‘Massive looting of ancient artefacts underway in Libya’
Eleven dead in suicide bombing at Algerian military academy
29 dead in suicide bomb attack in Iraq mosque: Officials
Aamir Khan electrifies Delhi crowd
Rebels dismiss Gaddafi call for talks; take eastern city
Gaddafi tortured enemies in a primary school building
Man accused of firebombing mosque talked of Christian jihad
Egypt thwarts Israeli assassination of Hamas PM
Afghan Editor Condemns the Custom of Dancing Boys, and their Abuse by Several Men'
Gaddafi had sought pardon for killers of Mujib: Hasina
Libya’s Interim Leadership Releases Its Members’ Names
Pak court orders confiscation of Musharraf's assets
WikiLeaks exposes US ‘bashing’ of Gujarat CM
Four Yemeni soldiers killed in clash with ‘Qaeda’
Israeli police: 7 wounded in Palestinian attack
Police: 27 killed in fiery Iraq car wreck
Train attack kills three, wounds 16 near Quetta
Qaddafi forces killed detainees, says survivor
Looters attack South Korea embassy in Libya: Official
Iranian gets death sentence for scientist’s murder
Turkey: Kurdish protester killed in clash
Nigeria floods: At least 20 killed in Ibadan
Turkish Leader Says He Has Lost Confidence in Assad
Ethnic killings spark apocalyptic doom in Pakistan's biggest city
Pakistan court allows setting up of commission to visit India
Pakistan agrees to grant MFN status to India: Report
Gaddafi crosses Libya-Algeria border: Report
'Qadri Lovers' angle in Taseer kidnapping probed
Two NATO tankers destroyed in Quetta
Gaddafi ‘seen on Mugabe’s private jet’
Nigerian president condemns 'barbaric' attack
Muslim underwear bomber: "all Muslims should only be ruled by the law of the Quran."
Underwear bomb suspect claims wrongful imprisonment by U.S., files for release
Libyan War Goes a Long Way to Improve the Pentagon’s View of France as an Ally
Gaddafi must be tried by ICC: German Chancellor
Indonesian autopsy reveals violence killed maid in Hail
Indonesian Muslim youths keep faith amid reform
Al-Qaeda No 2 killed in Pakistan: US official
Arab-Muslim world must erase violence
Syrian authorities warn against protesting in capital
US, Israel mount surveillance on Syria's WMD and missiles
CIA orders cuts in ‘critical’ 9/ 11 book
India: Lalu links corruption to communalism
Bush authorised leak on Iraq: Dick Cheney
Family makes abortive bid to cross LoC from PoK
Arabs asks UN, world states to unfreeze Libyan assets
Arab League chief in "initiative" to solve Syria crisis
Pakistani officials doubt al Qaeda operative dead
Iran pardons 100 ‘security’ prisoners
Conclusion of Qur’an recitation at Haram tonight
Eid celebrations foreshadow 9/11 anniversary in the US
More Somali famine victims fleeing to Yemen: UNHCR
Where is Syria heading? 5 possible scenarios for the uprising
Muslim Brotherhood Leader: Palestine – The Jihad Axis of the Muslim Nation
Jewish Iranian Majlis Member: Unite Against Zionism And the U.S.
US "hikers" lawyer appeals Iran spying sentences
Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is 'in coma'
Sierra Leone: We need to improve our religious tolerance!
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/‘massive-looting-ancient-artefacts-underway/d/5345
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‘Massive looting of ancient artefacts underway in Libya’
VLADIMIR RADYUHIN
Aug 28, 2011
Libya’s priceless historical heritage is in danger of being destroyed in the same way Iraq’s cultural riches perished during the United States invasion, warned a Russian expert on West Asia.
Nikolai Sologubovsky, orientalist, writer and film maker, said massive looting and destruction of ancient artefacts was underway in Libya.
“The al-Jamahiriya National Museum in Tripoli has been looted and antiquities are being shipped out by sea to Europe,” the scholar told Russian television.
The National Museum houses some of Libya's most treasured archaeological and historical heritage. The collection includes invaluable samples of Neolithic, pre-historic, Berber, Garamantian, Phoenician, Punic, Greek, Roman and Byzantine culture.
Mr. Sologubovsky, who spent several months in Libya this year as a correspondent for a Moscow tabloid, said cave paintings in Acacus Mountains that go back 14,000 years were being destroyed by looters.
“They press silk cloth soaked in special chemical solution against rock frescoes and the paint sticks to the cloth and comes off the cave wall,” he said.
The scholar accused NATO forces of destroying some of the most spectacular architectural sites included in UNESCO’s World Historical List.
“NATO aircraft have bombed Leptis Magna and Sabratha,” said Mr. Sologobovsky, who is deputy head of a Russian committee of solidarity with the people of Libya and Syria set up earlier this year.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2406278.ece
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Eleven dead in suicide bombing at Algerian military academy
Aug 28, 2011
ALGIERS: Eleven people were killed and 32 wounded in a suicide bombing at the Cherchell military academy west of Algiers, the defence ministry said Saturday according to APS news agency.
A hospital source had earlier put the toll in the attack late Friday at 18 dead and dozens wounded.
The ministry said nine officers and two civilians were among the dead.
Twenty-six wounded had been discharged but six people were still in hospital, one in critical condition.
The figures were the first to be published by an official source, a day after the twin suicide attack about 100 kilometres west of the Algerian capital around 10 minutes after the breaking of the Ramadan fast.
The ministry branded the attack “appalling and terrorist” and attributed it to “criminal gangs” targeting objects that would be of media interest.
According to El Watan newspaper, the suicide bombers tried to cause as many casualties as possible by targeting the officers’ mess just as all the soldiers were assembled to break the fast.
Ramadan is generally considered a good time for holy war, or jihad, by Islamist groups. Since the fast started in early August, there have been many attacks east of Algiers, especially in Kabylia, targeting the army and police.
Authorities generally remain tight-lipped about such incidents which have not ended despite a policy of national reconciliation adopted in the early 2000s by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Most attacks are attributed to al Qaeda’s North African offshoot, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/28/eleven-dead-in-suicide-bombing-at-algerian-military-academy.html
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29 dead in suicide bomb attack in Iraq mosque: Officials
Aug 29, 2011
BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber blew himself up inside Baghdad's largest Sunni mosque Sunday night, killing 29 people during prayers, a shocking strike on a place of worship similar to the one that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war five years ago.
Iraqi security officials said parliament lawmaker Khalid al-Fahdawi, a Sunni, was among the dead in the 9:40 p.m attack.
Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Baghdad's military operations command, confirmed the bombing happened inside the Um al-Qura mosque during prayers in the western Baghdad neighborhood of al-Jamiaah. The blue-domed building is the largest Sunni mosque in Baghdad.
Two security officials and medics at two Baghdad hospitals put the casualty toll at 29 dead and 38 wounded. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Al-Moussawi put the death toll at only six and said there was no significant damage to the mosque. Conflicting death tolls are common immediately after attacks in Iraq.
In a statement early Monday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on Iraqis to stand strong against terrorists and "pursue them wherever they are."
"Solidarity and unity, and standing as one line behind the army and the police, are the only way to eliminate this danger, which does not differentiate between the Iraqis and targets all of us," al-Maliki said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, but suicide attacks generally are a hallmark of al-Qaida, which is dominated by Sunnis. Intelligence officials have speculated that al-Qaida will do almost anything to re-ignite sectarian violence, but the group recently had focused on attacking Iraqi security forces and the government to prove how unstable Iraq remains.
"I heard something like a very severe wind storm, with smoke and darkness, and shots by the guards," said a shaken Mohammad Mustafa, who was inside the mosque and was hit in the hand by shrapnel.
"How could this occur?" he said. "Is al-Qaida able to carry out their acts against worshippers? How did this breach happen?"
That the bomber detonated his explosives vest inside the mosque is particularly alarming, as it is reminiscent of a 2006 attack on a Shiite shrine in the Sunni city of Samarra that fueled widespread sectarian violence and nearly ignited a nationwide civil war. In that strike, Sunni militants planted bombs around the Samarra shrine, destroying its signature gold dome and badly damaging the rest of the structure.
The attack hit Sunnis who were praying in a special service during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which ends Tuesday. It demonstrates anew that security measures to protect Iraqis as U.S. forces prepare to leave remain riddled with gaps, and shows the extent to which militants want to extend violence even as the eight-year- U.S. presence winds down.
The mosque's security is provided by the government-supported Sunni Endowment, and al-Moussawi raised the possibility that the bomber had inside help.
"For sure there must have been someone inside the mosque who helped the bomber," al-Moussawi said. "It must have been someone who is protecting the mosque."
Sheik Ahmed Abdul Gafur al-Samarraie, the head of Sunni Endowment, agreed that was a possibility and said the group would investigate how the bomber got inside the mosque, where an estimated 200 people were praying. He said this is the first time such a security breach had occurred, and said guards did not suspect the bomber because he had a broken hand that was bandaged.
Al-Samarraie said the bomber exploded just a few feet (meters) from him, and called himself the likely target. He blamed al-Qaida.
"Those people are infidels and unbelievers, and their criminal acts will never deflect us from our unity," al-Samarraie told Iraqi state TV. "We will remain as unified Iraqis."
He described "a deep sorrow for the murder of a child who was praying today. The blast tore his body to pieces: his legs in one place and a hand in another."
Al-Fahdawi, the Sunni lawmaker, was targeted twice by al-Qaida, in 2004 and 2005, when he was the head of Sunni Endowment in Anbar province.
The strike happened hours after the U.N.'s outgoing top diplomat in Iraq said the government in Baghdad must determine whether its security forces are strong enough to thwart violence before requiring U.S. troops to leave at the end of the year.
In his last interview after two years in Baghdad, U.N. envoy Ad Melkert said Iraqi security forces have made "clear improvements" but declined to say if he thinks they are ready to protect the country without help from the American military.
"It's up to the government, really, to assess if it is enough to deal with the risks that are still around," Melkert said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press on the eve of his departure Monday.
"Obviously, security remains a very important issue."
The U.S. and Iraqi governments are negotiating how many American troops might stay, and what role they would play, in a mission that has already lasted more than eight years. A 2008 security agreement between Baghdad and Washington requires all U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by Dec. 31, but the country's shaky security situation and vulnerability to Iranian influence has prompted politicians on both sides to buck widespread public disapproval and reconsider the deadline.
A decision on whether U.S. troops will remain is not expected for several weeks at least, and the American military is already starting to pack up to leave. About 46,000 U.S. troops currently are in Iraq. The White House has offered to keep up to 10,000 there.
Violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq from just a few years ago, but deadly attacks still happen nearly every day.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/29-dead-in-suicide-bomb-attack-in-Iraq-mosque-Officials/articleshow/9776401.cms
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Aamir Khan electrifies Delhi crowd
August 28, 2011
Vikash Lata
After a thin crowd almost all through the week after the Janmashtami holiday at Ramlila Maidan, people turned out in large number on Saturday afternoon as Bollywood star Aamir Khan decided to turn up at the venue.
The star arrived accompanied by friend and known Bollywood director Rajkumar Hirani around 4 pm. After several days, Anna was seen wearing Gandhi cap on Saturday. When he showed up on the stage with Aamir, he was wearing a white kurta and a Gandhi cap.
“I am not the biggest hero, Anna (Hazare) is the real hero,” said superstar Aamir Khan as he pledged support to the activist’s fight for a strong anti-corruption law, but in the same breath requested him to break his 12-day-long fast.
Aamir Khan showed up at the stage at Ramlila Maidan around 3.55 pm. As Arvind Kejriwal was announcing that there was a special guest who had come to extend his support to Anna and his fight against corruption, the crowds which was pouring at Maidan to get a glance of the superstar, cheered aloud the actor’s name.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/364055/Aamir-electrifies-Ramlila-crowd.html
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Rebels dismiss Gaddafi call for talks; take eastern city
Aug 29 2011
Tripoli : Libyan rebels on Sunday rejected an offer by Muammar Gaddafi to negotiate and said they have captured the eastern town of Bin Jawwad, forcing regime loyalists to flee after days of fighting.
The rebels were also advancing on Gaddafi’s birthplace of Sirte, which straddles the east-west coastal road, but one commander said liberating the city could take over 10 days.
The fighting in the east comes as the rebels consolidated their hold on the capital, Tripoli, some 560 km to the west of Bin Jawwad.
With Gaddafi on the run, his spokesman Moussa Ibrahim called The Associated Press Saturday to say Gaddafi is still in Libya and offering to have his son, al-Saadi, lead talks with the rebels on forming a transitional government. In the past, Gaddafi referred to the rebels as “thugs’’ and “rats.’’
Ibrahim said he saw Gaddafi Friday in Libya but would not give more details. Mahmoud Shammam, the information minister in the rebels’ transitional council, rejected the offer. “I would like to state very clearly, we don’t recognise them. We are looking at them as criminals. We are going to arrest them very soon,’’ he said at a news conference. “Talking about negotiations is a daydream for what remains of the dictatorship.’’
Meanwhile, more signs emerged of arbitrary killings of detainees and civilians by Libyan forces as the rebels swept into Tripoli earlier this week, including some 50 charred corpses found in a makeshift lockup near a military base that had been run by the Khamis Brigade, an elite unit commanded by Gaddafi’s son, Khamis.
Mabrouk Abdullah, who said he survived a massacre by Gaddafi’s forces, said guards opened fired at 130 civilian detainees in a hangar near the military base.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rebels-dismiss-gaddafi-call-for-talks;-take-eastern-city/838521/
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Gaddafi tortured enemies in a primary school building
29 Aug, 2011
THE SECRET door in the corner of the nondescript office swung open and I was ushered through. The walls were hung with pictures of Tripoli’s beautiful old city because the former primary school was serving as the headquarters of the historic buildings society.
But behind this facade lay scenes of horror. For this was where Muammar Gaddafi’s secret police kept watch on the traders and residents of the city — and beat them if they stepped out of line.
Ibrahim Rapti, a former professional footballer, led me through neat offices filled with files. He told me of their shock as they discovered the intelligence centre, then learned that friends and neighbours had been acting as spies for the repressive regime.
“ We had no idea with some of them,” he said.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Man accused of firebombing mosque talked of Christian jihad
Aug 28, 2011
SEATTLE -- An Oregon man charged with firebombing a mosque in apparent retaliation for an attempted terrorist attack in Portland had talked of being a "Christian warrior" who was worried about "secret Muslims."
The arrest of Cody Crawford, 24, concludes an investigation that began when a bottle full of gasoline was tossed through a window of the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center in Corvallis on Nov. 28. The device gutted most of the mosque's office but no one was injured.
Crawford, who lives down the street from the mosque, had been taken by police to a mental hospital two weeks after the bombing and had made a series of statements about Muslims to officers then, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Eugene.
"You look like Obama," he told an officer then. "You are a Muslim like him. Jihad goes both ways. Christians can jihad, too."
Federal authorities believe the firebombing was a response to the arrest two days earlier of a Somali immigrant, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, who had attempted to blow up a van he believed was loaded with explosives at a crowded Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland.
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/26/3864391/man-accused-of-firebombing-mosque.html
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Egypt thwarts Israeli assassination of Hamas PM
28 Aug, 2011
Egypt pressures Israel to abort mission on Ismail Haniyeh's life following multiple terror attacks on south, Egyptian newspaper reports
Egypt has forced Israel to abort a mission aiming to assasinate Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported, citing Palestinian sources.
According to the report, Egypt acted swiftly to pressure Israel to back out of the planned operation, which was decided upon following the recent multiple terror attacks near Eilat.
Egypt also contacted the Islamic Jihad and swayed it to declare a ceasefire, while negotiating a ceasefire with Hamas and other factions in Gaza, most notably the Popular Resistance Committees.
According to the report, the Palestinian Authority joined the efforts to convince the terror groups to stop the rocket attacks on Israel, informing the factions in Gaza that it is only a matter of time before Israel carries out the threat on Haniyeh's life.
Despite the Islamic Jihad's agreement to an armistice, the rocket fire from Gaza continued on Friday; two Qassams exploded in open areas in the western Negev. Hours earlier, a rocket hit the Ashkelon vicinity. No injuries or damage were caused in the attacks.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4114381,00.html
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Afghan Editor Condemns the Custom of Dancing Boys, and their Then Abused by Several Men'
28 Aug, 2011
In a recent report, senior Afghan journalist Musa Khan Jalalzai drew attention to the custom of Afghan dancing boys and their sexual exploitation by powerful and wealthy warlords in the country. The report notes that the custom has become a status symbol in Afghanistan.
The report, titled "Male Prostitution in Afghanistan," was published on the website of Daily Outlook Afghanistan newspaper, of which Musa Khan Jalalzai is the executive editor. In his report, Jalalzai notes that for those who cannot afford the real thing, DVDs of dancing boys are available in the cities of Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kunduz, Takhar, Baghlan, Samangan, Panjshir, and Herat.
The report added: "Local residents now have demanded for a crackdown against these elements, but are skeptical because criminals are powerful and well-armed. War criminals have representation in Afghan parliament and in government institutions."
Following are excerpts from the report:[1]
"Warlords in Northern Afghanistan… Recruit Young Boys for Sex and Dance…; Bacha-Bereesh [Boys] of Ages 15-20 are Normally Dressed in Women's Clothes, Dancing All the Night, Then Abused by Several Men"
Full report at:
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5599.htm
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Gaddafi had sought pardon for killers of Mujib: Hasina
Aug 28, 2011
DHAKA: Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had in 1996 rejected a plea from Muammar Gaddafi to pardon her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's killers, who were given shelter by the now beleaguered Libyan leader.
Hasina told a gathering here that Gaddafi had written to her, invoking the Holy Quran to seek pardon for Sheikh Mujib's assassins.
Addressing a meeting to commemorate the martyrdom of Sheikh Mujib, she said Gaddafi who is now witnessing his own downfall, in 1996 had written a letter requesting her to forgive her father's killers, Farruq Rahman and Abdur Rashid, The Daily Star reported.
"Gaddafi in his letter cited a quotation from holy Quran. I also replied to him with another quotation from Quran... I said that if I would not try to bring the killers to law, I won't perform my duty as the daughter of a father," Hasina said.
Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) arranged the discussion to commemorate the martyrdom of Bangabandhu and the National Mourning Day.
Hasina said that when the greatest Bengali of all times, Sheikh Mujib, started rebuilding the country after its liberation, the defeated force killed him along with most of his family members on August 15, 1975.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Gaddafi-had-sought-pardon-for-killers-of-Mujib-Hasina/articleshow/9770984.cms
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Libya’s Interim Leadership Releases Its Members’ Names
By ROD NORDLAND
28 Aug, 2011
BENGHAZI, Libya — The Transitional National Council, recognized by 57 nations as the legitimate interim government of Libya, released the names of all of its members on Saturday for the first time and promised to increase its roster rapidly to provide representation to newly liberated parts of the country.
In interviews and a news conference, the council members said they were moving as quickly as possible to send representatives to Tripoli to dispel any doubts of tribal conflict or a split between the east, where the Libyan revolution began in this city, and the capital.
Eight members of the council and most of the executive board, which acts as a rebel governing body, have already arrived in Tripoli, and more will soon follow, according to the council’s vice chairman, Abdel Hafidh Ghoga. Although the capital’s airport had been closed because of shelling from forces still loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, they flew in a rebel aircraft to Misurata, which was recently liberated, and then went by road to Tripoli, he said.
Sounding ebullient from recent victories, the council members struck a conciliatory note, telling their fighters not to indulge in extrajudicial killings or revenge attacks, and calling on loyalist holdouts in cities like Surt to surrender and avoid more bloodshed.
But they also warned that any officials who had not already defected from the Qaddafi regime would be barred from future participation in political life, and might be prosecuted criminally.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/world/africa/28benghazi.html
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Pak court orders confiscation of Musharraf's assets
Aug 28, 2011
Islamabad : A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Saturday ordered the confiscation of property of former President Pervez Musharraf for his failure to appear before it in the 2007 murder case of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, court officials said.
The court has already declared the former military ruler an “absconder” in the Bhutto assassination case, as he has not agreed to clarify his position in court despite several notices.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had requested the court to summon Musharraf, who was the president at the time of the assassination and has refused a request to cooperate in the investigation into Bhutto's death.
Following the lack of cooperation by Musharraf, he was named an "absconding accused," FIA prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar said.
The FIA on Saturday presented a final report in the court about Musharraf's refusal to appear, and the court issued orders to confiscate his property.
Local media reported that the court has also ordered freezing of Musharraf's bank's accounts.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pak-court-orders-confiscation-of-musharrafs-assets/838078/
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WikiLeaks exposes US ‘ bashing’ of Gujarat CM
Aug 28, 2011
GUJARAT chief minister Narendra Modi has never expressed regret for the 2002 riots in his state and this would go against his chances of becoming Prime Minister.
This was revealed by WikiLeaks on Saturday when it exposed a fresh set of secret US diplomatic cables.
The US cables called him a “ Muslimbasher” for the 2002 riots.
A US official at its Mumbai consulate wrote in a cable that L. K. Advani had softened his image from a firebrand Hindutva leader by acknowledging regret for violence after the Babri Masjid demolition.
“ Modi has so far not expressed regret for the violence and his supporters have argued that his focus on development is the key to his image makeover. Nevertheless, should Modi wish to be seen as a statesman in the vein of Advani or former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and be more acceptable to potential coalition partners, he will likely have to do more to soften his image,” the cable said.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Four Yemeni soldiers killed in clash with ‘Qaeda’
29August 2011
ADEN — Four soldiers were killed and 12 wounded in a a fierce firefight between Yemeni troops and suspected Al Qaeda gunmen near the southern city of Zinjibar on Sunday, a military official said.
Three gunmen were also killed in the clash, according to a medical source.
The clash erupted at Dofes, a village south of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan, as troops tried to advance towards the city that has been mostly in the hands of gunmen since late May, the official said.
The four bodies were transferred to a military hospital in Aden, as well as the 12 wounded soldiers, including a colonel, the official said.
A medical source at the hospital said that the bodies of three gunmen killed n the firefight were brought in by the army.
Since the end of May, fighters linked to Al Qaeda have seized control of several Abyan towns, taking advantage of the weakening of central authority amid nationwide protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The veteran leader has been recovering in Saudi Arabia for more than two months from bomb blast wounds.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/August/middleeast_August632.xml§ion=middleeast
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Israeli police: 7 wounded in Palestinian attack
29 Aug, 2011
JERUSALEM — A Palestinian attacker wounded seven Israelis near a Tel Aviv nightclub early Monday, hitting a police checkpoint with a stolen taxi and then stabbing others, police said.
The attacker was a Palestinian in his twenties from the city of Nablus, according to Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri.
Just before 2 a.m., the attacker stole a taxi in south Tel Aviv and then drove into a police checkpoint securing the street near a popular nightclub, she said.
He then got out of the car and stabbed passers-by, she said, while shouting "Allahu akbar" — Arabic for "God is great," a phrase often used as a battle-cry by Islamic militants.
The wounded included four policemen and three civilians, Samri said.
The attacker was arrested. He was injured and was taken to a hospital.
No further details were immediately available.
Such attacks inside Israel, once common, have fallen off in recent years as Israeli and Palestinian forces have restored security in the adjacent Palestinian territory of the West Bank. But some violence has continued. One Israeli was killed in a similar attack with a vehicle in Tel Aviv in May.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press.
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Police: 27 killed in fiery Iraq car wreck
Aug 28, 2011
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP): A bus carrying vacationing families through northern Iraq collided head-on with a car and burst into flames Saturday, killing all 24 people trapped on the bus and three people in the car, police said.
Kirkuk Traffic Police Director Brig. Gen. Sallar Fiqih said the bus was carrying vacationing families with children from Baghdad to the northern city of Irbil. It caught on fire, trapping passengers inside, after it collided with the car on a narrow two-lane road about 18 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of the city of Kirkuk.
None of the 23 passengers or the driver aboard the bus survived, Fiqih said.
"When I opened the door of the bus, I saw a horrific scene of totally burned bodies, including four children," said traffic policeman Asso Ahmed, one of the first officials on the scene.
Three in the oncoming car, including its driver, also were killed, Fiqih said. Three other passengers in the car were wounded.
Fiqih said the bus passed through at least one security checkpoint near Kirkuk, where the driver told guards he was headed to Irbil and showed identification that he was from Baghdad. The bus was filled with blankets and tea thermoses, and Fiqih said it appeared its passengers were on vacation.
Kirkuk is located about 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/8/27/apworld/20110827214321&sec=apworld
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Train attack kills three, wounds 16 near Quetta
Aug 28, 2011
QUETTA: Gunmen ambushed a passenger train in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing three people and wounding 16 others, officials said.
Men armed with assault rifles attacked the passenger train in Mach town, some 50 kilometres southeast of Quetta, the capital of the insurgency-hit southwestern province of Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
“Three people have been killed and 16 were injured in the attack,” Naseeb-Ullah, provincial home secretary told AFP by telephone.
“We have imposed an emergency in the hospitals while the seriously injured have been taken to Quetta’s main hospital,” he added.
Police said about two dozens attackers fired on the train when it reached Mach, which lies deep in the mountains.
A railway official confirmed the incident.
One Intelligence official in Quetta blamed the attack on Baloch militants who are fighting for more political rights and a greater share of profits from the region’s natural resources.
Hundreds of people have died in violence in the province since the insurgency flared in late 2004. Despite having some of the lowest living standards in Pakistan, the region has the richest supply of natural resources.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/28/train-attack-kills-three-wounds-16-near-quetta.html
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Qaddafi forces killed detainees, says survivor
Aug 28, 2011
TRIPOLI: A man has told The Associated Press he survived a massacre by Muammar Qaddafi loyalists who opened fire on about 130 civilian detainees. On Sunday, an AP reporter saw at least 50 charred bodies at the site near a military camp held by Qaddafi supporters until rebels took Tripoli.
Mabrouk Abdullah, who was at the site Sunday, said he and other prisoners were told by a guard they would be released Tuesday. Instead, guards threw hand grenades and opened fire at detainees huddling in a hangar.
Abdullah said he had been crouching along a wall and was shot in his side. He said that as survivors of the initial attack tried to flee, they came under fire again.
Human rights groups have accused both sides in Libya of abuses against detainees. Tripoli’s streets are littered with rotting corpses and the debris of war after heavy fighting by rebels to end Qaddafi’s 42-year rule, though the deposed leader remains at large.
But the Human Rights Watch on Sunday said the Qaddafi’s forces may have executed scores of prisoners and killed civilians as rebels overran the Libyan capital last week.
Reuters reporters in Tripoli have also seen evidence of several mass killings, including several bodies with their hands bound. Amnesty International said last week it had found evidence of Qaddafi’s fighters killing prisoners. Amnesty International also said it had received reports of rebels abusing their detainees.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article494678.ece
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Looters attack South Korea embassy in Libya: Official
Aug 29, 2011
SEOUL: South Korea's embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli has been attacked by looters amid the chaos arising from battles to topple leader Moamer Kadhafi, a Seoul official said Monday.
Some 10 armed attackers stormed the mission on Sunday afternoon and tried to steal furniture and electronics, said foreign ministry spokesman Shin Maeng-Ho.
They fled empty-handed when rebel forces contacted by embassy staff arrived on the scene, he said, adding no one among a handful of Libyan and Bangladeshi workers at the embassy was hurt.
"We believe they were just civilian looters claiming to be rebel forces, considering they ran away when rebel police came," Shin told AFP.
Most of the embassy officials have been temporarily moved to Tunisia since late May amid escalating violence and NATO air strikes.
Fighting has largely ended in the capital, with the longtime leader in hiding, and rebels are trying to restart services.
South Korea has officially recognised Libya's rebel-led council as the legitimate government and pledged to offer humanitarian aid to the National Transitional Council.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Looters-attack-South-Korea-embassy-in-Libya-Official/articleshow/9778274.cms
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Iranian gets death sentence for scientist’s murder
Aug 29, 2011
TEHRAN: An Iranian accused of assassinating a scientist on behalf of Israel has been sentenced to death, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.
Majid Jamali-Fashi had pleaded guilty to murdering Massoud Ali-Mohammadi in January 2010, the first of several attacks on scientists which Iran said were the work of enemies that wished to stop it developing nuclear technology.
The prosecution said Jamali-Fashi had traveled to Israel to receive training from the Mossad intelligence agency, and had been paid $120,000 for the assassination.
IRNA quoted a judiciary spokesman as saying he had been condemned to death for “waging war against God” and being “corrupt on Earth,” both capital offenses under Iran’s strict form of Islamic law.
Although IRNA described Ali-Mohammadi as a nuclear scientist, a spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said in the days after his death that he had not played a role in the activities of the organization.
An Iranian opposition website said at the time that Ali-Mohammadi was an opposition supporter who had backed moderate candidate Mirhossein Mousavi in the disputed June 2009 presidential election, suggesting there may be other possible motives for his murder.
Eleven months after the bomb attack that killed Ali-Mohammadi as he set off to work, two other scientists were targeted.
Majid Shahriyari, who authorities said had a role in one of Iran’s biggest nuclear projects, was killed but Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani survived and has since been appointed head of the Iranian nuclear organization.
Washington has denied any involvement in the murders and Israel has declined to comment.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article494732.ece
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Turkey: Kurdish protester killed in clash
29August 2011
ANKARA, Turkey — Hundreds of Kurdish activists clashed with police near the border with Iraq on Sunday, in skirmishes that led to one protester’s death, reports said.
Police fired tear gas at the activists who gathered near the border in an attempt to cross the frontier and act as ‘human shields’ against any possible renewed Turkish military airstrikes on suspected Kurdish rebel sites in northern Iraq, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
One activist died in hospital following the clash between the security forces and the stone-throwing activists in Hakkari province that borders Iraq, Anatolia said. The cause of death was not immediately known and Anatolia said authorities would conduct an autopsy.
Turkish warplanes carried out six days of aerial attacks on suspected Kurdish rebel positions across the border in northern Iraq earlier this month in retaliation for stepped up attacks by the rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Turkey’s military said some 100 rebels were killed in the cross-border airstrikes, a claim the PKK has denied.
Earlier, suspected Kurdish rebels exploded a roadside bomb in Hakkari as a military convoy was passing by, killing three soldiers and wounding two others.
The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union, is fighting for autonomy in Turkey’s mostly Kurdish southeast region.
The rebels maintain bases in northern Iraq from where they launch attacks on Turkish targets.
Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since 1984.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/August/middleeast_August630.xml§ion=middleeast
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Nigeria floods: At least 20 killed in Ibadan
Aug 29, 2011
At least 20 people have been killed and thousands displaced by flooding in and around the city of Ibadan in south-western Nigeria.
The floods, resulting from heavy rains that began on Friday, caused a dam to overflow and washed away numerous buildings and bridges.
"It's a very serious situation," said Yushau Shuaib, an official in the city, 150km (90 miles) north of Lagos.
The damage was exacerbated by rubbish and debris clogging drains in the city.
Although flooding is common in Nigeria during the rainy season, this year's rains have been particularly heavy.
Hundreds of cars were also reported to have been submerged in the floods, along with scores of dwellings and extensive farmland.
Stall owners at the popular market in the Omi-Adio area of the city burst into tears after seeing the damage to their goods in a large warehouse, The Nation newspaper reported.
Camps have been set up to house the displaced.
Mr Shuaib said it was impossible to give an accurate figure of those displaced, but said that it was "definitely in the thousands".
Nigeria experienced severe flooding last year that hit some 500,000 people in many of its 36 states.
Across western and central Africa as a whole, more than 300 people were killed in the 2010 rainy season.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14700853
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Turkish Leader Says He Has Lost Confidence in Assad
By ANNE BARNARD
29 Aug, 2011
BEIRUT, Lebanon — After trying for months to engage with Syria in an effort to ease the violence there, Turkey’s president declared Sunday that he had “lost confidence” in the government in Damascus, and he stopped just short of calling on President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
“Clearly we have reached a point where anything would be too little too late,” the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, told his country’s Anatolia news agency, expressing frustration that Mr. Assad’s violent crackdown on protesters has continued past the 15-day window in which Turkey had said it expected a change.
“Today in the world there is no place for authoritarian administrations, one-party rule, closed regimes,” Mr. Gul said, adding that such governments could be “replaced by force” if their leaders did not make changes.
“Everyone should know that we are with the Syrian people,” he said.
The statements were particularly harsh coming from Turkey, which has invested enormous diplomatic efforts in Syria in recent years and has struggled to mediate the current crisis. Mr. Gul’s remarks also sharply increased pressure on Mr. Assad on a day when his Interior Ministry urged the residents of Damascus to stay home “for their own safety” and not to respond to online calls for protests in the capital.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/world/middleeast/29syria.html
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Ethnic killings spark apocalyptic doom in Pakistan's biggest city
Aug 28, 2011
Imran Ali's kidnappers jabbed pistols into his sides and led him down a quiet street as fresh ethnic carnage spread fear in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi.
Two other people blindfolded and held with the construction worker had just been shot at point-blank range. It was his turn.
Minutes later he was face down in a ditch filled with sewage, playing dead until the men were satisfied that three bullets had done the job and walked away.
"It feels like people are just being picked off in the streets because of their ethnic background. How can we live like this," Ali, a member of Karachi's Urdu-speaking community, said from a hospital bed.
"Apocalypse is coming to Karachi."
Pakistan's financial capital has a long history of ethnic violence between the dominant Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - which represents the Mohajirs, descendants of Urdu-speakers who migrated from India after Pakistan's birth in 1947 - and the ethnic-Pashtun Awami National Party (ANP).
Full report at:
http://www.asianage.com/international/ethnic-killings-spark-apocalyptic-doom-pakistans-biggest-city-062
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Pakistan court allows setting up of commission to visit India
Aug 28, 2011
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Saturday allowed the setting up of a commission to be sent to India to record the statements of key witnesses in the 2008 Mumbai attack case.
“Now the government of Pakistan will constitute the commission in the light of the court's order. The government will also speak to India and finalise modalities in this regard,” prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar, who had filed the application, told PTI.
The order for the setting up of the commission was given by Judge Shahid Rafique.
Mr. Zulifqar said the visit of a Pakistani commission to India was necessary to make a headway in the trial of the seven accused, including Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Zakiur Rehman being held in Pakistan.
The prosecution had informed the court that it wanted to record over 20 witnesses in India, but the defence said it would be a “futile” activity, having no impact on the case.
The court has adjourned the hearing being held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, owing to security issue, till September 10.
The prosecution had earlier informed the court that the Indian government had agreed in principle to allow the Pakistani commission to interview four persons - two doctors, a magistrate who had recorded the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving attacker, and the police officer who led the investigation into the Mumbai incident.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2404022.ece
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Pakistan agrees to grant MFN status to India: Report
Aug 28, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has agreed to grant the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, something which New Delhi had been demanding for many years, a media report said on Sunday. A senior official of the ministry of trade said on the condition of anonymity that the status of MFN would be granted during the current year, Urdu daily Jang reported.
Pakistan has in return asked for immediate lifting of non-tariff restrictions on its exports to India.
Sources said that trade and commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim would soon announce basic changes in Pakistan's trade policy.
One of the amendments will be a draft to review the list of trade items between the two countries.
According to the source, Pakistan has agreed to grant MFN status to India this very year in return for lifting the non-tariff restrictions on imports from Pakistan. This will fulfill the long-standing Indian demand in return for lifting of non-tariff restrictions alone.
The report comes ahead of a possible meeting between the commerce ministers of India and Pakistan after a gap of over three years in New Delhi next month to discuss ways to boost trade and proposals to remove non-tariff barriers as the two countries make efforts to normalise relations.
Indian commerce minister Anand Sharma has invited his Pakistani counterpart Fahim, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, to visit New Delhi for the meeting.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/international-business/Pakistan-agrees-to-grant-MFN-status-to-India-Report/articleshow/9767690.cms
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Gaddafi crosses Libya-Algeria border: Report
Aug 28, 2011
CAIRO: Six armoured vehicles, thought to be carrying Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his sons, have crossed the Libya-Algeria border, Egypt's official news agency MENA reported on Saturday.
Libyan military sources said the Mercedes bullet-proof cars left Libya for Algeria through the border, without any pursuit from the rebels.
The vehicles may have also carried other important Libyan officials.
An uprising against Gaddafi's 42-year rule began in February. An international military operation "to protect civilians" began March 19 following a UN resolution.
Rebel forces have got control over large swathes of the country and most of the capital, Tripoli.
The Sun earlier reported Gaddafi may have fled on a golf buggy through a network of tunnels under his palatial building in Tripoli.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Gaddafi-crosses-Libya-Algeria-border-Report/articleshow/9758367.cms
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'Qadri Lovers' angle in Taseer kidnapping probed
Aug 28, 2011
Pakistani police is probing the possibility of supporters of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer's assassin being behind the kidnapping of his son as part of leads into the case, but are yet to make any headway. Shahbaz Taseer, 27, was kidnapped yesterday by four armed men near his office
in Gulberg area.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Fazal Hamid, who is part of the investigation team, said on Saturday that they had been working on different leads including that of the involvement of the 'Mumtaz Qadri Lovers' group as also a property dispute angle.
The Taseer family had been receiving threats since the killing of the former governor in January this year at the hands of his own security guard, Mumtaz Qadri, of the Elite Force who was opposed to Taseer's opinion that the country's blasphemy laws needed to be amended.
Confessing to his crime, Qadri had said he had killed Taseer for "committing blasphemy".
The anti-terrorism court hearing the case, adjourned the proceedings today till September 10.
Taseer had requested President Asif Ali Zardari to suspend the death sentence of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, in a blasphemy case.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Qadri-Lovers-angle-in-Taseer-kidnapping-probed/Article1-738487.aspx
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Two NATO tankers destroyed in Quetta
Aug 28, 2011
QUETTA: Two NATO oil tankers were set on fire by unidentified armed persons in Mithri area of Bolan district on Saturday, Levies officials said. According to the officials, the two oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan were on their way from Karachi to Kandahar when unidentified armed men on motorcycles intercepted the tankers and opened fire at them on the National Highway near Mithri. As a result, the tankers caught fire and were completely destroyed. The assailants managed to escape from the scene after committing the crime. No one had claimed responsibility for the attack until the filing of this report.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\28\story_28-8-2011_pg7_8
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Gaddafi ‘ seen on Mugabe’s private jet’
Aug 28, 2011
COLONEL Muammar Gaddafi has fled Libya to Zimbabwe on a jet provided by President Robert Mugabe, it was claimed on Saturday, as rebels began the march to his home town.
President Mugabe’s political opponents claim their spies saw Gaddafi arrive in the country on a Zimbabwe Air Force jet in the early hours of Wednesday.
They say he was taken to a mansion in Harare’s Gunninghill suburb, where agents from his all- female bodyguard were apparently seen patrolling the grounds. “ There’s no doubt that Gaddafi is here as a “ unique guest” of Mugabe,” a spokesman for Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change said.
If he has left Libya, Gaddafi could have fled from an airbase in his home town of Sirte.
The colonel’s bunker in the coastal town was blitzed by cruise missiles fired by British Tornado jets on a long- range sortie on Friday night.
As Tripoli came under full rebel control on Saturday, journalists reported that they had seen evidence of a mass grave after as many as 150 were massacred.
Earlier, Libyan rebels claimed victory in Ras Jdir, raising their flag at the border post with Tunisia after bloody clashes with regime loyalists.
There was no sign of a swift end to the civil war, which rebels have vowed will only end when Gaddafi is captured — dead or alive — but they claimed to be closing in on the strongman.
A detachment of rebel fighters was turning its attention to Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace.
Some believe that if Gaddafi remains in the country, he may seek refuge among his tribesmen in the Mediterranean city.
Mail Today
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Nigerian president condemns 'barbaric' attack
Aug 28, 2011
Members of Boko Haram group claim responsibility for bombing at UN headquarters in Abuja that left 18 people dead.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned Friday's suicide bombing attack on a United Nations building in the capital, Abuja, that left 18 people dead.
Jonathan described the bombing as "barbaric, senseless and cowardly" and ordered increased security around the capital following the blast.
The group Boko Haram, which wants Islamic sharia law implemented in the country, claimed responsibility for the attack in which a suicide bomber forced his way through two security gates and rammed his car into the building, blowing out the first two floors.
The building is located in the same neighbourhood as the US embassy and other diplomatic posts in Abuja.
Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege, reporting from the scene of the attack, said:"This is one of the heavily guarded buildings in Nigeria - it houses international diplomats and foreign workers.
"This entire area has been cordoned off. There are military men and security services in the area, security has been heightened within the entire city. Road blocks have been erected, they want to make sure there are no further attacks here in Abuja."
'Increasing threat'
In recent months, the country has faced an increasing threat from Boko Haram, which has been waging war against the Nigerian government, our correspondent said.
But she said violence in the past has centred on Nigerian symbols of authority and not foreign targets.
Full report at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/201182772443978495.html
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Muslim underwear bomber says "all Muslims should only be ruled by the law of the Quran."
Aug 28, 2011
The Detroit Free Press has the story but if and when the rest of the news media covers this story and applies their politically correct rules, there won't be any mention of Muslim, Sharia or the Qur'an, so readers won't hold any negative opinions. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Muslim from Nigeria attempted to murder 279 passengers and 11 crew members on a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009 by igniting a bomb hidden in his underwear. The bomb failed to go off and he was arrested. Now, Abdulmutallab claims that he broke no law and should only be judged by the Islamic Sharia Law in the Qur'an which decrees that killing non-Muslims is not a crime. I can hardly wait to hear how the court rules on this one.
http://oldironsides-thesilentmajority.blogspot.com/2011/08/sharia-law-in-america-update-muslim.html
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Underwear bomb suspect claims wrongful imprisonment by U.S., files for release
Aug 28, 2011
The so-called underwear bomber charged with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner is arguing for his prison release, claiming wrongful imprisonment by the American government.
In a handwritten court document filed today, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 24, asked the court to release him from prison, arguing that "all Muslims should only be ruled by the law of the Quran."
"The defendant is being unjustly detained in the Unites States of American, and subjected to the Rule of Man," wrote Abdulmutallab, adding he should "only be judged and ruled by the law of the Quran."
In a separate, handwritten court filing, the Nigerian national also wrote that "excessive force" was used to restrain him on Wednesday while he was in his closed cell, during the "holy month of Ramadan." He wrote that between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., "in defense of Muhammad," he assaulted several officers from his cell, and that as a result, "excessive force" was used to restrain him.
Abdulmutallab, who is acting as his own attorney in the case, also asked the court to order that no excessive force be used on him.
Abdulmutallab, who has insisted on representing himself, is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 4 on charges he tried to blow up a passenger airliner with 279 passengers and 11 crew members on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb in his underwear.
Authorities have said that Abdulmutallab is an al-Qaida operative trained in Yemen for the suicide mission, which was foiled when a passenger subdued Abdulmutallab. He is facing numerous criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit terrorism.
http://oldironsides-thesilentmajority.blogspot.com/2011/08/sharia-law-in-america-update-muslim.html
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Libyan War Goes a Long Way to Improve the Pentagon’s View of France as an Ally
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
28 Aug, 2011
WASHINGTON — Eight years ago the French were called the “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” who opposed the Iraq war. They inspired “freedom fries” and jokes meant to boost American military morale. “Have you heard about the new French tank?” a United States Marine commander asked his men in Kuwait in March 2003, only days before his unit crossed the border into Iraq. “It’s got six gears — all in reverse.”
But something has happened on the bombing runs over Libya. France played a major role in this war, winning grudging respect from a Pentagon that has long looked down on many European militaries. Although Americans led the way in knocking out Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s air defenses with volley after volley of Tomahawk missiles, French warplanes flew the first raid into Libya and, along with the British, have flown the bulk of the airstrike missions.
“It’s a very strong lead example to the rest of the alliance in taking charge of this mission,” a top American military official said Friday. Despite his words of admiration for Paris, the official asked for anonymity because of what he described as extreme sensitivity within the NATO alliance about the role of each country in the war.
Sensitivity is putting it mildly. The American military has been in the unusual position of at least publicly taking a back seat in Libya, and strains have been rampant. The Pentagon never wanted to get into the war in the first place and felt dragged in by the exuberance of President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and a number of White House advisers. American military officials then grumbled that they had to unleash an initial shock-and-awe bombing campaign to destroy Colonel Qaddafi’s air defenses so that it was safe for the Europeans to fly their strike missions.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/world/africa/27military.html?pagewanted=print
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Gaddafi must be tried by ICC: German Chancellor
Aug 28, 2011
Berlin : German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi should be tried by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“Gaddafi should have a trial according to the law, something he never did with his opponents,” Merkel said when asked by the weekly Bild am Sonntag whether she was in favour of such a trial.
Merkel whose country would not take part in the military campaign that led to Gaddafi’s ouster did not rule out sending German troops to the north African country as part of a UN stabilisation mission.
“If we’re asked, we’ll obviously look into what we can do,” she said in the interview which will be published on Sunday.
But she added: “The new Libyan government must decide on what support it needs and I think that this is first and foremost an issue for the United Nations, the Arab League and the African Union.” Merkel said she expected Libya to set up a democratic institutions.
“In Germany alone, we froze billions of euros in assets of the Gaddafi regime. This money is there for the people and may very well be used for reconstruction.” Germany abstained in a UN Security Council vote in March which adopted Resolution 1973 that authorised the use of force to protect Libyan civilians and later would not join NATO operations in the north African country.
It was the only European Union country and NATO member to do so, drawing criticism from its allies.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gaddafi-must-be-tried-by-icc-merkel/838079/
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Indonesian autopsy reveals violence killed maid in Hail
Aug 28, 2011
RIYADH: The case of an Indonesian housemaid allegedly killed by her employers in the northwestern Saudi city of Hail took a fresh twist on Saturday after the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh rejected a Saudi hospital's autopsy report into her death.
The embassy said it would send its own report to the Saudi Foreign Ministry after a leading hospital in Indonesia carried out an autopsy that revealed the maid, identified as Ernawati, died of injuries caused by blunt force, abuse and trauma.
Embassy spokesman Hendrar Pramutyo said the autopsy results contradict a previous examination by the Saudi government, which the Saudi Foreign Ministry has always referred to in explaining the cause of Ernawati’s death.
He said Ernawati sustained injuries from physical abuse at the hands of her employer in Hail. There were bruises on her face, chest, arms and knees because of injuries caused by a blunt object, said a report obtained by Arab News. There was also swelling, bleeding in the lungs, and bruises on the chest that was the result of violence by a blunt object, causing bleeding in lung tissue that led to her death. Ernawati died on Feb. 10 this year, several days after her elder sister Yenni Larasati filed a report with the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta alleging that her sibling was being physically abused by both her employer and his lover. Larasati said Ernawati was forced to kneel while her employer often slapped, punched, kicked, threw things at her or whipped her with a hose. But the first autopsy performed in Saudi Arabia determined that she died after consuming rat poison.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article494488.ece
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Indonesian Muslim youths keep faith amid reform
By Arlina Arshad
Aug 28, 2011
JAKARTA — As a pious young Muslim in Indonesia, Didit Sukmana prays five times a day, recites the Koran daily and fasts during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
That's not all. The 23-year-old student and Jakarta resident refuses to shake hands with women, will not marry a non-Muslim and approves of such Islamic Hudud sanctions as cutting off the hands of thieves and stoning adulterers to death.
"I wholeheartedly agree that sharia law should be implemented in Indonesia. If beheading and hand-chopping put people off crimes which then results in a more orderly society, why not?" he told AFP.
It's not the image the outside world usually associates with Indonesia's urban youth, who are more often described as enthusiastic adopters of new technologies like Facebook than supporters of strict Islamic law.
But according to a recent survey by Germany's Goethe-Institut, the bulk of youths in the world's largest Muslim-majority country share remarkably traditional values about faith and family, despite a decade of social and political change since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship.
Full report at: Copyright © 2011 AFP.
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Al-Qaeda No 2 killed in Pakistan: US official
August 28, 2011
Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Atiyah Abd al-Rahman has been killed in a US drone attack in in the mountains of Pakistan's Waziristan area, American officials have said, further damaging the terror group that appears weakened since the death of Osama bin Laden in May.
"It's been confirmed that al-Qaeda's number two, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, was killed earlier this week in Waziristan, Pakistan," a senior US Administration official said yesterday.
Rahman, a Libyan who in the last year had taken over as al-Qaeda's top operational planner, was in frequent contact with bin Laden in the months before he was killed on May 2 by a Navy Seals team, intelligence officials have said.
"Rahman's death is a tremendous loss for al-Qaeda because Ayman al-Zawahiri (al-Qaeda's chief) was relying heavily on him to help guide and run the organisation, especially since bin Laden's death," the official said.
Full report at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/364070/Al-Qaeda-No-2-killed-in-Pakistan-US-official.html
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Arab-Muslim world must erase violence
Aug 28, 2011
Ramzan has almost come to end and Eid is scheduled for August 31 or the day after (depending on the sighting of the crescent). The holy month has been a good month for Hyderabadis, with no major trouble of any kind affecting the lives of the people. But Ramzan in the Arab-Muslim world has not been as peaceful. Our beleaguered neighbour Pakistan continues to suffer and bleed. There is no winner in situations of extreme violence. Karachi, the city which was once the pride of Pakistan, has become a killing field. Hundreds of people have been killed. Security forces are desperately trying to end the cycle of violence, but have met with little success. It pains to think that the Eid in Karachi could also be celebrated under the shadow of fear.
It is unwise to write off Pakistan as a failed state. The civil society in that country is very much concerned about the rise in intolerance, exclusivist policies of major religious groups, long term negative effects of getting deeply involved in Afghan war of independence, India-centric suspicion on everything that goes wrong in the country, the stranglehold of the military, non-availability of opportunities for the lower classes to break loose of the feudal system and many more such factors. The weapon of suicide bombing that was once used and promoted 'against the enemies of Islam', has now become a self-destructive 'nuclear warhead' in the hands all those who have the strength to push the horribly wrong interpretation of their faith. Its frequent use to destroy a political opponent or a religious sect has disturbed the core of Islamic society. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq right now are main grounds where human bombs are being used frequently.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-27/hyderabad/29935898_1_suicide-bombing-moammar-gaddafi-libya
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Syrian authorities warn against protesting in capital
Aug 28, 2011
AMMAN: Syria's interior ministry warned Damascus residents on Saturday against demonstrating after some of the most intense protests in the capital since the start of the five-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
The warning came as Syria's closest ally Iran said Damascus must listen to the "legitimate demands" of its people, but also said that any change in Syria's ruling system or power vacuum in Damascus would be dangerous for the Middle East.
"The interior ministry calls on citizens not to respond to social Internet sites to participate in rallies or assemble in public squares in Damascus. This is for their safety," a statement by the ministry published on official media said.
Syrian forces fired live ammunition to prevent thousands of protesters from marching on the center of Damascus from eastern suburbs earlier Saturday, witnesses and activists said, seriously injuring at least five people.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Syrian-authorities-warn-against-protesting-in-capital/articleshow/9767605.cms
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US, Israel mount surveillance on Syria's WMD and missiles
Aug 28, 2011
The US and Israel are closely monitoring Syria’s suspected cache of weapons of mass destruction, fearing that terror groups could take advantage of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad to seize chemical weapons and long range missiles.
US intelligence services believe Syria’s non-conventional weapons programmes include significant stockpiles of mustard gas, VX and Sarin gas and the missile and artillery systems to deliver them.
“We are concerned about the status of Syria’s WMD, including chemical weapons,” Israel’s Ambassador to the US Michael Oren said in an interview, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Washington and Tel Aviv are also concerned with worries that North Korea may have provide Syria with Nuclear related equipment.
The concerns comes in the wake of UN investigators recently concluding that Damascus had been secretly constructing a nuclear reactor with North Korean help before Israeli jets destroyed the site in late 2007.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/363933/US-Israel-mount-surveillance-on-Syrias-WMD-and-missiles.html
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CIA orders cuts in ‘ critical’ 9/ 11 book
Aug 28, 2011
THE Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA) has demanded that a publisher make extensive cuts to a book critical of its performance before and after the September 11 attacks, officials said on Friday.
The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/ 11 and the War Against Al- Qaeda, a memoir by former FBI agent Ali Soufan due out next month, recounts his experiences at the heart of high- profile terror investigations.
Soufan has accused the CIA of insisting on scores of redactions he says are not justified on security grounds but are aimed at undermining an account that reflects badly on the agency, the New York Times reported. A CIA spokesman rejected the accusation and said the changes were meant to safeguard national security. The suggestion that the CIA has requested redactions on this publication because it doesn’t like the content is ‘ ridiculous’, spokesman Preston Golson said in an email.
Full report at: Mail Today
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India: Lalu links corruption to communalism
Aug 28, 2011
New Delhi: Lalu Prasad turned his sarcasm on L K Advani,using the Lokpal debate to deepen the reservations of Muslims about Anna Hazare’s agitation by marking the Hindutva icon as the ultimate beneficiary of any instability at the Centre.
Employing humour and wit,the RJD chief used the RSS-Babri symbolism to the hilt,a well-thought out strategy given the estimates that minorities and dalits have kept away from the Lokpal agitation out of fear that crowd mobilization to force policymaking can be used against them by rightwing forces and upper castes.The way he seamlessly melded the unrelated subjects of rightwing politics and corruption was vintage Lalu,with an amused House egging him on.
Govindacharya claimed from Annas dais that 10% of the crowd were RSS cadre.He should not have said this.Advaniji,you will become the Prime Minister,why wont you he said to guffaws all around.The BJP patriarch had asked Congress to call midterm polls last week,a move quickly linked by his critics to his unfinished prime ministerial ambitions.
While the former railway minister turned his ire on Anna-led civil society for defaming politicians and Parliament,calling their actions a threat to democracy,he regularly returned to saffron strategy to keep underscoring the weak point of Ramlila mobilization minorities and dalits.
Lalu slammed the Centre for mishandling Hazares protest,saying that sending him to Tihar Jail was a blunder.However,he had the House in splits,saying the Centre could have consulted him.Ask Advanij i,I got him arrested when he was going to attack the Babri mosque.I did not send him to jail but took him to a guest house,used a helicopter to shift him,and kept him in comfort.And I used to speak to him on telephone,asking him if he needed anything, he said,triggering laughter with even Advani joining in.
Times of India
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Bush authorised leak on Iraq: Dick Cheney
Aug 28 2011
Washington : Former US President George W Bush had personally authorised a leak about Iraq strategy to a 'Washington Post' columnist, according to then vice-president Dick Cheney.
In his forthcoming book, 'In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir', Cheney has claimed that he believed the disclosure to be "a real disservice" to US troops stationed in the war-ravaged country.
"I was very concerned when I read the piece, and I raised it with the president in the Oval Office. 'Whoever is leaking information like this to the press is doing a real disservice, Mr President', I said, 'both to you and to our forces on the ground in Baghdad. We have to correct this, particularly with our generals in the field'," the 'politico' quoted Cheney as saying in his book.
The 70-year-old former vice-president added: "A short time later (national security adviser) Steve Hadley came into my office and closed the door. He told me that he was the source for Ignatius (columnist) and that he'd talked to him at the instruction of the president."
The column by David Ignatius, titled 'After the Surge: The Administration Floats Ideas for a New Approach in Iraq', appeared in the 'Washington Post' on May 22, 2007.
It quoted administration officials on the need to revamp policy in order to attract bipartisan support and to take into account the fact that the surge might not have the stabilising effect the then US administration had hoped.
Cheney's book, written with his daughter Liz Cheney, will be out next week.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bush-authorised-leak-on-iraq-dick-cheney/838300/
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Family makes abortive bid to cross LoC from PoK
Aug 28 2011
Jammu : A group of civilians, including women and children, made an unsuccessful bid to cross over to Nowshera on this side of the Line of Control (LoC) from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Saturday morning, but their attempt was foiled by the Army troops.
Senior Army officers said that nearly a dozen civilians were seen coming over to Laam (Nowshera) on this side from across the LoC around 11 am.
As they were unarmed, the troops did not open fire. However, when they reached the forward Indian post on the LoC, they were stopped by the troops.
The civilians insisted on crossing over to this side, saying they belonged to the state and had inadvertently crossed over to PoK long ago. However, the troops did not agree and asked them to return to PoK. The drama continued for nearly two hours, and the civilians went back to PoK in the afternoon.
According to the police, the civilians who tried to cross over were Mohammad Ayub, his wife and seven children. The family was accompanied by one more person identified as Abdul Qayoom.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/family-makes-abortive-bid-to-cross-loc-from-pok/838193/
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Arabs asks UN, world states to unfreeze Libyan assets
Aug 28, 2011
CAIRO: The Arab League called on the United Nations and world states to unfreeze Libya's assets immediately now Muammar Gaddafi has been ousted from power.
Arab foreign ministers meeting at the Arab League in Cairo into the early hours of Sunday also called on the United Nations to give Libya's seat the world body to the National Transition Council, effectively recognising the rebel body as the legitimate authority in Libya.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Arabs-asks-UN-world-states-to-unfreeze-Libyan-assets/articleshow/9764892.cms
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Arab League chief in "initiative" to solve Syria crisis
Aug 28, 2011
CAIRO: Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi will head to Damascus bearing "an initiative to solve the crisis" in Syria, a statement said early Sunday after a special meeting of Arab foreign ministers here.
The ministers "asked the secretary-general of the Arab League to carry out an urgent mission to Damascus and transmit the Arab initiative to resolve the crisis to the Syrian leadership," the statement said.
It did not give details of the initiative.
However the ministers called in their statement to "end to the spilling of blood and follow the way of reason before it is too late."
They expressed their "concern faced with the grave developments on the Syrian scene which have claimed thousands of victims and wounded."
The Arab foreign ministers also called for "respecting the right of the Syrian people to live in security and respecting their legitimate aspirations for political and social reforms."
The repression in Syria has claimed more than 2,200 lives since March, according to the United Nations.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Arab-League-chief-in-initiative-to-solve-Syria-crisis/articleshow/9764854.cms
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Pakistani officials doubt al Qaeda operative dead
Aug 28, 2011
PESHAWAR: Pakistani security officials expressed doubt on Sunday over reports from the United States that it had killed the al Qaeda second-in-command near the Afghan border.
A senior US official said on Saturday that Atiyah abd al-Rahman had been killed in the northwest tribal area of Waziristan on August 22, without divulging the circumstances of his death.
However, local officials in the region told AFP last week that a US drone strike in North Waziristan on that date had killed at least four militants. It was not clear if the two incidents were connected.
A senior Pakistani security official in Peshawar told AFP: “We have checked this news report with informers and have worked on it. I doubt the authenticity of this news.”
Another security official in Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, said he had received no information on the killing.
“For me it is just a rumour. Frankly speaking, we are even not aware that a man with this name is working as deputy chief of al Qaeda,” he added.
The officials said the remote, mountainous area, just four kilometres from the Afghan border, is inaccessible.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/28/pakistani-officials-doubt-al-qaeda-operative-dead.html
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Iran pardons 100 ‘security’ prisoners
Aug 28, 2011
TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader ordered the pardon of 100 ‘security’-related prisoners on Saturday including some involved in the huge protests against the disputed June 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The decision, reported late on Saturday by the semi-official Mehr news agency, appeared timed to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which is in its final days, when compassionate release is sometimes issued to prisoners.
Seventy of the 100 were due to be released immediately, on Saturday night, Mehr said. The others either had their sentences reduced or suspended.
“Based on an agreement of the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), 100 prisoners charged with security crimes have been granted amnesty. Some of them were involved in post-election sedition two years ago,” Mehr said.
The report did not name the pardoned prisoners and there was no indication it included two Americans who were sentenced to eight years’ jail last week for spying after they crossed the border from Iraq where they said they had been hiking.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/28/iran-pardons-100-%E2%80%98security%E2%80%99-prisoners.html
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Conclusion of Qur’an recitation at Haram tonight
Aug 28, 2011
MAKKAH: Over 2 million pilgrims and visitors will watch the Khatm Al-Qur’an (conclusion of the recitation of the Holy Qur’an) Sunday night at the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah.
The Holy Qur’an, which is recited during taraweeh prayer, is usually read to its conclusion on Ramadan 28.
The Presidency of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques and all other bodies concerned have completed all arrangements to provide the best of services to pilgrims and visitors.
Vice President of the presidency Sheikh Muhammad Al-Khuzaim said the presidency has employed 6,600 men and women staff to implement its plan tonight aimed at enabling all those present at the Grand Mosque to enjoying listening to the supplication after the conclusion of the Qur’an in peace and comfort.
The presidency has provided thousands of wheelchairs for old people to use free of charge during the saie rite, which involves walking between Safa and Marwah mountains.
“There are special staircases for people with special needs and escalators to take worshippers to the second floor and the roof of the mosque,” he said.
Al-Khuzaim said the presidency has distributed large quantities of cooled Zamzam water throughout the mosque. He added that there are 176 gates leading to the Haram, the roof and the basement that are constantly monitored by 926 employees to ensure the smooth entry and exit of worshippers.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article494481.ece
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Eid celebrations foreshadow 9/11 anniversary in the US
Aug 28, 2011
WASHINGTON: In the US, the end of the holy month of Ramadan this year will be celebrated with three days of feasting and parties as throughout the Muslim world. But here in the US it will also have a shadow over it, this year the end of Ramadan concludes — an eerie coincidence — shortly before the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Fear and misunderstanding about Islam seems to have increased around the US since 9/11.
Many American Muslims say that practicing Islam after 9/11 has given them a feeling of intense scrutiny: remember the controversy surrounding the proposed Islamic center and mosque near New York’s “ground zero”; the uproar over the Murfreesboro, Tennessee effort to build a mosque there; and right-wing hysteria over untrue allegations that American Muslims want to replace the US constitution with Shariah law (even if some did, it would be impossible, as Muslims just make up one to two percent of the US population).
“It’s a sad day for us as Americans and it’s a sad day for us as a nation and we don’t feel it would be right to celebrate on the anniversary of 9/11,” Abdou Kattih, vice president of the center’s board of directors, told reporters.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article494467.ece
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More Somali famine victims fleeing to Yemen: UNHCR
Aug 28, 2011
NAIROBI: There has been a jump in the number of Somalis, hit by famine, instability and high food prices who are fleeing to Yemen instead of other countries in the drought-ridden Horn of Africa region, the UN refugee agency said.
Some 3.7 million Somalis are at risk of starvation in the worst drought in decades and most of those are from five areas in the rebel-controlled south where famine has been declared.
Kenya, with nearly 498,000 Somali refugees, is the largest host country, and at one point 1,500 refugees a day were arriving at Kenya’s sprawling, overcrowded Dadaab refugee camp near the border with Somalia.
“Recently, however, the pace of arrivals to the Dadaab refugee complex has slowed to 1,000-1,200 people per day,” the UNHCR said in a briefing on Friday.
“Bucking the trend of the slowing outflow in the Horn of Africa, Yemen is seeing a sharp rise in the number of Somali refugees arriving on rickety boats across the Gulf of Aden,” the agency said, adding that more than 3,700 refugees had reached Yemen’s coast in August.
The drought has put some 12 million people at risk across Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia, and the fact that Somali refugees are making the dangerous voyage to conflict-hit Yemen instead of staying on the continent, highlights their desperate situation.
Yemen is host to the second-largest Somali refugee population, with nearly 192,000. About 15,000 of those have arrived since in January, UNHCR said.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article494452.ece
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Where is Syria heading? 5 possible scenarios for the uprising
Aug 28, 2011
BEIRUT: The overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi by Libyan rebels supported by NATO forces focuses international attention on the five months of unrest in Syria, which has shaken one of the most tightly controlled Arab states.
Opposition figures and activists fear the successful use of force to topple Qaddafi may encourage Syrians to follow Libya’s example. Syrian protests have been mainly peaceful but there have been increasing reports of attacks on security forces.
Following are some possible scenarios in Syria and the risks and opportunities they would present:
Stalemate
The United Nations says 2,200 people have been killed in Assad’s crackdown on dissent since protests broke out in March. Syria says over 500 soldiers and police have been killed by armed groups which it blames for the violence.
Despite growing international condemnation, Western sanctions, and escalating economic pressures from the unrest, Assad’s rule shows no sign of imminent collapse.
Nor is there any indication that the protests across the country are about to stop, although the number of protesters appears to have fallen since Assad sent troops into several major cities earlier in August.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article494392.ece
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Muslim Brotherhood Leader: Palestine – The Jihad Axis of the Muslim Nation
Aug 28, 2011
During his weekly sermon, Muslim Brotherhood General Guide Muhammad Badi' said that during the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr [which marks the end of Ramadan], Muslims must not forget the people still struggling for freedom in Syria and Yemen, where victory is near, and in Palestine.
Badi' said that Palestine is "the jihad axis of the Muslim nation, from which the light of the Al-Aqsa mosque would shine when it returns to its nation after a long wait."
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/40324.htm
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Jewish Iranian Majlis Member: Unite Against Zionism And the U.S.
Aug 28, 2011
The Majlis member representing Jews in Iran, Siamak Moreh-Sadeq attacked Ahmadinejad critic Mansour Arzi for calling presidential Chief of Staff Rahim Mashaei a Jew in order to offend him.
Moreh-Sadeq said that Arzi's statement, which goes against the regime's policy toward Iranian Jews, harmed the Jews at a time when their relations with the regime are excellent.
Moreh-Sadeq called to unite against the U.S. and Zionist, which work against the monotheistic religions.
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/40326.htm
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US "hikers" lawyer appeals Iran spying sentences
28 Aug, 2011
TEHRAN (Reuters) - The lawyer for two Americans convicted of spying in Iran said on Sunday he had lodged an appeal against their eight-year sentences and still hoped they might be pardoned.
Masoud Shafiee has not been able to see Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal since their conviction last week but said they had been informed of the verdict, passed two years after their arrest near the Iraq border where they say they were hiking.
The sentence came as a shock for supporters of the men whose hopes for their imminent release had been raised by positive comments from Iran's foreign minister.
"I hope because of the holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr they might enjoy Islamic clemency," Shafiee told Reuters.
The end of the Muslim fasting month, which has yet to be announced by religious authorities in Iran, is likely to be on Tuesday or Wednesday and Shafiee said clemency remained a possibility.
Full report at:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbfo/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1845864/World/US.'hikers'.lawyer.appeals.Iran.spying.sentences
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Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is 'in coma'
Aug 29, 2011
Family members told CNN Megrahi was surviving on oxygen and an intravenous drip
Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is in a coma at his Tripoli home in Libya, it is being reported.
CNN said Megrahi appeared to be "at death's door" in the care of family. He is technically on licence but his whereabouts had been unknown.
Megrahi was freed from a Scottish prison in 2009 on health grounds. There have been calls for him to be returned to jail in the UK or tried in the US.
But Libyan rebel leaders have said they do not intend to allow his extradition.
'Surviving on oxygen'
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi had been jailed in 2001 for the bombing of a US plane over Lockerbie, with the loss of 270 lives, before he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and freed.
Scottish officials had tried to contact him following the rebel advance into Tripoli.
Megrahi technically remains a Scottish prisoner released on licence and is obliged to remain in regular contact with East Renfrewshire Council.
On Friday, the Scottish government said he had not been due to contact them for some time yet but social workers from East Renfrewshire Council had been endeavouring to contact him.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14705004
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Sierra Leone: We need to improve our religious tolerance!
Aug 28, 2011
It is an indisputable fact that Sierra Leone is a very religious country. The beauty is that Sierra Leone, unlike other countries, has a high level of religious tolerance. Research has however shown that the level of Sierra Leone’s religious tolerance is not that high as most people perceived.
One school of thought says Sierra Leone is not a secular state where Islam and Christianity are intricately involved in every facet of society. However, the other school of thought believes that Sierra Leone is a secular state where these two major religions are not spiritually and religiously linked to society in general.
The lack of a religious legislation on tolerance will only exacerbates the different perceptions held by many organisations in the country. The Awareness Times believes secularism is very visible in one facet of society and clearly unnoticeable in other sectors in Sierra Leone.
Here is one fact about religious tolerance! The Sierra Leone Government is noted for observing both Christian and Islamic religions during political conferences. Christian and Muslim leaders are always requested to offer prayers before our Presidents could address the nation.
Full report at:
http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_200518586.shtml
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/‘massive-looting-ancient-artefacts-underway/d/5345