Most Egyptians want Qur’an as source of laws
Most Egyptians want Qur’an as source of laws
Nato kills ‘number two most-wanted’ in Afghanistan
NATO strike raises pressure on Gaddafi
Kadhafi seen on 'back foot' as fighting rages
Involved Gujrat, India,Cops want Ishrat case shifted to CBI
Seven killed as terrorists attack Navy buses
NATO claims of killing key Qaeda figure
Gitmo files show how Osama fled Tora Bora
In the Guantánamo files, Al-Qaeda's post-9/11 plans
Islamicism divides Egyptians
Petrol import from India proposed By Khaleeq Kiani: ISI Chief
Pak-India commerce secretary level talks today
Karachi firing kills three, injures two
Women protection bill: Pakistan
Zardari, Pakistan President approves extension in service of six judges
India-Pak meet on visa issues by May-end
Indian delegation arrives in Pakistan trade talks begin today
Four more Pakistanis charged by U.S. in 26/11
58 target killers nabbed in Karachi: Pak Minister
'Al Qaeda, jihadis may target Royal Wedding'in Britain
Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Muslim leaders invited to royal wedding in Britain
No hospital transfer for Mubarak: Egypt
Is India's influence waning in Afghanistan?
Afghans recapture 65 of Kandahar jail escapees
Egypt’s ex-interior minister on trial for murder
Saudi Arabia uneasy with high oil prices
No letup in Syrian crackdown on protesters
Iran wants US woman to return for trial
Saudi Foreign Ministry denies telling Saudis to leave Bahrain
Jordan king sets up panel to amend constitution
Campaign to bar Syria from UN human rights body
Philippines urges citizens to leave Syria
Iran plans gas from joint field with Kuwait
Mohammed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Obama discuss Middle East issues
West struggles to get UN condemnation of Syria
Yemen opposition to approve Gulf mediation deal
Syrian troops pour into Damascus suburb Khaled Yacoub Oweis
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/most-egyptians-want-qur’an-source/d/4527
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Most Egyptians want Qur’an as source of laws
27 APR 2011
CAIRO: A majority of Egyptians believe laws in their country should observe the teachings of Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an, according to the results of an opinion poll by a US-based research center.
The results also show that Egyptians, who have shifted toward religious conservatism over the past 40 or so years, are open to the inclusion of religious parties in future governments. Only a minority, however, sympathize with fundamentalist religious parties, according to the results.
Overall, the results of the poll paint a picture of Egyptians as a people who prefer religious moderation over extremism and prize democratic values even if they come at the risk of some political instability.
The poll results were released late Monday and come five months ahead of legislative elections, the first since the February ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.
Fulreport:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article373363.ece
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Nato kills ‘number two most-wanted’ in Afghanistan
27 APR 2011
KABUL: Nato troops in Afghanistan said Tuesday they had killed a Saudi described as an “al-Qaeda senior leader” who was their number two most-wanted insurgent in the country.
The US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Abu Hafs al-Najdi, also known as Abdul Ghani, was killed in an air strike in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan, on April 13.
ISAF said he was responsible for coordinating “numerous high-profile attacks” and that they had been hunting him for four years.
But spokesman Major Michael Johnson told AFP he could not give details on the attacks for “safety and security reasons” and could not say who was number one on the most wanted list because of legal issues.
The Saudi interior ministry website lists a man named Saleh Nayef Eid al-Makhlafi, with the nicknames Abu Hafs, Abu Hafs al-Najdi and Abdul Ghani, as one of its 85 most-wanted.
Full report:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/26/nato-kills-number-two-most-wanted-in-afghanistan.html
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NATO strike raises pressure on Gaddafi
April 27, 2011
The latest NATO airstrike on Moammar Gaddafi’s compound that reduced parts of it to a smoldering ruin steps up pressure on the increasingly embattled Libyan leader as he struggles to hold onto the western half of the country.
A Libyan Government spokesman denounced Monday’s bombing as a failed assassination attempt, saying the 69-year-old leader was healthy, “in high spirits” and carrying on business as usual.
Full report:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/334537/NATO-strike-raises-pressure-on-Gaddafi.html
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Kadhafi seen on 'back foot' as fighting rages
April 27, 2011
MISRATA: Libyan rebels appear to be gaining ground against Moamer Kadhafi, the British defence minister said Tuesday, despite a deadly attack on Misrata port by the Libyan strongman's forces.
"We've seen some momentum gained in the last few days. We've seen some progress made in Misrata. And it's very clear that the regime is on the back foot," British Defence Secretary Liam Fox said.
After nearly three hours of talks at the Pentagon with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Fox painted an optimistic picture of the Libya conflict despite fears on both sides of the Atlantic that the war could turn into a stalemate.
A NATO spokeswoman, meanwhile, said the alliance was considering sending a civilian "contact point" to Libya's eastern rebel bastion of Benghazi in order to improve political relations with the opposition.
Earlier Tuesday, forces loyal to the veteran Libyan leader, who has ruled the north African nation for some four decades, fired Grad rockets at Misrata port, killing at least three refugees and forcing an aid ship to stay out to sea.
As the United States and its allies pondered how to help the rebels, US President Barack Obama formally ordered a drawdown of $25 million in urgent, non-lethal American aid to Libya's Transitional National Council.
Officials said last week the aid could include vehicles, fuel trucks, ambulances, medical equipment, protective vests, binoculars, and radios.
A day after allied warplanes struck Kadhafi's compound in Tripoli, Gates and Fox also insisted that command centres for the regime's forces were legitimate targets.
"We have considered all along command and control centres to be a legitimate target and we have taken those out elsewhere," Gates told reporters.
Earlier, Tripoli said it had asked Russia to convene an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council over what it called an "assassination attempt" on Kadhafi when the NATO raid destroyed his office on Sunday night.
Tripoli said the bombardments went against Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973, which passed thanks to a Russian abstention, and "were in violation of international laws and conventions."
Full report:
http://www.thenews.jang.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=14756
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Involved Gujrat, India,Cops want Ishrat case shifted to CBI
27 APR 2011
THE PROBE into the controversial Ishrat Jahan encounter case took another twist on Tuesday, which may further delay the investigation.
Now, 14 police officers involved in the encounter have moved the Gujarat high court seeking transfer of the case to the CBI, alleging that the special investigating team ( SIT) carrying out the probe was biased.
The development assumes significance as the high court appointed- SIT has been aggressively pursuing the case which may end up in sending many of the police officers behind the bars for staging the alleged fake encounter.
Full report:
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=2742011
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Seven killed as terrorists attack Navy buses
April 27, 2011
F.P. Karachi Office
KARACHI: At least seven persons, including a sub-Lieutenant and a lady doctor, were killed and 58 others injured in two terrorist attacks on the staff buses of Pakistan Navy in Defence Housing Society, Phase II and Baldia Town here on Tuesday, police said.
Three persons were killed while 37 others injured after a Pakistan Navy bus came under attack near P.N. Shifa Hospital adjacent to Defence Housing Society, Phase-I early morning. The deceased included Sub-Lieutenant Iqbal and lady doctor Nazia
The police said that the bomb was planted in a motorcycle; when a Pakistan Navy bus, carrying staff members, reached near it blasted with a loud bang.
After the incident, Police, fire tenders and rescue officials converged to explosion site and cordoned off the area, meanwhile, all injured were shifted to hospital for medical treatment.
Bomb planted motorcycle was destroyed completely while the bus was damaged partially.
Full report:
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/?p=7438
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NATO claims of killing key Qaeda figure
27 APR 2011
Afghanistan — a regional in-charge of suicide bombings and cash flow, the military coalition said on Tuesday. NATO said Abu Hafs al Najdi, also known as Abdul Ghani, was killed in the April 13 airstrike in Dangam district of Kunar province. It said a number of other insurgents, including another al Qaeda leader named Waqas, were also killed. Al Najdi, a Saudi citizen, directed al Qaeda operations in Kunar and travelled regularly between Afghanistan and Pakistan, NATO said. He coordinated suicide bombing attacks as well as kidnappings and oversaw the transfer of money from Pakistan to cells in Afghanistan. NATO said it has been chasing Najdi since 2007 and finally pinpointed him while he was meeting with Waqas. Farther south in Paktia province, Governor Juma Khan Hamdard narrowly escaped an apparent assassination attempt as a roadside bomb exploded just behind a vehicle taking him to his office. Hamdard was not hurt, but three policemen were slightly injured. ap
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\04\27\story_27-4-2011_pg7_7
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Gitmo files show how Osama fled Tora Bora
Apr 27, 2011
LONDON: World's most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden escaped US and British forces, closing in on his cave-haven hacked into the mountainside, with the help of a Pakistani warlord who provided guides to take him to safety in northeastern Afghanistan.
The al-Qaida supremo's successful flight from Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan has long been seen one of the key early lapses of the international military effort in Afghanistan and though various theories have floated no firm account how Bin laden evaded the US forces has yet emerged.
Full report:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Gitmo-files-show-how-Osama-fled-Tora-Bora/articleshow/8096201.cms
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In the Guantánamo files, Al-Qaeda's post-9/11 plans
27 APR 2011
WASHINGTON: He peers out from the photo in the classified file through heavy-framed spectacles, an owlish face with a graying beard and a half-smile. Saifullah Paracha, a successful businessman and for years a New York travel agent, appears to be the oldest of the 172 prisoners still held at the Guantánamo Bay prison. His dossier is among the most chilling.
In the months after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Paracha, 63, was one of a small circle of Al-Qaeda operatives who explored ways to follow up on the hijackings with new attacks, according to the classified Guantánamo files made available to The New York Times.
Full report:
http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/27/stories/2011042753141500.htm
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Islamicism divides Egyptians
April 27, 2011
Egyptians are deeply skeptical about the United States and its role in their country, but they are also divided in their attitudes about Islamic fundamentalists, according a poll released Monday by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. Most Egyptians distrust the US and want to renegotiate their peace t
reaty with Israel, the poll found. But only 31% say they sympathise with fundamentalists, while 30% say they sympathise with those who disagree with fundamentalists. An additional 26% said they had mixed views.
The poll is the first comprehensive look at attitudes of Egyptians since protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to end his 30-year reign in February.
Full report:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/africa/Islamicism-divides-Egyptians/Article1-690071.aspx
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Petrol import from India proposed By Khaleeq Kiani: ISI Chief
27 APR 2011
ISLAMABAD: The petroleum ministry has proposed that the ‘most favoured nation’ (MFN) status be granted to India to facilitate import of petroleum products and export of cement and chemicals which would be a cost-effective proposition for both countries.
A commerce ministry official said a summary prepared by the petroleum ministry on the matter would become the basis of the two-day talks between the commerce secretaries of the two countries beginning here on Wednesday.
According to sources, the oil imports would be conditional to India facilitating export of Pakistani cement and chemicals without any barriers.
Full report:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/27/petrol-import-from-india-proposed.html
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Pak-India commerce secretary level talks today
April 27, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Commerce Secretaries of Pakistan and India would meet here today and discuss various trade related issues to give impetus to the Pakistan-India economic engagement.
Indian Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, along with a six-member delegation, arrived here on Tuesday to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Zafar Mehmood on trade related issues.
Full report:
http://www.thenews.jang.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=14755
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Karachi firing kills three, injures two
April 26, 2011
KARACHI: Firing incidents claimed three lives in different parts of metropolis while two sustained injuries, Geo News reported Tuesday.
At least seven people were killed yesterday in target killing incidents in Karachi.
A dead body of a 22-year youth Qasim was recovered from Surjani locality who had been killed by firing.
Full report:
http://www.thenews.jang.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=14731
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Women protection bill:Pakistan
Law Ministry yet to file appeal on FSC judgment
ISLAMABAD: The Law Ministry has failed to file its appeal in the apex court against Federal Shariat Court’s (FSC) December 21, 2010, judgment on Women Protection Bill-2006, despite President Asif Zardari’s declaration on Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary on December 27, 2010, that the government would challenge the FSC judgment.
On the other hand, Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court (SC) would take up two petitions, filed by executive member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Aslam Ghumman and Women Action Forum, on the same matter today (Wednesday). The appellate bench comprises Justice Tariq Parvez, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, Justice Dr Fida Muhammad Khan and Justice Dr Muhammad al Ghazali
Full report:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\04\27\story_27-4-2011_pg7_29
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Zardari, Pakistan President approves extension in service of six judges
27 APR 2011
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday approved extension in service of six additional judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the Sindh High Court (SHC) for a period of one year. Spokesperson to the president, Farhatullah Babar, has said that consequent upon Supreme Court’s verdict and on the advice of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Zardari has approved extension in service of four LHC and two SHC additional judges for a period of one year. Earlier, Parliamentary Commission on Appointment of Judges had not accepted the recommendations of judicial commission to extend the tenure of these six additional judges of Lahore and Sindh high courts. Those given extension include Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh, Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan, Justice Syed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Muhammad Yawar Ali of LHC and Justice Salman Hamid and Justice Muhammed Tasnim of SHC, he said. staff report
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\04\27\story_27-4-2011_pg7_8
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India-Pak meet on visa issues by May-end
Apr 27, 2011
NEW DELHI: A meeting of the joint working group of India and Pakistan on visa issues will be held in May end or in early June. Both the countries will discuss ways and means to move towards an easier visa regime in due course, as suggested during the home secretary-level talks in March.
Full report:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-Pak-meet-on-visa-issues-by-May-end/articleshow/8095593.cms
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Indian delegation arrives in Pakistan trade talks begin today
27 APR 2011
ISLAMABAD: Commerce secretaries of Pakistan and India meet here on Wednesday in what has been described here as a new effort to expand bilateral trade. The talks have remained stalled since the Mumbai terrorist attacks about two years ago.
During the two-day talks, a number of issues are expected to be taken up for furthering commercial ties, an area where the Indian side has been eager to take the dialogue ahead to any extent, despite there being no progress in other areas of concern like Siachen and Kashmir.
Trade talks were part of the composite dialogue that was launched seven years ago for restoring normal relations between the two countries.
An official in the commerce ministry told Dawn on Tuesday that although Pakistan had no specific agenda for the meeting it would raise the issue of Indian obstruction to approval of the European Union trade package at the Geneva-based WTO.
Indian Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar arrived here on Tuesday at the head of a six-member delegation which will be assisted by the Indian high commissioner, deputy head of mission and commercial consul. It is learnt that Pakistan will press for an end to the Indian opposition to the EU package which will be taken up for consideration early next month at the WTO.
Full report:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/27/indian-delegation-arrives-trade-talks-begin-today.html
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Four more Pakistanis charged by U.S. in 26/11
27 APR 2011
CHICAGO: One ‘Major Iqbal', believed to be a Pakistan Army officer, is among four more Pakistani conspirators charged by U.S. prosecutors with carrying out the 2008 Mumbai terror attack at the behest of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
In a second superseding indictment filed by the federal prosecutors before a court here on Monday, the other three were identified as Sajid Mir, Mazhar Iqbal and Abu Qahafa.
Besides, the indictment mentioned an unnamed individual “Lashkar Member D.” All are residents of Pakistan.
A dossier India handed over to Pakistan in February, 2010 had named two Pakistan Army officers — ‘Major Iqbal' and ‘Major Samir Ali' — for their suspected involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
The dossier was handed over during the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks on February 25, 2010 in New Delhi.
Full report:
http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/27/stories/2011042755681400.htm
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58 target killers nabbed in Karachi: Pak Minister
April 26, 2011
KARACHI: Federal Interior Minister Abdul Rehman Malik Tuesday revealed that a total of 58 outlaws, accused of carrying out target killings in Karachi and a number of extortionists, have been nabbed, including those who possess more than 500 mobile phone SIMs, Geo news reported.
In a briefing over law and order situation in metropolis here at Chief Minister House after holding meeting with Qaim Ali Shah and IG Sindh Fayyaz Laghari, the minister informed media men that all political parties had reached a unanimous resolve to maintain law and order in Karachi at all costs.
Full report:
http://www.thenews.jang.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=14747
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'Al Qaeda, jihadis may target Royal Wedding' in Britain
Apr 26 2011
London : A British Muslim cleric has warned that the upcoming royal wedding is a prime target for al-Qaeda operatives, and aspiring ‘jihadis’.
The cleric, Anjem Choudary, who plans to protest outside the ceremony said that top al-Qaeda operatives like Ayman al-Zawahiri and Anwar al-Awlaki are “actively encouraging people to carry out ‘do-it-yourself’ operations” similar to the attempted attack by alleged “Underwear Bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam to Detroit in 2009.
“There’s nothing really which is outside of the realm of a possible attack, from biological Full report:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/781754/
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Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Muslim leaders invited to royal wedding in Britain
April 27, 2011
Prasun Sonwalkar
Leaders of Hindu, Muslim, Jain and Sikh religions in Britain are among nearly 2,000 people on Friday’s royal wedding guest list that has already generated controversy over the presence and absence on it of some individuals.
Among those invited to attend the high-profile wedding are Anil Bhanot, one of the founding members of Hindu Council UK; Natubhai Shah, President of the Jain Academy; and Indarjit Singh, Director of the Network Sikh Organisations (UK).
http://www.dailypioneer.com/334531/Hindu-Jain-Sikh-Muslim-leaders-invited-to-royal-wedding.html
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No hospital transfer for Mubarak: Egypt
April 26, 2011
CAIRO: Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak cannot be transferred to a military hospital as expected given his poor state of health, the attorney general said on Tuesday citing the interior ministry.
Mubarak is under hospital arrest in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and had been due to be transferred to a military hospital following a medical exam.
Full report:
http://www.thenews.jang.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=14738
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Is India's influence waning in Afghanistan?
Apr 27, 2011
NEW DELHI: Afghanistan is slipping out of India's sphere of influence. As a beleaguered Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, looks for a way to achieve peace in his country when the US and other international forces draw down, there are signs that India might be kept at a distance.
In an effort to regain Indian influence, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh plans to travel to Kabul soon. Afghanistan is the only other neighboring country Singh travels to (apart from Bhutan) -- a sign of the importance this strife-torn country enjoys in India.
India wants to "do more" in the security sector in Afghanistan. While this does not mean boots on the ground, India wants to involve itself more in the building up of security institutions in Afghanistan. For the past few years India has been training almost 200 Afghan officers in Indian military institutions. India would extend this to training the police services. In the past, Afghanistan would consciously rebuff Pakistan's demands to train Afghan army officers. India is now more open about its offer, but Afghanistan may be a lot more circumspect about accepting it.
Full report:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Is-Indias-influence-waning-in-Afghanistan/articleshow/8095189.cms
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Afghans recapture 65 of Kandahar jail escapees
27 APR 2011
KANDAHAR: Afghan forces have recaptured at least 65 of the prisoners who escaped from the south’s largest prison, the government said on Tuesday as it scrambled to recover from the massive security breach that allowed 480 inmates to be spirited out in a stunning jailbreak.
Prison officials discovered early on Monday morning that the convicts — nearly all of them Taliban militants — were missing from their cells, and then found the tunnel through which they appeared to have made their getaway. The Taliban said the prison break was five months in the making, with diggers starting the tunnel from under a nearby house while they arranged for inmates to get cell keys so that they could open their cells on the night of the escape.
Full report:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\04\27\story_27-4-2011_pg7_6
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Egypt’s ex-interior minister on trial for murder
27 APR 2011
CAIRO: One of Egypt’s most feared government ministers on Tuesday pleaded innocent to charges of ordering the killing of unarmed protesters during the January 25 uprising that ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak. Former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly could face death sentence if convicted. His trial, along with six of his top aides, opened at a courthouse in a Cairo suburb amid tight security. Some 1,000 relatives and friends of the nearly 850 Egyptians killed in the protests demonstrated outside the courthouse demanding el-Adly and his aides be hanged for their alleged crimes. Relatives of the defendants and dozens of defense lawyers packed the courtroom. El-Adly was one of the most powerful men under Mubarak, controlling the estimated half million security forces. The trial was adjourned until May 21. He is among several stalwarts of the Mubarak regime who have been detained and investigated on charges of corruption or mismanagement of public funds. ap
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\04\27\story_27-4-2011_pg7_10
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Saudi Arabia uneasy with high oil prices
27 APR 2011
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia is uneasy about the high oil prices and concerned about their impact on the global economy, Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Khalid Al-Falih said on Tuesday. Al-Falih’s comments at an industry event in South Korea weighed on crude early Tuesday, but the weak dollar helped oil recover.
Brent crude for June rose 27 cents to $123.93 a barrel by 4:09 p.m. GMT, having reached $124.40.
US crude for June dipped 15 cents to $112.13. While Tuesday’s intraday peak was $112.64, US crude reached $113.48 on Monday, the highest intraday price since September 2008, before the contract ended the day down 1 cent.
“We are not comfortable with oil prices where they are today ... I am concerned about the impact it could have on the global economy,” Reuters quoted Al-Falih as saying at an industry gathering in South Korea. There was no tightness in global oil markets, Al-Falih said. His comments echoed those of Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, who said last week that the Kingdom had cut oil output in March as the market was oversupplied.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article373734.ece
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No letup in Syrian crackdown on protesters
27 APR 2011
witness said. A few hundred people demonstrated there Monday in support of Daraa, the witness said Daraa has seen some of the worst bloodshed in the past five weeks as the uprising gained momentum. Recently, the city has absorbed many rural migrants who can no longer farm after years of drought.
The White House has stepped up its condemnation of Assad’s regime, but stopped well short of demanding his ouster.
US officials said Washington has begun drawing up targeted sanctions against him, his family and his inner circle to boost pressure on them to halt the repression.
Washington was conferring with European countries and the United Nations about options.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain also was working with other members of the UN Security Council “to send a strong signal to the Syrian authorities that the eyes of the international community are on Syria.” The UN will discuss Syria later Tuesday.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article373277.ece
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Iran wants US woman to return for trial
27 APR 2011
TEHRAN: Iran wants Sarah Shourd, one of three Americans arrested in 2009 on spying charges, to return from the United States to stand trial in May, her lawyer was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Sarah Shourd was released on $500,000 bail last September while her two male companions, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, remain in jail in Tehran.
They appeared in court for the first time in February and pleaded not guilty but Shourd did not appear.
The next hearing is set for May 11. Lawyer Masoud Shafiee told official news agency IRNA a subpoena had been sent to Shourd through Iran’s Foreign Ministry but he did not expect her to appear.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article373560.ece
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Saudi Foreign Ministry denies telling Saudis to leave Bahrain
27 APR 2011
RIYADH: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed rumors that the Saudi Embassy in Bahrain has been warning Saudis against visiting the country and requesting those there to leave.
Osama Al-Nogali, spokesman for the ministry, denied that the Kingdom has announced anything in this regard, adding rumors cause confusion and lead to more rumors.
He said that any announcement by the ministry will be made via its website and that people should follow it to keep abreast of developments.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article373362.ece
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Jordan king sets up panel to amend constitution
27 APR 2011
AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdallah on Tuesday set up a royal committee and tasked it with introducing amendments to the constitution as deemed necessary for advancing the country’s political life, a royal court statement said.
The panel, to be chaired by former Prime Minister Ahmad Lawzi, comprises three other former premiers and legal experts.
“The purpose of the constitution’s revision will be to achieve a solid balance among the three powers and advance political and parliamentary performance in the country,” the monarch said in a message to Lawzi.
King Abdallah urged the committee to come up with “a constitutional formula that enables the parliament to perform its supervisory and legislative functions in an effective and independent manner” and ensures independence of the judiciary.
Jordan was over the past four months the scene for a series of demonstrations that found inspiration from the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that sought to press demands for political reform.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article373579.ece
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Campaign to bar Syria from UN human rights body
27 APR 2011
UNITED NATIONS: Human rights groups and a growing number of governments are working to prevent Syria from being elected to the UN’s top human rights body, as President Bashar Assad’s security forces crack down on pro-democracy protesters.
Syria is a frontrunner for a seat on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council as one of four candidates selected to fill four Asian seats, and it is likely to win unless another candidate enters the race or it fails to win a majority of votes in the May 20 secret ballot election in the 192-member General Assembly.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article373423.ece
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Philippines urges citizens to leave Syria
27 APR 2011
MANILA: The Philippine government is urging its citizens to leave Syria and discouraging others from traveling to the restive country.
More than 350 people have been killed in weeks of protests and the Syrian government’s attempts to quell them.
Philippine Ambassador Wilfredo Cuyugan said Tuesday that about 17,000 Filipino working in the Middle Eastern country have been advised to stay away from street protests and stock up on food, water and medicine and keep their passports and cellular phones handy as political violence escalates.
The Philippines, one of the world’s largest labor exporters, has been busy looking after large numbers of Filipino workers caught in the violence and conflicts sweeping the Arab world.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article373280.ece
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Iran plans gas from joint field with Kuwait
27 APR 2011
TEHRAN: Iran plans to produce gas from a joint field with Kuwait in the coming months, news agency ISNA quoted a senior official as saying on Tuesday.
A dispute between Iran and Kuwait over the offshore Arash field, which lies between them in the Middle East Gulf, was resolved last year after the Islamic state proposed joint development of the field.
Full report:
http://arabnews.com/economy/article373389.ece
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Mohammed, Crown Princeof Abu Dhabi and Obama discuss Middle East issues
27 April 2011
WASHINGTON - General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, met US President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday.
They discussed matters relating to strong and broad-based relationship that unites the two countries, and pledged to continue the close cooperation in the areas of security and commercial activity.
They also discussed recent developments in the Middle East, including bilateral and multilateral efforts to improve stability, and prevent the spread of extremism in the region.
General Shaikh Mohammed reiterated the UAE’s support for international peacekeeping efforts in Libya. General Shaikh also met US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.
In those meetings, he reaffirmed the UAE’s strong commitment to a stable and peaceful Middle East, a goal firmly shared by the United States, and lauded the UAE-US strategic and military cooperation in the region.
Underscoring the importance of the US Administration’s commitment to working with both sides to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, General Shaikh Mohammed emphasized the UAE’s willingness to continue playing a leadership role to promote a peaceful resolution of the issue.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2011/April/theuae_April769.xml§ion=theuae
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West struggles to get UN condemnation of Syria
27 April 2011
UNITED NATIONS- UN leader Ban Ki-moon and western nations expressed growing alarm on Tuesday at the deadly clampdown in Syria, but the UN Security Council made little headway in efforts to agree to condemn the violence.
Syria’s UN envoy pleaded for international understanding for President Bashar al-Assad, but the US ambassador accused Assad of “disingenuously blaming outsiders” while seeking Iran’s help to put down protests.
Full report:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/April/middleeast_April592.xml§ion=middleeast
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Yemen opposition to approve Gulf mediation deal
27 April 2011
SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s opposition parties said Tuesday they will soon sign a deal mediated by neighbouring Gulf countries for the embattled president to step down, possibly defusing months of deadly government protests across this impoverished Arab nation.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years, has already agreed to the proposal that would create a national unity government and have him transfer power to his vice president within 30 days of the deal being signed. In exchange, Saleh and his family would received immunity from prosecution.
But the proposal, put forward by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, appears to have opened a serious rift between opposition parties and the hundreds of thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets daily since February to demand Saleh’s immediate resignation.
The coalition of youth groups behind the two-month-old uprising rejected the deal, and in a statement called for nationwide civil disobedience between 8 a.m. and noon on Wednesday. The groups vowed to repeat this action every Saturday and Wednesday until Saleh steps down.
“We will march to the presidential palaces, the government headquarters and parliament and occupy them peacefully,” said Abdul-Malek al-Youssefi, an activist and protest organizer. “Our demands are that the regime leave along with the opposition leaders who are old and no longer reflect the aspirations of the street.”
Full report:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/April/middleeast_April589.xml§ion=middleeast
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Syrian troops pour into Damascus suburb Khaled Yacoub Oweis
27 APR 2011
27 April 2011, 6:40 AM Syrian President Bashar al-Assad poured troops into a suburb of the capital overnight while his tanks pounded Deraa to crush resistance in the southern city.
White buses brought in hundreds of soldiers in full combat gear into the northern Damascus suburb of Douma, a witness told Reuters on Wednesday, from where pro-democracy protesters have tried to march into centre of the capital in the last two weeks but were met with bullets.
More than 2,000 security police deployed in Douma on Tuesday, manning checkpoints and checking identity cards to arrest pro-democracy sympathisers, said the witness, a former soldier who did not want to be identified.
He said he saw several trucks in the streets equipped with heavy machineguns and members of the plainclothes secret police carrying assault rifles. He believed the soldiers to be Republican Guards, among the units most loyal to Assad.
Diplomats said Assad sent the Fourth Mechanised Division, commanded by his brother Maher, into Deraa on Monday where demonstrations demanding political freedom and an end to corruption erupted more than a month ago.
Full report:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/April/middleeast_April591.xml§ion=middleeast
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/most-egyptians-want-qur’an-source/d/4527