Quetta Siri Guru Singh Gurdwara Handed Over to Sikhs After 73 Years
New Age Islam News Bureau
23
Jul 2020
• Muslims, Christians Agree Over Promoting Inter-Faith
Harmony in Pakistan
• Tabliighis Start Leaving India, First Batch Of 21
Boarded Flight for Indonesia
• 2019 Easter Blasts: Wife of A Suicide Bomber Escaped
to India, Says Sri Lanka Police
• US House Passes Act to Reverse Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’
• Saudi Arabia Sentences Corrupt Judge, Others to
Prison, Issues Fines
• Rouhani, Al-Kadhimi Agree to Form Joint Committee to
Implement Iran-Iraq Agreements
---------
Pakistan
• Quetta Siri Guru Singh Gurdwara Handed Over to Sikhs
After 73 Years
• Muslims, Christians Agree Over Promoting Inter-Faith
Harmony in Pakistan
• PM Imran discusses Pakistan-Bangladesh ties with PM
Hasina
• Police Cordon Off Jamia Hafsa To Prevent Cleric from
Visiting Lal Masjid
• Mosques, seminaries following corona SOPs
• Punjab Assembly Unanimously Passes Tahaffuz-E-Bunyaad-E-Islam
Bill 2020
• Eid packages for virus-hit transgender persons
• Pakistan, Qatar pursuing common goal of regional
peace: COAS
--------
India
• Tabliighis Start Leaving India, First Batch Of 21
Boarded Flight For Indonesia
• ‘Qurbani’ Can Be Foregone in Pandemic: Shia
ClericMaulana Kalbe Sadiq
• Muslim Student in Madhya Pradesh Arrested for
Calling RSS Men 'Pigs' on Facebook
• India Distances Itself from Pakistan Move to Get
Kulbhushan Jadhav a Lawyer
• Terrorist hideout busted in J&K’s Rajouri, arms
and ammunition seized
• J&K: Militant hideout busted in Rajouri; huge
cache of arms, Pika gun, seized
• Important for Tablighi Jamaat to speak on issues of
Islamic interests: Author of new book
--------
South Asia
• 2019 Easter Blasts: Wife of A Suicide Bomber Escaped
to India, Says Sri Lanka Police
• Myanmar Muslims Struggle to Avoid Another Muslim-Free
Parliament
• Pakistanis among 46 Taliban militants killed, wounded
in clashes in East of Afghanistan
• NATO’s SCR reaffirms support to Afghanistan and
Afghan forces post peace agreement
--------
North America
• US House Passes Act to Reverse Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’
• US stands with Iranian people ‘in their struggle for
true justice’: State Department
• Ex-Counterterrorism Chief: Cutbacks Raise Risk of
New Attacks
• Hezbollah-Linked Operative Extradited from Cyprus to
US
--------
Arab World
• Saudi Arabia Sentences Corrupt Judge, Others to
Prison, Issues Fines
• UAE Eid Al-Adha Prayers to Be Performed at Home Amid
COVID-19
• Foreign fighters key to ISIS resurgence as thousands
join new militias
• Mosul sowing seeds post-Islamic State
• Egyptian army says it killed 18 Islamist militants
in North Sinai
• Turkey shifts fight against Kurdish militants deep
into northern Iraq
• Kuwait’s emir to travel to US for treatment after
hospitalization: KUNA
--------
Mideast
• Rouhani, Al-Kadhimi Agree to Form Joint Committee to
Implement Iran-Iraq Agreements
• Palestinian Cultural Leader, Wife Arrested By Israel
For Allegedly Funding Terrorism
• Israel Hosts US Envoy at Biochem Lab, Seeks FDA Nod
For COVID-19 Vaccine Prototype
• Incident at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility due to
‘security breach’: Lawmaker
• Iranian parliament chief urges Iraq to pursue Gen.
Soleimani’s assassination case
--------
Africa
• Moroccan ISIS-Affiliates Leave Syria, Iraq For Libya
– European Security Reports
• Libyan National Army downs Turkish drone west of
Sirte
• Gunmen kill 11 villagers in Nigeria’s volatile
northwest after wedding bloodshed
--------
Europe
• Germany: Anti-Semitic Attack Suspect Shows No
Remorse In Court
• Iran looks to buy Russian weapons to ‘enhance
defense capacities’
• Question everything: How open debate can combat
extremism in schools
• Tajik man faces IS-related terrorism charges in
Germany
--------
Southeast Asia
• Medan Man Faces Four Years In Prison For Allegedly
Desecrating Quran
• Bersatu-linked think tank’s study suggests one in
two Malaysians would back Umno-PAS in snap poll, Pakatan losing urban foothold
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/quetta-siri-guru-singh-gurdwara/d/122449
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Quetta Siri Guru Singh Gurdwara Handed Over to Sikhs
After 73 Years
Jul 23, 2020
QUETTA: Sikhs pray in the 200-year-old Siri Guru Singh
gurdwara after it was handed over to the minority community on Wednesday.—Dawn
----
QUETTA: The Siri Guru Singh Gurdwara located on Masjid
Road in the centre of the city has been used as APWA Government High Girls
School since 1947, said the Dawn news report.
"Restoring gurdwara as a place of worship for the
Sikh community is a historical decision of the Balochistan government,"
Denesh Kumar, provincial parliamentary secretary and Adviser to the Chief
Minister on Minority Affairs, said on Wednesday.
The students who were studying in APWA Government
Girls High School have been asked to seek admission to nearby schools.
Sardar Jasbeer Singh, chairman of the Sikh Community
Committee in Balochistan, welcomed the move and described it as a "gift
from the Balochistan government to the Sikh community living in the
province".
"The Sikh community of the province is very
pleased that our ancient gurdwara has been handed over to us by the government
of Pakistan and the Balochistan High Court after 73 years and now we are able
to continue our religious practice there," Dawn news quoted Singh as
saying.
Around 2,000 Sikh families live in Balochistan.
Earlier in February this year, the Balochistan government had handed over a
200-year-old temple in Zhob to the Hindu community.
The temple had been converted into a government boys'
school, which has now been shifted to another building.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/quetta-gurdwara-handed-over-to-sikhs-after-73-years/articleshow/77121550.cms
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Muslims, Christians Agree Over Promoting Inter-Faith
Harmony in Pakistan
July 23, 2020
RAWALPINDI - The representatives of Muslim and
Christian community on Wednesday agreed over promoting inter-faith harmony in
the society. Special Representative Arch Bishop Rawalpindi-Islamabad, Babu
Sajid Amin Khokhar called on KhateebMarkazi Jamia Masjid/Zonal KhateebAuqaf
Rawalpindi, Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal Rizvi here. Both the dignitaries
agreed to carry forward the agenda of inter-faith harmony in best interest of
the society and country. According to a press release, speaking on the
occasion, Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal appreciated the efforts of the Christian
community for promoting harmony among different religions in the country.
The Special Representative of the Arch Bishop conveyed
special message of the Arch Bishop to the Muslim scholar and also threw light
on the role of ulema for promoting peace in the society. He told the religious
leader that they, on the direction of Arch Bishop Dr. Joseph Arshad, were
holding meetings with the notable Muslim scholars to promote harmony and peace
in the society.
https://nation.com.pk/23-Jul-2020/muslims-christians-agree-over-promoting-inter-faith-harmony
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Tabliighis Start Leaving India, First Batch Of 21
Boarded Flight for Indonesia
Jul 22, 2020
First batch of 21 Tablighis from Indonesia boarded the
flight from Indira Gandhi Airport on Wednesday
----
CHANDIGARH: Having spent four months in Haryana, which
include more than three months behind the bars, the members of Tablighi Jamaat
from abroad who were arrested in Mewat have started moving back to their
countries.
First batch of 21 Tablighis from Indonesia boarded the
flight from Indira Gandhi Airport on Wednesday. The members had got the
permission to return to their countries from the ministry of external affairs.
According to information of the 21 tablighis from
Indonasia, 11 were arrested by Mewat police and rest were arrested by
Faridabad, Palwal, Sonipat and Ambala districts.
Earlier this month, the various courts had disposed
off their cases by slapping fines on them. Following this, Courts of Mewat at
Nuh and other districts had directed to police to return the passports of TJ
activists from abroad so that they can go back home.
Notably there were over 115 tablighis who had been
arrested by police after the state wide raids conducted by Ingelligence wing of
Haryana police, health officials following a tip off that the tablighis had
attended jamats at NizamudeenMarkaj.
Notably, this had happenen in the first week of April
and they Jamatis alleged to have triggered first wave of COVID patients in NCR
districts as well as minority dominated areas of Haryana.
ForieignTablighis were booked for the violation of
Foriegners Act.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/tabliighis-start-leaving-india-first-batch-of-21-boarded-flight-for-indonesia/articleshow/77115294.cms
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2019 Easter Blasts: Wife Of A Suicide Bomber Escaped
To India, Says Sri Lanka Police
by Arun Janardhanan
July 23, 2020
The blasts targeted St Anthony’s Church in Colombo, St
Sebastian’s Church in the western coastal town of Negombo, and a church in the
eastern town of Batticaloa when the Easter Sunday mass was in progress.
(Reuters)
-----
The wife of one of the suicide bombers who struck
churches across Sri Lanka on Easter in April 2019, resulting in the death of
260 people, has fled to India fearing arrest, the police of the island nation
has said.
Testifying before the Presidential Commission of
Inquiry, which is probing the blasts, Chief Inspector of Police Arjuna
Maheenkanda said Pulasthini Rajendran alias Sarah — the wife of Atchchi
Muhammadu Hastun, who detonated his bomb at the St Sebastian’s Church in
Negombo — may have fled to India via sea in September 2019.
His submission was based on an input he received on
July 6 this year through an informant. The information was that a woman,
believed to be Sarah, who was initially believed to have been killed in the
explosion at a house in Sainthamaruthu on April 26, 2019, had actually fled the
scene and was in hiding before escaping to India from Sri Lanka’s Mannar coast.
Probed by the Colombo Crime Division, Criminal
Investigation Department and the Terrorism Investigation Department, the probe
into the Easter Sunday blasts has result in the arrest of around 200 suspects,
and the investigation is in its final stages.
According to the Colombo Crime Division, Sarah was
hiding in a village called Mankadu in the Kalawanchikudy area.
Jaliya Senaratne, director of the Police Media
Division, told The Indian Express, “We do not have any concrete information
about her whereabouts in India except a report that she managed to escape to
India. We arrested two persons on July 13 — her relative and a senior police
officer — from Ampara (an eastern province of Sri Lanka) for harbouring that
lady before her escape. They are in custody.”
An estimated 15 people, including four women and six
children, were killed in the Sainthamaruthu blast. The explosion, which killed
the families of at least four of the suicide bombers, had occurred when
security forces launched an operation to capture them, a week after the Easter
blasts.
When The Indian Express visited Sainthamaruthu blast site
two days later, the two known survivors from the explosion were the wife and
daughter of Zahran Hashim, the main suicide bomber.
A senior officer said Hashim’s wife, who sustained
serious injuries in the blast, is currently under detention.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sri-lanka-easter-sunday-attackers-wife-may-fled-india-report-6518169/
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US House passes act to reverse Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’
Joyce Karam
July 23, 2020
A majority in the US House of Representatives on
Wednesday voted to reverse President Donald Trump's “Muslim ban”, which
restricts arrivals from some countries in the Middle East.
The No Ban Act passed the Democratic-majority House
with members voting mainly along party lines.
The final vote was 233-183 in favour of the bill, with
only two Republican legislators voting yes.
Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib
clapped in celebration as she announced the final vote to the chamber.
Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American
Institute, described the House vote as a milestone in “rejecting bigotry".
“We applaud the House on this important milestone of
officially rejecting the bigotry enshrined in President Trump’s Muslim ban,” Ms
Berry said.
She credited the passage to a broad coalition of
advocacy groups, including hers, and described it as evidence that the House
had “heard the demands of the American people in support of immigrants,
refugees and asylum seekers".
The bill is designed to repeal Mr Trump's executive
orders since 2017, which placed immigration and visa restrictions on mostly
Muslim-majority countries.
These included Libya, Iran, Somalia, Syria and Sudan,
as well as Nigeria and Venezuela.
The act imposes limits “on the President's authority
to suspend or restrict aliens from entering the United States", a
Congressional summary of the bill read.
It also “prohibits religious discrimination in various
immigration-related decisions”.
The vote was preceded by a debate on the bill.
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, chairman of the House
Democratic Caucus, called the ban “hateful” and “unconscionable”.
Republican politicians who opposed the ban's reversal
accused its sponsors of undermining the president’s ability to keep the country
safe.
Republicans have called Mr Trump’s ban this year on
travel from China another measure that has saved lives during the pandemic.
They accuse the Democrats of trying to strip away the
authority for the president to save lives.
The White House has repeatedly defended the ban as
being in the interests of US national security.
In 2018, the US Supreme Court in a narrow vote, 5-4,
upheld the legality of the ban and said Mr Trump acted lawfully in imposing
travel restrictions.
Civil rights groups including the Human Rights
Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union and the AAI threw their support
behind the bill since it was introduced last year.
But it is unlikely to pass the Republican-led Senate.
On Monday, the Democratic Presidential nominee Joe
Biden told the Muslim-American group Emgage Action that he was committed to
scrapping the ban as a priority.
"If I have the honour of being president, I will
end the Muslim ban on day one," Mr Biden said.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/the-americas/us-house-passes-act-to-reverse-trump-s-muslim-ban-1.1053320
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Saudi Arabia sentences corrupt judge, others to
prison, issues fines
23 July 2020
Saudi Arabia has issued preliminary rulings for five
financial and administrative corruption cases in the Kingdom, the official
Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Thursday citing a Control and
Anti-Corruption Authority source.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
A general court judge charged with bribery was
sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of 130,000 riyals, according to SPA.
A mediator involved in the same case was sentenced to five months in prison and
a fine of 20,000 riyals ($5,333).
In another case, a judge who “took advantage of his
position of influence” and took bribes was also sentenced to four years in
prison and a fine of 100,000 riyals. The citizen who provided the bribe was
sentenced to four years in prison as well as a fine of 100,000 riyals, SPA
reported.
The third case involved a citizen receiving 800,000
riyals from two expatriates in exchange for the “possibility” of canceling a
deportation penalty issued against them. They were also accused of “paying sums
of money in the form of bribery, money laundering and commercial concealment.”
The citizen was sentenced to two years in prison while
the two expatriates and their employer were sentenced to two and a half years.
They were each also fined 20,000 riyals, according to SPA. The two expatriates
will be deported after serving their sentences. Meanwhile, authorities
confiscated the 800,000 riyals paid to the citizen, the news agency reported.
The fourth case involved two Department of Education
employees who were charged with forgery, embezzlement of public funds, money
laundering and administrative misuse, according to SPA. One of the defendants
was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 1,020,000 riyals, in addition to
having to return the embezzled amount of 13.2 million riyals.
The second defendant was sentenced to nine months in
prison and fined 20,000 riyals, in addition to returning the embezzled amount
of nearly 20,000 riyals, SPA reported.
The fifth case included two Ministry of Housing
employees, the brother of one of the two employees and a businessman.
“They were accused of committing bribery crimes, money
laundering, and exploiting the influence of the public office for personal
interest,” SPA reported.
One of the employees was sentenced to eight years in
prison and fined 2 million riyals. The government also seized his land which he
received as a bribe, in addition to the confiscation of 617,819 riyals. He is
also prohibited from traveling for four years.
The second employee was sentenced to eight years in
prison and also fined 2 million riyals. The amount of 1,007,709 riyals was
confiscated from him and he banned from traveling for four years.
The third person involved, who is also the brother of
one of the two government employees, was sentenced to four years in prison and
fined 1 million riyals.
Meanwhile, the businessman involved was sentenced to
one year in prison and fined 500,000 riyals, according to SPA.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/07/23/Saudi-Arabia-sentences-corrupt-judge-others-to-prison-issues-fines.html
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Rouhani, Al-Kadhimi Agree to Form Joint Committee to
Implement Iran-Iraq Agreements
Jul 22, 2020
The agreement was made during the Tuesday evening
meeting between the two high-ranking officials in Tehran.
In the meeting President Rouhani said that the foreign
powers cannot disrupt the brotherly relations of the two old neighbors.
"The concern and interest of the two nations and
governments of Iran and Iraq towards their fates is a great asset on the path
of all-out development of their relations," the Iranian president added.
He said that Iran and Iraq share numerous
commonalities in cultural, religious, historical and political fields and the
seminaries of Qom and Najaf are regarded as two great assets of Iran and Iraq.
Rouhani said that Iran and Iraq can pass through the
difficult situation created by the deadly coronavirus, noting that the two
countries should accelerate implementation of all the existing agreements
through widespread cooperation.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran firmly supports the
determining role played by Iraq as a powerful Muslim and Arab country in the
region in line with restoring peace and stability," the Iranian president
added.
Al-Kadhimi, for his part, described relations between
Iran and Iraq beyond the ordinary ties between two neighboring states, and
said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq enjoy strategic
relations and the deep affection of both countries’ people to each other is a
strong backup for these strategic relations.
In relevant remarks on Tuesday, al-Kadhimi noted the
strong presence of Iran-made goods in his country's market, and expressed the
hope that the Khorramshahr-Basra railway would soon be linked for the further
development of economic relations between the two neighbors.
“We held talks to implement agreements between the two
countries, including connecting the two railways from Khorramshahr to Basra and
I hope so much that these agreements will be implemented soon,” al-Kadhimi said
at a joint press conference with President Rouhani in Tehran.
“I hope to witness flourishing economic ties between
the two countries,” he added.
“Iraq does not allow any threat to be posed to Iran
from its territories, specially given the fact that relations between the two
countries date back to hundreds of years ago and we should support these
age-old ties,” al-Kadhimi said.
He emphasized that Baghdad wants excellent relations
with Tehran, appreciating Iran for its assistance, as the first country to have
rushed to Iraq's fight against the terrorist groups.
The Iraqi premier also thanked Iran's help to his
nation in campaign against the Coronavirus in recent months.
“Iraq has also stood beside Iran to help it pass the
economic challenges,” al-Kadhimi said, adding that the Iraqi markets are full
of goods imported from Iran.
“Our relations with Iran and different countries are
based on good will and we are endeavoring to find solutions to take the region
out of challenges and tensions that we are suffering through cooperation with
the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.
Rouhani, for his part, said that Iran will help the
Iraqi government and nation in fighting against the coronavirus as much as its
possibilities and capacities allow and will provide the country with medicine
and hygiene products.
“The second issue which was discussed by us was
enhancement and expansion of trade ties between the two countries and the
[Iranian] government is determined to increase the volume of trade relations
between the two countries to $20bln,” he added.
Also, the two countries are determined to implement
the agreement which was signed by Tehran and Baghdad nearly two years ago,
President Rouhani said.
He also commemorated former IRGC Quds Force Commander
martyred Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and deputy head of Iraq's Popular
Mobilization Units (PMU) forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis for their efforts to
establish security in Iraq by fighting against the terrorist groups.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990501000290
--------
Pakistan
PM Imran discusses Pakistan-Bangladesh ties with PM
Hasina
JULY 23, 2020
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday held
a telephonic conversation with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina in a
rare occurrence of diplomacy as the two estranged countries seek rapprochement.
“Pakistan is committed to deepening fraternal
relations with Bangladesh on the basis of mutual trust, mutual respect and
sovereign equality,” said PM Imran, according to a statement issued by his
office.
The premier reiterated his invitation to Sheikh Hasina
to visit Pakistan.
He also extended condolences for the lives lost during
the pandemic, and offered his commiserations on the material and human losses
due to the recent flooding in Bangladesh and prayed for early recovery of the
people affected by this natural calamity.
The two leaders exchanged views on their respective
steps to deal with the myriad of challenges posed by Covid-19. Imran apprised
of his government’s efforts and commended his Bangladesh counterpart on the
measures taken by her leadership to contain the virus.
He also apprised her of his ‘Global Initiative on Debt
Relief’ for developing countries.
In the bilateral context, Imran underscored the
importance Pakistan attaches to closer ties with fraternal Bangladesh and
highlighted the significance of regular bilateral contacts and people-to-people
exchanges.
Reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to SAARC, Imran
underlined the importance of both countries working for enhanced regional
cooperation for sustainable peace and prosperity.
He shared Pakistan’s perspective on the grave
situation in the Indian-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) and stressed
on the importance of a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute for
a safe and prosperous region.
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s High Commissioner Imran
Ahmed Siddiqui held a rare meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul
Momen in Dhaka. The meeting raised eyebrows in New Delhi, which viewed the
development with suspicion, according to media reports.
The Bangladesh government called the meeting a “courtesy
call” but reports said it was much more than that. It is believed that
Imran-Hasina telephonic conversation on Wednesday was the result of that
meeting.
Relations between the two countries have remained
tense for the last many years. The two countries have yet to overcome the
bitter memories of 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/07/22/imran-offers-condolences-to-bangladesh-pm-over-covid-19-deaths/
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Police cordon off Jamia Hafsa to prevent cleric from
visiting Lal Masjid
Munawer Azeem
23 Jul, 2020
ISLAMABAD: The police on Wednesday cordoned off Jamia
Hafsa to prevent former Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz from leaving the
seminary.
Capital administration and police officials told Dawn
that Mr Aziz recently announced that he would return to Lal Masjid because the
capital administration had violated an agreement he made with them.
In response, a police contingent consisting of 150
officials, including Counter Terrorism Department, Anti-Terrorism Force and
Anti-Riot Unit personnel, were deployed around the G-7 seminary to prevent him
from leaving.
Mr Aziz and his family moved to Jamia Hafsa from Lal
Masjid in June after reaching an agreement with the administration under which
he was banned from entering the mosque for two months.
On July 7, Mr Aziz, his family and Jamia Hafsa
students moved into Jamia Fareedia, a seminary in E-7, causing tensions with
the current seminary administration. He returned to Jamia Hafsa after two days
following the intervention of ulema who assured him the matter that brought him
to the seminary would be resolved.
In a message, Mr Aziz threatened to break the
agreement with the capital administration, the officials said, after the
disappearance of his close aide Maulana Idrees from outside Jamia Fareedia. The
officials said Mr Aziz’ wife and students from Jamia Hafsa visited the seminary
after Mr Idrees’ disappearance, resulting in a physical confrontation between
the students of both seminaries.
In response to the message, police were deployed
around Lal Masjid to prevent Mr Aziz from entering the mosque. He later said he
would go to the mosque on Wednesday, at which point police also deployed around
Jamia Hafsa to stop him there.
They said he exited Jamia Hafsa with guards and few
others, but then went back inside after a brief chat with the police officials
stationed there.
Mr Aziz’ nephew Haroon Rasheed told Dawn that Mr Aziz
made his announcement because the administration violated the agreement by
cordoning off Lal Masjid.
He said he delayed is plans to go to the mosque after
administration officials and ulema asked him for time to resolve the issue.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1570552/police-cordon-off-jamia-hafsa-to-prevent-cleric-from-visiting-lal-masjid
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Mosques, seminaries following corona SOPs
MANSOOR ALI
July 23, 2020
ISLAMABAD-The religious seminaries and the mosques
around Islamabad are permanently following the SOPs, as a visible drop in cases
of COVID-19 was witnessed in the city. According to the members of the local
mosque committees formed by the district administration, the mosques proved to
be the safest spots during lockdown because the SOPs were followed constantly
from the very start of the outbreak.
While talking to The Nation, Mufti Khalid, a Muhtamim
of a Madarassa in Islamabad said that the mosques proved to be the safest spots
amid the outbreak and it was all made possible due to the affective role of
local committees.
He stated that the religious segment of the country
played their positive role in keeping the masses aware of the consequences of
violation of SOPs, adding that they were still committed to fulfill their
national and religious duties in creating awareness among the masses. It must
be noted that in the very beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, mosques and
religious gatherings were predicted to be the hotspots of coronavirus but due
to sensible attitude of religious scholars, the predictions were proved wrong.
Meanwhile, Maulana Abdul Qudous, chief of a religious
seminary in Islamabad said that they held Wifaq ul Madarris exams across the
country by adopting all the fixed SOPs. He stated that the government itself
admired the arrangements of the madrassahs for the annual exams, adding that
they were all set to start the new educational year after the Eid ul Azha and
arrangements for the precautionary measures during the classes were almost
done.
He concluded that the district administration should
trust them and they will ensure the adoption of SOPs at any cost.
https://nation.com.pk/23-Jul-2020/mosques-seminaries-following-corona-sops
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Punjab Assembly Unanimously Passes
Tahaffuz-E-Bunyaad-E-Islam Bill 2020
JULY 23, 2020
Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervez Elahi formed a
committee to ensure strict implementation of ‘The Punjab
Tahaffuz-e-Bunyaad-e-Islam Bill 2020′ which both treasury and Opposition
lawmakers passed unanimously.
The Opposition tearing assembly’s agenda copies walked
out the House proceedings on further government’s business after its
legislators were not allowed to speak. The Opposition’s lawmakers claimed that
the rules of procedure were violated while introducing rest of the Bills.
Neither they were informed in-time nor they were given time to put their
contribution in light of any amendment.
As The Punjab Tahaffuz-e-Bunyaad-e-Islam Bill 2020’
was unanimously passed, Speaker Elahi made clear that the government’s work is
not only confined to its preparation adding the government would have to ensure
its strict implementation.
He said “The committee will be headed by the
provincial law minister Raja Basharat to ensure implementation”.
He wished that the same nature Bill should be passed
from all provincial assemblies. He will also visit Speaker National Assembly
AsadQaiser to take this mission ahead. He also thanked to all the treasury and
opposition lawmakers who passed this bill and applauded those who worked in its
preparation.
Provincial law minister Raja Basharat termed the Bill
a first step towards Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision on Riasat-e-Madina. He
said the PTI led government stopped forever the desecration of holly prophets,
Islam, Quran and others. It will also be workable in eliminating sectarianism
and religious disharmony.
Following tradition, the House proceedings started
with laps of one hour and 55 minutes under chair of Speaker PA Ch. Pervez
Elahi.
During question hour, the lawmakers put queries on
Home Department to which provincial law minister Raja Basharat responded.
On a point, Speaker Elahi applauded the government’s
Ehsas Program which according to him is helpful for the poor masses. He said
those who used to beg at streets, squares (if they had their CNICs) could get
financial assistance from Ehsas Program.
Later the treasury passed with majority “The Ravi
Urban Development Authority Bill 2020”, “The Punjab Undesirable Cooperative
Societies (Dissolution) (Amendment) Bill 2020. The session was adjourned to
meet again on Thursday.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/644356/punjab-assembly-unanimously-passes-tahafuz-e-bunyaad-e-islam-bill-2020/
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Eid packages for virus-hit transgender persons
23 Jul, 2020
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Human Rights launched Eid
relief packages for Covid-19 affected transgender persons in collaboration with
the United Nations Development Programme and United Nation Population Fund.
The beneficiaries were identified through a
preliminary socio-economic rapid need assessment for Covid-19 to cater to the
most vulnerable transgender persons, led and driven by the transgender
community.
A statement issued here said that the ministry and
UNDP had asked civil society partners who were also members of the Ministry of
Human Rights National Implementation Committee and focal persons in Rawalpindi
and Islamabad to conduct the assessment.
A total of 120 ration bags will be distributed to the
transgender persons. The remaining individual relief packages were handed over
to focal persons for distribution to deserving members of the population.
Bubbli Malik, committee member from Punjab, and Nadeem
Kashish, committee member from Islamabad, conducted the survey among 75
transgender persons in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to identify their needs during
this pandemic.
United Nations Development Program Consultant Nayyab
Ali has coordinated the assessment while Aisha Mughal from the Ministry of
Human Rights along with the relevant United Nations Development Programme and
United Nations Population Fund team members were overseeing the process.
Federal Secretary for Human Rights RabiyaJaveri Agha distributed ration bags
among three transgender persons at the ceremony.
Speaking at the event, she reiterated the commitment
of the state to protect the rights of transgender persons.
“MoHR constituted a National Implementation Committee
under the Transgender Persons Act 2018. Pakistan has one of the most
progressive transgender laws, granting transgender persons equal rights,
including the right to self-identification of gender. Provincial consultation
meetings have been conducted in all four provinces in order to reduce
Trans-phobic stigma and discrimination with transgender community,” she said.
The senior official also highlighted police
sensitisation sessions and consultations have also been conducted to finalise
guidelines for police engagement with transgender persons in the Islamabad
Capital Territory, she said adding: “These are critical steps towards the
realisation of equal rights for the transgender community in Pakistan.”
Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said
the PTI government was trying its best to ensure that transgender persons were
recognised as equal citizens of the state.
“The transgender community in Pakistan, one of the
most marginalised sections of the country - has continued to raise concerns
regarding economic impact ever since the lockdown was announced. Targeted
interventions to alleviate the plight of these persons are necessary.”
She further said, “MoHR is also establishing
protection centres for transgender persons in order to provide shelter,
rehabilitation and other medical and psychological care to them. Separate Wards
have also been opened at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for the members
of transgender community.”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1570548/eid-packages-for-virus-hit-transgender-persons
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Pakistan, Qatar pursuing common goal of regional
peace: COAS
JULY 23, 2020
RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar
JavedBajwa has expressed hope that relations between Pakistan and Qatar will
flourish further for the common goal of improved peace and stability in the
region and increased economic prosperity.
The COAS was talking to Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman
Al Thani, the ambassador of Qatar, who called on him here at General
Headquarters (GHQ) on Wednesday, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services
Public Relations (ISPR).
During the meeting matters of mutual interest and
cooperation in various fields was discussed.
The army chief congratulated the dignitary on assuming
the office and hoped that Pak-Qatar relations will further prosper under his
able leadership for the common goal of improved peace and stability in the
region and increased economic prosperity.
The visiting dignitary appreciated Pakistan’s
continuous efforts for peace and stability in the region and pledged to keep
working for better relations between the two countries.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/07/22/pakistan-qatar-pursuing-common-goal-of-regional-peace-coas/
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India
‘Qurbani’ Can Be Foregone in Pandemic: Shia Cleric
Maulana Kalbe Sadiq
Jul 23, 2020
Lucknow: Prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq
said on Wednesday that in his view when animals are not easily available in
extraordinary circumstances, like in the time of coronavirus, then Muslims can
forego the ritual of ‘qurbani’ (animal sacrifice) on Bakrid.
Speaking to TOI on phone in the context of the ongoing
pandemic, Maulana Sadiq, who is also the senior vice-president of the All India
Muslim Personal Law Board, said that in these times if the government and
doctors opine that Bakrid celebrations should be limited, people should adhere
to the appeal.
Sadiq’s statement is relevant amid confusion in the
Muslim community about Bakrid, because of lack of clarity till date whether or
not administration will allow bakra mandis to assemble this year for the sale
of goats. Transportation of animals for sale and purchase is also not allowed
as of now.
Bakrid will be celebrated on August 1 which is a
Saturday and the mandatory weekend curbs to contain the pandemic will be in
place.
“Islam and Shariah do not allow a person to put his
own life or that of others in danger. And if the government and doctors are of
the opinion that to contain Covid-19, people should stay at their homes, it
should be followed,” said Maulana Sadiq whose words are widely respected among
Shias and even in other communities as well. Shias form a sizeable population
in Lucknow after Hyderabad with an estimated 3-3.5 lakh Shias in the city.
Maulana Sadiq also said that while both Eid-ul-Fitr
(after Ramzan) and Eid-ul-Zuha, hold high significance for Muslims, but if
sacrificial animals are not available due to Covid related transportation and
social distancing reasons, people should not take risk for the same.
“In fact, Islam does not burden everyone with
performing the ritual of qurbani. Except those who are performing haj, for whom
it is obligatory to sacrifice an animal, those who cannot afford sacrificing an
animal are exempt from the service or can pool in with other people. Grand
Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani’s fatwa in this regard and even higher Sunni
authorities have consensus on this fact,” he added.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/qurbani-can-be-foregonein-pandemic-shia-cleric/articleshow/77116927.cms
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Muslim Student in Madhya Pradesh Arrested for Calling
RSS Men 'Pigs' on Facebook
Rishav Raj Singh
Bhopal: At the height of the media hysteria over the
emergence of coronavirus infections at the Nizamuddin centre of the Tablighi
Jamaat in Delhi, the wrestler-turned-BJP politician BabitaPhogat took to
Twitter to call the Jamaatis ‘ignorant pigs’ (jaahilsuar). But when a young
Muslim man in Jabalpur used the same term – suar – for the dozen or so activists
of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh who had contracted COVID-19 at the RSS
office in the city, he ended up in jail with the police slapping serious
charges of promoting religious hatred on him.
On July 20, the Jabalpur police booked Ziya-ul-Haq –
a 23-year-old resident of MansurabadGohalpur of Jabalpur district and
final year student of B. Pharm. at the Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya – under
section 295 (A) (‘Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious
feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs’) and 505
(‘Statements conducing to public mischief’) of the Indian Penal Code and
immediately arrested him.
The reason: a Facebook post the previous day where he
called the RSS men pigs.
The RSS is the parent body of the Bharatiya Janata
Party, now in power in Madhya Pradesh, and of course at the Centre.
The incident
Hours after the news of 12 RSS men testing positive
for the coronavirus at the Jabalpur Sangh office broke on July 19, Ziya-ul-Haq
took a dig at organisation on the Facebook page of ‘NSUI Group Jabalpur VVV’.
NSUI is the student wing of the Congress party.
Sharing a screenshot of the news from a local TV News
channel, he wrote ‘Aajhamareshahar me 12 suar corona sankaramitpaye gai. Bund
karo in suaro ka karyalay pure desh me Corona phailarahehai’ (12 pigs have
tested corona positive in our city today. Close the offices of these pigs, they
are spreading corona across the country).
Angered by the Facebook post, RSS activists and
members of the right-wing Hindu DharmSena,
reported the matter to the Jabalpur Cantonment police station the
following day.
Based on the complaint of Neeraj Rajput, state vice
president, Hindu DharmSena, who also described himself as an RSS worker, the
Jabalpur police registered a case against Ziya-ul-Haq for insulting the
religious beliefs of a group.
The complainant in the FIR alleged that Haq made
“indecent”, “shameful”, and “intolerable” statements against RSS members. He
went on to emphasise that such statements against a “nationalist organisation”
by a “Muslim youth” can jeopardise social harmony. “The RSS is a patriotic and
social work organisation, and has crores of members in this country. The Muslim
man’s indecent reference to such an organisation can endanger social harmony.
The abusive reference made by the man has hurt my feelings of nationalist and social service,” the
complainant said in the FIR. He warned
the police to take immediate legal action against the “Muslim youth” and arrest
him, failing which, he said, “an angry protest movement will be organised”.
Interestingly, even though Rajput’s allegation is that
the “Muslim youth” has maligned the image of the RSS and its members, the
police have registered a case under section 295 (a) of the IPC – of
deliberately insulting the religion or religious beliefs of a group.
Confirming these sections, town inspector of Jabalpur
Cantonment Police Station Vijay Tiwari said, “He has been booked under sections
295 (A) and 505 of the IPC for making derogatory remarks against the RSS and
sent to jail.”
When asked why Ziya-ul-Haq has been booked for
insulting religious beliefs when the allegation is that of defamation, Tiwari
disconnected the call. Likewise, when the same question was put to the
superintendent of police, Jabalpur, Siddharth Bahuguna, he refused to make any
comment and advised The Wire to speak to his subordinates.
Justifying the police action, however, Sanjeev Uikey,
ASP, Jabalpur said, “Indeed the RSS is not a religious institution but if a
Muslim youth calls the RSS and its workers ‘suar‘ and it offends them and they
demand action, the police have to book the youth for insulting religious
beliefs. Now, the matter is before the court.”
Interestingly, when Ziya-ul-Haq’s advocate, Vikash
Rathour, filed for bail before the Jabalpur judicial magistrate first class
court on July 21, the court denied bail claiming the crime to be serious and
sent him to police custody till July 24.
Madhya Pradesh high court advocate Nayeem Khan, who is
now defending Ziya-ul-Haq, said the
matter at best pertained to defamation and not hurting anyone’s religious
beliefs. “The previous advocate did not defend the case properly. Hence, the
case will fall flat in the next hearing which is on July 24,” he said.
https://thewire.in/rights/muslim-student-in-madhya-pradesh-arrested-for-calling-rss-men-pigs-on-facebook
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India Distances Itself From Pakistan Move To Get
Kulbhushan Jadhav A Lawyer
Jul 23, 2020
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: India has distanced itself from a
move by Pakistan on Wednesday to approach the Islamabad high court for
appointment of a lawyer for a review of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav’s
sentencing by a military court. Pakistan approached the court, as official
sources said, without the consent of the Indian mission in Islamabad.
India sees the move by Pakistan as another attempt to
grandstand and create a smokescreen of review and reconsideration of the death
sentence to Jadhav.
While Pakistan is learned to have “extended” the
deadline for India to file a review petition in the case, it has not agreed to
India’s demand that a lawyer from outside Pakistan represent Jadhav.
As per Pakistan’s May 20 ordinance, the review
petition had to filed within 60 days of the promulgation of the ordinance.
India, though, doesn’t want to respond to every change in deadline or even
Pakistan’s position in the case when it’s yet to get what Indian officials
describe as unconditional, and also private, access to Jadhav.
Calling for an effective review and reconsideration of
the military court’s verdict, the ICJ had last year also held Pakistan guilty
of violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by denying consular
access to Jadhav. An ICJ spokesperson was quoted as having said on Wednesday
that the court’s judgment was final, binding and without appeal. The
Hague-based ICJ had ruled that Pakistan had failed to inform Jadhav of his
rights, and deprived the Indian government “of the right to communicate with
and have access to him, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal
representation”.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-distances-itself-from-pakistan-move-to-get-kulbhushan-jadhav-a-lawyer/articleshow/77117437.cms
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Terrorist hideout busted in J&K’s Rajouri, arms
and ammunition seized
Jul 22, 2020
JAMMU: A joint team of security forces busted a
terrorist hideout in Thanamandi area of J&K’s Rajouri district on Wednesday
and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition including a PIKA rifle and
UBGL grenades.
Rajouri SSP Chandan Kohli said a joint team of Army’s
Rashtriya Rifles, J&K Police’s special operations group and Rajouri Police
“launched a cordon-and-search operation in Manyal area of Thanamandi early on
Wednesday” based on intelligence inputs about the presence of an old terrorist shelter
in the area and busted the hideout under a portion of dense bushes.
During the search, the team recovered one PIKA rifle,
two pistols (one Chinese and a local-made), one AK magazine, two pistol
magazines, 168 PIKA rounds, 47 AK rounds, four pistol rounds, two UBGL
grenades, a binocular, eight ammunition belts, one antenna and a tape recorder,
SSP Kohli said.
“The area is still being searched and SDPO Thanamandi
Sajjad Khan along with SHO Fareed Ahmed and officers of Army’s Rashtriya Rifles
are monitoring the operation,” the SSP said, adding that the proactive approach
of forces and close synergy with all the sister agencies is foiling the
nefarious designs of anti-social elements in Jammu and Kashmir.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/terrorist-hideout-busted-in-jks-rajouri-arms-and-ammunition-seized/articleshow/77115433.cms
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J&K: Militant hideout busted in Rajouri; huge
cache of arms, Pika gun, seized
July 22, 2020
In a joint operation in the bordering Rajouri
district, the Jammu Kashmir Police and the Indian Army busted a militant
hideout and seized huge quantity of arms and ammunition, including a Pika gun.
A cordon and search operation was launched jointly by
the two teams in Manysl area of Thanamandi following information during late
hours of Tuesday. Rajouri SSP Chandan Kohli said “the entire area was kept
under cordon and in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Searches were launched
during which a militant hideout under a portion of dense bushes was busted.”
The seizures included one Pike Rifle, a Chinese
pistol, one local Pistol, besides an AK magazine, two pistol magazines, 168
Pika rounds, 47 AK rounds, four pistol rounds, two UBGL grenades, one
Binocular, eight Ammunition belts, one Antenna and a tape recorder.
“The area is still under searches and SDPO Thanamandi
Sajjad Khan along with SHO Fareed Ahmed and officers of army’s Rashtriya Rifles
are monitoring the operation,” the SSP said.
“The pro-active approach of forces and close synergy
with all the sister agencies is playing it’s role and the nefarious designs of
anti social elements are being foiled.” he added.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/jammu-and-kashmir-rajouri-militant-hideout-arms-ammunition-seized-6517811/
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Important for Tablighi Jamaat to speak on issues of
Islamic interests: Author of new book
by AdrijaRoychowdhury
July 22, 2020
No other piece of news around Covid-19 in India has
created the kind of controversy like the one involving the Tablighi Jamaat at
the Nizamuddin Markaz. The religious congregation held in March, attended by
over 8000 members from across the world, was then called a super-spreader event
leading to a scrutiny of the sect and their style of functioning.
Journalist and social commentator Ziya Us Salam in his
new book, ‘Inside the Tablighi Jamaat’, published by Harper Collins, looks
closely at the Markaz incident and delves into the apolitical nature of the
Jamaat. The Jamaat, despite being the largest Muslim organisation in the world,
is known to have been of least interest to political leaders and the government
in India before the March incident.
Salam begins his book with an interesting look back at
the Emergency, when the government led by Indira Gandhi came down heavily upon
Muslim organisations in the country. The only organisation that was left
untouched was the Tablighi Jamaat. “It remained free to pursue its aim to
profess, practice and propagate religion. At a time when many Muslim
organisations went underground, its volunteers — sporting long beards that
touched their chests, and wearing pyjamas that ended a few inches above the
ankles — still went door to door, inviting the faithful to join the daily
prayers in the neighbourhood masjid,” writes Salam.
In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Salam
discusses his book, elaborating on why the Jamaat’s lack of political
inclination and awareness is one of the reasons why the incident at the markaz
could not be avoided. At the same time, he explains that the discussion arising
out of the incident failed to distinguish between the larger Muslim community
and the unique socio-political dispensation of the Jamaat.
Why were political parties never interested in the
Jamaat?
Ziya Us Salam: The Jamaat has no political ideology or
ambition. It does not want to change the political or economic system of the
country. Most governments across the world are tolerant of the Tablighi Jamaat
simply because the Jamaat does not insist on overthrowing any government or bringing
about Caliphate. They are not aspiring to bring about Islamic rule. Their focus
is on internal cleansing. Their focus is on Muslims to become better Muslims.
They are not even trying to convert non-Muslims.
It is interesting that the Jamaat never took a stance
during moments like the Shah Bano case or Babri masjid. Why? Weren’t these
issues of Islamic interests other than being just political?
Ziya Us Salam: They were of interest to the Islamic
community for sure. Considering that the Tablighi Jamaat has the highest
membership among Muslim organisations across the world, it was important for
them to speak up on these subjects. Say for instance with Triple Talaq, had the
Tablighi Jamaat guided the community, it would have been really beneficial. The
decision on the subject of talaq had to be taken in light of the Quran. When
the Supreme Court invalidated it, it did so in light of the Quran. All that the
Jamaat had to do was to open the Quran and come up with the decision.
Unfortunately the Tablighi Jamaat does not put emphasis on understanding the
Quran.
During the demolition of the Babri masjid and Gujarat
riots as well they kept quiet and saw it as a will of Allah.
Could you explain a bit about the historical
circumstances in which the Jamaat was born? How were things different from when
other Muslim organisations were born?
Ziya Us Salam: The time when the Tablighi Jamaat came
into being in 1927 was when Dayanand Saraswati’sShuddhi campaign was going on
in Awadh and what is now the Haryana region of Mewat. Many new converts who had
been Muslims for a generation or two were being reconverted to Hinduism. These
were people who did not know much about rituals in Islam. Their rituals were
still those of Hinduism, except that when they died their bodies were buried.
At that time, Tablighi Jamaat spread knowledge of
Islam among the Muslims. They started bringing them to mosques so as to give
them a sense of fraternity and camaraderie. These were people who did not give
in to Saraswati’sShuddhi campaign due to the influence of Maulana Ilyas who was
the founder of the Tablighi Jamaat. His father had the rare distinction of
looking out for the landless labourers from Mewat who would be coming to Delhi
for work. He would bring those workers to the Nizamuddin Markaz and ask them to
memorise the surahs from the Quran. So throughout the day these men would be
taught to read and memorise the surahs. At the end of the day they would be
given wages as if they worked at a construction site.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind was born before the Jamaat in
1919. It has always been a socio-political body, wedded to the idea of India.
It believes in an inclusive culture and a pluralistic society. It opposed
Muslim League’s philosophy of one nation for Islam and the creation of
Pakistan. It played an active role in the freedom struggle. Unlike the Jamaat,
it was not confined to a madrasa or a masjid and was always part of the society
and polity. Yes they tried to understand Islam, but they believed that Islam
and nationalism were mutually compatible.
In the 1940s, the Jamaat-e-Islami was established on
the principles of establishing an Islamic order. But after Independence, it
also got wedded to India’s principles of secularism, justice etc. As a result,
the body started supporting elections and many of its members also stood as
candidates. Consequently, the Jamaat-e-Islami has also been a religio-political
body now.
How did the Jamaat become a global movement?
Ziya Us Salam: They simply spread the word of Allah.
Wherever they went, they had no interest in the political dispensation of the
country. All that they were interested in was reading the Quran and asking
Muslims to be better Muslims. For that they insisted that Muslims need to look
distinct from non-Muslims. That is how Maulana Iliyas came up with the idea of
men having a beard and wearing pyjamas that end just above the ankles and women
wearing the hijab. Wherever they went across the world, they used the Indian
template.
Would you say the incident at the Nizamuddin Markaz
could have been avoided had the Jamaat been politically active?
Ziya Us Salam: I guess so since they would have been
more aware of what is happening in the world. At the time they had their
congregation in Delhi in March, the fear of Covid had spread across countries.
But they refused to take a decision keeping in mind the health dangers because
they keep away from all this. I don’t think the Jamaat even insists upon its
members to read the newspaper regularly.
Having said that, the Jamaat was not completely wrong
in hosting the congregation in Delhi on March 13. If you recall, on March 13,
our health minister had said that there is no health emergency in the country.
No religious congregations were banned at that time. This ban started coming
into force from March 16 onwards. By then the Jamaat congregation was over. But
those members who had come from abroad or from far off places in the country
could not be expected to leave in a hurry. Then on the 22nd, the prime minister
asked everyone to be wherever they are. They abided by the instructions of the
prime minister. Where did they flout the rules? They applied for permission to
travel to the local police who guided them to the local magistrate and they got
permission to travel in small numbers and they abided by that.
In your book, you have given a detailed account of how
the media covered the incident of the Tablighi Jamaat at the Markaz. Where
would you say the media went wrong in their coverage?
Ziya Us Salam: Firstly, there was a lack of enterprise
shown by the media to find the truth. If the media had bothered to investigate
a bit or even read up the instructions by the Delhi government on religious
gatherings they would have concluded that at least for the March 13-15
gathering, the Jamaat was well within rules. After the lockdown was announced
as well, they were still following the rules. Where it went wrong was when they
had the first case of suspected Covid-19, they ought to have got in touch with
medical professionals and alert the local police.
But it’s absolutely whimsical and irresponsible to
come up with statements like they were hiding in the Markaz. They were stranded
in the Markaz because the trains and flights were not working.
Also the kind of videos circulated by some sections of
Hindu newspapers and English news channels were not from the Jamaat at all.
There was a widely circulated video of the members sneezing together, there was
one of a Jamaat member stripping in front of a nurse, and then there was one of
them asking for biryani in UP. All of them were proven to be false. The video
of the man stripping was found to be that of a deranged man in Karachi. But the
media did not have the patience to find the truth.
Undoubtedly, there was a larger issue of Islamophobia
that went into the coverage of Tablighi Jamaat. The Jamaat came to be
representational of all Muslims.
https://indianexpress.com/article/research/important-for-tablighi-jamaat-to-speak-on-issues-of-islamic-interests-author-of-new-book-6517991/
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South Asia
Myanmar Muslims struggle to avoid another Muslim-free
parliament
Kyaw Ye Lynn
21.07.2020
Political parties in Myanmar have geared up for
upcoming general elections with Nov. 8 set as the date for crucial polls which
will be the first held under the civilian government in more than six decades.
The Union Election Commission announced the election
date on July 1, inviting candidate registration from the 96 registered
political parties from July 20 to Aug. 7.
A few days after the commission’s announcement, a
16-membered team was formed to assist Muslim candidates in campaigning in their
constituencies countrywide. The team includes mainly Muslim legal experts.
Spokesman of the team Maung Muang Myint told Anadolu
Agency that the group will help Muslim candidates financially, legally and
technically.
“It was a shame that our parliament has no Muslim
lawmaker although Muslims make up more than 5% of the country’s population,” he
said over the phone.
“Of more than 6,000 candidates in the 2015 elections,
only 28 were Muslims. And they won no seat,” he said, adding that the
commission had rejected more than a hundred would-be candidates, mostly
Muslims, on the grounds of citizenship. Election law states that candidates’
parents must be already recognized as citizens at the time of the candidates’
birth.
“So this year, we teamed up to help them in the whole
process starting from candidate registration,” said Myint.
Two largest political parties in the county, Aung San
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party and military-backed Union
Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), did not file any Muslim candidates for
the last general elections.
Parties have yet to submit the lists of candidates to
election commission for registration. Myint, however, said Muslims have only a
slim chance of being chosen as candidates of the political parties in the
Buddhist-majority country.
“We do not hear anything about parties choosing
Muslims as their candidates,” he said.
“So far, we are contacted by only about 20 independent
Muslim candidates from Yangon, Mandalay and Rakhine.”
Aung Shin, spokesman of the NLD party, admitted the
party had excluded Muslims as candidates to avoid the criticisms from Buddhist
nationalist groups while religious tensions were running high ahead of the 2015
elections.
“It happened [in 2015], but it will not happen this
time,” he told Anadolu Agency over phone last week, affirming that the party
will choose candidates regardless of race and religion.
“We do not have a policy not to select Muslim
candidates, but it depends on the will of respective local communities,” Shin
said.
He said respective local communities have been making
lists of the would-be candidates, and the party’s Chief Executive Committee
then to select suitable people from their lists.
“In this way, the candidate selection will reflect the
desire of the host communities,” said Shin.
Min Htwe, like many other Muslims in Yangon’s
MingalarTaungnyunt township, does not believe strong political parties will
include proper number of Muslim candidates running in the upcoming elections.
“I do not think the NLD and other parties would risk
losing votes by selecting many Muslim candidates because majority of
populations are Buddhists,” said Htwe in his 30s.
“But parties will include some Muslim candidates to
claim that they have no discriminatory policy,” he told Anadolu Agency.
The Muslim community is concerned that not only there
will be very few Muslim candidates running in the upcoming elections, but also
most will be representing little-known parties, left with slim chances of
wining any seats.
“Most people would only vote for big parties, the NLD
or USDP. So there will be likely another Muslim-free parliament unless these
parties have Muslim candidates,” he said.
According to the 2014 census, Muslim population
officially makes up 4% of the country’s 51 million people. Muslims, however,
found themselves a target of hatred as Myanmar has seen a growing anti-Muslim
sentiment with the rise of nationalism among majority Buddhists.
The persecution of Muslims is most prevalent in the
western Rakhine state, where the UN Refugee Agency said more than 723,000
Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh to escape the brutal military crackdown since
2017.
Myanmar refers Rohingya as Bengali, a term suggesting
that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, living in Rakhine for
decades. However, Rohingya reject the claim, asserting that they have been
living in the region for centuries. Rakhine housed more than 1 million
Rohingya, who were temporary national identity card (white card) holders and
had rights to vote in 2010, a crucial election in transforming the country from
military dictatorship to democracy.
The previous government led by reformist President
Thein Sein, who himself a senior leader of the military junta that ruled the
country for nearly six decades until 2010, revoked the white cards ahead of the
2015 elections, making them ineligible to vote.
Rohingya politician Kyaw Min, chairperson of Democracy
and Human Rights Party, was among Muslim candidates who were banned by the
election commission from running in the 2015 elections.
“I won a seat in 1990,” Min told Anadolu Agency,
referring to general elections in which the NLD saw a landslide victory, but
the results were ignored by the military junta.
Min said Muslims had had voting rights in elections
dating back to independence and through the country’s 2010 general election.
“There was at least a Muslim lawmaker in every
parliament throughout Myanmar history. We, Muslims, however, lost our rights to
represent our community since the 2015 election,” he said.
His party recently sent a letter to the election
commission, demanding the restoration of rights to vote for Rohingya people in
Rakhine.
“With a minority group being disenfranchised, how
could an election be really free and fair?” he asked.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/myanmar-muslims-struggle-to-avoid-another-muslim-free-parliament/1917399
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Pakistanis among 46 Taliban militants killed, wounded
in clashes in East of Afghanistan
23 Jul 2020
The Afghan security forces killed or wounded at least
46 Taliban militants including many Pakistani nationals during a clash in
eastern Nangarhar province.
According to a statement released by provincial
government, the security forces carried out retaliatory attacks in Qelghoo area
of Khogyani district, killing at least 31 Taliban militants.
The statement further added that the security forces
also 13 Pakistani nationals during the same clash.
The security forces arrested a Taliban militant and
wounded at least 15 others during the clash, the Nangarhar government’s office
added in its statement.
Meanwhile, the provincial government said the security
forces destroyed at least 10 vehicles of the Taliban militants together with
some weapons and munitions.
The security forces and ordinary civilians did not
suffer casualties during the clash, the statement added.
The Taliban group has not commented regarding the
incident so far.
https://www.khaama.com/pakistanis-among-46-taliban-militants-killed-wounded-in-clashes-in-east-of-afghanistan-08977/
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NATO’s SCR reaffirms support to Afghanistan and Afghan
forces post peace agreement
22 Jul 2020
The Senior Civilian Representative of NATO Ambassador
Stefano Pontecorvo reaffirmed the alliance’s support to Afghanistan and the
Afghan National Defense and Security Forces following the conclusion of a peace
agreement.
Speaking to Khaama Press, Ambassador Pontecorvo said
“Certainly yes, that is certainly our intention. After the peace deal we’ll
have to negotiate whatever we do with the new Afghan government which comes out
of the peace deal so these are not unilateral decisions on the side of NATO, it
will be the Afghan government which will ask us for what they need and we will
apply to measure of our capacities and we are committed.”
Reiterating the alliance’s commitment to Afghanistan
until 2024, Ambassador Pontecorvo said the alliance is firm to provide
political and financial support to Afghanistan until 2024.
Ambassador Pontecorvo further added that the
international community including NATO look forward to the outcome of the peace
deal.
Furthermore, he emphasized that the Taliban group
should respect the gains of the Afghan society including achievements in
various sectors including human rights, women’s rights, ethnic rights,
education, health and media freedom of media.
In regards to alliance’s support to Afghan National
Defene and Secuity Forces, Ambassador Pontecorvo said NATO is committed to
support the Afghan forces without any ‘doubt’.
https://www.khaama.com/natos-scr-reaffirms-support-to-afghanistan-and-afghan-forces-post-peace-agreement-08975/
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North America
US stands with Iranian people ‘in their struggle for
true justice’: State Department
22 July 2020
The United States “will always stand with the Iranian
people in their struggle for true justice,” a State Department spokesperson
told Al Arabiya English on Tuesday, in reaction to Iran suspending the
execution of three protesters due to an online campaign.
“We are glad to hear that the Iranian regime backed
off their plans to execute three men for protesting,” said a State Department
spokesperson, adding that many others are still at risk of torture and
execution.
The three men are Amirhossein Moradi and Mohammad
Rajabi, both 26 years old, and Said Tamjidi, 28 – all linked to protests that
took place across Iran last November following Tehran’s implementation of petrol
rationing, which raised pump prices over 50 percent.
Iran’s judiciary halted their executions on Sunday
following an online campaign to overturn the capital punishment, which used the
Farsi hashtag #do_not_execute and the English hashtag #StopExecutionsinIran.
US Donald President Trump used his Twitter platform to
advocate on their behalf in both Farsi and English on July 15.
“Three individuals were sentenced to death in Iran for
participating in protests. The execution is expected momentarily. Executing these
three people sends a terrible signal to the world and should not be done!
#StopExecutionsInIran” Trump said in the tweets.
Iran tried to curtail the social media storm by
shutting down the internet on Friday according to NetBlocks, a non-governmental
organization that monitors cybersecurity and Internet freedom.
Two days later the government seemingly gave into the
pressure of the popular campaign, suspending the executions.
Prisoners after protests
The government claims evidence on the phones of the three
young men show them setting fire to banks, buses, and public buildings during
the November demonstrations.
Iran’s judiciary spokesperson accused them of being
“riot leaders,” according to Amnesty International.
Despite Iran cracking down hard on protesters in
November – with over 1,5000 people killed during the first two weeks according
to Reuters – demonstrations erupted again in January after the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s downing of a Ukrainian civilian airliner.
Mary Mohammadi, 21, joined one evening protest in
Tehran’s Azadi square on January 12. She told Al Arabiya English that Iranian
officers arrested and abused her.
“Suddenly I was attacked from behind and was arrested
after taking a severe beating,” Mohammadi said in an interview with Al Arabiya
English.
She now faces a sentence of flogging and three months
in prison.
State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said last
week it was “troubled” by Mohammadi’s sentencing.
“The Iranian regime continues to violate the human rights
of its own people, targeting political and civil society activists,” Ortagus
told Al Arabiya English.
Two other participants in January’s protests have also
been sentenced to prison time.
Mostafa Hashemizadeh, an engineering student at the
University of Tehran, was sentenced in May to five years in prison for
allegedly “colluding against national security,” in addition to a year in
prison and 74 lashes for “disturbing public order.”
Amir Mohammad Sharifi, another student at the
university, was sentenced to three months in prison for his alleged
involvement.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/07/22/US-stands-with-Iranian-people-in-their-struggle-for-true-justice-State-Department.html
--------
Ex-Counterterrorism Chief: Cutbacks Raise Risk Of New
Attacks
July 21, 2020
A recently ousted counterterrorism chief says the
country is risking the gains made against terrorist threats by cutting back
resources with little or no public debate. In an interview with NPR, Russ
Travers also expressed frustration at the poor state of relations between the
intelligence community and the Trump administration.
"If people believe that conditions have so
changed and the threat is so diminished that we can go back to the way things
were [before the 9/11 attacks], so be it," said Russ Travers, who served
as acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
"I just personally don't believe that's the right
answer. And I don't like the quality of the discussion that has gotten us to
this point," Travers told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, co-host of All Things
Considered, in his first broadcast interview since leaving his government post.
Travers, who joined the intelligence community in the
late 1970s, said he's never seen such bad relations between intelligence
professionals and a presidential administration.
"I've been doing this for 42 years. I have never
seen longtime civil servants removed because they had opinions that were
different than the administration," he said.
The National Counterterrorism Center, or NCTC, was set
up in the wake of the 2001 al-Qaida attacks. Because government agencies failed
to adequately share information prior to those attacks, the center was designed
to coordinate government efforts. Many officials working there are on temporary
assignment from other agencies, like the CIA or the National Security Agency.
Travers said it became increasingly difficult to
properly staff the NCTC as agencies sought to keep their staffers for their own
expanding missions, such as growing cyber threats.
"I felt that we didn't have adequate resources to
do the missions that we've been given," Travers said.
He sought to outline his concerns at a March 18
meeting he requested with Richard Grenell, who had recently been named acting
director of national intelligence.
"We exchanged pleasantries and he tells me that
my deputy Peter Hall and I, we're both out," Travers said. "I went in
as the acting director of the center and I came out not being such
anymore."
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence
said that Travers was offered other jobs, but chose to retire. Travers says
that was not the case. During his brief time as director of national
intelligence, Grenell announced plans to scale back the NCTC, reportedly
cutting the workforce by about 15 percent.
Critics of President Trump say the episode reflects
his ongoing friction with the intelligence community, whose findings the
president has sometimes challenged or rejected. The president's tenure has been
marked by a rapid turnover of top officials and, according to the critics, an
inclination to favor political loyalists over intelligence professionals.
Here are some excerpts from the interview:
You said that you didn't have adequate resources to
carry out the job that you'd been given. What did you not have?
The law said that NCTC (National Counterterrorism
Center) would be the primary organization in the government to do analysis of
international terrorism. It would also have a strategic, operational, planning
function, which essentially meant kind of integrated whole-of-government stuff.
So we were doing this as a common concern for the government and we simply were
not resourced to do that as departments and agencies started drawing down their
commitments to NCTC because the country was going through this kind of
re-evaluation of threats.
To play devil's advocate, al-Qaida is not the
organization it once was. ISIS is not the organization it was just a few years
ago. Why shouldn't fewer resources be devoted to fighting terrorism?
I actually believe that's true. As you say, the threat
is not what it once was. There needs to be a rationalization of resources
against terrorism. I think we could do that. But it does require a change in
mindset in that not every department and agency needs to do everything.
Can you give me an example of something that you saw
not getting done because you didn't have the resources?
Every day we would get upwards of 15,000 names. We had
to sort through those, decide who is of concern. That ultimately percolates
down to an organization that has to make a decision about who gets on an
airplane. What happens if a police officer stops them? Do they get a visa? This
is not cheap. And so the question ultimately is one of risk. I would be
completely on board if if we had that conscious, informed discussion about how
much risk are we or are we not willing to accept. My fear is that we are kind
of stumbling into, "let's just cut resources and things aren't going to
get done."
You're raising the question of whether the U.S. is
prepared for a major terrorist attack. We haven't had one since 9/11. But if
there was one in the works, is the U.S. back to where we were before 9/11?
The American public needs to know that the
counterterrorism enterprise, in my opinion, is the best example we had ever of
thinking whole-of-government. We took the fight overseas. We pushed borders
out. We made the homeland more secure. I'm worried that people kind of want to
move on from terrorism. I don't think we're going to see an attack tomorrow.
I'm probably more concerned about a few years down the road.
A few days after you were ousted, nine former senior
leaders of the intelligence community wrote an open letter in The Washington
Post and talked about "the deeply destructive path being pursued by the
Trump administration." As somebody who had a front-row seat, what do you
think are the consequences of those tensions?
There are always tensions. I do think that it's far
worse in the current administration. It's not healthy. The intelligence community,
for the most part, is a behind-the-scenes player. They will often carry a
message that policymakers don't want to hear. But I've never seen it like this.
They were telling senior intelligence officials that they need to "go to
school." I just don't think that's helpful. I certainly don't think it's
appropriate.
In that letter, the former senior intelligence leaders
also wrote that your removal sent a message that, "Every current officer
sees that speaking truth to power in this administration is an immediate career
killer." Do you think that is the message being sent?
I do. I've been doing this for 42 years. I have never
seen longtime civil servants removed because they had opinions that were
different than the administration.
Just to be clear, you're not saying, "Hey, I ran
the National Counterterrorism Center, the budget got cut. I'm mad about it. We
need more money thrown at this problem." You're saying let's be
intentional about figuring out the national security threats.
That's exactly right. I want a conscious decision. I
want eyes wide open. If people believe that conditions have so changed and the
threat is so diminished that we can go back to the way things were [before
9/11], so be it. I just personally don't believe that's the right answer. And I
don't like the quality of the discussion that has gotten us to this point.
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/21/893520358/ex-counterterrorism-chief-cutbacks-could-increase-risk-of-new-attacks?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1378653_
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Hezbollah-Linked Operative Extradited From Cyprus to
US
By SirwanKajjo, Mehdi Jedinia
July 21, 2020
WASHINGTON - A Lebanese man accused of laundering drug
money for the militant group Hezbollah has been extradited from Cyprus to the
United States.
Ghassan Diab, 37, arrived in Miami last week to face
charges dating back to 2016 in the U.S. state of Florida, the U.S. Department
of Justice said in a statement Saturday.
Diab has been charged with two counts of money
laundering over $100,000, two counts of conspiracy to launder over $100,000,
two counts of unlicensed transmission of currency over $100,000, and two counts
of unlawful use of a two-way communications device to further the commission of
money laundering, all of which are felonies under Florida law, according to a
statement released by the department.
In 2016, a state attorney in Florida identified Diab
as an alleged Hezbollah associate, announcing charges against him as a part of
an operation on money laundering by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) in Miami, according to the Justice Department.
Diab was arrested in Cyprus in March 2019 upon his
arrival from Beirut, Lebanon.
U.S. law enforcement agencies in recent months have
stepped up crackdowns on the Iranian-backed group and its financial networks.
In April, the U.S. Department of State issued a bounty
of up to $10 million for information on Muhammad Kawtharani, a senior Hezbollah
military commander, as part of U.S. efforts to disrupt the finances of the
Shiite group.
The U.S. designated Hezbollah as a terrorist
organization in 1997.
Significant move
Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior fellow at the Foundation
for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington, says such extraditions of
Hezbollah associates are significant steps to damage the group’s operations
abroad.
Diab was “part of a very large drug trafficking and
laundering network that spans several continents,” he said.
“These [U.S.] actions hit one specific node of the
network,” Ottolenghi told VOA. “It may not take it all down, but it exposes
people, disrupts operations and sucks resources out of those operations.”
Ottolenghi added that every time a Hezbollah operative
is arrested and prosecuted, the group “loses their resources, and their assets
get exposed.”
2016 case
The case against Diab in Florida reportedly traces
back to an international drug-smuggling hub in Colombia where his
brother-in-law, Mohammad Ahmad Ammar, ran an operation to launder drug money.
Ammar, 35, was extradited to the U.S. in 2016. He was
later convicted in Miami of one count of money laundering in excess of $100,000
and one count of conspiracy to commit laundering in excess of $100,000.
Hassan Mohsen Mansour, a third Hezbollah operative
involved in the scheme, was arrested in Paris in 2016.
Global network
For years, Hezbollah has been carrying out illicit
activities around the world to fund its military operations, experts and U.S.
officials say.
The militant group has been particularly active in
drug trafficking, money laundering and other illegal activities in South
America, North America, Europe and the Middle East.
Experts say Hezbollah has been effective in advancing
its agenda in various fields, exploiting loopholes wherever it has been able to
do so.
“The global network of Hezbollah from Latin America
through Middle East and Europe, plus their enormous and deep-rooted investments
in every business aspect from construction to gambling, has turned them a
reliable partner for drug cartels and other organized groups to reach them for
money laundering and other revenues generated from illicit trades and
activities,” Hugo Antonio Acha, a counterterrorism expert based in Miami, told
VOA.
In some parts of Europe, experts argue, the Lebanese
groups and their Iranian benefactors have developed a vast network that
provides support to Hezbollah in terms of logistical, financial and operational
capabilities.
Acha said that Hezbollah militants “have hands in
governments, banking systems and officials from a country like Venezuela that
has been completely hijacked by a criminal organization, to countries that
operate under the umbrella of shell companies, like Romania, and own banks and
accounts in the Isle of Cayman, to businesses that were being developed in
Qatar and construction complexes in the United Arab Emirates.”
In May, German authorities banned the political
activities of Hezbollah on German soil, a move experts believe could be
significant to cutting off support for the group’s activities around the world.
The European Union considers Hezbollah’s military wing
a terrorist organization, while allowing its political wing to operate in the
bloc’s countries. The Netherlands and Germany are the only EU members that
recognize Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. The U.K. also
dropped the distinction last year.
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/hezbollah-linked-operative-extradited-cyprus-us?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1378653_
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Arab World
UAE Eid al-Adha prayers to be performed at home amid
COVID-19
22 July 2020
The upcoming Eid al-Adha prayers in the United Arab
Emirates will be prayed at home while the prayer calls will be broadcast via
audio-visual means amid the continuing efforts to limit presence at mosques due
to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, according to officials.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
The United Arab Emirates announced last month plans to
gradually reopen mosques and places of worship starting from July 1 with a
maximum of 30 percent capacity, according to an official statement. Friday
prayers in mosques remain suspended until further notice.
The UAE suspended prayer in all houses of worship
including mosques across the country on March 16 as part of the country’s efforts
to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Initially, the suspension was meant to
last four weeks but has been extended ever since.
Later on Wednesday, authorities confirmed they will be
increasing the capacity of mosques to 50 percent starting from August 3 as the
country slowly eases restrictions against the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The period between the first call to prayer and the
performing of the prayer itself will also be extended to ten minutes between
each other, except for the Maghrib sunset prayer which will be limited to 5
minutes apart.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/07/22/Coronavirus-UAE-Eid-al-Adha-prayers-to-be-performed-at-home.html
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Foreign fighters key to ISIS resurgence as thousands
join new militias
Nicky Harley
July 21, 2020
Legions of ISIS foreign fighters have fanned out
across the globe to pose the threat of a resurgence by the group in territories
from Syria into Asia.
Researchers at King's College London said more
emphasis needed to be placed on the movement of veteran fighters to conflict
zones in South-East Asia and Africa rather than their return to Europe.
Latest figures from the university showed that 53,000
people travelled to Syria to join ISIS between 2013 to 2018.
The report by researchers in the defence studies
department at King’s, in collaboration with Institute for Strategic Studies,
said that career foreign fighters increased the risk of an ISIS resurgence as
thousands joined new militia groups.
"Despite governments’ concerns, numbers of ISIS
foreign fighters returning home and engaging with violent extremism remains
relatively low," said Francesco Milan of the defence studies department,
the report's author.
"Of far greater risk is the growing threat from
ISIS in both its former stronghold in Iraq and Syria and in terrorist zones
around the world.
"These relocators enable ISIS to evade direct
confrontation and to strengthen their operations."
Mr Milan said inaction from western governments in
dealing with ISIS detainees in Syria and Iraq and a worsening humanitarian
situation there provided a perfect breeding ground for a revival of the
terrorist group.
This posed a far greater long-term risk to countries
in the West, said the paper, published in the institute’s 2020 Armed Conflict
Survey.
The report revealed that since mid-2019, ISIS led
"targeted recruitment and redistribution of extremists" into conflict
zones in countries from Libya to the Philippines in an effort to strengthen
operations.
Areas targeted in Asia included regions beset by political
instability, such as smuggling routes across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
It said that in South-East Asia at least 100 foreign
fighters had joined ISIS militias in the Philippines since a siege in 2017.
Indonesia and Malaysia were also identified as
priority relocation destinations.
Thousands of extremists and their families detained in
prisons in Syria could also "exacerbate existing grievances and breed a
new generation of ISIS militants".
The paper highlighted that, despite appeals from the
UN, western governments avoided responsibility for the repatriation, trial,
detention and eventual reintegration of ISIS affiliates who were citizens of
their countries.
Some countries used national laws to try ISIS
fighters, but faced major difficulties in finding evidence.
The authors said regional instability was made worse
by the withdrawal of all US military forces from northern Syria last October.
That had increased the risk that captured fighters could simply escape.
"This has led to poorly guarded detention
facilities and the escape of an unspecified number of ISIS fighters, with at
least 76 extremists reportedly joining Turkey-backed Syrian militias operating
in northern Syria," it said.
"Western governments are avoiding taking charge
of the repatriation, trial, detention and eventual reintegration of ISIS
affiliates who are citizens of their countries."
Home country officials hoping that the problems posed
by the citizens could be kept at arms length are taking a big gamble.
"The long-overlooked question of how to deal with
captured foreign fighters is rapidly becoming a pressing issue, given the huge
numbers of surrendering fighters and their families massing in prisons in
Syria," Mr Milan added.
“By overly focusing on returning foreign fighters and
pursing a short-term, wait-and-see response to the management of captured
foreign fighters, western governments are leaving us all vulnerable to the
re-emergence of a stronger and more widespread ISIS presence."
Earlier this year, EU prosecutors called for ISIS
fighters to be tried for war crimes as well as terror offences and to receive
harsher sentences.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/foreign-fighters-key-to-isis-resurgence-as-thousands-join-new-militias-1.1052613?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1378653_
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Mosul sowing seeds post-Islamic State
Hassan Ali Ahmed
Jul 21, 2020
Following years of neglect and environmental abuse,
the new governor of Ninevah province, Najm al-Jabouri, announced last June, a
project to plant 1 million trees in an effort to revive Mosul, a city that is
also known as al-Khaḍrah, which translates to "The Green."
Subsequently, many projects were launched and some
have been finalized already. For instance, on July 15, a tree planting project
at Mosul’s central transportation hub was completed by a group of youth
volunteers.
Mosul is known for being one of the most fertile
cities in Iraq, and many scholars believe the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon
were built near the city. However, many years of neglect, Turkish dams on the
Tigris River and environmental damage by the Islamic State (IS) has contributed
to its deforestation, turning it into a semi-arid city.
IS not only unraveled the social fabric in Mosul, but
it ravaged its fertile lands and systematically burnt the Yazidi's olive tree
farms and Mosul’s palm trees, causing sandstorms in Iraq. Hence, the idea to
plant trees in the city was born. On June 7, Jabouri officially launched the "Green
Mosul" project proposed by Mosul Eye to plant 1 million trees in the city
this year.
Al-Monitor spoke to Omar Mohammed, founder of the
internationally known blog Mosul Eye, an organization he created in 2014 to
document the atrocities committed in Mosul during its occupation under IS. In a
tweet, Mosul Eye said the deforestation processes caused by IS between 2013 and
2020 had been clearly and extensively shown and documented.
As part of the project, more than 500,000 palm trees
will be planted across Mosul’s neighborhoods, parks and roadsides in order to
revive the city's neglected biodiversity. Mosul’s main harvest consists of
zucchini, onions and potatoes and many families grow grapes in their backyards.
When asked about what inspired Mohammed to initiate
the project, he said, “The main reason I proposed this project is because I
traveled to many cities in the world and I saw green spaces in every city in
every country where people can enjoy the view and clean air.”
Mohammed said that the local population will be able
to enjoy cleaner air, in addition to the trees contributing to “the global
climate change campaign”; Iraq and its neighbors have suffered major natural
disasters including droughts and locust swarms. According to Mohammed, Mosul’s
fertile land and environment will support and preserve the trees, although
Mosul has greatly suffered from the use of chemical weapons during the wars
that have affected the city's water and soil.
He noted, “The palm trees will be planted based on the
urban design of Mosul in a way that is more accessible for the people to visit
these green spaces." He added, "We don't want to rely solely on oil
and want to support our local farmers and improve our agriculture production to
export food rather than having to import." (Iraq imports the majority of
its grains, meat, poultry and dairy from Iran and Turkey.)
The project relies on the surveys and studies
conducted by the Mosul agriculture department, which had planned to implement a
large-scale tree planting project in Mosul for many years but never started the
project. The Mosul local government is discussing the project with France,
Turkey and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and is also
seeking support from international communities and organizations.
On July 9, the French Embassy in Iraq announced an
interest in supporting the project on Twitter, saying it intended “to support
farmers in western Ninevah and promote social and economic factors.” Mosul Eye
tweeted in response, “We are happy that France is positively interested in
supporting the project.
Mohammed added, "We look forward to get support
from France as they proposed a similar project in 1930 that they did not
pursue.”
A source in the Mosul local government told Al-Monitor
that the IOM is still studying the project and showed interest because it will
also help in creating jobs in the city and ease the tensions in the community.
In 2018, the IOM rehabilitated Sallamiya’s water irrigation system, which
restored the agriculture sector encouraging many farmers to return to their
areas. The source noted that Turkey has offered to contribute with four
different types of trees, but has yet to offer any further details.
The governor has also been supportive and established
a committee that includes representatives from Mosul Eye, the agriculture
department and the municipality of Mosul. The committee will oversee the
project and also involve both civil society and the government in taking action
to preserve Mosul’s trees. Mohammed said, “This will also help to create some
kind of trust between the local government and society.”
The first phase of the project started with the
planting of 200,000 trees. However, residents of al-Sukkar district in Mosul
have taken it upon themselves to make a difference in their neighborhood by
planting trees voluntarily. On July 6, Mosul Eye tweeted a photo of a park in
Mosul after it was revitalized by local volunteers.
Tahir Khalil, a Turkmen Shiite who fled his hometown
of Shrikhan during the IS occupation, has now returned to harvest his land and
continue his studies. He told Al-Monitor, “Mosul has more than 1.5 million
residents. If everyone plants only one tree, we will already have more than a
million trees in the city.”
As many regions face the ever-rapid consequences of
climate change, individual countries are beginning to address those problems.
Mohammed concluded, “We think about climate change and the next generations,
and it is up to us whether we leave the environment in a worse or better
state.”
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/07/iraq-mosul-agriculture-trees.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1378653_
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Egyptian army says it killed 18 Islamist militants in
North Sinai
22/07/2020
Egypt's military said it killed 18 suspected Islamist
militants in aerial and ground operations in the restive North Sinai region on
Tuesday, as part of its battle to quell a long-running insurgency.
The army said in a statement that its forces succeeded
in foiling "an attack by takfiri terrorist elements on one of the security
complexes" in the town of Bir al-Abd.
Egyptian security officials use the term
"takfiri" to designate extremist Islamist militants.
"In cooperation with the air force, security
forces managed to chase the takfiri elements across a farm and in abandoned
houses killing 18, including one wearing an explosive belt," the statement
said.
Two military personnel were killed and four others
wounded in Tuesday's operations in Bir al-Abd. Troops also destroyed four cars
including three that were packed with explosives.
The town, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of North
Sinai's capital al-Arish, has been the site of several terror attacks claimed
by the Islamic State group including the deadliest attack in modern Egyptian
history, in which more than 300 worshippers were gunned down in a mosque in
2017.
The late Tuesday statement came after videos surfaced
on social media purportedly showing plumes of smoke, gunfire and residents
screaming for their lives.
AFP could not verify the authenticity of the short
clips posted online.
Security forces have been battling a hardened Islamist
insurgency in Egypt's northeast Sinai Peninsula spearheaded by a local IS
affiliate.
In February 2018, authorities launched a nationwide
operation against Islamist militants, focused on North Sinai.
Around 990 suspected militants have been killed in the
region along with dozens of security personnel, according to official figures.
https://www.france24.com/en/20200722-egyptian-armys-says-it-killed-18-islamist-militants-in-sinai-region?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1378653_
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Turkey shifts fight against Kurdish militants deep
into northern Iraq
22 July 2020
Turkey is taking its decades-old conflict with Kurdish
militants deep into northern Iraq, establishing military bases and deploying
armed military drones against the fighters in their mountain strongholds.
The cross-border campaign has attracted less attention
than Turkey’s incursions into neighboring Syria - partly because Turkish troops
have long been in Iraq - but it is part of a strategy to push the fight beyond
its borders after years of bloodshed at home.
Turkey has been battling an insurgency in its mainly Kurdish
southeast by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants that has killed 40,000
people since the 1980s and which has largely been directed from within Iraq.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
After the breakdown of peace efforts in 2015, heavy
fighting erupted again in Turkey. Since then President Tayyip Erdogan’s
government has sought to address what it says is the root of the crisis.
“The new approach aims to destroy the threat from
where it begins,” a Turkish official told Reuters.
A ground assault launched on June 17 and dubbed
Operation Claw Tiger has seen Turkish troops advance up to 40 km (25 miles)
inside Iraq and establish over 30 “temporary bases”, the official said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
It aims to deny PKK fighters any sanctuary near the
border, cut their supply lines between Iraq and Syria, and prepare the ground
for a possible offensive on the main PKK stronghold around the Qandil
mountains, inside Iraq on the Iranian border.
Turkey’s frequent claims of military gains in a
conflict far from the spotlight are difficult to verify, but analysts and an
Iraqi Kurdish official say the scope of the air and ground offensives extends
beyond Ankara’s usual operations.
Baghdad summoned Turkey’s ambassador last month to
formally complain, but the central government has limited authority in the
autonomous region, while the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq is
wary of antagonizing Turkey, which has NATO’s second largest standing army.
“Baghdad has been very quiet and we are forced to be
very quiet, otherwise we run the risk of escalation with Turkey,” an official
in the KRG said.
Drone power
The Iraq operation comes after Turkey launched three
incursions into northern Syria in three years to drive PKK and ISIS fighters
from its borders, and then deployed forces in Idlib province to halt a
Russian-backed Syrian government offensive against Syrian rebels.
Turkey has been attempting to project its own
influence in the eastern Mediterranean, turning the tide of Libya’s conflict by
sending its own troops and mercenaries to support the Government of National
Accord. It has also established military bases in Qatar and the Horn of Africa.
Turkey’s interventions under Erdogan have alarmed
regional rivals Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and led to accusations from
domestic opponents that he is seeking diversions from an economic crisis and
political setbacks after 17 years in power.
Much of the new military muscle comes from
domestically produced armed drones. In Iraq, that means Turkey can attack
militants in areas once beyond its reach.
PKK casualties in Iraq had risen in the last year,
with increasing numbers of veteran fighters killed in targeted strikes, the
International Crisis Group (ICG) says.
“The use of drone technology appears to have
significantly shifted the balance of power on the ground, allowing Turkish
forces to go after militants in areas previously difficult to penetrate,” ICG
Turkey analyst BerkayMandiraci said.
The ICG says 5,000 people have been killed in Turkey’s
wider conflict with the PKK since the 2015 ceasefire collapse, one tenth of
them in northern Iraq. So far this year, that proportion of fatalities in Iraq
has leapt to 70 percent.
Turkish officials say the latest fighting targets
several border districts including Haftanin and Metina near Syria to the west,
and regions nearer Iran including Avasin and Hakurk, a possible staging post to
Qandil further south.
“The operation in Iraq aims to secure Turkey’s border,
prevent the passage (of PKK fighters) to Syria, and from there infiltration to
Turkey,” a second Turkish official said. “When the time comes, (targeting)
Qandil will be evaluated.”
Turkey ultimately may be guided more by progress on
the ground than any response from Baghdad.
The Iraqi government is hamstrung by political
infighting, an economic crisis and the prospect of more mass unrest, and its
own relations with the Kurds have often been fraught - especially when its
forces halted a Kurdish bid for independence in 2017.
“From the Baghdad point of view ... the (Turkish)
incursion is headed for the KRG, so there’s little harm in this,” said Bilal
Wahab of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“Ultimately these things require some level of respect
for Iraq’s sovereignty and some sort of power,” Wahab said. “On both counts,
Iraq has become so weak that it’s hard to demand that kind of respect from
anyone.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/07/22/Turkey-shifts-fight-against-Kurdish-militants-deep-into-northern-Iraq.html
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Kuwait’s emir to travel to US for treatment after
hospitalization: KUNA
22 July 2020
Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah
will be traveling to the US to receive treatment after he was hospitalized
earlier this week, state news agency KUNA reported on Wednesday.
The 91-year-old ruler underwent a surgery on Sunday,
requiring the crown prince to temporarily serve in his place.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Sheikh Sabah has ruled the US ally and OPEC oil
producer since 2006 and steered its foreign policy for more than 50 years.
In October of last year, Sheikh Sabah had suffered a
health setback while in Kuwait and was admitted to a hospital in the United
States during his trip for a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
After receiving treatment, the emir then returned to
Kuwait.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/07/22/Kuwait-s-emir-to-travel-to-US-for-treatment.html
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Mideast
Palestinian cultural leader, wife arrested by Israel
for allegedly funding terrorism
22 July 2020
Israeli police arrested two prominent Palestinian
cultural leaders on Wednesday at their home in east Jerusalem on suspicion of
"funding terrorism," police and a defense lawyer said.
Rania Elias, who heads the Yabous Cultural Center and
her husband Suhail Khoury, Director General of the Edward Said National
Conservatory of Music, were detained at their home in Jerusalem's Beit
Haninaneighborhood.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
The Yabouscenter and the conservatory were also raided
by police and Israeli tax investigators, with documents confiscated.
The Palestine Liberation Organization condemned the arrests
and raids as part of "Israel's violent and systematic campaign against
Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem."
According to Elias's lawyer Nasir Odeh, the couple was
"detained on charges of financing terrorist organizations."
But he stressed that Israel's broad anti-terrorism
laws include a wide range of offenses, including accepting money from
organizations that the Jewish state has labeled as "terrorist."
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said in a
statement that police, with tax authorities, detained "three suspects...
in connection with tax evasion and fraud", without mentioning the
individuals by name.
Read more: A brief history of previous Palestine peace
deals – and their failure
It confirmed the searches "at two organizations
that were run in east Jerusalem claiming that they were involved in Palestinian
culture."
Rosenfeld said the individuals were being questioned
and the investigation was ongoing.
His statement makes no mention of terror-related
offenses.
But documents sent to AFP by a conservatory official,
presented by police at the time of the search, reference "suspicion of
money laundering (and) funding terror."
The Yabous Cultural Center in east Jerusalem was
established in the mid-1990s with a mandate to celebrate Palestinian culture
and Arab heritage in the city.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/07/22/Palestinian-cultural-leader-wife-arrested-by-Israel-for-allegedly-funding-terrorism.html
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Israel hosts US envoy at biochem lab, seeks FDA nod
for COVID-19 vaccine prototype
22 July 2020
The US ambassador to Israel visited its bio-chemical
defense laboratory and was briefed on a coronavirus vaccine prototype for which
it is seeking US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation, a US official
said on Wednesday.
The vaccine being developed at the Israel Institute
for Biological Research (IIBR), in rural Ness Ziona, began animal trials in
March. A source familiar with IIBR activities said human trials were expected
before year’s end.
A US official described Ambassador David Friedman’s
visit to the IIBR on Monday as part of the two allies’ “robust fight against
the coronavirus.” Israel’s Defense Ministry, which oversees the IIBR, had no
immediate comment.
The IIBR is seeking FDA vaccine regulation, the US
official added. Asked whether Friedman would help in this regard, the official
said only that the envoy “is working tirelessly to ensure that things that
(can) help the American people can get to them in the most effective and
efficient way.”
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
The FDA website says its “regulations for the
development of vaccines ensure their safety, purity, potency and effectiveness”
and could pave the way for a vaccine’s use in the United States.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/07/23/Israel-hosts-US-envoy-at-biochem-lab-seeks-FDA-nod-for-COVID-19-vaccine-prototype.html
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Incident at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility due to
‘security breach’: Lawmaker
22 July 2020
The explosion at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility early
July was due to a “security breach,” an Iranian lawmaker said Wednesday.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI) said on July
2 that an accident had taken place at a construction site in the Natanz nuclear
site in central Iran without causing casualties.
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channel online or via the app.
Iran said a day later it determined the cause of the
“accident” at Natanz but declined to release details citing security reasons.
“A security breach is our definitive conclusion,”
Javad Karimi Ghodoosi, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security
and foreign policy committee, told the parliament’s website ICANA.
Ghodoosi did not give any further details on the
security breach that he said took place.
Ghodoosi ruled out that “an object from outside”
struck the nuclear facility, meaning he does not believe the facility was
subject to an airstrike or a missile attack.
“If an external object had hit the facility, we should
have seen shrapnel, but based on the investigations, absolutely nothing has
been found,” he said.
Iranian officials and state media have persistently
ruled out that the explosion at Natanz was due to an airstrike or cyber
sabotage.
Government spokesman Ali Rabei said on Tuesday
investigations are yet to reach a final conclusion. He also ruled out any
Israeli involvement.
“Some media outlets and media activists, who mainly
work with the Mossad, have linked the Natanz incident to the Israeli regime in
a planned and coordinated effort to portray a powerful image of the Israeli
regime,” Rabei said.
Some media reports suggested that Israel may have been
behind some of the recent incidents in Iran, especially the incident at Natanz.
Three Iranian officials who spoke to Reuters said they
thought cyber sabotage had been involved at Natanz but offered no evidence. Two
said Israel could have been behind it.
Some Iran watchers say the Iranian regime is
refraining from admitting to an Israeli involvement in order to “save face.”
Admitting to an Israeli involvement will also require
a response from Iran which the regime likely does not have the capacity for,
they say.
Israel has not claimed any responsibility for any
attacks in Iran.
A report by the Washington-based Institute for Science
and International Security said that the explosion at Natanz has caused “likely
irreparable“ damage to parts of the site, marking a “significant” setback to
Tehran’s aspirations to mass produce advanced centrifuges.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/07/22/Incident-at-Iran-s-Natanz-nuclear-facility-due-to-security-breach-Lawmaker.html
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Iranian parliament chief urges Iraq to pursue Gen.
Soleimani’s assassination case
22 July 2020
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad-BaqerQalibaf has
called on neighboring Iraq to “vigorously” follow up on the US assassination of
top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, censuring the
crime as a stain on the record of American statesmen.
“The United States violated Iraqi territory and
impudently assassinated those who risked their lives to crush the bones of
terrorism. This is not a simple issue. The American assassination is a major
case that must be pursued vigorously,” Qalibaf said in a meeting with visiting
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Tehran on Wednesday.
General Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), was killed in a fatal US drone
strike near Baghdad airport on January 3, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the
second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) counter-terrorism
force, and eight other Iranian and Iraqi people.
“The criminal assassination of General Qassem
Soleimani, an international hero in the fight against terrorism, and the great
martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and their companions, on the direct order of [US]
President [Donald] Trump, is a stain of shame that will never be erased from
the faces of White House officials,” the top parliamentarian said.
The Islamic Republic, he added, believes that
stability will not return to the region as long as foreign forces are present.
Qalibaf also highlighted the historical and religious
bonds between the two neighboring nations and said, “We fought Daesh and
Takfiris and emerged victorious. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been standing
by the Iraqi government and since the start [of their anti-terror fight].”
The Parliament chief said political, economic and
cultural relations between the two sides have been growing at a proper rate,
calling for serious efforts to further enhance bilateral ties in various
sectors.
Kadhimi, for his part, hailed Iran for backing the
Iraqi government and nation during the fight against Daesh.
Iraq, he added, will not forget that Iran is an
important neighbor and thus will continue developing bilateral economic,
cultural and security ties.
Iraq will not allow its territory to be used as a
ground for security threats against the Iranian nation, Kadhimi stressed.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/22/630179/Iran-Qalibaf-Iraq-Kadhimi-Soleimani
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Africa
Moroccan ISIS-affiliates leave Syria, Iraq for Libya –
European security reports
July 21, 2020
Two European counterterrorism reports have reported
the movement of Islamic state group fighters, including Moroccan nationals,
leaving Syria and Iraq to lawless Libya.
Published by the European Center for Counterterrorism
and France’s Center of Terrorism Analysis, the reports stress that fighters of
the global terror group are fleeing Syria and Iraq, two hubs of the criminal
group.
The fleeing affiliates include dozens of Moroccans,
local Moroccan Arabic media Al Ahdath Al Maghribia reports.
At least 1,000 Moroccans have left the kingdom for
hotbed conflict zones, mainly in Syria and Iraq.
Libya is currently witnessing a rivalry between the
UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) supported by Turkey and Qatar and
an eastern administration backed by Egypt, UAE, Russia and France.
The European Union (UE) has called for the end of
rivalries between the Libyan sides arguing that the conflict situation in the
oil-rich country endangers countries around the Mediterranean.
European countries continue to receive hundreds of
migrants who depart from Libyan coasts. More than 650,000 people wait to leave
Libyan shores for Europe, Malta warned.
https://northafricapost.com/42558-moroccan-isis-affiliates-leave-syria-iraq-for-libya-european-security-reports.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1378653_
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Libyan National Army downs Turkish drone west of Sirte
23 July 2020
Forces from the Libyan National Army have shot down a
Turkish drone west of the city of Sirte late on Wednesday, according to sources
from the eastern-based forces in Libya.
The LNA warned Turkey on Wednesday against making
advances toward the Libyan coast, threatening to target any hostile naval
vessels present in Libyan waters.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
Colonel Abu Bakr al-Abyad, an LNA naval officer, said
that any Turkish naval vessel that attempts to approach the Libyan coasts will
be subject to destruction, adding that the LNA has “capabilities necessary to
defeat any enemy approaching Libya.”
Turkey supports the Government of National Accord
(GNA), which is fighting for control of the country against eastern-based
commander Khalifa Haftar.
Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia all back
the LNA forces led by Haftar.
Earlier on Monday, Egypt’s parliament authorized the deployment
of troops outside the country after the president threatened military action
against Turkish-backed forces in Libya.
Rhetoric on the Libyan conflict has been ramping up in
recent days, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aide FahrettinAltun
tweeting “Turkey has the "power and ability to obliterate the illegitimate
bloc targeting Libya's legitimate government."
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/north-africa/2020/07/23/Libyan-National-Army-downs-Turkish-drone-west-of-Sirte.html
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Gunmen kill 11 villagers in Nigeria’s volatile
northwest after wedding bloodshed
23 July 2020
Unknown gunmen have raided a village in Nigeria’s
northwestern Kaduna State, leaving nearly a dozen people dead and forcing
hundreds of others to flee their homes in panic.
Local authorities and community representatives said
Wednesday that a group of motorcycle-riding assailants had launched an
overnight raid on the Gora Gan village and opened fire on locals.
“The gunmen killed 11 people in the attack and left 15
with serious injuries,” said Elias Manza, administrative head of the
ZangonKataf district.
The attackers also set fire to houses, seven
motorcycles, a church and a car.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Asake, a community leader, said
the assault promoted over 550 people to flee their homes.
He added they “are afraid to go back to their homes
and are sheltering in a primary school” in a nearby town.
The latest bloodshed came a day after gunmen killed at
least 18 people and wounded others at a wedding ceremony in Kaduna.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Kaduna has, over the past years, witnessed a wave of
ethnic violence as well as raids by armed gangs, most notably the
Daesh-affilated Boko Haram terror group.
Recently, there has been a rise in deadly clashes
between predominantly Christian farmers and Muslim Fulani herders, a
historically nomadic people who graze their cattle on the land.
A day after the wedding bloodshed, the Nigerian
presidency warned against a rise in violence in the southern part of Kaduna,
saying banditry, revenge killings and gang violence are to blame for unending
killings in the region.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/07/23/630231/Nigeria-Kaduna-village-attack
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Europe
Germany: Anti-Semitic attack suspect shows no remorse
in court
21.07.2020
Stephan B. remained impassive as he was led into the
large, low-ceilinged Magdeburg courtroom on Tuesday morning. As in the video
that he live-streamed on the internet during last October's deadly attack in
Halle, he was shaven-headed and dressed in a thick black jacket, only this time
he was also handcuffed and shackled, wearing a disposable coronavirus
protection mask, and with at least six masked guards around him.
The trial itself was only able to begin after a
two-hour delay, apparently because the rigorous security checks took much
longer than predicted. But by midday, the courtroom was packed. Spectators and
journalists observed proceedings from behind a glass screen, while the ranks of
seats in front were filled with some of the 43 co-plaintiffs — many of them the
people who had been in the synagogue last October — and their lawyers.
The 28-year-old defendant has been charged with two cases of murder in
the killings of 40-year-old Jana L. and 20-year-old Kevin S., as well as 68
cases of attempted murder. The latter figure comprises the 52 people who were
observing Yom Kippur inside the Halle synagogue plus a number of other
passers-by and police officers that he shot at during the attack and his
two-hour attempted escape. He has also been charged with extortion under threat
of force for stealing a taxi at gunpoint as he fled.
Cross-examination reveals no remorse
The proceedings began, after the charges were read,
with a lengthy exchange between the defendant and Judge Ursula Mertens that
took up the rest of the first trial day.
Stephan B. showed no remorse or emotion throughout the
long cross-examination, repeating anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, in line
with the plan he published online shortly before the attack began.
He was lucid throughout, and had a habit of sniggering
nervously at parts of his own testimony.
Asked if he had friends in his youth, he answered:
"No." Did he belong to a sports club? "No."
What were his interests? "Internet." What
did he like about the internet? "The possibility to converse freely."
Didn't he have that possibility outside? "Not in Germany," he
replied.
He said he had a good relationship with his sister,
who initially encouraged him to engage more with others, though his social
contacts steadily declined over time. When asked by the judge why these
contacts had ebbed, he answered simply: "Different things. Not
important."
Stephan B. said he had spent six months in the
Bundeswehr — Germany's armed forces — which according to him was "not a real
army."
He then described his brief attempt to study
chemistry, which was cut short by a long illness that he declined to go into in
detail about. After that, when asked whether he had had any plans, he laughed
and said, "No, I had no plans."
Inspired by Christchurch mosque attacks
"After 2015, I decided not to have anything to do
with this society," he added. "Especially the Muslims in it."
After this statement, the defendant was warned by the
judge not to express any hate speech, or he would be shut out from proceedings.
Read more: Christchurch — The myth of the lone wolf
attacker
Occasionally, the judge entered into discussions with
him about his world view. "I'm angry, I'm angry! For millennia it has been
normal to defend one's home country," he added at the end of a dispute
with the judge about immigration.
He described Muslim refugees as alleged
"conquerors from the Islamic world."
"I'm someone from the bottom rung of society, and
when my country is being colonized by people I am under threat," he
claimed.
He also stated, for the first time on record, that he
was directly inspired by the Christchurch attacks of March 2019,which he saw as
an example of "the white man defending himself," he said.
The judge countered, "But you might ask what the
white man was doing in New Zealand in the first place?"
Details of the attack
During his lengthy testimony, Stephan B. described the
reason why he shot Jana L., a passer-by outside the synagogue. He said he had
been irritated by the way she had chided him for making a noise.
But then why shoot her several times? "When you
start something, you have to carry it out," he answered bluntly.
The judge asked him directly: "You shot her once,
then again several times, and then even said 'pig.' Do you feel any empathy? Do
you understand what that is?"
He answered: "I'm sorry I shot her, it wasn't
planned, I didn't mean to, but..." the answer trailed off there. "I
do regret it, I shot at a lot of whites, I didn't mean to do that."
He said he believed that Kevin S., the customer in the
kebab shop who he killed, was a Muslim when he shot him.
As the day progressed, Stephan B. was induced by Judge
Mertens into describing the attack in detail. He appeared more than willing to
do this, enthusiastically answering all questions in detail about his homemade
weapons, his planning, his strategic considerations, and how he had experienced
the day.
Several times throughout the attack, he said he
thought he would die, especially when he realized he had been shot in the neck
following a fire-fight with police.
'Complex personality disorder'
Few people doubt that Stephan B. will be found guilty
and sentenced to life in prison. The man charged filmed the entire attack
himself with a camera attached to his helmet, streaming the video live onto the
online platform Twitch.
During his testimony on Tuesday Stephan B. said that
at one point he realized that his Twitch account, with his live-stream, had
been suspended. "That's bad, because the stream was more important than
the attack itself," he said.
The perpetrator confessed soon after being arrested
and showed no remorse for his actions. In fact, according to an examination by
forensic psychiatrist Norbert Leygraf, Stephan B.'s only regret was that his
initial plan — to break into the synagogue and kill as many Jewish people as
possible — had failed so completely.
Leygraf's 100-page assessment, details of which were
revealed this week by news magazine Der Spiegel, found that Stephan B. has a
"complex personality disorder," with some traits of autism, but that
this does not compromise his criminal liability. He apparently described the
two killings with no emotion.
The psychiatrist, who interviewed the defendant three
times, also found that he had been obsessed with anti-Semitic conspiracy
theories and homemade weapons for years. In the indictment, the German federal
police said Stephan B. had armed himself with eight firearms and several
homemade explosives, some of which he threw over the synagogue wall in an
attempt to scare the people inside to come out.
His defense attorney, Hans-Dieter Weber, previously
described Stephan B. as intelligent, articulate, and socially isolated.
At the end of the exhausting court day, co-plaintiff
Rebecca Blady, one of the people inside the Halle synagogue during the attack,
said she was initially skeptical of the judge's insistent questions.
"But then as proceedings went on I realized that
we were able to really see how he thinks through those questions," she
told DW. "There's no question that there's no room in this society for a
person who thinks like that. That ideology is lethal. It kills people."
Blady said Stephan's B.'s testimony was revealing.
"He knows what he's talking about. He hates Arabs and Muslims, he's
completely racist, he believes Jews are the source of many of the world's
problems. He's convinced, and he's not speaking from a place of craziness. This
is actually what he thinks."
Some 18 days have been set for the trial, which is
expected to last until October.
https://www.dw.com/en/german-synagogue-attack-trial-starts/a-54241893?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1378653_
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Iran looks to buy Russian weapons to ‘enhance defense
capacities’
21 July 2020
Tehran is looking to buy Russian weapons to “enhance
its defense capacities,” Iran’s ambassador to Moscow has been quoted as saying,
amid US efforts to extend an arms embargo on Iran expiring later this year.
Iran will hold talks with Russia to determine its
military needs, Iranian Ambassador KasemJalali was quoted as saying by Russia’s
TASS news agency, Monday.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News
channel online or via the app.
“The Russian government and the Russian people have
always been by our side in times of trouble. Russia is our priority partner in
this sense,” Jalali said.
Jalali’s remarks come as the US increases its
diplomatic efforts to extend the UN Security Council arms embargo on Iran,
which expires on October 18.
Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was in
Russia Tuesday where he met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Zarif said he delivered an “important message” to
Russian President Vladimir Putin, without elaborating.
The US argues that a failure to extend the arms
embargo on Tehran would further destabilize the Middle East.
Senior Iranian officials have warned against the
extension of the embargo on numerous occasions in recent weeks, saying it would
have severe consequences for Washington and its allies.
Iran is counting on China and Russia to block the
extension of the arms embargo at the UN Security Council. Moscow and Beijing
have signaled that they oppose the extension.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/07/22/Iran-looks-to-buy-Russian-weapons-to-enhance-defense-capacities-.html
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Question everything: How open debate can combat
extremism in schools
Nicky Harley
July 22, 2020
Teachers should be engaging in tough love and debate
with pupils to combat extremism, security experts say.
A new report showed that encouraging youngsters to
question radicalisation issues was more effective than telling children to
treat each other nicely.
Researchers analysed more than 20 international
education initiatives aimed at preventing violent extremism.
The paper by defence think tank Royal United Services
Institute urged teachers not to shy away from challenging issues.
“Education initiatives can only address a limited
range of concerns but, carefully designed, [they] can play a role to make
students more resilient to radicalisation efforts,” Claudia Wallner, a
terrorism and conflict researcher at the institute, said.
“We do have evidence from existing interventions that,
if done right, certain approaches can make students aware of certain types of
extremism and make them more resilient to recruitment and radicalisation.
“Education initiatives can be effective at targeting
some extremism. Germany chose the approach to dealing with its own historical
legacy by debating the government’s part in past human rights issues.
"It is relevant as many countries start to deal
with their own racist history, like the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Improving the ability [of youngsters] to critically
evaluate and see through world views and binary narrative by debating topics
openly takes the power away from extremists.”
However, Ms Wallner said her analysis revealed that
flawed initiatives could fuel hate.
“We also found poorly designed and managed
interventions can create more harm than good and help radicalisation if
specific groups are targeted by the intervention,” she said.
Prof Lynn Davies from the University of Birmingham
specialises in how education can be used to combat extremism and said
encouraging children to speak openly about topics built their “resilience and
confidence”.
“What doesn’t work in terms of trying to prevent
extremism is just telling kids to love each other and to be nice or respect
each other – that is not enough in building resilience,” she said.
“What doesn’t work is saying ‘do not say that’, ‘do
not mention extremism’.
"You have to let children express everything,
even if it is very uncomfortable. Let children question everything is the key
message.”
Ms Davies, whose work has reached 83,000 pupils and
teachers in 20 countries, she said it was important for teachers to be aware of
current issues, such as the coronavirus pandemic and the so-called fake news
extremists use in their radicalisation techniques.
“There are links between extremism, knife crime,
grooming and racism,” she said.
“Someone might start in a violent gang and switch to
religious extremism and it is understanding this trajectory. [Educators need
to] look at how extremists are capitalising on current events like Covid-19 and
Black Lives Matter and understand how current events get diverted into support
for extremist movements.
“We speak to former extremists and they share how they
went into movements and how they were misled in terms of what happened.”
Ms Davies said the most successful initiatives were
delivered by people with “huge credibility” among youngsters, such as former
extremists or youth workers.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/question-everything-how-open-debate-can-combat-extremism-in-schools-1.1053116
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Tajik man faces IS-related terrorism charges in
Germany
July 21, 2020
BERLIN — Authorities have charged a Tajik man with
membership in a terrorist organization on allegations he led a group plotting
attacks in Germany in coordination with Islamic State leaders in Syria and
Afghanistan, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Ravsan B., whose last name wasn’t released in line
with German privacy laws, also faces charges of weapons violations, preparing
an act of violence, and other counts.
The 30-year-old, who has been in custody since March
2019, is accused of forming a cell of the Islamic State in Germany with other
Tajik nationals no later than January 2019 to carry out attacks and raise money
for the extremist organization.
For the latter goal, they allegedly took a contract
for $40,000 to kill an Albanian businessman and traveled to the country at the
end of February, 2019. There they procured weapons from contacts and observed
the target over several days but eventually experienced misgivings as to
whether they were focused on the right man and returned to Germany without
killing him, prosecutors said.
They also allegedly brought the weapons with them, and
when back in Germany also procured explosives and detonators to use in an
unspecified attack.
Acting on orders from an Islamic State member in
Afghanistan, they decided to kill a man who had made critical comments about
Islam, and take photographs to use as propaganda to raise support for the fight
against “infidels,” prosecutors said.
On the day the attack was planned, the suspect was
arrested by German police and the killing was prevented, prosecutors said.
Four other alleged members of the cell, identified
only as Azizjon B., Muhammadali G., Farhodshoh K. and Sunatullokh K. — all also
Tajiks — were arrested this February and charged with membership in a terrorist
organization on allegations they were plotting an attack on American military
facilities in Germany.
Another suspect, identified as KomronZukhurov, was
arrested in May in Albania on allegations he was part of the cell.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/tajik-man-faces-is-related-terrorism-charges-in-germany/2020/07/21/e9a3e04c-cb60-11ea-99b0-8426e26d203b_story.html?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1378653_
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Southeast Asia
Medan man faces four years in prison for allegedly
desecrating Quran
July 22, 2020
A 44-year-old man in Medan, North Sumatra, faces four
years in prison for having allegedly desecrated the Quran at a local mosque
earlier this year.
Prosecutors at the Medan District Court charged the
defendant, DoniIrawan Malay, for blasphemy under Article 156 of the Criminal
Code and demanded a four-year prison term for him during a hearing on Tuesday.
Doni was accused of committing a blasphemous act by
purportedly tearing out pages from the Quran. He pleaded for a lighter
sentence, conveying his guilt to the court.
“I am very sorry, your honor. I will never do it
again. Please give me as light a punishment as possible,” he told the judge as
quoted by tribunnews.com.
Sentencing is scheduled for next week.
According to the prosecutors, the incident took place
at Al-Mashum Mosque in Medan Kota district in the afternoon of Feb. 13.
“The defendant entered the mosque and took a Quran
from a shelf without permission from the management,” a prosecutor told the
court, adding that the defendant then took the Quran into the male ablution
room.
“The defendant removed the cover from the Quran, threw
it into a garbage bin inside the ablution room and then proceeded to tear out
pages from the Quran with both of his hands.”
They said Doni then exited the mosque later that
afternoon and threw the ripped Quran pages onto the streets before running
away.
Doni was later caught by locals and reported to the
Medan Kota Police. (rfa)
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/07/22/medan-man-faces-four-years-in-prison-for-allegedly-desecrating-quran.html
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Bersatu-linked think tank’s study suggests one in two
Malaysians would back Umno-PAS in snap poll, Pakatan losing urban foothold
23 Jul 2020
BY RADZI RAZAK
KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — Over half the respondents from
an Emir Research survey said they would vote for an Umno-PAS pairing in a
hypothetical early general election, according to the results released
yesterday.
In its quarterly report released yesterday, the
PartiPribumi Bersatu Malaysia-linked think tank said 52 per cent of respondents
backed Umno and PAS while 30 per cent chose Pakatan Harapan (PH) and 18 per
cent were undecided.
This contrasted strongly with the firm’s poll last
year that showed PH to still enjoy popular support, particularly among urban
voters.
“The results were near opposite in the previous poll —
Pakatan Harapan was greatly supported within the middle — and higher-income
groups of respondents. Only the lower income earners have shown very marginal
support to Umno and PAS in the previous round of polling.
“In the current poll though, lower-income earners’
support for Umno and PAS was twice as high at that for Pakatan Harapan,” said
the report.
Emir Research is led by Datuk RaisHussin, the Bersatu
Supreme Council member, who was recently appointed as Malaysia Digital Economy
Corporation (MDEC) chairman after pledging support to party president Tan Sri
Muhyddin Yassin.
The poll said that in contrast to the previous polling
results, both urban and rural dwellers now supported Umno and PAS whereas those
in urban areas previously leaned towards PH.
It said urban respondents were now twice as likely to
support Umno and PAS over PH.
In rural areas, support for PH grew marginally but
this gain was eclipsed by what Umno and PAS achieved.
The report said that while Chinese (61 per cent) and
Indian (47 per cent) voters still preferred PH, there has been a massive swing
towards the two Malay-based parties.
“Overall, there has been a great shift of voters’
support from Pakatan Harapan towards Umno and PAS over the period from the last
quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020.
“This trend is maintained across different demographic
categories such as income, qualification, age and domicile.
“Only ethnically-coloured support has largely remained
the same — favouring Pakatan Harapan by Chinese and
Indian groups and backing the Umno and PAS by Malay and Bumiputera respondents,”
said the report.
The poll also found that 45 per cent of Malaysians
polled agree that an Umno-PAS coalition could best preserve the rights of the
Malays and the position of Islam, with 43 per cent saying the two could resolve
political divisions in the community.
Over one in three also said all Malay parties should
merge.
“Among the ethnic groups, understandably, the
Malays/Bumiputeras were the most receptive to the idea of Umno-PAS coalition
and the need for all Malay parties to be united compared to the other ethnic
groups.
“The Chinese and Indians were more unsure than either
being agreeable or disagreeable with the idea of Umno-PAS coalition and the
unity of Malay parties. A third of the Chinese (33 per cent) and Indians (34
per cent) agreed that a Umno-PAS coalition resolves disunity among the Malays.”
Emir Research said the survey included 2,002 voters
across all 222 Parliamentary constituencies, and was aimed at gauging the
public’s wellbeing in terms of their perceptions, expectations, and worries.
The survey was conducted between January 15 to
February 25, 2020.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/07/23/bersatu-linked-think-tanks-study-suggests-one-in-two-malaysians-would-back/1887133
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/quetta-siri-guru-singh-gurdwara/d/122449