Nizamuddin Dargah, A Place of Religious Confluence, Lights Up For Diwali Uniting People
New Age Islam News Bureau
25 October 2022
Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah (Photo/ANI)
-----
• Diwali Celebrated With Lights, Lamps and Explosions
at Shri Swami Narayan Mandir and Other Karachi Temples
• Another Mass Execution Could Happen In Saudi Arabia
Anytime Soon: Independent Rights Organization
• Iran State TV Song Threatens Israel, Azerbaijan with
‘Destruction’
• Iran Seeks To Designate UK-Based Persian Media as
‘Terrorists’ Amid Protests
India
• Kashmiri Muslim Potter Makes 16,000 Diyas Highest
Order Ever, This Diwali
• FIR Against Slain Bajrang Dal Leader’s Sister, 10
Others for Vandalising Muslim Man’s Car In Shivamogga
• BSF, Pakistan Rangers exchange sweets along
International Border in Jammu, Punjab on Diwali
--------
Pakistan
• Anti-Saudi Propaganda Meant To Create Chaos, Anarchy
in Arab Islamic World: Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman
• Federal Minister of Pakistan Greets Hindu Community
on Diwali
• Pakistan court rejects Imran Khan's appeal on
disqualification
• OIC conference calls on media to promote informed
discourse
• IHC tells govt to keep journalists’ bodies in the
loop in Arshad Sharif death probe
• Karachi court asks police to record statement of
complainant against Ahmadi community members
• Pakistan condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi energy
facilities
--------
Arab
World
• Islamic State Group Still Active in Southern Syria,
Observers Say
• Islamic State regains momentum in Syria's Kurdish
areas
• Lebanon fails to elect new president for fourth time
as Aoun’s departure looms
• Saudi Arabia continues to support global anti-terror
efforts: FM
• Syrian air defences intercept, confront Israeli
missile barrage targeting Damascus suburbs
• Saudi-led coalition using all means to prolong
aggression, suffering of Yemeni nation: PM
--------
Mideast
• Iran ‘Ally and Supporter’ Of Palestinian Resistance,
Nation: Islamic Jihad Movement Leader
• Iran maintains silence on 'massacre' in
Sunni-majority city
• Iran's Rayeesi Congratulates China's Xi on Third
Term
• Iran Arrests 10 Mossad Spies Planning to Assassinate
Intelligence, Security Forces
• Iran charges 300 in Tehran protests, four could face
death penalty
• Six Palestinians killed in Israeli raids in West
Bank
--------
Europe
• Greece Turns Spiritual Centre Of Muslim Turks On
Rhodes Island Into Music Faculty
• Brit police pay settlement to arrested street
preacher who criticized Islam at Speakers’ Corner
• Bradford: Mentally ill man responsible for stabbing
in mosque
• Spanish man trekking to Qatar for World Cup goes
missing after crossing into Iran
• Sweden ‘will fulfil deal with Turkey on NATO’
• Iran rejects ‘illegal’ UN probe into alleged use of
its drones in Ukraine
--------
South
Asia
• Sarwar Danesh, Former Afghan Vice-President
Announces New Political Party, “Afghanistan Justice and Liberty”
• Islamic Emirate’s Leader Meets with MoD Officials
• Nine dead, million seek shelter as cyclone hits
Bangladesh
• Taliban Members Killed in Explosion in Northeastern
Afghanistan
• Taliban Announces Killing Nearly 40 Resistance Front
Members in Northeastern Afghanistan
• UN Human Rights Rapporteur: ‘Massive’ Taliban
Crackdown on Civilians in Northern Afghanistan
• Danish Siddiqui’s parents file new evidence against
Taliban at ICC
--------
Africa
• Niger Govt Sacks 25 Judicial Staff over Fake
Certificates, Dismisses Sharia Court Judge
• Sudan names new military chief for conflict-hit Blue
Nile state
• 10 soldiers killed, nearly 50 wounded in attack on
Burkina Faso army base
• Ethiopia rivals gear up for South Africa peace talks
--------
North
America
• Muslim-Americans Find Common Ground with
Conservatives over Politicization of America's Schools
• White House ‘Categorically’ Denies Dissuading US Companies
from Going To Saudi Arabia
• US designates 3 Syrian military officials over
Eastern Ghouta chemical attack
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Expert Urges Increased Cooperation between Muslims
States to Improve Quran Knowledge
• Why is Malaysia deporting Myanmar asylum seekers?
• Ismail Sabri says not 'our culture' for PM
candidates to debate publicly
• We’ll find you, Indira Gandhi tells daughter on
Deepavali
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/nizamuddin-dargah-religious-confluence-diwali/d/128263
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Nizamuddin Dargah, A Place of Religious Confluence,
Lights Up For Diwali Uniting People
Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah
(Photo/ANI)
-----
25 October, 2022
New Delhi [India], October 25 (ANI): Festivals are
occasions that bring people together irrespective of caste, religion and
belief. And Diwali is one such festival that has a long history of uniting
people, according to the Chairman of the Muslim Students Organisation of India
Dr Shujaat Ali Quadri.
On the auspicious occasion of Diwali, the shrine of
Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi lit up in the very spirit of the festival and
welcomed one and all to soak in the festive spirit.
The Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin was beautifully decorated
with lighting and Diwali diyas on Monday as the whole of India was rinsed off
the festivities. People coming from far-flung areas lit diyas in every corner
of the Dargah and prayed for peace in the country.
According to Nazim Nizami, Gaddi Nasheen of the
shrine, Hindus come every year to lit Diyas and distribute sweets at the Dargah
to mark the festival of lights that is locally known as Eid e Charaghan. “They
also carried some Diyas or candles to their homes as blessings of Hazrat
Nizamuddin,” he said.
Nazim Nizami said that the history of the Diwali
celebration on the Dargah is as old as the Dargah itself. “Though the Dargah
itself does not organise the celebration. Hindu brothers come of their own
volition, lit Diyas, and distribute sweets. Locals help them and take part in
their celebration as this is a gesture of heart meant to spread feelings of
love and brotherhood. They seek the blessings of Hazrat Nizamuddin on this
occasion and lit up the whole surroundings of the Dargah. The whole precipice
bathes in Roshni (light) on Diwali. It makes for a beautiful scene,” said
Nizami.
Nizami added that many Hindus take one or two Diyas to
their home as they believe that it will add Auliya’s blessings to their celebration.
Some people believe that lighting Diyas at the Dargah
started as a call for peace amid wars among various kings and local chieftains
during the medieval period.
Historian Khwaja Ahmed Nizami has recorded the
celebration of Diwali (Jashn e Charaghan or Roshni e Zeest) in his epic on
Hazrat Nizamuddin.
Amir Khusrau, the Sufi poet and disciple of
Mehboob-e-Ilahi Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya has composed numerous poems in Persian
as well as Braj language celebrating “Rang” with his beloved Auliya. The “Roshni-e-Zeest”
as he claims here in a taslees (a verse of three lines) in Pahalavi was also
close to his heart.
“He writes, “Zee astin rang-e-zeest, Zee astin
roshni-e-zeest, Barmala mee azghaf jashn-e-durai,” quoted Quadari.
“One festival bespeaks colours of life and another one
enumerates upon the light of life Ergo, these two festivals are so dear to me”
The lighting of diyas is done along the shrine’s
pathways and around the Muslim chaddar during the occasion of Laxmi Poojan. The
mausoleum would be filled with people in brightly coloured clothes not only on
Laxmi Poojan but also on Bhai Dooj and other religious days.
The dargah also observes the Dua-e-Roshni (prayer of
light) ritual wherein evening prayers are sung in the presence of lamps.
Several non-Muslim devotees arriving at the dargah
with diyas a day before Diwali told the Times of India that they did not want
to be named because their love for Nizamuddin was personal to them. However,
they added that the dargah visit was not about religion. “It is about the peace
one doesn’t find everywhere but here. It is only to be experienced — it is a
sentiment beyond description,” said one of them.
“A Hindu visitor, lighting an earthen lamp, said, “The
richness of the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb blending in the echoing voices of qawwals
in praise of Lord Krishna and Hazrat Ali sums it up. The light shines for
everyone at Nizamuddin,” as quoted by Quadri.
The resting place of the Sufi saint has always drawn
people from across faiths. “It is not only during Diwali that people from
different faiths come here with their festive sentiments to express their love
for Mehboob e Ilaihi (beloved of God) Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya,” said Nizami.
“Even during Basant, programmes are organised here that attract people from
across faiths,” he added.
“Ever since Sufis came to India, we have only offered
langar, goodwill, assimilation, and shared festivities to all. We will continue
to do so,” he said.
Notably, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) National
Executive member and Muslim Rashtriya Manch patron Indresh Kumar on Saturday
paid a visit to Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah and lit earthen lamps inside the
premises of the shrine, ahead of Diwali.
The RSS’ Muslim wing, Muslim Rashtriya Manch called
for peace and prosperity in the country.
“The festival of Diwali is celebrated in the world
including India. It brings happiness and prosperity to every household. This
festival erases all the religious differences and the differences between the
provinces. India is a land of pilgrimages, festivals, and fairs. All of them
give bread to the poor and increase brotherhood among themselves. He said that
every festival teaches us that we do not want bigotry, malice, hatred, riots,
or war. We want peace, harmony, and brotherhood,” Indresh Kumar said.
“No one should be forced to convert and do violence.
Everyone should follow their own religion and caste. Do not criticize and
insult other’s religions. When all religions are respected in the country, then
the country will be free from the fundamentalists who make stone pelting on
Friday. India is the only country that respects and accepts all religions,” he
added. (ANI)
Source: The Print
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Diwali Celebrated With Lights, Lamps and Explosions at
Shri Swami Narayan Mandir and Other Karachi Temples
The Hindu community
celebrates Diwali in different temples of Karachi and Hyderabad on Monday. —
Shakil Adil / Fahim Siddiqi / Umair Ali / White Star
-----
Shazia Hasan
October 25, 2022
KARACHI: The modest homes lined inside the compound
around the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir on Monday were all lit and decorated with
colourful fairy lights and clay lamps, also those battery-operated plastic
lamps and candles for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
The Sindh government had already declared Monday as a
holiday for the Hindu community in all offices, autonomous, semi-autonomous
bodies, corporations and local councils so there was nothing coming in the way
of them and the celebrations.
The entrance of each home was also decorated with
pretty and colourful designs known as the rangoli. The practice of making
Rangoli is considered auspicious even in the Zoroastrian or Parsi culture.
Rangoli carries a spiritual significance as it reflects happiness and
liveliness.
Both the lights and the decorated entrances welcome
the goddess Lakshmi, who, according to Hindu mythology, is known to bring
wealth and good luck.
Diwali, in fact, is celebrated to commemorate the
birthday of Lakshmi. It is also said that she chose to get married on her
birthday to Lord Vishnu, the god of preservation and the protector of the
universe, according to Hindu scriptures. Therefore, there is a double
celebration.
Another belief associates the Diwali festival with
Lord Rama’s victory over the devil Ravana. It is said that after finishing him
off when Rama returned to his home city of Ayodhya, he was welcomed back by the
people by lighting up his path with oil lamps.
Back to present times, the festivity also includes
cooking of halwa or other sweetmeats at home or just buying them from any
sweetmeat shop to distribute among friends and family.
But the other things associated with this festival
such as the fire crackers, the rockets, etc., turn the temple premises into a
battlefield with mines all around. It is not clear why they are so popular, but
the naughty children are absolutely in love with them. They also like
sparklers, which are quite harmless, but the other things are both noisy and
scary.
So if you see anything resembling a smoking cigarette
stub that has not been put out on the ground on Diwali night, run as fast as
you can or cover your ears with your palms. They are firecrackers, not cigarette
stubs. And the naughty children seem to have an endless supply as they never
run out of them and love to place a firecracker near your feet. Then as it goes
off, you jump and scream and they squeal with delight and are jumping up and
down as they clap their hands.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Another Mass Execution Could Happen In Saudi Arabia
Anytime Soon: Independent Rights Organization
Intl. rights group
releases shocking report on human rights violations in Saudi Arabia
-----
24 October 2022
A non-governmental organization (NGO) has warned about
massive violations of human rights in Saudi Arabia as officials employ brutal
forms of physical and mental torture against imprisoned political dissidents
and activists, saying another mass execution could happen in the kingdom
anytime soon.
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in the
Arabian Peninsula (CDHRAP) said in a statement that the so-called Specialized
Criminal Court in the capital Riyadh has sentenced several more Saudi nationals
to death, simply for the sake of expressing their opinions on social media
platforms, participating in peaceful pro-democracy rallies or denouncing social
discrimination.
The Beirut-based human rights organization went on to
highlight that the issuance of such arbitrary rulings on numerous occasions
proves the hollow nature of the House of Saud’s claims about respect for human
rights.
CDHRAP said that Saudi Arabia is the kingdom of
terror, and called on the international community and human rights institutions
around the world to stop the looming mass execution, which could take place
under false accusations and not based on legal criteria.
It also identified some of those who have been handed
down death sentences as Youssef al-Mansaf, Abdul Majid al-Nimr, Javad Qariris,
Mohammad al-Faraj, Hassan Zaki al-Faraj and Ali Hassan al-Subaiti.
Since Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s de
facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has arrested hundreds of activists, bloggers,
intellectuals and others for their political activism, showing almost zero
tolerance for dissent even in the face of international condemnation of the
crackdown.
Muslim scholars have been executed and women’s rights
campaigners have been put behind bars and tortured as freedom of expression,
association, and belief continue to be denied by the kingdom's authorities.
Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its
anti-terrorism laws to target activism.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Iran
State TV Song Threatens Israel, Azerbaijan with ‘Destruction’
A
new music video aired by Iranian state-run TV threatened Israel and Azerbaijan
with “destruction”. (Screengrab from Twitter/@Caucasuswar)
------
24
October, 2022
A
new music video aired by Iranian state-run TV threatened Israel and Azerbaijan
with “destruction” after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) held
military exercises along the country’s border with Azerbaijan.
“Israel
… don’t stray too far from your path, don’t dig your own grave with your own
hands … Iran declares this so that Azerbaijan knows and understands … anyone
who looks at Iran the wrong way must be destroyed,” according to the lyrics of
the song, which was aired by Iran’s Azeri-language Sahar TV.
The
music video included footage from military drills the IRGC held last week in
Iran’s northwest along the border with Azerbaijan.
Iran
and Azerbaijan share a border of around 700 kilometers (430 miles).
Iran
is wary of Azerbaijan’s relations with Israel, a major supplier of arms to
Baku. Tehran is also wary over nationalists in Turkey and Azerbaijan fanning
separatist tendencies among its sizeable ethnic Azeri population.
Azeris
are the largest minority group in Iran, with millions living in a region in
northwestern Iran that shares the same name as the independent state of
Azerbaijan.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Iran
Seeks To Designate UK-Based Persian Media As ‘Terrorists’ Amid Protests
Photo:
aa.com
----
Syed
Zafar Mehdi
24.10.2022
TEHRAN,
Iran
Iran
has called for the designation of UK-based Persian-language news outlets as
"terrorist organizations", accusing them of stoking unrest amid
ongoing protests over the death of a young Iranian woman in police custody.
Kazem
Gharibabadi, the deputy judiciary chief for international affairs and head of
the country's top human rights body, said Iran International and BBC Persian
must be added to the list of terrorist organizations.
He
said Tehran will be initiating legal measures against these Persian-language
news outlets for "directing and inciting riots in Iran through the
promotion of terrorist acts and encouraging people to destroy public and
private property.”
His
call came amid countrywide protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died
following her detention by the country's morality police last month for
allegedly wearing "inappropriate dress".
The
tragic incident sparked unprecedented protests that spread across the country,
including the capital Tehran.
It
also drew strongly-worded statements of condemnation from Western governments,
including the United States and the European Union, who imposed sanctions on
Iranian individuals and entities over the incident.
Iranian
authorities have denied any foul play in Amini's death, despite her family
insisting that she was killed in police custody, blaming "foreign
forces" for "instigating riots" in the aftermath of the
incident, which resulted in more than 100 fatalities.
Iranian
authorities have in particular taken strong umbrage to the role of UK-based
Persian-language news websites such as Iran International, BBC Persian, and
Manoto as well as the US-funded Voice of America Persian and Radio Farda for
"fanning the protests".
In
a detailed report published on Monday, Mizan News Agency, affiliated with
Iran's judiciary, blamed these news channels for causing "evil
disturbances" through their programs and reports on Amini's death and the
protests that followed.
It
specifically referred to Iran International and BBC Persian, calling them
"violent" and "interventionist" that have "encouraged
terrorism" in Iran in recent weeks.
Last
week, the top commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),
General Hossein Salami, issued a stern warning to Saudi Arabia over Iran
International's coverage of protests in Iran, accusing Riyadh of bankrolling
it.
He
accused the Saudi leadership of "provoking the Iranian youth", and
threatening "consequences" if the anti-Iran slant of the news channel
was not controlled.
The
focus has been on these UK-based news channels right from the beginning of
protests over Amini's death in mid-September.
The
British envoy in Tehran was summoned by the country's foreign ministry at least
three times last month to lodge a protest against London for hosting these
Persian-language news channels.
In
the first such summon on September 25, Iran protested what it called the role
of London-based Persian-language media outlets in "instigating riots"
and "creating a hostile environment" in Iran in the wake of Amini's
death.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
India
Kashmiri Muslim Potter Makes 16,000 Diyas Highest Order Ever, This Diwali
25th
October 2022
By
Fayaz Wani
SRI
NAGAR: A Kashmiri Muslim potter, receiving his highest order ever, made 16,000
earthen lamps (Diyas) for Diwali this year with much enthusiasm and passion.
Mohammed Umar said that he received a bulk order of 16,000 Diyas for this
Diwali festive season. He said he had to work very hard to ensure that the
Diyas were supplied on time.
“My
father, brother and I worked very hard for about a month to make the Diyas. We
were making about 500-600 Diyas per day and completed the order well on time
and these Diyas were also dispatched to other states,” he said.
“We
could not rush with making of Diyas as this is an art and we never want to
bring a bad name to our art by rushing with the manufacturing process,’’ he
added. Hailing from Isbher, Nishat area of Srinagar, Umar said it gives him
satisfaction that the Hindu brethren are celebrating Diwali this year by
lighting their homes with the Diyas made by him (a Muslim). He said that
besides earning money, he has also contributed in strengthening communal
harmony and bond by making Diyas for Diwali. Diwali, the festival of lights,
was celebrated today across the country with religious fervour. Umar said that
he used to earlier make 500-700 diyas every year, but this year he received a
bulk order.
He
said, “Besides, I also made diyas for some other customers. I also used to sell
diyas at my shop in Hazratbal area of Srinagar.” He said making each Diya costs
him between Rs 2 to 5, while it is sold in the market for Rs 5 to 10 per piece.
Umar, who is a graduate, instead of looking for a government job wants to
revive the dying art of pottery and glazed (decorative) pottery in the valley.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
FIR
Against Slain Bajrang Dal Leader’s Sister, 10 Others For Vandalising Muslim
Man’s Car In Shivamogga
Sagay
Raj
Oct
25, 2022
Shivamogga
police in Karnataka registered an FIR against murdered Bajrang Dal leader
Harsha's sister, Ashwini, and ten others for damaging an Innova car belonging
to a Muslim man identified as Syed Parvez.
The
FIR states that Ashwini and ten others came on bikes, shouted “Jai Shri Ram”
and damaged Syed Parvez’s car. The incident took place on Saturday, October 22.
After
this incident, a few miscreants on bikes were seen roaming with machetes and
other lethal weapons near Harsha’s residence. They also shouted slogans near
his house. The situation was quite tense in Shivamogga on Monday night, October
24.
When
one of the local men, Prakash, tried to block Harsha’s house, the miscreants
pelted a stone at him and injured him. Police have also registered a case in
this matter and are conducting further investigations.
According
to Shivamogga Superintendent of Police, Mithun Naik, “Prakash, aged 25, was
injured in an incident at Barmappa layout, 2nd Cross. As per the doctors, he
has minor head injuries and is safe. According to his statement, he was hit
with a stone on his head by three assailants who came on a bike and were
shouting and making vulgar comments. We have filed a case and are investigating
the matter.”
According
to officials, the situation in Shivamogga is now under control and police
security has been beefed up.
On
Saturday, October 22, pro-Hindu activists took out a Savarkar rally on bikes at
5.15 pm. Ashwini, the sister of slain Bajrang Dal leader Harsha, was also seen
at the bike rally.
During
the bike rally, Ashwini, along with a few other activists, damaged an Innova
car belonging to a person identified as Syed.
Subsequently,
a case was registered under Sections 416, 143,147,427 and 149 of the Indian
Penal Code.
Source:
India Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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BSF,
Pakistan Rangers exchange sweets along International Border in Jammu, Punjab on
Diwali
Oct
25, 2022
JAMMU/ATTARI:
The Border Security Force and the Pakistan Rangers on Monday exchanged sweets
at several border outposts along the International Border in the Jammu region
and Punjab on Diwali.
The
border guarding forces of India and Pakistan exchange sweets and wishes on
various religious festivals such as Eid and Diwali, and also on their
respective Independence Days.
Armies
two sides also exchanged sweets at some forward posts along the Line of Control
on the occasion.
"Today,
on the occasion of Diwali, BSF and Pakistan Rangers exchanged sweets at various
border outposts under the Jammu frontier in a very cordial atmosphere," a
BSF spokesperson said.
It
was done along the border outposts in Samba, Kathua, R S Pura and Akhnoor
border, he said.
At
the Attari-Wagah border, the BSF offered sweets to Pakistan Rangers on the
occasion of Diwali, officials said.
A
commandant-rank officer of the BSF, along with other personnel, gave sweets to
the Pakistan Rangers at the joint check post.
Officials
of both forces shook hands and exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes.
The
spokesperson said the BSF has always been at the forefront of creating a
peaceful and congenial atmosphere on the border while dominating it
effectively.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Anti-Saudi
Propaganda Meant To Create Chaos, Anarchy in Arab Islamic World: Pakistan Ulema
Council Chairman
OCTOBER
24, 2022
ABUJA:
The world-renowned Ulema have pledged to counter the propaganda against Saudi
Arabia and its leadership through all possible means as it is meant to create
chaos and anarchy in the Arab Islamic world.
Chairing
the joint declaration on the conclusion of the International Tehzeem-e-Haramain
Al-Sharifain Conference, held in Abuja (Nigeria), Secretary General of
International Tahzeem-e-Harmain Al-Sharifain Council Hafiz Muhammad Tahir
Mahmood Ashrafi said efforts were being made at all respective levels and
forums to strengthen relations with religious scholars, Ulema and Mashaikh of
Pakistan and Islamic countries.
Ashrafi
who is also the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony
and the Middle East and Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman said Makkah and Medina
were centers of unity for the Muslim Ummah and that the security and stability
of Saudi Arabia were dear to every Muslim. Islam spread from the holy land and
its message was peace, security, and moderation, he added.
He
further said Ulema and Mashaykh of the Muslim world fully supported the stance
of Saudi Arabia regarding oil and other issues.
He
said the attacks on Saudi Arabia and its oil facilities by the Houthi rebels
were condemnable and regrettable. “The conference welcomed the proposals of
Saudi Arabia to resolve the Yemen issue and endorse the mechanism to take the
path of negotiation,” he added.
Ashrafi
said the Muslims were harmed by the sectarian violence and extremism adding the
solution to the problems of the Muslim Ummah was lying in unity.
He
said the joint declaration of the conference also pointed out that threats to
Muslim countries were from internal chaos and instability. The situation in
Muslim countries was being worsened by sectarianism and foreign interference,
he added.
Highlighting
the significance of inter-religious and inter-faith dialogues, he said, “Islam
commands to live with faithful of other religions in peace, security, and
moderation.”
He
said the Last Messenger of Allah Almighty Muhammad Peace Be Upon He had given
the message of mercy and peace, and the same was advocated by the Ulema and
Mashaykh of Pakistan in the form of ‘Paigham-e-Pakistan’ which is also raised
by the religious scholars in the form of Makkah Declaration.
He
said there was a dire need to make the Organization of Islamic Cooperation more
active and to immediately play an effective role in resolving the problems of
Muslim Ummah, particularly Kashmir and Palestine.
Ashrafi
said in the conference, Ulema expressing regret about the flood situation in
Pakistan, Sudan, Nigeria, and other places, appealed to the Islamic world and
other countries to extend all possible assistance to flood victims.
At
the end of the conference, an award was also conferred to Hafiz Muhammad Tahir
Mahmood Ashrafi acknowledging his matchless services to Islam, Muslims, and
Harmain Al-Sharifain on behalf of the Ulema and Mashaykh of Nigeria and Africa.
Source:
Daily Times Pakistan
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Federal
Minister of Pakistan Greets Hindu Community on Diwali
October
25, 2022
Federal
Minister for Water Resources, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah on Monday congratulated
the Hindu community on the eve of Diwali celebration. He said that all the
religious communities living in Sindh enjoyed equal rights and reiterated his
stance to safeguard their rights.
He
said that every community living in the province whether Hindu, Muslim,
Christian or Parsi belonged to him and he belongs to them. According to a
statement issued here, conveying his warm greetings to the huge gathering of
Hindu community he underlined the need for forging further unity among all the
communities.
Source:
Pak Observer
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://pakobserver.net/khursheed-greets-hindu-community-on-diwali/
--------
Pakistan
court rejects Imran Khan's appeal on disqualification
Oct
24, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
A Pakistani court rejected a request by former premier Imran Khan to
immediately suspend a decision by the Election Commission to disqualify him as
a lawmaker after he was found guilty of hiding his assets.
The
Chief Justice of Islamabad’s High Court Athar Minallah gave the former cricket
star three days to refile his appeal and then seek suspension of the order,
local media reported.
The
judge, who wants Khan to file the appeal with complete documents, said there is
no need to immediately suspend the order as his disqualification covers the
current tenure in parliament and it does not bar him from contesting in future
polls, Geo Television channel said.
The
commission is yet to publicly release its full decision since Friday’s ruling,
causing confusion on the term of the disqualification, Khan’s party spokesman
Fawad Chaudhry earlier said by phone.
Law
minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said Khan would be disqualified from
participating in elections for five years while Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
party has said the disqualification covers his current parliament seat.
The
mounting legal challenges against Khan add to more political uncertainty in a
country reeling from dwindling foreign exchange reserves, widespread floods and
high inflation. Khan however is pushing forward with plans to call for a
protest march to Islamabad later this week as he seeks to pressure Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif to call snap elections.
The
a five-member panel of the election commission issued a short order on Friday
that Khan committed “corrupt practices” by not disclosing money he had earned
from selling gifts from various foreign dignitaries. Pakistani law does not bar
lawmakers from selling such gifts but hiding these transactions is illegal.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
OIC
conference calls on media to promote informed discourse
October
24, 2022
The
Information Ministers of OIC emphasized the importance of cooperation among the
member states in developing necessary mechanisms to fight disinformation and Islamophobia
in all its manifestations.
This
was emphasized in Istanbul Declaration adopted by the 12th Session of the
Islamic Conference of the Information Ministers of OIC held in Istanbul.
The
Istanbul Declaration has emphasized upon the importance of cooperation among
the member states in developing necessary mechanisms to fight disinformation
and other related challenges of the Post-Truth era.
The
declaration also underlined the need for devising short, medium and long-term
strategic processes in the total fight against disinformation.
The
Information Ministers of the OIC Member States, participated in the Islamic
Conference of Information Ministers, titled ‘Combating Disinformation and
Islamophobia in the Post-Truth Era’ held in Turkiye on October 22.
The
declaration said that the conference recognized the importance of focusing on
specific issues and possible scenarios in the short term, multidimensional
crisis communication and management and mechanisms to check the accuracy of the
information in the medium term, and news content, media literacy and digital
media literacy in the long term.
The
conference took into consideration the Final Report of the 12th Islamic
Conference of Information Ministers, which aimed to promote OIC Member States’
contributions and cooperation in the area of media and information, a press
release of the OIC Secretariat said.
The
Istanbul Declaration underscored the need to combat Islamophobia/hatred against
Islam in all its manifestations by presenting the truth about the magnanimous
religion of Islam in an effective manner, utilizing new and emerging platforms
and technological innovations.
Underscoring
the perils of disinformation as a destructive weapon, the declaration said, it
was easy to wield and require complex measures to counter, targeting the noble
religion of Islam and the need to combat this phenomenon and highlighting the
risks it posed particularly in countries with Muslim communities and
minorities.
It
recognized the necessity of raising awareness against disinformation and fake
news through social norms. The declaration highlighted the importance of
combatting disinformation, which posed a serious threat to their countries and
societies in the new digital era, as encapsulated in the theme chosen for the
conference. “Recognizing that terrorism has no particular identity and that
correlating this term with other identities is a product of disinformation and
condemning all manifestations of violence, extremism, fanaticism and terrorism
which distort the noble messages of human cultures,” the declaration said.
The
conference mulled over the significance of media and information in all its
forms in shaping the local, regional, and international public. The conference
called for a renewed commitment to the noble objectives of the OIC and support
for all its initiatives and activities, particularly in the communication and
information domains with a view to encouraging unity, solidarity and
cooperation in the Islamic World.
It
urged the media outlets in the Member States to raise global awareness about
deliberate acts of destruction and desecration of Islamic cultural and
religious heritage in non-Muslim countries, especially in those areas where
indigenous Muslim communities were subjected to ethnic cleansing.
The
conference welcomed the progress towards the operationalization of the OIC
Media Forum and called upon media entities and institutions in the Member
States to join the OMF. It affirmed the principle of consolidating joint
Islamic actions among the OIC Member States, especially in the area of media
and information, and of its constant support for the Palestinian cause and
Al-Quds in international fora.
It
stressed upon the crucial role of media in Islamic countries in exposing the
Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and called for illuminating the
legitimate cause of the Palestinian people to end the Israeli occupation of the
Palestinian territories.
The
conference highlighted the importance of international solidarity and
assistance to support refugees, and people seeking shelter, particularly in the
OIC Member States.
The
conference also welcomed Resolution No. 76/254 on “International Day to Combat
Islamophobia” adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2022
and the Resolution No. 76/227 on “Countering disinformation for the promotion
and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms” adopted by the United
Nations General Assembly on 24 December 2021.
It
commended the efforts of the OIC towards the advancement of the mission of
Islam and promote dialogue between the Islamic culture and the world’s other
cultures.
Source:
Pak Observer
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://pakobserver.net/oic-conference-calls-on-media-to-promote-informed-discourse/
--------
IHC
tells govt to keep journalists’ bodies in the loop in Arshad Sharif death probe
Tahir
Naseer | Naveed Siddiqui
October
25, 2022
The
Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday directed the government to keep
journalist bodies on board while it investigates the killing of journalist
Arshad Sharif reportedly at the hands of the Kenyan police two days ago.
Sharif
was shot dead in Kenya allegedly by the local police on Sunday night, with an
official police statement later expressing “regrets on the unfortunate
incident” and saying an investigation was underway.
Initially,
Kenyan media quoted the local police as saying Sharif was shot dead by police
in a case of “mistaken identity”.
Amid
widespread condemnation and condolences pouring in from various quarters, a
petition was filed with the IHC yesterday, seeking the court to order the
formation of a judicial commission to investigate why the journalist was forced
to flee Pakistan, and later the United Arab Emirates. The court had admitted
the plea the same day.
The
hearing
In
its hearing today, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said he made it to the
court today for this particular case.
“Did
anyone visit the aggrieved family? Do they need any [legal] assistance,”
Justice Minallah asked while reminding the government of the court’s previous
orders wherein directions were issued to government officials to visit the
heirs of the slain journalist.
Petitioner
Shoaib Razzaq said the body of the slain journalist would reach home today. He
reiterated his request to the court that a judicial commission must be formed
to probe the death of Sharif.
Justice
Minallah remarked that the formation of the commission at this stage would not
serve any purpose,
Deputy
Attorney General Syed Ahsan Raza Shah said the incident was indeed unfortunate,
adding a report from the Kenyan government was awaited.
“Once
the report from the Kenyan government is received and if the petitioner raises
any objections to it, we will listen to his concerns,” he told the court.
After
hearing arguments, the court adjourned the hearing for a week.
Body
to arrive early tomorrow morning
Meanwhile,
the Foreign Office, in a statement, said “the mortal remains of the late
journalist are being repatriated from Nairobi tonight on board flight departing
Nairobi at 1:25am for Doha.”
“Onward
flight will leave Doha at 1935 hours (25 Oct) and arrive Islamabad 1:05 hours
tomorrow night,” the FO added.
It
said Pakistan High Commissioner Saqlain Syeda was at the Nairobi airport
overseeing the arrangements.
Yesterday’s
hearing
In
yesterday’s hearing, Justice Minallah had instructed representatives from the
foreign and interior ministries to immediately meet the journalist’s family.
The
court also issued notices to the federal and interior secretaries.
The
petition requested the court to order the formation of a judicial commission to
investigate why the journalist was forced to flee Pakistan, and later the
United Arab Emirates.
“The
judicial commission may also be directed to liaison with national agencies and
the Kenyan agencies and probe into the heinous act which had led to the
unwarranted cold-blooded murder of Arshad Sharif,” the petition stated.
It
also requested the court to issue directives for bringing the journalist’s body
back to Pakistan.
The
killing
A
statement released by the National Police Service of Kenya later confirmed that
the incident occurred last night along the Kwenia farm/Kamukuru Marram road
within Magadi, where “a foreigner namely Arshad Mohammed Shariff (sic), a
Pakistani national aged 50 years was fatally wounded by a police officer while
a passenger in a motor vehicle KDG 200M.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Karachi
court asks police to record statement of complainant against Ahmadi community
members
October
25, 2022
KARACHI:
A sessions court has directed the police to record statement of an applicant
against members of Ahmadi community for allegedly using epithets reserved for
Muslims at their worship place in Karachi, and registerd a case if cognizable
offence is made out.
Additional
District and Sessions Judge (South) Naseer Noor Khan passed this order on an
application filed under Section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code, seeking a
direction for the Preedy SHO to record his statement and lodge an FIR against
the members of the Ahmadi community.
The
judge ruled: “Police Station Preedy is directed to take the statement of the applicant
on record and if cognizable offence is made out, then statement be incorporated
in 154 Cr.P.C. book. In above terms the instant application stands allowed”.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1716708/plea-allowed-for-fir-against-ahmadi-community?preview
--------
Pakistan
condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi energy facilities
October
24, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Monday condemned “unacceptable” attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on
energy facilities of Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed its strong support for the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the oil-rich kingdom.
The
Foreign Office said Pakistan also supported the efforts of Saudi Arabia for
achieving a peaceful settlement in war-torn Yemen.
The
statement came as the war between the group and the Saudi-led coalition entered
its eighth year, and violence has worsened over recent months. The conflict has
killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, and left millions facing
starvation and disease.
“Pakistan
has consistently urged all parties to the conflict in Yemen to engage in
peaceful and meaningful talks to end the hostilities, in line with the relevant
UN Security Council Resolutions,” the statement said.
The
Foreign Office noted the truce reached earlier this year yielded dividends by
bringing about relative peace, however, termed it “deplorable” that it was not
renewed by the group.
“This
would cause mounting hardship for the ordinary Yemenis, and potentially derail
the entire effort for the attainment of durable peace,” it said.
“We
once again urge upon the Houthis to cease militant activities and terrorist actions,
and engage in a serious dialogue to end the conflict on the basis of the
relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and renew the UN-brokered truce.
Pakistan
believes that war serves no purpose, and all issues can be resolved through
peaceful dialogue. Adopting this path early will save thousands of innocent
lives, and protect the future of the Yemeni people,” it said.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Arab
World
Islamic
State Group Still Active in Southern Syria, Observers Say
Sirwan
Kajjo
October
24, 2022
WASHINGTON
—
Despite
the heavy presence of Syrian and Russian forces in southern Syria, militants
affiliated with the Islamic State group appear to be active in the region.
Last
week, local fighters, some of whom were affiliated with the Syrian government,
carried out an operation targeting several hideouts belonging to IS operatives
in a town in the southern province of Daraa. During the raid, at least six IS
members were killed, and three houses used as IS operations centers were
destroyed, according to local news reports.
The
multi-day operation, which ended Sunday, seemed to be in response to an October
13 bombing of a military bus in the Syrian capital of Damascus that killed at
least 18 Syrian soldiers.
Russia,
a strong backer of the Syrian government, has accused IS cells in Daraa of
carrying out the attack.
The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told VOA it couldn't confirm whether the
individuals targeted in Daraa were responsible for orchestrating the Damascus
bombing.
"But
what is certain is that those killed in the town of Jasim [in Daraa] were
Syrian and Iraqi nationals that were indeed members of Daesh," said Rami
Abdulrahman, director of the U.K.-based observatory, using an Arabic acronym
for the terror group.
A
media activist in Daraa who requested anonymity for safety reasons told VOA
that one of the IS operatives killed during the clashes last week was a
high-profile leader responsible for assassinating several former opposition figures
in southern Syria.
Occasional
attacks
Since
2018, when Syrian government forces and allied militias recaptured the region
from rebel forces, Daraa and surrounding areas have seen occasional attacks
claimed by IS militants and other extremist groups.
Sadradeen
Kinno, a Syria researcher who closely follows militant groups in the war-torn
country, said the Syrian regime and its Russian allies have not cleared the
south of all radical groups, including IS.
"The
security situation in Daraa and other southern parts of the country remains
fragile because the Syrian regime's ability to provide post-IS stability is
different from that of other players that have fought Daesh, such as the
[U.S.-backed] Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria," he told VOA.
For
one, Kinno said, the regime's military units in every part of Syria fall under
different foreign commands, including Russia and Iran.
"The
units that are affiliated with Russia in the south have in recent months proven
to be ineffective and disorganized, largely because Russia has been focused on
its war in Ukraine," he said, adding that IS cells "have naturally
exploited the situation to increase their presence in the south."
The
Syrian regime is currently not capable of pushing back IS operatives in areas
that are entirely under its control, Kinno said.
Other
experts said the Syrian government could have tolerated the presence of some
elements of IS to threaten the remaining rebel groups that have not reconciled
with the government.
As
part of a Russian-brokered deal in 2018, the Syrian government allowed several
rebel groups to remain in Daraa if they agreed to lay down their arms or fight
under the regime's command. Some groups, however, kept their arms without
fighting alongside government forces.
"The
Syrian regime's narrative is that all fundamentalist groups in the south have
been arrested since 2018, but we keep hearing about the emergence of Daesh
cells in towns across Daraa," said Hisham al-Masalmeh, a Belgium-based
Syrian political analyst who hails from Daraa.
Source:
VOA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Islamic
State regains momentum in Syria's Kurdish areas
Sultan
al-Kanj
October
24, 2022
The
Islamic State has recently renewed its activities in the areas under the control
of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria.
On
Oct. 14, IS claimed responsibility for an operation in the village of Tal Alo
in Hasakah province, targeting Hamidi Bandar Hamidi al-Hadi, the son of the
leader of al-Sanadid Forces (Forces of the Brave) formed by the Arab Shammar
tribe and operating under the umbrella of the SDF and the US-led coalition.
Hadi’s
car was blown up on the road between Tal Alo and Sheikh Hamidi’s farm in the
Qamishli countryside. Hadi, who survived the assassination attempt, is also the
grandson of the sheikh of the Shammar tribe in Syria, Hamidi Daham al-Jarba.
On
Oct. 19, IS members also shot dead Amer Awad al-Shawi, a former member of the
SDF, and his companion Ayman al-Shawi, in al-Busayrah in the eastern
countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
Zain
al-Abidin al-Akeidi, a journalist from the Deir ez-Zor countryside, told
Al-Monitor, “IS would suspend its operations in the area for a few days or a
few weeks, only to make a more ferocious comeback. Moreover, some tribes are
creating a suitable environment for IS. The large numbers of displaced people
in the eastern and northeastern countrysides of Deir ez-zor enables IS to hide
its cells and fighters.”
He
explained that IS has been able to regain momentum amid the fragile security of
the SDF. “Corruption plaguing most security services affiliated with the SDF is
fostering the presence of IS, which pays bribes for freeing its fighters and
suspending prosecutions against its cells. Also, the religiously conservative
tribal areas are ethnically and religiously sensitive toward the Kurdish forces
and label the SDF as atheists or enemies of Islam. In some cases, they even
sympathize with IS.”
Akeidi
added, “IS carries out security operations according to the method of lone
wolves. It has great influence in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, and sometimes
imposes zakat [obligatory charitable payment] on residents. IS also pursues
workers and employees in the oil fields run by the SDF." But the failed
assassination attempt, he said, was the first time IS broke into an area
controlled by al-Sanadid forces.
“IS’
strategies are based on three main factors to ensure its continuity," Raed
al-Hamid, an Erbil-based expert on armed groups, told Al-Monitor. The first, he
said, is preserving its own men, which is "why it has been operating in
small, mobile groups of less than 15 fighters. IS has stopped fighting major
offensive battles in large numbers to preserve its human resources.”
Source:
Al Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/10/islamic-state-regains-momentum-syrias-kurdish-areas
--------
Lebanon
fails to elect new president for fourth time as Aoun’s departure looms
24
October, 2022
Lebanon’s
parliament failed on Monday to elect a president for the fourth time, with just
a week left until outgoing President Michel Aoun’s term ends and warnings of a
constitutional crisis growing louder.
With
parliament more fractured than ever after May’s elections, political blocs have
been unable to reach consensus on a candidate to succeed Aoun.
The
presidency has fallen vacant several times since the 1975-1990 civil war but a
vacuum now would be especially worrisome. The government is already operating
in a caretaker capacity and the country is sinking deeper into a three-year-old
financial meltdown.
Economic
and political turmoil has sunk the currency by more than 90 percent, spread
poverty, paralyzed the financial system and frozen depositors out of their
savings in the most destabilizing crisis since the country’s civil war.
Votes
in parliament on Monday were split mostly between independent MP Michel
Mouawad, scholar Issam Khalife, who was newly nominated, blank ballots and some
votes for political slogans.
Speaker
of Parliament Nabih Berri set the next session for Thursday, October 27.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Saudi
Arabia continues to support global anti-terror efforts: FM
SHEROUK
ZAKARIA
October
24, 2022
Saudi
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan reiterated the Kingdom’s support of
all international efforts to eradicate terrorism “from its roots.”
Speaking
at the Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security on Monday, Prince Faisal
said terrorism posed a threat to international maritime trade and the global
economy.
He
highlighted the Kingdom’s “leading role” in fighting terrorism.
“Saudi
Arabia supports peaceful resolution to conflicts and comprehensive economic
development,” he said.
“We
believe in multilateral global action to create a just world.”
Prince
Faisal also reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s efforts to overcome climate change,
reiterating the Kingdom’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2060
and the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2187081/saudi-arabia
--------
Syrian
air defences intercept, confront Israeli missile barrage targeting Damascus
suburbs
24
October 2022
Syrian
air defense units have managed to intercept and bring down most of the missiles
launched by the Israeli military at various targets in the vicinity of the Arab
country’s capital city of Damascus.
Syria’s
official news agency SANA, citing a military source, reported that Israeli
warplanes fired several missiles from the direction of the north of the
occupied Palestinian territories at some targets near Damascus at about 2 p.m.
local time (1400 GMT) on Monday, but Syrian air defenses could bring down most
of the projectiles.
The
source also noted that the strikes injured a soldier and caused some material
damage.
Earlier,
the state-run and Arabic-language al-Ikhbariyah Syria television news channel
reported that two loud explosions were heard across Damascus after the Israeli
military fired several missiles towards Syrian military positions in the
countryside around the capital.
The
Israeli attack is a rare example of strikes during the daytime in Syria, as the
Tel Aviv regime usually hits military installations under the cover of
darkness.
Syrian
air defenses intercepted an Israeli missile attack over Damascus and the
southern region late on Friday, and explosions were heard in the capital's
vicinity
No
immediate information was available on possible damage or casualties.
Syria
has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian
government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are
aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the country.
Israel
frequently targets military positions inside Syria, especially those of the
resistance movement Hezbollah which has played a key role in helping the Syrian
army in its fight against the foreign-backed terrorists.
The
Tel Aviv regime mostly keeps quiet about its attacks on Syrian territories,
which many view as knee-jerk reaction to Syrian government’s increasing success
in confronting terrorism.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Saudi-led
coalition using all means to prolong aggression, suffering of Yemeni nation: PM
24
October 2022
The
Yemeni prime minister has strongly condemned the Saudi-led coalition for using
all available means in order to prolong its ongoing atrocious military onslaught
against the crisis-stricken country and increase the suffering of its
impoverished people.
Abdulaziz
bin Habtoor made the remarks in a meeting with the visiting Director of
Operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Martin Schüepp,
in the Yemeni capital city of Sana’a on Sunday evening.
He
said that Riyadh and its allies are drawing on their financial, diplomatic and
media resources to plunder Yemen’s energy reserves and steal the proceeds of
its sold oil derivatives.
Bin
Habtoor lauded the humanitarian activities of the ICRC and its efforts to
alleviate the suffering of Yemenis.
He
also praised the Geneva-based humanitarian organization for facilitating a
prisoner exchange between Yemen’s National Salvation Government and Saudi-backed
Takfiri militants.
Schüepp,
for his part, said that the ICRC attaches great importance to the Yemeni
conflict and has placed it atop its humanitarian projects.
He
noted that the organization will spare no effort to undertake new projects
within the framework of its contribution to the UN and international
humanitarian agencies and will help assuage the suffering of the Yemeni people.
Saudi-led
coalition violates Hudaydah truce 50 times in 24 hours
Meanwhile,
Saudi Arabia and its allies have stepped up their attacks in breach of a
UN-brokered truce in the port city of Hudaydah, violating the truce deal dozens
of times.
The
official Saba news agency reported that the mercenaries of the Saudi-led
alliance continued violations of the ceasefire in Hudaydah, taking advantage of
the commitment of the Yemeni Army Forces and fighters from the Popular
Committees to exercise restraint and not to respond to their successive
violations.
It
said the coalition infringed upon the truce 50 times in the past 24 hours.
An
unnamed military official said eight artillery shells were fired at residential
areas and the positions of the Army and Popular Committees.
Several
flights of armed Saudi-led reconnaissance aircraft in the skies of Hays and
Maqbana districts were recorded as well.
He
added that Saudi-led troops and their mercenaries also fortified their
positions around the Maqbana district.
Delegates
from the popular Ansarullah resistance movement and representatives loyal to
former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi attended the peace negotiations
in Rimbo on the outskirts of Stockholm in December 2018. The talks resulted in
the announcement of a breakthrough agreement.
The
document included three provisions: a ceasefire along the Hudaydah front and
the redeployment of armed forces out of the city and its port; an agreement on
prisoner exchange; and a statement of understanding on the southern Yemeni city
of Ta’izz.
Saudi
Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration
with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other
Western states.
The
objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly Hadi regime and crush the
Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the
absence of a functional government in Yemen.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
Iran
‘ally and supporter’ of Palestinian resistance, nation: Islamic Jihad movement
leader
24
October 2022
The
secretary general of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement has hailed Iran’s
unwavering support for the resistance groups and factions across the occupied
Palestinian territories, saying the Islamic Republic is an ally of the
Gaza-based movement and a supporter of the resistance and Palestinian people.
“Iran
is an ally of the [Islamic] Jihad movement and the Palestinian people, and its
political stances are hostile to Israel and supportive of the resistance,” Ziad
al-Nakhala said in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera news network on
Sunday.
“Iran
stands against the American policy and Israel, and supports the resistance,”
Nakhala added. “While the Arab regimes are in alliance with the Israeli regime
and the West and do not support the resistance, Iran supports the Islamic Jihad
movement and all Palestinian resistance groups.”
The
secretary general of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement stressed that the
Arab regimes are moving towards normalizing their relations with Israel and
stay “loyal to the United States, whose weapons kill the Palestinian people.”
Pointing
to the Israeli regime’s illegal expansionist policies, Nakhala said Tel Aviv
has in recent years seized a large part of the West Bank and that the number of
settlers has witnessed an exponential rise.
"The
Zionist regime has occupied a large part of the West Bank and is building
settlements on a large scale, and the number of settlers has reached more than
800,000," Nakhala told Al Jazeera.
He
added, "The Zionist regime basically does not recognize us as a nation,
while they want us to recognize this regime. The occupation of Palestine must
end because the people who replaced the Palestinian people were gathered from
different parts of the world and settled in our land."
“What
is happening in the West Bank proves the failure of the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO)’s project to establish a Palestinian state in the West
Bank,” he said, adding, “The US had adopted a project to rehabilitate the
Palestinians so that they could coexist with Israel, and the [Palestinian]
Authority had no other choice.”
During
the exclusive interview with the Doha-based news network, Nakhala referred to
the economic and political pressures that were being exerted on the Palestinian
resistance groups in order to recognize Israel, stressing that the Islamic
Jihad movement has a clear vision on the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict, and is not obliged to follow the same path as other resistance
factions.
Nakhala
said that Israel is after implemeing a Western project in the region, “which is
on the basis of complete abolition of the Palestinian nation.”
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/10/24/691514/Islamic-Jihad-resistance-Ziad-Nakhala-Iran-support-
--------
Iran
maintains silence on 'massacre' in Sunni-majority city
October
25, 2022
Nearly
a month on, horrifying details continue to trickle out from the killing of
scores of civilians in Iran's southeastern city of Zahedan — the capital of
Sistan-Balouchistan province and home to the ethnic Balouch community who are
followers of Sunni Islam — under the Shiite-led central government.
The
killings occurred on Sept. 30, a day described by government critics as
"the bloody Friday" when police, members of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij forces gunned down at least 96
people, according to tallies documented by rights advocacy organizations. The
violence was the worst in a single day since Iran was rocked by nationwide
unrest triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality
police in mid-September.
Prior
to the Zahedan tragedy, campaigns gained momentum for protests against the
alleged rape by a local police commander of a 15-year-old girl from the Sunni
Balouch community in the city of Chabahar in the same province. Following Sunni
Friday prayers in Zahedan's Makki Mosque, angry protesters marched toward a
nearby police station, where security forces and Basij militia used live
ammunition indiscriminately from rooftops. Iranian authorities say the
protesters were armed, an argument rejected by activists.
Local
sources in the city have confirmed to Al-Monitor that the IRGC also deployed
drones to target some of the protesters in flashpoint districts, while
helicopters and snipers fired randomly into the crowds.
With
government-imposed internet blackouts in place, details of the killings were
widely unavailable in the first few days from a city all but disconnected from
the rest of the country. Yet Balouch activists say they managed to gather data
and verify some witness accounts and identities. The victims, they say, include
women, the elderly, the disabled and children as young as 2, some of them mere
bystanders of the protest.
Amnesty
International confirmed 82 deaths, among them 10 children, noting that bullets
were mostly fired in the head and the chest or other vital organs.
In
the fallout of the killings, a medical doctor in Zahedan dismissed the
government narrative, reporting that most of the injured he treated or the
bodies he saw had been shot from behind while running away, as opposed to the
government statements that they were attacking with arms in their hands.
"Shame on you! You are the most brutal forces history has seen," the
doctor wrote in condemnation of the government forces.
As
those accounts gradually came out, other Iranians launched campaigns online
calling for blood donations as Zahedan hospitals were found overwhelmed with
hundreds of wounded. "From Zahedan to Tehran, we will sacrifice our souls
for Iran," protesters chanted in other cities to put a spotlight on the
bloodshed and amplify the voices of the Balouch community.
Iran's
state media reported that the clashes were provoked by "terrorists"
and left only 19 dead. They also confirmed six deaths among government forces,
including that of the influential head of the provincial branch of the IRGC
Intelligence Organization.
Government-run
outlets laid the blame on Jaish ul-Adl (Army of Justice), a militant group that
has been fighting for the rights of religious and ethnic minorities and has in
the past claimed many attacks on security forces. Yet the group has denied any
involvement this time. In a statement, Jaish ul-Adl said it had been inactive
during the Mahsa Amini protests so as not to provide the government with an
excuse to link ordinary protesters to opposition groups. Still, the militants
vowed that following "the massacre of the Sunni worshipers," their
position has now changed "and we will enter the battlefield to hold the
regime accountable."
'Khamenei
cannot evade responsibility'
Mowlawi
Adbul-Hamid, the popular Sunni cleric who led the Friday prayers on the day of
the killings, called on locals to exercise restraint and allow officials to
investigate and hold the perpetrators to account.
However,
the cleric's patience appeared to have worn thin due to the weekslong failure
of those officials to address the tragedy. He broke free from his typical
moderate approach and took a swipe at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in
a rare fiery speech Oct. 21.
"The
supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, as the commander-in-chief of the armed
forces, as well as other officials are all responsible, and no one can evade
this responsibility," he said, rejecting as "absolute lies" the
government account that the protesters were "terrorists."
"Under
whose order did you open fire in a place where God is worshipped?" he
asked, expressing "disbelief" at how authorities were "resorting
to silence" in the face of the killings of the Sunni worshippers.
Following
the speech, an IRGC news outlet hit out at the Sunni cleric, giving him the
"last warning" that he will "pay a big price."
'We
are not separatists'
In
the aftermath of the killings, many members of the Balouch community clawed
their way onto social media — despite the internet disruptions — to challenge
the state narrative that described the protesters as "separatists."
They
have shared the agony of the ethnic community during decadeslong discrimination
and marginalization, which critics argue has been "systematically"
imposed by the Islamic Republic.
Alarming
levels of unemployment and poverty and lack of educational and professional
opportunities compared to other Iranian provinces have pushed
Sistan-Balouchistan to the bottom of the national lists in most welfare
indices.
The
area has also historically proven an easy target for the Islamic Republic when
it comes to crushing dissent, with the "separatism" and
"terrorism" cards in store to be pulled and played.
Most
notably, due to the same marginalization, the Iranian government has denied
official birth certificates to thousands of Balouch community members, leaving
them effectively deprived from an array of services, education and mobility
onto the social ladder.
Source:
Al Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/10/iran-maintains-silence-massacre-sunni-majority-city
--------
Iran's
Rayeesi Congratulates China's Xi on Third Term
2022-October-24
Rayeesi
made the remarks in a congratulatory message to Xi on Monday, as he secured a
historic third term as leader of China.
"Accomplishing
the objectives of comprehensive strategic partnership between Iran and China
provides a model for the all-out expansion of relations based on mutual
interests and respects," Iran'spresident wrote.
"Cooperating
within the framework of organizations and multilateral entities, not only
serves both countries' interests but also helps preserve international peace
and stability," he added.
Xi
was re-elected as leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Sunday,
retaining the position for a third term. This is set to make him Beijing's
longest serving leader since Mao Zedong.
Xi,
who has now secured another five years in power, will also retain his role as
chairman of the Central Military Commission, the highest defense body in charge
of the People’s Liberation Army.
Back
in March 2021, Iran and China signed a 25-year comprehensive strategic
partnership deal to strengthen their long-standing economic and political
alliance. The partnership was first announced in 2016, when Xi visited Iran to
strengthen Tehran-Beijing ties.
It
aims to boost economic cooperation between the two countries and paves the way
for Iran’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, a massive
infrastructure project stretching from East Asia to Europe.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010802000392/Iran's-Rayeesi-Cngralaes-China's-Xi-n-Third-Term
--------
Iran
Arrests 10 Mossad Spies Planning to Assassinate Intelligence, Security Forces
2022-October-24
Iran's
Judiciary announced in a statement on Monday that 10 individuals with links to
the Mossad have been arrested in West Azarbaijan province.
The
members of the terror outfit received rigorous training from Israeli
intelligence officers and were collecting information about individuals
cooperating with the Iranian security and intelligence apparatus, the statement
read.
They
tried to extract information from their victims through abduction, various
threats and violent assault and battery, it noted.
"The
members of the team were in direct contact with several Mossad officers by
establishing video communications with them," the Iran's Judiciary added.
Members
of the group also set fire to the private cars and houses of some Iranian
security forces and were paid sums of money for taking pictures and sending them
to Mossad officers," the statement said, adding they had even
unsuccessfully tried to assassinate Iranian security and intelligence forces.
"These
people had received money from the agents of the Zionist regime and Mossad
officers on several occasions for the missions they had completed,"
according to the statement.
They
were operating in the provinces of West Azarbaijan, Tehran and Hormozgan,
Iran's Judiciary reported.
Intelligence
Minister: Several Successful Operations Carried out Against Israel in Recent
Monthshttps://t.co/cLXtq7niUe pic.twitter.com/XhbVnumK97
—
Fars News Agency (@EnglishFars) July 27, 2022
Iran
has in recent months identified and arrested several members of spy networks
affiliated to foreign secret services.
Back
in July, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced that it has captured a
network of Israeli Mossad agents who had entered the country to conduct terror
attacks on sensitive sites.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
charges 300 in Tehran protests, four could face death penalty
24
October, 2022
More
than 300 people have been indicted over Tehran protests sparked by the death of
Mahsa Amini, including four charged with an offence that can carry the death penalty,
Iran's judiciary said Monday.
The
Islamic republic has witnessed a wave of protests over the death of 22-year-old
Amini on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for
allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.
The
street violence has led to dozens of deaths, mostly among demonstrators but
also among the security forces, and hundreds of protesters have been arrested.
Tehran
prosecutor Ali Salehi said that indictments have been issued for 315 people on
charges of “congregating and colluding with the intention of acting against the
country's security”, “propaganda against the system” and “disturbing public
order”, the Judiciary's Mizan Online news website reported.
He
added that “indictments were also issued for four rioters on charges of
moharebeh,” which means 'war against God', a charge that can carry a death
sentence.
They
are accused of “using a weapon to terrorize the society and people, injuring
security officers, setting fire to and destroying public and government
property with the intent to disrupt the country's security and confronting the
holy system of the Islamic republic of Iran,” Salehi added.
Meanwhile,
Iran's Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei announced that the processing
of cases related to protesters “has already started,” he was quoted as saying
by Mizan Online.
“The
trial of those who committed crimes... and were affiliated with
counter-revolutionary elements inside and outside and with foreigners will be
held carefully and according to the law, and these people will be punished
according to the law,” he stressed.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Six
Palestinians killed in Israeli raids in West Bank
October
25, 2022
NABLUS:
Six Palestinians were killed and nearly 20 others injured early Tuesday in
sweeping raids by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian
Health Ministry said.
Israeli
Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that Wadih Al Houh, a militant leader of a new
coalition of Palestinian fighters dubbed “The Lions’ Den,” had been among those
killed in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
The
Palestinian health ministry initially reported three dead and 19 wounded, three
of them seriously, shot “by Israeli fire in Nablus.”
Later
statements said that two more Palestinians had died in Nablus, while another
Palestinian was also killed in overnight clashes near Ramallah.
The
Israeli army said it had carried out a vast operation with police and intelligence
officers targeting a site “used by the main operatives of the ‘Lion’s Den’,”
describing it as a “headquarters and a workshop for making weapons” of the
militants.
“The
forces detonated the explosive manufacturing site,” the army statement added,
which did not provide a death toll. “During the activity, multiple armed
suspects were hit.”
Violence
has increased in recent months in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian
territory occupied since 1967 by Israel, especially in the areas of Nablus and Jenin.
More
than 100 Palestinian fighters and civilians have been killed since the start of
the year, the heaviest toll in the West Bank for nearly seven years, according
to the United Nations.
Lapid,
speaking on Israeli public broadcaster Kan radio, warned Palestinian militants
that “they need to know that we will reach them wherever they are,” he said.
“Israel
will never stop acting for its security and we will do what needs to be done,”
he added. “The goal is to reduce terrorism and ensure that it does not affect
Israeli citizens.”
Palestinian
president Mahmoud Abbas is establishing “urgent contacts in order to stop this
aggression against our people” in Nablus, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah said
in a statement.
In
recent weeks, a group of young Palestinian fighters — some affiliated with
mainstream groups such as Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad — have launched
militant attacks from Nablus.
The
new group, called “Areen Al-Ossoud” or “The Lions’ Den” in English, claimed
responsibility for a deadly attack on an Israeli soldier two weeks ago in the
occupied West Bank.
Late
leader Ibrahim Al-Nabulsi, nicknamed “The Lion of Nablus,” was known for
galvanizing the youth before he was shot dead by Israeli forces in August. He
has since become a folk hero to Palestinians on social media.
In
the aftermath, the Israeli army tightened its grip on Nablus, setting up
controls to identify people leaving the city and constantly scanning the skies
of the city with observation drones.
On
Saturday night, a Lions’ Den fighter, Tamer Al-Kilani, was killed in Nablus by
an “explosion” attributed by the group and the Israeli press to a bomb remotely
activated by the Israeli army.
The
army did not comment on these claims.
Separately,
rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday called for an International
Criminal Court (ICC) probe into possible “war crimes” committed in August by
both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants during deadly fighting in Gaza.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2187406/middle-east
--------
Europe
Greece
Turns Spiritual Centre Of Muslim Turks On Rhodes Island Into Music Faculty
Halil
İbrahim Medet
24.10.2022
Greek
authorities have turned the historical Murat Reis Complex, a spiritual center
for Muslim Turks living on Rhodes Island, into a music faculty.
The
center comprises a mosque, a dervish lodge, and a cemetery for soldiers.
Speaking
to Anadolu Agency, Neval Konuk, a lecturer at Istanbul-based Marmara
University’s Faculty of Architecture and Design, said the historical Murat Reis
Complex was primarily a cemetery where "martyred" soldiers were
buried after the island was conquered by the Ottomans in 1522.
Konuk,
who has written 12 books and more than 50 research papers on Ottoman
architecture in the Balkans, noted that the building also hosts the tomb of
Murat Pasha, who conquered Cyprus, as well as two Crimean Khans, and the tomb
of an Iranian Shah.
She
said the complex also hosts Muslim events, such as weddings, circumcision and
mawlid, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad.
According
to Konuk, following the death of the volunteer tomb keeper Saban Karginlioglu
in 2018, the complex was confiscated by the Council of Monuments on Rhodes
Island.
“Murat
Reis Complex was the religious and spiritual center where the Turks living on
Rhodes Island held their wedding, circumcision, mawlid, and other ceremonies,”
she said.
“It
was converted into a music faculty. This is an enormous destruction culturally
and an immense disrespect religiously.”
Erasing
island's Ottoman heritage
She
said Greece tries to erase the island's Ottoman heritage by refusing to
register the relics of that era.
“The
number of Ottoman-Turkish works registered throughout Greece, including Western
Thrace and the islands, is zero.”
“These
works of art are recorded as Muslim works. Muslim fountain, in the form of a
Muslim library. ‘And who is this Muslim?’ if we ask, there is no answer,” she
added.
“Greece
ignores all Ottoman artifacts within its borders, it does not accept them.”
She
said the Ottoman monuments – built in the period from the Greek Declaration of
Independence to the occupation of Rhodes by the Italians in 1912 – were also
ignored.
“They
also do not accept structures such as public buildings, junior high schools,
high schools, or government buildings within the borders of present-day
Greece,” she added.
“Hamidiye
Hospital in Thessaloniki is a very famous building which is still in use. Since
the French used the hospital during World War I, it is registered as a French
hospital in all records, theses, and tourism guides,” she said.
Planned
destruction
Konuk
also claimed that there has been no Islamic burial in the cemetery since 1912
and that historical cemeteries and tombs have been destroyed in a planned
manner.
Several
theft incidents of historical tombstones have been reported at the cemetery,
Konuk said.
In
addition, the Greeks living on the island constantly pour cat-dog food in the
cemetery, leaving behind a lot of residue, she said.
“These
tombstones are not maintained except for minor repairs by the Turks who have
been visiting since 1912,” she added. “By pouring cat-dog food, the cemetery is
destroyed, and defiled because of the animal droppings.”
Among
the 250 tombstones and six shrines at the cemetery, there are graves belonging
to the clergy who served in the lodge, the flag bearer of Suleiman the
Magnificent, the Mevlevis, scholars and notable Turks of Rhodes.
“The
shrines are in a very bad condition as they have not been maintained for 110
years."
She
further said the tombstones at the cemetery are original examples of Ottoman
art.
“There
are tombstones that contain very different symbols and are very important in
terms of Ottoman-Turkish art,” she added. “For example, a gallows was placed on
the full neck of the tombstone of the person who was buried after he was
executed. It has a hook and rope on it. I have not seen this symbol on any
other tombstone.”
Faulty
restoration work
She
lamented that the structures which have been restored have been done
haphazardly, causing more harm than good.
“Have
you ever seen a mosque restoration in the concept of a kindergarten with
colored walls? In Kavala Halil Bey Mosque and Madrasa, it is as if you are
walking in Venice. There are mosque restorations with all the walls in color.
“In
other words, the identity of the buildings is lost, their originality is lost,
their style is lost,” she said.
“Apart
from this, minarets and inscriptions are also removed. In the dome, instead of
lead, corrugated tiles are used to evoke Byzantine architecture. Ottoman
architecture is being destroyed with restoration work.”
Konuk
noted that in the last 20-25 years, Türkiye has opened many Greek-Orthodox
churches, most of them from the 19th century, even if they do not have a
congregation.
“Churches
in Edirne, Ordu, Cesme, and Alacati were restored and opened to worship even if
they did not have congregations."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Brit
police pay settlement to arrested street preacher who criticized Islam at
Speakers’ Corner
By
Mark A. Kellner
October
24, 2022
Britain’s
Metropolitan Police apologized and paid £10,000 ($11,286.23 U.S.) to a woman
they wrongfully arrested for preaching against Islam in London’s famed
Speakers’ Corner, a settlement labeled “a rare admission” by an attorney who
helped her.
Hatun
Tash, 40, a former Muslim turned Christian who says she now believes Islam is a
false religion, moved to the United Kingdom from Turkey nine years ago, and has
since been arrested twice.
She
was also stabbed on the street in 2021 by an unknown assailant.
Ms.
Tash, who operates Defend Christ Critique Islam (DCCI) Ministries, said she
donated the settlement to the Christian Legal Centre, which represented her in
seeking redress from the police headquarters, known colloquially as Scotland
Yard.
CLC
Chief Executive Andrea Williams said: “This payout to Hatun is a rare admission
by the police that they got it wrong.”
She
said Ms. Tash “has been repeatedly silenced or removed by the police because
she challenges the religious ideology of Islam. … If Hatun is silenced by
violence at Speakers’ Corner, we are all silenced.”
Police
Inspector Andy O’Donnell of the Civil Actions Investigations Unit in the
agency’s professional standards directorate sent an apology to Ms. Tash for
arrests in December 2020 and May 2021.
The
first arrest involved a dispute with police over coronavirus regulations. The
second came when she was “assaulted, abused and harassed by a group of Islamic
men for wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Muhammad on it while taking part in
weekly debates at Speakers’ Corner, known as the home of free speech,” the CLC
said in a news release.
According
to the release, police told Ms. Tash to leave the park instead of dealing with
her harassers before then arresting her for “breaching the peace.” She was held
for 24 hours “before being released with the police taking no further action,”
the group said.
“I
have considered the background to your claim and am satisfied that on these
occasions the level of service did fall below the requisite standard, Mr.
O’Donnell wrote in a letter made public on Friday. He added, “I would like to
take this opportunity to [apologize] to you for the distress that you have
suffered as a consequence of these incidents.”
Neither
the letter nor the settlement addressed a July 2021 incident in which Ms. Tash
was stabbed “in front of police at the same location by a man in a black
Islamic robe in broad daylight,” according to the CLC statement.
Ms.
Tash said the settlement and apology must be “just the beginning” of protecting
the freedom of Christians who speak in Hyde Park.
Source:
Washington Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/oct/24/christian-evangelist-wins-rare-apology-10000-settl/
--------
Bradford:
Mentally ill man responsible for stabbing in mosque
October
24, 2022
A
mentally ill man stabbed and seriously hurt his former childhood friend in a
crowded mosque in Bradford, a jury has decided.
CCTV
footage of Fezan Hussain, 27, pulling out a machete before stabbing his victim
without warning had earlier been shown at Bradford Crown Court.
Hussain
had hugged his victim before attacking him at the Madni Masjid Islamic Centre
in May, the court heard.
Hussain
was found unfit to enter a plea or stand trial over the attack.
As
a result the jury had to decide whether Hussain, of Radfield Road, Wyke, had
carried out the stabbing at the mosque on Newton Street on 2 May, without
hearing evidence from him.
Opening
the case to the jury, prosecutor Jonathan Sharp said Hussain had bought the
knife he used in the attack by mail order in April.
Hussain
had no motive or reason to attack the complainant, Mr Sharp said.
In
an interview with police in June, the victim described how Hussain had stabbed
him straight in the stomach after he had hugged him.
He
said Hussain was angry and staring at him, but added that the two men had never
had any issues or problems in the past and he had not seen Hussain for about
three years.
'Still
pushing'
The
man said that after the initial attack, Hussain, who only has one hand, was
still holding the machete with his left hand and was trying to push it further
into him.
"I
don't know why he did it, to be honest," he said.
"I
only realised it was a machete when it was stuck inside me. He was still
pushing. I had to push him off to get it out."
The
complainant had undergone several operations to repair damage to his liver and
he had spent nearly a month in hospital after the attack, the court heard.
Source:
BBC
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-63377309
--------
Spanish
man trekking to Qatar for World Cup goes missing after crossing into Iran
25
October, 2022
A
Spanish man, trekking from Madrid to Doha for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, arrived
in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish region of Iraq on his way to Qatar, before he
went missing after crossing into Iran at the beginning of October.
The
experienced 41-year-old trekker, Santiago Sanchez, has not been heard from
since he crossed Iraq-Iran border over three weeks ago, his family said on
Monday, stirring fears about his fate in a country convulsed by mass unrest.
On
his way to the border, Sanchez met local farmer Tofiq Ahmad and his wife Mahiya
in the district of Penjwin.
“He
came to us and asked, which (football) club you support, and we replied, well,
we like Barcelona. He said, I am a Real fan, and you should support Real,”
Ahmad said.
The
Spanish adventurer explained how he planned to go to Tehran, the Iranian
capital, the following day, where a television station wanted to interview him.
“I
am going to Iran, I am going to Bashmakh (border gate), where is the road to
Bashmakh. We said, this road takes you to Bashmakh, and so he took away his
bike,” Ahmad added.
Sanchez
next step would have been Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran where he would
hop on a boat to Qatar.
The
Kurdish couple offered him food and a place to stay before he continued his
journey.
“I
made him breakfast in the morning, and at night I cooked chicken and okra soup
for him,” Mahiya Rashid recalled.
He
left the couple’s house and headed to the border on October 1, which was the
last day he was seen.
“I
offered him a sandwich, but he said I have enough, and then offered him a
bottle of water, and he said I have everything with me, then I said farewell to
him, and he said bye-bye,” Mahiya said.
Sánchez
had arrived in Iraqi Kurdistan in late September, after trekking thousands of
kilometers (miles) carrying a small suitcase in a wheeled cart, packed with
little more than a tent, water purification tablets and a gas stove for his 11
months on the road.
His
parents reported him missing on October 17, and they said Spain’s police and
diplomats were helping the family.
Sanchez’s
reported disappearance in Iran comes as protesters continue to sweep the
Islamic Republic in the largest anti-government movement in over a decade.
Tehran
has violently cracked down on protesters and blamed foreign enemies and Kurdish
groups in Iraq for fomenting the unrest, without offering evidence.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Sweden
‘will fulfil deal with Turkey on NATO’
October
24, 2022
STOCKHOLM:
Sweden’s center-right government will fulfill all requirements under a deal
with Turkey to join NATO and will concentrate external relations to its
immediate neighborhood while dropping the previous administration’s “feminist
foreign policy,” the country’s top diplomat said on Monday.
Foreign
Minister Tobias Billstrom said the new government shares Turkey’s concern about
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is considered a terrorist
organization in Turkey, Europe and the US.
“There
will be no nonsense from the Swedish government when it comes to the PKK,”
Billstrom told the Associated Press in an interview.
“We
are fully behind a policy which means that terrorist organizations don’t have a
right to function on Swedish territory.”
Turkey
stalled Sweden and Finland’s historic bid to join NATO over concerns that the
two countries — Sweden in particular — had become a safe haven for members of
the PKK and affiliated groups.
Under
a memorandum of understanding signed by Sweden’s previous left-leaning
government at a NATO summit in June, Sweden and Finland committed to not
support Kurdish groups in Syria that Turkey says are affiliated
with
the PKK and to lift arms embargoes on Turkey imposed after its incursion in
northern Syria in 2019.
They
also agreed to “address pending deportation or extradition requests of terror
suspects,” which has proven more complicated due the broad definition of
terrorism in Turkey, where anti-terror laws have been used to crack down on
opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Everything
which is written into the trilateral memorandum, and which has been agreed upon
by all three parties, should be fulfilled, needs to be fulfilled by all the
three parties,” Billstrom said, adding that “everything also has to be done in
a legally safe way.”
The
PKK has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and the
conflict has since resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people.
Paul
Levin, director of the Institute for Turkish Studies at Stockholm University,
said the new government may have an advantage over the previous Social
Democratic government in dealing with Turkey because it does not have the same
links to the Kurdish diaspora in Sweden.
However,
the independence of the authorities and the courts in Sweden “sets limits to
what is possible, and so does international law,” Levin said.
Hungary
and Turkey are the only NATO countries which have not yet ratified the
accession of Sweden and Finland, traditionally non-aligned countries which
rushed to apply for membership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Like
most European countries, Sweden has clearly taken Ukraine’s side in the war,
supplying its armed forces with anti-tank weapons, assault rifles and anti-ship
missiles.
Ukraine
has also asked Sweden to provide the Archer artillery system and RBS-70
portable air defense system. Billstrom said the new government has not yet
decided on those requests.
“We
are ready to try and give as much aid as possible to the Ukrainian government
in its heroic struggle against the Russian forces,” Billstrom said.
“We
shall see when we have made the proper assessments about these matters.”
A
former migration minister, Billstrom is a senior member of the conservative
Moderate Party, which formed a coalition government last week with the
center-right Liberals and Christian Democrats.
The
new government relies on support from the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats
with whom it has drafted a joint policy platform that includes sharp
restrictions on immigration and a crackdown on organized crime.
Billstrom
also pledged a shift in Sweden’s foreign relations, with emphasis on northern
Europe.
Traditionally
Sweden has sought to project itself internationally as a “humanitarian
superpower” with relatively generous support for developing countries around
the globe and a strong commitment to the United Nations.
“This
is not to say that we won’t be interested in the rest of the world, far from
it,” Billstrom said, noting that he had given a speech earlier at celebration
for UN Day, which marks the anniversary of the 1945 UN charter.
“But
when it comes to these recalibrations that we are aiming at, it is true that there
will be a shift of focus,” he said. “And the Nordic countries, the Baltic
countries and the EU will be the three legs on which we will base this
recalibration.”
In
addition, the new government will give up the “feminist foreign policy” which
the previous government established in 2014. The label has since been used by
other countries, including Canada, France, Spain and Germany.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2187346/middle-east
--------
Iran
rejects ‘illegal’ UN probe into alleged use of its drones in Ukraine
25
October 2022
Iran
has warned the United Nations against implementing the West’s “instructions” to
conduct a so-called investigation in the context of Security Council Resolution
2231 to assess the type of unmanned aerial vehicles allegedly used in the
current conflict in Ukraine.
The
United States and its European allies have in recent months accused Iran of
providing Russia with drones to be used in the war in Ukraine.
The
anti-Iran claims first emerged in July, with US National Security Advisor Jake
Sullivan alleging that Washington had received “information” indicating that
the Islamic Republic was preparing to provide Russia with “up to several
hundred drones, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline” for
use in the war in Ukraine.
Both
Iran and Russia have in the past vehemently denied the allegations.
Iran’s
ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations Amir Saeed
Iravani on Monday sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
President of the Security Council Michel Xavier Biang and Facilitator for the
implementation of Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015) Fergal Mythen
regarding the allegations, saying the “resolution itself provides no legal
basis for such an investigation.”
“Iran
cautions the Secretariat against conducting such an illegal investigation or
engaging in any activity that advances and implements the Western States’
‘instructions’ and urges the secretary general to prevent the conduct of any
such flawed tasks by the Secretariat [and] refrain from reporting on such
irrelevant requests and unsubstantiated claims in his subsequent report on the
implementation of Resolution 2231,” Iravani said.
He
categorically rejected all accusations against Iran contained in the letters
sent by the E3 – France, Germany, and Britain – and Northern Ireland to the
president of the Security Council as well as those raised by its certain
members and non-members.
“It
is ironic that these countries, particularly the three permanent members of the
Security Council, accuse Iran of violating a specific paragraph of Security
Council Resolution 2231, while they continue to be in flagrant violation of all
their explicit legal obligations under that same resolution,” he said.
He
also pointed out that the United States’ illegal withdrawal from the 2015
nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),
is in material breach of the peremptory norms of international law, the UN
Charter and Security Council Resolution 2231.
“The
authors of the aforesaid letters have desperately made every effort, including
through disseminating unsubstantiated, undocumented, and erroneous information,
raising inaccurate assumptions as well as resorting to totally flawed,
arbitrary, and misleading interpretations of Security Council Resolution 2231,
to establish an entirely artificial linkage between that resolution and the use
of unmanned aerial vehicles in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine so as to
seemingly justify their unfounded claims against my country,” the Iranian envoy
wrote.
He
argued that the wording, references, and requests in the aforementioned
letters, even in the letter from Ukraine’s permanent representative, are
“nearly identical, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a cunningly
orchestrated attempt to advance the authors’ political agenda.”
He
also emphasized that the restrictions specified in Resolution 2231 “officially
terminated” on October 18, 2020, saying, “Since then, none of Iran’s ‘supply,
sale, or transfer of arms or related material’ to other countries fall within
Resolution 2231.”
Iravani
further said any misuse of the functions described in Resolution 2231 for
conducting the so-called “investigation” requested would be “illegal and in
clear violation of the Secretariat’s mandate,” adding, “Furthermore, any
findings resulting from such an illegal investigation would be null and void.”
Meanwhile,
the anti-Iran allegations come while the United States and its European allies
have since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine been providing Kiev with an
assortment of arms and weapons, fanning the flames of war in the ex-Soviet
republic.
Iran’s
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Monday that the country is
ready to discuss Western countries’ allegations about exporting drones to
Russia in a joint session with Ukrainian officials.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South
Asia
Sarwar
Danesh, Former Afghan Vice-President Announces New Political Party,
“Afghanistan Justice and Liberty”
By
Saqalain Eqbal
24
Oct 2022
Sarwar
Danesh, a former vice president of Afghanistan, has announced the formation of
the “Afghanistan Justice and Liberty” party. The newly formed political party
sees “fighting the Taliban and building a federal republic in Afghanistan” as
its two main goals.
The
Afghanistan Justice and Liberty party’s statement highlighted the necessity to
fight the Taliban and stated that the “growth of international terrorism” is a
result of the Taliban’s “illegitimate rule.”
This
political movement, which is led by Sarwar Danesh, released a statement on
Monday, October 24. Before the Afghan government collapsed to the Taliban,
Danesh served as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s VP.
The
statement addresses that “the emergence and growth of international terrorism
and extremist groups in our land and the failure and collapse of the
nation-state building process in Afghanistan is the consequence of the
illegitimate rule of the extremist and monopolistic Taliban group in the
current situation.”
With
regard to establishing a federal republic system in Afghanistan, the newly
formed party stated that “the time has come to facilitate the implementation of
a federal system in our country within the framework of the national
consensus.”
The
absence of a competing and alternative system to be put out as an alternative
when criticizing the Taliban administration has long been one of the main
issues in political discussions.
One
of the most highly contentious issues in recent Afghan political discussions
has been the creation of federalism, which has a large following.
The
party has declared that it will submit its full blueprint for a federal
government in Afghanistan for its future at the appropriate time.
The
statement of the party calls for “the fair participation of all ethnic groups
in the administration of the country,” as well as the involvement of women in
leadership positions and political decision-making.
This
party also counts Rasool Talib as a member who was a senior advisor to the
former Afghan president in public and social affairs.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/former-afghan-vice-president-announces-new-political-party-38545/
--------
Islamic
Emirate’s Leader Meets With MoD Officials
October
24, 2022
The
leader of the Islamic Emirate, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, met with the
officials of the department of strategy and intelligence of the Defense
Ministry, and commanders of the corps.
In
a statement released by the Islamic Emirate’s Spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid,
Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada instructed that innocent people should not be
detained and investigated.
The
deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, Bilal Karimi, said that in the
meeting the need to exclude inappropriate individuals from the command of the
Islamic Emirate was stressed.
“In
accordance with the Islamic regulation, they (detainees) should not be harassed
and they should be treated based on Islamic rules and Sharia,” he said.
The
Islamic Emirate leader ordered the officials to treat detainees based on Sharia
law and to avoid illegal torture.
“The
officials have been provided with recommendations to form their forces with
honest and committed people to serve the country and their religion and pave
the way for development of the country,” Karimi said.
Sayed
Bilal Ahmad Fatimi, a political analyst, said that the international and
Islamic laws in this regard match each other.
“This
is similar to the Islamic sharia as well as international laws--the Islamic law
in this regard matches international regulation,” he said.
Source:
Tolo News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-180440
--------
Nine
dead, million seek shelter as cyclone hits Bangladesh
October
25, 2022
At
least nine people have died after a cyclone slammed into Bangladesh, forcing
the evacuation of around a million people from their homes, officials said
Tuesday.
Cyclones
— the equivalent of hurricanes in the Atlantic or typhoons in the Pacific — are
a regular menace but scientists say climate change is likely making them more
intense and frequent.
Cyclone
Sitrang made landfall in southern Bangladesh late Monday but authorities
managed to get about a million people to safety before the monster weather
system hit.
“Nine
people have died, most by trees falling including three from one family in (the
eastern district of) Cumilla”, Jebun Nahar, a government official, told AFP.
People
evacuated from low-lying regions such as remote islands and river banks were
moved to thousands of multi-storey cyclone shelters, Disaster Management
Ministry secretary Kamrul Ahsan told AFP.
“They
spent the night in cyclone shelters,” he said.
In
some cases police had to cajole villagers who were reluctant to abandon their
homes, officials said.
Heavy
rains lashed much of the country, flooding cities such as Dhaka, Khulna and
Barisal – which witnessed 324 millimetres (13 inches) of rainfall on Monday.
About
33,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, controversially relocated from the
mainland to a storm-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, were ordered to stay
indoors and there were no reports of any casualties or damage, officials said.
In
the neighbouring eastern Indian state of West Bengal, thousands of people were
evacuated Monday to more than 100 relief centres, officials said, but there
were no reports of damage and people were returning home on Tuesday.
Cyclone
Amphan, the second “super cyclone” ever recorded over the Bay of Bengal, which
hit in 2020, killed more than 100 people in Bangladesh and India, and affected
millions.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1716842/nine-dead-million-seek-shelter-as-cyclone-hits-bangladesh
--------
Taliban
Members Killed in Explosion in Northeastern Afghanistan
By
Saqalain Eqbal
23
Oct 2022
Following
an explosion in Taleqan city, the provincial capital of Takhar province in
northeastern Afghanistan, two Taliban military personnel were killed and three
others were wounded, according to local sources.
The
sources familiar with the incident said that the explosion happened at around 8
o’clock on Saturday night, October 22, in the Shahidi road of Taleqan city’s
police district 3.
The
explosion was brought on by a sticky mine that was embedded inside a Taliban
Ranger vehicle, according to sources, which detonated and killed the Taliban
members.
The
Taliban government’s security authorities in Takhar province confirmed the
veracity of the incident, but they asserted no one was injured as a result of
the explosion.
A
second explosion that occurred at the same time in the Taliban government’s
Police Chief Office building in the Ishkemesh district of the same province
resulted in the deaths of five Taliban members.
Five
military soldiers of the Taliban government, including a prominent commander of
the Taliban in the province, were killed in the explosion, which, according to
the sources, also happened on Saturday night.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-members-killed-in-explosion-in-northeastern-afghanistan-273454/
--------
Taliban
Announces Killing Nearly 40 Resistance Front Members in Northeastern
Afghanistan
By
Saqalain Eqbal
24
Oct 2022
Local
Taliban officials in the northeastern Afghan province of Badakhshan said that
as a result of an operation, they killed 38 members of the opposition, National
Resistance Front (NRF), and arrested 78 others.
Following
the reports of heavy clashes in Badakhshan and allegations of mass human rights
violations, Moizuddin Ahmadi, the Taliban Director of Information and Culture
for Badakhshan confirmed the operation over the last week and stated that 8
Taliban members are killed and wounded.
The
Taliban official said that throughout these encounters, the opposition had
sustained significant casualties. According to Ahmadi, 38 frontline NRF
fighters were slain and 78 more were detained.
Conflicting
accounts of the hostilities in Badakhshan have been released during the past
few days. As the local media has been suspended and journalists have been
threatened, there is still no verified information about the outcomes of the
bloody armed clashes in Badakhshan.
According
to several local media outlets which cited local informants, the Taliban had
allegedly shot 8 prisoners of war in Badakhshan. Furthermore, according to
sources, the Ansarullah armed group has assisted the Taliban in the
confrontations in Badakhshan.
Although
the Ahmad Massoud-led resistance front had previously declared significant
Taliban losses, it has yet to respond to the Taliban’s claims.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UN
Human Rights Rapporteur: ‘Massive’ Taliban Crackdown on Civilians in Northern
Afghanistan
By
Saqalain Eqbal
24
Oct 2022
Following
concerns expressed by the people of Panjshir province regarding the Taliban’s
“massive crackdown” on Panjshir’s civilians, Richard Bennett, the UN Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, invited Afghans to
communicate human rights concerns to his office.
The
UN official, Bennett, in a thread of tweets on Sunday, the 23rd of October,
stated that he met stakeholders including civil society representatives in
several as part of his visit to Afghanistan.
Bennett
noted on Twitter that the representatives of Panjshir province in northern
Afghanistan described the Taliban’s widespread repression of civilians there,
including egregious violations of women’s and children’s rights.
The
National Resistance Front (NRF) fighters’ treatment by the Taliban, while they
were out of combat, was described as “shocking” by the UN human rights
rapporteur for Afghanistan.
Following
the conclusion of Richard Bennett’s visit to Afghanistan, a group of protesting
women claimed that Bennett had instead spoken to the Taliban government’s
governor in Panjshir rather than the locals and victims in Panjshir.
The
UN official, however, has said that the Taliban should stop violating human
rights in Panjshir and that he will raise the issue at the UN General Assembly
on October 26.
Bennett
has also urged Afghans to contact the UN office of the human rights rapporteur
with any concerns they may have regarding human rights, providing his email
address.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Danish
Siddiqui’s parents file new evidence against Taliban at ICC
24th
October 2022
New
Delhi: Even as Danish Siddiqui, the photo-journalist who was tortured and
killed by the Taliban, was formally awarded his second Pulitzer Prize for
Feature Photography — for his groundbreaking work in documenting the COVID-19
crisis in India posthumously, his parents, Prof. Akhtar Siddiqui and Shahida
Akhtar have filed additional evidence pertaining to their complaint, dated
March 22, 2022, with the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor, asking
for an investigation into their son’s killing and bringing those responsible to
justice.
The
evidence comprises affidavits, a medical opinion on the autopsy, and a copy of
a WhatsApp chat that allegedly took place between members of the Taliban.
On
July 16, 2021, Siddiqui, who was embedded by Reuters with the Afghan Special
Forces in Spin Boldak, was injured in an attack by the Taliban. He was taken to
a mosque, historically a place of refuge, for medical treatment. The mosque was
attacked by the Taliban, and Danish was taken into custody, tortured and
murdered. Reports say that he was attacked by the Red Unit of the Taliban.
After his killing, his body was mutilated, including being run over by a heavy
vehicle in public. His body revealed marks of torture and 12 bullet entry and
exit points. These were received after his capture, as his bulletproof jacket
had no bullet marks.
A
report published by the ‘Washington Examiner’, says, “The Taliban are always
brutal but likely took their cruelty to a new level because Siddiqui was
Indian.”
“Danish
was murdered by the Taliban for simply carrying out his journalistic duties,”
said the late photojournalist’s mother, Shahida Akhtar. “While his second
Pulitzer Prize makes us proud, we hope that the International Criminal Court
will bring those responsible for his torture and death to justice.”
The
International Criminal Court has been engaged in an ongoing investigation on
international crimes, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, in
Afghanistan, over which it has jurisdiction after Afghanistan’s government
acceded to the Rome Statute.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/danish-siddiquis-parents-file-new-evidence-against-taliban-at-icc-2441265/
--------
Africa
Niger
Govt Sacks 25 Judicial Staff over Fake Certificates, Dismisses Sharia Court
Judge
October
24, 2022
By
Priscilla Dennis
No
fewer than twenty-five staff of the Niger State Judiciary have been sacked by
the Judicial Service Commission, NJSC, over alleged certificate forgery.
Confirming
the sack, the Secretary of the commission, Abdulraman Ahmed Garafini in Minna,
said the twenty-five staff were dismissed after the commission considered their
case based on the findings of the state’s staff verification committee at the
conclusion of its assignment in the state
According
to him, the Engr Ibrahim Panti committee on staff verification set up by Niger
State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello in 2021 discovered that the certificates of
the sacked judicial personnel were forged and it recommended their dismissal
from the service.
Garafini
revealed, “When the NJSC forwarded the certificates to the schools they claimed
to have attended, it was discovered that the certificates were forged”.
It
was further gathered that the dismissed workers were mostly of the junior and
intermediate staff cadre.
Similarly,
a Shariah Court Judge and his Court Registrar were said to have been dismissed
for allegedly diverting money from sales of inheritance estates to the tune of
N400m belonging to a popular family in the state.
It
was gathered that the duo were made administrators of the properties in
question to sell and share the proceeds to heirs of the deceased head of the
family
Source:
Daily Post Nigeria
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Sudan
names new military chief for conflict-hit Blue Nile state
24
October, 2022
Sudan
on Monday named a new military commander for troubled Blue Nile state, where
recent bitter ethnic clashes over land have left at least 200 people dead and
sparked angry demonstrations.
The
new chief comes a day after eyewitnesses reported that crowds of thousands
protested in front of army headquarters in the state capital Damazin, accusing
the government of failing to protect them, with the local university suspending
work.
Army
spokesman Nabil Abdallah, announcing Monday a new commander for the southern
Blue Nile state, said the military had ordered a committee to “evaluate the
security situation.”
Blue
Nile, which borders South Sudan and Ethiopia, is awash with guns and is still
struggling to rebuild after decades of civil war, with over 300 people killed
in recent months.
Sudan
has been grappling with deepening political unrest and a spiraling economic
crisis since last year’s military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah
al-Burhan.
A
surge in ethnic violence in recent months has highlighted the security
breakdown since the coup.
On
Sunday, thousands of protesters demanded the resignation of state governor
Ahmed al-Omda Badi, with eyewitnesses reporting the crowd “tried to enter the
army headquarters” before “setting fire to the state government building.”
Badi
declared a state of emergency on Friday to quell some of the worst fighting in
recent months.
On
Monday, Blue Nile University in Damazin announced “the suspension of classes
and exams” due to “the unfortunate events.”
At
least two hundred people were killed in two days of fighting last week,
official media said Saturday, after clashes broke out over reported land
disputes between members of the Hausa people and rival groups.
The
violence follows clashes earlier this year between the same groups in Blue
Nile, leaving at least 149 people killed and 65,000 displaced from July to
early October, according to the United Nations.
The
Hausa have mobilized across Sudan, claiming they were discriminated from owning
land in Blue Nile because they were the last group to arrive there.
Access
to land is highly sensitive in the impoverished country, where agriculture and
livestock account for 43 percent of employment and 30 percent of GDP, according
to UN and World Bank statistics.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
10
soldiers killed, nearly 50 wounded in attack on Burkina Faso army base
James
Tasamba
25.10.2022
KIGALI,
Rwanda
At
least 10 soldiers were killed and around 50 others were wounded when suspected
terrorists attacked an army base in Burkina Faso’s Sahel region on Monday, the
army said.
The
attack targeted the 14th Inter-Arms Regiment in Djibo.
A
provisional assessment showed that 10 soldiers were killed in the fighting and
about 50 wounded were evacuated to health facilities, the army said in a
statement.
“The
army valiantly responded to the direct and indirect enemy fire. They came in
significant numbers,” it said, adding up to 18 terrorists were neutralized
during the ensuing operations.
The
army said air reinforcements were deployed in the area to ensure rescue and
response operations.
Burkina
Faso has suffered regular insecurity posed by an insurgency that spread from
neighboring Mali over the past decade.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Ethiopia
rivals gear up for South Africa peace talks
October
24, 2022
NAIROBI:
Negotiators from the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebel authorities were
readying on Monday for peace talks in South Africa aimed at finding a peaceful
solution to the brutal two-year war.
The
African Union-led negotiations have been flagged to start on Monday, after a
surge in fighting that has triggered alarm in the international community.
Kindeya
Gebrehiwot, a spokesman for the rebel authorities in Tigray, announced their
delegation’s arrival in South Africa in a tweet late on Sunday.
“Pressing:
immediate cessation of hostilities, unfettered humanitarian access &
withdrawal of Eritrean forces. There can’t be a military solution!” he added.
Addis
Ababa said in a statement its delegation had left for South Africa on Monday
morning, adding: “The government of Ethiopia views the talks as an opportunity
to peacefully resolve the conflict and consolidate the improvement of the
situation on the ground.”
But
it also said its forces “have continued taking control of major urban centres
in the past few days”, without identifying them.
Last
week, the government vowed to take control of airports and other federal sites
in Tigray from the rebels as Ethiopian and Eritrean troops seized towns in the
region including the strategic city of Shire, sending civilians fleeing.
Fighting
resumed in August, shattering a five-month truce, and has seen the return of
the Eritrean army in support of Ethiopian forces and their regional allies.
In
two years, the conflict in Africa’s second most populous country has left
millions in need of humanitarian aid, and according to the US, as many as half
a million dead.
The
South African government itself has not confirmed the talks or disclosed a
venue.
Abiy,
who sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 promising a quick victory over the
northern region’s dissident leaders in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front,
had said on Thursday the war “would end and peace will prevail.”
“Ethiopia
will be peaceful, we will not continue fighting indefinitely,” said Abiy, who
won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
International
calls for a ceasefire and a withdrawal of Eritrean troops have grown since the
AU failed earlier this month to bring the warring sides to the negotiating
table.
The
return to the battlefield in August halted desperately needed aid for Tigray’s
6 million people who lack food, medicine and basic services.
Tigray
has been under a communications blackout for over a year, and independent
reporting from the region has been heavily curtailed.
The
UN Security Council held a closed-doors meeting on Friday to discuss the
spiraling conflict and fears for civilians caught in the crossfire.
The
US envoy to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said after the talks
that thousands of Ethiopian, Eritrean and Tigrayan forces were engaged in
active combat.
“The
scale of the fighting and deaths rival what we’re seeing in Ukraine, and
innocent civilians are being caught in the crossfire,” she said.
“Over
two years of conflict, as many as half a million — half a million — people have
died, and the United States is deeply concerned about the potential for further
mass atrocities.”
The
International Crisis Group think tank said while reliable data was scarce, it
believed the fighting since August alone may have involved more than half a
million combatants and killed tens of thousands of people.
“According
to most estimates, it is among the world’s deadliest conflicts,” it said in a
report Friday.
The
IGC’s Ethiopia senior analyst William Davison said the planned talks were a
“positive development” but warned “major obstacles to peace remain” including
the government’s attempted takeover of federal facilities in Tigray.
“The
first objective for mediators is therefore to try and get the federal and
Tigray delegations to agree to a truce despite the momentum towards continued
military confrontation,” he said.
The
AU’s Peace and Security Council also met Friday, saying it welcomed “the mutual
commitments to genuinely participate in the peace process” and hoped for a
“fruitful outcome.”
The
AU’s mediation team for the talks was to include Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun
Obasanjo, South Africa’s former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and
former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2187366/world
--------
North
America
Muslim-Americans
find common ground with conservatives over politicization of America's schools
October
25, 2022
An
alliance is forming in some communities across the country between Muslim
American parents and conservative groups over what they see as leftist, woke
politicization of America's schools.
Muslim
Americans have increasingly begun showing up at school boards from Minnesota to
Virginia to excoriate education officials for embracing woke priorities,
including critical race theory, and allowing explicit materials in the classroom.
"We’re
hearing from folks in the community that they’re tired of the politicization of
the schools their children attend," said Preya Samsundar, the Republican
National Committee's Midwest communications director. "It’s not just
explicit materials in schools, but they're concerned about [COVID-19]
lockdowns, distance learning, the quality of education, woke politics in
classrooms, and the achievement."
For
many the fight is personal. Muslim Americans, especially recent immigrants,
have long viewed U.S. schools as the key to upward mobility and success. That
viewpoint has changed for some in recent years, however.
Shukri
Abdirahman, a Somali-American who ran for Congress this year as a Republican in
Minnesota, said the coronavirus pandemic exposed critical flaws within the
education system.
"With
our children and doing in-person learning, we saw the curriculums and how
teachers were responding," said Abdirahman. "Slowly it became
apparent that our children were learning more about gender identity and
critical race theory, than they were about math and reading."
Abdirahman
said she was stirred to action when her six-year-old son was scolded in school
for saying "oh God" after falling down in school. Since then, she's
worked to mobilize the Somali American community in support of the Minnesota
Parents Alliance.
The
group is working to educate and empower parents to push back on progressive
policies being adopted by school districts across the state. So far, the effort
has paid off.
At
a recent school board meeting in Wilmer, Minnesota, nearly a dozen Somali
American parents showed up to protest reports of LGBTQ pride flags being flown
at K-12 educational institutions. Although the local school district denied
such flags were being flown, the presence of so many Somali American parents
alongside conservative activists showcased a new coalition.
"Muslim
Americans want the same thing as any parent in this country," said
Abdirahman. "The right for their children to get a quality education
without being indoctrinated. This shouldn't be political, but it seems only
like conservatives and Republicans agree."
The
alliance between conservative education activists and Muslim Americans has also
been on display in Virginia, Missouri, and Michigan.
Muslim
and South Asian Americans have increasingly shown up at school board meetings
throughout Virginia to oppose critical race theory and policies allowing
transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms of the sex they identify
as. The latter issue was highlighted last year when a female student was raped
by a male student allegedly wearing a skirt at a school in suburban Loudon
County.
In
Missouri, meanwhile, Bosnian American Muslims have been vocal in opposing the
inclusion of sexually explicit material in school libraries. The same issue
recently catapulted to national attention at a school board meeting in
Dearborn, Michigan.
Muslim
Americans, from Dearborn's large Middle Eastern population, turned out in high
numbers to protest the school district's decision to include LGBTQ books in
school libraries. The parents claimed that many of the books were sexually
explicit and inappropriate for young children.
"We're
not worried about [LGBT] people," said a Dearborn parent, who attended the
school board meeting. "We're worried about our children. If they wind up
gay at 18, who cares? But the school library shouldn't be letting 10-year-olds
read books that detail sexual acts."
The
appeal of conservative parents' rights message to some members of the Muslim
American community has Republicans hopeful of expanding their party. GOP
elected officials in Virginia, Michigan, and Minnesota are working to make
inroads with Muslim voters using the issue.
Source:
Fox News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
White
House ‘categorically’ denies dissuading US companies from going to Saudi Arabia
24
October, 2022
The
White House on Monday “categorically” denied trying to dissuade American
companies and business leaders from attending this week’s “Davos in the desert”
in Saudi Arabia.
Reports
citing current and former US officials suggested that the Biden administration
was trying to pressure American companies against expanding business ties with
Saudi Arabia amid a rift between Washington and Riyadh over a decision by OPEC+
to cut oil output.
Asked
what the consequences might be for US businesses attending this week’s
conference in Riyadh, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said: “We
don’t have a message for corporate leaders that are attending the [conference]…
These are decisions that they obviously can and should make for themselves.”
In
the aftermath of the OPEC+ decision, the Biden administration launched a heavy
media campaign against Riyadh and held it responsible for what it said was a
“shortsighted decision.”
The
White House also said that the OPEC+ move was a “mistake” and accused the
organization of “aligning with Russia.”
In
response, Saudi Arabia denied the accusations and said Biden administration officials
had asked for the oil cuts to be announced after the November midterm elections
in the US.
Record
inflation and rising gasoline prices are major hurdles for Democrats to
overcome as they fight to retain hold of both chambers of the US Congress.
Washington
also called for a reevaluation of the relationship with Saudi Arabia, with
several Democratic lawmakers going as far as demanding an immediate halt to
arms sales with the kingdom.
Nevertheless,
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Biden would not rush to decide on
what steps to take in response.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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US
designates 3 Syrian military officials over Eastern Ghouta chemical attack
Servet
Günerigök
25.10.2022
WASHINGTON
The
US on Monday designated three Syrian regime military officials involved in a
chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, in 2013.
"Of
the atrocities committed by the Assad regime, some of which rise to the level
of war crimes and crimes against humanity, few are as inhumane and abhorrent as
the repeated use of chemical weapons against civilians...Today, we are taking
additional action to promote accountability," said Secretary of State
Antony Blinken in a statement.
Those
sanctioned are Brigadier General Adnan Aboud Hilweh, Major General Ghassan
Ahmed Ghannam and Major General Jawdat Saleebi Mawas, who Blinken said were
involved in gross violations of human rights, “namely the flagrant denial of
the right to life of at least 1,400 people in Ghouta.”
"As
a result of today’s action, Hilweh, Ghannam and Mawas as well as their
immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States,"
said the top diplomat.
In
August 2013, the Syrian army launched rockets carrying the nerve agent sarin, a
deadly chemical, on Eastern Ghouta.
"We
condemn in the strongest possible terms any use of chemical weapons anywhere,
by anyone, under any circumstances," said Blinken, adding the US calls on
the Assad regime to fully declare and destroy its chemical
weapons program.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Southeast
Asia
Expert
Urges Increased Cooperation between Muslims States to Improve Quran
Knowledge
October
24, 2022
Sheikh
Mohamed Ali Atafay, a jury member of the 62nd International Quran Recitation
and Memorisation Assembly (MTHQA), made the remarks on Sunday in an interview
with a Malaysian outlet.
He
said Muslims in the country can study the 'Manhaj' or methodology to memorise
the Quran adopted by other Muslim countries to improve their mastery of the
knowledge.
Sheikh
Mohamed Ali said he was impressed with the fact that the knowledge of
memorising the Quran is so close to the hearts of Muslims in the country which
has been inculcated in them from a young age.
He
said he was also pleased that Muslims in the country are aware that he is in
Malaysia to be on the jury for MTHQA, an occurrence that he has rarely
experienced in other countries.
Sheikh
Mohamed Ali who is from Morocco said a total of 36 reciters from around the
world have been selected to participate in the 62nd MTHQA.
According
to him, reciters are judged based on their mastery of tajwid (Quran recitation
pronunciation rules), fluency in reciting verses, maqamat or taranum (the art
of recitation or voice) as well as the melodious tone of the reciter's voice.
Syeikh
Mohamed Ali said he hoped that Malaysia will continue hosting the programme to
produce more hufaz (Quran memorisers) in the future.
Meanwhile,
Dr Maria Ulfa, who is the first female jury for MTHQA applauded Malaysia's
openness in selecting the jury, saying that the involvement of two female
members, including the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim)
director-general Datuk Hakimah Mohd Yusoff, showed that the country practises
gender equality which should be emulated.
"In
the past, although there were many female reciters, there was no female jury.
This proves that Malaysia has moved forward as a country," said Maria who
won the MTHQA in 1980.
Source:
IQNA
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Why
is Malaysia deporting Myanmar asylum seekers?
By
Jonathan Head
October
24, 2022
On
6 October a flight departed from Malaysia taking 150 Burmese asylum seekers
back to Myanmar.
Among
them was Kyaw Hla, a young ethnic Rakhine officer from the Myanmar Navy, who
defected last year and fled to Malaysia. He was one of six navy defectors on
that flight.
Now
he is back in Myanmar, in jail. What happened to the others is still unclear.
Malaysian
authorities have said little about this and several other flights taking
Burmese deportees back to Myanmar. However, the Myanmar embassy in Kuala Lumpur
has been posting regularly on its Facebook page about its efforts to get
undocumented Burmese nationals sent back - photographs of apparently happy
passengers on the flight, and also photos of embassy personnel posing with
Malaysian immigration officials.
Officially,
Malaysia does not welcome refugees. It is not a signatory to the UN Convention
and Protocol on Refugees. It also does not recognise the refugee status given to
asylum seekers assessed by the UN Refugee Agency as being at risk if returned
to their own country.
Yet
Malaysia is home to 185,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers, and many
more who are not registered - most of them from Myanmar. It hosts 100,000
Muslim Rohingyas, who fled repression in Myanmar and overcrowded camps in
Bangladesh.
"Malaysia
has become the preferred destination for a number of threatened minority groups
from Myanmar, including the Rohingya, the Chin, and the Kachin," says Phil
Robertson from Human Rights Watch. "Those communities and their networks
in Malaysia help to protect new arrivals, and support efforts to get refugee
status and protection from UNHCR."
Kyaw
Hla's cousin, Saw Shwe Mya, who has been living in Malaysia for several years,
says he arrived last year. He fled Myanmar after the coup which deposed the
government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and set off a conflict which has consumed
much of the country. His wife joined him more recently. Both are from Kyauktaw,
a town in Rakhine which has seen some of the fiercest fighting between the army
and ethnic Rakhine insurgents of the Arakan Army, and where his mother still
lives with his two young sons.
Saw
Shwe Mya says she did not ask him whether he was involved in the civil disobedience
movement that spread across Myanmar to resist the coup in the weeks after the
army seized power. She does not know whether he was driven to defect by
opposition to the coup, or by the escalating conflict in Rakhine State.
But
she says he tried to keep a low profile, staying near Kuala Lumpur so that he
could register as an asylum seeker with the UNHCR. He did whatever jobs he
could find to cover his living costs. She says he registered with the UN, and
was expecting to receive his "Under Consideration" card, which asylum
seekers get while their applications are considered by the UNHCR.
As
a defector from the Myanmar military, which has jailed thousands of opponents
of its coup, Kyaw Hla would have been a strong contender for refugee status.
He
received a call on 21 September telling him to come out and collect his UN
card, Saw Shwe Mya says. It was a trick: he and his wife were arrested and
detained, pending deportation. On arrival in Yangon on 6 October, they were
both arrested, and are now being detained separately in different parts of the
city.
In
the past Malaysia largely left refugees and asylum seekers alone.
But
in the past six months, the country has deported around 2,000 Burmese asylum
seekers, according to Human Rights Watch, without any assessment of what risks
they might face on their return to Myanmar.
This
hardline attitude is in contrast to the stand the Malaysian government has
taken against the military regime in Myanmar, and its willingness to reach out
to the opposition and the National Unity Government, which remains loyal to
deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The
Malaysian Foreign Minister, Saifuddin Abdullah, a former human rights activist,
is viewed by the Myanmar opposition as one of its best friends in Asean - the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"It's
a Jekyll and Hyde policy," Mr Robertson says. "The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs is working hard to demand the junta respect human rights and
end the violence, while the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Immigration
Department are doing deals with the Myanmar embassy to send refugees
back."
He
says Malaysia's relaxed attitude towards refugees changed at the height of the
Covid pandemic, when the public feared that the large migrant communities would
spread the disease. This has made mass deportations a popular move in the weeks
leading up to the general election scheduled for mid-November.
The
BBC contacted Home Affairs Minister Hamzah Zainuddin for a statement about the
deportations, but is yet to receive one.
Source:
BBC
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63370101
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Ismail
Sabri says not 'our culture' for PM candidates to debate publicly
By
Radzi Razak
25
Oct 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Malaysia does not have a "culture" of seeing its
prime ministerial candidates debate in public, according to the Barisan
Nasional's "poster boy" Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Saying
there were no benefits to holding public debates, Ismail Sabri today turned
down the proposal from his Pakatan Harapan (PH) rival Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
for the two of them to battle each other on policy matters in the run-up to the
November 19 general election.
The
caretaker prime minister from Barisan Nasional claimed that Anwar would promise
"the moon and the stars” in the debate while he is busy working on his
electoral campaign.
"Debate
is not our culture. We have never done it before and it does not give any
benefits.
"If
we let him debate, he will give his promise, manifesto, even the moon and the
stars will be promised. So I think it is not necessary.
"We
have never organised a debate before elections and we form governments based on
people’s confidence in us,” he told reporters after attending a briefing at the
national police headquarters at Bukit Aman.
On
October 20, Anwar suggested that prime ministerial candidates from the three
main coalitions clashing in the 15th general election should debate each other
ahead of polling day.
The
PH chairman said the debate should focus on policy-related matters and not have
insults and accusations take centre stage in their electoral campaigns.
Ismail
Sabri also said the BN will be tightening its vetting process for electoral
candidates this time.
He
said potential candidates will have to be filtered not by the police and the
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission but the Islamic Development Department as
well.
"We
want to know whether the proposed candidates got married in Siam or have not
paid for nafkah,” he said, using the old word for Thailand.
Nafkah
is support money a Muslim man has to pay his wife and children.
Ismail
Sabri said Umno's top five leaders will be meeting again soon to finalised
their party's election candidates before nomination day on November 5.
The
Umno vice-president was also asked about the application from Parti Bangsa
Malaysia (PBM) to become a BN component party.
"We
are still evaluating it,” he said.
PBM
and several other parties applied to join the BN coalition which is anchored by
Umno in August.
Source:
Malay Mail
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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We’ll
find you, Indira Gandhi tells daughter on Deepavali
Faisal
Asyraf
October
24, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Amid the thanksgiving prayers and rangoli adorning the doorway this
Deepavali, M Indira Gandhi has only one wish – to be reunited with her
daughter, Prasana Diksa.
As
she prepared for the day ahead and tried to remain cheerful for her two other
children, Indira could not help but yearn for her daughter whom she had not
seen for the past 13 years after her former husband, Riduan Abdullah, took the
girl away.
“Prasana,
by now, I’m sure you can read well.
“Know
that you are not alone. Your mother and siblings are waiting for our reunion.
“No
matter what, we will try to find you and we will never give up,” Indira said in
a poignant message to Prasana who was taken away when she was only one year
old.
Last
year, Indira filed a nonfeasance suit against the government, the
inspector-general of police (IGP), the police and the home ministry, citing
police inaction in executing the warrant against her former husband for failing
to hand over custody of their youngest daughter to her.
On
Sept 7, the government lost its appeal to strike out the suit after a
three-member Court of Appeal panel found no merits in the appeal and upheld the
High Court’s decision to proceed with the hearing.
In
2016, the Federal Court instructed the IGP to execute the warrant of committal
against Riduan after he was found guilty of contempt for not handing over
Prasana.
Riduan
had unilaterally converted the couple’s three children to Islam.
Prasana
was a year old when Riduan took her away in 2009.
Indira
said it mattered little to her if her daughter celebrated Deepavali or Hari
Raya Aidilfitri, what was most important was to be together.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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