Now, 'Chotoo' of Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility for Delhi terror blast
Iran hangs 3 men for homosexuality
Missiles go missing from Gaddafi’s arms depot
HC blast: 2nd email threatens strike at mall on Tuesday
Delhi blast: Deathly silence after frantic search
Delhi blast: Body heals, but mind still scarred
HuJI has close ties with anti-India terror groups
Is this real: New audio tapes reveal horror of terror strikes
Delhi HC blast: After HuJI, IM sends 'We did it' mail to media
NIA announces Rs. 5 lakh reward for info on Delhi blast, massive man-hunt in Kishtwar
US Official: 'India-Pakistan peace talks crucial to security of the region'
Republican Lawmaker: Obama urged to wield UN veto against Palestinians
Israel asks India to help in reducing poverty in Middle East
I'm committed to signing Teesta deal: PM Manmohan Singh
Indian PM Manmohan Singh pays tributes to Bangabandhu
French President writes to PM; terms Delhi blast 'heinous' act
US knew of ISI tie-up with Tiger Memon: WikiLeaks
9/11 anniversary casts shadow for US Muslims
Kabul: 2 NATO troops, 5 Afghan soldiers killed
Heavy gunfire in Syria; 11 killed
Pakistan: Youth teases girl, angry father shoots his parents
Bangladesh: Army probe wanted to quiz Hasina
Obama wants to keep 3,000-5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq into 2012
At least 30,000 died in Libyan civil war
Libya's new rulers should control arms: US
Cash-strapped Gaddafi sold gold to pay salaries
Fugitive Gadhafi denies rumor he fled Libya, rallies loyalists to fight in new audio message
Gaddafi cornered, will be captured or killed: Rebels
Gaddafi’s chemical weapons spark renewed worries
WikiLeaks: UK pressed Zardari to send Pasha to India but Pak army vetoed
A Secret US Cable: Envoy feared Mirwaiz killing, Said ‘won’t be tolerated’
Delhi blast: Terror email was written in haste
Final hearing of 1993 Mumbai blast cases from November 1
New Ground Zero rises from rubble of 9/11
Afghan government rejects UN torture allegations
UN chief condemns Delhi bomb blast
Taliban plans to kidnap officials for Osama's kin
Israel rejects Turkish claims of 'disloyalty'
Israel air strike on Gaza kills one: Medics
Six Yemen troops killed in clash with militants
Somali pirates release Danish family
Al-Jazeera calls on Israel to free journalist
Delhi blast: Nizami denied bail in arms haul case
Iranian President: 'Criticism, key to win in culture war'
Rape case involving foreign workers turns focus to Jordan’s factory problems
US urges end to Sudan fighting, warns Khartoum
Kenyan pastoralist clashes kill seven-officials
Ethiopia charges Swedish journalists with terror
Palestinians officially launch UN statehood campaign
Muslim leaders Yahya Hendi combat stereotypes with education, openess
Video shows terrorists in China got training in Pak bases
Turkistan Islamic Party claims western China attacks
German police hold two men over possible bomb attack
Iran criticises Turkey over NATO missile shield
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Now, 'Chotoo' of Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility for Delhi terror blast
Sep 9, 2011
NEW DELHI: Another email was received by media houses in Mumbai and Delhi purportedly written by "Chotoo" of Indian Mujahideen who claimed responsibility for the Delhi high court blasts and warned that another blast will take place at a shopping mall.
The mail sent from "chotoominani5@gmail.com" was received at 12:37 pm claiming that Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) had no role to play in the blasts and it was done by the Indian Mujahideen.
The mail also reasoned that they had chosen Wednesday as the day of the blast as it was a busy day for the high court. The Delhi high court hears Public Interest Litigation on Wednesday.
The mail claimed that another blast will take place at a shopping mall.
"We are examining the email received by the media houses..about its authenticity and veracity and (we are) taking it seriously," said Secretary (Internal Security) in the home ministry U K Bansal.
Security agencies including National Investigation Agency (NIA) are looking into the mail but serious apprehensions were being raised whether this was a genuine mail or a mischief.
Sources said as of now nothing was being left to chance and the origin of the mail was being ascertained and, if need be, the service provider Google would also be contacted.
However, the mail does not resemble the earlier mails sent by Indian Mujahdieen which claimed responsibilities for blasts in Varanasi and Delhi.
The fresh mail comes a day after Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islami (HuJI) claimed responsibility for the blast which killed at least 12 people and injured over 70, according to email sent to some media houses purportedly by the Bangladesh-based terror group.
"We own the responsibility of today's blast at the Delhi high court. Our demand is that Afzal Guru's death sentence should be repealed immediately as we would target major high courts and the Supreme Court of India," the HuJI email said.
Meanwhile, in New Delhi, the central government handed over the May 25 high court blast case to the NIA as well.
Home secretary U K Bansal said, "The Anti Terror Squad (ATS) teams from neighbouring states are to come to Delhi tonight." The director general NIA is to discuss the case, the home secretary added.
Intelligence and security agencies have stepped up their search for a recently regrouped pack of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) members after the Delhi High Court blast on Wednesday.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Now-Chotoo-of-Indian-Mujahideen-claims-
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Iran hangs 3 men for homosexuality
Jerome Taylor
Sep 9, 2011
I rans judiciary has executed three men for sodomy in a case that sheds new light on the official persecution of gay men and women in the authoritarian Islamic Republic,which has claimed that homosexuality does not exist.
According to a report in the Iranian Student News Agency,the men were put to death by hanging on Sunday at Karoun prison in the south western city of Ahvaz.
In an unusual announcement,the prosecutors office said three men had been sentenced for lavat,sodomy as per Islamic law.
The statement is at odds with the insistence by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,the Iranian President,that homosexuality does not exist inside Iran.In 2007 he dodged a question from students during a visit to Colombia University by saying: In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country.
Human rights groups have said the case is significant because gay men in Iran are usually charged with acts such as sexual assault and rape crimes that convey an element of coercion rather than consent.
Times of India
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Missiles go missing from Gaddafis arms depot
Kim Sengupta
Sep 9, 2011
Tripoli: The long metal crates strewn on the grounds of the warehouse were empty.Hundreds of surfaceto-air missiles,craved by terrorist groups and rogue states,had disappeared in the past few days,looted from one of Libyas overflowing arms dumps.
Among the missiles taken away were Russian-built SA-24 s,designed for use against modern warplanes,which the US had been attempting to block from falling into Iranian hands,and the older SA-7 s and 9s,capable of bringing down commercial airliners,which the al-Qaida has been striving to obtain.
As Libyas bloody civil war reaches its conclusion,myriad bunkers and barracks containing the regimes weaponry,from Kalashnikovs to missiles,armoured cars and tanks,have been left unguarded,many to be stripped bare by militia fighters and the public,by families arriving with their children.
The numbers involved are far larger than the caches that armed the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And in Libya there is even less security to guard these.
Unlike those two fronts of the war on terror there are no foreign troops present in Libya,and the opposition forming the new government have their resources tied up attempting to subdue the remaining loyalist strongholds and repairing infrastructure to safeguard the arsenals.
The ransacking of the depots containing missiles have set alarms ringing among security agencies in American and Europe.
The SA-24 Grinch surface-to-air missile,which is also known as the Igla-S,targets fighter-bombers,helicopter gunshipssuch as Apaches and even Cruise missiles,and can strike at as high as 11,000ft.
Peter Bouckaert,emergencies director for Human Rights Watch,charting arms depots,said,The problem is pretty huge,there are around 20,000 surface-to-air missiles in Libya and a hell of a lot of them are missing.This lot can turn the whole of North Africa into a no-fly zone.
Times of India
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HC blast: 2nd email threatens strike at mall on Tuesday
Sep 09 2011
Jammu, New Delhi : The National Investigation Agency probing the Delhi High Court blast, in which the death toll climbed to 13 tonight, was groping for leads. It announced a Rs 5-lakh award for any information, detained five people in Jammu and was flummoxed by a second email which denied the first one and threatened to strike a shopping mall on Tuesday.
Investigators tracked the first email which had claimed responsibility — it was sent three hours after the blast from from harkatuljihadi2011@gmail.com — to a cybercafe in Kishtwar town in Jammu district.
Those detained in Kishtwar were identified as: Khwaja Mehmood Aziz, the owner of the cyber cafe, Global Internet; his brother Khalid Aziz; their employee Ashwani Kumar; and two college students Imran Hussain Sheikh of Upper Malitath and Ashiq Hussain from Khandkoot in Doda.
The two students were reportedly among those who visted the cybercafe yesterday afternoon after the blast.
The cybercafe has been sealed and the computer used for sending the e-mail seized.
Located in Malik Market near Shaheedi Chowk, Global Internet cafe is frequented mostly by school and college students as it’s near many educational institutions and private coaching centres. While the owners would usually sit at the mobile repair shop adjoining the cyber cafe, their employee, Ashwani Kumar, would attend to customers at Global Internet.
Sources said the owners had not maintained proper records of customers, allowing the students to surf the net after just checking their identity cards.
“Nobody has been arrested so far,” said J&K Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda. “We are in the process of questioning the cybercafe owners to trace the person who sent the e-mail”. He said the police are preparing sketches of the customers, based on the details provided by the Aziz brothers.
Confirming that the e-mail sent yesterday claiming responsibility for Delhi blast had been traced to the cyber cafe in Kishtwar, Khoda said: “We are waiting for the NIA team from Delhi to reach here for checking the hard disk of the seized computer.”
The cafe owners have no prior record of any militant links. While Mehmood is an engineer, one of his brothers, Yasir Aziz, is a doctor in Indonesia, while another brother is an agriculture graduate.
Even as this end was being explored, a second e-mail was received by media houses in Mumbai and Delhi at 12.37 pm from “chotoominani5@gmail.com”, claiming that the “Indian Muzahiddin (sic)” was behind the blast. Denying any HuJI role in the blast, it dared the government and the police to stop it from striking at a shopping mall on Tuesday.
The mail purportedly said that they (the attackers) had chosen Wednesday as the day of the blast as it was a busy day for the High Court — it hears PILs on Wednesday.
“We are examining the (second) email... its authenticity and veracity and (we are) taking it seriously,” said Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry U K Bansal. However, the mail does not resemble the earlier messages sent by the Indian Mujahideen which had claimed responsibility for blasts in Varanasi and Delhi.
As police investigate the Kishtwar angle, sources aid that the area does have a significant number of “underground and overground” sympathisers of HuJI. On December 21, 2008, for example, the police arrested HuJI’s Sohail Ahmed, a resident of Chatroo in Kishtwar. Police said that during interrogation it emerged that Ahmed was allegedly involved in the 2007 Faizabad and Varanasi blasts.
A few months before Ahmed’s arrest, another alleged terrorist, Sabba, involved in the same blasts, had been gunned down in an encounter with the police in Kishtwar. Operations against the outfit in J&K, especially in Doda and Kishtwar areas, were stepped up between 2007 and 2010. Moreover, HuJI has in the past also targeted judicial establishments.
Incidentally, Bashir Ahmed Mir, HuJI’s India “commander-in-chief,” was killed in an encounter in the Doda district on January 25, 2008. Operating under the code-name Hijazi, police said, Pak-trained Mir was responsible for a series of attacks in many parts of the country in 2006-07, including the court complex bombings in Uttar Pradesh, the Ajmer shrine bombing, and the multiple bombings in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh in May-August, 2007.
Senior J&K Police officials say the dense forests of the Pir Panjal mountain range in the Doda-Anantnag belt serve as an effective shield for the militants.
“It is possible that the e-mail claiming the responsibility for the blast was sent by an OGW. However, the owner did not ask for the identity papers of the person neither any record was made in the register maintained by cyber cafe owners,” said a NIA official.
Another district commander of the HuJI, Mohammad Amin alias Rahi was gunned down by security forces near a village in Kishtwar in 2008. Maulana Mohammad Yahya, the suspected chief of the group, was arrested on August 18 by the Bangladesh Rapid Action Battallion (RAB). Yahya has been designated as “specially designated global terrorist” by US while HuJI was designated as a “foreign terrorist organisation in 2008.”
Said Special Secretary (internal security) U K Bansal: “We are looking into the claim of IM. NIA is also being assisted by ATS team from neighbouring states.”
Apart from Delhi Police, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab ATS have been roped in to help NIA. Union Home P Chidambaram also held a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation with the IB, R&AW chiefs along with NSA S S Menon were also present.
The agency said that forensic experts called from Gandhinagar and Hyderabad visited the blast spot on Thursday and are learnt to have found some “more material” which may have relevance to the investigation. The NIA team on Thursday also sought the help of Delhi Fire Services to gather some of the evidence scattered in the area.
A man from Patna who was arrested on charges of using a stolen ATM card, is also being interrogated. PTI, quoting official sources, reported that a person was detained at Srinagar airport on his return from New Delhi following an input received from a defence intelligence agency about a conversation on September 5. He had purportedly told his brother that “the work would be done by 11 am on September 7 and that he was reaching on September 6 and returning on September 8 after finishing the work.”
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hc-blast-2nd-email-threatens-strike-at-mall-on-
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Delhi blast: Deathly silence after frantic search
Sep 9, 2011
New Delhi: A clerical error at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital denied blast victim Pramod Chaurasia his last chance to speak to his kin.Chaurasia,40,who passed away at 7am on Thursday after battling death for more than 20 hours,had been conscious till the time he was operated upon on Wednesday.However,as the hospital authorities noted down a wrong address against his name,he could not be traced by his relatives in time.
Chaurasias younger brother,Ranjit,who had rushed to the hospital as soon as he learnt of the blast outside the high court,said,The address noted down against my brothers name was wrong and they would not let us enter to identify him.We went to different hospitals looking for him.Later,after a lot of searching,a hospital employee finally identified him by the picture we had.But he had lost consciousness by then,and we never got to talk to him.
Chaurasias relatives vented their anger by protesting outside both RML Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital,where his body was removed for handover.
We have not eaten since yesterday and have been running about completing formalities.First they delayed his identification,and now the handover of his body, said an agitated relative.
Full report at: Times of India
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Delhi blast: Body heals, but mind still scarred
Sep 9, 2011
New Delhi: Puja Sharma,14,has been glued to the television since Wednesday morning constantly switching between various channels showing news about the Delhi High Court blast which has claimed 13 lives so far.Each time she sees a trauma victim or a dead body,her mind flashes back to that ill-fated evening at Sarojini Nagar on October 29,2005 when she lost both her parents in the serial blasts.
Doctors say that post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD,a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma,is a very common symptom in people who have fallen victim to or were witness to a major catastrophe a bomb blast,terror attacks or natural disasters such as an earthquake.While some people manage to overcome the trauma,there are others who need to undergo therapy for years.
I try to forget the past but incidents like this triggers sad memories.Images of injured people and those crying for help bring back memories of the Sarojini Nagar blasts a day which still haunts me, said Puja.Her grandfather,who has been looking after her since then,added that the girl has so far managed to cope with the trauma of the blasts,thanks to psychological counseling and family support,but incidents such as Wednesdays blast are emotionally draining.
Full report at: Times of India
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HuJI has close ties with anti-India terror groups
Sep 9, 2011
New Delhi: Harkat-ul-Jihadal-Islami (HuJI),which claimed responsibility for the Delhi high court blast,has deep contacts across South Asia to forge alliances with other anti-India groups for carrying out the kind of attack witnessed in the national capital on Wednesday,say security establishment sources.
This capability makes it the prime suspect in the latest attack,despite investigators attaching low credibility to the email that originated in Kishtwar,claiming responsibility on HuJIs behalf.Sources said they were also looking at Jaish-e-Mohammed,whose member Afzal Gurus clemency petition was recently rejected by the home ministry.Sources said whether the operation was prompted by Jaish or Lashkar-e-Taiba,the fact remains HuJI is capable of coordinating with them,mobilizing local assets in India and carrying out the sensational strike.
Intelligence agencies have had a stream of inputs starting sometime in 2005 about HuJI recruiting significant number of local Indian youth for terror training.This also gives investigators reasons to suspect that HuJI could execute such a blast with local recruits.Sources said some time ago,HuJI had even targeted the Pakistani high commission in Delhi.In July,Pakistani foreign secretary Salman Bashir reportedly received a letter from HuJI saying they would attack the high commission in Delhi if Pakistan shared details of HuJI chief Ilyas Kashmiri with India.Kashmiri,who started HuJI operations in India in the 1990s,is believed to have been killed by a US drone in Waziristan in June 2011.
Full report at: Times of India
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Is this real: New audio tapes reveal horror of terror strikes
Sep 9, 2011
New York: Did you just say something hit the World Trade Center an incredulous military official asked shortly after the beginning of Americas terrorism nightmare on September 11,2001.
Minutes later, with air traffic authorities warning that another commercial jet was off course and just 10km from the White House,Washington ground control sounded in denial,saying it was probably just a rumor.
Moments later American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon.
The stunned reactions by authorities to first reports about 9/11,in the full exchanges between ground control, pilots and military authorities during the hijacking chaos were made public on Thursday. They illustrate just how unprepared the US was for the audacious plot.
Full report at: Times of India
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Delhi HC blast: After HuJI, IM sends 'We did it' mail to media
Sep 08 2011
New Delhi : Another mail was received by media houses in Mumbai and Delhi purportedly written by one 'Chotoo' of the Indian Mujahideen who claimed responsibility for the Delhi High Court blasts and warned that another blast will take place at a shopping mall.
The mail sent from 'chotoominani5@gmail.com' was received at 12:37 pm claiming the Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) had no role to play in the blasts.
The mail also reasoned they had chosen Wednesday as it was a busy day for the High Court. The Delhi High Court hears public interest litigations on Wednesday.
The mail claimed another blast would take place in a shopping mall.
“We are examining the email received by media houses... about its authenticity and veracity and (we are) taking it seriously,” Secretary, Internal Security, U K Bansal told reporters.
Security agencies including the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are looking into the mail but serious apprehensions were being raised whether this was genuine or a prank being played by somebody.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/delhi-hc-blast-after-huji-im-sends-we-did-it-mail-to-
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NIA announces Rs. 5 lakh reward for info on Delhi blast, massive man-hunt in Kishtwar
Vishwa Mohan & Sanjay Khajuria
Sep 8, 2011
NEW DELHI/JAMMU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has announced a reward of Rs five lakhs for any information from the general public about the Delhi high court blast culprits.
The NIA and the Delhi police have ruled out the lead that a stolen Santro Hyundai car was used in the incident. Home secretary RK Singh said that the car had nothing to do with the terror attack. The car was merely a subject of dispute between two people. The stolen Hyundai car was seen near the blast site yesterday as well as on the previous blast on May 25, has been found, according to sources.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the state police have started investigating the role of terror groups fighting for Kashmir's secession from India, in the Delhi high court blast case. HuJI, which has its affiliated wing in Bangladesh also, aims to fight for the so-called cause of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), an intelligence officer said.
The NIA probing the blast, arrested three persons in Kishtwar, a mountainous area in Jammu region of the state, in connection with the case. The arrested persons include the owner of 'Global cyber cafe' from where the 'HuJI' (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, a Pakistan based terror group) mail claiming responsibility of the blast had been sent.
Director General of Jammu and Kashmir police Kuldeep Khoda told TOI that the police traced the cyber cafe in Kishtwar from where some person had emailed the media organizations in New Delhi. The police also rounded up the people who visited the cafe on Wednesday to get some definite leads in the probe.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/NIA-announces-Rs-5-lakh-reward-for-info-on-
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US Official: 'India-Pakistan peace talks crucial to security of the region'
Sep 8, 2011
WASHINGTON: Noting that the recent peace talks between India and Pakistan were heartening, a US official has said that such dialogues are crucial to the security of the region.
"The administration is heartened by the fact that there have now been three very significant meetings between India and Pakistan commerce secretaries, foreign ministers -- cricket diplomacy -- and that in fact there are follow-up meetings with home and interior secretaries coming up," Wed Sherman said.
This kind of dialogue between the two countries is absolutely essential, Sherman said in her confirmation hearing for the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
"The US has always supported that dialogue. The pace and scope and character of it is up to, of course, India and Pakistan, and we can't prescribe for them exactly how to proceed," Sherman said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/India-Pakistan-peace-talks-crucial-to-security-
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Republican Lawmaker: Obama urged to wield UN veto against Palestinians
8 September 2011
MIAMI - President Barack Obama should say clearly and publicly the United States will use its veto on the UN Security Council to block any Palestinian bid to gain UN membership, a senior Republican lawmaker said on Wednesday.
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a conservative who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, made the call as Obama’s administration made diplomatic moves to try to head off a Palestinian plan to gain statehood recognition at the UN General Assembly session that begins on Sept. 19.
Washington fears the Palestinians’ statehood initiative at the United Nations could further snarl flagging US efforts to revive Middle East peace talks, which broke down last year following a dispute over Jewish settlements.
“I think President Obama should have come out clearly and said we will veto this,” Ros-Lehtinen told Reuters in a telephone interview shortly after flying from Miami to Washington on Wednesday.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/September/
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Israel asks India to help in reducing poverty in Middle East
08 Sep 2011
JERUSALEM: Acknowledging India's growing status as a regional economic power, Israel's President Shimon Peres has asked New Delhi to use its strength in solving the problem of poverty in the Middle East.
Israeli President also asked India to "help the Arab states in addressing their developmental challenges", sources here told PTI.
Peres also offered Israel's help in this regard as he felt "it is good for Israel too".
Commenting on the emerging global scenario, the elder statesman said that the world currently faces a "deficit of leadership" and that "there is too much money and too little ideas".
The Israeli leader made these comments during recently concluded fourth India-Israel forum where he was the guest of honour.
Full report at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/israel-asks-india-to-help-in-
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I'm committed to signing Teesta deal: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
8 September 2011
Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad and top brass of the 11-party alliance of left-leaning parties yesterday conveyed their displeasure to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and called upon him to sign the Teesta water sharing deal with Bangladesh soon.
Leaders of Jatiya Party and the 11 parties, also components of the Awami League-led grand coalition, made the urge separately as they called on the visiting Indian premier at the city's Sonargaon Hotel.
In reply, Manmohan assured the leaders of inking the Teesta water agreement soon. “I can assure you that the deal [Teesta water sharing] must be signed soon, as I am committed to doing so”, said Manmohan Singh as quoted by JP presidium member Anisul Islam Mahmud to The Daily Star.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201525
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Indian PM Manmohan Singh pays tributes to Bangabandhu
8 September 2011
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh yesterday paid rich tributes to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as he visited Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi in the city.
Manmohan accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur reached the historic House No-32 at Dhanmondi at 12:55pm amid tight security and placed wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu, who liberated Bangladesh from the Pakistani occupation in 1971.
After placing the wreaths, the Indian leader stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of respect to the memory of the great leader.
Later museum's curator Syed Siddiqur Rahman escorted Manmohan to different corners of Bangabandhu's historic residence, which subsequently turned into the museum.
The Indian premier first visited the ground floor of the two-storey ordinary building and saw the rare pictures of Bangabandhu, his young leadership, hard struggle for independence and meeting with statesmen from all over the world, including late Russian President Leonid Brezhnev and late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201524
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French President writes to PM; terms Delhi blast 'heinous' act
08 Sep 2011
NEW DELHI: Condemning the "heinous terrorist attack" here, French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveying his country's complete solidarity with India and expressing determination to relentlessly fight the "barbaric" scourge together.
"At a time when New Delhi has once again been struck by a heinous terrorist attack claiming tens of innocent victims, I would like to express my complete solidarity and heartfelt condolences on behalf of France and myself," Sarkozy wrote to Singh.
"France is at India's side during this distressing ordeal and I am more determined than ever to fight this barbaric scourge together," he said, adding, the fight against terrorism "unites us and we shall always pursue our efforts relentlessly."
He expressed condolences to the victims' families and near and dear ones.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/French-President-writes-to-PM-terms-Delhi-blast-
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US knew of ISI tie-up with Tiger Memon: WikiLeaks
8 September 2011
Washington : The US officials knew for a very long time that ISI had created various terrorist groups, including those based out from Nepal, to carry out attacks in India, including the 1996 Lajpat Nagar blast, according to the latest US cables released by WikiLeaks.
The US cables clearly show that Americans also knew that Tiger Memon, the prime accused in 1993 Mumbai blast case and an aide of global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, had tied up with the ISI.
In these cables, the US officials say that it is the ISI which created various terrorist fronts to carry out terror activities in India, including the bomb blasts in the busy areas of Connaught Place and Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi and several cities across the country.
One of such organisations created by ISI in Pakistan was Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF), with its main base in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-knew-of-isi-tieup-with-tiger-memon-
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9/11 anniversary casts shadow for US Muslims
Sep 08 2011
Washington : The approaching tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks is casting a long shadow for US Muslims, many of whom are dreading it because they fear a resurgence of prejudice and hate, said author Mona Eltahawy.
Egyptian-born but US-based, Eltahawy said the attacks on New York and Washington were a shocking and negative introduction to Islam for many in the United States, compounding the difficulties for Muslims already struggling with their identities in the diverse, secular nation.
Despite the fact that African American Muslims had been in the nation since slavery days, public awareness of Muslims in general had remained low.
A lot of Americans were totally unaware of what a Muslim is until 9/11.
The first introduction to Islam was a very negative one, Eltahawy said from Melbourne, where she attended the Melbourne Writer's Festival.
Now that we're coming up to the tenth anniversary of 9/11, it's a time to say we're here and we're not going anywhere, we're Americans and Muslims too. It's been a difficult ten years and a lot of us are dreading this tenth anniversary because it brings out a lot of hate and prejudice.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/9-11-anniversary-casts-shadow-for-us-
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Kabul: 2 NATO troops, 5 Afghan soldiers killed
08 Sep 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Two NATO service members and five Afghan soldiers have been killed by roadside bombs in separate incidents in the country's south and east, the alliance and Afghan authorities said Thursday.
NATO said in a statement that its two service members died on Thursday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. It did not provide any further details or their nationalities.
In Kabul, the Defense Ministry announced that a roadside bomb in eastern Khost province killed five Afghan soldiers on Wednesday. The ministry gave no other details.
The NATO deaths bring the total in September for international forces to seven. A total of 330 members of the international military coalition have died do far this year.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press.
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Heavy gunfire in Syria; 11 killed
8 September 2011
BEIRUT — Syrian security forces have unleashed a barrage of gunfire, killing at least 11 people and leaving thousands cowering in their homes as President Bashar Assad’s troops kept up the government’s assault on a 6-month-old uprising, activists and witnesses said.
Nine of those killed on Wednesday died in Homs, a hotbed of opposition to Assad’s autocratic regime. Two others were shot dead during raids in Sarameen, in northern Syria.
In a step the opposition says shows the regime is intractable, a planned visit by the Arab League secretary general Wednesday to push Assad to make major concessions to defuse the crisis was called off at the last minute at the government’s request.
Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Ahmed Ben Heli told reporters in Egypt that Elaraby will now visit Damascus on Saturday. He said the decision was made in a phone call between Elaraby and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem.
Full report at:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/September/
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Pakistan: Youth teases girl, angry father shoots his parents
8 September 2011
Islamabad, Sep 8 (IANS) A retired Pakistan Army officer, who flew into a rage after a youth teased his daughter, shot dead youth's parents.
Capt (retired) Meherban Khan went to the house of the youth's parents and opened fire, killing them.
A passerby was injured in the shooting that took place in a city in Punjab province, the daily Dawn reported Thursday.
The youth, Nazim Munir, managed to escape.
The retired army officer then went to the local police station and surrendered himself with his weapon.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/youth-teases-girl-angry-father-shoots-parents-065933786.html
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Bangladesh: Army probe wanted to quiz Sheikh Hasina
8 September 2011
A military inquiry committee wanted to interrogate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after the BDR mutiny in 2009, a proposal that annoyed the premier who outright rejected it.
Hasina disclosed the matter to the then US ambassador to Dhaka James F Moriarty during a meeting on April 27 that year, reveals a US diplomatic cable published by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks on August 30 this year.
Following the gruesome murder of 57 army officers and 17 civilians by the BDR rebels at Pilkhana headquarters on February 25, 2009, the army on March 2 formed a 20-member probe committee. Led by Lt Gen Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, the committee acted separately from the government one to probe the two-day mayhem.
"Hasina expressed exasperation at a separate army probe that initially was to be limited to strictly military issues such as accounting for arms and ammunition lost during the mutiny," the cable said quoting the meeting with the prime minister.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201571
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Obama wants to keep 3,000-5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq into 2012
By Greg Jaffe and and Annie Gowen
8 September 2011
The Obama administration would like to keep about 3,000 to 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq beyond the end of this year but has not begun formal discussions with the Iraqis about the size or makeup of the force, U.S. officials said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has expressed a desire to keep some U.S. trainers in the country in 2012, past the deadline negotiated by the George W. Bush administration to remove all U.S. troops from the country.
But the Iraqi leader faces staunch opposition from key members of his coalition government who are deeply opposed to any U.S. presence. Some members of the coalition have threatened to boycott the government if it allows any U.S. forces to stay.
Senior U.S. officials have said they are hopeful that they will be able to reach an agreement with the Iraqis on maintaining the small training force. The Iraqis will have to agree to any U.S. presence.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-wants-to-keep-3000-5000-
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At least 30,000 died in Libyan civil war
Sep 9, 2011
Tripoli : At least 30,000 people were killed and 50,000 wounded in Libya's six-month civil war, the interim health minister said, offering a first detailed estimate of the high cost in lives of bringing down Muammar Gaddafi.
There have been rough estimates in the past, but Naji Barakat, the health minister in the new Libyan leadership, said his figures are based, in part, on reporting from hospitals, local officials and former rebel commanders.
Barakat said he'll only have a complete count in several weeks, but that he expects the final figure for dead and wounded to be higher than his current estimates. Libya has a population of just over 6 million.
At least 4,000 people are still missing, either presumed dead or held prisoner in remaining Gaddafi strongholds, including his hometown of Sirte, Barakat told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Others killed in fighting were hastily buried, and are now being exhumed for identification.
Search teams also continue to find secret graves of detainees killed by retreating Gaddafi forces.
Just this week, they dug up more bodies in one area of the Libyan capital Tripoli and two other towns.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/at-least-30-000-died-in-libyan-civil-war/843584/
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Libya's new rulers should control arms: US
Sep 9, 2011
ALGIERS, ALGERIA: The United States and the international community believe Libya's new rulers are responsible for preventing weapons proliferation in a region battling terrorism, the top US general in Africa said on Thursday.
He said there was a risk of proliferation of weaponry after the battles in Libya in which rebels have toppled long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
"I agree that there is a threat of the proliferation of the weapons from Libya and we are greatly concerned -- all the nations are very concerned -- about small weapons, rifles and weapons similar to that, but also explosives and shoulder-fired air defence systems," General Carter Ham, the head of the Africa command, Africom, told a press conference on Algiers.
Ham was taking part in a conference organized by Algeria in the name of four countries held to be in the front line of terrorist activity which might be increased by arms trafficking: Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Libyas-new-rulers-should-control-
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Cash-strapped Gaddafi sold gold to pay salaries
Sep 9, 2011
The new governor of Libyas central bank says the former regime sold about 20% of the countrys gold reserves to cover salaries amid the uprising.Qassim Azzuz said that Gaddafis regime sold 29 tonnes of gold to local traders,netting about $1.4 billion.Libya is believed to have about 145 tons of gold reserves.Azzuz also said the none of the banks assets were missing or were stolen during the uprising,including about $90 billion held abroad and another $25 billion locally.The figures excluded still unknown sums of money accumulated by Gaddafi and his family.
Times of India
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Fugitive Gadhafi denies rumor he fled Libya, rallies loyalists to fight in new audio message
8 September 2011
BENGHAZI, Libya — From hiding, Moammar Gadhafi denied rumors that he fled Libya, vowed “never to leave the land of his ancestors” and rallied followers to the fight in a new audio message broadcast Thursday on a loyalist TV channel.
The broadcast came amid conflicting statements about the fugitive Libyan dictator’s whereabouts. Gadhafi, who ruled Libya for nearly 42 years, hasn’t been seen in public for months, and has released only audio messages trying to rally his supporters and lash out at opponents.
In Thursday’s five-minute-long audio, aired on Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, a voice purportedly of Gadhafi denounced reports that he had fled to neighboring Niger and claimed he is still in Libya. He also blasted former rebels who ousted him from power as “a bunch of mercenaries, thugs and traitors” and urged his follower to take up arms.
“We are ready to start the fight in Tripoli and everywhere else, and rise against them,” Gadhafi said. “All of these germs, rats and scumbags, they are not Libyans, ask anyone. they have cooperated with NATO ... Gadhafi won’t leave the land of his ancestors.”
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/fugitive-gadhafi-denies-rumor-he-fled-
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Gaddafi cornered, will be captured or killed: Rebels
Sep 8, 2011
TRIPOLI: Libya's former rebels have surrounded ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and it is only a matter of time before he is captured or killed, a top spokesman for Tripoli's new military council said on Wednesday.
Anis Sharif would not say where Gaddafi had been found, but said he was still in Libya and had been tracked using high technology and human intelligence. Gaddafi is trapped in a 60km-radius area surrounded by rebels, he said.
"He can't get out," said Sharif, who added the former rebels are preparing to either detain him or kill him. Locatng Gaddafi would help seal the new rulers' hold on the country. The announcement came after convoys of Gaddafi loyalists fled into neighbouring Niger in a move that Libya's former rebels hoped could help lead to the surrender of his last strongholds.
Former rebels depicted the flight as a major exodus of Gaddafi's hardcore backers. But confirmed information on the number and identity of those leaving was scarce. In Niger's capital, Niamey a spokesman for the president, said Gaddafi's security chief had crossed the desert into Niger on Monday.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Gaddafi-cornered-will-be-captured-
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Gaddafi’s chemical weapons spark renewed worries
By Simon Denyer
8 September 2011
AL-AJELAT, Libya — Documents showing the shipment of thousands of gas masks and chemical-weapons protection suits to Moammar Gaddafi’s remaining strongholds in the last weeks of his regime raised fresh concerns Wednesday about whether the deposed Libyan leader’s forces could still have access to deadly mustard gas.
The Pentagon and an international monitoring organization have said that Gaddafi’s remaining stockpiles are secure. But more than 11 tons of mustard gas is known to be accumulated in a country that suddenly lacks a strong central authority and where weapons are fast proliferating. Libyan rebels say they are concerned that Gaddafi holdouts could have access to the mustard gas and could use it in a last-ditch effort to halt advances by the opposition.
“It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s not beyond Gaddafi,” said Mohammed Benrasali, a senior member of Libya’s civilian stabilization team.
Rebel commanders say the concerns are one reason they are moving cautiously as they try to drive Gaddafi loyalists from his home town of Sirte and a key military headquarters in the desert at al-Jufrah.
Full report at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/gaddafis-chemical-weapons-spark-
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WikiLeaks: UK pressed Zardari to send Pasha to India but Pak army vetoed
Sep 9, 2011
New Delhi : Britain had pressed President Asif Ali Zardari to send ISI chief Ahmad Shuja Pasha to India following the 2008 Mumbai attacks but the Pakistani army had vetoed the move, WikiLeaks has indicated.
According to a US diplomatic cable leaked by the whistleblower website, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had pressed for sending Pasha to India following the attacks as Miliband "described ISI MG Pasha as a welcome 'new broom' and expressed UK support for ISI reform".
"Zardari gave (British High Commissioner Robert) Brinkley a long answer about various levels of directors in ISI but finally confirmed that the Army had vetoed the decision to send Pasha," the US cable said.
The Pakistan President told Miliband that it might be possible to send National Security Advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani, as he outranked Pasha.
"It would not be possible, said Zardari, to send Pasha immediately as Zardari needed to work public opinion first," said the cable written by then US ambassador to Pakistan Anne W Patterson to Washington five days after the Mumbai carnage that left over 160 persons including six Americans dead.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/wikileaks-uk-pressed-zardari-to-send-pasha-to-india-
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A Secret US Cable: Envoy feared Mirwaiz killing, Said ‘won’t be tolerated’
Bashaarat Masood
Sep 08 2011
Srinagar : A secret Cable released by WikiLeaks indicates that US officials in New Delhi feared the assassination of Hurriyat dove Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and wanted the US government to send a “strong message” through the Pakistan government to militant groups that his assassination would not be tolerated.
“Senior FSN Kailash Jha, who has watched the Kashmir conflict since the late 1980s, expressed today his serious concern about signals he has seen recently that terrorists may attempt to assassinate Mirwaiz Omar Farooq,” the then US ambassador David Mulford says in the cable sent on January 22, 2007. “Now may be the right time to send a strong message through Islamabad to the United Jihad Council, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen...that an assassination attempt on the Mirwaiz by groups based in Pakistan cannot be tolerated.”
The cable says that if Mirwaiz is assassinated, it would strengthen Hurriyat hardliners. “Mirwaiz Omar Farooq’s death would be a serious blow to the peace process because it would create a power vacuum among moderate separatists in the Srinagar Valley,” the cable reads. “(It would) strengthen hardline leaders like Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani who have rejected a soft borders/autonomy solution to the conflict.”
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-envoy-feared-mirwaiz-killing-said-wont-be-
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Delhi blast: Terror email was written in haste
Sep 08 2011
New Delhi: The email from the so-called Harkat-ul-Jehadi,claiming responsibility for Wednesdays blast,is being investigated by NIA.
The alleged email,sent from a Gmail account,is being closely examined as there are obvious spelling mistakes in the message even if the demand that Parliament attack convict Afzal Gurus death sentence should be repealed immediately might sound a credible cause.Mistakes and the hurried nature of the emails language indicate it was dispatched in haste.
The mail ID may or may not denote a specific group.The emails received after last years Jama Masjid shootout and the Varanasi blasts had failed to yield any clues either.
Both previous emails were sent by Indian Mujahideen the front of Pakistanbased terror outfit Lashkare-Taiba that carried out a series of blasts during 2006-08 in different cities across the country including Delhi.
Full report at: Times of India
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Final hearing of 1993 Mumbai blast cases from November 1
Sep 08 2011
The Supreme Court on Wednesday posted for final hearing on November 1 the March 12, 1993 Mumbai blast cases and a batch of appeals filed by the accused, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the State of Maharashtra.
The hearing will be a day-to-day affair, said a Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan,
The judges will use computers to have a look at the over 4,000-page trial court judgment. The court master and assisting counsel have also been provided computers to argue the matter and render assistance to the judges.
Over 20 persons were killed and 713 injured and property worth Rs. 23 crores was damaged in the blast. Of the 179 persons cited as accused, the designated court awarded the death penalty to 11 persons, and jail sentences ranging from three years to life term to 76 others. The others were acquitted. Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to six years in jail under the Arms Act but was exonerated of terror offences under the stringent TADA Act. He was one of the accused granted bail by the Supreme Court.
Full report at:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2433403.ece
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New Ground Zero rises from rubble of 9/11
Sep 08 2011
New York : A decade after the Twin Towers were razed to the ground in the 9/11 attacks, an altered Ground Zero will be unveiled to the public, with waterfalls, reflecting pools and hundreds of trees at the site honouring the memory of the nearly 3000 victims of the terror strike.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has asked citizens to refer to the new WTC site as the 9/11 Memorial and not as 'Ground Zero' any more.
The '9/11 Memorial' is located at the site of the former World Trade Centre complex in lower Manhattan and occupies approximately half of the 16-acre area.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will dedicate the memorial in a ceremony on Sunday and it will open to the public on September 12.
"We will never forget the devastation of the area that came to be known as 'Ground Zero'. Never. But the time has come to call those 16 acres what they are: The World Trade Center and the National September 11th Memorial and Museum," Bloomberg said.
A 104-storey '1 World Trade Center', 40-storey '4 World Trade Center' and '7 World Trade Center' have been constructed at the site.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/new-ground-zero-rises-from-rubble-of-9-11/843399/
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Afghan government rejects UN torture allegations
8 September 2011
Kabul : The Afghan government on Wednesday strongly rejected allegations that its security agencies tortured detainees charges that were apparently raised in an unpublished UN report.
The allegations prompted NATO to temporarily suspend some transfers of detainees from international to Afghan-run detention centers. They also threatened to further erode the already shaky relationship between President Hamid Karzai's government and the international community.
Interior Minister Besmillah Mohammadi and Rahmatullah Nabil, head of the Afghan intelligence service, described the NATO decision to suspend detainee transfers as politically motivated and aimed at slowing down the transition of security responsibilities to the Afghan government.
Afghanistan is gradually taking over responsibility for the country's security from the US-led military coalition as foreign forces aim to withdraw all their combat troops by the end of 2014.
Full report at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/afghan-government-rejects-un-torture-
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UN chief condemns Delhi bomb blast
September 08, 2011
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday strongly condemned the bomb blast, which occurred in the Indian national capital in the morning and left 11 people as dead and 91 injured, Xinhua reported. The UN chief also expressed "solidarity with the government and people of India".
The explosion occurred around 10:15 a.m. outside Delhi High Court where about 300 visitors were crowding Gate 5 for passes to enter the complex. Several people died instantly while others collapsed.
A statement issued from the UN chief's office said: "The secretary-general strongly condemns the bomb attack at the Indian High Court in New Delhi which has killed and injured many today.
"The secretary-general reiterates his firm stance that there is no justification for indiscriminate violence against civilians."
"The secretary-general extends his sincere condolences to the families of the victims and hopes that the perpetrators will be brought to justice," the statement added.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/world/UN-chief-condemns-Delhi-bomb-
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Taliban plans to kidnap officials for Osama's kin
8 September 2011
Taliban militants are conspiring to kidnap high-ranking civil and security officials from all over the country to force the Pakistani government to release the family of slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Pakistan's interior ministry has advised all government departments and
officials of law enforcement agencies to stay vigilant.
Bin Laden's family members, including his wives and children, have been in custody since the American raid that killed the al Qaeda chief on May 2.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan/Taliban-plans-to-kidnap-officials-for-
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Israel rejects Turkish claims of 'disloyalty'
08 Sep 2011
Israel's defence ministry has rejected Turkish claims that it lacks "trade ethics", saying it was still fixing drone parts that were not delivered on schedule.
The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had accused Israel of lacking "trade ethics" in bilateral military contracts.
"Turkey and Israel have conducted security transactions for years and despite the current developments, there are still unfinished transactions between the two countries," a statement from the Israeli defence ministry said on Thursday.
"One of these unfinished transactions is the renovation of parts for the drones. These engines are in a process of remodelling and improvement and work on them has not yet ended."
Speaking on Wednesday, Erdogan said: "Israel has shown disloyalty in our bilateral agreements in the defence industry area," "For example, unmanned aerial vehicles were purchased and they were sent back for further maintenance. [The Israelis] are still delaying the delivery. Is this moral?"
Turkey and Israel signed a deal in 2005 for the supply of the unmanned aircraft, which Ankara uses in its secuirity operations.
Full report at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/09/20119810646266281.html
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Israel air strike on Gaza kills one: Medics
Sep 8, 2011
GAZA CITY: An Israeli air strike on a car in the Gaza Strip killed one Palestinian on Wednesday hours after a rocket struck Israel without causing casualties, medics said.
There was no immediate word on the identity of the man killed in the strike in the central Deir al-Balah district of the territory.
An Israeli air strike on Gaza on Tuesday night killed a militant and wounded a father and his two sons, Palestinian medical sources and a militant group said.
The strike, east of the central city of Khan Yunis, killed Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) member Khaled Sahmud, 24, and came after militants fired a mortar round to push back an "Israeli incursion," the group said in a statement.
On Monday night, warplanes bombed a suspected weapons manufacturing site in the central Gaza Strip after a rocket was fired.
The new mortar and rocket fire and retaliatory air strikes have come despite a ceasefire that came into force after a spasm of violence that followed a militant attack in Eilat on August 18, which left eight Israelis dead.
Israel responded with a series of air strikes on Gaza, killing 27 Palestinians, and militant groups in the coastal enclave fired dozens of rockets into the Jewish state.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israel-air-strike-on-Gaza-kills-one-
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Six Yemen troops killed in clash with militants
8 September 2011
ADEN: Suspected al Qaeda militants killed six Yemeni soldiers in clashes in the south on Wednesday as a security official told that a US drone had struck a makeshift checkpoint killing three militants.
Six soldiers were also wounded as they advanced on the Abyan, most of which has been in the hands of the Partisans of Sharia group since May, military and medical officials said. The army has been engaged in a major offensive to retake Zinjibar and a commander told that troops had moved to within a kilometre of the city’s outskirts after fierce clashes which killed four soldiers and wounded more than a dozen on Tuesday.
A local security official told that a US drone strike against a suspected al Qaeda checkpoint in the Abyan village of Mihfed had killed three militants and wounded two. There was no immediate confirmation of the strike from Washington but Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta said in June that the United States was carrying out counter-terrorism operations in Yemen. Abyan residents report almost daily overflights by US drones, although the Yemeni government has repeatedly denied that Washington has played more than a supporting intelligence role in operations on its territory.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\09\08\story_8-9-2011_pg7_30
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Somali pirates release Danish family
8 September 2011
COPENHAGEN: Somali pirates have released a Danish family, with three teenage children, and two other Danes who they took hostage in February, the Danish foreign ministry said Wednesday.
“The seven Danes have been released and brought to safety,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that all were doing well under the circumstances.
No details were provided on the release, but Danish press reports suggested a ransom had been paid. The Johansen family, a couple in their 50s and their three teenage children, and two guests had been sailing some 300 nautical miles from Somalia when they were seized by pirates on February 24. They were reportedly moved to the mountain village of Hul-Anod in the restive northeastern Puntland region of Somalia in March, but after a failed attempt by government troops to free them they were transferred to the pirates’ mother ship, a Greek vessel captured earlier.
Jan Qvist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie, and their three children aged 13 to 17 years old left Denmark in August 2009 on a round-the-world trip by yacht. They had initially planned to return at the end of this summer.
Khaleej Times news
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Al-Jazeera calls on Israel to free journalist
8 September 2011
DOHA: Al-Jazeera satellite news channel has called on Israel to release its former Kabul bureau chief ahead of the journalist’s appearance before a court on Wednesday.
Samer Allawi, a Palestinian, was detained on August 10 by Israeli security officials as he tried to cross the border between Jordan and the West Bank after a family visit. An Israeli military court in the northern West Bank has accused Allawi of being a member of Hamas and of having “contacts” with the military wing of the movement, which rules Gaza. Al-Jazeera, which is based in Doha, Qatar, appealed for Allawi’s release in a statement on Tuesday.
“Samer has already been held for an unacceptable period of time,” he said. “His family is understandably worried about him. We call upon the Israeli authorities to release him at hearing.”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\09\08\story_8-9-2011_pg4_6
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Delhi blast: Nizami denied bail in arms haul case
8 September 2011
A Chittagong court here yesterday denied the bail prayers of Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and two others in the ten-truck arms haul case.
The two others are former general manager (admin) of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited Enamul Hoque and contractor Deen Mohammad.
Judge SM Mujibur Rahman of the Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal-1 also ordered the authorities concerned to publish an advertisement in two national dailies, asking two fugitives Paresh Barua and Nurul Amin to appear before the court within October 3.
India's Ulfa (United Liberation Front of Asom) leader Paresh Barua and former additional secretary of the industries ministry Nurul Amin are among the 11 newly charge-sheeted accused in two cases of arms haul.
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=201585
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Iranian President: 'Criticism, key to win in culture war'
8 September 2011
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says criticizing the dominant intellectual atmosphere in the world is the key to achieving success in the “cultural war.”
In a meeting with Iran's cultural attaches abroad on Tuesday, President Ahmadinejad reiterated the significance of culture in the international arena and noted that political and economic activities are carried out within a cultural system, IRNA reported.
“The most important mission of the country is indeed your undertaking, and that is nothing but a cultural assignment,” he said, addressing the gathering of Islamic Republic's foreign-based cultural attaches.
“In the international arena, performing political and economic activities is in fact a cultural undertaking.”
Full report at:
http://presstv.com/detail/197856.html
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Rape case involving foreign workers turns focus to Jordan’s factory problems
8 September 2011
IRBID, Jordan: After a garment factory worker told Jordanian police she had been raped three times by her boss, the case escalated into an international campaign that threatens to close down Jordan’s largest garment exporter to the US.
It could also force government and business to do more to improve conditions in an industry that has been crucial to this kingdom’s economy — and to its relations with the United States.
The 27-year-old Bangladeshi seamstress who had worked four months at the Classic Fashion plant brought her allegations to Jordanian police in June. She claimed that her Sri Lankan manager, Anil Santha, raped her twice in March and once on May 16 in a scruffy hotel room in downtown Irbid, a city near the Syrian border.
Santha, 46, has been charged with rape by Jordanian prosecutors and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. He denies the allegations.
Classic, with annual exports of $125 million, is Jordan’s largest garment exporter to the US, producing a Hanes line sold at Target and other clothing for giant US retailers including Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Lands’ End.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article498968.ece
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US urges end to Sudan fighting, warns Khartoum
8 September 2011
KHARTOUM: The United States on Wednesday urged Sudan and armed opposition groups to end fighting in the Blue Nile border state and warned Khartoum the violence was hurting its chances of repairing relations with Washington.
At least 50,000 people fled the clashes that erupted in Blue Nile last week, the United Nations said. Both Sudan’s army and the armed groups allied to the opposition SPLM-North party have blamed each other for starting the violence.
“The two sides are not still talking to each other. That means the situation remains very dangerous. Fighting is going on,” US Special Envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, told journalists after meeting Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Ali Ahmed Karti, and other officials.
Tensions have mounted in Blue Nile and other territories along Sudan’s poorly-defined border with South Sudan since the south declared independence in July.
The territories are all still home to tens of thousands of people from ethnic groups that sided with the south during decades of civil war that led up to the independence.
Sudan’s government has accused the armed groups of trying to launch a revolution in Blue Nile and the nearby border state of Southern Kordofan and officials last week banned the party, saying it was illegal.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article498967.ece
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Kenyan pastoralist clashes kill seven-officials
8 September 2011
ISIOLO, Kenya: Fighting between pastoralists over grazing land in drought-ravaged northern Kenya on Wednesday killed seven people, the latest in a string of deadly clashes this year, officials said.
Eastern Regional Commissioner Isaiah Nakoru told Reuters a group of about 100 armed raiders from Samburu attacked livestock herders from Isiolo who had moved to the Lesosia grazing area due to harsh conditions elsewhere.
“Seven people were killed, three were injured and at least 1,000 animals are reported to have been stolen. Several teams of security personnel are pursuing the raiders” said Nakoru.
Local leaders and civil rights groups protested against the killings and blamed the government for failing to disarm the Samburu communities.
Full report at:
http://arabnews.com/world/article498924.ece
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Ethiopia charges Swedish journalists with terror
8 September 2011
STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s Foreign Ministry says two Swedish journalists arrested in Ethiopia have been charged with terrorism and migration violations.
Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye were captured by Ethiopian troops in July during a clash with rebels in Ogaden in the country’s restive east.
Ministry spokesman Anders Jorle says Swedish officials met with the two men on Wednesday, and found they were in good condition and had been treated well.
Journalists are prohibited from traveling freely in the Ogaden region, which borders Somalia.
Activists accuse the Ethiopian government of human rights violations there, and of blocking aid groups access to the region.
The government denies reports of widespread abuses and says rebels have committed abuses and killed civilians.
http://arabnews.com/world/article498888.ece
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Palestinians officially launch UN statehood campaign
8 September 2011
In missive addressed to UN chief Ban's Ramallah office, Palestinian officials say plan includes series of peaceful events leading up to September opening of General Assembly.
The Palestinian Authority on Thursday officially launched its campaign to join the United Nations as a full member state, a move it hopes to achieve within just a few weeks.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Ramallah office, Palestinian officials urged the leader of the international community to "exert all possible efforts toward the achievement of the Palestinian people's just demands."
The letter said the campaign would include a series of peaceful events leading up to the September 21 opening of the UN General Assembly. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will address the assembly two days later, according to the officials.
The official launch of the Palestinian campaign was announced amid reported U.S. Republican attempts to pressure U.S. President Barack Obama into thwarting the Palestinian move.
Full report at:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinians-officially-launch-un-
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Muslim leaders Yahya Hendi combat stereotypes with education, openess
8 September 2011
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Yahya Hendi recalls telling his wife not to leave their Gaithersburg home for any reason.
Nearly 10 years ago, members of al-Qaida, a terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden, hijacked commercial jets and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pa., killing nearly 3,000 people.
Since al-Qaida has ties to an extreme form of Islam, Hendi feared that many would regard all Muslims as radicals. He was especially fearful that his wife, who wears a hijab, a traditional head covering for Muslim women, might be harmed.
But things have changed since then, Hendi said recently while sitting in Frederick Memorial Hospital. He had just finished giving a lecture there on caring for Muslim patients. About 150 doctors and nurses attended.
“This is a reflection,” Hendi said, speaking of the way the Muslim community in Frederick County has been regarded since the 2001 terrorist attacks. People here want to “understand their Muslim neighbor.”
Full report at:
http://www.gazette.net/article/20110907/NEWS/709079821/1009/muslim-leaders-combat-
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Video shows terrorists in China got training in Pak bases
Saibal Dasgupta
Sep 8, 2011
BEIJING: A jihadist group has released a video on the recent violence in western Xinjiang province while providing China new evidence that terrorists involved in the bloodbath were trained in Pakistan. The violence in two towns in Xinjiang bordering Pakistan left 40 dead.
But the Chinese foreign ministry refrained from naming Pakistan in its closely calibrated response to a question about the 10-minute video showing Turkestan Islamic Party leader Abdul Shakoor Damla claiming responsibility for the violence.
"I haven't seen the video you mentioned. Our principled position is that at present, a small handful of terrorist forces..,out of motives of splitting China, are conducting rampant violent terrorist activities within China's border [to] seriously undermine China's national unity, and regional peace and stability," Liu Weimin, the spokesperson, said.
This is significant because even Pakistani foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar did not categorically deny the presence of East Turkmenistan Islamic Movement training camps in Pakistan. Observers say China needs the support of Pakistani government to curb terrorism and would do nothing to publicly shame Islamabad.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/Video-shows-terrorists-in-China-got-
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Turkistan Islamic Party claims western China attacks
8 September 2011
BEIJING: A militant group has released a new video claiming responsibility for recent attacks in western China that killed at least three dozen people, a US group that monitors militant organisations said this week.
The video was purportedly made by the Turkistan Islamic Party, which seeks independence for China’s western Xinjiang region, the SITE Intelligence Group said.
The militants are believed to be based in Pakistan, where security experts say core members have received training from al-Qaeda.
Xinjiang is home to largely Muslim ethnic Uighurs who say an influx of China’s majority Han to the region has led to their marginalisation. The region erupted in violence two years ago with ethnic riots in which at least 197 people were killed.
Since then security in the region has been stepped up, but that wasn’t enough to prevent attacks in the cities of Hotan and Kashgar in July that left dozens dead.
The more than 10-minute video released in late August features Turkistan Islamic Party leader, Abdul Shakoor Damla, whose face is blotted out, saying those attacks were revenge against the Chinese government.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/08/turkistan-islamic-party-claims-western-china-
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German police hold two men over possible bomb attack
8 September 2011
BERLIN - German police are holding two men of Middle Eastern origin suspected of buying material for a bomb attack, a police spokesman in Berlin said on Thursday.
They were identified as a 24-year-old German-Lebanese man and a 28-year-old man from the Gaza strip.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/
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Iran criticises Turkey over Nato missile shield
8 September 2011
TEHRAN: Iran toughened Thursday its criticism of Turkey over its plan to host an early-warning radar as part of Nato’s missile defence system, saying it will create tension and lead to “complicated consequences.”
“We expect friendly countries and neighbours … not to promote policies that create tension, which will definitely have complicated consequences,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in remarks carried by the state television website.
“We believe that the installation of some parts of the Nato missile system in Turkey will not help the security and stability of the region at all, nor that of the host country,” Mehmanparast said.
Iran “condemns any action that creates an arms race in the world and region,” he added.
On Monday, Tehran criticised Ankara in a more subtle tone, with a deputy foreign minister saying the missile shield radar would not “improve security in the region.”
“Iran and Turkey are two friendly neighbouring nations … and have the ability to fully preserve their own security without any foreign intervention,” said Hassan Ghashghavi, deputy minister for consular affairs.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/08/iran-criticises-turkey-over-nato-missile-shield.html