Role Models: Muslim Students, Mohammed Jabir P K And Muhammad Basith, From Malappuram Win Top Prizes In Ramayana Quiz
New
Age Islam News Bureau
05
August 2022
Mohammed Jabir and Muhammad Basith. (File Photo)
----
•
Zawahiri Killing: Ways In Which Pakistan May Have Helped US In Drone Strike
•
We Have No Information About Al-Qaeda Leader’s ‘Arrival and Stay’ in Kabul:
Taliban
•
Al-Azhar Denies Alleged Kinship Between Dead Al-Qaeda Leader, Former Grand Imam
Al-Zawahiri
•
Hate Crimes Against Muslims In Canada Jump 71 Percent in 2021: Statistics Canada
India
•
After Mufti's Arrest, Madrasa in Assam with 'Links' to Bangladesh Terror Outfit
Ansarul Islam Demolished
•
Paleri-Parakkadavu Mahal Committee U-Turn: Says It Will Not Allow Brides In
Mosque In Future
•
NIA arrests member of Dawood gang for 'aiding terrorist activities'
•
With Eye On 2024 Polls, Delhi BJP Plans Pasmanda Muslim Outreach In Capital
Today
--------
Pakistan
•
Indefinite Ceasefire Will Continue Amid Ongoing Peace Talks, TTP Tells Pak
Delegation
•
Imran Khan calls for protest against Pak Election Commission, slams its chief
for being 'in cahoots' with 'imported govt'
•
PTI withdraws case against CEC ‘to add more evidence’
•
Notices to NA speaker, ECP over PTI resignations
•
Imran Khan rejects Pakistani poll body's verdict in prohibited funding case
•
Nawaz tasks Maryam with countering Imran’s narrative
--------
South Asia
•
Bangladesh Police Detain ‘Tuneless’ Social Media Star To Stop Him From Singing Tagore,
Nazrul
•
Parwan Governor, citing supreme leader, says previous constitution invalid
•
Taliban warns US to not repeat drone strike that killed al-Qaida chief Zawahiri
•
Taliban Arrests Group of 4 for Burning a Man Alive in Western Afghanistan
•
As US-China Tensions Flare, Taliban Says Countries Should Refrain from
‘Provocative’ Decisions
•
New evidence exposes Myanmar's military's brutal purge of the Rohingya Muslims
•
Fighting in Karta-e-Sakhi Between Islamic Emirate Forces and Daesh
--------
Arab World
•
Lebanon Is The World’s Angriest Country, Followed By Turkey, Armenia: Data
•
Christian, Jewish and Yazidi cemeteries desecrated by teens and extremists
•
‘God condemns officials’ who avoid accountability over port blast: Lebanon
Patriarch
•
UAE foreign ministry issues statement on importance of respecting ‘One China’
policy
•
2 years later, Lebanese victim of Beirut blast still in coma
•
Iraq's Hashd al-Shaabi rejects calls for dissolving parliament
•
Yemen’s siege: Saudi-led coalition seizes another ship day after extension of
UN-brokered truce
•
Amir-Abdollahian calls for release of Iranian citizen detained in Saudi Arabia
during Hajj
--------
North America
•
U.S. Proved Afghanistan Not Safe-Haven for Al-Qaeda: Kirby
•
Top US diplomat for Middle East says China providing Iranian proxies with
drones
•
US troops in Yemen an expansion of imperial aggression: Expert
•
Jeff Bezos’ Blue origin sends first Egyptian national to space
--------
Europe
•
Dutch Police Seek Information On Perpetrators Of Islamic State Crimes Against
Yazidis
•
Azerbaijan's embassy in London attacked by radical religious group
•
Three grain shipments to leave Ukraine Friday: Turkey
•
Armenia accusing Azerbaijan of violating fall 2020 deal ending conflict
'nothing but hypocrisy'
•
Turkish president set to visit Russia to have talks with Putin
--------
Mideast
•
Islamic Jihad Calls For Release Of Al-Saadi As Military Wing Threatens Israel
•
Israelis Won’t Sleep A Wink If They Know What Hezbollah Has In Store: Senior
Resistance Official
•
Iran Intel Ministry Arrests 10 Daesh Terrorists Plotting Attacks In Muharram
•
Israel sends armed drones over border to curb Islamic Jihad threat
•
Athens rejects Ankara criticism over Muslim cleric election process
•
Top Aide: Iran Supports Extension of Yemen Ceasefire
•
Iran's Envoy Urges US Guarantees for Economic Benefits Under JCPOA
•
Militants arrested for planning to bomb Iran religious gathering: Report
•
Israeli army arrests 23 Palestinians in West Bank
--------
Africa
•
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Holds UK Islamic Conference
•
Sudan’s Islamic Fiqh Academy calls for precautionary action against potential
GERD collapse, malfunction
•
Moroccan court jails 14 migrants for 8 months over crossing
--------
Southeast Asia
•
Indonesian Envoy Stresses Need To Engage Youth For Contribution To
Socio-Economic Development Of Pakistan
•
Anwar rejects Dr Mahathir’s Malay-Muslim alliance, says problem is corruption,
not racism
•
Turkey, Malaysia ties raised to comprehensive strategic partnership
•
When Chinese cultural pride gets confused with Chinese nationalism
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/muslim-students-jabir-basith-ramayana/d/127651
--------
Role Models : Muslim Students, Mohammed Jabir P K And Muhammad Basith, From Malappuram Win Top Prizes In Ramayana Quiz
Mohammed Jabir and Muhammad Basith. (File Photo)
----
05th
August 2022
MALAPPURAM: Two students of Islamic Studies from the KKHM
Islamic and Arts College in Valanchery have become role models after emerging
winners in a state-level quiz on Ramayana. Mohammed Jabir P K, a final-year
student of the eight-year Wafy course, and Muhammad Basith, a fifth-year
student of the same course, are among five winners of the competition conducted
online by a publishing house.
Other
winners of the course are Abhiram M P, Neethu Krishnan and Navneeth Gopan.
“People shouldn’t be reluctant to read the literature of other religions,”
Jabir said. “We should understand all religions through their religious texts.
But we should practice the one that we like the most. I read the literatures of
all religions and follow Islam.” More than 1,000 students participated in the
quiz, he said.
The
syllabus of their Wafy course includes the study of other religions including
Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism, Jabir said. “No one asks us not to read the
literatures of other religions. Even our course demands us to learn about other
religions and understand their values. All religions ask us to live in harmony
and none of them promotes hatred,” he said. Jabir said he read a lot about
Ramayana during the lockdown.
“There
are lots of things to be learnt from the text. It tells us about an ideal
person, Rama. It shows us a beautiful bond between brothers and how a country
can be governed better,” he said. Basith said he developed an interest in
Ramayana during his childhood. “I read a lot about Ramayana from children’s
literature during my childhood.
Recently,
I also used our library to learn more about the religious text,” he said. Jabir
clarified that Wafy students need to complete a bachelor’s degree course too
alongside Islamic studies. “We need to do a bachelor’s degree course under a
university to get a certificate for our eight-year Wafy course. Most of us
complete the degree course through distance education.
Some
Islamic Studies colleges provide facilities to do regular courses and Islamic
Studies on the same campus,” he said. After the publishing house announced the
winners, some people criticised the duo saying that Muslim students learn about
other religions to mock the followers of other religions. “Such comments are
very disappointing. We learn about other religions as we respect the beliefs of
the people in other religions,” Jabir said.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Zawahiri
Killing: Ways In Which Pakistan May Have Helped US In Drone Strike
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri
-----
4
August, 2022
Islamabad
[Pakistan], August 4 (ANI): Following the killing of one of the chief
architects of 9/11 attacks, Ayman-Al-Zawahiri, several media reports have
strongly indicated that Pakistan may have played a significant role in his
elimination as well as of his predecessor, Osama Bin Laden as many similarities
have been found in both the attacks which took eleven years apart.
As
per the report by Islam Khabar, the US drone flew from a ‘friendly’
Middle-Eastern country, most probably the United Arab Emirates (UAE), using
Pakistan’s airspace, however, no confirmed news emerged as in Osama’s case.
The
reports are, however, denied by Washington and Islamabad, as was done in
Osama’s case.
The
Pakistani military, and the Shehbaz Sharif Government alike, are currently
trying to secure an urgently-needed International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan from
the US.
The
very fact that al-Zawahiri was found living comfortably in a Kabul “safe
house”, close to the Taliban leadership, shows that hard-core jihadist elements
within the Taliban have no intention of breaking off ties with al-Qaeda. Also
clear is Pakistan’s continued role, despite its wavering vibes with the Afghan
Taliban it helped return to power.
Some
of the few differences in both the attacks were that Osama’s hideout in
Abbottabad were easily identified whereas the Americans have had few
difficulties in locating Zawahiri’s, in a posh Kabul suburb that was frequented
by many foreigners, among them Americans, till only eleven months ago.
The
reactions of both, Islamabad in 2011 and Kabul under Taliban rule now, are
identical. The two leaderships righteously condemned ‘violation’ of their
territorial sovereignty, but left it at that, Islam Khabar reported.
However,
according to the evidence that emerged later, the US had acted in Abbottabad on
a tacit understanding reached with Pakistan, particularly its Army Chief,
General Ashfaq Kayani. In Kabul’s case, it acted under a formal agreement
reached at Doha in February 2020.
The
Taliban may insist that they had undertaken not to attack US interests outside
Afghanistan, and had never assured anything about any action within their
territory. But they must now live without Zawahiri, killed under their very
nose, and future ‘threats’ they may pose to the US.
Similarly
to how Osama was moved to a safe house in Abbottabad by Pakistan, the Taliban
also, on seizing Kabul last year, moved Zawahiri, with his wife, daughter and
granddaughters, from the tribal area to the safety of Kabul’s Sherpur, in the
neighbourhood of several Taliban leaders and the Kabul elite, including
foreigners.
The
two American operations differ on the damage they caused, however, as the one
in Kabul took only Zawahiri and no other family members. Even the building was
left intact and the Sherpur neighbourhood had to bear only the deafening sound
of Kinetic Hellfire R9X. No warhead explosives, just blades that swing out to
kill only one guy. Without involving the US Navy in 2011, the CIA achieved the
mission.
The
killing of Zawahiri is bound to cause a temporary setback in the US-Afghan ties
and in their talks for a measure of reconciliation while the Taliban have been
keen to recover USD nine billion lying in the US banks that the US has been
unwilling or delaying.
This
is a moment of triumph for Biden, just as killing Osama was for then-President
Obama.
The
US seems all set to resume its role that is bound to impact South, West and
Central Asia. As Blinken put it: “In the face of the Taliban’s unwillingness or
inability to abide by their commitments, we will continue to support the Afghan
people with robust humanitarian assistance and to advocate for the protection
of their human rights, especially of women and girls,” reported Islam Khabar.
(ANI)
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
We
Have No Information About Al-Qaeda Leader’s ‘Arrival and Stay’ in Kabul:
Taliban
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri
-----
By
Saqalain Eqbal
04
Aug 2022
The
Taliban’s caretaker administration said that the group was uninformed of Ayman
al-Zawahiri’s “arrival and stay” in the Afghan capital, although it is
uncertain if the Taliban has explicitly acknowledged or denied the American
assertion that the al-Qaeda chief was killed.
In
a statement released on Thursday, August 4, Taliban senior spokesman Zabihullah
Mujahid stated that the group has instructed its investigative and intelligence
agencies to conduct thorough and comprehensive probes on various aspects of
this case.
According
to the Taliban spokesman, no country, including the United States, is under
threat from Afghanistan.
Furthermore,
he said that the Taliban intended to put the Doha Agreement into effect and
that its violations had to stop.
The
Taliban once more denounced the US attack on Kabul as a violation of Afghan
airspace and against international norms and warned that the US will be held
responsible for the consequences of such attacks, if repeated.
On
the other hand, several top American officials, including Zalmay Khalilzad,
claimed that some Taliban leaders were aware of Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul.
The
death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, in the eyes of US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken, has strengthened global security.
By
“hosting and sheltering” the al-Qaeda chief in Kabul, the Taliban
administration in Afghanistan violated its commitments to the international
community, according to Blinken.
According
to Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to the US President, they are
in contact with the Taliban to discover whether the Taliban sheltered
Al-Zawahiri or not.
The
Taliban officially pledged to renounce ties with terrorist organizations and
prohibit the use of Afghan soil against other countries in the pact it signed
with the United States in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in February 2020.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Al-Azhar
denies alleged kinship between dead Al-Qaeda leader, former Grand Imam
Al-Zawahiri
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri
-----
Nada
Nader
4
Aug 2022
The
statement noted that AOCE was “following the news circulating on social
platforms that said [Ayman] Al-Zawahri’s uncle or grandfather was the grand
Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque,” warning that “the matter could be taken advantage of
by anonymous parties to attack Al-Azhar.”
The
statement added that the false allegations of such a kinship forced AOCE to
deny it, adding that it was an insult to the late grand imam who held the post
from 1929 till 1935.
The
position of grand imam of Al-Azhar, the most important institution in the Sunni
Muslim world, is currently held by Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb.
The
statement noted that the dead Al-Qaeda leader's full name is Ayman Mohamed
Rabie Moustafa Abdel-Kareem Al-Zawahiri and was born in Cairo in 1951, while
the late grand imam’s name is Mohamed Al-Ahmadi Ibrahim Al-Zawahiri and was
born in 1878.
The
latter died five years before the birth of the former Al-Qaeda leader,
according to the statement, which added that there was no connection between
the two, despite sharing the same family name.
The
belief that the terrorist leader was the grandson of the grand imam is
widespread, with numerous foreign and local books and websites repeating the
claim.
The
AOCE, which is dedicated to fighting radicalism and terrorism, noted that they
issued the statement to shed light on the two different paths taken by the two
figures who happen to share the same name.
A
disciple of prominent Egyptian Sheikh Mohamed Abdou, who supported reform in
Al-Azhar, Sheikh Mohamed Al-Zawhiri was among the most famous reformist Muslim
clerics in the institution who turned Al-Azhar into a modern university.
The
Sufi sheikh was also known for his political positions, most famously standing
against the revival of the Islamic Caliphate by King Ahmed Fouad I after the
fall of the Ottoman Empire.
The
statement emphasised that Al-Azhar clerics seek to fix the problems of the
Earth by easing peoples’ daily life and preserving the fundamentals of Islam
against "devils" who want to drag it into politics.
Highly
important and revered in the Islamic world, Al-Azhar University has been
offerings international scholarship to Muslim students around the world,
offering 800 annual scholarships to African students since the program’s
inauguration in the 1920s.
Source:
Ahram
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/472652.aspx
--------
Hate
Crimes Against Muslims In Canada Jump 71 Percent in 2021: Statistics Canada
Members of the Muslim community and supporters light
candles and place flowers at a memorial on 8 June in London, Canada.(Photo by
AFP)
-----
4
August 2022
Hate
crimes against Muslim communities across Canada increased by 71 percent in
2021, according to a newly released report by the government agency Statistics
Canada.
The
study, released on Tuesday, found that the number of recorded attacks against
Muslims rose from 84 incidents in 2020 to 144 in 2021. The jump in attacks had
followed a decline from the previous year, when in 2019 there were a total of
182 reported incidents targeting Muslims.
"We
lost Canadian Muslims to hate in 2021. These numbers also do not tell the whole
story - we know that the numbers of hate crimes vastly exceed what show up in
hate crime stats," the National Council for Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said
on Twitter in response to the report's release.
The
rise in attacks in 2021 corresponds with the killing of four members of the
Afzaal family in London, Ontario.
The
attacker, 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman, deliberately slammed his pick-up truck
into Salman Afzaal, 46, his 77-year old mother, his wife Madiha, 44, and their
15-year-old daughter Yumna, as they were waiting to cross the road. Only
nine-year-old Faez survived the attack.
Police
said the attack was "premeditated" and "motivated by hate",
while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it a "terrorist attack".
"The
increase also occurred in the same year as an attack in London, Ontario, which
targeted a Muslim family and resulted in four homicides and one attempted
homicide," the Statistics Canada report said.
"While
it is not possible to link police-reported hate crime incidents to particular
events, media coverage and public discourse can increase awareness as well as
draw negative reactions from people who share hateful attitudes."
'Islamophobia
is lethal'
Experts
in Canada had previously told MEE that, while the country is seen by the
outside world as a haven for multiculturalism, Canada has witnessed decades of
anti-Muslim rhetoric both from politicians and the media.
Data
from Statistics Canada shows hate crimes against Muslims have risen over the
past decade.
Last
year, NCCM released a report that listed 61 recommendations that included the
development of a federal anti-Islamophobia strategy to include a clear
definition of Islamophobia as well as funding to help support victims of
hate-motivated crimes.
The
group also called for Canadian provinces to ensure their anti-racism
directorates were well resourced and for municipalities to fund community-based
efforts to tackle Islamophobia.
"While
we have heard many words from politicians condemning Islamophobia and standing
in solidarity with Muslims in Canada, action to tackle Islamophobia has been
slow and piecemeal," the group said.
"We
cannot stand by and see any more lives lost. Islamophobia is lethal and we need
to see action now."
In
response to these calls, the Canadian government opened up applications for an
envoy for combating Islamophobia, a role that would reach out to communities
and advise the prime minister and the government on the best ways to fight hate
against Muslims in Canada.
The
report from Statistics Canada also showed that attacks on Muslims are not the
only types of crimes on the rise. Attacks targeting Jews rose by 47 percent,
and attacks against Catholics increased by 260 percent.
In
total, the number of hate crimes increased from 2,646 in 2020 to 3,360 in 2021,
a rise of 27 percent.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hate-crimes-against-muslims-canada-71-percent
--------
India
After Mufti's Arrest, Madrasa in Assam with 'Links' to Bangladesh Terror Outfit Ansarul Islam Demolished
04th
August 2022
By
Prasanta Mazumdar
GUWAHATI:
The Assam police bust some modules of the al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent
and the Bangladesh-based Ansarullah Bangla Team who were radicalizing the youth
of the state from the shelter of some mosques and madrassas in recent months,
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma disclosed on Thursday.
He
appealed to the people, especially Muslims, to report to the police if they
come across a stranger in their locality serving as the Imam of a mosque or
teacher of a madrassa.
"We
will verify his antecedents. We have to keep a close watch on the Imams and the
madrassa teachers," he said.
Assam
has already closed down 800 government-run madrassas. Sarma said discussions were
on at various levels, including with stakeholders, on the 800 Quomi madrassas
which are among 1,500 private madrassas functional in the state.
"However,
the number of madrassas does not automatically signify the number of 'jihadis'.
Our complaint is only against unknown teachers and Imams. They are using some
madrassas as their shelter. We have to find out those madrassas," Sarma
said.
He
said the government had not found any direct links between the Popular Front of
India (PFI) and the five modules busted by the police in some districts of
central and lower Assam.
"There
is a scientific progression. First, whip up the sentiment that the Muslims have
been victimised by the state. The PFI has created the eco-system of pushing
people to indoctrination," the Assam CM said.
The
five modules busted were involved in radicalising people, Sarma said. The
police had arrested a number of people, including three from Tripura and one
from Bangladesh. Incriminating documents, including “jihadi literature”, were
recovered, he added.
Stating
that Assam has been for some time on the al Qaeda’s radar, he said the police
found the involvement of six Bangladeshi nationals in radicalising the youth of
Assam. One of them, Md Suman, was arrested while the others have gone into hiding.
They all had entered Assam in 2016-17.
Mohammad
Suman, who had entered Assam from West Bengal, married a local in Barpeta and
settled down there. He was found working as the Imam of a mosque, Sarma said.
"We
don’t know exactly how many Bangladeshi nationals entered Assam to indulge in
such activities and how many from Assam went to Bangladesh. It is possible that
there are various other modules active in Assam, which are led by Bangladeshi
nationals but have not yet come under the glare of the police," Sarma
said.
He
said the communication mode of these Islamic fundamentalists was found to be
highly-sophisticated.
"They
installed some apps that we have not heard of. After coming to Assam, they will
install these apps, talk and stop using them. That made it very difficult for
us to track them," Sarma said.
Funds
were sent to them online in small installments of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 so
that nobody suspects them, he said.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
Paleri-Parakkadavu
Mahal Committee U-Turn: Says It Will Not Allow Brides In Mosque In Future
05th
August 2022
By
Pooja Nair
KOZHIKODE: The Paleri-Parakkadavu mahal committee, which
had won praise from various quarters after it broke with tradition and allowed
the bride inside the mosque for her marriage, did a U-turn on Thursday, saying
it will not allow the conduct of such marriages in future. It also said the
bride was allowed inside the mosque by mistake.
The
latest change in the committee’s stance took many, including the groom’s
relatives, by surprise.
In
a notice, the committee said permission had been given for marriage outside the
mosque. “However, one of the office-bearers mistook it as the nod for the bride
to be present inside the mosque. The person concerned has apologised for the
mistake,” said the notice. Sources in the mahal committee also alleged that the
bride’s family violated norms to be followed inside a mosque by taking a series
of photographs.
Groom’s
kin: Committee should rethink decision
They
said the bride’s family was responsible for the developments that took place
after the marriage. “A delegation from the mahal committee will meet the family
and convey its displeasure over violation of the norms,” said a source.
The
committee will also prepare a detailed code of conduct for holding marriages
inside mosques and convey the same to members of the mahal. A general body
meeting will be held on Friday to discuss the issues. Sanoop C H, the uncle of
the groom, said they were surprised by the committee’s latest decision. “We had
been extremely happy to witness the progress in the community.
However,
the latest decision of the mahal committee is surprising as we had taken every
permission before the function. It would be great if the committee rethinks its
decision and starts adopting meaningful changes that bring good to society,” he
said.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
NIA
arrests member of Dawood gang for 'aiding terrorist activities'
Aug
4, 2022
MUMBAI:
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested Salim Qureshi
alias `Salim Fruit', a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, for allegedly aiding
the gang's terrorist activities.
He
was a close aide of fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel, the NIA said in a
release. Qureshi played an active role in extorting huge amounts of money in
Shakeel's name from property dealings and dispute settlements for raising
"terror funds in furtherance of terrorist activities of D company,"
the agency claimed.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
With
eye on 2024 polls, Delhi BJP plans Pasmanda Muslim outreach in capital today
by
Abhinav Rajput | New Delhi
August
5, 2022
After
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to the BJP to reach out to “deprived and
downtrodden sections” in communities other than Hindus at a national executive
conclave in Hyderabad last month, the BJP leadership in Delhi has started an
outreach programme with a focus on Pasmanda (backward) Muslims in the national
capital.
The
BJP will be holding a Pasmanda Muslim Senh Milan Awam Samman Samroh on Friday
at the Ghalib Institute in Central Delhi, during which several Pasmanda leaders
from the party would be present.
Delhi
BJP minority morcha in-charge and national president of the Rashtrawadi Muslim
Pasmanda Mahaz Atif Rasheed, who is holding the programme, said that Pasmanda
Muslims have always remained neglected when it comes to leadership roles and
after the PM’s message, the party is making a start by reaching out to them.
“The
programme will have a detailed discussion on the challenges for the community
and the way ahead. The same model will be followed in other parts of the
country,” said Rasheed, who is also former vice-chairperson of national
commission of minorities.
“They
would also be talking about what has been done till now in states like Uttar
Pradesh that led to a support base building for the party and what more can be
done,” he added.
Danish
Azad Ansari, a Pasmanda Muslim and the sole Muslim minister in the new Uttar
Pradesh government headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, will also be
present.
Among
other leaders who will be present during the meet include MP and national
president of OBC Morcha K Laxman; Ashfaq Saifi, Chairperson of Minorities
Commission, Government of Uttar Pradesh; President Madrasa Education Council,
(UP), Iftikhar Ahmed Javed; and Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta.
Party
insiders said the direction came after the BJP’s victories in the Lok Sabha
bypolls in Azamgarh and Rampur, where Muslims are an important part of the
electorate. The party is also thought to have gained some Pasmanda votes in the
2022 Assembly elections, and Ansari was subsequently inducted into the second
Adityanath government.
Party
insiders said that in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP hopes to get the support
of Pasmanda Muslims as it has noticed a support base in the UP Assembly
elections.
“Prominent
Muslim leaders either in the BJP or other parties, as well as MPs, were mostly
from non-the Pasmanda community. The BJP wants to give them representation in
leadership. In the coming days, one will see their prominence in leadership
positions in the party,” said another BJP leader.
Source:
Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Indefinite
ceasefire will continue amid ongoing peace talks, TTP tells Pak delegation
4
August, 2022
Peshawar,
Aug 4 (PTI) Leaders of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan have assured a
Pakistani delegation that the indefinite ceasefire will remain in force till
the two sides reach an agreement to end the nearly two decades of militancy in
the tribal region, bordering Afghanistan.
The
Pakistan government and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) agreed to extend
the ceasefire, which was to come to an end on the night of May 30, indefinitely
on May 31.
The
TTP assured the Ulema-e-Karam delegation from Pakistan led by noted cleric
Mufti Taqi Usmani that the ceasefire will go on amid ongoing peace talks between
the two sides, sources said.
The
visiting Pakistani delegation held detailed and meaningful talks with the TTP
leadership in Kabul a few days ago under the patronage of the Taliban-led
government in Afghanistan, they said.
There
was a slight breakthrough in matters involving TTP’s concern over the merger of
tribal areas into Pakistan’s settled parts, dissolution of the TTP and its
reorganisation and disarming of the Taliban, they said, adding that the
Pakistan government has constituted different committees to engage the Taliban
leaders in peace talks.
The
TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of
several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of
Islam across Pakistan.
The
group, which is believed to be close to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several
deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in
2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in
Islamabad.
Pakistan
began talks with the TTP in October last year at the request of the Afghan
Taliban to seek a political solution to this festering issue.
Pakistani
authorities are asking for the dissolution of the terrorist organisation,
laying of arms, and respect for the Constitution, whereas the TTP is seeking
withdrawal of security forces from the erstwhile tribal areas, annulment of the
2018 merger of tribal agencies with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the release of its
fighters, and compensation for the damage it suffered.
Pakistan
shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan, which runs through
mountainous terrain and is largely unpatrolled. The Durand Line was drawn by
the British rulers in 1896 and is disputed by Afghanistan, which also resists
Pakistani attempts to erect any border fence.
Pakistan
has been fencing the 2,600-km border with Afghanistan since 2017 to end
terrorist infiltration and smuggling, despite intense opposition from the
neighbouring country.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Imran
Khan calls for protest against Pak Election Commission, slams its chief for
being 'in cahoots' with 'imported govt'
Aug
4, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan's capital Islamabad was tense on Thursday after Imran Khan gave a
protest call against the election commission and its chief for being allegedly
biased against his party, days after the former premier's party received a show
cause notice for receiving prohibited foreign funds.
Khan's
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the Election Commission of Pakistan
(ECP) have been at loggerheads. Khan has been accusing Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja of being biased.
On
Monday, Khan announced his party workers would protest outside the ECP office
in Islamabad on Thursday to press for Raja's resignation. He decided to change
the venue after the police barricaded the roads leading to the place and the
government vowed to stop the protestors.
"Today
I am calling all our people to come out in peaceful public protest against CEC
& ECP in F9 Park at 6pm," he wrote in a Twitter message, adding that
he would address the gathering between 7 pm and 7:30 pm.
"CEC
& ECP in cahoots with Imported govt conspired to try a technical knockout
against PTI after PMLN got routed in Punjab bye elections despite the support
of entire state machinery & ECP shenanigans. Now they are cowering in fear
abt same happening to the entire PDM in General Elections," he wrote.
The
protest call comes days after the ECP in the foreign funding case decided that
Khan's PTI received funding from prohibited sources and was involved in hiding
the money it received from various sources.
Pakistan's
election commission on Tuesday said that Khan's party received funds against
the rules from 34 foreign nationals, including a businesswoman of
Indian-origin, in a major setback to the former prime minister.
A
three-member bench of the ECP issued a show cause notice to Khan's Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf party for receiving prohibited funding from foreign nationals
and foreign-based companies.
The
Pakistan government has said it will stop the protesters.
Interior
Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday that the government will not grant PTI
supporters permission to enter the Red Zone and protest outside the ECP.
He
said strict action would be taken in case of any misadventure from the PTI, but
stated that staging a peaceful protest was everyone's right.
Police,
in anticipation of disturbance by protesters, sealed the Red Zone and placed
containers at the entry points of Islamabad.
Personnel
of law enforcement agencies including anti-riot force, paramilitary Rangers,
Frontier Corps and police have been deployed around the Red Zone.
After
barricading the main roads, the police proposed that the PTI should hold a
protest in F-9 Park or H-9 ground.
The
ECP's verdict came after The Financial Times newspaper recently published a
story titled 'The strange case of the cricket match that helped fund Khan's
political rise'.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
PTI
withdraws case against CEC ‘to add more evidence’
Malik
Asad
August
5, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) withdrew a reference against Chief Election
Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Thursday, a day after filing it with the
Supreme Judicial Council, to add more evidence and highlight further legal
aspects.
PTI
leader Fawad Chaudhry told journalists in Islamabad the reference would be
filed again after adding more evidence against the CEC, including amendments to
the initial verdict and subsequent addition.
Moved
through Babar Awan, the reference pleaded with the SJC to order the removal of
the CEC on account of the “commission of continuous and deliberate misconduct”.
The
reference alleged that on July 29, a delegation of the Pakistan Democratic
Movement (PDM) met the CEC and four other members of the Election Commission of
Pakistan (ECP) in his office to “pressure” him into announcing the verdict on
the PTI prohibited funding case.
Fawad
Chaudhry says reference to be filed again after considering additional aspects,
including amendments to initial verdict
It
was a consequence of that meeting that the ECP decided to deliver the verdict
on Aug 2, the reference alleged, adding that by doing so the CEC had allegedly
violated his oath.
The
reference contended that the ECP’s decision was illegal, unlawful and coram non
judice, i.e. before a court that lacks the authority to hear and decide the
case.
It
said the PTI would challenge the order in court and the CEC had violated the
ECP’s code of conduct and failed to fulfil his constitutional obligations.
The
code of conduct for judges of the superior judiciary applied to the chief
election commissioner as well, the PTI said, adding that a high court judge
never discussed pending cases with any person or institution.
“The
CEC must be removed from one of the most respectable and sacred constitutional
posts,” the reference said.
CEC
Sultan Raja had dismissed many PTI applications in the prohibited funding case,
including a request to conduct a joint hearing in funding cases of PTI and
other parties, the reference said.
It
said the Islamabad High Court had provided relief to the PTI, asking the ECP to
extend equal treatment to all political parties and to hear their cases with
due diligence and conclude these within a reasonable time.
Instead,
the ECP announced a verdict in the PTI case only and kept the cases of other
parties in abeyance, the reference said and described it as “absolute
discrimination”.
It
was a routine matter that judges of the Supreme Court meet members of the
Pakistan Bar Council, the Supreme Court Bar Association and other lawyer
forums, but it had been observed recently that the apex court refused to meet a
delegation of the Supreme Court Bar Association during hearing of the suo motu
petition under article 184(3) of the Constitution in the “Parvez Elahi versus
Deputy Speaker, Punjab Assembly” case since it was one of the parties in the
proceedings, it said.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1703332/pti-withdraws-case-against-cec-to-add-more-evidence
--------
Notices
to NA speaker, ECP over PTI resignations
Malik
Asad | Imran Gabol
August
5, 2022
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE:
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued notices to the National Assembly speaker,
its secretary and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday on a
petition filed by the PTI against “piecemeal” acceptance of its lawmakers’
resignations.
The
PTI has argued that the resignations of all its 123 MNAs had been accepted
months ago and the present National Assembly speaker had no “lawful authority
or jurisdiction” to verify the resignations as former deputy speaker Qasim Suri
had already approved them.
All
PTI lawmakers, except dissidents, resigned en masse on April 11, two days after
former prime minister Imran Khan was ousted from the top office after losing a
confidence motion in parliament.
Later
that month, Mr Ashraf decided to verify the resignations of the 123 PTI
lawmakers by calling them individually or in small groups, but they couldn’t
show up after party chief Imran Khan barred them from appearing before the
speaker.
On
July 27, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted the
resignations of only 11 PTI lawmakers, including Dr Shireen Mazari, Ali
Muhammad Khan and Farrukh Habib.
During
the hearing on Thursday, PTI’s counsel Faisal Chaudhry submitted the copy of Mr
Suri’s approval of resignations to the IHC acting chief justice.
The
court issued notices to the National Assembly speaker, its secretary and the
ECP, and set the next hearing for Aug 16.
The
PTI petition said 123 MNAs gave their resignations on April 11 after the PTI’s
parliamentary party meeting presided over by Mr Khan in a committee room at
Parliament House. However, the present speaker withheld these resignations and
did not forward them to the ECP on the pretext of “so-called verification”, it
said.
“Now
after the lapse of around three and a half months, the National Assembly
speaker has approved resignation of only 11 MNAs of the PTI” and forwarded them
to the election commission, which had de-notified the lawmakers, it said.
The
party requested the court to direct the speaker to accept all resignations at
once. Similarly, ECP should also be directed to denotify all PTI lawmakers en
masse.
Raja
Riaz’s removal
Also
on Thursday, the Lahore High Court directed the NA speaker to take a decision
within 30 days on an application requesting the removal of Leader of the
Opposition Raja Riaz.
Justice
Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir, while taking up the case, wondered how the system would
function if members of the assembly sat outside parliament and how one could
oppose while sitting outside parliament.
He
observed that parliament would have to conduct the election for the post
opposition leader while completing the procedure in accordance with the law,
but there was no other candidate in running, except Raja Riaz.
When
the judge asked what the Constitution said when there was only one candidate
before the NA speaker, the additional attorney general replied that the speaker
fixed a day for the nomination of the NA opposition leader immediately after
the contest for the premier and that the speaker nominated Raja Riaz through
all due processes.
The
court remarked that the petitioner was not a member of parliament and asked
whether an ordinary citizen could file a complaint or not.
During
the proceedings, petitioner Munir Ahmed’s counsel Advocate Azhar Siddique
informed the court that an application had been submitted earlier to speaker
for removal of the opposition leader, but no action was taken. Raja Riaz was
holding this position without the consent of his party (i.e. PTI), he argued.
He
claimed that the nomination of Raja Riaz as opposition leader was in “sheer
violation” of rules 39, 43 and others of the ‘Rules of Procedure and Conduct of
Business in the National Assembly, 2007 (“the Rules”)’.
Advocate
Azhar argued that all resignations recently presented in the National Assembly
were not accepted and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had not
de-notified them.
Referring
to a case, he said the IHC chief justice had held: “It is an admitted position
that Dr Shireen Mazari continues to enjoy the status of a member of the
Majlis-i-Shoora (parliament). She has not been de-notified by the Election
Commission of Pakistan nor has the worthy Speaker of the National Assembly
accepted her resignation in accordance with the principles and law highlighted
by a division bench of that court.”
The
counsel contended that the order clearly stated that the resignations had not
been accepted by the NA speaker nor had the ECP de-notified the said members.
“If
the said practice was not completed in accordance with procedure, then how is
the respondent, Raja Riaz, appointed as the opposition leader?” he asked.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1703338/notices-to-na-speaker-ecp-over-pti-resignations
--------
Imran
Khan rejects Pakistani poll body's verdict in prohibited funding case
AUGUST
05, 2022
Former
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan slammed Pakistani poll body's chief for
being ’in cahoots’ with ‘imported govt’
Former
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday rejected the election
commission's verdict in the prohibited funding case against his party, accusing
the poll body's chief of conspiring "in cahoots" with the
"imported government" to try a "technical knockout" of the
party.
His
remarks came days after the former premier’s party received a show cause notice
for receiving prohibited foreign funds.
Mr.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the Election Commission of
Pakistan (ECP) have been at loggerheads. Mr. Khan has been accusing Chief
Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja of being biased.
Mr.
Khan addressed his supporters through a video link and rejected the decision of
the election commission, saying that it was not illegal when his party received
the money in 2012.
The
cricketer-turned-politician said that the law which prohibited taking funds
from foreign companies was introduced in 2017” and hastened to add: “But our
case is from 2012.”
He
said that his party had received the money in 2012 from two fundraising dinners
that Arif Naqvi had organised.
Referring
to The Financial Times’ report, Mr. Khan clarified that the businessman was
charged with fraud six years later in 2018 and questioned how he could have
known about that in 2012.
He
also labelled rivals Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N and Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP) as mafias.
“Across
the world, political parties raise money by hosting dinners,” he said,
explaining that the donations during those events were later given to the
party.
Earlier
in the day, Mr. Khan announced his party workers would protest outside the ECP
office in Islamabad to press for Mr. Raja's resignation. He decided to change
the venue after the police barricaded the roads leading to the place and the
government vowed to stop the protestors.
"Today
I am calling all our people to come out in peaceful public protest against CEC
& ECP in F9 Park at 6 p.m.," he wrote in a Twitter message.
“CEC
& ECP in cahoots with Imported govt conspired to try a technical knockout
against PTI after PMLN got routed in Punjab bye-elections despite the support
of entire state machinery & ECP shenanigans. Now they are cowering in fear
abt same happening to the entire PDM in General Elections,” he wrote.
The
protest call comes days after the ECP in the foreign funding case decided that
Mr. Khan’s PTI received funding from prohibited sources and was involved in
hiding the money it received from various sources.
Pakistan's
election commission on Tuesday said that Mr. Khan's party received funds
against the rules from 34 foreign nationals, including a businesswoman of
Indian-origin, in a major setback to the former prime minister.
A
three-member bench of the ECP issued a show cause notice to Mr. Khan's Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf party for receiving prohibited funding from foreign nationals
and foreign-based companies.
After
the protest call, scores of PTI supporters gathered at Islamabad’s F-9 park in
the evening to protest against the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
They
raised slogans against the electoral body and demanded the resignation of its
official.
Separately,
PTI lawmakers reached outside the ECP office in Islamabad and registered their
protest.
They
chanted “imported hukoomat namanzoor” (we reject imported government) while
marching. They carried placards inscribed with demands for CEC Raja’s
resignation, while some banners read “biased chief election commissioner
unacceptable” and “ECP abettors of PML-N, PPP”.
They
also submitted a memorandum against Raja for playing an “unconstitutional,
undemocratic and biased” role as the CEC.
Separately,
PTI lawmakers also gathered outside ECP offices in Karachi and Lahore. The
Pakistan government has said it will stop the protesters.
Interior
Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday that the government will not grant
PTI supporters permission to enter the Red Zone and protest outside the ECP.
He
said strict action would be taken in case of any misadventure from the PTI, but
stated that staging a peaceful protest was everyone’s right.
Police,
in anticipation of disturbance by protesters, sealed the Red Zone and placed
containers at the entry points of Islamabad.
Personnel
of law enforcement agencies including anti-riot force, paramilitary Rangers,
Frontier Corps and police have been deployed around the Red Zone.
After
barricading the main roads, the police proposed that the PTI should hold a
protest in F-9 Park or H-9 ground.
The
ECP's verdict came after The Financial Times newspaper recently published a
story titled ‘The strange case of the cricket match that helped fund Mr. Khan’s
political rise’.
Source:
The Hindu
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Nawaz
tasks Maryam with countering Imran’s narrative
August
04, 2022
LAHORE:
Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif has entrusted his
daughter Maryam Nawaz with an important responsibility against Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, following which the party vice
president has assumed an active role.
Sources
informed The Express Tribune that Maryam represented Nawaz in the meeting held
at the Prime Minister’s House during the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)
summit.
The
PML-N VP directed party leaders to highlight the issue of prohibited funding as
much as possible, sources said, adding that they have been holding continuous
press conferences in this regard.
They
also said that the campaign will be supervised by Maryam herself and all the
party leaders will highlight the verdict in the prohibited funding case
regularly.
Sources
said that the party will target Imran over corruption and inflation in press
conferences.
Meanwhile,
sources also said that the party will hold workers’ conventions across the
country to mobilize its supporters, and Maryam herself will address these
meetings, the schedule of which will be prepared by the party.
Source:
Tribune Pakistan
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2369458/nawaz-tasks-maryam-with-countering-imrans-narrative
--------
South Asia
Bangladesh
police detain ‘tuneless’ social media star to stop him from singing Tagore,
Nazrul
Aug
5, 2022
DHAKA:
An out-of-tune Bangladeshi singer with a huge internet following was hauled in
by police at dawn and told to cease his painful renditions of classical songs,
sparking a furore on social media.
"Hero"
Alom, as he styles himself, has amassed nearly two million Facebook followers
and almost 1.5 million on YouTube with his unique crooning style and arresting,
raunchy videos.
One
of his numbers, "Arabian Song", in which he appears in traditional
Arab clothing on a sand dune with camels superimposed in the background, has
garnered 17 million views.
But
he has also drawn critics' scorn, particularly for versions of classic songs of
two beloved national treasures -- Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and
Bangladesh's national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.
On
Wednesday Alom told AFP that he was "mentally tortured" last week by
police who told him to stop performing classical songs, that he was too ugly to
be a singer, and to sign an "apology" bond.
"The
police picked me up at 6 am and kept me there for eight hours. They asked me
why I sing Rabindra and Nazrul songs," he said.
Dhaka's
chief detective Harun ur Rashid told reporters that Alom had apologised for
singing the cherished songs and for wearing police uniforms without permission
in his videos.
"We
received many complaints against him," Harun said.
"(He)
totally changed the (traditional) style (of singing)... He assured us that he
won't repeat this," Harun added.
Farook
Hossain, deputy police commissioner of Dhaka, rejected claims by Alom, 37, that
he had also been pressed to change his name.
"He
is making these comments just to go viral in social media," he told AFP.
Following
his ordeal, Alam released a new video depicting himself behind bars in a prison
outfit, warbling mournfully that he is about to be hanged.
Alom's
treatment triggered outrage on social media, with commentators and activists
calling it an attack on individual rights -- even if his singing grates.
"I
am not a fan of your songs or your acting. But if there is an attempt to muzzle
your voice, I stand up against it," journalist Aditya Arafat posted.
"Don't
be broken. You are a hero. No matter what others say, you are a real
hero," Sanjida Khatun Rakhi wrote on Alom's Facebook page.
Alom
says he has acted in several films and also participated in Bangladesh's
parliamentary election in 2018 as an independent candidate -- garnering 638 votes.
He
told AFP at his Dhaka studio that he started using the moniker "Hero"
after becoming popular in his home district of Bogra, 150 kilometres (95 miles)
north of Dhaka.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Parwan Governor, citing supreme leader, says previous constitution invalid
August
5, 2022
Obaidullah
Aminzada, the governor of Parwan province, said during a gathering in the
province’s center Charikar that the leader of the Islamic Emirate has abolished
the previous constitution and put a strong emphasis on implementing Sharia law.
“Sheikh
Sahib wondered why the judges decide on this constitution or what the Attorney
General decided based on the previous constitution. He said that the previous
administration’s constitution had been completely abolished and was defunct. If
there is, there is no government. Ashraf Ghani and Hamid Karzai are no longer
in office, and their constitution is likewise no longer in effect,” he stated.
Speaking
to the gathering, Aminzada added that Mawlawi Hebatullah Akhundzada, the leader
of the Islamic Emirate, had stated in a recent meeting with the governors of
the provinces that comparing the republic administration with an Islamic system
is tantamount to saying that pork meat is halal.
He
added that the constitution of Zahir Shah’s time will not be implemented.
“Sheikh
Sahib said that it is incorrect to implement Zahir Shah’s constitution and that
there is no difference between the constitutions of the republican
administration and Zahir Shah’s period. We just want the Sharia system; neither
Ashraf Ghani’s constitution nor Zahir Shah’s are acceptable,” he said.
“Supporting
this Islamic system is essential and important for us. We appreciate the
efforts of the leader of the Islamic Emirate,” said the Parwan Police Commander
Azizullah.
Meanwhile,
some officials of Parwan province called for the implementation of the orders
of the leader of the Islamic Emirate.
“We
must not lose our values, we must be loyal to the homeland, we must be
committed to Islam, and we must be faithful to the Islamic system, and we must
not allow anybody to create a gap among us,” said Mohammad Idris Anwari, a
participant and deputy of the governor of the province of Parwan.
Meanwhile,
Mawlawi Hebatullah Akhundzada, the Islamic Emirate’s supreme leader, met with
some of Kabul’s religious clerics in Kandahar to discuss education and women’s
rights in the context of Islamic law.
Returning
to Kabul, some religious scholars stated that the leader of the Islamic Emirate
had given them orders on a number of crucial matters, including respecting
women’s rights within the framework of Sharia, updating the curriculum of
schools and madrassas (religious schools), and addressing the problems of Kabul
residents.
“The
Islamic Emirate’s supreme leader gave a number of instructions to the meeting’s
attendees, all of whom were from Kabul. One of the instructions is that all
women’s rights that are given by Islam should be respected, not the rights that
the Westerners say,” said Abdul Hamed Hamasi, a member of the Islamic Emirate.
“The
supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate has asked them (religious clerics) to
convey the wishes of the people of Kabul to him, as well as his words to the
people,” a meeting participant stated.
Religious
clerics asked the international community to award the Nobel Prize to the
leader of the Islamic Emirate for putting an end to the 40-year war in
Afghanistan.
“We
ask the international community to award Mawlawi Hebatullah the Nobel Prize
because he put an end to decades of war during which up to three hundred people
from the country were killed every day, and he prevented that,” said Abdul
Hamed Hamasi, a member of the Islamic Emirate.
Neda
Mohammad Nadim, the governor of Kabul province, said that the leader ordered
him to address Kabul’s residents legal problems.
Source:
Pak Observer
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://pakobserver.net/parwan-governor-citing-supreme-leader-says-previous-constitution-invalid/
--------
Taliban
warns US to not repeat drone strike that killed al-Qaida chief Zawahiri
Aug
4, 2022
ISLAMABAD/KABUL:
The Taliban on Thursday said the government had no information about al-Qaida
leader Ayman al-Zawahiri "entering and living" in capital city Kabul and
warned the United States to never repeat an attack on Afghan soil.
The
United States killed Zawahiri with a missile fired from a drone while he stood
on a balcony at his Kabul hideout on Sunday, US officials said, in the biggest
blow to the militants since US Navy SEALS shot dead Osama bin Laden more than a
decade ago.
"The
government and the leadership wasn't aware of what is being claimed, nor any
trace there," Suhail Shaheen, the designated Taliban representative to the
United Nations, who is based in Doha, said in a statement.
"Investigation
is underway now to find out about the veracity of the claim," he said,
adding that the results of the investigation would be shared publicly.
Taliban
leaders have remained largely tight-lipped about the Sunday drone strike and
have not confirmed the presence or death of Zawahiri in Kabul.
Referring
to the drone strike, the Taliban said "if such incidents are repeated
again and if the territory of Afghanistan is violated then responsibility for
any consequences will be on United States."
Top
Taliban leaders have been holding lengthy discussions about how to respond to
the US drone strike, three sources in the group said.
How
the Taliban react could have significant repercussions as the group seeks
international legitimacy and access to billions of dollars in frozen funds,
following their defeat of a US-backed government a year ago.
Zawahiri,
an Egyptian doctor, was closely involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the
United States and was one of the world's most wanted men.
His
death in Kabul raises questions about whether he received sanctuary from the
Taliban, who had assured the United States as part of a 2020 agreement on the
withdrawal of US-led forces that they would not harbour other militant groups.
Shaheen
said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - the name the Taliban use for the
country and their government - was committed to the agreement, signed in the
Qatari capital, Doha.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Taliban
Arrests Group of 4 for Burning a Man Alive in Western Afghanistan
By
Saqalain Eqbal
04
Aug 2022
Four
people have reportedly been placed under arrest by Taliban forces in Herat
province in western Afghanistan on charges of burning a man alive, according to
local Taliban officials.
In
a newsletter released by the Taliban government’s Herat Police Office today,
Thursday, August 4, it was said that these individuals were arrested in the
district of Guzara in this province.
The
Herat law enforcement says that one of Herat’s natives was burnt to death by
these four individuals in Herat, who are now in police custody.
According
to Taliban local officials, the offenders who were apprehended have admitted
their guilt, and confessed to the respective authorities.
Although
the reason for the crime committed by these four people has not yet been
ascertained, Taliban officials said an investigation into the case was still
ongoing.
Under
the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, reports of domestic violence, honor killings,
personal enmity, family blood feuds, and suicides have significantly increased
recently.
Four
masked intruders brutally murdered a young veterinarian on Tuesday in the
central Afghan district of Ghor.
According
to the veterinarian’s close family, four unidentified people killed him with a
blade when he went to his land to irrigate his fields at night.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
As
US-China Tensions Flare, Taliban Says Countries Should Refrain from
‘Provocative’ Decisions
By
Saqalain Eqbal
04
Aug 2022
In
reaction to tensions between the US and China over Taiwan, the Taliban’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declared that it urges all countries to desist
from acts of violation of the national sovereignty of states and not to lay the
grounds for provocative actions.
Abdul
Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban’s spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
tweeted on Wednesday that relations between China and the US affect the
region’s security, prosperity, and stability.
According
to the Taliban official, the Taliban emphasizes the one-China policy and
aspires to see US-China issues resolved through appropriate measures,
Balkhi
implied measures that could allow the joint effort of both countries for
regional and international peace, development and stability.
This
comes as Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of the Representatives
touched down in Taiwan, flaring the US-China tensions.
Pelosi’s
visit prompted a series of government and political institutions to issue
statements condemning the visit and warned of its “severe impact” on US-China
relations.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
New
evidence exposes Myanmar's military's brutal purge of the Rohingya Muslims
04
August 2022
War
crimes investigators have obtained thousands of documents that shed new light
on the Myanmar military's planning around the forcible expulsion of the
Southeast Asian country's Muslim minority from their homeland of Rakhine state.
The
records are part of a cache of documents, collected by war crimes investigators
that reveal planning around the purges of the Rohingya population.
For
the past four years, the investigators have been working secretly to compile
evidence they hope can be used to secure convictions of Myanmar’s military
officials at the international criminal court (ICC). The group that collected
the documents is already handing its material to prosecutors in The Hague.
Beginning
work in 2018, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability
(CIJA), a nonprofit organization staffed by international criminal lawyers who
have worked in Bosnia, Rwanda and Cambodia, amassed some 25,000 pages of
official documents, many related to the expulsion of the Rohingya.
The
cache illustrates the obsession authorities had with reducing the Rohingya
population they viewed as an existential threat.
“Everything
in it points to this intention to engage in this kind of mass removal process,”
said Stephen Rapp, an expert on war crimes issues who now sits on the CIJA
board.
In
a private meeting with officials in Rakhine, which was held around the time of
the 2017 expulsion, the then-army chief and current junta leader, Min Aung
Hlaing, told the Buddhist population to remain in place, and pointed to a
demographic imbalance between Rohingya and the rest of the Rakhine population,
the documents show.
Senior
Myanmar military commanders later discussed ways to insert spies into Rohingya
villages to demolish Muslim homes and mosques, as they laid plans for what they
clinically referred to as “area clearance.”
The
discussions are captured in official records.
At
one meeting, commanders repeatedly used a racial slur for the Rohingya
suggesting they are foreign interlopers.
The
commanders agreed to carefully coordinate communications so the army could move
“instantly during the crucial time.”
By
mid-August 2017, hundreds of troops had been flown into northern Rakhine.
Weeks
later, the Myanmar military began a brutal crackdown that sent about 800,000 of
Rohingya fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh.
Myanmar’s
civilian leader at the time, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi dismissed
much of the criticism of the military. But official records from the period
ahead of and during the expulsion of the Rohingya paint a different picture.
The
documents show how the military systematically demonized the Muslim minority,
created militias that would ultimately take part in operations against the
Rohingya, and coordinated their actions with ultranationalist Buddhist monks.
The
August 2017 pogrom was carried out with a ferocity that stunned the world.
Refugees described massacres, gang rapes and children thrown into raging fires.
In
the early hours of August 25, more than two dozen police posts were attacked by
Rohingya men across the north of Rakhine state, killing 12 members of the
security forces, authorities said.
The
men were largely untrained and carrying mostly sticks, knives and homemade
bombs, according to the UN.
Some
members of the security forces said they were surprised by the army’s
disproportionate response to what they said were poorly organized attacks
compared with insurgencies conducted by well-equipped militias in other parts
of the country.
The
next morning, the burning of Rohingya villages began. The log describes “arson
attacks” in the Rakhine township of Maungdaw, with lists of houses, shops,
mosques and schools destroyed. Hundreds of houses are recorded as burned after
“a fire broke out.”
The
arson continued for weeks. More than 7,000 structures are recorded in the log
as having been burned to the ground between August 25 and mid-September.
Moe
Yan Naing, a police captain who was stationed in Rakhine, said his superiors
ordered him and his colleagues to burn villages. There were many dead bodies in
the villages.
“The
troops shot into the village before entering,” he said, referring to the
village of Inn Din, where media outlets uncovered a massacre of civilians.
“They shot and killed whoever they found in the village.”
More
than 390 villages were either partly or completely destroyed, largely by fire.
This amounted to 40% of all villages in northern Rakhine state.
Doctors
Without Borders (MSF) estimated at least 10,000 people died. Hundreds of
Rohingya villages were burned to the ground.
Early
last year, the military toppled the government under Suu Kyi, who has been
detained since her overthrow. The coup has altered views in Myanmar and opened
an unexpected window on the 2017 atrocities.
While
the Myanmar military faces grave allegations under international law, there is
no easy road to convictions.
Myanmar
hasn’t signed the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court
(ICC), which has the power to try individual perpetrators for international
crimes.
But
other paths to trial exist. The ICC set a legal precedent in 2019 by allowing
its chief prosecutor to begin investigating crimes against the Rohingya population,
including deportation, because they fled to Bangladesh, which is a party to the
court.
In
2019, majority-Muslim Gambia brought a case against Myanmar for genocide at the
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), on behalf of the 57 member states of
the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. In July, the court cleared the case to
proceed, rejecting objections filed by Myanmar.
Source:
Press TV
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/08/04/686786/Myanmar-Rohingya-CIJA-ICC-ICJ-Bangladesh--
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Fighting
in Karta-e-Sakhi Between Islamic Emirate Forces and Daesh
AUGUST
05, 2022
At
least four members of the Daesh group were killed and one person was detained
in operations conducted earlier this week by the Islamic Emirate forces in
Karta-e- Sakhi area of Kabul city, Kabul security department said.
The
clashes between the Islamic Emirate forces and Daesh members lasted for many
hours.
“Those
who were trying to target civilians, four of them were killed and one of them
was detained. In this operation, one member of the Islamic Emirate force was
killed and another one was wounded. Also, a policewoman was killed,” said
Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul security department.
Islamic
Emirate spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on Twitter that four Daesh members
were killed and one was arrested in an operation by Islamic Emirate forces in
the Karta-e- Sakhi area of Kabul.
Mujahid
said the Daesh members were intending to attack Shia citizens gathering in the
Kart-e-Sakhi Ziarat during the days of Mahram. Zabiullah Mujahid also tweeted that Daesh was going to attack
during the Muharram ceremony.
“Daesh
had a plan to attack Shia citizens that gather in Karta-e-Sakhi on the Muharram
days,” he said.
The
residents said that the clashes continued many hours with the two sides using
heavy and light weapons.
“It
was around noon that the gunfire was heard, and it happened in this house. The
sound of the blast was also heard,” said Sayeed Rafi, residents of Kabul.
Source:
Tolo News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-179255
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Arab World
Lebanon
is the world’s angriest country, followed by Turkey, Armenia: Data
04
August, 2022
Lebanon,
Turkey, and Armenia are among the angriest countries in the world, according to
the latest data collected by US company Gallup from end of 2021 though mid
2022.
With
people having to deal with the endemic corruption and an economic meltdown
brought on by the ruling elite, the devastating Beirut Port blast in 2020, and
the COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon has been rated the angriest country in the
world.
After
analyzing emotions (including anger) in over 100 countries, Gallup’s Global
Emotions Report found that 49 percent of people who were surveyed in Lebanon
experienced anger regularly, including on the day before they took part in the
survey.
Turkey
was ranked second (48 percent), where high levels of anger were also measured
due to high inflation which also worsened after the war in Ukraine, which began
earlier this year on February 24.
Armenia
came in third place with an anger rate of 46 percent due to its political
tensions with neighboring Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno Karabakh
territory.
Iraq
(46 percent) and Afghanistan (41 percent) came in fourth and fifth in the anger
index due to socio-economic issues brought on by years of war.
Jordan
was ranked the sixth angriest country, with a registered anger rate of 35
percent.
The
only two countries outside the Middle East and Far East to make it on the list,
Mali and Sierra Leone both had anger rates of 35 percent, coming in seventh and
eighth angriest.
On
a separate list measuring the level of sadness, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and
Turkey ranked in the top three saddest countries, followed by Guinea and India
respectively.
Afghanistan,
Lebanon, and Turkey also experienced the most stress, followed by Ecuador and
Jordan.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Christian,
Jewish and Yazidi cemeteries desecrated by teens and extremists
Aug
05, 2022
ISTANBUL:
In Turkey, the dead too are victims of abuse and violence, as evinced by the
growing number of attacks against non-Muslim burial sites, most notably
Christian, Jewish and Yazidi cemeteries.From Mardin to Van, Christians have
decried vandalism against their graves, tombstones and the macabre disturbing
of bones.But the latest incident involves the Jewish community, further proof
of a growing climate of hatred and intolerance towards non-Muslims.The Chief
Rabbinate Foundation of Turkey recently reported that the Jewish cemetery in
Haskoy, an Istanbul suburb, was targeted on 15 July by extremists.The vandals
desecrated 81 graves, some excavated and opened, strewing the area with bones
and broken stones. Those responsible for the attack were under 18, acting on
orders of a gang of adults.So far police questioned some minors, but few
believe that the investigations will shed any light on what happened or bring
justice.“The fact that the attack on the Jewish cemetery was carried out by
children aged between 11 and 13 does not alleviate the situation; it aggravates
it. Who and what mentality have filled those children with hatred towards
Jews?” tweeted, Garo Paylan, an Armenian lawmaker with the opposition People’s
Party (HDP).Christian graves too have been disturbed. “In the past two months,
the graves of Syriac and Jewish communities in Turkey have been attacked and
destroyed,” said David Vergili, a prominent Syriac-Assyrian journalist,
speaking to the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), a newswire service.“The graves and
holy places of the Armenian community have also experienced similar attacks
before,” he added. This kind of action has “racist, religious motives and
mostly target groups that are not part of the Turkish-Islamic ideology.”For
many observers, what happened in mid-July at the Jewish cemetery is part of a
broader pattern of persecution and violence against minorities, including
Christians.On 29 June, the feast of Peter and Paul, person or persons unknown
opened a number of graves, some more than a thousand years old, scattering the
bones, at an Assyrian cemetery in Yemi?li, a village in Midyat district, in the
south-eastern province of Mardin, already known for past episodes of
intolerance.In the past, Yazidi burial sites have also been attacked. Yazidis
bury their dead turned to the sun, i.e., eastward. In some cases, graves were
opened, bodies taken out, and turned to point towards Makkah, following Islamic
practice.Mainstream Muslims view the Yazidis as a heretical sect who must be
punished and reconverted to Islam, which is what happened in Iraq under Islamic
State rule.A government source spoke to AsiaNews about these incidents,
expressing hope for a quick investigation and arrest of those responsible;
however, no progress has been reported so far and the culprits are still at
large.The desecration of Christian and Jewish cemeteries is symptomatic of
certain loathing, if not outright hatred in Turkish society towards non-Muslim
and anyone who does not embrace the ideology of nationalism and Islam favoured
by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Source:
Herald Malaysia
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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‘God
condemns officials’ who avoid accountability over port blast: Lebanon Patriarch
04
August, 2022
Lebanon’s
top Christian cleric on Thursday denounced his country’s government for failing
to bring to justice those responsible for the Beirut port blast, marking the
huge explosion’s second anniversary with demands for accountability.
Bechara
Boutros al-Rai, in a mass commemorating its victims, said that “God condemns
those officials” who were stalling investigations that the government “has no
right” to block.
The
blast at the port, which killed at least 220 people and was recorded as one of
the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, was caused by massive stores of
ammonium nitrate kept at the site since 2013.
Two
years on, no senior official has been held to account.
A
domestic probe into the exact causes of the explosion - and who was responsible
for or negligent regarding the ammonium nitrate’s presence - has been stalled
for more than six months.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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UAE
foreign ministry issues statement on importance of respecting ‘One China’
policy
04
August, 2022
The
UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed its respect for Beijing’s ‘One
China’ principle, in a statement released following US House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan.
The
UAE, in the statement, “indicated its concern over the impact of any
provocative visits on stability and international peace,” likely aimed at
Pelosi’s Taiwan visit that angered China.
The
statement, issued on Thursday by the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation, said the country “affirmed its support for China’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The
top US diplomat for the Middle East warned Thursday against China’s growing
influence in the Middle East, saying that it “requires our attention.”
“We
must be careful to discern signal from noise within this growing volume of
economic activity, but we must also remain attuned to trends that may more
directly impinge upon US interests,” Assistant Secretary of State for Near
Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf told US lawmakers.
Pelosi
defied China’s threats and flew to Taiwan on Tuesday, making her the
highest-ranking elected US official to do so since 1997.
China
repeatedly threatened that it would not stand “idly by” if Pelosi made the
trip, going so far as threatening military action.
China
sent 22 fighter jets across the “median line” running down the Taiwan Strait on
Thursday, Taipei’s defense ministry said in its latest briefing on large-scale
military drills conducted by Beijing’s forces.
The
Ministry of National Defense said “air defense missile systems” were deployed
to track the jets and radio warnings were broadcast, according to an update on
its website.
The
median line is an unofficial but largely adhered to border that runs down the
middle of the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and China.
It
is rare for military jets to cross it.
China’s
military maneuvers makes this event some of its largest-ever exercises
encircling Taiwan, in a show of force straddling vital international shipping
lanes after a visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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2
years later, Lebanese victim of Beirut blast still in coma
Stephanie
Rady
04.08.2022
BEIRUT
Lara
Hayek has been in a coma for two years since the massive explosion at the
Beirut Port in her home country, Lebanon.
On
Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut was rocked by a massive explosion that changed the course
of events and upended the lives of many people in the country.
More
than 200 Lebanese lost their lives and 6,500 of them were injured, while some
50,000 housing units suffered damage, with material losses estimated at about
$15 billion.
Authorities
believe the explosion was caused by about 2,750 tons of highly explosive ammonium
nitrate which had been confiscated from a ship and had been stored at the port
for six years.
The
explosion took a toll on many victims, including Lara, 43, who has been in a
coma since that fateful day.
2
years in hospitals
Lara's
mother Najwa Hayek told Anadolu Agency: "At the moment of the explosion,
Lara was alone in the house, and she was seriously injured in the head and
eyes. After the explosion, I went straight home from my work to find Lara
covered in blood to begin a tormenting journey to find a vacant hospital in the
middle of great destruction."
"After
I found a hospital in Beirut, the nurses and doctors didn’t rush to help Lara
immediately, but took care of the most severe cases instead. After her body had
completely cooled down, I started screaming and begging for them to come to
help her," she said.
The
mother said Lara "fell into a coma after her heart stopped for a while and
then she stayed in the American University Hospital in Beirut for three months
before she was transferred to the Bhanes Hospital.”
Mother-daughter
bond
It’s
not easy for a mother to see her only daughter in this condition. She said that
her husband died in 2019 and her son now lives outside the capital.
"I
consider Lara my friend, not just my daughter, and we used to live for each
other but after the explosion, I lost my reason for living," she
explained.
She
continued sadly: "Today I feel like a robot, I wake up and go to work,
then I go home alone, but I avoid my daughter's room."
She
said she feels great pain when she sees her daughter with a beating heart but
lifeless body, without any words or movement.
Lara
suffers from brain damage and it is not known when she might regain
consciousness and recover, according to the mother.
The
mother said she "hasn’t lost hope, even though all the doctors have."
"I
have great faith that Lara will return to me, and I’m waiting for her to wake
up, whatever her condition,” Hayek said.
No
help from government
On
the cost of hospitalization for the last two years, Hayek said a foundation of
Lebanese men living in Kuwait took care of the treatment for a time, after
which a local association took over.
“All
the aid was from philanthropists, amid a complete absence of the government,
which didn’ ask about us for a single day," she explained.
Saying
the explosion has never been fully explained, Hayek said: "The truth is
known, but the government doesn’t want to announce it, and it’s not in its
interest to do so.”
Months
ago, the investigations into the port blast stopped and since the end of last
year, the judicial investigator in the case, Judge Tarek Bitar, has been unable
to look into it any further.
Worse
than war
Hayek
said the day of the Beirut port explosion and its carnage rivaled the 15-year
civil war in Lebanon.
"We’ve
lived through wars and occupation but we’ve never lived a day like the
explosion of the port before," she said.
The
civil war erupted in Lebanon from Beirut before spreading to other regions of
the country from 1975 to 1990.
The
number of its victims was estimated at 150,000 dead, 300,000 wounded and
disabled, and 17,000 missing, as well as the emigration of more than one
million people and material losses exceeding $100 billion.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Iraq's
Hashd al-Shaabi rejects calls for dissolving parliament
Yassine
Aydi
04.08.2022
BAGHDAD
Iraq's
Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi on Thursday rejected the call of Iraqi Shia cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr to dissolve parliament and hold early elections.
Falih
al-Fayyad, in a statement to Al-Jazeera, said "the proposal of Al-Sadr to
resolve the crisis can be discussed to reach a consensus, however, dissolving
the parliament is a big step that cannot be accepted unless it is agreed upon
by all political parties."
"Al-Sadr
is still present in the political scene despite the resignation of his
deputies," he added.
On
Wednesday, Al-Sadr called for the dissolution of parliament and the holding of
early elections as part of a nine-month-old political crisis that has prevented
the formation of a government since the Oct.10, 2021 elections.
Last
June, 73 representatives of Al-Sadr's movement, out of 329, submitted their
resignations, after they were unable to form a "national majority"
government, as the "coordinating framework" stuck to a "national
consensus" government as usual, and now has a parliamentary majority that
enables it to form a government.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Yemen’s
siege: Saudi-led coalition seizes another ship day after extension of
UN-brokered truce
05
August 2022
The
Saudi-led coalition, which has been waging a devastating war on Yemen since
2015, has impounded yet another oil tanker carrying thousands of tons of fuel
for the war-torn country in violation of a UN-brokered truce, a day after it
was extended.
The
Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) said in a statement that the coalition did not
allow Sea Heart tanker, which was carrying tens of thousands of tons of petrol,
to dock at Yemen’s strategic western port of Hudaydah and offload its cargo.
The
company added that the ship was impounded despite being inspected and cleared
for port call by the United Nations and that the incident takes to two the
number of Yemen-bound ships carrying petrol that are currently seized by the
Riyadh-led military alliance.
Additionally,
a Yemeni military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
Saudi-led coalition refuses to fully commit to the terms of a truce brokered by
the United Nations.
The
official said the Saudi-led coalition forces and their allied militants have
violated the UN-brokered ceasefire at least 179 times during the past 24 hours.
He
said the violations included 30 flights of armed Saudi-led reconnaissance
aircraft in the skies of the provinces of Ma’rib, Ta’izz, Hajjah, al-Jawf,
Sa’ada, Hudaydah, and al-Bayda as well as border areas.
Civilians
injured in Saudi strike in Yemen’s Sa’ada
The
Saudi army also conducted an artillery attack on a residential area in Yemen’s
northwestern Sa’ada province, seriously injuring several civilians.
Yemen’s
al-Masirah TV channel reported that the shelling targeted the al-Dhaher and
Shada’a districts on Thursday.
The
latest Saudi-led acts of aggression come while the warring sides agreed on
Tuesday to renew the two-month truce.
“This
truce extension includes a commitment from the parties to intensify
negotiations to reach an expanded truce agreement as soon as possible,” United
Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said in a statement.
Grundberg
had been pushing for a six-month truce with additional measures, according to
the Reuters news agency, but both Yemen’s ousted Saudi-backed regime, based in
Aden and led by the Presidential Council, and the popular Ansarullah resistance
movement have had grievances about the implementation of the existing truce
deal, as mistrust runs deep.
Saudi
Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration
with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other
Western states.
The
objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi
and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state
affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.
Source:
Press TV
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Amir-Abdollahian
calls for release of Iranian citizen detained in Saudi Arabia during Hajj
05
August 2022
Iranian
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has sent an indirect message to Saudi
authorities, calling on them to free an Iranian citizen who was arrested last
month in the kingdom during the Hajj pilgrimage.
In
a phone conversation with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Thursday
evening, the Iranian minister followed up on the fate of the Iranian detainee,
asking his counterpart to convey Iran’s call for the release of the citizen to
Riyadh.
There
is no immediate information available about the charges that the Iranian
citizen is facing.
Iranian
media outlets reported earlier that Saudi authorities arrested several Iranian
pilgrims during this year’s Hajj on charges such as taking photos with the holy
Kaaba or wearing a scarf bearing the photo of anti-terror commander Qassem
Soleimani, who was assassinated by the US military in Iraq more than two years
ago.
Those
criticizes, however, were released after a few days.
During
the Thursday phone conversation, Amir-Abdollahian also thanked Baghdad for
helping Iranians go on the Hajj pilgrimage this year.
This
comes as Iraq has played the role of mediator between Iran and Saudi Arabia,
hosting several rounds of negotiations between them since last April.
Earlier,
Amir-Abdollahian had expressed Tehran’s readiness to enter a new political and
security phase with Riyadh, hoping that the measure would “eventually lead to
the return of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s relations to
normal.”
Saudi
Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran in January 2016 after Iranian
protesters, enraged by the Saudi execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr
Baqir al-Nimr, stormed its embassy in Tehran.
‘Iran
ready to help Iraq put out wildfire’
Elsewhere
in the conversation, the top Iranian diplomat pointed to wildfires that are
burning reed beds in southern Iraqi regions, noting that the smoke of the fire
is “seriously” affecting Khuzestan Province, southwest Iran.
Amir-Abdollahian
said Iran is ready to perform joint operations to put out the fire swiftly.
The
Iraqi foreign minister, for his part, welcomed Tehran’s offer to assist his country
in extinguishing the fire.
Source:
Press TV
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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North America
U.S.
Proved Afghanistan Not Safe-Haven for Al-Qaeda: Kirby
By
Arif Ahmadi
04
Aug 2022
KABUL,
Afghanistan – John Kirby, the NSC coordinator for strategic communications at
the White House, said at a press conference Wednesday that Afghanistan is not a
safe-haven for Al-Qaeda members, addressing the recent drone strike that killed
the group’s leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Kabul.
Earlier
this week, President Biden announced an American drone strike killed Al-Qaeda
leader Ayman al-Zawahri at an urban safe house in Afghanistan – a key plotter
of the 9/11 terrorist attacks who took over as the leader of Al-Qaeda after
Osama bin Laden’s death.
“I
think if you were to ask some members of al Qaeda — ask them how safe they feel
in Afghanistan right now, I think we proved to a fare-thee-well this weekend
that it isn’t a safe haven and it isn’t going to be, going forward,” he said, as
TOLOnews quoted.
While
the drone strike affected relationship between Washington and Kabul, the United
States government – including international community – said the Taliban has
broken Doha agreement, providing sanctuary to the well-known terrorist leader.
Tomas
Niklasson, Special Envoy of the European Union for Afghanistan, wrote in a
tweet Wednesday that the Islamic Emirate “repeated their commitment that
Afghanistan would not become a safe haven for terrorists” during the Tashkent
conference.
“The
killing of Mr Al-Zawahiri by the US in central Kabul reinforces previous doubts
about such claims,” he questioned. “Were the Taliban unaware, unable or
unwilling to take action against the AQ leader?”
Talking
to NPR, US former special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said that
allowing the head of al-Qaida in Kabul, Afghanistan was a gross violation of
that agreement.
“Allowing
someone to plot and plan, attack – someone who plotted and planned the 9/11
attack … carried out other attacks on the United States–to stay in Kabul and
issue a statement threatening the security of the United States, is clear
beyond any doubt a violation of the Doha agreement,” said Khalilzad, as local
media quoted.
The
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “the United States will not
rest, will not allow for safe haven, will not allow anyone to use Afghanistan
as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against the United States or against
the American interest anywhere.”
Meanwhile,
the Gulf state of Qatar in a statement called for the preservations of gains of
the Doha agreement, one of which is to not use Afghanistan soil as a thread
against any country, including America.
“The
state of Qatar is following the developments in Afghanistan and calls on all
parties to maintain the gains of the Doha agreement and adhere to it, including
that Afghanistan should not be a haven for terrorist and extremist individuals
and organizations,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement, as local
media quoted.
Earlier,
Abdul Salam Hanafi, the second Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate,
said the United States drone strike in Kabul violates both national sovereignty
and the Doha Agreement, according to sources.
“These
issues are still unclear to us, the only thing we know for sure is that a drone
attack has taken place, which is against international law and the Doha
Agreement,” Hanafi said, as TOLOnews quoted.
“The
Islamic Emirate’s policy, which has been repeatedly stated to the people, is
that our soil is not used against our neighbors,” Hanafi said.
On
Monday, president Biden announced an American drone strike killed Al-Qaeda
leader Ayman al-Zawahri at an urban safe house in Afghanistan – a key plotter
of the 9/11 terrorist attacks who took over as the leader of Al Qaeda after
Osama bin Laden’s death.
“Now
justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said in
a seven-minute nationally televised address from the White House, as the New
York Times quoted.
“We
make it clear again tonight,” he added, “that no matter how long it takes, no
matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States
will find you and take you out.”
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/u-s-proved-afghanistan-not-safe-haven-for-al-qaeda-kirby/
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Top
US diplomat for Middle East says China providing Iranian proxies with drones
04
August, 2022
The
top US diplomat for the Middle East warned Thursday against China’s growing
influence in the Middle East, calling out Beijing for not doing enough to stop
the flow of drones reaching Iranian proxies.
“Now,
they're not provided by the state, but the state does not attempt to curtail
that flow” of drones used to attack Gulf countries, Assistant Secretary of
State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said.
Speaking
at a subcommittee Senate hearing on China’s role in the Middle East, Leaf said
the US retains a “clear advantage” that China is unable to challenge.
“We
must be careful to discern signal from noise within this growing volume of
economic activity, but we must also remain attuned to trends that may more
directly impinge upon US interests,” she said.
Tensions
between Washington and Beijing have soared in recent years, with the US
accusing China of genocide and illegal trade practices. On the other hand,
China has criticized the US for its interference in other countries, specifically
in Taiwan, which it considers its own, and for tariffs on Chinese products.
Leaf
pointed out that China’s trade with Middle East and North African countries
increased from $15.2 billion in 2000 to $284.3 billion in 2021.
On
the other hand, the US trade with the regional countries rose from $63.4
billion to $98.4 billion during the same period, Leaf said.
China
absent in fight against ISIS, Iran
Leaf
accused China of aiding Iran and acting against the region’s interest. “Last
year, the PRC finalized a 25-year strategic partnership agreement with Tehran,
with the promise of billions of dollars in potential future investment in
Iran,” Leaf said.
She
added that more than 70 Chinese nationals and entities had been sanctioned for
supporting the Iranian regime and said China had been the top destination for
Iranian oil - “both legitimate exports and trade that circumvents sanctions.”
The
US diplomat said China has been “notably absent” from the fight against ISIS
and made negligible efforts in Yemen and Syria.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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US
troops in Yemen an expansion of imperial aggression: Expert
04
August 2022
The
deployment of US troops in Yemen by the Biden administration demonstrates the
rank hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of American politics, according to an Irish
political analyst.
Finian
Cunningham, a prominent Irish expert in international affairs, said in an
interview with Press TV on Thursday that the latest deployment of US troops in
Yemen “marks the expansion of the US war effort” to achieve American imperial
objectives.
According
to a report, a new batch of US military forces has entered Yemen’s southeastern
province of al-Mahrah.
Cunningham
said that he thinks “the reports from the Yemen media are credible. US troops
are indeed setting up in the southeastern province of al-Mahrah as Yemen media
reports indicate.”
“We
should not be surprised by the growing US military presence in Yemen. President
Joe Biden confirmed in a letter to the US Congress last month that US troops
would be deployed in Yemen to support the Saudi coalition in its seven-year war
of aggression against its southern neighbor. That war has been supported all
along by the US supplying warplanes, missiles, refueling and offensive
logistics to the Saudis. The British and French also are suppliers. Thus ground
deployment is a logical outcome. There have been previous reports of US and
British forces on the ground. The ground presence of US troops is now a fact,
albeit not widely reported in the Western media,” he stated.
The
analyst said, “The US-backed Saudi war of aggression against Yemen is
fundamentally driven by the desire to impose control over Yemen.”
“The
southern Arabian Peninsula country has an abundance of energy resources that
remain untapped. Of course, American corporations want this prize. But more
than this, Yemen is a strategically positioned country overlooking vital global
shipping routes and chokepoints, namely the Arabian Sea, the Sea of Aden, the
Red Sea and the wider Indian Ocean as well as the Persian Gulf,” he stated.
“US
imperialism demands that the region must be under its purview for advantage
against China, Russia, Iran and other geopolitical rivals. A third reason is
that the US and its Saudi and other Arab client regimes cannot abide to allow
another nation to develop independently. Yemen under governance of the Houthis
would have friendly relations with Iran. It would present a ‘threat of a good
example’ to the region. The Americans and their clients must, therefore, try to
destroy Yemen’s struggle for independence. The latest arrival of US troops in
Yemen marks the expansion of the US war effort for the above imperial
objectives,” he pointed out.
The
troops deployment came two weeks after US President Joe Biden made a
controversial trip to Saudi Arabia. The US has also approved massive arms sales
to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates worth more than $5 billion.
“The
deployment of US troops in Yemen by the Biden administration demonstrates the
rank hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of American politics under its prevailing
capitalist system dominated as it is by the military-industrial complex and the
perpetual need for war, militarism and conflict to sustain its otherwise
bankrupt capitalist economy,” Cunningham stated.
“Biden
had promised American voters that he would halt the US military support for the
Saudi war against Yemen. Over 250,000 people have been killed in that war,
mainly from the Saudi bombing of civilian centers with American missiles. Yemen
is the world’s single worst humanitarian crisis with millions facing starvation
– largely caused by the US-backed seven-year war. Biden’s promises to end US
support have been quickly and unashamedly broken,” he said.
‘Biden
is a messenger boy for the US ruling elite’
“On
the contrary, the US president is increasing military support and deepening the
bloodbath. How is that for barefaced lies to American voters and the world? So,
one may ask, how come the disgusting treachery? Because of US imperial
imperatives as described above. The US cannot do anything else but worsen the
war in Yemen because of its imperialist needs stemming from its capitalist
economy. Presidential promises are futile and indeed cynical given the
background imperative and reality of US imperial aggression,” he said.
“Another
essential factor is the US need to appease the Saudis and other Persian Gulf
Arab client regimes for desired advantage against Russia in the ongoing
conflict over Ukraine,” he explained.
“Washington
needs the Saudis and Arab dictators to align on oil exports and market prices
in order to mitigate the detrimental repercussions hitting American and Western
economies,” he noted.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Jeff
Bezos’ Blue origin sends first Egyptian national to space
04
August, 2022
Jeff
Bezos’ Blue Origin on Thursday launched six people to space, including the
first from Egypt and Portugal, on the company’s sixth crewed flight.
Mission
“N-22” saw the New Shepard suborbital rocket blast off around 8:58 am local
time (1358 GMT) from Blue’s base in the west Texas desert.
The
autonomous, re-usable vehicle sent its crew capsule soaring above the Karman
line, the internationally recognized space boundary, 62 miles (100 kilometers)
above sea level.
“I’m
floating!” a crew mate could be heard saying on a livestream, as the capsule
coasted to its highest point and the passengers experienced a few minutes of
weightlessness.
Both
the rocket and capsule separately returned to the base -- the latter using
giant parachutes -- completing the mission around 11 minutes after lift-off.
The
crew included Egyptian engineer Sara Sabry, and Portuguese entrepreneur Mario
Ferreira, both the first people of their countries to leave Earth.
It
also included Coby Cotton, one of five co-founders of the YouTube sports and
comedy channel Dude Perfect, which boasts more than 57 million followers.
A
Blue Origin spokeswoman confirmed all six crew were paying passengers -- though
Sabry’s seat was sponsored by nonprofit Space for Humanity.
Blue
Origin has not revealed its ticket prices.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
Dutch
police seek information on perpetrators of Islamic State crimes against Yazidis
By
Wladimir van Wilgenburg in Erbil, Iraq
4
August 2022
Netherlands
police are looking for information on Dutch perpetrators of war crimes
committed by the Islamic State (IS) group against the Yazidi community,
according to a press release on Wednesday.
“The
Dutch government wants to see perpetrators of war crimes and international
crimes identified and tried,” said the Netherlands Police’s International
Crimes Team, speaking on the eighth anniversary of the Yazidi genocide in Iraq.
On
3 August 2014, IS carried out mass killings against Yazidis in Iraq's Sinjar
province, enslaving women, killing men and using Yazidi children as soldiers.
The
United Nations has since branded the killings a genocide.
“For
quite some time, Dutch police and prosecutors have been investigating war
crimes committed by IS, including those against the Yazidis," Brechtje van
de Moosdijk, spokesperson for the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, told
Middle East Eye.
"Under
the laws of universal jurisdiction we can prosecute perpetrators that are
Dutch, or those who reside in the Netherlands.
“On
the eighth commemoration of the Yazidi genocide, we launched a call for
witnesses. We ask the Yazidi population to come forward with information on
possible perpetrators with Dutch nationality. We are aware that this can be a
difficult step.”
Dutch
police said they were hoping to “prevent perpetrators from finding shelter in
the Netherlands and living here unpunished", adding that they also wanted
to prevent “situations in which victims of war crimes who fled to the
Netherlands are confronted with the criminals they fled”.
The
BBC previously reported on an incident in Germany in 2018 when a Yazidi
teenager met her captor on the street, after which she reported the incident to
the German police.
The
repatriation of Dutch IS women from camps in northeast Syria to the Netherlands
in recent years has led to fears among Dutch Yazidis that crimes committed
against them might go unpunished.
Since
2012, hundreds of Dutch nationals have travelled to Syria and Iraq and joined
IS. Several Dutch women with ties to IS and children have returned since last
year. One of them, Ilham B, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison
in June.
The
Dutch police said there were some indications that Dutch nationals were
involved in the commission of crimes against the Yazidi community in Syria and
Iraq.
“IS
women also played a part in the commission of these crimes,” they said.
Lengthy
process
There
have been earlier examples of Dutch women abetting in crimes against Yazidi
women.
Layla
Talu, a Yazidi victim of IS, was reportedly raped by a 33-year-old Lebanese man
with the help of his Dutch wife, Al Jazeera reported in 2020. She was also
subjected to sexual assault by a number of other men.
The
Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, an ethnic Kurd,
met with Yazidi activists in March to address their concerns.
“Efforts
are being made to ensure that these crimes do not go unpunished,” she said in a
tweet after the meeting.
She
also visited Iraq and the autonomous Kurdistan region in May to discuss
judicial cooperation with local authorities against IS suspects.
“The
important issue is how can we work together while we try to prevent impunity
for people who are committing crimes and how can we help the victims,”
Yesilgoz-Zegerius told reporters after meeting Yazidi survivors and activists
in Erbil, according to Kurdistan 24.
Van
de Moosdijk said that all information would be “handled confidentially and
carefully, by an experienced war crimes team. With this help, we might be able
to bring those responsible to court."
She
added: “Those investigations are lengthy and difficult and evidence that will
stand in court needs to be collected."
'Working
tirelessly'
The
Netherlands is following on the heels of German prosecutors, who last year
successfully handed down a genocide conviction to an IS member for crimes
perpetrated against Yazidis, becoming the first country to do so.
Defne
Akca, the head of investigations at Unitad, the UN team that investigates IS
crimes, said during a commemoration event in Duhok on Wednesday that another
female IS member had been “convicted for aiding and abetting genocide against
Yazidis".
“Such
trials represent what we all work tirelessly to achieve, holding members of IS
accountable through evidence-based trials before competent courts," she
told the gathering, organised by the Free Yezidi Foundation and other Yazidi
organisations.
Unitad
has previously supported German prosecutors with evidence by engaging with
witnesses in Iraq. The Dutch authorities also fund and work with Unitad.
However,
Murad Ismael, the president and co-founder of the Sinjar Academy, told MEE that
the current "national" approach to holding IS accountable made it
“almost impossible” to convict anyone.
“Because
there is no central court system that brings together suspects, evidence,
victims and witnesses all in one courtroom to conduct a proper investigation.
This is why we have only seen two genocide convictions globally and both in
Germany,” he said.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-dutch-police-looking-perpetrators-crimes-against-yazidis
--------
Azerbaijan's
embassy in London attacked by radical religious group
Vakkas
Dogantekin
05.08.2022
Azerbaijan's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday that its embassy building in London
was attacked by a radical religious group.
Photos
and video footage shared by some Azerbaijani accounts on social media showed
several people storming the building.
"Entering
the building of the embassy, the members of the vandalism group raised
religious flags and shouted radical religious slogans on the balcony of the
building. After the intervention of the local police, the group members were
taken out of the building and detained," said the Foreign Ministry
statement.
It
added that embassy employees were not injured and the incident is being
investigated by law enforcement agencies.
"In
accordance with the Vienna Convention, a warning regarding the security of
diplomats and diplomatic premises has been brought to the attention of UK
authorities through diplomatic channels," it stressed.
Turkish
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu lost no time in conveying his sympathies to
his Azerbaijani counterpart Ceyhun Bayramov over the attack.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Three
grain shipments to leave Ukraine Friday: Turkey
04
August, 2022
Three
more ships filled with grain will sail from Ukraine on Friday under a UN-backed
deal lifting Russia's blockade of the Black Sea, Turkey's defense minister
said.
“It
is planned that three ships will set sail tomorrow from Ukraine,” the Anadolu
state news agency quoted Defense Minister Hulusi Akar as saying, one day after
the first ship passed Istanbul on its way to Lebanon.
Ankara
also announced that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the
agreement's implementation by phone with UN chief Antonio Guterres, without
disclosing further details.
Moscow
and Kyiv agreed in Istanbul last month to resume shipments of wheat and other
grain from Ukrainian ports for the first time since Russia invaded its neighbor
in February.
The
first ship, loaded with 26,000 tonnes of maize, set off from Odessa on Monday
for the Lebanese port of Tripoli.
It
was cleared for passage through the Bosphorus Strait by a team that included
Russian and Ukrainian inspectors on Wednesday.
The
ship's passage is being overseen by an international team that includes
officials from Turkey, the United Nations and the two warring parties.
The
team said in a statement that the first ship's successful passage offered
“proof of concept” that the agreement can hold.
Ukraine
said earlier this week that it has 16 more ships loaded with grain and ready to
set sail.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Armenia
accusing Azerbaijan of violating fall 2020 deal ending conflict 'nothing but
hypocrisy'
Jeyhun
Aliyev
04.08.2022
Armenia
accusing Azerbaijan of violating the fall 2020 agreement ending the 44-day
Karabakh War is "nothing but mere hypocrisy," Azerbaijan's Foreign
Ministry said on Thursday.
Azerbaijan
has repeatedly pointed to Armenia’s failure to meet the provisions of the Nov.
10, 2020 agreement signed by the two nations plus Russia, and especially how
Armenian armed groups have not yet pulled out of Azerbaijan territories in
Karabakh, said a ministry statement.
The
ministry said under the tripartite agreement, "the peacekeeping contingent
of the Russian Federation is deployed (in Karabakh) in parallel with the
withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces."
In
addition to ample evidence of the presence of illegal Armenian armed forces on
the territory of Azerbaijan, this fact has also been acknowledged by Armenian officials,
it said.
"We
emphasize that the reason for the recent tension is the presence of illegal
Armenian armed troops in the territories of Azerbaijan and provocations
instigated by them. The bloody incident and killing of an Azerbaijani soldier
on August 3 is precisely the result of Armenia's failure to fulfill its
obligations," the statement read, referring to an incident on Wednesday.
Pointing
to the months-long ongoing construction of a new road along the Lachin corridor
– a road that links Armenia and the Karabakh region – the ministry said the
Armenian side is sufficiently informed about this project.
The
ministry underlined that if the Armenian side aims to delay implementation of
this obligation, as well as other provisions of the tripartite agreement, with
various pretexts, this is yet another demonstration of "Armenia's
non-constructive and disruptive activity vis-a-vis its obligations stipulated
in the trilateral statements and other agreements."
It
stressed that full implementation of the tripartite agreement is essential for
ensuring peace and stability in the region, as well as post-conflict
normalization.
"Azerbaijan
remains committed and fully fulfills its obligations and strongly demands that
Armenia also adhere to these commitments," the ministry said.
3-decade
occupation
The
ministry also brought up Armenia's nearly three-decade occupation of
Azerbaijan's Karabakh region (then known as Nagorno-Karabakh), which was due to
end under the pact ending the fall 2020 Karabakh War.
"Contrary
to accusations of 'aggressive activity' by Azerbaijan, we remind the Armenian
Foreign Ministry that it is Armenia whose military units occupied the
territories of the neighboring states for nearly 30 years, and which have not
withdrawn their illegal armed groups from the territories of Azerbaijan after
the end of the occupation policy. Azerbaijan ensures the security and integrity
of its territory on legal grounds," it concluded.
Azerbaijan
said it launched a retaliatory operation Wednesday against Armenian forces in
Karabakh after Armenia opened fire and killed an Azerbaijani soldier, according
to a Defense Ministry statement.
The
ministry said Azerbaijan "took relevant measures" and launched a
counter operation after Armenian forces tried to seize Girkhgiz hill and
establish new combat positions.
"As
a result of the 'revenge' retaliatory measure carried out by Azerbaijani Army
Units, the Girkhgiz peak, as well as Saribaba along the Karabakh ridge of the
Lesser Caucasus and a number of other important heights, were taken under
control," it added.
Separately,
the ministry on Thursday reported "full control over the operational
situation" in the region.
Relations
between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense
since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh (Upper
Karabakh), a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and
seven adjacent regions.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkish
president set to visit Russia to have talks with Putin
Diyar
Guldogan
04.08.2022
Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a one-day visit to Russia's coastal
city of Sochi on Friday to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to
discuss bilateral ties and international issues.
Erdogan
and Putin will meet in person for the second time in 17 days after the meeting
in Iran's capital Tehran, where the leaders had a trilateral gathering with
their Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi for the 7th summit in the Astana format
to discuss recent developments in Syria, the fight against terror groups,
particularly the YPG/PKK and Daesh/ISIS, as well as the humanitarian situation
and the voluntarily return of Syrians.
During
their meeting on July 19, the leaders condemned the increased presence and
activities of terrorist groups and their affiliates under different names in
various parts of Syria.
Türkiye
constantly emphasizes its determination to root out terrorist organizations --
including the Daesh/ISIS and the PKK, along with its Syrian branch the YPG --
in Syria that threaten its security.
The
country also reiterates the possibility of another Turkish counter-terrorism
operation across its southern border into northern Syria, following other
operations in recent years, as long as Ankara’s longstanding concerns have not
been met.
Besides
Syria, Erdogan and Putin will also discuss the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war,
which is now in its sixth month.
Thanks
to the diplomatic efforts of Türkiye to unblock Ukraine's grain exports, the
first grain ship to leave a Ukrainian port in wartime passed through the
Turkish Straits after getting a security clearance in Istanbul on Wednesday en
route to Lebanon for a delivery that many believe is helping ease the global
food crisis.
Türkiye,
the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed a historic deal on July 22 to reopen three
Ukrainian ports -- Odesa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny -- for grain exports that has
been stuck for months.
The
Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni, carrying over 26,500 tons of corn, is
the first grain-loaded ship to leave Ukraine's port of Odesa, and after getting
security clearance in Istanbul, the vessel continues to sail to the Lebanese
port of Tripoli, its final destination.
Also,
Erdogan and Putin will evaluate bilateral relations, mainly focusing on the
areas of economy, trade, and energy that constitute the driving force behind
Turkish-Russian ties.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
Islamic
Jihad calls for release of Al-Saadi as military wing threatens Israel
August
4, 2022
Islamic
Jihad renewed its call yesterday for Israel to release the movement's official
Bassam Al-Saadi, who was arrested earlier this week in a raid on his home in
Jenin. The call was made during a joint press conference by Islamic Jihad and
the 61-year-old's family.
In
a separate press conference, the military wing of the movement in the Jenin
refugee camp vowed to respond to the arrest.
The
head of Islamic Jihad, Hani Jaradat, said that the movement was expressing its
solidarity with Al-Saadi after this "criminal" act by the occupation
state. He that the movement's leadership in Gaza had submitted demands for the
"immediate and urgent release" of both Al-Saadi and Khalil
Al-Awawdeh, who has been on hunger strike for 33 days in protest at his
administrative detention with neither charge nor trial.
Al-Saadi's
son, Izz Al-Din, told journalists that the Palestinian Authority should form a
"medical committee to visit and report on his father's condition after the
attack on his house and family during his arrest."
A
masked man standing amongst a group of Palestinian fighters said that the
Israeli forces "committed a heinous crime by storming the Jenin refugee
camp… We will not stand idly by. Our response will match the severity of the
crime." The Israeli occupation forces, he added, are "fully
accountable" for Al-Saadi's life.
The
leader of Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Khader Habib, told Anadolu on Tuesday that the
Egyptians — who mediate between the Palestinian factions and Israel — have been
told that the movement holds Tel Aviv fully responsible for the repercussions
of Al-Saadi's arrest.
Source:
Middle East Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israelis
won’t sleep a wink if they know what Hezbollah has in store: Senior resistance
official
04
August 2022
A
senior Hezbollah official has commended his group’s publication of a video
showing Israeli vessels involved in offshore oil and gas industry at a disputed
maritime area in the Mediterranean, stressing that Israeli officials will not
sleep a wink if they find out about the actual extent of the Lebanese
resistance movement’s military capabilities.
Sheikh
Nabil Qaouk, deputy head of the executive council of Hezbollah, made the
remarks at a ceremony in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil on Wednesday
night.
“The
video that Hezbollah’s War Media Department released a few days ago relayed a
clear message to the Israeli enemy that the resistance movement is fully
prepared, and has aimed its missiles at the Karish [gas field is disputed
territory] and areas beyond that,” he pointed out.
The
high-ranking Hezbollah official underscored that Israeli authorities will be
gripped by fear once they find out about his group’s preemptive measures
against the regime’s strategic energy and military installations.
“Lebanon
previously used to beg for assistance from the United States. The equation has,
however, changed at present, and it is now Israel that has to appeal and wait
for US help in the face of Hezbollah,” Sheikh Qaouk said.
He
said that Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid has lately asked Washington to work
out a quick agreement with Lebanon regarding the demarcation of maritime
borders.
“The
appeal stems from their (Israelis’) fear about the prowess of Hezbollah
resistance movement, and the fact that the group’s secretary-general Seyyed
Hassan Nasrallah is absolutely right that all of Israel’s gas fields are under
threat from his group’s missiles,” Sheikh Qaouk pointed out.
Hezbollah
on Sunday morning published a video threatening the gas extraction
infrastructure at the Karish offshore field, near a disputed maritime border
between Lebanon and Israel.
The
video footage, which also contains a rare glimpse of Hezbollah weaponry, was
broadcast on Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Manar television station.
It
was issued by Hezbollah’s War Media Department, which the group uses to
broadcast footage of military operations and battles, and contains images of
ships involved in drilling for and extracting hydrocarbons, along with what
appear to be their coordinates.
The
video begins with the words of Nasrallah during a recent speech in which he
warned that “playing with time is not useful” on the maritime issue.
Lebanese
politicians hope that commercially viable hydrocarbon resources off Lebanon’s
coast could help the debt-ridden country out of its worst economic crisis in
decades.
In
February 2018, Lebanon signed its first contract for drilling in two blocks in
the Mediterranean with a consortium comprising energy giants Total, Eni, and
Novatek.
Lebanon
and Israel took part in indirect talks to discuss demarcation in 2020. But the
talks stalled after Lebanon demanded a larger area, including part of the
Karish gas field, where Israel has given exploration rights to a Greek firm.
The
talks were supposed to discuss a Lebanese demand for 860 square kilometers (330
square miles) of territory in the disputed maritime area, according to a map
sent to the United Nations in 2011.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
Intel Ministry arrests 10 Daesh terrorists plotting attacks in Muharram
04
August 2022
Iran's
Intelligence Ministry says it has identified and arrested 10 members of a Daesh
Takfiri terrorist group that aimed to conduct acts of terror across the country
during the mourning month of Muharram.
The
ministry made the announcement in a statement on Thursday, saying the
“Takfiri-Zionist” outfit had plans to carry out several terrorist operations
during the mass mourning ceremonies to commemorate Muharram and the martyrdom
anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam.
According
to the statement, the Israeli regime tried to use Daesh Takfiris for terrorist
operations in the mourning gatherings of Imam Hussein (AS) but the Intelligence
Ministry managed to arrest 10 members of the group in the western and southern
regions across the country.
The
ministry said it discovered and confiscated the terrorist group’s cache of
explosive equipment, communication devices and weapons, adding that two of the
Iranian security forces had sustained injuries in fire exchanges with the
Takfiris.
The
ministry called on the public to be more vigilant against such terrorist plots
in ongoing mourning ceremonies for Muharram, and warned that the occupying
Israeli regime and its Daesh Takfiri mercenaries would be given a “crushing”
response for their attempted acts of terror.
Last
week, Iran's Intelligence Ministry said an espionage team affiliated with the
Israeli regime’s spy agency Mossad, which was recently dismantled before it
could carry out acts of sabotage in the country, had plans to blow up a
sensitive defense facility.
The
ministry announced that the team belonging to the notorious anti-Iran Komala
terrorist group had worked out the most intricate methods in order to
geographically locate the target site, and destroy it through an enormous
explosion.
The
ministry added that the terrorists, who were in contact with Mossad agents
through one of the neighboring countries, had entered Iran from the Iraqi
Kurdistan region.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israel
sends armed drones over border to curb Islamic Jihad threat
Lilach
Shoval
August
4, 2022
The
Israel Defense Forces has been on high alert in the country's south for the
past three days.
In
response to Intelligence reports that the Islamic Jihad movement is planning to
fire anti-tank missiles or rockets at Israel, the IDF announced early on the
morning of Aug. 2 that it was blocking traffic on roads surrounding the Gaza
Strip and halting train service from Ashkelon southward.
This
morning, Aug. 4, the IDF announced that it was flying armed drones over the
Gaza Strip in order to locate Islamic Jihad operatives with missiles that
endanger civilian vehicles and buildings near the Gaza Strip.
Tensions
in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip began Aug. 1, after the IDF arrested
Bassem Saadi in the West Bank. Saadi is a member of the Islamic Jihad’s senior
leadership and the movement’s ultimate authority in the West Bank.
The
Shin Bet says that Saadi, who has been in Israeli custody on seven different
occasions, was behind the creation of a significant military force for the
group in Jenin and his presence has spurred its militants to violence.
A
firefight erupted during the arrest between armed militants and troops with the
unit charged with taking Saadi into custody. Another activist and Saadi's close
aide, Ashraf al-Jadaa, was arrested with him. At the time of their arrest, they
were in possession of a pistol, explosive devices and ammunition.
While
Saadi’s arrest apparently went smoothly, images of him being dragged across the
ground were published extensively in the Arab world. The Islamic Jihad
leadership in Gaza quickly issued threats of revenge.
In
an effort to refute reports that Israel harmed Saadi, the IDF released photos
of him after his arrest in good physical condition. Nevertheless, it was not
enough to restore calm in the already tense situation. Israeli security forces
took a number of unusual measures, including the closing of the main
transportation arteries, halting trains and ramping up air defenses around
Gaza.
If
the Islamic Jihad reacts violently to Saadi's arrest, it would not be the first
time the group has responded forcefully with sniper or rocket fire to
Palestinian casualties or major arrests in the northern West Bank.
Israel
takes the group’s threats seriously because it is considered an unpredictable
faction with no inhibitions. Even the well-being of the residents of the Gaza
Strip does not seem to matter to it. That travel and other restrictions are
already in their third day suggests that the IDF has credible intelligence that
the terrorist group in Gaza is not yet ready to back down from its threats.
This
morning Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi paid a visit to the IDF’s Gaza Division.
The IDF notified the press that he approved plans to attack in the event that
the Islamic Jihad tries to fulfill its threats and that the IDF has dozens of
armed drones with attack capabilities flying over Gaza.
At
the same time, feverish mediation efforts via Egypt are also underway in an
effort to restore calm. Israel told Hamas by way of Egyptian intermediaries
that it expects that movement to assert its authority over the rebel faction.
If it fails to do so, Hamas will bear responsibility for the consequences.
On
Tuesday, Israel closed the Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings, meaning that
14,000 Palestinian workers and merchants from Gaza were denied daily access to
Israel. Jerusalem hopes that the combination of economic pressure and pressure
from the Egyptian mediators will force the sovereign authority in Gaza to rein
Islamic Jihad in.
Ever
since Operation “Guardian of the Walls” ended in May 2021, the IDF has held
that the main reason the past year was unusually quiet was that the operation
served as a deterrent to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Now, however, Islamic Jihad,
which is a relatively small group, especially when compared to Hezbollah in the
north, has managed to paralyze the south of the country solely with threats.
While
patience in Israel’s southern towns and villages is wearing thin, the IDF says
that “life itself” takes precedence over the “quality of life” of the local
residents. On the other hand, while brief and specific restrictions may be
necessary, paralyzing the south for three entire days seems unreasonable and
points to a serious problem in Israeli deterrence.
Source:
Al Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Athens
rejects Ankara criticism over Muslim cleric election process
Aug
04 2022
Greece
has rejected claims by Turkey that new regulations on the election of Muslim
clerics known as muftis in the country’s northeastern Thrace region prevents
the minority community the right to elect their own religious leaders, Greek
newspaper Kathimerini reported on Thursday.
The
new legal framework on Mufti cleric elections are “fully compatible with the
constitution of Greece and the country’s international obligations,” it cited
the Greek Foreign Ministry as saying.
The
Turkish Foreign Ministry earlier on Thursday described a new law passed in
Greek parliament as “unacceptable,” while urging Greece to “respect
international law and fulfil its obligations” under the Treaty of Lausanne.
Ankara
has long accused Athens of refusing to recognise the mufti elected by the
neighbouring country’s some 150,000 ethnic Turkish Muslim community, saying it
is unconstitutional that the Greek government appoints the mufti itself.
Greek
Parliament late last month approved a regulation allowing for the country’s
Muslim minority to form an advisory board of 33 people, selected from among
scholars of Islamic sciences and imams, which would in turn assess Mufti
candidates before submitting a list to the Education Ministry. The ministry
will have the final say on the matter.
The
new law was drawn up after a long consultation with representatives of the
minority and that it “creates a modern and integrated institutional framework
for muftis in Thrace,” Kathimerini cited the Greek ministry as saying in a
statement.
“Our
Muslim fellow citizens in Thrace live in a European country. They enjoy
everything that a democratic and well-governed state provides to all its
citizens, without exceptions,” it added.
Source:
Ahval News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://ahvalnews.com/thrace/athens-rejects-ankara-criticism-over-muslim-cleric-election-process
--------
Top
Aide: Iran Supports Extension of Yemen Ceasefire
2022-August-4
Khaji
made the remarks in a meeting with Hans Grundberg, the United Nations Secretary-General’s
Special Envoy for Yemen, in Tehran on Wednesday.
He
expressed hope that during the renewed two-month ceasefire, efforts would
continue toward achieving a comprehensive agreement on a lasting truce,
complete lifting of the blockade and economic embargo imposed on Yemen, the
payment of salaries in the country and freedom of transit in all routes.
The
Iranian diplomat also hoped that military, economic and political committees
would start their activities and all the necessary mechanisms for supervising
commitment to the ceasefire would be fully implemented.
The
UN special envoy, for his part, outlined the latest proposals presented to the
Yemeni parties to solve the crisis in the country.
Grundberg
said the two-month renewal of the ceasefire in the war-ravaged country would be
an opportunity to achieve a regular mechanism for paying the salaries of the
employees, opening routes among provinces, adding flight destinations at the
Sana’a airport and guaranteeing fuel shipment to the port city of Al-Hudaydah.
He
noted that the truce would prepare the ground for setting up military, economic
and political committees with the aim of monitoring the implementation of the
ceasefire agreement.
Grundberg
stated on Tuesday that a direly-needed truce between Yemen’s aggressors and the
impoverished country’s popular resistance Houthi Ansarullah movement had been
renewed for another two-month-long period.
The
extension, running from August 2 to October 2, “includes a commitment from the
parties to intensify negotiations to reach an expanded truce agreement as soon
as possible”, the UN diplomat continued.
Saudi
Arabia launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with
its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US, the UK and other
Western states.
The
objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur
Hadi, and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running
state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.
While
the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet its objectives, the war has killed
hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian
crisis.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010513000432/Tp-Aide-Iran-Spprs-Exensin-f-Yemen-Ceasefire
--------
Iran's
Envoy Urges US Guarantees for Economic Benefits Under JCPOA
2022-August-4
Speaking
at the 10th nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in New
York on Wednesday, Takht Ravanchi stated that the main obstacle to the revival
of the 2015 agreement is Washington’s failure to give assurances that Tehran
will fully enjoy the economic benefits of the accord.
He
added that Iran had acted responsibly and with strategic patience as well as
maximum resistance during the course of negotiations to revive the pact.
The
ambassador stated that Tehran had been negotiating in good faith with the five
remaining parties to the JCPOA – Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China –
in order to ensure the full implementation of the deal.
Takht
Ravanchi noted that "the onus was now on the United States to give
assurances that Iran will enjoy the economic benefits promised in the
agreement".
"Iran
will roll back its remedial nuclear measures and fully honor its
nuclear-related commitments in accordance with the 2015 agreement once the US
makes the right decision," he pointed out.
Elsewhere
in his remarks, Takht Ravanchi said more than half a century after NPT entered
into force in 1970, there were still thousands of nuclear weapons deployed and
stockpiled, and hundreds of billions of dollars were spent to replace and
upgrade nuclear arsenals.
“For
instance, the United States has recently increased the role and number of its
nuclear weapons; and this modernization costs around $1.2 trillion. The United
Kingdom has announced its intention to develop and build 80 new nuclear
warheads. France is spending billions of euros to gradually augment and upgrade
its nuclear weapons and their launch platforms,” the Iranian diplomat added.
He
underscored that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should carry out
its professional duties free from interference by third parties, particularly
the intelligence services that provide unsubstantiated allegations.
Takht
Ravanchi emphasized that non-proliferation provisions should be applied
globally and without exception.
“Unfortunately,
as a result of the application of double standards in enforcing
non-proliferation provisions, the Zionist regime’s nuclear weapons, developed
with the support and assistance of the US, continue to pose a serious threat to
the security of Middle Eastern member states of the treaty,” the official
underlined.
The
Iran’s UN envoy stated that Israel, since its inception in 1948, has committed
all international core crimes, namely aggression against all its neighbors, war
crimes, crimes against humanity and occupation of the territories of several
neighboring countries.
He
called on NPT member states to adopt appropriate deterrent measures against the
law-breaking Tel Aviv regime.
“If
this regime commits such foolish aggression, it will pay a heavy price.
Furthermore, the supreme interests of our country, as a state party to the
Treaty, will be jeopardized,” Takht Ravanchi continued.
“The
Review Conference should promptly address this threat of the Israeli regime.
The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly supports the establishment of a
nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East and expresses its deep concern over
the long delay in implementation of the 1995 Resolution and the 2010 Plan of
Action on the Middle East,” he noted.
Iranian
officials say the ball is in the US' court, and the administration of President
Joe Biden should assure Tehran that it will not repeat Donald Trump's past
mistakes.
Iran
and the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal have held several rounds of
negotiations since April last year to restore the agreement, which was
unilaterally abandoned by Trump in May 2018.
In
quitting the agreement, Trump restored sanctions on Iran as part of what he
called the “maximum pressure” campaign against the country. Those sanctions are
being enforced to this day by the Biden administration, even though it has
repeatedly acknowledged that the policy has been a mistake and a failure.
Iranian
officials have criticized Washington for raising excessive demands from Tehran
during the nuclear talks, and blocking efforts to reach an agreement on the
JCPOA. They emphasized the Tehran's will to reach a good, strong and lasting
agreement, and stressed that the US should lift unilateral sanctions, and
assure Iran that it will not repeat its past mistakes.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Militants
arrested for planning to bomb Iran religious gathering: Report
04
August, 2022
Iran
has arrested a group of 10 ISIS militants who were planning attacks on religious
gatherings, the Iranian intelligence ministry said on Thursday.
The
10 were captured in possession of explosive equipment, communication devices
and weapons, a ministry statement said, adding the arrests took place over the
past three days in two locations in western and southern Iran.
The
militants injured two Iranian intelligence agents in an exchange of fire before
being arrested, the ministry said, without specifying where or when the clash
took place.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israeli
army arrests 23 Palestinians in West Bank
Qais
Abu Samra
04.08.2022
RAMALLAH
The
Israeli army on Thursday arrested 23 Palestinians during a raid on a number of
West Bank governorates.
In
a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said: “The detainees are from the
governorates of Hebron, Bethlehem (south), Tulkarm, and Jenin (north).”
The
club also added that among the detainees, eight were from the Al-Ajouli family
from Hebron.
These
arrests "constitute the most prominent systematic and consistent policies
implemented by the occupation authorities on a daily basis,” the statement
added.
The
Israeli army frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the
occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on the pretext of searching for “wanted”
Palestinians.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-army-arrests-23-palestinians-in-west-bank/2653333
--------
Africa
Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community holds UK Islamic Conference
By
Waliat Musa
05
August 2022
The
2022 yearly Islamic Conference (Jalsa Salana) of Ahmadiyya Muslim Association,
UK, will hold from August 5 to 7, 2022 in Islamabad, Alton, UK.
Due
to COVID-19 constraints, the event is not open to external guests across the
world, except for selected leaders of the Ahmadiyya Community and that
residents in the UK.
The
Amir (National Head), Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat of Nigeria, Alatoye Folorunso
Azeez, is among the special dignitaries attending the conference in London.
In
a statement by the head, of the media team, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat of Nigeria,
Dr. Qasim Akinreti, members of the public are welcomed to join live proceedings
of the programme, which can be watched at various homes and Ahmadiyya mosques
across the world via the community’s satellite television channel, the Muslim
Television Ahmadiyya (MTA International).
Akinreti
disclosed that Murhi International Television, MIT and Gaskiya Cable TV would
join other 20 television channels across Africa to broadcast the conference
live for three days.
“In
Nigeria, the Ahmadiyya Headquarters’ Central Mosque at Ojokoro, Lagos and
others across the country will play hosts to members and guests for the
three-day proceedings,” he added.
Referencing
the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad,
Akinreti said, “the primary purpose of the Islamic convention, which commenced
in 1891 in Qadian, India, but now spread across the world, is to enable every
sincere individual to personally experience religious benefits, enhance their
knowledge, promote mutual understanding and strengthen fraternal ties within
the Islamic community.”
The
founder is quoted further to have said that the gathering is not an ordinary
human assembly, but a phenomenon that is based purely on the Divine Help for
the propagation of Islam, translating to an affirmative action the declaration
contains in Quran chapter 4 verse 115 that, “there is no good in many of their
conferences except the conferences of such as enjoin charity, or goodness, or
the making of peace among men. And whoso does that, seeking the pleasure of
Allah, We shall soon bestow on him a great reward.”
Highlights
of the conference include addresses to be delivered by the Supreme World Leader
of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, Hazrat Masr Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V;
goodwill messages from world leaders, scholars, and very important guests for
three days; and the global acceptance of new members and renewal of commitment
to Islam and Ahmadiyya community – “the Global Bai’at”, a tradition noted in
Islam – that will be performed by His Holiness on August 7.
Other
soul-inspiring topical issues in Islam and the global progress report of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim community will also feature during the conference.
Source:
Guardian Nigeria
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://guardian.ng/features/ahmadiyya-muslim-community-holds-uk-islamic-conference/
--------
Sudan’s
Islamic Fiqh Academy calls for precautionary action against potential GERD
collapse, malfunction
4
Aug 2022
In
an official statement circulated by the Sudanese media on Wednesday, the
government-owned academy said Ethiopia should be responsible for fixing any
administrative or technical problems or natural circumstances that might take
place during the operation of GERD.
The
academy stressed that the Ethiopian commitment in this regard should be
guaranteed.
The
Sudanese government has to work on spreading awareness among the people of the
dangers associated with the establishment of the mega dam, the statement added.
The
academy shed light on a number of technical concerns regarding GERD, saying it
discussed the project with experts in the fields of engineering, water, geology,
environment, physics, and law.
The
academy's statement denounced GERD’s location that may not be compliant with
geological conditions and cautions, including having a safe distance from
earthquake zones, landslides, and other factors that may result in its collapse
even after several decades or centuries.
“The
possibility that the dam collapses still exists,” the academy asserted.
The
academy warned that the huge amount of water stored behind the dam may affect
the geological formation of the area and rifts can take place under the dam’s
concrete body.
The
wide swathes of water behind the dam can also affect climate change in this
area, which can have harmful impacts on the Sudanese people, the statement
added.
The
academy also warned against a “hidden goal” behind the establishment of the
Ethiopian dam.
“Filling
the energy shortage [in Ethiopia] does not require such a huge dam, which
indicates that there is another hidden goal that may harm the Sudanese people,”
the statement warned.
On
26 July, Ethiopia told Egypt in a message that it would start the third filling
of the GERD reservoir during the current flood season, which lasts from July
till September, despite not reaching an agreement with the two downstream
countries on the filling and operation of the mega dam.
Egypt
and Sudan have reiterated that they do not oppose development in Ethiopia but
want the upperstream country to sign a legally-binding deal on the filling and
operation of the dam to secure their water and people’s interests, a demand that
Ethiopia rejects.
While
Egypt has expressed concerns over its water share as a result of filling the
dam’s reservoir without a deal, Sudan has warned that GERD could threaten the
lives and safety of millions of Sudanese people.
African
Union-sponsored talks have been stalled since the last round in Kinshasa, DR
Congo, in April 2021, with the downstream countries blaming Ethiopian
“intransigence” for the failure of the decade-long talks.
The
two countries have repeatedly called on the international community to persuade
Ethiopia to stop its unilateral acts on GERD, the last of which is its ongoing
third filling of the dam’s reservoir.
Late
last month, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry sent a letter to the
Security Council protesting against the Ethiopian decision to go ahead with the
third filling.
Source:
Ahram
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/472613.aspx
--------
Moroccan
court jails 14 migrants for 8 months over crossing
04
August, 2022
A
Moroccan court imposed 8-month prison sentences Thursday on 14 migrants for
attempting, along with hundreds of others, to scale a border fence separating
the north African country from the autonomous Spanish enclave of Melilla in
June.
Nador’s
Court of First Instance also ordered the defendants to pay 2,000-dirham ($194)
fines each over the events of June 24.
The
Moroccan Association for Human Rights, known as AMDH, said at least 27 migrants
trying to enter Spain died that day, and numerous others — both migrants and
police — were hurt.
The
AMDH condemned the decision which is described as “very harsh against people
who only seek refuge.”
The
same court sentenced 33 migrants to 11 months in prison last month after they
tried to climb the border wall between Morocco and Melilla, also on June 24.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Southeast Asia
Indonesian
envoy stresses need to engage youth for contribution to socio-economic
development of Pakistan
August
5, 2022
Ambassador
Adam Tugio of Indonesia participated in the inaugural session of the Policy
Dialogue Forum of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, commended the
initiative by the university to establish PDF as an intellectual platform for
engaging youth millennials and women to give positive contributions to the
socio-economic development of Pakistan.
The
envoy highlighted a state of bilateral cooperation and its potential to elevate
it further and through Pakistan’s engagement with ASEAN. “As the two biggest
Muslim population countries, Indonesia and Pakistan shared a lot in common from
customs to traditions and from costumes to cuisines”, added Ambassador Tugio.
Source:
Pak Observer
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Anwar
rejects Dr Mahathir’s Malay-Muslim alliance, says problem is corruption, not
racism
By
Radzi Razak
04
Aug 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR, Aug 4 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has rejected Tun Dr
Mahathir Mohamad’s new Malay-Muslim alliance that was established today, saying
that the latter had failed to tackle the issue when he helmed the Pakatan
Harapan (PH) administration for 22 months.
Anwar
said that Malays should instead realise that the problem is corrupt leaders and
politics, as opposed to racism.
“I
do not support initiatives like that because if he really wants to defend Malay
Islam, he had over 22 months to do so. He could have helped. But the Malays who
were chosen did not actually represent Malay sentiments.
“I
think the Malays should now realise that the problem in this country is
leaders, whether Malay or non-Malay, who are corrupt, who enrich their children
and their families, and then, when desperate, plead for the support of the
Malays or their respective races,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
Earlier
today, Dr Mahathir announced a new political alliance focused on the
Malay-Muslim agenda, dubbed “Gerakan Tanah Air”.
The
Pejuang chairman said the pact would only comprise Malay members, including
political parties such as Pejuang, Berjasa, Putra and National Indian Muslim
Alliance Party (Iman), as well as academics, NGOs and professionals.
“We
have only invited Malays, not because of racism, but because our efforts are
focused on opposing Umno, the Malay party that has gone astray,” the former
prime minister said during a press conference in Putrajaya today.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkey,
Malaysia ties raised to comprehensive strategic partnership
AUG
04, 2022
The
ties between Turkey and Malaysia have been raised to the level of comprehensive
strategic partnership, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Thursday.
Speaking
during a joint press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin
Abdullah in Kuala Lumpur, Çavuşoğlu said agreements were signed between each
government, company and university.
"And
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Malaysia for the continued
support in enhancing our institutional relations with ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations). Malaysia is a key actor in its region and in the
Muslim world," Çavuşoğlu said.
Noting
that Turkey looks forward to the visit of Malaysian King Sultan Abdullah, the
top Turkish diplomat vowed to intensify parliamentary cooperation and looked
"forward to the establishment of the parliamentary friendship group by the
Malaysian side."
Diplomatic
relations between Turkey and Malaysia were established in 1964. Both countries
enjoy a broad-based and close partnership. On Jan. 10, 2014, then-Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak
declared the elevation of the bilateral relationship to the level of strategic
partnership, which is the result of the progress achieved since the
establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, as well as the
depth of political, economic and cultural ties.
As
members of the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
and the D-8, Turkey and Malaysia share a common perspective on a broad range of
regional and global issues.
Malaysia
also constitutes a significant country for Turkey's regional initiative.
Announced
by Çavuşoğlu at the 11th Ambassadors Conference in August 2019, the Asia Anew
Initiative indicated that Turkey was determined to more effectively utilize the
potential of cooperation in Asia, considered the fastest growing economic
region and the continent with the largest economy in terms of its Gross
Domestic Product (GDP).
Regarding
trade volume between Turkey and Malaysia, Çavuşoğlu said it grew by 60% and
reached $2.42 billion (TL 43.48 billion) in the first half of this year.
"We
have a trade volume target of $5 billion, it appears that this target is
achievable this year. Obviously, we need to work for more balanced trade,"
he added.
Announcing
the completion of negotiations to expand the existing free trade agreement
(FTA) between Turkey and Malaysia, Çavuşoğlu said the deal is to be ratified
soon.
The
FTA between Turkey and Malaysia, which was signed during then-Prime Minister
Najib Razak’s visit to Turkey in April 2014, came into force on Aug. 1, 2015,
and constitutes the first ever FTA that Turkey concluded with an ASEAN member.
The
Turkish foreign minister further said the two countries will continue
cooperation on mutual concerns such as the Rohingya people, the situations in
Afghanistan a Palestine, regional issues, and the fight against Islamophobia.
"We
agreed to increase our humanitarian and assistance to people in
Afghanistan," Çavuşoğlu said while voicing hopes to expand and deepen
Turkey’s cooperation with Malaysia in the future.
For
his part, Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah said his country looks forward to
"working much closer" so "the relations between the two
brotherly countries can be enhanced."
Malaysian
and Turkish officials also agreed on exploring "new potential areas of
investment, particularly in the area of digital economy, the military, and
defense industry."
"We
also discussed issues on food security, especially in the current situation as
an effect of what is happening because of the Ukraine conflict," he added.
Turkey
is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire
between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a
mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open
provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve
peace in the Ukraine crisis. With its unique position of having friendly
relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has won widespread praise for
its push to end the war.
Since
the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two
sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial
integrity and sovereignty. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions
designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian
vessels from crossing through them.
Source:
Daily Sabah
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
When
Chinese cultural pride gets confused with Chinese nationalism
August
5, 2022
I’m
a Malaysian raised in a Chinese cultural environment and it should therefore
surprise no one that I’m proud of my heritage of Chinese cuisine, the tales of
Chinese heroes long gone, and the history of the Chinese in this country.
Lately,
though, I have come to wonder if some members of the community have mistaken
cultural pride for blind nationalism, a fanatical devotion not to the country
where they were born and currently live, but where their ancestors happened to
live in the past.
China
has lately been much in the news, what with Beijing’s sabre-rattling over
Taiwan and fears of a Sino-American conflict brewing.
Take
a dive into the comment sections under Malaysian news reports on these matters
and you might discover something interesting.
Scores
of commenters of Chinese ethnicity can be found leaping to China’s defence,
commonly arguing that China has done no wrong or something along those lines.
If
you look deeper, you will see that most of these commenters are Chinese
Malaysians, not Chinese nationals.
Why
are they going all-out to defend China?
Not
that it is wrong to have a personal opinion about a foreign country, especially
a superpower, but they certainly seem unusually fervent in their support.
I
have a theory about why these people seem so attached to a country they may
have never visited in their life.
In
Malaysia, the national identity of Chinese Malaysians has previously been
called into question by ultranationalists. Remember “pendatang” and “balik
tongsan”?
It
is likely that many of these people do not feel like they belong in a country
where they are sometimes treated like second-class citizens.
Hence,
they instead look towards the home of their ancestors, which has apparently
overcome the odds to become an economic superpower with military might to
match.
To
complicate matters, Chinese news outlets are quite talented at influencing
minds to see China as a utopia of sorts, with the ruling Communist Party solely
responsible for this success.
With
Malaysian politics regularly showing its ugly racist head, I can see why some
Chinese Malaysians would instead latch onto Chinese nationalism instead.
This
does have an ugly side to it. These people often end up disregarding any fact
or opinion that paints China in a bad light.
I
remember reading comment sections when news of the Uighur internment camps
first emerged and I remember how horrified I was.
The
denial was bad enough, but some commenters said that placing people into
internment camps en masse based on ethnicity was justified for security
reasons.
I
suspect that if any other country were to similarly target people of Chinese
ethnicity, these same folks would be screaming bloody murder.
But
it’s China and its government doing this to an ethnic minority. So all is
forgiven and everything is “Western propaganda” and, if it’s real, it’s
justifiable.
I
don’t think I will ever forget one recent exchange in which a Chinese Malaysian
much older than myself said I was a bad Chinese for not being loyal to my
“motherland”.
That
comment was in response to my criticism of the Chinese government’s
heavy-handed approach to Taiwan.
It
certainly took me by surprise. Malaysia is my motherland, not China. I was born
and raised here and will probably die here.
But
it’s more important to remember that criticism of one’s government is not
disloyalty to one’s country. I criticise Malaysia frequently because it is
flawed to the core. And so is China. No country is perfect.
I
fear that some people may have misconstrued being proud to be culturally
Chinese as being slavishly devoted to a foreign government that does not care
about their existence.
When
some Chinese Malaysians suggest that China should interfere in Malaysian
affairs to protect the community here, they certainly manifest a delusion of
the highest order.
There
is some irony in the fact that these wannabe Chinese nationalists also
frequently post on Facebook, which is banned in China.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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