Jaish-e-Mohammed Financier, Farhatullah Ghauri, Uses Social Media to Amplify Terrorist Propaganda Calling on Indian Muslims to Revolt
New Age Islam News Bureau
12 August 2022
Representative Image
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• Non-Muslims Integral Part Of National Fabric:
Pakistan PM on National Day of Minorities
• Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to Implement New
Curriculum in Accordance with Islamic Law
• Diplomats From 30 Muslim Countries Including Saudi
Arabia, Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan Visited China's Xinjiang Region
• Thousands Of Sudanese Protesters Rally Against
Military Rule
India
• China's Blocking Of Blacklisting JeM Terrorist
Exposes Its Double Standards: Sources
• Muslim Central Committee Gives Rs.30 Lakh Each To
The Families Of Murder Victims Mohammed Fazil, 22, And Masood, 19 in Karnataka
• Udaipur: Hindus near slain Kanhaiya Lal’s shop save
Taziya from fire
• Hyderabadis react as Raja Singh threatens to beat up
Munawar Faruqui
• Pak navy rescues 9 Indian crew members after vessel
capsizes in Arabian Sea
• Karnataka: Two killed in clash over interfaith
relationship
--------
Pakistan
• Bilawal For Constituting Committee To Resolve Issues
Of Non-Muslim Pakistanis
• Imran Khan: Forced Conversion ‘Violation Of Allah’s
Commands’
• Activists call for end to forced conversion of
minors to Islam
• Blast near Afghan border kills four Pakistan
soldiers
• Islam provides unparalleled rights to minorities:
Ashrafi
• Swat, Miramshah and Mir Ali areas: PM forms
16-member Jirga to deal with law and order challenge
• Quran For All Human Beings, Not Just Muslims: Abdul
Shakoor
• Raza Rabbani for revisiting policy of engagement
with Tehreek-i-Taliban
• COAS Bajwa to be chief guest at Sandhurst
passing-out parade in UK
• PM Shehbaz, Modi likely to meet at SCO summit
• Saleem Baig to be re-appointed as Pakistan's media
regulatory Chief
• Pakistani artisans seek to preserve ancient art of
stonecraft
--------
South
Asia
• Taliban cleric Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani killed in
blast in Kabul: Intelligence official
• Afghanistan: Resistance Front reportedly kills 25
Taliban fighters in close combat
• Afghanistan: Dead body thrown on streets in Nimruz
province
• Ghani Should Have Apologized to Afghan People:
Afghan Envoy to UN
• One year under Taliban rule, girls are more
isolated, hungry, sad: report
--------
Southeast
Asia
• China says it needs more time to assess US, India
proposal to blacklist JeM chief Masood Azhar's brother
• Najib, Arul Kanda amended 1MDB audit report to
escape legal action, says witness
• Single mum fined RM8,000 for insulting Islam
--------
Africa
• Thousands Of Sudanese Protesters Rally Against
Military Rule
• Election observers happy with Kenyan polls, want
peaceful transfer of power
• China backs $640 million Sudan railway restoration
project amid economic crises
• 2nd turbine turned on at Ethiopia's Nile dam
--------
Arab
World
• Saudi Man In Austria Hailed Hero After Saving
Drowning Father, Daughter
• Türkiye 'neutralizes' 6 YPG/PKK terrorists in
northern Syria
• UN Warns Lebanon, Israel Against Taking Border
Stability For Granted As Tensions Rise
• Iraq to continue supplying Lebanon fuel for another
year
• UAE President, UK PM Johnson discuss bilateral
relations, global issues
• US military forces smuggle new convoy of stolen oil
from northeast Syria to Iraq: Report
--------
Mideast
• Iran: Newly-Launched Satellite 'Khayyam' Successfully Stabilized
• Israeli decision to raze West Bank school is 'war' on
Palestinian identity, says premier
• Ayatollah Khamenei praises Palestinian Islamic Jihad
for 'rubbing enemy's nose to the ground'
• Iran rejects US claim Revolutionary Guard member
plotted to kill Bolton
• UN rights chief sounds alarm at number of Palestinian
children killed, condemns lack of accountability
• President Rayeesi Reiterates Iran's Opposition to
Geopolitical Changes in Region
--------
North
America
• Imam Mohamed Magid, A Leader In Interfaith
Relations, Appointed To International Religious Freedom Commission
• Two Black Muslim men sue Alaska Airlines for being
deplaned over Arabic texts
• Suspect in killings of 2 Muslim men in Albuquerque
is described as volatile by community members and police reports
• Citing Russian officials being trained in Iran on
drones, US warns of sanctions
• US envoy to travel to UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman to
strengthen Yemen truce
• Assassins Creed: Why the plot to kill John Bolton is
in the DNA of the Iranian regime
--------
Europe
• Greek Official Advocates ‘Necessity’ Of Spying On
Country’s Muslim Turkish-Origin Deputies
• Greece 'uneasy' with Türkiye's new drill ship in
Eastern Mediterranean
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/jaish-jem-farhatullah-terrorist-indian-muslims/d/127700
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Jaish-e-Mohammed Financier, Farhatullah Ghauri, Uses
Social Media to Amplify Terrorist Propaganda Calling on Indian Muslims to
Revolt
Representative Image
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Ayushman Kaul
AUGUST 12, 2022
In an exclusive investigation, Logically has found
that Farhatullah Ghauri, a terrorist recruiter and financier for
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-backed terror group, is using a network of
accounts on Facebook, Telegram, and YouTube to amplify terrorist propaganda
videos targeting religious minorities in the country. JeM is the group responsible
for several terror attacks in India, including the February 2019 Pulwama
bombing that led to the death of 40 Indian security personnel.
The network was identified by Logically before it
could accrue a significant audience peaking with 200-400 subscribers across all
the accounts. The terrorist propaganda has circulated across other encrypted
messaging channels on Telegram, including those affiliated with
Islamabad-backed proxy terror groups claiming to operate in the Kashmir region,
such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and The Resistance Front.
Closer scrutiny of the amplification patterns of the
videos on Facebook since January 2022 suggests a concerted attempt by malicious
actors to post the videos in Facebook groups and pages dedicated to socialism,
Islam, and minority rights. These groups are frequented by larger, more
mainstream audiences of domestic users who are critical of the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) government. Moreover, these coordinated online campaigns coincide
with offline incidents of communal violence in the country, revealing how
malicious actors abroad are leveraging major social media platforms to exploit
domestic tensions and radicalise the minority population.
Who is Farhatullah Ghauri?
Farhatullah Ghauri is listed among 38 individuals as a
terrorist by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act, 1967 (amended in 2019). Also known as Abu Sufiyan, Ghuar is
originally from Kurmaguda district in Hyderabad and primarily known for being a
terrorist financier. He fled to Saudi Arabia in 1994 and finally settled in
Pakistan in 2015.
In addition to being a close associate of Masood
Azhar, a United Nations designated terrorist and the founder of JeM,
Farhatullah is personally implicated by Indian intelligence services for
planning and facilitating a series of terror attacks in the country. These
attacks include an improvised explosive device (IED) attack at Sai Baba Temple
in Saroornagar in 2002, a fidayeen (suicide) attack on the Akshardham Temple
complex in Gujarat the same year, a suicide bomb attack targeting the Hyderabad
City Police Commissioner’s Task Force office at Begumpet in 2005 and the
attempted assassination of Nallu Indrasena Reddy, an Indian politician and
current national secretary of the BJP in 2017.
According to intelligence from Indian agencies, Ghauri
facilitates and finances these attacks without actively participating in them.
He also actively recruits and indoctrinates individuals, including funding
their travel from India to Dubai and Pakistan for radicalisation and training.
In April 2022, The Print reported on how the fugitive
financier had decided to shed decades of anonymity in favour of amplifying
propaganda on social media by following a more overt approach towards
recruitment centered on personal outreach within close circles mediated by
clerics and family ties. Through this approach, he seeks to recruit Indian
Muslims to carry out domestic terror attacks on behalf of several other groups,
namely, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),
symbolic of a broader effort by jihadist groups to leverage popular digital
communication platforms to appeal to a new generation of ‘Jihad volunteers’ by
exploiting domestic communal tensions.
A clash of civilisations
As part of this investigation, Logically identified
three encrypted Telegram channels, two associated Facebook pages, and three
YouTube channels operated by the group.
The terrorist propaganda amplified via these channels
consists of professionally edited videos with voice overs by Farhatullah
Ghauri. Some of the videos engage with the rhetoric of Muslim minorities
allegedly facing human rights violations by Indian security services in Jammu,
Kashmir and other parts of the country. This is then complemented with graphic
images and news coverage referencing historical and current incidents of
sectarian violence in the country.
The videos often address policy decisions enacted by
the present central government that affect the Indian-Muslim community,
including the reading down of Article 370, the implementation of the
Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), and the National Registry of Citizens (NRC).
The semantics used in the videos cleverly aim to portray the Indian government
as ‘Hindu Fascists’ locked in an inter-civilisational conflict against Muslims
across the world. Finally, there are explicit calls by Ghauri to Indian Muslims
to revolt and take up arms against the Indian state.
Other videos employ more overt appeals to religiosity
by including references from Islamic theology, namely, Malhama Al-Kubra, an
apocalyptical battle prophesied to signal armageddon and, Ghazwa-e-Hind (Holy
war for India), an Islamic concept derived from the Hadiths that refers to
Muslim warriors conquering the Indian subcontinent.
These references are paired with calls from the
narrator for Indian Muslims to take up weapons and mount attacks against local
politicians, civilians, and other ‘soft targets’ in India that are alleged to
have blasphemed against Islam. The videos also implore Muslims abroad to engage
in hijrah, a ‘holy pilgrimage’ to India to carry out terror attacks.
Troublingly, an analysis into the spread of the videos
on Facebook between January 1 and July 1, 2022, via CrowdTangle, a social media
analysis tool, reveals that videos from Ghauri’s network were amplified across
several mainstream Facebook groups and pages devoted to Islam, socialism and
minority rights in a bid to help the extremist content accrue a larger audience
among a user base critical of the ruling political party, BJP. While platform
officials took down these posts, the time-stamps on the posts in these groups
and the use of similarly written captions and descriptions accompanying the
video suggest the presence of a copypasta campaign by a single entity.
Identifying the network
The three encrypted Telegram channels, two associated
Facebook pages, and three YouTube channels operated by the group were all
created from February to June of this year. During the course of the
investigation, the content moderation teams took down one Telegram channel and
one Facebook page linked to the group.
The Facebook page was the first asset to be created on
February 8, while the third Telegram channel, created on June 16, was the last
asset to be added to the network. The creation dates of the accounts overlap
with a series of protests beginning in January 2022 in Karnataka, which were
triggered by the denial of entry to Muslim students wearing the Hijab at a
state-run college in Udupi district. Each of the individual accounts
incorporated the same branding and content modeled on a Palestinian resistance
movement newsletter, aiding in identifying the different assets involved in the
network.
Despite being created first, the Facebook pages, which
describe themselves as ‘personal blogs’ dedicated to the organisation and
Farhatullah, were the least active of the assets and only posted a few videos
from the network’s entire catalog. A status post uploaded on one of the pages
on February 11 amplified a link to one of the Telegram channels created by the
group and claimed the organisation sought to ‘help understand the contemporary
affairs of the Ummah and clarify misconceptions. The same post also called on
Indian Muslims to ‘share among your Muslim fellows’, promising ‘there is a lot
more to come’.
The three YouTube channels were created next and
served as the second most significant repository of extremist content after the
network of Telegram channels. This network served primarily to host and amplify
the terrorist recruitment videos produced by the group targeting Indian Muslim
users frequenting the platforms. The videos are shared alongside written
messages, associated hashtags such as #Hind (India), #IndianMuslims,
#IndianMujahideen (Indian holy warrior), and references to specific instances
of communal violence between Hindu extremists and Muslims in the country.
One video uploaded on one of the YouTube channels on
February 9 used multiple hashtags referencing the Hijab protests that took
place in Karnataka, further highlighting an attempt by the admins to target
Indian-Muslim users frequenting the platforms.
The three Telegram channels served as the primary
disseminators of the terrorist recruitment videos. While two of the three
Telegram channels only posted and marketed extremist content produced by the
group, the third channel also posted images and graphics depicting alleged
instances of communal violence against Indian Muslims. Posts on this channel
also included written messages that directly exhorted Indian-Muslim users to
turn to violence and called on them to ‘prepare yourselves from swords to
explosives’.
As with its other accounts managed by the outfit, the
extremist recruitment videos amplified on the Telegram channels were also
accompanied by targeted hashtags to expose the content to Indian-Muslim users
frequenting the platform.
The group also used the Telegram channels to highlight
the broader network of assets controlled by the organisation. A post uploaded
on one of the Telegram channels on April 11, 2022, described the organisation
as the ‘voice of Muslimeen in India’ and shared links to other accounts
controlled by the organisation on Facebook, Telegram, YouTube, and
Justpaste.it.
Justpaste.it is a free website that allows users to
upload text and images to the site and distribute it via a link. It was
previously used as a hosting platform by members of the erstwhile Islamic State
of Syria and the Levant (ISIL) to upload propaganda and bypass content
moderation policies of major social media platforms. The accounts also use
tlgur.com, a similar free content hosting service and streamable.com, a video
hosting website, to archive and amplify the extremist videos.
The network on Telegram cross-posts links to the
YouTube channels created by the group suggesting an attempt to diversify their
online footprint and leverage YouTube’s more extensive user base in the
country. Posts from these channels are also amplified in other Telegram
channels affiliated with Islamabad-backed proxy terror groups in the region,
including Hizbul Mujahideen and The Resistance Front, suggesting that despite
failing to accrue mainstream appeal, the videos had found an audience in online
fora frequented by local terrorist sympathizers.
While platform officials also took down the main
Telegram channel of the outlet, the group created a replacement channel which
remains active at the time of publication, albeit with a smaller audience than
the original channel.
Cycles of instability
According to the latest figures from January 2022 from
Data Reportal, social media usage in India continues to skyrocket, with over
467 million users. Terrorist and extremist groups will persist in leveraging
the anonymity and audience offered by social media platforms to amplify their
extremist narratives, recruit disenfranchised and disaffected local youth,
venerate dead and captured terrorists, and coordinate attacks against the
Indian security services.
Pakistan-backed proxy terror groups will also seek to
capitalise on the clash between communal groups and these offline incidents of
unrest and incorporate them into propaganda videos. These videos are then
disseminated across major social media platforms in a bid to foster the next
generation of homegrown extremists. If left unchecked, the interplay between
the fringe elements from both groups will likely continue to erode societal
cohesion in India and portend a cycle of violence and domestic instability over
the long term.
Ayushman Kaul is a Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst
with a strong focus strong focus on geopolitics, violence perpetrated by
non-state actors, cyber and information security in the South Asian regional
context.
Source: The
Wire
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Non-Muslims Integral Part Of National Fabric: Pakistan
PM on National Day of Minorities
Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif
----
August 11, 2022
Islamabad: On the occasion of the National Day of
Minority, Prime Minister Shehbaz lauded the valuable contributions rendered by
the minorities in our nation-building.
In a special tweet, the PM said that the “non-Muslim
citizens are an integral part of our national fabric,” and we thank them for
their service to the country.”
He said that our founding fathers envisaged a
pluralistic society in Pakistan in which all citizens of the state were equal.
President’s message
In a separate statement, President Arif Alvi also
acknowledged the invaluable contribution made by minorities to the development
of Pakistan on the occasion of the National Day of Minorities.
He said that this day reminds us of the promise made
by our founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in 1947, that every
member of this great nation, irrespective of their religious belief, would
enjoy equal rights and liberties.
“Their rights have been enshrined in our Constitution.
Islam also emphasizes the protection of minorities’ rights,” the President
said.
Referring to the steps taken by the State toward
inclusivity, President Alvi said that minorities had their own representation
in the federal and provincial assemblies. Besides, they have also been
allocated a job quota in all government services, the President added.
This set a direction for the government to formulate
and align its policies towards the realization of the objective of
all-inclusive socio-economic development and a level playing field for all
communities of the nation.
President Alvi appreciated the role being played by
minorities, especially in the fields of education, health, and social welfare
and said, “Pakistan stands committed to its responsibilities as enshrined in
the Constitution by way of fundamental rights and principles of policy.”
Source: Pak Observer
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to Implement New
Curriculum in Accordance with Islamic Law
FILE: Afghan Ministry of
Higher Education building.
----
By Arif Ahmadi
12 Aug 2022
KABUL, Afghanistan – the Islamic Emirate leadership
has created a “directorate of academic curriculum” within the Afghan Ministry
of Higher Education amid pressures by the global leaders, including
international community, on Taliban to resume girls’ education.
Previously, under the direction of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Afghan
university officials would revise the curriculum of local institutions.
Ahmad Taqi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Higher
Education, said the directorate is aimed at reviewing and developing the
academic curriculum of all universities across Afghanistan in light with the Islamic
laws. The office will have six directors and fifty-two employees.
“We created commissions to review the curriculum,
invited representatives and experts from public and private universities from
all over the country, held several meetings and reconsidered the curriculum,”
Taqi said, as TOLOnews quoted.
Addressing the new curriculum, university lecturers
said the new directorate should develop a curriculum that would separate the
academic aspect from the political and other related matters.
“It should be underlined that this development should
be done based on scientific criteria and free from political factors,” said
Abdul Hadi Wazeen, university lecturer.
Meanwhile, a number of students expressed a mixed
reaction, urging the Ministry of Higher Education to provide credit for their
practical subjects in addition to religious subjects at universities.
“As law students, we should be studying subjects
relating to the law, but that isn’t the case here,” said Mursal, a student.
“They provide us four credits in Islamic subjects and teach us Tajweed.”
“The previous curriculum was also an Islamic
curriculum, which we are also completely satisfied with, and the topic of
Islamic studies has been in all of our four semesters,” said Miraj, another
student.
This came at a time girls schools from grade six and
above remain suspended since March this year, as the Islamic Emirate announced
its leadership are developing a new educational system that is in accordance
with the Islamic law.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.khaama.com/mohe-to-implement-new-curriculum-in-accordance-with-islamic-law/
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Diplomats
From 30 Muslim Countries Including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan Visited
China's Xinjiang Region
People demonstrate against China's policies towards
Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities, who are suffering
crimes against humanity and genocide, outside the Chinese Embassy in London,
United Kingdom on July 01, 2021 [Hasan Esen/Anadolu Agency]
-----
August
10, 2022
A
delegation of 32 envoys and senior diplomats from 30 Muslim-majority countries
have paid a visit to China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region at the
invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to learn about the region's
economic and social development.
The
five-day visit took place last week and included envoys from countries
including Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan. The delegation
visited the provincial capital Urumqi in addition to Kashgar and Aksu
prefectures. They were met by Ma Xingrui, secretary of the Party Committee of
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
A
spokesperson for theFforeign Ministry, Hua Chunying said the diplomats visited
mosques, Islamic schools, museums, old city renovation, grassroots communities,
technology enterprises, green development and rural revitalisation projects.
"Members
of the delegation expressed that the Chinese government adheres to the
people-centred approach and has made great achievements in promoting the
governance and development of Xinjiang," she said.
"We
sincerely welcome friends from all over the world to have the opportunity to
visit Xinjiang in the future to experience the beauty, harmony and development
of Xinjiang," she added.
According
to China's CGTN, the delegation "witnessed Xinjiang's achievements in
social stability, economic development, the improvement of people's
livelihoods, religious harmony and cultural prosperity, expressing their hopes
that exchanges and cooperation with the region would be deepened."
Algeria's
Ambassador to China, Hassane Rabehi, was quoted by local media as saying,
"The fruit here is so sweet, just like the life of the people here",
adding that he got to know the "real situation" of Xinjiang, where
the rights of people of all ethnic groups are well protected, said reports.
Following
the event, a press release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that
envoys expressed that "freedom of religious belief and various rights of
Muslims are duly guaranteed." And that what the delegation saw and heard
along the way "is completely different from what some Western media
reported."
The
US, its allies and the World Uyghur Congress have accused Beijing of committing
genocide against the mostly-Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority which is contested by
the Chinese government which claims they are combatting terrorism and
separatism.
In
2019, 22 mostly Western countries in a joint statement to the High Commissioner
to the UN condemned China's crackdown on Uyghur Muslims. However, a day later,
37 other countries signed their own letter defending Beijing's human rights
record, and dismissing the reported detention of up to two million Muslims. Nearly
half of the signatories were Muslim-majority nations.
On
31 July, a day before the delegation visited China, thousands of protestors
staged demonstrations in solidarity with China's Uyghurs as part of the
Stand4Uyghurs campaign.
Source:
Middle East Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
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Thousands
Of Sudanese Protesters Rally Against Military Rule
A file photo shows protesters march during a rally
against military rule following the last coup, in Khartoum, Sudan July 31,
2022. (Reuters)
------
11
August, 2022
Thousands
of Sudanese protesters rallied Thursday against last year’s military coup and
to demand civilian rule and better living conditions.
Demonstrators
in downtown Khartoum shouted for the army to “go back to the barracks,” AFP
correspondents reported.
Sudan
has been reeling from political unrest, a spiraling economic crisis and a broad
security breakdown since army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a coup last
October 25.
Sudan’s
latest putsch upended a transition to civilian rule launched after the 2019
ouster of strongman Omar al-Bashir, who ruled for three decades.
Thursday’s
demonstrations saw protesters gather on a main street in Khartoum, where they
also called for “safety and security” and “free health care and education.”
Near-weekly
protests – and a violent crackdown that has so far killed at least 116 people,
according to pro-democracy medics – have rocked Sudan since the coup.
Last
month, Burhan pledged in a televised address to step aside and make way for
Sudanese factions to agree on a civilian government.
Civilian
leaders dismissed his move as a “ruse,” and pro-democracy protesters have held
fast to their rallying cry of “no negotiation, no partnership” with the
military.
Burhan
late last month welcomed an initiative led by a renowned Sufi religious leader,
Al-Tayeb Al-Jed, in the latest attempt “to reach national consensus.”
Protesters
were, however, skeptical.
“This
initiative doesn’t represent any revolutionaries. They are people who are only
seeking power,” protester Shaker Mohammed said.
“We
reject it completely.”
Another
protester, Mohammed Abdelfattah, told AFP that such initiatives are “suspicious”
and do “not represent the street.”
Earlier
this month, Burhan’s deputy and paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo
said last October’s coup had failed to bring about change in Sudan.
“The
whole thing failed and now we (Sudan) have become worse off,” he said.
He
also reaffirmed Burhan’s pledge, saying the military would exit the political
scene “if that allows for Sudan to stabilize and prosper.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
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India
China's
blocking of blacklisting JeM terrorist exposes its double standards: Sources
Aug
11, 2022
NEW
DELHI: China's blocking of a joint India-US bid to list Pakistan-based
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) deputy chief Abdul Rauf Azhar as a UN Security
Council-designated terrorist exposes its double speak and double standards in
fighting terrorism, government sources said on Thursday.
The
sources said such "politically motivated" actions by China, in nearly
every listing case of a Pakistan-based terrorist, undermine the entire sanctity
of the working methods of the UNSC Sanctions Committee.
China
stalled the proposal at the UN by placing a ‘technical hold’ on the process to
blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar.
Abdul
Azhar is accused of masterminding a number of terror attacks including the
IC-814 hijacking in 1999 and the Parliament attack in 2001. He has also had a
hand in numerous attacks on security force personnel in Pathankot, Pulwama and
other locations in Jammu and Kashmir.
He
was arrested by Pakistani authorities in 2019 on terror financing charges.
The
Chinese mission at the UN said it required ‘more time’ to study the proposal,
and now has six months to make a decision. All the other 14 member states of
the UNSC were supportive of the listing proposal, said sources.
“We
placed a hold because we need more time to study the case. Placing holds is
provided for by the Committee guidelines, and there have been quite a number of
similar holds by Committee members on listing requests,” said a spokesperson
for China’s mission to the UN.
Credibility
at an all-time low: India's UN representative
Representative
to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj had recently told a Security Council
meeting chaired by China that the practice of placing holds and blocks on
listing requests without giving any justification must end and asserted that
the credibility of the sanctions regime was at an all-time low.
'It
is most regrettable that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals
pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world are being
placed on hold," she said, adding: "Double standards and continuing
politicisation have rendered the credibility of the Sanctions Regime at an
all-time low. We do hope that all members of the UNSC can pronounce together in
one voice, sooner than later, when it comes to this collective fight against
international terrorism."
Second
hold in 2 months by China
This
is not the first time that China has obstructed the listing of terrorists in
the UN's Sanctions Committee.
In
June 2022, China placed on hold a joint proposal by India and the US to list
the deputy chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Abdul Rehman Makki, in the
sanctions list.
Makki
has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalising youths to
resort to violence and planning attacks in India, including the Mumbai terror
attacks, the sources said. "It is unfortunate that the sanctions committee
has been prevented from playing its role due to political considerations,"
said a source.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Muslim
Central Committee Gives Rs.30 Lakh Each To The Families Of Murder Victims
Mohammed Fazil, 22, And Masood, 19 in Karnataka
AUGUST
12, 2022
The
Muslim Central Committee on Thursday, August 11, met the families of murder
victims Mohammed Fazil, 22, and Masood, 19, and gave away cheques of Rs. 30
lakh to each of the families.
Talking
to reporters, chairman of the committee Mohammed Masood said it was ready to
sponsor the education of Fazil’s brother, who is in Class 7.
Mr.
Masood said the committee was ready to give Rs.10 lakh to the family of BJP
Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru, who was also murdered. “As we heard they
(family members) are opposed to our visit, we called off the proposed visit to
Praveen’s house,” Mr. Masood said.
Criticising
the State government for differentiating among the victims of the three
murders, Mr. Masood said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai visited Praveen’s
family and gave away compensation. But he did not meet the other two family
members and do the same. “It’s the tax payers’ money through which compensation
is given. There cannot be religious distinction in paying compensation,” he
said. Though Mr. Bommai recently said he will meet Masood and Fazil’s families
he has not done it so far, he said.
Source:
The Hindu
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Udaipur:
Hindus near slain Kanhaiya Lal’s shop save Taziya from fire
11th
August 2022
Udaipur:
In an act with potential to fill some of the breach between the two
communities, Hindus rescued a tazia’ from fire during a Muharram procession
which was being carried out barely a few metres from Kanhaiya Lal’s shop here.
Lal,
a tailor, was brutally murdered in a hate crime over a month back by two
Muslims, with the incident sending the entire region on edge with fear of
communal riots.
The
top of a 25-feet high tazia caught fire Tuesday evening, as the procession made
its way through narrow lanes in Mochiwada street.
Muslim
participants in the procession failed to notice the fire immediately, which was
spotted by locals who were witnessing the procession from their second or third
floor balconies.
Locals,
when they spotted the fire, did not waste time and took it upon themselves to
put it out and started throwing water at it.
Ashish
Chowadia, Rajkumar Solanki and their family members kept pouring water on the
structure from their balconies till the flames were doused, police said.
Not
only was the incident averted, but it also became an example of communal
harmony. This incident has won everyone’s heart, district collector Tara Chand
Meena said.
Deputy
SP (East) Shipra Rajawat, who was also present there, said the fire was
probably caused by a short circuit or sparks from the incense sticks. After the
Hindus extinguished the fire, Muslims thanked them by clapping, she said.
She
said that Mochiwada street is close to Mal Das street where Kanhaiya Lal was
murdered on June 28.
Kanhaiya
Lal was murdered by two men Riaz Akhtari, who is also referred to as Riyaz
Attari, and Ghouse Mohammad.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/udaipur-hindus-near-slain-kanhaiya-lals-shop-save-taziya-from-fire-2387864/
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Hyderabadis
react as Raja Singh threatens to beat up Munawar Faruqui
Rasti
Amena
11th
August 2022
Hyderabad:
Stand-up comedian and Lock Upp winner Munawar Faruqui has landed in trouble
after BJP MLA T Raja Singh threatened to stop his upcoming show here. In his
video message, the politician said that he will ‘set the theatre on fire’ if
the comedian’s show is conducted in the city. He even threatened to ‘beat up’
Munawar.
For
the unversed, Munawar Faruqui, on Wednesday, took to his Instagram to announce
his upcoming Hyderabad show titled ‘Dongri to Nowhere’ that is slated to take
place on August 20. The venue of the show, however, is yet to be announced.
In
a video, that is doing rounds on Twitter, Raja Singh can be heard saying, “In the
past too, our idiot Minister KTR offered police protection and invited him,
saying his event will be a great success. But even then, when Hindu groups
across Telangana united to threaten him, they got scared and cancelled the
event.”
He
further added, “See what will happen if they invite him (Munawar). Wherever the
program is, we will go and beat him up. Whoever offers him a venue, we will
burn it down. If something goes wrong, KTR and the government and police are
responsible. We will definitely beat him up and send him back if he comes to
Telangana, this is a challenge.”
Following
this, several social media users, including Hyderabadis have come out in
support of Munawar Faruqui. Some even requested TRS minister KTR to take an
action against Raja Singh’s threats. One netizen wrote, If #MunawarFaruqui
cannot do show in Hyderabad then this is the lowest point ever.. For all the
political and social reasons Hyderabad should have been a safe place for
munawar to perform, Now even here.. Ridiculous.. #MunawarKiJanta.”
“@KTRTRS
I hope you step up to protect our freedoms. The nation is looking for champions
of freedom. Please act and curb this menace from its roots. ‘Will Set Theatre
On Fire’ Says BJP MLA On Comedian Munawar Faruqui’s Hyderabad Show,” wrote another.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/hyderabadis-react-as-raja-singh-threatens-to-beat-up-munawar-faruqui-2387880/
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Pak
navy rescues 9 Indian crew members after vessel capsizes in Arabian Sea
Aug
12, 2022
KARACHI:
The Pakistani navy on Thursday said that it rescued and saved nine Indian crew
members from drowning after their vessel capsized in the Arabian Sea.
The
incident happened on August 9 near the coastal town of Gwadar in Balochistan
province when the Indian sailing vessel 'Jamna Sagar' sank with 10 crew members
onboard, Pakistan navy's director general of Public Relations said in a
statement.
The
navy received information about the vessel, responded to the distress call and
the Pakistan Maritime Information Centre requested a nearby merchant ship 'MT
KRUIBEKE' to provide necessary assistance to the stranded crew of the Indian
vessel.
“The
merchant ship eventually recovered nine crew members and continued the voyage
to its next port Dubai and onward disembarked the crew,” the statement said.
Simultaneously
one Pakistan navy ship, along with two helicopters, also reached the area and
located the dead body of one crew member who was earlier missing at the time of
the sinking of the vessel.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Karnataka:
Two killed in clash over interfaith relationship
Aug
12, 2022
At
least two people were killed and six injured in clashes between Valmiki and
Muslim communities over an interfaith relationship, in Karnataka’s Koppal
district on Thursday, police said.
Section
144 of CrPC was imposed in Hulihyder village and two kilometers around it, till
August 20, after members of the two groups assaulted each other with sticks and
weapons, police added.
Eight
people were injured in the clashes and rushed to a hospital where two of them –
Venkappa (60) and Basha (22) – succumbed to injuries, Koppal superintendent of
police (SP) Arunangshu Giri, who visited the spot and reviewed the situation, said.
According
to an officer at Kanakagiri police station, the village was already tense after
the couple – a Muslim man and a Valmiki woman – eloped and began living
together.
“We
brought them (couple) back and handed them to their respective families after
the woman’s family filed a missing complaint. The woman, however, returned to
the man’s house, further adding to the tension,” the officer said, seeking
anonymity.
Giri
said the clashes erupted after a minor argument between Basha and another
unidentified person belonging to the other community over the interfaith
relationship turned violent.
“Basha
had gone to a shop in the village where he had an argument with an unidentified
person belonging to the other community. Two people died in the clashes. Section
144 has been imposed in the village,” the SP said.
An
FIR is yet to be registered. Eight police officers and a Karnataka State
Reserve Police platoon have been deployed as a precautionary measure, the SP
said.
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Pakistan
Bilawal
For Constituting Committee To Resolve Issues Of Non-Muslim Pakistanis
Aug
11, 2022
Foreign
Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday proposed constituting a ‘Parliamentary
Oversight Committee’ to resolve the issues related to minorities especially the
forced conversion.
Addressing
a Minority Convention organized by National Assembly here at National Assembly
Hall, the foreign minister said that the forced conversion was not allowed in
our constitution, besides Islam also prohibited conversion to Islam by
coercion.
He
said that the government had tried to ensure implementation on minority quota
and urged the National Assembly to ensure proper implementation on minority
quota in government offices by passing effective legislation.
Bilawal
Bhutto said that practical steps were being taken to improve the lot of
minorities as our actions would prove that every citizen has equal status.
He
said that Pakistan People’s Party had taken various initiatives including
electing non-Muslims on general and reserve seats.
He
paid tributes to former minister (late) Shahbaz Bhatti, adding that he had
given a sacrifice but not compromise on the rights of its people.
The
foreign minister said that Sindh government had sufficient representation of
Non-Muslim Pakistanis.
Source:
Nation Pakistan
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Imran
Khan: Forced Conversion ‘Violation Of Allah’s Commands’
Ikram
Junaidi
August
12, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday said that forced
conversions of non-Muslims were against Islam and a “violation of Allah’s
commands”.
While
addressing a minority convention, the former prime minister condemned the
forced conversions of Hindu girls to Islam in Sindh.
“There
is an ayat (verse) in the Holy Quran [that] there is no coercion in Islam. This
is Allah’s commandment. Whoever forcefully converts a non-Muslim is disobeying
Allah.” He added that Allah even asked the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to only ‘preach
His message’, and not worry about people entering the fold of Islam as this was
not his responsibility.
Mr
Khan said that while there was a lot of hate in the world based on colour and
religion, Islam did not believe in it.
“Once
a person starts practising Islam, he becomes a blessing for all humankind,”
said Mr Khan, adding that Islam stresses on justice and equality.
He
cited the example of two caliphs who were summoned by the courts.
“A
Jew brought the case against Hazrat Ali but he lost the case, despite being the
caliph, because the qazi [judge] refused to admit his [Hazrat Ali’s] son’s
testimony.”
He
added that Islam stresses on justice and that’s why, 26 years ago, he decided
to name the party as ‘Insaf ki tehreek’ (Movement for justice). Mr Khan also
mentioned the killing of four Muslim men in the US state of New Mexico,
claiming that their killing was a result of Islamophobia.
However
according to media reports, Albuquerque police has arrested the primary suspect
who was also a Muslim and had developed differences with the deceased men over
‘personal animus’.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1704418/forced-conversion-violation-of-allahs-commands-says-imran
--------
Activists
call for end to forced conversion of minors to Islam
Kalbe
Ali
August
12, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Activists belonging to religious minorities here on Thursday, demanded an end
to forced conversion of girls to Islam, and stressed that those in authority
have to follow the guidelines of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to make the
condition of non-Muslims living in Pakistan better.
Chairman
of the Minorities Alliance Pakistan Akmal Bhatti while addressing participants
of the ‘Jinnah Ka Pakistan Awami Rally, said that incidents of kidnapping, rape
and coercion of minor girls have been rapidly increasing in the country.
He
said political, social and economic exploitation of religious minorities is
contrary to Mr Jinnah’s teachings, adding that the reckless use of sensitive
religious laws and extrajudicial killings continues but the state seems to be
helpless against such elements.
Speakers
demanded electoral reforms as they claim that the present system has introduced
a culture of nepotism, bribery and flattery and closed the door to genuine
representation of minorities.
Say
govt must work towards making Pakistan inclusive for minorities
Under
present laws, political parties have been appointing handpicked minority
representatives in the assemblies, which is against democracy.
Shamoon
Gul, Sardar Ram Singh, Anush Bhatti, Asif Jan, Sadaf Adnan, Khalid Raheel,
Samuel Latif, Fayaz Bhatti and others addressed the rally. They said
governments have failed to take concrete steps to bring out backward and
extremely poor sections of society from economic and educational misery.
Meanwhile,
the National Assembly, while commemorating the Diamond Jubilee of Pakistan,
acknowledged achievements by members of religious minorities in Pakistan who
played a key role in the progress and prosperity of the country.
In
a statement by the NA Secretariat, Article 33 of the Constitution discourages
discrimination and parochial, racial, tribal, sectarian and provincial
prejudices among citizens.
It
adds that the declaration made by Mr Jinnah in his address on Aug 11, 1947 to
the first Constituent Assembly was: “You are free. You are free to go to your
temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship
in this state of Pakistan.”
In
another development Hafiz Mohammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chairman of Pakistan
Ulema Council (PUC) said that the rights of religious minorities were being
protected at every respective level and committees of PUC and National
Solidarity Council were jointly working in this regard in the country.
Speaking
at a seminar held under the aegis of Centre for Research and Dialogue, Mr
Ashrafi said that the Ulemas-Mashaykh played a very important in maintaining
peace and order during the month of Muharram.
He
said that rights enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan for minorities
cannot be usurped, adding that Paigham-i-Pakistan has become the identity for
stability of Pakistan.
He
said no one in the country will be allowed to play with the rights of
minorities adding minorities in India were facing the worst situation and not a
single Muharram congregation or majlis was allowed in India-held Kashmir during
Ashura.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1704375/activists-call-for-end-to-forced-conversion-of-minors-to-islam
--------
Blast
near Afghan border kills four Pakistan soldiers
Aug
10, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
At least four soldiers were killed and seven others injured in a suicide blast
on a military convoy in Pakistan’s restive North Waziristan tribal district
bordering Afghanistan, the military’s media wing said on Tuesday.
The
strike came hours after three top commanders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) -- a conglomerate of militant groups -- were killed after their vehicle
struck a roadside landmine in eastern Afghanistan. The TTP has often blamed
Pakistani forces for attacks on its militants.
The
Pakistani convoy was travelling from Mirali to Miramshah -- the district
headquarters of North Waziristan -- when the suicide bomber appeared on a
motorcycle and blew himself up near one of the vehicles in the Patasi Ada area,
according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media arm.
The
injured included three soldiers and four civilians travelling in the convoy.
“The
Pakistan Army is determined to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the
country,” the ISPR said and warned that the sacrifices of the “brave soldiers”
will not go in vain.
“Security
agencies are investigating to find out (details) about the suicide bomber and
his facilitators,” the ISPR added.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Islam
provides unparalleled rights to minorities: Ashrafi
August
11, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony and Middle East
Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Thursday said Quran and Sunnah provided
extraordinary rights to minorities, which has no parallel in any other law or
constitution of the world.
Addressing
a National Dialogue, organized by the Centre for Research and Dialogue in connection
with National Minorities Day here, Ashrafi who is also the chairman of Pakistan
Ulema Council, said the leadership of all schools of thought were agreed upon
that they would extend formidable support to minority communities and would not
let them provide any harm at any critical juncture of life.
Shedding
light on various incidents of religious extremism, he said the misuse of
desecration of religion and blasphemy law had been abrogated with collective
efforts of the Ulema and Mashaykh and the government’s apparatus across the
country.
Pakistan
believed in religious coexistence as it was the land of the faithful of various
sects and religions who were spending a peaceful and prosperous life without
any fear and anxiety, he added.
On
the contrary, Ashrafi said, nobody was safe and sound in India as more than 150
churches had been set on fire, more than 200 Christian religious leaders had
been killed and the same situation was with rest of the minorities including
Sikhs and Muslims there.
He
said on the eve of New Year, Indian police strictly prevented Christian
community from the New Year’s celebrations and religious rituals in the
Churches.
Recently,
the Indian occupational forces did not allow holding any event of procession or
religious gathering in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in
connection with Muharramul Haram, he regretted.
He
said the world should look into the matters on humanitarian grounds as one
side, Israel was killing innocent children of Palestinians and the other side;
India was murdering the Kashmiris in the holy month of Muharramul Haram.
He
said he did not believe that ‘all is well’ but as compared to India, Pakistan
had a far better living conditions for all segments of the society.
Regarding
forced conversion, he made it clear that if someone committed this crime, it
would not be associated with Islam because there was no room for such inhuman
practices in the religious of peace and love.
He
opined that we should point out such social evils with one voice instead of
blaming the religion of Islam adding besides state; it was also our
responsibility to provide adequate security to the temples and churches,
located at every nook and cranny of the country.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Swat,
Miramshah and Mir Ali areas: PM forms 16-member Jirga to deal with law and
order challenge
Ali
Hussain
August
12, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The federal government on Thursday constituted a 16-member representative Jirga
in a bid to restore peace in North Waziristan tribal district where locals are
staging sit-in protest against increased incidents of target killings and
militants’ activities.
According
to a notification released by the Ministry of Defence, Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif set up a “comprehensive and fully empowered” Jirga regarding the
deteriorating law and order situation in Swat, Miramshah and Mir Ali areas of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The
Jirga will consist of representatives of the parliamentary parties, besides
provincial representatives, leaders of all political parties including Pakistan
Democratic Movement (PDM), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami National Party
(ANP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). Jamiat Ulema e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) senior leader
Akram Durrani, Maulana Attaur Rehman, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N’s)
provincial leader Ameer Muqam, and JI’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan are among
the Jirga members.
PM
urges KP CM to pay attention to law, order situation
They
will proceed to Mir Ali on Friday (today to meet the people who are staging a
sit-in there. The move comes amid reports of re-emergence of TTP militants in
certain bordering areas and Swat.
Source:
Brecorder
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40191203
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Quran
For All Human Beings, Not Just Muslims: Abdul Shakoor
Faizan
Hashmi
August
11, 2022
ISLAMABAD,
(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Aug, 2022 ) :Minister for Religious
Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor on Thursday said that Quran
was revealed for the entire mankind, not just Muslims.
Quoting
a verse from the Holy Quran during an event organized in connection with
National Minorities Day here, he said that Allah Almighty has addressed all the
human beings in Surah Naas, and He is the God of all universes, in the light of
the Holy Book.
The
minister said that Allah Almighty is the God of all the communities, including
Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Kailash and Baha'i.
He
said that as human beings, they were all one nation and respectable; therefore
they should spread love and peace among one another.
He
said that there was no concept of forced conversion in islam, as it was a big
sin in the light of its teachings.
Expressing
solidarity with minority communities, he assured his all-out support to them
and said that if he got to serve the people as a religious affairs minister for
long, he would continue his struggle for the legal rights of the minorities.
Source:
Urdu Point
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/quran-for-all-human-beings-not-just-muslims-1546158.html
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Raza
Rabbani for revisiting policy of engagement with Tehreek-i-Taliban
Amir
Wasim
August
12, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Raza Rabbani has called for revisiting the policy
of engagement with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and reviewing
the seven-year-old National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism.
Talking
to Dawn on Thursday, the former Senate chairman suggested that the new action
plan should be prepared by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security
(PCNS) having representation of all stakeholders, reminding that a similar
committee had been constituted in 2012 after the US military operation in
Abbottabad in which top Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden had been killed.
The
demands from the PPP senator came a day after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif,
while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, expressed his
apprehensions at the success of talks with the TTP and admitted that
anti-Taliban feelings were growing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as people were holding
protest demonstrations in various parts of the province against the Taliban
presence in their area.
Mr
Rabbani also condemned the increase in terrorist attacks in KP resulting in the
martyrdom of the personnel of law enforcement agencies and the armed forces.
“These
attacks suggest the need to revisit NAP as also the policy of engagement with
the TTP as it also no longer seems to have a unified command,” said Mr Rabbani.
The
PPP senator suggested that the policy should be formulated in consultation with
all stakeholders from the platform of a PCNS and then should be implemented
after its approval from the joint sitting of the parliament. Moreover, he said
its implementation should also be monitored by the committee and it should
present a report on the state of implementation every three months to both the
houses of the parliament.
Source:
Dawn
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
COAS
Bajwa to be chief guest at Sandhurst passing-out parade in UK
August
12, 2022
LONDON:
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa arrived in the United
Kingdom on an official visit early on Thursday morning, the military’s media
wing said.
The
army chief will attend the passing-out parade at the Royal Military Academy,
Sandhurst, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release said on
Thursday. The army chief will be chief guest at the ceremony.
During
the visit, the COAS will also call on the military leadership of the UK, the media
affairs wing of the armed forces said.
Sources
said the visit was “a standardised official military visit” in keeping with an
annual tradition.
Due
to the pandemic, the army chief had not visited Sandhurst over the last couple
of years, but had been a regular visitor each year since he took over as head
of the army.
The
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) is one of several military academies of
the United Kingdom and is the British Army’s initial officer training centre.
All
British Army officers, including late-entry officers who were previously
Warrant Officers, as well as other men and women from overseas, are trained at
the academy. Sandhurst is the British Army equivalent of the Britannia Royal
Naval College and the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.
The
RMAS was formed on the site of the former Royal Military College in 1947 when
it amalgamated with the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1704421/coas-bajwa-to-be-chief-guest-at-sandhurst-passing-out-parade-in-uk
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PM
Shehbaz, Modi likely to meet at SCO summit
August
11, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to have official and scheduled
meetings with the heads of major countries, including his Indian counterpart
Narendra Modi, by the middle of next month, according to diplomatic sources.
The
meetings will take place during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
summit scheduled to be held on September 15 and 16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan,
the historical and cultural centre of Muslims.
The
other regional leaders expected to meet PM Shehbaz Sharif include country heads
of China, Russia and Iran.
Diplomatic
sources in the federal capital confirmed that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto
Zardari attended a meeting of the SCO FMs on July 28, where it was reflected in
the decisions that all the heads of the member countries will participate in
the summit meeting of the organisation in personal capacity.
“There
are no plans of any meetings between Indian and Pakistani prime ministers in
September,” Bilawal told WION News, adding that both India and Pakistan are
part of the SCO and the two countries are only engaged in the context of the
broad-based activities of the organisation.
The
foreign minister said: “India is our neighbouring country. While one can decide
on a lot of things, one cannot choose its neighbours, therefore, we should get
used to living with them.”
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/08/11/pm-modi-to-meet-at-sco-summit/
--------
Saleem
Baig to be re-appointed as Pakistan's media regulatory Chief
August
12, 2022
Pakistan's
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the appointment of Saleem Baig as
the chairman of the Pakistan Electronic and Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra),
local media reported.
The
Federal cabinet will approve his appointment through a circulation summary in a
couple of days, ARY News reported citing sources.
Earlier,
Baig was appointed to the same position during the interim government in June
2018.
In
2019, former Pemra chairman Baig submitted his unconditional apology in the
Islamabad High Court (IHC) in connection with a contempt of court case.
During
the hearing, Baig said that he could not even think of misusing the court's
name and the notice was not issued to challenge the powers of the court. He
prayed IHC for withdrawing the show-cause notice over contempt of court issued
on November 1 2019, reported ARY News.
This
speculation came after the Sindh High Court ordered the PEMRA to immediately
restore the ARY News transmission across the country.
This
development came after the Pakistani media portal aired a report that the
ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has reportedly activated its
strategic media cell to malign Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran
Khan, referring to PTI leader Shahbaz Gill's arrest.
A
day after the transmission of Pakistani television station ARY News was taken
off air by the country's regulatory authorities, the outlet's senior Vice
President Ammad Yousaf was arrested from Karachi in the early hours of
Wednesday.
Meanwhile,
in the recent development of Ammad Yousaf's case, the Karachi court on Thursday
acquitted him. Senior Vice President of the outlet, Yousuf was produced before
the Malir district Court. He was brought in an armoured vehicle and was not
allowed to meet his lawyers and family members, ARY News reported.
A
day earlier, Yousuf's lawyer Naeem Qureshi requested the court to withdraw a
First Information Report (FIR) against the head of ARY News. "We will
apply for bail if the court does not withdraw the FIR," he said.
According
to the lawyer, the FIR against Yousuf in Karachi is illegal. "The FIR
registered in Memon Goth police station is against the court decisions,"
he added.Yousaf while talking to the media after the decision said he was
thankful to everyone who has supported ARY NEWS during the testing time.
President
and CEO of ARY Digital Network Salman Iqbal, Anchor persons, Arshad Sharif and
Khawar Ghuman were also booked under sedition charges.
On
the complaint of the Station House Officer (SHO), a First Information Report
(FIR) has been registered at Karachi's Memon Goth police station. According to
the channel, the FIR was registered just an hour before the arrest of ARY News
head Ammad Yousaf.
Source:
Business Standard
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistani
artisans seek to preserve ancient art of stonecraft
BURAQ
SHABBIR
August
11, 2022
KARACHI:
The practice of stonecraft in the area that makes up modern-day Pakistan is as
old as Buddhism itself, but without government support and after decades of
militant attacks that scared off foreign buyers and halted exports, the ancient
art is all but lost.
Now,
a handful of artists and entrepreneurs are trying to preserve and restore the
dying craft.
Ancient
cities in Pakistan, including Taxila in the country’s eastern Punjab province
and Thatta in the country’s south, were home to artisans skilled in the art of
stonecraft, a technique in which stone is used as the primary material to build
statues, buildings and structures, as well as day-to-day items, such as pots
and utensils.
In
Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Gandhara art focused on
creating statues of Gautama Buddha, while Sindh’s Thatta city became famous for
large stone structures that combined impressively carved decorative and floral
motifs and arabesque patterns.
“From
Karachi to Badin, you will see stone-carved graves of multiple tribes, their
symbols engraved to differentiate them from one another,” anthropologist
Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro, told Arab News. “Particularly, Ghazi Tehsil in Haripur
(city) has had remarkable stone carving until the 1970s. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
still has the tradition.”
However,
the craft has declined over time due to lack of patronage, Kalhoro said.
“No
one was willing to buy pieces from the artists which were made otherwise for
clients living outside Taxila. With conversion, motifs also changed and this
declined the craft. People bought those which depicted non-figural elements.
Taxila was home to the stonecraft tradition. Many artists migrated to other
regions and continued to produce as per demand by clients.”
Ilyas
Muhammad Khan, a sculptor from Taxila, said that the 3,000-year-old center had
long been referred to as the “City of Artisans” due to craftspeople who
produced rich Gandhara art.
“Over
the years, Taxila attracted tourists and foreigners, being an ancient city, and
local sculptors began selling replicas of Gandhara’s famous artwork abroad as
‘antiques’ to make money,” Khan, a sculptor for over three decades, said.
“Back
then, there were hardly three or four artists, but they taught the skill to
their fellows and the number increased over time.”
A
decline in the tourist industry, devastated by militant violence in Pakistan
after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and Pakistan joining the war on terror, also
threatened the ancient art.
Pakistan
was last a prominent tourist destination in the 1970s when the “hippie trail”
brought Western travelers through the apricot and walnut orchards of the Swat
Valley and Kashmir on their way to India and Nepal.
But
after 2011, deteriorating security chipped away at the number of foreign
visitors. There were fewer buyers for stone artisans, who lost their
livelihoods and left the trade.
Many
are now making efforts to revive the lost art, including Shakoor Ali, a
craftsman from the Shigar Valley in the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region,
who is turning serpentine stone into handicrafts and decorative pieces.
Ali
inherited the craft from his forefathers.
“They
used to do all the work with (their) hands and I started the same, but now I
have set up a machine and a small workforce which helps me create these
pieces,” he told Arab News.
The
award-winning stonemason recently displayed his work at the Gemstone and
Mineral Exhibition 2022 in Islamabad.
Islamabad-based
design label Noon and Co., spearheaded by Taimur Noon, is also working on the
preservation and revival of stonecraft in Pakistan.
Before
opening his Islamabad store last month, Noon traveled across the country,
identified and acknowledged the skill of stonemasons in various areas, and felt
he could elevate the design sensibility.
“The
craftsmanship of our artisans is unparalleled,” he told Arab News. “I wanted to
give them a design direction, designs that are in demand today.”
Noon
said that stonemasons in Pakistan produce stonecraft by hand, while the
workforce in developed countries employs machines. Innovation and
diversification in stonecraft are key, he said, adding that the process of
selecting and fashioning the stones was “quite challenging.”
But
Noon hopes his work can keep the conversation around stonecraft alive “so that
the revival and preservation of the ancient craft stays in motion.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2141021/world
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South
Asia
Taliban
cleric Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani killed in blast in Kabul: Intelligence
official
Aug
11, 2022
KABUL:
A prominent Taliban cleric, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, was killed in an attack
in Kabul on Thursday, according to an intelligence official.
Abdul
Rahman, the head of intelligence for the district in the Afghan capital where
the blast took place, confirmed the death.
Four
Taliban sources told Reuters the attack had taken place in a religious seminary
in the Afghan capital when a man who had previously lost his leg had detonated
explosives hidden in a plastic artificial leg. It was not immediately clear who
was behind the blast and the sources said the Taliban was investigating.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Afghanistan:
Resistance Front reportedly kills 25 Taliban fighters in close combat
11
August, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], August 11 (ANI): Twenty-five Taliban fighters have been
reportedly killed in an attack by the National Resistant Forces (NRF) of
Afghanistan.
Reports
say that the attack occurred in the Dara district of Panjshir province.
The
province has witnessed frequent clashes between NRF members and Taliban. The
Taliban have yet to respond, and tensions in Panjshir appear to have escalated.
Earlier
in June, Afghanistan’s National Resistance Front (NRF) claimed that it had shot
down a Taliban helicopter and captured four of the group’s members in the
country’s Panjshir province.
Ahmad
Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF) in Afghanistan, has
at various times stressed the need for political dialogue to solve the current Afghan
problems following the recent clashes between NRF forces and Taliban. The head
of the NRF, who has a small foothold in the mountains of Panjshir has claimed
that as long as the Taliban do not reach an understanding with his group, there
is no other option but to stand against them.
Last
month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report said Taliban security forces in
northern Afghanistan’s Panjshir province have unlawfully detained and tortured
residents accused of association with an opposition armed group.
Since
mid-May 2022, fighting has escalated in the province as National Resistance
Front (NRF) forces have attacked Taliban units and checkpoints.
The
Taliban have responded by deploying to the province thousands of fighters, who
have carried out search operations targeting communities they allege are
supporting the NRF.
Source:
The Print
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Afghanistan:
Dead body thrown on streets in Nimruz province
11
August, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], August 11 (ANI): As Afghanistan continues to bear the brunt of
mysterious killings and crimes, another incident has taken place in the country
in which some unidentified people tossed the body of a man out of a car on the
streets in Nimruz province.
The
dead body was reportedly discovered on Wednesday in the second district of
Zaranj city which is the provincial capital of Nimruz, Khaama Press reported
citing the Taliban’s head of Information and Culture in Nimruz, Mufti
Habibullah Elham.
According
to the Taliban official, the CCTV footage displayed two vehicles dropping the
man’s body in the second district of Zaranj city and speeding away right after.
No one has been apprehended on suspicion of committing the brutal crime,
according to Habibullah Elham.
As
per the local sources in eastern Afghanistan, two people were murdered by armed
intruders on Wednesday in the province’s capital, reported Khaama Press.
Since
the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, several provinces in Afghanistan
continue to experience inexplicable and mysterious killings and other crimes,
despite the organisation’s assurances that security measures are in place.
Under
the Taliban’s rule, killings, theft, illicit activities, family blood feuds,
and suicide reports have seen a massive surge recently.
The
human rights situation has been exacerbated by a nationwide economic, financial
and humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale. Acts of terror, blasts and
attacks have become a new normal with unabated human rights violations involving
ceaseless murder of civilians, destroying mosques and temples, assaulting
women, and fuelling terror in the region.
With
the US troop withdrawal from the country, large-scale violence has been
unleashed creating political uncertainty in different parts of the country.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://theprint.in/world/afghanistan-dead-body-thrown-on-streets-in-nimruz-province/1078910/
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Ghani
Should Have Apologized to Afghan People: Afghan Envoy to UN
By
Saqalain Eqbal
11
Aug 2022
In
reaction to the interview of the exiled president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani
Ahmadzai, Chargé d’Affaires of Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the United
Nations, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, stated that Ashraf Ghani should have apologized to
all people of Afghanistan, but he did not.
Faiq
claims that Ashraf Ghani attempted to avoid taking accountability during this
interview but continued to place emphasis on demagogic phrases and rhetoric
slogans.
“Ashraf
Ghani should have apologized to all the people of Afghanistan, especially
women, youth, security and defense forces, and the families of the martyrs, but
he did not do it,” the Afghan envoy to the UN tweeted on late Wednesday, August
10.
In
his first in-person interview following fleeing Kabul a year before, Mohammad
Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, the former leader of Afghanistan, said that he was still
the president of Afghanistan and that he was the last person to leave the
country when the Taliban took Kabul.
According
to the ex-president of Afghanistan, Ghani, he left the country out of fear for
his own safety and to avoid a cruel repetition of history, as the Taliban
executed the then-president Dr. Najibullah when they seized power back in 1996.
He
claimed that Zalmai Khalilzad, an Afghan-American diplomat who had been
appointed by the US, had divided the political figures and that the top Afghan
government officials had come to an agreement and left Afghanistan before the
Taliban had even reached Kabul, and that he alone should not be held
responsible for the fall of Kabul.
He
said that he was the last person to flee the country as the defense minister
and more than half of the cabinet had already left.
Ghani
argued that since Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the Chief Executive of the National
Unity Government and afterward the Head of the High Council for National
Reconciliation, held 50% of the power, Abdullah should also be held
accountable, not just him.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/ghani-should-have-apologized-to-afghan-people-afghan-envoy-to-un-473834/
--------
One
year under Taliban rule, girls are more isolated, hungry, sad: report
11
August, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], August 11 (ANI): One year since the Taliban took control of
Afghanistan, an economic crisis, crippling drought and new restrictions have
shattered girls’ lives, excluding them from society and leaving them hungry,
with a quarter showing signs of depression, according to a new report by Save
the Children.
The
report, titled Breaking point: Life for children one year since the Taliban
takeover, shows that 97 per cent of families are struggling to provide enough
food for their children and that girls are eating less than boys.
Almost
80 per cent of children said they had gone to bed hungry in the past 30 days.
Girls were almost twice as likely as boys to frequently go to bed hungry.
A
lack of food is having devastating consequences on children’s health and
threatening their future. Nine in 10 girls said their meals had reduced in the
past year and that they worry because they’re losing weight and have no energy
to study, play and work.
The
crisis is also taking a dangerous toll on girls’ mental and psychosocial
well-being. According to interviews with their caregivers, 26 per cent of girls
are showing signs of depression compared with 16 per cent of boys, and 27 per
cent of girls are showing signs of anxiety compared with 18 per cent of boys.
Girls
in focus groups said they had trouble sleeping at night because they were
worried and have bad dreams. They also said they had been excluded from many of
the activities that previously made them happy, such as spending time with
relatives and friends and going to parks and shops.
After
the Taliban’s takeover last August, thousands of secondary school girls were
ordered to stay home, reversing years of progress for gender equality. Girls
interviewed by Save the Children expressed disappointment and anger over the
fact they can no longer go to school and said they felt hopeless about their
future because they don’t have the rights and freedoms they had previously.
More
than 45 per cent of girls said they’re not attending school – compared with 20
per cent of boys – listing economic challenges, the Taliban’s ban on girls
attending secondary school classes as well as community attitudes as the key
barriers preventing them from accessing education.
Following
the withdrawal of international forces last year, the Taliban took power on 15
August. Billions of dollars in international aid were withdrawn, Afghanistan’s
foreign currency reserves were frozen and the banking system collapsed. The
subsequent economic crisis and the country’s worst drought in 30 years have
plunged households into poverty.
Children
interviewed by Save the Children said the economic situation – leaving
households without enough to eat and without basic items – was driving an
increase in child marriages in their communities, and that this was impacting
girls more than boys. Out of the children who said they’d been asked to marry
to improve their family’s financial situation in the past year, 88 per cent
were girls.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Southeast
Asia
China
says it needs more time to assess US, India proposal to blacklist JeM chief
Masood Azhar's brother
Aug
12, 2022
BEIING:
China on Thursday sought to defend its move to block a proposal by the US and
India at the UN to blacklist Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) deputy chief
Abdul Rauf Azhar, saying it needs more time to assess the application to
designate him as a global terrorist.
China
on Wednesday put a hold on a proposal by India and the US to designate Azhar,
the brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a global terrorist and subject him to
assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
“We
need more time to assess the relevant application,” Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing while replying to a question.
Wang
said the 1267 Committee of the UNSC has clear guidelines regarding the
designation of terrorist organisations and individuals and related procedures.
“China
always takes part in the work of the committee in a constructive and
responsible manner in strict accordance with these rules and procedures. We
hope other members will do the same,” Wang said in response to questions on
Beijing putting hold of the US and India proposal at the United Nations to
blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar.
Abdul
Rauf Azhar, born in 1974 in Pakistan, was sanctioned by the US in December 2010.
This
is the second time in less than two months that China has put a hold on a
listing by the US and India to blacklist a Pakistan-based terrorist under the
sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.
In
June this year, China had put a hold, at the last moment, on a joint proposal
by India and the US to list Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under
the 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
When
pointed out China also put a hold on the request to sanction a Rehman Makki
under the 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UNSC seeking time and how
much time Beijing needs, Wang said.
“We
need more time to assess the relevant application. We hope media outlets will
not be led by rumours and make unwarranted speculations,” he said.
Asked
how much time China will take to assess the application to blacklist Azhar,
Wang said, “we approach the matter in strict accordance with relevant rules and
procedures.”
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Najib,
Arul Kanda amended 1MDB audit report to escape legal action, says witness
V
Anbalagan
August
12, 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR: Najib Razak and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy amended the
company’s audit report to protect themselves from criminal prosecution and
civil liability, the High Court has heard.
Malaysian
Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Haniff Lami said Najib,
in his capacity as the then prime minister and finance minister, had used his
authority and ordered the report to be altered.
He
said the doctored report was then sent to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
which met in March 2016.
The
16th prosecution witness said Arul Kanda had abetted Najib in the matter.
“My
investigations revealed that both (Najib and Arul Kanda) were involved in
making the amendment to protect themselves from civil and criminal action in
operating 1MDB,” he said.
He
said Najib had directed his principal private secretary, Shukry Mohd Salleh, to
obtain the report, which was then handed over to Arul Kanda to enable him to go
through its contents.
“(Najib)
later ordered that a meeting be held in his office on Feb 22, 2016,” he said.
Haniff
said then auditor-general Ambrin Buang and then chief secretary Ali Hamsa were
present at the meeting.
During
the meeting, he said, Najib directed Ali, who has since died, to fix a
coordinating meeting between the national audit department and himself (Najib).
He
said this was to enable Najib to discuss several issues in the report that he
was unhappy about.
Najib
also instructed him not to print the report until he had approved its contents.
Haniff
said that following Najib’s instruction, Ali convened a meeting on Feb 24,
2016, at which Arul Kanda was present.
As
a result of the meeting, the MACC officer said, four items were removed from
the report.
The
items were related to two 2014 financial statements, the issuance of Islamic
medium-term notes, the identity of the Islamic bonds’ secondary subscriber and
fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho’s (also known as Jho Low) presence at 1MDB
board meetings.
He
said the doctored report was presented to the PAC in early March 2016.
Earlier,
Haniff said he was appointed to be the investigating officer on Nov 26, 2018,
after MACC lodged a report to begin its probe on the audit report.
Cross-examined
by Rahmat Hazlan, a lawyer from Najib’s legal team, he said he took a witness
statement from Najib on Dec 6, 2016.
He
also agreed with Rahmat that as an investigator, he must also give due
consideration to a suspect’s version of a crime.
He
said then attorney-general Tommy Thomas gave MACC the approval to charge Najib
and Arul Kanda on Dec 10, 2016.
Rahmat:
In this case, why did Thomas issue the consent to charge if the investigation
had not been completed?
Haniff:
Najib’s statement was taken earlier (Dec 6) and we know his version.
Rahmat:
I put it that you did not accord him a fair investigation as Thomas had given
approval to prosecute although the probe was not completed.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Single
mum fined RM8,000 for insulting Islam
August
12, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: A single mother has been fined RM8,000 after pleading guilty in the Kuala
Lumpur sessions court to insulting Islam.
Hong
Jia Ming, 34, made her plea after the charge was read out to her by an
interpreter before judge Nor Hasniah Ab Razak, Harian Metro reported.
She
will have to serve six months in jail if she fails to pay the fine.
Hong
was said to have uploaded a post to her Facebook account deemed offensive to
Islam two years ago.
She
was charged under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA)
1998 for improper use of network facilities, which carries a maximum fine of
RM50,000, a one-year jail sentence, or both upon conviction.
Hong’s
lawyer, Haijan Omar, urged the court to consider her status as a single mother
when passing sentence.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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Africa
Election
observers happy with Kenyan polls, want peaceful transfer of power
Andrew
Wasike
11.08.2022
NAIROBI,
Kenya
Election
observers on Thursday commended the people of Kenya and the electoral
commission for conducting free, fair and credible elections on Tuesday.
As
of Thursday, it was still a two-horse race between former Foreign Minister
Raila Odinga, 77, and Deputy President William Ruto, 66.
As
of 3 p.m. (1200GMT) East African time on Thursday, Kenya’s Nation news reported
that Odinga had 6.1 million votes, while Ruto bagged 5.96 million votes.
“We’re
satisfied with the process this far,” former Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete,
who is leading the East African Community (EAC) Observer Mission, told a press
briefing in Nairobi.
“We
are concerned about the lower voter registration by young people. Against the
expected 6 million young voters, only 3 million registered. This should concern
everyone that young people are not participating in the process,” Kikwete said,
showing concern about the social media misinformation.
The
EAC observer mission urged the Kenyan citizens to remain peaceful as the East
African country still awaits the conclusion of the election process.
Observers
from America’s International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National
Democratic Institute (NDI) urged patience on Thursday and called on the current
government to prepare for handing over the power peacefully to whoever wins.
The
Intergovernmental Authority on Development Election Observation Mission
(IGAD-EOM) with participation from six member states – Djibouti, Ethiopia,
Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda – also commended Kenya for successful
elections.
“The
IGAD-EOM commends the Kenyan people for the patience and commitment they have
shown in the Aug. 9, 2022, general elections,” Workneh Gebeyehu, who was Ethiopia’s
foreign minister from 2016 to 2019, said on behalf of the mission.
Kenya’s
polls have been marred by a historic low voter turnout, according to the
country’s electoral commission.
Two
hours before the polls closed on Tuesday, the commission recorded a 56.17%
voter turnout, figures which cannot compare to Kenya’s past two elections.
Kenya’s
voting process was run across 46,229 polling stations, and the public cast
ballots for the president, governors, members of parliament, and members of
county assemblies.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
China
backs $640 million Sudan railway restoration project amid economic crises
11
August, 2022
Sudan
secured Chinese backing to begin a $640 million restoration of its railway
network, pressing ahead with the ambitious project despite an economic crisis
worsened by last year’s coup.
Authorities
this week took receipt of freight-train carriages from China’s CRRC Ziyang Co.
worth 50 million euros ($51.6 million), with Sudan paying 30 percent of that
amount upfront, Transport Minister Hisham Abu-Zaid told reporters Wednesday.
The
new equipment will allow Sudan to transport 350,000 tons of cargo per month by
rail, up from 80,000 tons, the minister said.
He
didn’t give details on the next steps in the initiative or say if more Chinese
assistance was coming.
The
North African nation, where Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019, announced plans
July last year to revamp a more than 2,000-kilometer (1,242 miles) rail network
that had been shattered by decades of sanctions and mismanagement.
The
African Development Bank, China State Construction Engineering Corp. and
unspecified Gulf firms had all been said to show interest in assisting.
The
initiative was thrown into doubt by a military coup in October that ousted
civilian members of a fragile power-sharing government and derailed the
country’s democratic transition.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
2nd
turbine turned on at Ethiopia's Nile dam
Addis
Getachew
11.08.2022
ADDIS
ABABA, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
on Thursday switched on the second turbine of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance
Dam, a $5 billion hydroelectric power plant.
Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed switched the turbine at the dam, Africa's largest to date,
built about 45 kilometers (28 miles) east of the border with Sudan on the Blue
Nile, a main tributary of the Nile River.
The
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been under construction since 2011 to
generate about to 6,000 megawatts of electricity per year when all 13 turbines
are in operation, according to the Ethiopian government.
Since
its inception, it has been a point of controversy between Egypt and Ethiopia,
with Cairo expressing concern that its "historical share" of the
Nile's waters would be reduced, while Ethiopia says the project is necessary
for its national development.
Standing
145 meters (over 475 feet) tall and 1,800 meters long, it is capable of holding
70 billion cubic meters (more than 2.4 trillion cubic feet) of water in its
reservoir.
The
dam "is a project for the realization of which Ethiopians have invested in
sweat, money, and time, with some paying the ultimate sacrifice in their line of
duty," Abiy said at the event.
Meanwhile,
trilateral talks on the dam between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt remain stalled.
Egypt
and Sudan, both downstream nations, have demanded Ethiopia sign a "binding
and comprehensive" agreement on the filling and operation of the dam, a
demand resisted by Addis Ababa. Cairo views the structure as an existential
threat to its share of Nile water, its only source of freshwater.
Ethiopia
bases its decision to continue filling the reservoir on the 2015 declaration it
signed with Khartoum and Cairo, under which Addis Ababa reserves the right to
carry on construction works while talks are ongoing.
Years
of negotiations between the three countries have failed to secure a
breakthrough.
Last
year, the UN Security Council called on all three nations to resume African
Union-led talks on the matter "within a reasonable time frame."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/2nd-turbine-turned-on-at-ethiopias-nile-dam/2659232
--------
Arab
World
Saudi
man in Austria hailed hero after saving drowning father, daughter
11
August, 2022
A
Saudi man on vacation has been called a “hero” by the Kingdom’s embassy in
Austria after he saved a drowning father-daughter duo in Hallstatt.
Speaking
to Al Arabiya, Askar al-Hajiri said he heard screaming from a nearby lake where
he was having a picnic with his brother and a family relative.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Upon
rushing to the sight, al-Hajiri saw two people struggling to stay afloat in the
water, five meters below.
The
father had jumped into the lake to save his drowning two-year-old daughter but
both were struggling.
Bystanders
then saw the Saudi citizen jump in after the father and daughter and swim them
to safety.
Social
media users commented on the spread of the now-viral video with praises and
blessings.
On
Wednesday, the Saudi embassy in Austria released the following statement: “The
embassy would like to thank Saudi citizen Askar al-Hajri for his brave act
earlier this week. While visiting Hallstatt he saw a man and his daughter
drowning and dived into the lake to save them. We offer our gratitude to this
Saudi hero.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Türkiye
'neutralizes' 6 YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria
Berfin
Sevval Tastan
11.08.2022
Türkiye
on Thursday neutralized 6 YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria, the Turkish
National Defense Ministry said.
The
terrorists were targeted after they opened “harassing fire” on a Turkish
outpost located in Türkiye’s southern Mardin province bordering Syria, a
ministry statement said.
Turkish
authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply the terrorists in question
surrendered or were killed or captured.
Since
2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across
its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and
enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive
Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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UN
warns Lebanon, Israel against taking border stability for granted as tensions
rise
12
August, 2022
The
UN warned Lebanon and Israel on Thursday that relative stability along their
borders should not be taken for granted.
“Belligerent
rhetoric escalates tension and adds to the feeling of apprehension among the
local populations,” head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Maj.
Gen. Aroldo Lazaro said.
The
UNIFIL commander spoke during a routine tripartite meeting that brings together
senior officers from Lebanon’s and Israel’s armies for indirect talks in south
Lebanon.
During
Thursday’s meeting, Lazaro discussed recent incidents along the UN-demarcated
Blue Line, continuing air violations and other issues within the scope of the
UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
He
commended the UNIFIL liaison teams, which maintain lines of communication
between both countries in an effort to deconflict incidents that could
potentially escalate.
But
he urged both countries to avoid any action which could put the cessation of
hostilities at risk. “Blue Line stability should not be taken for granted,”
Lazaro said.
He
also called on both sides to take advantage of the tripartite meetings to find
“practical and positive solutions” as a first step toward resolving their
differences.
The
monthly meeting in south Lebanon has been happening on a regular basis since
the end of the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
In
recent weeks, tensions have heightened as Hezbollah and Israel exchange threats
over offshore drilling rights. The Iran-backed group sent three surveillance
drones over the Karish gas field in the Mediterranean Sea. Israel shot down two
of the three, according to Hezbollah.
Lebanon
and Israel have been indirectly negotiating for over a decade on demarcating
their maritime borders. The US has been the main intermediary, and successive
administrations have expended a significant amount of diplomacy on the file.
US
envoy Amos Hochstein is reportedly in Israel currently as he shuttles between
Beirut and Tel Aviv to try to finalize a deal that would specify the maritime
borders of each country.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Iraq
to continue supplying Lebanon fuel for another year
11
August, 2022
Iraq’s
government has agreed to continue supplying Lebanon’s electricity company with
heavy fuel oil for another year, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister said on
Thursday, alleviating pressure on Lebanon’s struggling power grid.
Najib
Mikati said he had made the request to Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa
al-Kadhemi, who agreed to extend the same terms of the agreement signed last
year.
In
July 2021, Iraq offered the cash-strapped Lebanese government 1 million tonnes
of heavy fuel oil a year in exchange for services including health care for
Iraqi citizens.
The
deal was meant to alleviate Lebanon’s acute power shortage, which last summer
reached crisis levels when the government was unable to subsidize fuel imports.
Lebanon
subsequently removed those subsidies and domestic fuel prices skyrocketed.
Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine then further bumped up international prices this year.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UAE
President, UK PM Johnson discuss bilateral relations, global issues
August
12, 2022
DUBAI:
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and UK Prime Minister Boris
Johnson discussed bilateral relations between their two countries and ways to
enhance cooperation, in a telephone call on Thursday, the Emirates News Agency
(WAM) reported.
The
two leaders discussed various regional and global issues of mutual interest,
including the international impact of the Ukraine crisis on energy and food
security, WAM reported.
They
also stressed the importance of working to develop foundations of peace and
stability at a regional and global level.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2141176/middle-east
--------
US
military forces smuggle new convoy of stolen oil from northeast Syria to Iraq:
Report
11
August 2022
Amid
Washington’s aggressive attempts to systematically smuggle basic commodities
out of Syria, a convoy consisting of more than a hundred US military tankers
has carried thousands of liters of crude oil from the country’s northeastern
province of Hasakah to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.
Local
sources, requesting anonymity, told Syria’s official news agency SANA that 144
tankers laden with stolen Syrian oil entered the Iraqi territories on Thursday
after crossing al-Mahmoudiya border crossing.
The
development took place only a few days after American occupation forces allowed
a convoy of 60 vehicles, including tanker trucks carrying stolen Syrian oil and
covered trucks, to cross the “illegitimate” al-Waleed crossing into Iraq.
On
Wednesday, Bouthaina Shaaban, a political and media adviser to Bashar al-Assad,
the Syrian president, condemned the US for plundering Syria's resources as the
latest data shows that most of oil produced in the country had been pillaged by
the illegal American military presence and the Takfiri militants it supports.
“The
United States is currently occupying Syrian territories and plundering Syria's
grain and oil resources. These actions of the United States are very shameful.
Hence, we never trust anything the United States says because what they claim
is seriously contrary to what they do,” she said.
According
to data released by the Syrian Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources, Syria
produced a total of 14.5 million barrels of oil in the first half of the
current year, and the daily oil production stood at about 80,300 barrels.
American
occupation forces and their allied Takfiris plundered 66,000 barrels of crude
oil during the mentioned period.
The
data further showed that just about 14,200 barrels were available for the
Syrian domestic oil refineries.
Last
month, China urged the United States to immediately stop plundering Syria’s
national resources after reports said American forces had lately transferred
stolen Syrian oil to northern Iraq.
China’s
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on July 20 that the US exhibited
“bandit behavior” after he was asked to comment on Washington transferring
“stolen oil” to Iraq from occupied Syrian oilfields.
Wang
said 90 percent of the Syrian population is currently living below the poverty
line and two thirds relies on humanitarian assistance. More than half of the
population suffers from food insecurity, he added.
“The
US military still occupies the main grain- and oil-producing areas in Syria,
looting and plundering Syrian national resources, worsening the local
humanitarian crisis,” the Chinese diplomat said.
The
US military has stationed forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the
Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in
the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
Damascus,
however, maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country's rich
mineral resources.
Former
US president Donald Trump admitted on more than one occasion that American
forces were in the Arab country for its oil.
Over
300 Turkish intellectuals demand cancellation of Ankara plans for new in
northern Syria
Meanwhile,
a total of 308 Turkish intellectuals, including academics, journalists, authors
and actors, have in a joint statement called for the cancellation of Ankara’s
plans for a new military operation in northern Syria.
They
stated that the new offensive threatened by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
lacks logic, and is merely intended to serve the interests of the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The
intellectuals went on to emphasize that the operation would require huge sums
of money, and this comes at the same that millions of Turkish citizens are
facing numerous living difficulties.
The
statement also denounced Turkey’s opposition parties over failure to
demonstrate a firm stance vis-à-vis the aggressive policy of the ruling AKP,
stating that such an inaction would make the opposition get involved in
bloodshed and crimes against humanity.
Last
Monday, Erdogan hinted at his country’s plan for a new cross-border operation
in neighboring Syria to remove members of the US-backed Kurdish People's
Protection Units (YPG) militant group from border areas.
“We
will continue our fight against terrorism. Our decision to establish a
30-kilometer-deep (18.6-mile) secure line along our southern border is final,”
Erdogan said in an address to Turkish diplomats attending the 13th Ambassadors
Conference in the capital Ankara.
Both
Iran and Russia, which have been aiding Damascus in its anti-terror campaign,
have warned Turkey against launching such an offensive.
Turkey
has deployed forces in Syria in violation of the Arab country's sovereignty and
territorial integrity.
Ankara-backed
militants were deployed to northeastern Syria in October 2019 after Turkish
military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared
attempt to push YPG fighters away from border areas.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
Iran:
Newly-Launched Satellite 'Khayyam'
Successfully Stabilized
2022-August-11
"The
stabilization of satellite 'Khayyam' was successfully done," Bahadori
Jahromi wrote on Twitter.
The
high-resolution Iranian satellite was successfully launched into space from a
base in Kazakhstan on board a Russian rocket on Tuesday. The Iranian Ministry
of Information and Communications Technology confirmed that first telemetry
data from the satellite was received at Iran's ground stations.
Iranian
knowledge-based companies will make use of data and images obtained from the
"Khayyam" satellite in different fields, he said.
The
spokesman acknowledged that the construction of three copies of
"Khayyam" with participation of Iranian scholars and experts is on
the agenda.
He
was echoing Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Issa
Zarepour's recent remarks that noted Tehran and Moscow are determinated to
build new versions of the "Khayyam" satellite.
Zarepour
told reporters on Wednesday that plans are underway to launch a joint
production line between Iran and Russia to build three updates of the remote
sensing satellite with pinpoint accuracy.
The
Iranian Ministry of Information and Communications Technology had confirmed
that first telemetry data from the satellite was received at Iran's ground
stations. Zarepour stated that the signals have been received “three or four
times” at Iran’s Mahdasht station near Tehran.
The
Iranian Space Agency (ISA) confirmed the proper functioning of the entire
systems of the "Khayyam" satellite. All the systems in the
"Khayyam" satellite are functioning properly, according to the
initial assessments of technicians at the station. After analyzing the
telemetric data received from the satellite it was made clear that all its
systems are functioning exactly as programmed and that the satellite's
situation is on its ideal orbit.
Imagery
from the "Khayyam" satellite will be used to monitor Iran’s borders
and improve the country’s capabilities in management and planning in the fields
of agriculture, natural resources, environment, mining, and natural disasters.
Minister:
Iran, Russia to Launch Production Line of Khayyam
Satellitehttps://t.co/cDuTlFSTIh pic.twitter.com/ha3xx12AqV
—
Fars News Agency (@EnglishFars) August 10, 2022
Iran
has taken giant strides in the field of science of technology in recent years,
despite US sanctions.
In
early June, the ISA announced that work was underway to prepare seven more
satellites for launch into the orbit.
In
late June, Iran tested its domestically-developed hybrid-propellant satellite
carrier rocket called Zuljanah for “predetermined research purposes” for the
second time. The Iran’s Defense Ministry launched the Zuljanah satellite
carrier into space for the first time in February 2021.
Iranian
President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi has stressed continued efforts to further
advance space technology.
“The
obtainment of this technology is among the manifestations of national might,
which was made possible with the efforts of the Armed Forces - specially the
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the Communications Ministry - and which
must continue with greater force,” he noted in mid-March.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010520000428/Iran-Newly-Lanched-Saellie-Sccessflly-Sabilized
--------
Israeli
decision to raze West Bank school is 'war' on Palestinian identity, says
premier
Awad
Rajoub
12.08.2022
RAMALLAH,
Palestine
A
recent decision by Israeli authorities to demolish a school in the occupied
West Bank city of Ramallah amounts to "war on Palestinian identity,"
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Thursday.
"We
reject the (Israeli) occupation's decision to demolish the Ein Samia school,
which is a form of war on Palestinian identity," Shtayyeh said at a
ceremony for high school students in Ramallah.
The
decision was "a frantic attempt to annihilate family education," and
"a flagrant violation of the right of Palestinian students to
education," he added.
On
Wednesday, the Israeli District Court in Jerusalem issued a decision to
"immediately demolish" the Ein Samia school, northeast of Ramallah,
according to the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights.
The
human rights center said the school serves students of the Ein Samia al-Badawi
community, totaling about 300 people. It is located in Area C, which is used to
classify parts of the West Bank that are under Israel control.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Ayatollah
Khamenei praises Palestinian Islamic Jihad for 'rubbing enemy's nose to the
ground'
11
August 2022
Leader
of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has hailed the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement for its spirited steadfastness and
resilience during the recent three-day-long Israeli military onslaught on the
besieged Gaza Strip, stating that the group proved that any segment of the
resistance front can rub the Tel Aviv regime’s nose to the ground.
Ayatollah
Khamenei, in a Thursday letter addressed to Secretary General of the Gaza-based
Islamic Jihad movement Ziad al-Nakhala, said the heroic and courageous
perseverance of the group elevated its status among other Palestinian
resistance factions, thwarted the plots of the usurping Tel Aviv regime and
took the Zionists down a peg.
The
Leader also underlined the need for maintaining unity among all Palestinian
groups.
“The
usurping enemy is getting weaker, at the same time that the Palestinian
resistance front is getting stronger,” Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out.
Earlier
this week, Nakhalah had written to Ayatollah Khamenei about the presence of
Palestinian fighters throughout the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank in a
united front against the Israeli aggression.
In
his letter, the Islamic Jihad chief had stated that Palestinians living in the
Gaza Strip vigorously withstood the latest Israeli aggression on the besieged
enclave.
“We
dubbed the recent bout of violence ‘Wahda al-Sahat’ (Unity of the Fields) to
emphasize the unity of our nation against the enemy, which is trying to wreck
it through all available means and conspiracies,” Nakhalah wrote.
“I
received your solemn and auspicious letter. May God give you noble reward and
bring the final victory of the proud and oppressed Palestinian nation near,”
Ayatollah Khamenei responded.
“The
recent incident doubled the honors of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement
and elevated the position of the Islamic Jihad in the glorious resistance
movement of the Palestinian nation.
“With
your brave resistance, you neutralized the deceitful policy of the usurping
regime. You proved that each part of the resistance bloc alone can rub the
enemy's nose to the ground,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah
Khamenei also praised Islamic Jihad for uniting anti-Israeli resistance in the
occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.
“By
linking the struggle in Gaza with the West Bank and other resistance forces
with their support for the jihad movement, you were able to display the
integrity of the Palestinian nation's jihad against the evil and deceitful
enemy.
Ayatollah
Khamenei said all the efforts of the Palestinian groups throughout Palestine
should go towards maintaining this unity.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
rejects US claim Revolutionary Guard member plotted to kill Bolton
Syed
Zafar Mehdi
11.08.2022
TEHRAN
Iran
has dismissed as "baseless" and "politically motivated"
charges pressed against an Iranian citizen by the US government for the alleged
assassination plot against former US National Security Advisor John Bolton.
In
a statement on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani
called it the "continuation of the failed Iranophobic policy" and
"new scenario creation" by the American judicial authorities.
He
said there was "no evidence" to prove that Shahram Poursafi
orchestrated a plot to assassinate the former US national security advisor, who
was highly critical of Iran.
On
Wednesday, the US Justice Department announced that a member of Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) faces criminal charges for allegedly trying to
assassinate Bolton, "likely in retaliation" for the killing of Iran's
top military commander Qasem Soleimani in a US airstrike in Iraq.
A
statement by the Justice Department said the Iranian national was "charged
by complaint," unsealed on Wednesday in the District of Columbia.
The
statement, citing court documents, said Poursafi, a resident of Tehran,
"attempted to arrange the murder" of Bolton, beginning in October
2021, and attempted to "pay individuals in the US $300,000 to carry out
the murder in Washington, D.C. or Maryland."
“The
Justice Department has the solemn duty to defend our citizens from hostile
governments who seek to hurt or kill them,” said Assistant Attorney General
Matthew Olsen of the department's national security division.
“This
is not the first time we have uncovered Iranian plots to exact revenge against
individuals on US soil and we will work tirelessly to expose and disrupt every
one of these efforts," he alleged, adding that Iran has a "history of
plotting to assassinate individuals in the US it deems a threat."
If
convicted, the Iranian national, who remains at large overseas, will face a
10-year jail term and a fine of up to $250,000 for "the use of interstate
commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire", and up to
15-year imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000 "for providing and
attempting to provide material support to a transnational murder plot."
‘Political
goals, motives’
Iran's
Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, however, refuted the allegations leveled by the
US Justice Department as "baseless" with "political goals and
motives".
Kanaani
said the US is resorting to "propaganda" to "escape
responsibility for numerous terrorist crimes" it has committed, while
referring to the assassination of Soleimani, who was killed on Jan. 2, 2020,
near the Baghdad International Airport on direct orders of the then-US
president.
The
spokesman said the "weaving of baseless legends" and "scenario
creations" was becoming a "repeated procedure" in the American
judicial system, warning that "any action" against Iranian citizens
"on baseless allegations" will prompt Iran to take "any action
within the framework of international law to defend the rights of the
government and citizens."
Tensions
between Iran and the US have heightened since President Joe Biden's
high-profile West Asia tour last month when he signed two anti-Iran
declarations in Jerusalem and Jeddah respectively.
The
standoff over the 2015 nuclear deal also continues despite eight rounds of
talks in Vienna since April last year, with some sticking points preventing a
breakthrough.
One
of the sticking points remains the delisting of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard from
the terrorist blacklist. While some reports suggest Iran has dropped the demand
to reach a deal, there is still no official confirmation of that.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UN
rights chief sounds alarm at number of Palestinian children killed, condemns
lack of accountability
August
11, 2022
NEW
YORK: The UN’s human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, on Thursday expressed
alarm at the “unconscionable” number of Palestinian children who have been
killed or injured this year, and called for all incidents to be thoroughly
investigated.
The
figures soared last weekend during intense fighting between Israeli authorities
and the Islamic Jihad group, and subsequent Israeli enforcement operations in
the West Bank.
In
the past week alone, 19 Palestinian children were killed in the Occupied
Territories, raising the death toll since the start of the year to 37.
“Inflicting
hurt on any child during the course of conflict is deeply disturbing, and the
killing and maiming of so many children this year is unconscionable,” said
Bachelet, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights.
A
number of Israeli military strikes hit “prima facie civilian objects,” she
added, resulting in deaths and damage to infrastructure.
“International
humanitarian law is clear,” she said. “Launching an attack which may be
expected to incidentally kill or injure civilians, or damage civilian objects,
in disproportionate manner to the concrete and direct military advantage
anticipated, is prohibited. Such attacks must stop.”
Bachelet
also highlighted the violations of international humanitarian law by
Palestinian armed groups who “launched hundreds of rockets and mortars in indiscriminate
attacks, causing civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects in Israel
as well as in Gaza.”
According
to Israeli authorities, 70 Israelis were injured during the fighting.
While
the ceasefire that halted the latest violent escalation in Gaza is holding,
tensions remain extremely high in the West Bank, where four Palestinians were
killed and 90 injured on Aug. 9 by shots fired by Israeli forces.
Among
the fatalities was a 16-year-old boy shot by Israeli soldiers during an arrest
raid in Nablus, which also left 76 people injured. Another 16-year-old boy was
shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in Hebron after some
Palestinians threw rocks and fireworks at them.
“The
widespread use of live ammunition by Israeli forces in law enforcement
operations across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2022 has led to
an alarming increase in Palestinian fatalities,” Bachelet said.
So
far this year, 74 Palestinians have been killed, many as a result of the use of
lethal force by Israeli authorities in a manner described by the UN Human
Rights Office in the Occupied Territories as a violation of international human
rights law.
Bachelet
called for “prompt, independent, impartial, thorough and transparent
investigations” into all incidents in which any person is killed or injured.
“An
almost total lack of accountability persists in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, whether for violations of international humanitarian law by all
parties in hostilities in Gaza, or for recurring Israeli violations of
international human rights law and the law of occupation in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, including incidents of unnecessary and
disproportionate use of force,” she said.
“This
climate of impunity, along with the long-standing violations, drives the cycle
of violence and the recurrence of violations.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2141036/middle-east
--------
President
Rayeesi Reiterates Iran's Opposition to Geopolitical Changes in Region
2022-August-11
President
Rayeesi made the comment during a phone conversation with Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday. They spoke days after renewed fighting
in the South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed region between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Iranian
president touched on the "strategic statements" of Leader of the
Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei during his meetings with the
presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, last
month regarding the sensitivity of Tehran towards its borders in the Caucasus
region and confronting any attempt to change them.
"Iran
does not accept any changes in the political geography of the region and is
ready to use all its capacities to establish peace and stability in the
Caucasus region and its growth and development," he stressed.
Iran's
president also referred to the trilateral ceasefire agreement signed in 2020 by
leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Putin, Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev,
and that ended a 44-day war between Yerevan and Baku.
Rayeesi
stated that being committed to the ceasefire agreement and resolving the
remaining issues through dialog and diplomatic ways is the best way to restore
security and tranquility in the Caucasus region.
Pashinyan
briefed the Iranian president on the latest clashes between Armenia and
Azerbaijan.
The
Armenian official also added that his country is ready to increase cooperation
with Iran in road and energy sectors, and facilitate transit of goods between
the two sides.
Iranian
officials say Tehran believes that peace and stability in the region is
enhanced through cooperation among the regional countries, voicing hope that
the ongoing negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan over their long-running
territorial dispute results in lasting peace.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
North
America
Imam
Mohamed Magid, A Leader In Interfaith Relations, Appointed To International
Religious Freedom Commission
August
11, 2022
By
Adelle M. Banks
Imam
Mohamed Magid, the executive religious director of a Northern Virginia mosque
and a leader in interfaith relations, has been appointed to the U.S. Commission
on International Religious Freedom.
Magid
said he received word from the White House that his appointment was official as
of Wednesday (Aug. 10).
“I’m
looking forward to work with the wonderful members of the commission and the
staff of international religious freedom commission to advance religious
freedom around the globe and to be the voice of the voiceless,” he told
Religion News Service on Thursday.
The
bipartisan commission, an independent watchdog, issues an annual report on
global religious liberty and deterioration of human rights. Its members take
fact-finding trips and make recommendations to the State Department about which
countries are the worst religious freedom violators.
President
Joe Biden announced his intention to appoint Magid as a commissioner on July 1,
and Magid said then he was “honored and humbled.”
“It
is indeed a divine privilege to work together with others to ensure that every
person has the right to freely practice their beliefs,” Magid, 57, said in a
statement posted on his Facebook page at the time.
He
succeeds Khizr Khan, a Gold Star father who recently received a Presidential
Medal of Freedom and who served as a commissioner from August 2021 through May
2022.
USCIRF
Chair Nury Turkel expressed appreciation for Magid’s appointment.
“We
very much welcome the appointment of Mohamed Magid to the Commission,” Turkel
said in a statement. “His breadth and depth of experience on a range of
international religious freedom issues will be a tremendous asset to USCIRF
going forward.”
Magid,
a native of Sudan, is the executive imam of All Dulles Area Muslim Society
Center and has worked with the United Nations Development Programme to train
imams dealing with extremism and violence against religious minorities in West
and East Africa.
A
former president of the Islamic Society of North America and current
co-president of Religions for Peace, Magid has played a key role in numerous
declarations and dialogues bringing together global leaders of different
faiths, including the 2016 Marrakesh Declaration, unveiled in 2016 in Morocco.
“I
hear other people’s perspective and then we can come away with a common
understanding of what’s unique on an issue,” he told Georgetown University’s
Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs in a January interview.
“The challenge is to ensure that out of our discussion or conference somebody
will say, ‘We want to take this to the next level.’”
Source:
Religion News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Two
Black Muslim men sue Alaska Airlines for being deplaned over Arabic texts
12
August 2022
Two
Black Muslim men have filed a lawsuit against Alaska Airlines for being
wrongfully deplaned from one of its flights in Washington after a fellow
passenger complained about one of the men sending a text message in Arabic.
The
federal lawsuit, which was made public this week, was originally filed on
August 2 in the US District Court for the District of Washington by Abobakkr
Dirar and Mohamed Elamin who boarded the flight in Seattle headed to San
Francisco on 17 February 2020.
According
to the lawsuit, the duo who were seated in their first-class seats were
escorted out of the aircraft by uniformed law enforcement personnel after a
co-passenger who couldn’t even speak or read Arabic complained about one of
them texting and conversing in his native Arabic language.
Moments
before takeoff, Dirar sent text messages and emojis to one of his friends.
Their co-passenger, who couldn't read or speak Arabic, saw the text messages
and complained to a flight crew member, Dirar and Elamin's lawyers said in a
statement.
An
Alaska Airlines manager then asked Dirar and Elamin to deboard the plane, which
was followed by extra security checks and a seizure of Dirar's cellphone, the
lawsuit notes.
After
the complaint, the co-passenger decided to leave the plane, while Dirar and
Elamin after getting off the plane spoke with an FBI agent who was called to
the scene to translate and check their text messages and concluded that they
“posed no threat.”
"Alaska
Airlines' discrimination of these men not only interrupted their business trip
but also caused them serious long-lasting emotional distress and immense
pressure to avoid the attention of others and conduct themselves in ways which
conceal their ethnic and religious identities when flying," their lawyers
said.
Dirar
and Elamin were hours later rebooked on two different downgraded economy class
tickets and were prohibited to fly together.
Alaska
Airlines said the men were de-boarded off the plane because of a “ticket
issue" while refusing to comment in detail about the case.
"Our
greatest responsibility is to ensure that our flight operations are safe every
day, and that includes complying with federal regulations on investigating any
passenger safety reports," the airlines said in a statement to CBS.
Dirar
and Elamin were born in Sudan but are now American citizens, according to the
lawsuit.
They
were supposed to drive back cars their friends planned to purchase in San
Francisco to Washington state, according to the lawsuit.
The
issue was first publicized by the Washington state chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations and the attorney in December 2020. They said in a
statement that the lawsuit claims a federal and state violation of the men’s
civil rights as paying passengers on the flight.
After
two years of no action, the duo decided to take their complaint to a Federal
Court alleging civil rights violations.
Dirar
said in a statement that he's planning to sue the airlines in hopes that Alaska
Airlines will never mistreat other Muslim Americans.
"I
will go to the end of this process because I want the airlines to stop doing
this to any person," he said in a statement. "When we traveled that
day, we were not treated the same as other people, and it made me feel like I
was not equal to other people."
The
25-page lawsuit was filed by attorneys Luis Segura and Lena F. Masri who work with
CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Their
attorneys said in a statement that the airline “could have acted responsibly by
calming tensions, apologizing to our clients for their mistreatment, and
allowing our clients to remain in their rightful seats" but instead
"chose to pile onto the bigotry by using these two Black, Muslim American
passengers as props in an admittedly unjustified, unnecessary, and self-serving
display of security theater."
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Suspect
in killings of 2 Muslim men in Albuquerque is described as volatile by
community members and police reports
By
Ashley Killough and Ed Lavandera
August
11, 2022
Muhammad
Syed, the suspect arrested this week in connection with killings of two Muslim
men in Albuquerque, New Mexico, had previous run-ins with authorities that
included domestic violence arrests and had appeared volatile to others,
according to police reports and CNN interviews with community members.
Syed,
51, is being held on murder charges for the July 26 killing of 41-year-old
Aftab Hussein and the August 1 killing of 27-year-old Muhammad Afzaal Hussain.
He has not been charged but police say he is the primary suspect in two other
homicides: that of 62-year-old Mohammad Zaher Ahmadi, killed November 7, and of
25-year-old Naeem Hussain, killed August 5.
Syed
denied involvement in the killings during an interview with police, according
to an arrest affidavit.
Authorities
are still exploring what could have been the motive behind the killings, Kyle
Hartsock, deputy commander of the city police department's criminal
investigation division, said at a news conference Tuesday.
One
of the victims' relatives spoke to CNN about his experience with Syed. Sharief
Hadi -- whose brother, Ahmadi, was killed in November -- said it's agonizing
waiting for answers.
When
police announced Syed's name as a primary suspect in the killing, Hadi said he
remembered him as a disgruntled customer at the halal market he owned with his
slain brother. Hadi recalled a time several years ago, during which Syed
purchased rice using food stamps and then tried to return the rice to get cash
back. Hadi said he told Syed he couldn't receive cash and said Syed grew angry
and returned several times trying to get money back for the rice. He alleges
Syed also called and harassed Hadi and his brother.
Ahmadi
was found with a gunshot wound near the back door of their market, where Hadi
said he'd been taking a break after a long day of work. Authorities said the
victim was ambushed and fired upon.
"I
feel miserable every day," Hadi said through tears. "I lost my lovely
brother."
Albuquerque
police this week also shared eight incident reports with CNN involving Syed
dating back to 2017. Those included allegations of domestic violence, battery,
assault, battery domestic violence, aggravated assault, food stamp fraud and
shoplifting, though not all resulted in an arrest. Police also listed an
allegation of child abuse in 2019, but they could not release any details on
that incident.
The
disposition of all charges against Syed could not be immediately determined.
However, all three domestic violence charges against Syed were dismissed,
Hartsock said in a Tuesday news conference. A spokeswoman for the Bernalillo
County district attorney's office told the New York Times that the victims in
the cases did not want to pursue charges.
As
for other allegations against Syed, Hartsock characterized them as "minor,
misdemeanor arrests."
Syed's
daughter, who spoke to CNN reporters earlier this week, said the family arrived
from Afghanistan roughly six years ago. The daughter, who CNN is not naming out
of concerns for her safety, said Syed is "not a person who can kill
somebody," and had always talked about peace.
Among
the reports that were shared with CNN was an instance in July 2017 when Syed's
then 20-year-old daughter "reported ongoing verbal and physical
disputes" but said she did not want to have her father arrested because it
would make the "family dynamic worse," according to a police report.
In
another instance, in February 2018, a man who identified himself as Syed's
former son-in-law told police the two had gotten into a verbal argument about
him dating Syed's daughter and Syed verbally threatened to kill him, according
to an incident report from the police department. Syed reported he wanted the
man to stop calling him and had not threatened him, according to the report.
The man declined to press charges, according to the report, and no charges were
filed due to lack of evidence.
In
May 2018, Syed was arrested after an alleged altercation with his wife at the
New Mexico Human Services Department. He told police that they were arguing
over his wife's driving and she slapped him. His wife told authorities she was
driving the two of them to the department and her husband, who was yelling that
she was not a good driver, allegedly "pulled her by the hair and kicked
her out of the vehicle," and made her walk the roughly two-hour journey to
the building, according to a police report. When she arrived, he allegedly
grabbed his wife by the hair and threw her on the ground, where an employee
found her crying and saw a "large piece of hair" on the floor,
according to the report. Syed was arrested on charges of domestic violence and
battery. He pleaded not guilty and the charges were dismissed, court records
show.
Syed
was arrested again in December 2018 after his then 17-year-old son called
police and alleged his father hit him in the back of his head "with a
large metal slotted spoon causing a laceration," according to a police
report. The son told police his father regularly "beat him and his
mother" and showed an officer the blood on the back of his head, according
to that report, but Syed denied the violence. Syed was arrested on charges of
domestic violence and aggravated battery. He again pleaded not guilty, and his
case was dismissed after he complied with prosecution conditions that court
records didn't specify.
Mazin
Kadhim, the case manager assigned to provide refugee services to the family,
described his relationship with Syed as a turbulent one and said he had grown
worried over the relationship with his family.
"With
him -- one time he's happy with me, nine times he's angry with me. For no
reason," Kadhim told CNN. "The way he was talking to me as a case
worker was sometimes scary."
Source:
CNN
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://us.cnn.com/2022/08/11/us/muhammad-syed-police-reports-community/index.html
--------
Citing
Russian officials being trained in Iran on drones, US warns of sanctions
11
August, 2022
The
State Department said Thursday it would “vigorously” enforce all US sanctions
on Russian and Iranian arms trade, doubling down on previous comments by US
officials that Tehran was training Russian officials on drones.
The
Biden administration first revealed last month that it had information about
Russia and Iran discussing the potential sale of Iranian drones for Russia to
use in Ukraine.
“During
the last several weeks, Russian officials conducted training in Iran as part of
the agreement for UAV transfers from Iran to Russia,” a US official told Al
Arabiya English on Wednesday.
Asked
about these reports, State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel said the US
assessed the Russian officials “recently received a showcase of Iranian attack
capable UAVs.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
envoy to travel to UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman to strengthen Yemen truce
12
August, 2022
The
US State Department announced Thursday that its special envoy to Yemen will
travel to the Gulf region this week to help extend the truce in the war-torn
nation.
Tim
Lenderking will travel to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia
starting August 11, while members of his team travel to Jordan, hoping to
secure an expansion of the UN-mediated truce between Yemen's warring parties.
The
efforts aim to “pave the way for a permanent ceasefire and an inclusive,
durable Yemeni-led resolution to the conflict,” the department said in a
statement.
The
United Nations announced on August 2 that a four-month truce had been extended
until October 2, buying time for negotiations to establish a longer, more
durable ceasefire.
Yemen
has been gripped by conflict since the Iran-backed Houthi militia took control
of the capital Sanaa in 2014, triggering a military intervention in support of
the beleaguered government the following year.
The
State Department said Lenderking will also discuss recent instability in the
central province of Shabwa, and urge other governments to step up financial
assistance for Yemenis.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Assassins
Creed: Why the plot to kill John Bolton is in the DNA of the Iranian regime
August
12, 2022
QAMISHLI,
Syria/JEDDAH: For the past year, unbeknown to the citizens of Washington D.C.,
an assassin had allegedly been stalking the streets of the US capital searching
for a prime target: A former high-ranking American official whose killing would
shake the world and serve as a symbol of vengeance against the West.
This
alleged plan was revealed to have been foiled when, on Wednesday, the US
Department of Justice officially charged an Iranian citizen with plotting to
kill John Bolton, a senior national security adviser under both the Bush and
Trump administrations.
Shahram
Poursafi was charged with use of interstate commerce facilities in the
commission of murder for hire and providing and attempting to provide material
support to terrorists.
According
to the Justice Department’s indictment, Poursafi attempted to hire criminals in
the US to carry out the murder in Washington, D.C., or Maryland for $300,000.
On Nov. 9, 2021, Poursafi contacted a confidential source.
The
FBI said that Poursafi is a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
(IRGC), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain and the US. He was acting on behalf of the Quds Force, an elite arm of
the IRGC. Poursafi remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous.
Nasser
Kanaani, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, has strenuously denied that the
Iranian government planned to assassinate Bolton, calling the accusations
“baseless.” But the regime’s long history of targeting critics and dissidents
abroad belies its protestation of innocence.
Since
the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Tehran has carried out assassinations and
attacks on Iranian dissidents and foreign officials worldwide. Which is why for
Iranian affairs expert Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami, the revelation of the most
recent plot comes as no surprise.
“Iran
has been following this strategy for decades,” Al-Sulami, founder and chairman
of Rasanah: International Institute for Iranian Studies in Riyadh, told Arab
News. “More than two dozen successful assassination operations have been
carried out by the Iranian regime across the globe.”
Since
1979, individuals believed to be linked to the Iranian government have carried
out attacks against dissidents and opposition figures in more than a dozen
countries, including, France, the US, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, Germany,
the Netherlands, Albania, Thailand, Denmark and Turkey. Individuals linked to
the Iranian government have also hijacked aircraft and bombed government
offices as well as military installations around the world.
“Worldwide
threat assessments from the US intelligence community have for years warned
that Iran is trying to develop networks inside the US for such operations,”
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told Arab News.
“These
operations are shocking, but not surprising. There’s a long history dating back
to the beginning of the Islamic Revolution,” he said, citing the assassination
of Iranian exile and former press attache to the Iranian embassy in the US, Ali
Akbar Tabatabaei, in Maryland in 1980.
Brodsky
pointed out that in 2011, the US Justice Department charged two Iranian
citizens, one of whom was a commander in the Quds Force, with planning a
murder-for-hire targeting the then Saudi ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir at a
restaurant in Washington, D.C.
FBI
investigations revealed that money had been wired to Iranian US dual national
Mansour Arbabsiar, one of the potential assassins, from a known Quds Force bank
account, and that the fee for the assassination was $1.5 million.
The
2011 criminal complaint from the Justice Department said that “the Quds Force
conducts sensitive covert operations abroad, including terrorist attacks,
assassinations and kidnappings, and is believed to sponsor attacks against
coalition forces in Iraq.”
Eric
Holder, US attorney general at the time, added: “The criminal complaint
unsealed today exposes a deadly plot directed by factions of the Iranian
government to assassinate a foreign ambassador on US soil with explosives.”
Ultimately,
the plot, which involved the hiring of a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate
Al-Jubeir — now the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs — failed due to
poor planning and the use of unskilled operatives. Arbabsiar, who was working
as a used car salesman in Texas, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2013.
“Iran
has, beyond any reasonable doubt, sponsored international terrorism,” Dr.
Hamdan Al-Shehri, a Saudi political analyst and international relations
scholar, told Arab News.
“They
do so through their agents and proxy army, creating chaos in the region and
beyond. They are now a threat not only to the region, but to the US as well by
attacking US missions and army bases.”
Such
attacks blamed on Iran are not just limited to political figures. Masih
Alinejad, an Iranian US journalist and women’s rights activist, was the target
of a kidnapping plot in July of last year. Just last month, a man with a loaded
AK-47 rifle was arrested outside her home in New York City.
Brodsky
says that in the plot against Alinejad, instead of the elite international Quds
Force, Iranian intelligence operatives were directly involved.
“Not
just the IRGC Quds Force has attempted operations to harm American citizens on
US soil. Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has also undertaken those operations,”
he said. “That shows that we have different parts of the Iranian system all
trying to penetrate the US, and that’s definitely a cause for concern.”
Sources
close to Mike Pompeo, the former US secretary of state, told CNN that Bolton
was not the only target of the most recent Iranian plot. Pompeo was reportedly
one of two individuals whom Poursafi had sought to assassinate through a third
party, with the price tag for Pompeo’s death being $1 million.
Iran’s
plots against US officials and citizens have come in the wake of the Jan. 1,
2020, strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force. After the incident, Iranian political
and military officials vowed revenge for Soleimani’s death.
However,
according to Al-Sulami, the regime completely failed in terms of taking
revenge, denting its image among followers in the region and beyond.
“Soleimani
is not a replaceable military commander in terms of managing the IRGC’s
militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen; he is a big loss for the management
of Iran’s regional file,” Al-Sulami told Arab News, adding that Iran resorted
to carrying out assassinations when its propaganda failed to convince Iranians
and Iran-backed militias that it had avenged Soleimani’s death.
In
January, two years after the killing of Soleimani, Iranian President Ebrahim
Raisi vowed to exact vengeance on those responsible if then US President Donald
Trump was not put on trial for ordering the strike.
Pompeo
was serving as secretary of state at the time of Soleimani’s killing, and
Bolton had pushed for both regime change in Iran and the US withdrawal from the
Iran nuclear agreement.
Al-Shehri
says the latest revelation begs the question of how US-Iranian relations will
be affected, if at all. “Since Ayatollah Khomeini denounced the US as the
‘Great Satan’ and approved seizing the American Embassy in Tehran in November
1979, the US has treated Iran as one of the most extreme, irrational and
dangerous governments in the world,” he told Arab News.
After
the attempt on Bolton and Pompeo’s lives, he asks, “will the US still allow
Iran to continue its enrichment program? Will they allow Iran to obtain nuclear
capabilities.”
With
the uncovering of the alleged plot, political commentators took to social media
to criticize the Biden’s administration’s approach to relations with Iran.
“Intent
to murder a former senior US official is not enough to dissuade this
administration from negotiating with Iran,” tweeted Simone Ledeen, former US
deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.
Reacting
on Twitter, Morgan Ortagus, a former State Department spokesperson, said: “It
is clear that the Iranian regime will spare no cost to kill (Mike Pompeo). The
smoking gun that the Biden administration apparently requires to push back on
Iran must not be a mass-casualty event with our former secretary of state at
the center.”
Analysts
caution that the perception of a lack of serious consequences may be behind
Iran’s bold attempts to assassinate dissidents and enemies abroad. Brodsky says
that for Iran, the potential rewards associated with assassinating a top US
official far outweigh the risks, partially due to the lack of perceived
consequences from the US.
“On
the policy level toward the Iranian regime, the US is saying there will be
severe consequences when there is an attack on US officials. What about an
attempted attack? This was an attempted attack on a former US national security
adviser and secretary of state. That’s explosive,” he said.
“So
if there isn’t a consequence when there’s an attempted attack, it’s not going
to break the cycle and change the Iranians’ calculation.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2141101/middle-east
--------
Europe
Greek
official advocates ‘necessity’ of spying on country’s Muslim Turkish-origin
deputies
Ahmet
Gencturk
12.08.2022
A
deputy speaker of Greece’s parliament has advocated “the necessity of spying
on” the country’s Muslim Turkish-origin deputies, local media reported
Thursday.
Charalambos
Athanasiou, who is also a former justice minister and currently a deputy from
the ruling conservative Nea Dimokratia (ND) party, was referring to the three
Muslim Turkish-origin deputies, who all hail from the country’s Western Thrace
region, as potential agents of Türkiye, according to the Left.Gr news outlet,
which cited an interview he gave Wednesday to the StoNisi news channel.
“Let’s
suppose that a member of parliament who has a religious orientation completely
different from Orthodox Christians gives information to a neighboring country
-- Türkiye -- about where irregular immigrants can come in,” he said, adding
that national intelligence would have to take precautions in such a scenario,
according to the outlet.
Asked
whether the deputies can be monitored, Athanasiou replied: "If the
procedure provided for by the legislator is followed, of course.”
His
remarks caused an uproar, particularly from the country’s leftist opposition
parties.
The
main opposition party SYRIZA-PS, stressed in a statement that Athanasiou
essentially claims that those who are not Orthodox Christians are national
threats.
“However,
in reality, Charalambos Athanasiou said unequivocally what (Prime Minister
Kyriakos) Mitsotakis hinted at in a speech, attempting to cover up the
dangerous actions of his government with references to national security and
‘dark forces,’” the statement said.
Calling
on the prime minister to dismiss Athanasiou, the party argued that Mitsotakis
will have shown that he is consenting with his comments.
The
PASOK-KINAL party also said in its statement that Athanasiou’s remarks plunge
Greece into intolerance and create a severe national rift by claiming the
minority deputies can potentially betray national interests.
“We
demand immediate intervention against the deputy parliamentary speaker by
explicitly condemning the unacceptable, divisive statement by Athanasiou,” it
added.
The
Greek Communist Party (KKE) noted that Athanasiou proved that the term
“national security” has become a band-aid that everyone and everything can fit
in in order to legitimize and facilitate unacceptable practices of monitoring
and eavesdropping.
Burhan
Baran, a Turkish-origin deputy with the PASOK-KINAL, also condemned
Athanasiou’s remarks.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Greece
'uneasy' with Türkiye's new drill ship in Eastern Mediterranean
Diyar
Guldogan
11.08.2022
Greece
was "uneasy" after Türkiye sent its new drill ship to the Eastern
Mediterranean for hydrocarbon exploration, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
on Thursday.
"We
sent our Abdulhamid Han drill ship from Mersin Tasucu port, but Greece was very
uneasy and asked 'What does Erdogan do?'."
"Erdogan
is doing nothing, Erdogan is doing his duty," Erdogan said in the capital
Ankara at a mass opening ceremony of 34 hydroelectric power plants.
Türkiye
on Tuesday sent its fourth drill ship Abdulhamid Han from the Tasucu port in
the country's southern Mersin province to the Eastern Mediterranean for
hydrocarbon exploration.
Erdogan
added that Türkiye is strong with its four drilling ships and two seismic
research vessels.
As
part of Türkiye's strategy for hydrocarbon exploration, Abdulhamid Han has
recently arrived at its first destination, the Yorukler-1 well offshore in the
southern province of Antalya.
The
ship, dubbed the strongest of the country’s current fleet of four, will drill
exploration wells in the Eastern Mediterranean while other ships, Yavuz and
Kanuni, will continue drilling operations in the Black Sea.
Erdogan
also said: "... from the moment we extract the natural gas, you will see
how the weather changes in the whole region."
The
new addition to the fleet is a seventh-generation vessel and one of five
worldwide with the capability of drilling to depths of up to 12,200 meters
(40,026 feet).
'Yusufeli
dam almost completed'
About
the Yusufeli dam in Türkiye's northeastern Artvin province, Erdogan said it is
nearly completed.
"Our
highest dam, 'Yusufeli,' which will boost Türkiye's annual electricity
production capacity by nearly 1.9 billion kilowatt-hours, is almost
completed," he said.
Erdogan
said the most important opportunity of Türkiye in domestic and renewable energy
production is water resources and the structure of the country's geography has
advantages in this regard.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
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