Over 100 Killed In Boko Haram Clashes in North-Eastern Nigeria
New Age Islam News Bureau
13
Aug 2014
About 300 women and 500 children have for two days gathered at the gates of a military base in the Borno state capital. AFP file photo
Arab World
• Over 100 Killed In Boko Haram Clashes in North-Eastern Nigeria
• Egypt Mufti Slams Takfiri ISIL Militants for Iraq, Syria Atrocities
• Year after Cairo carnage, Sisi turns page on Arab Spring
• ISIL to Turn Against Supporters Once Goals Achieved: Academic
• Suicide bomber attacks checkpoint near new Iraq PM's house
• Muslim bloc condemns Israel's 'war crimes'
• ISIL calls for blood donations in Mosul: Report
• Islamic State sought to turn Lebanon into Iraq — army chief
• Islamic State advances in Syria's Aleppo province: NGO
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Southeast Asia
• 'Islamic State' Poses 'Serious Threat' To Asia's Muslim Countries
• Indonesia can be example of ‘peaceful’ Islam: US senators
• Sons, Top Aides Abandon Ba’asyir over ISIL, Form New Jihadist Group
• Clerics reluctant to disclaim ISIL ideology
• Terrorist behind multiple heists arrested
• Quit in protest, Muslim group tells McDonald’s, Starbucks staff
• For Penang Chinese Muslims, a mosque to call their own
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Pakistan
• Hiz-e-Islami Pakistan Announces To Celebrate Independence Day
• PM to celebrate Independence Day with IDPs in Bannu
• JI chief greets Tayyib Erdogan
• No possibility of military intervention: Khawaja Asif
• Islamabad residents rise against city closure
• Blast leaves 20 injured in Balochistan
• KP chief minister attacks Nawaz, Shahbaz first time
• Modi repeating baseless rhetoric against Pakistan- Foreign Office
• Former PM, Gilani says he would’ve welcomed Qadri, Imran in Islamabad
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Africa
• Wives block husbands’ deployment against Boko Haram
• UNSC threatens S Sudan leaders with sanctions
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South Asia
• Attacks kill NATO soldier, three Afghan policemen
• Ghani rejects sharing power if he wins Afghan presidency
• How an Extremist Buddhist Network Is Sowing Hatred Across Asia
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India
• No special provision for citizenship to Hindus from Pakistan
• 308 communal incidents till June this year
• Pak violates ceasefire again, fires at Indian posts in Jammu
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Mideast
• Truce holds as Cairo talks turn to Gaza blockade
• ‘Israel severely abuses Palestinian prisoners’
• OIC must help restore Palestinians’ rights: Iran minister
• Terror tunnel found near Yemen’s former president home
• Temporary Gaza truce continues
• Syria paying price for countering Israel: Iran MP
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North America
• Clinton calls Obama to clarify Syria remarks
• Payment of CSF to Pakistan as per schedule: Olson
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Europe
• UK 'terrified' of intervention in Iraq: Ex-general
• Putin vows to boost arms sales to Egypt
• Russian convoy in Ukraine despite West's warnings
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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Arab World
Over 100 Killed In Boko Haram Clashes in North-Eastern Nigeria
Aug 12, 2014
More than 100 civilians and several soldiers have been killed during clashes between Nigerian military forces and Takfiri Boko Haram militants in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno State.
A military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that Nigerian government forces on Monday tried in vain to regain control over the border town of Gwoza, situated about 135 kilometers (83 miles) southeast of the state capital of Maiduguri.
The town has been under Boko Haram control for more than a week.
"The sheer number of the militants and the fact that they were heavily armed prompted the ground troops to request for reinforcements from the air force," the military official said.
The notorious Takfiri group Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted Nigerian civilians, mostly in Borno, killing more than 2,000 civilians since January.
On April 14, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 students from their secondary school in the town of Chibok in Borno.
Reports say 57 of the girls managed to escape, but 219 are still believed to be in captivity, and international efforts to locate and rescue them have failed so far.
Boko Haram - whose name means “Western education is forbidden” - says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/12/375029/boko-haram-kills-over-100-in-nigeria/
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Egypt Mufti Slams Takfiri ISIL Militants for Iraq, Syria Atrocities
Aug 12, 2014
Egypt’s top religious authority has condemned Takfiri ISIL militants for atrocities they have been perpetrating in conflict-stricken Syria and Iraq and their violation of principles and teachings preached by Islam.
On Tuesday, Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam labelled the ISIL militants as members of a corrupt and extremist organization.
He said the group poses a danger to Islam and Muslims, tarnishes the image of Islam, sheds Muslims’ blood and spreads corruption.
The mufti further noted that fighting terrorism requires international and regional cooperation at all levels.
On Sunday, Iraq’s human rights minister said the ISIL had executed at least 500 Izadi Kurds after seizing the town of Sinjar, situated 404 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad, more than a week ago.
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said ISIL militants burned alive some of their victims, including women and children.
Reports say the Takfiri group has also kidnapped hundreds as slaves across some militancy-riddled regions.
United Nations’ rights monitors have called for urgent international action to avoid a potential genocide of Izadi Kurds in northern Iraq within days.
The UN monitors say thousands of the Kurdish minority are at risk of death either by violence or hunger and thirst.
"All possible measures must be taken urgently to avoid a mass atrocity and potential genocide within days or hours," said Rita Izsak, the UN's minority rights expert.
Thousands of members of Izadi Kurds have been trapped in mountains surrounding Sinjar ever since the town fell into the hands of ISIL terrorists.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/12/375068/egypt-mufti-slams-takfiri-isil-militants/
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Year after Cairo carnage, Sisi turns page on Arab Spring
August 13, 2014
A year after a bloody Cairo crackdown, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has tightened his grip on Egypt, crushed the Muslim Brotherhood, jailed top opponents and turned the page on the Arab Spring, critics say.
On August 14, 2013, after Sisi ousted Egypt's first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi, the security forces launched a crackdown on thousands of his supporters at protest camps in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares that left hundreds dead.
The assault was "one of the largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history," said New York-based Human Rights Watch in a report released Tuesday to mark the anniversary.
In Rabaa al-Adawiya alone, at least 817 people were killed, it said, calling for top officials to be investigated for likely "crimes against humanity". According to an AFP correspondent who was at the square, more than 100 protesters were killed several hours into the crackdown. Police said eight policemen also died in Rabaa, from a total of 42 policemen killed across Egypt that day.
The crackdown was launched after thousands of pro-Morsi supporters refused to end their sit-ins despite repeated warnings by the interim authorities installed by Sisi, who at the time was army chief.
Since then, more than 1,400 people have been killed in street clashes, including in the Rabaa carnage, over 15,000 jailed including Morsi and the top leadership of his Muslim Brotherhood, and over 200 sentenced to death in speedy trials.
The authorities have also dissolved the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, since Sisi became Egypt's second democratically elected president following a landslide victory in a May vote.
"Sisi has succeeded in eliminating most opposition within Egypt to his rule," said James Dorsey of the Singapore-based S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. "He has banned organisations, jailed opponents and certainly in early days after the ouster of Mohamed Morsi used brutal force to suppress groups like the Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
"He is operating in an environment where for all practical purposes there is no independent media to hold him to account. As a result he has consolidated his rule."
Survivors say the Rabaa al-Adawiya crackdown was not just to break the pro-Morsi sit-in but to eliminate the Islamist's supporters.
Egypt's liberal activists who revolted in 2011 against longtime president Hosni Mubarak seeking democratic freedoms largely kept quiet over the crackdown, but soon bore the brunt as authorities banned all unauthorised rallies.
The secular April 6 movement which in the heady days of the Arab Spring led the anti-Mubarak revolution has also been banned, prompting activists to charge that Egypt was heading for a worse autocracy than under Mubarak.
Sisi had made it clear even before becoming president that his priority was Egypt's stability rather than democratic ideals. It could take "20 to 25 years to achieve true democracy" in Egypt, Sisi said in early May.
Brotherhood needs 'strategy'
The crackdown has crippled the Brotherhood, which swept all elections after Mubarak's fall until Morsi's ouster, and triggered divisions within its ranks, according to analysts.
Officials accuse the movement of being implicated in militant attacks which they say have killed more than 500 security personnel since the July 2013 ouster of Morsi. "The challenge for the Brotherhood is not to allow internal divisions to translate into an organisational split," said Shadi Hamid, fellow at Brookings Institution's Centre for Middle East Policy.
The movement lacks a strategy to counter Sisi's "resilience" to stay in power and needs a long-term formula, he said. "They don't have any major strategy beyond protests, protests, protests, while waiting for the economy to suffer," said Hamid.
The pro-Morsi Anti-Coup Alliance has called for nationwide protests on Thursday under the slogan "We Demand Retribution" to mark the first anniversary of the crackdown.
The new authorities have succeeded in "destroying the status which the Brotherhood achieved" after Mubarak's ouster, said Ziad Akl, researcher at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
"Today their businesses are confiscated, journalists giving their side of the story are jailed ... The regime has succeeded in turning the Brotherhood into an illegitimate entity and forced it to go underground."–AFP
http://www.nation.com.pk/international/13-Aug-2014/year-after-cairo-carnage-sisi-turns-page-on-arab-spring
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ISIL to Turn Against Supporters Once Goals Achieved: Academic
Aug 13, 2014
The ISIL terrorists operating in Iraq and Syria will turn against their supporters once they achieve their goals, an academic tells Press TV.
“This ISIL group … they come into various regions and they are very nice for just a little while until they get what they want and then they turn against the people that formerly supported them,” William Beeman, professor at the University of Minnesota, said in an interview with Press TV on Tuesday.
He said that the group threatens even its supporters when it faces opposition to its interests.
“They seem to have no sense of proportion in their ambitions to try to take over the entire Islamic world,” Beeman said, adding “they are definitely making threats anytime that they feel their situation is being thwarted.”
The academic’s remarks came after the leader of the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group threatened to wage a war against the Turkish government, accusing Ankara of helping Iraq fight extremist groups.
The ISIL Takfiri militants took control of the city of Mosul in a lightning advance on June 10. The takeover was followed by the fall of the city of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad. The control of Tikrit was later retaken by the Iraqi army. The ISIL has vowed to continue its raid towards the capital Baghdad.
On August 4, Iraqi Justice Minister Hassan al-Shammari said Baghdad had plans to track the issue of foreign support for ISIL terrorists at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
More than a million people have been displaced in Iraq so far this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/13/375145/isil-to-turn-against-supporters/
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Suicide bomber attacks checkpoint near new Iraq PM's house
Aug 13, 2014
BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint near the Baghdad home of new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday, two police sources and local media said.
“The suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint that leads to the prime minister's house,” said one of the police sources.
There was no word on casualties. Officials in Abadi's office were not immediately available for comment on the attack. One official said: “We are in a meeting”.
Iraq's president nominated Abadi, a low-key figure, as prime minister, unlike his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki, widely regarded as an authoritarian and sectarian ruler.
Maliki rejected calls by Sunnis, Kurds, some Shias, power broker Iran and the United States to step aside for a less polarising figure who is capable of uniting Iraqis against Islamic State insurgents who seized large sections of the country.
Although Maliki condemned the appointment of Abadi and said he would “fix the problem”, he appeared to back down, urging security forces to stay out of politics.
Iraq has slipped back into the levels of bloodshed not seen since sectarian civil war, which peaked in 2006-2007 under American occupation.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1125091/suicide-bomber-attacks-checkpoint-near-new-iraq-pms-house
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Muslim bloc condemns Israel's 'war crimes'
Aug 13, 2014
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation yesterday condemned "war crimes" by Israel in Gaza and urged a meeting of donors on financing reconstruction in the enclave devastated by a month-long war.
In a statement after a ministerial meeting, the second on Gaza in three days, the OIC said that "in the liveliest terms" the meeting condemned Israel, "the occupying force, for war crimes it doesn't stop committing in the Palestinian territories."
"Israel should immediately cease its aggression against the Palestinian people and shoulder political and legal responsibility for war crimes," the statement said.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said in a speech to the meeting: "Israel should realise that peace is the only option to survive."
Full report at:
http://www.thedailystar.net/world/muslim-bloc-condemns-israels-war-crimes-36912
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ISIL calls for blood donations in Mosul: Report
Aug 13, 2014
The ISIL terrorists have urged the residents of the Iraqi city of Mosul to donate blood as the militants’ casualties are on the rise, a report say.
According to Rûdaw TV channel, the Takfiri group’s call came after an increase in the number of the wounded among the ISIL militants in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces backed by the Iraqi air force have inflicted heavy losses on the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in some areas in northern Iraq.
The local channel in northern Iraq also said that the ISIL Takfiri group has established bases for blood donation in a number of mosques in the city.
The TV channel further noted that the terrorist group uses children and youths as human shields in its bases in the city to prevent Iraqi airstrikes on them.
The Takfiri group has also mobilized all of its forces in Mosul to deploy them to battle fields in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Meanwhile, Kurdish Peshmerga forces thwarted an attack by ISIL militants on Mahmoudieh village in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
According to Iraqi media reports, Kurdish Peshmerga forces earlier also foiled attacks carried out by ISIL militants on two villages in the Tuz Khurmatu district in northern Iraq. A number of ISIL Takfiri militants were reportedly killed in the clashes while the terrorists were forced to retreat to another village in the region.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/13/375120/isil-calls-for-blood-donations-in-mosul/
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Islamic State sought to turn Lebanon into Iraq — army chief
12 August 2014
BEIRUT: Islamic State insurgents who seized a Lebanese border town this month planned to turn Lebanon into another Iraq by unleashing sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites that would have endangered the nation’s very existence, Lebanon's army commander said.
General Jean Kahwaji told Reuters that radical Islamists on the march in Iraq and Syria still posed a “great threat” to Lebanon, which was torn apart by a 1975-90 civil war and has been badly buffeted by the Syrian conflict.
“The army hit them and continues to, smashing their plan,” said Kahwaji, 37 of whose soldiers were either killed or captured in the battle for the border town of Arsal. “But this does not mean that the story is over,” he said.
“They might think of another plan and try another time to cause Sunni-Shiite strife,” said Kahwaji, 60.
The Aug. 2 attack marked the most serious spillover to date of Syria’s three-year-old civil war into Lebanon and the first time a foreign invader has taken Lebanese territory since Israel entered the south during its 2006 war with Hezbollah.
Battle-hardened in Syria, the insurgents were members of radical Sunni groups including the Islamic State, which has redrawn the borders of the Middle East by seizing territory in Syria and Iraq. The group’s advance has accelerated since it seized the Iraqi city of Mosul in June.
Dozens of the militants were killed in Arsal during a five-day battle with the Lebanese army, according to army estimates. The militants withdrew into the mountainous border zone last Thursday, taking with them 19 captive soldiers.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/news/featured/615111
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Islamic State advances in Syria's Aleppo province: NGO
Aug 13, 2014
BEIRUT: Jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group have taken control of a string of villages in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the extremist group had managed to seize the six villages north of the city of Aleppo, and not far from the border with Turkey.
Fighting was ongoing for control of another village in the area, Arshaf, the group said.
The Observatory said the group took the areas “after fierce clashes with rebels and Islamist battalions that remained in the area after Al Nusra Front and other Islamist battalions withdrew at the end of July”.
Al Nusra Front, which is Al Qaeda's Syrian branch, joined moderate and Islamist rebel groups in a coalition that began fighting the Islamic State in January.
But in recent weeks, Al Nusra has also fought other rebel groups, further complicating the status of the armed opposition in Syria.
The Observatory said the IS capture of the villages was a strategic prize, because it would open the way for the group to attack the towns of Marea and Azaz.
Marea is a stronghold of the Islamic Front, a coalition of Islamist groups that is among those fighting against IS.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1125086/islamic-state-advances-in-syrias-aleppo-province-ngo
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Southeast Asia
'Islamic State' Poses 'Serious Threat' To Asia's Muslim Countries
12.08.2014
Authorities apprehended Afif Abdul Majid, a leader of the hard line Islamist group, Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) in Bekasi, West Java on August 9. Indonesian National Police spokesman Ronny Sompie said Afif was arrested for allegedly being involved in financing the activities of Ubaid, a terrorism suspect, in Aceh in 2010, according to the Jakarta Post.
The spokesman was also quoted as saying that the JAT leader had declared his intention to join the militant organization 'Islamic State' (IS), which has recently taken control of vast swathes of Iraq and Syria. Formerly known as ISIS, the group has been banned by the Indonesian government but the country's counterterrorism agency say Indonesians are still being lured into extremist activities, according to Channel NewsAsia. Moreover, a jihadist recruitment video has sparked public debate in Indonesia about how to counter the influence of the militant organization.
The video shows an Indonesian fighter making an impassioned appeal for compatriots to join the jihadist cause abroad. Both the government and religious leaders have spoken out against the "Islamic State" and warned that it is a threat to the country.
Rodger Shanahan, an expert on international relations at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, says in a DW interview that while there has been some pro-IS activity in Indonesia, the population is aware of the government position and IS followers are very much on the periphery of Indonesian Islam. He adds, however, that the group poses a serious threat to the region, especially in Muslim-majority countries.
DW: How widespread is the "Islamic State" in Asia, especially in Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia?
Shanahan: IS itself has not set up operations in the region. Rather, it has set itself up as a group to which putative Asian jihadists can join. Its influence has been extremely limited however, particularly given the size of Indonesia's Muslim population.
The group's extremist viewpoint tends to be at odds with mainstream Asian Islam, and the Indonesian authorities in particular are wary of the security threat of radical Islam after their experiences with Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesia-based clandestine terrorist network formed in the early 1990s.
Full report at:
http://www.dw.de/islamic-state-poses-serious-threat-to-asias-muslim-countries/a-17847370
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Indonesia can be example of ‘peaceful’ Islam: US senators
August 13 2014
The US wanted Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world, which has recently announced a ban on Indonesian support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) movement, to be example of a “peaceful” Islam amid such a threat, two US senators said here on Tuesday.
Senators John McCain and Sheldon Whitehouse — who have been in Jakarta for the last two days as a part of a trip to Southeast Asia — met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Office, where they discussed the growing threat of ISIL in the Middle East.
“[We] hope peaceful existence and moderate Islam [in Indonesia] can be transmitted throughout the Middle East and other parts of the world,” McCain told a press conference after the meeting. “We hope other nations and other people will follow that example.”
Cautions about the possible influence of ISIL’s radical Islamists who want to recreate a medieval-style caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria — increased across the archipelago on Monday, including in Bali, as well as Central Sulawesi, which was once ravaged by communal conflict.
The National Police have arrested a number of suspected terrorists and raided alleged ISIL supporters on the back of the government’s recent pledge to curb support for the group in the country.
As many as 56 Indonesians have become ISIL fighters in Syria and Iraq, three of whom have died.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/13/ri-can-be-example-peaceful-islam-us-senators.html
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Sons, Top Aides Abandon Ba’asyir over ISIL, Form New Jihadist Group
August 13 2014
Terrorist convict Abu Bakar Ba’asyir is set to lose his long-held position as the region’s spiritual leader of a terrorist network after expelling his sons and top aides from his organization, Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), following their refusal to support the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS.
Disenchanted by their father’s support for ISIL, Abdul “Iim” Rohim and Rosyid Ridho have formed a new jihadist group, called Jamaah Ansharusy Syariah (JAS), to rival JAT in recruiting followers to fight for the full implementation of Sharia.
“Our father has said that anyone refusing to support ISIL should step aside. Sad to say, we’re among those that see that our presence [in JAT] is no longer wanted,” Iim told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
During a pledge of allegiance held on Monday at the haj dormitory in Bekasi, West Java, former JAT chairman Mochammad Achwan was elected as the new group’s leader, while Iim was made chairman of the group’s Sharia council.
The group boasts of having 2,000 members in Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, West Nusa Tenggara and Bengkulu.
“For the sake of our future propagation, it is in our best interests to form a new organization that has no hierarchical links to Ustadz Abu [Ba’asyir’s nickname],” said Iim.
Abdul “Iim” Rohim. JP/Hasyim
While indicating his grave disappointment to his father, Iim said he remained in contact with Ba’asyir but only for personal affairs.
Ba’asyir is serving a 15-year prison sentence for terror offenses in the maximum-security Pasir Putih prison in Nusakambangan, an island off the coast of Cilacap, Central Java.
After a string of denials, Ba’asyir, along with several of his followers finally pledged the ba’iat [oath of allegiance] to ISIL’s leader, Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi, in his prison in mid-July, according to Achwan.
Ba’asyir’s expectation that performing the ba’iat would encourage his followers to do the same turned out to be short-lived, as only a few senior JAT officials and JAT’s Banten branch followed suit.
A source within Ba’asyir’s inner-circle said that Ba’asyir had initially expected his support for ISIL to attract more young followers into his camp and help curtail his diminishing power in the jihadist movement.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/13/sons-top-aides-abandon-ba-asyir-over-isil-form-new-jihadist-group.html
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Clerics reluctant to disclaim ISIL ideology
August 13 2014
A group of hard-line clerics have called on Muslims in Indonesia not to support the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), accusing the militant rebels of promoting a hidden agenda that has tarnished the image of Islam.
Speaking at a discussion on Monday evening, former commander of the now defunct Laskar Jihad paramilitary group, Ja’far Umar Thalib, said Indonesian Muslims should be wary of news regarding ISIL from Western sources and recommended seeking alternative views regarding the conflict in the Middle East.
“We can’t rely on foreign media for information that is related to the interests of Muslims. In this era of globalization, it is possible for us to contact clerics or other Muslims for updates on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” said Ja’far, who played a role in the bloody conflict between Muslims and Christians in Maluku province in the late 1990s.
Muslim cleric Abu Rusdan, who was sentenced in 2004 to three-and-a-half years in jail for harboring one of the perpetrators of the 2002 Bali bombings, also called on Muslims in the country to be cautious about ISIL, warning the group could be the creation of the local media.
Rusdan, whose father Haji Moh. Falef from Kudus, Central Java, was arrested for his alleged involvement in commando jihad warfare in the early 1980s, questioned the local media’s decision to consistently place ISIL in the headlines.
“The ISIL-endorsed imamah [political leadership of Muslims] is actually not a basic foundation in Islam. So, there’s no need for the media and the public in general to glorify this [ISIL] issue,” he said.
Abu Rusdan said that Indonesia is the only country in Southeast Asia where ISIL receives so much attention, especially on social media.
ISIL, who also refer to themselves as the Islamic State (IS), is an extremist militant group that is currently engaged in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq with the hope of establishing a caliphate. The group recently gained wide recognition in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, when a video of two Indonesians endorsing the group went viral on the Internet.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/13/clerics-reluctant-disclaim-isil-ideology.html
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Terrorist behind multiple heists arrested
August 13 2014
A 37-year-old meatball vendor in Surakarta, Central Java, has been arrested for his alleged role in terrorist-linked robberies, National Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto said on Tuesday.
Agus said that the suspect, Riyanto, alias Adam, was arrested by the police’s Densus 88 counterterrorism squad in front of a building material store on Jl. Gotong Royong, Karanganyar, Surakarta, on Monday.
The police confiscated a handgun, 24 bullets, Rp 7 million (US$599) in cash and jihad books from him.
“He is a member of the West Indonesia Mujahidin led by Abu Roban, who was killed in a shoot-out with Densus 88 agents in Kendal, Central Java, last year,” he told a press conference at the police’s headquarters in South Jakarta.
A police investigation found that Riyanto, along with Abu Roban followers, allegedly spearheaded a robbery at a post office in Parung, Bogor, in West Java, in 2012, and stole Rp 80 million.
Full report at:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/13/terrorist-behind-multiple-heists-arrested.html
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Quit in protest, Muslim group tells McDonald’s, Starbucks staff
BY ZURAIRI
ARAUGUST 13, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 — Workers of fast food giant McDonald’s Malaysia and coffee chain Starbucks were urged to resign to protest their employers’ alleged links to Israel by a Muslim consumer group, which said the act was “nothing” compared to atrocities against the Palestinians.
According to Datuk Nadzim Johan of the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM), those who are reluctant to do so are only putting up “excuses” in their support for the Palestinians.
“We can find other jobs. Don’t tell me you’re happy working for those who are killing our comrades?” Nadzim told Malay Mail Online after an anti-Israel rally in Taman Tasik Titiwangsa here during the weekend.
“We don’t want to use any excuses in our struggle … Changing jobs is nothing. There is no issue here, I don’t even see it as an issue.”
He insisted that changing jobs is a minor effort compared to those who are sacrificing their lives in jihad, or holy struggle, in the Gaza.
“We have to return to our faith, that fortune comes from Allah. We have to be confident in our belief,” he added.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/quit-in-protest-muslim-group-tells-mcdonalds-starbucks-staff
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For Penang Chinese Muslims, a mosque to call their own
BY OPALYN MOK
AUGUST 13, 2014
GEORGE TOWN, Aug 13 — After six years, Penang’s Chinese Muslim community finally have a mosque of their own.
Located at the junction of Burmah Road and Khoo Suan Ewe Road, the 121-year-old Titi Papan Mosque is the first in the state to offer sermons in Chinese languages.
The small building which can fit roughly 50 people was built in 1893 for the Peranakan Jawi community.
The state government decided to set it aside for the Chinese Muslims recently after receiving applications from the minority community from 2008.
“The purpose of a Chinese mosque is to show the universal and multicultural root of Islam,” Penang religious affairs committee chairman Datuk Abdul Malik Abul Kassim said in a press conference at Komtar today.
He stressed that the state was not segregating its Muslim faithful when asked, “but we just want to show that Islam can be multi-ethnic and multi-cultural”.
Full report at:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/for-penang-chinese-muslims-a-mosque-to-call-their-own
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Pakistan
Hiz-e-Islami Pakistan Announces To Celebrate Independence Day
By Haleem Asad
TIMERGARA: The central chief of Hizb-e-Islami Pakistan Naseeb Rawan darvaish on Monday demanded of the PTI chief Imran Khan and PAT chief Tahir ul Qadari to end their agitation against the government as the country was passing through critical junction. Speaking at a news conference at the Timergara press club Mr Darvaish said that India, Israel and America at the moment wanted to destabilize democratic government in Pakistan in order to make India regional power in South Asia. He said the Independence Day on Aug, 14 should be celebrated with the hope and determination that Pakistan would be put on the path of democracy, peace, prosperity and development. The Hizb’s leader said that wrong message to the world was being conveyed through the Long March of Qadari and Azadi March of Imran Khan. “Our organization has been struggling for enforcement of the Islamic justice system, national integrity, peace and prosperity through peaceful efforts,” he said, adding the Hizb-e-Islami would hold demonstrations on Aug, 14 to celebrate the Independence Day.
http://www.dirnews.net/hiz-islami-pakistan-announces-celebrate-independence-day/
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PM to celebrate Independence Day with IDPs in Bannu
By Zahir Shah Sherazi
Aug 13, 2014
PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif would be celebrating Independence Day festivities in Bannu with those displaced as a result of the ongoing military operation in the North Waziristan tribal region.
Official sources said the prime minister will be present at the Independence Day ceremony which will be held at the Baka Khel camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Bannu.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said that Corps Commander Peshawar Lt-General Khalid Rabbani would be hoisting the national flag on Independence Day at the camp, while Prime Minister Sharif will join the celebrations with the IDPs later on.
The prime minister will be visiting Bannu at a time when the PTI will be marching on Islamabad to protest against alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1125082/pm-to-celebrate-independence-day-with-idps-in-bannu
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JI chief greets Tayyib Erdogan
August 13, 2014
LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq greeted Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in the presidential elections.
In a congratulatory message to Tayyip Erdogan, he said the news of his grand victory in the first direct presidential elections of his country had been heard with great pleasure in the entire Muslim world. “The Turkish people as well as the whole Muslim Ummah are pinning hope that Turkey would now be playing an effective role in the world politics.”
Full report at:
http://www.nation.com.pk/lahore/13-Aug-2014/ji-chief-greets-tayyib-erdogan
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No possibility of military intervention: Khawaja Asif
Aug 13, 2014
NEW YORK: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that the government’s relations with the military were “cordial and fine” and he did not see “any possibility of a military intervention”.
The defence minister was speaking in an interview to New York-based business news service Bloomberg.
Asif further said that the government and the military were in complete consensus and agreement on the country's foreign policy.
“We still have four years to go,” Asif told the news service, adding that Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) had “a legislative agenda to complete.”
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1125078/no-possibility-of-military-intervention-khawaja-asif
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Islamabad residents rise against city closure
Aug 13, 2014
ISLAMABAD: As the city is on the verge of a complete lockdown, the residents of Islamabad gathered outside the National Press Club on Tuesday to condemn both the government and the organisers of the marches for hindering their routine life and businesses. The protesters voiced their opinion against turning the city into a battlefield, claiming that Islamabad cannot host a million protesters. They said the country should focus on fighting the outlawed Taliban and politicians should not pitch the people against each other.
Human rights activist Zafarullah Khan said people had stocked up on edible items, which had disturbed the families’ budgets.
“Though most of the roads are open, there is still an apprehension that they may be closed at any time. The social life has been badly disturbed and it seems that Islamabad has become a jail because people prefer to stay at homes,” he said.
“Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chiefs have been threatening people and are not ready to give their date of return. Islamabad is a city of 1.5 million people, the city should not be blocked and this sort of issues should be resolved in the parliament,” he said.
Social activist Fouzia Saeed said that a separate place should be designated for the protests. “The lives of federal capital’s residents should not be disturbed because of these protests. We are fighting a war against Taliban, so our focus should be on the war and the internally displaced persons (IDPs),” she said.Yasser Chattha, an educationist, said a number of containers had been placed all over the city after being impounded by the police.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1125065/islamabad-residents-rise-against-city-closure
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Blast leaves 20 injured in Balochistan
By Syed Ali Shah
Aug 13, 2014
QUETTA: A blast in Quetta has injured 20 people including a policeman on Tuesday night, police said.
The Superintendent of Police Imran Qureshi, told Dawn.com that armed militants hurled a bomb at a shop in Prince Road area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan.
"The bomb exploded with a loud bang, causing panic among the people," he said.
The injured were rushed to nearby civil hospital for medical treatment where emergency was imposed to provide first aid to the injured. Qureshi said the blast also smashed the glass of nearby shops and markets in the area. The militants sped away on their motorcycle after the attack.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1124917/blast-leaves-20-injured-in-balochistan
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KP chief minister attacks Nawaz, Shahbaz first time
August 12, 2014
PESHAWAR – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak has accused the federal and Punjab governments of making people hostage in their homes and denying basic civic facilities like patrol and transport.
Addressing the PTI workers here, the chief minister said that citizens were also being arrested along with political workers to prevent them from participation in the long march. In his first open attack, Khattak said the governments of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif have been installed due to rigging of elections and they have collected concrete proof about it.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/12-Aug-2014/kp-chief-minister-attacks-nawaz-shahbaz-first-time
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Modi repeating baseless rhetoric against Pakistan- Foreign Office
August 13, 2014
Islamabad- Pakistan Foreign Office Wednesday refuted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “baseless rhetoric” against Islamabad during his visit to disputed Kashmir region a day earlier.
Tasneem Aslam, spokesperson of the FO, said that press reports of Modi’s accusations about proxy war against New Delhi are ‘most unfortunate’, especially as the leadership of Pakistan wishes to establish good neighbourly relations with India.
“Having lost the lives of 55,000 of its citizens as a result of terrorism; Pakistan is the biggest victim of the menace. The entire world has, time and again, acknowledged Pakistan’s unprecedented sacrifices, rendered by our valiant armed forces with over 5,000 soldiers having embraced Shahadat,” she said in a media release.
Full report at:
http://www.nation.com.pk/national/13-Aug-2014/modi-repeating-baseless-rhetoric-against-pakistan-foreign-office
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Former PM, Gilani says he would’ve welcomed Qadri, Imran in Islamabad
August 13, 2014
Gilani says he would’ve welcomed Qadri, Imran in Islamabad
MULTAN - Former Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has blamed the federal government for the prevailing political turmoil in the country, saying that he would have welcomed the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) long marches in Islamabad, had he been the prime minister.
Gilani, while speaking at a ceremony, said that that the Pakistan People’s Party government exhibited great patience during the long march of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
“I would have welcomed the Azadi march and Revolution march of PTI and PAT in Islamabad,” Gilani stated.
He feared that the rulers would lose the government due to their own mistakes. The former prime minister stated that protests and rallies could not put an end to a government. He advised Nawaz Sharif that he must keep his anger and emotions aside and then take decisions.
He suggested that the PM should strengthen the cabinet and keep away from the advisors who give him wrong advices.
Full report at:
http://www.nation.com.pk/national/13-Aug-2014/gilani-says-he-would-ve-welcomed-qadri-imran-in-islamabad
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Wives block husbands’ deployment against Boko Haram
13 August 2014
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria: Military wives in the restive Nigerian city of Maiduguri have taken to the streets this week, burning tires to prevent their husbands’ deployment to fight Boko Haram.
About 300 women and 500 children have for two days gathered at the gates of a military base in the Borno state capital, claiming that their spouses were ill-equipped to take on the militants.
Boko Haram has been waging a brutal insurgency since 2009 which has left thousands of people dead, despite a state of emergency imposed in three northeast states since May 2013 and a troop surge.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/news/world/615361
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UNSC threatens S Sudan leaders with sanctions
August 13, 2014
JUBA : UN Security Council envoys warned South Sudan's warring leaders Tuesday they would face sanctions if a civil war that has pushed the young nation to the brink of famine does not stop.
"The council has made it very clear: that it is prepared to impose consequences if there continue to be spoilers, if there continue to be people carrying out gross violations of human rights," US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said after meeting with President Salva Kiir.
Full report at:
http://www.nation.com.pk/international/13-Aug-2014/unsc-threatens-s-sudan-leaders-with-sanctions
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South Asia
Attacks kill Nato soldier, three Afghan policemen
Aug 13, 2014
KABUL: A roadside bombing killed three Afghan policemen in the country's south on Tuesday while a Nato service member died in an attack in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.
The three policemen died when their patrol vehicle struck a bomb planted along the road in the district of Bahrami Shahid in southern Ghazni province, according to the province's deputy police chief, Asadullha Ensafi.
A fourth policeman was wounded in the attack, Ensafi said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing but Ensaf blamed the Taliban, who frequently target the country's security forces.
Separately, Nato said one of its service members was killed in an attack in the east, also on Tuesday.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1124893/attacks-kill-nato-soldier-three-afghan-policemen
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Ghani rejects sharing power if he wins Afghan presidency
August 13, 2014
KABUL: Ashraf Ghani, one of two candidates competing to become Afghanistan’s president by next month, said Tuesday that the deadline for finishing an election recount is slipping and that a U.S.-brokered agreement for the rivals to form a joint government afterward does not mean the winner will fully share power with the loser.
Speaking to foreign journalists at his fortified compound in the capital, Ghani appeared to be trying to tamp down a surge of discontent among his supporters and allies, many of whom are reportedly upset that he agreed under U.S. pressure to accept a full recount from the country’s troubled runoff election in June and form a “unity” government with his rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
On Friday, Ghani restated those pledges during a visit by Secretary of State John F. Kerry. But on Tuesday, he sought to clarify that he has not agreed to a power-sharing agreement with Abdullah. He said the winner will appoint the loser “by decree” as a chief executive to serve “at the discretion of the president.” Abdullah has demanded more authority if he loses.
Ghani also said Tuesday that while he “hoped” the audit could be done in time to have the new president attend a NATO summit in early September, no inauguration date has been set because of “technical uncertainties” with the slow-going audit of 8.1 million votes. He said both he and Abdullah will attend the summit, considered key to winning new foreign aid for the ailing Afghan economy.
Ghani finished ahead in the runoff but accepted the recount after Abdullah, who came in first in an initial round of presidential voting in April, charged that there had been massive fraud. Ghani was careful Tuesday not to claim victory. But he spoke in a distinctly presidential tone as he laid out a wide-ranging policy agenda for the next government, from banking and anti-corruption initiatives to the rights of women and Taliban prisoners.
“There will be no honeymoon,” said Ghani, 64, a cerebral former finance minister and World Bank official, describing the Afghan economy as being “in deep recession” approaching depression. He said running for president “appealed to me precisely because it was so difficult.”
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/region/13-Aug-2014/ghani-rejects-sharing-power-if-he-wins-afghan-presidency
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How an Extremist Buddhist Network Is Sowing Hatred across Asia
Aug. 8, 2014
Saffron-clad monks have been instrumental in anti-Muslim riots in Burma and Sri Lanka, and have their eyes on sowing discord farther afield
During her long career as a teacher, Nafeesathiek Thahira Sahabdeen prided herself on treating children of all backgrounds the same. That didn’t help her on June 15, though, when a radical Buddhist mob ransacked her home in Dharga Town, a thriving trading hub in southwest Sri Lanka. The 68-year-old Muslim was left “penniless, homeless and heartbroken,” she says. “I thought I would die. I was so afraid.”
The anti-Muslim violence that ravaged Dharga Town, along with the nearby tourist enclave of Aluthgama, peppered with five-star resorts, has been attributed to a burgeoning Buddhist supremacy movement that has embarked on an organized campaign of religious hate.
Sahabdeen speaks to TIME in the ransacked living room of her gutted home. The ceiling fan lies in splinters, the sink ripped from the wall, a portrait of her long-deceased father torn in two. She was alone at prayer when around 200 young men “armed with knives, iron bars, chains” arrived at her home just after dusk. “I could hear them smashing, smashing, smashing,” she says, eyes welling up and fingers clasped together in supplication. “All around were flames.”
Touring her scorched neighborhood, the bevy of gutted buildings and roofless homes indicates Sahabdeen actually fared better than many. Three people died in the violence, all Muslims shot by police shepherding a 7,000-strong mob, claim locals, while another two people had legs amputated after receiving gunshot wounds. At least 80 more were injured.
What sparked this bloodletting between two communities with virtually no historical grievances? Throughout the ashes of Dharga Town, scrawled graffiti reading “BBS Did This” leaves little doubt where the victims lay blame.
BBS, or Bodu Bala Sena, otherwise known as Buddhist Power Force, is a Buddhist supremacist group accused of stirring sectarian hatred in Sri Lanka. Led by a monk, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, BBS accuses Sri Lanka’s Muslims of threatening the nation’s Buddhist identity, and enjoys support at high levels. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the President’s brother who also serves as Secretary of Defense, has been an outspoken supporter of BBS in the past.
“BBS echoes the sympathies and the prejudices of the majority Buddhist population,” says Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council NGO. “So the views have a certain resonance, and the media gives voice to that, and the counter view is toned down or even censored.”
The June 15 violence was sparked by an innocuous traffic dispute between a Muslim man and a Buddhist monk. Immediately afterward, Buddhist extremists descended on the monk and urged him to report the matter to the authorities. When the police declined to take action, a rally was organized. Gnanasara was there, addressing the mob. “If a Muslim or any other foreigner puts so much as a hand on a Sinhala person — let alone a monk — it will be the end of all of them!” he bellowed to raucous cheers. When the mob approached Muslim-majority Dharga Town, some people started throwing stones. This was all the provocation needed for a night of bedlam. In the aftermath of the riots, 135 people were arrested, say officials. To date, no one has been charged.
Gnanasara denies that BBS organized the march and blames the “uncontrolled behavior of some of the extreme Muslim communities in the area” for the ensuing bloodshed during a phone interview with TIME. But even before his firebrand oration, portents of trouble were clear; on the Facebook post to announce the gathering, one of the first comments asked, “Shall I bring a can of gasoline?”
So why is Sri Lanka, a nation of 20 million that for three decades was decimated by a vicious civil war between the Buddhist state and largely Hindu Tamil minority, suddenly gripped by anti-Muslim hatred? Historically, the island’s Muslim community had always been a staunch supporter of the Sinhala-Buddhist political establishment, as it similarly suffered at the hands of the LTTE rebel group, more commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, who expelled all Muslims from Northern provinces.
“Prejudices are growing because there is a small but influential group of extremist Buddhists who are having a relatively free run and are able to articulate very national sentiments and highlight the insecurity of the Sinhalese,” says Perera, himself a Sinhalese Christian.
The Sri Lankan experience is far from unique. In Burma, officially known as Myanmar, just 1,000 miles (1,600 km) across the Bay of Bengal, an extremist Buddhist movement called 969 is waging a parallel war, using identical tactics as BBS. (Both groups rose to prominence around 2012. Its leader is also a monk, Wirathu. When anti-Muslim riots erupted in the central Burmese town of Meiktila in April last year, clashes that killed dozens and displaced thousands, he arrived in the middle of the carnage, although later claimed to have tried to halt the bloodshed. Then, during last month’s communal riots in Mandalay, where Wirathu’s monastery is based, he fanned the flames through an incendiary Facebook post warning of Muslims “armed to teeth with swords and spears” preparing a jihad against local Buddhists.
Both he and Gnanasara make virtually identical xenophobic claims about Muslims converting Buddhist women and luring them into unholy polygamous unions, and using their corrupt business acumen to swindle hard-working Buddhists. “[Muslims] are breeding so fast, and they are stealing our women, raping them,” Wirathu told TIME’s Hannah Beech last year. “They would like to occupy our country, but I won’t let them. We must keep Myanmar Buddhist.” (In fact, neither Burma nor Sri Lanka has seen a Muslim population explosion).
BBS speeches are very similar. Halal certification is apparently funding al-Qaeda and Hamas; Islamic blood sacrifices are summoning forth “ghosts and demons”; Muslim perverts are using burqas as disguises to carry out licentious deeds; and, most bizarrely, the Quran requires Muslims to spit three times into any food or beverage served to a person of another faith.
“I think they are learning from each other,” says Hilmy Ahmed, vice president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka. “It started in Myanmar, but Gnanasara has perfected it.”
Certainly, the similarities between these nations are striking. Both Sri Lanka and Burma have large, state-backed Theravada Buddhist majorities making up about 70% to 80% of the population. Both nations have Muslim communities, of about 10% of the population, that historically backed the establishment. Both are going through the aftermath of decades-long civil conflicts against other ethnic minorities — the Hindu Tamils in Sri Lanka; a smattering of mainly Christian rebel groups in Burma. Now both boast extremist Buddhist movements led by rabble-rousing saffron-clad clerics.
Full report at:
http://time.com/3090990/how-an-extremist-buddhist-network-is-sowing-hatred-across-asia/
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India
No special provision for citizenship to Hindus from Pakistan
Aug 13, 2014
NEW DELHI: Hindus who have migrated to India from Pakistan will have to go through the usual process to get Indian citizenship and no special provisions are being made for this, the government said on Wednesday.
Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha, minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju said the migrants are being given long term visa.
"The process of getting citizenship in India is long. We are giving the migrants long term visa," Rijiju said.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-special-provision-for-citizenship-to-Hindus-from-Pakistan/articleshow/40174954.cms
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308 communal incidents till June this year
Aug 13, 2014
NEW DELHI: A total of 308 communal incidents were reported in the country in the first six months of this year of which 56 have taken place in Uttar Pradesh, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said 51 communal incidents have taken place in Maharashtra till June this year, 44 communal incidents have taken place in Karnataka, 33 incidents have taken place in Rajasthan, 32 incidents in Bihar and 26 incidents have taken place in Gujarat.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/308-communal-incidents-till-June-this-year/articleshow/40186560.cms
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Pak violates ceasefire again, fires at Indian posts in Jammu
Aug 13, 2014
JAMMU: Pakistani troops fired heavily on border out posts (BoPs) and villages along the International Border in Jammu district on Tuesday night, forcing the BSF to retaliate.
"Pakistani Rangers resorted to heavy firing with mortar shells, small arms and automatic weapons on five BoPs and civilian areas along the IB in Arnia-RS Pura areas in Jammu district from 9.45pm late last night," a BSF officer said here on WEdnesday.
BSF troops guarding the borderline retaliated to the Pakistani firing which resulted in night-long exchanges.
Full report at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pak-violates-ceasefire-again-fires-at-Indian-posts-in-Jammu/articleshow/40164041.cms
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Mideast
Truce holds as Cairo talks turn to Gaza blockade
Aug 13, 2014
JERUSALEM: The skies over Gaza remained calm on the second day Tuesday of a 72-hour truce as negotiators in Cairo prepared to tackle the thorny issue of the Israeli blockade.
As Gaza's residents ventured out to try to piece together their battered lives, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were to sit down for a second day of indirect talks aimed at finding a durable end to the five-week confrontation.
But a senior Israeli official said there had been no progress so far, telling AFP there was still a long way to go to reach an agreement to end the conflict, which erupted on July 8 when Israel launched military operations to halt cross-border rocket fire from Gaza.
The fighting has claimed the lives of 1,940 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 67 people on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers. “The gaps are still very wide. There has not been progress in the negotiations,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A first day of talks on Monday had lasted nearly 10 hours, a Palestinian official told AFP in Cairo, describing the negotiations as “serious” but saying Tuesday's meetings would be crucial.
Israel had insisted on the demilitarisation of Hamas, the de facto power in Gaza, but the Palestinians had refused, he said.
“(Tuesday's) meeting should be the most important,” he said, adding that the talks would tackle core issues such as Israel's eight-year blockade of Gaza, which the Palestinians want lifted. Talks are expected to resume around noon (0900 GMT) and last into the evening, another Palestinian official said.
Hamas wants Israel to lift the blockade it imposed on Gaza in 2006 before it will stop rocket attacks. Israel has said it will only facilitate Gaza's reconstruction if the enclave is fully disarmed.
In the north of the tiny Gaza Strip, which has a crowded population of 1.8 million, several families could be seen picking through the rubble of their badly-damaged homes not far from the Erez crossing.
As residents of one apartment uncovered remains of a large missile, others outside brewed coffee on a fire made with paper and wood collected from the ruins. Some even brought breakfast, clearing a space to sit and eat among piles of rubble, broken furniture and twisted steel.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1124887/truce-holds-as-cairo-talks-turn-to-gaza-blockade
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‘Israel severely abuses Palestinian prisoners’
Aug 13, 2014
The Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs says Israeli forces have brutalized the Palestinians they detained during their recent offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip.
“Israeli authorities have detained 26 Gazans since the beginning of its offensive [in early July],” the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Two Palestinian detainees had been “severely beaten and abused” by the Tel Aviv regime forces after they were arrested in the town of Khuza’a in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the ministry said.
The two Palestinian detainees, Moemen al-Naggar and Eissa al-Naggar, have told their Palestinian lawyers that after Tel Aviv’s airstrikes on the town, Israeli forces raided their home with “rabid dogs” and took them to an unknown place on July 23.
The two detainees have also said that they were denied any contact with their families during their detention.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/13/375143/israel-brutalizes-palestine-detainees/
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OIC must help restore Palestinians’ rights: Iran minister
Aug 13, 2014
Iran’s Minister of Culture Ali Jannati has decried international bodies’ inaction on the Israeli regime’s atrocities in Gaza, calling on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to help restore Palestinians’ rights.
“Considering [the fact] that the Palestinian issue is the most important priority of the Islamic Ummah and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, therefore the organization is expected to take effective measures to remove and ease the sufferings and problems of the Palestinian people,” Jannati said in an emergency ministerial meeting of the OIC executive committee in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.
The OIC has great potential to play a more active role in order to help people in the besieged Gaza Strip and help restore the absolute rights of oppressed Palestinians, he added.
He reaffirmed Iran’s readiness to help the Palestinian people, particularly in the blockaded enclave, and said Tehran is prepared to dispatch humanitarian aid including foodstuff and medicine to the Gazans as soon as possible.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/13/375123/oic-must-restore-palestinians-rights/
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Terror tunnel found near Yemen’s former president home
Aug 13, 2014
SANAA: Yemeni authorities are investigating a tunnel dug near ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s residence, the official news agency reported on Tuesday, as his party charged it was an assassination plot.
Former strongman Saleh ruled Yemen for 33 years before being forced out in February 2012 and replaced by his deputy, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, under a UN- and Gulf-sponsored deal.
“The Supreme Security Committee received a complaint on Monday about a tunnel and excavation works near the residence of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh,” Saba reported, quoting a committee official.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1124993/terror-tunnel-found-near-yemens-former-president-home
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Temporary Gaza truce continues
13 August 2014
CAIRO: A temporary Israel-Hamas truce held for a second day Tuesday as marathon, indirect negotiations on a lasting cease-fire and a long-term solution for the battered Gaza Strip resumed in Cairo.
A similar, three-day truce collapsed on Friday when militants resumed rocket fire on Israel after the sides were unable to make any headway in the Egypt-hosted talks. Hamas is seeking an end to an Israeli-Egyptian border blockade of the Gaza Strip while Israel wants Hamas to disarm.
The Israeli military said no incidents between the two sides were registered overnight — neither Hamas rocket fire at Israel nor Israeli strikes in Gaza. The monthlong Gaza war has killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, Palestinian and UN officials say. In Israel, 67 people have been killed, all but three of them soldiers, officials there say. The Israeli delegation returned to the Egyptian capital on Tuesday after a trip back to Israel.
A senior Israeli official suggested that the first day of talks had not gone well.
“The gaps between the sides are big and there is no progress in the negotiations,” he said.
A member of the Palestinian delegation said that in Monday’s talks, Israel had offered a number of concrete measures aimed at improving life for Gaza’s 1.8 million residents, including an increase in the number of daily goods trucks crossing into the territory from Israel, and the free transfer of funds by the Palestinian Authority to Hamas-affiliated government employees in Gaza. Also included in the purported Israeli package, the official said, was an easing in transit conditions between Gaza and the West Bank and an eventual quadrupling — to 19 kilometers — of the sea area in which Gaza fishing vessels are permitted to operate.
Full report at:
http://www.arabnews.com/news/middle-east/615396
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Syria paying price for countering Israel: Iran MP
Aug 13, 2014
A senior Iranian lawmaker says Syria is paying the price for supporting the Palestinian resistance against Israel.
“The Syrian people are paying the price for supporting the Palestinian resistance and countering the Zionist regime,” said Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran’s Majlis.
The legislator made the remarks in a meeting with a number of Syrian political and social elite as well as academics in Tehran on Tuesday.
He said that Iran takes pride in backing Syria, adding that the resistance of the Syrian nation and government is the key to the Arab country’s invincibility.
Boroujerdi also said that national unity and solidarity among all Syrian ethnic and religious groups will guarantee the future of the Arab country.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian lawmaker also condemned the massacre of defenseless people by the terrorist ISIL group in Iraq and Syria.
In the meeting, a number of Syrian lawmakers also praised Iran’s support for the Syrian people.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/13/375129/syria-paying-price-for-countering-israel/
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North America
Clinton calls Obama to clarify Syria remarks
12 Aug 2014
Hillary Clinton, a likely contender for the White House in 2016, has called US President Barack Obama to clarify that controversial remarks she made in an interview were not intended to attack him, her spokesman said.
In an interview published by The Atlantic magazine on Sunday, former Secretary of State Clinton identified the US choice not to intervene early in Syria's civil war as a "failure."
"Earlier today, the secretary called President Obama to make sure he knows that nothing she said was an attempt to attack him, his policies, or his leadership," Clinton spokesman, Nick Merrill, said in a statement.
"While they've had honest differences on some issues, including aspects of the wicked challenge Syria presents, she has explained those differences in her book and at many points since then."
Clinton, also a former first lady and senator from New York, served as Obama's secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
Since then she has been touring the country giving a series of lucrative speeches and promoting her memoir, "Hard Choices."
She will be on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, to sign copies of her book on Wednesday. Obama is vacationing there, and the two are expected to see each other Wednesday night.
"Like any two friends who have to deal with the public eye, she looks forward to hugging it out when they see each other tomorrow night," Merrill said.
Full report at:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/08/clinton-calls-obama-clarify-syria-remarks-201481222125457882.html
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Payment of CSF to Pakistan as per schedule: Olson
August 13, 2014
ISLAMABAD: United States (US) Ambassador to Pakistan Richard G Olson on Tuesday informed Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar the reimbursement of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) was on track and payments would be made according to the schedule.
He made this assurance during a meeting. US Ambassador informed the Dar the reimbursement of CSF was on track. Both the sides discussed progress made so far on economic cooperation between the two countries and expressed their satisfaction.
Ambassador assured Dar the US would continue to build economic relations and partnership with Pakistan with the aim to bring development and prosperity in the region. He expressed US’s keen interest in relief and rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in North Waziristan.
He appreciated the decision of the government for allowing live cattle import from the countries where there were minimum risk of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) infected cattle.
He said the US investors were actively participating in divestment of government of Pakistan’s shares in public sector enterprises.
Dar informed Olson the concerned departments for the rehabilitation plans would brief diplomatic and donor community in Islamabad.
Full report at:
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/business/13-Aug-2014/payment-of-csf-to-pakistan-as-per-schedule-olson
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Europe
UK 'terrified' of intervention in Iraq: Ex-general
Aug 13, 2014
The British government is “terrified” of another military intervention in Iraq ahead of the 2015 elections in the UK, a former top general says.
Former British General Richard Shirreff, who retired from the army last week and was NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander in Europe until March 2014, made the remark on Tuesday.
“We have politicians who want to posture, who make a lot of noise but do not have any stick,” said Shirreff in an interview with Times of London.
“This government is terrified of any form of intervention involving boots on the ground before an election next year,” he emphasized.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense and Prime Minister David Cameron’s office have declined to comment on Shirreff’s remarks.
Full report at:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/13/375144/uk-terrified-of-iraq-intervention/
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Putin vows to boost arms sales to Egypt
Aug 13, 2014
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday promised Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to speed up the delivery of billions of dollars in arms and invited Cairo to forge free trade ties with a Moscow-led customs bloc.
The two strong-willed leaders have developed a warm working relationship since Putin gave his backing to Sisi’s presidential run during the Egyptian’s visit to Moscow in February.
Russian television showed the former field marshal descending the ramp of his plane and immediately being greeted with a display of heavy tanks and armoured vehicles assembled on the apron of the Sochi airport.
Full report at:
http://www.dawn.com/news/1124989/putin-vows-to-boost-arms-sales-to-egypt
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Russian convoy in Ukraine despite West's warnings
August 13, 2014
Russian convoy in Ukraine despite West\'s warnings
MOSCOW: A Russian convoy of 280 trucks carrying "humanitarian supplies" was headed to conflict-torn east Ukraine on Tuesday, despite warnings from the West that Moscow could be using the mission as a guise to sneak in troops.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had on Monday justified the mission citing "catastrophic consequences" of Ukraine's offensive against insurgents in eastern Ukraine, and said Moscow was working in collaboration with the Red Cross.
But the international aid agency said on Tuesday there was still no agreement on the issue and France insisted such convoys should not be allowed to cross the border unless they met strict conditions, including Red Cross approval. Suspicions about Russia's intentions are running high in the West which has accused Moscow of fanning the insurgency in eastern Ukraine by supplying pro-Russian separatists with arms.
Russia firmly denies the allegations but NATO says Moscow has massed 20,000 troops along the Ukrainian border. Kiev has put the number at 45,000.
As wrangling continued over potential aid delivery, besieged rebel-held cities warned of a looming humanitarian disaster as fierce fighting left residents without power, running water or fuel.
Medical and food supplies were also running low in the separatist bastions of Donetsk and Lugansk - both of which have been rocked by intense shelling in recent days.
Ukrainian forces have surrounded Donetsk, a rebel stronghold with a population of about one million, and the army said on Tuesday it was now ready to encircle Lugansk, another bastion with about 500,000 inhabitants.
Full report at:
http://www.nation.com.pk/international/13-Aug-2014/russian-convoy-in-ukraine-despite-west-s-warnings
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/over-100-killed-boko-haram/d/98551