Muslim-Majority Malaysia Blasts ISIS As Evil Terrorists
New Age Islam News Bureau
21
Nov 2015
Congo-Brazzaville, Chad, and Cameroon have all banned the full-body veil this year [AFP]
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Southeast Asia
• Muslim-Majority Malaysia Blasts ISIS as Evil Terrorists
• Obama Says ASEAN Summit to Focus on Islamic State Militancy
• We'll join fight against 'evil' IS, says Muslim Malaysia's PM
• In majority Muslim Malaysia, Obama calls on youth to reject extremism that drove Paris attacks
• PM: ASEAN needs to find new solutions to address extremism and terrorism
• Hardline Islamic group says two members nabbed over Obama protests
• Obama says will ‘definitely’ discuss human rights, transparency issues with Najib
• Mujahid: Amanah’s aim for a new political Islam
• Indonesian Muslims must reject ISIS teachings: NU leader
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South Asia
• Russia Claims Killing Over 600 IS Militants in One Strike in Syria on November 20
• Afghanistan's Dostum Unites Friends, Foes in Anti-Taliban Fight
• 12 Daesh Militants Killed, 5 Wounded In Clash with Security Forces in Nangarhar
• Daesh Kidnaps 20 Shias in Afghanistan
• 24,000 Afghan families displaced by Daesh: Official
• Gunmen seize at least 14 from bus in Afghanistan
• Afghan IS captive buried head of fellow hostage
• ISIS loyalists start destruction of graves to match atrocities in Iraq and Syria
• For foreigners, fears grow over killings claimed by Islamic State in Bangladesh
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Africa
• At Least 27 Killed In Mali Hotel Siege, 20 Indians Rescued
• Senegal Bans Full-Body Veil to Prevent Terrorism
• Ban condemns deadly hostage crisis at Malian hotel
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Pakistan
• ‘Put House In Order To Keep Daesh Away’: Lal Masjid’s Firebrand Maulana Abdul Aziz
• 4 Rangers Killed In Karachi Terror Attack
• Shia Leader Shot Dead In Peshawar
• JI to Eliminate ‘Political Terrorism’ In Karachi
• Lal Mosque cleric takes his gloves off
• Bangladesh seeking $4.32b wartime equitable share from Pakistan
• Mob Sets Jhelum Factory Ablaze Over Blasphemy Allegations
• New JIT to reopen Musharraf treason case
• ‘Operation should have started yesterday’, says army chief
• Pakistan to follow chemical weapons convention
• Sikh pilgrims from India arrive in Lahore
• Paris attackers’ enemies of Islam: Nawaz
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Arab World
• At Least 36 Dead in Bombing Raids in Eastern Syria
• 25 ISIL Terrorists Killed In Deir Ezzur
• Bomb Attacks near Mosque South of Baghdad Kill 9
• ISIL Left with Only 34 Bases in Iraq, Syria
• Syria: Army's Special Forces Kill Al-Nusra Front Leader, Tens of Terrorists in Idlib
• Yemen attacks leave 15 soldiers dead in Hadramawt
• Syrian army says warplanes destroyed some 450 terrorist targets
• Gov't Forces Regain More Territories in Syria's Lattakia Province
• Syrian Forces Continue Hunting ISIL Terrorists in Deir Ezzur Province
• Syrian Army, Allies Win Another Strategic Village in Aleppo Province
• Syria: Army Kills, Injures Tens of ISIL Takfiris
• Air Force Crushes Militants' Positions in Key Provinces
• Saudi Arabia slams terror attack in Mali
• Lebanon turns down Russian navy request to divert flights
• 92% of Saudis reject Daesh: Think tank
• 55 terrorists awaiting execution
• Closer health cooperation ‘vital’ for Muslim countries
• KSA, US looking for Saudi Daesh member
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Europe
• Anti-Muslim Violence Rises in France Following Paris Attacks: Monitors
• Putin Calls for Intensified Attacks on Takfiri Militants in Syria
• World unites ‘against ISIS death cult’ in U.N. vote
• Countries should not shut doors on genuine refugees: UN
• 138 World Leaders Due In Terror-Hit Paris For Climate Change Summit
• UN adopts French resolution on fighting ISIL
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Mideast
• Tehran Says UN Resolution against Iran, Russia 'Gift to Terrorists'
• About 400 Palestinian Children Held In Israeli Jails: Rights Group
• Putin to meet Khamenei during visit to Iran
• Iranian Researchers Build Fully Automatic VTOL Drone
• Turkish police ‘detain suspected ISIS scout’ in Paris attacks
• Turkey summons Russian envoy over bombing of Turkmens in Syria
• Russian president to meet Ayatollah Khamenei on Monday: Kremlin
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India
• Lawyers’ Outfit Launches Move To Prevent Radicalisation of Muslim Youth
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North America
• Donald Trump's Remarks on Registering Muslims Shocking: Hillary Clinton
• Two men temporarily kept off US flight after speaking Arabic
• Trump slammed over Muslim database plan
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Southeast Asia
Muslim-majority Malaysia Blasts ISIS as Evil Terrorists
21st November 2015
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's leader today denounced the Islamic State as an "evil" terrorist group, saying his Muslim-majority country is ready to join others to defeat it while cautioning that a military solution alone was not enough.
What needs to be "vanquished" is the ideology of the Islamic State, said Prime Minister Najib Razak in a speech to open two days of summits that will also include President Barack Obama.
Najib said the world is in dire need of moderation. "This is how Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King won the hearts and minds of their enemies. They won by transforming their foes into friends," he said.
The summit of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, followed by a series of nine other summits involving Asia-Pacific countries, is taking place in the Malaysian capital in the backdrop of several extremist attacks around the globe, some of which were claimed by the Islamic State group.
The attacks included the bombings and assaults in Paris and Beirut, the bombing of a Russian airliner in Egypt, and the hostage taking in Bamako, Mali, on Friday. Closer to home, a Malaysian hostage was killed by an Islamic militant group in the southern Philippines.
"The perpetrators ... do not represent any race, religion or creed. They are terrorists and should be confronted as such, with the full force of the law," Najib said in a stirring speech that repeatedly emphasized the tolerance of Islam.
"Malaysia stands ready to provide any help and support that we can, and be assured that we stand with you against this new evil that blasphemes against the name of Islam," he said.
Besides Malaysia, the region also includes Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation that is no stranger to extremism. But by and large, Southeast Asia has not been inflicted by the kind of violence seen in the Middle East, where the Islamic State is most potent.
Najib suggested that economic growth has been the bedrock of the region's relative peace and progress. The combined GDP of the 10 nations — a motley conglomeration of 630 million people following Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Confucianism and Taoism was USD 2.6 trillion in 2014, an 80 percent increase in seven years.
The region is aiming for greater economic, political and cultural integration. On Sunday, ASEAN as the grouping is known will formally establish the ASEAN Community to create a unified economic entity.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/Muslim-majority-Malaysia-Blasts-IS-as-Evil-Terrorists/2015/11/21/article3139748.ece
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Obama says ASEAN Summit to focus on Islamic State militancy
November 20, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — US President Barack Obama said summit meetings among world leaders this weekend in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur will focus on the global fight against Islamic State militancy and on the disputed South China Sea.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Obama said: “Malaysia is part of the coalition to fight (Islamic State) and can be extraordinarily helpful on issues like countering the destructive and perverse narrative that’s developed.”
Malaysia deployed extraordinary security measures around Kuala Lumpur today as leaders from 18 countries arrived for a pair of weekend summits amid fresh attacks by Islamist militants.
Malaysia’s police chief cited unconfirmed reports of an “imminent terrorist threat” in the country, following last week’s attacks in Paris and the downing of a Russian airliner over Egypt by Islamic State militants.
Some 4,500 soldiers were deployed or on standby to secure the summit, in addition to thousands of police who have fanned out around the Kuala Lumpur City Centre. The site is home to Petronas Towers, once the world’s tallest buildings, and a convention centre where the summits are taking place.
In addition to Obama, leaders from China, Japan, Russia, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are attending the East Asia Summit following the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting.
‘Authentic Islam’
Shortly after Obama arrived, reports from the African nation of Mali said gunmen shouting Islamist slogans attacked a luxury hotel in the capital of Bamako, taking 170 guests and hotel staff hostage. It was not immediately clear who the gunmen were affiliated with.
Obama said the United States was “monitoring the situation”.
The Malaysian prime minister said the weekend summits would address issues of terrorist threats abroad and locally. “It’s important for us to present the authentic Islam,” Najib said after his talks with Obama. Islam is practiced by a majority of Malaysians.
In September, Malaysian police thwarted a plot to detonate bombs in Kuala Lumpur’s vibrant tourist area of Bukit Bintang, nearby the Petronas Towers.
Most of the leaders are arriving from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila. Both the APEC meeting and the ASEAN summit typically focus on economic issues but have been overshadowed by the attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people.
Freedom of navigation
Obama said the South China Sea “will be a major topic” for all the ASEAN countries.
“The United States does strongly believe in the need to apply the rule of law and international norms in the resolution of maritime disputes,” Obama said. “Freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce” have been the foundation for region’s growth.” Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea along with the atolls and islets scattered around its strategic sealanes, which annually carry US$5 trillion (RM21.3 trillion) worth of trade. This clashes with claims by Taiwan and ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
In talks with Philippine President Benigno Aquino yesterday, Obama demanded China halt land reclamation work that is turning seven reefs in the Spratly archipelago into artificial islands. China is building airfields and other facilities on some of them. Earlier this month, US B-52 bombers flew near the islands, signalling Washington’s determination to challenge Beijing over the disputed sea.
China said it does not want the South China Sea issue to be the focus of the meetings in Kuala Lumpur and a draft of the Chairman’s statement to be issued at the end makes no mention of the recent tensions. The statement was still being negotiated, summit sources said.
Civil society
Obama promised students at a town hall meeting at a Kuala Lumpur University that he would raise concerns about corruption and Malaysia’s crackdown on dissent in his meeting with Najib.
Critics have accused Najib of escalating a crackdown on dissent and free expression after losing the popular vote in the 2013 general election. The prime minister has come under pressure himself after it was revealed in July that nearly US$700 million in unexplained deposits were placed into his personal bank accounts. He has denied any wrongdoing but has yet to detail the source and purpose of the money he received.
Obama said he talked with Najib “about the importance of civil society”. A US official said Obama privately raised issues of human rights, corruption and freedom of expression with theMalaysian leader.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. — Reuters
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/obama-us-malaysia-can-counter-islamic-state-message
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We'll join fight against 'evil' IS, says Muslim Malaysia's PM
November 21, 2015
But prime minister Najib Razak also warned that a military solution alone was not enough.
What needed to be "vanquished" was the ideology of IS, he said in a speech in Kuala Lumpur to open two days of summits that will also include US president Barack Obama.
Mr Obama said the world was determined "to push back on the hateful ideologies that fuel this terrorism".
"We will not allow these killers to have a safe haven," he said at a business conference on the sidelines of the leaders' summit.
Mr Najib said the world was in dire need of moderation. "This is how Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King won the hearts and minds of their enemies. They won by transforming their foes into friends," he said.
The summit of the 10-nation Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), followed by a series of nine other summits involving Asia-Pacific countries, is taking place in the Malaysian capital in the backdrop of several extremist attacks around the world, some of which were carried out by IS.
The attacks included the bombings and assaults in Paris and Beirut, the bombing of a Russian airliner in Egypt, and the hostage taking in Bamako, Mali, yesterday. Closer to home, a Malaysian hostage was killed by an Islamic militant group in the southern Philippines.
"The perpetrators do not represent any race, religion or creed. They are terrorists and should be confronted as such, with the full force of the law," Mr Najib said in a stirring speech that repeatedly emphasised the tolerance of Islam.
"Malaysia stands ready to provide any help and support that we can, and be assured that we stand with you against this new evil that blasphemes against the name of Islam," he said.
Besides Malaysia, the region also includes Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation that is no stranger to extremism. But by and large, south-east Asia has not been inflicted by the kind of violence seen in the Middle East, where IS is most potent.
Mr Najib suggested economic growth had been the bedrock of the region's relative peace and progress. The combined GDP of the 10 nations - a motley conglomeration of 630 million people following Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Confucianism and Taoism - was 2.6 trillion dollars (£1.7tn) in 2014, an 80% increase in seven years.
The region is aiming for greater economic, political and cultural integration. ASEAN will formally establish the ASEAN Community tomorrow to create a unified economic entity.
Envisaged in 2002, work on the community began in 2007, and it is already delivering benefits to the region.
But despite the good news that Mr Najib delivered, the community falls short in more politically sensitive areas such as opening up agriculture, steel, car production and other protected sectors.
Intra-regional trade has remained at around 24% of Asean's total global trade for the last decade, far lower than the 60% in the European Union.
There are also other hurdles, such as corruption, uneven infrastructure and unequal costs of transportation and shipping. A wide economic gulf divides south-east Asia's rich and middle income economies - Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines - and its four less developed members, Communist Vietnam and Laos, Burma and Cambodia.
http://www.expressandstar.com/business/city-news/2015/11/21/well-join-fight-against-evil-is-says-muslim-malaysias-pm/
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In majority Muslim Malaysia, Obama calls on youth to reject extremism that drove Paris attacks
Nov. 20, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - President Barack Obama urged young people in predominantly Muslim Malaysia on Friday to reject the "terrible vision" that drove the Paris attacks, offering an alternative vision in which traditional cultures coexist with a diverse modern world.
"You can set an example," Obama told college-age youngsters in Kuala Lumpur. "Not just to stand up to violent extremism, but to build interfaith dialogue, to promote tolerance."
At a town hall meeting at an American-style university, Obama called on the next generation to avoid a mindset in which people divide themselves along ethnic, racial or tribal lines, calling it a precursor to discrimination. He said the next step in that thought process is to demonize those who are different, and that line of thinking is wreaking havoc and violence across the Middle East.
"Those countries are in chaos — so many of them — because of this notion that somehow, if somebody worships God differently than you, that they're less than you," Obama said. "And people are slaughtered based on that idea."
The president echoed that theme later Friday in a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, in which the leaders discussed strengthened counterterrorism ties and a recent agreement to make Malaysia a centre for countering extremist messaging. Obama said that, as a majority Muslim nation that represents tolerance and peace, Malaysia's "voice is critical."
"This region is not immune from the threat of violent extremism," Najib said, including organizations allied with the Islamic State group. "It is evil. It is against Islam. It is a perversion of Islam. They do not represent us."
The two leaders' plea to fight extremist narratives came one week after Islamic militants killed 129 and wounded hundreds more in Paris. In a fresh reminder of the extremist threat, as Obama was holding his town hall, gunmen were attacking a hotel in Mali, where they took about 170 hostages and shouted "God is great" in Arabic. Obama later noted that he was monitoring the situation.
Obama sought to expose the ideology he said leads to such violence as he spoke to some 500 participants of his Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, part of Obama's broader effort to expand U.S. ties to the Asia-Pacific region.
The president's visit to Taylor's University was his first stop after arriving in Kuala Lumpur, the last leg of his 9-day trip to Malaysia, the Philippines and Turkey. He was greeted by repeated cheers by an enthusiastic crowd of young men in traditional songkok caps and women whose brightly colored hijabs created a sea of red, pink, purple, green and blue.
Ahead of the visit, Obama faced criticism for being too chummy with Najib, who is embroiled in a scandal over allegations of corruption related to a debt-ridden state investment fund. At issue is $700 million that ended up in Najib's personal bank accounts, allegedly from the fund.
During his annual Hawaii vacation last year, Obama played a round of golf with Najib, who was also vacationing there. Rights groups have also accused Najib of human rights abuses and a crackdown on press freedoms.
Najib suggested Obama had "raised some of his views" about those issues in their meeting. Although Najib said Malaysia was committed to reforms, he added that they must be balanced against ensuring peace and stability.
Asked about those issues during the town hall, Obama didn't mention Najib by name, but he said he intended to raise such issues with Malaysia's government while in the country. Still, Obama emphasized that the U.S. must do business and work closely even with countries whose records are far from perfect.
"The United States has to have some humility, because there have been times when we did the wrong thing," Obama said.
A major dose of humility arrived minutes later when one spry young man told the grey-haired president he was "aging toward a very senior life." Although Obama said it hurt his feelings, he took it in stride. He laughed it off as he directed the questioner to finish his question and sit down.
"The first thing I want from young people is to stop calling me old," Obama said.
http://www.brandonsun.com/world/breaking-news/in-majority-muslim-malaysia-obama-calls-on-youth-to-reject-extremism-that-drove-paris-attacks-352164881.html
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PM: ASEAN needs to find new solutions to address extremism and terrorism
November 21, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — Opening the 27th ASEAN Summit here today, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak delivered a hard-hitting speech against extremism and terrorism, stressing that new solutions had to be found to address the problem.
Speaking in front of leaders from across Southeast Asia, the Malaysian prime minister said military might alone would not be enough to defeat those who were bent on causing war, mayhem and death as well as desolation and despair.
“It is the ideology propagated by these extremists that is the cause of this sadistic violence, and in this time of tragedy we must not lose sight of the fact that the ideology itself must be exposed as the lie that it is — and vanquished. “For it is not Islamic. It cannot be,” said Najib, who is the 2015 ASEAN chairman, in the speech delivered at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) here.
The prime minister had started his speech by referencing the many innocent lives lost due to terror acts in places like Paris, Beirut, Sinai, southern Philippines and Mali.
Malaysian national Bernard Then, 39, was reported to have been beheaded at the Abu Sayyaf remote stronghold in Jolo, Sulu Province, about 1,400km south of Manila.
Then, an electrical engineer from Sarawak, and a woman, Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, were abducted by four armed men who raided the Ocean King Restaurant in Sandakan at 7.45 pm on May 14.
Meanwhile, militant group IS has claimed responsibility for a number of terror acts, including the attacks against Parisian targets on November 13 that killed over 100 people.
Touching on the atrocities committed, Najib said: “Suicide - under any circumstances, never mind suicide bombing that kills the innocents — is a terrible sin.”
The prime minister noted that it was worth examining why anyone should be misguided enough to follow this perverted ideology.
“What is their motivation? But let us be clear — it’s an utter travesty of a religion of peace, justice and moderation,” said Najib.
The Malaysian leader is an ardent advocate of the moderation concept, having brought up the matter on the global stage, including at the United Nations General Assembly.
And it was no different at the ASEAN gathering, as he said: “More than ever, it’s the last concept, moderation, that we’re in dire need of around the world. Moderation or ‘wasatiyah’ is at the heart of Islam. He stressed that it was a Quranic injunction that no Muslim could disobey.
“But moderation does not only belong to us. It has been the locomotive of the non-violent approach to solving conflict throughout history,” Najib said. — Bernama
He said this was how India’s Mahatma Gandhi as well South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and America’s Martin Luther King won the hearts and minds of their enemies, and resolved the conflicts and injustices they were fighting against.
“They won by transforming their foes into friends,” he said, adding that there was nothing wimpish about moderation.
The concept of moderation, he said, was deeply embedded in the ASEAN Way, and one which was close to Malaysia where its unique mixture of faiths and ethnicities had strengthened rather than divided its citizens.
Still on the scourge of terrorism, Najib said the perpetrators of cowardly and barbaric acts did not represent any race, religion and creed, nor should they be allowed to claim to do so.
“They’re terrorists and should be confronted as such, with the full force of the law,” the prime minister said, as he called for vigilance against a threat that was very real in the region.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/pm-asean-needs-to-find-new-solutions-to-address-extremism-and-terrorism
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Hardline Islamic group says two members nabbed over Obama protests
November 21, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — Two Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia members were arrested yesterday over recent protests against US President Barack Obama’s visit, the group said today.
According to the hardline Islamic group, police picked up Hizbut Tahrir spokesman Abdul Hakim Othman and member “Ustaz” Umar yesterday.
Hizbut Tahrir had on November 6 demonstrated outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya before conducting another protest in front of the US embassy on November 12.
The group is holding another protest at 2pm today near the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre where the ASEAN Summit is being held.
Obama arrived in Malaysia yesterday to take part in the ASEAN Summit and will depart tomorrow.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/hardline-islamic-group-says-two-members-nabbed-over-obama-protests
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Obama says will ‘definitely’ discuss human rights, transparency issues with Najib
November 20, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — United States President Barack Obama pledged this evening to raise concerns over alleged democratic abuses in Malaysia when he meets with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak later today.
Obama noted, however, that as a “big country”, the US has to practice some level of humility when addressing issues affecting other nations as they do not want to be perceived as meddling in the internal affairs of other governments.
“I will do it. I admit I was going to do it anyway, now that I hear it from you I am going to do it,” Obama said during a town hall session with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI).
The US president was asked by a Malaysian participant as to whether he would address issues concerning Malaysia’s “failed justice system” and lack of transparency to Najib.
The participant had also sought Obama’s help to speak to Najib about the independence of public institutions here, specifically the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Bank Negara Malaysia, as well as media organisations.
“I do believe that there are basic values that we all share… and one of those values is that countries work best when everybody has a voice that can be respected, where the press can report on what is happening in current affairs, people can organise politically, peacefully to try and bring about change; and that there is transparency and accountability,” Obama later said.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/obama-says-will-definitely-discuss-human-rights-transparency-issues-with-na
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Mujahid: Amanah’s aim for a new political Islam
James Sivalingam
November 21, 2015
KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Amanah Negara’s breaking away from PAS is partially from an idealogical conflict between the progressives and the conservatives and not merely the ulama versus professionals within the Islamist party according to Amanah’s Mujahid Yusof Rawa.
Mujahid, MP for Parit Buntar, said the public had interpreted the conflict in a language they understood, but the underlining fact was that it was a conflict between a progressive group that wanted to reinterpret the principles of Islamic political ideologies and a group that wanted to maintain business as usual, as well as were unwilling to redefine the Islamic political discourse and theory.
The progressive group started a reform movement within PAS, according to Mujahid, and when the conflict had no sign of resolution in sight, the group had no choice but to leave the party to start its own, and thus Amanah was born.
He said Amanah hoped to redefine the Islamic movement to a newer, bigger framework that fits the national agenda, and sees the movement as a continuation of what was left by the Prophet Muhammad.
The Islamic movement, Mujahid said, has changed and evolved over time since then, from the era of the Caliphate and its subsequent fall, the emergence of groups and movements to return to the glory of Islam from colonialism and oppression.
Full report at:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/11/21/mujahid-amanahs-aim-for-a-new-political-islam/
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Indonesian muslims must reject ISIS teachings: NU leader
21 November 2015
Cirebon, W Java (ANTARA News) - The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Executive Chairman, Said Aqil Siraj, has called on all Indonesian Muslims to reject the teachings of ISIS and other hardliners because what they teach endangers the nation.
"The NU intellectuals must be ready to deal with the ISIS calumnies. If they (ISIS campaigners) come to Indonesia, they must be rejected," he said here Friday in response to the threats posed by the deadly terrorist group to Indonesia.
Siraj said that behind the ISIS recent claim that it was responsible for the deadly coordinated attacks in Paris, there was an agenda to widen its territory to Asia in 2017. The militant group has even planned to build a caliphate, whose capital city is one of the former Soviet Union countries, in 2022.
Full report at:
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/101610/indonesian-muslims-must-reject-isis-teachings-nu-leader
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South Asia
Russia Claims Killing Over 600 IS Militants in One Strike in Syria on November 20
Nov 21 2015
Russia claims killing over 600 Islamic State (IS) militants in one strike in Syria.
According to Russia’s RT news citing the country’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, the Russian military has launched cruise missiles against Islamic State positions in Syria from both the Mediterranean and Caspian seas, one of which killed over 600 terrorists in the Deir Ex-Zor Province.
“On November 20, the warships of the Caspian Fleet launched 18 cruise missiles at seven targets in the provinces of Raqqa, Idlib and Aleppo. All targets were hit successfully,” according to RT Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin.
Shoigu says data on the ground shows that the flow of terrorists arriving in Syria has decreased, while more and more militants are fleeing the warzone to head north and south-west, adding that over the past four days, Russian air forces have conducted 522 sorties, deploying more than 100 cruise missiles and 1,400 tons of bombs of various types.
Russia’s Defense Minister further says that the number of aircraft taking part in the operation has been doubled, and now consists of 69 jets conducting 143 sorties on a daily basis, pointing out that the focused is to destroy the terrorists’ economic base.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/russia-claims-killing-over-600-is-militants-in-one-strike-in-syria-4244
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Afghanistan's Dostum unites friends, foes in anti-Taliban fight
Nov 21, 2015
MAIMANA: As the Taliban expand into his old stomping grounds in northern Afghanistan, former warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum – who boasts of having a PhD in killing militants – is galvanising legions of devout followers and erstwhile foes for battle.
The fearsome Uzbek general, who holds no formal military post, recently launched an offensive with loud, bellicose declamations against the Taliban, who are making surprising inroads into Faryab province as the insurgency's centre of gravity shifts north from its southern strongholds.
But the much-hyped campaign, which saw the vice president in military uniform touring the frontlines in a tank with his two sons, failed to stem the insurgent advance as the Taliban came close to overrunning the provincial capital and besieged major districts.
In a desperate effort to defend his home territory, he is activating private anti-Taliban militias in a risky gambit now commonplace across the embattled north.
More significantly, the battle-hardened general, who has repeatedly switched loyalties over 40 years of conflict, is joining forces with a long-time rival in an unprecedented alliance.
Uzbek militiamen loyal to his Junbish-e-Milli party are fighting alongside and sharing weapons and intelligence with Jamiat-e Islami, the Tajik-dominated party of the other main northern strongman -- Atta Mohammad Noor, the powerful governor of Balkh province.
The union of Junbish and Jamiat brings together large bands of armed men who share a bitter history of rivalry and clashes, a potential master stroke in the game of factional Afghan politics that offers the local population new hope of vanquishing the ascendant Taliban.
“General Dostum is not an engineer, General Dostum is not a doctor, General Dostum has a PhD in eliminating the Taliban,” the ex-warlord said about himself earlier this year in comments cited in the local media. “I will bring the Taliban to its knees."
The tactical alliance, whether or not long-lasting, is already having a visible impact on the ground. When the Taliban attempted to overrun provincial capital Maimana on the night of October 4 – emboldened by their audacious if brief capture of neighbouring Kunduz city – the coordination between militiamen from both sides in part helped repel the insurgents.
“Before this they fought each other, hurt each other. The result was zero," said Hafizullah Fetrat, the local head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.
“Their unity has reduced human rights abuses. It gives people hope as they overcome past rivalries to fight a common enemy that is stronger than ever before."
'People worship him'
Dostum, who has a catalogue of war crimes attached to his name, is deified as a hero in Faryab, where the streets are festooned with life-size posters of the moustachioed general.
“Many of those posters were taken down on the night the Taliban raided Maimana,” a local resident told AFP, as people hastened to hide or erase anything that could attract the wrath of insurgents who recently pilloried Dostum as a “poor imbecile general”. “But people have faith that Dostum will save our endangered land. Ordinary people are selling their cattle to buy weapons to fight for him."
His biggest strength, both supporters and detractors agree, is his ability to inspire an army of supporters across the ethnic divide to fight for him -- despite his intimidating personality.
“He is a great motivator at a time when morale is sagging,” a Jamiat militia commander told AFP, declining to be named.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221277/afghanistans-dostum-unites-friends-foes-in-anti-taliban-fight
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12 Daesh Militants Killed, 5 Wounded In Clash with Security Forces in Nangarhar
Nov 21 2015
12 militants from Daesh group have been killed and five wounded in a clash with security forces in Achin District of eastern Nangarhar province.
Spokesman for Nangarhar police says security forces were conducting operation in Mazdaki Sar area when Daesh insurgents attacked them on Friday.
Colonel Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal adds that in retaliatory action of security forces 12 militants were killed and five others wounded. Militants left three dead bodies behind in the area.
Security forces seized a motorcycle, Kalashnikov and Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) from the assailants.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/12-daesh-militants-killed-5-wounded-in-clash-with-security-forces-in-nangarhar-4242
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Daesh kidnaps 20 Shias in Afghanistan
Nov 21, 2015
Terrorists with the Takfiri group of Daesh have abducted 20 Shias from the Hazara community from a highway linking the Afghan capital, Kabul, to the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, Press TV reports.
The kidnapping took place on Saturday, with Afghan officials saying that the victims had been taken away from the bus they were travelling in at gunpoint.
The abduction has sent shockwaves throughout the whole Hazara community. Officials have also launched a massive operation to locate and release the hostages.
Earlier in the month, the bodies of seven members – four men, two women, and a child – belonging to the mostly Shia community was found partially beheaded in the southeastern Afghan province of Zabul, sparking outrage across the country.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/21/438539/Afghanistan-Daesh-Shias-KabulKandahar-highway
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24,000 Afghan families displaced by Daesh: Official
Nov 21, 2015
An Afghan official says more than 24,000 families have fled their homes in the country’s troubled eastern province of Nangarhar amid the atrocities being perpetrated by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.
“The total number of the displaced families was around 20,000, but now this figure has risen to more than 24,000,” Ghulam Haidar Faqirzai, the head of the organization for internally displaced families in the province, said on Friday.
Provincial Governor Salim Khan Kunduzi also confirmed that thousands of families have been displaced ever since Daesh militants started their activities in the province, arguing that sufficient aid has not been provided to the needy families.
A displaced local said, “Government should establish a camp for us and help us. We didn’t receive any aid over the past several months.”
“They (officials) claim to have launched a military operation, but the fact is they do not go anywhere beyond their checkpoints,” another resident claimed.
“Daesh fighters killed my father. Daesh forced him to sit on a bomb, and then detonated the explosive device,” another civilian from the area said.
Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor, said on Friday that 12 Daesh terrorists had been killed and five others wounded as Afghan forces launched an operation in the provincial Achin district the previous night.
He added that three Afghan government troops also sustained injuries during the offensive.
Nangarhar has been witnessing a rise in the number of Daesh terrorists in some of its districts in recent months.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/21/438536/Afghanistan-Daesh-militancy-Takfiri-terrorists-crimes-Nangarhar
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Gunmen seize at least 14 from bus in Afghanistan
Nov 21, 2015
KANDAHAR: Unidentified gunmen in Afghanistan on Saturday kidnapped 14 bus passengers believed to be from the Hazara ethnic minority, 10 days after the killing of seven Hazaras by militants sparked one of the biggest protests in Kabul in years.
Gunmen stopped three night buses in Zabul province, on the main road between Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar, and kidnapped passengers, said provincial police chief Mirwais Noorzai.
He said he did not know how many people had been taken or their identity but the manager of a bus company and a provincial official said the gunmen had taken at least 14 Hazara people.
"The gunmen asked for identity documents and when people showed them, they took away only Hazaras," Sayed Mohebullah, a manager for the Ahmad Shah Abdali bus company, told Reuters.
He said he believed the gunmen had also taken people from other buses. Asadullah Kakar, a member of the Zabul provincial council, said he believed 20 people, all but two of them Hazaras, had been taken away.
The Hazara are a Persian-speaking, mainly Shia minority who have long faced persecution in Afghanistan, with thousands massacred by the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the 1990s, but a series of murders and kidnappings this year has stoked a mood of growing despair.
Militants killed seven Hazara people, including women and children, in Zabul early this month and dumped their partially beheaded bodies.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221282/gunmen-seize-at-least-14-from-bus-in-afghanistan
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Afghan IS captive buried head of fellow hostage
November 21, 2015
KABUL - Nine months of torture at the hands of Islamic State fighters, in which he buried the decapitated head of a fellow detainee, are written on the gaunt face of Afghan student Mohammed Yousuf. Just 10 days after he was freed — not by Afghan or NATO soldiers, but by the once-feared Taliban — his eyes are still cavernous and sunk, unable to meet anyone else’s gaze.
“I once asked them what my sin was,” the 23-year-old said, speaking to AFP in the Kabul home of relatives as his uncle sat listening, sobbing quietly nearby. “I told them I was Sunni. They told me I have accepted this government and I deserved to have my head chopped off.” Yousuf, an ethnic Tajik engineering student, tells of how he held the head of another hostage in his hands.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/international/21-Nov-2015/afghan-is-captive-buried-head-of-fellow-hostage
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ISIS loyalists start destruction of graves to match atrocities in Iraq and Syria
Nov 21 2015
New shocking images have emerged which purportedly shows the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group destroying raised graves.
The ISIS loyalists operating under the brand of ‘Wilayat Khurasan’ which covers swaths of Afghanistan and Pakistan, are apparently commiting the latest fanatic acts in a bid to match the atrocities committed by the terror group in Iraq and Syria.
The group which is reportedly led by the former Pakistani Taliban commander Hafiz Saeed Khan.
This comes as the terror group earlier this year released photographs of its militants destroying Christian graves with sledgehammers and carving out crosses in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The images were posted on social media, including the Shomoukh Al-Islam jihadi forum, under the title Leveling Graves And Erasing Pagan Symbols.
Three pictures also emerged out of a montage from Syria in August this year which purportedly shows graves being smashed along with other images such as the discovery of smuggled cigarettes hidden inside a spare tire.
ISIS destroy graves in Iraq
Only the most ornate gravestones in the graveyard appear to be targeted, with the pictures showing they are destroyed using a sledgehammer. The caption states that the men are “removing the manifestation of polytheism.”
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/isis-loyalists-start-destruction-of-graves-to-match-atrocities-in-iraq-and-syria-1711
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Unidentified gunmen kidnap 20 civilians in Zabul
Nov 21 2015
Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped 20 civilians in southern Zabul province, second incident of mass abduction this year.
Ghulam Jailani Farahi, the provinces Deputy Police Chief says that the kidnapping took place between Shah Joy District and Qalat, the provincial capital, this morning.
The civilians most of whom are reportedly from Hazara minority were traveling in different buses when armed men stopped them on gunpoint and took them an undisclosed location.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the kidnapping but the previous mass abduction was reportedly the work of Uzbek militants who have announced allegiance with Daesh.
Full report at:
http://www.khaama.com/breaking-news-20-civilians-kidnapped-in-zabul-4243
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For foreigners, fears grow over killings claimed by Islamic State in Bangladesh
By Annie Gowen
November 20, 2015
DHAKA, BANGLADESH — Police in Bangladesh said Friday that they had arrested a local Islamist leader after an attack on an Italian missionary for which the Islamic State has asserted responsibility. It was the third attack on a foreigner in Bangladesh since September to have been claimed by the terrorist organization.
In Twitter messages Thursday, the Islamic State said it tracked and targeted “the Italian Crusader foreigner” before shooting him with a “silenced pistol” and “severely injuring him,” according to a report from the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks the online activity of extremist groups.
The missionary, the Rev. Piero Parolari, 57, was set upon by gun-wielding assailants in northern Dinajpur district Wednesday. He survived with a head wound, but two other foreigners attacked in recent weeks — an Italian aid worker and a Japanese agricultural worker — did not.
In its online magazine released this week, the Islamic State made clear that it has set its sights on Bangladesh as the next battleground in the group’s global expansion. The country also has been grappling with a series of brutal stabbings of secular bloggers by religious fundamentalists allegedly inspired by the writings of al-Qaeda.
[Publisher of slain blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh]
The twin perils are prompting fears that Islamist extremism is rising in the majority-Muslim democracy, which aside from occasional eruptions of political street violence has been largely peaceful and remains an ally of the United States.
The government of Sheikh Hasina, the country’s prime minister, has acknowledged the seriousness of the attacks on foreigners. But it says they are the work of her political opponents who have hired local thugs to carry out the violence, not of sophisticated international terrorists.
“All the evidence shows us it’s not ISIS,” said Sajeeb Wazed, the government’s chief adviser on information technology and son of the prime minister, using another name for the Islamic State. Four suspects have been arrested in the slaying of the Italian aid worker, he noted. “They have no affiliation to known terrorist organizations. They’re just criminals.”
The violence has shaken members of the diplomatic and aid communities in Bangladesh, many of whom have hunkered down indoors and stopped walking, cycling and taking taxis. A large AIDS conference was recently deferred here and other events have been canceled. The U.S. Embassy, in a recent communique, warned that the terrorist threat remained “real and credible” and that attacks against Westerners remain a concern in Bangladesh.
[Islamic State claims responsibility for killing Japanese man in Bangladesh]
On Sept. 28, the Italian aid worker, Cesare Tavella, was fatally shot while jogging in what had been the relatively safe diplomatic corridor of Dhaka. On Oct. 3, the Japanese agricultural worker, Kunio Hoshi, was fatally shot as he headed to his fields in the north of the country. The Islamic State later asserted responsibility for both killings as well as for an attack on a police checkpoint.
Full report at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/westerners-fear-grows-over-killings-claimed-by-islamic-state-in-bangladesh/2015/11/20/6ea59a5e-8d42-11e5-934c-a369c80822c2_story.html
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Africa
At least 27 killed in Mali hotel siege, 20 Indians rescued
Agencies, Bamako
Nov 21, 2015
Islamist extremists armed with guns and grenades stormed a luxury hotel in Mali’s capital on Friday, leaving at least 27 people dead, while dozens , including 20 Indians were rescued by special forces
Nine hours after the siege of the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital town Bamako by extremists, the hostage crisis after two gunmen were killed by security forces and the rest holed up in the top floors.
“The attackers no longer have hostages. They are dug in in the upper floors. They are alone with the Malian special forces who are trying to dislodge them,” security ministry spokesperson Amadou Sangho said.
A UN official told Reuters on condition on anonymity that peacekeepers counted at least 27 corpses, 12 corpses in the basement of the hotel and another 15 on the second floor.
But it was a lucky escape for 20 Indians when the gunmen stormed the hotel in the West African nation and took 170 hostages. The ministry of external affairs confirmed that the Indians – all cousins belonging to one Bulani family from Ajmer in Rajasthan -- had been evacuated.
“We all are safe now. We stay in the third floor of the hotel in the B block,” Mukesh, one of the Indians brought to safety, told Hindustan Times over phone. He said he heard “rampant gunshots and guests in the hotel who were under attack crying aloud”.
Jihadist group claims attack
Al-Mourabitoun, a jihadist group based in northern Mali with links with al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. The claim could not immediately be verified.
Witnesses said the gunmen entered the 190-room hotel compound at around 0700 GMT (12.30 IST) in a car with diplomatic plates, shouted “Allahu Akbar”, and started firing at guests and staff.
Read: Militant group Al Mourabitoun claims Mali hotel assault
Malian commandos, backed by special forces from America and France, reacted quickly and staged a dramatic floor-by-floor rescue at the hotel, even as the extremists tried to hold some of the guests hostage.
State television broadcast chaotic scenes from inside the hotel as police and other security personnel ushered bewildered guests along corridors and across the main lobby.
Witnesses talked of around a dozen armed assailants, but the Malian military source reported the deaths of three “terrorists who were shot or blew themselves up”, adding that the total number of gunmen was not more than four.
Watch | Gunmen storm hotel, take 170 hostages in Mali
Support from US, French special forces
Two US special forces troops who were posted in the nearby US embassy assisted in the rescue of six Americans from the hotel. About 40 French special police forces who were in the country played a support role
France said the attack was likely masterminded by notorious Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, added to fears over the global jihadist threat a week after the Paris massacre that left 130 people dead.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world/jihadists-take-hostages-after-attacking-hotel-in-mali/story-uxNgVikfyvvED22A23C8eJ.html
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Senegal Bans Full-Body Veil to Prevent Terrorism
NOVEMBER 20, 2015
For security reasons, women in Senegal, a majority-Muslim country, will be banned from wearing full-body veils, according to plans announced by the government.
As reported by Al Jazeera, Interior Minister Abdoulaye Diallo said the need to prevent potential attacks was behind a government’s decision to outlaw the full-body veil, which leaves only the eyes uncovered.
“The full veil is not a religious affair and it does not represent our culture,” Diallo told local media, echoing comments made earlier in the week by Senegalese President Macky Sall.
Addressing a peace and security conference in the capital Dakar, Sall also said the veil was a security threat because suicide bombers have used it in the past to hide explosives and carry out attacks.
An estimated 94% of the Senegalese population is Muslim. Most people are members of one of the four main Sufi brotherhoods, which are said to limit the influence of Salafi groups in the West African country.
According to Al Jazeera, there is growing fear that groups like the Nigeria-based Boko Haram are finding sympathisers in Senegal. At least four religious leaders were arrested in the capital Dakar, as well as in the city of Kaolack, in recent weeks.
In an interview, Bakary Sambe, head of the Observatory on Religious Radicalism and Conflicts in Africa, told Al Jazeera the government was right in proposing the veil ban as a security precaution to avoid suicide attacks, similar to the ones that rocked other countries in the region recently.
Full report at:
http://neurope.eu/article/young-american-died-in-recent-israeli-palestinian-violence/
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Ban condemns deadly hostage crisis at Malian hotel
Nov 20, 2015
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has denounced the "horrific terrorist attack" at a luxury hotel in Mali, warning that the violence is targeting peace efforts in the country.
“The secretary general deplores any attempt to derail the implementation of the agreement” signed in June between rival factions in Mali, Ban’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Friday.
The condemnation came in the wake of a nine-hour hostage crisis in the Radisson Blu hotel in the country’s capital, Bamako, early in the day. The hostage crisis ended with 27 dead.
Citing Ban, Dujarric said that incident took place at a time when a fragile peace process is “making good progress” in Mali.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/20/438482/un-ban-kimoon-mali-radisson-blu-hotel
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Pakistan
‘Put House In Order To Keep Daesh Away’: Lal Masjid’s Firebrand Maulana Abdul Aziz
KALBE ALI
Nov 21, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Lal Masjid’s firebrand Maulana Abdul Aziz on Friday advised the prime minister, and the army chief, that to keep Daesh away from Pakistan, “put the house in order.”
Maulana Aziz issued the advice not from the pulpit but in a telephonic address to the Friday congregation from his home in the grounds of Jamia Hafsa. It was meant to clarify a laudatory video about Daesh put by the girl seminary on the social network in December 2014.
Maulana Aziz said in the video his wife Umme Hassan never invited Daesh movement, the self-styled Islamic State, to Pakistan. His followers, however, will continue to look towards anyone working for the enforcement of Islam, he added.
“I ask the army chief and the prime minister to put the house in order so that nobody has to look towards Daesh or anyone else,” said the Maulana who has repeatedly been warned by the Islamabad administration about his combative statements and acts.
He clarified that some Jamia Hafsa girls released the video after learning that Daesh was “implementing Islam in areas under its control.”
“It is not the responsibility of just Maulana Abdul Aziz, or the male and female students of Lal Masjid to hold the flag of Islam high,” he said, calling upon the congregation to rise for rule of Quran and Sunnah.
Once again, he invited the army chief, people in uniform, police, state functionaries, the political leadership and the ordinary citizens of Pakistan to join the mission that, he said, Lal Masjid people have vowed to continue.
He accused the government and the Islamabad administration and police of “creating a scene” outside the mosque. Apparently, he was referring to the deployment of police in anti-riot gear, Rangers and other security agencies, to prevent his followers from taking out a rally after the prayers.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221171/put-house-in-order-to-keep-daesh-away
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4 Rangers killed in Karachi terror attack
November 21, 2015
by Mansoor Khan
KARACHI - At least four Rangers personnel were gunned down in an armed attack in Karachi outskirts yesterday, in the second major attack on the paramilitary force in the metropolis.
Eight months ago, two Rangers troops a passerby couple lost their lives when a suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into Rangers mobile van in North Nazimabad locality on March 20.
Friday’s attack took place near Jamia Abu Hurrairah (a seminary cum mosque) in Ittehad Town area of the Baldia Town neighborhood at around 1:45pm.
“Two of them (the attacked Rangers) died at the spot while remaining two succumbed to their injuries at the hospital,” SHO Shakeel Sherwani said.
“It is confirmed that the attackers were on motorcycle(s) but we are not sure how many they were (in number),” he added.
“The assailants probably wanted to attack the masjid but upon seeing Rangers security, one of them resorted to firing at the troops,” director general of Sindh Rangers, Major General Bilal Akbar, told the media persons at the crime scene.
“They (attackers) will be taken to their logical end,” he vowed.
The area where the attack occurred has a mixed population where number of militants, gangsters and street criminals have been killed and arrested by Rangers and police in several raids and encounters during the Karachi operation.
The Rangers and police high-ups immediately reached the attack site following the incident.
Rescuers from different welfare organisations also reached the site and shifted the bodies and the injured to nearby Murshid Hospital.
The dead bodies were later shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for autopsy.
Area residents said it was a regular spot for the Rangers as their mobile usually station outside the mosque for security during Friday prayers.
“There were four troops – two were sitting in a mobile van while the remaining two were standing outside when they came under attack,” DSP Javed Hussain Shah said.
The martyred troops were identified as Ishtiaq, Qasim, Akhtar Ali and Shahid.
Their funeral prayers were offered at Rangers Training College and School on Super Highway after Maghrib prayers.
The funeral was attended by a large number of government officials and personnel of the law enforcement agencies.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/21-Nov-2015/4-rangers-killed-in-karachi-terror-attack
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Shia leader shot dead in Peshawar
November 21, 2015
PESHAWAR - Unknown persons gunned down a local Shia leader in Yakatoot area yesterday and managed their escape from the crime scene.
Police said the incident occurred in interior city near Yakatoot area when armed person opened firing at Imdad Husain while on way to home. He was also worker of the Awami National Party.
Soon after the incident heavy contingent of Police rushed to the site and started search operation in the area. The relatives of the deceased staged a protest demonstration and put the dead body on road, demanding arrest of the killers.
Senior Superintend Police Operation Mian Saeed said that police launched search operation in the area and soon they will arrest the target killers.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/21-Nov-2015/shia-leader-shot-dead-in-peshawar
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JI to eliminate ‘political terrorism’ in Karachi
November 20, 2015
Karachi: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Engr. Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said today that the ‘Karachi operation’ is not the sole solution, but elimination of political terrorism also needs to be done.
He expressed these views, while inaugurating the election office at Union Council 18, from where he is contesting the local government (LG) polls.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that the JI and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would bring back the glory to the city. He urged youngsters to come forward and join the struggle to change their own fate. He further said that youth is the future of the country and the fresh blood should take the lead in this journey of a peaceful revolution through ballot.
Highlighting the services of JI, rendered for the city, he said that Nematullah Khan, in his tenure, did tremendous work for the development and progress of the city. He launched a large number of projects and bring Karachi a new shining face and identity. He also vowed to continue the journey of success and achievement for the city.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/20-Nov-2015/ji-to-eliminate-political-terrorism-in-karachi
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Lal Mosque cleric takes his gloves off
November 21, 2015
Israr Ahmad
Islamabad - Firebrand cleric of Lal Mosque, Maulana Abdul Aziz has given a two weeks deadline to the administration of the federal capital for acceptance of his demands or else he along with his followers would pour into the streets across the country.
The demands of the cleric, who once was captured by the law-enforcement agencies while escaping from Lal Mosque in a burqa (veil) during Operation Sunrise in 2007, included recovery of his son-in-law who had been missing since June 2014; abolishment of a case registered against him on the complaint of civil society; provision of government security (which he has been enjoying for the last three years); and no hurdles from the state in his campaign for imposition of Sharia in the country.
Abdul Aziz alleged intelligence agencies of abducting her son-in-law from Lahore. He presented these demands while delivering Friday sermon via telephone which put the administration on toes. The administration sought time of one month to consider the demands of Lal Mosque cleric, reliable sources disclosed to The Nation yesterday.
Sources also disclosed that a meeting between Islamabad administration and Aziz was held which lasted for almost two hours. During the meeting, the firebrand cleric kept insisting on carrying out a massive rally from Jamia Hafsa to enforce the Shariah in the country.
They said that the federal capital administration barred him from doing so telling him that his demands would be presented before the big wheels and also sought one month time from Aziz.
Sources added that defiant Maulana refused to accept the administration’s request of one month time and gave the deadline of two weeks to the administration to meet his demands.
On the other hand, the government while sensing the situation has deployed well-equipped security personnel of Pakistan Rangers outside Jamia Hafsa to avoid any untoward moment.
Sources also revealed that senior officials of the administration including Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tahir Alam Khan and Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Abdul Sattar Essani reached the Jamia Hafsa and requested Aziz not to take out rally.
Aziz alleged that security agencies picked up his son-in-law from Lahore.
A well-placed source in Islamabad police told The Nation that the administration was pondering over to quash FIR against Aziz which was registered against him on the pressure of civil society. However, the remaining demands of the firebrand cleric would not be accepted, he claimed.
Talking to meida persons, Hafiz Ehtesham Ahmed, a spokesperson for Aziz, said that the cleric gave two weeks to the administration to fulfill his demands otherwise; he would take out rally to enforce Shariah.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/islamabad/21-Nov-2015/lal-mosque-cleric-takes-his-gloves-off
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Bangladesh seeking $4.32b wartime equitable share from Pakistan
November 21, 2015
Dhaka - Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali has told the parliament that the incumbent government has been continuing its diplomatic efforts to realise Bangladesh’s equitable share from Pakistan.
“Bangladesh has been repeatedly pressing its demand for equitable share in properties worth about $4.32 billion of the undivided Pakistan,” the minister said while replying to a question, reported Dhaka Tribune on Friday. Besides, Bangladesh is also demanding that Pakistan returns $200 million in foreign aid which was transferred from the Dhaka branch to the Lahore branch of State Bank of Pakistan during the Liberation War in 1971. The amount was supposed to be used for rehabilitation of a cyclone-hit Bangladesh, then East Pakistan, in 1970, the minister said. He said Bangladesh raised the issue at different bilateral meetings held between 1977 and 2012. Responding to another query, the minister said since 1972 Bangladesh and India have signed 87 treaties or memorandums of understandings.
Mahmood said among the 87 treaties, MoU and exchange of instruments, 22 were signed during the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bangladesh visit on June 6-7 this year.
“Implementation process of treaties has already started. It is a continuous process.”
Responding to another query, the minister said as of now, Bangladesh has signed extradition treaties with Thailand and India.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/21-Nov-2015/bangladesh-seeking-4-32b-wartime-equitable-share-from-pakistan
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Mob sets Jhelum factory ablaze over blasphemy allegations
AMIR KAYANI
Nov 21, 2015
JHELUM: An enraged mob set a factory on fire in Punjab's Jhelum district late on Friday after rumours circulated in the area and announcements were made from mosques that levelled blasphemy allegations on the owner and workers of the establishment. No casualties were reported from the arson attack.
In relation to the blasphemy allegations, police had detained at least five men on suspicion that pages of the Holy Quran had been desecrated by a few workers of the chipboard production factory. Four of these men were later released.
After this, certain people in the area approached local mosques to make announcements through loudspeakers against the release of the four men. Following these announcements, people not only from the immediate vicinity but even from nearby villages gathered as a mob and set ablaze the chipboard factory.
The owner’s residence, adjoining the factory, was also set on fire.
The mob later moved to the Grand Trunk Road, blocked the route and chanted slogans against the police. Members of the mob also clashed with police personnel as the latter tried to disperse the crowd.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221273/mob-sets-jhelum-factory-ablaze-over-blasphemy-allegations
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New JIT to reopen Musharraf treason case
MALIK ASAD
Nov 21, 2015
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has started considering names of different officials to constitute a team to ‘reinvestigate’ the high treason case as the joint investigation team (JIT) that probed the matter in 2013 is no longer available, sources privy to the prosecution told Dawn.
On November 10, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the federal government to reinvestigate the alleged aiders and abettors in the case.
The treason case was probed by the JIT headed by Mohammad Khalid Qureshi, additional director general of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), with directors Hussain Asghar and Maqsoodul Hassan as its members. The JIT held former military ruler Pervez Musharraf as the sole accused in the treason case.
On Nov 10, IHC directed federal govt to reinvestigate the case
On November 11, 2013, it submitted a report on the basis of which the secretary interior in December 2013 filed a complaint against Gen Musharraf for ‘subversion’ of the Constitution by proclaiming an emergency on November 3, 2007.
The proceedings in the treason case started on December 13, 2013. However, JIT was dissolved in March last year after Hussain Asghar was transferred from the FIA to the Punjab Constabulary. Mr Qureshi, however, continued appearing before the special court as the head of JIT and also recorded his statement in September 2014.
A few months ago, Mr Qureshi, a senior officer of the police service of Pakistan (PSP), was posted to the National Police Academy as its commandant. Sources said Mr Qureshi was about to retire from service.
The services of Hussain Asghar are currently at the disposal of the Punjab police.
Maqsoodul Hassan, however, is still working with the FIA as director.
According to the sources, Dr Shafique, the incumbent additional director general of the FIA, a successor of Mr Qureshi, might be assigned the treason case’s reinvestigation but the federal government is also looking for some other officials.
The sources said the new head of the JIT would select his team, preferably within the FIA.
The IHC in its judgment on Nov 10 warned that the investigation agency would face the consequence in case the probe did not cover all the aspects besides including the aiders and abettors.
A top government functionary on the condition of anonymity told Dawn that unlike the past the government was not in a hurry to prosecute the former army chief.
He said because of the resentment from the military establishment, the government may drag the ‘reinvestigation’ to delay the matter.
Barrister Farogh Nasim, the lead defence counsel for Gen Musharraf, said the trial in the treason case cannot be resumed till the ‘reinvestigation’ of the case.
“It was our consistent view that the investigation was flawed,” he said, adding the IHC in its recent judgment made it clear that the investigation was faulty and the federal government must include in the case all the aiders and abettors who facilitated the imposition of the emergency on November 3, 2007.
He said section 2 of Article 6 defines that the “person aiding or abetting” a high treason shall be jointly tried along with the accused person.
Section 6-C of the special court law also asks for the joint trial of the all the aiders and abettors, he added.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221170/new-jit-to-reopen-musharraf-treason-case
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‘Operation should have started yesterday’, says army chief
Nov 21, 2015
WASHINGTON: Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif has assured Pakistanis here that military operations against terrorists, their backers and financers would continue uninterrupted.
Addressing the Pakistani community at a dinner on Thursday, Gen Sharif expressed the “unflinching commitment of the armed forces in ensuring peace and security in the country as well as in countering external threats”.
He said that the operation against terrorists “should have started yesterday” but now that it had started it would continue.
“The armed forces of Pakistan would take the war against terrorism to its logical conclusion and would not let the sacrifices of martyrs go in vain,” he said.
The speech, which was embargoed till Friday morning, also highlighted Pakistan’s commitment to friendly relations with its neighbours “with dignity and honour”.
The stress on dignity and honour earned him a warm applause from the audience who interrupted the speech on several occasions to express their appreciation.
Gen Sharif also noted that Pakistan and the United States had convergence of views on countering the existing and emerging threats. He expressed satisfaction at the upward trajectory and growth in the Pakistan-US defence and counter-terrorism cooperation at this critical juncture.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221236/operation-should-have-started-yesterday-says-army-chief
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Pakistan to follow chemical weapons convention
Nov 21, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan remains fully committed to the objectives of Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), says Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.
During a meeting with the director general of the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Ahmet Uzumcu, here on Friday, Mr Aziz assured him that Pakistan would remain actively engaged with the OPCW.
Mr Uzumcu visited Pakistan from Nov 18 to 20. It was his second official visit to Pakistan since assumption of office in 2010.
Also read: Pakistan reaffirms opposition to chemical weapons use
The OPCW chief expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s continued support and its effective implementation of the CWC. He briefed Mr Aziz on the activities of his organisation, particularly emerging challenges in the post-destruction phase.
The adviser appreciated Mr Uzumcu’s leadership in guiding the OPCW towards achieving its objective of elimination of chemical weapons across the globe. He complimented the OPCW on receiving Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221232/pakistan-to-follow-chemical-weapons-convention
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Sikh pilgrims from India arrive in Lahore
Nov 21, 2015
LAHORE: Over 2,500 Sikh pilgrims arrived in Lahore on Friday from India by three trains to participate in religious and cultural rituals to mark the 547th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Jee.
Later, they left Lahore for Hasanabdal by trains to visit the temple of Panja Sahib under strict security arrangements.
“We respect Pakistan, in general, and Punjab, in particular, as it is the soil of our gurus (spiritual leaders),” group leader Sardar Rumeet Singh told reporters at Wagah railway station.
“Our top spiritual leader Guru Nanak Jee has always given a message to all about humanity, peace and love,” he added. He said since Sikhs and Muslims were close to each other before and after Partition, setting precedents of love and affection.
He paid tributes to the Pakistani government for doing excellent arrangements to help the pilgrims in their 10-day tour.
Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Siddiqul Farooq also welcomed the pilgrims at Wagah. He said he was happy to see a hike in the number of pilgrims this time.
“It reflects that pilgrims’ satisfaction on our arrangements,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted to have good relations with India.
Later, he told Dawn he was grateful to both the Pakistan high commissioner to India and the Indian high commissioner to Pakistan for ensuring the arrival of a good number of Sikhs this year. “On Thursday, the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi had issued visas to 3,000 pilgrims. Of them 2,500 or so arrived in Pakistan,” he said.
At Wahga and Lahore Railway stations, the pilgrims were given free food (lunger).
“Many of the pilgrims appreciated the Pakistani authorities for facilitating them better than the officials of their own country (India),” the ETPB chairman said.
The pilgrims will stay in Hasan Abdal till Nov 22. The same day they will depart for Nankana Sahib.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221210/sikh-pilgrims-from-india-arrive-in-lahore
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Paris attackers’ enemies of Islam: Nawaz
November 21, 2015
ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday said perpetrators of terror attacks in Paris were enemies of Islam.
In a meeting here with French Ambassador Martine Dorance, the prime minister said terrorists were enemies of Islam and humanity and their elimination was inevitable for the world peace.
Expressing grief over the incident, the premier said Pakistanis realised the pain of French people because they themselves are victims of terrorism.
He said operation Zarb-e-Azb and the National Action Plan enjoyed support of the entire nation.
On the occasion, the French ambassador thanked the government and people of Pakistan for their support to France at a difficult time, said an official statement.
“We are touched by the response of common people and really were moved on the messages of condolence received from students of Army Public School Peshawar,” she said.
Meanwhile, Member National Assembly from Islamabad Tariq Fazal Chaudhry also called on the prime minister.
He briefed the PM on major issues of the people of Islamabad Capital Territory.
Nawaz said the welfare of people of Islamabad was part of development agenda of the government.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/national/21-Nov-2015/paris-attackers-enemies-of-islam-nawaz
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Arab World
At least 36 dead in bombing raids in eastern Syria
21 November 2015
At least 36 people were killed Friday in air strikes by Russian and Syrian jets on ISIS-controlled Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said, describing them as the heaviest in the region since the start of the war.
“At least 36 people were killed and dozens more injured in more than 70 raids carried out by Russian and Syrian planes against several districts in Deir Ezzor,” Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group told AFP.
He described the raids, which targeted several large cities and smaller towns in the province and three oil fields, as “the worst bombardment of the region since the start of the uprising in 2011”.
The province and most of the provincial capital is held by ISIS militants, with the exception of the military airport and a few areas controlled by the regime.
The U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS said Monday it had destroyed 116 fuel trucks used by the militant in eastern Syria, in one of the largest raids in weeks.
ISIS reportedly makes millions of dollars in revenue from oil fields under its control, and the coalition has regularly targeted oil infrastructure held by the group.
An investigation by British newspaper The Financial Times last month estimated the militants reap some $1.5 million a day from oil, based on the price of $45 a barrel.
Full report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/21/At-least-36-dead-in-bombing-raids-in-eastern-Syria.html
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25 ISIL Terrorists Killed in Deir Ezzur
Nov 21, 2015
The Syrian army killed 25 ISIL terrorists in the vicinity of al-Tharda Mountain in Deir Ezzur on Friday.
The army also destroyed a vehicle equipped with a Dushka machinegun and a 23 mm cannon mounted on a vehicle in Southeastern Deir Ezzur.
Also on Friday, the Syrian Army and the country's fighter jets, in a joint counter-assault, fended off the ISIL terrorists' attack on the strategic Deir Ezzur airbase, leaving at least 25 militants dead or many more wounded.
The Syrian war plane targeted the ISIL combatants' military vehicles near Deir Ezzur airbase on Friday morning and played key role in pushing them back from the surroundings of the airbase.
Full report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830000311
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Bomb attacks near mosque south of Baghdad kill 9
20 November 2015
At least nine people were killed in bomb attacks on a Shiite Muslim mosque south of Baghdad on Friday, police and medics said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants controlling large swathes of Iraq's north and west regularly target Shiite districts and security forces in the capital and elsewhere.
Full report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/20/Bomb-attacks-near-mosque-south-of-Baghdad-kill-9.html
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ISIL Left with Only 34 Bases in Iraq, Syria
Nov 21, 2015
"At present, the ISIL only has 34 bases in Mosul, Raqqa, etc. which were many more in number," Managing-Director of Iraq's al-Nakhil news agency Mohammad Ali al-Hakim told FNA.
He underlined that the ISIL is a terrorist group which has been created by Israel, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar's money and the US and other western states' support, which has no goal but providing security to the Zionist regime.
Hakim, meantime, stressed that the ISIL is on the verge of collapse, and said, "The end of the ISIL which has been borne by the westerners is close."
The Syrian and Iraqi army and popular forces have hit heavy blows at the ISIL terrorists in recent days.
Reports said on Wednesday and Thursday that the top leaders and commanders of the ISIL terrorist group had been witnessed escaping from the Syrian city of Raqqa after sustaining heavy casualties in the Russian airstrikes and long-range cruise missile attacks from its Mediterranean fleet.
Intelligence sources confirmed citizens' reports on Thursday that militants' leaders are fleeing the so-called capital of the ISIL terrorist group after hundreds of ISIL members escaped the city on Wednesday to save their lives.
Various sources from citizens of Raqqa to local villagers and intelligence sources have reported in the last 24 hours that the terrorist group has started hasty evacuation of Raqqa after the Russian strikers and long-range bombers intensifying airstrikes on the strongholds and command centers of the ISIL militants in Raqqa in recent days.
The Russian military has also been pounding the ISIL stronghold in Raqqa with cruise missiles fired from the Mediterranean Sea since Tuesday.
Meantime, reports disclosed on Wednesday that the ISIL terrorists retreated from the Southern parts of Hasakah province, located North of Raqq, as Syrian army and popular forces, backed by Russian and Syrian airstrikes, continue to strike heavy blows at the militants.
Full report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830000644
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Syria: Army's Special Forces Kill Al-Nusra Front Leader, Tens of Terrorists in Idlib
Nov 21, 2015
Mohamad Mashrout and tens of his men were killed in Ma'aret al-Nu'man city in Idlib province earlier today.
On Wednesday, the Syrian air force intensified its airstrikes on terrorists' concentration centers in Idlib province and destroyed positions of the terrorists in Saraqib city and al-Sheikh Yusuf.
Full report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830000510
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Yemen attacks leave 15 soldiers dead in Hadramawt
20 November 2015
At least 15 Yemeni soldiers were killed and dozens others injured on Friday, including civilians, when an army barracks was targeted at the western entrance to the historic city of Shibam in Hadramawt.
The main attack was staged at the western entrance to Shibam, which is known as the "Manhattan of the Desert" and listed as a UNESCO world heritage site for its high-rise mud-brick buildings.
Full report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/20/Yemen-attacks-leave-15-soldiers-in-Hadramawt.html
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Syrian army says warplanes destroyed some 450 terrorist targets
Nov 21, 2015
The Syrian Air Force has conducted 114 sorties in less than a week, destroying some 450 terrorist targets in seven provinces, an army spokesperson says.
"Since November 15, the Syrian Air Force has carried out 114 sorties and destroyed 447 targets in Damascus, Homs, Hama, Idlib, Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor and Lattakia provinces," Syrian army spokesperson Brigadier General Ali Mayhoub told reporters on Friday.
In the ground battle, too, Syrian forces have recently been making rapid advances against terrorists in several parts of the country under Russian air cover, which began on September 30 at the request of Damascus.
Syrian government forces inspect weapons left by Daesh terrorists after the army took control of a train station in the northwestern Syrian province of Aleppo, November 20, 2015. (AFP)
Mayhoub also said Russia’s airstrikes have been successful in weakening terrorist groups operating in Syria.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/21/438511/Syria-terrorist-Russia-Daesh-airstrike
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Gov't Forces Regain More Territories in Syria's Lattakia Province
Nov 21, 2015
The Takfiri terrorists withdrew from al-Zahi mountains and Burj al-Zahi after their positions came under massive attack of the pro-government forces.
Informed sources said Friday that the Syrian army and the NDF fighters pushed back al-Nusra Front from the strategic village of Doreen and restored full security to the village and its surrounding areas.
The Syrian army troops and the NDF fighters, in a joint operation, stormed the strongholds of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front and forced them to retreat from Doreen and its surrounding heights known as al-Jalil, the sources said.
The sources confirmed that the popular forces played a significant role in the liberation of Doreen.
Full report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830000536
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Syrian Forces Continue Hunting ISIL Terrorists in Deir Ezzur Province
Nov 21, 2015
East of Deir Ezzur airbase, al-Mrei'iyeh, Hweijet al-Marie'iyeh, surrounding areas of gas pipeline and al-Taim field were the scenes of heavy clashes between the Syrian army and the ISIL Takfiri terrorists, in which tens of the militants were killed or wounded.
Sources said earlier today that a long convoy of ISIL terrorists' military vehicles was traced and targeted by the Syrian Army near al-Hosseiniyeh village.
Full report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830000617
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Syrian Army, Allies Win Another Strategic Village in Aleppo Province
Nov 21, 2015
The pro-government forces' operation near Burj al-Ramoun left nearly 20 militants dead.
The militants' military vehicles, equipped with anti-aircraft machineguns, also sustained heavy damage in the army attack.
Military sources said on Friday that the Russian fighter jets targeted the ISIL terrorists' media center and a large depot of their weapons and ammunition in the Northern part of Aleppo province in heavy bomb and missile attacks.
The sources said that the main ISIL media center that operates out of the Northern city of Manbij was reportedly destroyed by the Russian Air Force on Thursday.
The Russian Air Force has done more damage to the ISIL sites than any other air force in the last three years.
The Russian Air Force also destroyed the terrorist group’s large weapons depot near the media center.
Full report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830000359
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Syria: Army Kills, Injures Tens of ISIL Takfiris
Nov 21, 2015
The Syrian army targeted ISIL positions in the neighborhoods of al-Ummal and al-Hweiqeh in Deir Ezzur, killing and injuring scores of the terrorists on Friday.
Also on Friday, the Syrian army and the country's fighter jets, in a joint counter-assault, fended off the ISIL terrorists' attack on the strategic Deir Ezzur airbase, leaving at least 25 militants dead or many more wounded.
The Syrian war plane targeted the ISIL combatants' military vehicles near Deir Ezzur airbase on Friday morning and played key role in pushing them back from the surroundings of the airbase.
Full report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830000448
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Air Force Crushes Militants' Positions in Key Provinces
Nov 21, 2015
Dozens of terrorists were killed and many more were wounded in the Syrian army's military operations across Syria on Friday.
Hama
The Syrian Army's operation against Jund al-Aqsa militants in the Northern part of Hama province left nearly 23 terrorists dead, provincial sources said on Friday.
The sources confirmed that nearly 23 terrorists were killed in the Syrian army’s operation against the gatherings of “Jund al-Aqsa” to the North of Suran.
On Thursday, the Syrian army intensified operations against the Takfiri militants in the province of Hama, engaging in heavy clashes with the terrorists in various regions.
The Syrian army targeted terrorists' concentration centers in the towns of Al-Lataminah and Morek and the village of Maarkaba in Hama countryside.
Homs
The Syrian Army traced and targeted a long military column of ISIL terrorists near Maheen in the Central Homs province, inflicting heavy losses on them.
The ISIL militants suffered heavy death toll and their military vehicles, loaded with weapons and ammunition, were destroyed in the army attack.
The Syrian army and National Defense Forces made a rapid advance inside the strategic town of Maheen in Homs province hours after they entered the town on Thursday, locals said, adding that ISIL sent hundreds of fresh troops to the town after sustaining a heavy defeat.
Dara'a
The Syrian Army's artillery units shelled heavily al-Nusra Front's strongholds in Dara'a al-Balad South of Dara'a city.
The Syrian army artillery's shelling killed dozens of terrorists of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in Dara'a al-Balad to the South of Zenobia School to the West of al-Abbasyia Bakery.
Nusra Front's military hardware also was destroyed in the attack.
The Syrian Army troops repelled an offensive of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) on their positions near the town of Sheikh Meskeen in Dara'a province and killed at least 24 militants, provincial sources said Friday.
The sources said that the FSA’s “Al-Khalifa’ Al-Rashideen Battalion” of 1st Brigade launched a large-scale assault near Sheikh Meskeen in order force the Syrian army’s 5th Armored Division to exit the Western district of the town, but the Syrian army’s 15th Brigade of the 5th Armored Division encroached enemy combatants with a powerful blow that forced the aforementioned group to retreat towards the Eastern district in order to evade the Syrian Armed Forces and the swarming helicopter gunships from the Syrian Air Force.
Sweida
The Syrian Army alongside the country's popular forces engaged in heavy clashes with the ISIL terrorists in Khirbet Sa'ad, Haqaf and al-Qasir villages across the Southern province of Sweida.
The Syrian soldiers stormed the ISIL positions in the Northeastern countryside of Sweida province near Khirbet Sa'ad village and hill, killed dozens of them and destroyed their defense lines.
Full report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830000394
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Saudi Arabia slams terror attack in Mali
21 November 2015
Saudi Arabia condemned on Friday the terrorist attack on a hotel in the country’s capital Bamako which resulted in killing, wounding and taking many hostages.
In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom’s extreme denunciation and condemnation against this terrorist act. The source stressed Saudi Arabia’s firm stance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, whatever its motives and justifications and whatever its source.
The official source conveyed the Kingdom’s condolence to the families of the victims as well as to the government and people of Mali and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Meanwhile, at least 27 people were reported dead on Friday after Malian commandos stormed a hotel seized by extremist gunmen to rescue 170 people, many of them foreigners, trapped in the building, Al Arabiya reported. The militant group Al Mourabitoun, allied to al-Qaeda and based in the desert north of the former French colony, claimed responsibility for the attack. The former French colony has been battling rebels for years.
Full report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/21/Saudi-Arabia-slams-terror-attack-in-Mali.html
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Lebanon turns down Russian navy request to divert flights
20 November 2015
Lebanon has turned down a Russian request to divert civilian flights in some areas so that Moscow could conduct a naval exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, the Lebanese transport minister said on Friday.
"The Russians have asked the Directorate of Civil Aviation authority in Lebanon to divert the routes of planes in a specific area over the international waters where they are planning to conduct the exercise," Ghazi Zeaiter said.
"This (disruption would have been) for three days but we refused because it is against our interests," he added.
Full report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/20/Russia-tells-Lebanon-it-will-conduct-navy-exercise-.html
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92% of Saudis reject Daesh: Think tank
21 November 2015
JEDDAH/ABHA: A whopping 92 percent of Saudis reject the Daesh terrorist group according to new research conducted by an American think tank.
The study was conducted by the Washington Institute’s Fikra Forum, an online blog in Arabic and English focusing on Middle East issues. One thousand people, half below 35, were polled, according to a report in a local publication.
David Pollock, a senior fellow of the Washington Institute who conducted the research, said that 28 percent of the respondents have secondary school education and degrees. The survey was conducted across the Kingdom in September.
He said the Saudis polled described Daesh as one of the world’s worst organizations. Breaking down the results, 78 percent were “very negative” about the organization, while 14 percent were “negative to some extent.”
The Washington Institute has said the outcome of the survey was similar to that of last year. In addition, Saudis surveyed also viewed other foreign nations unfavorably, with 85 percent having negative views about Russia because of the country’s “current policies.”
Ninety-one percent of Saudis polled were “very negative” about Iran, while 42 percent were “negative to some extent” about that nation’s policies. Just 12 percent expect relations between Iran and the Arab world to improve in the next few years.
The opinions about Iran’s nuclear agreement had changed unexpectedly with 42 percent believing it was a bad deal and 39 percent regarding it as good on some levels, said Pollock.
Eighty-five percent of Saudis view Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria negatively, and 84 percent had the same views of Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, one third of Saudis polled support the Syrian opposition, while just 4 percent believe the Kingdom should launch direct military intervention in Syria.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/featured/news/838846
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55 terrorists awaiting execution
21 November 2015
Al-BAHA: Fifty-five terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda are awaiting execution after they were found guilty of involvement in terrorist activities that claimed the lives of more than 100 citizens and residents, and 71 security men.
Since 2003, 124 terrorist attacks have taken place, claiming 100 lives and injuring 569 others.
Over 250 terror strikes have been thwarted across the Kingdom.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/featured/news/838841
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Closer health cooperation ‘vital’ for Muslim countries
21 November 2015
JEDDAH: Muslim countries should forge closer health ties to attract scientists, reduce costs of purchasing medicines and tackle the growing threat of infectious diseases, said Health Minister Khalid A. Al-Falih on Thursday.
Al-Falih was speaking at the two-day Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) 5th Islamic Conference of Health Ministers, which ended in Istanbul on Thursday. The conference, which is held every two years, reviewed the status of the OIC Strategic Health Program of Action 2014 to 2023.
Al-Falih said that if Muslim countries focus on setting up the right research bodies, they can attract talented and seasoned scientists to help address their health challenges, according to reports.
He said that the huge health care needs of Muslim countries makes it possible to develop a joint purchasing strategy that would counter the monopoly held by some firms in the pharmaceutical industry, protect their citizens from price increases and achieve major savings by buying items at fair prices.
He also called for further coordination to fight infectious diseases. Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have joined the Global Health Security Agenda, which focuses on prevention, early detection and rapid response. Muslim countries should join this initiative, he said.
Al-Falih highlighted Saudi Arabia’s role in providing pilgrims with quality health care, including prevention, ambulatory and primary care services, in addition to advanced tertiary care at the holy sites.
“We have to work together to maintain a high level of health care during the Haj season and guard against the outbreak of epidemics and infections which not only endanger pilgrims but also pose a threat to their countries and the world at large,” he was quoted as saying.
He said the Saudi Health Ministry has established the fully equipped Global Center for Mass Gathering Medicine and urged all Muslims countries to make contact with it. In addition, he praised the coordination efforts of Haj health missions, and called on OIC nations to further develop Haj health training and education, and ensure compliance with medical and immunization requirements.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/838851
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KSA, US looking for Saudi Daesh member
21 November 2015
RIYADH: The United States has announced a reward of $5 million to those who provide information which would lead to the arrest of naturalized Saudi Tarrad Mohammad Al-Garba.
Maj. Gen. Mansoor Al-Turki, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, told a website that the wanted man was a Saudi by naturalization. He is wanted by Saudi security agencies for illegally leaving the country and joining the Daesh terrorist organization.
Al-Turki said: "This is part of the Kingdom's effort in cooperating with the international community in fighting against the phenomenon of terrorism. In the past, the Kingdom has shared information with various countries about the activities of wanted people."
According to the US State Department, Al-Garba, 36, also known as “Abu Mohammad Al-Shimali” is entrusted with the task of smuggling foreign fighters to Syria. He is also a former member of Al-Qaeda.
The man is a Daesh official who lives in Jarabulus city in north Syria near the Turkish border, according to the State Department.
Earlier, Daesh's social media accounts covered the marriage of “Abu Mohammad Al-Shimali” with Reema Al-Jareesh, who is also wanted in Saudi Arabia since June 2015, a year after she joined Daesh in Syria along with her sons. Al-Jareesh is the third wife of Al-Shimali, according to the accounts of Daesh supporters.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/838811
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Europe
Anti-Muslim violence rises in France following Paris attacks: Monitors
Nov 21, 2015
The number of anti-Muslim incidents, including attacks on women and hateful graffiti, has risen sharply across France since the recent deadly attacks in Paris, two monitoring groups say.
Abdallah Zekri, the head of France's National Observatory of Islamophobia, said on Friday that while the group usually records four or five weekly attacks on Muslims, 32 such incidents had occurred in a single week since November 13.
Another rights group, the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), reported 29 incidents during the same time.
Zekri also said he expected more assaults on Muslims in coming days because the November 13 attacks in Paris, claimed by the Daesh terrorist group, provided an excuse for "ultra-nationalist groups, the extreme right and racists" to target Muslims.
"They take advantage of this atmosphere to lash out," he noted.
CCIF spokesman Yasser Louati said his office had been flooded with reports and complaints of attacks on Muslims as well as requests for advice on whether it was safe to send children to school.
France’s five-million-strong Muslim community, which is Europe's largest, accounts for about eight percent of the country’s total population.
Following the Paris raids, anti-Muslim graffiti has appeared in many places. In the northern French town of Evreux, the town hall and other buildings were covered with hateful graffiti against Muslims.
Last week’s coordinated attacks in the French capital killed at least 130 people and left some 350 others injured.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/21/438499/France-Muslim-attack-Paris-Daesh-Islamophobia-
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Putin calls for intensified attacks on Takfiri militants in Syria
Nov 20, 2015
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the country’s military to step up attacks on terrorist positions in Syria, after Moscow confirmed that a homemade bomb brought its civilian plane down over Egypt in a terror attack, claimed by Daesh terrorists.
In a Friday meeting with officials of the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow, Putin said a recent increase in aerial attacks on militants in Syria by Russia air and naval forces is “not sufficient,” and the Moscow’s anti-terror campaign should be intensified.
The order came as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the raids over the past four days, either through Russian navy’s long-range attacks or air strikes by the Russian air force, have inflicted heavy damage and fatalities on the militants in Syria.
A video grab released by the Russian Defense Ministry on November 19, 2015, shows a Russian Tupolev Tu-95 turboprop-powered strategic bomber carrying out an air raid on militant positions in Syria. ©AFP
The developments come just days after Russian intelligence officials confirmed that a bomb planted in the Russian Metrojet airliner, which was flying from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheik to Moscow on October 31, downed the plane and killed all 224 people on board, most of them Russian tourists. Daesh has claimed responsibility for the incident.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/20/438473/Russia-Putin-Syria-Daesh-Airstrikes
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World unites ‘against ISIS death cult’ in U.N. vote
21 November 2015
The unanimous U.N. Security Council vote on Friday backing action against ISIS shows the world is united against the "evil death cult", British Prime Minister David Cameron said.
The United Nations Security Council authorized countries to "take all necessary measures" to fight the militant group, in a resolution a week after the Paris attacks that claimed 130 lives.
Image taken from ISIS video footage shows a man identified in the subtitiles as Al Karar the Iraqi gesturing as he speaks. (Reuters)
Cameron called the vote on the French-drafted text an "important moment".
"The world has united against ISIL (ISIS). The international community has come together and has resolved to defeat this evil, which threatens people of every country and every religion," he said in a statement.
"The U.N. Security Council has unanimously backed action against this evil death cult in both Syria and Iraq.... Today's vote shows beyond doubt the breadth of international support for doing more in Syria and for decisive action to eradicate ISIL."
Britain is taking part in airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq and the government intends to seek parliamentary approval to extend these to Syria -- if it can secure a consensus across parties.
However, Jeremy Corbyn, the pacifist leader of the main opposition Labour Party, is against any such action.
In 2013, Cameron's government suffered a scarring defeat in parliament over its plan to join international military action over the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Full report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/21/U-N-vote-shows-world-united-against-ISIS-death-cult-.html
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Countries should not shut doors on genuine refugees: UN
Nov 21, 2015
UNITED NATIONS: Last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut, should not prompt countries to slam shut the doors for genuine refugees in the name of security, top UN officials pleaded on Thursday at a meeting of the UN General Assembly.
“How are we to balance security needs and moral and legal obligations to protect refugees and others in need of protection?” Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson asked the informal meeting, which had been scheduled before last week’s attacks, to discuss ways to advance and finance a ‘Comprehensive Response to the Global Humanitarian and Refugee Crisis.’
“This balance must be found without giving in on our basic values and without closing the door to those who have already endured tremendous suffering,” he said.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221155/countries-should-not-shut-doors-on-genuine-refugees-un
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138 world leaders due in terror-hit Paris for climate change summit
Nov 20, 2015
France says the leaders of 138 countries have so far declared their readiness to take part in a summit due to open in Paris at the end of this month to tackle the climate change issue.
The French government said on Friday that world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterparts from China and the US, Xi Jinping and Barack Obama, as well as Narendra Modi of India have confirmed that they would attend the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP) slated for November 30.
The international event will be held in the French capital, Paris, some two weeks after a terrorist attack, claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terror group, left 130 people dead and over 350 others injured in the city.
Around 40,000 delegates, journalists, observers and exhibitors are due in terror-stricken Paris for the conference.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/20/438471/France-Paris-Climate-change-summit-Terror-Attacks
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UN adopts French resolution on fighting ISIL
21 November 2015
The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a French-drafted resolution aimed at coordinating international efforts to defeat ISIL.
Drafted in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Paris, the resolution calls on all able countries to "take all necessary measures" under international law to eradicate safe havens ISIL created in Syria and Iraq.
It urges the countries "that have the capacity to do so" "to take all necessary measures, in compliance with international law, ... on the territory under the control of [ISIL] in Syria and Iraq, to redouble and coordinate their efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed specifically by [ISIL] as well as [al-Nusra Front], and all other individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with Al Qaeda, and other terrorist groups."
It also asks the countries to intensify their efforts to stem the flow of foreign terrorist fighters to Iraq and Syria to suppress the financing of terrorism.
Full report at:
http://www.worldbulletin.net/europe/166552/un-adopts-french-resolution-on-fighting-isil
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Mideast
Tehran says UN resolution against Iran, Russia 'gift to terrorists'
Nov 20, 2015
Iran says a resolution by the UN General Assembly's human rights committee against Iran and Russia over their involvement in Syria is a “gift” to terrorists and extremists.
The non-binding resolution is aimed at undermining the campaign against terrorism and extremism and will only discredit the UN and its General Assembly, Iran’s Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gholam Hossein Dehqani said on Friday.
The resolution, authored by Saudi Arabia and co-sponsored by Qatar and other Arab countries, the United States and other Western powers, was adopted by the 193-nation General Assembly's Third Committee on Thursday. There were 115 votes in favor, 15 against and 51 abstentions.
The resolution condemns and calls for an immediate end to all attacks against what it describes as the Syrian moderate opposition. It claims that such attacks benefit Daesh and other terrorist groups, including al-Nusra Front.
Dehqani warned of the “adverse consequences” of the resolution on the UN reputation and said Iranian military forces are present in Syria upon an official request by the Syrian government to provide consultations to the war-hit country.
“Therefore, the adoption of such a text is a violation of international regulations and a breach of governments’ right to establish peace in their own territory,” the Iranian envoy pointed out.
He said such claims are aimed at taking revenge against forces that have so far played the most effective role in the battle against terrorism and extremism, adding that Daesh terrorists would have overran more areas in the Middle East in the absence of such forces.
The Iranian diplomat once again reiterated that the resolution would act as an award for extremists and terrorists as well as all those who use financial and logistical resources to spread extremist and terrorist ideologies.
Dehqani emphasized that the adoption of such resolutions was the outcome of the structurally flawed UN human rights mechanism.
Syrian forces hold a position near Aleppo's citadel on November 9, 2015, a few days after the army destroyed a tunnel used by militants near the monumental 13th century fortress. © AFP
Since the beginning of the Syria crisis in March 2011, Iran has been providing military consultations to the Syrian government in its battle against terrorist groups. Iranian officials have announced time and again that Tehran only has an advisory role in the Arab country and has no combat troops on the ground.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/20/438478/Iran-Syria-UN-General-Assembly-Dehqani-Daesh-
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About 400 Palestinian children held in Israeli jails: Rights group
Nov 21, 2015
A rights group says nearly 400 Palestinian children ranging from 13 to 17 years old are currently being held in Israeli jails.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) said in a statement on Friday that most of the children had been arrested by Israeli forces across the occupied Palestinian lands since the beginning of October, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.
The statement pointed out that Israeli forces arrested roughly 700 Palestinian children across the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in the course of the current uprising that surged early last month.
It also noted that many of those released on bail were being kept under house arrest.
According to the group, the arrested Palestinian children are held at interrogation and detention centers with no food or water.
The statement said all children captured by Israeli troops were subjected to different types of torture and forced to make confession through physical and verbal coercion.
More than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in some 17 Israeli jails, dozens of whom are serving multiple life sentences. About 540 Palestinians are being held without trial under the so-called administrative detention.
Administrative detention is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/21/438496/Israel-The-Palestinian-Prisoners-Society-PPS-West-Bank-alQuds
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Putin to meet Khamenei during visit to Iran
Nov 21, 2015
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a visit to Tehran on Monday, the Kremlin said, as Moscow goes on a diplomatic push over the Syria conflict.
Talks with Iran’s leadership will focus on “issues in bilateral relations, including atomic energy, oil and gas and military-technical cooperation”, Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said on Friday, with the Russian president also set to meet his counterpart Hassan Rouhani.
After the visit to Tehran — Putin’s first there since 2007 — the Russian leader will host Jordanian King Abdullah II on Tuesday and French leader Francois Hollande on Thursday in Russia.
Russia and Iran are both militarily backing forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with Moscow flying a bombing campaign and Iran believed to command thousands of troops on the ground.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221079/putin-to-meet-khamenei-during-visit-to-iran
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Iranian Researchers Build Fully Automatic VTOL Drone
Nov 21, 2015
The 'Hodhod 3' drone, which was put on display at an exhibition in Tehran, is capable of flying for 53 minutes and can carry some loads.
The VTOL drone doesn’t need any runway for taking off and landing, and can continue flight even after one of its engines is damaged.
It can also be used for simultaneously sending information to the command center, returning home in emergency situations, and full automatically taking off and landing out of the pilot's sight.
In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems, including the UAVs.
In March, the Iranian defense researchers built the country's first home-made VTOL drone with particular specifications.
Full report at:
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940830000293
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Turkish police ‘detain suspected ISIS scout’ in Paris attacks
21 November 2015
Turkish police have detained a Belgian man of Moroccan origin on suspicion that he scouted out the target sites for ISIS in attacks that killed 129 people in Paris a week ago, the Dogan news agency said on Saturday.
Ahmet Dahmani, 26, was detained at a luxury hotel in the southern coastal city of Antalya, Dogan said, without citing its sources. Turkish officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Full report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/21/Turkish-police-detain-suspected-ISIS-scout-in-Paris-attacks-.html
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Turkey summons Russian envoy over bombing of Turkmens in Syria
20 November 2015
Turkey has summoned Russia's ambassador in protest over the "intensive" bombing of Turkmen villages in northern Syria by Russian warplanes, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters on Friday.
In the meeting with the ambassador, Andrei Karlov, Turkey called for an immediate end to the Russian military operation, which is near the Turkish border, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"It was stressed that the Russian side's actions were not a fight against terror, but they bombed civilian Turkmen villages and this could lead to serious consequences," the foreign ministry said.
Ankara has traditionally expressed solidarity with the Syrian Turkmen, who are Syrians of Turkish descent.
Full report at:
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/20/Turkey-summons-Russian-envoy-over-bombing-of-Turkmens-in-Syria.html
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Russian president to meet Ayatollah Khamenei on Monday: Kremlin
Nov 20, 2015
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to meet with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei during his visit to Iran next week, the Kremlin says.
Yuri Ushakov, the Russian president's foreign policy aide, told reporters on Friday that the meeting will be held in the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday.
The two sides will discuss "issues in bilateral relations, including atomic energy, oil and gas, and military-technical cooperation," Ushakov said.
Putin will also attend the third summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Tehran on Monday.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/11/20/438488/Russia-Putin-Iran-Ayatollah-Khamenei-Tehran-Rouhani
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India
Lawyers’ outfit launches move to prevent radicalisation of Muslim youth
Nov 21, 2015
Acknowledging the growing influence of the Islamic State (IS) in India, members of the Maharashtra Lawyers Society, an NGO that works for welfare of the legal fraternity and society, announced a programme Friday that aims to prevent radicalisation of Muslim youth. The members claimed that many Muslim youth are unknowingly getting influenced by the Islamic State (IS) ideology.
With the help of 10,000 members, the association hopes to identify youth prone to radicalisation and prevent them from joining the IS. Instead, they will encourage them to join the Indian civil services. They plan to do this by assigning a team of three lawyers at every local police station. These members will speak to religious preachers and family members to ensure their youth are not led astray. The youth will also be educated about legal consequences.
The members made demands that people brainwashing the youth should be slapped with sedition charges. “They are the main conspirators, but there is no law against brainwashing. These people should be charged with sedition,” said Ejaz Naqvi, chairman of the Maharashtra Lawyers Society.
Full report at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/lawyers-outfit-launches-move-to-prevent-radicalisation-of-muslim-youth/
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North America
Donald Trump's remarks on registering Muslims shocking: Hillary Clinton
Nov 20, 2015
WaSHINGTON: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Friday condemned as "shocking rhetoric" Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump's comments that Muslims in the US should be registered in a data base.
"This is shocking rhetoric. It should be denounced by all seeking to lead this country," Clinton said in a tweet, a day after Trump in an interview did not rule out a Muslim database, if elected to power.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a Republican presidential candidate also denounced the idea.
"You talk about internment, you talk about closing mosques, you talk about registering people — that's just wrong," Bush told CNBC in an interview.
"It's not a question of toughness. It's manipulating people's angst and their fears. That's not strength; that's weakness," he said.
Trump, however, insisted on his idea of a database of the Muslims.
"I would certainly implement that, absolutely," he told the NBC news last night.
Trump was asked by NBC News whether he would support creating a database system to track Muslims.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Donald-Trumps-remarks-on-registering-Muslims-shocking-Hillary-Clinton/articleshow/49864291.cms
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Two men temporarily kept off US flight after speaking Arabic
Nov 21, 2015
NEW YORK: Two men were kept from boarding a flight from Chicago to Philadelphia this week because they were speaking Arabic, one of several incidents reflecting public paranoia since the Paris attacks.
Maher Khalil and Anas Ayyad were told by a gate agent at Midway Airport on Thursday that they wouldn't be allowed on the plane because a fellow passenger had overheard them speaking Arabic – and was afraid to fly with them.
Also read: After Paris, fear and love for Muslims.
The two friends reportedly of Palestinian origin and in their late 20s, were eventually allowed on the Southwest flight, but only after being questioned by airport security and police, who Khalil told the local NBC television affiliate he had called himself.
Once on board, Khalil said some passengers made him open a white box he was carrying – filled, it turns out, with sweets.
"So I shared my baklava with them," he was quoted as saying.
Southwest Airlines told AFP in a statement the flight "departed a few minutes behind schedule" after airline employees "completed conversations with customers who approached us during the boarding process," without providing more details.
Similar incidents have reportedly taken place on other US domestic flights in the wake of last week's attacks in the French capital that killed 130 people, which were claimed by the self-styled Islamic State (IS) extremists.
The militants group, which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq, has also threatened attacks in the US, including releasing a propaganda video singling out New York.
On Wednesday, six men identified by fellow passengers as being of Middle Eastern descent were removed from a Southwest flight bound for Houston at Chicago's Midway after they asked to switch seats, causing a commotion, the local ABC affiliate reported.
"Our crews were unable to resolve the situation without delaying the flight so we rebooked the customers on a later flight that same day," Southwest said in a statement.
Humiliating treatment
The following day, a Spirit Airlines flight en route to Minneapolis returned to Fort Lauderdale after a young passenger "heard what she believed to be a conversation during which the subject made a remark about blowing up the plane," according to a police report quoted by the Sun Sentinel newspaper.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1221272/two-men-temporarily-kept-off-us-flight-after-speaking-arabic
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Trump slammed over Muslim database plan
November 21, 2015
special correspondent/Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON - Republican Presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s comments about Muslims in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks have drawn rebukes from the top candidate for Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, as well as some of his Republican rivals.
After Trump expressed support for creation of a mandatory database to track Muslims in the United States, Mrs. Clinton tweeted Friday: “This is shocking rhetoric. It should be denounced by all seeking to lead this country.”
Jeb Bush, a Republican opponent, told CNBC: “There are no Christian terrorists wandering around the world trying to take out peace-loving Muslims — this is a serious problem but it does not mean we should be disrespectful of Muslims in our country or anything like that. In fact, I find it abhorrent that Donald Trump is suggesting that we register people.”
Ultra-conservative Ted Cruz also jumped into the fray, saying, “I’m a big fan of Donald Trump’s but I’m not a fan of government registries of American citizens. The First Amendment protects religious liberty, I’ve spent the past several decades defending religious liberty.” Trump, who has talked about required registration for Muslims, warrantless searches, and possibly closing mosques, told NBC News on Thursday when asked about a database: “I would certainly implement that. Absolutely.”
When asked how a system of registering Muslims would be carried out - whether, for instance, mosques would be where people could register - Mr. Trump said: “Different places. You sign up at different places. But it’s all about management. Our country has no management.’’ Asked later, as he signed autographs, how such a database would be different from Jews having to register in Nazi Germany, Trump repeatedly said, “You tell me,” until he stopped responding to the question.
The remarks, which were made public on Thursday night, took hours to penetrate over social media. But by Friday morning, Democrats were calling him out. The exchange reflects the escalating American political rhetoric a week after the attacks in Paris. In an interview with Yahoo News earlier this week, Trump said: “We’re going to have to - we’re going to have to look at a lot of things very closely.”
Most Americans want the US to stop letting in Syrian refugees amid fears of terrorist infiltrations after the Paris attacks, siding with Republican presidential candidates, governors, and lawmakers who want to freeze the Obama administration’s resettlement program, the Bloomberg has reported.
The findings are part of a Bloomberg Politics national poll released Wednesday that also shows the nation divided on whether to send US troops to Iraq and Syria to fight the Islamic State, an idea President Barack Obama opposes, and whether the US government is doing enough to protect the homeland from a comparable attack.
Fifty-three percent of US adults in the survey, conducted in the days immediately following the attacks, say the nation should not continue a program to resettle up to 10,000 Syrian refugees. Just 28 percent would keep the program with the screening process as it now exists, while 11 percent said they would favor a limited program to accept only Syrian Christians while excluding Muslims, a proposal Obama has dismissed as “shameful” and un-American.
More broadly, terrorism and the Islamic State group surged to the top of Americans’ concerns immediately following the deadly attacks, even as Republicans and Democrats remain divided over how best to address threats. The percentage of those rating terrorism or the Islamic State as top concerns has nearly doubled since the poll last was taken in September. At the same time, those who think the US is on the right track fell to 23 percent, the lowest rating in more than three years. Obama’s disapproval rating rose to 51 percent, up 4 percentage points since September.
Full report at:
http://nation.com.pk/international/21-Nov-2015/trump-slammed-over-muslim-database-plan
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