Non-Muslims Can Use Allah to Describe Their Gods
New Age Islam News Bureau
4 Jan 2013
Arab World
• Suicide car bomber kills 27 Shia pilgrims in Iraq
• At least 9 killed by Damascus car bomb: Activists
• Can assemble chemical arms: Syrian rebels
• Iraq orders release of 11 female detainees
• Growing Strains for Muslim Brotherhood and Emirates
• Syria jets, troops wage offensive on rebels near capital
• Minister: Saudi-expat marriage ‘uncommon’
• 141 journalists killed in 2012: media watchdog
• King’s SR 10 m timely aid to bolster Gaza health services
• Foreign lawyers won’t help Saudi prisoners, says Iraq
• Saudi Arabia’s ‘golden age of learning’ under King Abdullah
• Madani summarizes his diplomatic and political work in a book
• Hezbollah Chief Urges Lebanon to Help in Syrian Crisis
Pakistan
• Security forces kill 21 militants in Khyber’s Tirah
• Tahir ul Qadri has returned to subvert electoral process: Nawaz
• 70 % of children died of measles in Sindh were not vaccinated
• ‘Truce offer’: PPP proposes jirga for talks with Taliban
• Bahawal Khan to succeed Pakistan militant leader Mullah Nazir
• Pakistani girl Malala discharged from UK hospital
• Pakistan's report on how Osama bin Laden lived undetected out, but not made public
• Polio vaccination program resumes in KP amid tight security
• Suspect involved in Swabi attack killed in exchange of fire
• Cellular service outages: Combating terrorism, one network at a time
• Violence is on the rise in Balochistan: Report
• Punjab Assembly: ‘Try Qadri for treason’
• No ‘good’ or ‘bad Taliban’: defence minister
South Asia
• ‘Jamaat-e-Islami -backed' new party holds rally against Ahmadiyas in Dhaka
• Afghan toys inspire giant ‘dandelion’ anti-mine device
• Insider Attacks in Afghanistan Shape the Late Stages of a War
• Visa row with India solved: Maldives
• Post-2014 troop decision due as Karzai heads to US
• Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan
• Rohingya boat sent back to Myanmar
• 13,000 boat people flee Myanmar, Bangladesh: UN
• Country won't be safe in Khaleda's hands: Hasina
• Save religious minorities at Munshiganj
• Afghan Militants Freed by Government
Africa
• Benghazi’s top cop kidnapped
• Seven Dead in Nigerian Army Clash with Insurgents
• Mali Islamist Group Says Ends Ceasefire with Government
• Contested Abyei risks new Sudan-S.Sudan violence
India
• Does Pakistan Taliban have plans to foment armed revolt in Kashmir?
• J&K Public Service Commission member alleges violation of norms in selection of officers
• Mumbai underworld angle to attack on Geelani in 2005
• Shutdown in Srinagar to protest acid attack on woman
• JKLF offers voluntary arrests against life imprisonment
• Israeli national police feel Mumbai could’ve been over in a few hours
• BJP tries to fulfil Amirul's final wish to persecute the policemen responsible for his death
• Police issues notice to Owaisi to appear for questioning
• Day after India erupts in fury, Javed Miandad cancels visit
• Kamal Hassan’s film faces Tamil Muslim backlash
Mideast Asia
• Iran says talks with big powers to be held in January
• IAEA can't inspect military facility near Tehran, Iran says
• Saudi jets bolster US drone attacks on Yemen: report
• Drone kills three al Qaeda suspects in Yemen
• Troops, settlers attack Palestinians
• Ancient Afghan papers shed light on Jewish life
• Iran safest option for energy supplies: Official
• Ex-Turkish army chief freed pending trial: Report
• Israeli ex-spy chief criticizes PM on Iran: Report
• 21 Iranian intruders arrested
• Abbas's Fatah Holds First Mass Gaza Rally in Years
• Tribal grievances behind Yemen abductions
Europe
• Pakistani al Qaeda suspect extradited from Britain to US
• UN chief seeks Sudan probe after Jordanians freed
North America
• Obama signs $633bn defence bill with Iran sanctions
• Mullah Nazir’s death a ‘major development’: US
• Lawmakers say CIA may have misled filmmakers on Osama bin Laden
• Muslims in Mississippi: Playing a vital role
• US group’s info request over Yemen killings rejected
Southeast Asia
• Non-Muslims Can Use Allah to describe their gods
• Philippine president's fight against church over contraceptives
• Jakarta Planning to Build Sister City Relationship with Jerusalem
• Shariah-Backed Violence Rising in Aceh: Kontras
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
Photo: Suicide car bomber kills 27 Shia pilgrims in Iraq
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/non-muslims-use-allah-describe/d/9879
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Non-Muslims Can Use Allah to describe their gods
04 January 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, — PAS maintains that non-Muslims are allowed to use the word “Allah” to describe their gods, says PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, in a bid to allay fears among the religious minority that the Islamist party may be reversing its president’s stand ahead of polls.
He insisted that the latest polemic over the use of “Allah” by non-Muslims was limited to peninsular Malaysia and was never an issue among Muslims and Christians in Sabah, Sarawak and the Middle East.
“The PAS’ president had issued the statement in 2010 to not forbid any religious adherent apart from Muslims to use the word ‘Allah’.
“PAS maintains that stand,” the 58-year-old told The Malaysian Insider, weighing in on the religious row after the party information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man issued a statement last month seemingly contradicting his president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s previous remarks on the hot-button topic in mainly Muslim Malaysia.
The leader popularly known as Mat Sabu (noted that Abdul Hadi had already spoken out on the matter three years ago, when the debate first raged.
Abdul Hadi, a respected Islamic scholar, had in a statement dated January 7, 2010 said: “In conclusion, we cannot forbid them from using the word ‘Allah’ among themselves, in their worship and practice, even though the meaning deviates from the original according to our language.”
Many Muslim Malaysians, who form 60 per cent of the 28 million population, argue that the Arabic word is a proper noun that refers exclusively to their god despite a December 31, 2009 High Court judgment saying otherwise, and ruled to allow the Catholic Church to publish the word to describe the Christian god in the Malay section of its weekly newspaper, Herald, which caters to its Bahasa Malaysia-reading congregation who mostly hail from Borneo.
The debate over non-Muslim use of the word was again sparked last month when Tuan Ibrahim publicly remarked that the use of the word “Allah” in the Alkitab, the Malay-language translation of the Bible, would not reflect the original text’s meaning.
“PAS’ stand is that the Bahasa Melayu Bible should replace the ‘God’ term with ‘Tuhan’ and not ‘Allah’ to mirror the actual meaning of the original text,” he said in a statement issued just a day after Christmas.
Tuan Ibrahim said both Christians and Muslims could be confused when the word “Allah” is used in the Alkitab.
He was responding to an earlier statement issued by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) ally, Lim Guan Eng, who had raised the controversial “Allah” issue in his Christmas message urging the federal government to lift its ban on the word published in the Malay bibles shipped in to Sabah and Sarawak, who form the bulk of Malaysia’s 9.2 per cent Christian population.
In recent years, the Christian and Muslim religious communities have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the word “Allah”, with the latter group arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim god.
Shipments of the Alkitab, the Malay-language Bible catering to the Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Bumiputera Christians, were blocked or confiscated at ports, before the government finally bowed to pressure and released them in 2011.
A legal tussle over the use of the word “Allah” remains unresolved, with the Catholic Church still barred from publishing the word in its weekly newspaper, despite winning a High Court decision on December 31, 2009.
This is due to the Home Ministry filing an appeal in 2010 against the High Court’s decision, which has since stagnated in the courts as no date has been set for its hearing.
Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said yesterday the PR pact will meet on January 8 to discuss the issue further.
-themalaysianinsider.com
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=46069:mat-sabu-says-it-again-non-muslims-can-use-allah&Itemid=2
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Arab World
Suicide car bomber kills 27 Shia pilgrims in Iraq
Jan 4, 2013
HILLA: A suicide bomber driving a car killed at least 27 Shia Muslims at a bus station in the Iraqi town of Mussayab on Thursday, police and medics said, as they were gathering to return home from a religious rite.
The attack, which also wounded at least 60, underlines sectarian tensions that threaten to further destabilise the country a year after US troops left.
Police said the bomber drove into a busy bus station where pilgrims were catching buses back to Baghdad and the northern provinces after the Arbain rite in the holy city of Kerbala, where thousands make an annual pilgrimage.
Mussayab is 60 km (40 miles) south of the capital Baghdad. "I was getting a sandwich when a very strong explosion rocked the place and the blast threw me away. When I regained my senses and stood up, I saw dozens of bodies," said Ali Sabbar, a pilgrim who witnessed the explosion.
"Many cars were set on fire. I just left the place and didn't even participate in the evacuation of the victims."
Arbain has been a frequent target for militants since the US-led invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, who banned Shia festivals.
A roadside bomb targeting a minibus transporting Shia pilgrims back from Kerbala also wounded 8 people in New Baghdad.
The latest violence followed nearly two weeks of protests against Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by thousands of people from the minority Sunni community in the western province of Anbar, which shares a border with Syria.
The protesters accuse Maliki of being under the sway of non-Arab Shia neighbour Iran and of marginalising Sunnis, who dominated Iraq until the 2003 US-led invasion.
They want Maliki to abolish anti-terrorism laws they say are used to persecute them.
The conflict in neighbouring Syria, where a Sunni majority is fighting to topple government backed by Shia Iran, is also whipping up sectarian sentiment in Iraq and the wider region.
Although violence is far lower than during the sectarian slaughter of 2006-2007, a total of 4,471 civilians died last year in what one rights group described as a "low-level war" with insurgents.
No group claimed responsibility for Thursday's attacks, but Iraq is home to several Sunni insurgent groups including a local branch of al-Qaida, the Islamic State of Iraq, which often targets Shias, seeking to re-ignite sectarian strife.
At least 23 people were killed and 87 wounded in attacks across Iraq on Monday.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Suicide-car-bomber-kills-27-Shia-pilgrims-in-Iraq/articleshow/17877924.cms
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At least 9 killed by Damascus car bomb: Activists
Jan 4, 2013
BEIRUT: A car bomb blew up in a Damascus gas station, killing at least nine people, a Syrian activist group said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll in the blast which took place on Thursday in the capital's Masakin Barzeh neighborhood is expected to rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition.
Syria's state news service also reported the blast but did not give a number of dead or wounded. It said the bomb targeted cars that were lined up to get gas and blamed the attack on "terrorists," the government's shorthand for rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad.
The pro-regime Ikhbariyeh TV station said some 30 civilians were killed or wounded in the blast.
Despite gains in other parts of Syria by rebels seeking to topple Assad, he has largely kept his grip on the capital.
But Damascus has been targeted by a number of large bombings, many of which appear to target government buildings.
Some have been claimed by the jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra, which the US has designated a terrorist organization.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for yesterday's blast.
Masakin Barzeh is a middle-class neighborhood northeast of downtown that is home to many government employees.
The UN says more than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the uprising in March 2011. The conflict has since evolved into a civil war.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/At-least-9-killed-by-Damascus-car-bomb-Activists/articleshow/17880911.cms
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Can assemble chemical arms: Syrian rebels
ATUL ANEJA
Jan 04, 2013
The Syrian opposition has claimed it can counter the government’s chemical arsenal by assembling its own stocks of chemical weapons — an assertion that threatens to further destabilise the region and spur greater internationalisation of the conflict in the Levantine state.
Bassam al-Dada, a political adviser in the anti-government Free Syrian Army (FSA) has told Turkey’s state-run Anatolia news agency that the opposition has the raw materials and know-how to produce chemical weapons.
He warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to threaten the opposition with chemical weapons as “we also possess them”.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/can-assemble-chemical-arms-syrian-rebels/article4269001.ece
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Iraq orders release of 11 female detainees
Protesters chant slogans against Iraq's Shiite-led government in Ramadi. (AP Photo)
3 January 2013
BAGHDAD: Iraqi authorities on Thursday ordered the release of 11 female detainees facing criminal charges and vowed to transfer women prisoners to jails in their home provinces, in a move that addresses one of the main demands of a wave of protests by the country’s Sunni minority against the Shiite-led government.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/iraq-orders-release-11-female-detainees
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Growing Strains for Muslim Brotherhood and Emirates
By KAREEM FAHIM and MAYY EL SHEIKH
January 4, 2013
CAIRO — The Egyptian government on Thursday remained mired in a dispute between the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s leading Islamist movement, and the United Arab Emirates, which this week said that it had arrested several Egyptians accused of forming a Brotherhood cell, stealing state secrets and conspiring with Brotherhood leaders in Egypt.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/world/middleeast/egypt-tries-to-resolve-tensions-
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Syria jets, troops wage offensive on rebels near capital
Jan 4, 2013
DAMASCUS: Syrian regime warplanes and troops on Friday blasted away at rebels close to Damascus, the day after a car bomb in a mainly Alawite northern district of the capital killed at least 11 people, a watchdog said.
Fighter-bombers were hitting Duma, northeast of Damascus, and army artillery was shelling the southwestern Daraya neighbourhood which the rebels have led against regime assaults for weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/04/syria-jets-troops-wage-offensive-on-rebels-near-capital/
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Minister: Saudi-expat marriage ‘uncommon’
4 January 2013
Social Affairs Minister Yousuf Al-Othaimeen said Saudis marrying foreigners has not reached the level of a common phenomenon. He urged Saudi men to marry their women folk because of cultural and traditional bonds.
“Although a number of Saudis have married foreign women according to official statistics, the matter has not become a phenomenon among Saudis,” the minister said while addressing a forum in Madinah.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/minister-saudi-expat-marriage-%E2%80%98uncommon%E2%80%99
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141 journalists killed in 2012: media watchdog
January 03, 2013
Last year was one of the deadliest on record for journalists, with 141 killed in 29 different countries and Syria the most dangerous place on earth for reporters, a media watchdog said on Thursday. The Swiss-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), which fights for the protection of journalists, said the figure was up by 31% on 2011.
Full report at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Europe/141-journalists-killed-in-2012-media-watchdog/Article1-984571.aspx
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King’s SR 10 m timely aid to bolster Gaza health services
4 January 2013
JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday instructed Saudi authorities to supply medicine and medical appliances worth SR 10 million to support hospitals in Gaza, the Saudi Press Agency said.
“Efforts are under way to rush this assistance to our brethren in the Gaza Strip,” said Ahmed Qattan, Saudi ambassador to Egypt and the Kingdom’s permanent representative at the Arab League.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/king%E2%80%99s-sr-10-m-timely-aid-bolster-gaza-health-services
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Foreign lawyers won’t help Saudi prisoners, says Iraq
4 January 2013
RIYADH: Iraqi authorities have indicated that Western lawyers will not cut any ice while representing Saudi detainees in Iraqi jails, saying that Saudi Arabia's appointment of British or American lawyers will face many obstacles in the litigation process and in dealings with the Iraqi regime.
According to a document obtained by a local newspaper issued by the Iraqi Embassy in Riyadh, "the appointment of an attorney to defend Saudi detainees who are in Iraqi jails for many years will not be active and influential in shifting the legal path of the case or influence on the course of its running."
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/foreign-lawyers-won%E2%80%99t-help-saudi-prisoners-says-iraq
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Saudi Arabia’s ‘golden age of learning’ under King Abdullah
4 January 2013
Saudi Arabia is undergoing a “golden age of learning” under the leadership of the visionary King Abdullah, according to the famous medical academic and scientist, Professor Dr. Sultan Ayoub Meo. In an exclusive interview with Abdul Hannan Tago of Arab News, he emphasizes the Saudi government’s massive education spending and predicts the country will become a future global hub for research and science and technology.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98golden-age-learning%E2%80%99-under-king-abdullah
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Madani summarizes his diplomatic and political work in a book
4 January 2013
After the release of his first book a few years ago, "A Diplomat from Tebah — Stations In the Trip of a Lifetime", comes the newly published book from Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar Obaid Madani titled, "Issues & Attitudes in Thought and Politics". This new publication is a continuation of his thoughts on public attitudes during his long diplomatic and political work.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/madani-summarizes-his-diplomatic-and-political-work-book
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Hezbollah Chief Urges Lebanon to Help in Syrian Crisis
By HWAIDA SAAD, ANNE BARNARD and CHRISTINE HAUSER
January 4, 2013
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, openly urged the Lebanese government on Thursday to take a more active role in finding a political solution to the civil war in neighboring Syria and to open its border to refugees to avert further bloodshed.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/world/middleeast/syria-hezbollah-lebanon-Nasrallah-.html?ref=world
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Pakistan
Security forces kill 21 militants in Khyber’s Tirah
January 4, 2013
PESHAWAR: Twenty-one militants were killed and 14 others were injured as security forces attacked insurgent hideouts in the remote Tirah Valley in the Khyber tribal region’s Jamrud Tehsil on Friday, official sources claimed.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/04/security-forces-kill-21-militants-in-khybers-tirah/
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Tahir ul Qadri has returned to subvert electoral process: Nawaz
January 4, 2013
LAHORE: Referring to Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran chief Tahirul Qadri, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that the “Sheikhul Islam” had come to Pakistan to subvert the electoral process and create anarchy in the country. Talking to media after meeting with the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief, Talal Akbar Bugti, on Thursday, the former prime minister said that the threat to hold a long march by Dr Qadri just ten weeks before the general elections appeared to be a conspiracy to create hurdles in the election process.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\01\04\story_4-1-2013_pg1_2
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70 % of children died of measles in Sindh were not vaccinated
January 4, 2013
KARACHI: Measles has killed 210 children in Sindh over the past year, and health officials and experts say further deaths are likely. The health experts said 70 percent of the children who so far died of measles were not vaccinated, reports Integrated Regional Information Network of UN on Thursday.
A World Health Organization (WHO) report handed to the Pakistan government this week, but not made public, says the death toll in 2012 was more than 300 nationwide.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\01\04\story_4-1-2013_pg12_6
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‘Truce offer’: PPP proposes jirga for talks with Taliban
January 4, 2013
SHABQADAR: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) has recommended forming an autonomous jirga for early and meaningful negotiations with the Taliban.
The proposal was made at a PPP convention held in Ghallanai, Mohmand Agency on Thursday.
Talking to The Express Tribune, PPP Fata president and former federal minister Malik Waris Khan Afridi said the government needs to follow the US policy of starting negotiations with the Taliban before they withdraw their troops from Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/488712/truce-offer-ppp-proposes-jirga-for-talks-with-taliban/
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Bahawal Khan to succeed Pakistan militant leader Mullah Nazir
Jan 04, 2013
A successor to Pakistani militant leader Mullah Nazir, who was killed in a US drone strike, has been named.
Bahawal Khan, who also goes by the name Salahuddin Ayubi, has taken command of Nazir's group, officials say.
Mullah Nazir died when two missiles struck his vehicle in the tribal area of South Waziristan on Wednesday.
Full report at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20909841
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Pakistani girl Malala discharged from UK hospital
Jan 4, 2013
LONDON: The Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban as punishment for campaigning for girls' education has been discharged from the British hospital treating her, but will return soon for more surgery, the hospital said Friday.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, said 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai would continue her rehabilitation at her family's temporary English home before undergoing major reconstructive surgery in a few weeks.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistani-girl-Malala-discharged-from-UK-hospital/articleshow/17885247.cms
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Pakistan's report on how Osama bin Laden lived undetected out, but not made public
Jan 4, 2013
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan commission has submitted a report on probe into how Osama bin Laden lived in the country undetected for years until his killing by US special forces, but the report might never be revealed, officials have said.
The judicial commission was appointed 18 months ago, to probe one of the most embarrassing episodes in Pakistani history, but its findings could remain classified.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistans-report-on-how-Osama-bin-Laden-lived-undetected-out-but-not-made-public/articleshow/17882978.cms
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Polio vaccination program resumes in KP amid tight security
January 4, 2013
PESHAWAR: Paramilitary and police support was provided for the health workers, as polio vaccinations were resumed discreetly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after recent attacks on workers, officials said on Friday.
UN agencies suspended work on a nationwide campaign to inoculate children against the highly infectious disease after nine health workers were murdered in a string of attacks in the northwest and Karachi in December.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/04/polio-vaccination-program-resumes-in-kp-amid-tight-security/
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Suspect involved in Swabi attack killed in exchange of fire
January 4, 2013
PESHAWAR: A man alleged to have been involved in the recent killing of seven charity workers in Swabi was killed on Friday in an exchange of fire with security forces, officials said. He was accompanied by an accomplice who managed to escape.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/04/suspect-involved-in-swabi-attack-killed-in-exchange-of-fire/
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Cellular service outages: Combating terrorism, one network at a time
January 4, 2013
KARACHI: Even as the world becomes increasingly reliant on technology to help curb terrorist threats, the Pakistan government continues to suspend mobile telecommunication services as its counterterrorism ‘strategy’ of choice. With the telecom industry choosing to remain quietly compliant and disregarding the IT ministry’s voice of sanity, the government successfully set the nation’s evolutionary clock back by a couple of decades once again on Thursday.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/488744/cellular-service-outages-combating-terrorism-one-network-at-a-time/
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Violence is on the rise in Balochistan: Report
January 3, 2013
ISLAMABAD: The past five years have been difficult for Balochistan according to statistics revealed by the home department. Violence in the province has claimed over 2,100 lives and left 3,845 injured in over 3,232 incidents of bomb blasts and rocket attacks in this period. Amidst rising sectarian strife and targeted killings, the government’s inability to deal with the situation appears more jarring than ever.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/488311/violence-is-on-the-rise-in-balochistan-report/
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Punjab Assembly: ‘Try Qadri for treason’
January 4, 2013
LAHORE: The treasury and the opposition in the Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday to condemn “conspiracies against democracy” and demanded that Dr Tahirul Qadri be arrested and tried for treason.
Full report at:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/488704/punjab-assembly-try-qadri-for-treason/
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No ‘good’ or ‘bad Taliban’: defence minister
Jan 4, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Syed Naveed Qamar on Friday said that there is no such thing as “good or bad Taliban”, and that all those who are terrorists should be eliminated.
Speaking to media representatives in an informal conversation outside the Parliament House, Defence minister Syed Naveed Qamar said that Pakistan has so far released 26 Taliban prisoners.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/04/no-good-or-bad-taliban-defence-minister/
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South Asia
'Jamaat-e-Islami -backed' new party holds rally against Ahmadiyas in Dhaka
January 4, 2013
In a surprise move, the newly formed fanatical Islamist party Tehrik-e-Khatam e Nabuwwat held a rally against Ahmadiyas, a Muslim minority community, in the capital yesterday.
The sudden campaign raised questions about the intentions of the party, which is allegedly linked to Jamaat-e-Islami and was founded 2-3 years back.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=263754
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Afghan toys inspire giant ‘dandelion’ anti-mine device
January 4, 2013
EINDHOVEN: Childhood toys lost in a war-torn field have inspired an odd-looking invention which its young Dutch inventor hopes can help save thousands of lives and limbs in his native Afghanistan.
Decades of war, notably the 1979-89 Soviet invasion, have left the rugged Afghan countryside littered with landmines that continue to exact a merciless toll, mainly on children.
Now, in a small workshop in the industrial heart of the southern city of Eindhoven, 29-year-old Massoud Hassani screws in the last leg of an ingenious, wind-driven gadget he built to clear anti-personnel mines. He calls the device, the size of a golf buggy, a “mine kafon”.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/04/afghan-toys-inspire-giant-dandelion-anti-mine-device/
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Insider Attacks in Afghanistan Shape the Late Stages of a War
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
January 4, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan — It was only after the young Afghan soldier’s hatred of Americans had grown murderous that he reached out to the Taliban.
The soldier, named simply Mahmood, 22, said that in May he told the insurgents of his plan to shoot Americans the next time they visited the outpost where he was based in northeastern Afghanistan. He asked the Taliban to take him in if he escaped.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/world/asia/afghan-soldiers-journey-from-friend-to-killer-of-americans.html?hp
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Visa row with India solved: Maldives
Jan 4, 2013
NEW DELHI: With India refusing to relent over the medical visa issue, a chastened Maldivian government said in a statement on Thursday that it has resolved the issue by introducing a new SMS service which will allow its foreign ministry to facilitate medical visa processing by the Indian High Commission. New Delhi had last month disallowed Maldivians to use visa-on-arrival facility for seeking medical treatment in India forcing protests in Male outside Maldives foreign ministry.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Visa-row-with-India-solved-Maldives/articleshow/17879555.cms
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Post-2014 troop decision due as Karzai heads to US
January 4, 2013
KABUL: A key decision on how many US troops will stay on in Afghanistan after 2014 could be made next week at talks between President Barack Obama and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai in Washington, officials say.
With Nato’s combat mission due to end next year, the number of US troops left behind is seen as crucial to the chances of thwarting Al Qaeda militants and heading off the threat of civil war waged by a resurgent Taliban.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/04/post-2014-troop-decision-due-as-karzai-heads-to-us/
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Danish soldier killed in Afghanistan
January 4, 2013
COPENHAGEN: A Danish soldier was killed by an explosive device while on patrol in southern Afghanistan, the Danish defence ministry said on Thursday. “A Danish soldier from Task Force 7 lost his life on the night between Wednesday and Thursday in the Helmand province of Afghanistan during a patrol with Afghan security forces,” it said in a statement. The incident took place in the west of the volatile province, near the town of Gereshk.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\01\04\story_4-1-2013_pg7_10
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Rohingya boat sent back to Myanmar
4 January 2013
BANGKOK: Thailand has deported dozens of Rohingya boat people back to Myanmar, an official said yesterday, despite a UN appeal to accept members of the Muslim minority fleeing sectarian bloodshed.
The 73 Rohingya, including 15 women, were sent back across the border on Wednesday after landing on the southern island of Phuket, said Ditthaporn Sasasmit, a spokesman for the kingdom’s Internal Security Operation Command.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/rohingya-boat-sent-back-myanmar
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13,000 boat people flee Myanmar, Bangladesh: UN
Jan 4, 2013
YANGON: About 13,000 boat people, including many stateless Rohingya Muslims, fled Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh in 2012 with hundreds dying during the perilous sea voyage, the UN said on Friday.
A wave of deadly sectarian violence in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine has triggered an exodus of refugees, mostly heading for Malaysia.
"We know of at least 485 people who've drowned or are lost at sea," said Vivian Tan, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, adding the real death toll was probably far higher.
"These numbers are very worrying," Tan said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/13000-boat-people-flee-Myanmar-Bangladesh-UN/articleshow/17887000.cms
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Country won't be safe in Khaleda's hands: Hasina
January 4, 2013
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the country will never be safe in the hands of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia as she is surrounded by anti-liberation forces.
Terming the forces as poisonous snakes, she said, "Khaleda Zia plays with snakes. She is roaming with snakes over her head who had killed intellectuals, oppressed women and carried out massacres during the country's Liberation War."
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=263753
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Save religious minorities at Munshiganj
January 4, 2013
The High Court yesterday directed the government to provide security and protection to the religious minority people at Gopalnagar under Mirkadim pourasava in Munshiganj till further order.
The court passed the order following a writ petition, filed by a local journalist Sunil Chandra Dey, which claimed that Mirkadim pourasava Mayor Shahidul Islam Shahin and his loyal people have evicted 18 families of the Hindu at Gopalnagar from their homes on December 1 last year.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=263760
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Afghan Militants Freed by Government
January 4, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Some 250 prisoners formerly held by the U.S. have been released by Afghan authorities in hopes that this will lead to reconciliation in the 11-year conflict, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday.
Police Maj. Jalal Uddin said that 80 were freed from prisons across the country that day, the latest batch of a total of 400 to be released this week. The released prisoners had been captured in operations against the Taliban and other groups.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/01/04/world/asia/ap-as-
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Africa
Benghazi’s top cop kidnapped
4 January 2013
BENGHAZI: The acting head of the criminal investigations department in Libya’s second city Benghazi has been kidnapped at gunpoint, officials told AFP yesterday.
“Abdelsalam Al-Mahdawi was kidnapped late Wednesday when travelling from his farm to the criminal investigations department,” a security official told AFP.
“Bearded men stopped him at a traffic light on Venezia Street and kidnapped him at gunpoint,” the official said on condition of anonymity, recalling that the police chief had been abducted before.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/benghazi%E2%80%99s-top-cop-kidnapped-0
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Seven Dead in Nigerian Army Clash With Insurgents
January 4, 2013
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Seven people were killed during an insurgent attack on government soldiers in northeast Nigeria, where security forces are fighting Islamist militants, the army said on Friday.
At least 44 people have been killed in this restive region of Africa's top oil producer over the last two weeks in clashes between fighters suspected of belonging to Islamist sect Boko Haram and security forces.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/01/04/world/africa/04reuters-nigeria-
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Mali Islamist Group Says Ends Ceasefire With Government
January 4, 2013
DAKAR (Reuters) - Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine said it has suspended a ceasefire it agreed with Mali's government last month, accusing Bamako of making a mockery of peace talks by gearing up for war.
Ansar Dine is one of the main armed groups controlling northern Mali's vast desert since a rebellion in April that Western and regional powers fear could provide a haven for Islamist radicals to plot international attacks.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/01/04/world/africa/04reuters-mali-crisis-
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Contested Abyei risks new Sudan-S.Sudan violence
3 January 2013
ABYEI: Straddling the volatile border between former civil war foes Sudan and South Sudan, the baking scrubland and crumbling buildings of Abyei do not look like many would die for the land.
Yet the contested region, a Lebanon-sized area claimed by both sides and ravaged by repeated rounds of conflict, is one of the most contentious issues outstanding since South Sudan won independence from Khartoum in July 2011.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/contested-abyei-risks-new-sudan-ssudan-violence
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India
Does Pakistan Taliban have plans to foment armed revolt in Kashmir?
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
Jan 04, 2013
Separatist leader Mir Waiz Umar Farooque was recently was in Pakistan with a delegation. He said that in Pakistan he got the feeling that if Pakistan and India did not reach an understanding on Kashmir before 2014, there may be an armed insurgency in Indian Kashmir. Mir Waiz who is in favour of bilateral talks with India and Pakistan on Kashmir issue reportedly said to a news website, that it is obvious that the US would leave Afghanistan after preparing a network for peace and after that only Kashmir will be left as a battlefield (for Taliban). If the anger among the people of Kashmir persisted and the army remained present, then the Taliban and other extremist forces may enter Kashmir and this armed insurgency may engulf India as it did Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Mir Waiz criticised the Indian government for not being serious on the issue and said that it has adopted only a wait and watch policy. He also criticised the leaders of Kashmir for only demanding amendments to the powers of the army and said that it was only a small step. Apparently Mir Waiz wants India to take some bold steps to solve the insurgency problem in Kashmir and hints at total withdrawal of army from Kashmir by saying that the amendment of powers of army in Kashmir (removing ASFPA) is a small step. He warned that if something concrete was not done to solve the Kashmir issue in the coming one and a half year, Kashmir might witness an armed insurgency probably aided by Taliban and in that situation the voice of the local leaders like him will also not be heard.
Asked what conclusions he reached after meeting the leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahedeen in Pakistan, he said that the militant leadership was watching the developments closely and if New Delhi showed some flexibility in its attitude, they might also reciprocate.
More importantly, Mir Waiz disclosed that some political parties of Pakistan were in contact with China and a delegation of Hurriyat Conference was going to China in near future. He also made the allegation that by arresting innocent Muslim youth of Kashmir and torturing them, the police and the army are pushing them towards violence. Though he admitted that in modern time, armed insurgency had no place and importance, but also asserted that if the democratic process is blocked for the Kashmiri youth, they will be compelled to take resort to violence. Asked if in case Taliban entered Kashmir, will the Hurriyat Conference side with the Taliban, he said that when they come and dominate the scene, then all the peace-loving sections will be pushed to the corner and then it will not be important whether we support them or not. It will be the biggest challenge for India. He also said that at present Pakistan does not have Kashmir on its priority list due to internal problems but it cannot leave it aside for good.
Mir Waiz’s statements give an indication of the Pakistani policy on Kashmir in near future. The low morale of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan have boosted the morale of the Taliban and the withdrawal of US from Afghanistan will be seen by them as a success in ‘liberating’ Afghanistan. That’s why the Taliban along with Pakistan seem to have chalked out a joint plan to ‘liberate’ Kashmir. Some political leaders may be mediating with China for the Taliban for required support in their planned operations in Kashmir. The coming months will be critical from the point of view of India and it has to take a conciliatory steps with the political leadership of the state and mobilising the popular support in favour of India by decreasing tensions between the army and the people of Kashmir and at the same India has to take a tough stand vis-à-vis Pakistan.
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J&K Public Service Commission member alleges violation of norms in selection of officers
AHMED ALI FAYYAZ
Jan 04, 2013
“Result notification issued on November 16 without mandatory approval”
Days before his retirement on Thursday, one of the four members of the Jammu & Kashmir Public Service Commission [PSC] complained to Governor Narendar Nath Vohra that rules and regulations were being flouted with impunity in the selection of gazetted officers for different civil and judicial services in the State.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jk-public-service-commission-member-alleges-violation-of-norms-in-selection-of-officers/article4270132.ece
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Mumbai underworld angle to attack on Geelani in 2005
Jan 3, 2013
NEW DELHI: There was also a Mumbai underworld angle involving gangster Chhota Rajan aides to the shooting at S A R Geelani before the Samjhauta Express accused Rajender Chaudhary allegedly confessed to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that it was the handiwork of Hindu fanatics. The underworld angle, revealed to Mumbai Crime Branch in 2005 itself, was, however, never explored further.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mumbai-underworld-angle-to-attack-on-Geelani-in-2005/articleshow/17876735.cms
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Shutdown in Srinagar to protest acid attack on woman
Jan 4, 2013
SRINAGAR: The commercial hub of Lal Chowk and adjoining areas on Friday observed a two-hour shutdown against the acid attack on a woman here earlier this week.
All the shops and other commercial establishments in Lal Chowk and surrounding areas downed their shutters from noon as a mark of protest against the acid attack on the 30-year-old woman in Parraypora area of the city on Wednesday.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Shutdown-in-Srinagar-to-protest-acid-attack-on-woman/articleshow/17885366.cms
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JKLF offers voluntary arrests against life imprisonment
Jan 4, 2013
SRINAGAR: With around fifty persons offering themselves for voluntary arrests, JKLF on Friday started a five-phase protest programme against "harsh" punishments that various trial courts awarded to some erstwhile militants. Yasin Malik personally led the campaign and was arrested.
Full report at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/jklf-offers-voluntary-arrests-against-life-imprisonment/articleshow/17887697.cms
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Israeli national police feel Mumbai could’ve been over in a few hours
Jan 04 2013
New Delhi : “We are not trying to boast but if something like the Mumbai attacks had happened here, it would have been over in a few hours,” says Nicky Rosenfeld, spokesperson for the Israeli national police, about the 2008 terrorist strikes that had continued for more than 60 hours before the 10 terrorists had been killed or overpowered.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/they-police-old-jerusalem-feel-could-ve-handled-mumbai-too/1054165/
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BJP tries to fulfil Amirul's final wish to persecute the policemen responsible for his death
Jan 04 2013
Kolkata: Taking a cue from what the Trinamool Congress did after the murder of computer graphics trainer Rizwanur Rahman, the BJP has been quick to take up the death of 33-year-old Mir Amirul Islam, who committed suicide alleging police atrocities after he came out in support of a rape victim.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/equating-with-rizwanur-bjp-tries-to-fulfil-amiruls-final-wish-to-per.../1054350/
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Day after India erupts in fury, Javed Miandad cancels visit
Jan 04 2013
New Delhi : A day after Indian politicians across party lines and the public objected to iconic Pakistani cricketer getting a visa to visit India for the cricketing series here, the former cricketer has canceled his visit.
It is as yet unclear whether the Indian govt actually asked him to drop the visit or whether Javed took it unilaterally - sources say the PCB may have had a word with the former cricketer.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/day-after-india-erupts-in-fury-javed-miandad-cancels-visit/1054543/
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Kamal Hassan’s film faces Tamil Muslim backlash
By Mail Today Bureau in Chennai
Jan 04, 2013
KAMAL Hassan, who is already grappling with the boycott threat of exhibitors and distributors over the DTH premiere of his upcoming film Vishwaroopam ahead of a theatre release, faces a fresh headache.
Islamic organisations in Tamil Nadu have turned their ire against the film, expressing an apprehension that it has anti- Muslim bias. They have demanded that the film be shown to community representatives to remove any misgiving prior to its scheduled release on January 11.
Full report at: Mail Today
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Mideast Asia
Iran says talks with big powers to be held in January
Jan 04 2013
New Delhi : Iran has agreed to hold talks with six major powers about its atomic programme in January but the date and venue has yet to be decided, the country's top nuclear negotiator said on Friday.
The six powers want to rein in Iran's uranium enrichment programme to ensure it is geared only for civilian energy, through a mix of diplomacy and sanctions. Iran denies Western assertions it is seeking nuclear weapons capability.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/iran-says-talks-with-big-powers-to-be-held-in-january/1054493/
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IAEA can't inspect military facility near Tehran, Iran says
Jan 4, 2013
NEW DELHI: Iran Friday suggested that it is not going to allow IAEA to inspect the military facility near Tehran, Parchin, anytime soon. Its chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who is visiting India, said that Iran was already working to strengthen not just the nuclear watchdog but also NPT.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IAEA-cant-inspect-military-facility-near-Tehran-Iran-says/articleshow/17883869.cms
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Saudi jets bolster US drone attacks on Yemen: report
January 4, 2013
LONDON: Saudi Arabia has provided fighter jets to assist the United States with its drone strikes against al Qaeda targets in Yemen, the London Times reported on Friday.
US drones are backing Yemeni forces combating militants of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
The group’s Yemen branch is considered by Washington to be the most active and deadliest franchise of the global jihadist network.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/04/saudi-jets-bolster-us-drone-attacks-on-yemen-report/
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Drone kills three al Qaeda suspects in Yemen
January 4, 2013
SANAA: At least three suspected al Qaeda militants including a local commander were killed on Thursday in Yemen by a strike from an unmanned aircraft, residents and a local official said.
The attack in Redaa, in the southern al-Bayda province was the fifth by a pilotless plane in the space of 10 days in the impoverished country, where the United States has stepped up drone strikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\01\04\story_4-1-2013_pg7_1
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Troops, settlers attack Palestinians
4 January 2013
NABLUS: At least two Palestinians were wounded yesterday in clashes with Israeli forces in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian and Israeli sources told AFP.
Palestinian security sources said clashes erupted after Israeli forces entered Jenin’s industrial zone and left two people injured — a woman who was bitten by a dog and a young man who was shot in the leg.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/troops-settlers-attack-palestinians
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Ancient Afghan papers shed light on Jewish life
4 January 2013
JERUSALEM: A cache of 1,000-year-old documents written by the Jewish community in Afghanistan and unveiled in Jerusalem on Thursday sheds unprecedented light on the medieval Jewish community in central Asia.
“This is the first time we have a large collection of documents representing the culture of the Jews who lived there” at the beginning of the 11th century, said academic director of the National Library of Israel, Professor Haggai Ben-Shammai.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/ancient-afghan-papers-shed-light-jewish-life
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Iran safest option for energy supplies: Official
Jan 04, 2013
Seeking closer economic ties, Iran posited itself as an attractive transit destination to other countries and a net provider of energy security during a press conference by high level Iranian official Saeed Jalili who is being spoken as a Presidential candidate to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his completion of two terms in office.
India has been deeply interested in using Iranian territory as transit route into Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe. But Mr. Jalili’s stress was more on energy security despite stalled talks on Indian equity participation in Farzad gas field and a gas pipeline to run through Pakistan.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/iran-safest-option-for-energy-supplies-official/article4272707.ece
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Ex-Turkish army chief freed pending trial: Report
Jan 4, 2013
ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey's state television says the country's former military chief has been released from custody pending trial over his role in the ousting of a pro-Islamic government in the 1990s.
TRT television says Friday a court freed Gen Ismail Hakki Karadayi after he was questioned by prosecutors over his alleged role in forcing the resignation in 1997 of former PM Necmettin Erbakan. No trial date has been set.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Ex-Turkish-army-chief-freed-pending-trial-Report/articleshow/17885037.cms
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Israeli ex-spy chief criticizes PM on Iran: Report
Jan 4, 2013
JERUSALEM: A recently retired Israeli spy chief says PM Benjamin Netanyahu acted irresponsibly regarding Iran's nuclear program and accuses him of prioritizing personal concerns over national interests.
Yuval Diskin, chief of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency from 2005 to 2011, has voiced similar criticisms before.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israeli-ex-spy-chief-criticizes-PM-on-Iran-Report/articleshow/17883868.cms
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21 Iranian intruders arrested
4 January 2013
DAMMAM: Alert members of the Saudi Coast Guard foiled an attempt of a group of Iranians to enter the Kingdom. They arrested 21 Iranian nationals on Wednesday who were trying to sneak into Saudi Arabia on two separate boats.
Khaled Al-Arqubi, a spokesman for the Coast Guard Command in the Eastern Province, told Arab News yesterday that the naval patrol intercepted two Iranian boats in the Saudi territorial waters near an island called Harqous, located about 42 miles off Al-Khafji coast.
“One boat had 12 people, while the other one was carrying nine people. All of them are Iranian nationals,” said Al-Arqubi. “We did not find any weapons on them, but the investigations are on, and they are being interrogated,” he added.
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/21-iranian-intruders-arrested
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Abbas's Fatah Holds First Mass Gaza Rally in Years
January 4, 2013
GAZA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians joined a rare rally staged by President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group in Gaza on Friday, as tensions ease with rival Hamas Islamists ruling the enclave since 2007.
A long hiatus in peace talks between Abbas's administration and Israel has narrowed ideological differences between the two main Palestinian factions. Solidarity has deepened since Israel's Gaza assault in November, in which Hamas, though battered, declared victory against the Jewish state.
Full report at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/01/04/world/middleeast/04reuters-palestinians-gaza-rally.html?ref=middleeast&gwh=427AB850F8A16255760028C9A16E141B
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Tribal grievances behind Yemen abductions
4 January 2013
SANAA: Tribal grievances, not Al-Qaeda inspired militancy, are behind the abduction of two Finns and an Austrian in Yemen nearly two weeks ago, security and tribal sources said yesterday.
“It has been confirmed that the hostages were kidnapped by tribesmen and are in the region of Khawlan,” a mountainous area 80 km southeast of Sanaa, a security official said.
“The kidnappers are demanding compensation for land that was seized in Sanaa,” said the official, without giving further details.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/tribal-grievances-behind-yemen-abductions
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Europe
Pakistani al Qaeda suspect extradited from Britain to US
January 4, 2013
LONDON: A suspected Pakistani al Qaeda operative accused of planning attacks in the United States, Britain and Norway was on Thursday extradited to the US, the interior ministry in London announced.
“We can confirm that today, January 3, Abid Naseer was extradited to America where he is accused of terrorism offences. His case is now a matter for the US authorities,” a statement from the Home Office said.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/03/pakistani-al-qaeda-suspect-extradited-from-britain-to-us/
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UN chief seeks Sudan probe after Jordanians freed
3 January 2013
NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Sudan to probe the abduction of two Jordanian peacekeepers from strife-ridden Darfur, who were finally released Wednesday after 136 days in captivity.
Ban commended “the efforts of UNAMID (the UN-African Union peacekeeping force), the government of Sudan and the government of Jordan in securing the release” of the two police unit officers.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/un-chief-seeks-sudan-probe-after-jordanians-freed
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North America
Obama signs $633bn defence bill with Iran sanctions
Jan 3, 2013
HONOLULU: President Barack Obama signed a $633 billion defence bill that tightens penalties on Iran and strengthens security at diplomatic missions worldwide, despite serious concerns about the limits Congress imposed on his handling of terror suspects.
In a statement, the president took issue with restrictions on his authority to transfer terror suspects from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the US or other countries. He also said the bill limits the military's authority to transfer third-country nationals being held at a detention facility in Parwan, Afghanistan.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Obama-signs-633bn-defence-bill-with-Iran-sanctions/articleshow/17876223.cms
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Mullah Nazir’s death a ‘major development’: US
January 4, 2013
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon welcomed reports Thursday that a prominent Pakistani warlord was killed in a drone strike, saying his death would represent a “major development.”
Local officials in Pakistan said Mullah Nazir, the main militant commander in South Waziristan, was taken out when an unmanned US aircraft fired two missiles at his vehicle.
Full report at:
http://dawn.com/2013/01/04/mullah-nazirs-death-a-major-development-us/
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Lawmakers say CIA may have misled filmmakers on Osama bin Laden film 'Zero Dark Thirty'
Jan 04 2013
Washington : Lawmakers are accusing the CIA of misleading the makers of the Osama bin Laden raid film, "Zero Dark Thirty," by telling them that harsh interrogation methods helped track down the terrorist mastermind.
The film shows waterboarding and similar techniques as important to finding bin Laden in Pakistan, where he was killed by Navy SEALs.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/lawmakers-say-cia-may-have-misled-filmmakers-on-osama-bin-laden-film-.../1054441/
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Muslims in Mississippi: Playing a vital role
4 January 2013
THE US State of Mississippi has an area of 125,443 square kilometers with a total population of 3 million. Jackson is the capital city of Mississippi, where Muslims are playing a vital role in the development of the state. They cover all spectrum of the society. You would find Muslims as university professors, medical doctors, state employees, students, etc. Spread all around the state, Muslims in Mississippi mainly consist of two categories: African American Muslims and Immigrant Muslims. The former category consists of the African Americans who converted to Islam in the beginning; or, their descendants followed the faith following the guidance of Imam Warith Deen Muhammad (1933-2008).
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/muslims-mississippi-playing-vital-role
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US group’s info request over Yemen killings rejected
January 4, 2013
NEW YORK: A New York court threw out a freedom of information request from the American Civil Liberties Union seeking guidance on the grounds for the killing of three US citizens in Yemen in 2011. The trio - including al Qaeda allied preacher Anwar al-Awlaqi - perished at the sharp end of controversial US drone strikes, triggering a row over the American government’s legal grounds for killing them. The ACLU had sought official records about the targeted killing of the three men. But the Southern District of New York court said much of the freedom of information request had been “overbroad,” and was rightly withheld.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013\01\04\story_4-1-2013_pg7_2
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Southeast Asia
Philippine president's fight against church over contraceptives
Jan 04 2013
Manila : Twenty-six years after Roman Catholic leaders helped his mother marshal millions of Filipinos in an uprising that ousted a dictator, President Benigno Aquino III picked a fight with the church over contraceptives and won a victory that bared the bishops' worst nightmare: They no longer sway the masses.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/philippine-presidents-fight-against-church-over-contraceptives/1054448/
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Jakarta Planning to Build Sister City Relationship with Jerusalem
Lenny Tristia Tambun | January 03, 2013
In a symbolic gesture of camaraderie, the Jakarta administration announced on Thursday that it plans to form a sister city partnership with Jerusalem in the near future.
Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said that his government will solidify the partnership plan in various areas, though it will mainly focus on staff exchange between Jakarta and Jerusalem.
“I met with the Palestinian Ambassador, [since] we have a partnership with Palestine. We want to speak more concretely about what will be implemented soon,” Joko said at City Hall on Thursday.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/jakarta-planning-to-build-sister-city-relationship-with-jerusalem/564479
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Shariah-Backed Violence Rising in Aceh: Kontras
Nurdin Hasan | January 04, 2013
Banda Aceh. The number of incidents of violence as a result of Shariah law in Aceh increased in 2012 from a year earlier, a rights group noted on Thursday.
Destika Gilang Lestari, the provincial coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said at a press conference that the total number of cases of Shariah-linked violence last year was 50, up from 47 in 2011.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/shariah-backed-violence-rising-in-aceh-kontras/564509
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