Muslim Medical Students Boycotting Lectures on Evolution... Because it 'Clashes with the Koran'
Egypt: Conflicting emotions behind a 1st-time vote
Amid Cries of Betrayal Pak Buries its 24 dead
NATO attack: Ulema mull issuing fatwa for jihad
More abductions and killings in Balochistan
Gujarat: The few good men upholding justice
Gender disparity is devouring women in Pakistan
Maldives Foreign Ministry opposes UN Human Rights Commissioner’s call for debate on flogging
Saudi Women lawyers call for expediting rules to streamline their practice
Kadar tortured on false allegation, says probe report
The Eye Hunter! Egypt cop shoots protesters in the eye
11 killed in Iraq suicide bombing outside jail
Two killed, 11 wounded as Karachi heating up again
Suicide car bomber kills 19 in Iraq
Eliminating gender inequality essential for development,: Maldives President
Taliban paid £100 a month to stop fighting
India-Maldives ties moving forward
Pakistan military rejects NATO chief's regret on soldiers' killing, warns of 'grave consequences'
Pakistan seek US extradition over ‘honour killing’
NATO knew it was Pakistani check post: Islamabad
China on NATO strike: Respect Pakistan's sovereignty
Pakistanis demand end to US alliance
J&K: CrPC amendment awaits Army nod
Army not master of people, should focus on infiltration: Farooq Abdullah
Philippines beats India to emerge as leader in call centre business
Pakistan secretly helps, publicly hits U.S. interests
Bahrain king forms follow-up panel on rights
2 key senators call for tough line with Pakistan
Egyptians vote to usher in democracy after revolution
UAE: Shoura demands Qatif troublemakers be tried
Libya leader thanks Sudan for weapons
Lebanon will not implement Syria sanctions: minister
Jeddah: 130 detained on terrorism charges freed after rehab
Riyadh: Maid found with nails in her body
Syrians protest Arab sanctions
Iran body passes law expelling British ambassador
France says days of Syrian government are numbered
Five jailed UAE activists 'receive presidential pardon'
Bangladesh Cabinet reshuffle tonight, says source
Pakistan business hits at barriers to India trade
Pak PM skips son's wedding party for emergency meeting
Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan fight opium smuggling
Cartoon character King Julien for President of Pakistan!
Compiled By New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/muslim-medical-students-boycotting-lectures/d/6009
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Muslim medical students boycotting lectures on evolution... because it 'clashes with the Koran'
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
28th November 2011
Conflict: An increasing number of Muslim biology students are boycotting lectures on the theories of Charles Darwin
Muslim students, including trainee doctors on one of Britain's leading medical courses, are walking out of lectures on evolution claiming it conflicts with creationist ideas established in the Koran.
Professors at University College London have expressed concern over the increasing number of biology students boycotting lectures on Darwinist theory, which form an important part of the syllabus, citing their religion.
Similar to the beliefs expressed by fundamentalist Christians, Muslim opponents to Darwinism maintain that Allah created the world, mankind and all known species in a single act.
Steve Jones emeritus professor of human genetics at university college London has questioned why such students would want to study biology at all when it obviously conflicts with their beliefs.
If 745 youngsters are out of work in my town, why can't I find a recruit?
Gove's drive to restore school standards is the best answer to the youth jobless crisis
He told the Sunday Times: 'I had one or two slightly frisky discussions years ago with kids who belonged to fundamentalist Christian churches, now it is Islamic overwhelmingly.
One of Muslim author Harun Yaha's articles denouncing Darwinism
Theories: Turkish creationist Yahya associates Darwinism with Nazism
'They don't come [to lectures] or they complain about it or they send notes or emails saying they shouldn't have to learn this stuff.
'What they object to - and I don't really understand it, I am not religious - they object to the idea that there is a random process out there which is not directed by God.'
Earlier this year Usama Hasan, iman of the Masjid al-Tawhid mosque in Leyton, received death threats for suggesting that Darwinism and Islam might be compatible.
Sources within the group Muslims4UK partly blame the growing popularity of creationist beliefs within Islam on Turkish author Harun Yahya who, influenced by the success of Christian creationists in America, has written several books denouncing Darwinist theory.
Yahya associates Dawinism with Nazism and his books are and videos are available at many Islamic bookshops in the UK and regularly feature on Islamic television channels.
Speakers regularly tour Britain lecturing on Yahya's beliefs.
Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has expressed his concern at the walkouts
One such lecture was given at UCL in 2008 and this year's talks have been given in London, Manchester, Leeds, Dundee and Glasgow.
Evolutionary Biologist and former Oxford Professor Richard Dawkins has expressed his concern at the number of students, consisting almost entirely of Muslims, who do not attend or walk out of lectures
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066795/Muslim-students-walking-lectures-Darwinism-clashes-Koran.html
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Egypt: Conflicting emotions behind a 1st-time vote
SARAH EL DEEB,
Nov 29, 2011,
CAIRO: It was my first time voting in a parliamentary election in the 20 years I have been eligible. Getting to this moment was a journey from excitement to dismay, and finally empowerment.
Ten days ago, I was overjoyed with these elections. I sifted through candidate names and talked to colleagues and friends about who could best represent us.
There was no question about voting under Hosni Mubarak, the president for most of my life. Leave aside the rampant rigging - the candidates were recycled from previous elections, either hand-picked by the ruling party or ambitious independents with local connections who, as soon as they won their race, would just join the ruling party.
Violence was a staple of the polls, and riots at the ballot box often left prospective voters dead or injured. I got a taste of it in 2000 while covering a Cairo voting center. I got the worst beating of my life at the hands of two female toughs who were on the government payroll, as one of them confessed when we spent more than 12 hours together under arrest in a police station. It was the regime's way of driving journalists away from polling stations.
Even the registration process was intended to dissuade voting. We had to register in municipal offices during a single month early in the year long before the vote, and our names were vetted by the Interior Ministry. Voter rosters included names of the dead and many names were repeated. Names of some eligible voters sometimes just disappeared. The only time I considered voting was in the 2005 presidential elections, the first with multiple candidates. But the announcement was made, ironically, after the registration period closed.
With the fall of Mubarak in February, this was my chance to vote for a candidate of my own choosing.
But my excitement faded when protests erupted in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Nov. 19 as revolutionaries raised their voices against the ruling military that replaced Mubarak and were met by force.
More than 40 protesters were killed in the week leading up to the elections as people took to the streets to demand the military cede power to a civilian government. I was covering Tahrir when the protesters were chased away by attacking security forces. I ran for my life for several kilometers, my nose bleeding from a stone hurled during the melee as soldiers fired in the air to disperse us. I witnessed clashes between policemen and protesters and volleys of tear gas and sometimes bullets in a standoff that lasted for five days.
The bloodshed brought sharp clarity to the problems I have with the election: The vote and the parliament that would result had no flavor - it was a dish that should bring joy but had no taste.
Part of the reason was a feeling that the results were a foregone conclusion. Islamist groups, the most organized political force, have been far better prepared for the race, while other parties have been divided.
But for many, it was also a matter of principle. We wondered how there could be free and fair elections under a military that over the past nearly 10 months has done next to nothing to uproot the remnants Mubarak's regime. Even the importance of the next parliament was in question. Ruling generals spoke on TV of how little say it would have over the coming period.
Many people around me decided to boycott.
My best friend, Selma Abou-el-Dahab, said she would not vote. After I thought I had convinced her to cast her ballot, she said, "As I long as I live feeling that Egyptians' lives are cheap, I will not participate in theatricals that serve to solidify military rule."
I thought of the referendum on the process of the transition period that took place in March, the first vote of any kind after Mubarak. I did participate in that, and it was a day of celebration. Now, it seemed to me a shattered hope.
At a dinner in a restaurant on the eve of Monday's elections, my waiter said, "Nothing good has ever come of elections. They never bring those who deserve it." His comments rang true after a week of clashes and deaths: Again, elections were bloodied. Little, really, has changed.
Still, I believed my vote would make a difference. I wanted to be part of a new national consciousness to choose the future.
Early Monday morning, I arrived at the polling station an hour before it opened. The line of people waiting stretched around the corner. The determination of so many people to play a part in the transition to democracy settled any hesitation I might have had.
For a moment, I panicked when I couldn't find my name in the rosters - a sudden fear that the manipulation of the Mubarak-era was happening again. It turned out I was standing in the wrong line.
In the correct line, Abeer Mohammed el-Muadawi, a 38-year old freelance photographer, was voting for the first time, like me. For her it was settled. "Being here, I am supporting those in Tahrir. I am voting to replace the vote of one of those who died in Tahrir."
Putting an X by the candidate of my choice made the rationale for voting clear.
For me, it is the obituary for an era when I watched elections rigged, people killed casting their vote, and others smothered in apathy. It is also an introduction to the Egypt I am going to write about and live in from now on.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Egypt-Conflicting-emotions-behind-a-1st-time-vote/articleshow/10915406.cms?prtpage=1
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Amid Cries of Betrayal Pak Buries its 24 dead
Nov. 28, 2011
PAKISTAN on Sunday buried 24 troops killed in a Nato cross- border air attack that has pushed towards rupture relations between the US and an ally it needs to fight terrorism.
Foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar spoke with US state secretary Hillary Clinton by telephone early on Sunday to convey the deep sense of rage felt across Pakistan.
“ This negates the progress made by the two countries on improving relations and forces Pakistan to revisit the terms of engagement,” a ministry statement quoted Khar as telling her US counterpart.
Nato helicopters and fighter jets based in Afghanistan had attacked two military outposts on Saturday, killing the soldiers in what Pakistan said was an unprovoked assault.
But a Western official and a senior Afghan security official said on Sunday that Nato and Afghan forces had come under fire from across the border with Pakistan before the Nato aircraft attacked the Pakistani army posts, killing 24 soldiers. Officials were also quoted by the media as saying 28 were killed.
US and Nato officials are trying to defuse tensions but the soldiers’ deaths are testing a bad marriage of convenience between Washington and Islamabad.
Alliance secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen stopped short of issuing a full apology to Pakistan PM Yousaf Raza Gilani. “ This was a tragic and unintended incident,” he said in a statement, adding that he fully supported a Nato probe that was under way.
“ I have written to the PM of Pakistan to make it clear that the deaths of Pakistani personnel are as unacceptable and deplorable as the deaths of Afghan and international personnel,” Rasmussen’s statement added.
US defence secretary Leon Panetta and Clinton also offered condolences. They stressed the importance of the US- Pakistani partnership and pledged to remain in close contact with Pakistan through the challenging time.
But all this is unlikely to cool tempers. Many Pakistanis believe their army is fighting a war against terrorists that only serves Western interests. “ US stabs Pakistan in the back, again,” said a headline in the Daily Times . Television stations showed the coffins of the soldiers draped in green and white Pakistani flags in a prayer ceremony at the headquarters of the regional command in Peshawar attended by army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.
Pakistan shut down Nato supply routes into Afghanistan in retaliation for the worst such attack since Islamabad uneasily allied itself with Washington after 9/ 11.
Khar also informed Clinton that Pakistan wants the US to vacate a drone base in the country.
About 500 members of Jamaate- Islami, Pakistan’s most influential religious party, staged a protest in Mohmand, where the attack took place. “ Down with America and jihad is the only answer to America,” they yelled. Thousands gathered outside the US consulate in Karachi to protest.
Pakistan is also reviewing plans to attend an international conference in Bonn next month on the future of Afghanistan in the light of the attack. It has responded by saying it reserves the right to retaliate.
Pakistan’s army, one of the world’s largest, may see the Nato incursion from Afghanistan as a chance to reassert itself, especially since the deaths of the soldiers are likely to unite generals and politicians, whose ties are normally uneasy.
At the Pakistani crossings on Sunday, hundreds of trucks carrying supplies to US- led troops in Afghanistan backed up, leaving them vulnerable to terrorist attack. Tensions could rise further if that happened.
Suspected terrorists had destroyed 150 trucks a year ago after Pakistan closed one of its crossings to Nato supplies.
The situation could be more dire this time because Pakistan has closed both its crossings — at Torkham in the northwest tribal area and Chaman in Balochistan.
“ We are worried,” said driver Saeed Khan, speaking by telephone.
“ This area is always vulnerable to attacks. Sometimes rockets are lobbed at us. Sometimes we are targeted by bombs.” Some Pakistanis doubt their leaders have the resolve to challenge the US. “ This government is cowardly. It will do nothing,” said Peshawar shopkeeper Sabir Khan. “ Similar attacks happened in the past, but what have they done?”
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=28112011
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NATO attack: Ulema mull issuing fatwa for jihad
By Moazam Baig
LAHORE: November 28, 2011 , The ulema of different schools of thought are discussing whether a fatwa for jihad should be issued against NATO and ISAF forces after a deadly attack on a Pakistan army checkpost.
Talking to Daily Times on Sunday, Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Allama Tahir Ashrafi strongly condemned the NATO attack and said that the PUC had contacted different ulema in this regard. He said that all of them resented the incident and had called for a joint ulema meeting regarding the future course of action. They said that they would decide what to do in this meeting in accordance with Sharia, what the government would do and what the people would do if the government did not take any action.
Earlier, different religious parties including Hizbut Tahrir, Al-Muhammdia Students Organisation, Sunni Tehrik, Shabab-e-Milli and PML-Q’s youth wing staged protests in the provincial capital against the NATO attack in front of the Lahore Press Club while Jamaat-e-Islami held a protest meeting at the same venue.
The protesters chanted anti-US slogans and blamed the government for not taking any solid action in this regard. The leaders and activists of different parties said that the time had come for religious parties and scholars to begin their struggle against the West.
The protest continued for four hours, during which protesters from all parts of Lahore gathered there. They said that the West had been able to divide the Islamic states because it feared the strength of Muslims as a single and united force. They emphasised that the relationship between Pakistan and the US was not an exception.
They said that religious councils and parties would keep putting pressure on the government to reject Western intervention and focus on national interests. They said that the Western influence was forcing the government away from its people.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\28\story_28-11-2011_pg13_6
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More abductions and killings in Balochistan
While Baloch mourn the death of Jalil Reki and Younus Baloch, Pakistan security forces abducted four more Baloch son of soil. In the early hours of 25 November, 2011, Wazeer Reki Baloch, a local journalist, was on his way to Mashkel Town when unknown plain-clothed armed men along with Frontier Corps (FC) stopped him. They checked his Identity Card to make sure he was the person they wanted and then whisked him away. According to eye-witnesses account the abductors also beaten up the Wazir Reki on scene of abduction.
Relatives informed media sources those six days before the abductions of Wazeer Khan; the Pakistani secret agencies had also abducted one of his nephews, Hamid Reki. The family members further said that Wazeer Reki and Abdul Hameed Reki were not affiliated with any political parties. The family has expressed grave concerns about their safety and well-being.
Separately, two Marri Baloch namely, Haji Gull Khan Marri, a tribal elder and Peerhan Marri have been abducted from Kohlu town and Chamalang areas. They were abducted on 21 and 22 of November 2011, respectively.
Bodies found: The bodies of BNM activist Naku Khair Bux Baloch was found from Lasbella district of Balochistan, on Sunday evening. Khair Bux was off-loaded from a passenger vehicle by FC on 27 October 2011 when he was on his way to Jahao his native area.
Similarly an unidentified boy of a youth was discovered from New Saryaab area of Quetta. The body has been shifted to hospital and kept in morgue for identifications. However, those who have seen the body said that from the appearances it matched the looks of a Baloch person.
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Gujarat: The few good men upholding justice
Nov. 28 2011
THE COLOUR of blood is directly proportional to its proximity to power. Distance only dilutes it. Those who shout themselves hoarse from the Opposition benches in Parliament at the targeting of whistleblowers, turn defenders of the same persecution in Gujarat where the rulers are often called to account for extra- judicial killings. Is blood really thicker than water or do politically tinted lenses cause a chameleon- like change in positions? A day after the Gujarat High Court accepted the SIT report stating in no uncertain terms that Ishrat Jahan — the 19- year- old student from Mumbra — was murdered by the men in uniform, a BJP worker aggressively defended the killing. The line of argument is clear — ‘ So what if Ishrat and three others were killed in a different spot and presented elsewhere and so what if the killing was staged? There were specific inputs from central Intelligence Bureau. Were they not terrorists? Cops were only killing the bad guys. It is only the media that is making a big deal about it.’ This foot soldier of the party only symbolised the malady that has now overwhelmed the party at the highest level in Gujarat.
While at the national level, the BJP is raising the issue of whistleblowers being arrested, in their own backyard, they have a different yardstick for justice. Remorse and regret are remote in Gujarat’s security establishment.
The lid from this messy killing was first blown in 2009 by a metropolitan judge, S. P. Tamang, who was asked to carry out an inquiry into the alleged fake encounter.
Unbiased, the judge did not hesitate calling this a cold- blooded murder in his over 200 pages- long handwritten report. The whistleblower was pilloried immediately.
The government spokesperson Jainarayan Vyas had even questioned the legal standing of the inquiry. An inquiry was ordered against Tamang, after the state government moved a petition in the high court seeking the scrapping of his report for being “ illegal and doubtful.” Subsequently, the high court constituted a three- member SIT to probe into the allegations of the killings being staged. One of the members of the team, Satish Verma, in January this year, came out with an affidavit stating that the alleged encounter was indeed murder.
The 1986- batch IPS officer’s whistleblower act wasn’t taken kindly by the state government and in its signature fashion, an old case pertaining to an RDX landing at Gosabara near Porbandar in 1993 was resurrected against him. During the course of his illustrious career, Verma is said to have slapped Yatin Ojha, an active BJP worker and advocate and arrested BJP MLA Shankar Chaudhary for rioting.
Verma, along with his colleagues Atul Karwal and S. Zala, is facing allegations that he had let off Sattar Maulana, a key accused in the RDX case.
Verma moved the high court seeking redress and in his petition pointed out that the PIL, which was used to resurrect the case against him, was filed by Ojha in 2005 and even the state government had earlier accepted that the PIL was not really in public interest but was more of personal vengeance.
Meanwhile, as the probe gathered momentum and the cops started feeling the heat, they moved the high court seeking the probe be transferred to the CBI, which the state government has been calling Congress Bureau of Investigation all along.
Satish Verma or Tamang are certainly not cases in isolation and stories have been written ad nauseum listing the officers who have been bearing the brunt in the state for exposing the unsavoury face of governance.
As the Gujarat High Court on Monday accepted the SIT report, vindicating the whistleblowers, what now stares in the face of everyone is the duplicity of the BJP, which changes its stand as it moves from power to the opposition and vice versa.
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=28112011
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Gender disparity is devouring women in Pakistan
By Abdul Rehman Iqbal
November 28, 2011, Molana Tair Ashrafi said that it was really frustrating to see talk shows and TV programmes giving little space to issues like gender inequality and added that even op-eds gave scanty space to such topics that had direct bearing on people’s psychological and physical lives.
Molana Tahir Ashrafi gave these remarks in his programme, Din-o-Dunya, at Business Plus on Saturday. Molana Tahir took it on himself to point out the atrocities meted out to women in our culture today and to search for a solution to these.
Head of Jamia-al-Manzoor-al-Islamia and Islamic scholar Pir Saifullah Kahlid and prominent journalist, analyst and thinker Mehmal Sarfraz were invited to discuss discrimination against Muslim women in an Islamic country like Pakistan. Pir Saifullah started his conversation by discounting the prevalent attitude of a Pakistani Muslim towards women, saying that when someone negated the presence of women, he actually negated reality and the very essence of the creation of this universe. Women were as much part of this world as any other creature. Delving upon the practice of taking daughters as a liability in the pre-Islamic era, Pir Saifullah quoted a verse from the holy Quran that picturesquely sketched the situation of those times: “When the birth of a girl is announced to any of them, his face darkens and he is filled with gloom. In his shame he hides himself away from this people, because of bad news he has been given, should he keep her and face disgrace or bury her in the dust? Ah, what an evil choice they decide on.”[16:58,59].
The situation has not changed, even today we feel disgraced on the birth of a daughter and seek to kill her, if not physically, then by depriving her of her rights to education, health, and social participation, said Pir Saifullah. Commenting on the practices of killing women in the name of honour and alienating them from the social, political and economic arena, Mehmal Sarfraz held religious scholars responsible for not using important occasions and places, such as sermons during Friday prayers and other congregational events, to create awareness among the masses with regard to the ruling of the holy Quran on the status of women. “We have to understand that women are equal to men and no one can clip her of her rights to work, move free and decide about her career” said Mehmal.
Full Report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\28\story_28-11-2011_pg7_27
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Maldives Foreign Ministry opposes UN Human Rights Commissioner’s call for debate on flogging
By Eleanor Johnstone
November 27th, 2011
e Foreign Ministry does not support open debates on issues raised by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, namely the provision for flogging as a punishment for extra-marital intercourse and the requirement that all Maldivians be Muslims.
What’s there to discuss about flogging?” Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem was reported as saying in newspaper Haveeru. “There is nothing to debate about in a matter clearly stated in the religion of Islam. No one can argue with God.”
peaking to Minivan News, Naseem confirmed his statement but did not wish to comment further.
illay said flogging was “a form of punishment that is cruel and demeaning to women” and observed that in her travels in Islamic countries “apart from the Maldives and one other country that practices stoning, flogging is not a practice that is condoned.”
he further claimed that the Maldives is signatory to international treaties that are legally-binding obligations, “and such a practice conflicts with these obligations undertaken by the Maldives.” She said human rights conforms with Islam.
aseem today advised Minivan News that the Maldives had submitted certain reservations to said conventions, including articles on gender equality and freedom of religion, and on these points the country could not be held legally accountable by an international body.
illay also called for amendments to the constitutional provision mandating subscription to Islam.
Since her press conference on Thursday, November 24, protestors bearing slogans “Ban UN,” “Flog Pillay” and “Defend Islam” have demanded apologies from Pillay and Parliament, and called for Pillay to be prosecuted in the Maldives for her comments about the national constitution.
Full Report at:
http://minivannews.com/politics/foreign-ministry-opposes-un-human-rights-commissioners-call-for-debate-on-flogging-28742
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Saudi Women lawyers call for expediting rules to streamline their practice
By MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN | ARAB NEWS
JEDDAH: Nov 28, 2011, Saudi women lawyers have launched a campaign to urge the Justice Ministry to expedite the issuance of rules and regulations to professionalize their work.
They said the ministry has been studying these regulations for too long.
Bayan Zahran, the Saudi lawyer leading the campaign, told Arab News the lawyers were not accusing the ministry of any slackness but were hoping that it would issue the rules very soon.
“Saudi women lawyers have been working in the courts for many years. They have been doing this work through representation but without formal licenses,” she said. “Working in this way and without official licenses is detrimental to the profession,” she added.
Zahran said women who graduate from law schools could not find any place for training, unlike their male counterparts.
“Women lawyers cannot open legal offices as such a step would require a formal license to practice law in addition to three years of experience,” she explained.
Bayan said there were more than 2,000 women graduates from law colleges in addition to a large number of students.
“All these graduates are not able to find legal jobs because the government departments with legal sections are not yet ready to employ them,” she said.
Bayan hoped the new rules professionalizing the work of women lawyers would include steps to find employment for them in government departments, especially those with a large number of women employees such as the health and education ministries.
Director of the ministry’s department of lawyers Sheikh Abdullah Al-Juwair said a study on the organization of the work of female lawyers had been completed and would soon be approved.
He said under the new regulations, women lawyers would be allowed to open offices for legal and Shariah consultancy and to appear before courts, especially in cases involving women.
“Many women would shy away from going to legal offices manned entirely by men, so opening women legal offices would solve their problem,” he said.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article539584.ece
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Kadar tortured on false allegation, says probe report
Star Online Report, November 28, 2011
A judicial probe report submitted to the High Court on Monday said Abdul Kadar, a Dhaka University student, was arrested and tortured in police custody on the basis of false allegations.
Cases were filed against Kadar without hearing his statement and without enquiring about his identity, and it has been found that the police personnel were seriously negligent, arbitrary and unjust in treating him, the report said.
Deputy Attorney General ABM Altaf Hossain placed the 40-page probe report before an HC bench which may pass an order on the issue later in the day.
Ashish Ranjan Das, a secretary (in charge) to the law ministry who investigated the incident of arrest and torture of Kadar, on Sunday sent the report to the Attorney General office for placing it before the HC.
The secretary also recommended termination of Helal Uddin, officer-in-charge (OC) of Khilgaon Police Station, for torturing Kadar in custody.
Earlier on November 3, a Dhaka court acquitted Abdul Kadar of an arms case, one of three cases he was implicated in.
Investigation of the two other cases in connection with robbery and carjacking is underway.
The cases were filed after Kadar was picked up by Khilgaon police from the capital's Segunbagicha on July 16.
Full Report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=34017
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The Eye Hunter! Egypt cop shoots protesters in the eye
Daily Mail, Nov. 28, 2011
AN EGYPTIAN police officer, dubbed by protesters ‘ The Eye Hunter’, is suspected of targeting demonstrators by shooting them in the eyes.
First Lieutenant Mahmoud Sobhi El Shinawi has been ordered by Egypt’s general prosecutor to submit to questioning over the suspected shootings.
Video evidence recorded by protesters allegedly show that El Shinawi was involved in the attacks on at least five demonstrators, which have been posted on Facebook.
A spokesperson for the country’s general prosecutor told CNN: “ The interior minister is preoccupied by the latest events, but he will come in for questioning soon.” And protesters, who call El Shinawi ‘ The Eye Hunter’ want justice too and have sprayed graffiti spelling ‘ wanted’ over images of his face, name and rank on Tahrir Square walls in Cairo.
Protesters have also been handing out fliers in the square identifying him and offering a reward of 5,000 Egyptian pounds for information leading to El Shinawi. He is said to be a ‘ highly trained marksman’, CNN was told by an interior ministry spokesperson.
One victim, Ahmed Harrara, was blinded by being shot in both eyes in separate attacks 10 months apart. The bullet is still lodged in his eye socket, but he told the broadcaster: “ My spirits are high, and I should be travelling to Switzerland within the next 10 days for tests and operations.” Their hunt for The Eye Hunter was put on hold on Sunday though as violence returned to Tahrir Square during Egypt’s latest protests, which has left one man dead.
Nov. 28, 2011
http://epaper.mailtoday.in/epaperhome.aspx?issue=28112011
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11 killed in Iraq suicide bombing outside jail
Agence France-Presse
Baghdad, November 28, 2011, A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives-packed vehicle at a prison north of Baghdad on Monday, killing 11 people and wounding at least 15, security officials said.
The bomber blew up the car at about 8:00 am (0500 GMT) at the main entrance of the Hout prison in Taji,
about 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Baghdad, officials from the interior and defence ministries said.
The interior ministry official said 11 people were killed and 20 wounded, while the defence ministry official put the toll at 11 dead and 15 wounded.
Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/11-killed-in-Iraq-suicide-bombing-outside-jail/Article1-774980.aspx
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Two killed, 11 wounded as Karachi heating up again
By Atif Raza
KARACHI: November 28, 2011, Over two dozens of vehicles were set on fire and 16 suspects arrested near Numaish Chowrangi after a firing incident that left two persons dead and 11 others wounded.
According to police and eyewitnesses, some participates of a protest rally, brought out by defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) against the NATO attack in Mohmand Agency, opened indiscriminate fire at Shia camps at Numaish Chowrangi while returning from Karachi Press Club after holding a protest demonstration.
As a result two persons, Zain-ul-Abideen, 25, and Azhar Hussain, 32, sustained fatal bullet wounds and died on the spot, while one Ayaz was injured, who was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. Abideen was affiliated with Butarab Scout and was the resident of Mehmoodabad while Hussain was serving for Pak Hyderi Scout camp.
Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Hussain Wasan claimed to have detained over a dozen rioters and ordered officials to conduct an independent inquiry into the incident.
Secretary Sindh Boys Scouts Akhter Mir said the victims came under attack when they were sitting at their stalls.
Full Report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\28\story_28-11-2011_pg7_10
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Suicide car bomber kills 19 in Iraq
By SAMEER N. YACOUB | AP
BAGHDAD: Nov 28, 2011,A suicide bomber slammed a car packed with explosives into the gate of a prison north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 19 people, Iraqi officials said.
The bombing in the town of Taji, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of the capital, is the third major attack in about a week in Iraq, and raises questions about the ability of the nation’s security forces to protect the country after US troops leave in just over a month.
A police officer said the attacker struck the main gate of Al-Hout prison at 8:00 a.m. local time, when many employees and guards were on their way to work. Ten policemen were among the dead and the rest were civilians, he added. At least 22 people were wounded.
Police officials said the death toll was raised after cleanup crews found more bodies while removing debris at the site.
Two health officials in nearby hospitals confirmed the causality figures.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Full Report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article539735.ece
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Eliminating gender inequality essential for development,: Maldives President
By Ahmed Naish
November 27th, 2011
Eliminating gender inequalities is essential for the nation to benefit from women’s contribution to economic development and progress, President Mohamed Nasheed said in his weekly radio address on Friday.
Speaking on the ‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women,’ Nasheed expressed gratitude and encouragement for the campaign against domestic violence launched by a gender advocacy working group under the slogan ‘Thinakun Ekeh’ (one in three).
The slogan refers to the findings of a Ministry of Gender and Family study in 2007, the first comprehensive nationwide survey of domestic violence in the Maldives, which revealed that one in every three women between the ages of 15-49 has been a victim of domestic violence.
“Although it is believed that the status of women in our society is better in comparison to other SAARC nations, active participation of women in important sectors in the country is comparatively low,” Nasheed observed. “For example, while 24 percent of women are unemployed in the Maldives, that figure is eight percent in Sri Lanka. Out of all SAARC countries, the Maldives is at the bottom in this respect.”
Full Report at:
http://minivannews.com/politics/eliminating-gender-inequality-essential-for-development-says-president-28712
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Taliban paid £100 a month to stop fighting
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: November 28, 2011,Non-violent volunteers in Afghanistan are being paid a stipend of about £100 a month in line with a “reintegration” programme to wean Taliban fighters away from the fighting.
The programme, which has the full support of NATO, is intended to keep them from attacking troops from the International Stabilisation and Assistance Force (ISAF), writes The Sunday Telegraph’s defence correspondent in Kabul, Sean Rayment.
Those who have attacked and killed British forces are also effectively given an amnesty, which means they will never be put on trial.
The amnesty extends to all Taliban fighters, including those who have taken part in atrocities, such as murdering children, beheadings and hanging women.
The agreement is part of a policy signed by the British government in which insurgents are being allowed to “walk off the battlefield” and enter a “reintegration” scheme.
Taliban joining the programme are not interrogated but instead are asked to complete a questionnaire explaining their reasons for joining the insurgency.
The strategy has been designed to encourage rank and file Taliban to stop fighting and instead return to their communities with “dignity and honour”.
More than 2,700 insurgents have been reintegrated into mainstream Afghan society since October 2010, with 800 now described as “showing interest in leaving the Taliban”.
Of those, about 90 are from Helmand, where nearly 400 British troops have been killed and more than 5,000 injured.
Full Report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\28\story_28-11-2011_pg7_13
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India-Maldives ties moving forward
By N SathiyaMoorthy
November 27th, 2011
Nothing explains the width and depth of bilateral relations between India and Maldives than the speed with which the People’s Majlis passed a special legislation unanimously for the visiting Heads of State and Government to address members in a special session, only days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to arrive in Male for bilateral talks with President Mohammed Nasheed.
Despite the deep divisions within the Maldivian polity, which often gets reflected in Parliament, as in other democracies, Maldives offered a near-full House when Singh became the first visiting Head of Government to address the House.
“The People’s Majlis is a testimony to the strong faith the people of Maldives have shown in democracy. As a fellow democracy, we take delight in your achievements,” the Prime Minister said.
Full Report at:
http://minivannews.com/politics/comment-india-maldives-ties-moving-forward-28734
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Pakistan military rejects NATO chief's regret on soldiers' killing, warns of 'grave consequences'
PTI
ISLAMABAD: Nov 28, 2011, The Pakistani military on Monday rejected the regret expressed by the NATO chief for a cross-border air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and warned that the action could have "grave consequences".
The regret expressed by NATO over the killing of the Pakistani soldiers is "not enough", chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said.
"The NATO strike can have grave consequences," he said. NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Sunday said he had written to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to express regret over the "tragic unintended incident".
In a statement, he said: "I have written... to make it clear that the deaths of Pakistani personnel are as unacceptable and deplorable as the deaths of Afghan and international personnel."
Pakistan has reacted angrily to the killing of two dozen soldiers, including two officers, in the NATO air strike in Mohmand tribal region on the border with Afghanistan.
It has closed all NATO supply routes and asked the US to vacate Shamsi airbase, believed to be used by CIA-operated drones.
However, Abbas said NATO's expression of regret was inadequate.
"We think this is not enough and we do not accept it. Such raids have also been conducted in the past. Such attacks are unacceptable," Abbas told BBC Urdu.
Pointing out that 72 Pakistani soldiers were killed and nearly 250 injured in NATO strikes in three years, Abbas said the Pakistani leadership will decide whether more steps would be taken in reaction to the NATO strikes.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-military-rejects-NATO-chiefs-regret-on-soldiers-killing-warns-of-grave-consequences/articleshow/10903063.cms
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Pakistan seek US extradition over ‘honour killing’
SANDAWALA: November 28, 2011, Pakistani police say they are seeking the extradition of an American man suspected of murdering his daughter and her British-based husband during a family holiday this month. Uzma Naurin, 30, a US national, and her Pakistani husband Saif Rehman, 31, were killed on November 1 in Lala Musa town, 145 kilometres east of Islamabad, on their way back from a shopping trip. Naurin’s father, 58-year-old Muzaffar Hussain, who was in hospital in Pakistan on the day of the killings, has since fled to the United States but is now the chief suspect in the murder case, police told AFP on Saturday. “We have gathered evidence against him. We will present a detailed report in court and try to get red warrants (extradition) against him,” said Nasir Mehmood Butt, head of the investigating police station in Gujrat district. “Once we get him into custody, we will be able to obtain all the information and this case will be solved,” he said. Naurin married Rehman without her family’s permission in the British city of Manchester but relatives later attended a full wedding ceremony in the Scottish city of Glasgow, where Rehman was based, earlier this year. The couple and Naurin’s father arrived in Pakistan last month to attend a wedding. Hussain was then admitted to hospital with chest pains, police said. On November 1, Hussain asked his driver to take the couple shopping in the city of Gujrat. On their way back, they were stopped by four gunmen and killed. Butt said the driver, Adeel, had “admitted” his role in the crime and that records show Hussain made dozens of telephone calls to the driver during the shopping trip, with a last call from Adeel to Hussain minutes after the murder. Muhammad Zakir, Rehman’s father, wants police to extradite Hussain from the United States. “We want action against this man... He should be brought back and legal action should be taken against him,” he told AFP. afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\28\story_28-11-2011_pg7_16
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NATO knew it was Pakistani check post: Islamabad
IANS
Islamabad, Nov 28, 2011, Pakistan on Monday said NATO was aware that it was their army checkpost that was attacked a day earlier and it refused to accept the coalition force's regret over the airstrike that killed 25 soldiers.
Army spokesperson Major General Athar Abbas said they do not accept NATO's regret and this action can lead to serious consequences.
NATO's regret over the attack is not enough, Geo News quoted General Abbas as saying. NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Sunday that this was a 'tragic, unintended incident'.
Abbas Monday rejected NATO's claim that Pakistan forces initiated fire and said: "NATO forces should present proof if they were claiming that firing was started from Pakistani side." He said: "No fire was opened from our side."
He added NATO could not make the excuse that they were chasing terrorists across the border as the area where the attack took place had been cleared of militants.
Full REport at:
http://www.asianage.com/international/nato-knew-it-was-pakistani-checkpost-islamabad-951
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China on Nato strike: Respect Pakistan's sovereignty
IANS
BEIJING: Nov 28, 2011,, Pakistan's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected, China said on Monday after NATO airstrike at a checkpost left over two dozen Pakistani soldiers killed.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks during a daily press briefing, reported Xinhua.
China was shocked by the incident and expresses deep condolences to the victims, Hong said while also calling for a thorough investigation into the attack.
A total of 25 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 13 others injured when NATO fighter jets and helicopters bombed two border posts in Mohmand tribal region near the Afghan border Saturday morning.
Pakistan has strongly protested to the US over the incident and warned of serious consequences.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/China-on-Nato-strike-Respect-Pakistans-sovereignty/articleshow/10906202.cms
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Pakistanis demand end to US alliance
AFP, Nov. 28, 2011
Protesters burn a US flag during a protest in Multan on November 27, 2011, against a Nato strike on Pakistan troops. — Photo by AFP
ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of Pakistanis called on Islamabad Monday to break off its alliance with the United States and get out of the war on Al Qaeda as protests against a lethal Nato strike pushed into a third day.
Twenty-four Pakistani soldiers were killed in the cross-border attack early Saturday by Nato helicopters and fighter jets.
Members of civil society, lawyers, traders and students organised the rallies, still relatively small, in major cities of the country of 167 million people, where opposition to the US alliance is rampant.
Lawyers went on strike across the country, demonstrating outside court buildings, chanting slogans against Nato and the United States, officials from bar associations across the country said.
“We marched at the Islamabad High Court premises and expressed our anger against this attack, none of us went to the courts today,” Ashraf Gujjar, president of Islamabad High Court Bar Association, told AFP after one rally.
“The government should cut Nato supplies permanently, take back military bases from the US and plead that this cases violates the borders in the UN Security Council,” he quoted from a resolution passed by lawyers.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/28/pakistanis-demand-end-to-us-alliance.html
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J&K: CrPC amendment awaits Army nod
BINOO JOSHI
Once Govt Gets Green Signal It Will Rush through Ordinance
Jammu, Nov 27: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s announcement that Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) would be amended to address concerns of the Army that is opposed to the withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is a calculated move at politically correct time.
Omar’s move, according to political observers, is aimed at sending a clear message that he has ideas and is in command of things to implement the same.
According to sources close to CM, Omar’s intention is to translate his idea of amending CrPC by getting an ordinance issued by Governor NN Vohra before announcing AFSPA withdrawal from selected areas. The deal only needs a stamp of the Army and the Defense Minister A K Antony while “others” are already on board.
By the time, the matter reaches the state legislature, Omar would have achieved his objective of lifting the AFSPA from some of the areas of the state, may be from more areas than in circulation in the media.
Politically, Omar wants to get rid of AFSPA from some areas of the state at the earliest, and to achieve that goal, he is willing to traverse “any” route. And, known for his amazing grasping power, Omar has selected his own timing to reveal the “new” cards.
The matter of amending the CrPC is part of the bargain that the state government officials had offered to the army way back in mid-October, almost a week before Omar Abdullah made the first statement on the revocation of the “black laws”, immediately and appropriately interpreted as Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Disturbed Area Act “within next few days.”
Later, it was discussed in detail in the follow-up meetings both in the state and at the central level.
The moment Army gives a green signal, the amended CrPC will become a reality - almost in the same manner as the two ordinances were issued on July 5, 1990 and August 10, 2001 when the state saw AFSPA being invoked in two stages.
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2011/Nov/28/crpc-amendment-awaits-army-nod-58.asp
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Army not master of people, should focus on infiltration: Farooq Abdullah
PTI | Nov 28, 2011,
NEW DELHI: Making a strong pitch for removal of the AFSPA from parts of J&K, Union minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said the Army was not the "master" of the people of the state and that it should concentrate on choking infiltration of terrorists.
Farooq also went on to say that local police and CRPF were capable enough to take over the security responsibilities from the areas from where AFSPA was likely to be removed. He also described the Armed Forces Special Powers Act as a "draconian" law.
"Army is not our master. Just remember that. People of J&K are masters of the state. Army is not the master. Army is only to protect. They will continue to protect the interest of nation," Farooq said in a TV interview. He said the job of the Army was to guard the border so that infiltration does not take place and that police and the CRPF are ready to handle other matters.
Asked whether the political leadership of the state was better equipped to handle the situation, Farooq asked "What do they (army) handle? If they are able to handle, how the hell do these terrorists come? How are they coming if they are able to handle?"
He said that the Army was failing to handle the situation as "otherwise how do they enter?"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Army-not-master-of-people-should-focus-on-infiltration-Farooq-Abdullah/articleshow/10897420.cms
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Philippines beat India to emerge as leader in call centre business
Vikas Bajaj
NYT News Service
MANILA: Nov 28, 2011,, Americans calling the customer service lines of their airlines, phone companies and banks are now more likely to speak to Mark in Manila than Bharat in Bangalore. Over the last several years, a quiet revolution has been reshaping the call centre business: The rise of the Philippines, a former United States colony that has a large population of young people who speak lightly accented English and, unlike many Indians, are steeped in American culture.
More Filipinos - about 400,000 - than Indians now spend their nights talking to mostly American consumers, industry officials said, as companies like AT&T, JPMorgan Chase and Expedia have hired call centres here, or built their own. The jobs have come from the United States, Europe and, to some extent, India as outsourcers followed their clients to the Philippines.
India, where offshore call centres first took off in a big way, fields as many as 350,000 call centre agents, according to some industry estimates. The Philippines, which has a population one-tenth as big as India's, overtook India this year, according to Jojo Uligan, executive director of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Philippines-beats-India-to-emerge-as-leader-in-call-centre-business/articleshow/10898864.cms
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Pakistan secretly helps, publicly hits U.S. interests
By Rowan Scarborough-The Washington Times
November 26, 2011
Pakistan has cooperated secretly with the U.S. on several war-fighting missions in an odd-couple alliance that also sees factions in Islamabad backing the fiercest American enemy.
The uneasy relationship is being put to the test again, as Pakistan accused NATO on Saturday of unleashing a helicopter strike on a Pakistan army border outpost and said 24 soldiers were killed.
U.S. military personnel who have served in the region tell The Washington Times that Pakistan does far more in secret than either side acknowledges. It wants money from Washington to keep flowing, yet fears a democratic Afghanistan could one day align itself with archenemy India, analysts say.
Pakistan’s dual objectives help create this odd alliance.
Last summer, as then-Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen was castigating Pakistan in public for aiding the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network, the CIA was launching Predator drone strikes from Pakistani air bases on suspected militants. The U.S. military has deemed Haqqani its greatest threat, ranking it above the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Pakistani security personnel stop trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan at Takhtabeg check post in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber, Pakistan, on their way to Torkham border post on Saturday, Nov 26, 2011. Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing a key border crossing used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
In April, as the Obama administration was keeping Islamabad in the dark on the Osama bin Laden raid for fear of a leak, the U.S. Navy routinely flew aircraft from carriers over the country’s airspace, along designated “highways,” to hit targets in Afghanistan.
James Russell, an instructor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., said Pakistan needs U.S. cash to maintain a large army and to deter India.
“The Pakistani military has a longstanding relationship with the United States,” he said. “We have been a principal provider of military equipment, training and money for many years.
“Pakistan has needed our help to maintain its army, which defends the country from its principal adversary — India. Like many of the countries in the region, the military is the most important, national-level institution that helps hold the country together.
Full Report at:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/26/pakistan-secretly-helps-publicly-hits-us-interests/
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Bahrain king forms follow-up panel on rights
MANAMA: November 28, 2011, Bahrain’s King Hamad has decided to form a panel to implement the recommendations of a probe which found police used “excessive force” against demonstrators, state news agency BNA said on Sunday.
“The National Commission will examine the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and make its own recommendations,” the agency said, adding the panel could propose amendments to Bahraini legislation.
It would “expedite its work and complete it within a framework of transparency before the end of February 2012,” BNA said. “However, the government will endeavour to implement those recommendations that can be implemented without delay, rather than waiting for the recommendations of the National Commission.” afp
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\28\story_28-11-2011_pg4_5
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2 key U S senators call for tough line with Pakistan
By Anne Flaherty
WASHINGTON, Associated Press November 27, 2011: Senior lawmakers suggested Sunday that the United States take a harder line with Pakistan, after Islamabad retaliated for NATO’s deadly misfire by closing parts of its border with Afghanistan and demanding that the U.S. vacate a drone base.
The comments by Sens. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, and Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, show how strained Pakistan’s relationship with the U.S., and Congress specifically, has become in recent months. Lawmakers approve billions of dollars in military and civilian aid for Pakistan with the expectation that its government will help target al Qaeda operatives and push Afghan militants toward peace talks.
“There’s a lot of diplomacy that has to occur, and it has to be tough diplomacy in the sense that they need to understand that our support for them financially is dependent upon their cooperation with us,” said Mr. Kyl, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican.
Mr. Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said Pakistan’s latest move is further evidence that the U.S. must end its military involvement in the region and bring troops home.
Full Report at:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/27/2-key-senators-call-tough-line-pakistan/
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Egyptians vote to usher in democracy after revolution
People stand in line outside a polling station as they wait to cast their votes during parliamentary elections in Cairo.
CAIRO: Nov 28, 2011, Riven by political differences and violence, Egyptians on Monday began voting in a historic three stage parliamentary elections to usher in democracy in the Arab world's most populous nation, nine-months after a popular uprising toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak.
The elections, clouded by violence, demonstration and confrontation between the ruling military and pro-democracy protesters, will be the first step in a transfer to civilian rule, promised by the ruling army council that replaced Mubarak in February.
Initially, 27 provinces will go to the polls in three separate stages in a long procedure until January to elect the 508-member People's Assembly or lower house of the parliament.
Today and tomorrow, ballots will be cast in the main cities of Cairo and Alexandria, as well as Fayyum, Luxor, Port Said, Damietta, Kafr el-Sheikh and the Red Sea province. A run-off is scheduled for December 5.
Over 50 political parties, along with thousands of independent candidates are running in the elections.
Full Report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Egyptians-vote-to-usher-in-democracy-after-revolution/articleshow/10903282.cms
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UAE: Shoura demands Qatif troublemakers be tried
By MD RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS
RIYADH: Nov 28, 2011, The 150-member consultative Shoura Council on Sunday denounced the bloody riots carried out by some criminal elements in the eastern city of Qatif last week, saying those behind the riots should be brought to justice and given tough punishment.
“The council stresses the need for taking the criminals to specialized courts to get them punished for their disgraceful acts and for causing deaths and creating fear among peaceful residents of the city,” the consultative body said in a statement.
Two people died and three wounded in an exchange of gunfire in Qatif on Wednesday following a string of attacks on security checkpoints during a funeral procession.
The casualties occurred in the exchange of gunfire with unknown criminals who infiltrated the citizens' ranks and fired from residential areas and narrow streets, the Interior Ministry said.
The council, presided over by its Chairman Abdullah Al-Asheikh, expressed its deep regret for the violence and slammed the perpetrators. The house also commended the security personnel who safeguarded innocent civilians during the incident.
The house pointed out that the Kingdom has maintained a healthy relationship with the people of the country and that they have opened the government's doors to anyone wishing to discuss certain matters, as was the practice during the caliphate period.
During a discussion on the annual report of Saudi Arabian Airlines, the members said passengers should be made aware of their rights as outlined by IATA regulations.
The house suggested that the rights of passengers be well outlined on lists displayed at airports, Saudi Arabian Airline offices, the airline’s website and at travel agents’ offices throughout the Kingdom.
The house also decided to review the recommendations made by Shoura member Osama Al-Qabbani.
A total of 57 members were in favor of rediscussing the amendment to article 21 of the annual report.
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article539597.ece
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Libya leader thanks Sudan for weapons
By REUTERS
KHARTOUM: Nov 28, 2011, Sudanese weapons and ammunition sent through Egypt helped Libya’s former rebels oust Muammar Qaddafi and take control of the North African country, the head of Libya’s interim ruling council said on Friday.
Relations between Khartoum and Tripoli were strained during Qaddafi’s rule because of the slain leader’s support for rebels in Sudan’s western Darfur region and in South Sudan, which seceded in July under a 2005 peace deal.
Sudanese officials now hope for better ties with Libya, which shares a desert border with Sudan. Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of Libya’s National Transitional Council, arrived in Khartoum on Friday on his first official visit.
“If not for Sudanese military assistance, it would not have been possible to liberate Kufra,” he said at a conference of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party, referring to a town in Libya’s remote southeastern desert.
“The weapons and ammunition which Sudan donated even reached the Western Mountains, by way of our sister Egypt,” he said.
Full Report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article539773.ece
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Lebanon will not implement Syria sanctions: minister
By REUTERS
BEIRUT: Nov 28, 2011, Lebanon will not implement the Arab League’s economic sanctions against Syria, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour told Reuters on Monday, because it had not agreed to them and believed they could hurt Lebanon.
“We do not agree with these sanctions and we will not go along with them,” Mansour said.
Meanwhile, the European Union welcomed unprecedented Arab League sanctions imposed on Syria, casting them as a response to the “brutality and unwillingness to change course” of the Damascus government.
“We welcome and support the decision taken by the Arab League,” said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
“Sanctions by the Arab League as well as the restrictive measures applied by the EU are a reaction to the regime’s brutality and unwillingness to chance course,” she said.
Arab states agreed on Sunday to impose economic measures — the toughest against a member state — that include a travel ban on top Syrian officials and a freeze on assets related to President Bashar Assad’s government.
EU governments are expected to approve on Thursday a new round of sanctions aimed at raising pressure on Assad over his military crackdown on an eight-month-old wave of popular unrest.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article539841.ece
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Jeddah: 130 detained on terrorism charges freed after rehab
By MUHAMMAD AL-SULAMI
ARAB NEWS
JEDDAH: Nov 28, 2011 One hundred and thirty people detained in connection with terrorism cases at Prince Muhammad bin Naif Center for Advice and Care completed their rehabilitation on Sunday.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said about 350 of their relatives attended their graduation ceremony.
He said the detainees had undergone thorough rehabilitation programs consisting of lectures and courses in Islamic Shariah, security, social and psychological issues in addition to sports and fine arts.
The center has enabled 68 of the detainees and 187 of their family members to perform Haj this year.
It also helped two detainees to complete their university education and enrolled 35 in advanced computer courses. The graduates will participate in follow-up programs designed to ensure them with social stability.
Al-Turki said during the past two months procedures were completed for 23 detainees to join the center. He said the group represented the first batch of 223 detainees who would join the center later to undergo rehabilitation.
Full REport at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article539580.ece
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Riyadh: Maid found with nails in her body
By MD RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS
RIYADH: Nov 28, 2011, A Sri Lankan housemaid who was found with seven nails in her body following surgery at Dammam Central Hospital refused on Saturday to name who was responsible for inserting them.
According to sources, 22-year-old Balsubramaniam Shashikala was admitted to Dammam Central Hospital by her Saudi sponsor with complaints of body pains on Tuesday.
The doctors at the hospital performed surgery on her and found seven nails in her body.
Arab News learned that the Sri Lankan Embassy officials in Riyadh have rushed to the hospital to see where Shashikala went after she was discharged on Sunday morning following the surgery.
The sources said that the embassy had urged police in the Eastern Province to conduct a full-scale inquiry into the case.
The maid had recalled that she was given a sedative by the sponsor's wife and was unable to say what had happened afterward.
Shashikala told police on Sunday that ever since she came to the Kingdom on Aug. 22, neither her sponsor nor his wife had ill-treated her. The police had summoned the maid and the concerned sponsor for a formal inquiry on Monday morning. The mission has taken the maid into its custody till the case is settled.
Full Report at:
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article539583.ece
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Syrians protest Arab sanctions
By AGENCIES
AMMAN: Nov 28, 2011, Tens of thousands of Syrians protested on Monday in state-backed rallies against unprecedented economic sanctions imposed by the Arab League over President Bashar Assad’s military crackdown on popular unrest now in its ninth month.
State television showed rallies “supporting national unity and rejecting foreign interference” in the capital Damascus and the second city of Aleppo. There were demonstrations also in the eastern cities of Deir Al-Zor and Hasaka, the TV said.
The 22-member Arab League approved economic sanctions against Syria on Sunday, the toughest imposed against a member state, isolating Assad’s government over violent repression which the United Nations says has killed 3,500 people.
Britain said the sanctions could help enlist support at the United Nations for action against Damascus.
Anti-Assad activists said security forces had killed at least 24 civilians on Sunday, many in a town north of Damascus that has become a focus for the protests. Others were killed in raids on towns in the province of Homs.
“The indications are not positive ... the sanctions are still economic but if there is no movement on the part of Syria then we have a responsibility as human beings to stop the killings,” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, told reporters.
“Power is not worth anything when a ruler kills his people,” he said after 19 of the League’s 22 members meeting in Cairo on Sunday approved a decision to immediately enforce sanctions.
Full Report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article539815.ece
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Iran body passes law expelling British ambassador
By REUTERS
TEHRAN: Nov 28, 2011, A bill to downgrade Iran’s relations with Britain got final approval on Monday, state broadcaster IRIB reported, a day after parliament approved the measure compelling the government to expel the British ambassador.
“The members of the Guardian Council, after examination of the plan, have approved it unanimously,” Abbasali Kadkhodai, spokesman for the council, was quoted as saying on IRIB’s website.
The exceptionally rapid approval from the Guardian Council, a panel of 12 clerics and jurists who judge whether legislation is Islamic, reflects the urgency with which Iran is treating its reaction to punitive sanctions announced by Britain last week.
Britain acted following a Nov. 8 report by the UN nuclear watchdog citing intelligence indicating that Iran has worked on designing an atomic bomb. Iran says the intelligence is forged and that its nuclear energy program has wholly peaceful aims.
Passed by legislators who chanted “Death to England” on Sunday, the law is retaliation for London’s decision to ban British banks from dealing with Iranian ones, including the Central Bank of Iran.
Members of parliament said Iran would take similar action against any other countries that follow suit.
European Union foreign ministers are due to meet on Thursday to approve new sanctions that could cut financial links and ban oil imports from Iran over suspicions that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article539831.ece
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France says days of Syrian government are numbered
28 November 2011
The league approved unprecedented sanctions on Sunday, including an asset freeze and an embargo on investments.
The Syrian foreign minister is due to hold a news conference later.
The UN says at least 3,500 people have died in the crackdown on protests which have been going since March.
The government of President Bashar al-Assad blames the violence on armed gangs and militants.
Mr Juppe told French radio the days of the Syrian government were "numbered" as it was "totally isolated".
"Things are going slowly unfortunately... but they are advancing since the Arab League, which carries considerable political weight, has just decided on some sanctions which will isolate the Syrian regime a bit more," Mr Juppe said.
Earlier this month, the Arab League suspended Syria in a move denounced by Damascus as meddling in its affairs.
The league's sanctions came after Syria refused to allow 500 Arab League monitors into the country to assess the situation on the ground.
Syria, one of the founder members of the Arab League, condemned the sanctions as a betrayal of Arab solidarity.
The EU and the US already have sanctions in place against Syria.
Meanwhile, violence continued on Sunday with Syrian activists saying at least 11 people were killed across the country.
The flashpoint region of Homs saw at least six people killed in three separate incidents, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Reports from Syria are difficult to verify as foreign journalists are unable to move around the country freely.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15917720
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Five jailed UAE activists 'receive presidential pardon'
28 November 2011
Five political activists in the United Arab Emirates have been pardoned, a day after they were convicted of insulting the Gulf state's rulers.
Their lawyer, Mohammed al-Roken, told the Associated Press the public prosecution had confirmed President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan's pardon.
The activists, who include a prominent blogger and an economist, were given prison terms of up to three years on Sunday.
Their case had angered rights groups.
The five had been arrested in April, after signing an online petition calling on UAE rulers to introduce direct elections and give parliament legislative powers.
The current 40-member parliament serves only as an advisory body. Its members are either directly appointed by the ruling sheikhs or elected by citizens hand-picked by the rulers to vote.
Full Report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15922492
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Bangladesh Cabinet reshuffle tonight, says source
Star Online Report, November 28, 2011
Suranjit, Quader may take oath as ministers
Veteran Awami League leaders Suranjit Sengupta and Obaidul Quader are being incorporated in the cabinet, a well-placed source in the ruling AL has told The Daily Star.
State Minister Hasan Mahmud is also likely to become a full minister.
They are likely to be sworn in at Bangabhaban at 8:00 tonight.
However, their portfolios could not be known immediately.
Besides, changes may come in the portfolios of some existing ministers, the source added.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=34018
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Pakistan business hits at barriers to India trade
LAHORE: November 28, 2011, Cosmetics are smuggled by donkey through Afghanistan, chemicals and medicines track through Dubai. But only a fraction of legal trade travels directly from India to Pakistan.
A baffling array of legal and practical barriers to exports between the suspicious neighbours has spurned unofficial trade worth up to $10 billion, dwarfing official exchanges of $2.7 billion. But a recent rapprochement that looks to normalise trading relations between India and Pakistan could end a decades-old system that stifles business and saps profits through networks of middlemen, moneychangers and smugglers. A booklet of 1,945 items lists trade allowed to run from India to Pakistan – but only 108 can be trafficked directly by road through the border post at Wagah, near the eastern border city of Lahore.
At old markets in Lahore, traders peddle whitening creams and hair dyes that have journeyed from India to Karachi by sea bound for Afghanistan, before being reloaded and smuggled along the Taliban-hit Hindu Kush to re-enter Pakistan.
Along the way a simple anti-wrinkle cream rises from Rs 75 (85 cents) to Rs 160 ($1.82), while black hair dye doubles from five to Rs 10.
Tonnes of industrial chemicals and drugs travel into Dubai, where their port of origin is relabelled to hide their Indian provenance before being sent on to Pakistan. The process entails a mark-up of 15-20 percent, say importers.
Full Report:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\28\story_28-11-2011_pg7_24
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Pak PM skips son's wedding party for emergency meeting
PTI, Nov 28, 2011,
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani skipped a reception celebrating his son's marriage in his hometown of Multan as he had to rush here to chair an emergency meeting to formulate Pakistan's response to a cross-border Nato air strike that killed at least 24 soldiers. Gilani left the 'walima' or reception of his son Ali Musa Gilani at Multan to chair a meeting of the defence committee of the cabinet.
The meeting decided to close all Nato supply routes and to ask the US to vacate within 15 days the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan, which is believed to be a secret base for CIA to carry out drone strikes on militants based in Pakistan. Gilani had been on a three-day visit to Multan.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Gilani-skips-sons-wedding-party-for-emergency-meeting/articleshow/10899911.cms
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Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan fight opium smuggling
AP Nov. 28, 11
Afghan Minister of Counter-Narcotics Zarar Ahmed Moqbel Osmani, second right, speaks as Pakistan's Minister of Counter- Narcotics Haji Khuda Bux Rajjar, left, Iran's Interior Minister and the Secretary General of Drug Control Headquarters Mustafa Mohammad Majjar, second left, and Yury Fedotov, right, under Secretary general and executive director of United Nation Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) are seen during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. – AP
KABUL: Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan on Monday agreed to bolster regional cooperation to combat drug smuggling at a time when the cultivation of illicit opium poppy is increasing.
Afghanistan provides about 90 per cent of the world’s opium, the raw ingredient used to make heroin, and the UN and Afghan government have long tried to wean the country off the lucrative crop. Money from the sale of opium is also used to fuel the insurgency, helping to buy weapons and equipment for the Taliban.
The largest areas of opium poppy cultivation are in the violent south of the country, where it can be hard to make money on legal crops and where criminal networks exist to buy and sell the poppy crop.
“Despite a decade of initiatives by the Afghans and international community, opium production is increasing,” said Yuri Fedotov, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Full Report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/28/afghanistan-iran-pakistan-fight-opium-smuggling.html
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Cartoon character King Julien for President of Pakistan!
PTI
Islamabad, Nov 28, 2011, If young Pakistanis had their way, they would make sure that the cartoon character King Julien from the film Madagascar is the hottest candidate for post of President when their country goes to polls next.
King Julien is a strong contender for the top post because he will put his '100 per cent' into everything that he does as President; the only ‘NRO’ he will pass will be the "National Rock 'n' Roll Order"; and he will not try to flirt with Sarah Palin and tell her that she was better off "fighting grizzly bears in Alaska", or so say young Pakistanis.
So far, King Julien has over 6,000 fans in the virtual world and the number is likely to multiply as the presidential election scheduled for 2013 nears.
The creator of the King Julien group on Facebook, Zubair Nabi has been listing reasons why the cartoon character would make a good President. "Reason number 6: King Julian is going to make sure that minorities, both religious and ethnic enjoy equal rights in Pakistan across the board," Nabi posted on King Julien’s fan page on Facebook.
Full Report at:
http://www.asianage.com/international/cartoon-character-king-julien-president-pakistan-922
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/muslim-medical-students-boycotting-lectures/d/6009