Pushed into the shadows, ISIS still has global reach
New
Age Islam News Bureau
05 February 2022
ISIS
militants who surrendered to the Afghan government are presented to media in
Jalalabad, Afghanistan, November 17, 2019. (Reuters)
------------
• India
looking forward to a long-lasting cooperation with Afghanistan
• Hindu
Right Groups Threaten Gujarat Bus Operators Who Stop at Muslim-Owned Dhabas
• Iranian
envoy to Pakistan calls for collective response against terrorism
• Holocaust
Museum in Indonesia Highlights Stakes In A Battle For The Soul Of Islam
• Israeli
forces injure 82 Palestinians in West Bank anti-settlement rallies
• Bomb
blast kills 10 civilians in southern Somalia
• Biden
joins Pope Francis, imam in calling for ‘human fraternity’
• Supporters
of PKK terror group attack two mosques in Austria
Arab World
• Iraq
played 'pivotal role' in elimination of Daesh/ISIS leader, says premier
• ISIS
leader and family blended in among Syrians uprooted by war
• UN
Security Council issues veiled criticism of Lebanon’s Hezbollah
• Arab
Coalition strikes in Yemen destroy nine ‘military vehicles,’ casualties
reported
• France
to reinforce UAE defense system after Houthi attacks
• Stress
laid on interfaith cooperation at Expo 2020 Dubai event to mark Human
Fraternity Day
--------
South Asia
• Over
300 media outlets shut down since Taliban took over Afghanistan: Report
• Rina
Amiri asks Taliban to stop unjust detention of Afghans
• Church
seeks justice over Catholic's murder in Bangladesh
• Foreign
Office asks Taliban govt to address security concerns
• Pentagon:
Deadly Afghan airport attack was not preventable
--------
India
• Conspiracy
case lodged against Wasim Rizvi, 7 others who accused Muslim cleric of
molesting minor
• Kartarpur
Sahib in Pakistan due to a Partition-era error: Rajnath
• This
Hindu family in Bengal is taking care of a Mosque for over 50 years
• Muslim
Youth League wants its cadre to be more Islamic
• 'I
love hijab' movement in Karnataka; BJP says it won't allow Talibanisation
• India
to give 80 Afghan cadets 1-year training
• Hijab-saffron
shawl controversy enters more colleges in Karnataka
• Plot
to kill Buddhadeb in 2002 after his Madrasa comment, reveals book
• Jammu
and Kashmir: Two terrorists killed in encounter with security forces in
Srinagar
--------
Pakistan
• Pakistan
calls upon India to reverse Aug 5 actions
• Terrorists
will be brought to justice: Balochistan CM
• ‘Great
honour’: Hindu senator presides over Senate session on Kashmir
• Pakistani
security forces conduct search operations for extremists after base attacks
• Afghan
Hunger, Pakistani Islamists, Makhdum Alem
• SGPC
flays removal of Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa's statue in Pakistan's Haripur
• ECP
stops Maulana Fazl from holding public meetings in DI Khan
--------
Southeast Asia
• Indonesian
preacher criticized for 'justifying' domestic violence
• God’s
guardians on earth: how young Muslims in Indonesia turn to faith for
environmental activism
• Jokowi
drums up support for Nusantara from Muslim group, sultans
• Analysts:
Winning big in Johor will give Umno confidence to call for early national polls
--------
Mideast
• 3
Members of Anti-Iran Separatist Terrorist Group Found Guilty by Danish Court
• IRGC
Commander: US Maximum Pressure Policy Fails Disgracefully
• Difference
between criticism of Israeli state and anti-Semitism at heart of teacher’s
lawsuit
• Iran
Calls for Broadening of Ties with OIC
• Iran,
Iraq FMs Call for End to Yemen Crisis
• US
grants sanctions relief to Iran as nuke talks in balance
• Hamas
slams upcoming meeting of PLO's Central Council
--------
Africa
• Ottomans
credited for Libya's unification, says historian
• Morocco,
king orders prayers in mosques against drought
• Rescuers
edge closer to five-year old boy trapped in well in Morocco
• Tanzania's
ruling party lauds unsung heroes of South Africa’s liberation struggle
--------
North America
• US
eases restrictions on funds transfer to Afghanistan
• US
grants sanctions relief to Iran as nuclear talks remain in balance
• US
probe finds single attacker in Kabul evacuation bomb
--------
Europe
• French
gov't to launch new body for French Muslims
• UK
accused of neglecting citizen detained by Houthis in Yemen since 2017
• New
landmark mosque gets green light from councillors
• EU
reaffirms support for easing Armenia-Azerbaijan tensions
• Erdogan
says Israel, Turkey can jointly bring gas to Europe
• Prominent
UK Imam hails Queen Elizabeth as 'beacon of hope and stability' ahead of
jubilee
• Plans
for Preston mosque near motorway junction approved
• Erdogan
accuses West of making Russia-Ukraine crisis worse, criticizes Biden
• ‘Bankrupt’
anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson faces court questioning over finances
• France
to send Rafale jets to protect UAE airspace
• Poland
will be one of Turkiye's most important allies in Europe: Envoy
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
--------
Pushed
into the shadows, ISIS still has global reach
04 February,
2022
ISIS
militants who surrendered to the Afghan government are presented to media in
Jalalabad, Afghanistan, November 17, 2019. (Reuters)
--------------
Since
the peak of its power seven years ago, when it ruled millions of people in the
Middle East and struck fear across the world with deadly bombings and
shootings, ISIS has slipped back into the shadows.
Its
self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria folded under a sustained military
campaign by a US-led coalition, and it has suffered other setbacks in the
Middle East.
This
week it lost its second leader in two years when Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi
al-Quraishi detonated explosives during a US military raid in northwest Syria,
killing himself and family members.
But
ISIS expanded in Africa’s Sahel region last year and the chaotic US withdrawal
from Afghanistan may open up opportunities to strengthen its presence there.
In
the core area of its insurgency, Iraq and Syria, it claimed hundreds of attacks
last year. In January it launched an attempted jail-break in northeast Syria in
which more than 100 prison guards and security forces were killed.
Here
is a summary of the group’s presence around the world.
Middle
East
Iraq,
where the group originated, and neighboring Syria remain the epicenter of
Islamic State operations.
Once
based in the Syrian city of Raqqa and Iraqi city of Mosul, from which it sought
to rule like a centralized government, ISIS now takes refuge in the hinterlands
of the two fractured countries.
Its
fighters are scattered in autonomous cells, its leadership is clandestine and
its overall size hard to quantify, although the United Nations estimates it at
10,000 fighters in the heartlands.
Last
month’s attack on the jail in Hasaka holding hundreds of jihadist detainees was
its largest operation since the collapse of the caliphate, showing ISIS can
still carry out large-scale and lethal operations.
While
links between the leadership and offshoots in other countries may be tenuous,
groups from Sinai to Somalia pledged allegiance to Quraishi when he succeeded
ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in late 2019.
A
United Nations report last year estimated that in Egypt’s Sinai province there
may be between 800 to 1,200 fighters loyal to ISIS.
In
Libya, where it once held a strip of territory on the Mediterranean coast, the
group is weaker, but could still exploit the country’s ongoing conflict. In
Yemen it has also been in decline.
Africa
Groups
affiliated operationally or by name to ISIS are only a part of the militant
threat across Africa. Others include al Qaeda-linked groups, Boko Haram in
Nigeria and al-Shabaab, which is active in East Africa.
ISIS
has two known affiliates in the West and Central Africa region.
The
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) formally split from Boko Haram in
2016, after a faction pledged allegiance to Islamic State the previous year.
GlobalSecurity.org
estimated the group had some 3,500 members in 2021.
ISWAP
operates mostly around the Lake Chad area bordering Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and
Niger.
The
other affiliate, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), operates around
the border area of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Crisis Group says ISWAP has
links to ISGS.
The
publication in March 2019 by ISIS media of a picture of ISGS fighters under an
ISWAP caption appeared to confirm a connection.
The
Africa Center for Strategic Studies linked 524 violent events to ISGS in 2020,
more than double the numbers of 2019, and they resulted in more than 2,000
fatalities across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The
ongoing militant threat posed by various groups has been one of the main
factors behind a series of military coups in West Africa over the last 18
months.
One
of the deadliest groups in Eastern Congo, the Allied Democratic Forces, has
been linked to Islamic State by the US State Department, who refer to them as
IS-DRC.
Although
the extent of the ADF’s links to the movement are murky, the United States
attributed the deaths of 849 civilians to the group in 2020.
ADF
killings surged by almost 50 percent in 2021, according to figures from the
United Nations. More than 1,200 people were killed in such attacks.
South
Asia
Islamic
State Khorasan (ISIS-K) - the movement’s chapter in Afghanistan and surrounding
areas - has emerged as the principal militant threat in the region since the
Taliban took over the country in August last year.
Experts
say that its main areas of operation are Central and South Asian states, and
that it has been led by an “ambitious” though lesser-known leader named Shahab
al-Muhajir since 2020.
ISIS-K
was first formed in 2015 with the blessing of Baghdadi, according to Western
think-tanks, and was a formidable adversary to the US-backed government and
Taliban insurgents, even as the two fought each other.
Without
international and US-trained forces to contend with, ISIS-K activities have
grown, stoking fears that Afghanistan could again become a haven for militant
groups just as it was when al Qaeda attacked the United States in 2001.
“It’s
just about the biggest concern at the moment for everyone, in the region and in
the West,” a senior Western diplomat told Reuters late last year.
Moscow
has voiced concern about ISIS-K increasing its footprint in Central Asian
states.
The
group has carried out a number of audacious attacks recently, most notably a
complex raid on Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital in November last year
that killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 50.
That
followed a string of bombings by the group, including a suicide attack outside
the gates of Kabul airport during a chaotic US evacuation operation that killed
close to 200 people, including US military personnel.
Figures
on ISIS-K’s strength vary. A committee of the UN Security Council put the
number of ISIS-K fighters at between 1,500 and 2,200, but that was just before
the fall of Kabul.
There
have been reports of disaffected Taliban fighters and some Pakistani Taliban
members joining ISIS-K in recent months. A spiraling economic crisis has pushed
millions into poverty and left former Afghan Taliban fighters with no
employment.
There
is little to suggest direct material coordination between ISIS-K and ISIS in
the Middle East, but some claims of attacks carried out in Afghanistan and
neighboring areas are posted on the group’s central information channels.
Source: Al Arabiya
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India
looking forward to a long-lasting cooperation with Afghanistan
05
Feb 2022
India
has earmarked USD 26.7 million to Afghanistan, keeping a continuing focus on
its people, without recognizing, like the rest of the world community, the
Taliban regime.
The
sum allocated in India’s Annual Budget for the year April 2022-March 2023 is
less compared to USD 47.6 million of 2021-22, which can be easily explained by
the lack of formal ties, especially the economic relations since the Taliban
took control last August.
Like
the world community, India seeks an inclusive government in Afghanistan that
allows a role for women and for the ethnic minorities, besides freedom for
girls to study and women to work. Taliban have so far not heeded to the global
appeal.
India
responded to a global appeal for medicine last December and flew two tons of
aid, a gesture that was appreciated by the Taliban with the hope for continued
medical supplies.
However,
India and Afghanistan have not been that lucky on economic aid. After
protracted modalities worked out with Pakistan, India this month is expected to
send the much-awaited aid of wheat. However, delays have been caused by
Pakistan’s refusal to allow the use of its territory for India to reach a
landlocked Afghanistan.
Pakistan
blocks India’s access on the ground that it would amount to allowing India to
reap economic benefits from Afghanistan, even as the latter vigorously
campaigns for humanitarian aid reaching Afghanistan. The impasse was broken
when Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited Islamabad and
personally appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
To
get around this obstacle, Iran has offered to facilitate the movement of Indian
aid via Chabahar port. The jointly developed port also receives fund allocation
in the Annual Budget.
Some
years back, Pakistan had blocked Indian-supplied biscuits to the malnourished
Afghan children readied in response to a United Nations appeal. The consignment
rotted on the India-Pakistan border and had to be destroyed.
India’s
role in Afghanistan has been dictated by the volatile conditions in that
country for the last five decades and by the obstacles from Pakistan that lie
between the two. It had burgeoning ties during the monarchy and even through
the 1980s when the country was ruled by Soviet-backed regimes.
Since
2001 after the US invasion, India had emerged as Afghanistan’s biggest aid
supporter in the region investing USD three billion in numerous mega
infrastructure projects.
Afghanistan
has been a steady recipient of India’s grants over the last two decades and the
Government of President Ashraf Ghani last year received around ₹348
crores (USD 46 million). India has showcased its assistance to Afghanistan as
aid-oriented, which is focused on development projects on the ground.
Shaida
Mohammad Abdali, Afghanistan’s ambassador to India, in April 2017 pointed out
that India “is the biggest regional donor to Afghanistan and fifth-largest
donor globally with over $3 billion in assistance. India has built over 200
public and private schools, sponsors over 1,000 scholarships, hosts over 16,000
Afghan students.”
Relations
between Afghanistan and India received a major boost in 2011 with the signing
of a strategic partnership agreement. It was Afghanistan’s first since the
Soviet invasion of 1979 and was before one was signed with the United States.
India
sought to expand its economic presence in Afghanistan through 2002- 2021 and
thus, earned considerable goodwill among the Afghan people. A number of farm
production and irrigation schemes, help to medium and small industries, and IT
centers across the country came upon the ground.
India
also helped Afghanistan to improve transport connectivity and economic
collaboration with countries in Central and South Asia. It had invested $10.8
billion in Afghanistan as of 2012.
Since
Pakistan had refused land access, India and Afghanistan had established two air
corridors to facilitate bilateral trade. This had boosted Afghanistan’s
economic viability.
India
had planned more projects, expected to be taken up after NATO’s withdrawal.
These included setting up iron ore mines, a 6 MTPA steel plant (by SAIL—Steel
Authority of India Limited), an 800 MW power plant, hydroelectric power
projects, transmission lines, roads, etc., India helped Afghans in the
reconstruction of Salma Dam in the Herat province. Besides producing 42 MW
power, this Indo-Afghan friendship dam provides irrigation for 75,000 hectares
of farmland in the Chisti Sharif district.
India
and Iran were set to ink a transit agreement on transporting goods to
landlocked Afghanistan. The Indian government was investing more than US$100
million in the expansion of the Chabahar port in southeastern Iran which would
serve as a hub for the transportation of transit goods. As a goodwill gesture,
India had also constructed a new Parliament complex for the Afghan government
at a cost of ₹710 crores (equivalent to ₹910 crores or
US$120 million in 2020). This building was inaugurated on December 25, 2015,
during a state visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Source: Khaama Press
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Hindu
Right Groups Threaten Gujarat Bus Operators Who Stop at Muslim-Owned Dhabas
Deepal
Trivedi, Ajeet Tiwari and Janvi Sonaiya
Feb
5, 2022
Gujarat
highway food stall owners are jittery after the International Vishwa Hindu
Parishad and Bajrang Dal issued a new diktat asking “vigilant Hindus” to inform
them if they see any buses stopping for snack breaks at Muslim-owned dhabas on
the highways.
“Let
us start this with the Saurashtra-Surat route first,” a man with a saffron
scarf and teeka is seen saying in a video which has been widely circulated on
WhatsApp groups and other social media. On Thursday, a Muslim eatery owner on
the highway in Saurashtra said that a bus stopped as usual, but then three
passengers started taking photographs of the eatery. “My eatery has a Hindu name. We do not serve
non-vegetarian food. We do not even serve eggs or products containing eggs.
None of my staff has a beard. In short, we are very liberal Muslims who don’t
wear our religion on our sleeves. The name of my eatery is based on a local
Hindu goddess. Every day, minimum 11 buses stop at my eatery. Today, none have.
The driver of the bus is my friend and we give him a commission but the
passengers some how found out that this is a Muslim-owned place and asked the
driver to take them to a Hindu owned eatery nearby. “
The
Muslim eatery owner was scared to give out his restaurant’s name and location.
Ditto with two others near Bhavnagar, Amreli and Junagadh. But a palpable fear
has circulated. Most Gujarat highway restaurants are owned by Cheliyas, a
Muslim community. They serve vegetarian food only and the name of their
restaurants are include ‘Bharat’, ‘Navbharat’, ‘NavGujarat’, ‘Tulsi’, ‘Kabir’,
‘Jaihind’, ‘Sarvodaya’, etc.
The
International Vishwa Hindu Parishad, run by Hindu leader Pravin Togadia, who
earlier led the Vishwa Hindu Parishad – an arm of the Sangh parivar – has
posted this warning on social media and various WhatsApp groups, including
those of the local media.
The
warning, in Gujarati, states that if any “private luxury bus operator halts his
bus on a dhaba run by Muslims would have to face the consequences”.
Confirming
that his organisation has indeed come up with this notice, Raju Shevale, the
secretary of the Surat unit of the International VHP, told Vibes of India, “The
people in Gujarat are angry with the Muslims after the Kishan Bharwad murder.
Muslim clerics are organising arms to kill Hindus in a larger conspiracy and
people in Gujarat can see through it.”
Shevale
claimed that the highway restaurants run by Muslims use the same vessels to
cook veg and non-veg food and “in fact, we have reports that they spit in
vegetarian food items before serving them to the people”.
He
said some bus drivers also deliberately halted at eateries run by Muslims
because they took a cut from the sales from their passengers.
Shevale
said the International VHP even had meetings with the private luxury and
Gujarat bus operators and their drivers. “We have conveyed to them that if they
still continue to halt their vehicles at Muslim joints, they would have to pay
the price for this. We will not be responsible for the damage they suffer
because of this,” he told Vibes of India.
However,
when contacted, Gujarat’s spokesperson for the International VHP Neeraj Vaghela
dismissed this as a local issue. “This initiative is by the local unit of
International VHP and not a state-level plan,” he said.
When
approached, Surat Police Commissioner Ajay Tomar told Vibes of India, “I have
not received any complaint or information about this. We will look into it if
we get it.”
Activists
demands action against “hate mongers”
Taking
strong exception to a social media and poster campaign in Surat threatening bus
operators against halting at highway eateries run by Muslims, a Gujarat-based
human rights organisation has dashed off a letter to state DGP Ashish Bhatia to
initiate action against such “hate mongers”. The letter by Mujahid Nafees,
convenor of NGO Minority Coordination Committee, points out that the poster
threatens the luxury bus operators and drivers that they may have to suffer
damages to their vehicles if they made halts at any hotel, restaurant or dhaba
run by the Muslims.
The
NGO has requested the DGP to register an FIR against the people responsible for
the threatening post and strict action against them.
“Sir,
these types of posters being circulated on social media create fears among the
people. Apprehending violence, people have started avoiding outstation bus
travel. This will have a catalytic adverse impact on the businesses in the
state,” the NGO wrote.
The
organisation has drawn the attention of the DGP to the poster and video by Raju
Shevale and Omprakash Shah, office-bearers of International VHP and
International Bajrang Dal, who have issued the threats.
Source:
The Wire
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Iranian
envoy to Pakistan calls for collective response against terrorism
February
5, 2022
Iranian
ambassador to Pakistan emphasizes the necessity for a coordinated response
against the “sinister phenomena of terrorism”, while denouncing the recent
terrorist attack in the neighboring country’s Balochistan province.
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Iranian
ambassador to Pakistan emphasizes the necessity for a coordinated response
against the “sinister phenomena of terrorism”, while denouncing the recent
terrorist attack in the neighboring country’s Balochistan province.
“It
is unfortunate to hear of a terrorist attack in Balochistan, Pakistan, which
claimed many lives, Iranian ambassador to Pakistan Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini
said in a post on twitter on Friday.
“While
condemning terrorism in all its forms, I reiterate the need for a collective
response to this sinister phenomenon,” said the ambassador in solidarity with
the government and people of Pakistan against the recent terror attack.
Armed
assailants targeted two security posts hours apart in remote areas of
Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Wednesday, triggering gun
battles that killed at least four attackers and a soldier, the military said.
Later,
the newly formed separatist Balochistan Nationalist Army claimed responsibility
for Wednesday’s attacks in a post on Twitter.
Hours
later, assailants tried to sneak into a security camp in the Naushki district,
nearly 500 km (300 miles) to the north, but troops foiled the attempt and
killed four attackers. One soldier was also wounded in the attack, the military
said. It said intermittent exchange of fire has continued.
Pakistan’s
Balochistan has been the scene of numerous attacks in recent years. The
Balochistan Nationalist Army was established last month when two minor
separatist groups merged and vowed to continue attacks.
The
latest violence comes a week after armed fighters killed 10 soldiers in an
attack on a security post in the town of Kech in Balochistan province, which
has been the site of a long-running armed terror activities.
Source:
ABNA24
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Bomb
blast kills 10 civilians in southern Somalia
Mohammed
Dhaysane
04.02.2022
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
FILE
PHOTO
---------
At
least 10 civilians have been killed in a bomb explosion in Somalia’s southern
state of Jubaland on Friday, officials and local media reported.
"10
civilians were killed and three others wounded after a minibus they were
traveling in ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by the
terrorists on the outskirts of Kismayo town of Somalia’s Jubbaland State,"
according to Somali national television.
Speaking
to Anadolu Agency, officials in Lower Juba region blamed al-Shabaab, an
al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group in Somalia, for being behind planting the
IED.
Kismayo
is a major city and port located 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of the
capital Mogadishu.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/bomb-blast-kills-10-civilians-in-southern-somalia/2494299
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Biden
joins Pope Francis, imam in calling for ‘human fraternity’
February
5, 2022
U.S.
President Joe Biden joined Pope Francis and a leading Sunni imam on Friday in
calling for greater global co-operation to fight the coronavirus pandemic,
climate change and other world crises on the second anniversary of a landmark
Christian-Muslim peace initiative.
The
Vatican released a statement from Biden marking the International Day of Human
Fraternity, a U.N.-designated celebration of interfaith and multicultural
understanding inspired by a landmark document signed on Feb. 4, 2019, in Abu
Dhabi by Francis and Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayyeb, the imam of the Al-Azhar centre
for Sunni learning in Cairo.
The
document called for greater mutual understanding and solidarity to confront the
problems facing the world. With the backing of the United Arab Emirates, the
initiative has gone on to create a high-level commission to spread the message,
and Friday’s anniversary celebration included a video message from Francis that
was also translated into Hebrew.
In
his statement, Biden said “for too long, the narrowed view that our shared
prosperity is a zero-sum game has festered – the view that for one person to
succeed, another has to fail …” Such a view, he said, had led to conflicts and
crises that are today too big for one nation or people to solve.
“They
require us to speak with one another in open dialogue to promote tolerance,
inclusion and understanding,” he said.
Biden,
a Catholic, met with Francis in October in a lengthy audience that touched on
climate change, poverty and the pandemic.
“We
all live under the same heaven, independently of where and how we live, the
colour of our skin, religion, social group, sex, age, economic conditions, or
our state of health. All of us are different yet equal, and this time of
pandemic has shown that clearly,” Francis said in his message.
El-Tayyib,
for his part, issued a message greeting “my dear brother” Francis and called
him “the incessantly courageous companion on the path of fraternity and peace.”
“We
have embarked on this path in the hope for a new world that is free of wars and
conflicts, where the fearful are reassured, the poor sustained, the vulnerable
protected and justice administered,” he said.
While
such objectives are “unacceptable for warmongers” he said “the road of peace is
predestined for all the believers in God.”
Source:
The Globe And Mail
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Supporters
of PKK terror group attack two mosques in Austria
February
4, 2022
Supporters
of PKK terror group have attacked two mosques in the Austrian capital Vienna.
The
attacks targeted the Austrian Turkish-Islamic Culture and Social Assistance
Union (ATIB)'s Central mosque and the temporary place of worship of Ebubekir
Mosque in the 16th district on Thursday during one of the holy nights for
Muslims called Laylat al Raghaib.
Terrorism
supporters broke the windows on the ground floor of ATIB's Central Mosque while
writing PKK propaganda contents on the exterior wall of the Ebubekir Mosque.
Turkey's
Ambassador to Vienna, Ozan Ceyhun expressed his regret in a statement on the
attacks on two mosques on a night when Laylat al Raghaib was celebrated.
"Video
footage of the attackers who 'descended' to attack worship places was given to
the authorities. Our expectation is that they will be caught quickly and
brought to justice.',' Ceyhun told Anadolu News Agency.
Noting
that they are ready to cooperate with the authorities in every way against such
attacks aiming to disrupt the peace of the society in Austria, Ceyhun stated
that they will follow the course of the events.
Austrian
condemnation
Meanwhile,
condemnation messages regarding the attacks were shared by Integration Minister
Susanne Raab and representatives of various political parties.
Raab
stated that the attack should be condemned in the strongest terms and pointed
to the importance of freedom of worship.
The
Integration Spokesperson of the ruling Green Party, Faika El-Negashi, also
stated that she strongly condemned the attack on ATIB, emphasizing that the
attack was on democracy as well as freedom of worship.
Source:
Trt World
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https://www.trtworld.com/turkey/supporters-of-pkk-terror-group-attack-two-mosques-in-austria-54407
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Arab World
Iraq
played 'pivotal role' in elimination of Daesh/ISIS leader, says premier
Ibrahim
Saleh
04.02.2022
BAGHDAD
Iraq
has played a “pivotal role” in operations to destroy Daesh/ISIS and their
efforts eventually led to the elimination of the terror group’s leader, the
country’s prime minister said on Friday.
“Iraq’s
Security Forces have played a pivotal role in killing and capturing Daesh terrorists
inside Iraq and gathering intelligence that finally led to the head of this
terrorist organization,” Mustafa al-Kadhimi said on Twitter.
Daesh/ISIS
leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed in an operation by US
forces in northern Syria this week.
According
to the Pentagon, al-Qurayshi blew himself up to avoid being captured, also
killing his wife and two children.
Al-Qurayshi,
whose real name was Amir Muhammad Saeed Abdul Rahman, had taken over after Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by the US in 2019.
He
hailed from Tal Afar in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province.
The
operation to eliminate al-Qurayshi came after a spike in Daesh/ISIS activity in
Syria and Iraq, where the terrorist group carried out multiple attacks in the
past few months.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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ISIS
leader and family blended in among Syrians uprooted by war
04
February ,2022
In
a corner of Syria crammed with people uprooted by 11 years of civil war, the
leader of ISIS and his family hid in plain sight: they kept to themselves,
neighbors did not pry into each other’s past, the rent was paid on time.
The
status quo was shattered on Thursday night, when US special forces swept into
the town of Atmeh in northwest Syria to raid his hideout.
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the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Abu
Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, head of one of the world’s most feared
terrorist groups, blew himself up to evade capture, killing several family
members and others in the blast, according to the United States.
His
death marks a blow to ISIS as its fighters reemerge as a deadly threat in Syria
and Iraq.
Until
that point, locals believed that Quraishi was a Syrian merchant from Aleppo who
had brought his family to the relative safety of Atmeh near the Turkish border,
far from the frontlines of the Syrian conflict.
There
was little to draw attention to the three-story building on the edge of town
since Quraishi, an Iraqi, rented an apartment there a year ago, taking the
first floor initially before expanding to rent the top one too.
The
children were generally well behaved and kept out of sight, sometimes
accompanying their mother to the shops, said a woman who lived on the ground
floor and knew her neighbors as “the family of Abu Ahmed.”
“They
kept to themselves and our kids played with their kids occasionally outside,
but we never socialized with them,” the woman, who gave her name as Ameena,
said in a phone interview. She declined to give her full name for fear of
retribution.
Ameena
said she was once invited for tea by one of Quraishi’s wives, Um Ahmad. She
told Ameena her husband was a trader from Aleppo who had fled the city during
the war. With hindsight, Ameena said she was struck by how rarely she saw him.
The
women wore all-enveloping black gowns, typical of conservative Muslims.
While
the family were not from Atmeh, this did not draw attention in an area where
tens of thousands of people have fled from all over the country.
“We
thought they could have gone through a lot, but as you know, here everyone has
a tragedy and people rarely speak of what happened to them these years and
everyone prefers to keep to themselves,” Ameena said.
Hiding
near the enemy
Quraishi
took over the leadership of ISIS following the death in 2019 of its founder Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, who also died during a raid by US commandos when he detonated
explosives.
Baghdadi
had also been hiding in northwest Syria, the last major bastion of rebels
fighting President Bashar al-Assad. Baghdadi’s hideout was some 25 km (15
miles) from Atmeh, also in Idlib province.
Quraishi’s
hideout was close to a checkpoint operated by the armed group that controls
most of the Idlib area - Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an extremist faction formerly
known as the Nusra Front that has been an ISIS adversary for years.
It
was also not far from Turkish troop positions in the nearby Afrin area of
northwestern Syria.
Despite
the close proximity of hostile forces, this was a relatively good hiding place
for Quraishi as he sought to revive the fortunes of ISIS, which controlled a
third of Iraq and Syria in 2014 before being beaten into retreat.
Syrians
say it is easy for strangers to go unnoticed. Beyond the internally displaced,
the area also hosts foreign extremists who travelled to the country during the
war either as fighters or civilian volunteers.
Last
October, another senior ISIS leader, Sami Jasim, was captured in northwestern
Syria in an Iraqi operation carried out with Turkish help.
A
senior White House official said the blast was believed to have killed
Quraishi, his two wives and a child on one floor, and likely a child who was on
another floor with Quraishi’s lieutenant and his wife, who were killed after
firing on US forces.
Syrian
rescue workers said 13 people were killed after the raid began, including four
women and six children.
Neighbors
said four children were rescued after the assault - a 12-year-old girl, boys
aged 7 and 4 and an infant. It was not clear if they were related to Quraishi.
The badly damaged apartments were strewn with children’s toys, witnesses added.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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UN
Security Council issues veiled criticism of Lebanon’s Hezbollah
05
February ,2022
The
UN Security Council issued a veiled criticism of Hezbollah on Friday without
naming the Iran-backed group, calling on all “Lebanese parties” to disassociate
themselves from external conflicts.
“The
members of the Security Council called upon all Lebanese parties to implement a
tangible policy of disassociation from any external conflicts, as an important
priority, as spelled out in previous declarations, in particular the 2012
Baabda Declaration,” a statement from the Security Council said.
The
Baabda Declaration was adopted by the Lebanese government under former
President Michel Sleiman and called for abstaining from intervening in any
conflicts outside of Lebanon’s borders.
Hezbollah
has publicly admitted and boasted about its participation in the Syrian war,
propping up the Assad regime for years since the fighting broke out.
The
group, which dubs itself as a resistance to Israel and to so-called American
projects in the region, is also believed to be aiding Yemen’s Houthis and Iran-backed
militias in Iraq.
The
Security Council also condemned the repeated attacks against UN peacekeepers in
the Hezbollah strongholds of south Lebanon.
Members
of the Security Council said justice was needed against the “perpetrators of
those incidents in accordance with the Lebanese law and consistent with
Security Council resolution 2589 (2021).”
Separately,
the members of the Council called for “a swift, independent, impartial,
thorough, and transparent investigation” into the Beirut blast in August 2020.
Hezbollah
and its Shia allies, Amal Movement, have been blocking all efforts by the lead
judge tasked with investigating the explosion.
Meanwhile,
Lebanon continues to suffer from one of the worst economic and financial
collapses in history, according to World Bank officials.
Hezbollah
and Amal blocked cabinet meetings for nearly three months over their opposition
to the Beirut Port blast investigations.
“As
the Lebanese population is facing dire needs and has expressed legitimate
aspirations for reforms, elections and justice, the members of the Security
Council urged expeditious and effective decisions by the Government to initiate
measures, including the swift adoption of an appropriate budget for 2022 that
would enable the quick conclusion of an agreement with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF),” the Security Council said. “Moreover, they reiterated
with urgency the need to implement previously outlined, tangible reforms which
are necessary to help the Lebanese population.”
Billions
of dollars of aid have been pledged to Lebanon for years but are contingent
upon reforms to combat corruption and mismanagement. Lebanese officials have
not implemented promised reforms.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Arab
Coalition strikes in Yemen destroy nine ‘military vehicles,’ casualties
reported
04
February ,2022
The
Arab Coalition has conducted 16 targeted strikes in Yemen’s Marib and Hajjah to
deter the Iran-backed Houthi militia in the last 24 hours, according to the
official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The
number of fatalities were not shared, but casualties have been reported,
according to SPA. Additonally, nine “military vehicles” were destroyed,
according to the same report.
The
operation comes during a time when tensions are rising with Yemen’s Iran-backed
Houthis.
Following
multiple attack attempts on the UAE, France has decided to reinforce Emirates’
defenses, including Rafale jets, to counter any future attempts.
It
comes days after the US said they will send a warship and fighter jets to
counter Houthi infiltrations.
These
attacks have invited global condemnation and high-level talks are underway to
find a solution to the recurring issue.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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France
to reinforce UAE defense system after Houthi attacks
04
February ,2022
France
said on Friday it had agreed to participate in the reinforcement of the United
Arab Emirates’ defense system, including the deployment of Rafale jets,
following Iran-backed Houthi attacks.
“The
United Arab Emirates were victims of serious attacks on their territory in
January. In order to show our solidarity with this friendly country, France has
decided to provide military support, in particular to protect the airspace
against any intrusion,” French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly wrote on
Twitter.
The
French Armed Forces ministry added that operations would be conducted from the
al-Dhafra air base, working in close co-ordination with the emirates, with a
view to detect and intercept any drone or missile attacks.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
United Arab Emirates said late on Wednesday that it had intercepted three
drones that entered its airspace over unpopulated areas earlier in the day, in
the latest attack on the Gulf commercial and tourism hub in the past few weeks.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Stress
laid on interfaith cooperation at Expo 2020 Dubai event to mark Human
Fraternity Day
February
05, 2022
DUBAI:
The Document for Human Fraternity was “a milestone on the path of
interreligious dialogue,” Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso told Arab News on the
sidelines of an event at Expo 2020 Dubai marking the International Day of Human
Fraternity.
He
was one of several faith leaders who gathered at the Expo’s Sustainability
Pavilion on Friday to mark the third anniversary of the signing — by Pope
Francis of the Catholic Church and Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, grand imam of
Al-Azhar — of the document in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4, 2019.
The
joint declaration called for peace among all peoples, while setting out a
blueprint for a culture of dialogue and collaboration between all faiths.
“We
are citizens of the world,” said Ayuso, from Spain, who is the president of the
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and a renowned historian of
Islam.
“All
believers of God must work together to counter the problems we are facing
today. It is important to cultivate values and to maintain a relationship with
religion, whether it’s in church, a mosque or a synagogue.”
To
mark the anniversary, Pope Francis and Sheikh El-Tayeb sent video messages in
which they called for continued interfaith understanding.
“Now
is not a time for indifference,” Pope Francis said. “Either we are brothers and
sisters or everything falls apart.”
Sheikh
El-Tayeb said: “This celebration means a quest for a better world where the
spirit of tolerance, fraternity, solidarity and collaboration prevails. It also
indicates a hope for providing effective tools to face the crises and
challenges of contemporary humanity.
“We
have embarked on this path in the hope for a new world that is free of wars and
conflicts, where the fearful are reassured, the poor sustained, the vulnerable
protected and justice administered.”
Opening
the celebrations, Judge Mohammed Abdelsalam, secretary-general of the Higher
Committee of Human Fraternity, emphasized the ways in which the Document for
Human Fraternity has empowered people to fight prejudice and increase
accountability, offering protection for “the haves and have-nots, the rich and
the poor, and both genders.”
The
Higher Committee of Human Fraternity was founded by authorities in the UAE to
determine the recipients of the Zayed Award, which is awarded each year to
people or organizations “who embody through their work this lifelong commitment
to human fraternity.”
Last
year’s recipients were UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Latifa Ibn
Ziaten, a Moroccan-French activist who has campaigned tirelessly against
radicalization since losing her son in a terrorist attack 10 years ago.
Speaking
during Friday’s event in Dubai, Mohammed Al-Diwaini, Al-Azhar deputy director
of the grand imam, said it is imperative to “drop any sicknesses” of hatred and
discrimination in favor of religious tolerance.
“If
we follow our religion in its right form and without misinterpretation, we
would be living in the best condition possible,” he told attendees.
The
opening ceremony included a short video highlighting leaders who had served the
cause of coexistence, including Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther
King Jr. and Sheikh Zayed, who was the driving force behind the formation of
the UAE and championed plurality throughout his life.
To
mark the International Day of Human Fraternity, US President Joe Biden sent a
letter to the Higher Committee calling for global solidarity to meet the
challenges of the day.
“From
the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and the existential climate crisis
to the rise of violence around the world, these challenges require global
cooperation from people of all backgrounds, cultures, faiths and beliefs,”
Biden wrote.
He
added that these challenges “require us to speak with one another in open
dialogue, to promote tolerance, inclusion and understanding. Above all, they
require us to be open minded, cooperative and empathetic and to ensure that all
people are treated with dignity and as full participants in society.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2018421/middle-east
--------
South Asia
Over
300 media outlets shut down since Taliban took over Afghanistan: Report
Feb
5, 2022
KABUL:
Since the Taliban took over, at least 318 media outlets have been closed in 33
of 34 provinces in Afghanistan, said a report.
The
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in a report on Thursday said,
"51 TV stations, 132 radio stations, and 49 online media outlets have
ceased operations. The crisis has hit newspapers the hardest with just 20 out
of 114 continuing to publish," reported Tolo News.
Expressing
concerns over the status of the Afghan media community, the IFJ said that only
2,334 journalists are still employed "from a pre-Taliban high of
5069."
72
per cent of journalists who lost their jobs are women, according to the IFJ.
"243 women are still employed by the media," added the IFJ report.
"From
threats to draconian reporting restrictions and from economic collapse to the
withdrawal of development funding the picture is catastrophic, not just for
journalists who have lost their jobs or been forced to flee but also for
citizens who are being denied access to information," IFJ general
secretary Anthony Bellanger said.
Further,
the Afghan media community called on the Taliban to help the media gain access
to information, reported Tolo News.
"If
the immediate steps are not taken towards the situation of the media in the
country, only a certain number of media organizations will be active in
Afghanistan in the near future," said Hujatullah Mujadidi, head of the
Afghan Independent Journalists Association.
"We
call on the international community to invest in media to protect the process
of access to information in the current Afghan situation," said Hafizullah
Barakzai, head of the Afghanistan Journalists Council.
Some
journalists called on the international community to address the collapse of
the Afghan media community.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Rina
Amiri asks Taliban to stop unjust detention of Afghans
05
Feb 2022
US
special representative for Afghan women Rina Amiri said that the Taliban must
stop unjust detention of the Afghans if they want legitimacy from their people
and the world.
Rina
Amiri in a Twitter post on Friday, February 4, 2022, also asked for the release
of women activists who she believes to be detained by the Taliban in
Afghanistan.
“This
unjust detention must stop. If the Taliban seek legitimacy from the Afghan
people and the world, they must stop unjust detention and respect Afghans’
human rights especially for women- including the freedom of expression and
immediately these women, their relatives, and other activists.” Reads the
Tweet.
This
comes as two women recently disappeared in Kabul on Thursday.
The
UNAMA has also expressed concern over the disappearance of women activists in
Kabul and asked for the women and their relatives to be freed.
“Urgent
information sought from @moiafghanistan today by UNAMA on a latest reported
detention over the last 24 hours by the Taliban of a further two women in
Kabul. UN repeats its call for all ‘disappeared’ women activists and relatives
to be released.” Reads a Twitter post by UNAMA.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/rina-amiri-asks-taliban-to-stop-unjust-detention-of-afghans-86598/
--------
Church
seeks justice over Catholic's murder in Bangladesh
Stephan
Uttom
February
03, 2022
Catholics
in a Bangladeshi diocese are protesting the murder of an elderly Catholic and
looting of his house, saying criminals in the Muslim-majority area target them
because of their peace-loving nature.
Some
1,000 people demonstrated on the street for a third day on Feb. 3 seeking the
immediate arrest of criminals who attacked the Catholic’s home in Padrishibpur
village that comes under Barishal Diocese.
“We
are attacked because we are a minority. We don't seek action or protest when
attacked,” said Father Anol Terence D’Costa, convener of Barisal Diocese's
social media commission.
Unidentified
people attacked the house of 94-year-old Melcome D. Costa on Jan. 29 after
rendering six members of the family unconscious with drugs and looted all their
valuables. Costa died in hospital on Jan. 31, while the other five family
members are yet to recover.
Catholic
leaders at the protest said a young man had visited Costa's house and mixed
anesthetics with the food. After eating the food, everyone fell unconscious
that night while Costa remained conscious.
At
least three young men entered the house through an open window and Costa was
attacked when he tried to stop them. Later, when he also fainted, the youths
took everything in the house including cash and gold ornaments worth an
estimated 750,000 taka (US$8,714) and fled, said neighbor Pius D’Costa.
Father
D’Costa said such attacks “are not new” in the Muslim-dominated area, where
Christians began to settle in the 18th century. Christians' inability to
organize and protest such attacks makes them prone to increased attacks, he
said.
He
said the parishioners' protest will continue until the police arrested the
criminals.
Holy
Cross Archbishop Lawrence Subrato Howlader of Chattogram, Apostolic
Administrator of Barishal Diocese, visited the parish and joined protesters
calling for the immediate arrest of the criminals.
“We
are also talking with the administration and local politicians, demanding
financial support for the family and exemplary punishment for the criminals,”
Holy Cross Father D’Costa told UCA News.
A
similar incident took place at a home in the same area and a young woman was
raped last year. The case is still pending.
The
villagers felt that the incident was planned and that the criminals targeted
them because they belong to a religious minority.
“Our
village is a very old Christian settlement. There are various problems being
created here lately,” said Lina Gomes, a Catholic resident.
Lina
Gomes, a Catholic in the village who joined the protest, said: “Christians face
various problems in the village, which was not the case earlier. I think we are
being attacked because we are a minority.”
Source:
UCA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/church-seeks-justice-over-catholics-murder-in-bangladesh/95965#
--------
Foreign
Office asks Taliban govt to address security concerns
February
5, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The Foreign Office on Friday said that the Pakistan government expected the
Afghan Taliban authorities to address its security concerns.
“It
is not a question of just raising again. We have been raising this matter
consistently and we will continue to do that. We expect our concerns to be
addressed,” Foreign Office spokesman Asim Iftikhar said at the weekly media
briefing.
He
was responding to queries about the presence in Afghanistan of handlers of the
attacks on Frontier Corps camps in Panjgur and Nushki.
The
ISPR had a day earlier said: “Intelligence agencies have intercepted
communications between terrorists and their handlers in Afghanistan and
India.”
After
the fall of the Ghani regime, it was generally believed that security threats
emanating from Afghanistan would finish. An impression was also given in a
section of media, a few days before the Panjgur/Nushki attacks, that the
infrastructure of Baloch separatists based in Afghanistan had been wiped out
by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Afghan
Taliban have been soft pedaling the issue of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban
Pakistan. Initially, they nudged Pakistani authorities to hold talks with
the TTP militants on the promise that action would be taken if they did not
move in that direction. No action was taken against the group after the failure
of talks and resumption of its terrorist activities.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673398/foreign-office-asks-taliban-govt-to-address-security-concerns
--------
Pentagon:
Deadly Afghan airport attack was not preventable
Feb
5, 2022
WASHINGTON:
The military investigation into the deadly attack during the Afghanistan
evacuation has concluded that a suicide bomber, carrying 20 pounds of
explosives packed with ball bearings, acted alone, and that the deaths of more
than 170 Afghans and 13 US service members were not preventable.
The
blast at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport on Aug. 26 killed 11 United
States Marines, a sailor and a soldier, who were screening the thousands of Afghans
frantically trying to get onto one of the crowded flights leaving the country
after the Taliban takeover. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for
the attack.
At
the Pentagon on Friday, military officials laid out a detailed and graphic minute-by-minute
account of the bombing. The bottom line, they said, was that those who died had
wounds that were "so catastrophic" that they couldn't be overcome.
And they said that earlier thoughts that it was a complex attack involving
gunfire turned out to be unfounded.
"A
single, explosive device killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US
servicemembers by explosively directing ball bearings through a packed crowd
and into our men and women at Abbey gate," said Gen. Frank McKenzie, head
of U.S. Central Command. "The disturbing lethality of this device was
confirmed by the 58 US servicemembers who were killed and wounded despite the
universal wear of body armor and helmets that did stop ball bearings that
impacted them, but could not prevent catastrophic injuries to areas not
covered."
Investigators
said the bomber likely got near the gate by bypassing Taliban and other
security checkpoints. They said it appears the Taliban didn't know of the
attack, that security precautions were being taken and that intelligence about
potential threats that was circulating that day was not specific.
"Based
upon our investigation, at the tactical level this was not preventable,"
said Brig. Gen. Lance Curtis, who led the investigation. He added that military
leaders on the ground in Kabul followed proper security measures, at times
closing the gate or pausing the processing of evacuees.
Military
officials said that gunfire after the blast was found to be warning shots fired
by the US and British troops, and that no one was killed or wounded by
gunshots.
McKenzie
said the investigation revealed that the five-millimetre ball bearings in the
bomb caused wounds that looked like gunshots. He said some troops in the area
fired a number of warning shots, and that led others to believe that the attack
also included gunmen.
Friday's
briefing lasted more than an hour and resembled the detailed explanations
military officials gave to the families of the troops killed that day. It
included several videos of the chaos at the gate at the time of the bombing.
One
is very brief and shows two Marines in the foreground, and deep in the
background between them is a glimpse of a single person, dressed all in black.
And then there is the sound of an explosion, and a cloud of black smoke rises
from that area. Investigators said the bomber was likely standing on the far
side of a sewage canal and was a a bit "elevated" when detonating the
bomb. Pieces of a backpack were found.
Three
service members who were standing on a short wall looking over the crowd to
identify potential evacuees were just 10 feet from the blast and were killed.
Longer videos shot from overhead show Marines and others rushing to treat and
evacuate the wounded, providing first aid and carrying people over their
shoulders as they ran, while civilians scrambled to flee the area.
Marines
cut holes in the adjacent fence so they could get to triage areas more quickly,
while also struggling through a fog of tear gas that enveloped the area when
the bomb fragments punctured the cannisters troops carry.
The
blast, said investigators, created "instant chaos and sensory
overload". But within 20 minutes all of the killed and wounded had been
moved to triage sites.
The
nearly 20 pages of briefing documents included photos showing the crush of Afghans
and others trying to get cleared into the airport, many waving documents and
slogging through the sewage trench to get closer to the troops processing
evacuees.
Investigators
said that as the Taliban made it more difficult to get through checkpoints,
Afghans and others began using side roads and back alleys to get closer to the
outer gate.
The
investigation also concluded that there was enough medical staff and blood at
several sites around the airport, including nine surgical teams and a hospital.
And it quoted a trauma surgeon who told investigators, "We had all we
needed. Did we need more people? No, we had a lot of experience on the team and
plenty of people."
The
number of service members wounded in the bombing grew to 45 in the following
days as they were examined and some were found to have traumatic brain injuries
from the blast.
Source:
Times Of India
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--------
India
Conspiracy
case lodged against Wasim Rizvi, 7 others who accused Muslim cleric of
molesting minor
Ashish
Srivastava
February
5, 2022
An
FIR has been filed against Wasim Rizvi alias Jitendra Tyagi and seven others
who had accused Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad of molesting a minor girl in
2016.
A
woman has filed a case of conspiracy against the eight accused. According to
her, her father Naushad Ali had alleged that Maulana Kalbe Jawad sexually
exploited her younger sister after Wasim Rizvi pressurised him to do so.
In
2016, Wasim Rizvi had alleged that the woman's younger sister was sexually
exploited. An FIR had been registered against Kalbe Jawad after an edited video
was circulated online, as per the complaint.
A
case has now been registered against Wasim Rizvi and seven others under
sections 500, 506, 120B of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the
IT Act. The FIR was filed at Saadatganj police station in Lucknow.
WHO
IS WASIM RIZVI?
Former
Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi renounced Islam and
converted to Hinduism in December last year. He took a new name, Jitendra
Narayan Singh Tyagi, after accepting Hinduism (Sanatan Dharma).
In
the past, he has been accused of making derogatory remarks about Prophet
Muhammad and hurting the sentiments of the Muslim community.
Source:
India Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Kartarpur
Sahib in Pakistan due to a Partition-era error: Rajnath
Feb
5, 2022
GURDASPUR:
Defence minister Rajnath Singh raked up the Partition during his rally here on
Friday for the Punjab assembly elections, saying that Kartarpur Sahib would
have been a part of India if some gaffe had not been made during the country’s
division.
Addressing
the rally in support of BJP candidates Dinesh Babbu (Sujanpur) and Parminder
Singh Gill (Gurdaspur), Rajnath said a blunder had been committed during the
Partition. He said if the decision had been taken rationally, Kartarpur Sahib
would have been a part of India. Now, Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib, the
birth and death places of Sikhism’s first master Guru Nanak Dev, respectively,
were in Pakistan, he said.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
This
Hindu family in Bengal is taking care of a Mosque for over 50 years
Suryagni
Roy
February
4, 2022
At
a time when we hear news about differences between communities, clashes between
different religious groups and communal tension in various parts of the
country, this story of communal harmony in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas
stands out as an epitome of inclusiveness.
The
Bose family, which arrived in North 24 Parganas from erstwhile East Pakistan in
1964, exchanged their land in Khulna for the same area in the town of Barasat.
When the then Bose patriach, Ishwar Nirod Bose, swapped the land in Barasat
with Giasuddin Morol, he found that the land housed a little mosque.
Speaking
to India Today, 74-year-old Dipak Bose, son of Ishwar Nirod Bose, narrated how
the Bose family took over the mosque, repaired it and has been taking care of
it since 1964.
"I
was 14 when we arrived in Barasat from Khulna, then East Pakistan, after a
series of riots over there. As per law, we swapped the area in terms of square
feet with a landlord named Giasuddin Morol with ours in Khulna. The land my
father acquired here had a small mosque, which Morol stated that could be used
as per our discretion" said Mr Bose to India Today.
Hindu
family taking care of Mosque for over 50 years
Dipak
Bose, the current patriarch of the Bose family, credited the looking after of
the mosque to his mother.
"My
parents were liberal, they believed that a place of worship is a holy place and
should be respected. My mother was the first one to light a lamp in this
mosque" said Bose.
The
third generation of the Bose's have taken over taking care of their mosque
where the family breaks bread with Muslims during Ramazan. Partha Bose, senior
most of the third generation of Bose, claimed that not only them, but the
future generations too, would take great care of the mosque.
"After
my grandfather and my father, my generation is taking care of our mosque, we
are happy to see that our next generations are eager to come forward to take
care of this mosque. My daughter tells me that she will do whatever it takes to
keep the glory of this mosque" said Partha Bose.
Future
generations to follow
Akhtar
Ali, the imam of the mosque, claimed that the original mosque was almost 500
years old.
"The
Bose family took over this place and rebuilt the mosque. Earlier, it was in bad
shape when it belonged to Giasuddin Morol, who left for Bangladesh. It was some
500 years old and was not taken care of in a way the Bose family does"
said the Imam.
Source:
India Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Muslim
Youth League wants its cadre to be more Islamic
05th
February 2022
KOZHIKODE:
Muslim Youth League (MYL) has launched programmes titled ‘Fajr Youth Club’ and
‘Chiraku’ that aim to instil Islamic values among the activists and to help the
youth use their time meaningfully as stipulated by the religion.
‘Fajr
Youth Club’ is started by the Kozhikode district committee of the MYL on the
death anniversary of IUML leader Syed Abdurehman Bafaqi Thangal on January 19,
which will continue for 40 days. “We envisaged the programme after we realised
that the youth are misutilising their time and energy. Many spend their time on
social media till late night and get up late in the morning,” said MYL district
general secretary T Moideen Koya.
The
MYL workers in a unit will assemble at the IUML office or at the house of a
party worker after the morning Subahi prayers in mosques and spend around 10
minutes for discussing an issue, usually something related to current affairs.
“Then, they proceed to sports and games of their choice like walking or shuttle
badminton,” Moideen Koya said.
“If
they continue the process for 40 days, it will become a part of their life. We
hope that the Fajr Youth Club will instil a sense of purpose in the life of our
workers,” he said. The Malappuram unit of the MYL is implementing a similar
programme titled ‘Chiraku’ that also aims to instil moral values among the
youth.
Congratulating
the MYL efforts, Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS) state working secretary Abdul
Hameed Faizi said it is a model to be emulated.
Faizi said the circular sent to MYL units has asked them to ensure that
Islamic duties such as prayers are practised and to create interest in the
affairs of mosques and madrasas.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
'I
love hijab' movement in Karnataka; BJP says it won't allow Talibanisation
05th
February 2022
BENGALURU:
The hijab row in Karnataka is spreading fast to other districts of the state.
Muslim students in Mysuru district started a "I love hijab" movement
on Friday.
The
ruling BJP has declared that it won't let Talibanisation happen and told these
students that if they want to attend classes they will have to shun the hijab.
Muslim
students have started a 'I love hijab'' movement in Mysuru city extending their
support to the protest of students in Udupi district to wear a hijab and attend
classes.
The
group of students gathered near the historical Bannimantap and staged a protest
urging the government to allow students with hijab. The protestors held
placards saying 'I love hijab' and later attended classes wearing a hijab.
The
police intervened when Hindu students came to classes wearing saffron shawls in
Ramdurg College of Belagavi in north Karnataka.
Chief
Minister Basavaraj Bommai held a meeting on the evolving situation in the state
over the hijab row. Education Minister B.C. Nagesh and top officers of the
education department attended the meeting and briefed Bommai on the issue.
Minister
for Power, Kannada and Culture V. Sunil Kumar stated that he won't allow
Talibanisation of Udupi district from where the hijab row started. "How
can students from poor backgrounds move the High Court? Who is behind
them?" he questioned.
Education
Minister Nagesh after attending the meeting with CM Bommai stated that if
Muslim students want to study they have to come in uniform. He attacked Leader
of Opposition Siddaramaiah for targeting the BJP over the hijab row that rules
on uniform were framed in 2018 when he was the CM.
"Do
not destroy the education field in the state. The state would come out with a
policy once the High Court decides the matter," he said.
Home
Minister Araga Jnanendra has stated that the government can't make rules as per
the wishes of the Congress party. The concept of uniform has come from the time
of the British. The Congress has divided the nation on the basis of religion
for vote bank politics, he said.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
India
to give 80 Afghan cadets 1-year training
Feb
5, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Eighty Afghan cadets who have completed their courses in various Indian
military academies but are facing an uncertain future because of the situation
in Afghanistan will be offered a year-long training programme by the Indian
government.
The
Afghan embassy here said in a statement the cadets will be trained in
"effective English communication for business and office".
"Given
the challenges and uncertainty facing these freshly graduated young cadets due
to the prevailing situation back home, the embassy of the Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan in India welcomes and applauses this generous move by the Indian
government," the embassy said.
The
Afghan cadets will be given training under the Indian Technical and Economic
Cooperation Programme (ITEC) of the ministry of external affairs (MEA).
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Hijab-saffron
shawl controversy enters more colleges in Karnataka
Feb
5, 2022
UDUPI:
The hijab controversy and saffron shawl issue surfaced at two more colleges in
Karnataka, one in Udupi district and another in Belagavi, on Friday.
A
group of Muslim girl students wearing hijab and 300 Hindu boys wearing saffron
shawls at Government PU College in Byndoor, Udupi, were prevented from entering
classes. This is the fifth college in Udupi district - three in Kundapur, one
in Udupi, and one in Byndoor - to witness a row over wearing hijab.
The
issue that started at Government PU College for Girls, Udupi spread to more
institutions - two government PU colleges in Shivamogga, Kundapur's Government
Junior College, Bhandarkar's Arts and Science College (Kundapur), Government PU
College, Byndoor and a government PU college in Belagavi, among others.
However, it has been resolved at the Shivamogga colleges.
Both
government college (Kundapur) and Bhandarkar's, sponsored by the Academy of
General Education, Manipal, which were allowing students to wear the hijab
inside classes, stopped them from entering the campus after the government
recently ordered all government colleges in the state to not allow students
wearing hijab or saffron shawl inside the campus.
In
Belagavi, a group of students from government PU college in Ramadurga town came
to class draping saffron shawls on Tuesday. But the incident came to light only
on Friday after related video clips and photographs surfaced on social media.
In the morning, the group of 10-12 students walked inside the campus wearing
shawls but with the intervention of college staff and local police, who warned
of action, the latter obliged and attended classes.
In
Kundapur, for the third day in a row, authorities of Government Junior College
tried to prevent girl students from entering the campus wearing hijab. However,
students managed to gain entry and insisted they be allowed to attend lessons.
Later, students and parents began to protest on the streets opposing the
college decision. Meanwhile, nearly 100 Hindu boys came with saffron shawls,
leading to tension on campus. The principal ordered the protesting students to
leave, and the college has declared a holiday on Saturday.
Muslim
girls staged a protest in front of Bhandarkar's college on Friday after being
denied entry for wearing a headscarf. They sat on the road in front of the
college gate and raised slogans asserting their right to wear hijab.
Kundapur
MLA Haladi Srinivas Shetty convened a meeting of parents of Muslim girls. The
parents said that if the college had communicated about the hijab ban during
the application process, they would have chosen a different institution.
Meanwhile,
the six students at Government PU College for Girls in Udupi, where the hijab
controversy began, continued their protest outside the campus.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Plot
to kill Buddhadeb in 2002 after his Madrasa comment, reveals book
Kinsuk
Basu
05.02.22
A
book authored by retired Bengal intelligence chief Dilip Mitra has claimed that
there were “three plots” between 2001 and 2008 to kill former chief minister
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and specific plans were in place to shoot the late prime
minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani
during their visits to the state.
While
Mitra avoids offering specific timelines in the book, “Operation Black
Stiletto: My Years in Intelligence”, he said the first attempt on
Bhattacharya’s life was in 2002 soon after the former chief minister had said
unaffiliated madrasas were centres of unlawful activities. The two other
attempts that he refers to during his tenure were made over the next six years
with the last one ahead of Lalgarh Operation in 2008.
Mitra
writes about his experience of interrogating one “Abdul”, an alleged member of
the ISI’s sleeper cell in Calcutta, who revealed how he had been summoned to
Dhaka soon after Bhattacharya’s statement was televised on news channels. He
was tasked with offering shelter and logistics to ISI operatives who would
reach from Dhaka during one of Bhattacharya’s scheduled visits to a bordering district
of Bengal, understandably Murshidabad.
“He
would carry out tasks from time to time, serve as a conduit for funds and, in a
sort of master stroke, befriended and employed the daughter of a head clerk..
(in the police, handling sensitive information about VIP movements) ...” Mitra
writes in his book.
One
of the two other attempts that Mitra narrates was around the time when Maoists
had spread over East and West Midnapore districts, Purulia and Bankura in
Bengal after rebranding themselves as Peoples War group (PW).
During
interrogation it surfaced that Bhattacharya was “the single most hated enemy of
the Peoples War” and the Maoists were planning to strike when the former chief
minister was scheduled to visit the Jungle Mahal.
Mitra
talks about an assassination attempt on L.K. Advani by Lashkar-e-Tayeba, a
banned terror outfit, during his visit to Belur Math, the global headquarters
of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission in Howrah. While the book
doesn't mention the time, it presumably refers to the visit in July 2003.
Advani then was not a SPG protectee.
“Lal
Krishna Advani would be assassinated during his forthcoming visit to West
Bengal. That was what the paper in my hands said,” Mitra writes.
Shortly
after Advani left Calcutta there was another “feed” that said Atal Behari
Vajpayee, the Prime Minister would be killed during his visit to Calcutta.
According
to the book, Vajpayee was arriving in Calcutta to attend two events with the
first stop at a hotel adjoining the Salt Lake stadium. The ITC Sonar would have
been his last stop.
Source:
Telegraph India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Jammu
and Kashmir: Two terrorists killed in encounter with security forces in
Srinagar
Feb
5, 2022
SRINAGAR:
Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were killed in an encounter with security
forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said.
Acting
on specific inputs about the presence of terrorists in the Zakura locality of
the city, security forces launched a cordon and search operation there during
the night, a police official said.
He
said as the forces were conducting searches in the area, the hiding terrorists
fired upon them.
The
forces retaliated and an encounter broke out. Two terrorists have been killed,
the official said.
Inspector
General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said the ultras belonged to The
Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow of the LeT.
One
of the terrorists was involved in the killing of a head constable, Ali Mohammad
Ganie, in Anantnag on January 29.
"Two
terrorists of terror outfit LeT/TRF neutralised by Srinagar police. One of the
killed terrorists Ikhlaq Hajam was involved in recent killing of HC Ali Mohd at
Hassanpora Anantnag," the IGP Kashmir said on Twitter.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Pakistan
calls upon India to reverse Aug 5 actions
Iftikhar
A. Khan
February
5, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The upper house of parliament on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution urging
India to reverse the actions it initiated on and after August 5, 2019, which
were aimed at illegally altering the demography of the Muslim majority state of
Indian occupied Kashmir.
As
a symbolic gesture, part of Friday’s special session — held on the eve of
Kashmir Solidarity Day — was presided over by the first Hindu Dalit woman to be
elected to the Senate.
“There
can’t be a bigger slap on Modi’s face than this,” said Senator Krishna Kumari
Kohli — who is also known as Kesho Bai.
The
senator from Tharparkar was invited by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to chair
the session during the course of speeches on Kashmir.
She
was warmly welcomed with desk-thumping by Senate colleagues as she assumed the
chair. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Dr Babar Awan, who was speaking at
the time, paused to acknowledge Senator Kohli as she assumed the presiding
seat.
Senator
Krishna Kumari chairs special debate on eve of Kashmir Day, says Modi won’t be
tolerated much longer
In
her brief remarks, Senator Kohli said she wanted Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to know that “this is the real face of Pakistan, which has allowed a Hindu
member to preside over the Senate session.”
“We
want Modi to know that he has had his way for long enough, we will not tolerate
him for much longer,” she said.
Senator
Kohli, who was elected in 2018 to a reserved seat on a Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP) ticket, later tweeted: “It is great honour [that] I chaired the Senate
session called to discuss the current situation in Indian Illegally Occupied
Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on the eve of Kashmir Solidarity Day.”
Resolution
adopted
On
Friday, the house unanimously adopted a resolution rejecting the “illegal and
unilateral action” taken by India on August 5, 2019, and demanded that it
revoke the step, calling it a “gross violation of all United Nations
resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir”.
The
resolution also condemned the unabated Indian human rights violations, war
crimes and violations of international humanitarian law in IIOJK. “Ever since
Aug 5, hundreds of innocent Kashmiris have been martyred, arbitrarily arrested
or rounded up under trumped-up charges,” the resolution stated.
The
Senate made it clear to India that even the worst state-sponsored terrorism
would not break the spirit of the Kashmiri people, or crush their legitimate
struggle.
The
house demanded that Indian PM Narendra Modi and his “fascist RSS organisation”
be held accountable for their crimes against humanity and called on the Indian
government to stop extra-judicial killings of Kashmiris in fake encounters and
cordon-and-search operations.
It
also denounced illegal measures to change the demographic structure of the
occupied territory, as well as “efforts to peddle a facade of normalcy” and
demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners in IIOJK.
The
Senate also asked the international community to take note of “India’s
belligerence, intransigence and brazen persistence of cruelty against the Kashmiri
people, including the danger of genocide which is now documented
internationally”.
The
resolution reassured the people of Kashmir that Pakistan’s government, people
and parliament would always stand firm with them in their just struggle until
it is resolved according to their wishes and as per the relevant UN Security
Council resolutions.
“The
Senate of Pakistan reiterates its support to the people of Kashmir in the just
struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination every step of the
way,” the resolution said.
Senate
Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani ordered that copies of the signed resolution be
dispatched to different world leaders and the UN secretary general.
United
front
Earlier,
opening the discussion on Kashmir, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Yousuf Raza Gilani said that durable peace in South Asia was not possible
without the settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the
aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
Leader
of the House Dr Shahzad Waseem and Advisor on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan
also condemned Indian atrocities in the valley in the strongest terms and
called for the reversal of the “illegal and immoral steps” of Aug 5 and beyond,
saying that their right to self-determination could not be denied any longer.
Dr Shahzad
Waseem said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had effectively exposed Janus-faced
India before the world and the international community had also taken note. He
recalled that the UN secretary general and General Assembly president had also
talked about the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.
Calling
for serious and meaningful dialogue between India and Pakistan on the issue, he
warned that otherwise, the two countries would continue remain under pressure
from global powers, which would continue to use them for their own interests.
PML-N
parliamentary leader Azam Nazir Tarar said that Kashmir could not be liberated
through slogans alone and insisted there was still time for the government to
convene a meeting of all political parties to take the Kashmir cause forward
with vision and strength.
Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri criticised the PTI
government for adopting a weak policy on Kashmir and alleged that the “PTI
government made a deal on Kashmir and sold out its people”.
In
response, PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry came down hard on the JUI-F lawmaker for
making “baseless accusations”, instead positing that even though Maulana Fazlur
Rehman had been the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, its
performance remained abysmal.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673397
--------
Terrorists
will be brought to justice: Balochistan CM
February
5, 2022
QUETTA:
Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has said that elements involved
in the terrorist attack in Panjgur and Nushki will be brought to justice.
Talking
to journalists here on Friday evening after visiting the secretariat of
JUI-Nazaryati, the chief minister said if some elements thought that through
such terrorist attacks they could retard the development of and investment in
Balochistan, they lived in a fools’ paradise.
At
the JUI-Nazaryati secretariat, Mr Bizenjo offered Fateha for the party’s
workers who were martyred in the Science College bomb blast last month and
assured Maulana Abdul Qadir Luni that the government would pay compensation to
the heirs of the victims.
He
said that terrorists were not well-wishers of Baloch people and they were
carrying out such activities to please their foreign masters.
He
said that security forces of the country were strong and would eliminate these
terrorists.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673393/terrorists-will-be-brought-to-justice-balochistan-cm
--------
‘Great
honour’: Hindu senator presides over Senate session on Kashmir
February
4, 2022
Senator
Krishna Kumari Kohli chaired today’s session where the Senate unanimously
passed a resolution to express solidarity with Kashmiris in connection with
Kashmir Solidarity Day, which will be observed across the country tomorrow
(February 5),
The
session was welcomed by the loud thumping of desks as she sat on the chair’s
seat.
In
her own tweet, Kohli said it was a “great honour”.
“It
is great honour [that] I chaired the Senate session called to discuss the current
situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on the eve of
Kashmir Solidarity Day,” she said.
“A
Hindu presiding [over] the Senate session on Kashmir in Pakistan. Chairman
Senate [asked] our colleague Krishna Kumari Kohli to do the honour. In
connection with #KashmirSolidarityDay, it’s a strong message going out
depicting [the] difference between Pakistan and Hindustan,” Senator Faisal
Javed Khan said on Twitter.
The
senator, who was elected in 2018 to a reserved seat on a PPP ticket, thanked
party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for giving her an opportunity to become a
member of the upper house of Parliament.
It
is pertinent to note that Kohli became the first Hindu Dalit woman to be
elected to the Senate in 2018. Prior to becoming a senator, she was an activist
in a village in Nagarparkar.
The
resolution passed during today’s session, paid tribute to the heroism and
valour of the Kashmiris, while rejecting the illegal and unilateral action
taken by India on August 5, 2019, and demanded that it revoke the step, calling
it a “gross violation of all United Nations resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir”.
The
resolution further warned India that the worst form of state terrorism would
not break the will of the Kashmiri people or crush their legitimate struggle.
It
condemned the unabated Indian human rights violations, war crimes and
violations of international humanitarian law in IIOJK. “Ever since Aug 5, 2019,
hundreds of innocent Kashmiris have been martyred, arbitrarily arrested or
rounded up under trumped-up charges,” the resolution stated.
It
denounced the illegal Indian measures to change the demographic structure of
the occupied territory as well as “efforts to peddle a facade of normalcy” and
demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners in IIOJK.
Lawmakers
demanded that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his “fascist RSS
organisation” be held accountable for their crimes against humanity. The
resolution also called on the Indian government to stop extra-judicial killings
of Kashmiris in fake encounters and cordon-and-search operations.
The
resolution reassured the Kashmiri people that the government, people and
Parliament of Pakistan would always stand firm with them in their just struggle
until it is resolved according to their wishes and as per the relevant UN
Security Council resolutions.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistani
security forces conduct search operations for extremists after base attacks
04
February ,2022
Pakistani
security forces were conducting search operations on Friday to flush out
extremists suspected of hiding near two military bases attacked by extremists
on Wednesday, which killed seven soldiers and 13 of their own, in the latest
violence in the southwestern Balochistan province.
The
attacks, the biggest in recent years by ethnic Baloch extremists, came hours
before Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Beijing for the opening
of the Winter Olympics, where he will have meetings with Chinese President Xi
Jinping and other leaders.
Two
Pakistani security officials, requesting anonymity as they are not permitted to
speak publicly, said the operation was not yet over.
“The
army is conducting search operations in the area. There might be some more
elements hiding in the surroundings,” one official told Reuters.
The
army said the attacks were simultaneous and coordinated.
“They
used explosive-laden vehicles at gates, they have the latest weaponry left
behind by NATO forces,” Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Minister of Interior said on
Friday, adding that the attack was defeated and both bases were under the
control of the Pakistani military.
Ethnic
Baloch guerrillas have been fighting the government for decades, demanding a
separate state, saying the central government unfairly exploits Balochistan's
rich gas and mineral resources.
The
Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) group said it was behind the attacks in a
statement sent to a Reuters reporter, adding that one of the two bases was
still under its control after 38 hours. This could not immediately be verified
independently.
Last
week, the insurgents killed 10 soldiers in an attack on a post near the port of
Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, the heaviest casualty toll for the army in the
Balochistan insurgency in years.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Afghan
Hunger, Pakistani Islamists, Makhdum Alem
February
04, 2022
By
Abubakar Siddique
Welcome
to Gandhara's weekly newsletter. This briefing brings you the best of our
reporting from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
If
you’re new to the newsletter or haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so here.
Hunger
killing Afghan children
I
write about how mounting hunger in Afghanistan is threatening the life and
well-being of millions of children. Aid agencies warn that more than 1 million
children could die of severe malnourishment and millions more require medical
treatment.
"My
son couldn't walk because he was so weak," said Graana, a mother of five
who for weeks trekked more than two hours a day to receive treatment for her
malnourished 2-year-old son in Helmand. "Hunger had disfigured him to the
extent that he started to look scary. I was hopeless."
The
snowballing humanitarian crisis hits Afghanistan's young the hardest, with the
UN warning that children account for some 14 million of the country's 23
million people facing starvation. "[We are] deeply concerned about the
rapidly escalating malnutrition crisis across Afghanistan," Sam Mort, a
spokeswoman for UNICEF, told me.
In
a video report, we take you to meet desperate Afghans. Some have sold their
kidneys to survive the winter, while others are considering selling their own
children.
"No
one can tell me to sell our children, but we are struggling to keep them
alive," said one mother who has already sold a kidney for $1,500.
"And that's why we thought of selling [some of] them."
The
Taliban's political blowback in Pakistan
Ron
Synovitz writes about how the Taliban victory in Afghanistan is now shaping
politics in Pakistan. Islamist parties in the country are bolstered by the
ascent to power of an Afghan ideological ally.
"There
is no doubt that with the Taliban in power in Afghanistan, support for the
religious parties will increase in Pakistan," said Nazr-ul Islam, an
analyst in Islamabad.
Jamiat
Ulema-e Islam (JUI-F), the main Deobandi party, is already cashing in on the
Taliban's victory in Afghanistan by claiming the lion's share of seats in the
first round of municipal elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in December. The JUI-F
and Tehrik-e Labaik Pakistan, a far-right Bralevi group, are now poised to
challenge the ruling Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf and other moderate or secular
political parties in parliamentary elections scheduled next year.
Embryonic
ethnic conflict within the Taliban
Bruce
Pannier weighs in on brewing ethnic tensions within the Taliban ranks after the
predominately Pashtun group recently arrested one of its most powerful Uzbek
commanders for alleged criminal activities.
Makhdum
Alem's mid-January detention prompted protests in his native Faryab. Fellow
Uzbeks within the Taliban ranks warned of more unrest if he was mistreated. The
issue even prompted Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob to visit
Faryab to quell the unrest.
"Despite
Taliban warnings about protests, there is no sign tensions in the region will
ease anytime soon," wrote Pannier, pointing to rising grievances among
ethnic minorities against the alleged excesses of the Taliban in the ethnically
mixed regions of northern Afghanistan.
Emerald
Mountains
In
a photo essay, we take you deep into Afghanistan's Hindu Kush Mountains, where
former police officers and soldiers eke out a living by digging for emeralds in
frosty mines.
Source:
Gandhara
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
SGPC
flays removal of Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa's statue in Pakistan's Haripur
Feb
05, 2022
February
4, 2022
The
SGPC and Chief Khalsa Diwan have condemned the removal of a statue of Sikh
general Hari Singh Nalwa in Haripur district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province. A video clip of removal of the statue has gone viral on the social
media.
The
statue of the Sikh warrior on the horseback with a sword in his hand was
erected in 2017 on the Siddique-i-Akbar square in Haripur (district named after
Nalwa).
Sources
said the statue was removed by the local authorities after some religious
parties objected to its installation at the intersection named after first
caliph of Islam Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.
Nalwa
was commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Fauj, the army of the Sikh Empire. He
is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Attock, Multan,
Kashmir, Peshawar and Jamrud.
On
behalf of SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, SGPC’s publicity incharge
Harbhajan Singh Vakta appealed to the Pakistan government and the Evacuee
Property Trust Board to clarify on the matter. He has also approached Amir
Singh, president, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, in this regard.
Source:
Tribune India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/sgpc-flays-removal-of-nalwas-statue-in-pak-367107
--------
ECP
stops Maulana Fazl from holding public meetings in DI Khan
February
5, 2022
DERA
ISMAIL KHAN: The Dera Ismail Khan election commissioner on Friday directed the
district administration to stop the public meetings of Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Yarik area on Feb 5 and in
Baisakhi area on Feb 7 as they amounted to violation of the election code of
conduct.
Mr
Rehman is scheduled to address a public meeting in Yarik on Saturday (today),
and a rally at the Baisakhi Ground on Monday as part of the election campaign
of his party’s candidate for the Dera city mayor slot.
Election
commissioner Hayatullah Jan has issued written instructions to the deputy
commissioner and the district police officer to stop these meetings.
It
merits a mention here that a rally will be organised on the Yarik interchange
of the Hakla-DI Khan Motorway to welcome JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday.
The
second phase of the local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is scheduled for
March 27.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673339/ecp-stops-maulana-fazl-from-holding-public-meetings-in-di-khan
--------
Southeast Asia
Indonesian
preacher criticized for 'justifying' domestic violence
Katharina
Reny Lestari
February
04, 2022
Catholics
and rights activists in Indonesia have expressed disappointment at a sermon by
a well-known Muslim woman preacher that they claim justified domestic violence.
Oki
Setiana Dewi was narrating a quarrel between a couple from Jeddah during a
sermon uploaded on her TikTok account on Feb. 2. In the video, she is seen
explaining how in a fit of rage the husband slapped the wife but she chose not
to tell her visiting mother about it.
“There
is no need to tell a story that makes us vilify our own partner,” she
concluded.
Justina
Rostiawati, chairperson of the Jakarta-based Catholic Women of the Republic of
Indonesia (WKRI), disapproved of the manner in which Dewi spoke, displaying no
empathy for victims of domestic violence.
“She
mentioned the story as an example of how a wife has to cover her husband’s
disgrace … a housewife who always has to show her piety, goodness and beauty,”
Rostiawati told UCA News on Feb. 4.
Rostiawati,
a former member of the National Commission on Violence against Women, said the
sermon can drive victims of domestic violence into a corner.
“This
is very dangerous because a home, which should be a safe place, can turn into
hell without others knowing,” she explained.
“The
sermon encourages victims of domestic violence, particularly women, to keep
silent and to bury their wounds for their whole life. They can even die in
their home.”
She
suggested that the preacher find appropriate examples for her sermons.
Lukman
Hakim, a researcher at the Civil Muslim Network, said in a statement that the
preacher’s sermon had the potential to justify domestic violence.
“Remember,
all religions do not accept verbal and physical violence,” he said. “Domestic
violence is a crime instead of a mere disgrace. It cannot be tolerated and
ignored. It is very dangerous and threatens family harmony and the life of
victims.”
Source:
UCA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesian-preacher-criticized-for-justifying-domestic-violence/95988
--------
God’s
guardians on earth: how young Muslims in Indonesia turn to faith for
environmental activism
February
5, 2022
Our
study of young environmental activists in Indonesia found that Muslim youth
activists based their environmentalism firmly on their knowledge of Islam. They
see themselves as khalifahs – or God’s lieutenants on earth – undertaking the
sacred task of guarding the natural world.
This
echoes the growing popularity of “green Islam” as an important global youth
agenda.
Indonesia
has a poor record on environmental protection. There are significant problems
of pollution and deforestation, despite hundreds of regulations and laws
governing environmental management and protection. As Indonesia has grown
economically, so has the negative impact on its environment.
Amid
that concerning trend, some pious and fervent young Muslim environmentalists
are committed to raising the consciousness of peers about ecological crises.
They view environmental pollution and destruction as haram, or forbidden by
Islamic law.
Tapping
into religious epiphany
For
the study, we talked to 20 environmental activists, aged 19–23, from campuses
in Java and Sumatra. These young Muslim activists had solid academic knowledge
that they used to shape their views on environmental practices based on Islamic
theology.
For
example, Pertiwi in Palembang, South Sumatra, attended an Islamic boarding
school (or “pesantren”) where she studied Quranic verses in depth.
Later
at university she joined a group campaigning against pollution of the Musi
River through awareness-raising in riverside communities, lobbying major
industrial polluters and organising river clean-up days.
Pertiwi
says she based her environmental activism on a surah (chapter) in the Quran
about the destruction of the Earth.
“Look
at our ancestors, Allah [God] became very angry with them, right? He was not
only angry because of human nature itself damaging the environment, but because
of human actions directly violating something Allah had created,” she said.
She
considers damaging the environment as haram, including littering.
“It
violates the work of the Creator (…) God sees, hears and knows what humans do,”
she explains.
Classmate
Fahmi, on the other hand, studied chemical engineering. He joined the Palembang
chapter of Sobat Bumi, an environmental movement initiated by Indonesia’s
state-owned oil and natural gas corporation, Pertamina.
Fahmi
experienced a religious epiphany when climbing up through cloud forests in a
national park where he realised the truth of what was said in the Quran.
“If
someone takes care of the surrounding environment, then God will look after
them, both in this world and in the hereafter. […] And His gratitude is truly
manifested when we come to regret mistakes such as littering the fresh
environment that gives us the air we breathe,” he said.
One
of our other respondents in Bandung, West Java, Iin was an active member of
Youth for Climate Change (YFCC) Indonesia. She believes it is an order from God
for humans to behave as a khalifah, or God’s guardians on Earth.
“The
term khalifah is mentioned in the verse that states, ‘[The] Lord said to the
angels: 'I am placing on the Earth one that shall rule as My deputy [viceregent
or lieutenant]’” she quotes (Quran 2:30).
She
also took pride in her career aspirations in nature conservation.
“I
know the salary will not be as big as what I would get working for an oil and
gas company. But I don’t have a problem with that, because I have been paid by
God with my breath, food to eat and the means to live my daily life,” she said.
In
the capital Jakarta, meanwhile, another participant in our study named Heri
joined a university-led campaign to clean up the Ciliwung River – one of the
most polluted rivers in the world.
“There
is environmental education in my religion. Harmony must be both vertical and
horizontal, ”hablum minallah, hablun minannas“. It explains how you should interact
socially with the environment,” Heri who attended a madrasah (Islamic school)
said.
Heri’s
words echo those of Mustofa Bisri (commonly known as Gus Mus), a popular
theologian affiliated with Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation, Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU). He once tweeted that human life in the world is not only related to
Allah (hablum minallah), but also to fellow humans (hablum minannas) and to the
environment/nature (hablum minal alam).
It
references the Quranic paradigm of holding fast to the “rope” of God as a
multi-dimensional article of faith, one that encodes the common theological
belief of harmony – “as above, so below”.
The
young activists often drew on these Quranic references to explain their moral
responsibility of conservation and reparation. The purity of nature was
understood to reflect God’s transcendent goodness in creation.
They
felt a moral duty to prevent other Indonesians from causing environmental
pollution and destruction. They also campaigned actively to bring local Muslim
polluters and destroyers back to the faith.
For
example, a favoured T-shirt depicted the crescent moon and star, stating: “Even
when doomsday comes, if someone has a palm shoot in his hand, he should plant
it.”
The
young activists sometimes alluded to their environmental struggle as an arduous
journey guided by God. Yet they were not disheartened as they believed they
would be rewarded in the hereafter for their work as a khalifah.
Source:
The Conversation
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Jokowi
drums up support for Nusantara from Muslim group, sultans
February
5, 2022
BALIKPAPAN:
President Joko Widodo is drumming up support for Nusantara, Indonesia’s planned
new capital city, from the country’s largest Muslim group, Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU), as well as local sultanates and indigenous communities – amid loud
criticism in Jakarta.
The
president earlier this week flew to the city of Balikpapan in East Kalimantan
Province, in the Indonesian part of Borneo island, where NU was holding a
ceremony to inaugurate members of its new national executive board.
The
Muslim group declared a plan to build a main office near the proposed site of
new capital Nusantara in Penajam Paser Utara regency, just next to Balikpapan.
Widodo
told the inauguration ceremony on Monday that he would grant NU a “big (land)
concession”, although it was not clear if that plot would be for the NU office
in Penajam.
Yahya
Cholil Staquf, the newly elected chairman of NU, applauded the government’s
decision to move the capital as an “out-of-the-box” proposal.
“It’s
becoming clearer and clearer that building a new capital here in East
Kalimantan … will be an effective initiative to develop a better future for
this nation,” Staquf said during the ceremony which was also attended by
Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin, a senior NU cleric.
NU
with its traditional Indonesian brand of Islam is the largest Muslim group in
the world’s most populous Muslim nation, with tens of millions of followers
across the archipelago.
Its
support for Widodo since the 2014 presidential election was a key reason for
the former furniture maker’s win then and in 2019. Widodo announced the capital
relocation plan after his reelection.
The
plan had been put on the back burner since the beginning of the pandemic, but
parliament’s passage of the law on the new capital city on Jan 18 – which
includes naming it Nusantara – has put it back in motion.
Despite
rising numbers of Covid cases driven by the Omicron variant in Jakarta and some
other parts of Java island, preparatory works have been ongoing in Penajam.
These
works include the building of basic infrastructures such as a dam for clean
water supply and access roads through a vast acacia and eucalyptus plantation
that will host a new presidential palace and other government offices.
The
government is preparing regulations to accelerate development, including the
planned establishment of the Nusantara Capital City Authority.
An
initial clause in the law has been removed that required the capital relocation
to start in the first half of 2024, when Indonesia will elect its new
president.
But
officials in Jakarta said they were still aiming to have the new palace ready
for the Independence Day ceremony on Aug 17, 2024, just a few months before
Widodo’s tenure ends.
The
law, however, has sparked wider controversies, with critics questioning the
urgency of the move and calling it a waste of money – in addition to concerns
over potential impacts on the environment and indigenous people in East
Kalimantan.
In
Balikpapan, Widodo met with representatives of indigenous communities including
heads of the Kutai Kertanegara and Paser sultanates.
Although
these small kingdoms were established centuries ago, like others scattered
across the Indonesian archipelago, the sultanates have little power apart from
some cultural influence over their territories.
After
the meeting, Kutai Sultan Muhammad Arifin said he “fully supports” the move.
Paser
Sultan Muhammad Jarnawi similarly said the sultanate “enthusiastically
welcomes” the plan and hopes that the new capital “will be immediately built” –
but reminded the government to protect the forests.
Representatives
of some other indigenous groups, including the Dayak Kenya and Banjar, asked
the government to involve their people in building Nusantara.
“The
capital city development will be a long-term work – probably won’t finish in
five to 15 years,” said Syarifuddin HR, head of a Banjar group.
“We’re
only asking the president to please pay attention to our human resources so
that our brothers, our (young) generation can later compete … with newcomers
from elsewhere.”
In
Jakarta, the controversy around the capital relocation has taken a new twist
with the recent arrest of Edy Mulyadi, a former politician of the opposition
Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, over alleged insults of Kalimantan people.
In
a video that went viral in which he criticised the move, Mulyadi baselessly
said that the new capital development was part of China’s covert operations to
install its citizens there.
He
said, “(The capital) will be moved to a place where genies dump kids,” citing
an Indonesian proverb commonly used to refer to remote and desolate places.
“It’s
probably OK to build there if their (target) market is kuntilanak and
genderuwo,” he added, referring to evil creatures in local urban legends.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Analysts:
Winning big in Johor will give Umno confidence to call for early national polls
05
Feb 2022
BY
SYED JAYMAL ZAHIID
KUALA
LUMPUR, Feb 5 ― A clear-cut victory in Umno’s birthplace of Johor will likely
boost morale and embolden calls for an early general election, political
analysts said.
The
faction led by party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is said to be
eyeing an early general election, which rivals claim to be motivated by hopes
that returning Barisan Nasional (BN) to power could affect the corruption
trials of several party leaders.
So
far, all signs have been positive. The Umno-led BN trampled rivals in the
Melaka state elections with a supermajority, while its Borneon allies, the
Coalition of Sarawak Parties (GPS), decimated Pakatan Harapan to retain power
in a state polls held just months prior, bagging more seats than it won in the
previous polls.
GPS
members were formerly BN component members but left after the coalition lost in
the 2018 general election. Still, it has remained friendly with Umno since.
Should
Umno succeed in replicating the Melaka election results in Johor, where it
secured 21 of the 28 legislative assembly seats, pundits believe Zahid’s
faction would likely press Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to
call for elections quickly, as it seeks to capitalise on the momentum.
“The
indicator in Johor would be a clear-cut victory like Melaka,” said Kartini Aboo
Talib, political analyst with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
“I’m
sure the battle will be interesting to see, especially among the Malay
political parties (that are facing) division and disintegration,” she added,
referring to the rumours about tension between Ismail and Zahid’s camps.
Pundits
like Oh Ei Sun, a fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs,
believed that Ismail, a party vice-president who was seen as open to working
with rivals Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, would likely try to delay calling
for early elections in a bid to consolidate his position.
“With
yet another supermajority win in Johor after Melaka, a momentum within Umno, or
at least its mainstream faction headed by Zahid, would be created, such that
the prevalent sentiment would be Umno should ride this winning streak into a
snap poll,” Oh said.
“But
if Ismail were to resist this call, he would be seen as working against the
interest of the party.”
The
party has dismissed the rumour as an attempt to drive a wedge between Umno’s
top leaders.
Its
information chief, Shahril Hamdan, who is also economic adviser to the prime
minister, said the decision to nominate Ismail as prime minister received the
unanimous support of the supreme council, and that Zahid had made several
public statements indicating his disinterest in the post.
Another
landslide?
Analysts
polled by Malay Mail have rated the prospect of Umno scoring huge in Johor
highly, despite some pointing to the possibility of PAS and Bersatu splitting
the Malay votes.
“Umno-BN
is going all out to repeat what happens in Melaka to Johor,” according to
Kartini.
“PAS
has no ground in Johor despite the state being Muslim-Malay majority. The
intra-ethnic Malays groups are diverse in Johor thus the idea of Bangsa Johor
is strongly advocated by the Istana and Umno,” she added.
“Meanwhile,
Bersatu as a splinter of Umno, might have a difficult time convincing the
people they betrayed in 14th GE, So, even if PAS-Bersatu maintains its
Perikatan Nasional alliance, it will not do much to sway Bangsa Johor.”
State
polls and by-elections, although not necessarily reflecting the national mood,
have always provided useful insight for political strategists to gauge and
predict voting sentiment.
That
means Umno will likely have been buoyed by the spate of by-election victories
post 2018 and its resurgence in the Sabah and Melaka polls, according to James
Chin, political analyst with the University of Tasmania.
A
two-thirds majority in Johor would then be enough to convince the leadership to
force an early general election as it seeks to ride on the momentum.
“Momentum
is a very important factor in the way elections are called for in Malaysia, you
need momentum and that means they would try and go for a two-thirds majority in
Johor,” Chin said.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
3
Members of Anti-Iran Separatist Terrorist Group Found Guilty by Danish Court
2022-February-4
The
Danish court convicted the three men of financing and supporting terrorist
activities in Iran in collaboration with Saudi Arabia's intelligence services,
as well as engaging in espionage activities, the Danish media Ritzau reported.
The
report also said he three men face prison terms of up to 12 years for numerous
offenses, including providing information about Danish and foreign
organizations and individuals to the Saudi Arabian intelligence service.
All
three men were arrested two years ago and have been in custody ever since.
They
also face potential deportation, and one also risks having his Danish
citizenship revoked.
Habib
Farajollah Chaab, also known as Habib Asyud, the ringleader of the so-called
Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz terrorist group (SMLA),
appeared in court on Wednesday.
At
the hearing, Amin Vaziri, the prosecutor’s representative, said Chaab is
accused of corruption on earth through forming, managing and heading the SMLA,
as well as planning and carrying out terrorist operations, and destroying
public property.
“Members
of this terrorist group visited Saudi Arabia annually under the guise of Hajj
to carry out the plans dictated by the Saudi intelligence agency. These plans
included actions against innocent citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he
added.
Vaziri
also displayed the picture of a meeting between the Saudi culture minister and
an SMLA member, who was arrested in the Netherlands for terrorist acts and
sentenced to four years in prison. He further showed the photo of an invitation
sent to the militant by the Saudi king.
Another
picture showed a meeting between the SMLA spokesman and the Saudi king.
Additionally,
the prosecutor’s representative pointed to the ties between the SMLA and
Israel’s Mossad spy agency.
He
also presented written documents that showed Chaab had dealings with former
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The
defendant, Vaziri said, has over the past years infiltrated into
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and even charities to attract and
organize SMLA members.
As
the trial continued, images were displayed of intelligence and military
elements of the terrorist group, who freely engage in terrorist acts against
innocent Iranians in Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Based
on an indictment, he is charged with “leading and heading the SMLA terrorist
group as well as planning and carrying out numerous bombing and terrorist
operations in Khuzestan Province and destroying public property in order to
counter the Islamic Republic of Iran’s establishment”.
He
is also charged with bombing operations at the Housing and Urban Development
Office, Planning and Budget Organization, and Department of Environment in
Ahvaz.
Chaab’s
other charges include bombing operations targeting the governorates of Dezful
and Abadan and oil pipelines in the cities of Abadan, Ahvaz, and Mahshahr, and
also planning a bombing attack against Ahvaz’s Judiciary office.
In
September 2018, the SMLA claimed responsibility for an attack on a military
parade in Ahvaz that killed 25 people, including members of Iran’s Islamic
Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and civilian bystanders, and injured 70 others.
During
Tuesday’s hearing, the prosecutor's representative said the SMLA's operations
are designed with the Saudi backing in Sweden and Denmark, where the group's
ringleaders are residing.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
IRGC
Commander: US Maximum Pressure Policy Fails Disgracefully
2022-February-4
"Since
the glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, enemies of Iran have
left no stone unturned to undermine and tarnish real image of the Islamic
Revolution, but the Iranians managed to foil all conspiracies and plots waged
against the country," General Salami said.
He
reiterated that even the US cannot even admit to its failure in imposition of
the economic sanctions imposed on Iran.
"I
dare say that no country, even the United States itself, can withstand in the
face of these oppressive sanctions imposed against Islamic Republic of Iran,
but these malicious plots were thwarted under the wise leadership of the
Islamic Revolution," General Salami pointed out.
The
IRGC commander expressed the hope that economic problems facing Iranians would
be resolved due to the unsparing efforts of the government officials.
In
a relevant development in late January, Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei underlined that the enemies' economic
war against Iran was aimed at bringing about economic collapse for the country.
"The
goal of the enemies in this war has been the collapse of the Iranian economy;
that was their intention. Now, the collapse of the economy was, of course, a
prelude in order to set the people against the Islamic Republic by destroying
the Iranian economy and to carry out their malicious political intentions in
this way," Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with a group of the
country's manufacturers and officials in the economic and industry sector on
Sunday morning in Imam Khomeini Hussainiyyah.
Referring
to his advice to Iranian officials about not tying the country's economy to the
results of the Vienna talks, he added, "I always repeat that you should
not condition the country's economy and economic activities. Do not pause over
something that we do not have. We should use our efforts to meet our needs. And
thank God we have very good capacities in this regard."
The
Supreme Leader lauded the Iranian manufacturers, entrepreneurs and workers as
officers of the battle against the enemies' economic war, and said that their
work has greatly contributed to Iran's resistance against the enemy.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Difference
between criticism of Israeli state and anti-Semitism at heart of teacher’s
lawsuit
February
05, 2022
CHICAGO:
Attorneys for a 26-year-old Jewish woman who was fired from her teaching job at
a New York Synagogue for criticizing Israel told Arab News that the lawsuit she
has filed to get her job back shines a light on the important difference
between criticism of the actions of the Israeli state and anti-Semitism.
Jessie
Sander was hired last year to teach at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale,
New York. Weeks later, on July 21, she was fired because of her criticism, in a
post on a personal blog, of Israel’s government.
On
Jan. 25, Sander filed a lawsuit arguing that Temple leaders had dismissed her
in violation of a New York state labor law “which prohibits an employer from
firing an employee because of a legal, recreational activity performed without
compensation, off the premises of the employer, and without reference to the
employer’s property,” according to attorney Robert Herbst of Herbst Law. He
noted that only a few states have similar laws.
“We
are trying to say to established Jewish institutions, temples, schools, you
can’t excommunicate your young people — who grew up and were educated by your
institutions in Jewish religious and moral principles — you can’t excommunicate
them because they want to apply them in good faith to what they think is
wrongdoing on behalf of a Jewish State in its treatment of Palestinians,”
Herbst told Arab News.
“If
you do it, there will be a cost and we will call you out for it. That’s what we
are trying to say.
“There
have been a slew of really well-meaning people who have been fired, canceled or
harmed because they are trying to uphold the principles that they were taught,
the moral and religious tenets of their faith and it is a shame.”
In
a statement to Arab News, Sander said: “I’m bringing this lawsuit because I am
deeply invested in keeping Jewish institutions thriving, pluralistic spaces
that welcome all Jews.
“It’s
important to keep wrestling with Zionism and having difficult conversations,
even if it makes us uncomfortable.”
In
her blog post, Sander wrote: “We reject the notion that Zionism is a value of
Judaism. Zionism is not equivalent to, or a necessary component of, Jewish
identity. To conflate Zionism and Judaism is not only inaccurate but dangerous;
if we do not understand the difference between settler colonialism and
religion, we run the risk of spreading deeply anti-Semitic narratives about the
nature of Judaism. ... As American Jews, we demand an end to American funding
of Palestinian genocide. ... Jews in the United States must speak out against
genocide in our name and state-sponsored murder disguised as support for Jewish
people.”
Sanders
is demanding she be reinstated to her position as a Jewish Learning Lab teacher
at the Temple. Herbst said her case is the first time that this New York labor
law has been used by a plaintiff in a lawsuit.
“We
are hoping that the message will get sent,” he said.
In
the wider context, he said that the case highlights the important distinction
between legitimate political criticism and anti-Semitic comments.
“This
is the distinction we activists in the field are trying to make clear in these
statements about anti-Semitism that have come up,” said Herbst.
“The
establishment institutions behind the first definition are trying to say that
any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. What those of us who support the
Jerusalem Declaration second-grade statement against anti-Semitism are trying
to say is, no, no, no, you have to distinguish carefully between criticisms of
the government of Israel and the actions that Israel takes as a State, from
hatred of Israel, the Jewish people.”
He
added that Jewish people such as Sander who criticize the policies of the
Israeli government should not be punished for their opinions.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2018531/middle-east
--------
Iran
Calls for Broadening of Ties with OIC
2022-February-4
During
the phone conversation today, Amir Abdollahian expressed his appreciation of
the OIC chief efforts for the reopening of Iran's OIC office in Jeddah.
He
also reviewed the problems of the Islamic world and the Islamic Ummah, the
procedure of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Iran and the OIC,
the reopening of Iran's representative office in the OIC as well as a number of
other regional issues.
The
OIC secretary general, for his part, welcomed reopening of Iran's office in Jeddah
and Tehran's active participation in the organization and underlined the role
of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a founding and active member of the OIC.
He
said the OIC will fail to solve the problems of the Islamic world in absence of
the active participation of all Islamic countries.
Amirabdollahian
invited Taha to visit Iran which was welcomed by him.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001115000176/Iran-Calls-fr-Bradening-f-Ties-wih-OIC
--------
Iran,
Iraq FMs Call for End to Yemen Crisis
2022-February-4
During
their phone talk on Thursday, the Iranian and Iraqi foreign ministers exchanged
views on the developments in the region, including Yemen, and the need to halt
the war in Yemen which causes insecurity and instability in the entire region.
Amir
Abdollahian and Hussein, meantime, reviewed bilateral relations between the two
neighboring countries.
In
a relevant development in mid-January, Senior Assistant to the Iranian Foreign
Minister for Special Political Affairs Ali Asqar Khaji and UN
Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grunberg discussed ways to
resolve the crisis in the war-hit country.
During
the phone conversation, Khaji sadi that the people of Yemen will make the final
decision on their country's future, adding that the lifting of the oppressive
blockade could trigger a political settlement in the country.
He
referred to the UN key role in resolving the Yemen crisis, saying that lack of
trust exists in the negotiations progress.
“Rebuilding
trust should be accompanied by taking practical measures, specially in the
field of humanitarian affairs,” Khaji said.
Grunberg,
for his part, said that the UN is currently assessing different points of view
and seeks to take into account the concerns of various Yemeni groups in its
future plans while advancing its short-term priorities in accordance with the
long-term goals.
Leading
several of its allies, Saudi Arabia started the war on the Arab world’s already
poorest nation in March 2015 to change the country’s ruling structure in favor
of its former Riyadh-allied government.
The
war has stopped short of the goal, while killing tens of thousands of Yemenis
in the process and turning the entire country into the scene of the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001115000230/Iran-Ira-FMs-Call-fr-End-Yemen-Crisis
--------
US
grants sanctions relief to Iran as nuke talks in balance
05
February ,2022
The
Biden administration on Friday restored some sanctions relief to Iran’s atomic
program as talks aimed at salvaging the languishing 2015 nuclear deal enter a
critical phase.
As
US negotiators head back to Vienna for what could be a make-or-break session,
Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed several sanctions waivers related to
Iran’s civilian nuclear activities. The move reverses the Trump
administration’s decision to rescind them.
The
waivers are intended to entice Iran to return to compliance with the 2015 deal
that it has been violating since former President Donald Trump withdrew from
the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed US sanctions. Iran says it is not
respecting the terms of the deal because the US pulled out of it first.
Iran
has demanded the restoration of all sanctions relief it was promised under the
deal to return to compliance.
Friday’s
move lifts the sanctions threat against foreign countries and companies from
Russia, China and Europe that had been cooperating with non-military parts of
Iran’s nuclear program under the terms of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
The
Trump administration had ended the so-called “civ-nuke” waivers in May 2020 as
part of its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran that began when Trump
withdrew the US from the deal in 2018, complaining that it was the worst
diplomatic agreement ever negotiated and gave Iran a pathway to developing the
bomb.
As
a presidential candidate, Joe Biden made a US return to the nuclear deal a
priority, and his administration has pursued that goal but there has been
little progress toward that end since he took office a year ago. Administration
officials said the waivers were being restored to help push the Vienna negotiations
forward.
“The
waiver with respect to these activities is designed to facilitate discussions
that would help to close a deal on a mutual return to full implementation of
the JCPOA and lay the groundwork for Iran’s return to performance of its JCPOA
commitments,” the State Department said in a notice to Congress that announced
the move.
“It
is also designed to serve US nonproliferation and nuclear safety interests and
constrain Iran’s nuclear activities,” the department said. “It is being issued
as a matter of policy discretion with these objectives in mind, and not
pursuant to a commitment or as part of a quid pro quo. We are focused on
working with partners and allies to counter the full range of threats that Iran
poses.”
A
copy of the State Department notice and the actual waivers signed by Blinken
were obtained by The Associated Press.
The
waivers permit foreign countries and companies to work on civilian projects at
Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power station, its Arak heavy water plant and the Tehran
Research Reactor. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had revoked the waivers
in May, 2020, accusing Iran of “nuclear extortion” for continuing and expanding
work at the sites.
Critics
of the nuclear deal who lobbied Trump to withdraw from it protested, arguing
that even if the Biden administration wants to return to the 2015 deal it
should at least demand some concessions from Iran before up front granting it
sanctions relief.
“From
a negotiating perspective, they look desperate: we’ll waive sanctions before we
even have a deal, just say yes to anything!” said Rich Goldberg, a vocal deal
opponent who is a senior adviser to the hawkish Foundation for Defense of
Democracies.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Hamas
slams upcoming meeting of PLO's Central Council
Ramzi
Mahmoud
04.02.2022
GAZA
CITY, Palestine
Hamas
group on Friday criticized an upcoming meeting of Palestine Liberation
Organization’s (PLO) Central Council, scheduled for Feb. 6, in Ramallah city.
“There
is no legitimacy for any meeting that is held unilaterally, far from national
consensus and the majority of the powers that factions and major influential
Palestinian components are absent from it,” Hamas said in a statement.
The
Central Council is a smaller assembly emanating from the National Council, the
highest legislative body for Palestinians at home and abroad, and is affiliated
with the PLO.
Notably,
the PLO does not include, so far, Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
Hamas
pointed out that "there is no legitimacy for any Palestinian council that
does not come through elections or by comprehensive national consensus."
The
movement considered that the "insistence" to hold the Central Council
meeting without a "national consensus" indicates a "suspicious
agenda and foreign interventions that want to impose proactive arrangements on
the Palestinian arena."
The
council is scheduled to elect members of the PLO’s Executive Committee to
succeed personalities who have died or resigned, and a new head of the National
Council, in place of Salim al-Zanoun, who recently submitted his resignation.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/hamas-slams-upcoming-meeting-of-plos-central-council/2494281
--------
Africa
Ottomans
credited for Libya's unification, says historian
Muhammed
Artima
05.02.2022
TRIPOLI,
Libya
A
Libyan historian credited the Ottoman Empire for demarcating and unifying
Libya's geographical borders.
In
an interview with Anadolu Agency, Mahmoud al-Deek said the history of the
Ottomans and Libyans is strongly interlinked.
“Since
1551, we have had geographical borders, and this was done during the Ottoman
era," said al-Deek. “The history of the Ottoman Empire and Libya is one.
We have common symbols such as Turgut Pasha and Yusuf Pasha al-Qarmanli."
Al-Qarmanli
is a reference to the city of Karaman in southcentral Turkiye.
Al-Deek
pointed out that Yusuf Pasha is one of the strong personalities that built the
al-Qarmanli family, originally from Karaman but settled in Libya and became
Libyans with Yusuf Pasha going on to become one of the strong personalities in
the Mediterranean.
Historically,
Libya has had close relations with Turkiye. At the beginning of 1551, Tripoli
came under Ottoman sovereignty and Turks intermarried with Libyans and joined
the Tripolitan society.
Since
1711, Tripoli was ruled by the al-Qarmanli family, which began with the rule of
Ahmed al-Qarmanli, who installed himself as ruler at that time as an Ottoman
governor.
The
al-Qaramanli family continued to rule Tripoli until 1835 as representatives of
the Ottoman Empire until the latter assumed direct rule. In 1911, Italy invaded
Libya, bringing an end to Ottoman rule.
American
defeat
Al-Deek
narrated an incident where the US was keen to control trade in the
Mediterranean and refused to pay tax to the ruler Yusuf Pasha.
"The
American consul at the time refused to pay the tax and said at the time that
this pasha should be disciplined, and then America sent the huge Philadelphia
ship," he said.
Al-Deek
pointed out that the ship came to Tripoli, but it drifted to the port and was
stuck in the sand, allowing Yusuf Pasha to seize it -- an act the Americans
considered a great defeat.
"There
were 300 American prisoners (officers and soldiers) in the hands of Yusuf
Pasha,” said al-Deek. He said Libyans “are proud Yusuf Pasha was a symbol of
the resistance and a symbol of the Islamic struggle against Europeans and
Americans.”
Resisting
Crusades
The
historian pointed out that "from the era of Turgut Pasha to 1911, the
Europeans could not occupy Tripoli or even threaten it significantly."
"Turgut
was a very important figure in the history of Libya having left great
fingerprints in the city of Tripoli,” he said.
More
importantly, he added, Turgut ensured that Tripoli was safe from the Christian
crusades despite his old age.
A
famous Ottoman commander, Turgut Pasha -- also known as Turgut Rais meaning
Chief Turgut -- is known for his successive victories in the Mediterranean and
Black seas. He is considered one of the most prominent commanders of the
Ottoman navy. Many ships and towns bear his name in his memory.
Al-Deek
also noted that Turgut was "one of the sailors who led the Ottoman fleets
in the Mediterranean and lived under the custody of Sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent, and thus he embodies the arm of the Ottoman Empire in the
Mediterranean."
Turgut
“carried out very important works in the city of Tripoli, such as
fortifications and maintenance of the city” as well as “expanded the control of
the Ottomans toward the (Tunisian) island of Djerba," he noted.
Al-Deek
called for a special conference in honor of Turgut Pasha "to clarify” his
real history as a mujahid amid accusations that he was a pirate.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture/ottomans-credited-for-libyas-unification-says-historian/2494517
--------
Morocco,
king orders prayers in mosques against drought
04
FEBRUARY
RABAT,
FEBRUARY 4 - Mosques across Morocco will pray for rain on Friday. The call for
prayer was launched across the country by the minister for Islamic affairs, at
the order of King Mohammed VI. The prayer refers to a verse in the Koran and the
words of Prophet Mohammed urging to "pray each time rain is awaited".
This
year the deficit of rain has reached record levels; reserves in dams are at an
historic low, with levels of 34% compared to 46% last year. Agriculture, which
represents approximately 14% of GDP, is seriously compromised by the drought,
which comes after a two-year-long health crisis. In a recent address to
Parliament, Agriculture Minister Mohammed Sadiki said "the upcoming season
is one of the hardest over the past 30 years".
Out
of 12 regions in Morocco, only four are not suffering due to lack of water for
the time being: the northern regions between Fez, Tangiers, Rabat and
Casablanca. The south has been hit hard. In Marrakech, since the start of the
year, water has been rationed: it is forbidden to water gardens, public parks
and sports fields. After the warmest year on the planet, 2020, when for example
Agadir closed water distribution during the night, Morocco in 2021 reached
temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius during the day and 30 degrees at
night.
Source:
Ansamed
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Rescuers
edge closer to five-year old boy trapped in well in Morocco
04
February ,2022
Moroccan
rescue workers on Friday came closer to reaching a young child trapped at the
bottom of a well in a delicate operation to dig out large parts of a hillside
where there is a risk of landslide.
The
five-year old boy, publicly identified only by his first name, Rayan, fell into
the well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen on Tuesday and his plight has
gripped the North African country.
“I
ask Moroccans to pray for the safe return of my son,” Rayan's distraught mother
said in footage shown on local media. State news outlet SNRT News quoted a
rescuer on Friday saying the boy was still alive.
The
well is 32 meters deep and narrows as it descends from its 45cm (18 inches)
diameter at the top, which means the rescuers cannot go down themselves to
retrieve the child.
The
hilly region around Chefchaouen is bitterly cold in winter and though food has
been lowered to Rayan, it was not clear whether he has eaten any.
He
has also been supplied with water and oxygen using a tube.
Rescuers
have worked through the night with bulldozers to cut a massive trench into the
hill next to the well leaving a gaping hole in the reddish earth.
Once
they reach the same depth as the well the rescuers can start digging
horizontally to save him, a witness told Reuters, confirming reports by local
media.
One
of the rescue team told local media on Friday: “We are preparing the most
critical and most complicated rescue step ... we need to dig horizontally three
to five meters.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Tanzania's
ruling party lauds unsung heroes of South Africa’s liberation struggle
Kizito
Makoye
04.02.2022
MOROGORO,
Tanzania
Tanzania’s
ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party has hailed exiled members of South
Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) party who sacrificed their lives
during the liberation struggle against the apartheid regime.
Dorothy
Mwamsiku, CCM chairwoman for the Morogoro region, said at a great personal cost
to themselves, exiled members of the ANC who lived in Morogoro used every
political weapon to defeat the divisive apartheid era and fight for freedom and
democracy in their country.
“We
honor them for the resolve and bravery they had shown during their country’s
liberation struggle. South Africa as it is today has been defined by the
strength of those men and women who helped defeat the apartheid era," she
said.
According
to Mwamsiku, although it is almost impossible to speak about South Africa’s
fight for freedom without mentioning Nelson Mandela, the country’s first
democratically elected president, there were other men and women who helped
wage a persistent battle for freedom to get to the point where every voice was
heard.
She
expressed her gratitude to the people of Morogoro for showing strong moral
support to exiled ANC members during the difficult time of repression in South
Africa, adding the experience has helped cement relations between the two parties,
which have long developed a habit of working together.
Popular
movements
The
emergence of organized popular liberation movements across Africa after the
Second World War was crucial for achieving independence for many African
countries.
As
a staunch opponent of colonial rule in Africa, Tanzania played a pivotal role
in assisting other African nations in their liberation struggles.
Julius
Nyerere, the architect of Tanzania’s independence and the country’s first
president, was a key figure in the struggle against foreign domination and
helped promote the concept of Pan-African unity.
Observers
say that Tanzania’s support for the ANC’s liberation movement went beyond
rhetoric as Nyerere encouraged unity and solidarity among Africans.
According
to Mwamsiku, Nyerere, who dedicated his entire life to the wellbeing of
humanity, played a very important role in the struggle for South Africa’s
independence.
The
country offered itself as a base for those fighting for liberation, including
South Africa.
“These
movements benefitted from the safety and stability of the country, as well as
the experience and guidance they received from Tanzania, which by then had
already achieved independence,” she said.
Although
the most visible contributions to South Africa’s liberation struggle apparently
came from Tanzania’s political elites, Mwamsiku said ordinary citizens, notably
the people of Morogoro, were generally very supportive of the cause for
freedom.
“The
people of Morogoro and Tanzanians in general were very friendly and supportive
to their brothers and sisters from South Africa,” she said.
Enduring
legacy
A
billboard bearing the message “Tell my people that I love them and that they
must continue the struggle. My blood will nourish the trees that will bear the
fruits of freedom, Aluta continua” at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA)
in Morogoro captures the enduring legacy of South African freedom fighter
Solomon Mahlangu, who was brutally executed by the apartheid regime.
Perched
at the foot of the rolling Uluguru Mountains are lively villages spanning the
lush green scenery of Mazimbu -- the place where freedom fighters took refuge
while waging a war against the repressive system back in South Africa.
Ali
Mkopa, a resident of Mazimbu, who was a small boy when the first batch of ANC
freedom fighters arrived in Morogoro seeking political asylum, hailed Nyerere
for offering swathes of land to the exiled South Africans to settle and
establish their political base.
“The
freedom fighters felt at home here. They really had no hope of going back home.
The situation there made them feel they would never return,” he told Anadolu
Agency.
Mazimbu,
which attracted a growing number of ANC exiles who flocked to the country after
the 1976 Soweto uprising, also served as a political strategy center for the
freedom fighters.
“Some
of them learned Swahili and freely mingled with members of the Tanzanian
society,” Mkopa said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
North America
US
eases restrictions on funds transfer to Afghanistan
Anwar
Iqbal
February
5, 2022
WASHINGTON:
In a major move towards easing restrictions on Afghanistan, the United States
has now decided to allow international banks to transfer money to the country
for humanitarian purposes.
A
directive issued by the US Department of Treasury earlier this week also allows
aid groups to pay teachers and healthcare workers at state-run institutions
without the fear of breaching US sanctions on the Taliban.
“Both
US and non-US companies can ship food to Afghanistan, and banks can process
financial transfers and other transactions associated with food shipments to
Afghanistan,” said the directive issued in Washington.
The
Treasury also outlined permitted transactions involving the Taliban, which
includes the blacklisted Haqqani Network.
These
include signing agreements to provide aid directly to the Afghan people,
general aid coordination, including import administration, and sharing of
office space.
“Payments
of taxes, fees, or import duties to, or the purchase or receipt of permits,
licences, or public utility services from” the Taliban, Haqqani Network or any
entity in which they own more than 50 per cent is authorised for humanitarian
operations, the directive said.
It
explained that “US sanctions do not specifically prohibit the exportation or
re-exportation of agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices to
Afghanistan”.
The
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also issued a general licence, which
authorises “US persons to engage in all transactions that are ordinarily
incident and necessary to the exportation or re-exportation of agricultural
commodities, medicine, medical devices, replacement parts, and components for
medical devices, or software updates for medical devices to Afghanistan”.
The
directive, known as GL 15, allows persons in third countries as well to
purchase these items specifically for resale to Afghanistan. Non-US persons may
engage in or facilitate transactions that would be authorised for US persons
under GL 15.
GL
15 also authorises US persons to engage in transactions or activities that are
ordinarily incidental and necessary to authorised exports or re-exports,
including the processing of financial transactions and related clearing and
settlement involving privately-owned and state-owned banks in Afghanistan.
The
United States froze about $9.5 billion of Afghan assets after the fall of Kabul
in August last to prevent the Taliban from accessing them. The frozen Afghan
assets are the second-largest seized by the US since the Iranian assets frozen
in the 1980s.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673372/us-eases-restrictions-on-funds-transfer-to-afghanistan
--------
US
grants sanctions relief to Iran as nuclear talks remain in balance
February
05, 2022
WASHINGTON
D.C.: The Biden administration on Friday restored some sanctions relief to
Iran’s atomic program as talks aimed at salvaging the languishing 2015 nuclear
deal enter a critical phase.
As
US negotiators head back to Vienna for what could be a make-or-break session,
Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed several sanctions waivers related to
Iran’s civilian nuclear activities. The move reverses the Trump
administration’s decision to rescind them.
The
waivers are intended to entice Iran to return to compliance with the 2015 deal
that it has been violating since former President Donald Trump withdrew from
the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed US sanctions.
Iran
says it is not respecting the terms of the deal because the US pulled out of it
first. Iran has demanded the restoration of all sanctions relief it was
promised under the deal to return to compliance.
Friday’s
move lifts the sanctions threat against foreign countries and companies from
Russia, China and Europe that had been cooperating with non-military parts of
Iran’s nuclear program under the terms of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
The
Trump administration had ended the so-called “civ-nuke” waivers in May 2020 as
part of its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran that began when Trump
withdrew the US from the deal in 2018, complaining that it was the worst
diplomatic agreement ever negotiated and gave Iran a pathway to developing the
bomb.
As
a presidential candidate, Joe Biden made a US return to the nuclear deal a
priority, and his administration has pursued that goal but there has been
little progress toward that end since he took office a year ago. Administration
officials said the waivers were being restored to help push the Vienna
negotiations forward.
“The
waiver with respect to these activities is designed to facilitate discussions
that would help to close a deal on a mutual return to full implementation of
the JCPOA and lay the groundwork for Iran’s return to performance of its JCPOA
commitments,” the State Department said in a notice to Congress that announced
the move.
“It
is also designed to serve U.S. nonproliferation and nuclear safety interests
and constrain Iran’s nuclear activities,” the department said. “It is being
issued as a matter of policy discretion with these objectives in mind, and not
pursuant to a commitment or as part of a quid pro quo. We are focused on
working with partners and allies to counter the full range of threats that Iran
poses."
A
copy of the State Department notice and the actual waivers signed by Blinken were
obtained by The Associated Press.
The
waivers permit foreign countries and companies to work on civilian projects at
Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station, its Arak heavy water plant and the Tehran
Research Reactor. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had revoked the waivers
in May, 2020, accusing Iran of “nuclear extortion” for continuing and expanding
work at the sites.
Critics
of the nuclear deal who lobbied Trump to withdraw from it protested, arguing
that even if the Biden administration wants to return to the 2015 deal it
should at least demand some concessions from Iran before up front granting it
sanctions relief.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2018411/middle-east
--------
US
probe finds single attacker in Kabul evacuation bomb
04
February ,2022
An
attack that killed at least 173 people including 13 US service members during
the chaotic Kabul airport evacuation last year was undertaken by a single
suicide bomber, a Pentagon investigation concluded Friday.
The
investigation ruled out more than one perpetrator or anyone using firearms in
the August 26 attack, which was claimed by ISIS.
At
least 160 Afghan civilians and the 13 US troops were killed by the bombing,
which came during the final days of the US military’s withdrawal after two
decades of war, according to the investigation.
The
bomb exploded in a dense crowd just outside the airport’s Abbey Gate as
thousands of people pushed to try to get inside and leave the country in the
US-managed airlift.
Although
some gunfire erupted after the bombing, US officers said they were warning
shots and none of those who died in the event were killed by them.
“There
were no gunshot wounds” among the victims, said Brigadier General Lance Curtis,
who presented the investigation findings Friday.
He
said that the deaths were from shrapnel including ball bearings from the bomb,
the wounds of which can look like gunshot wounds.
Curtis
admitted that on the day, the US military thought the attack was “complex,”
involving an Islamic State gunman as well as the bomber.
“We
now know that the explosive fired ball bearings causing wounds that looked like
gunshots. When combined with a small number of warning shots, that led many to
assume that a complex attack had occurred,” Curtis told reporters.
Also
adding to the confusion was the fact that the shrapnel from the blast punctured
tear gas canisters carried by the US troops for crowd control.
That
created “instant chaos and sensory overload,” said one of the officials who
briefed reporters on the investigation.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
French
gov't to launch new body for French Muslims
Yusuf
Özcan
05.02.2022
PARIS
Despite
reservations, France is set to launch its Forum of the Islam of France (FORIF)
on Saturday in a move that will dissolve the long-standing French Council of
the Muslim Faith (CFCM), which has been under scrutiny since French President
Emmanuel Macron unveiled the "French Islam" initiative.
Though
Muslim clerics and representatives of the county's Islamic associations will be
included in the FORIF's four working groups, they will be selected by the
Interior Ministry and governors, raising questions concerning the forum's
underlying objectives by many French Muslims.
On
condition of anonymity, a prominent member of the country's Muslim community
told Anadolu Agency that there was no clear selection criteria for those who
will be in the FORIF's working groups.
He
did acknowledge, though, that the CFCM had been mismanaged and already lost its
credibility in the eyes of the French government and some Islamic
organizations.
Despite
these difficulties, the CFCM should have continued, he remarked.
The
FORIF working groups will address a range of issues concerning the country's
Muslim population, including imams' (prayer leaders) training, Muslim clerics
employed in prisons, hospitals, and the military services, mosque security, and
anti-Muslim prejudice.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/french-govt-to-launch-new-body-for-french-muslims/2494486
--------
UK
accused of neglecting citizen detained by Houthis in Yemen since 2017
04
February ,2022
The
family of a British man held by the Iran-backed Houthis since 2017 and
allegedly tortured in Yemen on Friday accused the UK government of apathy about
his fate.
Luke
Symons, 29, was detained by Houthi militants in southwest Yemen along with his
Yemeni wife on suspicion of espionage, which his family strongly denies.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
They
say his arm was broken during one interrogation in a bid to force a confession,
and that his physical and mental health has degenerated during solitary
confinement in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
His
wife was released and has been able to visit him periodically in the prison,
and is alarmed at his condition, according to Symons’ grandfather Robert
Cummings.
“Luke’s
going through hell. He’s getting no medical attention, and we’ve been going
backwards, not forward, with this (UK) government,” Cummings told AFP by phone
from the family’s home in Cardiff.
“The
government should ask the question, ‘what do the Houthis want to get Luke
released?’,” he said, accusing the rebels of holding his grandson as a
“bargaining chip” for unspecified aims.
“But
they just won’t ask the question,” Cummings said, alleging inaction both by the
Foreign Office in London and by Saudi-based British diplomats responsible for
Yemen.
Amnesty
International, which this week launched a fresh appeal for UK intervention,
demanded that Foreign Secretary Liz Truss meet the family.
“It’s
long overdue that the government properly engaged with his family and exerted
sustained pressure on the Houthis to get him out of jail and back home to
Cardiff,” Amnesty’s UK chief Sacha Deshmukh said.
Symons
was arrested in April 2017, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson was foreign
secretary, and has never been charged.
The
detainee’s MP in the Welsh capital, Kevin Brennan of the opposition Labour
party, pressed his case to Johnson in parliament a month ago.
The
prime minister replied that the case was “a very sad one.”
“I
know that our staff in the (Foreign Office) work very, very hard to try to
release people from the positions they find themselves in,” Johnson said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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--------
New
landmark mosque gets green light from councillors
By
Paul Faulkner
February
4, 2022
A
landmark mosque is set to be built alongside one of the busiest motorway
junctions in Lancashire after getting the green light from councillors.
The
building – which was the winning design in a Royal Institute of British
Architects competition – will be constructed on raised grassland at the
Broughton interchange, where the M6 and M55 meet the A6 in Preston.
Preston
City Council’s planning committee granted outline approval for the facility,
the main body of which will be 12 metres high, with an accompanying 30-metre-tall
minaret.
Members
deferred a decision on the application last July – when the design had not yet
been chosen – because they were unable to judge its suitability for the
location.
They
also requested more evidence of the need for a mosque in the area.
On
that occasion, the authority’s planning officers had recommended that the
proposal be refused, both because of the absence of sufficient information
about what it would look like, but also due to concerns over parking and the
fact that the plot was in an area designated as open countryside in local
planning policies.
This
time around, officers said that the parking issue had been overcome after the
applicant pledged to operate a booking system for spaces which would be
enforced by automatic number plate recognition technology.
They
also concluded that while the mosque would not normally be deemed suitable for
the proposed location, other material planning considerations “tipped the
balance” in favour of approval.
That
was because the place of worship would fulfil a separate Central
Lancashire-wide policy designed to ensure that communities have sufficient
facilities where there is a need for them.
However,
during a packed meeting at the town hall, need, parking and suitability were
the subject of intense debate both between committee members and those speaking
for and against the proposal.
The
meeting heard that the applicant had identified 311 households in the immediate
local area for which the proposed building would be their closest aligned place
of worship.
Of
those, while only 17 were to the north of the M55 – and only two in Broughton
village – a total of 73 were within the borders of the wider Broughton parish.
The
proposed 150-space car park with booking system, has been designed to address
the concerns of locals, with 77 of the spaces reserved for people who have
car-shared, although there were concerns raised that double yellow lines to be
painted on D’Urton Lane would simply not work, as it would encourage people to
park further away.
Planning
officers recognised the innovative and high quality design of the building
which draws upon the history of Preston and is intended to be reminiscent of a
cotton mill, with the minaret being a nod to a Victorian-era mill chimney.
Source:
Asian Image
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https://www.asianimage.co.uk/news/19899602.new-landmark-mosque-gets-green-light-councillors/
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EU
reaffirms support for easing Armenia-Azerbaijan tensions
Agnes
Szucs
04.02.2022
BRUSSELS
The
head of the European Council and France's president on Friday reiterated the
EU's support for easing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan after holding
talks with the leaders of the two countries.
Charles
Michel and Emmanuel Macron held a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan via video link, Michel's
office announced.
Michel
and Macron "reaffirmed their full commitment to supporting efforts aimed
at reducing tension and building trust in the region," the office said in
a statement.
The
leaders discussed progress in Azerbaijani-Armenian relations since their last
meeting in mid-December, such as recent releases of detainees, joint efforts to
find missing persons, and work to reestablish railway links.
The
EU and France also reconfirmed their willingness to work with partners,
including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
"to build a prosperous, safe and stable" South Caucasus region, the
statement added.
Relations
between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense
since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as
Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan,
and seven adjacent regions.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/eu-reaffirms-support-for-easing-armenia-azerbaijan-tensions/2494381
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Erdogan
says Israel, Turkey can jointly bring gas to Europe
February
5, 2022
Turkey
and Israel can work together to carry natural gas from Israel to Europe and the
two countries will discuss energy cooperation during talks next month, Erdogan
was cited as saying on Friday.
Turkey
has been working to mend its strained regional ties with Israel and other
nations as part of a charm offensive launched in 2020. In an apparent easing
after years of animosity, Erdogan said on Thursday that Israeli President Isaac
Herzog will visit Turkey in mid-March.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Prominent
UK Imam hails Queen Elizabeth as 'beacon of hope and stability' ahead of
jubilee
Neil
Murphy
Feb
4, 2022
One
of the UK's most senior imams has praised the UK's Queen Elizabeth II as a
"beacon of hope” ahead of her platinum jubilee this weekend.
Imam
Qari Asim, chair of the Mosque and Imams National Advisory Board, was one of
many religious leaders who congratulated the monarch as she reaches her 70-year
reign milestone on Sunday.
He
said: “Throughout her 70-year-long reign, the queen has shown deep commitment,
affection and admiration for her country, the Commonwealth and the people
across the world, as well as the ability to adapt and evolve with the changing
world around her.
“Her
Majesty the Queen has been a wonderful beacon of hope, integrity, stability and
unity for our country and beyond. May the Lord allow this momentous occasion of
the platinum jubilee to provide unity, peace and hope across our wonderful
nation.”
A
series of events will be held from Sunday to mark the occasion which will
culminate this summer.
More
than 1,500 platinum jubilee beacons will be lit across the UK and Commonwealth
on the first evening of the extended four-day jubilee bank holiday weekend in
June.
Senior
clerics from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain,
Zoroastrian and Bahai faiths voiced strong support for the beacons and urged
their communities to take part.
The
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the most senior bishop in the Church of
England, said the fires — which will light up the night sky across the UK and
Commonwealth on June 2 — will see people joining together in celebration and
remind everyone of “our common bond under the Crown”.
Mr
Welby encouraged people to sing the newly written Song for the Commonwealth as
the beacons are lit.
He
said: “This will be a moment of remarkable celebration, as we join together
across different generations, denominations, faiths and communities all over
the world in proper tribute to Her Majesty the Queen.
Chief
Rabbi Mirvis, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the
Commonwealth, said: “The kindling of the Queen’s jubilee beacons throughout the
United Kingdom and the capital cities of the Commonwealth will be a most
powerful symbol as we celebrate her majesty’s 70 remarkable years on the
throne.
Source:
The National News
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Plans
for Preston mosque near motorway junction approved
February
5, 2022
A
landmark mosque is set to be built alongside one of the busiest road junctions
in Preston after getting the green light from councillors.
The
building will be on raised grassland at the Broughton interchange, where the
M6, M55 and A6 converge.
Preston
City Council's planning committee voted to grant outline approval for the
mosque, which will be 40ft (12m) tall.
Objectors
claim an influx of worshippers will cause congestion.
More
than 625 letters of support were sent to the city council as well as 425
objections, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
Members
had deferred a decision in July when the design had yet to be chosen in a Royal
Institute of British Architects competition.
Councillors
wanted to see if the winning design was suitable for the location and whether
there was sufficient demand for the mosque.
Planning
officers initially recommended refusing the proposal because of the lack of
information and its place in an area designated as open countryside in local
planning policies.
However,
they believe the parking issue has been overcome after the applicant pledged to
operate a booking system for spaces enforced by automatic number plate
recognition technology.
They
concluded while the mosque, which will have a 100ft (30m) tall minaret on top
of it, would not normally be suitable for the proposed location, other material
planning considerations "tipped the balance" in its favour.
Broughton
Parish Council chair Pat Hastings told the packed meeting at Preston Town Hall
the mosque and minaret would be akin to a stack of eight double-decker buses on
a site which was already 40ft (12m) above the motorway junction.
"It
is totally out of keeping with the Grade II-listed [St. John's] parish church
set in the valley below and is a visual hazard to the motorway," she said.
The
meeting heard the applicant identified 311 households "in the immediate
local area" for which the proposed building would be their closest place
of worship.
Local
Scout group leader Fatima Ismail said the need for the mosque was obvious and
Muslim families moving from other areas of Preston "should not be deprived
of a local place of worship for their religious and spiritual wellbeing".
Alban
Cassidy, the agent for the application, said the proposed 150-space car park
went "over and above" anything he had ever known for a facility of
this type.
Source:
BBC News
Please
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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-60258217
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Erdogan
accuses West of making Russia-Ukraine crisis worse, criticizes Biden
04
February ,2022
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the West of making the Russia-Ukraine
crisis “worse” and slammed US President Joe Biden's stance, in comments
published by local media on Friday.
Erdogan's
comments, made on his return from a trip to Kyiv on Thursday, come as he tries
to set up a Russia-Ukraine summit aimed at easing fears that Russian President
Vladimir Putin is preparing to invade Ukraine.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Erdogan
has tried to position Turkey, which is a member of the NATO defense alliance,
as a neutral mediator close to both Moscow and Kyiv.
He
issued some of his strongest criticism yet of the European and US positions on
the crisis in an interview with Turkish reporters on his plane.
“Unfortunately,
the West until now has not made any contribution to resolving this issue. I can
say they are only making things worse,” Erdogan said, adding that Biden “has
not yet been able to demonstrate a positive approach.”
Praising
former German chancellor Angela Merkel and her approach to Ukraine, Erdogan
said Europe was suffering “serious issues at the leadership level” after her
departure.
After
meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdogan reaffirmed his offer to
host a Ukraine-Russia crisis summit in Turkey.
He
said on the plane that Putin has “responded positively” to the idea and that a
date for the Russian leader's visit would now be set soon.
On
his flight back, Erdogan also criticized the international media's coverage of
the crisis, which has relied heavily on US intelligence assessments that the
Kremlin rejects and Kyiv has been cautious to accept.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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‘Bankrupt’
anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson faces court questioning over finances
February
04, 2022
LONDON:
One of the UK’s most prominent far-right, anti-Islam activists will be quizzed
by courts after failing to pay legal bills for a libel case he lost against a
Syrian refugee.
Tommy
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sued by Jamal Hijazi
for defaming him online.
In
response to footage widely circulated online of Hijazi being bullied,
Yaxley-Lennon, 39, released a video claiming the 16-year-old boy had attacked
“young English girls.”
He
failed to prove those claims were true, and was ordered to pay £100,000
($135,604.50) in compensation to Hijazi and legal costs understood to amount to
around £500,000.
At
a later hearing in March 2021, however, Yaxley-Lennon claimed he was bankrupt
and thus unable to make those payments.
But
now, the English Defence League founder has been called in front of a judge to
answer questions about his finances.
Hijazi’s
barrister argued that Yaxley-Lennon, who did not attend the hearing, could be
cross-examined about his finances over the debt, despite the ongoing bankruptcy
process.
In
written arguments, he stated: “The claimant envisages that counsel’s
opportunity to cross-examine the defendant under oath, accompanied by documents
provided by the defendant, will provide for a more detailed analysis of his
assets than might be possible through the normal bankruptcy process.”
He
said Yaxley-Lennon, who has long campaigned against the presence of Muslims in
Britain, owes a “substantial sum” to Hijazi, and intends to question him “with
a view to establishing what steps would be most proportionate to take with a
view to maximizing recovery.”
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2018196/world
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France
to send Rafale jets to protect UAE airspace
Shweta
Desai
04.02.2022
PARIS
France
announced on Friday that its Rafale fighter planes will carry out aerial
surveillance for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to protect the Gulf country's airspace
from drone and missile incursions.
In
a show of solidarity with the UAE, France is providing military support to
protect the Emirati airspace against intrusion, Defense Minister Florence Parly
said on Twitter. France is the second country to lend military assistance after
the US declared that it would send a warship and fighter jets to reinforce the
UAE's security.
Amid
an escalation of the conflict in Yemen, the UAE has recently been hit by
several lethal drone and missile attacks, allegedly by Iran-backed Houthi
rebels.
Under
its strategic partnership with the UAE, France has a military settlement
encompassing a naval, air, and land base known as Camp de la Paix, or Peace
Camp, in Abu Dhabi. Parly added that seven Rafale jets deployed at the Al Dhafra
airbase will operate with the Emirati military on surveillance, detection, and
interception missions.
UAE
authorities claimed this week that the country was hit by three drone attacks
and a missile strike from Yemen-based militant groups. The attacks began in
January when Emirati-backed Yemeni forces launched a push against the Houthis
in the central region of Marib.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/france-to-send-rafale-jets-to-protect-uae-airspace/2494446
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Poland
will be one of Turkiye's most important allies in Europe: Envoy
Hüseyingulu
Hüseyinzade
04.02.2022
Poland
will be one of Turkiye’s most important allies in Europe in the near future,
Ankara’s envoy to Warsaw said on Friday.
The
countries have been making comprehensive efforts to further strengthen
bilateral ties, with a particular focus on commerce and tourism, Ambassador
Cengiz Kamil Firat said in an interview with Anadolu Agency.
Diplomatic
relations that span over 600 years have borne fruit and high-level meetings are
in the pipeline, he said.
Trade
volume between Turkiye and Poland reached $8.5 billion in 2021, moving ever
closer to the target of $10 billion set by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
according to the diplomat.
He
said tourism figures between the countries are a good indicator of their strong
ties.
Due
to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Polish tourists in Turkiye dropped to
around 150,000 in 2020, but shot up again to 600,000 last year, Firat said.
Turkiye
is ready to welcome many more tourists from Poland and it will be the
destination of choice for Polish people, he added.
The
two countries have made reciprocal investments in various sectors, the envoy
said, and there is still great potential in fields such as infrastructure,
construction and the defense industry.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/pushed-shadows-isis-global/d/126309