No no-man’s land: PM & Hasina Mark Border

Pakistan withdraws cadet accused over shower film

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/no-no-man’s-land-pm/d/5412

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No no-man’s land: PM & Hasina mark border

Sep 07 2011

Dhaka : After more than three decades of indecision, India and Bangladesh today signed a historic agreement on the demarcation of the entire land boundary between the two countries resolving the status of 162 adversely held enclaves.

The agreement arrived at after talks between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Sheikh Hasina here clears the way for granting Indian citizenship to about 20,000 people living in 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (7,000 acres) in Indian territory and Bangladeshi citizenship to about 31,000 living in 111 Indian enclaves (about 17,000 acres) in Bangladesh territory.

These enclaves have been in existence since the days of the Raj — legend has it that these were gambled away by kings — and it was only in 1974 that a pact between Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman agreed to settle these enclaves.

But since then, people here have lived as “stateless” citizens in a veritable no-man’s land denied access to healthcare and education. Enclave residents on both sides have to cross the international border every day and get clearance from paramilitary border guards of both countries to access their land for cultivation or to reach the village market or hospitals.

Most of these enclaves are in the Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri districts of West Bengal and in the Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhaat and Pachagarh districts of Bangladesh. Their headcount was done as late as January this year.

Said an official involved in working out the agreement: “This gives recognition to ground realities. It should not be measured in terms of loss of territory by one and gain of territory by the other. Now both countries will have a clearly demarcated border and a distinct line. No one was administering these areas and there was a persistent demand from residents in these areas saying, ‘Give us what we have, accept who we are and let us remain where we are.’ The treaty addresses that demand from both sides.”

The official downplayed protests by the BJP and in some border areas in West Bengal and Assam.

A Joint Boundary Working Group (JBWG) had worked out the modalities for exchange, facilitating today’s decision. A majority of the population in the enclaves on either side has already indicated that they prefer the status quo and would prefer to be “absorbed” in the country they are. A small section may seek to migrate across and such an option has been kept open, officials said.

Bangladesh officials said that during the headcount survey, most residents of these enclaves had agreed to change their nationalities under the exchange plans. But if any one decides to differ, he would be given another chance to opt for migration once the exchanges were made.

These “stateless” people had set up the Bharat-Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Coordination Committee (BBEECC) and had even fielded an Independent candidate in the last Assembly polls demanding immediate exchange of enclaves.

The BJP has slammed the Congress for what it calls its “soft line” on illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. It has accused the Congress of gifting land to Bangladesh and facilitating the movement of illegal migrants.

This significant breakthrough on enclaves was clouded by the failure to sign any deal on the sharing of the Teesta and Feni river waters. That deal was scuppered after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee raised the pitch yesterday demanding a larger share than the one agreed to and pulled herself out of Singh’s visit.

But Singh indicated there was a door open when he said that the two countries would continue talks towards “a mutually acceptable, fair and amicable arrangement for the sharing of the Teesta and Feni river waters”. And said in a communiqué that “our common rivers need not be sources of discord, but can become harbingers of prosperity to both our countries.”

Yet, there was no escaping the mood of despondency in Dhaka. The Indian High Commissioner was summoned by the Bangladesh Foreign Office and asked to explain why the Teesta deal had fallen through. Sources said Dhaka was told that “internal discussions” were on and the agreement was only on hold, not abandoned.

For its part, Dhaka underlined how the Teesta agreement was crucial for all outstanding issues. “It is disappointing for Bangladesh,” said Gawhar Rizvi, advisor to Sheikh Hasina. Said a Bangladesh foreign office spokesman: “The decision not to sign the Teesta treaty was very frustrating for Bangladesh. With Teesta on hold, how can we grant transit rights to India through Bangladesh territory? We also have our constituencies to address.”

India also announced a major trade sop allowing immediate duty-free access to 61 items from Bangladesh to the Indian market and permitting 24-hour access to Bangladeshis through Tin Bigha corridor. Of the 61 items, 46 are textile products.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-nomans-land-pm-and-hasina-mark-border/842892/

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43% Americans blame govt for 9/11

Sep 07 2011

Washington: Americans today are generally more willing to believe that US policies in the Middle East might have motivated the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,according to a new poll.

Reflecting some important shifts in US public opinion over the past decade,the poll by Pew Research Centre found that the publics views are more evenly divided today in response to the question,Why do they hate us

Today 43% agree with the proposition that the attacks may have been motivated by something the US did wrong in its dealings with other countries,and 45% disagree.Immediately after the attacks,a majority of respondents (55%) rejected that notion,while only a third agreed.

The shift,however,was mainly confined to self-described Democrats and independents,half of whom now believe US policies may have motivated al-Qaida.

Republicans,on the other hand,remained steadfast,as on a number of other key issues,in their view that the attacks were not motivated by anything the US had done.

The survey also found major differences between age groups on this question.More than half (52%) of respondents under 30 said US actions may have motivated the attacks,while only 20% of respondents,65 and older,were open to that explanation.

A similar shift has taken place over the past decade with respect to the publics belief that it may be necessary to give up civil liberties to curb terrorism,according to the survey.A slim majority 54% say that if they had to choose between preserving their rights and freedom and protecting people from terrorists,theyd come down on the side of civil liberties.

The public is particularly protective of the privacy of US citizens,voicing sharp opposition to government surveillance of Americans emails and phone calls.For some of the Americans,their reluctance to give up any freedoms is a reflection of their belief that the terrorists will eventually succeed no matter what.If somebody wants to do something,theyll find a way, says David Barker,a retired high school teacher,who says hes not ready to sacrifice any freedoms in return for more security.

Times of India

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Convoy with Gaddafi loyalists enters Niger

Sep 07 2011

Tripoli : As rebel negotiators press Gaddafi loyalists in the town of Bani Walid to surrender peacefully before a September 10 deadline, a long convoy of Libyan Army vehicles was reported on Tuesday to have crossed the country’s southern border into Niger in what could represent a shift in the balance of power after six months of conflict.

The convoy’s movements were reported by several news agencies quoting witnesses and military officials from France and Niger. The convoy reportedly comprised of about 200 to 250 vehicles.

Ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was not part of the convoy from Libya on Monday, Al Arabiya television reported. Arabiya cited Niger’s Foreign Minister Bazoum Mohamed, although no interview was aired.

Libya’s interim ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) also confirmed that Gaddafi’s loyalists crossed into Niger in a convoy of vehicles, carrying gold and cash.

“Late Monday night, 10 vehicles carrying gold, euros and dollars crossed from Jufra into Niger with the help of Tuaregs from the Niger tribe,” Fathi Baja, head of the NTC committee for political and international affairs, told Reuters by telephone.

In a telephone interview, Marou Amadou, Niger’s minister of justice, described the group as a “small convoy” of unarmed people. Niger had allowed the convoy to cross onto its territory for purely humanitarian reasons, he said.

Moussa Ibrahim, the Gaddafi’s spokesman, told Syrian television that Gaddafi was in “excellent health, planning and organising for the defence of Libya” and was still in the country. “We are fighting and resisting for the sake of Libya and all Arabs,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying. “We are still strong and capable of turning the tables on NATO.”

The convoy was later reported to have moved on from the northern Niger town of Agadez toward the capital, Niamey, 600 miles away in the southwest near the border with Burkina Faso.

Abdoulaye Harouna, owner of the Agadez Info newspaper, told The AP that he saw the group arrive in several dozen pickup trucks. At the head of the convoy, Harouna said, was a Tuareg rebel leader who had sought refuge in Libya several years ago and was believed to be fighting on behalf of Gaddafi. In Libya, the rebels’ military press liaison in Tripoli, Abdulrahman Busin, said the news of a convoy crossing into Niger caught their forces by surprise.

He also expressed scepticism that such a convoy could have escaped NATO observation but speculated that NATO may not have regarded it as a military target. He said this news would likely anger rebel fighters and might prompt them to break their truce around Bani Walid, because they would see the escape of regime leaders as a betrayal of their restraint.

Asked whether NATO was aware of the convoy’s reported movements, officials of the alliance at its headquarters in Brussels and its Libya operations base in Naples, Italy, declined to comment formally, saying they did not discuss intelligence matters.

But a NATO official, who spoke in return for anonymity, said: “NATO continuously receives reports and inputs from various sources regarding weapons, vehicles and even convoys of vehicles moving throughout Libya. We do not discuss the intelligence and surveillance information we collect but we do publicly announce the actions we take when we act on what we consider are threats to the civilian population.”

Late Monday, rebel forces had continued to observe the one-week extension given to Bani Walid to surrender, and the rebels’ minister of defence said talks with supporters of Gaddafi were continuing.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/convoy-with-gaddafi-loyalists-enters-niger/842801/

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After its anti-terror message, US wanted to woo Dar-ul-Uloom

Sep 07 2011

Lucknow : When Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband issued a declaration on February 25, 2008 that terrorism is un-Islamic, the US Embassy in New Delhi saw in it an opportunity to gain Muslim support in South Asia and suggested the US government woo Deoband clerics by offering educational resources and invitations for international visitor programmes, according to a cable released by WikiLeaks.

In the cable, dated February 27, 2008, the Embassy said, “The influential conservative Dar-ul-Uloom madrassa in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, viewed by some as the ideological home of the Taliban (a claim Dar-ul-Uloom refutes), hosted an All India Terrorism Conference on February 25. The gathering of roughly 10,000-15,000 clerics from all sects of Islam jointly issued a declaration condemning terrorism as un-Islamic.” With the cable was sent full text of the Deoband declaration.

The cable said, “While the declaration obviously won’t end terrorism and domestic political considerations are never far away, Deoband’s willingness to denounce terrorism publicly must be taken as a positive sign that will influence the thinking of Muslims from Afghanistan to Indonesia who listen to what Deoband has to say. The USG (US Government) should refrain from commenting on the declaration publicly, but should capitalize on this development by quietly offering Deoband educational resources and continuing to issue invitations for its clerics and students to participate in international visitor programs in the US.”

The cable sent a request for action, which read, “The Deobandis remain wary of the USG, and harshly critical of its policies, but they continue to engage at the personal level with representatives of the US Embassy. We tried a few years ago to offer them computers for madrassa education, but were turned down. We propose that we try to identify a third party (perhaps one of USAID’s partners in programs in curriculum development) through which we could offer technical assistance and other support.”

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-its-antiterror-message-us-wanted-to-woo-darululoom/842725/

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ISI used Nepal as a hub for terror inside India: WikiLeaks

Sep 07 2011

Washington : In the run up to the hijacking of the Indian Airlines Flight 814 by Pakistan-based terrorist outfits, the ISI had made Nepal a hub of anti-India terror activities from where it pushed huge quantities of RDX into the country, latest US cables released by WikiLeaks say.

In these cable, US officials have conceded that it is the ISI which created various terrorist fronts to carry out terrorist activities in India, including the bomb blasts in the busy areas of Connaught Place, Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi and several cities across the country.

One of such organisation created by ISI in Pakistan was Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF), with its main base in Kathmandu.

"To dispatch men and material and to execute explosions in India, Kathmandu was invariably made the nodal point and JKIF exploited the vulnerable Kathmandu-based Kashmiri businessmen for such activities since they had a readymade and clean past.

JKIF kingpin Javed Krawah himself used to run a carpet business in Kathmandu," said the US cable signed off by none other than the then US Ambassador to India, Frank Wisner.

JKIF, says the cable dated July 8, 1997, was controlled from Pakistan by ISI and Tiger Memon, the prime accused in 1993 Mumbai blast case.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/isi-used-nepal-as-a-hub-for-terror-inside-india-wikileaks/842675/

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Afghan prisoner torture fears in UN report

By Quentin Sommerville

The Nato-led mission in Afghanistan is considering suspending the transfer of detainees to several Afghan jails, following allegations of widespread torture, the BBC has learned.

The accusations came in an as-yet unpublished UN report, which describes how prisoners were beaten and in some cases given electric shocks.

It accuses some police commanders of running secret jails.

The jails are run by the Afghan police and intelligence service.

The international mission has met with National Directorate of Security (NDS) chiefs and warned them that it may stop transferring prisoners in seven provinces including Khost in the south-east, Takhar in the north and Herat in the West.

In Uruzgan and Kunduz provinces, transfers of prisoners to the police may be stopped because of similar worries of mistreatment.

Full report at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14809579

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Maldives: Court sentences man to life for molesting daughter

6 September 2011

Criminal Court today sentenced a man to life imprisonment for sexually abusing his daughter.

The court sentenced the man from Noonu atoll Maafaru to 25 years in prison under the Child Sex Abuse (Special Provisions) Act.

This is the first time a person is sentenced to life imprisonment for sexual abuse.

Police arrested the man on October 25, 2010.

Haveeru at the time learned from reliable sources that the man was abusing his 15-year-old daughter, who was studying in grade 10, for years.

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/english/details/38055

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250 mosques were on NYPD radar for radicals

Sep 07 2011

New York : The New York Police Department collected intelligence on more than 250 mosques and Muslim student groups in and around New York, often using undercover officers and informants to canvass the Islamic population of America’s largest city, according to officials and confidential, internal documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The documents, many marked “secret,’’ confirm that a “Demographics Unit” sent teams of undercover officers to help key tabs on the area’s Muslim communities. Since the 2001 attacks, the police department has built one of the nation’s most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies, one that operates far outside the city limits and maintains a list of “ancestries of interest’’. That effort has benefited from federal money and an unusually close relationship with the CIA.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/250-mosques-were-on-nypd-radar-for-

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It’s ‘blue label’ for Kashmir valley politicos

By Naseer Ganai

Sep 07 2011

KASHMIRI leaders own palatial houses, flaunt expensive accessories and lead flashy lifestyles, particularly the Abdullahs, Omar and Farooq.

All this is thanks to the huge amount of money being pumped into the state by the Union government to contain the insurgency and by New Delhi’s adversaries to keep the conflict going.

In a cable titled, ‘ Show me the money’, US diplomats say Indian and Pakistani money have made all Kashmiri political leaders dependent on handouts and changed the way they live. As the money flows freely, all the stake holders in the conflict have developed a vested interest in the problem continuing, according to the diplomats.

“ Omar and Farooq Abdullah, descendants of the Sheikh who first figured out Delhi’s money game, live in fabulous houses in Srinagar and Delhi, wear matching Panerai watches, serve Blue Label to the guests and travel all over the world first class courtesy of the Indian government,” the cable reads.

Full report at: Mail Today

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B'desh not Pak when it comes to Islamic radicalism: India

Sep 06 2011

On Board Air India One : India believes it will be a “dangerous mistake” to look at Bangladesh through the prism of Pakistan when it comes to viewing the problem of radical Islamic elements.

“Bangladesh has political parties with deep grassroots, a very strong civil society and a strong national identity,” highly-placed sources accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his official visit to Dhaka said on Tuesday.

“Since we are used to dealing with Pakistan, we assume that it is similar in Bangladesh. It is a dangerous mistake to do that,” they said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bdesh-not-pak-when-it-comes-to-islamic-radicalism-

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A Young Canadian Hindu Reverts to Islam

September 06, 2011

I was born and brought up in Toronto, but my family is from an Indian background.

A lot of my life had to do with I guess a mix of Canadian culture as well as at home the Indian side of things. So I grew up knowing my culture, knowing my language and knowing the religion of my parents very well.

I grew up in a temple and I would always go to summer camps and Sunday School and always go to prayers and so on. So, I went through a lot of "culturalization" in both the culture of my parents and the culture that I was growing up in at school.

I went to a high school over here in Toronto. I was a very studious person but I also had my fun on the side. I was really into music. I used to play guitar for eleven years.

How I Became a Muslim

I just never got down with the idea of the many gods or the idol worship, it just didn't fit right with me

When I look back over how I came to Islam, it was really different from a lot of other people because I didn't think I had any kind of problems or emotional component that was leading me towards the truth. Since I was young, I just didn't feel right in the religion of my parents although I was brought up in it. Actually at one point of time I was a very ardent defender of it and I was almost staunched you can say but that staunchness was like a shell, it was very hollow and it was only because I was trying to defend myself in a place where I guess people would attack that faith a lot for different aspects.

Full report at:

http://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/my-journey-to-islam/contemporary-

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‘Hindus feel insecure in Pakistan, migrating to India’

6 September 2011

 KARACHI — More than 300 members of Hindu community mostly belonging to Sindh have migrated to India this year due to a worsening law and order situation as well threats to their families, a local English newspaper Daily News”claimed on Monday.

The paper  said that majority of them belonged to Sukkur and Larkana and claimed that more than 600 families have migrated to India in the last three years feeling insecure.

Quoting Dr Dileep Kumar Doltani, convener of Young Hindu Panchayat Pakistan, the newspaper said under the present government the Hindu community felt insecure, forcing them to leave Pakistan out of sheer desperation.

A number of them also tried to migrate to Western countries especially Canada and the United Kingdom but due to visa problem their efforts could not succeed, leaving them with the only option of migrating to neighbouring India.

Hindu community members also said that another reason for the migration was rising incidents of kidnapping of their members at the behest of powerful feudal lords.

Sindh has the highest number of Hindu community members in Pakistan as most of them are involved in businessmen or work as professionals. However, owing to fear of kidnapping some of them had closed their businesses and shifted to India.

Doltani  appealed to his community members not to leave Pakistan as Muslims, Christians and other minorities were also affected by the wave of kidnappings and killings

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/September/i

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India's PM Begins Key Visit to Bangladesh

Manmohan Singh's trip aimed at mending ties with eastern neighbour, but water sharing and transit deals remain unlikely.

06 Sep 2011 11:39

Manmohan Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina review an honour guard in Dhaka [Reuters]

Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, has arrived in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, on a high-profile visit aimed at mending often fractious relations with his country's eastern neighbour.

"We attach the highest importance to further developing and strengthening our relations with Bangladesh," Singh said in a statement on Tuesday issued before his trip.

"Our partnership with Bangladesh is important for the stability and prosperity of our own northeast region."

However, breakthroughs on key disputes, including the sharing of water from rivers and transit rights, look unlikely during the two-day visit.

Officials in both countries said a deal to share water from two rivers, the Teesta and the Feni, that flow via India into Bangladesh may not be signed during Singh's visit because the government of the Indian state of West Bengal state refused to accept the agreement.

Ranjan Mathai, India's foreign secretary, said on Tuesday that the government would go ahead with the Teesta river deal only if it was acceptable to the state government.

"In our federal scheme, any agreement we do will have to be acceptable to the state government ... won't get into details on where we are now," Mathai said.

Full report at:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/09/20119685343276234.html

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PM, Hasina put Teesta Water-sharing behind, fix boundary

Indrani Bagchi

Sep 07 2011

Dhaka: Mamata Banerjees public sulk on the Teesta water-sharing pact almost killed the Manmohan Singh-Sheikh Hasina summit,billed as a paradigm shift in India-Bangladesh ties.A land boundary agreement and significant trade concessions by India saved the day,but it was a close shave for both leaders.

Visibly angry over Indias decision to put off the Teesta pact which Dhaka hoped would showcase Sheikh Hasinas achievements,Bangladesh threw a spanner in the works for the land boundary agreement,a key takeaway for India.

It took an hour-long oneon-one meeting between Sheikh Hasina and Singh to redeem the summit.

The boundary pact in itself is historic,because for the first time India will have a fully demarcated boundary with a neighbour.The India-Bangladesh border is the only one in the world to have an Indian enclave within a Bangladeshi enclave within another Indian enclave all in Bangladeshi territory.

Times of India

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Didis antics overshadow PMs Bangladesh visit

Indrani Bagchi

Sep 07 2011

Dhaka: It was a summit that yielded much for both Bangladesh and India,but will forever be shadowed by the failure to get a pact on sharing river waters.To the extent that Manmohan Singh and Sheikh Hasina intended this summit to signal a paradigm shift in bilateral ties,the disappointment in Bangladesh over Mamata Banerjees last-minute tantrum means this is still a while away.

Mamatas sudden Sunday refusal to accompany the PM to Dhaka took the Bangladeshis by surprise,but even they did not believe that India would not finally get its act together.Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni even went on record on Monday to say that she had prepared the documents for signing on Tuesday.As it became clear that Mamata was not going to relent,the sense of disappointment and anger sweeping Dhaka was acute.The fallout of the Teesta fiasco was that an exchange of letters for transit from Chittagong and Mongla ports also had to be shelved.Rajeet Mitter,Indias high commissioner to Dhaka,was called in by foreign secretary Mijarul Quayes on Tuesday afternoon to see if a last-minute deal could be reached on Teesta,as well as conveying Bangladeshs deep unhappiness with the Teesta turnaround by Mamata.

Full report at: Times of India

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Hasina too called Bengal CM on Teesta

Indrani Bagchi

Sep 07 2011

Dhaka: A landmark Delhi-Dhaka pact on border demarcation and exchange of enclaves will ensure the momentum in ties is not lost and both sides will hope a convergence of interests driving the two leaderships is not lost sight of in the midst of Banerjees domestic jockeying.

Just as PM Manmohan Singh tried several last-minute phone calls to Mamata Banerjee on Monday night,Sheikh Hasina too called the West Bengal CM to get her to change her mind.But Banerjee is believed to have explained to Hasina that her reasons had less to do with Bangladesh and much more to do with local politics.Mamata also explained to Hasina that she would visit Dhaka at a later date,and even held out the promise of a Teesta treaty in the near future.At the joint press meet here,Singh said,Our common rivers need not be sources of discord,but can become harbingers of prosperity to both our countries.We have decided to continue discussions to reach a mutually acceptable,fair and amicable arrangement for the sharing of the Teesta and Feni river waters.

Full report at: Times of India

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1958 swap deal with Bangladesh had got caught up in legalities

By Gyanant Singh

Sep 07 2011

THE pact with Bangladesh for the exchange of enclaves has a precedent.

India and Pakistan had entered into an agreement in 1958 for the division of the Berubari Union and for the exchange of the Cooch Behar enclaves in East Pakistan ( now Bangladesh) with East Pakistan’s enclaves in India.

Doubts, however, came up over the implementation of the deal and an opinion had to be sought from the Supreme Court as there was no precedent.

Though there is no specific clause in the Constitution empowering Parliament or the executive to cede any part of the territory to a foreign state, the Supreme Court concluded that, under international law, the power to acquire a foreign territory and the power to cede national territory were essential attributes of sovereignty.

The confusion cropped up because Article 1( 3) ( c) of the Constitution, which talked of acquisition, was silent on ceding.

The Supreme Court, after going through the 1958 agreement, rejected the contention of the- then Attorney General that no legislative action was required as the pact merely implemented the decision of a tribunal which had settled the boundary.

Turning down the contention that the pact was merely to delineate the exact boundary, the court said the language of the agreement clearly showed that the territory of India was ceded to Pakistan.

Full report at: Mail Today

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US within reach of defeating al-Qaida: official

Sep 07 2011

Washington : The US is within reach of achieving its core goal of defeating al-Qaida, a top official told lawmakers today, even as he conceded that the large network of terror financing still remains a global challenge.

"The terrorist financing tale is far from over and challenges remain. We are, as Secretary of Defence (Leon) Panetta has said, within reach of achieving our core goal of defeating al-Qaida, the only international terrorist group to successfully conduct an attack on US soil," Daniel L Glaser, the Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Terrorist Financing.

With Osama Bin Ladin's death, al-Qaida has lost a charismatic leader capable of raising funds and inspiring recruits.

Already in difficult financial straits due to diminished access to its traditional donor base in the Gulf, in particular Saudi Arabia and the UAE, al-Qaida will come under increasing financial pressure," he said, in his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee's sub-committee on Oversight and Investigations.

"But other pillars of financial and logistical support remain," he said.

"As our recent designation of six members of an Iran-based al-Qaida financial facilitation networks demonstrates, Iran has emerged as a vital facilitation conduit

for al-Qaida.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-within-reach-of-defeating-alqaida-official/842623/

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Reliving 9/11 moments: Bush says he made 'decisions as best as he could in the fog of war'

6 September 2011

(CNN) -- Former President George W. Bush says he experienced no pleasure when he heard about the death of Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader responsible for orchestrating the deadly terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

"He was sitting in a restaurant in Dallas when the Secret Service told him that President (Barack) Obama wanted to speak to him. He then learned about the assassination," documentarian Peter Schnall told CNN in an interview set to air Monday.

Bush "said to us certainly there was no sense of jubilation (and) certainly no sense of happiness," Schnall stressed. "If anything, he felt that finally there was a sense of closure."

Schnall interviewed the former president as part of a documentary airing on National Geographic on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The interview covers a broad range of topics tied to Bush's response to the attacks -- a response that remains a source of deep political division both within the United States and overseas.

Government: No specific threats, but caution for 9/11 anniversary

"We could see in the interview that the president was very taken by the events of that day," Schnall said. "He was very emotional."

Bush told Schnall that initially he thought a small plane had hit one of the towers at New York's World Trade Center.

Full report at:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/09/05/bush.documentary.interview/index.html?hpt=

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Gayoom’s new party to be called Progressive Party of Maldives

By Ahmed Naish

September 6th, 2011

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom announced today that the new party formed under his leadership is to be called the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

Speaking at a live press conference at private broadcaster DhiTV, Gayoom revealed that the party’s charter has been drafted and registration forms would be submitted to the Elections Commission (EC) today.

“We are forming a new political party to achieve very important national purposes,” he said. “That is to strengthen Islam in the country and maintain Islam as a religion that we all love and respect, to fully protect our independence and sovereignty, to establish a strong democratic system in the Maldives, ensure happiness and prosperity to the people, to reform the country to make it a place where people would want to live, uphold public order, peace and stability, and facilitate equality opportunity for everyone to advance.”

Gayoom explained that he resigned as ‘Honorary Leader’ (Zaeem) of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) yesterday because his efforts to reform the party over the past several months were unsuccessful.

Full report at:

http://minivannews.com/politics/gayooms-new-party-to-be-called-progressive-party-of-

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Khaleda sits with party leaders to set Manmohan meet issues

September 6th, 2011

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will sit with her party policymakers Tuesday night to decide on the issues to be discussed during her meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said BNP sources.

The leader of the opposition in parliament will meet the Indian premier Wednesday afternoon at the latter's Hotel Sonargaon suite.

Party sources told The Daily Star seeking anonymity that the BNP chief will try to assure him that she is not against India as a whole but against certain policies. She will also stress the need for considering public sentiment before signing any deal.

Former water resources minister Hafizuddin Ahmed, former commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, former state minister for foreign affairs Reaz Rahman, former foreign secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, former ambassador Sabiuddin Ahmed, among others, are expected to join the meeting at her Gulshan office.

In November last year, Khaleda Zia categorically said her party will not allow any foreign vehicle in Bangladesh in the name of transit. She also opposed the government plan to set up a power plant jointly with India in Bagerhat.

Hafizuddin, also a vice chairman of the party, said they doubt whether Bangladesh will get anything from Manmohan's visit, as India has “never showed cooperative attitude” towards its neighbours.

Khasru said the country will not benefit from transit if it is done only with India.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=32073

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India tells China to stop infrastructure work in PoK

Sep 6, 2011

NEW DELHI: India has asked China to stop its infrastructure development activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, even as it keeps a close watch on Beijing's "rapid" development of strategic roads, railway lines and airfields in Tibet as well as along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Defence minister A K Antony, in a written reply to Lok Sabha on Monday to a question posed by 18 MPs, said, "Government is aware that China is undertaking infrastructure projects in PoK. We have conveyed our concerns to China about its activities in PoK and asked them to cease such activities."

This comes after senior Indian Army commanders recently warned that India not only faced the threat from Chinese troops along the LAC with China but it could well extend to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan due to the expansive Beijing-Islamabad military nexus.

Apart from the massive build-up of Chinese military infrastructure all along the 4,057-km LAC, especially in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), there is growing concern about the Chinese People's Liberation Army troops actually being stationed along the volatile 778-km-long LoC between India and Pakistan.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-tells-China-to-stop-infrastructure-work-in-

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U.S. Civilian Engineer Found Dead in Kabul

6 September 2011

KABUL (Reuters) - The body of a U.S. civilian engineer has been found in the Afghan capital, an Afghan intelligence source told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that the man who worked on a military base appeared to have been murdered.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said late on Monday that a U.S. Department of Defense civilian employee had died that day in eastern Afghanistan.

Security is tight in Kabul, even though violence is rising across other parts of the country, and it is rare for a foreigner to go missing in the capital.

Foreign military bases and diplomatic missions are among the most secure premises in the city, protected with high blast walls and coils of razor wire to ward off attackers.

Foreigners who work on these bases usually travel in convoys or under guard because of the threat of attack and kidnappings, a lucrative business in impoverished Afghanistan.

Scores of locals and foreigners have been abducted in recent years by criminals with financial motives and by Taliban-linked insurgents.

The Taliban struck last month when they raided a British cultural center in Kabul on the 92nd anniversary of Afghanistan's independence from British rule. Nine people were killed during the hours-long assault.

Afghan forces have had responsibility for security in the city since 2008, but there are hundreds of NATO forces stationed in and around the capital, and they are regularly called on to help during complex attacks.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/09/06/world/asia/international-us-afghanistan-

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Gunmen kill eight Iraqi soldiers in ambush

Sep 6, 2011

FALLUJA, Iraq: Gunmen killed eight Iraqi soldiers and wounded one in a northern Iraqi town on Tuesday when they ambushed an army patrol and set the soldiers’ vehicle on fire, police sources said.

Iraq’s army and police are a primary target of bombs and attacks as US security forces prepare to fully withdraw by year-end, more than eight years after the US-led invasion.

The incident occurred at about 1:30 a.m. local time (1030 GMT) on the outskirts of Haditha, 190 km (120 miles) northwest of Baghdad, on the road to Baiji, the sources said.

The attackers, armed with Kalashnikovs, used three vehicles in the ambush, police sources said.

They said the gunmen shot at the vehicle’s tires initially, before killing all the eight soldiers in the vehicle and setting it alight.

“When we reached the scene, we found the bodies. They were completely burned and cannot be recognized. It appears to have been a well-prepared ambush set up by attackers to attack this patrol,” a source from the Haditha police said.

The ninth soldier, who was badly wounded, had fallen from the vehicle during an initial chase and escaped being burned.

Full report at:

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article498216.ece

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ICRC visits jailed Syrians as more protesters are killed

6 September 2011

DAMASCUS: Security forces on Monday launched deadly raids on the central cities of Hama and Homs, activists said, as the Red Cross gained access to a Damascus jail for the first time in Syria's uprising. Arab League announced its chief Nabil Elaraby will visit Syria on Wednesday to pass on Arab concerns about the regime's violent crackdown on protests against President Bashar Assad's rule.

Activists said troops shot dead six people in assaults on the cities of Homs and Hama, and that at least two more people were reported killed near the Turkish border.

The latest bloodshed came as the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger, ended a visit to Syria, where rights groups say 10,000 people have been arrested since anti-regime protests erupted in mid-March.

The ICRC said Kellenberger met Assad before winding up his visit, a day after the organization was for the first time granted access to a Syrian detention center.

Its delegates visited Damascus central prison in Adra suburb on Sunday.

Full report at:

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article498005.ece

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Bangladesh: 10 get life for murder

September 6th, 2011

Additional District and Session Judge Ekramul Haque Chowdhury yesterday sentenced 10 people to life term imprisonment and fined Tk 30 thousand each, in default, to suffer six months more in jail for killing a man in 2003.

The convicts are Ripon Mia, Anwar Hossen, Kadir Mia, Ishhak Mia, Mofazzal Hossen, Khokon Mia, Habib Mia, Angur Mia, Ayatur Rahaman, and Fazlul Haque of village Nawgaw under Barhatta upazila of the district.

According to the case in brief, on February 3 in 2003, the aforesaid ten killed Khorshad Mia, 65, of adjoining Gobindapur village under the same upazila with sharp weapons in broad daylight due to previous enmity.

In Rangpur, Rab and Kotwali police on Sunday arrested two of accused in a sensational double murder case. Naya Miah, 38, and Sadekul Islam, 36, were arrested from their house at Paglapeer area under Sadar upazila, reports a correspondent.

Rab camp commander Tariqul Islam said Naya Miah and Sadequl at the instruction of notorious highway robber Badsha Miah of the area killed Mominul Islam and Abdus Salam at Ulashu under Haridebpur union in Rangpur Sadar upazila on August 31.

The victims were two sources of Rab. They were killed while returning home by a motorbike from Paglapeer area.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201293

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Rights groups demand land for Idgah

6 September 2011

Civil rights groups here on Sunday demanded allotment of land for construction of an Idgah at Naurangsar village in Churu district where Muslims were prevented from performing Id-ul-Fitr prayers earlier this week. They also accused the Congress-led Government of failing to rein in the “majoritarian agenda” to deny access to pasture land for prayers.

A delegation of activists, who visited Naurangsar under the banner of the Rajasthan Sadbhav Manch over the weekend, met a cross-section of villagers and emphasised the need to evolve an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. Activists said they found “cohesion across the communities” and hoped that the matter would be resolved soon.

The administration did not allow Muslims to offer Id prayers this past Wednesday at a piece of pasture land which they had cleaned and levelled. The lone mosque in Naurangsar cannot accommodate the large number of the faithful from a cluster of three villages and there is no Idgah in the village.

Full report at:

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/article2425504.ece

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Spain region bans Muslim call to prayer

6 September 2011

A northeastern Spain municipality with a 40-percent Muslim population has reportedly banned the Muslim call to prayer also known as Azan.

Salt's mayor Jaume Torramade has asserted that the proclamation to prayer was not to be heard in the municipality during his tenure.

He has accused the Muslim immigrants there of having leaned towards 'radicalism' over the recent years, the Hudson Institute policy organization reported.

In a recent interview, Torramade pointed out that "a few years ago, the Maghreb (Moroccan) women were more westernized, but nowadays one sees much less of that.”

“The large numbers of Muslim immigrants in Salt have attracted imams who are enforcing conduct and dress codes. Muslim women used to wear blue jeans, but now they cover their hair."

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197617.html

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Most US Muslims back Ground Zero mosque

By RIZWAN KHATIK

6 September 2011

WASHINGTON – Most Muslim Americans support the proposal to build a mosque and Islamic community centre near Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 attacks on New York, a survey shows.

The Pew Research Center survey found 81 percent of US Muslims have heard about the project, which is strongly opposed by American conservatives, and, of those, 72 percent say it should be allowed to be built.

At the same time, 20pc of the country’s Muslims say it should not be allowed to be built, while 15pc say it should be allowed even though they personally believe it’s a bad idea to build it near the WTC site, the survey found. The survey revealed a decidedly different view among the general public. Of about 78 percent who heard of the project, only 38 percent said it should be allowed to be built, while 47 percent said it should not. The mosque and Islamic centre would be built just 2 blocks from where the World Trade Center stood before being destroyed in the 2001 terrorist attack.

Asked about mosques or Islamic centres in their community, 14 percent of US Muslims said there had been opposition to building a mosque in the past few years and 15 percent said a mosque or Islamic centre in their community has been vandalized or a target of other hostility in the past 12 months, the survey found.

http://www.timesofummah.com/2011/09/06/most-us-muslims-back-ground-zero-mosque/

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'People believe policies motivated 9/11 attacks'

September 06, 2011

Americans on Tuesday are generally more willing to believe that US policies in the Middle East might have motivated the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon, according to a new poll. Reflecting some important shifts in US public opinion over the past decade, the poll by Pew

Research Centre found that the public's views are more evenly divided on Tuesday in response to the question, "Why do they hate us?"

Today 43% agree with the proposition that the attacks may have been motivated by something "the US did wrong in its dealings with other countries", and 45% disagree. Immediately after the attacks, a majority of respondents (55%) rejected that notion, while only a third agreed.

Full report at:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/Americas/People--believe-policies-motivated-9-11-

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Britain launches 9/11 website for schoolchildren

September 06, 2011

LONDON — A website to teach schoolchildren in Britain about the events of 9/11 and "demolish conspiracy theories" surrounding the attacks was launched on Monday by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

"It is only if we and our children properly remember and understand 9/11 that we can make sure that nothing like it ever happens again," Johnson said at the unveiling in London of a new artwork to commemorate the attacks.

He said the website would help to "provide a controlled demolition" of the conspiracy theories surrounding the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon which took place a decade ago on Sunday.

Peter Rosengard, chairman of the "9/11 London project", said research in British schools last year revealed "the most incredible ignorance, confusion and misunderstanding" of the attacks.

Full report at: Copyright © 2011 AFP

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Women of 9/11 still fighting for recognition, respect

By Soledad O'Brien

6 September 2011

New York (CNN) -- A few weeks ago, a group of about two dozen female rescue workers walked onto the platform overlooking ground zero.

Most had not seen the place in years, not since big iron beams rose into the sky to build the skeletons of a new office complex, not since the footprints of the Twin Towers were filled with black stone and waterworks, not since all the progress that followed those dark days back ...

... THEN.

New York Police Department Deputy Inspector Terri Tobin was buried in the rubble of the old towers twice on September 11, 2001. She had a huge glass pane lodged in her back and cinder block cut her skull. She rose from the debris like some kind of superhero and rescued people who were in a panic -- the injured, the desperate, the scared. At one point, she clung mightily to one man's arm and said: "I'm with the NYPD. I'm not gonna let go."

She didn't let go. None of these women let go.

Full report at:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/09/05/beyond.bravery.soledad.notebook/index.html?hpt=hp

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Maldivian President sought US$8-10 million loan from US: leaked cable

By Ali Naafiz

6 September 2011

MALE, September 5 (HNS) – Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed requested the US to provide a US$8-10 million loan just two weeks after he came to power in November 2008, according to a leaked US document.

A leaked cable sent by the US Embassy in Colombo reveals that President Nasheed telephoned the then US Ambassador Robert Blake in the morning of November 27, 2008 and requested the loan to help meet the government’s budgetary obligations at the end of the month.

According to the cable dated November 28, 2008, President Nasheed said the problems were inherited from the previous government.

“If we can survive the next two months we should be okay,” he was quoted in the cable.

The President reportedly told the Ambassador that the government approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance but was told that it would take “a few months” before IMF could approve funding.

Full report at:

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/english/details/38056

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Maldives: Contentious religious unity regulations polarise religious factions

By Ahmed Nazeer

September 6th, 2011

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair has denied that the President’s Office brought any changes to the religious unity regulations drafted by the Islamic Mnistry, refuting allegations made by the Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari.

Islamic Minster Bari had told local media that the religious unity regulations were sent to the President’s Office and changed “the way they want it”, and that the ministry was now revising the regulation.

He also said that the Ministry would not give consent for the regulations to be gazetted before revising it thoroughly.

Zuhair said that Dr Bari had made his remarks not in the capacity of a cabinet minister, “but more as an ally of the Adhaalath Party.”

“We did not bring any changes to the religious unity regulations,” he said. “The first half of it was drafted by the then State Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed and the other half by current State Islamic Minister Sheikh Hussein Rasheed.”

He said there were rules in the regulation that were inconsistent with the government’s policy and had asked the Ministry to comply with that policy.

Full report at:

http://minivannews.com/politics/contentious-religious-unity-regulations-polarise-religious-

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Maldives ensured travel ban on former Gitmo detainee: document

By Ali Naafiz

6 September 2011

MALE, September 5 (HNS) – The Maldives ensured US authorities that a travel ban would be imposed on Ibrahim Fauzy, who was held for more than one and a half years in Guantanamo Bay, after he was released, according to a leaked US document.

A US State Department cable classified “secret” shows that the then Maldivian Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Shihab assured the then US Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead that the Maldives understood the need to clear up the detainee’s story.

The US Ambassador met with the Deputy Foreign Minister, as the Foreign Minister was not in the Maldives at the time, the cable dated July 20, 2004 says.

Shihab told Lunstead, who “had concerns about some aspects of the detainee’s history”, that the Maldives government would place Fauzy under close surveillance and would put him on a watch list to ensure that he could not leave the country.

Shihab was quoted in the diplomatic memo, leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks, as saying that the measures would be “effective in preventing him [Fauzy] from travelling” unless “he is very good at rowing”.

Full report at:

http://www.haveeru.com.mv/english/details/38041

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Maldives: MP found guilty of corruption, banished

By Ahmed Nazeer

September 6th, 2011

The Criminal Court today sentenced Independent MP for Kaashidhoo, Ismail Abdul Hameed, to one year and six months banishment after he was found guilty of corruption.

Banishment is a traditional punishment in the Maldives in which those sentenced are forbidden to leave a designated island.

The Prosecutor General pressed corruption charges against Hameed alleging that he had abused his authority as the former Director of Waste Management at the Male’ municipality to financially benefit a Singaporean company named Island Logistics in a deal to purchase a barge.

According to local media reports, Judge Abdulla Didi noted in the verdict that the agreement stipulated the barge was to be delivered within 90 days of signing the agreement, upon which 50 percent of the value was to be paid to Island Logistics.

Although the barge arrived in the Maldives on October 23, 2008, Hameed had however signed a document claiming that the barge was delivered on schedule on April 28, 2008.

The judge ruled that Hameed’s actions were intentional and in violation of the Anti-Corruption Act.

Full report at:

http://minivannews.com/politics/independent-mp-ismail-abdul-hameed-found-guilty-of-

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WikiLeaks: US asked Pak to dismantle terror infra, take action on LeT

Sep 06 2011

Srinagar : In the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the US had categorically told Pakistan to dismantle terror infrastructure on its soil and take action against LeT founder Hafiz Saeed for his alleged involvement in the attacks, a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks has revealed.

“In his introductory meeting with Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik (on) August 25 (2009), Ambassador (Timothy) Roemer stressed the importance of bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attacks and dismantling the terror groups,” the US diplomatic cable released last week said.

Roemer, in the 2009 cable, specifically emphasised the importance of acting on the evidence involving Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.

Malik responded by characterising the latest dossier on Hafiz Saeed handed over by New Delhi to Islamabad as a “rehash” of existing evidence.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/wikileaks-us-asked-pak-to-dismantle-terror-infra-

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Teesta hold-up: 'Unhappy' Bangladesh summons Indian envoy

Sep 06 2011

Onboard Air India One : The failure to sign a deal on Teesta water sharing today cast a shadow over the two-day visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here as Bangladesh summoned the

Indian High Commissioner and bluntly conveyed its unhappiness on the issue.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mijarul Qayes called Indian envoy Rajeev Mitter to the Foreign Ministry this morning and sought a clarification on media reports about India deciding “at the last minute” not to sign the accord, sources here said.

Mitter is understood to have told Qayes that the “internal discussions” on Teesta water-sharing in India were yet to be completed and New Delhi was not in a position now to ink the pact. He is understood to have expressed regret over the Teesta deal not coming through.

Mitter, however, conveyed to Qayes that as soon as the internal discussions were over in India, the deal would be signed, said the sources.

Qayes, on his part, conveyed to the Indian envoy that the “last-minute” scrapping of the move to sign the Teesta deal was “not acceptable”.

Full report at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-bangladesh-not-to-ink-deal-on-teesta-

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Enclave people upbeat as two neighbours ink deal today

September 6th, 2011

Thousands of people living in enclaves inside Bangladesh and India are eyeing a new life as the two countries are set to sign a bilateral deal to exchange the adversely possessed lands during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Sing's two-day visit to Bangladesh starting today.

The enclave people expressed hope that the bilateral deal to be signed in line with the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement of 1974, popularly known as Indira-Mujib Pact, will enable them to get all the rights and facilities as lawful citizens, reports our Thakurgaon correspondent.

During this correspondent's visit to Garati enclave adjacent to Hafizabad and Haribhasha union parishads under Panchagarh Sadar upazila on Sunday, the residents described their miserable life in absence of basic rights for decades.

"The enclave people live in awful conditions amid lack of adequate employment opportunity, infrastructure, educational institutions, electricity and medical facilities. Most of the people are living below poverty level," said Abdul Latif Sarkar, chairman of Garati Enclave Sarbamongal Committee.

Full report at:

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201288

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Indian police return 7 Bangladeshis, BSF 2

September 6th, 2011

Seven Bangladeshis, all aged below 30, were returned by the Indian authorities to Tamabil immigration police Sunday evening.

Superintendent of police (SP), Sylhet Shakhawat Hossain told this correspondent that the group was yesterday handed over to the police stations concerned.

They were later sent to the families, the official said adding, they were jailed in India after police caught them on charge of illegal intrusion.

The youths are Harunur Rashid, Almas Ali and Alamgir Hossain of Baligram under Jaintapur upazila, Mashuk Ahmed of village Baro Ali under Gowainghat and Alim Uddin, Abdul Mazid and Mamun Rashid of Sonarkher under Kanaighat upazila in Sylhet.

Some Indian Khasias took them to India for working at orchards in the border area, sources said.

However, the victims claimed that although the Khasias hired them for work, they later handed them over to the police.

Harun ur Rashid said he had been in the Khowai Jail since October of 2009 along with three other Bangladeshis.

Full report at:

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201292

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Encyclopedia on Islam and Iran now available in French

6 September 2011

TEHRAN -- The French version of “The Encyclopedia of Islam and Iran” written by Iran’s ex-foreign minister Ali-Akbar Velayati is now available in Beirut.

The four-volume “The Encyclopedia of Islam and Iran: Dynamics of Culture and the Living Civilization” was compiled by a team of Iranian experts under the supervision of Velayati.

The book was translated by the American University of Beirut, which will publish the book sometime in the future.

The translation was organized by Iran’s Center for Organizing Translation and Publication of Islamic Instructions and Humanities.

The book was translated into English and published by the MPH Group Publishing Company in Malaysia and the first volume of the encyclopedia will be used as a reference book at Malaysian universities.

Velayati’s book sheds light on many aspects of Iran’s ancient and Islamic culture and civilization.

Velayati was the foreign minister of Iran for about 16 years from December 15, 1981 to August 20, 1997, making him the longest-serving foreign minister in Iranian history.

Velayati is currently the Iranian Supreme Leader’s advisor for international affairs.

http://www.ibna.ir/vdciwwaz5t1azp2.ilct.html

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Indian author's "Islamic Art" in Iran

6 September 2011

Iranian researcher and university professor Sadegh Rashidi has translated "Islamic Art: the Past and Modern" penned by Indian author Nuzhat Kazmi.

IBNA: Rashidi told IBNA that the book methodologically evaluates the Islamic art considering its branches and subjects.

He added:" Three different approaches exist in the field of Islamic Art historiography. Some historians evaluate the Islamic art according to geographical regions while some other assess them according to centers including "Iran's art"," India's art", "Egypt's art" and etc as some select subjects; "Islamic art".

The book is themed on painting, calligraphy, metalwork, pottery, architecture and etc.

My main translating motivation was the Indian's author's attention to the contemporary arts of Islamic world he said and added:" Only few authors and historians consider the Islamic world's contemporary art."

Full report at:

http://www.ibna.ir/vdcezn8zxjh8zei.1kbj.html

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Egypt to stop military trials for civilians once Emergency Law is lifted

6 September 2011

Egypt will halt military trials for civilians once the state of emergency has been lifted, Adel Morsy, the top official at Egypt's military judiciary, said on Monday.

Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) had vowed to abrogate the notorious Emergency Law once the country's security situation improves in a way that guarantees fair presidential elections.

Cancelling the Emergency Law was a key demand of anti-government protesters under Hosni Mubarak’s rule. The SCAF say they are considering cancelling it.

But human rights groups argue that actions speak louder than words and note that thousands of Egyptians have been put before military tribunals in the months since the January uprising. That is more, they say, than during the whole of Mubarak's 29-year rule.

The government counters that the military courts, which under Emergency Law are allowed to try civilians, are now being used only for common criminals who undermined national security during the political unrest.

Egypt's Emergency Law empowers the president or his representative to refer civilians suspected of felonies to a military court.

Morsy claimed on Monday that the military judiciary is currently handling cases of molestation, thuggery, and weapons possession, attributing the referral of such cases to military courts to the circumstances that followed the January uprising.

He said that the number of cases handled by military courts between 28 January and 28 August was 3863, involving 11,879 defendants, of whom 795 were acquitted.

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/492560

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Future uncertain for Al-Qaeda following Arab Spring

06 Sep, 2011

The ability of Al-Qaeda to implement its jihadist ideas in the Arab region following the Arab Spring is shrouded in mystery after both Egyptians and Tunisians managed to bring down their regimes through peaceful revolutions.

In its messages before the breakout of the Arab revolutions, Al-Qaeda emphasized that those Arab regimes that fail to implement Islamic Sharia law must be toppled through the use of violence.

Before the Arab Spring, which started with the Tunisian revolution in late 2010, several Arab countries witnessed attacks by Al-Qaeda. However, after revolutionaries toppled former Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the start of the year, it became essential for Al-Qaeda to justify its jihadist approach as the only vehicle for change in the Arab region.

According to Waheed Abdel Maguid, an expert on Islamist movements at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, the future of Al-Qaeda is dependent on the outcome of ongoing revolutions in Syria and Yemen.

The hostility of Arab institutions toward Al-Qaeda remains unchanged. Joint forces of the Egyptian military and police forces recently launched a wide-scale security campaign in Sinai to eliminate what are believed to be Al-Qaeda cells in the area. North Sinai was a focus of the campaign because police stations and economic facilities have been repeatedly attacked over recent months.

Full report at:

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/492553

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Post-9-11 ‘new normal’ looks much like old

6 September 2011

WASHINGTON: In the crucible of September 11, no one could imagine things would ever be the same again. Seems they pretty much are.

The attacks that spawned two wars and will shout forever from history books are well receded from daily life for most Americans.

Not so for the soldiers who have fought or for those in government who know there will be hell to pay if the nation is ever caught so off guard again.

For the rest?     The ”new normalcy,” as life under threat was called 10 years ago and many times since, is resembling the old one. Airport security shakedowns excepted.

This, after an epoch shaped by fear and fighting, the onset of the Patriot Act and all its new powers and the cobbling together of a homeland security superstructure meant to see over everything and is itself overseen by more than 100 committees in Congress.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, the United States was host to all sorts of un-American activities.

Perpetually bickering politicians hugged. Americans stopped shopping. Lawyers even ceased suing.

Full report at:

http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/05/post-9-11-new-normal-looks-much-like-old.html

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UN chief says ready to help Libya on policing, reform

6 September 2011

AUCKLAND: The United Nations is ready to provide significant assistance to Libya’s new authorities, ranging from police support to drafting a new constitution, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday.

Ban said the first priority in Libya was restoring the rule of law following almost seven months of conflict to oust autocratic leader Moamer Qadhafi after 42 years.

“A lot of people have been killed, (left) homeless. Infrastructure and social planning systems have been destroyed,” Ban said in a speech at Auckland University in New Zealand, where he is attending the Pacific Islands Forum.

“We have to help them to recover… we have to first of all restore the rule of law and public security. We have to protect human rights, we have to provide social planning support and physical infrastructure.”

Ban has already sent special envoy Ian Martin to Libya to asses the situation on the ground ahead of a Security Council meeting Friday which will discuss a wide-ranging mission to Libya.

Full report at:

http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/06/diplomacy-like-a-game-of-rugby-says-un-chief.html

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Americans believe US policies motivated 9/11 attacks: Poll

Sep 6, 2011

WASHINGTON: Americans today are generally more willing to believe that US policies in the Middle East might have motivated the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon, according to a new poll.

Reflecting some important shifts in US public opinion over the past decade, the poll by Pew Research Centre found that the public's views are more evenly divided today in response to the question, "Why do they hate us?"

Today 43 per cent agree with the proposition that the attacks may have been motivated by something "the US did wrong in its dealings with other countries", and 45 per centdisagree. Immediately after the attacks, a majority of respondents (55 per cent) rejected that notion, while only a third agreed.

The shift, however, was mainly confined to self-described Democrats and independents, half of whom now believe US policies may have motivated Al Qaeda.

Full report at:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Americans-believe-US-policies-motivated-

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Turkey Signals More Sanctions Against Israel

6 September 2011

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's prime minister says more sanctions against Israel could follow the expulsion of the Israel's ambassador and suspension of military ties.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that other Israeli diplomats order out of the country have until Wednesday to leave Turkey. Turkey also suspended military deals last week after Israel refused to apologize for the botched Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound protest flotilla that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists last year. Israel has expressed regret for the loss of lives.

Erdogan described the raid as "savagery" and accused Israel of acting like "a spoiled boy" in the region.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/06/world/middleeast/AP-Turkey-

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UN Leader Urges World to Unite and Act on Syria

6 September 2011

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world community on Tuesday to take action on the situation in Syria.

While Ban stopped short of calling for military intervention, he delivered some of his strongest statements yet condemning the violence he says Syrian President Bashar Assad is perpetrating against his people. Ban said it is time for U.N. member nations to unite and take "coherent measures."

Ban, who was in New Zealand attending a meeting of Pacific leaders, told reporters that the aspirations of the Syrian people should be heeded and respected.

He said Assad needs to take "immediate and bold and decisive measures before it's too late." He later amended that to say "It's already too late, in fact. It's already too late. If it takes more and more days, then more people will be killed."

The U.N. puts the death toll in Syria at 2,200 since an uprising began there five months ago.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/06/world/asia/AP-AS-UN-Syria.html?ref=world

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Life in Syria’s Capital Remains Barely Touched by Rebellion

6 September 2011

DAMASCUS, Syria — As protests broke out across a restive Syria on a recent Sunday, and crowds were dispersed yet again by gunfire that left many dead, the conversation in the capital dwelled not on the uprising but rather on nails, along with the choice of polish and hair color and the latest in makeup trends.

“I want either fuchsia or orange to match my dress,” a woman in her 50s said as she rummaged through a box of nail polish in an upscale beauty salon in Damascus. “Either one.”

It does not take long to realize that there is a disconnect between Damascus and the rest of Syria. With a mix of denial and fear, and occasionally even satisfaction at the government’s determination to stanch dissent, many Damascenes insist on another reality.

Sometimes jarring, sometimes reassuring, the detachment appears to have only deepened as the country plunges into some of its starkest international isolation since the Assad family took power in 1970 and as cities fall victim, one by one, to a ferocious crackdown by a government seemingly without direction.

Syria’s uprising has entered its sixth month, and protesters continue to defy the heavy-handed security forces that have, by the United Nations’ count, killed more than 2,200 people since mid-March. Sanctions have mounted, and once-friendly nations have criticized President Bashar al-Assad, urging him to reform and declaring that they have lost patience with his government’s attacks on its own people. Others have called on him to step down.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/world/middleeast/06damascus.html?ref=middleeast&

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Norway Freezes Afghanistan Aid: Report

6 September 2011

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway is blocking payments of 300 million crowns ($55.2 million) in aid to Afghanistan until issues surrounding the collapse of the country's biggest private lender, Kabulbank, are resolved, a Norwegian newspaper said on Tuesday.

Kabulbank collapsed last year with outstanding loans of about $926 million, and was later taken over by Afghanistan's central bank and split into two. The International Monetary Fund and the Afghan government are at loggerheads over how to wind up the bank, recover lost assets and strengthen the sector. The impasse has delayed tens of millions of dollars in aid.

In an interview with Norwegian daily Dagens Naeringsliv, deputy Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the Afghan authorities' failure to provide good governance was one of the biggest problems for Norway in Afghanistan.

"If Afghan authorities and the IMF do not find a solution, we will not go back to business as usual," he said. "We will in that case find other solutions."

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has withheld a scheduled payment of $70 million from the World Bank-administered Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF).

Afghanistan relies on foreign aid for around 90 percent of its spending but many international donors say they are reluctant to channel aid through the country's ministries because of a lack of capacity and corruption.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/09/06/world/europe/international-us-norway-

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Iran Warns Over NATO's Anti-Missile Radar in Turkey

6 September 2011

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's defence minister on Tuesday criticised the pending deployment of a NATO early-warning radar system in Turkey, saying Tehran would not tolerate any aggression against its national interests.

The Turkish and U.S. governments said on Friday the radar system will help spot missile threats coming from outside Europe, including potentially from Iran. The system, provided by the United States, is to become operational later this year.

"The West claims the radar system (in Turkey) is to confront Iranian missiles but they should be aware that we will not tolerate any aggression against our national interests," Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi was quoted by state TV as saying.

Muslim Turkey, with NATO's second biggest military, has become a bigger player in the Middle East emboldened by its booming economy and a more Islamic identity, seeking stronger ties with Muslim countries in the Middle East, like Iran.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/09/06/world/middleeast/international-us-iran-

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Afghans Trying to Retrieve Bodies of German Hikers

6 September 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan police mounted a ground operation Tuesday retrieve the bodies of two Germans found shot to death on a remote mountain after they disappeared while hiking nearly three weeks ago.

Officials had considered using helicopters to bring the bodies out, but helicopters cannot easily fly to the region in the Hindu Kush mountains where the bodies were found, said NATO spokesman Capt. Justin Brockhoff. Instead, police will hike the four hours to the site and carry the bodies down, said Parwan province Police Chief Gen. Sher Ahmad Maladani.

The two men were found Monday with bullet wounds in their chests, their bodies stuffed in cloth sacks, officials said. It was unclear when they died.

A spokesman for the Afghan agriculture ministry said the two men worked for a German development and assistance organization, GIZ. Majeed Qarar, the spokesman, said they were advisers to the agriculture ministry and that they regularly went hiking in the mountains in Parwan.

Full report at:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/06/world/asia/AP-AS-

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Assam witnesses shutdown over Indo-Bangla land swap

6 September 2011

Assam witnessed a nine-hour shutdown on Monday, as taking a rigid stand on the proposed land swap deal with Bangladesh the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and BJP's Bharatiya Yuva Manch jointly called for a bandh.

The bandh, which was supported by the Asom Gana Parishad, partially impacted life

across the state. However, educational institutes were exempted from the purview of the bandh owing to Teachers' Day celebration.

"The move to give away our land to Bangladesh is terrible. We're giving away the land where our soldiers had laid down their lives for the sake of the nation," VHP Assam unit leader Abhijit Deka said.

The influential All Assam Students' Union (AASU) chose not to be a part of the 'right-wing' shutdown but has threatened a statewide movement if the government inks the deal with Bangladesh.

Full report at:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Assam-witnesses-shutdown-over-Indo-Bangla-land-

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Iran offers ‘full supervision’ of nuclear program

6 September 2011

Iran’s nuclear chief proposed to allow the UN nuclear watchdog ‘full supervision’ of its nuclear activities for five years provided that sanctions against Teheran are lifted, but the official did not give details of his offer.

The United Nations has imposed four rounds of Security Council sanctions over Teheran’s refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel or materials for an atomic bomb.

Iran’s nuclear program is already subject to routine IAEA inspections. IAEA cameras monitor Iran’s nuclear activities. including its contentious uranium enrichment sites.

Vice President Fereidoun Abbasi told the semiofficial ISNA news agency, ‘We proposed that the agency keep Iran’s nuclear program and activities under full supervision for five years provided that sanctions against Iran are lifted.’

He didn’t elaborate what he meant by ‘full supervision,’ or how far the International Atomic Energy Agency could go in trying to prevent Teheran’s nuclear program from producing weapons. Iran has always insisted that its program is peaceful, but the IAEA has give successively stronger warnings over the years about potential military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.

Full report at:

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/September/

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'Islam in America' exhibition opens in Mumbai dargah

September 06, 2011

Mumbai, Sep 6 (IANS) US Consul General Peter Haas Tuesday inaugurated a photo and video exhibition on 'Islam in America' at the Haji Ali shrine in south Mumbai.

It is for the first time that such an exhibition is being held at the well-known shrine.

'On my very first visit to Mumbai in March this year, I had just walked in here and looked up the history of the place and then decided to come back,' Haas reminisced.

Haas said it is interesting to know that not only Muslims, but also people from all communities visit this shrine built in the memory of a rich Muslim merchant (Sayyed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari) who gave up all his worldly possessions before making a pilgrimage to Mecca.

After inaugurating the exhibition, Haas said it is necessary for people to understand how strongly integrated the Muslim community is in the US.

'In cities and towns across the United States, Muslim Americans participate in everyday activities with their fellow Americans, while at the same time maintaining the rich heritage of Islamic tradition,' Haas said.

Full report at:

http://www.sify.com/news/Islam-in-America-exhibition-opens-in-Mumbai-dargah-news-

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Salalah and Ibri to get Islamic education schools

September 06, 2011

MUSCAT The Sultan Qaboos Centre for Islamic Culture will open two new schools for Islamic education this year, said HE Habib Bin Mohammed Al Riyami, Secretary- General of Sultan Qaboos Centre for Islamic Culture, on Monday.

Talking to Oman Tribune on the sidelines of the second educational forum for teaching staff and associated jobs, Yahmadi said that these two new schools would be opened in Salalah and Ibri to impart Islamic education. He said that there are already four schools being run by the centre in various parts of the Sultanate.

The three-day forum organised by the Sultan Qaboos Centre for Islamic Culture is being held at the Islamic Sciences Institute from Monday. It is being held under the theme ‘Together for the development of educational performance,’ under the auspices of Habib Al Riyami. Around 130 teachers and management staff of these institutions from across the Sultanate are participating in the forum.

Full report at:

http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=100053&heading=Oman

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Pakistan withdraws cadet accused over shower film

Sep 07 2011

Melbourne : A Pakistani Air Force cadet charged with secretly filming a female cadet in the shower at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) has been withdrawn by the Pakistani government.

"Cadet Obaid Fayyaz has been withdrawn from ADFA on disciplinary grounds," a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) spokesman said in a statement from Islamabad, 'Sydney Morning Herald' daily reported on Tuesday.

"The matter is under investigation in Australia and a decision (on Fayyaz's future) will be undertaken on completion of the proceedings," he added.

Fayyaz had allegedly hid a mobile phone in a vent above the shower.

The female cadet, 21, discovered the phone on August 25, and reported the matter to the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service.

Police later seized a mobile phone, a laptop computer and a USB memory stick.

"Fayyaz has been withdrawn from training, and accommodation has been arranged for him in accordance with bail conditions that stipulate he does not contact or approach (the) female cadet," the PAF spokesman said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pakistan-withdraws-cadet-accused-over-shower-film/842678/

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/no-no-man’s-land-pm/d/5412