — The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) has launched an
online system called Mais e-Faraid to facilitate estate management for Muslims
in the state.
Mais
secretary Dr Ahmad Shahir Makhtar said in a statement today, e-Faraid offered
estate management services, calculation method for an inheritance according to
the Faraid (Islamic inheritance) law, file management as well a channel for its
managing officers to file their reports.
He
said the system was the first of its kind developed by the state religious
Islamic council through its jurisdiction provided under Subsection 5 (4),
Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003.
It
was launched by Mais chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof via the zoom
meeting application here today.
“Users
can use the Faraid calculator or K-Faraid that seeks to educate the community
to understand the method of calculation and estate distribution according to
the Faraid law,” he said, adding that the system will display the distribution
rate of inheritance for each of the heirs once the relevant information is
entered.
He
said through e-Faraid, Mais would implement estate management in a transparent,
fair, and professional manner for the heirs according to Islamic law. — Bernama
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/02/15/mais-launches-e-faraid-to-facilitate-estate-management-for-muslims/1949953
--------
FM’s
Aide: Iran Ready to Facilitate Syrian Refugees’ Return
2021-February-17
Khaji
made the remarks in a meeting with the Red Cross Director for Near and Middle
East in Sochi city in Russia on Wednesday.
During
the meeting, both sides discussed humanitarian issues, including the situation
of the Syrian refugees, the displaced populations, lost people and captives.
They
also stressed the need for cooperation of all sides to help the resolution of
humanitarian issues, specially repatriation of the refugees.
Khaji,
for his part, said that resolution of humanitarian issues should not be based
on political ends.
In
his visit to Russia, Khaji also held talks with the Russian President’s Special
Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev on the Syrian situation and peace process.
Khaji
and Lavrentiev exchanged views on the latest developments in Syria and the
pursuit of the peace process in the country as well as the political settlement
of the crisis.
Iran’s
diplomat explained the outcome of his recent visit to Damascus, and underlined
the necessity of fighting terrorism in Syria and helping the progress of the
country's political situation within the framework of the Constitutional
Committee.
The
Russian diplomat, for his part, stressed the need for further coordination
between Tehran and Moscow on the settlement of the Syria crisis.
In
another meeting on Tuesday, Khaji met and talked with the UN Special Envoy for
Syria Geir Otto Pedersen on the latest developments in Syria and expressed
Iran’s support for the UN efforts on the issue.
The
Iranian delegation arrived in Moscow on Monday to take part in the expert
meeting of Astana format countries on Syria.
Deputy
foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia, and Iran, as well as representatives of
the Syrian government and the opposition, have attended the 15th Astana talks
in presence of Pedersen.
The
participants exchanged views on the political process of Syria, noting that the
Syrian Constitutional Committee must be active to this end.
The
UN diplomat, for his part, thanked Iran for supporting him.
He
called for a collective approach in a bid to resolve the Syrian crisis, and
stressed building trust among Syrian sides and the international players.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991129000846/FM%E2%80%99s-Aide-Iran-Ready-Faciliae-Syrian-Refgees%E2%80%99-Rern
--------
Europe
UK
Ran Cyber Op to Cripple ISIS Communications: Services Chiefs
FEBRUARY
16, 2021
UK
intelligence and military chiefs recently revealed details of a classified
cyber operation they ran to weaken ISIS in 2016-17.
While
the British government’s signals intelligence agency GCHQ acknowledged the
cyber mission three years ago, details have remained under wraps until now.
The
multi-pronged operation involved weakening the terror organization by targeting
it ideologically and operationally, the two services chiefs revealed in a Sky
News podcast.
The
operation included disabling the organization’s drone capabilities, disrupting
their communication by jamming their operatives’ phones, and targeting servers
to block online propaganda, the report added, citing Jeremy Fleming, director
of GCHQ, and General Sir Patrick Sanders, head of UK Strategic Command.
ISIS
Cyber Dependence
The
operation was launched after it became clear that the group was chiefly relying
on cyber technology to release propaganda, for recruitment, command and
control, and planning, the report said.
“It
was a very cheap and effective way of waging terrorist warfare,” Sanders
explained.
“What
we wanted to do was to turn that strength, that dependence that they had on the
cyber into a vulnerability, and also to undermine the credibility of their
information campaign and of their ideology.”
Crippling
Group’s Cyber Capabilities
The
chiefs further revealed that UK operatives penetrated ISIS servers to get to
the places where the terror group had “stored their material” for extremist
propaganda.
“We
wanted to ensure that when they tried to coordinate attacks on our forces,
their devices didn’t work, that they couldn’t trust the orders that were coming
to them from their seniors,” Sanders added.
“We
wanted to deceive them and to misdirect them, to make them less effective, less
cohesive, and sap their morale.”
The
cyber offensives were reinforced by ground actions involving special forces,
Iraqi military, and local resistance groups, Financial Times said without
revealing any specific details.
The
UK’s New Cyber Force
The
revelations come just two months after the British government confirmed the
existence of the National Cyber Force (NCF), active since April last year, to
counter threats from terrorists, criminals, and hostile states.
Apart
from GCHQ and the ministry of defense, NCF also has MI6 officers working for
them as part of a new unified command.
The
new entity institutionalizes the role of cyber warfare as part of military
operations.
https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/02/16/uk-cyber-cripple-isis-communications/?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2009926_
--------
Turkey
to probe rising Islamophobia in Europe
Muhammet
Emin Avundukluoğlu
18.02.2021
Turkey’s
parliament will form a subcommittee to probe rising levels of racism and
Islamophobia in European countries, the head of its human rights committee said
Wednesday.
"The
racism in Europe is culturally transforming into Islamophobia, which expresses
the fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims," Hakan Cavusoglu said in a
statement.
The
Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
and European Union have not been able to form a clear position on
anti-Islamism, Cavusoglu said.
He
said European countries have difficulty seeing Islamophobia as a form of
discrimination.
"The
subcommittee will make onsite examinations in European countries on the
subject. It will hold talks with international institutions and organizations
on this issue,” he added.
The
subcommittee will start its work after the member lawmakers have been assigned
by the human rights committee.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkey-to-probe-rising-islamophobia-in-europe/2148745
--------
Germany’s
Merkel tells Iran’s Rouhani to ‘create trust’ with international community
17
February ,2021
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday held a rare telephone call with Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani in which she voiced her “concern” over Tehran’s
non-compliance with the 2015 nuclear pact, her spokesman said.
“She
expressed her concern that Iran continues to fail to meet its obligations under
the nuclear agreement,” her spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
The
chancellor also said that “now was the time for positive signals that create
trust and increase the chances of a diplomatic solution,” he added.
The
call came on the eve of crunch talks between three European countries and the
United States on how to salvage the deal aimed at reigning in Iran’s nuclear
programme.
French
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will host his German and British
counterparts in Paris, with America’s new top diplomat Antony Blinken joining
via videoconference, the French foreign ministry said.
The
three European signatories to the deal want to revive the agreement that former
US president Donald Trump walked away from in 2018.
The
administration of Trump’s successor Joe Biden has said it could rejoin if
Tehran returns to compliance.
Analysts
have said that only a small window of opportunity remains to save the deal and
world powers will have to act fast.
The
West is concerned that violations of the accord mean Iran is moving faster
towards having the “breakout” capacity for building an atomic bomb, while
Iranian presidential elections in June add a major risk factor.
The
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was based on Iran providing
safeguards that it would not make an atomic bomb, in exchange for a gradual
easing of international sanctions.
But
the return of sanctions after Trump left the deal prompted Tehran to retaliate
by intensifying its nuclear work in repeated violation of the deal.
The
UN nuclear watchdog said last week Iran had started producing uranium metal in
a new violation of the accord, prompting the European powers to warn Tehran
risks losing the chance of seeing the full benefits of the deal.
Rouhani
has said that if sanctions are lifted, Iran will need only “a few hours” to
verify the move and “then we will return to our commitments.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/02/17/Iran-nuclear-deal-Germany-s-Merkel-tells-Iran-s-Rouhani-to-create-trust-with-international-community
--------
Europe
powers, US to hold talks on Iran nuclear deal: France
17
February ,2021
France
said it will host talks Thursday between the top diplomats of European powers
and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken focused on Iran, as they try to
salvage a 2015 deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.
French
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will meet his counterparts Heiko Maas of
Germany and Dominic Raab of Britain in Paris, with Blinken joining via
videoconference, the French foreign ministry said Wednesday.
The
European powers want to revive the nuclear deal that former president Donald
Trump walked out of in 2018 but that the administration of Joe Biden has said
it could rejoin if Tehran returns to compliance with the deal.
The
announcement came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on
Wednesday said Iran wants to see “action not words” from parties to the
country’s 2015 nuclear deal.
“We
have heard many nice words and promises which in practice have been broken and
opposite actions have been taken. Words and promises are no good. This time (we
want) only action from the other side and we will also act,” Khamenei said in a
televised speech.
Under
the deal, sanctions were lifted in return for Iran agreeing curbs to its
nuclear program. Since Trump ditched the deal and reimposed sanctions, Tehran
has gradually breached the deal’s terms.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2021/02/17/Iran-nuclear-deal-Europe-powers-US-to-hold-talks-on-Iran-nuclear-deal-France
--------
Pakistan
Pakistan
unlikely to exit 'grey' list of global terror funding watchdog until June
Feb
17, 2021
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan is unlikely to exit the Financial Action Task Force's 'grey' list
until June, despite its efforts to garner support from the member nations ahead
of the plenary meeting of the global terror financing and money laundering
watchdog next week, according to a media report on Wednesday.
The
FATF's Plenary and Working Group meetings, scheduled to be held from February
21 to 26 in Paris, is all set to decide on Pakistan's grey list status.
Pakistan
was placed on the FATF 'grey' list in June 2018 and given a timeline to address
global concerns by implementing 27 action points.
The
FATF, during its virtual plenary in October last year, concluded that Pakistan
will continue in its 'grey' list till February 2021 as it has failed to fulfil
six key obligations of the global money laundering and terrorist financing
watchdog that include failure to take action against two of India's most wanted
terrorists - Maulana Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed.
According
to a report in The Express Tribune newspaper, although foreign minister Shah
Mahmood Qureshi sounded optimistic about the outcome of the upcoming FATF
meeting, officials admitted that Pakistan would remain in the 'grey' list at
least until June.
However,
it noted that ahead of the FATF plenary, Pakistan has been seeking the support
of member countries for an on-site visit, a crucial step - if agreed - will
brighten Islamabad's chances of formally exiting the 'grey' list by June.
"If
agreed, the FATF on-site visit will help Pakistan come out of the grey list by
June this year," a senior Pakistani official dealing with the matter was
quoted as saying by the report.
"Over
the past few days, the foreign office has been inviting ambassadors and
diplomats of FATF-member countries to brief them about the ‘substantive
progress' made by Pakistan to implement the 27-point action plan," the
report said, quoting officials familiar with the development.
Pakistan
has requested the member nations to support its case and allow the on-site
inspection by the FATF, a crucial step that leads to the removal of the country
from the grey list, it said.
The
FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering,
terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the
international financial system.
The
FATF currently has 39 members including two regional organisations - the
European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council. India is a member of the FATF
consultations and its Asia Pacific Group.
Pakistan
needs 12 votes out of 39 to exit the 'grey' list and move to the 'white' list.
To avoid 'black' list, it needs support of three countries. China, Turkey and
Malaysia are its consistent supporters.
Addressing
a virtual press conference from Paris in October last, FATF president Marcus
Pleyer had said that Pakistan's failure to fulfil six of the 27 mandates has
resulted in the country's continuation in the 'grey' list.
"FATF
will send a team for onsite visit once Pakistan complies with the remaining six
conditions. Then only a decision will be taken if it comes out of the grey list
or not," Pleyer said.
Pakistan's
foreign office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri in his weekly briefing on Friday
last week had said the FATF had assessed Pakistan to have completed 21 of the
27 action items under the current Action Plan.
"In
the remaining six partially addressed items, significant progress has been made
by Pakistan, which is duly acknowledged by the wider FATF membership. Pakistan
remains committed to completing its FATF Action Plan," he said.
Sources
said the tasks in which Pakistan failed to fulfil include failure to take
action against all UN designated terrorists like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief
Azhar, Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Saeed and the outfit's operational
commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
Besides,
sources said, FATF has noted that there was sudden disappearance of the names
of more than 4,000 terrorists from its original list of 7,600 under Schedule IV
of its Anti Terrorism Act.
Azhar,
Saeed and Lakhvi are most wanted terrorists in India for their involvement in
numerous terrorist acts, including 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and bombing of a
CRPF bus at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir last year.
With
Pakistan's continuation in the 'grey' list, it is increasingly becoming
difficult for Islamabad to get financial aid from the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union,
thus further enhancing problems for the debt-ridden nation which is in a
precarious financial situation.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-unlikely-to-exit-grey-list-of-global-terror-funding-watchdog-until-june/articleshow/81058167.cms
--------
Pakistan
Police Seek Arrest of Two Christians over Blasphemy
17th
February 2021
LAHORE:
Pakistan's police said Wednesday they were seeking arrest of two Christian men
in the eastern city of Lahore on charges they allegedly used insulting remarks
against Islam's holy book and it’s Prophet Muhammad.
The
case against the two men was registered last Saturday on the complaint of a
Muslim local resident Haroon Ahmed, said Muratab Ali, a police investigator,
who said the accused persons had yet to be arrested.
He
provided no further details and only said they were still investigating to
determine whether the two minority Christians made derogatory remarks about the
Quran and Islam's Prophet during a discussion on religion.
Under
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, anyone accused of insulting Islam or other religious
figures can be sentenced to death if found guilty. While authorities have yet
to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, just the accusation of blasphemy
can cause riots in Pakistan.
According
to domestic and international human rights groups, blasphemy allegations in
Pakistan have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and to settle
personal scores. A Punjab governor was killed by his own guard in 2011 after he
defended a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, who was accused of blasphemy. She was
acquitted after spending eight years on death row and left Pakistan for Canada
to join her family after receiving threats.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2021/feb/17/pakistan-police-seek-arrest-of-twochristians-over-blasphemy-2265285.html
--------
'Egypt
keen to enhance coordination with Pakistan on various regional issues,' Sisi
tells Pakistani FM
Ahmed
Morsy
17
Feb 2021
Egypt's
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Wednesday that Cairo welcomes the
development of bilateral cooperation with Pakistan, and is keen to enhance
coordination on various regional issues so as to develop bilateral cooperation
and exchange expertise in various fields.
This
came, according to a presidential statement, during El-Sisi's meeting with
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the presence of his
Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.
El-Sisi
also said that Egypt "is keen on strengthening coordination and
consultation with Pakistan" on various regional issues and issues of
common interest, at the top of which is combating terrorism and extremist
ideology, which is one of the most important challenges facing the two countries.
Similar
to Pakistan's war against terrorism in the Kashmir region, Egypt has been
fighting an Islamist insurgency led by the Islamic State’s branch in North
Sinai, formerly known as Ansar Beit El-Maqdis, since 2013.
Earlier
in the same day, during his press conference with Shoukry, Qureshi stressed
that Egypt and Pakistan are able to establish a network to eradicate terrorism
and intolerance.
El-Sisi
and Qureshi reviewed the latest developments in the Middle East and the Islamic
world.
They
both emphasised the importance of continuing intensive coordination and pushing
forward joint efforts to maintain regional and international peace and security
and combat terrorism, the statement said.
They
also agreed to intensify efforts to correct religious discourse and spread the
true religion of Islam.
"Egypt
considers Pakistan with great regard and appreciation as one of the largest
Islamic countries," El-Sisi said.
Official
invitation to visit Pakistan
Qureshi
conveyed to El-Sisi a message from the Pakistani president that included an
official invitation to visit Pakistan, the Egyptian presidency said.
The
Pakistani minister said that this comes within the framework of the depth of
relations between the two friendly countries and peoples, with the aspiration
to explore new horizons for bilateral cooperation between Egypt and Pakistan.
Qureshi also emphasised that "Egypt's stability is a pillar of stability
in the Middle East and the Islamic world as a whole."
The
Pakistani minister also conveyed the greetings of Pakistan's prime minister,
who lauded the inspiring Egyptian experience, represented by the huge
achievements Egypt has witnessed during the past years in various fields with
the wise leadership and insightful vision of El-Sisi.
Such
achievements start with combating terrorism and achieving security and
stability, and the efforts to achieve comprehensive development through deep
economic reform as well as establishing mega national projects, Qureshi said.
Pakistan
looks upon the development experience of Egypt with admiration in light of the
similarities of the situations in both countries and the common challenges
facing them, Qureshi said.
El-Sisi
asked Qureshi to convey his greetings to Pakistan's President Arif Alvi and
Prime Minister Imran Khan, while hailing the historical relations between the
two countries.
Egypt
and Pakistan have had official diplomatic relations since 1948. Egypt was one
of the first countries in the Middle East to open an embassy in Pakistan after
its independence.
Boosting
economic relations
Presidential
spokesperson Bassam Rady said that El-Sisi's meeting with Qureshi also tackled
strengthening the frameworks for bilateral cooperation between the two
countries in a number of fields in a manner that is consistent with the status
and potential of the two countries and that meets the aspirations of their
peoples.
According
to a Monday statement by the Pakistani foreign ministry, Qureshi's visit would
include detailed consultations with Egyptian officials and with leading
Egyptian businessmen and members of the Pakistani community. The visit is also
expected to further strengthen and diversify Pakistan’s bilateral ties with
Egypt, the statement said.
While
in his meeting with Shoukry earlier on Wednesday, Qureshi said that various
agreements would be signed between the two countries during his visit.
Rady
said that among the discussed fields of cooperation are security and economic
cooperation, in addition to trade and investment exchange, including exploring
horizons for economic cooperation between Pakistan's Gwadar Port and Egypt's
Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCEZ) to establish integrated industrial projects
within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Given
the amount of traffic expected to hit the Pakistani port and Egypt's SCEZ in
the coming years due to being two of the major spots on China’s Belt and Road
Initiative, observers believe that the Pakistani minister's visit to Cairo will
boost economic relations and enhance the partnership between both countries.
In
2018, the Egyptian-Pakistani Forum explored the economic opportunities from the
exact approach. The forum at the time was organised by Islamabad's South Asian
Strategic Stability Institute in Egypt to mark the 70th anniversary of the
beginning of relations between the two countries.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/404281.aspx
--------
Would-be
suicide bomber killed in Dera operation
February
18, 2021
DERA
ISMAIL KHAN/LOWER DIR: A would-be suicide bomber was killed in an
intelligence-based operation on Dera-Tank Road, official sources said on
Wednesday.
They
said the security forces and police launched a joint operation after receiving
information about the presence of a would-be suicide bomber in the area.
The
sources said the alleged bomber was aged between 20 and 25 years. They said the
security forces took the body of the suspect into custody.
An
official of the bomb disposal squad, Inayatullah Tiger, told mediapersons that
the terrorist was wearing a suicide vest with 4-5kg explosives and 300 to 400
ball bearings.
Meanwhile,
the Counter-Terrorism Department on Wednesday claimed to have thwarted a terror
bid by arresting three alleged ISIS militants and recovering arms and
ammunition from them in Lower Dir.
In
a statement the officials said the CTD Malakand region and security forces
conducted a successful intelligence-based operation in Jangal Shaheed Kandao of
Mayar.
It
said three alleged militants, including Abdul Rehman of Jabagai Lal Qila,
Azizun Nabi of Badwan and Fazal Qasim of Gul Maqam Chakdara were arrested. Three
hand grenades, two pistols with 10 cartridges, 2.5kg explosives, eight
detonators and three RPG shells were recovered from them.
The
CTD registered a case against the accused under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997,
and started investigation.
The
arrested men were shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
The
CTD also claimed to have arrested a proclaimed offender wanted to police in two
different cases during an intelligence-based operation.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1607925/would-be-suicide-bomber-killed-in-dera-operation
--------
North
America
After
long wait, Israel’s Netanyahu has ‘warm’ phone call with US President Biden
17
February ,2021
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call with US President Joe Biden
on Wednesday, Netanyahu’s office and the White House said in separate
statements.
“Together,
the leaders discussed the importance of continued close consultation on
regional security issues, including Iran,” the White House said.
Biden
also voiced his support for the recent normalization of relations between
Israel and countries in the Arab and Muslim world.
“He
underscored the importance of working to advance peace throughout the region,
including between Israelis and Palestinians,” the statement read.
As
for Netanyahu, his office said “the conversation was very friendly and warm and
lasted about an hour.”
Netanyahu
acknowledged on Monday his differences with US President Joe Biden,
specifically over Iran and Palestine, but stressed the two enjoyed a “very
strong” working relationship.
There
has been speculation that the Democratic president could be signaling
displeasure over the close ties Netanyahu forged with former President Donald
Trump, who called Netanyahu two days after his inauguration in 2017.
“The
two leaders noted their longstanding personal ties and said they would work
together to further strengthen the strong relations between Israel and the
United States,” Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/02/18/US-foreign-policy-After-long-wait-Netanyahu-says-he-received-call-from-US-President-Biden
--------
US
says there will be ‘consequences for any group’ responsible for Iraq attack
17
February ,2021
Washington
said Wednesday that it would respond to those behind the rocket attack in
Iraq’s Erbil earlier in the week, killing a civilian contractor and injuring
several others.
“It’s
fair to say that there will be consequences for any group responsible for this
attack,” State Department Spokesman Ned Price told reporters during a briefing.
According
to the US-led coalition, a barrage of 14 rockets was fired at the US base.
Three hit the base, killing one civilian contractor and nine others were
injured, the coalition said.
The
civilian contractor was not a US citizen.
On
Tuesday, a Pentagon official told Al Arabiya that they would provide US
President Joe Biden and his administration several options to respond to the
rocket attack.
Unnamed
Defense Department officials have hinted that Iran-backed groups were
responsible for the attacks, but US officials have so far refrained from
attributing blame to any specific group.
Asked
about Iran and the US efforts to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), Price called on Tehran to continue coordinating with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Price
said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would participate in a virtual meeting
on Thursday with the British, French and German foreign ministers. Discussions
will touch on Iran and the nuclear deal, he said.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/02/18/Iraqi-militias-US-says-there-will-be-consequences-for-any-group-responsible-for-Iraq-attack
--------
Bolton:
Iran has never abandoned idea of acquiring nuclear capability
February
18, 2021
ATLANTA:
John Bolton, former US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor, said
on Wednesday that while a return to the Iran nuclear deal appears to be a
priority for the Biden administration, he doubts the sincerity of Tehran’s
promises not to pursue the development of nuclear weapons.
In
an interview with Arab News he said he supports the inclusion of Arab Gulf
states in any negotiations relating to Iran’s nuclear program, describing it as
a “positive idea.”
He
also stressed that while he is not calling for regime change in Tehran that
involves foreign military intervention, he believes that an internal “popular
opposition” will eventually topple the regime.
During
a discussion that covered a range of issues that affect the Middle East, Bolton
said he is not opposed in principle to the idea of US President Joe Biden
re-engaging with Iran. He pointed out that Biden, during his time as vice
president under Barack Obama, played an important role in the 2015 Iran nuclear
deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, so it is not
surprising that a return to it is on the agenda. However he warned that Tehran
remains determined to develop nuclear capability.
“I
don’t think the Iranian regime has ever made a strategic decision to give up
the pursuit of nuclear weapons,” he said.
Bolton
said that Arab Gulf states have the right to be included when the international
community enters into fresh negotiations with Iran, given their proximity to
the country and the regime’s aggressive activities in the region.
Distancing
himself from previous comments in which he suggested that international
military intervention should be on the table, Bolton said he now believes that
change in Iran will most likely come from within in the form of an internal
civilian and military uprising.
He
said that the popularity of the regime among Iranians is at its lowest point
because of its mismanagement of the economy the crippling sanctions imposed by
the Trump administration.
“I
think the regime in Iran is at its most unpopular point since the 1979
revolution,” he said. “I think the most likely outcome is for the officers and
the regular military — and even the Revolutionary Guards, whose families and
friends are subjected to the ongoing economic crisis — to split. I think this
is how the regime is coming down. I don’t envision any outside intervention.”
In
terms of wider regional issues, Bolton praised Arab Gulf nations for resolving
their long-running diplomatic dispute with Qatar. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and
Bahrain, along with Egypt, agreed in January to restore relations with Doha.
They severed ties in June 2017 over differences in regional policies. He said
that a show of unity among Arab Gulf nations is important for their efforts to
address the perceived Iranian threat to their interests.
However
Turkey, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came in for
criticism from Bolton for its military intervention in northern Syria. He also
condemned Ankara’s decision to purchase the S-400 missile system from Russia,
which an adversary to NATO — an organization of which Turkey is a member.
Moving
on to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Bolton said that a two-state solution
that includes an independent Palestinian state in the occupied territories of
the West Bank, Gaza and Arab East Jerusalem is no longer realistic.
The
world should be paying more attention to the hopes and aspirations of the
Palestinian people, he said. These are different from those of the Palestinian
leadership, he added, which continues to pursue an “antiquated strategy” that
might have been appropriate decades ago but is no longer relevant given the
ways in which the world, and the Arab world in particular, has changed.
These
changes should encourage the Palestinians to develop “new thinking” and move on
from a two-state solution that he described as “broken.”
As
an alternative, Bolton said he believes in a “three-state solution” that would
return the Gaza Strip to Egyptian sovereignty, as was the case before it was
occupied by Israel in 1967. He suggested that Jordan and Israel should share
sovereignty of the West Bank, which he said would lead to a “viable economic
existence” for Palestinians.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1811391/world
--------
Khashoggi's
fiancee pins hope on Biden to solve murder
Davut
Colak
18.02.2021
Hatice
Cengiz, the fiancée of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, said she was hopeful
that the new US administration will solve the murder case.
Speaking
to the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK and the Danish newspaper
Jyllands-Posten, Cengiz said she trusts that the new director of US national
intelligence, Avril Haines, will release the CIA's report on the Khashoggi
murder.
While
admitting the complex relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia, she said
she is optimistic that US President Joe Biden will stand by its goal of “promoting
human rights and American values".
“Those
who know the truth should tell the truth. And the US knows the truth. The
Americans know who gave the order for the murder and who sent the killers to
Istanbul,” she said.
Adding
that she has talked to politicians and leaders around the world to find who is
responsible for her fiance's death, Cengiz said: “The arrows point to Saudi
Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman."
Asked
about the Netflix decision to not show Brian Fogel's documentary The Dissident
on Khasgoggi's murder, Cengiz said she believes there are economic and
commercial reasons behind the decision.
“I
still encourage everyone to watch the documentary from platforms where it can
be rented and or be viewed,” she said.
Khashoggi
was brutally killed and likely dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul in October 2018, and while Saudi officials initially denied any role
in his death they later sought to pin blame on what they said was a botched
rendition operation.
That
explanation has been widely rejected by both the UN, and US lawmakers, and the
CIA reportedly concluded in its still classified report that Bin Salman
directly ordered his killing.
During
his time in office, former President Donald Trump had consistently sought to
shield the Saudi leader from repercussions amid widespread bipartisan outcry.
Haines
committed during her confirmation hearing to providing Congress with the
intelligence community's unclassified report on the murder.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/jamal-khashoggi/khashoggis-fiancee-pins-hope-on-biden-to-solve-murder-/2149178
--------
Arab
World
Biden
Administration Seeks Stable Iraq, Free of Islamic State
By
Margaret Besheer
February
16, 2021
The
Biden administration laid out its priorities in Iraq on Tuesday, saying it
wants a strategic partnership with a stable and democratic country, while
preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State terror group there.
“The
United States will remain a steady, reliable partner for Iraq, and for the
Iraqi people – today and in the future,” Deputy U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills
told a virtual meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Iraq.
“The
United States will seek to help Iraq assert its sovereignty in the face of
enemies, at home and abroad, by preventing an ISIS resurgence and working
toward Iraq’s stability,” he added, using an acronym for the terror group.
Mills
said the new administration will support Iraq’s anti-corruption and economic
reform efforts and continue providing humanitarian assistance. Washington will
also back efforts to control militias and Iran’s destabilizing activities,
while advising and assisting the Iraqi government’s counterterrorism forces.
The
envoy said stability requires credible national elections, which are planned
for October.
“These
scheduled elections will be critical in establishing a responsive and
representative government,” Mills said.
Iraq’s
parliament has adopted legislation to finance the elections and registration of
candidates and voters has begun. The U.N. has urged parliament to finalize the
Federal Supreme Court law, as that court will certify election results.
Baghdad
has asked the U.N. mission, known as UNAMI, to provide election observers for
the October vote. The request will be discussed by the Security Council and it
will be up to the 15 members to approve the request.
“We
support international observation of Iraqi elections to ensure that the
elections are free, fair, and credible, and look forward to working with Iraq,
the [Security] Council, fellow members, and the U.N. to determine the most
feasible form such an effort can take,” the U.S. envoy said.
The
United States has already provided $9.7 million to the U.N. mission for
election preparations in Iraq.
Mills
reiterated U.S. condemnation of the deadly rocket attack Monday on the northern
city of Irbil in the Kurdistan region, which killed at least one civilian
contractor and injured several other people.
“One
of the highest barriers to a conducive environment, however, is the presence of
armed militias, violent extremists, and spoilers,” he noted, while calling on
Iraqi authorities to plan for tight election security.
https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/biden-administration-seeks-stable-iraq-free-islamic-state?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2009926_
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First
UAE ambassador to Israel tweets from new official account
17
February ,2021
The
UAE’s first ambassador to Israel took to Twitter Wednesday to express his
excitement at his new role.
Tel
Aviv and the UAE agreed to normalize diplomatic relations after last year’s
Abraham Accords were signed at the White House in a deal brokered by
then-President Donald Trump.
“Delighted
to launch my official account as the #UAE’s first Ambassador to Israel,”
Mohamed Al Khaja tweeted.
He
added: “I look forward to strengthening ties between Emiratis and Israelis by
fostering peace, understanding and prosperity among our people and across the
region. Marhaba, B’ruchim Haba’im, Welcome!”
Al
Khaja posted the same tweet in Arabic and Hebrew.
The
UAE Embassy in Israel also posted its first tweets on its new account.
Al
Khaja was sworn in as the first UAE envoy to Israel last week after the UAE
approved plans to establish an embassy in Tel Aviv.
This
came after Israel announced the opening of its embassy in the UAE. Eitan Na’eh,
a veteran Israeli diplomat, will be the head of mission, according to The
Associated Press.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/02/17/UAE-government-First-UAE-ambassador-to-Israel-tweets-from-new-official-account
--------
Peace
guarantors stress respect for Syria sovereignty, cooperation on eradicating
terror
17
February 2021
Iran,
Russia, and Turkey, the states that have been serving as the guarantors of an
all-Syria ceasefire, stress the importance of respect for the Arab country’s sovereignty
and lay emphasis on the need to fight terrorism there until its complete
eradication.
The
countries made the recommendations in a statement on Wednesday at the end of
two-day talks in the Russian resort city of Sochi.
Since
January 2017, Moscow, Tehran, and Ankara have been mediating peace negotiations
between representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups in a
series of talks held in the Kazakh capital Astana (now named Nur-Sultan) and
other places, including Sochi.
The
talks are collectively referred to as the Astana peace process.
The
first round of the Astana talks commenced a month after the three states joined
efforts and brought about the countrywide ceasefire in Syria and assumed the
role of the truce’s guarantors.
The
negotiations have helped significantly reduce the violence gripping the Arab
country by establishing de-escalation zones there, and also enabling the
formation of the Constitutional Committee that is tasked with devising a new
constitution for the Arab nation.
The
talks that concluded on Wednesday marked the 15th edition of the negotiations
within the Astana format.
The
final statement comprised 17 segments, through which the guarantors primarily
reiterated unfaltering commitment towards Syria’s sovereignty, independence,
and territorial integrity, and urged all others to do the same.
They
reminded that Syria’s crisis -- that began in 2011 after various Western and
regional countries began funding terrorists and unleashing them onto the Arab
nation -- could not be resolved through any military course of action.
The
trio, therefore, reasserted their commitment to realization of a long-term and
viable political solution for Syria that would be implemented by the Syrian
people with the help of the United Nations.
They
also insisted that the Constitutional Committee should be able to further its
efforts towards devising the new constitution in the absence of all foreign
pressure.
Idlib
militants, Israeli strikes, oil theft
The
guarantors expressed concern regarding an increase in militant activity in
Idlib, insisting on preservation of the de-confliction zone that covers the
northwestern Syrian province.
The
statement also demanded cessation of the Israeli regime’s continued strikes
targeting the Arab territory, saying the attacks amounted to violation of
international laws and a threat to regional security.
The
Israeli regime that is technically at war with Syria due to its continued
occupation of the latter’s Golan Heights, has been taking the country under
numerous aerial assaults since the beginning of the foreign-backed conflict.
The attacks have been targeting the positions of the Syrian army and its allies
in the counter-terrorism fight.
The
statement, meanwhile, condemned confiscation and transfer of Syria’s sources of
oil income amid continued reports about militarization of the country’s
oil-rich areas by the United States, which has been maintaining an illegal
presence in Syria since 2014.
Considering
the humanitarian crisis that has resulted from the coronavirus’ pandemic in
Syria, the threesome states also condemned subjecting the nation to any foreign
unilateral sanction regime amid the health scare.
The
statement said the next round of negotiations within the Astana format would
take place around the middle of this year.
Sochi
statement signals agreement among guarantors
Ali
Asghar Khaji, an Iranian deputy foreign minister, who represented the Islamic
Republic in the talks alongside Iran’s Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali,
hailed the final statement as a “good agreement on all the issues that
pertained to” the Arab nation among the guarantors.
Such
an agreement “will prove effective towards [ensuring] peace and stability” in
Syria, added Khaji, who was speaking to IRNA.
The
official said the talks also featured discussions among the trio’s
representatives and a delegation from the United Nations.
Khaji
reminded how the Sochi meeting had followed his trip to Damascus and relevant
talks with President Bashar al-Assad and other Syrian officials, stressing that
Tehran sustained its support for political resolution of Syria’s woes and urged
continued operation of the Constitutional Committee.
Jalali,
meanwhile, underlined that the Islamic Republic, along with Russia and Turkey,
“are determined to strengthen their cooperation” within the Astana format
towards realization and preservation of peace and stability in Syria.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/17/645480/Syria-Iran-Russia-Turkey-Sochi-Astana-talks
--------
Killings
surge in Syria camp housing Daesh families
February
18, 2021
BEIRUT:
The deaths stacked up: a policeman shot dead with a pistol equipped with a
silencer, a local official gunned down, his son wounded, an Iraqi man beheaded.
In
total, 20 men and women were killed last month in the sprawling camp in
northeastern Syria housing families of the Daesh group.
The
slayings in Al-Hol camp — nearly triple the deaths in previous months — are
largely believed to have been carried out by Daesh militants punishing
perceived enemies and intimidating anyone who wavers from their extremist line,
say Syrian Kurdish officials who run the camp but say they struggle to keep it
under control.
The
jump in violence has heightened calls for countries to repatriate their
citizens languishing in the camp, home to some 62,000 people. Those
repatriations have slowed dramatically because of the coronavirus epidemic,
officials say. If left there, the thousands of children in the camp risk being
radicalized, local and UN officials warn.
“Al-Hol
will be the womb that will give birth to new generations of extremists,” said
Abdullah Suleiman Ali, a Syrian researcher who focuses on militant groups.
It
has been nearly two years since the US-led coalition captured the last sliver
of territory held by the Daesh group, ending their self-declared caliphate that
covered large parts of Iraq and Syria. The brutal war took several years and
left US-allied Kurdish authorities in control of eastern and northeast Syria,
with a small presence of several hundred American forces still deployed there.
Since
then, remaining Daesh militants have gone underground in the Syrian-Iraqi
border region, continuing an insurgency. Though attacks in Syria are lower than
they were in late 2019, Daesh sleeper cells continue to strike Syrian
government troops, forces of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and
civilian administrators.
Al-Hol
houses the wives, widows, children and other family members of Daesh militants
— more than 80 percent of its 62,000 residents are women and children. The
majority are Iraqis and Syrians, but it includes some 10,000 people from 57
other countries, housed in a highly secured separate area known as the Annex.
Many of them remain die-hard Daesh supporters.
The
camp has long been chaotic, with the hardcore militants among its population
enforcing their will on others and seeking to prevent them from cooperating
with Kurdish authorities guarding it.
Daesh
cells in Syria are in contact with residents of the camp and support them, said
a senior Kurdish official Badran Cia Kurd. “Anyone who tries to reveal these
contacts or stops dealing with Daesh is subjected to death,” he said.
The
US-backed SDF tweeted last week that, backed by air surveillance from the
coalition, they detained an Daesh family smuggler in the area of Hadadia near the
camp.
“There
are several reasons behind the increase of crime including attempts by Daesh
members to impose their ideology in the camp against civilians who reject it,”
said Ali, the researcher.
Of
the 20 killings at Al-Hol in January, at least five of the dead were female
residents of the camp, according to the Rojava Information Center, an activist
collective that tracks news in areas controlled by the SDF. All the victims
were Syrian or Iraqi citizens, including a member of the local police force, and
most were killed in their tents or shelters at night, RIC said.
Most
of the victims were shot in the back of their heads at close range, according
to RIC and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition
war monitor.
On
Jan. 9, a gunman killed a policeman in the camp using a silencer-equipped
pistol, then as other police chased him, he threw a hand grenade that seriously
wounded the patrol commander, the Observatory said. The same day, an official
with a local council dealing with Syrian civilians in the camp was shot to
death and his son critically wounded.
In
another case, an Iraqi camp resident was decapitated, his head found some
distance from his body, RIC reported. It is believed he was killed on suspicion
he was cooperating with authorities.
Kurdish
security officials did not respond for questions from The Associated Press
about the situation.
The
immediate cause for the jump in killings was not known. In November, Kurdish
authorities began an amnesty program for the 25,000 Syrian citizens in the
camp, allowing them to leave.
Some
speculate that, since those taking amnesty must register and work with
authorities, the program may have prompted slayings to keep residents in line.
Many Syrians fear leaving the camp because they may face revenge attacks in
their hometowns from those who suffered under Daesh rule.
Whatever
the cause, the bloodshed points to the Daesh strength within the camp. The
local civilian Kurdish authority known as the Autonomous Administration of
North and East Syria warned in late January that some sides are trying to
revive Daesh and the authority cannot face this crisis on its own.
Daesh
supporters in the camp carry out trials against residents suspected of opposing
them and kill defendants, and authorities have uncovered several Daesh cells
inside, it said. “Contacts are ongoing between the camp and Daesh commanders
outside who direct their members inside,” it said.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1811461/middle-east
--------
Arab
Christian figures rebut argument for removing US sanctions on Syria
February
17, 2021
NEW
YORK CITY: When the time came for Bashar Jaafari, Syria’s former UN permanent
representative, to leave New York, only one person saw him off at JFK airport:
his loyal office assistant.
The
symbolism of the moment perhaps eluded the lady as she waved goodbye to the
diplomat disappearing through the throng of travelers: Nothing more than
Jaafari’s lonely departure could embody the image of Bashar Assad’s regime as
it stands isolated on the world stage today.
Jaafari
went back to Damascus where he would take up his functions as deputy minister
for foreign affairs, back into the arms of a regime that was his sole supporter
at the UN headquarters.
He
had for years used the time allotted to him at the Security Council to blame
the West for the misery Syrian people rile under. He once called Western
nations “Ali Baba’s thieves without borders,” there only to pillage Syria’s
wealth, both material and cultural.
Jaafari’s
insults did nothing, however, to alter the member states’ stance on what are
now firmly established facts, regularly emphasized by the secretary-general’s
reports on Syria. In every council meeting, representatives called on Assad to
come clean about his chemical weapons which, they repeated, he has used against
his own people.
They
rejected Assad’s plans for “sham elections.” And when the regime, backed by
Russia, organized a conference designed to encourage Syrian refugees to return
to “now safe” Syria, the Americans dismissed it as “a dog and pony show.”
Apart
from Russia, which reliably comes to the regime’s defense, Security Council
members seem to harbor no doubt that only the regime is behind the atrocities
inflicted on Syrians, and that only the regime’s corruption is able to account
for the ever-worsening economic disaster.
Isolated
and paralyzed by the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act’s sanctions, the
regime has been using every ruse in the book to find a way around them. The
changing of the guard in Washington, coupled with the appointment of senior
White House advisers keen on a thaw with Iran, may be just the break Assad and
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah had been waiting for.
“We
as Syrians are afraid of those advisers who have good ties with the Iranians,”
said Ayman Abdel Nour, a Syrian reformist. “Are they going to sell us out —
like they did under (President Barack) Obama — as the icing on the cake of
another nuclear accord?
A
widely publicized letter sent to President Joe Biden on Jan. 21 by Michel Abs,
secretary-general of the Middle East Council of Churches, and co-signed by
Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan, Melkite Catholic Patriarch
Joseph Absi and Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, argued that
“unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States make the economic
plight of the Syrian people worse.”
The
signatories include also other clerics besides officials and civil
personalities with close ties to the Assad regime.
As
scholars of modern Middle East history can attest, the Assad regime has a long
history of using minorities as a means to burnish its image abroad while
keeping its crimes under wraps.
When
Hafez Assad came to power in 1970, he presented himself from day one as the
“minority protector” and the antidote to rising Islamic fundamentalism. In the
name of fighting radicalism, Assad the father erased entire towns, carried out
brutal massacres, and tightened his minority Alawite regime’s iron fist on the
nation as its absolute ruler.
His
son Bashar continues to use the Christian minority in his various attempts to
get around the sanctions, and as he desperately tries to regain some sort of
international recognition.
Thus,
he sent four patriarchs to Washington in 2013 to meet with President Barack
Obama. When the latter watched them repeat the same talking points from small
paper notes hidden in their pockets, he was infuriated.
“It
was a disaster, that meeting,” remembers Abdel Nour, who met with the four
patriarchs at their hotel lobby before their meeting with Obama.
“It
was very clear that the patriarchs were the regime’s intelligence messenger.
So, when they returned the following year, Obama refused to meet with them.”
Assad
had more tricks up his sleeve, so to speak, as the sanctions’ noose continued
to tighten. In 2017, After he declared victory in Aleppo, he went on to seek
the Vatican’s public support.
In
order to get it, he gave the Holy See two offers the latter could not refuse:
The first was a license to build a Roman Melkite faculty of theology open to
seminarians from all over the Middle East.
The
second was a visit he personally paid to a Syriac Catholic youth camp. All
smiles, he posed for the cameras that showed him buddying up with the Christian
youths.
Patriarch
Younan, who was appointed by the Vatican, was very pleased. He and his Roman
Melkite counterpart sent Pope Francis telegrams lauding the generosity of the
president and imploring him to send a delegation to meet with Assad.
“The
pope could not say no. These are his two patriarchs for the whole Middle East,
not just Syria,” said Abdel Nour. “They have constituencies in Lebanon, Jordan
and Palestine. So, he sent that delegation. And Assad used the photo-op to show
the world that he has the Vatican’s support.”
Again,
however, the Vatican quickly moved to distance itself from Assad’s “actions.”
Thus,
when Abdel Nour, who is also the editor-in-chief of All4Syria, Syria’s leading
independent news outlet, got wind of the Jan. 21 letter, he was alarmed.
He
says he picked up the phone and called the signatories. He learned that some
had been coerced to sign; others had sought changes to the letter before
agreeing to sign, but their names were added anyway without any changes made.
One
signatory was on a hospital bed when Abdel Nour called him. The patient had not
even heard of the letter, he said.
An
examination of the background of one of the letter’s signatories, SOS Chrétiens
d’Orient (SOS-CO), reveals that the French NGO knowingly transferred money and
equipment to the pro-regime National Defense Forces (NDF).
The
Nov. 2020 report compiled by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
(SOHR) also claimed there are close ties between SOS-CO’s founders and NDF
leaders.
The
US Treasury Department defines the NDF as “a pro-Assad, Iranian-affiliated
militia.” It sanctioned one of its top leaders late last year for his alleged
role in the massacre of more than 70 civilians.
What
alarmed Abdel Nour most was the sophisticated, efficient language of the
letter. It was written by highly respected Christian dignitaries who wrote a
single, simple demand: that sanctions be lifted.
This
is the kind of letter that gets attention in Washington, D.C. “They worked very
hard on it. They started writing in December, two months before Biden took the
oath of office,” said Abdel Nour.
“And
they submitted it to him on January 21, his second day in office, hoping to
capitalize on the new momentum. The letter makes it look as though all the
suffering of the Syrian people is due to the Caesar Act sanctions against the
figures of the regime.”
Something
needed to be done, said Abdel Nour, who is president of the non-profit Syrian
Christians for Peace. Work on a new letter then began. A response was written
and signed by prominent Christian and Muslim figures from six Arab countries.
They
included members of the Christian Arab Congress; the Jordanian diplomat Marwan
Muasher; and Lebanese former MPs Fares Souaid and Ahmed Fatfat; in addition to
Iraqi intellectuals and politicians, university rectors and famous writers.
The
signatories wrote that, in Assad, the world is dealing with a leader who has
been summoned by European courts for his war crimes and crimes against
humanity.
They
argued that Syrians are suffering indeed, but for reasons that have nothing to
do with sanctions: The regime has found ways to steal humanitarian aid, sell
the goods on the market and use the profits to finance its military operations
against civilians.
They
called for aid to be delivered directly to impoverished Syrian citizens living
in refugee camps under the supervision of international organizations.
The
letter also pushed to put a stop to any increase in humanitarian supplies,
contending that it is not the quantity of aid that is the problem, but the way
it is distributed. Instead, according to the signatories, it would be more than
enough for the US to push for a full implementation of Resolution 2254, which
called for a ceasefire and political settlement.
The
letter apparently did not go unnoticed at the State Department. Anthony
Blinken, who during his five-hour Senate confirmation hearing last month did
not once mention Syria, called UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and
discussed some of the letter’s recommendations: Both reaffirmed their
commitment to the political process under the Security Council Resolution 2254
and the extension of a cross-border authorization to deliver aid and help
relieve the suffering of the Syrian people.”
The
issue again came up during a call between Blinken and his Turkish counterpart.
“Blinken showed he is an official who has dignity,” commented Abdel Nour. “He
read a credible letter from a reputable group of signatories and he adopted it
as policy.”
Abdel
Nour, whose podcast Risala Ila Sourriyyin (Letter to Syrians) has 1.5 million
weekly listeners, said the US still has no strategy for dealing with the Syrian
crisis, although the State Department is fashioning one. He believes it will
not be separate from the strategy for the Middle East, which includes Iran.
In
a list of recommendations that he was asked to share, Abdel Nour urged the
State Department team to heed the lessons taught by the Obama-era 2015 nuclear
accord: “The deal did not prevent the Iranian regime from expanding and taking
control of Arab capitals. It put US allies (the GCC countries) in constant
danger. The nuclear agreement should not be reinstated without first addressing
the concerns of Arabs who live in the region. Then there is the case of Iran’s
ballistic missiles which, if developed, will reach European capitals.”
That
the nuclear agreement needs to be updated is, to be sure, Blinken’s own stance.
But in a Security Council that has been for years paralyzed by US-Russia
sparring, is an updated deal a realistic option?
“I
think so,” replied Abdel Nour, “because in the past two years Iran has shown
its hostile face. It has shown how much damage it can inflict on Saudi oil
facilities using Yemen and Iraq. And that’s very dangerous. What they also did
against the American embassy in Iraq is unacceptable.
“This
will not pass. There will be retaliation.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1811261/middle-east
--------
Anti-Daesh
coalition to set up military base along Turkish-Syrian border
February
16, 2021
ANKARA:
The US-led anti-Daesh coalition is to establish a new military base along the
Turkish-Syrian border to weed out any remnants of the terror organization — a
key Middle East policy priority of American President Joe Biden’s
administration.
The
base will be located in the Ain Dewar area of Syria’s northeastern province of
Hasakah.
Last
month, Russian military police were deployed near a highway used by the US in
Ain Dewar village, north of the city of Derik, to send logistic and military
enhancements to its bases in Iraq.
The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the arrival of the new convoy of
the coalition, with more than 50 vehicles and trucks, to the Syrian territory
last week.
The
military convoy, carrying armored vehicles, logistical equipment, and weapons
was reportedly seen crossing into northeastern Syria from the Kurdistan
Regional Government-ruled area of northern Iraq.
The
potential local cooperation with the Syrian People’s Protection Units (YPG) in
the fight against Daesh is expected to draw anger from Ankara as it considers
the group a terror organization due to its links to the Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK).
The
US announced the formation of a broad international coalition to defeat Daesh
in September 2014, and Turkey began taking part in the coalition the following
year by opening its southern Incirlik airbase to coalition forces.
Nicholas
Heras, director of government relations at the Washington-based Institute for
the Study of War, said the location of a new base at Ain Dewar was a logical
move if the US intended to have a long-term presence in northeast Syria.
“The
base would be located near the most important entry point into northeast Syria
from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which is where most of the ground lines of
resupply and reinforcement for the counter-Daesh campaign enter Syria,” he told
Arab News.
Heras
noted that the Americans could also potentially deploy air assets, such as
drones, from the base, which would be useful for reconnaissance and for
targeting remaining senior Daesh leaders.
“However,
Ain Dewar is a forward operating base, it is not a base with the scale,
facilities, and permanence of Incirlik,” he added.
“Incirlik
is a major facility that has been an important part of NATO planning for more
than half a century. The purpose of Incirlik is strategic, to support NATO
operations against a great power rival, especially Russia.”
Heras
pointed out that the Ain Dewar base was meant to support a specific campaign in
a specific theater, a counterterrorism campaign in northeast Syria against
Daesh.
“Incirlik
is not necessary to reinforce Ain Dewar, which would likely be reinforced from
the Erbil airport base,” he said.
Navvar
Saban, a military analyst from the Istanbul-based Omran Center for Strategic
Studies, told Arab News that the new base was a must for the US strategy in the
region.
“Following
the withdrawal of several American troops, the US presence was being challenged
by pro-Iranian militia and Daesh which were carrying out attacks. Therefore, it
was a strategy to secure the area from the attack of terror groups,” he said.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1810576/middle-east
--------
What
Is Known About Group Claiming Attack on US Base in Irbil
By
Rikar Hussein
February
16, 2021
A
Shi'ite militant group calling itself Saraya Awlia al-Dam claimed
responsibility on Tuesday for a rocket attack against a U.S. base in Iraqi
Kurdistan’s capital city of Irbil that killed a U.S.-led coalition contractor
and injured at least nine other people.
“We
approached the base of the occupation, al-Harir, in Erbil at a distance of 7
km, and we were able to direct a devastating strike of 24 rockets, which hit
their targets accurately, after the CRAM system and the occupiers' shells
failed to intercept them,” the group said in a social media statement obtained
by SITE Intelligence Group.
What
is Saraya Awlia al-Dam?
Little
is known about the Shi'ite militant group calling itself Saraya Awlia al-Dam,
or Guardians of Blood Brigade. The group first appeared in Iraqi local news in
late August 2020 after it allegedly carried out two separate attacks against
U.S. forces pulling out of Camp Taji north of Baghdad.
The
group, via the Telegram messaging app, in late January also claimed
responsibility for an operation against U.S. forces in Dhiqar province,
followed by another attack on U.S. logistics in western Basra.
According
to Phillip Smyth, an analyst on Shi'ite militants at the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy, the little-known group has demonstrated it has access to
the weaponry that Iran has access to and gives to its Shi'ite proxies in the
region.
“These
groups are fronts for the Iranian proxies in terms of their strength. It comes
down to what packages the Iranian proxies are trying to show the United States,
to Kurdish elements, and to other regional actors,” Smyth told VOA.
In
the past, attacks targeting American forces and its allies in Iraq were
typically attributed to two known U.S.-designated Shi'ite radical groups, Asaib
Ahl a-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah. However, analysts say more Shi'ite offshoot
groups with similar anti-American rhetoric have appeared in Iraq since January
2020, when a U.S. airstrike killed Iranian top general Qasem Soleimani and
Iraqi Shi'ite leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
“I
think the bigger issue is what networks are the Iranians using. … There are
front groups that utilize a number of different networks. So, you have
different networks that are near Iraqi Kurdistan, which are run by Kataib
Sayyid al-Shuhada or Kataib Hezbollah or the Badr Organization,” Smyth
added.
Kurds
point to PMF
Kurdish
officials have called the attack, which reportedly also injured three Kurdish
civilians, a terrorist act conducted by “a group” linked to the Popular
Mobilization Forces (PMF).
Mahmud
Muhammad, the spokesman of ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party, said in a
statement Tuesday that the attackers were “a lawless group on the side of PMF
and with its capacity and uniform.”
The
PMF is an umbrella organization made up of tens of thousands of Iraqi Shi'ite
fighters recruited mostly in 2014 to fight the Sunni militant Islamic State
(IS). In late 2016, the Iraqi parliament enacted a law granting the PMF formal
recognition as an autonomous branch of the Iraqi security forces and entitled
it to government aid.
Nuri
Hama Ali, the Kurdish peshmerga commander for Kirkuk-Pirde front, held the
Iraqi government responsible for restraining “certain groups within PMF” who
are targeting the KRG security.
“Irbil
is safe for all our allies, as well as religious and ethnic groups living in
Kurdistan. The city is respected and loved by its people. That is why our
enemies cannot stand the capital of Kurdistan region,” Ali told VOA.
Both
PMF and its supporter, Iran, have publicly denied involvement in the
attack.
Iranian
foreign ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement quoted by
Iranian state media outlet IRNA that he condemned “suspicious attempts to link
the Irbil attacks to Iran.”
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/what-known-about-group-claiming-attack-us-base-irbil?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2009926_
--------
India
'Land
Jihad' to feature in BJP's manifesto for Assam polls: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Hemanta
Kumar Nath
Guwahati
February
18, 2021
Assam
Finance Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will fight against "Land Jihad". He also
said the issue will be a prominent part of the party's manifesto for the polls.
"We
are against the concept of 'Land Jihad'. Now many of our land in lower Assam
and middle Assam are being grabbed by certain elements including our monastery.
This concept [of Land Jihad] will be reflected in our manifesto. We are against
radicalism, communalism, fundamentalism and in our manifesto, you will get a
lot of reflection on those," said Himanta Biswa Sarma.
"We
are going to promise in our manifesto to bring a comprehensive bill on
disclosure of confidentiality clause while engaging in a marriage ceremony. One
has to first disclose his identity, religion, income - everything before
marrying a girl," Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Speaking
about the anti-radicalism bill passed by France recently, Himanta Biswa Sarma
said his government will read the law and try to collect all the positive
things from the bill passed in France, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.Live TV
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/-land-jihad-feature-bjp-manifesto-assam-polls-himanta-biswa-sarma-1770323-2021-02-18
--------
Karnataka
Government Will Move Bill Against Love Jihad In Budget Session
Feb
18, 2021
VIJAYAPURA/BENGALURU:
The BS Yediyurappa government will introduce a bill against what is described
as “love jihad” in the upcoming budget session, state BJP president Nalin Kumar
Kateel said on Wednesday.
Two
months ago, the cabinet appeared to be divided over the issue. The then law
minister JC Madhuswamy said that there were no plans for a new law, whereas
home minister Basavaraj Bommai maintained that Karnataka would frame rules on
the lines of those considered or introduced by other BJP-governed states.
Kateel
said that there was no confusion in BJP. “We have successfully enacted the cow
slaughter ban after getting the bill passed in both the houses of the
legislature. Now, we will enact a law against love jihad in the budget
session,” he said.
The
governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh
proposed laws to prevent what they claim are attempts to draw Hindu women into
relationships with Muslim men and convert them. The Supreme Court has decided
to examine the legality of these laws, and on Wednesday, it permitted an NGO to
make Himachal and MP parties to a petition that has challenged the measures.
Last
year, Yediyurappa had said that Karnataka would plan strong measures to prevent
religious conversions in the name of love and marriage and the BJP executive
committee passed a resolution at its meeting in Belagavi. But the government
has not even started drafting the bill. “It all depends on the court ruling,”
said a minister.
Meanwhile,
Kateel backed water resources minister Ramesh Jarkiholi’s claims that several
opposition MLAs were looking to join BJP. He said that 15 to 20 Congress and
JD(S) MLAs had reached out. “They are disappointed with their parties and want
to join us, but we don’t need them now,” he added.
On
Basanagouda Patil Yatnal’s repeated criticism of Yediyurappa, Kateel said that
the BJP disciplinary committee had sent a notice to the senior MLA. “Let him
reply and we will see then. I will not respond to the issues Yatnal has
mentioned. People concerned will respond to his allegations,” he said.
Yatnal
has alleged that BJP workers are not given suitable posts in corporations and
Yediyurappa’s son, BY Vijayendra, influences transfers. “Vijayendra is doing
what he is supposed to do as the state vice-president of the party. The party
has given him the responsibility of organising the party seeing his
capability,” Kateel said.
Https://Timesofindia.Indiatimes.Com/City/Bengaluru/Karnataka-Government-Will-Move-Bill-Against-Love-Jihad-In-Budget-Session/Articleshow/81082798.Cms
--------
Wanted
to inspire communal harmony: Chennai Muslim bizman who donated for Ram temple
in Ayodhya
Akshaya
Nath
Chennai
February
18, 2021
AMuslim
businessman from Tamil Nadu donated Rs 1 lakh for the construction of the Ram
temple in Ayodhya. In an interview with India Today TV, he said his idea was to
create social harmony.
WS
Habib, the businessman, told India Today TV, "I have a friend named
Ganpat. He is an RSS sympathiser and he asked me if I will contribute. I agreed
immediately. It was purely to keep up with religious harmony."
Habib
further said, "I told them not to click a picture. I live with the
principle that the right hand shouldn't know what the left hand is doing. But
my friend took the picture for his record and somehow it went viral. The whole
idea was to create social harmony."
After
reports about Habib's donation became viral, many people showered him with
compliments.
"Many
people thanked me and appreciated my gesture. A lot of my non-Muslim friends
are calling me, saying they will contribute to the construction of the masjid
and have been asking me to find the details," Habib said.
Habib
went on to say that communal disharmony and division over religion need to end
and his act was only to inspire harmony.
"There
is a lot of hate against different religions that I see on social media and it
has to end, and brotherhood needs to spread. This contribution has inspired
many and I believe it will promote communal harmony," said Habib.Live TV
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/wanted-to-inspire-communal-harmony-chennai-muslim-bizman-donated-ram-temple-ayodhya-1770322-2021-02-18
--------
Chhattisgarh
CM Bhupesh Baghel hits out at BJP over 'Love Jihad'
Hemanta
Kumar Nath
Guwahati
February
18, 2021
Chhattisgarh
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
over the issue of "Love Jihad", saying the party's own leaders are
marrying after converting their own religion.
"Former
MP Dharmendra also got married by converting his religion. Decide on it first
then talk about others," Bhupesh Baghel said.
Hitting
out at the BJP, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the BJP should
share their views about the party's own senior leaders whose sons and daughters
married into other religions.
Baghel
further said an undeclared emergency has been imposed on the country.
Calling
former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi an 'Iron Lady', Bhupesh Baghel said when
she had declared an emergency in the country, the media was not banned. He said
much more restrictions have been imposed now.
"Now
no one can speak, no one can write. If someone speaks, action is taken. Today,
the entire country is going through a terrible phase," Bhupesh Baghel
said.Live TV
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/chhattisgarh-bhupesh-baghel-hits-bjp-love-jihad-dharmendra-1770324-2021-02-18
--------
Why
Owaisi’s a sticking point in Congress-Left plans to ally with this Bengal
Muslim cleric
MADHUPARNA
DAS
17
February, 2021
Kolkata:
Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui and his Indian Secular Front (ISF) have become a
sticking point in the Left-Congress alliance in West Bengal.
Siddiqui
wants 70 of the 294 seats in the state and the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM to be
part of the alliance, but the Congress is opposed to the AIMIM joining and
feels that the ISF is being unrealistic with its constituency numbers. The Left
parties, however, are receptive and are willing to make the concessions.
A
crucial Left-Congress meeting late Tuesday evening failed to resolve the issue.
As a result, teething issues remain in the alliance barely two months ahead of
the assembly elections.
The
34-year-old Siddiqui, an influential cleric of the state’s most prominent
Islamic shrine, Furfura Sharif, is a political novice and only launched his ISF
party last month.
He
is, however, adamant on his demands.
“We
want an alliance with secular parties like the Left Front and Congress, but
they must not forget about our sizeable support or influence across the state,”
the cleric told ThePrint. “We should not be dubbed as a fringe player when the
alliance talk is on.”
The
Congress is in no mood to accommodate the AIMIM though it has indicated that it
is willing to accept the ISF. “We have all in-principle agreed to take the ISF
in. But nothing about the number of seats has been fixed yet,” state Congress
president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said after Tuesday’s meeting. “There should be
a cumulative effort to get the alliance done.”
On
Wednesday, Chowdhury reiterated to ThePrint that the party will not ally with
the AIMIM. “We have made it clear that we will not have the AIMIM on board with
us. Moreover, the new entrants need to think before they put unrealistic
demands about seats,” Chowdhury told ThePrint.
The
CPI(M) is more amenable as it needs access to Muslim votes in rural Bengal.
“We
are trying to stitch an alliance of all stakeholders that want Trinamool and
BJP to be defeated. There are certain holes, but we are trying to fill them,”
CPI(M) politburo member Mohammad Salim, who is the alliance pointsman dealing
with the ISF, told ThePrint.
“We
are looking for a quality coalition. We are assessing the winnability and
credibility of every constituent when they want a particular seat. So, the
process is still on,” Salim added. “But we know that the ISF has sizeable
support in some areas. Congress also has some issues. But we are trying to iron
out the differences.”
Demand
after ground survey, says Siddiqui
Speaking
to ThePrint, Siddiqui said his demand for 70 seats is the result of a ground
survey that his party has conducted.
“We
have done a ground survey, after which, we want to contest from certain seats
in Malda, Murshidabad, Hooghly, East Midnapore, Nadia, South and North 24
Paragana,” he said.
Malda
and Murshidabad are Congress bastions and the party is in no mood to give up
seats in both districts.
Siddiqui
further said that he is yet to get a green signal from the alliance. “We are
yet to get any positive response from them as of now. If they can give us a
reasonable number of seats, we may join hands with them to avoid division of
votes,” he added.
“We
know that Congress has put a condition. But, in a battle like this, we should
set aside our differences and fight together. If they talk about conditions, I
may have many other conditions,” the cleric said.
“AIMIM
supported us and gave me a free hand to do whatever I feel is right. About seat
sharing between ISF and AIMIM, talks are still on.”
Siddiqui
also said he had been approached by the Trinamool Congress. “Mamata Banerjee
sent her representatives to me asking for an electoral understanding,” he said.
“I had proposed 44 seats for us, it was rejected and the talks were over.”
Development
may aid Mamata, say analysts
Political
analysts are divided over whether the ISF joining the Left-Congress combine may
actually benefit Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress
(TMC).
“An
alliance between Left, Congress and ISF may minimise fragmentation of Muslim
votes for Mamata Banerjee,” said political analyst and researcher Prof Samir
Das.
“With
ISF on board, a section of Hindu voters may not vote for Left and Congress. On
the other hand, a section of Muslim votes, that had started shifting to ISF
from Trinamool Congress, may again return to Mamata Banerjee. This political
experiment of the Left, Congress and ISF will also prevent division of minority
votes.”
Prof.
Abdul Matin, another analyst, however said, “The BJP-Trinamool binary politics
will break if ISF, CPM and Congress join hands. In some areas, it may hurt Mamata
as the votes for the alliance will swell in Malda, Murshidabad and both the
south and north 24 Paraganas. But in some areas, it may help her prevent
divisions. Overall, it seems, Mamata will not gain much if the alliance
happens.”
https://theprint.in/politics/why-owaisis-a-sticking-point-in-congress-left-plans-to-ally-with-this-bengal-muslim-cleric/606744/
--------
SC
allows MP, HP to be parties on plea challenging interfaith marriage laws
17.02.21
The
Supreme Court Wednesday permitted an NGO to make Himachal Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh as parties to a pending petition challenging the controversial state
laws regulating conversions due to inter-faith marriages.
A
bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde also allowed Muslim body Jamiat
Ulama-I-Hind to become a party to the petition on the ground that a large
number of Muslims are being harassed under these laws across the country.
The
apex court on January 6 had agreed to examine controversial new laws of Uttar
Pradesh and Uttarakhand regulating religious conversions due to interfaith
marriages.
The
bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, however
refused to stay the controversial provisions of the laws and issued notices to
both the state governments on the petitions.
The
pleas, filed by advocate Vishal Thakre and others and an NGO 'Citizens for
Justice and Peace', have challenged the Constitutional validity of the Uttar
Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 and the
Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018 which regulate religious conversions
of interfaith marriages.
During
the brief hearing, senior advocate C U Singh appeared for the NGO and sought
impleadment of Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as parties saying they have
also framed laws on the lines of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The
controversial UP ordinance was cleared by the state Cabinet and given assent by
Governor Anandiben Patel on November 28.
The
ordinance relates to not only inter-faith marriages but all religious
conversions and lays down elaborate procedures for any person who wishes to
convert to another religion.
The
Uttarakhand law entails a two-year jail term to any person or persons found
guilty of religious conversion through force or allurement .
The
allurement can be in cash, in kind of employment, or material benefit.
Thakre
and others in their plea have said that they are aggrieved by the ordinance
which curtails the fundamental rights of the citizens of India which has been
provided in the Constitution.
The
plea said the laws passed by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand against 'Love Jihad'
and punishments thereof may be declared ultra vires and null and void, because
they disturb the basic structure of the Constitution as laid down by the law.
It
said they are against public policy and society at large.
The
plea filed by Mumbai based NGO said that both the legislations violate Articles
21 and 25, as they empower the state to suppress an individual's personal
liberty and the freedom to practice religion of one's choice.
Jamiat
Ulama-I-Hind, in its application filed through advocate Ejaj Maqbool, raises
the issue of fundamental rights of the Muslim youth who are being allegedly
targeted and demonised by using the impugned ordinance, which in itself is
unconstitutional being violative of Articles 14, 21 and 25.
The
application said that besides Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh
and Madhya Pradesh have also enacted similar legislations.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/sc-allows-mp-hp-to-be-parties-on-plea-challenging-interfaith-marriage-laws/cid/1806943
--------
Terrorist
from Belgium, UK plan to eliminate farmer leader: Intelligence Bureau
FEB
17, 2021
A
global conspiracy has been hatched by Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) to target
farmers' leader protesting at Delhi's borders.
Central
intelligence agencies-- R&AW and Intelligence Bureau -- are tracking such
attempts of KCF, a terror outfit, and few days back a report has been prepared
by the intelligence agencies on the same.
As
per the report prepared by central intelligence agencies based on inputs, the
conspirators are from Belgium and the United Kingdom who in coordinated manner
have prepared a plan to eliminate a farmer leader protesting at Delhi's border.
The
KCF's plan is also to settle score with the leader who was "alleged to
have involvement in eliminating KCF cadres from Punjab in the past".
The
KCF is a militant organisation involved in various assassinations in India. The
outfit has members based in various countries like Canada, United Kingdom,
Belgium and Pakistan.
A
senior government official said there was a plan to eliminate a farmer leader,
regarding which reliable input has been received. They have learnt that three
KCF militants who are from Belgium and the UK have planned an assassination of
a farmer leader currently protesting at a Delhi border.
According
to the input, the farmer leader was allegedly involved in eliminating KCF
cadres in the past in Punjab.
Information
received by agencies also said the KCF perceived that the 'killing of the leader
at this juncture could lead to increase in violence in India and onus of
killing will be on government agencies or workers of a political party."
Khalistani
separatists groups have been trying to gain ground through farmers' protest.
Also,
more than 400 Twitter handles run from Pakistan had been narrowed down by
Indian agencies who were active to add fuel to the fire.
On
January 26 when farmers assembled around Red Fort, members of Khalistani
separatist groups staged a protest outside the Indian embassy in Washington DC.
The
protesters claimed that they had assembled to support the farmers protesting in
New Delhi. Many in the mob held so-called 'Khalistan' flags and raised slogans.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/terrorist-from-belgium-uk-plan-to-eliminate-farmer-leader-intelligence-bureau-101613549717612.html
--------
NIA
Files Chargesheet against 11 Terrorists Of Jamaat-Ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh In
Dacoity Cases In Bengaluru
17
FEBRUARY 2021
Bengaluru,
Feb 17 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a
chargesheet against 11 terrorists of Bangladesh's outlawed JMB terror group for
their alleged involvement in dacoity cases, an official said.
Najir
Sheikh (25), Asif Ikbal (23), Adil Sheikh (27), Abdul Karim (21) and Mosaraf
Hossain (22) of West Bengal''s Murshidabad, Kador Kazi (33), Mustafizur Rahman
(39) and Habibur Rahaman SK (28) of the state''s Birbhum district, Mohammad
Dilwar Hossain (28) of West Bengal''s Malda district, Arif Hussain (24) of
Assam''s Barpeta, and Jahidul Islam (40) of Bangladesh''s Jamalpur were named
in the chargesheet.
They
have been charged with the relevant sections of the IPC and the UA(P) Act.
Four
cases were re-registered on April 1 last year for the dacoities committed by
the members of JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) who, in the month of
February 2018, hatched a conspiracy with an intention to raise funds for the
cause of the JMB on the pretext of "Maal-e-Ganimat (war booty)", the
NIA spokesperson said.
In
furtherance of the conspiracy, JMB members committed dacoities at four places
in Bengaluru in February-April 2020.
All
accused were taken in police custody and were thoroughly interrogated.
Main
accused Jahidul Islam, a Bangladeshi national, disclosed and pointed out all
the hideouts where he along with his associates/JMB members had taken shelter
and identified shops from where they had procured instruments for use in the
same in dacoities and also the houses where the dacoities were committed from
February to April 2019, the NIA official said.
Jahidul
Islam, who is the main conspirator and leader of JMB -- a proscribed terrorist
organisation -- was involved in promoting the activities of the terror group in
India, the official said.
He
is one of the prime accused in serial blasts in Bangladesh carried out by the
JMB in 2005, the NIA official said, adding that he is also the main conspirator
in the Burdwan bomb blast case and the Bodh Gaya blast case.
The
investigation established the broad network forged by JMB terrorists in India
for committing terror and subversive activities by procuring arms and
explosives, recruiting youth and conducting training camps, the official said.
https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/nia-files-chargesheet-against-11-terrorists-of-bangladeshs-jmb-in-dacoity-cases-in-bengaluru/2031704
--------
46
cases cleared for seizure, attachment to restrict terror activities in J&K
FEB
17, 2021
Jammu
and Kashmir police has accorded permission in 46 cases for seizure/attachment
of various moveable and immovable assets of individuals or associations to
restrict terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, said police.
"While
the number of terrorists belonging to different terror outfits is neutralized
in the sustained anti-terror operations, the handlers are using motor vehicles
and the proceeds of terrorists for furthering their evil designs. Following the
due procedures of the law, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has in (the) last
couple of years or so accorded sanction for seizure/attachments of four
wheelers, motorcycles, cash, land houses and shops through different orders to
ensure that the terror activities are under check," the statement said.
The
police statement said under this act 61 vehicles including trucks/trailer
trucks, tippers, cars and SUVs, motorcycles, scooties, auto load carriers and
vehicles used as ambulances were seized. These include the Creta car belonging
to Sofi Fahmeeda, an associate of Asiya Andrabi, separatist leader and founder
of banned outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat.
Police
also seized ₹370,000 in cash and ₹50 thousand in cheque besides
immovable properties including the house of Mehmooda Begum, mother-in- law of
Asiya Andrabi, six shops and one kanal, 6 marlas of land belonging to Nazir
Ahmad Wani of Pulwama in a case registered under section 18, 19, 39 of ULA (P)
Act, the statement said. An underground terror hideout was found last year at
Wani’s shop in Pulwama.
"In
2021 so far, PHQ has accorded sanction for seizure of eleven vehicles which
include six four wheelers and five two wheelers. The permission for seizure has
been granted under section 25 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 that
provides for the more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of
individuals and associations, and for dealing with terrorist activities, and
for matters connected therewith," the statement added.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/46-cases-cleared-for-seizure-attachment-to-restrict-terror-activities-in-jk-101613559114881.html
--------
Africa
Boko
Haram kills 7 soldiers in northeast Nigeria
Adam
Abu-bashal
18.02.2021
At
least seven Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush by Boko Haram terrorists
in Borno state, reports said Wednesday.
According
to the local press, troops with the 153rd Task Force Battalion in the Marte
local government area were caught by surprise when the insurgents attacked
them.
An
armed clash erupted, during which seven soldiers died and many others were
wounded.
The
insurgents escaped following the attack, the reports noted.
Boko
Haram launched a bloody insurgency in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria but later
spread its atrocities to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a
military response.
More
than 30,000 people have been killed and nearly 3 million displaced in a decade
of Boko Haram's terrorist activities in Nigeria, according to the UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Violence
committed by Boko Haram has affected some 26 million people in the Lake Chad
region and displaced 2.6 million others, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/boko-haram-kills-7-soldiers-in-northeast-nigeria/2148773
--------
Tunisia
arrests 5 terror convicts
Yousri
Ounas
17.02.2021
TUNIS,
Tunisia
Security
forces in Tunisia arrested five people convicted for having links to a terror
group, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
In
a statement, the ministry said four of the convicts, arrested in the central
Sidi Bouzid province, were sentenced to one year in prison.
In
another statement, the ministry said that another convict was arrested in the
southern Gafsa province. The convict was sentenced to six years in jail.
Earlier
this month, four Tunisian soldiers were killed in a bomb explosion in a
mountainous area in western Tunisia when they were carrying out an operation to
hunt down militants.
Following
the incident, both Tunisian President Kais Saied and Prime Minister Hicham
Mechichi vowed to pursue efforts to combat terrorism.
Since
2011, Tunisia has suffered a number of terrorist attacks that claimed the lives
of scores of security and military personnel and foreign tourists.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/tunisia-arrests-5-terror-convicts/2148565
--------
Nigeria:
2 killed, 42 abducted as bandits raid school
Ibrahim
Garba Shuaibu
17.02.2021
KANO,
Nigeria
Two
persons, including a student and a watchman, were killed as armed bandits
raided a school and abducted 27 schoolboys and 12 of their family members early
Wednesday in Nigeria’s the North Central state of Niger.
Abubakar
Sani Bello, governor of the state, told reporters that 27 students, three staff
members, and 12 family members were abducted when masked shooters in military
uniforms invaded Government Science College, Kagara, in the Rafi local
government area of Niger state at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
The
governor also directed the immediate closure of other schools in the area. A
search operation has been launched to rescue the abductees.
The
abductions take place days after bandits kidnapped 21 bus passengers along
Kotongora Road in Niger state.
In
2020, bandits abducted 344 schoolboys from Government Science Secondary School
Kankara in Katsina before their release a week after the incident.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/nigeria-2-killed-42-abducted-as-bandits-raid-school/2148412
--------
Libya
marks tenth anniversary of 2011 revolution
Mucahit
Aydemir
17.02.2021
Libyans
marked the tenth anniversary of the 2011 revolution on Wednesday which ended 42
years of rulership under Muammar Gaddafi.
Celebrations
were held on streets and at squares in various cities, including Misrata,
Zawiya, Zintan, Sabha, and in the capital Tripoli.
There
were no official celebrations in the second city of Benghazi that saw the first
protests against the Gaddafi regime during the Feb. 17 Revolution.
Benghazi
also became the first city to be liberated from Gaddafi's forces in 2011.
The
first anti-regime government, the National Transitional Council, was
established in Benghazi which is currently under the control of the forces
loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar.
Meanwhile,
a child was killed Wednesday when a shell struck a group celebrating the
revolution in Sabha, according to the local government.
More
than 10 people were injured, mostly children, Sabha Municipal Council spokesman
Osaa al-Wafi told Anadolu Agency.
Al-Wafi
called the attack a “heinous crime” and said authorities have launched an
investigation.
No
group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
A
popular revolution ousted Gaddafi on Feb. 17, 2011. The country soon fell into
a political deadlock, with Haftar seeking to seize power and overthrow the
internationally recognized government.
Libya's
rival political groups agreed Feb. 5, during UN-mediated talks in Geneva, to
form an interim authority that will lead the country to elections in December.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/libya-marks-tenth-anniversary-of-2011-revolution/2148404
--------
Libya:
Attack on revolution commemoration kills child
Walid
Abdullah
17.02.2021
TRIPOLI,
Libya
A
child was killed on Wednesday when a shell struck a group of people marking the
10th anniversary of the Libyan revolution in the southern city of Sabha,
according to a Libyan spokesman.
More
than 10 people were also injured, mostly children, Osaa al-Wafi, a spokesman
for the Sabha Municipal Council, told Anadolu Agency.
Al-Wafi
called the attack a “heinous crime,” saying that local authorities have
launched an investigation into the shelling.
No
group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
A
popular revolution ousted strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Ever since, the
country fell into political deadlock, with warlord Khalifa Haftar seeking to
seize power and overthrow the internationally recognized government.
On
Feb. 5, Libya's rival political groups agreed during UN-mediated talks in
Geneva to form an interim authority to lead the country to elections this
December.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/libya-attack-on-revolution-commemoration-kills-child/2148034
--------
US
navy seizes smuggled weapons off Somali coast
Mohammed
Dhaysane
17.02.2021
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
The
US navy said late Tuesday that its guided-missile destroyer the USS Winston S.
Churchill seized illegal shipments of weapons and weapons components from two
small ships during a maritime security operation in international waters off
Somalia’s coast.
The
operation took place from Feb. 11-12.
"The
weapons seized consisted of thousands of AK-47 assault rifles, light machine
guns, heavy sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and crew-served
weapons. Other weapon components included barrels, stocks, optical scopes and
weapon systems,” it said in a statement.
The
source of the weapons has not yet been identified.
Somali
officials who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity said the
weapons may have been purchased by the Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated
militant group al-Shabaab, who have been fighting against the Somali government
for over a decade.
“We
are proud of the combined efforts of the AIT and Churchill crew members for
executing dynamic and demanding boardings,” said Lieut. Travis Dopp, assistant
AIT leader aboard the Churchill, referring to the Advanced Interdiction Team.
"We
are proud to have a positive impact on the safety and security of coalition
forces by interdicting shipments of lethal aid,” he added.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/us-navy-seizes-smuggled-weapons-off-somali-coast/2147424
--------
South
Asia
Afghan
peace process on the ‘brink of collapse’
17
Feb 2021
Taliban’s
intense attacks during the winters have spurred the Afghan government to
prepare for spring battles, which the international community fears will
further endanger the peace process in Afghanistan.
Following
the sharp increase in the Taliban offensives since the US-Taliban agreement,
General Scott Miller, Commander of US forces and NATO-led resolute support
mission told Reuters that “Taliban violence is much higher than historical
norms,” he added, It just doesn’t create the conditions to move forward in what
is hopefully a historic turning point for Afghanistan”.
Clashes
typically slow down during the snowy winter months before the Taliban’s “spring
offensives” around march, however, this winter battles have escalated.
Intensified
clashes during the winter months are indicating that there would be a spring
offensive, this war could be more fierce and acute which will be viewed against
the spirit of Doha agreements, Reuters reported.
The
peace negotiations have stalled in Doha and the Taliban leaders have left
Qatar, leading to fears that intra-afghan talks could be on the brink of
collapse, a senior state department official told Reuters.
Reuters
quoted Miller, “If the violence isn’t reduced, it’s going to make a peace
process very, very difficult; it would be very difficult for any side to make
the necessary compromises,”
The
Afghan government has instructed security forces to carry out a comprehensive
troop restructuring and design operations to prepare for a “tough and hard”
spring offensive, two government sources told Reuters.
Government
sources in contact with Reuters indicated that the Afghan government has
ordered security forces to carry out comprehensive military restructuring and
design operations for “Tough and Hard” spring battles ahead, adding that
“Afghanistan’s special forces from different institutions such as the military
and police are being streamlined to operate under one command. Highly
experienced commanders have been appointed to key areas, and security forces
were planning to conduct more airstrikes to avoid losses on the ground”.
Though
the Afghan security forces remain in active defense mode, an Afghan security
council said that Afghan national and defense forces are “ready for any kind of
war”
Four
Taliban sources said that most of their commanders had in recent weeks cut
short annual training sessions after being called back to the battlefield to
prepare for intensive fighting.
Sources
in the Taliban said their commanders had recently cut short annual training
sessions after being called back to the battlefield to prepare for war.
Another
Taliban member from the group’s special force unit told Reuters pointing to
foreign troops, “If they don’t leave Afghanistan on the preset date then the
USA, NATO and the world will face a dangerous war, a war that never happened in
the past 20 years,” he said.
Residents
in north-eastern Afghanistan told Reuters that they noticed changes in the
Taliban activities like the mass movement of the Taliban, meetings in mosques
and they have begun food and recruitment drives.
“In
the past two weeks the topics Taliban preachers preach, especially on Friday prayers…
have changed,” a tribal elder from Kunduz province who did not want to be named
told Reuters, “They preach about… fighting against invasion, and they openly
invite people to join them. It’s a clear message that they are preparing for
another fight this spring”.
This
comes as the new Administration is reviewing its plans for Afghanistan and the
US-Taliban deal.
General
Scott Miller stressed on international troops becoming Taliban targets if the
deal is breached.
According
to Reuters, experts see a vanishing window of opportunity for the Afghan peace
process, although both sides express their commitment to peace talks.
“Talks
seem already very close to falling apart,” said Ashley Jackson, co-director of
the Centre for the Study of Armed Groups at the Overseas Development Institute.
“The
trouble is that (Washington) seems to grossly underestimate just how bad things
could get and how quickly that could happen.” Reuters quoted Ashley.
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-peace-process-on-the-brink-of-collapse-556655/
--------
Five
get death sentence for murdering US-Bangladeshi writer
February
17, 2021
A
court in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka has sentenced to death five members of a
banned Islamic extremist group for murdering a Bangladesh-born US citizen
writer for his books and writings on secularism and atheism.
Judge
Md Majibur Rahman of the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal passed the death
sentence on Feb. 16 for the killing of Avijit Roy, a prominent writer and
founder of free-thinking blog site Muktomona, in 2015. Two militants were
sentenced in absentia.
Roy,
42, was hacked to death on Feb. 16, 2015, with machetes by members of Ansar
al-Islam, a homegrown extremist outfit. He and his wife came under attack as
they were returning home from the annual Ekushey Book Fair near Dhaka
University. Roy’s wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya sustained severe injuries to her head
and lost a finger as she tried to save him.
Judge
Rahman observed in the verdict that Ansar al-Islam members committed the
heinous crime because the author wanted to write and express himself.
In
a statement on her verified Facebook page, Roy’s widow said the court judgment
was not satisfying.
Stories
Transform Lives
“Simply
prosecuting a few foot-soldiers — and ignoring the rise and roots of extremism
— does not mean justice for Avi’s death, nor for the deaths of the ‘bloggers,
publishers and homosexuals’ before and after him as part of the serial killing.
That’s why this verdict will not bring peace to my family or theirs,” Bonya
said
She
also noted that Bangladesh’s government has become more autocratic since she
and her husband were attacked.
Freedom
of speech has been restricted further, secular writers, bloggers and activists
were forced to leave the country, a harsher Digital Security Act has been
enacted, and writers, bloggers and publishers have been persecuted for their
writings on a regular basis, she said.
Bonya
said Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is increasingly friendly with
Hefazat-e-Islam, the Islamist group of madrasa teachers and students that
“demanded the heads” of secular writers and bloggers in 2014.
Roy’s
brother Anujit Roy expressed satisfaction with the court’s verdict and demanded
a quick execution for the killers.
“The
government should continue their efforts to arrest the two masterminds — sacked
army major Zia and Akram Hossain. I’m personally satisfied with this judgment
but we need quick executions and the arrest of the masterminds,” Anujit told
UCA News.
Lengthy
and delayed probes and justice are the reasons behind a series of murders of
secular writers and bloggers in Bangladesh, said Holy Cross Father Liton H.
Gomes, secretary of the Catholic bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission.
“The
first blogger killed by extremists was in 2013. If the probe and judgment was
quick, I believe it could stop other murders,” Father Gomes told UCA News.
“The
death penalty is not a solution. It could make militants crazy and the result
might be even worse. The rule of law needs to be further consolidated and
militants need to be brought back from that path of fundamentalism with
positive motivations.”
At
least 10 atheist bloggers, writers, publishers, liberal academics and gay
activists have been murdered by militants in Bangladesh since 2013.
In
response, the government has launched a crackdown that has resulted in dozens
of militants being killed in shootouts and hundreds arrested and facing trial.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/five-get-death-sentence-for-murdering-us-bangladeshi-writer/91450
--------
IED
explosion kills 2 people in Kabul
18
Feb 2021
Security
sources said Thursday, a corolla-type vehicle was targeted by a magnetic IED in
Kabul city, in which one person is killed.
Kabul
police spokesman, Ferdaws Faramarz said the blast occurred at around 11:25 a.m.
on Thursday morning, near Kabul University.
According
to police two people were killed in the explosion.
According
to reports, one of the killed individuals was Mubashir Muslimyar, a Kabul
University lecturer who had been arrested by NDS over allegations of promoting
IS propaganda, killed by a bomb on his car near the university.
Kabul
police said an investigation team had arrived at the scene to further look into
the incident.
This
is the second explosion in one Day in the capital of Afghanistan.
The
first blast occurred in the Sarai Jaali area in PD10 of Kabul city, when a
police vehicle was targeted by a magnetic mine, no individual was hurt or
killed in the incident.
So
far, no one has claimed responsibility for the blasts.
This
comes as insecurity, magnetic IEDs, and targeted killings have intensified
across Afghanistan, especially in Kabul, people on a daily basis are evident to
blasts and killings.
https://www.khaama.com/ied-explosion-kills-2-people-in-kabul-445544/
--------
Russia
favours ‘transitional coalition government’ in Afghanistan
17
Feb 2021
Zamir
Kabulov, Russian Special Envoy for Afghanistan in an Interview with Sputnik
said that Russia is in favor of an inclusive and transitional coalition
government in Afghanistan.
Kabulov
in his interview said the Taliban alleged agenda to take full control of
Afghanistan, which would result in bad scenarios if the group insists on such
an approach, however, he said Russia believes in the transitional coalition
government in which the Taliban will have a status.
“In
the first phase – there is a need for the establishment of a transitional
coalition government which could be able to lead and control both parties –
later, there is a need to form a new government to help resolve the problems,”
he said.
The
Russian envoy said peace talks have failed in Doha and called for the process
to proceed in Moscow format, where there is the presence of all parties US,
Russia, China, and the neighboring countries of Afghanistan.
Talks
in Doha are only about making contact, and not over the peace process, he added
“I have been assigned a task by the leadership to facilitate the start of
intra-Afghan talks by undertaking discussions within the framework of a
(three-way party meeting) which includes Russia, the US, and China. We have
agreed about such a meeting with the US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad; there
is a possibility that this meeting will be held in Moscow,”.
The
insistence of the Taliban on the return of emirate will jeopardize the entire
peace process, “If the discussion is focused on taking complete control, this
will be a bad scenario,” Kabulov told Sputnik.
Russia
Kabulov said Russia prefers the establishment of a transitional coalition
government that also determines the Taliban’s political status, he added, that
delays in the main peace talks could lead to the expansion of Taliban influence
in the area, who according to Kabulov currently controls 75 percent of
Afghanistan.
But
Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation,
said in response to Kabulov’s remarks that an interim government in Afghanistan
is not a solution and the decision depends on the people of Afghanistan.
HCNR
Chairman in response to Kabulov said that interim government is not a solution
but the decision depends on the People of Afghanistan.
“The
people of Afghanistan sit at the negotiating table and set the path for
themselves, the establishment of just an interim government cannot be the
solution,” ATN News quoted Abdullah.
During
the inauguration of the Human Rights Commission of HCNR, Abdullah Abdullah
raised concerns over escalated violence, targeted killings.
“If
one side wants to show that they are more capable of killing innocent people by
targeting human rights activists or civilians, I do not think this is a
peaceful solution,” Abdullah added.
https://www.khaama.com/russia-favors-transitional-coalition-government-in-afghanistan-3443455/
--------
MoD
operation claims 11 Taliban, wounds 4: Kandahar
17
Feb 2021
Afghanistan’s
Ministry of Defense reports that 11 Taliban fighters have been killed in the
Arghandab district of Kandahar province.
The
ministry stated that Afghan national defense and security forces backed by the
air force targeted Taliban fighters in the Babar areas of Arghandab district in
Kandahar province.
Afghan
forces also cleared “Babar school” from the Taliban militants, the school was
reported to have been closed to students for a long time.
According
to MoD 11 Taliban were killed and 4 others were wounded during the operations
conducted by the Afghan security force members.
A
motorcycle, ammunition, and some weapons also fell into the hands of government
forces.
MoD
stated that the Taliban had also planted 14 different types of IEDs in the area
to target civilians and the security forces, the discovered IEDS were safely defused
and no one was hurt.
This
comes as Two police were killed and three others were injured when an ANP
vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Herat province.
The
incident happened on Wednesday on Islam Qala highway in Herat province, while a
delegation was on its way to Herat’s custom office in the border town to
investigate the massive fire breakout incident that ruined more than 1,000
trucks loaded with tons of commercial goods, food, and other products.
No
group have so far claimed responsibility for the incident.
https://www.khaama.com/mod-operation-claims-11-taliban-wounds-4-kandahar-334433/
--------
Sri
Lankan government cancels Imran Khan's address to Parliament
Feb
18, 2021
ISLAMABAD:
The Sri Lankan Parliament on Thursday has cancelled the planned address of
Prime Minister Imran Khan during his upcoming visit to the island nation,
reported Dawn.
This
is being seen as a move by the Sri Lankan government to maintain ties with
India.
It
was being speculated that Khan would raise the Kashmir issue during his speech,
which could have upset Delhi. Express newspaper ( from Sri Lanka) stated that
giving an opportunity to the Pakistani prime minister could have been implied
as giving Khan parity to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, so the planned
speech was cancelled.
It
is significant to mention that Imran khan's speech at the Sri Lankan parliament
had been included in PM's itinerary on the Pakistan government's request.
Imran
Khan is scheduled to travel to Colombo on a two-day trip from February 22. He
was to address the Sri Lankan parliament on February 24. He will also meet Sri
Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and
attend an investors' conference, reported Dawn.
Imran's
speech was added at the request of the Pakistan government. However, it was
later cancelled, according to Sri Lankan media. Sri Lankan media have cited
different reasons for the cancellation of Khan's address.
Sri
Lanka's daily Express quoted Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage as having
said that Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had requested for cancellation on
the pretext of COVID-19.
However,
the same newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying that there were elements
within the Sri Lankan government, who did not want the speech to take place as
they feared that doing so could further harm ties with India, which have
already been strained after the cancellation of a deal over the East Container
Terminal in Colombo port, reported Dawn.
But,
another speculation doing the rounds is that the Sri Lankan government was
concerned about Khan speaking about the rights of Muslims in Sri Lanka, who
have faced abuses at the hands of the Buddhist majority, rising anti-Muslim
sentiments, and biased government actions, reported Dawn.
The
Sri Lankan government had, moreover, made its compulsory cremation rule for
those dying from COVID-19 applicable to Muslims in the country.
The
government, however, earlier this month exempted the Muslims from cremation and
allowed them to bury their dead after a global outcry over the issue. (ANI)
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/sri-lankan-government-cancels-imran-khans-address-to-parliament/articleshow/81084582.cms
--------
Southeast
Asia
Indonesian
Church backs call to amend controversial cyberlaw
Ryan
Dagur
February
18, 2021
A
senior Indonesian Church official has welcomed a call by President Joko Widodo
for the revision of several articles in a law regulating electronic information
and transactions that activists claim are aimed at curbing civil liberties and
ensnaring government critics.
The
Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE Law) enacted in 2018 punishes
anyone found guilty of distributing, transmitting or making accessible
electronic content that contains insults, pornography, hate speech, threats or
fake news.
Rights
groups have criticized the law, saying there is an absence of clear guidelines
for police and the judiciary to interpret such actions.
Widodo
this week responded to the criticism.
“The
initial spirit of the ITE Law was to keep Indonesia's digital space clean,
healthy, ethical and productive. If its implementation creates a sense of
injustice, then this law needs to be revised. Remove the articles which have
multiple interpretations,” he said on Feb. 15 during a meeting with police and
military chiefs.
Stories
Transform Lives
Father
Paulus Christian Siswantoko, executive secretary of the Indonesian Catholic
bishops' Commission for the Laity, called Widodo's statement a signal that he
had "detected unrest among the people over the law.”
He
said such a law is important in the context that there are people who still
need to learn how to use the internet wisely.
“It’s
so our nation will be better and action is taken against the misuse of
electronic media for bad things, such as inciting hatred and spreading
misleading information,” he told UCA News on Feb. 17.
"However,
it is important to craft a law so that its application does not actually curb
civil liberties, such as taking action against people who convey criticism
based on data or facts."
At
the same time, people need to learn how to use communication tools more wisely,
he said.
Usman
Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said the first
step the president should take in following up on his own call is to release
those locked up under the law for simply expressing their views peacefully.
"The
government is obliged to respect and protect the right to freedom of expression
and opinion, including those who have views contrary to the government,"
he said in a statement.
The
government must also realize that protection of freedom of opinion and
expression does not end with the revision of this law, he added.
"There
are articles in other laws that are also often used to deny freedom of
expression, such as the one on treason to punish Papuans who express their
views peacefully. Ensuring justice in society must be carried out fairly and
not in a discriminatory manner,” Hamid said.
Amnesty
International recorded at least 119 cases last year in which the right to
freedom of expression was violated using the ITE Law. The cases involved 141
people including 18 activists and four journalists
Many
of them were accused of violating the law after criticizing government
policies, Hamid said.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesian-church-backs-call-to-amend-controversial-cyberlaw/91459
--------
Malaysian
NGOs condemn killing of 13 Turkish citizens
Pizaro
Gozali Idrus
17.02.2021
A
group of Malaysian organizations has joined the global condemnation of 13
Turkish nationals' brutal execution by the terrorist group PKK in northern
Iraq.
The
Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations, an umbrella group of
dozens of NGOs, late Tuesday said they consider "barbaric execution"
of civilians "a total disregard for international law."
The
group called for an independent investigation so that the perpetrators will be
prosecuted.
Mohd
Azmi Abdul Hamid, the council's head, said in a written statement that Turkey's
cross-border military operations against the PKK in Iraq and Syria are Ankara's
right to secure itself from cross-border attacks.
"We
support Turkey's resolve to fight terrorism and foreign powers that are trying
to undermine the sovereignty of Turkey," he added.
He
rejected the violent approach by the PKK to disrupt peace in Turkey while
demanding a separate state.
The
Muslim Youth Movement Malaysia also condemned the killing, saying in a
statement: "This is one of the series of atrocities committed towards
Turkish civilians by the PKK, which has been labeled a terrorist organization
at the international level."
The
PKK "has been promoting violence and is rejected by the Kurdish community
itself," said Muhammad Faisal Abdul Aziz, the movement's head.
Citing
the PKK's abduction of children to turn them into terrorists, Azis said:
"As an assertion, the international communities should firmly reject the
violent movement organized by PKK and its alliances."
Meanwhile,
the Movement for An Informed Society Malaysia, another NGO, also condemned the
PKK's killing of Turkish citizens.
"We
need to underline the fact that the silence of the international public,
including the Western World, over the PKK massacre is indeed deafening,"
said Ahmad Azam Abdul Rahman, head of the group.
Rahman
stressed that Turkey has a right to self-defense against cross-border PKK
attacks on the military and civilians.
The
head of the Palestinian Culture Organization of Malaysia also "expressed
full solidarity with the Turkish people and government in these tough
times."
"The
murder of civilians is a heinous crime that should not be tolerated, and Turkey
has full right to protect its people and security from such acts. Culprits
should be brought to justice," said Muslim Imran.
The
Malaysian Turkish Alumni Network, representing many Malaysian graduates from
universities in Turkey, also condemned the "horrible crime and terrorist
act in the strongest terms."
"We
all sympathies and share in the pain of the Turkish people," the alumni
network said in a statement to Turkish Ambassador to Malaysia Merve Kavakci.
Kavakci
said: "We are grateful to see the unwavering support of the international
community."
"Among
them are People of Malaysia, standing in solidarity with the people of
Turkey," she added, noting that several organizations from Malaysia
"such as MAPIM [Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations],
ABIM [Muslim Youth Movement Malaysia], and WADAH [Movement for An Informed
Society Malaysia] have shown their solidarity during these trying times."
The
Malaysian Turkish Alumni Network voiced condolences and prayers to the families
of the 13 Turkish citizens who were murdered, as well as to all Turkish people
in the loss of their fellow citizens.
Turkish
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Sunday said the bodies of 13 Turkish citizens
were found during Operation Claw-Eagle 2, a Turkish counter-terrorism operation
in Northern Iraq.
Turkish
forces launched the operation on Feb. 10 to prevent the PKK and other terror
groups from re-establishing positions used to carry out cross-border terror
attacks on Turkey.
Operations
Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle were launched last June to ensure the safety of
Turkey's people and borders.
In
its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a
terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU — has been responsible for
the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/malaysian-ngos-condemn-killing-of-13-turkish-citizens/2148184
--------
Mideast
Leader:
Action, Not Words, Needed to Satisfy Iran
2021-February-17
“We
have said a lot about the nuclear deal and the policies of the Islamic
Republic. Words are uttered and promises are made. Today I want to say just one
word; we have heard many good words and promises that were later violated.
Words and promises are useless. This time just action; if we see action from
the other side, we will act too. With words and promises, the Islamic Republic
will not be satisfied this time like in the past,” Ayatollah Khamenei said,
addressing a meeting with Iranian people from East Azerbaijan Province via
video conference on the occasion of the uprising of the people of Tabriz on
Feb. 18, 1978, against the former Pahlavi regime.
Elsewhere,
he lauded efforts of people of Tabriz which led to the victory of the Islamic
Revolution in Iran, and said, "The Revolution was able to turn Iran, which
was a scientifically backward country, economically dependent on the great
powers and politically follower of certain countries, into an independent,
beloved and highly successful country."
"Strengthening
the country's military and defense forces was one of the achievements of the
revolution," Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding, "Today, the military
status of Iran is tens of times better than it was in the days before the
Revolution, and we are a great regional power."
"The
reason behind US and Israel conspiracies is that they see that the Revolution
has not stopped and is moving forward," he noted.
"The
enemy launches negative propaganda about our failures but it does not show our progress
and hides it," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
In
relevant remarks on February 7, Ayatollah Khamenei said that his country will
not take steps to return to its nuclear deal undertakings unless it will be
able to verify the US practical measures in removing the sanctions against
Tehran.
"Iran
has fulfilled all its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, not the US and
the three European countries ... If they want Iran to return to its
commitments, the US must lift all sanctions first," Ayatollah Khamenei said,
addressing the Iranian Army Air Force commanders and staff on the anniversary
of the historical pledging allegiance of Air Force commanders with late Imam
Khomeini in 1979.
He
underlined that the side with the right to set conditions to return to the
JCPOA undertakings is Iran since it abided by all its commitments, not the US
or the 3 European countries which breached theirs, adding, “If they want Iran
to return, the US should lift all sanctions. We'll verify and if it's done
properly, we’ll return to our undertakings."
“This
is the definite policy of the Islamic Republic and it is also agreed upon by
the officials of the country and we will not return from this policy,”
Ayatollah Khamenei said, stressing that no one in Iran listens to what the US
and European officials say about preconditions for lifting sanctions.
Iranian
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that his country
will halt the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol to the
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) next week in case other parties continue to defy
their nuclear deal undertakings.
“The
Iranian government is required to suspend the voluntary implementation of the
Additional Protocol next week, according to the parliament approval, if the
obligations of the other parties have not been fulfilled by that day. This move
does not take time and can be implemented in a day,” Khatibzadeh told reporters
in a press conference in Tehran.
“Accordingly,
inspections beyond the safeguards agreements will be stopped, and this means
the supervisions that Iran has accepted within the framework of the Additional
Protocol and it does not mean stopping all supervisions. Iran will keep
fulfilling some of the inspections, but the Additional Protocol will definitely
be stopped,” he added.
Yet,
Khatibzadeh underlined that Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) will continue and will inform the IAEA of its moves in a
letter, reiterating that all the actions done by Iran are easily reversible,
provided that the other parties return to their obligations.
“Unfortunately,
the US continues to follow the wrong path of the previous administration, and
what is happening today is no different from what was underway before January
20, and the maximum pressure and crime against the Iranian people and disregard
for international laws continues today too,” he added.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991129000484/Leader-Acin-N-Wrds-Needed-Saisfy-Iran
--------
Iran:
Assassination of Gen. Soleimani, Dr. Fakhrizadeh Proof of US-Israeli State
Terrorism
2021-February-17
“The
cowardly assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and top nuclear
scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh are clear instances of state terrorism by the US
and Israel,” Hatami told his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi during a virtual
talk on Tuesday.
He
condemned the heinous assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani by
the US terrorist army and the dastardly assassination of Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
by the Israeli elements.
The
Iranian minister went on to say that state terrorism is the source of
instability and insecurity in the region.
Nobuo
Kishi, for his part, pointed to Japan’s naval presence in Indian Ocean and the
Sea of Oman, saying that it is not dependent on any alliance.
He
said that the Japanese navy is trying to maintain security of the country’s
ships in West Asia, calling for Iran’s cooperation in this regard.
The
two sides exchanged views on expansion of cooperation, including in the Center
for Maritime Safety in Indian Ocean located in Chabahar region in Southern
Iran.
In
relevant remarks on Tuesday, Spokesperson of the joint Iran-Russia naval
exercises Rear Admiral Gholamreza Tahani said security of the sea lanes in the
North of the Indian Ocean is among the most important goals of the exercise.
"We
emphasize that the North Indian Ocean region is one of the safest maritime
regions," Tahani said on Tuesday in the presence of the commanders of the
navies of Iranian Army, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and Russia, adding that
one of the goals of the joint drills is to boost security of the North Indian
Ocean region.
"The
North Indian Ocean is one of the most important and strategic waterways in the
world and plays an important role in world trade and shipping," he went on
to say.
"The
security of shipping lines in this region, especially in the area between the
Strait of Hormuz, the Malacca Strait and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, guarantees
the preservation of economic interests in the world, which requires the
cooperation and convergence of different navies," the spokesman noted.
"Many
countries navigate the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean, which are key areas of
world trade, and therefore maintaining maritime security is crucial,"
Tahani stated.
He
said that improving combat readiness, achieving collective security and
exchanging experience in the field of counter-terrorism and piracy are
important goals of this exercise.
Iran-Russia
‘Marine Security Belt’ drills are underway with the slogan "Collective
Cooperation at Sea for the Security of Maritime Trade" in a
17,000-kilometer area with a message of peace and friendship.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13991129000601/Iran-Assassinain-f-Gen-Sleimani-Dr-Fakhrizadeh-Prf-f-US-Israeli-Sae
--------
Palestine
reports 93 pct voter registration for long-awaited elections
17
February ,2021
Fifteen
years after Palestinians last went to the polls, some 93 percent of eligible
voters in the West Bank and Gaza have registered for long-awaited elections,
official figures showed on Wednesday.
Palestinians
over 18 were eligible to register online, by phone or in person for
parliamentary elections planned for May 22 and a presidential vote set for July
31.
The
Central Election Commission said 2.6 million out of 2.8 million eligible voters
did so before a Tuesday deadline.
In
the previous Palestinian election, in 2006, around 80 percent of 1.6 million
eligible voters registered but only about one million cast ballots, the
commission said.
There
has been widespread skepticism that the ballots will actually go ahead, after
years of enmity between the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited
self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Hamas Islamists, who run Gaza.
The
2006 ballot ended in a surprise win by Hamas, which was running for the first
time in parliamentary elections. A power struggle ensued and in 2007 the
militant group seized control of Gaza from forces loyal to Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas,
85, is expected to run in the new presidential election.
Palestinians
also plan for this year’s ballots to take place in East Jerusalem, which Israel
captured along with the West Bank and Gaza in a 1967 war and annexed in a move
that has not won international recognition.
Israel
allowed Palestinians to vote in East Jerusalem in 2006.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/02/17/Palestine-reports-93-pct-voter-registration-for-long-awaited-elections
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Three
intelligence agents, three Revolutionary Guards killed in southeast Iran
17
February ,2021
Yaghoub
Fazeli
Three
Iranian intelligence agents and three members of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in two separate attacks in southeast Iran on
Tuesday, authorities said.
The
Ministry of Intelligence said Tuesday three of its members were killed while carrying
out “intelligence operations on one of the organized crime gangs” in the
south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.
It
did not provide any further details about where in the province the incident
took place.
Separately,
an IRGC official said Wednesday three members of the force were killed and
another was injured in an armed attack in the city of Nikshahr in
Sistan-Baluchestan on Tuesday.
Two
of the attackers were also killed in the clash, the semi-official ILNA news
agency cited Qassem Hassanzadeh, head of the public relations office of an IRGC
base in the province, as saying.
Sistan-Baluchestan,
according to official figures, is Iran’s poorest province.
Iranian
security forces often clash with armed drug smugglers and Sunni militants in
the area.
The
province is mostly populated by Sunni ethnic Baluchis, a minority in the
predominantly Shia Iran. Baluchi activists complain of ethnic and religious
discrimination and accuse the regime of deliberately neglecting their region
due to its population’s Sunni faith.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2021/02/17/Three-intelligence-agents-three-Revolutionary-Guards-killed-in-southeast-Iran
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So
far, Biden has retained Trump’s disgraceful maximum pressure policy: Zarif
17
February 2021
Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says so far, the administration of US President
Joe Biden has kept up his predecessor Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy
towards Iran that has brought along nothing but defeat and disgrace for
Washington.
“It
has been a month now that the Biden administration has been continuing Trump’s
‘maximum pressure’ policy of lawlessness, one-upmanship, and bullying,” he said
in Tehran on Wednesday on the sidelines of a meeting of the Iranian
administration.
“If
they believe that this policy has failed and made the US lose face, then its
continuation is not going to help them out [any more] either, and will bring
along the same failure and disgrace for them,” Zarif added.
Under
Trump, the US left a historic 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group
of countries that also included Washington’s most prominent allies in Europe,
namely the UK, France, and Germany. Trump then returned the sanctions that the
deal had lifted and successfully pressured the European signatories into toeing
the sanction line.
The
US took all the illegal steps in the belief that Tehran would, in Washington’s
own terms, “return” to the negotiating table and even allow inclusion of its
missile program and regional influence as new talking points.
The
Islamic Republic, however, managed to withstand the economic pressure. It,
meanwhile, kept reminding the US that it would not renegotiate a “done deal,”
and that its defensive work and regional might were never open to negotiation.
America’s
exit and the European non-compliance that ensued prompted Tehran to begin
suspending its nuclear commitments in several phases in retaliation.
The
latest round of Iran’s countermeasures came when Majlis (the Parliament) set
February 23 as the deadline beyond which the Islamic Republic would no longer
adhere to the Additional Protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The
protocol that Tehran has been observing voluntarily, allows intrusive and
short-notice inspections of the country’s nuclear program.
Zarif
reminded that despite stopping its commitment to the Additional Protocol,
Tehran would still retain its routine cooperation with the International Atomic
Energy Agency by allowing the UN nuclear watchdog to keep up its regular
inspections of the country’s nuclear work.
By
sustaining its violations of the nuclear deal after the parliament’s deadline,
the US would, however, be inviting even more disgrace for itself, he said.
Nevertheless,
if the sanctions were lifted, Iran too would resume its nuclear obligations and
reverse its decision concerning the Additional Protocol, the top diplomat
noted, echoing Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s
opinion in the area.
The
Leader has asserted on several occasions that the Islamic Republic would only
return to its commitments in the nuclear deal, which is officially known as the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), once the bans were relieved in a
way that could be verifiable by Tehran.
“If
they think they can create a leverage for themselves by sustaining their
already defeated policy, they should know this that in Iran too, some
[counter]developments will take place on the ground [in return],” Zarif
concluded, referring to how the country would take its nuclear counter-steps
further if the counterparty continued its non-compliance.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/17/645495/Iran-United-States-Biden-Trump-maximum-pressure-nuclear-deal-sanctions
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Middle
East experts in favor of Biden’s return to Iran nuclear deal in its current condition,
new survey shows
17
February 2021
A
new poll shows experts on the Middle East want new US President Joe Biden to
"immediately" return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in its current
form and without any conditions.
According
to the survey conducted by the Middle East Scholar Barometer, 67 percent of
respondents said the US would most likely achieve "favorable results"
in its foreign policy if Biden returned "immediately" to the current
Iran nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), American news magazine Newsweek reported.
The
survey also established that 75 percent of experts believed the US returning to
the deal would contribute to non-proliferation within the next decade.
Meanwhile,
Shibley Telhami, a Mideast scholar and the Anwar Sadat professor for peace and
development at the University of Maryland who developed the survey, commented
on requests for opening up negotiations with Iran on other issues to be
included in the nuclear program.
He
said that reopening the deal would result in certain “problematic” issues,
including concerns that the prospect of reaching a new deal would even become
impossible.
He
added that it may also open up the possibility of “military escalation,” which
is largely opposed by the academic community, as only 1 percent of those
surveyed supported military action against Iran.
A
non-random sample of 521 experts participated in the survey, which was
published on Tuesday, and was conducted from February 8 to 15 as a joint project
between the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, and the Project on
Middle East Political Science at George Washington University.
Only
4 percent in favor of 'maximum pressure'
According
to the poll, only 4 percent of the respondents were in favor of the US
continuing its so-called maximum pressure policy against Tehran, which Telhami
said harmfully affects the people of Iran.
Former
president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the landmark JCPOA in 2018 in
defiance of International criticism, and reinstated the sanctions that had been
lifted against Iran under the accord as part of its maximum pressure campaign
against Tehran.
The
US also imposed fresh sanctions against Iran in the final days of Trump’s
presidency in pious hope of brining Tehran to its knees.
Biden,
who was vice president when the JCPOA was clinched, said during his
presidential campaign that he intended to rejoin the deal. But he now says the
US would not lift sanctions and return to the agreement until Iran stops its enrichment
practices.
Iran
took certain measures to suspend its commitments in several phases one year
after it fully lived up to its obligations and when it saw no palpable action
by the other signatories to the JCPOA to guarantee trade with Iran and protect
it from US sanctions.
Although
it was the US that unilaterally left the JCPOA, Biden has insisted it is Iran
that should first return to full compliance before Washington takes a
step.
Since
Biden's inauguration on January 20, the international community has been eager
to see how he would make good on his promise, but no concrete measure
whatsoever has been taken to that goal.
Leader
of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that
Iran will not accept mere verbal promises in the case of the JCPOA and needs to
see action on the part of the co-signatories.
“Concerning
the JCPOA, I should just say one word. We have heard many nice words and
promises that have been violated and have not been fulfilled in action,”
Ayatollah Khamenei said. “But this time around, [we accept] only actions!”
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/02/17/645491/Biden-should-rejoin-Iran-nuclear-deal-without-preconditions-a-poll-shows-
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