Progressive Party of Maldives Vows to defend “national heroes” Who Destroyed Pakistani SAARC Monument
7 Malegaon blasts accused freed after 5 yrs
EU suppresses its own film on Afghan women prisons
Lahore High Court allows girl to go with husband
Kazakhstan dissolves parliament, calls election
Pakistan to open up market for India
Saudi prince says ample evidence of Iran plot
Protection of Minority Rights a Political Necessity: Justice Siddiqui
Australia PM pushes to end India uranium sales ban
Two women among three killed in rocket attack on house in Shahdadkot
US drone strike kills up to 18 in Pak: officials
US missiles kill seven terrorists in NWA
Army official, 20 militants killed in Kurram clash
Woman pleads guilty in US on Pakistan reactor scam
NATO container torched in Mastung
Vandalism of Pakistani monument damaging to Maldives’ image: FM
Sri Lankan SAARC monument vandalised
Ahmadinejad goes on the offensive against clerical opponents
Nawaz urges youth to help curb corruption
Arab League meeting to enforce Syria suspension
Syrian army defectors attack base near Damascus
Syria crackdown gets bloodier as isolation grows
Libya to announce new govt. on Sunday
Niger: Gaddafi son stays until UN lifts travel ban
End raids before Afghan deal, Karzai tells US
Afghan elders meet to discuss US ties, peace
Live up to citizens’ hope: UAE President
Teachers observe hunger strike in Quetta
More Afghans say nation heading wrong way: poll
Afghans seek voice after 30 years of conflict
US 'hip hop diplomats' detained in Islamabad
Panic as strong earthquake hits Indonesia’s Papua
UK prosecutors drop charges against Iqbal Mirchi
Syria releases 1,180 people held during protests
All for building culture of tolerance in country: Centre for Human Rights Education, Pak
Hundreds march in Hyderabad over Hindu killings, demand justice
Ayman al-Zawahri recalls 'human side' of Osama bin Laden
Compiled By New Age Islam News Bureau
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Progressive Party of Maldives vows to defend “national heroes” who destroyed Pakistani SAARC monument
By Ahmed Naish
November 15th, 2011
Protesters who toppled and then set fire to the controversial Pakistani SAARC monument in Hithadhoo, Addu City, are “national heroes”, the Progressive Party of Maldives has said, vowing to “do everything we can” to defend those arrested for attacking the allegedly “idolatrous” monument.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim ‘Wadde’, lawyer of PPM figurehead and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, said the party would provide legal assistance for the two men arrested for toppling the monument last week.
After a group of people set the monument on fire Monday night, the top half of the monument, containing a bust of Pakistan’s founder Mohamed Ali Jinah with an Islamic crescent moon symbol, was stolen last night, police have confirmed.
Waheed meanwhile contended at yesterday’s press conference that the monument was “illegal” and erected in violation of the constitution.
“No one should give any room to consider any kind of act against Islam lawful,” he said. “Even if it’s the People’s Majlis or any other state institution, no law that conflicts the religion of Islam can be made in the Maldives.”
The arrest of those who toppled and vandalized the monument was therefore “questionable,” Waheed continued, insisting that the arrests were “unlawful” as they were opposing “something the government did in violation of the constitution.”
Speaking at the press conference, MP Dr Afrashim Ali argued that damaging a monument erected in violation of the constitution and law could not be an illegal act.
Afrashim also contended that the ostensibly pagan symbols on the monument amounted to denial of the oneness of God, the central belief of monotheism.
“The most clear and important sign of a people’s shirk [denial of God] is erecting idols,” he explained, adding that displaying “idols” in the Maldives was “most definitely haram [forbidden].”
Afrashim claimed that the monument was “proof that President [Mohamed] Nasheed encourages the spread of other religions [in the Maldives].”
“We have always been saying he has been trying to introduce other religions in the country,” he said. “He has tried to freely sell alcohol in the country. He has also appealed to MPs to not include Islamic punishments in the law.
Meanwhile the religious conservative Adhaalath Party sent a letter to the Prosecutor General yesterday requesting the office to look into the matter and prosecute those responsible for erecting the monument.
The party claimed that the monument was erected by the government under a “plan to defile the beloved citizens of Addu and the beloved citizens of Pakistan.”
In a press statement on Sunday, Adhaalath Party called on the authorities to “immediately release” those arrested for toppling the monument.
http://minivannews.com/politics/ppm-vows-to-defend-national-heroes-who-destroyed-pakistani-saarc-monument-28217
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7 Malegaon blasts accused freed after 5 yrs
Mumbai: Nov 17 2011,
Seven of the nine men accused for their role in the 2006 serial bomb blasts in Malegaon were released on bail on Wednesday, five years after they were arrested and jailed in the case despite claiming to be innocent. The other two men were not freed as they are also suspects in the 7/11 serial train blasts in Mumbai.
A special MCOCA court had given them bail earlier this month after the NIA decided not to contest their fresh bail applications, claiming that there was not enough evidence against them. The September 2006 blasts in and around a mosque in Malegaon had killed 37 people and wounded hundreds as they worshipped on the holy day of Shab-e-Barat.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad had picked up the nine Muslim men from Malegaon within days saying they were SIMI members and had plotted and executed the bomb attacks. But even as the men languished in jail waiting for their trial to start, there was a dramatic turnaround late last year when Swami Aseemanand, arrested for his alleged role in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast, reportedly confessed that Hindu extremists were also behind the 2006 blasts.
That confession led to a fresh campaign to secure the release of the nine men, culminating in seven of them walking out of jail in Mumbai on Wednesday. As they walked out of prison to meet a large crowd of family and friends from Malegaon, all of them said they were thankful to Allah for their freedom.
“It has taken five long years for us to see this day when my brother, an established doctor, walked out of jail. The fight is only half won, we still have another struggle ahead, to get all the nine boys cleared of all the allegations,” said Mehsood Ahmed, the brother of one of the accused, Dr Salman Farsi. Farsi, an Unani doctor, ran a clinic in Mumbai’s Govandi suburb before his arrest.
On November 5, the Special MCOCA court had granted bail to Farsi, Shabir Ahmed, Noorulhuda Doha, Rais Ahmed, Javed Sheikh, Faroogue Ansari, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammed Ali and Asif Khan.
However, the last two are still behind bars as they are also accused in the 7/11 train blasts case.
“We have stood our ground and fought the system with only one motive — innocents should be released. This release will send out a clear message. No innocent Muslim can be falsely implicated in any case, ever again,” said Gulzar Ahmed Azmi, secretary of the Legal Cell of the Jamiat-Ulama-e-Maharashtra which fought for the bail of the nine men.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/7-malegaon-blasts-accused-freed-after-5-yrs/876949/2
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EU suppresses its own film on Afghan women prisons
Nov 16 2011,
Kabul : One woman is doing 12 years in prison for being the victim of a rape. The second is in jail for running from an abusive husband.
Both say they want to tell their stories, and yet a film about their plight has been scrapped, sparking controversy about how committed the international community is to fighting for women's rights in Afghanistan.
The documentary, "In-Justice: The Story of Afghan Women in Jail," was commissioned by the European Union, which has now decided not to release it.
The EU says the two women in the film would be in danger if it were shown. But critics say politics is also at work and accuse the EU of abandoning a women's rights project for fear it could damage its relationship with the Afghan government.
The film tells a disturbing tale. One of the women profiled is a 19-year-old who was raped and impregnated by a cousin. She was not married and got a 12-year sentence for having sex out of wedlock, a crime in Afghanistan. The judge told her she could get out of prison if she agreed to marry her rapist, who bribed his way out of jail. She refused. She gave birth to her daughter in prison and now expects that she will have to raise her there.
"There's a huge number of these cases coming into the prisons," said Heather Barr, a Human Rights Watch researcher working on a report on women in prison in Afghanistan.
Some of the most severe restrictions women faced under the Taliban, like a ban on attending schools and a compulsory male escort while venturing outside the home, were done away with when the radical Islamic movement was driven from power in 2001.
Afghanistan, however, remains a deeply conservative and male-dominated society, meaning women are still sold to husbands and rights enshrined in law are often ignored in practice.
About half of the 300-400 women jailed in Afghanistan are imprisoned for so-called "moral crimes" such as sex outside marriage, or running away from their husbands, according to reports by the UN and research organisations, even though the latter is not even a crime under Afghan law.\
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/876742/
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Lahore High Court allows girl to go with husband
November 16, 2011
LAHORE: Justice Rauf Ahmad Sheikh of the Lahore High Court (LHC) allowed a girl, Zahida of Shorkot, who had contracted a love marriage against her family’s wishes, to go with her husband, Nau Bahaar. Soon after Zahida and Nau Bahaar’s love marriage, the bride’s family lodged a kidnapping and theft case against Nau Bahar. The couple approached the court for the quashment of the case.
A member of the bride’s family saw the couple when they entered the court’s premises. Both men and women of the family attacked them. They kicked, punched and even tore Nau Bahar’s shirt, who was finally rescued by the security personnel of the high court. Zahida, meanwhile, fainted after witnessing the beating given to her husband.Later, when the proceedings commenced, Nau Bahaar informed the court about the incident. The judge disposed of the petition and directed the police to investigate into the matter purely on merit and without any fear or favour.Zahida also made a statement on oath that she contracted marriage with her free will and Nau Bahaar had not kidnapped her nor stolen anything from her house. staff report
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_9
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Kazakhstan dissolves parliament, calls election
November 16, 2011
The president of Kazakhstan has issued a decree to dissolve parliament and call a snap election that will likely pave the way for a multiparty legislature.
The decree published Wednesday says the election will be held on Jan. 15.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at a government Tuesday that the election should be brought forward, from August as had been scheduled, to avoid the campaigning season coinciding with an anticipated global economic downturn.
The vast oil-rich former Soviet nation’s parliament is currently occupied exclusively by Nazarbayev’s Nur Otan party.
Under new election rules approved in 2009, the party that wins the second largest number of votes will be allocated seats even if it fails to pass the 7 percent threshold normally needed to get into parliament.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2632402.ece?css=print
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Pakistan to open up market for India
16 NOVEMBER 2011
PTI, New Delhi
As a forward step for normalising trade ties with India, Pakistan yesterday agreed to open its market for a large number of Indian goods by February next year, but did not make any firm commitment on granting New Delhi the crucial MFN status.
"The move to full normalisation of trade relations shall be sequenced. In the first stage, Pakistan will transition from the current Positive List (PL) approach to a Negative List...A small Negative List (NL) shall be finalised and ratified by February, 2012.
"Thereafter, all items other than those on the Negative List shall be freely exportable from India to Pakistan," a joint statement said, after end of the two-day talks between commerce secretaries of the two countries.
For Full Report :
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=210340
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Saudi prince says ample evidence of Iran plot
Nov 16 2011,
Washington : Saudi Arabia's former ambassador to the US has said there was "ample and heinous" evidence that Iran was behind an alleged plot to kill the current Saudi envoy to Washington.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, who also once served as Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief, told reporters yesterday that if Tehran failed to prosecute Iranians linked to the plot, Riyadh may take the case to the United Nations.
"We have seen ample and heinous evidence in the uncovering of an assassination plot against the Saudi ambassador to the United States," he said, adding the evidence "indicates the depths of depravity and 'unreason' to which the Ahmadinejad regime has sunk. Fortunately, this plot was foiled."
Turki also said it was "inevitable" that Syria's president will step down in the face of growing popular opposition.
The Saudi prince is no longer a government official and said he was speaking as a private citizen. But he is an influential member of the royal family and serves as chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies.
For Full Report :
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/876663/
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Protection of Minority Rights a Political Necessity: Justice Siddiqui
Nov 16, 2011,
Speaking at the seminar, Syed Shahabuddin, President of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, said that Muslims should strengthen their relationship with the majority community and draw their attention towards their social, educational and political problems. He urged the government to ensure that the benefits of all minority schemes are made available to the minorities.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Faizan Mustafa, Vice Chancellor, National Law University Orissa, said that the democracy could only become fully functional if minorities are provided with special rights. He made it clear that the rights do not symbolize appeasement and instead are essential for the growth of pluralistic society. “The Indian Constitution grants special rights to minorities for fulfilling their cultural aspirations; by safeguarding the cultural and linguistic aspirations, the minorities can be actively associated in the process of nation making” he added. Maulana Fazlurrahim Mujaddadi, Rector, Jamiatul Hidaya, Jaipur, made a PowerPoint presentation and regretted that minorities are not being benefited by the welfare schemes of the central government.
For Full Report :
http://twocircles.net/2011nov15/protection_minority_rights_political_necessity_justice_siddiqui.html
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Australia PM pushes to end India uranium sales ban
By Reuters
November 15, 2011
CANBERRA: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is pushing to overturn a ban on sales of uranium to India, removing a diplomatic thorn between the two countries and potentially opening up a new and growing market for Australian suppliers.
The move follows a landmark US agreement to support the civil nuclear programme in India, which is seen by Washington as an economic and geopolitical counterweight to China.
Asia’s third-largest economy has long complained about the ban. Uranium from Australia would help it meet an ambitious target for nuclear energy growth, hampered by fuel shortages even at existing plants.
Australia has refused to sell nuclear material to India because it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Gillard’s ruling Labor party will debate lifting the ban at its conference next month.
For Full Report :
http://tribune.com.pk/story/292173/australia-pm-pushes-to-end-india-uranium-sales-ban/?print=true
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Two women among three killed in rocket attack on house in Shahdadkot
November 16, 2011
At least three persons of same family including two women were killed after rival group attacked house of a member of opponent group with rockets here in Shahdadkot late Tuesday night.
According to the police, a rival group of Chandio Tribe which was in enmity with another group of same tribe over property and family feuds, fire rockets on a house located in village Waka of Shahdadkot.
As a result of rocket attack the house was destroyed completely and three family members identified as Sona Chandio, his wife Sajida and daughter Gulistan 16, were killed.
The neighbours and relatives dug out the bodies from the debris of destroyed house and shifted them to Tahaluqa Hospital for medico-legal requirements.
The police said that the incident was outcome of old enmity and several people have been killed in armed clashes between the two tribes during past few years. The police have registered a case in the incidents and initiated the investigations.
http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/16-Nov-2011/Two-women-among-three-killed-in-rocket-attack-on-house-in-Shahdadkot
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US drone strike kills up to 18 in Pak: officials
November 16, 2011
A salvo of missiles fired by US drones destroyed a Pakistani Taliban base on Wednesday, killing up to 18 militants in Pakistan's tribal badlands on the Afghan border, officials said.
Up to 10 missiles slammed into the sprawling compound in the Baber Ghar area of South Waziristan, killing between 15 and 18 militants, most of whom were reported to be local Taliban fighters, the Pakistani security officials said.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/769863.aspx
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US missiles kill seven terrorists in NWA
November 16, 2011
PESHAWAR: A suspected US drone fired missiles at a house in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border early on Tuesday morning, killing seven alleged terrorists, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
The strike occurred in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, a key hub for Taliban and al Qaeda terrorists, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. Elsewhere in the northwest, forces pounded terrorist hideouts, killing 16 suspected insurgents, said government officials.
Most of the suspected terrorists killed in Tuesday’s drone attack were from the Pakistani Taliban, said the intelligence officials. Insurgents linked to Afghan terrorist groups who were harbouring them were also killed, they said. The US has conducted around 200 drone strikes in North Waziristan in recent years, mostly targeting al Qaeda terrorists and Afghan Taliban fighters who are battling American troops in Afghanistan. Some of the strikes have also hit the Pakistani Taliban, who are allied with Afghan groups but have focused their fighting against the Pakistani state. ap
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_10
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Army official, 20 militants killed in Kurram clash
By Iftikhar Firdous / Umer Farooq
November 16, 2011
PESHAWAR: A Pakistan Army major was killed when about 60 militants attacked the Marazan checkpost in the Central Kurram Agency late Tuesday night in a bid to revolt against the military offensive carried out in the region earlier. The deceased was identified as Major Sikandar.
More than 20 militants were reportedly killed and nine militant hideouts were destroyed when the security forces retaliated.
“The militants were hiding in nearby mountains and opened fire on the convoy which was followed by firing rockets. Security forces retaliated the attack and killed 20 militants. One of our major succumbed to his wounds,” the official added.
The area was declared “clear” by the security forces previously; however, incidents of violence have regularly been reported from there.
For Full Report :
http://tribune.com.pk/story/292684/army-official-20-militants-killed-in-kurram-clash/?print=true
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Woman pleads guilty in US on Pakistan reactor scam
By AFP
November 16, 2011
WASHINGTON: The former boss of a US company’s Chinese subsidiary Tuesday pleaded guilty to illegally supplying material to Pakistan for use in a nuclear reactor and is now cooperating with US investigators.
US prosecutors said that Xun Wang faces up to five years in jail and a fine of $250,000 for conspiring to violate US law by sending the high-quality paint coatings to Pakistan via China after being refused a US export license.
No sentencing date was set.
“At the end of last year, the Chinese subsidiary of a US company pleaded guilty to illegally exporting high-performance coatings for use in a Pakistani nuclear reactor,” said US Attorney Ronald Machen in the capital Washington.
“Today we are pleased to see the former managing director of that subsidiary accept responsibility for her role in the crime.
For Full Report :
http://tribune.com.pk/story/292664/woman-pleads-guilty-in-us-on-pakistan-reactor-scam/?print=true
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NATO container torched in Mastung
November 16, 2011
QUETTA: Unidentified armed men torched a container carrying military hardware for NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan on Tuesday, Balochistan Levies said. The assailants came on motorcycles and opened fire on the container near Dasht area of Mastung district, about 45 kilometres off provincial capital. As result of firing, driver Abdul Majeed suffered bullet injuries and stopped the containers. The assailants set the container on fire before making good their escape. “The driver sustained injuries while the container was completely gutted,” a local officer said. staff report
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_5
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Vandalism of Pakistani monument damaging to Maldives’ image: FM
By JJ Robinson
November 16th, 2011
The Foreign Ministry has issued a statement expressing regret over the vandalism and theft of the SAARC monument designed and gifted to the Maldives by Pakistan.
The monument, which protesters contend is idolatrous, was first knocked off its plinth during the SAARC Summit on the evening prior to its unveiling by Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gillani.
It was subsequently set ablaze and on Monday night, stolen. Two men have been arrested in connection with the incident.
The religious Adhaalath Party and the party of former President of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), have declared those responsible for destroying the monument to be “national heroes”, and vowed to fight for their release in court.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the incident had “affected the Maldives’ long time relationship with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.
The attacks on the monument were “undemocratic” and the type of behaviour that would damage the image of the Maldives to the outside world, the Foreign Ministry said.
For Full Report :
http://minivannews.com/politics/vandalism-of-pakistani-monument-damaging-to-maldives-image-foreign-ministry-28290
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Sri Lankan SAARC monument vandalised as PPM file case over import of ‘idols’
By Ahmed Nazeer
November 16th, 2011
The SAARC monument designed and gifted to the Maldives by the Sri Lankan government, has been doused with crude oil.
The lion statue, representing the national symbol of Sri Lanka, was vandalised last night following the toppling, burning and theft of the Pakistani monument, which protesters had claimed was idolatrous.
Council Member of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Ahmed ‘Marz’ Saleem, meanwhile today filed a case with police against the Maldives Customs Department for allowing ’idols’ to be imported to the Maldives for the SAARC Summit.
The PPM is the party founded by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, following its acrimonious split with the major opposition party, the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP).
Speaking to Minivan News today, Saleem said that four acts in the Maldives banned the importation of idols, and that the Customs Department should be held responsible for letting the statues be imported into the country.
For Full Report :
http://minivannews.com/politics/sri-lankan-saarc-monument-vandalised-as-ppm-file-case-over-import-of-idols-28292
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Ahmadinejad goes on the offensive against clerical opponents
By Thomas Erdbrink
November 15,11
TEHRAN — For months, Iran’s clerical establishment and Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders have been trying to curb the powers of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In recent weeks, the president has fought back, using combative speeches and threats to reveal his opponents’ corruption in order to hold on to his job.
The tactics appear to be working, according to parliament members and analysts.
Once thought to be a political has-been, Ahmadinejad has defied expectations, and opponents say they do not believe he will step aside early or quietly serve out a term that ends in 2013. Instead, they say, he seems determined to try to exert power well beyond that point, by placing close associates in key positions. He has already begun aggressively mobilizing political forces across the country and is preparing for key parliamentary elections scheduled for March 2.
For Full Report :
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/ahmadinejad-goes-on-the-offensive/2011/11/09/gIQA5ntrON_story.html
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Nawaz urges youth to help curb corruption
November 16, 2011
Staff Report
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has urged the youth, especially students to play their role in elimination of corruption and promotion of the culture of transparency in the country.
The PML-N chief was talking to a group of students belonging to University of Engineering and Technology Lahore and journalists at his residence on Tuesday.
Nawaz said that there was unprecedented corruption in the country and Rental Power Plants (RPPs) were clear proofs of the corruption carried out by the rulers of the country.
He alleged that the government was destroying the state owned institutions, including Pakistan Railways, PIA and Steel Mills.
For Full Report :
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_19
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Arab League meeting to enforce Syria suspension
16 November 2011,
Foreign ministers from the 22-memberArab League are expected to formalize their weekend decision to suspend Syria for refusing to end its bloody crackdown against anti-government protesters.
Arab League foreign ministers gathering Wednesday in Morocco will make official the suspension, which the league voted over the weekend to enforce unless Syria immediately halted its crackdown.
Violence has continued unabated since Syria agreed on Nov. 2 to an Arab-brokered peace deal that called for the regime to halt violence against protesters, pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, release political prisoners and allow journalists and rights groups into the country.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/November/middleeast_November395.xml§ion=middleeast
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Syrian army defectors attack base near Damascus
Nov 16, 2011,
BEIRUT: Syrian army defectors say they have launched several attacks on President Bashar Assad's military targets near the capital Damascus, including one on a Syrian intelligence facility.
The Free Syrian Army says in a statement that its main attack early on Wednesday targeted a compound run by the Air Force Intelligence in the Damascus suburb of Harasta.
The renegade group says the other attacks targeted military checkpoints in the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Qaboun and Arabeen and Saqba.
The attacks come two days after defectors killed 34 soldiers and members of the security in the southern province of Daraa, on what was one of the bloodiest days of the 8-month-old uprising.
The UN says that more than 3,500 people have been killed since Assad launched a crackdown in mid-March.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/-Syrian-army-defectors-attack-base-near-Damascus/articleshow/10753502.cms?prtpage=1
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Syria crackdown gets bloodier as isolation grows
November 16, 2011
DAMASCUS: More than 70 people died in one of the bloodiest days of Syria’s eight-month uprising, activists said on Tuesday, as President Bashar al Assad’s loyalists reacted angrily to growing isolation.
Around 100 of his supporters stormed the Jordanian embassy in Damascus overnight – the latest regional mission to be targeted since the Arab League voted on Saturday to impose sanctions – after Jordan’s King Abdullah II became the first Arab leader to publicly call for Assad to quit.
For Full Report :
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_3
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Libya to announce new govt. on Sunday
16 NOVEMBER 2011
Agencies
The National Transitional Council said a new Libyan government led by interim premier Abdel Rahim al-Kib will likely be announced on Sunday.
Kib will "present the formation of the government next week for a confidence vote of the NTC. We expect the government formation to be announced next Sunday," Abdel Hafidh Ghoga, spokesman of the new authorities, told reporters.
The NTC chose Kib, a university professor from Tripoli, on October 31 to form an interim government.
Having declared the country's "liberation" three days after the October 20 capture and killing of Moamer Kadhafi, the NTC has launched a roadmap to a new Libya with a 20-month countdown to a general election.
For Full Report :
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=210342
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Niger: Gaddafi son stays until UN lifts travel ban
November 16, 2011
Niger said on Tuesday that Muammar Gaddafi's son Saadi would remain in the West African nation until a United Nations travel ban on him was lifted, despite Tripoli's request for his return. Saadi fled south across the Sahara to Niger as his father's 42-year rule crumbled in August. He has been living in Niger since then, and Niamey says he has been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds. Saif al-Islam, another fugitive son of the former Libyan leader, is believed by many to have sought refuge in Niger or neighbouring Mali's desert north but both states say he is not there. Like many other senior members of the Gaddafi regime, Saadi, a businessman and former professional footballer, was banned from travelling and had his assets frozen by a UN Security Council resolution when violence erupted earlier this year. “We are obliged to respect this resolution. He is here, he cannot travel... Until that resolution is revised, he will stay in Niger,” Foreign Minister Bazoum Mohamed told state television on Tuesday evening.
http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/16-Nov-2011/Niger-Gaddafi-son-stays-until-UN-lifts-travel-ban
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End raids before Afghan deal, Karzai tells US
16 November 2011,
Afghanistan wants the United States and NATO to agree to stop carrying out night raids on Afghan homes as a pre-condition to Kabul signing a strategic partnership with Washington, President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday.
Night raids, which foreign troops say are one of their most effective weapons in the fight against insurgents, are a major cause of friction between Karzai and his Western backers. The Afghan leader has said repeatedly he wants them stopped.
‘We want a strategic partnership but with specific conditions: our national integrity, no night raids, no house searches,’ Karzai told a meeting of around 2,000 Afghan political and community leaders in the capital city Kabul.
The strategic partnership agreement, still under discussion between Washington and Kabul, will govern American involvement in Afghanistan after the deadline for the exit of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.
For Full Report :
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle11.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/November/international_November633.xml§ion=international
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Afghan elders meet to discuss US ties, peace
16 November 2011
KABUL — A major meeting of Afghan elders to debate future relations with the United States and a strategy for peace with the Taleban starts Wednesday in a giant tent in Kabul amid a security lockdown.
Insurgents have threatened to target the loya jirga, a national assembly of 2,000 elders which President Hamid Karzai called to seek a mandate for ongoing talks with the United States on a controversial strategic partnership.
Karzai insisted Afghans were in favour of the deal ‘provided that Afghan national sovereignty and the constitution is upheld and the agreements help strengthen peace and stability’ in a statement issued Tuesday.
He also said he would formally announce the second wave of places set to transfer from NATO to Afghan control at the jirga on Wednesday.
This is part of a process in which all foreign combat forces will leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Afghan officials have previously said that up to 17 places are expected to be named in the latest phase of the handover.
Following a string of high-profile recent attacks in Kabul and a history of insurgents targeting the event, Afghan officials say they are taking no chances with security at the four-day jirga.
For Full Report :
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/November/international_November623.xml§ion=international&col=
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Live up to citizens’ hope: UAE President
16 November 2011, 8:20 AM
The President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Tuesday said membership of the Federal National Council (FNC), the unicameral parliament of the UAE, was not a privilege or social relevance but an arduous responsibility.
Declaring that empowerment is the spirit of the Union, the President urged the members of the FNC to invest all their efforts in the empowerment of public participation in policy making. In his inaugural address to the FNC, Shaikh Khalifa told the members: ‘On this day when we are opening the first ordinary session of the 15th Legislative Chapter of the Federal National Council with larger representation and greater ability to perform its functions, we congratulate you as you received the confidence of the people and support of the leadership, and remind you that the membership of the National Council is not a privilege or societal relevance but it is an arduous responsibility of those who have placed confidence and nominated you as they have high hope and expectations from you. Come up to this confidence and commit yourselves to the interest of the nation and the inter-ests of citizens, and you will have our full support in this endeavour.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle11.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2011/November/theuae_November440.xml§ion=theuae
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Teachers observe hunger strike in Quetta
November 16, 2011
QUETTA: Government teachers observed a hunger strike outside the Quetta Press Club on Tuesday to pressurise the government to fulfil their demands.
Government teachers from Kalat, Sibi, Ziarat, Loralai and other parts of the province also joined the hunger strike unto death. Government Teachers Association in its press release said that government had acknowledged the demands sheet comprised of 20 points but notification was yet to be issued. “We were told that our demands were fulfilled but so far we have not received any notification in this connection,” they said.
Their major demands include restructuring of teachers’ time scale, elimination of the conveyance allowance deduction, and appointment of senior officials in administration. They alleged that junior officers of Grade 16 and 17 were being given preference upon senior officials of Grade 18 and 19 by violating the merit.
GTA said they will continue the hunger strike until the notification is issued. With this they also warned that they will lay a siege at Chief Minister’s Secretariat. Earlier, they tried to stage a sit-in in front of CM’s Secretariat but police barred them by erecting barriers and parking prisoners’ van on Zarghoon Road. staff report
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_17
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More Afghans say nation heading wrong way: poll
November 16, 2011
KABUL: A US organisation said on Tuesday that 35 percent of Afghans believe their country is moving in the wrong direction, the highest level of dissatisfaction found since polling began in 2004.
The Asia Foundation cited insecurity as the main cause of growing pessimism in its annual public opinion poll of more than 6,000 people.
Although 46 percent still think Afghanistan is moving in the right direction, the proportion who do not rose by eight percentage points to 35 percent, its highest since the non-profit group started polling in the country.
It said 56 percent of those questioned fear for their safety, with concern highest in the southeast, while 22 percent say that they or one of their relatives has fallen victim to violence or crime in the last year.
For Full Report :
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_22
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Afghans seek voice after 30 years of conflict
November 16, 2011
MAZAR-I-SHARIF: After three decades of occupation, civil war, Taliban rule and a NATO-led military campaign, ordinary Afghans remain powerless and without an unified voice.
Most of them are afraid to talk, the few that do speak out are barely able to share ideas with each other, much less address authorities.
“There is one thing missing in Afghanistan, which is the people’s voice,” said a Kabul activist Saeed Niazi, who aims to get ordinary Afghans much more involved in nation building as the country prepares for the exit of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.
There are an estimated 1,000 civil society groups in the country but, with a literacy rate of about 28 percent, most Afghans have no idea that such groups exist.
Some groups are viewed with suspicion because of foreign funding but, without funding, they cannot exist.
For Full Report :
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_25
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US 'hip hop diplomats' detained in Islamabad
By AFP / Sabur Ali Sayyid
November 16, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani military officials on Wednesday briefly detained a visiting US hip-hop troupe, accusing a performer of taking sensitive photographs in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, the embassy said.
(View slideshow: Hip Hop Hooray!)
The nine American nationals were detained by the Islamabad police for allegedly taking photographs and making video footage of the Benazir Bhutto International Airport.
The six members of FEW Collective, a US officer, Pakistani staff from the embassy and Pakistani musicians were detained for around an hour on a military base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, a spokesman told AFP.
For Full Report :
http://tribune.com.pk/story/292698/police-detain-6-us-nationals-at-islamabad-airport/?print=true
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Panic as strong earthquake hits Indonesia’s Papua
November 16, 201
A strong earthquake has hit Indonesia’s eastern province of Papua, causing panic among residents.
The earthquake struck at 8-42 a.m. local time Wednesday (11-42 p.m. GMT Tuesday). The Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency says in a preliminary estimate that its magnitude was 6.2.
The agency says the quake was centred about 34 kilometres (21 miles) southwest of the town of Oksibil at a depth of 57 kilometres (35 miles).
Residents in Oksibil ran out from houses in panic, but there are no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Indonesia is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2632426.ece
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UK prosecutors drop charges against Iqbal Mirchi
16 NOVEMBER 2011
British prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's close aide Iqbal Mirchi in connection with a case in which he was accused of threatening to kill a man, citing lack of evidence.
Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said on Tuesday that it has decided to discontinue the charges against Muhammed Iqbal Memon, also known as Iqbal Mirchi, who is wanted in India in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blast case.
“The Crown Prosecution Service keeps cases under continuous review. Following a review of the evidence in this case, a decision to discontinue these charges has been taken because the evidence received was not
enough to provide a realistic prospect of conviction,” the CPS said in a statement. It noted that “if more significant evidence or information is discovered at a later date the decision to discontinue may be reconsidered”. Mirchi was earlier charged and produced in the Redbridge Magistrates Court in the UK last month.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/world/20768-uk-prosecutors-drop-charges-against-iqbal-mirchi.html
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Syria releases 1,180 people held during protests
November 16, 2011
Syria on Tuesday released a total of 1,180 people, who were arrested during the eight-month long unrest in the country and didn't commit homicide crimes, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
Earlier this month, Syria had released 553 prisoners on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, Xinhua reported.
According to a private Al-Watan newspaper, statistics of the National Hospital in the central province of Homs showed as many as 3,230 civilians and military personnel had been killed or injured by "armed gangs" in the province since the eruption of unrest in the country in mid-March.
Activists said thousands of people had been detained during the eight-month-old unrest in Syria.
Protesters in Syria seek the release of those arrested during the crisis which, they say, is also part of a peace deal reached between the Syrian government and the Arab League, aimed at bringing an end to the Syrian political crisis.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/769816.aspx
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All for building culture of tolerance in country: Centre for Human Rights Education, Pak
November 16, 2011
Staff Report
LAHORE: Religious, ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity should be recognised, respected and promoted in order to build a culture of tolerance in Pakistan, the Centre for Human Rights Education (CHRE) said in a press statement issued in connection with the International Day of Tolerance being marked across the globe today (Wednesday).
The International Day of Tolerance is observed on November 16 every year since 1996 to encourage people around the globe to respect and recognise the rights and beliefs of others.
The CHRE statement further said that Pakistan had become one of the worst victims of intolerance across the world and the country should mark this day in a fullfledge way in order to make way for a culture of tolerance and to put an end to the the violence sparked by class, colour and creed.
For Full Report :
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_7
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Hundreds march in Hyderabad over Hindu killings, demand justice
November 16, 2011
HYDERABAD: Hundreds of protesters marched in Hyderabad city against the murder of three Hindus in Shikarpur on the call of Joint Action Committee for Peace and Justice. The protest march began from the Besant Hall, a 20th century Theosophical Society icon of Sindh under the slogan of “Fill the Besant Hall against Religious Intolerance,” and called for justice to the vicitim’s families
The march after passing through various roads of the down-town for a few hours, culminated into a congregation, in front of Hyderabad Press Club. The prominent participants were Punhal Sariyo of Sindh Harri Porhiyat Council, Zulfiqar Shah of Institute for Social Movements, Rasool Bux Palejo of Awami Tehreek, Amar Sindhu of Women Action Forum, Mustafa Baloch of Strengthening Participatory Organisation, Dr Ashothama of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Jabar Bhatti of Indus Institute for Research and Education, Mahesh Kumar of We Journalist, Pakistan, Jaffer Memon of Hyderabad Press Club, Iqbal Mallah, Shehnaz Shidi of South Asia Partnerships Pakistan, Akash Mallah of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, Noor Nabi Rahoojo and Vishno Mal of Awami Jamhoori Party, Jan Mohammad Junejo of Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party, Nawaz Khan Zaunr of Jeay Sindh Mahaz, Seher Rizvi of Sindh United Party, Hafeez Kumbhar and Noor Mohammad Bajeer of Civil Society Support Program, Parveen Magsi of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Kashif Bajeer of SPARC, Taj marri of Awami Party, Zahid Messo of Bhandar Sangat, Ikhtyar Tunio of SDPD Nawabsha, Rahmatullah Truk of VISWA – Matyari, Advocate Sajjad Chandio, Advocate Inderjit Luhano, Abass Khoso of IRADO and others.
For Full Report :
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\11\16\story_16-11-2011_pg7_13
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Ayman al-Zawahri recalls 'human side' of Osama bin Laden
Nov 16, 2011,
CAIRO: Here's how the new head of al-Qaida remembers Osama bin Laden: A sensitive man who cried when his friends lost family members, remained close to his children despite the hard life of an international jihadist, and fondly remembered by name the 19 men who carried out the deadliest terrorist attack ever on US soil.
Longtime bin Laden deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, now al-Qaida's new head, related these and other memories in a new video posted on jihadist websites Tuesday. In the video, al-Zawahri said he wants ``to show the human side'' of bin Laden's life.
In doing so, he also is likely trying to boost his own popularity by emphasizing his closeness to the terror group's former, more charismatic leader.
Bin Laden, who built al-Qaida into the world's most feared and despised terror organization and was the mastermind behind some of its deadliest attacks, was killed by Navy SEALs in May during a raid in Pakistan. Al-Zawahri assumed control of the organization shortly after, though experts say he lacks bin Laden's charisma, which drew many to the group.
Throughout the 30-minute, conversational video, apparently the first in a series, al-Zawahri emphasizes what he calls the ``nobility'' of bin Laden's character as well as his own proximity to him.
For Full Report :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Al-Qaida-head-recalls-human-side-of-Osama-bin-Laden/articleshow/10751938.cms?prtpage=1